Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Day 24, June 24th
Act 4:1-13 As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, (2) being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. (3) And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. (4) But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand. (5) On the next day, their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem; (6) and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent. (7) When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, "By what power, or in what name, have you done this?" (8) Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers and elders of the people, (9) if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, (10) let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by this name this man stands here before you in good health. (11) "He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. (12) "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved." (13) Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
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You gotta love it when you go to get donuts at the drive through at 8am and your son says "you should share the gospel with this guy, mommy" So, I did. I asked him where he thought he would go when he died. He said he didn't know, that he had only thought about that once or twice before. He was a young man, maybe 17 years old. I then pushed it a bit further and asked what he thought it took to get to heaven. He said "I honestly do not know the answer to that" I told him that the bible answers it clearly and walked through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with him. He then said "this is kind of personal, don't you think?" I said "No, it is not personal at all because the gospel is not about us, it is the good news for us but it has absolutely nothing to do with us. It is all about the finished work of Christ, His life, death and resurrection." I told him that it does get personal in that we all personally need this perfect savior, because we are all sinners, but discussing it publically is biblical and that God in heaven gets much Glory when we talk about these precious things. He looked at me like I had three heads and we drove off.
ReplyDeleteInteresting encounter, he would not give me his name, when I asked, either.
maggie
Carrie,
ReplyDeleteI am with you, I love reading these posts every day. They are so encouraging, as I knew they would be. Keeps me focused too.
I want to write on behalf of two good friends of mine. Because of this challenge they are telling me they are sharing the gospel more (you know I am always talking to them about it, imagine that) One is my running partner, Pam. She flew to Chicago last week and told me of her encounter with a Polish Catholic. They had to wait for 6 hours in O'Hare airport and he told her he needed someone to talk to because he was going crazy having to wait. She then spent about 45 minutes chatting with him. He told her a few times that he was so afraid to fly, that he was praying about it, but he qualified it and said twice that he was not religious or anything. So Pam asked what he was, he said a Catholic. He asked her and she said that she was a Christian. He looked at her and said well what does that mean? She said that she believed that Jesus lived a sinless life, died on the cross and rose again. That she repented of her sins and put her faith in Him and continues to believe upon Christ Alone for salvation. She said that pretty much ended the conversation but that it was a good talk.
My next friend, Deb, went to Dallas to visit her dad in the nursing home. She witnessed to a bunch of the "old" people there at lunch one day. She asked them about eternity and where they thought they would spend it. She said one was Catholic, one Episcopal, one Methodist. She gave all of them the gospel and focused on Christ with them during the lunch.
AMEN! I asked them to post these and they told me to do it. So that is why I am writing for them. I love to hear these stories.
I just had the greatest conversation with three teenagers at the Kum -n- Go. I was getting gas and I saw them hanging out on the street corner talking. When I was done pumping gas I grabbed 3 Gospel Tracts (I keep a stash of tracts in my truck) and headed over to them. They thought they were in trouble at first but I quickly eased there minds by handing them each a tract and asking if I could talk to them for a moment.
ReplyDeleteTurns out they attend a church in Owasso. I asked if they were Christians, they stated yes. I then asked how they knew Christianity was true. This question stumped them and they did not know how to respond. In response to their silence I asked them a few more questions. I asked if they knew what Adam and Eve did in the Garden. They answered correctly by stating they disobeyed God. I agreed and went on to explain that this sin had lasting affects and as a result we are all born sinners. I asked if they had ever violated God’s Law. They said yes, we talked about lying and disobeying parents; I told them I had committed the same sins. I set the stage for them by showing them that we are sinners by nature and by choice. I asked if God could allow sin into heaven. They did not know how to answer so I explained that God is perfectly Holy and cannot allow anything unholy (i.e. sin) into His Heaven. I went on to say that we are in big trouble because we are all sinners and God must punish sin. I went on to explain the reality of hell. Then I bring them to Jesus; I spoke of His coming as a baby, that He is God in the flesh, that He lived a perfect life and took God’s punishment for sinners like us by dying on the cross. I asked if they knew what happened three days after Jesus was buried, they all responded correctly by stating that he rose again. I said that’s exactly right and that is why you can believe Christianity is true because Jesus rose from the dead. Finally I explained that we must repent of our sins and trust only in what Jesus has done in order to be right with God.
I think this was my favorite encounter so far, I have a heart for the lost and especially the young who are lost. I’ll pray that God by the power of the Holy Spirit will enable them to believe the Gospel I proclaimed and turn to Jesus with saving faith. To God is the glory!