Someone Else Will Do It

Good morning and welcome to CCC. We are so glad you are here with us this morning both in person and online and watching later on our RightNow Media page.

Technology can be a challenge and even an evil but it can also be used for good and getting God’s Word to people and places that would otherwise not have heard it so for that Praise the Lord!

Let’s Pray

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This morning we are wrapping up our the Bait of satan sermon series with the final message Someone Else Will Do It.

If you recall this series started back in June and we have looked at many different lies or attacks satan uses and how to defeat them with scripture and truth.

We started with offense, then looked at freedom, pride, unforigveness, religion, love of money and just last week my past defines me.

I pray God has moved in a might way in your life

I pray that God has brought you closer to Him and each other this summer

I pray you have been convicted and challenged to do what God has asked of you.

Some will ignore

Ignore Truth

Ignore conviction

Ignore challenges

Ignore Jesus

Others will listen and hear but refuse to do

Others will be shaken to the core and be discipled and grow tremendously because of the work that the Holy Spirit is doing in side of them

Many others may be tempted to use the age old lie of satan

Someone else will do it

in response to the many truths and challenges this series has presented to you this summer

Many use this lie not only in their relationship with God but also their relationships with others

Many see something that needs done at work but will say that is not my job someone else will do it

Many see something that needs done at home but again will choose to say that is not my job someone else will do it

When it comes to church and serving God many say....someone else will do it

Many Christians are tempted to believe the lie,

I tithe,

the church pays a pastor,

let them do it that is why I tithe

You are way off on both tithing and serving.

You tithe because God asks you to tithe

You tithe because everything you have is given to you by God and you give back to Him out of gratitude and love

You serve because Jesus chose the cross and service to you when you were His enemy

If you do things for any other reason you are wrong.

Even within our small congregation some believe that someone else will do it....

that then leads to the the problem of the same few someones doing it all

This morning I want to look at a few areas in Christian life and church life where you may be tempted to say someone else will do it.

1. Response to conviction

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Many will say....Pastor that is a weird place to start

Conviction is between me and the Lord

You are absolutely correct, conviction is an inside job between you and God

However so many choose not to respond to conviction

That altar is not for me

If I go forward everyone will assume I have issues or sin

I don’t need to ask for prayer

I would be embarrassed if the whole church circled and prayed for me

I can handle it on my own

You are wrong

Jesus died on the cross for everyone so therefore the altar is for you

Everyone knows you have issues and sin, hope that isn’t a newsflash to you

God tells us in James to ask for prayer, to be anointed and prayed over by the elders if you are sick

You absolutely cannot handle it on your own

So many sit in these pews each and every Sunday and God is begging for you to give Him your burdens

God, through the Holy Spirit is laying it on your heart that you need Jesus

God, through the Holy Spirit is laying it on your heart that you need to give something up

or

need to start doing something

or

change your beliefs or thoughts or actions or lifestyle

but you sit

You ignore

someone else will do it

I know because I sat there in the pews for 20 plus years

Ignoring the conviction

Justifying away the conviction

refusing to surrender to the conviction

All I got was bondage

slavery

a life of porn addiction

a life of alcohol

a life of tobacco

all because I refused to deal with my issue

my sin issue

someone else will do it

Conviction is from a loving Father who is trying to bring you closer to Him

trying to grow you in spiritual maturity

trying to show you who He created you to be

Love

How do so many respond

Defiance

Ignoring

Justifying away

Running

Hebrews 12:5-7

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“And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?”

Now conviction is not always discipline and discipline is not always conviction

Sometimes they are independent of each other and sometimes not

When you are convicted God is treating you as sons and daughters

If you are saved, blood bought followers, disciples of Jesus you are also sons and daughters of God

Galatians 3:23-29

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“Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

If you are saved you are a son or daughter of God

co-heirs with Christ Jesus!

If then you are sons and daughters of God why is conviction such a hard idea to grasp and embrace

You do this all the time with your kids and grandkids, spouses, friends etc

You have conversations about things that you see, fruit that is not spiritual and you talk about how you would really like them to think about this or that based upon scripture

If you are not doing that shame on you

When you do that you are loving them, trying to get them to realize scripture and change their ways based upon God’s Truth

If we get that and do that and are sinful by nature and living in the flesh, not of the flesh but in the flesh

Why is it so hard to believe and accept the fact that God does the same thing to you

He loves you

He sent Jesus to die for you

to pay your price

to make a way where there was no way

That is a high price and of course God wants you to grow and mature in Christ!

He does that through conviction

The question is not whether God convicts those He loves the question is how do His children, you and I, respond to that conviction?

Only you can respond to God

Not your mom

Not your dad

Not your spouse

Not your kids

Not your Sunday school and discipleship group and Bible study teachers

Not your elders

Not your pastor

Only you and if you believe the lie someone else will do it you will miss it altogether!

2. Serving in the Church ________________________

Galatians 5:13-14

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“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.””

Hebrews 6:10

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“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.”

If you are in Christ

If you have confessed the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Savior and believe that God raised Him from the dead you are saved and you are free

Period

End of story

It is not God’s fault that He broke your chains

that He kicked open the prison cell

and you choose to stay in bondage

That is on you.

Jesus died to set you free and if you are saved you are free!

Since you are free you are to serve one another

Sunday mornings are an opportunity to serve your brothers and sisters in Christ

That may be through teaching Sunday school

greeting people as they enter the building

helping people with coffee

helping getting kids inside for service

helping getting kids from fellowship hall into the sanctuary for service

teaching or helping in children's church

being willing and ready to take care of kids in the nursery when they come

greeting everyone before service, especially people you do not know

welcoming visitors to CCC and God

giving the communion meditation

Praising with the praise team

helping in the back

mowing the lawn

countless ways to serve

Sure you get spiritually fed here

Sure you will grow here

But you are here to serve

If you are just a consumer, only coming for you

only coming to be served

only getting something out of it for you and you alone

you miss the point

I love technology, I also hate technology

We have people who worship with us online and that is great if they are unable to get out due to health etc

The problem is many want to worship online because they just want fed and have no desire to serve

Others believe that listening to a sermon online or on tv is the same as going to church

In fact many have said my church is at the lake, God says where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name He is there that is church

Scripture does teach where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name but are you really gathered at the lake in Jesus name or just using that as an excuse to feel better about not making God and His church a priority

That is an issue

Mark 10:45

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“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.””

If you are only looking to be served you are not looking to Jesus!

There are seasons where

you are beat up

You are hurt

Your are vulnerable

There are seasons where you need carried by your brothers and sisters in Christ

a bad medical diagnosis

a loss of job

a divorce

breaking addiction

countless things that happen in life that try and break us and during those seasons you may need to just be served for a short while

however research proves that those who are depressed are best helped when they begin to serve others why

because that is what you were created by God to serve God and others!

If you believe that inside the church someone else will do it you miss out on what God created you to do

you also are missing out on rewards in heaven

but most importantly you are missing out on relationship with Jesus and that breaks my heart

3. Serving outside the church

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Isaiah 58:6-10

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““Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.”

You are to serve those who are lost

You are to feed the hungry

You are to clothe the naked

You are to bring in the homeless and help them

There are so many broken

bound

addicted

homeless

lost souls in and around Nevada

Are you serving them?

Are you living in a way that draws them to Jesus?

Sure they make bad decisions

Sure they take advantage of the system

Sure they may lie and cheat and steal

THEY ARE LOST

Serve them

Be a good steward but serve them

Many say someone else will do it because they say

I have tried

I have been taken advantage of

Again be a good steward

set up boundaries

Here we have a team that handles requests from outside the church

Whoever receives the request passes it on and the team then prays and decides how to help them

Don’t give cash

Don’t enable

But love and serve

Many will reject your love and service but that is no reason to stop offering it

Just keep serving

It goes deeper

I John 3:16-17

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“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”

If you have the love of Christ living inside of you then you will have compassion and will never refuse to serve those around you

Jesus laid down His life for you

He paid your price

His blood covers your sin

If He laid down His life for you then you are to lay down your life for Him and others

If you see someone in need and immediately go to a place where you judge them

their choices got them there

They choose to stay homeless

Don’t they know about the soup kitchen

They choose drugs and alcohol over life

You better check your heart with God

Those things may all be true but who are you to judge

If God says serve you serve regardless of your feelings and opinions

So many refuse to serve the lost because of their own pride

So many refuse to serve the lost because of fear

So many refuse to serve the lost because of hate

NO matter the reason, if you refuse to serve the lost you are not filled with the love of Jesus and better find out what is going on if you claim to be Christian!

Now with all that said you cannot serve to gain salvation

Matthew 7:21-23

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Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

Look at what they said they did

These things listed here by Jesus are Spiritual gifts

The Bible even says to desire high gifts

I Corinthians 12:31

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“But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.”

Earnestly desire the higher gifts

How many of you truly desire higher gifts, teaching, miracles, healing, speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues

You should

Not for your glory but for God’s glory

Back to Matthew 7

These are all things you should desire

Jesus says these folks will say we did these things

We were Christians

We passed the eyeball test

Prophesy

Driving out demons

Doing many mighty works

healings etc

They looked the part

Today

Jesus we were life long members of the church

We tithed every week or month however you get paid

We gave to the poor

We feed the hungry

We attended Bible studies and discipleship groups

We helped with Sunday school and children's church

we did this we did that

We looked like a Christian

But Jesus will reply away from me I never knew you

You are serving to gain salvation instead of serving because of salvation

If you have Jesus as your Savior you will willingly serve those outside the church, you will never respond someone else will do it

4. Inviting people to church

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This message began here

As I was searching for all that God wanted me to bring to you as a part of this sermon series He led me to many different verses and articles and websites

In that process I came across something that struck me

It made me question what and why we do what we do on Sunday mornings in some aspects

I came across an article called “The Reverse Altar Call”

This is from a man who was a pastor of a vibrant, growing church (yes numbers but more importantly salvation and spiritual growth) who now is a traveling evangelist and founder of Dare2Share his name is Greg Stier

This is something, yes a process but more importantly a heart for discipleship, that will help us bring people in contact with Jesus, see them saved and help us disciple them

I am going to quote Greg

“I was reached by a church that did an altar call every Sunday morning. I’ll never forget that day on June 23rd, 1974, where I walked forward and put my faith in Jesus to save me from my sins. So, be assured, that this article’s intent is not criticize or marginalize the value of response time at the end of your church services that gives people an opportunity to put their faith in Jesus.

Rather, I want to challenge you to consider creating a new kind of response time that leads to more solidified decisions, deeper discipleship and the acceleration of your congregation’s involvement with evangelism. I call it the “reverse altar call”

Here we go. Here is how it works

1. I commit to making sure if you invite someone who does not know Jesus they will hear about the gospel each and every time I preach here at CCC because I commit to giving a clear and compelling gospel presentation at every single one of our services

What does that mean and why is it important

You can invite them knowing they will be exposed to the Gospel

When this Gospel message is being given, as the invitation is beginning there are some things you need to do each and every week even if you did not bring someone

you don’t put your things away

You don’t shut your Bible

You don’t put your notes away

You don’t start to gather your things so you can leave

No, what you do is

You begin to pray with your eyes open for those in the service who do not know Jesus

This is an all out assault on the lost

This is a family coming together declaring their desire for none to perish but all to come to repentance and salvation

2. I challenge you to commit to invite your friends, co-workers, neighbors, and family member every week

I challenge you to commit to invite people each and every week

Not just post something on social media, which is always encouraged but this is real relationships

Invite people you have a relationship with

Keep inviting them

Keep inviting others

I got a text on Friday from a brother who was so excited that he had to share. He had talked to me about a friend of his who was lost, he has been praying for his friend to come to Jesus

He has been inviting this friend to church and men’s breakfast for quite some time and this past week the friend said yes and came

The friend was exposed to Christian brotherly fellowship

He was exposed to the Word in a devotion and conversation that followed

He was exposed to James 5 put into action as one of our brothers asked for prayer for an illness and we anointed him and circled him and laid hands on him and prayed for him

By the way it is never about the breakfast by the way which is why you should always make an excuse and commitment to be at men’s breakfast if you are a man

Church will never be about church either it is always about Jesus which is why You can invite those you know who are lost with the full confidence that you know they will encounter Jesus at our service

3. We will create opportunities for unbelievers to respond to Christ during the actual service

2 Corinthians 6:2

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“For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Now is the time

We must be committed to offering a time to respond because we know that now is the time

If we wait to have someone respond the devil may interfere and draw them away from God

Most of the time here at CCC this will be during an invitation song played and the altar being open

We also have cards in the pews that people can fill out which has a place where they can mark for me to contact them about salvation

All they have to do is fill out the card and drop it in the offering plate or the comment box on the way out

I am not a big close your eyes and bow your heads and repeat a prayer type of guy but if the Lord leads me that way I will follow

It is not the prayer that saves but the heart committing to Jesus

The vehicle doesn't matter what matters is the heart

4. It is important that you follow up with those you invite.

Take them out to lunch, invite them to your house for lunch and when you are there begin the follow-up process

You can ask something like this “What did you think of what our pastor said about Jesus and His offer of eternal hope?”

This is so important because if you invite them to church and they come to church and you never have a conversation with them about Jesus they will think coming to church is all they need to do

We all know that is false

You can come to this church or any church for 80 years but if you have never accepted Jesus you will go to hell when you die

It is all about Jesus

So with all that said This morning I want to begin to equip you with tools and confidence to be able to share the gospel with others

I am going to show you a video from Greg and his dare2share ministries

Please Play the video

I have put in your notes what Greg talked about

ASK

Admire

Admit

GOSPEL

God created us to be with Him

Our sin separates us from God

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds

Paying the price for sins, Jesus died and rose again

Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life

Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever

If someone you invited puts their faith in Jesus during the service this is your opening to initiate the discipleship process

Invite them to Sunday School

Invite them to the discipleship group you attend....Women on Monday nights Men on Wednesday nights

Again it is so very important you make an excuse to be in a discipleship group

Be intentional about growing in Christ

Invite them to Bible study on Wednesday night

Invite them to join you at your house to do a RightNow media study together

The affects of a church whose members hearts are truly for saving the lost and growing the saved will be exponential because the lost are desperately looking for Jesus so why don’t we show Him to them?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

God knew before He created the earth and us that sin would enter the world through Adam and Eve

He knew that because of that sin His creation could not be with Him in heaven for eternity

That His creation could not be in a relationship with Him due to their sin

He knew that He would have to send Jesus to live on this earth and be a perfect sacrifice, taking the sins of the whole world upon Himself and dying for those sins

God knew all of that BEFORE He created you and me but He loved us enough to create us anyway

If you have never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior you will go to hell when you die but beyond that you will never have life and life abundantly on this earth, not in material things but in knowing that your sins are paid for and that you enjoy an intimate relationship with Jesus

You can have all of that today

your chains broken

your prison doors kicked open

your addictions defeated

your greed destroyed

whatever you burden is you can have it lifted here this morning

If you are saved and God has convicted you during this series or this morning come

Because it all starts right here

Invitation Song Start Right Here