What is the Gospel?

The gospel is good news. The good news is a person, Jesus Christ. Why is Jesus Christ good news?

Because he came to make all things new. In order for all things to be made new he: lived a sinless life, died for our sins, overcame death and the grave by resurrecting from the dead, and invited men and women to follow him in to this new creation. 

Our part is to believe in Jesus. 

It seems simple and it is. When we believe, a whole chain of events are kicked into motion.

We are given a new identity. 

We are given a family. 

We are shown how to connect what we do with what God is doing.

We experience forgiveness.

We are given the Holy Spirit who guides us, reveals truth to us, and corrects us.

Following is proactive. You cannot follow Jesus and remain in the same place. I am not talking about moving geographically. I am talking about changing the way I think, act, work and relate to God and others. 

Carpenter’s Walk for a Cure

Many of you know Brandon and Lyndsey Carpenter they have been coming to LWCH for a while now. Their daughter Layli has food allergies. She has been allergic to dairy and shellfish since she has been born. She also has slight allergies to gluten and egg whites. This makes it a challenge having to read all labels and when they go out.

They will be participating in the 2014 FARE Walk for Food Allergy to help raise critical funds and awareness.

Their story was featured on Star 105.7 you can read it Here

If you would like to support them on their walk you can do that on their team page. Click Here

To quote her article on start 105.7  “I think the more who are aware, the more sensitive they will be.  I empathize with these kiddos and don’t want them to be treated any differently because they cannot participate in certain things or have to eat a special treat at a birthday party or have to sit at a dairy free or peanut free table in the lunchroom. It’s a passion of mine and I want every child to know that they are okay just the way they are.  My dream is that society will raise their children to be empathetic, sensitive and understanding of each child’s differences-whether it be a food allergy or otherwise.”

Experiencing the Wonder of Being Knit Together by God

An answer that is often provided when conversations of existence and an ultimate cause are had is one that presents humanity as, for the moment, extremely lucky. It is said that billions of years ago hydrogen reacted in just the right way with nothing else in the universe and now we have life. Life that dreams, imagines, assembles, tells stories, loves, and sacrifices. It does seem that if the universe and all of life did come about in the manner that is most regularly taught then we would be the luckiest of all evolved beings that we know of. We have been the ones to persevere to the point of being at the top of the food chain. We win. Only, can we really say we win if we are here by chance? Chance would receive the credit for our existence and chance would be glorified for the fact that the human race has sustaining power.

Another option to this question of existence and ultimate cause is God. In an existence where an endless string of causes would need something to even render existence a possibility there would have to be the uncaused cause, or God. Now, to be clear, this uncaused cause or God is not a little-g god, this is the capital-G God – Yahweh, the great I AM, the Lord of Lords, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in perfect unity. And this personal God has spoken to us through his word and his Word. In Psalm 139, David writes, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” David’s soul knows the fact that he is not responsible for his coming into being and neither are his parents or their parents before them. He is the sole work of God.

Realizing this truth will make you stop in wonder of the glory and power of God. The power of God to make something out of nothing and the glory of God that you are reading this right now and have not yet stopped to make sure your heart beats or made a point to take the right amount of breaths to stay conscious. We need not concern ourselves with those things. Instead, we can rest alone in the reality that this God is upholding His creation by the word of his power and, because of that, we are free to wonder!