The Divine Mandate
Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8-14
Intro: SBC President Bobby Welch has challenged us to win and baptize one million people in the next year.
There are many who think the goal is unrealistic.
Others just scoff, and others just ignore the challenge.
You know there is a difference in a person who sees a cup ½ empty and one who sees it ½ full.
In the same way, our attitudes will determine what we will do.
Andrew Murray said....
"There are two kinds of Christians...
Soul-winners and backsliders."
If we’re going to see people won to the Lord Jesus Christ....
There are four basic attitudes that we must have in our church.
When it takes 42 Baptists to win one person to Jesus – I saw we’re not serious about evangelism.
We had 10,000 churches that reported 0 Baptisms last year.
We had 25,000 churches that baptized 10 or less.
If 40,000 of our churches were to baptize 25 people next year we would have one million baptisms.
That’s only baptizing one every other week, with two weeks to spare.
The problem, friends, is not baptism.
That’s only the result of the problem.
The problem is our attitude toward the word of God.
When it takes 42 Southern Baptists one whole year to reach one person for Jesus.
I say we’re not taking the Bible seriously.
You say, "Well Bro. Joe, I heard you say we baptized 32 last year".
Yeah, it only took 22 of us a whole year to win one person to Christ.
But you say, "Now, Bro. Joe, you know there are only about 225 of us here on Sunday."
Well figure it that way.
It only took seven of us a whole year to win one person to Christ.
Friends, we’re not taking our job seriously.
The Bible says in Proverbs 13:13: He who scorns instruction will pay for it, but he who respects a command is rewarded.
Proverbs 11:30 says: he who wins souls is wise.
The Bible is not a book you open to read a Sunday school lesson....
The Bible is...
God’s word...
God’s love letter to his children...
God’s revelation to the world...
The standard for living...
The message for life...
Does it matter what you believe about the Bible?
What you believe will always determine how you act.
Are you the kind of man who is always asking how much will it cost?
The Bible says: don’t eat the food of a stingy man, he’ll say eat and drink, but his heart will not be with you.
In Matthew 28 we have the promise of his presence...
In Mark 16 we have the promise of his protection...
In Luke 24 we have the promise of his program...
In John 20 we have the promise of his peace...
In Acts 1:8 we have the promise of his power...
There is a direct relationship between prayer and the number of decisions made each Sunday.
The best way I know to win our world and our mission field to Christ...
Is to just do it...
But on order to do it...
We’re going to have to take it....
Seriously
Personally
Enthusiastically
Prayerfully