BETHESDA BAPTIST CHURCH, Felixstowe

What exactly is "the gospel"? "Gospel" is another word for "good news" - which is very appropriate because what Christians believe is very good news indeed. And it's good news because of something called GRACE.

What is grace?

Grace is not a word used very often these days in everyday conversation so perhaps it's not surprising that people are sometimes unclear about its meaning. Just what exactly is grace... a girl's name, a ceremonial title for addressing a duke or archbishop, a short prayer before a meal, an easy elegance? Yes, it is all of these things. So why is grace so important to Christians? It is because the word has another and even more important meaning. It means also "the undeserved kindness and mercy of God." We at Bethesda have experienced this mercy ourselves and want to use this website to explain more clearly what grace really is.

The gospel of grace

The gospel of grace is good news for a world in crisis. Who would disagree that we live in a problem world? Wars, corrupt politicians and global warming make the headlines. Add to these street violence, drug abuse, school bullying, family feuds… it's not a pretty picture! A hopeless situation? It would be if it weren't for this: God has provided the solution the world needs. He tells us about it in the Bible. Here indeed is good news for a world in crisis!

God's diagnosis

Imagine you are in agony with a pain in your middle. "It's appendicitis," says the doctor. How do you react? Do you get offended and say, "How dare you tell me something so unpleasant? That's the last time I come to your surgery!" Of course not. Unpleasant though it may be, a diagnosis is the first step to a cure.

Many of us have our own theories about society's ills: "Attack poverty, no more fat cats!" Or "Zero tolerance for criminals!" Or "Give everyone an equal chance!" We all tend to pin blame on other people - be it politicians, parents or asylum seekers. But God points the finger at you and me. He says that the root of the problem is the refusal of each one of us to acknowledge and obey him as Creator and Lawgiver - what the Bible calls "sin".

Demanding justice

Justice is precious. We like to see justice done. We often think we deserve a better deal. But have you ever thought what it would be like to get exactly what you deserve - no more, no less - from God, bearing in mind that his standard is total perfection in everything we do, think and say? We judge ourselves by our own standards and can usually point to someone we think is worse than ourselves. But in God's eyes even the best of us falls short. For him to give us what we deserve would mean sending us to hell.

God's amazing gift

"How depressing!" you might say, "If God is absolutely pure and totally just, what hope is there for anyone?" Well, amazingly there is hope! Yes, the situation is desperate, but God has already done something about it. The Bible says, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." ⁽¹⁾ God sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, into the world on a rescue mission. How did he do it?

The penalty has been paid

If you do a day's work, you have a right to be paid for it. But we don't like to hear of young criminals getting a free holiday - it doesn't seem right somehow. Imagine then this scenario:

A high court judge sentences a young murderer to life. The judge then goes to gaol himself instead of the murderer so that the criminal can be released. Meanwhile he arranges to adopt the youth as his son. He gives the young man a share of his property large enough make him rich. That would really shock us, wouldn't it?

But what God has done is even more shocking. As we've said already, the gospel is the good news of God's grace. Grace is God's kindness free-of-charge to those who deserve the opposite. The gospel of grace is the astonishing message that God himself has paid the penalty that allows his enemies to go free. He has done everything necessary for them to become his friends. More than that, they become members of his family - his own sons and daughters with a share in his riches.

The great exchange

For everyone who believes this message, a great exchange has taken place. Jesus has taken their disobedience and rebellion - the sin that makes them offensive to God - on himself. He has endured the full force of God's justice against them on the cross. In exchange for their sin, Jesus gives them his own perfect righteousness, like a new suit to wear. This makes them fully acceptable to God.

God gives them a new heart so that they love God and hate sin. They look forward to a secure future beyond this life, happy forever with God in the new heavens and new earth which nothing can spoil.

Has it happened for you?

In the Bible, God invites you to believe this message. His favour is not something you can earn or deserve. He's not open to bribes. He urges you to acknowledge your sin, to turn from it and to believe in his Son, Jesus Christ. The only way to be saved is gratefully to accept God's offer of grace.

None of us knows how long we have to accept God's invitation. The Bible teaches us that ". . . He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead." ⁽²⁾

Wouldn't it be wise to accept it now?

⁽¹⁾ John 3:16 ⁽²⁾ Acts17:31

A WORD FOR AUGUST

THE GIFT OF PRAYER

Dear friends,

This period of church history, like no other, seems to me to epitomize the words of the apostle James: 'You do not have, because you do not ask God.' James 4:2.

More and more I am convinced that personal and corporate prayer ought to be at the heart of our Christian life and experience. After all, our first step in knowing Christ was by prayer, calling upon the Lord for salvation, and following that, all spiritual growth is in direct proportion to our prayer life. Yet our problem seems to lie in the fact that we assent to all of this - but don't do it.

I was struck by a comment of Hope Macdonald in her book Discovering how to pray: "We can read all the books that have ever been written about prayer, but until we actually choose by an act of the will to pray, we will never learn."

I believe our personal needs are bound up and will be met in our prayer life, and that the corporate needs of our fellowship, indeed of our world, hinge upon the prayers of God's people. It is not that we need a multiplicity of machinery, better organisation or new groups and societies. The great need of our day is prayer, more prayer, better prayer. For prayer is the privilege that God has given to his people, and it is by prayer that situations are changed. And when we are talking about the power of prayer, we are actually talking about the POWER OF GOD released through our praying.

Now if prayer is not important, why is that we are urged to '....pray without ceasing'? Also, if Jesus is to be our example, how do we sum up his evident commitment to prayer?

I'm sure it would be very beneficial for us in our various organisations if, instead of talking about our problems to each other, we gave ourselves time to involve the Lord Jesus Christ in our needs and for each sense of need to find its expression in prayer. It's like a beggar, conscious of his own poverty, who asks of another the things he needs.

You will remember that the Spirit's condemnation of the church in Laodicea was summed up in that expression "I need nothing." That is what we say when we do not pray and that is an alarming state to be in.

Let's encourage ourselves in the fact that prayer is God-given. If I can put it this way, it allows God into our situations; it is the open door that allows his power to meet our need.

Harold Lindsell has said: "The pilgrim who walks through the world that is not his final home needs all the help he can get." God in his wise providence has provided many kinds of helps. One of the greatest is his gift of prayer.

Your friend and pastor,

Peter