No Formula Needed

[Walter and Deborah]

Tuesday 3-15-22 3rd. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, 11th. day Of Adar II, 5782 85th Winter Day

We are grateful for being back on line and with you all again, especially thankful for friends in communication.

No Formula Needed

Read: Matthew 5:13–16 | Bible in a Year: Deuteronomy 26–27; Mark 14:27–53
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Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16


When Jen was young, her well-intentioned Sunday school teacher instructed the class in evangelism training, which included memorizing a series of verses and a formula for sharing the gospel. She and a friend nervously tried this out on another friend, fearful they’d forget an important verse or step. Jen doesn’t “remember if the evening ended in conversion [but guesses] it did not.” The approach seemed to be more about the formula than the person.

Now, years later, Jen and her husband are modeling for their own children a love for God and sharing their faith in a more inviting way. They understand the importance of teaching their children about God, the Bible, and a personal relationship with Jesus, but they’re doing so through a living, daily example of a love for God and the Scriptures.

They’re demonstrating what it means to be the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) and to reach out to others through kindness and hospitable words. Jen says, “We cannot impart words of life to others if we don’t possess them ourselves.” As she and her husband show kindness in their own lifestyle, they’re preparing their children “to invite others into their faith.”

We don’t need a formula to lead others to Jesus—what matters most is that a love for God compels and shines through us. As we live in and share His love, God draws others to know Him too.

How have you shared the good news with another? What was the result? What are some other ways you could share about Jesus?

Dear God, I want others to experience the loving relationship I have with You. Help me in my walk and talk to draw others to You.

INSIGHT
In the ancient world, with no refrigeration, salt’s most common use was to preserve food and keep it from spoiling. When Jesus said His followers were “the salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13), He was calling them to stand as obstacles to the inevitable corruption in society.

Salt in Jesus’ day was often impure—coming from salt marshes where many impurities corrupted the important mineral. When those impurities dominated the salt used in preservation, the salt failed to do its job and the meat would spoil. Jesus’ challenge to His listeners was to avoid the very impurities they were tasked with preventing in the world around them.

Christ’s description of His faithful followers in the Sermon on the Mount challenges even believers today to live counter–culturally, staving off corruption in the world and living a life of purity and faith.

By Alyson Kieda|March 15th, 2022

Love, Walter and Debbie

 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Walter and Deborah
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[Riverwalker]

I think a formula can be helpful....it is a frame work that wee then fill with wisdom and experience and learning

When I first was Christian I learned the "Roman's Road" a series of scriptures through Romans explaining the need for, the process of and attaining Salvation.  As I went on I augmented it with other scriptures and the idea was sounds.  But what people need to hear is not so much scripture  repeated to the by rote, but rather the Holy Ghost Revealed word of God spoken by a believer

Romans 10:

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

So it is essentially correct that a formula is not enough...it is a beginning, and as by Bible college teachers liked to say..don't throw the baby out with the bath water.