The Gospel and Evangelism

What is human life for? Just to live a few years and then go into nothingness? Or is it to live forever? Even if we could live forever, would we want to live the way we are now, or do we want a better life? The Bible says that we were made in the image of God, and that Jesus is the image of God, and we are being made like him. We can't do it, but God can do it in us.

Almost 2,000 years ago, a Jewish carpenter began to preach. He was popular with some people, but he made others angry. Officials said he was a threat to national security, and they arranged for his death. His only weapon was his message. The crowds liked it, but “good” people didn’t. He said it was about love—so why did anyone hate it? What was the message that got Jesus killed? Do we need it now?

In this collection of articles, authors from Grace Communion International discuss how the gospel was shared in the past, and how we share it now.

This e-book contains several articles about introductory aspects of Christianity: what is the goal, how do we get started, what is faith, the Holy Spirit, prayer and baptism. A series of articles at the end describes how to lead a series of introductory studies for new believers.

God isn't fair, and that's a good thing, says Joseph Tkach, president of Grace Communion International. If we received what was "fair," we would not like the results! But God gives us grace instead, and that changes everything. It is good news for us, and it changes our life for the good.

In this series, Lorenzo Arroyo looks at how Jesus shared the good news with other people, and then at how the disciples shared the gospel. The biblical story is that there are many ways to reach people - from attending to their physical needs, to addressing their intellectual concerns, from one person at a time to thousands.

In this series of articles, we show how a Christian might share the faith with other people - with those who do not go to church, and with those who do - using friendship, compassion, and helpfulness. One article addresses the new age, another the perspective of postmodernism and relativism.

Guilt is so thoroughly engrained in religious culture that many people cannot imagine the gospel without a focus on guilt. They present the gospel as a transaction: you will be forgiven IF you accept the gospel. But Jesus already paid for your sins and you are already forgiven. There is no IF. Sin is forgiven, but it still messes up relationships. The gospel needs to focus on our relationships.

In part 1 of this collection of articles, GCI authors look at the biblical evidence for what the gospel is. In part 2, we present articles encouraging people to accept the gospel. Part 3 addresses the question of What next? Once we have accepted the gospel, then what do we do? In part 4, we look at biblical examples of how the gospel is shared, and in part 5, we how the gospel may be shared today.

Does God put conditions on his grace - that we have to do something in order to be forgiven? If we have to do something, is it really a gift? If grace is given without conditions, does it mean that it's OK to sin? If God no longer counts our sins against us, then what's wrong with sin? Grace leads to a number of questions, and these articles attempt to clarify what grace is, and how we receive it.