Sunday, April 6, 2008: Living in 3 D

This sermon is the second of four sermons based on a book by Bill Hybels, Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006). During these four weeks, our church members are meeting in Sunday night small groups in the homes of church members. We are using the Just Walk Across the Room small group curriculum produced by Willow Creek. The small group format includes four components: (1) food / fellowship time; (2) watching the Just Walk Across the Room teaching DVD; (3) group discussion; and (4) each person prays for three specific people they know who are "far from God." The four weeks will conclude with an event to invite the people we have been praying for to come to the church for an informal meeting to receive more information about our church and a brief presentation of the Gospel.

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Living in 3 D

Acts 3: 11 – 29.

I. Introduction.

My parents have always been the last people in the United States of America to adopt the current technology. We were the last household in America to buy a microwave oven. In fact, they still have the same microwave they bought in the late 1980’s. It is approximately the same size as a Toyota Corolla.

Shauna and I have been married for 15 years, and we are personally responsible for purchasing every CD player, DVD player and cordless phone my parents have ever owned. We take a lot of pride in the Christmas presents we have bought them through the years. If it were not for us, their grandchildren would not be able to watch videos at my parents’ house.

I remember very well the summer of 1977. It was the day my dad finally broke down and purchased our very first color TV. I did a little research to find out how far behind my parents were in 1977, and discovered that the last “new” television program broadcast in black and white took place in December 1967.

(Incidentally, my parents kept that 1977 RCA color TV until my brother and I bought them a new TV for Christmas 1998! The old TV was approximately the same size as a Toyota Sequoia. And for several months, the new TV sat on top of the old TV in their living room.)

I can remember watching all my children’s programming in color for the first time. I discovered that Big Bird is yellow, and Grover is blue. I discovered that most TV programs are better in color. There is only one exception! The Andy Griffith Show is not better in color.

Now, there is even newer technology for television: high definition. And, I suppose I am just like my dad…Because I have not yet subscribed to HD. But my brother has, and I got to watch the college football Bowl Games at his house in HD. And, everything looks better in HD.

The title of my sermon comes from the second section of Bill Hybels’ book Just Walk Across the Room. In this section, Hybels suggest a way for us to live in order to become better witnesses for Jesus. He calls it Living in 3 D. This does not refer to three-dimensional like when you went to the movie theater to watch Jaws 3 or Meet the Robinsons. These are three steps each of us could take, which will help us communicate our faith to people who are far from God.
Develop Friendships…Discover Stories…Discern the Next Step…

Read Acts 3: 11 – 29.

Last week, we read the story of Peter and John going to the temple to pray at 3:00 in the afternoon. Each day, they had encountered the same crippled man sitting on the front steps of the temple. Either they had never noticed the crippled man before, or they had never thought they had anything to offer the man. However, after they had received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter and John no longer saw this man as a crippled beggar. Now, they saw him as a man whose life would be better if he knew Jesus.

Peter reached out his hand to the crippled man and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth…Stand up and walk!”

When this man stood up, he began to walk and run and jump and give all the praise and glory to God. Since it was the customary time for good Jewish men to come into the temple to pray, this caused a commotion. A crowd gathered around, and Peter did what Peter did best…He confronted the Jewish people with the Gospel. He told them the story of Jesus and how Jesus fulfilled all their Jewish, religious hopes. He told them about the crucifixion and how God was at work in the crucifixion, reconciling God and sinful humanity. AND, Peter told them that they were ultimately responsible for the death of Jesus.

This story is one of many biblical stories about sharing the Gospel with others. Some of you might be gifted to do exactly as Peter did in Acts 3. Others of you may not have the same kind of confrontational nature as Peter. Don’t worry. God has not called all of us to be just like Peter. However, God has called all of us to share our faith.

It is amazing how many Christians have tried to “make deals with God.” Perhaps you can relate to this. Some people have literal conversations with God that sound something like this: “God, I am willing to study the Bible every day and read the Bible through every year. I will memorize Scripture, and I will even teach other people what I learn about Scripture. But, please ask someone else to share the Gospel.”

Other people may never have a literal conversation with God like that. But that is the way they live their lives. Can you relate to that? Does your spiritual life include telling other people about Jesus? Perhaps you have memorized the entire book of Psalms. Perhaps you spend twenty hours per day praying for the sick. Perhaps you have given away half of your financial net worth to feed the hungry and clothe the poor. These are good things. But God never intended for us to trade away our responsibility to tell other people about Jesus. The only way for God’s Kingdom to advance into the realm of Satan is for people like us to tell other people about Jesus.

I. Develop Friendships

A. Spend Time with People who Are Far from God

Who are you spending time with on a regular basis? I work in a church office. I visit church people in their homes and in the hospital. I do weddings and funerals for church people. It is possible for me to spend an entire week around Christian people only. Most of you don’t work in a church, but perhaps all the people in your place of business are Methodists, Episcopalians and Presbyterians. Perhaps all of your friends come from this Baptist church or another church in our town.

The fact is that the longer a man or woman is a Christian, the more he or she spends time with other Christians. We connect with other Christians, because we have something in common. Friendships develop out of common interests. Sometimes, our common interest is a faith in Jesus Christ.

There are two distinct approaches to the Christian life. The first is what some people call the colony approach. I call it the “hunker down” approach. This is what we do when we run away from non-Christian people. We go to church on Sunday mornings. We work in Christian environments. We spend our leisure time with Christian people. We even send our kids to a Christian school. In short we do everything we can to “hunker down” with other Christians and have no weekly interactions with people who do not know Jesus.

The other approach is Living in 3 D. This is similar to what we witnessed in the life of Jesus.

The religious people did not like Jesus, because he spent all of his time with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus did not hang out with church people! Jesus spent his time with men and women who lived far from God. And, the result was that the Kingdom of God grew as lives were transformed by the Gospel.

B. Invest in Genuine Relationships

If we want to follow the example Jesus set for us, then we need to develop some relationships with people who are not like us. I know it is natural for Christians to seek out other Christians for friendships just like it is natural for Democrats to seek out other Democrats and for Republicans to seek out other Republicans. I am not suggesting that you do something unnatural. I am suggesting that you find non-Christian people with whom you already have a connection.

If you are an avid fisherman, spend some time getting to know other fishermen. If you are addicted to coffee and go to the same coffee shop every day, spend some time getting to know the people you see every day.

C. Resist Viewing People as “Projects”

The last thing I ever want you to do is to be fake. I genuinely want you to become friends with non-Christian people.

I remember when Shauna and I first got married, she auditioned for a singing role in the Mississippi Opera. A woman in the opera company showed an interest in Shauna and invited her to sing in some promotional spots. Then, this woman invited Shauna and me to her home for supper one night. We met her husband, we ate supper, we drank coffee, we enjoyed small talk. Then, they asked how we liked the coffee. We said it was very good. They said, “It is Amway coffee. We would like to sign ya’ll up to be in Amway with us.”

When we refused to sign up, the relationship ended. We were just a “project.” They were no longer interested in us when we would not convert.

II. Discover Stories

A. Listen First

If you are a friendly person and already have many friends, then you don’t need me to tell you this. You probably learned this in kindergarten. Everyone’s favorite subject to talk about is themselves. I like to talk about my own life. You like to talk about your life. We all like to talk about ourselves.

If you want to develop a true friendship with another person, start by asking them to tell you about his or her own life. Listen as other people talk about their families, their jobs, their hobbies, their political views, anything they want to talk about.

B. Speak Later

Once you have listened to someone else talk about his or her favorite subject, then you can talk about your favorite subject. Talk about your family, your job, your hobbies, your political views, anything you are interested in. This is how a friendship begins to develop. When the time is right, talk about Jesus.

C. Allow the Holy Spirit to Lead

This is where prayer is important. If you have a genuine friendship with another person, you will want the best for them. This is especially true for Christians who have non-Christian friends. Begin to pray for that person’s spiritual life. And ask God to open the door for a spiritual conversation.

A spiritual conversation might begin when the other person asks you, “How are you able to manage all the stress in your life?” Or, “Why were you not available to eat breakfast with me last Sunday?” Or, “What do you get out of going to church every Sunday?”

III. Discern the Next Step

God has gifted each Christian with different personalities. Just as you ought to be an authentic friend, so you should be authentic to yourself. It is OK to be the person God created you to be.

A. Confrontational Evangelism
1. Peter
2. Acts 3: 11 – 15

B. Intellectual Evangelism
1. Paul
2. Acts 17: 16 – 21

C. Interpersonal Evangelism
1. Jesus
2. John 4: 4 – 10

D. Invitational Evangelism
1. Andrew
2. John 1: 40 – 42a

E. Evangelism through Service
1. Dorcas
2. Acts 9: 36 – 38

F. Testimonial Evangelism
1. Man Born Blind