Sermon nuggets Fri. March 7, 2008
Theme- Witnessing
Verses: John 4:10-25
CEATIVE COMMUNICATION
Jesus had two important ingredients in creative communication; a listening ear and a sensitive spirit. Water is a subject they had in common, but Jesus creatively moves the conversation to her spiritual need. He put the statement in a way that allowed her to ask questions and wants to know more.
When it comes to salesmanship, Dale Carnegie advices to find a common interest in which others are interested. Jesus shared the good news in many situations discussing gardening, fishing, sports, food, and parties. Creative communication is taking what people are interested in and opening the door for inquiry about the Lord. If they are not interested, fine, but someday they may be. The Holy Spirit needs to be the one to convince anyone of their need for Christ. But they first need to hear. Jesus moved the conversation from physical thirst to the spiritual thirst. He showed the real thirst in her life was looking for love that satisfies. She really needed God not another man.
She changed the subject to religion. It is easier to talk about religion than her personal need. She wanted to know about whose religion is the best? Jews or Samaritan? Which is the best mountain to worship on? Sometimes people will change the subject. He saw the deeper need and brought the subject back to the Messiah.
Maybe people are not interested in the gospel. Maybe after telling the importance of following Christ the one we are visiting with is not interested. Jesus had people rejecting his message. We need to be aware that people are not rejecting us they are rejecting Jesus. Rich young rulers went away sad, Judas one of the 12 turned away. There were two thieves on the cross. One wanted nothing to do with Jesus, the other was in paradise. But in order for her to properly respond to Jesus she needed to know. She knew she was a sinner, what she didn’t know is, God could fill the longing of her heart only in receiving Jesus.
I remember a minister telling me what he does in meeting new people. It was helpful. He said he uses the FORM method. First he asks about F-family. That is a subject that is easy to talk about.
Secondly, the conversation moves to O-occupation. What jobs have they worked? What did they like? What is hard about the job? What would they like to do if they changed work? Asking about something they know about encourages sharing.
Thirdly, he inquires about R-Recreation. What hobbies or interests do they have? What do they do for fun? What do they do in their days off? How do they relax? What helps reduce stress?
Lastly, he moves to the M-Message. The Message is Jesus Christ. It might be a follow up with how to relieve stress. It might be to discuss their church or experiences with religion. But often ends up with, “Can I tell you what brings peace to my heart?” or “Can I tell you what is more meaningful than Church?” And since they have told so much about themselves usually he gets a change to share his testimony of what it means to put his faith in Jesus, not just church going.
Dr. James Kennedy recently passed away. I often think of his question to people. “If you were to die and go to heaven and God were to ask you why should He let you in, what would you say?”
Based on their response he asks, “Can I tell you how I would answer that?” and then present the message- We are sinners. Jesus died for your sins to pay the punishment that sin deserves. He rose from the dead and offers us salvation by believing in Him and following Him.
Pastor Dale.
