Wednesday, May 6, 2026
Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it. Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves. You’ll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produc e bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So you’ll recognize them by their fruit. Matthew 7:13-20
Living Out What You Believe
As we begin this new series in being Everyday Missionaries it is good to revisit some of the principles we have been learning for the past couple of years, such as from the Living The Jesus Way series. As followers of Jesus, we strive to live out the values and principles of His Kingdom with our whole lives. We follow his model and live our lives in step with the Spirit. To live the Jesus way and to share his Gospel with the world we must know him and his Gospel. After we become followers, we grow in our relationship with him and we get to know him through that relationship and learning from his word and leaders and teachers in the church.
Living The Jesus Way - The Way Of The Gospel
In The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns against the easy road and the hard road, one leading to life and one leading to destruction. He then warns us of false prophets who will try to lead us down the easy road of destruction. If we are going to be Everyday Missionaries to spread the
Pastor Jim told us about six different kinds of gospels that people believe and how they can lead us away from the road that leads to life.
Six Gospels:
Forgiveness only – Be forgiven; creates following Christ as an option; Only have to pray a prayer-it is a one-time event, not a lifetime commitment to be a disciple of Christ.
Left – help the needy; no transformation or eternal life; accommodation to culture; Biblical truth is optional. Can’t really know we are saved, and we are all going to heaven anyway.
Prosperity – claim your rights; give me what you promised and that I am entitled to; God management; If God doesn’t answer my prayers it is because I don’t have enough faith or didn’t pray hard enough. Works based salvation.
Consumer – Meet my needs. The church exists for me – I do not exist for the church. Self-indulgence; addiction – desire. Go to church to consume only.
Right – I am always right. Theological swagger; exclusiveness; detachment; if you do not agree with me, you are wrong. And you are not going to heaven.
It is easy to see how believing the wrong gospel can lead us away from abundant, transformative life in Christ. The five gospels above are the hollow bones of Christianity with absolutely nothing that helps us grow in our relationship with him. They are watered down ideas of the gospel that leave us unfulfilled and stagnant in our faith. Discipleship and following Jesus is not optional in the Christian life, although we have made it optional.
Kingdom – Follow me, transformation through a relationship with Jesus. Become apprentices of Jesus, learning to live and love like him.
Jesus then goes on to tell them to beware of false prophets who are ready to lead us down the easy road that leads to destruction. He says we can recognize these false prophets by their fruit. If we are living The Jesus Way, not only will it be evident in every area of our lives, but there will also be fruit in our lives. Fruit is the evidence of a growing, transforming relationship with God. We are always growing through the process of sanctification, but as we are growing, we are to be living out His word in our lives - producing fruit. Coming to church and hearing a sermon every week is not enough if there is no heart transformation and no fruit.
The kingdom gospel – the gospel of Jesus Christ – is to be invited into an eternal, never ending relationship with the King of Kings. We follow him, becoming his disciple and being transformed by him. We can then go out as Everyday Missionaries, making more disciples for his kingdom.
What do you believe?
Have you been living in one of the five gospels that do not bring transformation into your life?
What about the fruit in your life? What fruit will you be known by?
