Bearers of Good News

How do you react when someone says, “I’ve got good news and bad news, which one do you want to hear first”? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to say, “Just tell me the good news and keep the bad news to yourself”? Good news is so good to hear! Almost as thrilling as receiving good news is being the one who brings it. When we have particularly good news for someone we might even dramatically say, “I come bearing good news!”

The great tragedy of humanity is that the best news is not recognized as such. And even those who have the privilege of sharing it keep the message of Christ to ourselves because we are intimidated by the negative reaction people often have toward it.

On the evening of Easter, the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead after his crucifixion, he appeared to his disciples and gave them a startling message:

As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20:21

That may not sound all that earth shaking until we consider that it is God’s forgiveness we’re talking about and it is precisely that forgiveness which opens eternal life with God to human beings. If you are a follower of Christ, you are a messenger of that greatest news. What a privilege! God doesn’t just give you an opportunity to change the world, his message changes eternity!

Saturday evening worship: 6:00 pm
Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am

Does the Message Matter Anymore?

With “alternative facts” and “fake news” hitting us on a daily basis one wonders if the whole concept of truth is even relevant to most people. Have we come to the point where truth is determined by the individual, that each person can decide for themself what is true and what isn’t? In many, many areas of our lives no one accepts such an idea. Imagine going to the store and trying to convince the cashier that your one dollar bill is the same as a $100 dollar bill just because for you, that is the way things are! What would your boss say if you told him that for you 8:00 am really means 10:30 am?

Regardless of the influences of the culture in which we live, deep down we have an intense desire to discover the unifying truth which holds our lives together. For Christians, that truth came in the person of Jesus Christ. His resurrection from the dead gives us the necessary proof that his claim to be the Way, the Truth and the Life is valid.

Yes, the Christian message still matters, just as much as it did when Christ first sent out his disciples with it. The torch of that message has been handed down generation after generation until today. We have the privilege of carrying it in our time. That is what we are here for.

Sunday morning worship: 10:00 am