The Worst Sinner: Week 4

We're in a message series that is concentrating on the

life of Paul. Paul's story is found in the Book

of Acts in the Bible, and before Paul became a Christian,

Paul was a Christian hater. He arrested Christians, he persecuted Christians.

But Jesus dramatically transformed Paul's life. And when Paul became

a Christian, he traveled throughout the first century Roman Empire

preaching about Jesus, and Paul visited many cities in the

Mediterranean area. In each city that Paul went to, he

would share the gospel and then start a church, and

he'd spend some time there, and then he'd go to

the next city, share the gospel, start at church, spend

some time there, and then he'd go to the next city,

spend some time there, started church.

And he started these all these churches through his travels.

And then Paul, in order to stay connected to those churches,

he would write letters, get with instructions, letters with teaching

and things about doctrine that would be sent to those churches.

And these letters were written by Hayes or Paul would

dictate them to a scribe who wrote them by hand

and then a messenger would carry those.

Letters and deliver them to the churches.

I often wonder what could Paul have done if he

had an email account or a smartphone? How much productive

could he be? And then recently I've wondered what could

Paul have done if he had chat gpt?

What would the letters have looked like if Paul had

chat gpt.

Chat gpt is a website service that uses artificial intelligence.

You can search for.

Things, you can ask it to summarize or to list

evidence and reasons for things. Chat gpt launched in November

of twenty two, and ever since then, college students have

been trying to get it to do their homework for

them without it looking too obvious. The parent company for

chat gpt is an artificial intelligence company. It's worth about

eighty six billion dollars. And you can use chat gpt

to make your email sound smarter.

To edit your resume, all sorts of things.

Can you imagine what Paul could have done with chat GPT?

I mean you could have typed.

In explain the doctrine of the atonement or explain the

summarize the doctrine of the sanctification, like he could have

written his Letters of chat GPT. The title of today's

message is called the Gospel and chat GPT, And so

this week I just simply typed in write a sermon

on Acts chapter seventeen. No, I'm kidding, I didn't do that,

but I did ask chat GPT a couple.

Of questions we're going to look at today.

One question that I asked chat GPT was what are

common objections to Christianity?

And here's what chat GPT told me. The problem of evil.

How can an all powerful, all knowing, and perfectly good

God allow suffering and evil to exist? Second, contradictions in

the Bible. Critics argue that the Bible contains contradictions and inconsistencies,

particularly between the Old and New Testaments.

Faith and reason.

Critics argue that Christianity requires faith in ways that conflict

with reason and evidence.

And finally, chat.

GPT said historical reliability for the resurrection. Skeptics argue that

the resurrection accounts could be legendary, contradictory, or mythical rather

than fact. Now, I'm not gonna go line by line

and address all of these objections. I know I'm going

to disappoint some type a people in the room. But

I just want to show you that there are common

objections to Christianity, and if you want to do some

investigating on your own, if you want to do some

research deeper, I recommend a few resources. Lee Strobel's books

The Case for Christ and Case for Creator. Those are

great resources evidence that the demands a verdict is a

good resource. Tim Keller's The Reason for God dives into

the philosophy reason of Jesus in the Gospel. I once

spoke with a high school student who wanted to become

a Christian, and so I shared the Gospel with her.

I told her that because of our sin, were separated

from God. Because of our sin, we deserve to spend

eternity in hell. But the good news is that Jesus

came to save us. Jesus died on the cross as

a payment for our sins so that we can be forgiven.

And three days after dying, Jesus rose from the dead,

securing eternal life. So anyone who believes in him and

turns from sin will be saved. And this young woman

said that she wanted to believe that, and I got

so excited that she wanted to receive the Gospel. So

I asked her if she believed that she was a

sinner who needed forgiven, and she said yes. Then I

asked did she believe that Jesus died for her sins?

And she said yes. And then I asked her if

she believed that Jesus rose from the dead three days later.

And she paused and she.

Said, I don't know. That seems really hard to believe.

I don't know if that truly happened. And she wondered

if she could be a Christian without believing the resurrection.

The resurrection is challenging, isn't it. The resurrection poses some difficulty,

and some wonder did Jesus really rise from the dead

physically resurrect? I mean, what if somebody just hid the body,

or what if it's just a legend or something to

invent Christianity.

The resurrection is essential to our faith.

Without the resurrection, there is no gospel, no good news,

there is no heaven for us without the resurrection. Even

the apostle Paul says in First Corinthians, if Christ has

not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is

your faith. If Christ has not been raised, your faith

is feudal. The resurrection is essential and so today, as

we look at Acts chapter seventeen and eighteen, we're gonna

see that Paul traveled across the Mediterranean preaching the resurrection

of Jesus, preaching the Gospel. And as we look at

this text, I want to propose one idea today.

The main point today.

What I want to suggest is that the Gospel is

evidence based, intellectually challenging, and transformational.

This is my suggestion today.

This is my proposal today, And as we look at

Acts chapter seventeen, Paul's story is going to address these

three topics.

Evidence based, intellectually challenging, and transformational.

So let's turn to Acts chapter seventeen and start in

verse one. Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis and

a Paullinia, they came to Thessalonika, where there was a

synagogue of the Jews, and Paul went in as was

his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with

them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was

necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from

the dead, saying this Jesus, whom I proclaim to you,

is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded and

joined Paul and silas As did a great many of

the devout Greeks, and not a few of the leading women.

And so Paul travels to Thessalonaika, to a Greek city,

and he preaches the gospel and he shares the good

news that Jesus rose from the dead, and people respond,

many of them believe, many of them become followers of

Jesus because I believe that the Gospel includes historical.

Evidence for the resurrection.

The resurrection is essential to the Gospel, and there is

historical evidence for the resurrection.

And I want to look at a few common.

Objections to the resurrection, and I want to share some

evidence today. And the reason that I'm sharing this evidence

is maybe you are new to faith and and you're

looking for some rational evidence to support your faith. Or

maybe you've believed the resurrection and believed in Jesus for

a long time. But maybe some of this information will

help you as you communicate and share with.

Friends and family who have questions about your faith. Now,

there's a few objections.

One is that Jesus was only unconscious and he just

claimed to rise from the dead when he regained consciousness.

Now, this objection is a little problematic because if you.

Study crucifixion historically, you will quickly learn that no human

body can survive the excruciating torture of crucifixion. Crucifixion was

designed and perfected by the Roman army to inflict a

maximum pain and result in death. I mean the beating,

the scourging, the flogging, the torture.

No human body could survive that.

Most crucifixion victims died from asphyxiaification, or cardiac arrest because

of the trauma. And also, when Jesus died, a soldier

pierced his side with a blade, and blood and water

flowed from the wound. And there's a physiological explanation for this.

When a human.

Dies, often fluid collects in the pericardium, that's the tissue

sack surrounding the heart. And so when Jesus died and

that wound was pierced, blood and water that fluid.

Flowed out, showing that he was dead.

Now, another objection is that Jesus's disciples stole the body.

They snuck past the guards, they rolled away the stone,

and they stole the body without anybody noticing them. Well, first,

no one objects that the tomb was empty. All historians

agree the tomb was empty. Secondly, the Roman soldiers who

guarded the tomb saw the stone, rolled away, saw the

empty tomb, and when they reported this to Jesus's enemies,

the Jewish priests, Jesus's enemies had the Roman soldiers bribed

them to say that his disciples stole the body. They

created a conspiracy that the disciples stole the body. And

then third, more than five hundred eye witnesses testified that

they saw Jesus alive after the resurrection. Another objection is

that Jesus's disciples just made up the resurrection to create Christianity.

They just invented it.

And so, for the sake of argument, let's say that

some of Jesus' disciples snuck past the Roman guards, rolled

away the stone, hid the body, and then invented this

new religion, invented this story.

There's some evidence we need to consider.

First, all of the gospels described the resurrection similarly.

Four gospels written by four different authors all say the

same thing.

They say that the first people to witness the empty

tomb were women. And this is significant because in the

first century context, women did not have equal standing with men.

Women were not considered reliable, their testimony was not admissible

in a court of law. It was very prejudicial toward women.

And so if the disciples of Jesus wanted to invent

this new religion, make up this story, they would want

to make sure that they had reliable, respectable witnesses for

their created story, someone like Peter or other men who

were reputable. And then secondly, all of Jesus's disciples were

tortured for their belief in the resurrection, and the majority

of them were executed for preaching the resurrection, and none

of them recanted. Peter was crucified in sixty four AD.

Andrew was crucified and it took him two days to

die hanging on the cross, and all the while he

was preaching the gospel until he died. Bartholomew was skinned alive,

Thomas was spared to death, Matthew was stabbed to death,

and James was thrown off the roof.

Of the temple and be to death. All of these

and more could have lived out their days if they

just admitted they made it up.

All of them could have avoided the torture if they

just recanted, but they didn't. So these are just some

of the evidence for the resurrection, for the Gospel, and

someone listening right now might be thinking, Okay, thank you

for the history lesson, but I still have difficulty trusting

the Gospel. And I understand that. I understand that because

the Gospel makes you think. The Gospel makes you think critically,

the Gospel makes you think seriously. In Acts, Chapter seventeen

and eighteen, Paul travels far and wide throughout the Mediterranean

preaching the Gospel.

And this story made me.

Think about my dad. My dad has this map in

his home. I asked him to send me a picture.

This is hanging on the wall in his home, and

it's a map of the world. Then you can see

all of the places that he's traveled.

He's got these pins.

He's been to South Africa, he's been to Scotland, he's

been to Europe, hiked the Alps, he's been all over

the US.

Central America, all these different places.

And I look at this whenever I visit him, and

I admire his math because I hope one day I

love to travel.

I hope I can have something like that.

Paul could have had a map similar from all of

his journeys. Just look at all the places that Paul visited.

He went to Philippi A, Paulinia, Thessalonika, he went to Berea, Athens, Corinth,

all of these places just in one journey, Galatia, Ephesus.

And what did Paul do in all of these places.

He did the same thing in each of these places.

We read here in verse two he reasoned with them

from the scriptures verse seventeen, he reasoned in the synagogue

with the Jews and the devout persons eighteen. Verse four,

he in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade

Jews in Greece. Verse nineteen, he himself went into the

synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

He reasoned with him.

This word reason comes from a Greek word dialagomi. Dialagomi

means to discuss or address converse.

It's the word where we get our English.

Word dialogue, to have a conversation, to have a dialogue.

So I imagine Paul going to these cities and dialoguing

with people, conversing with people about the Gospel, having intellectual conversations.

I love a good dialogue.

I remember when I was in college at Geneva College

in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. There was a coffee shop across

the street from the campus. It was called the Beaver

Falls Coffee and Tea Company, and it was in the

main level of this old brick home. I think the

owner lived on the second floor and the coffee shop

was on.

The main floor.

And every day when I visited there, there were students

buzzing and conversing. There were professors debating and having conversations

about philosophy and theology and the Bible. And one of

my fondest memories of my time at Geneva College was

one semester one of my favorite professors, doctor Meek, a

philosophy professor. She allowed me to do an independent directed

study just with her, which means I didn't have to

go to class. But what I did do is I

did a lot of reading and then once a week

she and I would meet at the coffee shop and

we would discuss. We would talk about epistemology and philosophy

and postmodernism and how that related with the Bible and Christianity.

It's just one of my fondest memories having these dialogues. Now,

I don't know if Paul drank coffee, but I know

he liked to talk, he liked to have a dialogue,

and he had these conversations, these discussions about the Gospel.

And then in Acts chapter seventeen, Paul makes his way

to the Greek city of Athens.

And here's what we read, starting in verse fifteen.

Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens, and they

left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him

as soon as possible. While Paul was waiting for them

in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the

city was full of idols. So he reasoned, there's our word.

He reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and god

fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by

day with those who happened to be there. A group

of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him.

Some of them asked, what is this babbler trying to say?

Others remarked, he seems to be advocating foreign gods. They

said this because Paul was preaching the good news about

Jesus and what the resurrection. Then they took him and

brought him to a meeting of the Aropagus, where they

said to him, may we know what this new teaching

is that you're presenting. You are bringing some strange ideas

to our ears, and we would like to.

Know what they mean.

Let me explain that Athens was the epicenter of the

ancient world for Greek philosophy and Greek culture. Athens was

the place where all of the great thinkers.

Lived and studied and discussed.

All of those great Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, they

all spent time in Athens.

That's where they developed.

Their disciples and their teaching, and wrote their works and

refined their thinking. Athens was also home to many idols

and altars to pagan gods, Greek gods. The Pantheon was there,

the Temple to Athena was in Athens. And there were

two schools of philosophy in Athens, the Epicureans and the Stoics.

And these two.

Groups of philosophers they made up one council called the Arapagus.

Can everyone say the word aropagus, So the Greek.

Philosophers were part of the Auropagus.

The Europagus was this influential counselor of philosophers and thinkers

and intellectuals. The auropogus influenced the culture, influenced the politics,

the society of Athens. They were the voices of the culture.

They were the influencers of the culture. And Paul is

invited to speak to the auropogus, to speak to these influencers,

to speak to these voices, these thinkers. And as I

was thinking about this, I thought Paul being invited to

the auropagus would be like in our modern time being

invited as a guest on a podcast with a big platform.

You know, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of podcasts

out there. There are podcasts on every topic, imaginable podcasts

on health and fitness, podcasts on leadership, podcasts on mystery stories,

podcasts that are about studying, other podcasts. There's podcasts on everything.

Or many podcasts are long form dialogues conversations about ideas.

A recent study found this fifty percent of eighteen to

thirty four year olds in the US listen or watch podcasts.

Another fact is that podcasts have reached over one hundred

and thirty five million Americans over the age of twelve

each month. Podcast shape how modern people learn and consume ideas.

I mean personally, there's some podcasts I listen to, leadership podcasts,

Christian podcast sports podcasts. Similarly, Paul getting to speak to

the Auropagus was giving him a platform in front of

thinkers and influencers in the culture.

And let's keep reading what he says in verse twenty two.

Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Auropagus.

Everyone say Auropagus, and he said, people of Athens, I

see that in every way you are very religious. For

as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects

of worship, I found an altar with this inscription to

an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very

thing you worship, and this is what I am going

to proclaim to you. So Paul saw this altar to

an unknown god. The people of Athens wanted to make

sure that they worshiped all of the gods in the

Greek pantheon. They wanted to make sure that they didn't

miss the god they got, the God of harvest, the

God of rain, the God of war, the God of peace,

the God of family, all these different gods. And just

in case there was one they didn't know about, they

had this altar.

Is like a catch all to the unknown God, the

one we don't know about yet.

In fact, here's a picture of an altar to an

unknown God that was uncovered by archaeologists in Rome.

So this was common in that culture. And so Paul

sees this, this unknown God.

And now he sees an opportunity, a platform for the gospel,

because the God.

They don't know is that's Jesus. And so he shares

the gospel. Keep reading in verse twenty four.

The God who made the world and everything in it,

is the Lord of heaven and earth, and does not

live in temples built by human hands. He is not

served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather,

he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else

from one man.

He made all the nations that they should.

Inhabit the whole earth, and he marked out their appointed

times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God

did this so that they would seek him and perhaps

reach out for him and find him. Though he is

not far from any one of us, for in him

we live and move and have our being. As some

of your own poets have said, we are his offspring.

Here in verse twenty eight, Paul is quoting to Greek

philosophers Epimenides and Aratus.

He's trying to find some common ground with these.

Greek thinkers to share Jesus and then verse twenty nine,

for since we are God's offspring, we should not think

that the divine Being is like gold or silver stone,

an image made by human design and skill. In the past,

God overlooks such ignorance. But now he commands all people

everywhere to repent, for he has set a day when

He will judge the world with justice.

By the man he has appointed.

He has given proof of this to everyone by raising

him from the dead. When they heard about the resurrection,

some of them sneered, but others said, we want to

hear you again on this subject.

At that Paul left the council. So some people heard

the gospel and they rejected. They mocked the gospel.

Some of them believed it, some of them trusted it.

The gospel can be challenging. The gospel makes you think.

But the Gospel speaks to do every single person's need.

The Gospel addresses the human condition. Every human being needs

the Gospel. This week I asked chat Gpt another question,

I asked, what is the universal human condition? And here's

what chat GPT told me. Mortality is part of the

human condition. Every human must grapple with the fact that

life will end and everyone dies.

The desire for purpose.

Human beings are driven to understand their place in the

world and feel that their life has significance relational connection.

Human beings are social.

Beings who long to be loved and accepted, and chat

Gpt said that the human condition includes freedom and responsibility.

Humans possess free will, and this freedom comes with the

responsibility for a person's actions. Now you look at this

and you may disagree or agree with some of it,

but I think I think all of us can see

something here that we can relate to.

I mean, take mortality.

I think we all understand that life will end at

some point, that we do not go on living on

this earth, that at some point we will die like

this is part of the human condition.

The Gospel addresses the human.

Condition, and as I was studying Paul's words, I realized

that everything here on this list is addressed in Paul's

speech to the Europagus. Let me show you so talk

about mortality. Verse twenty six. Paul says, from one man,

God made every nation of men that they should inhabit

the whole earth, and He determined their appointed times and

the boundaries of their land. God has determined the time

of our birth and the time of our death. God

has established the limit to our lives. The fact is

that when we die, our soul will live in eternity,

either in heaven with God or in hell separated from God.

And then there's the desire for purpose, Paul says in

verse twenty five, God himself gives everyone life and breath

and everything else. God claims that Paul claims that God

gives us our.

Purpose, that God directs our lives.

In the Great movie Rocky, Rocky Balbo the main character.

He's training to win the fight, training to win the

boxing match, and he's sacrificed.

Everything to win.

He's training, he's putting his body through extensive pain and

suffering to prepare for this fight. He's doing everything he cans,

dedicated his whole life, his whole energy to win. And

in one scene in this movie, Rocky's girlfriend Adrian.

Asks him a question. She asks him.

Why is it so important that he goes the distance

and wins? And then Rocky says this, when I win,

then I'll know I'm.

Not a bum. He's looking for his purpose.

Now, you may not call yourself a bum, but do

you ever feel that same angst.

I gotta prove that I make a difference. I got

to prove that I'm successful. I need to prove that

I'm better. I got to prove that I'm lovable. I

gotta show that I'm not.

Weak, but I'm strong, I'm independent. And it's this drive

for purpose, this drive for significance, that motivates many of us.

For some, it's all about physical health and the performance

of your body and dedicating everything to that.

For others, it's.

About accomplishment and achievement and trying to create a name

for yourself. And for some people it's looking for significance

in superstition, things like the New Age and karma and

trying to manifest your destiny.

Looking for all of these the significance.

But what happens when life lets you down, What happens

when it's a life threatening what happens when a loved

one passes away. What happens when the market tanks and

you lose.

That success and significance. Tim Keller once said that a life.

Not centered on God leads to emptiness, and then there's

relational connection.

Human beings are created for relationships. One of the.

Strongest human needs is to be known, to be seen,

and to be loved. At some level, every human being

desires relationship, and so this is why some pursue romance,

hoping that next relationship will fill that need. So why

others pursue approval from a boss, or applause from an audience,

or respect from your peers, and pursue that people pleasing.

Some people try to fill that need with wrong things

like pornography and adultery, trying to find that sense of love,

that sense of connection. And and often I think about

people who might be single, and so many times, especially

in the church, we almost idolize marriage and family, and

yet there are some who are single and not married

and feel this need for relationship and connection. I want

to say that for every human being, God alone provides

the relational need and love that we feel at a

soul deep level.

We'll read Paul's words.

He says in verse twenty seven, God intended that they

would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and

find him. Though he is not far from each one

of us, He's not far from you. You may feel

far from him, you may feel alone, but God is

not far from you.

He's looking for you, He's seeking you.

He desires you because you were created for a relationship

with God. You were created to know God. You were

created to be at peace with God. You were created

to be secure because of your relationship with God. And

my desire is that each one of you would know

my God the way that I know him. I trust

my God. I depend on my God. I count on

my God. That's my God. When I was hurting and suffering,

he comforted me. When I was angry and bitter. He

was near me.

When I fell all alone, he was with me.

That's my God. My God has healed me. My God

has changed me. My God has transformed me. That's my God.

Do you know my God.

My God.

Can meet every need that your soul desires. He wants

a relationship with you. And then finally, there's freedom and responsibility.

Freedom and responsibility, Paul says in verse thirty, although God

overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, he now commands all

people everywhere to repent, for he has set a day

when he will judge the world with justice. There will

come a day that God judges the world. God will

judge every human. God will judge every sin. And I

think we know that there are bad.

Sins, lying and hate and stealing.

These are bad sins, but there are also good things

that can be twisted into sin. Theologian Tim Keller says

that sin is even making a good thing an ultimate thing.

He writes, sin is not just doing a bad things,

but the making of good things into ultimate things. It

is seeking to establish a sense of self by making

something else more central to your significance, purpose and happiness.

Than your relationship with God.

It's when we elevate our kids and make them more

significant to our purpose than knowing God. So when we

elevate our education to being more significant to our purpose,

we elevate our degrees, our bank accounts, our accomplishments, even

good things turned ultimate or sinful things.

And every human will be judged one day.

But for those who believe the gospel, those who have

faith in Jesus, we have nothing to fear because all

of God's judgment was poured out on.

Jesus on the cross.

When Jesus was on the cross, he absorbed the rest,

He absorbed the punishment, so all of us who believe

in him will be saved.

We are forgiven because of the Gospel.

So how did these Greek philosophers respond to Paul's speech

Read again verse thirty two. When they heard about the

resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said,

we want to hear you again on this subject. At

that Paul and the Count left the council. Some of

the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them

was Dionysius, a member of the Europagus, So a woman

named Damarus, and a number of other of others.

Some people believe the gospel that day.

One of them was Dionysus, a leader among the Greek philosophers,

a member of the Auropagus. He was likely an intellectual,

a deep thinker, well educated. When he heard the gospel,

his heart was transformed, and Dionysius became the first leader

of the Church of Athens. You see, the Gospel is transformational.

The Gospel is more than just facts. The Gospel is

more than just historical events. The Gospel is more than

just information. It is transformation. Often we want God to

prove himself, but what we really need is God to

love us because of the love of God is transformational.

The love of God goes beyond debate and argument and intellect.

The love of God.

Goes to the soul level, goes to the heart level,

and transforms and changes us. Have you been transformed by

the Gospel? I know that there are people listening who

have been transformed by the love of God.

There are people in this room.

That you know that you know that you know Jesus

is God because He's changed you, because he saved you,

because he healed you, because.

He rescued you.

Would somebody testify today have you been changed by the Gospel?

Would you just raise your.

Hand if you have felt the love of God, raise

your hand, if He's healed your life, if He's forgiven

your soul. Will somebody testify today that God has saved

your marriage, changed your family, healed your life, and.

Restored your brokenness.

Who would testify today that Jesus has loved you and

changed you? The Gospel transforms. The Gospel changes us. And

so my question today, as you're listening.

Do you believe the gospel? Do you see your need

for a savior.

Jesus is the only one who can forgive, the only

one who can heal.

He's the only one who can save.

Earlier, I shared about that young woman who had doubts

about the resurrection, and when she left our conversation that day,

I prayed that God would change her heart and transform her.

And the next day we spoke again and she said

to me, I thought a lot about our discussion, and

she said, I believe the Gospel, and I believe Jesus

rose from the dead. And I was surprised, and I

asked her what changed her mind, what convinced her. And

she thought about it and she said, I don't know.

I just know in my heart that it's true. I

have peace believing that it's true.

The Gospel transforms Friends.

I don't know the details of your faith, the condition

of your faith today, but I do believe there is

someone listening today who needs the Gospel. You may have questions,

you may have doubts, but you need the Gospel because

your life is far from God today.

Will you make that decision. I can't answer every question,

I can't address every concern.

All I can do is tell you that Jesus has

changed my life, that the Gospel has saved me. When

I was bitter and angry and lonely. Jesus healed me,

Jesus transformed me. Jesus forgave me. Jesus has changed me.

That is my witness to the Gospel. And so I

want to ask you today, do you believe the gospel?

Have you put your faith in Jesus? And so I

want to invite all of us to respond today. Would

you bow your head and close your eyes with me?

And the first invitation to respond is for anyone here

who wants to believe the Gospel that you want to

put your faith in Jesus.

You want to become a Christian.

If that's you, would you simply repeat this prayer in

your heart, say, Dear God, I admit that I'm a sinner.

I need your forgiveness. I believe Jesus died for my sins.

I believe he rose from the dead to save me.

Today I confess Jesus's Lord of my life.

I believe the Gospel.

As we continue in this response with our eyes closed and.

Our heads bowed, if you prayed that prayer today to.

Believe the gospel, I wonder if you would just be

brave enough to raise your hand. No one else is

looking around. I just want to see you and tell

you that God loves you. Would you just be brave

enough to raise your hand if you prayed that God

loves you, He sees you.

You have a relationship with God.

The spirit of God is now residing in your life.

God bless you. And the second invitation today is for

those of us who you.

May believe the gospel for many years and you know

the gospel is true. Would you just thank God take

a moment, thank God for the gospel, renew your commitment

to the gospel, Celebrate how you've been transformed. Just thank

Him right now. Brother God, we thank you that you

have come to us, that you have met us, that

you have medicine our need and our brokenness, and you've

saved us. You've redeemed us, you restored us, you brought

us in a relationship with you. And so God, I

pray that we would be gospel people, that we would

be people who stand on the gospel, who love the gospel,

who share the gospel, that we will be a transformed people.

Now pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.