Feb 07, 2011 The Gospel of Jesus Christ: Our Message
Originally posted on October 21, 2005
The third valuable thing to remember as we move to our new location is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the hope of our hearts and the theme of our witness. The gospel is our message.
Every building, piece of art, or group of people communicates something. We could say that everything speaks a message. That’s why we use the phrase “fashion statement“. We even want our clothes to say something about us.
Grace Community Church has a message. We did not create it, write it, or alter it. We got our message from God, we read it in the Bible, and we received and believed it as it was given to us. Our message is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Volumes could be written on the content of the message of the gospel. Who can explain the great mysteries of God involved in our salvation? Yet, the Bible is full of summary statements of the gospel. Go look up John 3:16, Romans 10:9-13, and II Corinthians 5:21. These are statements of gospel truth.
As important as it is that we understand the gospel, we must remember that it is equally important that we keep the gospel as the central message of our church. What good is it to know the most important message in the world but to rarely or poorly articulate it? What help will it be to people if we give them another message because we don’t think the gospel is appealing or practical or really needed?
Let me give one sentence of gospel truth that I have memorized to help me stay on message. “A person becomes and lives rightly related to God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.” When people come to our church or when we go from our church into Nashville, the surrounding counties, and around the world, it is my prayer that the message communicated lovingly, clearly, and with great conviction is the gospel.
I look forward to “unpacking” the gospel with you on October 30.
Pastor Scott