1. Preparing to be Jesus’ Witnesses

Dave Pym Petersham Baptist Church Associate Pastor

Matthew 9:9-13, 35-38

  1. Our fear of ‘Evangelism’ and ‘Mission’
  2. Ordinary believers are Jesus’ method of building His Church
  3. Becoming an Acts 1:8 church
  4. The Importance of preparing  
  5. We are witnesses for Jesus when we tell His story

Are we:

  • too focused on ourselves
  • too empty – have nothing to share
  • too respectable – don’t want to damage our reputation
  • too similar to those who don’t know Christ
  • too ignorant of the Good News
  • too apathetic to consider the needy and the lost
  • too terrified of what others might think
  • too insulated within our own Christian ghetto

As Witnesses for Christ, let’s note:

  1. Jesus calls us to follow Him (Matt 9:9)
  2. Jesus affirms our existing relationships, in that he wants us to share His love with our friends (Matt 9:10-11)
  3. We should be focused on people who know they have a need. We should show mercy as Jesus did (Matt 9:11-13)
  4. Be speaking the Truth about Him, and be loving in our actions like Him (Matt 9:35)
  5. He wants a deep community passion to motivate us into loving and telling action (Matt 9:36)
  6. “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few”. Let’s be aware of the need and act for His glory (Matt 9:37-38).