Sharing The Gospel

The book of Acts is one of my favorites in all of scripture! The disciples see their Master and Lord, Jesus, ascend into heaven with His last parting words recorded in Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (ESV)

The church began when Jewish men heard a message from the Apostle Peter and the Holy Spirit fell upon them. This is described as Pentecost (Acts 2). There were 3,000 men who received the gift of salvation in Jesus by faith and were baptized by the Holy Spirit. They immediately began teaching and preaching in Jerusalem the good news of Jesus. Persecution was not far behind.

Acts chapter 8 reads, "And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles." So the 3,000 who had been saved at Pentecost had been teaching and preaching in Jerusalem. Now persecution began and they were scattered to Judea and Samaria to continue their teaching and preaching (Acts 1:8). One of those disciples was a man named Philip.

We pick up with a story of Philip and an Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26-40. Listen.

https://vimeo.com/948324374/1dcca8eca6

The good news of the gospel of Jesus is that God in the flesh, Jesus, was born of a virgin and lived a perfect sinless life of His own free will. He came to live among us so He could lay down His life as payment for our sins. We as sinners have a debt to pay to God, who is perfect and holy. Jesus paid for our debt by dying on a cross and shedding His blood. After He died, He was buried in a tomb. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead and began appearing to His disciples.

God the Father has given us the opportunity to be forgiven our sins and to have life after we die in heaven with Him. Believe that Jesus is the Son of God who took the penalty for sin on your behalf providing eternal salvation. We must choose.

1. Romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

2. Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

3. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

4. Ephesians 2:8 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

5. Romans 10:9-10 says, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."

If you desire to accept the free gift of God now, cry out to the Father and confess your sin, admitting you have sinned against Him. Accept the gift of forgiveness because of what Jesus did for you and ask God to give you life with Him in heaven for eternity through faith in Jesus alone.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come."

We celebrate your decision to accept forgiveness and salvation in Jesus alone, by faith alone!!! Welcome to the family! I encourage you to pray diligently that God would direct you to a local church that teaches the Bible, has community, and actively engages those outside the church walls. Next, begin reading your Bible and learn from God's Word. Pray that the Holy Spirit will teach you. We want to hear of your good news! Send us an email and let us know if we can help you in any way. You can reach us at info@theicnetwork.org. To learn more about our ministry, visit https://theicnetwork.org.