Church PLANT Manual

Session 2: Launch and Assemble • 39

Seminar 4 The Driving Force of the Gospel Pastor Lorenzo Elizondo

The gospel is all about Jesus. The gospel is the central theme of Scripture because all the Bible points to Jesus. The gospel is the good news that our great God looked at fallen humanity with compassion, sent his Son Jesus to live the life we could not live, and to pay the price we could not pay, and victoriously rise again, defeating Satan, sin, and death, and overcoming the cosmic separation between God and humanity. This is the good news that saves us. The gospel not only saves us, but also sends us to fulfill the mission of Christ. Unfortunately, many Christians today view the gospel as merely a presentation tool for conversion. But it is so much more than the ABCs of Christianity, it is the A to the Z of the Christian faith. As the Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the very power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The gospel not only saves us and sends us, but it also shapes us as the church. In other words, the Church exists through the gospel, and for the gospel. The church is like a heart. If a heart only brought blood to itself, the body would die. And, if the heart only pumped blood out, the body would likewise die. A heart must pump blood in and out for the body to remain alive. Similarly, the church must constantly come to the gospel for life, and then be sent out with it to remain alive. Like the heart, Jesus made us to live in a rhythm. He told us to love God, our neighbor, and one another (the church).