Our Sunday sermon series is from the book of Mark. Last Sunday's message was on living and sharing the Gospel (don't know if that is what our Pastor intended but that is what the Lord brought out of it for me. LOL) Two statements were impressed upon my heart by the Holy Spirit and I believe they need to be life defining for Christians. The first one was "PREACH THROUGH ACTIONS." And the second was "LIVE THE GOSPEL." So often we tell people we are Christians, we may even tell them about Christ, but our lives don't bear our His message of love, hope, righteousness and salvation. We tell them how their eternity can be safe (very important for sure) but do nothing to alleviate their pain now.
Sometimes that may take buying a sandwich, other times it's just a listening ear....whatever the need, sharing the Gospel means helping. Jesus helped. Wherever He went He listened, He loved, He helped. Ever notice how throughout the Gospels, Jesus listened to the stories of people before He healed them. He took time to see them as people, not just a means to an end. He reached out and touched those around them.....even those society said were outcasts, untouchable and unwanted.
Mark 9:17-27 One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son so you could heal him. He is possessed by an evil spirit that won’t let him talk. And whenever this spirit seizes him, it throws him violently to the ground. Then he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast out the evil spirit, but they couldn’t do it.” Jesus said to them, “You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.” So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” When Jesus saw that the crowd of onlookers was growing, he rebuked the evil spirit. “Listen, you spirit that makes this boy unable to hear and speak,” he said. “I command you to come out of this child and never enter him again!” Then the spirit screamed and threw the boy into another violent convulsion and left him. The boy appeared to be dead. A murmur ran through the crowd as people said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.
From our Sunday sermon....keep it plain, the Gospel need not be couched in fancy words. Just God's simple truth of His love for humanity. Positive, the Gospel lifts up. And might I add humble. No one wants to listen to someone who comes across as holier-than-thou, haughty and self-righteous. Helping. How can our lives, our actions show the love that the Gospel brings when we share it's message? Does a monetary problem need to be met? Compassion need to be extended? Prayer in the moment? And this leads to the last must for sharing the Gospel, it has to be Spirit-filled. We can do nothing without the Holy Spirit leading us, giving us insight to meet the immediate need, and putting the right words in our mouths that will reach a specific heart at a specific time. John 15:5 Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.
If I share Jesus with those around me and they don't see my life as living what I am saying, then I am disqualified, my words of no effect. LIVE THE GOSPEL! Wow, God is so smart!!
1 Corinthians 13:1-7 (The MSG Bible) If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.
The Gospel is more than just speaking, it's acting. If I am following Jesus I will be acting as He acted, loving as He loved, helping as He helped. And this opens doors and hearts to God's salvation. Oh, I so desire to live this life! Help me Father! The Gospel requires love and action before we ever speak a word.
Lord, let my life look like Your love, that people will want Your salvation, and You! Change me in any and all areas I fall short of this goal. I don't want my behavior, my life to be a stumbling block to anyone who is looking for You. Help all of us to be beacons of light shining on the path to You.
Try helping someone in Jesus' name today, let your actions build a bridge for sharing God's salvation.
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