Revealing The Unknown God Sunday, August 3, 2008 John Kimber

“go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” – Matthew 28:18-20

Americans don’t see God as RELEVANT and ACTIVE in their lives, so they dismiss Him entirely or they water Him down into a wish granter or a have it your own way kind of God, that is far from the God that we serve.

4 ways of being that can help us reveal an unknown God to a resistant world around us with the message of Christ.

We must be in DISTRESS –Paul is finding himself in a place much like the world we live in today. –If we are to reveal our unknown God to those around us we must be in distress about it. We must be in distress that people we care about are lost and not in a saving relationship with Jesus. We must be distressed that CHRISTIANS are seen as hypocrites and determine to live lives dedicated to being OBEDIENT. In simple terms, we must be distressed to the point of ACTION.

We must be AVAILABLE –Paul makes himself available to those who need to hear the message of Christ. –Everyone has their moment when they wonder about something more. –I will tell you there are many who will hear most of what we say about God as BABBLE, but there will be times, when they will want to hear what we have to say.

We must be RELEVANT –If we want to proclaim an unknown God to the world around us we have to stop talking like Bible professors and talk to people in their LANGUAGE. –The best way of being relevant is to share simply, how God is WORKING in your life. Share why you CHOOSE to be in a relationship with Him. Share the ways you NEED him in your life. Share the ways you have STRUGGLED with life and how He helped you through it. Share with them the way you have WATCHED Him work in the lives of others. Share with them the STRUGGLES and QUESTIONS you still have, but how you still remain convinced He is with you. –Share with them the UNIQUENESS of your story and invite them to begin their unique story with Him.

We must be FAITHFUL –Paul did not CHANGE the message of God and Christ to make it more palatable. –We must share God’s story with them and so it is important that we know it and remain faithful to it.

I want God to give me an opportunity to help _________________________ to begin their unique story with Him.

Two Final Thoughts I want us to see Paul did not convince all. He was not called by God and we are not called by God to convince all, but we are called to present the message of Christ. We must do it with all our heart, seeing it as our very purpose for being.

So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn them and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ’s mighty power that works within me. – Colossians 1:28-29(NLT)