It's a Command, Not an Option

Summer time means extra free time. My challenge for you this week is to share the Gospel. Seek out random people in random places, or it can be people you know. Let the Spirit lead, and as the opportunity presents itself, open your mouth. These are the 8 principles of the Gospel that you must make sure you hit as you share the Gospel with each individual:

1. God is a Creator God

2. The Fulfillment of Prophecy

3. Jesus is Fully Man and Fully God

4. Jesus Died on the Cross For Our Sins

5. Jesus Rose Again From the Dead

6. Jesus Ascended to the Right Hand of God

7. The Holy Spirit Came Upon Man

8. The Second Coming

Do not let fear seal your lips. It is as easy as someone saying, "I am so glad summer is here," and right there you make a B-line to the Gospel by replying with something like this: " I know, it is amazing how God has created different seasons for different times of year. Did you know He created everything from your skin, to the moon, to the grass...." and then you begin. Piece of cake. Now the majority of people have heard about Jesus Christ, but many do not know how He fits into the equation. Be sure to explain why Jesus had to die for our sins, and how His death is relevant to us personally. Before I became a Christian, I had no idea that people had to sacrifice animals before Jesus to have blood to atone for their sins and that is why they were in need of a savior, or that Jesus' blood was perfect because He was fully God and fully man and that he had to be both because God couldn't die, and death was what was required to atone for all of humanities' sin and that Jesus Christ was the only one who could take on the wrath of God because he was God. I didn't know the true need of salvation, I just thought it was a good thing to do. I didn't realize how sinful I was, because I thought I would be allowed in heaven if I just believed in God and didn't murder anybody, but no one told me that head knowledge is different from heart knowledge, and that God had to take over my heart. The tragedy is that many people have this same mind set, but what is more tragic is that we have allowed them to think this, not because of something we have done, but because of what we are not doing! It is our job to set it straight and share the good news of Christ because God does not give truth to those who will not act on it. For when Jesus gave us the Great Commission, it was a command, not an option! We are in Christ and He has given us the power to proclaim His name with authority and boldness, for we have not been given a cowardly spirit of timidity, rather we have been given a spirit of power! May we allow it to work through us and transform the world around us. God's truth has power, and others will believe it and know it to be true because he has given us the power to make disciples of the nations, but we must believe it, for if we do not believe in the truth of the God we serve enough to proclaim it, then who else will? Open your mouths ladies- Speak, enlighten, and win souls to Christ, because He has risen!

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." - Matthew 28:18-20