This week we focus on "The Gospel." The Gospel is that element that makes our Christian community unique. Every community offers something. Kelly and I have been going to some yoga classes this past week. It's interesting to hear the instructor talk about the sense of "community" they share through the practice. I think that word "community" gets thrown around a lot because people are longing to be connected. Every "community" gathers around a shared interest that offers something. That "something" that we share and offer in the church is the Gospel. Do you remember a few weeks ago at Bible study when worked on a definition of the gospel based on a number of Scripture passages? We came up with a pretty complex definition, because the Gospel is a small word for something very big. The Gospel is centered in the life of Jesus, his death, and his resurrection for our salvation. This is what defines our community. In our reading for today, we saw that the Gospel is BIG and covers every area of our human existence. But there's one part of the Gospel I want you to focus on especially that relates to our community. And that is the presence of God. The presence of God is the best news there is. The forgiveness of sin, justification, eternal life... these are all good news because they give us the gift of God's presence - forever. This is what we enjoy in our community, and will enjoy forever. And this presence of God is what we offer to people around us. The picture above is a Greek Orthodox icon representing representing to hospitality of Abraham to the visiting strangers in Genesis 18. As far as I can tell, this icon has also been interpretted as the Trinity. But notice that there is an open seat at the table. It's almost as if the three persons sharing fellowship at a table are inviting in a missing guest. And so it is with the Gospel. Our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, invites us into his presence. And this is the posture that we take as a community. There's always an open seat at the table. We take a posture of invitation into the presence of God given in the Gospel.