Connecting the dots… sharing our faith Carroll First UMC November 9 and 10 2019

Connecting the dots… sharing our faith

Carroll First UMC

November 9 and 10 2019

 Real-life stories can be powerful – they tend to get people’s attention. They can shape minds, touch hearts, and change lives. They can even change the course of history forever.

Take, for example, the story of the hard-living, liquor-slogging, vulgarity-spewing captain of a slave ship in the 1700s who in the midst of a terrible storm cried out to God for deliverance from the wind and waves—and mercifully received it. His name was John Newton. He wrote a song you might know… does anyone know “Amazing grace?”

John Newton’s story became a strong influence in the life of William Wilberforce who, decades later, succeeded in abolishing the slave trade in the entire British Empire.

That’s quite a story, isn’t it?

Stories have the power to change lives and history.

A young missionary named Bob Pierce felt such compassion for a young Chinese girl whose widowed mother could not afford to send her to a mission school that he gave all he had to help: fifteen dollars. That was enough to enroll her in the school—and he committed to sending money every month for her continued support. When he returned to America the concept of child sponsorship caught on. Today World Vision has over 500,000 people sponsoring children every month, supporting 100 million people in 99 countries, and it has become one of the largest relief agencies on the planet!

Everyone has a story. Maybe yours won’t change the history of the planet or write the next generation’s most beloved hymn, but I guarantee you have a story that just may change someone’s life. But one thing is absolutely for sure… your story will do nothing if you ever tell it.

 We have been talking about our mission statement which is what? <<<Connecting people with God>>>

 The discipleship wheel helps us envision how we grow as disciples. Walkthrough it with me. We connect… <<<UP WITH GOD>>>

 We Connect …<<<IN WITH EACH OTHER>>>>

 We Connect … <<< DEEPER IN OURSELVES WITH GOD>>>

 And do you know the last one yet…. <<<OUT WITH OTHERS>>>

 Last week we talked about CONNECTING OUT THROUGH GENEROSITY. Today we come to CONNECTING OUT BY SHARING OUR FAITH.

Very few people like the “e” word. You know, “Evangelism.” For many people that is right up there with other favorite words like “colonoscopy” and “IRS.” I wish things were different. It is a perfectly good word, “Evangel’ being the Greek word for angel. An angel is one who brings a message from God. In Evangelism one person brings a message of GOOD NEWS to another person. It has been explained as ‘one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.’ What a great image! Or in my terms today, one friend telling their story to introduce Jesus to another friend. There is nothing scary about that.

But our minds go crazy… (missile VIDEO It will freeze white… leave it there.)

Stop right there… am I right? Isn’t that what your minds do when you think about inviting someone to church? Maybe you don’t imagine them blowing up your garage, but maybe it is something similar. However, that was his anxiety talking… let’s see what really happened.

(Second video followed by the second powerpoint.)

You see it turned out to not be as scary as he thought. And I promise you… it probably is not as scary as you think either. Let me tell you why.

 First, when we talk about connecting out to share our faith, we are not saying that we should stand on the street corner and talk to strangers. When we talk about sharing our faith we are talking about connecting to our friends, neighbors, relatives, coworkers, and people who, at some level, we call friends. They are people who know and love you and the reason you want to share with them is that you love them as well.

Many years ago, preaching caused me a LOT of anxiety. Then I realized that most of the people in the congregation are my friends. When I realized we are all on the same side, my Sunday morning stress was greatly diminished.

I hope the same can be true to you when you realize that no one is asking you to convert a stranger on a plane or the clerk at Walgreens. We are asking you to love your friends, neighbors, and relatives enough to give them the greatest gift you ever received.

 In John 15, Jesus makes a huge theological and psychological move. He says “15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.”

Why is that so huge? It is huge because none of Jesus' listeners could imagine anyone being a friend of God. God was OTHER, God was not bound by the human constructs of who is a friend and who is not.

Here is God himself… the almighty, omnipotent, omnipresent, divine being in the flesh in front of the disciples saying, “YOU ARE MY FRIENDS.” That is like incarnation squared.

If we are friends of Jesus, then sharing our faith with our friends is nothing more than introducing one friend to their new best friend ever!

 Second, I want to look at Acts 2, the birth of the church through the movement of the Holy Spirit. We all know the wind blew the spirit descended like flames on their heads but something even more remarkable happened. The disciples began to speak other languages… languages they did not know.

 There are some who connect this passage to the gift of speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The difference is that speaking in tongues, or Glossolalia, is a language between the believer and God and requires interpretation if it is to be understood by others. This was different, The disciples began speaking in languages known by the visitors Each of these locations on the map has a different language or a variation of the language. The disciples spoke to the partheniums in their language, the meads in theirs, and we would have heard them in English.

 Do you know what they call that today? “Contextualization.” Literally: speaking to people in their own languages… what a concept. Instead of re-making these friends into our image of what the church is or should be, … The Spirit met them right where they were and offered exactly what they needed.

That is why we sing old hymns. For Some people, the old hymns speak their language. For other people, the contemporary music we have been using is their birth-language. The church will never be all things to all people, but Jesus can be. This is a reminder to the church that people come speaking different languages, and we need to fluent in all of those languages in order to reach them for Christ. If you have a friend dealing with guilt, you can share with them a story about experiencing Jesus' forgiveness, or a time when you forgave. If your friend is grieving, you can share with how your faith brought you comfort in your grief and what the promise of eternal life means to you. If your friend is seeking direction you might pray with them.

This is why “evangelism” as a program does not work. Evangelism is a program and therefore, by definition a one size fits all – or one size fits none. Something like that is doomed to failure.

When you share your faith with a friend you can tell them exactly what they need to hear and show them that Jesus can help them. So first we are dealing with friends… second dealing with friends individually one on one knowing them, loving them, and wanting nothing more than to help them by introducing them to a new best friend.

Finally, when you share your faith, tell a story. These are your friends, You know what they need. You love them and want to help.

This is not the time to preach. Preaching a sermon, trying to stir up some guilt, or persuade someone to believe in Jesus might work for some, but not for most!

 It is also not a time to walk them through a pre-memorized set of scriptures. Again, that might work for some, but not for most. It works much better to tell them a story.

 Not a story like “A pastor, a priest, and a rabbi walked into a bar.” (someone shared that with me this week.)

 No share a personal story: your story.

On Pentecost Peter said to the crowd, “No, they are not drunk, let me tell you a story about why these men act like this.” And he proceeded to tell them about their experience with Jesus and now the Holy Spirit;

So don’t just give your friends a tract, or a bible verse, or some generic greeting card, and for heaven’s sake don’t be afraid give them yourself. That is what sharing a story is about giving a part of your experience as a gift to someone else.

Do you remember when I did this? Well, I felt about like you do now and here’s how Jesus helped me. Here’s why I was glad I was part of the church.

Before we were friends there was a time when I was lost and couldn’t figure out what to do with y life. Do you know that helped me? I joined this Sunday school class and my friends in the class really helped me.

You know when I was unemployed my church was able to help me. Let’s go talk to the pastor.

Those are YOUR STORIES of how Jesus or the church helped you. Those are the most powerful stories in the world. Those are the stories that will make a REAL difference for your friends.

Sharing the treasure of Jesus with a friend is the greatest feeling in the world.

But there is not one treasure map for everyone. Your life and your stories are the best maps your friends will ever find. So share the treasure with them. It is not so scary.

Connect with your friends!

Meet them where they are.

Tell them your story and invite them to church. And maybe you have to tell them again another time, and another time, and another time…

 And let God do the heavy lifting. Remember, you are not alone. They are Jesus’ friend also, Jesus knows their needs, and Jesus has his own powerful story of how much he loves each and every one of us.

Share your story and trust Jesus to seal the deal.

Amen.