Passage for reflection: Isaiah 25:1-5
I have been thinking about history more than usual lately. Perhaps it’s because I recently began serving as the Interim Minister of First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in downtown Fort Worth. It turns out this congregation is the oldest in the city.
“LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago” (Isaiah 25:1, NIV).
Isaiah’s song of praise is grounded in what God has done. It is the testimony of a people who can look back and name God’s faithfulness by reflecting on many powerful examples. Stepping into a congregation with 170 years of history, I find myself surrounded by that same kind of testimony. I am encouraged by stories of service, sacrifice, and perseverance. These are among the innumerable stories of how God has made a way again and again.
Whether your community of faith has been around for generations or is just beginning, I trust it has a number of shared stories or memories of the many ways God has done wonderful things in your midst.
Throughout Scripture we encounter a God who is faithful and a God who is consistent. The same God who did wonderful things in Isaiah’s day is the God who was doing wonderful things in the nineteenth century and the one who is doing wonderful things today.
Perhaps reflecting on the past gives us the ability to see more clearly the ways God is at work in our midst now.
As I think of all that God has done and is doing, I cannot help but offer my own song of praise. Perhaps yours will begin something like Isaiah’s, “God, you are my God. I celebrate you. I praise you” (Isaiah 25:1a, The Message).
This post was originally published in the Lectionary for Life Series for the Center for Congregational Ethics on April 16, 2026.