serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. You know that I did not hesitate to proclaim anything to you that was profitable and to teach you publicly and from house to house. I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus……But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.” Acts 20:19-21, 24 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/act.20.19-24.CSB
Currently, there is a Christian movie in theaters called The Forge. It is trying to encourage the Church to engage in discipleship by telling the story of a businessman who has made a lifetime habit of investing spiritually in others. The movie collaborates well with the ministry of CBMC, which is why I enjoyed the film and serve this ministry. It is the best outlet I have found for making obedience to the Great Commission practical while working in the marketplace. Christians must ask themselves if they believe they are responsible for seeking and saving the lost as Jesus did and then discipling the saved by teaching obedience to everything Jesus commanded. The majority have answered ‘no’ quite clearly these past 50 years, which explains the moral demise of our country. Leaving the work of the ministry to the church staff, who work primarily only within the church building, has resulted in increasing numbers of people not attending Church or living according to the Word of Him Who died and rose to start the Church. Truly, what is necessary is for the Church to embrace the heart of Paul. We need people who are humble before God and will place identifying with Him in the marketplace above their fear of the opinion of men. We need people whose hearts break for the lost and their eternal destiny of fire and suffering. We need people who will meet with others daily in offices and restaurants to encourage faith while meeting weekly in churches for further encouragement and equipping to love God and obey the Great Commission. We need people who deny themselves daily, take up their cross and follow Jesus. This is the need of the hour, the purpose of every Christian, the only hope for the world.
Amen to this! You are hitting the nail on the head! If we are following Jesus how can we not share His message? There are many ways to do this. Many can start by simply giving out tracts and I LOVE those from LivingWaters.com. We go out twice a month for about an hour and put tracts on cars in strip malls, which are public places. We have a Godmobile Booth at a couple of County Fairs each August. These are an opportunity to train others to share the Gospel and to recruit churches to train or send their members to help. Churches have invited us to their Trunk or Treats with the Gospel booth. Believers need to learn ways to open a conversation about eternity and leave the rest to God! It’s really not that difficult and just takes a little practice. We need to “HEAR” the Spirit and listen and obey God’s leading. Thank you, Mike, for this excellent message!