August 30, 2026
Dear friends in Christ grace and peace to you. The message for this week comes from
Jeremiah 15:15-21.
I recently finished reading a book about Louis Zamperini. Zamperini and his crew mates were on board a B-24 bomber ironically looking for another plane that was missing when it went down in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. Zamperini and two of his crew mates survived the crash and drifted for 47 days on a raft. Enduring unbelievable hardship along the way one of them died before Zamperini and his surviving crew mate were rescued by the crew of a Japanese ship. This was only the beginning of an amazing story of survival and the incredible suffering and human atrocities that took place during their imprisonment. Zamperini, not a religious man began to pray in earnest. When it seemed as if he could take no more punishment, somehow after each incident he found the strength to live.
In our text for this week Jeremiah’s faith is challenged severely. Jeremiah kind of an emotional guy to begin with complains to God about his predicament. People are trying to kill him and as a prophet who is sent to preach God’s word, no one is listening to him. The Lord promises to take care of Jeremiah but still Jeremiah continues to complain.
We can probably all relate to times in our lives when nothing seems to be going our way. Our world seems to be crumbling around us. And like Jeremiah, we likely complain to God asking him why is this happening to me? In the Zamperini story, Louis is defiant. He is not going to let the enemy get the best of him. He turned to God in his own way and it appears that God took care of Louis. Even though Zamperini endured suffering beyond human imagination he survived to tell his story. And the soldiers who were imprisoned alongside him were encouraged and uplifted by Louis to continue to live.
Jeremiah was angry with God for seeming to be ignoring his plight. Louis Zamperini didn’t say he felt that way toward God but it is clear that God was looking after him.
The Lord reminds Jeremiah as he reminds us “I am with you, to rescue and save you.” Let us keep the faith.
May the peace of God be with all of you as you turn to the Lord in prayer and know that he always walks beside you.
Michael Isaacson
August 23, 2026
Dear friends in Christ grace and peace to you. The message for this week comes from
Isaiah 51:1-6.
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and the quarry from which you were hewn…”
I attended a fund raising event for an area church recently. As I was looking over the items that would be offered at an auction, I happened to see a couple of boxes of books with a note above them that read: “free.” One book caught my eye. I picked it up; it smelled musty like it had been in a basement somewhere for a while. It was an old book, the copyright was 1976. The book written by Charles Colson was entitled Born Again.
Many who are reading this weekly message are old enough to remember the Watergate Scandal, an event that happened during the Nixon administration. Charles Colson was one of the men charged with a cover up of the event. As I recall it was a mess. Lots of finger pointing, lots of investigations; it captured the attention of the whole nation. Colson was one of then President Nixon’s closest aides. He was the “fix it” man. Colson was merciless in is actions to protect the president’s reputation and his loyalty to the president was second to none. As things began to unfold Colson was front and center to allegations. Colson had many friends and among them where some who had given their lives over to Christ. In the midst of this scandal and up to his neck in legal trouble, through his Christian friends Charles Colson as they say found Christ. But the reality is Christ found him. His life changed, he looked to the one from which he was cut and the place from where he had come from.
We might not be in trouble as Charles Colson was but we might at times know the feeling of hopelessness as our world seems to be crashing in around us. We probably don’t know who or where to turn to for help and sometimes we end up turning to the wrong things for help. Scripture reminds us that we are created in God’s image. When we were baptized, we were marked in the waters of our baptism with the sign of the cross indelibly marking us as one of God’s own children. As a loving parent cares for his/her children so God loves and cares for each of his children. He longs for us to communicate with him, to turn to him in prayer and ask for his help. Help might not come in the way we expect, but it will come when we give ourselves, our lives to him.
May the peace of God be with all of you as you turn to the God who created you in his image and wants to hear from you.
Michael Isaacson
