What we really need is God’s enabling!
Watch the service
Pastor Kelvin and JoAnne returned from two weeks vacation to lead the monthly Communion service at Copper Hill Church. Pastor’s message topic helped us to be motivated to share Jesus with others. He reminded us that often we do good things and share good advice to others, but stop short of sharing our faith in Jesus. In so doing, we hold back the greatest help that we could offer. Pastor drew some of his thoughts for this message from a book he recently read called Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vanderstelt.
Jesus is the true and better human, and everything in life is better if Jesus is brought into it.
Jeff Vanderstelt in Gospel Fluency, p. 31
We as humans are not very good at changing ourselves. But God’s Spirit is in the life-transformation business, as the Apostle Paul described.
We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Cor 3:18 NIV
But Pastor Kelvin reminded us that in order for God’s transforming work to take effect in our lives, we need to relate the story of redemption to our everyday situations. He suggested that learn to ask gospel related questions that will help us view our situation with a different lens. He suggested two such questions and quoted four more from Rev. Vanderstelt (p. 144).
- How has the brokenness of creation and the fallenness of humanity impacted this situation?
- What are the goals of Jesus’ new creation in this situation?
- How does the gospel bring good news to this situation?
- What about the gospel do we need to hear right now?
- What about the gospel have we forgotten or failed to believe?
- How is Jesus better than what we have or what we want?
Pastor Kelvin warned that one of the greatest issues in the American church today is that we are in danger of treating our faith as a very private thing that we can’t talk about. We don’t even talk about it at home. But that is not the Biblical picture. Moses wrote,
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Deut 6:4-7
Rather than keeping quiet about our faith, our job is to “Give them Jesus!” That is, we are to tell the story of Jesus’ life and ministry. We are to share the Good News of forgiveness and daily divine enablement through Jesus. By God’s help we are to kindle the hope of life eternal through the promises of God in Jesus. It’s part of our obedience to the Great Commission.