I had the pleasure and privilege of hearing Fred Craddock preach a sermon at a con-ed event over 30 years ago, and he not only influenced my preaching, he touched my soul.
Well, it wasn't there at all. I didn't miss it. It wasn't there to be seen. The Gospel is a specific message with specific content. That message and that content was entirely absent...both directly and indirectly from this sermon. As a pastor, I have preached nearly 2,600 sermons in the last 28 years. I know the Gospel when I read it, preach it and hear it, directly or nuanced...and there was no Gospel here. Would you care to provide the time stamps in the sermon where you think he is referring to the actual Gospel (either directly or indirectly) so we can discuss what was said?
If you can't even acknowledge that the times when he quoted scripture directly from the gospels wasn't the gospel, then I can't help you much. Maybe what you wanted was a bit more law in the sermon. A need for a three step gospel "outline." But Jesus doesn't follow an outline. And neither did this presentation of the gospel. The entire message was about God's grace, Christ's saving power, and the power for Christ to transform. Again, how you missed it is beyond me.
No, a thousand times no, quoting a Bible verse from the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John isn't the Gospel. The Gospel is THE message of how God saves sinners from sin, death, judgment and eternal hell. It is the message of how God reconciles sinners unto Himself through the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is that the sinner can be saved by God's grace alone through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. THIS message, which is THE Gospel message, is absent from this and all of Craddock's sermons, as far as I know. I would LOVE to be wrong about that. Perhaps you can site a sermon of Craddock's in which he does plead with sinners to repent and turn by faith unto Christ, to cast themselves upon Him for mercy and forgiveness, to trust in His death for their sin as their only hope of salvation. That is THE Gospel message, the message which is at the heart of all true Christian preaching, and it is a message which seems to be lacking from Craddock's preaching. Simply saying, "If you can't even acknowledge" or "I'm sorry you couldn't see it" is to avoid utterly my main points. You're dodging what I am asserting with dismissive comments. And no, I didn't mention outlines, now did I? Again, I would love to be wrong. Can you find a single sermon by Craddock in which he confronts men with their unbelief and sin, declares their separation from God due to their disobedience, proclaims the atoning death of Christ as a death to pay sins' debt, where he calls sinners unto faith in Christ and repentance, to turn from sin and to trust in Christ alone for their salvation. Can you find even ONE sermon where he does that???
I hear you. I believe just what you said about how a person receives salvation. But to say that that alone is "The Gospel" is to say that Good News is only the entire process of conversion and not the proclamation of Christ's atoning work and Christ's power to save and Christ's ability to liberate from sin. In my work as a hospital chaplain, I cannot proselytize (i.e. press people to convert), but I can share the Good News by lifting up the power of Christ to save and to forgive and to liberate. By embodying and speaking about the love of Christ, I am proclaiming Good News. Can I walk them A to Z through each step? Often not. But I'm quite confident that the Holy Spirit does some amazing work to convict of sin and change the human heart if only I can somehow tell them "Jesus saves." But to say that unless each step of the conversion process is explicitly announced, then the Gospel has not been proclaimed is not something I can agree with. Craddock's preaching has no doubt drawn many people to salvation. As has your preaching. As has mine. But we all proclaim it differently through the different styles and personalities God has given us, but it is the same Gospel. Jesus himself never sticks to one systematic proclamation of Good News. He says to Nicodemus, "be reborn." To Zaccheus, "Come down." To the rich man, "Sell everything." To his disciples: "Follow me." To the adulterous woman, "Leave your sin." To the woman who touched his garment, "Your faith has healed you." To the thief on the cross, he affirms his plea to "remember me in your kingdom" by promising him "Paradise." To each, individual person, he calls them out of their particular bondage and invites them to be free in Christ. Not a lot of steps needed. Not of a lot of theology preached or understood. Just response. If your argument is that Craddock didn't proclaim the Gospel the way you would have, then that's true. But to say it isn't Good News, well, I respectfully disagree.
