"Bring a Friend to Jesus
" Sermon Transcript for July 22, 2001 By Reverend Mike BeckScripture Reading: John 1:35-46
We’re drawing to the close of our 50-Day Spiritual Adventure; and I trust it has been a time of renewal for you. I know it has been for me. We’ve been looking at ways in which we can see the unseen Christ; and I want to review those very quickly with you. We said on the first week that we see the unseen Christ when we worship Him with enthusiasm. When we come expecting to meet Him. We see the unseen Christ when we lavish His love on others. When we embrace righteousness and renounce evil. We see the unseen Christ when we serve Him with joy and gratitude. We’ll see Him when we surrender the truths of God’s Word. And we talked last week about dialogue prayer as we communicate with Him 24/7 and experience the privilege of prayer we’ll see the unseen Christ.
Today we want to discover how we see the unseen Christ when we introduce Him to others. Sharing our faith in Christ, the "e" word (evangelism) unfortunately is talked about a whole lot more than is practiced. This story is a good illustration of that truth.
"Once there was a little boy who ever since he could remember wanted to be a fireman. The shrill of the siren and the deep rumble of the racing fire-truck filled his dreams each night. Deep in his heart there was a longing to someday be able to save people from the ravaging grasp of a fire. After high school, he was accepted into one of the best fireman schools in the country. For three years he immersed himself in his schooling. He studied firefighting theory long into the nights.
But still, after all these years, he had never fought a real fire. As graduation approached, he realized this long-awaited moment was within reach. But suddenly he began to have doubts. For the first time in his life, he was unsure, afraid and worse yet, questioning whether he should be a fireman at all. It was then that one of his professors suggested he travel to Europe and study under one of the greatest fireman theorists of all time. So he traveled to Europe, and for two years immersed himself in study and became one of the most brilliantly educated fireman in the world. But still, all he had ever done was put out practice fires.
Following his time in Europe, he was offered a position to teach at one of the most respected fire-fighting schools in the country. For the next 25 years, he taught with honors and received recognition worldwide. But following his death, friends came across these words written in his journal from his death-bed: I lie here today reviewing my life. I still remember my dream, my passion to be a fireman. More than anything else, I wanted to put out fires. But I realized something today. I have never put out a real fire. NEVER!"
That first reading is one to make a personal application for you. Is evangelism, winning someone to Christ, in the realm of theory--something you talk about and study--or is it in the realm of reality? Is there someone here at Grace because of your invitation? Is there someone who knows the Lord today because of your witness? This next story has something to say to you collectively as a church.
"On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occurred, there was a crude little life-saving station. The devoted members kept a constant watch out over the sea. With no thought for themselves, they went out day or night tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station. As it grew, new boats were bought and new crews were trained.
Over time, the life-saving station became a popular gathering spot for its members. But as time passed, less of its members were interested in going out to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired life-boat crews to do their work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club decorations. They even installed a beautiful liturgical life-saving boat in the room where club invitations were held. But as time passed, fewer and fewer life-saving missions were undertaken.
About this time, a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired men brought in boatloads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black and yellow skin. Their arrival caused the beautiful life-saving station to be considerably messed up. The Property Committee immediately had a shower built outside the Life-Saving Station where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting, there was a split among the club members. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. But other members insisted that life-saving was their primary reason for existence. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save lives, they could begin their own Lighthouse down the coast. And so they did.
As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It also evolved into a club, and yet another life-saving station was founded. If you visit that seacoast today you will find a number of exclusive clubs along the shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most people drown."
If we’re not careful, is it possible that the church of Jesus Christ can just become a Country Club with a cross on top? Or to look at it another way, "Has anybody been saved here lately?" Because if nobody’s been saved here lately, we might as well lock up the doors and give money to the United Way! I’m happy to report there have been people saved, radically saved, here lately. In fact, I was talking with Bill Schwein our new District Superintendent over breakfast about a month ago, and speaking of Bill don’t miss next Sunday. Bill’s going to preach; the "Praising Hims Quartet" are going to lead in music. It will be a great service. Bill’s a wonderful preacher. He’s funny. I’ve been trying to figure out what he’s going to preach on. His sermon is titled "Vultures or Hummingbirds". So you can reflect on that this week as to where he’s going. But he was asking Reverend Dan and I what our thoughts were of how the Charge Conference could be made more meaningful. To which I replied, "Bill, I think we need to get back to what Charge Conferences were originally about." When the District Superintendent once a year would come around and say to the minister and the lay people, "Give me the names of folks who have come to know Christ through your ministries this year." That’s what it’s about.
And one of the most profound ways that an individual or church can see the unseen Christ is when they have the privilege of introducing Him to others. That’s what was taking place in our Scripture lesson for today. John the Baptist points two of his disciples to Jesus. Andrew introduces his brother, Peter, to Jesus. Philip introduces Nathanael to Jesus with the simple but profound words. He just said to him, "Come and see!"
Outreach is really a lot easier than we think it is. It starts with prayer when we ask God not to reveal to us 25 people but who are the one or two or three neighbors or friends or family members to which you may be a conduit of God’s love to reach them. It continues by looking for an opportunity to just give a word or witness, just to tell the difference that knowing Christ made in your life. Or to introduce them to your church family. The research indicates that over 50% of unchurched persons will respond positively to your invitation to join them in worship if you invited them personally. Over 50 percent.
Let me flesh this out in some very practical ways. I sincerely believe that this 11:00 a.m. service, and yes right now we’ve still got plenty of empty places, but I sincerely believe it will be the people to win many unchurched persons in Franklin to the table. Who will be invited to come and join you? Invite them not only to come and join you but then say, "Let’s go out and eat afterwards". Because those of us who’ve been in the church for a long time, we forget how difficult and threatening it is to walk through those doors by yourself the first time. Invite somebody to walk through those doors with you.
Invite them to a special event. There’s a number of things on our church calender that are just fun times together. If you know someone who’s a golfer, invite them to share in the golf outing with us to get to meet some other men in the church. The mid-week F-3 Connection has been a wonderful vehicle for outreach because you can say to your friend, "Don’t cook tonight. Come over to church with me; they’ll prepare our meal. We can sit down and visit around the table." They can share in worship. If they have children or youth they can be involved in a small group.
Or as Merilee has mentioned this morning, invite someone who’s seeking, who has questions, to be a part of the Alpha Course. Alpha is only one way the persons here at Grace are coming to know Christ. But what I’m going to leave you with today is the excitement that is unleashed in a church when evangelism becomes a priority. If you were to ask me, "Reverend Mike, what’s the most powerful moment in the four years that you have been here where you have sensed the presence of Christ?", I could answer that easily. "The Wednesday night worship service when the first Alpha group shared their witness." My goodness! But the power of the Holy Spirit was in our midst. I’m not going to use names, but I heard quotes that night like this, I believe that this person was really resistant, "Why did I resist God’s love for so long? Why?" Another person said, "I’ve got a whole new outlook on life and I’m no longer afraid to die." A young man sat in my office a few weeks ago and said this to me. He’d gone back to work at a company he’d worked for years ago. And he said, "My friends at work say I look like the same guy who worked there two years ago, but they tell me I’m totally different than I was then!" That’s what the church is to be about! To proclaim that God can come into our lives and make us new people.
Friends, we have a responsibility to minister to and to care for your needs as members of Grace. Now we take that responsibility very seriously. But here we’ve been entrusted with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. And when hundreds of persons around us are drifting aimlessly through life and are headed for a Christ-less eternity, how in the world can we keep this message to ourselves? How in the world can we take an attitude that we’re the main reason that we’re here. As long as I am your Pastor, I will keep bringing you back to this Biblical truth: That Grace Church exists primarily for those who have not yet come to know Christ. And those of you who have had the privilege of introducing someone to Christ, to witness the change and the joy in their life, you know that in doing so you have reflecting back to you the image of the unseen Christ.
For see what I think happens to a lot of us, I’ve been a Christian for 43 years now. And see when we’ve been a Christian all of our lives, we forget what it was like not to know Him. We forget what it was like not to experience the love and fellowship of a caring community of faith. And when you get some new baby Christians in your midst, and you hear their innocent but profound questions, and you see their joy and you see the change taking place in their lives, it does something to you. It lets you see the unseen Christ.
I heard this thought-provoking question several years ago: "Who is it that you’re going to meet in Heaven that are going to come up and thank you for being the reason that they are there?" Food for thought. Who is it in heaven that’s going to come up and say, "You’re the reason I’m here?"
And as Merilee shared, friends, there are so many wonderful things happening within these walls. There are so many caring, wonderful Christian folks. Don’t keep the message to yourself. Be like Philip was to Nathanael and just say, "Come, come and see." Will you bring a friend to Christ and the fellowship of Grace Church in the days ahead?
E-mail Comments to: Reverend Dan Sinkhorn