Jesus Did Not Just Die on a Cross... He LOVED

Today, I preached in a prison to mom's who made poor choices and were not spending mother's day with their children. I read Luke 7:36-50 (You should read it, like right now). 

After reading the passage one woman gave her life over to Christ. I didn't have to explain anymore for her. She came up after to be baptized. And I've been asked this question and I want to answer it. I have high baptism "rate" because I offer it. I don't expect them to ask for it but I give them the opportunity to say yes. Talking with her, she said something that hit my gut. It made me weak and I realized why the church is failing at local ministry. In two lines, I realized why Jesus asked me to pick up the phone and ask them if I could preach this Sunday. It wasn't planned but the Spirit put it on my heart to do. This is what she said to me.

"I've been told he died for my sin but I could not understand why. I've never heard anything else except he could do amazing things and died." 

He didn't just die for her... He loved her. A man that would take the cross for her didn't just do it for fun. He did it because He IS LOVE. So, as I left the prison and went home to pick my family up and to drive to our church for our Sunday service, it hit me that local ministry is failing because we forget to tell the whole story. We just tell the part of "He died for your sins". But it leaves them with the questions of why.... we do not present them with His story and it is killing souls because we are not witnessing the whole story. 

Today, all I had to do was read the story and make it available to this soul and she accepted. Let's start telling them the whole story!