How to Make Your Sermon Genuinely "Gospel-Centered"

To make your sermon genuinely gospel-centered, include one sentence that captures the very heart of the redemptive focus of the Bible.

We call it the substitution statement.

Because substitution is the heart of the gospel.

The animal sacrificed in the garden — substitution The passover lamb — substitution The cross — substitution

We make substitution explicit with a substitution statement.

One sentence that uses exchange language.

We see this in Scripture.

2 Cor 5:21, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God."

But you don’t need to quote these texts to make a substitution statement.

For example, we could say it like this...

Jesus, the ultimate A-student, took the failing grade we deserved and permanently credited our account with his perfect score.

As our law-fulfiller, Jesus lived the perfect life we couldn't live, and as our sentence-server, he died the death we deserved to die, transferring his perfect standing to us.

How you frame the substitution statement depends on the text, your keyword, and possibly your anchor illustration.

If you need help, the Preach360 online sermon studio will help you extract a substitutionary focus from any text in Scripture.

Hope this helps. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes!