Feb. 18, 2001
Telling Your Faith Acts
8
By Ronald
E. George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church
On
her way to Sunday school a misceivous boy splattered a small girl with mud.
Talking to her teacher about it, she concluded, "Sometime I must
take time to tell him about God."
A man
said to a friend, "Come and have a round of golf on Sunday morning."
"Oh,
no. I have to attend service at
church."
"Well,"
replied the friend, "I do not know what your religion is, but you sure
keep it to yourself. I have asked
you to play golf half-a-dozen times, but you have never once invited me to go
to church with you."
Tonight’s message is the most vital message we will
hear to the life of the church. Without
telling our faith with those who live around us we will die. We must tell the message for the survival of the church and
for the eternal life of those we know who don’t know the Lord.
The purpose of this sermon is to
challenge us to tell what we believe to those who don’t.
Scripture Text:
Acts 8:26 (KJS) And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying,
Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem
unto Gaza, which is desert. 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man
of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the
Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to
Jerusalem for to worship, 28 Was
returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. 29 Then the
Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. 30
And Philip ran thither to [him], and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and
said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I,
except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up
and sit with him. 32 The place
of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his
mouth: 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall
declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. 34 And the
eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet
this? of himself, or of some other man? 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and
began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And as they
went on [their] way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said,
See, [here is] water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip
said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered
and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded
the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both
Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. 39 And when they were come up
out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch
saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
1. Have we heard
the command of the Lord? Before
we are able to tell it we have to know it.
Before we can know it we have to hear it.
We have heard the Word of the Lord.
Matt 28:19 (KJS) Go ye therefore, and teach
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world.
Amen
2.
Will we obey the command of the Lord?
Get up and go to the desert. Go near and join yourself to this chariot.
He arose and went. Philip ran to the man in the chariot. Will we get up and go? It’s
up to us.
3.
Will we go to those to whom we have been sent?
What if they are different than us?
What if they are a different race or economic status? Who are they
anyway? God has put us in a
position to witness of our faith to a wide variety of people we see on a daily
basis. They are in our schools,
homes, work places, and neighborhoods. Jesus
went to the lost, lonely, and the least of society.
Many of those who responded to the Lord were the outcasts.
These are the everyday people who work for a living.
They look for significance to life.
They look for a Savior. We
have Him. Will we tell them?
4.
Will we join ourselves to those who
don’t know? For
those who don’t know the Lord they are caught in the waves of the world that
keep them from seeing the light. The
lifeguards on the beach or by the pool have to go to those who are in need of
rescue. By their knowledge and
power the guard is able to swim out and bring in the dying.
They must take a risk of their own.
But can you imagine a lifeguard who never got up from their chair and
went out to the dying?
Recently, Jakob, our son who is not five years old, was playing in the
yard after dark and came running and yelling, "Look, Daddy, Look,
Daddy...I'm carrying the Light! That's
what missionaries are suppose to do...Carry the Light!
Like the song they sing...Carry the Light!"
His tiny hands unfolded to reveal a carefully captured
"fire-fly" which was beautifully beaming with light.
I convinced Jakob that he must "release the Light" rather
than hold on to it so that ALL may enjoy it.
He did so reluctantly and watched as the "fire-fly" flew away
beaming light against the darkened sky. He
was thrilled to discover even after the release that his little fingers still
"beamed" a bit. Some of
the "yellow beam" had rubbed off on him.
He screamed with delight, "Oh, look, Daddy.
When you carry the Light, some of it rubs off on people!"
By TERRY SCHURCH – SWITZERLAND Would you be the missionary in your neck of the woods?
5.
Will we ask if
they know Jesus? You
won’t know until you ask. Someone has to take the initiative and begin the
conversation about Jesus. Jesus
is probably the hardest topic of conversation that has ever been invented.
As soon as you begin to think about talking about Jesus, fears will
sprout in your mind. What if they
ask something I don’t know? How
will I begin the conversation? Taking
the initiative shows that you care enough to ask.
It also shows that you have the knowledge that they need.
6.
Do
we have something to tell?
Do we know the Lord?
A man
once laid a piece of chocolate candy on a table.
Then, picking up an ant, he put it near the delicious bon bon.
He was surprised to see it take a single bite and then hurry off to
inform the rest of the colony. Soon
the little creature returned, followed by a long train of other ants who
enjoyed the treat with him. Many
Christians who have tasted that the Lord is good can learn a lesson from that
little insect. Having found God's
rich supply of grace, they ought to spread the glad tidings to others.
7.
Will we tell them the secret? Will we preach to them Jesus?
This is the
business of Christianity. We were
born again to tell. We have been
saved through the blood, so that we may the testimony to share.
8.
Yes, But How? Tap
into the power of the Holy Spirit of the living God who wants to empower you
to be His witnesses. He can do it
through you. Take a chance on the
Lord. You may not find someone
riding in a chariot reading the book of Isaiah, but I am sure that you will
find a whole lot of people who are searching for peace and meaning to life.
We have to call on the Lord for those to whom he would have us to go.
Would you begin tonight by asking the Lord to show you who and praying
for them?
Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on
you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth."
A Columbine killer pointed his gun at Cassie Bernall and
asked her the life-or-death question: "Do you believe in God?" She
paused. The gun was still there. "Yes, I believe in God," she said.
That was the last thing this 17-year-old Christian would ever say. The gunman
asked her "Why?" She had no time to answer before she was shot to
death. Bernall entered the Columbine High School library to study during
lunch. She left a martyr. Though lots of fellow Columbine students already
were strong, vocal Christians, Bernall's confession in the face of death has
inspired them to keep the faith no matter how bad it gets.
By Carla Crowder Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer April 1999