Last week I shared with you four qualities of the kind of church that Jesus had in mind. I broke them down for you by using an acronym.
WELL
A Worshipping church.
An Evangelizing church.
A Learning church.
A Loving church.
They may not seem remarkable or earth shattering or upside down but this is the plan that Goad had for the church. It was the model of the first century church and it worked.
The church as a whole around the United States seems to be missing some of these qualities.
What about PFC?
I believe that these qualities are at work in our church. I believe that we are a worshipping, evangelizing, learning, and loving church. But I also believe that we can do better. I think that there is always room for improvement in every life.
It takes a great commitment from a child of God to do the things God is urging them to do. And as our video last week showed, it is not just up to the senior pastor of the church. It takes the church, the people who are committed to the Word of God and to the things God is asking of them.
I am convinced that if the church would up their commitment to being this kind of church our world would be a different place and our lives on this earth would be much better.
Today we are going to look at one of those qualities in more depth. Today we are going to look at the commitment to evangelism.
Evangelism is not a bad word. A lot of people tend to back away whenever the E word is used.
Evangelism is not a word that is found in the Bible but the concept is definitely there.
Evangelism defined is simply the practice of spreading the Good News of Christ.
It is my prayer, that by the end of this message each of us will have a greater commitment to evangelism. God had a message that needs to be shared with the world and part of that world is right here in North Dakota.
In the past God used a burning bush, a donkey, his angels, his prophets. Today God’s primary means of communication is through ordinary men and women like you and I.
He has chosen the church to carry His message of salvation to the world. It is the most important message the world has ever known and it needs to be shared.
PRAY
Father,
Open my eyes so I can see Your truth.
Open my ears so I can hear Your voice.
Open my minds so I can understand your Word.
And, open my heart so I may receive all that You would have me receive.
AMEN
The first century church shared their faith with others because Jesus told them to. Look at Matthew 28:18-20.
18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20
We call this portion of Scripture the “Great Commission.”
Not the great omission.
Not the great if you have the time.
Not the great if you feel like it.
Not the great I’ll do it if you do it.
Not the great I will get around to it sooner or later.
It is the Great Commission.
It is called the Great Commission because it is something that Jesus entrusted those who are called by His name to do.
Webster’s Dictionary defines the word commission as, “an authorization to perform certain duties or take on certain powers, the authority to act on something for another, to authorize, to empower, or to give an order.”
All these definitions are appropriate because they emphasis the importance of what Jesus wants all of us to do. This wasn’t just for the 12 disciples who were watching Him go to heaven. This is something that intended for the entire church from that point in time until Jesus comes again for the Church to do.
We need to be sharing the Gospel with the people in our own world. The people we interact with everyday.
Evangelist Curry Blake once said, ý"If your gospel isn't touching others, it hasn't touched you."
Have you been touched by the Gospel message?
The core theme of the Gospel message is that Jesus Christ left heaven; came to the earth and was born of a virgin. He lived for 33 years and then died on a cross for each of our sins. Then three days after His death, Jesus rose from the dead so we can have eternal life and is alive today, sitting at the right hand of God waiting to come back for His church.
It is the greatest news in history. It is the story of God’s love for mankind and it needs to be shared.
Is the church today doing this? Or is the church today like the parable of the 10 virgins in Matthew 25?
1"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6"At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' 7"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 9" 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.' 10"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. 11"Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' 12"But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' 13"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. Matthew 25:1-11
Two things that I what you to see in this parable.
First, five women were ready for the bride groom to arrive; they had all the oil they needed. When the five who were not ready asked for some oil the answer was no, go someplace else to get some.
The attitude of the five who had the oil was, we have the oil, and you don’t; sorry, so sad, go away and find it someplace else. They had a selfish attitude.
Scripture says, “give and it will given unto you.”
When people who are searching come looking for salvation and we fail to tell them about Christ or we send them off to another place or another person, we are guilty of not sharing the greatest gift we could give.
Second, when you read the story did you notice something interesting about all the women? They were all sleeping.
There is nothing wrong with getting a good 8-9 hours sleep each night or even a power nap in the afternoon, but let’s look at this from a spiritual standpoint. We cannot afford to fall asleep spiritually in today’s world.
There are so many signs that point us to the truth of Jesus Second Coming. We don’t know when that day will be what we were told in the Word of God what the signs of that time will be and we are seeing many of those things come to past today.
Not only do we need to be prepared for eternity but there are others that need to be ready as well and it is up to the church to let them know.
The Apostle Peter said, “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
God cares about people and His desire is to see them restored into a right relationship with Him. That is why Jesus gave us our marching orders to go into all the world and share the Good News with all people.
Even Solomon knew it was important to evangelize, that is why he said, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. Proverbs 11:30
We have our marching orders and we have been enabled to go and tell the Good News. The worshipping, the learning and the loving that I talked about last week are the things that enable us to evangelize.
But sadly, many people who claim to be a part of the church today are failing to do their part in telling others about Christ.
According to an article in Christianity Today, the top three reasons why people do not share their faith in Christ with others is,
1. They feel they are not able to do evangelism as well as the professionals, the pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. They feel as if they do not know how to tell others about Jesus.
2. They are too timid. They lack the confidence to share and therefore are fearful and hesitant.
3. They fear how the people they are sharing with will respond. They fear rejection, ridicule, or harm.
Let me repeat the quote I used earlier, ý"If your gospel isn't touching others, it hasn't touched you."
Regardless of why people do not share their faith if we have something that is real and has touched our hearts then we are going to find a way to tell others the Good News because there is an urgency to our message.
General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army once said, “The final training for preachers and evangelist would be to have them hung over the fires of hell for 24 hours so those that were sharing this Gospel message would recognize the urgency of it.”
There is an urgency because every day I wake up brings me closer to the day that I see Jesus be it through my death or by His Second Coming either of which could happen at any time.
We don’t know when but we know that we should be living our lives as if Jesus was coming back this very moment.
The first century churched preached with this type of urgency because Jesus warned them that the day and the hour was unknown and their message was too important to keep to themselves.
Even in the face of great persecution, beatings, and the threat of death the first century church shared their faith with everyone.
After being arrested for sharing their faith, the Apostles were put into jail. An angel came in the middle of the night and helped them escape and they continued to share their faith, they were arrested again and brought before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.
After much debate between the Pharisees the Apostles were flogged and then released. We pick up the end of this in Acts 5:41-42.
41The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. Acts 5:41-42
Upside down!
In the face of serious repercussions, the first century Christians continued to share the Good News knowing full well it might cost them more than most people would be willing to pay.
The result of their sharing the Good News was that people came to Christ.
Sharing our faith goes against our natural avoidance of rejection. No one likes to be rejected, put down, or made fun of.
Sharing our faith also goes against our avoidance of telling people things they don’t want to hear.
The normal person walking the streets of Bismarck does not want to hear that they are lost without Jesus. They don’t want to hear that they will spend an eternity in hell if they don’t ask God to forgive their sins and accept Jesus as their Savior.
Even though it is the truth, they don’t want to hear it but they need to hear it because they are missing something in their lives. They try to cover up what they are missing with work, recreation, alcohol, drugs, and sexual sins.
People today are spiritually empty and nothing is going to fill the void that is in their lives except God’s love through Jesus Christ.
I hope you understand that I am not trying to be judgmental, all I am trying to do is paint a picture for your of a world that needs Jesus Christ. The Jesus that you serve.
The great preacher C. H. Spurgeon once said, “Winners of souls must be weepers of souls.” We need to be broken in our spirits because there are people in our lives who need to hear the Good News that Jesus died for them.
We need to ask God to wake us up so that we can share what we have with the lost.
We need to look around in our lives every day to see who needs to hear the Good News.
We need to ask God for the courage and the strength to share the message.
And we need to share the message both in our words and in our actions. Sometimes words don’t have to be spoken to share the Good News. Sometimes it is through our loving actions that God’s message is delivered.
Each of us knows people who do not have Christ in their hearts. The question is, are we willing to share the Good News that we posses with them?
I challenged you some time ago, each one reach one. I remind you of that challenge today and urge you to be a church that is not afraid to share your faith with others.
We can do this. The time to share our faith is now.
CLOSE
