What is the Gospel and how has it changed your life?

I was recently reading  an article in a journal about the number of college students who grew up in the church that were unable to answer the question, “What is the Gospel?”  The professor at this Christian university knew she might get a few different answers but expected to hear some similar themes but was surprised to hear some students answer this question with the simple “be nice to others.”  Now obviously Jesus did teach to be nice to others by stating love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39) but that is so far from the fullness of the Gospel and that knowledge alone would not be enough to bring salvation to the person.  So then I began to wonder how many of the parents of these students would be able to give a definition of the Gospel? 

At the beginning of the school year I spent a few weeks in our 9th and 10th grade Sunday school class unpacking the Gospel and was still a little surprised at how gun shy our students were to answer the question of what is the Gospel even after I had just given a definition.  Even right after I gave a definition (minutes after) the students were all still so gun shy to proclaim this gospel to a class of churched peers.  What is it about the Gospel that causes us to have a mental block to speak it out?  Why is our confidence in the Gospel so shaken?  Obviously there is a measure of spiritual warfare that tosses doubts our way but is there something more?

Now, if a person is unable to define the Gospel then how will that person live according to it?  Is there a sense of life change that needs to take place in order for the full understanding of the Gospel to take root?  Is there a sense that in our culture our students have not seen the life change in the adults around them to give them a sense of confidence that the Gospel is life changing and worth repeating or proclaiming?  If the Gospel has not made a change in my life then do I fully understand what the Gospel really is?  

This season of Christmas coming upon us is a celebration of the Gospel, the word, the begotten coming to take the form of a human to ultimately become our rescuer.  It is our sin that separates us from our God and it is our sin that causes us to need a rescuer.  The baby Jesus which is the Christ, the messiah, has come to bring salvation to those who believe.  He will experience birth, life, ministry, death and the resurrection.  All those who trust in him alone will receive life that is eternal and will get to be with Jesus forever.  This message of redemption and rescue should be life changing as we spend the rest of our lives doing our best to work out our salvation.  Once we see our sinful state and see the need for a savior and then receive this gift of salvation (Romans 6:23  ) our lives should be different after.  Are our lives any different?  Have we truly embraced the freedom that comes from salvation (Galatians 5:1).

I want to hear more about this from you so I have set up a blog for you to post how the Gospel has changed your life.  Let our students see it, hear it and learn how powerful (Romans 1:16) the Gospel really is so they will have the confidence to proclaim it and live it out.  How has the Gospel changed your life?

Other great links related to the Gospel
Awesome presentation of the GOSPEL

Incredible ministry training teens to share their faith

Founder of the Dare 2 Share organization

Volunteers for ministry...

Had an epiphany recently.  Call it an AHA moment.  Each year we pastors scramble to recruit or 'invite' others to serve in our area of ministry.  This is always a stretch and there have been seasons where I panic a bit as I will have way more students in our ministry than I have adults willing to mentor or disciple.  I see this in our children's ministry a lot as well.  So many kids wanting to participate and we have so few workers to develop the next generation of church leaders.

So, now enter the epiphany.

Matthew 9:35-38..
(from youversion.com)

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."


The epiphany comes from the first words in v. 38. "Therefore pray earnestly...."

Yes it is a pastors responsibility or obligation to train the saints to do the work of the ministry (See Eph. 4) but at the same time, since the harvest is so plentiful we hear from Jesus that there is reason to pray and not just pray but pray EARNESTLY that the lord will send out the laborers into his harvest. Is it my harvest? NO. Do I care more about the harvest than the Lord? NO. Will not the Lord send out the leaders where he knows the programs are humble and ready to submit to His will, His leadership, His provision? YES

So, enter guilt trip for me. How often to I pray earnestly for the laborers to come? How often do I pray for the Laborers that have come and helped to work the harvest?

Not Enough. If I was praying enough (how do you measure enough prayer???) then I would not be panicking but waiting with expectation for the answer to the prayer (Psalm 5:3).