MESSAGES
(The Greatest Christmas Gift You Can Give)
Many of you will have
the opportunity to visit with your family and friends this Christmas
season. Some of these visits will take place within your own
community, while others will take place out of town. I'm certain
that many of you are looking forward to that time, and perhaps you're
wondering what gift to give to your family and friends this
Christmas season.
Might I encourage you
to give them a Go and Tell. It's truly the greatest
Christmas gift you can give. I'm certain that many of you are
thinking to yourselves, what is a Go and Tell? We learn the
answer to that in the fifth chapter of Mark's gospel. There we
read the story of Jesus healing a demon possessed man. This man had
literally 100's of demons in him. Christ cast the demons out of
the man, and had them enter into a herd of swine. As the demons came
out of the man and entered the swine, we read that the swine then
ran into the sea and drowned. (This is the first recorded instance
in the Bible of a "swine-dive.")
After this man was
delivered from the bondage of Satan and sin, he then begged Christ
that he might follow Him and serve Him from that day forward (vs.
18). "Lord, please let me walk with You and Your disciples. I
will go wherever You go. I will do whatever You want me to."
Instead of responding
with the expected, "Yes, come and follow Me," Jesus told
the man to go home. Jesus said in verse 19: "Go home
to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done
for you, and how He has had compassion on you."
Brothers and sisters,
that is the greatest gift you can give to your family and friends
this Christmas—a Go and Tell. Go home to your
friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has
done for you, and how He has had compassion on you (Mark 5:19).
You're not to go
and tell them your particular views on different issues
pertaining to the fire service or police work. Nor are you to tell
them of certain and peculiar doctrines that you've learned lately.
You're to go and tell them what great things the
Lord has done for you. Not what great things the Lord has
done for your department, or for your church, or for other people. Go
and tell them what the Lord has done for you.
Go and tell
them about the grace of God, and how you have been brought out of
darkness and into God's marvelous light. Go and tell them
that by God's grace you were saved through faith as you put your
faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and the work that He
accomplished on the cross of Calvary.
Go and tell
them how thankful you are to God for your salvation. Go and tell
them that you have salvation through Jesus Christ. For there is
no other name given among men, by which we can be saved (Acts
4:11).
If while you are
telling them about the great things God has done, you begin to weep,
to that I can only say Praise the Lord! Tears are a reminder of
where we once were, and where we are today. They remind us that we
are no longer the same person we use to be. They remind us that we
are a new creation in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Go and tell
them about the greatness of God's compassion (vs. 19). The word
compassion means to "hurt in the gut." God wasn't simply
acting kind toward you when He pulled you from the miserable miry
pit of sin and placed you safely on the Rock of His righteousness.
He was demonstrating compassion to the ultimate degree. God loved
us, even while we were yet sinners, so much that it literally caused
His stomach to ache. The only way that he could get rid of the ache
was to put the hurt on His Son Jesus Christ by having Him go to the
cross and suffer the pain and agony of death in our place.
Why are we to go
and tell others about the great things the Lord has done for us?
First, for the sake of Jesus Christ. If you love the Lord, you will
love telling others about Him. You must go and tell others
about the love of God and how He demonstrated that love by sending
His Son to die on the cross for our sins. If Christ has done much
for you, and He has, then you cannot help but tell others about it.
Second, for the sake
of your family and friends. The Bible says, For whomever calls
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call
on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is
written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel
of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans
10:13-15). As you go and tell them of what God has done for you,
they may well be led by the Spirit to desire that which they see in
you.
Jesus said, "For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved." (John
3:16-17.) This Christmas I encourage all of us to not forget to give
the greatest Christmas gift of all—Go and Tell.
God's blessings upon you and your family
this Christmas,
Pastor Steve
& Sonja |
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| SHIELD OF FAITH |
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For more information,
call (951) 687-6902
Attention Juanita
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