The Church Is A Life Boat, Not A Showboat

Ask not what your church can do for you; ask what you can do for your church.

The church is a lifeboat, not a showboat.

Does that mean Martin is against having parties, gym nights, and anything that is fun? What’s the answer? I know some of you know. We’re going to have parties, we’re going to have gym nights, camp outs, jet skiing at the lake. We going to have lots of fun. The difference is this: our primary purpose will not be merely fun, our primary purpose will be to win others to Christ. There are people who are so lost in the world, you will never be able to bring them to church. But they may come to gym night to play basketball. They might come out to a party. And if we can love them and develop good relationships, they may come to church. They won’t come to church because they feel their need for God. But they will come because they want to see us. This is called friendship evangelism.

How does this church feel about friendship evangelism? Well, if it’s easy enough, I suppose.

Let me share with you a dialog from the once-popular sitcom, Seinfield. I came across this on www.preachingtoday.com where I search for sermon illustrations. The dialog takes place between Elaine and her boyfriend.

Elaine asks, “Do you believe in God??

“Yes,?her boyfriend replies.

Elaine asks, “Is it a problem that I’m not religious??

“Not for me,?her boyfriend answers.

“How’s that??she asks.

Her boyfriend says, “I’m not the one going to hell.?

I wonder if that’s the attitude many of us Christians have.

Rick Warren in his book “The Purpose Driven Church?says, “A church that has no interest at all in increasing its number of converts is, in essence, saying to the rest of the world, “You all can go to hell.?

Whoa, that’s pretty strong! We have this precious truth! God has given us salvation. It is a free gift. God asks us to go to share the good news with the world.

God says, “Go!? In Acts 1:8 Jesus says, “you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.?

We need to go to all nations.

The General Conference, which is the largest unit of organization in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, has declared 2004, the Year of World Evangelism.

In the world-wide Seventh-day Adventist Church, we have nearly 13 million members. We have 13 million reapers for a 6.3 billion people world.

We need to go to all nations. But we start here. We begin in our home town. There are people here who need Jesus.

Depending on the research you read, the United States is between the third and fifth largest mission field in the world, with more than 150 million not knowing Christ.

A century ago, Africa and Asia were the great mission fields. It is not so anymore. The word is spreading through the continents of Africa and Asia. Now the great mission fields are Europe, Australia, and North America.

God needs missionaries.

What if? Ever play “what if?games? Think with me. What if each one of us could bring one person to Christ during this next school year? What would happen if we could do that? Our church is about one third full. By next year, we would be two-thirds full. And during the next school year, what if the two-thirds of us in this church each brought one more person to Christ. We would be a packed church. Then what? Well, I guess we could move out of this building that looks more like a warehouse than a church. Do you believe that is God’s dream for this church? If each one, can reach one. What if we began to dream big for God? Better yet, what if we started praying, “Lord, dream your dreams through us!?

Is that your desire? Would you like to pray that prayer? If that is your desire, would you join me as we sing our closing hymn.

Hymn 330 ?Take My Life and Let It Be (1, 3, and 5)