1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your daily prayer, 2 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:17,799 Speaker 1: where we help you find the words you need to 3 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,799 Speaker 1: connect to your Father in Heaven. No matter what's happening 4 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 1: in your life today, you can trust that God wants 5 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: to hear from you. Right after this short word from 6 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: our sponsors, we'll pray through today's prayer to share the 7 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:51,120 Speaker 1: good News Boldly. A Prayer to Share the Good News Boldly, 8 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:56,959 Speaker 1: written by Sophia Bricker, read by Leah Gerard. When they 9 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had 10 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:04,480 Speaker 1: been told them about this child, and all who heard 11 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: it were amazed at what the shepherd said to them. 12 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: Luke two seventeen through eighteen, I've converted most of my friends. 13 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: I blinked as I thought about what my friend had 14 00:01:18,319 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: just told me, still trying to grasp the shift in terminology. 15 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: Someone listening to our conversation may have assumed we've been 16 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: discussing religion. We weren't. Instead, my friend had spent the 17 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:33,919 Speaker 1: last few minutes expressing her passion for a specific band 18 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: and genre of music. She had described herself in a 19 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,119 Speaker 1: way that I would compare to an evangelist telling others 20 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 1: about the joy of listening to music by a band 21 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: they'd not previously known. Language changes over time. Today, many 22 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: young people employ religious terminology when referring to music or 23 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: other popular culture to describe their connection with a particular medium. 24 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: May describe themselves as a follower of a specific artist, 25 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: even using the words born again. Others speak of conversion 26 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:13,360 Speaker 1: as a time when they began enjoying a specific band 27 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: or show, regardless of their former views on the subject. 28 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,600 Speaker 1: People have also referred to concerts or other events as 29 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: going to church. Such usage of terminology that has historic 30 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: and biblical meanings tied to it can prove challenging to believers. However, 31 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:37,360 Speaker 1: they should also make us pause and reflect. After the 32 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:41,600 Speaker 1: conversation with my friend, my initial thoughts centered on her 33 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: passion and what it might look like if individuals could 34 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: be just as enthusiastic when talking about Christ. This was 35 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: not merely an outside observation, but one that caused me 36 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:00,880 Speaker 1: to examine myself. What would it look like for me 37 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,919 Speaker 1: to live as a passionate and bold witness for Jesus. 38 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 1: One of the earliest examples we have of individuals sharing 39 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: the good news is in the second chapter of Luke 40 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: in the New Testament. Luke two seven tells us that 41 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: before Jesus ever healed anyone during his earthly ministry, walked 42 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:24,320 Speaker 1: with his disciples, hung on the cross or rose from 43 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: the dead. He was born to the virgin Mary and 44 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:33,920 Speaker 1: placed inside a feeding trough. Angels announced his birth to 45 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: simple shepherds guarding their flocks at night. In Luke two 46 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 1: eight through fifty, amid the backdrop of a bright light 47 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: and worshiping angels, the shepherds hear about the coming of 48 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: the promised Messiah. After seeing the Christ Child for themselves, 49 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: the shepherds traveled around to those living nearby to spread 50 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: the news of the new born King. Their encounter with 51 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: Jesus enabled them to serve as bold witnesses of his birth. 52 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: God uses lowly shepherds to make the good news known. Later, 53 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 1: the Lord did the same with former fishermen, another average men, 54 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: and women. After Jesus's resurrection, women were the first to 55 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,039 Speaker 1: tell others the news that he has risen. In Matthew 56 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,800 Speaker 1: twenty eight five through seven, the disciples too became witnesses 57 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: of Christ, testifying to others about his life, death, and resurrection. 58 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 1: As Peter told Cornelius in Acts ten thirty nine through 59 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: forty We are witnesses of everything he did in the 60 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 1: country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem. They killed him 61 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:53,040 Speaker 1: by hanging him on a cross. But God raised him 62 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,839 Speaker 1: from the dead on the third day and caused him 63 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: to be seen. Whether in the example of the sh 64 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: Ets or the Disciples, the passionate testimony of these individuals 65 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:10,239 Speaker 1: stemmed from a personal encounter and relationship with the Lord. 66 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 1: Those who know him love him, and what we love 67 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 1: we naturally want to talk about to others. Plans and strategies, 68 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: and evangelism and ministry have their place. We can learn 69 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,000 Speaker 1: how to simply articulate the good news through specific steps 70 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: and formulas, such as the Roman Roads method or the 71 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: Good News Bad News formula. However, if we desire to 72 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:40,720 Speaker 1: share the good news passionately with others, we must first 73 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: be passionate about Jesus. Falling more in love with him 74 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: will make us want to keep turning conversations back to Him, 75 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:54,839 Speaker 1: to act as a true evangelist by excitedly telling others 76 00:05:54,880 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: about the joy of knowing the Savior. Let's pray, Lord, 77 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: nothing compares with knowing you, because your love is better 78 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: than life. I want to use my life to glorify 79 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: you so that when others see the way I live 80 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: or listen to my words, they'll be drawn to you. Jesus, 81 00:06:18,839 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: make me bold, like the shepherds who told others about 82 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: you when you came into the world as an infant 83 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: in Bethlehem, or like the disciples who, through the power 84 00:06:29,880 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: of the Spirit, testified to many about the salvation found 85 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:39,200 Speaker 1: in your name. When I'm weak, Be my strength when 86 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,720 Speaker 1: I don't know what to say, Guide my words with 87 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: truth and grace. When I'm afraid or anxious, Calm my fears, 88 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: and grant me boldness. And may my love for you 89 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:59,200 Speaker 1: grow so that it becomes infectious to others. In your name, 90 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: I pray Amen. Your Daily Prayer is a production of 91 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: Life Audio and Salem Media. If you haven't already, be 92 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 1: sure to follow the show in your favorite podcast app 93 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: so you never miss an episode. For more faith filled 94 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:35,880 Speaker 1: inspirational podcasts, visit us at lifeaudio dot com.