As we move towards a year of evangelism, do you think we are ready?
Probably a better questions to ask is,
are you ready to be part of the year of evangelism?
are you prepared to be involved in the year of evangelism?
All of us are called to be part of the year of evangelism.
All of us are called to be Jesus’ disciples involved in making disciples of all nations.
And so as you think about yourself and where you fit into next years picture of our congregation of being an evangelising congregation,
are you ready for this?
Now if we are to look ourselves alone,
or even our congregation
we can probably highlight a number of areas where we are inadequate.
This is not an unfamiliar story for people involved in God’s work.
Think about some of the significant biblical characters.
Moses initially resisted God’s call, saying he was not good enough.
David was seen as someone not worthy to fight Goliath
And look at the disciples Jesus chose
They included fishermen, tax collectors, who would pick them?
and even as disciples they had problems
John and James tried to secretly gain some extra power
Peter tried to get out of forgiving his brother.
And in today’s reading Paul highlights to the Corinthians and to us
that Yes he does have a weakness.
But rather than allow the weakness to stop him from participating in God’s work
Paul highlights that his weakness shows that God and God’s grace is essential.
You see Paul was addressing a congregation that had begun despising him.
And part of the reason was they were becoming interested in what they believed God could do for them right now.
They were interested in how they felt right now.
They were more interested in how God could bless them financially, materially and with a better life now.
Now it is true that God brings blessings to us today,
however these are not where we should put our focus.
God wants us to have the focus on the eternal life, the life with Him and others.
Unfortunately, the Corinthians had become more interested in following teachings that were not consistent with the God of the bible.
Teaching that encouraged them to highlight how good they were,
that put themselves first
rather than Jesus and his commandments of
“Loving God and loving others.”
And so Paul is now reminding them that although these teachings sound attractive,
they are not of God.
They are actually leading people away from God.
So what does this mean for us?
Well we all have weaknesses
All of us have things in our life that can make us feel inadequate.
We may even feel like God has deserted us at times.
Can you think of some of your weaknesses??
And what about when it comes to being part of evangelising congregation?
A Christian community who is at work bringing God’s grace to people.
What do you think your weaknesses are?
If we are honest, we can probably name a few.
There are two constructive things we can do with our weaknesses
First what if we allowed our weaknesses to become strengths for God.
The first reality as we look around at our congregation is that we are all different.
In some cases there are major differences.
What differences do you see in our congregation?
Now some people are threatened by differences.
They see differences as a weakness.
And unless everyone is the same they see we have a problem, a weakness and not ready for evangelism.
But what if we saw the differences in our congregation as gifts from God.
As different ways God speaks to people and blesses people.
Instead of ranking the differences in our congregation as what is closer to God and what is not
What if we see the differences as different ways people can relate to God and each other.
Now think about how that can impact our evangelising.
You may prefer a certain style of worship or certain style of small group.
But someone you know may not.
Someone God has put you into contact with may not.
With the differences in our congregation, you are able to direct people to the other options that are available.
That is the body of Christ at work.
And not surprisingly the passages regarding the Body of Christ
were also written to the Corinthians.
And as the Body of Christ we are called to complement each other,
And that means God has placed us amongst people with strengths we may not have
These are gift from God
And amongst people who can help us with our weakenesses.
And he has also placed us among people who need the strengths He has given us.
Recently I was watching the nascar racing on tv.
And one of the things that struck me was the appreciation that the driver and commentators had for a team.
When there was a problem it was the responsibility of the team to address the issue.
And when they won there was this recognition by the driver that he was not the team but part of the team.
It was the team that won the race.
Isn’t that what the church is about appreciating each other because each person in our congregation is a gift from God?
And isn’t therefore about helping each other with their weaknesses,
seeing each other as blessing from God.
And through the church, this congregation God is working through his people.
As a pastor I greatly value this.
There is some things I am ok at and some things I am not that good at.
But fortunately the pastor is not the church, the people are the church.
And in some of those areas where I am not so strong we have people who do have gifts.
One example of this is the wide range of people who provide care in our congregation.
Today in you pigeon holes you received a list of these people attached to the new position description for the Congregational Care Co-ordinator.
What a blessing it is to have such a diverse range of people who not only can care for others but are active in caring for others.
Many people have been blessed by people from our congregation who care on God’s behalf.
God has blessed us with a huge range of gifts in this area.
One of the other weaknesses that some people perceive is that we haven’t got it all right.
That we are not ready to evangelise until everything is in place.
Yes it is true we need to do some planning for the year of evangelism.
Yes we do need to do some preparation.
Yes we may need to make some improvements to our facilities, our structures and even our attitudes.
Part of that preparation will occur in Worship.
Part of the preparation will occur in monthly studies prepared by myself.
Part of the preparation may even occur in your small groups.
Think again about your weaknesses when it comes to evangelism?
What are they?
Will you seek God’s help?
Will you speak to me or another member of BCL about it so we can begin looking at ways that God can use the congregation to help you?
However the truth is also we are not God, we can’t see the future completely.
We will never have everything completely right.
One of the things a number of reformers did was highlight
that scripture shows we are all saints and sinners at the same time.
And with this in mind it is not surprising that everything will not be right.
And fortunately the good news is for God to work we don’t need to have everything right,
But we do need to trust Him.
Moses was effective for God because he trusted God.
David was effective for God because he trusted God.
The disciples were effective for God because they trusted God.
And in trusting God we are relying on His strength.
Especially to carry us through those times when we are not so sure, are uncertain.
To overcome what others may say is not possible.
And as disciples of Jesus Christ
God has placed people in our lives he calls us to touch with his love.
Who are the people you know?
Who are the people you see or talk to regularly?
These are the people God is calling you to bring His Good News to.
Now as you think of them,
you maybe wondering but I am not sure if they will respond to His Good News.
I am not sure if they would like our congregation.
Can I encourage you first to pray for them and that God gives you an opportunity to speak his Good News to them?
And constantly look for this opportunity.
Secondly don’t judge how people are going to react.
Listen to them, and speaks God’s truth to them, His truth of grace and forgiveness.
Help them see that God’s congregation is bigger than just one worship experience or some past experiences they have had with a church.
Help them to see that God is the God of grace.
The God who accepts them for who they are
and will help them in their life now but more importantly for their eternal life.
And interestingly the way God helps us can be varied,
In some instances he removes those difficulties from our lives.
And in others he allows them to remain, but gives us a different perspective of them
And how they can be used to show His power.
Some of you may have heard of Nick Vujicic.
Nick was born with no arms and no legs.
And for many people this would be devastating
However Nick doesn’t wallow in self pity or his problems
He allows God to use his life of no limbs to highlight God’s strength
To show people that they don’t have to be humanly perfect to be loved by God,
and to share God’s grace with others.
So today as we pray,
Bring your weakeness to Jesus
Asking him to help us to use our weaknesses to highlight God’s strength
This will prepare us for the year of evangelism
Because as St Paul says to the Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
Amen
