Ever Wanted to Teach Someone the Gospel?

This article is from our Connect Group Curriculum Week #11 Disciples Making Disciples

 This week, we’re going to take a look at what it means to obey the gospel or the good news of Jesus once you’ve heard the gospel and “counted the cost.”

Mark introduces his account of Jesus’ life with these words: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Next comes John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus, then the baptism of Jesus, the temptation in the desert, and the beginning of His ministry.

“Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15)

Jesus is making it clear that the long-awaited Messiah (the Anointed One, the Son of God, Savior) is now here. The time of God’s rule (the kingdom of God) has now come in the form of King Jesus.  And if you want to be a part of God’s kingdom, you need to believe and turn to Jesus, live like Him, live for Him (obey the gospel). And so Jesus says to take up a cross and follow Him if you want to be His disciple.

In 1 Corinthians 15:1-5, Paul says, “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

The gospel is the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Bottom line: Jesus himself, which includes His mission to save, IS the gospel, the “good news.” Obeying Him is obeying the gospel.

Jesus said, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16)

Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16)   Believes what?  That Jesus is Christ, God’s son, who can save us.

For those who reject the good news (truths of Jesus) God’s word is clear about their destiny: “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus” (2 Thes 1:8).  

Philip used the gospel as he taught the eunuch how to understand a Bible prophecy from Isaiah 53:7-8.  “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:35, NASB).  The NIV words it this way: “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.”  Just one verse later, the eunuch stopped the chariot when they came upon enough water to be immersed. He asked Philip if there was any reason he shouldn’t be baptized right then. So, they both went down into the water, Philip baptized the eunuch, and they came up out of the water. For this to have happened, Philip’s preaching of Jesus to the eunuch must have included how to respond to the good news if he believed what he heard. The New Testament pattern for obedience or conversion to the gospel includes the response of belief, repentance, confession, and baptism. 

The eunuch is a great example of how to obey the gospel or the good news of Jesus. It may be hard for us to understand at first how we can obey a story about Jesus.  But it becomes very clear when we understand that the good news IS Jesus and his mission, a story that requires a response from us.

This article is from our Connect Group Curriculum Week #12 Disciples Making Disciples

Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…”

The making of a disciple is a team effort. It starts with someone who has a passion for saving souls. Just the thought of teaching someone about the gospel is exciting to this person because they have the Holy Spirit gift of evangelism. They LOVE to teach the story of Jesus and his mission to save a world of lost souls (aka: The Gospel or the good news of Jesus, his life, death, burial, resurrection, and how Jesus wants us to respond). The Holy Spirit is also involved in this effort as He guides the seeker into what could be a life-changing conversation.

If the listener believes the gospel to be true, they’ve probably already begun “counting the cost” of being a disciple of Jesus. In other words, they’ve already begun to think about positive changes they will need to make in order to be obedient to Jesus and walk and live by the Spirit. This means putting God above all else, even family. If they decide the new life in Christ and the salvation that comes with it is worth consideration, then comes repentance. This means turning to God in obedience to His will for how believers should live their lives, and how they should treat other people. Aka: Agape’ (Loving God and loving others, looking out for others’ highest good). It’s the greatest command, and it’s a huge part of confessing or acknowledging with our words and actions that we have come to an obedient faith in Jesus, trusting him to save us.

Obedience also includes the response of baptism for the forgiveness of sin. God then adds this new disciple to His church. As the new believer continues a new life of obedience to God’s will, the discipling process continues within the church family as Christians help strengthen and guide each other. As the new Christian grows in their faith, they use their special gift(s) from the Holy Spirit to help other Christians in areas such as encouragement, hospitality, mercy, faith, leadership, teaching, and yes, evangelism (if that is their gift). 

Regardless of which Holy Spirit gift you’ve been given, we all have a place to work in God’s family. And each job is just as important as any other (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).

Are Christians Supposed to Observe Advent?

 by Barrett Vanlandingham 

If you were raised in the church of Christ, or really any church besides Catholic or Lutheran, you have probably heard the term Advent at some point in December, and wondered what it meant. If you’re like me, you probably assumed it had something to do with Christ’s birth, and you would be partially correct.

Although it is a long-standing tradition among Catholics to celebrate Advent, all around the world, there are people who call themselves Christians who have celebrated Advent for hundreds of years, as far back as the middle ages (500-1500 A.D.). The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” as in the “coming of Christ.”

Since God’s word does not command Christians to celebrate Advent, people who observe it do so as a tradition, and in many different ways. The most common would be to use the first two Sundays of December leading up to Christmas to focus on the second coming of Christ, and the last two Sundays just to be thankful for God coming to earth in the form of the Christ child.

The four main topics of Advent center around the hope, peace, love, and joy that Christ brings, both in His first appearance on earth and in anticipation of His second coming when we hear the trumpet of the Lord, and He brings His faithful home to heaven. Advent is a time to do some inner soul searching, and think about whether you’re ready for Judgment Day. This is something Christians should be doing all year long, not just in December.

For hundreds of years before His first arrival on earth, the Jews looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, the Anointed One, the King who would lead them to victory.  But when He came as a baby in a manger, and then grew into a miracle-working teacher offering them an eternal kingdom, many did not believe, or were not ready to accept the new life He promised them. Sadly, many today are still awaiting the Messiah. But for those who accepted Him back then, and those who accept Him today, we must live our lives in obedience and anticipation of His second coming while being thankful He chose to come here the first time so that we could have hope of heaven.

“…But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him (Hebrews 9:26-28).

Have a great week!