Our G-O-S-P-E-L Meeting is One Week Away

UNION GROVE CHURCH OF CHRIST, CLEVELAND TN.

OUR G-O-S-P-E-L MEETING IS ONE WEEK AWAY!

Our shepherds, with the best interest of lost souls and the strengthening of the flock of God at heart, long ago arranged a gospel meeting that is scheduled to begin next Sunday. Each of the six lessons presented will be Bible-based and Bible-filled. Because the gospel will be preached during the meeting, let us do a brief acrostic with the word “G-O-S-P-E-L.”

G – Good News – The word “gospel” literally means good news or glad tidings. It is the good news that God offers sinners a way to be saved through His Son, Jesus. The night that Jesus was born, an angel proclaimed to shepherds, “. . . I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day . . . a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10,11). We can now tell the world that the Savior was slain, buried, and rose triumphant over the tomb! (1 Corinthians 15:3,4).

O – Origin – The gospel is a divine message since it came from God, not men. Paul reminded the brethren in Thessalonica that he and others “were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God” (1 Thessalonians 2:2). He went on to recall that when they preached the gospel there, the people “received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God” (2:13). Yes, the gospel owes its origin to the God of heaven.

S – Salvation – The Bible calls it “the gospel of (your) salvation” (Ephesians 1:13). It truly is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth” (Romans 1:16). The gospel tells about the plan that God formed for man’s salvation, it tells of the Savior Who died to make salvation possible, and it tells us what sinners must do in order to be saved from sin (Acts 2:36-41).

P – Peace – The Holy Spirit describes it as “the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). Jesus, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), founded the Kingdom of Peace/Church (Romans 14:17), which has the task and privilege of spreading the gospel of peace. Through the gospel, men and women learn how to have peace with both the God of heaven and one another (Ephesians 2:13-17). The only way to be reconciled with our Creator is through the Christ, via His gospel, and in His body.

E – Everyone – The gospel is for every person. Jesus said to preach it to every person in the whole world (Mark 16:15). One’s cultural and ethnic background, one’s financial status, and one’s gender neither qualify nor disqualify a person to receive the gospel (Galatians 3:26-29). The gospel is for all people, period.

L – Love – Why would God be so gracious as to provide sinners a way to escape the eternal torment of hell? Not because of our goodness, because man’s goodness could never put him in good standing with Jehovah. Rather, it was because of His matchless love: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us” (Ephesians 2:4). Thanks be to God that Jesus also showed His wonderful love by willingly laying down His life for us (John 10:17,18).

As we prepare for our gospel meeting, let us pray diligently, work to invite and bring visitors, and make certain that we are planning to be present for every service. If you are wondering what might help motivate you to pray, invite, and attend, go back and look once more at what makes the “G-O-S-P-E-L” so special: G – Good News, O – Origin, S – Salvation, P – Peace, E – Everyone, L – Love.

-- Roger D. Campbell