Manifesting the Gospel in the Mess

Introduction 

   The only problem with churches … 

   The Courage of an Elder 

The Mess Explained 

Exclusivity: The Internal Threat to the Gospel (vv. 10-11, 14-15)

• “Religious” Windbags  

• Spiritual Fairytales & the Commands of Men    

Accommodation: The External Threat to the Gospel (v. 12, 13)

• Liars, Beasts & Bellies  

• Confronting the Idols: The Importance of NOT Fitting In    

The Mess Confronted 

The Weapons of our Warfare: The Faith and the Truth (vv. 13, 14)

Hope in the Mess   

 What God Has Joined Together: Life and Doctrine (v. 16)

• “Un-saying”   

• The Word Incarnate: Jesus Entered the Mess to Redeem the Mess   

Community Meditation

• What factors make it so easy for a church community to become exclusive? What would it look like for your community to embrace the call to be radically inclusive?
• In what ways do you think the church in America is negatively impacted by an impulse to accommodate the surrounding culture? What cultural trends do you think have had the largest negative influence on the church in our day?
• Which is harder for you: to reach out to others who are not naturally part of your “team” or to maintain a solid foundation in the midst of cultural pressure? In other words, do you tend more toward exclusivity or accommodation?
• What part of your professed faith do you most often find yourself “unsaying” by your life and actions?
• Read John 1:14 What do you think it means that Jesus came full of grace and truth? How might this inform our own understanding of how to walk faithfully in the mess?