All of us know what it is to feel anxious, to feel afraid.  We know what is to experience uncertainty and restlessness.  We have all experienced sleepless nights, we are well-acquainted with sorrow and sadness.  We know what it is to call out to God from the depth of a troubled heart.  David writes in Psalm 69:3...I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.  Like a small child, there is something within us that longs be held close, to know we are safe and secure.

Janice and I are grateful that we were able to meet our grandson shortly after he was born, before all the chaos of this pandemic was unleashed.  At one point he was a little fussy and I took him and wrapped him tightly in his blanket and held him close and rocked him to sleep.  It brought back memories of when Scott was a little guy.  To get him to settle we would often do the same thing, wrap him tightly and hold him close, rocking him until he fell asleep.  As a toddler, I used to pick him up and hold him close.  He would squirm and say 'ti...ght' and try to escape.  But eventually he would simply settle into my arms.

Friends, we are all like that, we long to be held close and to know that everything is going to be okay.  We long for the comforting embrace of God.  In Psalm 131, David acknowledges there are some things he does not understand; things that are beyond his ability to comprehend or that may trouble him.  I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. (131:1)  But, he says...I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content. (131:2)

It's David who wrote the familiar words of Psalm 23, in which he says of God: He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. (23:2-3)  Such rest, while it may seem elusive at times, is available for all who trust in the Lord.  Maybe some of us just need to run to our Shepherd!  

David ends Psalm 23 this way:  Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (23:6)  It is a wonderful picture of being wrapped in the goodness and love of God and speaks of the eternal security we have in Him. 

My friends at Valley, I pray that you would hold on to that image of being held close by God, wrapped in His goodness and love, forever secure in Him.

As a church family at Valley, we join with many across our nation, in the United States and around the world to pray for God’s mercy and grace into the lives of so many who are broken and deeply wounded; who are experiencing grief and sorrow.  We lament the brutal and senseless death of Mr. George Floyd and many others who have died unjustly. We know that such injustice and division grieve the heart of God and stand in contrast to His love and His Word.
 
We pray for comfort for those mourning.  We pray for forgiveness, healing and reconciliation--those things that reflect the truth we find in the Holy Scriptures; that reflect God’s heart to all mankind.  We affirm the truth of Colossians 1:20 that reminds us that God, through the Lord Jesus was pleased to reconcile to himself all things…by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. 
 
We, as the people of God reject inequality as being contrary to God’s will and ways.  We recognize this as a problem not only beyond the borders of our nation but within our borders as well.  As we listen to the voices of minority groups in our land, we cannot dismiss the truth that racial prejudice affects many Canadians.  We affirm God’s desire to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.  (Ephesians 1:10)
 
We confess and declare the truth of the Bible that all human beings are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and as such, everyone has value and dignity.  Further, we confess and declare that there is no place for the kind of hostility and division that is so prevalent today.  While we condemn any abuse of power, we also recognize that there are those in authority over us (Romans 13:1-7).  They deserve our respect and cooperation.  We give thanks for police officers, firefighters and first responders who serve with honor and routinely put their lives on the line to protect and serve our communities.
 
Our commitment at Valley is to be a people and place where all are treated with Christ-like love, and where we honor and serve one another as we are exhorted to do in the Bible (Romans 12:10; Galatians 5:13). To this end, we will listen and learn that we may be part of the solution and agents of blessing in a hurting world.  Where we have fallen short, we ask for forgiveness.  We accept our responsibility to embrace and proclaim the truth of the Gospel and its implications regarding racial diversity, for we are all one in Christ (Galatians 3:28).
 
We humble ourselves and seek God’s wisdom and guidance, for He has said, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.     (2 Chronicles 7:14)

As Christians we hold as sacred and precious the Bible, the Word of God, given to us to show us how to live; how to be rightly related to our Creator and His creation, including one another.  The Bible is for us, our source of authoritative truth, it guides our lives day-by-day.  In the pages of the Bible, God is revealed to us, His faithfulness, compassion and love, as well as His holiness, justice and righteous anger -- in it, we see the heart of God.

Early in the storyline of the Bible we read:  Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (Genesis 6:5-6 - NKJV)  The turning away from God, from the ways of God and from the truth of His Word, the evil and injustices in our world today must grieve the heart of God, as in the days of Noah.

The Bible tells of a time when Jesus approached the city of Jerusalem...as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it. (Luke 19:41 - NKJV)  He wept because things were not the way they were supposed to be.  Once again the people had turned away from God, they were not in a place where they could receive His message of peace and grace.  I think Jesus would weep today as He sees what is going on in our nation, in the nation to the south of us and in countries around the world.  Today Jesus weeps for a world divided by hatred, racism and injustice; where instead of celebrating and embracing diversity, we treat one another with contempt.  The manifestation of what can only be labelled as pure evil grieves the heart of our Lord.

As a boy, growing up about 80km from Detroit, I remember the images of the riots of 1967, as the city burned.  I remember the unrest a year later when Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy  were assassinated.  50 years later, the streets still burn, has anything really changed?  People are still gripped by fear and a deep-seeded anger, fueled by a longing for change.   We are long way from Dr. King's dream.

In 1996 I had the privilege of attending the Promise Keepers Clergy Conference in Atlanta where nearly 40,000 pastors gathered to worship and hear from God.  At one point, the racial discord in the nation and in the Church was addressed, and in a powerful moment of healing and reconciliation men of different color and race joined hands as we sang with Steve Green, 'Let the Walls Come Down'.  (See the link on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTISgin4_Ww)  Today, we need to pray again, 'let the walls come down'.

A few years ago, Janice and I were part of a Leadership Summit in Chicago.  In the closing session we shared communion with church leaders from around the world. It still remains in my mind one of the most powerful images of what heaven will be like, when...a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues (Revelation 7:9) will declare with one voice the praises of our God.
Today, we need to pray for more of heaven here on earth.

As Christians we are called to carry a message of healing and grace and mercy, a message of reconciliation and peace to a hurting world. The Bible says....if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14).  There is no government program that can heal the hatred and violence and racial divide we are seeing today. Only God can change a hate-filled heart; the heart of God is reconciliation and peace.

So my friends at Valley, pray for peace, pray for reconciliation, pray for healing, for good to triumph over evil.  Pray for calm and wise leadership.  Pray for the Church, that we might be His instrument to bring grace and hope to our world.  Pray the words of Jesus in John 17:  I pray...that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23)