Equipped
for Sharing Jesus
1 – Listen First
2 – Know the Gospel
3 – Love “The People Jesus Misses Most”
4 – Recognize the Moment
5 – Develop a deep Longing for God
6 – Practice a Group Approach to
Evangelism
Acts 4:32-35
32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart
and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but
everything they owned was held in common. 33 With great power the
apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great
grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them,
for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what
was sold. 35 They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was
distributed to each as any had need.
Last week, I was with about 40 relatives
in Michigan. We were celebrating my
grandmother’s 90th birthday.
In a gathering like that, the usual conversations come up about job,
life, kids, and the Detroit Tigers. I am
always, always, asked the same question.
How big is your congregation? We
have somewhere around 200 members and anywhere from 125-200 in attendance on a
Sunday. Oh, that’s a good number. I
am not sure what a bad number would be.
The same conversation happens when
pastors get together. We muse about
churches that are growing. Someone in
the group will say, “Wow that church in Charlotte is up to 5ooo members and
three campuses and 7 services on a Sunday.”
Then the name of the pastor will be mentioned, and someone will, with
both admiration and envy say, “He is really getting it done.”
But wait a minute! Don’t we think that when someone comes to
faith in Jesus it is the Holy Spirit “getting it done?” The individual who decides to become a
Christ-follower is responding to the prompting of the third member of the
Trinity. If we agree that someone making
the move from lost to saved is God at work, then why do exalt pastors and
church leaders of large churches? Why
are they given credit for Jesus’ accomplishment?
The truth is I do want the church to
grow but not for the sake of getting bigger.
I want the growth to be an indication that we – the HillSong family –
are telling people about Jesus and people are responding by turning to Him. In Acts 2 we read, “So those who welcomed
[Peter’s] message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were
added” (v.41). Also, “And day by day,
the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (v.47b).
Clearly numbers indicating growth
were quoted. But numeric growth was
never the stated goal either of the early church or of the great
commission. The goal of the great
commission is the make disciple of Jesus in all nations. The numeric growth reported in Acts was
celebrated. It was not the goal, but it
was a cause of great joy. And credit was
given to the Lord.
In today’s passage we see the
goal. Acts 4:33, “With great power the
apostles gave their testimony to resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great
grace was upon them all.” We are called
together to announce to the world that in Jesus, God has come to earth. He came out of love. He came to forgive all sin. He came that we might, believing in Him and
following and worshiping Him, be adopted as sons and daughters of God. He came to establish the Kingdom of God. The powers of the world at the time of his
coming tried to stop him. The religious
establishment, the greed of local government, and the lust for power that
rested in the empire – these forces conspired together to crucify Jesus.
But, as the early church announced
and continued proclaiming even when doing so cost them their lives, Jesus rose
from death to claim victory over death, sin, and Satan. All who come to Him will also rise from death
to eternal life with God. This is the
gospel and our mission is to share it will the entire world.
Within this statement of good news,
we see in Acts a very specific feature of the first church that ought to be
present in our church: unity. “Now the
whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul” (v.32a). They were perfectly joined together. Their
priorities, goals, and values were uniform.
The text goes on to say that they shared all possessions. They had common ownership and no one among
them went lacking for the essentials of life.
No one was in need.
We really don’t know exactly what
that looked like. As you follow the
story throughout Acts, we see plenty of Christ-followers who had possessions
and were doing quite well. Acts 4 is not
prescribing a specific system. What we
see here is a story that reveals crucial doctrine of church. The form of Christianity changes from culture
to culture. The core doctrine does
not.
Jesus rose from death. His church is united. None go in need. The doctrine of resurrection; the practice of
unity; the compassionate response to poverty – these are core Christian
doctrines for churches large and small, churches in all places. When we strive for proclaiming and living out
these doctrines, God takes care of the growth and expansion.
The second of these three doctrine,
unity, leads us to another principle of evangelism as we continue looking at
how we can share Jesus with a lost world in a way that looks to advance the
kingdom of God rather than just boost our own church’s attendance. Just as the early church was “of one heart
and soul,” we need to approach church life and specifically evangelism in a
unified way. We need to take a group
approach to evangelism.
The early church is an outstanding example of
this. The main personalities of course
were Peter and then Paul. But, where
would Peter be without the meeting he had with Cornelius, a Roman soldier? Peter did not understand the extent of the
Gospel until the Holy Spirit sent him to a gentile, a person he previously
would have avoided completely. That
seeker’s eagerness expanded Peter’s vision.
Evangelism requires a vision that goes beyond one person’s capability.
Where would Paul be without Ananias? The only time we read about this early
believer is when he was at prayer and the Holy Spirit told him to go and lay
hands on Saul. Saul, at that time had
arrest warrants. He could lock up those
proclaiming Jesus as Messiah. Ananias
knew this and he was afraid, but he went.
He proclaimed the gospel to Paul.
Then, he’s no longer in the story.
Barnabas then vouched for Paul before the church that was still
unwilling to trust the man who cheered as believers were stoned to death. Evangelism requires people to overcome their
fears and it requires guides to lead people into church.
Barnabas also played the role of encourage. When young John Mark failed on a mission,
Paul kicked him off the team. But
Barnabas parted from Paul so he could continue encouraging the young man. Would we have a Gospel of Mark without the
early encouragement Barnabas gave?
Church is a group effort that does not encourage
putting anyone on a pedestal but rather requires the contributions of all. And this applies to evangelism as well. Paul always traveled in teams. Even his letters are not just from him, but
also from Silas, from Timothy, and many others.
In church history, one of the great example of
the group approach to evangelism is seen in the man who took the gospel to the
Pagan Celts of Ireland the early part of the 5th century AD. St. Patrick was raised in England, spent six
years as a slave in Ireland, escaped and then trained as a Catholic
priest. It is unclear whether his
training happened in England, Gual, or Rome.
Wherever it happened, he became greatly educated in the scriptures and
the way of the church. At the same time,
he had developed a deep love for the Celts who had enslaved him.
Rome had a method for evangelizing. It was very colonial and imperialistic. A people group was required to become Latin
and Roman before they could be Christianized.
This sounds foreign to our ears and it is. The thought that Christianity can be forced
on people does not make much sense, not to me anyway. But Rome was still an empire in the 5th
century and as Rome’s glory as a world power faded, the power centers shifted
from politics to a religious-political blend.
Constantine Christianized Rome and thereafter Rome would Christianize
those they conquered.
Patrick was a Roman Catholic, but his approach
was drastically different. He did not
care if the Celts of Ireland became Romans.
He wanted them to become Christ followers. From his years of slavery, he knew intimately
the culture and language of Ireland. And
he taught the gospel of Jesus Christ using images the Celts would
understand. He knew his evangelistic
methods would be well received because he knew the people.
Two specific approaches Patrick used are ones I
think we apply directly here. First he
practiced belonging before believing.
The Roman approach was that one had to confess the faith before one
could practice the faith. But Patrick
invited Celts into the Christianity communities he established while they were
unbelieving pagans.
We do the same thing. One of the core principles of our church is
that it is a safe place. That means we
want HillSong church to be a safe place where people can explore
Christianity. We don’t expect guests to
dress a certain way or act in a way that is appropriate for church. We know they are guests! They don’t know what is expected in
church. We invite, we welcome, we love,
and we guide. If a guest sits where you
normally sit, don’t worry about it. You
sit next to him or find another place to sit.
If you see someone who appears lost during the
Sunday school hour, you don’t ignore him.
You introduce yourself and say, “Hey, offer coffee. Come, let me show
you.” You get to know that person a
little bit and then say, “Can I help you find a small group?” In little ways, we try to let all who come
know that Jesus is welcoming and we are welcoming. This is a safe place to investigate
Christianity and seek for God. People
belong even before they believe.
A second practice of St. Patrick of Ireland, and
we see that Paul the Apostle also did this, is the group approach. When he arrived in a community, he brought
100 people with him – tanners, priests, nuns, blacksmiths, educators. He had already trained them on the Celtic
culture. They, as a group, met the tribe
in the area where they settled. They
stayed for years. They won the trust of
the locals. And over time, people came
to know Jesus through Patrick’s evangelistic team.
How does it work in our
context? We all work together to help
someone find his way to Jesus. Maybe you
have a friend who doesn’t attend church at all.
She did a few times as a kid.
But for years she has felt uninterested in what she calls “organized
religion.” Now though, she has found in
you a friend who is a Christian. You
have listened compassionately and she knows she can trust you. You have prayed for her. You have devoted yourself to knowing the
gospel and a longing for Jesus is growing in you. You want your friend to have that desire for
God because as you have grown in your knowledge of faith and deepened your love
for God, you has also been filled with love for this person Jesus misses. But you don’t know what do to next.
Try something social. You invited your friend to a movie you both
have been wanting to see. And you invite
a few pals from your small group who are also interested in the movie. You do this a few times. Go out for coffee. Have people over. Now, your unchurched friend is getting to
know a few people in the church. It is
all over social meetings. You don’t
avoid talking about faith, but you don’t force it either.
Finally, recognizing the moment, you
invite your friend to church. Better
yet, you volunteer to bring your friend, and you do it on a Sunday when you
know the others she has met will also be there.
All four of your sit together.
A lot of times here at HillSong I hear people
pretty energetically say they want to sit with certain friend at a meal or in
small group. That’s not thinking
evangelistically. That’s kind of
selfish. We have to be ready to say,
“Today I am not going to sit with my spouse or my best church friend. I enjoy sitting with him and have done so 100
times. Today, for the sake of welcome, I
am sitting with someone knew.”
So, your unchurched friend has come to trust
you. Through you, that unchurched friend
has met others in the church. Then this
person Jesus misses attends worship and sits with you and with others she has
met. The next time to get together
socially, ask what she thought. Be a bit
probative. Get her reaction and find out
if she would come again. Introduce her
to people in the church that share common interests with her.
I do this on a Sunday morning. If I meet a first time visitor that is a
student, I try to introduce him to one of the Encounter members. If I meet someone at church who works in a
particular field, I might try to get a member who also works in that field to
talk to that person. None of this is a
secret strategy. How many of you have
been grabbed by me on a Sunday and heard me say, “Hey, you’ve got to come talk
to this person.” How many of you, the
first time you came here had me introducing you to someone who has something in
common with you.
My approach to evangelism is not that I lead
anybody to Jesus. I participate with my
church family in presenting the love of Jesus.
In this context, I pray that God will work through us as we work
together, as we share one heart and soul for the Kingdom. As we work together and the Spirit works
through us, people who had previously not known God come and discover new life
in Christ.
This process happens here on Sunday morning and
throughout the week. Every single one of
us should be praying for those outside of Christianity and extending ourselves
in relationship to specific individuals who don’t know Jesus. As do this, team up! If one of your church friends calls to say,
“Hey, I am trying to share Christ with a friend and I think you could
help. Could you get together with us for
coffee?” Make that meeting a priority
and pray over it. When you are reaching
out to someone think of church friends who could help encourage that unbeliever
to consider the claims of Jesus.
In this way, unchurched persons in Durham,
Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsboro will come to know Jesus, which as we know
causes great rejoicing in Heaven. And a
result of this is that God will add to our number daily as happened in the days
of the early church.
AMEN
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