Gospel Sketches
The classic bridge illustration of salvation using only the words of Scripture. See the holiness of God, the sinfulness of people, the separation this causes and how Jesus is the answer! His life, death and resurrection provide the bridge we can cross by faith – having our sins forgiven and our hearts changed so we can be with God forever.
Pastor Darin encourages us to look beyond the coronavirus and our other challenges to see the big picture of what God is doing in history and in the world – bringing salvation to the ends of the earth as the gospel advances to reach the remaining unreached people groups. This perspective helps us understand what’s happening and how we can join in God’s work!
Both self-focused rebellion and self-reliant religion are dead ends. Ignoring God and doing your own thing will not get you to heaven or a right relationship with God. But relying on your own efforts or religious discipline will not work either since you’ll never know when you have done enough. Thankfully, the gospel of Jesus Christ invites us to a third way – down to the cross in humble faith so that Jesus can lift us up into a relationship with God. The Gospel Way was inspired and informed by Pastor Tim Keller’s Prodigal God.
Change begins with the humility of admitting you need help. The proud, stubborn self must submit to God’s will, bending under the first gate of humility, the second gate of repentance and the third gate of total surrender. Only as the hard, unyielding self is broken before Jesus can He begin to change us and fill us so that He can use us for His purposes. A reading from Roy Hession’s inspiring book, The Calvary Road – an excellent primer on revival. Musical underlay by Jadon Lavik – I surrender all (jadonlavik.com)
Do you want to understand your choices and gain some perspective on your life? You need to look beyond your circumstances, past your choices and their consequences and dig underneath to see what is going on in your heart. What do you really want, deep down? Underneath that, what are you believing to be true and most important? This timelapse is an adaptation from the helpful Biblical Counseling material by Paul Tripp and Timothy Lane, How People Change. The three trees idea is theirs, I just swapped the sides they were on to show how this fits “the Gospel Way” – when we humbly confess and repent, moving downward to the foot of the cross so that Jesus can lift us up, by the power of the Holy Spirit, into a joyful, fruitful relationship with God. Find hope! Find help! Look into your heart and hear the Lord calling you to Him, where you can find rest. Music underlay is from the exceptionally talented Piano Guys (thepianoguys.com).
www.openthebible.org – “The whole Bible is one story and all of it points to Jesus” (Pastor Colin Smith). In 2019 we are studying the whole Bible using 50 words to summarize the key themes. We have now completed the Old Testament and this video uses Scripture and imagery to summarize the first 28 words on our journey. Music is Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone), made popular by Chris Tomlin, from Instrumental Inspirations.
What is the Gospel? It is the Good News of the 10 saving acts of Jesus Christ. This is a fan video using Ryan Stevenson’s powerful song, The Gospel – https://youtu.be/NTdFEZhjiko (also visit his website at ryanstevensonmusic.com).
Crises like the coronavirus make us stop and wonder about God and life, meaning and hope. If God is all powerful and totally good, why does He allow pandemics like this to kill so many? The answer, of course, is complicated and we may not be able to fully understand until heaven. But there are clear truths in Scripture that give us important truths to hold onto in times of trouble and boundaries to keep us from false understandings of God.
Darin and Kristin Anderson share the three layers of a thriving marriage: 1) emotional intimacy; 2) spiritual intimacy and; 3) enjoyment. “Getting a girl to like you is easy! Just find out what she likes and do a lot of it!” Build emotional intimacy by talking for at least 20 minutes every day and having a date night once or twice each month. Build spiritual intimacy by serving each other with unconditional love and respect. Cultivate joy in your relationship by appreciating each other and finding shared activities and experiences. Then physical intimacy is the icing on the cake!