Gospel In Life – How Grace Changes Everything
Interested in how the Good News of Jesus Christ Changes Everything?
Here’s how.
If you’re interested, let us know … we go over this material as enough people gather for a class.
Here is what the 8 sessions cover…
SESSION 1: CITY THE WORLD THAT IS
In Session 1 we learn that we are not just to seek prosperity and peace in the city where we live, but we are to seek prosperity and peace for the city, as well. We see the reasons that cities were created, how they have fallen under sin, and how we can be a part of redeeming them—how we are a part of God’s story to redeem and restore the whole world for his glory.
SESSION 2: HEART THREE WAYS TO LIVE
In Session 2 we look at the parable of the two lost sons in Luke 15. We conclude that there are three ways to relate to God—irreligion, religion, and the gospel. The irreligious don’t repent at all. The religious only repent of sins. But Christians repent of both their sins and the reasons for their righteousness. The gospel is something entirely different from religion and irreligion. Only the gospel has the power to transform our hearts.
SESSION 3: IDOLATRY THE SIN BENEATH THE SIN
In Session 3 we look at idolatry. Nothing is to be more fundamental than God to our hearts—to our happiness, meaning in life, and identity. We see, however, that we easily create idols. An idol is anything besides Jesus Christ that we feel we must have to be happy, anything that is more important to our heart than God, anything that is enslaving our heart through inordinate desires. To remove idols we need to make Christ our over-mastering positive passion.
SESSION 4: COMMUNITY THE CONTEXT FOR CHANGE
In Session 4 we see that the church is “a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9). It is a new humanity, a new community of people under the Lordship of Christ. We need to create a great community because that is, according to Jesus in John 17, a crucial way to show the world that we are truly followers of Christ. In fact, we see that we will not know God, change deeply, or win the world apart from community.
SESSION 5: WITNESS AN ALTERNATE CITY
In Session 5 we see that our community is to be a “city on a hill” (Matt. 5:14). The world must see in our community what life can be in all its beauty under the kingship of Jesus Christ. We also see that it is important to have gospel-speaking, neighborhood-loving, community-transformed congregations everywhere. Only the gospel enables us to build an alternate city together.
SESSION 6: WORK CULTIVATING THE GARDEN
In Session 6 we see the gospel is radically opposed to the assumptions of the world, but since we live in the world, we have embraced many of the world’s assumptions. Christian living is therefore a continual process of bringing everything in line with the truth of the gospel. It means that all of our vocations, gifts, and skills are to be mobilized in light of the mission of the kingdom of Christ. We must take the gospel with us to work.
SESSION7: JUSTICE A PEOPLE FOR OTHERS
In Session 7 we see again that we need to think out the implications of the gospel in every area of our lives. We are to bring shalom to the world. We need to do justice. We are to be engaged with our neighbors and with the poor and marginalized.
SESSION 8: ETERNITY THE WORLD THAT IS TO COME
Finally in Session 8 we are given a vision of the New Jerusalem. This vision of the world to come should drive us to action—to continually seek to transform our hearts, community, and the world.
What happens during a study? Assuming a weekly format, each lesson goes something like this:
EACH WEEK’S STUDY CONSISTS OF:
10 Minutes………………………..A summary of the previous session
20 Minutes………………………..A Bible study
10 Minutes………………………..A DVD presentation by Timothy Keller
25 Minutes………………………..Discussion questions about the DVD
5 Minutes………………………….An introduction to next session’s home study
Note: If you are interested in the course and would like to support Mission Lawrence, you can use this link to purchase your copy of the study guide for “The Gospel In Life – How Grace Changes Everything”. It saves us the cost of materials and your purchase through our link helps support this ministry.
