Sharing Our Faith

Sharing our faith- by Roger Roark

text - 1 Cor. 3:6-9 (nlt ) and 2nd Kings 7:3-9

1 Cor. 3:6-9

My job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God, not we, who made it grow. [7] The ones who do the planting or watering aren’t important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed grow. [8] The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team with the same purpose. Yet they will be rewarded individually, according to their own hard work. [9] We work together as partners who belong to God. You are God’s field, God’s building—not ours.

It is our job to sow the seed, and God’s job to make them grow.

. The message is still the same. The message is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our delivery has changed.

. We have seen a lot of changes over the last 100 years.

1. We have come from mail being delivered by pony express on horses, to regular mail delivered by cars, to airmail delivered by jet aircraft, to email.

- A letter that used to take days to be delivered , can now be sent electronically in seconds.

-That messages hasn’t been watered down. The message is still, Jesus loves me, and HE died for me, but the delivery has changed.

. Let me ask you a question. What is worse than being lost? The answer is, being lost and no one looking for you.

( illustration ) There was a young barber who had been to a revival all week, and he was determined to wittness to people that he came in contact with.

He was a barber, and he prayed and promised the Lord that he would wittness to everyone who came into his barber shop.

The first man to come in was huge. He was about 6 feet 4, and weighed about 250 lbs.

The young barber said," well, I will let him go, and I will wittness to the next one who comes in.

This went on all day, he would make excuses as to why he didn’t wittness to them.

Finally, he saw that it was almost closing time, and his last customer came in and sat down in the barber chair.

The young barber was giving him a shave, and had the razor in his hand.

He walked around in front of the man, and blurted out , "Are you ready to meet God.?

. We work together as partners

1 Cor. 12:4-7 (nlt)

Now there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who is the source of them all. [5] There are different kinds of service in the church, but it is the same Lord we are serving. [6] There are different ways God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work through all of us. [7] A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.

It is our job to follow Jesus, and to do as Jesus did.

The world out there are watching every move we make, as Christians. The want to see if we practice what we preach.

Jesus, in His earthly ministry, went around doing deeds of kindness.

He fed the hungry, He healed the sick, He had compassion. He cared.

When we do deeds of kindness, we are being like Jesus.

Jesus said " whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done to me.

Acts 10:38

And no doubt you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, for God was with him.

People are wanting to see acts of kindness in us, not just hear the word.

.When kindness and goodness are shown, the lost can be found.

( illustration ) There was a woman sitting in the waiting room at a doctor’s office . She was reading her Bible. There was a woman sitting next to her , and she was crying.

The woman just kept reading her Bible, and she could hear the woman sobbing, but never offered to help. She never asked what was wrong. She never showed any compassion.

This is what the world is looking at. This is what makes an impression on the lost. Maybe if the lady had stopped, and just offered to listen, then maybe a life could have been changed.

Jesus has the power to change lives. We hear about, and see these changed lives every day.

I listened to a speaker for the gideon organization, tell about a prostitue who checked into a motel. She had reached rock bottom, and was thinking about killing herself. She saw the Bible sitting on the dresser, and reached over and got it, and began reading. She read the book of John. She got down on her knees, and asked for forgiveness, and asked Jesus to come into her life. She later told someone that, she had come into that motel a prostitute, and left a child of the King.