Reach out and touch someone
I’m thankful to be with you here this morning and the only reason that I’m here today is because a church like this in the suburbs of Arvada reached out to me when I was an inner city kid from a broken family on 20th and Federal in Denver, at the time it was the highest crime rate area in Denver (and my family had something to do with that).
• You see I don’t come from a typical, Bible reading, church going.…
o Pastor Arnold was a pastor who was willing to get his hands dirty in city missions. He raised up an army of adults who were absolutely passionate about city missions as well.
o Jack (describe, salvation, sauna, Pastor Arnold put him to work doing city missions, running other bus off of the road)
o Bob (Silver Dollar Bar and Grill, Pastor Arnold put him to work doing city missions, taking the screen door off of it’s hinges)
o Mom (bat, lead her to Christ when I was fifteen, church put her to work)
o By the time I was fifteen Pastor Arnold had given me my own bus route and I was reaching out to the underprivileged children in our city, getting them out to church, giving them mentors and sharing Jesus.
o This one church invested in me and expected me to invest in others. Their investment in me came in the form of mentors. From the time I was a kid I can remember the mentors in my life, they all came from this same church in the suburbs.
When I was in elementary school it was Renee Younger.
When I was in Junior High it was Bill Adams.
When I was in high school it was Mark Schweitzer.
• This one suburban church transformed this little inner city kid. As a result of this transformation I knew what I was going to do with my life. What I do now is equip teenagers all over the United States how to share gospel of Jesus Christ with their peers. This year we plan on training close to 40,000 teenagers in eight different events to share the gospel on their campuses and in their city.
o Did you know that according to George Barna 2 out of 3 teenagers will evacuate the church after they graduate from high school?
o Why? Because they are not owning their faith, they are borrowing it from their parents.
o Many churches have focused on entertaining teenagers instead of preparing them, equipping them and unleashing them to reach out to their campuses and their friends.
Philemon 6
Mormons
o Our events train and equip teenagers to understand the basic tenets of their Christianity and to reach their friends with the gospel of Jesus. We encourage youth leaders to start what we call “e-teams” (or evangelism teams) that give students a chance to reach their friends every week from the context of their own youth ministry.
The average church sees 2 people come to Christ per year.
The average e-team sees 5-10
o I believe that God wants to raise up an army of teenagers who will take their cities for Jesus Christ. I am convinced that teenagers are tired of the bland brand of Christianity that has been handed down to them. Millenniels want a more activistic, more revolutionary, more mission-driven type of Christianity that gets its hands dirty.
o Our goal is to train 1,000,000 teens and unleash 30,000 e-teams to reach every student on every campus with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
o By the way we are doing a conference at the Denver Coliseum on November 5th and 6th. We are expecting up to 8,000 teenagers. Last year we collected 18 tons of canned goods for the Denver Rescue Mission. This year we hope its 25 tons! We would love to have your teenager there and would love to have some of you adults come out and volunteer for the weekend. There’s a booth in the foyer on the way out where you could get more information about the Dare 2 Share Blaze conference.
• The Lord is opening up major doors for Dare 2 Share across the nation. It is our prayer that God will use it to launch a revival of Biblical proportions…
• BUT IT ALL STARTED WITH A CHURCH IN THE SUBURBS THAT REACHED OUT TO AN INNER CITY BOY WITH THE GOSPEL AND LOVE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!
And that’s what the church should be doing…reaching out to the helpless and the hurting, the widows and the fatherless with hope that only comes through Jesus!
James 1: 27 reminds us, “Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles.”
Jesus set the bar high…He showed us how to reach out and touch others:
1. His ministry of touch started with creation
o Imagine Jesus in the mud. He got his hands dirty when he made man.
2. His ministry of touch continued with the incarnation
o John 1:1 says, “In the beginning…” and v. 14 tells us that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” In other words spirit put on skin so that God could touch us.
3. His ministry of touch multiplied during his ministry
o The Jesus of the New Testament is an anomaly. He was a strange mix of courage and compassion. We tend to focus on the compassion part but he was also courageous and strong.
MOVIE VIEW OF JESUS
What makes Jesus so amazing is that in spite of the powerful God man that he is, he stooped down to touch us with his love!
o The ministry of Jesus was a ministry of touch. Jesus got his hands dirty again. Once again Jesus was down in the mud
Some of us guys have a problem with touch (HUGS!) But Jesus had no problem at all with touching others.
Of the 39 times the word “touch” is used in the New Testament 29 are in reference to Jesus.
• Jesus touched his disciples’ feet and washed them.
• He touched blind eyes and healed them.
• He touched hurting hearts and transformed them.
• He touched broken sinners and forgave them.
• He touched coffins and resurrected the occupants.
• But my favorite “touch” in the New Testament is when Jesus touched the leper and cleansed him.
“A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, ‘If you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.” Mark 1:40,41
• Because leprosy was contagious the OT commanded lepers to be separated from the general population of the Israelites; had to live in a separate house and couldn’t visit the temple for worship; wore torn clothes and covered their mouths and scream “Unclean” when in public; despised by the religious establishment who assumed that it was their sin that triggered the leprosy as a judgment from God.
4. The touch of Jesus began at creation, continued with the incarnation, multiplied in his ministry and, finally, culminated at the cross!
• When Jesus was hanging on the cross his arms were extended so that he could reach out and touch the world with forgiveness.
5. And now Jesus has handed the ministry of touch to us!
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8…in other words, we are to complete what he began.
What is Jesus telling us? He is commanding us to first of all
a. Reach out and touch those inside and outside our comfort zones.
i. Jerusalem and Samaria
1. Jerusalem…concern for our city! (people you come into contact with every day…people inside your comfort zone)
a. Think of somebody you know who doesn’t know Jesus Christ…48 Hour Challenge
2. Samaria (people outside your comfort zone)
a. How the apostles viewed Samaritans.
i. Jesus and the woman at the well
b. This is where City Missions comes in. This is where I’m going to ask you to get your hands dirty, to get in the mud with Jesus and do something.
Whiz Kids, Save Our Youth, Friends for Youth, Prodigal Gatherings
b. Reach out and touch someone because of what’s at stake.
i. Jesus ministry was fueled at least in part by the fires of hell.
1. Did you know that Jesus talked more about hell than of heaven?
2. Did you know that of the 19 times hell is mentioned in the New Testament 12 are mentioned by Jesus?
3. Hell is an uncomfortable subject that Jesus, the God of touch, didn’t hesitate to talk about. He described it as a place of:
a. Eternal suffering (ant)
b. Eternal separation
c. Eternal hopelessness
4. Why did he mention it? To add urgency, painting a picture of eternal reality apart from him (cure to cancer)
Doug was one of those urban teenagers reached by the same suburban church I was. STORY And now Doug is reaching out to those around him and getting his hands dirty.
Bow heads and close eyes:
• Maybe you’re here and you don’t know that you will be in heaven someday. Jesus reached out to you on the cross…give gospel…Jesus is in this room right now reaching out to touch the deepest part of your soul.
• Will you take the 48 Hour Challenge?
• Will you reach out and touch someone in your Samaria? In your city? I beg you on behalf of the children in the inner city of Denver to be a Pastor Arnold, to be a Renee Younger, to be a Bill Adams, to be a Mark Schweitzer to some kid like I was out there. These people changed my life because they were willing to get their hands dirty and make an investment in me. In just a minute you’ll discover how you can get involved.
