Do You Really Care?

TEXT: ROMANS 9:1-4a

TITLE: “DO YOU REALLY CARE?”

INTRODUCTION: A. The abbot of a monastery called a novice into his office and

instructed him to give the sermon at the next morning’s chapel.

The novice was struck with fear. The next morning, chapel came.

He stood in the pulpit. The brothers were there. His hands were

trembling. His knees were knocking. His voice was quivering. There

was a long pause before he first spoke, and then he asked a question.

"Do you know what I’m going to say?"

They had no idea, so all of their heads went back and forth almost in

unison, as if it were choreographed. He said, "Neither do I. Let’s stand

for the benediction."

The abbot was angry. He told the young novice that since he didn’t

do what he was supposed to do, he was going to give the sermon the

next morning at chapel. The abbot warned the young man that he’d

better do a proper job or face the consequences.

The next day was almost an exact repeat of the day before. All the

brothers sat there before him. His hands shook. His knees knocked. His

voice trembled. Long pause. "Do you know what I’m going to say?" he

asked.

Well, after the previous day’s experience, they had a pretty good

idea. So all of their heads nodded yes.

"Then there’s no need for me to tell you. Let’s stand for the

benediction."

The abbot was angry beyond description. He brought the young man

into his office and said, "If you do that again, you are going to be in

solitary confinement, eat bread and water for thirty days, and receive

any other punishment I can think of. Tomorrow morning give the

homily; do it right."

The third day, chapel attendance hit an all-time high. Everyone was

there to see what he would say, and it was almost an exact repeat. He

stood, trembling, voice quivering, and after a long silence asked, "Do

you know what I’m going to say?"

After three days of this, about half of them had a pretty good idea

and they nodded their heads yes. The other half noticed the switch from

day to day, and they weren’t sure what to expect, and so they shook

their heads no.

The novice observed the confusion and said, "Let those who know

tell those who don’t. Let us stand for the benediction."

B. Samuel Wilberforce: Christianity can be condensed into four words:

admit, submit, commit, and transmit.

1. Admit – we recognize that we’re sinners and lost eternally.

2. Submit – we surrender ourselves to Jesus Christ as our Lord and

Savior.

3. Commit – we entrust leadership of our lives to follow Him.

4. Transmit – we communicate the gospel message to others who are

lost.

C. Do we really care that there are lost people in our area?

1. What are we doing to let them know that Jesus loves them and wants

a relationship with them?

2. How much time out of our week do we spend trying to let others

hear about this wonderful Jesus that we say we love and serve?

3. When will we decide that outside of loving God with all of our heart,

soul, mind and strength that this task is the first priority of the

church?

--And the second is like unto it: once we get them to surrender to

Jesus that we need to spend great amounts of time teaching them

what God would have them do now that they’re Christians?

D. I know what’s going through some of your minds. Your thinking:

“Isn’t that what we pay you for?”

1. There isn’t hardly a day goes by that I don’t talk to someone about

their relationship with Jesus Christ.

2. The Bible makes it clear that everyone of us is a royal priesthood

who are called to make disciples of Jesus Christ. NO

EXCEPTIONS!

3. Statistics prove that using the preacher as the sole evangelist in the

local congregation is one of the least effective methods of bringing

others to know Jesus Christ.

--Institute for American Church Growth asked 10,000 people about

their pilgrimage. What got them into church? How did they come

to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? Answers were:

Special need, 2 percent; Walk-in, 3 percent; Pastor, 6 percent;

Visitation, 1 percent; Sunday school, 5 percent; Evangelistic

crusade, 5 percent; Special Programs, 3 percent; Friend/relative,

79 percent.

E. If we’re serious about what Christ wants us to do; if we’re really

committed to being the Body of Christ where we’re at, we need to pay

attention to what the Bible says we need to be people who make an

emphasis of being a church that serves a great Savior who has given us