Overcoming Evil With Good by Daniel Williams

Evil has become overwhelming….

I don’t like to watch the news anymore because it is everywhere….EVIL. It seems like every week now in the national news there is something to be discouraged about in this broken world. So I tend to want to ignore it all, run away from it all and just turn off the tv, but evil still affects me and my life. We all know that evil and sin doesn’t just express itself in the national news but also in our own communities and personal lives. It causes us pain even when we try to run and ignore it. It seems like we can’t escape evil, and it has become overwhelming. 

And I don’t think that I am alone in struggling with all of this pain in the world. As I talk with people in my community, I get the sense that evil has become overwhelming to all of us, and many are losing hope. We all are dealing with sin, pain, suffering and evil every day whether we want to or not. But there is something we can do about it…turn to Jesus! We don’t have to hide or ignore the pain we are going through. We can turn to the God of comfort and receive His grace, peace, love and hope. 

Jesus tells us in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” We can trust that Jesus will make every wrong right and has conquered sin and death on the cross! His grace is available to bring hope to all who receive Him as Lord and Savior. “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith” -1 John 5:4. Many people are asking what am I to do with all of this evil around me? The answer is have faith in Jesus! To receive His grace and love. Not to ignore evil but overcome it with good.

A verse that has been encouraging me during this season of tragedies throughout the world has been Romans 12:21 which says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

I have been reminded that even during the darkest hours of this world, I can actually do something that will make a difference in my life and in the lives of others. I can put my hope in Jesus and have His Spirit help me bring hope to this world by doing good. The Bible reminds us that we can do something in these evil times…we can LOVE. We can love God and love others.

We are told as followers of Jesus not to run away from darkness but to do good and be His light. Jesus prayed for us to make a difference in the world and told us do good works. He told us as we to do good works before men that they will glorify our Father in Heaven (Matt 5:16). Jesus doesn’t want us to be overwhelmed with evil or just simply to ignore the evil in the world but to face it head on with love. Jesus taught us to love all people, all the time…and this love really does make a difference.

So what good can we practically do today when we are overwhelmed by all of the pain and tragedy around us? I think the answer is to LOVE. Love is the good work we are to do as followers of Jesus (1 Cor 13:1-3). 

So, ask God how you can love others around you right where you are. Who can you be praying for? One of the greatest ways we can impact those we love and those we struggle to love is through prayer. We need to be on our knees interceding for people daily, allowing the love of Jesus to change our hearts and move in our world. Remember to be sharing the Gospel with those around you! More than ever, people are searching for HOPE, and as followers of Jesus, we can share His love by spreading the victory He gives us in a broken world and the love He has for the lost and hurting. And search for opportunities to love people practically by serving them. No matter who you are or where you live, there are people around you in need of someone to show them the love of Jesus by serving them. We have the opportunity to BE the hands and feet of Jesus to people in a very distressing time.

As evil increases throughout the world, our practice of simply loving God and people will shine brighter than ever. Don’t underestimate these simple ways to express love to people. May we be sensitive to listening to Jesus as He guides and directs us. May we love God and one another well and not become overwhelmed because we know the One who OVERCOMES. 

Love On Display by Travis Sinks

Our Mission

At Redemption Church, our mission is to Pursue & Proclaim Jesus. We accomplish this through our four main focuses: Sunday Mornings, Community Groups, Leadership Development, and Outreach. Everything we do as a church comes from one of these main sections. We desire to gather together on Sundays to worship and hear the public proclamation of God’s Word, we gather together in Community Groups to encourage, and pray for each other, while also living life together through each other’s joys and struggles. We also desire to specifically build up people in the church who are called lead in larger capacity at Redemption Church by focusing on Leadership Development. Each of these three things are meant to build up and encourage the current Christians that gather together at Redemption Church Delray Beach.

However, God has called us to not only build up each other, but to reach outside our four walls and show the love of Jesus to our local community and all those we come into contact with. We do this through Outreach. Sometimes this means that we host a booth during a city event, other times we run shoe drives, or help the local food kitchen, but it’s not limited to organized group events. Outreach is also a daily activity that every Christian should be engaging in. Paul teaches that we are ambassadors for Christ in our everyday life, and therefore, we never “clock out” of our Christian life (2 Corinthians 5:20).

One way we, as a church, will be equipping ourselves to show the love of Christ to people throughout our day is through our new “Love On Display” cards.

As a Christian, we should be living lives that cause people to ask: “Why?”. People should wonder why we would desire to help them when they can’t pay for their groceries or why we would comfort them when they are obviously having a hard day or why we would go out of our way to help them when their car is on the side of the road. However, sometimes, we can’t always find the words to share why we do what we do, or maybe there’s no time to. We want to help reach out to our community through our actions of love, and we want them to know why.

These cards simply say that Jesus has come to give us life, and life abundantly. The back of the card tells the reader that your act of love towards them was to remind them that Jesus loves them, that He has a great plan for their life, and that He desires them to know HIm. The cards also direct readers to visit "www.redemptiondb.com/love”. This webpage explains the Gospel and invites them to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

We desire for Delray Beach to be one of the most well loved cities in the world because we are a people who have been saved and redeemed by Jesus, Who first loved us, and we want the people of Delray Beach to have the opportunity to know Him as well.

So please, keep some cards on you and be looking for opportunities to love the people around you. God has prepared good works for you in advance that you might walk in them, so enjoy the supernatural opportunities God provides for you to love people in your very normal, daily situations.

-Pastor Travis