Telling Someone about Jesus
Matthew 28:16-20
Research indicates that it takes the average American church in the course of a year 85 members to bring one person to faith in Christ.
Its like doubt is built into our system. How can we tell people about Jesus if we ourselves are not convinced of His veracity and authority?
How can I deal with the doubt I have, so that I can tell someone about Jesus?
Multitude of programmatic answers (EE, Romans road, 4 spiritual laws, etc.). None are effective in every instance b/c they are pre-scripted.
It is about relationships more than a program.
First a relationship with Jesus.
Before you learn to tell people about Jesus you need to learn to follow Jesus yourself.
Follow Jesus (the disciples followed His instructions)
We don’t tell others about things that we do not have intimate knowledge about
Disciples had a worship experience on the mountain top.
Worship should lead to outreach.
Follow Jesus to the mountain top
It is here you can see the mission field.
Jerusalem; Jesus wanted to gathers them together as a hen gather her chicks; they were as sheep without a shepherd; they were a field white to harvest.
While the disciples could have been overwhelmed by the needs they saw in the community below, Jesus made a startling statement,
I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth.
Our outreach needs to be based on His authority not our own authority.
1# thing people say about Christians is that we are arrogant.
It is not about saying a prayer; sharing our faith means bringing people face to face with Jesus authority in their lives.
So I have a relationship with Jesus cultivated by a heart of worship, now what? Am I ready to tell someone about Jesus?
Here is the action plan
•Go
Opposite of “build it and they will come.”
It has been said that the “Go ye means go me.” I only half agree with that. The command to go is in the context of community. I can’t recall Jesus ever sending anyone out into ministry alone.
Original language says: “as you are going.”
He expects us to be in the world, but not of it.
A Christian man owned a barber shop. One night, at a revival meeting, the barber felt greatly burdened to do more with his testimony for Christ. The next evening, the barber began attending a "soul winners class" at his church. He attended faithfully every night for two weeks. He rehearsed all the material, took extensive notes, and memorized the assigned Bible verses. At the end of the two weeks he received a plaque acknowledging his completion of the course.
The next morning, in the barber shop, he hung the plaque and bowed his head. "Dear Lord," he prayed, "help me to witness to the first man to come through that door this morning." At that moment in walked the biggest, meanest, foulest man the barber had ever seen. It seems this man had recently lost a bet with some "biker" buddies and now he had to get his head shaved. Needless to say, the barber did not feel very comfortable quoting the "Roman Road" to a man with a tattoo on his neck.
The rest of the day did not go any better for the barber. At 5:00 p.m., the barber was sobbing with shame. He had not witnessed to a single person. He bowed his head again. This time he prayed, "Lord, if you will allow one more opportunity, I promise I will do my part." At that, the door opened and in walked a pleasant looking gentleman. The man smiled at the barber, apologized for coming in so late and took a seat in the chair.
As the barber draped the man in his protective sheet, he began to try to remember what he was supposed to say. He began to get very confused. As the barber put shaving cream on the man’s face, he tried to remember the answers he had learned to the possible objections. As the barber began to strop his razor, he realized that he simply could not remember a thing he had learned. This made the barber very nervous and soon sweat began to break out on his forehead.
Finally, in desperation, he shook the razor at the man and screamed, "ARE YOU PREPARED TO DIE??!!!"
Jesus said, “as you are going.” We need to learn how to share our faith in a natural way. You need to become comfortable talking about spiritual things.
•Make disciples of all the nations
All 22,000 people groupings
•Baptize them
•Teach them
The END: this is the ending of the Gospel of Matthew and likely one of the last times Jesus addressed the disciples. There must have been great fear in their hearts about the future.
Fear is one of the greatest obstacles to evangelism. Yet, Jesus has an answer for that fear. Not a program, a script, but HIMSELF.
Conclusion: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
We do not go alone.
Pastor Vinnie Cappetta, PhD
Cornerstone Community Church
Marlborough MA
faithandreality.com
