Pastor Weekly - 6/17/26
Hello ICC Family!
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Psalm 67
I am a fairly content guy most of the time, but last night I found myself intensely jealous! My brother and his three sons were in Kansas City at Arrowhead stadium watching the Argentina national soccer team beat Algeria 3-0 in the World Cup. They were in the stadium watching Lionel Messi, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, score a hat trick - 3 goals in one game. For those of you not that into soccer… it would be similar to being in Yankee stadium and seeing Babe Ruth hit 3 home runs in a game. Then, add that my brother said the atmosphere in the 70,000-person stadium was electric and joyful and positive the entire time, and let’s just say that I would have loved to have been there!
I played soccer in junior high and high school like many young American kids, and I have always enjoyed following the World Cup every four years. Then, of course, our family lived overseas for 25 years or so, and soccer was always something that you could talk about no matter what country you were in. It truly is a global sport like no other. The last week or so it has been great to hear about how even in a time of world conflict and turmoil, something as simple as the game of soccer can bring people together. Visitors from around the world are currently here in the U.S. for soccer matches, and having positive experiences and interactions with everyday Americans.
My hope and prayer is that this is largely as a result of what we read in the Psalm above. That people from “the nations” are encountering God’s people here in America that have experienced God’s grace and blessing so much that they are seeing the love of Christ in and through us! We hope they will someday soon give their lives to Jesus - experiencing his salvation and taking it back to their own countries. The great thing is that whether World Cup fans from abroad are seeing and experiencing God’s salvation now or not… eventually… that will, indeed, take place. Every tribe and tongue and nation all over the earth will be represented around the throne of God. And that includes us, ICC! That day is coming, and it will be even more exciting and electric and positive than the soccer game I missed last night. Praise the Lord that God will build his church - among all peoples!
Tonight we kick off a new discipleship study on spiritual gifts. It will be a lot of fun and very helpful, so please come and join us. Sunday, we start a new sermon series going through the book of Joshua. It is full of incredible stories, so don’t miss out on the introduction of the book so you know where the story is going. Then, looking ahead we have a summer movie night on Friday, June 28th. And our next big fellowship Sunday is International Sunday at ICC which will be on August 9th followed by what we are going to call the Global Feast! Put that on your calendars now!
Blessings to you all!
And know that I am praying for you!
Pastor Aaron
1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us—
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Psalm 67
I am a fairly content guy most of the time, but last night I found myself intensely jealous! My brother and his three sons were in Kansas City at Arrowhead stadium watching the Argentina national soccer team beat Algeria 3-0 in the World Cup. They were in the stadium watching Lionel Messi, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, score a hat trick - 3 goals in one game. For those of you not that into soccer… it would be similar to being in Yankee stadium and seeing Babe Ruth hit 3 home runs in a game. Then, add that my brother said the atmosphere in the 70,000-person stadium was electric and joyful and positive the entire time, and let’s just say that I would have loved to have been there!
I played soccer in junior high and high school like many young American kids, and I have always enjoyed following the World Cup every four years. Then, of course, our family lived overseas for 25 years or so, and soccer was always something that you could talk about no matter what country you were in. It truly is a global sport like no other. The last week or so it has been great to hear about how even in a time of world conflict and turmoil, something as simple as the game of soccer can bring people together. Visitors from around the world are currently here in the U.S. for soccer matches, and having positive experiences and interactions with everyday Americans.
My hope and prayer is that this is largely as a result of what we read in the Psalm above. That people from “the nations” are encountering God’s people here in America that have experienced God’s grace and blessing so much that they are seeing the love of Christ in and through us! We hope they will someday soon give their lives to Jesus - experiencing his salvation and taking it back to their own countries. The great thing is that whether World Cup fans from abroad are seeing and experiencing God’s salvation now or not… eventually… that will, indeed, take place. Every tribe and tongue and nation all over the earth will be represented around the throne of God. And that includes us, ICC! That day is coming, and it will be even more exciting and electric and positive than the soccer game I missed last night. Praise the Lord that God will build his church - among all peoples!
Tonight we kick off a new discipleship study on spiritual gifts. It will be a lot of fun and very helpful, so please come and join us. Sunday, we start a new sermon series going through the book of Joshua. It is full of incredible stories, so don’t miss out on the introduction of the book so you know where the story is going. Then, looking ahead we have a summer movie night on Friday, June 28th. And our next big fellowship Sunday is International Sunday at ICC which will be on August 9th followed by what we are going to call the Global Feast! Put that on your calendars now!
Blessings to you all!
And know that I am praying for you!
Pastor Aaron
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