Weeping for A Harvest of Souls

Last Sunday I preached on the necessity of crying out to God for the true conversion of lost people. Here is the audio to download or play.

In Matthew 9:35-39, Jesus saw the multitudes and was moved with compassion when he saw them distressed and turned about and as sheep without a shepherd. I believe he wept for them like He did when he was at the grave of Lazarus with Mary and Martha.

My main point was this:

PARTNER WITH US IN THE GOSPEL THROUGH SOWING AND REAPING AS WE WEEP FOR A HARVEST OF SOULS.

Here were my four main points:

1. Believe the promise of the harvest of souls. (Psalm 126:5-6)
2. Cultivate a heart that weeps for souls (Psalm 126:5-6; Matt 9:36; 2 Cor 5:11)
3. Obediently sow the Gospel and read with the work of the Holy Spirit. (Matt 9:37; 1 Cor 1:22-24; Psalm 126:6; Matt 9:37)
4. Partner with the church in the harvesting.
   

This partnering is a part 2 challenge to the church that I began on January 18th when I called the body to partner with us in the Gospel through sacrificial giving (read or listen/download).

How Much Do You Have To Hate Somebody to Not Evangelize

Yesterday I preached on Matt 9:36 and John 4:34-36 giving a challenge to:

PARTNER WITH US IN THE GOSPEL THROUGH SOWING AND REAPING AS YOU WEEP FOR A HARVEST OF SOULS.

If God, the Gospel, Jesus, Heaven and Hell are real - it ought to make a radical difference in our hearts and lives in regards to our concern for those who do not have the saving power of Jesus in their life. We must share with them the Gospel and warn them of coming judgment.

After church a good friend told me about this video clip that you need to watch. It is from the Penn and Teller show - a show that I have never watched and don't know if I recommend or not. That is not the point.

Apparently, Penn does video clips called "Penn Says" in which he talks about life. In this clip he talks about a man who gave him a Bible and offered him the Gospel. Penn is an atheist but he greatly respected this man because he acted on what he believed. If a truck is headed straight for your neighbor but he does not see or believe it, the loving thing for you to do is to tackle him so he gets out of the way. He poses the question: "how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize. How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that."

Here you go:

"Lord, Why Was I a Guest?"

At the Together for the Gospel conference in April we sang a unfamiliar hymn (to me) by the great poet Isaac Watts (think "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" or "O God Our Help in Ages Past") called "How Sweet and Aweful Is the Place."

It's obvious that the tittle is not politically correct for modern evangelicalism and that is part of what makes the hymn so "relevant" for today. We need a fresh view of God from those who went before us.

This hymn marvels at the saving and electing grace of God. It ponders with amazement the question--"why did you choose me to share at your table of salvation when so many have chosen rather to starve?" The hymn doesn't end with this question alone but turns into a prayer of longing, asking God to bring the nations to the same redeeming grace.

Here is the audio stream of the song from the conference led by Bob Kauflin. I would recommend listening to it more than once and follow along with the words below. (Download here by right clicking and saving)

How sweet and aweful is this place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores!

While all our hearts and all our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry, with thankful tongues,
“Lord, why was I a guest?

“Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
And enter while there’s room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?”

‘Twas the same love that spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.

Pity the nations, O our God!
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.

We long to see Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May with one voice, and heart and soul,
Sing Thy redeeming grace.

Out of the Mouths of Forgiven Sinners

In reading the rough draft to Dave's newest booklet for the Discipleship Groups I read this statement that I love:

For our good and His glory, God determined that the Gospel of forgiveness would get to the hands, heart, and mind of sinners through the hands, heart, mind, and mouth of forgiven sinners. In order to engage in evangelism, then, we must commit ourselves to cultivating relationships with non-Christians.

Consider these 2 quotes (HT: Dave VanAcker) regarding this subject:

“In our [churches] we are often so busy saying, ‘Come, come, come. Come to our…program. Come to our beautiful facility. Come to our activity.’ We even have it turned around so that we find ourselves getting mad, disgusted and discouraged with…people because they don’t come. And yet Jesus modeled going. How can we expect others to come before we have gone to them” (Sonlife Foundations p.66)?

“Contacting, or reaching [people] on their turf, involves getting to know [them] outside the church setting! As [Christ-followers] we cannot sit in the office [or church] and expect…people to come to us. Jesus modeled the ultimate form of contacting—he became a human just so he could be with us and die for us. Howard Hendricks describes the importance of contacting this way: ‘You can impress people at a distance; you can only impact them up close. The general principle is this: the closer the personal relationship, the greater the potential for impact’ (Leadership, Summer 1980). Ninety percent of discipling [ministry] is relationships – so the question is not whether contacting should be a part of discipleship, but how we can effectively build relationships…” (Sonlife Foundations p.69).

Are We Doing Right With the Gospel? - Sermon

Last Sunday (June 29th) I preached from 2 Kings 6-7. The question I asked was -- "Are we doing right with the Gospel?" Do we hear the statement of the lepers who had discovered the victory over the Syrian army and started stashing away the goods in neglect of the those starving in the sieged city of Samaria? Do we do this with the Gospel?

Here is the sermon manuscript and sermon audio (I think the beginning of the sermon was cut off).

From the Pulpit of Charles Spurgeon - Selfish Christianity

Here is a quote from Charles Spurgeon's sermon on 2 Kings 7:9 called "A Public Testimony - A Debt to God and Man."

I am going to talk to some at this time (I do not know how many of the sort may be here) who think that they have found the Savior, who believe that they are saved, who write themselves down as having truly enjoyed religion, and who imagine that now their sole business is to enjoy themselves. They delight to feed on the word, and to this I do not object at all; but then, if it is all feeding and nothing comes of it, I ask to what end are they fed? If the only result of our religion is the comfort of our poor little souls, if the beginning and the end of piety is contained within one’s self, why, it is a strange thing to be in connection with the unselfish Jesus, and to be the fruit of his gracious Spirit. Surely, Jesus did not come to save us that we might live unto ourselves. He came to save us from selfishness. (862)

Scripture for Tomorrow's Sermon

Here is the Scripture for tomorrow's sermon at Grace Church called "Are We Doing Right With the Gospel?"

2 Kings 6:24-7:20

Afterward Ben-hadad king of Syria mustered his entire army and went up and besieged Samaria. (25) And there was a great famine in Samaria, as they besieged it, until a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and the fourth part of a kab of dove's dung for five shekels of silver. (26) Now as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, "Help, my lord, O king!" (27) And he said, "If the LORD will not help you, how shall I help you? From the threshing floor, or from the winepress?" (28) And the king asked her, "What is your trouble?" She answered, "This woman said to me, 'Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.' (29) So we boiled my son and ate him. And on the next day I said to her, 'Give your son, that we may eat him.' But she has hidden her son." (30) When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes--now he was passing by on the wall--and the people looked, and behold, he had sackcloth beneath on his body-- (31) and he said, "May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha the son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders today."

(32) Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Now the king had dispatched a man from his presence, but before the messenger arrived Elisha said to the elders, "Do you see how this murderer has sent to take off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door and hold the door fast against him. Is not the sound of his master's feet behind him?" (33) And while he was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him and said, "This trouble is from the LORD! Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?"

7:1 But Elisha said, "Hear the word of the LORD: thus says the LORD, Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria." (2) Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, "If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could this thing be?" But he said, "You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it."

(3) Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, "Why are we sitting here until we die? (4) If we say, 'Let us enter the city,' the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. So now come, let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die." (5) So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp of the Syrians, behold, there was no one there. (6) For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, "Behold, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to come against us." (7) So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp as it was, and fled for their lives. (8) And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off silver and gold and clothing and went and hid them. Then they came back and entered another tent and carried off things from it and went and hid them.

(9) Then they said to one another, "We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household." (10) So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, "We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied and the donkeys tied and the tents as they were." (11) Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king's household. (12) And the king rose in the night and said to his servants, "I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we are hungry. Therefore they have gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, 'When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.'" (13) And one of his servants said, "Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send and see." (14) So they took two horsemen, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, "Go and see." (15) So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and behold, all the way was littered with garments and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king.

(16) Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians. So a seah of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. (17) Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate. And the people trampled him in the gate, so that he died, as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. (18) For when the man of God had said to the king, "Two seahs of barley shall be sold for a shekel, and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria," (19) the captain had answered the man of God, "If the LORD himself should make windows in heaven, could such a thing be?" And he had said, "You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it." (20) And so it happened to him, for the people trampled him in the gate and he died.

A Proper GASP!

Here is an audio clip of Pastor Dave's introduction of his sermon on June 15th. He calls us to have a proper gasp of the Gospel.

You can go to this link and download it here or listen to it in the player below.

Drunk with the Gospel of Jesus

Now that I caught your attention with the title, please take the time to listen to this three and a half minute audio clip by Piper on the necessity of having truly tasted of Jesus and the result it will have on opening our mouths in proclaiming him to the lost (evangelism).


Here is the Link DRUNK ON THE GOSPEL


You can now play the clip below.

Are We Practical Apatheists?

Jonathan Rauch is a gay-activist who writes for the National Journal and The Atlantic Monthly, and when asked whether he was religious or not, he was about to say “atheist” when he was struck with the reality that he was an “apatheist.” (Apathy about a God)

“Apatheism—a disinclination to care all that much about one's own religion, and an even stronger disinclination to care about other people's—may or may not be something new in the world, but its modern flowering, particularly in ostensibly pious America, is worth getting excited about.”

In an article called “Let It Be” (in the Atlantic Monthly several years ago), Rauch shares his excitement about the modern/post-modern American that has been strongly affected by apatheism. Less people who say they are Christians attend religious worship on a regular basis. They “believe” but there belief does not really make a difference in their lives, and it surely doesn’t make a difference what others believe.

Atheism is a passionate belief in no God, which is much different than apathesim. Apatheists can believe in God or disbelieve in God, but it really doesn’t matter, they are apathetic about it.

“’A world of pragmatic atheists,’ the philosopher Richard Rorty wrote, ‘would be a better, happier world than our present one.’ Perhaps. But best of all would be a world generously leavened with apatheists: people who feel at ease with religion even if they are irreligious; people who may themselves be members of religious communities, but who are neither controlled by godly passions nor concerned about the (nonviolent, noncoercive) religious beliefs of others.” (“Let It Be”)

Rauch and others with his point of view must be thrilled by the lasted survey on "Religious Tolerance" in America. In many ways it is a survey of religious indifferentism. You can read a New York Times article on it here. Christians are to show tolerance towards people of other faiths. This means we should love mormans, atheists and Muslims and not desire to put them in prison or kill them for their beliefs. Tolerance, however, does not mean that we think their beliefs are OK. Salvation is in Jesus Christ alone by faith alone through the power of the Gospel alone. Are we apatheists when we fail to actively pursue relationships with unbelievers and believers of other religions with the purpose of bringing them the TRUE GOSPEL by life and word? I wouldn't confess to be apatheist, but my lack of evangelistic fervor often says otherwise.

Reaching the Lost - Sermon and Testimony

I was so encouraged last Sunday morning when Tim Harris shared his testimony about his conversion. I loved his honesty--"I almost didn't come this morning because I was so nervous." Tim was rescued from a life of drug addiction and sin on Easter 2007 in a jail. He has received forgiveness for his sins through Jesus Christ and has been born again. I think of these verses as I think about Tim:

Ephesians 4:22-24 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, (23) and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, (24) and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

This truly has been happening in Tim since his conversion by God's grace.

It was then great to hear from Saul Selby who shared his testimony of coming to faith in Jesus from an atheistic, drug-addicted past.

Saul challenged us with the significance that God uses people to TELL others the truth of the Gospel which saves. God uses PEOPLE to bring the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ to others.

Romans 10:13-15 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (14) How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (15) And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"

You can download Tim's testimony and Saul's sermon here or go to the sermons page at www.gracewyoming.com.

Sharing the Gospel Next Door - Testimony

Please take the time to read this testimony by Matt Howard about the opportunity he had to share the gospel with his neighbors last Monday.

Grace Church,

After a recent discipleship group God once again showed Himself to be powerful and amazing.

For years now I have listened to drunkenness, cursing, yelling and all manner of dysfunction come from one of the houses in my neighborhood. Also over the years I have developed a friendship/relationship with the family. We've talked around campfires and exchanged different lawn and garden services as needed.

Sunday He had laid it on my heart to share the Gospel with family. The desire came with such urgency that I couldn't ignore it. It was time.

On Monday, as we studied the chapter about being debtors, I felt like I was going to burst out of my skin because I absolutely had to share the Gospel with them. Steve ran and got me a couple of Gideon New Testaments, Brian prayed for the witnessing encounter to come and the spiritual groundwork had been laid.

We got home from DG group and I immediately changed clothes, grabbed my garden hoe and weeded in the garden waiting for them to come home. They did come home. They were all there. They weren't drunk and they had just been fishing and had a full stringer. They were so excited to show us the stringer of fish, they invited Annie and I in to their house to see them. I couldn't believe it!
So there we all were: four adult men from their family, one woman and two young girls and me and Annie.

After we finished admiring the fish and having small talk, I said, "So I've known you guys for quite a few years now and I have something very important to tell you."
They all said, "oh no we're in trouble!"
I assured them it wasn't bad, but very very good.
I told them that I had some things to ask them about spiritual things.

I said, "I have twenty dollars sitting at my house for anybody here that passed the good person test. Anybody want to try and win twenty bucks?"
They all ended up wanting to win the money, so I went through the good person test with each of them right in row.

"John, have you ever killed anyone?"
nope
"Have you ever told a lie?"
yes
"What does that make you?"
a liar I suppose

"Ah $%#! John, you failed the good person test," said Jack who was standing over by the door.

We went through everyone in the room seeing if they could pass the test by going through a couple of the ten commandments. Not one person passed and it quickly became obvious that none was going to win the twenty dollars.

I then shifted the conversation.

"It says in scripture that it is appointed for a man once to die and then face judgment. If you were to die today and stand before God to be judged do you think you'd go to heaven or hell?"

Almost in unison they all said, "Heaven...we hope."

"Why would God let you in?" I asked. "What qualifies you to get into heaven?"

The father and his brother said, "If you do more good things than bad, you can make up for them."
Then John said, "The Bible says God is a forgiving God. And furthermore if you obey your father and mother and do good by them you're following one of the commandments."

So I said, "How much trouble would you get in if you vandalized my house?"
They said, "Lots, I suppose. Probably get a ticket and have to go to court."
Then I said, "How much trouble would you be in if you vandalized the governor's mansion?"
"More," they said.
"And what if you vandalized the White House? How much trouble would you be in?"
"We'd be locked up for a long time then!" they said.
Then I asked, "What if you vandalized the house of the infinitely big and holy God of the universe? How much trouble would you be in?"

And one of the first grade age girls exclaimed, "An infinite amount of trouble!!"

Jack exploded with surprise, as only Jack can, "That's exactly right! She's exactly right!"

"So would you say that the debt that we would owe God would be infinite and unable to be paid back?" I asked.

"Yes, it seems that way" they all agreed.

"You see," I said, "the punishment for our sin depends more on the nature of the one sinned against than the nature of the crime. The bigger the person we do a bad thing against, the bigger the consequences and punishment."

"So what does that mean for us then?" I asked. "There we are standing before the infinitely holy and perfect God of the universe on our judgment day and we've all told a lie and broken His law. He brings down the gavel and pronounces us what?......."

"Guilty." They all said.

"I guess we're all going to hell," exclaimed the father. "We've known that our whole lives Matt. Is that all you came to tell us? Is there any more to this?"

"Absolutely!" I said, practically jumping out of my seat. "There's is some VERY good news."

"2000 years ago God sent His son Jesus to earth. Jesus said He was God and He proved it by doing miracles and having wisdom and power that couldn't be explained away. He lived a perfect life, He never sinned, and then He was killed on a cross."

The little girls gasped, "Oh no! no!"

"Yes," I said. He was killed for us. In the Bible it tells us that Jesus who knew no sin became sin for us. He took all of our sin into Himself. In Isaiah chapter 51 it says that it pleased the Lord to crush His Son. God the Father looked upon Jesus all full of our sin and He punished Him with an infinitely big punishment. The punishment that was due to us, Jesus took. He died and raised from the dead three days later to break the power that sin and death have over us. Scripture tells us that if we place our faith in Jesus we will be saved from the wrath of God. If we repent, turn from our sin and turn to God we will be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved."

"Wow, I've never heard it like that before." Jack said. "I've never heard it with those words before."

I then handed them the Knowing God tract that I printed off on two pages of paper. I handed them the two Gideon New Testaments and pointed them to the back of them where the Gospel was clearly written. They thanked me for sharing with them and I told them that if they ever had any questions or if they wanted to talk about anything spiritual they could feel free.

There were no tears, sinners prayers or visible signs that anything was accomplished, but in my spirit I knew that the Lord was powerfully moving in order to get the words of life to them and sink them deep into their hearts.

We chatted about things, they invited us to go fishing with them and Annie and I went home worshipping and praising God together that He had orchestrated such an amazing encounter.

Please pray for this family. Pray that God would save them and bring them to repentance and give them saving faith through His word working in their hearts. Pray for Annie and I that we would continue to have an effective witness to them both in words and in deeds.

Praise Him!
Matt

Saul Selby this Sunday at Grace Church

This Sunday, we have the privilege of having Saul Selby come to Grace Church to challenge us on Evangelism. Saul is a resident of Wyoming (MN) and is the director of Missionary Evangelism to Corrections an extensive evangelism ministry to the jails in Chisago County and other surrounding counties.

Saul, a former-addict, also runs a ministry called "Set-Free Recovery Ministries" which includes intervention and counseling for those enslaved to drugs and alcohol. Saul has authored several books, pamphlets and video series including the book Twelve Step Christianity.

Saul is going to challenge us to follow Jesus by paying "Grace Debts" (using Pastor Dave's language) to those around us who do not know or follow Jesus. His sermon is entitled -- "The Lost Art of Reaching the Lost."

He is also going to share with us some opportunities to get involved locally with evangelism to the jails.

Please pray for Saul and the service this Sunday -- and come!

Greeks, Barbarians and Grace Payments - Sermon

Pastor Dave VanAcker's sermon audio and notes are now online here.

I love how Dave unpacked the Gospel for us in this sermon.

The Title of the sermon is "Greeks, Barbarians and Grace Payments" from Romans 1:1-17.

Sneak Preview for Sunday Sermon

Pray for pastor Dave VanAcker as he prepares his heart and mind for the preaching of the Word tomorrow at Grace Church. Dave is returning from vacation and is serving me and the church tomorrow by preaching on the seventh description of a Disciple of Jesus -- "A Debtor/Lover of People." He will preach from Romans 1:1-17 and his sermon is entitled: "Greeks, Barbarians and Grace Payments." Here is a sneak preview of the main points of his sermon. If you read this before Sunday, make these main points a prayer for your own life and heart and for those at Grace Church.

1. Following Jesus means rightly understanding and responding to the Gospel.

2. Rightly understanding the Gospel means recognizing the centrality and sovereignty of God in all things, the sinful, hopeless, helpless, condemned nature of man apart from God’s grace, and the redemptive, reconciliatory work of Jesus on the cross made efficacious by grace through faith.

3. Rightly responding to the Gospel means receiving the gifts of awe and wonder, brokenness and repentance, desperation and pleading, fear and trembling, thankfulness and rejoicing, love and adoration, acceptance and obedience, and faith and trust.

4. Upon understanding and receiving to Gospel, by grace through faith, we become grace debtors to everyone.

5. Our obligation to make grace payments (share the Gospel) will affect every area of our lives.

Here is a song that relates to the sermon and one that we plan to sing tomorrow morning.


Come Thou Fount - by David Crowder

R4G -3: "Christianity Leads to Love Those Who Differ"

At the end of chapter one, Keller points out that true Christianity, in contrast to "religion" leads to love and receptivity to others who are different:

It is common to say that "fundamentalism" leads to violence, yet as we have seen, all of us have fundamental, unprovable faith-commitments that we think are superior to those of others. The real question, then, is which fundamentals will lead their believers to be the most loving and receptive to those with whom they differ'? Which set of unavoidably exclusive beliefs will lead us to humble, peace-loving behavior?

One of the paradoxes of history is the relationship between the beliefs and the practices of the early Christians as compared to those of the culture around them.

The Greco-Roman world's religious views were open and seem­ingly tolerant—everyone had his or her own God. The practices of the culture were quite brutal, however. The Greco-Roman world was highly stratified economically, with a huge distance between the rich and poor. By contrast, Christians insisted that there was only one true God, the dying Savior Jesus Christ. Their lives and practices were, however, remarkably welcoming to those that the culture marginalized. The early Christians mixed people from dif­ferent races and classes in ways that seemed scandalous to those around them. The Greco-Roman world tended to despise the poor, but Christians gave generously not only to their own poor but to those of other faiths. In broader society, women had very low sta­tus, being subjected to high levels of female infanticide, forced mar­riages, and lack of economic equality. Christianity afforded women much greater security and equality than had previously existed in the ancient classical world. During the terrible urban plagues of the first two centuries, Christians cared for all the sick and dying in the city, often at the cost of their lives.

Why would such an exclusive belief system lead to behavior that was so open to others? It was because Christians had within their belief system the strongest possible resource for practicing sacrificial service, generosity, and peace-making. At the very heart of their view of reality was a man who died for his enemies, praying for their for­giveness. Reflection on this could only lead to a radically different way of dealing with those who were different from them. It meant they could not act in violence and oppression toward their oppo­nents.

We cannot skip lightly over the fact that there have been injus­tices done by the church in the name of Christ, yet who can deny that the force of Christians' most fundamental beliefs can be a powerful impetus for peace-making in our troubled world?