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Ministering through the Arts
Lesson 1Reaching the Lost With the Arts
I. World Conditions
II. Who is Responsible for Evangelism
III. Different People, Different Methods
IV. Power Evangelism
V. You Can Make a Difference
I. World conditions:The world we live in becomes more evil every day. Parents murder their children and children murder their parents. Child molestations and horrible things take place daily. Kids even kill kids. Our schools are not a safe place for our children anymore. The morals of our nation have fallen to unbelievable lows. Sex, drugs and violence have become our daily diet of entertainment! Even among those who claim to be Christians!
Family values and morals are almost non-existent. Divorce, even in the church is at an all time high. Homosexuality, which God solemnly warns us against, has become open, acceptable, and even encouraged. You can hardly watch a movie or a TV program that does not make it seem as a normal and acceptable way of life. The murder of infants in their mother's womb is an acceptable form of birth control in our nation. Our rights and freedoms as Christians are under attack. We could go on and on listing examples of our nations moral decay, however; most are us are painfully aware of it.
Bible prophecy is being fulfilled. Nation is rising against nation. There are wars on every hand. America is fighting an enemy we cannot see through terrorism. Our world is no longer a safe place to be. People are hurting, they are afraid, they are unsure of the future. They need hope, they need the love and the security of Jesus in this life and they need eternal life for their soul.
If children and teens are not taught the things of God, if they are not challenged and encouraged to do what is right, where will our world be in twenty years? Youth of today are our leaders of tomorrow. Never has there been a generation that is so bombarded on every side with evil. Youth of today are fed a constant diet of wickedness, murder, drugs, sexual promiscuity, violence and every evil thing; and in many cases, are without much discipline, guidance or godly training. Youth today are constantly bombarded with the wrong messages about all things, through music, TV, videos and peers. If they are not taught the truth, if they are not taught to know, love and honor God, how evil will our world become? Will the world be a safe place for their children and grandchildren?
II. Who is responsible for evangelism:
Who is responsible for doing something about the moral decay in our world? Those who do not know God have no wisdom, knowledge or understanding concerning spiritual things. How can the wicked stop wickedness? They can't. They do not understand spiritual things and are completely powerless, because they do not have God. If God's people are no different from the world, is there any hope for this world? How will darkness be hindered if not by the Christians? God has called us to be separate and different from people that don't know Him. We are to live holy lives.
Christians are supposed to be salt and light in the world. Salt is a preservative and a flavoring. We are to preserve the world by holding back wickedness with righteousness. With no salt, the world will become completely rotten with evil. Light leads the way to God and makes darkness disappear. Spiritually speaking, without light, darkness completely covers the earth. If we behave like the world, we are worthless to God and to this world. In the scripture below, Jesus warns us not to loose our saltiness or hide our light. In other words, He is saying Christians must be Christ like, not worldly. Because we have God, we have the power to do great things and make a real difference in our world, to bring hope and healing to our world.
You are like salt for everyone on earth. But if salt no longer tastes like salt, how can it make food salty? All it is good for is to be thrown out and walked on. You are like light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, and no one would light a lamp and put it under a clay pot. A lamp is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-16)
God has given us spiritual wisdom and knowledge. He has given us power, the power of the Holy Spirit that is inside of us. He has given us supernatural gifts, plus many talents and abilities. Every born again child of God has been called by God to push back evil forces and be instruments of righteousness.
Church is like a filling station to the Christian. The Christian is like the vehicle pulling into the filling station to get gassed, maintained, fixed, and sent on it's way. We go to church to learn, worship God and be prayed for. We get all "gassed up", "tuned up" and "fixed up". We are taught how to live a good Christian life and be blessed, but the church often fails in one very important thing. One major reason we are blessed is so that we may be a blessing to others. It is the Christian's job to carry what we get in church out to the lost world. It is our job to win the lost, and then bring them into the church so they can also be equipped and sent out to win more to Christ. The church is to be a training center.
It was he who "gave gifts to people"; he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and teachers. He did this to prepare all God's people for the work of Christian service, in order to build up the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-12)
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:15-18)
This is our commission to preach the gospel and do the works of God. We are His messengers; we are His hands and His feet. If we do not do the work, it will not be done. It has not been done the way it should be. That is why our world is in the shape it is in. Darkness is advancing much faster than the light. We are the light, we must advance before it is too late. Can you imagine what our world would be like if every believer did their job in doing the works of God!
Chosen Explosion House Church Network is devoted to equipping every attendee to do the work of the ministry. We want to meet every believers needs, but also teach them to take what God gives them and use it to be a blessing to others. Repeatedly the bible tells us how important it is for us to be about the Fathers business.
In Matthew chapter 25 beginning in verse 14 Jesus tells a parable that warns us not to take lightly the gifts, talents and abilities that He has given us, but rather to use them to advance His kingdom. God expects us to take all He has given to us and use it for good in our world. We have been given eternal life not only for our own sake but so that we can give eternal life to many. The parable warns us that a servant of God that does not do this is an "unprofitable servant".
For unto everyone that hath shall be given, he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 25:29-30
It is vitally important that every Christian do the works of God, using all the talents, gifts and abilities that God has given to them. Jesus told His disciples, "as ye go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." (Matthew 10:5-8) When we do these things, we are doing the works of God and we are being salt and light. We are doing our part to overcome the evil in our world.
In Matthew chapter 25 beginning in verse 31, Jesus tells another parable that stresses the importance of doing God's work. We will read this one together. I urge you to go back and meditate on all of Matthew 25 this week.
But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He shall sit on the throne of His glory. And all nations shall be gathered before Him. And He shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. And indeed He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats off the left. Then the King shall say to those on His right hand, Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You? And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me. Then He also shall say to those on the left hand, Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me. Then they will also answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to You? Then He shall answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life. (Matthew 25:31-46) Modern King James Version
While it is not good works that saves us, good works are a natural outflow and even proof of our salvation. If you are truly saved you will love people. If you truly love people then you will want to do good for them. Love is not a feeling, it is truly caring about others. If we truly care, it will be seen through our actions. Whenever we do good for people, we are doing it for Jesus. When we refuse to do good for people, we refuse to do it for Jesus. The bible says that those who don't love others and express that love with good deeds will go to hell in the end. Our love and expression of that love is important. I ask you so search your own heart tonight. Do you love people? Do you want others to go to heaven? If you do not, perhaps you have never had a born again experience. Eternity is a long time. We all should be sure.
III. Different people, different methods:
Evangelism or doing the works of God does not have to be a painful thing. It is very painful when we try to do it in a way that does not utilize the giftings and calling God has given to us as individuals. I Corinthians 12 tells us that God has given each one of us gifts to use in doing His work. Whenever we do the work of God utilizing our specific gifts, callings and abilities, evangelizing is easy and a joy to do. It is when we try to fit into someone else's idea of how it should be done that we are bogged down and are ineffective.
For example, not everyone is called to go door to door talking to people about God. Someone that is not gifted in that way would rather have a root canal than do it. It is not because they do not want to win people to Jesus, but because this is not the method God has equipped them to use. That person may feel comfortable using drama or some other method to give out God's messages.
God has made the body of Christ very diverse in our giftings, talents, abilities and callings because there are many jobs to be done and many different personalities of people to be reached. Every job is vital and every method is perfect to reach the heart of someone out there. God is the one that made us all diverse and we should accept and appreciate each other's differences. The body of Christ desperately needs whatever giftings God have given you. Please do not bury them, use them to reproduce yourself for God's glory. Use them to destroy the works of darkness and to be an instrument of goodness.
Chosen Explosion Ministries' mission is to train, equip and send Christians into their neighborhood to minister to people who will not go to a regular church. We believe that ministering through the arts may be very effective in reaching many of these people. During this course, we are going to discuss and practice various methods of soul winning and ministering using the arts. I hope each one of you will discover the methods that you are comfortable with, grow in them and begin using them to bring people into God's kingdom. This ministry will give you all the opportunity you want and will work with you in every way to make you a successful soul winner and a successful minister of the gospel.
IV. Power Evangelism:
Thank God, we are not alone in the work we do for God. He is our partner. The Holy Spirit anoints us with heavenly power to preach, teach, heal the sick, cast out devils, to prophesy and do all the works of God. We fight a spiritual enemy and without God's power, we will not succeed. After Jesus gave us our commission to do the same works that He did the scriptures say:
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. (Mark 16:19-20)
Jesus was taken up into heaven, nevertheless; He is constantly working with us and confirming the words that we speak on His behalf with signs following. We can expect miracles when we go out to minister. We can expect God to do the work in the hearts of man that has to be done. When we do our part, God is faithful to do His. Then we can know when it comes our time to meet God face to face, we will hear "well done, my good and faithful servant".
V. You can make a difference!
It doesn't matter your age, color, social standing or any other thing. God has blessed you so that you can be a blessing. He has a purpose and a plan for your life. If you will submit to Him and allow Him to use you, you can change this world in a positive way. You can make a difference. You can change lives. You can push back dark evil forces in our world and bring light, peace and hope to people because you have God inside of you. You are anointed or empowered to change things for the better. You can leave a mark in this world and lay up for yourself treasures in heaven. I challenge you to give to others what God has given to you.
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