The Importance of One

Tithes and Offerings -

Good morning, and thank you for being with us today. Before we get into today’s message, I just wanted to touch on something that I haven’t mentioned in many months. Every Sunday, even though we have not been doing the traditional “passing of the plate” that we used to do pre-COVID, we still collect tithes and offerings from those who feel led to contribute to the ministries of our church. I am sorry that we have not been having a set-aside time to take up the offering, because as I often mentioned when we were doing that, this is one of the ways that we actively worship God. Giving back to God a portion of what He has blessed us with is one way we worship Him and show our thanks and our trust that He will continue to provide for us and take care of us. In both our services, ever since the pandemic started we have collected those gifts before or after the service, as you arrive or leave, and it has felt almost like an afterthought rather than an integral part of our worship experience each week. I know many of you have continued to faithfully give in support of our church and its ministries. I am thankful for your generosity. We depend on it to continue doing what God calls us to do. For some of us, we forget to prepare ahead of time, and end up scrambling at the last minute to put something in the box on the way out. Hopefully, in time this will be a part of our service that we will once again get back to doing in a way that better allows us to worship God through. For now, let me just remind you that in addition to collecting donations through cash and check, we also offer the ability to donate online through a secure link on our church website. Just go to FBCCreedmoor.org and click on the “Give Online” menu item and it will take you to a secure page where you can make your donation. I hope that when you do that, either through the website or in person, that you will do it with an attitude of gratefulness and worship towards God.

Sermon: The Importance of One

We’re prone to think of “one” as small and insignificant. Who wants just one cookie? What is the value of only one dollar? But the Bible consistently speaks of one: one pearl of great price, one lost sheep, one wayward son.

Disciples of Jesus often overlook the value of one. One invitation to church, one message of hope, one neighbor, one coworker, one friend. Can you name one person who has come to Christ through your invite and witness?

If you have your Bible with you today, please turn with me to John chapter 1.

MAIN TEXT:

John 1:45–46 CSB

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. “Come and see,” Philip answered.

John 1:49 CSB

49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!”

Now turn quickly with me to Matthew chapter 13...

Matthew 13:45–46 CSB

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.

Let’s pray...

Years ago when Shannon and I were living in Asia teaching English to college students, there was a young lady who began to study the Bible with us. She had become curious about who God was before we met her, and had checked out every book in the library with Bible stories in it. She had read about Adam and Eve, and about Noah, and Abraham, and many other stories we are familiar with, and she had read some about Jesus, but she had never actually read a Bible before. You can imagine how excited she was when we were able to give her her very own copy of the Bible. We studied with her for several months, but she came to a moment of crisis when she realized that there were some things in her life that would need to change drastically if she chose to follow Jesus. In the midst of that crisis of faith, some other things happened that meant she needed to move back to her hometown and leave the university. For months we did not know what had happened with our friend, and what decision she had finally made or not made regarding becoming a Disciple of Jesus. Some time later, however, we got a call from her, and she shared with us how she had decided to follow Jesus, and how she had led her husband, her parents, and other family members and co-workers to Christ as well. One person had made a big impact in the kingdom of heaven.

I am grateful that God used Shannon and me to be a part of that person’s journey to Christ, but it didn’t just happen by accident. We had made specific decisions in our lives that led to us being in a place and having a right attitude to let us be ready to share with this young woman. Church, there may be times when an opportunity to share with someone about Jesus just falls in our laps and we are able to take advantage of it in the spur of the moment, but the majority of times God chooses to give us opportunities to tell others about Him is because we have been obedient to Him and have intentionally made choices and taken steps to have those opportunities. It’s a decision that is made and a way of life that is followed that gives us these opportunities. It takes commitment, so I want to ask you to...

I. COMMIT TO BEING AN INTENTIONAL WITNESS.

This will require intentionality on your part. It will not just happen. It will require accountability for you to stick to your commitment. You will need to have partners who join you in the mission. Part of the reason we introduced a sermon series and are doing the “Who’s Your One?” campaign here at First Baptist is that we want to help you be intentional about obeying Christ’s command to make disciples. We want to do it together, because there’s much more success and energy when we know that the others at church are trying just like we are. They are putting themselves in uncomfortable situations, they are getting outside of their comfort zones too, they are stumbling through how to find opportunities to bring a conversation around to Jesus.

I realize that for some of you, maybe for most of you, this kind of intentional lifestyle may be the first time in your life that you’ve actively focused on just one person that you are praying for, getting to know better, and looking for opportunities to share the Gospel with. Just like a person who is trying to learn a new musical instrument, you might be clumsy at it at first, you might squeak and make funny sounds, and be slightly off-key as you get used to it. But the more you stick to it, the better you get at it. This develops maturity in you as a follower of Jesus. You will need that maturity as a disciple maker in order to persevere in the mission and point others to the life-transforming hope of the gospel. Through this process, your own life will be transformed, and you will then be able to help others who are a step or two, or more behind you.

Those who accept Christ’s identity will also embrace this important mission—sharing Jesus with others.

It doesn’t mean that you will be successful all the time. Some time back we were visiting some friends of ours. One of their daughters was the best friend of Jessie, our youngest. We had known them for several years, and that day they had been sharing some of the struggles their family had been going through, and I just felt like God was telling me to share the Gospel with them. Even though I knew they were not church people, and they had never expressed an interest in God, I was intentional, and began to share with them about God and what He had done in my life. They listened politely and when I was done I wish I could tell you that they broke down in tears of joy and put their faith in Jesus, but they didn’t. Instead, they shared that they just believed differently than our family does. I still pray that those words will someday come back to them in a time when they are more open to God and that the seeds that were planted would bear fruit. But there would be no seed if I had not gone and told them about Jesus. This leads me to the next challenge I have for you.

II. GO AND TELL.

It might mean you go to the desk that’s down the hall from yours and tell your co-worker. It might mean going across the street to your neighbor and telling her. It might mean going to another part of our state or our nation, and telling people that God leads you to there. For some of you, it might mean going to another part of the world and telling people there. That is one of the prayers that I pray for this church. But as part of our “Who’s Your One?” initiative, it means that each one of us should be praying for God to show us opportunities to go to the person He has put on our hearts and tell them the Gospel. We’re not just telling them “God loves you,” and we’re not just sharing what God has done in our lives. Those are good things and they should be PART of what we share with our One. But Romans 1:16 says this:

Romans 1:16 CSB

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

What is the Gospel? The Gospel is the message that every single human is in need of salvation because every single one of us has sinned. Even if we can say that we’re better than 99% of the people we know, we all have to admit that when we compare our lives with perfection and with God, we all fail (by a lot) to meet the standard of perfection. God knows this, and because He loves us and created us to be in relationship with us, He sent His son, Jesus, to pay the price for our sin on the cross. By admitting our need for forgiveness, repenting and turning away from our sinful nature, asking Jesus to take command of our lives, and submitting to Him, we receive salvation and are given the gift of eternal life as a son or daughter of God’s in heaven. No matter how messed up or bad your life has been before, God invites everyone to receive this gift. No one is beyond salvation as long as they are alive. As disciple of Jesus we stop living our lives for ourselves and with selfish motives, and instead start living our lives for Jesus and to bring glory and honor to Him. God grows us and transforms our lives and helps us to reproduce spiritually as we share the great news of the Gospel with others around us who do not have a relationship with Jesus.

These are the broad-strokes of the Gospel. There’s a lot more detail and a lot more to it, but this is the basic message that we can share with others. This is the message that is the power of God for salvation. Just like I said before, when we just get started practicing with this new instrument, we might not be experts at it, but the great news is that if we are faithful and share the message (even clumsily), God’s Holy Spirit can take that seed and transform a person’s life with it.

What does “GO AND TELL” look like in our case, as we do the “Who’s Your One?” challenge? It could look like one of several different scenarios. For example...

1. Each disciple, Christ-follower (church member) invites one unchurched (unsaved) person to breakfast, lunch or dinner this year. Share your testimony, and tell the gospel story.

That last part, “Tell the Gospel Story,” is key. I sincerely believe that the best way to share your faith and share the Gospel is based on a relationship of caring for others and trust. This might mean that you don’t share the Gospel story the very first time you have your One over. You might spend the first or several times just getting to know them and letting them get to know you. They need to know that you are sincere, that you care about them, and that your faith is genuinely a part of your life, not just a Sunday-only activity. Throughout the different times you spend together, you might get to share parts of your testimony, or share ways that God has helped you in life. At some point, God will open the door for you to share the Gospel story with them in a way that connects with what they are going through, and in a way that they understand is relevant to them too. Don’t rush it, but also don’t neglect to share the Gospel. Your testimony and your experience is important, but it is the truth of the Gospel that caries the most power.

2. Invite one family in your neighborhood to your home. Choose one of your family members to tell his/her story of coming to Christ.

For some people, it works well to tag-team it with another family member. Maybe a spouse or sibling or parent. What I said about the first scenario about building the relationship over time applies here too.

3. Invite one unchurched (unsaved) person to attend church with you. Peter invited Andrew to come meet Jesus.

This is a great step to add on to one of the first too. For most people, it takes multiple exposures to the message of the Gospel for them to believe it in their hearts. Hearing it at church will reinforce the messages you have shared with them one-on-one, but your experience and your message will often have a greater impact on them than hearing it from a pastor or Sunday School teacher. That’s because they know you care about them and know their specific situation. In the end, it is the Holy Spirit that causes people to turn to God.

1 Corinthians 3:6–8 NLT

6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.

So be faithful to do what God is asking you to do, and be faithful to pray that God’s Spirit would cause the seeds that are planted in the heart of your One to grow and bear fruit.

Here is my challenge to you:

CHALLENGE:

Each one, bring one.

I mentioned last week that when we think about the big picture that churches often talk about, things like, “We are called to reach the world for Christ!” or, “We are going to do outreach in our community,” people can often feel overwhelmed by the size of the task and they also have a harder time connecting with a faceless “they” than when there is one person they are asked to pray for. So right now, I want each one of you to think about your One. Hopefully if you’ve been coming the past couple of weeks you have heard me ask you to pray and ask God to put someone on your heart that is NOT a Christian, but that He wants you to pray for, reach out to, and share the Gospel with. Think about that person right now. If you haven’t figured out your One yet, choose someone right now, just quickly, and you can pray later this week and ask if that’s the person God wants you to focus on the rest of these months. But think about One person who doesn’t know Christ.

Quickly, pray that God’s Spirit would be working in that person’s life, drawing that person to Him and making that person open to the message of the Gospel.

Now pray for just a minute that God would give you opportunities to spend time with that person, getting to know them and letting them get to know you.

Now ask God to give you the opportunity and the courage to share the Gospel with them. In addition to that, ask God for an opportunity to invite that person to church sometime in the next few months.

Finally, I want to go over a few of the reasons why we don’t invite others to know Christ and to come to church with us. I want each of us in our hearts to think about whether or not we are guilty of these things, and if we are, to ask God for forgiveness for doing this in the past, and to commit to laying those things aside and being bold in sharing our faith with others. We are going to...

III. RECOGNIZE AND REPENT OF EXCUSES.

1. SPIRITUAL LETHARGY

Lethargy is when we feel tired or like we don’t have any energy. This takes place when we fail to obey God in what He asks us to do. A lack of growth inevitably leads to a diminished desire to share Christ with others. Another way to put it is Spiritual laziness. If you are guilty of spiritual laziness, confess that silently to God and ask Him to help you change and obey Him.

2. GROWING INCLUSIVENESS

“All religions lead to God” is what many people in our culture believe. You see those COEXIST stickers on cars, that basically say we all should accept every view as equally valid. Sometimes this view affirms Jesus is not the only way to salvation, but He can be found in other “good religions.” It’s a subtle belief that somehow “good” followers will make it to heaven outside of true Christian conversion. The Bible, however, teaches that Jesus is the ONLY way to God and that salvation is ONLY found in Him. If you have let yourself avoid telling others about Jesus because you think maybe they are just as safe not knowing, maybe it’s time to repent of that and commit to letting people know that Jesus loves us so much that He died for us, not because He was one of many alternatives, but because that was the ONLY way to bring us forgiveness and salvation.

3. DISBELIEF IN HELL

Some Christians have a hard time believing in hell. They read verses like “God is love,” and think that this is the only thing that God is. The truth is that God is also Holy, perfect, just, and righteous, and all of these attributes coexist in Him in perfect harmony. That is why the reality of hell is just as certain as the reality of heaven. Hell is why Jesus came and died, so we could avoid it. This disbelief in hell undermines the urgency of placing one’s faith in Christ alone. One must escape the wrath of God, and Jesus is the only refuge.

4. BUSYNESS

Satan loves keeping Christians so busy that they just don’t have time to share the Gospel with the lost. The unchurched need us to tell them about Jesus. This needs to be on our to-do list. What priority do you give to reaching the lost? Have you let yourself get so busy that you don’t have time to share the most important message the world needs to hear with others?

5. FEAR OF REJECTION

Research shows that only one in four unchurched persons will be resistant to faith discussions; 75 percent are open. The few with an antagonistic attitude are not rejecting you personally; their anger is merely a reflection of something in their past. Imagine if a person saw a truck about to run over a person crossing the street, and they had a chance to pull them to safety, but they didn’t because they were afraid the person would be angry with them for pulling on their arm. Is this a good excuse for not helping those who are facing a much worse and eternal tragedy?

6. A DESIRE TO BE TOLERANT

Our culture loves the idea of being tolerant, letting everyone live “their own truth.” The Bible calls us to help and welcome others who are different from us in many ways, but one thing it is clear about is that there is only one spiritual reality. The gospel is, in some sense, intolerant. The one true God insists there can be no other gods. He is a jealous God. The Christian message speaks of a “narrow way” and “no other name under heaven” and “I am the way...” We hate being called intolerant by the world, but there are ways to speak truth to people that are compassionate and loving. We may still be considered intolerant by some, but others will be grateful that we lovingly helped them find the truth in a culture that doesn’t care enough about them to confront them with truth.

7. LOSING THE HABIT OF WITNESSING

Many people never started witnessing, and never developed that habit. For many reasons, you may have quit witnessing. Maybe it’s because for many years s0me of us have been taught that witnessing is something you do by standing on a street corner with a megaphone yelling at people to repent or burn in hell. That is not how Jesus spoke to people (he only spoke harshly to the religious elites who were misleading the people and keeping them far away from God through their many rules and religious laws). Jesus got to know people, cared for them, loved them, and helped them find hope and acceptance, even when He called them to turn away from sin. We need to learn to approach people like Jesus did. Witnessing is a discipline. It improves the more we do it, and if you have stopped doing it for whatever reason, it can be regained!

8. LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY

Sometimes we don’t do things because no one ever asks us about it. When you have someone holding you accountable, it can increase your zeal for witnessing. Over the next few weeks and months, I encourage you to help keep each other accountable. Ask each other, “Who is your One? Have you been praying for them? How have you gotten to know them better over the past few weeks?” As time goes on, we can start asking each other, “have you had any chances to share the gospel with them? Have you invited them to church?” As we do this for one another, hopefully we will start taking the steps that we are being challenged to take so that we are more and more faithful

9. FAILURE TO INVITE

At some point, it is good to help people become a part of a community that loves them and helps them grow in their faith. When was the last time you invited an unchurched person to church? They might not immediately accept your invitation, but don’t give up. You might have to sweeten the deal for them, and offer to take them to lunch after church, or an early breakfast before church. Some people feel really insecure about arriving in a new place all by themselves, and they just need someone to be with them to take that first step. Have you offered to take someone to church or meet them? It’s such a simple gesture that can have a significant outcome.

CONCLUSION:

1. Will you be intentional?

2. Will you be accountable?

3. Will you be mature as a disciple maker?

Let’s pray...

Hebrews 13:20–21 CSB

20 Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep—through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.