Video Transcript:
My name is Jacob Freeman, I serve as the baptist campus minister at the University Of Montevallo.
One great action step for you, as you seek to share your hope in Jesus during this strange season of life, is to simply start where you are. What do I mean by that?
Well with the internet and social media, geography is no longer an obstacle to connect with people, you can pretty much connect with anybody you want anywhere in the world at any time. But that can also be kind of overwhelming. If I can connect with anybody anywhere in the world, where do I even start?
This action step encourages you to push the computer away, set your phone down for just a minute, and ask God to open your eyes to the people around you. Where do you already have connections with people who need to know the hope of the gospel?
It could be a co-worker, if you’re able to go to work right now, ask your co-workers, how they’re doing, how they’re handling this season, and see if you can pray with them. Ask them for needs and ask if you can pray with them right then and there.
What about your community? Where are the needs in your community? Chances are, your local churches or your local Baptists Association, they’re already doing something to meet needs in the community. Call them and see how you can help. It could be something as simple as buying a few extra cans of food when you go to the grocery store. Most of these associations have food distribution ministries, and needs in the community right now for food are higher than normal. So maybe you can play a part in that.
Or it could be something as close as your family. Where are you living right now, with whom are you living? Is there anybody in your family that you could call or text or even have a face to face conversation that they’re in your household, where you ask them how they’re processing this crisis, asked for their prayer needs and pray with them right then and there.
The scriptures teach us that Jesus cares greatly about people’s needs. But the scriptures also teach us that Jesus cared most about their spiritual needs. So in John four, we have the Samaritan woman at the well, and she is thirsty. And when Jesus runs into her, he doesn’t just give her a drink, and move on, he shares with her an opportunity to have living water. So what this living water was, was eternal life in Christ.
As you’re starting where you are, as you’re seeing needs in your community, in your family, my prayer for you is that God opens your eyes to those needs, and through meeting some of those needs, you would be able to give the words of life that lead to eternal life. And my prayer for you is that as you’re doing this, you’ll have the same type of experience that Jesus had with the woman at the well, when she responded to him, “Sir, give me this water.”
