A few years ago, I had my first opportunity to preach, this post is a summary of my notes. I spent time praying and trying to decide what my message should be. Imagine you are stood on stage at church or at a conference and you are handed the microphone. What would you say? You can say anything you want, so what would it be? I believe your answer to that is the message God has giving you to share, this is the message you carry. As I thought about what I wanted to speak about, God took me right back to basics: what is it all about? And the phrase came to me, “without salvation I have nothing”.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3: 16
Salvation is Jesus loving us so much He was willing to come to Earth from heaven, take on a human body, and take our sin on himself. It’s God loving us so much He would send His only son.
I’ve heard it said by many people that “without salvation I have nothing”. This has bugged me for a few weeks now. This stirred something in my heart.
Two months before this preach, I led a team from our church on a mission trip to a community called Kaphunga in rural Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), a country where:
- Approximately 40% of the population are under 15 years old
- Over half the population are in extreme poverty
- Almost 40% of the population are HIV positive ( the highest rate in the world)
- Of the children in schools, approximately 60% are orphans
- An estimated 15000 homes are child-headed (meaning there is no adult, the oldest child runs the home)
I’ve met kids who physically have very little, yet that have big smiles on their faces because they know God. They barely get by each day with enough food and water to survive, but they know that what they get is from their God who is provider. What could be more valuable than knowing your Saviour? They know this so deeply that they can have joy in the middle of extreme poverty. They are physically poor, but spiritually rich!
So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Luke 15: 3-7
Each person saved is so precious that heaven throws a joy party. This shows us how much we should be valuing salvation. Jesus told us how much a shepherd values that one lost sheep, how much should we value seeing others saved. We’re not just saved, we are saved and called:
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28: 16-19
Jesus says go. If you place that much value on salvation, that without salvation we have nothing, we should be willing to go. This is what God’s been challenging me on: do we take Jesus out to our community? Or do we wait for them to come to us? Jesus didn’t say go for a couple of hours first thing in the morning when it’s your name on a rota to give out free coffee to commuters, he just said go. It’s so easy to get lukewarm, to stop seeking opportunities to reach out to others, especially in our everyday world, in our normal and routine day-to-day lives.
In Swaziland, I met a girl called Ayanda* (name changed for confidentiality). She told me her testimony of how God had provided for her. An orphan, she was 13 years old when we met, she lived with her elderly grandmother and younger siblings. They were extremely poor and Ayanda had to spend a lot of time caring for her siblings, helping cook, and fetch water as her Grandmother was too frail to do this. They had very little money so Ayanda couldn’t go to school as they couldn’t afford to buy her a uniform.
Ayanda is a Christian. She explained to me how she had prayed to God asking Him to provide for her so that she could go to school. With boldness beyond her years, she explained to me how God had answered her prayer. A short time later she had met a charity volunteer who ensured that she was provided with a uniform. She then told me how she shares the gospel with other children she meets at school. She tells them “I’m here because my Jesus provided for me”!
My conversation with Ayanda blew me away! Having met a 13-year-old orphan living in terrible poverty who is now an incredible evangelist to her community, I felt completely challenged about how much I share the gospel with people in my community.
Let’s look around us for an opportunity today, an opportunity to share our faith, to give an encouraging word to someone, and an opportunity to share God’s love.