The Good News of Christ
From the Pastor’s Desk
The very last thing that Jesus said to His disciples before ascending into Heaven was, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Luke furthered this command to add more words of Jesus; “You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. Well people of Yucca, our town may qualify as the end of the earth. No matter how the words are framed, we are commanded to share the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Peter puts it, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you”. Everyone has a beginning to their Christian faith. We are not born with it, even if we grew up in a Christian family or in a church. At some point in everyone’s life, they must accept the perfect plan of God through His Son, Jesus Christ our Savior. This takes faith. Our Bible teaches us that faith comes by hearing the word of God. Once again, this puts the spreading of the Good News back in to every believer’s hand. It is your assigned job!
Pastor Wayne
Seek First the Kingdom of God
From Pastor’s Desk
The Old Testament’s prophets pointed forward to the establishment of a Kingdom of God that would be an everlasting Kingdom. This Kingdom would be established by the arrival of the Messiah – A God-Man who would “sit on the Throne of David”. The New Testament opens by telling us of a man by the name of John the Baptist proclaiming that the people must “repent” (turn from their sins) because ” the Kingdom of God was at hand” (Matthew 3:2) – The Messiah was here! But what was He here to do? How would He set up His Kingdom? And, what would His Kingdom look like? The Man that John proclaimed did not look or act like a king. He was meek and humble. In His first major address to the public, He outlined those who would be the occupants of His new Kingdom. They would also be meek – poor in spirit – merciful and even peacemakers. His Kingdom will be, and is today, like no other Kingdom ever seen on earth. The promise however, that this King, Jesus, makes to His subjects is that they shall be blessed – For this Kingdom will be established in their hearts for all those who believe on the One that God sent.
Pastor Wayne
Is Hell Real?
From the Pastor’s Desk
For some reason the topic of “Hell” is not often taught throughout the churches today. Most people, especially Christians, feel uncomfortable when that subject is even mentioned. Yet, the very One we worship, Jesus, the Messiah/Christ chose that subject on which to speak more than any other subject – Even more than the Kingdom of Heaven. If Jesus chose to speak so much on this topic, maybe, we should follow suit. Jesus made a statement in Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said, “Narrow is the gate that leads to life and few that find it”. Thus, most people, according to Jesus are headed to distruction. So, what does destruction look like? Jesus called it “Hell”. He also called it the eternal fire and/or eternal punishment. He said, it was a place of outer darkness and He even compared it to an eternal garbage pit called in Hebrew “Gehenna”. Most of what the world thinks about “Hell” is not necessarily scriptural. Our concept of satan and hell mostly comes to us through a book written by a man by the name of Dante (Dante’s Infernal). Today, let us look at what the scriptures have to say concerning the reality of a place called “Hell”.
