Pastor Steve's Weekly Letter for Thursday, December 12, 2019

I love the response of the shepherds after they saw the baby, Jesus, lying in the manger. “When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them concerning this child” (Luke 2:17). This should be our response, too. At the end of his Gospel, Luke records Jesus’ words to his disciples shortly after his resurrection: “You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:48). Then, at the beginning of sequel to his Gospel, Luke records the final words of Jesus before he ascended to heaven: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). If you are a follower of Jesus, he has called you to be a witness. Here are some pieces of wisdom from wise believers to help you witness well.

● Mack Stiles: “Be bold. The basic obstacle to boldness is the fear of man. The fear of man has become the idolatry of our age. Boldness is not a lack of fear. It is faith in something bigger than our fears [Jesus Christ and his gospel!] so that we appear fearless.”

● Rebecca Manley Pippert: “Our problem in evangelism is not that we don’t have enough information—it is that we don’t know how to be ourselves. We forget we are called to be witnesses to what we have seen and know, not to what we don’t know. The key on our part is authenticity and obedience—even if we don’t have all the answers to their questions or if our knowledge of Scripture is limited.”

● David Gustafson: “We need to move out of our comfort zone and take the risk of entering into others’ lives in redeeming ways that point them to the Redeemer. This is the way of Jesus, who attended parties, ate with sinners, hung out with tax collectors, engaged with religious elites, touched lepers, and embraced outcasts. He befriended outsiders and lived in proximity with those who were spiritually lost.”

● Sam Chan: “Get our friends to become their friends. Our community—our trusted friends and family—has a powerful role in forming our beliefs. Our community also shapes how we interpret our experiences. Christians typically have two separate universes of friends—non-Christians and Christian. What if we merged our universes of friends? What if we were able to get our Christian friends to become friends with our non-Christian friends?” This is such a critical strategy! It’s one that Pastor Rick has encouraged us to pursue. Rather than trying to reach a friend all by yourself, invite them to a dinner with other believers. LIFE groups would do well to invite non-believers to join them. So, if you are inviting some friends to your home during the Christmas season, ask both believers and non-believers to come.

● Mack Stiles: “Prepare. Practice the ‘gospel in a minute.’ Know how to say the basic principles of the gospel message in a minute or two. Think through what needs to be communicated so that someone can understand what God has done through Christ for lost sinners such as us, so that we might repent of our sins and turn to Christ in faith. Say it in language you would use naturally in conversations with friends.”

● Tim Keller: “There is no one gospel presentation in a modern world. We need to find three thousand ways to make the gospel good news.” Perhaps this seems to contradict the previous quote. However, it simply recognizes that people come with a different set of fears and objections. Even though we can be witnesses without knowing all the answers to objections that non-believers raise, we will want to grow in our ability to address them. For this, I highly recommend Rebecca McLaughlin’s new book, Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion. Put it on your Christmas list!

This Sunday, December 15, our children will participate in our worship services and Pastor Rick will preach Isaiah 8:19-9:7. The title of his sermon is: “Here comes the Son – and it’s more than alright!” On the family front, my daughter Erin sent me a couple photos the other day that made me laugh. One was my grandson Madden (3) with a handful of snacks. Erin had told him they were running errands, so he packed snacks for “Howie and Minols” (his cousins, Halle and Miles) just in case they stopped to see them. The other photo was an ornament made by my granddaughter Gabriella (5) at her pre-school. It had her picture on it, and she hung it on their Christmas tree. She said, “Hey, Mom, I hung this here so Santa could see a picture of me when he comes.” I hope she doesn’t tell her cousins, because they are zealous to tell others that Santa is not real! Alright, thanks as always for reading. I’ll see you on Sunday!

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