New Decade, New Hope

Happy New Year!

We have not communicated with you through the Encourager since last decade.

So, how is 2020 going so far?
Are you excited? Hopeful? Anticipating?
Or are you realistic, hohum, maybe even cynical?

Jesus always helps us understand that if we are a Christ follower, the best is yet to come. Jesus is a God of Hope.

But, life and the more we live this life, with all the ups and downs, problems, challenges and pain, it is easy to slip into a less than hope filled mind set. Maybe because of so much pain and disappointment, we have stopped trusting, believing and hoping. Maybe cynicism has slipped right in.

To kick this new decade off, we are going to focus on 8 different passages of Scripture that have to do with God's will for our lives. We will dive into each text to discover what is God's will for us. Then at the end we will take a step back and look at what we have discovered. I have entitled the series, Finding 2020 Vision. It is my hope and prayer that God will speak to us powerfully and practically and reinfuse us with His fresh excitement, possibility and hope.

If you were not able to be present this past Sunday, we started this series in John 6. After seeing and talking about signs from God, the crowd asked Jesus, "What must we do to do the works that God requires?" In other words, what does God want? What is God's will? Jn 6:28

Jesus responded, "The work of God is this; believe in the One whom God has sent." Jn 6:29

Then Jesus makes it really clear a few verses later, "I Am the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry. Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty." Jn 6:35

What is God's will according to John 6?
To LOOK at JESUS... "I Am the Bread of Life." Daily behold, look, truly see who Jesus is.

To COME to JESUS... "Whoever comes to Me..." Daily come with all of who you are.

To BELIEVE in JESUS... "Whoever believes in Me..." Daily fully believe that Jesus wants to do His will in you, through you and around you.

Let Jesus' teaching sink in for a minute...
No matter what is going on in life especially during the hard, painful times, Jesus wants us to daily LOOK at Jesus, daily COME to Jesus and daily BELIEVE in Jesus.

"May the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may over flow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Rom 13:15

Looking, coming and believing together,
Pastor Chris