Overflow of Grace. Barnacles of Junk.

If (1) Gospel Centrality is the core of what makes a church, then what flows out of that? How would a deep and explosive grasp of the gospel change other things?

2. Gospel Community. Union with Jesus in turn unites Christians into a new community.
3. Gospel Mission. The redemptive work of God continues to flow into the world.
4. Gospel Transformation. The really broken part of us is a failure to know and apply God's grace; fixing that is the first step toward fixing our lives.
5. Gospel Restoration. The redeeming work of God is not only bodiless souls, but he is making all things new as he cares for his whole creation., for justice and for the poor.
6. Gospel Calling. The daily work and creativity of God's people is retaken for the good of God's purposes in the world.

More detail Grace Church's core values.

These items aren't a summary of theology, or a list of activities that Christians ought to do. But they comprise the heart of what it means to be church. I'm convinced that our church needs to make sure that these core attributes are vitally experienced. Everything else is extraneous, perhaps even blocking, to the core.

How does a church prevent the free-flowing freedom of the gospel from getting stuck? Too often, the good news is poured into a bottle, capped off and tossed into the bottom of the lake. It grows crusty barnacles -- the junk that Christians busily scurry about doing instead of living off the gospel of grace.