Stand

Luke 12:9-12 (The Message)

Stand up for me among the people you meet and the Son of Man will stand up for you before all God's angels.

But if you pretend you don't know me, do you think I'll defend you before God's angels?

If you bad-mouth the Son of Man out of misunderstanding or ignorance, that can be overlooked. But if you're knowingly attacking God himself, taking aim at the Holy Spirit, that won't be overlooked.

When they drag you into their meeting places, or into police courts and before judges, don't worry about defending yourselves—what you'll say or how you'll say it.

The right words will be there.

The Holy Spirit will give you the right words when the time comes.

Do you know how the word "evangelism" has gotten a bad name?

I think I do.

It's been commandeered by folks who need to feel good about themselves by showing God and the world how really useful they can be.

I'll always remember the gruff, shoe-polish haired, pastor who almost yelled at me during my ordination interviews: "How many people have you brought to Jesus!"

"None," I wanted to say. "I'm fairly sure it's the Holy Spirit who brings people to Jesus. Sometimes I get to be there for part of the trip."

Of course, that's not what he wanted to hear.

He had a good motivation...the care of people's souls.

But there's a problem in the presentation, and how we can be perceived.

Experiences of spiritual arrogance have driven people away from evangelistic faith sharing. And it's a shame.

The bigger shame is that scriptures like the one above have been used as the bludgeon of those who want to knock sinners in the head and drag them back to the church cave.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

Tonight, a pretty wonderful thing is going to happen at SOTH.

We will send out visitation teams.

Regular, humble folks, in pairs or threes, will head out into the subdivisions that surround our church. They'll knock on doors, and meet the people.

What will we say? What is our goal? What will the response be?

Well...so far, the response has been wonderful.

Almost 50 visits have been made in our first two sessions. Our hearts are changing, and we're looking outward as a church.

Luke 12 is being fulfilled. When those doors open, the Holy Spirit provides the right words.

No pamphlets. No big Bibles to thump. Just presence and friendship in the name of Jesus Christ.

As we stand up together, through the power of the Spirit, he stands up beside us. What a wonderful thing to experience!

Prayer: God our Father, we pray that we would know the presence of Christ, standing beside us. We pray for the leading of the Spirit, and the right words at the right time. And we pray for our LRE Teams, going into the community tonight.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.