Lesson5-Day 5 The Gospel is About The Great Hope of the Believers
Gospel and hope - when I think about those two and how they go together, I sadly must admit that it is mostly hope that I have done what I need to do in order to be "saved." What difference the Gospel is when we think of hoping in what is to come. That being the time when God restores everything as he promised long ago through his holy prophets (Acts 3:21).
As I work through these lessons and I ponder on what the Gospel is, I am coming to the conclusion that the Gospel can be rapped up in Jesus' words "Come follow me" (Mark 1:17). There are many side benefits or more correctly stated using the words of my friend Pat from his comment on previous post "fruit of the Gospel." By "following" thereby living the Gospel I will receive the fruit of the Gospel: forgiveness of sins, humility, grace, joy, gratitude, holiness, righteousness and hope. This is not an inclusive list of fruit. What fruit can you add to the list?
The Gospel is not old news or one-time news, rather it is "good news" everyday as I follow Jesus. Day by day allowing Christ to transform my attitudes, affections and behavior. In order to deliever and effectively share with others the Gospel we must be living in it.
Which leads to another item I have been wrestling with, what is the role of the church more specifically FCC? For definition (mine) church is a congregate of Christ followers. More from me later on that, but I would be interested in hearing your thoughts.
posted by Bill @ 8:35 AM
4 Comments:
Bill,
My concern for FCC is that we seem to be undisciplined in the areas that mean the most in a Christ Followers life. These are the Cross and the Great hope of the ressurrection. There is a growing assumption on my part that that we are given too many cheap graces. We are given things and programs that take away our desire to reach and look for answers to challenge ourselves. A century ago believers joining a church were given two books. One was the bible and the other "Church Disipline". What brave pastor today dares to give their new members the latter book, if there is one? One protestant evangelical writer says," we are the most undisciplined group in the world".
Discipline, then, is the harness by which we enable the Spirit to get the best out of our frail humanity. The Apostle Paul was a man of discipline like his Master. Grace is not meant to come cheaply. We must be reminded daily to pick up the Cross of Christ and die. We need to hear these things from the pulpit now or we won't be able to stand the trials to come in these end times. And they will come. Gods Word says so. So lets all breath dust up our nostrils as we lay prostate before our King and beg forgiveness and implore His great mercy. FCC role: Let the Fire and Reign happen as we climb Golgotha's bloody slope to the Cross, then give it to the world in the same manner we have received it.
Come Lord Jesus
Lark, your post is convicting and I concur with your thoughts in general. I particularly like this statement of yours: "Discipline, then, is the harness by which we enable the Spirit to get the best out of our frail humanity."
Are you directing your concerns toward FCC, the Christian Body as a whole, or both? Also, your overall concern seems to be in regards to lack of discipline in Christian growth. Are your concerns about simply the lack of discipline or about the lack of teaching about the importance and necessity of discipline?
Thanks Lark!
One of the aspects of this study that I am enjoying is that questions that you formulate from the current week are addressed in the next week.
Lesson Seven deals with Discipline; however I believe the lesson is going to focus more on discipline as in correction/wrong doing. Where as I believe Lark that you are talking about discipline more as in training.
I do resonate with your thoughts. In addition to Pat's questions, can you describe further the discipline(s) you are talking about. You mention the Cross and the Great hope of the resurrection as being areas. What does it look like or how do we have greater discipline in these areas?
Lark, Thanks for your thoughts.
Hello Again Brothers!
Yes, I was referring to the disciplines I mentioned earlier. They were "the Cross" and " the "Resurrection".
These disciplines are derived from teaching, and/or discipleship. We have to insist that these disciplines aren't lessoned in their intensity through promises of cheap graces. When our teaching fails to include them or minimizes their impact on our Faith we tread on thin ice before the Throne of our King.
Unfortunately, we don't have the privilege of hearing from Apostles
that have seen our Savior die or the ressurected Christ, so we must listen to summaries and inerpretations of another Christ Follower along the narrow road, albeit educated in the Gospel teachings.
So Brothers, lets guard our lives and churches welfare from growing away from the Cross and the ressurrection of Christ. They are the disciplines and the firm foundation on which our Faith abides.
If one says "all evangelicals", like I have previously, then obviously I must include FCC as well. I pray and will work towards keeping these disciplines alive and well wherever I trod along the narrow road as a Christ Follower.
To put it all succinctly, the question plaguing me at the moment: " Are we evangelicals,(including FCC) offering too much for too little when we offer men Salvation?" The way of the cross was once a gory road; now it is offered as a Glory road. Once the challenge was to take up the Cross; now it is to ride in a "Beamer" and "rough" it smoothly. The offer to men is no longer the Lordship of Christ in this life, but the promise of an all expense paid eternal honey moon with a "mansion on a hilltop," with angel attendants and continual digital stereo music from an impeccable, million voiced choir, world with out end. How nice, but how unscriptural!
Now, I haven't heard this type of promise coming from FCC's teachers, but with our ambitious goals we could easily see the our foundations begin to crack and become vulnerable to Satans attacks as our congregations exert their undisciplined desires upon the leadership. One example, is "I don't want FCC to give altar calls or any other semblence of fanatical evangelical Pentecostal doctrines, even if it is was we are seeking for, as we study Fire&Reign". "I think this would drive people away". One thing is for sure, if we are only going to play church with a study like this, we lay ourselves bare for the Masters discipline. I pray that doesn't happen after all is said and done. We must die to ourselves daily and put on Christ. Even so come Lord Jesus
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