When we launched our ‘What Is the Gospel?’ song contest last fall, I didn’t know what to expect. Would any songwriters take up the challenge of writing and recording an original song with the gospel itself as the subject? Would any of the submitted songs be good?

Thankfully, as I listened to the nearly 200 submitted songs, I was blown away by the quality—and diversity—of what came in. With the help of six judges representing the professional Christian music world, we whittled down the submissions to six winning songs and 23 runners-up. Last Friday we announced the winners and released a six-song EP, The Gospel Is, featuring the winning songs.

If you haven’t already, carve out some time to listen to these songs. Each is a musical and lyrical triumph that beautifully contemplates gospel hope, using different angles and metaphors.

• ‘The Invitation’ ponders the gospel as an invitation to a feast where “You need not bring a thing.”
• ‘Under the Sun’ celebrates the gospel’s power to pull us out of darkness, into marvelous light.
• ‘It’s Always Been There’ (which one of our judges called “one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time”) leans into humanity’s universal spiritual hunger, which is ultimately only satisfied in Christ.
• ‘My Need (A Great Savior)’ captures the gospel in a pithy-but-profound chorus: “I had a great need for a Savior / And I have a great Savior for my need.”
• ‘In Three Days Time’ poetically narrates the Father’s perfect plan in Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection.
• ‘As I Am’ reflects on a “grace I could never afford.”

The songs are rich, and the album rewards repeat listens. So put on your headphones, or turn up the volume in your car, and let these songs sing gospel truth over you as you go about your day.