Our city is strong!
    We are surrounded by the walls of God’s salvation.
Open the gates to all who are righteous;
    allow the faithful to enter.
You will keep in perfect peace
    all who trust in you,
    all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the Lord always,
    for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. – Isaiah 26:1-4

(Note: I never know where I’m going when I start writing. I intended to post a photo of my granddaughter in her Wonder Woman costume… Then I got sidetracked by the scripture!)

Being a Redeemed People:

I love the image painted in Isaiah 26 – of a redeemed people. I understand that Isaiah was writing in the context of a city-state mentality, where danger lurks outside and defensive walls are needed to assure peace… but the words ring true today in many ways for me.

• Strength predicated on love;
• Walls of salvation – designed not for defense but as structural elements, defining who we are;
• Gates wide open and invitational;
• Peace rooted in trust, not fear;
• Our relationship to God providing foundational stability.

You see, our vulnerabilities as human beings are not so neatly contained as a city with a wall. In 2017 we could live inside Fort Knox and still be susceptible to infiltration from the enemy. And by the enemy, I mean anything that erodes the foundation of our trust in God, anything that distracts us from the strength we find in love.

Mid-week Fellowship and more:

This is one of many reasons I believe it is critically important that we value and invest ourselves in our identity as A Redeemed People – the Body of Christ. Wednesday evening, right in the middle of the week, more than two-hundred Wake Forest Presbyterian disciples meet together for dinner, for fellowship, and for a dozen different smaller group activities.

This week in the men’s group I lead, there may or may not have been expert teaching or deep theological insight… but we did experience this sense of being a redeemed people, together, in an atmosphere of love and trust.

We live in a world where we need one another, not only for our own strength and encouragement, but also so that we can make more determined and effective sorties against the darkness.

The church is not a place where we hide from the world, but a place where we find strength through worship, rekindle our passion for God, receive peace, and stock up on grace. It’s also where we can equip ourselves with appropriate tools for that other part of our purpose – our calling to impact this world with the healing grace of God’s light and love.

• I understand that there is a direct correlation between my commitment to the men’s Bible study and my effectiveness as a disrupter of darkness.
• I know absolutely that coming together as a worshipping community translates into more light throughout Wake Forest.
• I am confident that WFPC’s mission and outreach result in quantifiable love, literally changing lives in north Wake County.
• I can literally see peace, mercy, and grace transform families, and workplaces and more – simply in response to people investing themselves in the life and work of the church…

Our city is strong!
    We are surrounded by the walls of God’s salvation.
 Open the gates to all who are righteous;
    allow the faithful to enter.
 You will keep in perfect peace
    all who trust in you,
    all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
 Trust in the Lord always,
    for the Lord God is the eternal Rock. – Isaiah 26:1-4