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Sharing The Gospel – In 3 Minutes Or Less

More by paul.

what is a gospel presentation

I recently asked a room full of Christian leaders to share the Gospel as they would to a 10 year old child 3 minutes before they fell asleep.

Then I asked them to share the Gospel as they would to a complete stranger on the subway who was getting off at the next stop.

The results were a little disappointing to everyone involved.

Most of us prefer to warm up to such things. Most of us would rather share the Gospel gradually, in snips and bits, over an extended period, within a safe and stable relational context.

In general, I think that is a reasonable way to go, but there are also times when we need to be able to at least introduce the Gospel in a limited amount of time.

The two scenarios mentioned above are both real and representative of several situations I’ve encountered in the past.

I’ve had children ask me Gospel questions after bedtime prayers and I have watched the alertness drain out of them like sands through an hourglass as I attempted to say true things about God, about us and about how God has saved us through the person and work of Jesus Christ. I was sitting on the train once reading my Bible when a Hindu fellow in the seat next to me asked me what Christians believed about God. I had two, maybe three stops before I would say goodbye forever to this man so I wanted to say as much as I could in the time that I had – but I quickly discovered that I was not adequately prepared.

Since those two failures (along with several others!) I’ve found great benefit in memorizing a very short statement that captures the essence of the Christian Gospel:

The Gospel is the Good News of what God has done in Christ to secure our salvation.

That statement has 17 words in it and takes about 6 seconds to say. If I’m asked by a person on the subway or by a patron in line behind me at Tim Hortons what a Christian believes or what Christianity is all about I will start with that line and then build up from there based on the amount of time that I have.

To the person getting off the subway at the next stop (3 minutes) I would add some version of the following:

The word Gospel means “good news”. It’s pretty important to understand that. The Bible is not a book that tells us what we have to do to earn salvation, it is a book that tells us what God did to earn our salvation. What he did was send Jesus. Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves and he paid for what we had done in his body on the cross. God created human beings and intended for them to be ruling creatures. We were supposed to be under God but over everything else. We were supposed to rule over creation under the guidance and authority of God’s Word and to function as conduits for all the blessings of heaven. That’s how it was supposed to be, but unfortunately, the Bible tells the story of how our first parents, Adam and Eve, fell into sin by choosing to rebel against God’s Word in order to become autonomous ruling creatures. Basically, they wanted to be gods unto themselves, deciding good and evil. From that point on, humanity has been on a downward spiral moving further and further away from God and our original design and glory. The heart of the Gospel is the Good News that Jesus has come as God in the flesh and has obeyed God perfectly and has therefore won the right to all the blessings God originally intended to give to men and women. Furthermore, through his sacrificial death on the cross, he has paid the debt that we owed to God for disobeying his commands. There is therefore no need anymore for us to hide from God. In Jesus, we can come home and we can be restored. The climax of the Gospel is the great news that he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven where he now intercedes on our behalf. He gives the Holy Spirit to all his people and he slowly but surely, changes our hearts, reforms our desires and teaches us how to be the children of God we were always intended to be. For now, Jesus remains in heaven, changing the world one person at a time, but one day he will return and judge the world in righteousness. He will remove from this world all sin and all causes of sin and he will restore the cosmos to a state of peace, prosperity and flourishing and all those who have received him as their Lord and Savior will participate in his rule and enjoy his goodness forever.

It takes 2.5 minutes to say that at normal talking speed, which leaves 30 seconds to answer a question or to suggest a website or a book that could provide further information.

To be clear, I don’t imagine that too many people will be saved by a 180 second presentation of the Gospel – but it could lead to an exchange of email addresses; it could lead to a friend request on Facebook; it could lead to a website or a book or a Small Group. Your 180 seconds could be the seed that is used by God to begin a Gospel journey.

So memorize your 20 word summary.

Practice your 2 minute drill.

Find an article on-line that you could recommend for further study.

And then pray and ask the Lord to provide you with opportunities.

For the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.

Pastor Paul Carter

To listen to Pastor Paul’s Into The Word devotional podcast on the TGC Canada website see here . You can also find it on iTunes.

N.B. A version of this article also appeared in the December edition of Seven Magazine. Used here with permission.

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How to Share the Gospel: Simple Presentation Tools

I can count at least ten different gospel presentation tools that I’ve used throughout my lifetime. I could still use any one of them to share the gospel with a spiritually lost person today. What gospel presentation tool do you use?

Ways to Present the Gospel

As a child, my mom led a Good News Club in our home for neighborhood children and taught us the Wordless Book . This was my first exposure to the gospel.

The Wordless Book by Child Evangelism Fellowship uses these five colors to explain the message of the gospel.

Wordless book

GOLD ~ God wants us to be in heaven with Him. BLACK ~ Our sin separates us from God. RED ~ Christ died on the cross as the only payment for our sin. WHITE ~ Accept God’s forgiveness and the free gift of eternal life. GREEN ~ Grow closer to God every day.

Later, as a jr. high student, our youth ministry taught us the Romans Road and I memorized verses from the book of Romans to present the gospel message.

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 10:9 “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:10 “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:13 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

In high school, I went through a 17 week course on Evangelism Explosion , the training developed by D. James Kennedy. In those 17 weeks, we learned a simple gospel message outline, memorized verses, crafted illustrations, and practiced sharing our faith by visiting people who had visited the church. Maybe you’re most familiar with Evangelism Explosion’s 2 Diagnostic Questions:

ONE: Do you know for sure that you are going to be with God in heaven? TWO: If God were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My heaven?” What would you say?

While in college, I toured with Athlete’s In Action’s track team through Central and Eastern Europe, sharing the gospel with other athletes. As a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ (now CRU) we had to memorize The Four Spiritual Laws,  a popular gospel tract.

Law One: God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. Law Two: Man is sinful and separated from God. As a result, we cannot know God’s wonderful plan for our lives. Law Three: Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for our sin. Through Jesus Christ, we can have our sins forgiven and be restored to a right relationship with God. Law Four: We must place our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior in order to receive the gift of salvation and know God’s wonderful plan for our lives.

After graduating college, I began to use Billy Graham’s outline found in the gospel tract  Steps to Peace with God:

Step ONE: God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life – abundant and eternal. Step TWO: We choose to disobey God and go our own willful way. This results in separation from God. Step THREE: Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people. Step FOUR: We must trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive Him by personal invitation.

One Verse Evangelism

Then, in 2003, I developed my own evangelism training based on the acronym YMCA . This fun training incorporated John 3:16 as the one verse to build the gospel message around:

YOU are loved by God. “ For God so loved the world… ” MAN is sinful and separated from God. “ …shall not perish… ” CHRIST died on the cross as the only payment for our sin. “ …that He gave His one and only Son…” ACCEPT God’s gift of eternal life by faith. “ …whoever believes in Him shall… have eternal life.”

Our children began to be taught a simple gospel message presentation through LifeWay’s VBS curriculum, the ABC’s of Salvation .

ADMIT to God that you are a sinner. BELIEVE in Jesus Christ as God’s Son. CONFESS your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

In 2013, Sonlife partnered together with Dare 2 Share to train students to share their faith using Dare 2 Share’s G.O.S.P.E.L. presentation, Life in Six Words . The tool is simple, but strengthened by incredible videos and apps for students to use in sharing their faith.

GOD created us to be with Him. OUR sins separate us from God. SINS cannot be removed by good deeds. PAYING the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. EVERYONE who trusts in Him alone has eternal life. LIFE with Jesus starts now and lasts forever.

Through the years, I’ve also been introduced to many other great evangelism tools: Three Story Evangelism by Youth For Christ, Three Circles Evangelism by NAMB, EvangeCube, and the Gospel Bead Bracelet being just a few.

Tips for Sharing the Gospel

Here are a few things I think are critically important when it comes to sharing the gospel.

1. Keep it simple.  What each of these evangelism tools help to do is keep the message of the gospel simple. If the message is simple, it will be clear. If the message is simple, it will be understandable. If the message is simple, it will be reproducible. I believe this is why Paul wrote to the church in Colossae, “Pray that I may proclaim it (the gospel) clearly, as I should.” You want the gospel message to be simple enough that when you share it with someone, if they put their faith in Christ for salvation, they can turn around and share that same message with someone else. You’ll notice that in pretty much every one of the above gospel presentation tools, you will find these four basic elements. God’s Love, Man’s Sin, Christ’s Death, Our Response. If the presentation you use is missing any one of these elements, or adds much more than these, you might want to reevaluate for both simplicity and clarity.

2. Bring it up.  Often we don’t share the gospel with someone because we think they are not ready to hear it. If we use a Stop Light as an analogy for someone’s readiness to hear the Gospel—with Red being closed to the gospel, Yellow being interested in spiritual things, and Green being ready to put their faith in Christ—most of us think our friends or neighbors are at the Red light.

When to share the gospel: stoplight analogy

A better perspective would be for us to assume our friend is at the Green light, initiate a spiritual conversation, see how they respond, and then evaluate their spiritual readiness. In other words, don’t write them off before we’ve even given them a chance. Their readiness might just surprise us.

3. Land the Plane.  One of the hardest things for us to do when we’ve shared the gospel with someone is to close the deal, to land the plane. We stammer and struggle and just leave the conversation unfinished. Either we’re afraid to be viewed as being too pushy, or we’re afraid of being rejected. When we share the gospel, it should always come with an invitation for the person to respond. Two simple questions help in this regard. 1. So, what do you think? Does this make sense? 2. Would you like to put your trust in Christ alone for forgiveness and eternal life?

4. Pray, Pray, Pray!

  • Pray for your lost friends. Jesus prayed, seeing that “the harvest is great, but the workers are few.” Matthew 9:37
  • Pray for opportunities to share the Gospel message. “And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message…” Colossians 4:3
  • Pray for boldness and clarity as you share the gospel. “Pray also for me, that whenever I may speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” Ephesians 6:19

For Further Consideration

1. Who are the spiritually lost friends you are currently praying for and investing in relationally? Which light do you think they are at—Red, Yellow or Green? Consider viewing them as a Green light, sharing the gospel, and evaluating their true spiritual readiness.

2. What gospel presentation tool are you personally using? Maybe you feel like you’ve known Christ long enough, or been in ministry long enough, that you don’t need a tool. You can just go freestyle. If so, ask yourself: Is the way I share the gospel message reproducible? Can I train others to share the same way I do?

3. Explore. See what great evangelism tools are out there. New ones are being developed every year. I’ve outlined several great tools above. Sonlife has several more in the Evangelism Toolbox in our 4 Chair Discipling seminar guide. Check out a few new tools, especially those that are using technology, whether they be in the form of a website that can be shared through social media or apps ( Life in 6 Words by Dare 2 Share, The Big Story by InterVarsity, GodTools by Cru) that can be installed on smart phones or tablets. One great thing about tools like these is, because they are digital, they are easily shareable and therefore reproducible.

The Navigators

One-Verse Evangelism: How to Share Christ’s Love Conversationally & Visually

One-Verse Evangelism ® is a simple, interactive way to share Christ’s love conversationally and visually. Using just one verse, it’s easy to learn, and you can write it anywhere. One-Verse Evangelism shares the powerful message of the gospel in a 10 to 15 minute conversation.

Many times we feel that to be effective in evangelism we have to create complex illustrations and memorize a seminary-worthy number of verses. But the gospel is most powerful when shared with love, clarity, and (sometimes most importantly) simplicity.

One-Verse Evangelism is a simple, interactive way to share Christ’s love conversationally and visually. It is based on asking questions and sharing truth simply. It’s easy to learn because it uses just one verse. One-Verse Evangelism can be shared in just 10 or 15 minutes, but can have impact for a lifetime.

Here’s a brief look at how it works. Let’s say God is leading you to share the gospel with your neighbor, Jeff. Write out Romans 6:23 on a piece of paper or a napkin: “ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord ” (NIV). All you need is contained in this single passage. Ask Jeff if he would like to see a simple diagram based on this verse that will explain God’s relationship with mankind (us).

Circle the word “wages” and ask, “How would you feel if your boss refused to pay you the wages that were due to you?” The answer, of course, is that he would want justice—in this case, the wages he had worked for. Deep down, we all know that it is only right that we get what we deserve. Similarly, we earn “wages” from God for how we have lived our lives.

Draw a circle around “sin,” asking your neighbor Jeff what he thinks when he hears this word. You might explain that sin is more an attitude than an action. It can be either actively fighting God or as simple as excluding Him from our lives. You can ask, “Has God ever seemed far away?” If he says “Yes,” you can explain that that’s one of the things sin does—it makes God seem far away. Now draw two opposing cliffs with a gap in between.

Circle this word and ask what thoughts come to mind. Explain that death in the Bible always means some kind of separation—in its most basic sense, separation from life. Because God is the author of life, a spiritual death simply means separation from Him.

While circling this word, mention that it is important because it means that a sharp contrast in ideas is coming. What we have just looked at is the bad news; what comes next is the good news.

Draw a circle around this word. Ask, “If wages are what a person earns, then what is a gift?” Remind Jeff that though every gift is free for the person receiving it, someone still has to purchase it.

Circle this and explain that the gift you are talking about is free. It is from God Himself. It’s so special that no one else can give it. Ask, “How do you feel when someone gives you a special gift?”

Eternal Life

Circle these two words next, and then ask, “How would you define these words?” Contrast one side of the cliff, death, with the other side, eternal life. Ask, “What is the opposite of separation from God?”

Christ Jesus

Write these words so they create a bridge between the two cliffs. Help your friend to consider that just as every gift has a unique giver, only Jesus Christ can give the gift of eternal life.

Write this word over the bridge you just drew. Explain that a true friend is a friend you can trust, and tell Jeff that Jesus is offering to be a true friend to him. All Jeff has to do is admit that he is responsible for his sin—either of fighting against God or excluding Him from his life. Trusting Jesus means believing that He has power to forgive us for rejecting God and that He will wash us clean from all that we have done wrong in life. At this point, you can ask him if he wants to start a relationship with God that will last forever. If he says “Yes,” invite him to pray a short prayer in his own words, asking Jesus to forgive him and make him new.

Close by reminding him that this simple illustration shows what God is like: Someone who really cares about people—especially him. Invite him to read all about it in the Bible–the Gospel of John is a great place to start.

Get this Navigator Discipleship Tool

Navigator Discipleship Tools are designed for sharing with your Bible study, church group, and those you are discipling. Order a copy of the One-Verse Evangelism booklet today for more detailed step-by-step instructions for drawing out and sharing this helpful illustration.

Adapted with permission from One-Verse Evangelism , copyright 2000 Randy D. Raysbrook. All rights reserved.

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Ways to Present the Gospel

Adrian Rogers once said that there are two critical points in sharing your faith with others: getting started and asking for a decision . Many people get started but fall short of asking for a decision. Click here to look at some different conversation starters for a spiritual conversation with someone. Continue reading to learn about how you can present the Gospel in a way that brings someone to the point of making a decision. 

Use Your Personal Testimony

Witnessing is simply about sharing your personal encounter with Jesus with other people. The great thing about what God has done in your life is that no one can dispute it! Your story is what  you  have "seen and heard." Trust God and just tell others what has happened to you. Click here to read more about how to use your testimony. 

Use the Roman Road

This presentation is called the Roman Road because it uses verses in the Book of Romans to walk someone through the steps of salvation. Step 1 is recognizing that we are all sinners. (See Romans 3:23 .) Step 2 is realizing that our sins have a consequence: death. (See Romans 6:23 .) Step 3 is accepting that Jesus Christ died for those sins so the price is paid in full. (See Romans 5:8 .) Step 4 is confessing Jesus as Lord and believing He rose from the grave. (See Romans 10:9 .)

As you read through Romans, you may find even more verses to use in this Gospel presentation. But you want to make sure that you include the core steps in your conversation.

Use John 3:16

John 3:16 is one verse that tells us everything we need to know about the Gospel. It explains to us that God loved, God gave, we believe, and then we live in Him. Click here to explore the truths about John 3:16 and how these truths can introduce someone to Jesus Christ.

Use the 3 Circles

The 3 Circles is a simple way to have Gospel conversations with others. This illustration walks through how God has organized the world to function, what has gone wrong since sin entered the world, and how we can respond to God. Click here to be taken through an interactive presentation of the 3 Circles, or learn more through the MyLWF app.

Use the Four Spiritual Laws

The Four Spiritual Laws are a collection of laws that govern our relationships with God. Click here to learn more about each of the laws and how to use them to share the Gospel.

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what is a gospel presentation

  • How to Love as Jesus Loved (1686)
  • How to Love as Jesus Loved
  • https://d1uovme38eq7lq.cloudfront.net/1686a.mp3

Gospel presentations

A gospel presentation is a presentation of the basics of the good news of the Lordship of Jesus Christ , his kingdom come/coming, his death, burial, and resurrection , and the free forgiveness of sins for those who repent and trust in the person of Jesus Christ. A presentation usually includes helpful elements for the particular audience, such as Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah , or the basics of the nature of God and His benevolent dominion over humanity for those unacquainted with the basics of a biblical worldview (which centers around the worship of the one true God).

There are examples of concise gospel presentations in the New Testament , as well as various modern ways of presenting the gospel through formulas that have become popular. Moreover, there are also examples of longer gospel presentations which encompass more holistic picture of the biblical worldview for the listener.

"And Agrippa said to Paul, 'In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?' And Paul said, 'Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.' " (Acts 26:28-29)

  • Preaching the Gospel (Vimeo), by Tim Keller

Long Presentations

  • God's Story From Creation to Eternity (ChristianAnswers.net)
  • The Hope (Mars Hill Productions)

Short Presentations

  • On the Street Witnessing (Way of the Master)
  • The Kristo (North American Mission Board)
  • The Four Spirital Laws (Campus Crusade for Christ)
  • Eric Ludy - The Gospel (YouTube)
  • 3-2-1 Gospel Presentation (Vimeo)

Presentations in the New Testament

Jesus preached of the kingdom of God . He authoritatively forgave sins and demonstrated the presence of the kingdom of God by healing people of their sicknesses. It is perhaps difficult to summarize Jesus' preaching on the gospel since his whole ministry encompassed it.

There is record of Peter preaching the gospel in Acts 2 and 10. In Acts 10, Luke records the following gospel presentation given to Cornelius and his family:

"Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." (v. 35-43)

There is record of Paul giving the gospel in Acts 17:22-31. He preached on the nature of God, his care for humans and desire to be in relationship with them, the judgment to come, and then the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul finished his presentation with this:

"The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead." Paul summarizes what he delivered as the gospel to those in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 15:

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed." (v. 3-11)

Popular modern presentations

The four laws.

The Four Laws presentation was put together by Campus Crusade for Christ and is used on many college campuses around the world. It can be summarized as follows:

"1. God LOVES you and offers a wonderful PLAN for your life. 2. Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life. 3. Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. 4. We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives."^[1]^

Evangelism Explosion

Evangelism Explosion focuses on the question, "Where would you go if you died, and why?"

The Way of the Master

"The Way of the Master" focuses on using the law as a means of helping a person know that they are a sinner, before the good news is explained to them.^[ [citation\ needed](Theopedia:Writing_guide#Reference_your_work) ]^ This is seen by adherents as not only relevant to the modern culture (which seems to have little knowledge of the seriousness of sin or the severity of its consequences), but also as a basic principle of Biblical evangelism, which Jesus himself used.

Two Ways to Live

Authored by Phillip Jensen , " Two Ways to Live " is a simple, memorable summary of the Christian gospel, including some of its necessary presuppositions and background. ^ [2]^ The steps have a basic "script" that is learnt by rote; though users are encouraged to adapt the delivery of their presentation to their own style and to the situation. The six points provide a brief summary of the whole Bible story, and fit together as a coherent set of propositions:

  • God the creator; humanity ruling under his authority.
  • Humanity rebels, wishing to run things its own way.
  • God judges (and will judge) humanity for this rebellion.
  • In his love, God sends Jesus to die as an atoning sacrifice.
  • In his power, God raises Jesus to life as ruler and judge.
  • This presents us with a challenge to repent and believe.
  • Gospel call
  • ↑ http://www.godlovestheworld.com/
  • ↑ What is Two ways to live ?

External links

  • How to Share the Gospel Clearly , by Charles C. Bing
  • Why start with Creation and then proceed chronologically when teaching the Gospel? (ChristianAnswers.net)
  • How Can I Know God? , by Tim Keller
  • Two Ways To Live (Matthias Media)
  • The Case for Christianity in 15 Minutes (or less) , by J.W. Wartick
  • What Everyone Should Know About God

Helping youth leaders empower students to reach their world.

How to share the gospel, learn how to share the gospel.

Learn how to share the Gospel with a practical, 5-minute crash course training by Greg Stier and a set of resources designed to help activate a bold and daring faith!

Many teens and adults don’t share their faith simply because they don’t know how to bring it up or explain the Gospel. An easy and simple way to start Gospel conversations is through the Ask-Admire-Admit strategy: 

  • ASK: Get to know people. Listen to them and learn their story. Ask questions about their background and spirituality.
  • ADMIRE: As a person shares their faith background, point out things about their religion you admire (i.e. dedication, missions). 
  • ADMIT: Emphasize that as a Christian, you are a messed up sinner who needs salvation. Transition into your story and the story of the Gospel. 

As you transition into the Gospel story, use the G.O.S.P.E.L. method to explain what you believe. 

  • G od created us to be with Him.
  • O ur sins separate us from God 
  • S ins cannot be removed by good deeds. 
  • P aying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again.
  • E veryone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life.
  • L ife with Jesus starts now and lasts forever.

End the conversation with these two questions:

  • Does that make sense?
  • Is there anything holding you back right now from putting your faith in Jesus?

Resources for your Gospel-sharing journey

One of the ways we help teens (and adults) share their faith is by providing conversation techniques and resources. From  mobile apps  and Gospel-sharing methods to printable resources, we have the tools to help get people comfortable sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

Life in 6 Words App Use this powerful app to walk someone through a clear, visually-compelling explanation of the G.O.S.P.E.L. and invite them to put their trust in Jesus.

Life in 6 Words Video A spoken word presentation of the G.O.S.P.E.L., this is a simple video tool to begin a spiritual conversation with a friend.

Dare 2 Share: A Field Guide to Sharing Your Faith Learn how to intentionally engage others in real, give-and-take dialogue and invite them into the most life-changing relationship they’ll ever experience. This book features profiles on various belief systems and includes conversation starters to help you have honest, authentic spiritual dialogue. It also includes a Discussion Guide to help you unpack and apply all you’re learning.

Free Teen Gospel-Sharing Resources Learn the G.O.S.P.E.L. acrostic tool, check out helpful mobile apps, learn how to engage people from other religions, and learn more about THE Cause of Christ with our free resources for teenagers!

Worldviews Have friends who are atheists? Agnostics? Into Wicca? Check out these thirteen predominate worldviews for insights that will help you effectively share your faith with others. When you share the Gospel with someone who believes differently than you about Jesus, be sure to “ask, admire and admit.”

start building a gospel advancing ministry

Equip your students to share the Gospel every week with help from these weekly tips and youth leader trainings.

what is a gospel presentation

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EvangelismCoach.org

How to Practice a Gospel Presentation

This entry is part 1 of 9 in the series Gospel Scripts

How To Practice A Gospel Presentation

In our personal evangelism seminars, I have found that most participants have heard of a particular gospel script and think they know how to use it.

In fact, if you are an evangelism trainer , you can use this exercise to help the audience discover that they need to work on knowing a gospel presentation.

I want to give you a practice exercise I use in my evangelism training workshops .  I help people realize they might night be prepared when given an opportunity at a random moment in life .

The practice I use

bridge-illustration-003.jpg

You can do the same.

First, use a whiteboard.

Draw the pictures and go through the script as if you are with a live person.

Second, get them to do it in groups.

ask participants to break up into groups of two, and share the gospel via a Bridge Illustration (or their own favorite) with their partner.

You’ll hear a collective gasp in the room as the audience suddenly panics.

I’ve been doing this for nearly 10 years and it happens every time.

People will feel awkward and a little disoriented, but they will try it.

Third, debrief the experience

After a while, coach through the process and debrief the exercise together and they will have seen that they may not be prepared for those random evangelism conversations that happen during the ordinary course of life.

“I thought I knew how”

This hands on experience reveals to most participants that they don’t really know how to present the Bridge Illustration, nor are they initially comfortable with the script.

This practical group exercise

  • Helps you practice your presentation
  • Reveals gaps in your own understanding
  • Increases comfort when the kairos moment comes.
  • Reveals your use of Christianeese (words that only make sense to Christians).

Consider this

  • Have you picked a gospel script to use as your default setting?
  • Are you so familiar with it that you can go through it with ease and flexibility?

Find a good friend and ask permission to practice going through your default setting.

  • Where do you need to improve your presentation?
  • What Christianeese do you need to remove?
  • What was clear as mud?
  • What was clear as crystal?
  • What part do you need to remember more clearly?

If you speak with a non-Christian, let them know you are practicing — that helps alleviate some of the inherent tension in a religious conversation.

God can still use it however in bringing a person to faith, but you’ve shared your motive ahead of time with some integrity.

Do you need help in Personal Evangelism?

Grow in Personal Evangelism

In this 70 minute MP3 AUDIO recording on personal evangelism you will learn:

  • How church invitations are part of evangelism
  • How to discover and share your own journey to faith
  • What you can say about the gospel message.
  • How to personally lead someone to faith in Christ.

It’s a 70 minute audio file that takes just a few minutes to download, but it may help you answer the question:

What can you do in the next 90 days to grow in your evangelism skills?

You might like to read . . .

  • You want me to explain the gospel?
  • How I used the Bridge Illustration with a Youth Group
  • 6 Different Gospel Presentations for Personal Evangelism
  • Video: Dr. Michael Green examines What is the gospel
  • Scripted Evangelism Conversations
  • The Big Story - Improving the Bridge Illustration
  • How to Use the Bridge Illustration

what is a gospel presentation

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October 11, 2017 at 1:34 am

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Gospel Presentations

Romans road.

There are many variations of gospel presentations that do a good job of explaining the way of salvation as set forth in the New Testament. One that is very helpful and straightforward is the Romans Road : [ Quoted from https://www.gotquestions.org/Romans-road-salvation.html]

The first verse on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” We have all sinned. We have all done things that are displeasing to God. There is no one who is innocent. Romans 3:10-18 gives a detailed picture of what sin looks like in our lives. The second Scripture on the Romans Road to salvation, Romans 6:23, teaches us about the consequences of sin – “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The punishment that we have earned for our sins is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death!

The third verse on the Romans Road to salvation picks up where Romans 6:23 left off, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:8 declares, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus Christ died for us! Jesus’ death paid for the price of our sins. Jesus’ resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus’ death as the payment for our sins.

The fourth stop on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, all we have to do is believe in Him, trusting His death as the payment for our sins – and we will be saved! Romans 10:13 says it again, “for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rescue us from eternal death. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is available to anyone who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

The final aspect of the Romans Road to salvation is the results of salvation. Romans 5:1 has this wonderful message, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Through Jesus Christ we can have a relationship of peace with God. Romans 8:1 teaches us, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Because of Jesus’ death on our behalf, we will never be condemned for our sins. Finally, we have this precious promise of God from Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Would you like to follow the Romans Road to salvation? If so, here is a simple prayer you can pray to God. Saying this prayer is a way to declare to God that you are relying on Jesus Christ for your salvation. The words themselves will not save you. Only faith in Jesus Christ can provide salvation! “God, I know that I have sinned against you and am deserving of punishment. But Jesus Christ took the punishment that I deserve so that through faith in Him I could be forgiven. With your help, I place my trust in You for salvation. Thank You for Your wonderful grace and forgiveness – the gift of eternal life! Amen!”

TWO WAYS TO LIVE

But my favorite presentation of the gospel is the one entitled “Two Ways to Live — the choice we all face” by Phillip D. Jensen and Tony Payne.

THE BRIDGE TO LIFE — Presentation by the Navigators

This is a very simple graphical view of Jesus Christ being the bridge that spans the gap between a holy God and sinful man.

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what is a gospel presentation

The Exchange App

Imagine having a well-illustrated, thorough, compelling, electronic gospel tract at your fingertips! Imagine sending your friends the gospel via your phone, tablet or computer! That’s exactly what The Exchange is developing.

See the app in action

The app includes:.

  • The Exchange Experience: Self-guided and presentation modes for sharing the gospel
  • The Exchange Responsive Reader: In-depth and interactive Bible studies that cultivate deeper understanding and engagement
  • Interactive illustrations to enhance engagement and clarify key points
  • Relevant scripture passages referenced and available throughout the gospel presentation
  • Personalized tract using your name and your friend’s name.
  • Messaging functionality between you and your friend to discuss key questions
  • Digital downloads of Exchange Bible studies, with options for gifting to other users
  • Easy to use invite feature which allows you to customize and send emails inviting friends to join you in a study

Embed the app on your website

Find out how you can embed the app on your website for others to view, download the app, available in the app store and google play.

what is a gospel presentation

Are you looking for a clear presentation of what Jesus accomplished and how anyone can be forgiven of their sins? Whether you are familiar with the Christian faith or not, this video will provide a succinct and encouraging presentation of what God has provided in the exchange Jesus Christ made for us and what we are to do about it.

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Divine Appointments

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God’s Exchange for You

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God’s Special Operators

Podcast episodes, thoughtful evangelism – episode 34.

Join Brian and Ryan as they interview Pastor and creator of The Exchange seminar and Bible study.  Hear Jeff’s journey leading him to The Exchange and his consistent approach on sharing the gospel.

Echoes of Faith – Episode 10

If evangelism is the core of the church, why do we see so few people born again by giving their life to Christ on a regular basis? Why do most Christians feel so discouraged about evangelism?  Pastor and teacher Jeff Musgrave has seen Christians and churches all over the world radically change their ability to be used by God to save the lost.

Echoes of Faith – Episode 11

What is it that motivates us as believers to overcome our discouragement, and actually share the gospel with those we encounter on our way? In a continued discussion from our last episode with Pastor, teacher, and founder of “The Exchange Ministry” Jeff Musgrave says that he believes we should be motivated by heavenly rewards and having an approach that works.

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Explaining the Gospel: A Challenge

The story of the gospel: scripture, the need for the gospel: sin, the person of the gospel: jesus, the gift of the gospel: grace, the accomplishment of the gospel: justification, the response to the gospel: faith & repentance, the responsibilities of the gospel: sanctification, eternity and the gospel: glorification & judgment, the end of the gospel: god, summary and definitions of the gospel.

Discover the Meaning and Aspects of the Good News of Jesus Christ

What Is the Gospel?

“What is the gospel?”

Whether you’re a new believer, someone who’s trying to study Christianity, or a long-term churchgoer, this is one question that you will want to understand with absolute clarity. It seems like such a simple question on the surface. But where do we begin to answer it? Why do so many Christians struggle to put it into words?

Begin by listening to the following brief explanation by Don Carson and answering the questions below.

During an interview, Don Carson is asked how he would briefly explain the gospel to someone who does not understand the Christian faith.

Modern culture is largely biblically illiterate, and misunderstands terms like “God”, “sin”, “salvation”, etc.

He preaches without any assumptions of biblical illiteracy in pagan environments, but builds on mutual assumptions in religious Jewish environments.

A course that overviews the story of the Bible in such a way that it makes sense of the gospel.

We must get at what the gospel  is  by getting past the problematic assumptions in our culture. And in order to do this, we find the need to begin by framing the gospel as part of a story—the way it first came to us. Let’s examine this story in the next section.

Talking about the gospel in a biblically illiterate culture demands that we have simple frameworks for thinking about and communicating the gospel that work in the ebb and flow of real life. Vanderstelt's work does an excellent job explaining how to do this. Click here for a review from TGC Australia.

This introductory work on Christian and postmodern worldview is a helpful guide for understanding the differences between the outlook of a biblically illiterate culture and that of the Christian. But Goheen and Bartholomew go a step further in explaining how the story of the Bible and the story of our culture intersect.

Evangelism is not only misunderstood, it is often unpracticed. Many Christians want to share the gospel with others, but because those Christians don't grasp the fundamentals of witnessing, they feel intimidated and incapable of sharing the truth of the gospel.

Yet those believers fail to recognize that God has already established who and how we are to evangelize. In  The Gospel and Personal Evangelism , Dr. Mark Dever seeks to answer the four basic questions about evangelism that many Christians ask: Who should we evangelize? How should we evangelize? What is evangelism? Why should we evangelize? In his answers Dever draws on New Testament truths and helps believers apply those truths in practical ways. As readers understand the fundamentals of evangelism, they will begin to develop a culture of evangelism in their lives and their local churches.

In this lengthy article by Carson (a transcript of inaugural address to the first TGC event), he outlines what the Gospel is and how it connects to the life of every person.

In this short article, Taylor helpfully summarizes Carson's longer article.

Course curated by Phil Thompson

The Bible is the story of the gospel. It is a single story that answers some of the biggest questions of humanity, like:

  • What is wrong with the world?
  • What is the solution to what’s wrong in the world?

Watch the following video from The Bible Project on the story of the Bible quickly from beginning to end. As you watch this video, reflect on what the big story of the Bible has to say about those questions.

God created people to know him, to worship him, and to partner with him.

People chose to live life on their own, defining good and evil on their own terms. They rebelled against God rather than partnering with God.

They were people that God formed a relationship with in order to bring the rest of the world back into a partnership with him.

Against the backdrop of all of humanity’s failures to do right and against Israel’s own failure, Jesus (God in skin) did right in God’s eyes. And he absorbed the evil which we’ve done into himself, allowing for a new story to be written. He restores all the broken agreements and forms a new agreement with God on our behalf.

So, let’s sum this up a bit. Here are some ways we can summarize the gospel using the big story of the Bible:

At its briefest, the gospel is a discourse about Christ, that he is the Son of God and became man for us, that he died and was raised, and that he has been established as Lord over all things. This much St. Paul takes in hand and spins out in his epistles. He bypasses all the miracles and incidents (in Christ’s ministry) which are set forth in the four Gospels, yet he includes the whole gospel adequately and abundantly. This may be seen clearly and well in his greeting to the Romans, where he says what the gospel is, and then declares: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,” etc. There you have it. The gospel is a story about Christ, God’s and David’s son, who died and was raised, and is established as Lord. This is the gospel in a nutshell. Martin Luther , Martin Luther’s Basic Theological Writings , 94.

Another simple summary is this:

[The gospel is] the announcement of the good news of Jesus’ work to restore sinful image-bearers to the rightful worship of God. Matt Rogers,  Aspire: Volume One , 96

These attempts to define the gospel are, in reality, attempts to describe the story of the Bible. Now that we’ve attempted to summarize the story of gospel, let’s zoom in on particular facets of the gospel.

  • Purchase The God Who Is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story D. A. Carson Purchase
  • Purchase God's Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible Vaughan Roberts Purchase
  • Purchase A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story Michael W. Goheen Purchase

A basic introduction to faith and the big story of Scripture by D. A. Carson.

If there’s one thing just about anyone, anywhere, with any worldview can agree on, it’s that the world we live in is horribly broken. Things aren’t the way they should be. And that’s just where the Christian gospel starts. The good news begins with some really bad news.

Placing something other than God at the center of our lives.

God’s holy righteousness, the standard to which none of us measures up (Rom. 3:23).

Death and disintegration.

Sin touches everything.

The concept of sin can be explained using many terms and from many angles. In the grand story of the good news of Jesus, sin is the dark backdrop that explains a world gone bad; it gives contrast to the solution that the good news has to offer.

Before we begin to examine the core of the good news, listen to the interview below. Dr. D. A. Carson provides a thorough summary of what the entire Bible teaches about the doctrine of sin.

  • Free Download Sin And The Fall Reddit Andrews III Free Download

The dark backdrop of sin makes hope grow dim. Is there a way forward? Is there a shot at redemption? Whatever chance there is at a rescue from our wrecked status needs to be far more powerful than the chaos that surrounds us. It’s time to discover Jesus, the person who is proclaimed in the good news. The gospel is good news all because of him. This is how Paul describes what is of first importance in the gospel message:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,   that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,   and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. (1 Corinthians 15:3–5)

The central elements of Paul’s gospel presentation could be summarized as follows:

  • Jesus died for our sin.
  • Jesus fulfilled Scripture.
  • Jesus was buried.
  • Jesus rose from the dead.
  • Jesus appeared alive to multiple eyewitnesses.

In other words, to Paul, the message of the gospel–the message that he traveled the world to tell–was all about Jesus. Watch the two videos below as you orient yourself to the idea of Jesus as the central figure of our redemption. Consider how he compares to the brokenness of sin in your heart and in the world around us.

This doctrine is central to the Christian faith, but it by no means an easy claim to accept. Begin by watching the videos below. What do people make of this man, Jesus?

The truth is, we’re all over the map on who Jesus is and what that means for us today. But the gospel presents a unified claim about Jesus–a claim that offers sweeping hope for something better than the mess we’re in. Watch a few of the videos below to get a sense of who Jesus claimed to be and what our options are in light of those claims.

The surprising aspect of the stories of Jesus recorded for us in the New Testament is that they all focus primarily on the death of the main character. An inordinate amount of time is spent on what typical biographers try to avoid. Why was this? The videos below explore this question.

But for the writers of the New Testament, there was something profound about the sort of death that Jesus died and what happened after his death. And it is this idea of the resurrected Son of God that the Apostles take with them to the nations. The resurrection of the God-man, Jesus, was central to the good news that rocked the world of the first century. In the words of the Apostle Paul:

  Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?   But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.   And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.   We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.   For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.   And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.   Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.   If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor. 15:12–19)  

In the videos below we consider the impact and historicity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The gospel presents us with the victorious God-man, Jesus, who lived a perfect life, died an unjust death on the cross, and rose again, beating death. The gospel presents good news of hope crystalized in a single person. It tells us a story of someone wholly different from any religious leader who has ever lived. So to miss Jesus is to miss the gospel.

Grace. You will be hard-pressed to find a more commonly used word in churches than “grace.” But what does it mean? What’s so special about it? What makes grace, well, grace?

To begin to answer these questions, we need to look deep into the character of God himself, the author of grace. It’s in him that we find what grace is really all about.

God’s holiness and his love.

We’ve seen the source of grace, but we still need to define the term better. What does the Christian gospel say that grace is or does? Ryan Reeves provides answers to that question in the short video below.

God’s favor or mercy to us when we don’t deserve it.

Grace, as talked about in the good news, finds its source in the character of God. It is God’s giving kindness to us when we deserved judgment. It’s the kind of grace that the Apostle John talks about when he says,

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (1:14)

John says that Jesus was “the Word” of God. In other words, Jesus was the greatest message that God has ever sent and will ever send to humanity. John is claiming that if God had something to say to the world that he wanted to be heard loud and clear, it would be summed up in Jesus. And Jesus didn’t come as the message of God drawing a sword and bringing condemnation on the world. Instead, Jesus summed up his own mission this way:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.   Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (John 3:16–19)

Jesus’ message was a message of grace. This is what John identifies back in chapter one of his Gospel–Jesus is “full of grace and truth.” Jesus himself in all that he was and in all that he did and in all that he offers to us is God’s grace-gift to us, the rebels. Next up, we’ll look at what this gift of Jesus accomplishes for broken sinners.

  • Tim Keller - When Sin Is Grievous and Grace Is Stunning
  • John Piper - Is God’s Grace Really Free, or Does It Cost Me Everything?
  • John Piper - Can I Sing ‘Amazing Grace’ If I Was Saved at Six?
  • Free Download What Is The Gospel? Bryan Chapell Free Download

So far, the story of the gospel as it connects to our own looks something like this:

  • We have a problem, sin . We can’t beat it. It has captured our entire selves and all of humanity. Everything is drenched in sin and depravity and is an affront to our holy Creator God.
  • Into this sin-drenched world steps the God-man, Jesus . He was everything that we aren’t. He lived perfectly, was unjustly killed, and rose from the dead. And in his resurrection he was marked out as the Son of God (Rom. 1:4).
  • Jesus’ death extended a gift to undeserving rebels, grace . Mercy and pardon are available to the worst of sinners and the best of Pharisees.

In this section, we’ll examine the linkage between grace and sinners. How exactly does the good news of free grace in Jesus  do something about that problem of sin ? The answer: justification .

This doctrine of justification is a teaching that was dusted off and took the world by storm again in the Reformation. Take a few minutes to look back at how this doctrine impacted two of the great reformers.

Now fast-forward five-hundred years to the present. Are challenges to justification over now? John Piper addresses one challenge to justification in the video below.

  • Being  made  righteous.
  • Becoming righteous.

The fruit of justification is destroyed.

Piper mentions the term “imputation” to describe what takes place in justification. What is the connection between these two terms? D. A. Carson explains this and some of the other aspects and terms related to salvation.

  • Free Download Justification Philip Graham Ryken Free Download

How do faith and repentance fit into the gospel? Dr. Sam Storms connects them to the landscape portrait of the gospel in the video below.

But what does it mean to have faith? Does it look like some kind of moral superiority? What if I have doubts? Put another way, the intensity of our faith is not what is under question in how we respond to the gospel, but the object of our faith. Tim Keller and D. A. Carson address issues related to faith and doubt in the videos below.

One who is justified by grace alone through faith alone will begin to be sanctified. This is the gospel in the everyday life of everyone who has trusted in Christ for salvation. These terms are challenging to keep straight, so consider the following video from John Piper, where he explains what they mean.

Let’s look further into where sanctification leads. The discussion between Piper and Keller below is helpful in exploring these implications.

They obey for God’s sake and not their own. They are driven by delight rather than fear.

“We are saved by faith alone, but not by faith that remains alone.”

“You’re really saved by faith and not by how sanctified you are; but if you’re not getting sanctified, then you don’t have saving faith.”

  • Justin Dillehay – Two Pastoral Thoughts on Justification and Sanctification: Are You a Jefferson or a Hamilton?
  • David Powlison – Play the Long Game of Sanctification

JBC 27:1 (2013), 49–66

JBC 27:2 (2013), 35–50

JBC 31:1 (2017), 9–32

  • Unlimited Grace: The Heart Chemistry That Frees from Sin and Fuels the Christian Life Bryan Chapell Purchase More Excerpt Author Interview
  • Holiness by Grace: Delighting in the Joy That Is Our Strength Bryan Chapell Purchase More Excerpt
  • The Gospel-Mystery of Sanctification Walter Marshall Purchase More Free Download
  • Antinomianism: Reformed Theology's Unwelcome Guest? Mark Jones Purchase More Review Excerpt
  • The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance—Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters Sinclair B. Ferguson Purchase More Review Review Excerpt Quotes
  • Devoted to God: Blueprints for Sanctification Sinclair B. Ferguson Purchase More Review Excerpt Quotes
  • The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness Kevin DeYoung Purchase More Review Response Excerpt Author Interview
  • How Does Sanctification Work? David Powlison Purchase More Review Excerpt Author Interview

In the grand story of salvation, there are three acts:

  • Justification: God declares us righteous because of the righteousness of Jesus credited to our account.
  • Sanctification: God progressively begins making us into what he has declared us to be.
  • Glorification: God finishes making us perfect, just like Jesus. What God has declared and how we live are one and the same. This event takes place after we die and stand in the presence of God.

To better understand this progression, R. C. Sproul uses a helpful spatial analogy in the video below.

Pastor Tom Barnes provides a series of lectures designed to help learners discover A holistic portrayal of the doctrine of glorification

The previous sections have outlined the reason for and method of the gospel, but what’s the point? Why is there a “good news” when God could have been completely righteous just to let the “bad news” be the final say over the fate of humanity? John Piper ties together a definition of the gospel that ends and highlights the grand purpose for the gospel.

  • Purchase God Is the Gospel: Meditations on God's Love as the Gift of Himself John Piper Purchase

Based on what we’ve covered so far, here are some helpful summaries of what the gospel is and some helpful definitions of the key terms.

  • Purchase What Is the Gospel? Greg Gilbert Purchase
  • Purchase Aspire: Part One: Transformed by the Gospel Matt Rogers Purchase

The following definitions are from Matt Rogers’  Aspire: Part One , a discipleship guide that is aimed at teaching people the basics of what the gospel is and how it applies to life:

Gospel:  The announcement of the good news of Jesus’ work to restore sinful image-bearers to the rightful worship of God.

Kingdom of God:  The rule of God demonstrated on earth among a worshipping people.

Idolatry:  Worshipping as God anything other than God.

Wrath:  The just anger of a holy God toward sin.

Incarnation:  The coming of God to earth in the flesh in the form of a man who was both fully God and fully man.

Atonement:  The process by which God makes it possible for sinful humans to have a relationship with Him through the death of a substitute.

Propitiation:  The wrath of God fully poured out upon a substitute (1 Jn 2:2).

Justification:  The formal act whereby God declares a person not guilty for sin.

Redemption:  God’s work to free His people from slavery.

Righteousness:  Perfect obedience to the law of God.

Sanctification:  The work of God to change fallen sinners into faithful worshipers.

Discipleship:  The process of growing in your understanding of God, love for God, and obedience to God through intentional relationships.

Disciple:  A person who worships God rightly because of the work of Jesus.

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.                                                           (John 17:3 NKJV)

  • The Message
  • The Good News - Introduction
  • So Great a Salvation
  • Isaiah's Gospel
  • How Many Times Have You Been Born?
  • The Woman at the Well
  • Three Words of Assurance
  • One Mediator, The Man Christ Jesus
  • The Basics - Introduction
  • Lesson 1 - The Word of God
  • Lesson 2 - The Son of God
  • Lesson 3 - The Salvation of God
  • Lesson 4 - The Spirit of God
  • Lesson 5 - The Laws of God
  • Lesson 6 - The Work of God
  • Lesson 7 - The Day of God
  • The Gospel of John: The Great News - A Look at the Book
  • Lesson 1 - The Public Ministry of Jesus Christ
  • Lesson 2 - The Private Ministry of Jesus Christ
  • Lesson 3 - The Passion Ministry of Jesus Christ
  • The Gospel of John: The Great News - REVIEW QUESTIONS
  • Galatians - The Constitution of Christian Liberty - PREFACE
  • Lesson 1 - An Introduction to Christian Liberty - Galatians 1
  • Lesson 2 - The Apostle of Christian Liberty - Galatians 2
  • Lesson 3 - The Doctrine of Christian Liberty / Arguments - Galatians 3
  • Lesson 4 - The Doctrine of Christian Liberty / An Appeal - Galatians 4
  • Lesson 5 - The Life of Christian Liberty / The Call - Galatians 5
  • Lesson 6 - The Life of Christian Liberty / The Challenge - Galatians 6
  • Galatians: The Constitution of Christian Liberty - REVIEW QUESTIONS
  • Philippians: A Prison Letter of Joy - Introduction
  • Lesson 1: The Ministry of the Gospel
  • Lesson 2 - The Mind of Christ
  • Lesson 3 - The Pursuit of a Lifetime
  • Lesson 4 - The Joy of the Lord
  • Philippians: A Prison Letter of Joy - REVIEW QUESTIONS
  • Lesson 1: A Prayer of Thanksgiving
  • Lesson 2 - The Supremacy of Christ
  • Lesson 3 - The Knowledge of God
  • Lesson 4 - The Crucifixion of Christ
  • 1 John: Walking with God - Introduction
  • Lesson 1 - Witnessing to the Word of Life
  • Lesson 2 - Walking in the Light
  • Lesson 3 - Keeping Christ's Commandments
  • Lesson 4 - Knowing the Truth
  • Lesson 5 - Doing Righteousness
  • Lesson 6 - Loving the Brethren
  • Lesson 7 - Trying the Spirits
  • Lesson 8 - Loving One Another
  • Lesson 9 - Believing God's Record
  • Lesson 10 - Having Assurance
  • 1 John: Walking with God - REVIEW QUESTIONS
  • 3 John: Three Church Leaders
  • 3 John: The Three Church Leaders - REVIEW QUESTIONS
  • Jude: Contending Earnestly for the Faith
  • Habakkuk: Introduction
  • The Prophecy of Habakkuk - Habakkuk 1 and 2
  • The Prayer of Habakkuk - Habakkuk 3
  • Habakkuk: REVIEW QUESTIONS
  • First Steps for New Believers
  • What Everybody Should Know About God
  • Lesson 1: The Bible Manuscripts
  • Lesson 2: Two Important Scripture Passages
  • Lesson 3: Testimonials
  • Lesson 4: Fulfilled Prophecy
  • Lesson 5: The Effectual Working Of the Scriptures
  • The Inspiration of the Scriptures - REVIEW QUESTIONS
  • Principles of Prayer - PREFACE
  • Lesson One: Old Testament Prayers
  • Lesson Two: The Disciples' Prayer
  • Lesson Three: The Gethsemane Prayer
  • Lesson Four: Answered Prayer
  • Principles of Prayer - REVIEW QUESTIONS
  • Soul Winning - PREFACE
  • Lesson 1: Basic Requisites To Soul Winning
  • Lesson 2: The Message Of The Soul Winner
  • Lesson 3: Soul Winning Scriptures

Lesson Four: Simple Presentation of the Gospel

We have learned that the messenger of the gospel must first be saved, and filled with the Holy Spirit.  This is essential in winning others to the Savior.  How do we effectively present the good news to those who are unsaved?  Be simple.

A missionary was upset because the people to whom he ministered didn't understand the deep things of God despite all his efforts to teach them.  A missionary friend suggested, "Before you teach them the XYZs of the Bible, why don't you start out by teaching them the ABCs?"  Good advice.

The ABCs of Salvation

You can use this approach with children, who are acquainted with the ABCs that they have learned at school.  You may be surprised to know that the same order of presentation can be used effectively when witnessing to adults as well.

A - ADMIT that he is a sinner in need of salvation.  Show him that he is guilty of sin.  Romans 3:23.   He deserves to die.  Romans 6:23.   One day he will be judged by the Lord.  Hebrews 9:27.   He cannot save himself by good works.  Titus 3:5.   (Here you put your memory verses to work.)

B - BELIEVE the facts of the gospel.  The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins on the cross, and He rose again from the dead.  He is the Savior of those who believe in Him.  Romans 5:8; John 3:16, 36.

C - CALL upon the Lord.  Ask Jesus to come into his heart.  Psalm 145:18; Romans 10:13.

Once you have learned the ABCs use them in sharing the gospel of Christ.

The Three Rs of Salvation

Students are familiar with the 3 Rs of education: reading, writing, and 'rithmetic.  You might use the 3 Rs in your witness for the Lord.

R - RECOGNITION of sin and its consequences.  Use the same Scriptures as A in the ABCs.

R - REPENTANCE of sin.  This means that we acknowledge our sin, and turn to the Lord.  Acts 17:30 is a good verse to use here.

R - RECEIVE the Lord Jesus as Savior by faith.  John 1:11, 12.   Believing is receiving.

An Equation of Salvation

People consider mathematics an exact science, so the following equation may be helpful in presenting the gospel in no uncertain terms.  The equation of salvation is based upon the truth of Ephesians 2:8-10.

Ask the other person to solve the following math problem.

3 + 2 - 1 = ?

Obviously the correct answer is 4.  You might ask the person if they are sure that 4 is the right answer.  Then say, "There's no doubt about it."

Next read Ephesians 2:8, 9.  "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."   Proceed to make an equation out of this passage.  It will look like this:

Grace + faith - works = salvation

If works were necessary for salvation, the equation would be written:

Works + faith - grace = salvation

But that would never work, because we cannot be saved apart from the grace of God.  It is the test of the gospel.  Do you remember Romans 11:6?  Grace and works don't mix.  This was discussed in Lesson Two under The Gospel of the Grace of God.

Next rewrite the equation.

3 + 2 = 1 + ?

Again, the correct answer is 4.  Very clever.  Are you sure?  Of course!

Now look at Ephesians 2:10.  "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  What does this mean?  How do we write this verse in equation form?

Grace + faith = salvation + works

The grace of God and faith in Christ results in a salvation that produces good works.  When we are saved we are "created in Christ Jesus for good works."   Good works are important, but they aren't the basis of our salvation.  They are the result of our salvation, demonstrating the reality of our faith in Jesus.  Faith is the root; works are the fruit.

The gospel of Christ is not good news of a "hope so" salvation.  The salvation that Jesus has made available to us is a sure salvation.  It is as sure as the promises of God.

The Simple Truth of John 3:16

Sometimes we are so clever we fool ourselves.  There are times when John 3:16 is all that's necessary in our presentation.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

God loved the world.  The problem is that the world doesn't love God.  But God solved the problem of our sins in giving His Son, the Lord Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins.  Whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.  It's all there in one verse.

Be on Target

Whenever you witness to others, regardless which presentation you use, always aim for the heart.  Witnessing for Christ is more than sharing information.  Some Christians think that it's enough to state the basic facts of the gospel and leave it at that.  The apostle Paul went beyond the impartation of truth.  He did more than announce the message.  To the Corinthian church he wrote, "We persuade men."  2 Corinthians 5:11.   The target is the heart.  "For with the heart man believes to righteousness."   R omans 10:10.

Don't get sidetracked.  Stick to the truth of the gospel.  It is so easy to get caught up in speaking about something else.

After you have clearly presented the message, ask for a response, saying, "Would you like to receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior?"  If the unbeliever is hesitant, you might encouragingly add, "I'll pray together with you.  You can pray after me."  Then lead him to Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is the driving force behind your gospel arrow as you aim for the heart.  Depend upon the Spirit of God in your endeavor to win souls for the Lord.  May it be said of your gospel witness that it was done "not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance."   1 Thessalonians 1:5.

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The Gospel in All its Forms

The gospel has been described as a pool in which a toddler can wade and yet an elephant can swim.

It is both simple enough to tell to a child and profound enough for the greatest minds to explore. Indeed, even angels never tire of looking into it (1 Peter 1:12). Humans are by no means angels, however, so rather than contemplating it, we argue about it.

A generation ago evangelicals agreed on “the simple gospel”: (1) God made you and wants to have a relationship with you, (2) but your sin separates you from God. (3) Jesus took the punishment your sins deserved, (4) so if you repent from sins and trust in him for your salvation, you will be forgiven, justified, and accepted freely by grace, and indwelt with his Spirit until you die and go to heaven.

There are today at least two major criticisms of this simple formulation. Many say that it is too individualistic, that Christ’s salvation is not so much to bring individual happiness as to bring peace, justice, and a new creation. A second criticism is that there is no one “simple gospel” because “everything is contextual” and the Bible itself contains many gospel presentations that exist in tension with each other.  

NO SINGLE GOSPEL MESSAGE?

Let’s take the second criticism first. The belief that there is no single basic gospel outline in the Bible goes back at least to the Tubingen school of biblical scholarship, which insisted Paul’s gospel of justification was sharply different from Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom. In the 20th century, British professor C.H. Dodd countered that there was one consensus gospel message in the Bible. Then, in turn, James Dunn argued in Unity and Diversity in the New Testament (1977) that the gospel formulations in the Bible are so different that we can’t come up with a single outline.

Now hundreds of websites of young Christian leaders complain that the older evangelical church spent too much time reading Romans rather than Jesus’ declaration that “the kingdom of God is at hand.” But to be true to first-century Christians’ own understanding of the gospel, I believe we must side with Dodd over Dunn. Paul is emphatic that the gospel he presents is the same as the one preached by the Jerusalem apostles. “Whether it was I or they,” Paul says, referring to Peter and the others, “so we preached and so you believed” (1 Cor. 15:10-11). This statement assumes a single body of gospel content.

ONE GOSPEL, MANY FORMS

So yes, there must be one gospel, yet there are clearly different forms in which that one gospel can be expressed. This is the Bible’s own way of speaking of the gospel, and we should stick with it. Paul is an example. After insisting there is only one gospel (Gal. 1:8), he then speaks of being entrusted with “the gospel of the uncircumcised” as opposed to the “gospel of the circumcised” (Gal. 2:7).

When Paul spoke to Greeks, he confronted their culture’s idol of speculation and philosophy with the “foolishness” of the cross, and then presented Christ’s salvation as true wisdom. When he spoke to Jews, he confronted their culture’s idol of power and accomplishment with the “weakness” of the cross, and then presented the gospel as true power (1 Cor. 1:22-25).

One of Paul’s gospel forms was tailored to Bible-believing people who thought they would be justified by works on judgment day, and the other to pagans. These two approaches can be discerned in Paul’s speeches in the book of Acts, some to Jews and some to pagans.

There are other forms of the gospel. Readers have always noticed that the kingdom language of the Synoptic Gospels is virtually missing in the Gospel of John, which usually talks instead about receiving eternal life. However, when we compare Mark 10:17, 23-34 , Matthew 25:34, 46, and John 3:5, 6 and 17, we see that “entering the kingdom of God” and “receiving eternal life” are virtually the same thing. Reading Matthew 18:3, Mark 10:15 and John 3:3, 5 together reveal that conversion, the new birth, and receiving the kingdom of God “as a child” are the same move.

Why, then, the difference in vocabulary between the Synoptics and John? As many scholars have pointed out, John emphasizes the individual and inward spiritual aspects of being in the kingdom of God. He is at pains to show that it is not basically an earthly social-political order (John 18:36). On the other hand, when the Synoptics talk of the kingdom, they lay out the real social and behavioral changes that the gospel brings. We see in John and the Synoptics two more forms of the gospel – one that stresses the individual and the other the corporate aspect to our salvation.

WHAT, THEN, IS THE ONE SIMPLE GOSPEL?

Simon Gathercole distills a three-point outline that both Paul and the Synoptic writers held in common. (See “The Gospel of Paul and the Gospel of the Kingdom” in God’s Power to Save , ed. Chris Green Apollos/Inter-Varsity Press, UK, 2006.) He writes that Paul’s good news was, first, that Jesus was the promised Messianic King and Son of God come to earth as a servant, in human form. (Rom. 1:3-4; Phil. 2:4ff.)

Second, by his death and resurrection, Jesus atoned for our sin and secured our justification by grace, not by our works (1 Cor. 15:3ff.) Third, on the cross Jesus broke the dominion of sin and evil over us (Col. 2:13- 15) and at his return he will complete what he began by the renewal of the entire material creation and the resurrection of our bodies (Rom 8:18ff.)

Gathercole then traces these same three aspects in the Synoptics’ teaching that Jesus, the Messiah, is the divine Son of God (Mark 1:1) who died as a substitutionary ransom for the many (Mark 10:45), who has conquered the demonic present age with its sin and evil (Mark 1:14-2:10) and will return to regenerate the material world (Matt. 19:28.) If I had to put this outline in a single statement, I might do it like this:

Through the person and work of Jesus Christ, God fully accomplishes salvation for us, rescuing us from judgment for sin into fellowship with him, and then restores the creation in which we can enjoy our new life together with him forever.

One of these elements was at the heart of the older gospel messages, namely, salvation is by grace not works. It was the last element that was usually missing, namely that grace restores nature, as the Dutch theologian Herman Bavinck put it. When the third, “eschatological” element is left out, Christians get the impression that nothing much about this world matters. Theoretically, grasping the full outline should make Christians interested in both evangelistic conversions as well as service to our neighbor and working for peace and justice in the world.

FEELING THE TENSION

My experience is that these individual and corporate aspects of the gospel do not live in easy harmony with one another in our preaching and church bodies. In fact, many communicators today deliberately pit them against each other.

Those pushing the kingdom-corporate versions of the gospel define sin in almost exclusively corporate terms, such as racism, materialism, and militarism, as violations of God’s shalom or peace. This often obscures how offensive sin is to God himself, and it usually mutes any emphasis on God’s wrath. Also, the impression can be given that the gospel is “God is working for justice and peace in the world, and you can too.”

While it is true that the coming new social order is “good news” to all sufferers, to speak about the gospel in terms of doing justice blurs the fact of salvation being all of grace, not works. And that is not the way the word gospel is used in the New Testament. Recently I studied all the places in the Greek Bible where forms of the word gospel were used, and I was overwhelmed at how often it is used to denote not a way of life – not what we do – but a verbal proclamation of what Jesus has done and how an individual gets right with God. Often people who talk about the good news as mainly doing peace and justice refer to it as “the gospel of the kingdom.” But to receive the kingdom as a little child (Mt. 18:3) and to believe in Christ’s name and be born of God (Jn. 1:12-13) is the same thing – it’s the way one becomes a Christian (Jn. 3:3, 5).

Having said this, I must admit that so many of us who revel in the classic gospel of “grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone” largely ignore the eschatological implications of the gospel. Texts like Luke 4:18 and Luke 6:20-35 show the implication of the gospel that the broken-hearted, unrecognized, and oppressed now have a central place in the economy of the Christian community, while the powerful and successful are humbled. Paul tells Peter that attitudes of racial and cultural superiority are “not in line” with the gospel of grace (Gal 2:14). Generosity to the poor will flow from those who are holding fast to the gospel as their profession (2 Cor. 9:13).

In Romans 2:16 Paul says that Christ’s return to judge the earth was part of his gospel, and if you read Psalm 96:10ff you’ll know why. The earth will be renewed and even the trees will be singing for joy. And if the trees will be able to dance and sing under the cosmos-renewing power of his Kingship – what will we be able to do?

If this final renewal of the material world was part of Paul’s good news, we should not be surprised to see that Jesus healed and fed while preaching the gospel as signs and foretastes of this coming kingdom (Mt. 9:35).

When we realize that Jesus is going to someday destroy hunger, disease, poverty, injustice, and death itself, it makes Christianity what C. S. Lewis called a “fighting religion” when we are confronted with a city slum or a cancer ward. This full version of the gospel reminds us that God created both the material and the spiritual, and is going to redeem both the material and the spiritual.

The things that are now wrong with the material world he wants put right. Some avoid the importance of working for justice and peace by pointing to 2 Peter 3:10-12, which seems to say that this material world is going to be completely burned up at the final resurrection. But that is not what happened to Jesus’ body, which retained its nail prints, and Doug Moo makes a case for the world’s transformation, not replacement, in his essay on “Nature and the New Creation: NT Eschatology and the Environment” available online .

PREACHING THE FORMS

You would expect me at this point now to explain how we can perfectly integrate the various aspects of the gospel in our preaching. I can’t because I haven’t. But here’s how I try.

1. I don’t put all the gospel points into any one gospel presentation. I find it instructive that the New Testament writers themselves seldom, if ever, pack all of the aspects of the gospel equally in any one gospel address. When studying Paul’s gospel speeches in the book of Acts, it is striking how much is always left out.

He always leads with some points rather than others in an effort to connect with the baseline cultural narratives of his listeners. It is almost impossible to cover all the bases of the gospel with a non-believing listener without that person’s eyes glazing over. Some parts simply engage her more than others, and, to begin with, a communicator should go with those. Eventually, of course, you have to get to all the aspects of the full gospel in any process of evangelism and discipleship. But you don’t have to say everything every time.

2. I use both a gospel for the “circumcised” and for the “uncircumcised.” Just as Paul spoke about a gospel for the more religious (the “circumcised”) and for the pagan, so I’ve found that my audience in Manhattan contains both those with moralist, religious backgrounds as well as those with postmodern, pluralistic worldviews.

There are people from other religions (Judaism, Islam), people with strong Catholic backgrounds, as well as those raised in conservative Protestant churches. People with a religious upbringing can grasp the idea of sin as the violation of God’s moral law. That law can be explained in such a way that they realize they fall short of it. In that context, Christ and his salvation can be presented as the only hope of pardon for guilt. This, the traditional evangelical gospel of the last generation, is a “gospel for the circumcised.”

However, Manhattan is also filled with postmodern listeners who consider all moral statements to be culturally relative and socially constructed. If you try to convict them of guilt for sexual lust, they will simply say, “You have your standards, and I have mine.” If you respond with a diatribe on the dangers of relativism, your listeners will simply feel scolded and distanced. Of course, postmodern people must at some point be challenged about their mushy views of truth, but there is a way to make a credible and convicting gospel presentation to them even before you get into such apologetic issues.

I take a page from Kierkegaard’s The Sickness Unto Death and define sin as building your identity – your self-worth and happiness – on anything other than God. That is, I use the biblical definition of sin as idolatry . That puts the emphasis not as much on “doing bad things” but on “making good things into ultimate things.”

Instead of telling them they are sinning because they are sleeping with their girlfriends or boyfriends, I tell them that they are sinning because they are looking to their romances to give their lives meaning, to justify and save them, to give them what they should be looking for from God. This idolatry leads to anxiety, obsessiveness, envy, and resentment. I have found that when you describe their lives in terms of idolatry, postmodern people do not give much resistance. Then Christ and his salvation can be presented not (at this point) so much as their only hope for forgiveness, but as their only hope for freedom. This is my “gospel for the uncircumcised.”

3. I use both a “kingdom” and an “eternal life” gospel. I find that many of my younger listeners are struggling to make choices in a world of endless consumer options and are confused about their own identities in a culture of self-creation and self-promotion. These are the people who are engaged well by the more individually-focused presentation of the gospel as free grace not works. This is a lot like the “eternal life gospel” of John. However, I have found many highly secular people over the age of 40 are not reached very well with any emphasis on personal problems. Many of them think they are doing very well, thank you. They are much more concerned about the problems of the world – war, racism, poverty, and injustice. And they respond well to a synoptic-like “kingdom gospel.”

Instead of going into, say, one of the epistles and speaking of the gospel in terms of God, sin, Christ, and faith, I point out the story-arc of the Bible and speak of the gospel in terms of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. We once had the world we all wanted – a world of peace and justice, without death, disease, or conflict. But by turning from God we lost that world. Our sin unleashed forces of evil and destruction so that now “things fall apart” and everything is characterized by physical, social, and personal disintegration. Jesus Christ, however, came into the world, died as a victim of injustice and as our substitute, bearing the penalty of our evil and sin on himself. This will enable him to some day judge the world and destroy all death and evil without destroying us.

4. I use them all and let each group overhear me preaching to the others. No one form of the gospel gives all the various aspects of the full gospel the same emphasis. If, then, you only preach one form, you are in great danger of giving your people an unbalanced diet of gospel-truth. What is the alternative? Don’t preach just one gospel form. That’s not true to the various texts of the Bible anyway. If you are preaching expositionally, different passages will convey different forms of the one gospel. Preach different texts and your people will hear all the points.

Won’t this confuse people? No, it stretches them. When one group – say, the postmodern – hears a penetrating presentation of sin as idolatry, it opens them up to the concept of sin as grieving and offending God. Sin as a personal affront to a perfect, holy God begins to make more sense, and when they hear this presented in another gospel form, it has credibility. When more traditional people with a developed understanding of moral guilt learn about the substitutionary atonement and forensic justification, they are comforted. But these classic doctrines have profound implications for race relations and love for the poor, since they destroy all pride and self-justification.

When more liberal people hear about the kingdom of God for the restoration of the world, it opens them up to Christ’s kingship demanding obedience from them in their personal lives. In short, every gospel form, once it hits home, opens a person to the other points of the gospel made more vividly in other forms. Today there are many who doubt that there is just one gospel. That gives them the warrant to ignore the gospel of atonement and justification. There are others who don’t like to admit that there are different forms to that one gospel. That smacks too much of “contextualization,” a term they dislike. They cling to a single presentation that is often one-dimensional. Neither of these approaches is as true to the biblical material, nor as effective in actual ministry, as that which understands that the Bible presents one gospel in several forms.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal. Spring 2008, Vol. XXIX, No. 2, Page 15.

Tim Keller is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, New York.

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Sergeant Bluff Fareway has check presentation for Midwest Honor Flight

SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (KTIV) - The Midwest Honor flight received a donation from Sergeant Bluff Fareway.

They held a check presentation ceremony, giving the Midwest Honor Flight $5,884 to their cause which will fund seven more veterans to go on the flight to Washington D.C. Donations like this are how they keep this operation going.

“Our work is far from over unfortunately the charters, the flights, these experiences are not funded on hugs and kisses alone so partnerships like this and fundraisers throughout the year and donations and grants we receive all make those flights possible. We couldn’t do it without all of the support of our communities,” said President and CEO Midwest Honor Flight Aaron Van Beek.

This is the third year of Fareway doing this roundup and they are glad to be able to help out and have even seen some of their veteran customers go on the flights.

“What a trip for these guys. I had a couple guys that shop here and went on it this year just this past couple weeks ago and they stopped in and showing me pictures and what a great experience it was to them personally, so Fareway is just so thrilled to be involved with that raising some money for them,” said Fareway Grocery Manager Mike Hammel.

Fareway has raised over $30,000 during the three years that they have been doing this.

Copyright 2024 KTIV. All rights reserved.

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Chippewa Valley Technical College

Friday, May 31, 2024

CVTC nursing students learn as they teach

five nursing student posing for photo ready to teach hands-only CPR

Nursing is more than recording blood pressure, starting an IV and giving medications.

Jen Scheller, who is set to enter her last semester of the nursing program at Chippewa Valley Technical College, said nursing is about patients. Learning how to interact with the community, and in the end, being able to educate people on health care situations that could help those people throughout their lives is also a part of nursing.

With that in mind, Scheller, Carmyn Hanson, Tony Bell, Mackensy Kolpien and Aubrey Wardall, who all expect to graduate in December with associate degrees in nursing from CVTC, took their required 16 hours of community service and poured them into a collaboration with Hope Gospel Mission, recently. 

The project was completed as part of the students’ Intermediate Clinical Practice course. In addition to presenting the information, they also completed research on each of their topics. 

Scheller said that the students used their knowledge of emergency health care and the diverse experiences of people at Hope Gospel Mission, a community that helps those struggling with homelessness and addiction through Christ-centered support, to create a useful presentation for the mission's residents. 

“Our goal was to equip them with the tools to feel confident in their abilities and knowledge in case they ever found themselves in an emergency bystander situation,” Scheller said. 

Their project aimed to answer the question: What can individuals without medical training do in emergency situations, and how can the nursing students empower individuals to feel confident in those situations?

The students also addressed the possible mental health effects and provided resources to help.

Scheller and the other students trained the individuals to handle common emergency situations like hands-only CPR, Narcan administration, use of the Dechoker and AED training. The training was meant to provide information only and was not a certification course, Scheller said. 

“Our commitment was to provide accurate and honest information to the community organization participants while adhering to schedules, communicating effectively and utilizing proper resources,” she said. “Our ultimate goal was to ensure that the information we shared was accessible and understandable to all, regardless of medical background. This way, our participants could feel confident in providing safe and effective care in emergencies.”

Dawn Barone, nursing instructor for this group of students, said she was impressed with their research, presentation and collaboration.

“This group of students worked so hard to put together the education and presentation pieces for the residents of Hope Gospel Mission,” Barone said. “I am proud of the hard work, teamwork and dedication to the topic they have had on top of their difficult course studies. I think they have bonded forever through this fantastic project.”

The project gave valuable information to people at Hope Gospel Mission, but it also was a learning opportunity for the students.

Scheller said it helped her group improve communication and teaching skills essential for interacting with future patients.

“Collaborating with individuals from diverse backgrounds in a group setting is crucial in developing the interpersonal skills necessary for our future professional environments,” she said. “We’ve gained a better understanding of the community organization we partnered with and deepened our knowledge of the resources available in our local area.

“This new-found awareness will enable us to better inform and support patients and their families by connecting them with valuable community resources.”

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IMAGES

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  2. Gospel Bible PowerPoint Template

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  3. One Page Gospel Presentation

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  4. Evangelism Explosion Classic Gospel Presentation

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  5. Best Gospel Presentation to share Jesus

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VIDEO

  1. Here's How To Explain The Gospel Correctly

  2. What Is The Gospel?

  3. A full gospel presentation by Voddie Baucham

  4. What Is The Gospel?

  5. What is the Gospel?

  6. The Ultimate Gospel Presentation For Kids

COMMENTS

  1. Gospel presentations

    Gospel presentations If you were to die today, do you know for sure if you would go to Heaven? If you arrived in Heaven and God asked you, "Why should I let you in?" - what would you say? Do you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? If you are uncertain about the answers to any of these questions, please read any of the articles listed below.

  2. 6 Different Gospel Presentations for Personal Evangelism

    A good explanation of the gospel must convey information about. The nature of sin and our separation from God. The love of God and his desire to be reconciled to the lost. Christ as God's plan of redemption: That God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, Christ died for our sins and rose again. The promise of forgiveness of sins.

  3. Sharing The Gospel

    The word Gospel means "good news". It's pretty important to understand that. The Bible is not a book that tells us what we have to do to earn salvation, it is a book that tells us what God did to earn our salvation. What he did was send Jesus. Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves and he paid for what we had done in his ...

  4. The Gospel in 6 Minutes

    Lay it down. And simply embrace the gospel that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Righteous One, died for your sins. He was raised on the third day, triumphant over all his enemies. He reigns until he puts all of his enemies under his feet. Forgiveness of sins and a right standing with God come freely through him alone, by faith alone.

  5. How to Share the Gospel: Simple Presentation Tools

    Here are a few things I think are critically important when it comes to sharing the gospel. 1. Keep it simple. What each of these evangelism tools help to do is keep the message of the gospel simple. If the message is simple, it will be clear. If the message is simple, it will be understandable.

  6. One-Verse Evangelism: How to Share Christ's Love

    One-Verse Evangelism ® is a simple, interactive way to share Christ's love conversationally and visually. Using just one verse, it's easy to learn, and you can write it anywhere. One-Verse Evangelism shares the powerful message of the gospel in a 10 to 15 minute conversation. Many times we feel that to be effective in evangelism we have to ...

  7. How to Share the Gospel Clearly

    In Col 4:4 Paul asked for prayer to make his Gospel telling " manifest, as I ought to speak.". The NASB and NIV translations prefer the word clear or clearly. F. F. Bruce translates it this way: "that I may publish it openly in the words which I ought to speak." 1 Paul understood that it was easy to garble the Gospel.

  8. Ways to Present the Gospel

    The 3 Circles is a simple way to have Gospel conversations with others. This illustration walks through how God has organized the world to function, what has gone wrong since sin entered the world, and how we can respond to God. Click here to be taken through an interactive presentation of the 3 Circles, or learn more through the MyLWF app.

  9. Gospel presentations

    Gospel presentations. A gospel presentation is a presentation of the basics of the good news of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, his kingdom come/coming, his death, burial, and resurrection, and the free forgiveness of sins for those who repent and trust in the person of Jesus Christ. A presentation usually includes helpful elements for the particular audience, such as Old Testament prophecies of ...

  10. Share the Gospel

    Read "Knowing God Personally" - a simple gospel presentation. Challenge: Use an Evangelism Tool of your choice, share the gospel with 3 people. Learn more about sharing the Gospel message to others: Big Six Training with Ben Rivera (video) What is the Gospel? (video) "The Big Six Questions - Clarifying the Knowing God Personally ...

  11. how to share the gospel

    A spoken word presentation of the G.O.S.P.E.L., this is a simple video tool to begin a spiritual conversation with a friend. Dare 2 Share: A Field Guide to Sharing Your Faith Learn how to intentionally engage others in real, give-and-take dialogue and invite them into the most life-changing relationship they'll ever experience.

  12. How to Practice a Gospel Presentation

    First, use a whiteboard. Draw the pictures and go through the script as if you are with a live person. Second, get them to do it in groups. ask participants to break up into groups of two, and share the gospel via a Bridge Illustration (or their own favorite) with their partner. You'll hear a collective gasp in the room as the audience ...

  13. The Gospel

    The Gospel. The gospel is good news because it brings a person into the everlasting and ever-increasing joy of Jesus Christ. He is not merely the rope that pulls us from the threatening waves; he is the solid beach under our feet, and the air in our lungs, and the beat of our heart, and the warm sun on our skin, and the song in our ears, and ...

  14. Gospel Presentations

    Romans 5:8 declares, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.". Jesus Christ died for us! Jesus' death paid for the price of our sins. Jesus' resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus' death as the payment for our sins. The fourth stop on the Romans Road to salvation is ...

  15. PDF Three Circles Evangelism Guide: How to share the gospel

    gospel using three simple circles. These represent (1) God's Design, (2) Brokenness and (3) the Gospel. They also illustrate how accepting and submitting to Jesus will grow faith and lead to God's perfect design. • "Three Circles" is something that people easily understand. • All you need to have is a pen and paper, or napkin, or hand!

  16. How do you present the gospel properly?

    A true presentation of the gospel includes God, Law, and Gospel . It is basically like this: God is holy and perfect and He requires holiness and perfection from us. Holiness is the inability to sin. It means moral perfection and it is something that God alone possesses. Holiness is an attribute of God's perfect nature.

  17. Resources

    Sharing the gospel doesn't have to be complicated. The Exchange Online: Sharing Jesus through Relational Evangelism is a 19-part course designed to equip you with the tools and training to share the gospel through caring, personal relationships. ... Relevant scripture passages referenced and available throughout the gospel presentation ...

  18. TGC Course

    There you have it. The gospel is a story about Christ, God's and David's son, who died and was raised, and is established as Lord. This is the gospel in a nutshell. Martin Luther, Martin Luther's Basic Theological Writings, 94. Another simple summary is this:

  19. Telling The Gospel With Story

    The following stories will help you communicate the principles of the gospel in a memorable way. Thoughtfully read the illustrations; memorizing them will add another skill to your spiritual toolbox. How Death Shows Love. The following illustration seeks to inject meaning into what is, for many, an empty phrase: "Jesus died to show that He ...

  20. Lesson 4: Simple Presentation of the Gospel

    The gospel of Christ is not good news of a "hope so" salvation. The salvation that Jesus has made available to us is a sure salvation. It is as sure as the promises of God. The Simple Truth of John 3:16. Sometimes we are so clever we fool ourselves. There are times when John 3:16 is all that's necessary in our presentation.

  21. A Six-Point Summary of the Gospel

    1) God created us for his glory. "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory" ( Isaiah 43:6-7 ). God made all of us in his own image so that we would image forth, or reflect, his character and moral beauty. 2) Therefore every human should live for God ...

  22. The Gospel in All its Forms

    A generation ago evangelicals agreed on "the simple gospel": (1) God made you and wants to have a relationship with you, (2) but your sin separates you from God. (3) Jesus took the punishment your sins deserved, (4) so if you repent from sins and trust in him for your salvation, you will be forgiven, justified, and accepted freely by grace ...

  23. Sergeant Bluff Fareway has check presentation for Midwest Honor ...

    SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (KTIV) - The Midwest Honor flight received a donation from Sergeant Bluff Fareway. They held a check presentation ceremony, giving the Midwest Honor Flight $5,884 to their ...

  24. CVTC nursing students learn as they teach

    Scheller said that the students used their knowledge of emergency health care and the diverse experiences of people at Hope Gospel Mission, a community that helps those struggling with homelessness and addiction through Christ-centered support, to create a useful presentation for the mission's residents.