Not Ashamed of the Gospel

In one paragraph

The previous week's sermon had ended with a homework assignment: write the gospel in ten words or less. This week Pastor Ray gathered those responses and used them, alongside Romans 1:17, to let the congregation's own words carry the weight of explaining what Paul means when he says he is not ashamed of the gospel. Pastor Ray opened by acknowledging that Romans 1:16-17 is the theological heart of...

Read together

1. John 10:10 Jesus said He came that we might have life and life to the full measure
2. Jeremiah 17:7-8 blessed are those who trust in the Lord, like trees planted along a riverbank
3. Isaiah 30:15 in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength
4. Romans 1:16 not ashamed of the gospel, it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes
5. Romans 1:17 the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, the righteous shall live by faith
6. Habakkuk 2:4 source of the quotation the righteous by faith shall live
7. 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 Christ died for our sins, was buried, raised on the third day, appeared to Cephas then the twelve
8. John 3:16 for God so loved the world, referenced as the best gospel summary by several respondents
9. John 3:16-21 used as one of two scriptural guideposts in the detailed gospel definition exercise
10. 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 second scriptural guidepost used in the detailed gospel definition exercise
11. Acts 16:31 believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved
12. Jude 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire, referenced as context for a rescue-oriented gospel statement
13. Luke 15:23 I was dead now alive, lost but now found, noted as taken from Lazarus
14. 1 John 5:12 he who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son does not have life
15. Romans 16:25-27 closing benediction about the gospel and mystery now made known to all nations leading to obedience of faith

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray quoted C.S. Lewis, who said that if you cannot turn your faith into common language, you either do not understand it or you do not believe it. How did working on your own 10-word gospel summary reveal something about what you actually understand or believe?
2. Many of the summaries sent in pointed to the same themes: faith, forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace with God. Which of those themes feels most central to your own experience of the gospel, and why?
3. The woman who submitted a single word, 'truth,' explained that people have heard the Christian message but simply do not believe it is true. How do you respond when someone treats the gospel as a nice idea rather than a fact?
4. Pastor Ray walked through the phrase from Habakkuk, 'the righteous by faith shall live,' and showed it can be read two ways: righteousness comes through faith, or the righteous are called to live by faith as a way of life. How do both of those readings shape the way you think about your daily life?
5. The closing homework question was: how will you live out the gospel this week, and how will your life reveal God's righteousness? What is one specific situation coming up this week where that question is going to be hard to answer?