The Gospel

The records of Colosse Baptist Church show that on Aug. 22 and 23

Colosse will turn 189 years old -- Begin our 190th year as a church

But the records also show it almost would not have been

From our 150th Anniversary Booklet, Chap. 1, "Organization of the Colosse Church"

"On Sunday, June 15, 1806, a number of brethren met at the home of Amos Williams, and after Divine Worship conducted by Elder Gamaliel Barnes, the forming of a church was discussed. On Jan. 7, 1807, it was decided to call for a council to recognize the body as a church, but being disappointed in getting a council, it was decided simply to hold regular services."

> May I interject -- What kind of faith did they have to call for a council in JANUARY???

"After several years and many difficult trials, most were in favor of disbanding. However, there was a small group of zealous brethren that refused to give up the world of the Lord. Through the efforts of this group, a Council was called in..." Aug., 1815

- Consisted of brethren of Baptist churches in Henderson, Ellisburg, Lorraine and Rodman

- They met in the Parish Schoolhouse to look into the circumstances of the group

- To hear an account of their meetings and their objectives

- And to see if, in the opinion and judgement of the Pastors thus assembled

- If they were in fact a GOSPEL church

- And to be given the right hand of fellowship

Well, we don’t just know the rest of the story = WE ARE THE REST OF THE STORY

- Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed [are] the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

- I imagine that those zealous brethren so stedfast in their faith in what the Lord could do

- Must rejoice to know we continue

- And still believe in the Book, the Blood, and the Blessed Hope

- And that we are still a Gospel church

And that brings me to our Sermon today

- Seems fitting to me, on this 52nd Sunday of our 189th year of existence as a Gospel Church

- To bring a message on the Gospel

"Gospel" = 98-x in NT = [amtract] Signifies "good news"

- The revelation God has made known to sinful mankind through Jesus Christ

- He is the Saviour and Redeemer of mankind = Lord of all

- Scripture = Matt. 24.14, "gospel of the kingdom" = Acts 20.24, "gospel of Christ" =

Rom. 1.16 + 10.15, "gospel of peace" = 1 Tim. 1.11, "glorious gospel" = Rev. 14.6, "everlasting gospel"

> And in the words of the beautiful hymn, "The Love of God" [# 188 v. 3]

"Could we with ink the o-cean fill, And were the skies of parchment made,

Were ev-`ry stalk on earth a quill, And ev-`ry man a scribe by trade;

To write the love of God a-bove Would drain the o-cean dry;

Nor could the scroll con-tain the whole, Tho’ stretched from sky to sky.

CH: Oh love of God, how rich and pure! How meas-ure-less and strong!

It shall for-ev-er-more en-dure, The saints’ and an-gels’ song."

- Really and truly, the noblest words we could ever hope to speak would fall far short of satisfactorily describing what God has done when we use the word "GOSPEL"

> We can really do no better than Holy Scripture = 2 Corinthians 9:15 Thanks [be] unto God for his unspeakable gift.

But when it comes to the Gospel = God intends for us to know it = Understand = Share

- So let’s ask first, how can we best know and understand it?

- Some very good Scripture passages that would serve as candidates to help us know and understand the Gospel = (Matt. 1.18-23)

- Mark 10:45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

- Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

- That "most famous and well-beloved" verse = John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. = AND the whole passage in John 3

But perhaps the best Scriptural definition of "the Gospel" is found in our text today

- [1 Cor. 15.1-2] = This is "the gospel"

- We note is has some powerful effects, which we will come back to in a moment

- [15.3-5a] = There it is, in a nut-shell