When the headlines break – when they sicken, anger, or frighten us – you can be sure of two things.
1)
You are not alone in that you have an entire nation of people
experiencing the same crisis in their own ways – finding out through an
email, jolted by a newsfeed sent to their phone, shocked by a call from a
friend or a nervous-sounding anchor interrupting with “breaking news.”
2) No matter what…there is hope.
Tragedy
that affects the innocent is a deeply saddening thing – always
difficult to process or bear. When the innocent victims are children…the
mind races, the spirit drops and prayer is fervently lifted. It shakes
us to our core – as individuals and as a nation. The enemy knows where
to hit us – most often where we think we’re not vulnerable. A
small town. Places we trust. Our staples. Our children. Today, a little
elementary school in Connecticut will join forever the ranks of
Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora Colorado’s Century 16 Movie theater and
countless other places both in sorrow and infamy.
We are too often reminded why our nation needs Jesus Christ!
This
is why the mission of our church—New Venture Christian Fellowship--and
the other 350,000 churches across the United States have a significant
and critical responsibility. We are called to be Ambassadors of Hope to
a hurting world. And yes, there is an Answer! There is Hope – a real
and tangible hope that we can grasp firmly. His name is Jesus. As much
as He is the answer – He is also the “how” that equips us to get through
these heartbreaks and empowers us to reach out to others. There is an
urgency we too often forget. In this sad moment of remembering why the
message of Christ is so desperately needed, we merely need to be
prayerful, passionate and above all, fully committed in getting that
message out a pained and sickened world.
Our Lord says…
“…If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land”
(2nd Chronicles 7:12-14).
Praying for Hope, while knowing we have it…
Praying for Healing, our nation needs it...
Tell someone else today who needs to hear it from you.
Tell someone else today who needs to hear it from you.
Let’s get busy!
