https://www.biblestudytools.com/nrsa/romans/passage/?q=romans+1:13-17 (Romans 1:13-17) When I was at the seminary training to become a pastor, I had a mentor who had a big impact in my life. His name was Pastor Homer Larsen. As I was preparing to go to my first church, he said to me, “Always work hard on your message. Make sure you preach the gospel! Nothing else really matters in comparison to the message you give your people.” Through the years I have followed his advice, and it has been a blessing to me. I have even said to my congregation, “This hour that you spend with me in church today could make a significant change in your life. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t stand up here in front of you like this and preach. I wouldn’t give my life to be a pastor or a personal witness.” The apostle Paul would concur with the advice Homer gave me – The message matters; Work hard on it. As he is preparing to go to Rome, Paul writes a letter to believers there. In that letter, found in the New Testament, he shares a bit about himself. After he tells them all the good things he’s heard about them, he says, I am so eager to be with you who are in Rome in order that I may proclaim the gospel to you! Paul is eager! He can’t wait to share! He says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel.” He was not embarrassed by it. People may have questioned the “odd” message he had. They may have looked at the cross as foolishness. They may have even thought the whole idea of grace was absurd, but he was not ashamed of the gospel. Why? Because “. . . it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith.” The word power is the Greek word dynamis from which we get the word dynamite. The gospel is God’s dynamite! We all know the power of dynamite to change things all around it when it goes off. The gospel is God’s dynamite. It is a power that can and does change a person’s life. It’s not simply another philosophy of life. It changed the trajectory of Paul’s life. Speaking from his own personal experience, Paul calls it the power to bring salvation. The word salvation means wholeness. The gospel makes us whole again! It restores us into a saving relationship with the God who made us. “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith,” Paul says, “for faith.” Through faith (meaning Paul’s faith, the one who is bringing the gospel) for faith so we might believe. “In it the righteousness of God is revealed” – God’s righteous plan, His plan to make us right with Him through His Son Jesus. It is good news. So we ask, What is the gospel specifically? Let me first tell you what it’s not. It’s not the Golden Rule – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It’s not a form of music that makes us tap our toes. It’s not simply information we find in the Bible about the life of Jesus, and it’s not a tradition of good news we hear at certain times of the year like Christmas or Easter or when grandma and grandpa die. Here is what it is: The gospel is the good news of what God has done for us calling us to a response. It is not simply good advice to men and women, but good news about Jesus Christ. It’s not an invitation to do anything, but a declaration of what God has done. It’s not a demand, but an offer. The gospel is a story, which goes like this: I am a person who was created by God in His image for a relationship with Him. I am precious in His sight and the crown of His creation. But I am also a sinner who has broken that relationship with my sinfulness. Ever since the time of Adam and Eve, a great gap between God and humankind has existed and needs to be taken care of. No matter how hard we try to save ourselves and look good in God’s sight, we always fall short. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. I can try to build my spiritual resume to get myself into a relationship with God and go to His heaven, but it’ll never be...