In this month’s episode, Pastor Jeff sits down with Nic Allen, Rolling Hills’ Nashville Campus Pastor. They dive into the topic of tragedy, and how we, as Christians, should respond to it. In lieu of last week’s events at Covenant School in Nashville, Pastor Jeff felt the need to address such an important topic. Today, Good Friday is a day Christians recognize as the darkest day in history. However, sharing the hope we have in Jesus in a dark and broken world is our number one goal. Sunday is coming! 
One super helpful tool included in this month’s podcast is a step-by-step plan for tragedy response. The guys talk about how important it is to properly disclose hard-to-share information based on age and maturity level. As men, our families will respond to future tragedies by how we lead now. No matter what, we should all be ready to step forward and shout from the rooftops, “God is still sovereign!” You do not want to miss this incredible episode!

To start us off, Pastor Jeff and Pastor Nic talk about how our response to difficult situations should be like that of Jesus. In John 18, Jewish officials were looking for Jesus, and He stepped forward, knowing death was imminent. If you were in this situation, how do you believe it would have been handled? Would you have gone toward the “fire,” or away from it?  

Next, the guys share three action steps to take when tragedy strikes. What we shouldn’t do is go directly to the internet or social media, or begin by scrolling into fear. Rather, start with prayer. Next, we move into God’s Word and see what He has to say through Scripture, and finish by “checking on your people.” That could be as simple as a text, or as complex as going to visit someone in person. No matter what, Christ is center stage in all that we do in response to a tragedy. 

Jeff and Nic next talk a bit about the term “thoughts and prayers” which gets used often when difficult situations arise. They explain that, while these two things are extremely important, following them by going and taking actionable steps are super important as well. Prayer not only changes things, but it also changes us and our actions. In these crucial times, our first response should be to help rather than provide opinions and solutions. 

Finally, the topic moves to how tragedy affects generations. Our families, and specifically our kids, are watching how we respond to these scenarios. If we do the steps Jeff and Nic provide in the podcast, the following generations are more likely to replicate our steps the next time a tragedy happens. 

Nic was such an awesome interview that provided many valuable resources on how to handle tragedy. By trusting God’s plan and living out our faith, we, too, can best respond and recover from tragedy. We hope you will spend 30 minutes listening to this month’s podcast!