The Voice of the Christian Community, serving Yuba, Sutter, and Butte Counties
WWW.AMBASSADORNEWSPAPER.COM
The Simple Gospel
The Christian Business Alliance would like to invite you to our midweek meeting. Rich Fellowship, Powerful Prayer, Refreshing Presence of God! We meet at the Bride Church the first Tuesday of the month from noon – 1pm.
Current members: A-1 Carpet Cleaning - (530) 673-3634 - www.a-1clean.com Kristen Bird - A Woman's Friend - (530) 741-0556 Ron Brasier - A Hand Up Ministry - (530) 671-1360 Pastor Elaine Briefman - iM publications - (530) 713-9919 Kathleen Caldwell - Caldwells Custom Countertops - (530) 821-5845 JC Carpenter Mark Anthony Carter - Photos by Mark Anthony- (530) 774-5968 Rita Collins Fred Cox - Richard's Tree Service - (530) 673-7993 LaDonna Curteman - Band Together for Christ - ladonna.curteman@gmail.com Chuck David Dennis & Connie Gabel - Operation Christmas Child - (530) 695-1495 John Gaiser - Gaiser Pets - (530) 751-8155 Assemblyman James Gallagher - (530 ) 671-0303 Dave Greenetz - Dave Greenetz Construction - (530) 682-9602 John Guth - Guth & Changaris, A Prof Law Corp - (530) 674-9841 Seth Halpern - Ambassador Newspaper - editor@ambassadornewspaper.com Randy Heckley - Window of Heaven - (530) 391-6344 Kurt Hilbers - Hilbers Inc - www.hilbersinc.com David Hobbs David Holycross - Holycross Memorial & Cremation - (530) 751-7000 Janet Johnson Dave Kugelman - Proforma by Kug - (530) 742-2423 Bill & Sonja Lindholm Pat & Doreen Maher - Elite Group - (530) 713-9420 Greg Mansur - Adventure Church - (530) 632-1779 Clay Maynard - Consultant - (530) 790-6611 Jason Poling - Cornerstone Church - (530) 674-3087 Victor Savage - Samaritan Village Orphanage - (530) 682-5282 Roger Shadd - Shadd Janitorial Supply - (530) 673-0083 George & Cherie Shaw - Serving Our Saviour - (530) 671-3303 Wynette Sills - CaliforniasForLife.org. - (916) 955-1577 Bill Sluder - After Hours Mobile Notary - (530) 777-8667 Robert Stark - Retired Auditor/Controller - robertandpamstark@gmail.com Dwayne Tanabe - Taylor Accountancy Corp - dktanabe@yahoo.com Jenine Tanabe - Jenine L. Tanabe M.D. Dermatology - (530) 743-0301 Linda Vaca Roger Vaca
For weekly reminders, updates, or to join email editor@ambassadornewspaper.com
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The Ambassador
by Pastor Jason Poling The Gospel is simple: repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who died, was buried, and rose again the 3rd day to forgive you of your sins and give you eternal life. But the Gospel is not simplistic. It is not shallow. It cannot be reduced to a formulaic prayer or mental acknowledgement. Rather, the Gospel involves a cataclysmic event in the human heart. The largest nuclear explosion or the unfathomably massive implosion of a star larger than our sun cannot compare in power or aftermath to the conversion of one human heart from darkness to light by the working of God the Holy Spirit. It is this incomprehensible and dramatic inner change that makes the Gospel “bigger” than a prayer or raised hand or census category change. The Gospel makes one want to see beyond this life, beyond what can be seen. The true Christian longs to view ultimate reality: to see the Kingdom of God working within and overturning the Kingdom of Man. It is at this point the Gospel becomes offensive. How so? To say, “God loves you, wants to save you and give you a wonderful plan for your life” is true and very attractive, but it is not the entire Gospel edifice. The rest of the story is the entire “house” of the Gospel, not just the “doorway” into the
house. The rest of the story is this: God saves you to use you, to enlist you in His work...and it will cost you everything. How does it cost you so much? God saves you to totally renew your mind so that you do not see things as they are but as they will be. For example, Marriage, Family, Money, Time and all the other things we fixate on here are seen in the Gospel-transformed mind and heart to be good things but not best things. Marriage to Christ, the family of God, the eternal riches and inheritance of the children of God, and eternality itself, become our ultimate fixations and longings instead. Interestingly, these earthly “good things” actually become better things because we have focused not on them but on the best things. An example of this logic makes it clear: one who is supremely in love with Christ becomes the greatest lover for his or her spouse!
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Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc. Helping families honor the lives of those they love since 1998 486 Bridge St., Yuba City (530) 751-7000
David Holycross FD1653
www.holycrossmemorial.com david@holycrossmemorial.com
