I'm preaching for the first time at my youth group soon.

[GWH]

I completely agree! The most important question in life is that will you accept Jesus as Lord and trust in Him alone for salvation? That will surely be a part I will try to impute into my little recap sermon. It's a recap sermon reinforcing the main points. I'll also watch how our pastor does it.

Of course you won't want to dump the whole load in one sermon, but it might also be helpful to keep in mind that the main points of Christian orthodoxy implicit in this statement ""accept Jesus as Christ the Lord" can be explained or elaborated as follows:

1. There is a/one all-loving and just Lord or God (DT 6:4, JN 3:16, 2THS 1:6), who is both able (2TM 1:12) and willing (1TM 2:3-4) to provide all morally accountable human beings salvation or heaven—a wonderful life full of love, joy and peace forever.
2. Human beings are selfish or sinful (RM 3:23, 2TM 3:2-4, CL 3:5), miserable (GL 5:19-21), and hopeless (EPH 2:12) when they reject God’s salvation or DOD (JN 3:18).
3. Jesus is God’s Messiah/Christ or the way (means of providing salvation) that God has chosen (JN 3:16, ACTS 16:30-31, PHP 2:9-11), although pre-NT truthseekers could/can learn a proto-gospel via general revelation combined with conscience.
4. Thus, every person who hears the NT Gospel needs to repent and accept God in Jesus as Christ/Messiah the Lord or Supreme Commander (LK 2:11, JN 14:6, ACTS 16:31), which means trying to obey His commandment to love one another (MT 22:37-40, JN 13:35, RM 13:9)—forever (MT 10:22, PS 113:2).
5. Then God’s Holy Spirit will establish a saving relationship with those who freely accept Him (RV 3:20) that will eventually achieve heaven when by means of persevering in learning God’s Word everyone cooperates fully with His will (RM 8:6-17, GL 6:7-9, EPH 1:13-14, HB 10:36, 12:1, JM 1:2-4).

Although perfection is not achieved in this life, the necessity of learning the didache in order to strive for perfection indicates the need for perseverance or to keep on learning and growing spiritually until we die physically.

This part (#5) was rarely preached in the sermons I heard when I was young in my Baptist church, but thankfully I realized my need to read GW and fill in gaps that would answer the doubts that atheists may put in an immature Christian's head, so that I did not do what a church friend did and become an atheist or what my favorite HS teacher did and become an "agnostic".

 

[studentoftheword]

JesusIsSovereign-------------My contribution about the passage you seemed to have picked -----

Here is the thing ----You yourself have no idea who's heart God has changed and who's ears He has opened to hear and Spiritually understand the message you are going to be delivering ----

The Holy Spirit does know this already ----the teenagers who have not had their heart changed and ears open by God to your message will not get the Spiritual message behind your words ---

So you need to Relay on the Holy Spirit to help you draft your Sermon for your audience that your speaking to --

This Scripture you choose here is about God's Faith -----do they know what God's faith is -----God's faith believes in the unseen realm ---God's Faith Produces what it says ---God's Faith is inbirthed in a person through hearing His word and trusting it --

This passage is really not about why bad things happen to us at all --Death is a reality that we will all face ----the family of Lazarus were in morning --Lazarus had been a sick man and died ---the family were angry at Jesus because didn't come and heal his sickness as Jesus had healed many ----they were perplexed as why He stayed away until the 4 day ---and there is a reason for that ----it was a jewish custom ---to leave the person in the grave for 3 days -----and the family should have known that but their anger clouded their judgment ----

if you want to talk --- why bad things happen you should do the Book of Job -----that passage teach us why God allows bad things to happen to His Children -----

This passage is about a foreshadowing of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ --

Jesus was divine and human ----this passage shows His Divine Nature and Prepared People to Have Faith in His Death and Resurrection ----it is about eternal life after death ----

So was God with the Family in their grief and anger Yes---We are the ones who abandon God ---God never abandons us ----but our hurt --judgment and anger can Block God from being able to comfort us in our time of need ---that is part of the lesson from this passage -----

 

[keepingthingsreal]

JIS.

I cannot tell you what to say, but I will say a prayer that God leads you by his Spirit and puts his words in your mouth.

Thank you for trying to reach this nation's youth with the gospel message.

 

[homwardbound]

That's not what I'm hoping for. I trust God to lead me through and not go through this in my own strength, for I would stumble all over my words. I've been requested to preach that Sunday by the guy who is leading the youth group. I want people to hear Christ, not the Word of man but the Word of God.

So, sorry you are not seeing the word of God able to work through you
You are worried okay, maybe read Matt 6 where Jesus asks the ?
Will worry add even a moment to your life?
It seems to me worry takes away, never adds, it steals, kills and destroys, you will eventually see it one day, since not yet seeing it yet