Welcome Our Newest Members: “The Insane Demoniac, The Adulterous Woman, and The Former Heavy Weight Champion Persecutor of the Church.”
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. (Hebrews 12:1 NLT)
Intro: Today we are thankful to welcome three new members into our church. It is exciting to be part of a growing church.
Each new member will bring new gifts into our common fellowship and church community.
As new members…, they enter into a covenant to use their talents and gifts to strengthen the ministries of this church and to grow the Kingdom of God.
Also, as members of the household of faith…, we represent a huge crowd of people whose faithfulness…, is a constant encouragement to us. We do not struggle alone…, but we are surrounded by a crowd of witnesses to the life of faith. We are not the first to face temptations,
we are not the first to have problems…, We are not the first to struggle with sin, and so that understanding helps us to strip away the old trials and temptations and the weight of sin.
And helps us to see that as believers we are a lot more alike than different…
This congregation vows to love and care for these newest members. To do all we can in our power to increase their faith, and confirm their hope, and perfect them in love.
So let me introduce to you and welcome our first newest member. He comes to us as a resident of Gadara, one of the cities of Decapolis. He has lived most of his recent life, out near the lake, not far from the old Gerasenes Cemetery.
I invite him to step forward and share his testimony at this time.
I. The Insane Demoniac
So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to tell everyone about the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them. (Mark 5:20 NLT)
Let us put our hands together and make welcome The Insane Demoniac:
“I want to thank Jesus for saving me. It is true that I was once possessed with over a thousand demons. I really don’t know how my life got into such a mess. But sin can be powerful and destructive. I guess it started out with curiosity. I just wanted to see what it would be like. Then it was not just one foul habit that I had.., but I found myself addicted to more and more and sinful things. The worst part of it was that even when I realized what I was doing was wrong, and I wanted to change…, I didn’t know how to change and I couldn’t do it by myself.
Some of my family and friends wanted to help…, but they just thought I didn’t want to help myself. Some thought I was crazy…, that I was insane. Some thought I was just making excuses and that if I really wanted to change that I could. But as much as I wanted to change at times, I couldn’t do it alone. Some people tried to help me but even their help was no match for the habits…, the addictions and chains that held me. I could go for days…, sometimes even weeks or month at a time, but then I would relapse. I would go on another binge. It seemed like every time things would just get worse and worse in my life.
Finally it felt like my family and friends had given up on me. My family stopped coming by to check on me and my friends stopped returning my phone calls. That is when things went from bad to really worse. I didn’t think it could get any worse but it did. That’s when I started living among the dead.
My friends couldn’t help me anymore. My life was completely out of control. My life became so bad and self destructive that I would walk about the graves and tombs… I would walk along the hillsides screaming, hitting myself with rocks and stones… I wanted to die.
But then one day a man by the name of Jesus came along.
I immediately knew who he was.
To be honest I didn’t want him to be anywhere near me.
When he came by I ran out and started screaming.
I was yelling for him to leave me alone
To stop bothering me.
I begged him to give up on me…
But Jesus did not give up on me.
In fact Jesus helped get rid of all the demons out of my life.
Something I couldn’t do by myself.
Some of you here today know what I’m talking about.
You have sin in your life that has such a hold on you.
You are in a battle between good and evil.
There is no one else you can share your brokenness and sorry with.
You may have even tried to quit your bad habits and maybe did for while.
But it wasn’t long to you were right back doing the same old sinful things again.
Habits, addictions, sins…, that no one else understands what you are going through.
Don’t let people who judge you and condemn you keep you away from learning the truth about God’s love and forgiveness. There is one who can help.
His name is Jesus.
He helped break the chains of sin in my life
He cancelled the power that Satan had over me.
Jesus gave me strength that I didn’t have by myself alone.
Jesus gave me freedom that I didn’t think I would ever have again.
And he will do the same thing for you.
The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same things over and over again and expect to get different results.
Today Jesus will do for you what he has done for me.
Jesus will help you make a fresh start to a new life.
Since I met Jesus I have told all my friends the wonderful things that Jesus has done for me.
I have visited over ten towns in this region and told everyone I meet about how merciful Jesus has been Jesus did something great in my life and he can do great things in your life when you let him. Amen.”
Thank you for that wonderful testimony of faith.
Now let’s hear from our second newest member to our Church.
II. The Adulterous Woman
Jesus asked her, "Woman, where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?
And she answered "No, Lord," And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more." John 8:10-11
Would you put your hands together and give a big welcome to The Adulterous Woman:
“I want to thank Jesus for saving me and forgiving me of my sin. I live near the Mount of Olives. I was unfaithful in the laws of marriage.
One day instead of being in church I was caught in the very act of adultery. I’m not proud of what I had done. I was guilty of sin. By the laws of Moses my sentence was punishment by stoning to death. I don’t remember what I was thinking as they drug me down the street to the church… I do remember the worship service was already under way… and they threw me right in front of the crowd.
When faced with death, people say your life flashes before your eyes. Maybe I was thinking about my childhood. Some of you here today come from good homes. Your parents were good providers. Your mothers and fathers showed you love and gave you everything you could ask for and even more.
Others may have come from broken homes, divorced parents, or abusive pasts. Your childhood memories are more about fighting and fussing than eating a meal around the family table. When you think of your childhood you think more about how much mom or dad were absent and gone. You feel abandoned and angry because they weren’t there for you.
Maybe your marriage didn’t turn out the way you thought it was going to be.
When you are young and “in love” that can blind us to the responsibilities of a relationship.
It started out with what seemed like harmless compliments—others called it flirting.
But I thought the compliments were nice.
But then I started asking myself if it was “crossing the line?”
The rule of thumb I learned was if you have to ask yourself if you are crossing the line…,
Then you are and you need to stop it.
I can’t makes excuses for what I did.
I was always taught “Marriage is sacred, honorable, and for the faithful the bed is undefiled.” (Hebrews 13:4) The bible teaches that God wants marriages to work out.
But, there I was…, I was brought right down to the front of the church.
There were Jews and Roman purist and Pharisees, I was thrown into the middle of a circle of men of all ages, young and old. That crowd of people who were about to judge me and stone me for what I had done…, As I looked into their eyes there wasn’t any hope among them for me. Because I was caught in the very act of sin. I was guilty and by the law…, I was guilty by the authority of the church…, they would have been justified to carry out my execution.
I don’t know how many of them had already picked up a stone to throw at me.
But then I saw a man by the name of Jesus.
He started writing something in the dust on the ground.
I don’t know what he was writing…,
But the people started quoting scripture
They started debating the laws of Moses.
They just kept on demanding that Jesus answer them and tell them whether or not to kill me.
It was a terrifying moment.
Suddenly Jesus stood up and said, “Alright stone her.” (I thought I was going to die!
Then he said,) But let those who have never sinned throw the first stones!” John 8:7
Have you ever judged somebody without thinking about your own sins?
There is no such thing as a perfect church member.
Being a member of a church is more about compassion and forgiveness than it is about passing judgment. It is God’s role to judge, not ours. Our role is to remember our own sins and be reconciled to Christ.
Nobody gets away with sin. There is a payday someday. We either have to answer for the wrong we do in this life now before we die. Or else we will have to answer for the sins we have done in the afterlife. The bible says “as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” (Hebrews 9:27 KJV)
I looked up and all of my accusers had slipped away one by one.
And it was just me and Jesus.
You might think that Jesus was going to scold me and condemn me…, But he did not…
He told me to Go and sin no more.
And then he started talking to people about how he was the “light of the world.”
And that if you will follow Him…, you will have light that leads from death to life.” John 8:12.
Being a church member…, being a Christian isn’t about casting stones…, and standing in judgment of others. It more about healing the bruised…, bandaging the bleeding, helping the broken…, teaching people how to become whole again and lending a hand to help others who are in need. helping the sinner rediscover the purity that comes from being in a right relationship with Christ who died on the cross because of our sin. Amen.”
Let’s thank this lady for sharing her testimony. And last but certainly not least is our third newest member.
III. The Former Heavy Weight Champion Persecutor of the Church
And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is indeed the Son of God!" (Acts 9:20 NLT)
Once more let’s put our hands together and give a big welcome to The Former Heavy Weight Champion Persecutor of the Church himself:
“Hi, my name is Paul, but most of you remember me by the name “a.k.a Saul.”
I grew up in the church. I have been a member of the Jewish faith by birth all of my life.
Most you knew my family. My family was from the tribe of Benjamin. They were one of the original families that helped found the church. Some say I was named after a distant relative, the famous King Saul.
We had always lived near Tarsus. From a fairly early age I had been a strict teacher of the traditions of the church. When Jesus came along I started going from town to town trying to put a stop to his disruptive teachings. In fact I thought I was doing God’s will I thought I was doing what God wanted me to do. After all Jesus started changing everything.
Someone in my family had been in control of the church for as long as I could remember.
Now these new contemporary ideas of Jesus were changing everything we had ever known.
Have you ever met anyone who said, “We have never done it that way before.”
Well that was me.
I didn’t like “not being in control” of the way things were done at the church.
They stopped doing a lot of the old traditions.
I had always believed that the church was for the Jews…
I had always believed that Gentiles were second class people.
This thing about baptism replacing circumcision as a sign of salvation…,
That was really over the edge!
I couldn’t believe what the church was becoming.
So, I started working against all this change.
I closed my heart,
I closed my mind,
I even went so far as to get a letter of legal permission to close the doors of these new Christian churches.
All along I was doing it in the name of God.
Do you know anybody who has been a control freak in the church?
Have you ever heard anyone say, “You either go with the flow or you go!”
Well that was my old attitude. that was Saul’s attitude.
Then I did something that you would be ashamed of… I stood by and did nothing… I stood by and watched… As an innocent man named Stephen was stoned to death because he would not deny his faith in Jesus…
Maybe doing nothing… Maybe standing by and watching…, made me just as guilty as the ones who were throwing the stones…
But I know that right after that I was traveling to Damascus.
While I was on the road to persecute and destroy more Christians
I met a man who claimed to be the resurrected Jesus!
There was this light…,
The most brilliant light that I had ever seen before in my life…
Suddenly this light beamed down upon me!
It was like nothing that had ever happened to me before…
This voice from this light called me by name and asked, “Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” If you have ever heard Jesus call out your name then you know what I’m talking about.
I was speechless. I had to be led to the city by the men who accompanied me…, because I was also blinded for three days….
You know three days in total darkness is a long time…
What would you think about if you had to sit in total darkness for the next 72 hours?
Maybe you would remember an old story about a crazy hermit who used to live in a cemetery.
How he was demon possessed.
But Jesus cast the evil spirits into a nearby herd of swine.
How this forgiven man became a faithful member of the church.
Maybe you would remember an old story about an adulterous woman
who once said that Jesus forgave her of her sins…,
and told her that he was the light of the world
and that anyone who believed in him would be led from death unto eternal life!
How this forgiven woman became a faithful member of the church.
What do you think about when you close your eyes and shut off all the things in this world that are around you? What do you think about when the t.v. is off..., the kids are asleep..., You are sitting there…, just you and Jesus… In fact how long has it been since you spent some alone time with God?
Did you know it sometimes takes something with great intensity to cause us to stop and think about what we are doing, to think about how we have been living.
God doesn’t always work like he did with Saul… But sometimes it is not until there is a bolt to lighting…A sudden crisis… A phone call from the doctor... A pink slip in the mail. Sometimes it is not until something huge and overwhelming happens in our life that we stop and really ask ourselves the question…., God am I doing what you want me to be doing? It turned Saul’s life completely around. He went from a lifetime church member to a born again believer.
Let me say that again because that is so important. Saul went from lifetime Jew (church member) to born again believer (missionary to the Gentiles.)
God changed Saul’s name to Paul.
I didn’t waste anytime preaching Christ to the once persecuted.
I went about trying to unite and build the church for the glory and the honor of God.
When I met Christ in a personal way…, on the road to Damascus everything in my life changed. God transformed me a heavy weight persecutor of Christians to a preacher of the Gospel of the risen Christ.
Acts 9:18. “When my eyes were opened, and I regained my sight. I got up and was baptized.”
And I Paul have been preaching that Jesus is indeed the Son of God!” ever since. Amen.
Closing: Let’s give one more round of applause and a big warm welcome to our three newest members. God can take an Insane Demoniac and make him whole again. God can take an Adulterous Woman and forgive her sin. God can take a Former Heavy Weight Champion Persecutor of the Church. A religious man at that…., and transform the meaning of his membership of tradition…, to true believer of faith in a resurrected Christ.
Today we all stand along side these new members.
We find that we also have a past of being possessed or controlled by bad habits
We find that there have been times when we were unfaithful, either in a relationship with someone or at least unfaithful at times in our relationship with Christ.
We find that we also have been persecutors of others, said things we should not have said, and talked about church people when we should have been praying for them.
So we stand here with our forefathers and foremothers, and this great crowd of witness,
With a message to take out from this place…, that no matter what your past you are welcome to join us here at this place. Would you like to be one of the newest members?
