Sermon March 13, 2011 Acts 1:8 Reach out to others
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Here are my notes from this week.
Message title: Acts 1:8 Reach Out to Others
The Big Idea for message: God wants to give us everything we need to be successful. That is to be successful in sharing His love with others, with fulfilling the Great Commission.
Sticky Statement: When the Spirit is at work, Lives will be changed!
Misc: Today we are going to finish up the series we have been going through on “God’s Plan for Sharing.”
We started by looking at the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”
As a church that is our number one goal! We are to make disciples, we are to reach the lost, share God’s love, and guide them as they develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.
We then looked in Galatians and talked about helping others bear their burdens, knowing they cannot do it alone. We also looked at sharing whatever God has blessed us with. Last week we looked into John 15:4 and saw that we are to abide in Christ.
When we look at abiding in Christ we can see that He will be with us, we need to stand strong and do what He asks, we need to understand that our words and actions will not always be accepted, but ultimately if we submit to Jesus will and have even the smallest amount of faith in our amazing God, He will work in us.
As we finish this series we are going to look at Acts 1:8 and reaching out to others. Remembering our Main Purpose as Christians and seeing how we will be successful.
ME (orientation):
There have been many times in my life where I have tried inviting people to church, shared my faith, or just tried to show God’s love where it did not work. I have gone on long dry spells where everyone I talked about my faith with did not want to hear anything I had to say. I have even lost some people I had considered friends, because we talked about Jesus once. It can be VERY frustrating.
At times I felt like it would be so much easier if we could use the approach Lucy from Peanuts used.
Lucy says to Charlie Brown, "I would have made a great evangelist." Charlie Brown answers, "Is that so?" She says, "Yes, I convinced that boy in front of me in school that my religion is better than his religion." Charlie Brown asked, "Well, how did you do that?" And Lucy answers, "I hit him over the head with my lunch box."
Now I know that is not what God meant when He told us to go out and make disciples, but sometimes it would be much easier to go walk down the street with our Bibles, thump someone upside the head and drag them here.
WE (identification):
Has anyone else ever felt that way? Have you ever wondered how you could bring someone to church, or how you would be able to lead someone to Christ?
Reaching out to others, can be very stressful!
It is not easy to put yourself out there; it is not easy to risk anger or humiliation.
Sometimes it might just be easier to use Lucy’s approach!
GOD (illumination):
Acts 1:8 “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.”
What we are being told here is that God does not want us to do it on our own! He also does not want us to use Lucy’s method of reaching the lost. He wants us to depend on the Holy Spirit to open doors for us, to give us the words to say, and to empower us to witness to others.
Acts 2:38 “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Peter is telling us something very important here. Within each Christian is something amazing. When we obey Jesus, when we repent of our sins, and are baptized as a Christian we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit”
As believers in Christ, as part of His Church, and His family we have been marked. We have been given the Holy Spirit. In other words if you are a Christian the Holy Spirit is alive and at work in you, whether you realize it or not.
Some people are not sure what that means. They understand that the Holy Spirit is alive in us, but what does He do, they might wonder does the Holy Spirit do anything at all. Not understanding the miracle of the Holy Spirit and not realizing the amazing gift He is can cause us to miss out on what He can do for us.
Jesus tells us in John 16:7-8 “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment”
Jesus was saying here that when He left, He would send His Spirit in His place. The Spirit was to be Jesus’ CONNECTION to us. His power within us.
The Bible tells us that the Spirit of God does many things within us
• helps us in our prayers
• helps us to understand the deep things of God’s Word
• guides us
• teaches us
• AND empowers us
BUT perhaps the most intriguing thing Holy Spirit was sent to do is implied here in Acts 1:8.
If you look at Acts 1:8 again you will notice that it says that first they would receive the Holy Spirit then they would be His witnesses.
Emphasis here is that First the Holy Spirit came and Then they witnessed.
Let’s think about this for a minute. In Acts 1, who are we talking about? Jesus is talking to His disciples, those what have walked with and listened to Him for several years. These are men who witnessed miracles, saw the feeding of the thousands, demons cast out, lappers healed, and the blind made to see. This people had witnessed Jesus’ work first hand. And now Jesus is telling them to let the Holy Spirit come and then you can witness to others! Almost sounds like we are missing something, but we are not.
Why did they need to wait? Did they have enough of a testimony to witness to others? I would say YES they did, but doing it on their own power would be difficult.
In other words, they could have begun witnessing without the Holy Spirit, but it wouldn’t have had the same power. It would have been frustrating. It would have been a lot like man using a hand trimmer on his lawn when he had a gas powered mower setting in shed. He would still get the job done - it would simply be more difficult.
One of THE primary jobs for God’s Spirit in this world is CONVICTING people of their sin, of their need for our Savior. In other words: you and I don’t have to convict people, we can’t change their hearts. That is the Spirit’s job, we are to witness, we are to show His love, and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.
Now we need to depend on the Holy Spirit but Romans 10:13-14 reminds us that our witness is a very important part of the process.
“13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
Without someone sharing their witness, their testimony, the lost will not hear. Our job is very important, one might say almost as important as that of the Holy Spirit. If we do not share God’s love with people, if we do not share what God has done for us, the lost cannot believe. We need to reach out to people, we need to share Jesus love, or the Holy Spirit cannot work, it cannot convict their hearts.
YOU (application): When the Spirit is at work, Lives will be changed!!
I can tell you over the years, I have had frustrating times trying to share God’s Love. As I said earlier, I have tried sharing God’s love, sharing what He has done for me, and it seems like I am getting nowhere. At times beating my head against the wall would have had the same result and following Lucy’s plan might have given me better results.
I can also tell you that over the years, I know for a fact that God has opened doors for me to share His love. When I was a Youth Pastor I would pray that God would open doors for me within the rowdy youth group I had. I remember one day when I was running late from work trying to get to church on time for youth group, I was praying that God would use me to touch one of their lives. That He would use me and make it all worthwhile. When only 1 guy showed up that night I was disappointed at first. We hung out, played Bocce Ball, and talked. It was during that time that I was given the opportunity to share my heart with this guy and was able to lead him to Christ. It was a great victory for Christ, and opened my eyes to how the Holy Spirit was using me.
WE (inspiration):
As we continue our challenge to invite someone to church I know it can be frustrating when you hear the word no or when people don’t want to talk about Jesus.
Remember that the Holy Spirit is there to help us. His job is to open hearts, it is His job to prepare people for our witness or invitation, and it is His job to get us to the right place at the right time.
I want to encourage each of you to pray for the Holy Spirit to work in your lives. To open doors, open hearts, and to put you in the right place at the right time.
Let the Holy Spirit work in you!
When the Spirit is at work, Lives will be changed!!
Thanks for reading!
Here are my notes from this week.
Message title: Acts 1:8 Reach Out to Others
The Big Idea for message: God wants to give us everything we need to be successful. That is to be successful in sharing His love with others, with fulfilling the Great Commission.
Sticky Statement: When the Spirit is at work, Lives will be changed!
Misc: Today we are going to finish up the series we have been going through on “God’s Plan for Sharing.”
We started by looking at the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”
As a church that is our number one goal! We are to make disciples, we are to reach the lost, share God’s love, and guide them as they develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.
We then looked in Galatians and talked about helping others bear their burdens, knowing they cannot do it alone. We also looked at sharing whatever God has blessed us with. Last week we looked into John 15:4 and saw that we are to abide in Christ.
When we look at abiding in Christ we can see that He will be with us, we need to stand strong and do what He asks, we need to understand that our words and actions will not always be accepted, but ultimately if we submit to Jesus will and have even the smallest amount of faith in our amazing God, He will work in us.
As we finish this series we are going to look at Acts 1:8 and reaching out to others. Remembering our Main Purpose as Christians and seeing how we will be successful.
ME (orientation):
There have been many times in my life where I have tried inviting people to church, shared my faith, or just tried to show God’s love where it did not work. I have gone on long dry spells where everyone I talked about my faith with did not want to hear anything I had to say. I have even lost some people I had considered friends, because we talked about Jesus once. It can be VERY frustrating.
At times I felt like it would be so much easier if we could use the approach Lucy from Peanuts used.
Lucy says to Charlie Brown, "I would have made a great evangelist." Charlie Brown answers, "Is that so?" She says, "Yes, I convinced that boy in front of me in school that my religion is better than his religion." Charlie Brown asked, "Well, how did you do that?" And Lucy answers, "I hit him over the head with my lunch box."
Now I know that is not what God meant when He told us to go out and make disciples, but sometimes it would be much easier to go walk down the street with our Bibles, thump someone upside the head and drag them here.
WE (identification):
Has anyone else ever felt that way? Have you ever wondered how you could bring someone to church, or how you would be able to lead someone to Christ?
Reaching out to others, can be very stressful!
It is not easy to put yourself out there; it is not easy to risk anger or humiliation.
Sometimes it might just be easier to use Lucy’s approach!
GOD (illumination):
Acts 1:8 “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.”
What we are being told here is that God does not want us to do it on our own! He also does not want us to use Lucy’s method of reaching the lost. He wants us to depend on the Holy Spirit to open doors for us, to give us the words to say, and to empower us to witness to others.
Acts 2:38 “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Peter is telling us something very important here. Within each Christian is something amazing. When we obey Jesus, when we repent of our sins, and are baptized as a Christian we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:13 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit”
As believers in Christ, as part of His Church, and His family we have been marked. We have been given the Holy Spirit. In other words if you are a Christian the Holy Spirit is alive and at work in you, whether you realize it or not.
Some people are not sure what that means. They understand that the Holy Spirit is alive in us, but what does He do, they might wonder does the Holy Spirit do anything at all. Not understanding the miracle of the Holy Spirit and not realizing the amazing gift He is can cause us to miss out on what He can do for us.
Jesus tells us in John 16:7-8 “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment”
Jesus was saying here that when He left, He would send His Spirit in His place. The Spirit was to be Jesus’ CONNECTION to us. His power within us.
The Bible tells us that the Spirit of God does many things within us
• helps us in our prayers
• helps us to understand the deep things of God’s Word
• guides us
• teaches us
• AND empowers us
BUT perhaps the most intriguing thing Holy Spirit was sent to do is implied here in Acts 1:8.
If you look at Acts 1:8 again you will notice that it says that first they would receive the Holy Spirit then they would be His witnesses.
Emphasis here is that First the Holy Spirit came and Then they witnessed.
Let’s think about this for a minute. In Acts 1, who are we talking about? Jesus is talking to His disciples, those what have walked with and listened to Him for several years. These are men who witnessed miracles, saw the feeding of the thousands, demons cast out, lappers healed, and the blind made to see. This people had witnessed Jesus’ work first hand. And now Jesus is telling them to let the Holy Spirit come and then you can witness to others! Almost sounds like we are missing something, but we are not.
Why did they need to wait? Did they have enough of a testimony to witness to others? I would say YES they did, but doing it on their own power would be difficult.
In other words, they could have begun witnessing without the Holy Spirit, but it wouldn’t have had the same power. It would have been frustrating. It would have been a lot like man using a hand trimmer on his lawn when he had a gas powered mower setting in shed. He would still get the job done - it would simply be more difficult.
One of THE primary jobs for God’s Spirit in this world is CONVICTING people of their sin, of their need for our Savior. In other words: you and I don’t have to convict people, we can’t change their hearts. That is the Spirit’s job, we are to witness, we are to show His love, and let the Holy Spirit do the rest.
Now we need to depend on the Holy Spirit but Romans 10:13-14 reminds us that our witness is a very important part of the process.
“13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
Without someone sharing their witness, their testimony, the lost will not hear. Our job is very important, one might say almost as important as that of the Holy Spirit. If we do not share God’s love with people, if we do not share what God has done for us, the lost cannot believe. We need to reach out to people, we need to share Jesus love, or the Holy Spirit cannot work, it cannot convict their hearts.
YOU (application): When the Spirit is at work, Lives will be changed!!
I can tell you over the years, I have had frustrating times trying to share God’s Love. As I said earlier, I have tried sharing God’s love, sharing what He has done for me, and it seems like I am getting nowhere. At times beating my head against the wall would have had the same result and following Lucy’s plan might have given me better results.
I can also tell you that over the years, I know for a fact that God has opened doors for me to share His love. When I was a Youth Pastor I would pray that God would open doors for me within the rowdy youth group I had. I remember one day when I was running late from work trying to get to church on time for youth group, I was praying that God would use me to touch one of their lives. That He would use me and make it all worthwhile. When only 1 guy showed up that night I was disappointed at first. We hung out, played Bocce Ball, and talked. It was during that time that I was given the opportunity to share my heart with this guy and was able to lead him to Christ. It was a great victory for Christ, and opened my eyes to how the Holy Spirit was using me.
WE (inspiration):
As we continue our challenge to invite someone to church I know it can be frustrating when you hear the word no or when people don’t want to talk about Jesus.
Remember that the Holy Spirit is there to help us. His job is to open hearts, it is His job to prepare people for our witness or invitation, and it is His job to get us to the right place at the right time.
I want to encourage each of you to pray for the Holy Spirit to work in your lives. To open doors, open hearts, and to put you in the right place at the right time.
Let the Holy Spirit work in you!
When the Spirit is at work, Lives will be changed!!
Thanks for reading!
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