In Jesus Holy Name August 15, 2006
Text: Acts 8:1,4-5 Series Redeemer
“The Spreading Flame”
I want to share a story with you so If you choose I’m going to give you permission to close your eyes and visualize the scene I’m about to describe.
The first rays of a new morning sun peek over the eastern sunburned hills. Stretching out for miles below lies a quiet, mirror like blue lake. A few hundred yards off shore a solitary boat appears fastened to the still surface. Periodically one of the two figures in the twenty foot wooden boat stands and stretches. The motionless air carries the occasional morning wake up call of a rooster across the water.
Finally, the men begin to pull in their nets, causing ripples of disturbed water to ring their way from the boat toward the shore. The water from wet nets, being pulled to the surface breaks the morning silence as the fishermen eagerly search their nets for the product of their labors from the long night.
But as the last of the empty nets pile into the boat bottom, they discouragingly reach for the oars. Another wasted night.
“How’s the fishing?” a man calls from shore.
After a pause, a frustrated voice replies: “Nothing” “
“Absolutely nothing.”
“Throw your nets on the other side of the boat.” Orders the man from the shore.
“But we fished all night.” Then after a long pause, and sensing authority in the voice, the fisherman responds. “All right, but only once more….”
A short time later, after again letting out their nets into the same water, shouts of excitement ring out… calls for help sound from the boat. The nets are so full they are beginning to break.#
You know the story. What a moment that must have been! Peter and Andrew trying desperately to bring in the catch with nets breaking. How did the stranger know where the fish were? Was it a miracle? Suddenly Peter remembered the words of Jesus. “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (from The Master’s Plan Win Arn)
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but that the world would be saved through him.”
Jesus lived a perfect life. He never broke one commandment. He refused to give into Satan’s temptations. He succeeded where Adam and Eve and you and I have failed. He healed the lame, the blind. He set people free from the bondage of demonic possession. He raised people from the dead. He forgave people their sins. He was betrayed, arrested, falsely accused and crucified on a Roman Cross. He died. The Roman soldiers made sure.
When Jesus was nailed to the cross darkness covered the land. Why? Because God the Father turned his back on Jesus. He was covered with every broken commandment by every person who had ever lived in the past or who would ever live in the future. God the Father accepted his sacrificial death on behalf of all who accept Jesus as their lord and Savior. In the moment of his death, a great earthquake shook the land and the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. It was a symbol that we now have access to the throne of God. Jesus did not stay in the grave. Jesus did not stay dead. He rose from the dead. (pause) This friends is the mystery, the good news we possess. We can not keep it to ourselves; it is a word that needs to be shared.
On that post Easter morning on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, as Jesus and the disciples shared a breakfast of bread and fish... a new wind was blowing. As the Father had sent Jesus into the world so now he was sending them into the world. “Go, make disciples in all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to observe all I have commanded.” His message has not changed.
Paul Harvey once said: “Too many Christians are no longer fishermen but keepers of the aquarium.”
Was the church in Jerusalem becoming a fish aquarium? I don’t know. But I do know that was not God’s plan. Jesus had been very specific. “Go, make disciples…” “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem… they were… but what about Judea? What about Samaria? (Acts 1:8)
The martyrdom of Stephen constituted a watershed in the life of the Christian community in Jerusalem. It was the spark that ignited “a great persecution… which instead of crushing the church spread the gospel message beyond the walls of Jerusalem. (read Acts 8:1)
We are so familiar with the epistles of Paul that we forget that he was a mean and brutal man, set on destroying these followers of Jesus. In Acts 22:4 Paul himself said, “I persecuted the followers of the Way to their death, arresting both men and women throwing them in prison.”
The persecution scattered the Christian community. They fled the city. They fled to the homes of family and friends through out Judea and Samaria. I notice that the 12 apostles did not flee…they remained in Jerusalem. “Why were they not scattered?” Because they had been granted religious asylum by Gamaliel, who had declared (Acts 5:34) “Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin it will fail. But if it is from God you will not be able to stop these men, you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (The Lost Art of Discipleship p. 43)
The religious leaders had agreed to this but there was no protection for the ordinary believers, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, the housewife. I also noticed that there were no programs… or materials. The message of Jesus’ death and resurrection was carried on the lips of ordinary people. The gospel message has not changed, nor has God’s plan for personal delivery.
We must depend on the power of the Holy Spirit. It takes time to make disciples. You might be able to produce a new car in 30 or 45 days on and assembly line with automatic robots welding the joints. But people need personal attention and hours of prayer. It takes patience to teach people how to read the Word of God, how to feed and nourish their souls and then apply the teachings of Jesus to their behavior.
In his book “Becoming a Contagious Christian” Bill Hybels developed a mathematical formula for reaching those who are spiritually lost from Jesus. “I’ve changed it slightly. You might want to write down this formula.
MR + CP + CG = ND
Meaningful relationships + Caring for People + Communicating the Gospel = New Disciples
This is the pattern the Holy Spirit used when the believers fled Jerusalem. It is still an effective formula today.
We know and we believe that the Holy Spirit is always at work in the world. (It is no accident that Dan Hues wanted to be a pastor… no accident that he is here in our midst) God knew a long time ago that you and I would be here to mentor him into becoming a wonderful Pastor.
We know and believe that “God desires that all people come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and be saved.” We know and believe that God seldom uses angels to share the story of Jesus. He uses people.
Meaningful relationships … when Christians live out their faith with honesty, integrity… they will influence people who are outside the family of God.
When believers are living Christ centered lives they hold back the moral decay in society. I hope that’s what is happening with the abortion dilemma, environmental concerns, racism and with the break down of the family.
In Matt. 5:13 Jesus said that salt without savor is ineffective and worthless. It has lost its power. It won’t create thirst, won’t add much spice, won’t retard much decay. Becky Pippert wrote: “Unless salt gets poured out of the shaker, it remains a mere table ornament.” (Contagious Christianity Bill Hybels p. 43)
To be effective you and I must be poured out and live lives with integrity as we imitate Jesus. Live salty lives and rub shoulders with unchurched people in order to influence them to investigate Jesus. If we are to have meaningful relationships then we must implement the second part of the formula. C. P. We must care for people.
Donald Posterski in his book “Reinventing Evangelism” writes: “The world needs to see what the Christian life looks like….they need hard evidence that following Jesus really makes a difference.
Lee Strobel was a reporter for the Chicago Tribune who began attending Willow Creek Church in the early ‘80’s in an effort to please his newly converted wife. Leslie. He wrote: “When I walked into church as a skeptical unbeliever, my hypocrisy antenna was scanning the place for signs that people were just playing church… In fact I was aggressively on the look out for phoniness, opportunism, or deception because I felt that if I could find an excuse for rejecting the church on grounds of hypocrisy, I could freely reject Christianity…”#
The Bible tells us that God is love. We know that if we are to imitate Jesus we are to be unselfish, accepting our self as a special creation of God and accepting others. Part of “being created in the image of God” is the inherent capacity to love. A healthy and balanced Christian life is like a triangle. You express love and care in all three directions: to God, to yourself, to other people in your life.
Why did Jesus tell the story of the good Samaritan? He demonstrated care and compassion. Acts of mercy open people’s hearts.
The third part of the formula is C G We must be able to know what to say when our unbelieving friends with whom we’ve been developing a M R =meaningful relationship asks why we C P = care for people.
What do you say when that moment arrives?
1) Just tell your story. Why do you believe in Jesus. How did you come to know God’s love. How has Jesus made a difference in your life.
Jesus told his disciples: “You will be my witnesses…” In a courtroom, a witness is not expected to argue the case, prove the truth or press for a verdict that is the job of the attorney. A witness just reports what happened. The Holy Spirit is the attorney… just tell your story. Your shared story builds a relational bridge that Jesus can walk across from your heart to theirs.
How do you begin spiritual conversations? It is about asking questions.
Bill Hybels tells the following story: I was just returning to Chicago and needed a taxi. After giving my destination I asked: “Whose cab is this anyway? And why are you driving it? I could not help but asking that question because I noticed the face of the driver behind the wheel did not match the picture on the taxi’s dashboard.
“Oh, it belongs to a friend of mine.” After talking a little more I noticed his foreign accent. I said to him. “I’m curious. What part of the world are you from?” He responded by naming his home country which was in the Middle East. So, I said, “based on where you’re from, I’m guessing that you’re a Muslim. Am I right?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact, you are right.” He said perking up a bit. I continued: “so, are you a devout Muslim? Is your faith something you take seriously? I mean do you plan on going to Paradise when you die?” He sputtered a little bit so I went on.
“You see I’m a serious Christian, and I’ve always wondered something, well, maybe you could explain to me: Why do you follow the teachings of a dead guy?”
About then he almost swerved off the road. It seemed pretty clear that I had gotten is full attention. “Well, what do you mean?” “Well,” I said, “I know you worship Allah, and you believe that Muhammand is Allah’s spokesman. But he’s dead. In fact, we could fly over there right now and see his grave. So why do you follow a dead guy?” He was scrambling for words… so I said,
“You know, the bible teaches very clearly that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. My family and I follow someone who is actually alive today.” The conversation continued for a bit…. Then upon arriving at the hotel, Bill Hybels challenged him with the fact that we both could not be right. “Five seconds after each of us dies, we’re both going to find out who believed the truth. ….I’m betting my eternity on the One who came back from the dead.”
Well, his direct style is not for everyone…but we can learn from him. Ask questions. “You said you don’t believe in God”… “Well, Tell me about the God you don’t believe in…” and let them talk. I’m sure you would not believe in their God either.
Here is another question. “How’s it going?” rather than giving the standard answer… “fine” try this: “Well, financially, okay; family wise, pretty well; and spiritually really great. Which one do you want to talk about?”
The point. God is already at work in people’s hearts… we learn to ask questions to see if the seeds of the gospel need to be planted, watered or harvested.
Jesus Christ was uniquely able to solve our dilemma, the lack of peace in our hearts about our eternal address. He was both God and man. As God, He had the power and authority to devise a plan for our salvation. As a man, He was able to live a perfect life and take upon himself the punishment we deserved.
The central truth of the Gospel is that Christ died in our place, as our substitute. In so doing he upheld the holiness of God and satisfied the justice of God. By his blood we now can have peace with God.
One of the new songs we sing tells our story:
Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound;
Amazing love, now flowing down from hands
And feet that were nailed to the tree
As grace flows down and covers me
It covers me, it covers me.
