The Effects of Preaching Christ

I have spent the last thirty years of my life as a believer of Jesus Christ as Savior of my soul.  Yet, in that time I have met few fellow believers who do not experience some level of fear or anxiety in preaching the truth of the gospel message to friends, family, and loved ones.  I once sat down with a young man who had recently returned from a months-long mission trip where he participated in street evangelism.  He would go up to perfect strangers on the street and preach the truth of the gospel message.  When asked how he was able to do such a bold thing he simply responded, “You just do it.  And the more you do it the easier it becomes.”  It was a moment of conviction in my own life and heart.Behind closed doors (whether the doors be of the church building or our own homes) we as believers tend to be bold, speaking the truth of the gospel message and its affects upon our hearts.  But when it is time for us to “go out” into the world we tend to hold back.  We explain our timidity as a lack of training, lack of methods in how to speak, or not seeing any opportunity to speak.  This is not an uncommon scenario, as many times I find myself making the same excuses for my own lack of initiative.

Paul has no such lack, as we have seen throughout the book of Acts.  This final section in Acts 28 is no different.  But we must not put Paul on such a pedestal that we forget his humanness.  There must have been times where he struggled in his own heart in how to share his faith.  His example for us is profound.  For we continually see his deep desire to preach the gospel no matter the consequences to himself.  In Acts 28, Luke (the author of Acts) gives us some basic methods for preaching the gospel message, but he also reveals to us what will happen when we speak the truth.  And the truth may not be something we are willing to face.


May God prepare us this week as we look into this final section of the book of Acts.  Be prayerfully prepared to move and change if God should, through revealing to us our own hearts, ask us to move and change.  And may we be willing to make the sacrifices necessary to make disciples for Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.

Do Not Be Afraid

A number of years ago I was given the opportunity to make a bungee jump from 15 stories above a pool.  I was unmarried, no children, and young so I jumped at the possibility to do something I probably would never get a chance to do again.  For some strange reason I did not correctly weigh the reality that I am afraid of heights until after I paid and was standing on a platform one hundred and fifty feet in the air.  The instructor told us that while standing on the edge of the platform we should not look down but instead look straight out at a flag.  He continued that on the count of three we should jump to grab the flag and the fun would begin.  He also said that most that do not jump after the first count to three will likely never jump.  In that moment, fear gripped my throat and my stomach dropped to my ankles.  How was I going to react while standing on that edge?

 

In Acts 18:1-17, we find Paul now in Corinth having left Athens behind.  He spends some time in the synagogue preaching the Gospel Message, but after many of the Jews opposed and reviled him he shakes out his garments against them, deciding to preach in the future only to the Gentiles.  Later, Paul receives a vision from God telling him not to be afraid, but to preach the truth in Corinth.  He is not alone.  Others are with him.  God is with him.  And he stayed in Corinth for a year and six months, preaching and teaching.

 

Though this vision was intended for Paul at a momentous time in his ministry there are some truths that we can grasp and apply to our own walks as disciples of Christ.  May we all be prayerfully prepared for God to reveal the fears that we have in preaching the Gospel Message with our words and deeds to those around us.  May we overcome those fears with the help of the Lord.

 

By the way, I jumped.  I didn’t hesitate.  And it was one of the greatest thrills of my life.