I Have Good News!
All have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. Romans 3:23-24
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As the song “Amazing Grace” resounded in the sanctuary, a woman on the front pew wept with joy. It seemed only yesterday that she had sat in a prison cell, shaking as her body suffered from withdrawal. She remembered crying out to a God she didn’t know, hoping that someone would hear her prayers. In that dark hour God sent women from a local church to tell her the good news that Christ could heal her and take away her sins. One year later she was not only free from the four walls of prison, but God had healed her of a ten-year addiction.
When the women entered the prison that first day, they felt shy, inadequate, and unsure in that environment but confident in God. And they were God’s answer to the prisoner’s prayers. Many times we feel inadequate to reach out to others. We make the gospel cumbersome or complicated and fear sharing it. Yet it is a simple message: God in his grace has declared us not guilty. We are free from sin through Jesus Christ. We encounter many every day who are crying out to a God they do not know, hoping someone will hear their prayers. Let’s share the Good News!
Prayer:
SAVIOR, every day people who are hurting and lost surround me. Help me to share the good news that you are the Christ and that you have set us free! Lord, if there are those in my life who are crying out to you, open my spiritual eyes that I might see, and give me the courage to share the gospel message with them.
Quotes:
JESUS CHRIST IS GOD’S EVERYTHING FOR MAN’S TOTAL NEED.
Richard Halverson (1916–1995)
The One Year Bible Readings for today are: 1 Chronicles 22:1–23:32; Romans 3:9-31; Psalm 12:1-8 and Proverbs 19:13-14.
