On Sunday we had a rare opportunity to have all the PBC Elders on stage together, hearing about their everyday faith and their hopes as they seek Jesus in guiding us forward.
We had a bit of a ‘Jeopardy’ moment when some of them were asked to explain “the good news of Jesus like you’re talking to a neighbour over a fence” in 30 seconds. I was armed with a buzzer, ready to lovingly intervene if anyone lost their way or rabbitted on too long. Of course, they all did tremendously well. Of course, I still used the buzzer!
After the service, someone told me Jesus had prompted them with the same question a couple of weeks earlier. After some time pondering, they wrote down their response:
Do you know that God loves you so very much, He made you and wants to have a close relationship with you. But there is a problem: you and I are both sinners– God is holy.
Our sin separates us from Him.
Something had to be done. So by His grace, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin through His death and resurrection. He conquered death and lives forever. This is a historical and biblical truth. If we believe in Him, we are forgiven and considered righteous in His eyes. Now we can have a close loving relationship with Him and live forever.
How would you communicate the good news to your neighbour? Take some time to write down your response. There is only one gospel, but we each share it differently with different people.
Send your responses in and we’ll pop them in the Paper Plane, names withheld. It will help us all add a few more ‘good news’ tools to our kete.
Colleen
144 Sawyers Arms Road
Christchurch, New Zealand
+64 3 352 4227