Sermon Tone Analysis

The Free Methodist Church is in the middle of what is called the *One More Soul *Initiative.

For the next 3 weeks, we will be looking at soul-winning as a part of this initiative.

I think it is important before we go any further to recognize that this is an initiative, not a campaign.

What is the difference?

Well a campaign is like a program that you follow with specific guidelines and methods (i.e.

The “I Found It” campaign of Campus Crusade for Christ in the early 1980’s, of which I was a part of, had very exact tools to use when witnessing to people and exact methods to use when talking to people on the phone).

An initiative is more of an idea or concept for which you develop methods as you go along (i.e. an enterprise where you step out into the unknown to try to accomplish something).

Why is this distinction so important?

Because the FMC has not given us specific rules and methods for soul-winning—in fact, they are strongly resisting all attempts to do so.

Instead what they are doing is planting a vision in our hearts to see *one more soul* brought to the kingdom.

Let’s get a scriptural basis for what we are talking about.

¨     Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you *will* receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you *will* be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Now I know this is may be an uncomfortable area for many of us.

When we hear the “w” word (witness) or even worse the “e” word (evangelism) it conjures up horrible visions of buttonholing people on the street and doors slammed in our faces.

How many times have we asked someone “If you die tonight, do you know if you will go to heaven or hell?”

only for them to walk away or get angry with us?

There are some who have the gift of evangelism who are ready to go knocking on doors any time, any where.

However, for the rest of us, nothing scares us more than knocking on doors, standing on the street passing out tracts, or memorizing the Roman Road and getting it all confused when we share it with someone.

Now I know there are many tools for witnessing (i.e.

tracts) and they are all good.

Probably the one I am most familiar with is the “4 Spiritual Laws” since that is the one I was trained on during the “I Found It” campaign.

This is a simple understanding of the gospel and easily presented once you have it in your heart.

Law 1:    God *loves* you and offers a wonderful *plan* for your life.

Law 2:    Man is *sinful* and *separated* from God.  Therefore, he cannot know and experience God’s love and plan for His life.

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

Through Him you can know and experience God’s love and plan for your life.

Law 4:    We must individually *receive* Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our lives.

Now in case you missed all of that, let’s simplify it more:

Law 1:    God loves you.

Law 2:    Man’s sin separates him from God.

Law 3:    Jesus Christ has paid the price for our sin.

Law 4:    We must accept the gift of Jesus Christ.

We would all say “anyone” can remember that.

Yes, until they get into a situation where they have to present it to someone and then they completely forget it or get it all mixed up trying to remember the Laws in the right order.

Or the person they are talking to asks them questions about the Laws they can’t answer.

So how do we reconcile this scripture in Acts 1:8 with our experiences?

Jesus told His disciples that “you *will* receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you *will* be My witnesses.”

Was that the first lie that Jesus ever told?

No, I don’t believe so, however, what I do think is that we have misunderstood the meaning of being witnesses for God.

One of the areas of misunderstanding, I think, is trying to be a salesman for Jesus.

Salesmen are taught to “seal the deal” before they leave a prospect.

We have been taught (or have come to believe) that we have to “seal the deal” when we are talking to people about Jesus.

We feel like we have to get a “signed contract” from them that they have said “the prayer” and accepted Jesus into their heart or we have not been successful in our witness.

Friends, if you are a salesman, this is OK so you can sell your product, but when it comes to witnessing for Jesus it puts incredible pressure on us that is not necessary.

My answer to this misunderstanding is that we must realize that we are only a link in the chain that God uses to bring people to Him.

¨     1 Cor 3:6-7 (NIV) I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but *God made it grow*.

7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but* only God, who makes things grow*.

Another area of misunderstanding is that we think we have to be trained to be witnesses.

If we are salesmen for Jesus, then this is true.

However, if we are witnesses, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we have everything we need to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ.

Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would be our Guide.

¨     John 16:13-14 (NIV) But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, *He will guide you into all truth*.

He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.

14 He will bring glory to Me by taking from what is Mine and *making it known to you*.

When we are witnessing in the power of the Holy Spirit, He guides us and tells us what to say.

He reveals scripture to us as we need it (often that we did not know we knew) to answer the questions of those we are talking to—all to bring glory to Jesus.

It is not what we have memorized as our “sales pitch” that will touch the heart of a man~/woman, but what the Holy Spirit gives us.

One more area of misunderstanding about being a witness for God is that we have to have boldness or bravery to be successful.

What about those of us who are “Cowards for Jesus?”

Now before you take up stones to stone me, think about what Jesus used to build the church in the first place—11 cowards, with Peter being the biggest one.

When Jesus was arrested, Peter denied Him 3 times and then went and hid out along with the rest of the disciples.

Why were they hiding?

They were afraid that they would be arrested and crucified along with Jesus.

They were scared for their lives.

After the resurrection, they weren’t any better.

In fact they were in hiding when Jesus appeared among them.

¨     John 20:19 (NIV) On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”

Now as we look at the story in Acts, we see that after the Holy Spirit came upon them on the Day of Pentecost, they went out in power (Acts 1:8) and on one day 3000 people were added to the church.

All as a result of the preaching of Peter!  Cowardly Peter?

Yes, when cowardly Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit he was no longer cowardly, but boldly preached to the very same Jews who just a few days before he was afraid was going to kill him and his comrades.

So if Jesus could take this cowardly bunch and use them to start the church, then there is hope for the rest of us “Cowards for Jesus” who aren’t are brave as we would like to be when it comes to being witnesses.

It takes the power of the Holy Spirit to change us from cowards to bold witnesses—it is not something we can do on our own.Holy Spirit

 

 

Going back to the *One More Soul* initiative of the FMC, when we were at the pastor’s conference last month, they gave us the book a.k.a.

“Lost” by Jim Henderson, which I have been reading.

This is what they wanted to plant into our hearts rather than a denominational program or campaign.

I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to me that we are not being “required” by our denomination to use certain programs to win souls to Jesus.

Been there, done that!

However, what the bishops are doing is saying that as witnesses for Jesus, God wants us to have an impact on *One More Soul*.

Look at the brochure you were given on the inside page (Being disciples) and you will see the One More Soul theme “*One More Soul* is about people experiencing life transformation—entire lives healed and made whole through Christ.”

I see that as in agreement with Acts 1:8.

Now I do have to admit to you that in the literature, there is an emphasis on investing in leadership and churches because the church was founded on the day of Pentecost to fulfill the Great Commission.

¨     Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV) Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 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, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

However, look at the back of the brochure and you will how each one of us can be involved in the *One More Soul* initiative.

*/Pray/*—that God will open our eyes to those around us who are missing.

We must not see them as lost, but rather missing from the kingdom of God at this time.

We must pray that the Lord of the harvest will bring in the harvest.

*/Share/*—the good news right where you are!  Daily share a smile, a word, a good deed in the lives of those who you meet.

You don’t have to preach to them; in fact it would be better if you didn’t.

Rather, be there to love them, talk to them, listen to them, ask them questions—just show them that you care and they will want to know what it is that makes you different.

Our job is to plant seeds of love—God will bring the growth in His time and His way.

*/ /*

*/Give/*—generously . . .

faithfully . . .

joyfully.

We will be taking an offering the last Sunday of the month to help fund the various aspects of the initiative.

Look to the right and you will see some of where the funds are going—planting new churches, bringing /Light & Life /magazine to each of our homes, setting up a ministry center in Budapest, Hungary, as well as bringing resources to the local church.

I want each of you to take an envelope and pray about how much you can give on October 29 toward *One More Soul*.

My final words are let’s ask God to show us that *One More Soul* in our life that is missing from the kingdom.

This week as we go about our daily routine, look for opportunities to plant seeds in the lives of those we meet.

Not to buttonhole them, but to love them right where they are.