Date Written: December 9, 2006
Date Preached: December 10, 2006
Where Preached: OZHBC (AM)
Sermon Series: Evangelism in the Christmas Story
Sermon Title: Evangelism in the Christmas Story
Sermon Text: Matt 1:20-24; Luke 2:10-11; 26-28
Introduction:
For the average believer, there is NO greater fear (AT LEAST THIS IS TRUE IN AMERICA) than the commission and call of Christ on our lives to share our faith with those who do not believe on Christ as Savior!
The task seems impossible to the human eye and to all human understanding. When we think about how many people groups there are in the world and how many are hostile toward the gospel… our hearts sink and many despair because of the enormity of the task…
When is the last time you exercised obedience to the call of Christ and shared your faith with a lost soul? This task is difficult at best but it is not one to be taken lightly… it is not one that is going to be easy… and it is not one that will be accepted by all we share with…
The task of taking the Gospel of Christ to the world around us is one that has been around for over 2000 yrs when the Gospel was first proclaimed to a worried woman and a hesitant husband and many scared shepherds… And each one of these people were given the task to take this message to the world in one way or another…
Like these people we are called by God to be His witnesses and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world around us… we are called to take His message of mercy, grace and forgiveness to the world… we are called to share His love and compassion with even those who do not like us… even those who hate us!
What are you doing today to take this wonderful message to the world around you? You may be sitting there this morning and saying but pastor I have tried but NO ONE has ever accepted Christ when I witnessed to them… I am a failure at witnessing and that is why I stopped!
Understand that Jesus did not call you to SAVE anyone, Jesus did not give the power to provide redemption, and Jesus did not commission you with the power of conviction of sins…
Jesus called you for ONE purpose and that purpose is to SHARE the Gospel… your job is just to share! If God sees fit to place you in a situation where the harvest is gathered… then so be it, but do not think yourself to be a failure because someone either rejected you or failed to make a decision when you were obedient in sharing your faith! For by rejecting the message you bring, they are, in reality, rejecting God Himself!
This morning I want to present to you three separate instances where God called and humanity answered. I want us to take a look at the hesitant husband... I want us to give a glimpse to the worried woman and seek out the truth about the scared shepherds!
First I want us to stand and turn in Matt 1:19-24… (read Scripture)
1. The Hesitant Husband (Matt 1:19-24)
18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After His mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 19 So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly. 20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is by the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph got up from sleeping, he did as the Lord’s angel had commanded him. He married her…
Matt 1:18-24 (HCSB)
Now if there was ever a man who was going to get ‘cold feet’ it was Joseph. Here he was about to marry the woman he had been dreaming about… the woman who had betrothed her love to him… and just before the wedding she tells him that she is pregnant.
But to beat all things, she tells him she is pregnant NOT by human hands, but by the hand of God and that the baby inside her was the Messiah… the long awaited Anointed One of God!
Now I can just imagine what Joseph was thinking as Mary told him about what Gabriel had told her… He had been taught all his life that the Messiah… God’s Anointed One… was going to be the deliverer of Israel… a great and mighty King who would deliver them and restore the nation back to its former glory!
• How can a child born OUT of wedlock be of any significance in the salvation of Israel?
• How can a son conceived and born out of wedlock be the deliverer and King that Israel had long awaited?
I believe Joseph was a kind man at heart and he was going to deal with this in a very discreet manner… but he was going to push Mary away… he was going to reject the message of Gabriel… until an angel of the Lord came to visit him one night!
Now I want you to put yourself in Joseph’s shoes, and I want you to think about it in the context of someone hearing the Gospel for the first time!
When someone hears the gospel for the first time, many cannot grasp what is being revealed to them and so they simply believe it cannot be true…
Why do I need a savior? I am not a bad person! I do somethings wrong BUT I have never killed anyone… or I am not as bad as ole man Jones down the street!
The message of the Gospel came to Joseph and it was SO incredible to him that he almost turned away from it… he almost pushed God right out of his life! But thank God for His mercy and patience! God sent an angel to calm the fears that were welling up in Joseph’s heart.
Mary was the apple of Joseph’s eye and she was possibly the most special person in his life. But what she had to say… he just could not believe! Mary could NOT twist his arm to believe her… Mary could not smooth talk her way into him accepting her story!
The only way that Joseph was willing to accept this good news of the coming of Christ was when God came to his heart and comforted him with His presence and it was at that time all fear was swept away for Joseph and Joseph surrendered to God’s plan!
That is just like what happens to the sinner who hears the gospel. They cannot be smooth talked into believing, not even if the person sharing with them is the apple of their eye, but when Christ comes knocking at their hearts door, they have the choice as Joseph did to accept the message they have heard and accept Christ for WHO He said He is!
So often as believers we fail to witness to those hesitant humans around us because we think, they are NEVER going to believe or accept this message… Satan has convinced us that it is foolish to even try!
But we are called to try, we are called to get in the game and tell others about Jesus. Who knows, the next person you tell about Jesus Christ may become a father to a young man or woman who he raises in the church and they become the next great evangelist of our day… preaching and teaching and winning many into the kingdom… all because you were faithful to share the Gospel with the hesitant humans you see around you each and every day!
But not only do I want to look at the hesitant husband, lets also look at the worried woman as well… READ PASSAGE
2. The Worried Woman (Luke 1:26-38)
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And [the angel] came to her and said, “Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. 30 Then the angel told her: Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name JESUS. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end. 34 Mary asked the angel, “How can this be, since I have not been intimate with a man?” 35 The angel replied to her: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 And consider your relative Elizabeth—even she has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 “I am the Lord’s slave,” said Mary. “May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:26-38 (HCSB)
Now if you think Joseph had a difficult time with the news he was given, can you imagine what Mary was going thru? Here was a young woman who KNEW her situation in life… she KNEW she had been true and faithful to Joseph and she KNEW she had been with NO man…
How could this be? How could this happen? Was God trying to punish me? My life is over? Everyone will think of me as an outcast!
So many times when people are confronted with the Gospel of Christ they know JUST where they are in life. They know that they have NOT murdered anyone… they know that they have NEVER robbed a bank… they know that they practice telling the truth in all situations…
But then the light of the Gospel shines on their lives as the light of God’s angel shone on Mary’s face that wonderful night some 2000 yrs ago!
When the truth of God’s word is revealed to the sinner it is like turning a light on in the kitchen and seeing the roaches scatter! Without the light, you cannot see the filth and the vermin! But when the light shines they are revealed and they try to hide!
When the light of the Gospel is shined on a life their sins are revealed and that person has to come to the realization that God has smiled on them, God is drawing them and they must submit to God!
Mary was NO BODY special in the eyes of the world, but God saw her heart and she was favored in the eyes of God. In fact, because of what happened to Mary, the world would ridicule her and revile her!
When we come to know Christ as Savior in this broken and sinful world, we are NOT going to be looked upon as making a wise decision by those in the world! In fact, we will be looked upon as weak, manipulated, and pressured into something we would regret!
I am sure there were many people who thought that Mary’s life was over… that she had ruined things… and that she was going to regret ever getting into this situation!
Likewise, there are many people who think when you become a Christian that your life is OVER… that there is NO more fun and no more living life! That when you accept Christ, you have ruined your life and you are going to eventually regret that decision!
Well when we look at this woman named Mary, we see that she did have her reservations, but we can see that she quickly put those aside and submitted in obedience to God’s call and command on her life!
So often many believers think they are accepting Christ, but they refuse to accept the things that are difficult to understand and even harder to go out and do… such as share your faith! They want to claim Jesus as Savior but refuse to submit to Jesus as Lord!
The hesitant husband was not sure about accepting God’s call but submitted when God’s presence brought him comfort…
The worried woman did not understand the command and call of God on her life, but submitted in obedience to God’s call…
Finally today I want us to look at the…
3. The Scared Shepherds (Luke 2:8-20)
8 In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: 11 today a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord, was born for you in the city of David.
12 This will be the sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped snugly in cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors! 15 When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the feeding trough. 17 After seeing [them] , they reported the message they were told about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard, just as they had been told.
Luke 2:8-20 (HCSB)
Here are several simple shepherds living out in the fields with their sheep. The shepherd was the lowest of the low when it came to jobs and when it came to stations in life! But we find God coming to these shepherds with a great voice and a great challenge to them!
Like Joseph these men had been taught who the Messiah was and they all had their expectations on how He was to come, and what the could expect from the Messiah, so this news from the Angels was welcomed, but it was not fully understood…
When we look at the shepherds we can see they are like the semi-mature believers who know what God wants them to do but they don’t totally understand what God is doing!
I can assure you they thought to themselves… WHY US? But God uses the weak and the low to do His work to show the world that He is the one in control…
God sent these shepherds as missionaries out into the town of Bethlehem to tell everyone they saw what had happened to them on that night!
I am sure that when the evening began and the sun was setting on that wonderful night these shepherds were NOT thinking about angels coming to visit them or being the 1st people other than Mary and Joseph to see the Messiah!
But we find that when the opportunity presents itself to us, we are not as obedient to the call of God as these simple shepherds were!
We simply refuse to go street to street and telling all of what God has done in our lives! These shepherds were sent out by God to spread the Good News if the birth of Jesus Christ and they submitted and rejoiced in being part of God’s Plan!
Today as believers we need to have that same submissive and thankful spirit as that of the shepherds who came to the manger on that night!
Conclusion:
As a body of believers we are NOT being obedient to God’s call in sharing our faith. Paul Harvey once said, "…Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium…"
THIS ILLUSTRATION WAS FOUND ON SERMONCENTRAL.COM
Trueblood, Elton, a Quaker theologian once said, "Evangelism is not a professional job for a few trained men, but is instead the unrelenting responsibility of every person who belongs to the company of Jesus."
THIS ILLUSTRATION WAS FOUND ON SERMONCENTRAL.COM
It doesn’t matter the method you use to share Christ as long as the message of Christ is true to God’s Word! But so many believers today are scared and nervous about HOW they are sharing instead of being confident in WHAT they are sharing…
D.L. Moody once spoke with a woman who didn’t like his method of evangelism. "I don’t really like mine all that much either. What’s yours?" She replied that she didn’t have one. Moody said, "Then I like mine better than yours.
THIS ILLUSTRATION WAS FOUND ON SERMONCENTRAL.COM
Today is our ‘official’ ingathering day for our Lottie Moon Christmas offering for our international mission efforts. Today we focus on spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ around the entire world…
But I am here to tell you that putting $5, $10, $25, $50, or more in the Lottie Moon offering is NOT evangelism… it does NOT excuse you from your call by God to share the Good News of Jesus Christ! You are called by Christ… you are called to get in the game… you are called to be active in your Christian walk!
For you to be a fruitful Christian you must be obedient, for you to be obedient, your must be submissive to God’s spirit, for you to be submissive to God’s spirit, you must deny yourself!
I want you all to know that Joseph was skeptical about accepting the message… but we find him finding comfort in the presence of God… he denied himself and what others were pressuring him to do and he accepted the message!
Mary was not sure about accepting the call…but we find that she was obedient in her walk with the Lord. It was obvious that she had a walk with God because she was most favored by God, and we find her being totally submissive to God’s call on her life, regardless of what other thought about her!
Finally, we can see that the shepherds were enthusiastic in receiving and accepting God’s call on their lives! They were enthusiastically obedient and word began to spread about this Messiah… about this King of Kings… about the man who came to save the world!
How about you this morning? Do you want to be a Christian that bears fruit for the kingdom of God? Or are you skeptical of the calling of God on your life?
If you are skeptical, I place you at God’s feet because there is NOTHING I can say or do that will change your mind! But when you are touched and moved by God’s Holy Spirit… in the presence of God you will have a comfort and a peace about accepting His message! And you will be willing to deny yourself for His sake!
God has given us a task, the question is what are we going to do with that task? God has commissioned us to share with the world that Jesus Christ came to this world because God loves us so much!
• Jesus came to seek and to save the lost…
• Jesus came and lived a perfect and sinless life…
• Jesus came to die on the Cross as the perfect sacrifice for our sin…
• Jesus came to be buried in a borrowed tomb and on the 3rd day rise from the dead and conquer sin and death…
• Jesus came so that He could provide a way for His creation to know their Creator…
• Jesus is now at the right hand of the throne of God and is preparing a place for all who seek Him as Savior and Lord…
If you are here today and you do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. I cry out to you today to surrender your life to Him and ask Him to forgive you of your sin and save your eternal soul…
When you have Jesus in your life, life is going to be so much sweeter, but realize that we live in a fallen and broken world and sometimes the going is going to be tough, but with Jesus we can rest assured that we were going to make it!
Come to Jesus today as Bro Jerry comes to lead us… won’t you stand as we sing our hymn of invitation!
