Go
- Date: Sunday, September 28, 2008
- Speaker: Jason Smith
- Series: G4: Unleashing the Power of Christ
- Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:16–9:27
- Tags: mission, evangelism, church
When's it going to happen? I can't count the number of opportunities to live out the gospel with friends, neighbors, coworkers, and family where I have blew it. Over and over I have let opportunities to be Jesus to them slip by. I think about a coworker in college at the grocery store, a neighbor who lived across the street, a family member I see a couple times a year. So many opportunities to live out the gospel, to show the love of Jesus, but I passed it up. Over the years, this has caused a lot of guilt to pile up in my heart and mind. I wonder how their life might be different, how my life might be different, if I would have shared the gospel with them in that moment in time. You see, I'm no Billy Graham. I don't have the gift of evangelism, but I am called to do the work of an evangelist. I have been called to be a witness for Jesus wherever I am and wherever I am going. But I struggle with how to do it, when to do it, and where to do it.
I imagine you've struggled with sharing the gospel like I do. You have a long line of missed opportunities as well. You know that it is something that you should do, but you just feel powerless when it comes to this part of following Christ. You don't know what your next step is in this area or how you would take it you knew what it was. But the fact remains that it is a step you know you need to take.
We've been talking about how we as a church desire to be REAL people making a REAL difference in a REAL world through the power of Christ. This is our mission corporately as a church and individually as members of it. We have seen that the power of Christ unleashed in our lives as we GATHER corporately for celebration and teaching, GROW spiritually through community, and GIVE sacrificially in service to the church. This week we want to explore how the power of Christ is unleashed as we GO unashamedly with the gospel into the world.
I believe that there is no better person to turn to that the Apostle Paul when it comes to how to share our faith with others. After meeting Jesus, Paul became one of the greatest evangelists that the church has ever seen and spread the gospel through three missionary journeys. Fortunately for us, Paul lets us in on his strategy in 1 Corinthians 9. He teaches us that the power of Christ is unleashed as we live out the gospel in our everyday relationships with those who don't know Jesus. We must LIVE IT.
