The Gospel in Ten Words or Less

In one paragraph

Pastor Ray opened the Sunday service with a congregational assignment: send in the gospel in ten words or less. Rather than working through a single passage, he let the question itself drive the message, using scripture, quotes, and responses from a similar assignment seven years ago to press toward a clear, honest answer about what the gospel actually is. The prompt came out of something...

Read together

1. Psalm 92 opening call to worship, singing praise to God on the Sabbath
2. Romans 1:16-17 Paul not ashamed of the gospel, power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, righteous shall live by faith
3. 1 Corinthians 1:18 message of the cross is foolishness to those perishing but power of God to those being saved
4. 1 Timothy 1:15 trustworthy saying that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners
5. Isaiah 30:15 in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it
6. Psalm 23:1 the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, offered as gospel in ten words or less
7. Psalm 67 gospel extending to every tribe, tongue, and nation
8. Acts 16:31 believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, cited as a gospel summary
9. 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 Christ died for our sins, was buried, raised on the third day, appeared to Cephas then to the twelve
10. 1 John 5:12 he who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son does not have life
11. John 3:16 God so loved the world that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life, cited twice

Talk about it

1. Pastor Ray asked the congregation to summarize the gospel in 10 words or less. What would your answer be, and what does your choice of words reveal about how you understand the gospel?
2. Romans 1:16-17 says the gospel is 'the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.' Pastor Ray mentioned he might be ashamed of how Christians have acted, but not of the gospel itself. Where do you see that tension in your own life or in the life of the church?
3. Isaiah 30:15 says 'in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.' Why do you think people resist resting in God and keep trying to work for salvation instead?
4. Several of the congregation's responses from 2016 emphasized the exclusivity of Christ as the only way to be right with God. How do you hold that conviction while also pointing to the 'whosoever' in John 3:16?
5. Pastor Ray drew a distinction between 'the righteous by faith shall live' and 'the righteous by faith shall live,' saying that faith is how you become righteous and also how you walk out that righteousness day to day. What does living by faith actually look like in your ordinary week?