My last post ended with a question: “What did God in His great love do to save sinners?” Believe it or not, the entire storyline of the Bible is the answer to this question.

Immediately following man’s rebellion against God and the consequent entrance of sin into the human race, God promised that a child would one day be born to conquer sin (Genesis 3:15). The entire Old Testament from that point on is the story of the preparation of the world for the coming of this Savior. After thousands of years of this preparation, read what the New Testament says:

Galatians 4:4 “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son…”
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…”
Matthew 1:21 “…you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

These verses reveal some important facts about God’s work to save sinners. First, though God was the offended party, He took the initiative to save. He sent His Son.

Second, the sending of His Son was solely an act of grace. God “gave” His Son. This gift was not earned or deserved; rather, it was an act of undeserved favor shown to the human race.

Third, love for human beings, not duty or necessity, motivated God to give His Son. “God so loved the world…”

Fourth, as already mentioned, God’s plan to save centers not on a system of religious rules, but rather on a person. God “…gave His only Son.”

Fifth, God gave His Son, Jesus, for the specific purpose of saving people from their sin.

Ok. Lest this post gets too long, I will close with a few questions to consider for next time. Why is God’s gift of the Son the solution? What specifically did His Son do to save us from sin? We will begin to answer these questions in the next post.

For some time, a very serious question has been hanging over our blog. Namely, “Has provision been made to restore sinful people to the original purpose and condition of joy for which they were created?” In our man-centered culture, most would assume that the answer to this question must be “yes”. This assumption, however, would be wrong. In actuality, God is under no obligation to rescue humanity from its sinful plight. Remember, it was humanity that inexplicably rebelled against its loving Creator, a Creator who had done nothing but shower them with grace. Thus, a better assumption than the aforementioned is that God would not provide for humanity’s restoration, but rather allows us to continue down the broad path we ourselves chose. Were God to do this, He would be perfectly just for we deserve judgment for rebelling against our loving and perfect Creator.

Thankfully, the truth expressed above is not the whole story. The good news is that, while God is indeed a just God who punishes sin, He is also a God who loves sinners. This love compelled God to provide a means through which He would rescue sinners out of their hopeless condition and into right relationship with Himself. Once rescued, humans become part of a great community of people who together know, enjoy, and worship their God forever. This gracious plan of redemption is the storyline of the Bible.

What are the specifics of this Divine plan? What did God in His great love do to save sinners? How does one experience rescue from sin and reconciliation to God? We will pick up here next time, but I will leave you with a hint. God’s plan does not involve religion through which humans work their way into God’s favor. No, God’s plan is all about a person. This person’s name is Jesus and He alone is God’s answer to man’s sin. We will discover how next time.

It has been far too long since my last post! We left the human race in a place of indescribable blessing: enjoying life as God’s people in His very presence! The question begs to be asked, “How did humanity fall from such a blessed condition?” Genesis 3 describes the grim details. Humans, created to live in humble submission to their loving Creator, instead chose to rebel against His righteous rule. They doubted Him and instead pursued the vapid dream of being their own god.

The results were instantaneous, cataclysmic, and far-reaching. It was instantaneous in that humanity, now tainted with sin, experienced immediate alienation from both God and one another. It was cataclysmic in that death, and all the pain resulting from it, entered into a world that was created to experience the fullness of life. Indeed, all the pain, suffering, disease, conflict, greed, crime, etc. that we see in the world today is a direct consequence of the introduction of sin into the world. It was far reaching in that the entirety of both Creation and the human race fell under the bondage of sin.

From the fall of humanity into sin up to the present day, the experience of humanity has been very different then its original condition. Created in innocence; humans are now born in sin. Created to love God; humans are now born dominated by a love for themselves. Created to display God’s glory; humans are now born with a desire for self-glory. Created for eternal life; humans are now born separated from their Creator journeying on a broad road leading to eternal death. Humans do not enjoy viewing themselves in this light, yet Scripture and, if we were honest, our own experience confirms it.

It would seem that we the human race find ourselves in a horrific condition. Is there any hope for us? Is there any way to be delivered from this broad road? Is there any cure for the heart infected by sin? Is there any provision for sinful people to be restored to the original purpose and condition of joy for which they were created? We will pick up here in our next post.

In my last post, I set forth Jesus’ teaching that all humans begin their lives journeying on a “broad road” which ultimately leads to destruction. This is, admittedly, not a very pleasant prospect. Just how did humans end up in this dire predicament?

To answer this question, we must travel back to the opening chapters of the book of Genesis. Here, we discover that the human race was in fact not originally created to journey on said “broad” path. Rather, humans were created in the very image of God (Genesis 1:27) and consequently occupied the place of highest privilege within God’s creation. At the center of this privilege was the blessing of knowing and enjoying the glory of God’s very presence. This blessing included the ability to engage in intelligent, personal relationship with their Creator. Elsewhere in Scripture (Psalm 16:11), the presence of God is described as the “fullness of joy” and the location of unending pleasure. Indeed, far from being on a road to destruction, God lavished humans with the highest good possible: life with Him.

So then, what happened? How did we get here from there? We will pick up here in my next post.

Before we consider the Christian life as a journey, we should first recognize that every human being, Christ-follower or not, is in fact on a journey. Jesus himself used this metaphor when He described the two “roads” of humanity (see Matthew 7:13-14). Humans begin their journey of life on what Jesus called the “broad” road. The entrance to this road is wide and journeying on this road seems “easy”, perhaps because it is so natural. All it requires of a person is that he follows the dictates of his heart. Following one’s heart may not seem so bad, until one discovers that the human heart is terminally infected with sin (Jeremiah 17:9). Since Scripture reveals the wages of sin to be death, it is no surprise that Jesus declares the destination of the broad road to be destruction.

Thankfully, Jesus reveals a second road upon which humans may travel. Jesus’ description of this road is quite different: rather than broad, it is narrow; rather than easy, it is hard. With such a description, why then does Jesus urge humans to “enter through the narrow gate”? Because it is the narrow gate alone that leads to eternal life. Entrance through this gate begins the journey of the Christ-follower.

We are left with the obvious question: “If every human is born on the broad road, how does one change paths?” Or to ask it another way, “How does one begin a new journey; a journey on the road leading to life?” I will pick up here in my next post.

Yesterday, Downcity Church began a new gathering called JOURNEY. We chose the name JOURNEY because it communicates some important things about the nature of the Christian experience. Dictionary.com defines a journey as “a traveling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time; passage or progress from one stage to another.” This definition implies three distinguishable stages of a journey: a starting point, a destination, and the journey itself. Recognizing the presence of such stages in the Christian life, as well as understanding their nature, is critical for the Christ-follower. In the next few posts, I am going to explore these stages and their implications for our lives.

Downcity Church CONNECT seeks to accomplish three primary things. At the risk of sounding trite, they can be expressed in the following way: Looking Upward, Looking Inward, and Looking Outward. Below I will give a summary of each purpose.

First, we ‘Look Upward’ by worshiping God together. We worship God by giving serious attention to the revelation that He gave to us. At CONNECT, we further explore the Biblical themes we are studying on Sunday morning with a particular focus on “CONNECTING” (applying) these themes to our everyday lives. We also worship God by demonstrating our dependence on Him through prayer.

Second, we ‘Look Inward’ by loving one another within the CONNECT group. CONNECT provides an opportunity to share with one another what God is doing in our lives. We share our blessings and burdens, our dreams and concerns. We seek advice from other seasoned Christ-followers. We encourage one another with the Gospel. As people share in this way, we discover practical ways to support and serve one another, while at the same time growing in our own application of Biblical love. Such body-life is a beautiful means of grace through which the Spirit grows Christ’s church.

Third, we ‘Look Outward’ by engaging in shared mission. Any sort of small group ministry faces the danger of becoming inwardly focused. This can and must be avoided by intentionally uniting in shared mission to those outside the small group. This mission can take many forms. For example, a CONNECT group can minister to other people within the church fellowship. Or, a CONNECT group can discover ways to tangibly demonstrate and declare the love of Christ to the neighborhood in which the group is meeting. Perhaps a park in the neighborhood needs some TLC. Maybe children in a low-income housing project could use some structured tutoring. Or, perhaps several streets could be invited to a 7-week evangelistic small group. The options are endless for a small group of people desiring to impact the world around them by God’s grace!

This Wednesday at 7 pm would be a great time to visit a CONNECT group. Stop by 63 East Manning Street or 427 River Avenue! We would love to see you!

In my last post, I introduced our CONNECT ministry. I ended the post by asking the question, “Why is CONNECT so essential?” In this post, I would like to begin answering that question. One reason that CONNECT is an essential ministry is because it fosters the authentic Christian community necessary for our spiritual growth.

The gospel of Jesus creates a new community of people united together by their mutual faith in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit intends to progressively grow this community into increasing likeness to Jesus. This growth cannot happen, however, apart from significant and intentional Christian relationships called body-life. The New Testament describes these relationships as mutually supportive friendships in which Christ-followers pray for, serve, encourage, support, exhort, counsel and love one another (among other things!). These body-life activities are performed not out of duty, but rather out of the overflow of our own experience of God’s love. The Holy Spirit then uses such activities as means of grace to transform the life of the church.

The Bible assumes the existence of this body life among the people of God. In the early church, this body-life appears to have occurred spontaneously. In the typical modern setting, however, it must often be nurtured through some type of intentional structure, which in our case is CONNECT. CONNECT provides an atmosphere where this type of body-life can take place. Of course, the activities of body-life do not just occur within the context of a structured ministry such as CONNECT. Our desire is for Downcity Church to increasingly replicate the spontaneity of New Testament body-life.

Because we live in a culture of radical individualism, engagement in CONNECT will take determined effort. Let's be honest - our propensity toward fulfilling body-life is not naturally strong. This, however, cannot become an excuse to give up! Underneath our culturally shaped aversion to transparent and dependent relationships is a God-placed need for others in our lives. Remember, the Christian journey is not meant to be travelled alone!

I hope I have begun to convince you, or at least made you curious, about the value of taking part in CONNECT. We would love to see you on a Wednesday night!

We got off to a great start last Sunday, January 4th! It was great to see the room filled with people and to join with others from all walks of life singing praises to God and listening to His clear Word. People stayed around for almost an hour after worship getting to know each other and hanging out in the "upper room" which overlooks Kennedy Plaza. It seemed that everyone was comfortable and energized by the gathering.

This morning we considered canceling the service due to the winter storm, but decided to go forward with worship. Although the crowd was significantly smaller, we are so happy that five new people braved the weather to join us today!

Jesus is going to build His church!