Hope is Contagious
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
The most talked about things on the news:
Social distancing
Self imposed quarantine
6 foot rule
Why? COVID 19 is highly contagious
Perhaps the only thing more contagious than the virus is FEAR!
FEAR is contagious! It doesn’t take much for fear to spread uncontrollably.
Ernest K. Gann writes in Fate Is the Hunter: "Fear is a contagious disease, spreading from its first victim to others in the vicinity until it is powerful enough to take charge of a group, in which event it becomes panic."
A concern that some have is that we might inadvertently be a CARRIER.
I hope we all realize that we’re all carriers!
You’re all carriers of something and when people get close to you they catch what you’re what you have.
You are a CARRIER!
Is what you’re carrying worth catching?!
Background:
Thriving seaport and capital of the Roman province of Macedonia. (200,000)
Important communication and trade center.
tells us that many Jews, a large number of Gentiles and some influential women believed in Jesus and joined them in ministry.
2 We always thank God for all of you and pray for you constantly. 3 As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 We know, dear brothers and sisters, that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own people. 5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you. 6 So you received the message with joy from the Holy Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you. In this way, you imitated both us and the Lord. 7 As a result, you have become an example to all the believers in Greece—throughout both Macedonia and Achaia. 8 And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it, 9 for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God. 10 And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.
This is what Paul commends them for:
“faithful work or work produced by faith”
“Loving deeds or labor prompted by love”
“enduring hope or endurance inspired by hope”
3 As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.
What prompted this?
Their faith, hope and love for Jesus Christ!
5 For when we brought you the Good News, it was not only with words but also with power, for the Holy Spirit gave you full assurance that what we said was true. And you know of our concern for you from the way we lived when we were with you.
Paul & Silas brought to them GOOD NEWS!
When someone discovers the cure for COVID 19?!
Think GOOD NEWS will spread?!
There’s GOOD NEWS that doesn’t just heal physical sickness - Cures spiritual sickness!
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
God didn’t just announce the GOOD NEWS from heaven - Jesus showed it on earth!
That’s some GOOD NEWS worth spreading!!
You’re a carrier! Is what you’re carrying worth spreading?!
8 And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it,
The word exēchētai, translated rang out, could be rendered “reverberated.
The reports about their faith and good works were being heard - often carried by unbelievers! (No message of the church sending anyone)
That’s what happens when believers catch a passion for being “Jesus” to others - Starts to spread.
Jesus raises a dead girl:
26 News of this spread through all that region.
When Jesus cast out evil spirits:
28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.
mark 1.
When God used the disciples to do miracles:
7 And so the word of God continued to spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem grew larger and larger, and a great number of priests accepted the faith.
Fear is CONTAGIOUS, but so is FAITH!!
I don’t know about you, but I want to be a CARRIER!!!
I want to be so contagious that if you get too close to me you’re going to catch what I have!
Because of what the Lord Jesus has done in my life time and time again - I’m full of FAITH and not FEAR!!
You would think that I’d be afraid of what could happen to our church because we can’t gather in the building for what could be 2 months all in total.
The church is not a building - We don’t go to church … We are the church! (If that’s not your perspective, you need a new one)
Washington Post
Almost 11,000 new churches joined the online format.
4.7 million people watched
In the associated Bible app YouVersion, searches for “fear” went up by 167 percent last week, and “fear not” by 299 percent.
Thousands of salvations reported!
While we can’t meet physically - Let’s meet digitally.
Follow, Like, comment, invite others!
Virtual lobby after service - The Zoom invite is in the comments below.
We have a HOPE no virus can kill!!
Some might say: “I can’t wait for things to go back to normal!”
Not if normal was:
Comfortable
Selfish
Spiritually Safe
Spiritually Lukewarm
This is a WAKE UP CALL!!
What is this HOPE we have?
Salvation:
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
God’s care and provision:
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
Invitation & Prayer
Our Blessed Hope:
We’re still here to meet needs.
Send us your prayer requests