Is Church Encouraging? How the Good News Leaves Its Mark on the Gathering

The Apostle Paul refers to God as “the God of endurance and encouragement.” In the same chapter (Romans 15), Paul states that the divinely-intended purpose of the whole of the Scriptures is that God’s people might “have hope.” But how does the gospel bring hope to people who have, as it were, Genesis 3 wallpapered in every room of their experience, people who bring to every worship gathering an impressive list of proofs that the world, the flesh, and the devil are running a thriving business? In this breakout session, we’ll think about the worship gathering as a place where the good news meets people in hard places and gives them hope through Christ.