Christian Action

Opening

I had just had my 16th Birthday and one of my acquaintances had invited me to some retreat. She was my pastor’s daughter who was a couple years older. We hadn’t really gotten to know each other yet but she was bubbly and outgoing and so was I. I agreed quite blindly. A weekend away from my rough home life seemed nice. Even though I was already saved and had a relationship with Christ, that weekend changed my life forever. I was served and loved and shown a depth of Christianity that I had never known before. I was so thankful to my friend who’d invited me. To this day, she’s my “big sister” because we were forever bonded by Christ that weekend.

Fast forward just a couple years - My mother had moved 2 hours away with her boyfriend and left me to fend for myself. I was in my senior year of high school, living on my own and working full time. I didn’t know what it was at the time but I was depressed. Despite it actually being easier because I didn’t have to put up with my mother’s drug addiction or care for my younger siblings because they moved in with their dad, I still felt rejected by my own family. I had cared for everyone and now they were all gone and I was alone. and I was so stressed over life - trying to pay bills AND graduate high school. I was driving on my way to my 10pm-3am shift at Target restocking shelves when I had a thought - a terrible awful thought. Many actually. How long would it take my mom to notice if I was gone? Life shouldn’t be this hard - does it just get harder? If no one cares, there’s no point. All I’d have to do is… There’s no one else on the road… It’s just me and I’m all alone. Now’s the time - I should just do it. At that moment, I feel like God himself reminded me of a neighbor’s words - “My door is always open.” I called off work, turned around, and showed up unannounced on her steps after 10pm. I found her door already open as if she was waiting for me. She welcomed me in without question. I never even told her why I was there, but I think she knew. We sat together as we ate, talked, watched tv, and I slept on her couch that night. I felt safe and loved. She did this many times for me in that season of my life.

Now, many years later I still experience moments of God’s love on display. Friends who text or call at the right time. Specific women who hold me accountable when I share that I’ve done something wrong - or who tell me I’m wrong when I’m in the middle of a fit. Strong and beautiful women that show up and pray for me and with me so we can keep growing in Christ together. They change the trajectory of my life daily without ever truly knowing just how big these small moments are.

My name is Nicci Elliott, and the title of this talk is Christian Action.

Today is our last day together in this place, but truly it’s the beginning of a lifetime of love and connection. Friday you began to witness God’s love for you and you were able to lay down the things that needed to die. Saturday, you stayed saturated in His love as you learned about critical spiritual practices of Prayer and Study. You’ve learned powerful tools for building your testimony and leading someone through a salvation prayer. Today, we will share more on how to put all those tools to good use and even the calling that we have on our life.

You’ve seen this tripod wobble and fall over and be completely ineffective for the job it is supposed to do. Now, with Christian Action, practiced together with Prayer and Study, we can live a balanced and healthy spiritual life.

Matthew 25:40 ““And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

Yesterday you heard the story of the Good Samaritan. A man who did not know and owed absolutely nothing to the hurt man on the road stopped to help. Not only did he not know him, they were considered social/economical enemies. This Samaritan should have spat on the beaten man as he passed by - and instead he sprang into action.

Action is a constant thing in our life. We are always doing, moving, projecting, building, or destroying something. The bigger question is HOW are we acting and what kingdom are we acting for.

Christians should not think they have the choice to do “whatever they want”; whether conscious of it or not, their actions at every point are governed by either the flesh or the Spirit.

Douglas J. Moo

The Bible very clearly tells us that our actions [works] are required - if we do not have action, we must not understand the Faith that we claim.

James 2:14–26 CSB

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.”D Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works. You believe that God is one. Good! Even the demons believe—and they shudder. Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route? For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.

James is basically saying that Action is an outward RESPONSE to the faith that we have. Action is an acknowledgement of all that Christ has done for us and it is an act of love to those around us.

Matthew 28:18–20 CSB

Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 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, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

While our PURPOSE is to be in relationship with, praise, and be with God, our CALLING is to do just this - to GO. A dear friend of mine says that to live the Christian life and not share it with others is like saying “To Heaven with me and to Hell with them”

So what actions can we take that further the kingdom?

There are 3 main forms of Christian action - and they were represented in each of my stories.

First are acts of Witness.

Too much of our Christian witnessing is unconvincing because we have not been convinced. We are ineffectual because we have not yet surrendered fully to the Lord.

A. W. Tozer

[rebekah lynch] - This acquaintance offered me an opportunity to deepen my relationship with Christ by sharing her own testimony and inviting me on the NCWV Chrysalis Flight #16. We didn’t need to know one another for her to know I was worthy of an invitation to experience God in a new way. God says we’re all worth His love because our worth comes from our Created Value.

You’ve spent time this weekend building and sharing your testimony. It’s for this purpose. Sharing your testimony is an act of witness. Another act of witness is Evangelism - or inviting someone to accept the gift of Salvation. If we truly love others, we want them to know the truth about Christ that we’ve come to know!

The second form of Christian action is Acts of Mercy

When I was at a low point, my neighbor offered me mercy by inviting me in, giving me a place to stay, making me feel loved. Likewise, the Good Samaritan offered acts of mercy to the injured man by caring for him, offering him food and a place to stay. Acts of Mercy are typically full of compassion and relieve a physical or mental suffering.

The third form of Christian action is Acts of Justice

I didn’t get great into detail in my story but my friends that I have now hold me accountable. I’ve had many instances (and so have they) where we are complaining, struggling, or otherwise not thinking like Christ in a situation. In those instances, it is an act of Justice to go the extra step in helping to RESTORE what is broken. Justice looks like accountability. Justice looks like Discipleship. When you’re engaged in a relationship, if you do nothing, you allow those you love to stay where they are. This is not love - this is self-preservation. Often times we’re afraid to push, disagree, challenge, and confront because we’re more afraid of damaging our friendship than we are the other person damaging their relationship with God. This goes back to the statement “to heaven with me and to hell with them”

Now that we’ve reviewed the types of action, let’s set you up with some tools to ACT. You’ve already learned how to Pray without ceasing and this is a critical piece to EVERYTHING you do. Also, you now know how to build and share your testimony. Now lets learn some easy steps to lead someone to salvation.

Before we get into depth with specific tools, I want you to think back to Friday. During one of our chapel services, we read The Apostles Creed which is essentially our testimony of faith in the entire Gospel message! Think of it in this manner as I read it to you again:

THE APOSTLES CREED

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic** church, (btw, “catholic” with little c just means universal church - not Roman Catholic) the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Since this creed literally writes out the whole gospel, I would encourage you to read it often, memorize it, KNOW WHAT YOU BELIEVE!

You’re going to get another handout for your table discussions that list a few TOOLS you can use for evangelism. You may have heard of some of them: The Romans Road, The Four Spiritual Laws, The Gospel Message, and The Five Finger Method. These are by no means the only options you have for evangelism but they will help you greatly until you grow comfortable and build your own method.

[BE AN EXAMPLE - MODEL YOUR FAVORITE]

Isaiah sums this all up with one conversation with God:

Isaiah 58:6–7 “Isn’t this the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every burden? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?”

So may you have Faith in God, empowered by the Holy Spirit and encouraged by us here to go out and take Action in your own life!

Fly with Christ

THE FOUR SPIRITUAL LAWS

God loves you!

John 3:16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

John 10:10 “A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.”

2. Man is sinful and separated from God

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

3. Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin.

Romans 5:8 “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

1 Corinthians 15:3–6 “For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.”

John 14:6 “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

4. We must each receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord

John 1:12 “But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,”

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works, so that no one can boast.”

Revelation 3:20 “See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

THE ROMANS ROAD

Romans 3:28 “For we conclude that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 5:8 “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE

G - God created us to be with Him (Genesis 1-2)

O - Our sins separate us from Him (Genesis 3)

S - Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Isaiah 64:6)

P - Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again (John 19:30)

E - Everyone who trusts in Him alone has eternal life (1 John 5:11–13)

L - Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever (John 10:10)

THE FIVE FINGER METHOD

An easy way to remember the “basics”

Jesus’ Birth

Jesus’ Life

Jesus’ Death

Jesus’ Resurrection

Jesus’ Ascension