Sharing your Faith
KT: Essential Habits of Disciples #3
Sunday, October 16, 2016
Quiz: 1 Cor. 10:31
Reminders of Expectations:
● Be on Time - Celebrate!
● Be at Each Clas
● Scripture Memory
● Taking Notes - All of us should have that expectation.
● Test Coming up - mainly Scripture Memory,
HABIT 3: Sharing your faith.
Memory Verse for This week
Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have
Commanded you. And Surely I am With you always, to the very end of the age."
​MOTIVE: LOVE...Love for God and Love for People
​ 2 Corinthians 5:14 For​ Christ's love compels us, because we are Convinced that One died for
all, and therefore all died.
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Motive Love - Christ’s love compels us. Why we do what we do. We are in love with
God, and are motivated by his love.
John 14:15 "If you love me, keep my commands.
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If we love Jesus, we will obey him.
Love is not an emotion or a feeling. Love is a decision. If we love Jesus, we’ll obey him.
Matthew 9:35-38 Jesus Went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When
he saw the
​ Crowds, he had compassion
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on them, because they were harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is
plentiful but the Workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out Workers
into his harvest field."
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Story: Thurs. I had the privilege of going with a few guys to Hagatna. One has incredible
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compassion for the homeless. So, he invited us to join him. I am so glad he invited us.
We met with men, women, and even children - all homeless. We shared our faith with
them, and gave them a meal.
Frances - wheelchair. Cancer. Kemo. Separated from wife. Told me he is a hard worker,
but can’t work anymore. Very challenging life. A lot of hurts.
I told him, I don’t have any answers. But Jesus does. I told him that God knows his hurts
and loves him. I grabbed his hand, and I prayed with him. I prayed God would bless him.
And I gave him a hug. And as tears welled up in my eyes, I was reminded of Jesus’
compassion for people.
​If you break open the heart of Jesus, Will find a heart of love for the lost.
Jesus Set Us The Example of Sharing his Faith, Sharing the Gospel. ​(John 4:4)
a. Going to the lake
b. Going to the temple
c. Going down the road
d. At a dinner party
e. Visiting a friend
f. Going to a funeral
h. Getting a drink of water...​John 4:4-7
“Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the
plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's Well was there, and Jesus, tired as
he Was from the journey, sat down by the Well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan Woman
came to draw Water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"
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Jesus just took advantage of the opportunities.
Woman Jesus met, so excited she invited the whole village to meet him.
And if you finish the story, many Samaritans believed. They urged Jesus to stay with
them for 2 more days. Many more believe in him.
JINKY - Stories of taking opportunities
ATRUTH: IT DOESN'T TAKE MORE TIME, IT ONLY TAKES MORE HEART
1. If the gospel is really "good news" for us, we will naturally share it.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power Of God that brings
salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then tO the Gentile.
● Gospel - death, burial, resurrection. Good News
2. It's on your lips because it's in your heart.
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Have you ever gone to see a good movie? Oh man, you gotta go see this movie! It’s on
your lips, because it’s good news.
● restaurants - Jamaican Grill, travel destinations - Grand Canyon, etc)
● We share it. If the Gospel is good news to us, we have a lifestyle of sharing the gospel.
3. Evangelism is not what We do, it's Who We are because of whose We are
4. The purpose is to glorify God... if it is not my lifestyle then my life is not glorifying God.
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Who gets afraid? I do. Sometimes, the hairs stand up on the back of my neck, because I
am about to share my faith. But...Up to this point, no one has ever killed me for sharing
their faith. No one has even punched me.
But, there are those: I have been praying for this, thank you!
5. Can't say "I will just let my light shine." We have to open our mouths.
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Jesus Was perfect/the Light of the World, but he opened his mouth...this is what We
must do also.
I am not Jesus. I must open my mouth and tell others who the He is!
If We live a "good life" without telling who has made us good, then we get the glory
instead of God getting the glory.
PRACTICALS:
When we do what God says to do we can expect his promise to be fulfilled of being fruitful…
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Being fruitful. Coconut tree bears coconuts. Mango tree bears mangoes! Christians bear
Christians as fruit. Faith: Doing what God tells us to do. God uses us to get the message
out.
if we do not do what God says to do, We cannot expect the promised
results...fruitfulness. We demonstrate our faith by doing what God says to do.
1. PRAY ABOUT MAKING DISCIPLES ​We need God’s help. God, lead me to the open!
When we are serious about something when We start seriously praying about it.
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I prayed some serious prayers for the lost this week. I wept over the lost people here.
When is last time you were moved in your prayers for the lost? We need to pray.
the Bible says to pray to be effective (prayer of righteous man); pray to be bold; pray for workers
2. WORK TO MAKE DISCIPLES
a. Bible tells us: Hard working farmers get the harvest. It’s hard work!
b. Jesus said, pray for the workers. Crop takes hard work!
3. SCATTER SEED
a. Seed is the Word of God. We won’t be fruitful scattering invitations. We need to
scatter the SEED - God’s Word. Popcorn Bible Studies (God’s phone # Jer. 33:3)
b. Would a farmer sow one seed?​ No, many seeds.
c. As we go - everywhere.
d. Bring people to church - Seeds planted. One sermon, God’s word - one time
changes people!!
e. Not just special days/events. Lifestyle. Not stop/start. Not wait for the church. No
one should have to tell you, a disciple shares his life!
4. FIND A WORTHY PERSON (Mt. 10:11) - Jesus sending 12
Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at
their house until you leave.
a. Definition: Worthy - (an OPEN person) ​willing to put time and effort into
learning. Wants a relationship with you, and they know what you are about!
i.
I had a friend. We rode bikes, he knew I was a Christian. Asked him, have
you ever wondered what God’s purpose for your life is? He was excited
about finding out. We studied the Bible with him, and he was baptized into
Christ!
ii.
This year, many people have studied God’s word, they put in the
effort.They are excited about knowing Jesus! Worthy/Open.
b. Be careful​: Not just people open to a relationship. Many want a friend. We can
be great friends. Jesus said - Go, stay with them, find a worthy person! people
we put our lives into. Open to the scriptures.
5. BE WILLING TO MOVE ON
Again, Jesus directed his disciples to do this when he sent out the 12 and the 72.
a. If the person you thought was worthy, turns out not to be - shake the dust off.
MOVE ON. Some take more time than others, but if they don’t want it, don’t put in
the effort, MOVE ON. We are looking for people who want a relationship with
Jesus.
b. But is that loving? It’s about focus. Why am I not fruitful? Because we don’t do
what Jesus asks us to do.
c. Jesus said, Take your peace back. Maintain the friendship, but if they don’t want
to follow Jesus, change the focus. Give them a phone call from time to time. Not
closing the door, just changing the focus.
6. UNDERSTAND YOUR GOAL
To be mature as a Christian, must become an effective teacher of the elementary truths of
God's Word. ​Hebrews 5:12; Hebrews 6:1-2
In fact, though by this time you Ought to be teachers, you need Someone to teach you the
elementary truths of God's Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food....(Heb
6:1-2)Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken
forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,
and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the
dead, and eternal judgment.
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These are elementary teachings: repentance, faith, baptism,
We must have this conviction: ​I am NOT a mature Christian​ ​until I​ can teach these
things on my own. (Some are public teachers, but ALL of us are private teachers).
○ I love babies, don’t you? Nyron and Aya have a very cute baby - Emmanuel. He
drinks milk, he need to be fed, he needs his diapers changed. Normal.
○ Can you imagine if Emmanuel was 16 years old, still drinking milk from a bottle?
Still needing to be fed? Wearing diapers? No, he should be maturing.
The Bible calls us to move beyond elementary teachings and on to maturity.
This only happens when We put into practice studying the Bible with people.
• The more we practice, the better We get
a. hear lessons on fishing but don't go out and fish...not a fisherman.
b. hear lessons on driving but don't go out and drive...not a driver
C. hear lessons on sharing our faith...but don’t share...not an.
- not an evangelizer...not a disciple...not like Jesus
LEVELS OF COMPETENCY
A. Concerned but Unmoved
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Knows what is right
Desires what is right
Doesn't get to doing What is right (fear, too busy, unbelief, etc.)
B. Consistent Evangelizer
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Come and See! (Judy Wilbur, great example. New Disciple. Anyone can do this)
Jesus has changed my life!
C. Confident Studier
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Builds a friendship
Can go through the basic studies (Word of God, Jesus, Sin, Cross, Baptism, Church,
Cross) with confidence
○ These are basic studies. The ABC’s of becoming a disciple of Jesus.
The right knowledge is transferred Not afraid to confront people's lives with scripture
D. Converter - Goal of every disciple
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Moves the heart with scripture and talks. The expert. Has been doing this for 15 years.
When you go to a doctor, do you want the recent grad or the veteran?
Figures out areas of repentance
Inspires, urgency
Call for a decision
What LEVEL OF COMPETENCY are you right now?
What will it take for you to grow into the next level of competency?
WORKING TOGETHER IN THE BODY
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5.
Everyone sharing their faith every week.
Everyone trying to bring a friend with them on Sunday mornings/Familia Group
Working together with our Familia Group
Asking all visitors to study the Bible
Finding "Worthy people to study with (note: With adults especially, set up a Weekly study
with day and time and place already decided...will take some flexibility)
a. I usually ask: Can you commit to the next 10 weeks? Once a week?
b. If possible, meet same day and time. Easy to remember.
6. Each person in the study group strives to build a friendship as they are teaching
RESTRUCTURE YOUR LIFE
I can’t add any more! Decide what you need to throw out.
● Better for everyone doing a little than for a few to do a lot
● Prime responsibility of your full time ministry people is to equip God's people for the
Work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:12)...full time ministry people are not paid to do the
Work of the ministry for God's people.
● Different seasons of life...there is never a 'season' of not sharing, studying the Bible with
people and striving to bring people to Jesus. Never: I just don’t have time for the lost.
Jesus has an expectation for us all to be fruitful
EXPECTATION TO BE FRUITFUL
John 15:8, 16
This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples....
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear
fruit-fruit that Will last-and so that Whatever you ask in my name the Father Will give you.
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Fruit would include fruit of the Spirit, helping others become more like Christ, but
absolutely includes bringing people to Christ.
Notice the phrase....go and bear fruit...just like go and make disciples! This sentence is
totally about bringing others to Christ.
CONCLUSION
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Memorize​ Mt. 28:18-10
Pray​ every day for the lost. Pray for boldness. Pray for the workers.
Share​ your faith this week. How much? Ask Jesus. We are called to be like Jesus. If
Jesus is Lord