When Jesus was here on earth and sent his disciples out to share the “Good News”, what did he have in mind? What is this “Gospel” that God offers to the world? …. And what is it in it’s fullness – without reducing it to a list or a proposition or a few steps of do-this-and-you’ll-be-ok.
We’re into that study right now – what is the “Good News” and how does God share it with us? What are the ways that Jesus lived it out and spoke about it when he was here to share with us? Are there answers to the questions people are asking that are a part of the Good News?
And what we are finding is pretty cool and exciting stuff! God’s purpose in creation, and our purpose, meaning, and design as humans, given at the very beginning of this world, may have been broken and destroyed when people chose to follow their own desires and selfish motives, but in Jesus God is restoring his creation back to its intended order and beauty. Many people today are caught in patterns and the traps of addictions, unable to break free from the captivity they daily suffer with, but in Jesus God is leading those who are trapped in their lives to new places of freedom and to true understanding of their worth. Others are living today on the fringe of society, outside of healthy relationship with family and friends, struggling to find identity and wondering if they belong anywhere at all. For them, Jesus brings the message that those who are feel far away and are in desperate need of a “home” and a place of belonging are invited back to a center of relationship with God who receives them with a loving embrace and provides the home and belonging they so deeply desire.
THIS IS the good news. THIS IS the gospel that Jesus knew and shared. And this is the good news for us today that we want and we need. Heaven is an outcome, but the good news is for you and I today, this week, this lifetime.
We’re into that study right now – what is the “Good News” and how does God share it with us? What are the ways that Jesus lived it out and spoke about it when he was here to share with us? Are there answers to the questions people are asking that are a part of the Good News?
And what we are finding is pretty cool and exciting stuff! God’s purpose in creation, and our purpose, meaning, and design as humans, given at the very beginning of this world, may have been broken and destroyed when people chose to follow their own desires and selfish motives, but in Jesus God is restoring his creation back to its intended order and beauty. Many people today are caught in patterns and the traps of addictions, unable to break free from the captivity they daily suffer with, but in Jesus God is leading those who are trapped in their lives to new places of freedom and to true understanding of their worth. Others are living today on the fringe of society, outside of healthy relationship with family and friends, struggling to find identity and wondering if they belong anywhere at all. For them, Jesus brings the message that those who are feel far away and are in desperate need of a “home” and a place of belonging are invited back to a center of relationship with God who receives them with a loving embrace and provides the home and belonging they so deeply desire.
THIS IS the good news. THIS IS the gospel that Jesus knew and shared. And this is the good news for us today that we want and we need. Heaven is an outcome, but the good news is for you and I today, this week, this lifetime.