It’s great to be back here at Grace preaching once again. This is my home church and I’m very proud of what God is doing here. I travel all across the nation preaching the Word of God. In many of my sermons I hold Grace Church up as a shining example of what it means to have a church that takes the gospel of Christ seriously.
You have no idea how rare of a church Grace is. Did you know that the average church in America sees only 2 converts to Christ per year? Look at these roses! Each one of these represents a precious soul that was saved from the flames of hell here at Grace in the previous weekend services. My goal is to get as many churches and youth groups across the nation to commit to giving the clear gospel of grace every week just like this church does. Could you imagine tens of thousands of churches that are sharing the gospel every week? I guarantee you we would see a revival of Biblical proportions across this nation.
And I must say that I’m proud of the pastors here at Grace church. These guys truly care for the flock and do what it takes to protect us from the wolves. Jim, Rick and Bob are godly examples to us all of how we should live the Christian life.
And I have to brag a bit on Rick. I believe that Rick Long is one of the finest communicators in and around the Denver area. Believe me I preach with some of the best preachers in the nation at Promise Keepers and other events. Rick could hold his own with most any of them. I’m very proud of the communicator that Rick has become.
So appreciate what God has given you at this church:
• A church that is focused on consistently and clearly preaching the gospel of grace to everyone.
• A group of pastors that genuinely pour out their hearts and souls for the people of this church.
• And a preaching pastor that is as good as Rick is.
Let’s give our God a hand for what he has blessed us here with at Grace Church!
As good as we are as a church when it comes to leading people to Jesus I wonder how good we could become if every member of this church was actively reaching out to their friends with the gospel message?
Are you? When’s the last time you shared the gospel with a friend, co-worker or neighbor?
Why is that we freak out when it comes to reaching out?
Maybe we are ashamed of the stereotypical Jesus? Movie view of Jesus (Arnold Impersonation)
Maybe we don’t know what to say when it comes to sharing our faith? Some of us don’t even know how to bring it up…(“It’s hot in here…It’s hot in hell too!”)
There are all sorts of reasons most of us freak out when it comes to sharing Jesus and my prayer is that today God’s Word will give us an action plan to overcome our fear and start reaching out to those around us with the good news of the gospel of Jesus:
If you want to begin to sharing Jesus is starts when you….
1. Get a heart.
God has given me a huge heart for sharing Jesus. I think that it is because of how I watched the power of the gospel literally transform my life and the lives of my family. You see I don’t come from a religious, Bible reading, church going, pew sitting….
• Uncle Jack story (salvation…the same preacher that instilled a passion for the gospel in Pastor Rick is the same guy that reached my entire family….sauna, etc.)
When I watched the transformation in his life I knew that I had to spend the rest of my life spreading this message with as many people as I could.
But of all the people who ever lived who were motivated to spread the good news of Jesus there has been nobody more excited than Jesus himself. He is the gold standard of evangelists. If we want to get a heart for thoses who don’t know Jesus we must….
A. See like Jesus saw.
Matthew 9:36 (NIV)
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Imagine with me the Son of God standing on a hilltop watching the crowds of thousands scrambling below him. Imagine tears welling up in his eyes as he thinks of their broken lives and unrelenting sins. He knew that they desperately needed the hope that only he could offer and his heart was broken as a result.
Is yours? Do you see your friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers like Jesus saw them?
I remember that my old youth leader gave me a task to do that sounded extremely weird to me at the time. He told me to go to the Westminster Mall on a busy Saturday afternoon, sit on a bench and just watch people. He told me to put an imaginary sign on their foreheads that read, “Bound for hell.” So I did. That exercise changed my life and perspective forever. It broke my heart once and for all for those who didn’t know Jesus.
Think of one person you know who doesn’t know Jesus. Get their picture clearly in your mind right now…now I want you to tag them with that same sign. See the words on their forehead right now “Bound for hell”…and it’s not just hell in hell that they are headed to that must break our hearts.
It’s the hell they must be living through without Jesus in their lives. How do people make it without Jesus? Two and a half years ago I was standing right here giving the eulogy for my mom. My pain was real, but my joy was knowing that my mom was in heaven. I had the privilege of leading her to Christ when I was fifteen years old. Without Jesus in my life and in hers I don’t know how I could have made it through the pain. No wonder people self-medicate and drink.
We must see like Jesus saw the lost and hopeless then we must…
B. Touch like Jesus touched.
Of the 39 times the word “touch” is used in the New Testament 29 are in reference to Jesus.
o Jesus touched his disciples’ feet and washed them.
o He touched blind eyes and healed them.
o He touched hurting hearts and transformed them.
o He touched broken sinners and forgave them.
o He touched coffins and resurrected the occupants.
o But my favorite “touch” in the New Testament is when Jesus touched the leper and cleansed him.
Mark 1:40-42
“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.”
The power of this encounter was that Jesus was breaking all sorts of religious rules and regulations with this one touch. In that culture you didn’t even go near a leper let alone let alone touch one. But Jesus broke all the rules to reach people.
I don’t know why we, especially as guys have a hard time touching others. Most of us have a hard time even hugging. Watching two macho guys try to give each other a hug can be one of the most painful things you can ever witness.
By the way guys there are three keys to giving another male a hug:
Proper head placement
Stick your rear way out (which is easier for some of us) and
Patting the other guy on the back three times (“I’m not gay!”)
Seriously, there is a certain power of the touch that does something that nothing else can do. Maybe it is a hug. Maybe it’s putting your hand on somebody eles’s shoulder or hand and looking into their eyes when they are talking to you. Whatever it means for you learn to reach out and touch those around you like Jesus did.
We must see like Jesus saw, touch like Jesus touched and
C. Hear like Jesus heard.
Matthew 20:29-34 (NIV)
“As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!" Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. "Lord," they answered, "we want our sight." Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.”
Jesus heard through the crowd the drown out screams of two blind men…and Jesus stopped to touch them and heal them. This passage is a perfect picture of our lives isn’t it? We, like Jesus are surrounded by crowds. We are crowded by meetings to go to, projects to accomplish and endless lists of things to do. But in the midst of the crowds we must take the time to hear the silent screams of people sitting by the wayside who don’t know Jesus.
Can you hear their silent screams?
Don’t bother me
“Don’t bother me with souls to save. I have my own agenda….”
We must get a heart. By seeing like Jesus saw, touching like Jesus touched and hearing like Jesus heard. Then we must…
2. Make a plan.
A. Pray for the lost people in your life.
Somebody once said, “Satan laughs at our toil. He mocks at our plans. But he trembles when we pray.” That is so true. When you and I pray we are unleashing the greatest force in the universe. We are tapping on the shoulder of ruler of the universe and asking him to act on our behalf.
Nobody knew the power of prayer like the apostle Paul. He writes these words in Romans 10:1:
“Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.”
Literally the apostle Paul is saying that his heart is broken and that he is begging God to save the Israelites.When’s the last time your heart was so broken for somebody that you begged God to save them?
Think of that one person that the Spirit of God has placed on your heart and make a commitment to beg God to save them. But be forewarned. When you begin to beg God to save them God will be prompting your heart to reach out to them with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And when we pray we must pray in faith (Bob/sperm story!)
What’s true in the miracle of conception is true with the miracle of being spiritually born again! Do you believe that God can save that person on your heart? We must beg God in faith that God will use us to reach out with the good news of Jesus.
The first part of the plan is to begin praying for this person, literally begging God for their salvation. Then it gets a little tougher. We must…
B. Pursue A relationship with this person.
What I mean by this is to pursue a relationship with this person on a spiritual level. In other words, “Bring God up” with them. Write those words in the margins of your outline, “Bring God up”. Jesus was always doing this with those he encountered. He was the master evangelist. In John 4 he took a conversation about a cup of water and transformed it into a spiritual conversation telling the woman at the well that he was the living water and that if she partook then she would never thirst again.
Jesus calls us to bring it up with those we know who don’t know Jesus. Let me give you a couple of ways you can do that…
• Use direct questions like, “What are your spiritual beliefs?”
And then just listen to them. Don’t shake your head and say, “Dude you are bound straight for hell.”
• Look for natural opportunities in everyday conversations.
` There is what I call a “fork in the road moment” in most conversations where you can turn it toward Jesus.
• Use the latest news, world events, movies, etc.
Last week it was the death of Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter, that could easily be turned to the subject of death, heaven and hell. As a matter of fact as I was preparing this sermon I was convicted that there were two guys who were always at the Starbucks I study at named Ron and Otis. I had never really shared the gospel with these guys before. I decided to go for it. I stopped typing my sermon and went up to both of them and began to talk to them. I mentioned Steve Irwin’s death and pretty soon came to that “fork in the road” moment where I said somehting like, “It goes to show you that any of us could die at any time and the only thing that matters at that moment is whether or not we end up in heaven or hell.” For the next ten minutes I was able to share the gospel with Ron and Otis and they were completely open.
People are more open to talk about this stuff than you may think. We just have to bring it up.
This week is the five year anniversary of 9-11. This is a powerful opportunity to bring up life, death, heaven and hell with those around us.
As a matter of fact Dare 2 Share Ministries has a tool for you to use. It’s called Culture Commission…
• Check www.dare2share.org/culturecommission every week for ideas!
We must pray for our friends, begging God to save them. We must pursue them on a spiritual level and then we must …
C. Persuade them in a loving, non-coercive way to...
• Attend Church.
One of the easiest ways to reach our friends for Jesus is to take them to church with you. Again one of the greatest things about Grace Church is that you know every week the gospel will be given clearly and powerfully. And there’s something about the gathering of believers that convicts our friends who don’t know Jesus.
1 Corinthians 14:24-25 (NIV)
“But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"
We must persuade our friends to attend church. We must also persuade them to…
• Believe in Jesus.
John 6:47 (NIV)
“I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.”
One of the problems is that most Christian have never shared their faith. I am convinced that the biggest reason is that most Christians don’t know how. That’s why I wrote this book Dare 2 Share. It’s pretty much everything I know about sharing the gospel. It tells you how to
Begin a conversation
Share your personal story of how you became a Christian
Defend your faith without being offensive.
Share the gospel in a powerful and simple way.
It even gives you 14 different belief systems and how to begin the conversation with them…How to witness to Marty the Mormon… Hari the Hindu…Jessica the Jehovah’s witnesses…Andy the Atheist, etc.
It is a field guide to sharing your faith with anyone, anytime, anywhere. I
It is designed to take with you in your backpack, briefcase or purse so that you have a ready –to-use witnessing guide.
I’m going to encourage you to buy one for yourself and for every teen you know.
If we are going to reach our friends for Jesus we must know how to explain the gospel and get them to believe in Christ. Once they believe we must…
• Connect to a small group.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”
There is nothing like a small group to help a new believer grow deep in their faith. Once they get tied into relationships via a small group their faith can become strong. We’ve seen countless people come to Christ through this ministry over the years and I guarantee you, the ones that get connected to a small group early on are the ones that stay strong and keep serving Christ over the long haul.
• Develop spiritually
(101, 201 and 301 classes)
God has given us a church with a plan to help new believers and newcomers develop spiritually. The 101-301 class will help ground new believers and newcomers into the basics of the Christian faith so they can grow. How many of you have been through the 101-301 classes? Growth connection
Ephesians 4:14-15 (NIV)
“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”
We must help new believers grow in Christ and finally to…
• Evangelize others (401 class)
Romans 1:16 (NIV)
“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.”
3. Just do it!
Acts 1:8 (NIV)
“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.”
A. Start in Jerusalem.
(your closest friends, family, co-workers, etc)
Think of that one friend or family member or neighbor that’s been on your heart during this sermon.
B. Expand outward.
• Judea
(others you know but not as well)
For me this was Otis and Ron
• Samaria
(those you wouldn’t normally hang out with)
Why? That’s who Jesus would reach!
• Uttermost parts of the world (everyone else)
C. Take The 48 Hour Challenge!
• One person you are going to bring God up with in the next 48 hours with the goal of getting them to go through their “A,B,C s”!
Write their name in the center of that graph!
• Go to www.gregstier.org as soon as you do and tell me how it went.
Conclusion: Jeremy, Kenna and King Soopers story
Give 48 hour challenge and gospel and close in prayer
