steadfast love.

this morning i read:

" 'this is like the days of Noah to me: as i swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so i have sworn that i will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. for the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my STEADFAST LOVE shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed' says the Lord, who has compassion on you." isaiah 54:9-10

what great truth that i need to remember every day. that the Lord loves with a love that cannot be broken or withdrawn. it is undeserved and freely given, and therefore we cannot do anything to disqualify ourselves from receiving it. we cannot earn it, and therefore we cannot lose it. and that is what sustains through the good times and the hard, hope in the fact that we live for the eternal, hope which cannot be taken away.

last week at church we started a new sermon series after having spent the past two years studying the book of  luke. since i only moved up to seattle just over a year ago, that's all i've known! it was exciting to start a new series. last week's sermon was more of a documentary on mars hill, how it got started in a living room, made its way through multiple sites around seattle, drew in all kinds of people who just kind of wandered in off the street and had their lives transformed. i was encouraged to see the boldness with which the gospel has always been preached, and how mars hill has grown against all odds. to see how even through impossible circumstances and hard times, the church persevered, holding onto the hope that the gospel is true and that everyone should have the opportunity to hear it.

seeing the behind the scenes look at how the church came to be where it is now was neat. i was reminded that many of the things that are involved in the process are things that i really enjoy: things like figuring out how to get stuff done in the most efficient and effective way, or how to make people feel welcome, how to serve them, how to do real life with people and point them to truth. if you want to see the story, you can check it out HERE.

gosh. it got late fast! and there's so much to blog about.

until next time,
tracey