Colossians 1:6
All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day your heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.
Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
A couple of months ago I saw a news story about a meteor that hit the earth’s atmosphere somewhere over Chelyabinsk, Russia. Scientists who studied both the sonic boom and the power of the explosion created as the meteor hit the atmosphere determined that the meteor must have been roughly 10 – 50 feet in diameter and traveling 10 to 12 miles per second.
While this particular meteor broke apart before striking the earth, one can only imagine the size of the crater it would have left had it done so! Other meteors have indeed crashed into the surface of the earth leaving behind huge craters. And the size of those craters is directly related to the force of the impact, and the force of impact is related to the size and speed of the meteor.
I think it’s fun to think of the gospel as a kind of spiritual meteor.
All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day your heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.
The gospel came to earth in the form of Jesus of Nazareth, who, Paul says, “died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures…” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
WHAM!
The gospel changed everything! The gospel proclaims the good news that our sins can be forgiven and that salvation is a gift we can receive through faith. This gospel left a crater that changed the course of human history; changed the eternal destiny of all who believe; and left a crater that is still growing today!
And the church, in its own way, is also a kind of meteor intended to have tremendous impact.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus is saying that his followers, his church, is to have impact that radiates outward like the ripples created when a pebble is dropped into a pond. Or, better yet, when a huge boulder falls with a great force into a large lake; or when a meteor crashes into the earth and its impact can be felt a thousand miles away!
If the church is the gospel community; if the church is to make the gospel visible to the world; then, like a great meteor, the church is to have great impact.
At FBCG we want to be part of that impact. That’s why we remind ourselves often that…
Our mission is to reach the people and families of our local community, connect them to Christ and his church, equip them through intentional spiritual growth so that, together, we can serve the world in the name of Christ.
We celebrate when a child opens his or her heart to Jesus in faith because the gospel is having impact. We celebrate when a young mother connects to our Moms Together ministry and eventually brings her whole family to FBCG because the gospel is having impact. We celebrate when we pack thousands of boxes of food for families in need because the gospel is having impact! We celebrate “faith stories” at our baptism events because the gospel is changing lives!
Read once again the Apostle Paul’s words to the Colossian church:
All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day your heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.
Lord Jesus,
Thank you for your gospel. Thank you for inviting us to share in the great joy of sharing your gospel with the world. Please use us, as your church, to continue to grow and bear fruit!
Amen
Pastor Brian Coffey
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