The Beautiful Tongue Series: Sermon 8. "A Beautiful Tongue is a Truthful Tongue!"

 Introduction:

A.   Who can we trust today?  Truthfulness is really

suffering today!  There are very few people whom we

really feel that we can trust what they say!

 

B.   Why?  Because in our world today truthfulness has a different meaning than it once had.  Today it means:  telling the honest facts at all cost "except" when it stands a chance of having negative consequences for someone, especially the one speaking.

 

C.   So today we not only have untruth & truth, but we also have various degrees of truth in the middle!  We hear some statements that are so close to truth that it is really hard to tell if someone is telling us the truth or not!

 

Trans.

Today, let's look at "The Truthful Tongue" and some

of these various degrees of truth in the middle and

see what we can learn to help us be better Christians.

 

                            Prayer

 

I.      First, let's look at our new definition a little.

II.     

A.   "Telling the honest facts at all cost "except" when it stands a chance of having negative consequences for someone, especially the one speaking."

 

B.   That one little word "except" has really made room for

a lot of degrees of truth.  Each person now has the

choice of when it is alright to tell the truth or not!

 

1.   If I tell her that I don't like her dress, it will probably hurt her feelings, so it will be alright to tell her I like it when I do not.

 

2.   If I tell them the real reason that I can't come over today, they will think it isn't very important to me to come over, so I'll just tell them I'm not feeling well.  I do not want to hurt them.

3.   If I tell the honest truth of what I think of this product, I won't be able to sell any of them.  If I don't sell any, I will be hurting my family who depends on me to make a good living, so in this case, surely it will be alright to bend the truth a little.

 

2.      If I tell the truth about what I really think and plan to do, I won't get elected. If I don’t lie a

little about the other party, they might get elected! Surely, the end   justifies the means!

 

C.   If I told you one of these pardonable untruths, and you caught me in it: the truth of what I really thought got back to you.  What would you think of my word next time?

(Pause)        Our word should mean something!

 

II.  Now, let's look at some of these degrees of truth in the    middle.

 

A.      The Half-truth and the Part-truth.

B.       

1.   Half-truth.

This is telling someone truth mixed with

Something that may or may not be true, leaving the impression that they are both true to the hearer.

 

Example - They haven't been to church for several weeks (truth); they must be mad at someone! (don't really know this; it is opinion; may be false)

 

2.   Part-truth.

Not telling the whole story thus making it appear  different than it is.

 

Example - Oh, on the way home, this gray hot rod crashed into me at the intersection of Park and Elm.  He really tore up my car!

 

This is all true; I've just

conveniently forgotten to tell you that

I ran a red light! That makes things

look much different!

(Still degrees of truth in the middle!)

 

B.   Silence at the wrong time.

1.   Sometimes we can lie by simply being silent!

 

2.   We may know for a fact that what is being said

about someone is untrue, but by our being silent,

we show that we agree that it is true!

 

C.   Failure to distinguish between fact and opinion.

Let's look at our example again we used above:

 

They haven't been to church for several weeks (fact); they must be mad at someone (opinion).

 

Failure to distinguish between the two makes them both  look like fact!

 

C.      Using "absolute statements" too loosely.  These aren’t “always” true!  We are using absolute statements too loosely!

 

D.       

Examples:

1.   You never talk to me anymore.

2.   You're just like your mother.

3.   We never go out anymore.

4.   I don't have anything to wear.

5.   This car always starts right. no matter how cold it is!

6.   These statements being untrue as stated mar our reputation for being truthful.

 

E.      Failure to be "truthful about ourselves."

 

1.   By justifying our prejudices, by excusing our mistakes, by trying to explain and justify why we have failed, and by using half-truth, part-truth, and all the above to do it, we make ourselves

look good.  We just can't accept that we have failed, and it comes out in the fact that we aren't truthful about ourselves.

 

2.   We can also fail to be truthful about ourselves

by denying the God-given talents that God has given us!

 

III. I think a discussion about being truthful must also include

the acknowledgement there are folks like Corrie Ten Boom,

where maybe beint untruthful is justified.

 

A.   Corrie Ten Boom felt it was the Christian thing to do

to lie to protect the Jews of her day.

 

B.   She is thought of as a hero by many.

 

C.   So perhaps there are times when there are ethical gray

areas, but what can we say about Corrie’s situation?

What is the difference?

 

a. She wasn’t doing it to protect herself!

 

b. She wasn’t doing it for personal gain!

 

c. There was a real justice issue at stake in her situation.  This was a life and death situation!

 

D.   We need to be careful not to use the fact that there

are gray areas (such as with Corrie Ten Boom) to give us the license to be untruthful in lesser issues!

 

IV.  Now, let's look at what the Bible says about being truthful:

 

Psalm 51:6     "You desire truth in the inward being;  therefore teach me wisdom in my secret

heart."

 

Prov. 12:22    "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,

 but those who act faithfully are his

 delight."

 

Exo. 20:16     "You shall not bear false witness against

 your neighbor."

 

Eph. 4:15      "But speaking the truth in love, we must

grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,"

 

John 8:44      "You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires.  He was a murderer from the beginning and does not

stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

 

Rev. 21:8      "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the lluted, the murderers, the fornicators,

the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars,

their place will be in the lake that burns

with fire and sulfur, which is the second

death."  What a group to be named among!

 

Does it sound like God sees different degrees of truth?  Can we agree that we get too slack with the truth today?  If Christians are too slack with the truth, who can we trust?

 

 

Conclusion:

A.      Again, there is a lot at stake here.

 

1.      Our witness!  If someone catches us in a lie, they won’t think much of the God we serve!

 

2.      Our reputation!

 

          3.   What people think of our church!

 

     B.   Let’s call upon the power of the Holy Spirit to help

          us with this one!

 

B.      As we encounter Christ at the table today, let's

examine ourselves to see if we have been guilty of any

of the different middle degrees of truth of which we have talked about today.  Let's ask also, have we been

outright untruthful?

 

D.   Let's ask God to help us to be truthful at all times

and to bring it to our attention when we are about to

tell an untruth so that we can correct it.  Let’s also ask God to help us to discern those rare occasions when an un-truth is justified!

 

E.   If we will, we will be known as people of truth and

will be able to make a positive difference for God.

 

Prayer of Confession

 

Service of Communion

The Beautiful tongue Series: Sermon 7. " A Beautiful Tongue Is a Tongue That Does Not Gossip!"

Introduction:

 

A.   We are continuing the series on the tongue this morning.  Most of the subjects we’ve covered thus far have had a positive aspect about them: silent, appreciative, witnessing, clean, and kind.  I want to talk to you about a subject around the tongue that the only way to be positive about it is to not do it.

 

B.   It is usually preceded by phrases such as:

1.   "I don't mean to talk about her but . . . ."

2.   "Don't tell anyone else about this . . . ."

3.   "Have you heard about . . . ?"

 

C.   We might say, "We don't gossip; we don't tell anything that isn't true!  If it is true, we haven't gossiped.  We haven't hurt them; they have hurt themselves!"

 

D.   But is this true?  Is gossip only gossip if it is

untrue? A lot of people think so!

 

Trans.

Let's look at "A Beautiful Tongue is a Tongue That

Does Not Gossip" this morning and see what we can learn about gossip.

 

                            Prayer

 

I.   Webster Def.   Gossip:   Idle talk about other people's affairs; one who discusses the private affairs of others.  To tell idle tales about others.

 

           Read Prov. 11:13; Phil. 4:8; and Ecc. 10:20

 

A.   This sounds like it is talking about things that are true!

 

B.   Maybe we could define it as:  Idle talk about someone that doesn't serve to help them or build them up!

 

1.   Idle in that it doesn't serve any useful purpose.

 

2.   Doesn't seem to help; it isn't gossip if we are telling someone who can help the situation and for that purpose!

 

3.   Build them up; it isn't gossip if we are telling good things on people!

 

C.   Maybe it would be good to put what we are about to say to the test of Philippians 4:8.

 

1.   Is it true?

 

2.   Is it honorable?

 

3.   Is it just?

 

4.   Is it pure?

 

5.   Is it lovely?

 

6.   Is it of good report?

 

II.  Gossip is irretrievable.

 

A.   Once we start Gossip, it is almost impossible to stop

and the damage is hard to repair.

 

B.   We may be sorry about it; we may be forgiven by God,

but we can't undo the consequences of our gossip.

 

C.   It will usually always eventually get back to the one we've talked about!

 

Ecc. 10:20     The writer here has an odd way of putting it but is saying it always seems to mysteriously get back to the person we've talked about!

 

D.   And it can destroy a friendship.

 

Prov. 17:9 NIV

"He who covers over an offense promotes love, but

whoever repeats the matter separates close friends."

 

III. Gossip is unloving.

A.   We can't Love someone and spread Gossip about them at the same time!

 

B.   I Cor. 13:6 NIV     "Love does not delight in evil  ...."

 

C.   So if we are delighting in telling evil on them, we aren't loving them.

 

D.   Gal. 6:1 NRSV  gives us some instruction here.

 

"My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of  gentleness."

 

E.   We are to go to that person and show them gentle love! If we can't do this, by all means, we aren't to go and spread it all over town."

 

IV.  Four reasons why we Gossip.

 

A.   We gossip because we lack self-confidence and self-respect.

 

1.   Somehow, we self-consciously feel that if we can bring others down it raises us up.

 

2.   We are special to God.

 

a.   God sent Christ to die for us.

 

b.   God has prepared a special place for us to live in eternally.

 

3.   We need to love ourselves.

Matt. 22:39 says, "Love your neighbor as  yourself."  Jesus assumes we will have a healthy love of self!

 

B.   We gossip because we haven't filled our minds with more important things!

 

Quote:    Charles Allen in God's Psychiatry.

"Those of great minds discuss ideas, people of mediocre minds discuss events, and those of small minds discuss other people."

 

1.   Study the truths of the Bible.

 

2.   Read good thought provoking books.

 

3.   Watch talk shows (at least some talk shows),

documentaries, and news on T.V.

 

C.   We gossip because we are idle.

 

1.   We often gossip because we have run out of

anything constructive to do!

 

2.   Visiting is important, but let's not make our

visits into times to talk about other people.

 

D.   We gossip because we are in the habit of gossiping. Let's ask God to help us become more aware and to be able to stop this destructive habit.

 

V.   Gossip destroys!

 

A.   It destroys our reputation as well as the one whom we

are gossiping about.  We will be known as the gossip!

 

B.   It drives people away from the church.

 

Conclusion:

 

A.   Let's look again at Phil. 4:8.

 

1.   This is what our speech needs to be.

 

2.   Motivated by love.

 

B.   Prov. 26:20    "For lack of wood the fire goes out; and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases."

 

C.   There is no room in God's work for a gossip!

 

D.   Do we need to yield to the Spirit of God in this area

of our lives as we encounter Christ at the table this

morning?

 

Prayer of Confession

 

Service of Communion

Series: The Beautiful Tongue: Sermon 6. "A Beautiful Tongue is a Kind Tongue!"

  

Introduction:

 

A.   What would you think of a person who wasn't kind?  As

a matter of fact, they were rather harsh!  Would you

think they were a Christian?

 

B.   What would you think of someone who was kind?  Would

you consider them loving? A Christian?

 

C.   Kindness and Love go hand in hand!  We might say

Kindness is speaking Lovingly!

 

D.   Let's look at what the Bible says about speaking

lovingly:

 

I Cor. 13:1 NIV     "If I speak in the tongues of men

 and of angels, but have not love,

 I am only a resounding gong or a

 clanging cymbal."

 

Trans.

The Bible puts great emphasis on it, so let's look

today at: "A Beautiful Tongue is a Kind Tongue."

 

                            Prayer

 

I.   A Kind Tongue Helps to Make a House a Home.   (read Prov. 31:26)

A.   Here we are once again looking at this virtuous woman described in Proverbs.

 

B.   This is probably a good picture of a Home also!

 

C.   And in this verse we see that she had a kind tongue!

 

D.   As with most things, the place for kindness to start

is in the home!

 

E.   A lot of family problems could be solved by a little understanding kindness.

 

1.   When a spouse comes in irritable from a bad day at work, a little kindness will help reverse the situation, but jump down their throat about

something and it's World War III!

 

2.   When one of the kids comes in from school crying because they feel that they are ugly and no one  likes them, a little kindness goes a long way.

 

3.   When a spouse is feeling useless and like they aren't getting anywhere, even perhaps in tears, a little kindness will help them feel special again!

 

F.   Kindness brings a family together!  But a Hateful

tongue can destroy it!

 

II.  A Kind Tongue complements a Truthful Tongue!

 

A.   We would all probably agree that we need to be

Truthful, but in Eph. 4:15, we find that this isn't

enough!  We are to "speak the truth in Love."

 

B.   We may not like the way someone does something, or we

may think they are wrong.

 

1.   We could tell them what we think real judgingly

and hateful, straightening them out!  They'd

probably get real mad and keep right on doing it!

 

2.   Or we could tell them Lovingly and kind, and they might listen to us, giving us a chance to change  someone's life for the better!

 

C.   Some examples:

 

1.   Husband or wife has a habit that really bothers

us!

 

2.   Someone has a belief that we don=t think is right!

Maybe they even come to our door!

 

a.   Ex. Jehovah’s Witness visits.

 

b.   Could be hateful to them so they don’t come

back. I’ve seen some who boasted this

method.

c.   The more Christian way might be to practice

a kind tongue!

 

III. A Kind Tongue Promotes Peace!

 

A.   It promotes peace in that, if we are kind spoken,

people who disagree with us won't be even more provoked by our unkindness, even to the point of wrath!

 

1.   A kind tongue would go a long way in promoting

peace in our polarized political world!

 

2.   A kind tongue would go a long way in promoting

peace if we applied it to what we write on

Facebook!

    

B.   It is easy to be kind when someone is kind to us!  The real test is if we can be kind when they are hateful to us!

 

C.   Our ultimate example of this is Christ:

 

Luke 23:34 NIV "Father, forgive them; for they know

 Not what they do."

 

IV.  A Kind Tongue is a Positive Witness for Christ.

 

Col. 4:5&6 NIV

 

"Be Wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  (6)Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

 

A.   We may come to church and take an active part, but if

through the week we are not kind, our witness is

suffering!

 

B.   If we come to church and take an active part, adding

to that loving-kindness, people will be able to see a difference in our lives.  They will want what we have, and they will ask, giving us a chance to share our witness!

 

 

 

Conclusion:

 

A.   Do we have kind tongues?

 

B.   Or do we need to ask God to help us with this one as we encounter Christ at the table this morning?

 

                      Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion

Series: The Beautiful Tongue, Sermon Five. "A Beautiful Tongue Is a Clean Tongue!"

 

Matt. 15:10-11; Exo. 20:7; and Eph. 4:29

 

Introduction:

A.   There's a lot of talk these days about pollution.  We hear a lot about Earth pollution: landfills and recycling.  Forsyth and many communities around have recycling available.  We hear about water pollution and air pollution too!

 

B.   But we don't hear much talk about pollution of the

sound waves.

 

C.   Jesus said in Matt. 15:11, "it is not what goes into

the mouth that defiles [maketh unclean or pollutes] a

person; but it is what comes out of the mouth that

defiles." NRSV

 

Trans:  Jesus taught that we are to have a clean tongue and in America today there seems to be less and less emphasis

put on this!  I want to talk about this today, "A Beautiful

Tongue is a Clean Tongue."

 

                            Prayer

 

I.   Our society accepts a lot of usages of our tongue that James wouldn't have considered clean!  James 3:1-5

 

A.   It is about common place to use a little bad language

 

1.   T.V.

 

2.   Everyday language.

 

B.   People talk behind others backs not thinking of how

they are hurting the other person, and in the case of

Christians, the church and God!

 

C.   Our society accepts and thrives on unclean usage of our tongues!

 

  *  It doesn=t matter what is common place or accepted by

society, Jesus said, It is what comes out of a persons

mouth that defiles!

 

II.  A Clean Tongue Shows Reverence for God!

Def. Reverence = Deep respect with awe and affection!

 

A.   Exo. 20:7 "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." KJV

 

B.   Society may think it's cute, and we may fit in real  well, but the Bible says God will not hold us  "guiltless!"

 

C.   Pretty serious, I want to be held guiltless before God, don't you?

 

D.   Listen to this; this is a problem today!

 

1.   Do we know what it means to take God's name in vain?

 

2.   Webster's def.  Vain =   Without value.

 

It is using God's name without value

(without there being a valuable reason why we are using it).

 

Ex.  "My God", "Good Lord", "Jesus Christ", "Lordie, Lordie, Lordie"

 

3.   When we use the Lord's name, it should mean

something to us and our listeners, or according

to this scripture, we are in trouble!

 

4.   When we use God's name (without value), we are making God less important to our listeners.

 

a.   They won't reverence God.

 

b.   God won't seem important to them!

 

c.   God's a joke, a by-word!

 

III. A Clean Tongue Displays Reverence For All Things Holy, Personal, Private, and Important.

 

A.   A Clean tongue is a beautiful tongue because it shows reverence for life, and the way God has made us and for God's creation!

 

B.   When we speak with a clean tongue, it expresses  

sensitivity to the spiritual.  It is a witness to the

world that we reverence and respect spiritual things!

 

C.   When we refuse to use four-letter words to refer to  sexual things, it shows that we hold very highly the

way God has created us, and we want that to be

something special!  On the other hand, when we use

them, it shows that the sanctity of the act is not

there, only the animalistic desire!  It isn't special

to us!!

 

D.   When we use words like "heaven","hell", or "damn" loosely it means these words don't mean much to us!  We don't even know if these places exist; it is just a

good by-word!  On the other hand, when we don't use

them loosely, it means we hold these words to refer to

things of value: Real places and Real things!

 

E.   We need to teach our children to use good language.

 

1.   By example.

 

2.   By disciplining when necessary, maybe not by

     washing their mouth out with soap, but some way.

 

IV.  A Clean Tongue Displays Good Stewardship of God's Gift of   Speech!

 

A.   God has given us all the gift of speech!  How we use it reflects our stewardship of it!

 

B.   Anybody can swear.  It takes no special talent to use curse words!  A parrot can repeat swear words and do it very well!

 

C.   But it takes stewardship and work to learn to

communicate clearly and to make full use of God's gift

of speech!

 

V.   A Clean Tongue is a Witnessing Tongue! (we talked about having a witnessing tongue last week; we talked about living lives such that people would ask why we live as we do)

 

A.   Profanity is so common place today; people will notice

if we have a clean tongue!

 

B.   People will probably ask, and they will certainly label us as a person with strong convictions.

 

C.   When they ask, it gives us an opportunity to share  Jesus!

 

D.   Our witness is really what's at stake here; if we are  genuinely trusting in God's grace, God's grace will cover those slips.  But people who are looking to us as representatives of God will loose their respect for our testimony or witness.

 

Story:  Before I went into the ministry, I knew a pastor of one of the sister churches in our community.  He was a very good speaker; I really liked to hear him preach.  He was very      enthusiastic and had a very likeable personality.  I really      liked him.  I don't doubt his commitment to God and the church!  As a community, we were preparing for one of our community services, and he was to be the speaker.  I was inviting people to the community service and talking about it one day.  I asked an older gentleman in our community if he were going.  He said he didn't believe he would go.  I    proceeded to share how I really liked to hear him speak and      encouraged him to go.  He said, "When I go to the coffee shop and hear him tell dirty jokes and swear, it is just a little hard for me to put much faith in what he has to say!" What was at stake was his witness!

 

Maybe he thought he was trying to fit in and be personable, but what was at stake was his witness!

 

Conclusion:

 

A.   Do we need to ask God to help us clean up our tongues?

 

B.   Perhaps, in our world today, it is so common place to

not have a clean tongue that we didn't even realize

what we were doing!

 

C.   There really is a lot at stake here; do we need to grow in this area of our lives?

 

 

"Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but

 only what is useful for building up, as there is

 need, so that your words may give grace to those

 who hear"  (Eph. 4:29). NRSV

 

     D.   As we encounter Christ at the table this morning, do

we need to ask Christ for help with this one?  Do we

need to grow in this area of our lives?

 

                      Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion

 

 

Series: The Beautiful Tongue, Sermon four. " A Beautiful Tongue is a Witnessing Tongue!"

 Introduction:

A.   When we think of witnessing, there are two extremes we think about.

1.   There are those who can't carry on a normal

conversation without making a strong sales-pitch

for someone to be saved or repent of their

wrongs! People begin to avoid them because they know they are in for a beating!  This isn't good! 

 

Most of us aren't at this extreme!

 

2.   The other extreme that comes to mind is someone

who you could work with and talk to for twenty

years and never know that they were a Christian!

If someone asked them how to become a Christian,

they wouldn't have the foggiest idea what to tell

them!  This isn't good either!

 

I Hope none of us are at this extreme.  I doubt we are!

 

B.   Most of us probably fall somewhere between these, and

we need to, but chances are most of us at times, if we

are honest, come closer to the second extreme than we'd like to and pass up good opportunities to witness!

 

Trans:

So, this morning I would like to talk about, "A  

Beautiful Tongue is a Witnessing Tongue."

 

                            Prayer

 

I.   We cannot have a private faith! (hear these words)

 

A.   Rom. 10:9 "because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

 

B.   (and again) Matt. 10:32&33    "Everyone therefore who

              acknowledges me before others, I also will

acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but

whoever denies me before others, I will also

deny before my Father in heaven."

 

C.   It goes hand in hand; someone with a true Faith will want to share some way!

 

II.  We should always be ready to speak for Christ!

 

A.   I Peter 3:15   "but in your hearts sanctify Christ as  Lord.  Always be ready to make your                            defense to anyone who demands from you an account for the hope that is in you;                         yet do it with gentleness and reverence."

 

B.   Notice this verse assumes people will ask!  We are to live our lives in a way that people will see us and

want what we've got!  They will be impressed, and they will ask how do we do that! (Story of dad hurting finger and saying, “Mike get a bandaid.)

 

1.   When they ask, we should be ready to give them the reason!  Christ!

 

2.   This is the most effective way to witness!  Get

them to where they will ask us!!

 

C.   This verse brings out 3 important things about a

witnessing tongue!

 

1.   It must be willing! Ready!

If we aren't willing, we will let the

opportunities go by, and the door will be shut!

 

2.   A witnessing tongue must be gentle!

 

a.   This means we must be gentle with the

seeker.

 

b.   We must show them the compassionate love of Christ. Offer Christ, not push Christ down their throats!

 

c.   They may have committed a sin that to us is terrible, but if they are coming to us for help, we have no right to judge them and slam the door on the opportunity to tell them about Christ.  We need to show them the way to a forgiving Savior and start them on a new life in Christ.

 

3.   A witnessing tongue must show respect. "Reverence!"

 

a.   Respect for God's word.

 

b.   Respect for people created by God!

 

     1)   People shouldn't get the feeling that

 we are looking down our noses at them

 but that we view them on the same

 level as ourselves.

 

2)   In God's eyes, their sin is no worse

than ours; the only difference being

God’s grace in Christ.

 

III. A witnessing tongue can be trained!

 

A.   It should be trained!  Too many times the Christian Church has been rather cruel to new converts; we win  someone, and we tell them what is expected of them and throw them out there to either sink or float: most sink.

 

1.   First, we need to teach people character

     development! This is what this series seeks to

     do!  They need to grow as Christians themselves!

 

a.   When they do, this will give them

opportunities to witness! People will notice

and will ask!

 

b.   Then, they will be ready to hear.

 

2.   Next, we need to teach people about faith, grace,  and salvation so they are ready when given the opportunity to lead someone to Christ!

    

B.   Our church is better at this than most!  We offer a lot to help Christian growth.

1.   The emphasis in the United Methodist Church of

doing something with our faith gives people ways

to exercise their faith.

 

2.   Children's Sermons/Church.

 

3.   Confirmation classes as needed.

 

4.   Small groups for prayer, service, and study!

 

5.   Preaching growth, especially during the seasons of growth!  We don’t just bring people to Christ

and forget them!

 

IV.  A witnessing tongue needs to trust in the guidance of the   Spirit!

 

A.   Without the Spirit, we are helpless:  training or no- training!

 

B.   All the training in the world can't prepare us for

every situation, but the Spirit can supply the need.

 

"When they hand you over, do not worry about how you

are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are

to say will be given to you at that time;" (Matt.

10:19).

 

Conclusion:

 

A.   Have we failed in this area?  Do we feel like at times  we have came too close to the second extreme that we talked about at the beginning?

 

B.   Sometimes it is because we have been scared!

Sometimes well meaning men/women have painted the

picture of witnessing that scares most of us to death, and we back off!

 

1.   That picture looks something like this:

 

a.   Knock on door!

 

b.   Stick foot in the door!

 

c.   Are you a Christian?

 

d.   You have sinned!!

 

e.   In another denomination, I participated in a

class on evangelism that basically described

a method just like that! No wonder people

are afraid at the thought of witnessing!  No

wonder people are afraid to come to church!

 

2.   You say, "I can't do that!"

 

3.   God probably isn't asking us to do that!

 

4.   By being too pushy, we can sometimes do more

damage than good.

 

C.   But that doesn't mean we shouldn't visit and get to

know people and rely on the Lord to give us an

opportunity.

 

D.   And there are other ways of witnessing!

 

     1.   Get to know people!

 

     2.   Create opportunities to be with them, besides at

work or places they would be embarrassed to talk!

 

          3.   Look for opportunities to share a word of

witness!  God has made a difference in my life!

Let the Lord lead you in what to say! If they are

not ready, respect that!  It will leave the door

open for another time!

 

E.   What God is asking is that we be ready and willing!

Are we ready and willing today?

Don't be afraid of the Lord!  God won't ask anything

of us that we can't do!  God won't put us in any

situation that God can't bring us through!

 

Remember our membership vow that we answer to when

joining the church:

 

“Will you faithfully participate in the ministries of

this congregation by your prayers, your presence, your

gifts, your service, and your witness?”

 

As we encounter Christ at the table, if we will say, "

Yes Lord, I want to be a better witness."  God will

give us the opportunities!

 

                      Prayer of Confession

 

Service of Communion