CCN Saturday!

Praise God for who He is and what He has done and continues to do!

Here is a praise report concerning our first CCN SATURDAY, March 6th 2010....

Praise to God through Christ for a beautiful day of fellowship in the Gospel, praise, prayer, and evangelism.  Before hitting the streets, we looked at what God's Word says about "Biblical Evangelism" and then took a look at "The Difference between the God-centered Gospel and the man-centered message."

Here is one thought from each lesson...                     

Biblical evanglism: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek" (Romans 1:16).  Our trust is in the power of God's News to bring sinners to Himself, and using any other means to entice the lost is deceptive and void of true saving power.  Is your evangelism based on pragmatism or God's standard?  Also, does your evangelism represent a non-urgent message that can be delivered as you wish, or are you enjoying obedience to this urgent command: "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).

God's News vs. man's message: Why you can't use Heaven as a draw card to salvation....

1) People don’t know what Heaven really is. (Where God is exalted and passionately worshiped.) They think Heaven is the fulfillment of their current desires.

2) Even if they did know, they wouldn’t want to go there! (The human heart is at enmity with God, despising His glory (Romans 1:21, Romans 8:7).  Whether it’s temporary or eternal life-enhancement, it makes no difference, selling God’s salvation for man’s happiness is Humanism (Man-centered), not God-centered.

After the teaching, by God's grace, we took the Biblical, God-centered Gospel downtown Indy, some of us going to the mall, and others going to the Circle.  By His grace, we had many great encounters, confronting people with the truth of God's judgment, the reality of their enmity with God as evidenced by their sin, the nature of the Holy God they have rejected, and the nature of the holy Law they have transgressed.  This prepared the way to testify of the amazing satisfaction of God's justice and mercy through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Gospel of grace.  We also met another evangelizing brother while we were downtown- Glory to God!

Here is what one Gospel witness had to say:  I praise God for using the teachings on CCN Saturday to challenge, convict, and encourage! Honestly, it was truly a blessing just to hear the God-centered Gospel, over and over, all day long! The more God allows me to understand the depth of the love I've been shown, the less I become.

"Thank you!" to all who came out to the day.  It was an encouragement to see the Lord bring laborers, and a blessing to have each of you there.  For His Name's sake, may He continue to bless you with the revelation of His grace and love towards you in the Gospel, and encourage your heart to share His Good News joyfully, passionately, and Biblically. 

"Thank you!" to all who prayed, both for us and our hearers.  Do not underestimate the value of beseeching God for His Name's sake.  Only the Spirit of God can bring to life the very dry bones, and your prayers to Him through Christ our Mediator are certainly pleasing to Him and worthwhile.  "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16). We appreciate your prayers.

If you would like to be a part of our next CCN Saturday, stay tuned, as we plan to enjoy them on a regular basis.  Our next regular CCN Training Fellowship will be on Monday March 22nd.  Grace and peace in Him.