Kingdom Values: Gospel

Devotional

Day 1: Good News With Power: The True Gospel

The gospel is not advice about how to improve your life; it is an announcement of what God has done in Jesus. Like a messenger who bursts into the room with news that changes everything, the gospel brings joy because it carries real power. It tells of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and invites you to receive what he has accomplished on your behalf. This news is not discovered by human intuition; it is declared, heard, and believed. When you welcome it, you don’t just adopt a new set of ideas—you encounter the power of God for salvation. [08:48]

Romans 1:16 — I’m not embarrassed by this good news; it is God’s effective power rescuing everyone who places trust in him—first the Jew, then the Gentile.

Reflection: Where, this week, could you speak one clear sentence of good news—what Jesus has done, not what someone must do—and to whom will you say it?

Day 2: Resisting False Gospels, Returning to Pure Grace

Many counterfeits promise life: the heavy yoke of works, religious systems that redefine Jesus, and cultural stories that preach salvation through status, success, or relevance. These may sound sincere, but sincerity doesn’t equal truth, and they cannot free the heart. Grace is what sets the way of Jesus apart: God gives a settled verdict over your life in Christ, not based on your performance. When you drift from grace, confusion and striving multiply; when you return to grace, joy and freedom follow. Today, name the false announcement that tugs at your heart, and let the true gospel silence it. [20:27]

Galatians 1:6–9 — I’m astonished you’re deserting grace for a so‑called gospel that isn’t good news at all. If anyone—even an angel—delivers a different message than the one you received, consider it under God’s judgment, because it twists the Messiah’s good news.

Reflection: What specific “gospel” of performance or cultural approval has been shaping your choices lately, and what simple practice this week could help you re-immerse in grace (for example, Sabbath rest or a daily confession of dependence)?

Day 3: About God: Father Plans, Son Saves, Spirit Applies

The gospel begins with God, not us. The Father authored your salvation, the Son accomplished it at the cross and empty tomb, and the Spirit brings that finished work into your life with living power. At the center stands substitution: Jesus stepped into our place so we could stand in his. This is not self-actualization; it is God’s initiative, God’s mercy, and God’s righteousness given to you. Receiving this reorders everything—your identity, your community, and your purpose in the world under Jesus’ loving rule. [24:26]

2 Corinthians 5:21 — God placed our sin on the One who knew no sin, so that in union with him we might share in God’s own righteousness.

Reflection: In one concrete decision today, how will you center God’s initiative—thanking the Father, surrendering to the Son’s lordship, and inviting the Spirit to make the finished work real in your heart?

Day 4: Spirit-Empowered Witness: Pressure Off, Power On

You don’t persuade anyone into the kingdom; the Spirit carries the power, and the gospel carries the life. Your part is to bear simple, honest witness—“I was blind, and now I see”—and trust the message to do its work. The Spirit breaks the fear of people and gives courage that doesn’t depend on personality or polish. Even the plainest sharing can become a holy moment when God animates it. Take the pressure off yourself and let the good news run free. [28:47]

Romans 10:14–15 — How will people call on the Lord if they don’t trust him, and how will they trust if they haven’t heard? They can’t hear without someone speaking, and no one speaks unless they are sent. Scripture celebrates the beautiful feet of those who carry good news.

Reflection: Who is one person you’ll talk with this week, and what is the single sentence of hope you’ll share as you ask the Spirit for courage and timing?

Day 5: Seeking and Saving the Lost—Expect Harvest

Jesus seeks, sees, names, and saves—just ask Zacchaeus. In a city of elites and religious leaders, Jesus stopped for the most unlikely man, entered his home, and joy ignited repentance and restitution. Some muttered at the scandal, but salvation broke in and community was restored. What seems impossible with people is possible with God, so expect impossible salvations in unlikely places. Lift your eyes: fields are white, the 95% are not beyond reach, and Jesus still comes to seek and save the lost. [46:41]

Luke 19:1–10 — Passing through Jericho, Jesus looked up and called Zacchaeus by name, insisting he stay at his house. Zacchaeus welcomed him gladly, while others grumbled that Jesus was with a sinner. Zacchaeus pledged generous restitution to those he’d wronged, and Jesus declared that rescue had come to this household, for the Son of Man came to look for and save the lost.

Reflection: Who is your “Zacchaeus” (the least likely in your world), and what tangible step—an invitation to a meal, a walk, or a listening conversation—will you take this week to move toward them in love?

Sermon Summary

Tonight sets the community on the same page about the gospel: not a lifestyle tip or moral ladder, but God’s announced good news with power to save. Scripture calls it euangelion—glad tidings carried by a messenger—now filled with the riches of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Because false gospels abound, Scripture commands discernment. The gospel of works exhausts and hardens; religious counterfeits distort Jesus; secular “salvations” promise relevance and status but cannot justify or renew. Christianity’s burning distinction is grace—God’s decisive verdict in Christ, once for all—unlike every performance-based scheme that rises and falls with our output.

The gospel is God-centered and Trinitarian: the Father plans, the Son accomplishes, the Spirit applies. At its core is substitution—Christ in our place, that we might become God’s righteousness. Its scope is holistic, restoring four relationships fractured by the fall: with God (transcendence regained), self (identity as beloved image-bearers), community (the beloved family), and the world (vocation for human flourishing). It is not merely “go to heaven when you die,” but the kingdom of God coming—heaven and earth reunited under Jesus’ lordship. This message advances not by personality or polish but by the Spirit’s power; the pressure is off. Bear witness. Let the gospel do its work.

Zacchaeus shows how grace moves. In a city of elites, Jesus notices, names, and invites himself into a despised tax collector’s world. Presence begets repentance; restitution flows; and Jesus declares, “Today salvation has come… this man too is a son of Abraham.” Expect scandal—religion grumbles when grace sits at sinners’ tables. Yet the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. God’s love is not passive; it strives after the missing and restores by sozo—rescuing, healing, and reintegrating a life to God, community, and vocation.

Therefore, anticipate impossible salvations in the least likely places. What is impossible with man is possible with God. The gospel is not broken; it harvested Rome and can harvest New York. With 95% still unreached, the call is urgent and hopeful: how will they believe unless they hear? Beautiful are the feet that bring good news.

Key Takeaways

1. Discern and reject false gospels. Grace can be subtly displaced by works, spiritualized self-help, or secular “salvation” stories. Scripture warns that different “gospels” are no gospel at all, even if they borrow Christian language. Test every announcement of hope by its center: Christ crucified and risen, received by grace through faith. Freedom is found where Jesus, not human performance, saves and sustains. [11:18]
2. Grace is Christianity’s blazing difference. Among world religions and ideologies, unmerited favor—God’s verdict given, not earned—sets Christianity apart. Grace liberates from the tyranny of self-justification and the anxiety of fluctuating worth. It produces humility, joy, and endurance because the ground underfoot is Christ’s finished work, not today’s output. [19:07]
3. God-centered, substitutionary, Spirit-empowered. The Father plans, the Son accomplishes, the Spirit applies—salvation is God’s initiative from start to finish. At the center is substitution: the sinless One made sin for us so we become God’s righteousness. The Spirit brings this ancient accomplishment into present experience, birthing assurance and new obedience that moral effort alone cannot produce. [24:26]
4. The gospel restores every relationship. Grace reconciles upward to God, heals the self, forms a new family, and sends us to renew culture. This wholeness resists privatized spirituality and reductionist activism by holding together worship, identity, community, and vocation. Salvation is not escape; it is participation in God’s renewing kingdom. [25:37]
5. Expect scandal and impossible salvations. Real mission sits at sinner’s tables and draws criticism from the religious. God’s love seeks, saves, and restores the least likely—Zacchaeus today, leaders tomorrow. The gospel is not fragile; anticipate harvest in hard places and let faith rise to match God’s intention, not cultural pessimism. [46:41]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:58] - What is the gospel?
[08:48] - Good news defined: euangelion
[11:18] - True vs. false gospels
[14:55] - Counterfeit faiths and secular saviors
[19:07] - Christianity’s distinctive: grace
[21:11] - A Trinitarian, substitutionary gospel
[25:37] - Holistic transformation in four directions
[26:40] - Kingdom: heaven and earth reunited
[28:10] - Spirit-empowered witness; pressure off
[31:11] - Zacchaeus: grace in action
[38:29] - Expect scandal; pursue the lost
[43:51] - Sozo: salvation as restoration
[46:41] - Impossible salvations are possible
[49:49] - The gospel isn’t broken; sent to NYC

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man, he could not because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Observation questions

In Luke 19:1-10, what specific actions does Jesus take toward Zacchaeus (notice, name, invite, declare), and how does Zacchaeus respond? What does the crowd do in reaction?
What do we learn about Jericho as the setting (a place of elites, priests, and beauty), and how might that amplify the shock of Jesus’ choice to visit a despised tax collector? [33:23]
In verses 9-10, which words summarize Jesus’ mission, and what new identity does Jesus announce over Zacchaeus?
What was happening in the early church regarding “different gospels,” and why was that a big deal? [11:18]

Interpretation questions

Why would Jesus inviting himself to Zacchaeus’ house spark grumbling? What does that reveal about the difference between grace and religious respectability? [38:44]
The words “seek” and “save” (sozo) imply active pursuit and whole-life restoration. What would it look like for salvation to reintegrate a person to God, community, and vocation today? [43:51]
If salvation is God-centered and Trinitarian—the Father plans, the Son accomplishes, the Spirit applies—how should that reshape confidence when sharing the good news? [23:19]
Why is substitution essential to the gospel, and how does “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us” anchor assurance and identity? [24:26]

Application questions

Where are you most tempted to trust a “false gospel”—performance, spiritualized self-help, or a secular salvation story (status, relevance, success)? What signs show grace has been displaced by performance in your week? [20:27]
The pressure is off: the power is in the message, not the personality. Who is one person you could simply bear witness to this week, and what would “let the gospel do its thing” look like in that conversation? [29:16]
Zacchaeus’ faith went public through restitution. Is there anyone you need to repay, apologize to, or make things right with? What concrete step will you take, and when? [36:37]
Real mission draws criticism. If you spent unhurried time at a “sinner’s table,” who might grumble, and why? How will you decide whom and how you’re willing to offend for the sake of love? [40:12]
Name one or two “least likely” people or places in your world. How will you pray and act this month in light of “what is impossible with man is possible with God”? [46:21]
“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” Where is the next “least likely place” you could carry good news, and what is your next faithful step to be sent there? [54:12]
The gospel restores four relationships (with God, self, community, and the world). Which of these is most in need of renewal for you right now? What is one specific practice you will pursue this week toward wholeness? [26:07]

Sermon Clips

The gospel is the good news that God our father, the creator, out of his great love for us, has come to rescue us from sin, Satan, death, and hell, and to renew all things in and through the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf to establish his kingdom through his people in the power of the holy spirit. This is for God's great glory and our great joy. [00:21:33] (25 seconds) #GoodNewsOfGrace

Jesus was so opposed to a self works gospel that produces distortion because the lie says that by doing the right things, you can change your heart. But all that does, that out external moralism is uses one form of evil to repress another form of evil. It doesn't actually change you. It doesn't renew you. It just uses different power mechanisms of performance to repress a behavior, and it always leaks out. [00:14:11] (28 seconds) #GraceNotWorks

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Kingdom Values: Gospel - Jon Tyson