The resurrection of Christ changes everything. After Jesus returned from the dead, He showed
Himself alive to his disciples for 40 days.
What a glorious reunion that must have been! When it was time for Jesus
to return to His father in Heaven, He instructed His disciples saying,
"And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15
The term "gospel" means good news. The good news of the Word of God is that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. (I Corinthians 15: 1-4). Our responsibility as followers of Jesus then is to go into the world and preach the gospel to everyone we meet.
It is a proactive gospel, not a passive one. Far too many believers meet every Sunday morning without fail. They sit in "their" pew and take in all the blessings of a morning or evening worship service without having once in the week sharing the gospel; the good news of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection with even one person.
How would this village, this county change if every believer would share the good news with just one person every week? Let's examine this for a minute. According to the latest statistics of Carroll County, Ohio there are approximately 28,187 people living here. (www.quickfactscensus.gov) Also according to census reports, there are only 30.12% of the entire county population that claimed any religious affiliation compared to 50.2% of the entire United States population. Doing the math, that means that our of 28,187 people living here only 8,456 connect with any church on any Sunday morning in our county!
According to: http://www.carrollcountyohio.com/Churches/churches.htm website, there are 59 churches listed as active in Carroll County. That averages out to 143.3 people in each church. (Not an actual number per congregation but an average for all the churches. Some churches would love to have 143 people each Sunday!) But, doing the math again, we find that there are about 19,731 people that do not affiliate with, or perhaps even attend a church in this county! If all 19,000 people plus would decide to come to church next Sunday, and divide them equally among each church, we would see an instant growth of 330 people per church in our county!
If each of the believers in this county would take the responsibility to give the good news to just 1 non-attendee, it would take less than 3 years for each person in this county to be reached! Of course, not everyone is going to be as excited as we are about spreading the gospel of Christ, and not everyone is going to come to church or perhaps would be able to come to church due to health situations or work schedules. That does not diminish our responsibility to spread the gospel to every person.
Many people I talk to each week tell me that they are looking for something great to change their lives. I have an idea. Why not come to the church of your choice, get excited about the good news of the Scriptures, and take it to someone that does not have Christ in their lives? As I have said from the beginning, the resurrection of Jesus changes everything, including your life and mine. Almost 20,000 people in Carroll County need to hear the good news. Are you up for the challenge? Have a great week Church! Pastor Chuck
"And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15
The term "gospel" means good news. The good news of the Word of God is that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. (I Corinthians 15: 1-4). Our responsibility as followers of Jesus then is to go into the world and preach the gospel to everyone we meet.
It is a proactive gospel, not a passive one. Far too many believers meet every Sunday morning without fail. They sit in "their" pew and take in all the blessings of a morning or evening worship service without having once in the week sharing the gospel; the good news of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection with even one person.
How would this village, this county change if every believer would share the good news with just one person every week? Let's examine this for a minute. According to the latest statistics of Carroll County, Ohio there are approximately 28,187 people living here. (www.quickfactscensus.gov) Also according to census reports, there are only 30.12% of the entire county population that claimed any religious affiliation compared to 50.2% of the entire United States population. Doing the math, that means that our of 28,187 people living here only 8,456 connect with any church on any Sunday morning in our county!
According to: http://www.carrollcountyohio.com/Churches/churches.htm website, there are 59 churches listed as active in Carroll County. That averages out to 143.3 people in each church. (Not an actual number per congregation but an average for all the churches. Some churches would love to have 143 people each Sunday!) But, doing the math again, we find that there are about 19,731 people that do not affiliate with, or perhaps even attend a church in this county! If all 19,000 people plus would decide to come to church next Sunday, and divide them equally among each church, we would see an instant growth of 330 people per church in our county!
If each of the believers in this county would take the responsibility to give the good news to just 1 non-attendee, it would take less than 3 years for each person in this county to be reached! Of course, not everyone is going to be as excited as we are about spreading the gospel of Christ, and not everyone is going to come to church or perhaps would be able to come to church due to health situations or work schedules. That does not diminish our responsibility to spread the gospel to every person.
Many people I talk to each week tell me that they are looking for something great to change their lives. I have an idea. Why not come to the church of your choice, get excited about the good news of the Scriptures, and take it to someone that does not have Christ in their lives? As I have said from the beginning, the resurrection of Jesus changes everything, including your life and mine. Almost 20,000 people in Carroll County need to hear the good news. Are you up for the challenge? Have a great week Church! Pastor Chuck
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