One Chance
Short-hand Gospel
From Jerusalem to the ends of the earth
- In the beginning, God
- The spirits and Lucifer
- The world, man and woman
- Sin and its result
- God’s promise
- Jesus came
- The cross
- God’s plan
- The resurrection
- Know, believe, accept
1 In the beginning, God
Say this
In the beginning, there was God. And he created a perfect world. He created man out of the dust. The world was perfect. There was no sickness, there was no death, there was no hunger.
Pause. Ask: "Does that make sense so far?"
2 The spirits and Lucifer
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God first created the Spirits. He created many spirits to worship Him. One of the spirits He made was named Lucifer. Lucifer was the most beautiful spirit and it was his job to lead the other spirits in worship to God. But one day, he decided he wanted to be God and have others worship him. So he caused a rebellion. But God couldn’t allow disobedience and had to punish Lucifer and all who followed him. God cast them out of His presence and condemned them to eternal punishment. Now Lucifer is called Satan and his followers, demons.
Pause. Ask: "Does that make sense so far?"
3 The world, man and woman
Say this
Next God decided He wanted to make man. But first He needed to make a world for man to live in. So He created earth and the universe. By speaking the words, He created everything around us! He created land and water, fruits, and all the animals. Then He finally created both man and woman. He created them beautiful; He loved man and woman so much. He even gave them the gift of free will; to choose to follow and love Him in return.
Pause. Ask: "Does that make sense so far?"
4 Sin and its result
Say this
Man and woman had a perfect relationship with God. They walked in peace with God. Everything was good. Until something terrible happened. Man and woman disobeyed God. This disobedience is called sin. And because of that sin, sickness entered the world. Death entered the world. Poverty entered the world. Life became hard. Because of their sin, man and woman were sent away from the perfect garden God had made for them and their lives became very hard and one day they died.
Pause. Ask: "Does that make sense so far?"
5 God’s promise
Say this
But because God loved man, woman, and their descendants, He decided to make a promise, a promise to send a Deliverer to take the punishment of their sin and return them to a relationship with God.
Pause. Ask: "Does that make sense so far?"
6 Jesus came
Say this
2000 years ago, God, himself, came down to earth in the form of a man. He was born as a baby and he grew up. His name was Jesus Christ. Jesus started teaching the crowds. People heard his voice and were amazed at his teachings. He also did miraculous things. He healed the blind and the deaf. He even raised up the dead to life. But the greatest miracle had not yet happened.
Pause. Ask: "Does that make sense so far?"
7 The cross
Say this
There were religious leaders at the time that didn’t like what Jesus was saying. They were scared that he would take away their power. For they didn’t understand His teaching. So they conspired against him. In the middle of the night, they took him away. They arrested, they beat him and then they crucified him. They put him on a cross and he died there.
Pause. Ask: "Does that make sense so far?"
8 God’s plan
Say this
All of Jesus’ followers were confused. They didn’t understand why he had to die. If Jesus was God, why would He die? Why would God let him die? However, this was all a part of God’s plan. God had a plan from the beginning to restore mankind to a relationship with Him. Jesus had to be sacrificed and take the punishment of eternal death for us, for our sins. This is the good news; Jesus died for each and every one of us. So that we can be saved from our punishment of death and someday live eternally with God.
Pause. Ask: "Does that make sense so far?"
9 The resurrection
Say this
Three days after Jesus died. God rose Him up from the grave. The grave could not hold him. Death could not keep him. Jesus rose from the grave and is alive today. He is alive to continue to save those of us alive today from our sins.
Pause. Ask: "Does that make sense so far?"
10 Know, believe, accept
Say this
In order to receive His gift, we have to know that we are a sinner and need a Savior. We must believe that Jesus is the Savior and accept Him into our lives.
Pause. Give the person time to respond.
Published by Pentecostal Church of God · 2705 Brown Trail, Bedford, TX