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Welcome to the CFC Blog! The following is part of a series we’ll be posting throughout 2026 to remind us of the Good News of Christ – what it is, what it means, and how to share it in your context.

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To the followers of Jesus this may seem like an odd premise. Why does the Gospel matter? We can quickly look to Paul who wrote to the Romans “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.” When we start talking about sharing the Gospel with others, that right there is the critical point. 

But what about those of us who are already professed followers of Jesus? 

The Gospel is absolutely still important and applicable to us in our daily lives.

As we did in the recent “What is the Gospel” blog, let’s go back to the beginning: Genesis tells us that “God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” 

This is a critical point: Every person that walks this earth bears the image of God. 

And yes, sin has impacted how we live this out, but it does not change the fact that we are all created by God, bearing His image, and we all are also uniquely created for His purposes. God cares about all of His creation and the whole of scripture reminds us that He desires a restored relationship with every single one of us. As a result of this truth, the Gospel really is for every one of us. There is no one that God wants excluded from exposure to the Gospel. 

Now, I can truthfully say that even though I have been following Jesus for years that I still need the Gospel. There are moments every day where I act in a manner that demonstrates a lack of faith in God. And in those same moments I can apply the Gospel to my own life. Jesus died for all of my sin and it was sufficient. Even though I struggle in ways big and small each day, His grace is sufficient. Every day I have the opportunity to practice applying the Gospel to various situations so that when I have a chance to chat with someone else, I will be prepared to give an answer and speak truth into their life. 

In fact, the real importance here is not to dwell on my sins but to grow in my awareness of God’s great love for me. Jesus said that the second greatest commandment is to love others as we love ourselves. I think we have been conditioned to not love ourselves. We are sinners saved by grace. We are still being made into a new creation and because we are being made new the Holy Spirit should be helping us to see just how much we are loved by our Father. Yes, Jesus died for us while we were still sinners as a demonstration of this love. So we can now love ourselves because He loves us! As we grow into that understanding, we can better demonstrate love to those around us. Learning to speak the Gospel into my own issues should help me embrace God’s love for me and increase my love for others.

So why does the Gospel matter to us every day?

The Gospel matters because it is both the message of salvation for everyone and it is a demonstration of the depth of God’s love and grace for each one of us, no matter what we are struggling through. 

Till next time, grace and peace to you all.
Mike Sandefur
Climbers for Christ Chaplain

Welcome to the CFC Blog! The following is part of a series we’ll be posting throughout 2026 to remind us of the Good News of Christ – what it is, what it means, and how to share it in your context.

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This may seem like an odd question but the truth is that not everyone answers this question the same way. These differences may stem from our varied experiences, the situation in which we are sharing, who we are sharing it with, etc. But despite those differences there are some things that are essential and honestly we sometimes miss some of those essentials.

Let me give you an example. I love Star Wars. I mean, I really love it. I have first editions of the book in both paper and hardcover from 1976 that say “soon to be a motion picture….” But there is one huge thing about Star Wars that drives me nuts. They tell the story out of order and as a result are constantly having to go back and correct misunderstandings and wrong assumptions. And we do this all too often when we share the Gospel. Jesus is the climax of the story, but not its beginning. Yet we too often start with Jesus. Here’s the critical element that gets lost when we do so – why was Jesus necessary? Why does sin even matter? Those are essential parts of the beginning of the story that we then have to go back and explain.

So what is the Gospel? By its own root definition it is good news. I’ll spend time in another post looking at the ways in which good news for one person can differ from good news for another. In this case we’re just focusing on the fact that it is the good news of Jesus the Messiah. 

• In the beginning God created all things and He created man and woman in His image. They interacted daily in a relationship based on trust and God’s provisions for all that they needed. 
• But the man and woman broke their relationship with God by choosing to trust themselves rather than God’s provision and promises. As a result, death entered the world through this rejection of God, which we now call sin. 
• Now God did not give up on the people he created. Throughout history He provided ways for people to temporarily heal this broken relationship. But God had plans for something better, a permanent fix. 
• God came and dwelt among us in the form of Jesus of Nazareth. He lived a life without sin, demonstrating a life lived in complete trust of God’s provision and promises. 
• He died on the cross taking the punishment we deserve for our sin. And because that sacrifice was enough we can now live in a restored relationship with God through the presence of His spirit in our lives. In this new restored relationship we now live as his representatives to the world demonstrating what God can do through people who follow His ways of living.

That’s it in a nutshell. The good news is Jesus, but it is also why we need him in the first place so that we better understand why Jesus is so important. 

This is just the first in a series about the Gospel. So stay tuned for more about how the Gospel impacts our daily lives, some ideas for how to share the Gospel with others, and more.

Till next time, grace and peace to you all.
Mike Sandefur
Climbers for Christ Chaplain