"You Will Be My Witnesses"

Hi everyone, my name is Adrian Wong,

and I'm one of the members of the staff team at this church.

It's great that I can bring the word of God to you today.

And I'm also a regular user of Facebook,

and I've seen some memes that try to capture this time in a lighthearted way.

The best one that I have seen is the four stages of quarantine.

You might have that on screen with you.

I love this one because it captures this moment perfectly.

From the stresses of homeschooling or work,

and the potential wage gain of being housebound.

And I just really hope that for myself,

that I won't come out as a more haggardly fatter version of myself

at the end of this time.

And we live in a time of drastic change.

In this section of the Bible,

we can also see and meet a group of Jesus' followers

who also went through a drastic change.

Well, it's easy to bunk up and have a siege mentality during this time.

Just look at all the ludicrous examples of hoarding.

But today, I hope to challenge you to live differently,

both for right now and also to aim for what we can be at the end of this time.

I'll pray to God now so that we can do this.

Dear God, as you change the disciples through Jesus,

through your word,

pray that you can do a similar work in us.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So please keep the Bible open up at Luke 24,

so that we can read through this.

What we have here is a before and after picture.

In verses 36 to 43,

we have the before picture.

The disciples were in a state of shock,

even when Jesus appeared in bodily form.

Let's look at verse 37.

They were described as startled and frightened.

They thought that they saw a ghost.

We can see that Jesus tried to show in different ways that he is real.

In verse 40, he said,

When he had said this,

he showed them his hands and feet.

And while they still did not believe it

because of joy and amazement,

he asked them,

Do you have anything to eat?

The disciples here still couldn't believe what they saw.

So now that we have the before picture,

let's look at the after.

The after picture is in verses 50 to 53.

I'll read from verse 52.

Then they worshipped him

and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.

And they stayed continually at the temple,

praising God.

We must ask ourselves this question.

How did they change from fear and confusion

to worship and proclamation?

To do this, we need to understand what caused the change.

The first thing that caused the change

is the disciples realized

what Jesus means from the Old Testament

because Jesus showed them what he means.

In verse 46, he told them,

This is what is written.

The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.

Jesus' death isn't just a cruel execution

or an accidental death.

But as the Messiah, God's chosen servant,

he willingly suffered so we can be forgiven.

Jesus is also God's chosen king,

rising on the third day

to show that he can defeat the ultimate enemy, death.

Secondly, the disciples understood

Jesus' work and its significance.

In verse 47, it says,

Repentance for the forgiveness of sins

will be preached in his name.

So here, preaching isn't about just what happened to Jesus,

but what his actions has achieved.

So, what does repentance and forgiveness

in his name mean?

So let's look at the idea of repentance.

Dictionary.com defines repentance in this way.

Firstly, deep sorrow or contrition for a past sin,

wrongdoing or the like.

The second way is regret for any past action.

Is this the kind of repentance that Jesus has in mind?

We often function with this dictionary definition,

but that wouldn't be what is described here.

You see, if we function with that definition,

it has nothing to do with Jesus.

Repentance is not only about giving up your moral vices,

but it's actually turning,

turning away from those things to Jesus as the king.

In the same way, forgiveness in Jesus' name

is not mainly about forgiving other people

or seeking forgiveness from others

or trying to forgive yourself to clear your conscience.

When we turn to Jesus,

we realize that we need forgiveness

and the only way we can do that

is through the death of Jesus

so that our wrongdoing can be paid for by Jesus.

So look at the task that Jesus gave to the disciples.

We can see that in verse 47.

And repentance for the forgiveness of sins

will be preached in his name to all nations,

beginning at Jerusalem.

The idea we see here

also appears in Luke, in Acts,

which is a sequel to Luke.

In chapter 1, verse 8, it says,

The disciples carried out the instructions from Jesus

from Luke 24, verse 47,

Luke 24:47

in the book of Acts.

There are two paths to Jesus' instruction,

which is to preach repentance and forgiveness,

and who to preach it to,

to all nations.

We can see the disciples

proclaiming this message

in the book of Acts.

Let me read you some examples

from the book of Acts.

In Acts, chapter 2, verse 38, it says,

Acts 2:38

Repent and be baptized, every one of you,

in the name of Jesus Christ

for the forgiveness of your sins.

Acts 10, verse 43, says,

Acts 10:43

All the prophets testify about him

that everyone who believes in him

receives forgiveness of sins through his name.

Acts 14, verse 15, says,

Acts 14:15

We bring you good news,

telling you to turn from these worthless things

to the living God.

Acts 17, 30,

In the past, God overlooked such ignorance,

but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

In Acts 26,

I preach that they should repent and turn to God

and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.

And in the sermons that I've quoted from,

they also fulfilled the prayer

to preach to all nations,

with Peter preaching in Jerusalem in Acts 2,

and at the end,

near the end,

Paul reaching Rome at the end of Acts.

So, let's look at the third thing.

How are we to proclaim Jesus now?

It's fairly obvious that none of us

are old enough to see Jesus

or have been taught by the disciples.

And we are not eyewitnesses like the disciples are.

And although we won't proclaim Jesus in the same way,

the brief to us is similar.

We are to proclaim Jesus to all nations.

So, let me give you two practical ways

for each part of the brief.

Firstly, how do we reach the nations?

The first way that we can do that

is to deepen our existing relationships.

So, I'll give you an example from one of my friends.

He, like me,

we like playing board games,

and we meet once every two or three months to do so.

As a parent with young kids,

I don't get to do this often,

so that's all we can do,

once every two or three months.

He's also a Christian,

and he really wanted to deepen his relationship

with his high school friends

that he hasn't met that much.

So, he organized to play board games

and chat.

He found that this way of playing,

people were much more willing to meet.

He has organized three of these meetings

in the last month already.

And he had time to delve into more

one-to-one relationships after the games.

The example of what he did

is something that we can emulate.

I'll just break it down into steps

so we can sort of think about

how we do that in our own context.

The first thing is,

we need to encourage

our existing physical communities

to keep in touch in virtual communities.

The second thing

is once you form these communities,

be an active participant

and initiate conversations.

And when you're in these conversations,

be genuine and caring.

And work out how they are feeling

and use it as a bridge

to invite people

to our online church

or community groups.

This season of fear and uncertainty

means that people are more willing

to open up.

Somebody at church shared with me

that he felt during the last month

he has much deeper conversations.

He thinks that it would take years

to achieve the same level of death

under the normal circumstances.

The second way that we can reach nations,

besides building deeper relationships,

is to make new ones.

So for a lot of us,

social distancing is quite tough already.

But imagine doing this by yourself,

as a student,

or a worker on a working visa

from overseas.

And they can't return home overseas

because of travel restrictions.

And they have no way

of connecting with their family and friends.

We have a great opportunity

to connect with many people like this.

especially in the area of Chesford.

In this local council area,

just more than half,

50.6% of people,

were born overseas.

The nations have come to Chesford.

And the nations need to know Jesus,

especially in this time.

So I'll show you some ways

that people at this church

have tried to take hold of this opportunity

to connect with people during this time.

So some people,

during their exercise walks,

have been dropping notes to their neighbours,

either the neighbours

or the same people in the apartment complex,

offering help,

like picking up groceries,

offering their number for a friendly chat,

to establish goodwill.

And as a result,

quite a few of them

have gotten to know their neighbours

a bit better.

And others have tried to do this

in quite creative ways.

For example,

they got the kids to play on the driveway

instead of in the backyard,

just to get more chances

to bump into the neighbours.

I encourage you to think of creative ways

that you can do this

in your own context.

For those that are watching the service online,

and are meeting as a group,

why don't you meet after the service

and brainstorm ideas

of how you can make more connections

and make deeper connections as well.

So let's look at the second part of the brief,

which is how to proclaim Jesus.

So it's unlikely that many of us

will stand in front of 3,000 people

like Peter or more

and proclaim Jesus.

But let me suggest two ways

that we can do this in our context.

The first thing that we have already seen,

that we have mentioned,

is to invite people

to our online communities,

both the large ones

like the live streaming

that you are a part of right now,

or the small ones

in our community groups.

So I'll show you why that's important.

In the past,

the typical path

for people to become a Christian

is for them to figure out

what the Bible means

before joining a local church.

Nowadays,

quite a few of us

want to see and experience

what things are like

for believing.

Putting it another way,

in the past,

a lot of people

want to believe

before they belong.

Now it's more likely

the other way around.

People want to belong

before they believe.

Now this statement

doesn't only apply

to those that grew up

in the postmodern West,

but it also applies

for cultures

that never heard

of the good news of Jesus.

When these people

see and hear

and experience

the good news of Jesus

in action,

they would want to work out

what Jesus means

for them in real life.

I'll give you

an example of this.

A few years ago,

I was talking to

a grandpa

from mainland China

here on a one-year visa

because he was here

to look after his grandkids.

We went to the same church

and as we were

standing outside,

he noticed

how the kids

were playing.

He said to me,

I can see that

you guys are different.

The kids are taking

care of each other

and the parents

were willing

to help the kids

and not just

their own kids

but other kids

if they needed help.

That was attractive

to this grandpa

so he decided

to hang around

this church community

for a while.

Can you see that

in this example

when a community

even as young as kids

express their repentance

turning away

from living for themselves

for caring for each other

it gives us

a living example

of repentance

and the opportunity

to speak about

the message of Jesus.

Even though we can't

meet in person

right now,

we can invite people

to online communities

and there are some

unexpected advantages

for us to do this.

Well,

when people can

live stream church

at home,

they don't have to worry

about fitting in.

They can do it

from the comfort

of their own home

and it's not that far

to,

it's right here at home

so it's not far

for you to go to church.

And the best thing is

people are opting

into church.

They can opt in

as their own accord

and watch this

and work out

what Jesus means for them.

The thing is

the way that we

express community

right now,

whether we are warm

and inviting,

impacts the way

we meet together

when we do

come back together.

So my first challenge

for you is

are you willing

to invite people

to community?

An easy way

for you to do that

is just to post

the live stream links

every week

for church

on Sunday

and work out

how to do

a personal invite

for your community groups.

The second way

that we can proclaim Jesus

is to use our stories.

When people see

the experiences

of our repentance

and forgiveness,

not just the facts

of what Jesus did

and not just

how you were converted,

but how you experience

it every day

is a concrete example

for people to see.

So I'll give you

a second challenge

of how to do that.

I'll film myself

sharing a story

of how I turned

to Jesus

and how it's

impacted my life.

And I would like

to invite you

to take up

the same challenge.

Record a video

of yourself,

tell others

how the good news

of Jesus

has impacted you

and posted

on social media.

Remember,

we can share

both our successes

and failures.

When we are genuine,

others can see

that the impact

of Jesus has on us.

It's actually,

especially in our failures,

that people can see

how repentance

and forgiveness

is about in action.

So as we come

to a close,

I would like to think

of us to think

of church

in the form

of a meme.

So what would

we be like

at the end

of social distancing?

Imagine a church

that takes

the task

of reaching

the nation seriously.

Imagine a church

where every regular

member

has built

five deeper

or new relationships

with those

in our community.

Imagine a church

that takes

proclamation seriously,

that invites people

to our church

and community groups,

and is ready

to share

the good news

of Jesus

in their stories

of how Jesus

has impacted them.

Wouldn't that be

a change worth

aiming for?

So what I would

like to do now

is for us

to have 15 seconds

to jot down

what you want

to change

and James

will lead us

in prayer

after this time.

with the law

to bring us

into that

and

in their

infirmed