Lost
I am sure you have heard the news about the four men who capsized their boat off the Gulf of Mexico this past weekend. Sadly so far only one survivor has been found and the Coast Guard has called off the search for the other three men. As I heard the news I began to think about how frightening it would be to be lost at sea. I could not imagine being out in the middle of the ocean with no one to talk to, yelling out for help and getting no response. Simply put it would be lonely being lost. This leads me to my focus this morning, thinking about all those in our area who need to know Christ, those who are lost!
Within a five mile radius of our church there are 15,000 people who claim little to no faith. Simply put they are lost. Many people are lonely, many are searching for answers in life, many are crying out for help and no one is listening. I think one of the scariest parts of being lost at sea would be having the planes flying overhead and not being able to see you. Can you picture being out in the middle of the ocean, no one for miles around and then you see a plane? This plane circles right over your area. I am sure you would start yelling at the top of your lungs, you would wave your arms frantically trying to gain their attention. Then sadly the plane leaves the area, not spotting you.
Is this how the church operates sometime? We are on a search and rescue mission, we want to see people come to know Jesus but we do not see them or we do not hear them.
How then do we focus on reaching people for Jesus?
1. Treat everyone who walks in the door of the church as if they are lost
By this I mean do not assume that everyone is saved. Ask them about their relationship with Jesus.
2. Be friendly, love them
Often church people are afraid of lost people. They do not know how they should act around them. Here is a thought; be yourself. Recently a lady in our church was saved and baptized. She had been coming for over six months. She really had no church background. The biggest factor for accepting Jesus was that she felt loved by people in the church. The people in our church showed her the love of Christ and that opened the door for her to hear the gospel.
3. Focus on serving those who are lost
I have found servant evangelism to be one of the best ways to engage someone with the gospel. I have seen how servant evangelism works with great success because a Christian took time to do something nice for another person. There again this led to an opportunity to share the gospel. Read through the gospels and see how many times Jesus healed before He preached.
4. Be honest and share Jesus
Do not pull punches when sharing the gospel. Be honest, be firm and loving in sharing the gospel. I have shared the gospel with many people and I have had many people at times say no thanks. But the surprising response has often been, “I do not want to accept Jesus but thanks for being honest, thanks for sharing.”
15,000 people in a five mile radius of our church are lost. They are crying for help, searching for answers, just wanting to know who really cares about them. Today begin to pray for neighbors, invite them to church, share the gospel with someone and pray that those who are lost will soon be found.
Lee