The gospel is everything. We may have degrees of education which elevate us from the crowd. We may have a nice home and great family. We may have our health, stay active and on the go. We may have friends or even family who love and care about our needs and wants. We may have the whole world, but if we do not have the gospel, our lives are bankrupt. The gospel is everything.
The word “Gospel” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “god-spell,” meaning a story from or about a god. And this was derived from the Latin evangelium, commonly understood as “good tidings” or simply “good news.” The Latin term goes back to the Greek word evangelomen, which is translated “to preach,” “to tell,” or “to publish.”
We so easily forget. We tend to think we somehow planned the world around us, and even placed ourselves into this particular time and place. Our world revolves around us; like the map on the wall in our elementary school which had our country at the center. Human history has always offered that we easily forget that we are as strangers in a strange land and as such have no real purpose other than to re-tell the old story to a new group of people. The gospel, the telling of the old story, is everything.
We have no voice apart from the gospel. We have no place apart from the gospel. We have no purpose apart from the gospel. If we are purpose driven, and I believe we are, then what we truly need to do is be reminded of our purpose. And isn’t that what Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, is all about anyway; reminding us of the role of gospel in our lives? I think so.
We may focus on a lot of things here at Salem UMC. We may talk budgets and buildings. We may plant gardens and hunt Easter eggs. We may bring a salad to share or we may offer our musical gifts, whatever they may be. But we must never forget that the gospel is our home and has the power to offer life into the hearts of all who hear the Word. Just remember, always remember, the gospel is everything
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