Preaching the Gospel

1 Thessalonians 1:8 (ESV) For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.

As a church it is important to be and be known as a church that preaches the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately too many churches today spend so much of their time, energy and resources trying not to be too "churchy". They want to be a "cool" and "hip" place to go where people don't feel like they are in church (personally I don't think it's horrible for churches to do this but I do feel they soon lose their identity as a place of worship when they focus too much on trying to be relevant). However there are also some churches who don't want to be too preachy because it will not attract people. Or some go so far as to eliminate words like sin, salvation and Hell because this is too archaic or "not relevant" to this post modern society. It's funny how we as humans have complicated the Church institution.

I think Jesus' plan for the Church was/is much simpler than what we have made it. We often think of the churh as the building and forget that the Church is not necessarily a physical place but a gathering of fellow believers who set out to live and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know for the church I pastor, I would rather be known as the body of believers who "sound forth the word of the Lord" instead of being a church with a nice building and "keeping up with the times all the while neglecting the Word of God".

I should note that I am not saying if you have a nice church and relevant worship you aren't preaching the Gospel because it's possible to be both. What I am saying is as soon as we start focusing on our "worship style" and neglect preaching the life changing Gospel message of Jesus Christ we will become a Church that has no impact on society. We will become a Christian club designed to make our patrons happy.

Random thought: Preach the Gospel, it never goes out of style.