A Renewed Burden For The Lost

As you know from my previous post, I recently preached a sermon entitled "Becoming A Courageous Church." The first point of my message was that the Church needs Courage to Communicate The Message. The main Scripture that I highlighted was 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2. It states, "for you yourselves know brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict." I love the part that says, "we had boldness in our God." In emphasizing the fact that I(& we) often times lack courage to open up my mouth, I pointed out that this passage and the Bible as a whole is clear that any boldness and/or courage that we need to share the gospel with people comes from God. The NIV translates this section, "with the help of our God we dared to tell you His gospel." It is a supernatural message, and we must rely on His supernatural power to share it. In other words = His Message + His Power = Boldness/Courage. This is what we see throughout the book of Acts in the early church.

During the sermon I challenged the congregation of Living Hope to ask God for divine appointments during the week to share their faith with co-workers, family members, neighbors, etc. I then told them that I was going to do the same. I did, and God definitely answered my prayers. During my Greyhound ride from Oakland to Los Angeles, God gave me the opportunity to have lengthy conversations with two different brothers about Christ. I was able to open up the Scriptures with them. It was awesome! Then on my flight back to Chicago I had a great conversation with the guy that was sitting next to me. He is a Buddhist, and we chopped it up about issues of faith and the gospel for probably the last hour of the flight. I don't highlight these recent conversations to illustrate what a great evangelist I am, but rather to emphasize the fact that if we ask God for divine appointments to share our faith with those whom our lives intersect with, He will answer that prayer.

Over the course of my time in California, I also began reading a book entitled "One Thing You Can't Do In Heaven" by Mark Cahill. The author of this book is clearly "on fire" to share Christ with the world. God has been using this book, my time in the Word, and these recent experiences to give me a renewed sense of burden for people who don't know Christ. I am praying that God will continue this work in me.

Here are a couple of quotes that I have come across in the last few weeks that have impacted me.


"If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned or unprayed for."
-Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Leslie Newbigin in his book “The Gospel In A Pluralist Society” states that, “The Christian community is characterized by hope and that hope is the oxygen of the soul.” That means that many of the people with whom we live and interact are suffocating, and the oxygen of the gospel is their only hope.”