Be An Iwitness

Introduction:

A. Before I begin a new sermon series next week, God put it on my heart to focus this week’s sermon on the place of evangelism in the life of a disciple of Jesus.

1. Two weeks ago, we completed our sermon series on the final days of Jesus’ earthly life by looking at one of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances when He gave His disciples the Great Commission.

2. Jesus told them to: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.” (Mt. 28:19-20)

3. The desire of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is for everyone to come into a saving relationship with God.

4. Jesus’ mission while He was on the earth was “to seek and save the lost.” (Lk. 19:10)

5. And when Jesus called the apostles, He said for them to “Follow Him and He would make them fish for people.” (Mt. 4:19)

a. I think it is helpful to imagine ourselves as fishers of people as a simple way to understand our mission.

6. Early in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus suggested two other images or concepts that His disciples should allow to represent their evangelistic mission – those images or concepts are salt and light.

a. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.” (Mt. 5:13-14)

7. As we move through today’s lesson, I will touch on these three images or concepts (fishing, salt and light) to help us understand how we can be about our mission in simple and concrete ways, but I mainly want to use another image or concept that I will introduce in a minute.

B. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the mission of evangelism, and it’s easy to make it so complicated that we are too intimidated to get involved with it.

1. So my aim today is to give us a simple and concise model to help us embrace this mission as a lifestyle – so that it’s not something we do, but something we are.

2. I hope that it becomes natural and second nature for us to be God’s witnesses.

C. I have chosen to package the simple model in the concept of being God’s eyewitnesses.

1. As you know, an eyewitness is a person who has personally seen or experienced something, and therefore can give a first-hand description of it – and we all, who are in a relationship with God, can witness to our personal knowledge of God and our experience with God.

2. To help make the message more memorable, and to help us keep in mind the three words that begin with “I,” we will use the word “iWitness,” rather than use the regular word “eyewitness.”

a. I am piggy-backing on the Apple Corporation and the name of their products – iPhones, iPads, and iWatches.

b. Here’s a pun I came across: If you see a crime at an Apple Store, does that make you an iWitness?

3. The three words that begin with “I” that represent the concrete actions that we can be engaged in as God’s “iWitnesses” are: iNvoke, iNvest, and iNvite.

4. Let’s explore the practical ways to be iWitnesses through iNvoking, iNvesting, and iNviting.

I. Let’s start with the first “I” in our iWitness model and it is “iNvoke.”

A. The word “invoke” is a synonym for the word “prayer.”

1. Prayer is the best place for us to begin the evangelistic mission and the best place to continue that mission.

2. As I have said so many times, prayer is powerful, because God is powerful, and He answers prayer.

3. Our God is always at work around us in the lives of people.

4. When we pray concerning evangelism, we are not asking God to start doing anything new, because God is already at work around us in people’s lives.

5. God is at work: He is drawing people to Himself, He is preparing hearts, He is establishing relationships, and He is arranging divine appointments.

6. When we pray, we are simply joining God in what He is already doing in the lives around us.

B. I want to encourage all of us to make a list of people to pray for each day about their spiritual relationship with the Lord.

1. To help us follow through with this mission, a good question we might begin to ask each other is “For whom are you praying for salvation and spiritual growth?” Who is on your prayer list?

2. Our list might include family members, friends, coworkers, neighbors, people we see regularly in the community: at the grocery store, bank, gas station, doctor’s office, or fitness center.