The Gospel and Being a Witness

God loved us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to make himself known. Now, he sends us to show his love and tell the world about Jesus.

God is love (1 John 4:8, 16), and his love drives his actions. The Father has always loved the Son in the communion of the Holy Spirit (John 17:24). So when God loves us, he’s just acting as who he is.

Out of his great love for us, God sent his beloved Son to make himself known (John 1:18). Jesus is God. In all of his life, death, and resurrection, he made God known to us. He accomplished our salvation by his actions, and he preached that salvation with his words. Jesus is the one that God sent to save us. Everyone who believes in him knows God and has eternal life (John 17:3).

Then, as the Father sent Jesus, Jesus sent his followers to love the world and make God known (John 20:21). We do that by proclaiming Christ in word and deed.

When we proclaim Christ with our words, we tell people about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. We help them understand what went wrong with the world because of sin and how God sent Jesus to make it right. We give the good news (or “gospel”) of Jesus to everyone burdened by the bad news of the world.

When we proclaim Christ with our deeds, we care for the needs of the people around us. We help people feel the gospel by providing for basic human necessities like food and clothing, by advocating for vulnerable children, by caring for refugees who have to flee their own countries, and by helping prisoners reenter society, among other ways.

As we make Christ known in what we say and do, we grow as disciples. As we practice loving like God loves, we become more godly. As we bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ, God works in us to make us more like the Christ we proclaim.

God desires for people from all nations to know him in Christ (Matthew 28:19), so he sends his disciples to places nearby and far away to bring the gospel to those who need it. That’s why, at the Summit, we’ve made it our mission to create a movement of disciple-making disciples in RDU and around the world. As we proclaim Christ across the street and around the globe, God floods the earth with his love and all the people delight to know him.