Witnessing ....book Of Jonah (Sermon) 8/2014...tell Others About Jesus

Witnessing ….book of Jonah….08/24/2014...

We are going to look at witnessing this morning…telling others about the goodness of God...we are going to look at a man who ran from God because he didn’t want to witness to the city of Nineveh ….why didn’t he? …sometimes we run from God in our disobedience…..we are going to look at the story of Jonah …so turn to chapter 1 of Jonah…

ILL.- A young Bible college student was witnessing in a small town. He came to a house and there was an elderly gentleman sitting on the front porch.

He said, “Are you a Christian?” The old fellow said, “No, I’m a Smith.

The Christians lives two doors down.” “You don’t understand. I mean, are you lost?”

The old man said, “No young man, I ain’t lost. I’ve lived here for 25 years.”

Young Bible student said….“But are you ready for the Judgment Day?” The old man said, “When’s it going to be?” The young man said, “Well, it could be today or it could be tomorrow.” The old man said, “WELL, PLEASE DON’T TELL MY WIFE, BECAUSE SHE’LL WANT TO GO BOTH DAYS.”

Jonah 1:1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Jonah’s name means “Dove” and his father Amittai means “My Truth

You put those together and you see that Jonah means messenger of the Truth.

All born again Christians are messengers of the Truth. I think sometimes or most of the time we forget that. It’s our duty as a Christian to tell others about the grace and goodness of God.

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Once we surrender to Christ it is our duty to tell others about what He did for us ….don’t think for a moment that God hasn’t call you to tell others…..every Christian has Gods authority and been given the tools and gift to be a witness.

***Each of you here that are saved are unique and have a witnessing gift that no one else has.

You have a unique testimony…….no one can tell others how God changed your life except you….no one can tell others how He convicted you of your sins except you….God called you for a reason ….not only because He loves you unconditionally but, you and only you can bring that special someone to Christ…

I believe when you come to Christ…sometime during your life time He sets up a meeting between you and that someone to witness too……but, it’s you that has to be willing…it’s you that that God calls to be a witness to that person or persons.

There is someone ….somewhere that God wants you to tell about His grace through Jesus Christ our Lord. …..Everyone is not called to be a Billy Graham ……everyone is not called to be a DL Moody or Charles Spurgeon.

*******But, you are called to be a servant and witness for Jesus just as they were.

**There are a few reasons why people don’t witness for Christ….just as Jonah had a reason for running from the Lord I believe.

Number one I believe that many Christians lead a life of unforgiven that keeps them from witnessing.

They feel they are not good enough….feel uneducated or don’t know the right words to say.

God will never put you in a position to were you will be lost for words….He will give you the words to say.

Don’t let modern society beat you down and tell you…”you can’t witness until you learn the right words…memorize the right Bible verses…. ***God gave you the knowledge when He saved you.

…Your testimony …….it can touch someone that no one else can.

***Its God who opens the door…..its God who opens the heart for His grace to pour in…and He uses each of His children to do that…no just a Pastor or Evangelist…

God was using Jonah’s testimony even out of his disobedience to open doors and the hearts of the ones on the ship.

****Jonah thought he was running from the presents of the Lord and didn’t want to be a witness in the city of Nineveh…..he got on a ship to Tarshish but a storm came up on the sea and began to toss that ship around and the marines got afraid …mariners were the experienced ship hands…

*****I’m sure they had made the trip many times and been in many storms but, this one was different and they even cried out to their god but, their god wasn’t the same god that Jonah worshiped and because of their beliefs they wondered who had cause the storm that was threating their life.