People need to know that there is hope in a hopeless world

I was dumbfounded when today I heard that a very popular kids choir wasn't going to be allowed to sing at a outdoor farmers market because someone complained that they were 'uncomfortable' hearing these young singers singing about Jesus.  Why is it that every time somebody complains about this message of  hope we as Christians have to clam up and not say anything more?  What is offensive about he Christian message anyways?  God loves you and has a awesome plan for  your life?  God sent his son Jesus to pay for the penalty of your sins so that you might spend eternity in heaven?

As far as I looked pretty much all of the religions of the world point toward toward God, but only Christianity provides an actual means to heaven.  Only Christianity allows for atonement for one's sins because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross for those sins.

Whether we want to believe it or not Buddha does not assure a place in heaven, nor does yoga, or for that matter Islam.  All of them believe in good works, but only Christianity has the resurrection of Christ and the total atonement for sins because of what Jesus did on that cross.

Fast forward to our shopping trip later the same day.  As my wife and I began getting out of the car I noticed handwriting in blue paint on the car next to ours.  It belonged to the  young family who had just arrived back after their shopping trip at Walmart.  I asked the wife the significance of the blue art work on the window. She hesitated before blurting out that it belonged to her 16 year old brother and after she hesitated some more she said that her brother committed suicide after being in treatment.  Treatment, I thought, was suppose to be a place where people find hope.  Then I realized that unless someone shares the good news that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life people will never even know what a difference God can do for them.

It occurred to me that as Christians we must never be ashamed of the Gospel message, nor how that simple message can changed lives because there are people who need to know that there is hope for their lives  We must always be ready to share the love of Christ so they have the opportunity to experience a new hope and the very presence of Christ within them.. 

Hearing about the loss of this 16 year old kid I was reminded that complacency for the sake of not offending people is not the way to go as believers, but taking risks and always being ready to share the love of Christ to a dying world that has lost hope is the only option we have as believer's.