CURRENT RADIO SERIES Best of 2016

CURRENT TV SERIES Best of 2016

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.   1 Peter 1:17-19 A very vain woman went to get some photos taken one day. She spent hours with the photographer, getting just the right angles with the perfect lighting. By the end of the day, the photographer was exhausted and the woman was irritated because she didn’t think the pictures were going to turn out well. When she received the proofs, her fears were confirmed. She hated every single one of them. So she called up the photographer and let him have it. “These pictures,” she shouted, “none of them do me justice.” At his wit’s end, the photographer said, “Lady, you don’t need justice; you need mercy!” We can’t physically see the filthiness and ugliness of sin on our souls. And while many people might think they’d look just fine if they sent their spiritual photo to God, the truth is that no amount of makeup or Photoshop could ever do us “justice” in His eyes. We need mercy! But the good news is that God’s mercy is available to us. Through Christ, we can have God’s goodness and His pardon from all our sins. Because of that, God sees us as having the righteousness and beauty of Christ, which covers all sin. This season of thanks, spend time thanking God for the remarkable gift of mercy He’s given you! THANK GOD THAT THROUGH CHRIST’S MERCY, HE COVERS EVERY SPOT AND BLEMISH OF SIN AND SEES YOU AS HAVING THE BEAUTY OF JESUS! The Importance of the Physical Resurrection by Dr. Paul Chappell “And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.” Luke 24:42–43 Even after Jesus showed the disciples the scars from the crucifixion in His hands and feet, they were not fully convinced that He was in fact alive. Many of the Jewish people of that day believed in ghosts that could appear in human form, but were not really alive. To convince them that He was truly alive, Jesus sat and ate with them. His ability to eat food was a clear proof that He had been physically resurrected by the power of God. The resurrection to which we look forward—whether the instant transformation of those who are alive at the Rapture or the rising from the dead of those who sleep in Jesus—is only possible because Jesus first was raised from the dead. If He had not been physically resurrected, there would be no hope for us. All of our hopes hinge on the reality of the resurrection, and without a living Saviour there can be no salvation. Thankfully, He is alive! Paul wrote, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first ​ ​ fruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15.20). Because Jesus was raised with a physical, glorified body, we have the same future hope. The importance of the physical resurrection is not a new idea. We find this longing and hope expressed in the Old Testament book of Job. “And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:26). The reality of death has been part of our world ever since the Fall of man, but the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus changed everything—past, present and future. Now we no longer need fear the grave for its power has been broken. Jesus is eternally alive, and His resurrection guarantees our eternal life. Today’s Growth Principle:  Because of the physical resurrection of Jesus, we have confidence that we too will live again.