06/01/2026
Hey Church,
If someone was to ask you, "What will the future be like?" how would you respond? Back in the 1950s you had visions of the future like Disney's "Tomorrowland" that embodied an optimistic perspective where things will keep getting better and better. When I grew up, it felt like anytime the future was depicted the artists envisioned a dark, gritty world overrun by an evil corporation or robots. So which is it?
Sadly, I think the dystopian perspective has become the default on how things are going and how they're going to be. We're regularly stirred up with talking points on the collapse of society, the economy, or even the world! If we're to believe all the messaging we hear, it's easy to believe that the future is hopeless... but what does God think?
In 2 Corinthians 4, the apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote "Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
We can hardly imagine the intense persecution that Paul experienced in the days of the early church. Beatings, imprisonments, and executions were all very real fears detailed throughout the pages of scripture... yet their hope endured. If anyone had an excuse to succumb to despair, it was them, but still they considered their plight to be a "momentary light affliction" compared to "incomparable eternal weight of glory" that awaits all who are united with Christ.
What would happen if we looked beyond the headlines and made the eternal our goal? What would that do to our courage and our witness? Like Paul professed, we who are filled with the Holy Spirit of God are "being renewed day by day" because of the new life that's within us. We who are in Christ have the promises of God made visible through His Word and are filled with His Holy Spirit... so compared to that, how can we not have hope?
This month, I want to challenge you to cling onto hope in God's promises. God has never forgotten His people and He will never abandon His world. Through what Jesus Christ has accomplished on the cross, we have a brighter future than even Walt Disney could have imagined.
- Pastor Michael
