Fancy Footwork - Contagious Christianity Series

OPEN: Leonardo da Vinci had once worked on a great masterpiece for a long period of time.

There was a young student standing next to him as da Vinci worked, and the student watched the master work as the painting had evolved in front of him.

The student was awed by da Vinci’s technique and had been observing him in hopes of picking up some of the master’s skill.

Just before finishing the painting, da Vinci turned to the student and gave him the brush saying “Now, you finish it.”

The student backed away and protested that he wouldn’t dream of touching the Master’s work, but da Vinci said, “Will not what I have done inspire you to do your best?”

APPLY: As you read thru the Bible you sense the work of a Master.

You can see Jesus in every book of Scripture. And you can see the message of Christ’s coming in every stroke of the brush

Throughout the Old Testament you hear that: Someone is coming, Someone is coming!

And in Gospels you can read: That Someone has come… Someone has come!

And in the remainder of the New Testament we hear: Someone has not only come… But that He is coming again!

Throughout the Scriptures you get the impression that God has created this great masterpiece… and then – almost like a still small voice in the back of your mind – you sense that God has (in a manner of speaking) stepped back and handed us the brush.

ILLUS: There’s an old fable I once heard - about a conversation between God and his angels. Jesus had just risen from the dead and ascended into heaven. The angels were curious about this new thing that Jesus had died and risen from the dead to establish – the church. And they asked all kinds of questions about how God was going to get it started.

In the course of the conversation, it became obvious that the success of this new venture depended heavily upon the men that had walked with Jesus and had been His disciples.

One of the angels laughed and said “You’ve got to be kidding! It depends on these guys?These men are not well educated… they’re not particularly brave… they’ve been misfits and failures all their lives. And you’re telling us that these men are the key to whether the church survives or not

What happens if they fail? Do you have a plan B?”

And looking steadily at the angel, God replied “No, there is no plan B. This is THE PLAN.

Ø The passage out of Romans 10 seems to imply the same thing: (Romans 10:14)

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"

You see, you and I are plan “A.” And there is no other plan.

God WILL do His part in reaching the people around us but it’s obvious that God expects us to do our part in spreading the message to others.

In fact, He’s gone so far as to tell us that people cannot believe in Jesus if they’ve not heard of Him --- from people like us. The salvation of others might just hinge on whether they hear about Jesus from us.

Shane VanNatter once shared a poem with us that went this way:

”They will not come, they must be brought.

They will not seek, they must be sought.

They will not learn, they must be taught.”

Essentially, that’s what Paul is saying Romans 10:14. “How can they believe in Jesus if they’ve not heard of Him thru us.”

I. This is so significant to God that…

God declares that the very feet of those who tell others about Jesus are beautiful.

Have any of you ever taken part in a “foot washing?” Did you ever notice that people really don’t want to take the shoes off? They are uncomfortable having you see… or smell their feet. They don’t think of their feet as pretty, let alone beautiful!

But God says: If you and I share the message of Jesus with others, EVEN our feet are beautiful to Him.

And Jesus tells us “… there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10

In other words, when we share our faith with others - when we tell others what Jesus means to us - this pleases God more than you or I can even imagine. The very courts of heaven explode in jubilation, and delight

You and I are part of the plan

God has stepped back and handed us the brush

And you can almost hear Him tell us “Will not what I have done inspire you to do your best?”