The Gospel Makes A People For God
April - June 2023
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.
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.
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.
We are Family
May 7, 2023 • Mitch Pinion • Ephesians 2:14
To be a Christian, then, is to be born of God into a new family—the family of God! As a family, we gather around our great commonality, the love of the Father. As His children, we are called to live and care for each other as we celebrate His love for us. As God’s family, we are called to be devoted to one another, to share our possessions with one another and to walk through the joys and struggles of life together. Although we were made for relationships, sin brings division and destruction. Because of this reality, we will always be a community that needs Jesus. We embrace a pattern of living that frees us to fail, inviting us into a rhythm of repentance and faith, as we cling to the good news that the gospel restores our relationship with God and with others. Knowing that we will never receive from the church what is promised only in Christ, we embrace the tension of community believing life is better together.
The Gospel Is Relational
April 30, 2023 • Trent Chambers • 2 Corinthians 5:16–19
Christ came to establish a community, united around Him and existing for His praise for all time. He has saved a people who, forever, belong to God. Only together, as a people, do we model what He has truly accomplished. Christ moves us out of isolation and into a community where we exist together as the family of God. We were made to be in communion with God and each other. Yet sin, corrupting all things, brings division and destruction to relationships. Jesus not only saves us from our sin but he ushers us into Godʼs family. In Christ, we do not remain rebels and enemies, we are welcomed and celebrated as sons! To be a Christian, then, is to be born of God into a powerful new family — the family of God! All who put their faith in Jesus are therefore children of God. The children of God are called to live and care for each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. As Godʼs family, we are called to be devoted to one another, to share our possessions with one another, and to walk through the joys and struggles of life together. Where once we were rebels without a future, we are now a family following our Father together as he leads us to eternal life!
We Are Disciples
April 23, 2023 • Trent Chambers • Matthew 11:27–30
Knowing God, changes us. In being with Him, we become like Him. This process of transformation is often called ‘discipleship.’ A ‘disciple’ is someone who decides to be with another person, so that they may become like that person. From birth, every person has been in the process of being shaped into the image of another. Because of sin, we are all in the process of conforming our lives to the pattern of this world. The Gospel free us from the bondage of sin and the need to conform, transforming us into the image of Jesus (Romans 12:2).
They Devoted Themselves
April 16, 2023 • Trent Chambers • Acts 2:42–46
The gospel of Jesus wakes us up to life with God. By faith in Christ, in his life, death and resurrection, we, though dead in our sin, are made alive to God. The gospel is the good news that life with God is possible. Knowing Him, is both the means by which and the purpose for which we have been Made New. And knowing Him, changes us. In being with Him, we become like Him. -Scripture- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Cor. 5:17