I’m glad you are here on what promises to be a blessed day! Our children in Children’s Church will sing to the Lord in our worship service this morning. We’ll also give them awards for memorizing the books of the Bible. Shelly McGhee faithfully leads Children’s Church year after year. Thank you, Shelly!

Today also marks Pastor Nathan’s second year with us! He is a gifted pastor. He has done an extraordinary amount of work behind the scenes to bring us up to where we need to be musically, and technologically. He is also doing the Lord’s work in discipling students. Thank you to Nathan and his sweet wife Jennifer!

Today is the next to last sermon in the series “Divine Providence.” Years ago Ron Dunn wrote, “The purpose of God is to conform us to the image of His Son . . . it is the providence of God that accomplishes that purpose in our daily lives.” That means God sometimes takes us to scary and bewildering places. Yet He also takes us to some pleasant places. If we zoom out, the day will come when we will see God’s guiding hand in the arc of our lives. We are going to look at all this in the life of Jacob this morning.

The “Value The Both” Amendment is voted on Tuesday. If it fails, Kansas will continue to be a destination state for abortion. Full-term abortions will still be legal here. This amendment doesn’t outlaw abortion. It simply embeds in the state constitution that there is no right to an abortion. So we pray it passes. Our sign will be taken down the day before the election because we are a polling place. Sacred Heart will be doing the same.

I know this is a volatile issue. However, Christians are called to stand on matters of injustice. It’s impossible to stand on every injustice because the world is filled with them. However, the most helpless person in the world is an unborn baby. This is THE justice issue of our day. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer famously said, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Thanks to so many of you who graciously stand. I’ve heard stories of some of you speaking for life in your workplace, or in a social setting. Lord bless you for your courage. And as always, there is no judgmentalism from any believer. God’s grace covers all of our sin: past, present, and future. God loves you. We love you. I love you. Aren’t you glad God loves us, and this world is not our home?