We are currently in a message series called “All About Salvation.” Salvation has to do with eternal destinies. What do Americans today believe about the afterlife? Over 80% of Americans believe in life after death. Over 70% believe that heaven and hell exist. When you ask people where do they think they will end up, only one-half of one percent believe that they will go to hell. 64% believe that they will go to heaven and 24% have no idea where they will go after death. Bottom line, the vast majority of people think that they will probably go to heaven or they at least have hope that they will go to heaven.
Unfortunately, the majority of people in the United States will not go to heaven because they have not put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. As believers, one of our main purposes in life is to be a witness for Jesus, pointing those around us to salvation.
Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
A witness shares what they believe and have experienced with Jesus with everyone they know.
Today, my message is entitled “Everyone Needs Salvation.” The Bible teaches that everyone, with no exceptions, needs salvation. What do people need salvation from? The answer that is commonly given is that people need to be saved from their sins. However, the Bible teaches that what we need to be saved from is God’s wrath. Now, the reason that God’s wrath is directed toward people is because of their sin and God’s wrath will ultimately result in people spending eternity in hell, if they are not saved.
Romans 2:5 (NIV) But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
A Judgment Day is coming when God will separate the believers from the unbelievers. Believers will spend eternity in heaven with God and unbelievers will spend eternity separated from God in a place called hell under God’s wrath. As believers, I don’t believe that we think about hell enough. Hell is a place far beyond your worst nightmares or the scariest horror movie you’ve ever seen. And it lasts forever. The people you know, if they die without putting their faith in Jesus Christ, will spend eternity in hell. The reality of hell should motivate us as believers to talk to everyone about Jesus.
Yet, so often, we come up will all kinds of reasons not to talk to people about Jesus. Since everyone needs salvation, we need to talk to everyone about Jesus. Today, we are continuing in our study of the first 3 chapters of Romans in this series.
Listen to or watch my October 14, 2012 message Everyone Needs Salvation.
This is actually shoetming we have been addressing at our church in the past few months. We have been incorporating more activities for our youth, such as– on a specific Sunday night, the youth conducts our entire service; our music director has incorporated some of the new Contemporary Christian music into our services, which the youth absolutely love. We have also brought a young youth minister in which has been such a blessing!Honestly, I think one of the main reasons the statistics are what they are is because a lot of churches are too set in older ways– not so much catering to the older members, but pacifying them by not incorporating newer ideas and technology into the service, etc. It is absolutely critical that we do all we can to make our young people feel a part of the church because they are the future of the church, and they need all the guidance they can get in this harsh and cruel world!!