Sunday, September 5, 2021

Renew My Witness



This is the fifth sermon it the “Renewal of the Church” series.    We need to cooperate with the Father God, so that the church might bear much fruit.

What were the first and last words of instruction Jesus gave to his disciples?
The first words were.

Matthew 4:19 NIV “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

The last words.

Acts 1:8 NIV But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

His first and last words were related to witnessing. Since there is no question that we are called to a life of witnessing, may our prayer, in this series "Renewal of the Church” be, “Lord, renew my witness!”

For an audio recording of the sermon click the YouTube link at the end of the manuscript.

To see a video of the entire service, click this link https://youtu.be/3GXBZBvGJwY


Scripture:

Matthew 4:18‭-‬22 NIV As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matthew 28:16‭-‬20 NIV Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Text: 

Romans 12:2 NIV Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

1 John 1:3 NIV We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

Introduction


What were the first and last words of instruction Jesus gave to his disciples? 

The first words were;

Matthew 4:19 NIV “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 

The last words;

Acts 1:8 NIV But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

His first and last words were related to witnessing. Since there is no question that we are called to a life of witnessing, may our prayer, in this series "Renewal of the Church” be, “Lord, renew my witness!”

Jesus used many figures of speech to describe the nature of his mission. In His Sermon on the Mount, which we have studied and talked about, He called his followers “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world.” 

Matthew 5:13‭-‬16 NIV “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

He gave his followers “the keys of the kingdom.” 

Matthew 16:17‭-‬19 NIV Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Jesus looked on Himself and His work as “bread” and “water.” 

John 6:35 NIV Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 4:10‭-‬14 NIV Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus said that His kingdom was like yeast or “leaven,”  in bread,

Matthew 13:33 NIV He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

He said that He came to bring “fire” on the earth.

Luke 12:49 NIV “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

Now What common idea do all of these things that I mentioned,  salt, light, keys, bread, water, yeast or leaven, and fire represent? 

Each represents some kind of penetration. 

  • Salt penetrates meat to preserve it. 

  • Light penetrates darkness to dispel it. 

  • Keys penetrate a lock to provide an opening. 

  • Bread penetrates the body for nourishment and life. 

  • Water penetrates the earth for moisture. 

  • Leaven penetrates the dough to make it rise. 

  • Fire has penetrating power and continues only as it is given new fuel. Fire is extinguished when it is contained.  We talked about the fire of the Holy Spirit last week.


We, the believers, Christians, are to be—Christ’s penetrating power in the world!  This is the reason that the church exists.  Apart from this we have no reason to exist.   If this wasn’t the case we would have been taken directly into God’s presence as soon as we were saved.  

The word “church” is a translation of the Greek word ekklesia, which is defined as “an assembly” or “called-out ones.” The root meaning of church is not that of a building, but of people.  The church is the body of Christ, of which He is the head. The body of Christ is made up of all believers in Jesus Christ from the day of Pentecost, until Christ’s return.

 

Ephesians 1:22‭-‬23 NIV And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

This entire series of sermons is about the renewal of us the believer because in order for the church to experience renewal each believer must be renewed.  

Today I want to talk about renewing our witness.  

If we are to renew our witness, there are two things that we must do. 

  1. We must refine our definition of witnessing

  2. We must do our witnessing the New Testament way.



I. First we must refine our definition of witnessing.


Witnessing is not just ringing doorbells in the community or handing out pieces of literature. Neither is it just asking an individual if he or she is born again or quoting the customary soul-winning passages. Witnessing is what 1 John 1:3 talks about: 

1 John 1:3 NIV We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

Witnessing is telling something that comes from our own experience, something we know. Witnessing is sharing what Christ has done in our lives. It is pointing to the one who has performed the miracle of new life in us. 

A few weeks ago I preached a sermon “What You Believe Matters”  in that sermon I asked the question Is your faith really “your” faith? Is your faith yours or your parents’? Is it yours or your friends’? Is it your faith or just a doctrine of the church? This faith must become ours by personal experience. It is not enough to say, “I know the truth.” We must say, “The truth is mine!”

Witnessing is knowing, not just knowing about Him but knowing Jesus Christ personally and telling the others about Him.

 Witnessing has two basic elements.


  1. Demonstration

  2. Communication

A. Demonstration

We demonstrate that there is a change within us, that we have a new way of life. 

Ephesians 4:20‭-‬24 NIV That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.


2 Corinthians 5:17‭-‬18 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

Life with Christ provides both inner and outer evidence of his life in us. This illustrates that it is not enough just to do good works; the primary thing is that we be a new person in Christ.

James 2:17 NLT So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.


B. Then there’s the element of Communication


Witnessing must go beyond demonstration of that changed way of life.  

We are to verbalize our witness, supported by the Word of God.

2 Timothy 2:15 NIV Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.


Romans 10:14‭-‬15 NIV How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”


II. We must do our witnessing the New Testament way.

Someone has suggested that there has been a shift in the way we witness from the first century to the twenty-first.


A. A shift from personal to impersonal evangelism. Most of our evangelism today is the mass type that is to a large extent impersonal. We are certainly not to discard mass evangelism; but, we are to make sure that we do not substitute it for the basic New Testament way, personal evangelism.


2 Corinthians 5:20 NIV We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.


B. We have seen a shift from people-centered to church-centered evangelism. 


Here is Jesus' Great Commission. 


Matthew 28:18‭-‬20 NIV Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”


Jesus said go tell we have changed that to  come to church to hear. Jesus told us to make disciples as we go; to go into all the world and preach the gospel; to search until we find lost sheep. 


Luke 15:3‭-‬7 NIV Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.


When we fail to do this, we miss the masses of people because the masses will not come to church.


Conclusion


There are three reasons why your personal testimony as a witness is important and impactful. 

  1. People who know you are interested in you and your life.

  2. Other people can relate to your story.

  3. They can't argue with the fact that your life has been changed.

We must remember that;

1) The THEME of our witness is Jesus Christ. 

1 Corinthians 15:1‭-‬5 NIV Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.

If we aren’t explaining the sacrifice of Christ, then we’re not really sharing the gospel. An important part of this theme is the fact that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, not just one of many ways. 

John 14:6‭-‬7 NIV Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

2)We have to remember that the POWER of our witness is the Holy Spirit.

Titus 3:4‭-‬5 NIV But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

As we witness, we should spend much time in prayer, so that we will have the Spirit’s power to let our light shine in such a way that others will recognize the power of God in us.

Last week we talked about the Holy Spirit being the fire that ignites renewal and our witness. 

3) We have to remember that the VALIDITY of our witness will be shown in how we live our lives and we find the goal for our lives at;

Philippians 2:14‭-‬15 NIV Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky

The effective Christian witness will live his/her life above reproach in the power of the Holy Spirit, whose fruit we exhibit when we remain in Christ.

John 15:5 NIV “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Galatians 5:22‭-‬23 NIV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

I want to close with something that I read yesterday morning that speaks directly to witnessing for Christ that which can be an example for us.

This is from a series of readings written by Nicky Gumbel,  a pastor in England who founded an organization named Alpha which conducts an 11-week course that creates a space, online or in person, where people are excited to bring their friends for a conversation about faith, life and God.  This is part of what I read yesterday. 

"Sue (who was not a Christian) was attending a rehab clinic for people with severe respiratory problems. She had a chronic condition (COPD: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) that was getting progressively worse. The clinic meets at our church building. She arrived for her clinic, but there was no one there. (She had got the wrong date!) She waited around and had a look through flyers about our next Alpha.

‘Sue turned up for our course on Wednesday evening. She soaked it all up and was full of excitement and interest. She came to church on Sunday and was back again on Wednesday. It suddenly clicked for Sue that Jesus is God! A huge piece of the jigsaw for her. She gave her life to the Lord – dramatic. She called her sister to tell her she had become a Christian and her sister was in the middle of a meeting with a friend to pray for Sue! She had been praying for her for twenty-five years!

‘The following Sunday – Sue came to church, came forward for prayer for healing and was remarkably healed of her COPD. ... She has been healed and has since prayed for and seen others healed, including one of cancer! 

‘On 30 April Sue was baptized and brought over 150 friends and family to celebrate with her. She is having a huge impact on people – evangelizing to anyone that will stand still long enough to listen!’  Sue was obviously not only converted to Christ, but also instantly converted to his church and to his cause!

Now that is a living witness! 

Lord, renew our witness!”  Please give us wisdom in order to fulfil our calling. Help us bring honor to your name and advance the cause of Jesus on earth. Lord, please speak to us by your Holy Spirit. Help us to know what you are calling each one of us to do. We want to proclaim the word of God through the power of the Holy Spirit and pursue your cause with passion.  In Jesus name.

Sermon Audio





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