The Costly Gospel of Grace
Bob Wickizer
1 Kings 8:22-23
Last Sunday was my first Sunday to be back in church after a month's absence. It was my longest time out of church in over thirty years. I missed you all. Of course Trinity Sunday is jokingly referred to among preachers as ''Heresy Sunday.'' A friend told me that was an excellent date for me to re-enter the church.
The apostle Paul traveled, preached and established churches for about thirty years. Many of his churches in Asia Minor or modern day Turkey can still be seen. In his day there was no established ''orthodox'' understanding of the Gospel of Christ. There was no Nicene Creed and it was common for preachers to come in after Paul left a region and preach a gospel that was not even remotely connected to the Gospel of Christ. This upset Paul and we hear about it in his opening remarks in a letter to the Galatians.
Things aren't so different today except that we have an established ''orthodox'' understanding of the gospel of Christ and we have various groups rejecting that orthodoxy to create a gospel for their own benefit. I will start with an updated version of Paul's opening lines.
To Grace Church in Muskogee. The first and truly the only Grace in this place.
Grace to you and peace from God our father and Jesus Christ our Lord who gave himself for us to set us free from the evils of this age according to the good will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory everlasting. Amen
I am astonished that so many in this town of Muskogee have so quickly deserted their call to the grace of Christ and turned to a different gospel. A gospel that only tells people what they want to hear. A gospel that only contains happy thoughts. A gospel that tells people they will be wealthy, their bodies healthy and their children will be successful. This is the prosperity gospel of cheap, diminished grace. As the apostle Paul says, ''If anyone should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what I, Paul, h ...
Bob Wickizer
1 Kings 8:22-23
Last Sunday was my first Sunday to be back in church after a month's absence. It was my longest time out of church in over thirty years. I missed you all. Of course Trinity Sunday is jokingly referred to among preachers as ''Heresy Sunday.'' A friend told me that was an excellent date for me to re-enter the church.
The apostle Paul traveled, preached and established churches for about thirty years. Many of his churches in Asia Minor or modern day Turkey can still be seen. In his day there was no established ''orthodox'' understanding of the Gospel of Christ. There was no Nicene Creed and it was common for preachers to come in after Paul left a region and preach a gospel that was not even remotely connected to the Gospel of Christ. This upset Paul and we hear about it in his opening remarks in a letter to the Galatians.
Things aren't so different today except that we have an established ''orthodox'' understanding of the gospel of Christ and we have various groups rejecting that orthodoxy to create a gospel for their own benefit. I will start with an updated version of Paul's opening lines.
To Grace Church in Muskogee. The first and truly the only Grace in this place.
Grace to you and peace from God our father and Jesus Christ our Lord who gave himself for us to set us free from the evils of this age according to the good will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory everlasting. Amen
I am astonished that so many in this town of Muskogee have so quickly deserted their call to the grace of Christ and turned to a different gospel. A gospel that only tells people what they want to hear. A gospel that only contains happy thoughts. A gospel that tells people they will be wealthy, their bodies healthy and their children will be successful. This is the prosperity gospel of cheap, diminished grace. As the apostle Paul says, ''If anyone should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what I, Paul, h ...
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