‘Tis The Season To Preach Adapted from a Steve Shepherd sermon http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=152491

1. ‘Tis The Season
To Preach
Adapted from a Steve Shepherd sermon
http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?Con
tributorID=&SermonID=152491

2. The minister gave his Sunday morning
sermon, as usual, but this particular
Sunday, it was considerably longer than
normal. Later, at the door, shaking hands
with church members as they left the
service, one man said, “Your sermon was
simply wonderful - so invigorating and
inspiring and refreshing.” The minister of
course, broke out in a big smile, only to
hear the man add, "Why I felt like a new
man when I woke up!"

3. I doubt you’ll get that refreshed after
listening to my sermons! They aren’t long
enough for you to reach that deep level of
sleep.
GOD’S WORD CAN MAKE YOU FEEL
MOVED AND MOTIVATED!
My sermons hopefully present God’s Word
so it can motivate you to action for the Lord
in living the Christian life!

4. James 1:22 NET But be sure you live out
the message and do not merely listen to it
and so deceive yourselves. 23 For if
someone merely listens to the message
and does not live it out, he is like someone
who gazes at his own face in a mirror. 24
For he gazes at himself and then goes out
and immediately forgets what sort of person
he was.

5. 25 But the one who peers into the perfect
law of liberty and fixes his attention there,
and does not become a forgetful listener but
one who lives it out — he will be blessed in
what he does.

6. Be sure you live out the message and do
not merely listen to it!
It’s not enough just to hear God’s Word
preached! We must take some action based
on what we hear. Otherwise, James is
saying that going to church listening to
sermon and then doing nothing about it is
like looking in a mirror. Then turning from
the mirror & forgetting instantly your hair
needed combed, your face is dirty, you
need a shave or beard trimmed.

7. What was accomplished when you looked
in the mirror?
A healthy person looks in the mirror to do
something, not just to admire the image.
Even so, a healthy Christian looks into
God's word to do something about it, not
just to store up facts that they won't use.
(Guzik)

8. James is saying when we listen to God’s
Word, whether in a sermon or in personal
study, and see ourselves for what we really
are....perhaps messed up somewhat
spiritually, then if we do nothing about it,
never repent or make any changes in our
lives, then we are not pleasing to God
because we haven’t done anything positive
to change the way we live!

9. So when I preach, my aim is not
refreshment as much as it is repentance
and renewal!
I’m reminded of the theme at the Kiamichi
Men’s Clinic I attend ever May, “How can I
make my life count more effectively for
Christ.”
Maybe we should ask ourselves that
question before & after every sermon, Bible
study or reading of the Scriptures.

10. Christmas was finally over and the
preacher’s wife dropped into an easy chair
saying, "Boy! Am I ever tired." Her husband
looked over at her and said, "I had to
preach two special services last night, three
today, for a total of five sermons. Why are
you so tired?"
"Dear," she replied, "I had to listen to all of
them."

11. I’m sure that’s probably how Gayla feels!
It’s a good thing I don’t preach more than
once on Sunday. Of course, she might say
that I’m preaching all the time anyway: at
church, at home, etc. HEY, THAT’S NOT A
BAD IDEA! In fact, I think we all need to be
preaching Jesus all the time! He’s the best
and most important person we could be
talking about to others, wouldn’t you say?

12. Matthew 10:7 NET As you go, preach this
message: 'The kingdom of heaven is
near!'
Jesus said to His disciples, “As you go,
preach!” Good advice for us today. As you
go, wherever you go, preach the message
of Jesus! As you go to work, preach! As you
go to buy groceries, preach! As you go to
Wal-mart shopping, preach! As you go to
the bank, preach!

13. I’m saying that at this time of the year more
people are thinking about Christ so we need
to capitalize on this and preach about Jesus
every chance we get!
Have you ever thought about what would
happen if we preached Jesus or talked
about Jesus everywhere we went? We
would turn some people on & turn some
people off. If every Christian did this, just
imagine the converts we could make!

14. Have you talked to anybody lately about
Jesus or the Christian life, the Christian
faith?
If not, why not?
NOW’S THE TIME.
Don’t wait.
Do it now.
You might influence someone to become a
Christian!
This is why God put us here.

15. In this sermon, let me suggest some ways
to preach Jesus.
Preach Jesus Individually
Preach Jesus Publicly
Preach Jesus Impartially

16. Preach Jesus Individually
Preach Jesus personally, from you to
another person. From person to person.
One on one. Here’s a story in Acts 8:26
NET Then an angel of the Lord said to
Philip, "Get up and go south on the road
that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."
(This is a desert road.)

17. 27 So he got up and went. There he met an
Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of
Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was
in charge of all her treasury. He had come
to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and was
returning home, sitting in his chariot,
reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the
Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and join this
chariot."

18. 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard the man
reading Isaiah the prophet. He asked him,
"Do you understand what you're reading?"
31 The man replied, "How in the world can
I, unless someone guides me?" So he
invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 Now the passage of scripture the man
was reading was this:

19. "He was led like a sheep to slaughter,
and like a lamb before its shearer is
silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33
In humiliation justice was taken from
him. Who can describe his posterity?
For his life was taken away from the
earth." (Isa 53:7-8)

20. 34 Then the eunuch said to Philip, "Please
tell me, who is the prophet saying this about
— himself or someone else?" 35 So Philip
started speaking, and beginning with this
scripture proclaimed the good news about
Jesus to him.

21. Philip had a captive audience. It was one on
one as they were in that chariot together.
That’s like the passenger sitting next to you
in your car. They are a captive audience.
Those kinds of situations are best for
witnessing.

22. A preacher was in a local service station
one day, visiting with a fishing friend and
several other guys. They were talking about
bass fishing. The preacher told one guy
that any time he needed a fishing buddy, to
give him a call and he would be glad to go
with him.

23. Knowing he was a preacher, he said, “You
would just preach to me!” The preacher
said, “No.” But he thought if the opportunity
came up he would witness for Jesus. The
guy would have been a captive audience,
so why not?

24. Guess what? He declined the request. He
never asked the preacher. He never called.
The preacher guessed the guy figured he
would preach to him. However, the
preacher did fish a few bass tournaments
and every guy he was paired with he would
talk to him about the Lord when the
opportunity presented itself. And he never
had one guy get mad at him. In fact, he met
a few Christian guys.

25. 36 Now as they were going along the road,
they came to some water, and the eunuch
said, "Look, there is water! What is to stop
me from being baptized?" 37 (TEXT
OMITTED) A few later MSS add, with minor
variations, "He said to him, 'If you believe
with your whole heart, you may.' He replied,
'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God.' " (NETnotes)

26. 38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and
both Philip and the eunuch went down into
the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 Now
when they came up out of the water, the
Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and
the eunuch did not see him any more, but
went on his way rejoicing.
When he preached Jesus to him, he
responded in a positive way. He said, “I
believe in Jesus. Why can’t I be baptized?”

27. Many people say,
“Why do I have to be baptized?” instead of
saying, “Why can’t I?”
Baptism is an act of obedience that the Lord
asks us to do. If we truly believe in Him and
want Him as our Savior, why not do as He
asks?

28. Baptism is a very simple thing compared to
many other things that Jesus asks us to do.
And it’s only a one time thing, unlike most
things we are to do.
In the past some preachers were pushing
the idea of
“EACH 1, WIN 1.”
It’s the idea that each Christian should win
another person to Christ.

29. Have you ever led someone to Christ, that
is, to the point where they wanted to accept
Christ, confess their faith and be baptized?
Wouldn’t it be amazing if every Christian in
this world would do this?
It is reported 2.1 billion people worldwide
claim to be Christians. The earth’s
population is 7 billion. If every Christian won
just one person to Christ there would be 4.2
billion Christians in this world!

30. When the new 2.1 billion Christians
“EACH 1, WIN 1” the number jumps to 6.3
billion. That would be fantastic!
God would be pleased!
Some Christians would win more than one
person to Christ. So you can see how
converting the whole world is within reach.
But sad to say, that probably won’t happen,
because most Christians will never win one
person to Christ in their entire lifetime.

31. THINK ABOUT IT.
Then begin to think about the person or
persons you could win to Christ and start
praying for them. Then look for
opportunities to witness to them.
We all need to preach Jesus individually or
one on one and as much as possible.
‘Tis the season to do this.

32. Preach Jesus Publicly
Acts 20:20 NET You know that I did not
hold back from proclaiming to you anything
that would be helpful, and from teaching
you publicly and from house to house,
It’s the idea of: Don’t hide the gospel from
people. Be out in the open about it. Preach
Jesus publicly and in every house.

33. There was a time when preachers preached
on the street corner, but not much anymore.
It was more acceptable in years gone by.
I’m not sure any preacher would get much
of hearing today preaching on a street
corner. And in some cities in the US, he
might even get beat up!

34. Dwight Lyman Moody (February 5, 1837 -
December 22, 1899 - 62). He was more
commonly known as D. L. Moody. What a
preacher he must have been! I don’t know if
he did much preaching on street corners
but he could sure draw a crowd in the later
1800’s

35. His first city-wide crusade in America was in
Brooklyn beginning October 31, 1875, at
the Clermont Avenue Rink, seating 7,000.
Only non-church members could get
admission tickets as 12,000 to 20,000
crowds were turned away. Over 2,000
converts resulted.

36. Next came Philadelphia starting on
November 21 with nightly crowds of 12,000.
The Philadelphia crusade was held at the
unused Pennsylvania freight depot which
John Wanamaker had purchased. It was
located at Tenth and Market. His ushers
were very well trained, capable of seating
1,000 people per minute, and vacating the
premises of some 13,000 in 4 minutes if
needed.

37. The doors were opened one and a half
hours early and in 10 minutes the 12,000
seats were taken. On January 19, 1876
President Grant and some of his cabinet
attended. Total attendance was 1,050,000
with 4,000 decisions for Christ.
(http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=
82)
I would say that was public preaching of
Jesus!

38. Today, if you have a revival meeting in a
church you will hardly get a crowd. I hate to
say it, but most of the time you can’t get
church members to attend, let alone non-
Christians. People just are not interested in
the gospel. They have too many irons in the
fire. They are too busy. It’s been said that
we are often too busy for our own spiritual
good! True for saints and sinners alike!

39. "Many churches report no new members on
confession of faith.
Why these meager results with this
tremendous expenditure of energy and
money? Why are so few people coming into
the Kingdom? I will tell you—there is not a
definite effort put forth to persuade a
definite person to receive a definite Savior
at a definite time, and that definite time is
now."
(Billy Sunday)

40. If there is no effort put forth to preach Jesus
publicly or witness publicly then there will
no people coming to Christ and being
saved.
BEING SAVED IS WHAT GOD WANTS
PEOPLE TO EXPERIENCE.
’Tis the season to preach Jesus publicly
and from house to house.

41. Preach Jesus Impartially
Romans 1:14 NET I am a debtor both to the
Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the
wise and to the foolish. 15 Thus I am eager
also to preach the gospel to you who are in
Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the
gospel, for it is God's power for salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek.

42. Don’t be particular about the people you
preach to or witness to. Everyone needs to
hear the message, both Jew and Gentile
alike. It doesn’t make any difference who
the person is, all need Jesus.
Someone wrote: What’s the state of the
states of the union? Let’s see ... New
Yorkers mock Southern drawls.

43. Southerners don’t cotton to West Coast
hippies, who in turn can’t understand why
Midwesterners live so far from the ocean
breeze. And Midwesterners? They wonder
who could survive New York-the city that
never sleeps.
Yes, the U.S.A. is one big, happy
dysfunctional family.

44. When a visitor to a town in Alabama spotted
a dog attacking a boy, he grabbed the
animal and throttled it with his bare hands.
An impressed reporter saw the incident and
told him the next day’s headline would
scream,
"Valiant Local Man Saves Child by
Killing Vicious Animal."

45. "I’m not from this town," said the hero.
"Then," the reporter said, "it will say
‘Alabama Man Saves Child by Killing
Dog.’"
"Actually," said the man, "I’m from New
Hampshire.“
"In that case," the reporter grumbled, "the
headline will be
‘Yankee Kills Family Pet.’"

46. While we might not like living in certain
parts of the country or like the people who
live in other parts of the country, we must
realize that people are people and God
wants all people to be saved.

47. A man remembers going to Boston in 1989
to run the Boston marathon. While walking
down the street he saw a man beating on a
woman. They were yelling at one another
and he was hitting her. He didn’t know if
they were husband and wife or boyfriend
and girlfriend. He thought, “What a bunch of
crazy people who live here!”

48. Also, while walking down the street a lady
came up to him asking for money. She
almost fell on him and she appeared to be
either drunk or high on drugs. He said,
“Sorry, I can’t help you.”
But you know, as he looks back, he should
have helped her. Maybe not with cash,
because you always wonder when you give
money to some people they’ll just spend it
on drugs or booze.

49. But he should have done something, fed
her if she was hungry. He should have said
something to her about the Lord. He should
have witnessed to her with some words and
showed her some kindness.
We are not to be racists or prejudice,
because God is not. God wants all people
to be saved, regardless of their race or
social level, etc.

50. A new family started attending a church.
One lady said, “They’re not our class of
people.” Meaning she looked down on
them.
WRONG ATTITUDE.
BAD ATTITUDE.
Preacher/author Carl Kectherside and his
wife, Nell, walked the inner city of St. Louis,
talking to prostitutes and drug addicts about
Jesus.

51. 2 Peter 3:9 NET The Lord is not slow
concerning his promise, as some regard
slowness, but is being patient toward you,
because he does not wish for any to perish
but for all to come to repentance.
’Tis the season to preach Christ to all
people!

52. Acts 10:42 NET He commanded us to
preach to the people and to warn them that
he is the one appointed by God as judge of
the living and the dead.
He commanded us to preach. We don’t
have any choice in this matter. It’s called
the Great commission!

53. The same word (G4198 poreuomai por-yoo'-
om-ahee) translated, As you go,… in
Matthew 10:7 NET is used in “The Great
Commission.”
Mark 16:15 NET He said to them, "Go (as
you go) into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature. 16 The one who
believes and is baptized will be saved, but
the one who does not believe will be
condemned.

54. Matthew 28:18 NET Then Jesus came up
and said to them, "All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me. 19
Therefore go and (as you go) make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And
remember, I am with you always, to the end
of the age."

55. 2 Timothy 4:2 NET Preach the message, be
ready whether it is convenient or not,
reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete
patience and instruction.
’Tis the season to preach Jesus
anywhere, everywhere and to all people!