← ArchiveB2StartSunday, September 23, 2018DateSeptember 23, 2018Speaker—TextMatthew 28Passages in this sermonRomans 102:07Ephesians 62:17Matthew 283:18TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00Good morning, my name is Josh. I haven't had a chance to introduce myself yet, lead pastor of Bethel, and I want to0:29start with some question and answer time, and this is not going to get too weird, so just bear with me, but can you identify these feet? Just hold with me, can you identify these feet? Okay, foot number one, and this is a reflection that I do love my wife.0:59Mickey Mouse, right, that's Mickey Mouse, it's a shoe, but you get the point, right, it's his foot. Okay, foot number two, those are Ronald McDonald's feet. Okay, good job. Foot or feet number three? Look, I just want our senior adults to know that the loudest identification I heard was from our youth. Good job, guys. Okay. Feet number four.1:30The blue sway shoes. Uh-huh. All right, okay. And lastly, no jokes, please. Number five, foot number five. That is possibly Bigfoot. We will pray for him later, Bella. Okay. So, now why do I bring these feet into the equation?1:57As someone, I really don't like feet, if I'm honest with you. Because scripture is very clear. Romans 10 and verse 15. How beautiful are the feet of those who carry good news. Ephesians 6 and verse 15 says that upon these feet, upon the beautiful feet, are the sandals that are girdled with the readiness of the gospel of peace.2:23So, what you've done today, you've wandered into this church, and we are in a second part of our series called Back to the Basics. And last week, we looked at Church 101, and I even caught myself today using the wrong language. You don't invite anyone to church. Jesus does that. When you put your faith in Christ, you become the church. Church is not an event. It's not an institution. It's an identity. And so, today, in our Back to the Basics message, we're going to look at Evangelism 101.2:53And I know some of you think, okay, he just used this big word, evangelism. I'm out. Evangelism simply means good news. Bringing good news. Anyone you want or need good news today? So, with that, we're going to look at two words of Christ. The last words he has to his disciples in Matthew. So, you can go ahead and find Matthew chapter 28, a passage most of you already have memorized. And we're going to look at the last words of Christ before he ascends into heaven in Acts.3:24So, we're going to begin in Matthew. For those of you who take notes, I want to simply give you five hindrances to sharing your faith and six helps to sharing your faith. You say, well, that's not parallel. Those don't match up. Well, I wanted to give you more helps than hindrances, okay? So, five helps. Yes, there are 11 points. So, hold on. We're going to roll through this today. Matthew 28, beginning in verse 18.3:52Matthew, the first book in the New Testament. Jesus says this, Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.4:19Let's pray, Father. We desperately need a word from the Lord. Father, we don't need the words of a man. We need the power and the presence of our eternal Father. So, Lord, as we have opened up your word, we trust that you have already prepared our hearts to receive the good news.4:45Lord, help us have beautiful feet. Help us put on our feet the sandals that are ready to bring the gospel of peace to those, as we sing already, those who are hell bound. And, Father, I pray today that because of the power of your Holy Spirit, that hell will be emptier, because Jesus saves. We pray this in the name of our only Messiah, Jesus Christ.5:15Amen and amen. So let's look at why we don't share our faith. I think if we're honest, most of you would confess that you don't share your faith like you wish you would. So I'm going to look at five hindersons, four myths to those hindersons. So here's myth number one, things that we believe wrongly, incorrectly. Look at Matthew again. Jesus says, go, start verse 19, go and make disciples of all nations.5:46So myth number one is this, only super apostles share their faith. And we just believe that, hey, the super Christians, right, like the Billy Grahams of the world and the D.L. Moody's and the Martin Luther's and the John Calvin's and Franklin Graham's, those are the people who share their faith. That's who God's talking. And some of you are already, you're astute and you've already picked up on that Jesus is speaking the great commission in Matthew 28 to his disciples.6:12And you say, well, I'm not, I'm not one of the 11. Well, let's look at these guys really quick. Look at verse 17, these super apostles, right? Verse 17. When they saw Jesus, they worshiped, still super apostle category, but some doubted.6:33Okay, we might not be in a super apostle category, but you can get into the second group. I think this is Matthew's way of nicely of saying they all doubted at some point. But what's the help to us? These are not super apostles. These are people empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the work of Jesus Christ.7:03So we shouldn't believe the myth that only super apostles share their faith. I think that's the greatest impediment we have. I firmly believe that for every one Billy Graham you have heard of, there are hundreds, if not millions of Christians that you will meet in heaven one day that have shared their faith and thousands have come to Jesus Christ. You say, well, I've never heard of them.7:33That's the point. It's not about me. And Billy Graham would say, it's not about him. And so I think we leave point number one with this thought. God has not asked us to build pedestals for super apostles. He's asked you to stand upon his promises. Don't build pedestals. You say, well, I can't be Pastor Josh. Yes, you can. If you only knew. I don't know who's laughing about that. That was not a joke. I know my wife sits over here somewhere. We are not called to build pedestals.8:05Myth number one, only super apostles share their faith. Stand upon the promises. Myth number two is this. Listen to me because this is a Baptist myth and you're in a Baptist church. Myth number two, evangelism is a spiritual gift. Some of you are trying to find it right now. Keep looking. Go ahead. Email me later. Some of us believe that evangelism is a spiritual gift.8:34The Word of God, I'll just help you out. The Word of God never says that evangelism is a spiritual gift. Some of you are thinking, well, I took a spiritual gift test online and it says that evangelism is a spiritual gift and I don't have that gift. So, therefore, I don't have to share good news. That is exactly what the enemy wants you to believe. That is exactly what the enemy wants you to believe.8:59Ephesians reminds us that some have been, are called evangelists for the equipping of the saints to evangelize. But it doesn't say they have the spiritual gift of evangelism. They have the task of encouraging the saints to share the good news. Listen, if evangelism were a spiritual gift, hear what I'm about to say.9:25If evangelism was a spiritual gift, then the promise in Matthew 28 will be to those who have the spiritual gift. Right? So some of you have already claimed this promise with rejecting the gift. Look at the promise of Jesus Christ. Teaching them in verse 20 to observe everything I have commanded you and lo, that's how I memorized it, right? And remember, I am with you always, even to the ends of the age.9:54Who in here wants Jesus to be with you always? Okay, I'm on that ship too. If this were only for those gifted with evangelism, and that's not us, we wouldn't have this promise. So that's a myth. Myth number two, evangelism is a spiritual gift. It is not a spiritual gift. Evangelism is bringing good news.10:23Evangelism is a gospel. That gives me hope. Myth number three. Baptist, listen to me again, please, because I love you. We can make a program or a presentation out of anything. Right? Evangelism is not a presentation or a program. Myth number three. You say, well, I have been trained in evangelism explosion.10:51Don't tell me it's not a program. It's not a program. It's not a program. I love what, you know, I think we struggle because we like programs. We like standardization. And look, standardization is good in certain aspects. For instance, I want my Big Mac in Alabama to taste like a Big Mac I order in California. Now, for some of you, that's a crystal burger.11:21I'm not going to call out anyone here. But for me, I want my quarter pounder the same today as tomorrow. I want a standardization. But the struggle with that is we import that to our spiritual lives. And we say, well, if this place can get this burger right, then if we work hard enough, then we can get evangelism right. Listen to what I'm about to say. We cannot train or program the gospel. It is the power of God into salvation.11:51And this is why it's a myth. Because Satan, the enemy, the adversary, Satan, and he's real, by the way. If you don't believe that, see me after church. He wants you to believe if you nail the presentation, then someone's going to come to faith in Christ. And if they don't come to faith in Christ, then you didn't nail the presentation. And so because you didn't nail the presentation, you're not going to present the gospel ever again. The gospel is not about your words.12:21That's a myth. You can't program it. You can't present it in a way where if you just nail it, then someone's going to say, you know what? That was a really good job, sir. I believe. What is the program that Jesus... This is Jesus' evangelistic method. He gives us a one-word Baptist program for evangelism. Ready for this? Look at verse 19.12:51The very first word in verse 19. This is Jesus' evangelistic program. Go! Go! He said, well, we have to be trained. Go! Well, if we just... I need to know the Romans wrote it. Go! The Holy Spirit is with you. Go! Now, listen. If you've been trained... I've been trained in every evangelistic tool that's been invented and I made some up myself.13:17That's not bad. Because those put words, the words of God, into your mind, into your heart. The Holy Spirit is the best guide you ever have. Myth number three. The gospel is a program or a presentation. Let's keep going. Myth number four. And some of us believe this. We just believe that no one wants to hear. Well, no one wants to hear anyway. All those hard-hearted people.13:47Listen, that was you one time. That was me. We were the hard heads and the hard hearts. First, this is categorically false. Now, let me brag on the generation that we like to throw mud at. The millennials and Gen Z. So, if you are... I'm going to ask you your age. I know that's not kosher, but please. If you are 18 to 36, raise your hands. So, a pretty good group in here.14:16A lot... There's a concentrate. Sorry if I've created any dilemmas for your life. Okay, put your hands down. These generations are more open to spiritual conversations than any generation in the last 50 years. Did you hear what I said? These generations...← Previous in B2StartSunday, September 16, 2018Next in B2Start →Sunday, September 30, 2018More sermons on Matthew →
