THE “CORNERSTONE” OF A CHURCH WEBSITE
Grace and peace to you from Church Plant Media. A few months ago we shared some thoughts here about how A Church Website = an Online Building. In that post we encouraged people to consider how certain aspects of a brick-and-mortar meeting space can help people understand the form and function of a church website. To illustrate our point we described 5 items that make up every building: Cornerstone, Foundation, Floorplan, Exterior, and Entrance.
For the next few installments of Web Stuff Wednesdays we would like to unpack these 5 items for you. Today, we take a look at the Cornerstone. Here is how we defined this important element:
The cornerstone determines the position of the building. Its location is mission critical because every part of the foundation is positioned in reference to the cornerstone. The cornerstone of every church website should be the gospel of Jesus. When you clearly articulate your belief in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as the sinless substitute for sinners like us, you are positioning the cornerstone of your online ministry presence. If your website does not share the gospel, then that is where we suggest you start. When you get the gospel right, everything else will be able to line up accordingly.
We can never share the gospel too much, especially on a church website. The good news about Jesus needs to be the heartbeat that drives the lifeblood throughout your content. It is the North Star that will guide what you need to say and how you need to say it. In another post we explained How to Share the Gospel on Your Website. We exhorted churches to share both the problem (law) and the solution (gospel). This type of proclamation serves both the believer AND the unbeliever. Pastors need to be regularly reminding their congregation about the gospel through sermons, blogs, and social media. We all forget the gospel and we need to be reminded that our sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus.
Many churches see their website as an online billboard while other churches see it as an online tract. But we think it might be more helpful to see your church website as a vehicle for ongoing gospel conversation. Reflect on questions like these: What is happening in your life and how are you bringing the gospel to bear on your situation? What opportunities or challenges has the the Lord put before your church and how does the gospel inform your understanding of those things? In the same way that a compass is always pointing to true north no matter where you turn, your church website should always be pointing to the gospel no matter where you look. As Mark McCloskey has put it, “Tell It Often — Tell It Well”.
May these 480 year old words from Martin Luther kindle your content:
Here I must take counsel of the Gospel, I must hearken to the Gospel, which teacheth me, not what I ought to do (for that is the proper office of the Law), but what Jesus Christ the Son of God hath done for me: to wit, that he suffered and died to deliver me from sin and death. The Gospel willeth me to receive this, and to believe it. And this is the truth of the Gospel. It is also the principal article of all Christian doctrine, wherein the knowledge of all godliness consisteth. Most necessary it is therefore, that we should know this article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually.
(Martin Luther on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians)
Gospel blessings from Church Plant Media | (800) 409-6631 x 1
