Sermon Tone Analysis

How long does it take to build a solid trusting relationship with someone?

Does it take a little amount of time or a lot of time?

What if I told you that you had a half hour to get to know a complete stranger and that after that half hour you would be required to make a decision about whether or not you were going to trust that person with your bank account number, your social security number, your credit card information, in fact you would be required to give complete control of all of your finances to that stranger that you have only met and had opportunity to get to know for a miniscule 30 minutes?

Would you be willing to make that kind of commitment?

Would you be willing to trust someone in that way in such a short amount of time?

How long does it take you to share the entire gospel with someone?

Can you share the gospel in 30 minutes?

Is it possible?

Sure.

And after that 30 minutes what do we ask people to do?

We ask them to put their trust in the person of Jesus Christ, for something much more significant that our financial information, we ask them to trust this person with their eternal destiny?

If we would never dream of trusting someone with whom we have only known for 30 minutes with our bank accounts, why do we think it appropriate to ask people to trust Jesus with their souls, in that same amount of time?

Is there a better way to give people the gospel?

Recently I have been reading a book called, Evangelism for the Fainthearted by Floyd Schneider.

And in that book he makes two significant statements that I would like us to consider.

Statement #1-

In our efforts of sharing the gospel with people, the number one, most important thing is the Word of God.

It is the Word of God that is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword- not man’s opinion, not the latest tract, not the latest religious statement on social media.

It is the Word of God that is able to pierce deep down and penetrate soul and spirit and joints and marrow.

It is the Word of God that is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Therefore, our number one priority in giving the gospel should be to get people to read the Bible.

If we can get people to read the Bible with us and get people to think about what the Bible has to say- then the Holy Spirit can do a work in their hearts that nothing else can every hope to do.

The last time you gave the gospel to someone- how much of the time was that person interacting with the Word of God? Did they read the Bible for themselves?

Did they think through the Bible for themselves?

Did the Holy Spirit actually have the time necessary to pierce all the way down to the thoughts and intents of the heart?

Statement #2-

Is there a book of the Bible with the sole purpose of writing, to lead people to the point of placing their faith in the person of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, so that through their belief they might have life through His name?

The answer is rather obvious.

If the this is the express stated purpose of the book of John, and if the Word of God is the quick and powerful tool the Holy Spirit uses to reveal the thoughts and intents of the heart, then what if we asked people to sit down and read the book of John with us in order to lead them to belief in the name of Jesus?

How many chapters are there in the gospel of John?

21 chapters.

How long would it take you to sit down and patiently read through the book of John together?

What if we changed the way we shared the gospel with people.

Instead of cramming the gospel down their throats in 30 minutes, we first sought to build friendships with them, and then asked if they would like to read the Bible with us to see what Scripture has to say.

And then over a period of weeks or months we naturally, patiently, and effectively read the gospel of John together and allowed our friend to get to know who Jesus really is, so that they genuinely are in the position to fully put their trust in Him- so that believing you might have life through His name.

Could you do that?

If an unsaved friend came up to you tomorrow and asked if they could read the bible with you, could you guide them through the Scriptures in order to lead them to a personal relationship with Jesus?

Could you go through a gospel to give your friend the gospel?

What a novel thought?

How would we approach reading John’s gospel differently if our goal was to lead our fiend to Jesus Christ?

Important Principle-

The most important thing when reading the Bible with an unsaved friend is not what you believe the Bible says, but what they believe the Bible says.

Your opinion doesn’t matter.

If all you ever do is give your friend your own opinion then they will come to rely on your authority, instead of the authority of the Word of God.

What matters is what the Bible says, and what your friend believes about the Scripture.

How are you going to read the Bible with them, and at the same time not just give them your opinion about what you think the Bible says?

The answer is to ask lots and lots of questions.

And don’t give them the answers to your questions.

Make them think through the Bible and come up with their own answers.

Is the Bible simple enough for people to read it and understand it for themselves?

Yes, the basics of Scripture are simple enough for a child to understand, so let your friend come to their own conclusions about what the Bible says.

The way you do that is to always be asking questions.

What kind of questions should you be asking?

That is the goal of this series through John.

Our goal is to go through the gospel of John together to get you to think about what kind of questions you should be asking as you seek to lead your friend to faith in the person of Jesus Christ.

I.

The universal problem of comprehension (John 1:1-5)

v. 1- John answers some big questions in these 5 verses.

What major life question does John answer in v. 1? Does God exist?

How does John prove the existence of God in v. 1?

He doesn’t!

He assumes that the reader believes in God’s existence.

Can anyone prove that God exists?

Can anyone prove that God does not exist?

Either view you take requires faith.

Have you ever heard anyone say something like this, “I don’t believe in God, because I haven’t had the experience of meeting him”?

You might ask him in return if he has had the experiences of every person who has ever lived.

The obvious answer is no.

Is it possible that God lay outside of his experience?

An honest person would have to answer yes, it is possible.

Well, I have experienced God, He does lay inside of my experiences.

People need to be aware of assuming that something does not exist just because they don’t know anything about it.

v. 1- Why does John call God the Word?

What is the purpose of words?

We use words to do what?

Communicate something to someone else.

If God is called the Word what does He want to communicate?

Notice the text does not say, “God had the Word,” but “God was the Word.”

What is the difference between those two statements?

If I came to up to Pastor Jason and I said, “I have a word for you,” what would you think I meant?

Probably, that I had a message for to give him right?

But what if I cam to him and I said, “I am the word for you.”

You might put me in a straight jacket.

What is the difference in those two statements?

If I say, “I am the word for you,” I mean that I want you to know what?

I want you to know me personally.

Does God want us to know him personally?

Does God want to communicate Himself to you and to me?

How does God do that?

Can we understand Him?

There are more questions we could ask from v.1- like how can the Word be with God and also at the same time be God Himself?

These are to get you thinking about what kinds of questions you should be asking.

What beginning is John talking about?

Maybe, the beginning of time.

Well, what existed before time?

What existed before anything else existed?

Did God exist then?

Does God have a beginning?

If God was there in the beginning, what does John seem to assume about God?

Where did everything come from?