Preparation for Wednesday March 4th

We are still warming up to our subject--the "culture" that should be apparent in every church fellowship because of their shared belief in the Gospel.  In other words, the things we hold most dear (Gospel doctrine) should naturally manifest themselves in a certain culture (Gospel culture).  This culture should be a distinctive mark of the church, and it should attract people to it, which is to attract people to Christ.   As we saw last time, our understanding of what God has done through the cross of Jesus Christ (Jn 3:16), should lead us to love one another (1Jn 4:11), and it is this love that manifests God to a lost and watching world.  

Beginning this week, we will start looking at passages that deal with the Gospel, and ask ourselves, "If we believed this, what kind of culture would it produce?"  The first passage we will study is Rm 1:16.   Meditate on this verse for a few minutes and think about the kind of culture that would result if we were a Church fellowship that shared a common belief in this verse?  

   - Of  these two words found in the verse, ashamed and power, which do you think is the one we are meant to focus upon?

   - How does that change the culture we would have as a fellowship?

All of this begs that we understand the Gospel--as an exercise,  write out your best understanding of the Gospel in less than 25 words.