Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Church (3): Go... and make disciples
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Church (3): Go... and make disciples
What do you think when you’ve got an opportunity to share the gospel? Do you worry what people will think of you? Do you worry whether you’ll share it well enough? Are you concerned about being on your own with such a huge mission in the world? Don’t worry, God is with you. It’s a glorious thing we have been called to do, to take the gospel to the world. People already know right from wrong ‘Natural revelation’ is found in many things in life, as Paul outlines in Romans 1:19–20 and Romans 1:19–20, NLT. Also, people know right from wrong, and know what they should do, without ever having come across God’s Word in the Bible: Romans 2:12–16, NIV. So, everyone knows about God from the world around them, and about sin and right/wrong from God’s moral law which is written within their own hearts. We don’t need to tell people that they are sinners – we just need to remind them! We are often not telling them something new, we are just making their consciences more sensitive, we are reminding them of things that they had pushed away at the back of their minds. But the gospel is only known when the message is told, using words! Paul argues in Romans 10:9-15 that people cannot be saved unless we go and tell them. How can they go unless they are sent, Paul continues; Romans 10:9–15, NLT. In a recent blog, Ed Stetzer writes: There’s a popular saying often repeated by Christians. It has found new life on Facebook and Twitter. Maybe you have even uttered these words, commonly attributed to Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel. Use words if necessary.” I think we can appreciate what many are getting at when they say something like this. As Christians, we should live in such a way that our lives point to the person and work of Jesus. However, good intentions cannot overcome two basic problems with this quote and its supposed origin. One, Francis never said it, and two, the quote is not biblical. ... The gospel requires—demands even—words. So let’s preach the gospel, and let’s use words, since they’re necessary. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 is the Church’s mandate to go and tell the good news about Jesus Christ.
View all episodes
By CGCFWhat do you think when you’ve got an opportunity to share the gospel? Do you worry what people will think of you? Do you worry whether you’ll share it well enough? Are you concerned about being on your own with such a huge mission in the world? Don’t worry, God is with you. It’s a glorious thing we have been called to do, to take the gospel to the world. People already know right from wrong ‘Natural revelation’ is found in many things in life, as Paul outlines in Romans 1:19–20 and Romans 1:19–20, NLT. Also, people know right from wrong, and know what they should do, without ever having come across God’s Word in the Bible: Romans 2:12–16, NIV. So, everyone knows about God from the world around them, and about sin and right/wrong from God’s moral law which is written within their own hearts. We don’t need to tell people that they are sinners – we just need to remind them! We are often not telling them something new, we are just making their consciences more sensitive, we are reminding them of things that they had pushed away at the back of their minds. But the gospel is only known when the message is told, using words! Paul argues in Romans 10:9-15 that people cannot be saved unless we go and tell them. How can they go unless they are sent, Paul continues; Romans 10:9–15, NLT. In a recent blog, Ed Stetzer writes: There’s a popular saying often repeated by Christians. It has found new life on Facebook and Twitter. Maybe you have even uttered these words, commonly attributed to Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel. Use words if necessary.” I think we can appreciate what many are getting at when they say something like this. As Christians, we should live in such a way that our lives point to the person and work of Jesus. However, good intentions cannot overcome two basic problems with this quote and its supposed origin. One, Francis never said it, and two, the quote is not biblical. ... The gospel requires—demands even—words. So let’s preach the gospel, and let’s use words, since they’re necessary. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 is the Church’s mandate to go and tell the good news about Jesus Christ.