“How to communicate the good news effectively”
One Sunday as they drove home from church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, there’s something about the preacher’s message this morning that I don’t understand." The mother said, "Oh? What is it?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. He said God is so big that He could hold the world in His hand. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that’s true, honey." "But Mommy, he also said that God comes to live inside of us when we believe in Jesus as our Savior. Is that true, too?" Again, the mother assured the little girl that what the pastor had said was true. With a puzzled look on her face the little girl then asked, "If God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?"
I love that little story; it’s cute, however to effectively communicate the good news it does take more than a silent witness. Don’t get me wrong there are times that it is appropriate. But a silent witness in and of its self will never bring in the harvest. It will never get a conversion or commitment.
So what does it take to clearly and effectively communicate the good news of the gospel? To find the answer to this question let’s turn to the manual. The answer book! God’s Word! Go with me to Acts the 17th chapter. This is the story of Paul in Athens. Now you know that the apostle Paul was arguably one of the most effect communicators of the good news of the gospel.
Acts 17:16-34
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.
17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there.
18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to dispute with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
19 Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
20 You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean."
21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.
23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.
26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
28 ’For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ’We are his offspring.’
29 "Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone-- an image made by man’s design and skill.
30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject."
33 At that, Paul left the Council.
34 A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others. (NIV)
1st Note Paul was an effective communicator of the good news of the gospel because;
I. He had a powerful passion.
Acts 17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.
I’m not talking about an emotion. The greatest problem of emotions is that change so easily.
I am talking about the definition that Webster gives that says:
- An intense, driving or overmastering conviction.
Do you see what fuels passion according to this definition? ------ Passion is fueled by a deep conviction.
His passion was fueled by the conviction that every man, women, boy or girl faces heaven or hell.
That there is no in between. No one will receive a sentence of 2 to 20 years. It is a forever and ever and ever and ever sentence of eternal never ending burning in hell.
Why was he distress? Because of his deep conviction and understand that these people were doomed and damn to an eternal hell unless the power of idolatry was broken in their lives.
A. Notice what Paul saw – He saw the idolatry.
1. As Paul move about Athens he wasn’t impressed by the greatest and the grandeur of the Greeks he wasn’t taken or overwhelmed by the Acropolis or the Parthenon. The buildings considered even today to be wonders of the world.
2. What Paul saw the lost ness of the Athenians!
3. What do we see as we drive with our neighborhoods, walk through the school, move about your workplace and the city?
B. If we are going to be effective communicators we must have that same power passion!
The purchasing department in a Kroger’s warehouse has sign that reads: "Salesman, before you try to sell your product to us, be so convinced of its superiority that when you’re finished, we will be more anxious to buy than you are to sell."
2ndly Paul was an effective communicator of the good news of the gospel because:
II. He engages people on common ground.
Acts 17:22
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.
23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
A. He uses the familiar to explain the unfamiliar or unknown.
1. Talks about them being very religious
2. Talks about one specific idol they have
3. Tells them he knows that God!
B. Jesus used the same approach (common ground or interest) with the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
John 4:7-11
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
11 "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you can you get this living water? (NIV)
C. I’m convinced that the Holy Spirit gives us these same openings and opportunities every single day. We just aren’t looking for them and recognizing them. Reminds me to the story … of a guy who prayed this prayer every morning:
"Lord, if you want me to witness to someone today, please give me a sign to show me who it is." One day he found himself on a bus when a big, burly man sat next to him. The bus was nearly empty but this guy sat next to our praying friend. The timid Christian anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus. But before he could get very nervous about the man next to him, the big guy burst into tears and began to weep. He then cried out with a loud voice, "I need to be saved. I’m a lost sinner and I need the Lord. Won’t somebody tell me how to be saved?" He turned to the Christian and pleaded, "Can you show me how to be saved?" The believer immediately bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, is this a sign?"
Most of the time it just doesn’t happen like that. But it we have a power passion that is driven by a deep conviction we will watching and looking for opportunities to transition in the message of the good news.
You see the point is – We don’t need a sign to know IF he wants us to witness to He’s already told us to go & be his witness. Mark 16:15 & Acts 1:8
Paul was an effective communicator of the good news because he had a powerful passion, because he engaged people on common ground and
3rdly because:
III. He kept it Simple!
Paul presented 3 simple points:
1- God is the creator & owner of the universe
Acts 17:24-31
24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
2- God wants everyone to know him
26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.
27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
3- Men must repent for judgment day is coming.
30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." (NIV)
You can’t get much simpler than that.
The point is that the enemy wants you and I to think that the communication of the good news is complex and difficult. He wants you to think that you need to be an expert in Greek and Hebrew to communicate the gospel.
The Truth is simple; the gospel is simple
· Every man is a sinner
· God loves every man
· He died to pay the penalty for every man sin
· By repentance and faith we can be reconciled to God
The point is every born again believer can communicate the gospel.
Paul was an effective communicator of the good news because he had a powerful passion, he engaged people on common ground (issues), he kept it simple and finally because …
IV. He was realistic in his expectations
A. We must realize not everyone is going to respond nicely when we present Christ, but we must continue to respond to him or her in faith and love.
Look at Acts 17:32
32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." (NIV)
C. But we must also realize that the gospel the good news will not return void.
Look at verse 34:
34 A few men became followers of Paul and believed. (NIV)
Let me close with the following story that illustrates these four points
Years ago there was a large gathering of notables for a concert. One of the invited guests was a famous preacher. A young lady charmed the audience that night with her singing. After the concert the preacher went up to her and graciously, but boldly, said to her, "I thought as I listened to you tonight how tremendously the cause of Christ would be benefited if your talents were dedicated to His cause. You know, young lady, you are a sinner in the sight of God, but I am glad to tell you that the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse you from all sin."
The lady became so angry at the preacher that she stomped her feet and walked away. As she was leaving he said, "I mean no offense. I will pray that God’s Spirit will convict you."
Now that’s not exactly my style of witnessing, but here’s the rest of the story. The young lady went home, but she couldn’t sleep. The face of the preacher appeared before her, and his words rang through her mind. About two o’clock in the morning she got out of bed, took a pencil and piece of paper, and with tears rolling down her face, Charlotte Elliot wrote:
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come —David Jeremiah (The Handwriting on the Wall).
Notice it looked to the man who share the gospel that it was rejected however
Believer, God has called us to communicate the good news. To effectively do this all we need to do is:
Have a powerful passion
Engage people on common ground (issues)
Keep it Simple
Have realistic expectations
Great Commission Christians are always looking for opp. to transition into the gospel.
ALTAR CALL FOR SALVATION
God is the creator & owner of the universe
God wants everyone to know him
Men must repent for judgment day is coming.
Pray through the points of the message with the congregation
