"If Not You, Then Who?"

Spiritual Growth 101: Evangelism

Intro: Hey Church! I am so grateful to be with you today. Can we give it up one more time for our worship team? I am excited to share with you today a Word that I feel the Lord has given to me, & I truly believe He gave it to me because some of you need this Word today too! Aren’t you grateful we live in community that when we hear God speak to us, we can share that with each other in hopes it would also be encouraging to them. Community is beautiful, Amen?

Let’s pray together as we get started.

Pray (Pause 3-5 seconds)

Story: I am going to share with you today on a big fancy word called “Evangelism.” Evangelism is a big word that simply means sharing your faith, your belief, what God has done for you. This can be done in a preaching setting, but it also can be done in a personal relationship setting.

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, after his death and resurrection, his final words he left was a charge “to Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20. This was not only a charge, this was a command he left us with. An obligation.

I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to have a legacy of evangelists in my family. God drastically transformed my Papa’s life at age 40. He was a drinking family man that was living with no purpose. When God got ahold of his life, there was no stopping him from telling everyone he knew or met about what Jesus had done in his life. He radically, unashamedly shared about Jesus. So much so that he started a church in his small country town where hundreds received Jesus. I’ll never forget attending his funeral in a small country church where the entire city shut down & that small building was filled with people from all walks of life that shared how his life had impacted theirs. What a legacy! There is no limit to what God can do with your story when you choose to be obedient to share it! Then there is my dad. I think I am seeing this more now in him than ever before. The man is an evangelistic fiend. I remember growing up every Tues, Thur, and Saturday he would go visiting. If you know anything about old school church then you have heard about visitation and door knocking. This literally means knocking on random people’s doors and when they open it you start conversation with the hope that you have a chance to share Jesus. My dad has led more people to Jesus than anyone I personally know. He would come home late many nights and in tears share how a whole family gave their life to Jesus. It still amazes me to see people and families that have been radically changed because my dad truly believes there is no limit to what God can do with his story when he chooses to be obedient to share it! This passion trickled down to me & I am so grateful it did. I remember every Wednesday after school I would get on a bus with very few others and show up in neighborhoods around our church and door knock, invite people to church, and pray I could share Jesus with someone. I won’t ever know the full impact that knocking on those doors made but what I did know was there was no limit to what God could do when I would be obedient in sharing my story.

Title: “If Not You, then Who?”

Background: Isaiah was a prophet. In the first half of Isaiah it speaks all about how Isaiah was told by God to warn Jerusalem of their rebellion and sin and that judgement was coming and that their city would fall. They were living in sin, idolatry, and rebellion & God was warning them through Isaiah that there would be judgement. BUT leading into Isaiah 40 there begins a message of hope. He is now bringing a message of hope. He is telling God’s people that they can return to Jerusalem & that God was going to bring comfort & restoration. Let’s read about it.

Passage: Isaiah 40:1-2; 9-11

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.” O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops!

Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!” Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart.

He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.

Main Points:

1. Overcome Comfort:

There is a difference between being comforted by God and being comfortable. We are meant to find comfort in Jesus, but that doesn’t always mean our lives will be comfortable. Here’s how I’d apply that: once we have been comforted by God through salvation, He asks us to get uncomfortable for Him. Once you have heard the Gospel, it is now your responsibility to share the Gospel. We miss Isaiah’s message if we get comforted by God, but then keep it to ourselves. We get filled up so we can spill out. We inhale in order to exhale. We get comforted so we can then comfort like Christ has. Christ is the most beautiful picture of this. He left the comfort of heaven to be born in a stable, to live amidst brokenness & hurt, to then die a cruel & unjust death on the cross to give us a future & a hope. What if we chose confidence in Christ, in His comfort over being comfortable in our environments & conversations. Our confidence comes from what God has done for us not on what we can do for Him.

Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Will you consider making yourself uncomfortable to bring comfort to someone else? Trust me, there was nothing comfortable about door knocking on people’s front doors when I was 13 years old. And still to this day when I feel the nudge to pray with a complete stranger or even a friend that is struggling that is not a believer, it is uncomfortable! It is going out of our comfort zone to bring a message of comfort and hope to someone else!

2. Overcome Fear:

I know I am just speaking to myself here when I say sometimes it can be scary to share our faith! Is anyone in the room with me or am I alone on this? What will their response be? Will they start treating me different? What if I don’t have all the answers? What if I get rejected? Maybe fear comes because you don’t feel like you know how. These are real questions that float through my head almost every single time I feel the Lord urging me to share. We are told in Isaiah 40 not only to shout it from the mountain tops, but not to be afraid! Isaiah had a message of hope, and God’s people were told to share it without fear. The message of hope was that God is coming! The last thing the enemy wants you to do is share what God is doing in your life & that there is hope! You can expect him to speak fear and lies into your ears. Let Truth speak louder than the Lies. You are a child of God, you are anointed, you are loved, you are precious, your healing is in His hands, you are whole in Christ, you are redeemed. When we know who we are, it’s easy to tell of Who He is.

Story: Sylah

Maybe some of you today need to speak truth over your life that you are anointed, that you are chosen, that you are beloved, that you are forgiven. When we know who we are, it is easy to tell of who HE is.

Deut 31:6 "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you He will not fail you or forsake you."

Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?

Overcome Shame:

Maybe fear isn’t holding you back or even a life of uncomfort. Maybe shame is holding you back. Sometimes the shame is because of something negative in our past or present. God fills us up with grace, but somehow we think it is not enough. We have to remember that God forgives AND he takes what the enemy meant for evil and uses it for good. Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” Our weaknesses plus Jesus’ grace are the perfect platform to show people what God can do in their life. When it comes to following Jesus, radical needs to be the new normal, and normal needs to be the new radical. Your story is the best story!

Live with Expectancy:

We see all through Scripture how God made blind men see, how He parted oceans for His people to cross, He made dead men come to life, He fed thousands with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. God can do the impossible. Maybe you know friends, co workers, or family members; that the task just seems too much. Seeing them go from death to life seems impossible, hopeless. Do we believe church that God can and desires to do the impossible? Let’s live expectantly.

Story: We used to travel all over the world and do missions work, then we moved here to Boulder. We have encountered a lot of lost people. People who are living with no hope. It is hard to share your faith, your story, what God has done without hope that God can change their life. It is hard to pray for a city or a people group if you don’t believe God can move mountains in their lives. John 11:40 says,” Did I not tell you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

Your trust in who God is has to be greater than what the circumstances suggest.

LET’S BELIEVE CHURCH! Let’s believe that God wants to use us in our friends’ & families’ lives to transform them with the Gospel. Not that He just wants to BUT HE CAN!

Walking Points:

1. Share your story!

   1. Your story is the best story! This is what that looks like for me… maybe it’s being bold to say you will pray for someone & how prayer has impacted your life. Maybe a friend or co worker is going through a hard time & you have a message of hope of how God has met you in a time of trouble & you can share that with them. Maybe it’s the moment God transformed your life forever. It’s ok to not have all the answers!

2. The Gospel

   1. Maybe you have a friend or family member that is ready to take the next step & say yes to Jesus and you don’t know how to walk with them in that. I want you to write these 5 verses down. Maybe in the front of your Bible or on a note in your phone. (Romans 3:23, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Romans 10:9-10, Romans 10:13)

Invitation.

Let’s pray.