| Christ Community Church |
| OUR PASSION is to pursue HIM |
OUR PRIORITY is to portray HIM |
OUR PURPOSE is to proclaim HIM |
OUR PRACTICE is to praise HIM |
In the first two parts of this series,
we’ve looked at five
key principles to guide
us through excellence in witnessing for Christ.
They are: accept the
responsibility or the
ministry, accentuate
the credibility of
the messenger, affirm
the depravity of all
men, acknowledge
the universality of
the gospel mandate,
and anticipate the
difficulty in your
mission. How are you doing thus far? To help you finish
well, we’ll conclude our series with four remaining
standards: appreciate the opportunity to be among the
multitude, attend to the urgency of the moment, As we witness for our Lord, we must learn to appreciate
the opportunity to be among the multitude. How is
that done? It’s a matter of recognizing our call to be
lights in the world, yet to remain separate from its
influence. In John 17:15, Jesus’ prayer provides the
framework: “I do not ask You to take them out of the
world, but to keep them from the evil {one}.” Paul urged
the Philippian church likewise: …prove yourselves to be
blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach
in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among Once we appreciate the opportunity to be among the multitude, what then? Attend to the urgency of the moment. Souls are at stake. Paul demonstrates such urgency in 2 Corinthians 6:2: Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION”. When did you last pointedly use the scriptures to get someone’s undivided attention with respect to their eternal destiny? Do you buy up every moment; take advantage of every door of opportunity? Or are you among those who believe that missions is a department in the church, rather than the calling of all who are alive in Christ? Assuming you are among the latter group above, do you then articulate the simplicity of the message? At its essence, the gospel message has three simple, yet crucial components: the source, the substance and the significance. The source is scripture, illumined by the power of God, and spoken with confidence. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12). Scripture is the needed source in the gospel presentation. The substance of the message is this: that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Luke 24:46-47). Man must repent—turn from sin to God—before forgiveness of sins is realized. Consider these words from Charles Spurgeon’s (Soul Winner): “No sinner looks to the Saviour with a dry eye or a hard heart. Aim, therefore, at heart breaking, at bringing home condemnation to the conscience, and weaning the mind from sin, and be not content till the whole mind is deeply and vitally changed in reference to sin.” The substance is repentance. The significance, then, speaks of the power in the name of Jesus: “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Our salvation is in Christ alone. Finally, to demonstrate excellence in witnessing for Christ we
need to announce the severity of missed opportunity. Do
you conclude your message with a warning? Luke 10:16 says this: “The one who listens
to you listens to Me, and the one who
rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects
Me rejects the One who sent Me.” We
need to make it clear to those to whom we In three issues, we’ve highlighted nine key
principles to guide you in excellence in
witnessing for Christ; I pray that you will
apply these standards to every gospel
presentation. If you missed Part 1 or 2, or desire a more in-depth study, ~Pastor-Teacher, Lance Sparks
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