Convinced!
Scripture: Luke 16:19-31.

In this scripture Jesus continues to talk to the religious, trying to get them to see how they misuse what God has given them.

They were using all their position, power and property to make themselves comfortable claiming God's blessings; all the while declaring that those who were poor, sick and hungry were that way because they had displeased God.

The religious had forgotten they were called by God to be the connection between God and those who did not know God. They were using the good-life to make themselves even more comfortable.

Jesus told a story. There was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, probably Egyptian linen so soft it was called "woven air". The rich man ate the rich foods with his hands and would have used chunks of bread to wipe his fingers clean during meal-time. The chunks of bread were dropped to the floor after they were used.

Later servants picked up the bread and threw it out in the garbage where poor people and dogs waited to eat it. Dogs licked the sores of a poor man who camped out by the rich man's front door waiting for food.

The poor man, who has a name, Lazarus, which means "he whom God helps", died and was carried by angels to the place Abraham and the other God-believers who had died and were waiting until the Messiah of God would open heaven.

The rich man died and he went to the place of torment. It was so hot there and part of what made it hell was he knew that he had failed in life to live as God had called him. And worst yet, he could see that the poor man Lazarus was at peace and had everything he needed.

All he wanted was for the poor man to dip his finger in water and drip just one drop on his tongue.
But it was too late for the rich man to have any comforts...the huge deep ditch he had created between them was too far to be crossed. There was a time he could have just walked across the room to his front door to meet poor Lazarus, but he did not.

Evangelism. That's the subject of these four weeks of our Sunday evening Study. Perhaps you wonder how this fits into the story of Jesus today.
For some, just hearing that word Evangelism, sends a tremor of terror up your spine. You're sitting there wondering what is going to happen next and ready to plead your ignorance and embarrassment and you are hoping I am not going to make you do something during this service that is going to cause you to regret coming.

If I've just described you… please relax.

I'd venture a guess that this Sunday evening, four-week experience will be unlike anything you've ever read, seen, heard, or walked through as it pertains to the topic of evangelism.

I want to put your minds at ease. The type of evangelism we'll be exploring involves:
• No formulas
• No Bible memory verse work
• No door knocking or phone calling.
• No scripts or memorized plots and plans.
• No quizzes, tests, or on-the-spot demands for huge chunks of memorized information.

Want to know more?
The paradigm we'll discover together is this: evangelism can be as simple as taking a walk across a room. And taking a walk across a room is something we can all do, wouldn't you agree?

That's what we are going to do in these next four weeks.
As Christ-follower, isn't this essentially what we want most … to touch the lives of the people we know-the people we love-who are living their lives far from God? That is what we are called by God to do.

If you consider yourself one of God's children, you have placed your faith in God; understand this; now God places his faith in you.

God believes in you and the eternal impact you can have on God's Kingdom.

We have the Good News of God's love in Christ Jesus for two reasons.
1. So we may have our sins forgiven and have a relationship with God.
2. We have the Good News so we may share it, help others find what we have found.

In our Sunday evening study, these next four weeks, you will be surprised how something as simple as a just walking across the room and starting a conversation can be so critical in helping someone find Christ.

I was the Pastor of a congregation that really struggled with the whole subject of evangelism. A few new members joined each year who found us for one reason or another. But there was never a new member who joined because someone in the congregation invited them.

I was trying to get the congregation to be more open to inviting their friends and neighbors. One day an elderly woman came to my office. "I've done something." she said.

I didn't know what I was going to hear in her confession, but I remembered I had walked that day and I knew at least my car was safe. She was a woman who came to worship but she didn't participate in anything else. She seldom was the initiator of conversations, she kept to herself.

As she caught her breath she blurted out, "I have invited my neighbor, and she is coming on Sunday. We have lived next to each other for 32 years and I didn't know she didn't have a church."

Her neighbor came on Sunday and the next Sunday brought her sister. They were 84 and 86 years old. They came to worship a few weeks and then wanted to join the new member class. They were so excited to hear about God's love and what God did for us in giving his Son, Jesus. They decided to join the church and they were both received Christ and were baptized.

This quiet elderly Presbyterian's mission field had lived next door just across the fence from her for 32 years. For all of us our mission field, our work for God's Kingdom, may be just across the room.

Regardless of your age, your financial status, your gender; your color, your personality type, your respective spiritual gift mix, your experience in kingdom-building initiatives to this point; if you're a living, breathing Christ-follower, then the Spirit is asking you to walk.

The Holy Spirit is asking you and me to walk. Friends, The Holy Spirit is asking us to make a difference in the lives of the people we see every day!
Those we see at work and at school. The Holy Spirit will nudge us in social settings, at the gym, at our kid's basketball game, yes, even In the midst of our insane schedules. Wherever. Whenever.

I want to challenge you to take a glance across the room, outside that circle of comfort.

It seems almost impossible to imagine, but there are people who have experienced the merciful forgiveness and soul cleansing of God in their lives and then somehow come down with a bad case of "spiritual amnesia"-at that point, they simply forget how personal the cross of Christ is to them.

If you have made the choice to follow Christ-if you have found him to be truth, if you have found what the Bible says can be a guide for your life-then why would you – why would any of us – think that other people wouldn't be interested in knowing about what we have discovered to be the most life-changing, heart- stimulating, eternity-altering relationship in our lives?

If it is so good, why aren't we sharing it?

Part of the reason is we don't know how. We haven't developed skills for listening and hearing the Holy Spirit of God speak to us.

If we are Christ-followers the Holy Spirit dwells in us.
We must listen to the Spirit's promptings every step of the way.

We are given the Holy Spirit for two reasons. One reason God gives the Holy Spirit is to help us cultivate a relationship with God the Father. The Holy Spirit is dwelling in us to help us to see clearly when we are being tempted and helps us make the right choices.

When we make the wrong choice; the Holy Spirit points that out to us and then points us to Christ once again so that we may turn from that sin and seek forgiveness.

But keeping us connected to God for eternity is just one part of the Holy Spirit's work. The other part of the work of the Holy Spirit, in us, is to draw us to people and situations where God's grace is needed.

Perhaps you are saying, "Why all of the sudden do I need to be caring for the person across the room, or across the fence, or on the other side of my work cubical? I have done fine until now. I have been a member of this church for years, and no one every challenged me to do such a thing before. Why now?

The fact is, friends, the Spirit of God is at work in us. The organization of this study has come about as the result of much prayer and examination of where we are as individual Christians and where we are as a congregation, and where God is calling us.

For over a year now, I have been telling you that God is here in the midst of us and calling us to take the next step. This is that step. Unless we are willing to take this step, we will go the way of many other churches these days, a continual down-hill slide.

These are not like any other days we have lived before! God is calling us to move forward by learning how to walk across the room. This is going to create a change in us, a change in the church and a change in the Kingdom of God.

What we will be learning these next four Sunday evenings will have an impact on us as individual Christians, it will have an impact on us as The First Presbyterian Church of Oskaloosa, Iowa and best of all what we will be learning about will have an impact on the eternal Kingdom of God.

If we will yield ourselves to what God has in mind and join this study, we can be sure that great blessings are waiting.

The key to joining God in what God is doing is listening to the Holy Spirit's promptings and obeying them; even if we can't always see what God is up to.

Based on the law of averages, there are some of you sitting here this morning who are thinking this has got to be scary. Inside, you are saying, "I think this whole deal is reserved for spiritual superstars.
And I'm not one of them! I don't have the right training, the right confidence level, the right skill level. I don't have the quick mind, the relational aptitude, or the gift mix, or whatever. I just don't have what it takes."

It's true: there is genuine fear that has to be overcome to operate in the environment we're talking about. There is anxiety about how everything will unfold once you enter the Zone of the Unknown. There can be incredible anxiety when a normal conversation suddenly shifts gears and migrates into spiritual territory. It unnerves even the most seasoned Christ-followers, I promise you!

But here's the underlying reality I want to remind you of: when we are relating right with Jesus Christ – when there is vitality and openness in our spirits to the promptings of his Spirit – here's what happens:

You'll find yourself standing in a Circle of Comfort as usual. But by the Holy Spirit's power, as you're listening to the conversation at hand, you'll be able to have one eye open and roving around the room to see if there is someone the Holy Spirit really wants you to see.

You'll be able to dial into the Spirit's whispers-and ask, "Are you trying to tell me something about what's going on in this place? Is there someone you want me to go talk to?"

Not all the time, but some of the time, by God's grace, if you…
• Commit yourself to using your spiritual eyes to see your world
• Get where there are people who need grace
• Listen for the Spirit's promptings
Then with confidence tell God, "All right, I'll walk. I want to know where this prompting will lead, God, and so I'll go."
Some of you have already experienced this firsthand. If you have, I think you'll agree with what I'm about to say.

As Christ-followers we are called to take walks across rooms …explore the Zone of the Unknown …
have initial conversations with people whose eternities are hanging in the balance and have zero clue how it is all going to turn out …as we hear those whispers of the Holy Spirit…

That's living your spiritual life at about the highest level you can live it!

Now don't be afraid. Most everyone is with you in thinking, "This is totally foreign territory to me. If I were being honest, this is something I've never given an ounce of serious thought to."

What I hope you'll discover in the next four weeks is that this experience is not about trying to get everyone to march to some new orders around the church. No, what this is really about is helping all of us become more aware of how the heart of God beats through us when we are operating in harmony with him.

As Christ-followers, when we're operating in harmony with God, we win because there is an internal spiritual victory that happens when we walk by faith and not by sight.

There is something a lot like Jesus that is going on in you and in me when we leave a Circle of Comfort and take that faith-walk across the room and reach out that hand.

This is something we can all do, friends. This is something that every person in this congregation can decide to do and can learn to do.

If you want to see this church grow and continue to be what we are called to be, then be at the church at 5pm today.
You will receive the pointers that will make you more effective.

But for what purpose? I mean, when you boil it all down, what's the reason we want to get better about all of this stuff?

I'm so glad you asked …
There's a passage in Romans 5:8 that is familiar to many of you. Let's look it up on the Pew Bible and read it together, or in your personal Bible. In the pew Bible it is page 155 "But God proves his own love for us in that: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (NIV).

Let me push the Pause button here for just a moment.

Personally, I have spent some time this last week reflecting on what this reality means in my own life… again I want to say. There is nothing you and I have done to win our way into God's family.

God has called us, not because of who we are, what we have accomplished, or how promising our future looks, but because of who God is. While we were "still sinners", Christ died for us.

That says to me that God has reached out to you and me. God is interested in living in a relationship with us forever. We certainly aren't worthy of such a gift.

But Christ has paid in full for our shortcomings "What a gift-not merely that God would feel this type of love for me, but that he would go to such lengths to demonstrate it in such a radical manner!"]

And how was it, exactly, that Jesus Christ demonstrated the love of the Father?
What was the radical move he made to prove to you and to me that he really does feel redemptive, grace-filled, unconditional love for each one of us?

Christ took a walk.

Jesus walked all the way across the cosmos and reached out his redemptive hand to people like you and me.
And because of that one walk, humankind was able to be saved and secured in the family of God forever.

Think for a moment about the implications of that walk: this passage tells us that Jesus, under direction from his Father, left the ultimate Circle of Comfort-heaven itself… direct participation in the Trinity… the worship and adoration of the angels.

From his riches in the presence of God the Father, he reached out to the poor sore-covered hopeless creatures like us, so there would be no great chasm between us and God but so that we could know God's presence forever.

Jesus Christ left the supreme Circle of Comfort and he took the longest walk a person could ever take, if you think of it along the metaphorical lines we're discussing.

But why?

Here's why: he did it to stretch out a hand to people just like you and just like me. He did it to reach people, many of whom were smack dab in the middle of absolutely wrecking their lives.

He was there that day in today's scripture to get the religious back on track, to remind them they were not seeing people God had put in their path. They were over looking the poor and only congratulating themselves on their success.

They did not see their success as tools God put in their hand to help build God's Kingdom.

Christ came to us so we could be included in God's family.

We're all in the same boat here• every person who has ever inhaled air has been (or is still) in dire need of being rescued.

So Jesus leaves that ultimate Circle of Comfort, walks stride by stride all the way across the cosmos, and reaches out his redemptive hand to people like you and me. And we get saved and secured in his family forever as a result.

Isn't that incredible?

Guess what? It doesn't end there.

In addition to taking a walk across the cosmos so that you and I could know God, Jesus also took a walk across the cosmos so that you and I could see how it's done.

And these days – right here in our everyday lives – what he tries to do with us between now and heaven is to say, "What I did, leaving that circle, making that trip and reaching out to you, what I did … is precisely what I want you to do.

I want this to be characteristic of my followers, that they would be walk-across-the-room kinds of people. Just following my lead, doing exactly what I did … whenever I give them opportunity to do so."

And what I hope you will hear in Christ's exhortation is this: "Don't get yourself tied up in knots trying to make sure all of the mechanics and logistics are just right.

Don't give even a hint of mental energy to motivations of guilt or obligation. You can cast all that stuff aside and instead just take the hand of the Holy Spirit and walk.

If you will stay open, with an eye focused on people and an ear tuned to his still, small whisper, you will be amazed by what unfolds!"

God says to us all today, "I am going to ask you to walk across the street; I am going to ask you to walk across a restaurant;

I am going to ask you to walk across an office complex; I am going to ask you to walk across a cafeteria or locker room.
I am going to ask you to take that walk, leave whatever Circle of Comfort you are in and take the walk, enter the unknown – and something really exciting is going to happen. That is what I want you to do."

Just do it!
Why? Because Jesus "just walked" for you; for me; for us and for every, single person inhabiting the planet today.

Do you believe that?

As you've probably surmised by now, this is why we're devoting an entire 4 week study of our ministry calendar to these ideas.

So that we can all get better about hearing the Spirit's promptings, yes. But also so that we will start taking action with immediacy and a newfound sense of confidence… and in the process, that we will become more like Jesus! This is what our four-week experience is about.

In today's scripture we see a rich man who had it all. He had the best clothes, ate the best food, and had plenty of everything.
Right outside his door was a man who had nothing, and whose life was governed by open and scabbed cracking sores. He had to be careful how he turned his head, or how he lifted his arm, every sore that had a scab he wanted to protect so the skin underneath could mend.

Friends this is also a picture of us. We are in this place today as Christ-followers. We were in need and Christ touched us and made us rich with God's presence. We are now clothed in the grace of God, and surrounded with good things provided by God's great faithfulness to us. Isn't life wonderful?

Isn't it wonderful to know the Almighty God of this Universe and beyond loves us and cares for us personally? He has arranged for us to spend eternity in his presence. Nothing, not even death can separate us from God's love. We are certainly clothed in purple and enjoy the good life.

Everyday, within our sight, sometimes right across the room is a person who may be looking good, but inside is much like the man with the sores and the scabs and the knowledge that there is no hope for him.

That person may seem to be doing fine on the scraps we throw out, but longs to be healed and whole.

This may be a person you work with, or go to school with, or someone who lives right next door to you. Will you go to the trouble of making an effort to connect to that person? Will you be open to the Holy Spirit's whisper in your ear, "This is your chance, so say hello. Walk across the room"?

I know we can all be tempted to stay in our safe little circles of comfort. I know how busy life can get.

We too can make a habit of rushing off to our lunch appointments or business meetings or family gatherings. Most of the time we see most people as obstacles we have to get around in order to get done what we want done.
As Christ followers we are called to care about every person we encounter, those people standing right in front of us.
God has great faith that the longer we hang around the person of Christ, the more our eyes will be pried open to seeing the things that he sees, and we will see people not as obstacles but as opportunities to share God's love.
Christ sees those across the room who need to have a word from us, a handshake and an introduction, a kind word of encouragement.

The rich man did not see poor Lazarus. He was too caught up in his own life. We need to follow the Holy Spirit's promptings to step outside our comfort zones and walk across the room, seeing the people around us who need care, love, friendship, community… and hope.

As we close today, I want you to think about how you wound up in the kingdom. I want you to think about how some of your friends wound up in the kingdom.

Almost every Christ-follower I know can think back on somebody – it might have been a mom or a dad, it might have been a coworker or a teacher, it might have been a friend or a neighbor – who walked across a room for them.

And so if you are a Christian, then someone probably took a risk for you along the way and did a little something that would interest you in the possibility of knowing the love of God and the opportunity to be freed from your sins.

If this is true for you, I imagine you have a pretty high respect level for that person – the person who "took a walk"… the person who took the risk to approach you and hand you the single greatest gift you'd ever receive in your entire life.

These are a few lines from Just Walk Across the Room that you'll encounter this week in your reading? You remember you all have an assignment for tonight, right – to read the introduction and chapters 1 and 2? I know you'll all do this.
Here's the quote … see how this strikes you:

"Jesus Christ knew that fulfilling his redemptive mission would be excruciatingly difficult, risky, downright defeating, and seemingly fruitless for us at times. 'But if you will just persevere,' he might say, 'the potential is colossal.' Think of it! One more treasure – a priceless human being – might be snatched from the clutches of a horrendous, lifeless eternity because of your work. So go! Go right now and bear witness. Sow the seed. Take the walk across the room.

Leave what's comfortable for that which is eternally significant. Risk your life for this, and know that you will never regret your decision."

Friends, the single greatest gift you and I can give to another human being is an introduction to the God who declared that his mission was to find every person who was lost… and to bring them home.

In the these weeks to come, as we talk about what it means to "just walk across the room,"

We will learn in detail how to excuse ourselves from our Circle of Comfort. We'll learn to look across whatever room we are in and open our eyes and use our ears and discern if there is someone on the other side of the room that we ought to be paying attention to.

In this study, we will learn how to take that first step, how to pray to prepare our hearts for what God is calling us to do, specifically, what to pray between the Circle of Comfort and the person who is standing in the Zone of the Unknown.

We're going to learn how to talk normally with people who need a normal Christian to talk to them in a normal way!

For everyone who will enter this study, I offer you a few personal guarantees about the month ahead:
• First guarantee is this: we will all grow in our relationships with Christ.
• Second guarantee: we will grow in our relationships with each other – this is why I am encouraging every single one of you to dive into the curriculum with the other people who have committed to come, for four weeks' time, whether you've been in a study group before or not.
• Next, we will get better at pointing people to faith.
• And finally, we will have a great time doing it!
Let's stand for closing song, "Change My Heart O God".

A quick note for those of you who haven't yet gotten the material. There is a "Just Walk Across the Room" table located in the Narthex and in the Fellowship Hall. If you will head that way immediately after this service, the folks there would love to help you find what you need.

You know sometimes Christians act as though all we have to do after we place our faith in Christ is wait to die so we can go to heaven. We just go about killing time doing whatever we do with no plan in mind.

If the only reason God's love has come to us was for us to go to heaven when we die, we would have died the moment we invited Christ into our lives. But there is more to being a Christ-follower than just waiting to go to heaven. We have work to do.

Don't miss this opportunity to link up with other people who will be exploring this four-week study that will equip us to do what Christ calls us to do while we are here on this earth.

I think you'll find this particular 4 week study approachable, insightful, and extremely encouraging.

I am looking forward to hearing about the transformation Christ will work in your heart, once you've taken the plunge. Tonight we step into what God has for us next. It is my prayer that you will be there.….

Closing Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the model Jesus Christ gave us when he left his Circle of Comfort in heaven. He walked across the cosmos, took on human flesh, and dwelled among us. As we were reminded today, he walked to reach out a hand to the religious with his story about the rich man's lost opportunity to help the poor man.

You have reached out a hand today to us in the same way…We are men and women from a variety of generations and all sorts of backgrounds. You have put us in this place at this time for the deliberate reason of calling us to yourself and opening our eyes to those around us.
If Christ hadn't made his walk, it is almost unimaginable what our lives would be like. But because he did walk, it is now our turn to learn how to take walks across rooms. It is our turn.

God, bless these four weeks in a supernatural way. Turn every timid heart into a bold heart for you. Take every pair of shaky legs-legs that are often too comfortable in our existing circles of comfort-and point them toward people outside the circle who need a touch from you.

Luke 16:19-31

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

"The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone come over from there to us.'

"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets, let they listen to them.'

"'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

"He told to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
(From the New International Version of the Bible.)

CHOOSE: Homepage • Worship • Sunday School • Sermon
Children • Youth • Women • Men • Older Adults
Calendar • Contact Us