“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  Romans 1:16

Are You Unashamed?

The apostle Paul opens his letter to the Romans saying that he has been charged with preaching the gospel to all men and is eager to preach the gospel in Rome as soon as possible.

But why was Paul so eager to preach the gospel? Because he was unashamed of it. He was not ashamed of the true, historical, fact “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15: 3-4).

What does it mean to be ashamed? To be ashamed is to fear embarrassment or humiliation. The apostle Paul had no reason to be embarrassed or humiliated by the gospel. The gospel of Jesus had given him forgiveness, acceptance, and hope. So, he was eager to tell anyone and everyone the good news of what Jesus has accomplished on behalf of sinners! Paul was the exact opposite of being fearful of embarrassment or humiliation. He was un-ashamed. He had courage, confidence, and boldness because of the gospel.

What about you? To live unashamed of the gospel means you believe God, love God, and therefore can’t help but talk about God and what he has done! To live unashamed of the gospel means that you, like Paul, allow it to dominate your life to the extent that everyone within your sphere of influence can see Christ in you (Matt 5:16 & 1Peter 3:15).

I hope that you will join us for our upcoming Mission Conference – “Unashamed.”  Our conference schedule is as follows:

• Friday, Feb. 26
  • 7pm – Opening Service
• Saturday, Feb. 27
  • 8am – Breakfast in FLC
  • Immediately following breakfast – individual sessions with our missionaries breakfast
• Sunday, Feb. 28
  • No 8am worship service
  • 9:30am – Sunday School
  • 10:30am – Morning Worship
  • Noon – Lunch (free of charge) in FLC
  • Immediately following lunch – closing service in FLC
  • No 6pm worship service

Our conference will feature two speakers:

• Dr. Dony St. Germain, President of El Shaddai Ministries International
• Bill Brittain, President of Baptist Children’s Home, Valparaiso, IN

Thanks to Cody Hancock for helping prepare the promotional material for our conference.  Look for more information in our Sunday bulletins as well as upcoming blog posts.

Happy Friday!

Stephen