God had a plan for Adam and Eve. Then Satan popped up and that plan was sidetracked. God had a plan for Noah. Satan tried to cripple that plan, but he failed because Noah was faithful. God had a plan for Abraham and Sarah. Satan rose up at every fork in the road and attempted to wreck the plan. Sometimes he succeeded, but when he did succeed in interrupting Abraham, Abraham learned a little more about God. In the end, Abraham followed God and won the victory. God had a plan for David. Satan was desperate to spoil the plan and, like with Abraham, Satan won a few rounds. But God, in partnership with David, won out and the plan was fulfilled. God had a plan for Paul. But Satan, working through difficult circumstances and physical problems and unfaithful assistants, tried mightily to silence Paul, only to find that Paul could not be silenced.

          There is a constant war going on between God and Satan and the war is being fought on the battlefield of our very souls. God has a plan for us. Jeremiah 29:11-13---¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. When we fail to achieve the plan, it is because Satan has stepped in the way. However, when Satan does assail us, we know that the plan is important enough to warrant Satan working to thwart the plan. Do we cave to Satan, or do we push forward with the Lord?

               What is God’s plan for Urbana Yoke Parish? Since I am the pastor of the church, I naturally have all the answers. So, Pastor, what is God’s plan for Urbana Yoke Parish? I can tell you unequivocally and knowingly……I have no idea. I can, however, quote the great old song, “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow.” Many things about tomorrow/ I don't seem to understand/ But I know who holds tomorrow/ And I know who holds my hand.

          God has a plan for this church. As Jeremiah said, He is giving us a future and a hope. Back in April, we made a huge leap of faith, voting to move to just one worship center after many, many years of spending large sums of money keeping two older buildings open and looking sharp. This decision was a hard one for many to make. But the committee gave a clear and well thought out, and well researched, presentation. For all of us there was clearly little choice. Where will this lead? There will eventually be more money for ministry. As we go along there will be benefits we cannot imagine as yet. And we will see, eventually, the plan that God has for this church that has been delayed for multiple decades. For the moment, we are seeing an excitement that I, for one, didn’t expect. Things are happening, things are taking shape and soon the builders will be on site. It is a blessing!

          But, as always, there is Satan. If all this was happening and there was no response from Satan, I would be worried. He is not going to trifle with any church if he sees that church just plugging dully along, wearily following their own lead rather than the leading of the Lord. Lots of churches do that and Satan just lets them go. Why should he bother when they are doing his work for him? However, we have seen little things of the workings of Satan here and there. Rumors. Applications for permits just dropping through the cracks. One contractor dropping out. All the usual delays. Nothing big, really. Through everything the folks have gotten stronger in resolve.

          And then, just in the last two weeks, people outside the church are suddenly getting angry. People who don’t attend and don’t support the ministry and who never have anything good to say, are suddenly threatening what we are doing. One says they will get the building that is going to no longer be used on the National Register of Historic Places so it cannot be anything other than what it is now. Another saying that they are going to retain a lawyer and legally stop what we are doing. Unreasoning anger and desperate words. Fueled by Satan. As one said, “I fully plan on taking legal action and getting a lawyer involved to save the church and get a petition going I have a dog in this fight and will just see who comes out on top” I didn’t accidentally forget to put punctuation in that portion. The whole e-mail was like that. One long, run-on sentence. Threatening. It actually made me smile a little. I can understand intense feeling, but when one resorts to threats, that person is being a mouth piece for Satan. And that then causes me to know that what we are doing is right. God doesn’t resort to threats and posturing. Satan does resort to threats and posturing. We are also told in these pleasant little postings that the people in the church were manipulated into making the decisions they made. That bothered me a little bit. A person who can be manipulated is a weak, emotionally compromised person. I look around on Sunday morning and I don’t see anyone like that at all. These people are insulting the congregation. It is all about their agenda, which is Satan’s agenda.

          Can the buildings be put on the National Register for Historic Places? Sure, if the owners of the buildings request it and the buildings are accepted as such. However, an outsider cannot get the buildings on the Register. Can they bring legal action? Yes, they can if they can find a lawyer to take a case he will lose. We were very careful to dot all the ‘I’s and cross all the ‘T’s to make sure we were legal in all we did. We will move forward.

          As we move forward we will be attacked by Satan. It doesn’t matter. God has a plan for us. Many of us will likely never see the full fruition of that plan, but personally speaking, I don’t have to see the end result in 20 or 30 years. Many things about tomorrow/ I don't seem to understand/ But I know who holds tomorrow/ And I know who holds my hand.