The
truth that we have been looking at these last few weeks is that we were created
by God for a purpose; and that purpose is to “Know Christ and to Make Him known.”
We
were never meant to live, breathe, eat, work and die all alone. We were created
to worship:
to know and love God.
We
were created for fellowship: to learn to love each other.
We
were created for discipleship: to become like Jesus Christ.
We
were created to use our SHAPE to serve the Body of Christ: ministry.
Those
are the 4 truths that we have been looking at in great detail; but we are not
done; there is still one more purpose in this life. It’s a purpose that we
cannot leave out.
Jesus
said in John 17:18: “In the same way that you (God) gave me a mission in the world, I give them (us) a mission in the
world.” (The Message)
Jesus
said that God gave Him a mission and also said that we have been given a
mission; we have been given a task to carry out.
John
20:21 says: “…As
the Father has sent me, I am sending you." (NIV)
The
Bible says that we have a mission and we are being sent, but what is
our mission and what are we being
sent to do?
Paul
said in Acts 20:24: “…The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the
work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God's
grace.” (NCV)
Church:
our 5th
purpose in this life is to share the Good News.
Once
we know that we are not an accident; once we know that God has a plan and a purpose
for our lives, He gives us a mission: Go and Share the Good News.
The
Biblical name for this is Evangelism, and like all the other words we’ve
studied, this word has been misused and misrepresented for ages.
ILLUSTRATION- Many people think that
evangelism is standing on a Soap Box in the middle of a busy street corner,
yelling at the top of their lungs.
Still
other people think that evangelism is closely related to the Greek word
Television. When people think of evangelism, they think: “Send me your money!”
But
this is an inadequate view of evangelism.
The word Evangelism in the Greek means “Gospel” or “Good News”.
Once
we have received the Good News, we are to share that Good News with other people.
Jesus
said in Acts 1:8: “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the ends of the earth." (NIV)
I’ll
have you notice a few things about this verse. We are told, first of all, that
we are to share this news.
We will share
the Good News in our home (Jerusalem), we will share the Good News outside of
our Home (Judea and Samaria), and finally, we will share the Good News with
everyone (to the ends of the earth).
ILLUSTRATION- The story is told that God
and an angel were engaged in a conversation in heaven, and God told the angel:
“My plan is to give the Good News to my children who are living on earth and
ask them to go and share it.”
The
angel said to God: “What if they don’t. What is plan B?”
God
responded by saying: “There is no plan B.”
This
is the second thing I’ll have you notice about Acts 1:8. Jesus has a plan to
reach the whole world: you and me.
We are
responsible to go and share the Good News. We were created for a mission; we
were created to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Notice that
Jesus said that we would be His witnesses. He
did not say that we would be “His defence attorney”.
He did not say
that we would be “His prosecutor”. He did not say that we would be “His salesperson.”
Jesus said that we would be His witnesses.
God does not
need defending. God does not need to be prosecuted. God does not even need to
be sold. He simply needs a witness. Someone who is willing to share what He has
done in their life.
You don’t have to prove that God
exists; you just have to tell people what God has done in your life.
ILLUSTRATION- I am involved in a Leadership
Coaching Network with 9 other Pastors.
I attended this
seminar a few weeks ago, and I heard a series of statements that made a
profound impression on my life, and I want to share them with you now, because
they relate to this idea of evangelism.
I
want to encourage you to write them down, because they are that good. I also
want you to carefully answer each question, with a “yes” or a “no”.
1. Do we believe
that Jesus is who He says He is?
2. Do we believe
the Bible is God’s Word?
3. Do we believe
that people without Jesus are eternally Lost?
4. Is the Local
Church the hope of the world?
5. Should our
church be reaching more people with the Good News?
All of these
questions are straightforward and deserve an answer.
If we can say
“yes” to each question, then we should be reaching new people for Jesus.
I’m going to be
very intentional in making sure this church is reaching people for Jesus. It’s
not enough for us to say “us four and no more”.
I believe that
greater things are still to come, and we must be willing to take a risk for
Jesus.
If we believe
Jesus is who He said He was; if we believe that people are eternally lost
without Him, we must be willing to be a witness for Jesus and share with them
the Good News.
Listen carefully
to what I am about to say: The
message we’ve been given will never change. But the methods have got to change.
We can’t do what
we’ve always done and expect what we’ve never had. You can’t pray for revival
and expect it on your own terms.
If we believe
that people are eternally lost without Jesus; we’ve got to be intentional about
reaching people for Jesus Christ.
ILLUSTRATION- I have set a goal for our
church to reach by the end of next year. The goal is to see 20 salvations and
20 baptisms. Wouldn’t that be great? We’d rock out the Ridge for Jesus!
But we can’t
achieve that goal, unless we are willing to set aside our personal preferences
and be witness for Jesus.
In
order for this church to reach people for Jesus, we’ve got to share the Good
News. We’ve got to be willing to be Jesus’ witnesses.
The
most obvious question, is how? How do we reach people for Jesus? In order to reach people for Jesus, we must
be willing to Share
the Good News with them.
We
read in Luke chapter 8 of the time that Jesus healed a demon possessed man.
After this man had been healed, he wanted to accompany Jesus on His journey,
but Jesus told him:
“Go back home and
tell people how much God has done for you." So the man went all over town
telling how much Jesus had done for him.” (Luke
8:39 NCV)
If
we are going to see lives transformed for Jesus Christ, we must take the Good
News into our world. We must share Jesus with the people we live with and with
the people we live beside.
The
Bible says that this man went all over town telling people how much Jesus had
done for him.
He wasn’t using
“theological terms”; he was simply sharing what had
happened to him.
Each
person in this room has a story to share. Each person has an “I went from
what I was, to what I am now, only by the grace of God” story.
Jesus wants us
to use what He has done in our lives to reach the people around us.
One
major reason we don’t is because of fear. We’re scared that we will say the
wrong thing, or the people we’re witnessing to will not be interested in what
we’ve got to say.
ILLUSTRATION- I read this week of a survey
that said of the 65 million Americans who do not have a church home, 34 million
of them said they would attend if somebody would invite them.
That’s
incredible. People would attend church if they were invited. When was the last
time that you invited someone to join you for church? When was the last time
that I invited someone to join me for church?
Some
people won’t invite people to church because there scared of what they might
find at church.
Well, I want you
to know that I am committed to doing whatever needs to be done so that you will
want to invite people to church.
ILLUSTRATION- I have a saying that I share
with all of my ministry leaders and it
is our responsibility as leaders:
“Our
responsibility is to create an environment of ministry excellence that people
are comfortable inviting others to.”
I want this place to be a place that you go
around town telling other people: “man, you’ve got to check out what Jesus is
doing at my church... It’s awesome”
That
is what the man in Luke chapter 8 did. He went and told anyone who would listen
that Jesus healed him.
You see church, it’s not about
me; it’s not about you, it’s all about Jesus.
2
Peter 3:9: “God
does not want anyone to be lost, but he wants all people to change their hearts
and lives.” (NCV)
The
Bible reminds us that God does not want anyone to perish. He wants everyone to
join Him in heaven.
As long as there
is one lost person left on this earth, it’s our job as the Church of Jesus
Christ to reach them.
ILLUSTRATION- I don’t want to be part of a
church that is telling its community Go to hell. I would hope that you wouldn’t
want to be a part of a church like that either.
I
want to be part of a church that is willing to take a God sized risk and
reach people for Jesus.
If
we believe Jesus is who He said He is, if we believe that people are eternally
lost without Jesus, we’ve got a job to do. We’ve got to reach one more for
Jesus.
ILLUSTRATION- This week, those of us who
are reading the P.D.L. book are going to read about Jim Warren.
Jim
was a preacher for over 50 years. In his later years, he developed cancer.
In
the final days of his life, Jim was “kept
awake in a semi-conscious state nearly 24 hours a day.”
Rick
tells the rest of the story: “One night near
the end, dad suddenly became very active and tried to get out of bed. Of course
he was too weak… and needed to lay back down.”
“…he persisted in trying to get out of bed, so (my wife)
Kay, finally asked him: “Jimmy, what are you trying to do?”
“He replied: ‘got to save one more for Jesus.’ ‘Got to
save one more for Jesus.’ ‘Got to save one more for Jesus.’ (Warren, 2002, 287)
You
know friend, this is our final purpose in life. We have a responsibility to
reach one more for Jesus. This purpose, like all the rest, will take a lifetime
to
figure out.
Before
He ascended into heaven, Jesus told His followers: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have
given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the
age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, NLT2)
This is our
task. Nothing should occupy more of our time, talent and treasure, than trying
to figure out how to reach one more for Jesus.
Rick Warren
reminds us that “Our
mission has such eternal consequences- heaven or hell- that we must be willing
to risk anything to share the Good News.” (Warren, PDL sermon. 6)
If we had the
cure for AIDS or cancer, we’d share it with the world. The truth is we have a
cure to the problem that has plagued humanity for centuriesà
His Name is Jesus.
There are people
in our community who need whatàratheràWho
we have. There might even be one or two in our midst today. Without Jesus you
are eternally lost. With Jesus you can be found.
The Bible says
in Acts that: “David
served God’s purposes in his own
time…” (Acts
13:36, TEV)
We now know our
purposes. We know that we are not an accident; we know that God created us for
5 purposes and we must get busy in fulfilling those purposes.
God didn’t send
Jesus to die on the cross so you could waste your life; God sent Jesus to die
on the cross so you could find your life.
He sent Jesus
for a reason, so we could Know Christ and make Him known.
While our church
is going to be intentional about reaching new people for Jesus, you must be
intentional about reaching people for Jesus, too.
It’s not about
you, it’s not about what you want, not about your preferences; it’s all about
Jesus, and if you are willing to be a witness for Jesus, I’m going to ask you
to stand right where you are, and I’m going to ask you to commit your life to
reaching one more for Jesus.
John Wesley once
said: “Give
me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I
care not whether they be clergyman or laymen, they alone will shake the gates
of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth.”
We’ve
been given a task. We’ve been given a mission. That mission is to reach one
more for Jesus.
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