“The Best News”

Series: Gospel Tools for Gospel People [on screen]

Rev. Matthew C. McCraw, EdD

First Baptist Church, Bartow, Florida

February 27, 2022

Introductory Comments:

We are continuing our series called “Gospel Tools for Gospel People.” This week is week two of three. We are looking at three Gospel tools for you, Gospel people. 

Last week, we looked at one of my favorite tools, “The Three Circles.” This week, we’re going to look at a very simple tool called, “The Best News.”

Before we do, let’s pray together and ask God to speak to us as we study His Word. 

(prayer)

Have you ever had someone tell you, “I have some good news and I have some bad news; which do you want first?” Well, today, I have four different types of news to share with you. 

Sharing the good news of the Gospel is of the utmost importance. It is the only hope for our world. 

This past week I had the opportunity to hear from Darryl Strawberry for just a moment at a gathering in Orlando. Some of you know that name, he was a major league baseball player for many years. However, according to his own words, he was a womanizer, drug addict, and alcoholic. He also experienced bankruptcy and jail time. However, Darryl met Jesus and it changed his life forever. He said, “You can’t straddle the fence with God. You’ve got to make a commitment. You’ve got to surrender yourself. God was very persistent and I surrendered myself to His will and I’m glad I did.”

You may remember when Paul and Silas were in prison in the book of Acts, after they were delivered, they shared the Gospel with their jailer. Acts 16:31-34 says, “31 They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.’ 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house. 33 He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized. 34 He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household.”

Remember, church, as Romans 1:16 says, the Gospel is, “ . . . the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”

So, let’s talk about the power of the Gospel. 

However, in order to talk about the good news, we must start with the . . .

I. Bad News[on screen]

I know that those of you who have been part of our Romans study have already heard a lot of bad news about the wrath of God towards sin and the total depravity of sinners, but bear with me for just a moment as we talk about the bad news some more. 

In order to understand the good news of the Gospel, we must understand the bad news of our sin. 

We must understand that . . . 

Our sin has separated us from God. [on screen]

The Bibles makes this very clear. We’ve already studied this many times over the last several weeks. 

Remember, Paul says in Romans 3:23 – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” [on screen]

Also, Paul says in Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death . . .” [on screen]

So, the bad news starts with the fact that we are sinners, our sin separates us from God, and our sin leads to death. 

However, that’s not the end. There is . . .

II. Worse News[on screen]

Last week we learned that sin leads to brokenness. One way we try to deal with that is to try and fix our own brokenness. But, we can’t, can we? When we try to fix our own brokenness, it only leads to more brokenness. 

Here’s the reality: We can do nothing to remove our sin. [on screen]

Paul points out clearly in Ephesians 2:8 – “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift.” [on screen]

This is not from yourselves! We can’t fix our sin problem. The bad news just got worse. 

This kind of bad news is like when you get a string on a new shirt that you really love. It’s bad enough that you have a dangling string, but then you start to pull on it to get