Sermon 7-19-09 reach out= sharing your faith 1 peter 3: 8-16 uuuuu
8Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. 11He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. 12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."[a]
13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear[b]; do not be frightened."[c] 15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
Sermon series, reaching out….last week help the needy
This week…witness, share your faith
Next week is how we can help other churches
Today is new member Sunday
We have added witness to the list of commitments of membership
What does that mean
The Christian faith is not your private possession. We are called to reach out and win others.
This is a major theme in the new testament
Mt 4 I will make you fishers of men
Mt 9 we are to be workers in his field
Mt 28: go and make disciples of all nations
2 cor 5:20 we are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
So how do we do this? I am asked this question a lot…………
I have a group of friends that are not Christian. We go out once a month and each month I am bantered with questions about how I can believe in god. I have trouble with a response. One person told me that it is ok to be a Christian and I should keep believing as I do.
Faith sharing is the movement of my belief, my faith, from my heart to yours. How does that happen.
Not just by words. But by words and deeds
By how we drive…….no fish on cars in
By the smile on my face, the way I conduct my daily life.
I am not saying that you cannot have parties at your house. Be normal, relevant and authentic.
My neighbors know more about my faith by what I do and how I treat them than by what I say to them
Ps 19 says- The heavens declare the glory of god – there is no place where their voice is not heard.
Ps 19
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. [a]
4 Their voice [b] goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
You are witnessing every day, by what you do and by what you don’t do.
Acts of kindness, acts of kindness missed
So lets look at this scripture today…. One of the most important passages about sharing your faith, and it is so ignored by so many well meaning Christians.
15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
We all no examples -how this is done wrong……I am some of those
Mark flamer
Mark Stanton
In SF handing out tracts
Over power new people
Scare people
Radicalize your relationship with them
When we push too hard, we only hurt people.
These bad examples do not absolve you from the responsibility to speak to others about your faith.
You have to build a relationship with them.
You have to earn the right to have soul talk with them
Examples of what not to do
Don’t try to close the sale
Don’t use pat answers-When someone dies
Don’t use mass marketing tacticts
Leaving out tracts-Cold calling
People are won to jesus by people that they trust.
Americans by and large don’t need someone to tell them about Jesus, what they need is someone that will talk to them about Jesus without scaring them to death.
There are Good examples- some people do it right
Todd rhinehart and eric weymuller
Probably done right by who ever got you to this place
Maybe you are good at this………maybe not
When was the last time you mentioned your faith, your church?
Lets face it, we have not done as much of this as we could have…..we were just living out lives and we forgot about reaching out to others.
What can we do to improve in this area?
1. Be always ready. Don’t be afraid. Relax, you are talking about good stuff.
2. Do it when they are comfortable. Wait for the moment that they will give you permission. Always be looking for a time to reach into their life with God’s love
3. Tell your stories. Let them see how the faith has played a role in your life tell them about your church. Tell them that the people are relevant. Tell them that we deal in grace not guilt.
4. Be the kind of person that people will want to talk to, like when Nicodemus went to see Jesus in john 3.
Be Fair, Be kind
In todays world, my husband and I struggle with the Christian way to handle our renters. They have the same circumstances that how owners have that are currently in foreclosure. The difference is they cant make rent payments, that causes the actual owners to struggle with mtg payments. That causes stress for us. Its hard no to become angry with renters.
5. Learn to celebrate life. Get out of the should and ought. See the good and learn to dance. People around you will want to know what is going on in your life.
Are you glad to be a Christian? Has knowing Jesus made a difference in your life? Then Change your daily outlook Pray everyday, god give me someone to touch for you today.
Lets pray……lord just give me one person to reach for you today. To share your love with. To offer the words of life when the moment is right.
July 26
Ask members to go to white ave. jeppsons church 1 Sunday a month
Kingdom thinking vs local church thinking
We are not in competition
Tell them everything that you can
If someone leaves our church, we are sad, but if they go somewhere else, they are doing gods work there. They got something from us and they moved on. It is going to happen. Lets celelbrate that they are doing the good work there instead of complaining that they are gone from us.
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