Evangelism

Evangelism

Week of April 21^st

If You’ve Been Saved, You’ve Been Sent

Jesus gave the disciples a very clear directive before he ascended into heaven -

Matthew 28:19-20

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

GO, He said, go and make disciples. Just as the disciples were sent to make disciples out of lost people, so have we been sent to tell people about the good news of Jesus! We have been made new - forgiven and loved by a big God - and because of that, we are called to be ambassadors of the gospel to the unbelieving world.

2 Corinthians 5:17, 20

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come! We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”

It doesn’t matter how messed up you think you are, or how far you’ve gone in the past, when you become a believer, you become an example to others - a reflection of Christ’s mercy and grace in this world. You have been saved not just as a means to an end, but it’s a springboard for ACTION!

1 Timothy 1:15-16

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinner, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”

1 Timothy 4:12

“Do not let anyone look down on your because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”

If we really believed that the gift of grace - the gift of the cross - was the best gift we’ve ever been given, wouldn’t we want to make sure the people we loved knew about it? Wouldn’t we want to share it with as many people as possible? If the gospel really changed our lives, wouldn’t we want to change other people’s lives, too?

Think then Share

The bible tells us that we should be ready to share, at any point, why we believe what we believe.

1 Peter 3:15

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have…”

So, the first step is to make sure that you know the reason for the hope that you have. Our hope here at Ozone is that what we talk about on a weekly basis actually becomes a part of your walk with the Lord. So the first challenge is this - figure out the reason(s) for the hope that you have in Christ. If you aren’t sure, we want to talk with you about that!

Then, once you know why you believe, be prepared and be challenged to share. Isaiah says that [God’s] name and renown should be the desire of our hearts (Isaiah 26:8). Making HIM known to your friends, family members and even strangers should pump you up, because when you share Jesus with someone, you share the greatest gift of all - the opportunity for eternal life. If you are in Christ, then YOU, middle/high schooler, are the LIGHT of the WORLD. Don’t hide your light - let it shine!

Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let you light shine before men, that they may see you good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

He is Risen!

EASTER - He is Risen!

Week of April 13^th  

The Message of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1:18

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

Unfortunately, to most of us in this room, our concept of Easter is just another Sunday at church (dressed in matching pastels) followed by an egg hunt, some good food, a ton of bunnies and chocolate, and an abundance of whatever we “gave up” for Lent.

This year has to be different.

We have spent the entire year at Ozone telling you about Jesus - who he was, how that should affect our day-to-day lives, and how we should share that with other people. But what we have to understand is that in the true meaning of Easter, Jesus gets his power.  It’s only because of Easter that we have a reason to celebrate and follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without Easter, there is no Ozone. Without Easter, there is no Christian church. Without Easter, there is no power.

You see the message of the cross is that our debt has been paid. HALLELUJAH, our debt has been paid!! We are all sinners - broken, dirty and jacked up. When we sin, we sin against our Father - the Creator God, and because of that we deserve his wrath.

            Romans 3:23

            “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…”

            Romans 6:23

            “The wages of sin is death…”

But God, in his great love for us, sent his only son to humbly put on flesh, become a human, and pay our debt on the cross.

Colossians 2:13-15

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it all away nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

            Romans 5:8-9

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”

Romans 8:3-4

“For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.”

The message of the cross is that Jesus took our wrath - fully. Because of the cross we are forgiven. We are righteous. We are loved by a God that doesn’t need us to get our stuff together before we come to him, but instead, only because of Jesus, is able to meet us in our junk, and love us nonetheless. It may seem weird that the day we celebrate for the brutal, humiliating death of our Savior is called Good Friday, but the truth is there is nothing more good than the message of the cross.

Romans 8:31-32

“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

Galatians 2:20

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I lived in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Not the End of the Story…

Now unfortunately, a lot of Christians don’t go beyond the cross... Yes, the cross is important, monumental, even, but it’s not the end of the story. Doesn’t everyone die? If Jesus just died on the cross, how do we know our sin is paid for? How do we know death is dead and eternal life is real? How do we know?

The resurrection.

Easter Sunday is the celebration of Jesus rising from the grave - defeating death once and for all. It’s the picture of God’s power and might and also his great love for us. On his one and only son, God poured out all his wrath - the full cup. Christ was buried and on the third day he rose again, in fulfillment of the scriptures. Those of us who are in Christ Jesus, therefore, are crucified with Christ and, similarly, raised with Christ. Death has lost its power over us and eternal life has taken its spot. Hallelujah!

1 Corinthians 15:55-57

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 1:3-4a                               

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade…”

Conclusion

So our hope this week is that this Easter would be different. Despite the Easter Egg hunts, family brunches, pastel outfits and chocolate bunnies, this Easter should be about more - it should be about the power of BOTH the Cross and the Resurrection. We want you to remember. To realize that what we celebrate this weekend is the POWER of GOD. It’s the heartbeat of our faith. The foundation of what we’re fighting for and what we’re hoping in. The death and resurrection of Christ Jesus on that first Easter changed our lives forever. Don’t let another day go by without recognizing the unfathomable, unbeatable love of God our Father displayed in the cross and resurrection of Christ.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and

by his wounds we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:5

The truth about the Bible

The Truth about the Bible

So What’s Your Source?

Remember from last week that we all have a source.  We all have a source upon which our thoughts are based.  We all have thoughts about God.  We all have thoughts about life.  And we all have a source of those thoughts.  For some people it’s simply their own experience.  For others it’s the philosophical theories of brilliant thinkers.  So what’s YOUR source?

If we’re going to discuss “Nothing but the Truth” this year in Ozone, then we need to establish a common source of truth.  Experiences will differ.  Philosophies will adjust.  But what will never fade away?  What has never faded?  What has been resilient though cultural differences?  What has connected with everyone across the spectrum of social differences: rich, poor, black, white, old, young, those from the West, those from the East, intellectuals, poets, engineers, doctors, and fishermen?  What is an objective, universal, unchanging, always relevant source?

A Source Unlike Any Other Source

Malachi 3:6a – “I the LORD do not change.

Matthew 24:35 – Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Matthew 5:18 – For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

The Bible was not one work written by one human thinker.  The Bible was not one work written by several human thinkers.  The Bible was 66 different works written in 3 different languages across 3 different continents by at least 40 different humans over a period of at least 3000 years.  There is no other collection of writings (religious or otherwise) in the history of literature that are like this.  It’s not one collection of sacred texts that’s like other sacred texts.  There are no other sacred texts like this one collection.  Zero.

Confirmed, legitimate prophecy is another peculiarity of the Bible.  There are hundreds of confirmed prophecies regarding Jesus alone, all of which were written hundreds and occasionally over a thousand years prior to their fulfillment.  This is not Nostradamus making hundreds of vague predictions a few of which come true.  This is hundreds of specific predictions ALL of which come true.  There is a difference.

Please consult this article as it gives concise and readable explanations about the Bible’s unique character: http://www.comereason.org/cmp_rlgn/cmp005.asp.  Pick a couple that you think would be compelling.

The Bible IS Truth

2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

John 1:1-5, 11-14 –  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  ¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

A source from God is a true source.  What else is as reliable?  What else has lasted this long while being preserved this perfectly while transforming this widely?  What better source exists?  What source is better able to inform your thinking?  What source is more credible?  What’s your source?

How to study the Bible

How to Study the Bible :: The HOW

Mini Series: The Bible & YOU

Intro

How many of us have ever made a New Years resolution? Better question- how many of us have really kept a New Year’s resolution? This semester in Ozone we’re basically asking you to make a resolution to read your bible more, and then KEEP it. Don’t worry- we don’t want you to go at it alone, but do want you to understand that this resolution won’t just happen. You don’t just decide one day that you want to consistently read your bible and then BAM you’re whole daily routine changes overnight. You’re going to have to be deliberate – you’re going to have to make time, not just find it. That means you’ll have to prioritize! But it’s worth it!

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“’All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that every man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

And, I don’t know about you, but being equipped for what the Lord has planned for me sounds pretty awesome!

But HOW? If it won’t just happen, how will you make it happen? How will you make reading your bible a priority when there are so many other things that fill your schedule? HOW?

If it were Easy- There’d be no Reason to Talk about it!

Now let’s make one thing perfectly clear – in reading your bible consistently had a one-size-fits all method that was easy to master, there would be NO reason for us to stand up here and talk about it today.  It’s not easy, but it is important. Crucial. 

Your Time, Your Place, Your Plan

Okay, back to answering the question of HOW. Like I said earlier, it takes deliberate planning. You don’t want to turn reading your bible into an obligation like homework or chores, but you do want to make a plan!

Your Time

Start by picking out an exact time and an exact duration and then honor that time every day. Obviously, you can spend all the time you want talking to God – in fact, scripture says that we’re supposed to be communicating with God all throughout our day.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus

But you also need focused time with God! It must be time that’s prioritized and set apart for one thing alone – reading your bible and learning more about the Lord. If you don’t schedule a regular time, more often than not you’ll get to the end of your day and realize that even though you wanted to spend time with Jesus, you just... lost track of time! The world gets busy, so make a time and honor that time.

Your Place

Even if you have a consistent time of day and duration, staying focused on reading scripture while you’re in the stands at a high school football game would be difficult! Day after day, you need to find a private place to read your bible where you won’t be distracted. The bible tells us to do it in secret --

Matthew 6:6

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Have you noticed that a lot of times when your parents are in heavy traffic, they turn down the volume on the radio? As humans, when we need to focus, we have to turn down the volume on the things that distract us. Reading your bible is no different! Turn down the volume on the world by finding a private place – away from the world. To pray to a God that is not of this world, you’re going to have to remove yourself from worldly distractions, so find a place and make it your own!

            Your Plan

The last thing you need to do is have a pre-determined plan. This is where things get more difficult to dictate because the truth is, every person is different. There is not one perfect method and one perfect plan. But, one thing we know is that if you go into your time with the Lord day-after-day with no plan, there’s a strong chance you’ll lose steam – you’ll get bored! Instead of learning and digging deep into the word, you’ll spend your time thumbing mindlessly through pages.

Need some ideas for direction? Here are a few...

• Pick a book and study it start to finish. That is what we’ll be doing later this semester when we study Philippians...
• Find a supplemental book that walks you through a book or the bible or a certain topic. These books offer great thought-provoking questions that will help you interpret the text and apply it to your life.
• Find a Podcast series on iTunes that unpacks a certain book of the bible or topic.
• ((this is where you can share your ideas or have other kids share what has worked for them! Lord knows there are many other ways...))

Importance of Accountability

Hopefully it’s clear that there isn’t a perfect method or “right” plan to spending time with the Lord and reading the bible. One thing to keep in mind is that you DON’T have to do it alone! We were built for community. Built to keep each other accountable. In this New Year’s resolution you will need help- so my recommendation is to grab a friend! Choose a plan and tackle it separately... together.

            Acts 2:42-47

            Galatians 6:2

            Psalm 55:14