Great End #1: Youth Group Info
Great Ends of the Church Bible Study“The Proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind”
July 14, 2008
Behind every identity lies a framework to work with. Behind every person, physically, there is a skeleton that shapes us and holds us up. For us here as a youth group, that is no different. Although there are no “bones” per say, we do have a structure or an outline that sets up framework for us, the 6 Great Ends of the Church. Tonight we begin, the Proclamation of the Gospel for the Salvation of Humankind.
Perhaps another way to define this would be to use the word, evangelism. Many of you I am sure shiver when thinking of this. When we hear of evangelism we think of movies like Jesus Camp or other ways that include bold actions and scary pieces of paper that tell others how one is going to hell unless they turn or indeed they will burn. Yet, we do have the responsibility to evangelize or to put it as Jesus did in the great commission, “To go to all nations, making disciples of all people and baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” This was what Christ commissioned the disciples to do. It was what Christ instructed us to do.
Gospel, a word that we are pretty familiar with hearing and reading from it on Sundays and often when we gather together in settings like this. It is important to our understanding of this great end or, evangelism, to know what Gospel means. In English, the word gospel means, good news. The Greek word is euangelion, from which the English word, evangelism comes from. Gospel then means to tell others of the good news. What then is this good news? The story of Jesus the Christ, which includes his life, ministry, death and resurrection, is what makes up this good news. For indeed it is good news to hear that through Christ, God became human, allowing himself to be known to us. Christ, was not God in disguise, no he was one of us. “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” John 1.14.
Often times the Christian faith gets limited to what is to come of us in the end. Yet, we are told in the gospel that we will not know when this will be. We have the opportunity though to, “walk with God” through Christ as he breached the gap between God and people. This bridge, which was the death and resurrection of Jesus, allows us life eternity. Jesus came to the earth and fulfilled God’s promise of restoring the earth, key to how one can and potentially should proclaim the Gospel. However, this salvation is also here and now through the presence in life of the love of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Salvation then is an ongoing journey. It is not a make a decision tonight and be done. Like the disciples three year commitment to following Christ, our salvation is an ongoing process too. Discipleship takes a lifetime. We then as people of God are to live out God’s story and be participants in the restoration of the world, demonstrated to us by Jesus himself.
Above all things we must realize that God is the creator and ruler of all living things. We come from him and abide in him. All the life of humankind has its being in the justice and love of God. With the aid and companionship of the Holy Spirit, the counselor that Jesus promised he would send to the disciples, leads us then back to evangelism. We as a youth group, as a church whole, have the responsibility to preach the gospel, the good news, which is salvation that comes through Christ both past, future and most importantly, now, to all humankind, our fellow brothers and sisters in the name of Christ to spread the love of God. Joseph Small says that, “The church’s clear proclamation of the gospel is a primary way that the church exhibits the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.
This first Great End—the proclamation of the gospel—is foundational to all that follows it.” Evangelism we must do no choice. How we do it, now there is a choice.
Let me begin this final piece on this great ends of the church with some quotes from St. Francis of Assisi:
“It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.”
“Lord, make me an instrument of they peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.”
“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.”
St. Francis of Assisi gives evangelism its original meaning. Somewhere along after the Reformation, around 1820, some began to preach a message that would scare people into their “salvation”. We are familiar with the stereotypical street corner preacher who yells at you as you walk by. Telling you how worthless one is until they make this decision that will take all things such as pain and hurt away. A false proclamation and a religion that leaves people unfulfilled wondering where God is. This is not to say this sort of proclamation is bad or wrong, as long as it has a message of hope and redemption. One of the best ways one can show the way Christ has called them to a radical lifestyle, is to do just that, live the life of a radical for Jesus. That is, ministering to those whom our culture tells us we can’t be a part of: Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, offering water to the thirsty and welcoming the stranger.
Preach the gospel at all times, when necessary use words. Let your actions speak louder than your words. Be the Jesus-Freak we are called to be and go against the grain. Love them as a child of God, see them for who they really are and be who you really are, a beloved disciple of Christ, and the Holy Spirit shall do the rest. Chris Folmsbee in his book, A New Kind of Youth Ministry, puts it best when he says, “God invites us to recognize that the story of God is unfolding around us each day, and that we share in God’s mission by becoming agents of restoration. Recognizing our calling to fulfill the Great Commission is one thing. But recognizing that in doing so we become partners with God in his mission of restoring the world is so much more.”
May the peace of Christ be with you now and forever this day. May our youth think about the ways we evangelize and how this pillar of our church, this Great End, holds up our foundation for what we do. We are called to share the good news of Christ to all people. We can and we will, simply by dedicating ourselves to ministry and teachings of Jesus. Acts 2.42.
Perhaps another way to define this would be to use the word, evangelism. Many of you I am sure shiver when thinking of this. When we hear of evangelism we think of movies like Jesus Camp or other ways that include bold actions and scary pieces of paper that tell others how one is going to hell unless they turn or indeed they will burn. Yet, we do have the responsibility to evangelize or to put it as Jesus did in the great commission, “To go to all nations, making disciples of all people and baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” This was what Christ commissioned the disciples to do. It was what Christ instructed us to do.
Gospel, a word that we are pretty familiar with hearing and reading from it on Sundays and often when we gather together in settings like this. It is important to our understanding of this great end or, evangelism, to know what Gospel means. In English, the word gospel means, good news. The Greek word is euangelion, from which the English word, evangelism comes from. Gospel then means to tell others of the good news. What then is this good news? The story of Jesus the Christ, which includes his life, ministry, death and resurrection, is what makes up this good news. For indeed it is good news to hear that through Christ, God became human, allowing himself to be known to us. Christ, was not God in disguise, no he was one of us. “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” John 1.14.
Often times the Christian faith gets limited to what is to come of us in the end. Yet, we are told in the gospel that we will not know when this will be. We have the opportunity though to, “walk with God” through Christ as he breached the gap between God and people. This bridge, which was the death and resurrection of Jesus, allows us life eternity. Jesus came to the earth and fulfilled God’s promise of restoring the earth, key to how one can and potentially should proclaim the Gospel. However, this salvation is also here and now through the presence in life of the love of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. Salvation then is an ongoing journey. It is not a make a decision tonight and be done. Like the disciples three year commitment to following Christ, our salvation is an ongoing process too. Discipleship takes a lifetime. We then as people of God are to live out God’s story and be participants in the restoration of the world, demonstrated to us by Jesus himself.
Above all things we must realize that God is the creator and ruler of all living things. We come from him and abide in him. All the life of humankind has its being in the justice and love of God. With the aid and companionship of the Holy Spirit, the counselor that Jesus promised he would send to the disciples, leads us then back to evangelism. We as a youth group, as a church whole, have the responsibility to preach the gospel, the good news, which is salvation that comes through Christ both past, future and most importantly, now, to all humankind, our fellow brothers and sisters in the name of Christ to spread the love of God. Joseph Small says that, “The church’s clear proclamation of the gospel is a primary way that the church exhibits the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.
This first Great End—the proclamation of the gospel—is foundational to all that follows it.” Evangelism we must do no choice. How we do it, now there is a choice.
Let me begin this final piece on this great ends of the church with some quotes from St. Francis of Assisi:
“It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.”
“Lord, make me an instrument of they peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.”
“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words.”
St. Francis of Assisi gives evangelism its original meaning. Somewhere along after the Reformation, around 1820, some began to preach a message that would scare people into their “salvation”. We are familiar with the stereotypical street corner preacher who yells at you as you walk by. Telling you how worthless one is until they make this decision that will take all things such as pain and hurt away. A false proclamation and a religion that leaves people unfulfilled wondering where God is. This is not to say this sort of proclamation is bad or wrong, as long as it has a message of hope and redemption. One of the best ways one can show the way Christ has called them to a radical lifestyle, is to do just that, live the life of a radical for Jesus. That is, ministering to those whom our culture tells us we can’t be a part of: Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, offering water to the thirsty and welcoming the stranger.
Preach the gospel at all times, when necessary use words. Let your actions speak louder than your words. Be the Jesus-Freak we are called to be and go against the grain. Love them as a child of God, see them for who they really are and be who you really are, a beloved disciple of Christ, and the Holy Spirit shall do the rest. Chris Folmsbee in his book, A New Kind of Youth Ministry, puts it best when he says, “God invites us to recognize that the story of God is unfolding around us each day, and that we share in God’s mission by becoming agents of restoration. Recognizing our calling to fulfill the Great Commission is one thing. But recognizing that in doing so we become partners with God in his mission of restoring the world is so much more.”
May the peace of Christ be with you now and forever this day. May our youth think about the ways we evangelize and how this pillar of our church, this Great End, holds up our foundation for what we do. We are called to share the good news of Christ to all people. We can and we will, simply by dedicating ourselves to ministry and teachings of Jesus. Acts 2.42.
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