The Story of Jesus

Tell me the story of Jesus,

write on my heart ev'ry word;

tell me the story most precious,

sweetest that ever was heard.

The Bible is full of answers to life's questions, wisdom for daily living, instruction for holiness. But at the center is the story of Jesus Christ: God sent His only Son to redeem humanity from sin. To take the story of Jesus from Scripture is to take away all the power and life and love from it, leaving only a book of moral standards we can't keep. The body of Scripture without Jesus is a corpse.

I thank God for all the ministries in which I am able to participate in here in Ukraine (sending out Christian literature, picking people up for church, passing out food, cleaning), but what I love most is Bible ministry. And what I love most about Bible ministry is the great privilege to tell the story of Jesus. Here's some conversations I've been able to have in the past few months as God has allowed me to tell the story of Jesus.

Jesus Died for Sin

Each night of the week, I go out with Pastor Mark or Sasha to distribute food at different stops and preach the gospel. There's a man at one of the stops with whom I often talk to after the sermon and distribution. We've talked about the reliability of the gospels, the purpose of Jesus coming to earth, and the need to be born again. Recently, he started off a conversation by saying, "Tonight Sasha wasn't preaching anything reasonable. It was all stuff for little children - not for us."

I responded, "He read the Biblical account of the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus' death has massive significance for young and old. In fact, the most important question we can ask is, 'Why did Jesus die?'"

"No," he said, "the important question is what did Jesus teach?"

"Alright, what did Jesus teach?"

He thought for a little and then responded, "He taught people how to live like people - not to answer evil with evil."

"Jesus talks about that some in the Sermon on the Mount, yes," I answered, "But he does it to show us a standard for goodness, and then he shows us that we can't meet it. In that same sermon, he says that unless our righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, we can't even enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He gives us a standard that is as high as God is and then explains that we can't meet it."

"I think God punishes people here on earth; we don't have to wait until some unknown judgment after death to see God's punishment."

"Well," I answered, "God does sometimes punish people on earth, but Jesus said that the punishment on earth is nothing compared to the one after death. According to Jesus, the main problem is that we are sinners in the sight of God and are on our way to hell."

He looked at me intently, and his adult daughter had started listening in on our conversation. I continued: "That's why Jesus died. He willingly let himself be killed in order to take on himself the sins of the whole world."

He all but laughed and said that it was nonsense to believe that Jesus paid for our sins. I had to leave, but I promised we would talk again. And we will. I have many such conversations here. Please pray for people like this man whose spiritual eyes are still blinded by Satan.

Jesus Calls Us to Follow Him

We were once again explaining the gospel at one of our distribution stops, and one of the women kept asking questions, trying to figure out exactly what a person has to "do" in order to get saved, what steps to take. We were trying to explain the nature of faith, when another older woman added, "You have to stop trying. I also, like you, was trying to think if I had really received Christ and if I had done it right. And then on August 4 of this year, I just accepted Christ. I went into a room alone with God, and I just believed. And now I am held in His hands."

It was the first time I had heard about this, and I had been praying for many months for this lady. After the lesson, I went up to her and talked to her and got to hear a little more about how she came to the decision to receive Christ.

"Praise God!" I said, "You know what that means? You're my sister now." She is a full forty-five years my senior, and she gave me a strange look and kind of nodded. I asked, "Have you thought about baptism then?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I'm afraid of water. And I was baptized as a baby."

"You know that it wasn't baptism. You weren't a believer."

She looked down and said, "Yes, I know. But I don't like water. I'll think about it."

A week later, I was saying goodbye to her and told her that I'd see her on Sunday. She said, "See you on Sunday, if God allows me to have good health. I do love the sermons and fellowship at church."

"Have you thought more about baptism?" I asked.

"Well, I don’t really like water. And actually, I'm already completely certain that I've accepted Christ, so I don't really know that baptism is necessary."

I laughed slightly and said, "I'm so glad that you are sure that you've accepted Christ. But you know that baptism doesn't give you salvation. It doesn't have anything to do with receiving Christ. It's a proclamation to the world that you have already died to your sin and are living for Christ, and it's a proclamation to the church that you are joining as a fellow believer and follower of Christ."

"Oh," she smiled, "I would really like to become a member of the church. Is there any way to do that without baptism?"

"No," I said. "How can we accept you into the church if you're not willing to announce to the world that you have believed in Christ and died to the world?"

"Yes. Well, I need to think about it." She paused and then said, "Actually, I don't need to think about it. I just need to get ready."

"I'll pray for you," I said. And I do. Please pray with me for her and for several like her who have made clear professions of faith but have not yet chosen to be baptized and join the church.

Jesus Offers Victory

I met with a teen boy who is a Christian one afternoon, and we walked through the park while drinking coffee and talking. I asked how his prayer and Bible reading had been going. He confessed shame-facedly that it hadn't been going at all. I said, "Well, that means that we'll have to read some of the Bible together today."

I've been preaching through Romans at the evangelism stops in the evenings, so I opened up to where I had last preached: Romans 6.

"The question in Romans 6," I said, "is whether we can continue to live in sin, since the punishment for our sins is already taken away. What's the answer?"

"God forbid," he noted, reading the first verse.

"Exactly. And the reason is because Jesus not only took away the punishment of sin, he also made us new creations. We are dead to sin and alive to Christ."

Slowly, I walked through the first part of Romans 6 with him. We talked about knowing that we have died to sin and are alive in Christ, reckoning it to be true, and then yielding to it every day. He understood very well the struggle with sin and the need to yield every day, but what he loved was the hope found in the death and resurrection of Christ. He nodded, adding to what I was saying, and asking a question occasionally, as if these principles of daily sanctification were new to him and yet very familiar. And that's because it is familiar to all believers; it is part of what we understood when we got saved: Jesus is the only one who can save me from my sin.

We slowly learn more and more of the depths of the freedom Jesus has given us and of how to reckon ourselves dead to sin and how to yield our bodies to Him. But the freedom from sin is in Jesus. God is working in this young teen's heart, as I believe He is in the hearts of all the teens that I meet with here. Some that come to services and activities are believers; others are not. But whether it is the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin that draws them to Christ or the Holy Spirit's sanctifying work, it is not in my power to change people here. My job is to love, speak, and pray. Please pray with me, especially for the teens at the church here that they would have a personal love for Jesus and soft hearts to the work of the Holy Spirit.

. . .

Tell of the cross where they nailed Him,

writhing in anguish and pain;

tell of the grave where they laid Him,

tell how He liveth again.

Love in that story so tender,

clearer than ever I see.

Stay, let me weep while you whisper,

love paid the ransom for me.

Please pray for God to continue to give opportunities to exalt the name of Jesus here in Ukraine. May the lost believe in Jesus as Savior; may new Christians grow in their dedication to Jesus; and may we all become each day more and more like Jesus. Here are some specific areas in which I request prayer this coming month:

• I am putting together a Christmas play with the children and teens; pray that God would use this in the hearts of those who participate and watch it.

• Pray for the spiritual state of all the teens who come to the services, especially for a Christian, teenage boy who has recently started coming but has not yet joined the church.

• I need wisdom in serving in the church, talking with other believers, sharing the gospel with unbelievers, and supporting the vision of Pastor Mark.

• Pray that God would give me direction for future ministries in the church.

I appreciate your prayers. Thank you for being fellowlabourers with me for our great Savior.