Power Of The Gospel

Key Scripture: "God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of Good News to the poor, sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the burdened and battered free, to announce, "This is God's year to act!"  Luke 4:18

Power Point:

    When you think about the Gospel, how much does it really affect you? The Gospel was meant to have daily impact in our lives-not just give us a future of riding on the clouds. There should be some measurable side effects of the Gospel for you, shouldn’t there?

     The Gospel is there to provide abundant life for the people of God. It should make us more like Jesus. It should bring us into contact with our heavenly Father. It should bring us great contentment.  Jesus was always content wasn't He?  The apostle Paul tells us that Godliness accompanied by contentment is great gain. 

I love being contented, don't you? The word actually means, “contentedly satisfied”. I just spent some time with the Roberts gang in Phoenix and found myself contentedly satisfied just enjoying my family and being a part of their lives; of having the privilege of knowing that this wonderful family belongs to me, and seeing my grandchildren growing tall, inside and out. Of course grandparents can be more objectively contented than parents but I see that Kim and David have shot the arrow “fitly”.  It’s headed in the right direction toward the goal God has for all of them. A major side effect of the Gospel is direction for a Godly life, which brings contentment.

   

Another "Good News" side effect? Confidence. No matter what things may look like or feel like or seem like, you can have perfect confidence that the things you have committed to Him, will come to a flourishing finish.  Confidence is “full trust”. The opposite of “full trust” is mis-trust. Which side-effect are you experiencing?

     The final side effect of the Gospel is consistency. One of the definitions of “consistency” is to shape, or form something, and then retain the shape of that original form. The Gospel is meant to reshape us into something wonderfully new, someone that consistently holds the form of the Gospel that Jesus left us. We can be determinedly and confidently content that God will do what He has said He will do. We have a consistent faith. That's good news all around isn’t it?

Here’s a brief synopsis of the side effects of the gospel in your life.

Are you more content?

Are you more confident?

Are you more consistent in your faith?

How's the Gospel working for you?

Power Thought:

We should never be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. It's the pure power of God for us to be safe, to be blessed, to be protected, to be connected to the Kingdom of God.That knowledge should bring us peace that passes all understanding, contentment, and consistent confidence in God. How is the Gospel shaping your future?