In these days of uncertainty and troubling economic confusion many are experiencing fear as they look toward a future that holds few answers for family stability. We of the Coleman Memorial Chapel want to assure each of you that we stand with you. We pray for you and we are here to offer comfort and help in your times of despair and need. We encourage you to contact us if you have a problem and we will do all in our power to assist you in whatever way that we can. These are not times to “tough” it out alone and/or to bottle up your concerns, fears or needs. Please, contact our office if we can be of assistance to you or your family. We are all experiencing the same day to day struggles as each of you. The Lord knows our needs and weaknesses and is not deaf to our cries for His mercy and intervention. As a church family it is important to stand firm and remain sensible and focused as we face the storms of physical, emotional and spiritual need. There are no quick fixes to the challenges that are before us but there is a savior who is rock solid in His ability to chart the future course that we all need to follow in faith and assurance. As a church we will not know of your struggles if you do not keep us informed and current with what’s happening in your life. We all must work together and emerge as the body of Christ to find those “green pastures and cool streams” that we are seeking.

As your pastor I am encouraging you to talk with me about life’s struggles and allow us to pray with and for you for strength and renewal of spirit. There is nothing too large or small for us to talk and pray about. While none of us have all of the answers for every issue we do possess a guide and source, the word of God to help us charter times such as these. People are losing jobs, watching their life savings disintegrate before their very eyes, facing crippling physical dilemmas that they have never witnessed before, have sunken into some of the deepest depressions they have ever known and are watching world and political events unfold that are senseless and will never bring lasting peace and hope to their troubled spiritual lives. The presidents stimulus package will never bridge the gap of the inner turmoil that many of our friends and neighbors are facing today. We need a revival of the heart and mind that can only come from God. I believe that many of us are going to learn “the stuff” that we are made of in the weeks and months ahead as the political and financial crisis only worsens and we as a people and nation sink deeper into the mire of human folly as we search for empty solutions to problems that man can not reverse with human ingenuity.

I often play a song for you in worship, “My Hope is in the Lord” and I firmly believe that the realization of that truth is where it must begin for each of us. I encourage you to trust God in ways that you have never sought or trusted Him before. Trust God when it comes to your job, your family, your finances, your home, your retirement and trust God to provide the very bread that you find on your table at meal time. If you are not already practicing practical faith and gratefulness unto the Lord, I encourage you to begin cultivating and living a life of faith and graciousness in your daily routines. When you are mad, sad, scared, confused and filled with every imaginable anxiety, let the Lord carry the burdens that we are ill prepared or capable of shouldering. God can perform and accomplish the impossible because nothing is too hard for the Lord.

My friend, we stand with you and my hope and prayer is that you will let us walk with you and be your companion in a time when many are looking for any thing that may relieve the pain of life if only for a moment. I have learned that human relationships fail, friends and family some times prove unreliable. The church may not always provide the answer that you are looking for. Every thing in your life today may well be the assimilation of fractured plans and dashed dreams. BUT..Jesus Christ never fails! Hold on to life, hold on to hope and face life today with the knowledge that our earthly struggles only represent a time of testing and challenge. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17