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June 13 - November 24, 2019
Do we have a clear way of discipling people? Why or why not?
How many of the attendees of the worship gathering participate ...
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Can our members articulate the gospel?
If we asked ten people in our community who do not attend our church to describe what they think of it, what would they say?
“Just because we’re happy doesn’t mean everybody else is. And even if everybody else is, that doesn’t mean God is.”
One, we aren’t reaching unbelievers like we think we are.
And two, we aren’t growing believers like we think we are.
Spirit of the living God,
confidence that we have through Christ
sufficiency is from God,
the letter kills,
Spirit gives life.
Real Christianity cannot be reduced to methods and ordinary human metrics. It must always allow for the supernatural.
reclaim the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ as the power of salvation for anybody, anywhere, anytime. The
As Western culture grows increasingly post-Christian, more churches become ashamed of the foolishness of the gospel.
Prayer is expressed helplessness.
“we got this.”
holy ingenuity.
May we never mistake our busyness and bigness for the breath of God.
Scripture is twice as impactful as any other catalyst.
“A gospel-centered church is so because the gospel is the engine that propels its mission.
gospel is central, effectual, and versatile.
The gospel is power from heaven, and it is stewarded to us!
renewing our commitment to good news over good advice.
“Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
(present-future tense).
The gospel of Jesus is so simple that a child can understand it, believe it, and be saved, yet the gospel is so vast, complex, and glorious that we along with the angels will revel in it for eternity.
“Because the gospel is endlessly rich, it can handle the burden of being the one ‘main thing’ of a church.”
First, it starts not with God’s Word, but with our ideas about what people need.
we made God’s Word serve our agenda rather than the other way around.
Who Is the Church For? One of the reasons Christians have such diverse opinions about the elements in a worship service, from the service’s style to its substance, is that many don’t really know what the Bible teaches on the subject. Many of us assume that our gatherings can be any way we want them to be.1 But the Bible does provide guidance on what to do in our gatherings and who they are for. Look at one of the earliest church services, as seen in Acts 2:41–47: So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves
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The church desperately needs more preachers who exult.
Remember that on the road to Emmaus Jesus told his disciples that even the whole Old Testament was ultimately about him (Luke 24:27).
Christ’s glory changes people (2 Cor. 3:18), so we must emphasize his glory over our good ideas.
we will only exacerbate their sense of alienation
‘Now what is the road to Christ?’ and then preach a sermon, running along the road towards the great metropolis—Christ.
Read the right commentaries,
Just as serious, perhaps, is expecting lost people to sing songs about their feelings about a God they don’t believe in.
Trying to do good things without the goodness of Christ is simply self-righteousness.
According to the Bible, only one thing has power: the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 3:7, Paul says the gospel was given to him by God’s power.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
not from to-dos, but from the “was-done” of Jesus Christ.
Gospel Invitations Are Offered after a Legal Message
“law message with a gospel postscript,”
sermon both as an act of worship and as a call to worship.
we are too busy trying to manipulate God rather than supplicating before him.
“An evident love for God and neighbor”—
“Gospel doctrine creates a gospel culture.”
When a church mirrors the values of the world outside by embracing the functional methodologies of pragmatism, consumerism, and legalism, we should not be surprised when congregants think of the church as the place where their individual desires are met (or not met), not as a place to unite with others in commitment and selfless service.
A church that emphasizes evangelism over discipleship has not entirely understood the purpose of the church.
