Share

Buried in the Old Testament is an obscure story about four lepers. Israel was in the midst of a terrible famine that had resulted in at least one example of cannibalism. The King of Israel was distraught and blamed the prophet Elisha for the malaise of the people. Additionally, the Arameans had besieged Samaria and set up camp with hopes to destroy Israel. It was a desperate time in the life of Israel.

In an interesting turn of events, God dispersed the Aramean army by miraculous intervention. Aramean warriors fled and left behind all of their food, animals and other supplies. Meanwhile, these four lepers had decided to throw themselves at the mercy of the Aramean army. They reasoned that perhaps these soldiers would pity them and at least feed them. When they arrived at the army camp, they were amazed to discover all of the soldiers had departed and left everything behind. The lepers began to eat their fill and plunder the goods that remained behind. In a moment of insight, they said to each other, “We’re not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.” (Read 2 Kings 6-7.)

We are living in a “day of good news.” The Gospel of Jesus is good news! It is the greatest news ever! It is intended to be shared. As followers of Jesus, we must commit ourselves to sharing the news about Him with others. This needs to be done on a personal level and on a grand scale. In other words, we need to address both evangelism and missions in our own personal journey with Jesus.

Jesus commissioned His followers to share His story with all the peoples of the world. We are to make disciples of all the nations. We are to be His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth. As the Father sent Jesus, He sends us out into the world. The mandate for missions was not drafted by a group of preachers and voted on at a Baptist convention meeting. The mandate for missions is rooted in the heart of God. We serve a missionary God. He is a seeking God. He came looking for us.

We also must share this good news with the people in our own community, neighborhood, work-place, family, etc. The message of Christ is one to be given away to others!

These 8 weeks are going to be given to assisting you in becoming a better evangelist and to be more informed and invested in missions. You are an important piece in this puzzle! God wants to use you to partner with Him in accomplishing the Grand Plan of Redemption!

The Share sermon series runs May 22 - July 16, 2011.