It takes muscle to share the gospel
A gospel worth believing.
Is a gospel worth sharing.
Amen?
Anything that is worth doing
is worth doing well.
By doing well,
when I speak of the gospel,
I mean sharing it biblically.
Do you remember the old joke?
One man asks for directions;
"How do you get to Symphony Hall?"
The answer?
"Practice, practice, practice."
In order to learn how to be equipped to share the biblical gospel,
you have to practice, practice, practice actually DOING it.
Faith is like a muscle.
It's a FACT:
If you don't exercise (regularly, to exhaustion)
you will not grow stronger.
In fact, you will grow weaker.
And, anyone who has trained to achieve any measure of fitness knows...
it doesn't take long to lose the muscle strength
that you might have gained over many months of regular exercise.
In fact, you will lose your muscles
in a shorter amount of time
than it took to build them.
For bodily exercise profits a little:
but godliness
is profitable unto all things,
having promise of the life that now is,
and of that which is to come.
~ I Timothy 4:8
A friend of mine who has shared the gospel with lost people many hundreds of times the last several years hadn't spoken with the perishing to intentionally share the gospel in a few months. After going out to the field of souls at a local campus with me, she said,"Wow. I was stiff and rusty. I was away too long." Scriptures which she used to have at the tip of her mind (and tongue) didn't come forth. As she spoke with a college student she was searching for the divine Words to help the young man see the truth as it is in Jesus, but they didn't come to her. She sort of hung back and watched, praying, because she was feeling very nervous, self-conscious and uncomfortable approaching lost people. That is only natural.
We need the Spirit's help as we step out in faith to share the truth as it is in Christ.
Jesus taught that it takes sacrifice and intentionality to become a fisher of men.
But, He will be with us, and by His Spirit we will grow and mature.
What does it mean to be 'mature' in the Christian faith?
"...the mature [are] those who have their powers of discernment trained
by CONSTANT PRACTICE (by reason of USE) to distinguish good from evil."
~ Hebrews 5:14
The Master demonstrated how to fish for men by taking His disciples out to the field of souls. Find a brother (or sister) who is mature in the faith and experienced in intentional witnessing (and preaching) and follow them as they take the seed of the gospel out to the lost. Shadow them. Listen and pray as they witness and preach, and as they give answers to those who oppose them, and to those who have good questions. Do not rush to speak. Spend as many hours as you need simply observing, and, as much as possible, try to debrief with the mature believer afterwards, the way the disciples did with the Savior. When the time is right, God will give you a voice. It may take 3 months before you begin to speak to people on your own when you are out witnessing (that's how long it took me!). But, don't wait. Begin this week and do your holy best to accompany the seasoned evangelist Christian out to witness EVERY week.
Jesus said:
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest
to send out workers
into His harvest."
~ Matthew 9:37-38
The Great Commission lays before us. We are divinely conscripted!
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
~ Matthew 28:19-20
A gospel worth believing.
Is a gospel worth sharing.
Amen?
Anything that is worth doing
is worth doing well.
By doing well,
when I speak of the gospel,
I mean sharing it biblically.
Do you remember the old joke?
One man asks for directions;
"How do you get to Symphony Hall?"
The answer?
"Practice, practice, practice."
In order to learn how to be equipped to share the biblical gospel,
you have to practice, practice, practice actually DOING it.
Faith is like a muscle.
It's a FACT:
If you don't exercise (regularly, to exhaustion)
you will not grow stronger.
In fact, you will grow weaker.
And, anyone who has trained to achieve any measure of fitness knows...
it doesn't take long to lose the muscle strength
that you might have gained over many months of regular exercise.
In fact, you will lose your muscles
in a shorter amount of time
than it took to build them.
For bodily exercise profits a little:
but godliness
is profitable unto all things,
having promise of the life that now is,
and of that which is to come.
~ I Timothy 4:8
A friend of mine who has shared the gospel with lost people many hundreds of times the last several years hadn't spoken with the perishing to intentionally share the gospel in a few months. After going out to the field of souls at a local campus with me, she said,"Wow. I was stiff and rusty. I was away too long." Scriptures which she used to have at the tip of her mind (and tongue) didn't come forth. As she spoke with a college student she was searching for the divine Words to help the young man see the truth as it is in Jesus, but they didn't come to her. She sort of hung back and watched, praying, because she was feeling very nervous, self-conscious and uncomfortable approaching lost people. That is only natural.
We need the Spirit's help as we step out in faith to share the truth as it is in Christ.
Jesus taught that it takes sacrifice and intentionality to become a fisher of men.
But, He will be with us, and by His Spirit we will grow and mature.
What does it mean to be 'mature' in the Christian faith?
"...the mature [are] those who have their powers of discernment trained
by CONSTANT PRACTICE (by reason of USE) to distinguish good from evil."
~ Hebrews 5:14
The Master demonstrated how to fish for men by taking His disciples out to the field of souls. Find a brother (or sister) who is mature in the faith and experienced in intentional witnessing (and preaching) and follow them as they take the seed of the gospel out to the lost. Shadow them. Listen and pray as they witness and preach, and as they give answers to those who oppose them, and to those who have good questions. Do not rush to speak. Spend as many hours as you need simply observing, and, as much as possible, try to debrief with the mature believer afterwards, the way the disciples did with the Savior. When the time is right, God will give you a voice. It may take 3 months before you begin to speak to people on your own when you are out witnessing (that's how long it took me!). But, don't wait. Begin this week and do your holy best to accompany the seasoned evangelist Christian out to witness EVERY week.
Jesus said:
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest
to send out workers
into His harvest."
~ Matthew 9:37-38
The Great Commission lays before us. We are divinely conscripted!
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
~ Matthew 28:19-20
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