Having His followers fish for people is the way that Jesus brings people into His Kingdom. Though many things have been stripped away from us as a church because of Covid-19, this is still something that we can do. Using a net of Jesus’ love, we fish for people so that Jesus can give them a life with Him that will last forever.

Times have changed and it seems like we no longer know how to make disciples of Jesus. But Jesus is doing the heaven lifting in the disciple-making process, and as we share our lives with others, as He did, He is able to draw people closer to Him and give them new life.

Because of Covid and secularism, there is a lot of uncertainty for churches these days. How will we make disciples now? But just as He did after His resurrection, Jesus stands in our midst and says, "Peace. I am with you, I love you and I have a plan." Because Jesus is with us, the Church is always able to adapt.

Having a strong sense of home in our hearts can give us a sense of belonging, identity, security and confidence. But even a strong sense of home can cause anxiety when it is rooted in this world because something can always go wrong at home. Jesus has given us a new forever home with God and the way to that home is the way of love. Therefore we make God’s love the driving force in our lives so that others can also have a forever home with God.

There are times when it seems like Covid-19 has stripped away our society’s veneer of congeniality and we can see what other people truly care about by what upsets them. But what about us? In the race of life, what are we running for? When we see what Jesus has done for us, we are moved by His sacrificial love to run our race for His Kingdom.

Feeling foolish about our faith can prevent us from fully living life as God intended us to do. But faith is about seeing ultimate reality as it really is and when our faith is anchored in Jesus, we are freed from our fears of being foolish and able to faithfully live and love others.

All of us have the power to make decisions, but what guides us as we use our God-given power? Will it be love or self-interest? Both Jesus and Avengers: Endgame show us that sacrificial love brings us the Endgame result we desire.

Our natural response is to fight against or flee from our fears, but both responses pull us away from the abundant life Jesus wants to give us. With a turning point of love and faith, we can head off in a new direction with a far better result, all because of the transforming power of love.

When we get anxious, we tend to make our values about gaining creaturely comfort and worldly security for ourselves, with no regard for the negative impact our values may be having on others. But God loves all people and sent Jesus into the world to win forgiveness and restoration for all. Moved by God’s love and mercy, we align our values with God’s so that we can truly love and bless others.

We all need hope for the future, but whether we think that hope is even possible depends in large part on what we believe. Jesus came into this world to defeat that two things that always hold us back: sin and death. His death and resurrection created the possibility of a far better future for us. That possibility becomes reality for us through faith in Jesus.