Gospel communities are built on the truth of the gospel that saves and restores people to God and brings them into His family as a group of people commissioned by King Jesus to go into the entire world and make disciples of all nations—starting right in our own city and neighborhoods as GCs on mission for Jesus. Gospel Communities are places where people grow as disciples of Jesus while making disciples of Jesus. 

We are doing a mini blog series on Gospel Communities (Theological Foundation, GC for an Individual, GC for a Family, GC for a church) 

Mini Blog Series:

• Theological Foundation: The Church Church Not On Sunday
• GC for an Individual: 6 Ways Gospel Communities Are Helpful For Individuals 
• GC for a Family (2 Blog Posts): In Sickness And In Health, Desperation And The Love Of Discipleship Groups; How Is A Gospel Community A Safe Place For My Family?
• GC for a Church: Gospel Communities Are For The Church

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What Does Church Actually Mean?

How many times have you heard yourself say to someone, "I'm going to church"? In our culture we equate the term "church" to somewhere we go for an event. But the reality is the term church actually means a community of God's redeemed people - all who have truly trusted Christ alone for their salvation. From this definition we can say that we don't "go to church" but we "are the church." 

Jeff Vanderstelt once tweeted, "To my kids: "Saying 'I go to Church' is like saying 'I go to the Vanderstelts.'" You see the significance of that statement, we are called by Jesus into His family so that makes us the church and we simply do not just go to church. The church is a redeemed people whom Christ has saved, it is not a place where you go once or twice a week. If you are in Christ you are adopted into a family which is called the church.

Being The Church, Not Going To Church

So what does it mean when someone says they go to church on Sunday? At Redeemer we would call Sundays "Family Gatherings.' Family gatherings are intentional weekly gatherings where the church body gathers together to corporately worship God, hear the Word of God preached and practice the sacraments. We do all these things for our good and for God's glory.  

Christ is the head of the church, which is his body (Ephesians 1:22-23). He has authority over his people and determines their direction and destiny. Each member of Christ's body serves an important and distinct role, and non have life, power, or ability of any kind apart from Christ (1 Corinthians 12). - ESV Study Bible

From the above definition our lives have distinct roles and important implications. Our lives together are to reflect Jesus Christ and His goodness. So when we say we "go to church" this comes off like Jesus is only apart of our lives only sometimes throughout the week. When we say "we are the church" this implies that everything in our lives is used for Jesus' glory.

How Gospel Communities Help Us Be The Church?

Our culture today has a "me" attitude. We all believe the lie that we are our own person. And yet for those in Christ, who are called to be a part of Christ's church, are called into a family and are called to serve "one another." Jesus calls the church to care for each other, especially to those in the household of God (Gal. 6:10). And Gospel Communities are a place where followers of Jesus have a place where they get to continually learn what it means to follow Jesus with everything they have and are as Jesus disciple.

Gospel Communities are a structure created to help our culture today fight against the "me" attitude and learn what it means to actually be in a community with believers. The church is a redeemed people who are bought with a price, Jesus' blood and with that price each person who is in Christ is just one of many precious ones whom Christ has claimed for himself. God uses his Church to care and protect his people from the "the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." Eph. 6:12.

What's Next?

It should not be taken lightly, those who are not apart of a family of believers are in great danger of "being tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes (Eph 4:14)". Quit believing the lie that you can do everything on your own. You need to realize that this life is not meant to be navigated by yourself. For the bible shows us clearly that as Christians we are called to be dependent people. Dependent on Jesus and dependent on one another. 

If you don't take anything else away from this blog, I hope you hear this, it is for your good to be apart of a Gospel Community. This is where you have a place to heal if you need, a place where you can grow, learn to live missionally in your city and a place where you can do all those things for others. May our lives continue to reflect the grace and glory that is in Christ Jesus alone.

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There and Back Again: Except, that is, for one night when I panicked. I was lying in bed, waiting to fall asleep. This was the first time I had faced the death of someone close. All at once, it occurred to me that we had no idea what would happen to my grandmother. None of us had closed our eyes in death, and that meant none of us knew what she would see when she opened them. The horror of the unknown washed over me. I realized it wasn't really her death that I was afraid of. It was my own.

7 Symptoms of Eternity Amnesia: Everyone in ministry gets discouraged by difficulties and struggles, but sometimes we bring more suffering on ourselves because we forget eternity. Could it be that there are times when you live and minister as if there is no such thing as forever?

To Experience God's Love: Many Christians live at a great distance from a felt experience of the love of God. So much Christianity in the West is shallow and satisfied. It affirms a creed, but it so often lacks spiritual life. Across the country there are millions of people who have a faith, who've been brought up in the church to believe Jesus died and rose, but they have no living experience of God's love.

9 Ways To Battle Depression, Condemnation and Anxiety: I know from personal experience the difficulty of battling depression, condemnation and anxiety. The fight can take many forms, ranging from legalism to thoughts of suicide. Whatever the case, it is all overwhelming. Though each of us faces unique circumstances, here are a few lessons I have learned that I pray will help as you, too, battle depression, condemnation and anxiety.

The Porn-Free Family Plan: I want to protect my children in a world like this, but I want to do more than that. I want to disciple my children to live virtuously, to use these new technologies for good purposes instead of bad ones. I believe this is a crucial part of my calling as a parent. To address this great need, I have put together what I call The Porn-Free Family Plan. It is a plan designed to protect my children from online dangers so that I can train them to use their devices and technologies well.

Why Doesn't God Always Heal The Sick: It’s hard to imagine a more difficult, confusing, and controversial topic than why God chooses not to heal in response to the intercessory pleas of his people. I don’t profess to have all the answers, but I think I’ve got a few.

‘ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED’, OR ‘PRESERVATION AND PERSEVERANCE IN CHRIST’?: At that point, the challenge is to explain a doctrine of perseverance that gives both the full assurance that those “whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom. 8:30), as well as the need to “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard” (Col. 1:23).

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The Following Blog Post is by Stephanie Sund

Four years ago I sat next to the bed of my 4 year old on the oncology ward of Children’s hospital.  In that horrible haze of the day, when we were waiting to hear how far her cancer had spread, the words I remember uttering over and over, half to my husband, more to myself were  “What do we know about God?” And then I’d answer myself, out loud “God loves us, God is merciful and just. ” Wait 10 minutes, repeat.

Fast forward to last month, when we were again at Children’s, waiting for tests to tell us if the spot they saw on our daughter’s  x-ray was the return of  cancer.  And the weapon my mind reached for to fight the rise of anxiety was the answer to the same question “What do we know about God?” When my world is slipping, I want to know who it is that’s holding me!  This time I was better equipped to preach to myself the attributes of God, the truths of his character.  And to hold on to the comfort in scriptures like Isaiah 41:10  “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  Scripture made so much more powerful when you know who is behind those promises.   And, praise that is much deeper when we are not just worshiping God for what he does, but for the depth of his unchanging character.  My daughter’s cancer is not back, God is good.  If her cancer were back, God would still be good.  God is always good.

Last fall I began memorizing the attributes of God as listed in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology and teaching them to my kids.  We made up a cheesy little song to help us get snippets of gospel truths into memorizable form.

The song is to the tune of “My God is an awesome God”.

My God is independent

He doesn’t need you or me

Yet he allows us to be

A joy to his heart, and bring him glory

My God is unchanging

He’s the same day to day

In his purposes, promises and ways

He’s the solid rock on which we stand

My God is eternal

Always was and always will be

He sees all time equally

And he knows what is to come

My God is omnipresent

He’s everywhere all the time

There’s no keeping secrets from Him

And he’s always with me

My God has unity

His attributes mesh together perfectly

No wrath without mercy

And each act is of the whole person of God

My God is a spirit

He has no physical form

We cannot measure him

Like nothing we’ve seen or felt

My God is invisible

No one has ever seen God

But he does make himself known

Through creation and his Son

My God is omniscient

He know all things all the time

He knows all things possible

There’s nothing that God can learn

My God is wise

He makes the best decisions

To bring about the best results

By the best possible ways

My God is a God of truth

He does what he says he’ll do

His promises will come true

And we can trust in his word- the Bible

My God is a good God

All good comes from God

And, in his goodness

He was patience, mercy and grace

My God is a God of love

Steadfast and eternally

Giving of himself to bless me

As shown through Christ’s death on the cross

My God is a Holy God

He’s completely separate from sin

And he is devoted to

Seeking his own honor

My God is a God of peace,

Not confusion or disorder

He acts continually

In well ordered and controlled ways

My God is righteous and just

He always does what’s right

Sin deserves punishment

Christ died on the cross for my sins

My God is a jealous God

He seeks to protect his own honor

For he alone is worthy

He doesn’t want idols in our hearts

My God is a God of wrath

He intensely hates all sin

As Christians we don’t fear God’s wrath

Christ bore God’s wrath for our sins

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The Following Blog Post is written by Brandon Adent:

Popular references to Easter abound these days. Bunny-shaped chocolate is on sale at the grocery store, alongside the plastic ribbon grass that seems to cling to every crevice in the house. 

Most people don’t know where the bunny came from. Or why we color eggs, hide then, and hunt for them. Springy colors make sense to us… it’s the time of year where the dark of winter surrenders to the light of the spring.

We love spring. Especially in Bellingham. The return of the longer days and warmth of the sun give us a lot of joy.

And yet, there is a greater source of joy. The book of John talks about Jesus as the Light of the World, which shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome.

And on the day that Christ bodily rose from the grave, the Light stomped the head of the Darkness into the ground.

PAID IN FULL

To put the events of Good Friday (the day Jesus, the Christ, was crucified) and Easter Sunday into modern terms, let’s frame the discussion in terms familiar to many of us.

 Say you’re a college student without money for anything but Ramen noodles (10 for a dollar, in case anyone is curious), and a friend and family member offers to take you to Costco to get anything you want. You go to the store on your shopping spree, and your friend or family member pays the bill.

In order to exit the store, you must stand in line ready to show your receipt to an employee as proof that you’ve paid for everything in your cart. Once the employee marks your receipt as valid and complete, you are free to go about the rest of your business.

Similarly, paying the bill is a bit like Good Friday. With His blood, Christ paid for the wrongdoings and offenses of all who would trust in Him, and gives them His perfect standing in exchange.

Christ’s resurrection is like the receipt. By His resurrection, we know that our sin has actually been dealt with, for death cannot hold the sinless.

Moreover, the use of the receipt goes beyond departure of the store. Say your friend bought you a flat-screen TV, and when you plugged it in at your apartment or house, it didn’t work. The receipt gives you the assurance that you will be adequately cared for until you are satisfied with your purchase.

If you are in Christ, He has paid for your soul with His blood. And His resurrection is the proof-of-purchase. You have been adopted into His family (Gal 3, Rom 7), and there is nothing that can separate you from His love (Rom 8).

Because of this assurance, you can live courageously in the new life that you have in the knowledge that His grace is sufficient for you.

NEW LIFE IS YOURS

Because of the assurance that your sentence has been paid in full, you have a guarantee of new life in Christ.

You are a new creation; the old has passed away and the new has come (2 Cor. 5.17). You have been raised from death by the same power that raised Christ from the dead (Eph 5.4-6).

This means you actually can live differently! God has changed you from the core of your being, and is slowly molding you into Christ-likeness. Sure, we’ll struggle with sin, fear, guilt, and shame. But He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. (Philippians 1.6)

 DEATH IS AS GOOD AS DEAD

Your newness isn’t just relegated to your soul. Because of the resurrection, you have assurance of bodily resurrection, just as Christ was raised.

Paul addresses this very topic in 1 Corinthians 15. Amid disputes of whether the dead will rise again, Paul repeatedly and emphatically states that if Christ Himself was not raised from the dead, that we have no hope either in this life or the next.

Thankfully, Christ has been raised from death, showing that He indeed possesses power over it. As death could not hold Him, neither will it hold you.

This means that you don’t need to fear death. Certainly, the prospect is unnerving. But if we know that we are Christ’s in both life and death, and that He is sovereign over both, we don’t need to live in fear or anxiety over what happen today or tomorrow.

CELEBRATE THE GOD WHO LIVES

This next section may seem a bit odd: I’m going to quote a Christmas song.

Without Easter, there is no Christmas. If Christ had not come to live perfectly, die sacrificially, and rise triumphantly, He would not have come. Charles Wesley knew this when he penned the great hymn “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!”

Hail the Heav’n born Prince of Peace

Hail the Son of Righteousness

Light and life to all He brings

Risen with healing in His wings

Mild He lays His glory by

Born that man no more may die

Born to raise the sons of Earth

Born to give them second birth

The appropriate response to the risen King is worship. We bow our lives to Him, confessing our need and despising our old ways in the light of His grace.

This response should resound in every area of our lives. One ways we respond is by gathering corporately to hear what He has done and respond in gratitude in prayer and song. This is a weekly celebration, not a one time event, to serve as a frequent and tangible reminder one what He has done for every people of every tribe, tongue, and nation. But Easter provides us a particularly special occasion to gather and remember what God has done in us and what He means to do through us.

If you would, join us as we gather this Easter Sunday in the name of the resurrected Jesus.

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The Assumption We Can't Afford: I've been in church for years, but no one has taught me to study my Bible until now.

Is God Allowed To Do Stuff We Can't?: These reflections are far from exhaustive or adequate to the subject matter. Much more could be and has been said on the subjects of forgiveness, substitution, justice, and the cross. In this piece I simply wanted to make one small point: sometimes it’s okay for God to tell us not to do something that he himself does. Executing judgment is one of those things.

David Platt on Why You Shouldn't believe "Heaven Is For Real": God’s beef with necromancy is that it belittles the sufficiency of his communication. Why would you inquire of the dead to find out what you want to know instead of inquiring of me? And if they say: Well, I have inquired of you and you didn’t tell me what I want to know. He would say: Well, that is your problem. I have told you what you need to know. You don’t need to know about such and such if I haven’t told you. And, in fact, if you go trying to inquire about such and such that I haven’t told you, you are dishonoring me. So that is the nature of the argument. And, therefore, I think the prohibition of séances and necromancy applies to this kind of thing and people ought to stop writing those books.

Raising Arrow Children: Don’t reduce your children to being “adorable,” writes Doug Wilson, and miss out on the promise of formidable children, arrows in the hand of a warrior.

How Can A Mature Christian Be Fed In A Missional Community?: The scriptures end with knowing God relationally and being like Him. Maturity in Christianity is being “conformed to the image of Christ” not merely knowing a lot about Him. This involves the mind, heart, hands, and actions of Christ. Missional Communities invite mature Christians to learn to enjoy the food that Christ did, to do the will of their Father.

4 Reasons To Doubt the Resurrection: To the modern mind, the resurrection is utterly implausible.

You Can't Do Everything: here are 4 simple ways you can start empowering and enabling others to do the great work of ministry

The Resurrection Of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective: Historically, Jesus’ resurrection (along with his claims to be the Son of God and the Son of Man) has always been the point of contention that separates Christians and Jews. However, the Orthodox Jewish theologian Pinchas Lapide (1922–1997), in his book The Resurrection of Jesus: A Jewish Perspective, turns that expectation on its head. Though he does not believe Jesus is the Messiah, Lapide does believe that the resurrection of Jesus was a historical event. Recognizing that Jesus and his disciples were faithful Jews, he seeks to understand it from a Jewish perspective.

Missional Moms Who Never Make Sacrifices: So when we consider the calling, the work, and the sacrifices of motherhood in this light, with a thrill in our heart we can say that we have never made a sacrifice.

Help! My Kids Are Looking At Porn!: For today, here are some suggestions for how to respond when you learn that your children have been looking at or looking for pornography.

Please Don't Make My Funeral About Me: You can cry at my funeral if you want to. But don't think for a minute that my death is tragic. No matter how it happens, no matter when; it simply can't be a tragedy. Leaving this world with all of its sin-sickness to enter into the beauty and perfection and peace of the presence of Christ is something to anticipate, not avoid. Death, for me, will not be the second-best option to a longer life here. To be with Christ will not be a minor improvement on this life, but "far better" (Phil. 1:23). You can cry, but I hope your tears are, at least in part, tears of joy that I have entered into the joy of my Master.

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The Following blog is written by Brandon Adent

WHY DWELL ON DEATH?

This coming Friday, we’ll be meeting to celebrate and remember Christ’s crucifixion. We know that Easter is only three days later. To dwell on death seems so morbid. Why would we spend a Friday night in remembrance of the God who died when we know that He lives?

The implications of Good Friday are enormous; there’s really no end to them, and it’s impossible to fully understand the depth of them. Here are just a few reasons that Good Friday is worth celebrating.

IT IS FINISHED

Jesus, the Son of God, came to this world with a mission. He was born in squalor and raised in the middle of nowhere (John 2.45-46). Taking the trade of His earthly father, Joseph, the Maker of the Universe lived and worked unknown to anyone outside of Nazareth for most of His life (Mark 6.3). 

Then one day, Jesus stood in the synagogue of His hometown. He opened and read from the scroll of Isaiah, and declared Himself to be the one to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to set free the oppressed (Luke 4.18).

On that first Good Friday, after hours of agony under the full weight and fury of the wrath of God, Christ used His final breaths to announce that He had done what He came to do:

It. Is. Finished!

If you are in Christ, you are free. Your sentence and ransom have been paid. The sins that chained you to the dungeon of despair have disintegrated to nothing, and you have nothing to fear in death.

                        Fully absolved of these I am:

                  From sin and fear and guilt and shame 

THE CURTAIN IS TORN

There used to be a curtain.

The high priest, the one chosen to represent the nation of Israel in God’s presence, only entered the Holy of Holies once a year to offer sacrifice, wearing bells and a rope around his ankle so that the attendants could pull him out should they not survive their encounter with God. This sacred space was set apart by a thick curtain to ensure that no one would accidentally find themself in God’s presence unprepared.

The Apostle Matthew records that as Christ screamed out His victory and breathed His last, that curtain was torn in two, from top to bottom.

Can you imagine witnessing this moment? It’s almost comical to comprehend, visions of an unsuspecting priest diving for the ground, rising to his knees to find that he’s miraculously still alive.

In that moment, Christ became the Great High Priest. If you are in Christ, the implications are astounding. He pleads for us, and prays for us. He is our advocate, and our intercessor. And because of what Christ has done on Good Friday, we can approach the throne with confidence (Hebrews 5), knowing that it’s in Christ’s power that we stand.

WE REMEMBER

On the night before He was betrayed, Jesus had gathered His disciples to celebrate the Passover meal. Jesus took bread and wine, saying that bread represented His body broken, and the wine His blood spilled, and instructed His disciples to eat and drink in remembrance of Him.

Passover was the day that the nation of Israel remembered when God had set them free from captivity to the Egyptians. Similarly, the sacrament of communion, instituted by Christ just before His death and practiced by the church for millennia, remains an act of remembrance.

The elements have no saving power. They are just bread and juice.

However, they do serve as a reminder of Christ’s saving power, and redeeming His people from their sins. The elements are God’s grace to us, to give us a reminder of an event that took place long ago, that none of us have seen, but those who are in Christ know to be true.

WE RESPOND

On Good Friday, we meet to remember and respond to who God is and what He’s done. We’ll sing to and about Him, hear His Word taught, and go to the table in remembrance of Him. We’ll leave knowing that He’s alive, but, Lord willing, aware of the cause and effects of His death on the cross.

Please consider joining us Friday, April 3rd 2015 at 6 PM for our Good Friday service. 

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