HOW THE GOSPEL CHANGED MY LIFE
HILLCREST CHURCH ▪ PASTOR JAMIE MCDONALD
The Gospel is the ______________________ news about Jesus.
“…the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1, NIV).
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Jesus –
Mark 1:15, NIV).
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the
good news that Jesus is the Messiah (Acts 5:42, NIV).
Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture [Isaiah 53:7-8] and told him the good news about Jesus
(Acts 8:32-35, NIV).
“You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus
Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee
after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and
how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with
him. We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by
hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not
seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after
he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God
appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in
him receives forgiveness of sins through his name”
(The Apostle Peter – Acts 10:36-43, NIV).
A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this
babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul
was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection (Acts 17:18, NIV).
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the
Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace” (The Apostle Paul – Acts 20:24,
NIV).
It is the ________________________ of God that brings salvation to everyone who
________________________________ (Romans 1:16, NIV).
We are called to _________________________ it.
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized
will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Jesus – Mark 16:15-16, NIV).
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they
have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless
they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”… Consequently, faith
comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ (Romans 10:14-15,
17, NIV).
Keys to Sharing the Gospel
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give
the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15, NIV).
HOW THE GOSPEL CHANGED MY LIFE
HILLCREST CHURCH ▪ PASTOR JAMIE MCDONALD
1. ____________________ Christ as Lord. Give Him 1st place in my life.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread
the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those
who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the
other, an aroma that brings life
(2 Corinthians 2:14-16, NIV).
2. Be _______________________________ to give an answer.
3. ___________________________ people to ask me.
4. Give the ________________________ for the hope that I have in Jesus.
5. With ______________________________________ and _______________________.
In other words, sharing ____________ story (the Bible) and _____________ story (how I came to know
Jesus as my Lord and Saviour).
Free to be __________________.
Free to be supernaturally _______________________________. Because it is the Holy Spirit living
_____________ me who does the heavy lifting.
How The Gospel Changed My Life:
1. The Lord arranged ____________________ _____________________________. Jesus says the “time” (Gr.
kairos = opportunity) has come to repent and believe the good news (Mark 1:15). “Kairos
moments” are opportunities to believe and respond to the words of Jesus.
From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their
appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and
perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. (Acts 17:26-27, NIV).
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from
the Lord (Acts 3:19, NIV).
2. I responded to His ______________________.
A _____________________ that I’m a sinner in need of a Saviour.
B ______________________ Jesus died for my sin and was raised to life.
C __________________________ Jesus as Lord and believing in my heart.
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that
you profess your faith and are saved (Romans 10:9-10, NIV).
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is
this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29, NIV).
HOW THE GOSPEL CHANGED MY LIFE
HILLCREST CHURCH ▪ PASTOR JAMIE MCDONALD
3. I began ______________________ ____________ this new life with Jesus.
R _____________________ the Bible.
P _________________________, which is talking with God.
G _____________________________ with like-minded believers.
Life became naturally ________________________________________.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from
God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians
5:17-18, NIV).
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV).
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting
together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the
Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25).
You are here by ________________________ ________________________.
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Today is one more opportunity to respond to your Heavenly Father and to receive all that He has
purposed for you.