Jul 9 2017 - The Gospel, Part 3 - Dick and Sue Share their Lives

Did you see that picture! OK what exactly did you see? All of these are valid points of view. Maybe some were not exactly what was there but they represent what you saw. Each of us will have different perspectives. We see and hear differently because different things are important to us. What we see in any circumstance is in some way affected by what we have experienced in our life, molding how we perceive our environment. Life would be boring if we all perceived everything the same.

SLIDE 2 WHITE BOX

I’m sure some of you may want life to be all neat and orderly predictable like these clean edges, no muss or fuss, simple to the point. But life isn’t like this. It is more like this.

SLIDE 3 PUZZLE PIECES

Different messages will affect each of us differently. We will have different life experiences and different messages to those around us. It takes all those messages to affect different people in our world. One person can’t meet everybody’s needs. One message can’t answer every question. Our God is a vast big God and each of us only catches small glimpses. So as we add all our views together we begin to see a more complete picture.

We’ve been going through a series on the gospel; how to, what is, why. Today Sue and I want to consider one of our better tools for sharing our faith. That is our own lives.

Thank You that You are a great God – quick to love, slow to anger, quick to forgive. Speak to our hearts – open our ears to hear from You. You have a special message for each of us.

The thought of sharing our faith can be intimidating! We prepare what we are going to say – and I fear – what if they ask a question? What if they don’t like me anymore? What if they kill me?! These are all valid questions. Or maybe these are better summed up as: What if they see that my faith is shallow? What if they see that my faith as not life changing? What if they look at me and think so this is what believing in the creator of heaven and earth, Elohim, god almighty, the beginning and the end, looks like? Hmmm

We all need to be growing in our faith and we all need to be learning more of God’s grace day by day.

We all start off as babies and need milk – then eventually move to solid food. I am here. And God brought someone in my life – and I wish I were further along – but I am here – and something in my life can be meaningful to someone right now. I want to stress that.

We watched “The Shack” the other night. About halfway through the movie I realized it wasn’t about Shaquille O’Neal. It is an allegory – the holy spirit type person takes them to a field – and there are all these wildflowers – and a beautiful place. SLIDE 4 ENTERING GARDEN

There was a scene where the main character was kind of in a heavenly place with a god character and a Christ character and a holy spirit character. They were walking him through various aspects of his life from their perspective. In one scene, Holy was walking him through this beautiful garden. Flowers were blooming everywhere and it was breath-taking. It was kind of a huge bountiful kind of overgrown wild flower garden. Birds chirping sun shining the whole nine yards. There was a point where miss Holy was doing some gardening in this garden. She said she was pruning. Then she said this garden she was pruning was his life. An interesting picture.

SLIDE 5 BIRDS EYE OF GARDEN

His life was a rough and rugged, unkempt and overgrown. But it was still very beautiful. And complete. The Holy Spirit was working in his life making it neat and orderly. So the wild garden was his life today. It was beautiful. The cultivated garden was his life in the future. It too was beautiful.

God made our lives and they are beautiful today. Tomorrow they will be beautifuler because God is still at work. And someday we will be our most beautifulest. From glory to glory. Gods at work in our lives to make us beautiful for his glory for his pleasure. And he only wants the best around.

God can use our lives in others’ lives. We need to be aware of what God is doing in our lives – who we are and where we are. Mike talked about the gospel and the message of Christ – in our lives – is part of the gospel.

We are all witnesses – looking at King James.

We are all witnesses! True message. I imagine all of you have experienced being around other people and having them alter their behavior because you are there. They see you and stop in the middle of a sentence…! OOPS. excuse me. Or that time you enter a room filled with people and you go up to one to start chatting and find out they are a believer. Coincidence? I think not.

This has happened to me a number of times and often in situations where I have never talked to anyone there about my life yet. I think people look and know. We do have the Holy Spirit living in us and that must surely show in some way. We look different. People may not know what is different but watch us closely to see. So whether we speak or not we are witnesses. So we may as well speak and eliminate all the wrong ideas. God has made us and molded us into who we are and he is fully confident that we are adequate as we are. He intimately knows us and constantly brings people into our sphere that he knows need something that only we can adequately help at this time.

2 Corinthians 3: 4-6 4 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, 6 who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

We are adequate as his servant. Right now. He made us adequate as servants; not as saviors; not as holy spirits. Servants. Servants are to carry out a simple task for the master. Our task is not to die for peoples sins, or to change their heart but simply to tell a story.

Adequate doesn’t mean the best in the world; it doesn’t mean always having all the right answers; it doesn’t mean being the most eloquent speaker; it doesn’t mean we can always say those hallmark moment sayings that are just perfect. All we need to do is be ourselves at that moment and be willing to be used.

Rick mentioned several weeks ago that we can ask questions. Since I prefer to let others do all the talking I ask a lot of questions. People are fascinating. I ask to get to know the people better. I don’t typically ask about them in order to find a way to share the gospel but I keep an eye out to see what God is doing.

For instance, if I am in a store and a salesman comes up to me spouting all the products features and that this item is just what I need I get turned off from the sale. But if the salesman asks me my concerns –what are you working on? How can I help? Then he answers honestly and works with me to figure things out I am much more comfortable buying from him. I think this is true with us in dealing with others as well. How can we address people’s needs and help them take one of Rick’s 7 steps if we don’t even know what they need? I think that showing sincere concern and interest is showing them a glimpse of Gods character. We are adequately equipped to be friends and show interest and concern and to be ourselves. Adequately equipped is not just having the right words but having the right heart. It is far more important to speak from the heart than from the head.

Our life at this point is adequate for Gods purposes. Remember he is the adequate one and our adequacy. We are all very unique and interesting and have specific messages. What God is doing in our lives and the lessons we have learned are our most powerful tool. And a tool that no-one can refute. Our lives are the message that God wants that person you are talking with to hear.

Many years ago I was talking with a friend. Another friend had just stood up in our meeting and told his faith story. This happened pretty regularly. And once again there was the major drama – drunkenness, drugs, injuries, whatever and then God opened his eyes and his life radically changed.

My friend asked me if I wanted to share my testimony too. I told him I don’t have a testimony. He said sure you do, everyone has a testimony! I said, nothing like these guys. You see years ago I spent time thinking about what is important in a life to be a fulfilling life – a philosophical time. I came up with three things; financial comfort, the ability to enjoy the things I enjoy, and true love. I discovered one day that I had already achieved all these goals but my life was still the same as it was way back when. I realized I was still empty inside. As I was doing my Bible study for that night I saw that this emptiness or void was because I had no real relationship with God. I saw my sinfulness clearly for the first time, I saw my need for a Savior and I saw Jesus. I got saved, I finished my study and I went to work. No bells. No whistles. He was quiet a moment – that I took for having fallen asleep with boredom – but then he said, Wow! I have never heard anything like that! You NEED to share that! My life message was unique and adequate. Just like all of yours.

When we share from our lives no one can argue. Much like the blind man.

This story from John 9: 1-34. This is a long section and well worth reading but not right now. You can read it in its entirety at home tonight. But for now I want to primarily look at his message.

You know the story how this man was blind from birth and Jesus applied mud to his eyes and he saw. This caused a lot of commotion and brought the blind man in front of a lot of groups of people who were trying to find out what really happened. Over and over the man simply told his story. “The man who is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went away and washed, and I received sight.” It’s not real complicated. It is a powerful message. No one could argue with that. And his message still goes out today.

A life that exhibits a love for God is the greatest evangelistic tool we have. We do not need to talk about what we do not know. God has given each us unique and powerful life stories and we are all adequate as servants for God’s use.

Sue: That concept of being adequate has come up many times – and some think it is not adequate. Like the cup sizes – from small to Large has become medium to Big Gulp that is a gallon.

Satisfactory – Acceptable – adequate – and that is how God has made us. Let’s look at an example of being adequate. I give blood at the Red Cross – the nurse comes up with a TRAINEE sign on his chest – “I can’t find the vein” – after the wet compresses, I was okay. I didn’t need Ben Carson to draw my blood – but I didn’t want the trainee either – I just wanted someone who was adequate.

That blind man shared what he knew – I was blind – now I see – that’s all he knew.

What if someone were going to share his or her faith and did not do that? It would have been much easier if I had just said – I asked Jesus into my life – and I think it was what was missing – and I’ll let you know how it goes! Instead, I picked up all this Christian jargon and loaded it up into the firehose – and blasted it at her. And it strained our relationship for many years.

After my mother died – my sister and I started traveling to Florida to visit my Dad. I knew I needed to apologize. I told her I was sorry and I knew I blasted and offended her. “I will leave your relationship with God between you and God – but I want to be close.” She began to test me – what about this or that? “Nope – that is between you and God. But I want to be real with you – and I have to be able to share what God is doing in my life.”

And she was fine with that.

Melissa asked if I could share about my depression with her nursing students. I had been scheduled to be with my sister that day. I asked if she wanted to come along. She heard some of the lowest points of my life – and how God pulled me through. Afterward – she told me – I respect and admire you. Being real and sharing our lives – like the garden – the puzzle pieces – that is what we are like – 7.5 billion people – each one created in God’s image – each one showing more about God – each having a uniqueness – not interchangeable – and sometimes, we don’t see it.

About 40 years ago, there was a young college student named Bruce who came to talk to us about the gospel – we were not saved at that time. Bruce only knew one Bible verse. His friend couldn’t come with him. He went through the 4 spiritual laws and led us in prayer – he shared his one verse with us – and said thank you – and left – and we never saw him again. I don’t know that he ever knew – that one thing that was missing was filled – and I have not since doubted my salvation.

When Bruce shared his one verse – it made Dick think about his emptiness and pointed him to God for the answer.

We may never know how God is using us in someone’s life.

A lady came into the library – and had two Murder She Wrote mysteries – with Angela Lansbury on the cover – I said – she was very beautiful when she was younger… “She’s very beautiful now!” she replied. Then she said – When is it my turn to be beautiful?

Isn’t that what we all desire?

I met a woman whom I thought was not that attractive – but as I got to know her – she had the most beautiful spirit – and she got more and more attractive – then I said to the patron – you are beautiful! I don’t know where that came from! But she repeated it as she walked away. Almost like she was trying it on.

God is in charge of the results.

Our small group recently finished studying the book of Esther – there is one verse that shows the concept of God being in charge. It comes after evil Haman had sent out a decree that all the Jews could be killed. Mordecai says she needs to approach the king on behalf of the people.

Esther 4: 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

God will bring relief and deliverance. Nothing and no one can prevent God from accomplishing His purposes. Will we stand aside and say no – find someone else – or will we stand before God and say – You have made me adequate as your servant! Use ME!