3/19
Nikki Tigg brings the first message in the NVStudents series "Hope" which coincides with the COVID-19 outbreak. This whole situation has transformed and redefined how we interact with one another, how we communicate and how we get the love of Christ into the minds of the students.
Nikki shared a song that she is listening to right now: Never Lost - Elevation Worship. She said that this song has brought her peace and joy amidst of this storm.
Nikki describes that we are in a battle, or at the very least it feels like we are in a battle, we are scared, there's fear, anxiety, and has caught us off our guard. Nikki reminds us that God can do all things. This virus has not caught God off Guard. "Oops" is not in His vocabulary, God is not in heaven wondering what He's going to do. God is sovereign, He is in control and the source of our hope:
We are never alone. We have the hope and the gift of the Holy Spirit that brings us peace and hope that never ends. He is more than we can ever comprehend.
- Psalm 138 gives us some pictures of God, David says that
- 2) God's love and faithfulness is unfailing
- 3a) When we call, He answers
- 3b) He brings us courage
- 5) His glory is great
- 7) He watches over us, protects us, rescues us
- 8) His love endures forever
As we put our hope and trust in the Lord, it melts our fears away. We can have confidence because we have put that hope in the Creator of the universe, with just the utterance of the words of His voice, He spoke everything we know into motion. This helps my fears melt away because my hope is placed in Him.
As Christians, we need do need to understand the strength that we have in times like this because of where our hope is placed. It starts however, with understanding how we use the word "hope". Many times our hope is misplaced. Nikki used the examples of "I hope it doesn't rain", or "I hope I pass my test." Our hopes do not carry the same weight of the hope in Jesus, it isn't the same kind of hope. Our hope in Jesus is eternal, whereas our hopes in the things of this world are fickle and limited.
Nikki reminds us that the others arounds us may not understand how we remain confident in the midst of this mess as a follower of Jesus, and that she is thankful for her hope in God, that she could not imagine what it would feel like to go through this without that hope.
So many people need the love of Jesus. That is something that we can do now that we cannot do in Heaven. We have this unique opportunity to share the love of Jesus with the people around us:
Who Is Jesus? Jesus came to save us from sin - which are the wrong choices that we make, that separates us from God. God cannot be around sin because God is holy so therefore the punishment for sin is death. Short story is that we needed a savior, a sacrifice to make amends for our sins which we could not do on our own by our own actions or achievements. This is why Jesus came. He lived a sinless life, died on a cross, was buried in a tomb, rose from the dead three days later and now sits at the right hand of God and testifies on our behalf. It is in Jesus we place our hope.
If you want to know more about Jesus, please send a message via social media or email.
- REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
- How are you feeling right now? Are you scared, anxious, afraid, sad - why or why not?
- Where do you run to when you are afraid? Does that help?
- What or Who have you placed your hope in?
- Why is it important to place your trust in God?
- Are you spending time with Him through reading, and prayer?
- How are you feeling right now? Are you scared, anxious, afraid, sad - why or why not?