Sharing faith series – Sum up. Not ashamed of the gospel, pray, pray and pray, have beautiful feet!

Prayer:

Do you ever feel ashamed of the gospel?  Ever feel ashamed of your faith?

While we might be ashamed of certain things that have happened in the name of the Christian faith, such as the crusades, the religious wars back in the first century, or ashamed of hypocrisy, and when Christian leaders abuse their positions; we should not be ashamed of the gospel.  As Paul says in Romans 1, the gospel is the ‘power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.  The gospel is good news, when we hear good news, like the birth of a baby, getting a job, a good health report; we want to shout that news to everyone that they may hear it and celebrate too.  The gospel of Jesus Christ, his saving love, is the best news and when we receive his grace and love we should want to share that with others too, we should want to invite them to hear and receive for themselves.

For the past month we have been encouraged in our readings and sermons to be prepared and courageous in sharing our faith with others.  We have heard some of our members bravely share their testimonies.  These have been inspiring and we can see how sharing our stories can encourage others to consider the hope that we have in our lives.

This morning we are going to hear another testimony from our dear sister Marlene.  First, I will sum up the messages from the past 4 weeks.

We began on Trinity Sunday, reflecting on the 3 aspects of the Great Commission –

1. To go and make disciples of all nations,
2. To baptise in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and
3. To teach everything that Jesus commanded.

The word go is apparently referred to in the bible over 1500 times, Jesus tells us to ‘go’ – be active in the world sharing the good news.  He sends us in his authority, in John 20 he says, that as the Father sent him, so he is sending us.  In the power of the Holy Spirit, he will be with us, as he reminds his disciples at the end of the great commission, and lo I will be with you always…

The next week Stephen Carnaby shared with us from 1 Peter 3:13-18.  Peter encourages his readers to, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect.”

Stephen encouraged us to know our own story.  Do we have a before and after coming to faith story? Or a growing in faith story, a time when we decided for ourselves to follow Jesus?  How can we share that with brevity, clarity, simplicity, and humility.  He suggested we have a short 30 second version and a longer version, depending on the opportunity we have.  As well as our story we also need to know God’s story, so that we can share the gospel.  We don’t need to be a theologian, but we do need to know the basics, especially the message of God sending Jesus to live, die and rise again that all who believe in him may know abundant, eternal life.  Or simply tell them that God loves them!

The following week we continued to look at knowing and sharing our story.  We talked about the apostle Paul and his conversion and how he repeatedly shared his testimony as he was transformed after encountering Jesus from ‘being the worst of sinners’ to being an ambassador for Jesus.  And we reflected on the Samaritan woman who ran to invite her whole village to come and see Jesus after she had encountered him.  As we encounter Jesus we will want to go and shout the good news.

Ruth and David Horsey shared bravely and vulnerably their stories of encountering Jesus and the power of answered prayer in their lives.  Examples of authentic faith, full of everyday struggles and temptations.  Last week Trevor shared his story of pain and searching for answers in other spiritualities before meeting Jesus afresh and now being ‘totally in love with Jesus’! These are powerful testimonies that will stir in people’s hearts.

We looked at the story of Peter and John in Acts 4 as the Holy Spirit gave them boldness and courage to speak in the name of Jesus.  They modelled Jesus’ example of showing compassion to the lame man, healing him, and then teaching all who gathered about the risen Lord Jesus.  And when asked by the religious authorities to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, their response was, “we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard”.

We all have a story to tell, and I pray we will be compelled to share it because of the love of God that we know and desire for others to know.  People may argue about theology or beliefs, but they can’t argue about our personal stories.

So, let’s hear from Marlene now as she shares with us her story of how she knows Jesus.

(Thanks to Marlene for sharing her faith journey, inspiring and encouraging)

As we finish this series on sharing our faith, my prayer is that you will continue to put into action Jesus’ command to ‘go and make disciples’.  As we do that, remember to pray.  Pray for certain people, you may have family members or friends to regularly pray for that they will encounter Jesus.  Pray for opportunities to share your story or God’s good news story.  Pray for your own faith, that you will continually grow in a deeper encounter with Jesus.  Pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit daily.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you boldness and the words to say when opportunities to share your faith arise.

Next week we are going to start a new series looking at Paul’s letter to the Colossians.  We will start with chapter 1, but as we conclude this series, hear these verses from Colossians 4: 3-5.

² Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. ³ And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴ Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ⁵ 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.

Pray, pray, pray.

And finally, I pray that we may all have beautiful feet!  Jesus commands us to go and share the good news, and Paul reminds us in Romans 10 the importance of doing this;

¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴ How… can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

We are sent to preach the message of good news with beautiful feet!

Let’s pray…

Dear Jesus, help us to “go”.  To go and love the lost, to share our stories of faith and hope in you, to go and live lives that show your love and joy and peace, to go and tell others that you love them.  Fill us with your Holy Spirit that we may not be ashamed of the gospel, but rather that we will be compelled to speak about our faith because it is such good news for all.  May we have beautiful feet as you guide us and show us opportunities to grow your Kingdom here in Taroona and beyond.  Thank you, Jesus, for the privilege it is being sent by you…  In your name we pray,

Amen.