Zach Speegle
85% of all Churches in America (approx 350,000) are on the Decline of the growth cycle.
14% are still growing but only through transfer growth
1% are growing through conversions.
Too many times I think we are way more concerned with crowd management than we are with winning lost souls. Jesus left the 99 when there was 1 missing. And he said very hard things to the crowds and they departed in droves, and he did not beg them to stay.
If the Church is the hope of the World, we need a bigger Church, not a smaller one that’s divided.
You may see that the Church has a problem. I see that the world has a problem. The Church is not sharing the Gospel.
Ephesians 4:11
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds[c] and teachers,[d] 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry,
The Evangelist is an Office. But Evangelism is not a spiritual gift.
Evangelism is not found in any other spiritual gift list.
Evangelism is the act of sharing good news. Evangelism is an act of Love.
How many of you have Facebook?
Jesus said in Matthew 5:14
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[b] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Many people are honestly just afraid of the conflict.
Well, Jesus didn’t die for lack of conflict and neither did all the other disciples.
The truth may get you killed temporarily, but lack of knowledge will lead to many, many souls that will perish eternally.
True Peacemaking may result in Persecution.
Matthew 5:9-12
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
We care too much about people’s feelings that bind them in slavery, than we do about telling them the truth that will set them free from that bondage.
Proverbs 27:5-6
5 Better is open rebuke
than hidden love.
6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend;
Deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
Proverbs 29:5
5 A man who flatters his neighbor
spreads a net for his feet.
I believe that We flatter people right to the gates of hell.
Quote from Penn Jillette a world famous magician and self proclaiming atheist. He was telling a story about a man who came up to him after a show and politely gave him a bible and had written something in the cover for him to share the Gospel. This was his response.
“I’ve always said,” Jillette explained, “I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe there is a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward.
“How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate someone to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
Jillette then offered this example to illustrate his point: “If I believed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe it, that that truck was bearing down on you, there’s a certain point that I tackle you, and this is more important than that.”
John 13:34
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
So, why is it important to talk about Hell and God’s Judgment?
God can only give grace to the Humble.
If we don’t understand our need for a Savior, then how can we humble ourselves to God and believe the very basic truths of the Gospel?
Grace comes 3 ways. Knowledge, Faith, Humility
1 Peter 1:2-4; Ephesians 2:8-9; James 4:6
This is a whole other teaching that can be found on my YouTube Channel Called Faith Trumps Giftings. It’s a 5 part series.
We risk false conversions when we don’t share the truth. Both the Bad News and Good News.
The Good News wouldn’t be so good without the Bad.
People don’t understand why they need the Good News. It doesn’t make sense to them. Then they come to Jesus for all the wrong reasons.
Then when things don’t pan out the way they wanted, they take off Jesus. We know that you can’t really take off Jesus. But the scripture tells us
1 John 2:19
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
Ezekiel 33:7-11
7 “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8 If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
10 “And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ 11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
People think that Rejection of Christ sends you to Hell. But that’s not true. You’re already going to Hell before Jesus was even a part of the equation. Jesus is the Good News. But He’s the good news for a Reason.
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
People Say God is not angry anymore. But that’s not a perfect understanding of the Scriptures.
John 3:36
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
People say, “God doesn’t throw people in Hell.”
Fact Check:
Matthew 10:27-33
27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.[h] 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?[i] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
What is God’s wrath toward?
Romans 2:5-11
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”[a] 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.
God’s Love breaks sin boundaries. But God’s wrath is what we are saved from.
Romans 5:6-11
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Disciple vs Christian
Acts 11:26 …And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.