SHOW OTHERS THE GOODNESS OF JESUS -- by Pastor Joseph H. Lao

“As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.”      1 Peter 2:9b 

 As a church, we believe in the preeminence of evangelism. We believe that our chief end in life is to know and glorify God and to enjoy Him forever through Jesus Christ our Lord. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) 
The Pastoral Staff has chosen “Show Others the Goodness of Jesus” as our theme for this year. We just celebrated the amazing birth of Christ, the greatest man who ever lived. He has changed virtually every aspect of human life. He came to bring life, and life more abundantly, to whosoever would simply believe in His name. Sadly, many people still do not know this amazing truth.
      The ungodly world system stands as our enemy today. Followers of Jesus live in a dimly lit world where righteousness seems like a drab. The battlefields we face at this juncture in our nation’s history seem insurmountable. We may not be able to effect great changes in our society, but we can share His goodness by “proclaiming the good news of His salvation from day to day” (Psalm 96:2)
      It truly is a privilege to share God’s good news of redemption, salvation, and peace to others. We recognize and acknowledge that it is God’s intention and mandate that His followers go out and “make disciples of all nations.” Our foremost priority continues to be ushering new members into the Kingdom of God. As such, we can start by showing others the goodness of Jesus. We want to be God’s ambassadors in delivering individuals from eternal destruction. This is the only true achievement by which we can measure our success.
      Brothers and sisters, to whom will you share the story of the goodness of Jesus? Let us be reminded that God has a mission for each of us in life (John 17:18 MSG); and that mission is to bring people, near and far, to Christ (Phil.1:27 LB). Will you do your part in ushering the lost into the Kingdom of God by bringing the good news to others as you share about the reality of His love and His goodness in your life? 
      On behalf of the FECC Pastoral Staff & the Board of Directors, & Deacons, I wish you and your family a Happy and Spirit-filled 2019. Let us offer a fresh commitment to proactive evangelism as we seek to show others the goodness of Jesus. Let us do our part to usher people out of darkness into His wonderful light, as were once called out of darkness.