Components of a Gospel Message

This video clip is about what is involved in a Gospel message. I took some information from the book, “Christ-Centered Preaching” by Bryan Chapell. The video clip is based on 1 Thessalonians 1:5.

The transcript of the video clip is below.

    [Hello! I have enjoyed reading the book, “Christ-Centered Preaching.” That book I encouraged you to read. The book was focused on Biblical preaching. The first chapter of the book was good. The title of the chapter was “Word and Witness.” It was about the preacher who is speaking and his character. The preacher should back up his talk. The rest of the book was about how to write an outline and how to understand the Bible to become a sermon. But the first chapter was mainly about the preacher himself.

            Now, the author wrote about Aristotle, a famous Greek philosopher especially in the rhetorical speech area, that he stated that the public speakers should have three things. In Greek, the three things are: 1. logos; 2. pathos; 3. ethos. First word, logos, means the speaker’s outline for the speech and what the speaker say. Ethos means the speaker’s emotions, passion, and firmness. Also, it applies to the listeners’ emotions while hearing the speech. The third word, ethos, means the speaker’s strong belief in what he says. He lives what he says. For example, Al Gore “preaches” about environmentalism and preservation of the earth. But he uses a lot of electricity in his home, flies a lot all over the world, and uses big, fancy cars. Aristotle strongly believes in the third part of public speaking which is ethos. Aristotle believes that the speaker should live what he say, not contradicting himself with his actions.

    Interestingly, the Bible has these three parts to a message as well. Paul knows a lot about Greek philosophy, using some of the philosophy in 1 Thessalonians 1:5. (((Showing a slide of 1 Thessalonians 1:5))) “For our gospel came not unto you in word (logos) only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance (which means full conviction) (pathos); as ye know what manner of men (ethos) we were among you for your sake.” That verse clearly shows that Paul did not come to the city of Thessalonians with big words only but with power, Holy Spirit, and full convict ion. Paul did not water down the gospel. Paul was not just saying, “Yes, Jesus loves you.” But  Paul was passionate to see people to be saved and to preach the truth. What is more, Paul backed up what he talked about. Paul’s character was not contradicting with his message, not exploiting people. When you read 1 Thessalonians chapters 1-3, you will find that Paul’s character was impeccable and holy. What a challenge to us! Because many young people like me watch the preacher’s conduct to see if it matches what he preaches. If the conduct and talk are contradicting, it is more likely that I will not truly respect the preacher. That is very important. For example, if a preacher preached hard against being angry. But he becomes angry toward his assistants or toward others, that is contradicting to what the preacher preaches. That’s challenging.]