September 2009

Dear Neighbor,

The economy weighs heavily on our minds these days. The Lord’s Word has a lot to say about the economy. In the Book of Genesis we find the beautiful story of Joseph, who was sold by his brothers into slavery but eventually was raised up by the Lord to be the second ruler of Egypt. God showed Joseph that there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Joseph then understood that the Egyptians must save up food from the years of plenty. The Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) entrusted this job to Joseph, and through his work, Joseph saved not just the Egyptians but people of many lands from starvation.

Joseph represents the Lord in the story in Genesis. The Lord prepares us for spiritual hard times by storing up innocence, peace, love of our parents and love of others during the good times of infancy and childhood, in honeymoon states and other good times throughout our lives. These states can feed us in spiritually hard times.

One of the uses of temptations, or spiritually hard times, is to help us reset our priorities, and strengthen the good and true things we aim to stand for. We may get a new sense that the deepest happiness comes with mutual love and service, and not from bodily and worldly pleasures.

We may also learn again that the Lord is the only Savior. He is the only One who can give us our daily bread. Pharaoh told the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; whatever he says to you, do” (Gen. 41:55). We can become more willing to do whatever the Lord says. Then the Lord opens the storehouses for us and really feeds us spiritually.

The Lord is very carefully watching over our country, along with every other country and people on earth, as well as each of us and our families. He has created us to live in society with others to work together and learn to love our neighbors. Sometimes He must allow us to go through tough times, but He is working to turn these hard times into a blessing for all of us, as He did in Egypt with Joseph.

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Autumn Weekends Stand: The Kempton New Church will be running a stand on Saturdays and Sundays in October, offering homemade soup, sandwiches, pie, apples, cider and other food and drink. It is open from 11:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m. It is designed to serve people going up to Hawk Mountain and others out to enjoy the beautiful October weather. Stop by for lunch, or take home enough that you don’t have to cook supper. And you are welcome to try the spiritual food at services on Sunday mornings at 10:00, and on the website at KemptonNewChurch.org.

Sincerely,

Rev. Lawson M. Smith