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Asking the Right Questions - Pastor Nieting |
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?¨Asking the Right Questions?Æ February 19, 2006
Part 3 in ?¨Tools for Sharing Christ?Æ Pastor Mark Nieting
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
For
two weeks now we??ve been talking about talking about Jesus.
(Interesting sentence, isn??t it?) We??ve learned a few ?¨tools?Æ for
sharing the Good News of Jesus with other people?ñ.the Roman Road and
The Bridge. The Roman Road is a series of Bible verses that begin with
Law and end with Gospel. The Bridge does about the same thing except it
allows you to ?¨doodle someone to salvation!?Æ I hope that the Holy
Spirit has provided an opportunity for you to USE these tools some
time?ñor that the Spirit WILL provide that for you in the future.
The
keyword in my last sentence is OPPORTUNITY. Let??s look at today??s
Gospel lesson. A man was paralyzed. We don??t know whether it had been a
life-long condition or whether it was the result of a more recent
injury or illness, but nevertheless, the man was paralyzed. He could
not move. He could not get himself into the presence of Jesus, who had
a reputation for healing. So who brought him there? FOUR FRIENDS!
My
first observation is this: How fantastic it must have been for this man
to have four friends?ñ four friends willing to take this kind of risk
for him. Now I know that cutting a hole in the roof of OUR church would
be a whole different thing than lifting off some palm leaves and wooden
supports on a typical Jewish flat-roofed home, but the point is, the
man had friends who were willing to take a risk for him?ñ.and they did
it?ñ?ñand he was blessed by it, eternally.
It??s pretty clear from
the story that the four friends were all about having Jesus PHYSICALLY
heal the paralyzed man, but as we know, Jesus healing went far beyond
the physical. Jesus healed him of His sins, and as a result of that, we
will meet this man in heaven.
There are people we see every
single day on the street who will, unless someone takes the initiative
to ?¨cut through?Æ their lives and ?¨let them down before Jesus,?Æ will NOT
end up in heaven. They will end up in hell, paying the price of their
sins forever. That??s not a reality most of us like to dwell on, but it
IS a reality. The sooner we accept this reality from Scripture, the
sooner we will be motivated and mobilized to make a difference, even in
the lives of one person.
Question. How many of you, at your
house, have an American flag? Ok.. let??s think back a few years. PRIOR
to ?¨September 11?Æ how many of you flew it regularly? What happened
AFTER 9-11? Lots more flags flying, right? Why was that? Nobody changed
nationalities?ñ.it was simply that our passion was inflamed by what
happened when the Twin Towers came down.
Sharing Jesus with
people we know?ñand even with people we don??t know?ñ is a matter of
passion. The simple fact is this: every single Christian is a WITNESS
to the faith, either directly or indirectly. It??s what kind of witness
we are that can make all the difference. Are we reluctant witnesses?ñ.or
silent witnesses?ñ.or those who tell the truth, the whole truth and
nothing but the truth. What??s it WORTH to you to keep a person out of
hell?
Bill Hybels, founding pastor of Willow Creek Community
Church, writes about this in his book Becoming a Contagious Christian.
He was in the locker room at the country club listening to a golf
partner dissolve into tears because his wife was leaving him. Bill
remembered two other facts about the man: one was that he had a small
child, the other was when Bill gave him a Bible, the man had given HIM
a Koran! Now I quote Bill. ?¨I looked into his eyes and sensed that the
Holy Spirit was leading me to reach out and embrace this man. Being the
ever-obedient spiritual heavy-weight that I am, I did what any serious
minded, devout follower of Christ would do. I called one of those
internal time outs and said to the Lord, ?¨Hold on a minute, Let??s not
get carried away here, Lord! I??m standing here in my boxer shorts and
you??re telling me to hug this guy and I??m thinking, ?¨HOW much does this
man really matter to God?!!?Æ (Becoming a Contagious Christian, page 21)
ALL
people matter to God. We??ve said this before. You have never looked
into the eyes of someone who DOESN?ÆT matter to God. And God wants to
use us as tools of salvation so that more people will spend eternity
WITH God and not apart from Him.
How do we do it? Let??s take a
look at a method of presenting the Gospel that was developed by Dr.
James Kennedy of Coral Gables Presbyterian Church and later revised for
the Lutheran Church by Pastor Biesenthal. It??s all about Asking The
Right Questions!
The most effective way to share the Gospel is
one-on-one with someone you know: a friend, a coworker, a relative. If
you live and breathe in the same room as another human being for ANY
amount of time, eventually the Holy Spirit will bring about an
opportunity for you to talk about something other than the weather and
the latest model railroad news. With 24/7 news, we??re never far from
the latest and greatest disaster involving the death of people. And
when we can talk about that, we can fairly quickly discern where they
are spiritually.
And when that happens, here??s the first of two
questions you can ask: If YOU were the one who died, are you sure you
would go to heaven? Sounds positive, simple and almost a slam dunk?ñ.and
most people accept that question pretty easily. Obviously we??re dealing
with the statistical reality that runs right at 100%...all people WILL
die and the vast majority of people believe in some sort of heaven?ñso
what do you think they will say? YES?ñ or ?¨I hope so?Æ or ?¨I think so.?Æ
Generally
speaking the answer most likely be in the affirmative. In fact, I can
only think of one or two people who have come straight out and told me
that they think they are going to go to hell?ñ..and usually it??s just to
provoke an argument.
When they answer in the affirmative?ñ..Yes,
I think I??ll go to heaven (or something like that), what do you do
next? Kennedy/Biesenthal use that first ?¨Diagnostic Question?Æ to lead
into the second Diagnostic question, which is this: Suppose you WERE to
get run over by a bus this afternoon and end up standing at the gate of
heaven and St. Peter asks you, ?¨Why should I let you in??Æ What would
you tell him?????
Let me switch to a medical analogy for a
moment. Why does a doctor want to DIAGNOSE your condition? Because you
can??t treat the illness until you have reached a diagnosis of what the
specific illness IS. Then and only then can you provide effective
treatment, right?
Let??s ask some of you what YOU think people
will say when they are asked WHY they should be let into heaven. (We??ll
take a moment and let people suggest how they think people will
answer). Most of the answers people give us will fall into the
following categories:
a. Yes, I am sure, and it??s by God??s grace
that I will be saved through Jesus! (Great answer?ñgo to the head of the
class?ñand to heaven!)
b. Yes, I live a good life and try to do things God wants me to do.
c. I??m not sure?ñbut I TRY to live a good life.
d. I??m not sure at all.
And
e. I??m an atheist?ñI don??t believe in God so it doesn??t matter! (At this
point, friends, you??ve already blown it because you haven??t gotten to
know them well enough to move into this level of conversation.)
Whatever
answer they give us, we accept it and move into a brief presentation of
the Gospel. It may be by using the Roman Road. You might doodle The
Bridge on your napkin as you tell them about Jesus?? love for them. Or
you can use an outline like the one I am about to share with you
now?ñ.and which you might want to jot down on the bulletin cover. It has
4 simple parts.
Part 1 begins?ñas does the Roman Road and The
Bridge with the Law. I know it sounds negative, but we need to know
that because of our sin, we CANNOT save ourselves! This part has 3
basic statements:
Man is a sinner. Man is spiritually deal. Man cannot save himself.
Part
2 introduces God. First, that God is just and must punish sin (why
would God allow sin and sinful people into a holy and perfect heaven?).
But also, that God is merciful and wants us to BE saved from our sin
and BE in heaven with Him forever.
Part 3 is all about Jesus
Christ?ñ.the ?¨God-man?Æ who took on our flesh, lived a perfect life in
our place and then died on the cross to pay the price for our sins.
Finally,
Part 4 is about believing that Jesus did all this FOR US. It??s more
than an intellectual assent to Jesus?? work, it??s a faith and trust that
He did it FOR us! It??s letting the Holy Spirit work, creating the gift
of faith within that individual.
Let the message sink in. Ask
your friend if they have any questions. Maybe you need to clarify one
or more points you have made. Pray that the Holy Spirit will use your
words to make an eternal difference in their life.
Presenting
the Good News of Jesus Christ doesn??t have to be intimidating and it??s
certainly not hard. All of us can learn how to do it?ñ.and with only 1/3
of the population of the world being Christian, it??s an absolute
necessity.
Amen.
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