Does the Gospel Impact Your Life? (Six Questions for Every Christian to Ask, #1)

Question #1: Does the Gospel Impact your Life?

Peace be with you! I think everyone wants to hear this statement. The desire for peace comes up again and again when I talk with people about what they are really looking for. I too keep looking for peace in my day.

Peace Be With You

This phrase “Peace be with you” comes from a story in the Gospel of John. It takes place just after the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. Imagine a room filled with the twelve disciples and some others. They are scared and confused. Their teacher Jesus has been killed horribly. Some carry the guilt of having run away from him. They had been sure God was going to do something through Jesus, but now even that hope was in tatters. They have locked the doors because they are afraid that they too are about to be arrested. There is weeping and prayers of anguish.

Suddenly, Jesus stands in the midst of them and says Peace be with you. When the disciples get over their shock, they are overjoyed. They can’t contain it. What a transformation in the room! Jesus doesn’t just speak peace to them, but he is that peace, himself, in his person. And then he sends them out into the world, saying, “Just as the Father sent me, so I send you.” He charges them with bringing that same peace to the world.

The Impact of the Gospel Comes through the Person of Jesus

The peace of Jesus is different. It is a deep and transformative peace that made the disciples able to do things that they would never have imagined possible. This is a powerful peace (“Shalom”) of wholeness and harmony.

Do you want this peace? I ask this question because God’s peace impacts and changes us inside. But this peace of Christ is also part of something bigger than us: God’s plan to bring healing and wholeness to the world. This is what the Scriptures call the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21). Another term for this is the Gospel.

The Gospel Transforms

“Gospel” is one of these words that we hear so often that it can lose its force. But the point of the Gospel is that it has profound spiritual power. It has the power to fill your soul and connect you with God.

The Gospel is God speaking to us in a new language: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In Jesus, we see God’s love embodied. The Gospel is a message that captivates, calls, challenges, delights, and transforms us.

For the disciple of Christ, the Gospel can’t just be words on a page. It has to be a message that ripples through our lives and changes our hearts. You need to know that you are loved by God more than you can possibly imagine. Does the Gospel impact your life?

This is based on a talk from our 2021 Lenten learning series, Re-boot Your Spiritual Life. You can watch it here:

The Hope Canteen Podcast, Episode 39: Grace in the Wilderness

Podcast 39: Grace in the Wilderness
Episode 39: Mark 1:9-15

This week, we turn to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. After his baptism, Jesus is driven into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. This story reminds us that, while the wilderness is an important place of purification and spiritual growth, it can also be a place of grace. For this reason, people have long retreated to literal and figurative deserts to pray, wrestle with sin, let go of unholy attachments, and encounter God.

The 40 days of Lent that began with Ash Wednesday call us into a kind of wilderness. There, the stuff of everyday life is stripped away and we are invited to meet God honestly. It is important to note that we do not enter the wilderness alone; like Jesus, we go with the Spirit of God, and with God’s words of love ringing in our ears.

How has God met you in the deserts of your life? What stark landscapes of the heart is God inviting you to explore this Lent? How are you discovering the love and grace of God in the wilderness?

The Hope Canteen Podcast, Episode 38 – The Transfiguration of Jesus: Seeing with New Eyes

Episode 38: Mark 9:2-9

Join us this week for a conversation about the Transfiguration of Jesus, as recorded in Mark’s Gospel. If this story sounds familiar, you may remember that we talked about it from a different angle back in August. The Transfiguration is worth revisiting, though, because it is one of the key stories in the life of Jesus and his disciples. It reveals something about God through Jesus. It also gives us insight into our own lives as part of the wider human family.

How do you discern a greater reality and the glory of God behind the everyday? Add your own thoughts in the comments below.

The Hope Canteen Podcast, Episode 37: A Touch of Heaven

The Hope Canteen Podcast, Episode 37: A Touch of Heaven
Episode 37: Mark 1:29-39

This week, we continue to follow Jesus’ early ministry through the first chapter of Mark. Jesus begins to expand his ministry beyond his home town. He also reaches out to touch Peter’s mother-in-law and heal her of a fever. This leads us into a conversation on the importance of touch in Jesus’ ministry and our lives, particularly in a time of physical distancing.

How do you experience the touch of Heaven? How do you find space with God in desert-like seasons of your life? Join us around the virtual table and feel free to add your comments below.

The Hope Canteen Podcast, Episode 36: Healing and Authority

Episode 36: Mark 1: 21-28

In Mark 1:21-28, Jesus continues his early ministry, travelling through Galilee, healing the sick and casting out demons. As these healings point to his authority from God, Jesus soon clashes with those claiming secular and spiritual power. Yet the Kingdom of God continues to break into the lives of those around him, as it still does today.

Join us around the virtual table as we talk about healing, authority, and signs of God’s life.

The Hope Canteen Podcast, Episode 35: Jesus Calls His Disciples

Episode 34: Jesus Calls the First Disciples
Episode 35: Jesus Calls the First Disciples

Mark 1:14-20 begins with Jesus entering the region of Galilee, already proclaiming the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. As he walks along the shore, he sees four young fishermen and calls them to follow him. Immediately, they leave their nets and their father to join Jesus on the adventure of faith. When Jesus calls his disciples, he also gives us insight into what it means for us to strive to follow Jesus 2000 years later.

Join us around the virtual table as we talk about calling, discipleship, and what repentance really involves.

The Hope Canteen Podcast, Episode 34: The Baptism of Jesus

Episode 34: The Baptism of Jesus

Jesus’ formal ministry begins when he is baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Mark 1:1-12 tells us that as he rises out of the water, the Holy Spirit alights on him. Then, God’s voice proclaims from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” As we remember the baptism of Jesus this week, we can take the opportunity to reaffirm our own baptisms and to hear God’s voice saying the same thing to us.

Join us around the virtual table as we talk about baptism, creation, and God’s love for us.

The Hope Canteen Podcast, Episode 33: Epiphany and the Visit of the Magi

The Hope Canteen Podcast Episode 33: Epiphany and the Visit of the Magi
Epiphany and the Visit of the Magi

Matthew 2:1-12 tells of the visit of the Magi, mysterious strangers who follow a star to find the child Jesus. There, they offer him gifts that symbolize authority and holiness. This story brings into relief important insights about Jesus’ mission. It also foreshadows the conflicts his values will have with those who seek earthly power for power’s sake.

Epiphany, which means “revelation” or “enlightenment”, marks the end of the twelve days of Christmas. Join us around the virtual table as we talk about God’s revelation in the feast of the Epiphany and the visit of the magi.