Find someone and tell your story!!
In the next few weeks I am going to speak a lot about evangelism and hopefully define the vision of our next few years. There comes a time when we must stop waiting and begin doing.
I mean by that all too often in churches across the world we wait for people to come and visit us instead of going to them with the wonderful story of Christ.
I realize that this kind of vision and commitment will lead us from our comfort zones and require some faith and love to move forward in. This is what we need. Talking about the lost and hurting and wounded and the desire to help them is great.
The problem is that how are they going to know we care if someone doesn’t tell them.
We can no longer sit and wait for God to send them. We must do something to reach this city and county. Something more than we have.
As you can imagine there are a lot of potential actions I am considering. Almost all of them cost money so I will also be talking the next few weeks on commitment and sacrifice.
Savannah is starting to sound like a big city. Murder, drugs, theft is on the rise.
The church must respond with action. Not hunker in our comfort zones but rise to the needs of the people.
Christ is not through building His Church. He has always built it with people of all lifestyles, and nationalities. He always will.
Let me read you an evangelistic story from the Bible.
John 1:43-49 KJV
The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.
This is a classic story of someone that recognized Christ and accepted who He was. Then taking that confident realization and going first, to someone he knew, and telling them about Christ.
When Nathanael responded with doubt Philip didn’t give up. He replied; come and see for yourself.
John 1:43-49 Message
43-44The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, “Come, follow me.” (Philip’s hometown was Bethsaida, the same as Andrew and Peter.) 45-46Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the one from Nazareth!” Nathanael said, “Nazareth? You’ve got to be kidding.” But Philip said, “Come, see for yourself.” 47When Jesus saw him coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.” 48Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.” Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”
49Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”
The last verse I read is very exciting. When Nathanael met Christ. Saw Him for who He was he believed and responded by acknowledging Christ as the Son of God.
This was simple evangelism. A person meeting Christ and accepting Him; then finding someone they know and inviting Them to so the same. Not accepting the first rejection but maintaining the offer until the person accepts.
We have got to stop worrying about hurting someones feelings. I am not talking about being obnoxious. I am talking about being sincere and have ing real compassion for people.
The person you are talking to may be the next one killed in a car crash, murdered or one who will need Christ to face a tragedy in their family.
Many times people don’t take us seriously because we do not act like we believe it ourselves.
Let me share another example.
John 4:29 KJV
Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
Message
Back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?” And they went out to see for themselves.
Here we are again finding a person who met Christ and was moved by the experience. She couldn’t wait to go and tell others so they could meet Him as well.
The story of the woman at the well doesn’t end there.
John 4:39 KJV
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.
Message
Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman’s witness: “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!”
Her witness, her testimony moved people forward to find Christ for their own lives. Yours will do the same.
We must put our testimony out for people to see and hear. We must stop worrying about those who know our faults and failures and just let Christ live through us.
It will work.
Pastor Marvin
Tags: evangelism, Philip, story
