God Will Provide

Written by Amelia Punt

I asked Jesus into my life at an early age, but I truly said yes to him on a Wednesday night at Camp Pinnacle in Clayton, GA when a missionary shared her testimony about serving God in Cambodia. With a campfire glimmering onto her face and in a soft voice, she shared how the government had taken her to a prison for sharing about Jesus. They only gave her dirty water to drink and a small, dark room to sit in with other women. But instead of questioning why she was taken there, she continued to share about Him and people came to know Jesus! This international missionary may not know it, but through sharing her trials and serving the Lord, she embedded the truth in my soul that God provides our needs no matter the circumstance, even when I have the tendency of forgetting his provision.

I had never experienced a “dark trial” until my junior year in high school when my dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 Non-Hodkins Lymphoma–a should have been death sentence. Both he and my mom were at the hospital for half the year and during that time, I chose to put up a front, hide, and deal with my emotions somewhere else. I hid my emotions by turning good things into idols. Those idols became sins and my sins seemed too big for God to redeem. It was a vicious cycle of sinning and repenting and sinning and repenting. I had forgotten who the God I had said yes to all those years ago. How could God save my dad and even me if I had disobeyed Him many times, over and over again? Inside I doubted if God would provide for my family physically and financially. I had turned away from Him secretly, while outwardly glorifying Him.

The Lord did provide not only a physical and financial healing, but a spiritual healing. In the midst of my doubts, hurt, and hiding, God healed my dad’s body and he has continued to be in remission to this day. God taught me that He is a forgiving and merciful God who always says, “Come to me” when we have repentant hearts.

When I wanted to go to Samford, He provided financially so that I would be able to attend Samford, where God graciously gave me friends and a husband. When my parents suffered financially, He provided in ways that are unimaginable by using other people in the church. When my major at college was being dissolved, God provided another major, including more financial provision. When J and I decided to move to Durham, God provided! When I was lonely and needed community, God provided Waypoint. While they were not immediate answered prayers, God saw me in the dark moments and provided.

God has provided my needs each step of the way, even when it’s difficult to trust, and even when we doubt Him. He has and will always provide your needs. God does not promise that we will not suffer or struggle, but that we must trust Him that He is a good Father who knows us and knows what we need and when we need it. He hears your cries when the money doesn’t add up, depression and/or anxiety creeps in, a death happens, or you’re lonely. Whatever your cry is to the Lord, He hears you! He provides our needs according to His purpose. Trust Him.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I have all I need” -Psalm 23:1NLT

What is a church?

Written by Ben Uthe

It is fascinating to think that throughout the centuries and in many different cultures this question has been answered very differently. For some church is gathering in secret by candlelight because their local government could arrest/harm them for doing this publicly. Some gather with 10,000 other people in a massive auditorium normally used for concerts or sporting events. All these people are “going to church.” In the Old Testament the place where God's presence dwelled had very detailed specifications and was limited to a particular place. Now God's presence is not limited to a tabernacle or the ark of the covenant. His presence dwells in every true follower through the Spirit given at conversion. In stark contrast to the elaborate OT temples, churches now meet in old, abandoned warehouses. How is this possible?

Some churches dance, clap their hands and sing loudly. Some of them sit in silence until the Spirit provokes someone to say something. Some churches have a culture of people wearing the best outfits they possibly can. Others show up in jeans and a t-shirt. There are hundreds of other differences that could be listed but at the end of the day all of these places are attempting to do the same thing-worship God. So it begs the question, what is a church?

At the end of the day the Church is about God and His people. It is about coming together to worship our savior who unites us. It's about a family of adopted brothers and sisters coming together to be a family. One of the best examples of what a church is intended to look like comes from the book of Acts in chapter 2:42-47. It reads “42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe[a] came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

These early believers were devoted. That word always sticks out to me. They were not going to leave if the music was not to their liking. Not only were they devoted to the apostles teaching but they were devoted to each other! They spent time together. They went to church together. They spent time in their homes together. They shared meals together. They shared the gospel with their communities together. They met needs as they arose. This is what church looks like! Sharing time and our lives can feel so costly and demanding at times if not near impossible. I am fearful that much of our ideas in America in 2021 about what church is are very far from these realities Luke lays out. Certainly, we should think about picking a church that has good theology, teaches the bible and is active to be on mission in their community. There are good and right criteria to sort through, but it has become far too easy to be so picky. To turn the church into a thing that is all about us and our personal preferences. If we don't like this one, we will find another down the street that caters to our agenda more. How did we get here?

One of the big observations from this is the main thing we are committing to in a church is the people! This is the local gathering of other Christians in our context. We are all citizens of another kingdom and are exiles here in this land. We gather to push one another towards Christ and towards his purposes for our lives and to fulfill his mission in our communities. My prayer is that when people think of a church we think about the book of Acts. I pray that we would think about a group of people who are devoted. They are devoted to the Lord and one other. They are committed to spending their lives together even though it is much easier not to. They are committed to sacrificially caring for other people around them because they are members of the same family. They are committed to doing gospel ministry in their city and see the Lord work in and change people's lives. This is what church is. It is not an event. It's not something to criticize. It's a local family to belong to.

Remembering Reality while Riding Round the Rolling Raleigh-Durham Roads

Written by Stephen Cole

Gently gripping firm but comfortable handlebars while gliding down a rolling hill. Autumn --70 degree-- wind dancing refreshingly around me. The sun whispering strongly through the trees and speckling the ground before me with dazzling patterns.

Beautiful.

And the trees.

The trees so very alive and animated! The fiery colors of the leaves brought Durham to life, and the satisfying sound of the fire leaves crackling beneath my bike tires sensationalized my ears as I rode to the nearby grocery to pick up some last-minute items for the new week.

What an incredible 45 minutes---lost in a Narnia-like landscape that I now call my home.

I haven’t experienced Fall quite like this for over 9 years (the last time I rode bikes and lived in North Carolina). It’s so easy it is to forget the beauty of this season and the glorious glimpses of God that exist beneath the rise and fall of the sun every day. In the annual change of leaves, in the trails right outside the apartment door, in the cool fall air reviving my lungs with each breath, in the small adventures to the nearby grocery, and in the smile of my wife after bringing home the spice that dinner was missing.

The reality of His presence and glory is all around---but I forget.

Forgetting.

It is something I am good at. Forgetting the goodness of God. Forgetting His faithfulness. His beauty. His glory. But he doesn’t forget; though he knows that I do. And it is a human condition. Sin makes sure of it. But God has set up so much in creation, in community, and in the Church to not let Sin or Satan have the last word.

I may forget to notice and experience creation, such as the changing of the trees, yet the change of seasons happens every year, and highlights the beauty of the Lord. It is a consistent reminder of His power to make beauty and goodness even in death, so that new resurrected life may come again in the Spring. Creation helps us remember.

And community.

Just months after moving to this new place, God led my wife and I to find Waypoint Church and so quickly participate in a local community that loves in Christ. We have now joined a community group and each week are graciously reminded of the reality of Christ in our lives and are consistently encouraged to seek, worship, and remember the nearness and love of Christ week in and week out.

Just last community group gathering we talked briefly about how becoming a Christian may not fix every struggle, stop every sin, change every suffering, or make us always remember Christ and his love—like flipping a switch—but, it does automatically adopt you into the family of God that will remind you to remember the reality of Christ. Just as our community group helps us remember each week. As a Christian, it is not about perfectly remembering all the ways to be a good Christian on our own, but rather, it is more-so about living in the family of God that prioritizes Christ-centered habits, sacraments, liturgies and rhythms that serve as grace filled reminders of the reality of our glorious Christ as King.

This kind of community was founded by God through the ages as the Church. The local Church exists to remind those who are lost of The Way, the Truth and the Life. And this is done in everyday practical ways such as worship, teaching, and preaching.

The sermon series on Revelation that Waypoint has been journeying through is chockfull of these reminders of the reality of Christ. I was hugely impacted hearing Pastor Danny, just a few weeks ago, rightly reminding the Church of the reality of Christ enthroned on high. The vision(s) that the apostle John recorded exist to let us not forget the reality of the Child who has triumphed, of the Lamb who was slain so the Dragon in his death throes cannot win, and of the reality to come when this same Christ returns for His people.

And that is just Revelation, the last book of many, full of reminders of reality. Christ wants us to remember. He even instituted the sacraments of the Church to remember His death and salvation found in Him alone. He commanded us to keep the Lord’s supper so we would routinely wake up to the reality of grace and remember what is true; that we are His and He is King.

I don’t know what your week will look like. I don’t know when the last time was that you were reminded of the grace and love of Christ, the reality of His Kingdom, or the glory and beauty of our Reigning King. But I hope you are reminded today.

If you feel stuck in a whirlwind of forgetting, like I often am, and/or your reality seems flooded or fogged by sin, suffering, or sadness. I encourage you to look around you at the rhythms and beauty of creation, to seek to dwell in caring community—pray for it, pursue it, ask for it---,and to submit and participate in the local Church that exists to reveal and remember the reality of Christ.