OPEN: In 1571, a young farmer named Matthew Wall was about to be married, but he didn’t make it to the altar. The evening before his wedding day he became gravely ill… and “died.” His funeral took place on October 2nd, the preacher preached the eulogy, the bride-to-be wept over his body, and at the appointed hour they closed the casket and carried the body of the young man away to be buried. But as they made their way down the lane to the cemetery, one of the pallbearers slipped on some wet leaves and the coffin crashed to the ground. The person who dropped the casket must have been horrified by what he’d done, but his initial horror was nothing compared to what happened next. It seems that when the casket hit the ground, they heard knocking and yelling from within it. The crash had revived Matthew Wall and he began pounding on the inside of the coffin demanding to be let out.
HE HAD BEEN DEAD… BUT THEN HE CAME BACK TO LIFE
Ephesians 2:1 says that, before you became Christians, “you were dead in your trespasses and sins” (HCSB), and so was I. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and we were bound for an eternity in hell. But THEN… someone shook our casket. Somebody convinced us that LIFE was better than DEATH, and we pounded on the inside of our coffin. Because we wanted to live! We didn’t want to die and go to hell!
WE HAD BEEN DEAD… BUT THEN WE CAME TO LIFE.
Because someone told us about Jesus! Romans 10:13-15 says “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’”
Somebody had to BUMP our casket. Someone had to “preach” to us. Someone had to share the good news of Jesus Christ so that we’d no longer be dead in our trespasses and our sins.
Who was that somebody? Who invited you? Was it your preacher/ Your parents/ Your friends or a neighbor?
ILLUS: There was an extensive survey conducted in 2002 by the Lilly Foundation. They interviewed 300,000 worshippers in 2,200 churches, representing 8 denominations and found that that 3/4s of churchgoers went to church for the 1st time because someone invited them.
So, who invited you?
The New Testament is filled with stories about people who invited other people to see Jesus. John 1:40-41 tells us that “One of the two who heard John (the Baptist) speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon (Peter) and said to him, "We have found the Messiah”
Then in John 1:44-46 we read that “Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see."
Neither of these men were trained preachers. Andrew was a fisherman, but we haven’t got a clue what Philip did for a living. But these WEREN’T Bible College trained men. They were just like the rest of the original 12 disciples. They were just common, ordinary men that Jesus called to follow Him. And one of the very first things… we learn about these 2 guys was that they asked someone they knew to come and meet Jesus. And because they did that!!! God praised them by telling us their story… right here in the gospel of John.
Even John the Baptist didn’t do much more than that. In John 1:35 we’re told “The next day again John (the Baptist) was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" And … that’s all he said to them. All John the Baptist did was point to Jesus and say – He’s the one you want to follow! He can do more for you than I can! And when the 2 disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. And that changed their lives forever.
Now, granted… Jesus DID approach various other people and talk with them, but for the most part, the people
who JESUS taught and healed - most of those were brought to Him by others.
There’s a famous evangelist (J. Wilbur Chapman) who said that “The New Testament tells of 40 people who were healed by Jesus of the same disease. Of this number, 34 were either brought to Jesus by friends, or He was taken to them. In only 6 cases out of forty did the sufferers find the way to Jesus without assistance.”
He went on to say “Of the vast number of people who have found their way to Jesus, most of them reached Jesus because of their friends who were concerned about the welfare of their souls.”
Intuitively, the people in THIS church realize the value of bringing people to Jesus. That’s why we have our free Lunches once a month. It’s not just about feeding people food. It’s our hope that if we can get people in the door once a month, then maybe we’ll get a chance to introduce them to this church/ and to Jesus. There’s all kinds of literature on the table as they come in, and we use our time trying to invite them to church.
The same is true of our Pantry and Clothing ministries. Those ministries hand out literature… and talk to people about Jesus and the church. These ministries serve between 500 & 600 people (maybe more) each month.
And our Youth Programs up the ante. In our JAM there’s a constant teaching about Jesus and His Word. We have the opportunity to talk to about 60 elementary kids every week. Greg & Angie and the Varney’s and the Cotners, and Lyla, give 120% of their effort so that those young children can hear about Jesus and eventually give their lives to Christ.
Scott (our family minister) has about 25 to 30 youth now in the Jr./Sr. youth group, and he and Terri and the Army’s (and other helpers) pour their lives into those youth. Just last Sunday – Kevin baptized into Christ.
These folks aren’t just doing “church stuff”. They do what they do so that they can reach as many as they can for Jesus. Paul wrote, “I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” (I Corinthians 9:22-23). These people have a passion for other - and so they do all they can, at every opportunity they can so that by all means… they might save some!
JAM (our elementary youth group) is one of my personal focuses in ministry. Every Wednesday night - I drive the bus/ teach class and tell these kids how much I believe in them.
ILLUS: I just talked with a former youth minister that told me what kids at this age need most is to have someone tell them that they matter. That they’re valuable. If you do that (he says) they’ll be yours forever.
A lot of these kids come from difficult home situations and if I can get them to feel that church is a safe place to be if I can get them to think of this church as their home away from home, then maybe I can get them into Jesus and they’ll not want to leave.
ILLUS: And if you can win them to Jesus, then MAYBE we can win their parents to Jesus. One of the members of our congregation came to church and became Christians, because their son was won over at youth group. That’s what I’m hoping for because of our youth ministry.
But, my one concern is that I’ll fail them somehow, and one day… they’ll not come back. They’ll not come back to youth group and never come to church… and they’ll never turn their lives Jesus… and they’ll go to hell.
That’s why I give so much of my time on Wednesday nights, because these kids often come from unchurched homes and I have – just that much time to tell them about Jesus. THESE KIDS ARE MY PASSION, and I don’t want to fail them and I don’t want to lose them for Jesus.
This age group of kids is where kids are most open to the Gospel message. I agree with Paul who said (I Corinthians 9:22-23) “I have become all things to all people, so that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” With the Revival coming up… their families are on my “10 most wanted”. I want those families coming to church so that the parents will become Christians along with their children. That’s my prayer; and that’s my passion.
And, you know… that’s God’s passion too. John 3:16 tells us God did became all things to all people so that by all means He might save some: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.”
In fact, God is so passionate about this that He wants us to be passionate as well. Jesus said: “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32) Every time YOU talk to someone about Jesus, or work in a ministry where you can share Christ, or invite or people to church or invites people to a Revival. Every time you do that, Jesus stands up in heaven… and points to YOU: “That’s the man/woman I was telling you about! They love me so much they want others to love Me too.”
Now, that brings us to our Revival in a couple of weeks. We’re going to do all kinds of advertising for this event. We’re pulling out all the stops. But like I said last week “Unless the Lord builds the house, they who labor on it labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1
That’s what this sheet is all about. I’m asking you to write down the names of at least 10 people you’re going to pray for - and after you’ve prayed for them, you’ll be asking God to give you the opportunity to invite them to the Revival. In OTHER WORDS: You PRAY for them 1st… then you invite them. (We created a bulleting insert we call “The 10 Most Wanted” where the congregation is encouraged to write down names of 10 people or families that they would like to invite to the Revival)
WHY? Well, Jesus promised us that the Holy Spirit’s job. “When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). The reason you PRAY 1st is because you’ll be asking God to plow the ground for you. If you pray FIRST – THEN the Spirit does His job, and it’s going to be a lot easier to get folks to come to the Revival. But if they turn you down, it won’t be your fault… they resisted the Spirit and now it’s on them. In prayer – you’ve asked God’s Spirit to convict these folks. In prayer, you’ve basically turned God loose on that person - and the battle has already been fought. PRAY… then ask them to the Revival.
CLOSE: In closing, I’m going to tell the story of a man whose family prayed for him. His name was Lynn. I met Lynn while I was serving the 1st church I preached up in Northern Indiana. We held a Revival with George Faull as our Revivalist. In that congregation was a family who would regularly invite “Lynn” to church and to revivals, and he’d politely attend. But nothing changed in his life until that one night at a Revival. A little background about Lynn: he’d been an ex-CIA “wet-works” agent in Vietnam. That meant that his job was to go behind enemy lines in Vietnam and assassinate people. He was not a man to mess with, and he had friends in the States that you wouldn’t want to meet in a lighted alley – let alone a dark one. But when he came to the Revival that night… God touched him so powerfully that he came forward and was baptized into Christ. The change in Lynn was dramatic. From that day on he was a committed follower of Jesus. He joined a team of men who helped build church buildings and (after I moved on from that congregation) sent donations to the next two churches I served.
That’s the power of revival and that’s the power of prayer for people you bring.
INVITATION
