Going with the Good News

The following is from Carlisle Baptist Church's AM worship service on January 3, 2010.

I know that as we begin a new year, we share goals, aspirations, and resolutions that we have made. For some of you, your resolutions include joining a gym and losing some weight. Others may have determined that they are going to learn a new craft or begin a new relationship. Some of you may have determined that your goal for 2010 is to reduce your financial debt. The fact is that there are probably as many goals and resolutions as there are people in the pews this morning.
My hope is that some of your resolutions and hopes include the church. I hope that you have desires and goals for the corporate body here at Carlisle. I am certain that many of you would love to see the church grow in number. I would hope that your desire is for the body to deepen spiritually this next year. You may desire that the church expand a particular ministry or add more classes. It could be any number of things.
As a body of believers, we share hopes and goals for the corporate body here. However, please hear me on this: If you are not personally involved, if you are not willing to assume your place and fill your role, it will not happen. Unless God’s people will commit to go with the gospel in 2010, it will simply be another year that ends with regret.
I don’t know about you, but I have discovered that the aging process accelerates as we get older. We do not have time to waste. We cannot abandon or neglect our call to share the gospel any longer. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that Christians assume their places of service.
I would invite you to join with me this morning as we look at a very short passage in Mark.

Read text. (Mark 16:15)

Jesus has been resurrected from the dead. He has defeated hell and the grave. He has made various appearances after His resurrection. Now, He appears as the disciples sit around the table. And what is His instruction? Of all of the things that He could have said, of all of the things that could have been addressed, what was the instruction? He told them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Now, I know that we would like to assign that to the disciples. It would be easier and demand less of us to say that was a task solely assigned to the apostles. However, that is not the case. Rather, this is a command that has transcended time. It is an instruction that applies to every believer of any race, creed, background, social standing, or sex. It is a universal mission.
We are called to share, to preach, the gospel.
Before we go any farther, we need to answer a question, and I need your help. I want your verbal response. What is the gospel? We know that word literally translates into the “good news.” But what is the gospel of the Bible? What is the good news?
This question was asked to a room full of pastors in seminary class. Before the professor even finished the question, most of the room was shouting a unanimous answer. I believe we too would tend to answer the question in a similar way. We would say that the gospel is the virgin birth, the sinless life, the vicarious death, and the victorious resurrection. However, we might need to slow down and consider something. We just shared the facts, the mechanics of the gospel.
But to the average person, is that good news? Does a story about a man living two thousand years ago really relate much to an average person today?
Can I share with you what the gospel is? I believe, while the birth, life, death, and resurrection are all vital parts of the gospel that we must share, the true good news is simply this: God likes me and desires a relationship with me. The good news of Scripture is that the Almighty God of creation likes me enough that He was willing to let His own Son die in order that we might share a relationship together.
Now, I don’t know about you, but to me that is good news. That is great news. God likes me and desires a relationship with me. That is the reason why Jesus came. That is the greatest news humanity has ever heard.
We must rediscover the joy that comes from the simple truth that Jesus loves me. We must understand God’s love for us is the good news.
Now, I believe that the most overlooked word in all of Scripture is ironically found in the most well-known of all passages. It is found in the passage that presents the gospel in a nutshell. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Do you know what word we miss in that passage? It is only two letters. But by missing it, we miss a major part of the good news. We are told, “For God SO loved…” Emily and I sign our love letters or cards with multiple “O’s” to communicate what “so” means. For God sooooooooo loved the world. Because of the greatness of the Father’s love for you, His son came and died.
If we would slow down and seek to rediscover the wonder and the joy that comes from the fact that God loves us, fulfilling our mission to go with the gospel will come naturally.
Since we have established what the gospel is, let me share quickly with you three guidelines for sharing your faith. There are three things that we must do as we go with the gospel of Christ. There are three things that we must do if we desire to see the church grow in 2010.
First, we must…

1.) Be Committed to Sharing our Faith
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:19-20
As a body of believers, we must be committed to sharing the good news that we have found. Our sharing must become a lifestyle. It must become a consuming passion.
Just think about it for a moment. The very last thing that Jesus told His disciples before He returned to His rightful place at the right hand of the throne of God was to be active in sharing their faith. He told them to “Go.”
Now, here is something we must recognize about this passage. The command to “Go” is actually a present-tense participle phrase. It literally translates as “As you are going.”
God has not called all of us to move to a remote village in Africa. However, He does intend that we be active in sharing our faith as we go. In those places where God has placed us- whether they are Bay County or Montrose, Mississippi, we must share the good news as we go. As we live, as we encounter people, as we build relationships, we must share the hope and promise that should be our source of life and joy.
We must be committed to sharing our faith.
This morning, you are probably at the point now where you are thinking, “I’ve heard all this before. I know that I’m supposed to share my faith.” However, we have to address this because, well to be blunt, we are simply failing at our task. Unfortunately, many churches are dependent on the pastor and the staff to provide all the growth in the church. Too many believe it is the job of the pastor to bring everyone in- it is his job to convert the community. No! We must each be committed to sharing our faith.
Listen, Christ never once commanded the lost world to come to the church. Search Scripture, you won’t find it. Yet time and time again, we find instruction for the church to go to the lost. We can’t wait for the lost to come to us. Most of them don’t even know they’re lost. We have to go. We have to share.
I know that most of you acknowledge this. I realize that I probably sound like a broken record of a long line of pastors that hammer on the need of sharing your faith. But there is an unfortunate truth we must consider.
There are two statistics you need to hear. First, did you know that we are planting four new Southern Baptist churches everyday? Unfortunately, we are closing six for every four we open. We are losing two churches a day in America.
That is sad. It is scary. When I heard that statistic the first thing I thought was “Why? Why are churches failing?” And then I found another statistic that explains it all. As we are losing two churches daily in America, recent polls claim that more than ninety percent of “Christians” do not actively share their faith.
Our churches will not grow, they will not flourish, they will not fulfill their purpose unless God’s people, individuals begin to assume their role and share their faith. We must be committed to share but that is not all. We must be committed to sharing and faith and we must also…

2.) Be Concerned When Sharing our Faith
“Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” –Psalm 126:5
Most Christians are not actively, regularly sharing their faith. In fact, a large percentage has never shared the faith. I hope that will change.
However, we must realize that the shortcoming in our sharing evidences a larger, deeper issue. Why don’t we share? Many say that they don’t share because they are afraid of rejection. Others say that they are afraid they won’t have all the answers. Many say that it is uncomfortable or awkward.
Can I simplify all of this down to something more direct? Many Christians don’t share their faith because they simply care too little.
Now before you pick up a stone to throw at me, hear me out.
I am convinced when we become burdened and heartbroken enough, we will begin to open our mouths even if we don’t know all the answers. We will begin to share regardless of the response. If we catch a glimpse of the imminent danger that awaits so many people we love, we will begin to share more openly.
Adrian Rogers once told a story about a boating accident in South Florida. A man was out in his speedboat one day playing in the bay. He was accelerating and had almost reached full speed when he lost control of the boat near the bridge. The man crashed at a high rate of speed into one of the pilings at the base of the bridge. He was thrown from his boat, seriously injured, floating face-down in the water. Some of the fishermen on the bridge, as well as some motorists saw what happened and rushed to respond. Despite the bleak outlook, they fished the man out of the water.
Another man was driving over the bridge as he noticed the paramedics, the crowd and the body on the pavement after being fished from the water. He pulled over partially out of curiosity and thought to himself how unfortunate the accident was. Yet, he kept his distance and watched the emergency personnel working on the man. He thought it to be unfortunate, but was relatively unconcerned.
As they rolled him over, he caught a glimpse of the man’s face- and realized it was his brother. Suddenly, he is no longer the unconcerned observer. Rather, he is screaming at the paramedics to do something. He is begging people to pray. He begins to fervently call out to God himself. He is searching for anything or anyone that could possibly help?
Now, why is there such a difference? His emotions became involved. Concern, emotion, and attitude dictated his actions.
When we begin to care enough, our actions will follow our attitudes.
Additionally, when we actually grow broken enough over the condition of our friends, family and neighbors that we weep over them, God’s Word promises us that we will reap in joy.
We must be committed to sharing our faith, and we must also be concerned while sharing our faith. We must have an honest, God-given love and passion for those we are sharing with. We must become emotionally invested in our calling to share the faith.
We must be committed to sharing the faith. We must be concerned when sharing our faith. And we must lastly…

3.) Be Consistent While Sharing our Faith

There are two ways that we must be consistent. First, our words, our message must be supported by a lifestyle. We communicate our faith through the way we live. 1 John 3:18 says, “Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”
Sharing the faith is an expression of love. And like every other area of life, action trumps what comes out of the mouth. I know that Missouri is the “Show me state.” However, that is an accurate description of all of society. What comes out of your mouth is not nearly as powerful as the lifestyle your lead.
If you are going to preach the gospel, you better live the gospel. Your life needs to be a fitting testimony to the power of God. If you are going to preach the good news of God’s Word, your life better evidence the fact that you believe it is good news.
Our committed sharing must be accompanied by committed living. Those around you will know and recognize every inconsistency between the way you live and what comes from your lips.
We must make certain that the gospel we preach is the same as the gospel that gives us life.
Our lifestyle must be consistent with our message, and the message must be grounded and consistent as well. This is the second form of consistency we must evidence. We must be consistent in the gospel we preach.
In a day and time of changing ideas, of relative truth, of uncertainty and skepticism, we cannot afford to change the gospel of Christ. We must be firm and certain of the gospel we preach.
Now, I know that we tried to define the good news earlier. We said that the good news is that God likes me and desires a relationship with me. If we kept going, we would include that because of that He sent His Son to serve as the atoning sacrifice. Through that sacrifice, I have hope of life eternal- when I repent and surrender to Christ.
That is the simple, minimal gospel message. Yet we must be grounded and consistent in it.
The problem we face is in the adoption of so many false gospels. We have the health-wealth gospel. We have the “believe it and you can achieve it” gospel. We have the prosperity gospel. We have an infinite number of skewed, altered and amended, people-pleasing approaches.
Yet, we must be consistent to stick with the basics of God’s Word. We must always return to the fundamentals of Scripture. Our witness cannot waver from that.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I resolved to nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Our witness must be consistent with the truth of God’s Word. In the end, it must always come back to the person of Jesus. Any Biblical form of faith requires that.
We must be committed to share our faith. We must be concerned when we share our faith. And lastly, we must be consistent when we share our faith.
This morning as we come to our time of invitation, maybe you have never responded to the gospel message. Maybe you have never realized that God loves you so much that He sacrificed His own Son for you. If you have never experienced the relationship that God longs to share with you, I would hope that you would surrender your heart and life to Him this morning.
Maybe you are here and you settled the issue of salvation years ago, but you are failing to answer the call to go with the gospel. I would encourage you to make a fresh commitment this morning. Commit to allowing God to use you as He sees fit. Commit to share your faith with at least one person in 2010. Commit to answering His call.
As God’s people we must make a fresh commitment to go with the gospel this year.