As a Christian, I have deep concern about how we represent our faith to others. We are called to proclaim the good news of forgiveness and hope, yet I keep coming across evidence that many people do not hear our message as good news. Surveys show that outsiders increasingly view Christians as bearers of bad news, not good news. It appears the church is failing in its mission to dispense God’s amazing grace to a world that is thirsty for it.
The journalist in me felt compelled to explore how and why the climate of our culture has taken a dramatically hostile turn against the Christian faith in a very short time. As a committed Christian, I wanted to discover what adjustments we might need to make in order to communicate the good news to our friends, neighbors, coworkers.
So I took a step back to reconsider why the gospel truly is good news to people in our world. I explored the ways Christians seek to engage in a diverse world and discovered that some of our efforts can actually drown out the good news and become stumbling blocks to faith. I also looked for models of people from all walks of life— pilgrims, activists, artists— who are effectively communicating the good news to a culture that is running away from faith.
Grace happens at unexpected moments. It stops us short, catches our breath, disarms us. If we manipulate it, try to control it, or earn it, it is not grace. God’s desire is for those of us who have drunk deeply of his grace to offer its healing balm in a world of division and discord. What can we do to show that grace is real, that we can believe in it? How can we lift the cup of amazing grace to the lips of those who have not yet tasted it?
In Vanishing Grace, Philip Yancey shows the desperate need our world has for grace, and how Christians can truly make the gospel good news again. In this video-based small group Bible study, explore what kind of news is good to a culture that thinks it has rejected the Christian version. Wading deep into the transformative power of grace, they will hear illuminating stories of how faith can be expressed in ways that disarm even the most cynical.
Watch a preview of Philip Yancey’s video Bible study, Vanishing Grace below or click here to watch the full first session for free on Study Gateway.