Rev. David Holwick P
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 2, 2004
Matthew 11:3-5
|
I. Where's the good news?
A. Visit by a Jehovah's Witness.
The young Jehovah's Witness girl tried to convince Richard
Bennett of the Divine origin of her sect.
For hours they talked about the Bible and God's promises of
salvation.
Finally, he decided to challenge her.
"Tell me," he said, "by what authority do you come out on
visitation?"
He knew her answer would be, "Jesus told us to go into all the
world and preach the Gospel to every creature."
"And can you tell me what the word 'gospel' means?"
Exactly as planned, she replied, "Yes, it means good news."
"You and I have been talking for a couple of hours.
You told me that only 144,000 were going to Heaven, and that
neither of us had much of a chance for that.
You also told me I could not possibly be sure of salvation.
Now, as I see it, this is all bad news, not good news.
So why don't you go home and study your Bible, get some good
news for folks, and then try again to preach the Gospel?"
#11861
B. Much about religion comes across as bad news.
1) Don't do this, don't do that...
2) Tedious services and obligations.
3) Money-grubbing preachers.
4) Holy wars and sectarian violence (N. Ireland, India, Iraq).
An Easter production for children by the Glassport, PA,
Assembly of God church brought a big crowd.
But "It was absolutely horrendous," said Melissa Salzmann,
who left with her child when she realized what the show
was about.
Performers told the kids "there is no Easter Bunny."
Then they smashed eggs the kids thought they'd be looking
for in an Easter egg hunt after the show.
Finally they tortured a woman in an Easter Bunny suit.
Salzmann said her 4-year-old son "was crying and asking me
why the bunny was being whipped."
The church's youth minister, who played the part of the
Bunny, explained "The program was for all ages, not just
the kids.
"We wanted to convey that Easter is not just about the
Easter Bunny."
#26586
II. What is good about the Good News of Jesus.
A. Jesus gave his own answer.
1) Dramatic things are happening for the hurting.
a) Blind, lame, lepers, deaf, dead, poor.
1> You wouldn't choose any of these for yourself.
b) But each were having their prayers answered.
1> They were seeing, walking, hearing, living...
2) Spiritually, we are in these categories too.
a) Hindu woman's testimony:
A formerly Hindu woman who is now Christian wrote the following
to an American Baptist missionary:
"Christianity offers me a simple and easy way of speaking to
God and of God speaking to me.
As a Christian I don't have to wait for a certain day to pray
to God, or go to a certain place to pray.
I can pray anytime and anywhere and I know He is just and able
to answer my prayer.
"Christianity also offers me a chance to repent of my sins and
to know that my sins are forgiven.
The Lord does not ask me to make any sacrifices to prove my
love for Him.
As a Christian I also love the fact that I have support from
fellow Christian brothers and sisters who are there for you
when you have difficulties."
#26581
B. The good things that Jesus offers us.
1) Forgiveness.
a) Jesus can forgive anything we have done.
b) We can escape the punishment and guilt of sin.
c) He will accept us even if everyone else rejects us.
2) Daily direction.
a) We can have an intimate relationship with God.
3) Peace which passes understanding.
4) Eternal life.
5) The opportunity to make a difference now.
a) We can change the social order, like Jesus did.
b) Haiti trip...
III. You can know the Good News is good for you.
A. Hope you're saved? (Assurance of salvation)
1) Few people long for hell or annihilation.
a) We all want to go to heaven.
2) Jesus says we get there by believing in him.
a) How can we be sure he accepts us?
b) What if we blow it?
B. Salvation is our response to what Jesus has already done.
1) Your good life is a sign of gratitude to God, not a payoff.
2) God the Father will not reject his Son's sacrifice for you.
C. You can know you are saved.
1) He promises it, he paid the price, so you can believe it.
2) We call this the assurance of salvation.
a) A Roman Catholic catechism in 1972 said if a person
feels assured of Heaven, they have committed the sin
of presumption.
b) We say such a person has a firm grasp on the promises
of the Bible.
3) Assurance is very good news!
IV. The bad news about the Good News.
A. The blessings are not automatic.
1) We must deliberately receive Jesus.
a) It is only good news when you receive it with faith.
2) We must be faithful and obedient.
a) Faith is not just thinking it, but being changed by it.
b) Repentance and faith always go hand-in-hand.
B. Rejecting Jesus is the worst decision you could make.
V. Good news or bad news - for you?
They were shooting the movie "Yankee Doodle Dandy" on the day
after Pearl Harbor.
The cast listened as President Roosevelt announced on the radio
that the United States was at war with Japan and Germany.
At that point, director Michael Curtiz came on the sound stage
with Jimmy Cagney.
They all listened in silence for the national anthem to finish.
As the women dabbed tears from their eyes, and the men were
deeply moved, Curtiz said in his best Hungarian accent:
"Now, boys and girls, we have work to do.
We have bad news, but we have a wonderful story to tell the
world.
So let's put away sad things and begin."
#3018
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 3018 "We Have a Wonderful Story To Tell," by Peter Hay, "Movie
Ancedotes" (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), in
Dynamic Preaching (www.sermons.com) sermon "A Time To
Remember," May 1992.
#11861 "Which Will You Believe - Bad News Or Good News?" by Richard
Bennett, from email submitted by Rick Swenson of Hopatcong,
New Jersey on April 27, 2004.
#26581 "A Hindu Convert's Testimony," by Anita Gutiérrez, American
Baptist International Ministries Update, April 2004.
#26586 "Torturing the Easter Bunny," McKeesport Daily News, Associated
Press, referred to by Randy Cassingham in "This Is True" for
April 11, 2004.
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Easy CHM and documentation editor