Cana - The Unhindered Gospel - 5

Cana Unhindered – Week 5

The Unhindered Gospel

OCC Video and Presentation

Series Slide

Good morning and welcome to worship on this AMAZING DAY that the Lord has made. This is truly a day to rejoice. Thank you to our OCC team! What a time to start thinking of sharing God’s love with children around the world… It’s like Christmas in July.

Today we are wrapping up our Unhindered series. But I don’t want to leave you wondering too much about what is next. So let me share a little teaser about what is coming up.

Sealed Promo

Next Sunday, we will begin a journey through my favorite book of the New Testament, Paul’s letter to the people of Ephesus. As we read through, we will consider our identity in Jesus Christ.

If your identity is in your sports team…

or your hobby…

or your family…

or your political party…

or your sexuality…

or your style of clothes…

or your musical preference… well, you get the point…

If your identity is in anything other than Jesus Christ, then you are missing the abundant life God created you for. As a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ, you have been sealed, you have been marked, you have been identified with Christ.

That’s where we are headed next week, but before we get there, we need to wrap up our series on our faith being unleashed.

Unhindered Series Slide

We have been considering how our faith has been set free, all based on the final word of the Book of Acts, Akolutos, Unhindered. Just as a recap, Dr. Luke wrote about Jesus and his followers some 2000 years ago. He was tasked with telling the story of Jesus so he spent time with other followers of Jesus. He likely spent time with Mary, the mother of Jesus, Paul, John, and some of the other disciples as he investigated and put together his writings.

In his Gospel, Luke told the story of Jesus’ birth, life, and teaching; then he told the story of how he was crucified, buried, and rose again. A short time later, he wrote what we call “The Acts of the Apostles” which told the story of Jesus’ final words to his Disciples, his Ascension, The Birth of the Church at Pentecost, and finally the work of the Apostles spreading the message of Jesus all across the world… they took the message to Africa, Asia, and Europe – North, South, East, and West… literally, the 4-Corners of the world!

Luke’s final word after walking with all these amazing people, hearing all these amazing stories of Jesus, and spending all this time with spiritual giants like Paul… his final word was

“Unhindered.”

Sermon Slide

And that is what today and every day as a follower of Jesus is about… your faith is unhindered. You are set free! And now, you are unhindered to share the good news, the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world… You have in you the unhindered Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The word Gospel is an old English word that means “Good News” but it comes from the Greek word “euangelion.” If you listen to that word, you can hear the word angel in it… at its core, the word means the one who bears good news.

In a Christian context, the gospel refers to the message of salvation through Jesus Christ. It is the good news that God loves us and has a wonderful plan for our lives. It is the message, the good news, that God has made a way for us to be reconciled to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the message that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day. The message of the good news, the Gospel, calls us to repentance, to turn from who and what we were to who God created us to be.

It is a message of hope, grace, and forgiveness available to all who believe.

And… this gospel is unhindered!

When we read through the Old Testament, we find that the people of Israel were to be a light to the nations… but a lot of people don’t read the Old Testament… we think – “That’s the Old Law, we are under the New Law, so I only read the New Testament.” So, rather than going to Isaiah’s passage, I am flipping over to Luke’s writing where he is quoting Paul and Barnabas. If you have your Bibles, flip over to Acts 13:47.

Acts 13:47 (NIV)

For this is what the Lord has commanded us:

“‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, (some translations read to the Nations)

that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

A Light for the Nations

That is my first point today. When we live with a faith that has been set free, we are a light to the nations! When we are fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, we live an unhindered life of spreading the Gospel.

As Christians, we are called to be a light to all nations by sharing the message of the gospel with others, living lives that reflect the love and character of Christ, and doing good works that demonstrate the love of God to those around us. This means that we are called to reach out to people of all nations, cultures, and backgrounds with the message of the gospel, seeking to bring light and hope into their lives. We are called to be a living testimony of God's love and grace, sharing the hope and joy that we have found in Jesus Christ with others.

We are to share the gospel, without hindrance, with every tribe, nation, and tongue under heaven.

Last week, I talked about the fact that one of the reasons for the decline of the people called Methodist is that we have abandoned the doctrine of Entire Sanctification and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives… we have hindered the Holy Spirit. Another reason I believe we have declined is that we abandoned the practice of Evangelism, of sharing the Gospel, of spreading the good news of what Jesus has done in our lives. Oh, we have done a great job of doing mission work, of addressing social justice issues, and generally being good people… but that isn’t evangelism. Evangelism is telling others about the reason for the hope with in. Evangelism is sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the world, and I believe evangelism is for everyone… all of us are called to be evangelists, and all people are to be evangelized.

Evangelism is for Everyone

In the years since we were a vibrant movement that was growing faster than any denomination in the United States, we lost our fire. What was a movement of the laity spreading the good news became a job for the clergy. What was a way of life became a process and a one-size-fits-all rubric. What was a natural occurrence became a chore that we were guilted into doing.

In my book that should be available by the end of the summer, I share stories of how I was taught to “do evangelism” – which is wrong in and of itself… but I was taught a couple of different methods. One was the old Chic Tracts. How many of you remember the little cartoon booklets that we could pass out? It was a story of someone who’s life was going all wrong and then they ran into a Christian who shared the gospel with them. Then the little booklet guided you to make a decision to be a follower of Jesus.

Another method was to memorize some rubric like the Three R’s or the ABC’s of Christianity, then go up to someone and ask, “If you were to die tonight, where would you spend eternity?”… definitely not one of Carnegie’s methods to win friends and influence people.

Besides being largely ineffective, the problem with these methods is that they ignore our individual differences. That’s why I focused on how we can consider our specific personality and giftedness when it comes to evangelism. For some of us, maybe it’s just asking how we can pray for someone. For others, it’s getting to know someone outside the church… that’s why I let a hobby grow into a little business… it put me in contact with people outside the church where we can have conversations about faith and God’s work in our lives.

We as a people, methodist or otherwise, have got to get back to following the teaching of Jesus. We have got to get back to following the Great Commission that Ned read to us just a couple of minutes ago.

Matthew 28:19-20

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Growing up I was taught that this passage was commanding us to “Go”…. As in go to Africa, or go to South America… or go to Asia… Usually preached on Missionary Sunday, every time I remember this passage being preached, the emphasis was always on the “go.” But that is a misreading of the text.

The way this passage is quoted from Jesus, the word “Go” is a passive, inactive verb. The active, or the imperative is instead “make.”

The passage doesn’t mean you have to go to Africa or Asia or anywhere else… it means that as you go about your daily life, make new followers of Jesus by teaching them and bringing them into the church to be Baptized.

One author says, “Wherever you are going, whenever you are going, and for whatever reason you are going, your assignment is always the same – As You are Going Make Disciples.”

Sermon Slide

Whether you’re in prison or politics. Whether you’re headed to the same ol’ coffee shop week after week, or you’re trying to become the next franchisee owner of a Starbucks. Whether you’re a student or a teacher, mother or father, pastor or pediatrician… The commission is always the same… You are to share the gospel with others. This is THE command. This is THE imperative from Jesus.

We are not to withhold it from anyone or any place for any reason.

We are to live with eternity in our minds and the gospel on our lips.

That is your job now as followers of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel Message of Jesus Christ is to be unhindered. It is to be set free… Just as Jesus has set us free…

So, as we gather around this table…

Pray…