Garden City Values – Gospel

Intro: One of the most important life skills/growth/wisdom – First things first. – Arranging your life where the most important things come first/priority – time, energy, focus. When you get things out of order, everything is off. Nothing is right. Kids – Out of order – fun over safety. My loves: God, Grace, Family. Other loves: Work, Guitars, Food, Sports, Friends. – Good things. But what if my love of these were in the wrong order? (Accused. Neglectful. Irresponsible. Dumb.) My life would be a disaster.

Our loves must be ordered the right way according to God’s good design for flourishing. 

As we start 2026…4wek DNA Series – Who are we as a church? What determines how we operate as a church? What are our guiding principles/beliefs/motivations. – Values. – What they are and why. Why they matter – We’re not a church built around a pastor or a worship team. We are a church that is unified around the same mission, vision, values – So regardless of who is in leadership – the church essentially remains the same. The form may look different but the foundation, the DNA, never will.

Value 1: Gospel – We prioritize the gospel above all.

Context: What do we mean when we use the word gospel? Are we talking about a genre of music? Or the first four books of the NT? They’re the gospels, right? Yes, but more specifically – 1. “Gospel” – Good News.

Text: 1 Cor. 15 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

First – The gospel – 1Cor. 15  3 … that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. That’s the gospel. Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection in accordance with the scriptures.

Why is the gospel good news? Because we were all in a bad situation…Dead in our sin. In brokenness and death. Separated from God. Without hope.

And the gospel – the good news – There’s a way back to God – to life, to joy through Jesus. This is the only news that qualifies as good if we truly understood the situation we were in apart from him. (Death bed – heart transplant – Moments to live – You won the lottery! Who cares? Only one thing you’d want to hear at that moment – We found a way to save you.)

Response – Overwhelming joy. Gratitude. Worship. Love. If not – Whatever – You don’t understand the wickedness of your sin or the love of Jesus towards you in his saving work for you.

2. The gospel is of first importance. Think about all the really important things going on in the early church…What do they believe and how will they organize as churches – A lot of 1.Cor is Paul addressing all these issues in the church.

Spiritual Gifts

Church Discipline

Worship Service

Holy Spirit

Church Unity

Roles in the Church

Baptism and Lord’s Supper

You see all kinds of important things discussed in the New Testament – that’s why they are in the Bible. And though they’re all really important things…The gospel sits alone at the top. Informs everything else.

Not a matter of preference – Scripture itself says – First importance. (Not everything can be first or the most important – Or then nothing is important. Of all the women in my life – mom, daughters, sisters, close friends, – my wife, Grace, is in a category by herself. She’s the most important. – Put all my other relationships in their right place.)

The Gospel Broken Down: 

-Death – Jesus died the death I deserved for my sin. Substitution. Jesus in my place. And I in his. The righteous for the unrighteous. The innocent for the guilty. The Son for the prodigal. 

-Burial – 3 Days. Jesus’ body in darkness – where we used to be.

-Resurrection – Appeared. Defeated sin and death. Victory. Jesus has the final word. Jesus’ resurrection – our resurrection. The first of many.

-According to the Scriptures – Not a random thought/idea God made up along the way. Before the foundations of the earth – God knew. Promised from the beginning – Ge. 3. Because from Gen – Gospels – Clear that we could not save ourselves. We had the Law, prophets, kings, the Promised Land, and God’s presence in the ark and Temple. We needed something more. Someone who could take our dead hearts and make them alive. – So Jesus came as planned, as promised.

Gospel-Centered = Jesus-Centered. Why? Trinity – 1 God, 3 Persons. Father, Son, Spirit. How do they operate/exist/be within the Godhead. In eternal, perfect, loving relationship. No one is greater/more important than the other. Different roles. The Father glorifies the Son, Jesus, (which glorifies the Father) and the Spirit testifies of the Son – and magnifies his love and work in our hearts. (Jn.17, 15)

Notice – The gospel isn’t primarily about us/man. How we feel. Our experience. Our thoughts. It is primarily about God. The gospel, though it involves us, is not primarily about us. The origin, the middle, the end – All God. His person, his love, his loving work to save us. 

Why we don’t elevate the saints of the Bible. They all were flawed, broken. They’re not models for us to follow but signposts that point to our need for Jesus. So after Heb. 11 – Heb. 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And why we don’t talk about ourselves and how we feel about God that much here either. Not that our feelings are not important. God gave us feelings and emotions for a reason. But we are not driven by them. They don’t dictate who God is or how God feels about us. Rather, our feelings should follow who God is and has revealed himself to be and how he feels about us through the gospel. Align to the gospel.

“Just follow your heart” or “Do what feels right/good” – ME centered

“I feel like God doesn’t love me” Situations/Circumstances/

“I feel like God isn’t near” Feelings are greater and prioritized

“I feel like God doesn’t care” above and in contradiction to what 

“I feel like God has forgotten” God has said to be true

The gospel is true regardless of our feelings, emotions, opinions, or life circumstances. And the gospel – God loves you. He came near to you. He came to save you. He came to be with you and to make a way for you to be with him forever. – First – in our lives and in the church.

3. The gospel is the only power for salvation for all peoples. 

Rom. 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

Acts 4:12 – And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

For all peoples in all places regardless of ethnicity, culture, race, age, gender, socio-economic status, education level, or anything else. – Doesn’t matter if you were “ born into a different religion” or your ethnic people follow the same religion or your family all believes in something different. There are no exceptions. All means all. Because there is only one Creator, one true God, against whom all of mankind has sinned against.

Ro. 1 – Without excuse. God has clearly revealed himself in his creation and in the gospel. This means – The gospel is exclusive. There is NO other way. This means – No other religion is right. Every other is wrong. False. Not all the same. They don’t all lead to the same place. And it’s not loving to tell people – You have your truth and I have my truth. There is only one truth.

There is no other message, no other name, by which man can be saved. Jesus in the Garden – If there was any other way, God would have done it. But there wasn’t. We couldn’t save ourselves whether through good works – by becoming good people – or another religion.

Religion – Do. Do enough good and maybe you can save yourself.

Gospel – Done. We were dead in our sins. No hope. No chance. But – Jesus came and did everything necessary to save you.

Jonathan Edwards – “You contribute nothing to your salvation except your sin except the sin that made it necessary.”

Well, what if God has given more revelations since Jesus? – Gal. 1 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Think about how many other world religions were born out of some version of – “God told me” or “An angel told me”. We shouldn’t necessarily doubt that – That demons have presented themselves as angels of the light to deceive people into a message other than the gospel. We know those kinds of things are going to happen. We should expect them to happen. – We’ve been warned. 

It’s always been the scheme of the enemy. – To make us doubt and to believe something other than what God has spoken to us. Ge. 3 – Satan – Did God really say? God – Where are you? – Who told you, you were naked? (Who else have you been listening to?) Deceiver/Liar/Accuser – Crafty. Speaking falsities that are different from God’s good, perfect, loving words to us.

Again – There is nothing greater, nothing coming that’s better, the gospel is it. The only hope/power for salvation for all people.

4. The gospel is the message of the Great Commission and it compels us to live sent. In each of the Gospels and in Acts – 

Mt.28 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Mk.16 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 1 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Sent to make disciples – Of what? With what message? Sent to make disciples of Jesus with the gospel. We don’t preach ourselves or any other message – but Christ crucified. – Those are the last words of Jesus, his assignment for us, our mission, before he ascended into heaven.

The gospel compels us to go, to live sent lives. Jesus commands it – For all who’ve trusted in him and experienced his love and forgiveness, joy, and life – to share it with others. (Share good/exciting things. FOOD.) – Because we’ve experienced how good Jesus is. Because there’s no other way. And because he’s worthy – of every nation, tribe, and tongue.

We are God’s chosen method to proclaim the gospel to the world. IDKY. And the degree to which we obey this command is a reflection of our love for Jesus and understanding of what he’s done for us.

5. The gospel enables us to follow the Greatest Commandments.

Jesus tested – What’s the greatest/most important commandment. – Lots of laws in addition to the 10 Commandments. ~613.

First – Love God – With all your heart, soul, mind, and strength

Second – Love Each Other – Neighbor as self. You do these two, and you’ve got the rest. The two are intimately connected and cannot be separated. You can’t have one without the other. – Loves God but hates his brother – Liar. (1 Jn.)

But the root problem – We chose to reject God’s love for us and we chose to love ourselves first. And with our dead hearts – we could never love God (or others) the way we are supposed to. But the gospel gives us new hearts to love God and others again – restored relationships.

The gospel is for nonbelievers and believers. PJD – The gospel is not just the diving board into Christianity, it is the pool. 

We never grow beyond the gospel. Any growth, any issue, any problem – Always addressed by the gospel. That’s the root issue. A misunderstanding, a lack of understanding, a misapplication or lack of application of the gospel.

Love – Love one another as I have loved you. John 13

Serving – Even Jesus came not to be served but to serve. Mk. 10:45

Forgiveness – Eph. 4:32 – Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. 

Generosity – Jesus, though he was rich, became poor for our sake. 2 Cor. 8:9

Patience – God is slow to anger and patient, delaying his coming so none should perish. 2Pe. 3

Humility – We should consider one another and their needs as more significant than our own just as Christ humbled himself for us. Phil. 2

Suffering – We have a high priest who is able to empathize in our weaknesses – He took on flesh and was tempted in every way. Heb. 4. He suffered for our sake. Isa. 53. Joy. Endurance. Light and momentary.

Worry – Don’t worry about tomorrow because God loves you and will provide for you all that you need in Christ. Mt. 6

Burden/Anxiety – Cast your anxieties on him because he cares for you. 1 Pe. 5:7

Loneliness – I love you. I’m with you. I will never leave nor forsake you. Mt. 28, Heb. 13:5

Marriage – As Christ loved the church and laid down his life for her. Eph. 5

And we can keep going…The point is – There is no area of life the gospel is not the primary impacting power. It’s for all of life. To help you know God’s love for you and to love God and others. GTG.

1. The Gospel – Good News.

2. The gospel is of first importance.

3. The gospel is the only power for salvation for all peoples.

4. The gospel is the message of the Great Commission and it compels us to live sent.

5. The gospel enables us to love God and others (Greatest Commandments).

Value 1: Gospel – We prioritize the gospel above all. So what does this mean for us as a church? Gospel will always be our priority above all else and at the center of everything we do.

All other issues are secondary issues. All of our preferences are tertiary issues at best. What we can hold loosely, we will. What we can agree to disagree on and still be in fellowship in one church, we will. But the gospel is not one of those. It’s a non-negotiable.

-The message will always present the gospel. (I have lots of opinions that I’d love to share. I think they’re really good. And I think I’m right alot. – Just ask my wife. But that’s not what you need. You need the gospel.)

-The center of our worship/singing – gospel. (Not our emotions/feelings.)

–Communion – We are going to celebrate the Lord’s Supper together more this year as we remember Jesus’ work for us.

-All of our discipleship ministries.

If this ever changes – It will never be while I’m here, while Ps. Eric, and the elders are here – but if we all get kicked out or sent to other places and some other leaders try to come in and try to change this – kick them out immediately without apology.

1st Floor to Ground Floor – Almost exactly a year from when we moved from 1 to G. Why did we make the move? It was cheaper. More convenient – No set up/tear down. More intimate. – To make room for the growing number of people coming to the church. – I don’t care about numbers other than the fact that people are hearing the gospel for salvation and being discipled in the gospel when they come. So we had to make room… Why…

2 Services – Kids and Adults. We are out of room. – We have to do something. Right now, the only option is to turn people away. And that’s not something we should be willing to do.

-Auditorium – People staring at the big beautiful column. Not a good experience for them. I’m not a good enough preacher to hold their attention. We need to remove that barrier. 

-Kids – Not childcare. Not babysitting. We are getting the gospel in them from a young age – To love Jesus, his church, and his mission. Our children are our first mission field. What is happening upstairs on the 7th floor is just as important in getting the gospel out as what we are doing in here.

The gospel is offensive. Nothing else should be. We should not make it hard or put any barriers of any kind for people to hear or receive the gospel. Full room – Great for people who already have a seat. But what does it communicate to newcomers and guests – There’s no room for you here. That’s unacceptable if we can do something about it.

Prioritizing the gospel – Lay down our own comforts and preferences – If I had a purely personal preference – What would I do? Would I want to do services? Not really? Cause I’d love to go home and take a Sunday afternoon nap. I feel like no Sunday is ever complete without a good nap. – More work. Preach 2x. Here longer.

BUT – If it means more people will hear the gospel. 100% that’s what I want to do. I prioritize the gospel above my own desires. It’s that important – It always comes first. Worth it. – I can’t think about me and my comforts first when it comes to people having access to the gospel…

Why my family moved here to KL. I’ve shared this before – We loved our lives in the US. My wife had a great job, I had a great job at my sending church, the Summit. We had a beautiful house in the suburbs with a little bit of land, some woods and a creek in the back yard and a cul-de-sac in the front. We had a great community. Everything was good. Nothing was missing. And it would have been great to stay there for the rest of our lives.

BUT Released and Sent. Access to the gospel. – 2 Services – Help.

Why Church Planting – Garden City will not effectively reach all of KL. I wish we could. But we won’t. So we will plant churches – international churches, non-English speaking churches, and we will send out our members, we will give generously of the resources we have both material and money to support in all the ways we can.

Why? Does it help Garden City? Not really. Not if our goal is to make Garden City the biggest it can be. But that’s not our priority. Our priority is the gospel – and that every person has the opportunity to hear and believe.

The gospel is good news for all people – not just for nonbelievers. It is for all people at all times. And if we get this, we have everything. Gospel – The love of God came for us. Pursued us. Jesus, out of no obligation to us, laid down his life for us to save us from our sin and death and to restore us back to God, to eternal life with him.

Jesus is the cornerstone. Jesus is the capstone. All the Scriptures testify about him. 

(Believer:) Growing in maturity in Jesus is growing in the gospel. Your understanding, love, faithfulness, and obedience to the gospel. Applying it to every aspect of your life. It’s that simple. The gospel power working in and through you. Come back to again and again.

The gospel demands a response. You cannot be neutral/passive/indecisive. Believe or reject. Those are the only two choices. There is nothing left for you but you believe. Receive the free gift of Jesus.