The Power of a Story:
The Gospel Story

Scripture Reading:  Romans 3:21-26

Key Verse: Romans 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

This week is all about stories and their power to convince people to come to faith.  For the last couple of days we have looked at our story.  Now let’s turn our attention to God’s story—the Gospel story.  We can start in the book of Romans and take the “Roman Road” story.

As we tell the Gospel story, it must start in Romans 3:20: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  The Gospel story is not difficult to remember and tell.  Once we have created some level one friendships, we can look for opportunities to share the Gospel’s simple message.  The story must start with sinners and that is why our present society struggles with God’s story.  We want to talk about psychological problems or poor parenting in our childhood, but we don’t want to talk about being a sinner.  Before anyone would even look for a savior, they must believe they need a savior and not a counselor.  If all our problems are psychologically based, then it’s logical that people would run to a psychologist.

We must start telling people the Gospel story and it doesn’t start with the answer.  It starts with the problem: All have sinned!  Kindly but firmly, we must point to man’s real problem: Sin.  We are all sinners who can’t get into heaven.  We are eternally lost as long as we have sin in our hearts.  We need a remedy for sin!

Father, I was a sinner in need of a savior.  Thank you for sending Jesus.  Help me to have the courage to tell the whole story of the Gospel!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.