Asking for a Friend 4
Asking for a Friend • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Next Steps
Next Steps
Grow Group? Nah rGroup!! We will start in May! it will still be every other Monday, both guys and girls will be at 6:00 PM!
Grad Bash! May 29th here! We are going to celebrate our seniors!! If you are a senior we have a form for you to fill out!
REC Night! June 5th from 6-7:30 at Walkertown Park! We are playing volleyball!
Serve Weekend is July 17th - 20th! The cost is $50 and this experience includes a serve weekend kickoff party on Wednesday, July 17th, two days of serve projects, team wars, and worship sessions, and a full day at a local summer camp swimming in the lake, using the zip line, and playing paintball on Saturday the 20th!
Intro
Intro
In this series we intend to answer your questions
You guys submitted questions to us and over the next 7 week we intend to answer them!
If you have questions, or thoughts that pop up, you can always submit them in the bucket in the lobby, or by scanning the QR code in the pre and post service slides!
I always love doing this type of series because it allows for us to really dive deep into the questions that you and to show you that Jesus is truly the answer to every question we have
Body
Body
Today we are looking at three key questions that many people tend to have.
All of these questions can be categorized under “Evangelism”
They are:
How to talk to more people about God?
How to talk about God with people who don’t believe?
When is it time to move on from sharing Jesus with unperceptive people?
If you notice these questions build one after the other
So we will hit them in order — 1, 2, 3
Question 1
Question 1
For the first question: how to talk to more people about God
The answer is honestly simple
Just do it
I sound like Nike but just do it
Go and share with people who are far from God
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
We are called to make disciples — that means we go and share the Gospel with people that are lost
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth.”
Be Christ’s witnesses
That means we are to share the Gospel because of the love that Jesus has for us
There is no simple trick to sharing with new people — if you love Jesus you should want them to hear about His saving power — go and share with them!
We have no problem telling people about something cool, we have no problem sharing a song we like, a movie we watched
That’s because we assume that everyone wants to hear it!
We need to do the same
Assume everyone wants to hear the Gospel
Assume that everyone wants to hear it!
They need Jesus!
Assume they also want to hear it!
Let that be what moves you to sharing!
Question 2
Question 2
The second question is how to talk about God to people who don’t know Him
The obvious answer is just talk about God — but instead I want to focus on something a little different
Share your Testimony
Testimony is your experience with God — how Jesus found you, and what changed
In small group I want you to take some time and talk about each of your Testimonies and see how you can write your own
But listen to John chapter 9, we see a man’s testimony of how he experienced God
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
We see a blind man who Jesus meets on the road and heals
8 The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
The people took notice of what happened
The blind man isn’t blind no more — he can see
And guess what? It was Jesus
When asked what happened, what caused the change, did you notice what he said “I was blind, Jesus came, now I see”
13 They brought the man who used to be blind to the Pharisees.14 (Now the day on which Jesus made the mud and caused him to see was a Sabbath.)15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he had gained his sight. He replied, “He put mud on my eyes and I washed, and now I am able to see.”
The man again is questioned — what happened?
I was blind, I met Jesus, now I see
I was blind, I met Jesus, now I see
The power of the testimony is simple — it is your experience with Jesus
Keep it simple, concise, and all about Jesus
We should be sharing how Jesus changed our lives — it is the most powerful thing in the world — we shouldn’t stay silent
Friends don’t let friends live an entire life, die, and go to hell without sharing the Gospel with them
Question 3
Question 3
The third question is: When is it time to move on from sharing Jesus with unperceptive people?
This is honestly the toughest question we will answer the entire series
Listen to what the Bible has to say about it
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
Solomon tells us that there is a time in life to speak, and a time to stay silent
That seems interesting
11 Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy there and stay with them until you leave. 12 As you enter the house, give it greetings.13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.14 And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that house or that town.
Jesus tells His disciples to go into the towns and villages proclaiming the Gospel to all who would hear it
But notice His instructions: if they are worthy - stay with them, If they are not - depart from them
If they listen to the message of the Gospel and accept it, stay with them
If they don’t — depart from them
5 Now when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.6 When they opposed him and reviled him, he protested by shaking out his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am guiltless! From now on I will go to the Gentiles!”
Paul is preaching the the Gospel to the Jews
Notice what happens, they oppose him and go against him
They start reviling him, attacking him
Because of this Paul declares that he is innocent of them
Notice the phrasing “shaking out his clothes” same idea Jesus said
8 So Paul entered the synagogue and spoke out fearlessly for three months, addressing and convincing them about the kingdom of God.9 But when some were stubborn and refused to believe, reviling the Way before the congregation, he left them and took the disciples with him, addressing them every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
Here is another example of Paul sharing the Gospel with people, yet they won’t listen
They go against him, attack him, his character, the people with him
Because of this Paul leaves them
All of these verses give us the idea that there is a time when we can stop sharing the Gospel
A time when we can walk away from a person who is unbelieving and allow ourselves to pursue someone else for the Gospel
So clearly it seems like there is a moment when we can walk away from someone and feel no guilt towards them
The question then is when?
The answer I believe is actually quite simple
The Gospel must be shared clearly, they must verbally reject AND they must actively oppose
I think there is three things that has to happen that we see in all three accounts
The Gospel is shared clearly
That means we are verbally and explicitly sharing the Gospel with them
We are sharing that they are sinners
They have no chance without Jesus coming, living, dying, and raising
It must be made clear
They must have a chance to respond to the message
They must reject it
They verbally reject the Gospel
They must hear it fully, have a chance to respond, and then reject it
They must actively oppose
This goes beyond just rejecting the Gospel message
This is actively attacking you, the faith, the church, Jesus
This is them becoming enemies, and not just people who don’t believe
I believe when all three of these qualities have been met you can move on like Paul did, like Jesus did, like Jesus counseled the disciples to do
BUT!
All three must be met
If they just reject the Gospel, don’t give up
If you don’t share the Gospel clearly — you didn’t do anything to allow you to give up
It must be clearly stated, verbally rejected AND actively opposed
What next?
What next?
So if all three of those categories happen
What next?
What do you do?
What if its a parent, best friend, cousin, someone you really care about?
What next?
I want to give you three things you can do that will hopefully allow them to hear the Gospel
Pray
The first thing you should do, and should already be doing is praying for them
Actively pray for the people you want to share the Gospel with!
This should be everyone's first step all the time!
If they reject and its time for you to move on, pray for them!
Pray that God would awaken them to the Gospel!
Live a Godly life
The second thing is live a Godly life!
Live the life you are called to live!
Be Godly
Be Holy!
Listen to how we are supposed to live
2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in endurance.3 Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good. 4 In this way they will train the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, fulfilling their duties at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the message of God may not be discredited.6 Encourage younger men likewise to be self-controlled,7 showing yourself to be an example of good works in every way. In your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and a sound message that cannot be criticized, so that any opponent will be at a loss, because he has nothing evil to say about us.
We are called to be self-controlled
We are called to be full of integrity and high character
We are called to live a life that will not allow anyone to go against the message of the Gospel
NOTHING and I mean NOTHING will pull someone away from the Gospel faster than a Christian who is not living a life that matches what Jesus is calling us to live
We should be living a life that will allow them to see the Gospel we shared even if they want nothing to do with it!
Be present, not overbearing
The last thing is we need to be present, but not overbearing
If they don’t want the Gospel
If we shared clearly, they verbally rejected, and actively opposed us/church/Gospel/God/Jesus etc. we should still be present
We should still have a relationship with them
Still be friends with them
But don’t be overbearing
Don’t constantly bring it up to them, be there but not overbearing
Allow them space if they do not want it
But be present for if they/when they come
Conclusion
Conclusion
Evangelism is not as difficult as we make it out to be
Just go and share the Gospel
Share how Jesus changed your life
Why its important
Share how Jesus changes everything!
Don’t be shy, go and share boldly, assume everyone wants to hear about it!