Student Ministry - March 2021
Dear Church Family,
As I ponder our world, it becomes clearer to me that people are unsatisfied in life. What I mean is that everywhere you look, people seem to be angry, frustrated, depressed, anxious, afraid, lonely, bored, and wanting something different out of life. This is all generally speaking, but you don’t have to look far to see that these unsatisfied feelings have permeated our culture at large. And nowhere do I see this more than in the younger generations. And while this is nothing new, it certainly is much more widespread and universally felt now than in recent years past.
But why are people feeling so dissatisfied? What is causing this pandemic of emotional dismay? I believe scripture gives us the answer. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” This means that, by God’s grace, He gives joy to those who desire His goodness and justice above all other desires in their lives. Based on this biblical perspective and our current cultural milieu, we see that the people are feeling the results of pursuing sinful desires in their lives. Put plainly, our culture does not hunger and thirst for righteousness, and is, therefore, a culture of dissatisfaction.
Recently I was watching a biopic about William Tyndale, the Englishman who was eventually martyred in 1536 for translating the Bible into English for the common people. One thing that struck me was a scene between Tyndale and a Christian merchant who helped smuggle English Bibles into the country. They were discussing whether or not the people even wanted to have the Bible in their own language. As that question was posed, the merchant cut open a sack of some kind of grain and pulled out a large stack of Bibles. He then exclaimed, “the people are hungry!”
That made me wonder, are people hungry for God today? Do they even know that there is something better than what they are hungering for in their sinful hearts? Do the younger generations know that they can have satisfaction if only they would desire the Lord? Well, I didn’t know that until someone told me and showed me. It took people intentionally and patiently investing God’s word into my life for me to see how much satisfaction could really be found in Christ. Even as a young Christian I sought satisfaction in my worldly circumstances, but could never get it. But as faithful men and women vibrantly lived out their walk with God for me to see, I grew in my desire for righteousness, and therefore in satisfaction in Christ.
Who is near you who is hungering and thirsting for the wrong things? Is there a way for you to intentionally and patiently invest your love for God and the Word in their lives? Do you need someone else to help show you that true satisfaction exists and what it looks like in real life? Please come talk to me or any of the pastors about this. We want to help people hunger and thirst for God, so they can live satisfied lives no matter the circumstances.