THE GOOD NEWS



"GOSPEL" IS JUST ANOTHER TERM FOR "GOOD NEWS"



The Gospel of Jesus Christ isn't just good news... it's the very best news ever.

But the best way to understand the Gospel of Jesus is to understand what happened before the good news.



the beginning



God created everything that exists -- every grain of sand underneath us and every giant star beyond us. He created people, too, and He created us with a very specific & simple purpose: to joyfully glorify Him.

Everything was good, peaceful & beautiful.



"...bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made." -Isaiah 43:6-7



THE BAD NEWS



But we decided that we wanted to do things our own way, and we became rebellious against God & his commands. We've all chosen to worship something, but it's not God.

This is called sin, and it turned good to bad, peace to war, and beauty to ugliness.

God is, by nature, infinite. So our rebellion against Him is a big problem -- an infinite problem, to be exact.

And people just aren't powerful enough to reverse infinite damages, so there's absolutely nothing we can do to make up for sin. Since God is infinitely just, there must be punishment for sin.

Breaking your parents' rules gets you grounded. Breaking a federal law gets you jail time. But breaking God's commands merits the very worst: eternal spiritual separation from Him in hell.



"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." -Romans 3:23


"They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might..."

-2 Thessalonians 1:9



The good news



God stored up his wrath to be unleashed on us, which is exactly what we deserve. But he withheld it, because despite our sins, God is also infinitely loving & merciful, and He chose to make a way to set everything right again.

He sent his Son -- Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh -- to live among us. Jesus was eventually arrested, tortured & nailed to a cross. In his dying moments, he was punished in our place when God poured his wrath out on Him.

But Jesus came back to life three days later, proving not only that He was the Son of God, but that He had defeated sin & death on our behalf!

This salvation from sin & death is offered as a free gift to all who end their rebellion against God & put their faith in Him as their Lord & Savior. Those who accept this gift are promised unimaginable joy through fellowship with God in heaven. Forever.



"[Jesus Christ], though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." -Philippians 2:6-8


"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God..." -1 Peter 3:18


"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." -John 3:16



IT'S TIME TO MAKE A DECISION



How could this good news get any better? It's the greatest gift ever given, and it's yours. Free.

So what are you waiting for?

Maybe this all sounds too far-fetched for you to believe. Maybe you like your life as it is & don't want God changing it. Maybe you feel like you're so sinful or insignificant that God couldn't possibly love you.

Or maybe this really does sound like good news to you, and you want to experience this love.

Whoever you are, and however you feel about the Gospel, we want to hear from you.





407 Franklin St.
Pella, IA 50219


trinity@trinitypella.org | Phone: 641.628.2714