ONE LINK IN THE CHAIN
1 Cor. 3:6
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A preacher died and found himself in line at the Pearly Gates. Ahead of him was a guy who’s dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket, and jeans.
2. Saint Peter asked the guy, “Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven?” The guy replies, “I’m Joe Cohen, taxi-driver, of Noo Yawk City.”
3. Saint Peter consulted his list. He smiled and says to the taxi-driver, “Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Next it was the minister’s turn.
4. He stood erect and boomed out, “I am Joseph Snow, pastor of Saint Mary’s for the last forty-three years.” Saint Peter consults his list. He says to the minister, “Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
5. “Just a minute,” says the minister. “How come that taxi-driver got a silken robe and a golden staff, and I just got a cotton robe and a wooden staff?
6. Peter said, “Up here, we work by results. When you preached, people slept; but while he drove, people prayed!”
B. TEXT
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow” 1 Cor. 3:6.
C. THESIS
1. Tonight we’re talking about how influential we are. Every day, in everything we say and do, we are influencing people spiritually, either helping them move toward or away from a relationship with Christ.
2. A person’s journey toward Christ is not one giant leap but many small steps of faith. Sociologists tell us that even the shiest introvert will influence 10,000 people over the course of their lifetime. [johnmaxwell.com]
3. At the end of the day, we all have personal responsibility for the way we conduct our lives.
4. The title of tonight’s message is “One Link in the Chain.”
I. THE POSITIVE POWER OF CHAINS
A. ON U.S. NAVAL AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
1. A modern U.S. Naval aircraft carrier is an awe-inspiring sight. They are about 1,100 feet long, 24 stories tall, and can weigh over 100,000 tons. These ships can hold up to 90 different aircraft.
2. As you can imagine, the chains needed to anchor a ship of this size are enormous. The chains are almost a quarter mile in length, with massive links weighing 365 pounds each.
3. Why must the links be so large and strong? Because they have to be able to pull in one of the two anchors, each weighing 60,000 pounds! The combined weight of one chain and anchor is 735,000 pounds! The machine which pulls in the anchor is called a “windless.” It’s enormous and extremely powerful.
B. GOD’S CHAINS OF LOVE
1. Chains can never push anything, but they can pull things in. Likewise, God “draws” sinners to Himself. He does this by the “windless” of the Holy Spirit, but the chain is made up of the influence of individual believers.
2. Just as it takes many links to make up a chain, it usually takes many “links” of believers to win someone to Christ. Each unbeliever has to go through many steps or stages to arrive at full, submissive faith to Jesus Christ.
3. Experts say that it takes 16 exposures to Christian faith for the average lost person to come to faith in Christ. Every interaction you have with people counts for eternity.
4. You may be the next link in someone’s chain. You don’t have to be the entire chain. Just don’t be the missing link. Think about what would happen if one million Christians in America committed themselves to become one link in the chain to the lost people around them!
II. WE NEED TO BE WILLING TO WITNESS
A. MY ENCOUNTER YESTERDAY
1. Yesterday Angela & I took her invalid mother to the shopping mall (Woodlands) to buy some clothes. They were in a store for about an hour. I was sitting on a chair in the mall looking at my phone and observing people going by.
2. A young man, about 17, sat down beside me, and said, “You look like a smart man so maybe you could give me some advice. I don’t know what to do with my life or the direction I should take. Can you give me any pointers?”
3. I said, “I can tell you two things that will help you in life. The first is to get as much education as you can. That’s the only way to move up in income. The second thing is that you must develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.”
4. Then I told him how, as a young person, I was searching for the “missing piece” of my life and finally found it when I found Jesus. I explained that Christianity isn’t just a religion, but is a relationship. God puts His presence in your heart and then begins to guide your life and help you make the right decisions. But it all happens as we seek Jesus.
5. I talked to him for about 45 minutes. Then he abruptly left. I didn’t get to pray the sinner’s prayer with him.
B. WE NEED TO BE WILLING TO WITNESS. WHY?
1. First, because Jesus COMMANDS you to: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit," Matt. 28:19.
2. Second, you must witness because you LOVE the lost. Jesus came to “seek and to save that which was lost.” Jesus died a horrible death so they could be saved. If Jesus loved them so much, we should continue His mission to them.
3. Thirdly, it’s a WISE thing to do. Prov. 11:30 says, “they who win souls are wise.”
4. Fourth, we witness to keep people from going to HELL. Hell is a terrifying place of utter anguish and eternal separation from God. Those who are not saved will go there. Witnessing is an attempt to keep them out of hell.
5. Fifth, witnessing PLEASES GOD and brings glory to His name.
6. Last, we witness so people can find the love and FELLOWSHIP OF GOD, 1 Jn. 1:3. To “know the Lord” is the greatest of all treasures. I can think of no greater gift than salvation. It frees the sinner from sin, it delivers the lost from damnation, and it reveals the true and living God to those who don't know Him. [Matt Slick]
III. BE A LINK IN GOD’S CHAIN OF LOVE!
A. BE AVAILABLE TO GOD
1. God is busy forming chains all around us -- chains that draw people to Himself. So interacting with the people in our circles every day at work, or in school, for example, shouldn’t be looked on as a boring daily routine. It’s an opportunity right in front of us to be a link in someone’s chain. Just think, you may be the last link in a chain that connects someone to God for eternity!
2. However, God can only use us when we’re available. Have we made ourselves fully available to be a link in someone else’s chain?
3. “Planting the seed” is the first link in the chain; “harvesting” is the final link in the chain. Paul described it to the believers in Corinth: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow,” 1 Cor. 3:6.
4. Let’s all find a way to share Jesus with those around us!
B. WAYS TO DEMONSTRATE CHRIST’S LOVE
1. SHOW THE PERSONALITY OF JESUS, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” Gal. 5:22-23.
2. HELPING THE NEEDY. Matt. 25:35-36, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” Give to the needy...Mt. 6:1-4. Feed the poor, Lk. 14:12-14; cup of cold water to a disciple, Mt. 10:42.
3. FAITHFULNESS TO YOUR TRUST, Mt. 25:14-30; 1 Cor. 3:8
4. SERVE AS LEADER IN THE CHURCH, 1 Pet. 5:2-4, etc.
5. SPOKESPERSON FOR GOD, Mt. 10:41.
6. LOVING YOUR ENEMIES, persecution; Mt. 5:46.
7. VOLUNTARY LOSS OF POSSESSIONS. “No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age...and in the age to come, eternal life” Mk. 10:29-30.
8. WITNESSING, John 4:36, “Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life;” Dan. 12:3, “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.”
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Dr. W. Leon Tucker told of a great street demonstration in New York in which 12,000 people marched. In the procession were 3 open convertible cars packed full of men, women, and children.
2. In one was a judge of the Court of Appeals, and in the last one was a ragged street boy. On the sides of the cars it said, “These people have all been saved from burning buildings by the New York firemen.”
3. Then behind the cars marched the men who had saved them, wearing their medals, while hundreds of thousands of people cheered them.
4. Think of the eternal joy that will thrill the hearts of those who, following their Lord and disregarding the consequences, have spent their lives “pulling men out of the fire.” [The Elim Evangel]
B. THE CALL
1. DON’T PUT IT OFF. There’s an urgency about the message from Jesus: “The fields are ripe for harvest,” John 4:35). Unbelievers are ready -- now! How often do we stall or find reasons not to share our faith with others? You may be intimidated to share your faith, but you don’t have to be a bold or outspoken evangelist to be a link in someone’s chain.
2. Let’s be those who transfer people from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God’s dear Son! PRAYER. May God give us boldness!
[Some quotes were by Dave & Ron Reid.]
