The Beginning of the Good News of Christ

Good morning, Church! It’s hard to believe the first month of this new year is already completed. It’s been a good month for our congregation. A new baby was born, quite a few new people have been worshipping with us each week, and our college students are back for the spring semester. We have a lot to be thankful for already, but I believe God still has more good things in store for us as we continue to follow him.

The question we should ask ourselves, as always, is: Are we following him? There’s a difference between saying it and doing it faithfully. So how do we know if we are living as disciples in ways that are authentically pleasing to God? The best way to know is to look to Jesus. His teachings and his example are exactly what we need to focus on as we learn to be more fully human and grown up into the image of God.

I’m excited that today marks the beginning of a new series of sermons that will come from the New Testament Gospel of Mark. For some of you, this may be a lot of review. Hopefully it still encourages you and reminds you of ways to be more like Christ. For others among us, some of this will be brand new material giving clearer insight into who God is, what God is doing in the world, and what that means for us. It’s important, powerful, exciting stuff!

—Patrick Barber