Good Morning Family!
What a blessing to have each of you here today!
Heavenly Father,
You, who is greater than the most powerful forces in this world, enable us to be still and know that You are God. When we are gripped with worry, doubt and fear, remind us that You are in control that nothing get to us without first passing through Your hands.
Breathe in us Your Holy Spirit to strengthen, comfort, and guide us in the midst of our storm.
Help us not to rely upon our minds or our hearts, to check them at the door, but enable us to bring all that we are to You, so that we might experience Your touch upon all aspects of our life and the fullness of Your grace, peace and joy. We ask and pray this because of, and in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
"One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus."
John 1:40-42
In the business world of today, we call this Networking
In the churches, we call it is called Soul Winning
What compelled Andrew to reach out to Simon?
He says in verse 41, “We have found the Messiah.”
You don’t find something unless you have been looking for it.
He was excited about what he found.
Andrew was excited.
Andrew wanted to share what he had found.
Andrew wanted those closest to him to have what he had.
The saddest person in the world is a stingy person.
They don’t share what they have.
They don’t share who they are.
They don’t share their talents.
They don’t share their love.
Andrew was not a stingy person.
As soon as he found who he believed to be the long awaited Messiah, he went running home to tell his brother.
In his book, The Turning Point, Malcolm Gladwell describes the work of the connector.
The connectors he explains are important to social epidemics.
The reason why a new restaurant would become the new hotspot in the community might well depend a great deal on the work of the connector.
You see a connector is the person in the market place who tells all their friends about the great deal they just got at Wall Mart.
Or the fantastic food they ate at a new restaurant.
Every church has connectors in them.
He added;
I have identified my wife as being a connector.
Should Natalie find a bargain at say Wall Mart, she will immediately call her mother and sister on the phone and tell them about the great deal and why they should head over to Wall Mart as soon as they get off work.
My wife is a connector.
She loves telling people about everything from the newest restaurant, to the store that has a sale on paper napkins.
I would expect that most of us, who have been lead to Christ, were brought by the work of a connector. Someone who shared the Gospel, told us about Jesus, and invited us to church.
Many of the relationships we now have, were likely by the work of a connector. Perhaps it was your job, your spouse, the car you drive, was the result of someone, who was not paid, they often go without recognition, introducing people, products or businesses to others. With some people, it's sort of an obsession, as it's just part of their personality.
With some, it may be a healthier way to live, perhaps diet and exercise. While others, may be inclined to share a movie or book, they just couldn't put down, a store offering a sale or barging or maybe it's a new recipe.
Every church, also has connectors in them. We often fail to recognize and appreciate their work. Neither do we appreciate the fact that they do their work with great diligence and without anyone noticing them.
The connector in the church may not be on the leadership team.
They may be the little grandmothers who don’t often say much, but when she does, people listen.
Connecting people to Jesus should come as natural to us as telling someone about the latest restaurant in town.
It should be as easy as telling them about the great deal we got at Wall Mart or some bargain we got at the grocery store.
Church, we do not hesitate to brag on our favorite sports team…
And we tell people about coolest video or post on Facebook, but do we ever consider connecting people to Jesus.
An easy 5-step plan to follow when it comes to being a connector
First of all, how is our relationship with God?
When everything is truly right with God in our lives, we will want to invite people to church!
Secondly, keep a positive testimony!
We all have our own little "world" that we come in contact with everyday.
In our schools, on our jobs, in our neighborhoods and in the
everyday places we go, we should make sure that we keep a positive
testimony.
This will greatly affect our attempts at connecting people to Jesus!
Thirdly, we need to pray that God would give us a deepening burden for those who are lost.
We must truly love people to reach out to them.
Pray that God gives us hunger and desire to win the lost.
Pray that soul winning is something that will always stay on our minds throughout the day.
Every person we come in contact with has a soul.
That person will spend their eternity in either Heaven or in Hell.
Their choice of their final destination is in your hands.
Whether or not they know about salvation through Jesus Christ.
That truth should motivate us to reach out to everyone we meet!
Fourth, every day, pray that God would reveal and lead us to hungry souls and that we would have the opportunity to invite them to church.
Before we leave our houses in the morning, pray that God would open
doors for us to meet people who are hungry and desiring more for their
lives.
God will lead you if you are willing to be led!
We should also, pray to be sensitive to His leading.
God knows who is hungry and will order our steps that we would meet these people.
When that opportunity arises, make sure you listen to the person and
pick up on "life clues" that you can use to ask them to come to
church.
Life issues, traumas, sicknesses, or others can be key issues in getting that person to visit your church.
You can say something like this:
"My church is a place that will help you right now in your time of need. Will you be my guest this Sunday?"
Have faith that God will bless your efforts!
We can be assured that God will bless our efforts every time!
We can only plant and water, but it's God that gives the increase
1 Corinthians 3:6.
If we will only do our part, He will definitely do His!
I will tell you this, you will make more friends in just a few months by becoming interested in other
people than you will in several years by trying to get other people
to become interested in you!
Andrew was a connector.
He didn’t know it the day he went home from church and told his brother that they had found the Messiah,
But that same brother would soon stand to his feet on the day of Pentecost and preach the salvation message.
We know him as the Apostle Peter who also brought that same message
of hope to the Gentiles who unless you are 100% Jewish tonight, is you.
Andrew didn’t know who Simon would become.
But what if Andrew never would have told his brother about Jesus?
The book of Acts wouldn’t likely read the way it does and neither would much of the New Testament.
When you do connect your friends/ family/neighbors/ or colleagues to Jesus, always leave the results up to Him!
He is the one who saves and transforms.
Don’t be so worried about the result; let Jesus take care of that.
Your job is simply just to make the connection for them.
Just because someone has had a bad experience with some other church, don’t be afraid to invite him or her to yours.
Hey, I've heard stories of those who was literally grabbed by the scruff of the neck, dragged down
the isle and physically thrown out of the front of the front door of a church at a young age. Stories remembering an usher, who furiously shouting at them “And don’t you ever come back here again.”
I’m not sure one can experience much worse than that on his or her first visit to a church!
But were later glad God sent another a connector in their life.
They were glad someone wasn’t ashamed to say to,
“Come visit my church!”
"Come see what I have found."
"Come check out this amazing place I am enjoying in my own life."
Church, we have to be ready to shift gears.
This church is about to step up to the next level of where God wants it to be in this community.
It’s going to be pretty hard to be a part of our church and not involved in the ministry here.
What I’m saying is, we’re going to be taking it up a notch or two and doing it very quickly.
Change is in the air.
Growth is in the air.
The Holy Spirit is in the air!
What got us here is not going to get us to new place that God is taking us. And the Andrews of the churches are going to make it happen!
There are some people here who are just not satisfied with going home day
after day and seeing their family or their neighbors or their friends
and not telling them about Jesus and the amazing church that’s changing
their lives and helping their families.
The connectors are not going to let us stay here.
Jesus didn't stay in a church building when He walked the earth, what makes anyone believe that's where He should stay now?
If you like things like they are, then you had better hang onto your seat, because there is an Andrew spirit that is about to take over this church!
Some time ago, I remember a story of an old missionary to communist Russia told.
He told about a small church he went to there, where the people would
ever so quietly sing songs, but could not clap their hands or respond outwardly in
worship because it would cause their location to be found out.
If they were found out, they would all be shot and killed on the spot.
So
these precious believers would sit on their hands so they would not be
tempted to accidentally clap their hands in worship.
Thank God we are still living in a country where you can tell people at the grocery store about Jesus,
Thank God we can still talk about Him in our work place and in our neighborhoods.
Thank God we can connect people to the One who can and will change their life and save their soul.
In Closing....
We all pass by hundreds, if not thousands, of people every single day, and how many of you have talked to even one about Jesus?
How many of them have been invited to this or any other church you go to?
I'm sorry, I thought that church was about the study of the Bible, and about Jesus Christ!
Let's go back and re-examine the text...
"One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus."
John 1:40-42
We can gather every day or week, talk about evangelism, church programs, development and growth, you name it, all day long, but it really
all boils down into THAT SINGLE statement.
“He brought him to Jesus.”
Wow! One single action changed everything!
If this next week, we would all invite
just one person to come, worship with us, we would double the size of the ministry
potential.
Only God knows who is going to show up and to fill an empty seat on any given Sunday morning.
We have no idea what God might use them for in this church, or any other and in the community.
Right now, he’s a just Simon, who nobody has taken the time to tell
about Jesus, but look out!
He is about to become Peter, the Rock of the
church.
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, In Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries