Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing
1. Loving Others Through Outreach
January 8/9, 2005
Don Jaques
INTRO:
We have 3 priorities – worship, small group, outreach. My vision is for a congregation of people who gather weekly for corporate worship, come together in small groups for discipleship and fellowship, and are regularly involved in reaching out to others with the love, acceptance, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ through community outreach.
The need – simple, applicable ways to make these priorities a part of our weekly schedule. This week’s focus: OUTREACH. As the program states, “We are dedicated to reaching people who do not know Christ as their Savior.”
How do we do this? What we don’t need is any more guilt. What we do need are some practical suggestions about how each of us can make outreach one of the “main things” of our life.
STEP ONE – Develop relationships with non-Christians.
We must build time into our schedules for building relationships with non-Christians. (They will never become a disciple of Jesus unless they see it lived out and explained to them in an understandable way. They will never hear the gospel unless someone tells them. The only way for you to tell them is to develop a trusting relationship with them.
-developing relationships with unchurched people through community service. Coach a team. Lead a boy scout troop. Volunteer at a thrift store. Be the salt of the earth and get out of the shaker! Volunteer at the school. Be influential on the PTA. Run for City Council or the school board.
-cultivate service opportunities in your neighborhood. Help that neighbor move in. Bring them a meal the 2nd night they are there. Give them a gift certificate to Solid Ground. Invite them to church. Start a small group in your neighborhood. Help cut up that tree that fell in your neighbor’s yard. Offer to watch the kids when the woman is feeling ill or hospitalized.
Here’s where you can be totally creative – and use the personality and gifts God has given you. For some, God may call you to help start a brand new church – whether in Kenya or in Coupeville!
Whatever it is you like to do – think and pray about how you can use it for developing relationships with people who need to know Jesus.
- pray before engaging in that activity for opportunities to meet people and for the courage to turn the course of conversation onto spiritual subjects. This is step two.
STEP TWO – Talk about spiritual matters.
You’ve heard the little saying “Witness for Christ wherever you go – if necessary use words.” It’s kind of cute – but I don’t know ANYONE who ever committed themselves to Christ without someone using words!
Rom. 10:13-14 “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?
FIRST STEPS
• “So, do you go to church anywhere? Why not? Can I tell you about my church?”
• “Why do you think most people don’t go to church?”
• “What is your religious background? What are positive/negative aspects of your experience?”
• “What are some of the biggest issues you have with Christians today?”
• “If you could ask Jesus one question and knew he would answer, what would you ask him?”
• “What do you think is humanity’s basic problem? What is your philosophy of life? How does your philosophy of life address humanity’s basic problem?”
• “I’d really be curious to hear who you think God is and what He’s like.”
• “What do you think happens to people after they die? How have you come to that conclusion?”
GOING DEEPER
• “Can I share with you why I’ve committed my life to Jesus Christ?”
• “Would you be interested in seeing a simple diagram that summarizes what the Bible says about how to have eternal life? It will only take about 3 minutes.”
• “Jesus has made an incredible difference in my life. Can I show you a brief diagram that shows how this change started?”
“Would you like to know the difference between religion and Christianity?”
STEP THREE: Explain the Gospel.
There are lots of ways to boil the gospel (good news) down and make it understandable. All of them have at the core the same basic “players”. If we can get a handle on the main truths, we’ll be able to use a variety of tools to share the gospel with people.
Overview: The players.
(Adapted from Becoming A Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg)
1. God
…is loving. (1 John 4:16b God is love…)
…is holy (absolutely pure). (1 Peter 1:16 …I am holy)
…is just (a good judge). (2 Thess. 1:6 God is just…)
2. People
…were created good but became sinful.
(Gen. 1:27 God created man in his own image Rom. 3:23 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.)
…deserve death (physical and spiritual).
(Rom. 6:23 The wages of sin is death…)
…are spiritually helpless (“morally bankrupt”).
(Is. 64:6 all our righteous acts are like filthy rags)
3. Jesus
…is God in human form.
(John 1:1,14 the Word was God…the Word became flesh)
…died as our substitute.
(1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed, 3:18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.)
…offers his forgiveness as a gift.
(Rom. 6:23 the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord)
4. You and I
…must repent (turn) from our sinful ways.
(Acts 2:37-38 “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.)
…must give Jesus complete control of our lives (“make him Lord”).
(1 Peter 3:15 in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.)
…can receive a spiritual rebirth by the Holy Spirit
2 Cor. 5:17 if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!)
Let me share 2 really easy ways to share this basic message. (By the way – this message and every other message is available for you to read on the web – just go to our website and follow the links.)
DO vs DONE (a natural follow up to the question, “Would you like to know the difference between religion and Christianity?”
Religion
• Is spelled “D-O”
• Trying to DO enough good things to please God.
The Problem
• We can never know if we’ve done enough.
• The Bible says in Rom 3:23 that we can never do enough.
Christianity
• Is spelled “D-O-N-E”
• Christ has DONE what we could never do
o Lived a perfect life
o Died on the cross to pay for our wrongdoings.
Our Response
• It’s not enough to just know this.
• We have to repent (or turn) from our sins.
• We have to receive him as the complete authority in our lives and live for him.
Their response
• Does this make sense to you?
• What do you think about what I just said?
THE BRIDGE TO LIFE (c. 1981 the Navigators)
I. God’s Love. God created us in his own image (Gen. 1:27) to be his friend and to experience a full life assured of his love (John 10:10). But he didn’t make us robots. He gave us the freedom of choice.
II. Man’s Problem. Mankind has chosen to disobey God and thus become separated from Him (Rom. 3:23). This separation means the penalty of an eternal spiritual death (Rom. 6:23, Heb. 9:27).
III. God’s Remedy. On our own we cannot attain the perfection needed to bridge the gap between mankind and God. Christ’s death alone is adequate for our sin and bridges the gulf between God and mankind (1 Peter 3:18, Rom. 5:8).
IV. Our Response. It is not enough to just KNOW this. Believing means trust and commitment: acknowledging and repenting of our sinfulness, trusting Christ’s forgiveness and letting him control our life (John 3:16, John 5:24). Eternal life is a gift for us to receive (Eph. 2:8-9).
QUESTION: Where would you put yourself on this diagram?
What would keep you from accepting this gift of salvation right now?
CONCLUSION:
Where are you on the diagram?
Have you received this gift of salvation? If not you’ll get a chance in just a moment to do so.
I said at the beginning that we have 3 priorities at CTK church. We’ve spent this time focusing on the priority of outreach. But the Bible makes it clear that if we want to be effective in reaching others with the life-changing message of the good news – we must do one very important thing. Remain in him.
John 15:4-8 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Next week we’ll take a look at what exactly that means and how we can really develop a lifestyle of remaining in Christ and his teachings – a lifestyle of worship.
For now it is commitment time. What do you need to do?
• Commit to praying daily for opportunities to share the gospel.
• Commit to memorizing a gospel explanation and the scriptures that go along with it.
• Commit to some way of developing relationships with nonChristians using the personality and gifts God has given you.
• Commit your life to Jesus Christ for the first time.
Let us pray and listen to what the Lord would say to us and let’s dedicate ourselves to reaching out to those who do not know Jesus with His love, acceptance and forgiveness – that they might experience the joy of salvation and a purposeful life of discipleship!
PRAY.
ANNOUNCE
Copies of “The Bridge to Life” are available on the info table. Take one. Memorize it. Practice on a Christian friend. Explain it to a non-Christian friend.
