Community Engagers

Introduction:

Our Mission Statement:

“Producing Jesus followers of faith that expand God’s kingdom.”

To accomplish the mission, we have 5 Core Values that will be the drivers of this success.

Bible Believers: Submitting to the authority of the Bible for all life and practice.

Am I submitting to the Father by obeying His Word for all life and practice?

Am I a doer of the Word or just a hearer of the Word?

Disciple Makers: Investing the gospel in faithful men and women that will invest its power in others.

Disciple Makers: Investing the gospel in faithful men and women that will invest its power in others.

Am I gathering people to Christ or scattering them from Christ?

God pleasures: Trusting God with every aspect of our lives as we join Him in His work.

Am I affective at applying the gospel to the lost and broken hearted of this world?

God pleasures: Trusting God with every aspect of our lives as we join Him in His work.

God pleasures: Trusting God with every aspect of our lives as we join Him in His work.

Am I trusting God with every aspect of my life as I join Him in His work?

Community Engagers: Cultivating new relationships through sharing the love of Christ and the power of the gospel.

Am I walking by faith and not by sight?

Community Engagers: Cultivating new relationships through strategic partnerships for the purpose of sharing the love of Christ and the power of the gospel.

Am I building new relationships with those that Jesus wants to save?

Am I letting the Spirit lead me into spiritual conversations with those around me?

Kingdom Builders: Taking every God-given opportunity to advance the Kingdom of Christ in this world.

Community engagement has everything to do with evangelism.

Being a Bible Believer, Disciple Maker, and God Pleaser is all just a a set up to equip us for these last two core values.

Community engagement has everything to do with evangelism.

Evangelism is the presentation of the gospel to others through your life and words.

Acts 8:37 NKJV

37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Evangelism is not a sales strategy by which you win someone over to Christ.

Evangelism is the presentation of the gospel to others through your life and words.

Evangelism is an essential part of the producing Jesus followers of faith.

Romans 10:14–15 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Romans 10:14–16 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”

Evangelism is not a sales strategy by which you win someone over to Christ.

Over the years Christianity has so complicated this process that you have to be a masters salesman to share your faith.

We have come up with

There are 2 major reason I believe people don’t share the hope of salvation with those around them.

2 Reasons We don’t Engage Spiritually.

Fear of Rejection

I don’t know enough about the scriptures to explain it all.

What if they ask me a question to which I don’t know the answer?

It’s non of by business. I will be intruding in there life.

Fear of Responsibility

Souls hang in the balance, therefore I have to get it right.

What if I misrepresent God and Jesus?

Psalm 96:3 ESV

3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

5 Conditions for Community Engagement.

Effective engagement takes some conditioning of your heart and mind so you are ready to respond.

Love

Knowledge

Power

Purpose

Courage

Love

Love causes people to do crazy things for one another.

1 John 4:19 ESV

19 We love because he first loved us.

1 John 4:19–20 ESV

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Love causes people to sacrifice for others.

1 John 4:9–11 ESV

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:

Knowledge

You must have convictions about the things of God. Why do you believe?

Live in the hope of the Lord and have an answer for it. (Discipleship Path)

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Power

Power only come from the Holy Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit of God will cause you to witness.

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Courage

Overcoming fear to do what needs to be done.

This is the only human element in the process of evangelism.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” — Nelson Mandela

Purpose

Purpose

Purpose is the why behind the courage.

Understand why we do what we do.

The conviction that judgement is approaching from a Righteous God.

This provides the urgency of the gospel.

It also promotes the need for the gospel.

Jesus, Peter, James, John, and Paul spent a lot of time on judgement.

The conviction that God’s love has made a way of escape and redemption for the wrath to come.

2 Peter 3:9–10 ESV

9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

2 Peter 3:

Courage

Overcoming fear to do what needs to be done.

Transition:

This is the only human element in the process of evangelism.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” — Nelson Mandela

Transition:

So, what does it take to become a Community Engager? I have come to understand that there are 5 key steps that anyone can take to be better equipped to share his or her faith and become a community engager.

In the Bible there is only one person that was given the title of evangelist. His name was Philip.

Philip was one of the first deacons in the early church that was deemed full of the Holy Spirit and Wisdom.

His pattern of obedience to the Holy Spirit will serve as our example this morning found in Acts 8:26-40.

5 Steps for Community Engagement

Live in Expectation.

Acts 8:26 ESV

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.

Wake up in the morning knowing that God is going to use you today.

Be expecting a divine appointment throughout the day.

Acts 8:26 ESV

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.

Acts 8:26

Love People.

Acts 8:27–28 ESV

27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

See people through God’s lens of love and care.

Find the felt need. People always identify with pain in some way.

Acts 8:27–28 ESV

27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.

Acts 8:27

Look for Opportunities.

There are no coincidences in life.

God has orchestrated your day in every way.

Philip standing in the middle of the desert was right where he was supposed to be at just the right time.

Be Led by the Spirit.

Acts 8:29–30 ESV

29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

Acts 8:

Be sensitive to the “something told me’s” in your life.

The more you listen the clearer the Spirit’s prompting will be.

Acts 8:31–32 ESV

31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth.

Acts 8:31

They can’t hear without a preacher.

Acts 8:33–34 ESV

33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

Lead them to Christ.

Acts

Acts 8:35 ESV

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.

Acts

Don’t beat around the bush. Just tell them straight.

People will respect your conviction even if they don’t have the same conviction yet.

Be true to yourself.

Acts 8:

Questions to ask yourself this morning:

Am I building new relationships with those that Jesus wants to save?

Baptism

Acts 8:35 ESV

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.

Am I letting the Spirit lead me into spiritual conversations with those around me?

Baptism

The Lord’s first command of obedience.

Not only did Philip lead him to Jesus but immediately began to teach him how to walk with God.

Acts 8:36–37 NKJV

36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Acts 8:

Acts 8:26–40 ESV

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. 27 And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. 36 And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Acts 8:36–37 NKJV

36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” 37 Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

We have some people here this morning that are making that same declaration today.

As these precious souls come forward we get to see the result of being Community Engagers.

(Move to the Baptistry.)