Sermon Tone Analysis

Well, now that 2020 is upon us and hopefully we have all made it back from vacations and holiday visits, I want to share some vision with the church for this year.

Last year we made a focus of LOVE, GIVE and SERVE — we began changing ministry to join in with our community and encouraging people to individually find places of serving in the community as representing our church.

We will not lose sight of that initiative, but want it to become a part of our DNA as a church body.

Many found their way to nursing homes, jails, assisted living, community days, etc to serve in our community representing Christ and Destiny Church.

We believe that this is a year to build upon that in a greater way.

I also believe that our focus must truly be on EVANGELISM this year.

We have prepared our facility, but now we must bring in the community!

This morning we have supplied cards to use to invite someone to church — we have partnered with truelife.org

to make a resource making inviting someone to church easier than ever - and we will continue to do so...

However, there is a Biblical purpose behind this practical tool!!!

That purpose goes along with three words that the Lord has placed in my heart during prayer for this year.

CONNECTION, COMPASSION and COMMISSION ---

I would like to create a bridge from my message last Sunday to today as well.

We spoke in depth last week about being HEALED HELPERS --- part of that was the need to share our testimony and have beautiful feet spreading the love of Christ.

In fact, we looked briefly at the armor of God and the reality that if we are not sharing our faith than we are not fully clothed in the armor of God and therefore OPEN to defeat in our lives.

Eph 6.

TRUTH IS - the church has lost its conviction to take personal responsibility to spread the Gospel even though it is the crux of the NEW TESTAMENT!

From 1993 until now the amount of Christians who believe it is not the individual’s responsibility to reach the lost has increased threefold - to the point that only 2/3’s of Christians believe it is their mandate personally.

(REALIZE THAT though 2/3 believe it is their mandate, they are not actively pursuing obedience to that mandate)

IN fact, in addition to not taking personal responsibility is the shifting of responsibility to the job of the “church” not each believer.

Christians have also ceased to share Christ, but are more likely to share personal life choices due to fears of offending others or being rejected.

The sense of a greater social barrier exists and many Christians refuse to share with anyone they do not have a personal relationship with, and then that becomes muddled by not wanting to offend that relationship.

Our use of Scripture to define the need to have Christ in our lives has also decreased.

End result is that individuals in the church have become more intentional about avoiding sharing Christ than becoming intentional to SHARE CHRIST!

With this intentionality is a lack of people being saved and having their lives changed.

The church as a whole and individually IGNORING OUR BIONICALLY GIVEN MANDATE to EVANGELIZE or REACH THE LOST!!!

Remember, this is the heartbeat of Christ, the reason He came and His last words to those changed by His grace!

WIth this in mind, let me share my heart with you today -

I believe that God has brought our church to this time and place to be an active force advancing His Kingdom in this region!

I believe time is short before Jesus returns

I believe He has called us to be HIS HAND EXTENDED and to ACTIVELY ADVANCE HIS KINGDOM

1. Connection

Connection with the Lost

There are several things about connection that are vital to the church and reaching the lost.

First, we have to be connected to Christ!

Do we know Him, are we maintaining our communion with Him?

Second, our connection to each other...

Heb

We need to be gathering for fellowship, instruction and studying the Word together.

We need to build one another up and this comes through being connected to one another.

Our connection is NEEDED for the faith of each and every one of us — when we neglect growing together as the body of Christ we miss the strength that comes from being a part of one another that God intended us to have.

Life Groups, Discipleship Groups, Church services, and connectedness beyond these times is so important.

To be bound together as brothers and sisters in Christ.

It also prepares us to be ready for those outside the body of Christ to come in!

If we are not a home, a family, a place to connect to than when the lost are found - what will they connect to in order to become discipled???

It is not the responsibility of another to make connection - it is up to each of us individually to PURSUE CONNECTION with others in the body of Christ.

Stop waiting for others to come to you and go to them!

It is not the church’s fault if we are not connected when we are not making efforts to connect.

Let me challenge you - if you have fallen away from connection with the body of Christ - GET BACK TO IT

1 john 3.

1 john

God has also called us to CONNECT WITH THE LOST!

This is not optional!!! nor dependent on any other connection.

I am not talking about participate in sin and party with the lost, but make INTENTIONAL CONNECTION to those outside the faith!

Intentional connection to bring them to faith!!!

Remember last week the words from Romans

Jesus calls the feet of those CONNECTING to the LOST - BEAUTIFUL --

He has called us to go - He told us before He left to GO!

God wants us to exercise the sharing of this faith He has given to us — to connect with others

it was Jesus job to connect with the lost --- so He desires us to do the same with the intention of them finding salvation

We are all in Christ because someone connected with us!!!

One more verse from last week...

He gave us this message to take and connect with others.

In your hands today we have given you a tool to connect with others - to invite them to church, to invite them to find answers to life’s tough questions - Biblical answers

and a means to CONNECT with someone that you might not even know ---

TO FULFILL the BIBLICAL MANDATE to share the GOSPEL

My vision for this year is that we will grow in connection with each other as a church, but most of all we will grow in connecting to the lost around us!!!

Love, Give, Serve was all about us CONNECTING with our community -

How will they find Christ unless we take the message to them??

It is not the job of the church, it is the individual mandate of all believers in Christ!

2. Compassion

Compassion in our hearts

Do we have compassion for those who are lost???

IF Jesus has saved us and we actually read the Word of God and pray, then we should be developing His heart, right???

These verses are direct references for the compassion found from a loving God and His Son our Savior who are moved by the lostness of people!

The blindedness of this world and devastation of sin in people’s lives!

I believe this year God wants to bring us to being a people of COMPASSION!

That seeing the lostness and pain of those around us moves us to

“saying - that is so sad”

NO - to ACTION to do something about it!

I have been reading the Gospels since the start of the New Year, just started Mark on Friday.

What Compassion???

JEsus ministry centered around healing those demon possessed, bound in sin, crippled, lame and blind --- feeding thousands, and teaching the truth of the Kingdom of God to raise faith for salvation.

What was the motivator - COMPASSION, LOVE!!!

Not just his Love and Obedience to the Father, but His love for others.

compassion[kəmˈpaSHən]

NOUN: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others

We have lulled ourselves into thinking everyone is ok and nobody goes to hell, but in this process we have stopped having compassion for the condition of the lost!

Instagram invites, all the dead friends, and I realized how many were in hell...

That is where they are going… HELL

Stop fooling yourselves… if we do not have compassion for the lost, they are going to hell!

What are we going to do about that???

Is it really that hard to invite someone to church, to give them a website to answer tough questions, to share what God has done for you and how He can do it for them...

SO WHAT IF THEY MAKE FUN OF US

SO WHAT IF THEY REJECT US

SO WHAT IF THEY IGNORE US

Have some compassion on them, they have no shepherd, they are lost, they are confused, they are blinded by sin --- YOU HAVE THE TRUTH, THE HEALING, THE SOURCE OF LIFE, SALVATION

STOPPED BEING ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL, because if your not ashamed of the Gospel than you just have no compassion!

Now, if JEsus did all these miracles as He ministered to all these hurting people remember a promise He made to us...

We don’t see greater works, because we don’t do His work!