People today are getting an earful about who Jesus Christ is, and very little of it is good. There is, of course, the “Jesus” of the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses; as well as the “Jesus” of Islam. Then there is the “Jesus” of popular culture: certainly the T.V. media, Newsweek, Time Magazine and yes, the book & movie, the Da Vinci Code, all have their own twisted tales to tell. In short, what people are often hearing about Christ is utterly blasphemous. But in view of this age-old problem, we Christians should only strengthen our resolve to herald the true message of Christ amidst the clouds of confusion. Especially during the Christmas and Resurrection-Day holidays we as believers ought so see these times as even greater opportunities to reach out to others with the clear message of Christ. With this in mind, I have recently reproduced the Gospel of John, with a brief survey/study of John chapter 1. This simple booklet is designed with the sole purpose of getting a portion of the Scriptures into the hands of people so that we might have the opportunity to query, as did Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch: “do you understand what you are reading?”:
Acts 8:30-35: 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “He was led as a sheep to slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He does not open His mouth. 33 “In humiliation His judgment was taken away; Who will relate His generation? For His life is removed from the earth.” 34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him.
And beginning from this Scripture (Isaiah 53:7-8) Philip “preached Jesus to him.” This Gospel example is the root idea behind And We Beheld His Glory – The Complete Text of the Gospel of John. We all have a certain number of neighbors, co-workers and general acquaintances that we have had some opportunity to speak to about the Lord. What we all pray is that they would be drawn to the Savior through the powerful Gospel of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16). By taking copies of the Gospel of John to others, this can become an opportunity to speak to them, in greater depth, about the true meaning of Christ’s advent:
John 1:14: 14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
God the Son (John 1:1) became a man (John 1:14) and dwelt among us as the fullest disclosure of the Father’s glory, and as the One who died on the cross for our sin. The introductory study in this booklet offers a simple Gospel presentation that is based upon John 1. It is very brief and is designed to be used in a guided Bible study. I have used the NASB, NKJV and ESV versions in this work in order to honor the copyright laws which govern each translation. Thus, it can be copied and distributed (for free) without any legal conflicts. Below is a Microsoft Word “booklet” format (in pdf) – this format can be taken to any local photocopy center and reproduced into a 8.5 by 5.5 booklet. Feel free to use this and pass it along to other brethren as an evangelistic tool.
Now, go out and tell others about the true Christ of “Christmas.”