Sunday School 11-4-11 “Because He Lives”

           Why is it important to tell others about Christ?

It's a mandate, a command.

People will go to hell without knowing Christ.

            Those are 2 incredibly serious things that we need to consider aren't they? When is the last time you spoke to someone intentionally about the gospel? Why did you do it? Why didn't you?

            Guys, will we see any change in our communities, or our schools if we stay silent? We have taken this Christian unspoken vow of silence and we are shocked at the state of our schools. We are shocked at the broken homes. We are shocked at the drugs and sex. But we haven't been shocked enough to say anything. That is just not acceptable anymore. It never was to begin with.

            This morning I want us to take some time and really focus in on what the Gospel means for us. God had been putting this pretty heavily on to my heart for a while. It is not enough to simply tell you that it is important to share your faith. I could tell you over and over again that we need to share the Gospel, but why would you want to unless you have a true understanding of what it means? Unless it has become something that completely overwhelms you at every point of your life, why would it be worth telling others about it?

            I want you to understand that as Christians, we do not live inside a perfect bubble of other Christians and then die. If we all moved into a big house with each other and never left how far would the Gospel go? It would die out completely.

            So why do we allow sharing our faith to be this fearful and crippling thing? Why does that take place? I may:

Loose friends

Have issues that you have to defend

Have hardships of all kinds

            You can allow this to keep you from sharing your faith, when you see these consequences as being more important than Christ.

            I am going to do something incredibly out of character for a Youth Pastor. I am going to talk about a hymn. People today discount Hymns because they simply don't like the way they sound, they don't like the organ, they don't like... whatever. But I want you to understand something. Some of these hymns have incredible lyrics that are extremely Biblical.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

            Our lives are subject to what Christ has done for us. In other words, our lives are completely and directly tied to our relationship with Christ.

            Because He lives, I can face tomorrow

John 14:19-20 “Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

            I can face tomorrow because He lives. That is the Gospel in a sentence. How does that relate back to Christ? Because of Christ dying on the cross for me in my place I do not have to worry about what tomorrow might bring. I can live confidently because of what God has done in my life. Because Christ lives and gives our next breath, we live. That is just about the most important relationship that you can possibly have.

            All fear is gone. How many of you have been afraid of something? What is the most fearful thing that you can come up with? A lot of people think that death is the biggest thing to fear. Now take that and multiply it times infinity. That would be a pretty intense fear right? That is how much we should fear being separated from God. God = life. Separation from God = death.

            This hymn says that all fear is gone. How could you possibly have all of your fears removed? Let me ask you this, if you faced your most intense fear and found out that you actually had nothing to be afraid of at all, would you still be afraid of it? Nope. That would be ridiculous.

            Go back to the fear of God. How afraid of Him should we be? Pretty stinking scared.

Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

            Why would this verse put all fears to rest? Because you have faced your most intense most petrifying fear and have found that God's redemption means no more fear.

            We have NOTHING to fear if we are in Christ!

Romans 8:38-39 You are secure in the hand of God. Nothing can pluck you out of it, nothing can make you slip through His fingers.

            Life is worth the living, just because He lives. Why do people start looking for a way out? Why do people look to boys/girls, drugs, or suicide to get away from “life”? Because they are trying to find purpose in this life and they are looking in the wrong place. I don't tell you to keep your eyes on Christ just because I am your youth pastor. I tell you that so that you will continue to find purpose and adventure in life. Once you take your eyes off of Christ, you get completely mixed up.

            Jesus says that He wants to give us life and life more abundant, but we fail at accomplishing even the smallest task that He gives us. We don't really take Him at His word. The people that do are the people that get excited about what God is doing. They are the ones excited to share the gospel with everyone that they encounter.

            You got to see Joe Veal last week. He is a dynamic guy! Why do you think that he makes it his goal to share Christ with one person a day? Because he has bought into the truth that the gospel is too important to just stay silent. He has to tell someone so he can sleep at night. He has to make that effort! Knowing the effect that Jesus has on people, how would Fairborn look if you had that same attitude? How would your schools look?

            We have gotten distracted from the main point. It is a failure on my part as well. I have been waiting until I can train you in the perfect technique of sharing your faith, but we will wait around while neglecting God's commands.

            So what do we do now? Do we go back to life as usual? Do we take those vows of silence as we leave the youth wing or the church doors today? Or are you going to take this as the life altering, eternal destination changing, seriousness that it is?

            When you have that as your focus, those excuses seem a little more ridiculous don't they?

            There is another song that has captured our attention here recently.

You are good, You are good, when there's nothing good in me.
You are love, You are love, on display for all to see.
You are light, You are light, when the darkness closes in.
You are hope, You are hope, You have covered all my sin.

You are peace, You are peace, when my fear is crippling.
You are true, You are true, even in my wandering.
You are joy, You are joy, You're the reason that I sing.
You are life, You are life, in You death has lost its sting.

            Is that song true in your life? Is Christ's love on display for all to see? Here is my challenge to you. We are going to start out small so we can continue to grow into what God want's us to be as a youth group and as a church. Reach out to 1 person this week. Have one conversation about Christ, intentionally, and directly. Here is the cool part. I don't care how you do it. If you text them. Awesome! If you Facebook them. Awesome. If you write them a letter. Awesome! Just make sure that you do it.

            Let me make this clear, don't just say Jesus loves you. That is not the Gospel. Tell them what that means for them. Tell them how to come to faith in Christ.