Personal Evangelism I
“Who Have You Been Talking To?”
By: Pastor Donny Granberry
Good morning.
If you are our guest, I would like to take a moment and welcome you to Central and to personally say thank you for choosing to worship the Lord with us today.
Let’s make our profession, “This is my Bible, God’s holy word….
As you have already heard when we received the tithe and offering, today is Mission’s Sunday.
Because of your giving to Missions, in the five years that Marlys and I have had the honor of being your pastors we have gone from 46th to 3rd in the South Texas District.
There were six churches in our district who gave more than $300,000 to missions in this past year.
That is wonderful, we say “To God be the glory, great things He has done.”
This is the heart-beat of God, to “Go into ALL the world.”
And when we look into the book of Acts, we see the beginning of the fulfillment of this command,
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive POWER after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you SHALL be WITNESSES unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the rest of the earth.
I remind you this morning that the evangelism mandate is to begin in Jerusalem, and then to the rest of the world.
My Question this morning is simply this, “What about Jerusalem, What about Pasadena, What about our Community?”
How many in this building led someone to the Lord in the past year?
Charles Greenaway said this, “Missions is not about crossing the seas, it is about seeing the cross.”
John 1:35-50
35Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. 36And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!”
37The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
39He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
40One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus.
Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of £Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
43The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
48Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49Nathanael answered and said to Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51And He said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter£ you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
A recent study states that only 10% of those who make decisions to follow Christ do so in a church service.
This tells us that by far the highest priority in evangelism is the personal witness of its members throughout the week.
Another study reveals that less than 10% of people in the church does personal evangelism.
Why don’t Christians tell others about Jesus Christ?
Many think that it is because of Apathy – that Christians do not care.
I really do not think that Christians do not care; I think the reason is their lack of Confidence.
I think that most Christians want to be effective witnesses, but they feel inadequate, intimidated, or even fearful about sharing their faith, especially to someone who does not have a Christian background.
Most feel that they do not know how to share their faith.
• Most people are not football, basketball, or baseball experts, yet that does not keep them from sharing their passion for the sport.
• Most people are not racing experts, but that does not keep them from sharing their passion for power cars.
• Most people are not fashion experts, but they still share their passion for clothing and shopping.
• Most people are not experts and interior decorating, but they still share their passion for home décor.
What am I saying, I’m saying that you do not need to be a bible theologian to share your faith; all you need is a passion for Christ.
We sing the song, Can you believe what the Lord has done in me, He saved me, changed me, turned my life around, set my feet upon the solid ground….”
ILLUSTRATION
W.D. Metzger
He was the town drunk in Fairfield, Texas. He was married to Janie, who was a School teacher, and he was an embarrassment to her and many others.
People would have to walk around him as he lay passed out in the streets
In a revival in Freestone County in 1939, in the same schoolhouse where his wife was the teacher, J.D. Metzger made the choice to become a follower of Christ.
God saved him, delivered him from alcoholism, and filled him with the Holy Spirit.
He went into those same streets that he used to lay on, passed out from drinking, and stand in the streets and preach the word to anyone who would listen.
He was asked the Question, “When were you called to preach, and He said, I’m not sure I was called, I think I just volunteered.”
Bro. & Sis. Metzger were great soul winners for the Lord.
When you decided to take up your cross and follow Christ, you volunteered to join in on the mandate that Christ gave the church.
ILLUSTRATION
My Meme Granberry was a great soul winner for the Lord.
If you would be around her, within a few minutes she would be telling you about the Lord and asking you if you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
There was a reason why.
• Meme & Papaw lived a rough life.
• Papaw owned a still and was a moonshiner.
• They owned and operated a beer joint/dance hall called the bloody bucket.
• Their marriage was on the rocks and about to be over.
• A lady named Marie Talbert was her hair dresser and she invited her to go to the school house revival with her.
• Meme found Jesus and invited Janie Metzger to go with her.
• Janie got her husband, J.D. Metzger to go with her.
• My Papaw decided that if J.D Metzger could quit drinking and serve God, he could also.
In the last couple of yours of Meme’s life her health had deteriorated and she spent them in a Nursing Home close to us and the church.
It was a great struggle and a hard adjustment for her to live where she did, but she finally managed.
Although she had a difficult time adjusting to where she lived, she did not have a difficult time in telling people about Jesus.
When anyone would spend a few minutes with her, she would begin to tell them about Jesus and what He had done for her, and how Jesus loved them and would do the same for them.
She was a soul winner.
She had a nurse come to her room one day and she began to tell her about Jesus.
This nurse was going through many difficulties and home, and led by the Holy Spirit, Meme led her to Christ, and later that week, she led her husband to the Lord.
Today, some 22 years later, they are still serving the Lord and many others in their family have accepted the Lord as their Savior because Meme took the opportunity to tell her about Jesus.
SONG
Its harvest time, harvest time, the Savior’s calling, the grain is falling, O’ do not wait, it’s growing late, behold the fields are white, it’s harvest time.
Church can I remind you that there are hundreds of thousands people in Pasadena, and the surrounding communities that need to hear about the Love of God.
• There are people right now at the funeral homes around us that need comfort, hope, and Jesus.
• There are people in the hospitals around us that need to know God cares, and loves them, and can heal them.
• There are people in the jails that need to know that they can be set free spiritually from what has them ensnared.
• There are homes that are being destroyed by drugs, alcohol, immorality, abuse and hopelessness.
• There are people around us who think that life is no longer worth living and want to destroy the life God has given them.
John 4:35-36 KJV
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
WORD FROM THE LORD AT COUNCIL
It’s Harvest Time; the Lord is going to give a great harvest to our churches. The Lord is calling for laborers to go forth into the fields. He is laying the sickle to the harvest and it is time for the church to reap. They that sow in tears shall reap in Joy.
