“In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

 

Beginning in this month we are entering on a season that calls us to remember the events that led to Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for us on the cross. Just before he prayed for his disciples, Jesus warned them of all the dangers ahead of them because they had followed him. Then he offered them a word of comfort. Yes, the world is always going to be filled with what John Newton would later call “many dangers, toils, and snares,” but Jesus has already overcome all that the world can throw at him, so will we be able to overcome our challenges because our reason for confidence is in his victory, not in our own abilities..

This has become an important assurance for us just now, because the world seems pretty scary. Political unrest around the world threatens to boil over into events we fear to contemplate. Economic unrest drives more and more people to seek critical financial help from churches that are uneasy themselves. If we turn on our radios and televisions or surf the Internet, we are daily confronted with the decline of moral standards and a growing disregard for public decency. If all this makes you want to dig a hole and crawl into it, you most likely are not alone.

 

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First Presbyterian Church • 500 Belle Avenue • Sevierville, Tennessee • 865-453-2971

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