Sermon Central
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Post-Covid Evangelism
Contributed by Stephen E. Trail on Jan 23, 2022 (message contributor)
Summary: Has the mandate for the evangelization of the world changed? His there another plan and if not what shoulld the church be doing today.
Post-Covid Evangelism
Introduction: What we have in our text this morning is the last command or mandate if you will, given to His disciples before He ascends back to the Father. His ascension is recorded for us in Acts 1:4-11…
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
But before He leaves though He tells the disciples what He wants them to be doing until He returns. And this mandate is not just for them alone but for all Christ followers in every age. How successful were they? They “turned the world upside down!” In the Savior’s name they conquered the Roman Empire until the emperor himself became a follower of Jesus. History tells us just how far they traveled with the message of the Gospel.
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
I. The Authority
The word “power” in verse 18 can be translated authority. He had risen from the dead and all authority was His by virtue of Him conquering death, hell and the grave. He is the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings and He bids us go! If we are His servants them we are obligated to hear and heed His voice and obey His command! The question is, “What part of go don’t we understand?”
II. The Activity
The activity is three-fold.
a. Make disciples through evangelism
RESCUE THE PERISHING
Fanny Crosby, the blind hymn writer, wrote so many hymns we love to sing. When she was up in years, she visited the Macaulay Rescue Mission in NYC. She stood before a crowd of homeless, drug-addicted, alcoholic men. She said, “is there a young man here who doesn’t have a mother?” One young man timidly raised his hand. He explained that his mother died when he was very young.
Fanny Crosby asked the young man to come to the front. She gave him a big hug and kissed him on the cheek. It touched her heart so much that she went home that night and wrote these words, “Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin and the grave, weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen, tell them of Jesus the Mighty to save.”
Years later, Ira Sankey was singing for D.L. Moody in St. Louis. He rose to sing that song, but before he sang, he told that story. As he told the story, a middle-aged man jumped up and shouted, “It was me! I’m the young man she wrote about. She kissed me. I could never get away from that moment.”
As a result of one simple kiss.....a young man came to Christ and his entire life was changed!
In 1879, Charlie Peace, a well-known criminal in London, faced execution by hanging. When he was marched to the gallows, a minister walked behind him. In keeping with custom, the minister read aloud this passage from a prayer book, "Those who die without Christ experience hell, which is the pain of forever dying without the release which death itself can bring." When the minister read these chilling words, Charlie Peace stopped marching, turned to the minister, and shouted, "Do you believe that?"
