Excited About My Faith!

If you sit in the middle of any football stadium, basketball arena, baseball ballpark, stock car track or ice hockey arena you will quickly observe the excitement (and possibly get caught up in it) of everyone in attendance. And that’s ok, it’s ok to get excited when you attend these type of events. You can get excited and nobody will think of you as a quack. Try the same thing in your local church and you may very well be thrown out. People will look at you and wonder where in the world did you come from? Do you agree?

As Christians we must get excited about our faith. Have you ever watched “Winnie the Pooh?” Do you remember Eeyore and how negative both Winnie and Eeyore were? Many, if not most of those sitting in church pews today are just like that. They say, “oh yes, here we are today. Things are nice.” Picture Eeyore saying this in his pessimistic, negative voice. Yes, this is how way too many Christians worship God. Sad indeed, football ok, baseball ok, basketball ok, hockey ok, but not in church.

In 1 Corinthians 15:58 it says that the work we do for the Lord is not done in vain. What this is saying is that we must get enthusiastic in our faith, enthusiastic in our worship. Why do athletes celebrate so much after someone does something “great?” They have a great amount of enthusiasm for what happened. They believe in themselves, they believe in what they are doing. Do you believe in what you are doing?

If you really believe in what you are doing, if you are really sold out in what you believe, then you need to conduct yourself accordingly. This means telling others about what you believe in. This means being a witness for the One who saved you. 1 Peter 1:3 says that we are to have a lively hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We need to act like we have a lively hope. Before you became a believer in Jesus Christ you had absolutely no hope. Now, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ we do have hope, and not just hope but a lively hope. Can you get excited about your lively hope?

When you let the world know you are a believer and you have this lively hope, I promise you that you will also have persecution. Persecution comes to those who tell the world about the hope that they have. 1 Peter 1:6 tells us that we are to greatly rejoice in times of trouble. Troubles will come. No one who claims hope in Jesus is exempt from troubles. Jesus also tells us that we will have troubles, but He has overcome the world. Where’s your hope? Peter tells us that we are to not only rejoice but to greatly rejoice. What are we to greatly rejoice in? God is our salvation.

Have you tasted the goodness of God? Have you come to the realization that God is good, all the time? Do something about it. Today, tomorrow, let someone know of God’s goodness.
God has chosen you. You are a child of not just a king but the King of all kings. Do you act as such? When was the last time you told someone who has not been adopted into the family of God that they too can be the King’s kid. When someone asks you about the hope you have within you, are you ready to give an answer? We are told to do so. We are not to speak arrogantly or act with haughtiness but rather speak with meekness and fear, gentleness and respect.

Have the same excitement about your salvation as you have in cheering on your favorite sports team. Try showing your excitement in church. A cold in contagious, the flu is contagious, poison ivy is contagious, your excitement in church can also be contagious. Try it, you’ll like it!

For more resources please visit Emmaus Road Christian Store

Could I Have a Witness!

Everyone is familiar with Matthew 28 where Jesus tells his disciples to go into the entire world making disciples and baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus then said to them that He would be with them always, even to the end of the age. We as Christians take comfort in knowing that Jesus will always be with us. We also have fear when he says to “go.” We often think this command was for someone else and not us, but that is far from the truth. As a child of God, as the child of THE KING we have a responsibility to tell everyone about the inheritance we have and to tell them that they too can be a child of God, a child of THE KING!

So how do we do this? This particular article is not designed or intended to give you the nuts and bolts as to the “how.” This article is designed to give you a couple of ideas to help get you started. You should never be embarrassed about sharing you faith with anyone, should never be embarrassed about “messing up.” God will take care of you.

Not every church is evangelistic minded. Many churches are content with just sitting back and keeping to themselves. If your church is into evangelism, may I suggest talking to those on the forefront of what is going on. They have their finger on the pulse and can be a great source of information and help. Most likely they are looking for someone to join their team.

It is always good to have a Christian brother or sister who is likeminded as yourself. If you can find that someone, team up with them and make a plan. Jesus always sent his disciples out in groups of two.

There are several resources available to help train you in spreading the gospel. May I suggest you start with materials developed by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron. They have written so many books that you could be totally absorbed in learning from them. They also head up an organization called “Way of the Master.” Check out their website, full of great resources. Their books are also online. You may want start with a best-seller, Hells Best Kept Secret. This book gives you information as to how to lead someone to true repentance. The next recommended book in their line should be Conquer You Fear, Share Your Faith. You can see a complete line of Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron books that will help you in your evangelism.

William Fay has quite a story of salvation (Mafia connections). He is a straight to the point, between they eyes type of a guy. His book Share Jesus Without Fear will give you instructions as to how you can share Jesus with anyone. This book is an easy read, one evening.

Whichever of the above two you choose to learn from, (and by the way, there are many others) it is imperative that you learn “your story.” What you will want to tell others about your own personal salvation. When you are comfortable doing this, you will then feel more comfortable in talking about their own personal salvation.

Many people feel comfortable in handing out gospel tracts. You can do this in many different ways. You can hand someone a tract directly and never have a conversation with the person you are handing them out to, or, you can converse. You can leave gospel tracts with a tip after a mean, mail them with your electric, phone and gas bills, leave them at the gas pump, etc. There was a recent incident where someone left a gospel tract at their local shopping mall and the mall security was looking for them because it was illegal to do that (may I suggest that persecution is here in America). If you wonder how effective gospel tracts are, may I suggest you listen closely and watch Ray Comforts video “George Street.” It’s less than 10 minutes long but what an amazing story!

Another avenue worth exploring is Christian apparel and Christian jewelry. Did you know that the average Christian T-shirt is read over 3,000 times before it goes to the yard sale? What a statement you can make by the clothes you wear; T-shirts, hoodies, sweatshirts, caps, shoes, belts, ties, etc.

I have a friend who is an avid golfer, just not very good. He has golf balls with scripture verse written on them so that when others find his golf balls they also are given a Christian message.

The possibilities are endless. God has equipped each of us for service. In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul tells about the importance each of us has in the kingdom of God. There is no one part more important than another and those who’s considered weaker must be lifted up. Use the gift God has given you and evangelize the world!