Tell Others
Notes
Transcript
Open your Bibles to 1 Peter 3.
Last week, we set up this short series by trying to debunk the fears we have about evangelism. We saw that there is no excuse to come up with for not sharing. Today, I want to talk about how we can!
I am going to show you a very important passage here, to understand evangelism better. It will be very short. Then, Patrick is going to come and sing like a normal response time song. Then I will come back up for a little workshop to show you a simple way to share with others in everyday conversations.
Who then will harm you if you are devoted to what is good?
But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them or be intimidated,
but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
Pray
Peter is talking to men and women here who are being physically treated poorly because everyone knows they are different. They seem to be living by a different set of standards or rules. They are in the Roman empire, but they are living under the reign of a different king than the Roman emperor!
People notice. They are being treated differently because of what they choose to do and not do. And Peter is telling them to be ready when that comes to make sure they don’t squander the opportunity to share Jesus.
This whole idea leads to the obvious question:
Do people notice that about me?
When I am sitting at a restaurant to eat with my family, does my waitress notice?
When I talk to a random stranger on the street, do they notice?
When I run into someone I went to school with, can they see the kingdom in me?
Do people notice that there is something different about what I choose to do and not do?
That’s what plagued me as I studied! These first century believers had something going on that I’m not sure others see as much in me today.
And that is one word found in verse 15: HOPE.
Do I hope in the Lord?
In our minds, hoping is often like wishing. I remember “hoping” I got a Nintendo 64 as a kid for Christmas. I hoped my parents would buy me a car when I turned 16. I hoped Kelly would say yes to marrying men when I proposed.
Kids, what is something you hope to get this year as a present?
Parents, what about y’all?
The problem with each of the examples I gave is that there were differing levels of confidence I had in whether that thing would actually happen, right?
Would it come true?
This is not the idea behind the biblical word for “hope.” In the New Testament, Peter used the Greek word “elpis.” To get “elpis,” think anticipation, not wishing!
I can remember the first time I stayed up all night long. I felt like such a rebel! I had gone to a friend’s house with a few others and we had played Nintendo 64 all night. Then we jumped on the trampoline in the pitch dark, being way too loud for the neighbors. But we were really just buying time until one particular event took place...
For whatever reason, we believed that you didn’t really stay up all night, unless you watched the sunrise. When that sun peaks over the horizon, you can celebrate! You did it!
With everything that we did to keep ourselves awake (video games and SURGE), we always kept one eye on the sky. When the darkness began to lift slightly, we all sat on the edge of the deck to watch the sunrise. It wasn’t some cheesy tear jerker moment. It was the sign that we had accomplished something heroic in our minds! Something we would talk about at school relentlessly the next week.
I was never afraid that the sun wouldn’t rise. I was anxious for it to happen.
That’s the difference! That’s real biblical hope!
It’s not founded in uncertainty. It’s founded in confidence!
You see, the believers Peter writes to here are not wondering if God will hold up his end of the deal in the midst of their struggles. They aren’t crossing their fingers as they pray, right? They are HOPING. They are waiting with anticipation!
I fear that the reason many don’t ask why I seem different is because I don’t often look different enough from the world. Why? Because I waver in my confidence or I am excited and anxious about something else that overshadows my hope in God.
This is also the reason why evangelism seems so painful at times for us to do! I read one pastor this week who said
It has become clearer to me than ever before that the reason we aren't more free and natural in testifying to our neighbors and associates about the reality of our hope in Christ is that we don't feel very hopeful. And if our hearts are not full of hope in the promises of Christ, then here is what happens when an occasion arrives to make a case for our hope: we sense it as a duty to defend doctrine instead of a delight to tell somebody why we are so hopeful.
WOW! That is so spot on for me personally! God help us all to see evangelism as a delight to tell someone why we are so hopeful!
But before you can tell someone, you got to know HOPE!
The pastor said again...
the way to get ready to make a case for your hope is to get hopeful
I don’t know how you came into the building today, but I can just about guarantee most of us were not beaming with hope! We got sickness and disease being talked about on every news station at the top and bottom of every hour. We have enough political unrest going on to make you hate all donkeys and elephants. I don’t even want to go to a zoo! And even our church looks a little different right now! Some of those that we used to love seeing each week are staying home either for safety or because we can’t offer kids ministry right now. Sidenote, If you miss seeing someone here, reach out and let them know! They are probably not going to another church or campus (attendance is down in every church). They are at home. Let them know they are missed.
But with all the negativity on the TV and social media, it can be easy to find ourselves in a hope-hole. This is not the plan of God!
God has a perfect design for us that includes a booming relationship with him and spiritual blessings galore! A GOOD LIFE! But that was messed up because of SIN. This separation from God’s perfect design leads all of us into a state of brokenness. We try to fix the feeling with drunkenness, drugs, relationships, tons of selfies, and living vicariously through our children, but all of these fail!
God could have just left us alone their in our sin, but he didn’t! He chose to give us a way to recover and pursue his perfect design! It was in Jesus!
He sent his son to live on the earth as a human. He lived the life you and I couldn’t by being completely sinless. Then he was put to death by crucifixion at the hands of his own community and people. And the Bible helps us see that when Jesus died, God took all of our sins that separate us from God’s design, and placed them in Jesus’ body. Jesus died with our shame and guilt on him, not on us!
Then he was buried and was actually raised to life on the third day. This is what’s called the GOSPEL, which is a Bible word for Good News.
And the Bible says that this Good News is available to all! To receive its benefits and be able to recover and puruse God’s perfect design for your life and your world, we must turn from sin to God (repent) and believe that Jesus really was the only fix for our brokenness.
Today, maybe for the first time in your life, you want to call out to God and experience what we are talking about here, this recovery and pursuit. You can tell God what’s on your heart, and ask him to save you from this brokenness and surrender your life to him!
If you would like to do that, do it now. Simply talk to God through prayer!
Or, maybe you are like me and you find yourself too overwhelmed or frustrated with the craziness of this world, and you haven’t been as hopeful as you need to be. Reset yourself today! Be reminded of the Goodness of the Gospel and that our hope in Christ supersedes any virus or political issue. Jesus is the only answer for us! And for those of us who are in Christ as believers, we can be confidently anxious about his return!
Today, let’s pray together. After I pray, you stand with me and let’s respond however God leads. If you want to talk with me about a decision you are making today, you can walk down here and grab me during this song or you can go back to the door there where our decision counselors are. If you are ready to call out to Jesus to save you, want to talk about membership here, want to be baptized, whatever the case, you come as God leads.