Engaging with questions asked by people in our society, responding from a framework that understands and expresses the Gospel of Jesus.
What is GiST?
The Gospel In Society Today (GIST) Committee is appointed by the Presbyterian Church of Queensland’s State Assembly to engage with questions being asked by people in our society, responding from a framework that understands and expresses the Gospel of Jesus. Our committee develops issues papers to articulate this approach, and then uses these papers as a basis for finding and telling stories about life in this world.
Our Philosophy & Purpose
Our two-fold purpose is to equip believers in Presbyterian Church of Queensland congregations to:
a) live faithfully for Jesus in a secular society and
b) engage in gospel-hearted apologetics that point to the great hope we have in Jesus.
Scope
Our scope is limited to the areas of ethics, public policy and cultural engagement that impact significant numbers of Queenslanders.Approach
We believe the gospel of Jesus Christ should shape all areas of life, and therefore our approach is to provide engaging, accurate and winsome material that is informed by Evangelical, Reformed, Christ-centred theology and includes both implications for believers and principles of engagement with those not yet believing.Summary Statement
The two-fold purpose of The GiST is to equip believers in PCQ congregations to a) live faithfully for Jesus in a secular society and b) engage in gospel-hearted apologetics that point to the great hope we have in Jesus. Our scope as The GiST is limited to the areas of ethics, public policy and cultural engagement that impact significant numbers of Queenslanders. We believe the gospel of Jesus Christ should shape all areas of life, and therefore our approach as The GiST team is to provide engaging, accurate and winsome material that is informed by Evangelical, Reformed, Christ-centred theology and includes both implications for believers and principles of engagement with those not yet believing.Our Philosophy & Purpose
Our two-fold purpose is to equip believers in Presbyterian Church of Queensland congregations to:
a) live faithfully for Jesus in a secular society and
b) engage in gospel-hearted apologetics that point to the great hope we have in Jesus.
Scope
Our scope is limited to the areas of ethics, public policy and cultural engagement that impact significant numbers of Queenslanders.Approach
We believe the gospel of Jesus Christ should shape all areas of life, and therefore our approach is to provide engaging, accurate and winsome material that is informed by Evangelical, Reformed, Christ-centred theology and includes both implications for believers and principles of engagement with those not yet believing.Summary Statement
The two-fold purpose of The GiST is to equip believers in PCQ congregations to a) live faithfully for Jesus in a secular society and b) engage in gospel-hearted apologetics that point to the great hope we have in Jesus. Our scope as The GiST is limited to the areas of ethics, public policy and cultural engagement that impact significant numbers of Queenslanders. We believe the gospel of Jesus Christ should shape all areas of life, and therefore our approach as The GiST team is to provide engaging, accurate and winsome material that is informed by Evangelical, Reformed, Christ-centred theology and includes both implications for believers and principles of engagement with those not yet believing.Our Approach
Life is complex. Approaching life in a world where there are all sorts of accounts of what a ‘good human life’ involves is complicated, and many issues seem to demand our attention and our action. Following Jesus makes life simpler in some ways, because he is our account of the good human life, but following Jesus can also seem complex and complicated in Queensland.
Following Jesus changes how we think about everything. It makes us citizens of heaven who live in a way that is engaged in the world, but different; and our difference matters. It’s in this difference that we invite people to meet Jesus and hear God’s story about what a good life looks like.
We believe life is complicated, and that we shouldn’t shy away from digging into complicated questions and thinking carefully about how God’s story, centred on Jesus, helps us think, love, and live differently to the way we did before Jesus, and the way we would without Jesus. So we put together in-depth papers that tackle big issues. These are designed to help church leaders, and people who are interested in digging deeper, get a sense of how to think about these issues at a sort of 10,000 feet view…
But we also believe the best way for us to figure out what a good life is comes from seeing lives lived for Jesus. We want to engage with the world as it really is, so this means being challenged to consider real issues for Christians today through real stories.
On this website you’ll find both the ‘10,000 feet summary papers’ and stories and articles that deal with examples from the real world — showing where the rubber hits the road when it comes to these big issues. As a committee our process is to begin tackling an area in our world with these big papers, these positions are then taken to the leaders of our church at an annual meeting to be discussed, and they’re then used as the basis for how our committee goes about our task of equipping people to engage our world with the Gospel of Jesus.
Our Approach
Life is complex. Approaching life in a world where there are all sorts of accounts of what a ‘good human life’ involves is complicated, and many issues seem to demand our attention and our action. Following Jesus makes life simpler in some ways, because he is our account of the good human life, but following Jesus can also seem complex and complicated in Queensland.
Following Jesus changes how we think about everything. It makes us citizens of heaven who live in a way that is engaged in the world, but different; and our difference matters. It’s in this difference that we invite people to meet Jesus and hear God’s story about what a good life looks like.
We believe life is complicated, and that we shouldn’t shy away from digging into complicated questions and thinking carefully about how God’s story, centred on Jesus, helps us think, love, and live differently to the way we did before Jesus, and the way we would without Jesus. So we put together in-depth papers that tackle big issues. These are designed to help church leaders, and people who are interested in digging deeper, get a sense of how to think about these issues at a sort of 10,000 feet view…
But we also believe the best way for us to figure out what a good life is comes from seeing lives lived for Jesus. We want to engage with the world as it really is, so this means being challenged to consider real issues for Christians today through real stories.
On this website you’ll find both the ‘10,000 feet summary papers’ and stories and articles that deal with examples from the real world — showing where the rubber hits the road when it comes to these big issues. As a committee our process is to begin tackling an area in our world with these big papers, these positions are then taken to the leaders of our church at an annual meeting to be discussed, and they’re then used as the basis for how our committee goes about our task of equipping people to engage our world with the Gospel of Jesus.