THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

“A man had two sons. The younger son said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the property.’ So the father divided the property between his two sons. Then the younger son gathered up all that was his and traveled far away to another country. There he wasted his money in foolish living. After he had spent everything, a time came when there was no food anywhere in the country, and the son was poor and hungry. So he got a job with one of the citizens there who sent the son into the fields to feed pigs. The son was so hungry that he wanted to eat the pods the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he realized what he was doing, he thought, ‘All of my father’s servants have plenty of food. But I am here, almost dying with hunger. I will leave and return to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son, but let me be like one of your servants.”’ So the son left and went to his father.

While the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt sorry for his son. So the father ran to him and hugged and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against God and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring the best clothes and put them on him. Also, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get our fat calf and kill it so we can have a feast and celebrate. My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

The older son was in the field, and as he came closer to the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. Se he called to one of the servants and asked what all this meant. The servant said, ‘Your brother has come back, and your father killed the fat calf, because your brother came home safely.’ The older son was angry and would not go in to the feast. So his father went out and begged him to come in. But the older son said to his father, ‘I have served you like a slave for many years and have always obeyed your commands. But you never gave me even a young goat to have at a feast with my friends. But your other son, who wasted all your money on prostitutes, comes home, and you kill the fat calf for him!’ The father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. We had to celebrate and be happy because your brother was dead, but now he is alive. He was lost, but now he is found.’”
Luke 15:11-32

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep but loses one of them. The he will leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the open field and go out and look for the lost sheep until he finds it. And when he finds it, he happily puts it on his shoulders and goes home. He calls to his friends and neighbors and says, ‘Be happy with me because I found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, I tell you there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes his heart and life, than over ninety-nine good people who don’t need to change.”
Luke 14:4-7

“A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress and built a tower. Then he leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. Then the man sent another servant. They hit him on the head and showed no respect for him. So the man sent another servant, whom they killed. The man sent many other servants; the farmers beat some of them and killed others.

The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But the farmers said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.”
Mark 12:1-8

"The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends.”
John 15:13

"God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.”
John 3:16

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and most important command."
Matthew 22:37-38

"Those who know my commands and obey them are the ones who love me, and my Father will love those who love me. I will love them and will show myself to them."
John 14:21

"If people love me, they will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Those who do not love me do not obey my teaching. This teaching that you hear is not really mine; it is from my Father, who sent me."
John 14:23-24

"And the second command is like the first: Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Matthew 22:39

"I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. All people will know that you are my follower if you love each other.”
John 13:34-35

"Do to others what you want them to do to you.”
Matthew 7:12

"And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don't know God are nice to their friends.”
Matthew 5:47

"But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:44-45

"If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also.”
Matthew 5:39

"The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the one who makes himself humble like this child.”
Matthew 18:4

"All who make themselves great will be made humble, but those who make themselves humble will be made great.”
Luke 14:11

"When you do good things, don't do them in front of people to be seen by them.”
Matthew 6:1

"Don't judge other people, or you will be judged. You will be judged in the same way that you judge others, and the amount you give to others will be given to you.”
Matthew 7:1-2

"The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart. Good people have good things in their hearts, and so they say good things. But evil people have evil in their hearts, so they say evil things.”
Matthew 12:34-35

"I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was alone and away from home, and you invited me into your house. I was without clothes, and you gave me something to wear. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.”
Matthew 25:35-36

"I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.”
Matthew 25:40

"Yes, if you forgive others for their sins, your Father in heaven will also forgive you for your sins. But if you don't forgive others, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.”
Matthew 6:14-15

"You must forgive him even if he wrongs you seventy times seven.”
Matthew 18:22

"It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to invite good people but sinners to change their hearts and lives."
Luke 5:31-32

"In the same way, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinner changes his heart and life."
Luke 15:10

"Everyone who hears my words and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.”
Matthew 7:24

"Happy are those who hear the teaching of God and obey it.”
Luke 11:28

"The Father gives me my people. Every one of them will come to me, and I will always accept them. I came down from heaven to do what God wants me to do, not what I want to do. Here is what the One who sent me wants me to do: I must not lose even one whom God gave me, but I must raise them all on the last day. Those who see the Son and believe in him have eternal life, and I will raise them on the last day. This is what my Father wants.”
John 6:37-40

"I tell you the truth, unless one is born again, he cannot be in God's kingdom.”
John 3:3

"I tell you the truth, unless one is born from water and the Spirit, he cannot enter God's kingdom. Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.”
John 3:5-6

“Change your hearts and lives, because the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Matthew 4:17

"God's kingdom is within you." (Love!)
Luke 17:21

"Your heart will be where your treasure is." (Love!)
Matthew 6:21

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. One day a man found the treasure, and then he hid it in the field again. He was so happy that he went and sold everything he owned to buy that field.”
Matthew 13:44

“A man gave a big banquet and invited many people. When it was time to eat, the man sent his servant to tell the guests. ‘Come. Everything is ready.’

But all the guests made excuses. The first one said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go look at it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen; I must go and try them. Please excuse me.’ A third person said, ‘I just got married; I can’t come.’ So the servant returned and told his master what had happened Then the master became angry and said, ‘Go at once into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ Later the servant said to him, ‘Master, I did what you commanded, but we still have room.’ The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes, and urge the people there to come so my house will be full. I tell you, none of those whom I invited first will eat with me.’”
Luke 14:16-24

"Yes, many people are invited, but only a few are chosen.”
Matthew 22:14

"Enter through the narrow gate. The gate is wide and road is wide that leads to hell, and many people enter through that gate. But the gate is small and the road is narrow that leads to true life. Only a few people find that road.”
Matthew 7:13-14

"Let the weeds and the wheat grow together until the harvest time. At harvest time I will tell the workers, 'First gather the weeds and tie them together to be burned. Then gather the wheat and bring it to my barn.’”
Matthew 13:30

"When it was full, the fishermen pulled the net to the shore. They sat down and put all the good fish in baskets and threw away the bad fish.”
Matthew 13:48

"Not all who say that I am their Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. The only people who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do what my Father in heaven wants.”
Matthew 7:21

"You will cry and grind your teeth with pain when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in God's kingdom, but you yourselves thrown outside.”
Luke 13:28

“The kingdom of heaven is like a person who owned some land. One morning, he went out very early to hire some people to work in his vineyard. The man agreed to pay the workers one coin for working that day. Then he sent them into the vineyard to work. About nine o’clock the man went to the marketplace and saw some other people standing there, doing nothing. So he said to them, ‘If you go and work in my vineyard, I will pay you what your work is worth.’ So they went out to work in the vineyard. The man went out again about twelve o’clock and three o’clock and did the same thing. About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again and saw others standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?’ They answered, ‘No one gave us a job.’ The man said to them, ‘Then you can go and work in my vineyard.’

At the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them. Start with the last people I hired and end with those I hired first.’

When the workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay, each received one coin. When the workers who were hired first came to get their pay, they thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one coin. When they got their coin, they complained to the man who owned the land. They said, ‘Those people were hired last and worked only one hour. But you paid them the same as you paid us who worked hard all day in the hot sun.’ But the man who owned the vineyard said to one of those workers, ‘Friend, I am being fair to you. You agreed to work for one coin. So take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same pay that I gave you. I can do what I want with my own money. Are you jealous because I am good to those people?’

So those who are last now will someday be first, and those who are first now will someday be last.”
Matthew 20:1-16

"In the same way, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinner changes his heart and life.”
Luke 15:10

"Change your hearts and lives and believe the Good News!”
Mark 1:1