"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever beliveth on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."
- John 3:16
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One of the biggest failures of the church, in my opinion, is the amount of judgement felt coming from Christians all across America every day. There must be a fine balance understood, between admitting we are sinners in need of The Savior, and heaping shame and guilt on an already broken life, and I think many times this balance is off kilter.
There are many conservative churches in our nation that would rather remind someone of their failures, than point them to The One Who can forgive them and save them. There are many times that the good news of Christ loving us, and dying for us are almost put on the back shelf, in order for condemnation to be front and center. There are churches that would rather separate themselves from a fallen world, than reach out, lest they be touched by the dirty world themselves.
These churches make my heart hurt, because they are ultimately why, many un-churched people misunderstand what the Christian life is all about. It's these churches that are giving us Christ- followers a bad rap.
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Though we all need to understand that sin is very real and unacceptable in the eyes of God, the news that will change lives is not that people are sinners...but that they are loved sinners. Our world is full of lost, hurting, broken souls, and they need to know that God loves them, and loved them enough to die for them, to save them from their pain and sin.
People at your job, family members, neighbors down the street at your local bar, need to know that The Almighty God in Heaven loves them, right where they are. They need to know that when Christ chose to die for us, He died for all, knowing all of the sins that all of us would ever commit. They need to know That God knows them, and knew them, before time even began. And in knowing who we would be, and what we would do, He loved us, and died to save us anyway, because His love was that great.
The true trans formative truth of the gospel is that God loves us, and sent His Son to save us. This is the good news, this is the news that will change people, what people long to hear.
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If you haven't heard me, you need to hear me now: God loves you, and He longs for a relationship with you. He loved you before He made you, and He gave His life for you, so that you could live forever with Him.
This is the good news, and it's up to us to spread it.
This is the news that people in your life need to hear from you.
There are many conservative churches in our nation that would rather remind someone of their failures, than point them to The One Who can forgive them and save them. There are many times that the good news of Christ loving us, and dying for us are almost put on the back shelf, in order for condemnation to be front and center. There are churches that would rather separate themselves from a fallen world, than reach out, lest they be touched by the dirty world themselves.
These churches make my heart hurt, because they are ultimately why, many un-churched people misunderstand what the Christian life is all about. It's these churches that are giving us Christ- followers a bad rap.
.
Though we all need to understand that sin is very real and unacceptable in the eyes of God, the news that will change lives is not that people are sinners...but that they are loved sinners. Our world is full of lost, hurting, broken souls, and they need to know that God loves them, and loved them enough to die for them, to save them from their pain and sin.
People at your job, family members, neighbors down the street at your local bar, need to know that The Almighty God in Heaven loves them, right where they are. They need to know that when Christ chose to die for us, He died for all, knowing all of the sins that all of us would ever commit. They need to know That God knows them, and knew them, before time even began. And in knowing who we would be, and what we would do, He loved us, and died to save us anyway, because His love was that great.
The true trans formative truth of the gospel is that God loves us, and sent His Son to save us. This is the good news, this is the news that will change people, what people long to hear.
.
If you haven't heard me, you need to hear me now: God loves you, and He longs for a relationship with you. He loved you before He made you, and He gave His life for you, so that you could live forever with Him.
This is the good news, and it's up to us to spread it.
This is the news that people in your life need to hear from you.
God is so loving.
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