What Can You Tell Me About Jesus?
Everyone loves a great actor or actress,
Everybody loves a good movie, don’t they?
Have you ever known of, or maybe even known someone yourself? That after they have seen a movie, or been to an event.
Whether they liked it or not, they get excited to tell you about it, cause its something they think you don’t know and would like to know.
And so they proceed to tell you, all about it, word for word and in such vivid detail.
They know the characters, the plot, the motive, how long it took to make and how much it costs,
they even know the alternant ending that never made it to the big screen.
They can tell you all about the cast and the other movies they have been in,
If you didn’t know better, you’d think that they were one of the ones in the movie.
And if they can’t remember their name, they’re like, oh you know who I‘m talking about,
they played in this movie or in that movie, with so and so, or another famous person that one time back in the day.
And they keep giving you clues, wanting you to go farther back in your memory, until you both finally make a connection together.
And sometimes, your not even interested in what they are saying.
But you like to get them going, cause they get so excited about telling you something,
That they think you don’t know and you just wonder, where in the world do they get the energy from?
Where in the world, does one find the memorization skills to do something like that?
But ask that same person all across the country, what last Sundays sermon was about,
Vague answers at best, is what you would get,
*the bible,
*Umm, Jesus?
* that one guys son, who ran away and started a pig farm, but lost his shirt when the red sea parted and they ran away in the middle of the night,
Maybe it was the preacher, maybe it was the message, maybe it was listener,
maybe its because people have a hard time verbalizing what they really believe and want to say about the lord.
It seems like so many other things are easy to talk about,
Some people can even talk in depth, about something as to, they don’t even have a clue about.
I’ve known people like that before, haven’t you?
But when it comes to the things of God, and sharing the life changing message of the gospel,
A pin dropping in a crowded room, would make more noise!
Why is that?
Cause most of us, are used to taking it in when we come to church, but not to giving it out when we leave the church!
On the other side of the entrance doors to this building, is the mission field, This building is not the church, “You Are”
1ST Cor. 15:1-6 MSG.
1-2. Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time— this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand and by which your life has been saved. (I'm assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you're in this for good and holding fast.)
3-4. The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it; that he was buried; that he was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says;
Sharing the Gospel, should be as easy as 123, like telling someone your name,
Contrary to what some may think or say,
Jesus already did the hard part, He fulfilled every promise in scripture, amazingly conquered both sin and death,
And we still somehow make it seem like we have the harder part of the equation to do, by just telling the story of it all.
It really is that simple, God didn‘t make it hard to understand or share!
He made it simple enough that a child can understand it and accept it, then turn around and tell someone else about it.
What’s the first song a little child learns when they come to church?
Jesus loves me, this I know
For the bible tells me so
Little ones to Him belong
They are weak, but He is strong!
That’s really what the gospel message is all about, isn’t?
Jesus Loves Me! And He loves you too!
If its really that simple to share and understand,
Then why aren’t more people doing it?
Because if more people were, church’s all across America would have a lot less empty seats in them.
Did you know, there are thousands of church’s across America that are shutting their doors?
And there not just small ones either!
Most people, I guess don’t consider sharing the gospel nowadays, a serious issue.
TBS. in Prov. 11:30 NKJ
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who wins souls is wise.
And yet statistics show 90 to 95% of Christians never share the gospel.
Is it important enough to know, but not important enough to share?
The last time I checked the Gospel was inclusive, not exclusive!
Jesus gave the Great Commission in Mark 16:15 NKJ
15. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
You see, a lot of people think that is the preachers job, or the church staff, or the missionaries, or someone else’s, anyone but their’s.
Romans 10:13-14 HCSB.
13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
14 But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher?
The Great Commission, we just read a minute ago and it says, we as in everybody, are to;
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
The great commission, is not a wish or a suggestion; its Jesus marching orders for every believer.
Its been the standing order for 2,000 yrs. And still hasn’t changed.
Religion would have you believe that, If you build it they will come”
Were not talking about a make believe ball park somewhere in some movie,
were talking about a relationship with the creator of the universe, Amen?
The one who holds life and death, in the palm of His hand!
There is no building, however nice it is, how ever big it is, going to win someone to Christ!
Jesus knew how important it would be to share His Life Changing Grace and Favor message with the world,
that’s why He left it open ended, go, go and keep on going!
Luke 14:16-23 NKJ
16. Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many,
17. and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’
18. But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’
19. And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’
20. Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
21. So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’
22. And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’
23. Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
It is all of our jobs to convey the good news of the Gospel, that God’s house may be full! Amen?
In the book, "Questions of Life" by Nicky Gumbel, He wrote.
Albert McMakin was a 24-year-old farmer who came to faith in Christ in 1934.
He was so full of enthusiasm that he filled a truck with people and took them to a meeting to hear about Jesus.
There was a good-looking farmer’s son whom he was especially keen to get to a meeting, but this man was hard to persuade.
He was too busy falling in and out of love with different girls.
He did not seem to be attracted to Christianity at all.
Eventually, Albert McMakin managed to persuade him to come by asking him to drive the truck.
When they arrived, Albert’s guest decided to go in and was “spellbound” and began to have thoughts that he had never known before.
He went back night after night until one night he went forward and gave his life to Jesus Christ.
Since then, the young truck driver has spoken to at least 250 million people about Christ during his lifetime,
and went on to become a spiritual advisor to nine US Presidents.
The young truck driver was, of course, Billy Graham.
While we are not all called to be Billy Grahams, we can all be Albert McMakins, bringing our friends to Jesus.
Sharing our faith with others, is part of our worship and our faith building experience.
Hebrews 11:6 NKJ
6. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Think of the rewards and treasures, Billy Graham has received all his life and also has waiting on him in heaven,
Think of the rewards and treasures Albert McMakins received all his life, he has a part of Billy's reward,
because of his willingness to seek God and to help others seek out and find their way to a relationship with Jesus, the only known way to God.
Gods rewards, are eternal, they follow after you
Bringing someone to Jesus wonderful gift of salvation, is the best gift of all
Because it is a gift, that keeps on giving as long as you re-gift the gift into someone else’s life.
So many people, take for granted what they have already received, but never share it with others.
While that ensures their salvation, it doesn’t anyone else’s.
TBS. We shall be known by our fruit
Hebrews 13:16 MSG.
16. Make sure you don't take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of "sacrifice"—that take place in kitchens and in the workplace and on the streets.
Billy Graham was to have once said, it takes 28 times or points of contact, for someone to be approached about the gospel, before they come to salvation.
The first one thinks that they did nothing and the last one thinks that they did it all.
Whether you sow a seed, or are the one who leads someone through the sinners prayer, to Christ
All are equally important, all will share in the reward and one day, proudly be able to lay that reward down at the feet of Jesus,
1st Cor. 3:5-9 MSG.
5-9. Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God's field in which we are working.
I’ll close with this
In Gipsy Smith’s book The Beauty of Jesus.
Gipsy Smith told about Peter Apples, a man (during the Civil War) who went into the enemy’s territory.
Peter Apples did not know much about being a good soldier. He just knew that when his superior officer said, “Charge!” he was supposed to go.
And he was the kind of man who never came back until he made contact with the enemy.
One day his officer said, “Charge!” and Peter Apples charged.
But they came under such severe fire that the superior officer asked them to retreat, to come back.
Peter Apples didn’t hear that, so he kept going, he went across “No-Man’s Land” and finally into the enemy’s territory.
He went down in a ditch where the enemy soldiers were lined up one behind the other,
He took hold of the first one in the ditch, grabbed him by the nape of the neck, drug him out and started back toward home with him.
The enemy soldiers took aim and started to shoot, but since their own soldier was being dragged behind Peter Apples, they couldn’t fire.
About the time they thought they had a shot, their own soldier would get in the way again.
Peter Apples continued to travel with the soldier, finally he drug him across “No-Man’s Land”
and back into his own territory and dropped him at the feet of his superior officer.
The officer looked at him, took a deep breath, and said, “Where in the world did you get him from?”
He answered, “I got him over there in the ditch.
There’s plenty of them over there, and all of you could have had one if you had wanted one.” (Soul Winning: Every Christian’s Job, Dr. Curtis Hutson)
John 4:35 “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”
Of all the things we do in this life, the only thing that really matters, is what we do for the Kingdom of God.
All the other things will fade away, but what we do for Jesus, will live on forever! Amen?
Tell someone about Him today, however you do it, really doesn’t matter.
When you come to the end of your conversation, just end up at the cross!
Whether you plant or water, just be faithful.
God will do the rest and the amazing results will be up to Him.
Amen, lets pray!
