The Attractive Gospel

 

 

1.                  What I don’t mean by this title

a.                   That the gospel will always please everybody

b.                  That when it doesn’t its appearance should be altered

 

2.                  Why I am using the phrase

a.                   A statement to me: “...it just comes up as I go about my business.”

b.                  A verse from Philippians: “...holding out the word of life...”

 

3.                  Philippians: the right place to look

a.                   First stop after the Macedonian call

b.                  Quite a variety of characters

c.                   Their continuing partnership in the gospel

 

4.                  Here’s the problem

a.                   No vision appears to call us for help

b.                  How to get the gospel into the community?

 

5.                  Another clue from Philippi: what people need

a.                   A worshiper of God at a place of prayer

b.                  A slave girl, oppressed and used

c.                   A man asking what he had to do

 

6.                  Recognizing calls for the gospel: Philippians

a.                   Making sense of circumstances (1:6, 12-18; 4:4-13)

b.                  Facing issues of mortality (1:19-26)

c.                   Searching for purpose (1:27-28; 2:17; 3:7-16)

d.                  Interest in God at work in the lives of people (2:12-16)

e.                   Does anyone really care?  (2:19-30)

f.                   Building healthy relationships (1:27; 2:1-4; 4:2-3)

g.                  Peace in coping with the demands of life (4:4-13)

 

7.                  What you need to know

a.                   Why you became a Christian

b.                  How you became a Christian

c.                   What being a Christian has meant to you