“CAN I HAVE A WORD?”

Good morning friends. I pray you are having a wonderful weekend and were not hampered be the frozen liquid that was coming into our area. We are showing the movie Courageous at church Sunday night and are praying that the weather does not keep people from coming.

Today’s topic is a real issue that is common with a lot of people. I want you to stop for just a moment and think about what you have talked about today. From the time you got up, until you went to sleep yesterday, what did you have to say? Do you ever think about what seems to be the most common topic of what you have to say from day to day? Are you the type that has a hard time starting a conversation? God’s word has an answer for everything we face in life and this is not an exception. Let’s be enlightened.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 says, “4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Romans 3:31 says “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” Matthew 12:36 says, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment” Ephesians 4:25 says, “Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another.” Titus 2:15 say, “Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.”

Well, now that you have had a bit of time to think about your recent conversations and read a few scriptures, what are you thinking about talking about now?

Why is it we can talk about the last few seasons of CSI, or Survivor or NCIS, like it is some common knowledge? We talk about sports and whom we are supporting and how bad the other teams are. We talk about politics and how bad the politicians are. We talk about our pets, our neighbors, the grass, our cars, the pot holes in the road, the traffic, our bosses, how bad our jobs are, our co-workers, our homes, the best movies we’ve been to lately, and the list goes on and on. But, when it comes to God, we are scared to death to open our mouths.

When it comes down to it, almost everything most of us spend so much time talking about has no eternal value. Think about it, when our time is up here on earth, and God calls us home, do you think God will ask us if we watched the last episode of CSI Miami? No. That would be ludicrous. What God will be asking us is, when I had you meet John, did you share Jesus with him. Or, did you pray over the lady who lived next door to you when she lost her husband? Did you take the lady down the road some groceries to help her feed her children? What about the single older man that lived across the street from you that needed a ride to the doctor, did you offer to take him? What about the man that worked with you suffering from loneliness, did you tell him that I, (God) loved him and am here for him?

How many opportunities can you think of over the past little bit were there, where you could have shared Jesus, the plan of salvation or what He has been doing in your life? What keeps you from doing this? Are you afraid of what others will think? Are you afraid of how others will treat you? Are you ashamed? Mark 8:38 warns us that if we are ashamed of Jesus and His words, then when He comes into His Father’s glory, He will be ashamed of us.

Now, I want you to think about the people you spend the most time talking to and ask yourself, “are they saved?” I’m not saying that you have to be spending 24/7 talking about nothing but God, I’m just saying we should be devoting more time sharing God, His love for us all and be as bold, open and as eager to speak about God as we are about everything else. When it comes down to it, don’t you want everyone you come into contact with to go to heaven? The only Jesus they may ever hear of or see is the one they see in you.

Remember: The next time you have an opportunity to have a word with someone, try sharing the Word of God.

Until next time, please pray for each other, and me, as I continue to pray for each of you. 

Love in CHRIST,

Brian Hanvey

Associate Pastor

Bethel Baptist Church