This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine
Recently I heard an interview with a man named Bill Fay. He’s a former gangster and atheist who came to faith in Christ shortly after landing in prison many years ago. In this interview he told about being on an American Airlines flight on September 10, 2001. Once he boarded this plane, he felt the prompting of God’s Spirit to give one of the flight attendants a gospel tract he had written a couple years before this time. The flight attendant remarked to him that this was the sixth gospel tract she’d been given within about a week or so. He suggested that when she had a moment she might want to read what it said. He also requested to talk with her after she read it. A short time later she came up to him in tears and expressed that she wanted to place her trust in the Lord Jesus. The next day was “9/11” and some time later, Bill read the list of names of those who were on the flights from the highjacked planes involved in the 9/11 terror attacks. The flight attendant who had trusted Christ on Bill’s flight was on one of the planes! Personally Bill takes no credit for her step of faith in becoming a faithful follower of Christ. But he tells this story because he’s correctly convinced that it’s the role and responsibility of every genuine follower of Christ to tell others about the gift of God’s forgiveness and freedom from sin.
This month both Pastor Blake and I decided to write on our Church’s core value of evangelism. At ACEFC, we believe in sharing the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ with honesty and humility. (from Matthew 28:19—20.)
Please notice the biblical passages inserted above and then consider these applications.
1) The good news of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection is the best news ever! None of us deserve this wonderful gift of God’s grace and justice. We’re saved by grace because we can’t do anything on our own to gain or obtain forgiveness. God gets all the credit and glory. It’s a matter of justice because God didn’t merely overlook our sinfulness and say it’s okay. Jesus literally took the horrible pain and punishment as our Substitute. Something this amazing shouldn’t be a secret! It needs to be proclaimed to everyone!
2) Every faithful follower of Christ has been given the privilege of being an ambassador for Christ. That means we’ve been given the special privilege of being His representatives. He was our Substitute and we’re His representatives to share His message to those who need to hear about what He accomplished.
3) The very thought of what Jesus suffered on my behalf—the humiliation, horrible pain, the wrath of God against sin, the sense of rejection, and the agony related to this—this could be a powerful motivation for each of us to reveal and relate this to anyone we love. Remember, eternity is forever!
4) We live in a culture/society that consistently suppresses the Truth of God’s Word. Many people within our personal sphere of influence are deceived and distracted into thinking their good actions will outweigh their sinful actions. Since we know this is untrue, we should prayerfully look for ways to tell them the Truth.
With prayer for the Gospel to reach everyone within the sound of our voices and the sight of our actions …
As always, with prayer for our ACEFC family, Pastor Greg