GROWING TO BE A GOOD STEWARD OF MY TESTIMONY

Transcription

1 GROWING TO BE A GOOD STEWARD OF MY TESTIMONY Sunday, July 31, 2016 AM BUILDING A LIFE OF STEWARDSHIP Text: I Peter 3:13-15 Every Christian is called to live like Jesus. In John 20:21, Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. How was Jesus sent? He was sent on redemptive mission by the Father. Jesus said, For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10 Every Christian is called to be involved in winning the lost to Christ. Sharing Jesus should be a natural expression of walking with Him. Our relationship with Christ begins when we admit to God that our way is the wrong way. Then we accept Jesus as being the only path to God. From that point, our relationship with Christ should grow deeper and deeper. Our witness should then flow out of that daily and life-changing relationship with Him. You see, each of us who knows Christ as our Savior has a story to tell. We commonly call this story our "testimony." There was a time in my life when I did not know Christ; then, I came to know Him; and now, my life is different because of Him. Share your testimony Do you have a testimony? If so, what was your life like before trusting Christ? How did you come to understand that you needed to a Savior? How did you commit your life to Jesus? How did you make that decision? How has your life been impacted since trusting Christ? Let me encourage you to examine yourself at this point. What s your story of you God s grace and glory?

2 2 Do you have a testimony of having had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ? What would you say if you were to stand before Christ today and He would ask you why should I let you into My heaven? Paul said in 2 Cor. 13:5, Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith; Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you fail to meet the test. Assuming you truly do know Christ, you must understand that we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our testimony. In this series so far, we have talked about being good stewards of our time and talents. We need to understand that the reason God gives us the time and talents He does is so that we might use them to tell others about Christ. Sharing Jesus is the Christian s primary mission in life! In his book, Becoming A Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels says, "God custom designed you with your unique combination of personality, temperament, talents, and background, and He wants to harness and use these in His mission to reach this messed up world." With this in mind, let s look to see what the apostle Peter has to tell us about how we can be good stewards of our testimony. I Peter 3:13-15, And who is he that will harm you, if ye be follower of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

3 3 Peter says that if I am going to be a good steward of my testimony: 1. I NEED TO SHOW CHRIST v a The Christian s commitment to living a life that counts for God and blesses others should be his consuming passion and daily delight! But delighting to do good is not enough. Because this world stands in opposition to the things of Christ... Peter poses a question Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good? Where is he coming from? Look back at v. 12: The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. Sometimes, we make those around us uncomfortable when we seek to stand for what is right and good, because it is easier on them for us to "go along with the crowd." "Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." - Mark Twain When that happens, we might find that "doing good" is more difficult in the short run, but Peter assures us that it will, nevertheless, be worth it in the long run. Therefore, if we are going to be good stewards of our testimony, we need to commit to doing what is right, even if it is not what is popular, and even when it is difficult. This is the kind of testimony that will be used of God to change the hearts of those who are lost. There is a direct link between your Christian character and your testimony. It s often said that your character is who you are when no one is looking. Trust me someone is always watching our lives and they are looking to see if we showcase Christ in us. Yesterday we witnessed the testimony of Cindy Patrick on display with a capacity crowd of family & friends. Each one bore witness to her testimony of knowing Christ.

4 4 You see she was completely satisfied in who she was in Christ. She didn t have to please man because her desire was to please Christ. When Christ becomes our focus we don t worry about what man may say or do. V. 14 gives us clarity on the right perspective on this. But and if ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. I m sure Cindy faced ridicule for her faith in Christ. I m sure she was criticized for following her convictions and doing what God had led her to do. Yet she didn t worry about that she didn t seek to please man. Instead she sought to use her life as a way to showcase Christ to the world. Her testimony was a platform for others to hear the truth that Jesus loves us and desires to save us. If I am going to win others to Christ, I need to seek to be this kind of Christian. 2. I NEED TO SHARE CHRIST v. 15 What is the biggest obstacle to sharing Christ? FEAR! It s a 4 letter word that often cripples the Christian from following through on the mission Christ gave us. What do unbelievers fear? Well, among the many fears found in the lives of people in our world today, chief among them is the fear of being rejected by others -the fear of what other people think. That is the fear that Peter says we, as Christians, must not allow ourselves to be crippled by. Instead of concerning ourselves with what other people think, we need to care only about what our Lord thinks! I need to commit myself to living for an audience of One! Christ commands us to share our story with others! To do any less is to dishonor His lordship! Instead of being faithless and fearful, let s commit ourselves to being faithful and fearless!" The fact is that witnessing makes both the Christian and the non- Christian nervous! What we need to do is settle the lordship issue and

5 5 decide that we will overcome our fears by placing our faith in the One who calls us to share our testimony with others. Dr. Bill Thorn tells a story about a preacher who went to a church to preach a revival meeting in the days of the old west. He was nervous when all the men of the congregation showed up wearing pistols. He went ahead with his sermon as best he could, despite his nervousness. When he finished, he really began to panic when the men began to make their way toward the front with their guns drawn. He turned to the chairman of Deacons who was seated beside him and who sought to calm him down. "Don t worry," said the Deacon, "they re not coming after you. They re looking for the fellow who invited you to preach." Sometimes, fear about how we might be received keeps us from sharing our story! Vance Havner said, I know that there are some that are always studying the meaning of the fourth toe of the right foot of some beast in prophecy, and they ve never used either foot yet to tell people about Jesus. I do not know who the "666" is in Revelation, but I do know this world is "sick, sick, sick" and the best way to speed the Lord s return is to win more souls for Him. "Successful witnessing is sharing Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God." The reason why many of us do not experience much of the power & provision of the Holy Spirit in our lives is because we never allow ourselves to get in a position where we need the Holy Spirit to work on our behalf. It is only as we get "out there" on the cutting edge of what God has in mind for us to be doing that we will experience all there is to experience of the power and provision of God. Philemon 6, I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. To

6 6 overcome the fear factor, I simply need to settle the lordship issue and determine to be more concerned with what the Lord thinks about me than with what others think about me. Life Application: Write out your testimony! This helps you remember what God has done for you and allows you the opportunity then to share it with others. Look for opportunities to share it! God gives us divine appointments every day to share His story. When we are ready and prayed up He reveals them on a regular basis. In 1858 a man laid a trembling hand on the shoulder of a young shoe clerk and said, I m concerned about you." That afternoon, that young man knelt in the basement of a shoe store and asked Jesus into his life. He was touched by this man s concern. The young clerk was D.L. Moody. Later he wrote, "How strange it was that a men who had only known me for two weeks would be concerned about me." Moody became an evangelist, and in 1879 was invited to England. His host was the learned pastor, F.B. Meyer. Meyer no sooner heard Moody preach that he regretted having invited him, because Moody was uncouth, and unlearned. As soon as Moody left, F.B. Meyer set about to repair the damage that he supposed D.L. Moody had done in his upper class church. The first person that Meyer called on was a Sunday School teacher of young girls. As soon as he entered her home, she said, "Oh Dr. Meyer, I ve been under conviction ever since I heard brother Moody speak. So I began to visit the girls in my Sunday School class and I ve led every one of them to Jesus. Meyer went home and fell on his knees. Soon he began to preach evangelistic sermons and his church began to grow. As his success became known, he was invited to preach in America. Among his

7 7 engagements was a series of meetings on college campuses. At one college meeting, a student, J. Wilber Chapman, heard the preaching and accepted Christ. Chapman went into Y.M.C.A. work. He needed a helper, so he hired a young convert named Billy Sunday. Sunday soon began to do the work of an evangelist, and on one occasion, he preached a meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. A group of local businessmen heard Sunday preach about the power of prayer. They began to meet regularly for prayer. Some months later, Mordecai Ham accepted their invitation to come to Charlotte to preach a series of meetings. During one of those evening tent meetings a young man felt that the evangelist was pointing his sermons directly at him. The next night, he joined the choir so that he might be seated behind the evangelist. That night, the evangelist turned around and preached to the choir. During the invitation, the young man prayed to receive Christ. His name? Billy Graham. And the story goes on... But where did it all begin? With a man who cared enough to share the story of Jesus by sharing his story, so that a young man might have his life turned into a brand new story! Share your story of God s Grace & Glory with someone this week! You never know God might use it to change their life! If you do not have a testimony of having trusted Christ, why not trust Him today. We never know when our time on this earth will be over.