Mack Stiles started the first session off explaining the Gospel of Christ using four helpful questions to help the audience break it down. The questions Mack asked were not only for the students attending who have never heard the Gospel, but also the students who have heard it and need to teach it to themselves. Believers of Jesus Christ are encouraged to never stop preaching the Gospel to themselves.
Who is God? What does the Bible say about Him?
Who am I?
Who is Christ? What did he do for me?
How do I respond?
To briefly summarize the answers to these questions; it is important to look at what perspective we are answering them from. Often times people will try to answer the questions above from our own personal experiences or views. This way of thinking is faulty.
Final thoughts: Mack gave some really neat perspective for what living in this world is like. He compared it to living in a shipwreck; you will find much treasure (worldly pleasures) and much brokenness on the ship. This is not the way it is supposed to be. As we look at these treasures, we must remember the reality of Satan’s deception. He will minimize our sin, lie, and promise untrue things. Satan over promises and under delivers. The sin of disbelief, not believing who God says He is is what ultimately plagues us in our walk with God. To believe the truths God reveals to us, we must continue preaching the Gospel to ourselves. Ask yourselves these questions and search for the truths in God’s Word. Jesus was our ransom, which means we were kidnapped by Satan (Romans 5:12), but Jesus gave his life as a ransom or a payment for our bondage. This sets us free. The cross was not plan B, it was plan A (1 Corinthians 15:21).