Sermon Series: The Essential Expectations-Part Two 

Every Person Needs Jesus-Even Today! 

Romans 3:23; 6:23; Acts 4:12 

PSBC 6/3/01 A.M.

In a nutshell: Every person we make eye contact with needs a relationship with Jesus Christ. Getting people to realize this takes a willingness to do whatever it takes to answer their questions and defend the faith.

I. Introduction

A. Youth Story

To start a discussion on core values, a youth pastor asked the students in the youth group: "What would you do if your doctor told you that you had only 24 hours to live?" The teens got into the discussion and started to mention things like being with friends and family, making sure sin was confessed, righting wrongs, and other similar things. The youth pastor was very pleased that the discussion seemed headed in the right direction. But the discussion starter became completely de-railed when one young man, piped up, "Man, I'd get a second opinion!"

Well, friends, the idea of core values is such an important concept in today's world, that we can't afford to get off track. -Our task as a church is too important; -our time to accomplish our task is too short; -and everyday we fail to operate as a family with common values, our church loses effectiveness, and people in this valley go to Hell as a result.

B. Core Values

Now, in case the idea of core values is a new one to you, let me illustrate the concept this way.

Every church has programs. Programs are things that address a specific need and/or a specific age group. When we talk about programs we are talking about things like the nursery program; the adult enrichment classes; the men's ministry, the women's ministry, children's Sunday School, AWANA, choir, and Joy Fellowship. These are just some of the programs that we offer at our church to help us accomplish our purpose of… Love, Accept, Guide and Partner to share God's Truth and to be His light. All these programs exist along side each other.

But when we talk about our core values, we are talking about something all together different from the programs we offer. In reality, we are talking about -a group of truths that cuts across all ages and stages of people in our church, -a group of truths that are present in every program in our church, and -a group of truths that are guiding all things, at all times in our church's life.

And that is what this sermon series is all about. The Essential Expectations, Part Two is a seven week series of sermons designed to introduce you to seven core values that I believe must permeate everything we do at Palm Springs Baptist Church, if we are truly going to be a FORCE for Jesus Christ in the Coachella Valley.

II. Core Value #2

Saying all that, last week we looked at the first core value-Lost People Matter to God, so they matter to me, as well. Today, we'll examine the second core value I believe we must hold. It can be stated like this: Every person we make eye contact with needs a relationship with Jesus Christ.

A. The Need for a Savior

We are told in

Romans 3:23 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

And there is a universal consequence that comes with that condition of all of us falling short of God's glory. That's told us in…

Romans 6:23a 23 For the wages of sin is death,

So, friends, understand this…sin results in death-eternal separation from God. The Bible calls that Hell, after this life. And it calls it a lack of abundance during this life. But because of God's love for us, He doesn't want things to be this way. So He gives us a way out of the condition of death-a gift. Verse 23 goes on to say….

Romans 6:23b …but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We just remembered that gift at our Communion service. God loved us so much that He took the punishment for our sin, and died on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Then He conquered death by rising from the grave three days later. Belief that His sacrificial death and His rising from the dead was for you personally, is God's only plan for taking care of that sin condition that each human being has.

And in case you think that you can escape this death in some other way, other than Jesus, the apostle Peter made it very clear that there is no other way, in a sermon he preached shortly after Pentecost, when he said…

Acts 4:12 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Now saying all that, and knowing that most of you believe everything I've just outlined, we now come to a key question for this morning… How do I make the gift I received from God, a core value in my life and in my church?

B. Applying it

Well, let me tell you. It starts to grab hold of the core of your being when it sinks in that everyone of our friends at work, every person we know in our neighborhoods, and every member of our families are not O.K. simply because they happen to be good people, who do good things, and maybe even engage in some religious activities.

Friends, we have to be crystal clear and totally unwavering on this point. No matter how good people are, if they haven't personally accepted God's gift of Jesus Christ as their Savior and are following Him as their life-leader, then they have lost the abundance God has for them now, and will receive Hell as their reward at the end of this life.

We teach it this way in our 201 course, Becoming a Contagious Christian. There is a chasm between humans and God, caused by our sin. And there is not a thing a human being can do in his or her own power to bridge that chasm. (Chasm w/o cross)

I believe that if you understand that, then this truth starts affecting your core values. Every person we make eye contact with needs a relationship with Jesus Christ, or they've lost everything that counts for eternity.

III. Application today

A. Things are different now

But today, more than even 10 years ago, modern thinking is working against us in valuing this truth. You saw on the introduction video how little people in Palm Springs know about God or even care about God. -Most people today are totally unaware that they even have a sin condition that needs to be taken care of with God. -Most people today view truth as any thing you want to believe. -Most people in today's society have no moral yardstick except themselves. -Most people believe that as long as a person is sincere in his or her belief, that's all that counts for their salvation. -And if you say you have exclusive truth, you will be labeled a bigot, biased, or intolerant.

Now, add to that another factor about today. There are a lot of groups who call themselves Christians, or followers of Jesus, who are totally ignoring Jesus' claim in…

John 14:6 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Instead many groups who call themselves Christian, are embracing a form of religious pluralism which allow for multiple paths to God-just chose one and follow it. We have several such groups here in Palm Springs, and most of them advertise in our local Saturday paper's religion section, and picture their leader very prominently in the ad.

Folks, for many of you, the world is very different than when you were younger. And we all need to wake up to that fact. Followers of Jesus Christ have an unpopular message. Our wonderful United States of America is, for the most part, hostile toward Christians because of our message. And the truth of Jesus Christ-His love for people and His claim to be the only way to a relationship with God… causes some people to hate you, for believing that!

But like it or not, we have been commissioned to proclaim the gospel boldly. And even if it is unpopular in many circles of society, it is still good news to people who realize their lost condition and understand they are on their way to an eternity of misery.

B. Changing tactics

So, what do we do? If we feel strongly enough about the truth, to believe in our minds, and value in our hearts that… every person we make eye contact with needs a relationship with Jesus Christ, how do we communicate this message so it's heard by people today? Let me explain it like the elders and pastors have been learning it in our meetings so far this year…

1. Different today

First of all, most people a few decades ago, were like this illustration of a person standing close to the chasm between man and God. (Chasm, bridged by the cross)

Most people had some church experience or Sunday School experience so they at least had some understanding that they were sinners who had rebelled against a holy God. All they needed was someone to remind them of that fact. Most people shared a collective church consciousness. They didn't always act on what they knew, but they probably felt at times like they should. So they understood that the Jesus' work on the cross was the only way to get to a relationship with God.

That's why, just a few decades ago, we could do direct and hard hitting evangelistic events like beach evangelism, city-wide crusades, revival meetings, street corner evangelism; and be very successful with programs like Evangelism Explosion and making use of the 4 Spiritual Laws. These things were successful because most people listening to the message were somewhat familiar with Jesus Christ, and just needed to get off the fence and decide to follow Him.

2. The Problem-things are no longer that way

The problem is that things today aren't like they were. People have moved. (Chasm and people moving away) They no longer live close to the chasm where they can look over the edge and see the depth of their sins. They don't realize how far away God is or where the bridge is. In fact, many are so far back, that from their perspective, there doesn't appear to be a chasm at all.

Friends, please realize that the reality of today is that people are not moving closer to God, they are moving farther and farther away from Him.

Mark Mittelberg, who wrote the book the elders and pastors are studying this year said, (front of WIG's) "The term is secularization. People in our culture have gradually taken steps away from Christian beliefs, values and morals. So when we say, 'God cares about you and wants to forgive you and give you eternal life,' many will respond, 'Oh, yeah? Which God? There are so many options in the smorgasbord of deities these days. And what have I done that is so bad that I need forgiveness? I'm no murderer! And why should I look to your God for eternal life when he, she, or it can't even take care of all the starving children in the world who may not make it through this life?'" (Becoming a Contagious Church, Zondervan Publishing House, 2000, p. 41).

Today, we are faced with the fact that people just don't think the way they used to think, or believe the way they used to believe, or value the things they used to value. So how do we reach the people of our society today, with the good news of Jesus Christ?

3. Answer questions

The answer is to do more than we used to do. We can't just declare the gospel to people and expect them respond. We also have to define the gospel better, and learn to defend it.

People today have more questions than ever before… -How can I be sure God exists? -If he does exist, how could I ever know what he's like? -There are so many religions, how can I have confidence any of them is really true? -With all of the bad examples out there, why should I trust any religious teacher or organization? -Can't I just worship God by myself and on my terms? -If God really cares about me, why would he let me go through so many awful things in my life?

These are some of what we call the intellectual roadblocks (chasm and walls) that prevent persons from taking steps forward in their spiritual journey.

Friends, listen to me here…if we really value the fact that every person we make eye contact with needs a relationship with Jesus Christ, then we are going to have to be ready to honestly address the issues that pre-Christians have and show them that the Christian faith is built on a foundation of truth. We need to demonstrate to them that following Jesus Christ is something in which a person can completely trust. The apostle Paul said…

2 Corinthians 10:5 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Walter Martin, who was the original Christian answer man on the radio, and one of our authors when I worked for Gospel Light, said, "When we fail to answer someone's questions and objections, we become just one more excuse for them to disbelieve."

Now, I don't want you to get me wrong here. I am not advocating substituting answers to questions about our faith, for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm simply trying to do like Peter wrote in…

1 Peter 3:15 15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

IV. Conclusion

Now, this is the area where we can help you.

1. I've asked Pastor Darrin to begin stepping up the scheduling of courses in our Adult Enrichment hour that are geared to helping you give answers to specific questions that pre-Christians in today's society are asking. One such course is being taught right now by Doug Messersmith called, "The Evidence for Creation." More courses will be taught on a regular basis, so you can start having the tools to answer people's questions.

2. Another thing we do every week is give any person who comes to our church a chance to get their questions answered. We have a special table set up outside after every worship service called "Tell Me More". Pastor Greg has recruited people that he's training to answer questions people have about the faith. At that table, so far this year, we have given away more than three dozen copies of the book, More than a Carpenter, to individuals who are interested in having their questions answered, or who want to give answers to their friends.

3. But let's not stop there. There are several good books that you should be reading this summer, rather than watching reruns of Fraser, Friends, or Diagnosis Murder. Books like Lee Strobel's two excellent books, The Case for Christ, and The Case for Faith. Josh McDowell has written other books, like Evidence that Demands a Verdict and More Evidence that Demands a Verdict. William Craig has written a super book called, Reasonable Faith. And there is a classic by the late Paul Little, that's now been updated, called, Know Why You Believe. And there are many more in the apologetics section of any Christian bookstore in the valley. Go get one, turn TV off, and started reading!

4. Plus, if you haven't done it yet, you need to take our 201 course, Becoming a Contagious Christian, when it is offered next fall or winter, so you learn how to share your faith in today's world.

5. And did you know that there is a section on our web site called FAQ or "Frequently Asked Questions… about Christianity"? If you visit that section of our web site, you'll find out answers to eight of the most common questions modern people are asking about the Christian faith.

But here's the bottom line. If the fact that every person you make eye contact with needs a relationship with Jesus Christ, is going to become a value you hold at your core, and a core value of our church, then you have to start being proactive in understanding your faith so you can communicate it to today's world.

Friends, more now, than at any other time in your life, you need to be ready to give an answer. Because if you're not willing to learn the answers to the questions people have about a relationship with God, then you have made a serious decision. You have decided to become another reason why someone in your circle of influence will spend their eternity in Hell. Think about that!

Amen.