II Corinthians 5:14 explains what I call God’s rescue operation for mankind. The apostle Paul writes that Jesus Christ “died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them, and was raised again.” That, my friend, is the incredible rescue operation that took place on the cross when Jesus died for our sins!

God rescued us from ourselves - you notice it says - so that we would live no longer for ourselves. That really is the main enemy that we face. Satan is an enemy, yes; the world is an enemy, too. But the worst enemy is our very own sinful flesh.

Living for ourselves is selfish living. And selfish living leads us away from Christ. It leads to all sorts of problems in our lives. Yet, thankfully, Jesus Christ freed us from our past, gives us joy in the present, and hope for our future.

So what does this have to do with witnessing? Everything! The love of Jesus - His sacrifice in dying on the cross - is the biggest motivation for us to tell others about Him!

So think about the reality of God’s rescue operation in your own life. Then ask the Lord to help you tell your story — to your world.

Many of you have heard the verse in Hebrews that says we have only one high priest, and his name is Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. But did you know that all believers are also priests in the eyes of God? We all have equal access to the Heavenly Father. With the new covenant, God ordained that Christians don’t have priests — Christians are priests.

There are three things that priests do according to Scripture: They worship God, intercede for others, and minister according to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Every one of us is given gifts according to our position and the Lord’s choice, to use for His glory.

If you take your priesthood seriously, there’s no telling what God could do with your life and your gifts. So, pray today that God would do powerful deeds through you to reach the lost. As you do, He will begin to open doors that you never envisioned. You will begin to witness for Christ with power and authority. And to witness simply means to tell what you’ve seen and heard. By accepting your priestly role, you’ll be astonished at the power that will be unleashed, and the lives that will be changed.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are also a priest. Peter 2:5 says, “you also … are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.” And one of the jobs of being a priest is prayer and intercession.

A friend of mine, Doug Coe, told me that he challenged a new Christian named Bob to pray for Africa for 45 days. So Bob started praying every day, “God, help Africa.” After about three weeks of prayer, Bob meets an African American lady and learns that she runs an orphanage in Uganda. She pleads with him to come see the orphans and maybe as a businessman he could do something. So he flies to Uganda, looks at the kids, and of course his heart breaks. He comes back home and begins to do all sorts of things for the orphanage.

Then one day, the president of Uganda calls and asks him to return to Uganda because of the work he’s done for the orphans. So Bob goes back to Africa and befriends the President. Through their friendship, the president ends up releasing numerous all his political prisoners who had unjustly been imprisoned.

What an amazing story! Yet this could happen to you, too! When you take your priesthood seriously, there’s no telling what God could do with your life, and whom you may touch with His Spirit.

I remember the story of Keith Green. He was a highly influential American singer and songwriter from the 1970’s. Before he gave his life to Jesus, though, he was heavily involved in drugs and eastern philosophies. But one night he was invited to a Bible study at a friend’s house.

The true fellowship in the group impressed Keith. He saw people full of joy and love as they studied the Word of God together. And that’s where the Lord really began to tug at Keith’s heart. Later he paraphrased Matthew 18 like this: “It’s time to quit playing church and start being the Church.”

Keith was “burdened with reaching the lost, and broken with the true message of the Gospel.” And he had witnessed himself the power of community in reaching lives with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Living out the Gospel message in Christian unity is a powerful way to make an impact on our world. Psalm 133, you remember what it says… It says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!”

When you and I live together in the joy and peace that only comes from Jesus Christ, the world, like Keith, will sit up and take notice and our neighborhood will notice too. The world will pay attention when there’s unity. Jesus said that in John 17 and I’ve seen it to be true all over the world.