As America confronts pandemic, racial strife and rioting, the Christian screenwriter and producer offers Biblical examples of how to surmount crisis.
Stephen Kendrick is best known as one half of the Kendrick Brothers' filmmaking duo. With a string of hit movies like Overcomer, War Room and Fireproof stretching back 17 years, he and brother Alex Kendrick form the top team in the Christian genre. Stephen is also an ordained minister and was a staff pastor for more than a decade in Georgia at Sherwood Baptist Church, the place that helped launch him and Alex into the movie business.
He stepped into the pulpit at that church on Sunday as a guest speaker and delivered a timely sermon about overcoming crisis. Citing examples from the lives of King David, Elijah and Jesus, Stephen pointed to a common thread of repeated prayer about the given crisis situation, as when our Savior was suffering from anguish in the Garden of Gethsemane ahead of his arrest and crucifixion.
"Three times He's going (in prayer), and the Lord strengthens Him and He rises up in boldness and strength after weeping and desperation before His Father. He strengthened Himself and then He went and obeyed the Lord."
Kendrick added it is clearly not easy, mentioning that he himself has often prayed in times of trouble only to feel no sense of God's peace when he finishes. Of course, he points out that the Almighty does not operate on our timetable and that we Believers must continue to place our faith in Him, knowing that His peace will eventually come over us.
"If we want to strengthen ourselves, we need to get alone, we need to get right, we need to remember who we are in Christ, we need to pray specifically, repeatedly, not give up. And we need to surrender to the Father's will: 'Father, whatever happens in this crisis...I'm going to obey you regardless."
Words to live by at any time, but particularly in these anxious days of ours. The entire sermon is a good one and we feel certain you will be encouraged by what Stephen Kendrick has to say. It's entitled "Bouncing back in a Crisis" and you can find it via this link to Sherwood Baptist Church's website; he begins speaking at approximately 39 minutes in.