“Being a Light by Building a Bridge”

September 4, 2005.  Pastor Matt

God has called us to be a light to the Gentiles.

Acts 13:38-49

Gentile means: “not like us.”  It is those who do not have Jesus.  We are to be a light to the lost around us, whether they think they have religion or not.  In America, people think they are a Christian if they believe in God, but belief in God is not enough, you must have a belief in a Jesus (His Son) and a relationship with Him.

More specifically we are to reach out to…

(CEV) Isaiah 42:6-7 

I selected and sent you to bring light and my promise of hope to the nations. You will give sight to the blind; you will set prisoners free from dark dungeons.

Isaiah 61:1-2

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim (the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God), to comfort all who mourn,

This is not something we can just talk about. 

We have talked about it long enough.  Now is the time to get moving.

How are we at Westwood going to do this? 

How are we going to be a light to the Gentiles?

The most effective way to reach people for Jesus is through building relationships.

Why are you here in church today?  Who do you have a human relationship with?

Luke 5:17-26

Question and answer time:

-         What did the four men do for the paralytic?

o       They carried him to Jesus

o       They tried one thing (going into the house) but failed

o       They took another route (the roof)

o       They went the extra distance to bring their friend to Jesus because they knew Jesus had something to offer him

§         He has something to offer everyone.

-         What can we assume about the four men?

o       They must have know the man if he let them carry him

o       There must have been some kind of relationship between the paralytic and the four men

§        Maybe they were family

§        Maybe they were old friends who new him prior to him being paralyzed

-         What can we assume about the paralytic?

o       The bottom had fallen out of his life

o       When the bottom falls out of people’s lives, the answer is always Jesus.

§        People need answers and the answer is Jesus.

-         What happened as a result of what the four men did?

Luke 5:20.  When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

o       The paralytic man put his faith in Jesus

§        Notice that He was still paralyzed when Jesus forgave him of his sins

§        He was brought face to face with Jesus and saw Him for who He is.

§        When confronted with Jesus face to face, He chose to believe in his heart.  It does not say that He said a fancy prayer, rather, Jesus saw the man’s heart and new that he believed.  Jesus does not grant this man forgiveness to show off but because the man believed in who Jesus was. 

John 3:16.

Romans 10:9.  That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Remember that Jesus also saw the hearts of the religious leaders around him.

Read Luke 5:21-26. 

-         It is important to remember that people’s physical needs are important but their spiritual needs are the most important.

-         We need to meet people’s physical needs but our ultimate goal is salvation.

-         When we meet peoples physical needs, we feel better about ourselves

-         We feel like better Christians, but that is not the point.  The point is salvation. 

-         Give people hope.  When meeting their physical needs, do something to show them a glimpse of God’s love.  Do something to point them towards their Savior.

Let’s look at another example of the relationship building process.

Read Mark 2:13-17.

What was Jesus doing?

He walked, talked and ate with the lost.  The religious folks were upset about this!

(16) “…why does He eat with the tax collectors and sinners?”

What’s the big deal about eating a meal with a sinner?

-         The sinners where the non-religious,

o       those who acted non-religiously,

o       those who felt they could not follow the rules of religion so they ignored religion all together

(Eating with a sinner would break the religious rules of purity)

(“We can’t do that….That is not what a Christian does?”)

For their culture, having a meal with a person came in a close second to sex in intimacy

What does it take to have a meal with a person?  A close relationship.  An invite. 

What would you do if you where having a meal at McDonalds and someone sat at the table with you? 

You’d be like, “Do I know you?”

You’d probably get up and leave. 

Some in the church may question another’s relationship with “shady” people

Tough…deal with it…if we did not build relationship with the lost, the lost will die

We need to all make intimate close relationships with people without compromising our faith and who we are. 

We can be who we are if they can be who they are. 

It is an agreement between friends that I am what I am and you are what you are, but the reality is that when you are a Christian, your life will be noticeably different.  The lost sinner will look to the saved/found sinner for direction and that is when you can bring them to Jesus.

Jesus makes this point clear in verse 17 when He says, “It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

Jesus ate with sinners because sinners need Jesus

Jesus did not show the lost religion.  He showed them relationship.

Getting ready to close

How far are you willing to go to bring someone to Jesus?

-         four guys ripped the roof off a building

-         Paul was willing to trade his soul

-         Jesus was best friends with the lost

Take out your small piece of paper.

The next few weeks I want you to altar your life.  Write on a piece of paper the person you are going to commit to reach for Jesus and let’s pray for that person.

Then go out of your way to get involved in that person’s life. 

Develop some routines where you can begin to build a relationship.  Look around you and see the common ground that is already there.

Live your life in such a way that shows them you have put your life in Jesus’ hands. 

Apologize for living inappropriately in front of them, and then start over. 

When a lost person knows you have Jesus they often look at you with an uneasiness that says, “What is different about you? 

They see you with eyes that are filled with questions.  They often are on the edge waiting for you to give them a sign, any sign that says, I’m open to talk with you about what a Jesus means to me.  But they won’t ever get to that point if you don’t ever build that bridge.

Today begins a change in your life.  Today begins with you reaching out to those around you who are poor, broken hearted, held captive, prisoners, and mourners.  Bring them to Jesus.

Closing

Do you need Jesus?

Do you want to get serious about people that need the Lord?

Let’s be a light to the Gentiles starting right now?

Before closing in prayer, “Go make friends with Sinners and bring them to Jesus.”