One Thing Needful

Romans 1:16—I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…

It has been said that the miracle of the millennium was providing light and power to the masses. The first to envision, design and construct a successful model for achieving this extremely challenging goal was Thomas Edison with the invention of the incandescent light bulb in 1879. We all know what a light bulb looks like, but do you really know how it works? A wire filament inside the bulb is heated by electricity until it glows and emits light. It’s really a very simple device that essentially hasn’t changed since its invention. Yet, it’s probably had the most impact around the world than any other.

As great, as important, as impacting as the invention of the light bulb was, I would suggest to you that the real miracle of the millennium is providing spiritual light and Divine power to the masses, and that the gospel is the only successful model for achieving this extremely challenging goal. Let’s review a couple of things: the word “gospel” means “good news.” So we can say the good news is the power of God for salvation. Also, we must remember that according to I Corinthians 15 the good news is the news of Christ—His death, burial and resurrection. Every part is essential to the gospel. That means the story of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection is the power of God for salvation. Now where does this lead us? If our desire is to provide spiritual light and Divine power to the masses we must not be ashamed to tell the good news. Think of it this way: the Spirit of God is like the electricity—it is the source of power. The wire is like the good news—it enlightens those who hear it. And we are like the glass bulbs if we’re are not ashamed to tell Christ’s story. There is no power in an untold story since a story that’s never told can have no effect on anyone. Good news without a listener is pointless. Salvation may be for everyone who believes, but as Romans 10:14 asks: How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? That’s what PowerTour ’07 is all about—sharing our message in song so that the power of the Gospel can produce salvation in all who will believe.

THINK ABOUT IT: Take a moment to write out a prayer asking God to shine His light through you this week, and to give us surprising opportunities to proclaim the gospel unashamedly.

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