Bringing the Religious but Lost Person to Christ
Dr. George Bannister
Bringing People to Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 9 viewsthis message deals with witnessing to a person who is religious, but not saved.
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Bringing People to Jesus:
Bringing the Religious but Lost Person to Christ
1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.
2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.
6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.
7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?
11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.
12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.
21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
ETS: Jesus witnesses to Nicodemus.
ESS: Jesus gives us a pattern for witnessing to a religious, but lost person.
OSS: believers will employ the model of Jesus in witnessing to religious, but lost individuals.
PQ: How can I effectively witness to religious but lost individual?
UW: imperatives
Introduction:
Last week we began to look at the subject of bringing people to Jesus. In John chapter 1, we saw two individuals who became active in bringing other people to Jesus following their own conversion experience. Two of Jesus's first disciples, Andrew and Philip, demonstrated the reality of their own salvation experiences by seeking out people close to them to introduce to Christ.
There are different types of people in your life and mine that need to be brought to Jesus to experience life transformation. Today we want to look at the 1st category of people we need to reach. Today we are going to look at trying to bring religious, but lost people in our lives to Christ. These are individuals who profess some type of religious belief – and indeed, may even be actively involved adherence of some religion or faith group.
One of the basic facts that you and I must come to grips with is the fact that being religious does not mean that an individual has experienced salvation. In our text, Jesus addresses this issue very clearly.
Jesus was approached one evening by a man who was extremely religious. This man had a sincere desire to follow the dictates of his religion. Unfortunately, his religiosity was insufficient in the eyes of God. As we take a look at how Jesus dealt with Nicodemus, we need to find a pattern that will help us bring religious, but lost people to me Jesus.
Noticed some things that are an absolute necessity in bringing this type of people to Jesus.
I- Live in a way that sets you apart from the world (.)
I- Live in a way that sets you apart from the world (.)
F
1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.
2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
A- Separated living.
A- Separated living.
Live in a way that sets you apart from the world (. (F
f
()
17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.
(, )
F
24 “But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you
25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come.
B- Serving powerfully.
B- Serving powerfully.
(, )
f
9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.
10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful.
()
F
18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit,
19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.
20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
21 And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
II- Present the necessity of the new birth ().
II- Present the necessity of the new birth ().
f
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.
6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.
7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
A- Confront the issue of conversion (, , ).
A- Confront the issue of conversion (, , ).
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.
7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’
B- Caringly answer questions about the new birth ().
B- Caringly answer questions about the new birth ().
F
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.
6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.
7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
F
F
III- Share how your conversion experience changed your life ().
III- Share how your conversion experience changed your life ().
f
9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?
11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.
F
A- Share a simple testimony.
A- Share a simple testimony.
f
F
f
1- Use a simple, easy to understand format.
f
Like the one used by the apostle Paul ().
F
4 “As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem.
5 If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion.
6 Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors.
7 In fact, that is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having this hope!
8 Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?
9 “I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.
10 Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death.
11 Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.
12 “One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests.
13 About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions.
14 We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.’
15 “ ‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked. “And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
16 Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future.
17 And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles
18 to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’
19 “And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven.
20 I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do.
21 Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me.
22 But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen—
23 that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”
My life before meeting Jesus.
F
f
F
How I am met Jesus.
My life since conversion.
IV-
FV-
IV- Point out that the issue is what a person does with Christ ().
IV- Point out that the issue is what a person does with Christ ().
fV-
12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.
21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
A- God’s provision in Christ ().
A- God’s provision in Christ ().
f
F
14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
B- Man’s choice makes the difference ().
B- Man’s choice makes the difference ().
f
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.
19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.
20 All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.
21 But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”
f
F
().
11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
Conclusion:
F
f
F
f