Christ’s Strategy for a Soul Winning Church
John 13 34-35 (plus multiple Scriptures)
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - March 7, 2010
*Are you saved this morning? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? -- Aren’t you glad? (Just give me a smile.) God wants us to share this joy with countless more people and we can, because God has given us a plan. God has a plan for every Christian to help win people to Jesus. Today we will look at the big picture -- four keys that will lead to L.I.F.E.
1. The first key is Love.
*On the night before Jesus died on the cross for us, He gave His followers a crucial new commandment. In John 13:34-35, Jesus said:
34. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
*This commandment for us to love one another is crucial, because if we don’t really love one another, then all of our witnessing will seem empty and bogus to lost people.
*I have been in the ministry for over 26 years now, and over that time I have mostly been treated “A” triple-plus good. -- Yes, there have been some problems, but nothing compared to a lot of other preachers. I remember hearing Bill Stafford preach at FBC in Jacksonville. He told us about a church he pastored years before in Tennessee. Those people were so ungodly that one Sunday Bill had to shield his wife and children from flying gravel, because some of the people in that church were spinning their tires on that gravel parking lot, trying to throw rocks on Bill’s family.
*I remember one man in seminary. I think his name was Mike, and he was a good guy. For about a year and a half, Mike was the pastor of a church that was treating him terribly, insult after insult, criticism after criticism. Finally, the Lord moved him to a new church, and I remember Mike talking about how wonderful the people were at his new church. Mike blew me away when he said. “It was like going from hell to heaven.”
*Would anybody want to go to a church where people got treated as badly as that? Would lost people believe the witness from a church like that? Most people would run from a church like that, so Jesus said: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” The first key to L.I.F.E. is “L” for love.
2. The second key is “I” for invite.
*One of the best places to see this key is in John 1:43-46. Here we are at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and the Scripture says:
43. The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me.’’
44. Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
45. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’’
46. And Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’’ Philip said to him, "Come and see.’’
*Nathaniel did come! He met Jesus, and he was gloriously saved by the Lord. Invitations make a difference! Jesus Himself invites people. In Matt 11:28 He gave this invitation: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” And in John 7:37 Jesus stood and cried out, saying: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.”
*Invitations make a difference! I am standing here today because of an invitation Georgia C. gave me 30 years ago. I am going to heaven one day because of that invitation. Georgia simply invited a new co-worker to church, a lost co-worker, one who, by the grace of God was seeking the truth. She invited someone who was almost ready to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. I got saved less than two months later. Invitations make a difference. The second key to L.I.F.E. is “I” for invite.
3. The third key to L.I.F.E. is “F” for family.
*This takes us back to the birth of our church, and the tragic death of 6-year-old Donald Rogers. Way back in the 1920’s, Shannon & Elzada Rogers adopted this little boy. He grew to love the Lord at a very early age. Many times Donald invited his parents to go to FBC with him.
*One Sunday, he said, “Momma, please go to church with me.” Mrs. Rogers replied, “I will, next Sunday.” But before the next Sunday came, their little boy was hit by a truck and killed. But God brought life out of death and triumph out of tragedy. Mrs. Rogers was moved to start a Sunday School for the children who lived on Downing Pines Road. They met under some trees about a half mile up the road.
*Every soul ever saved in this church, every life changed, every heart comforted, every good deed done can all be traced back to that beginning. We are here today because someone had a heart for children. And that vision led us to the new children’s building that God is now using to help reach more children for the Lord. But please don’t misunderstand. The vision is not for a building. The vision is for our church to reach out into our community to reach children for Jesus. The vision is for us to minister to young families, so that they can be whole and healthy, following the Lord.
*Our vision for children is summed up in the words of Isaiah 61:1-3. Here God’s Word revealed something that Jesus would say 700 years later:
1. The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2. to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
3. and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
*The third key to L.I.F.E. is “F” for family, but there is another “F,” and that is for friends. You see, if we are going to reach more people for Jesus, we have to make new friends. We have to build bridges. We have to invest in people.
*Paul gives us a good example in his first letter to the Thessalonian Christians. In 1 Thess 2:4-13, Paul described the way he had invested in their lives:
4. But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.
5. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness God is witness.
6. Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ.
7. But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.
8. So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.
9. For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.
10. You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe;
11. as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children,
12. that you would have a walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
13. For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
*Paul was on his absolute best behavior as he witnessed to the Thessalonians, but that’s not all. In vs. 7, Paul said, “We were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.” Then in vs. 11, he said, “We exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children.” Paul treated these people the same way a loving parent treats their own child. Parents, you know that there was a massive investment here of time, effort, sweat and tears. Paul was willing to do anything to help these people know Jesus and grow in the Lord.
*That is the way God wants us to invest in other people’s lives. This means going out of our way to make new friends, and it can be hard, because the natural flow of the Christian life is to surround your self with other Christians. After a few years, you look around to find that almost everybody you’re close to is a Christian too. -- Amen?
*One of the best opportunities to make new friends for Jesus is through your sports teams and your children’s teams. But you have to be intentional about trying to reach these people.
*Sometime back God let me start investing in the lives of a young couple. When we first started talking the young lady had her guard up in a big-time way. I don’t know the details, but she’s had some terribly hard knocks in her young life, and I think she blamed God. (I mean: “If God loved me, why would He let these terrible things happen to me?”) She didn’t want to hear anything about Jesus. You could tell by her body language, and the look on her face. But she gave me the courtesy of listening.
*The last time I talked to her I rejoiced to see how far she has come. She seems much more open to the things of God, but she was not quite there. Please pray that she will go all the way and open her heart to Jesus. The third key to L.I.F.E. is “F” for family and friends.
4. The fourth key is “E” for evangelistic efforts. And there are 5 important strategies for evangelism.
1-First is special events. -- Things like the DiscipleNow Weekend coming up for our students at the end of this month. Special events also include Vacation Bible School. By God’s grace we have baptized a lot of kids lately, and we get to have another baptism tonight! VBS is a big factor in this. How many of you were saved in VBS?
*Another special event is revival. This week, someone in Mary’s sorority told us about a revival up Oak Grove where 49 people got saved! That is a miracle! Actually it’s 49 miracles!
*Other special events include Christmas and Easter. Easter is just 4 weeks from today! It will be a wonderful day in the life of our church. And it is one of the best times of the year to invite people to church. Let them know that Easter is a whole lot more than colored eggs and chocolate bunnies!
2-Next under evangelism is testimonies and witnessing. In Luke 8 there is a wonderful story about how Jesus saved a man in the worst possible condition I can imagine. This man was possessed by a whole host of demons. He was so out of his mind that he lived in the tombs and never wore clothes. People tried to control that poor man by putting him in chains and shackles. But those evil spirits were so strong in him that he would break the chains and be forced by the demons out into the wilderness.
*When Jesus met the man, He asked him his name. And the man replied, “Legion,” because so many demons had entered him. Church a Roman Legion usually had between 3,000 and 6,000 soldiers. But when Jesus told those demons to leave, they left in a flash! When the people came out to see the man, they found him dressed, in his right mind, and sitting at the feet of Jesus.
*Look what happened in vs. 38&39, when Jesus had to leave:
38. Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
39. "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.’’ And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
*That is exactly what Jesus wants us to do! Go and tell the great things that God has done for us! Do you have a testimony? Casting out those demons was a great miracle, but the greatest miracle that day was that man’s salvation. And that miracle is yours, if you have trusted in Jesus. God has saved you from eternal suffering in hell! Go and tell the great things that God has done for us!
3-Next under evangelism is acts of kindness, going out into the world to witness not with just our words, but our actions.
*In Luke 10, Jesus told the story of the Samaritan who was a good neighbor to a man who had been robbed, beaten and left for dead. Remember that two religious men just passed by on the other side of the road, but in vs. 33-37, Jesus said:
33. “A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34. and went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii (2 days’ wages), gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’
36. So which of these 3 do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37. And the lawyer Jesus was talking to said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
*Jesus says the same thing to us today. And the first weekend in May will be a good time to do it, as we love loud in our community.
4-Next under evangelism is missions, believing what Jesus said in Acts 1:8, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” This week our focus is North America as we have a Week of prayer for North American missions and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. Please take a prayer guide and use it this week to pray for our missionaries.
5-That gets us to the 5th strategy under evangelism, which is prayer. Prayer is really the starting place for all of our evangelistic efforts. We need to be like Paul in Romans 10:1, when he said: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.”
*Lee Thomas is a great teacher on praying for the lost. Here’s part of a testimony from his book: When we begin to pray for someone’s salvation, God seems to draw a circle around that individual and then gets in the circle with him. -- That is what happened to Ricky Gresham when his wife Helen and her pastor Mickey Hudnall began to pray for him.
*Ricky explained, “It was during the months of February and March of 1990 that I spent some of the most miserable days and nights of my life. Though I did not understand at that time, I was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit of God. Everywhere I turned during those two months I saw or heard something that pertained to God. It was as though every day when I awoke, -- there was God. People I had known for years were now telling me about the Lord. I just could not seem to hide anywhere!”
*Ricky told about riding in the truck of his best friend, when a friend of that man pulled them over and started talking about Jesus. Ricky said it seemed like he talked for an hour. Then in parentheses he wrote, “It was 5 minutes.”
*And Ricky said: “At that time I was self-employed in a machine shop. There was a black gentleman that would come by and talk with me from time to time. In my pride I wasn’t going to ask someone I knew about the Lord. Finally, I got up the courage to ask him about the Lord.
*Though I wasn’t ready for his answer – He was! He said, ‘Just a minute,’ and went to this truck coming back with a Bible that looked to be a hundred years old. He began to turn the pages of that Bible, reading the scriptures to me. I didn’t really understand what he was sharing but there is one thing with me today that I have never forgotten: ‘Ye must be born again!’ He repeated that statement over and over and over – it never left my mind!
*During this time, something was drawing me to God’s word. I was too proud to ask someone for a Bible, so I looked up ‘Christ’ in the encyclopedia. And there was a picture of Christ hanging on the cross. Something just kept drawing me to that picture of the Lord. Night after night I would sneak around looking at that picture.
*During the next few weeks, I began to try to change myself. I had come to a point in my life that I could not stop cursing – every other word was a curse word. I desperately wanted to stop but it seemed as though I could not control it. It controlled me. Finally, one day at work, when I was by myself, I just spoke out to God, ‘Lord, I can’t take this anymore, help me God. I don’t understand all of what Jesus did for me on that cross, but just show me and I will follow you.’
*And from that day, something in me changed. I not only quit cussing, I even lost the desire – it was as if the language had never been there. I had to tell someone what was happening to me, so I asked the pastor if I could say something to the church. All I knew to say was that God had brought me to the place of loving the Lord Jesus and being willing to follow Him for the rest of my life.
*What I did not know during those two months of conviction was that my wife and her pastor had committed themselves to pray every day for my salvation. What I was experiencing was God answering those prayers. I am now the pastor of a church, and I am continually experiencing more and more of God’s grace.” (1)
*This is the goal. And we can help more people get there!
-So love one another.
-Invite new people.
-Help reach new families.
-Invest your life in new friends.
-Help with special events.
-Share your testimony and witness.
-Love loud with acts of kindness.
-Help with missions.
-And pray!
*Do all you can to help reach people for Jesus! Someone in heaven will be grateful forever! And if you have never trusted in Jesus, why don’t you do that right now? It would be the best possible thing that could happen here today.
*You are lost forever without Jesus. But He loves you. He died on the cross for you. He rose from the dead. And He will save you right now if you will open you heart to receive Him.
1. Adapted from “Praying Effectively for the Lost” by Lee E. Thomas - p. 40-41 - www.pelministries.org
