A seminary classmate of mine, Scott Lothery, now serves at Living Faith Community Church (EFC) on Long Island. He has written a wonderful book called ALWAYS GOOD NEWS.
Here is a snippet from the Amazon page:
“We live in a bad news world filled with relentlessly disturbing headlines – war and crime, poverty and pandemics, racism and oppression, mass murder and disaster. And we all experience discouragement in our personal lives as well – temptation and regret, pain and suffering, failure and disappointment, decline and death. Though the world is overflowing with bad news, the message of Jesus is bigger and brighter than all of it…It’s always good news!”
All of us have experienced plenty of bad news. Our own sin is the root cause of much of the “bad fruit” (dysfunction and hurt) in our lives. People must first grasp the bad news of sin, guilt, and hell before their hearts open up to the good news of Jesus Christ.
The phrase “good news” is what the word “gospel” means. In Greek the word euangelion (εὐαγγέλιον) means “gospel” or “good news”. The verb form of this root word is euangelizo (εὐαγγελίζω), which means to preach or to proclaim the gospel. This word is where we get the term “evangelism” or “evangelist”.
An Announcement
The gospel, is an announcement of what God has done. It demands a response from all people. The gospel is not just a set of factual truths. “Sharing” the gospel is not like a server putting mints on the table after a meal at a restaurant.
People often reject the gospel or ignore the gospel. The gospel is only good news if someone understands what Christ has done for him or her. Communicating the gospel effectively has a sense of urgency. This comes from our own walk with the Lord and the Holy Spirit using our words and our experiences. This Saturday, we are hosting a “Go & Tell” evangelism training with Pastor Jim Halstead. Come join and learn how to share the good news! All of us should pray about our own sense of urgency in reaching others for Christ.
Examples of the term gospel
Romans 1:15-16 “So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (The gospel is the power of God to save anyone!)
Acts 8:40 “But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.” (Philip was not trained as an evangelist or pastor!)
1 Peter 4:17 “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (The gospel is to be obeyed.)
Mark 1:15 “and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (These are Jesus’ words!)
Mark 8:35 “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (It is worth losing our lives for the sake of the gospel.)
Pointing people to Christ
A former Air Force Chaplain, Captain Peter Magnuson, said something about evangelism that has always stuck with me. He said, “No matter how the conversation goes, I try to point people to the Savior, to Jesus Christ.” The gospel is ultimately about Jesus Christ, who will come in power and glory for his people. Wouldn’t we want as many people as possible to know Christ and have their future in Him?
Pastor Jim