A Godly Witness Through Service
Have you ever tried to share the gospel of Christ with someone - only to have them reject you and the person of Jesus Christ? I am sure that many have experienced this from time to time. Maybe it is a co-worker that you have been trying desperately to witness to or perhaps a family member that just refuses to listen to what you have to say. Regardless of who that might be, all of us have people in our lives that we would love to see come to Christ.
I remember as a child, and even as a teenager, breaking my parents' hearts because of things that I did and said. I remember thinking that my relationship with them would never be the same because of the wrong or hurt that I had caused them. I thought that my sin would make this relationship irreparable. Then in my despair, I recall a hand that stretched out to me and pulled me into their arms. When I became a parent, I realized just what my parents meant when they stretched out their hand to me as they drew me into their arms ... forgiveness before I had even asked. The relationship never changed. It was only the fellowship that changed because of my actions.
When attending a recent firstBible International meeting, Brother Edward Barclay III presented the core value of our new Bible translation graduate program, FirstBible School of Translation (FBST), scheduled to launch in the fall of 2020. When doing so, Brother Barclay spoke of faithfulness and the need to train and send out "gospel-centric" men and women for the work of reaching the unreached with God's Word. I began to ponder this phrase "gospel-centric". What does a gospel-centric Christian look like? How does a gospel-centric believer behave?
This year we introduced Following JESUS as our motto, our theme, and our purpose. This is a reminder of when Jesus said to those with whom He desired to have a relationship, "Follow me, ..." (Matthew 4:19). It is our "... whosoever will, ..." may come (Revelation 22:17). It is our assignment to "... Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel ..." (Mark 16:15). Our first thought every day should be that today I have the opportunity of following Jesus and becoming what He desires for me to become for Himself.
The book of Ecclesiastes is quickly becoming one of my favorite books of the Bible. The more I teach from it, the more I learn and appreciate its content. I am currently teaching through Ecclesiastes in my LifeGroup and a few weeks ago, we had a lesson that really made an impact on me personally. I'd like to share a simple, but powerful, thought from this lesson and I hope it is as much of a help to you as it has been to me.
