Here at Venture Church Network, we want to take the next few months to evaluate our values and ask ourselves if we’re clinging to them. It makes sense that we start with our first value: gospel driven. After all, defending the true gospel was the reason this network started decades ago. 

Does the Gospel Shape Your Message?

What is the message your church hears on Sunday, or your team, or your neighbors? Is it that Christianity is about being nice? Is it that your religion is a lifestyle? Or is that that you were once a sinner destined for the wrath of God, only to be saved by His loving mercy and grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that this good news can apply to anyone who repents and believes? The gospel needs to shape our message to the world and even to God’s sheep because it is the gospel alone that changes lives. 

Does the Gospel Shape Your Life?

How do we share this message? Door knocking, VBS, summer camp, bus ministry, community outreach, social media, live streaming … the list goes on and on. Those are all methods with the same root: the way we share the good news of Jesus Christ is by having the gospel shape our life. 

Humbleness

2 Timothy 2:24-25, “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,”

God’s word says that the gospel must be shared humbly, gently, and patiently. 

Gratefulness

Colossians 2:13, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,”

The reason we should be humble when sharing the gospel is because we too were dead in our sins, only made alive in Christ. 

Transformation

Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

The gospel doesn’t just change your life when you receive salvation. It transforms the way we think, act, and love every single day. 

Is the Gospel Transforming Your Community? 

If everything our churches do constantly engages the gospel, how will that shape our communities? We’ll think less in numbers and more in souls. We’ll be intentional about every festival, movie night, and bible study we put on. Our small groups and Sunday school classes won’t just be something we do because that’s what a lot of other churches do. In fact, we’ll be different from other churches, even the ones in our own network. We’ll be different because  our communities are different, and we’ll rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us in doing what’s best for our church. But what we’ll have in common is that we’ll be driven by the true gospel, and that will always have the most salvific impact on our community. 

We are gospel driven. We are letting the gospel shape our message. We are letting the gospel shape our lives. We are engaging the gospel that it might transform communities. 

God bless you, 

David Whitaker, President