:: AIP#56 - Total Church #1: "Why Gospel?" (09.20.2009) ::

Sunday, Sept 20 was the first night of living out Acts 2 within The City Church's weekly gatherings. Our topic, as we dove into the first chapter of Total Church, was the question, "why do we base what we do on the gospel?"

Summary:
God works primarily through his word - either proclaimed (God's own voice), written (the Bible), or in person (Jesus). So it is by relying on God's word that we accomplish anything for God. God also rules through his word, so we must admit his lordship and submit ourselves to his rule. At the same time, since we are indwelled by God the Spirit, we are Spirit-led, and even our understanding and application of God's word is Spirit-led; the word of God and the Spirit of God work in conjunction to accomplish God's will, both in our lives and through our lives. To disregard either side of this is less than a full understanding of God: "Spiritual experience that does not arise from God's word is not Christian experience... Bible study and theology that do not lead to a love for God and a desire to do his will... have gone terribly wrong" (p.31).

So as we seek to live as "a community on mission," we acknowledge that we exist through the gospel and for the gospel. Instead of asking where God fits into our lives, we must ask "where does my little life fit into this great story of God's mission?" Instead of asking how the Bible applies to our lives, we must instead ask, "how do our lives apply to the Bible?" Instead of asking what kind of mission God has for us, we ask "what kind of me does God need for his mission?" And "what would our lives look like if we were in a cross-cultural missionary context: where would we live? What would our approach be toward work? How would we spend our time? And so forth (this paragraph adapted from p.33, 35). Bottom line, how do our lives reflect the Gospel not just on Sundays, but on Mondays as well?

Further Discussion:

• The authors state that "people today want a vision of the divine or proof that God exists or to know the meaning of life or just a sense of purpose" (p.23): what do people in our culture and context want?
• Do you believe what God promises in his word? That it's living and active? That it's relevant? That God will give you the strength & power to proclaim it? How would your evangelism change as you truly believe these promises?
  
• The authors discuss the concept of "fair-weather faith." What causes this? How does it compare to genuine faith?
• How does your life reflect the idea that God is in complete rule over you? What's hard about that?
• How would you answer some of the questions from the second paragraph of the "summary" section, above?

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