Preach It!

My establishing church class is amazing.  I love getting together with people who love Jesus and are dripping with passion to see the plan and mission for His church as it has been revealed in the Bible. It is so rich! It makes the early morning so appealing. 

We regularly come back to the fact that preaching the gospel is key. How do you start a church? Preach the gospel. How do you encourage a church? Preach the gospel? How do you correct flawed teaching at a church? Preach the gospel. How do you restore relationships within a church? Preach the gospel. How do you grow and engage in missions? Preach the gospel. Jesus Jesus Jesus. Jesus Christ and him crucified is the answer. 

In this, we've also been talking about how important it is to preach the gospel to each other and to ourselves. Jesus died to set you free from that sin. Jesus lives to make intercession for you. Jesus gives you access to the grace you need. Jesus allows you to be most satisfied in God. Sometimes it can be easier to preach to each other, because we hate to recognize our own need. But sinner, do you preach to yourself? Do you remember that you were once dead in your sins but God in his mercy raised you to life in Christ? 

I have had a challenging week. I was given a minor concussion by one of my kids and then it was aggravated two days later. I've had a headache for 4 days now and I'm tired and my kids have been crazy and my coworkers have not been entirely helpful and every time I've complained I've later caught myself and said

Hey, Christ died to give you full joy. 

Did you know that Jesus died to set you free from your bitterness and self centeredness? 

Take heart, God is making all the sad things come untrue. 

You have been raised to new life in Christ. 

Isn't it cool how God is showing you your moment by moment need for grace? And that grace is free in Jesus because God is good and merciful and He fixes all that you mess up. 

Over and over and over again, I tell myself these things. I recite Ephesians 2:1-10, which by the way, is a really incredible passage to have in your back pocket. Romans 5:1-10 has also been pivotal in my growth in grace and in preaching the gospel to myself. I long for the day when the good work that God has started in me in Christ will be brought to completion, when it no longer takes a mess up for me to look to Jesus as the author and finisher of my faith. But until that day, I press on in the pursuit of this heavenly calling.