Waiting on the Lord

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IN THIS ISSUE OF THE HILLSBORO CHRISTIAN

By Brad Clouse

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (Psalm 27:14, NIV)

Psalm 27 is a psalm written by David. It is clear from the context of this psalm that it was written during a turbulent period in David’s life. Warren Wiersbe suggests that “it was probably written when he was exiled from home and being hunted by King Saul and his men.” Whatever the period, David was certainly troubled, yet he expresses his trust in the Lord: “For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5). How could David have this confidence in the Lord’s protection as men sought to do him harm? He took the time to seek God in prayer and get directions from Him.

David ends this psalm with these words: “Wait on the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD” (v.14). He learned the importance of waiting on the Lord. By learning to do so, David found the strength and courage he needed to continue faithfully serving God. It is the prophet Isaiah who writes: “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31, KJV). How beneficial it is to our faith to have the promise that we will be strengthened by the Lord when we wait on Him. However, waiting for anything just doesn’t come naturally to us: “We need only to sit and wait for somebody to reverse out of a parking space to be reminded of how important we really are. Usually, we desire that our needs be met according to our timetable, and modern life teaches us that this is a fair demand. And yet this lack of patience poses a major problem for the Christian - because if we find it difficult to wait, we will find it very difficult to walk by faith” (Alistair Begg).

Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David is encouraging his readers to wait on the Lord by seeking Him and relying upon Him.

When David cried out in prayer, God answered him in his heart: “Seek his face!” (v.8) There is nothing from God’s Word that suggests that this waiting is passive. While we are waiting on Him, we continue seeking Him; obeying Him; serving Him: “Wait at his door with prayer; wait at his foot with humility; wait at his table with service; wait at his window with expectancy” (Charles Spurgeon). As we wait upon the Lord, we must continue to trust in Him –who He is; what He has done; what He promises to do: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you” (Isaiah 26:3).

The theme for this month’s newsletter is WAITING ON THE LORD. As a body of believers, may we learn to wait upon the Lord, knowing that He is faithful to keep His promises. “Many of his promises bear a long date but they are sure and infallible. Wait, therefore” (John Trapp). So, as we wait on Him, let us keep seeking Him, knowing that He will strengthen His own.

“I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

(Psalm 130:5-8, KJV)

In Christian love, Brad

“Most of us use ‘I’m waiting for God to reveal His calling on my life’ as a means of avoiding action. Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday? Or to go on your last vacation? Or exercise this morning? Probably not, but you still did it. The point isn’t that vacations or exercise are wrong, but that we are quick to rationalize our entertainment and priorities yet are slow to commit to serving God.” (Francis Chan)

“The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:25-26)

“Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given.” (G. Campbell Morgan)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brad Clouse, a Louisville, Kentucky native, graduated from Louisville Bible College in 2010 with a Master's Degree in Sacred Literature after earning his former degrees at the same university. Brad served at smaller churches in Adair County Kentucky while in college before being called to Ohio in 2009. Brad ministered to the New Vienna Church of Christ congregation for 12 years before being called to the Hillsboro Church of Christ as the Senior Minister.

Looking for a daily connection to scripture?

We’ve created a daily morning devotional that you can find on YouTube, Facebook, or our website.

Each day one of the guys breaks down a few verses of the text for us to connect with in more understandable chunks. Each one lasts 3-5 minutes long.

What a great way to start your morning! Check it out!

Grab your Bibles, let’s go through the Word! Thank You, The Evelyn Everetts family would like to thank everyone for their prayers. A special thanks to THEO for providing the funeral lunch. God bless you all.

Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center

2023 Walk for Life & Bike for Life

The Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center invites you to Walk for Life on Saturday, September 16, 2023.

It’s a two-mile walk that begins and ends at the Center (135 W. Walnut, Hillsboro). The Walk is non-athletic, wheelchair, and stroller friendly. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m.

The Walk begins at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 10:00 a.m.

See Brad and Julie Clouse and pick up your Walk Sponsor Brochure today.

The Southern Ohio Pregnancy Center provides love, assistance, and support to moms, their babies, and families in need.

Thank you for helping the SOPC make a difference in the lives of so many!

30 years ago, Samaritan’s Purse took 200 boxes into war torn Bosnia to a missionary at Christmas time and thus began the ministry of Operation Christmas Child. Today over 200 million boxes have been taken to mission spots like the one below and into areas of the world where the gospel of Jesus Christ has never been heard.

In each case the people were eager and ready to hear the message and receive the hope of Jesus Christ to their lives.

The Hillsboro Church of Christ has sent between 300-500 boxes each year for several years. Since the boxes have tracking info on the labels, we learned some of our boxes from 2021 went to the Philippines.

This year we would like to send 400– 500 boxes again, or more. To do this we need as many members as

possible to come along side us with supplies or money donations (we will be glad to shop for you). To do this project we need about $7000.

Our needs are: 400 boxes of crayons, 1000 pencils, 400 pink erasers, 500 pairs of scissors, 100 boxes of color pencils, 500 pencil sharpeners, 300 small stuffed animals, 400 hot wheels cars.

If you are making a monetary donation, your envelope can be marked “OCC shoebox” and place them in any of the giving boxes around the sanctuary. The office keeps a record for us so we know how much we can spend.

A group meets Wednesdays 11-3 if you want to help in any way.

Marsha Williams

Here is a report from a parent who’s child received a box from a church like ours and how she helps in the mission work of her church in the area.

“Good evening to all of you . . . We are from Barangay Sawang, Aroroy, Masbate, Philippines. We would like to say thank you to all the gifts that we received from all the members of your church. Two child had received a box with a letter attached inside that’s why we had the chance to look for your Facebook account.

Thank you! Thank you so much for the boxes packed with love and prayers. It bring so much joy to the children of our small ministry.

We are Jerusalem Christian Church under the Word of Hope Church.

Again thank you so much and we are praying for all of you, a good health and more blessings from God.

Our place is far from the city and we ride on small boats to travel to buy our personal needs.

I’m sorry if my reply to you is late because the signal here in our place is very poor to connect. But if I am in the city, there the signal is fine.

Maybe God has a purpose that one of the letter goes inside the box of my daughter because most of the 50 children who received the gift from you do not have gadgets and no social media accounts to reach.

In behalf of our ministry and all the members, Thank you so much for those boxes of love and prayers that we received.

Wishing you all more blessings from God so that you can give more happiness to other children around the world.”

Your sister in Christ

Richelle Sawang, Aroroy, Masbate, Philippines

When we study linguistics, we can find out how important a concept is for a language group by paying attention to how many different words a language has for a particular concept. You may have heard before that Greek has four distinct words often translated as “love” in English, each with a different meaning, from romance to brotherhood to general love. Biblical Hebrew has seven distinct words that are translated into English as “praise.”

Today I want to wrestle with one of those particular words as we explore the concept of waiting on the Lord, which is the concept of tôwdâh. Strong’s Dictionary translates tôwdâh as an extension of the hand, avowal, or adoration; a choir of worshippers; confession, sacrifice of praise, and thanksgiving. One popular Christian author defines tôwdâh as “a Hebrew word that means an extension of the hand in thanksgiving for what God has done. But it also means a sacrifice of praise for things not yet received” (Darren Whitehead, Holy Roar p.59).

Lifting a word of praise during a time of abundance is an easy thing to do. “Thank you, God, for (this obviously amazing blessing) that you have poured out” is a response many of us have had in life. But do you choose to praise Him in the moments where you know he has promised an outcome, but the outcome has not yet arrived?

Tôwdâh is choosing to praise like Elijah on Mt Carmel, crying out to God in the full knowledge that he can prove his might over the prophets of Ba’al (1 Kings 18). Tôwdâh is choosing to worship like Jehoshaphat when three major armies are coming to destroy the people of God (2 Chronicles 20). Tôwdâh is choosing to live a life like Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, who looked into the eyes of a furious King and said, ‘Our God can save us from the worst you can throw at us, but even if he chooses not to, we will not bow down to you’ (Daniel 3).

In our fast-paced, microwave-speed society, I have personally experienced moments when I did not have the answers from God I wanted. But we are not promised the answers that we want. We are promised that God is good and that he is working for the good of his kingdom. So, what we do instead is praise his holy name. We have seen him proven time and again throughout history, so it is incumbent on us to have faith in what he can and will do.

A popular worship song that we sing puts it this way:

Walking around these walls

I thought by now they'd fall

But you have never failed me yet. Waiting for change to come

Knowing the battle's won

For you have never failed me yet. Your promise still stands

Great is your faithfulness

Faithfulness.

I’m still in your hands

This is my confidence

You’ve never failed me yet (Elevation Worship, ‘Do It Again’)

God has not ever failed. He will not fail. He cannot fail. There may be seasons when we cannot see or understand what God is doing. Those are precisely the seasons when we must lean in on the concept of tôwdâh. God is not only worthy of worship when life is happy. God is always worthy of worship.

in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render [tôwdâh] to you.

Psalm 56:11-12 (ESV)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Micah is currently serving HCC as Worship Minister, as well as leading our Evangelism team and coordinating our online presence.

He is pictured here with his wife, Rebecca, kids; Rowan, Luci, Kennedy, and Finn, his mother and father; Steve and Valeri Herrick.

On August 13, 2023, Christina Chlopik and her daughter Cierra Lively placed their membership here with us. On that very same day, Christina’s son, Camden Lively, was baptized into Christ. What a special day for his family!

On August 20, 2023, Luke Middleton was baptized into Christ by his friend Justin Hughes. Let us give God praise for He is the One who gives the increase!

On August 20, 2023, Kora McCarty was baptized into Christ. It is such a blessing to witness young people submitting their lives to Christ.

Pick a pumpkin - Painting

Bouncy House - Corn pit

Straw maze - and a train ride

Any child younger than kindergarten must be chaperoned Transportation is available from the church. We will leave promptly at 5:00 pm

Our Outdoorsmen for Christ ministry will have a meeting Sunday, September 10th, at 3:00 p.m. , at Rick Hughes’ home. Anyone currently involved with this ministry or anyone who would be interested in this ministry is welcome to come. This will be a general meet and greet along with discussion of future plans/events for the Outdoorsmen ministry.

You can call the church office for Rick’s address or give Rick a call.

Guardian Angel is a new ministry we are starting here at Hillsboro Church of Christ. We did this a few years back and have decided to revive it.

The Guardian Angel Ministry is where you pray daily for a student and send encouraging notes monthly. Giving any small gifts is optional.

You can go to our website: hillsborochurch.net/guardianangel to join this ministry or to enroll your student to participate.

Registration will be open through September 23, 2023.

Last day to join the Guardian Angel ministry, check it out on our website: hillsborochurch.net/guardianangel ** see pg. 15

will meet in the Connection Café from 5:30 to 7:00

Trunk-N-Treat is happening here at Hillsboro Church of Christ. We are collecting candy for this event (must be wrapped candy). More information coming soon.

AREA 937 IS COLLECTING CANNED PASTA (CHEF BOY-ARDEE) FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER

P r a y e r

09/01/2023

Health and Other:

Chuck Chaney

Bill Clouse

Wava Labig

Ohio Mission Bible Training Center

Janet Pence

Shalom Orphanage

Dom Smart

Linda Smith

Don Watson

Sharon Webb

Wayne Wiedenbein

REQUESTS

Family Loss: Wigginton Family

Missions: The Brittons, The Millers, The Newmans

Shut Ins:

Jewel Calmes

John Porter

Carol Setty

Sharon Webb

Cancer:

Jeffery Aurigema

Ken Aurigema

Jeff Beam

Rob Butler

Vicki Butler

Kari Crafton

Judy Roush

Mark Sears

HCC Leadership:

Steve Allen

Brad Clouse

Roger Epley

Dan Fauber

Jeff Griffith

Micah Herrick

Mike Labig

Adam Steele

Richard VanZant

Military:

Tyler Amos

Ryan Burns

Mark Conover

Thadeus Conover

Corey Hughes

Alex Klein

Phillip Mycroft

Average attendance for the month of August was 359

Average weekly giving for the month of August $14,074.50

Our weekly need is: $11,229.13