Read Romans 1:15. Paul there reveals he was "ready" to preach the Gospel. Paul’s life was absorbed with and overflowing with the message of the Gospel. Paul said in one place, "Woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel" (1 Cor. 9:16). The Gospel message involves the truths that Jesus came, He died and was buried, He arose from the dead, and was seen by many after He arose (1 Cor. 15). Nothing could keep Paul from giving out the Gospel; he would not allow hindrances in his life to keep him from telling the old, old story in the new year. The word "ready" in Rom. 1:15 suggests an "urgent willingness" to proclaim the story of Jesus and His love. The story Paul preached was both truthful and triumphant. Let’s look at some things about our message:

I. It Is A Beautiful Message. If you compare Ephesians 2, you see that man is dead spiritually but can come alive. Man is detoured but can be placed on the highway of holiness. Man is disobedient, but can be made an obedient child. Man is doomed, but Jesus can deliver. Man desires many wrong things but can desire the right.

II. It Is A Blessed Message. Since God has ordained the preaching of the Gospel to save them that believe, it is undoubtably a blessed message (1 Cor. 1:21). If a preacher and a church want the blessing of God upon them, they would be wise to major on the Gospel story.

III. It Is A Bountiful Message. It is a message of riches. By that is not meant a guarantee of monetary riches, but of spiritual riches. When one believes the Gospel, he or she becomes an heir of God and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:17). Riches are ours!

IV. It Is A Beneficial Message. Nothing will benefit people more than the preaching of the Gospel. Why is that so? It is the "power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth" (Rom. 1:16). We need to be more concerned with theology than with ecology.

V. It Is A Balanced Message. It involves the truth of "repenting or else" (judgment) (Luke 13:5), but on the other hand, "believing and being saved" (Jn.3:16)(love). We should proclaim both the fact that God will judge the unrepentant and that He will save those who savingly believe in Him. In this New Year may we tell the old, old story, because it still works today, as it did many years ago.