Why Share?

Well, good evening, and thank you for the invitation to come and to share with you.

Before we start, let me thank you as well for your partnership in the gospel this past year.

Our church, Holyrood Evangelical, has been meeting in your upper hall for our midweek

prayer meetings, and that has been a tremendous blessing to us, and just a really tangible

partnership.

So we are grateful to you.

Let me also apologize in advance.

There's a lot of illness in my house.

My wife and three daughters have a cold.

I appear to have caught man flu at the same time, and so my voice is a bit diminished.

So I pray your forbearance tonight.

Listen to these words of Rico Tice.

I find evangelism hard.

Rico Tice, probably the foremost evangelist in the United Kingdom today, I find evangelism

hard.

We all find evangelism hard.

I find it much easier to be here just now giving a talk on evangelism than I would actually

doing the work of evangelism somewhere in Edinburgh.

So we're going to come together tonight to think about this topic and how we might be encouraged

in our evangelism.

And I was really challenged exactly a year ago when I was on a trip to North India, and I was

walking through a park in Delhi, and I got completely lost.

And I found these two gentlemen, and I said, excuse me, I'm very lost.

Could you help me get to this particular road I was going to?

And they said, well, we'll take you where you want to go, and Max Muller-Marg, and off

we went.

And as we were about to part, out of nowhere, this chap produced a little booklet called

The Meaning of Your Life.

And he said, I'd like you to have this.

And I thought, wow, I'm being evangelized.

And I said, that's great, thank you.

And are you a Christian?

He said, no, I'm a Muslim.

And I run this charity, and we produce resources for children and for the work of mission.

And I thought, isn't that incredible?

Well, here is a man who is so passionate about his faith that he takes every opportunity,

even helping a stranger through a public park, to give him a piece of literature and to try

to talk to him about Islam.

And I thought, do I have the same enthusiasm about the gospel that I would be so willing

to do that with people I meet?

Well, the Apostle Paul had that passion for the gospel.

And if you have a Bible, if you could open it to Titus chapter 3.

Titus 3 · chapter mention

Paul writes a letter to Titus, whom he has left on Crete, to put the church into good order.

And as we read Paul's letter to Titus, we see that throughout he is passionate about the gospel.

Paul introduces himself, chapter 1, verse 3, as a preacher of the gospel.

Paul is concerned that the leaders, the elders of the church, are those, chapter 1, verse 9,

who hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught.

People who love the gospel, who can articulate the gospel.

People who can defend the gospel.

And in chapters 2 and 3, there are these sort of lengthy ethical exhortations.

And yet all the way through, Paul is always pointing them back to the gospel.

So in chapter 2, he talks about the need for godliness, for self-control.

And the reason he says, chapter 2, verse 11, is for the grace of God that brings salvation

has appeared to all men.

It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions,

and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age,

while we wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,

who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness,

and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

The gospel, the grace of God, teaches us to say no to ungodliness,

and to wait that when Christ appears, we will be holy.

And as we come to chapter 3, I want to look with you at chapter 3, verses 1 to 8.

He's encouraging the people to be rich in good works,

to be model citizens, to be kind to the people around them.

And again, he gives as the reason for this exhortation the gospel.

Let's read chapter 3, verse 1 to verse 8.

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities,

to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,

to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate,

and to show true humility towards all men.

At one time, we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived,

and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.

We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,

he saved us not because of righteous things we had done,

but because of his mercy.

He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,

whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,

so that having been justified by his grace,

we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to stress these things,

so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.

These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

We have in chapter 3, verses 4 to 7,

one of the richest, most concise, most beautiful summaries of the gospel that we have in all of Scripture.

It is so rich.

It is Trinitarian.

We see God the Father taking the initiative,

sending his Son into the world,

God the Son dying for our sins,

being raised to life and exalted to the right hand,

and Jesus sending the Spirit.

And it highlights for us the great benefits of the gospel

in our past, in our present, and in our future.

Chapter 3, verses 4 to 5,

Paul talks about the past,

the kindness and love of God our Savior has appeared,

saving us not because of righteous things we had done,

but because of his mercy.

Verse 7,

having been justified by grace.

Paul talks about the mercy of God shown to us

while we were still sinners,

the love of God while we were still sinners.

And the word mercy is the same word that is used in the parable of the Good Samaritan.

You know, the story of the man who's traveling along the road

and he gets assaulted,

and he's lying, dying, and bleeding by the roadside,

and along come the religious rulers,

and they sort of cross over and ignore him.

And then comes the Samaritan,

and he sees this man unconscious,

puts him on his donkey,

and he takes him to the inn,

and cares for him and pays for his treatment.

And Jesus says,

which one of these men had mercy?

God looks down on us in our sin,

and our shame,

and our weakness,

and he has mercy upon us.

Paul says,

because of his own mercy,

God has saved us.

It's a wonderful picture, isn't it?

The language of Ephesians 2,

not this half-dead man lying on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho,

but us dead in sin and trespass.

He says,

all of us lived at one time gratifying the cravings of our flesh,

following its desires and thoughts.

Like the rest,

we were by nature objects of wrath,

but because of his great love for us,

God, who is rich in mercy,

made us alive with Christ,

even when we were dead in transgressions.

It is by grace you have been saved.

And the people of Crete needed that mercy.

Look at the description of them.

They were foolish,

deceived,

disobedient.

They were enslaved.

They hated one another.

And yet God in his mercy reaches down to them

and forgives them their sin

and wipes away the shame.

It's an incredible thing, isn't it?

The forgiveness of sins.

The psalmist says,

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he separated our sins from us.

If you live in Glasgow,

the east does seem very far away, doesn't it?

But the psalmist says,

it's even further than that.

He's taken it an impossible distance,

casting our sins into the very depths of the sea.

We often take for granted, don't we,

the forgiveness of our sins

and the cleansing of our conscience.

The other day,

I was walking my daughter back

from the bus stop at school

and there was the window cleaner

and he was being swooped by a seagull.

Interestingly, I said to him,

this is like something out of a Hitchcock film

and, you know,

what have you done to this bird?

And there was a nest or something.

And we got talking

and after a while,

we go on to the subject of the gospel.

And just out of the blue,

he said, you know,

I'm really troubled by my conscience

and sometimes I can't sleep at night

thinking of all the things I've done.

Isn't it interesting,

a man who spends his whole life

cleaning things

and yet cannot cleanse his conscience.

And yet here,

Paul says,

God is willing to save us,

not because of righteous things,

but because of his mercy

to cleanse our consciences

from dead works,

to forgive us our sins

and to put a new spirit within us.

Verse 5,

he saved us through the washing of rebirth

and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

One translation has regeneration.

Regeneration.

It's a word we sometimes hear,

isn't it,

if you're a Doctor Who fan?

It's okay.

You're allowed to be a Doctor Who fan.

You can admit that.

But regeneration is what happens,

isn't it?

It's when the doctor sort of dies

and then he's changed.

Externally,

his face changes.

But regeneration in the Bible

is an internal change,

a transformation.

God putting a new spirit within us,

a new heart within us,

making us new people.

Look at the difference it made in Crete.

These people who hated each other,

now loving one another,

these people who were foolish

and deceived,

now walking in the truth of the gospel,

being made wise unto salvation.

The transforming power of God

in their lives.

We had a couple of months ago

a 20th reunion of our class at school.

It's amazing, isn't it?

I mean, time flies.

20 years,

who'd have thought?

But one of the chaps

I was really looking forward to

because at school he'd,

like most of us,

I suppose as teenagers,

been a bit of a troublemaker.

And yet a few years back

a friend of mine was at Akili

and he did the strip,

the willow,

you know,

they ran up the tunnel

and at the end of the tunnel

he met this chap from school

and they got talking

and it transpired

this other fellow

had become a believer.

And my friend said,

it was as if he had a new heart,

completely different.

And I said,

well he did have a new heart

because God had washed him,

it caused him to be born again,

he'd renewed him

by the power of the Holy Spirit,

poured out generously on him

through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

wonderful freedom,

being set free from sin,

being set free from walking

according to the flesh

and now walking according

to the Spirit of God,

bringing forth fruit

unto him.

The gospel deals with our past

in giving to us

the forgiveness of our sins.

God deals with our present,

giving us power and strength

for life,

pouring his Holy Spirit

into us,

that the love of God

may dwell in us.

And verse 7,

that we might have hope

for the future,

having been justified

by his grace,

we might become heirs

having the hope

of eternal life.

I've only known one heir

in my life,

university,

the chap across the corridor

from me,

I thought he was a bit posh,

I didn't realise quite

how posh he was.

And I googled him

a few years ago

and found out he's inherited

this massive country house

in England

and I wish we'd spent

more time together

and become firm friends.

He was an heir,

he had something wonderful

that he was to receive

in the future.

And as Christians,

we are heirs,

we have the hope

and the promise

of eternal life,

a glorious inheritance

kept in heaven for us,

being shielded

by the power of God.

Makes all the difference,

doesn't it?

Makes all the difference

between a humanist funeral

and a church funeral.

Made all the difference

a few weeks ago

sitting for the last time

at the bedside

of an old friend of mine.

As he said,

I'm looking forward

to heaven,

having the hope

of eternal life.

The gospel deals

with our past,

it deals with our present,

it deals with our future

and Paul was so excited

by the gospel.

He rejoiced

as people turned

from the worship

of idols

to the worship

of the living God,

as people were freed

from their sins

to know the forgiveness

of them,

as they ceased walking

according to the flesh

and kept in step

with the Spirit of God,

as they moved

from objects of wrath

to children

of blessing

and salvation,

as they went

from darkness

and death

to life.

He was passionate

about it

because he'd experienced

that mercy

in his own life.

First Timothy,

he gives his testimony

and he says,

even though I was once

a blasphemer

and persecutor

and violent man,

I was shown mercy

because I acted

in ignorance

and unbelief

and the grace of God

was poured out

on me abundantly

along with the faith

and love

and love

there in Christ Jesus

who came into the world

to save sinners

of whom I am the worst.

Paul believed the gospel

and he knew it to be true.

He knew its power

in his own life

and he was passionate

and he wanted to share it

with people

that they might know

the power

and the freedom

that comes in Christ.

Why share?

Because the gospel

is true.

Because it's good news.

Because we've come

to know the Lord

and experience

the many benefits

of living by faith

in him

because we have been

forgiven our sins.

We are born again

of the Spirit of God

because we have hope

for the future.

So many reasons

to get excited.

I hope you're all

going to be hanging out

in the meadows tomorrow

looking for lost people.

Giving them literature.

Why share?

But of course

it is hard to share

isn't it?

Rico Tice

finds evangelism difficult.

And I wanted

as our second heading

to ask

well why not share?

Why are we not sharing?

Why am I not sharing

the gospel?

And Rico is very perceptive

in this book

which I commend to you

Honest Evangelism.

And we'll see in a second

that he points out

the hostility

that can come.

Before we do

I want you just to look

at this quote

by Michael Gove.

He's had an interesting year

but last year

he wrote an article

for The Spectator

and he said this

To call yourself

a Christian

in contemporary Britain

is to invite pity,

condescension

or cool dismissal.

In a culture

that prizes

sophistication,

non-judgmentalism,

irony and detachment

it is to declare

yourself intolerant,

naive,

superstitious

and backward.

hurt.

Rico Tice

says it

maybe a bit more

accurately.

He says if you're going

to talk to people

about Jesus

you're going to get hurt.

It is going to sever

some relationships.

It is going to provoke people.

Not every time

and depending on our circumstances,

friendship groups,

workplaces and so on

our experiences will vary

but we will face rejection

enough of the time

to give us second thoughts.

everyone who wants

to live a godly life

in Christ Jesus

will be persecuted.

Rico says

there is hostility.

Some people

will take exception.

They will take offense

at you sharing

the gospel with them.

But with the hostility

there is also hunger.

And he goes on to say

something else

is going on too.

There is increased hunger.

The same rising tide

of secularism

and materialism

is proving to be

an empty and hollow way

to live.

And that means excitingly

you're more and more likely

to find people

quietly hungering

for the content

of the gospel.

So we live in a situation

where there is hostility

to the gospel.

Maybe you've experienced that.

But there is also hunger.

And the difficulty is

we never know quite

what we're going to meet.

Evangelism is a risky business.

And whenever we seek

to say a word about the Lord

there is always a risk

isn't there?

It may go badly.

Someone may be hostile.

But there's the risk

the person may be hungry.

And we might be given

a tremendous opportunity.

We don't know.

We can't second guess.

And therefore the Lord

calls us to step out

of the comfort zone

into what one writer

describes as the zone

of the unknown.

And to take a risk.

It's a risky business.

But it's an exciting business.

Normally at this time

of night on a Sunday

or just before

I usually stand on the street

outside Portobello Town Hall

and try and sort of

bring people into the service.

And a couple of weeks ago

this chap walked past

in a huge black cape.

And I thought,

well this is interesting.

He's either a Jedi Knight

or is Harry Potter

going to the beach

or something.

I wasn't quite sure.

And I said,

would you like to come in?

It turns out he does

the ghost tours

on the Royal Mile.

And he was very interested.

And he said,

who are you?

What do you do?

And we began to talk

about theology.

And he'd done a few modules

at Edinburgh University.

And who'd have known

that this chap

dressed all in black

wandering around

was actually asking

deep and philosophical questions.

It's a risk, wasn't it?

A risk to strike up

a conversation with him.

It is a risky business.

Rico says,

you will get hurt.

You will face ridicule.

You will face rejection.

Painful rejection.

From friends.

Perhaps from family.

You may face difficulty

in the workplace,

particularly in the public sector.

But it is a risk worth taking.

What I want to do next

is have a little think,

maybe a bit more practically,

about how we can

take these risks.

Maybe think through

in our own minds

how individually

and corporately

we can think about

sharing the gospel.

This is something

we've been working through

as, God willing,

we hope to be in a new building

in a few weeks.

And we've been wondering

how we're going to

share the gospel

with people in that area

of Edinburgh.

And I've got

really three headings for you.

I have the four G's,

the four S's,

the four C's.

And what I've done,

you can see why I

dropped standard grade art

at a very early stage

in school.

Here's some graphic design

that I put together.

And this is what I call

the four G's.

And you've got up there

glorifying God.

This is what I think

Paul is teaching in Titus.

What is the purpose

of the church?

At one level,

we are to glorify God.

How?

Well, by living godly lives,

being holy,

as God is holy,

by being rich in good works,

as we adorn the gospel

and silence the criticism

of a cynical world.

And as we proclaim the gospel,

that others might turn

from idols to worship

and to glorify God.

I've put it in a sort of circle.

It makes it quite hard to read.

So that's it in bullet points.

Paul wanted the church in Crete

to glorify God

by sharing the gospel,

by being holy,

being godly,

and doing good works.

And I think that's quite

a handy grid

as we think about

what we're doing each day.

God wants us to be holy.

He wants us to adorn the gospel

by our lips,

our conversation,

and our lives,

by our conduct.

He wants us to do good to people

and to seize the opportunities

as and when they come.

And you say,

well, who can I share with?

Well, to help you,

I've got another indecipherable picture,

and this is what I call

the four C's.

I'll just put it there.

And who do I know?

Who am I in contact with?

Well, we all have,

I trust,

close friends and family.

There's people we know regularly

and have known for many years

and often very hard, in fact,

to share with close friends and family,

but there are opportunities.

We have colleagues and acquaintances,

people in the badminton club

or the crochet society,

whatever we do in our spare time.

There are those people

we're always encountering

day by day,

week by week.

There are opportunities

to get involved,

to engage with the community.

You could join the community council

or join a club.

And there is, of course,

cold contact,

that is,

complete strangers,

people in parks,

knocking on doors,

giving out leaflets

at bus stops,

all sorts of ways

in which to come into people.

So we have the four G's.

We know what God wants us

to do in our lives day to day.

We have the four C's.

We have all these people

we're sort of encountering

and rubbing up against,

but how can we communicate

the gospel to them?

Well, we have the four S's.

And actually,

it's really one S,

but I've repeated it four times.

And it's all about sharing.

And how can we share?

Well, in theory,

it's quite simple.

We can share a resource

with somebody.

Somebody could read

the message of the gospel

or the text of scripture.

Somebody could watch something

that communicates visually

the eye gate.

Somebody could hear or listen

to an MP3 or a CD

or a tape.

Remember them?

We can communicate the gospel

through the eye gate,

through the ear gate.

We can share.

Give somebody something

to take away,

like the man in the park.

We can share one-to-one.

And hasn't it been encouraging

to see the growth

of the Uncover project

in UCCF,

where they've had

the gospel of Luke,

they've had the gospel of John,

and their vision is

you invite a friend

to sit down

and have a coffee with you

and you read a short episode

in the gospel

and discuss it

and you lead them

to a presentation of Christ

and who he is.

You can share one-to-one,

sitting down with people

that's borne tremendous fruit

in recent years.

We can share in a small group.

Christian Explored,

Life Explored,

exciting new resource,

house group,

youth group,

student group.

Wonderful to invite people along,

informal setting,

just be able to talk about

the things of the Lord.

And of course,

we can share

in a service,

guest service,

or week by week

as the word

is systematically expounded.

expounded.

And we pray that God's spirit

will take that word

and apply it to the hearts

of the hearers,

awakening them

to new life.

Four S's.

How can we share

getting the Bible

into people's hands,

getting it into their ears

and their eyes,

getting it into their minds,

and ultimately

into their hearts?

Well, that's the theory,

isn't it?

And the practice is,

of course,

much more difficult

as Rico Tice

and all of us know.

I think I spoke here

a few years ago

just about

conversational evangelism

and there were nine points

and John remembers all nine,

so if you want to know

what they are,

you can speak to John afterwards.

But I think, really,

I've only got two points

to say

about conversational evangelism now.

And I'm no expert,

but I've learned some lessons

over the years.

And really,

my first heading here

is simply to speak

in a way people will listen

and listen in a way

people will speak.

And I have found it

just a tremendous help,

a lesson I learned

from an older Christian

that if we genuinely

take an interest

in other people

and inquire

as to their interests

and their work and so on

and ask them questions,

there comes a point

where they stop wanting

to answer questions

and start asking questions.

Instead,

you can ask a window cleaner

about a seagull

and end up talking

about the cleansing

of one's conscience.

I think as Christians,

we have to be

outward looking,

we have to be

engaging people

in conversation,

talking to natural people

about natural things

in order to move

the conversation

onto spiritual things,

listening in a way

that people will speak

and speaking in a way

people will listen.

And I think listening

is very important

because,

as I've said,

we can't second guess.

And everybody

has a story,

don't they?

Everybody has

some kind of understanding

of the gospel.

And it's interesting

to try and get at

what people are thinking.

We're speaking to somebody

and we discover

they're not a Christian.

Well, we have to ask,

well, why is that?

There must be a reason.

Is it simply

that this person

has never heard

or understood the gospel?

And that's very likely,

actually, in Scotland

as in many other parts

of the world.

They've simply never

held a Bible in their hands,

never met a Christian,

never had somebody

talk to them.

Is it that they

have questions

about the gospel

like my Jedi Knight friend

the other day,

obviously a deep thinker,

and yet just looking

for somebody

who could discuss

these things with?

Are there questions

people have?

Genuine,

intellectual questions

that they want

to explore?

I don't know

if you heard

Tom Devine

on the radio

a couple of weeks ago.

Sir Tom Devine,

the historian,

in a fascinating interview

on the Sunday morning

programme,

and he said

his biggest stumbling

block to faith,

though he is himself

a Roman Catholic,

was why there is

only life on earth

when the galaxy

is so big.

That isn't a particular

issue for many people

I meet,

but a genuine

intellectual question.

Has God got a purpose

for this universe

beyond this one planet?

Or are there issues,

moral, ethical,

lifestyle issues,

that stop people

believing the gospel?

They might understand it,

they might know it

to be true,

but something is

holding them back

like the rich young man.

One thing they lack,

something they're not

willing to give up

in their lives.

And as I mentioned,

I really only have

two tips in terms

of conversational evangelism,

and it's both to

wait to be asked questions,

and then to ask questions.

And as John

would remind you,

I've got two headings

for these,

both borrowed

from other people,

of course.

And the first is really

to shake the tree.

And that is in the course

of conversation,

simply to throw things

out there that identify

you as a Christian.

So tomorrow at work,

when folks say,

what did you do

at half past six last night?

You say,

well, I went to church.

Or we're going to have

a prayer meeting this week,

or one of my children's

getting baptized,

just to put things out there.

And it's amazing

how often people

will come back to you.

I was pushing my daughter

in a swing in Portobello,

and this other lady

appeared next to us,

a sort of middle-aged

American lady,

and she was pushing

her granddaughter,

and we got talking

about swings or something,

and she asked me,

I can't remember what it is,

I mentioned I'm a minister

in a church or something,

and she immediately

began talking about

a book she'd be reading

by an Episcopalian

in America,

and the questions

that she had

from reading this book,

this Christian book.

Just throwing things

out there

and waiting

to be asked questions.

But of course,

sometimes we need

to be a bit more proactive

and to take the initiative,

and sometimes we need

to ask the question.

Enrico Tice,

again,

this tremendous book

calls that crossing

the pain line.

Don't know about you,

but I find it incredibly hard

to ask people

personal questions.

I used to work

as a doctor,

and I used to ask people

incredibly personal questions,

and yet,

I find it very difficult

outside of that

professional bubble

to ask people

personal questions

about their lives.

And yet,

sometimes we just need

to say,

do you have a faith yourself?

Do you get any

church connections?

You ever read the Bible?

As I walked to get

my daughter from school

last week,

there was a chap

waiting in a taxi.

He was the driver

just waiting for a fare.

He had his window down.

He obviously

enjoys the cold.

And he was just sitting there,

and I had a sort of

evangelistic newspaper,

and as I walked past,

I said,

would you like a paper, mate?

And he said,

what's this?

And I said,

well,

it's a Christian newspaper.

And he was a kind of

tough-looking guy.

And he said,

oh,

it's really interesting.

Oh yeah,

my brother's a Baptist

pastor in Manchester.

I said,

oh.

And he said,

and my wife goes

to the local church.

And I said,

what about yourself?

Do you have a faith?

And he said,

oh,

no,

but I'm really interested.

Crossing the pain line,

just asking that

personal question.

Shake the tree,

cross the pain line,

two points,

and it's incredible

what the Lord can do

with those two little questions.

What and when to share.

So how do we put

this all together?

Well,

the four G's,

the four C's,

and the four S's,

the four G's,

we want to glorify God,

we want to be godly,

we want to do good works,

we want to share the gospel.

Who are we going to share it with?

Well,

we want to share it with

close friends and family.

We want to share it

with our colleagues,

we want to share it

with people in the community

we sort of have

some connection with.

We want to share it

with complete strangers.

How do we share it?

Well,

you can give somebody

something to read

or listen to

or watch.

You can invite them

to sit down with you

and have a discussion

over a coffee.

You can invite them

into a small group.

You can say,

come along on a Sunday evening,

there's some tremendous

biscuits and coffee

and we'll listen for an hour

and then we'll have

a conversation.

Simple in theory,

very difficult in practice.

But friends,

my prayer is that

we would all be passionate

about the gospel,

that we would be patient

and persistent in prayer

and of course

that we would apprehend

the tremendous power

of the gospel.

Think of the difference

it's made to your life,

knowing the Lord.

Think of the difference

it made in Paul's life.

Think of the difference

it's made in your family's life.

At the end of my trip,

I ended up in Bangalore

and I had a friend

from Bangalore

who I knew from church

in Glasgow

and I texted him

and said,

we'd love to come

and see you

and he said,

that's fine,

come and visit

after church on Sunday

and we got there,

it transpires,

he actually was on holiday

and he lives in London

and I thought,

well,

it would have been cheaper

to go and visit you

in London

but here we are

and he was there,

he was having

a family gathering,

Christian family,

Indian Christian family

and we sat

and we had tea

and sort of cakes

and things

and I said,

you know,

you're Christians,

you're India,

how did all this happen?

And the father said

that in the 19th century,

an evangelist

had shared the gospel

with one of their

distant ancestors,

some kind of

great,

great grandfather

and he'd believed,

been baptized

and made a profession

of faith in Christ

and that changed

the entire direction

of that family

such that over

a hundred years later

instead of worshipping

idols

and being held captive

by the fear

of spirits,

generations of that family

had come to faith

in Christ

and had been brought up

in Christian homes

and had served

in their local churches.

Think of the remarkable

things that can happen

when you share the gospel

with an individual,

fruit being born

hundreds of years

from now,

perhaps in faraway lands.

God is glorified

when people are godly,

when they believe

the gospel

and when they share

the gospel.

Well, friends,

I trust that you and I

will still find evangelism

difficult tomorrow morning.

But I pray

and I suppose

this is my prayer

that the Lord

will give us opportunities

just to pray,

Lord,

somebody this week,

let me just share

something of the gospel

with somebody this week.

maybe carry

in your pocket

a little booklet

like that chap in the park,

just something you can

give to somebody

and be willing

to take the risk

and to say,

I don't know what's

going to happen here,

maybe I'm going to be ridiculed,

maybe I'm going to face rejection,

but maybe the Lord

is going to give me

an opportunity

and maybe in a hundred years' time

there will be people

worshipping God

because I was willing

to step out of my comfort zone,

into the zone of the unknown

and to say a word for Christ.

What a privilege.

May we be passionate

about that privilege.

Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you

for your mercy

and your grace

that in Christ

you have forgiven us

all our sins.

You have

renewed us

by your Holy Spirit

you have given to us

hope and a future.

Lord, that we have in him

every spiritual blessing

and we do not forget

all your benefits.

We think of the blessings

it is to be part

of this church family.

For many of us

we think of the great benefits

of being raised

in Christian homes,

having Christian parents

or grandparents,

Christian friendships,

and how grateful

we are for all these things

and yet we find it

so hard

to share that blessing

and to risk

our reputations

and our comfort

in order

that others might come

to know every spiritual

blessing in Christ.

Forgive us, we pray,

when our hearts

grow cold

and yet, Lord,

may your power

be made perfect

in our weakness

though we might go out

in fear

and trembling

that we will hear

your voice

saying to us,

you know,

keep on speaking

for I am with you.

We pray, Lord,

that this week

each of us

will have the great pleasure

of speaking

to a friend

or a colleague

or somebody

at a bus stop

about you

that there might

be rejoicing

in heaven

even if

only one sinner

repents.

and, Lord,

that you would give us

a holy boldness

and a humble love

to say a word

for Christ.

So we thank you

for this time.

We pray that we would

encourage one another now

and that you would

go with us

as we continue on

into the evening.

But we thank you

for this time together

in Jesus' name.

Amen.