God's Sovereignty and History

Christ Episcopal Church, founded in 1715, is the oldest church in North Carolina. Large trees surround the present building which was built in 1871 on the same spot where the first church was located. Spanish ivey hangs from the trees giving the church grounds a majestic appearance. King George II gave the church a five piece communion set which is displayed when not in use. All five pieces bear the royal arms and are completely hallmarked for London, in 1752, maker Mordecai Fox. This church has quite a heritag.

                                                                                   
This church and several other long existing churches are within a stone's throw of each other in the historic district of New Bern North Carolina.  New Bern is the second-oldest European-American town in North Carolina. It was settled in 1710 by Swiss/German immigrants. The Swiss named it after the capital of Switzerland. The town is old and the churches are old.

I walked the two or three streets where these old churches continue to welcome members as they have for, in some cases, between 250 and 300 years. I wondered about all that has taken place among the citizens of the historic town; the sermons, the prayers, the songs, the number of souls saved, the ministries, the people that have been served, the arguments, the preachers, priests, bishops, deacons, elders, and other leaders. I wondered about the time devoted by the congregants. How many millions of dollars have been given? I could continue to imagine and probably never get close to all that has been done in this little community over a period of almost three centuries.

These churches are more than memorials to those who sacrificed to keep the doors open. They are living, breathing, on going examples of what God’s Holy Spirit has done in the lives of people just like you and me during the hardest of times, impossible times when there was no way the work could have gone on and no way the doors should have remained open. I stood off in the distance from where the churches were. Looking back over the town in late afternoon there stood above everything else the steeples rising high, many steeples with crosses pointed heavenward indicating from where the power to continue came. Only God could and can provide the breath of life to empower His people to overcome obstacle after obstacle no matter how hopeless the victory may have seemed.

What's all this talk about terrible times? A couple of little storms strike our shores. Fires rage uncontrollably. A crazed county threatens World War III. Riots, looting, Confederate statues taken down? Which of those are too big for God to handle? Would any of those cause God to look down upon us and say, “Oh, how terrible and frightening! Get the horn ready Gabriel. I think it may be time to end it all. Getting too tough for me down there!” I don't think so. We aren't going to do anything to cause God to throw in the towel. He already knows what he's going to do, and when he's going to do it. I think he would say to us, saints, redeemed, “Remain faithful and trust in me.” We must keep strapping on our spiritual armor, and be ready if Gabriel does blow that horn.