sept30
Scripture: Luke 15:1-10
What do numbers mean to us as a church? In the passage of scripture from Luke’s Gospel Jesus talked about 100 sheep and ten silver coins.
Intentional pursuing of the lost and leading them to Christ is a key to becoming a “Comeback Church”.
I want to fill the church because I want to see the Kingdom of God grow. I want those who are lost without any hope to find eternal peace.
I want each one of you to develop a terrible burden for lost souls.
I want you each to be uncomfortable knowing that you neighbor, your co-worker, your classmate, or your relative is chained, shackled, bound, & deceived by the evil one who is our adversary.
The Lord Jesus wants His church to grow, be multiplied, & expanded! We should go with His program.
The main reason a church doesn’t grow is that it doesn’t want to! I want this church to grow and I’m willing to commit myself to that goal.
I’ve carefully examined, and continue to check my motives to insure that my reasoning is to grow the kingdom of God and be obedient to the Great Commission given the church and each member by Jesus Himself.
We must not stop growing because:
- God loves people. Luke ….
- God commands us to reach out. …
- Growth is God’s will …
Therefore
Everyone in the church should be involved in 3 ways:
- They should be prayers.
- They should be bringers.
- They should be tellers.
Some will commit to only one of these… but that’s a start!
First Baptist Church must never stop growing because God loves people so much that he gave his only son to die sacrificially on the cross so that ALL people could be saved.
Probably the most memorized verse in the Bible has been John 3:16 which says, “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever beliveth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life”.
If God sacrificed His Son for lost sinners because he loved every person, then I’m convinced he wants us to seek out those people and introduce them to the gospel.
He wants us to share the good news that Jesus Christ has risen and offers everyone forgiveness of sins and eternal life. We are to go & tell.
The parables of the lost sheep & the lost coin are examples….illustrations of how much God loves everyone. He gives everyone the opportunity to become born from above.
People often wonder why the Lord has taken so long to return. God is patient. He wants each person to hear the gospel and make a decision.
Believe it or not there are people who have never heard the name of Jesus, and so there is work to do and we’ve been commanded to do it!
2 Peter 3:9 says that his patience is because he wants everyone to have the opportunity to repent, trust him, and be saved.
He goes on; however, to write that the day of the Lord will come like a thief! Prepare yourself!
2ndly, Because of God’s love, he commands us to reach out. We must take the gospel to the community. We’re planning a “Friend Day” for Sunday, October 21st.
On that day I encourage you to invite a lost friend to come to church. There’ll be several events that Day. We’ll worship together in the morning & have a recital by Leon Harshenin at 7:00pm.
Please don’t invite a Christian that morning and take them from their church just because you need to bring someone. We must search out the lost and they’re all around us.
In 1980 as a member of this church I remember that on two separate occasions I brought visitors with me that were deep in sin. Both of these lives had been broken over immoral activities.
They both came to know the Lord and then told others of their dramatic transformation.
Finally, We mustn’t stop growing because God Himself commands us to grow. After Jesus had been raised from the dead he commanded his disciples to make other disciples.
Matthew 28: 19 has been given the title “The Great Commission”. Turn with me there.
“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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
This is not the great request, the great appeal, or the great plea. This is a command from Jesus Christ to every single disciple.
If you’ve accepted Christ as your savior & Lord, you are one of His disciples. Go and make new disciples by sharing what Jesus has done for you.
In the previous verse Jesus had told the disciples that all authority in heaven & on earth had been given to him.
With the authority from the great “I AM”, Jesus has commanded each of us to go and make disciples.
So it’s because God loves people, because he commands us to reach out, & because growth is God’s will that everyone in the church should be involved in 3 ways:
We should be prayers, We should be bringers, and We should be tellers.
Some will commit to only one……..but that’s a start!
We must all be prayers! We’ll never be able to accomplish the things God has planned for us without fervent prayer. The Bible says, “pour out your hearts to Him”.
Colosians 4:2 says, “devote yourselves to prayer”. We must be prayers!
I believe that God wants to use this church in a mighty way and I’m even more convinced because I see the evil one attempting to thwart God’s plans.
To overcome we must make prayer a priority.
One of our young ministry students has volunteered to champion a prayer team. He’s suggested some enthusiastic ideas & I look forward 2 the formation & ministry of this team.
Another student has agreed to assist me in leading a Sunday evening small group dedicated to praying for the ministry of this church.
We’ll begin this work of prayer next Sunday evening at 6:30 pm. I invite each of you to join this effort.
I also encourage you to fast and pray that God will use this church in a mighty way to impact the community for Christ.
Give up a meal and use that time to get alone with God and plead with him for the lost souls of the area. Ask Him to raise up workers from this congregation.
Fast from television for a week & use that time to read and listen to the book of Acts. Follow the examples there of how the Holy Spirit used believers to revive entire communities.
Pray! Pray that God will give you the courage to share your testimony with others.
Pray he will give you opportunities to tell others about what he has done for you. Don’t hide what God has given you.
Listen to how Eugene Peterson has recorded this command from Luke 8:16:
No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a washtub or shoves it under the bed. No, you set it up on a lamp stand so those who enter the room can see their way. We’re not keeping secrets; we’re telling them. We’re not hiding things; we’re bringing everything out into the open. So be careful that you don’t become misers of what you hear. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes.”
God commands us to grow and growth will come only through prayer and service.
We must also become “bringers”. I encourage you to bring an un-churched person to church with you. Invite people to come and hear the gospel.
Personal invitation is by far the most effective way to grow God’s Kingdom! If you invite them…they will come! If you bring them I promise to Preach the Word!
This isn’t an activity which is comfortable. I’m asking you (God’s telling you) to step out of your cozy American comfort zone & ask someone to come to church with you.
A good example would be that of the Apostle Andrew who the Bible says brought his brother Peter to Christ, brought the small boy with 5 loaves and two fish to Jesus, and brought Greek seekers to hear Him.
Finally, we must be tellers. The first chapter of Acts has much to say about the who, why, when, and how of becoming tellers.
During the 40 days between the resurrection and the ascension of our Lord the Bible says that Jesus told his disciples to wait for the promised gift of the Holy Spirit.
He promised this gift would give them the power to become witnesses to the world. And, he told them to begin right in their own back yard (Jerusalem).
If you have received Christ as your personal savior, you have also received the Holy Spirit. He has come to tabernacle or live within you.
There is power there if you’ll only call on it & appropriate it for the glory of God. Go and tell someone about Christ & what he has to offer.
While some people around the world are being physically persecuted for the Gospel, the only persecution Christ is asking of you at this very moment is to go out & tell someone.
I read of an Evangelist visiting 2 churches back to back. It was a great lesson in opposites. He said that 1 church was dying while the other was growing and thriving.
The first had a big sign out front that said, “All welcome…come on in.” And it was dying. The other was thriving, but it had no sign on the outside.
Just inside the door…only to be seen from the inside as you made your way out was their sign which read… “you are now entering the mission field”.
That’s what Jesus is asking you to do. Leave here this morning and enter the mission field. Do you love Him enough to do that?
Pastor Brian Atwood told the story of Louis Pasteur, the pioneer of immunology, Pasteur lived at a time when thousands of people died each year of rabies.
He had worked for years on a vaccine. Just as he was about to begin experimenting on himself, a 9-year-old boy named Joseph was bitten by a rabid dog.
The boy’s mother begged Pasteur to experiment on her son. He injected Joseph for ten days--and the boy lived.
Decades later, of all the things Pasteur could have had etched on his headstone, he asked for these words: JOSEPH LIVED.
Our greatest legacy will be those who live eternally because of our efforts.
Please…pray passionately, invite people to come, and tell them about Jesus.