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On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur, there was a once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea and with no thought of themselves, went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost.

Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station and it became famous. Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding areas, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews trained. The little life-saving station grew.

Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea.

So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building. Now, the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members and they decorated it beautifully and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as a sort of a club.

Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired a life boat crew to do this work. The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club's decoration and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club initiations were held.

About this time, a large ship was wrecked off the coast and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet and half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick and some of them had black skin and some had yellow. The beautiful new club was in chaos, so the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club, where victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club's life-saving activities altogether as they were unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club.

Some members insisted upon life-saving as their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. And so they did.

As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club and yet another life-saving station was founded.

History continued to repeat itself and if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but most of the people ... drown.

Many churches begin well, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, clear about their mission which is the great commission to make disciples of all nations, to rescue the perishing, but it is an often repeated tragedy that churches then become more concerned about our own comforts, our own conveniences and morph into clubs and neglect the mission of the great commission and the history of time proves this to be true over and over again, that if a church doesn't evangelize, eventually it fossilizes.

So today, as we continue our series in health screening for the church, we come to this third test that we need to apply for ourselves, are we a healthy church.

The first test we looked at is the test of the Word, is the church faithfully teaching the Word of God as it is or do we just make use of the Word of God to say what we ourselves want to say. The second test we need to apply to ourselves is, is the church centered in the Gospel, is this our clear message, do we really believe the message, do we really live the message and do we really give the message and that's a great segway to the third test we apply to ourselves, and that is evangelism.

Is the church healthy, well we ask this question, is the church faithful in evangelism, A healthy church is faithful in evangelism.

Some of you may not be Christians. This is the first time you've been to church and so you ask, I, I don't understand what is evangelism what does is it really mean. So this is the first thing we would deal with, what really is evangelism.

You say, a healthy church is faithful in evangelism, what does it look like, what does it mean ? Well the word evangelism is very simple, it simply means to bring good news, an evangel is someone who brings good news and evangelism is the process of bringing this good news to people, to people who need it.

You say, what kind of a good news, good news about the economy, good news about your job, good news about your health, no, the Good News of the Bible is very specific, it's very clear, it's the Good News of Jesus Christ dying and rising to save us from our sins in order to reconcile sinful men to the Holy God. This Good News is also what we would call the Gospel and this is the mission of the church.

This is what the church must be doing, we must be going about telling people, the Good News of Jesus Christ. We need to tell people that there is a cure for their sin, that there is salvation for them, that they can be reconciled with God, we need to tell people that God has given a sacrifice, it's His Son and His Son did not just remain dead, but He rose again from the dead, signifying He is victorious over sin.

We need to tell people that you who are alienated and separated from God, you can now be reconciled with the Holy God, even though you are sinful because of what Christ has done, this is the Good News, we need to bring to people all around us.

I like what Richard Halverson has to say about evangelism. He said, evangelism is not salesmanship, it is not pressing them, coercing them, overwhelming them or subduing them, evangelism is telling a message, evangelism is reporting Good News.

He says evangelism is not salesmanship. Now, what does he mean, I suppose what he means is this, salesmanship often times can resort to just telling people nice things they want to hear and you neglect to tell things that are not so easy for them to hear. So evangelism is telling people the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, as given in the Scriptures.

Salesmanship is to hide some of these difficult truths, such as telling people that they are sinful, telling people that they are a people who are heading for damnation in Hell because God is holy and angry against sin, such as telling them that they can never work their way to heaven, that they are never accepted before God, based on their own works.

So evangelism necessarily tells people, the offense of the cross. These are things people in their flesh, they don't like to hear. But evangelism is telling them the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

I heard from someone recently that during Christmas time, a pastor deliberately will not mentioned sin in his sermon. I said what, yah, Christmas is not a time for you to talk about sin, but I was shocked because if you don't talk about sin, then why did Jesus come, Jesus came to save us from our sins. The Gospel message must be a message that clearly tells people the bad news that they are sinful and they are sinners before they can know and appreciate the Good News that Christ came to die for your sins.

Salesmanship I think, hides some of these difficult truths. Worse still, salesmanship can be giving people false promises just to get them to say yes. You know how it is today, in churches, in pulpits, it can be dangerously deceptive, oh come to Jesus and all your troubles will melt away, come to Jesus and he will heal you of all your illnesses, he will solve all your financial woes, he will remove all the difficulties of your life.

That's not true, that's not what the Bible teaches, but so often in, in their zeal to get people to say, yes to God, to say yes to Jesus, we bring in false promises, I think that's salesmanship. Evangelism is not salesmanship, it's telling people what is clearly written in Scripture, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Halverson goes on to say, evangelism is not pressing, coercing, overwhelming or subduing them. Maybe one word, you don't hard sell, evangelism is not hard sell, it's not trying to force someone to say yes to Jesus. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you be lethargic and lazy and in our colloquial terms, bo chap about sharing the Good News, no, you try your very best, you explain it as clearly, as faithfully, as patiently as you can, but there's a difference between telling them something persuasively and being strong armed and hard selling in the message.

I like what Mark Dever has to say. Who can deny that much modern evangelism has become emotionally manipulative, seeking only a momentary decision of the sinner's will, yet neglecting the biblical idea that conversion is the result of the supernatural, gracious act of God toward the sinner. It's almost like the church today has forgotten John chapter 3 the, probably the most famous chapter in the Bible that contains the most famous verse in the Bible John 3:16.

It's almost we forget that Jesus said, except a man be born again of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God. We almost think, it's all about me getting you to say yes forgetting it is the Spirit who must sovereignly works in hearts. So we go to strong arm tactics, we go to hard sell, we go to force, we, we try to manipulate people emotionally with music and whatever you have and forget salvation is of the Lord.

Once again, I'm not suggesting that the church should be very lazy, laid back about this whole idea, mission of bringing the Gospel to others. Be persuasive, be patient, be as active as you can, but don't presume that you can save souls. Do what God wants you to do faithfully, teach the Gospel, preach the Gospel and trust Him to work in hearts, you don't have to hard sell, you don't have to force, you don't have to pressure people.

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Halverson goes on to say, evangelism is telling a message. Well I think you have to be very clear about that because sometimes we get sidetracked to apologetics, you know what's apologetics, it's called the defense of the faith. So, people have questions such as, how do you know, God created world, why can't it be Big Bang, how you know Jesus rose again from the dead, how can you be sure that the Bible is the Word of God. These are very good questions that should be answered, answer them as best as you can but don't forget at the end of answering it all, the most important thing is to give them the Good News.

Don't be sidetracked into a debate where you feel like you always have to win a debate, well you always have to give the Gospel, that's the priority. Help them as best as you can but remember, evangelism is telling a message and then he says evangelism is reporting Good News, hey, I think that's great, that's great. What I need to do, what I want you today to be very clear about, is evangelism is reporting Good News. Evangelism is not about you saving souls alright, you don't save souls, you can't save souls, only God can, only God paid the price, only God sends His Spirit to work in hearts, we are responsible for telling people the Good News.

John Stott, he says evangelize does not mean to win converts but simply to announce the Good News, irrespective of the results. So many of us we get so crushed, we get so discouraged, when I share the Gospel with someone he rejects me, it feels like I'm a failure. No, you did not fail if you faithfully gave the Gospel because your job is to bring Good News.

Whether he will receive the Good News or not is not up to you, you get that, evangelism simply means to announce the Good News faithfully, clearly, patiently, compassionately, irrespective of the results.

So, what is evangelism, please, ten minutes gone already, what is evangelism, it is to bring Good News, thank you very much and it means it is not salesmanship, it's not hiding some truths, it's not padding it up with some sweeteners or false promises, it is not hard sell or compulsion, it is not apologetics, apologetics may be a part of the Gospel sharing, but that's not the whole thing and evangelism is not conversion.

Now, I think that is very, very helpful, that is very liberating as a, we would see from Mark Dever's quote, we don't fail in our evangelism if we faithfully present the Gospel and yet the person is not converted, we fail only if we don't faithfully present the Gospel at all.

Hey guys, it's quite all right for you to share the Gospel faithfully to someone and for the person to say no to you, it's quite alright, if you did it faithfully, if you been praying for him, that's fine. God is not going to ask you, how come that person not saved, He won't ask you that because you can't even save yourself, how can you save others. But what you're responsible for is to bring Good News and if you don't bring, you failed, but if you bring you succeed, that's the joy.

He goes on to say, when you understand that evangelism isn't converting people, but that it is telling them the wonderful truth about God, the great news about Jesus Christ, then obedience to the call to evangelize can become certain and joyful. I know I'm doing what God wants when I share the Gospel, even if someone doesn't really receive it. I know that's what God wants me to do and I'm joyful when I do it.

Now, of course, there is even greater joy when someone responds to the Gospel, but it's quite okay even if he doesn't. So people who witness cannot fail, the very act of bearing witness faithfully is success. So what is evangelism. Thank you very much, it is to bring Good News alright.

Now the second question I want to ask you then is, who should evangelize, who should evangelize? I'm very glad you say all Christians and not just Pastor Jason or the pastors or whatever, elders, deacons, no, you're, you're, I think you're spot on. Every follower of Jesus Christ should be a witness for Jesus Christ. Well, the Scripture reading, you had this morning is Matthew 28 and here, Jesus said to them all authority is given and so go and make disciples.

Some of you who are sharp, would say Pastor that's a very bad proof text to say all Christians should give the Gospel, should witness and should evangelize. Why, because Pastor you're not doing exegesis, you are doing eisegesis, you're reading into it, because Jesus said to who? Them, who is them, who are the them, to be specific a look at verse 16, the them refer to the 11. So it's a very specific group alright He said to the 11, are you part of the 11; then no need to do already lor.

Well, you are absolutely right that this is spoken to the 11, but what Jesus told the 11 to do is to make disciples and to teach them to observe all that I have commanded you. So what did I command you to do, to make disciples and therefore all disciples of Jesus Christ through the apostles, through generations to come, all disciples are to observe all that Christ commands, including making disciples.

So this is for every, I believe, follower of Jesus Christ and that's what the early church did. The early church in the book of Acts, they tell us they go everywhere preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many died, many suffered as a result of their witness of the death and resurrection of Christ and so they went everywhere. The Bible says now those who were scattered went about preaching the Word. Now again, those of you are sharp will say pastor, it's the apostles who were scattered what, they were persecuted and so the apostles went, they preached, the church didn't preach. Well, that's what some of us might think. But look at verse one and there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

So who are the ones scattered and preaching, the church, every single one of them, they were scattered all around and they didn't say eh, please, go to talk to my pastor, go to talk to my apostle Peter, no they went everywhere preaching the Gospel. I think a people who really know Jesus, who believe in the death and resurrection of Christ, who know the love of God in the Gospel, will be excited and will be joyful in telling people about their Savior, Jesus Christ.

My son Matthias, in particular, loves crocodiles, loves reptiles, love wildlife and animals, my older son Shawn actually also. So yesterday, Saturday morning I decided to bring them out and we went to as wild as we can in Singapore. There's wah, zoo not wild la, that one, well, where is it wild, not Bukit Timah Hill, but we went to Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserves.

So we went there because we hear that there you can see crocodiles, very hard to see. You can see all kinds of stuff and when we got there we really got to see some quite nice creatures, we saw giant spiders, we saw mudskippers, you know what mudskippers are, half fish, half alien, really look like alien, so mudskippers lots of them, ah, we saw ah, green snake just hiding among the branches, really subtle, very hard to spot, we saw monitor lizards, we saw all these stuff and I thought what a great day and Shawn and Mattias have been saying wah, this is a great day, the number one attraction is the, the snake, then the mudskipper because we see giant ones, really, I think about this size you know.

So they were excited about it and so we went on a bit further beyond what is the, the part which is a little bit more exposed, we went further on and we saw something rather amazing. When we first saw it, it was in the waters and when it noticed us, it went back in the waters, I say ah, missed it. My kids were so excited, aah, we want to see it, you see lah, you talk so loud, blame one another and so I said okay let's move on first, and maybe after a while we can come back and maybe it will reappear, reemerge.

And so after about 15, 20 minutes walk, we came back and this is what we saw. This fella is a huge thing alright, it looks small on the phone and and this is not from YouTube ah. I didn't steal from National Geographic or what, this is my from my phone alright. This, this fella is big, I think it's about 1.5 times my size, at least, is huge, it's, it's maybe just from here to even nearer than the first row. We were that close and my son actually took a photo by himself.

I say, please don't drop my phone, so we got as close as we can, we got a look at this guy, it's huge and we were like I was trying to take best photo video and everything because it's so amazing, I mean, isn't it amazing, how many of you have seen a crocodile, wild one out there, come up so close. So as we were seeing, we took photos and then we saw people come, you know what my son would do? Shawn, in particular, and then when, when a few groups came and saw, took photos, he would, he, this is what he did alright, he went all over, along the path, come and he did everything, he was so excited, he, he got everyone he could find along that track to see this amazing thing and why, why does he do that, because he says I have good news and he said afterwards that this is the best day of his life ever. This is the best thing ever.

You know, when I look at Shawn so passionately sharing and telling people about the rare sight, I thought about how we as Christians should be even more excited than Shawn. I mean, come on, Shawn, is, is excited over a reptile that can't do anything to you except eat you, but true followers of Jesus Christ are so numb to the majestic news that God has sent His Son to save man from his sins.

I believe without a shadow of a doubt who should evangelize, every true follower of Jesus Christ, because you know what it means to you and you know what it meant to God to give His Son.

The last question I want to answer today is, how then should I evangelise. I think this can be answered in so many ways. So I just want to, just point out some salient points you can really add on to it, but four simple things I want to say. Number one, if you want evangelize effectively, then please be prepared. I think it's very difficult to evangelize when someone ask you, eh, you're Christian ah, can I ask you about your Christian faith, and you say sure, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, and then the whole session ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, it's not very helpful, you don't evangelize very well that way, so be prepared.

How can I be prepared, I, I think you need to learn, you need to pick up some tools in sharing the Gospel. It's very hard for example, to split a coconut, right. Can you split a coconut, can, no? Can lah, I mean just throw it against the wall many times, it will split, it's just a matter of, it's hard but it can be done, but splitting a coconut will be way easier if you have a knife, a tool. So you want to split a man's coconut here, to share with them the Gospel, it's very hard sometimes if you don't have the right tool.

So I think it's very useful to be equipped with some tools to help you share the Gospel more effectively. Now, last year we ran a run of Xpress training, it's, it's a training for people to learn how to share the Gospel more effectively. Well, I think many of you came, I think maybe about 100 or so, I am thankful for that, but what about the rest of us.

If you're already skilled and splitting coconuts, then no need to learn anymore, it's okay. But if you're not that confident or if you want to get another tool to crack another kind of coconut, then maybe ask God to help you be equipped, be trained to share the Gospel better.

We actually wanted to run it last year but because of poor response, not many people could make it, we didn't run it again. Maybe this year we will and I hope if you really want to be a good witness for Jesus Christ, spend time, invest yourself to learn, pick up this tool to share the Gospel.

But even before that, I want to encourage you, every Sunday morning, when you gather to worship God, when you hear God's Word, I want to ask you to, to listen to God's Word with another goal in mind and that is I want to learn how to share the Gospel like the preacher does or maybe even better than the preachers does but I'm going to take reference from what he is saying.

I think that's what I did when I was younger I would listen to the preacher, I would listen to pastor Paul how he teaches the Word, how he shares the Gospel and I have benefited a lot from that. And I hope you will also do likewise, hear what is being said and how it is being said, it's not perfect but maybe it's helpful in some ways. So listen and learn every Sunday, take it as a wonderful opportunity and I say to you, please study the Bible well, understand the Scripture, understand God's will, many questions people ask, I, I believe are easily answered if you just know the Scriptures, alright.

So be prepared, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. When you go through hardships, the point in first Peter, is this, when you go through hardships and you maintain such poise and peace and composure, people will scratch their heads and ask you, how come you're still so joyful and hopeful and that's where you say I'm ready to share with you the hope that is in me.

In fact, right after the first service, a lady came up to me and say, right on, this is exactly what I'm going through, I'm having difficulties and God uses that for me to share the Gospel with people around, alright.

So number one, be prepared. Number two, I want to say, if you want to be effective in soul winning, in sharing the Gospel then be prayerful. Ah, I think this is, this is clear, without God, your evangelism will be in vain I'm sure, because this is God's work and we need to ask God to lead us to the right people to speak to, we need to ask God to give us wisdom to respond to their questions and we need God to give us courage.

I'm an, actually people don't believe, but I think I'm an introvert and I'm rather shy and I don't really like to mix around too much and it's not my thing to go out to people to tell them the Gospel, certainly not. And we all in a sense need courage to boldly declare the Gospel, so we, we need to pray, we need to pray for God to work in hearts. Remember, I can't change people's heart, only God can, I can't convict people of sin, only the Spirit of God, can. I can't really convince people in their heart that Jesus is the Savior, only God can. So we pray as we faithfully tell them these things, tell them the Good News, we pray God will work in their hearts and we need to pray that God will be sending forth laborers into the harvest field.

We see many people in Punggol, Sengkang, Singapore who need the Gospel and we say, Lord would you send forth more of Your people into the harvest field to share the Gospel, we need to pray.

So one of the great delights we have on a weekly basis is Wednesday night prayer meetings, when God's people gather and you know we don't just pray for our needs, though we do, but as I've shared last Sunday, we share and we pray about the witnessing opportunities, we pray for one another as a witness, we pray for the person's husband, wife, mother, father, so that they may repent and believe in Jesus Christ, what great collaboration at the throne of grace we have. So I think a church moves forward in evangelism when God's people learn to pray.

Third point, so be prepared, the third one is be proactive, in other words take that initiative and don't always wait, ask people when you're in a taxi, ask people, would you want to find out more about the Gospel. Ask people if they would like to hear about the message of the Bible. Be proactive, you say, pastor how practically should I be proactive, how do I get started, very simple. Look at a guy in his eye and say, you dirty sinner, you are going to hell today. Oh, you all laugh because obviously that's not what you should do right, being proactive doesn't mean be mean and rude and too in your face.

I did share that giving the Gospel requires the offense of the cross. That's part of the message, you shouldn't run from that, but the manner with which you give the Gospel need not be so offensive, it can be very, very simple. So there are three simple steps we recommend in this church, I've shared that two, three times at least and would you recall the two, three steps to get someone going in sharing the Gospel.

Smile, say hi, alright smile, say hi, that's what we call greet, that's right. So the first thing you do is greet. Well, this morning I came to church by a Uber ride. So when I got in the car or as I was getting in the car, I said, I said hi, just one word, hi, step one accomplished, isn't that easy. I mean, how difficult is saying hi. But, well actually I realize not many people say hi. When they get into the car, they just get in and they whip out their phone and there you go, they just want don't disturb me. I've known of, drivers, taxi drivers who talk all the time, I don't want, so I, I just want to do my, my stuff and I could have done that, I could have said, you know this is Sunday morning, I'm preaching a sermon, I may forget things, so I better revise, don't disturb me. But no I, I think it's simple to say, let's say hi, greet.

Number two, be, most of you forget right, so number one greet, second one befriend. What does it mean to befriend, this, this is, this is very agonizing, either I am a super lousy teacher or something has happened. So what is be, what is befriend, befriend simply means be friendly, alright. So ask the person about himself. So as I got into the cab, the car, I said hi. He said hi, yeah! And then I said, do you drive full-time, he says yah, how many days do you drive, every day, Monday to Sunday, but Sunday is half a day. So I figured he's not probably going to church, at least not in the morning.

Then I said 39 Punggol Field Walk, which is where I'm going, is a church. I want to see if he has any response. Sometimes people say church ah, wah, and then they will ask and start the conversation but for him he didn't say very much. I asked him, do you go to church, no, do you believe in anything, not really, some here, some there, a little bit, I think all religion pretty much the same, they're all very good. What you mean by that, I asked, well, basically all religion teaches you to do good. Then I say okay ah, very interesting, but do you know, Christianity is the total opposite? What ? Yah, Christianity is the total opposite. Every religion teaches you to do good, but the Bible says you can't do any good. At least you can't do any good that is acceptable before God and so I went on to tell him how we are all sinners. I went on to tell him how therefore God has to send His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. I shared and I said, I'm sorry if I shared too much, he said, no, this is great, thank you for sharing, I learned something today.

Now, how difficult is that, not really, just need to be greeting people and be friendly to people, just ask them would you want to find out more, he won't bite you, he's not a crocodile, alright, no one's going to kill you for asking him. But if he says yes, fantastic and I think it's as simple as that. Being respectful of people's wishes, not being overly confrontational or pushy but be proactively asking if you would like to find out more.

You say how can I do that in my office. Okay, pastor, I don't take Uber, I don't take Grab, so how do I do this, well, what can you do. I've known of people in this church who intentionally invites colleagues for lunch, you have to eat right, in office so instead of eating alone or always eating in a big group, sometimes you eat with someone you've been praying for.

Now, I don't recommend in evangelism, you invite 10 people and share the Gospel at the dining table. Wah this is like, wah who are you, man, you think you're Jesus or what, that, that will be very difficult alright, but I think it's wise to be prayerful for someone and invite someone, say let's have lunch together and during lunch, you ask him, hey how are you, how's life, he will ask you things, then along the way that conversation it will come to, hey I go to church, have you ever been to church, would you want to find out more about the Gospel. Now sometimes your colleague may be, I don't want to hear anything about the Gospel, then you say okay lah, never mind just talk about anything else, enjoy your lunch, it's okay but if he says yah, I wouldn't mind, say let's meet up next, next week, I pass you a book, I pass you something, let's read this together and let's lunch together, my treat, isn't that cool. I mean, all you get from your colleague is no, I don't want to find out more, that's the worst it can go but if you don't even initiate this, how would they ever get to hear the Gospel, if God's will is for you to be that light in that office. It's rather simple actually, if you're intentional about it.

I know of someone in this church, he, he wants to share the Gospel with more people. So what he does is that he goes to our newcomers corner every Sunday, he greets and he gets to meet people who are new in church and, and if anyone doesn't know the Bible, doesn't know the Gospel he asks, would you want to find more and he wants to share the Gospel with him, I think that's what it's all about.

Now please don't come across as a pushy guy, try to be sensitive, be winsome, but ask, alright respectfully ask and I think God can open some doors for you. Maybe some of you say I don't have that many acquaintances, relationships, then maybe think about church, what the church can be doing and so in our church we have some ministries platforms for you to get to know people who are new, who do not know the faith.

So we have tuition ministry, as you know, we, we give conversational English classes to people in this neighborhood, so that they can learn to speak English. Now is our goal ultimately to teach English, no, we are happy to teach English and if that's all they want, we are happy, we can help them there, but for those who are interested, we are excited to be able to bring to them the Good News. And that's what it's all about, all things to all men, as many ways as we can, build relationships, earn the privilege to share with them the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Table tennis that takes place every week here, three times a week, morning exercises, a group that gathers, invite your friends in, find friends here and get to hear the Gospel, our Filipinos go out to Punggol Waterway Point as you already know, we have a student care service, a afterschool care service, we have a kindergarten for you to share the Gospel, we have brethren who go out to the basketball courts to, to play basketball, to get to know people and to earn the right to share the Gospel. We have a youth club here, so far we have I think, two, three hundred youths registered with us who have been to our youth club, this is like as I've mentioned, a refugee camp for them, they don't want to go home they don't want to be nagged at, they want to go somewhere and instead of a club or whatever, they have chosen to come and we want to reach them with the Gospel.

We have events such as mid autumn festival where people come and we get to know them, love on them, build relationships with them. Recently we had a movie night, movie carnival, children came, they had fun, people of all backgrounds, races, they, they, they come through our church doors and we get to know them and they ask about what else we have in this church, people of all ages.

I think it's real cool that you could possibly join in such platforms, serve people and be a witness to the people. I think that's why we want to go door to door, knocking on their doors and say hi we are from a church nearby and just like let you know, we have services that can, you can, can be a part of, these are the various things you can even join, English, table tennis. We just want to be good neighbors with you. You want to share the Gospel, well, be prepared, be prayerful, be proactive.

I journeyed with a group of men, five men for the past three years, I think we have learned, we have grown in some ways, each one of us but the greatest highlight for me at the end of this three years journeying together, is I can say without a shadow of a doubt, all six of us, we have grown to be more intentional and missional in our lives. I, I, I say to you, I think almost all of you would have an excuse to say, I don't need to preach the Gospel, pastor, you do it. I just bring my friend here. I don't think that's really what it should be. I also have my excuse, to not evangelize, I'm the pastor I should teach you to evangelize and you evangelize.

So I have excuses, you have excuses, but really when I look at the Bible we should not have excuses. So one of my great desires, is that I will be missional in personal evangelism. This is pulpit, this is preaching, I think it's different in a way and I want to be faithful also in personal evangelism and so at the end of these three years, I can say assuredly all six of us have grown to be more missional in our lives.

I'm hearing the guys, they, they are sharing with this person, having lunch with that person please pray for me as I reach out. Just this week I heard of someone who said he, he believes or someone, one of them is reaching to has recently said, I now believe in Jesus. It's so amazing, so exciting. You say what's the big difference, more proactive, as simple as that. I, I, hope you will get something out of this and be faithful in evangelism.

The last thing I want to say, is that we should be patient. I think sharing the Gospel today suffers from this hunger, this desire, unhealthy desire to get people to say yes to you as quick as you can. It's almost like a sign of your capability, I'm such an eloquent, gifted evangelist that whoever I speak to within one shot, two shots, die already, like you're a sniper, piang, piang and those who piang very long, like lousy shooters, not necessarily true.

I think evangelism requires patience, I think in the good old days, maybe, if you are living in America 1960s, 1970s, they have a culture that is very familiar with Biblical teaching. People in America would agree and understand what sin is, what God is, what Jesus is, what Bible is, they don't ask many questions along those lines, but when you come to Singapore in 2018, I don't think you can take these things for granted at all, especially when they have never been to church, they will have no idea what sin really is. They have no idea what the Bible really is. So if you want to preach the Gospel and expect everyone to respond to you, just like that after 15 minutes of sharing, I say no, that's not being fair, you got to give them time, you've got to journey with them, you've got to help them fill up the gaps in theology before they can truly repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

Now my personal life in the past year I've shared with someone the Gospel and the person responded in two weeks and by the way it's not because I asked him to respond, he responded to the Gospel at home himself, he got to know the Gospel and said, there,and then I, I, I placed my trust in Jesus, it's great. And there's someone I journeyed with for one year before he would believe.

Wah, pastor, you very jialat know, lousy man, you, one year. It's nothing to do with that, it's about how God works in a man's heart. My job, just to tell, just to point, just to persuade, just to answer as best as I can before God. You got to be patient, as long as someone is keen to find out about the Gospel, I think it, we owe it to the Lord to be faithful to Him to journey with people in the Gospel.

A healthy church is faithful in evangelism, we don't just talk about it, we actually do it. You know one great danger for Gospel Light, I think of the five tests, Word, Gospel, Evangelism, and so on. One of the test I think we are not doing very well in is probably evangelism. Why I say that is well there is a group, there is a this segment of people here who are passionate about God, about the Gospel and you are actively sharing, but maybe a large majority is quite passive about evangelism. You're not thinking very much about it, you're not praying very much about it, you're satisfied to come to church every Sunday, hear a sermon say, I learned something and go back and do nothing for your community God has called you to and I don't think that's healthy at all, the great danger of Gospel Light, I think is that, we can become a Bible club, you know what's a Bible club ?

Your hobby is the Bible, come learn some facts about the Bible, hear some preaching, hear some alligator, crocodile story and yeah, great worship, but we are making no difference where God calls us. If we don't evangelize, we will soon fossilize.

So I think this is where we need to humbly ask God, Lord make me a witness, make this church a witness, make us healthy, let us be faithful in evangelism, not only in the message, the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, but the manner with which we share the Gospel, not to force people, not salesmanship, but patiently lead them to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to do it as regularly as God would have you to do, I think we will be healthy.

One of my examples in preaching, would be the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and gang. Why are they examples to me, because I see what it means to be faithful as a preacher. You know what God gave them, a difficult message to confront the nation of Israel, you guys are sinful, repent, is that an easy message to preach your people, not when everybody doesn't care and actually at the end of their ministry, not many eventually cared. But that's what marks them out as faithful preachers they kept going with the same faithful message, I think that is success.

So guys, here in Gospel Light we're not aiming to be big. I think there's a danger to aim to be big. You start to manipulate, you start to have pressure tactics, you start to have false conversions, I don't think that's a wise thing, but I think we should aim to be faithful and if we preach the Gospel, I think people will be saved, but if people reject it, that's fine, we must do our part to faithfully evangelize.

Are we healthy church ? Are you a healthy Christian ? that's the question for us today.

Let's bow for a word of prayer together. This morning I want to tell you about the Good News, if you're here with us for the first time, you wonder what church is all about I tell you the Bible is about an amazing piece of news. But before I tell you the Good News, here is the bad news, we are all sinners heading for damnation in Hell because God is holy, all sin and all sinners must be judged and what's worse is that there is nothing you can do to save yourself from your sins. All your supposed righteous works in the eyes of God are like filthy rags, but let me tell you, Good News, God gave His Son, Jesus came, some 2000 years ago, so that He may go to the cross and die and pay for your sins.

He had none of His own, but He came to take on your sin, He who knew no sin is made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God. My friends this is the love of God that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. My friends, my Savior did not just die, He rose again the third day, He's victorious over sin and so the message of the Good News sounds out to all the world, repent and believe in the Gospel, because this is God's message of love to all humanity, don't keep on living in sin, turn from your sin, follow Jesus Christ, believe in Him and you will be saved.

I, I plead for you to listen to this message, message, I plead for you to humble yourself that you may be saved from the wrath of God, so please don't just live life like everyone else because one day you will stand before God, the Holy God who must judge sin. And only those who are washed in the blood of the Lamb can stand before Him. Would you today, repent and believe in Jesus Christ. But if you say, I need to know more, I need to understand more, I have questions, hey, would you speak to someone today, would you write in to us and we will be so excited to journey with you, to lovingly, patiently, gently walk with you to know Jesus in your life.

I speak to Gospel Light Christian Church today, brothers and sisters, followers of Jesus Christ, what would your life be if you had lived your entire 60, 70, 80, 90 years and you had never ever told any one else about the Gospel. I'm not asking you to save souls, we can't, but we can tell people the message that can save their souls. Today, I'm reminded of what Paul says, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not ashamed because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.

My friends we can be proud of the Gospel, we can be joyful and excited and faithful in giving the Gospel. That's all God wants you to do today, believe the Gospel, live the Gospel, give the Gospel, that the world may be saved by His grace. May God help Gospel Light to be a Gospel Light indeed. Father we thank You for Your Word, bless it now to each and every heart, may we be obedient, may You be glorified, may this church really be like a lighthouse here in the Northeast part of Singapore, unto the uttermost parts of the world. May You be gracious to save souls today even, to grant repentance and faith to friends who are gathered here and we will be careful to give You the glory. We ask and pray all this in Jesus Name, amen.

 

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