Marty Sloan – Living the Dream

Faith that Works Series Part 3 – Faith that works is inviting faith
9 27 09 HT AM

Luke 14:23 NKJV
Open your Bible to the Gospel of Luke 14:23 – This morning we continue our march to World Harvest Sunday. On that day just two weeks away in the same moment together we can and will make our difference. Together that day we will sow our financial resources into the Kingdom of God to share the Gospel of Christ beginning in the River Valley and crossing the oceans to the corners of the earth. Why do we do this? Because we believe in the Kingdom of God – Harvest Time is a Kingdom minded church.
In our Kingdom of God mindset we have been discovering these past few weeks about Faith that Works. I believe that Faith that works is faith that WORKS! Today I want to share with you that “Faith that Works is INVITING FAITH”!

Luke 14:23 NKJV
Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

In this room today is a large percentage of us – who came to faith in Christ or have been strengthened in our faith by a personal relationship. (write that persons name on a piece of paper)
Observations of our text:

Where we look – Two Places
Highways – Literally the thoroughfares of life – active lifestyles – our professional relationships
Hedges – Literally places of residence – dwellings – our personal relationships

Why we look – One Purpose –
That the house may be filled

Who looks – One Person -
The servant was sent out (a person actively engaged in the current house)
The servant served a purpose

I want to run a parallel with this text to our lives today. As we read this there are a few things we must accept:

That the Master wants His house to be filled –
There are people missing from the masters table
He uses us to fill it
We fill it by traveling the highways and hedges of life

This morning I want to teach you and empower you to seek out those who are missing from the table. Like a parent searching for a lost child, I want to stir up in you both urgency and passion!

Luke 19:10 NKJV
for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Who to invite

Invite the curious

Luke 19:1 NKJV
Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.
Luke 19:2
Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.
Luke 19:3
And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.
Luke 19:4
So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.
Luke 19:5
And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up ◙ and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”
Luke 19:6
So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.
Luke 19:7
But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
Luke 19:8
Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
Luke 19:9
And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;
Luke 19:10
for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Think of that person that seemingly is aware of spiritual things and practices. They may posses good values and even morals. Yet their view of Christ is from a distance. It’s our assignment to find them, get in their world, home, cubical and introduce them to not just the practices of Christ but the person of Christ.
The way to the masters table is not our works or social efforts or practices, but its through a personal relationship.
John 14:6 NKJV Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Like Christ we need to be looking for these types of individuals, look up, look out – just look for them anywhere – BE ALERT!
Invite your family

John 1:40 NKJV
One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
John 1:41
He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ).
John 1:42
And he brought him to Jesus.
Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of ◙ Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).

2/3 people who are not in church say they would attend if invited by a family member or close friend.
Its interesting that family can be seemingly the most awkward to talk to about spiritual things or matters of faith. There seems to be a disconnect on both sides when it comes to matters of faith. This morning I want to challenge you to move your discussions of faith to a high level of frequency – our time is running close – it’s a matter of eternity.
Two roadblocks to family and faith:
Personal conflict in the family; in this case seek our forgiveness. In eternity, it will not really matter who was wrong or right – but it will matter where your family spends eternity.
Pride at work; where you allow that fact that your NOT perfect and they know it to limit your sharing of Christ – remember its not your works that save anyway, its His work on Calvary, grace through faith!

Luke 17:32 NKJV Remember Lot’s wife.

Invite those with visible needs

Luke 5:17 NKJV
Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present ◙ to heal them.
Luke 5:18
Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.
Luke 5:19
And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.
Luke 5:20
When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

This is that person who everyone knows about and talks about. Their challenges physically, emotionally or relationally have left them as the topic of pity discussion. Today its your assignment to leave the conversation of the well intentioned who are always finding a way to “discuses” their needs and find that person and tear off the rooftop so they can discover their complete healing through Jesus Christ.

Invite those whose life is just not working

John 4:15 NKJV
The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
John 4:16
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
John 4:17
The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’
John 4:18
for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
SKIP DOWN
John 4:25
The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
John 4:26
Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
John 4:27
And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
John 4:28
The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,
John 4:29
“Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
This woman at the well, her life was JUST not working! This is that person who you see everyday. They always are working the newest wave to find peace and happiness! They are looking for love in all the wrong places! Things, people, validation and so on! There is One person who is living water, that once you have tasted of Him, you with thirst now more!
You are asking what does inviting people to Christ have to do with World Harvest Sunday – it has everything to do with it! I would hate to send one dime abroad and fail to share Christ with the person(s) I see everyday. The Kingdom of God wants everybody – the Master wants a full table
Who is Curious about Christ – Who in your family – Who has visible needs – Whose life is just not working out? That’s your person(s) to invite to the Masters table.
Ministry time – you know a person or you are one of these individuals.