Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

Me:

"Share the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words."

- Unknown

This quote make me think.

It causes me to question.

As a follower of Christ I know I’m to share my faith story with others.

I do that because of a natural love I have for Him and I know that he is the solution to the hurt and heartbreak in the world.

I want people to meet the Jesus I know.

But do I just show and shine or share and shout?

How do I know when to share and how to share?

It seems to me this quote sets up a spiritual spectrum of polar opposites.

I read verses like...

John 7:3

How do I know when to give a cup of water and when to turn on the fire house?

God has filled me up!

I want the world to know about my Jesus!

We:

We verbally share things that we love.

We have know problem sharing about our favorite restaurant, sport or our grandkids...

But it seems like we freeze when it comes to sharing our faith story.

I want us to study the methods of our greatest evangelistic model, Jesus Christ.

At BCC we want to invite somebody we love to encounter Someone we love.

The world desperately needs to introduced to Jesus, and it is absolutely necessary for us to be able to verbalize how His story changed our story.

It seems to me that as Chri

We have embraced this attitude about Christianity that I believe hinders us.

The attitude is that I need to be in the right place, with the right people doing the right things.

So, following Jesus for us is going to church, right place, hanging out with just Christians, right people and doing the right things - singing, taking notes etc...

I want us to broaden the spiritual spectrum.

What if one of the most spiritual things we could do is to be in the seemingly wrong place - not church, wrong people - not Christians and doing “wrong things” - baseball game, coaching a kids sports team, teaching the piano....

I want to broaden our spiritual growth spectrum -

The Spiritual Growth Spectrum

-6 Self-satisfied, skeptical, resistant, or spiritually apathetic.

(Resistant stage)

How People Come to Christ and then Grow

(Revised Engels with Purpose-Driven Process by Rick Warren)

-6 Self-satisfied, skeptical, resistant, or spiritually apathetic.

(Resistant stage)

-5 Becomes aware of an unmet need or spiritual void in life.

(Receptive stage)

-4 Begins looking for answers to questions or solutions to problems.

(Seeker stage)

-3 Considers the differences between themselves and believers.

(Consideration stage)

-2 Learns why and how to become a Christian.

(Understanding stage)

-1 Ready to believe and receive Christ.

(Ready stage) The fruit is ripe!

Ground Zero: NEW LIFE IN CHRIST!

+1 Baptized and connected to a church family.

(Membership)

+2 Practicing the habits necessary for spiritual growth.

(Maturity)

+3 Using God-given talents (“SHAPE”) to serve others.

(Ministry)

+4 Sharing the Good News with non-believers.

(Mission)

+5 Living out one’s Life Purpose to the glory of God.

(Magnification)

Where do we spend most of our time a believers?

What is our focus on as a church?

God:

Follow Jesus: What Was Jesus Life Mission?

Following Jesus means being sent.

If I’m not being sent I’m not following Jesus.

At BCC - move others to Jesus.

Following Jesus means being sent.

If I’m not being sent I’m not following Jesus.

At BCC - move others to Jesus.

Showing the message of God’s love is not enough.

The process looks like this...

Showing the message of God’s love is not enough.

The process looks like this...

Message - His story.

v.14 believe in Him?

Messenger - You and your story strained through His story.

v.14 unless someone tells them?

App - We want to provide a tool that will equip you to discover “them” (My five ponds -give instructions)

Moment - Where His story, my story and their story connect.

v. 15 without being sent?

Movement - The message multiples.

v.15 feet of messengers.

Focus On People: Where Are People On The Spectrum?

Colossians 4:

You have to start where people are not where we would like for them to be.

Ill: Field of faith.

Kickoff - the team has to start the game where they catch the ball not where they want to start.

(Clemson Stadium)

Do you know how to move the ball?

This is not ESPN top ten plays.

It is the grind.

The Parable of Soils (); Four kinds of receptivity

Hard soil = The defensive heart

Shallow soil = The impulsive heart

Soil with weeds = The distracted heart

Good Soil = The receptive heart

What To Do At Each Stage Of The Spectrum

-6 Resistant Stage?

skeptical, self-satisfied, apathetic

Build a relational bridge