My friend Mark attended the Harvest Crusade in Anaheim, California. He told us about it at church tonight.
Mark is very eloquent. He is my Sunday school teacher, and he does a good bit of public speaking, so he is very skilled at painting word pictures and can be quite animated as he speaks. He described some of the people attending the crusade. Some of them were not your stereotypical church folks. "There was this one guy who looked like a pretty rough character, but when the praise music started, he stood with his hands raised and was just lost in worship."
Mark said something that captured my imagination. He said, "It wasn't anything fancy. Just a plain vanilla presentation of the gospel." Thousands came to Christ.
The Apostle Paul said that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And that in it the righteousness of God is revealed (Romans 1:16-17).
It's just that simple. We as Christians are not obligated to sway anyone or convince anyone of anything. We are simply to present the gospel: John 3:16, Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.
It doesn't even have to be that much. You can just say something like, "Jesus died for your sins." Then simply bear witness to how He saved you and what He has done in your life.
It is so simple. It is "plain vanilla". We are the ones who make it so complicated.
Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30.
Thank You, Father, for saving me. Thank You that You made a simple Way to restore my relationship with You. Thank You for the good news of Christ Jesus.
God is AWESOME!
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