RevWrites - March 1

One fear many people have when talking to others about the Lord Jesus is that they might not know enough. And for some strange reason, it doesn’t seem to help all that much to know that the average pastor on Africa knows less about the Bible than most people at NAC do.

So how much do you need to know? Let’s look at the Bible!

When the apostle Peter spoke in the temple in Jerusalem (Acts 3) he was speaking to Jews. Here’s a brief outline of what he said:

1. God is the god of their fathers, Abraham, etc.

2. Jesus is his servant and is the holy and righteous one.

3. You killed Jesus.

4. God raised Jesus.

5. God calls on you to repent and receive his blessing.

When the apostle Paul spoke to the council and people of Athens (Acts 17) he was speaking to Gentiles. Here’s an outline:

1. Although you are religious God is unknown to you.

2. God is the creator and doesn’t need anything from us.

3. God intended people to seek for him. And you are idolatrous.

4. God is going to judge the world by Jesus whom he raised from the dead.

In both cases people turned to Christ and were saved. Although both messages are different because of the different audiences, nevertheless they contain common ideas.

1. God is identified.

2. Jesus is the raised one.

3. People are not treating God appropriately.

4. A proper response is called for.

Most Christians I know, know a lot about Jesus. Much more than is necessary to tell others about him. I still find John Chapman’s five key ideas really helpful:

1. It’s God's world and he put Jesus in charge of it.

2. People don’t like to obey Jesus so they rebel against his right to rule.

3. God calls on people to stop rebelling against Jesus’ right to rule.

4. God forgives those who stop rebelling and offers them new life because of Jesus’ death.

5. God will overthrow those who don’t stop rebelling.

Having a simple gospel outline in my head is really helpful. I can keep coming back to it when people want to debate superficial stuff or the conversation wanders. I try to make sure I have communicated my basic outline and they have heard it.

I also take real comfort from the man born blind who Jesus healed. When the Jewish leaders quizzed and accused him he replied: “All I know is that once I was blind and now I see.” Perhaps the best gospel presentation is to tell others what God has done in our lives. Might be a really long conversation!

Neil