Monday May 23, 2011

Speaker: Ben Sigman

Theme: Go Fish

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Read: Mark 16:14-16

Think: Pastor Ben reminded us that every Christian is called to share with others what we’ve been given from God. But what exactly are we supposed to share? Here’s your message in two words: good news. Mark says in our bible passage today that we’re to tell the good news to everyone.

Who doesn’t like to get good news? Everybody does. But for some weird reason a lot of us think, “The people I work with, my friends, they’re not interested in THE good news.” But, we’re so wrong! They may not be interested in religion, but they are interested in the good news. The problem is not that our friends and co-workers aren’t interested; the problem is we’ve forgotten how good the good news really is.

Once you’ve been a Christian for a while, you forget how miserable it was to live without hope. You forget what it was like to worry where you would go when you die. You forget what it was like to have guilt, fear, regrets, bitterness, and boredom in your life—a life before Christ brought meaning, purpose, and significance.

If you go out on the street and ask people, “How do you convince God to like you?” most of them will probably say, “You’ve got to work real hard to get God’s approval and you’ve got to be really, really good. You’ve got to keep a lot of rules and you probably have to do some rituals. You’ve got to be religious.” If that’s what some people think the good news is, it’s no wonder they don’t get too excited about discussing it.

But here’s the good news: you are able to enter into a relationship with God through an attitude of trust—trust in Jesus Christ—and not through a religion of rules and rituals. Is that good news? Do you think anybody you know would be interested in that?

Do: Recall what your life was like before you placed your faith in Christ… What were your struggles? What did you think would happen after this lifetime? What did you do with your guilt and shame? Now use those memories to help you understand (again) what your friends and neighbors who don’t know Jesus are struggling with. Find the courage and compassion to tell them about the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Pray: Lord I remember again what my life was like without you… and am so thankful for the forgiveness, grace purpose and joy you have brought to my life. I want to help others who need it to find that as well – help me to share your good news today. Amen.

The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.