People Sharing Jesus

Even as I write these words God is raising up a people for His name.  God will always have a people.  If one group turns their backs on Him another group will turn their faces toward Him.  In recent days God has allowed me to dialogue with several of a new generation of Spiritual leaders that God is raising up.  One of the young people from our church family came to my home this weekend to discuss the things of the Lord.  ”I was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”  (To quote a phrase from Luke)  It is good to see that there is another generation of young people who recognize that God’s word is divinely inspired.  Before we know it they will be the pastors and lay leaders of the American church. I am praying for a fresh outpouring from God in this coming decade.  I am passionate about passing the baton to those who will continue the race until Jesus comes to bring the world to its appointed end.  I am greatly encouraged.  God is raising up a new generation of servants and prophets.

Dan Wooldridge

Shannon and I just returned late this week from leading a retreat at Lake Livingston.  We were at the Trinity Pines Conference Center.  The sheer beauty of that lake is amazing.  I arose before dawn on Thursday and walked out across a bridge onto a small island near the shore.  There were all sorts of ducks and migrating birds around.  Deer lined the shores.  Bass at least 15 inches long and more were jumping out of the water as they captured prey near the surface.  The water was dark but clear.  When the sun came up, the view was amazing.  A friend of many years who was at the retreat walked up just before sunrise to stand by my side.  We talked of the work of the Lord as the sun came up and then prayed together at daybreak.  Times like these are vital to us in the hustle and bustle of life. 

The work of the Lord is difficult in our day.  A major cause of the difficulty is summed up with one central reality.  The church has forgotten her proper relationship to God.  Go to any bookstore and survey the titles of Christian books.  You will find that a disproportionate number are focused on making the lives of Christians better.  To be sure Jesus told us that he came to bring “abundant life”.  However, there is one key reality that must never be forgotten.  It is our calling to glorify God. It is not God’s responsibility to gratify us.  To hear many talk today you would think that God is supposed to serve us rather than for us to serve God.  This mentality creates a spoiled, frustrated church.  Spoiled because the constant question on their minds is “Why don’t I get what I need from God or the church?”  Frustrated because in our fallen condition we will never find the perfection we are conditioned to expect.  That perfection awaits us when we stand in the presence of our Savior.  Selfish thinking and selfish living are wreaking havoc on the American church.  As I contemplate the economic crisis, I wonder if God is not seeking to break us of our love of self and stuff so that we can freshly fall in love with Him.  The simplicity of an hour on the shore of a lake at sunrise cost me nothing, but enriched me immeasurably.

Dan Wooldridge

A definition for witnessing that I have long used is “sharing Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.”  A question that should arise for anyone who would contemplate that statement should be “How can I receive the power of the Holy Spirit?”  The answer is one word; prayer.  No one should consider sharing anything so important as the good news of Jesus Christ without fervent prayer.  I want to divulge a secret on this blog this morning.  There have been a few times in my life when I was literally minutes away from standing to preach God’s Word and had no clear direction as to what I should preach.  The setting was a time of unusual stress and business.  I had tried to prepare, but all roads led to dead ends.  In such a situation I am driven to desperate prayer.  The first words of that prayer are “I am not worthy to speak your name oh Lord, but I shall soon stand before people who expect to hear from you.  Please take my words and make them yours.  Fill me with your Spirit and touch hearts with your mighty hand.”  I have then walked into the pulpit and been guided to a text, a title, and a Word from God that not only flowed freely, but usually has been commended by hearers as one of my best sermons ever.  One could be tempted to do it that way all of the time under such circumstances except for a few facts.

1. I am never not studying.  The Holy Spirit needs for us to dilligently search the Scriptures so that in a time of witnessing He can call those Scriptures to our remembrance.

2. Desperate praying as decribed above works just as well when God has already given a text and preparation time.

3. Every time we share with people in our daily lives we are delivering just as important of a message as any sermon anywhere.  God cares as deeply for the one person in front of you as for the crowds who hear you.  Therefore, desperate prayer is appropriate to prepare us for witnessing opportunities and may be used in a situation of urgency before large gatherings.  The longest message recorded in the book of Acts was preached by Stephen just before his martyrdom.  I am confident that it was delivered extemporaneously, without notes.  I am equally confident that the Holy Spirit illuminated and set ablaze his knowledge of Scripture and allowed his words to flow like a fountain.  The same Holy Spirit is with us still.

Dan Wooldridge

It was interesting on the week of Veteran’s Day to see our son pass through the gate at the Austin International Airport on his way to war.  No, he is not in the army, at least not the U. S. Army.  He is in the battle for Truth.  He is on his way to Asia to a country that I should not mention in this blog.  There are no official missionaries there, but there are many “tent maker” missionaries who are working at various professions in order to engage in the same battle for Truth.  When these warriors come home, there will be no ticker tape parades, no national recognition, no special benefits for their service.  In fact they won’t really be home until they really are home with the Lord in that final day when all of God’s soldiers are recognized.  I am very grateful for those who serve our country.  I am doubly blessed by those who also serve the Lord whatever their theater of operations.

Dan Wooldridge

Each week as we gather to worship one can see on our screen at various times these important truths.

                              WE ARE PEOPLE SHARING JESUS

                                           THROUGH

                                     EXALTING THE LORD

                                     EQUIPPING THE LAITY

                                                 AND

                                  EVANGELIZING THE LOST

                                              BECAUSE

                                   PEOPLE NEED THE LORD.

Whenever I am asked about our mission statement, that is my reply.  I hope that every member deeply contemplates the implications of this statement.  Could I go over it with you line by line?

PEOPLE SHARING JESUS - This is a two directional phrase.  It speaks of our common experience of Jesus.  We are one in Him.  He saved us and brings us together.  It also speaks of our obligation to reach out to others.  We share Jesus within our fellowship and we share Him with those who know Him not.

EXALTING THE LORD - It is not our business to exalt ourselves or our church.  We are to exalt Jesus Christ.  We do so by singing His praises and worshipping Him.  We worship God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  His praise is to be on our lips in word and in song.

EQUIPPING THE LAITY - We are to be making disciples.  In our bible study, our evangelism training, our ministries, and missions enterprises, we are seeking to grow people not only by sharing information, but also by enlisting them in service to the Lord.

EVANGELIZING THE LOST - Every program and every activity should be examined by asking the question of ourselves as to how that program fulfills the Great Commission.  We are not here for social activities.  We are here to be fully functioning followers of Jesus Christ.  This is our definition of evangelism, “So to present Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit that people will accept Him as Savior and follow Him as Lord in the fellowship of His church and share their witness with others.”   The task of evangelism is not complete until converts to Christ are equipped to share their witness with others.

PEOPLE NEED THE LORD - The church is the only institution on earth that exists for the sake of the people who are not yet a part of it.  Christ gave Himself for us, and we are to give ourselves for a lost and dying world.  It is really that simple.  That is our mission.  It is biblical.  It is Spiritual.  It is practical.  It is personal.  Let’s do it!

Dan Wooldridge

Little do we know when we reach out to people what God has in store at the end of our reaching.  A teenager communicates to his parents that he wants to follow Jesus.  I make an appointment and visit the home.  With father and mother sitting close by, I explain the nature of a Christian commitment to a very attentive young man.  I ask him if he wants to pray and invite Jesus Christ into his life.  He answers yes.  I ask if we could kneel together as we pray.  ( I think this helps underscore the momentous occasion of asking the King of Kings into our lives)   A loving and thoughtful father watches and listens to the entire exchange.  Not long afterward he makes a visit to my office for the same conversation.  Like his son, he makes a choice and follows that choice with believer’s baptism.  His daughter also makes the same decision.  His wife has made the decision years before.  So what does this have to do with Myanmar?  An older son of this couple is serving there as a missionary along with his family.  They are quietly making a difference in the country formerly known as Burma.  The father, mother, son, and daughter go for a visit.  God impresses upon them the need to serve the Lord by blessing the people of Myanmar in the name of Jesus.  They invite Crestview Baptist Church to participate.  Over a period of years great things are accomplished.  Many go.  Some invest financially.  I also go as do other members of our staff.  Our son goes this last summer.  Then the big surprise happens.  God calls our only son, our youngest child, to go to Myanmar to teach English.  His purpose is to come along side God’s work with our many partners in that country.  He leaves in ten days.  This is the story I know about one visit made seven years ago.  My question today is “What might God have in mind for the visit I make tonight?”

Dan Wooldridge