Rev. David Holwick X
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
July 28, 2002
Colossians 4:2-6
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I. Why "outreach" is in our budget.
A. Curious line in our budget is for outreach expenses.
1) It covers a lot of odds-and-ends, but all deals with our
efforts to draw people to the church.
2) If churches don't reach out, they die.
B. At conclusion of Colossians, Paul stresses outreach.
1) His conclusion may seem like odds-and-ends of exhortation.
2) Actually, it is closely reasoned appeal to reach out.
a) Reaching out to God.
b) Reaching out to other people.
II. Talking to God about people.
A. Evangelism must be undergirded with prayer.
1) Devoted - implies fervor and persistence. 4:2
2) Watchful.
a) Spiritual alertness.
b) Includes an awareness of the times in which we live.
3) Thankful.
a) Refers to spirit in which prayers are offered.
b) Prayer is fueled by praise and gratitude to God.
B. Pray for outreach. 4:3
1) Is our church basically a family or a mission?
a) We stress being a family.
b) The Bible stresses our role as a mission.
1> We exist for a reason, and that is to reach others.
2> Any fellowship we have should mold us as disciples.
2) Praying for Paul's outreach. 4:3
a) Note that he doesn't ask them to pray for his release,
but his effectiveness in witnessing for the faith.
b) His circumstances - jail - were not the easiest but
even there he saw much he could do for Christ.
c) What about you? What is your focus in hard
circumstances?
3) Pray for open doors.
a) God-given opportunities. 1 Cor 16:9, 2 Cor 2:12
b) Implication they are often closed?
c) They appear closed to us, but nothing is closed to God.
C. Doors are open today.
1) Traumatized countries are becoming open, such as Palestine.
a) "Open Doors" ministry of Brother Andrew, famous as
"God's Smuggler" behind the Iron Curtain, is now
distributing Bibles in the University of Gaza.
b) The Baptist Press reports that hundreds of Muslims and
Jews are being saved in Israel:
It may not be a church-planting movement yet, but hundreds of
Muslims across Israel and the Palestinian areas have come to
Christ in the past year or so.
"I've been working among these people for 30 years, and I promise you
I've never seen anything like this," marvels one Southern Baptist
worker.
They gather behind closed doors to study the Bible despite the fact
that professing belief in the Scriptures in Muslim areas can
result in violent attacks or worse.
As with most faith-related stories from the Middle East, neither the
Christian workers involved nor the new believers want names or
places publicized for fear of reprisals.
Their fears are well-founded.
In May of 2001, radical Muslims firebombed the homes of four believers
in the West Bank.
A teenage girl received third-degree burns over much of her body and
is undergoing months of painful skin-graft surgery.
But the result has been more Muslims from her village receiving
Christ.
One ex-Muslim leader who has taught the Bible was ambushed while
trying to visit some family members.
Radical Muslims pitched a gasoline bomb at him, which exploded at his
feet, burning his face and shoulder severely.
Radical Muslims have burned the cars of other leaders, run down their
children, destroyed their crops, dumped raw sewage on one, and
committed other acts of violence.
But these modern evangelists seem no more deterred by threats or
suffering than did Christ's disciples in the first century here.
"Despite these problems, the Lord said, 'Keep going,'" says Phillip,
a new believer.
"We may go to bed without supper for a week or a month, but [God]
gave his own Son.
2) Afghanistan.
Mohammed Akbar centered himself in his Afghan culture and faith each
time he spoke his name.
The name his parents gave him literally means "Muhammad is the
Greatest."
It attests to a core Islamic identity shared by most in his hometown
of Kabul, Afghanistan.
But in 1979, an attack on his homeland by the former Soviet Union
shook the foundations of his faith and identity.
He fled from his home to Iran after the invasion because he felt he
was not a fighter.
In Iran, Mohammed Akbar soon found himself lost, with no home or job
in a nation swept up in its own revolution.
That same year the Shah of Iran had abandoned his throne and the
Ayatollah Khomeini was installing a radical Islamic government
By December 1979, Iran's revolutionary police were patrolling streets
to enforce Islamic codes of behavior, but Mohammed Akbar was still
able to walk into a small cinema and watch a foreign movie
-- the "Jesus" film.
Mohammed had never seen anything like this before.
When he got to the part where Jesus hangs on the cross, he was
thinking: "This Jesus is going to call down fire and destroy
all these people [in the story] who are hurting him."
But Jesus didn't.
And when Jesus said, "Father, forgive them for they don't know what
they are doing,' something happened to Mohammed.
At that instant he said in his heart, that's for me.
He had just fled a country where everyone extracted vengeance and
called it justice.
He had been searching for answers and saw how Jesus changed
everything in an act of sacrifice and love.
Christ changed the world and he changed Mohammed.
Mohammed Akbar saw this change when he gave his life to Christ after
seeing the Jesus film.
He clearly saw how his relationship with Jesus swept away all other
issues of culture and politics.
Mohammed went on to change his name to Akbar al-Masiih.
That means "The Messiah is Greatest."
As an Afghan, that's a brave thing to do.
When he tells you his name, you know where he stands.
#17710
3) Are there open doors in Roxbury, New Jersey?
III. Talking to people about God.
A. We have responsibility to speak to others about Jesus.
1) There is more than one way to do it.
a) Everyone is different, and methods are different,
but our desire to bring people to Jesus is the same.
2) Difference in emphasis in two parts of passage:
a) Paul is obligated to "speak."
1> Direct evangelism.
b) The Colossians are obligated to "answer."
1> Responsive evangelism.
B. Direct evangelism.
1) Not just for the "experts."
a) But not for everyone, either.
2) Requires zeal, knowledge and grace.
C. Responsive evangelism.
1) Religious questions naturally pop up in conversations
and life itself.
a) Tragedies.
b) Questions about meaning of life and morality.
c) End of world and prophecy.
1> America Online and blurb on "Left Behind" series.
2) Be prepared to respond.
a) Know what Bible says about major issues of day.
b) Take them beyond question to God's answers, and
their response.
3) A less stressful approach to sharing your faith.
a) Outsiders choose the time and occasion.
1> Cf. Philip and Ethiopian Eunuch. Acts 8:35
b) But don't neglect "closing the deal" if opportunity
exists.
IV. How to answer effectively.
A. Conduct yourself wisely. 4:5
1) They look at how you live - don't disappoint them
2) We need discrete behavior in unbelieving society.
a) Young Christians are often too bold.
b) Mature Christians are often too timid.
B. Make most of opportunities in time available.
1) "Kairos" as critical time or opportunity.
2) Know how to answer everyone. (apologetics)
a) Taylor your answers to the person you are talking to.
b) Young vs. old, foreigner vs. nominal Christian, etc.
C. Always be gracious. 4:6
1) Proverbs - gracious words turn aside wrath.
2) Be seasoned with salt as well.
a) Either pure and wholesome.
b) Or good-tasting - words that are interesting and
attractive.
D. The heart can speak louder than the mind.
Christian writer Mrs. Robbie Castleman heard a Christian
physics professor defend Christianity on a state university
campus a few years ago.
He had been nominated for the Nobel Prize more than once, had
pages of academic accolades, and became a Christian well
into his faculty career.
After listening to his brilliant multi-point presentation of
why he found Christianity credible, Castleman spoke to
this professor and his wife.
She asked him what first got him to consider the Christian
faith.
His answer was very different from what he had shared that
night.
His journey to faith began after the death of his child.
He noticed that his wife's grief began to give way to some
hope and healing that he could not understand nor
experience.
When he asked her about it, she confessed that she had been
attending a Bible study with friends and had become a
Christian.
He was surprised, intrigued, and open to anything that would
comfort his pain and emptiness.
He, too, began to share his grief within his new circle of
friends.
They opened their hearts and their Bibles to this professor
and his wife.
The professor felt free to ask questions, seek the truth of
the Christian faith, and express doubts.
He finally trusted in the Lord, because his feelings of grief
were accepted and shared.
Compassion preceded answers.
His evangelists were first listeners.
After the professor finished, Castleman thanked him for this
personal story of faith.
And she suggested that this part of his life's story be
included in what he shared with others about the Christian
faith.
She encouraged him to remember that grace opened the door of
truth for him.
This is true in the hearts and lives of most people who need
to hear the gospel.
#3376
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 3376 "Time To Sow, A Time To Reap," by Robbie Castleman, in
Discipleship Journal #83, September 1994, page 48.
#17710 "He Wondered Why Jesus Didn't Call Down Fire, by staff writers,
Baptist Press, http://www.baptistpress.org/, July 26, 2002.
These and 20,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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