Pastor's Note - February 24 
As I write this, Russia has begun attacks on Ukraine, and reports are coming in about explosions on Ukrainian soil. I won’t pretend to understand the situation well enough to know how this will all end, or where it could possibly lead. Traditional and social media responses can rarely be trusted to present sober, fair, and level-headed analysis. But from what is being reported, there is some potential for global ramification and multi-national war, which is something my generation hasn’t truly experienced. Terror attacks are horrific in their own right. But the prospect of large-scale war brings with it a unique and particular ongoing dread. This of course comes on the heels of a two-year global pandemic. I can’t help but be reminded of the words of Jesus in Luke 21:10-11; “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.” Jesus paints a picture of global instability and upheaval. Wars and rumors of wars. Plagues and illnesses. The ground itself shaking. A picture of a world groaning for healing and restoration. What does all of it mean? Jesus tells us – these are all indications that the last days have come, and that all need to be ready for the Lord’s return. This is not new. We have been in these last days ever since Jesus ascended, and the Spirit was sent upon the church. For two thousand years, the church has existed in the “end of the age.” These are the days that precede the return of Jesus, when He will make all things right. Until that day, the world groans. And what are we to do in the meantime? Luke 21:28 says; “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” The world has been in upheaval ever since the days of the Apostles. And whenever these cycles of global instability and sickness and death present themselves, they are a warning sign to us to be ready for the end. Let us be alert, and know that Jesus will return, and salvation and judgment with Him. Let us pray for those immediately impacted by violence and death and war. And let us be in prayer for a world in pain, that we may be a witness and a light in it.