"I want My name Back"
The title of my message is: "I want My name Back."
There are things we can learn from the business world, that apply themselves to the church.
I went to a 4 year Bible college, of which there are very few remaining. After having been in the ministry many years now, there are a couple of classes I wish I had taken, besides all my bible and ministry classes.
For examply Donald Trump has a book entitled, "The Art of Closing the Deal."
Seems like that would have practical applications in evangelism.
Some fish will jump in the boat.
Some fish will get caught in your net.
Some fish have to be coaxed in. I am not trying to minimize the work of the Holy Spirit but just saying there are skills in persuasion it would be good if pastor's were trained in them.
The Apostle Paul believed that, he said to the Jew I became a Jew...
PPT 1
I did a search a couple of years ago on what were the top buisness books and was surprised to see on many of the lists a book called, "The Art of War," by Sun Tzu, written between 700 - 400 BC. I wondered what business people wanted to learn about the art of war, so I bought it, it didn't take me long to find out. In the first several pages Sun Tzu lays out that you need to know the condition and morale of your troops, the efficiency of your supply lines, the climate and topography of the battlefield conditions. The strength and mindset of your opponents. He taught that a leader has to balance discipline and rewards with his workers. If he is too harsh they will not serve him when things get hard, and if he over rewards them they will not want to serve when things get hard.A very good book for business people, and for pastors.
They story is told of how he became a general. He had written his war book and Ho Lu the King of Wu...
I never took a marketing class, but if I did I think one of the biggest lessons would be:
Get your name out there.
Get your name out there in a positive light.
Get your name out there in a way that it draws people to it.
Text:
John 12:20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast;
John 12:21 these therefore came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and [began to] ask him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
How did these men from Greece become interested in meeting and knowing Jesus?
What made them attracted to Him?
Last week I started a short series of messages on being an attractive church. I began with a message about being a church that is attractive to God.
God is looking for places to bring the weight of His glory. Next week I will be bringing a message on what it was in Elisha that led to his double portion anointing, anbody in here want a double portion from God? (Many are called few are chosen)
Before Elijah the prophet was taken to heaven, he asked his trainee Elisha what he wanted, and Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit, to which Elijah responed, "thou has asked a hard thing." What made it hard? God's ability to give or man's ability to receive?
You can't put a billion volts through door bell wire. The message will be about God making us a bigger wire.
Today I want to continue talking about an attractive church, last week we talked about a church that is attractive to God, today I want to talk about a church that is attractive to the lost. You see a church that is attractive to the lost, is also attractive to God.
That is why I began this message talking about marketing.
Jesus was attractive, and that was His plan for us also. You are the light of the world.
The best marketing strategy a church can have is to be on fire for God.
Show video
If I were the devil... I would get you to where no one would believe a word that comes out of your mouth.
In other words I would ruin your testimony, your reputation, your name would be dirt.
Let's start with a question:
If you ask the world "What do you think about Jesus:"
Kind man
Teacher
Miracle Worker
God's Son
A gentle man
PPT 3 (Pictures of Jonesboro Baptist protest)
If you ask the world what they think of Christian's they will say:
Angry
Mean spirited
bigoted
Full of hate speech
God says, "I want my Name back."
PPT 4
We will be known by the tracks we leave behind.
As Christians we need to remember our reputation is one of the most important things we have, peoples lives depend on it.
Luke 9:18-21 tell no man I am the Christ!
Why did Jesus not want them to tell any man He was the Christ?
Traditional view: It would increase the hatred against Him
It would speed up the process that led to His murder.
It could make the Romans nervous enough to arrest Him and arrest would crimp His activities.
But is that the correct view? After all the devils were blabbing it out everywhere He went.
Why would he not want them to tell?
The first message I preached here was called the Apostles, boneheads in training. It is available on the church website. In it we tracked with the Apostles as they wanted to call down fire on people who disagreed, failed to cast out demons, tried to stop people who were sucessfully casting out demons, in light of such errors they still managed to have a big fight about who deserved to sit on God's right hand in heaven.
So Jesus says, "don't tell anyone who I am." As in I don't want you guys ruining my reputation.
Pr 22:1 A [good] name [is] rather to be chosen than great riches, [and] loving favour rather than silver and gold.
What kind of name have you given God?
Are you known as the friend or enemy of people who don't know the Lord?
People are attracted to a good name.
In our text this morning some Greeks came and asked to see Jesus, they had heard in another country of this wonderful man who was changing peoples lives, and so they journeyed to see him.
A church alive is worth the drive.
Jesus was on fire for God, and people came to watch Him burn. You don't have to advertise fire, it advertises itself. I am a fire chaser.
Our reputation, our name, is a matter of life and death. For that reason, don't ever speak evil of your church, or any church for that matter. We need to be good advertisers for the Lord.
Ru 1:6 ΒΆ Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them bread.
Backsliders need to hear the church is a good place to go to. God has visited His people. There are those who have left the fellowship of the church and are living in Moab spiritually. While there Naomi heard good things were happening, it encouraged her to return to the fold. That one family was critical for the Lord's plans. A church with a good name is a great asset for the kingdom of God. A Christian needs to have a good name among, workers, family and friends, otherwise your lifestyle could be a stumbling block.
The queen of Sheebas needs to hear there is a wisdom that can bring joy and change your life
Naaman the Syrian needs to hear the God of Israel loves Arab people.
Close: I want My Name to be held in high esteem, not used as a cuss word.
Prayer hankies as a way of getting God's name out there in a positive way.
We pray God does the miracles.
