Speaking the Good News
Two hours before I would go to my class, I was inside my room, rehearsing my opening lines. It was something like this:
"I used to be a dead man walking around town. Yes, I ate, went to school, partied with friends; but I was dead--and sadly, I didn't know I was. I didn't have a decaying body, but I had a decaying soul. My soul was dead in sin and there was no other way to revive it. This is what I will tell you, friends--my life story, others may call it--and this is a story of love and grace and mercy all poured out to that rotting soul of an underserving, sinful man. I want to tell you of the message of the Gospel that has radically changed my life. And why should you spend the next five to seven minutes listening to what I have to say? The answer is simple, friends: because you may just find out that you are like me, a sinner, and that this message is all you will ever need."
I've been to many speaking contests before, and I'd feel anxious--even nauseous--before my turn to speak, despite the rigorous practice. But my preparations for this Comm 3 extemporaneous speech was different. I was given more to prayer and the meditation of the Bible rather than to actually going through my outline and thinking what to say next. After all, I was about to reveal my inner person to unknown people--I mean, people I've only met during the semester. The message I was to share had eternal impact in their lives as well: I was to show them the inevitable choice they have to make--to die to themselves and therefore follow Christ; or to continue living for themselves, satisfying the desires of the flesh.
I'm not going to write in full length my entire speech in this entry. But I did share the Gospel to the class--and it was never I, but God who enabled me to. I told them about the holiness of God and the sinfulness of all mankind; the penalty of sin which is eternal death; Jesus Christ who paid this penalty to save us from the punishment of sin; that this substitutionary, atoning work of Christ was because of God's grace alone (and therefore is something that cannot be earned nor deserved); and that living for Christ means living like Him.
I'll end this post with the same closing lines I said in my speech:
"The more I remember what Christ did for me on the cross some two thousand years ago, the more I grow in love with Him; and the more I am encouraged to live for Him alone. The question is, 'Will you'?"
"I used to be a dead man walking around town. Yes, I ate, went to school, partied with friends; but I was dead--and sadly, I didn't know I was. I didn't have a decaying body, but I had a decaying soul. My soul was dead in sin and there was no other way to revive it. This is what I will tell you, friends--my life story, others may call it--and this is a story of love and grace and mercy all poured out to that rotting soul of an underserving, sinful man. I want to tell you of the message of the Gospel that has radically changed my life. And why should you spend the next five to seven minutes listening to what I have to say? The answer is simple, friends: because you may just find out that you are like me, a sinner, and that this message is all you will ever need."
I've been to many speaking contests before, and I'd feel anxious--even nauseous--before my turn to speak, despite the rigorous practice. But my preparations for this Comm 3 extemporaneous speech was different. I was given more to prayer and the meditation of the Bible rather than to actually going through my outline and thinking what to say next. After all, I was about to reveal my inner person to unknown people--I mean, people I've only met during the semester. The message I was to share had eternal impact in their lives as well: I was to show them the inevitable choice they have to make--to die to themselves and therefore follow Christ; or to continue living for themselves, satisfying the desires of the flesh.
I'm not going to write in full length my entire speech in this entry. But I did share the Gospel to the class--and it was never I, but God who enabled me to. I told them about the holiness of God and the sinfulness of all mankind; the penalty of sin which is eternal death; Jesus Christ who paid this penalty to save us from the punishment of sin; that this substitutionary, atoning work of Christ was because of God's grace alone (and therefore is something that cannot be earned nor deserved); and that living for Christ means living like Him.
I'll end this post with the same closing lines I said in my speech:
"The more I remember what Christ did for me on the cross some two thousand years ago, the more I grow in love with Him; and the more I am encouraged to live for Him alone. The question is, 'Will you'?"
Labels: faith
posted on October 07, 2006
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