Faithful

How do you tell an 80-year-old story, especially a church’s story? Buildings might change, pastors change, music changes, but there’s one constant through it all – God.

Psalm 100
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

He was faithful 80 years ago, He’s faithful today, and He’ll continue to be faithful in the future. Celebrating our church’s 80th birthday is a celebration of the faithfulness of God to Long Hill Chapel (LHC).

Look What God Has Done
Psalm 100
3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

So, who has actually sustained this church? Not great leadership. Not great programs. Not perfect decisions. God.

Look What God Is Doing
Psalm 100 doesn’t just ask us to recognize God’s faithfulness. It calls us to respond to it.

Psalm 100
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

As you walk through life, it’s important to look at what God has done, but then you need to do something about it. One of the most important things we need to recognize is how God has chosen to demonstrate His faithfulness in us and at LHC.

Think about the people of your past who came before you. They showed up. And that’s what people have done over 80 years at LHC. They showed up – they moved to the area, their kid went to youth group, they were invited to a bible study, they attended an event, they started serving, they gave, they prayed, they invited someone else. They were simply faithful in their moment.

God took thousands of ordinary moments of faithfulness from ordinary people and used them to build something that would outlive them here at LHC.

• People have prayed, served, sacrificed, and given to this church for decades.
• Some people aren't here anymore—some are with Jesus—who prayed for things they never got to see.
• People prayed for you to join them at LHC, and now they sit in the pew next to you.

Eighty years ago, people we never met prayed, gave, served and sacrificed because they believed God wanted to do something here. And we're living inside the answer to some of their prayers.

Now, we don't only have to look backward to see God's faithfulness. Look around you today. God works through people. HE was faithful through them FOR you, and He will work through YOU for someone else.

Trust What God Will Do
Psalm 100
5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

God was faithful before we came. It didn’t stop with the generation who built the walls of our church. It didn’t stop with us. It continues through all generations.

Leaders change, seasons change, and generations change. But the future of Long Hill Chapel rests in the same place its past has always rested: in the hands of a faithful God.

Psalm 100 doesn't tell God's people to figure everything out. It tells us to worship, be thankful, and respond to God's faithfulness. Someday another generation will be at our church celebrating what God has done.

Until then, we can show up, give, love, make disciples, and remain faithful because He is faithful.

Check out the full sermon from Pastor Michael Hoddy and Pastor Joey Monteleone here!