Junior High Friday Evening 26

There are so many who don’t believe

Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

State:

The world that we live in is in a very serious predicament. They haven’t heard about the judgement that is coming for sin. Perhaps they have hints of it, like their own guilty consciences that seem to be telling them that something is wrong. But they don’t know the extent of the problem they are facing. They have a major problem, they just don’t know it.

Similar to the predicament that the Jews were in when Haman issued his decree.

But there are so many who don’t know about their predicament. They are blissfully ignorant.

There are so many who are living in “happy land,” like Queen Esther was before she agreed to mediate.

They also don’t know that there is good news for their situation.

They need to know two things:

They are in a very serious predicament: their sins will be punished

There is hope for them: forgiveness is offered through faith in Jesus Christ

But they don’t know about this. How are they supposed to know?

We have been sent to preach

Romans 10:14–15 And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

But how are they supposed to know about their situation unless someone tells them? How are they supposed to believe in Jesus if they have never heard about Jesus? And how are they going to hear about Jesus unless someone tells them about Jesus?

How would Esther know about the destruction unless someone told her? How would she know to go to the king unless Mordecai had given her a copy of the edict?

The world needs to know, and nobody is telling them.

That’s where we come in.

God has commissioned us, the church, to proclaim the good news. He has given us the gospel, and he has given us authority to go and peach the news to the world.

English Standard Version Chapter 28

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is a commandment given to the whole church

Party evangelism

Fishing with nets, not rods

Using our different giftings differently

We all work together to proclaim the message. And it is a beautiful message we get to tell!

We have such a beautiful message to tell

Romans 10:15 As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

This sounds like a really weird verse, but Paul is quoting an Old Testament book. This was an old way of talking, but here’s basically what he is saying:

Its a beautiful thing to see a gospel preacher walking up to you

This is because the news that we have is great news. We preach to people because we love them, not because we see them as enemies.

We go preaching the good news that God has given to the world

2 cor 2

English Standard Version Chapter 2

14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

As we go about our lives, proclaiming the joy of our salvation, it’s like were spreading the aroma of Jesus everywhere we go. Its like people can smell him on us. They can smell our joy. And some people will love the smell while others hate it

An aroma of death to death

An aroma of life to life

To all, we are not used car salesmen. We are not “peddlers.” We speak with sincerity — that is, we only say what we really mean. Why do we tell people about the gospel of Jesus Christ? Because we really believe its the best thing in the world.

Do you believe that? Then preach it! Spread the joy of your salvation everywhere you go.

Big Idea: Proclaim the Joy of Your Salvation

FCF: There are so many who have not yet believed in Jesus, and we have neglected them

CCF: Just has equipped and commissioned us to tell great news

Big Idea: Proclaim the joy of your salvation

Illustration: selling a junk car vs selling a lamborghini