After Easter - Getting With God's Program Of Telling Others

INTRO.- ILL.- April 2009, LOS ANGELES – As she walked from a post office, Talon Curtis thought she’d found one of those gimmicky sweepstakes offers on the ground that scream something like "$357,959.55" in big bold letters and "This is not a real check" in much smaller type. But just as she was about to do her part for a cleaner planet and deliver the paper from the parking lot to a trash can, she noticed it was a real cashier’s check with a real signature.

"I couldn’t believe it. I almost passed out," Curtis, who works as a loan negotiator, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I have never seen a check that big."

She immediately set out to find its rightful recipient, but it was Saturday afternoon and the banks were closing. On Monday, with help from KCAL-TV reporter Dave Malkoff, she located the check’s owner, who had arrived at her bank in a panic.

Curtis said she spoke briefly with the woman on the phone about a possible meeting, but Pacific Mercantile Bank instructed her to mail the check to them instead. Not willing to take a chance on the mail, Curtis delivered it personally. A bank employee confirmed it had arrived. Curtis said she never thought of keeping the check for herself, and she declined the woman’s offer of a reward. Still, she’s just a little disappointed.

"I just wanted to see her face," Curtis said, laughing. "I just wanted to let her know that there are honest people left in this world." Hey, this is good news and I’m happy to tell you about it!

There isn’t much good news happening these days so whenever we hear some we need to tell others about it!

It’s refreshing to hear good news instead of bad or negative news all the time. But there’s even better news!

ILL.- BALTIMORE, Maryland (CNN) -- Dr. Carnell Cooper, a Baltimore surgeon, is saving lives inside and outside the operating room. Since becoming a trauma surgeon 16 years ago, he has dedicated himself to treating the many young African-American men who’ve been shot, stabbed or beaten, only to see them return to the ER with another severe injury just months later.

But when one of his patients was re-admitted with a fatal gunshot wound to the head in 1996, it changed Cooper’s life. "The night that we pronounced that young man dead and my colleagues said there’s really nothing we can do in these situations. ...

"I just didn’t believe that," said Cooper, 54. "From that day forward, I said, ’Let’s see what we can do.’ "

Cooper created the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) at the Shock Trauma Unit of the University of Maryland Medical Center, the state’s busiest hospital for violent injuries.

That’s super good news! And just as Dr. Carnell Cooper is saving lives with his Violence Intervention Program, we, too, can save lives in another way and one that is even more lasting!

Rom. 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Sin is wreaking havoc in people’s lives. Sin is destroying people’s lives and sending them a Christless grave, but God has offered the gift of eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ. And we need to do something about it! We need to spread this very good news!

PROP.- We need to get with God’s program of telling others about the message of Jesus Christ! 1- Go tell the truths of Jesus 2- Go tell the truth about Jesus

I. GO TELL THE TRUTHS OF JESUS

Matthew 28:8-11 8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." 11While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.

The guards reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. They reported the truth of what had happened. We need to report the truth, especially the truth of scripture.

We need to repeat the truths of scripture everywhere we go! Scripture is truth. If there is anything we can believe today, it’s the Bible! If you want to quote someone, then quote God! Most people can’t argue with scripture. No one can win against God!

ILL.- That great American, Benjamin Franklin, loved to argue. Occasionally he would find himself overwhelmed by the arguments of his learned friends. At such times he often would say: “Give me a day to think the matter over, for I’m correct.”