“For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord? What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord? The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne. O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord? You are entirely faithful.” (Psalms‬ ‭89:6-8 NLT)

The first half of Psalm 89 sings of the faithfulness of our God. We recognize faithfulness, yet we, ourselves, are hard pressed to reproduce it. We have moments marked by intense commitment and then entire years marred by by lackluster obedience. But our God is, as the psalmist points out, entirely faithful. If we could do a biopsy on our Heavenly Father, we’d find faithfulness at every cross-section. Faithfulness is woven into the fiber of His being.

He is entirely faithful. That’s Who we are working with and for. That’s Why we worship. James 1:8 tells us that in Him there is no shadow or turning. The AMP expounds a bit:

“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes].” (JAMES‬ ‭1:17‬ AMP)

Our church turns forty today and it’s a big deal.  The mission and mindset of this body of believers has been fairly faithful for four long decades. The brick and mortar still stand and people mostly make their way here each Sunday morning. The pastors, Rob and I, and all the fine folks who have gone before us, have been somewhat faithful for most of these past forty years. We’ve tried hard, but we are each only human and we mess up, we get off course. The body of Christ attempts at faithfulness, but we are all still amateurs.

Our God, however, has been ENTIRELY faithful, for always. Six thousand years of written human history testifies to His faithfulness. He didn’t become faithful when He decided to have some kids. He didn’t grow into it because of the pressures of His job. He just is. He is, was and will be always be faithful. It’s because of Him that we have any inkling of what faithfulness might mean.

Today we celebrate forty years of Algona Faith and it might be tempting to look back and acknowledge the steadfastness of the men and women who had the vision and tenacity to plant this church. It might be tempting to recount the past ministries established and to try to tally the total of the lives reached for Christ. It might be tempting to stretch an arm around and pat ourselves on the back.

But before we do any of that, let’s pause at the forefront of today and give glory to the One who has been truly faithful to this body of believers and to this community forever. Our God is entirely faithful. Today we revel in His faithfulness to our church. Today we give credit where credit is due.

Lord, we thank You for Your entirely faithful nature. We can learn so much from You. Thank You for Your faithfulness to Your people and Your faithfulness to Your mission. Today we celebrate all that You have done in and through this church. We bend our knee and humbly ask that You would do it again. Have Your way in our hearts and in Algona and the surrounding areas. Be made famous in this place today, O Faithful One. Amen.