All too often we feel the buzz of a smartphone and see our news feed light up the screen—another shooting, another natural disaster, another crisis. We also see the lavish lifestyles of so many people on social media chasing another adventure, another lover, another outfit. Then we go to the coffee shops and sit with our friends. We use buzzwords like shame, trauma, and abuse. We self-medicate with sex, fame, and food. We look for rescuing from our books, our celebrities, and our vacations. The whirring chaos of false security and empty promises takes its toll, and we keep hitting refresh waiting for tweets and grams to tell us something good. We need something to cut through the noise, something to refresh the soul, something to bring hope to a world marked by despair. We need good news.
We Need Good News
The light of the eyes rejoices the heart, and good news refreshes the bones.
Watch Session One: Created for this
A Big Enough Gospel
Complain about Uber Eats forgetting your Mexican Coke or dressing on the side, and you know to brace yourself for the snarky “first world problems” rebuttal from a frenemy. While your missing tahini-garlic dressing should not register as a big problem on a human level, these interactions leave us wondering if our problems matter in the face of global epidemics we see on our news feeds. Does it matter that I am heartbroken about my singleness when babies go to bed hungry? Does it matter that I struggle with depression and anxiety when refugees wander this planet looking for a home? Does it matter that I am addicted to my smartphone when women and children endure sex trafficking in staggering numbers? What if God is compassionate and big enough to care for every person hurting? What if God’s gospel is big enough to comfort the lonely, set the captives free, minister to us in our despair, and mobilize a generation to push back against the evil we see in our world? Is the gospel big enough for all of this?
the gospel everyday
The gospel of God—the good news that the kingdom of God has been inaugurated by Jesus— means good news for the world. Rather than thinking of the gospel as a one-time event in the life of the believer, we recognize that the gospel is a worldwide proclamation that Jesus has come to deliver us from our sin, comfort us, strengthen us, and mobilize the cavalry to go into the world “gospel-ing” it through word and deed. The gospel bears witness that we live in a kingdom, we belong to a king, and we have faith, hope and love at our disposal for every moment—big or small.
Daily Question
How can the gospel—the good news of the kingdom of God—be a way for you to bring hope, joy, and peace in your own life and in the lives of others?
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It’s not about me.. God made a way to reconcile us to Him through His son Jesus.. He does it and it has nothing to do with how good or bad we are.. to live freely knowing that we don’t have to be perfect for Him to love me and there is nothing I can do to make him love me less. In this the Holy Spirit empowers us daily to walk in love, joy, peace patience And to forgive and live those who hate us
It begins with God’s neverending love and grace! As he has so freely given to me in Jesus, the hope, joy and peace. It is the best news to give others that God loves them as no one else can, and he wants to be close to them! I bring it to others in the way I love them, because that love is from God and it fills my heart to give to others the Good News!
This thought resonates with me
The gospel was not just an event that happened once but it is an ongoing event that brings moment by moment monumental consequences
Hope transformation peace purpose a connection with the living God the ability to love unconditionally and be loved. The ability to give and receive mercy and forgiveness to desire the sincere good for others. So much is mine moment by moment because then spell enabled the Holy Spirit to have Fred reign to transform this slav to sin and bondage to be free to love and serve and to make a
Difference in the lives of others!
This thought resonates with me
The gospel was not just an event that happened once but it is an ongoing event that brings moment by moment monumental consequences
Hope transformation peace purpose a connection with the living God the ability to love unconditionally and be loved. The ability to give and receive mercy and forgiveness to desire the sincere good for others. So much is mine moment by moment because Christ’s death on the cross, this good gospel, enabled the Holy Spirit to have free reign to transform this slave to sin and bondage to be free to love and serve and to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others!
Remind myself and others that through forgiveness of our sons we can restore our relationship with God and people.
With the virus in the world right now I need hope, joy, and peace so much right now in my life and the life of my little family. The gospel is good news and good news is what we all need more than ever right now. I can bring encouragment to myself and my family during this extremely scary time and uncertain time. I can make sure that Jesus gets to speak to me first thing in the morning before the noise of the day engulfs me. I can than live my life to refect Christ to others to know that he will give me the hope, joy, and peace that I so desperately need.
The Gospel is the only sure thing to cling to, and that’s especially evident right now when none of us have the control we thought we had before the virus. I’ve been clamoring to take care of my family, shift to homeschooling, keep up with cleaning my home, be available for Zoom calls, etc., and today is the day to start going back to the basics. The routine will look different, but I’m going to spend time in His Word, listening for His still voice, daily. It’s essential. The only way I can bring hope, joy and peace into the lives of others is if I’m relying completely on the Gospel.
We alll need the good news of the gospel every day. We need it to fill us up, to give us this day our daily bread. Without the gospel there is no hope, joy or peace in my life, only chaos.
For me I grew up in such darkness.. Love to me meant pain, it meant betrayal, it meant endless rounds of guilt and abuse of which there was no hope of ever breaking free from. There was no peace in my life.. only endless rounds of drama and dysfunction. I never knew joy, real joy, because all i knew was living the lie and keeping the smile on my face. I grew up in church hearing the story of Jesus and God but i never knew it was meant for me. I was like the Samaritan woman at the well.. When I was recovering from my mental break that almost took my life, I was reintroduced to Jesus and it was life changing! It did not happen overnight.. it was a LONG slow process but the result was that God broke through my walls, met me where I was hiding at in my soul and brought me joy, peace, love, hope.. so much hope that at times it was overwhelming! I have never been the same since!
Because it IS good news, as long as we have faith & believe ( at the risk of sounding redundant)