What marks a committed Christian

Day 1: We will see Jesus? life on earth and see the example that He has laid for us in Matthew 9:35-38. Now, what marks a committed Christian? There are four marks of a committed Christian: Look backward Look outward Look inward Look upward Mark #1. Look BACKWARD - PATTERN The first mark is a balanced pattern of our Christian life. In Matthew 9: 35, it says that ?Jesus went through all the towns and villages?. This is the first thing that Jesus do, He went to where the people are. He did not sit down and wait for the people to come to where He is, but he actually went to the place where the people are. That is the beginning of being a committed Christian. Jesus sets the example to go to where the people are and find them there. After Jesus find the people, what did He do? Let?s continue to read the verse from Matthew 9:35, ?Jesus went through all the towns and villages?: teaching in their synagogues, preaching the committed news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. Yes, Jesus did not simply find the people and then chat around (i.e., ngobrol di warung kopi, ngrompi ngalur ngidul ha?ha? masih inget bahasa Indonesia yang baik dan benar?) . Jesus went to where the people are to teach them, then to preach. What did he preach? The seven habits, positive thinking or the popular ways of doing things? No! He preached the good news of the kingdom to them. Finally, he heals every disease and sickness. The word ?heal? in this paragraph comes from the word ?theurapheria?. This is where we get the word ?therapeutic?. Jesus has set the example for us to go where the people of the world are, and to teach them. Teaching is something that we do with our HEAD. We have to always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have (I Pet 3:15). Yes, to do this we have to diligently study the Bible, understand our faith, and faithfully and continuously grow in the knowledge of God. Then, we are called to share that good news about our joy, hope and love that we have in our Lord Jesus Christ to the people. This is something that we do with our HEART. After experiencing how we can find happiness, we should be compelled to share the good news with our friends. Finally, to provide therapeutic to mental and physical needs. This is something that we do with our HANDS. There are so many people that are in need. They do not have food, clothing, or shelter. We, Christians, are called to provide for their needs. There are so many people that are sick and need help mentally to support them, financially to help them and prayerfully to ask for God?s intervention. We, Christians are called to meet these needs. There are so many people in the world that are confused, unhappy, empty in their heart and they are just passing day by day with no real purpose in life. We, Christians, are called to show them the way to true significance and happiness. What is the first mark of a committed Christian? It is a balanced PATTERN of our christian life. We are called to be balanced in our HEAD (to teach), our HEART (to share/preach), and our HAND (to provide/heal). We should learn to balance our Christian life. We are not just simply called to do one but not the other. Some of us are good in teaching, but lacking in providing. Some of us are good in providing, yet lacking in sharing/preaching. Do we have a balanced pattern in our Christian life? We should always encourage each other to grow in this area.

The first mark: Look backward - PATTERN. Matthew 9:35 , ?Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the committed news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.? The second mark: Look outward - POTENTIAL Let us continue our reading to the next verse in Matthew 9: 36, ?When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them.? Why did Jesus had compassion on them? Matthew 9:36, ?Because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.? Jesus ?saw? the crowds. The word ?saw? is different than the word ?look?. Jesus could have simply looked at the crowd, but instead He saw the crowd. He saw them for who they are, He saw the inside of them and He saw their very need. He saw that they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd and Jesus had compassion on them. Jesus saw the multitude of people that are lost. A shepherd FEEDS the sheep by the green pasture, PROTECTS and LEADS them in the path that they should go. ?People need the Lord?. The second mark of a committed Christian is to see that people around us do need the Lord. There are so many people in the world that are so unhappy, so empty and so much in pain. We, Christians, have found the answer that brings hope. When, Jesus saw the people, he had COMPASSION on them. Yes, do we have compassion on people that are still looking for God, still looking for something to make their lives worthwhile, still looking for the answers of life, still looking for someone to take away their pain? Now, let us continue our reading: Matthew 9:37, ?Then he said to his disciples, ?The harvest is plentiful ??Yes, that?s the POTENTIAL. The harvest is plentiful. The people that are ready to ready to receive the hope, love, joy and peace in Christ is plenty. In John 4, Jesus said, ?Four months more and then the harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for the harvest.? What do we say? Do we say ? four months more?? or do we say, ?Here I am, Lord! Send me now.?

Day 3: 1. The first mark: Look backward - PATTERN 2. The second mark: Look outward - POTENTIAL 3. The third mark: Look inward - PROBLEM Now that we, Christians, have been called to go where the people are. We teach, we share and we provide for them. We have compassion for them and they are ready to make a change in their lives. They are ready to receive the love, joy, peace and forgiveness of God and start finding true and eternal happiness in Him. Yet, what is the PROBLEM now. The problem is (Matthew 9:37) "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few." Yes, there is not enough workers. What will happen to a harvest if it is not harvested? The harvest will be rotted and moths will start eating the rotten harvest. The third mark of a committed Christian is realizing that there is a problem in harvesting. 4. Finally, the fourth mark: Look upward - PRIORITY. So, now we have the following facts: * Fact #1: People are harassed and helpless, like sheep without shepherd. People are lost. * Fact #2: The harvest is ready and plentiful. People are ready to hear how they can find true and eternal joy, peace, hope and love. * Fact #3: The laborers are few. Therefore, what is the solution? Matthew 9:38. "Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." The solution is to pray. Many churches in trying to get the people to be laborers, the beg and plead using guilty feeling and other mechanism. Jesus actually sets the example, He said that we should ASK the LORD of the harvest. We should ask God for laborers. What should we pray for? We should ask God "to send out" workers into his harvest field. Now what does the word "send out" means. There are many Greek words that are translated into "send out": The word "send out" here means to pick up and throw. When Paul was in a ship that was hit by a storm. The people "send out" their belongings into the sea. The "send out" there means to pick up in a handful and literally to throw them into the sea. We are asked to pray that God will simply pick up a handful of workers/laborers and throw them into the fields to start harvesting. When we actually start praying and asking the Lord to send out workers/laborers, during that time God Himself will start preparing us to be one of the workers. Are we ready to start praying and asking God to send laborers into the harvest field knowing that He will start working in our heart to make us one of the laborers?

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Disclaimer
This material is a summary of the message that was preached by Pastor
O.S. Hawkins at Prestonwood Baptist Church.  The writer of this EBS
(Electronic Bible Study) made some changes and added some personal notes
that is necessary to customize this material into an electronic media, a
daily reading material and to better fit the audience.  The Indonesian
Christian Fellowship at Fort Worth is not affiliated in anyway with
Prestonwood Baptist Church.
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