Understanding the Gospel: Jesus Christ's Teachings

1364 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Christianity's influence on western civilization

Simply stated, “the word "gospel" means simply good news.” With that definition, then the good news would summarize all of the information found in the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul recaps the most basic components in the gospel message. These are found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, specifically listed in 15:3-4 (NRSV) “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,”. “These verses, which were an early Christian confession, give us the heart of the gospel” and show the importance of three incidents; that Christ died …show more content…

Jesus Christ lived a life and suffered death as a sacrifice for sin. Christ conquered death and offers “a share in His triumph to all who will accept it.” This is indeed good news as it comes as a free gift from God. It is “not something that must be earned by penance or by self-improvement,” it is simply a free gift. Romans 1:17a (NCV) states, “The Good News shows how God makes people right with himself – that it all begins and ends with faith.” As we trust in God’s grace to save us thought Jesus Christ, the good news is that our sins are forgiven. We have a purpose for our life and for living. We also have a promised future in Heaven for …show more content…

It doesn’t matter if you are evangelism in West Africa or Kansas City, Missouri, the message of the good news of Christ is the same. However, it must be relevant to the people who are hearing the message. F. Douglas Powe explained in his book that “many African American churches are drying because congregations perpetuate an old-wineskin mentality.” This old-wineskin mentality is referring to doing things the way they way were done years ago and not taking into context the changes in culture and society. It is important to remember, that no one is asking or suggesting that the good news of Christ be altered; it just needs to be made relevant. This is true in all churches not just African American churches. When culture shifts are ignored, “a congregation runs the risk of not only decline, but eventually death.”
Congregations simply cannot move from one program to another program in hopes of meeting the needs of the community. As stated before, people who are sharing the good news of Christ, or evangelizing, must show people the relevance. Cultures will certainly shift, but that doesn’t change the gospel. It just changes how we must present

Show More
Related

  • I Believe I Ll Testify By Cleophus J. Larue

    1933 Words  | 4 Pages

    Cleophus J. LaRue in I Believe I’ll Testify makes it clear that great preaching comes from somewhere, it also must go somewhere, so preachers need to use the most artful language to send the Word on its journey. There is always purpose in life in black preaching says LaRue. Some of the greatest preaching in America happens on Sundays. The articulation and cadence of the black preacher often arise and causes people to feel something deep down inside their souls. The heart of black preaching has been deeply entrenched in our society and is a staple in the life blood of the traditional black family and community. Many a congregation has been stirred to conviction, repentance, and action by the powerful voice of the African american preacher. In I Believe I’ll Testify, LaRue seeks to explain the designing characteristics that exist in black preaching and how it has become a tooled force in the twenty-first century African American community. Using stories and antidotes and his own experiences, LaRue describes what actually makes for good preaching and gives insightful advice in the art of preaching that many seminarians do not learn from seminary. This book is an informative and well written book and could benefit pastors, former pastors, and anyone interested in the art of good black preaching.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Gospel of John

    868 Words  | 2 Pages

    Of course the most prominent part of the Gospel are the miracles. A number of the miracles that are described in John are not mentioned at all in the other three Gospels. For example, the aforementioned raising of Lazarus. In this miracle, Jesus goes to the tomb of one of his followers who was stoned to death. Once he sees that Lazarus has been entombed for four days, he has the stone removed from the entrance to the cave and commands "Lazarus, come out!" (John 11:43). This is one of the most famous miracles, but it only appears in the one Gospel. Another example of a very well known miracle that is only present in John is his ability to turn water into wine at the wedding at Cana. This is a story that tells how Jesus was able to take not only water, but also inferior wine and turn them into quality wine. This is also a very interesting passage because in it, Jesus is promoting alcohol use and bein...

    Read More

  • The Origin of the Independent Black Church

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kroll, P. (2006). The African-American Church in America. Grace Communion International. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://www.gci.org/history/african

    Read More

  • The Gospel Case Study

    1275 Words  | 3 Pages

    Considering the cultural values of Joe, there are several factors which will influence how The Gospel is presented and revived. Joe is from a collectivist culture, so instead of presenting things as would generally be presented in an individualist culture I must focus more on the group benefit than the personal benefit. Joe will be more interested in how the group is affected, in this case I would focus on the benefit to his family and focus on the family aspects of Christianity. Joe clearly thinks in terms of group benefit, as he often uses the phrase “for the good of the facility” when addressing issues and proposed changes.

    Read More

  • The African Methodist Episcopal Church

    2467 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many people who hear the name African Methodist Episcopal Church automatically make assumptions. These assumptions are based on the faulty premises that the name of the church denotes that the church is only meant for African-Americans or that it is filled with racist’s teachings. Neither of those assumptions is true. The Africans communities established their own churches and ordained their own preachers who could relate to the struggle of being a slave and the struggle of being a free African in a strange land that spoke freedom but their action said something different.

    Read More

  • The Gnostic Gospels

    2152 Words  | 5 Pages

    not the gospel of the good doctrine which led to many interpretations of the teachings of the gospel.

    Read More

  • The Gospel of Matthew

    1550 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Gospel of Matthew is an eyewitness story written for an audience of believers, under great stress, and persecution. Matthew develops a theological plot incorporating genealogy, speeches, parables, inter and intra textual references, common vocabulary, and fulfillment quotations, with a tension that builds as we are invited into the story. The crucifixion and resurrection bring us to a Christological climax that symbolically points beyond its conclusion to God’s Kingdom, bringing atonement, salvation and the ushering in the Eschaton. The extraordinary events surrounding the crucifixion act as commentary, adding important details concerning the death of Jesus.1

    Read More

  • The Gospel According to Luke

    1035 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book of Luke, found after the books Matthew and Mark, focuses on the ministry of Jesus Christ but it also gives us a look into His birth and growth in totality. In this chapter we see a historical account of some of the journeys that Christ experienced. It is important to keep in mind that the Bible and all of its books do serve as historical accounts but each book is unique in the fact that they incorporate a theological timeline. The Bible is, conceivably, the most important book that has ever been written. It gives the world eyewitness accounts to historical events that helped not only shaped a region of the world but the whole entire world. It is nearly impossible to go through some formal societal education and have never once read a part of the bible or have heard a story that adapts from the stories within the bible. The bible has helped formed institutions, associations and so much more. By reading the Gospel of Luke we are truly reading what is meant for us to read as Christians. The principal plot in the book of Luke is the life of Jesus Christ, his sacrifice, His ability to beat death and remain perfect as the son of GOD despite being human as well. Jesus is seen as the perfect savior for humans in the book of Luke. Luke not only gives multiple examples of the power of Jesus but also it gives us a look at The Lord’s triumph over temptation. Luke also depicts Jesus as a man/GOD who had a very deep concentration on people and relationships. The book of Luke gives Jesus a loving characteristic but doesn’t shy away from showing that at times Jesus got angry too. Jesus showed a great deal of compassion to the sick, those in pain, the poor, and unambiguously the sinful. Jesus had genuine love for everyone. Throughout this...

    Read More

  • Gospel of Matthew

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Gospel according to Matthew is the first book in the New Testament, and also serves as a bridge between the Old Testament and the New Testament. The gospel tells us of Jesus and his teachings. It is believed that the Gospel originated with Matthew, one of Jesus' disciples, and it circulated anonymously (Harris 149). The message in this gospel was compiled to minister to a Jewish and Jewish-Christian community when tensions between early Christians and postwar Jewish leaders aggravated bitter controversy. The Gospel of Matthew was written as an encouragement to the Greek-speaking Jewish Christians and Gentiles who were, at least partly, Torah observant during the 80s C.E. probably at Antioch in Syria (Harris 148). The teachings of Matthew gave special attention to presenting Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, in whom the writers of the Old Testament prophesied would come true (Matthew 1:21-22).

    Read More

  • The Gospel And The Gospel

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is a serious issue in the body of Christ that causes much division and many questions to skeptics and people outside of the faith. That is, “What about those who have never heard the gospel?” This brings many other questions. Do those who never hear the gospel go to Heaven? If someone never heard of the good news in their whole life would God spare them anyway and make them be exempt from judgment? These serious questions deserve serious answers.

    Read More

  • Justification Of Christianism In Africa

    2331 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many African Americans believed that it is their divine mission to take Christianity to Africa. There have been many African Americans in late 1700s and early 1800s, which traveled to Africa with the sole purposes of evangelizing and establishing churches. Men such as David George, Lott Carey and Colin Teague, where some of the first African Americans who went to Africa to promote Christianity. Their efforts to spread Christianity presented a justification for the inhuman bondage suffered by people of African descent in America.1 In this paper, I will show how African Americans went from being slaves in the United States to being evangelical missionaries to their home country of Africa. A Historian by the name of Albert Raboteau states that those African American missionaries believed, “that God was drawing good out of the evil of slavery by using the American descendents of African slaves to take Christianity to the lands of their ancestors”.2

    Read More

  • The Four Gospels

    1960 Words  | 4 Pages

    The word 'gospel' means good news. There are four gospel accounts in the New Testament:

    Read More

  • Developing a Cross-Cultural Ministry Philosophy

    902 Words  | 2 Pages

    In other words, evidence of God’s intention to establish diversity begins with the table of nations in Genesis 10 and continues throughout both the Old and New Testaments (Patten, 2013). Therefore, catering to or including cross-cultural communities in our ministry planning has biblical basis. Embracing various cultures abroad when preaching the gospel is also clearly outlined as a needed ministry when reading in the book of Acts, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

    Read More

  • The Two Gospel Theory

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    Christians all over the world disagree on many topics relating to the life of Jesus among other biblical characters and the debate about which gospel was written first is no exception. Many Christian faiths today believe that the gospel according to Mark was the first book written and they use what is called the two document theory to explain their belief. There are many reasons to accept this hypothesis as truth, however there are many who still believe that the book of Matthew was written first and they site the two gospel theory which is also a very convincing argument.

    Read More

  • Elder John Bowles's Reflection Of The Elder John Bowles

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    Going into the community is to show the love for the people. Anderson shares, “In his ministry Jesus united all of these discrete ministries around the primary motivation and core of love.” Love must be the first tool used. Anderson continues, “Ministry is to relate to people as persons. The church is made for people, people are not made for the church (Mark 2:27). Outreach is to love people as persons. Every person in the world has a right to know that a particular individual loves him or her for Jesus’ sake.” While Jesus tells us to go and teach all nations (Matt. 28:19), we need the proper guidance. “We read very little in the New Testament about the power and presence of the Spirit in the church in Jerusalem, where there is no evidence of a strong mission outreach.” (Anderson). Evangelism is important, but it should be taught to the people, rather than expecting them to catch

    Read More

More about Understanding the Gospel: Jesus Christ's Teachings

Open Document