Africa Vision 2005

Video clip from Rwanda (Click to download)

CENTERING THE GOSPEL: PART III:– THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH AND HOPE

Sermon: CENTERING THE GOSPEL: PART III:– THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH AND HOPE
Dr. Willem A. VanGermeren
September 18, 2005

The reduction of the Gospel has also taken away the rich perspectives offered by the Gospel. Both testaments witness to the pattern of suffering (discipline), perseverance, character, and hope. A renewed embrace of the Gospel encourages the acceptance of reality that the Lord has prepared for us when he renews creation and places a new community within the newly created order. When Evangelicals are living with hope, they reaffirm the Gospel.

Centering the Gospel

I. A CENTERED FAITH: THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH, POST-MODERNITY, AND POST-CONSERVATIVE EVANGELICALISM

In facing the present the evangelical church centers her faith and practices in accordance with the Gospel. In the face of many contesting claims evangelicals respond to post-modernity and post-conservative evangelicals by defining the Gospel afresh, by committing themselves to the Gospel, by critically evaluating perspectives on the Gospel, by engaging with ecclesiastical and societal traditions, by affirming and celebrating the Gospel, and by living as Gospel-centered Christians. When Evangelicals understand and confront the real challenges of their times, they reaffirm the Gospel.

II. CENTERING THE GOSPEL: PART I — THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH AND HER CONFESSION (Click to download)

The meta-narrative of Scripture opens on a vista of God as the Creator. At issue are not the contested claims of evolution, but of one’s starting point. The basic belief in the existence of a gracious Creator opens up a perspective on God, the world, and human existence. When Evangelicals are united in their confession in God as Creator, they reaffirm the Gospel.

III. CENTERING THE GOSPEL: PART II — THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH AND THE TWO (Click to download)

Evangelicals are divided on the relationship between the two testaments. The practical demise of the Old Testament has reduced the Gospel to a Jesus’ lordship debate, to a search for the historical Jesus, to a focus on the Israel-Church question, to a loss of the purpose and mission of the church, and to an individualistic experience of the Gospel. When Evangelicals are coming together to study the multi-faceted relationships between the two testaments, they reaffirm the Gospel.

Attached Document