Gospel

Estimated Read Time: 11 Minutes

Welcome to part two in our MEET:MH digital class! In this article we’ll be tackling the Gospel and what role it plays in shaping us personally and institutionally as a church. To read part one which includes an introduction and the History of MERCYhouse, please click here.


Saved and Shaped

Every group of people has a center.  Friend groups, families, social clubs, institutions.  They all have something they are centered on– something that they closely identify with collectively.  Sometimes they don’t know what that center is, but it doesn’t take long as an outside observer to discern what it is.  

So what should be the center of the group of people that make up the church?  Is it service or giving or maybe singing?  In Romans chapter 12 , an important synopsis of the nature of the church, the Apostle Paul opens the chapter with this verse:  

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Paul has spent the previous 11 chapters of the book of Romans explaining “the mercies of God” to the reader so he can then point to those mercies as the center of church life.  What are those mercies?  The gospel. The “good news” that God has provided a way for sinners to be forgiven of their sin and be reconciled to a holy God. The means of this forgiveness and reconciliation is the crucifixion death of God’s one and only Son, Jesus Christ. In addition to the saving of individual sinners, this salvation also creates a new community of human beings known as the church which is created and maintained by God through his gospel. (To learn more about the Gospel and specifically what it means for a non-Christian and how to respond to it, click here)

Jesus also spoke of the gospel centrality of the church.  Consider this conversation Jesus has with Peter and the disciples in Matthew 16:15-18: 

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

This “rock” or foundation for the building of the church that Jesus is speaking of is HIS person and saving work.  Jesus, the divine Son of God, is letting the disciples know that he came to save sinners and gather them into a church that will storm the forces of hell and be used of God to reestablish his kingdom on earth.  He will build that church one “confessor” of this gospel at a time.    

Peter himself echoes this idea when he writes this in the book of 1 Peter chapter 2:4,5:

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Peter describes the church as a spiritual house (a temple) full of God’s presence.  A temple built out of the living stones of individual Christians, all of which are built up together on the foundation of the person and work of Jesus, the Cornerstone.  

This is why we say that MERCYhouse seeks to be Gospel-Centered.  We believe that this is the very thing that God would have us build our household (our church) upon.  This doesn’t mean that we never talk about anything else.  We still have to use math to keep the financial records and musical notes for playing songs and 1000 other things.  What we are saying is that we will never turn to these lesser things to save us and we will always seek to acknowledge how these things truly are founded on and sustained by the gospel.    

One of the ways you might think of the gospel as it pertains to our church, is that it’s the computer operating system that houses everything else (individual programs) that goes on in the computer.  Everything we do and say in the church must remain consistent with that system.  When it isn’t, we either do some spiritual IT to bring it into alignment with the gospel or we get rid of the program all together.  

All this focus on the gospel results in two things - people being saved AND shaped by the gospel.  No one ever becomes a gospel graduate.  Once we experience the saving grace that makes us a child of God, we continue to need more grace to be further transformed into the image of Jesus.  Paul writes this in Colossians 2:6:

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,  

We start our relationship with Christ when we trust in the grace given to us in the gospel.  After that we keep trusting in the grace given us in the gospel to “walk in him”.  How do we know how to walk?  See the gospel.  Not only does the gospel save us and continue to save us but it shapes us as well.  Christians are to be generous just as God is generous in the gospel.  Christians are to be loving just as God is loving in the gospel.  Christians are to forgive others just as God forgives us in the gospel.  Peter writes this in 1 Peter 4:17:

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 


The gospel is not only what saves us and continues to save us, but is also a pattern that we live out as Christians whose lives reveal how good the good news really is.  Gospel centrality not only announces God’s salvation to the unbeliever, it also gives transforming grace for the believer and a pattern for everyday living.  

Gospel Practices

It’s one thing to say that we want to be Gospel-Centered, it’s another to do it.  Here are some of the primary ways that we try to keep the gospel foundational:

Preach scripturally based, Gospel-Centered sermons.

God wants his church to take preaching seriously.  The Apostle Paul writes this to a young pastor named Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 1 and 2:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 

Paul lets Timothy know that he should preach “the word”, that is the Bible, no matter what.  That he should be doing this even when it doesn’t seem to be “working” (out of season).  The reason?  Scripture is the very words of God (see 2 Timothy 3:16,17)  and Scripture is where we hear the gospel.  The resurrected Jesus himself chooses to reveal who he is and what he’s done through the use of Scripture when he encounters two of his disciples.  Instead of wowing them with his newly resurrected body, he says this in Luke chapter 24:25-27.

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

This is God’s chosen means for revealing Christ to people so as a church we must be faithful to explain Scripture and show how it ultimately points to Christ.  We do this by preaching through books of the Bible and showing how the message of the gospel is contained in those books.  An Old Testament book in the fall and a New Testament book in the spring.  You’ll be given a heads up as to which passage is being preached so you can read beforehand.  In all of this preaching of the Bible, the gospel will be front and center.      



The Sacraments of Baptism and Communion

Two things Jesus commands his church to do in his absence are to observe Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Communion).  These two sacred signs and rituals, or “sacraments” allow Christians to experience and remember through the Holy Spirit, the spiritual realities of their their faith, their salvation, and God’s ongoing Grace and Mercy in their lives.

Baptism

Baptism is a symbol of the birth of a Christian’s personal relationship with God. This relationship is a Covenant which has been sealed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). Baptism is an intentionally public way that Christians proclaim their faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ and declare their total allegiance, union and submission to Him to all creation. It’s an outward sign of an inward belief.

In the act of baptism, those who have placed their faith in Christ experience the spiritual reality of that decision: of dying, being buried (experienced through full immersion under the water) and being raised up into new spiritual life in Jesus (Romans 6:4-5). It tells the story of a believer’s spiritual transformation, initiated by their belief in Christ.

Baptism also is a blessing to the Christian by giving them a memorable reminder that, “just as he or she is raised up from the waters of baptism, so certainly shall the bodies of the Saints be raised by the power of Christ, in the day of the resurrection" (Lumpkin, Baptist Confession of Faith 1969). Baptism provides an assurance to the believer that Christ will raise them from the dead and bring them into eternal life with Him.

Communion

Communion allows Christians to regularly recommit their allegiance and submission to Christ and one another, to remember the costly sacrifice of Christ on the cross for them, and to be reassured of the forgiveness of their sins and their eternal union with God.

This sacred meal was instituted by Christ in the gospels of the New Testament and see it summarized by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:  

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

When we take the elements of communion, the bread and the wine (gluten free matzah and grape juice at MERCYhouse), we remember the broken body and shed blood of Jesus. This body and blood verbiage is technical language for a sacrifice for sin and reminds us that Jesus died in our place so we could be forgiven and reconciled to God.  This is the central heart of the Gospel Message. 

Communion is more than just a reminder of the Gospel— it’s an opportunity for Christians to rededicate and recommit themselves to what they proclaimed in their Baptism. It’s way for Christians to be reminded of our fellowship with God, and with one another as members God’s Family sharing a meal together. When we take communion, we can be assured that Christ’s sacrifice have made it possible for our sins to be forgiven and that God has “cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19).

While there is no place in the Bible that speaks of the frequency of participation, we take it every Sunday.  We believe this not only helps us to remember Jesus and his work in the taking of bread and cup but also helps point the sermon to its appropriate conclusion - the good news about Jesus.    

gospel-centered Worship

Not only do we want to hear the gospel (through preaching) and see and experience the gospel (through baptism and communion) but we also want to worship God in a Gospel-centered way. 

At MERCYhouse, we endeavor to make a joyful noise to the Lord when we gather together with instruments and people (Psalm 98:4-9) that reflect the diversity of God’s Church on earth and the multitude of heavenly hosts (Revelation 5:11-12). 

We sing songs that are informed and inspired by God’s Word (Hebrews 4:12-13), led by God’s Spirit (Romans 8:5-8), keeping central God’s story of redemption in the Gospel (Romans 1:16), while being practically accessible to the wide range of musical talent and proficiency of our members. 

The musical style and aesthetic of our worship is flexible and will change over time, but the goal to lift our voices to worship God in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:24) will always be our purpose.

Teach the Bible and sound doctrine (summaries of biblical truth) in smaller teaching environments.

While the Sunday sermon is a doctrinal anchor point, we know there is a need for additional teaching.  Many at MERCYhouse are new to the Bible so teaching is of utmost importance.  We provide discipleship groups, small groups, classes (MERCYhouse University), and other events that provide people with this important teaching content.  That content is to always be based on Scripture and centered on the gospel, showing how Christ is the key to unlocking God’s plan to bring salvation to ourselves and our world.