Before you begin...

Take a moment to print this handout and place it in your Greenhouse binder behind the Sharing the Good News tab.

Good News for All: The Universal Gospel

The universal gospel is the gospel message that is good news to all people at all times in all places. In future sessions we'll take a look at more personalized descriptions of the gospel by exploring how Jesus is good news in different ways to different people in different situations (including you!).

The gospel is BIGGER than you think it is.

Several years ago I was sitting in my seat at a conference on discipleship and mission when someone shared a statement that stopped me in my tracks. The speaker stepped up to the microphone in a room full of church leaders and said, 

“The Gospel is BIGGER than you think it is.”

These nine words and all the nuts and bolts that followed blew my mind and completely changed the way I viewed the good news. It was as if I had spent my entire life as a Christian standing in the midst of the Grand Canyon with only a vague awareness of anything further than a few feet in front of my face. 

On that day I realized that the only things I had ever really seen with relative clarity were the up close and personal dimensions of the gospel. Everything beyond that was more of a blur of hazy shapes and colors. 

But in that moment, as I decided to try on a new pair of glasses, all that began to change. At first, I’ll admit, it was overwhelming, even disorienting but soon the spinning slowed and I began to realize that there was a massive amount of breadth and depth to the gospel that I had never seen before. 

I began to realize that the gospel is filled with incredible detail and nuance and color. I began to realize that I had spent my entire life severely nearsighted, underestimating the gospel on so many levels. Ever since that day I’ve been exploring the Grand Canyon of good news, compelled to discover all of the breathtaking nooks and crannies that it contains. 

I don’t know how clearly you see the grandeur of the gospel, but if you’re only familiar with the up-close-and-personal nature of the good news, I’d love to offer you a pair of lenses that will empower you to see the massive breadth and depth of the Gospel in all of its awe-inspiring glory. I will warn you, it may feel a bit overwhelming and disorienting at first, but if you stick with it I think you’ll be glad you did.

...but even this is not the extent of the gospel! Jesus is alive and is continually at work, which means the good news is continually growing and expanding.

I hope that right about now your brain is lighting up with excitement over the grand, sweeping, all-encompassing nature of the gospel. At the same time I realize that you may be feeling overwhelmed with how to share something so vast with someone else.

If that's you, pause, take a deep breath, and keep going. There's an exercise at the end of this session's reading assignment that will help you out.

Also, if you'd like a little back up from time to time, here's a link to the above video on youtube: https://youtu.be/VENBrfC4gMA Feel free to share it with someone if the moment is right.

What is the Gospel?

Watch the following video clip from M19: The Gospel Unleashed featuring Rev. Christine Hung. M19 is the Church of the Nazarene mid-quadrennial conference for pastors, leaders, and students on the USA/Canada Region with an emphasis on Mission and Evangelism. 

In this video clip, Rev. Hung answers the question, "What is the gospel?" You will be watching additional clips from this message throughout the remainder of the course.

Response

Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Then, read through the following quote from the message you just heard and select the section that challenges you the most. Come to your next meeting prepared to share how the quote you selected is renewing your mind and changing your perspective. 

Rev. Hung states:

What if the gospel that we are preaching is not the same gospel that Jesus preached? What if the good news we are claiming is not the same news that Jesus proclaimed? 

So what is the gospel Jesus preached? We know that he spent relatively little time preaching about his death and resurrection. He might have mentioned it to a few of his close friends but for the most part, this was not the gospel that people associated with Jesus. 

The Gospel of Mark begins with the words, “The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ the son of God.” And just fifteen verses later Jesus announces, “The time has come! The kingdom of God has come near! Repent and believe the good news/ believe the gospel!” This is the gospel that Jesus preached. 

He preached the gospel of the kingdom everywhere he went. He sent his disciples into all the towns and villages to announce this upside down kingdom where the first shall be last, where the oppressed will be set free, where enemies are loved and strangers let in- A kingdom where the proud are humbled and the downtrodden are lifted up, where walls are torn down and bridges are built in their place- A kingdom established by God, built upon the person of Jesus, made possible by the power of the cross and manifested through us, the people of God. 

Jesus clearly announces his mission in Luke 4 in the synagogue: “The Spirit of the LORD is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free and proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor.”

The cross is essential to the gospel message. God sent his beloved son to be a sacrifice for us so that we might be reconciled to God. The cross is the ultimate expression of God’s love for us but the gospel is not about death, but about resurrection. It is about the renewal of all things- a re-creation of the world God intended: an unblemished garden where all is good, very good once more. 

This is the good news of Jesus Christ: Jesus is Lord. His kingdom is near. This is the gospel we are to preach, the gospel we are to embody in our hearts, our words, our actions, and in our spiritual communities. 

Does our gospel sound like good news to both sinners and those who have been sinned against? Does it sound like good news both to the people who are in our pews and the people in our neighborhood? 

Rachel Held Evens wrote, “Jesus did theology among the outliers. If our message doesn’t make sense to the very people Jesus centered his ministry around, then it doesn’t make sense. If it’s not good news for the poor, it’s not good news. If it’s not good news for the hungry, it’s not good news. If it’s not good news for the weak, it’s not good news. If it’s not good news for the oppressed, the forgotten, the hurting, the lonely, the people who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the spiritually and physically sick, then it’s not good news.”

Jesus is Lord. His kingdom is near and he is making all things new, beginning with us. Do you believe this gospel? Heaven is breaking out in our midst- in our homes, in our relationships, in our communities, in our schools, in our workplaces, and yes, even in our churches. One day, Christ will come in glory and every knee will bow and every tongue confess, from every tribe and nation that Jesus is Lord and all that is wrong will be made right. This is the gospel.

Challenge

Memorize this summary of the universal gospel:

"Story Bearer: How to share your faith with your friends" by Phil Knox

I am a reader. I consume good books like a good cup of coffee. My Amazon book wish list is a mile long and counting. But that's just me. I know many people do not share in my love of reading and struggle to glean anything helpful from the written word which is why I've created a few options for the reading assignment. Choose the length that works for you. The longer sections will give greater context and insight but if you know you can only make it through a few pages, feel free to select the shorter option.

Note: this session's reading contains an exercise at the end that will take some time, so plan accordingly :)

Choose ONE:

1. Introduction, Chapters 1-5 (52 pages)
2. Chapters 4-5 (30 pages)
3. Pages 46-49 (4 pages)

Telling God's Story

Prepare yourself to answer the question, "What is the Christian faith all about?" by following the author's instructions on pages 47-48.

Be ready to rehearse what you've prepared with a partner at the Session 1 meeting.

Session 1 Meeting

1. How did you do with this session's challenge?
2. Prior to now, how did you summarize the gospel message? Did it sound anything like "Jesus is Lord. His kingdom is near and he is making all things new, beginning with us?"
3. What section of the quote from Rev. Hung's message challenges you the most? How is it renewing your mind and changing your perspective?
4. Anything you'd like to discuss from the reading?
5. Take turns answering the question "What is the Christian Faith all about?" by sharing the version of God's story that you've prepared.
6. How is your understanding of the gospel being impacted by this session? Is there anything you need to revisit as you engage in the ongoing renewing of your mind on the matter?