Do you try to avoid conflict?
Most of us will not enjoy conflict in our lives.
We simply want to avoid uncomfortable situations.
Often, it is within uncomfortable situations that we find our deepest levels of faith.
Christians are often unprepared when it comes time to share their faith with other people.
The opportunity comes for us to witness or evangelise - to tell someone the truth about who Jesus was and is, to tell them the good news of the gospel.
We open our mouths and either nothing comes out, or we stumble over our words.
Too many of us are unable to speak about who Jesus really is and why it is important to be in a real relationship with Him.
If we believe the truth of the Words given to us by God in the Bible,
If we believe Jesus is the only way of salvation,
If we believe salvation is the free gift given to all who place their faith and trust in Jesus.
Then part of being a dynamic disciple involves sharing the truth of who Jesus is with others.
We have a message of hope, a message of love,
a message of eternal consequence and we remain silent.
Sharing Jesus with others is a mark of true discipleship and a direct command from Jesus.
The words of Jesus recorded in in Matthew 28:19-20 are: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Jesus calls us to be active participants in making disciples.
Being a disciple of Jesus is more than turning up in church for a couple of hours on a Sunday if it fits into your schedule.
Being a disciple of Jesus requires more from us than just turning up for a church service, God is meant to have the central place in our daily lives.
Being a disciple of Jesus is more than just reading your bible once in a while or praying when you need something, it requires a real relationship with the God who loves you.
Discipleship is the way we show that we take Jesus – His Incarnation, His works, His words,
His person, His exemplary life,
His commands and His commissions – seriously.
A Christian who takes discipleship seriously is a Christian who takes Jesus and the Gospel seriously.
Jesus commands us His disciples to tell others the truth, to share, to speak, to witness, to evangelise,
whatever you want to call, choosing to share the Gospel is an essential part of our lives.
The word evangelize comes from the Greek word ’euangelos’, meaning ’a messenger bringing good news.’
Have you ever given good news to someone?
Isn’t it a good feeling to know that you have just brought news to someone who really needed to hear it?
Have you ever read a good book or watched a good movie and then told your friends about it?
If you go to a really good restaurant, you do the same.
And when you tell others just how good that book, movie or the food was you don’t really care if someone disagrees with you, do you?
You don’t even give it a second thought.
So, why do you panic when the thought of sharing Jesus with others goes through your minds?
Many Christians seem scared of witnessing or evangelising because they don’t really know what it is or what it means.
Some are hesitant about sharing the truth of Jesus with somebody else, because they are overly focused on what other people may think.
We are not told to recruit people into religion.
We are told to lead people to a personal relationship with the living God.
Let me explain it this way:
Religion is something we try to stay away from because religion was written by man and for man.
It has man’s agenda written all over it.
Religion never got anyone into Heaven.
The not-so-secret secret about evangelism is just sharing with others what you personally have experienced in your relationship with Jesus Christ.
You don’t need to make a big show out of it,
you don’t need to spend hours rehearsing.
When your words leave your lips they are not meant to come out like you are reading lines from a script.
Just share some honest and personal feelings.
The best witnessing or evangelism is, when you can share some of your own feelings about Jesus with others who also need Him.
If you are asked questions you don’t know the answer to, be honest and tell the person you don’t know everything.
But you will find out and get back with them about it.
Or, you can do what many others have done before you and just tell them that you’d really feel honoured if they would come to church with you.
Who have you invited to come?
Who is there that you really need to encourage to come?
After the service I want you to go home, pray, and then ask someone to come to church with you next week.
Expect God to move.
But remember asking somebody to come to church and worship with you, must be done with a heart that is truly concerned for that persons eternal life.
If it is done for any other reason, it becomes nothing but a sales job.
WHY DO PEOPLE NEED TO HEAR ABOUT JESUS?
Because they need to be saved.
Humans are a stubborn group.
We are totally focused on ourselves and when we want something, we want it now, don’t we?
Do you think that is the way God intended for us to be?
I do not think so.
I think God intended for us to be perfect, just the way He originally made us.
Every since Adam and Eve caused mankind to fall from Gods grace, God has been working to reconcile us with Him.
God has always used blood sacrifices in covering our sins because those sins have to die before God can recognize us.
In the Old Testament, the blood came from animals, but that had to be repeated throughout a persons life.
In the New Testament, the blood came from Gods Son, and His atoning sacrifice lasts the rest of a person’s life, once they repented.
But, most people have not yet repented, and are still very far from God.
In ISAIAH 53:6 we are told that all of us have gone astray.
Paul speaks about our rebellion against God,
Since we have all gone astray, and there is only one way back to God, we must be the ones who tell others so they can get back, too.
That is evangelism.
In ROMANS 5:10 Paul refers to us as God’s enemies. You might think that is pretty strong language, but considering the way we kick God out of our lives, I think it is a very accurate depiction.
We have acted towards God without love and without respect. How else can we say we have acted but as enemies?
Sadly people today now very little,
if anything at all, about the true God in Heaven,
or the plan of salvation He offers us through His Son, Jesus.
The people who do not know this might be the best and nicest people in the world,
but if they do not repent and receive Jesus as their personal Saviour, they will never get to Heaven.
The problem is that we do not like to hear the truth.
We do not like to hear that unless people turn and repent, unless they receive Jesus as their Saviour they will go to hell.
People like to customise God’s standards.
Many think they are “good people” and God surely would not send “good people” to hell, so they convince themselves that they can get to Heaven on their own merit - judged by their own standards.
They customize God to their standards.
The problem with this is that we are judged by God’s standards;
He is never brought down to our standards.
That is why people need to be evangelized to:
To give them the truth that can save their eternal lives.
We can choose to ignore that, or we can really take to heart the fact that hell awaits every person who has not trusted in Jesus Christ as The Way, The Truth and The Life.
If we take it to heart, we will start wanting to help people before they blindly march into an eternity without God.
These people are your family members;
your brothers and sisters;
daughters and sons;
mothers and fathers;
your friends and co-workers.
These are the people who need to hear the truth.
These are the people who do not need to be impressed with how well you know your bible,
these are the people who
simply need you to tell them
what Jesus means to you and
what He has done for you.
And then tell them -
He can do the same for them if they ask Him to.
When you speak God will be with you.
Trust Him to use you for His honour and glory.
Do you love someone enough to not hide the truth from them?
Do you love someone enough to tell them about Jesus?
Matthew 28:19-20 again The last command Jesus gave to us before He ascended into Heaven:
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
We should be obedient to his command, we should be eagerly obedient.
We should look just as forward to sharing our experience of Jesus love with others.
As I draw to a close,
let me say that to share your story of Jesus with someone else, you need something first.
You need to have your own story of Jesus.
Do you?
Have you taken the opportunity to really ask God to forgive you for being rebellious against Him?
Have you asked Jesus to come into your life and save you?
He will do that if you ask Him.
He will do that but you need to ask first.
Will you do that today?
Will you ask God to help you get right with Him?
Jesus says that He is the way, the truth and the life.
He says that nobody may know the Father except through Him.
It’s not enough to try to be good, we need to give ourselves to Jesus,
Today, you can do something about that, you can choose to be a Dynamic Disciple.
Today you can help someone know the truth about Jesus and His place in your life.
