hi friends! welcome to my love for the lord. i’m going to share a story the sermon i heard a few days ago.

the news has not been good the past few weeks. every day there’s something that makes something else worse. sometimes it’s starts to feel like there’s no good news anymore.

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this past week i worked at my church’s VBS as a volunteer. each day had a theme and a bible story, and on Thursday our theme was “never be discouraged.”

my pastor told the story of jesus in the garden of gethsemane. he explained to the kids that Jesus was so, so sad. he then told the story of how though Jesus was God and king, some evil people still betrayed him and hurt him and killed him.

“now” he said to the kids, “nobody in here would EVER hurt someone as nice as jesus, would they?”

“no!” the whole sanctuary yelled. he nodded in agreement as his face got serious. “well i hurt jesus,” he said quietly. the whole sanctuary became silent as every kid looked up, confused.

he then started to explain. “every time i take a dollar for myself and don’t share it with someone who needs it, i hurt Jesus. every time i’m selfish and don’t want to help someone, i hurt Jesus. every time i’m mean to someone, i hurt Jesus.”

at this point i was starting to think. this sermon he was giving could apply to all ages. everyone hurts Jesus. daily!!

My pastor ended his sermon with a joyful statement: that this is good news. you see, we hurt jesus repeatedly, but he forgives us, and loves us!!

his sermon was amazing. though it was a story i’ve heard 50 times before, the responses of the kids in the room made it a million times better.

37 kids asked Jesus to be their savior that day. now THAT’S good news!!!!

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i hope your summer has been fantastic so far!! i hope this story brought you some joy & peace :))

with prayers and love,

katie