'See ya there or in the air'!

                                                                -Isaac Airfreight

The thought behind this shirt comes from 1 Corinthians 15:51-52.

 

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 
 

the coming rapture

 

From the day Jesus ascended to Heaven, we have been looking for His return.  The angel said that we would see Him return just as He ascended (in a cloud) see Acts 1: 9-11.   For those alive on the earth at the coming of Jesus, we will be caught up in the air with Him.  But what of those who died in Christ before His return?  1 Thessalonians tells us that they will be caught up first! 

  

According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. 

                                                                                                         ~1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
 

how to use this shirt as an evangelism tool:

This shirt has been designed to give all who wear it, the opportunity to talk about Jesus.  You may have noticed that there are no scripture references on it!  People will rarely ask you about your shirt if they see scriptural references because they are used to seeing Christian T-shirts.  While shirts with references on them mark you as a believer, they rarely give you the opportunity to share your faith.  People see the scripture references and assume they know the  ‘religious’ ideals of the wearer.   What we want to do is cause people to ask you about the shirt.  “I don't get your shirt?”  “What does it mean?”  “That's Cool”

Anytime someone begins the conversation with you, the door is open to share the Gospel and the love of Jesus with them…. and remember, they asked you!

what to say when you are asked about the shirt

Most Christians, when confronted with an opportunity to share their faith often talk “religious” (they say what they think they should say with lots of Christian Buzz words) and turn people off.  Just be yourself!  After reading the above information, you should easily be able to explain how sin is a major threat to each of us and that there is only one antidote for the problem. Talk to them about Jesus and what He has done for us, making a way for us to confess our sin and come to God for forgiveness.   

This is your opportunity to explain the Gospel of  Jesus and then to inquire into their relationship, if any, with Him.

if they are open to further conversation

At this point, the person will say “yea, whatever” and walk off, OR want to hear more.  (Remember that God’s word does not return void.  Even if the person walks off, the Word of God was sewn into that person's life… you did not fail!)  If they want to know more:

When we talk about salvation we must bring people to an awareness of their need for salvation. The Bible is very clear on this point. Everyone has missed the mark or fallen short of the standard set by God. As a race we all fall short. This is not a close call, even the best person misses the mark by a mile.

But the good news is that God has made provision for us. He has a free gift, the gift of eternal life for us. (See Romans 6:23)

belief in Jesus Christ

God chose to fulfill His standards for us. He knew that no person could meet them and so all would fail. We would all be in a hopeless state, with no place to turn. So God decided to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to live as a man here on earth. Jesus lived as a man, but He met all of God's requirements. He met God's standard perfectly. 

But this still did not deal with the problem, we still fall short of meeting God's standard. We cannot live like Jesus, even after His example. 

The answer, God's answer, let the one who lived perfectly die in the place of all the rest. He let Jesus die for mankind, since no one else was good enough to do so. (If a man were to die it would be for his short comings, it would be just what he deserved).

So God has prepared for us a gift of salvation. God accepted the death of Jesus as meeting His standard. Then He raised Jesus from the dead. His gift of salvation is available to every one who will believe in Jesus Christ and the work He has done for us. (See Romans 10:8-10 and John 1:12-13)

 repentance of sins

receiving Jesus as savior

So now we can receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He now becomes the one who died for us so we can have good relationship with God. We can now become a part of God's family, not by any work that we have done, but by believing that Jesus has done the work for us.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.