Sharing Your Faith:
Situational Evangelism
10/30/05 AM
Reading: Luke 2:1-11
Introduction
Anybody know any Chicago White Sox fans? Chances are if any were around you they made themselves known this past week! (For those of you who may not know, the Sox recently won the World Series of Baseball for the first time in 88 years.)
If you don’t know any Sox fans, is there anyone else you’ve been in contact with who was the recent recipient of good news? Lottery winner, new baby, new romantic interest? The fact is if there is good news around you, you probably know all about it because people love to share good news. Even if we don’t understand why it’s good, if people believe it to be good then we will hear all about it!
And that’s what we are going to talk about in our lesson today: Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.
ILL: Calvin Coolidge was vice president of the United States during the years of 1921-1923, under President Warren Harding. He was not a very active vice president, but he took great pleasure in presiding over the Senate. One day, as he was presiding, one senator angrily told another to go “straight to hell.” The offended Senator openly complained to Coolidge as the presiding officer. Coolidge was leafing through the book of rules as he made his complaint. He looked up from the book and replied: “I’ve looked through the rule book. You don’t have to go.”
That is the good news that we have to share with the world. We have looked it up in God’s book. No one has to go to hell, for the Bible says that he, “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:4. The heart of God beats for every human being and longs for them to be with him in eternity. Every human being bears the stamp of God on their soul, for they were made in his image. He created them and came to redeem them. To live apart from Christ and not experience the presence of his Spirit in your life is the greatest tragedy of human existence. You can have everything this world has to give, but if you do not have Christ you have nothing. You may have more than enough money, great looks, great education, great family, but if you do not know Jesus Christ in a personal way, you have missed the point of this life. Jesus put it like this: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36.
[We know this to be true and we believe, so where does evangelism come in…?]
I. Why Do I Care?
There are three things we must keep in mind when we consider the need to share our faith in Jesus:
1. People are eternally lost without Christ.
A. This is a truth that is often overlooked in our culture. Our society has redefined sin and softened the Gospel to the point where we really don’t believe that people are lost without Christ.
B. We can’t imagine that anyone could possibly be in spiritual danger
1) “As long as they are sincere,” we say. “They were religious in their own way,” I have often heard. “They were such a good person that I am sure they are in heaven.” Those are nice sentiments, but are they true?
2) Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” John 14:6
3) In 1999 53% of the people surveyed said they believed that all good people would go to heaven, regardless of their religion or relationship to Jesus Christ.
4) Peter said of Jesus: “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
5) This is our motivation for bringing people to Christ. We believe in an old fashioned idea called hell. We want to prevent people from going there. The apostle Paul said, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men…” 2 Corinthians 5:10-11a.
[The second thing that we need to understand is:…]
2. Lost people matter to God.
A. Jesus was called the friend of sinners (Matthew 11:19). Among his followers were former tax collectors, prostitutes, thieves and murderers.
1) He did not love their sin, but he did love the sinner. Sinners loved Jesus because he gave them hope. Forgiveness was available if they came to him and wanted to change. He made them want to leave their life of sin and live for God.
B. There is an interesting passage in the second book of Peter. He is trying to explain the coming judgment.
1) He has been asked by people why it was taking so long for it to come. Why didn’t God just come and destroy all those filthy sinners in the world.
2) Peter answered with these words: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance”. 2 Peter 3:9
3) The most familiar passage in the Bible reminds us that, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17).
4) The 15th chapter of Luke shows us God’s incredible love for the lost. This is the chapter of lost things: a lost sheep, a lost coin, a lost son. In each case God is pictured as searching and longing for what has been lost.
5) Jesus said, “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:7
[The third thing we must understand is:…]
3. Lost people should matter to us.
A. Some Christians act as though they hate sinners instead of love them. They look down on liars, adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, drug addicts, alcoholics and the like as though they were not redeemable.
B. There is a sense of smug spiritual superiority instead of concern and a desire to reach out to them. We fail to see other people through God’s eyes. We fail to remember where we used to be and what God saved us from. We forget how patient he was with us until we came around.
C. If our character is to model the character of God then we have to have the same compassion he has. We have to love like he loved. We have to overlook the sin and in order to reach the sinner and express our love for them. If these people are not important to you then they will remain lost. They will die without God and without hope.
II. Why Don’t We Share?
If we are excited about our relationship with Jesus, it shouldn’t be too hard to tell others about that relationship.
We can talk to people about all kinds of things: the weather, our favorite sports team, our favorite television show, a hobby that we enjoy or any other topic of interest to us because it excites us and we want to share the excitement with other people.
1. Chuck Swindoll, Strengthening Your Grip, lists four basic hindrances to sharing our faith:
C. Bad experience
1) Maybe as a non-Christian you met someone who seemed to be a “wild-eyed fanatic” who pushed you, maybe even embarrassed you trying to force a decision.
D. Indifference and apathy
1) As hard as it is to admit, there some who claim to be believers that just don’t care that people are lost and will spend this life without Christ and eternity in hell.
2) They think, “Hey, if that’s the way that person wants to believe, that’s fine with me; to each his own.”
E. Fear
1) We’re just plain scared
2) We’re afraid we’ll be asked a question we can’t answer
3) Or we’re afraid that someone will get mad at us and tell us off.
F. Ignorance
1) We don’t know how to go about sharing our faith
2) One of my favorite sayings: “God doesn’t want your capability. He only wants your availability. If you’ll give Him your availability, He’ll provide the capability.”
CONCLUSION
People without Christ are eternally lost. Lost people matter to God. Lost people should matter to us. If these things are firmly fixed in our minds, then 95% of the battle is won in your quest to be able to witness to other people about Christ. You don’t need more information; you need to be convinced of the importance of the task. Eternal souls are at stake.
1) There are some people who are able to witness so easily. It seems to come naturally to them. They can present it so well that people are interested in hearing what they have to say.
2) But this is a gift that can be developed. You don’t have to be a theologian or a biblical scholar.
3) All you have to be able to do is to tell your story. You may not be able to quote all the scriptures, but you can tell people how your life has changed and what God has done for you. Just by doing that you can make an eternal difference is someone’s life.
Invitation
