I've realized something in talking with church leaders and trying to understand momentum in church:
When you simplify the proclamation, you multiply the impact.
Here's what I mean. We at Good Shepherd have quite consciously become less clever and more bold on Sundays. Less innovative and more emphatic. Dare I say it? Less modern and more ancient.
Yet the response, both numerically and spiritually, has been overwhelming.
We've remembered something: the gospel has its own power. While it must be contextualized, it doesn't always have to be dressed up.
As far as the power inherent in the gospel, you can't improve upon I Corinthians 15:1-5:
1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance[a]: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter,[b] and then to the Twelve.
Simplify the proclamation to that and watch the impact multiply.
