What are the essential components of the gospel? 1. The character of God. The Bible describes God as holy (Ps. 99:3, 5, 9; Rev. 4:8), righteous (Ps. 11:7), just (2 Thess. 1:6), and perfect (Matt. 5:48). He hates sin and has nothing to do with it. In fact, He pours out His justified wrath on sin (Rom. 1:18; Eph. 5:6). 2. The character and nature of man. At the same time, the Bible describes man as having a sinful nature (Ps. 51:5), hopelessly separated from God. We are unable to please God in and of ourselves (Rom. 8:8). We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). We cannot save ourselves, and we deserve the wrath of God (Rom. 2:5). 3. God’s love for man. Yet despite our sinful ways, God has shown His great love for us (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8). In His mercy, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us. On the cross Christ paid the full penalty for our sins and became the object of God’s wrath (2 Cor. 5:21). 4. Man’s response to God. If we confess and turn away from our sins and believe in Jesus Christ and the work He did for us on the cross, we can be saved (Mark 1:15; Rom. 10:9). If we possess faith to trust in God and the love He showed us through Jesus Christ, we are genuine Christians. We are justified – we receive forgiveness of our sins and are credited with Christ’s righteousness, Jesus’ life of perfect obedience (Rom. 3:24-27). In short, God restores our relationship with Him and adopts us into His family because of His grace and not because of anything we do (Gal. 2:16; Titus 3:5).

Karl Graustein

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Grains, Dairy, Eggs, Vegetables		Cookies	1	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2	c	Brown sugar; firmly packed
1	c	Peanut butter; (creamy or chunky)
3/4	c	Butter or margarine
1/3	c	Water
1		Egg
1	ts	Vanilla
3	c	Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned); uncooked
1 1/2	c	Flour
1/2	ts	Baking soda
1 1/2	c	Semisweet chocolate chips
4	ts	Vegetable shortening
1/3	c	Chopped peanuts

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oven to 350. Beat together brown sugar, peanut butter and butter,
until light and fluffy. Blend in water, egg and vanilla; add combined dry
ingredients; mix well. Shape dough into 1" balls. Place on ungreased cookie
sheet; flatten to 1/4" thickenss with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Bake
8 - 10 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to wire rack, cook
completely.
In a heavy saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate pieces and vegetable
shortening; stir until mixture is melted and smooth. Top each cookie with
1/2 teaspoon melted chocolate; sprinkle with chopped nuts. Chill until set.
Store in an airtight container. Makes 6 dozen.
Per serving: 4419 Calories; 259g Fat (50% calories from fat); 49g Protein;
525g Carbohydrate; 558mg Cholesterol; 2199mg Sodium
From The Chocolate Archives, Dec 1997, http://www.choco.com

A Message from our Provider:

“Gratitude is our ability to see the grace of GOD, morning by morning, no matter what else greets us in the course of the day.”