Take Heart
Jesus didn’t need to remind His disciples that trouble was coming. They had already experienced plenty of it—rejection, opposition, persecution. They had been shouted at, spat on, and chased out of towns for following Him.
Yet, on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus still told them: Trouble is coming. Not just tomorrow, but in all the days ahead.
He wanted them to be prepared. He wants us to be prepared.
But look closer at what else He said: “Take heart.”
Why? Because peace is possible.
The gospel of John is full of Jesus’s most intimate, hope-filled words. He speaks of the Spirit’s presence, of His love for us, of His prayer on our behalf. There is peace to be found in what He says.
But even more than that—there is peace to be found in Him.
Jesus didn’t speak these words with hesitation. He knew what Friday would bring. He knew the weight of the cross. But He also knew that Sunday was coming. That death would not hold Him. That His victory was sure.
He has overcome. He is overcoming. He will overcome.
Your troubles are real—but they are not your master. Jesus is. And He has overcome the world.
A Unifying Mission
Almost every successful company or group in history has shared something in common: they all had a unifying mission.
Missions are critical in not only aligning objectives, but also unifying a large group of people toward one purpose.
As Christians, we all share the same mission. We are unified in following Christ. We're saved by His blood (Romans 5:9) and we're all called to make disciples in His name (Matthew 28:19).
And yet, even among Christians, there is so much division and disunity.
Part of the division comes from our lack of clarity and commitment to the mission that is defined in Scripture. And to make it worse, we are sinful people, and sin naturally causes division in our lives and relationships.
But, the Psalmist in Psalm 133:1 reflects on how good it is when the people of God live together in unity. There is something powerful that happens among Christians when we are unified.
Unity is not putting away our differences, because there would be no need to be ...