Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / Special Services

Pocket Testament League

Message: The Word: Read it! Love it! Live it! Share it!                                                                                                            Text: Topical, various texts

Show The Pocket Testament League DVD

Introduction: How many of you would be more likely to share your faith with others if you knew exactly what to do, it was easy and you didn’t have to be afraid? Raise your hands.  Great. Because you will all be trained on how to share the Gospel of JC this morning and it could change not only your life but the lives of countless others.

Background: A little background on the Pocket Testament League which was the focus of the DVD we just watched.

A shy teenage girl, Helen Cadbury, started the Pocket Testament League in 1893, She didn’t know how to share her faith, nor did she have great persuasive skills. She found that when her friends would read God’s Word, they would often come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. So Helen started bringing the big family Bible to school, showing it to her friends, who read it, and many came to accept Jesus as their Savior.  (pick up church Bible)

Her dad, of the Cadbury Chocolate family, didn’t want Helen bringing the family Bible to school every day so he had some pocket sized new testaments (show gospel) made and gave them to Helen. 

Her friends sewed pockets on their dresses to carry the Gospels Mr. Cadbury provided and they formed a club. They called it The Pocket Testament League, and to become a member, you would agree to
    •    Read some portion of the bible everyday,
    •    Carry the small Gospel in your pocket, and
    •    Share it with someone as God created the opportunity.
Their the motto was "Read, Carry and Share". And it still is today.  

I have three questions to ask this morning.
1. Are we missing some of God’s greatest blessings?
Helen Cadbury loved her Lord and wanted to see others love him too. Perhaps not even realizing it, she was being obedient to God’s commands in Scripture. What commands?

Read: John 14:21 ‘Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.’

Read: Luke 6:46  ‘Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?’

None of us wants our Lord to say that to us! One of the ways we can demonstrate our love for, and the lordship of, Jesus Christ in our life is by obeying the commission He gave each of us in Acts 1:8  where Jesus declares:

Read: Acts 1:8 ‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
 
Every Christian has the Holy Spirit. Every Christian has Holy Spirit power. Every Christian is a witness for Jesus Christ…even you.

The last verse I want to point to shows us the reward of our obedience to God and His Word. Listen to how clearly God shows us the connection between obedience in sharing our faith with others and blessings from God.

Read: Philemon 6  ‘I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.’

Every good things we have in Christ = blessings from God. When we actively share our faith with others we begin to know, to understand, to experience God’s blessings.

    •    You want to be blessed by God? Start sharing your faith with others.
    •    You want to know why God’s blessings seem to elude you? Ask yourself if you have been disobedient by not being active in sharing your faith with others.

I don’t know about you, but I want God’s blessings. Like Jacob I am willing to wrestle with God for them. But all I really need to do is be obedient to the Word of God and actively share my faith with others.
 
Second Question:
2. What’s keeping us from sharing our faith?
 As Christians, we are members of the largest army in the world—the Army of God.  According to our commander, we are told in Luke 19:10 that the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.  If God sent His Son Jesus to seek the lost, it must be very important. That should tell us something about our commander's priorities for us. 

    •    The question we have to ask ourselves is, ‘Are we in the active army or are we in the reserves?’
 
There are many reasons why we don’t share our faith, and I am going to address three.
 
ILL: Let’s have some fun. In just a minute, I’m going to pretend I had a heart attack and fall on the ground and I’ve only got 5 minutes to live. In this drill, I am not yet a Christian. I’m going to pick one of you to come up and in front of everyone share the gospel message with me. Let me look around for someone to pick. I must have put something really great in the bulletin this morning as a lot of eyes are looking down. 

This illustrates the first and biggest reason we don’t share our faith, because we’re afraid.
 
A. We are afraid
Who is the greatest evangelist to ever live other than the Lord Jesus Christ? Probably the apostle Paul! Well, a great encouragement to all of us should be Ephesians 6:19-20 where Paul prays that he would share the gospel without fear and that God would give him the words to speak.  If Paul was nervous, and had to pray for God to help him overcome his fear, it’s OK for me to be nervous too! It’s OK for me to ask God for help! And as he gave it to Paul, God will help you too.

Transition: Another reason we fail to regularly share our faith is because we believe we are not qualified.

B.  We’re not qualified
Someone once said ‘God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.’  Lets see how he does it.

We already read that God calls us all in Acts 1:8 to share our faith to those around us. In 2 Cor. 5:17-20 we find that God qualifies us to represent him to others.
 
Read: 2 Corinthians 5:17-20a ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us..

If you are a Christian, you are the ambassador for God and his message is forgiveness, reconciliation, peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ. 
 
Transition: Another reason we fail to regularly share our faith is because we often lack real concern for the lost.

C. We lack concern
(Ushers please pass out pens)

I’d like to ask each of you to write down the name of three friends or relatives that you believe do not know the saving grace of our Lord. As you do that I’m going to read a poem that speaks of our responsibility to tell others about Jesus -- not to convince them -- only to tell them.
 
                 My Friend
My friend, I stand in judgment now,
And feel that you are to blame somehow.
On earth I walked with you day by day,
And never did you point the way.
You knew the Lord in truth and glory,
But never did you tell the story.
My knowledge then was very dim,
You could have led me safe to Him.

Though we lived together here on earth,
You never told me of the second birth.
And now I stand this day condemned,
Because you failed to mention Him.

You taught me many things, that’s true,
I called you “friend”, and trusted you.
But I learn now that it’s too late,
And you could have kept me from this fate.

We walked by day and talked by night,
And yet you showed me not the light.
You let me live, and love, and die,
You knew I’d never live on high.

Yes, I called you friend in life,
And trusted you through joy and strife.
And yet, on coming to this dreadful end,
I cannot now call you “My Friend.”
          (author unknown)
 
Make a commitment to share your faith with the people on your list. If they reject it, they are rejecting Christ, not you.  Ask God to fill your heart with love for those without the love of God in their lives.
 
Transition: There are many other excuses people give for not sharing their faith, but using the Pocket Testament League gospels will put all the excuses to rest.
 
3. How can The Pocket Testament League help you?
The answer is that the League will help you share your faith more easily, more often and more effectively. 
 
Let's first talk about the motto of The Pocket Testament League -- Read, Carry and Share.
 
A. Why Read God’s Word?
The first step in sharing your faith is to learn how to love all people as God loves all people.  Reading his Word to know his heart is a great first step.  
 
B. Why Carry God’s Word?
Why should we carry these Gospels of John in our pockets daily? Because you can’t give away what you don’t have.   Having this small gospel in your pocket is a great reminder that if we’re faithful, God will put people in front of us each day that need to hear the gospel message.
 
C. Why Share God’s Word?
 Hopefully, the sermon thus far has convinced you that we are commanded to share our faith. If we’re still not convinced, take a look at Romans 1:16.

Read: Romans 1:16 ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.’

The power of God for salvation is in the Gospel of JC and you can have that power in your pocket every day.

Transition: But you must first be trained, and I did promise you training this morning.

4. Official Pocket Testament League Training

I’d like everyone who can to stand. Pretend you are holding one of these Gospels in your hand. Now extend it out and say to the person on your right, “Here, this is a gift for you.” Now turn to the person on your left and say ‘Here, this is a gift for you’ There, you have just learned how to actively share the Gospel message with others. 
 
Conclusion
Most of us probably came to know Jesus Christ when a friend or someone we knew and respected shared their faith with us. These Gospels come in very handy as we find ourselves in one-on-one situations with friends and relatives. 
 
Each time you hand out one of these Gospels, you need to realize you may be planting a seed of faith, perhaps moving that person one step closer to Jesus Christ. 

(Ushers with Cards)
Before we close in prayer, I want each of you to consider joining The Pocket Testament League. Raise your hand and an usher will give you a membership card. Take 30 seconds to fill it out.  Please remember that by filling this out, you are making it a goal
    •    to Carry these Gospels with you, and
    •    to Share them with people God puts before you. 
 
The first 4 who fill out the card and bring it to me will get a special reward. The rest, please hold on to them and give them to me as you pass through the door on your way to Calvary Café this morning.

    •    Membership is free and the Gospels are free.  There is only a charge for shipping to help defray the costs for the Pocket Testament League.
    •    Once you are members, you can re-order 30 free Gospels a month either online or by phone.
    •    The information is in your bulletin.

Let me leave you with this story.

An older gentleman was walking along the seashore one day in the hot sun. As he walked he was sweating profusely and seemed to be in a hurry! Every few steps he would bend over, pick up a starfish from the hot, burning sands and throw it back into the cool waves.

One after another, after another, after another he would pick the starfish up and cast them into the water. Some would come back to the hot sand as the waves washed them back in while most would eventually go into the deeper waters of safety.

A young man came along, after having watched this for awhile and told the old man, “You are wasting your time and energy. There are thousands of starfish on the sand. What difference can you possibly make?”

The old man seemed to ignore this younger man. He simply bent over, picked up another starfish and threw it into the water. As he quickly moved on to the next one, the old man turned to the younger man and said, “Well, it sure made a difference for that one didn’t it!”

You too can make a difference… When you
Read it! Love it! Live it! Share it!

 
 
 Today’s message is taken in large part from Jim West of The Pocket Testament League.