What would be good news to you right now? Maybe a piece of mail stating an anonymous
donor had paid off your mortgage? Your
good news could be from a certain someone calling to say how much they love you
and are sorry they ever hurt you in the past.
Even something as simple as an invitation to coffee can be good news to
a lonely newcomer. Good news comes in all shapes and sizes depending on the
needs of receiver.
Jesus has this amazing superpower to know our exact needs
and He knows they can all be thrown into the pot and boiled down into one
foundational, life-changing need. Here
it is…Mark 1:15- "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
Jesus had just spent 40 days being tempted by Satan in the desert. He knew firsthand that the good news He was offering was the only soul-satisfying remedy to the sins of this world. He had experienced temptation and saw through the empty lies we’re fed as truth and cut to the chase, not mincing words on what “good news” is to a dying world.
“The kingdom of God is near.” Think about that for a moment. God’s eternal, death-defying, merciful, heart-seeing, purposeful, forgiving, all powerful kingdom is at hand, near, close to you through Jesus. Then Jesus goes on to list 236 ways to follow Him and live up to his standards, right? Nope, not even close. Jesus says, “Repent and believe the good news.” I don’t know about you, but just the simplicity of Jesus’ invitation is good news to me.
We’re going to be looking at Repentance this week. It’s going to be challenging because we all
hide and run from sin, but I pray you’ll hear Jesus’ clear, simple words in the
midst of the challenge and know He is the Good News you’ve been searching for.
Click here for the handout for Frann's teaching on
Repentance. Jena M.
