Shadyside Church of Christ Jeffrey Kent

God is a God of life. He made the earth to be inhabited by all sorts of living things from vegetation to fish to birds to creatures of all kinds. The pinnacle of His creation was humankind for which He planned a truly great blessing - life eternal! God is all about life, both of the body and of the soul.

Despite demonstrating authority over everything on earth and even death and demons, Jesus was rejected by His own and crucified. He had forewarned of this often and even told a parable about His being rejected as King. Jesus still invites people to serve Him in His kingdom, but scripture indicates that far too many will still reject Jesus as their King. In doing so, they forfeit all hope for a future life in the next age.

When Jesus came proclaiming a kingdom of God, He was speaking of more than a new religious body. Through the many miracles and wonders which God performed through Him, He demonstrated that the rule of God had come, and in some ways had returned to the world. Jesus showed power over every facet of creation and affirmed that the "ruler of this world" was to be cast out.

Because of all the trouble and chaos in the world today, some people are beginning to wonder if God is really there, or if He is, whether He can handle all that's going on! Let's meet someone who heard of God's mighty works and believed in Him because of what she heard. Those mighty works are still on record as well as many others. They continue to affirm the power and majesty of the Lord God who is still ruling over all.

It is a good thing for us all to be reminded that everyone who is saved is saved by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. His grace is amazing, but it's also outrageous. That God would offer forgiveness and a place in His eternal kingdom to the vilest of sinners is an incredible thing. But such is the outrage of grace.

The church is called by its Lord to do good works. But the church should beware of getting so involved in doing good works of all kinds that it forgets the primary purpose and mission which Jesus has given to it. And that would be to proclaim the gospel to a lost world. Many groups and agencies do good works, but only the church has the gospel to share.