"When You Pass Through the Waters" - The Greatest Flood in Louisiana in 500 Years"

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; The Lord sits enthroned as king forever."  
(Psalm 29:10) 

Greetings to all of our brothers and sisters in Baton Rouge and throughout our beloved state!  And greetings to all of you in other states!  And greetings to those of you who live in other countries from East to West!  We greatly appreciate every prayer that you have offered up for us Louisianians!  

How I wish that all of you who live in other places could come here and see our Louisianians.  Our people shine brighter and brighter in the midst of any storms and floods!  In the mid-afternoon of last Wednesday, August 17th, our son Jim, who is an 8th generation Louisianian, captured the feelings of our family and all of us here in our dear Louisiana:  

            48 hours ago the streets were flooded with deep waters. Today they're just as flooded by cars             and people helping friends and family and even strangers and acquaintances put their lives                 back together.

The Cajun Navy was just the beginning of a flood of Louisianians helping one another. Even now there are people looking for those who are still stranded in homes that are under water. And thousands of volunteers are helping the many thousands who are stranded in shelters . Everyone here is affected. Everyone's loss is shared.

I've never been prouder to be from this town and this state. 

I could not agree more, Jim.  I also have "never been prouder!"  It’s great to be a Louisianian!  

SHELTER WORSHIP SERVICES AT THE REQUEST OF GOVERNOR JOHN BEL EDWARDS:  Last Sunday, at the Governor’s request, an interdenominational, inter-racial team of clergymen conducted worship services at three of the shelters for our flood victims.  I was asked to preach the sermon at each of the services.

The liturgy, which was chosen by the team of clergy, included the passages for that Lord’s Day from the Revised Common Lectionary:  Jeremiah 1:4-10, Hebrews 12:18-29, and Luke 13:10-17.  Therefore, my message includes thoughts from all three of these passages.  However, at the end of the message, I added Isaiah 43:1-3a, a passage of Scripture that offers special words of hope for our our flood victims.  Included in that text are these words:

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

And when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

I am including a pre-recording of my message, which is entitled, "When You Pass Through the Waters."  It is very brief – only slightly over 10 minutes.  Would you please pass it along to others for whom you believe it might be a source of encouragment?