Let Your Life be Your Evangelism

 Peter and John were going up to the temple at the ninth hour, an hour of prayer.  A certain man who was lame from birth was carried there every day and placed at the temple gate, which is called Beautiful, so that he could beg for donations from those entering the temple.  When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple, he asked them for a donation.

Peter looked directly at him, as did John.  Peter said, "Look at us."  So the man paid close attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.

But Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I will give you.  In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!"  Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately the man's feet and ankles were made strong.  Jumping up, he stood and began to walk.  He entered the temple courts with them, walking, jumping, and praising God.

All the people saw him walking and praising God.  They recognized him as the one who used to sit begging for money at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.  While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people came running toward them in utter amazement in the area called Solomon's Colonnade.

Acts 3:1-11(EHV)

Why do so many Christians find it so difficult to talk about their faith and introduce people they care about to their church?

What was the apostles' advantage to making evangelism look so easy?

What was the apostles' evangelism strategy?

Let's take the last question first: What was the apostles' evangelism strategy?

Much like Jesus, it seems that their primary strategy to connect with people was living out their mercy ministry.  They addressed people's physical needs to open the door to share Jesus with them.  Maybe it can even be simplified more:  They selflessly served people.  

They noticed people who were hurting,  people the rest of society was trying to ignore, and they served them.  They served people who could do nothing for them.  They served people who knew they needed help so they were then able to serve them what they needed most: Jesus.

Too often today the church is more interested in marketing than evangelism.  We are plagued by institutionalism.  It would appear that our primary goal for trying to get people into our churches is that hopefully they will at some point start contributing financially and help us cover the budget.

The apostles didn't care about building a megachurch for its own sake.  They were simply focused on bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost and dying.  They only cared about numbers insofar as they represented more souls being saved.  They were not trying to cover their budget or gain local fame by having the biggest church in Jerusalem.  

That allows us to break down their strategy even further:  LOVE!

The apostles' evangelism strategy came straight from Jesus:

    

    "The most important [commandment] is: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

with all your soul,

with all you mind,

and with all your strength.'

The second is this:

'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'

There is no other commandment greater than these."

-Mark 12:29-31

The apostles loved the Lord above all else.  The natural expression of their great love for the Lord was to love their neighbor.  First to meet their physical needs.  Second to meet their greatest need- their spiritual need.  They needed to hear about their Savior.  How much do you need to hate someone to intentionally withhold that from them?  

This was the apostles' advantage over so many of us that made it look like evangelism was easy for them.  The very living of their lives was their evangelism.

Finally, why do so many Christians find evangelism so difficult today?

The answer is simple, and painful.  We love ourselves more than God and more than our neighbor.  We love self above all else.  

There is only one solution to this self problem: The Theology of the Cross.

        And just as Jesus had to take it [the cross] up willingly, so too must the Christian.  Jesus does not say that he is going to impose the cross contrary to the will of his followers.  He calls on the Christian, expects the Christian, to embrace the cross and to embrace it willingly.  St. Paul understood that perhaps better than anyone when he declared:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.  And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings... (Ro 5:1-3)

Jesus embraces and captures the soul in the proclamation of full redemption, full forgiveness as an accomplished fact and received by faith alone.  So fully does he capture us by that message that the new will of the Christian, given by the Spirit through the gospel, rejoices to follow him under the cross of suffering.

-The Theology of the Cross (Deutschlander, p.7)

Only the proclamation of the work of Jesus on his cross and its blessed result can move the Christian to imitate Christ in a willing and even joyful embrace of the cross...

It is all that Christ did in his humiliation on the cross that moves us to an attitude and will that imitates his.

-The Theology of the Cross (Deutschlander, p.8)

This has always been the key to evangelism.  We must daily deny self and take up our cross and follow Jesus.  The willingness to take up our cross is motivated by love for our neighbor which is only made possible by Christ's love for us.  

Evangelism is ultimately an act of love.  We all need to increase our capacity to love.  The only way to do that is by being in God's Word everyday and prayer.  Only the Holy Spirit can grow our hearts to love people more.

It is my prayer for you and for myself that the Holy Spirit will continue to grow our hearts and increase our love for our neighbor.  May the Holy Spirit grow our love for our neighbor that we joyfully live out our Great Commission calling everyday!

God bless.

Jason Fredrick

Many People Don't Know the Real Jesus!

 "Men of Israel, hear these words!  Jesus the Nazarene was a man recommended to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know.  This man, who was handed over by God's set plan and foreknowledge, you killed by having lawless men nail him to a cross.  He is the one God raised up by freeing him from the agony of death, because death was not able to hold him in its grip.

"Indeed, David says concerning him:

    I saw the Lord always before me.

    Because he is at my right hand,

    I will not be shaken.

    Therefore my heart was glad,

    and my tongue rejoiced.

    My flesh also will rest in hope, 

    because you will not abandon my life to the grave,

    nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

    You have made known to me the paths of life.

    You will fill me with joy in your presence.

"Gentlemen, brothers, I can speak confidently to you about the partriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  Since he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath that he would seat one of his descendants on his throne, he saw what was coming and spoke about the resurrection of Christ, saying that he was neither abandoned ot the grave nor did his flesh see decay.

"This Jesus is the one God has raised up.  We are all witnesses of that.  So, after he was exalted ot the right hand of God and after he received the promised Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out what you are now seeing and hearing.

"For David did not ascend into heaven, and yet he says:

    The Lord said to my Lord,

    'Sit at my right hand,

    until I make your enemies

    a footstool under your feet."

"Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

Now when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Gentlemen, brothers, what should we do?"

Peter answered them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call."

He testified solemnly with many other words and was appealing to them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation."

Those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added.

Acts 2:22-41

Peter's sermon on Pentecost may be the most succint explanation of who Jesus is.  

He makes it clear that Jesus is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.

He shows how Jesus fulfilled Old Testament prophecies.  He makes it clear that he, and all the apostles, were eye witnesses to Jesus' resurrection. 

No one in that crowd doubted that Jesus had been crucified and died.  Most would have doubted that Jesus had risen from the dead, and he was who he claimed to be- the Son of God.

Peter makes it clear to the crowd that they delivered the Messiah over to the Romans and demanded that he be killed.  He also assured them that this was part of God's plan and he had forgiven them.

Many people today are like those Jews at Pentecost.  They don't know Jesus.  Too many who claim to know Jesus have just made up their own version of who they want Jesus to be, but they don't know the real Jesus.  They don't know the Jesus that Peter revealed in Acts 2 to that crowd in Jerusalem at Pentecost.  They don't know the Savior of the world as revealed to all humanity in the pages of Holy Scripture.  It is only in the pages of the Bible that we can truly come to know Jesus.

Who is Jesus?

He is the Savior of the world.

The Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.

The scapegoat who carries our sins far away never to be seen by God again.

Jesus is the One who loves you so much that he left his heavenly throne to take on human flesh so he could live the perfect life you are incapable of living.  Die the death that you deserve. And raise to life to conquer sin and death for you.  For all people of all time.

Becaue Jesus lives your sins have been forgiven, washed away.  You now have perfect reconciliation with our almighty and loving heavenly Father.  When God looks at you he no longer sees the stain and filth of sin.  He only sees one of his perfect redeemed children.  Washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.  This is the beautiful and loving message Peter delivered to that crowd on Pentecost.  It is the beautiful and loving message he continues to deliver every time we read this account in Acts 2.

Jesus died for YOU!  YOUR sins are forgiven for Jesus' sake.  YOU are a redeemed child of God.

As a result, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.  Even though we knew Christ according to the flesh, we no longer know him that way.  So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away.  The new has come!  And all these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.  That is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.  And he has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, inasmuch as God is making an appeal through us.  We urge you, on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

1 Corinthians 5:16-21

God bless you and keep you.

Jason Fredrick

Everybody Needs Jesus

 So when they were together with him, they asked, "Lord, is this the time when you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"

He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Acts 1:6-8

Sadly, Jews and many non-Jews are still looking for what some of Jesus' disciples were still looking for just moments before Jesus ascended back into heaven.  People whose eyes are fixated on this world continue to miss the Messiah.  

Jesus is the Messiah.  He is the Son of God.  He is the Passover Lamb whose blood saves from death and damnation.  We can be sure that Jesus is the Savior because he fulfilled every Messianic prophecy of the Old Testament.  

The Bible gives no prophecy, or promise, about God restoring the earthly kingdom of Israel.  What Jesus did say was, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jews.  But now my kingdom is not from here." (John 18:36)

This is vitally important to understand.  The kingdom of God is not an earthly physical kingdom.  It is a spiritual kingdom.  That is why Satan works so hard to keep people focused on this world.  This life.  While Jesus' kingdom is not an earthly kingdom, he has given his disciples work to do in this life.  In our physical world.  We are to be his witnesses to the world.  It is the job of every Christian to tell people about Jesus, and what he has done for them.

Don't get distracted by geopolitics and social agendas.  This world, and all the nations in this world, will pass away.  Stay focused on the mission, the commission.  Be Christ's witness.  That is going to look different for each individual because we have all been given different vocational callings, but that is still the mission nonetheless.

Notice that the Great Commission was given to all of Christ's disciples of all time.  It wasn't just given to the 11 Apostles.  Being a witness of Christ and his gospel isn't the work of just pastors and those called into the public ministry.  It is the work of every Christian.  We all have been given a mission field.  There are numerous people in your life who need to hear about Jesus.  They are on their way to hell because they don't believe in him as their Savior.  They desperately need you!  

Tell them!

Talk to them!

They are dying!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  The one who believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18)

Thankfully, as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit empowers us to live out this commission, this calling.  You are not alone when you witness Jesus to a family member, friend, or coworker.  The Holy Spirit will help you and guide your words.  This is also why it's so important to be in God's Word everyday.  God's Word is the means by which the Holy Spirit works.  

Know God's Word.  Speak God's Word and let the Holy Spirit work how he will.  We know that God's Word will not return to him empty.   It will accomplish its purpose.  So use it.

Now go with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit and be Christ's witness in your world.

God bless.

Jason Fredrick

Fresh Starts

The end of August and the beginning of September is often a time of fresh starts for people.

A new school year at every level is just beginning.  

The season is about to change from summer to fall.

This is one of those waypoints during the year when it makes sense to stop and think about what you're doing in life, and why you're doing it.

This is also a time to take stock of your year so far.  

How are you doing with your New Year's resolutions?

How close are you to hitting your big goals for the year?

Christmas is coming.  Have you started making plans for the holidays yet?

I don't know if you are effected by any of these things, but this year I have been.

Over the last month, my family has embraced a turning point in our lives and we are in the middle of a fresh start.

    My son has begun high school.  Not just any high school.  He is at a boarding school.  This school year he will live more than 100 miles from my wife and I.

    

    In June I accepted the call to serve as the Minister of Mission Support at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Downers Grove, IL.  That means three weeks ago my family and I picked up and moved more than a hundred miles from the area we have called home most of our lives.

Fresh starts come in all different packages.  They enter our lives for many different reasons.   They can be frustrating at times (moving certainly is).  They can be heart-breaking at times.  It's tough to put distance between yourself and people you love.

But, fresh starts can also be highly rewarding.  Fresh starts open us up to new opportunities.  Often, they are the result of taking advantage of an opportunity.  They also put us into contact with a whole new world of people.  People we would have never known had we not exercised the courage to make a fresh start.

I don't know where you're at in life, but I do know that sometimes a fresh start is exaclty what the doctor ordered.  It gets us out of our familiar zone.  It puts us in contact with an entirely new community of people.  It can help us wake to the life we are supposed to be living.  Not settling for the one we have settled for.

I won't tell you what to do with your life.  That's your responsibility.  I would encourage you, though, especially if you are frustrated with your current situation, to think about a fresh start.  

Maybe that means moving.  Maybe that means changing where you work.  Maybe it means changing your career field all together.  However, I am not talking about scrapping your marriage.  You need to fix that if that's the source of your frustration.  A fresh start could mean distancing yourself from negative and destructive relationships in your life.  

You know you.  I don't know you, or your situation.  You know what it would mean to make a fresh start in your life.  I encourage you to take the leap.  A fresh start today could make all the difference in the rest of your life.

God bless.

Jason Fredrick

Today's the Day!

Everyone is called upon to lead in some capacity sooner or later in life.  Some of the issues involved are big, some are small.  Sometimes the responsibilities requiring leadership last a lifetime, and sometimes they are needed only for a moment.  Leadership, then, is something each of us should strive to understand better and utilize more fully.  Whether in a corporate setting, a business of our own, a church environment, a volunteer organization, or in the home, improving our leadership abilities through the development process described in this book [Launching A Leadership Revolution] is key to unleashing the potential hidden within.  Helping to guide others through the same process is the secret to collective greatness and organizational victories.  (Launching A Leadership Revolution, Woodward/Brady, pp.XI-XII)

If you take a moment to stop and think through the premise that Woodward and Brady begin their leadership book with,  you will quickly realize that this statement is undeniable.  In many situations leadership boils down to taking responsibility.  As stated above, "Everyone is call upon to lead in some capacity sooner or later in life."  With that being the reality of life, the questions to answer then are: "Will you be prepared to lead when life demands it?" and "Will you have the courage to answer the leadership call in that moment?"

The sad reality is that most people will fail on both of these questions.  Most people aren't preparing for their leadership moment.  Most people don't want to take responsibility for anything in our society.  Many people are looking for "Them" to fix every problem.  "They" need to do this, and "They" need to do that.  Sadly, for most people, the answer is never, "I need to fix this."  It's much easier to play armchair quarterback and second-guess everything the person who steps up to the leadership challenge does.

In our dumbed-down entertainment-driven society most people are preparing themselves to be part of the mindless masses.  Few will actually turn off their electronic entertainment and read a book, an actual book.  One that you can mark up with a highlighter and a pen.  Reading is the foundation of leadership development because the only way to improve your thinking is by improving the quality of what you're puttig into your head.  Read-Listen-Associate.  That's the success formula.  That's the leadership developoment formula.  

If you are thinking to yourself that you're not a leader, and no one cares what you think about anything, it's time to go to work on yourself.  It's time to start the development process.  God has created you to do great things and influence people.  You need to get to work to develop the gifts that are already inside of you.  This will take time.  It's a process.  But it will never happen if you don't get started.  Get started today by clicking on the "Let's Read Together" page in the menu bar.  Get the first two books on the reading list and get to work.  

The time to start preparing for you leadership challenge is right now!  Get the books.  Start reading.  Start growing.  Turn off the electronics and don't look back.  Your leadership journey begins today!

God bless 
Jason Fredrick