by Jo Umberger
You’ve heard there’s an upcoming announcement about some incredibly good news and that everyone in your community has received an invitation to hear it.
You checked your
mailbox,
email,
and social media accounts
. . . but there is no invitation.
It hits you hard. “There’s some really good news and no one is willing to share it with me.”
Here’s a true story about a guy who needed the good news.
He was an important official in charge of the treasury for the highest official in the land. And he was very puzzled. He’d just read something that he did not understand, when suddenly, a stranger ran up to him.
“‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked. ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. . . . Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” (Acts 8:30-35 NIV)
The good news changed everything — the man turned his life over to Jesus! “As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?’ And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.” (Acts 8:36-39 NIV)
Prompted by the Holy Spirit, someone had asked him a simple question.
Here’s another true story. My husband has worked in media for most of his career. The friends he has made in the industry — both men and women — are intelligent, beautiful, and outgoing.
The Lord prompted me to speak about Jesus with one of these intelligent, beautiful, outgoing women.
In my flesh, I felt intimidated. She was well-known, well liked and truly appreciated by her peers. She was highly intelligent and had an air of confidence. (My flesh was really talking to me!) “What will I say?” I wondered.
Knowing that this was in God’s hands, I asked her to meet me for lunch.
Fighting back the nervous feelings, I visited with her over a sandwich or salad or something. Soon — much sooner than I had expected — my new friend began to confide in me. At the end of our visit, I asked her a simple question I had been taught to ask.
“Would you like to read the Bible together?”
She jumped at the chance and we began meeting weekly at a restaurant near her home, Bibles in tote, reading the book of Matthew together. After reading just a few chapters, she looked up and said, “I want to be baptized.”
What?! We hadn’t even talked about baptism! She believed Jesus was the Son of God and wanted Him to be her Lord. Needless to say, we began looking at the Scriptures related to baptism.
In the next 3-4 months, my new friend, her best friend, and her best friend’s adult daughter had all given their lives to Jesus and been baptized, experiencing the same thing the eunuch had experienced in Acts 8. Every sin was washed away and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit, beginning a new life.
Sometimes Christians just need a good question to get the conversation started —
“Would you like to read the Bible together?”
Is there anyone in your life who needs this question? Perhaps this is someone who doesn’t understand what’s so good about Jesus dying on a cross. Maybe they just need to choose one of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) and start reading with you!
Maybe this is someone who has never received an invitation to hear the good news.
“O Lord Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Savior of our souls, help us to recognize opportunities to speak with people about you. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen.”
If you have questions about how to follow Jesus or deepen your relationship with Him, email us at NLBIministry@gmail.com.
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