“PROFESS”
People: Part 3
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Dr. Randy Deal
INTRO VIDEO: Evangelism Tips - Deep Thoughts From A Shallow Christian (00:58)
GRAB bottle of coke…
Seen the new Coke commercials? Coca-cola is one product that has far outgrown its humble beginnings. In 1886, Pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton first introduced Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia. The pharmacist concocted a caramel-colored syrup in a three-legged brass kettle in his backyard. He first "distributed" Coca-Cola by carrying it in a jug down the street to Jacobs Pharmacy. Over 120 years later, surveys show that 97% of the world has heard of Coca-Cola. 72% of the world has seen a can of coca-cola. 51% of the world has tasted a can of coca-cola. YOU KNOW WHY? All due to the fact that the Coca-Cola Company made a commitment years ago that every one on the planet would have a taste of their soft drink. Latest tag line…THE COKE SIDE OF LIFE!
Really? Are you kidding me? 97% of the world has heard of this sugar and water concoction while 1.7 billion people world-wide have no access to the good news of Jesus Christ! It is estimated that 17 million people die every year without having heard the name of Jesus! When we hear those facts, we should not hang our heads in despair and shame. Instead, we should be challenged, motivated, and inspired to a new level of commitment in SHARING OUR FAITH, in sharing the message of Jesus!
Paul…Romans 10:13-14 (NASB) for "WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED." How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
“preacher” Kēryssō (kā-rü’s-sō) to proclaim, with authority which must be listened to and obeyed; to publish or proclaim OPENLY: something which has been DONE!
WE ARE THE PREACHERS & OUR STORY…OUR TESTIMONY IS OUR SERMON!
A passionate pursuit of GOD will result in a personal love for PEOPLE!
We need to lay down our pride & prejudice by DAILY SURRENDERing to God!
TODAY’S BIG IDEA: Share YOUR faith YOUR way!
IF WE LOVE GOD, WE WILL LOVE PEOPLE! AND IF WE LOVE PEOPLE, WE WILL SHARE OUR FAITH WITH PEOPLE!
FOOTBALL HUDDLE
The job of the church is not to impact the church, but to impact our community, our world! It’s like a huddle in a football game. This afternoon, the Cardinals will host the Eagles for the NFC Championship Game. 70,000+ people didn’t pay way-too-much money to watch the Cardinals huddle today. What if you went to the game and for 2 ½ hours you watched 11 men stand in a circle and talk? That’s not what you paid for!! 70,000+ people paid a ton of money to see what difference the huddle makes. What they want to know is, having called the play in secret, does it work in public? The challenge for the church is not what we do when we call our Sunday morning huddle, but what we do when we break our huddle and head to SHARING OUR FAITH all week!
SHARE YOUR FAITH, YOUR WAY!
Sharing THE faith versus YOUR faith:
Important difference between sharing THE faith and sharing YOUR faith. Sharing THE faith is about communicating a body of facts about God, sin, and salvation. And that is important, it needs to happen at some point along the road, but it isn’t usually where evangelism starts.
Sharing YOUR faith is different: it is about sharing what God has done in YOUR life with someone else. It is sharing YOUR testimony:
• being in a relationship with God has changed you
• has met the deep needs of your heart
• makes a difference in who you are
• makes a difference in how you meet the challenges of life.
It is OUR faith, OUR journey with God, and how He is real to US!
QUESTION: Do you have a FAITH to SHARE?
• How is your relationship with God right now?
• Close to Him or distant?
• Relying on Him or fighting with Him?
• Letting HIM be Lord of your life, or are YOU calling the shots?
• Letting go of things He wants you to hold on to?
• Holding on to things that He has called you to get rid of?
• Living the full, free, exciting life that God desires for you?
• Living ABUNDANT life Jesus promised?
If not…LET’S JUST STOP RIGHT HERE! AND PRAY!
GOTTA HAVE A FAITH TO SHARE YOUR FAITH! If your faith is not at a place of sharing, then we’re going to take the time right here and now to have a conversation with God…to get that straightened out so that we can move on in the life God desires for us. Let Him speak to you, change you, heal you, restore you, encourage you. Let Him give you something to share. LET’S PRAY!!!
Sharing your faith YOUR way
We should ALL have something to share, but HOW do we share it?
@ RPC…personal evangelism strategy…INVEST AND INVITE!
• INVEST: in people’s lives and in yourself!
• INVITE: invite people into conversation, into your lives, to church and other events!
As we INVEST & INVITE, I believe God has given us each a unique personal style, and a responsibility to share the faith that we have in Christ in a way that is consistent with our personal style. Bill Hybels & Mark Mittelberg in BECOMING A CONTAGIOUS CHRISTIAN identify 6 evangelism styles that are tied to our personal styles:
WHICH YOU RESONATE WITH? WITH ONE IS YOU?
1. Confrontational Style (i.e. evangelists)
Peter in Acts 2:22-24 (NASB) …Peter stands up in the middle of Jerusalem, where just a few weeks earlier Jesus had been crucified, and says… “22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24 "But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
Peter was confrontational!
YOUR EVANGELISM STYLE MIGHT BE CONFRONTATIONAL IF…
• In conversations, you like to approach topics directly without much small talk or beating around the bush.
• you put people on the spot when it seems necessary
• you don’t have a problem confronting your family & friends with the truth even if it risks hurting the relationship – you tell the truth, even when it hurts.
• you sometimes get in trouble for lacking sensitivity and gentleness
If this seems to describe your style, don’t shy away from conversations! Be yourself, be LOVING AND RESPECTFUL, but be bold and direct and confident and share what God has done in YOUR life.
SOME…INVEST & INVITE CONFRONTATIONALLY!
Caution – be tactful; be eager to follow up and apologize if you think people may have taken offense at how you expressed yourself.
2. Intellectual Style
One we find Paul using in his Sermon on Mars Hill in Acts 17:22-31 (NASB) …He’s travelled to the city of Athens, a Greek city full of philosophers and deep thinkers. He begins to teach there, and some of these philosophers are intrigued and interested to hear these new ideas, so they invite him to come and talk to them. Here is what he says:
22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 "For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ’TO AN UNKNOWN GOD ’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. And he continues from there to lay out a very logical, analytical case for faith in Christ. 24 "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ’For we also are His children.’ 29 "Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
YOUR EVANGELISM STYLE MIGHT BE INTELLECTUAL IF…
• You love to read and understand issues being debated in society
• You tend to analyze things
• You naturally focus on the questions or ideas that people might be talking about, or that might be keeping them from decisions
• You enjoy discussions and debates on difficult questions
• You get frustrated with people who are illogical or have weak arguments
• You like to get at the underlying reasons for opinions that people hold
So if you are a naturally intellectual person, engage people in spiritual conversations when the deep questions come up. When people around you are discussing a current issue, dive right in to the conversation. Share your faith (again, focusing on what God has done in YOUR life, even if the emphasis is on the facts, in keeping with your personal style), and be a witness according to the personal style that God has given you.
SOME…INVEST & INVITE INTELLECTUALLY!
Caution: Avoid being argumentative, be careful to share Jesus and not just give answers.
3. Testimonial Style
Focuses on telling your own personal story!
Jesus Heals Man Born Blind in John 9:1-25 (NASB) 1 As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 "We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5 "While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world." 6 When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes, 7 and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent) So he went away and washed, and came back seeing. 8 Therefore the neighbors, and those who previously saw him as a beggar, were saying, "Is not this the one who used to sit and beg?" 9 Others were saying, "This is he," still others were saying, "No, but he is like him." He kept saying, "I am the one." 10 So they were saying to him, "How then were your eyes opened?" Tells his story…11 He answered, "The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ’Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight." 12 They said to him, "Where is He?" He said, "I do not know." 13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who was formerly blind. 14 Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. Tells his story again…And he said to them, "He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see." 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, "This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath " But others were saying, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And there was a division among them. 17 So they said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him, since He opened your eyes?" And he said, "He is a prophet." 18 The Jews then did not believe it of him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, 19 and questioned them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?" 20 His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself." 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. 23 For this reason his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." 24 So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, "Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner." Jesus heals him, he gets hauled in front of the religious leaders who demand answers (from him and his parents…), and he says: 25 He then answered, "Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." He couldn’t help but tell how Jesus changed his life!
YOUR EVANGELISM STYLE MIGHT BE TESTIMONIAL IF…
• You often tell personal stories to illustrate a point
• You identify with others often, saying things like “I used to feel/think that way”
• People are interested in hearing you tell the story of how you came to faith in Christ
• You intentionally share your mistakes with others when you feel it will help them relate to answers you have found
• People are interested in hearing stories about things that have happened in your life.
The little girl one Sunday as her family drove home from church, she turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, there’s something about the preacher’s message this morning that I don’t understand." The mother said, "Oh? What is it?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. He said God is so big that He could hold the world in His hand. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that’s true, honey." "But Mommy, he also said that God comes to live inside of us when we believe in Jesus as our Savior. Is that true, too?" Again, the mother assured the little girl that what the pastor had said was true. With a puzzled look on her face the little girl then asked, "If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?" EXACTLY!
If that sounds like you, tell your story to people. Use your story-telling abilities to share the greatest story of all – how God has saved us and changed us! If TESTIMONIAL, you don’t need to get into deep debates, or confront people, just tell them the difference that God has made in your life, just share your testimony, and listen to other people share their story with you.
SOME…INVEST & INVITE WITH OUR TESTIMONY!
4. Interpersonal Style
ME: MANY OF YOU ARE SITTING HERE…
Jesus calls Levi (Matthew) to be one of His disciples in Luke 5:27-29 (NASB) 27 After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, "Follow Me." 28 And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him. 29 And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them.
Levi (or Matthew), meets Jesus, HAS AN ENCOUNTER WITH HIM, and then invites all his friends to a party to meet Jesus too. LET’S PARTY!!!
• highly relational person
• outgoing
• friendly
• knows lots of people
• makes friends easily
• gets to know lots of people on a fairly deep level
• connects deeply with people
• leads people to Christ through the depth of their friendships
YOUR EVANGELISM STYLE MIGHT BE INTERPERSONAL IF…
• You are a people person; high value on friendship
• People recognize your ability to make new friends
• You’d rather talk about personal life issues than abstract ideas
• You want to talk about life first and belief second
• You enjoy long talks with friends
• You are generally an interactive, sensitive, caring person
If you…use your INTERPERSONAL style to introduce them to the greatest friend of all, Jesus. This type of person naturally exudes warmth and love, and has a great tool for sharing faith since people are generally already attracted to you because of your VIBRANCY! As you build friendships…share with them the source of your joy and your life and your love.
SOME…INVEST & INVITE INTERPERSONALLY!
5. Invitational Style
ME A LITTLE TOO…WORSHIP CONCERTS, SPIRIT WEST COAST!
Similar to interpersonal in that the person tends to be outgoing and relational. Difference is that instead of necessarily going deep personally and sharing on an intimate level, the person with the invitational style is able to get others excited about going with them to certain events or activities.
Samaritan woman Jesus meets at the well in…John 4:1-30 (NASB) 1 Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), 3 He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. 4 And He had to pass through Samaria. 5 So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar (sü-khä’r), near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ’Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." 11 She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" 13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." 15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw." 16 He said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here." 17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her (CONFRONTATIONALLY), "You have correctly said, ’I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly." 19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us." 26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He." 27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why do You speak with her?" 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, 29 "Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?" 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the well. She meets Jesus, recognizes that there is something really unique about Him, and then runs back into town and gathers everyone up for a quick trip out to the well to meet this guy. And they all come! You know these types of people – they’re the ones saying, “Ya, come on, it’ll be great, we’ll get a Starbucks on the way! LET’S GO!!!
YOUR EVANGELISM STYLE MIGHT BE INVITATIONAL IF…
• You enjoy including new people in activities you are involved in
• You are more comfortable having someone else answer questions your friends might ask, even if you know the answer
• You make a big effort to bring people to things that you think might impact them
• You regularly try to match the needs/interests of friends with an event or book that they might enjoy or benefit from
When we did the Wedlocked Series last October/November, you are the ones who actually invited people! You are the ones who invited people to our amazing Christmas production! When your Home Group does a special event/outing, you invite your friends and neighbors and co-workers. If that’s you, keep inviting! You get ‘em here and we’ll introduce ‘em to Jesus!
THIS = ULTIMATE INVESTOR & INVITER!
6. Serving Style
FIND MYSELF IN THIS ONE TOO…I LOVE TO JUST HELP OUT!!!
Illustrated by a Biblical character may not be too familiar with:
Acts 9:36-42 (NASB) 36 Now in Joppa (ē-o’p-pā) there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did. 37 And it happened at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an upper room. 38 Since Lydda (lü’d-dä) was near Joppa, the disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, imploring him, "Do not delay in coming to us." 39 So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upper room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing all the tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. 40 But Peter sent them all out and knelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, "Tabitha, arise." And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up; and calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 It became known all over Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.
Dorcas/Tabitha is an example of the serving style – she helped people everywhere, made them clothing, and had a huge impact there because of how she SERVED!
Reminds me of Doris Inman in our church…
You might BE A DORCAS if (JK!)…YOUR EVANGELISM STYLE MIGHT BE SERVING IF…
• See needs in people that others often overlook
• Find fulfillment in helping others “behind the scenes”
• Prefer to show love through ACTION rather than words
• Enjoy giving quiet demonstrations of Christian love
• Tend to be practical and action oriented rather than word oriented
If that fits you, continue to serve others in the name of Jesus! Look for ways to ensure that people understand that your service to them is because of your love for God. The Kingdom of God needs more of this kind of service that demonstrates the reality of God’s love for people in an authentic way.
SOME…INVEST & INVITE THROUGH SERVING!
Conclusion
WHICH ARE YOU MOSTLY? ARE YOU MORE CONFRONTATIONAL? MORE INTELLECTUAL? MORE TESTIMONIAL? MORE INTERPERSONAL? MORE INVITATIONAL? OR MORE SERVING?
No style is better than another! As the church…as the Body of Christ…we need ‘em all! Which one do you MOST resonate with? Use that one!
Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, said, “God does not ask your ability or your inability. He asks only your availability.”
SHARE YOUR FAITH YOUR WAY! Share the story of what God has done in your life in a way that fits your personal STYLE, whether that is confrontational, intellectual, testimonial, interpersonal, invitational, or through serving!
Coming to faith in Christ is a JOURNEY for everyone. We each need to be sharing OUR FAITH so we can be participating with the Holy Spirit as God works in people’s lives!
THAT’S THE HOW OF IT! HERE’S THE WHY……
CHARLES SPURGEON said, “Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that…. The saving of souls, if a man has once gained love to perishing sinners and his blessed Master, wil be an all-absorbing passion to him. It will so carry him away, that he will almost forget himself in the saving of others….. If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”
TITANIC
Everyone here has probably read the history or seen the movie about Titanic. More than 1,500 of the 2,200 passengers died when it sank on April 15, 1912. Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that many of those people didn’t have to die. A lot of people climbed into the twenty lifeboats, but many were only half full. Hundreds of people were in the cold water with life preservers. Their screams were unbearable and unforgettable for those who listened to them from the safety of the lifeboats. Most of them didn’t die from drowning; they froze to death. The people in the lifeboats heard the cries of those dying people, but they chose not to go back for fear of being capsized. Only one lifeboat returned—after it was too late. Of the hundreds who were in the water, only six people were rescued.
VIDEO CLIP: TITANIC SCENE (3:16)
THOSE WHO WERE ALREADY SAVED DIDN’T GO AFTER THOSE WHO WERE DYING!!!
They screamed, “Return the boats!” “Please help us!”
There are PEOPLE all around us in the same situation as those passengers on the Titanic that did not have a seat in a lifeboat and that floated screaming in the freezing waters. But their destination is an even worse one: they are on their way TO HELL.
As Believers, we have the one thing that is able to save them from destruction! YOUR testimony!...YOUR faith that will lead them to the MESSAGE OF JESUS!
Will we continue sit in our half-full lifeboats, going to church, going to Home Group, having Bible studies and thanking God that we aren’t like those 3rd class passengers?
Will we continue IN FEAR and listen to THE LIAR who says, “You don’t understand…if we go back, they will swamp the boats!”
Will it be too late because, “We waited too long?”
Or will we be the ONE who says, “We have to go back!”
Will we be the ONE who says, “There’s plenty of room for more!” in the Kingdom of God that is?
Will we be the ONE boat that returns, will we pull people out of the water, cuddle up beside their shivering bodies and share our body heat even though it will make us shudder and shiver, make us wet and cold with them?
Will we REBUKE THE ENEMY and ask God to BREAK OUR HEARTS FOR PEOPLE so that those of us who are already saved will go after those who are dying?
We will allow the Holy Spirit to teach us in His work of redeeming mankind?
WILL WE BE THE ONE WHO SHARES OUR FAITH?
Isaiah the Prophet in Isaiah 26:8b (The Message) Who you are and WHAT YOU’VE DONE are all we’ll ever want.
GRAB BOTTLE OF COKE…
LIKE COCA-COLA’S COMITTMENT TO MAKE COKE FAMOUS…WE ARE CALLED TO MAKE GOD FAMOUS!!!
Coca-Cola….THE COKE SIDE OF LIFE!
GOD…YOUR FAITH IS YOUR LIFE!
Coca-Cola…MAKE EVERY DROP COUNT!
GOD…MAKE YOUR FAITH COUNT!
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE DYING WITHOUT THE MESSAGE OF JESUS!
LOVE GOD! AND BECAUSE YOU LOVE GOD, LOVE PEOPLE! AND BECAUSE YOU LOVE PEOPLE, SHARE GOD WITH PEOPLE!
LET’S STAND AND PRAY…
