Can I Get A Witness? Series

:: Sent [Landing Graphic]

This morning we start a new teaching series and the objectives we hope to accomplish throughout this series are:

o to help you understand how your life is becoming part of God’s story

o to challenge you to communicate that story to others

[2 Corinthians 3:3]

Clearly, you are a letter from Christ… written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.

We have asked the question: to whom are you written?

• If you are a follower of Christ, then you should be part of the mission of Christ

• There is an expectation of labor, work, service for the cause of Jesus

• Too often we get sidetracked on our journey of faith and discipleship

• We mistakenly believe that, once we have put our trust in Jesus, our goal as Christians is to learn as

much as we can about the Bible and Christianity

• While knowledge and education are excellent personal goals, they are not the primary goals for Jesus-

followers

• For those who would follow Jesus, the life of faith is to be lived openly with the intent to lead others

toward that same life

• A Jesus follower “lives to lead”

:: The Great Commission

This principle is clearly expressed in the teaching of Jesus to his disciples.

Meeting for the final time, Jesus prepares to give his followers a commission and an encouragement

[Matthew 28:18-19]

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 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.”

[Acts 1:8]

And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere…

Mission, Method, Motivation

• Our MISSION is clear: to live “sent” by Jesus, a letter to others, helping people discover how their lives

can become part of God’s story

• Our METHOD is straightforward: to take whatever God has given us and use it for his Kingdom

• Our MOTIVATION is often where we struggle: why should I do this?

:: What motivates me to share my story?

• When it comes to sharing the Gospel, our motivation is the experience of the love and grace of Jesus

Christ working in and through our lives

[2 Corinthians 5:13-15]

“If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

• The experience of knowing Jesus, of receiving forgiveness and new life from God, of discovering the

power of the Holy Spirit inside of us to sustain and form us in this new life…

• This experience should COMPEL us, CONVINCE us, and CHALLENGE us to share it with others.

[G.K. Chesterton]

“The Christian faith has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.”