Here are notes to session one for Total Church Conference. I tried my best to get the exact information, but much of these notes are paraphrased.
Total Church Session One: “A Community Centered Gospel.”
Speaker: Steve Timmis
Key Scripture: Mark 1: 14-15
Eph 1:9-10
1st Peter 2:
What is the Gospel:
- Gospel Is “The Word of Truth.”
- The Gospel “bears-fruit.” It works.
- We don’t need a bunch of “new” strategies. We need the conviction that the Gospel is “God’s Word that works.”
- Fruit of Belief and Dis-belief.
- We should not be afraid to pointing out the benefits of the Gospel.
- We can make Jesus to be anything-But Jesus Christ is The Son of God.
- The Gospel is the eminent arrival of the Kingdom because of the arrival of the King. So the appropriate response to that arrival is repentance.
- Evangelicals have a problem with understanding the gospel. In The West we think Gospel as Individual which is truth-but there is more than that. In The Bible is says the Gospel is about a people, a community.
-The ultimate purpose of God is an exalted Christ with HIS people. Christ without his people is incomplete.
What is the Church
- Most assume church as an event or a meeting.
- We know what we believe by how we behave. Core belief is reveled by how we belief
- For most people church is an event. We spend so much man-power and money on one weekly event.
- The meeting is a part but only a small part of the weekly gospel rhythms.
- We should be in a steady state of meeting with the King and with each other-eating together, celebrating together, praying together, weeping together as a people living together as the people of God.
- The community of God tells the people that how they live IS THE FUTURE-its a foretaste of the future.
- Tim is not anti gathering. Just must balance it. We need a more-complete Gospel.
- God’s call in the OT is to live life together, to care for those in need, to celebrate at the festivals. God wanted to be near His people. God was concerned about how the is coveted community lives together.
-If we live by meeting to meeting then we fail to live as Christ called us.
- The world can’t dis-miss a community of believers who live distinct lives across the globe.
- We must have a missional identity in our communities ( politics, associations,
- Mission is that which is inform and defines our lives. It shapes our action.
- The Local church is phenomenon of grace.
- The Church is to be God’s temple filled with God’s glorious presence spread throughout the earth.
Q&A
- Professional view of pastors leadership is ungodly and needs to be repentant off. Pastors serve the people.
- We have to allow our lives to be lived amongst each other.
- Good Reads: Community & King, Newbigin, Anti-baptisit, Cinderella We don’t need you-Michael Griffin
