Week 1

GOOD NEWS NOTES - Week 1
The Message: Introduction

We begin today the first in a series of 15 Good News Notes that will lead us in a written dialogue of how to touch the lives of non-Christians for Christ. I have asked your director to pass out these notes to every person in your department or class and then read each week's note to you. This will take about 3-4 minutes each week. Each note will have five parts: 1. The main message of the card. 2. A scripture to read and encouraged to memorize. 3. An action to take that week, small doable steps to lead us to begin thinking of being a witness. 4. A prayer that seeks God's guidance and leadership in being a witness. 5. A pre-view of what will be on next week's card

As in any large group of people it may be difficult to communicate so everyone has the same information. First Baptist Church is a large community who has been called to be the people of God. One of our purposes is to become more Christlike in all we do. If we take this seriously and truly want to be as Christ here on earth we must constantly strive to study and work toward that goal.

These notes focus on becoming more like Christ in the area of seeking lost friends for Christ. It is absolutely clear in scripture that one of the reasons we are still here on earth is to share Christ with others. There can be no question of this as you will see as we go through these notes. If I had been in charge of that department for God I don't think I would have chosen to use sinful, flawed, ordinary people to carry out this most important work. I would have had the stars in the sky spell out the plan of salvation or something like that. But since we are not in charge and God is (which is by the way a wonderful realization) we will seek to be obedient servants and pursue to follow his will.

Scripture - Matthew 28:19-20 - "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey every-thing I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
All of you will recognize this passage as the great commission. Take some time later and meditate on these verses. Jesus is giving us our orders for carrying out His love and care for people everywhere. If you have not previously, memorize this important passage.

Action - Yes, you have a choice. You can take this note and toss it away at the first chance you have or leave it folded in your Bible and not think about it ever again. But, you also have a choice to take time to read and understand all the Good News Notes over the next few weeks. What will be your choice? The choice you make is a very important one. The passages above are not requests; they are the orders for building the Kingdom of God. God decided a long time ago to use ordinary everyday Christians to carry out these orders.

Prayer - Lord, I don't know about all of this. You know I fear this sort of thing. I don't know if I have the time, the energy… but if this is something important, I pray that you will show me. I think it would feel good to be used by you to help someone know you and receive the gift of salvation. Lord, help me as I think about this over the next few days. What choice would you want me to make?

Next Week - Are People Lost or Missing?