Evangelism Reflects Consistency In Our Walk With Christ Series

Sermon Brief

Date Written: September 27, 2006

Date Preached: October 1, 2006

Where Preached: OZHBC (AM)

Sermon Details:

Sermon Series: Living a Life of Evangelism

Sermon Title: Evangelism Reflects Consistency in our Christian Walk

Sermon Text: Acts 5:19-21, Eph 5:4, 15-17,

19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said, 20 "Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life." 21 Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach.

Acts 5:19-21 (NASB)

Introduction:

• What is the basic function of the church?

• Is it to come together and worship God?

• Is it to come together and fellowship with other believers?

• Is it to teach and train those who have accepted Christ and ground them in the faith?

• Is it to reach out to those around us and meet the physical and emotional needs of those hurting in our community?

To all of those things I just mentioned, Worship, Fellowship, Discipleship and Ministry… they ARE functions of the church and they ARE important in the life of the church… but this morning I want to share with you that although these things are important… they are NOT our primary function as believers in Christ!

The primary function and focus of the church must be sharing Christ to the world around us by sharing God’s Word! Whether you believe it or not, without evangelization the church is not going to grow… without evangelization the church is being disobedient to the commandment of Christ!

There are many of you here this morning that say, “Oh that is NOT my gift! I leave that to those who have the gift of evangelization!” And sadly, because of this attitude, there are many people who never hear the Good News of the Gospel of Christ!

We miss so many evangelism opportunities because we think that evangelism is SOMEONE else’s duty and NOT ours! But the Bible is extremely clear on this matter and evangelism is for EVERY believer! It is a command of God and it cannot be ignored.

In Matt 28:19-20 Jesus said, “…19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…”(NASB)

In Mark 16:15 tells us, “…15 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation…”(NASB)

Luke 24:47-48 tells us, “…and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 "You are witnesses of these things…” (NASB)

In Acts 1:8 Jesus said, “…and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (NASB)

These are 4 examples of Christ’s command for us to share the Gospel with the world. So as a believer, if you make the choice to ignore Christ’s command to share your faith, you are being willfully disobedient to Christ.

And, if you are willfully disobedient then you must begin to check your salvation because 1 John 2:3-4 tells us, “…By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him…”(NASB)

In other words if you are unwilling to submit to Christ’s call to obedience and submission, then God’s Word says you are not really part of the family, regardless of what YOU claim!

This is difficult thing for us Baptists to hear because we think that if we walk the aisle, or if we make a public profession of faith, or if we are baptized as a church member that we are SAVED, and once saved always saved!

But if your life has not changed and you’re being willfully disobedient and living a life counter to the commands of Christ… YOU WERE NEVER SAVED… you just spoke some words and went through a ritual.

So let me say this again to make it ABUNDANTLY clear to all who are sitting here this morning!! To all who proclaim Christ as Savior and Lord… God’s standard does not stop at salvation but continues on into the life of the believer and the actions of that believer.

So, if we refuse to obey His commandments, then our claim of accepting Christ is a falsehood… it is a lie! And I want you to understand that these are not Bro Bobby’s words, but the words of God Himself!

So not that we have established the fact that we are ALL called by God to be a witness for Him in this world… in OUR lives, I want to begin a short 3 week series on the sharing of our faith…