Moving on with God: the next step with forgiveness and faithsharing
Philemon. Particularly v4-7
C.S. Lewis said ¡§Everyone thinks forgiveness is a lovely idea, until he has something to forgive.¡¨
Someone once said- evangelism is the most talked about and least practiced thing in our society
Tonight¡¦s sermon is looking at how we can move on with God in being active in these two areas
- and the incitement to do so comes from the book of Philemon
- READ
FORGIVENESS
Here¡¦s the scenario:
- people had slaves in those days
- Philemon, a Christian¡K converted by Paul¡¦s influence
o (we think!) lives in Collossae (near Laodicea) has a slave called Onesimus.
o Suitable name, as it means useful!
- Onesimus runs away. Probably stealing some money (v19) from Philemon.
o Runs to Rome and either
„X Joins the underground movement of slaves OR
„X Gets caught, and thrown in prison
o Either way, Onesimus meets Paul and becomes a Christian
And here¡¦s the whole issue, now. Philemon is a leader of a house-church¡K a respected man
- but will he ACT on his faith
o forgive Onesimus
o take him back?
Forgiveness is easy, when it¡¦s theoretical
- but it¡¦s USELESS when it¡¦s ONLY theoretical
o (as are ALL other aspects of the Xian faith)
I was SO impressed by last Sun pm! Touched! I thought
- THIS is where it counts!
- THIS is where it HAPPENS. Where the ¡¥miracles¡¦ (if you like!) happen
- when people take God at His word and act
- when they see the challenges in scripture that OUR freedom, forgiveness, fullness so often depends on us stepping out and obeying God in forgiveness, first
- as Will said the Lord said to him ¡¥YOU are free¡¦
It was five days before Christmas when a stranger approached ten-year-old Christopher Carrier, claiming to be a friend of his father. "I want to buy him a gift, and I need your help," said the stranger. Eager to do something good for his dad, Chris climbed aboard a motor home parked up the street.
The driver took Chris to a remote field, claiming to be lost, and asked Chris to look at a map. Suddenly Chris felt a sharp pain in his back. The stranger had stabbed him with an ice pick. The man drove the wounded boy down a dirt road, shot him in the left temple, and left him for dead in the alligator-infested Florida Everglades.
Chris lay lifeless for six days until a driver found him. Chris miraculously survived his injuries, though he was blind in his left eye. Because he was unable to identify his attacker, police could not make an arrest. For a long time young Chris remained frightened, despite police protection. Finally at an invitation given after a church hayride, Chris trusted Jesus Christ as his Saviour. He recalls, "I was overwhelmed with emotion¡Kbecause I knew I had never really accepted and personally met the Saviour." This turning point in Chris¡¦s life came three years after the attack. At age 15, Chris shared his story for the first time. He eventually decided to pursue full-time ministry, helping others find the peace he had discovered in Christ.
In 1996 a detective told Chris over the phone that a man had confessed to the crime that had cost him his left eye. The man¡¦s name was David McAllister. Chris made plans to visit the feeble and now blind man, living in a nursing home. The strong young man Chris remembered was now a broken, humbled 77-year-old.
Chris learned from the detective some of the background of what had happened years ago. McAllister had been hired by Chris¡¦s father to work as a nurse for an ailing uncle. Chris¡¦s dad had caught McAllister drinking on the job and had fired him. The senseless attack on Chris had been motivated by revenge.
As Chris now talked to the old man, at first McAllister denied knowing anything about the kidnapping. As Chris revealed more about himself, the old man softened and eventually apologized. Chris said, ¡§I told him, ¡¥What you meant for evil, God has turned into a wonderful blessing.¡¦¡¨ Chris told his attacker how God had allowed his wounds to become open doors to share the good news of Christ.
Chris went home and told his wife and kids about meeting the man who had tried to kill him. The entire family began almost daily visits to McAllister¡¦s nursing home. During one Sunday afternoon visit, Chris popped the most important question he had yet asked McAllister: "Do you want to know the Lord?" McAllister said yes. Both men basked in forgiveness as McAllister gave his heart to Christ. A few days later McAllister died¡Xpeacefully¡Xin his sleep.
Carrier says it is not a story of regret, but of redemption. ¡§I saw the Lord give that man back his life, and so much more,¡¨ Chris said. ¡§I can¡¦t wait to see him again someday¡Xin heaven.¡¨
From a sermon by Paul Decker THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION
ARE OPEN Matthew 6:5-15 www.sermoncentral.com
So- here we are, trying to ¡¥move on with God¡¦¡K step by step
- and the challenge is, tonight, will Philemon put his ¡¥so called¡¦ maturity into practice and forgive¡K. and will we do the same?
Maybe- what has been done against you is too horrific for a total forgiveness
- but I¡¦m not looking for that. I¡¦m looking for the ¡¥next step¡¦!
o (and I believe what you will find is- one small step in forgiveness will actually be a giant leap¡K enabling you, very soon, to go all the way
„X and ¡¥let it drop¡¦
maybe- they haven¡¦t ASKED for forgiveness
- but neither did those crucifying Jesus
- and the need for forgiveness, law of ¡¥release¡¦ (for you) happens whether they have asked or not.
„« the next step
It¡¦s all about ACTION, tonight. Moving forward
And there¡¦s another area that is useless if it¡¦s only theoretical. It¡¦s conveyed in:
PHM 1:4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. 6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
FAITHSHARING
Moving on in sharing our faith
And here¡¦s a key incentive from this passage ¡V ¡¥be active in sharing your faith so that you may have a full understanding of every good thing you have in Christ¡¦
In other words:
- want to grow in understanding?
- ¡¥be blessed¡¦ ¡K. Encouraged
- KNOW and experience what you ¡¥know¡¦
„« share it with others!
Seriously: as I said 2 Sunday mornings ago- this stuff
- dies if we think ¡¥it¡¦s meant just for US¡¦
- is meant for ¡¥the edge¡¦, not ¡¥the sofa¡¦
- is not meant for KEEPING. It¡¦s meant for sharing
o cf manna ¡V ¡¥oh, I¡¦ve got some extra, here¡¦ ¡V had to give it away or it would go off and stink up your home!
You MUST learn to be active in sharing your faith so
- YOU can move forward
- OTHERS stand any chance, whatsoever
So- how do you do it? What are the ¡¥steps¡¦?
1) Pray!
Paul prays for Philemon, here, that ¡¥he will be active¡¦ in doing it
- you can pray, too! And you know what¡¦s frightening?
o God will take you at your word!
Pray- for a heart! For opportunities. For some friends
- target some. Write their names down. Pray consistently for them
o target them: not as ¡¥evangelism fodder¡¦¡K but
„X because you already CARE for them
2) Don¡¦t be ashamed
When an opportunity comes- don¡¦t be ashamed to ¡¥tell your story¡¦!
- it¡¦s YOUR story! No one has a right to take that from you
o in fact- they¡¦ll respect you for it (folks do, nowadays)
- and, as you ¡¥confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord¡¦, something will happen in your heart. Your faith will GROW
o that¡¦s what was happening, here v5- all had heard about their faith in the Lord! Gossiping the gospel!
And don¡¦t be ashamed of Jesus!
- in fact: don¡¦t apologise at all. If you lack confidence- they¡¦ll pick it up!
- (If you lack confidence YOU will pick it up! I¡¦m not being quirky- but our mouth affects our heart, and vice-versa)
- RO 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
When the chance is right, when there¡¦s the RIGHT opportunity- share!
- your stature will GROW NO END because of it
Ad don¡¦t be ashamed to teach what you know!
- Alpha: helpers who are barely Christian. Me at 3 weeks
- Heb 5 speaks of some who should really be able to teach, by now, but are stagnant babies because they¡¦re frightened of doing so.
3) have confidence
In God. That God is working. That HE loves them more than YOU do. That He will work His purposes out for them.
This is good, because
- they¡¦ll pick up this confidence. (instead of picking up our whining!)
- You¡¦ll not feel you have to ¡Vforce it, feel guilty about it, see them as evangelism fodder
o You are a co-worker with God. An ambassador for Him. HE will follow it up
o Two church members were going door to door. They knocked on the door of a woman who clearly was not happy to see them. She told them in no uncertain terms she did not want to hear their message and then slammed the door in their faces. To her surprise, the door did not close. In fact, it bounced back open. She tried again, really put her back into the job, and slammed the door again. Same results. The door bounced back like it was made of Silly Putty. Convinced one of these rude church members was sticking a foot in the door, she reared back to give the door a slam that would teach them a lesson. Just then, one of the church members said, "Ma’am, before you do that again, you might want to move your cat."
Illustr: Chatting with robin- issue of ¡¥I went to a concert and they preached at me! Tricked me!¡¦
- nope. ¡¥2 Cor 4:2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
- We distort and trick if we lack confidence
So- regarding Alpha: it¡¦s not ¡¥a meal¡¦, ¡¥some friends¡¦ etc etc ¡V it¡¦s a meal, friendships and a course looking at some of the questions about the Christian faith
= the most culturally effective method I know of, at the moment
"The gospel must be preached afresh and told in new ways to every generation, since every generation has its own unique questions. The gospel must constantly be forwarded to a new address, because the recipient is repeatedly changing his place of residence." Helmut Thielicke
4) Be friends
Of the adults who come to faith in Christ, 65 percent see friendship with Christians as the greatest factor.
- Bible Society research
Just be nice to them! You don¡¦t have to have all the answers, ALWAYS listen to yarns of their problems¡K
¡K just be friends
Evangelism means to carry Jesus in your heart and to give the presence of Jesus to someone else. They see God in us, and we also see God in them. But to give Jesus to a person you must first find Jesus yourself. - Mother Teresa
5) Accept them
Listen- if they are not Christians, you cannot expect them to behave, yet. (of course- God DOES still have His standards¡K but He¡¦s not imposing them on them, yet. ¡¥It¡¦s His kindness that leads to repentance¡¦)
Let them belong> believe> behave
(even if they have aberrant theology!)
6) Invite them
Andrew- Jn 1:41 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Come and see!
I want you to be thinking and praying NOW about who you can bring with you on 18th Sept¡K and then take with you to the Cathedral on 6th Dec etc etc
-it¡¦s what you are MADE for. It¡¦s what they NEED
6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.
