I am a Christian because...

1 Peter 3:15 CJB but treat the Messiah as holy, as Lord in your hearts;s while remaining always ready to give a reasoned answer to anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you - yet with humility and fear,



Part of being a Christian is being able to intelligently and respectfully communicate the gospel message. Can you do it? As a Christian who has been to bible college I still feel a little queasy about discussing the need for others to "be saved."

I don't have any problem sharing why I have faith in Christ. I remember what Christ has done in my life to make me put my faith in Him. I don't have any issues with knowing the bible. Even before bible college

I read the word, and I felt empowered if someone were to ask me questions concerning it. You don't need to have an advanced degree in biblical studies to understand God's message to us. God did it that way on purpose so we could all pick it up and learn. In ancient times God's words were passed down orally because most did not read, or have access to writings of any kind. Through life's trials I am continually learning to rely on the Holy Spirit's promptings in my life. I do everything

I can to make my answers relevant to the audience. A great example of this in the bible can be found in

Acts 17:23 NIV For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. I pasted the better part of the story at the bottom of the blog if you are interested in reading.

You might be interested to know that not all were willing to accept their message as relevant as it was. There are no guarantees. You must simply be ready to share. I am sure you have figured out the points outlined above that can help you.

In order for you to be ready you must:

1. Remember what God has done in your life that keeps you believing. One of the things counselors do to help in marriage counseling is to have the couple remember why they were attracted to each other in the first place.
   
2. Read the bible. Even a basic understanding will help you be prepared when the time comes.
   
3. Rely on the Holy Spirit to give you the courage and words to speak that will make the difference.
   
4. Make your message revelent to the audience. Again, Paul's message in Acts 17 is a great example of this.
   

Last of all, don't worry if everyone you come accross does not accecpt the prompting of the Spirit. Many will not, but for those who do it will be due to the fact that you have allowed the very same God who created the universe and His ressurection power flow through you.

I hope my homeletics professor would be proud.



18. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20. You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean." 21. (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) 22. Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 24. "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us 28. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' 29. "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill. 30. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." 32. When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." 33. At that, Paul left the Council. 34. A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.