The following blog post contains notes and application questions from our March 3, 2019 message, Rescued.
Discussing and Applying the Sermon
- Where in your life do you have the most hope? What about the least—if any at all—hope? Share these answers with your community group, and then pray for each other where you each have the least amount of hope.
- Check out Watermark’s initiative and partnership with Compassion International: Impact a Child, Impact a Country.
Summary
Santiago “Jimmy” Mellado, CEO of Compassion International, joins us to talk about the power of hope, God’s goodness, and love—three of the most powerful forces in the world.
Key Takeaways
Hope
- Hope is a fragile but powerful force. When you have it, no challenge is beyond your reach. When you don’t, even the smallest act is hard.
- In any desperate situation, even the smallest glimmer of hope is enough to find your way out of seemingly dead end situations. You don’t need a ton of hope...you just need a speck of it.
- Take the small hope you have and act on it in obedience. You must start. You must act.
- Knowing that others know you are in trouble and need help is a source of hope. Suffering alone is horrible. Suffering with others can produce hope.
- What are you drowning in? What are you about to give up on in life? Where do you need a speck of hope?
God’s Goodness
- God’s goodness is not dependent on circumstances going our way.
- Difficult and uncertain times often produce a greater appreciation and understanding of God’s goodness, regardless of the outcome.
- I want to live a life that is not in denial of the storm, but to have enough faith in Jesus so that I can lay down and sleep next to Him during the storm.
- God is an expert at making good come out of the terrible things in our lives.
- Trials and hard times will come in the future. Take heart, you can trust God when they do.
Love
- What caused me to lose all sense and do irrational, reckless things to save my son, even if it meant my death? Because he’s my son.
- God’s love for you is worlds beyond an earthly father’s love for his son.
There are over 400 million children in the world that are living on less than $1.90 per day. There are 500 million Jesus following families in the world. The church alone could help!
Compassion is simply trying to connect the well resourced church and the under resourced church. Compassion is not a child sponsorship ministry...it’s a church equipping ministry.
Mentioned or Recommended Resources
- Suggested Scripture study: Isaiah 40:29-31; Romans 8:28; Matthew 8:23-27; Jeremiah 29:11
- Ministry: Impact a Child, Impact a Country
- Sermon: What a Compassionate God Wants You to Consider as Your Next Yes
- Blog: Are Child Sponsorship programs healthy? A smart idea? A biblical idea?