Our church celebrated it's 100th Anniversary at our Homecoming Sunday yesterday. What a glorious day it was remembering the past and looking to the future. It was made evident through historical accounts that we have come a long way in 100 years. Our church has been blessed over the years because of the dedication of our founders and because of the faithfulness of so many through the years.
In order to continue to grow and prosper, it was pointed out that we need only to keep doing what we've been doing all those years. To continue to reach others for Christ and to reach another milestone, we must keep following in the footsteps and traditions of those before us. In the words of Dory the fish from the movie Finding Nemo, we must "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming..."
That advice rings true for many aspects of our lives. When we know that we know that we know that we are doing what God has told us to do, we mustn't quit - not matter how bleak the horizon may seem to us. We may not even know why we are doing what we're doing...but if God has told us to do it, that's all we need to know.
I'm sure there were several times over those 100 years that our forefathers sometimes became discouraged and wondered if they should even continue. Especially in the early days when there were only a handful of people meeting together, when the pastor was paid with a hog, and the church members were asked to donate an acre's harvest as offering. Chances are that someone somewhere down the line thought about giving up...throwing in the towel...calling it quits. Well, I'm certainly glad they didn't quit; and I'm sure there are hundreds of others who have been touched by our church over the years who are also grateful that they never gave up. Because of the dedication of others all those years ago, many have been blessed through the years. Because they "just kept swimming," a wonderful heritage was formed and countless lives have been touched. There is no way they could have known all those years ago what a lasting legacy they were creating...they were just doing what God had told them to do.
The same is true for us today. We may not have any idea who we are affecting, who may be influenced in the future, or what the outcome of our actions may be. Our present may even seem very dark, and we may be unable to find any clarity about our current situation. But if we are walking on the path where God has placed us...and if we continue in that path, even though we may not can see more than a couple of steps ahead of us...the results can be phenomenal; even everlasting.
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. " ~ Philippians 3: 12-14
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