INTRO.- ILL.- A conversation took place between a rabbi, a preacher and a priest. They talked about how each of them celebrated Christmas. The preacher and priest explained that they both gave thanks to God for Christ and all they blessings they received because of Christmas.
"We do it a little differently," the rabbi said. "On Christmas morning my entire family goes to my brother’s department store. We look at all the empty shelves, and then we all join hands and sing, ’What a friend we have in Jesus.’"
This is the time of the year for retail stores to make some money. I heard that "black Friday" saw more shoppers out than ever across the US, but they didn’t buy as much merchandise as last year. So this makes selling a bit harder for the retailers. Win some, lose some. Here’s a few "black Friday" stories I found.
ILL.- Someone said: My favorite (I use this term loosely) ’Black Friday’ incident happened about two years ago. I was working at Express (the women’s clothing store) as I was home from school on holiday break and had enjoyed working there over the summer. It was about 3 in the afternoon and, as always, a few articles of clothing had run out. When I informed a shopper that we did not have any more of a certain top left--I had checked about 5 times for other shoppers in that hour alone--the woman jumped over the counter, grabbed me by the collar, and smacked me across the face.
Some people will do almost anything on "black Friday."
ILL.- Another said: We did the full thing on black Friday thing last year, researching, planning and getting up at 4 am. What we found was those door-buster deals at places like Best Buy, don’t even bother.
In order to get them you had to be one of the first 3-4 in line. We talked to one of the sales people at Best Buy later in the afternoon. He said that the big deal LCD monitor that was advertised only had something like 15 per store and there was a group of young guys who camped out the day before who got them all. They each grabbed the limit of 5 each. So unless your willing to sleep on a sidewalk overnight in 20 degree weather your probably not going to get some of the hot items.
There’s no item HOT ENOUGH to make me sleep on a sidewalk all night long! And certainly not in cold weather.
ILL.- Best Buy drew more than a thousand shoppers to West Paterson, N.J. and to its Manhattan store for early morning bargains on Sony laptop computers, cut to $399.99 from $749.99, and GPS devices from TomTom for $119.99, from the normal $249.99, according to store managers.
"If they were selling it, we were buying it," Tom Shea, 23, said as he surveyed his purchases at a midtown Manhattan Best Buy store. He said he, some friends and a cousin were the first through the doors when the store opened at 4 a.m.
IF THEY WERE SELLING IT, WE WERE BUYING IT. Crazy!
Shea, of Brooklyn, and two friends spent a total of about $2,500 on two laptop computers, an Xbox game console, a vacuum and several other items. They estimated they had saved about $1,500 — after waiting for 35 hours outside the Fifth Avenue store to make sure they were first in line, he said.
ILL.- Someone else said: A man in line described an experience he had at a CIRCUIT CITY that was just up the road. Apparently some early bird shoppers were using shopping carts to block aisles in the store, and some even abandoned their carts some 10 feet inside the store entrance, so that other shoppers wouldn’t get ahead of them in the mad rush for merchandise.
CAN YOU BELIEVE THESE STORIES? Yep and there are even more. Nevertheless, some retailers win some and some lose some. They win some customers and lose others.
AND SO WHEN IT COMES TO EVANGELIZING PEOPLE FOR CHRIST! We win some and lose some.
Our text tells about Paul and Barnabas preaching about Christ and how they won some, but lost others.
1At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. There’s the "win some."
4The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. There it is again. Win some, lose some. Of course, we are mainly interested (or should be interested) in winning people to Christ.
I Tim. 2:4-6 "God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men."
II Pet. 3:9 "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
How do we get God’s heart for people? It doesn’t happen overnight and sometimes it never happens. Only as we allow the Lord to work in us will we get His heart and His compassion for people. If we don’t work at our faith, it won’t come.
PROP.- From our text, let’s think about how to win some people to Christ.
1- Speak effectively
2- Give people time
3- Discern those with faith
I. SPEAK EFFECTIVELY
1At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.
ILL.- It is said that three essentials for a good speaker are: 1- stand up 2- speak up 3- shut up (know when to shut up). And the same is true when it comes to evangelizing someone.
ILL.- During a five-year apprenticeship in a small retail store, Marshall Field quickly developed a reputation as a courteous, eager-to-please man with a smooth sales technique. Several years later in Chicago, Field was walking through his own store and overheard a clerk arguing with a customer.
“What are you doing?” Field asked. “I’m settling a complaint,” he replied. “No, you’re not,” Field corrected. “Give the lady what she wants.” This phrase became a company motto, and is still used as a slogan.
Brothers and sisters, just as effective communication is important in the retail business, so it is in trying to win people to Christ.
If we don’t watch our words we may not woo some people to Christ.
Col. 4:5-6 "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."
I Pet. 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."
We need to be thoughtful and prepared in our speaking.
ILL.- I remember hosting a revival in an Iowa church one time. The revival speaker was from another Iowa church. He was a good preacher and on fire for the Lord. And I had asked the people in the church to give me names of people whom they considered to be possible prospects for Christ. The evangelist and I went calling on these people. And I remember calling on one particular farmer. My preacher friend asked him if he knew what was going to happen to him when he died. I don’t remember what the farmer said but I do remember that the preacher told him in plain words that if he didn’t give his life to Christ then when he died he would go to hell.
That farmer DID NOT attend our revival, not even one evening. Is there any wonder why he didn’t attend? It is my personal opinion that you just don’t go around telling people that they are going to hell. That is not how you win friends and influence people for Christ!
There they (Paul and Barnabas) spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.
How can we learn to speak more effectively for Christ? First of all, we just need to think before we speak. And before that we need to pray, "Lord, give me the words..."
II. GIVE PEOPLE TIME
ILL.- One wife prayed this way: I pray for -
Wisdom - to understand my man;
Love - to forgive him;
Patience - for his moods;
Because, Lord if I pray for strength, I’ll beat him to death. Amen.
When it comes to dealing with some people it is sometimes very hard to demonstrate patience, especially when we expect change faster than it comes.
Some girls marry certain guys thinking he’ll change after they get married. WRONG! If there is a change for the better, it sure won’t happen overnight. Patience, love, understanding, and faith will change a person in time. But it may take time.
ILL.- I read about a 4 year old staying with his Grandma and he said, "Grandma, I want `unch’." She said, "You want what?"
"I want `unch’." She said, "You mean, you want lunch!" "Yes, I want `unch’."
Grandma said, "I’m not gong to give it to you until you say it correctly. Now, what do you want?" "I want `unch’."
She said, "Say it right, what do you want?" He finally looked at her in exasperation and said, "Grandma, read my ’ips’!"
It takes patience to raise children. This is something that ALL parents deal with. We may think in regard to our children: "When are they ever going to grow up and think like I do?"
ILL.- Someone put it this way: Patience is the trait that displays tolerance, compassion, understanding, and acceptance toward those who are slower than you in developing maturity, emotional freedom, and coping abilities.
3So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders. Spent considerable time. They were patient in dealing with people.
ILL.- The Japanese businessmen excel at judging public reaction to a product that has not yet been introduced. Before they manufacture or introduce a product, they use a lot of observation (called “soft research”). One Japanese firm will send an employee to study at Harvard for a year. They expect him to be acquainted with American life, go to Sunday dinners, and socialize with friends. They made no secret about their being here to learn more about the States. When they go home, all that information is fed back into a report for corporate study.
The Japanese have a saying: “The customer is king.” It goes a step beyond the American sales slogan: “The customer is always right.”
It sounds to me like the Japanese are extremely interested in studying people in order to be able to sell their products.
Selling Christ to some people won’t happen overnight. It may take years to convince some people of their need for Christ.
There is no miraculous way to win some people to Christ. It just takes hard work, lots of love, tons of prayers, and much patience.
II Pet. 3:9 "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
Since God is patient with people, we must learn to be. Hopefully, we want people to come to Christ and be saved, but for some it may take a while. We must keep on praying and loving people.
III. DISCERN THOSE WITH FAITH
ILL.- A little girl had a dad who was a preacher. She asked, “Daddy, how do you know what to preach on Sundays?” “God tells me,” responded the dad. “Then daddy, why do you crinkle up so many sheets of paper and toss them into the waste basket?”
Pretty discerning little girl. And we all need discernment in life in order to function well, and make wise decisions and deal with people.
ILL.- I have a preacher friend who introduced me one time to his youth and music minister. Later, he asked me what I thought of the young man. I said, "Well, he acts like he knows everything and nobody is going to tell him anything." He said, "You pegged him just right."
I don’t claim to have the divine gift of discernment but some things and some people are pretty obvious.
ILL.- In one ministry, we went calling at night and tried to knock on every door in our small town in order to get people to enroll in our Sunday School program. And I remember knocking on one door and the man who answered acted nasty and seemed to indicate he wasn’t interested.
Discernment in that case was pretty obvious. It’s like what someone said, "What part of ’no’ do you not understand?" Some things are easily discernible and some people are as well.
8In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. 9He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
Paul could see that this man had the faith to be healed. Can we see when dealing with people if they have the faith to be saved?
ILL.- I remember dealing with a young man in a small Iowa town. I believe he was probably in his twenties. His mother was deceased and his father was an alcoholic. He had an old school friend in our church who was going to Ozark Bible College to be a preacher. His friend brought him by to see me one day. He said, "I’ve convinced my friend that he needs to study the Bible." After talking to him a while and listening, he sounded like he was on the verge of seeking Christ. I took the conversation several steps forward, talking him to about giving his life to Christ, and a few days later I baptized him.
I wasn’t that discerning, I just wanted to encourage him to seek Christ for his life and he was open and responsive. However, most people are not so discernible or readable.
ILL.- It is said that eye contact helps people in almost any walk of life. Salvation Army bell-ringers claim they almost always get a donation if they make eye contact with pedestrians. Salespeople who use eye contact with customers generate more and larger sales.
Hitchhikers stand a better chance of getting rides if they engage in eye contact with passing motorists. Managers and executives who use their eyes when talking with their staffs open communications. And parents often find eyes the most effective means of scolding children.
And guess what? Eye contact helps in talking to people about Christ as well! Keep your eyes open and heart in tune to people and you will discern their need for Christ.
CONCLUSION-----------------------
1- Speak effectively 2- Give people time 3- Discern those with faith. We need these things to be able to help lead people to a saving faith in Christ. However, here is the greatest thing we need.
Matthew 9:35-36 "Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."
What we need more than anything is the heart of Jesus.
ILL.- It’s like the conversation between a young preacher and older preacher. The young preacher said, "I just love to preach." The older preacher said, "yes, but do you love the people to whom you preach?"
