God's Good News

from my message on Oct. 26, 2014, from I Thes. 2:1-8

Good news.  Could you use some good news today?   Have you had enough bad news to last you for a while?  I have only good news for you today.  I have noticed that the TV newscasts have started ending their presentations with an uplifting story, a story of courage, or a story of generosity or sacrifice.  I wish the whole newscast was that way!   I promise you my message today--first, middle, and last--is only good news.

The good news is that God loves us.  God created us and called us very good.  God sends his Son, Jesus, as the fullest expression of that love, living, dying, and rising again for us.  Jesus promises his Spirit to be with us forever, encouraging us, strengthening us.  We have been empowered to share this good news with others.

Last Sunday, we got to practice this, as we called off worship services here in order to be in service to others in something we called ReThink Church Plus One. Let's watch this video of  how we witnessed to God's good news at work in us. (go to our website, www.westlake-umc.org to watch the video).

You can look at the back page of the worship bulletin to see all of the different projects and the leaders who headed them up.  I want to thank you.  I am proud of you and how you witnessed to God's good news.

I want you to hear from one project, a youth who helped with kickball at Odom Elementary.  (go to website to listen to my message and the youth witness).

In a moment, I am going to have you share in 2's or 3's some of God's good news.  It could be about what you did for ReThink Church Plus One or it could be another God-sighting or how God is moving in your life.  You may not have something to share; you may be the one who needs to hear good news today.  That is perfectly fine too.

To prime the pumps, I want to share some stories from last week.  The cookie baggers packaged 3,424, cookies, or 856 servings for Mobile Loaves and Fishes.  This does not count the Oreos that were sampled for quality control!   The blood drive received 17 pints of blood, with 9 others willing to give, but could not donate for a variety of reasons.  Twelve persons registered with the National Tissue Registry.  28 learned CPR and First Aid techniques.  The instructor said how great it was to teach a group who "wanted" to be there, instead of "had" to be there.  37 attended the Which Way Home movie from the year 2009, which showed us that the problem of children desiring to enter the US from Central America was not a new phenomena.  There are 393 unaccompanied minors in Travis County in 2014 so far, that Justice for Our Neighbors is helping.  We had a guest family attend the English Conversation Class at Parker Lane UMC last Sunday, and the whole family, adults and children, got involved enthusiastically.  Our senior game day party saw intergenerational participation.  One older couple who was given a ride had not been out of their house in the last 2 weeks.

Talk among yourselves now and share God's good news.

You can do it!  You can share God's good news!  The word for good news here is in Greek, euangelion, from which we get the word evangelism.  We sometimes translate it as gospel.  

I read an article this past week that asked why it is only "good" news.  Why not "great" news or "extraordinary" news?  I like it that it is understated, kind of like us.  We are not pushy.  The letter from Paul to the church in Thessalonika says that we share good news out of genuineness, not greed or trickery.  I like how it says that we share not only God's good news but our very lives.  I believe that this is countercultural.  We have become too accustomed to expecting bad news.  We followers of Christ practice healing in the midst of hurt, offer shelter in the midst of homeless, give food in the midst of hunger, and offer relationship in the midst of loneliness.

There is a world out there that is dying to hear God's good news.

You know how I like to end my messages:  That's the good I have to share with you today.  The thing is:  you have good news to share also.  Amen.