The Heart of the Good News
This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 2/10/19 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Today we are continuing the venture of learning to share our faith by looking at a writing of the Apostle Paul, perhaps the most prolific New Testament author who founded many of the churches of the first century. What Paul is about to say is at the center of Christian faith and life—not at the margins. And it was from Paul that the Corinthians heard the message in the first place. Further in the reading, we find the content of the good news. Here is the earliest existing description of Christ’s resurrection. It sounds like part of an early creed formulated long before the Apostles’ Creed. Paul’s version dates from 54 AD and the Apostles’ Creed from around 390 AD. “Of first importance” stresses the centrality of the doctrines Paul mentions to the gospel message. In a nutshell, they are Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. His burial shows th...