"And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. If Christ didn’t rise from the dead our preaching is pointless and our faith is pathetic."
1 Corinthians 15:14
Where I grew up, I’d often see cars in driveways on blocks without wheels, the hood up and with no engine. Powerless and going nowhere. That’s the image of our faith, hope and future if Christ isn’t raised. Our faith is powerless, it’s pointless and we are to be pitied, if Christ isn’t raised.
Underneath Paul’s argument here is the inseparable connection between the resurrection of Jesus and our ministry and faith. We are to speak about and live out of the death and resurrection of Jesus.
The power source, the content of our speaking, the fibre of our faith, is in the death and resurrection of Jesus, expressed in the gospel, from the Scriptures.
Over 30 years of ministry I’ve appreciated a wide range of methods and models, programs and products, strategies and structures...
But the longer I love Jesus, the more I see the power and significance of ordinary Christians in ordinary churches, pointing each other to Jesus, through the gospel, from the Scriptures in committed community.
Reading the Bible one-to-one, and practicing hospitality and mercy amongst each other. Saying 'no' to a lot of what is being offered by society to have the time to live and model what the death and resurrection of Jesus looks like together.
In short: the resurrection of Jesus changes everything.
CCCNZ Ambassador Mark Grace
