Many of us are familiar with the work of The Gospel Coalition (TGC), a network of likeminded churches and church leaders promoting gospel-centered ministry formed by D.A. Carson and Tim Keller in 2007. Three founding documents explain well the heart of the coalition’s work: A preamble, a confessional statement and a theological vision for ministry. In the preamble, entitled, “The Gospel for All of Life,” we find this helpful summary the coalition’s aim:

We are a fellowship of evangelical churches deeply committed to renewing our faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures.

…Our desire is to serve the church we love by inviting all of our brothers and sisters to join us in an effort to renew the contemporary church in the ancient gospel of Christ so that we truly speak and live for him in a way that clearly communicates to our age.

At Desert Springs Church, this is our desire as well.

The month of August brings to Desert Springs Church three new connections with TGC. First, we are listed on TGC’s “Church Directory,” a directory of churches that embrace the coalition’s foundational documents. We are pleased to announce, as well, that our pastor-teacher, Ryan Kelly, has been appointed as a Gospel Coalition council member. In addition, we are in the early stages of beginning an Albuquerque Regional Chapter.

With news of these connections, this is a good time to get aquatinted with TGC. We recommend reading Collin Hanson’s recent article on why he’s excited about TGC, and watching the above video.  Also, we will publish a series of posts over the next several weeks introducing you to TGC’s confession, theological vision for ministry and the resources they provide to support the church in the living out and spread of the gospel.

Once a year we, as a church, take a Sunday morning to look back on the last year and look forward to the next. It’s similar to the President’s State of the Union address. But because the church isn’t a union, but a community, and in communion with Christ, we call it the State of the CommUnion (yeah, we know it’s kind of hokey, but after a few years it just kind of stuck).

It’s not a usual Sunday for us, and not a usual sermon for me. We usually spend more time talking about “who we are” and “where we’re going” than just what a certain passage says. The passage we’ll look at this Sunday is Acts 2:41-47. We’ll spend time talking about what it means, but we’ll also spend time “bragging on God” for what he’s done in our midst in the last year. We’ll take time to talk about what we see on the horizon for the next year — some things you’ll have heard just a bit about and some will be new to you. I’ll tell you things that have come out of hours and hours of some recent elders meetings on vision, communication, and planning — some things we’re very excited about and sense that God is in.

In short, it’s a time for a locker room talk, a family meeting. And because I love my team, my family, I love these Sundays.

As was mentioned on this past Sunday, remember that this coming Sunday we will also be having special prayer times during each of the services — either in the West Wing at 9:00 AM or in the Conference Room at 11:00 AM. Please plan to attend one of the services and the opposite prayer time, if you’re able to do both.

Want to listen to last year’s State of the CommUnion message? Stop the clamouring. It’s right here.

Here is a great description of what we’re aiming to be at DSC.