We want you to meet Jesus.

Some of you Metroplexians have been a part of a church for years. Others have been burned by previous churches and their leaders. And some of you have no connection with a church. No matter what your background, if you haven’t met Jesus we want you to. We are planting a new church in this region because we love Jesus and we love the southwest Metroplex. The church (and the entire cosmos) is all about Jesus. Not who we are, what we have done, or what we need to do but who Jesus is and what he has done, is doing, and will do.

Jesus is the grace of God to sinners and sufferers.

The Person and Work of Jesus—his sinless life; his wrath-absorbing, grace-filled death on the cross; his powerful resurrection from the grave is the good news–the gospel. Through faith in Jesus people are justified before God and made a new creation to worship Jesus. As people worship Jesus and make their life his mission they become more like him. One day Jesus will come back "and [his people] will be like him because [they] see him as he is".

The Gospel has been hijacked.

The gospel has largely been hijacked and redefined by American evangelicalism. What once was a beautiful term with a paradox of simplicity and depth, has, in many ways, now been rendered ineffective—robbed of its power to save and transform. The greatest enemy to the gospel in the Metroplex is hollow religion and moralistic therapeutic deism that leaves people trying to be happy and earn a distant god’s favor through morality.                  

Tim Keller has wonderfully juxtaposed the very slight, yet profound differences between the two. The following is an adaptation.

 

  • Religion is about me. The gospel is about Jesus.

  • Religion says that the world is filled with good people and bad people. The gospel says that the world is filled with bad people who are either repentant or unrepentant.

  • The goal of religion is to get from God such things as health, wealth, insight, power, and control. The goal of the gospel is not the gifts God gives, but rather God as the gift–given to us by grace.

  • Religion is about what I have to do. The gospel is about what I get to do.

  • Religion sees hardship in life as God’s wrath. The gospel sees hardship in life as God’s grace that makes us dependent on Him.

  • Religion leads to an uncertainty about my standing before God because I never know if I have done enough to please God. The gospel leads to a certainty about my standing before God because of the work of Jesus on the cross.

  • Religion ends in either pride (because I think I am better than other people) or despair (because I continually fall short of God’s commands). The gospel ends in humble and confident joy because of the power of Jesus at work for me, in me, through me, and sometimes in spite of me.

 

We invite you to meet Jesus.

You have sinned against a holy God and you are guilty. We invite you to repent–to turn from your sin and turn to faith in him. Turn from the sins you love to the holy God you are called to love. Admit you are not God. Begin to value Jesus more than your immediate pleasure. Give up the things the Bible calls sin (e.g. not loving God and others with your heart and actions) and leave them to follow Jesus. You have suffered because this world is broken by sin–mankind has chosen to worship created things over the Creator God. Take your suffering to Jesus believing he suffered on your behalf on the cross. Jesus is your only hope in life and death. Jesus is how you know God perfectly loves you. This is the true story of the world that makes sense of everything–the story of Jesus’ miraculous incarnation, perfect life, death in your place, powerful resurrection, and glorious ascension to the right hand of the Father. Jesus is the Creator of all things. Everything is about Jesus and for Jesus. Cry out and put your hope in Jesus and be reconciled to God!

Search God’s Word – John 3:15-18, Romans 3:23-26, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Ephesians 2:1-10, Romans 5:10-11, Acts 16:30-34, Titus 3:3-7, Romans 10:9-11,

If you put your faith in Jesus now or want us to help you please contact matt@gracechurchsw.com.