Proclaim The Gospel (Mark 16:15)

 


Saturday, April 26, 2025


Psalms 137; 138

Exodus 14:15-30

Mark 16:9-20


Proclaim The Gospel (Mark 16:15)


And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”


One of the highlights of my life in ordained ministry so far happened through our welfare ministry. I happened to be sitting with some people who were waiting to be served, and we were speaking about nothing of real consequence; merely talking about the general state of the world and our place in it. By a miraculous movement of the Holy Spirit, one of the people got a curious look on their face and asked, “so what is it that you Christians believe, then?”


Believe it or not, we do get given opportunities to present the gospel to people. Jesus commands us to “go into all the world”, not hide ourselves away in caves, and through this lifestyle, “proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”


So the question for us, is, have we prepared a gospel presentation? If you were waiting in line somewhere, and the person next to you started a conversation, and then asked you about Jesus, what would you tell them? You have a single moment in time to tell them the core message of Christ: what do you say? How do you say it?


We do not know the exact circumstance in which this will next happen. We may be under duress, or be speaking to a sympathetic ear; we may have lots of time, or almost none. But the Lord does give us opportunities like these.


Since we cannot, therefore, have an exact script ready to use in all situations, we have to be flexible for the Holy Spirit to speak through us. But we still have to have some idea ourselves of what the gospel is.


So our reflections today should be on this: what is the gospel? What is the core of the message Jesus wants us tell others about him? How often do you think about it?


Lord Jesus, you send us out into all the world to proclaim the good news of what you have done: give us grace from the right hand of God, that we may be ready in all seasons to speak of you.

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