The Story That Changes Everything

When I was a young teenager, I often felt unsettled inside. Even though my family was religious, this question kept coming back to me: “am I good enough to go to heaven?”

That’s a big question, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I knew God was holy, and I also knew I had wrong attitudes, such as pride and jealousy. Although I did a lot of good things, I knew my sin separated me from God. I wondered if I could ever be fully forgiven. I started searching for an answer.

Not long after, someone told me something that changed everything. They told me this: "Jesus Christ wants to come into your life and forgive all your sin. He will give you eternal life and live in you through the Holy Spirit." The Bible verses they shared allowed me to understand the true gospel. This was the most amazing news! I placed my faith in Christ, and I was forever changed. He rescued me from sin, called me His own, and gave me the unshakable confidence of eternal life.

As I followed Jesus, I started growing in my faith. When I got to college, I knew I wanted to grow even more. One night, something happened that changed my perspective.

I woke up at 3 AM with my heart pounding. I had dreamed that Jesus came back to take all the Christians to heaven. But in the dream, as I was leaving Earth, I looked back and saw my roommate. She looked at me and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me about Jesus?”

That dream changed me. From that moment on, I had two clear goals:

• I would learn how to share the Good News of Jesus.
• I would tell everyone around me about Him.

To reach those goals, I memorized four simple points*

1. God loves us and created us to have a relationship with Him (John 3:16).
2. Our sin separates us from God (Romans 3:23).
3. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins and rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
4. When we place our trust in Him, we are forgiven, given eternal life, and welcomed into God’s family forever (John 1:12).

In college, I worried about what people thought of me. But Romans 1:16 gave me courage as it reminded me that the gospel is God’s power to save. This verse helps me when I struggle with worrying about what people think. No opinion of me mattered more than that truth.

Opinions fade, but the gospel saves. Share it with courage.

Application Questions:

• Are you prepared to share the good news of Christ?
• Who comes to mind as someone that might say to you, “Why didn’t you tell me about Christ?” What holds you back from sharing with them?

Prayer:

"Father, thank you for the words in the Bible that say that I do not need to be ashamed of the gospel. Would you give me courage to share this message with my friends and the people around me. Help me to learn the message of Jesus and tell this great story to others."

*Editor's Note: These four points form the basis of the outline that our staff have shared millions of times around the world. They form the foundation of the "win" portion of the "win-build-send" theme for this plan.

Joan Parsons
Georgia, USA
Neighbor Bible Studies (NBS2GO)