Is there any limit to what we can achieve if our goals are in sync with the savior?
  As we survey the challenges that lay ahead, the church should not be intimidated by the enormity of the task.
   Believers are shouldering enormous burdens in the secular community. Unemployment is high and has impacted giving and limited ministries in some congregations as available resources decline. Many are struggling to make ends meet while balancing their family needs with those of the church. Crime is rising and our youth seemed more detached than ever from Godly way.
    Despite our frustration, the church should not be discouraged. The challenges we face are not insurmountable. The church can survive the national dilemma and rise to the occasion because we serve a God who has proven that He can make a way out of no-way, open doors that have been shut and lift fallen hopes and dreams.
    Alone, the task would be too much, but together with Christ we can do all things which strengthen us.
    Alone, we cannot adequately speak to the poverty that exists in our neighborhoods, but together with Christ we can reach out to the poor in ways that are significant and meaningful .
    Alone, we cannot  provide food for the hungry masses of our neighborhoods, our church kitchens are not big enough; but we serve a savior who takes two little fishes and five loaves of bread and feeds thousands.
    Alone, we can't curb the raging storm of violence that is sweeping our communities, but we serve a Savior who specializes in speaking to the wind and rain and commanding them to be still.

    Together with the savior, we can become the foundation of hope in our communities.   Our hope, built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, can inspire the dispirited around us, to know that help is on the way. 
     There is a distinct advantage to be in solidarity with anyone who can determine your destiny. That's what a famous surgeon found out when he died. The story goes that the surgeon led a wild and loose life but he was a great surgeon who saved many lives. In fact, he spent the last 20 years of his life building a hospital in honor of St. Luke the doctor of the New Testament. Others wanted to name the Hospital something else but he insisted that it be named after St. Luke.  When the surgeon died he was met at the Pearly Gates by a tall angelic looking gatekeeper who advised him that it was his job to preapprove new heavenly arrivals. So the gatekeeper, with clipboard in hand asked, "Have you ever committed any unrepentant sins while you were on earth?" The surgeon thought about it and said, "Well, to tell the truth I messed  up a whole lot. My list is pretty long. In fact, I even told a few lies to get a hospital named after St. Luke." The gatekeeper looked at the surgeon and smiled and said, "Well, that wasn't so bad. You may enter into eternity."      
    As the surgeon entered he was relieved. He shook the gatekeeper's hand and said,  "Thank you very much St. Peter." The gatekeeper interrupted him and "I'm not St. Peter, he's on a lunch break. I'm St. Luke. Thanks for the building. I got your back."            
    We cannot do what needs to be done alone, but we have the assurance that if we work together with the Savior He will see us through.          
    As Christians, we are confident that there is no barrier that we cannot overcome, as long as we stay solidly in step with the Savior; He will see us through.