Monday, December 08, 2008

Local Congregations of Christians Characterized by a Gospel Culture

Ligon Duncan, one of the partners behind the Together for the Gospel conferences (I attended the inaugural event in '06), writes: "I think that all the particpants in T4G share a passion that local congregations of Christians would be characterized by a Gospel culture, a Gospel-sharing culture, a culture of evangelism." Here is his description this "culture." Does it capture your imagination for our church?

By that I mean:

[1] that your whole congregation would be able to articulate the Gospel, personally, in a compelling and understandable way;

[2] that your whole congregation would understand the importance and necessity of their lives, their prayers and their participation in Gospel witness;

[3] that your whole congregation would deeply care about conversions (and I would lay stress here, that we are talking about real conversions, not numbers; disciples, not decisions; changed lives, not merely prayed prayers);

[4] that your whole congregation would earnestly and regularly pray for conversions, talks about their own conversions and the conversions of others, and put a priority on people coming to know God; and

[5] that your whole congregation would be excited about the Gospel itself, and not simply about a method of sharing the Gospel, or a training program.

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