Just One: Good Deed (3)
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Just One: Good Deed
Guest / visiting friends: We have had powerful, life changing experience and relationship with Jesus and want others to know Him and have the same life changing experience and relationship.
Jesus’ mandate for all Christ followers (Slide Only)
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
As you GO / Love and lead people to me
Riverside Census: 318,858 live in our city. 55% or 175,371 who live here designated themselves in the census as “None” or no religious affiliation. (Slide Only)
If we try to reach everyone, we will reach no one. In business class they taught us, if you have more than three or four major business objectives, you will get bogged down and won’t achieve any of them.
But what if we reach Just ONE of the 175,371 that don’t know Jesus yet? (Slide?)
Church on The Hill’s primary ministry focus for 2025 is “Just ONE”
Just ONE: Prayer, Good Deed, Invite, Life changed forever. (Slide of series graphic)
How are we going to reach Just ONE?
Identify your 8-15 (Oikos Cards) Oikos card in the lobby at welcome desk.
(Prayer: White Ball) - Pray for them daily / write their name on the ball
(Good Deed: Orange Ball) - Do ONE good deed a month for ONE of our oikos
(Invite: Green Ball) - Invite ONE of our oikos to: A meal, Event, or Church
(Red Ball) - See ONE life changed forever
(Bulletin & Slide)
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” - John Wesley (Slide Only)
Church on The Hill’s simple ministry formula to full fill the mandate Jesus gave us is this:
Good Deeds = Good Will = Good News (Bulletin & Slide)
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the Disciples / 3k ppl accepted Jesus into their lives and were Baptized.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
How can you identify a real church? These four areas.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
It was the apostles who had the sign gifts.
Awe: It’s a mix of feeling scared but also loving and hopeful. It’s not a kind of fear that makes you feel like a slave, but more like the deep respect a child has for a parent. Awe of my Dad. (Boys!)
Our ladies bible study at Chandra Concannon’s house is doing The Awe of God bible study.
Vs. 44: One of the biggest signs and wonder to me is this one. They had everything in common? That is a miracle by itself.
They were unified and love each other.
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
They were so moved by what God was doing in there lives. They wanted to participate and invest in the Kingdom work.
45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
This was voluntary, temporary, and motivated by love.
One commentator wrote: This phrase conveys not that the early Christians lived in a commune or
pooled and redistributed everything equally, but that they held their own possessions lightly, ready to use them at any moment for someone else, as needs arose.
45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
Good Deed is filling a need for someone else. (Slide & Bulletin)
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Favor: Good Will = Trust
Reciprocity: When we do good deeds and others reciprocate, we build a network of trust and goodwill.
Good Deeds = Good Will (Pacific H.S. Basketball Team: Jerseys stolen, Gym closed, coach let me speak to boys to invite them to summer Camp.) 4 out the 6 gave their lives to Christ at camp.
47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Who added to their number? The Lord! Salvation is God’s sovereign work.
2. We do our part Good Deed, people respond with Good Will, and God does the Good News.
Doing the Lord work can be fun, hard, and messy sometimes.
Lori’s: Good Deed = Good Will = Good News
Lori and her family moved into new neighborhood / took cookies to all her neighbors and introduced herself
A 70yr old crusty neighbor answered the door / I don’t want your cookies and Get off my porch then he blew smoke in her direction. We will call him, Oscar the Grouch / Lori started praying for Oscar and that God would give her an opportunity to love him and reach him for Jesus.
Every week, Lori would wave to Oscar when he was cutting his lawn / shake his head in discuss and would not wave back / there was no Good Will with Oscar.
Months later, Oscar ended up getting sick and was unable to cut his lawn for a few weeks and it started to get over grown.
Hearing about his sickness, Lori decided to mow his lawn after mowing hers: Good Deed / Bandanna, sweat
He came out screaming "Hey you!” 3x / what do you think you are doing / Lori, I am mowing your lawn
Disgusted he went back inside slamming the door / Lori went back to mowing his lawn, wondering if he was going to call the cops on her.
A month had passed when Lori had one of those busy seasons with work and family and her own lawn started to get overgrown. One afternoon, Lori heard a loud lawn mower coming from her front yard. She ran outside and saw Oscar mowing her lawn. Reciprocity
She screamed “Hey you!” 3x / What do you think you are doing / Oscar, I am mowing your lawn and then ignored Lori and went back to work.
Lori went back inside and poured two large glasses of ice cold lemonade and took it out to Oscar.
They sat on Lori’s porch for an hour and shared a lemonade and each others story.
Lori learned that Oscar was a widower of eight years and that he was a estranged from his children and grandchildren and that they had moved out of state years ago.
Over the next year, Lori would invite Oscar over for dinners and even Thanksgiving. In time they would build a wonderful friendship. Good Will / Trust
Lori invited Oscar to church numerous times but Oscar would always decline. As Easter approached, Lori picked up an invite card from her church for Easter and gave it to Oscar stating “We would love for you to go with us and then join us for Easter lunch”.
Oscar finally agreed to go with Lori and her family. That Sunday Oscar heard the Good News that Jesus loved him and sacrificed His life for him. That He wanted to have a relationship with him. With tears in his eyes Oscar accepted Jesus’ into his life as his Lord and Savior.
With his new found life, Oscar got highly involved in the church and served in various ways. Even serving others in his neighborhood and leading others to Jesus.
Years passed and Lori and her family ended up moving away but they kept in touch with Oscar. Lori got a call from Oscar one year and he shared that he had “made amends” with his children and ended up leading them to Jesus as well.
A few more years had passed when Lori got a disheartening call from one of Oscar’s sons. Dad is in the hospital and has just a few weeks left. Lori booked a flight to go see him.
Once Lori arrived she sat on Oscars bedside in the hospital and reminisced sharing life together.
Oscar kept praising God for moving Lori and her family into his neighborhood. He thanked Lori for showing the love of Jesus to him and with him.
Oscar stated: Because of you, I have a relationship with Jesus, I know where I am going when I die. I know that my children and grandchildren will be with me again someday. And it will be my honor to mow your lawn in heaven when you arrive.
Church on The Hill: May we all have “Just ONE” of these stories as we answer the call to “Go and make disciples”.
Who is on your Oikos Card? Will you commit to doing one (Orange ball) Good Deed for one of them as God reveals it to you?
Good Deeds = Good Will = Good News
