Called Out of Darkness into God's Marvellous Light

GCD Newsletter - Monday, March 27th, 2023

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Christian Standard Bible, (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Pe 2:9–10

I’ll never be able to measure my gratitude for being a member of the body of Christ. Not only are our sins forgiven, not only are we now graciously clothed in righteousness, but having received the gift of faith, we now have the privilege of spending our whole lives discovering all the gifts which follow the first; knowing that we’ll only truly realise the extent of God’s generosity sometime after we breathe in heavenly air for the first time, and breathe out eternal praise to our Lord and saviour.

Our salvation was secured before our birth, shines bright in our lives today, and will not grow dim before the light of eternity. Thank goodness we’re always so good at showing that to one another in the church. I’m sure if I opened Twitter to take a general survey of the royal priesthood, humility and mutual intercession would be the first thing I would see. Having been called out of darkness into God’s marvellous light, there’s no way anyone would seek to emulate their shadow again and live in the darkness; having received mercy—for which we’re undeserving—our own mercy must be immense.

How could it not be?

Peter goes on to say:

“Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.”

Christian Standard Bible, (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Pe 2:12.

This week’s articles all speak to both our lives as individual Christians, as well as how that impacts the wider church as a community and an example to the world. How we conduct ourselves humbly, how we portray ourselves and our identity, and how we pray personally and corporately all flow from our understanding of who God is and what that means for us as his people, his possession. Whilst we hope that many gentiles, many who are yet to come to Christ will join us in glorifying Jesus on the day of his return, we are called to proclaim his praises in the present. Whilst that certainly means raising our voices in song, it also means conforming our lives to his example. Jesus acted justly, loved faithfulness, walked humbly with the Father, and now intercedes on our behalf despite our inability to do the same with any degree of consistency. I encourage you this week, don’t just read these articles, but pray that God would use them to stir your hearts by them. We could all do with growing in humility and prayerfulness.

Grace and Peace,

Adsum Try Ravenhill is married to Anna and together they are passionate about seeing young men and women discipled within the context of the local church. You can find Adsum through his writing at The Raven’s Writing Desk and you can also find Adsum’s articles for GCD here.

Last Week at GCDiscipleship.com

Misconceptions About Humility
Gavin Ortlund

“Humble people don’t need constant attention, but they also don’t necessarily mind being noticed. Humble people don’t need flattery, but they can sincerely receive a compliment. Such people are not constantly minimizing themselves. They can walk into a room with a bounce in their step, open to what their presence might contribute to others (but not needing it to).

[To] be such a person is not a burden, but joy and freedom.”

Don’t Worry About Your Ministry Brand
Adam Salloum

“The power of branding hasn’t gone unnoticed by our churches. We know that people are more likely to buy into a church if we apply branding principles. People are willing to make more sacrifices when they feel like they’re part of something special—not just the global church but a particular expression of church that “really gets it.””

Praying The Scriptures: A Practice for When Words Are Hard to Find
Mitch Everingham

“If we want the Scriptures to inform our prayers though, there is a key question to consider: what part of Scripture do we turn to if we want to pray? This is especially pertinent to consider when praying for ourselves or others in hard moments. I have a plethora of verses that I could call to mind quickly, but… choosing a random verse from the Scriptures is unlikely to be helpful.”

If you are feeling burnt out, broken, or weary, Pastor, Jesus is Enough by Jeremy Writebol we cannot recommend this book highly enough. In it, Writebol takes readers through Jesus’ words in Revelation 2-3, encouraging us that our hope in Jesus is reforged in the midst of our sufferings. Although the book is written primarily for pastors, the message of the book is relevant to all Christians. Jeremy encourages readers to keep their eyes fixed on Christ, who is enough to rescue us from our deepest sorrows, and who died for us.

Click here to find out more about the book, or to pick up a copy for yourself or your pastor: