Providing Hope

Several years ago a good friend introduced me to the “Law of Large Numbers.” It works like this: if you have a church of 100 and 10% lose jobs, that is 10 people out of work. Well you can do the math. If a church of 1,000 has 10% lose jobs, you now have 100 people out of work.

Add to that the same 1,000 people a percentage who have cancer, another percentage who have suffered divorce, another percentage who are struggling in their marriages, another percentage who are depressed, another percentage who have health problems, another percentage who are suffering loneliness, another percentage of those suffering loss, abandonment, secret sins, consequences of sin…it just keeps going.

Now add to that number those in our community and you see how many people are really hurting and need hope and freedom that comes from one name and one name only and that name is the name above all names…Jesus Christ!

Listen to God’s heart on this matter:

“’I have seen his ways, but I will heal him;
I will guide him and restore comfort to him,
creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel.
Peace, peace, to those far and near,’
says the Lord. ‘And I will heal them.’”

Isaiah 57:18-19

As 2008 came to an end, we felt the Lord was leading us to bring as much hope to our church and to our community as possible. Real hope is found only in the name of Jesus Christ. We had plans to reserve the square every Tuesday night in September and offer testimonies of the hope and freedom people have found in Jesus.

We are staying with our goal but have changed the venue. Beginning on September 20, we are kicking off a series entitled “Life’s Healing Choices: Finding HOPE In Life’s Struggles.” What are the benefits?
· Evangelism opportunity…People surrendering their lives to Jesus!
· Christians going to a new depth in discipleship… maturity.
· More people experiencing connection through small groups. (We need more people to volunteer to lead small groups for only eight weeks.)
· Repentance and reconciliation with God and others…freedom.
· A great way for us to serve the community because we all know someone who is struggling with one of the pains mentioned above.

During this series there will be a testimony from someone whom the Lord has delivered from struggles, sin, and pain…they are unbelievable. Be praying for these people because this is an incredible act of faith to stand up and be so vulnerable. Pray for them to be able and stand and say “here is who I was, and this is who I am because of Jesus Christ.”

On August the 9, you will begin seeing a prayer guide for the church. You will see one each week until the series begins.

Pray! Did you see what God did at the end of our 21 Day Prayer Journey this summer with the number of people who came forward for forgiveness issues? Did you realize that day of freedom was the very last day of our 21 day prayer journey with God? Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him!

You will hear more coming soon.

Know this…Satan will fight us on every level. He does not want to see the Lord…

“…bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners…”

Isaiah 61:1

Pray. Stay in the Word of God.

Read Acts and see what the Lord can do! Today is Day One.

Looking forward to seeing “greater things than these”!

Scott

PS: We’ve started archiving my weekly emails on a blog on our website. To see any of these, go to www.eastridgefamily.org, click on “Resources,” then click on “Scott’s Weekly Blog.”