Part of the Family! A New Life and a New Identity in the New Covenant.

October 19, 2025 — Leave a comment

A sermon for Baptism, Confirmation, and the Renewal of Baptismal Vows

We are gathered here today to see a truly extraordinary thing.

We’re here today to watch the unfolding of a plan that God set in motion from before the foundation of the world.

Today two families, with their supporters, are going to enter into a covenant with God, they’re going to say “yes” to raising their child to know and love the Lord, so that child knows they have a Heavenly Father. That’s extraordinary.

Today a young man and a young woman are going to stand before God and before you, and they’re going to say “yes”, we accept the vows that were made at our baptism, yes, I know I need God’s help and I want to live as a member of God’s family. That’s extraordinary.

And today, one of your sisters, Helen, will stand before God and before you, and, having gone through the ups and downs of life, and having come to better understand what it means to trust in God, she will re-affirm her vows, and ask for the strengthening of the gift of God’s Holy Spirit as she lives them out. Extraordinary!

This is big stuff. This is not just life-changing stuff, this is the sort of stuff that changes eternity, making the decision to accept and live out the promises of God – and more than that – admitting that none of us can do it on our own, baptism and confirmation is us saying to God “yes, I need your help. I can’t do it on my own, I can’t save myself, I can’t work hard enough or do enough good to fix the world around me: I need to accept God’s offer to adopt me as His own.”

Did you hear that?
It’s extraordinary – it might even sound crazy! – to suggest that God would want to adopt me and you as members of His family, to really be Our Father.

But that’s what you’re going to witness today.

And it sounds crazy… but it’s something that God promises long ago in ages past.

God’s Design for Relationship with Him

You see, from the very beginning, God intended for us to live with him.
Not just to know He’s there – but to really live with Him.

Not as enemies, not as acquaintances, not as neighbours going through life, God minding His business and us minding ours. No, God intended for us to live with Him as children, in peace with each other, in peace with God and with all of creation.

But, as much as we might wish there was another way, God knew that true love can’t be forced. From the beginning, God didn’t force people to love Him.

No, true love, that offer to live as members of the family of God, is offered.
But it can be accepted, or it can be rejected.

And I’m sure all of us know what happened next – and even if we’re not familiar with the Bible, we can see the effects of what happened rippling out across all of time and space. God offered that love to all of humanity, but it was rejected.

We wanted to trust our own way instead of trusting the one who made it all.
And God, as much as it made Him grieve, respected that choice. And, no matter your age, no matter your experience, if you’re honest, I’m sure you’ll agree that – while there is good in the world – we aren’t up to the task of being our own Lord. Me, and you, we are powerless to save ourselves or fix the world around us. We need God’s help.

But, the good news is that God knows that. And, from the beginning, He didn’t leave us on our own. His plan from the start was to send His Son to crush the serpent’s head, to win victory over the devil and his lies. His plan – and it’s the extraordinary thing that we are about to witness today – was just as we heard read from Jeremiah chapter 31 – He would give a New Covenant – He would make an agreement with ordinary people like you and me, that we could be His… and He – God – could be ours. That we could say “Our Father” and truly mean it. God said “I will put my law – my ways – within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people”.

That’s incredible!

And He means it! For those who accept God’s plan, who trust in Jesus as their Saviour and become part of the new covenant in his blood offered on the cross, you can really run to God – yes, the Almighty Creator of everything that is – you can run to Him, cry out to Him, “my God, my God”, help me my father – and it’s true, because He says that’s how it is.

God is willing and wanting to adopt any person into His family… all it takes is admitting that He is God and we are not. That our ways, our trying, our striving, our attempts at doing good, can never actually save ourselves. It’s admitting, like we are doing here today, that “yes, God, I need your help.”

What’s New About this New Covenant?

This is the “new covenant” that God promised long ago, and which came in the fullness of time when Jesus, God’s only Son, stepped into our place and did what we could never do for ourselves.

So what is this covenant, what’s “new” about it?

Well, look at what we read from Jeremiah. Look there towards the bottom of that reading, verses 32 to 34.

In this promised new covenant, who does the work?

(wait) Is it something that we need to sort out? Something where we need to get ourselves clean enough, fix ourselves up, figure it out for ourselves?

No! “I”, says God. God, as a loving, caring, providing, merciful father – far beyond even the best human father you could imagine – does the work. He reaches out. He says “I will do it”.

And just like marriage vows create a new family, the vows of this covenant create a new identity… if you’ll accept it. God says “I will do it”. God says, you will be my child, and I will be your father. That means – if you accept it – you, yes, you, with all your doubts and fears and hurts and struggles, and the two steps forward and one step back that we all have as we go through life, you are granted access to the throneroom of the Almighty God who created heaven and earth.
…because you’re a child of the King.

You – yes, you – are given the right to speak directly, to cry out directly to Almighty God in prayer, because, yes – even though He’s the all-powerful creator of the universe, far above our ways and worthy to be feared, even though that’s true, He loves you, He wants to adopt you as His child. Yeah, he’s running the universe, but it’s never an interruption when you cry out to him, because you’re a follower of Jesus His Son, and you’ve accepted the offer for God to look at you in Christ, rather than look at you based on your works or what you have done.

And this covenant has benefits – because of the relationship we can have with God, because that relationship has been made right by God, God’s own spirit, the Holy Spirit, our helper and guide, offers to move in – as the Bible says, He comes to take our hard hearts of stone and turn them into real, proper, living, beating hearts – He comes to give us life, renovating us from the inside out.

You see, this thing you’re about to do, this thing you’re about to witness…
It really is extraordinary!

God will do it! …But He won’t force it.

But remember – love can’t be forced. Family can’t be forced.

God offers for us to live as His children of the new covenant, but it can be accepted or rejected.

I have a question for those of you who have been following and trusting in Jesus for a while. Just a simple yes or no, but, if you’re a follower of Jesus, answer out loud so that those making promises today know what to expect.

Question – after you decide to follow Jesus, is it always easy to live as a child of God?

No! It isn’t.

Ok, question – does accepting God’s offer, and deciding to follow Jesus, mean that all your problems instantly go away, and life will always be sunshine and lollypops from now on?

No! Not at all.

The effects of the world, the flesh, and the devil rejecting God’s will still echo and ripple out through all of creation, and your own flesh and blood will struggle with it all through this earthly life.

But, last question – For those who follow Jesus, for those who put their trust in God, who say “yes” to his will and his plan, who depend on him as Lord, and Saviour, and Father… is it worth it, even through the ups and downs?

Yes. To who else could we go, who else could we trust in, if not the one who made it all?

So my friends, it means you have a choice to make. God offers a new way to live under this new covenant – He offers a new identity, adopted into his family, a God-given renovation of your heart and mind. But it isn’t forced.

Paul’s Letter to Timothy gives us a good reminder of what it takes to live this out.

Three “P”s. Proclaim, Be Persistent, Have Patience.

We need to proclaim the good news to others, but first, we need to proclaim it again and again to ourselves. Read God’s Word, get to know it, get used to hearing His voice, so that when life gets you down, you can hear the promises of God.

Be persistent in the good times and the bad. There’s going to be ups and downs, but be persistent – God will complete the good work he has begun in you, and He is the only one who can work all things together for the good of those who love him.

And have patience. The Christian life isn’t easy, but it is good. It can take a while for Jesus’ way, truth, and life, to really settle in and renovate our way of thinking and being.

See, my friends, we’re about to do something extraordinary.

You guys being confirmed and re-affirming your vows, you’re accepting something extraordinary.
Parents, you’re doing something extraordinary.

Today, you are saying Yes to God’s plan, Yes to being a child of God.

May God give us the strength to live together as that family, proclaiming and persevering with patience, and all to God’s glory, now and forevermore.

Love God and Neighbour – Are you a “why” person, or a “how” person?

July 13, 2025 — Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 30:9-14
Psalm 25
Colossians 1:1-14
Luke 10:25-37

May only the Truth be spoken, and may only the Truth be heard,
in the Name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

I have a question for you this morning.
Are you a why person, or are you a how person?
What’s your mind’s go-to response? Why? or How?

Our lessons today deal with the law of God – the wonderful, life-giving, freedom-filled gift which is God’s law. Not a burdensome set of rules, nor is it something that should fill us with fear because of our natural and universal inability to fulfil it without a lot of God’s help; but a gift. As we read in Deuteronomy, it’s in living into and living out the Lord’s vision for how we should live that we will find true blessing, true prosperity, the lasting inner peace that can carry us – together – through the ups and downs of life.

And Jesus sums it all up for us in a way that I’m sure many of us have committed to memory.

Hear what the Lord Jesus Christ says: (say it with me!) you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

If you haven’t committed that one to memory, take it home. It’s on the front page of your bulletin. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. And Love your neighbor as yourself.

What does it mean to live a Christian life? Love the Lord your God…
What does it look like to follow Christ? Love the Lord your God…
How should we live if we want to see the Lord’s blessing? Love the Lord your God…

It’s all pretty straight-forward, right?
Look again at Deuteronomy: God, through Moses, suggests that this is all rather easy! The Law is not far away, hidden in heaven or buried in the depths that we need someone to bring it to us. The Law, God says, is not too hard for you. In fact, it’s very near, it’s in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

Easy, right?

(…well, lets just say I won’t ask for a show of hands for those who think they’ve succeeded!)

But I will say this: the Law is easy, in as much as it is easy to understand.
When God says something, He means it. He doesn’t throw words around lightly.

When He says “all”, it’s simple enough to understand – He really does mean all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Hold nothing back. Go all in.

And when He says “to love your neighbour”, again it’s simple enough – there’s no bones about it, no beating around the bush: the word is agapeo, agape, that fullest, sacrificial definition of love, the love that prefers the other above the self, the love that is defined as a desire to see and bring about the well-being of another. On the one hand, it’s that simple: love your neighbour, desire and seek to bring about what is best for him or her, all the way.

It’s Simple enough… until our minds get in the way!

“It’s in your mouth and it’s in your heart”, God says, “so that you can do it”.

But did you notice what God did not say?

The Law is in your mouth and in your heart… the issue, though, is that, for us sinful human beings, we like to follow our minds.

And that’s not where God says the Law has been written, even for those who are redeemed, who are filled with the Holy Spirit. The Law isn’t found in your rational mind. Yes, by grace, over a lifetime of sanctification, we pray along with Romans 12 that with God’s help we can be transformed by the renewing of our mind, or with Ephesians 4 to be made new in the attitude of our minds, or with Philippians 2, that we would come to have the mind of Christ in us as we learn to decrease our self-interests so that the Body of Christ may increase.

My brothers and sisters, we have to be aware of this: yes, the Law is to be found in your mouth, each and every ordinary Christian, sharing that Good and life-giving News, and yes, God’s law is written deep on each and every human heart… but be aware – your mind, my mind, won’t live out God’s law naturally.

So let me as you… are you a why person, or are you a how person?

When you hear the law of God, what is your first response?
Are you a why person? No shame, I think all of us are “why” people by nature.

You hear someone like me say “God wants you to go all in”… and, the natural human response is to say “what? Why would I do that? I’m not a preacher. I put my money in the plate, I pray for my church family, I come out on Sundays, I read my Bible most days. Surely that’s good enough, or it at least counts for something, right?

Why should I need to do more? Why should I need to be made into more or “transformed” any more than I already am? I’m already doing so much more for the Lord than most people are, most can’t even be bothered to get out of bed on Sunday morning. …No, I can’t say that I love God with all my heart or all my mind, but come on, why should I need to? And hey, while we’re at it, it’s not like you’re living a perfect life either… and on and on and on it goes.

Are you a “why” person?

Are you one whose nature, whose natural reaction, is to hear the simple, straightforward, but all-encompassing law of God, and whose first reaction is to explain why it’s not asking anything more of you than what you’re already doing, or why that simple command might apply to someone else who is doing less than you, but you’re alright.

Or, perhaps you hear “love your neighbour as yourself” – and you hear a crazy preacher who went back and looked at the Greek in Luke and Matthew and at the Hebrew in the quote from Leviticus that Jesus was referencing, and who says, no, it doesn’t mean “care about your neighbour”, it actually means agape, that all-in, self-sacrificing, deeper-than-your-love-for-your-own-blood sort of love, and your mind’s first reaction is “that doesn’t make sense, why would I do that?”.

I care for the poor, I give money and sometimes even volunteer for stuff. I pray for the homeless and addicted, I even stick around for coffee hour after church for a bit of fellowship with other church people… but what does God want of me? Seriously? To have agape, all-in, sacrificial love my neighbour who I don’t even really know, and who wouldn’t do the same for me, why would I do that? I already do more than most people, why would I actually love some random person as myself.

A ”why” person. Like the lawyer in today’s Gospel, who says “yes Master, I hear you… but let’s define our terms so that I can tell you why I’m off the hook”.

Now let’s be clear – there’s no shame in admitting you’re a “why” person, if that’s where you’re at right now. I will confess that I lived most of my Christian life as a why person, including the first 5 years of my ordained ministry. Yes, the law was in my heart, yes, it was even in my mouth on a daily basis… but my mind did a very good job of comforting myself to justify why other people needed to grow, but I had probably come far enough when it comes to being “all in” with love for God and neighbour.

There’s no shame in admitting if that’s where you are. And I say that precisely because admission and confession – giving up that denial – those are the first steps to continuing in that journey of who God is calling you to be: someone who really is all in.

Someone whose mind has been transformed from “why”… to “how”.

You see, a “why” person – and we’re all why people by sinful human nature – uses their mind to decide what is right for them, what is good enough for them, and sets about explaining why they’ve already grown and been transformed enough, why the dead simple, totally straightforward, but breathtakingly hard “all-in” language of God doesn’t mean what it says, or at least doesn’t call them to do any extra.

A ”why” person uses their mind to set their priorities.

What’s the alternative?

But, by grace, we can become “how” people.
You see, a “how” person knows that their mind is not trustworthy for setting priorities.
A “how” person knows that the law is on their heart, but that the transformation and renewal of the mind is still very much a work in progress.

A “how” person says: ‘ok Lord… you’re right, I haven’t gone all in. How can I make that simple command more visible in my life? What’s the next step?”

A “how” person says ‘Lord, it’s hard… I barely know my neighbours… in fact, there are people I worship with each week and I don’t even know their names, and this is a pretty small church! And Lord, I don’t feel like I have much time or energy… but you say I need to love my neighbour as myself, and I don’t, so how I can I do that better? What’s the next step?”

Our homework: some practical obedience!

Friends, put that to the test this week. I will too.
Take your bulletin home, and each day, recite that summary of the law that Jesus gave us, found on the front of your bulletin.

And catch yourself… because, like the lawyer in the Gospel, your mind will naturally go to why you’re not called to do more, why this isn’t asking anything of you.

But switch, consciously, intentionally, from “why” to “how”. Each day, read it, and then pray: Lord, this is your command. How do I make this more visible in my life? What’s the next step?

That’s the sort of obedience to God’s Law that changes a life; that changes a church; that changes a community.

Because, when we offer something to God – especially when we offer it off the top and out of our poverty, rather than offering God what is left over, He takes it and blesses it and opens the windows of heaven to multiply it.

It’s like the person who tithes of their money before all else. Anyone’s rational mind can explain why it makes more sense that you should pay your power bill and pay for the repairs on your car before you give money to the Lord… but anyone who has ever tithed knows that by trusting God and saying “Lord, show me how”, you end up with more than you could have asked for or imagined.

So go all in. Ask God how that should look, for you to love Him first and fully, and to really have agape, sacrificial love for your neighbours – and, lets start that close to home, right here, with getting to know your church family better, taking someone out for coffee, inviting someone over for tea, meeting up for lunch – like tithing, you offer the time and energy in obedience off the top, and God will give it back multiplied.

This is the law of God. It is amazingly simple. It is wonderfully straightforward. But it is also breathtakingly difficult to put into practice.

Say it with me. Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ says. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it; You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

Now… will you start to explain why… or will you ask God to show you how?

To God be the glory, now and forevermore. Amen.

Blessed to be a Blessing!

February 16, 2025 — Leave a comment

A sermon preached at All Saints’ Church in Aklavik, NT
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Psalm 1
1 Corinthians 15:12-20
Luke 6:17-26

May only the truth be spoken, and may only the truth be heard: in the Name of God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

The lessons this morning really have a whole lot to say about God’s blessings.

In First Corinthians we hear about the truly remarkable blessing that we, ordinary people, sinners saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, get to share in his resurrection – a huge and incredible blessing. In our Old Testament lessons we hear twice about those whom God has blessed being like a tree planted by the water; and not just any tree, we’re thinking one of those big fruit trees like they have down where they don’t get any snow: big branches reaching out over a river, big green leaves and plenty of fruit growing on it, never needing to worry if someone is going to come with the garden hose and water it, because God has provided all that it needs.

And then, in today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about God blessing all sorts of people. God pours out his blessing on all sorts of people that, if we looked at their situation, we would say didn’t look very blessed: the poor, the hungry, those who weep, those who are hated or who are rejected by their family and friends because of their faith. But God blesses them, and that blessing turns their situation around: the poor have what they need, the hungry are filled, those who cried in the night found joy in the morning, and those who were hated and rejected found their place in the family of God.

God is good! Sometimes He’s so good that we have a hard time recognizing just how much His desire and His will is to pour out His blessing on His children.

And I must say, as I’ve been here this weekend, with the daytime talks and the evening services, I’ve heard and have even seen for myself how much we here have been blessed.

Right here, in the lives in this room, there has been so much blessing, hasn’t there?

Even though the world is broken – it’s messy and hard and not as God intended it to be – still, even in the midst of that, God has blessed us. People, even your brothers and sisters here in the family of God, have experienced healing, have experienced freedom from worry and pride and addiction, have experienced God’s miraculous way of providing what is needed. Even as we go through the ups and downs of life, so many have experienced the unexpected gift of God’s joy to face hardships.

Friday night we sang “count your blessings”, and we should! Because He has blessed us.

And, it’s also right, as we saw in today’s Gospel, that we should desire that blessing for others, and for our community. In the gospel today, a huge crowd had started following Jesus, coming on foot from across great distances to hear His teaching and experience His blessing. And how did Jesus respond? He blessed them! As we read just a few minutes ago, people were being healed, having their burdens taken away as they encountered the power of God in the flesh.

God is so good! We’ve all been blessed, and it’s His desire to bless us.

What’s the purpose of God’s blessing?

But, there’s a big question I want to ask today.

I think we’ll all agree that, at least in some ways, God has blessed us.

But here’s the big one: what is the purpose of God’s blessing?

What is the purpose, or in other words, why does God bless us?

It’s a good question, and it’s one worth looking at. Certainly, I’d say it’s a question that some people get wrong. There are some on TV who preach a twisted message, saying that God blesses us so that we can get rich. That sounds nice, I guess, especially if you’d like to have money to buy a new truck or to go down south for a vacation, but is that actually what the Bible teaches? Or, ask it this way, does it even make sense for God’s purpose, his ultimate desire, to be for us to be rich, when in today’s Gospel – like elsewhere – He warns about how hard it is for a wealthy person to please God? And, as we all know, money is just worldly stuff: you can’t take it with you! There’s a reason you never see a U-Haul truck full of stuff following the casket to the cemetery.

So, let’s ask that question. What is the purpose of God’s blessing. Why does He bless us.

“Like trees planted by the water”

I think there’s a whole lot we can learn if we look at that description of a blessed person that is given in Jeremiah 17, and in Psalm 1. In both places we are given the same image: The one who is blessed is like a tree, planted by a river, with deep roots running out to the water source, so it never needs to worry in times of drought.

It’s a nice image, but what does that mean?
What does it mean for God to say that you or I are like a tree?

Let’s just stop and think about that for a minute.

Think about any tree, or even a nice big berry bush out on the land, since we don’t have the big fruit trees like they have where Jesus lived.

And let’s ask the question: What is it’s purpose? Why is it there?

Bear with me, it might seem a little silly, but seriously: why is that tree there?

Is it there for its own sake? How did it get there?
God created the tree, brought its ancestors into being back when he created the world. And sooner or later, when the time was right, the seed was brought to where it ended up, maybe by the wind, maybe by an animal, maybe washing down the river during the high water in spring.

One way or another, it ended up where it is, and the sun shined on it, and it got the water it needed. To think about what St. Paul says, we could say “one planted, and another watered”. But how did it get there? It was God who gave the growth.

What’s the tree’s purpose? It’s a blessed part of God’s creation, and it’s primary purpose is, first and foremost, to reflect God’s goodness and glory. Have you ever thought of it that way? God created and it was good, He created out of love, and took delight in it. He didn’t create the world so that He could walk away from it for us to figure things out on our own; He created so that we could share life with Him and rejoice in His provision.

And scriptures says that the one who is blessed is like that tree.

Sometimes, honestly, it might be easier to actually be a tree, don’t you think? A tree never needs to worry about life in this messy world. A tree never gets tricked into thinking that it’s self-reliant or that it exists for itself. A tree knows, full well, that it is fully reliant on what God provides: the water on the roots, the nutrients in the soil, the sun from above. All it can do is rejoice in that blessing, rely on that blessing.

How does a tree use it’s blessing?

But here’s the big thing: if the blessed are like a tree, it’s not enough to just rely on God’s provision. Because, all throughout scripture we are reminded that trees actually has a purpose. The tree is blessed to be a blessing!

That tree by the waters, with green leaves in time of drought: what do you think happens on a hot day? That tree is blessed to become a place of shade for those who need to rest and come away from the scorching heat of the day. Or, I grew up in Newfoundland, and when I was young my dad would take me into the woods with him, and if you’ve ever been out on the land in winter and had the cold, damp wind come up with blowing snow, you know the relief that comes from finding trees to break that wind, to give that relief.

Back to the scriptures, what does the Bible have to say about trees? They bear fruit! The trees are blessed to be a blessing. Yes, Jesus says the hungry will be filled, but one way that happens is when trees bear their fruit, giving food for the hungry. In the Gospels, when Jesus even speaks about faith growing from a mustard seed, He talks about when that springs up, that blessed tree becomes a place for birds to build their nests and raise their young.

Think about it: Scripture says the one who is blessed is like a tree planted by the water. But trees are never blessed for their own sake: they exist to reflect the glory of God, and to be a blessing to others.

We are blessed to be a blessing.

So, my friends, we have been blessed. But what’s the purpose of that blessing?

Think about Jesus’ words today in Luke 7. It’s never about what we get.

Jesus said blessed are the hungry, for they will be filled. But it’s not about being filled… because he goes on to say “cursed are those who are full now!”. He says blessed are those who are poor for they will be rich, but he goes on to say “cursed are those who are rich!”.

You see, it’s never about getting God’s blessing to store it up for ourselves.

God blesses us, so that we can be a blessing. Then, when we fulfil that God-given purpose of reflecting and proclaiming His glory, of telling others how we’ve been blessed, guess what happens? It’s like the person in the burning heat looking for shade, or the person in the storm looking for shelter: our blessing becomes a blessing to them!

In sharing God’s blessing to us, we bless others, and in blessing others, we are blessed. It’s a wonderful cycle, but unlike so many things in this broken world where we spiral down and down and down, God’s blessing builds us up, and never alone, but always building us up together as a church, as a family, as a community who reflects God’s glory.

How will God use us to bless others?

So let me ask: who here has ever received a blessing from God?

Now, ask yourself, what is the purpose of that blessing?
Friends, you were blessed to be a blessing.

So now, let me ask you this: who here wants to see God’s blessing pour out on our community, on our families, on our loved ones who are wandering like those who are thirsty or burning under the heat and stress of life in this messy world?

God knows that need, but here’s the surprising part: God wants you to be part of that blessing!

The Holy Spirit, living inside of you – yes, the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead! – is alive in you, and just as God is blessing you each day, building you up into a mighty oak of righteousness, a tree planted by the water, the Lord doesn’t want you to keep that shade and those fruits to yourself.

Blessed is the one who delights in the law of the Lord; who delights in the Word and the Ways of the Lord; who delights – rejoices – in what the Lord has done.

As we rejoice in God’s blessing, let’s allow God to use us to be a blessing to others, in Jesus name, for our families, for our community, and for a world that is hungry to hear the Good News that God sent us to share.