Dealing With The Lost 1 Of 5

Ignorance is something we see in all areas of life.

Illus: When Vice President Al Gore was seeking to be president, he was running against President George W. Bush, who is known as a man of FAITH. God is a big part of his life. Gore knew that the polls indicated that the American people liked that about George W. Bush. So to counteract him, Vice President Al Gore gave a big speech about how his faith is "important" to him. In this attempt to convince the American people that we should consider him for President, he announced that his favorite Bible verse was John 16:3. His writers, in preparing for the speech, meant to say it was John 3:16, but they knew so little about the Bible, they put John 16:3, which says, “And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.”

Ignorance is prevalent in all areas of life.

We can laugh about all the ignorance out there in the world, but there is also a lot of ignorance when it comes to the church. When we read God’s Word today, we see that the church seems totally ignorant of God’s purpose for the church.

LOST people are dying and going to Hell in great numbers, and churches across this nation are making no effort to reach them.

• Stirring worship music won’t attract them because worship isn’t even on their radar screen

• More comfortable pews cannot compete with the easy chairs or the beds that already serve the lost person so well

• Church events cannot effectively compete with what the world has to offer

The only thing the Church can provide that no one else has is a life-changing, on-going relationship with Jesus Christ.

If the modern church continues on this path of SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE, focusing on buildings, programs and activities, we will continue to fail the Lord in the mission He gave us! Only God knows how many lost people are in Hell today because God’s church has been derailed.

Do you realize how difficult it is to get professing Christians to witness to their family and friends?

Illus: Norman Cates tells the story of a guy who prayed every morning, "Lord, if you want me to tell someone about you today, please give me a sign to show me who it is."

One day he found himself alone on a bus. At the next stop a big, burly man got on the bus and sat right next to our praying friend. The timid Christian anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus. But before long, the big guy sobbed and began to weep. The big guy’s crying got louder and louder, and then at the height of his tears he shouted out,

• “I feel so empty inside,

• I need something to give me peace,

• I need to be saved, and I need someone to show me how to get to the Lord.

• Won’t somebody tell me how to be saved?”

• He then turns to the Christian and pleaded with him, "Please can you tell me about Jesus, can you show me how to be saved?"

With that, the Christian immediately bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, is this a sign?"

We can lower the bar and call our big buildings, big budgets and big programs proof of our success, but we can have all these things and still be a miserable failure in God’s sight. These things are important, no doubt about it, but when it comes to the church, that is not WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT!

Illus: There is an old saying, “The world will not care how much we KNOW until they know how much we CARE!”

The Lord has laid on my heart how the church should deal with the lost. We see that -

I. WE MUST LOCATE THE LOST

Listen to these powerful verses in Romans 10:13-14, we read, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Illus: Steve Green in his song states the situation for God’s Church, and that is, “PEOPLE NEED THE LORD.”

Today, God’s Church has lost it’s burden for the lost. We are told that 160 million never set their foot inside of a church building except for special occasions.

• Some of these people are hostile

• Some are hurt

• Some are antagonistic

• Some are neutral

• Some are open

Some are on the verge of making a commitment, but few of them will unless we reach out to them !