A River of Hope
Adapted by Heather Moran from Pastor John's message on December 5, 2010
Sunday’s message was titled “A River of Hope,” and Pastor John made parallels between the functions of an actual river for a deer and the functions of the “river of hope” for us as humans. One of the parallels is that a river for a deer quenches its thirst and refreshes its life. Within this parallel, Pastor John shared a story with us from his childhood. His mother was very health conscious and so growing up he was not allowed to drink soda or other unhealthy beverages. Young John’s father would at times sneak him and his brother some soda as a treat, but for the most part they did not drink any. Once John found a twelve pack of Coca-Cola hidden in a culvert pipe. The day was very hot and, over the course of the next several hours, he drank one can after another to try to satisfy his thirst. By the time he was on the seventh can he was all wired up and was thirstier than he had ever been before. He just wanted to rush home and drink and drink water to quench his thirst. The cola did not satisfy his thirst, but only made him thirstier for what was healthy and good. In life today we are so thirsty for something and often we don’t know what it is. We try to satisfy this thirst in life by filling up with events and friends, by keeping busy or possibly with substances. We do everything except go to the right source, which is God. That nagging thirst we have is our soul longing for God. In John 4, Jesus refers to himself as “living water” and says that whoever drinks this living water will not have thirst again, but will be satisfied. Once you go there your hope begins and your life is changed. As an actual river will satisfy the thirst of a deer, the river of hope will satisfy our thirst as well. What are you thirsty for?
December 11, 2010
