Tag: life

Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ

On By ForChristsSakeFellowshipIn Sermons

One of the last words Jesus said while he was physically here was for us to go into the world and make disciples. Known as the Great Commission, it is a command from our Creator to preach the gospel to all people. Why is this so important?  Because all people struggle with sin.

The Bible says that we all sin and fall short of God’s glory, but Jesus offers us forgiveness through His finished work on the cross. Through His life, death, burial, and resurrection, we are offered the free gift of eternal life in Heaven. This is the Good News or Gospel. There’s nothing more important than this.

So why is it so hard to talk about this with strangers?  Why is it even harder to share the Gospel with friends, coworkers, and especially family?  How do you do it right?

First off, understand that many people don’t want to think about change. We naturally find a comfort zone that we live in. Anything that interferes with that comfort is an enemy, even if we have found comfort in pain.

When we are challenged by the gospel of Jesus Christ, it provokes us to do something. Once you learn something, you can’t unknow it, you must deal with it somehow. Knowing that Jesus is Lord and Savior changes our game. You must accept it or reject it, knowing that there are consequences either way. You WILL lose something of yourself when you choose, either you need to turn away from your sins or you turn away from your Creator and any hope for a Heaven.

While that sounds like a simple choice, it isn’t. There will never be a more important one though. It’s something that people have a tough time with due to what the Bible calls a sin that so easily besets us. We all have struggles with sins that harass ourselves. It is so much easier just to give in, but Jesus says that the road to hell is wide and there are many who travel it. It is a much harder road we travel when we do what’s right.

That statement is true for the Christian and non-Christian alike. Sin is not something that just goes away when we accept Christ. The stain of sin is blotted out, but the cravings remain in many cases. Just like a nail in a board, you can remove the nail, but there will be a hole that needs filled.

When we try to share the gospel, the devil attacks us, bringing the memory of our sins to mind. We think to ourselves that we are not worthy because we, too, are sinners. That uneasiness translates into a barrier to sharing the good news of Jesus. We get concerned that we might offend someone or cause a fight. We get concerned because what if they ask a question that I can’t answer about Jesus or Christianity? What if they ask about my own sins?

We relate a rejection of the gospel to a rejection of ourselves, and humans have a hard time with rejection. This is especially true when it pertains to sharing the gospel with family members. We can talk effortlessly with our family, but if you become a believer in Jesus, you suddenly stand out. You’ve changed. You’re not the same old person they knew and now on top of that, you maybe come off somewhat hypocritically. “Who is this person telling me to turn from their sins? Do they think we’ll forget all the stuff they did?”

Don’t ever let your own insecurities get between a soul and Jesus Christ!

Jesus takes the old and broken, then makes it new. That works to our advantage, because who better than a former alcoholic, for instance, to tell people of the dangers of alcohol abuse? You can trust a witness who has faced the problem and lived through it. Jesus healed you and He can do the same for anyone.

If you love your family members, you want healing for them. You would rush to tell your family member to seek medical treatment if they had cancer or something wrong, so why not the Good News of Jesus as well? Through sin, a member of your family is running headlong off a cliff. Don’t just tell them, scream it at them! They are family, so don’t stop unless they are safe.

Also, and here is a significant point, as a human being we all have a common creator. That makes all people of all races and creeds our family. Jesus died for all people to take their sins away. Jesus is for the whole world. God is our Creator and our Heavenly Father.

Understand that just as a sculptor or artist signs their work, you and I bear the marks of our creator. We have a God-sized hole in ourselves that can only be filled with Jesus Christ. We try to fill our lives with all kinds of excitement, sex, drug and alcohol, or even food, but we can’t consume enough of what we think is “the good stuff” to fill that hole inside. We need Jesus. He truly is “the good stuff” that our bodies, minds, and souls crave.

We need His Holy Spirit to take up residence within ourselves, because nothing else will do. When you realize that fact, it becomes easier to share the gospel with others, knowing that they need Jesus worse than they need water. The Bible says that Jesus is living water and whoever drinks of that water will never truly thirst. Indeed, the water He gives us becomes in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life. People need that eternal life, so don’t deny them their Jesus.

There’s an old saying that goes “the truth sells itself.” Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life. As a born-again Christian, you always have Him, the truth, with you. That truth is the only way to Heaven and eternal happiness. That is a pearl of great price. Who wouldn’t gladly receive such a huge gift?

The Bible says don’t worry about what to say, because the Holy Spirit will speak for you. The words you will use when sharing the gospel are not your words at all, they are God’s words. When the time comes, just open your mouth and start talking. Plant the seed knowing that God will give the increase. I’ve shared Jesus with a lot of people, but I’ve never saved anyone’s soul. That’s not something you or I can do, but God alone. So, share Jesus with everyone you can.

In short, we are to be disciples making disciples. And on that glorious day when time gives way to eternity, you will walk into the throne room of Heaven, see some of those same faces gathered there, and our precious Lord will say, “Well done! Well done, my good and faithful servant. Now at last, enter into the joy of your Master’s house.”

God’s blessings to you.

DH

Refire!

On By ForChristsSakeFellowshipIn Sermons1 Comment

Sometimes at a restaurant, the food is not cooked as well as it should be. You’ll often hear a waiter or a cook say “Refire!” That means they need to make the order new and fresh again, otherwise the food won’t be the quality that should be served.

Much like in cooking you may need a refire, Christians sometimes need a refire of our spirit. Otherwise, what we give to God and even what we want in life will be of poor quality as well.

Being a Christian means more than just attending a church building on Sundays. Our lives should be spent in a relationship with God our Father. We need that daily walk with Him to enliven us and strengthen us. You wouldn’t just eat once a week. You shouldn’t go a full week or even a day without being filled by the Holy Spirit.

I’ve found that the less time I spend with Jesus Christ, the more that the devil comes at me from all sides. Either I’m on fire in the Spirit or Satan is hitting me with his own brand of fire. There’s no cooling off period. You’re either going up or you’re going down.

Especially in the past, you would hear of churches doing revivals. That was to get new believers and old Christians fired up for the Lord. We need that sort of thing in our own personal lives as well. You revive things that are passing out or passing away. Take a look at your life. Is it passing away before your eyes?

Jesus says in the book of Revelation that he wished a church was either hot or cold. He then said, “but because you are lukewarm, I spew you out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:16). What a horrible thought, to be rejected so violently by the Savior!

We cannot be lukewarm Christians! We admire people with a passion for art or a passion for sports or anything. Why? Because people who truly care about something put their heart and soul into whatever they are doing. You don’t become an Olympic sprinter by sitting on the couch eating chips. You run. You run fast, you run hard, and you run often.

We will never reach the finish line of Heaven if we don’t get off of the starting block.

Dig deep and set your spirit on fire for Jesus. Even Jesus himself said, “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning!” (Luke 12:49). My friends, it is time to set the world on fire for Jesus and it all starts with you and I. Right here, right now, we all need a refire for the Lord!

God’s blessings to you.

DH

Science and Sola Scriptura – Since You Asked Q.6

On By ForChristsSakeFellowshipIn Sermons, Since You Asked

Question: If Protestants believe in Sola Scriptura which means follow the Bible only, how can Protestantism explain stuff like Gravity and Physics? That stuff isn’t in the Bible. Please help.

To answer this, understand that true science and true holy scripture will connect. It is all from God, the one Creator, so true science will not contradict the Bible. I do say “true science” because there are many things in today’s world that passes itself off as science, but really is hokey nonsense.

However, from a scientific standpoint, there are many theories that either stand because it is true or stand because we haven’t gone far enough to find the next thing in the linear series of human discovery.

Take gravity for instance. Yes, it is not called out directly in the Bible, but things like Goliath falling after being hit by a rock shows that gravity exists. Other things, such as the dinosaurs, aren’t called out in the Bible text. However, inference made from a well formed conscience tells us that dinosaurs and the creation narrative can indeed square up as true because of God’s transcending of time. The Bible says in 2 Peter that a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day to God.

We look to the Bible for our way of living and interacting with God and man. Science is one of the ways that God has chosen to reveal certain aspects of our world to us, just like the scriptures. That being said, when science tries to contradict scripture, don’t be too quick to throw one away for the other. In those cases, our scientific observations have not caught up with the real truth yet. Jesus is the truth and revealed himself as such. If something contradicts the teaching of Jesus Christ, then one has to be wrong, and God is not wrong.

If you see a book, you may deduce that there was a creator behind it who wrote that book. When you see things like DNA strands that contain billions of gigabytes of information, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to deduce that there must be an intelligent Creator God behind that creation. And that’s just one creation!

The natural world is all from the Lord’s own creativity. The masterpiece bears the soul of the artist.

Romans 1:19-20 “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse.”

Keep searching for the truth. True science shall lead back to our Heavenly Creator.

God’s blessings to you.

DH

The Reason for the Season

On By ForChristsSakeFellowshipIn Sermons

“For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2:11

When the world needed peace, Jesus Christ was born. At a time when things didn’t seem that they could get any worse, Jesus arrived. When people were scared, angry, self-absorbed, and looking to the wrong things to bring themselves happiness, God arrived on Earth.

By all rights, this description sounds a lot like 2020. Wars and rumors of wars, protests and infighting at every level, and a pandemic that has affected the world. Nothing about this year was easy or occurred by any of our supposed plans.

We need peace, we need complete love, and we need hope for the future. In short, we need Jesus. Now more than ever, we need The Savior. We need Jesus Christ for n our lives and in our hearts. He is the only way to where we need to be.

Whether you believe in Him or not, Jesus Christ has changed the world forever. Our common year is based off of the life of Jesus Christ. Even if some people changed the acronym, it’s still before Christ’s birth and after. Phrases we use every day, such as “Go the extra mile,” “blind leading the blind,” “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” or “straight and narrow” are all words straight from Christ’s mouth. This whole time of year especially is because of Jesus. You can say happy holidays all you want, but the truth of the matter is that Christ is the reason for the season.

Even in places that are cynical of Christian values, I have heard Christmas music playing. Take the time to listen to those songs. Those are songs of praise and worship and they are being played all over the place and even all over the world this time of year.

To paraphrase the book of Acts, if this whole Jesus thing was just of men, it would turn to nothing. However, if this really is of God, there’s nothing in this world that can stop it. It’s been over two thousand years since the birth of Jesus and there is no silencing the believer, no matter what heretical laws are passed and no matter how politically correct this country becomes.

Why is that? Because the person who has been forgiven of much shows the most love for the Lord. I have been forgiven of many wrongs in my life and, if by chance I am ever rendered mute, my actions and my very soul would still sing out in praise of the God Most High.

That’s why there was a bright and shining star that showed the way to Christ’s crib that fateful night. Even the universe showed praise to the Creator with a glow that could never be equaled. That shining star stood for peace and hope to the ones in need of a savior. It also stood as a warning light to those who thought they were doing fine by their own ways. It was a green light to love and a red light to evil.

So please remember this time of year, Christmas time. Praise Jesus for His wonderful life and His death upon the cross for our sins. A believer’s future is sealed by complete and boundless love and it all started because a star was born and His name is Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas and God’s blessings to you.

DH