A continuation of our Sunday night series at Calvary Assembly of God on the 6 Streams of the Christian Life.
The Compassionate Life, which we learned about last week, is most complete and most effective when it is connected to the evangelical witness of the 
Gospel.
The Word- centered Life focuses on the proclamation of the good news of the gospel – it is a life that is founded upon the living Word of God American Dreamz dvdrip (Jesus), the written Word of God (Scripture), and the proclaimed Word of God.
As we live the Word-centered Life we will be answering the deep heart cry of people to see the good news lived and hear the good news proclaimed.
So first, What is the Gospel?
Gospel = good news
“the proclamation of the grace of God manifest and pledged in Christ”
It is the Good News…
- of redemption & reconciliation to God
- that Jesus has come and provided a way to God
- that is not just about going to heaven when we die, but about entering the Kingdom of God in our lives now – becoming a new creation now!
- that we have been invitated into the life of discipleship to Jesus
Jesus spoke of the his mission to bring the Good News:
- Mark 1:15 – “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
- Mark 16:15 – He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
- Luke 4:43 – But he said, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”
The good news is that Jesus has come to make a way for us human beings to have a reconciled relationship with God and that a new way of life is now available to us as we choose to become disciples of Jesus.
This is the gospel that has been proclaimed throughout the ages by disciples of Jesus. And one modern voice that we probably all recognize is Billy Graham.
Billy preached a simple message – this good news of Jesus’ redemption and invitation to new life.
We was capable of preaching a more “eloquent” message and early in his ministry he did. Until one time when he was speaking to a group of highly educated university students and he discovered his purpose….
“an evangelist is called to do one thing and one thing only: proclaim the Gospel”
Since then, Billy’s message has largely been unchanged – yet still effective. That is because the message is found in a Book that has remained unchanged. The Bible.
The Role of Scripture in the Word-Centered Life
The Word-Centered Life is obviously one that is centered on the written Word of God that we call the Bible.
Mad Money download This is because in the Bible we find the message of the Good News.
2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Scripture is above other writings, traditions, experiences, anything.
Scripture is our “standard for faith and practice”
The Word-centered life is one that is saturated in the Scriptures and shaped by the Good News Message of them.
The Word-Centered Life calls us to…
1. Make a decision to follow Jesus as his disciple. We must be careful though to not have a limited view of salvation; to see salvation not just as having to do with our final destiny but with our present life. Salvation has to do with making a commitment to Jesus to be his disciple in this life
2. Respond to the missionary mandate of Jesus as given to us in Matthew 28:19-20
The Church exists by mission as fire exists by burning – Emil Brunner
We must understand that we don’t have missionary efforts, our life is mission. Jesus calls his followers to be like “salt”, “light”, and “yeast”. All of these are penetrating words. And the Apostle Paul says that we are to be “ministers of reconciliation”
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 – All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
3. Biblical fidelity (faithfulness) We are called in the Word-Centered Life to have the Bible as our Authority for life. And we are called to see Christ as central to the Bible. We must be careful, however to not fall into a sort of “Bible Idolatry”. The Good News is not that we have the Bible, the Good News is Jesus himself.
4. Sound doctrine
Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:16 to “Watch your life and doctrine closely.” The Bible is our standard for doctrine and right belief. We must beware though to not become fixated on peripheral issues. A wise approach is summed up in the old saying, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things love”.
Practicing the Word-Centered Life Senseless psp
Two simple ways…
1. Get to know the Bible
- Read it consistently
- Immerse yourself
- Learn to Study
2. Get to know those around you.
- Our lives will preach Christ, and our words will confirm and make specific the message of our lives
The Word-centered Life is not just about reading the Bible, it is about living and sharing the Life and Message of the Good News of Jesus.
Discussion:
George Mueller said that the “vigor of our spiritual life is in direct proportion to the place we hold the Bible in our thoughts.” To what extent do you think this is true?
Why is it important to integrate this stream in with the other ones we have discussed so far (Prayer-filled, Virtuous, Spirit-empowered, Compassionate)?
Online Bonus:
Study Resources:
Online -
- biblegateway.com
- blueletterbible.org Everything Is Illuminated trailer
- biblos.com
- Bible reading plans
Several books that may be of help for study and witness
These teachings are developed further in the book Streams of Living Water: Celebrating the Great Traditions of Christian Faith by Richard Foster.
