The Church Formerly Known as Protestant - Part 2

In this episode of Abounding Grace Radio (AGR), Rev. Chris Gordon is joined by Rev. Dan Borvan and Rev. Adam Kaloostian to diagnose the fatigue settling over Protestantism. They trace how the faithful but "boring" work of the local church has been overshadowed by bigger projects: from the Social Gospel to today's push to "reclaim America," with activism from both the left and the right pulling believers away from Word and Sacrament. They also consider how internet controversy has crept into the pulpit, why the megachurch movement is fading, and why it is healthy for Christians to root their identity in confessional, denominational churches rather than in a vague "evangelical" label.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:21 Why the Local Church Seems "Boring"
01:42 From the Social Gospel to Christian Nationalism
02:41 Activism vs. the Means of Grace
03:33 Ordinary Vocation as Our Calling
05:10 Internet Controversy and Pulpit Outrage
06:51 The Decline of the Megachurch Movement
07:39 A Fragmenting Evangelicalism
08:29 The Value of Denominational Identity
10:41 Searching for a Common Enemy
11:26 The World, the Flesh, and the Devil
12:16 Conquest vs. Winning Enemies to Christ
13:39 The Pressures of Church Planting
15:20 Expository Preaching as the Solution
16:21 Regeneration Through the Word
16:47 A New Member Drawn by Scripture
18:06 Trusting the Word Without Visible Fruit
19:46 Preaching and the Protestant Reformation
20:22 Church Membership as an Objective Measure
21:07 Josiah and a Famine of the Word
22:12 Return to the Means of Grace

Mentions:
- The Means of Grace (Word and Sacrament)
- The Social Gospel Movement
- Christian Nationalism
- Political Secularism vs. Theological Secularism
- Activism (Left and Right)
- Vocation and the Christian Life
- Christians as Salt of the Earth (Matthew 5:13)
- Loving Your Enemies (Matthew 5:44)
- The Megachurch Movement
- Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church
- Neo-Evangelicalism (Post-World War II)
- United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA)
- Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)
- Denominationalism, Non-Denominationalism, and Independentism
- Ecumenical Relations Between Churches
- The Three Sworn Enemies: the Devil, the World, and Our Own Flesh (Heidelberg Catechism, Question & Answer 127)
- The Common Kingdom and the Two Kingdoms
- Christendom and Coerced Baptism
- Church Planting
- Expository Preaching
- Regeneration (John 3)
- Born Again by the Word of Truth (James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23)
- The Holy Spirit Works Faith Through the Preaching of the Gospel (Heidelberg Catechism, Question & Answer 65)
- The Consistory and Membership Interviews
- A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken (Hebrews 12:28)
- The Protestant Reformation
- Justification and Ecclesiology
- The Church of Rome
- The Great Awakenings
- King Josiah and the Book of the Law (2 Kings 22)
- A Famine of Hearing the Word (Amos 8:11)
- Biblical Illiteracy in the Modern Church
- Escondido United Reformed Church
- Christ Reformed Church
- Ventura Reformed Church