You Gotta Give it Away!

The gospel is the only hope and power for salvation. It is a holy deposit that needs to be lived out, communicated and given away to as many people as possible.

Mt. 28:18-20

18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

• Jesus is giving His final charge to His disciples
• We need to personalize the command of Jesus
• Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all the nations

Mt. 5:14-16

14″You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither 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. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

• This what Jesus said is true about His followers
• We are the light of the world
• We need to let our light shine so that others may see our good works and praise our Father in heaven

Col. 4:2-6

2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

• The command to be devoted to prayer is tied to personal evangelism and witnessing opportunities
• We need to pray for fellow believers to be bold in sharing the gospel
• We need to pray for wisdom and grace in how we speak to outsiders the good news of salvation
• We need to pray for divine appointments to share the gospel with people whom God has brought into our lives for that very purpose

1 Cor. 2:1-5

1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

• This is success in witnessing
• We take the initiative, obey and share Christ in the Spirit’s power
• God produces the fruit

1 Pe. 3:15

15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect

• Apologetics is not arguing but respectfully answering questions and making a case for Christ
• Get at the real issue and talk about sin, Jesus and salvation
• Challenge people’s presuppositions and demonstrate that Jesus is the only way
• Call people to surrender their lives to Christ

1 Cor. 3:4-9

4 When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?  5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. 7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. 9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

John 4:35-42

35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. 36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! 37 You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 38 I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.” 39 Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” 40 When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, 41 long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. 42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”

• Witnessing is a team effort
• Resources include: other believers, books, websites, teaching tapes, events, church
• Invite people to meet positive believers and hear a credible presentation of the gospel

1 Thess. 2:1-8

1You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. 2We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. 3For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. 4On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. 5You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. 6We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.  As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, 7but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. 8We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.

• Without apology, Paul is defending his boldness in preaching the gospel
• He also is clear that he cared about people not just presenting the message
• It is not an either or, we are to share our faith and build relationships, in fact the best witness is sharing our faith in the context of a friendship