For sermons and additional resources, visit STBARTS.COM.AU

A YEAR OF NEXT STEPS (2018 LAUNCH SERIES)(WEEK 2/4: EVANGELISM)

SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS CONNECT: What will be your first NEXT STEP in prayer for 2018?

WARM-UP Questions 1. How did you first come to hear about Jesus? 2. What do you think people find difficult about evangelism?

Read Romans 10:5-13 3. Where do people around you go for validation and justification? 4. What event in Israel’s history is being referred to in v.5, why is Moses mentioned here (Deuteronomy

4:1, 30:11-14)? 5. What do you think v.6-7 are about? What sort of behaviour do you think is being spoken against

here? 6. Why do you think beliefs and words are so important for faith? 7. Paul quotes from the Old Testament throughout this passage, why do you think he uses these

words? 8. What is the significance of the same Lord being Lord of all, why is there only one way to Jesus? 9. Think of someone you know who isn’t a Christian, how would you explain the good news found in

this passage to them in 5 minutes?

Read Romans 10:14-15 10. What are the five questions Paul asks in these verses? 11. In what ways can Christians sometimes ‘subcontract’ their evangelism to others? 12. What is our role in evangelism? What is God’s role in evangelism? Who does evangelism depend on? 13. Who in your life has taught you the most about the gospel?

Read Romans 10:14-15 14. Why does Paul quote Isaiah to explain why some Israelites have not accepted the good news? 15. In what way are people not hearing the good news? 16. What are some of the things that keep the people you know from hearing the gospel? 17. Why is it important that the gospel message goes out regardless of whether people accept it or not?

APPLY (to this week): What will be your first NEXT STEP in evangelism for 2018?

PRAY: Heavenly Father, thank you that you are a missional God. Thank you Jesus that you came into our world to proclaim the good news and to make a way back into your presence. Please forgive us for our idolatry and sin and help us to trust in you rather than created things. Help us to take hold of the opportunities we have to share the gospel and take it to the ends of the earth. Amen.

For sermons and additional resources, visit STBARTS.COM.AU

A YEAR OF NEXT STEPS (2018 LAUNCH SERIES)(WEEK 2/4: EVANGELISM)

GOING DEEPER RESOURCES & SUGGESTIONS

Each week we provide additional resources that help to go deeper with whatever series we’re currently focusing on as a church. Resources could include recommended books, articles, online

sermons, courses, or videos. These are optional extras! Please don’t feel under pressure to look at every resource, but consider what could be useful to.

Talks & Audio • ‘The Responsibility of People’ by Andrew Price

https://www.holytrinitydoncaster.org.au/resources/sermons/?sermon_id=2195 • ‘Go forth and tell (God’s commission to evangelism)’ by John Stott

https://www.allsouls.org/Media/PlayMedia.aspx?download=file&media_id=50073&file_id=58371

• ‘Israel’s Fault’ by Phillip Jensen http://phillipjensen.com/audio/israels-fault/

• ‘The Missionary Logic of the Gospel’ by Zane Pratt https://resources.thegospelcoalition.org/library/the-missionary-logic-of-the-gospel

Video & Music • ‘The G.O.S.P.E.L’ by Propaganda, a spoken word poem about the GOSPEL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhe5qLju3h4 • ‘Compelled: Speaking and Living the Gospel’ by Tim Mackie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwNfH_SOWKA&t=747s • ‘What is the Gospel?’ by Ravi Zacharias

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enXBnnFbDpM • ‘How would you explain the Gospel in five minutes’ an interview with Don Carson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RImYisUYxM • ‘Just what is the Gospel’ by Eric Ludy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6ZX7ui0Dfo

Next Steps Study Guide and Planner • St Bart’s NEXT STEPS Four-Week Study Guide (Printed Copies available at Church), download at:

www.stbarts.com.au/nextsteps

A helpful article on Romans 10 • ‘Commentary on Romans 10:5-15’ by Matt Skinner

https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=959

Talk 2/4 (A Year of NEXT STEPS): 14/01/18 “A NEXT STEP in Evangelism”

by the Rev’d David Browne

Bible Passage: Romans 10:5-18

INTRODUCTION \\ The problem

It’s been great to kick off our year of ‘Next Steps’ at St Bart’s praying and thinking about the next steps we can take in 2018

• Last week we focussed on prayer • prayer should be the starting point for everything we do at St Bart’s, we’re a house of

prayer • Prayer is at the heart of our identity but so is evangelism • For some us evangelism can seem intimidating and beyond us but evangelism is

simply sharing the good news of Jesus Christ • Our mission statement as a church is “making and maturing disciples of Jesus Christ

for God's glory • It’s the reason we exist, • if we’re not doing this we’re missing the mark set by our mission statement but more

importantly we’re missing out on God’s purpose for our lives !2

• So today we’re going to be looking at Romans 10:5-18 which is all about the good news of Jesus Christ,

• This passage is part of a bigger letter(which we’ll be studying later this year) written by Paul, who made disciples, built churches, and wrote around a third of the NT

• But interestingly we get him here not on a high but on a low • As a Jew himself Paul’s heart is breaking because his own people are rejecting the

gospel, • The Roman Christians see this and chances are they’re thinking ‘is the gospel really

good news if some, God’s people even, reject it?’ • In response Paul, inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, gives us a masterclass on evangelism

proclaiming in v.13: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”(Romans 10:13)

• He wants to instil confidence in us that everyone who puts their trust in Jesus has the certainty of life forever as a member of God’s Kingdom…

• This is the core of evangelism and Paul gives us three things to avoid in order to follow Jesus command to his disciples to go out into all the world and make disciples:

• Don’t go it alone - Evangelism relies on God

!3

• Don’t subcontract - Evangelism is for every disciple • And don’t lose heart - The gospel is unstoppable

!4

#1 Don’t go it alone - Evangelism Relies on God \\ Romans 10:5-13

The first thing we’re told not to do is we’re told to stop trying to save ourselves, don’t go it alone v.5: “Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” (Romans 10:5-6)

• The intention in verse 5 is to recall an event in Deuteronomy 30 where the Lord meets with his people and gives them what looks like a simple choice:

• Choose life with me and follow my law or go it alone and forfeit the life I offer • The people of Israel were set free by God to live free and show the world how good it

is to live for God • but they chose to go it alone • This is the Bible’s explanation for why our lives so often don’t meet our expectations

We’ve all gone our own way and cut ourselves off from God

!5

We’ve also tried again and again to remedy this problem ourselves

• There are two ways we do this: • One is to ignore God and live how we want • The other is to make up religious rules and find good deeds to do, to justify ourselves

apart from God(this is what the Jews in Paul’s time were trying to do) • Ultimately we have a control problem, both these approaches are an attempt to take

control over our destinies • But despite our attempts to make our way up to heaven and bring Christ down to

bless us, or go into the deep and bring Christ up from the dead to overcome death, we fail

Righteousness can’t come through self-righteousness we need a saviour and that saviour is closer than we could ever hope

!6

v.8-13 bring us to the heart of evangelism:

“The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:8–9)

• God’s solution is Jesus, • Jesus Christ, God in the flesh came into our world to show us how to live and died in

our place that we might stop trying to go it alone and hand our lives over to God • Trust is the key to any relationship, Paul is telling the Romans that faith in Jesus is the

only way back into relationship with God • We cannot justify ourselves, only God can justify us and anyone who believes in God

will never be put to shame • This comes back to Paul’s concern for his own people who are still desperately trying

to justify themselves • There is no difference between a Jew and (a non-Jew), the God who created us all has

given us one path back into his presence and that is through Jesus Christ

!7

This is the core of the gospel, it’s the message we share when we evangelise: God doesn’t want us to do life alone, he wants us to trust in him

Our God is a missional God, he’s not distant in heaven expecting us to earn his love

Jesus came, close to us, struggled through the same things we struggle with, and encountered violent opposition to his message

Regardless, he proclaimed the good news that everyone everywhere is welcome back into God’s kingdom if we simply take him at his word and entrust our lives to him

The law condemns us but Jesus fulfilled the law fully and makes us right with God by dying in our place

This is the best news ever: we can call on God in prayer, we can receive God’s righteousness and we can do life with God

!8

My Gran has been a card carrying Anglican all her life, she loves attending church and was flower lady for decades. I’ll never forget the day she told me she hadn’t done enough good things and had done too many bad things to be acceptable to God. I got to tell her that Christians weren't people who did 'Good things' but people who were trusting in Jesus for their righteousness. Her response: "So there's hope for me yet then?!”. Yup Gran there's hope for us all!

#2 Don’t subcontract - Evangelism is for ever disciple \\ Romans 10:14-15

This experience was a reminder for me of the power of the gospel to fill our lives with hope and the importance of sharing it Having shared the gospel in all it’s clarity and power Paul brings us to our second point: don’t subcontract

“How, then, 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? And how

!9

can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:14–15)

Now I don’t know what your feet look like but mine aren’t very pretty, we’re not being treated to a commentary on feet here but of the importance of sharing the gospel

• We’re asked four questions How can they(that means anyone) call on Jesus if they haven’t believed in him? How can anyone believe in Jesus if they haven’t heard about Jesus?How can anyone hear about Jesus if no one tells them about Jesus?How can anyone tell people about Jesus unless they have been sent to do exactly that?

• These questions make the same point, if we don’t go out and share the gospel, people can’t believe it

• The word translated preach isn’t limited to what I’m doing right now but is what a messenger bringing the news of a great victory would do

• All of us have preached at one time or another as we’ve shared some sort of good news with someone else, all of us can preach and share the gospel in our own unique way

!10

The meaning is clear, if the gospel isn’t proclaimed, no one will hear the gospel, and if the gospel isn’t heard, people cannot believe it and be saved

• Here Paul shares the missionary logic of the gospel • Sometimes we assume that everyone has heard the gospel but last Easter when Pete

Dutton our youth minister shared the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection • A group high-school girls from right here in Toowoomba shared that they had never

heard of Jesus’ death and resurrection! • So often we subcontract our evangelism to people we call ‘evangelists’, ‘missionaries’

or other professionals who we think will be able to proclaim the gospel while we enjoy it’s freedoms

• We’re happy to send someone else to do evangelism but we’d rather avoid it ourselves

But friends it doesn’t work like that, if we don’t share the gospel with those around us they may never hear it! This is why we support

!11

missionaries to go out to into the world and share the gospel but we don’t call them our missionaries, we are partners in mission and we are on mission with them.

The people people we partner in mission with might know more people, have a flashier way of speaking, or may have a degree in something but they are no more entrusted with the gospel than you are! • Even Jesus sent his disciples into the world to share his message because as a human

he took on our limitations; he got tired and hungry, and because our God is a sending God

• While we are all limited, we are empowered by the different gifts that God has given us to live for his glory and share the good news with others

• The best evangelists are ordinary people who live extraordinary lives because of Jesus and humbly share the gospel in any way they can

God entrusts us with the best news ever that we might pass it on

There is a woman in our church who is always looking for people share God’s love with, she befriends her neighbours and has them over to her

!12

house all the time, but you can guarantee you that everyone who comes to her house will be prayed for, will hear about the love God has for them and will be invited to hear more about him. Some people come to know God, others decline her offer but she will keep sharing the gospel until the Lord brings her home.

If we subcontract evangelism to someone else some may miss out but if we let God send us out into the world empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach the gospel more and more people can call on the name of the lord and be saved, evangelism is for every disciple of Jesus

!13

#3 Don’t lose heart - The gospel is unstoppable \\ Romans 10:16-18

The final ‘don’t’ we’re given is: Don’t lose heart v.16

“But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our

message?” Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.””(Romans 10:16–18 )

Some people have heard the gospel and just refused to accept it.

• The gospel is the good news of how we can be saved by God but God won’t force us to accept him

• The majority of early Christians were Jews who went from town to town to jewish places of worship(the synagogues) proclaiming righteousness by faith

• but you can read in the book of Acts how some said ‘Yes’ to Jesus and others said ‘No’ • It’s possible that the Christians in Rome(many of whom were Jewish) thought there

was a problem with Paul’s message • If Jesus was God’s saviour why would God’s people reject him?

!14

• Paul’s response is that the problem is not with the gospel he proclaims but with those who refuse to hear it

• He quotes from the prophet Isaiah showing how God had anticipated that some would physically hear the message but would not truly receive it into their hearts

God hasn’t failed, the people have refused to respond to God’s message

The message for us today is the same, don’t lose heart, the fact that people reject the gospel does not mean that it has no power or that it is not worth sharing

• Sometimes we think that nobody wants to hear about God • But you are proof that people do want to hear about God • Sometimes we think that evangelism is pointless but somewhere along the line

someone shared the gospel with you and many of you have received it • This church is living proof of the power of God and that the gospel is unstoppable • God’s desire is that all people will come to know his love and he has appointed us as

his representatives, sending us to the ends of the earth or even next door

!15

• One day it will be too late and those who do not trust in God will find themselves outside of God’s presence

• In the meantime if you are a disciple of Jesus then you have good news to share and a reason to share it whether it’s received with gladness, skepticism or rejection

Paul’s message to us is “Don’t loose heart” personally share the gospel of grace in the clearest way possible and take God’s unstoppable gospel to the ends of the earth

!16

CONCLUSION \\ WHAT WILL BE YOUR NEXT STEP?

So this morning let’s ask ourselves what will my next step in evangelism be in 2018 Your next step might be simply to receive the gospel, accept Christ’s righteousness and let God welcome you back into his family, if that’s you the prayer team would love to pray with you this morning in the prayer room up the back Your next step might be to recognise the evangelism is for every follower of Jesus, you might start by asking a neighbour what they believe about God, or volunteer to teach Religious Instruction If you’re a parent your most important mission field is to your family, letting them know God loves them and wants them to follow him Your next step might be to dust yourself off and regain your confidence in the gospel, and start sharing it again Regardless of where you are at I urge you to take a next step in evangelism, don’t go it alone, don’t subcontract and don’t loose heart, evangelism relies on God, is for every disciples and the Gospel is unstoppable

!17