What Is the Gospel?

According to Ross, the goal of student ministry is students who spend a lifetime embracing the full supremacy of the Son, responding to His majesty in all of life, inviting Christ to live His life through them, and joining Him in making disciples among all peoples. Ross notes, ?Student ministry that does not matter for a lifetime does not matter much.?

For the past 50 years, most churches approached student ministry as:

1.       students primarily relating to one youth leader,

2.       students experiencing church almost exclusively with people their same age, and

3.       parents outsourcing the spiritual leadership of their teenagers to the youth leader.

The result? The great majority of youth who were faithful to youth programs now have walked away from the faith. Now there is broad agreement that this approach to student ministry has been a failed experiment.

Student Ministry and the Supremacy of Christ proposes a model of student ministry that is far different from the past. This approach calls for:

1.       immersing teenagers in life-on-life, transformational relationships with several godly adults,

2.       drawing teenagers into a web of rich, intergenerational relationships in the congregation, and

3.       equipping and supporting parents as those parents take first place in spiritual leadership.

It is abundantly clear that God has created the universe, a natural revelation that can be observed in the everyday world around us. But the universe was made for a reason, and in the Bible we find the nature and purpose of creation. 

In this new Gospel Coalition booklet Andrew Davis summarizes the Bible’s teaching on creation. He traces the creation of the world and humanity through the first two chapters of Genesis, emphasizing that all things, especially humans, were created to display God’s glory. He moves into the tragic consequences of the Fall and points us to the glorious truth of the eventual New Creation. Perfect for distribution to those wrestling with questions of their purpose in this world. 

Creation offers a thoughtful explanation for point 3 of the Gospel Coalition’s confessional statement. The Gospel Coalition is an evangelical renewal movement dedicated to a scripture-based reformation of ministry practices. 

The church is reeling because of the relativistic mindset of our world. Up until a generation ago, most adults had similar moral intuitions whether they were believers or not, and the core of protestant orthodoxy was still intact. Yet, in the wake of postmodernity and secularism, all that has changed.

Convinced that gospel-centered ministry is utterly imperative for such a time as this, contributors D. A. Carson, Tim Keller, Kevin DeYoung, Philip Ryken, Bryan Chapell, Thabiti Anyabwile, Richard Phillips, Sam Storms, and others defend the gospel and traditional doctrines.

To strengthen the center of confessional evangelicalism, this volume collects the 14 booklets in the Gospel Coalition Booklet series. In addition, this volume includes a preface, the Gospel Coalition’s foundational documents, and indexes. The editors and contributors represent a wide range of denominations and are united not only by belief in the biblical gospel, but also by the conviction that ministry today must be increasingly Gospel centered.

From eternity past God has had a perfect plan for the world. The Fall and entrance of sin into the world did not surprise him, nor did it detract from his plan. All things have been sovereignly worked to this end. What exactly is this plan, and where do we learn about it?

In this new booklet from the Gospel Coalition, Colin Smith demonstrates that God’s plan is shown in the Bible and centers around his promise to bring sinners to eternal life, through Christ, for his glory. The Old Testament tells the story of the making of the promise, which is fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God’s people, the church, spread the good news of this promise to the world, and the Holy Spirit is given to believers as the seal of the promise. 

The Plan offers a thoughtful explanation for point 5 of the Gospel Coalition’s confessional statement. The Gospel Coalition is an evangelical renewal movement dedicated to a scripture-based reformation of ministry practices. 

What separates Christianity from other religions? What makes the Christian message distinctly Christian? In this new booklet from the Gospel Coalition, pastor Sandy Willson demonstrates that Christianity is most fundamentally Christ’s redemption. 

Willson traces the life of Christ, noting his humility before the cross and his exaltation after his death. He shows how Christ redeems us by accomplishing what we could not do. As our representative and substitute, Christ restores us to fellowship with God. This booklet is a helpful resource for those wanting to understand why the Christian message is distinctive. 

Christ’s Redemption offers a thoughtful explanation for point 7 of the Gospel Coalition’s Confessional Statement. The coalition is an evangelical renewal movement dedicated to a Scripture-based reformation of ministry practices. 

The church of Jesus Christ is the locus of God’s plan for creation—a plan to reclaim all things for his glory. In The Church: God’s New People, Savage shows how it is within this corporate body that the larger dimensions of God’s plan for creation receive breathtaking definition.

This booklet examines hallmarks of the universal church, including unity and love toward God and man, giving practical shape to each characteristic as it is manifested in the local body. Because the church is the corporate dwelling place of God’s Spirit and his continuing witness to the world, Savage contends that it loves the world most faithfully when it embodies what the world does not have. The church’s radiant love as the body of Christ is the only sure antidote to a postmodern world mired in sin and despair and has the power to actually transform all that it touches.

The Church: God’s New People is a Gospel Coalition booklet designed to offer a thoughtful explanation for point 11 of the ministry’s confessional statement. The Gospel Coalition is an evangelical renewal movement dedicated to a Scripture-based reformation of ministry practices.