GCV Blog

With all the strategies for church growth swirling around in our world, Charles Spurgeon helps us see clearly both what truth church growth is and how it happens.

Joining Grace of the Valley Church on November 17, 2013 was an Amazing God Day.

“The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” â€" Mark 1:1 Two thousand years after this was written, Christians confidently proclaim that there is no gospel without Jesus Christ. However, to those reading it for the first time â€" this was a bold proclamation for a lowly carpenter to fulfill. To the Roman or Gentile audience the Gospel of Jesus Christ was an attack on what they believed. Gospel, meaning good news, was often spoken in conjunction with the coronation of a new ruler. Commentators often cite the Priene Calendar inscription dated 9 BC in honor of Augustus, referring to his birth as the “birthday of the god Augustus…the beginning of the good news for the world…”

The following article comes from Jon Bloom of Desiring God (http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/when-the-perfect-comes). Though this is an older post, I come back to it at the turn of the year because of it’s mixture of hope and honesty. “…when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away” (1 Corinthians 13:10).

Earlier this month, the Spanish ministry held a couples’ retreat in the mountains. The majority of those who attended were the men who have been involved in weekly Bible studies conducted in the local fields and farm shops. We met most of the wives for the first time at the retreat. It was the men who encouraged their wives to attend and made the effort to be a part of this. As we headed into the weekend, we did not know what to expect. This was a Christian marriage retreat attended mostly by unbelievers. How do you teach Christian principles to couples whose souls have yet to know Christ? It could be very frustrating to hear truths that can be applied only as the Holy Spirit provides the grace to do so.