Woe to me if I don't preach the Gospel
Dr. Roberto Miranda(Audio: Spanish)
SUMMARY:
The sermon is focused on the importance of evangelism and the obligation it is for all Christians to preach the Gospel. The speaker emphasizes that evangelism is not an option but a mission for the church and every believer. The vision and mission of the church come from God, and it is to win souls and impact the world for Christ. The speaker also highlights that evangelism has been embedded in the DNA of the people of God since ancient times, and Israel was supposed to be an example and an evangelistic resource. However, Israel became perverted and left their reason for being, that God wanted them to be his witnesses. The speaker urges Christians to align their activities with the ultimate vision of the church and preach the Gospel to impact the world for Christ.
The passage from Isaiah 43:10-22 speaks of God calling his people to be witnesses of his nature and to demonstrate it to others. The Hebrews were the first to receive this calling, but now it extends to all believers in Jesus Christ. The mission of Israel was to be a light to the nations, but they failed to fulfill it, so God transferred it to the church. The Messiah, Jesus Christ, also saw his mission as an evangelistic one, as seen in Isaiah 42:1, 6-7. The early church in the book of Acts knew that their main mission was to preach the Gospel, and they set all of Jerusalem on fire with their evangelistic fervor. Peter and John declared that they could not stop preaching what they had seen and heard. The church must continue this mission of evangelism, sharing what God has done in our lives and bringing souls to the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
The early Christians knew that their mission was to preach the Gospel, and they did so strategically, targeting different audiences and cities. God uses all means, including persecution, to spread the Gospel, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given specifically to help us evangelize. When we evangelize, we grow in our faith, experience the joy of the Lord, and know Him better. If we are not bearing fruit for the Kingdom of God, we need to invest in our lives and find ways to serve and give to the Gospel. Otherwise, we risk being removed from the vine.
The message of the Gospel is to bear fruit to the glory of God. God prunes us to make us stronger and more fruitful. As disciples of Christ, we are called to spread the principles of the Gospel and disciple the nations, one soul at a time. We are to colonize the world for the glory of God through merciful and creative work. We need to be fertilized with the life of the Holy Spirit to bring souls to the knowledge of Jesus. Let us reclaim our cities and regions for Christ and be salt to give it the taste of the Gospel. Amen.What I have been doing these last few Sundays is helping all of us to see the biblical, theological foundations of the evangelistic call and we have been looking at it from different perspectives. That the Gospel, for example, with the theme of the demoniac of Gadarene, the Gospel is spiritual warfare, it is liberation, it is to free people from the moorings and ties of the enemy. That the Gospel is something that has been entrusted to us and that the very nature of the church and of the Christian is to reproduce, the mustard seed, the yeast.
By the way, after I preached the sermon yesterday I started making bread and the recipients, two of them are here, because I was interested again. I said, I'm going to revisit about yeast and bread, so we made bread and I think we're physically reflecting it. But leaven that leavens the whole lump.