SERIES: HEALTHY CHURCH!
“:THE INVITATION FACTOR”
ACTS 8:26-40
OPEN
We’re in the middle of our series called “Healthy Church!” I shared at the beginning of this series that I was working on getting physically healthier. It’s working. I’m down 26 pounds and my blood sugar is stabilizing. But following the diet and exercise program I’m on is not easy. It’s hard work.
I read about a fellow whose wife gave him a rather unique Christmas present. It was as a week’s worth of private lessons at a fitness center. He thought that even though he considered himself still in great shape from his years on his high school’s chess team, he thought he’d try it.
He called up the fitness center and set up a week’s worth of appointments with someone named Tonya, who described herself as a 26-year-old fitness trainer and athletic clothes model. His wife was very pleased that he was so enthusiastic to get started. Tonya suggested that he keep a workout diary chronicling his progress. Here’s how the diary reads:
Day 1: Started the morning at 6:00 a.m. Tough to get up, but worth it when I arrived at the health club and Tanya was waiting for me. She's something of a goddess, with blond hair and a dazzling white smile. She showed me the machines and took my pulse after five minutes on the treadmill. She seemed a little alarmed that it was so high, but I think just standing next to her added about ten points. Tanya was very encouraging as I did my sit ups, though my gut was already aching a little from holding it in the whole time I was talking to her. This is going to be great.
Day 2: Took a whole pot of coffee to get me out the door, but I made it. Tanya had me lie on my back and push this heavy iron bar up into the air. Then she put weights on it, for heaven's sake! Legs were a little wobbly on the treadmill, but I made it the full mile. Her smile made it all worth it. Muscles feel great
Day 3 : The only way I can brush my teeth is by laying the tooth brush on the counter and moving my mouth back and forth over it. Driving was okay as long as I didn't try to steer. I parked on top of a Volkswagen. Tanya was a little impatient with me and said my screaming was bothering the other club members. The treadmill hurt my chest so I did the stair monster ,,,uh, master Why would anyone invent a machine to simulate an activity rendered obsolete by the invention of elevators? Tanya told me regular exercise would make me live longer. I can't imagine anything worse.
Day 4: Tanya was waiting for me with her vampire teeth in a full snarl. I can't help it if I was half an hour late, it took me that long just to tie my shoes. She wanted me to lift dumbbells. Not a chance, Tanya. The word “dumb” must be in there for a reason. I hid in the men's room until she sent Big Lars looking for me. Day 5: I hated Tanya more than any human being has ever hated any other human being in the history of the world. If there was any part of my body not in extreme pain I would hit her with it. She thought it would be a good idea to work on my triceps. Well, I have news for you Tanya, I don't have triceps. And if you don't want dents in the floor don't hand me any barbells.
Day 6 : Got Tanya's message in my voice mail, wondering where I am. I lacked the strength to use the TV remote so I watched eleven straight hours of the weather channel.
Day 7 : Well, that's the week. Thank goodness that's over. Maybe next time my wife will give me something a little more fun, like free teeth drilling or a root canal at the dentist's.
Anything worth doing requires hard work. As Christians in the 21st century, we don’t like doing anything that seems difficult to us. And the one thing that most Christians seem to think is difficult is sharing their faith with another person. I read a statistic this week that said 95% of people who claim to be a Christian in this United States has never led anyone to Christ.
Jesus’ instructions to his followers clearly outline His intentions for His people – that we pass our faith in Christ along to others. Mt. 28:19-20 – “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Then in Acts 1:8 Jesus says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Today’s church health factor is “The Invitation Factor. We’re going to look at a passage that teaches us some important principles about how to share your faith with someone else.
MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE
Acts 8:26-27a – “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ So he started out…”
One of my favorite sayings: “God doesn’t want your capability. He only wants your availability. If
you’ll give Him your availability, He’ll provide the capability.” Availability is when you make yourself accessible for utilization. Availability is what we see in Is. 6:8 – “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send and who will for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I; send me.’”
Father’s Day is normally a day of joy. For Toby Hawkins, Father’s Day 2005 was a day of despair. His son, Brennan had been missing for two days. Brennan had gone to a Boy Scout camp in the mountains of Utah. Somewhere between the camp’s artificial climbing wall and the chow hall, Brennan got separated from his group.
3,000 volunteers had been searching for Brennan but could find no trace of the boy. By the fourth day, things looked hopeless. An 11-year-old without food or shelter could not last much longer.
A man named Forrest Nunley heard about Brennan’s predicament on the news. The 43-year-old house painter from Salt Lake City took time off from work and drove nearly two hours to the search area. But instead of looking in the area near the camp, where the search had been focused over the last four days, Forrest took his ATV about five miles away from the camp. By midday, he found ‘Brennan.
Nunley said, “'I turned a corner, and there was a kid standing in the middle of the trail. He was all muddy and wet from walking over wet ground,"
After picking up the young man, Nunley pulled out his cell phone - relieved to get a signal - and called 911 to report his find. Brennan Hawkins was saved because Forrest Nunley made himself available for the search.
KNOW THAT GOD PREPARES HEARTS
Acts 27b-28 – “…and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the
treasury of Candace (which means ‘queen of the Ethiopians’). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.”
How did God prepare the heart of this Ethiopian official He was returning from worship in Jerusalem He was reading scripture.
God doesn’t prepare every heart the same way every time. The essential thing is that this preparation is a process that develops in the person the knowledge that there is a need for God in their lives and a need to know God.
Preparation is the work of the Holy Spirit. In Jn. 16:7-11, Jesus instructs His followers, “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”
LISTEN TO THE PROMPTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
Acts 8:29 – “The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’” If the Holy Spirit is preparing hearts ahead of time, you can be sure that He knows when they are ready to hear the Gospel
A number of years ago, I was working a week of Junior camp at White Mills, KY. One of the faculty members brought their 17-year-old daughter with them to help out at camp. This faculty member and I had worked several weeks of camp together and were friends.
She told me that her daughter had never committed her life to Christ. She had brought her along not just to help out that week of camp but also to be helped along in making a decision. She then asked if I could maybe talk to her daughter whose name is Peggy about that decision - which I did every day to no avail.
Also during that week there was a death in the family of one of my church members. I left camp on Wednesday to comfort the family and tie down arrangements for the funeral which would be on
Saturday morning. I returned to camp later on Thursday to resume my duties there.
Although camp wasn’t finished until Saturday morning, I had to leave late Friday night to return home and be ready for the funeral the next day. I went around the camp saying good-byes and then got in my car to head home. I put the keys in the ignition but could not turn the key. There was a very clear voice ringing in my head saying, “You can’t leave until you talk to Peggy one more time about here decision.”
Like everyone else, I argued why I couldn’t accomplish that task. Obviously, I had to leave to be able to do the funeral. I sat in the car for quite awhile jockeying back and forth with the Holy Spirit about talking to Peggy one more time.
I got out of the car, walked to the girls’ dormitory and knocked. One of the female faculty answered
the door and I asked if I could speak to Peggy. She said okay and went to retrieve Peggy.
Peggy and I walked next door to the chapel and I told her that I wasn’t going to leave until I spoke to her one more time about her decision. She broke out into tears and said, “I want to give my life to Christ.”
I went back to the girls’ dormitory and this time asked for her mom. When I told her mom what had
happened, she broke down into tears. I also informed her mom that Peggy wanted to be baptized by me
that night before I left. She heartily gave her consent and I went to wake up the camp manager so he
could unlock the gate to the pool. He was sound asleep and no one from his family quarters answered
my knocks. We had to break into one of the storage sheds, get a ladder, climb the fence, and with all the
campers and most of faculty around the fence to the pool, I baptized Peggy into Jesus Christ.
It was because I listened to and was obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit that Peggy finally
made her decision. I’m not saying that Peggy never would have made her decision without my help.
What I am saying is that I would have missed a fantastic blessing if I had failed to finally heed the
instruction of the Holy Spirit in an eternal life or death matter. In Jn. 16:13. Jesus said, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.”
START WHERE THEY ARE AND LEAD THEM TO WHERE THEY NEED TO BE
Acts 8:30-34 – “Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked. ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: He was
led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.’ The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’ Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.”
Notice how Phillip handles the situation::1 . He paid attention to what was happening in the Ethiopian official’s life at that very moment. 2. He listened very carefully to the man’s request 3. He responded directly to the man’s request. 4. He was ready to answer the man’s questions.
One of the most important things you can do when sharing your faith is to put yourself in the other person’s place, To do that, it’s essential to be a good listener. The other person is thinking: “Don’t just expect me to listen to you. I want you to listen to me.”
FDR decided one time to find out if anybody was paying attention to what he was saying. At a diplomatic dinner, he stood in the receiving line and as each person came up to him to shake hands, he would heartily shake their hand, flash his big smile, and say, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” People would automatically respond with comments such as “How lovely!”: or “:Just continue with your great work!”
No one was actually listening to what he had to say, except for one foreign diplomat. When FDR said, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.,” the diplomat responded softly, “I’m sure she had it coming.”
Another thing that other people saying to us is, “Talk with me – don’t talk down to me.” Old maxim is true: “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Jesus cared about individuals. He not only died for the whole world but also for each person individually.
He stopped His busy agenda to meet and minister to individuals: Zaccheus in a tree; a bleeding woman who reached out from a crowd; blind Bartimaus on the side of the road and a Samaritan woman at a well.
In each situation, Jesus showed how much He cared about the individual.
People are also asking: “Please use words that I understand. Don’t use secret religious code words.” We face an increasingly secular society. More and more people have never stepped into a church building You can’t talk graduate school theology to someone who never been to Sunday school.
We assume that people will understand words like justification, sanctification, and propitiation. We even assume that they understand what “born again” means. They might be words we’re used to but are a foreign language to the unchurched. We have to break it down into terms they will understand.
Jesus accomplished this task by using concepts that the people He was speaking to at the time could understand. When talking to farmers, spoke about sowing seed. When talking to businessmen, spoke about profit and loss. When talking to fishermen, spoke about fishing for people
LEAD THEM TO JESUS
Acts 8:35 – “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.”
Our word “gospel” comes from an Old English word that means “good news” In New Testament times, it was a term that literally meant “good news about a victory” It’s the same word the angel used when he announced the birth of Jesus: “I bring good tidings of great joy…”
The message of “good news” or the “gospel” as presented in the New Testament follows a basic pattern:
1. As people, we’re all separated from God through sin and we look for things to fill that empty relationship 2. God sent the answer for this empty relationship in His Son, Jesus. 3. This same Jesus lived a sinless life, was executed for sins He did not commit, died in our place, was buried but rose from the grave three day later to give us victory in this life, victory over death, and an eternal home with Him. 4. Jesus now calls everyone to acknowledge Him as Savior and Lord and also to come into relationship with Him through: a. trusting in Him (faith and confession), b. turning away from the life we’ve been leading and live life under His Lordship (repentance), c. experiencing death to that old life and resurrection to the new life He offers (baptism), d. And receive the power of He offers to us through His Holy Spirit.
Sharing our faith is different than sharing our ideas and feelings, What people need is Jesus Christ, Jn. 12:20-21 – “Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’”
People have very real questions and very real hurts in their lives. They don’t need psychological answers. They don’t need political answers. And they don’t need philosophical answers. They need THE ANSWER: Jesus Christ
BE PREPARED FOR A DECISION
Acts 8:36-40 – “As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ;Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?’ And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.”
How many times have we assumed that the person that needs Jesus knows what they need to do? A sales manager was trying to determine why his sales people weren’t producing the order from customers like they should. They were selling needed products made with quality materials and were asking an affordable price. Each of his sales people were thoroughly supplied with any information concerning their products and were all hard-working and likable.
The sales manager decided that he would travel with his sales people to see where the problem was. When he finished the task of sitting through sales presentations of all of his people, he called all of them together for a meeting. At this meeting, he announced that he had discovered the reason why his sales force was not producing the order as they should. He told them, “Ladies and gentlemen, the reason we don’t get orders is that we don’t ask for them.”
What the sales manage had discovered is that each of his sales people would conclude their sales
presentation without asking for an order. They would simply wait around for a few minutes, talk some small talk, shake hands, and leave. They failed to ask their customers if the wanted to but what they were selling.
There are two basic decisions that you will encounter: The first is, No.” That person can say, “No,” to Jesus’ invitation to relationship and eternal life. Sadly, it’s not our invitation but Jesus’. It’s not us they’re rejecting. It’s Christ.
We need to follow up on the “No,” decisions. Although prayer should have saturated our effort, it’s doubly important to pray for that person after a negative response. It’s also important to keep reaffirming that we still care about that person. We need to let them know that they are not just religious brownie points on a heavenly
scoreboard but that we truly care for them as an individual.
The other answer you will encounter is, “Yes.” One “Yes” makes up for a hundred “No’s”. But even when a person says, “Yes,” we need to be prepared to follow up on their decision. We can’t just dunk ‘em and drop ‘em. Notice that this Ethiopian official went on his way and as far as we know, never saw Phillip again. At least it’s never mentioned in Scripture.
How many times have we done this to new converts? We have to teach them the things of Christ more fully or as Christ said, “All things which I have commanded…” Please understand that this part of the passage is the only time it works at this way in the Bible. New believers need to be discipled.
CLOSE
Notice that when this Ethiopian official accepted this good news and was obedient to its demands, vs. 39b tells us that “he went on his way rejoicing.” There was no longer an empty space in his life. There was no longer a nagging feeling that something was missing. He had found what was missing and now that emptiness was filled with joy.
God has done everything possible for you to have that kind of joy in your life.. The only thing still missing is your decision to follow Him. Max Lucado put it this way: “If there are a thousand steps between us and God, He will take all but one. He will leave the final one for us. The choice is ours.”
