Foundational Functions of Church - Evangelism

Foundational Function of the Church – Evangelism

Introduction – Good morning and welcome

Isaiah 6:1-8

1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

Prayer

· What would make the Apostle Paul go from a person who persecuted the church, imprisoning believers and even participating in putting Christians to death, become possibly the most well know preacher of the Gospel? To where he was even imprisoned.

· What would make the Apostle Peter hold fast to his saving relationship with Jesus to the point in which he was crucified upside down because of this faith?

· More to home, what would make me want to preach God’s Word despite how uncomfortable it is, despite how inadequate I feel in this task?

· We can start to see the answer in Isaiah passage

· Isaiah had vision from the throne room of God.

· Angels were praising and glorifying God

· Isaiah was convicted of His sin and unworthiness to be in the presence of God.

· But God did not leave him in this state.

· He was forgiven of sin which immediately transformed his life.

· Isaiah went from being unworthy to being bold, eager to serve God. When God asks, “Whom shall I send?”

· Isaiah immediately says, “Here I am, send me.”

· Like Isaiah, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin and the fact that we cannot escape this condition.

· But He also reveals the truth of the Gospel, the grace and mercy of forgiveness of sin leading to salvation.

· Faith in the Gospel brings about radical transformation to our life.

· At the cross, we now are able to see both the guilt of sin and the power of love.

· We are made a new creation, a new life in Jesus made possible by His resurrection.

· We experience the love of God poured into us and we give our lives to Christ as the King of our life.

· We no longer live for ourselves but for Jesus.

· And with new life, it brings new priorities, new purpose in life.

· Loving God and loving our neighbors now becomes the driving force in our life.

We have been in a series called, “What is the Church”

· We learned that the church is the Body of Christ. A body of believers who has experienced what I just described.

· The church is single minded in purpose, living in obedience and service for God.

· And as the Body of Christ, we represent Jesus and Kingdom of God here on earth.

· We also learned that the church is the Temple of God through indwelling Holy Spirit.

· We are the means in which the world encounters the presence of God.

· We are determined to carry out the will of God both individually and collectively.

· But what is God’s will for us and the church?

Introduce next few weeks

2 Foundational Functions of the Church

· We are going to answer 2 questions, “Why does the church exist in the world?” More specifically, “What does God expect to do through His people as they make contact with an unbelieving world?”

· 2nd, “Why does the church exist as a gathered community?” again, more specifically, “What does God intend to happen to His people as they meet together as a community of believers?”

Today – 1stQuestion

· TJ preached on Great Commission from Matthew 28:18-20.

· Share Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

· Explain text

Jesus begins this commission by establishing His authority in Heaven and earth.

A closer look at Christ’s authority

John 17:1-5

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

The text shows us that not only does Jesus have authority over all flesh and over all creation, He also has the authority to give eternal life to those whom He chooses.

· Jesus explains that this eternal life is given to those who truly know in a relational way the only true God, and Jesus Christ.

· On earth Jesus revealed both God the Father and Himself, God the Son.

· He also revealed God’s overarching plan of redemption and salvation offered to the world.

· But since He is now with the Father, He sends believers to make known the only true God and Jesus Christ.

· Jesus, speaking to the Father, said, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.”

So, since Jesus has all authority, he gives us a one word command, “GO”

What to do when we “Go”

· Make disciples of all nations– A disciple is follower or learner of Jesus.

· The way we go and make disciples is to proclaim the Gospel to unbelievers so they might be “Born Again” through faith in Christ. A new disciple.

· Baptize the new believer– Water baptism-Outward expression of an inward reality – Jesus came as the Light of the world. We too are His light here on earth. We don’t hide our faith.

· Last, we are to teach them to observe all Jesus has commanded us– We invest our time to walk with new believers, to help them mature in their faith.

Promise

· I will be with you always.

· But how is He with us always? – Through the sending of the Holy Spirit He promised when He ascended to Heaven.

How important is this Great Commission to Jesus?

· Illustration – Last words of a dying loved one – My Grandpa-hung on to every word because they were so important to me.

· His last words – Jesus was about to leave His disciples to go to Heaven. He could have said anything He wanted to – but He chose His last words to commission the Apostles to “Go and make disciples.”

· This is how important it is to Jesus.

Must be important to us, it must be a priority for us.

· Transformed life means obedience to God’s commands

This brings us to the 1st foundational function of the church and why it exists in the world: To make new disciples by sharing the Gospel to unbelievers. We call this Evangelism.

· Christ’s came into the world to save sinners.

· Carry on His ministry – To help save sinners through evangelism.

The book of Acts tells us about the formation of the Christian church and how many came to believe through the preaching of the Gospel.

Share with you and event from Acts 8:26-40 concerning a disciple named Philip. But instead of using Philip, I’m going to refer to you to experience this event by putting yourself in the narrative.

Paraphrase

· After Christ’s death and resurrection, you are in Jerusalem along with the Apostles and other disciples.

· You all are preaching and teaching Jesus.

· But, because of this, you were all being persecuted for your faith facing imprisonment and even death.

· The Apostles stay in Jerusalem, but you and many of Christ’s disciples leave and being dispersed to other parts of world at that time.

· As you leave, the Holy Spirit commands you to go from Jerusalem to Gaza by yourself. As you are traveling, you come upon an Ethiopian eunuch on the road sitting on his chariot reading Scripture from Isaiah.

· The Holy Spirit commands you to go over and join him so you ran to him.

· You ask, “Do you understant what you are reading?”

· He responds, “How can I unless someone guides me?”

· So you start with what he is reading, and use other Scripture to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

· The Ethiopian believes the message of Jesus you shared with him.

· He wants to be baptized, so the both of you found water.

· As you are in the water with him, you say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

· He is brought down under the water symbolizing Christ’s death.

· You then bring him up out of the water symbolizing Christ’s resurrection.

· Immediately, the Ethiopian starts rejoicing and is filled with joy.

· The next thing you know, the Holy Spirit carries you away to another location and you continue to preach the Gospel in many towns making your way to Caesarea.

As you pictured yourself as Philip during this event, I wonder you felt?

· Did it excite you? Do you want to share the Gospel with others as Philip did?

· Or did you think there would be no way you would do this. That you’re not equipped for evangelism.

What can we learn from Philip’s obedience to the Great Commission

· 1st, we are to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

· And our obedience should look like Philip’s response when the Spirit told his to go to the chariot: “He ran”

· We learn that knowing and using God’s Word is essential to share the good news of Jesus Christ

· We realize that making a new disciple is not a one and done experience. Like Philip, we go on looking for other opportunities to evangelize as part of our daily lives.

Philip is an example of someone who has experienced the love of Jesus poured into them= it manifested itself in love for God and love for others wanting them to experience salvation.

· He gave up any personal aspirations he may have had to be obedient to Christ’s command to go and make disciples.

I wonder if you’ve experienced this kind of love?

A love that leads you to make Jesus the authority, the King of your life?

A love that leads to a desire to put God’s will above all else?

Do you long to hear, “Well done good and faithful servant” when you see Jesus face to face?

This is the 1st foundational function of why the church exists in the world. To make disciples through the sharing of the Gospel to unbelievers.

If you have given your life to Jesus, every day is an opportunity to share the Gospel to an unbelieving world.

· It all starts with how we live our lives.

1 Peter 2:12

12 And maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.

Paraphrased Quote

Do everything in your power short of sin to proclaim the Gospel. And if it becomes absolutely necessary, use words.

· Now to share the good news of Jesus, we do have to use words.

· But the quote is stressing the importance of our how we live our life.

· If our actions and behaviors are contrary to what we preach, no one will believe us.

· So, our actions, the way we show our love for God by loving others is the beginning of our proclamation.

· As unbelievers see how we live, many will be attracted to us and are curious about the joy we exhibit.

· This is our opportunity to then share the good news of Jesus Christ.

I said earlier, sharing the Gospel to make disciples is of the highest priorities to Jesus. These were the last words before He ascended.

Thunder Basin’s priority as well

· Missional mandate slide: Sharing Jesus as we engage our community one relationship at a time – PowerPoint slide

· We Value…slide: Living Sent, Profound Generosity

But in reality, evangelism has lost its priority in many churches, lost its priority in many individual believers?

· It is my opinion that the reason for this is we’ve fallen victim to the many obstacles we establish that keeps us from sharing the Gospel.

· Others obstacles come from the lies we are told by the evil one – Called spiritual warfare

· Satan will do everything in his power to keep us from evangelizing

Examples:

· Fear of rejection and failure: What if they don’t believe what I say.

· Feelings of being inadequate: I don’t know how to share the Gospel. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know the Bible well enough.

· I’m an introvert: I’m just to uncomfortable talking to others about Jesus. I get too nervous and anxious. Those who are extroverts will be better at evangelizing.

· I quit: I tried and it’s too hard, too frustrating, been rejected too many times.

· I don’t have enough time because of everything else going on in my life: I would mean I would have to sacrifice other things I enjoy doing if I take the time to evangelize.

· I fear losing my friendships and family relationships if I share the Gospel with them.

· I fear being persecuted by others because of my faith: They may label me as a racist or a fascist.

· I had good intensions: I can be particularly good at this one. We start your day with prayer and Bible study. Intending to show Jesus to others with possibility to share Gospel. But realize later that evening we spent the day on self-propulsion through the busyness of life not one thinking about God, let alone sharing the Gospel.

· I thought it was the pastor’s job to evangelize.

· I have experienced most if not all of these obstacles

Illustration: 1st half of woman at rest stop

Facts about these obstacles

· For me to address these obstacles, it would be wrong for me to say, “Don’t worry about these things” or “You shouldn’t think this way.”

· These are very real obstacles, real worries and fears.

· One thing that helped me a lot is when a pastor once told me to, “learn to become comfortable being uncomfortable.”

· It can be hard, if not impossible to get rid of these obstacles all together.

· We will all probably continue to experience these fears and doubts.

· This is why we learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

· And the more times we evangelize, the easier it becomes.

· The question we must each ask ourselves is, “Does the priority of being obedient to God in all things outweigh my fears and obstacles of sharing the Gospel?”

Illustration: Finish woman at rest stop

Here are some Biblical truths that can help ease our minds

1st, the truth is no one is equipped to evangelize being self-reliant, dependent on our own strength.

· Jesus knows this, that is why he said I will be with you always through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

· The Spirit provides us with everything necessary to evangelize.

· He provides comfort, power, guidance, wisdom, joy, protection, and the understanding of God’s Word.

· This tells me that the Holy Spirit is essential for the Christian life and ministry.

· Another comforting fact is that we aren’t responsible for the results, God is.

· We just share the Gospel message, plant the seed.

· Share my experience of frustration and wondering what I did wrong.

Out of time for today

Illustration: 2nd half of woman at rest stop

Quote from Doug Fagerstrom (President of Grand Rapids Theological Seminary)

“Those who desperately need Jesus need you to tell them the good news of God’s love and grace.”

Doug Fagerstrom