At the heart of the church is the call to be on mission in the context of community - and the key to doing life together as we move towards and bless particular groups of people around us is the gospel.
One of my concerns with our heavy use of the word 'gospel' is that it can become watered-down and lose both its meaning and its ability to motivate us towards community and mission. So we need constant and regular reminders about the content of the gospel; we should regularly rehearse and practice the content of this word which brings a holistic salvation to the people God calls to himself.
One way to keep the gospel in front of you is to sign up to receive daily emails from the guys from the Of First Importance blog - every day when you wake up there's a quote that shows up in your inbox like this one from John Piper's book, This Momentary Marriage:
God requires two things of us: punishment for our sins and perfection in our lives. Our sins must be punished, and our lives must be righteous. But we cannot bear our own punishment, and we cannot provide our own righteousness. Therefore, God, out of His immeasurable love for us, provided his own Son to do both. Christ bears our punishment, and Christ performs our righteousness. And when we receive Christ, all of his punishment and all of his righteousness is counted as ours.
Tim Keller has written that every problem we face is due to the fact that we fail to take in and live out the gospel - here's a practical way for you to take on life with a satisfying an sustaining hope in God.
Of First Importance - sign up and soak in the gospel.
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