Acts 1:8 (NLT) - 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere-in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 8:4 (NLT) - 4 But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.
Colossians 1:23 (NLT) - 23 … The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
Three ways the Real Church spreads:
1. It spreads where you PLANT.
The best evangelism is relational. A stage and preacher are good, a tract and a talk is good, but nothing beats the power of relationships with evangelism.
Separation, not segregation: Many Christians alienate themselves relationally from the very people that Christ loves and died for. Christ demonstrated a life of together while separate. He was often critiqued for his keeping company with sinners.
Christ promised his disciples that he would turn them into fishers of men. That whole concept is impossible if they were alienated. He knew how to put them “on the fish.”
We must ask the Holy Spirit to strategically place us:
Geographically
Occupationally
Educationally
Leisurely
Stop trying to get out of the bubble God is trying to send you to.
2. It spreads where you PRESENT.
Once you know where you are going to plant, you need to know what you’re going to present.
Words are not the most powerful tool in your box.
There is no credibility yet.
They haven’t seen the beauty of what Christ can do.
Paul’s symbolism from 2 Corinthians:
We are perfume
We are letters
We are mirrors
We are treasure
People want to see the beauty of what Christ does in your life.
The early church grew because of:
The way they lived
The way they loved-enemies, the sick, the imprisoned, the widows, the orphans
The way they gave-they shared all they had
3. It spreads where you PROCLAIM.
Words are necessary, but not before planting and displaying.
What does it mean to be a WITNESS? This is what I saw
