The Gospel Coalition is a group of pastors and churches in the Reformed heritage who delight in the truth and power of the gospel, and who want the gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected to lie at the center of all we cherish, preach and teach.
We want churches called into existence by the gospel to be shaped by the gospel in their everyday life. Through our fellowship, conferences, and online and printed media, we have sought to encourage pastors and church leaders to calibrate their lives around what is of first importance—the gospel of Christ. In these resources, we want to provide those same pastors with the tools to excite and equip church members with this mindset.... continue reading
The Good Book Company Team setting up for The Gospel Coalition National Conference 2015.
Watch the live stream of the conference: http://live.tgc.org/
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D.A. Carson, in his Foreword to Rico Tice’s new book Honest Evangelism, writes:
“Christians are increasingly dismissed as intellectually inferior, narrow and blind, who should be ignored and, perhaps, suppressed … In a polarized culture where Christian convictions are not in good odor, where are courage and joy in Christian witness to be found? What does Christian witness look like—both in the hard times when the mockery becomes savage, and in the good times when people are transformed by the gospel?”
The progress of the States, and indeed the whole of the West, toward a post- Christendom directed by increasingly assertive secularism and atheism represents both a challenge and an opportunity for gospel-loving churches. In a way that American believers have not had to contend with for generations, to live as a Christian—... continue reading
Tim Keller answers this commonly asked question:
The resurrection of Jesus Christ probably is the thing that sets Christianity apart—because the other religions bring you a prophet or they bring you a sage, and they say: “This is the way to find God.” So in that sense they're all the same.
Christianity comes along and says: “This person IS God, and he was raised from the dead to prove it.”
And that is just a different category and you have to come to grips with that to be a Christian, and also it does force you in a way to grapple with it. Instead of saying: “I like this religion because it meets my needs” or: “I like these thoughts,” you have to say: “Did it happen or not?”... continue reading
In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground,
but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here; he has risen!
Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:
‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners,
be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”
Luke 24: 5-7
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It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness
came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining.
And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
Jesus called out with a loud voice,
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
When he had said this, he breathed his last.
The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said,
“Surely this was a righteous man.”
When all the people who had gathered
to witness this sight saw what took place,
they beat their breasts and went away.... continue reading
"One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him:
“Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
But the other criminal rebuked him.
“Don’t you fear God,” he said,
“since you are under the same sentence?
We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.
But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
” Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth,
today you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23 v 39-43... continue reading
Two other men, both criminals,
were also led out with him to be executed.
When they came to the place called the Skull,
there they crucified him, along with the criminals—
one on his right, the other on his left.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they are doing.”
And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him.
They said, “He saved others;
let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”... continue reading
"The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him.
They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?”
And they said many other insulting things to him.
At daybreak the council of the elders of the people,
both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together,
and Jesus was led before them.
Luke 22 v 63-66
Now that they have arrested Jesus, the religious leaders have a problem. Jewish law required that any charge which carried a death sentence be heard by an official meeting of the Sanhedrin, a group of 71 men including respected leaders, teachers of the religious law, and prominent priests (Luke usually refers to this group as “the assembly” or “the council”). Such a meeting had to take place during daylight hours; you can understand why the law would forbid trials and judgments carried on under the cover of darkness.... continue reading
This question could transform your evangelism. It’s not a question of what to say or how to say it. It’s not a piercing question to ask your non-Christian friends. It’s a question to ask yourself:
Who am I?
Fundamentally, if we’re Christians, you and I are adopted children of God:
“The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’ … we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” (Romans 8 v 15, 17)
Now this is remarkable, not least because it is utterly undeserved. We are people who find that: “I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (7 v 19). God knows who we are and what we are like, and yet he says: I still love you and I will sort out your mess, and I will treat you like my child, like my Son, Jesus. That is God’s grace—his undeserved and lavish kindness. He takes a wretch like me and he loves me as his child.
Brothel to bride
Let me take you back to spring 2011. In the UK, it was Royal Wedding time; Prince William, second in line to the throne, was about to get married. You and I know that William had found a bride,... continue reading
