Week 14

GOOD NEWS NOTES - Week 14
The Message: The Holy Spirit and the "Challenge"

It has been difficult to write these notes and leave the role of the Holy Spirit close to the end. The Holy Spirit in many ways is similar to our discussion of prayer from last week. Prayer and the Holy Spirit are central to the success of reaching missing people. In Week 8's note, the one on testimonies, our discussion was on the Engel's scale of receptivity. This is a series of factors that lead to a person becoming a Christian. We know that there are some who come to Christ like Saul on the road to Damascus. But that probably is rare. Most of us come to Christ in a predictable progression. All of us have things that happen in our lives that make us think about eternal matters. Someone may die who was close to us. We may be in an accident of some sort. We hear someone talking about heaven or hell. The work of bringing all those factors into a person's life is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit. He is active in all our lives to help us know God. I have written in this series several times in the prayers and in the text about God going before us. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. He prepares the ground ahead of time for our efforts with missing people. It will benefit our efforts to ask the Holy Spirit to go before us and prepare just the right circumstances to lead our missing friend to be ready to hear a comment about spiritual matters or one of our testimonies. It may take other circumstances after that to finally bring a person to make a faith decision. Part of being a faithful friend is to continue to build those relationships so the Holy Spirit will have the time to help them be more receptive to the gospel.

The Challenge
You have just arrived at a car accident and you get out to see how you can help. There is a man who is in serious condition trapped in his car. You know you cannot move him and you must wait for help to arrive. The man may have only a few minutes to live. Would you be able to tell him the plan of salvation in a clear manner? Would you be able to give a short testimony of what God means to you? What would you say?

Action - Think through the scene of the car accident and take the time to write down what you think you would say in two minutes or less. Ask someone to listen to what you have written down. Perhaps they will have some suggestions how to make it clearer. Practice giving your testimony to a friend or spouse. This will be time well spent.

Scripture - John 14:26 Jesus said, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.

Prayer - God help me to be prepared to share your love with others - help me recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit in the lives of my missing friends. Please guide me with your Holy Spirit as I strive to be your servant this week.

Next Week - Follow-up