For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son β¦ that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.
Β John 20:21
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
Β 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
Believing the gospel leads to becoming like the gospel. Those who go the farthest and give the most are those who are most aware of how far Jesus went and how much he gave up to reach them.
JD Greear, Gaining By Losing
Increasingly, in a βpost-Christianβ society, unbelievers will simply not make their way into our churches, no matter how βattractiveβ we make them.
JD Greear, Gaining By Losing
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: βBuild houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.Β Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.Β Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.β
Β Jeremiah 29:4-7
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.Β A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.Β But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.Β He WENT TO HIM β¦
Luke 10:30-34
It is so important to love your neighborhood and its culture. As we sense our growing marginalization with the wider culture, it is all too easy to view it as a threat. But viewing the culture around you as a threat is not a good starting point for reaching people with the gospel. People become a dehumanized other. Everyday Church
