The Church - Called to Proclaim the Gospel

(Arvind Balaraman - FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

 Central to the church being the church is the proclamation of the Gospel.  Since the post-Resurrection church didn't truly begin until the Book of Acts, we can look from Acts through Revelation and see that in the writings of all the New Testament authors, the preaching of the Good News is central to what it means to be the church.  Consider these references from Paul's writings to Timothy and Titus:

"Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching."  
1 Timothy 4:13

"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction."

2 Timothy 4:1-2

"You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine."
- Titus 2:1

This is just a little taste of all that the New Testament has to say about proclaiming the Word, and in particular, the Gospel of Christ.  From Acts (2:14-36) on, the church is called to tell people about the lostness of humanity and the grace of God in light of our need.  We can thus conclude a bold but biblical truth: any church that claims to be a church but does not preach the Gospel is indeed not a biblical church at all.

- tC