Marriage and the Gospel

I thought the following quote would help all of us better understand the Gospel:

The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope. This is the only kind of relationship that will really transform us. Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God's saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God's mercy and grace.

The hard times of marriage drive us to experience more of this transforming love of God. But a good marriage will also be a place where we experience more of this kind of transforming love at a human level. The gospel can fill our hearts with God's love so that you can handle it when your spouse fails to love you as he or she should. That frees us to see our spouse's sins and flaws to the bottom and speak of them and yet still love and accept our spouse fully. And when, by the power of the gospel, our spouse experiences that same kind of truthful yet committed love, it enables our spouses to show us that same kind of transforming love when the time comes for it.


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Relief to the Saints

This Sunday February 6, we will be taking up a special benevolence offering at the conclusion of the service for the following purposes:

• To help our church members who are suffering from financial difficulty.
• To give our church members the opportunity to corporately practice II Corinthians 8 in giving "Relief to the Saints."
• To give our church members the opportunity to live out the Gospel by some following Christ's example (II Corinthians 8:9) and others becoming further recipients of grace (II Corinthians 8:15)

The elders will evaluate each individual need and use the funds wisely and for the glory of God as we seek to bring relief to the saints (II Corinthians 8:4) in our fellowship. If you are in need, please contact the elders. We exhort you to live below your means and give with a cheerful heart as it is written, "Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack" (II Corinthians 8:15). We will be taking up this offering the first Sunday of every month.