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hello all :)
I believe we all sat through a power-packed sermon today and I hope it tugged at your heart as it did mine. I will try my best to summarize the key points here for the benefit of those who couldn't make it/didn't manage to copy down everything (i didn't manage too either haha) but will try to do as much justice to Pastor Tan's sermon as possible!
Pastor Tan began by asking the question, something along the likes of: "if we did away with big events and outreaches, can you still reach out to the lost?" This was definitely food for thought since big events and outreaches forms a huge bulk of the evangelizing effort.
something that he mentioned as well struck a cord in me when he asked "do you have the burden?" at that point i felt that all this while, i have been selfish in my christian walk. Yes I do pray for the lost, but does it move my heart when I pray for them? To what extent will I go to see them saved? What doesn't move your heart will not move God's. How true indeed.
Here are some guidelines Pastor Tan mentioned in order to win the lost w/o outreaches etc.
1. Spritual fruitfulness
John 15:2-6
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit
We are all called to bear fruit because God himself was fruitful. From the soil came man, from Adam came Eve, from a woman (Mary) birthed man (Jesus), from God and flesh (Jesus) came eternal life.
2. Spiritual Adoption (praying in the spirit)
Be a spiritual parent for the lost.
Pastor Tan drew the analogy of the birth of a child. It follows that there is a stage of CONCEPTION, then GESTATION and finally birth. Just like how a mother has to P.U.S.H for the child to come out, the same goes for the spiritual birth of a lost soul.
P ray
U ntil
S omething
H appens !
The Great Commission can be broken apart and read as CO-MISSION. We are definitely not alone, we have our fellow workers and the Holy Spirit.
John 5:19
Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner"
Even Jesus did not rely on Himself, eventhough he was the King of kings and Lord of lords. He relied on God's strength and wisdom, how much more must we rely on the Holy Spirit? :)
3. Spiritual Empowerment (walking with the Holy Spirit)
I Corinthians 2:10-11
But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
All of us occupy a place in God's spirit. He who dwells in the secret PLACE of the most high abides in the shadow of the Almighty (psalm 91:1) How can we abide in His spirit and be empowered? PRAY! i think most of us need to pump up our prayer life huh :p
So how can the Holy Spirit help us?
1. To come up with an effective name list
2. Helps us to have faith, to have visions and dreams.
and sry guys I missed out on the 3rd one if anyone knows please supplement :)
this summary is not even half as good as listening to the real sermon so I suggest those who missed it or want to listen to the sermon on www.chc.org.sg when it comes out!
There is one verse that really spoke to me throughout the whole sermon, it goes "the harvest is plenty, but the labourers are few" (can't remember where it's found) I just felt today that i'm too comfortable as a Christian, and it's not that we shouldn't be happy people and do the things we like or enjoy but we owe our life to the one who gave His all for us. The fact that we can be happy people with hope and faith is because of Jesus' sacrifice.
Thing is, He also gave His life for the friends and family members we have arnd us who have yet to be saved.
I feel God tugging at me, saying, What are you waiting for? The veil is torn, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. The time to harvest is NOW!
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3) The Holy Spirit also helps us by ministering to the hearts of our prospects.
You can invite someone strongly against coming to church 10000 times, but if you do it without the aid of the Holy Spirit, without relying on the Holy Spirit, it's as good as not asking. The Holy Spirit moves in their lives and opens up their heart. You see many people previously against coming to church actually agreeing to come after some time. It's not really that they are sick of you asking - it's easier to just say no to you or ignore you. I believe they finally agree to come because something happened in the Spiritual realm. If you put your faith in the Holy Spirit, you can move mountains.
Nice post, really summed up the sermon nicely :)
I agree with the part about whether it moves one's heart when you pray for someone's salvation. Indeed, what doesn't move your heart will not move God's. But this is rather hard to do in real life. Someone once taught me to pray instead to be more loving of others and everyone. It is not in our capacity as humans to be able to love everyone without friction or conflict. We need the Holy Spirit in our lives to increase our capacity for love, to enable us to truly love and forgive others, to truly care even about strangers. If we can do this, I think that's the first step to really loving and moving our hearts for people's salvation.
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