EVANGELIZING AND REACHING OUT

Our Summer concerts in June, July and August are the perfect opportunities for you to reach out and evangelize to others in your community, family and circle of friends!

A recent sermon given in our church addressed the responsibility we have, as Christians, to witness to others. The sermon recognized the fears and insecurities we have about telling others about Christ and proceeded to dispel many of the myths we associate with witnessing.

If you were present, here is a quick re-cap. If you weren’t, here is some of what you missed:

Myth #1 “People just aren’t receptive to the Gospel.”

Fact: A recent gallop poll reports that between 70% and 77% of people would attend church if

they were invited. In Luke 11:28, Jesus says, “How happy are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”

Myth #2 “I’m not a gifted speaker or leader.” People say that they are just not very good at talking or teaching about...you know, “spiritual things.”

Fact: It’s the message, not the messenger. The power is in the message and the message is

simple...God sent Jesus Christ into this world to suffer and die so that we may have eternal life. It is said that Moses may have been a stuttered, yet God chose him to go and convince the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. All of us are capable. Jesus says in Matthew 10:32, “Those who declare publicly that they belong to me, I will do the same for them before my

Father in heaven.”

Myth #3 “I’m a sinner and I have no right to preach to others.”

Fact: When we tell others of the Good News of Jesus Christ, we are not to preach about our own

righteousness, but of God’s love and salvation. Satan is alive and well in our world and takes delight when we make excuses to remain silent. People have tried to make salvation complicated, but it is so simple...God’s grace is sufficient. It’s not what we can do, but what God can do.

Myth #4 “I don’t know enough. I’m not trained.”

Fact: No matter how limited your knowledge of the Bible is, you know the most important message. The song, “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High” says it all. Jesus came from heaven to earth to show the way. From the earth to the cross, my debt to pay. From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky. Lord, I lift your Name on high. None of us are worthy enough or righteous enough to get to heaven on our own. We all fall short. It is only through the love and grace of God and the salvation that is given to us that we can spend eternity in the

wonderful place God has prepared for us.

We have an obligation everyday that we are alive on this earth, at every opportunity, not only to live our lives as God would have us live them, but also to have God’s Holy Boldness to speak up, talk to those you meet and invite others to know the Lord. We hope you will use this concert series and every opportunity you are given to share your faith with others.

There are certain religious words we hear so often they cease to have meaning to us. Until they are re-interpreted, they not only fail to excite us, they may actually cause us to close our minds and refuse to consider them.

Such a word is “witness.” In the Bible a witness may be a person, an act that someone has done, or an object such as a boundary marker. In everyday life we often think of witness as something related to courts and trials, as something related to proving a person innocent or guilty.

The truth is that we are witness every day of our lives. We read an article we enjoy and we tell our friends. We see and hear a motion picture, or a television show, and we report our impressions. We find a bargain and we cannot wait to share the good news.

Our religious witness is as simple as that. It is letting people know about the discoveries, the experiences, the convictions that have enriched our lives at the deepest levels. It is daring to admit — even looking for chances in daily conversations to admit — that we find joy in prayer, and worship, and studying holy scripture, and participating in a congregation, and living before the Lord.

Sometimes we witness by word of mouth. Usually this is most effective when we do not try to force a conversation or to coerce agreement. We can witness by merely explaining: “In my own life I have found the greatest help in this way ...”

Other times we witness by the way we live, and by the way we meet what comes to us. Every experience of life is raw material for witness. There is a witness for the Lord in joy or sorrow, in victory or defeat, in good days or bad days. There is a witness of gratitude and humility and accountability. There is also a witness of patience, and trust, and confidence.

Why do we constantly witness so freely about life’s trivialities, and so seldom about life’s profundities?