35 results found

Mobilization over Collection

June 19, 2022 | 2 Timothy 4:1-5 | discipleship, evangelism, gospel

As the American population has increased to 335 million and counting, the church in America has declined, both in attendance and influence. We’re living in the greatest decline of Christianity in our nation and it’s happening on our watch! Why is the church losing ground in our nation? We could blame it on the devil, or the evil in our culture. We could blame it on Hollywood, social media, or the government. But maybe we should take a look in the mirror instead?

In order to reverse this trend, we need to make 4 shifts in priorities to saturate our communities with the gospel. In today’s sermon, we’re going to consider that first priority shift: “Mobilization over Collection.”

Believe

January 23, 2022 | 2 Timothy 1:5-12 | discipleship, evangelism

2000 years ago, the Lord Jesus told His disciples to “GO and MAKE DISCIPLES” and He has called His disciples, His church, to be on the move ever since. Because the church is not a place, it’s a people. The church is not a monument, it’s a movement! Today, we want to focus on the “GO” part of Christ’s command. Because we can’t be part of a movement without going and moving with the gospel. That’s how the Good News moves from one generation to the next. We go and tell others.

In the apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he encouraged him to have a fervent passion for sharing the gospel of Jesus. We can have a fervent passion for sharing the gospel of Jesus.

Proclaim God’s Story

July 21, 2019 | John 4:1-42 | evangelism

We might summarize God’s plan for witnessing in four words: Pray, Presence, Power, Proclaim. God’s plan is that we are to pray, look for God’s presence, depend on God’s power, and proclaim God’s gospel. Today, we want to focus on the 4th and final step, Proclaim God’s Story, because there is no witness without words!

In the gospel according to John, Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah to a Samaritan woman drawing water at Jacob’s well outside the city of Sychar. After her encounter with Jesus, she immediately went back to her hometown to proclaim the story to everyone. We can proclaim the story of how we met Jesus.

Depend on God’s Power

July 14, 2019 | 1 Thessalonians 1:1-7 | evangelism, holy spirit

Many of us go through life not experiencing spiritual power. In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, he reminded them how he had depended on God’s power to share the gospel with them, so they were enabled to respond by faith in Jesus. We can depend on God’s power to as we share the gospel, so that people are enabled to believe in Jesus.

Look for God’s Presence

July 7, 2019 | Acts 16:6-15 | evangelism

Have you been frustrated or afraid to share your faith in Christ? Perhaps you view it as a burden or a duty that you really don’t want to carry. But when we begin to pray for God to prepare the heart of our “one,” He not only hears our prayers for them, He begins to do a work in us too. We begin to feel God’s heart for the “one” to whom He has called us. Then, when we begin to look for God’s presence already at work in this “one’s” life, we begin to feel the adventure of being on mission with God. Witnessing becomes life’s greatest adventure!

In Dr. Luke’s record of the early church called the Acts of the Apostles, he recorded how the apostle Paul and his missionary team continually followed after God’s presence so they might join the Father where He was already at work. As a result, the Lord called them to carry the gospel to Macedonia where the Lord had prepared the heart of a woman named Lydia to hear the gospel and so become the first European to believe.

Pray for God’s Preparation

June 30, 2019 | Ephesians 2:1-10 | evangelism, prayer

Below is an automated transcription of this message all right. Good morning, church. We’re continuing our series, “Who’s your one?” and we’ve accepted the challenge from my good friend Pastor J.D. Greer, who pastors a church in Raleigh, Durham. He’s challenged us to join his church and other churches across America in answering this question,

Following God’s Plan

June 23, 2019 | Acts 4:23-31 | evangelism, prayer

Surely we, both as individuals and as a church, must take Christ’s commission to take the Good News to the nations seriously, and we do. But sometimes focusing on the many can cause us to overlook the importance of going after the one! Yet, God never overlooks the one.

Luke the physician wrote Acts as a historical record of the early church. This first century church was marked by God’s presence and power in such a vital way that they literally turned the world upside down for Christ. What was their secret? They followed God’s plan. In Luke’s book of Acts, he recorded how the early church followed God’s plan to be His witnesses.

Do you have a favorite fishing hole?

March 2, 2018 | evangelism, fishers of men, invitational culture, invite, witness

‘And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”‘ — Matthew 4:19 (ESV) Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John to leave their nets and follow Him, promising that  He would make them “fishers of men.”  Jesus is still calling people to follow Him that He might make them

Worship and Witness is…Missional

September 25, 2016 | Psalm 96:1-10 | evangelism

In the 96th Psalm, the Psalmist wrote that the nation of Israel should worship and bear witness to the glory of God so that all the earth would join in. The mission of that nation was to let their worship of God be a witness among the nations. We too can be missional through our worship and witness.

Inviting Others to Gospel Community

March 20, 2016 | Acts 2:44-47 | community, evangelism, gospel

In the book of Acts, Luke recorded how the early church was so saturated with the grace, power and love from the gospel of Christ that God continually added new believers to their number. We can be a gospel saturated community that is marked by the grace, power and love of Christ, so that we see God adding believers to our number.