The Gospel and Rest: Thriving in the City Without Losing Your Soul
In September, The Gospel Coalition India is visiting Chennai, Bengaluru, and Mumbai for a series of meet-ups with Christians. We would love for you to join us to enjoy the gospel together and celebrate the beauty of resting in the finished work of Christ. Each evening will feature some music, a word of encouragement from a pastor, and a panel discussion with members of TGC India. Click here for more information.
Christian unity is not an illusion. Sometimes it can feel like a dream, a mirage, or wishful thinking. But if Jesus prayed for unity, it can be a reality. So every effort we make toward unity is a beautiful thing. In September The Gospel Coalition India is meeting with Christians in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Mumbai.
What to Expect From the Event
We want to gather members of the body of Christ from different churches to meditate on the gospel and rest. Each evening will feature some music, a word of encouragement from a pastor, and a panel discussion, followed by dinner. If you live in these cities, we would love to see you there. If you know anyone in these cities, we would love for you to invite them on our behalf.
The Gospel and Rest
Urban life is a restless life. Its daily anxieties weigh on the soul, and its constant pressures stamp out joy. We can find ourselves living daily under the tyranny of the urgent. Christians are not invulnerable to the stress of the city. We can easily conform to the high-pressure, low-rest, fast-paced, and slow-learning patterns of the world (Matt. 11:28-30).
TGC India is an instrument of spiritual formation.
We want these meet-ups to become a means by which the Lord serves you. Our prayer is that the power of God will encourage, empower, and equip you to receive His rest. We want the Lord to form us into a restful, non-anxious, Spirit-filled presence amid the restlessness of the city.
The Desire of Our Hearts
TGC India is an instrument of spiritual formation. The desire of our hearts is to help the church make disciples of Jesus Christ. We primarily do this with online content, but we also love creating opportunities for believers to meet one another and enjoy each other’s company. We imagine enjoying the evening with writers, readers, pastors, members, and everyone who loves belonging to the body of Christ.
What is the Heart Behind the Event?
TGC India longs to see the power of God unite the church in India. The best way the adversary can hinder the advance of the gospel is by dividing the church. Unity is a foil to his strategy of “divide and rule.”
Gathering in the Gospel
God unites Christians in the gospel—the power of God for our salvation (Rom. 1:16-17). This is our story, this is our song. Jesus rescued us, and we belong to him (Col. 1:13, 3:1-4).
TGC India longs to see the power of God unite the church in India.
Since we belong to him, we belong to one another (1 Cor. 12:12-14). The church is the primary context for a Christian to experience the gift of the family of believers. But meeting with Christians from other churches gives us a fresh sense of our broader unity in Christ. It plants us more firmly in our identity as a family in Christ and reminds us of our high calling as ambassadors of Christ.
Only the gospel has the power to gather Christians from different backgrounds and unite them. In Christ, each of us shares the same story: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).
Investing in Cross-Denominational Relationships
Jesus’s desire for unity is driven by his desire for people to put their trust in him (John 17:22-23). The best evidence for Jesus is the unity of the Spirit in the pews, not just the people behind the pulpit (John 13:34-35).
Unity kills idolatry and prizes worship.
Though our primary responsibility is the family of believers, investing some of our time in unity across denominational lines is good, wise, and beautiful. It reminds us that we belong to one another and shows the world we love one another (Gal 6:10, Eph 4:3, Rom. 12:4-5).
Unity and Vulnerability Are Inseparable
Jesus humbled himself to death on a cross, so we can be raised to life eternal. His vulnerability in death is the only reason we have unity with God. Any union we aspire to have with one another can only come with much vulnerability; not without a little death (Eph. 2:16).
Unity kills idolatry and prizes worship (1 Cor. 12:4-6, 7, 11). It restores the main thing to the place of first importance and ranks everything else in its proper order (1 Cor. 13:13, 15:3-4).
The Power of God Unites the Church
God longs for the church in India to stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel (Phil. 1:27). The gospel is the power of God that unites the church (Eph. 2:14-18).
The gospel is the power of God that unites the church.
How did a tax collector and a fisherman become friends and partners in ministry? For 3 years, Jesus patiently led 12 disciples from different backgrounds without giving up on them. They quarrelled with each other, showed little faith in him, and even fell away from him at the end. But he breathed his Spirit on them, reinstated them, and sent them into the world to be his witnesses.
Jesus knows how to unite people from different backgrounds. It is how he displays his power to the world (Eph. 2:14). It is how people will know that God sent him into the world (John 17:23).
As my professor in Bible college used to say, “It takes the whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world.”
The Most Excellent Way
Our longings should always exceed our capacity, so the power of God can always exceed our expectations (Eph. 3:20).
The most significant thing we can ask of the Lord in prayer is to lead the church in India to walk in the most excellent way of love. It completely exceeds our capacity but it also creates the opportunity for the power of God to unite us in Christ, bind us in love, and send us into the world so it can see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).
Find out more about the meet-ups in Chennai (Sep 20), Bengaluru (Sep 21), and Mumbai (Sep 22).
