The Power of The Gospel

A Team of seven of us from Nazareth are here in Dallas for a RightNow Church Leadership Conference for 3 days.

Today was Day 1.  Amazing stuff!  Conferences like this one often have such fantastic content - and this one is no exception.  It sometimes feels like you are drinking from a fire hose...!

I've been taking a LOT of notes - but I wanted to share some learnings from the very last session of the day.  The theme was simply, the Power of the Gospel.  

Excerpts:

RELIGION can tell us WHAT to do - but it cannot create in us the DESIRE to do it.  Religion eventually fails  - because religion does not truly transform...

On the other hand, the GOSPEL has the power to completely CHANGE those who hear it and respond to it - because it can create in us a LOVE for God and a DESIRE for Him - in a way that religion never could!

So - What might happen to us if we were to focus less on ourselves and more on Christ?  I wonder...

The GOSPEL is alive because it has the power to produce LIFE --> IN us and THROUGH us!!

The speaker, J.D. Greear, convincingly challenged us to be wary of moralism and legalism.  Unfortunately, these two topics unduly dominate the teaching and preaching we hear in our churches - at the expense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Let's recover the Power that makes Christianity the only hope for a fallen word - and for us to know lasting joy, freedom, radical generosity and audacious faith!  

A Gospel Prayer:

1) In Christ, there is nothing I could do to make You love me more; nothing I have done that makes You love me less.

2) You are all I need today for everlasting joy.

3) As You have been to me, so I will be to others.

4) As I pray, I'll measure Your compassion by the cross and Your power by the resurrection.

ABIDE IN THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST!!!