OPEN: They tell me that being a “preacher’s kid” can be difficult for a young child. I read once of a preacher’s little boy who was told by his mother that he should wash his hands because there were germs living in all the dirt he’d been playing in.
He looked up at his mother and got this really disgusted look on his face. “Germs? Germs?” He said. “Germs and Jesus! Germs and Jesus! That’s all I ever hear around this house! And I’ve never seen either one!”
APPLY: At that young age, that little boy wasn’t sure he was comfortable believing in something that he hadn’t seen.
A lot of people are like that.
Remember how Thomas reacted to the news that Jesus had risen from the dead? John 20:25 tells us: ‘”…he said to (the other disciples), ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.’”
Thomas had difficulty believing in something he had not seen and touched.
I. But now - here his first letter - we find the Apostle John saying:
“YES… I have seen,
I have heard
I have touched this Jesus
AND that’s what I’ve been preaching about.”
And John is saying that he believes so strongly in this Jesus (this Jesus that he’d seen and touched and heard) that he wrote that he was proclaiming “to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us….” (1 John 1:3)
Now, you’d think that it would be easier for us if we, like the Apostle John here, could claim to have seen and touched and heard Jesus. You’d think that it would be easier for us to convince people about Jesus if we our selves had actually seen and touched and heard Jesus.
But the Gospels repeatedly point out that even when people PERSONALLY SAW the miraculous power of Jesus, they still rejected Him. Even when they heard from the lips of those who had personally seen Jesus they still would not believe. Being an eye-witness to Jesus did NOT make it easier to convince people to become Christians.
Lee Strobe, in his book “Inside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary”, maintained that the unchurched aren’t necessarily looking for miracles and appearances of Christ.
• The unchurched haven’t necessarily rejected God - they’ve rejected “church.”
• Many of them are morally adrift, but they secretly want an anchor.
• They often don’t understand Christianity, but they’re also ignorant about what they claim to believe in.
• Often they’re not so much concerned with the question of “Is Christianity true?” Instead, they’re more concerned with “Does Christianity work and how can I experience it?”
In other words, just like the people in John’s day… the unchurched today want to hear about what YOU’VE seen…
what YOU’VE touched…
what YOU’VE heard
They want to know if it works for you.
ILLUS: A woman put an ad in the local paper: “Lost 50 pounds! Selling my fat clothes – they’re in good condition, sizes 18-20.”
She was bombarded with phone calls, but nobody wanted to buy the clothes – they all wanted to know how she had lost the 50 pounds.
You see, the callers wanted to know about something that had changed her life hoping that this something could change their lives too!!!
That’s what the unchurched are really looking for. They want to know if Jesus really works in your life.
II. Now… there are 2 ways I can think of that can help your friends decide Jesus works in your life:
1st they can hear your story
• Why did you become a Christian?
• Why do think Jesus has made a difference in your life?
• Or… why are you a Christian?
Now, I’m going to do something really scary for a preacher… I’m going to quit talking for a few moments. The reason that’s scary is that the moment a preacher stops talking people minds have a tendency to drift off into never-never land.
But I want you to take a few moments and answer at least one of those questions. You can write your answer on your bulletin, or you can write in some corner of your mind. But for the next few moments, I want you to ponder on these questions:
• Why did you become a Christian?
• Why do think Jesus has made a difference in your life?
• Or… why are you a Christian?
(silence for about 3 minutes)
The reason I’ve asked you to do this, is because some believers have never given much thought to those questions. They never give much thought to why they are Christians or even to why they first became Christians. They simply go thru the motions of going to church and Sunday school and Bible studies and youth activities… but they often times they don’t consider why they do them. And so they have a hard time explaining to others why they should love Jesus like they do
SO 1st – to help people understand how Jesus has worked in your life, they can hear your story .
THEN a 2nd way up can convince them Jesus works is if they can see Jesus in your life.
ILLUS: On the way home from church a little girl who said, “Mom, I’ve been thinking.”
The mother said, “Oh! About what?”
The girl replied, “Well, my teacher this morning said God is bigger than we are. Is that true?”
“Yes, that’s true,” the mother replied.
“He also said that God lives within us. Is that true too?”
Again the mother replied, “Yes.”
“Well,” said the girl. “If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?”
You and I need to ask ourselves – does Jesus show thru our lives.
But… how would we know if Jesus is showing thru? Turn with me to Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
If you show these qualities in your life… people will see Jesus in you.
OK… SO HOW DOES THAT WORK?
Well, I picked one of the fruit out of the list as an illustration. Galatians tells us that one of the fruit of the Spirit having joy.
So… do people see you being filled with joy? When people are around you – do they see you being at peace. Contented with your life…?
Or do they see you as one who complains about things instead?
Now… we all complain now and again. In fact, let’s take a poll. How many of you have complained at least once this week? (Most hands went up).
Ok. So we all complain when life gets uncomfortable or someone has rubbed us a little raw… but some people seem to have developed that trait of complaining down to a fine art. If you asked them, they might even try to explain to you that this is somehow their Spiritual gift.
ILLUS: I once knew a man that reminded me of a rose. He did beautiful things for the church.
He’d worked with the youth, he’d been actively involved in outreach for church, worked with missions. He was extremely talented. He was just like a rose – so much that was beautiful about him.
But roses have thorns, and so did he.
Whenever you were around him all he did was complain.
He complained about the preacher,
o the church leadership,
o the music,
o the way the church did this…
o or did not do that.
He never seemed to be happy. He had no joy in his life.
He was just like a rose. There was so much that was beautiful about him. But being around him was like holding on to the stem of a rose that loaded with thorns.
He had no joy in him… and that made him really uncomfortable to be around.
DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE LIKE THAT?
They’ll complain a lot about how things are going at work, or at home, or at church?
They might say… “Well you don’t understand my situation… You don’t understand the type of people I have to deal with!
Well, no… we don’t. You nor I really know what other people have to go thru in their life and what effect it can have on their outlook on life.
But I do know that joy isn’t so much a BY-PRODUCT of life… as it is a CHOICE that we make.
ILLUS: A young college student sold magazines door to door one summer. He was lame from a boyhood accident and walked with difficulty. At one house where he stopped, the lady of the house quickly turned him down.
As he turned and walked away she noticed his handicap and called out, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were crippled; I’ll buy a magazine.”
He responded by saying, “I’m not selling sympathy; I’m selling subscriptions.”
“Well,” she responded, “doesn’t your being lame color your life?”
“Yes,” he replied, “but I choose the color.”
And that’s the way it is with us to belong to Jesus Christ: we get to choose the colors in our lives. And because we belong to Jesus we have the opportunity to choose the brightest and most cheerful colors because we have a reason to do so.
ILLUS: Now there are some people that just come naturally by these traits of love and joy and patience and long-suffering. But for most of us this can be a struggle at times. The reason we can show these fruit of the Spirit in our lives – even when we’re faced with difficult situations and people around us – is because Jesus shines in our lives and brightens up even the darkest corners.
John wrote: “… if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7
You see… Jesus has the power to just light up our lives so that the vibrant colors can truly color our lives. And when people see that in us… they see Jesus.
III. And that’s what I like about this church
All the beautiful colors of the Spirit just shine out from this congregation. So many of you show the qualities listed in Galatians that it is truly a joy to work amongst you.
And that’s why I always get excited about Friend Sunday!
INTRODUCE FRIEND DAY CARDS
IV. Now… I want to close with this thought.
John wrote that “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” (1 John 1:3)
My point is this…
When we talk to people about our faith, it is easier to invite them to church than it is to share our faith and introduce them to Jesus.
This isn’t a condemnation… it’s just a fact of life.
And because it’s easier for us to do that, we often forget that our main goal SHOULD BE to bring these friends of ours to “fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.”
If we’re not careful, we can get into the mindset that our goal is to bring people into this building so that we can pay the bills. So that we can fill the seats. So that we can make Jeff feel really good (although, bringing a lot of people to church with you WILL make me feel really good).
Having people come in the door is a great thing. Having them join in fellowship with us a wonderful thing. But let us never be deceived into thinking that church can be a substitute for a relationship with God.
And so, you should not only invite people to church…
But you should also find ways of inviting them to Jesus
• by your story
• and by your life.
Jesus should show thru in what you say and what you do… so that others will know who it is you have fellowship with.
CLOSE: A Hindu trader in India once asked a missionary, “What do you put on your face to make it shine?”
With surprise the man of God answered, “I don’t put anything on it!”
His questioner began to lose patience and said emphatically, “Yes, you do! All of you who believe in Jesus seem to have it. I’ve seen it in the towns of Agra and Surat, and even in the city of Bombay.”
Suddenly the Christian understood, and his face glowed even more as he said, “Now I know what you mean, and I will tell you the secret. It’s not something we put on from the outside but something that comes from within. It’s the reflection of the light of God in our hearts.”
And the missionary succeeded in leading the trader out of Hinduism into Christ because Jesus showed through.
(Sermons in this Series:)
1. Fancy Footwork – Romans 10:13-15
2. Telling Your Story – I John 1:1-9
3. Creating A Thirst – John 4:4-30
4. HisStory – Matthew 16:13-26
