The Irreducible Gospel

Yeah, it's just this god-given identity he gave this generation. So we're going to milk it for a little bit and spend a good six weeks there. So we got out of there and then this morning my wife called me 5 minutes before the Gathering at 15 minutes for the Gathering somebody stole the lug nuts off her truck and she drove about two blocks here. So she is safe. The kids are saved. It just feels like one of those mornings where you just want to crawl back in a hole and suck your thumb and go to bed and we're watching fantasy football team lose today. So that's what's probably going to happen. But God has a much better things in store for us and what general in frayed and even talked about just so important for me cuz I'm done to your pastor can come in here and feel a little distracted disoriented and just kind of out of out of sorts. And so praise God that his focus is with us. We're going to fix her eyes and attention on him were going to do that this morning by the reading of his word as we look here in 1st Corinthians, if you were here last week I disappointed you all and all Finished half of what I wanted to share that was kind of good news for my week bad news for everybody else. You were going to get back into some of the same scripture and same thought process that we were dealing with before we progressed and move forward. It says in chapter 1 verse 17 for Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the good news the gospel right now in this section of scripture Paul is going to kind of talk about us some ideas of what this is and what this isn't he says not with words of eloquent wisdom, but the Cross of Christ be emptied of its power essentially. We don't need Christian celebrity ISM. Do we it's the gospel in the good news of Jesus. The power of God to say penny says for the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved. It is the power of God for his written. I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment. The Discerning Eye wart, where is the one who is wise? Tribe, where's the debater of this age has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world for sensing the wisdom of God. The world did not know God through wisdom it pleased God through the valley of what we preach to save those who believe for the Jews demand signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified stumbling block to the Jews and Folly to Gentiles. But you know what your Caldwell Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God the wisdom of God for the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men with you one more time. Lord thank you for the good news the gospel the hope that we have in Jesus Christ and I pray today that it would not just be something that we articulate and are able to spit back but it's something that is deeply rooted in our hearts that the gospel is moving and working transforming because the hope of Jesus has radically transformed and changed our lives and it encouraged us to go and share this good news with others around us to a working our hearts today in Jesus name. Amen. Amen this morning because we did not finish. What I want to do is his last week. We talked about the gospel and really this idea of sharing the gospel and I even gave some snippets on kind of the strangeness that we find in all of the scripture simile have this opportunity to actually share the gospel with us. We want to sit down and think through what ought we to share with someone or better put what is the Irreducible gospel. What is the irreducible gospel? What is necessary to be shared with somebody in order to give them the hope of Jesus Christ and it's really interesting because right off the get-go we see that the gospel is contextually applied, but culturally boundless. It can't actually apply to different groups of people. It's not that the message is different but the pressure points of society as we see if we're going to look at people's speaking the truth of the Gospel in the way in which they presented who Jesus is can be different but it is culturally bound list to any of that would be saved and over the last several weeks. I've been spending time thinking through and processing. What is the gospel? Finnegan couragement for me exciting to continue to listen and learn and to be encouraged and as I was listening to NT Wright and Tim Mackie to talk about this idea of the Gospel two guys that I definitely admire guys of different backgrounds and she writes an Anglican and different traditions and sorry Tim Mackie. He is simply a professor at Western Seminary and they were talking on the etymology of the gospel and I'm talking about the etymology of the Gospel n t Wright said something very profound. He said people do not live on etymologies people live on narratives. People live on narrative narrative are the stories that we tell ourselves etymologies the breaking down of a war can give us an understanding of the word gospel are good news, but we live on narrative then went to have this opportunity to share the gospel with somebody. What is the narrative that you're going to say and I spent time listening to podcasts over the last several weeks. I spent time reading both, and commentaries and Technical commentaries. I spent time in the scriptures on what is this irreducible gospel and what I want to do today as I want you to turn over to Acts chapter 2 if you can Britain I didn't send any of these to you because of the week that I had but I want to read you a couple of the sermons. Teachings that were shared in Acts and show you what I mean when I talk about the gospel is contextually applied the culturally bound this here is Peter in Acts chapter 2. He's speaking to a crowd. They're on the day of Pentecost, and he's addressing these Israelites, and he says men of Israel hear these words Jesus of Nazareth a man attested to you by God with Mighty works and wonders and signs that God did to him in your mitts. As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of Lawless men got to raise them up losing the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it for David says concerning him. I saw the lord always before me reset my right hand that I may not be shaken there for my heart was glad my tongue rejoiced. My flesh. Also was well and hope we're not abandon my soul to Hades or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the path of life. You will make me fall of gladness with your presence brother's eye. I say to you with confidence about the patriarch David they both died and was buried and in his tomb is with us to this day being there for a profit knowing that God has sworn an oath to him that he would set when is Descendants on his throne before saw and spoke about the resurrection of Christ that he was not abandon to Haiti's Nordisk flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up in about we are all Witnesses. So what's going on here Jewish crowd and he filled with the spirit and he begins to preach the good news of Jesus and he talks about the Jewish Heritage and this Jewish background and he doesn't leave anything important out he's able to speak this in a 1/2 to 2 minute. Of time saying this is the hope of Jesus but watch this he's about to if you flip over to chapter 10 of Acts talk to a very different man in a different context He's at. Asurion is a god fear but he's not Jewish and he had this vision and Peter had this vision and they come together and inverse 34 Peter says to Peter open his mouth and said truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him as the word that he sent to Israel preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ. He is Lord of all you yourselves know that would happen throughout all Judea beginning From Galilee after the baptism. John proclaimed how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the holy spirit with power. Do you want about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with him and we Are Witnesses of all that he did. But in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem, they put him to death by hanging them on a tree but God raised him up on the third day and made him to appear. So you have a little bit different context. You don't have quite the same Jewish history and Jewish background and going into sharing the gospel and you can see out of just these two sermons and these two opportunities of sharing Jesus how Peter contextually apply the gospel but it's definitely boundless in the says. It doesn't matter if you're Jew or Gentile. How does the same thing? I won't read it but he acts 17 if he's there at Mars Hill and he begins to preach and teach any talks about their own philosophers their own poets the unknown God. Did he mention something significant? He mentions the resurrection and it says that the people at that point turned him off and they did not want to hear him. And then in acts as well earlier on when he shares there with the Jailer all the good news of Jesus. In Hebrews 9 running to a Jewish context you get a very profound idea of what the gospel is. If you'd like to turn there you can verse 11 but when Christ appeared as a high priest for the good things that have come through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands and is not of creation Imagine This Is Where in the 21st century? And your ass to share the gospel somebody and you go up to them. And you say Christ appears a high priest. What the heck is a high priest. What does that even mean? What does that even look like? Are you going to start there? When you begin to share the gospel with somebody living in Redmond, Oregon? You're going to have to definitely give them some sort of background and context to why a high priest was important. They're going to think you're playing World of Warcraft. That's what they're going to think because that is the group of people that are being raised up today is so I know what the high priestess you can do this stuff over here and that stuff over there and there's a misconception about the high priestess. But listen, is he speaking to his Jewish context even begins talk about this tent in the first 12. He says he entered once for all of the Holy place not by means of the blood of goats and calves for the means of his own blood the securing an eternal Redemption Redemption for if the blood of goats and Bulls in the sprinkling of defiled persons with ashes of heifer sanctifying the purification of The Flash how much more will the blood of Christ? Through the internal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God purify our conscience from dead Works to serve the Living God and then to go on and talk about the resurrection one last example. I want to give you the gospel before we get into this this morning. In 1st Corinthians 15 speaking to the church at Corinth in verse 1. He says I would remind you Brothers of the Gospel I preach to you when she received in which you stand by which you were being you hold fast to the word I preach to you unless you believe in vain I delivered to you as the first importance when Alex received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with scripture that he was very that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. In each of these scenarios you have these Eve Angeles these authors and they're sharing the good news of Jesus and they're looking at their culture. And they're picking it apart to degree and they're saying how has Christ fulfill. How does The Narrative of the gospel story play into what's happening in this group of people and then what can I what needs to be shared with them or what if I take something out of its is that going to absolutely wreck and ruin it and the answer to that question is to a degree. Yes. Maybe you should we have this narrative this story of God from Genesis to Revelation and it we find out why things went horribly awful and y sin exist why there's pain sorrow and suffering in this world and then all of a sudden in Matthew we get this announcement a royal announcement that the King has arrived in the world is going to be utterly different than it's ever been because of this good news because of what Jesus has done. The question is if you've got two minutes to share with somebody Where do you start? What can you read out as we joked last weekend Shrek in the talking donkey? You know Balaam and the talking donkey it can we just exclude that story or does that take something from it? You can go look online and John MacArthur's got a great thing on. What is the irreducible gospel if we're truly going to share the good news of Jesus Christ here in 1st Corinthians. Paul is talking to this group of people and sharing with them Jesus. Any sharing some of the misconceptions of Jesus in that day the Jews they wanted their Messiah to come with a sword in hand on a white horse lopping off heads in order for them to possess the land to rain for the king to be Supreme the Jews in John chapter 5. They wanted more bread from Heaven to come down just like that Mana there in Exodus. They have this conception of what life was going to be like once the Messiah comes the Greeks. They wanted to come through philosophy and wise words and great talkin. They thought man we can learn our way into eternal life. Today in modern-day Western thinking there's this idea that we want God and I'll worship you as long as you give me what I want. Often as we looked at last week. Somebody's life is hurting. It's in deep pain and we see their need and what do we say? You just need Jesus and it'll be alright.

Sorta, right? Sorta, but what are we hearing that if you respond to Jesus your pain will go away lug nuts. Don't get stolen Sundays are happy days and you go skipping off in the sunshine with start of this modern-day Twisted Evangelical message. I just proclaimed on Sunday. There's this sense of hope and it's just so great and so easy and so joyful and life is wonderful. If you just have Jesus all that pain all that Misery all that suffering call that struggle in your marriage. It's all better. And we often find yourself doing is saving people to a better better version of life. Now rather than to the god of Glory in the life to come and we are terribly confused as a society on what the gospel actually is and it's no different for this group of people as Paul is speaking to them anything. Look you guys aren't missing it. You don't understand. So what is the gospel? What is happening? What are we talkin about? What is Sage even being this is such a Christian term. Do I need to be saved? Should I be saved not drowning or not hurting? I'm doing alright, what is God saving us from? Idea being saved and be totally lost on a generation today. Often they think if there is a God had to speed loving and accepting anyways, cuz I gotta lie. I'm a good person pretty nice pretty kinds. I don't steal things I go to church sometimes I give therefore God would just love me. A lot of people are not even aware of that one. There is a God and that they have offended this God. They have sinned between them and this God. The movie Jack that there is a sin that have caused the separation. This division is Disobedience and at the Cry of both Independence and I want to be on my own board. No part of you the cynosure den death. We minimize then though the necessity of the Cross and what God accomplished on the cross minimizing what Jesus did and that costly salvation? The cross becomes more of an example of how to live selflessly in the power of God to save. Not a problem in culture today. The cross tends to be more of an example of self-sacrificing love then actually the power of God moving in our heart and moving in our lives. People are really confused on this idea what we're being saved from I would encourage you but it's probably a waste of time you can go podcast some modern major evangelicals today and you hear a lot of messages that he's saving you from Financial ruin terrible marriages and from pay trust God put your children in the right kinds of schools will be obedient and your spouse will love you and the Jesus comes in and the problems are washed up and it sounds like a great message. Doesn't it? Just call it a day. Amen. You are out of here early and get brunch instead of lunch. It says your life is awful. Not you.

Sorry, my Millennial friends. It's not just your life it is you at the core. Something inside of humans went terribly wrong when we rejected and rebelled against God and there's this idea promoted in our culture today that everybody's good. Everybody's kind. Everybody should be nice. Thanks Bill wherever you are doing. I had this wonderful conversation about one of the cultural pressure points of our society. And one of the major things being pushed today is be nice. No matter what in fact a couple of weeks ago. I was watching the Dallas football game and they lost of course and so

So here's the deal Ellen DeGeneres is sitting up in the Box the special seating with President Bush and some other people and she gets online the next day. She does some of you may have noticed that I was hanging out with my right-wing Republican friends and she's very much not that way, but she says because niceness rains because niceness rules we can have different opinions come together and everybody says yes, that is what we want Ellen's Our Savior. She's our hero. She's funny. She's spunky. She's accepting and loving we need more else but the problem is what happens when you just don't feel like being nice anymore what happens when you get cut off and is a certain finger that comes up not I sure love you written times what happens when there's a rage inside your heart. Where is the power going to come from to be nice? When you no longer feel like it and though this idea to Spirit of the age of be nice is wonderful and great and I desperately longed for that. Are we going to be nice hairy ball going to be kind how we going to be changed?

This is Gospel, Jesus moving in our hearts moving in our lives and what we want to do more sharing the gospel, we want to examine culture we definitely do We also want to examine the person that's across from us that we have so much hope for that seems so hopeless and you want to realize that the surface need is a result of the deeper need. Surface need is a result of a deeper need the pain the Brokenness. It's a result of the curse of sin. Our problems are they just come at us and those are our own doing but they show that there's this issue and Rebellion towards God and we need help. So how would you share the gospel today? Did Carson I love Carson and he talks about this when talking about the gospel. The gospel is integrally tied to the Bible story line Indy incomprehensible without understanding the whole storyline. Carson says the gospel if you really want to understand that you really want to know what you have to understand from Genesis all the way through but you got two minutes to share with somebody. What are you going to do? What are you going to tell them because they may not fully understand from creation to New Creation for the restoration of all things and quite frankly. You may not have the time to share all that as your plant conceived. And as I said, it's probably many conversations not one conversation with somebody that's how it tends to work. However, he goes on to God is Sovereign Transcendent personal God who made the universe including us his image verse our misery lies in our Rebellion or alienation from God which is despite his forbearance attract his Wrath. But God precisely because love is of the very essence of his character take the initiative and prepared for the coming of his own son by raising up of people by Covenant stipulation Temple worship system of sacrifices and priesthood by Kings and Prophets are tough something of a goddess planning and what he expects in the fullness of time is sun comes and takes on human nature becomes not in the first instance to judge but to say he dies the death of his people rises from the grave and then returning to the heavenly father the priest the Holy Spirit of the down payment and guarantee of The Ultimate Gift PSP charge them an eternity of bliss in the friends of God himself and new heaven new Earth the home of righteousness. The only alternative is to be shut out from the presence of God forever the torments of hell what men and women must you before it's too late to repent and Trust I know we're not going to memorize that. 2 minutes it is the narrative the storyline the gospel. What did Mt. Write in Mackay? The commentaries are red listening to Mac Arthur D A Carson different Traditions different backgrounds all have in common the offense. That is Jesus. If you are going to share the gospel, you're not going to share morality if you share morality you and I need of a very long talk this next week because we're not being safe from a bad person to a better person though in this process and walking with Jesus. We are being Sanctified. We've been Justified were Road in his righteousness for being changed, but I'm simply not calling you to be a more moral person. I'm calling you from Darkness to a kingdom of Lights. There's this repentance in that is happening were saying we're going to walk in the way of Jesus. Absolutely. Yes, but listen, you need to understand that you're being saved from God's raft to God's glory and in each and every one of these instances where there's Peter preaching the gospel Paul preaching the gospel the author of Hebrews they're talking about the offense. That is Jesus. The irreducible gospel is Jesus bloody dead on a cross resurrected Jesus. That's what we preach. That's what we talked about. I sure this story once every year. It's a hard one. 8 years ago my mother-in-law passed on this day. Rudolph

and I remember sitting there and if you know our story if you sat across from us on the dinner table, you know and understand that we had a good starts and then we had some rocky times hard times and came back together. Because I held her hand for days before she passed the family. I just made a decision. To make life a little bit easier on her knowing that she couldn't be saved the doctors couldn't turn this thing around either pain. And I walked into that room. Just me and my mother-in-law and I grabbed her hand and I shared the what I called it the three hooves. Who God is? Who you are and who you are now Christ. Nice up there and talked to my mother-in-law. She had been raised in church and she knows and knew the gospel and she had struggles just like every other person who sits in these chairs and stands on this stage today and all sin leads to death and I remember grabbing her hands and almost in that pastoral but also son-in-law mode. I just looked at Michelle and I said Michelle called loves you and she whimpers. Yes. Yes, he does.

So you're a sinner? Yes. Yes I have. I know that. Michelle your identity is now in Jesus Christ and she says I know I know and that's her help and that was our conversation beyond that she shared Brett I love you chose you for my daughter there's healing and restoration even in that moment. She there times and moments in our life and we only have a couple of minutes. What are we going to share the irreducible gospel? God is loves you, but he cares for you. I just called you who you are a sinner in need of his grace that who you are in Christ a new creation, but has revealed himself through special Revelation being the scriptures in the word of God and Jesus God In the Flesh General Revelation as we read this morning the heavens declare his handiwork, but because God loves us he chose to Die For Us in order to redeem us. This is the message of the Gospel.

Now we can be a rescue people or restored people and then ultimately we rule with compassion and justice. What is the gospel? It is Christ himself in Colossians, 1:23 through 29 Palms against it talk about declare the gospel and in it. He uses his words in interchangeably early on in 1st Corinthians 1 verse 23. He talks about Christ in the good news. That is Christ and later on. He calls Christ the gospel. And this is incredible news for us because I had that opportunity to share with my mother-in-law as we get opportunities share with others when we get to say to them is Jesus is the way not here is a way other ways to say I have truth come and follow it. He says I am the truth other religions say this is how to be a righteous person and she said no I am your righteousness. Jesus is the gospel and God the gospel is Jesus.

Princess Tiana I briefly want to walk you through just a handful of things and let you out here. What I hope in my heart for our churches is that we don't convolute the gospel is that we don't look at somebody in a heart breaks for their bad situation. They're down and out and you say come to Jesus and he'll make you lift it up high and everything's going to be okay, but we come and say you have an interior problem. Not just an exterior problem. Your heart needs to be changed. Yes, we can still be struggle and difficulty in life. But you need to know Jesus and the good news of Jesus. And then that does something in our hearts and in our lives coming to Jesus brings about three things and we can talk about this in many different ways. We can describe it in different Fashions, but its restructuring of our heart that happens. It's the removal of sin and its the renewal of our values what that means is God is first and foremost restructuring our heart. We are created in the image of God, but it's shattered. It's broken. It's distorted. It's twisted go out on the streets. And there is violence there is pain there a human's hurting other human. Every heart in here says it ought not to be that way. There's something terribly wrong with society and because we have this identity in which was supposed to image God as we rejected we now do whatever we feel is right and good in our own site in our own hearts and it's free today devastated broken tragic world. And our identity is whatever I can make myself be if I can be great if I can be lifted High we look and we don't look up we don't look out at others. We look to ourselves first. That is a broken image. Before Jesus who you are how you define your life. It's all by worldly standards.

Goodness, I get trapped in this all the time.

I think I'm nice and I'm kind and I'm great and then I let him down and I don't sleep for 3 or 4 nights or I misread a text and think they're really angry at me and I don't sleep again for a few more night. I wasn't mad at you. Sometimes here's the deal. We so often live by the perceived identity that we take upon herself rather than they give an identity that Christ has done in us. It's because of blood our flesh has trained us to do.

Who you are is anchored and what you do? We're in a lot of trouble. Everybody stops doing what they want did.

Think about that in terms of your profession. people that in terms of raising Littles Think about that in terms of being able to go on Long hunts and long walks if who we are is those things at some point life breaks down and we can't do them anymore if who I am is Anchor to my Ministry and Ministry comes to a halt. Will be completely depressed through the floor.

Who I am is tied to how I look or to a certain age or to this stigma that I put out for everybody to believe about me. and all of that fades I'll be completely bummed out. Let down determine to try to rebuild that back up. And emptiness but if who you are is in Christ your life will not be shaken. Redeemer sisters of hope this is the good news. This is Jesus who you are in Christ. I know it will aspiration and dreams and desires are what we want to be. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I'll get there some day. I tried to live my life right now. Here's the deal. I am not this Millennials stuck at home. That's not going to Define me and tell me who I am. I am in Christ. The world around you can fall it can be shaken but does not affect who we are in Christ. You are righteous restored and whole and you need to hear that.

I don't know who needs to hear this morning, but I know. Had some time and some counseling appointments and I sat across from somebody and they just simply forgotten who they were in Jesus and those words washed over them when they heard you are loved adopted and care for what else does that mean? We'll this is who you are now in Christ and this is why you have a footing in this is why you can stand firm and be strong. It means that we have removal of sin is thing that is separated us from God got himself paid that price this holy God came down and now the shame and the remorse that comes with it is taken it upon himself and is removed from us is it happens spiritually in our lives in that active? What is reclaimed in our hearts? Where are send man to death? He stood in that place and he forgave us and finally this morning. There's a reversal there's a reversal of your values. Because of Jesus your whole life is now we ordered. I'm going to make a plug right now at 5:55. We pray in the back room on Sunday mornings. You're going to be here. Just me and Dale this week and Dale and I were just sitting there chatting this morning about this idea of reversal of values. What I mean by that is when you move into a neighborhood. Are the new neighbors excited for you to be there? Are they going on my goodness? The Andersons are coming. They are about to bring the crazy. Listen.

Blowing from our lives. How does that happen? How do we become nice? How do we live these things out? Because Christ reorders, you're like, he's got this reversal of values as come in to you now to where you live in a completely out early kind of way the gospel creates a kind of people that are upside down sort of people with their set of values as an alternate way to be human.

Example for followers of Jesus racial and class superiority ought to be squashed. This idea. Just getting money for power at the expense of others should be eradicated in our lives yearning for popularity in order to use that as a power to than suppressed people and oppressed people not to be on the minds of followers of Jesus. This is what God has done when the intrusion of the Gospel comes into our life erratically changes us and here's what I want to say our church with me closeout. I see God working in our people in a mighty way in this I see people who come in here for the last six years and their lives have been completely restructured and reordered as they know who they are in Jesus that they're forgiven and now they desire to worship him because it is aren't you worship him if they want to go share with their neighbors. They want to go talk to their co-workers. They want the world to know of who this Jesus is and because of that because of his reversing of your values and who you are you need to know you can share the gospel and if you're going to share the gospel do not tell people the Prosperity Gospel gospel the Social Gospel people, no need to know the offense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Jesus thank you for today.

Take out that our hearts would be convicted excited and encouraged.

Play where we have lived under false identities. Trying to assume identity outside of you that you conduct us. I pray where our priorities outside of who you are that you would move on our hearts, but then I pray that you would encourage us because the gospel tells us we are loved we are cared for this morning want to sing Into Your Great Name because you are worthy of all praise you saved us and made us your people rejoice in Jesus Christ.

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