The Evangel Dean Basic Training Resource Handbook

264 • T HE E VANGEL D EAN B ASIC T RAINING R ESOURCE H ANDBOOK

S EMINAR The Evangel Strategy Dr. Hank Voss

How is it possible that the gospel should be credible, that people should come to believe that the power which has the last word in human affairs is represented by a man hanging on a cross? I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it.

~ Lesslie Newbigin. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society . p. 227

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. ~ Psalm 84.10

I. The Beauty of the Church

A. The Church is the place where the Lord has chosen to display his beauty

1. Isaiah 61 and Crowns of Beauty

2. “Jerusalem” and the Zion songs (Pss. 46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122)

3. The bride of Christ and the mystery of the Church (Eph. 5)

4. Like Israel in the Old Testament, the Church does not always display Christ’s beauty.

B. A healthy Church that displays Christ’s beauty is the best way to bring the Evangel (Gospel) to the cities of the world.

1. “The Congregation as hermeneutic of the Gospel” (Lesslie Newbigin)

2. The moon’s beauty lies in its reflection of the sun’s light.