Good News Weekly Message

No matter what the mess we might make in our lives, God doesn't wait to see if we're worth it before offering a helping hand. Instead, he reaches right into the mess with his grace and forgiveness. This week we see that the problem within us is our hostility toward God. When God surveys our condition he sees people raging against the exclusive claims of a sovereign God even as their hostility drives them to destruction. But God intervenes by sending his Son in humility to willingly suffer hostility that we might be spared from the just wrath of God and exalted to the highest heaven. God has intervened with humility in hostility!

No matter what the mess we might make in our lives, God doesn't wait to see if we're worth it before offering a helping hand. Instead, he reaches right into the mess with his grace and forgiveness. This week we see that the problem within is death itself. When God surveys our condition he sees people doomed to death because of the corruption of sin. But God intervenes by sending his Son to be the power of resurrection from the dead and the bringer of life everlasting. God has intervened with life in the grave!

No matter what the mess we might make in our lives, God doesn't wait to see if we're worth it before offering a helping hand. Instead, he reaches right into the mess with his grace and forgiveness. This week we see Jesus intervenes in our spiritual blindness. When God surveys our condition he sees people groping in the darkness even as they boast of their ability to see. But God intervenes by sending his Son as the true light that reveals the only path to seeing God’s grace and mercy for our good. God has intervened by giving us sight in blindness!

No matter what the mess we might make in our lives, God doesn't wait to see if we're worth it before offering a helping hand. Instead, he reaches right into the mess with his grace and forgiveness. This week we see how Jesus intervenes to satisfy our spiritual thirst. When God surveys our condition he sees people trying to quench their thirst with water than brings only bondage and death. But God intervenes by offering his Son as living water to slake our spiritual thirst with freedom and grace. God has intervened by giving us water for our thirst!

No matter what the mess we might make in our lives, God doesn't wait to see if we're worth it before offering a helping hand. Instead, he reaches right into the mess with his grace and forgiveness. This week we see that the problem within is our desire to justify ourselves. When God surveys our condition he sees people creating religions in which they try to pursue righteousness through works. But God intervenes by lifting up his Son so that we might be righteous before him through faith rather than through works. God has intervened in our manmade religion of works and established a religion that is by faith from first to last!

No matter what the mess we might make in our lives, God doesn't wait to see if we're worth it before offering a helping hand. Instead, he reaches right into the mess with his grace and forgiveness. This week we focus on the mess of sin. When God surveys our condition he sees that we are utterly fallen in body and soul with no power to heal ourselves. But God intervenes by sending his Son to take humanity as his own and achieve final victory where sinners have been defeated time and time again. God has intervened with righteousness in the face of our sin!

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the Christian’s 40-day journey with the Lord to the cross and tomb, preparing for the proclamation of Easter. The 40 days are reminiscent of several biblical events: Jesus’ 40-day fast at the beginning of his ministry, Moses’ stay on Mount Sinai at the giving of the Law, Elijah’s fast on his way to the mountain of God. Ash Wednesday begins the Christian’s Lenten journey with a reminder of our mortality and a call to repentance (Genesis 18:27, Job 42:6, Jeremiah 6:26, Matthew 11:21). The ancient practice of imposing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful gives Ash Wednesday its name. The church father Tertullian (c. A.D. 160-215) writes of the practice as a public expression of repentance and of our human frailty that stands in need of Christ. The ashes remind us forcefully of our need for redeeming grace as they recall words from the rite for Christian burial “...earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust...,” words that will someday be spoken over us all. Tr

Most people would agree that the world would be a better place if people used a little more common sense. But Jesus came to introduce a way of life that wasn't an improvement or addition to what's considered common sense. It was a complete reversal. This week we see that common sense says glory is for personal gain, but Jesus hides his glory to accomplish salvation for the world. Common sense says you must gain power and prestige to accomplish your ends, but Jesus says even the greatest power is nothing if not used in service to another. We live in the uncommon sense of the gospel that Jesus Christ veiled his divine glory for a time to achieve for us glory that will last forever.

Most people would agree that the world would be a better place if people used a little more common sense. But Jesus came to introduce a way of life that wasn't an improvement or addition to what's considered common sense. It was a complete reversal. This week we see that common sense says get yours, but Jesus says seek first my kingdom. Common sense says that you must frantically chase after the wealth of this world to have security and stability, but Jesus dispels the demands of worry and calls his people to seek his kingdom instead. We live in the uncommon sense of the gospel that assures us of heaven and offers us blessings in this world as well.

Most people would agree that the world would be a better place if people used a little more common sense. But Jesus came to introduce a way of life that wasn't an improvement or addition to what's considered common sense. It was a complete reversal. This week we see that common sense says get revenge, but Jesus says love your enemies. Common sense says that every action must have an equal and opposite reaction, but Jesus calls for a radically different reaction to every action—he calls for love. We live in the uncommon sense of the gospel that removes from us the wrathful reaction of God and replaces it with his boundless love.

Most people would agree that the world would be a better place if people used a little more common sense. But Jesus came to introduce a way of life that wasn't an improvement or addition to what's considered common sense. It was a complete reversal. This week we see that common sense says follow the rules, but Jesus says be salt and light. Common sense says that morality is achievable by redefining morality, but Jesus says the standards cannot be lowered—every requirement must be fulfilled. We live in the uncommon sense of the gospel that says we have a Savior who has provided the perfect obedience God expects.

Most people would agree that the world would be a better place if people used a little more common sense. But Jesus came to introduce a way of life that wasn't an improvement or addition to what's considered common sense. It was a complete reversal. This week we see that common sense says follow your passions, but Jesus says control them. Common sense says that you can only realize your true self by first identifying and then gratifying your deepest desires, but Jesus says that your true self is doomed to death by default—what’s required is a new self set free from sin. We live in the uncommon sense of the gospel that offers reconciliation between passionate sinners and a merciful God.

Most people would agree that the world would be a better place if people used a little more common sense. But isn't it just as possible that common sense is not the solution to our problems but the cause of them? Jesus came to introduce a way of life that wasn't simply an improvement or addition to what's considered common sense. It was a complete reversal. What the world calls cursed, he calls blessed. What the world pities, he prizes. And yet, we see from his own life that this complete reversal of the world’s values is the system in which God works to bring us our greatest blessings—not only through Jesus’ life but in ours as well.

If it seems like Christmas only creates extra burdens in your life, that isn't by design. When God's prophet Isaiah spoke about the birth of Jesus, he said, "You have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders." Today we see that Jesus came to shatter the burden of blindness. When we look at the evidence, it seems as though it would never be possible for God our Father to say about us what he said about Jesus: “With you I am well pleased.” When we look at our lives, all we see is sin. But today we celebrate the fact that God doesn’t simply tell us we are forgiven, he attaches that promise to a visible act: baptism. Just as Jesus received the Spirit’s blessing and the Father’s approval at his baptism, so do we at ours.

If it seems like Christmas only creates extra burdens in your life, that isn't by design. When God's prophet Isaiah spoke about the birth of Jesus, he said, "You have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders." Today we see that Jesus came to shatter the burden of discovery. By nature we live in darkness. It’s not even that we can’t find the light. It’s that we aren’t even aware that there is such a thing as light. Left to our own devices, we would wander in darkness forever. However, God pierced that deadly darkness with his brilliant and life-giving light. Just like the wise men, the light of Christ draws us near to God.

If it seems like Christmas only creates extra burdens in your life, that isn't by design. When God's prophet Isaiah spoke about the birth of Jesus, he said, "You have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders." Today we see that Jesus came to shatter the burden of self-defense. By nature we all want to be our own defense attorneys. We want to be able to explain and justify our behavior in the eyes of God and in the eyes of others. God’s Son has shattered that burden. He was given the name Jesus, meaning “he saves.” Because of Jesus work of salvation in our place and on our behalf, we need not worry about defending our name before God. Jesus has earned a perfect reputation before God—and one that is ours through faith in him.