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Gospel Identity
Gospel Stories - Missional Communities 11/23/08
Series: Gospel Identity
Pastor: Steve Hart
What does it mean, practically to be in the Family of God, to be on Mission, to Serve and to Learn to be God’s people together? What does this really look like in our Missional Communities? We explore these questions in a dialogue with 3 Missional Community leaders.
Gospel Stories - Learners 11/09/08
Mark 1:14-20
Series: Gospel Identity
Pastor: Steve Hart
When Jesus chooses disciples, he calls them first to himself and to the process of being transformed: "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." Jesus is committed to the process of bringing us along as his people. At the same time, he sends us to be disciple-makers, men and women who are helping others to find life in Jesus and to live themselves as his disciples. When we say one of our Gospel Identities is "Learner," we're confessing to be people in the process of being formed into the image of Christ even as we are being used by him to form others.
Gospel Stories - Servants 11/02/08
Mark 9:30-41
Series: Gospel Identity
Pastor: Steve Hart
What does it mean to live in the Way of Jesus, to be in the kingdom of God as a way of life? The upside-down dynamic of the kingdom - the first shall be last - is the way of life for all who come under the leadership of King Jesus. But how do we maintain a servant posture over the long haul?
Gospel Stories - Missionaries 10/26/08
Luke 10:25-37
Series: Gospel Identity
Pastor: Steve Hart
What does it mean to be a Family of Missionaries? In this next sermon in our series on Gospel Identities, we explore the familiar parable of the Good Samaritan to see what it means to be on mission with Jesus.
Gospel Stories - Family 10/19/08
Luke 15
Series: Gospel Identity
Pastor: Steve Hart
What does it mean to be in the Family of God? What might it look like to actually believe that we've been adopted by God through Christ, and form our lives around that reality? In this series on Gospel Identity, we're continuing to explore these questions.
Identity: We are Learners 09/28/08
Ephesians 4:1-16
Series: Gospel Identity
Pastor: Steve Hart
The idea of church attendance is not Biblical. Yes, we should meet together and encourage one another in love and good deeds, remind one another of the gospel, and seek the Lord together. But Biblically speaking, you are the church. Church isn't an event or a building but a people ransomed by Jesus' death and brought into fellowship with God and one another. This Family is then sent into the world to be the body of Jesus, his ambassadors doings his kingdom work. As we do this, the body grows up. To say that we are Learners is to acknowledge that each of us is a disciple of Jesus called to make disciples of Jesus. We need one another to become the body that Jesus wants us to be.
Identity: We are Servants 09/21/08
Mark 10:35-45
Series: Gospel Identity
Pastor: Steve Hart
Our Gospel Identities describe who we are as a result of what God has done in Jesus. Rather than talk about the things we ought to be doing as Christians, this series is about what God has done in Jesus and how that changes our Identity. When we say we are servants, we are acknowledging that Jesus is our ransom, paying the price in his life and death to set us free from our slavery to self, sin, and satan. We have been bought with a price and so we are learning to serve Jesus as we serve one another. Because Jesus has served us, we are free to be his Servants.
Identity: We Are Missionaries 09/14/08
John 20:19-23
Series: Gospel Identity
Pastor: Steve Hart
When we say that one of our core gospel Identities is "We Are Missionaries," we're primarily saying something about God and his work in the world. The Scriptures recount how God has worked in history to bring everything back under his gracious rule in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In Jesus, he is making all things new. We then, as we place our trust in Jesus, are "new creations" in him - radically called into fellowship with him and with one another. At the very same time, we are "ambassadors" of his kingdom - radically sent into the world to join with God in restoring all things to Him.
Identity: We are Family 09/07/08
Genesis 1:26-28
Series: Gospel Identity
Pastor: Steve Hart
The first of our Gospel Identities is Family. God has always desired a people for his fame and glory in the world. In the beginning, he made Adam and Eve in his image as his people living in his place, and he was their Father. In their desire for autonomy, they destroyed that relationship and sent all of humanity spiraling away from God. In Jesus, God has restored us to himself as his beloved children, and brought us together into a people - His Family. In tonight's message, we dialogue about the implications of being a Family together.