"Five-centuries ago in taverns and public houses across Europe, the masses would gather for discussion and debate over the latest ideas sweeping the land. From one such meeting place a small cambridge inn called the White Horse, the Reformation came to the English speaking world. Carrying on the tradition of the early Reformers, welcome to the White Horse Inn." 

Call me a geek, but I recite this part of the White Horse Inn radio program just about every time I listen to an episode. I am an avid listener of this program and really enjoy the conversations of these men. 

This past week I have been listening to "Contending for the Faith" where the hosts are talking about how Christians often have their personal testimony trump the Truths and facts of the Gospel. Michael Horton immediately asks the question then, "Is my transformed life the Good News?" He then points out the beauty of the Gospel - the fact that the Gospel has nothing to do with us, but has everything to do with what Jesus did on the cross. 

This is something that we all struggle with. Regardless of the situation, we are good at being right or validated based on our feelings. When we hear stories of conflict or trials, we tend to side with the people who are telling the story because they can express and give reason for their feelings. 

But when it comes to the Gospel, we must rely on more than our feelings. When Paul shared the Gospel with people, he was not pointing to his Damascus Road experience in Acts 9. Rather he shared this like "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures... (1 Corinthians 15: 3-4)". This is the Truth of the Gospel. These are the facts of the Gospel. These Truths and facts of the Gospel are what cause us to have feelings. 

I then came upon this video from The Gospel Coalition's Worship blog.

My point in posting these two pieces is to show you that we need to be people that are rooted in the Gospel. We live in the light of the Gospel based on its Truths and facts. 

Just as much as strive to live pure lives and have a rich robust theology and doctrine, what we do on a Sunday morning is an overflow. Creating warm fuzzies on a Sunday morning is not our job as worship leaders. Our job is to lead people in Spirit and Truth. This means we may not always sing the warm fuzzies like "As the Deer" and "Shout to the Lord", but we will sing songs that are rich in explaining the Gospel. Through the rich content of a hymn or a song like "In Christ Alone", I pray that the Gospel would warm our hearts and assure us of the power of the Gospel.

Through our assurance comes everlasting praise to Jesus for what He has done in our lives.