Series - On a Mission from God
Evangelism Required
1 Corinthians 15:1-8
Know what Christianity really is
People must know and believe …
Who they are:
A Sinner separated from God
Who Jesus is:
The Christ, God in the Flesh
What Jesus did:
He Died for their Sins
He Resurrected from the Dead
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Intro
These past few weeks we have been talking about our Mission from God.
We have talked about some of the things that are required for us if we are to be successful in fulfilling this Mission that God has given each of us who call ourselves Christians.
We have found that for us to be successful on this Mission, we must make sacrifices to help us continually reach out with the gospel of Christ and we must serve both in the church and outside of the church so we continue to have opportunities to share the gospel.
One last thing we are going to talk about is actually seizing those opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus. That is called evangelism.
Check out this video as we begin.
Strangers video
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They may never meet this side of heaven that is.
Do you think you would ever be a Lisa? Or even ever could be a Lisa?
Someone who Evangelizes someone else?
That is scary isn’t it?
Why is evangelism so scary?
I believe Evangelism is scary for 2 reasons.
Wrong picture
First, I believe many have a wrong picture of evangelism.
Street Corner preaching
Often we have one of two pictures in our head. One is standing on a street corner and preaching repentance to the masses that are not listening.
“Sinner! Repent! Or burn in Hell!”
What is said may be factually true, but it is communicated without love or relationship.
Stranger Encounters
The second picture of evangelism is going up to total strangers and asking if they are saved and telling them about Jesus.
The second picture is certainly not as harsh, but I believe that doing that would be more for the person that is gifted in evangelism, not necessarily for everyone.
There are some people that have a gift of evangelism that can quickly connect with others and turn nearly any conversation into an opportunity to share the good news about Jesus.
Now, not everyone has that gift but we are all called to, as Peter tells us in
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1 Peter 3:15 to “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect”
This is something that we are all called to do and it is not something that is confrontational, but should flow from love and relationship, with gentleness and respect.
That seems easy enough, but for many people they still don’t do it.
I think there are couple reasons for that as well.
Failure to understand the importance
One is that they are not really thinking how vital this is to others.
We have the greatest news in the world, the news that is going to save people from an eternity in hell. Not sharing it is like withholding from someone the cure for their cancer when we have it right here.
We have got to realize the extreme importance of the gospel. People really are dying without Christ and going to hell. While we can’t make them believe, we can share with them the truth so they can believe.
To overcome this, we have got to continually remind ourselves of the eternal consequences of someone not receiving Christ.
Failure to know how to share the gospel
Another reason that people don’t share the gospel is that they don’t want to get it wrong.
Well, today, I want to give you clearly what the gospel is in a way that you will hopefully be able to remember and communicate so you can seize the opportunities God gives you to be used to change the eternal destiny of those He places in your life with gentleness and respect.
Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.
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This morning, we are going to learn and be refreshed on what exactly the gospel is and what to make sure we are communicating so you are equipped to “give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have.”
1 Corinthians 15:1-8
15 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Pray
As we begin, I want to ask you a question.
Being Prepared with the Gospel
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If someone asked you “How do I become a Christian?” what would you say?
Many people don’t know how to answer that question and in our society many people will equate being a Christian with how nice a person is regardless of their belief. And as long as the name Jesus is used, a person is a Christian regardless of what they believe about Him.
That is not true. And while how we act is absolutely affected by what we believe, our beliefs are what determine whether or not we are a Christian.
Paul clearly gives outlines for us what those essential beliefs are.
If a person does not believe these things, they are not a Christian, they have believed in vain.
So how does a person become a Christian?
If you can help someone to understand the answers to 3 questions, then you will be able to clearly communicate the gospel and be used by God to affect the eternities of those you share the good news with.
Inserts
IN your sermon outlines today, I have included the actual Scriptures for you. I want you to use this as a tool and to keep it in your Bible and to go over it regularly so you can know it and be able to share it with someone else.
First ask,
Who Am I?
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The answer is
A Sinner separated from God
If we don’t first understand who we are, then we will never believe that we need a Savior and we will never believe in Jesus as that Savior.
Paul says in
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1 Corinthians 15:3 that “Christ died for our sins.”
We have committed sins, therefore we are sinners.
It is typically not too hard for someone to recognize that they have done something wrong.
Most people recognize that they have sinned in some way against God. People know they have lied. People have taken something that is not theirs. 100% of guys and my guess is 100% of women have at some point lusted after someone else, and Jesus tells us in the Bible that is adultery.
So ask a person if they have ever done anything that could be considered a sin.
When they say yes, then you can tell them that everyone has sinned, and the Bible tells us that too.
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Romans 3:23 – All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
But sometimes a person may recognize that they are a sinner, but think that sin isn’t so bad. We help them to understand the consequences of sin.
The Bible tells us in
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Isaiah 59:2 that “your iniquities have separated you from your God.”
Because of our sins, we are separated from God and Romans 6:23 tells us “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
When a person knows who they are, a sinner, and that their sin has separated them from God, they can then recognize their need for a Savior.
The next question we want to ask and answer is
Who is Jesus?
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The answer is
He is the Christ, God in the flesh
Again in 1 Corinthians 15:3, Paul tells us that – “Christ died for our sins”
What does it mean to be the Christ?
People today may not know what it means to be the Christ or Messiah.
The Christ means ‘the anointed One of God.’
We find in the Scripture that to be the Christ means to be the Son of God.
John the apostle tells us that the purpose of him writing the gospel of John.
He says in
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John 20:31 “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God…
Well, that doesn’t say He is God, but the Son of God.
Being the Son of God is not like being one of the sons of God. The way Christ called God as His Father was exclusive. It excluded other people and it equated Himself with God.
Listen to what Jesus says in
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John 5:17-18
"My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Being the Christ, the Son of God was an exclusive claim that meant He was really God in the flesh.
The gospel of John is a great book for someone to be able to recognize the deity of Christ.
The fact that He is God is established in a number of places in John.
In fact, in the very first verses of John he tells us
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John 1:1, 14 – 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Jesus is the Christ, God in the flesh.
Believing in the deity of Christ is essential to being a Christian.
This is where we have to be discerning.
Using the name “Jesus,” but not believing
There are some, like the Mormons, who will use the name “Jesus,” but when they talk about Jesus, they are not talking about the Jesus of the Bible who is God. They may say he is a “god” but the Jesus they are talking about became a “god” and according to them, you too can become a “god.”
Now when someone says that Mormons are not Christians, or Jehovah Witnesses are not Christians, it is not meant as derogatory slur, it is simply a statement of fact, because they deny the unique deity of Christ.
This is not new, however. Even in Paul’s day there were people who preached about a Jesus, who was different than Paul preached.
He says to the Corinthians that
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“if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. (2 Corinthians 11:4)
People were coming and preaching a Jesus that was not God or did not physically die or did not physically resurrect, and Paul says the Jesus those people are talking about is not the same Jesus. The Jesus they are preaching is not the Jesus of the gospel and believing in that Jesus cannot save you.
A belief that Jesus is the Christ, God in the flesh is essential.
A third question to ask and answer is
What did Jesus do?
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The answer to this question is 2 parts.
First,
He died for my sins
Again in 1 Corinthians 15:3 –it tells us that “Christ died for our sins”
Jesus death to pay the price for your sins is essential.
There had to be a sacrifice to atone for your sins.
Romans 3:25 - God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,
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Isaiah 53:5 - he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
If Jesus did not shed his blood and die, we would not be forgiven.
Hebrews 9:22 without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
The death of Jesus in his own body to pay for my sins is an essential part of the gospel.
The second thing that Jesus did that is part of the gospel is that
He Resurrected from the dead
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1 Corinthians 15:4 - He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures
This is the really hard part for many people.
They can see that they are a sinner.
They can believe that Jesus is really God who became flesh
They can accept Jesus’ death for their sins.
But to rise from the dead?
That is not something you see every day.
Is this really essential?
Listen to what Paul says later in 1 Corinthians 15
1 Corinthians 15:14, 17
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if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty….you are still in your sins.
If Jesus did not rise from the dead, you have no hope that your sins have been paid for.
The Resurrection proves He is God
If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then He is a liar and He is not God, because He said He would rise.
The Resurrection is essential because it proves He is God.
Romans 1:1-4 - “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God- 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
There have been lots of men who died claiming to be a god, but there is only One who has backed up that claim by rising from the dead never to die again.
The Resurrection guarantees Judgment Day
And not only does his resurrection prove He is God. It assures us that a day of judgment is coming and that Jesus, Himself, will judge the world in righteousness.
When Paul had the opportunity to share the gospel with the Greeks in Athens, he shared with them the truth of who they were and who Jesus was and what Jesus did.
And at the end of that chapter in Acts 17, he says, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead." Acts 17:30-31
Jesus’ resurrection means not only that He is God and He has power to keep His word and offer forgiveness to those who receive Him as their Savior, but that He is going to judge the world in terms of righteousness and those who are not relying on the righteousness they have received from trusting in Jesus will find that they are not righteous at all, and will be judged and eternally separated from God in Hell.
His resurrection assures that that judgment is coming.
If Jesus came back today, would you be ready to face His judgment?
If Jesus came back tomorrow, do have people you love who are hoping their own righteous acts will be enough to get them into heaven?
The gospel is good news, because we can be assured of being with the Lord for eternity when we receive the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Romans 6:23 - “the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Share the good news with those the Lord has placed in your life.
Help them to understand
Who they are? – A sinner separated from God
Who Jesus is? – The Christ, God in the flesh
What Jesus did? – He died on the cross for their sins and rose from the dead.
That is the gospel message and when a person has believed that, it is helpful to have them confess that to the Lord.
Romans 10:9 - if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Next steps
Once you share the gospel with someone, what next?
Whether they have received Christ or still need more time to think through things, you should invite them to church. Here is where they will get to hear the gospel again and learn more about what the Bible has to say.
Especially at this time of year is always a great time to invite someone to church.
Next week, Igor Swiderski, a Messianic Jew, that is a Jew who has believed in Jesus as the Messiah, from Chosen People Ministries
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will be speaking about the Passover and How Jesus is represented and prophesied in the Passover.
The week after that is Easter
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and I will be talking about the resurrection and why we can believe that the resurrection really happened. This will be a great service to truly celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
And the week after that, we are beginning a new series called “Godquest.”
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We are going to be looking at some of the most compelling questions regarding faith, such as
Does God exist?
Can truth be known?
Why is their suffering and evil?
Be looking for opportunities to share the gospel and invite them to church over the course of the next few weeks.
Conclusion
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We have got to realize that we are on a Mission from God. That mission is to help people come into a relationship with Him and grow in the relationship.
We have the best news in the whole world…God loves us despite our sins and He has made a way for us sinners to be in a relationship with Him now and for eternity by paying for our sins with the life of His own Son who is God in the flesh who died and rose again.
That is good news.
But before you can share the good news, you have to receive the good news.
Do you believe the Gospel Message?
Have you received Christ as Savior?
If you haven’t, then as we close in prayer, won’t you confess Christ as your Savior, as God in the flesh who died for your sins and rose again.
If you need to receive Him, then confess your belief to Him now.
Let’s pray.
