About Gospel Care Training
“To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
Ephesians 4:12
Our Story
We would love to share what we have learned with you!
Gospel Care Training isn’t for every church, and if it were, it would have been in the Bible. However, biblical principles and the gospel saturate the material in both theory and practice.
Many excellent books, seminars, and programs offer similar benefits to Gospel Care Training. We have learned and borrowed much from these resources in the formation of this training.
We are big fans of organizations like CCEF, Saturate, Serge, and church leaders such as Tim Keller, Tim Chester, David Powlison, Paul Tripp, and Jeff Vanderstelt, among others. We are particularly grateful for the initial investment and influence of Robert Cheong and Sojourn Community Church over 12 years ago.
Our church community developed this training specifically for its members. Crossway Church, in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been the context where this training has been further shaped, developed, and practiced for over a decade. We have seen the fruit of gospel conversations lead to deeper relationships, richer fellowship, a culture of grace, and a love for our neighbors.
Gospel Care in the life of the church
Gospel Care occurs whenever God’s people care for one another by engaging in gospel conversations rooted in Scripture, centered on Christ, and guided by the Holy Spirit and prayer. It flows from love, biblical truth, sound theology, and the gospel itself, within the context of the church's community life, helping one another to grow in sanctification and discipleship.
Gospel Care Training helps pastors equip their congregations to care for one another within the context of the church’s ministries and community life. It enables congregants to provide care through individual and mutual support within and outside the church, strengthening discipleship and aiding in evangelism as both believers and non-believers are steered away from false narratives of redemption to God’s true story of redemption in Christ.
Gospel Care Training Overview
Gospel Care Training is a course designed to help develop the basic skills necessary to care for and disciple others effectively, incorporating specific gospel truths in a loving way that is both edifying for believers and evangelistic to non-believers. You can expect to be equipped to recognize where people may be living out of a distorted view of redemption and gently point them back to God’s story of redemption, which often leads to repentance from sin or a biblical perspective through life’s challenges in a fallen world with fallen people.
What is taught in this course?
Session 1: Understanding Gospel Living
Session 2: Gospel Listening & Exploring
Session 3: Gospel Proclaiming
Session 4: Gospel Practice
Why Gospel Care Training?
How can a pastor equip his church to mutually care for one another and reach the lost with an all-in-one training that is both basic and comprehensive? We believe this course is unique in both breadth and scope. We also believe the gospel is central and of first importance in the teaching and life of the church.
Christians want to do this. The motivation is often there. They just need further equipping that is both theologically sound and practical for their daily lives with the relationships that the Lord has placed in their life.
Oftentimes, we give good advice and can be sympathetic. That’s good, but not always enough. How can we better understand a person better and give them good news in any given situation? Is the gospel really practical for everyday living? How can we go deeper than the surface and get to the heart? What does repentance look like? Why do we need to worship our way out of our mess? How is Jesus the solution? What has he done, is doing, or will do? Gospel Care Training seeks to answer these questions and more.
