What You Need To Hear When You Think You Know God But Don’t

March 23, 2010 By revheff in Exposition, Sunday Morning Tags: Evangelism, incarnation, religion Leave a comment

Last Sunday I preached on John 8:48-59, the closing paragraph of the chapter. You can listen to the entire audio of the sermon here.

Here’s how I closed the message and summarized the passage:

It’s conceivable that you may be listening to this message and think you know God when you don’t. There is only one way to tell. Do you hear the words of Jesus so as to keep, obey, treasure, guard, observe them? If not, you aren’t of God. You’re of a different father, the devil. And you need to hear certain things again: the truth of Jesus’ relationship to His Father –mutual devotion; the truth of Jesus’ relationship to His mission – singular dedication – yet one more time today He comes to you and holds out the promise – truly, truly, if you keep his word, you will never see death; and the truth of His relationship to spiritual giants of the past, like father Abraham – Before Abraham was He is. Don’t harden your heart against the words of Jesus today. Believe in the Son of God. Honor Him and then and only then will you honor the Father. Then you will be of God and never see/taste death because He tasted it for you (Heb. 2:9).

Throughout the sermon I interspersed six practical lessons for sharing our faith especially when we have the chance to do so with religious people. Here they are for your review:

Don’t give up too soon on someone. You may need to share the gospel multiple times with someone even as Jesus did with His hearers.
Expect persecution. The servant is not greater than the master. If they persecuted Him, they will persecute us.
Do not revile in return when insulted.
Stick to the message of the gospel. Keeping bringing things back to the cross.
When given the opportunity, share the whole truth about the gospel, even the potentially most offensive truths.
When necessary, shake the dust off your feet and move on. It is not fitting to cast the pearls of the gospel before “swine.”

You can listen to the whole message here.

Hunkering Down at Urbana '09

December 29, 2009 By revheff in Evangelism, Missions Tags: Evangelism, Missions 2 Comments

urbana tuesday 008

I know. Doesn’t look like my compadres are doing much hunkering down at this missions conference! Snapped this photo on our way to lunch. Simply gotta have a photo of the arch!

We’re deep into day two. Thought you might like an idea of what a day at Urbana is like.

urbana tuesday 001

We start with inductive Bible study at 8:30 AM. This morning we studied John 2:1-11. We learned about the lavish way Jesus supplied the need of wine for the wedding reception that almost ran out of the same. The leader challenged us to think of ways we might show the abundant grace of God in reaching out to others who don’t know Christ. I immediately thought of our painting outreach to my widow neighbor last August. An abundance of grace and love rained down through that effort.

urbana tuesday 007

The morning general session follows at 10:45 AM. InterVarsity spared no expense in making the praise singing time a full-blown production, as you can see. I’m thinking I would like a bank of lights like this in our new building. Just kidding!

Expository messages working through the early chapters of John’s gospel have made up most of the teaching emphasis in the plenary sessions so far. But some speakers have ventured into social concerns and the challenge of how to meet staggering needs around the world while also attending to making disciples by preaching the gospel. Our delegates from OGC have impressed me by their determination to think biblically about what they hear and to evaluate with an appropriately discerning mind and heart. They make me want to be a better pastor.

In the afternoon, a wide variety of seminar options test a conferee’s decision-making capacities. Many topics have standing-room only crowds.

After dinner another plenary session follows with more praise singing, teaching, dramatic vignettes and other artistic media expressions to communicate the various needs of global missions.

The day ends with our groups meeting for debrief and prayer from about 10-11:00 PM, way past this old gospel soldier’s bedtime. But I managed to make it all the way to the end last night.

For some reason now I feel the need for nap.

Please continue to pray for us that God would speak to us and all who have come to St. Louis for the sake of the fame of the Name of Him who gave His life for the nations.

Greetings from Urbana '09!

December 28, 2009 By revheff in Evangelism, Missions Tags: Evangelism, Missions, outreach 4 Comments

Urbana '09 050

We made it! Man, it’s cold in St. Louis. Suddenly I like living in the tropics.

Danny, Bethany, Julia, me, Jillian, Carissa, and Ashley all got here our separate ways safe and sound, weather and holiday travel issues notwithstanding.

The photo was taken in the exhibition hall at the Pioneers venue. Jillian is doing the recruiting thing while here underneath that huge globe partially visible in the background.

We have joined some 17,000 other believers from over 100 countries for InterVarsity’s global missions conference. We got off and running last night with the opening session and have enjoyed a day of Bible study, seminars and more. God is working in our lives. I hope to get these dear ones travelling with me to do some posting along the way. It won’t be easy. The schedule is packed. I’m cutting an afternoon seminar to do this post and some emails at, get this, Bubba Tea and Cafe where the wifi is free!

One quick thought from me about last night’s opening session has to do with this image:

hand 002

Sorry, I blurred this a bit, but do you have any idea how hard it is to take a still digital photo of your own hand, one-handed?

Last night we were reminded of this text from Isa. 49:

15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child,
that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are continually before me.

This is God’s answer to the charge that He forgets His people. Preposterous! Notice what v. 16 doesn’t say. I have engraved your name on the palms of my hands.. He says, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.

I never saw that before! But it really wasn’t the point. The speaker wanted to encourage us that our mission wasn’t as big as we might think. He also later got to the point that it is bigger than we think when he went after the global aspect of evangelism. But this was about our individual witness. Our mission as Christians is as small as the person we work with, live near, or go to school with. At one point he asked us to write on our palms the first name of someone in our sphere of influence who needs Jesus. Then he had us thrust our hands into the air. I thought of Larry. I am praying for ways to introduce him to Jesus and His covenant keeping in love in 2010.

What about you? What name would you write on the palm of one of your hands?

May we be a church that realizes that our mission isn’t as big as we think it is and find ways to incarnate the person of Jesus in the lives of the lost.

Evangelism Opportunities with Faith Baptist Church

December 3, 2009 By revheff in Evangelism Tags: churches, Evangelism Leave a comment

Recently I received an email from one of the elders from this “sister” church of ours in Orlando about their witnessing schedule for December. They have invited any of our folks at OGC who want to join in to do so.

Here is the list of opportunities:

December 5^th – Winter Park Christmas Parade – 9am-11am – meet at church at 8:15am
December 12^th – Baldwin Park Festival of Lights – 4:30pm-7pm – meet at church at 4pm
December 30^th – Downtown Orlando for Citrus Bowl Parade – 11am-1pm – meet at church at 10am

You can access their website for directions to the church here.

A Spiritual Revolution in Iran

November 30, 2009 By revheff in Missions Tags: Evangelism, gospel, Missions, persecution Leave a comment

Oh, my, the gospel is indeed the power of God unto salvation for those who believe!

I read this report today in Voice of the Martyrs’ Newsletter, December, 2009 issue about the current spiritual climate in Iran, third on the world watch list of countries most likely to persecute Christians:

There is a revolution going on in Iran, but it is not a revolution at the ballot box or among marchers on the streets. It is a revolution embedded in the soul of many Iranians.

Iranians are coming to Jesus Christ. Not just a few, but thousands. Recently one of our Iranian contacts told us that if Christians say the name Jesus out loud in a public place, people will come up to them and ask more about him. Many are so hungry for Christ that they will pray to receive him as soon as the gospel is presented to them. Some estimate that there are now more than 1 million Christians in Iran, and the number grows daily (p. 12).

The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14)! The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church Jesus builds (Matt. 16:18)!