The Gospel is Intentional

Sojourn Woodstock

The Gospel is Intentional

May 28, 2023 • Trent Chambers • Revelation 21:5, Luke 12:27–34

God did not just tell us who He is, He drew near to show us who He is and to be with us. In Christ, the divine is embodied, made known and made tangible. We serve a God who can be seen, touched and experienced. The gospel of Jesus and the good news of the Kingdom is not meant to simply be a message that is shared, it is meant to be revealed in power and made tangible in everyday life. When jesus sent his followers, he empowered them with the Spirit to not only declare the good news of the Kingdom but to make it known, to make it visible in displays of power, acts of mercy and restoration. We join with Christ praying, ‘Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done’ as we work to make the kingdom visible with our lives.

The Kingdom of God is the place where what God wants done getsThis is a life that isnʼt just a “some day” life, but itʼs a life that is available to Godʼs people today. The gospel announces that life with God has come near to us and is once again available to all who put their faith in Jesus. Unlike any other way of living, Godʼs Kingdom calls us to a life that is truly worth everything we have. We believe God has gifted you and has placed you where you are on purpose.

More from The Gospel Makes A People For God

We are Witnesses

June 4, 2023 • Zach Morgan • Matthew 28:19–20, Acts 1:8, Romans 10:14–15

The Gospel awakens us to the beauty of God and motivates us to live as witnesses to His work in this world. We bear witness to the Kingdom through what we say and how we live. The good news of Jesus is shared and shown. In a world bent on separating secular and sacred, we declare that the whole earth is God’s, everything in it and that, because of Jesus, every moment, no matter how ‘mundane,’ matters for the Kingdom. Because of Christ, everything we do matters. Embracing the call of love, justice, redemption and restoration, we join with God as we work to make the Kingdom visible with our lives. We all long to be caught up in something greater than ourselves and to bear witness to the things we have experienced. Sin deadens our hearts towards God and causes us to be too easily satisfied in lesser loves and the things that are fleeting. The gospel of Jesus wakes us up to the beauty of God. God has sent each of his sons and daughters to be his witnesses across the entire earth. A witness is someone who declares what they have seen and experienced. As Godʼs witnesses, we go to the ends of the earth to declare who God is and what he has done. At times, this means we not only say who God is and what he has done, but we show who he is through our actions. Sending his people into the world as witnesses is part of Godʼs plan to restore all things. This begins in our homes, moves to our neighborhood and city, and ultimately to the ends of the earth. Being a witness is not an activity you begin and end, but rather a way of living in which we see all aspects of our lives as opportunities to declare who God is and what he has done. We are witnesses of God sent by God to proclaim the gospel. As witnesses, we are either embarrassed, apathetic or unashamed. We are ambassadors, sent by the King of Kings. As we proclaim the good news of heaven, we live as blessings to members of our community in mundane, everyday ways.

We are Servants

May 21, 2023 • Phil Engelman • 1 Peter 1:22, Luke 16:13, John 13:12–16, Philippians 2:3–8

It has always been God’s intent to declare His worth through a people who would reflect His glory throughout the world. Sin marred the image of God, but, through Christ, it is fully restored. It is God’s design to fill the earth with His image bearers and to scatter the church throughout all nations, so the whole world may behold the glory of God as it shines forth through the lives of people saved and changed by Jesus. As disciples of Jesus, we seek to adopt His way of life. Our King came to be a servant of many. Lowering Himself, he took on the form of a servant that He might bless others. As a community, we declare Christ and model His heart to others as we show up to serve. Following the way of Jesus, we offer what we have for the good of others. Trusting in the power of Jesus, we are free to offer, even what ‘little’ we have, knowing that in the service of the Lord, we offer and Christ perfects.

The Gospel is Sacrificial

May 14, 2023 • Trent Chambers • 2 Corinthians 5:14–15, Galatians 6:10, Mark 10:45, Colossians 3:10

At its core, the gospel is the Good News that God Gives. In Christ, God gives himself. And He does so in ways that should (and one day will) forever shock us. Our King, worthy of all honor, emptied himself (Phil 2:7). Christ came to be a servant of many (Matt. 20:28). Lowering Himself, he took on the form of a servant that He might bless others. Sin turns our souls inward, distorting our view of God and others as we reorder the world around ‘the self.’ This ‘me-centered’ posture pulls us from the way of Jesus, tempting us to believe that our worth is bound up in our own achievements, comforts and power. The gospel frees us from our self-obsession, our desperate search for significance, our deep desire for power and our constant need for approval so that we might love others from the heart.