I thought I would pass on a message that I
shared with my parents at Heritage Christian Schools in 2008. As a school we
have had a series of tragedies hit our school this year, all of which will
work for our spiritual welfare and His glory.
In addition to what I shared with them, I
will leave with you a set of Scriptures I often mediate on when I do my
prayer walks. As I shared with my small group last Sunday night, prayer can
really come alive when it is accompanied by the Word.
The introductory note to my Heritage Parents
This new school year has had quite a
different beginning from most past years…to say the least.
In memory of Brock Bellue, a new sports
court at the Jr. High is currently being constructed along with a new
tri-level shade structure. Many parents have donated toward this wonderful
tribute to Brock and it will be a great benefit to the school for years to
come.
In addition to the loss of Brock, our
Heritage sixth grade student Zachary Bluestone lost his father (Adam) sudden
to a stroke just a few days ago. Zachary’s mother, Angela, wanted me to
pass on her appreciation to so many who consoled her and the rest of the
family during this time.
And, if that is not enough, Norm Wright,
the grief counselor who has greatly helped the school during this time, lost
his wife to brain cancer on September 15th. Norm is slated to
conduct a grief seminar with our staff on November 19th. You are
invited to attend if you would like. Please just let me know.
I would ask for you to please continue to
uphold in prayer these who have suffered such sudden losses.
In response to all of these losses, I will
share with you a part of an article (Teaching Children How to Comfort the
Afflicted) I wrote a number of years ago in respect to how to minister to
those who are grieving.
Teaching Children How to Comfort the Afflicted
Years ago when my son Brodie was 10 years
old, he lost a friend in a car accident. It happened right after a soccer
game on a beautiful Fourth of July weekend in Colorado where I pastored a
church. My son’s friend, Greg, was tragically struck by a car while riding
his bike.
When Brodie attended the funeral, at first he
did not know what to say or how to act for losing a friend was a new
experience for him. He was very quiet during the entire funeral as were
many of Greg’s other teammates. Only at the end when Brodie walked away
from the graveside did he and many of the other boys burst into tears. I
believe they all finally realized what had happened to their teammate. Many
wonderful words of sympathy were cited that day, but I believe it was the
tears and shared grief from those boys that spoke loudest to the stricken
family. It was the comfort they needed most at that stage in their grief.
Jesus also modeled how to meet the immediate needs of the
grief-stricken in his ministry. He demonstrated it best when he lost his
close friend Lazareth. Even though Jesus knew full well that
Lazareth would come back from the dead (as is seen in John 11) grief
overtook him when he met with Lazareth’s sisters, Mary and Martha
(John 11:32-33, 35).
A deeper study of the John
passage actually describes Jesus’ reaction to Lazareth’s death as “shaking
in grief” when talking with the sisters. He cried openly as had many who
loved Lazareth.
Of course Jesus could have
responded differently, preaching a sermon on how all things work together
for good for those who love God. That would have been true and comforting
(Romans 8:28).
Jesus could have told them to put their grief behind, have faith, and move
on with God’s will (Philippians 3:13-14).
He even could have challenged Mary and Martha to
look at their loss with joy rather than sadness, for Lazareth was in a
better place and the tragedy of his death could only build a more lasting
endurance to their faith (James 1:2-3). But, Jesus chose none
of these biblical responses; he openly grieved with them instead. And so it
is with God and you, when you suffer or when your day comes to suffer, He
will cry tears with you first before He does anything else.
Teachable Moment
In teaching your children how to handle
ministering to those who have suffered loss, like the death of a loved one,
encourage them to openly grieve should they be inclined to do so. Grieving
for and with others can be a great help to those who are hurting. Doing so
makes them feel not so alone in their grief. Just as Jesus was a great
example of how to openly grieve before others, as He did with Mary and
Martha, so you should do likewise with your own children.
Word of God
John 11:32-33, 35
Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His
feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have
died.” When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with
her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled. Jesus
wept.
Romans 8:28 And we know
that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God,
to those who are called according to His purpose.
Philippians 3:13-14
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; But one
thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies
ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in
Christ Jesus.
James 1:2-3 Consider
it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the
testing of your faith produces endurance.
Kent’s Monday Prayer Walk
Comfort
When God is all you
have, then you will finally know that God is all you need. Rick Warren
Comfort
Psalm 139 1-18 1 O
Lord, You have searched me and
known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my
thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are
intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my
tongue, Behold, O Lord, You
know it all. 5 You have
enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your
hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I
cannot attain to it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I
flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make
my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 even there Your hand will
lead me, and Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the
darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,” 12
even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You. 13 For You formed my inward parts; You
wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will
give thanks to You, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows
it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in
secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes
have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days
that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. 17 How
precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I
am still with You.
Security
2 Cor. 4: 7-10, 7 But we
have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of
the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every
way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not
forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the
body thedying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in
our body.
Confidence
Gal. 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Faith
Jeremiah 32: 27 “Behold,
I am the Lord, the God of all
flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”
Wisdom
Pro 20:18
Prepare plans by consultation, and make war by wise guidance.
