MESSAGE
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 2014
OPENING COMMENTS
Next Sunday is an exciting Sunday at our church for several reasons.
1) - National Back to Church Sunday. Churches all over the world have one effort and that is to get people to come back to church and be in church next Sunday.
As of yesterday there are 24,694 churches in the United participating in National Back to church Sunday and 1,290 international churches participating for a total of 25,984 churches. This is 4th year being a part of this celebration.
Our goal for next Sunday is 200.
2) - Secondly it is a special day because it is the celebration and dedication of our new church.
On the screen there is the line up for next Sunday.
COMBINED WORSHIP SERVICE @ 10 AM
SPECIAL MUSIC BY “NEW AGAIN QUARTET”
DOWEL RODS
SPEAKER, REV. HAROLD BERRIAN, DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT
DOWEL ROD PERFORMANCE
RECEPTION OF MEMBERS
DINNER IN THE FELLOWSHIP HALL AFTER THE MORNING SERVICE
NO PM SERVICE
I hope that you will be a part of what I think is one of the greatest days in the 70 years history of our church.
TRANSITION STATEMENT: Everything we do in the church is for the purpose of reaching lost souls for Jesus Christ. So that is what I want to talk to you about today, reaching lost people.
1) - It was Jesus passion. Luke 19:10
Luke 19:10 Jesus said this to the people who was murmuring about Him going to Zacchaeus probably for dinner. There were those that murmured and said about Jesus, “He has gone to be a guest with a man that is a sinner.”
Doesn’t the murmuring crowd depress you?
Don’t you just hate to be around a bunch of people that murmur all the time?
While they were murmuring Zacchaeus’ life was being changed, in fact while they were murmuring Zacchaeus was getting saved. He was confessing and repaying people for all the wrong he had done.
“Half of my goods I give to the poor; and I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” - Zacchaeus.
Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today Salvation has come to this house,….. would you read Luke 19:10 with me?
Luke 19:10
”for the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Every one of us should be rejoicing when we read that verse, because every one of us is found in that verse.
John Newton a slave trader before he came to know Jesus pinned the words, “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was LOST but now I am found.”
See the problem with today’s theology is nobody wants to be lost any more. But my friend, if you do not know Jesus Christ for the pardon and remission of sins, you are lost, and Jesus wants to save you.
Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost; therefore you and I should be concerned about lost people.
As Christians we have a responsibility to reach lost people.
LUKE 15- In Luke 15 there is a whole chapter dedicated to lost things.
There are three parables of Jesus in this one chapter.
• The parable of the lost sheep.
• The parable of the lost coin
• The parable of the lost son.
ILLUSTRATION
How many has lost something this week?
Maybe you lost your keys, or your car in a parking lot. I love the panic button on my key ring. You can hit it and see where your car is but don’t go directly to it, walk around a while till everybody leaves and didn’t know you had to use the panic button.
Maybe you lost your kid and you had to find him or her.
Maybe you lost your spouse in a mall you didn’t go and look for them.
We look for lost things all the time, should we not look with the same passion for people who are spiritually lost.
JESUS UNDERSTOOD WHAT IT MEANT TO BE LOST.
Jesus understood the meaning of being lost so much he used the word 5 times in this chapter alone.
Luke 15:4 “If any of you have 100 sheep, if you lose one of the, do you not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after that one that is lost?”
Luke 15:5-6 “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices coming home call his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.”
Luke 15:9 The calls her neighbors and invites them to rejoice with her because she found the missing piece which was lost.
Luke 15:24 The father had a party because his son who was lost, is found. He used that phrase to the servants and to the elder brother.
See in the GREEK the word LOST (ä-po'l-lü-mç) means to destroy utterly, to perish.
But we have good news, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
See the word lost in the New Testament and the word perish is the same word. ä-po'l-lü-mç
Pastor Larry Sarver once preached a sermon and he said there are three things we need as a church to reach the lost and I want to pass them on to you this morning.
1) - We need compassion. I know that I do, I need more compassion for people that are lost without Christ.
Jesus had compassion:
• He had compassion for Zacchaeus
• He had compassion for tax collectors
• He had compassion for sinners
• He had compassion for lepers
• He had compassion for blind people
• He had so much compassion for the woman with the issue of blood he stopped the parade.
See, I know as I preach this morning I need compassion.
ILLUSTRATION- Larry Sarver former police officer gave this illustration.
When there is a car wreck there are always three groups of people that show up.
• There are onlookers and bystanders. They don’t really offer a lot of help; they are just curious, standing back and watching.
• Second group is the police officers, they are there to investigate, determine the cause and assign the blame.
• The third group is the most welcome, they are the paramedics, they really don’t care whose fault it is, they just get busy, freeing people, bandaging wounds, caring for the injured and etc.
When it comes to reaching the lost you and I fit in one of those three categories.
2. The second thing we need to do to reach the lost is make an effort.
That is why we have back to church Sunday next Sunday.
That is why we have all kinds of different activities in the church; we are making an effort to get people to church.
The end goal of everything we do in the church is to make an effort to reach people and help with spiritual issues.
What are some of our efforts that we should be putting forth to reach the lost?
Pray
Invite
Make outreach a significant part of our ministry
3. The third thing we needed to reach the lost is persistence.
That needs to constantly be our effort. Sometimes I so often and so easily get sidetracked.
I get too busy or too tired or too weary until I lose the vision of the lost.
CLOSING PRAYER
Present a sealed envelope to the church and place on the altar of all the lost names that I know of connected with our church and the names of those I can think of that used to regularly attend this church but no longer attend. We are going to lay it on the altar and we are going to pray over it this morning and tonight in the services.
Our goal is to go and invite as many people as we can this week to “Back to Church Sunday” next Sunday.
