The Full Message

March 11

(Acts 5:19-20 NIV) ““But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. {20} "Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life.””

(Romans 10:17 NIV) "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."

(2 Timothy 4:17 NIV) "But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth."

The angel commanded the apostles to tell people “the full message”. The “full message” goes like this. We were created to be with God, but we have all sinned, and our sin separates us from Him. We have all gone astray, but the Lord came looking for us. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He loved us so much that He paid for all our sins by dying on a cross. To prove that His payment was sufficient, God raised Jesus from the dead. He lives today, and calls us to become His followers. To be saved, we must believe God, and believe that what Jesus did was sufficient. We must put our faith in God’s grace and provision. When we believe, we are born again and given a new life. We are called to be Christ’s disciples -- to witness to His grace with our changed life. God works through us to call people to Him. This is the “full message” in a nutshell. Have you believed this message? -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day