"A FIRST CENTURY PRACTICE
FOR OUR 21st CENTURY CHURCH"
Dr. David L. Haun
April 4, 2004
Hope Christian Church, Tamarac, Florida
One of the first activities of the first century church was evangelism. On Pentecost, the church began with some 3000 individuals accepting Christ. At that point believers started meeting together in church groups. Those groups grew and divided as more and more confessed their faith and were baptized. During the next thirty years the church spread across Jerusalem, throughout Israel, and around the Roman world. It must have been exciting to be part of the first century church. Individuals still lived who had walked with Jesus, heard first hand his teaching, and witnessed with their own eyes his miracles as a rabbi. The church was fill of people who knew and had witnessed the truth of his resurrection.
It must have been exciting, for that first century church was filled with people who recognized their gift and spiritual responsibility as a witness and evangelist. They believed they had a God-given responsibility to tell everyone they met about Jesus and as a result, literally thousands of people each week accepted Jesus as their Christ and savior. Evangelism was not like it is today, where the average believer may or may not -- and usually doesn’t -- share the message of Christ. (1)
The church in that first century was not like the American church today, where it is easy to belong to a church in our neighborhood. The first century was different. There was danger in the first century for a Christian. Open belief could lead to arrest, prison, or death. But still the command of Christ was believed -- and followed: "Go and make disciples...."
The situation has changed in the Western world in the centuries since that first exciting church. But the fact remains that what those first century believers practiced in their faith, we are called to do today in the same way.
I.
THE COMMAND OF GOD IS CLEAR FOR
THIS CENTURY, AS IT WAS FOR THE FIRST
Matthew 28:17-20
17 When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.
A. Everyone won’t believe, but some will. God knows that, but he still calls us to be his witnesses. Jesus compared witnessing to the planting of seeds. Some seeds, Jesus said, never sprouted. Some started to grow, but died. Some were overcome by weeds and were killed. "But," Jesus said, "some seeds fell on fertile soil and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted. (2)
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
B. Christ has, and is the authority; we have the responsibility .. to go.
I cannot help but evangelize;
Not if I am to remain true to Christ.
I cannot stop actively using
my eyes and ears to see and hear those
who live their lives apart from Jesus’ love;
Blind to his mercy,
Deaf to his message,
Uncaring of his sacrifice,
Unfeeling of his love,
Uninterested in his constant call.
I cannot help but evangelize;
and take the fearful steps of
faithfulness in my witness for Christ.
I cannot help but evangelize,
To offer prayer for others
to be open to God’s leading and desire;
To pray for me
to have courage to help, serve and witness.
I cannot help but evangelize,
if I am to be a child of the king... (3)
II
OUR SECOND SCRIPTURE OFFERS
AN EVANGELISTIC METHOD FOR THAT FIRST CENURY
AND FOR US.
Let’s look at the Scripture read earlier this morning from the Gospel of Luke. (Luke 10:1-10)
A. We sometimes feel alone when we think we must share our faith. However, we will never go to anyone except one to whom Jesus also is going....
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. Luke 10:1
We are preparing the way for the king. Our witness may not "succeed." We, like those 70 first century evangelists, are opening a door in the individual’s life to the coming of Christ. That’s part of the meaning behind Paul’s message in First Corinthians 3:7, when he wrote that some plant, some water, but Christ makes it grow. When the Spirit "nudges" you to speak to someone on spiritual matters, they may or may not listen. You may be the first to plant the first thought. Another, at some other time, may be the one to water. But one day, someone’s witness will result in acceptance harvest. "Success" in witnessing is not achieved only in a baptism service. Success comes when we accept the Spirit’s nudge, open our mouth, and become a fool for Christ. (I Corinthians 1:27)
B. Jesus instructed how the message could be shared Luke 10:2-4
He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
The evangelistic message is to be shared quickly. We’re not to allow anything to stop us from doing that which God has selected us to do: tell others about Jesus. The evening we go calling is not the time to stop for a cup of coffee. Specific directions were given those 70 where to go, how quickly to get there, what to say and how to act.
C. Today I am suggesting an evangelism system you can begin to use right now. In the months to come, Hope Christian will learn many ways to do evangelism. Each of them will have strengths. None of them will work for everyone. The Method I am suggesting which you and I could begin today is known as "Lighthouse Evangelism." I first read of it in an sermon by a pastor named Mike Wilkins. (4) As I read his ideas, I found them exciting as a method we might use.
1. In Lighthouse Evangelism, you begin by standing at your front door. Using a note pad to write on, count five neighbors on your right. If you live on a corner, just keep counting going around the corner, Then count five neighbors on your left. Pick the house directly across from you and count five residences on each side of that house. Write down names or house information and begin today, praying for them, house by house. Perhaps exercise by walking up and back your street each day, praying as you walk. Or sit in a lawn chair at your front step and pray for each home. You can do Lighthouse Evangelism in any place you are. Mike suggests you do this in the location where you most relate with non-Christians. If your primary relationships with unbelievers is in you workplace, child’s day-care, neighborhood coffee group, school, or wherever, then start there. It could be apartments instead of houses, school lockers, your team mates, five desks on either side of yours at work, or in school. You are selecting 21 homes or persons to pray for every day.
Let’s think a moment about Hope. There are about 50 here in the service today. If each of us took this step of lighthouse evangelism, each day, Hope Christian Church would be praying for 1000 homes a day! Who of us can imagine what would happen if every day our church family prayed for 1000 homes. That would be what? -- two, three, four thousand people lifted to God each day in prayer. Who can imagine what God would do with that level of prayer.
Now, what do you pray? In Luke 10: 5-6. Jesus said to pray for the peace of Christ to fill that home and the people in it. Perhaps you might memorize and use the Scripture from Numbers 6:24-26: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you; the Lord lift his continence upon you, and give you peace."
So, each day, you stand at your front door and pray for God’s peace and presence to fill those 20 families. The meaning of the peace you pray is more than the mere lack of conflict. It is that, but it also is a peace of spirit, a peace in relationship with God. The word "peace" Jesus used represents the peace promised in the Old Testament that renews humanity’s relationship with God. You are praying for God’s peace. (5) So, the first step of Lighthouse Evangelism is prayer. You can stand at your front door today, jot down the names (if you know the names) of your neighbors and begin this step of Lighthouse Evangelism. You can sit at your desk tomorrow, make a list and begin to pray. If there’s a neighbor whose name you don’t know, walk down to their house this evening, introduce yourself as a neighbor and ask their name. Then come home, write it down, and begin to pray..
2. The second step follows naturally from your daily practice of prayer. You discover and learn all the names of the families in those 20 homes. You learn the names of their kids. You learn where they work and what they enjoy. You begin to put feet on your prayer by becoming a "servant" for Christ in your neighborhood. Make some extra pasta and take it by one of your prayer houses. If you hear of a celebration in the home of a neighbor you’re praying for, buy (or bake) a small cake or some cookies and drop them by. If someone’s ill, give them a call, take them some sandwiches, walk their dog. Become a servant ... one family, one house at a time. You are praying for 20 homes. You are serving a home when God opens the opportunity. You see the process? Jesus said in verse five: "When you enter a house, first say, ’Peace to this house.’ " What you are doing is being a friend, and before long making a friend.
3. And then, finally, when you have prayed, and you have been a friend and made a friend, then share the love and miracles of Christ in your own life, and lead that friend to Christ. Verse nine states the truth: "Heal the sick who are there (that’s why you learn the names of family members - so you can pray for them too) and tell them, ’The kingdom of God is near you.’" James White, in his book Rethinking the Church, shares an observation by Michael Green as to why the early church was so evangelistically successful: The gospel, he wrote, was shared like gossip over the backyard fence 6) That’s the kind of evangelism that works! Though many fear annoying their friends with spiritual conversations, research shows that there is no annoyance at all when spiritual conversation is held with a family member, close friend, or trusted associate. Just this past week, an acquaintance stopped by our table at a restaurant to tell us of an illness in her family. I asked if she would like me to pray. She said yes, and we prayed there at the table. Later, after our friend had left, another person came up to our table and indicated she had seen us praying for someone. I said yes, and she said, "My husband has just had a pacemaker installed. Would you pray for him? "
When we serve Christ, God makes things happen. Sadly, just one third of all Christian adults feel that they have any personal responsibility to share their faith with others. (7)
This is Lighthouse evangelism. You can do it! You can be a light that points the way to Christ. An evangelist, Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, stated that the New Testament records tell of forty people suffering from disease, who were healed by Jesus. Of this number, thirty-four were either brought to Jesus by friends, or Jesus was taken by friends to them. In only six cases out of forty did the sufferers find the way to Jesus without assistance. What was true in the first century is still true today. Of the vast number of people who find their way to Jesus in the 21st century, most of them will reach God because friends who know Jesus are concerned about the welfare of their souls. (8)
III.
OUR FINAL SCRIPTURE REFERS TO GOD’S
ULTIMATE URGE FOR FIRST CENTURY CHRISTIANS AND TO WE IN THE 21st CENTURY.
Our fulfillment of that first century practice is so important. In Matthew 5:13, Jesus reminds us that we are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. God’s call to "go and make disciples" is too vital for any of us to ignore. Striving to fulfill God’s urge is essential to our growing spiritual life. We are God’s salt, and it’s important to be salt that does what salt is intended to do...
We are God’s light to the world. Jesus said it, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (9)
The Scripture says that you and I are to be fishers of men. Today, will you join with me in fulfilling God’s intention that you be his witnesses here in the 21st century in your neighborhood, at your job site, in your classroom? Will you be a 21st century evangelist just like those first century men and women? Remember, God is counting on you.....
Footnotes
(1) "Millions of surveys which we have helped to take around the world indicate that approximately 98 percent of the Christians do not regularly introduce others to the Savior." -Bill Bright, president of Campus Crusade for Christ (SermonCentral.com.)
(2) Matt 13:8
(3) David L. Haun
(4) Wilkins, Mike. "Prayer Evangelism" SermonCentral.com
(5) The Life Application Commentary Series. Tyndale House Publishers, 2000. PC Bible Study.
(6) James Emory White, Rethinking the Church (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1997), 49
(7) Ibid.
(8) Tan, P. L. . Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations. ( Garland TX: Bible Communications. 1979
(9) Matthew 5:14-16
