Sharing the gospel.

As we continue to look at being on fire for God through the Holy Spirit, one of the obvious ways we see the fire is sharing the gospel. Gospel means good news. There is no better news than the gospel...none! Let me define what the gospel is in a nut shell:



1. God loves humans! All of us! Look at the most famous verse in the Bible:



John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.



What else could God do to show He loves us than what this verse tells us?



2. We have broken His law and fallen short of His glory. Which means simply...we have sinned against God and don't meet His standards!



Romans 3:23

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,



3. As a result of our sin we are lost, lonely, dying and on our way to judgement and hell. Not very good news here huh, but it is the truth.



Romans 6:23

23 For the wages of sin is death



Matthew 10:28

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.



4. But there is good news in all of this! God sent Jesus to save us! A free gift from God!



Romans 6:23

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.



This the only way to God, through Jesus Christ.



John 14:6

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.



Once we have accepted this free gift of the gospel(salvation), it is our responsibility to share it with others!



Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.



Jesus said "GO!" We are to share to gospel to a lost and dying world....are you? It is not an option from what I read it is a command!

Tom

Godly Appointments!

Did you know everyday if you are a follower of Jesus, that He has appointments for you to fulfill that only you can do? Well He does and that is why we must be in tune with the Holy Spirit to do the job that God has in store for us each day!



Look at this from the bible:



Acts 3:1-10

A Lame Man Healed

3 Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, “Look at us.” 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God. 10 Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.



Peter and John most likely had been through this area many times. Matter of fact they probably had seen this man before, He been there for a long time. The difference this day was Peter and John were in tune with the Holy Spirit and on fire for God. It was a divine appointment from God! The man wanted money but the disciples gave him something much more valuable than money, the healed him and gave him Jesus! Many seen the power of God that day and were amazed.



You see we have appointments everyday too to share Jesus. We have power through the Holy Spirit we never tap into. Being obedient to the Holy Spirits promptings are vital to our walk with God. Some examples may be...feeding the poor, paying a bill for someone in need, knowing a co-worked is hurting and praying with them, sharing Jesus with whoever will listen, praying over someone who is sick. These are just a few of the things God will guide us to do if we are available to the promptings of the Holy Spirit!



So are you ready to be used by God today? Listen! If you are willing He WILL use you!



Tom

Be faithful!

Faithfulness is a must to continue to be led by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit guides us everyday not just every once in a while. We must be faithful to His leading. As we look at the early church we see faithfulness was a trademark!



1 Corinthians 4:2

2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.



1 Peter 4:10

10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.



If we are faithful in the small things the Spirit leads us to do then God will send bigger things to do knowing we were faithful in the little things! We must remember though that when God does give us bigger things to do remain humble because God does not need us to do anything! But He does want to use us!



Acts 17:24-25

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.



Let us be faithful my brothers and sisters in following the leading of the Holy Spirit in doing the work of the Lord!



Philippians 3:13-14

13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.



Jesus showed us the way!



Hebrews 12:2

2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.



If we are to be on fire for God through the Holy Spirit we must remain faithful and let our light shine!



Matthew 5:14-16

14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Tom

ONE OF THE BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE!

This past Sunday I was honored to be able to baptize my daughter and tWO other girls. They all accepted Jesus into their lives during Vacation Bible school back in the Summer. NOTHING can compare to knowing your daughter and two others are now eternally secure! Praise the Lord!

Prayer = Power with the Holy Spirit.

When you read through the book of Acts it is very easy to see the work of the Holy Spirit through prayer. It is the same for us, when we pray the Holy Spirit can accomplish great things through us! One of the best example sof this is found here:



Acts 12:5-17



Peter Freed from Prison

5 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. 6 And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. 7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” 9 So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

12 So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. 13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. 15 But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”

16 Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.



The power of prayer is an amazing thing. One thing that catches my attention is verse v.16 where it says they were" astonished"....as followers of the almighty God we should expect great things to happens through the Holy Spirit and believe that God will answer our prayers according to His will!



We must be a people of prayer. It is our direct access to God and it is far under utilized in our faith. Prayers should be second nature to us. A way of life that is normal. In good times, in bad times, in ok times, pray, pray , pray! Let me give you a few principals on praying.



1. Humbly pray.



When you pray recognize who you are praying to....God. God! This is our Creator, make sure you approach Him with reverence! Look how Jesus showed us to pray to God:



Matthew 6:9

9 In this manner, therefore, pray:



Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.



A reverence for God...all our prayers should start with a recognition of who God is!



2. Pray without ceasing.



We are a busy people. God's Word is clear we are to be in prayer often. How much do you pray in a day? Week? If you are like me not near enough. When is the last time we turned off the TV and spent and evening in prayer? We must spend some time in fervent prayer. This is a big reason why our prayers don't do much, because it is not a priority in our lives.



1 Thessalonians 5:17

pray without ceasing,



James 5:16

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.



3. Unity in prayer.



The early church agreed in prayer. Think about the church today....much division. This is not pleasing to God! Let me say this though....do not compromise the truth of God's Word! Look at the promise of Jesus:



Matthew 18:19

19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.



4. Pray even when you doubt!



Hey we all have weaknesses in our faith from time to time. Be faithful and obedient even when you have doubts! We seen in the early church they had some doubts about Peter's release but the prayed anyway! We must do the same.



So many times I am like this man talking to Jesus:



Mark 9:23-25

23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!”



Lord help our unbelief but let us always stay faithful and obedient!



God can do great and mighty things through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, may all of us spend much time in prayer!



Tom

Love one another!

As we continue to look at the Holy Spirits work, we see that it guides us to love one another. We definitely seen this in the early church. They not only told others they loved them but the showed them and we need to grab hold of their example!



Acts 2:44-47

44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.



Do you see how they showed their love. As we have always heard "actions speak louder than words." Also note when others seen their love for each others others wanted what they had which was Jesus in their hearts and daily folks were being saved!



Remember Jesus's words in Matthew 20:28:



Matthew 20:28

28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”



Love is shown by serving. They Holy Spirit can give us the strength to serve and love others, and who knows what God can do to the hearts of those we serve! Maybe even add to the church! Amen!



Tom

My first Goose!

Killed my first goose this morning...hope to get many more in the future!