We’re beginning a new series that examines what the biblical writers and the early church meant when it spoke of the gospel. We will look first to the Old Testament, to Genesis, where the gospel is “preached in advance,” according to St. Paul. Then we’ll head to Isaiah, who brought the word into our vocabulary. and on whom many New Testament writers depend.

Once we’ve done that, we will enter the New Testament to listen to John the Baptist and to Jesus as they announced the gospel in the Gospels (and if you’ve ever wondered about the connection between the gospel and the Gospels, we’ll consider that too). We’ll spend a couple of weeks in 1 Corinthians, then move on to Acts, and elsewhere. We are going on an exploration, one I hope will include delightful discoveries into one of the principal glories of the Bible.

The first sermon in the series, like all series introduction sermons, will be tricky. Tricky because we need to cover lots of ground, whereas I much prefer to camp out in one biblical passage. It will also be also tricky because that ground needs to be leveled and cleared of theological debris before a foundation for understanding can be laid.

Tomorrow we will post the first installment in the series …finally, some Good News. It is titled, Fake News.