SEPTEMBER 6 SCRIPTURES
Pastor Matt will not be preaching this week, as it is Children's Day and the sermon will be presented by Wade Greene. The following Scriptures will, however, be discussed during Pastor Matt's Sabbath School class.
Isaiah 6:8-13
Matthew 28:16-20
Romans 10:1-15
If you knew that you were speaking to your friends and family for the last time, what would you say? We know what Jesus said: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” We have been given a task, which is to go and make disciples. This is not the same as going to make converts, and as you consider this week's passages take some time to ponder the difference.
ReplyDeleteIn Romans 10, Paul reminds us that it is not keeping the law that brings us salvation, but faith in God. He emphasizes the impossibility of saving ourselves through obedience the law by quoting from Deuteronomy 30 ("Who will ascend" and "Who will descend?"). It is of course impossible for any of us to ascend into heaven or descend into the abyss at any point in time and, furthermore, it would be pointless to do so. God has already done that, and we need not travel to the heights of the heavens or the depths of the earth to find salvation. It is near to us, in our mouths and in our hearts, if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that He was raised from the dead. Doing so results in salvation by grace through faith, which is the only way in which we can be saved.
ReplyDelete"Here am I, send me!" That was Isaiah's reply to God's call. We, too are called to go and to share the good news of Jesus Christ wherever we might be. That is done through word and deed, and we are to take advantage of every opportunity. Doing so not only demonstrates our love for and obedience to God; it also gives us the opportunity to have "beautiful feet." How can you make your feet beautiful to someone today?
ReplyDeletePaul explains the process by which we come to faith in Romans 10. How would you describe that process, and how would you communicate it to someone as you shared the gospel? It is not enough to know that we should share the gospel. We must also be prepared to do so, and part of that preparation is being familiar enough with the gospel that we can explain it quickly and clearly. You can use "Romans Road," "The 4 Spiritual Laws," the "Bridge Illustration," or some other means to do that, but regardless of your preferred method you can be sure that if you fail to plan, you can plain to fail. What's your "plan" for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ?
ReplyDeletePastor, am I wrong in believing (from Luke 12:11-12, 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, and John 6:45) that our only "plan" for sharing the good news should be our willingness to allow Him to speak through us at any moment, so that when the Spirit moves in someone's heart (John 6:44), the words that He puts in our hearts to speak to them, will match the movement that He's making in that person's heart?
DeleteFrom my understanding, 1 Peter 3:15 ("be prepared to give an answer . . .") is actually telling us to be prepared for persecution, and warning us not to be ashamed of our faith when it comes; and in 2 Timothy 4:2 ("be prepared in season and out of season . . . ), Paul is telling Timothy to be willing to be used by the Lord at any time. Am I misunderstanding these passages? And are there others where we are told to have a plan?
In case my question above was confusing . . . Written more concisely, my question is: Are we supposed to approach witnessing with a planned statement, or are we supposed to approach it with faith that God will give us the words and lead us to the Scriptures that He wants us to say and use? I've been approaching it as the latter (based off the Scriptures that I noted) . . . but am I misreading those Scriptures, and are there some that I've completely failed to take into account?!
DeleteMy short answer: Yes to both. The long answer is this: I think it is wise to have a plan, and by a "plan" I simply mean that I believe it is wise to think through what you might say if someone happens to ask you to give an answer for your faith. Sharing our faith can be daunting, and it is helpful to think through such things before they happen, and to know what we will use from God's Word in order to explain our faith. It is also imperative that we listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit as we do so. As I think about my own experience when it comes to leading others to Christ, I have done both. In one instance, I used "Romans Road," which I wrote in my Bible ahead of time, to walk a person through the scriptures which explain how we can come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. I didn't have a "script" memorized, however, and I did not use a planned statement (who could remember all of that, anyway?). The words I used to communicate were Spirit-led, not canned or rehearsed. That young person prayed with me when I finished. As for the two passages that you mentioned that use the word "prepared," they both mean "be ready to do something." In the case of Peter, he is telling his readers to be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within them. In the case of 2 Timothy Paul is telling Timothy to be ready at any time to preach the word. That word, "ready" just means that we should have at hand what we need to explain the hope that is within us whether we think the "time" is right or not. Peter's larger theme might be persecution, and he may have that in mind as the context in which the answer is given, but I don't think that is the same as being prepared for persecution. I think the plain reading there is that we should be ready to share our faith in any context, whether in the midst of persecution or in the middle of the parking lot at Stewart's. I hope that helps!
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