Do I believe?

Do you believe in the Word of God? Do you believe it has the power to change lives? Do you believe that it can save anyone, anytime, anyplace?

One of the great encouragements from the Northern Men's Convention was to be reminded in each of the 3 main sessions of the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it is preached in Acts. In Acts 2 as Peter speaks it has the power to convict those listening of their sin and rebellion against God and leads to 3000 being baptised. In Acts 10 it has the power to save Cornelius, a Gentile, to break out of the confines of Jerusalem and Israel. In Acts 15 its power is seen in the reports of Gentile conversions and in the belief that this gospel of Jesus Christ as Lord and Messiah is for all.

Then in Acts 16 it is seen as it saves a rich woman, a slave girl and a middle ranking Roman jailer, or put another way a God fearing Gentile, a demon possessed girl and a polytheist. The word of God, the gospel is powerful, it saves. The rest of Acts maps that out as 1:8 is fulfilled and God gets his witnesses with his word from Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria and then to the ends of the earth.

In Acts we see that within the space of 30 years the gospel - God's word - turned the known world upside down. So why all the doom and gloom following on from the news of Christianities seeming decline in Britain. The word of God has not changed, the Holy Spirit has not lost his ability to work in us to equip us to speak for him or work in those we come in contact with, and people still need to hear the news that Jesus is Lord and Messiah. And the gospel is needed by everyone.

Have I lost my edge? Do I still believe everyone needs the gospel? Do I still believe it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe? Do I still believe the Holy Spirit works in and through us? That belief is not about nodding ascent it is evidenced in action - in asking God's help and cooperating with the Spirit of God living in us to build relationships, show Christianities relevance and proclaim the gospel.