Student Ministry - April
Dear Church Family,
Since I last wrote a newsletter article everything in the world has changed. Except for, of course, the fact that God is on His throne, and in Him we have a firm foundation! Believing this truth has become profoundly applicational for our lives at this time in history. I hope that you are holding on to Christ (as He holds onto you) wherever you are in life. In order to help students and families focus on the important things right now, I made a series of videos called: How to Spiritually Survive a Pandemic. I want to share some of what we talked about in those videos with you here.
Here is the main question we need to ask ourselves: What do we need during a pandemic? The answers are actually very simple but easily overlooked.
1. We need fellowship with God.
2. We need community with Church, Family, and Friends.
We always need these things, but it is during a pandemic that we realize that we need them a lot more than we think we do. Things like this help us to see what is truly important in life. These are the two great commands: to love the Lord with our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love neighbors as ourselves (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37-40). This is what life is actually all about… even during a pandemic.
Fellowship with God comes through communication with Him. He communicates to us through His Word, which is illumined by the Holy Spirit in us. We communicate to Him by praying to Him. This is what we need every day. Jesus tells us in Matt. 4:4 that “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” We need communication with God more than we need food, drink, and shelter. Those things can be taken away, but when you have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you have eternal life, and He can never be taken away from you.
The second one, Christian community, is significantly harder now, but it is not impossible. I believe that we will crave this more since we know what it is like to be without. Christian Community with Church, Family, and Friends usually looks like spending time together and encouraging one another in the gospel (1 Thess. 5:11). Well, during a pandemic when you are on lock-down, you can’t be together. But with technology (video chats, live stream, simple phone calls and letters even), we can still spend time “together” just not together. We can encourage, pray, laugh, cry, study the Bible, and generally socialize via all sorts of social media platforms! We always say that social media isn’t bad, it’s all in how you use it. That’s why, especially now, we need to use it for God’s glory and the building up of other believers. This is a time when we can find out just how good technology can be.
That said, your pastors are here for you. We love you and miss you all. Please reach out to us if you need anything. In the meantime, God bless you all!
Sincerely,
Brian Van Doren