We are gospel centred (Part 2)

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

1 Corinthians 2:2

Hi Church,

At EBC we have a decision to make each and every day. Are we going to be a church about the glory of Jesus Christ? Or a church tossed to and from by whatever cultural whim catches our fancy? One of those churches has a future and the other does not.

In this series we are exploring four priorities that shape our life together at EBC: gospel centrality, gospel centred discipleship, gospel centred community, and gospel centred mission. Today we continue unpacking the idea of Gospel Centrality by looking at the first of two things that mark it.

Two Marks of Gospel Centrality: #1 A Focus on Jesus.

I still remember coming to a realization as my love for theology began to grow. At church we talked a lot about God, but not nearly as much about Jesus, or at least, that was my impression. Jesus sometimes felt like an afterthought to a general faith in “God.” That's not to say the church was at all anti-Jesus, but maybe had just lost sight of something. But the more I read Scripture, the clearer it became: Jesus is the key to everything.

• A gospel centred life is a Jesus centred life.

• A gospel centred church is a Jesus centred church.

Pastor Joe Thorn describes a gospel-centred church like this: “a gospel-centered church is a church that is about Jesus above everything else. That sounds a little obvious, but when we talk about striving to be and maintain gospel-centrality as a church we are recognizing our tendency to focus on many other things (often good and important things) instead of Jesus. There are really only two options for local churches; they will be gospel-centered, or issue driven.”

May we be a people of the gospel, dependent on Jesus, bought by his blood, and sustained by his grace! Like Paul, may we resolve to know nothing among us except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Next time we’ll look at the second mark of gospel centrality: a focus on grace.

To God be the Glory!

- Pastor Mike