The Gospel, the Whole Gospel and Nothing but the Gospel!
welcome
How has your understanding of spirituality changed since becoming a Christian? You may well by now have people in your group who are not Christians: if this is the case, ask them how their understanding of spirituality has changed whilst they have been a member.
worship
The week before this session, ask everybody to come prepared to contribute something to this meeting (whether it be a bible verse, a song, or whatever) as their expression of worship.
Use these things now.
word
Jesus’ death speaks life into every area of our lives. It is a “whole” gospel. The restoration, salvation and freedom from sin that we can know as individuals can also be known where there is corporate sin and injustice, and where people are kept poor by unjust and oppressive structures. Let us consider what activities the church is engaged in and what we can do to keep the gospel “whole”.
read
Isaiah 42:1-4, Micah 6: 8.
The two key words that are translated as justice in the Hebrew scriptures are “mishpat”: and “sedeqahls”. There is no literal translation into English but the meaning of biblical justice is “MAKING THINGS RIGHT”. To do justice is to make things right wherever they are not right.
group work
On a large piece of paper, put the heading ie “MAKING THINGS RIGHT”. Then draw a large circle on the paper and split it into four sections, labelled as follows:
- Between Individual Relationships
- Between People and the Environment
- Between Groups and Structures in Society
- Between Individuals and God (personal salvation & wholeness)
Think about activities that you know of where the church is actively engaged in “making things right”.
These could be national or international organisations, initiatives, or people, or the work of local churches and local Christians. As you come up with ideas, place them in what you think is the most appropriate section. Eg. Alpha could go in the “Making things right between individuals and God” section. Here are some more ideas to get you going:
- Tear Fund
- Christian Trade Unions
- Care for Life Pregnancy
- Counselling
- Church Marriage Preparation/ Counselling
- Martin Luther King
- LICC
- Hope for Justice
- Big Church Day Out
read the following scriptures aloud and then discuss your “findings” and pray, using the trigger questions below:
- Amos 5:21-24
- Isaiah 58:3-10
- Matthew 23: 23
- Matthew 5:14-16
Was there an imbalance between the four sections of your circle? Which section was it hardest to think of examples for?
Do you think the individualism of our culture affects the way we outwork the gospel?
How do you think God feels about His people when they focus just on individualised faith at the neglect of dealing with other justice issues?
What is the impact on the church's reputation when we (a) ignore issues of social justice (b) take action on issues of social justice?
What is the impact on our non-Christian friends when we start living out the ‘whole gospel’.
pray for God’s forgiveness for our apathy and to empower each other to get on and live the life.
witness
Brainstorm as a group to discover a way in which you as a small group can combat issues of injustice.
For example:
Research an area of injustice (global, national, local to your community or university) and write an article for the student union magazine / church magazine Eg. the discrimination faced by Christians in persecuted nations (see Open Doors UK for more information), the barriers to poorer people getting to university.
