Living the Gospel

Glory to God!

As we worshipped God yesterday, the Lord led us into His throne room from which a river proceeded and He invited us to step into His this river of joy, peace and life. It was a powerful time of honouring and enjoying our King as we exalted Him and He ministered to us through prophetic song.

The Lord then spoke to us about how the Church must be influenced by the Gospel in order to be an influence with the Gospel in the world. This is what He showed us...

• Every believer is called to influence. When Jesus commanded His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, it was a command for every believer to be a leader and therefore an influence in the world. Matthew 28:18-20
• We must be influenced before we can influence. Unless we are influenced and therefore convinced of something we will struggle to convince others without being hypocritical.1 Thess.1:4,5
• Every believer must be influenced by the Gospel to be able to influence others with the Gospel. Col. 1:3-6
• The heart of the Gospel is the atonement: the good news that Jesus Christ died for sinners so that through dependence upon Him anyone can be reconciled and joined to God.Rom.4:25

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Cor. 5:21

In order to be able to explain the message of the Gospel, pastor Richard gave us the following key words:

1. God. God created man to have fellowship with Him and to be one with Him.
2. Rebellion. Man however chose to go his own way and therefore became separated from God.
3. Atonement. God therefore provided a way for man to be reconciled to Him.
4. Christ. Through faith in Christ, the believer is made right with God and joined to Him.
5. Eternal life. Through faith in Christ the believer receives eternal life - eternal union with God.

• Believing the Gospel of G.R.A.C.E. means the believer's past, present and future are affected!
• Through faith in Christ's atonement (Rom. 4:25), the believer receives God's mercy and is justified (past), has peace with God and stands in grace (present) and has the hope of glory (future). Rom. 5:1,2
• The believer who is influenced by the Gospel will live in God's mercy, peace, grace and hope and become an influence with the Gospel as he is merciful, peaceful, gracious and full of hope. 1 Peter 3:15

Unless the Church is living under the influence of the Gospel she will struggle to convince the world of the Gospel!

We are looking forward to having Dr Richard Maybery with us this weekend at our Signs, wonders and the Kingdom of God conference. It will be an exciting time as we see heaven invade earth! Click here for more details.

 "This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace." Col. 1:6