How many of you have ever had someone say to you: “Well, I’ve got good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?” When someone begins a conversation with me that way I get nervous. I imagine we all squirm in anxiety when it’s our doctor, banker, attorney or accountant who is beginning a conversation that way. I’ve found that the order in which we hear these tidings does not matter. Sometimes they cancel one another out, but most of the time the bad news trumps the good.
As a pastor charged with the responsibility of preaching the Word of God, I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first? Do you want to hear about the economic crisis, the unemployment rate, the famines and food shortages in the world, and the recent death of family members that have touched our congregation?
OR…
Do you want to hear the Good News? Do you want to hear that there is one coming? Do you want to hear that God has a plan? Do you want to join the millions upon millions that have gone before us who have dared to believe that God’s Good News will trump all the bad? Like John the Baptist in the wilderness, I have some Good News to share with you. There is one coming who will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. In the hustle of this season, I pray we recognize him.
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