By Emily Wooten
Mark 16:15-16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
In Acts 7 we see that Stephen wasn’t shy and did not hesitate to share the good news. Stephen had already laid down his life in service to God before they started questioning him about his belief in Jesus. He understood there was no more important thing he could do than share what God had done for us. When the religious rulers of the day asked Stephen to explain why he believed in Jesus, he started with the story of Abraham. He told them how God had appeared to Abraham and promised him that he would raise up a ruler from his seed. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Because Abraham trusted God, he became a part of God’s plan to bring a savior and king into the earth, even tho there was no king in Israel when God made a covenant with Abraham.
Stephen told them how God gave Abraham and Sarah a son and they called him Isaac. He showed them how Isaac had Jacob and then he shared with them how Jacob’s little boy, Joseph faced hardships. He explained how God caused Joseph to prosper and blessed everything he put his hand to.
Stephen showed them how Israel came to live in Egypt with Joseph as a leader there. As time passed, Israel was being treated poorly and God raised up a another leader, named Moses. He told them about the miracle of Moses being found by Pharaoh’s daughter and how he was raised in a king’s palace. Stephen shared the story of how God appeared to Moses and called him to lead his people to freedom. He explained how Joseph’s descendant, David the shepherd boy became King David. Line upon line Stephen laid out the gospel, how God made covenant with Abraham and worked with humans throughout the years to bring Jesus into this earth to redeem humans from sin.
We have the privilege of sharing the same gospel. We can tell others that Jesus came to save us.
Luke 2:10-11 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
We can tell them how Jesus said he would send Holy Spirit to help us.
John 2: 16 I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever…