Sunday School Message #9

Introduction: Well, today is our last Sunday to meet together. I want to tell you all that it has been a privilege to study God’s Word together with you and I look forward to more opportunities we will have to interact in the years to come. Today we are studying the final, and most important, aspect of “How to Think Like Jesus.” Today we are going to study A Heart for Love. Let’s begin in prayer…

8. A Heart for Love
a. Mat.22:37-40
- We’re reminded of the importance of love in Jesus reply to the lawyer in Matthew 22. “Jesus said unto him…” Jesus said that all of the laws of God hang on those two commands – to love God and love others. Today we’re going to focus on the second of those commands. What does the Bible have to say about loving others? How did our Lord Jesus treat others? Because as always, we need to follow our Lord’s example.

b. Jn.13:34-35
- This passage is the first time that Jesus commanded His disciples to love each other. He says, “A new commandment…” Two things in this passage are very important. Jesus says that we should love each other as He has loved us. This is the best way to describe our love for each other in one phrase. We should love others the way Jesus loves them – the way He loves us. We need to see people the way He sees them. They are not just another irritation; not just another person to get in the way of our lives. They are a special treasure that Jesus cherishes. We ought to love others the way Jesus loves them. The second thing that is important is verse 35. Jesus says, “By this shall all men know…” We have talked often about the importance of our testimony as a Christian. Jesus tells us here that if we love each other, the world will know that we are His disciples. This is probably the most important motivation we have for loving others – the world will know that we are His disciples.

c. Jn.15:9-13,17
In this next passage, Jesus repeats His command for us to love each other and explains it to us more. “As the Father…” Notice, if you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love. Again we see the connection between obeying God’s law and loving others. In verse 11, we learn that loving others is the key to having joy in our lives. “These things have I spoken…” And in verse 13, Jesus tells us the ultimate demonstration of love – to give one’s life for his friends. Very soon after Jesus spoke this, His disciples would understand exactly what He was saying and exactly how much He loved them. Then notice in verse 17, Jesus repeats His command. “These things I command you…” Remember that anytime the Bible repeats something, it is because we need to take special notice of it. We are commanded by our Lord to love others.

d. Jn.17:21-26
We have looked several times at Jesus prayer to His Father in John 17. In these verses, Jesus prays the same things to His Father that he taught to His disciples. “That they may all be one…that the world may believe…the love…may be in them.” So we see that Jesus didn’t only teach these things to His disciples. He prayed that they would follow them.

e. Rom.12:10
Look now at Romans 12:10. The Apostle Paul tells us, “Be kindly affectioned…” Notice he says that we should have “brotherly love” for each other. As Christians, we are a family. We ought to have the same love for each other that a family has for each other. And then he explains this by saying, “In honor preferring one another…” This is a very simple explanation of how we can love others – we prefer their needs above our own.

f. Rom.13:8-10; Gal.5:14
These next two passages talk more about how love fulfills the law in relation to those around us. “Owe no man…” And Gal.5:14 says, “All the law…” Love does no evil to another person. It’s simple.

g. Eph.4:1-2; 5:1-2
But you say, “It can’t be that simple. If I treat people like that then they will just walk all over me. They will treat me badly, because they know that I will not treat them badly in return.” What does the Bible say about that? Look at Ephesians 4. “I therefore…” Notice the words in verse 2 – lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing. Yes, when you love somebody the way Christ loves us, you may be hurt at times. You may be mistreated. But wasn’t Christ? When Christ was mistreated and hurt, did He ever respond by hurting others? No. He was humble. He was longsuffering. We’ve seen in passages already that we are to love others the way that Christ loved us! We are to be humble, longsuffering, meek, and forbearing. And notice chapter 5, “Be ye therefore…” When we love others the way that Christ loved us, we are being “followers of God, as dear children.” We are “walking in love.” We are giving “an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor.”

h. Phil.2:2-5
We studied this next passage when we were talking about humility. But look again at how it also describes our relationship with others. “Fulfill ye my joy…” Did you see the phrases “like-minded”, “having the same love”, “lowliness of mind”, “esteem others.” Those same attitudes that have been described by other passages in the Bible are also true about our love. And look at verse 5, “Let this mind be in you…” This is the mind of Christ.

i. I Cor.13
For our last passage today, we are going to read the most famous passage on love in all the Scriptures: I Corinthians 13. “Though I speak…” Let’s break down this powerful passage and examine the many aspects of love. Verse 1 – Love is more important than our gifts, talents, or abilities. Verse 2 – Love is more important than our knowledge or our faith. Verse 3 – Love is more important than our good deeds. Verse 3 – Love suffers long. Again we see this principle of suffering in relation to our love. It is not always easy to love, but it is always commanded. Love does not envy. Envy wants what somebody else has so much that you even wish they didn’t have it. A relationship, a family, a house, a car – these are all things that we can envy. But love does not envy. Love does is not puffed up. Love does not exalt itself before others. Love does not show off. Love is not proud. Verse 5 – Love is not rude. Love considers others above itself and acts in a way that does not offend others. Love does not seek her own. We’ve seen this in several verses now. Love seeks the good of others above itself. Love is not easily provoked. It is not made angry easily. If you love somebody, you will not be constantly getting angry with them. Love thinks no evil. Verse 6 – Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. If somebody loves you, they will not tempt you to sin. They will not encourage you to lie. They will not hinder your spiritual life, but they will help you to grow. Verse 7 – Love bears all things. Again we see the idea of longsuffering. Love believes all things. Every love relationship is based on trust. Love trusts in those it loves. Love hopes all things. Love is always seeking the good of those it loves. It hopes for their best and brightest future. Love endures all things. No matter what hardship if goes through, love will always come out on top. Love can never be taken away by circumstances or situations. It endures all things. Verse 8 – Unlike many other things, love will never end. And finally verse 13 – Now we live our lives with three things – faith, hope, and love – but the greatest of these is love.

Today’s lesson was very short. But that is because this teaching about love is very simple. We must love others as Christ loved us. We must have the same mind as Christ had. Young people, love one another. “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Conclusion: This has been a wonderful time for us to study together over the past two months. I thank you all for your faithfulness, your attention, your participation, and I pray that as I go back to the States for a while, that you will all remember the things that we have studied. I pray that you will all be able to think like Christ. I pray that you will make your decisions, during these important years of your teenage lives, the way that Jesus would. So remember, to think like Jesus, you must have a heart for the lost, a heart for prayer, a heart for God’s will, a heart for others, a heart for purity, a heart for service, a heart for faith, and most of all, a heart for love. Let’s pray…

Sunday School Message #8

Introduction: Let’s begin… Until now in our study on “How to Think Like Jesus”, we have studied about having “A Heart for the Lost”, “A Heart for Prayer”, “A Heart for God’s Will”, “A Heart for Others”, “A Heart for Purity”, and “A Heart for Service”. What we’re going to study today is “A Heart for Faith”. We have a lot of verses to look at today, so let’s begin in prayer.

7. A Heart for Faith
a. Phil.3:10; Psalm 119:11; Jn.17:3
- I want to start by asking you this question? How can you have faith in something that you do now know? You can’t. If you want to increase your faith as a Christian, the best thing you can do it so study God’s Word. The more you know God’s Word, the more you understand how the different doctrines of Scripture work together. The more you know the teachings of Christ, the more you have faith in His promises and His faithfulness. The Bible says, “Your Word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Jesus Himself says, “…this is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” I want to share with you my life’s verse, Philippians 3:10, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.” That is what I want for my life. My goal in life is to know my God and my Savior. I want to experience the power of His resurrection. I want to experience the fellowship of His sufferings. And at the end of my life I want to be made conformable to His death. I can think of no greater honor than to give my life for my Lord.

b. Js.2:14-26
- Ok, let me give you an example of the importance of the knowledge of God’s Word. I want to ask you a few questions and I want some of you to answer them. Does faith save a person or works? Faith? Faith alone? So our works have nothing to do with our salvation? Then let me read a passage for you. “What does it profit, my brethren…” Somebody explain that to me. Did the Bible just contradict itself? This is why Bible knowledge is so important. Suppose you were trying to witness to a Catholic and as you’re telling them that they don’t have to do the works that Catholics teach will save people, that person quotes this passage to you. What would you say? Here is the answer. Faith and works always work together. The Bible is very clear in other passages that faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone. The key to this passage is verse 18: “…I will show you my faith by my works…” It is faith alone that saves, but then that faith, if it is genuine, will always produce good works in a creyente’s life. Do you understand? Faith is essential to salvation; works are the evidence of faith. So we need to recognize the need for a solid understanding of God’s Word in order to have faith.

c. I Tim.1:5,18-19;
In this passage, the Apostle Paul is giving advice to the young pastor Timothy, whom he had taught personally. We’ve talked about this before. Now listen to the advice that Paul gives in these passages. “Now the end of the commandment…” And then in verses 18 and 19, “This charge I commit unto thee…” He tells his disciple to fight a good fight, holding two weapons – faith and a good conscience. This verse shows us the importance of our faith. If Paul, a mighty man of God, sent out his young disciple with only two weapons, they must be the two most important things in all of his Christian life.

d. I Tim.4:12; I Tim.6:12; II Tim.4:7
- But you say, “How can I have that kind of faith? I’m just a teenager.” What did the apostle Paul tell to his disciple Timothy? “Let no man…” He said, “Be an example…in faith.” I want you all to understand this. I’ve told you before that your teenage years are some of the most important years of your lives. Right now, you are becoming the person you are going to be. And Paul’s challenge to Timothy is a challenge to us also. He says that we should be an example to those older than us in our speech, our conduct, our love, our faith, and our purity. If you were to look through the Scriptures and study the lives of the great men of faith, you will see that the majority of those men began studying God’s Word and living for Him when they were a youth – great men like Joseph, David, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I pray for all of you to be great men and women of God one day, so you need to begin developing your faith now while you are a youth.

- The notice that Paul also tells Timothy that faith is a fight. He writes in I Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith…” And in II Timothy 4, we have the final recorded words of this great man of God before he was killed for his faith. He wrote, “I have fought…” He fought the fight, he finished the course, and most importantly to him, he kept the faith. Until the end of his life, Paul’s greatest priority was his faith.

e. I Jn.5:4
- Listen to what this verse says about our faith. “…this is the victory…” It is through our faith that we can conquer the world. The world is constantly attacking us with lies. The devil wants to destroy our faith in God, the Bible, and Christianity. Paul says that our faith is what will give us victory over the world and its lies. In our society, we are constantly being faced with new lies. I don’t know how things are here in Mexico, but in the States, we are hearing new lies all of the time. About two years ago, a man named Dan Brown wrote a mystery novel called, “The DaVinci Code”. Have you all heard of that? It was then made into a movie last year. This book had a story that was very interesting and well-written. But in the middle of the book, it tries to convince the characters in the book and the readers that Jesus was not the Son of God. It teaches that Jesus was secretly married to Marry Magdalene and they had a child together. That teaching is blasphemy! It is against everything that the Bible teaches. Even now in the States, there have been three books written for children that are trying to tell them that there is no God. They teach children not to believe anything their parents teach them about God. They teach children that the church is just a bunch of old people trying to control what they do. The author of these books said that with these books, he is trying to destroy God. They are currently being made into movies also, because that is what most kids today watch. The first of these is called “The Golden Compass”, and the second is in production right now. Young people, you need to have a solid, confident understanding of God’s Word, so that you will not be deceived by these kinds of lies that Satan is throwing into our world.

f. I Pt.1:5-9
- The Bible says that faith is to believe in things that we cannot see. Listen to this passage about how our faith will one day be realized. “…who are kept by the power…” This passage says that the trial of your faith is more precious that gold. When your faith is challenged, it helps you to grow. If somebody challenges something you believe in, you must go to the Bible and study it and find the truth.

g. Js.1:3-6
- Look now at James chapter 1. This verse says something similar to the last passage. “Knowing this, that the…” Notice two things from this passage. First, “…they trying of your faith works patience…” When God brings trials into our lives, we often don’t understand why. We often feel mistreated. We feel like God made a mistake. But we learn from this passage that many times God uses trials to increase our patience. Second, notice that faith is the key element in prayer. We must pray in faith – faith in God’s sovereignty, faith in God’s promises, and faith in God’s power. “Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering…”

h. Matt.17:20
- This next passage is one of the most well-known of all passages on faith. Jesus Christ tells us, “If you have faith as a grain…” You will be able to move mountains. The Lord Himself says, “…nothing will be impossible to you.” Let me ask you this. When was the last time you asked God for something that only He could do? When was the last time you saw God do something that was impossible in our eyes? Have you ever seen that? If you haven’t, I challenge you to do so. Think of something that only God can do and pray for that until He answers! Don’t give up too soon. I believe that one of the main reasons that we don’t have our prayers answered is that we give up too soon. Maybe it is a family member who needs to know Jesus as their Savior. Maybe it’s a financial problem. Find something. Pray for it. Put your faith to the test and watch God show Himself faithful.

i. Heb.10:38; 11
- One more passage and we’re done. I want to close by reading to you a very powerful chapter of Scripture. In the book of Hebrews chapter 10, we read, “…the just shall live by faith…” and the author continues on to write about many heroes of the Bible who showed their great faith in God. Listen as I read: “Now faith is the substance…” Young people, your name could be written there right beside those people. You can be men and women of faith. You also can be people “of whom the world is not worthy”. And I pray that you will be.

Conclusion: So our study today really has two points. If we are going to think like Jesus, we must have a heart for faith. And if we’re going to have a strong faith, we must be in God’s Word daily and have a strong understanding of its teachings. We need to grow in our faith, study God’s Word, and prove through our works that we are Christians. Let’s pray…

The Ministry of Reconciliation - II Cor.5:18-21

Tipo de Sermón: Expositivo

Titulo: El Ministerio de la Reconciliación

Texto: II Corintios 5:18-21

Tema/complemento: Dios nos ha dado el ministerio de la reconciliación

Asunto: Estamos aquí satisfacer el ministerio de la reconciliación

Propósito del Orador: Quiero motivar mi audiencia tomar parte del ministerio de la reconciliación
Interrogativo: ¿Porque debemos satisfacer el ministerio de la reconciliación?

Transición: Debemos satisfacer el ministerio de la reconciliación porque es comandado, es temporal, y es bendito.


“The Ministry of Reconciliation”

“Good afternoon, brothers. Thank you for coming this afternoon. I can’t tell you what an honor it is to preach to you from this pulpit, where so many men of God and missionaries have preached in the past years. I do not feel worthy of this honor – I am nobody – but I am very excited about what I believe God wants to say to all of us today. I am here to preach God’s Word to you. I am not here to share my own thoughts, opinions, or ideas. If I was, we should all just go home now, because nothing I say is important. But today I have the opportunity to be God’s messenger and to communicate His message to us. So if you would, please open your Bibles to the book of II Corinthians. As you are turning there, I want to ask you a question:

Why are we here?
- Why are you here? The answer to that question could be different for every person in the world, could it not? Some people are here to make money. Their goal in life, their only purpose for living, is to make money. How much? Nobody knows, but it’s always more. Some people are here to have a family. Their purpose for living is to get married, raise children, buy a home, and provide for their family. Some people are here for fame. Their purpose for living is to be well-known among men. They may do this through a life of sports and athletics, movies and Hollywood, politics and government, or business and enterprise. Some people are here for love. Their purpose in life is to find love in relationships with another people. Some people are here for people. Their purpose is to help mankind, improve the world, and change the society. These are all purposes that people could have for their lives. Some are more noble than others. But in this church today, I am preaching to believers. I know that the majority of you know Jesus as your Savior. And therefore, every one of us in this church have the same purpose for living, according to this passage that we’re going to study tonight.
- So you are probably all thinking “The Great Commission”. Well, I’m not going to preach about the Great Commission tonight, not because it’s not important, but because the guys told me, “All of the gringos who come preach on the Great Commission!” Ah, right? I mean, you all know why, don’t you? I promise you that it’s not because we think you’re all simple, ok? I’m serious. That’s not why. I believe that all of the gringos, all the Americans, all the preachers from the States preach on the Great Commission because that it what’s on our minds. That is the reason that we have come to your country – to obey the commandment of our Lord! The Bible says in Matthew 28, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Amen.” God’s Word says in Acts 1, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” When Americans come here to Mexico, it is because we want to fulfill the Great Commission.
- But tonight, I want to talk to you about something more basic. Oh it is related to the Great Commission, but it does not have the same focus of going “into all the world”. Tonight, we’re going to study together a passage that describes the most basic responsibility of every believer in Christ. Tonight, we are going to find out, if we don’t already know, “Why are we here?” The answer is this: We are here to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation!

- We’re going to read together II Corinthians chapter 5, verses 18-21. Let’s stand together in honor of God’s Word. Everyone together, “All of this comes from God…” May God bless the reading of His Word. Let’s pray… “Our Father, we give you thanks for the opportunity to study Your Word this afternoon. I ask that you would give us wisdom tonight as we study this passage. I ask that you would open our eyes to the responsibility that you have given us here on this earth. I ask that you would speak through me, that you would teach us, and that you would motivate us to fulfill the purpose for which you have left us here on the earth. I ask you to give me Your words; help me to speak your message clearly, for I know I can do nothing without you. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.”

- We are here to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation. My purpose in this message is to motivate us as Christians to fulfill this wonderful ministry God has given us. In this passage, we learn three things about this ministry of reconciliation. We learn that the ministry is commanded, the ministry is temporary, and the ministry is blessed. So let’s begin with the first point of this passage in verse 18

I. The Ministry Is Commanded (v.18a)
- We see this fact in the phrase, “Now all these things are from God…” That means that they are…

a. By the Will of God (v.18)
- “All these things” – What things? Look at verse 17 – “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” The whole work of reconciliation is from God. It is by the will of God, not the will of man.
- “Sinners cannot decide to be reconciled to God and devise a plan to reach Him. That is what all false religion in the world is. All the world’s false religions are the same thing – sinners devising a way to be reconciled to God. Christianity is God determining a way to be reconciled to sinners. God alone can change our relationship, and that’s the good news, ‘God so loved the world that He’ made a way of reconciliation.” Notice also that the ministry is literally…

b. By the Command of God (Mat.28:19-20;Ac.1:8;Tit.1:1-3)
- You know the Great Commission – “Go therefore and make disciples…” “You will be my witnesses…” Is that an option or a command? It is a command! Jesus didn’t say, “Well, I’d really like it if you would go out and made disciples.” He didn’t say, “Would you like to be my witnesses?” No! He said, “Go!” He said, “You WILL be my witnesses.” Brothers, the ministry of reconciliation is commanded! Tell me this, if you can. Where did we receive the idea that we can control our own lives? Does anybody know? I don’t know, but it’s not from the Bible! What does the Bible say? “…You are not your own…You have been bought with a price...Whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ.” My brothers, we are not servants of Christ – we are His slaves! Slave is the word in the original Greek text. Young people, do you remember this? We talked about this in Sunday School last week. A servant is one who places himself in a position to serve another by his own will. A slave has no choice. A slave has been purchased by his master. A slave must do everything his master commands. Brothers, we are here to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation! Notice also that the ministry of reconciliation is commanded…

c. By the Heart of God (Lk.19:10; Mat.4:19; Ez.34:16)
- Luke 19:10 tells us that “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” When Jesus called His disciples in Matthew 4:10, He said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Listen to this passage from Ezekiel 34, “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick…” It is the heart of God to seek sinners. When Adam and Eve had sinned in the Garden of Eden, we don’t see Adam walking through the garden saying, “God, God, where are you?” No, it was God saying, “Adam, Adam, where are you?”
- God has always been the seeker of men. And when our Lord returned to heaven, He commanded us to carry on his ministry, the ministry of reconciliation. We are here to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation. Notice now in our passage, the second point; that…

II. The Ministry Is Temporary (v.18b-20)
- I want to read you a quotation from one of my favorite pastors and theologians, Dr. John MacArthur. When I was the youth pastor at Cornerstone in Illinois, I often tried to explain this concept to my teens, but was never able to put it into words this clearly. Listen to this, Dr. MacArthur says…

"You know, Christianity can get very complex. Your Christian life can get very complex. Your Christian calendar can get very complex. And so, If I might, I'd like to simplify everything and pull it down to the irreducible minimum of what it is that you're all about and I'm all about as Christians. We have been given the ministry of reconciliation. It is simply this: Our duty is to tell people they can be reconciled to God. That's what we do. Our mission is to preach the fact that God will forgive all someone's sins forever. That the relationship of hostility and hatred and enmity and bitterness and alienation from God can be totally changed - that enemies can become friends, aliens can become sons. That is the good news...The good news is that alienation from a holy God, which carries the price of eternal damnation, can end, and you can be reconciled with God and enjoy His glorious heaven forever, all your sin having been dealt with. Our high calling and our high privilege is simply to tell people that God will forgive all your sins forever. Are you interested? This is what we live for; this is what we preach for; this is what we teach for; that people might be reconciled to God...That's what we do. That's why we're here. Folks, that's the only reason you're here at all! If we had been saved purely for fellowship with God, we might as well go to heaven, because the fellowship here isn't what it ought to be. If we were saved purely for fellowship with each other, we might as well go to heaven where it is perfect, because it's imperfect here. If we were saved to have triumph over sin, we might as well go to heaven, because the triumph here is severely checkered, isn't it? And we all live in Romans 7 somewhere - wanting to do what we don't do and not wanting to do what we find ourselves doing. We've here because there's one thing we can do here that we can't do in heaven, and that's the ministry of reconciliation...That term defines the heart and soul of our responsibility as believers in the world..."

- Look once again at verses 18-20. These verses describe for us exactly what the ministry of reconciliation is. Verse 18 says, “…who reconciled us to Himself through Christ…” So this ministry is only done through Christ – through His power and through his work on the cross. Verse 19, “namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them…” This is literally how a righteous, holy God can allow sinners like us into heaven. He cannot overlook or ignore our sins, but He does not count them against us. He satisfied His judgment against sin when Christ bore that punishment on our behalf. And this is literally how we should present the gospel to people – that God will not count their sins against them if they accept the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. We have already seen in Acts 1 that…

a. We Are the Witnesses (Acts 1)
- In that passage that Jesus said, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth…” Geographically, that would be as if Jesus said to this church, “You will be my witnesses in Jiménez, and in all Chihuahua, and in Mexico, and to the remotest part of the earth.” This ministry is temporary, but we are here to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation. We are to be witnesses everywhere we go. This is the only reason we are here. Jesus also described our temporary role in the ministry of reconciliation in the Sermon on the Mount when he called us…

b. We Are the Salt and Light (Matthew 5:13-16)
-“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” This passage teaches that our ministry of reconciliation includes the way we live our life. A girl friend of mine in the States reminded me last week of a phrase her mother taught her: “Be a witness everywhere you go and use words if necessary.” And the greatest responsibility of all is taught in our passage.

c. We Are the Ambassadors (John 17:4,6,9,11,15,18,20)
- Do we really understand what it is to be an ambassador? An ambassador is one who goes in the place of his master. An ambassador speaks what his master would speak. An ambassador acts as his master would act. An ambassador is to complete the mission that his master wanted to complete. Verse 20 says, “…we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God…”
- Tell me this: Is Jesus Christ here with us today? Sorry, trick question. Yes, He is here with us. We know that from the Bible, “I am with you always, even until the end of the world”, and we believe it as Christians. But is he physically here with us, so that a lost person could walk by that door and see Jesus Christ in here with us? No, He is not. The only “Jesus” that the world can see is a Christian. You are the only Jesus that some people will ever see. My pastor at my home church in Illinois would often quote a poem that says this: “You’re writing a gospel, a chapter each day, by deeds that you do, by words that you say; people read what you write, whether faithless or true; say what is the gospel according to you?” We are here to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation. This ministry is commanded of us; this ministry is temporary; but notice from the last verse in our passage that…

III. The Ministry Is Blessed (v.21)
- Look at verse 21, one of the most powerful verses in all of the Scriptures, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” What a blessing! Could there be any greater blessing in our lives? God made His own Son to be sin in our place, so that we can become the righteousness of God. When God looks at you as a Christian, He no longer sees a sinner – He sees His own Son. God punished Christ as if He had committed every sin that I have, and He treats me as if I have lived my life with the perfect righteousness that Christ did. What mercy! What love! What a blessing! As we take part in the ministry of reconciliation, I tell you all, it is a blessing! The Bible says in…

a. Lk.15:10
- “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents…” If you have seen this happen, then you know what I am talking about. I cannot describe to you the joy that fills your heart when you see God work in the heart of a sinner, bring them to an understanding of their need, and grant them faith in His promises and repentance from their sins. It will totally change your life! When you share the gospel with another person and see God work in their hearts this way, you feel like you’ve done nothing, because God has done all the work. You were just His messenger. You feel unworthy to be used by God in this way, but very blessed to be a part of that work. Before we close, I want to share with you a few…

b. Testimonies
- …where I have seen God do this amazing work. The very first Saturday I was here, I had the chance to go on visitation with Adrian. And that was a very different experience than in the States. Many times in the States, you have a hard time just getting people to take the tracts. On that afternoon, I saw how open people are and ready to receive the gospel. That afternoon, I stood by and watched as Adrian led two ladies in a prayer to receive Christ as their Savior. That was a very powerful experience. Over the past 3 months, I’ve been able to see many different people receive Christ. God is working here in Mexico! We are here to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation and this church is fulfilling that mission! I have shared these next two stories briefly with you, but I want you to hear them in detail. A few weeks ago when Brother Lanny was here with the medical team, I had my first opportunity to lead a lady to the Lord all on my own. And I will tell you all, I was scared to death. I was standing right back there in the corner when the Lord pointed her out to me and said, “Go talk to her.” And I argued with God. I said, “God I can’t do that. The gospel is something that she HAS to understand to believe. I can’t be messing up my Spanish when I talk to her.” She was sitting there reading the little Bibles we had in the seats. I could tell that she didn’t know what she was reading and I was reminded of the story of Philip in Acts 8. He met the eunuch from Ethiopia, who was reading the Bible, and so he went up to him and said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” And the eunuch said, “How can I unless somebody explains it to me?” So I walked up to this lady, whose name was Marina, and I said, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” She looked at me and wanted to say yes, but just shook her head. So I said, “Would you like me to explain it to you?” She said yes. So I tried the best I could to explain the gospel to her – that she was a sinner, she needed a savior, and could make that decision today. The whole time I was talking, I just kept saying, “Do you understand me?” She did. So I led her in a prayer and she received Christ. It was just amazing! I felt as if I had just been watching somebody else witness to her and not myself.
- This last story, I told you last Wednesday. When I was living here in town with Brother Brian, almost every night, I would walk down to the sports park and get quesadillas for supper. Then on the way back, I would stop at this store to get a drink. Well, two weeks ago, as I was in the store, the owner, Maria, was there with another lady. And as I was paying for my drink she says to the other lady, “This guy comes in here about every night and he’s always so happy and has a smile on his face.” So the other lady says to me, “Is that true? Are you always happy?” I said, “Yes ma’am, always!” I saw that this was a good opportunity to share Jesus, so I was looking for a tract in my pocket, but I didn’t have one, so I left the store and went home. When I got there, God told me, “Go back there and talk to her.” So I took a few tracts and went back to the store. When I found Maria, I told her, “Ma’am. I have something for you. You asked me why I’m always so happy. Well it’s because of this. I am a Christian. I have Jesus living in my heart and I have a purpose for my life. I’m a pastor from the United States and I’ve come here to share the Word of God with people. So I’d like to give you this to read.” She said she would read it, so I told her, “Well I’ll probably be back here tomorrow or another night, so we can talk about it if you want.” So that Wednesday night, I asked all of you to pray for her as I went back to talk to her. So I was praying that she would have read the tract and that God would make her ready to receive Christ. As we began to talk that night, I asked her if she understood the tract. I asked her that if she were to die tonight, based only on these verses, where would she go. This is what she said: “Well, I don’t know. I mean I certainly don’t want to go to hell, but this says that sinners can’t go to heaven. And I know that I’m a sinner, so I just don’t know…” And I said to her, “Well I know.” She said, “You know?!?” I said, “Yes.” So I told her how she simply needed to believe and confess it with her mouth and that night, Maria accepted Jesus as her Savior. I tell you, brothers, that the ministry of reconciliation is a blessing!

Conclusion: Brothers, we are here to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation! It is commanded of us, it is temporary, and it is a blessing! May we recognize this great responsibility and privilege and go out there and win the world for Christ…

3 Weeks Left... Back to the Ranch

Hey Everyone,
I thought I should send you all an update just to let you know that I will probably be out of contact for the rest of my time here, or at most, online once a week. I've only got three weeks more before heading back to Illinois. Where has the time gone? It seems like I've been here forever, but I'm not ready to go back, even though I can't wait to catch up with everyone again. Actually, there is a possibility that I may return for one week in July, so the idea of leaving isn't as hard for me. Last night we moved back to the ranch with Randy and Gwen and now all the boys are back living with us again.

I also have some good news for you. During the next 3 weeks, we will be making a promotional video for Rancho La Fe, interviewing the boys who live with us as well as a few men who have come through the boys home and are now in full-time ministry. I know some of you have been asking for a video like this and Brother Randy asked me yesterday for the same thing. So that will be my final video project down here in Mexico. It will certainly be finished before I leave, as I need to leave a copy with Randy and Gwen, but I may not be able to post it until I get home. We'll see how that goes. This week, I am double busy, as I am preparing my notes for youth Sunday School next week as well as my sermon for Sunday afternoon. So my video work will have to wait mostly until next week.

Last night, I was talking with Adrian about preparing my sermon. I am getting so excited to preach it! I already have my basic outline mostly completed and now just have to script it out and translate it. But in the process, God has been showing me more and more Scripture to use in my sermon and giving me more and more to say. I have even heard things related to my message in this week's messages by Brother Randy and Brother Mike Combs. It's just an affirmation of what I believe God wants me to say. I am still nervous about the actual speaking part, doing it in Spanish, but I know God will speak through me.

So thank you all, and I suppose, goodbye for a while! God bless you all and thank you for the critical part you have played in my ministry opportunities here through your prayers, support, and encouragement.

Sunday School Message #7

Introduction: Let’s begin… Today we’re studying the 6th point of our study on “How to Think Like Jesus”. We have talked about having “A Heart for the Lost”, “A Heart for Prayer”, “A Heart for God’s Will”, “A Heart for Others”, and “A Heart for Purity”. What we’re going to study today is similar to “A Heart for Others”, but instead of focusing just on humility, we’re going to focus on service. In order to think like Jesus, we must have “A Heart for Service”.

7. A Heart for Service – Sacrifice

a. Matt.23:11
Let’s look first of all at a very brief passage that gives us Christ’s view of greatness. “But He that is great…” How contrary this is to the world’s thinking. I mean think about our society today. In a typical business, who has to do the lowest jobs of service? It is those who are least important, right? It’s the janitors, the maintenance people, or the trash collectors. Those people who are “the greatest” in the business are those with the big offices, the fancy suits, the personal assistants, and the large salaries. This is the way of the world. Our Lord has a different view. He says, “If you want to be the greatest in my eyes – in the kingdom of heaven – you should be the servant of all.”This type of thinking is not natural for us, but is a very important part of our lives as Christians. We need to develop a pattern of thinking where we seek the lowest position and serve everyone around us. Let’s continue on to see what other things the Bible says about being a servant.

b. Mk.9:33-35
In this story, we see Jesus’ disciples expressing this same view that we typically have when it comes to greatness. Somebody read this passage for us, please. “And He came…” Notice two things from this passage. First, did you notice that when the disciples were arguing about who would be the greatest, it was just amongst themselves? Jesus was not included in that conversation. Do you know why I believe that is? It is because they had seen such a different example in their Lord. They had not seen Him trying to be the greatest. Rather, they saw Him being the servant of all. And second, notice that Jesus already knew what they were talking about. You know, there is something important about the timing of correcting or confronting a person who is wrong. I remember my parents doing this often when I was young. Jesus let them finish their conversation. He let them argue about who was the greatest and why they thought they should have the best positions in the kingdom of heaven. Then once they had fully exposed their true heart motives, Jesus says, “So what were you guys talking about?” And look, they didn’t answer Him. So look at verse 35, “He sat them down…” and taught them this principle. “If any man…”

c. Mt.20:20-28; Mk.10:42-45
Notice now, this next passage. This thinking was not only how Jesus’ disciples thought, but now we see it in one of their mothers. There are actually two different passage that record this story – one in Matthew and one in Mark. We’re going to read the one in Matthew 20. “Then came…” This story always makes me laugh a little, because it sounds just like something a mother would do. It is the mother of James and John, two of Jesus’ disciples. She comes to Jesus and basically asks him to do favor for her. She then asks that her two sons would be able to sit on Jesus’ right hand and left hand in the kingdom of heaven. Now you have to remember that during all of this time, the disciples were believing that Jesus was getting ready to establish His kingdom on earth and destroy the Romans who had taken over control of their land. Also, we need to understand that in the culture of that time, to sit at the right or left hand of the king was the highest position of leadership one could achieve. So basically, James and John and their mother were asking Jesus if they could have the two highest places of authority in the kingdom. And notice also in verse 24, that this request made the other disciples angry. They, too, wanted the best positions for themselves. Jesus’ reply was, “You know not…” Jesus basically says, “Look, I know that you’ve seen that example set by the leadership of the Gentiles, but that’s not the way it is in the kingdom of heaven.” And then Jesus uses the example of His own life as the example of how we should serve.

d. Jn.12:26
This next passage is very short, but I think it’s important for us to see it. This is our Lord telling us to follow the example that He has set for us. He says, “If any man…” We have studied in every point of this study that we must follow the example of Jesus. Well, here, Jesus Himself tells us to follow His example, and He gives us a promise as well. He says at the end of the verse, “…if any man…”

e. Lk.10:38-42; Ps.51:16; I Sam.15:22
Now as we are studying about service, we need to make sure that we have a biblical view of service. What I mean is that “service is not the most important thing in our spiritual lives. We see in Psalms that God is more interested in the condition of our hearts than our external behavior. David says, “For thou desirest not…” The prophet Samuel says in the Old Testament, “Hath the Lord…” We have noticed many times that Jesus scolded the Pharisees because they were righteous on the outside and wicked on the inside. Look, now at this story in Luke 10. Somebody read verses 38-42 for us, please. What happened in this story? Jesus comes to visit his friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus who lived in the town of Bethany. When He arrives, Martha is busy preparing the dinner, cleaning the house, and trying to serve Jesus. However, Mary is just sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to Him. Now we would typically look at Martha and say, “What a hard worker she is! She is such a good servant to Jesus.” But look at what happened. She goes to Jesus and says, “Lord, dost thou…” And Jesus’ response to her is, “Martha, Martha…” He said that Mary had chosen the better part. So that means that Jesus would rather Martha just come and spend time with Him than to be busy serving Him.

This is a very important point for us to remember. God wants for us to serve. We are to serve God. We are to serve others. We are to serve in the church. But in the midst of all the work, we must remember that it is more important to spend time at the feet of our Lord Jesus! Someone once said, “Do not get so busy with the work of the Lord that you forget about the Lord of the work.” Jesus talks in John 14 about how we must abide in Him each day if we are to bear fruit in our spiritual lives. Your daily time with God in His Word and prayer is the most important aspect of your life as a Christian. Once that is done, we are then to follow Christ’s example as a servant of all.

f. Lk.22:27;Jn.13:3-17
This next passage, I believe, is the most powerful of all. I want all of you to turn there, if you would. We’re going to read John 13. Jesus said to His disciples in Luke 22:27, “I am among…” And then in this powerful passage, He demonstrates it. As we read this story, I want you to imagine that you are one of Jesus’ disciples. “Jesus knowing that…” Ok, imagine this scene. You are one of the 12 disciples. You have been following Jesus for 3 years now. You have seen Him do countless miracles. You have heard Him teach the Scriptures. But tonight, He seems different. You sense that something big is about to happen. He has told you things that you don’t understand, saying He is about to be given over to the Pharisees and killed. You have just finished eating the Passover dinner, which is always a special time with Jesus. But as dinner finishes, you see Jesus take a towel and a bowl of water and begin to wash the feet of the other men. “What was He doing? He shouldn’t be doing this! This is the job of a servant. He is our Lord. I don’t want Him to wash my feet! They’re dirty and they probably smell bad. He doesn’t deserve such a low position.” As if it wasn’t low enough for the God of the universe to come to earth as a human, He lowered himself further by taking the lowest position known to men – to be the servant of all men.

This man was our example. Christ was the ultimate servant. But you know what? I prefer a different title. I don’t like to be called a servant. The word is “a slave”. “Slave” is the word in the original Greek text. Do you see the difference? A servant is one who places himself in a position to serve another. A slave is one who is owned. A slave has no choice. A slave must do what his master commands. A slave has been purchased by his master. So as Christians, we are slaves of Jesus Christ!

g. Gal.5:13
One more passage and we’re finished. It’s very short and very simple. The Bible says, “…by love serve one another.” So who are we to serve? The Bible says we are to serve God first and above all others. And then we are to serve those around us – that means everyone. Young or old, rich or poor, white or black, saved or unsaved – we are to serve all men. Remember what Jesus said are the two greatest commandments – Love the Lord with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. All of the commandments are fulfilled in these two.

Here is the bottom line. We Christians need to develop what is called a “Servant’s Heart”. It is a state of mind. It is not something that we do from time to time. It is an attitude that we live with every day. It is a way of living that says, “Everybody else is better than I. I should serve them in every way I can.” This is how Jesus lived.

Conclusion: If we are going to think like Christ, we must follow his example and serve others in every way we can, every chance we get. Jesus was the ultimate servant. Remember His words: “Whoever shall be greatest among you shall be your servant.” Let’s pray…

The Search for a Soul

You'd think after a good while of seeing God's power that you would eventually get used to it. Not so. Every time I see God work in a new and different way, I am astonished again by His power.

Yesterday I wrote of a lady at the store that I had the chance to talk to for a few minutes. I left her with a tract and said that I would come to talk to her about it another night. Tonight in church, I shared that story as a testimony and prayer request. I asked the family to pray for her and for me as I tried to share the gospel with her further...

After church and driving the bus route tonight, I went over to Pastor Jose Luis and Mary's house for dinner. We finished around 9:00 and I told them, "OK, I've got to go witness." So I stopped by Brian's house, grabbed a few tracts, and headed out towards the store. I prayed as I went that God would give me the words to say and prepare her heart to receive them. I determined to go right in the store this time. I would not get scared and sit outside like last night. When I got there, she was the only one at the store. God couldn't have set it up more perfectly.

I picked out my Coke and vanilla Submarinos (like Twinkies) and went up to check out. After we talked for a bit, I asked her, "Hey did you ever get to read that thing I gave you?" "Yes, I did. I read the whole thing." "And did you understand it?" "Well, most of it..." "Then do you believe it?" "Oh yes, because it's the Word of God!" So we got to talking. God had brought her to the perfect level of understanding. Listen to what she said: "Well, I understood from the beginning how all of us have sinned. And I know that's true, because I know that I'm a sinner. But I didn't understand exactly HOW Jesus saves us. I mean if He died for our sins, does that mean that ALL people will go to heaven?" I said, "OK, let me ask you this. If you were to die tonight, based ONLY on this book and these verses, where do you think you would go?" She said, "Well, I don't know! I mean I really don't want to go to hell, but these verses say that I can't go to heaven if I am a sinner. So I don't know." I smiled and told her, "I do." "You do?" "Yes, I do." "So you're going to heaven when you die?" "I KNOW I am!" "Well how?" What a great place to start!

So I opened my Bible and reviewed the Romans Road on sin and the penalty of sin. We talked about how Jesus lived here on the earth for 33 years without sinning. So he did not have to pay the penalty of death for Himself. But He chose to die anyway for us. So I told her that the work of salvation is complete. Jesus has done everything He had to do to make salvation available to us. Then I gave her the example of the Coke I had just bought. I said, "Suppose I want to give you this Coke as a gift. I have already paid the price for it and I'm just holding it out to give you - like this. What do you have to do to make it yours?" She replied, "Well, nothing more than to reach out and take it." "Exactly!" So we read Romans 10:9-10, "That if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." She said, "That's it?" I said, "That's it!"

We talked a bit more and I told her a little about what it would be like if she accepted Jesus as her Savior - how the Holy Spirit would live inside her and clean up her heart and change her life. I told her how if she received Jesus as her Savior then God would write her name in the Book of Life in heaven and one day, when she dies and stands before Him, He will open that book and read her name. Then He will look at her and see no sin, because Jesus paid for them. He will look at her and see His child.

By this time, it was actually time for her to close her store. She said, "Would you like to come back tomorrow and talk about this some more?" I said, "Sure, I can come back sometime, but let me ask you this. Do you believe all of this?" "Well, yes." "Then do you think that you're ready to receive Jesus as your Savior tonight?" "Yes, I am." So I led her in a prayer, and she prayed and asked for God's forgiveness for her sins, and asked Jesus to be her Savior!

Tomorrow or another day, I'm going to go back there and take her a Bible, in case she doesn't have one yet. But praise the Lord for His great work and join in the celebration that is going on in heaven tonight!

"Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." - Luke 15:10

Listening to God - Two True Stories

Last night (5/13/08):

So I walked down to get quesadillas and our two neighbor boys went with me. They're the two that we're praying for and trying to get to church. OK, so on the way back, we stopped at this "abarrotes" (that's a small convenience store) and I bought the boys these little snack cakes or something and my Coke for my quesadillas. So while I was paying for it, the lady at the store had another lady there with her. She said to the lady, "This guy comes in here about every night and he's always just so polite and he's always got a smile on his face." So the other lady says to me, "Is that true? Are you always happy?" I said, "Yes, ma'am. Always," wishing SO badly that I had a tract with me. But I didn't. And with the other two boys with me, I really couldn't stick around and talk long. So we left...

Then I'm sitting here finishing up my quesadillas, when I remember about listening to God. I'm sitting here thinking what an opportunity that was and how I don't wanna miss a SINGLE opportunity I have here. So I grabbed a few tracts and left.

I walked back to the store and got scared (I'm such a fraidy-cat). So I sat at the corner near the store to pray. There were several people inside, so that was my excuse to wait. I started to review what I was going to say and pray through the sinner's prayer on my own in Spanish to practice. I started thinking, maybe I'll just give this to her tonight and then talk to her about it tomorrow. But I knew that was just my excuse for being too scared. So I was like, no I'm gonna talk to her now. So as the store kinda calmed down in like 10 minutes I went up to her - her son was there with her.I said, "Good evening, ma'am." "Good evening." "I have something for you. You asked me why I'm always so happy, right?" "Yes! I was telling my friend that you come in every night with a smile on your face and you're always happy." "Well, this is why," I said, handing her the tract. "This is?" "Yes, ma'am. I'm a Christian. I have Jesus Christ living in my heart. And I have a purpose for living my life. See, I'm a pastor from the United States and I've come here to work with Iglesia Bautista La Fe over on 8th Street and Bustamante y Tagle. Well this little tract here just has a bunch of Bible verses that explain about Jesus. Do you know who Jesus is?" "Oh, yes. He is the Son of God." So we went on talking a little bit and she was very open and agreeable. Then she said, "Well thank you and I will read all through this tomorrow." It's a pretty thick tract with all kinds of different Bible verses and topics other than salvation, too. So I said, "OK, ma'am. Well hey, I'll probably be back by here tomorrow or another night, so if you want, I'll stop by here and we can talk about that some more." She said, "Ok, great. I'll read through this before then."

So now I've got the chance to go back. Next time I'm gonna start right off with so after reading that tract, do you know where you would go if you were to die? So it'll be cool to see where that goes...

-----------------------

This afternoon (5/14/08):

It is so cool to listen to God! It's even more cool, when you come to the end of your day/trip/whatever and KNOW that you heard exactly what He said because of some way that He confirms it.

I was hungry (big surprise, huh?). So I decided instead of hot dogs and fries today, I wanted the giNORmous burrito from El Guero. So I was gonna take the bike, but it wasn't here. Come on, Adrian! What did you take the bike for? Now I've gotta walk all the way into town and back! Ah, but THAT was what God wanted...It is probably about 1.5 to 2 miles into the "centro commercial" from here, so I grabbed some tracts and went out the door. I didn't take very many with me - maybe 7 or 8. So I got stepping. First of all, I put on Pastor Steve's Mother's Day message that I just downloaded onto my iPod and started listening to that. I passed by many people, but I only had a few tracts. So it was practice in listening: "OK, God, where are these people I'm supposed to give these to?"

I found the first one. It was an older man, just sitting outside of his house. People around here do that all the time. They'll just sit here all day and watch people go by. Who else would have more time to read a gospel tract? " Good afternoon, sir. I have something for you. This is the Word of God." "Oh thank you, sir." "This little tract here has a lot of verses from the Bible that tell us about Jesus Christ and God's plan for salvation, for all of us. It's very important, so you read it, ok?" "OK, thank you and God bless you!"

When I got into town, I found the second person. He was also an older man and this guy had a shoe-shine business. He didn't look very busy and these people also just sit there all day waiting for business. So I gave him the same little message. Just as I was leaving a man came up to have his shoes shined, so he says to me, "Hey I'll share it with this guy, too. He's really lost!" "OK, brother, you do that."

Then I got to the restaurant and ordered my burritos. As I was walking up to the restaurant, I saw my last 5 people. "Hey, guero! How have you been?!?" It was one of the teens that Adrian and I have been spending time with and trying to witness to. Adrian knows him from the streets. They grew up together as the gangsters of the town before Adrian got saved and became a pastor. Well, our two teens prayer projects were there with two more of their gang friends and a girl who worked at the store that they were talking to. It would take a few minutes to make the burritos so I stayed there and talked with them for a while. As I did, I pulled out one of the tracts and started to read it. I kept two of them in my other hand. Just as my burritos were finished and ready to go, I start saying goodbye to the guys. "Hey what's that you've got there?" "This?" I said, handing him the tract, "This is the Word of God." "Oh! Are you like giving these to people in town?" "Yeah." "Well can we have these?" "Of course you can!" I said, giving them all out to them. "These are really important, so y'all make sure you read them, ok? God bless you guys!"

It was so cool. On the way back, I wasn't sure how many tracts I had. I just kept reaching in my back pocket til they were gone. And I realized those were the last 5 I had. I mean God told me to give tracts to 7 people and I only had 7 tracts in my pocket. He's so awesome!