Guilty as Charged!

Sundays are refreshing to me, well, once we finally get to church after the chaos of getting dressed, deliver the kiddos to their Sunday school classes, and hike it up to the Sunday school room and pick out chair to sit down and breathe!  In our Sunday school we are going through Corinthians, so you normally know what the lesson is going to be about but it is always fresh and we always have an enjoyable time. And I'm always anxious to hear what Bro. Greg is going to preach on and what little snip-it he is going to get in about his Georgia Bulldogs. But today, our regular teacher was out and Stan filled in (great job, by the way) and we had a lesson about sharing the Gospel. Bro. Greg's sermon was also about the Gospel as well.

 

In Sunday school, Stan had us break up into paired groups and gave us instructions to sum up our testimony into one minute. The purpose being in mind that we need to be prepared for that brief interaction with a stranger to share Jesus and the Gospel with them. We may only have a minute or two and then that moment or person may disappear from our life forever.

 

Anyway, after a few laughs here and there, we paired off and got on our daunting tasks of summing up God in one minute. Do you know how difficult that is? One minute passes like molasses while you are waiting on the stop light to turn to green, but when you are trying to share the Gospel in less that one minute it passes like a flash of lightning! Stan started the timer and stopped it when it got to sixty seconds. I was almost finished when he said stop. Rats! I so wanted to get 'er done!

 

We then had an open discussion on what is the best way to share the Gospel? Some of the answers included: "live a good life"..."live it out"..."know Scripture"..."share your miracle"... All great answers. But how do you live out a good life to a stranger that is in your life for just that one brief moment? Another point brought up, so many religions make a point that "living a good life" is the way to the after life. And anybody can quote Scripture, right? The Jehovah Witnesses do, and better than we (Baptists and evangelical Christians) do might I add.

 

So, exactly what is "the" Gospel? Most are taught John 3:16 at a very early age in these parts. You know it by heart. I can just hear my younger VBS self reciting that to get a sticker on my memory verse completion chart. John 3:16 is great. I mean, Jesus said it himself. This memory verse that we most often learn tells us the benefits of believing the Gospel.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

The Gospel is a set of facts that MUST believed in order to gain that everlasting life. You cannot believe just one of them. You must believe ALL them. You must believe that God sent his son, Jesus to earth. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. Jesus was sent to pay the debt for all mankind's sin. And to pay that debt, He (Jesus) was crucified on a cross, buried in a borrowed grave, and yes, rose from the dead three days later.

"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.  After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.  After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. The last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time." 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

Now, if you are a believer, I ask you, "how many times have you shared this story?" In the South, we are taught to "you preach your funeral everyday" and "people are watching." Are we using this as a cop-out for not actually sharing the Gospel? If God sent a jury down, what would your verdict be? Mine? Guilty as charged! I am not a confrontational person. I do NOT like to jump into a person's business as much as I like knowing it. I prefer to build a relationship, and then ask the question about her eternal destination. But you know what, I don't always have days, months or years to do that. I think Keith said it best when he said, "You don't need a seminary degree to share your testimony. This should be the easiest thing you ever say because it's the greatest thing that ever happened to you."

 

I praise God for my gift of salvation. I praise God for my testimony (though, honestly, between you and me, I would have picked out an easier story to play out on my life...lol).