No 1. PASSION for the Gospel (My Organic P’s)

What makes people want to share Jesus with their family, friends, neighbours or work colleges?  There are plenty of things that’ll make people “just do it!”  A challenging sermon on Matthew 28:19 that says “Are you doing enough to tell people about Jesus?!”  The answer to that question will mostly be “No”, followed by guilt, then followed by begrudging and half-hearted attempts at evangelism.  This will eventually fizzle out, if you’re lucky...  And if you’re not lucky you get trapped in evangelism in a  religiosity that breads pride...

But what will make people want to do it?  The answer we see in the biblical Gospel’s is, people experiencing the Gospel personally and powerfully in the everyday.  Let’s look at a couple of my favourite examples one from the Gospel of John and one from Mark.

The ex-demon-possessed man in Mark 5:18-20:

As Jesus was getting onto the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed began to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said 'Go home to your own people and tell tham how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.' So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him.  And all the people were amazed.

This guy was saved one minute and sent as the first evangelist the next.  What was his motivation “Tell them how much the Lord has done for you?”.  So a good question to ask ourselves before we try to share the Gospel is “How much has the Lord actually done for me?”  If the answer is not much then, don’t share the Gospel with others yet. Instead spend time looking at it a fresh yourself.  If the answer is “more than I could ever imagine!” then you have something wonderful to share...

Mary at the empty tomb in John 20:15-18:

He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’
She turned towards him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’).Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Mary becomes the first witness to the risen Christ.  Why?  Because her pain was turned to joy as she heard Jesus call her name personally!” Then you couldn't stop her proclaiming the news that Jesus was risen!

These were two people who were told to go and tell.  But the Gospels are full of people who Jesus healed and told “Don’t tell anyone!”  What did they do... They went and told.  Not because they were simply being disobedient but because they were overflowing with the goodness of God.

Do we marvel at our salvation?  Are we lost in what it cost to set us free from sin and death?  Do we apply the power of the gospel to everyday struggles and besetting sins?  Are we applying it personally and corporately as a church?  In other words; do we believe and see the Gospel working in our lives and the life of the church.  Before we preach the Gospel to others we must first preach it to ourselves every morning and to our struggling brothers and sisters in Christ.

This bubbling over passion has to be the foundation for creating an Evangelizing Church. 

And as a newcomer to CEC I am so pleased to see a family of people with really passion for the message of the cross and the resurrection!  You hear the Gospel of tender, costly grace preached every week from the pulpit, you talk about it at every MAPP Groups and you share it with each other.  As a result outsiders are coming in and hearing this amazing message and coming to faith.

If you are a member of CEC you may be thinking “we’re not that good at it, what are you going on about?”   But please trust me when I say as a church you do have this foundational passion.  Yes it might need to be stirred up more.  And we should never take it for granted or fall into the trap that we've got this base covered.  But let's not go to the other extreme of thinking "we suck" either.  I for one love how you love Jesus!

Let’s continue to rejoice in this wonderful message of Jesus!  Let's pray together we never take it for granted and always grow in awe of the Gospel of grace!