![The realities we are facing ,[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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Pray serve
- 6. Small Steps You Can Take PRAY
- 18. WILL YOU TAKE ONE SMALL STEP?
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Famous words of the first astronaut who stepped on the moon: One small step for man, one giant step for man kind. One small step. That’s an understatement! He just stepped out on the moon! I promise that asking you to take one small step today will not be such an understatement. I believe the small step you can take is is a step each of us can take. But, its no understatement that when we take that small step it becomes a giant step in someone’s life. An eternal step.
- Of the nearly 300 million people in the US, 40% said they went to church last week. Truthfully, only half that said they did actually did. That’s a slide from nearly 50% ten years ago. Half of all american churches did not add one new member last year. America is the only continent where Christianity is NOT growing. In America, it takes on average 85 Christians working together to produce one new believer. Why is it so hard? The fastest growing religion in america is Muslim with nearly 7 million followers. Many new converts coming from our prison system. In a 24 hour period, 6043 people die and face their eternal destiny. 3110 marriages are dissolved leaving pain and scars on families. 84 people commit suicide believing they have no hope. 4630 15 year olds lose their virginity. And 10 churches will close their doors. With all the pain and difficulty people face, they turn to whatever will sooth them for the moment. And the church is not being effective in sharing the message of hope. (Click) My friends. I love you. God loves you. And God loves those around us. His plea is will his people whom he died for rise up and take one small step to make a difference in the realities we face.
- But as we know, most people have a hard time sharing. Often, its because we know that in general most people reject the message we have so we don’t want to be pushy. I used to be a telephone solicitor while a student at UW. I would call people and ask them to donate money to the university. Every call was an uncomfortable experience as I was asking people to do something that the majority of them did not want to do. Most people politely refused but some would angrily respond to my intrusion in their home asking for money. The repeated rejection from that experience still affects me…I am reluctant about asking people for things in many ways. I never want to be a telephone solicitor again. The rejection one gets from sharing the message of christ…or the rejection we see others get…tends to make us not want to share. I know that people can talk about sports, fashion, politics, with great passion – even with total strangers. Bring up the topic of Jesus in a crowd and see how the conversation goes. This is why the principle about sharing our faith that I am going to share with you is so important to understand:
- A simple truth I learned as a youth pastor is that kids don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. When they know you care, they will listen to what you know.
- Ps 65:5 By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation,
- Ac 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
- Many believers do not experience the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives because they don’t pray and they do not understand nor apply the main purpose the Holy Spirit has been given.
- Ro 10:1 Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.
- A. Ac 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. B. Jn 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. Jn 16:8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: C. 2Co 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
- D. 1Co 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? Ac 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." This is desert. Ac 8:27 So he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and had come to Jerusalem to worship, Ac 8:28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. Ac 8:29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go near and overtake this chariot." Ac 8:30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you are reading?" Ac 8:31 And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. Ac 8:32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. Ac 8:33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth." Ac 8:34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?" Ac 8:35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. Ac 8:36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Ac 8:37 Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Ac 8:38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. E. Col 4:3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, Col 4:4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. And when we have the eyes to see their need and the resources to meet them, we can serve them…or do what’s called SERVANT EVANGELISM
- Servant exemplified in the life of Christ: Mark 10:45 The Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life a ransom for many.
- SE is doing intentional acts of kindness or service to others with the intent of demonstrating the gospel of Christ through our actions. Some principles of SE…
- Why does service open a heart to the gospel? Going back to the lesson learned as a youth pastor, people don’t care what you know until they know you care. When they know you care, they are open to what you know. This is a truth discovered by excellent companies that focus on customer service… (ILLUSTATION)
- 2Co 9:6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 2Co 9:7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 2Co 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 2Th 2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, 2Th 2:17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. Ac 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
- That’s why we work together as a church.
- Many believers never share Christ with another person not because they are afraid but because they know non believers tend to reject the message. Pray and Serve are two small steps that open doors for divine appointments, prepare hearts to receive the message, and earn the right to be heard.