A sound understanding of what the Gospel is forms a reliable foundation for understanding the form and nature of preaching.
With true Gospel the focus is on God, the implications of which are the basis of human response.
Gospel is not a set of ideas, a precious something tucked into our hearts, a decision we made, much less a feeling we experienced, nor is gospel a procedure for getting right with God. Gospel is news of what God has done and (because of resurrection) is now doing. Gospel is not how we wind up at an optimum ultimate destination, nor is it an exhortation to industriously, work justice to make the world more inhabitable for victims of our injustice. Gospel – who God is, what God is up to, and how are part of it – is a sermon that Paul did not come up with on his own, an announcement “which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which you are being saved,” this story “that I proclaimed to you.” Christians – saved by a true story of how Christ enfolds us into God’s story.
Preachers Dare, Will Willimon, Abingdon Press, Nashville, 2020, pgs 9-10.
mgpcpastor's blog 