Four Insights Into the Gospel

Gary DeLashmutt
Colossians 1:1-8

Paul gives four insights into the Gospel. The Gospel is a definitive announcement. It declares that Jesus is the Christ. It offers the grace of God. Finally, God spreads the Gospel through people who have ben changed by it.

United for a Purpose

Kate Mizelle
1 Timothy 1:5

Do we recognize that the biblical call to evangelism is not just an individual call, but a corporate call? To fully embrace what God intended, we must understand the unique witness that the body has to a lost world and why our best experience of community comes from when we are focused together on those outside of it. In this workshop we will also brainstorm some practical ideas on how to utilize community in evangelism.

Jesus and Saul

Ben Foust
Acts 9:1-27

The story of Saul's radical transformation from an enemy of God who persecuted the early church with vengeance to his becoming the foremost evangelist who died proclaiming the Good News is a showcase for how God's grace and mercy can change anyone, even the one who is least likely in our eyes. Sometimes our spiritual passions are misplaced and don't align with God's plans for us. God's mercy and grace is nothing short of scandalous. No one is too much an enemy of God to be accepted by God. His invitation stand today for each and every person.

The Good News of Christ

Jim Leffel
Colossians 1:1-8

Paul was grateful for the Colossian church for the way they were bearing fruit after hearing and understanding the gospel. They embraced a living hope that was at that time unimaginable to the Greek culture. Their faith, hope and love resonated with spiritual seekers. This living hope changed them and knit them together in community that was attractive to their neighbors.

The Surpassing Value of Knowing Christ

Conrad Hilario
Philippians 3:1-9

Paul compares two ways of entering heaven. One way is to rely on your own righteousness, banking on your own good works to earn your way to salvation. Paul declares that if there ever was one who could put confidence in the flesh it was him, but after knowing Christ, he counts all his works of the flesh to be worth less than excrement. Instead, he embraces the other way, the only way, to salvation which is to rely entirely upon the work of Jesus on the cross to pay for his sins.

Unity with One Another

Conrad Hilario
Philippians 1:27-2:4

Paul calls the Philippians to live in a way that reflects the reality of their true citizenship in heaven. We do this by standing firm in one spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the Gospel. We can experience another level of unity that comes from working together to carry out the mission of sharing the love of Jesus with those who don't know him.

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

Ben Foust
John 4:1-42

One might suppose the Samaritan woman at the well would be the least likely person to ever follow Jesus. She is the wrong gender, race, religion, and morality. The barriers are numerous. Yet, Jesus pursues the unlikely, like this sinful woman who doesn't even know she is thirsty. She learns she is very thirsty, and the only thing that will quench that thirst is a relationship with God. Jesus has removed every barrier to receiving the living water he offers.

Taking a Stand

James Rochford
Philippians 1:27-30

Standing for Christ by standing firm in one spirit and of one mind makes sense because the mission is eternal and therefore worth the sacrifice. Our real citizenship is in heaven and we will be there relatively soon and for ever. Christian community for its own sake is fruitless. It must be in the context of a common mission of sacrificial servant love. Is it difficult? Yes, but so worth it!

Deep Unity in the Body of Christ

Dennis McCallum
Philippians 1:27-2:4

Paul uses military language of the type of unity soldiers exhibit in battle to describe the unity the Body of Christ must have. God's people must strive together in one spirit, with one mind to intrude into the enemy's territory to liberate people from the power of the evil one. We have been given a mission to spread the Gospel and we will encounter opposition that requires deep unity to overcome.