Boon's Sunday Sermon #14 - Why? Because We Love YOU

Today we are sharing a post from Mom's archives.  This message has been strong on our heart this week and we wanted to share it with y'all because we love you and want to know that you have had the opportunity to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Read on.  If you have any questions following this post, feel free to ask in the comments or send us an email.  We will answer them as best we can.

How much must you hate someone?

A while back a youtube video circulated through the online Christian community of famed magician Penn Jillette talking about a touching experience he'd had with a "good" man during one of his shows. Jillette is a known atheist. He seems to be just as devout an atheist as I am a Christian. However, during this show this "good man", as Jillette often referred to him, offered Jillette a Gideon Bible.

Instead of being offended by the gesture, Jillette was touched. Though still passionately denying the existence of God, he said, "If you believe there is a heaven and a hell and that people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever and you think that it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward," he continued, "how much must you hate someone to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?"

Those words have pierced my heart. How much must I hate someone not to tell them about Jesus and how He has changed my life and what He wants to do in theirs? While I am a believer and I strive to live my life in a way that is pleasing to God, I do not often stop and preach the gospel to the unbelieving while going about my daily duties.

Jesus will return for His bride, and each day we grow closer to that moment. As I told my children just last night, the rapture could take place today or a million years from now. It is important that we keep our lives in right standing, that we wait and watch for Christ's return, and that we take as many people with us as we can.

We as Christians need to be busy about our master's business. It's not enough living a good life. We need to be actively proclaiming Jesus as Lord everywhere we go. I'm not talking about getting in people faces and screaming, "REPENT, THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND!", but rather as the Holy Spirit nudges to share in love with someone the gospel of Christ. Instead of shying away from what could be a "socially awkward moment," we need to be caring about other people enough to share eternal life with them in a kind and loving way. I would rather spend five minutes of my life on earth feeling rejected for sharing the gospel with a stranger than an eternity knowing I could have been the difference between heaven and hell to just one person but was to embaressed to put forth the effort.

In Acts 5 an angel of the Lord freed Peter and John from jail and spoke to them saying, "Go, stand in the temple courts, and tell the people the full message of this new life." As the chapter continues the men are brought before the Sanhedrin and flogged because of their testimony. Yet the chapter ends saying, "Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ." Even in the face of persecution and opposition Peter and John were not deterred from doing that to which Christ had called them. Neither should we be.


Do you know Jesus as Lord and Savior?  If not, it would be an honor to pray with you.  You can contact us at: samantha@theloveshackpack.com .  Why?  Because we love you.