Rev. Jeffrey T.
Howard
First Presbyterian
Church of Ocean City
July 5, 2015
For the last three
weeks we have been looking at evangelism during our time together
here in the sanctuary and in our small groups during the meal after
church. We have talked about how the world is changing and how the
cultural shifts here in America are having a negative impact on the
church. This means that we can no longer sit here complacently
waiting for new people to come to church. Rather we must be
missionaries going into Ocean City to bring people to Christ. To do
this we must grow as disciples through daily prayer and meditation on
scripture, and by joining together in worship each Sunday. As we
grow as disciples of Jesus Christ we find our lives transformed.
This transformation is the basis of the stories we tell others about
what Christ has done for us. These stories of our lives form part of
what we share with others. But there is something more we must
share. We must tell people the good news of what God is doing in the
world. We will get to this, but first let’s pray.
May the words of my
mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O
Lord, our rock and our redeemer.
The Apostle Paul
told people about what God was doing in the world of the late first
century. He proclaimed this in his teaching and preaching. And we
get a glimpse of what he was saying in his letters. Let’s turn now
to Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus and hear what he told
them about God.
Ephesians
2:1-10 1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and
sins, 2 in which you used to live when
you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the
kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who
are disobedient.3 All of us also lived among
them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and
following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature
deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his
great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made
us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is
by grace you have been saved. 6 And God
raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in
order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches
of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ
Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have
been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is
the gift of God— 9 not by works, so
that no one can boast. 10 For we are
God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Paul knew that to
bring people to faith in Jesus Christ he had to talk about God and
what God was doing in the world. He pointed out the truth that sin
was causing the world to rot. Our disobedience of God was leading
not to blessings but to cursings. We were experiencing not God’s
love but God’s wrath. But God has taken the initiative to solve
this problem. Even though we don’t deserve God’s love, God
loves us anyway. Even though God should judge us harshly, God
mercifully forgives us.
Even though God could demand payment for
what we have done, God kindly offers grace and forgiveness without
payment. And the proof that God has done all this is that he raised
Jesus from the dead. Even though we should die for our sins, God
promises us resurrection, like Jesus, and eternal life. And now free
from God’s condemnation and judgment we are free to do what God
created us to do: To love one another, just as God loves us.
That was the story
about God that Paul told the church at Ephesus. What is the story
about God that we should tell other’s here in Ocean City? When we
talk with others about our faith we should always start with our own
story of what God has done for us. But eventually we will receive a
question about the God we worship. When this happens we will need to
tell them a story about what God is doing in the world from its
beginning to its end. Let me share with you the story that I wrote
and passed out to over 260 international students last Wednesday.
Feel free to use this story, it is in the literature racks, or use
another story about God you come up with. As long as you faithfully
follow what the Bible says about God you’ll be ok. Here is the
story of God I told.
The God I worship
is the creator of everything. God created the world and everything
in it. God created you and me. I don’t know when God created the
world. I don’t know exactly how God created the world. But I do
know two things. First, God did create the world. And second, when
God finished creation he declared that it was all good.
So God created a
good world for us to live in. And all he asked us to do was to let
God decide for us what is right and what is wrong. But God gave us
freedom, and with that freedom we chose to decide right and wrong for
ourselves. We chose to follow our own ethical code. Our earliest
ancestors did this, and we do it today. This is sin. We are to use
the ethical code given to us by God rather than the one we developed
for ourselves.
As a result of this
choice, problems came into the world. And today the world is really
messed up. You can see this in the news. Countries are defaulting
on debt. Nations are at war with each other. People lie and cheat
to get want they want. Our problems seem to get bigger and bigger.
This is all a result of sin, our choice to decide right and wrong for
ourselves rather than following God. What is God going to do about
all this? Will God have the universe collapse and start a new Big
Bang?
What God did was to
go to a man named Abraham with an offer. God promised to bless
Abraham richly with land, and cattle, and crops, and offspring. All
Abraham had to do was bless others with a portion of the blessings he
had received from God. Abraham was blessed to be a blessing. God’s
plan was simple. We are to love him with all our hearts, souls and
minds and we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. But we
have continued to decide for ourselves what is right and what is
wrong. And so the problems of the world continue to deepen.
God then decided to
come to earth himself to remind us that God created the world good,
and blesses us richly so that we can bless others. God came as a
man, Jesus. Jesus told us that God is displeased with the
generations of men and women who have ignored God and chose to decide
right from wrong themselves. But God wants to be reconciled with us
because he loves us. Jesus told us that our sin is forgiven. Jesus
reminded us that we are to love God and love our neighbor.
Those who wanted to
continue to decide for themselves what is right and wrong, were
disturbed by Jesus’ message, and put him to death. But Jesus
proved them all wrong by rising from the dead and ascending to
heaven.
Before Jesus left
he gave us his Spirit to remind us of all the blessings we have
received and encourage us to bless others. He also left behind a
church which loves God, and attempts to follow God by loving our
neighbors. And Jesus left behind the Bible which explains to us what
God had done in the world and the promises he has made to us. Today
Jesus’ church, filled with his Spirit and love, and guided by the
Bible, works to restore the world to God’s good creation.
Jesus’ church
does all this because it is filled with the glorious hope that like
him we will rise from the dead. We believe that the day will come
when Jesus returns to earth. On that day our bodies will rise from
the grave. Our souls, spirits, personalities, and memories, which
are stored in heaven when we die, will return to our bodies in the
resurrection. Then we will live, as our creator intended, with God
deciding right from wrong. We will love him with all of our soul,
mind and strength. We will love others just as we love ourselves.
We will be richly blessed by God so that we can richly bless others.
This is the good news.
That’s the story
I would tell. How about you? What story would you tell to people
who are curious about the God you worship? To get you started on
developing your story about God, let me give you four things every
God story should have.
First, you should
talk about God’s intentions for the world. God wanted the world to
be good, free from problems. So he created a world with enough food
and water and everything else we need.
Second, talk about
how this world has been damaged by evil. This won’t be hard. The
world we live in is far from what God intended. God has provided an
abundance of water to drink, but some people are thirsty because they
have no clean drinking water. God created a world with plenty to
eat, but many people go to bed hungry and some even starve to death.
This list goes on and on.
Third, talk about
how God is working to restore the world. The tools he is using are
love, forgiveness, grace, spirit, church and Jesus.
And fourth tell
people how God is using this church to restore the world. Talk about
how this church ministers to the needs of international students by
giving them a weekly breakfast.
There you have it.
The world was design for good. It was damaged by evil. It was
restored for better. And the church is sent to heal.
As you gather
around tables for small groups today put the Big Story about God in
your own words. Talk with each other about how God created for us a
perfect world, but by our disobedience we messed it up. Talk with
each other about what Jesus did to fix it, and what the church is
doing to continue that work.
Let pray. Father
in heaven we thank you for your work of creation that made a world
which satisfies all our needs. We confess that through our
disobedience we have messed it all up. We thank you for sending
Jesus Christ with your grace, love and forgiveness to restore the
world to what you intended. Guide you church to continue in this
effort. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
1http://www.pcusa.org/resource/engage/
No comments:
Post a Comment