Excitement and anticipation is increasing within me as the Christmas season arrives because of the preaching theme God led me to! Please pray for Pastor Travis, Denny Hustedt and me as we prepare to preach sermons flowing from this-- "Why Jesus Christ Was Born". (The passages and titles of these sermons are found in the current newsletter available at our website.)
"Why Jesus Christ Was Born" suggests gospel to us. Yes, we will preach and hear the gospel over and over Nov. 27--Dec. 25! And as I was finalizing the preaching Bible texts, sermon titles, and flow recently, a thought came to me that prompts me to say this to you. If you are a believer in and lover of Jesus Christ, resist saying something like this: "Oh, I know so-and-so and, my, how he/she needs to hear the gospel." Yes, please do invite unbelievers to RBBC at Christmas so that they will hear the great Christmas news of the gospel of Jesus! Yes, pray for those people and urge them to come with you to church, and invite them into your home, and strike up gospel conversations with them as you seek to show them the way to Christ!
But resist saying, "Oh, I know so-and-so..." if by that you mean that you don't need to hear the gospel! As followers of Jesus we live on the gospel! We get stale when we neglect the gospel. We are sanctified by the truth of the gospel, and we need to hear the gospel again and again!
In his little book, The Cross-Centered Life, C.J. Mahaney wrote, "Nothing can replace the gospel in a Christian's life...What are you most passionate about? What do you think about when you can think about whatever you want? What do you love to talk about? What defines you? Is it your career? A relationship you are in? Your hobby? Your political affiliation? A fascination with the latest electronic gadgets?"
"Or maybe your main thing is something that is clearly other centered. Maybe its your ministry, your family. Maybe it's homeschooling, or a cause like the prolife movement. Good things all but not the one thing God says should be the most important-- the matter of first importance."
"'I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you,' Paul wrote. 'For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins'" (1 Cor. 15:1,3).
"If there is anything in life we should be passionate about, it's the gospel."
May the Lord intensify our passion for the gospel and the glory of Jesus Christ, and may He grant us loving boldness to share the gospel with lost people, and may He draw others to Himself through the preaching and testimonies of the gospel this Christmas time.
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