Sermon Tone Analysis

Evangelion…what we call the gospel…is a Greek word…it is a powerful word…it is an important word...

It means good news…a joyful proclamation...news that is so good that those who believe it need to tell everyone…because it is news that changes everything…

And you know this about good news…the best news is good news because the alternative to the good news was very bad news…

Good news takes us from a fearful possibility…death…loss…cancer…failure…shame…guilt…fear...and speaks into that bad news…an alternative...good news.

And that is why the Gospel is the best news in the history of the world.

The alternative to the good news of the Gospel is...very bad news for us sinful people…we (and everyone you know or will ever meet or has ever lived) all of us are destined for bad news…and then someone breaks in to that reality and tells us that God has some good news for us.

We need some good news…we can not provide it on our own.

BUT GOD…can.

And He did.

The Gospel is an announcement of good news that breaks into the darkness of this world and the fearful , terrible destiny of all human beings...and like the angel descending in the night sky upon the shepherds says.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy.”

Luke 2:10

The Gospel is that kind of an announcement.

Yes things are bad…yes you are headed in the wrong direction…yes you desperately need a Savior…yes you have lived outside of the will of God…yes you have been living for your own glory…BUT...

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy.”

A message to be delivered to all people that although they are headed towards pain and suffering and death and eternal agony unless something changes…there is good news…all who believe and respond to this news will be saved.

That is amazing news.

We live in a very interesting time.

People in America and Europe are walking away from the church in record numbers.

This is especially true among young people in America.

Which we talked about last week…and we looked at the Biblical solution for that.

We are also living at a time where we are seeing an explosion of different

gospels...weak gospels or false gospels…human centered gospels in churches and on the internet...to try to get people back in the church…and in some cases it looks like it is working from the human perspective...

A human centered Gospel might draw people to entertainment or a certain speaker…but a human centered gospel does not eternally change hearts, lives, souls, and therefore creates people that do not truly have faith in the God of the Bible or who will persist in their faith until the end…through trials and suffering…or if the entertainment or celebrity preacher went away.

BUT the true gospel and powerful good news radically changes everything…the Spirit empowered biblical gospel is the only gospel that saves…and is the Gospel that builds the Church that the gates of hell will not stand against.

Therefore the Gospel is a message we must know, believe, teach, tell, preach and proclaim.

This is a message about the gospel and the church...because the gospel builds, shapes, and defines the Biblical church.

If you turn on the news or listen to people talk…there is something everyone seems to agree on...

We as a people in this country disagree on what the problem is…but everyone seems to know that there is a problem.

The culture, the country, the world seems to be headed in the wrong direction.

But to us…God’s people…we are not surprised by this…we are not caught off guard...the problem is obvious…and the problem is not new…it started in Genesis 3...

Ever since Adam and Eve in the Garden…people have been deceived…we love the darkness...we love ourselves and our way…we want to be our own God and make up our own way to live that suits our needs and desires…and even our own way to be saved and go to heaven…our own religion...and we, therefore, have walked away from God.

This being true means...the solution is obvious and there is only one solution...the Gospel.

The Gospel will lead people back to the foot of the cross.

The Gospel will cause people by the Spirit to be born again…to love Jesus and therefore live for Jesus.

The Gospel is empowered by the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel is the power of salvation to call us to back God...

And that Gospel that has been entrusted to the Church...

A church with this Gospel has the power to change the world.

We are the solution…we don’t look outside for the answer…we have the answer..

The Gospel is the power to change the world.

The world needs the Gospel…because the world needs Jesus.

And...

So...​

God saves by giving us a new heart…and a new Spirit…God has to do that.

God gives the gift of faith.

And how does He do that…through words...

Faith comes by hearing…the gospel is the power of God for salvation.

You may not have thought about this but this is the reason this earth is still spinning…so God’s people can give Him glory by speaking the Gospel and bringing the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth.

This is what Paul could say…whoa to me if I do not preach the Gospel…

Or...

Because there is no power in any other message or or any other gospel.

The Church is built by gospel…we ere called by the gospel and saved by the gospel…because only through the Gospel can we receive the gift of faith…and receive God’s grace…because the Gospel tells how to believe in and receive the only one who can save.

Jesus.

So what is the Gospel?

Or to be more precise in a world of many “gospels”…what is the true gospel?

The one that is the power of God for salvation to all who would believe it?

Notice how if we get this wrong…everything else falls...

What is baptism without the true Gospel?

It becomes either a tradition…just a thing we do...or the way of salvation…thinking baptism is what saves.

What is the Bible without the true Gospel?

If we do not know that the entire Bible tells us about Jesus and every word from Genesis to Revelation is telling us the Gospel...it becomes a book of sometime weird, seemingly related stories and letters and rules…but what if every word in the Bible tells the gospel…then whole Bible points us to Jesus.

What is marriage of we don’t know that it was created by God specifically to tell the gospel of the Church?

It becomes about us and our needs and desires and wants…instead of a way to show the world the love of Christ.

What is a Christian if we do not know the gospel?

It becomes a name you call yourself…instead of a description of who you are…who you belong to...versus who you used to be…and who you now live for…Christ…because you are a new creation in Christ by the Spirit through the gospel.

What is salvation without the gospel?

It is a decision we make in our heads that gets us to heaven...instead of a radical change in our hearts...putting our our old self to death with Christ who died for us and raising with Him to a new life…for Him and him alone...

And what is the Church without this gospel?

It is a social club…a place to show up on some Sundays...a weekly meeting…a tradition…an event…or a place to go on Christmas and Easter.

Instead of...

God’s people set apart to gather together and live out God’s purpose for us in the particular place God has put us…by Jesus…for Jesus…because of the good news about Jesus.

We have a deep desire to be a church that gives God glory.

The Church He desires us to be.

And in order to be that we need to know, love, speak, and live the Gospel.

In a few minutes we are going to read Ephesians 2:1-10.

These versus sum up the truth of the gospel more than maybe any in the Bible.

When you take these together with verses of Romans 3:21-26, Romans 8 and John 3...you can best get the simple beautiful gospel that produces the faith of a child and the full biblical Gospel that grows andd matures that faith because of the deep, powerful life giving Gospel which will persevere your faith and leads to the salvation of the nations.

Most of you who have been around me over the last couple years know that I like to teach the Gospel or think of the Gospel or speak or preach or proclaim the Gospel...

I think of the Biblical Gospel in 4 words…which I will get to.

I am going to start even simpler today...let me tell you the Gospel in one word.

In one word the Gospel is...

God.

SLIDE

God is the gospel.

The good news is God.

Why is it important to know that the gospel is all about God?

Because it will focus the glory where it belongs…it will move you from self to God...

It will help you discern weak or false gospel.

We human beings with sinful natures want to make everything about us.

So I could stand here and list the numerous false gospels in our culture but the primary thing to know about these gospels is they are human centered.

They make the story about us.

God is the gospel.

The good news...starts with God and ends with God and is all about God.

To him be the glory in the Gospel and in our lives.

What about the Gospel in 2 words.

Jesus saves.

The gospel of God for us...was given to Paul by Jesus…Jesus revealed the Gospel to Paul…

The true Gospel is from Jesus and about Jesus...because it is for Jesus and leads us to Jesus because salvation only comes through Jesus to those who believe in Jesus and turn to Jesus and love Jesus and treasure Jesus…because they have given their life to Jesus…who gave His life for us.

He is the way, the truth, and the life.