Winning Souls through Prayer
- Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned.Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the world. Amen.The Church needs a clear and focused vision – to go out and preach the Good news, to give life to someone who would otherwise perish if they have not heard about and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
The time is now – we must start sharing the Word and along the way, simultaneously learn how to handle and sort out our internal issues. Our children must learn values at an early age, so that they can then get ready to share the word when their time comes.
There is a story told about a family in South Africa; the father chose a few poor kids and gave his own children some money and the responsibility of buying these kids Christmas gifts. As it turned out, when they went into a store to buy the gifts, one poor boy bought a doll for his sister who was not chosen to be a recipient, even though this meant that he forfeited his own gift. This value of pure selflessness needs to be embedded into our children so that some time in the future, they become a selfless generation, ready to make a difference in the World through the Good News.
Characteristics of a growing Church.
- The church will be committed to PRAYER.
Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer and doing the will of the Father.
These verses in John 4:34-38 speak of the sower and reaper – both will gather fruit to life eternal and may rejoice together. Prayer (Sowing) is hard work and thus, Ministry (Reaping) is gathering the fruits of the labor. Jesus was committed to preach the good news and he was committed to prayer.
Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people
- The church will have PASSION to save the lost.
Jesus had a passion to save the lost, The verses in Luke 9:10-11 speak of Jesus receiving the crowd that followed Him to Bethsaida and sharing the Kingdom of God with them. We need to accept all sorts of people into the Church without differentiating. This can arise only from a passion to save lost souls. The Apostle Paul had a great concern for the Jewish people and was troubled that many of them were against the Gospel (Romans 9:1-3).
In conclusion, we are in the secure place, but the world is not. We have to have restlessness in us to share the Word.
This message was preached by Wellington Gomes on 23rd October 2016
