June 22, 2023

Acts 5: 42 Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. (NIV)

The gospel is embedded in lives and personal testimonies.*

We know people about whom we have said, “She never shuts up.” And when others hear us make that statement, they know what we mean. They know that that person does shut up sometime; she just likes to talk and does it at every opportunity. 

Luke is making a similar statement about the apostles when he says they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news. Of course, they took breaks to eat and sleep and conduct the business of living, but their enthusiasm never waned. They liked to preach and they did it at every opportunity. In fact, they probably created their own opportunities instead of waiting for them to come along. 

And it worked. The church grew. As someone has observed, they “had no sophisticated strategy or public relations campaign for spreading the Good News.”* What they had was their love of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit. They didn’t let fear of failure, feelings of inadequacy, lack of education, or threat to life stand in their way. 

We may not be the non-stop talker of my illustration, but we should be non-stop teachers and proclaimers because we have a message that the world needs to hear and we have a need to share it. And it’s what Jesus told us to do!

Don’t think that you have to be perfect before you can teach or preach.*