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:
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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).
- 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).
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".