Tag: Evangelism

Abraham: A Model For World Missions

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Evangelism, PracticalLeave a comment

Have you ever thought about how Abraham, a Jew, serves as a model for the Gentiles mission? I have been doing some reading and thinking in this area lately. Here is what I have discovered.

No Distinction Between Jews and Gentiles

In Galatians 3:27-29, we learn that there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles. All who put their faith in Christ are offspring of Abraham. They are kingdom citizens who are grafted into Israel, and, as such, are heirs to the promise God has made to Abraham (Rom. 11:11-24; see also Eph. 3:1-6; Rom. 4:13-17).

This means the kingdom of God is a multinational community of faith, which includes Jews and Gentiles alike. That means us, all those who are non-Jews. We are apart of God’s kingdom. We are the offspring of Abraham. As his offspring, we are apart of God’s mission to bring redemption to the world.

Abraham: Our Model

In Genesis 12, Abraham teaches us how we might accomplish our mission. God comes to Abraham and tells him that He will bless him if he would leave his country and go to a land that the Lord would show him. In Genesis 12:4, we are told that Abraham listens to the Lord and leaves. In doing so, he exercises faith and obedience to God (Rom. 4; Gal. 3:6-29; James 2:20-24; Heb. 11:8-19).

If we use Abraham as our model, we learn that to be successful in, and apart of, God’s mission, we too must exercise faith and obedience. This means that Abraham’s faith and obedience to God are not merely models for personal piety and ethics. They are also the essential credentials for effective participation in God’s mission [1].

Christopher Wright says,

“Those whom God calls to participate in his redemptive mission for the nations are those who exercise saving faith like Abraham and demonstrate costly obedience like Abraham” [2].

He continues by saying,

“So then, what God promised Abraham becomes the ultimate agenda for God’s own mission (blessing the nations), and what Abraham did in response to God’s promise becomes the historical model for our mission (faith and obedience)” [3].

Questions for Reflection

  • Why do you think it is true that the faith and obedience of Abraham is a historical model for our mission?
  • Do you believe, like Abraham did, that God will use you as His kingdom agents to bring redemption to the nations?
  • How are you doing with exercising faith that God will use you?
  • How are you doing at being obedient to God’s command?

Resources

[1] Christopher Wright, The Mission of God’s People, 80.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.

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Faithfully Preach the Text

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Pastoral, Preaching5 Comments

I was sent the following quote as an encouragement this week. It is by John Broadus, who was the President of Southern Seminary from 1889 to 1895. Read what he has to say regarding our faithfulness in preaching the text:

It is so easy and pleasant for men of fertile fancy to break away from laborious study of phraseology and connection, to cease plodding along the rough and homely paths of earth, and sport, free and rejoicing, in the open heaven; the people are so charmed by ingenious novelties, so carried away with imaginative flights, so delighted to find everywhere types of Christ and likenesses to the spiritual life; it is so common to think that whatever kindles the imagination and touches the heart must be good preaching, and so easy to insist that the doctrines of the sermon are in themselves true and Scriptural, though they be not actually taught in the text, – that preachers often lose sight of their fundamental and inexcusable error, of saying that a passage of God’s Word means what it does not mean. So independent too one may feel; so original he may think himself. Commentaries, he can sneer at them all; other preachers, he has little need of comparing views with them. No need of anything but the resources of his own imagination, for such preaching is too often only building castles in the air.

Resource

Quote originally published at For Christ and Culture

Sermons To Motivate You to Spread the Gospel

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Evangelism, Pastoral, PreachingLeave a comment

Here are three messages I heard at the Together for the Gospel (T4G) Conference this last week that I would like to share with you. These messages have spurred me on to evangelize the lost, articulate the gospel, and pray about mission work. I hope they do the same for you.

Thabiti Anyabwile | Will Your Gospel Transform a Terrorist?

Albert Mohler | The Power of the Articulated Gospel

David Platt | Divine Sovereignty: The Fuel of Death-Defying Missions

The Lord Directs Our Paths

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals1 Comment

Psalm 139:13-16

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my
mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths
of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every
one of them,
the days that were formed for
me,
when as yet there was none of
them. 

Personal Reflection

As graduation from seminary approaches, I have been reminded that the Lord has a plan for each and every one of us, and that His plan was forged before I was even formed.  In the hustle and bustle of the business world, or the endless assignments, papers, and tests of school, we often become so consumed with what is due next, we forget that God is the one directing our steps. However, when we are in between jobs, finishing school, or starting a new phase of our lives we are quickly reminded that the Lord is the Sovereign ruler of the universe, which includes the jobs we take. He is the one who has sustained us through the countless hours of projects, papers, and tests. He is the one who has placed those difficult circumstances in our lives, shaping and molding us into the men and women He would have us to be, so He can use us how He sees fit. He is the one who will direct our steps into the next phase of life.

As I near the end of my studies, I am thankful for the sustaining power of the Lord, but more importantly I have learned that wherever the Lord places me, He has truly called me to be there. The same is true for you as well. This means, when the Lord provides us with a job, career, or ministry opportunity, we should recognize it for what it is, a calling from the Lord to a particular place, people, and responsibilities. As a result, we should serve Him diligently in the role He has placed us.

A Few Questions to Ask Yourself

In order to serve the Lord in our positions and community best, we should ask a few questions of ourselves:

  1. Why would God place me in this position at this time?
  2. What is it about this city, state, or region that God would see fit to place me there? In other words, do I know a lot of people in this area, or does my skill set suit these people particularly well?
  3. What do I believe God would have me accomplish for His kingdom in this particular place or position?
  4. What skills has He been developing in me that could be used to meet the particular needs of those He has called me to serve, or could be used in the surrounding community?

Conclusion

The Lord directs our steps and sustains us, as well as He uses us to accomplish His will. This means every place we live and every position we are given is from the Lord. As a result, we should seek to understand how we can best serve Him there, and then work that out until He calls us somewhere else. May we all remember this week that the Lord will provide a position for us, as well as that our future position and the position we currently hold, or community in which we currently live, was designed by God, and serves as an opportunity for ministry.

The King and His Kingdom

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals1 Comment

Yesterday, while preaching over 1 Corinthians 4:17-21, our pastor talked about the Kingdom of God. In doing so, he told us Paul delivered a message from the king to the kings citizens (that would be those who live in the King’s Kingdom as redeemed humanity ie Christians). The message Paul delivers to the citizens is the message of the cross, which is both the way into the kingdom and how we can live in the kingdom.

The Message of the Cross is the Way Into the Kingdom

Here is where the worldly idea of a king and his kingdom is turned on its head. In Christianity, the King comes down from His throne, takes the form of the rebels in His kingdom, dies for them, and purchases, by His blood, a way for those who are living as rebels in His kingdom to live at peace with Him in His kingdom.

In biblical language, we would say Jesus is the King, who came down off His throne in heaven, took the form of a man, and went to the cross for the sins of those who oppose Him (rebels). His death on the cross, and man’s subsequent belief in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, restores their relationship with God, so they can once again live in the kingdom as peaceful citizens. After Christ’s sacrifice and subsequent resurrection, God showed He approved of Jesus’ cross-work by giving Jesus the name that is above every name and making Him the King who rules over His kingdom (Philippians 2:5-11).

The Message of the Cross is the Way to Live in the Kingdom

As Christians we live in God’s kingdom, through the sacrifice of His Son, who is now the rightful ruler of the kingdom. Jesus’ sacrifice was a one time event that secures the citizenship of all those who make Him their Lord and Savior. Instead of earning their right to live in the kingdom daily by performing works that please the King, Christians, whose citizenship was bought by Christ’s blood (the King), are made citizens forever in the kingdom by God’s grace. This means, citizenship into, and forever in, Christ’s kingdom cannot be bought by good works, it can only be bought by the blood of the King Himself. What a wonderful thing to know that our citizenship is not contingent on our works; rather, it is the result of Christ’s sacrifice. A perfect, once for all sacrifice that is sufficient to restore our citizenship in the kingdom for all eternity.

With that in mind, we see that Christianity says both our entrance into and our stay in the kingdom of God are secured by the King’s sacrifice. Whereas, all other world religions are about doing something, Christianity is about believing in someone.

Christianity tells us that when we get up in the morning, we do not have to work to get God on our side, nor do we have to earn His gift of citizenship daily, His grace is already their waiting for us.

Implications

So then, when we feel like we need to work to earn God’s favor, or we are not feeling it one day, we need to preach the message of the cross to ourselves, in order to assure ourselves that our citizenship in the kingdom of God is both real and secure.

It also means that we live as citizens of the kingdom now. Paul tells us our citizenship is not of this world (Phil. 3:20). And he also tells Christians that if they want to live as citizens worthy of their citizenship, they are to stand firm against their enemies and be united with one another (Phil. 1:27-2:4). This shows that we live in the already, not yet. We live in the world, but our citizenship is not of this world. Rather it is of the kingdom of God.

However, Christ is reigning on His throne now over His kingdom, which includes both heaven and this world. As Christians, we are rightful citizens of Christ’s kingdom, and we should live as citizens of that kingdom now because He is ruling over His kingdom now. This means those who are not Christians, are living as rebels to our king and are living as such alongside us in Christ’s kingdom. So then, instead of viewing Christ’s kingdom and our citizenship in that kingdom as a distant reality, we need to view it as happening right now. This should have massive implications for the way in which we live, and the way we view those who reject Christianity and the rule of our King.

It also should have massive implications for the way we deal with our own resources. Christ is the King who is ruling over His Kingdom right now. As such, He has control over the resources in His kingdom. This means we should not feel that the resources (money, job, property) we have are ours and that we somehow earned them apart from the King providing them for us. Since these resources are not our own, but the Kings, and the King is the one who gave them to us, we should feel free to share our resources with others in the kingdom, knowing that our good and benevolent King desires to take care of His citizens by providing for them.

Image: Nick Coombs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

How to Get Our People and Ourself on Mission

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Evangelism, Leadership, Pastoral, Practical5 Comments

Have you ever wondered why it is so hard to get on mission for Jesus and stay on mission? For most of us, we are excited to say we are living missionally, we throw the vocabulary around because it sounds cool, but the actual practice of living missionally is difficult. Why is it hard to live missionally? How we can actually get started and sustain our mission?

How Can we GET on Mission and STAY on Mission?

If we want ourselves and our people to be on mission for Christ, our affection for Christ must be the dominating affection of our hearts. If something else is the dominating affection, such as acceptance, status, or materialism, then mission will not be fully realized, and it is probably not going to start. Living on mission and staying on mission is a heart issue. It is not a program or strategy issue, which means we must attack a lack of mission at the heart level.

How can we increase Our affections for Jesus?

(1) We must have an unwavering commitment to understanding the Gospel in a greater way.

We have to be willing to make a commitment to understanding how every aspect of our life is affected by the gospel, and how every aspect of our life can be a gospel moment. Here is what I mean. Our life is a gospel moment when others witness the radical change Christ has performed in our lives. For instance, when a Christian’s view of sex, money, and power is radically different than our cultures, the gospel’s power to transform our life is demonstrated, not only to the world, but to ourselves. But that gospel change won’t result unless we commit to understanding the gospel in a greater way. An understanding that should result in our affections for Jesus changing as we recognize how wicked and depraved we really are and how great Jesus’ salvation really is.

(2) We must be willing to fail.

In our willingness to fail, we show we realize we are not the ones who expand the kingdom; rather, it is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who expand the kingdom. As we depend on God, see Him sustain us, and even use us to expand His kingdom, our affection for Him should increase and stimulate us to further mission.

(3) The travailing of our souls should cause us to pray.

As we face the laborious task of mission, our soul will inevitably groan with pain, because, let’s be honest, being on mission is hard, much harder than we might have first thought. The difficulties of mission should drive us to pray more often and more fervently. Prayer creates intimacy with Jesus and that intimacy should increase our affections for Jesus.

(4) Become an expert in proclaiming Jesus.

We become an expert on proclaiming Jesus by studying Scripture. As we study Scripture, we should gain a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and that should increase our affections for Him.

Conclusion

Changing the affections of our heart is key to getting on and staying on mission, which we are able to influence by committing to understand the gospel more deeply, be willing to fail, praying, and becoming an expert in proclaiming Jesus’ message through the study of Jesus’ Word. Doing these things should change our heart’s affections and drive us to mission, one that is more joyful and sustainable.

Resources

This post was developed from Tyler Jones’ sermon “The Church Planters Mission,” which you can find on iTunes under the Acts29 Network Podcast, or by clicking here (Note: it will be the one initially highlighted in light grey).

A great article on the subject of evangelism is Brent Nelson’s article Woe to Me if I don’t Evangelize