Connecting Christ Quotes

“Encounter Jesus. Suffer with him to experience his life more fully. Be holy in your love for God and his church as God is holy in his love for you and his church. Imagine what awaits those who now walk by faith, when faith and hope give way to the fullness of love when Jesus appears, when faith becomes sight at the consummation of Jesus' union with his people at the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
― Paul Louis Metzger, Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths

“Jesus offers us eternal life—not as a collection of facts or rules to follow or as a commodity. He invites us to enter into interpersonal communion with his Father and himself through the Spirit for all eternity. (See Jesus’ promise of the Spirit of abundant life in John 7:37–39.) Jesus does not market eternal life. Eternal life is not some product or thing that Jesus gives us. Jesus is eternal life.”
― Paul Louis Metzger, Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths

“we must engage people relationally, heart to heart and life on life. I don’t think anyone is truly won to Christ by beating them in an argument or arousing their curiosity and giving them a free meal. You have to win their heart. Winning the heart requires life-on-life sharing in view of Jesus, who became incarnate and gave his life for us.”
― Paul Louis Metzger, Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths

“Certainly rigorous, thoughtful answers have their place, as do meaningful attempts at contextualizing the truth in winsome, striking ways. But no matter how good the argument or how contextual, winsome, and striking the message, nothing replaces sacrificial love for others; this is how trust is built. The community of faith must become the apologetic for the faith: a holistic rationale for faith in Christ involving interpersonal and life-on-life encounters.”
― Paul Louis Metzger, Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths