The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10
“The Child we have been contemplating in the crib during the last few days is the Redeemer of the world and of everyone in it. He has come in the first place to give us eternal life as something to be looked forward to in this life and to be fully possessed after death. He has become a man to call sinners, to save what was lost, and to make divine life known to all men.
During the years of His public life, our Lord had little to say about the political and social situation of His people, and this in spite of their oppression by the Romans. On different occasions He makes it clear that He does not want to be a political Messiah nor a liberator from the yoke of Rome. He came to give us the freedom of the sons of God: freedom from the sins we had committed, which had reduced us to a state of slavery.
He came to give us freedom from eternal death, another consequence of sin: freedom from the dominion of the devil, since man could now overcome sin with the help of grace. And finally, He gave us freedom from life according to the flesh, which is opposed to supernatural life: the freedom bought by Christ through the Holy Spirit, has restored to us the capacity, of which sin had deprived us, of loving God above all and of remaining in contact with Him.”
Alessandro Farnese (1468-1549) in The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (SCDF) as recounted in Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation, 53 (22 March 1986).
We must contemplate the generosity of Jesus as we think about what we will give ourselves to in 2025.
Look closely. He did not give Himself to political agendas. He did not fight for justice or social change. He did not seek to liberate His people from Roman oppression.
He had a bigger agenda. He wants us to have a bigger agenda as we move toward 2025.
In his day about 500 years ago, Farnese called the Church to focus on what the Child in the crib came to accomplish and to continue His mission. I am echoing that call with a focus on sharing life generously.
There are three words for life in Greek: bios, psychē, and zōe.
Bios points to physical life. People who give themselves this life focus on comfort. They fight for political justice and tend to demand what they think they deserve.
Psychē relates to feelings, affections, desires, and aversions. People who give themselves to this life aim for social change.
Zōe links to divine and supernatural life. It’s the uncreated, eternal life only found in God and also the life uniquely possessed by the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
If you want to spread the divine and supernatural life of God in 2025, please keep reading.
At GTP we multiply faithful stewards and help ministries to follow standards so they flourish. This increases the spreading of zōe exponentially.
To submit a grant to add 2-3 staff to serve underserved workers, we need to expand our support base.
Before funding us, a foundation wants to see more monthly givers. In November we only had 37 and needed to reach 100 by 31 December 2024. Then God supplied a matching grant.
GTP gets $100 for every monthly giver that starts their monthly giving by year-end.
We are up to 88 monthly givers. Praise God, but we need 12 more. Be one of the 12. Set up monthly giving at any amount. And position GTP to get a $500,000-$600,000 grant. That is not a typo!
Please set up monthly giving to GTP here. Strengthen GTP to spread zōe exponentially.