"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." -1 Peter 3:15

The past three Wednesdays have been great to sit and listen and to learn what that scary word Apologetics means. Growing up that wasn’t a word I heard much, if ever. But truly this verse sums it up. But still, how do you do that without stumbling all over yourself? We learned it's ok not to know all the answers but to ask questions and listen. When people feel heard they are more likely to be open to listening, otherwise you will most likely just end up in an argument – and that really won’t benefit anyone.

But my favorite thing in the class was the simplified version of the Gospel – What is the Gospel??? Chad gave these on Sunday morning but I’m going to try to sum it up quickly.

1. God – Ruler – Our Creator. He created us. He loves us. Yes, he is our ruler but he allows us our own choice.
2. Man – Revolt – Even though God created us, we as human beings in our nature revolt – we betray him – we sin – we rebel.
3. Christ – Rescue – Our Savior. Because we revolt – we sin - we rebel - we need to be rescued. That’s where Christ comes in! He died for us. He paid for our sins.
4. Response – Now we have a choice. We get to choose how we respond. Do we accept that grace and forgiveness or do we take it for granted?

The way this was explained finally clicked – praying it helps you too. Apologetics finally isn’t scary anymore – it's actually very simple!! Praise God that he did send our Rescuer!!

Thankfully it is by grace – through faith – not by works! (Ephesians 2:8-9)

(But don’t take that grace for granted! If you missed Sunday, be sure to watch “The Truth About God’s Grace”.)

-Glenda