Jesus left us with a mission, we call it the Great Commission and it’s what Jesus expects us to be doing while we’re waiting for His return. We’re not to put our feet up cause we’re good with God, we’re to roll our sleeves up cause lots of people aren’t. He didn’t give us The Gospel so we would be saved but so every person possible might be.

Understanding what The Gospel is not only helps us share it, but also helps us adjust our lives to actually follow it. The Gospel does not ask us to make some mental acknowledgment to who Jesus is, it requires our allegiance. Faith, lived out daily as we repent, believe and follow the King.

We’ve been talking about The Gospel in bits and parts over the previous 4 weeks. This Sunday we lay it out, what it is, where we get it and how Jesus said we’re to respond to it. Next Sunday we’ll look at what it means for us personally and then we’ll wrap up the series with what it means for us publicly.

...where we can live our real lives through the Holy Spirit’s power

Jesus died and rose again to make a way for us to once again experience a relationship with God the Father like we had in the garden - in the beginning. Everything God has done, even through Noah and the flood, has been to move us back into relationship with Himself. Jesus is the Key to that relationship.

...died in our place and rose as our defender.
Jesus didn’t die to save us just to come back and slay us. He is not just our Savior, He’s our defender., our advocate. He’s the King who died and rose again so that HIs Kingdom will never end and a King whose Kingdom never ends will always be there to fight for those who are His.

What is The Gospel and how does it help to shape our understanding of who Jesus is, who we are and what we're supposed to do about? As we kick off this new series we begin with the most important piece of information - Jesus is the King.

After Jesus' death His followers gave up. If the one you believe to be the Messiah dies what's the point of continuing? Either you were duped or you're just dumb, neither of those was appealing. Then Jesus appears to two of them on the road to Emmaus and their questions quickly turn into conviction.

This Sunday we'll be looking at what is called The Way of Suffering, or the Via Dolorosa. It's the path Jesus took with the cross to His crucifixion and it will show us not just how much cared and endured, but how we are to carry our own burdens.

We're gonna back up a few hours this week and take a look at the events that happened during the Passover meal Jesus shared with His disciples before they went out to the olive press to pray. This meal and time was filled with uncertainty for the disciples but it gives us hope that even in our times of uncertainty we have be certain God is with us.