18.Sep.2007 Reaching the Lost Part I – We are called to be a light
The area of reaching the lost and connecting with people who are separated from God trumps all other areas for us as a church. By just living the life God gave you, you can be a light to the world. All the light has to do to work is to be on. It doesn’t have to work hard. Reaching the corners of darkness where God wants you to go just requires you to be willing and to have a heart for God.
Luke 4:14-17 – In verse 1 Jesus was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. Then, in verse 14, the Spirit led him into the wilderness. He was filled by the Spirit, then led by the Spirit and then filled with His power. We can be filled with the Spirit but not yet filled with His power. The ultimate goal for us as Christians is to have the Power of the Spirit operating and working in our lives.
Later in this chapter, Jesus went to the Tabernacle and read from the scrolls of Isaiah. This was at the beginning of his ministry. It says He turned to the place – Jesus knew the word and knew what He wanted to teach. The passage in Isaiah that He read was His mission statement. He found the place that was about Him. He could have picked anything from that scroll, but He found this particular passage because it told Him who He was and what God’s mission was for Him.
You can have a “Jordan experience” – we want people to experience God. Once you have an experience with the Holy Spirit, you can experience being led by the Spirit. You become sensitive to his voice and direction. Once the Holy Spirit is leading you, you have the potential to tap into the Spirit’s power. You do this by knowing what the Bible says about you – the endorsement you have in Scripture – who you are in Christ. Once we know what the Scriptures say about us, we can go in the confidence of who we are in Christ. Jesus read what the Bible said about Him: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me. When it came time to launch his ministry, Jesus knew exactly where to go to proclaim what He was and what He was about to do. He was the anointed one, appointed by God to bring the good news and reach the lost.
We have also been appointed and anointed. When we can see what the Bible says about us and believe in its promises – believe that God believes in us, believe in what He wants us to do and what He has for us – the Spirit fills us and leads us, and then empowers us to preach, proclaim, open our mouths and speak things that are good. We are not called to proclaim judgment, but to bring the good news. When we talk about reaching the world, we have to come from a perspective of good – good news – positive vision. Jesus says I am the light, and I am going to make you the light. Light doesn’t try, it is. You don’t have to try to be a Christian, you are.
The darkness flees when the light comes. Sometimes we think we have to help the light, but all we have to do it let the Spirit shine in us – just turn the light on. We don’t have to fight the darkness, with judgment or condemnation, because darkness has no power over the light. We are bring light and freedom to the captives. The power of the Spirit holds the keys to their freedom. The Spirit has the answer for every need. It is not our place to judge the world – only to bring love, light and freedom. Our holiness is only because of the blood. We are covered even though we don’t deserve it. Let the love – the fire of the Spirit, the light of God – inside us to shine.
We are called to shine in the darkest of dark places.Everywhere I go I am trying to be the light. Every time I come in contact with someone I am consciously thinking about being the light. My life is better than their life. From the beginning I have something incredible to share. Just turning up in someone’s life can brighten his or her life. Be determined to let your light shine. Allow the Spirit in you to affect them.
God equals freedom. Jesus came to set the captives free. Sometimes Christianity doesn’t sound very freeing to them. Rather it seems binding. Be we just keep proclaiming the favor of God. When we come into contact with them, the life God gives us will get onto them. People are desperate for what we have. If we don’t have it, they won’t want our message. They look at our life before they hear what we say. Our lives are something to be witnessed. It is something for them to look at. It will transfer on to them and change people’s lives. We don’t have to force it.
