Greetings Mt. Vernon Family,

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ 1 Peter 1:13.

This year’s Summer Olympics was originally scheduled to take place in 2020 but was postponed until this year due to the pandemic. Over the past few weeks athletes in the U.S. have competed to qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo that will begin this month. The athletes have trained hard and disciplined their bodies through regular exercise and abstaining from anything that will disqualify them or keep them from being at their best in the competitions. Being bound by discipline and having the freedom to do as one please seems contradictory. Yet, the athlete who is not willing to abstain from unlawful or unhealthy behaviors and train hard will not be free to excel in competition. Peter tells us to prepare our minds for action. This requires exercising such spiritual disciplines as prayer, study, discernment, and practicing God’s word. It also requires abstaining from sinful behaviors and walking in the Spirit. In Christ we must run in such a way to win 1 Cor. 9:24. So, we fix our hope, our confident expectation, until the end, on the grace, the unmerited favor that Jesus will bring to us when He appears. Let us therefore, maintain our spiritual disciplines, be alert, and keep our eyes on the prize. Amen!

Be Richly Blessed,

Pastor Deborah Giles