"Only the Gospel can free me from the fear of not being found worthy. The fact of the matter is that I am unworthy. I could never do or say anything that would make we worthy of my Father’s acceptance and affection. I could never be so perfectly obedient as to earn his approval. I am not in ministry because, by my own effort, I became a shining example of all that the gospel can produce. I have been freed from the bondage of convincing myself and others that I am worthy. I don’t need to privately argue for my worth or do things in public to prove it. Jesus perfectly measured up; he was perfectly worthy on my behalf. He accomplished what was impossible for me to accomplish so that I could be given standing that I did not or could never earn. I don’t have to live as if I am still on probation, still being evaluated. I have been accepted, and I have been called into ministry. I have earned neither. Both are gifts of grace. I come into ministry with nothing to proved but this: the gospel of Jesus Christ is reliable and true and has the power to both free and transform you and me. As in ministry, I am faced with both the reality of my own sin and weakness and the pressure of the expectations and criticisms of others. I must preach this gospel of grace to myself day after day after day.…
I
must remind myself that the gospel welcomes me out of hiding. It
welcomes me to face the darkest parts with hope. It assures me that
there is nothing to be known about me that has not already been dealt
with in the person and work of the Lord Jesus. So I don’t have to build
my ministry on a lie that I am something that I am not. I can live in
honesty and humility before others, entrusting my present and future
ministry into the hands of my Savior, knowing that no matter how people
respond to me, he will never turn his back on me or on the gifts that he
has given me.”
— Paul David Tripp in Dangerous Calling, 204, 206.
On a separate note, this past Wednesday was the kick-off for a new study on Grace Based Parenting, seen through the lens of the many generations represented in our church. At the end of our time together, a group of us composed a list of traits of the current generation - born between 2000 and the present. Janet, our children's director (and someone who knows this generation very well) calls them "The Digital Natives." Here's what we said about them:
- Technology-savvy (seeing it as something upon which they depend for daily life)
- Globally aware
- Desiring speed and instant gratification
- Creative once distractions have been removed
- Can be impersonal
- Skeptical of commitment/changing family dynamics
- Appreciative of acceptance and tolerance.
The class discussion continues this week and for the next 2 Wednesday after that. Hope to see you soon.
Travis
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