Trinity Baptist Church

Getting Off the Plateau

On Mission with God

Acts 1:8

 

For the last several weeks, we’ve been thinking in terms of getting off the plateau.  Perhaps a little review is in order to refresh our memory on what we’ve covered.  We began with worship.  That is the beginning place for any meaningful relationship with God. 

 

Too often we are convinced the fulfillment of our Christian life is found in what we do.  But we must first begin with who we are and our relationship to a Holy God.  And once we understand that, we will be led to worship. From their, everything else flows. 

 

And in more of a logical order than anything else, we talked about getting involved in a church and becoming a committed member and settling the issue of the authority of Scripture.  That gets us well on the road to becoming spiritually mature and it shows in our giving and prayer and service life. 

 

There is one more fundamental ingredient that I want to cover today and I believe it is essential if we will get off the plateau and stop the decline in our churches and that is learning to see ourselves as being on mission, not just in and through the church, but as individuals. 

 

It is my conviction God has a mission assignment for each and every one of us.  That assignment is simply to share our faith.  We often make the mistake of believing that doing missions requires traveling hundreds of 1,000’s of miles.

Or maybe it means moving away to a foreign country and living a miserable life to do the will of God.  I am of the conviction that doing missions is simply realizing that I am in the world to share my faith.  It’s not something we do for a week or two in the summertime in another geographical location.  It’s our lifestyle day by day. 

 

I told you last week that we are saved to serve, but we need to be reminded that we are also saved to share.  Is that not what Paul meant when he wrote

 

2 Cor. 5:18? 

 

Now the reason why evangelism and missions must be at the focus of our life and church is because it was the heart of Jesus.  Listen to some of the last words Jesus ever said before He ascended to Heaven. 

 

Acts. 1:8

 

When Jesus left this earth He had a mission on His mind.  Jesus came as a missionary from Heaven that He might make us missionaries for Heaven.  I want to ask you this question:  "Why does the church exist?"  In a recent survey of 1,000 church attenders when asked that question, 89% said, "The church's purpose was "to take care of my family's and my spiritual needs."  Only 11% said the purpose of the church was to "win the world for Jesus Christ." 

 

We don’t like to admit it, you may not even agree with it, but the truth is Trinity Baptist Church exists primarily for those people who are not yet in it. 

 

Christianity’s purpose for existence is those people who do not know Christ and do not go to church.   And there is only one tool that God has at His disposal to win those people who do not know Christ, and to get those people in church who do not go right now and that is the people who do know Christ and do go to church.    

 

I'm going to make three statements that I would assume all of us agree with.  First, I believe Jesus Christ was who He said He was.  Second, Jesus did what He said He did and third, Heaven and Hell are real, and people can only go to Heaven through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

 

Now if we believe those three things then we must take seriously the responsibility we have as missionaries in the world.  And what I want to do today is tell you why and how you can and should get involved in doing missions.    

 

 

Let me give you some great news and take a tremendous amount of pressure off of you and a great load off of your shoulders. You do not have to be a perfect Christian, or even a perfect witness, to share Jesus. If that were true no one would ever share Jesus with anyone. The first requirement to being successful in doing mission work is the power to carry it out. 

 

We have a tremendous promise here where Jesus said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you."

 

 

Now whether you believe this or not, and whether you appropriate it on a daily basis or not, if you are a child of God you have at your disposal the greatest power on planet earth and that is the power of the Holy Spirit of God. 

 

The problem with the average Christian is not that they don't have the power, the problem is they don't use the power or they don’t know how to appropriate the power.  Listen:  The greatest unused power in the world is the power of the Holy Spirit."

 

If you ever watched either one of the Mission Impossible movies, or the Mission Impossible TV show that was on many years ago, you remember it always took a team to carry out the mission.  Well evangelism is a matter of teamwork.  You have a partner in this mission, and your partner is the Holy Spirit of God.  Acts 5:32 says, "And we are His witnesses of these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him."  (Acts 5:32)

 

You see, the way you are to carry out your mission is simply to let the Holy Spirit fill you, control you, use you, and speak through you at the right time, in the right place, in the right way, to begin to move people toward faith in Jesus Christ. 

 

Too many of you have let the devil sell you a bill of goods believing that evangelism is for someone else; that the pastor can do it, or the deacon can do it; or the Bible study teacher can do it; but you cannot do it.  God never commands us to do something He does not give us the power to do. 

 

 

If you don't believe anything else I say today, please believe me when I say God can use you in His way, with your own unique personality and giftedness, to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ. But to do it, you must function in God's missionary power. 

 

 

Now with this power and because of this power Jesus goes on to say, "...you shall be witnesses to Me..."  Now when Jesus made this statement remember who He was talking to.  He was talking to tax collectors, fishermen, farmers, homemakers, businessmen.  In other words, people just like you and me. 

 

Incidentally, there is no Plan B to reach this world for Jesus Christ.  Either we will be His witnesses or there will no witness.  I have said before that Christ alone can save the world, but Christ cannot save the world alone.  He wants us to be His witnesses. 

 

Now let me carefully explain what that means and what it doesn't mean. Not everyone is called to preach; not everyone is called to teach; not everyone is called to be an evangelist or a pastor.  Not everyone is equally gifted in the area of evangelism. 

 

But everyone is called to be a witness. In Acts 2:32 we read these words:  "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses." 

 

 

 

 

 

In the early church everyone was a witness.  Now that doesn't mean that everybody did it the same way, using the same formula and the same words, but everyone allowed God to use them in their own way with their own  their giftedness and their own personalities to be a tool to bring people to Christ. 

 

Now it is important to understand what you are, and what you are to do.  You are to be a witness. You're not a salesman; you're not trying to use high pressure persuasive tactics to get people to buy into your product.  You don't have to sell anybody. 

 

You don't have to strong-arm anybody.  You're never going to argue anyone into heaven.  You don't have to walk up to people "cold turkey" and say, "Turn or burn."  You don't have to smile and say, "We're going to the sky while you die and fry." 

 

Here's what the Scripture says: "Through Christ all the kindness of God has been poured out upon us...and now He is sending us around the world to tell all people everywhere the great things God has done for them, so they, too, will believe and obey Him." (Rom. 1:5, LB) 

 

God has called us to be His witnesses; not His lawyers, not His prosecuting attorneys, not his judges, just His witnesses.  Now a witness is very simply a person with a testimony.  Every Christian has a testimony.  "Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of God in them."  (1 Jn. 5:10, GWT)

 

 

 

 

Peter tells us that we were chosen by God "to do His work and speak out for Him to tell others of the night-and-day difference He made for you."  (1 Pet. 2:9, Msg) Now that is all witnessing is; it's simply taking a God-given opportunity to share your personal experience regarding the Lord. 

 

In a courtroom a witness doesn't argue the case, try to prove the truth, or press for a verdict.  All a witness does is just testify of what they know, what they've seen, and what they've heard. 

 

Did you realize 89% of Americans say they are extremely interested in spiritual matters?  That's why Jesus said, "The fields are white unto harvest."  The problem is not the harvest, the problem is a labor shortage. That’s why every child of God out to be involved in missions!

 

 

Jesus not only tells us what we are to do, and how we are to do it, but where we are to do it.  There y are three types of evangelism found in the New Testament. 

 

First of all there is relational evangelism. I really believe this is the primary way God designed to reach people for Christ.  It is simply building friendships that will lead to a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

 

In John chapter 1 you find a great example of relational evangelism.  When Andrew first met Jesus Christ, he immediately went to his brother, Peter, and invited him to meet Jesus. 

 

When Philip met Jesus Christ, he went to his friend, Nathaniel, to introduce him to Jesus Christ.  All of us can begin to build friendships with our neighbors, with those we work with, which will ultimately lead to a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

 

The second type of evangelism is situational evangelism.  Situational evangelism is simply being ready to share Jesus as God gives you the opportunity.  One of the greatest situational evangelistic events we find is in the 4th chapter of John.  Jesus met a woman at the well, a complete stranger, but before the day was out He had led her to faith in Himself.   

 

Then there is confrontational evangelism.  By confrontational evangelism I mean becoming loving enough to give people the opportunity to respond to the gospel.  Paul was very confrontational with King Agrippa in the 26th chapter of Acts, and took the opportunity to give him a chance to respond to the gospel of Christ.  Ultimately, all evangelism must become confrontational or it will never become evangelism. 

 

So where do we practice those types of evangelism?  Well, Jesus tells us in our text. 

 

First of all, we are to go to our community.  We are to be witnesses "in Jerusalem."  Now Jerusalem is where Jesus was when He spoke these words.  In other words, what He was saying was this:  "The first place I want you to be my witness is in your own neighborhood and town--where you live." 

 

 

 

Now that's not where we stop; that's where we are to start.  You don't have to go overseas to be involved in God's mission work.  Someone has well said that every Christian is either a missionary or a mission field, and you can be on mission right where you live. In fact, that is where you have to start.

 

There is enough lostness in Ardmore to keep all of us busy until Jesus comes!  We give you two opportunities a month to be involved in Mission Ardmore.  We have events like our Thanksgiving Dinner and Angel Tree to touch lives.  Our radio ministry is reaching people every week. 

 

I was buying some things at Lowes last week and the checker told me he listened to me every week.  This city is our responsibility as much as it is anybody else’s.

 

Then we are to go to our country. After Jerusalem we are to go to "Judea and Samaria."  We were challenged at our state convention last week to touch the lives of children.  We all know obout the wonderful job that Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children does.  But they can’t do it all. 

 

Did you realize Oklahoma has 10,000 children in their custody?  There is a desperate need for Christian foster families and adoptive parents to step into the lives of those children. 

 

There are 170 million people in this country who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.  One of the areas we are touching is in Idaho.  We will be returning there this summer to help First Baptist Church of Glenns Ferry, Idaho with VBS and community missions. 

And finally we are to go to the continents.  Jesus ended by saying that we are to go "to the ends of the earth."  We continue to be involved in Mexico and Africa.  One of the reasons I love being a Southern Baptist is because of our commitment to world missions. 

 

As Oklahoma Baptists, we are partnered with the state of Guerrero, Mexico and just recently signed a partnership agreement with Latvia. Through the International Mission Board we have missionaries in countries around the world.  Soon you’ll be hearing about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions.

 

And beyond your giving and prayers, some of you can and will be used of God on a mission field somewhere in the world. There are so many ways we can follow God's missionary plan.

 

Now I must tell you the problem of the church not doing missions and evangelism is not with the power, the plan or the purpose.  If I will be obedient in missions,   

 

 

Once I find God’s missionary passion, I will know God’s missionary power.  Once I find God’s missionary passion, I will fulfill God’s missionary purpose.  And once I find God’s missionary passion, I will follow God’s missionary plan.

 

So where do I find God’s passion?  Well my passion is determined by my priorities.  Priorities always determine passion. 

 

If a person's priority is making money, money will be his passion.  If a person's priority is playing golf, golf will be his passion.  But when you make people who do not know Christ and do not go to church a priority, people will become your passion. 

 

If you fail to fulfill your God-given mission, you will have lived a wasted life.  Paul said in Acts 20:24, "The most important thing in my life is that I complete my mission; the work that the Lord Jesus gave me--to tell people the Good News about God's grace."  (Acts 20:24, NCV)

 

Living a life on mission actually involves two things. 

First, we desperately need a passion for people without Christ but we also need the compassion of Christ for people. 

 

Listen to this verse:

 

Matthew 9:37

 

Can’t you just sense compassion in that verse?

 

Now I realize the number one barrier almost all of us have to climb over to attempt mission possible, is fear.  If you're afraid of being a witness, ask God to fill your heart for people who need to know Jesus.  The Bible says, "God does not want anyone to be lost, but He wants all people to change their hearts and lives."  (2 Pet. 3:9, NCV)

 

The church or the Christian that does not want to be involved in missions is really saying to this world: "You can go to hell." 

 

 

So let me close with this question. What are you willing to do to get on mission?  The single most important investment you can ever make is in the souls of people, and the single most important achievement you can ever have in this life is bringing a soul to Jesus Christ. 

 

Who are you taking to heaven with you?  Who will walk up to you in heaven in eternity and say, "I want to thank you for what you did, for what you said, for what you gave, for where you went.  I'm here because of you."

 

A young man applied for a job at a theatre, and during the interview the manager said, "Now what would you do if a fire broke out while a film was showing?"  The young man said, "Oh, you don't have to worry about me, I would get out okay." 

 

Too many of us are going to Heaven, but we don't really care if others escape the fire or not.  God has given us a mission.  We must choose to accept it; do all that we can to lead others out of the fire into the Light.

 

Let’s pray.