What do these new houses have to do with the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 7 and 14 and you?
The new Bellesara housing development on Hunt being built by Rush Residential. This used to have just one home.
In Rev. 7 the 144,000 are Jewish believers chosen from the twelve tribes during the future great tribulation. They have God's seal on them so they are protected from His wrath. But this does not prevent them from being martyred.
Revelation 14 describes them as sexually pure, honest and following Christ. This helps them focus on telling the truth about God during the terrible persecution that comes before Christ returns. They remain committed and true to death as a kind of first fruits to God as Israel comes to repentance. In chapter 14 those martyred appear with Christ along with the survivors of the tribulation. It is a victorious picture which encourages future believers.
They encourage us by their godly and willing example of service to Christ in the face of the most terrible times of all history. They are committed even to death. That convicts me when I think of it. How often in discouragement it is easy to just give up.
This week I was taking a bike ride to refresh my mind. I rode into a new housing development nearby. There used to be one home on the land that now will have 30. I hear almost a thousand new residences will be added to the Harbor area in the next five years. Look at Hwy 16 at rush hour, count the new stop lights, listen to the many fire
Gig Harbor Maritime Days
sirens, number the new Starbucks and see the crowds coming. God has placed Discovery in the center. "You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem..." (Acts 1:8a). Gig Harbor is our Jerusalem. Will you have been faithful like the 144,000 when all believers stand with them at Christ's return?
With each week that passes a fall ground breaking for our new building project gets slimmer as we await word from the county. We are trusting God for His direction. With that in mind, our church leadership believes it's time for Awana to move forward -- full steam ahead! If we can start building this fall, we'll simply put Awana on hold for this year. Meanwhile, we're moving forward to start.
Awana plants the Word of God in the hearts of children in our church family and community. It is the truth of the Word that changes lives. With that in mind, we're rallying the troops. The Wils are passing the baton to Willie and Chris for this year. We thank God for the Wils and their loving, sacrificial service these past years! Same for each of you!We'll start Awana as soon as we can be ready, but not sooner than September 20. We’re moving it to Tuesday nights to take advantage of the school district’s “late-start Wednesdays!"
Is God leading you to join the team? Please let Willie or Chris know right away. Awana needs approximately 2o volunteers by a deadline of September 7. At this point, we already have 9 on board! PTL!
Pastor Mark