ONLINE CHURCH BULLETIN

Gold in Uncertain Times"

1 Peter 1.18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as  silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down  to you from your forefathers,

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a  lamb without blemish or defect.

20 He was chosen before the creation of the  world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

21 Through him you  believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your  faith and hope are in God. 

22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you  have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 

23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,  through the living and enduring word of God.

24 For,  “All men are like grass,  and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;  the grass withers and the flowers fall, 

25 but the word of the Lord stands  forever.”  And this is the word that was preached to you.

Most serious investors have not been very impressed with the performance of  gold over the last 20 years.  Of course, the mineral--not a profit-making  company--does not really perform.  Investors look at the prices paid for the  metal over the years but they do not look at balance sheets or income  statements for it.  So when one wants to sell gold, what does he do?  You may  have heard the strong male voice reminding us that we live in "times of  uncertainty."  Gold is offered as something that will make us...more certain.   That seems to be the logic presented and I lack the interest to request the  free booklet about this.

However, I like the recognition that the times are uncertain.  We have little  control and often little understanding of events in our world and in our  communities.  When illness strikes, we may even have little control of our  bodies.  A bad case of the flu is all it takes to let you know that you  cannot always "keep cool."  Has anyone since Adam thought he lived in  "certain times"?

Is gold the solution to our anxiety about our uncertain times?  God answered  this question long ago.  Peter dismissed gold and silver as "perishable  things."  In these time of uncertainty, we can be certain that the precious  blood of Christ has the permanent, constant power to redeem us and continue  to cleanse us.  No amount of gold, silver or dollars can do what the blood of  Christ does for those who follow Him.

We have His promise that He will be with us always and that is better than  gold.  If you have Christ, you are rich!

Dear Father, we are so grateful for the Christ.  His blood is precious to us.   We are thankful for the redemption and cleansing we have in Him.  May we  walk in joy and hope today as we follow Him.  Help those who are hurting.   Help us as we share the true riches in Christ.  We ask this in the name of  Christ, the Precious One.  Amen. 1 John 5.14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask  any thing according to his will, he heareth us:  15 And if we know that he  hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we  desired of him.

Only God can know HOW our prayers WORK but we believe HE answers. Please  write me to add names to the prayer list and to report changes in status.

Let us be thankful and prayerful!

Love
Brad Forgy