BELFAST RB BOOKLET 2020 - Flipbook - Page 18
Ci t y of Belf ast Grand Bl ack Chapt er - Dem onst rat i on Bookl et 2020
all of those events this year, outlined
throughout other pages in this Annual
Demonstration Booklet including:
Annual Service of Thanksgiving in Saint
Mary Magdalene Parish Church;
Annual 'last Saturday' Demonstration in
Dromore, County Down;
The Sovereign Grand Master's Bi-annual
Charity Appeal; (next page) and
Various District Chapter Services and other
associated events.
From time to time, there are those who
may suffer from anxiety or are prone to
stress through all sorts of situations.
But if we are true believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ then they, and we, can
take encouragement from the promise
found in Jeremiah Chapter 29; Verse 11
where the Lord openly declares: 'For I
know the plans I have for you, plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans
to give you hope and a future.'
These God-breathed words came through
the prophet Jeremiah and he too faced a
great deal of difficulty in his lifetime. The
people of Israel had turned away from God
and showed no great interest in the message
that he gave through his servant.
Jeremiah was sensitive and prone to
melancholy, it’s little wonder that he is
known as 'the weeping prophet'. But in
this favourite verse there are four gems
which should shine forth to us through the
gloom we often face in our lives.
1. Who is making the promise? Well, we
can read it in verse 11 .. 'declares the Lord'
.. it is God Himself speaking these words and
unlike those of the human kind, we know that
the Lord speaks the Holy and Gospel Truth.
Human nature, wilfully or not, do tell halftruths, fibs and downright lies, afraid to speak
out honestly perhaps, fearful of causing hurt
to others or even embarrassing themselves.
Not so with God; where in Psalm 119:160 it
says of the Lord: 'All your words are true;
all your righteous laws are eternal.'
2. Can we trust this promise? Again look
at the definitive words of verse 11 .. 'For I
KNOW the plans I HAVE for you …' God
doesn’t just say that He might have some
idea of what He has in store from those who
believe in Him. It’s important that we know he
KNOWS, for sure, the plans he has for us.
We can trust in God totally.
3. Who is this promise for? Again, we
read verse 11 .. 'For I know the plans I have
for YOU.' This promise is for you and me,
those who have, do and will believe, in Jesus
Christ as their Saviour. God is speaking to us
personally, just as He did to Jeremiah in the
midst of his melancholy, He is addressing us
His people as our God. God is making us a
promise that He will keep.
4. What is that promise? It’s very plain in
verse 11 .. 'Plans to prosper you and not to
harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future.' God’s promise is to prosper believers
not to harm us but to give hope and a future.
Hope is sometimes a whishy-washy concept,
which we hope might be dry tomorrow but
don’t really know what the weather has in
store. However, God’s hope is different; it’s
definitive; our God will not burden us with
anything we cannot handle in fact He will
carry us through during our hardest times,
and He will give us a future.
Some people might preach of a
prosperity gospel where God will reward
His followers with everything they desire
in terms of earthly possessions.
Not so, in fact that is nonsense; for the Bible
shows us that the Saviour’s disciples often
endured hardship and just as it was for
Christians, back in the first century, so it is
now, within the twenty-first century.
But we are not alone .. for God has not
forgotten us, He still has His plans for us,
He knows them so well, and He will
prosper us, to give us hope and a future;
and surely there is no greater promise for
Christianity than to know that our future,
and for all eternity, will be with God.
Take courage Sir Knights, not just for today
but forever, that in the midst of any such
discouragement; God’s promise is there for
you, always!
I remain your humble servant in Christ.
~ Rt. Worshipful Sir Knight Christopher Cunningham PM : City Grand Registrar ~
IN MEMORY OF THE FALLEN - 16 - AND THE FUTURE OF THE LIVING