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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The Gospel is a way for me to spread hope, joy, and peace at work. I feel that I was placed in the elementary school that I am in for a reason and I strive everyday to be the light that shines in the darkness for my colleagues and students who may not know Christ.
Simply by believing it’s true
Believing, truly believing, should bring a difference in my life and actions. That difference should be visible by others so that they feel refreshed, not drained, from being around us.
Jesus is with me in my every day life and I know that she is here, inside me, even when I don’t feel it. My flesh is weak but my spirit is willing! I want to be a light in this dark world and share Jesus with as many people as I can. That’s what I’m supposed to be doing and I’m glad I know that now.
This is the greatest news I’ve ever heard, and I want to share it with the world! Our sin will be defeated, and we will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Amen! When I struggle with fear, guilt, anxiety, anger, sadness, whatever life brings…there is hope in Jesus. With that HOPE comes the JOY of each moment here on earth and the PEACE of knowing we are His for eternity. I want to bring that hope and spread that joy and plant that peace in the hearts of others.
I started to share my story with others
Living in a non-constant world with huge shifts in stock markets, friendships, sexuality, public opinion, moral standards and more— I need a true north- an omnipotent God who never changes, who is not subject to time or any other earthly restraints, a God who shows mercy and relentlessly pursues me. If God is my foundation then I am better equipped to handle life’s challenges, be content in my circumstances, find joy beyond understanding and give and receive love and peace to others.
Just a real quick little correction–the heading in my book is A Big Enough Gospel. 🙂
Thank you for catching that and letting us know Donna!
Although the Body of Christ is certainly big enough, with our Head…..
I liked it how she said the good gospel is literally the good news. Sharing the gospel is pointing people to the best person in the universe. That this sin has separated us from the person we were made for. He made a way for you and me to be reconciled back to him.
There is this really cool verse in Genesis 50:2 from Joseph that says, “As for you, you meant for evil against me, but God intended it’s for good, to bring about that may people’s lives were saved.”
This is how I see the gospel transforming my life. The bad things that have happened, which I have handed over to God have given me permission to use for his glory.
This verse resonates so deeply for me, when I didn’t know what the gospel meant, I didn’t understand why bad things happened. Even I think the enemy made me think I was born cursed.
After understanding God sacrificing himself on the cross so that my sin can be forgiven and that the heart change that he gives cannot be matched by anything on this earth. It made me realise the story of the gospel.
I love to read and absorb how the same God who made the stars and the earth’s oceans and land is the same God who loves me enough to send his son to die on a cross for my sins…I have only been back in church for a year after a 10 year season of anger, resentment and sin. I am know only really understanding what God and Jesus have done for me. Thank you!