What is the Gospel? - some relevant Bible verses

Romans 1:1-17

Mark 1:1-20

Isaiah 40:9

Isaiah 52:7-10

Galatians 3:8

Colosians 1:28 says emphatically “Him we proclaim”.

2 Timothy 2:8 Paul says - “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel”

Rom 10:9 says “if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

2 Cor 4:5 Paul says: “For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.”

Col 2:6 – “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him”

Jn 20:31 – The purpose of John’s Gospel: “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Acts 2:36 –  The conclusion of Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost:

"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

Acts 5:42 tells us “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, [the Apostles] never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”

Acts 8:12  says Philip “preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ”

Acts 10:36 – At Cornelius’ house, Peter says: “You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.”

Acts 28:31 – At the very end of Acts Luke tells us: “Boldly and without hindrance [Paul] preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Philippians 2:11  says “every tongue [will] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

1 Cor 15

1 Jn 4:2

Rm 2:16 – “This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.”

Rev 14:6-7 – “Then I saw another angel flying in mid-air, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth--to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."”

Gal 1:1-12 – The importance of getting the gospel right

Gospel Diamond

William Tyndale on The Gospel

“Evangelion (that we call the gospel) is a Greek word and signifieth good, merry, glad and joyful
tidings, that maketh a man’s heart glad and maketh him sing, dance, and leap for joy… [This
gospel is] all of Christ the right David, how that he hath fought with sin, with death, and the
devil, and overcome them: whereby all men that were in bondage to sin, wounded with death,
overcome of the devil are without their own merits or deservings loosed, justified, restored to
life and saved, brought to liberty and reconciled unto the favor of God and set at one with him
again: which tidings as many as believe laud, praise and thank God, are glad, sing and dance for
joy.”

‐ William Tyndale, A Pathway into the Holy Scripture, 1531


From GOSPEL DEFINITIONS Compiled by Trevin Wax www.trevinwax.com Last Updated: June 2011

Luther on the Gospel in a nutshell

At its briefest, the gospel is a discourse about Christ, that he is the Son of God and became man
for us, that he died and was raised, and that he has been established as Lord over all things.
This much St. Paul takes in hand and spins out in his epistles. He bypasses all the miracles and
incidents (in Christ’s ministry) which are set forth in the four Gospels, yet he includes the whole
gospel adequately and abundantly. This may be seen clearly and well in his greeting to the
Romans, where he says what the gospel is, and then declares:
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which he
promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the gospel concerning his
Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power
according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” etc.
There you have it. The gospel is a story about Christ, God’s and David’s son, who died and was
raised, and is established as Lord. This is the gospel in a nutshell.

‐ Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings, pg. 94


From GOSPEL DEFINITIONS Compiled by Trevin Wax www.trevinwax.com Last Updated: June 2011

George Eldon Ladd on The Gospel & Death

“This is the good news about the kingdom of God. How men need this gospel! Everywhere one
goes he finds the gaping graves swallowing up the dying. Tears of loss, of separation, of final
departure stain every face. Every table sooner or later has an empty chair, every fireside its
vacant place. Death is the great leveller. Wealth or poverty, fame or oblivion, power or futility,
success or failure, race, creed or culture — all our human distinctions mean nothing before the
ultimate irresistible sweep of the scythe of death which cuts us all down. And whether the
mausoleum is a fabulous Taj Mahal, a massive pyramid, an unmarked spot of ragged grass or
the unplotted depths of the sea one fact stands: death reigns.

“Apart from the gospel of the kingdom, death is the mighty conqueror before whom we are all
helpless. We can only beat our fists in utter futility against this unyielding and unresponding
tomb. But the good news is this: death has been defeated; our conqueror has been conquered.
In the face of the power of the kingdom of God in Christ, death was helpless. It could not hold
him, death has been defeated; life and immortality have been brought to life. An empty tomb in
Jerusalem is proof of it. This is the gospel of the kingdom.”

‐ from The Gospel of the Kingdom

From GOSPEL DEFINITIONS Compiled by Trevin Wax www.trevinwax.com Last Updated: June 2011

What's so good about the Good News?

Since the good news is all about Jesus, the answer has to be Jesus!

All the wonderful benefits of the gospel flow from who Jesus is and what he has done. We love him not only for the blessings he gives us but for himself.

The best gift God gives us is Jesus – the Son whom he loves.

He is the perfect king we need.

He is powerful and wise and kind.

He knows us and cares for us.

He understands his people’s needs and wants the best for them.

He is able to provide for them.

His service is perfect freedom.

Knowing Jesus gives satisfaction, fulfilment and purpose.

With Jesus we are never alone.

He is the perfect saviour we need.

He offers us forgiveness and friendship with God, our loving Heavenly Father.

Through Jesus we have access to God Himself.

Jesus is our brother who sympathises with us in our weakness.

He is food for our souls.

 What is it that you love about Jesus?

If we aren’t excited by the goodness of the good news, the antidote must be to meet afresh with the Lord Jesus Christ in his word, to savour the wonder of person and character, his birth, life, teaching, death, resurrection, ascension, reign and coming return.

Mission Preparation Sermon Series / Evangelism Training

In preparation for Passion For Life 2014 and the Oak Hill Team who are joining us at Easter time, we are about to have a short topical sermon series on:

(1)   Sun 11^th Aug

What is the gospel?

(2)   Sun 18^th Aug

Why should we share the gospel?

  

(3)   Sun 25^th Aug

Who should share the gospel with whom?

(1)   Sun 1^st Sept

How can we share the gospel?

Would anyone like to tell me what to say, suggest passages, resources, sermons to plagiarise etc?!

I shall be making use of the Passion to Witness DVD and encouraging our Homegroups to use it.

I might also have a look at

 John Chapman, Know & Tell The Gospel, 

Mark Dever, The Gospel & Personal Evangelism

Michael Green, Evangelism Through The Local Church

 R M Pippet, Out of the Salt-Shaker

There's also 

 Randy Newman, Questioning Evangelism

Randy Newman, Bringing the Gospel Home - on witnessing to family and friends

John Dickson, The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission

Packer, Evangelism and the Soveriegnty of God

 Would you reccomend the 6 steps to talking about Jesus course available from The Good Book Company?

And of course there's 3 2 1 to check out.

 

Pilate & Centurion sketch

We used this sketch based on Mark 15 & 16, which someone from camp kindly wrote for us, and which someone else lightly edited, in our Family Service today.



P: You were on duty the night we crucified Jesus?
C: The man they called ‘King of the Jews’? Yes, I was there. A very strange case sir.
P: Strange? What do you mean? You did do the job properly, it was very quick. You are sure he was dead?
C: Oh yes sir, he was dead. I know my job sir.
P: Then what was strange. I have heard some disturbing reports.
C: Well sir, it started when we arrested him. We went out nice and quiet sir as the High Priests suggested – no point in stirring up the crowds at Passover time. We got him in the evening – one of his own followers showed us where to find him – nasty piece of work if you ask me. Well most blokes make a fuss when we try to arrest them, try to fight us off. But this Jesus just stood there. And sir, he seemed to be expecting us, said something about scripture being fulfilled. Not your normal criminal type at all.

P: Hmm

C: What was his crime sir?
P: Silence! Your job is to obey orders, not question them.  Claimed to be the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One.
C: Is that a crime sir?
P: Well not under Roman law, but these Jews said it was blasphemy, him claiming to be God, it seems.
C: But still not a crime?
P: No, I tried to save him. I gave him the chance to defend himself but he wouldn’t answer. Simply said yes, when I asked him if he was King of the Jews.
C: I am told that you could have freed him, Sir.
P: Silence! Yes, I tried. You know I always release on criminal at Passover time – it seems to keep the crowds happy. I thought that they’d want to save Jesus – after all, he had quite a reputation as a healer and teacher.
C: But they chose the murderer Barabbas instead.
P: Indeed. So I handed this ‘King of the Jews’ over to your men.
C: Yes sir. They mocked him, dressed him up as a king and thrust a crown of sharp thorns on his head. They hit him and spat on him as well.
P: Did he say anything?
C: Not a thing – even as the men flogged him, he stayed silent.
P: A proper flogging?
C: Oh indeed sir. Would have killed most men.
P: Well he was a criminal, what did he expect?
C: We then made him carry the cross beam through the town up the hill in that searing heat – enough to do for anyone – although he did get some help from some chap – Simon or some such name.
P: Did he say anything at all?
C: Even as we hammered the nails into his hands and feet, he did not retaliate or struggle. Not like the other two men who cursed us the whole time – from this Jesus, not a word.
P: Too weak to speak by then?
C: No sir, I don’t think so. The crowds mocked him too. They cried out you could save others, save yourself. And you know sir, I sense that if he had wanted to, he could have done just that – come down from the cross and saved himself – but he chose not to.
P: Hmm.
C: And then sir, it all went dark, the sun disappeared for 3 hours.
P: Did he try and escape?
C: No, he just stayed there. Then he called out something in Hebrew – some thought he was calling their prophet Elijah.
P: And then?
C: He just cried out once and died.
P: You didn’t need to speed things up by breaking his legs.
C: Would have done normally, but no need this time. It seems to me that he just chose to die.
P: And you were sure that he was dead?
C: Absolutely. Killing people is my job and I am good at my job
P: You know there is talk that this Jesus is still alive and that you bungled the job.
C: I know what death looks like and this man was definitely dead when we had finished with him. Anyway, I know what I would be in for if I allowed condemned men to survive – and it would not be pleasant.
P: You are not wrong there – you would have been nailed up in the same way. So what do you make of it all.
C: Well sir, after all that I have seen and heard, and after watching the way that he died, I can only say that this man was the ‘Son of GOD’