JOHN 9:4 / Colossians 4:2-6
Lesson prepared by: Krisha of Solomon
Wisdom FB page
MEMORY VERSE:
“I must work the works of
him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” (KJV)
INTRODUCTION:
When you travel in different country the first thing you’ll see,
apart from the good views, is the culture. For example, in America where I’d
been: you won’t see them “make mano” to elders, the elders usually go to
facilities when they’re too old to take care of themselves but we cannot judge
them because that’s the way they are raised. If you talk to them and see how
the system goes, you will truly understand them. People there are too busy and
you seldom see people walking on the streets especially in county and also most
of them have cars to use. Why I say this? I say this because in different
places around the world, there are different opportunities we can see. The
opportunity we have in the Philippines is not the same in other country.
How about the opportunity in sharing the gospel? Can you do
street evangelism in other places? In other countries, you cannot do that, you
will be put in prison. Others you need to have permits, and in some places, you
will not be heard because all people are in their cars. Can you do on knocking
doors? No you can’t. How can you do that if mostly people are in their work and
if there are some staying in their houses, they have legitimate reasons why
they’re there – busy and if you tried they’ll say “I’m good, I don’t need
that.” You cannot see people making “tambay” outside. If you see them outside,
they do something: mowing grass, doing gardening and many things. How about in
grocery stores? If you’ll say, “you need help.” They’ll mostly say, “No,
thanks. I’m good.” They are raised independently so every time they block your
way in the aisle in grocery store for example, they always say “I’m Sorry”
because they see the time consume in buying- their free time. Can you give
bible tracts? You can in other places but most of the time they put in wipers
of cars in the parking lot. You cannot give inside the grocery stores because
some will report you to the store manager. In other Muslim countries, they’ll
put you in prison. So what will they do now? In USA, they still try do knocking
doors, giving tracts and other things; find other ways even it’s very hard. Some
countries, they do basement worship services.
LESSON OUTLINE:
1)
BE SENSITIVE
WITH THE OPPORTUNITY
Because
of the culture and the different opportunity, some Christians in other
countries just go with the flow and just wait for the opportunity to come and
this cause them to feel insensitive with the opportunity when it comes their
way.
Nowadays,
we can see that social media is a great avenue for sharing the gospel. Instead
of posting unnecessary things on social media, let’s use this as an opportunity
to share the gospel especially to those our friends, relatives and others in
other countries. Talking about sensitivity, when see our FB friends posting
things that are alarming and you think they need help, make a private message
to that person and pray for him or her. In line with this, always remember that
our Facebook account or any accounts on social media are also our way of
showing our testimony. So be careful what are in there or anything posted.
In the
church we should be sensitive, if we see a visitor, be friendly and don’t let
that time passed without telling that person how God loves him/her – share the
GOODNEWS. In our bag, let’s put bible
tracts or any invitation cards so that when meet someone or a friend in a place
we go, it’s easy for us to invite; It’s the first step to share what you
believe in – salvation
2)
LOOK FOR
WAYS
Have you experienced of
not doing something in sharing the good news? We become stagnant and at peace
of just being a Christian. Whether we accept it or not, our ultimate goal given
to us by God is the Great Commission which is written in Matthew 28:19-20.
In the Philippines, we
can still see people staying outside their houses and play, talking with
neighbors, or just stay and drink coffee. The people are still reachable, you
can still do the house to house sharing. So as part of looking for ways, being friendly
to your neighbor is also one way of sharing the gospel. Another thing, when
your birthday comes it’s the best time to invite people so it’s also the best
time to share good news as part of the birthday program. Reunions, All Saints
Day, Christmas, New Year and other special events are the best ways to share.
Though there are many
ways, Christians come to the point of their Christian lives that that they
become stagnant. They stopped looking for ways in sharing the gospel, and
become deaf in the voice of the Holy Spirit or they’re not sensitive anymore to
the opportunity.
3)
BE EQUIPPED
WITH THE SHARING OF THE GOSPEL
If you’re a teacher, you
are equipped to teach. If you’re a licensed dentist, you are equipped to treat
dental problems. If you’re a doctor, you are allowed to treat patients with
their health problem and many more. Therefore, if you’re a Christian, you
should be equipped to share the Gospel because this is what happened to you –
someone shared to you the gospel and furthermore, this is what God has
commanded.
In 2 Timothy 2:8-13 we
can see how Paul reminded Timothy about the Gospel. First and foremost, the
content of the gospel of what Paul shared is JESUS CHRIST. It says, “Remember Jesus Christ, of the seed of David
who was raised from the dead…” Timothy needed to keep the fact that Jesus
is the Messiah. The gospel should be the good news that pertains to Jesus
Christ who died on the cross. In sharing the gospel, Paul suffered the
consequences (He was chained). He understood that they could chain him but they
could not never chain the word of God. It will spread no matter what. Why he
endures all these things? For the elect’s sake (God’s people), that they obtain
salvation. So we see how motivated Paul was in sharing the gospel. Like Him, we
should be motivated by what Jesus did on the cross for others to know. We
should not have the thought that “BE SAVED ALONE IN THE FAMILY.”
According
to Colossians 4:5
“Walk in wisdom toward them that are without,
redeeming the time.”
This
speaks ‘to them that are without’ to unbelievers according to commentary. Part
of being sensitive to the opportunity, we are commanded to walk with wisdom
toward those who are outside, unbelievers. Walk in wisdom speaks on how to deal
with them in order for us to have the opportunity to share the gospel. Paul
believed that Christians would answer others from biblical truth. Also, it is
mentioned that we must let our speech be
always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer
every man.
Being equipped, read and study your bible and
have your personal devotions in order for you to keep on motivated and talked
by the Lord through His word. There are many ways to share the Gospel and it
depends on the people you talk to or the allowed minutes you are given. If you
are given only few minutes, JOHN 3:16 is enough in sharing the gospel. Study
and master because this is the greatest command God told us to do while we are
here on earth.
CONCLUSION:
My sister and I had once a week regular bible study to a woman
in other barangay. That time we were late because of unavoidable circumstances.
We knocked on the door and someone responded but not the woman we used to have
the bible study, it was an another woman. So as usual we asked where the woman
was and she said, she went somewhere for an important event. As she spoke, some
thoughts at the back of my mind, “Best
opportunity to share.” I look at my sister and our eyes were like talking.
That time it was almost lunch so there was a battle on my thoughts. “You can’t share she might be cooking or she
would think it was already lunch and she cannot offer you something to eat.”
Because of the battle in my mind, I decided to just give her a nice bible tract
in order for her to read and might know and believe Jesus as her Savior then we
bid goodbye. As we were walking, I told my sister the battle in my mind and she
said she experienced that too. When I heard her words, I asked her “Could we
come back? Let’s try what do you think?” She said “I don’t know. It’s already
lunch.” We went back a few steps but I stopped to go home and promised to share the gospel next week.
Coming of the next week, my sister and I went to our bible study
with our goal of sharing the gospel to the woman we met last week. When we
knocked, Donna, our Bible Study attendee opened the door. As we entered and we
allowed to sit, I asked who was the woman we met last week and where she was.
As she was speaking, my toes shook and my heart beat faster. She said she was already died; she was just buried a day before
we came. Her death is unexpectedly because she was okay. She got measles but
only few came out on her skin. The family thought she was fine and they also
went to a carnival but after that they brought her to the hospital and that was
it. I can’t put into details but it reminded that life really is too short; she
was in late 30s I think that time when she died. After the bible study and
while we were walking, there were tears in our eyes. I can’t talk that time. I
prayed to the Lord and asked for forgiveness. I would never, never forget this
experience in sharing the gospel. From that time on, I always sensitive to the
opportunity of sharing the gospel.
