Church and the Gospel

The church is called to hear the gospel, to live out of, and in the spirit of its message, proclaiming this message as it does so. Hearing and being transformed in a community of faith, the church continuously encounters the gospel as it engages in reading scripture, in prayer and in worship. Hearing the gospel must be an ongoing and constantly renewed spiritual event that abandons what the gospel excludes, and embraces every single thing it offers. By continuously encountering and receiving the gospel message anew, the church resists the temptation to reduce gospel from spiritually revealed mystery to a manageable message or ecclesiastical possession. Unsettling, isn't it?