Did you know that the southernmost point of Africa has for centuries experienced tremendous storms?  For many years no one even knew what lay beyond that cape, for no ship attempting to round that point had ever returned to tell the tale.  Among the ancients it was known as the "Cape of Storms," and for good reason.  But then in the sixteenth century, a Portuguese explorer, Vasco De Gama, successfully sailed around that very point and found beyond the wild raging storms, a great calm sea, and beyond that, the shores of India.  The name of that cape was changed from the Cape of Storms to the Cape of Good Hope.

Until Jesus Christ rose from the dead, death had been the cape of storms on which all hopes of life beyond had been wrecked.  No one knew what lay beyond that point until, on Easter morning Christ showed us. His disciples trembled in fear, even after seeing evidence of His resurrection.  Christ turned our Cape of Storms into a Cape of Good Hope with His appearance and the peace He brings.  You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3).

On another note, for several months we have foregone our church conferences on the last Sunday evening of the month due to Christmas and then January’s snow.  Previously, these conferences have mostly been made up of reports and announcements of which those who are active and present were already aware.  So we are going to make an adjustment to help more of our church family to become aware of the business of the church.  Beginning in April we will have our conferences once a quarter on Sunday evenings and most of the business that will require a vote will be dealt with just prior to worship on Sunday mornings.  Our hope is that the more people we keep abreast of what is happening in our church, the more we can move together in harmony.

                                                                                                 Pastor Joey