Sharing Our Faith

It has been almost a month since any action has been seen around here.

Last night we heard from Ricardo Diaz.  Ricky, as we know him, is a Chaplain at Alliance Academy and was recently married to Ashley Ruffner.  Woohoo!

We looked at John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

(John 3:16 ESV)

This is the Good News!  Good news is meant to be shared.  Its really hard to keep good news to yourself when you know that others are going to benefit greatly from hearing what you have to say.  But the question is...

Are you willing to give everything for the sake of the Gospel?

It has changed your eternity and your present.  God dwelling in you, you have a purpose, a reason to live.  But the everyday choice to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus can be really hard.  I want friends, you want friends, but sometimes our faith can really make friends nervous.  When your reputation as a Gospel-Centered Person begins to make its way into everyday life, it can make those friendships you have different.  You are no longer living for yourself, like everyone else.  Rather, you are giving your time, energy, money, thoughts, actions, words, motives over to God to allow Him to be the boss.

Paul writes to Philemon in vs. 4-7

I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

(Philemon 1:4-7 ESV)

Philemon is really good at sharing his faith in the Gospel.  Really what this means is that he desires to grow in his faith and not slide back into a selfish lifestyle.  Paul prays that the sharing of his faith would become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in him for the sake of Christ.  The Gospel has changed him.  Philemon is a new man, but without sharing his faith with others who are committed to a Gospel-Centered life, he is going to miss out on experiencing all of the good things that the Gospel brings into his life.

May we be effective in sharing our faith with one another.  Find others that are Gospel-Centered and share with them how your walk with Jesus is going.  How are you doing at centering you life around Christ and his ways rather than your ways.

Finally, look at a regular analog clock.  Let each number represent a major theme in your life right now.  1 could be Family, 2 could be School, 3 could be Future Plans and so on.  Now imagine the hands on the clock pivot by the movement of the Holy Spirit.  If the clock can represent your life, may the decision making, the attitudes and thoughts that surround the themes in your life come only from Christ.  If you have believed in Jesus, you have died to yourself and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  He is your life.

What would the major themes in your life really look like if Christ were the one in charge?