Gospel Mission
"A GOSPEL THAT DOES NOT LEAD TO MISSION IS NO GOSPEL AT ALL, FOR THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL REVEALS THE HEART OF OUR MISSIONARY GOD." -- Trevin Wax
There is more to Christianity than attending church. For starters, church is not a place we attend. Rather, church is who we are. And the church has been set on mission for this amazing thing we call the gospel. The gospel saves us. The gospel gathers us. The gospel scatters us. Hence, the church is a community of Christians empowered by the Spirit and organized in biblical manner to live out the gospel mission.
The gospel saves us.
To be saved means one is delievered from something. In this context, we are saved from ourselves, the penalty of our sins, the power of our sins and even from God himself who justly punishes sinners. All of this is accomplished by graciously by God, so we never grow tired of marveling at his amazing grace.
The gospel gathers us.
As a community we gather together throughout the week in intentional smaller sized groups, in intimate natural friendships and corporately--as a larger whole--on Sundays when we come together. The purpose of our gathering is threefold. First, we gather to worship God. Second, we gather to express and grow in loving relationships that transform us as a real community. And third, we gather to be prepared for the times when we are scattered, that is, when we are organically spread out on mission in our neighborhoods and in our networks, where life is lived and where the gospel is shared, explained, defended and displayed.
The gospel scatters us.
If all we did was stay together, we would never reach anyone. The church should never become a holy huddle or Christian hang out. We are not called to be a subculture or to dwell in a protective balloon. The church is supposed to be a force in the world and not a fortress. We are called to scatter and spread out, not to build up and create empires. Jesus has a heart for all people and all nations. The church is His body; His hands and feet. So we go as He did, touching the untouchables, reaching the forgotten, loving the marginalized, blessing the needy and all in the name of gospel, which is the power of salvation.