Vows of Membership - Witness

(Most of this information was learned at an Evangelism Workshop led by Rev. Danny Tinney and Bishop Mike Lowry. I greatly appreciate their guidance through the process to becoming an Ordained Minister in the United Methodist Church.)

Part 3 of the Vow of Membership Sermon Series
Witness


This week the sermon will be much different than you are accustomed to. In fact, some of you may not consider this a sermon at all. Notice in your bulletins... you have some work to do during this sermon so take out a pen, or borrow a crayola from your child's worship packet, or take the pencil from the pew and lets get to work. You see, I could stand up here and tell you about being a witness. I could confront you about not inviting others to church. I could accuse you of not introducing people to Christ but at the end of the day nothing would have changed. So, we are going to do this a little different.

To start with, I have selected 2 scriptures that were not a part of the Lectionary. Turn with me if you would to Matthew 28:19-20, now take your finger and hold that spot and turn back a few pages to Matthew:22:36-40.

Prayer

I have heard it said that:
A great COMMITMENT to the great COMMANDMENT and the Great COMMISSION will build a great CHURCH.
That being said, I want us to look at each of these real quick. To start with, the Great Commandment. Jesus was being questioned by the Pharisees about the greatest commandment of Moses' Law. Rather than giving one answer to them, Jesus upped the ante so to speak. This was his custom, when we was challenged to answer the Pharisees he would usually give them more than they bargained for. This time, he answers with the common answer showing them that he knew what they were looking for. He recited the Shema from Deuteronomy 6:5 known as the Shema because of the way it starts, "Hear O Israel, Love the YHWH with all you heart,and with all your soul, and with all your strength." In other words, Love God with all that you are, ever have been, and ever will be. "Ahhh" the Pharisees say, "He's not as dumb as we thought, He has studied the Scriptures." But then Jesus added Leviticus 19:18, "Love your neighbor as yourself." What Jesus is saying is that in order to love God you must love your neighbor. This isn't just some 'touchy-feely' kinda love, this is an action love. A love that is manifested in the way you live and breathe. It is the kind of life Jesus talks about in Matthew 25 where says that the ones that feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, visit the lonely... to these will be accounted as righteous for when you serve one of the least, you are serving Jesus.
This is one step in building a great church. This is one step in evangelism. This is one step in being a witness for Christ. The next step comes in the Great Commission.
Do you realize that we have gotten this verse wrong all these years. We have placed all the focus on GO. Don't get me wrong, we need to GO places and spread the word of God in other places. We need to get away sometimes to love our neighbors in South East Texas, or Appalachia, or Espanola, NM, or Haiti, or Liberia Africa... These things are important and we need to continue them; BUT, the focus of this verse is not GO. In fact a student of the Greek will tell you that the word GO here is in the passive form, meaning "as you go on your way..." The only imperative verb in this verse is MAKE.
We are commanded to MAKE Disciples of Jesus Christ. We are to Make Disciples by going, Baptizing, and Teaching. Isn't it interesting the way we make Disciples is first to Baptize, then to Teach. Wow, how often do we think of it in the other way...
"Well, they're not ready to be Baptized, they don't understand what it means yet."
"Well, they're still living in sin so we can't Baptize them yet."
"Well, they don't understand the doctrines of the Faith so we can't Baptize them yet."
No, all that comes later, first pour the Grace of God over them, then teach them... The truth is, none of us really understand what it all means anyway. We are all just pilgrims in this strange land trying to find our way home, aren't we?

Now, this is where it get's tricky and this is where I could spend a couple of more hours on the topic. We could talk about techniques. We could look at models of evangelism. We could discuss the Roman vs. the Celtic way of Evangelism. We could discus Modern Era vs. Post-Modern Era. We could argue Christian vs. Post Christian Era. At the end of the day though, you would still walk out of here saying, I don't know what to do.
So, we are going to take a few minutes today to put some concrete answers down as a start at what it means to be a witness to Christ. Evangelism is simply introducing someone to Christ. And we only have 1/3 of the job to do.
1. We know that God is at work in the life of the person, showering them with Prevenient Grace - that grace that comes before we even know it.
2. We are responsible for what we do as individuals and the church.
3. The respondent is responsible for what they do.

We only have 1/3 of the responsibility in Evangelism. As long as we do our part, we leave the rest up to God and the other person.

So, in 25 words or less, how would you introduce someone to Jesus that has never heard of him? Take a few minutes as write your answer down.

I know that some of you may not be able to finish right now. I pray that you will take it home and continue looking at this, but we need to move on.

Anyone want to share?

Now, what are your 3 Core Convictions - Not scripture but can be from Scripture... This is what you believe, the why you are a Christian.
An example would be Jesus is God in the flesh that walked here on earth.
What three Scriptures mean the most to you... They may be early childhood verses that you memorized in VBS or SS. They may be pivotal verses that changed your life. don't just write the reference, do your best to write them down from memory.


What difference does it make that you are a Christian? Write the answer.



Name three people that you associate with that don't go to church and may not be a Christian.


What you have just done is create a template for sharing your faith with others.

You have thought about and stated who Jesus is to you. You have stated why you believe what you believe. You have remembered those verses that have become a part of your life. And you have thought through why you are a Christian and why someone else should be.

With this in hand you have the tools to not be afraid to start a conversation with someone about your faith. I don't mean that you should walk up to a stranger and ask them "If you were to die tonight, where would you spend eternity" or "Do Ya Know Jeeesus?"

No, look at those three people you named. You already have a relationship with them. If you are living your life for Christ, they already know about your faith and may have questions. All you have to do is seize the moment and let God do the rest...