You would expect a conference like Passion to have some great speakers and good sessions. Well, it did, but the thing that really stuck with me is the simplicity and beauty of the Gospel. They stressed the fact that the Passion Conference was, at its core, about Jesus. The Gospel was preached by every speaker, among other things, and they made sure to note that the Good News is not complex.
Louie Giglio was the speaker for the first session, and he talked on Luke 7:11-17. The story is of Jesus going up to a funeral procession and raising a dead man. That passage is an accurate portrayal of the Good News. We all are that dead man, heading toward the grave. We aren't partially alive or kind of dead; we are completely dead and fully heading to the grave because we were born into sin, and our sinful nature leads us there.
But then Jesus shows up. In that day, priests and rabbi wouldn't dare approach a funeral procession because they would be at risk of becoming unclean. But Jesus didn't care about getting unclean by touching us. He loves us so much that it doesn't matter. He comes to us, and He gives us life. And here is the people's response to Jesus' miracle:
And that, quite simply, is Good News.
Louie Giglio was the speaker for the first session, and he talked on Luke 7:11-17. The story is of Jesus going up to a funeral procession and raising a dead man. That passage is an accurate portrayal of the Good News. We all are that dead man, heading toward the grave. We aren't partially alive or kind of dead; we are completely dead and fully heading to the grave because we were born into sin, and our sinful nature leads us there.
But then Jesus shows up. In that day, priests and rabbi wouldn't dare approach a funeral procession because they would be at risk of becoming unclean. But Jesus didn't care about getting unclean by touching us. He loves us so much that it doesn't matter. He comes to us, and He gives us life. And here is the people's response to Jesus' miracle:
They were all filled with awe and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. "God has come to help his people." (Luke 7:16)The Message translates that last part to, "God is back, looking to the needs of his people!" Jesus started his ministry after several hundreds of years of silence from God to his people. No prophets. No words from the Lord. Nothing. But when people see a life touched by God, they can't help giving the glory to God, because there's no other explanation for a fully dead man becoming fully alive.
And that, quite simply, is Good News.
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