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The Gospel
March 9, 2010
God promised. From the beginning of our race. From the moment of the fall. A promise to get us back home. By sending his Son. Who died for our sin. Who gave us new life. Life that comes from the power of a restored heart. Restored to relationship with God.
This is the power of the gospel. To change lives. Restoring hope where there was nothing we could do to save ourselves. Giving freedom where there was bondage to sin and death. Opening a door from our heart to the heart of God who alone is goodness and life.
So now we live. For the first time. (This is the gospel). By holding onto God. (This is faith). It begins by thirsting for something more. More than the answers your hearing from the world.
Next bible study on Romans is Monday at 6PM, March 22, at Jason Twillman’s home. Come if your thirsty….
Craigan is facilitating…he can be reach at craigangriffin@hotmail.com for directions.
Paul and Rome
February 25, 2010
Paul…. His life has been radically changed. He has been called to mission. He has a burning desire to share the freedom and hope he has found. What better place than Rome? But he has never been there. He has never met the church members meeting there. Can he capture his message in a letter? For a discussion on Paul’s introduction of his mission to the church in Rome (read Romans 1), join me this sabbath at 9:30 AM. (I switched with Lisa and Laura…don’t worry, “Crazy Love” is coming March 6.)
CROSSroads
February 25, 2010
First Serve: CROSSroads–how the death of Jesus can transform us.
Speaker: Daniel Tworog
“Tell all the truth but tell it slant—–
Success in Circuit lies,
Too bright for our infirm Delight,
The Truth’s supreme surprise.”
–Emily Dickinson
“It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we dwell upon his great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be be constant, our love quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit. If we should be saved at last, we must learn of penitence and humiliation at the foot of the cross.”
–EGW
Daniel is the father of his son, Nathaniel. Dan loves to grow spiritually and in that regard he is an explorer and an adventurer. His personal mission statement, “To listen for God’s voice, serve others, and breathe gratitude and joy.”
Crazy Love
February 25, 2010
ConneXions Topic: Crazy Love
Facilitators: Laura and Lisa
Does something deep inside your heart long to break free from the status quo? Are you hungry for an authentic faith that addresses the problems of our world with tangible, even radical, solutions? God is calling you to a passionate love relationship with Himself. Because the answer to religious complacency isn’t working harder at a list of do’s and don’ts — it’s falling in love with God. And once you encounter His love, you will never be the same.
Because when you’re wildly in love with someone, it changes everything.
3.6.10 9:30 AM Classroom A
Young Goodman Brown
February 24, 2010
I just read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story Young Goodman Brown. Great!
This story really pushes the reader to consider how we run amok when we try to become ultra pure and holy. We’ve all met people like Goodman who, when they are confronted by the ugliness of the human condition, draw the wrong conclusion and miss the point entirely.
In reaction to sin, Goodman isolates himself on his own little island of holiness–and becomes a complete failure as a human being. Ouch. The darkness of the story is its own irony.
Hawthorne seems to suggest that we cannot focus on the opposite of an idea and thereby escape it. We cannot focus on sin and thereby escape it. Hawthorne asks the question: can we find goodness if we’ve trained our eyes to see only badness–in ourselves, in the world, and in other people, especially in those closest to us?
There’s no sense doing violence to Hawthorne’s prose by attempting to summarize the story itself; it only takes 12-15 minutes to read. Get it from the library. Or borrow my copy. Or download it for free. Or read it online.
Read: go forth and be thoughtful.
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