This is Your Calling | Week 2 | August 20th, 2023

Habit One: Highly contagious Christians develop significant relationships with people far from God.

Habit Two: Highly contagious Christians consistently turn conversations towards spiritual matters and share their faith story.

Spiritual Conversations can’t be divorced from the relationships in which they can occur.

“After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed Him. And Levi made Him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
– Luke 5:27-32

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”
– 1 Peter 3:15

The bad news begins with two statements, two verses and two illustrations that help others to visualize the context.

• Bad news statement #1: We are all sinners
• Verse: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
• Illustration: “Sinned” means we have missed the mark. When we lie, lust, or gossip, we have missed the standard God has set.
  Suppose we both threw a rock at a target 5 miles away. You might throw it further than me, but both of us would miss. It is the same with our relationship to God. While you may do more “good works” than me, we will both still miss the target of perfection. We are guilty of sin.
• Bad news statement #2: The penalty for sin is death
• Verse: “For the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23
• Illustration: A wage is something that we earn in return for our deeds.
  Suppose I agreed to pay you $50 for some work you did for me. That $50 is a wage – it’s what you earned.
  The Bible tells us that the wage we have earned for sins is death. Not just physical death – spiritual death, which is separation from God.

Since we are unable to come to God because of our sins, the Bible says that God came to us. This is the good news! It also has two statements, two verses, and two illustrations.

• Good news statement #1: Christ died for you
• Verse: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
• Illustration: The Bible says that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, took the punishment for our sin and died in our place.
  Suppose you are in the hospital and dying of lung cancer after smoking your entire life. Suddenly, the doctor comes in tells you someone is willing to have their perfectly healthy lungs exchanged for yours, removing all cancer cells. What would happen? They would die and you would live. They would die in your place. That’s what Jesus has done for us.
• Good news statement #2: You can be saved through faith in Christ.
• Verse: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
• Illustration: Faith means trust. We must trust in Christ alone for salvation.
  Just as you would trust a chair to hold you up while providing no effort of your own, so you must trust Christ alone to get to heaven through no effort of your own. Any good thing you might do cannot get you to heaven. It is through Christ alone.

There is nothing more important than your need to place your trust in Christ for salvation. If you would like to do this, you can tell God you are trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior through a simple prayer. It is not a prayer that saves you; it is trusting Christ that saves. Prayer is simply how you tell God what you are doing.

Dear God, I know I’m a sinner. I know my sin deserves to be punished. I believe Christ died for me and rose from the grave. I trust Jesus Christ alone as my Savior. Thank you for the forgiveness and everlasting life I now have. In Jesus’ name, amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZvwylOL6L4 

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
– 2 Peter 3:9