Head Elder's Corner

Greetings in Christ. 

As I write this letter, I am sitting on an airplane flying from one end of this country to the other (again).  Looking out the window I can’t help but be awestruck by the beauty that God has created on this earth, especially in the United States of America. Leaving the east coast, I saw the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean.  As I moved west it changed to the majestic Appalachian Mountains.  To me it looked like God took out a paintbrush and just put every one of those mountains and valleys in just the right spot.  An hour later we were over the Midwest / flyover states. I couldn’t help but think about how those farms below me feed much of the world and how wonderful it is that God created such a place that very few children (or adults) in America go hungry.  Finally, the turbulence begins to pick up and I know I’m getting close to home - we are crossing the Rocky Mountains and into the wild west.  As I look out, the amount of wide-open space combined with the soaring mountains is just beautiful.  I can’t help but think none of it is an accident.  I firmly believe God designed and built the whole thing for each of us, every drop of water in the oceans, every mountain and valley in Appalachians and Rocky’s and yes, every corn stalk in the Midwest.  God has had a plan the whole time. 

In these crazy times of COVID-19, civil unrest, increasing cost for nearly everything and just general uncertainty in the world, it’s easy to fall into despair and feel like the world is coming to an end and we have been forgotten in God’s plan.  The beauty is - the world is coming to an end.  However, we are not forgotten, and it is ALL part of God’s plan.  In fact, God’s plan couldn’t be simpler.  Here it is summed up in one verse: “For God so loved the world that he sent his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” - John 3:16. God sent his son Jesus Christ into the world two thousand twenty-one years ago for one reason and one reason only - to live the perfect life and atone for mankind’s sins.  When the end of the world comes small things like COVID-19, debt, family issues, civil unrest and any other earthly problems won’t matter.  Absolutely NOTHING will matter except your baptism and your belief that Jesus Christ was sent into the world to die on the cross for your sins.

I love my earthly life and am so privileged to spend a significant part of it in an airplane looking down on the beauty God created.  However, I am also excited for the time I hear the air traffic controller tell me I’m cleared to climb from the upper reaches of the jet routes on into heaven. If earth is this beautiful, I can’t even fathom the miracles and majesty that will be waiting on all believers when we arrive in heaven. 

In Christ,
Andrew Craig

John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

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