What is the Present?
It is the here and now, to give a gift, or to make a presentation of
something by making it known.
“Our business is people and
Our reason is Jesus Christ.
Our purpose is to personally live Jesus
Christ.
Because of His love for us,
We can love Him and one another.
We believe in the absolute necessity of
conversion to Jesus,
The absolute reality of eternal life now
in Jesus,
And the absolute need of each other in
the fellowship of believers.
Our desire is to present Jesus Christ
In compassion and understanding
To every individual who does not know
Him,
And to encourage and develop every
individual who does know Him. “
By Gerry Hickman
Scripture
Text:
Titus 2:1 (NIV) You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.
2
Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and
sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 3 Likewise, teach the older women to
be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much
wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can train the younger women to
love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy
at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will
malign the word of God. 6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be
self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In
your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that
cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they
have nothing bad to say about us. 9 Teach slaves to be subject to their
masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and
not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in
every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. 11
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It
teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to
live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13
while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God
and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all
wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to
do what is good. 15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage
and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
I.
The time is now.
The here and now in the sense of time.
Our priority is to make the Lord known to all we know.
Why? We should make this a
priority because of the brevity of life.
Because of the importance of all knowing the Lord before the end of
time. We know that our time to
live is limited. The game of life
is limited and there are not any second chances to make Him known.
We understand the importance of being saved since we have been there as
in the sense of space. Living with the Lord in the here and now to extend God’s
hand of invitation. God’s grace
has appeared to all men through you.
II. The present or the
gift. Giving the Lord is giving our salvation to another.
He is the present.
He is the greatest gift that has ever been given.
Gives the opportunity to receive God’s gift/present/grace.
Give God’s gift/present/grace. Are
we willing that any should perish? Are
we willing that others would perish? Have
we realized that we are all sinners? We
need to be brought together with the Lord.
Jesus is the bridge. Why
do I have to be saved?
III.
The presentation of the gift. Jesus
is to be given in compassion and understanding.
Our opportunity is to be the presence of the Lord of love to a world
filled with hopelessness. The
ministry is a ministry of presence. We
must make his presence known. Whose
responsibility is it? Our
responsibility is to say no to ungodliness and yes to Jesus.
Are we bringing people to the
Lord or to the church? That is
the question. Why should I be
concerned? Because of His love
for us, we can love Him and one another.
Who should I try to bring to the Lord? If we are in the people business
then what are we doing to touch lives. If
we believe in the absolute necessity of conversion to Jesus, then are we saved
and what are we doing to convert others.
Our relationship to others should revolve around the fact that we want
to bring others to Christ. Our
church should be designed to train us and give us opportunity to touch
people’s lives.
The
do’s.
a.
Do pray for them.
Have we prayed for them?
b.
Do tell them about the Lord.
Have we told them?
c.
Do share your testimony with them?
Who is Jesus to you? Have
we shared our testimony with them? Teach
them who the Lord is to you.
d.
Do live your life before them.
Have we lived our witness before them?
e.
Do give them opportunities to believe.
f.
Do Give them Jesus.
The don’ts
- Don’t
think that you can’t . God
can do anything through you.
- Don’t
think that it isn’t important.
- Don’t
wait until it is too late. The
opportunity is now.
- Don’t
give up.
- Don’t
quit.
Share your love for your Lord
and for them. Begin today to pray
for them or for a burden. How
should I bring them?