Mission Emphasis Month: Week 1 with Dr Carl Ellis

Sunday we begin Mission Emphasis Month. For the next four weeks we’ll continue to hear from our missionaries, and we’ll hear from guest preachers who will challenge us with our engagement in gospel mission. Church is an interesting organism! Typically, believers join a church that is close in proximity to their home and that shares their beliefs in scripture. Over time, the church takes on the culture of its members. The longer it exists the more that culture is cemented. Before long, the local church has taken on the culture of its members and created institutional and cultural barriers to those God is drawing to himself.

If we’re going to reach out community, especially during this period of migration, the local church needs to examine its culture and practice, considering if it has added to the gospel. Without knowing it, the Galatian church, with a large Jewish membership, had combined their Jewishness with their Christianity. Gentiles were expected to adopt Jewish customs and laws in order to “fit in” to the congregation. It got so bad, Gentiles were being told that they weren’t right with God if they didn’t convert. The Apostle Paul plays no games: this is another gospel, which is no gospel at all.

This week, Dr. Carl Ellis will challenge us to do some self-examination, considering the cultural and institutional barriers we might have created. Join us as we seek to be faithful to our gospel mission.