Topic: Christ’s ambassadors
Speaker: Kel Willis
Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:14-21
A burden for evangelism:
The privilege of ministry, the message of
reconciliation.
People without Jesus are lost, but very few
people are motivated to evangelise.
The churches that have declined: they were once
vibrant and alive, but lost their passion for God and the lost, and they turned
into a club. It’s hard to get these people to accept that they’ve come to that
stage of stagnation. They don’t buy the argument that the church is dying.
3 key things about evangelism:
l Pray for lost people every morning in devotional time: “Make me
aware of the opportunities”. Eg. When you talk to someone and the person says,
“I am Jew/Buddhist/etc.”, that doesn’t mean the end of the conversation. You
can say, “Tell me about your faith.”
l What does it mean by “live for him”? The things that Kel once thought
was important are just like rubbish compared to Jesus. “I want to keep knowing
Jesus better”. The reality of living in and through Jesus.
l The love of Christ permeates our hearts, because we see lost people.
When you walk down the street, what do you see coming towards you?
How many people who attend your church
activities are lost?
The ones who has no passion for God.
Evangelism is not what you just go and do. Programs that teach you how to go
and evangelise aren’t always very effective. Evangelism is the overflow of what
God is doing in your life. It’s your lifestyle, relationships. In those
relationships, you make connections because you are motivated by the love of
God.
People damaged by the church tend to
complain that the church is full of hypocrites.
The church is about the resurrected Jesus.
The church is about the resurrected Jesus.
The opportunity is there every day, make
the connection.
It’s about knowing how to share the gospel:
It’s your attitudes towards people. People
can tell. It’s about who we are.
Inviting others to share their story: “Tell
me your story.” “Tell me why you are atheist.”
And sharing your story with others: “Let me
share with you my journey.”
For instance, Kel once evangelised to an
atheist lawyer and told him, “Read John’s Gospel, and before you read each
chapter, ask God to show you something new which you didn’t understand before.”
And even gave the lawyer a book written by Morling College Principal Ross
Clifford, “Leading Lawyers Look at the Resurrection”!
Personal thoughts:
Yesterday I read a humorous and thought provoking article
by our local councillor, Justin Li, where he was giving advice to his 17-year-old
self. He talked about how some of his fellow law graduates left law and ended up
in entirely different careers, and how the past doesn’t need to define the rest
of your life.
After reading the article, I suddenly thought of Ross
Paterson, a law graduate from Cambridge coming from a family full of doctors
and lawyers who responded to God’s call to become a missionary in Taiwan in
1969! He is one of the most well known missionaries in Taiwan! This morning I
saw an inspiring set of notes someone made about some of the sermons Ross gave:
These words really stood out for me:
“The question here is, “Will you be lonely in Heaven?” What
if nobody seek for you in heaven because you never go anywhere for anybody?
Will you be lonely in heaven?”
After a two-week mid-semester break, I felt a strong
presence of God in the Morling Chapel today! And the message, which is on
evangelism and a passion for lost souls, again reminded me of the words above. This
strong sense of the presence lasted the whole day.
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were
making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled
to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20
Later I realised today happened to be the Yom Kippur/ Day
of Atonement! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur
This is the holiest day in Judaism and its central themes
are atonement and repentance… and guess what? Tonight’s lecture in TH602
happened to be on the Atonement of Jesus as penal substitution!! Time to reflect
again! And Morling Vice Principal Graham Hill’s lectio missio (missional reading) seems like a pretty good place to
start!
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