- You are a lifeline to someone
- Your witness could be their last call
“16 Jesus replied: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17 At the time of thebanquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’18 “But theyall alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Pleaseexcuse me.’ 19 “Another said, ‘I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I’m on my way to try them out.Please excuse me.’ 20 “Still another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ 21 “The servant came back andreported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, ‘Go outquickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.’ 22“‘Sir,’ the servant said, ‘what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.’ 23 “Then the master told hisservant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full.”Luke 14:16-23 (NIV)
GOD IS A GOOD GOD
“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
John 10:11 (KJV)
“The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.”
Romans 2:4 (KJV)
“When we were utterly helpless, with no way of escape, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners who had no use for him.”
Romans 5:6 (Living)
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, andhealing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Acts 10:38 (KJV)
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.”
Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household offaith.”
Galatians 6:10 (KJV)
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8 (KJV)
- The goodness of God was demonstrated through healing the sick
- The Lord continues to demonstrate his goodness today through the body of Christ
THE GREAT COMMISSION
“15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He thatbelieveth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Mark 16:15-18 (KJV)
“The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
John 6:63 (KJV)
PAUL STANDS BEFORE KING AGRIPPA
“12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun,blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up andstand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God,so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’”
Acts 26:12-18 (NIV)
- The Lord has appeared to you
- The Lord has appointed you
- The Lord is sending you
THE WITNESS
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses.”
Acts 1:8 (KJV)
“31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.”
John 3:31-32 (KJV)
“19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:19-20 (KJV)
“For thou (Paul) shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.”
Acts 22:15 (KJV)
“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
1 John 1:3 (KJV)
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see.”
Matthew 11:4 (KJV)
YOU’RE CALLED TO DO 3 THINGS AS HIS WITNESS:
- Open their eyes
- Turn them from darkness into light
- Deliver them from the power of satan to God
“And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years,be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?”
Luke 13:16 (KJV)
ARE YOU QUALIFIED?
“And these signs shall follow them that believe.”
Mark 16:17 (KJV)
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses.”
Acts 1:8 (KJV)
“But the people who know their God shall be strong and do great things.”
Daniel 11:32 (LIVING)
“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”
2 Chronicles 16:9 (NLT)
“12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greaterworks than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in myname, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I willdo it.”
John 14:12-14 (KJV)
“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.”
2 Corinthians 5:19 (KJV)
WE LIVE IN A SIGHT AND SOUND GENERATION
“Then said Jesus unto him, except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.”
John 4:48 (KJV)
“And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.”
John 6:2 (KJV)
“So they said to him, “Then what miraculous sign will you perform, so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? “
John 6:30 (NEB)
DO MIRACLES MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE’S DECISIONS FOR CHRIST?
“What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”
John 2:11 (KJV)
“Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.”
John 2:23 (KJV)
“46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live. ”The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living.52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in theafternoon, the fever left him.”53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus hadsaid to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed.”
John 4:46-53 (KJV)
“Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.”
John 11:45 (KJV) PRAYER FOR BOLDNESS
“29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they mayspeak thy word, 30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”
Acts 4:29-31 (KJV)