Dear HBIC Family,

One of my absolute favorite things to do is catching up with old friends. Retelling stories, sharing memories, and reconnecting is a gift. Though time marches on, these precious visits and the accompanying laughs are joy-filled and wonderful. They also remind us that though people come and go, their place in our hearts and in our lives are secure. Old friends bless us because they remind us that we are seen, we are held, and we are loved.

Last week, I got a chance to catch up with my oldest friend, Ed Rhee. We have known each other since childhood. We first met at church camp near Chambersburg before spending every summer through high school and college at Camp Iroquoina near Binghamton, New York. I am so grateful for Ed’s friendship; his love and support has been constant, and consistently a gift to me. Seeing how God has faithfully worked in Ed and in me has spurred both of us on in our faith and in our lives.

As I started preparing for our next sermon series Micah: Walk Humbly with Your God, I realized that the prophet Micah of Moresheth very much feels like an old friend. While we don’t share physical moments with the people of God found in Scripture, through the power of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of our communion with God together, we can have fellowship with them. And the prophet Micah for me has been a gift – his words have both spurred many of us on in our faith while reminding us that our God sees us, holds us, and promises his forever faithful love to us.

I am very excited for the Holy Spirit’s leading as we walk through the words of Micah over the next few weeks. Micah was foundational in teaching me the importance of us living to bring God’s justice to all, loving the way God has loved us, and to work for peace with God, our world, each other, and even ourselves. Micah has also been a refuge for me the last few years, providing hope though sin is all around and in all of us, though leaders in the church and in our world fail us too, and though destruction seems more palpable than building up.

As you prepare for this week’s services, I would like to invite you to read and meditate on all of Micah 1. As you reflect, I would like to ask you to focus on the following questions:

• What word has God spoken to you heart in this season?
• How have you seen unfaithfulness to God usher in destruction?
• Where is God calling you to lament?
• Where is God calling us as HBIC to lament?
• Where is God calling us as the universal Church to lament?

The book of Micah opens with a clear warning of desolation to come. Unlike many other prophets, Micah’s book does not provide much biographical information. The prophet has a message God has put on his heart, and he is eager to share. Though the book is filled with warnings, indictment, and judgment to come…for generations of God’s people, the prophet’s words have also called us back to hope, justice, mercy, peace.

Micah has always called God’s people back to God. Though we reap the consequences of the sin we’ve sown, God is good. Though we are so easily prone to wander away from the God we love, God is our home and refuge. Though we place our trust in idols, God is faithful and compassionate, and working for our good. Sisters and brothers, Micah calls us back to our God who is faithful, loving, and true. May we forever rest in the arms of the Lord Almighty!!

I pray that the week finds you all doing well. I pray that you know the power of God’s grace, hear the echo of the Spirit’s voice, and know the love of Jesus in very special ways this week.

God bless you all.

Love in Christ,

Pastor Hank (Micah 1:1-2)