Bruce Staley

Six people attended the second session of In the Deep End on Monday evening 18 February at one2one Gillies Street Church of Christ. Four others tendered their apologies. For three it was the first time they had attended so I invited them to share their stories about how they became associated with the one2one congregation. Their experiences highlighted the importance of extending an invitation to people to consider attending church, join a Bible study group or participate in a course on Christianity. I had invited one of the three to attend the evening specifically to share his story. As he did so he acknowledging the wonderful changes that have occurred in his life since he first attended a Christmas Eve service at one2one in 2011. His first time attendance was in response to a personal invitation that came very naturally from someone who cared. There were two other aspects that were highlighted during the evening. Firstly, while not excluding others, we have an amazing oppor...

Bill Hybels in his book, The God You're Looking For , pp 116-118, recounts a story under the heading of The Scandal of Grace, I once had lunch with a business executive with whom I'd been building a relationship. I asked for his napkin and his pen. The pen looked as if it cost at least two hundred dollars, so I knew I'd have his undivided attention if I used his pen instead of mine. He wasn't about to let it out of his sight! Taking his pen. I wrote GOD at the top of the napkin, then drew a line pointing down. Pointing to the word GOD, I said, "here's God's standard of holiness. Here's a line." and following the line downward, "and down here are the bad people of the world. Put and X somewhere on this line where you belong on the morality ladder." He did, and then I continued, "The gap between you and the holiness of God is the problem. You have fallen short of the standards of God's holiness by your own admission. That gap is wh...