What is the place and function of the gospel in the life of the local church?
Functional Centrality
What we are arguing for is the functional centrality of the gospel, under-girded with prayer, in the life of the local church. In other words, the gospel should be at the center of everything we do and every methodology we employ as a local church.
In our personal lives, functional centrality will mean that we are constantly preaching the gospel to ourselves, encouraging ourselves to apply the gospel of grace to our own lives and sins, and personally trusting that Christ's death and resurrection paid the penalty of MY sin and set ME free from sin's power.
In our sermons, functional centrality will mean that we are constantly looking for ways to share the gospel of Jesus from the text we're currently expounding, calling unbelievers to repentance and belief, and calling Christians to a more comprehensive lifestyle of repentance and faith.
