The Gospel

GOD’S DESIGN

We see beauty, purpose and evidence of God’s design around us.

The Bible tells us the God originally planned a world that worked perfectly – where everything and everyone fit together in harmony.

God made each of us with a purpose – to worship Him and walk with Him.

Genesis 1:31 says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

SIN

Life doesn’t work when we ignore God and His original design for our lives. 

We selfishly insist on doing things our own way. The Bible calls this sin. We all sin and distort God’s original design.

The consequence of our sin is separation from God in this life and for all eternity. 

Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Romans 6:23a says, “For the wages of sin is death…”

BROKENNESS

Sin leads to a place of brokenness. We see this all around us and in our own lives as well.

When we realize life is not working, we begin to look for a way out. We tend to go in many directions trying different things to figure it out on our own. 

Brokenness leads to a place of realizing a need for something greater.

Romans 1:25a says, “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…”

At this point, we need a remedy – some good news.

Because of His love, God did not leave us in our brokenness. Jesus, God in human flesh, came to us and lived perfectly according to God’s design. 

Jesus came to rescue us – to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. He took our sin and shame to the cross, paying the penalty for our sin by His death.  Jesus was then raised from the dead – to provide the only way for us to be rescued and restored to a relationship with God.

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Colossians 2:14 says, “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

REPENT & BELIEVE

Simply reading this Good News is not enough.

We must admit our sinful brokenness and stop trusting ourselves. We don’t have the power to escape the brokenness on our own. We need to be rescued…

We must ask God to forgive us – turning from sin to trust only in Jesus. This is what it means to repent and believe.

Believing, we receive new life through Jesus and God turns our lives in a new direction. 

Mark 1:15b says, “…repent and believe in the gospel.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

Romans 10:9 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

RECOVER & PURSUE

When God restores our relationship to Him, we begin to discover meaning and purpose in a broken world. Now we can pursue God’s design in all areas of our lives.

God’s Spirit empowers us to pursue His design and assures of of His presence in this life and for all eternity.

Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”