A Summer of the Gospel
By Rebecca Johnston
Summer has begun around South Tulsa and over the next few weeks we will have a couple hundred visitors come through our doors for all our summer activities. As I have been praying for these events and asking the Lord to be present this summer, it has been pressed upon me to pray a little more specifically. We want everyone who participates to walk in and know they are loved and we want them to hear Jesus’ Gospel. But what is that Gospel? Is it just that Jesus loves them and they can have eternal life through Him? This is absolutely true, but it’s only a piece of the full Gospel.
The full reality of the Gospel is about how humanity fails when we usurp the role of Lord away from God and place ourselves in that role over our lives. This is the story Israel tells throughout the Old Testament. Due to this failure, Jesus comes and lives a life that is the ultimate fulfillment of Israel’s story. Yes, He came to die for our sins, but Jesus also came to complete the story God has been telling since the beginning of time and to bring about the Kingdom of God. Jesus didn’t repeatedly invite people to heaven, He invited them to follow Him in this life. When we understand the Gospel in this way, we see that as we are called to place Jesus in the role of Lord, we are being called into a much bigger story that is not about ourselves and our own salvation, but rather is about the redemption of God’s creation as the Kingdom of God is spread to every people and nation. This Gospel not only gives the gift of salvation, it also calls for full repentance and radical life change.
Join us in praying for all our summer events. Pray that hearts will be prepared to hear the full reality of the Gospel. Pray that not only will salvation be received, but that lives will be radically changed. Pray this next generation will be set on fire for the Lord.
(For more on the big story of the Gospel, I recommend reading The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight.)
Summer has begun around South Tulsa and over the next few weeks we will have a couple hundred visitors come through our doors for all our summer activities. As I have been praying for these events and asking the Lord to be present this summer, it has been pressed upon me to pray a little more specifically. We want everyone who participates to walk in and know they are loved and we want them to hear Jesus’ Gospel. But what is that Gospel? Is it just that Jesus loves them and they can have eternal life through Him? This is absolutely true, but it’s only a piece of the full Gospel.
The full reality of the Gospel is about how humanity fails when we usurp the role of Lord away from God and place ourselves in that role over our lives. This is the story Israel tells throughout the Old Testament. Due to this failure, Jesus comes and lives a life that is the ultimate fulfillment of Israel’s story. Yes, He came to die for our sins, but Jesus also came to complete the story God has been telling since the beginning of time and to bring about the Kingdom of God. Jesus didn’t repeatedly invite people to heaven, He invited them to follow Him in this life. When we understand the Gospel in this way, we see that as we are called to place Jesus in the role of Lord, we are being called into a much bigger story that is not about ourselves and our own salvation, but rather is about the redemption of God’s creation as the Kingdom of God is spread to every people and nation. This Gospel not only gives the gift of salvation, it also calls for full repentance and radical life change.
Join us in praying for all our summer events. Pray that hearts will be prepared to hear the full reality of the Gospel. Pray that not only will salvation be received, but that lives will be radically changed. Pray this next generation will be set on fire for the Lord.
(For more on the big story of the Gospel, I recommend reading The King Jesus Gospel by Scot McKnight.)
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