Ask a parent of young children to lead the congregation in the following responsive reading. Responsive Reading

Transcription

1 How Will They Hear? This year s theme How will they Hear? is a call for us to tell the good news to children and all ages. This Sunday is the perfect opportunity to challenge and inspire the whole church to speak the amazing, story of redemption to those they relate to in their everyday walking-around life.

2 Platform Environment Create a large banner with a big question mark painted on it and the Phrases Can You Hear Me Now? and How Shall They Hear? printed on it. Optional display Create a large Bible out of cardboard with a large photo of a group of kids from your church inside. Write the phrase Don t leave the message in an unopened book. Speak It! Pre-service Atmosphere Invite the Children s choir to sing a number of simple songs as the service begins. Traditional Pre-service Music: He Keeps Me Singing Luther B. Bridgers Contemporary Pre-service Music: Undignified Matt Redman Welcome and Prayer Invite two or three children to welcome the congregation into worship by reading the following: Child 1: Welcome to Children s day at. If you are visiting with usyou ve come on a special day. Child 2: We re going to worship God and find out how we can tell our friends about Jesus. Child 3: We want you to sing, pray, and listen with us. We are so glad you made it to this important time. Let s worship! Ask a parent of young children to lead the congregation in the following responsive reading. Responsive Reading Leader: How can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? Worshipers: And how can they believe without hearing about Him? Leader: And how can they hear without a preacher? Worshipers: And how can they preach unless they are sent? Leader: As it is written: Worshipers: How welcome are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things! Leader: But all did not obey the gospel For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? Worshipers: So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. Leader: And what is the message? Worshipers: It is a message of grace. Leader: It is a message of love. Worshipers: It is Good News! Leader: For God so loved the world Worshipers: That He gave His only Son. Leader: That whosoever believes in Him Worshipers: Shall not perish but have eternal life! 2

3 Worship Medley of Congregational Hymns I ll Tell the World That I m a Christian Shout to the Lord! People Need the Lord Hymn: Pass It On or Chorus: Give Thanks With a Grateful Heart Special Music: Select a Choral Special or Solo. Examples: Children, Go Where I Send Thee, Kum Ba Yah, Blessed Be The Name of the Lord If We are the Body Dramatic Reading: I Simply Must Message: See the Sermon Content and Outline that is found in this resource. Invitation: Be My Everything Tim Hughes Blessing for Speaking the Truth Lord, we live in a land of lies. We acknowledge you as the way the truth and the life. As we go How Will They Hear? Romans 10: But how can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How welcome are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things! 16 But all did not obey the gospel For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. Introduction One of the amazing things about the good news is this: After Jesus came down to Earth to teach us how to live, to give us a new way to connect with God and then to die for our sins, to conquer the sting of death and to rise in victory, He gave Christians the responsibility to tell the world about the salvation to us! This is what he said to His followers: May we be courageous to tell people about You. May we be filled with the joy that makes our word irresistible. May we get rid of discouragement that so often hinders The Message. May we know the right words and the right time. May we trust you in every situation and every opportunity? And as we go, may your peace go with us. Conclude with the song: We are an Offering Chris Christian 3 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing (them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20 (HCSB) What an amazing idea! He could have sent angels. He could have taken His hand and written the good news in the sky. He could have even left the duty of telling the Message to kings, authorities and judges. Instead He left the responsibility of sharing the good news with common, ordinary people like you and me. We speak the truth in many ways. When someone truly understands the message of grace and good news, we are compelled to speak. In other words, it s not a have-to. It s a getto! We get to tell the message. It comes

4 from inside us. It s not a message we are guilted into speaking. The message pours out of our own story. So what are some of the secrets of fulfilling this challenge to tell the world about Jesus and the gift he offers? Here are four that stand out in the Bible. 1. Tell it through your bliss. What is it that truly brings you bliss? In what activity do you find your greatest joy? Chance are good that where you find your bliss will also be where you find your call! No doubt you ve heard or said one of these statements: I love to teach. There is something amazing that stirs inside me when I get to prepare a lesson. I can never get enough of the learning and teaching experience. people listen. When we speak out of our ought to we are mostly ineffective. So we have to ask ourselves, What is it that I really get great joy doing in this life? C.S. Lewis writes: Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. 2. Tell it as a child. As adults, we often grow out of the things we should actually grow into. We encounter a world that thrives on uniformity instead of creativity, duty instead of passion, and repression instead of expression. I get a thrill out of preparing a meal for friends. It s great to see their eyes light up when they taste my latest creation. I m a fixer. I love the challenge of taking something that others would most likely throw away and returning it back into something cool and usable. My favorite thing to do in my spare time is helping people think through difficult situations. For some reason, when I spend time with people and really listen, they seem to get a better idea of what they need to do next in their lives. I don t have all the answers, but sometimes God just seems to show up in conversations and after we pray, it s like they have hope. Our bliss is often a key part of finding out what we were created to and gifted to do for God. Finding our bliss as children is fairly easy but as adults we often lose our bliss in deadlines, responsibility, financial struggles, and exhaustion. We forget why we were created! When we speak out of our bliss, 4 Read Mathew 19:15-13 (HCSB) Then children were brought to Him so He might put His hands on them and pray. But the disciples rebuked them. Then Jesus said, Leave the children alone, and don t try to keep them from coming to Me, because the kingdom of heaven is made up of people like this. After putting His hands on them, He went on from there. As an adult we become worried about our words and we lose courage to speak honestly and ask questions. Perhaps it s because we are afraid what others might think. We learn not to cry in public, we become too grown up to celebrate and belly laugh and we rarely talk about eternal things. We become worried about what others will think. The message of the gospel is ridding ourselves of the grown-up skills of hiding, coding, and manipulating. We must learn to be less childish and more childlike.

5 Quotable: Except ye become as little children, except you can wake on your fiftieth birthday with the same forward-looking excitement and interest in life that you enjoyed when you were five, ye cannot enter the kingdom of God. One must not only die daily, but every day we must be born again. Dorothy L. Sayers Personal illustration: Share a personal illustration of an interaction you ve had with a child recently. Here s an example: Patrick is a 4-year-old who, unlike most others, will bypass the receptionist and the other offices at church, open my door, plop down on a chair in my office and begin a conversation with a 500 pound question like, Where s Heaven? I know many adults have wondered about the actual location of Heaven but it takes a 4-year-old to pop the question. Patrick has no sense of feeling inferior simply because he s a child and that s what children do. But somewhere in the midst of growth plates and braces we lose contact with out curiosity. 3. Tell It With a Sense of Adventure as an amazing adventure we will be ineffective in our effort. Do we feel like the Gospel is a burden? Do we think of church as an amazing adventure or just another box to check off the to-do list? Do we have a childlike excitement about reading the Bible and sharing what we learn? Are we just treading water or are we dancing with joy? Quotable: Remember what Bilbo used to say: It s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don t keep your feet, there s no knowing where you might be swept off to. J.R.R. Tolkien from the Lord of the Rings Jesus called us into an adventure to step onto the road. He challenges us to risk. He says: The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest. Matthew 9: 38 (Holman Christian Standard Bible) Eugene Peterson renders Paul s letter to the Romans like this: This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike What s next, Papa? God s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what s coming to us an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we re certainly going to go through the good times with him! Romans 8:15-17 Unless we embrace the Great Commission 5 Option: At this point in the sermon have to actors perform the following biographical vignette William Carey So here is the challenge Christ modeled on Earth. 1. LIVE like you know God wants you to. 2. IDENTIFY yourself with Christ and the Church. 3. ANSWER their questions. 4. GET TOGETHER with them socially. 5. SPEAK the Message

6 William Carey Two Person Drama Carey: The people of my time cared nothing for the souls of men that were oceans away. They were consumed with the petty problems of their own lives, but as I stared at the map in my classroom, my mind was filled with grief. Lost souls dying. Never given the chance to hear those words, For God so loved... I received little support from my peers. (Pastor enters) Carey: Have you not read the words of our Lord, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing Pastor: How dare you quote Scripture to me! Carey: These words are marching orders to the church! Do you not agree? Pastor: You, William Carey, are a miserable enthusiast! (Pastor exits.) Pastor: If God wished to reach the heathen men, He would have delivered the message! Carey: But we are His messengers! Pastor: What do you think He expects us to do? Leave our home? Board a ship and never return? Carey: He commanded us to go. Don t you care for the world? Pastor: You are a dreamer, Mr. Carey! I have always admired that in you. You feel a burning in your heart to do something incredible. But, my friend, you are just one man. Do you really think that you can proclaim the gospel with any success to men who have never heard of the name Jesus? Carey: I only know what I feel. Pastor: When God wants India converted, He will send His holy angels to do so. 6 Carey: (to audience) He walked out and slammed the door, having no concept that perhaps we might be those holy angels that he proposed. But in 1793, I sailed to India. Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God. These words followed me throughout my ministry in India. For seven years I labored without one soul won to Christ. But my work in translating the Bible into Hindu was almost finished. Then in the seventh year of my work a man by the name of Kershna Pal came to my mission home and I told him of the love of Jesus. He accepted Christ. He also accepted the ridicule of his people. But the work, however slow, flourished, and soon the Bible was translated into many languages of the Indian people. As you give, remember the price that was paid for your sins, and remember the price that was paid by the thousands of saints who have gone before you in order that the people of the world could hear the gospel. Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.

7 I Simply Must Student: I m too young. Man: I m too old. Student: I don t know enough. Woman: I m so busy Man: I m overwhelmed. Student: I ve got to get an education. Man: I ve never told anyone before! Woman: I m hoping they will ask me before I have to tell them. Student: I m just hoping to survive this school year. Man: I don t think anyone will believe me. Student: I ve got to make the team and finish a project. Man: I ve got to get that raise. Student: I ve got to make more friends. Woman: I m going to wait. Man: I have to wait or I ll end up saying the wrong things. Student: All my friends already know. Man: I ve got so many problems. Woman: I m afraid they ll get mad. Man: I m afraid they ll laugh at me. Student: I m afraid they ll ask me 7 something I don t know. Woman: I m afraid I ll not say the right thing. Man: I m hoping someone else will tell. Student: I m hoping they ll hear it on TV. Reader: But how can they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe without hearing about Him? And how can they hear without a preacher? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How welcome are the feet of those who announce the gospel of good things! 16 But all did not obey the gospel For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. Student: Lord, show me how. Woman: Lord, give me Your joy. Man: Help me to understand how important is to let them know Student: Lord, You gave me everything and now You command me to go! Woman: I am tired of being silent on the most important thing Man: I m leaving all my fears to give You everything. Student: My life, my heart my words and trust. Woman: I m going to tell the story, All: because I simply MUST!

8 Promotional and Theme Ideas The How Shall They Hear Graffiti Board Decorate the board with photos of children who attend the church and invite members to write down messages about God that they want to the children to know. Invite them to write song lyrics, Scriptures or a short word of encouragement. Place the Graffiti Board on a standard bulletin board in the church or place it in the worship center. Invite the kids to read the board and learn what others have experienced with God. Invite a Missionary Invite a North American or an International missionary (retired or on furlough) to tell about how they have shared with people who have never heard the Good News of Jesus. Ask them to use Romans 10 as the basis of their talk. This could be done in the worship service or in the Children s Sunday School time. Ask them to bring visuals of where they serve. Story Video-Log Invite members of the church to share about the time when they received Christ as their Savior and Lord. Plan a few weeks ahead and allow people to formulate the best way to tell the story. They might even have something from their childhood or a picture that they d want on the video. Assign a member of the church to edit the video and show it in the service. You might choose to do two videos one for worship and a longer one to be played in the foyer of the worship center or in a hallway. In just about every church there s someone who could use existing software such as Movie Maker or I-Movie to create it. Music also gives a video a deeper and more emotional impact. Find some inspiring instrumental music to use during the video. Hearing Screening As an add-on feature to this Sunday s theme, you might want to invite a doctor or a health organization to conduct hearing screening after church. This would also work well as a promotion to the entire community. Offering such a service gets members to engage with nonmembers in a practical way. 8