I talked with a seasoned Seventh-day Adventist pastor several years ago, and I said, “What percent of our people would you say are active as soul winners?” He said, “About one half of one percent.” I thought, “That’s awful.” But you know, when I look at our church, right here at McDonald Road, I’ve been keeping track of numbers this year, and we’ve had 80 or 85 people go out from this church and do outreach projects. I just think that’s fantastic. And then the earliteens, here from this church, have gone out to Rockwood, Tennessee; Appalachia, and they did a big outreach project. We’ve had close to 1 hundred from this church. That’s about 10 percent of our 1 thousand members. That’s great. I think that’s exciting. And that does not include a number of you that help financially, or that you pray, you give to mission offerings, and you do other things like that. On a regular basis.
We are involved here at McDonald Road. But is that good enough? Well, let’s think about that. There is one critical question, and that is, “are you involved?” Are you involved? Are you? The bottom line is, you! If you are not involved, then this sermon is directed toward you. What are you doing to reach the lost?
Our scripture reading today, Matthew, the last two verses, says this, according to the King James. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." That’s the great challenge, the gospel commission, to go. And the King James says we should go and “teach all nations.” And most of the modern versions of the Bible say “go and make disciples of all nations.” After they’re baptized they need to become disciples. Jesus did that.
New converts must be instructed. That has to happen. That’s what First Thessalonians 4, verse 1 says. The book Evangelism, page 3 hundred 67 says, “Educate new converts.” This has to happen. And the specific training that they need to have is how to become disciples. And so that’s the instruction that we need to give them.
Now Jesus sent them out 2 by 2. Remember that, in Luke 9. "Jesus after that chose 72 more and he sent them out two by two." Have you ever been sent out two by two, with somebody? You were a team? I have. It works. It’s great. The Mormons do that. A lot of people do that. This is the Jesus method.
Look at Luke 10 in your Bible. Luke 10, verse 1 and 2. Luke 10, verse 1. "After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others." Seventy-two others. "And sent them out two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. And He told them, 'The harvest is plentiful,'" but there’s a problem. What is the problem? "But the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field."
Now who are the workers? Well, we are the workers, aren’t we? So the question is, the bottom line, are you working for Jesus? Are you? Are you in the harvest field? Are you actually out there where the wheat is? Where the sheaves are. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. And God has not made many of us attorneys or judges, or lawyers; but God has subpoenaed all of us to be witnesses. We are all to be witnesses of what we have seen, and felt, and heard. Witnesses of Jesus. A witness tells what they know. And the work of a witness will be empowered by the Holy Spirit. We are workers and witnesses. And we should carry the message. We also are to carry a cross. Luke, chapter 14, just a few pages on over, and verse 27. "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me can not be My disciple." And Luke 14, verse 33, the N. I. V. "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple." We’re not putting the words on the screen, because we want you to look up these in your Bible.
We will have to give up something. Carry a cross and give up something. You might have to give up that gizmo that you were planning on buying so that you can give money to mission work. Or pay for your ticket to go to Zimbabwe or someplace. You might not be able to buy that gizmo with all those mega-pixels or whatever it’s going to be, you know. You might have to give up some of your vacation time to go on a mission trip, or to do something for the Lord.
What is the sign of true discipleship? What is it? How do you know that you are a disciple? What is the sign of true discipleship? John, verse 15, look this up in your Bible. John, the fifteenth chapter, and verse 8. Here is revealed a sure fire sign that you are a disciple. It says this. "This is to My Father's glory, that you," would do what? "Bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples." So, if you bear fruit, that’s the sign that you are a true disciple.
Now let’s suppose that I have a fruit tree in my yard. And let’s suppose that my fruit tree bears apples. Would it be an apple tree? What do you think? Yes, or no? It would be an apple tree, wouldn’t it? If it bears apples, it HAS to be an apple tree. That is incontrovertible, incontestable, indisputable, and irrefutable! It has to be an apple tree. If you are bearing good Christian fruit, you ARE a Christian. You’re a bona fide disciple of Jesus Christ. You are genuine.
So what is the job description of a fruit tree? To produce shade. Right? No! The job description of a fruit tree is to produce fruit. What is the job description of a disciple? Of a Christian? To produce fruit. How much fruit should we produce? Well, what does the text say? That you would bear, how much? It just says much fruit. It does not tell you how much, it just says, “much fruit.” Not just a nibble, but much fruit.
But, we have excuses. There should be no excuses, honestly. Now here is where the rubber meets the road. It’s when you look in the mirror, in the morning, and you see your reflection there, and you ask yourself this question, “Am I involved in producing fruit for Jesus Christ?” A true Christian will not ask Jesus for a discount, and say, “Well, but You know, I really am too busy to bear fruit. I’m really, I don’t have enough money to go on a mission trip. I’m just not able to do it. I can’t speak. I have so many excuses. I can’t give a Bible study. I cannot hold a meeting. I can’t witness. Don’t ask me to do that.” Jesus says we should be fruit bearers.
Now when Jesus comes, He will not say, “What did the General Conference do?” He won’t say, “What did the Georgia-Cumberland Conference do? What did Ed Wright do? What did your pastor do?” No, he won’t ask that. Jesus will say, “What did YOU do?” You were there in that hospital, working day after day. You passed all those people. Many of them weren’t even Christians. What did you actually do, yourself? And so, our job is not to produce excuses but to produce fruit.
We need to confess our faith. Come over here to Romans, chapter 10 in your Bible. Romans 10 and verse 9 and 10. I like hearing the pages of the Bible turn. That is music to a pastor’s ears. Romans 10, verse 9 says, "If you confess with your pastor’s mouth." Let me get my glasses on here. "If you confess with YOUR mouth that Jesus is Lord, and if you believe with all your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Verse 10. "For it is with YOUR heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with YOUR mouth that you confess and are saved." So we’re supposed to do something with our heart, and with our mouth. Well, with our heart we believe and with our mouth we confess.
What does it mean to ‘confess’? It means that you make a public statement to somebody else of your belief in Jesus Christ. God’s Word Translation helps to bring out this meaning. Verse 10, God’s Word Translation, “By believing you receive God's approval, and by declaring your faith you are saved.” How are we saved? By believing and by declaring our faith. To confess is to declare your faith. Tell somebody about it. That’s what it is. It involves speaking up. If we keep our mouth shut, are we a Christian? You can’t believe in Jesus and just sit there and be quiet. You have to tell somebody about it. You must believe, the Bible says, AND confess and you will be saved. You’ve got to tell somebody else about it. So our job description is to believe in Jesus and to tell others about Jesus. That’s pretty simple, isn’t it? If you confess you will be saved. And apparently, if you are unwilling to confess, mmmm, you might not be saved.
So you MUST confess. It has to happen. The Bible does not say if Southern Adventist University confesses, if the McDonald Road Church confesses. It says if YOU confess you will be saved. With your own mouth, you personally declare your faith in Jesus, you will be saved.
Jesus calls for active disciples. Now I was in Gatlinburg this summer. My wife and I like to go to Gatlinburg. I don’t know why because the crowds are so thick. The cars, there’s no place to park in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge is… Anyway. I found a little shop there, The Day-Hikers Store. I thought, “Oh! Yes, I want to go in there”, because the day before I had hiked up to the Chimneys. I really enjoyed that. I was on top of Big Frog Mountain this summer. And I found a tee shirt, and the tee shirt had a message on the back of the tee shirt, you see. And on the back of this tee shirt it said “You could fall off the mountain and be killed.” Something like that. “You could be attacked by a bear and be killed. You could run out of food and starve to death. Or you could fall off your couch and be killed.” So the conclusion of this tee shirt message is; “Get off the couch and hike the Smokies!” I bought the tee shirt. I’ve hiked a good many miles in the Smokies. Over a hundred miles on the Appalachian Trail. I like hiking. We need to get off of our couch, our spiritual couch, and declare our faith. Would that be a reasonable explanation? You could fall off the pew and die. Get off the pew and share your faith with somebody. Share your faith.
Christians have a mouth and they will travel. Remember that old program, a hundred years ago on television, Have Rifle, or Have Gun, Will Travel? Remember that? We have a mouth, and we need to be willing to travel. That’s right. Today, God wants last day Christians. Do you believe we’re living in the last days? He wants last day Christians to witness, to give Bible studies, to go on mission trips, to get involved some way, with somebody, in sharing your faith in Jesus Christ.
Now there’s two types of evangelism. Foreign-land evangelism is one type. Foreign-land. In July, we had approximately 25, 28 people that were right up here on this platform, remember that? And we had prayer for them, and my wife and I were among that group. And then we all flew out the next day, and went to Tanzania, Africa. And it was great. We had a wonderful experience there. Baptized 2 hundred and 18 people. You’re going to hear about that tonight, by the way. Mike and Cindy Holly’s vespers, they’ve invited this whole group that was up here to show our pictures, so come tonight at 6 o’clock. Well, we went. We went to Tanzania. I had never, ever been there, and I have a certificate now that says that I’m a missionary. A foreign missionary. How about that.
But are you aware, you might not have known this, that the same 28 people did not come back to Collegedale. They were changed. They’re not the same. They’re no longer the same. You should try it sometime. You go do something like that, you will be different. You will be different. I think Tom McDonald got us all started on this thing. You will be changed. So foreign-land evangelism is a good way to evangelize.
But there’s another way. There’s home-land evangelism. Home-land evangelism. May I postulate to you, that your neighborhood is prime territory. That drive, that circle that you live on, that road, that boulevard, that street, whatever it is, your neighborhood is prime territory. The next door person that lives next to you. The person that’s seated beside you at the fireworks over here in Collegedale. The person who is at the restaurant who happens to be right there and you could talk with them, or on the airplane, or your mail carrier, or whoever. That’s prime territory. And those people that sit beside you in your classroom or that happen to come into your shop, or your office, they are there by divine appointment. This is not an interruption to your agenda. This is God’s agenda. Speak with them. And if we get to thinking that the one place to confess our faith is Africa, then we’re wrong. We need to confess our faith where we are. Don’t forget home-land evangelism.
Come over here to Acts, chapter 1, in your Bible. Ok? The very first page of the book of Acts. Verse 8. "But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me," where? Now this is what I want to focus on. Where are we to be witnesses? First of all, where? “In Jerusalem.” In other words, where you live. And then where? “In Judaea, and Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of Tanzania, Africa.” Well, whatever, of the world. So where do you start? You start in Apison. You start in Ooltewah. You start in Collegedale. You start where you live. On Edgemon road. Wherever it is. That’s where you start. Africa is truly one of the uttermost parts of the world. But don’t skip Jerusalem where you live.
My grandmother Jordan lived in Hartford City, Indiana, my home town. And she was abdominous. But she did not let her weight become an excuse for not witnessing? Absolutely not! I remember many Sabbath afternoons we would pile into her little car and we would go out on a bombing run. Were we terrorists? Well, ask my mother if I was a little terrorist when I was; well maybe you should not ask her because she’s sitting right here. Were we terrorists? No. The bombs that we threw were literature bombs. We used a lot of rubber bands, and Little Friends, Junior Guides, Youth’s Instructors, as they were called in those days. We would roll them all up, and we would drive slowly out through the countryside, and when we’d come to a farm house, and the kids were there, we would throw this out. And they would come running and get it and open it up, and we were witnessing.
My grandmother never went to a mission field. She couldn't afford it. Her health would not permit it because grandmother Jordan could hardly walk. But she did active work for God. And many of the members of that church were there because of my grandmother. My godly Seventh-day Adventist grandmother. She shared her faith where she was.
Now in Romans 10, verse 10, we read this before. It says, "It is with YOUR mouth that you confess and are saved." So if you confess Jesus with your mouth, you will be saved. You can’t believe in Jesus Christ and be quiet. You have to speak up. I have no problem telling you about my wonderful wife, and how good she is, and how much I love her, and this and that. Somebody that you really care for, you don’t mind talking about them. Talk about Jesus.
Speak for Christ as much as you can, as often as you can, wherever you can. And don’t destroy your witness by what you do in your life. Let me illustrate that. We are blessed, in our little sub-division, with good neighbors. Good neighbors. And we’ve been witnessing to our neighbors. We’ve lived there 18 years. And not long ago, a new family moved in nearby there. I’m not giving away locations. And, a Seventh-day Adventist family. And one of the neighbor’s dogs got over into their yard. And they, the neighbor was a non-Adventist. And the Seventh-day Adventist cursed him. The next time the dog got over there, the neighbor threw rocks at the dog. And there’s some bad things going on. And the neighbor now, his opinion about us, is not near as high. Undoing a lot of witnessing. Don’t destroy what you say by what you do. Make sure that your witness is positive.
Be a good witness, in other words. BE A GOOD WITNESS. The unbelieving world; your neighbors, the guy at the gas station, the postal carrier, the lady at the dry cleaners. Whoever it is, they’re all watching you. And how you pay your bills. What you do. What do they see? Only when you can show that you yourself are redeemed, will they believe in your Redeemer. Right? Each Christian is called to be a witness, and evangeliving is witnessing where you are. It becomes your life-style, to be a good witness. You do it in the ghetto, do it in your subdivision, do it at your office, do it in your gated community, in your apartment complex. Wherever you are.
I believe we’re living in the last days. I think it’s harvest time. We know that time is short. And we are living in a great time to, to be alive. I watched a video this summer called The One Thousand Mile Harvest. Now you would not even be interested in that video, but I was intensely interested in it. It’s the story of the wheat harvest, and how they start in North Texas and work their way all the way up to the Canadian Border. Exciting! All the big machinery and the farms and the tractors. I really like that. Well, lo and behold, when they’re harvesting and the weather is just right, they’re out there working a lot of hours. And they’ll work up until 9 o’clock at night, sometimes. And if there’s a storm forecasted, they will work till midnight or 2 am or 3 am. And it’s hard. But they keep at it.
And so, what I want to urge us today as Christians, we’re in harvest time. You have a reaper. RUN – YOUR - REAPER! Run your reaper. We must run the reaper until He comes. and what I’m wanting you to do today, what I’m urging you to do, the focus of this sermon, is to bring in the sheaves. Ok? Get off the couch. Run your harvester. In your home-land harvest field.
Get involved. Confess with YOUR mouth, YOUR faith, to YOUR neighbor, or somebody, here in Collegedale, in your community. You could start here in Apison and end up in Africa, or Zanzibar, or someplace. But get out there and do it. Be witnessing. And it’s not a spare-time occupation. It’s a full-time occupation. It’s not a once-a-year action, it’s an every-day thing. “You are My witnesses” Jesus said in Acts 1, verse 8. "You ARE My witnesses."
I’m going to give a call. We don’t give a call every week, and we very rarely invite you to come forward, but I’m going to invite you to come forward. And I’m going to make the call very specific. And I’m going to have some cards for you to write your name and your email address on, and what the call is, I want you to be willing to go out and do whatever Jesus wants you to do. Be a part of an outreach team. Jesus sent people out two by two. What we want to do, by you coming forward, you’re saying, “I’m willing to speak for Jesus. I’m willing to do whatever the Lord shows me to do.” And right now, you don’t know what that is. Maybe it’s to be an outreach team right here in Collegedale. Probably. Maybe it’s to go somewhere else. To be involved in home-land evangelism, or foreign-land evangelism. You’re willing to give of your time and your energy for Jesus Christ.
You want to become a part of an outreach team. You won’t be doing this alone. You want to be more involved than you have been, and you just say by coming forward, “Show me how.” And what we will do, we will have a meeting with you on November 10, on Sabbath afternoon, November 10, at 2:30 to 4 o’clock, or 4:30, we’re going to train you and show you various ways that you could be involved.
And so, I’m going to invite you to come and stand right here in the front of the church. I’m going to give each of you a card, You put your name and your email address, or your phone number, if you don’t have an email address, and then we’re going to have prayer with you, then you can go back and sit down. But I want you to be willing to be involved. Where this will lead, only the Lord will know, but you are willing.
And so would you just simply come forward at this time, and stand here with me? This could be anybody, any age. You want to be involved. You don’t know how, but you’re willing, to do whatever God shows you. Anybody else? It’s still not too late to come. You’re basically saying, “Here am I. Send me.” This is exciting.
I want to have prayer with you. Let us bow our heads together.
Dear Father in heaven. I want to thank You for the willingness of these people. None of us know exactly what we will be doing as a response to this call, but You know. Please, empower these people with Your Holy Spirit. Energize them to do whatever You show them that You would like for them to do. And help them to be instrumental in bringing in more sheaves into Your harvest. We’re living in harvest time. And maybe some of us are un-harvested. Please bless us, and bless this group. And I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Hymn of Praise: #25, Praise the Lord, His Glories Show Scripture: Matthew 28:19,20 Hymn of Response: #362, Lift High the Cross
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McDonald Road Sermon transcribed by Steve Foster 10/26/07