OUR GOSPEL STORIES
"If you are not presently being transformed by the Gospel, you are disqualified from ministry" - Orlando Costas
The Gospel continually, day in and day out, changes people from the inside out. Christ gives us a radically new identity, freeing us from both self-righteousness and self-condemnation. He frees us to accept people we once excluded, and to break the bondage to things (even good things) that once drove us.
It is our passion that Missio Dei Church would become a community that is being freed and transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, that is learning to worship God as His sons and daughters, and that is inviting others to experience the liberating power of the gospel.
Missio Dei Church has entered into our second year of ministry. As I (Paul Vroom) reflect over the past year, I have been surprised at how the Gospel has been deep at work in very unique ways in the life of our community of faith. God has been healing and restoring marriages and relationships. He has been revealing to some where our true identity is found. For others, they are finding freedom from bondage. Some are reminded of the hope that they once had, while others have found hope for the first time.
One of the things that we want to do is provide opportunities for you to share your Gospel Story. All too often our Gospel Stories are kept private because we don't think they are significant or will fall on deaf ears. Every story is significant because it is God who is present and active in it. It is important that we learn to publicly share these Gospel Stories so that people are encouraged and can be keenly aware of God's current transforming power at work in our lives.
Below are Gospel Stories. I love how God is all about continually transforming people's lives by the power of His Gospel!
It's His Mission
Many years ago, Deana and I attended a church leadership conference in Tinley Park. The keynote sermon talked about being a "Fishermen." My immediate thoughts rose to my Grandfather Mellinger, a fisherman and pastor. Did I need to quit being an engineer? I am pretty sure that wasn't what God wanted me to be... (read on)
Love being a decision
When posed with the question, “How is the gospel evident in your life?” I only had to take a few minutes before I was able to start listing the changes I have noticed. The biggest area that the gospel has been most evident is that of the relationships in my life and the manner in which I handle them. Although we all joke about it “being about me, ourselves,” I really do believe I suffered from that infliction of “self.” It’s not hard given the turns my life has taken. After almost 15 years of marriage, I found myself alone; raising two boys—then ages 11 and 8... (read on)
God ruined my life
A huge way God has been moving in me in the last year is making me aware of God's grace in this world and Satan's distractions. I've been learning to sprint (not walk) in my faith towards that grace, towards what is good, and the changes have been monumental and vibrant. (read on)
