It's About Grace

Grace is the source and spring for our experience of God's love and for expressing our faith in God through Jesus Christ. Grace entirely is God's gift to us and work in us! This happens through God's presence with us in Jesus and through Jesus' giving himself for us in his sacrifice for us on the Cross. God entered into all of human experience, both the best and the worst, and in this a bridge is made between us and God. Despite our unworthiness and sinfulness, God provides a way through Jesus that restores our relationship with God, making us (as Pope Gregory the Great emphasized) "friends of God." This is all God's doing and it depends completely on God's power, love, and goodness. It's all about grace!

It's About Faith

Love is the power of faith, and belief is the engine of faith. It is an immersion into an experience of God that happens when we trust Jesus, which means giving our lives to him! Believing in Jesus is to encounter the living God and this encounter affects everything about us! In fact, it actually makes us who we are. As Rich Mullens sings, "I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am. I did not make it, it is making me! It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man." We are like instruments played by a master musician, or paintings created in the distinctive style of a great artist. After all, life is about faith!

It's About Love

Love is the power of faith in Jesus Christ! It is difficult at times to understand how God is working in our lives, especially when things get tough. We may question why God allows us, others, and the world to suffer pain and problems, but our experience of God's love for us is what sustains us and carries us through. Without love (as the Apostle Paul says) our faith and our actions mean very little, but with love everything in our lives becomes significant and meaningful in God's plan, even those difficult things we all must face. Love -- God's love! -- is the "heart" of our relationship with God.