Is your Answer No, Maybe, or Yes?
Title: Is your Answer No, Maybe, or Yes?
Category: Devotion
Subject: Salvation; Decision for Christ; Vacation Bible School
Is Your Answer No, Maybe, or Yes?
Vacation Bible School is an exciting time for children and adults alike! During the week First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort held Vacation Bible School we had traditional snacks of Kool-Aid and cookies. Seeing the Kool-Aid and cookies called to mind Vacation Bible School at Memorial Baptist Church in Citronelle, Alabama, in the 1960’s. It provided a refreshing moment of nostalgia as I recalled the simpler times of my childhood.
One day during refreshment time, Mrs. Corrie Etta Rambo and Mrs. Joyce Clark offered some butter cookies and Tropical Punch Kool-Aid that I gratefully received. As I prepared to eat the first cookie I noticed a word in raised letters beginning with the letter “M”. Since the Murray Cookie Company has been around for a long time, I assumed the word was “Murray”, but after a second look, I discovered the word was “Maybe”. The next cookie carried the single word message, “No”, and the third one read, “Yes”. The next day Mrs. Clark satisfied my curiosity by giving me the wrapper. They were Lil’ Dutch Maid Artificially Flavored Butter Cookies made by Fehr Foods, Incorporated, Abilene, Texas.
The messages on the cookies reminded me of the time the Apostle Paul preached at the Aeropagus in Athens recorded in Acts 17. Beginning in Acts 17:22 we read Paul’s message: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:22-31).
Unlike some “politically correct” preachers of our day, Paul used words like “repent” and “judge” in his message. From 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 we know that Paul understood the message of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is His “death, burial, and resurrection.” Believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sin and that He was buried and rose from the grave on the third day is essential for salvation.
Notice the Athenian’s response to the Gospel message: “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, ‘We will hear you again on this matter.’ So Paul departed from among them” (Acts 17:32-33). At this point it appears that Paul is unsuccessful in Athens. The first word of Verse 34, “However”, reveals that we have yet to read the rest of the story. Luke continues his commentary of the account and writes, “some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a women named Damaris, and others with them” (Acts 17:34). Although some mockingly said, “No”, and others skeptically said, “Maybe”, still others believingly said, “Yes”.
Many like my wife, Sharon, have said an everlasting yes to God’s offer of salvation by grace through faith at Vacation Bible School. Jesus Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sin and to give you everlasting life. Is your answer no, maybe, or yes?
By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor
First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort 30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527
Author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice
http://www.webspawner.com/users/franklinlkirksey
Available on Amazon.com and WORDsearchbible.com
“Giving the Bible a Voice” on WNSI Sundays @ 10:30 AM http://www.wnsiradio.com
Click “Launch Player” to listen on Streaming Internet Radio
fkirksey@bellsouth.net (251) 626-6210 / ©June 25, 2008 All Rights Reserved
Vacation Bible School is an exciting time for children and adults alike! During the week First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort held Vacation Bible School we had traditional snacks of Kool-Aid and cookies. Seeing the Kool-Aid and cookies called to mind Vacation Bible School at Memorial Baptist Church in Citronelle, Alabama, in the 1960’s. It provided a refreshing moment of nostalgia as I recalled the simpler times of my childhood.
One day during refreshment time, Mrs. Corrie Etta Rambo and Mrs. Joyce Clark offered some butter cookies and Tropical Punch Kool-Aid that I gratefully received. As I prepared to eat the first cookie I noticed a word in raised letters beginning with the letter “M”. Since the Murray Cookie Company has been around for a long time, I assumed the word was “Murray”, but after a second look, I discovered the word was “Maybe”. The next cookie carried the single word message, “No”, and the third one read, “Yes”. The next day Mrs. Clark satisfied my curiosity by giving me the wrapper. They were Lil’ Dutch Maid Artificially Flavored Butter Cookies made by Fehr Foods, Incorporated, Abilene, Texas.
The messages on the cookies reminded me of the time the Apostle Paul preached at the Aeropagus in Athens recorded in Acts 17. Beginning in Acts 17:22 we read Paul’s message: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:22-31).
Unlike some “politically correct” preachers of our day, Paul used words like “repent” and “judge” in his message. From 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 we know that Paul understood the message of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is His “death, burial, and resurrection.” Believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sin and that He was buried and rose from the grave on the third day is essential for salvation.
Notice the Athenian’s response to the Gospel message: “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, ‘We will hear you again on this matter.’ So Paul departed from among them” (Acts 17:32-33). At this point it appears that Paul is unsuccessful in Athens. The first word of Verse 34, “However”, reveals that we have yet to read the rest of the story. Luke continues his commentary of the account and writes, “some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a women named Damaris, and others with them” (Acts 17:34). Although some mockingly said, “No”, and others skeptically said, “Maybe”, still others believingly said, “Yes”.
Many like my wife, Sharon, have said an everlasting yes to God’s offer of salvation by grace through faith at Vacation Bible School. Jesus Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of your sin and to give you everlasting life. Is your answer no, maybe, or yes?
By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor
First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort 30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527
Author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice
http://www.webspawner.com/users/franklinlkirksey
Available on Amazon.com and WORDsearchbible.com
“Giving the Bible a Voice” on WNSI Sundays @ 10:30 AM http://www.wnsiradio.com
Click “Launch Player” to listen on Streaming Internet Radio
fkirksey@bellsouth.net (251) 626-6210 / ©June 25, 2008 All Rights Reserved
