Rev. David Holwick ZK Spiritual Recovery series
First Baptist Church Step 12
Ledgewood, New Jersey
December 2, 2001
2 Corinthians 5:17-20
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Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps,
we try to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice
these principles in all our affairs."
I. Everyone has a story.
A. The recovery movement stresses sharing testimonies.
1) Sometimes it is all they have.
Michael Keaton's movie, "Clean and Sober," ends with him
standing at a podium.
Everything he owns has been blown on cocaine.
Leaflets in his neighborhood announce that he is a murderer
because a young woman overdosed on dope he gave her.
He has embezzled tens of thousands of dollars from
his company, and asked for understanding.
They understood: they fired him.
Through the whole wrenching experience he gained only one
thing - sobriety.
So he stands at the podium to share his story, and get a
cheap 30 day "chip."
#2609
2) They are excited about what God has done for them.
3) Witnessing is best seen as our story about what Jesus has
done for us.
B. My first witnessing experience at a military chapel retreat.
1) I felt nervous, not wanting to be a hypocrite.
2) Officer comes up afterwards and says how meaningful it was
to him. He had been saved, but backslid over the years.
C. Too often witnessing is seen as the memorization of doctrine.
1) We panic because we do not know the two verses for the
third Spiritual Law.
2) Mechanical proselytizing turns people off.
A while back Celeste worked a nightshift at Dover Hospital.
It was a busy night because the staffing was thin.
Celeste took one side of a floor, and a nurse she did not
know took the other side.
Being the kind of person she is, Celeste finished nursing
her patients and went over to help the other nurse.
The other nurse was flabbergasted - almost no other nurse
did this!
She turned to Celeste and asked, "Celeste Holwick - are you
that preacher's wife I've heard about?"
"Yes, that's me."
"Oh. Are you one of those born-again types? My brother
became one a few years ago."
Celeste went on to explain how she viewed being born again.
It is something that God does for us.
The nurse had a quizzical look on her face, then said,
"I'm not a born-again type. I'm an atheist."
Celeste wasn't sure how to respond to this, and soon the
patients began ringing them.
All night long Celeste wondered if she should have been
more forceful with her co-worker.
But in the morning the nurse came up to her again.
"You're not like the other born-again people I know.
All my brother's friends are born-againers, and when I told
them I was an atheist, they came over and pounded me with
their Bibles.
You really seem to be different."
Celeste IS a special kind of person.
But every Christian has obligation to share the gospel.
It's not just our words, because they want to see some
evidence in us.
But once they see the evidence, we have to tell them why
we are this way.
If something real has happened to you, and you really care,
you have to share.
#2610
II. People need to hear.
A. The gospel is not merely a nice option.
1) Many treat religion as a purely private matter.
2) It is a nice compartment, like your political views.
3) God says it is much more. It defines who you are.
"Every Christian - as he ... comes to a deep, abiding faith -
experiences that Christ is the risen one and that he is
therefore the eternally living one.
It is a deep, life-changing experience.
No true Christian can keep it hidden as a personal matter.
For such an encounter with the living God cries out to be
shared - like the light that shines, like the yeast that
leavens the whole mass of dough."
Who said this? Pope John Paul II! #4485
B. People need to hear, because they are alienated from God.
1) Do you believe our sins alienate us from God and people?
2) Do you believe Jesus came to set things right?
C. If we do believe this, we harm people by being quiet.
Louis Pasteur, the pioneer of immunology, lived at a time when
thousands of people died each year of rabies.
Pasteur had worked for years on a vaccine.
Just as he was about to begin experimenting on himself, a
9-year-old, Joseph Meister, was bitten by a rabid dog.
The boy's mother begged Pasteur to experiment on her son.
Pasteur injected Joseph for ten days -- and the boy lived.
Decades later, of all the things Pasteur could have had
etched on his headstone, he asked for three words:
JOSEPH MEISTER LIVED.
Our greatest legacy will be those who live eternally because
of our efforts.
#4452
III. People want to hear.
A. There is a spiritual hunger in our society.
1) Many have looked for fulfillment in all the wrong places.
2) New Age hocus-pocus, Satanism, and even addictions are
often the result of yearning for "transcendence."
3) Death of Beatle George Harrison this week.
He was known as the spiritually-minded Beatle.
He said many people are eager to be rich and famous,
but once he was rich and famous he found out that
didn't make him happy.
Only seeking God brings true happiness.
B. We have to have a heart that sees the hunger and need.
A Baptist deacon was under conviction about his lack of
evangelistic success.
He wanted to be a good witness for Jesus but he felt he
never had any good opportunities.
One day, before taking a business trip, he poured out his
heart to God.
He asked God to give him a sign, a definite leading to
witness to some soul, anyone.
He arrived at the airport and got on his plane.
A husky man sat in the seat next to him.
"How has your day been?" the deacon asked solicitously.
A pained expression came over the heavy-set man's face and
he began to spill out his concerns.
"My wife just left me. I may be laid off soon.
I don't know where to turn!
I've even considered ending it all, but I can't bring
myself to do it.
I was brought up in church but I didn't understand it.
What can I do? Oh, what can I do?"
The deacon sat there stunned, then bowed his head and
prayed, "Lord, give me a sign! Please give me a sign!"
#1382
IV. We should want to tell them.
1) People are compelled by a variety of things.
a) Documentary last night on suicide bombers in Israel.
One of them describes how he strapped the explosives
to his back and walked into a crowded street.
He pushed the button.
The next thing he knows, he is in a clean white room.
It has to be paradise.
Where are his 99 virgins?
The interrogator tries to convince him he is not in
paradise.
Only the detonator went off, not the explosives.
He is injured, but he is going to live ... in an
Israeli jail.
The bomber is not convinced.
He is in paradise and wants his virgins.
The interrogator gives the clincher:
"I am an Israeli. What am I doing in your paradise?"
MSNBC, December 1, 2001
Inside the Mind of Terrorism
2) Since we are so often "compelled" by the wrong things, it
is about time we were compelled by the right things.
a) God's love is more powerful than alcohol or drugs.
1> It is even more powerful than terrorism.
b) It can encourage us to do what we feel inadequate
at, and give us the resources to do it right.
B. It has to happen to us before it can happen to them. 2 Cor 5:16
1) We must be reconciled before we can reconcile others.
2) If we can't share about Jesus, maybe it is because we have
not really accepted him as our savior.
C. Sharing the message keeps us straight.
1) Wilson believed sharing the message was the best way to
stay sober.
"Practical experience shows that nothing will so much
insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with
other alcoholics.
It works when other activities fail."
2) We are reminded of where we came from.
V. Seeking out those who will hear.
A. Early AA went to alcoholic wards, looking for the worst drunks.
B. Jesus also took the initiative.
1) He went where the people were.
2) He approached them, and challenged them to make a decision.
C. God has no voice but our voice.
1) Who could you speak to?
VI. How to witness in a natural way.
#3881
A. Be natural.
1) You don't have to go into "weird" mode.
a) Often our voice takes on a demanding tone.
b) Be conversational.
1> Randy Raysbrook and "salon" conversation group.
2) Invite response. Witnessing is dialog, not monologue.
B. Be open.
1) Include your own struggles and doubts.
2) Listen to what they have to say.
C. Be respectful.
1) We don't have to agree with them, but be respectful.
2) Many people will test you before they will listen to you.
D. Keep it simple.
1) Assume they don't know Bible.
2) Avoid Christian jargon.
a) Use words a non-churchgoer would understand.
E. Remember what you used to be like.
1) They may get crude and rude. You once were, too.
F. Keep at it.
1) Full understanding doesn't sink in right away.
2) Seeds must be planted before germination takes place.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#1382 "You Don't Need A Sign," by Rev. Bill Leconey (personal story),
December 11, 1997.
#2609 "Clean & Sober," movie starring Michael Keaton, 1994.
#2610 "Witnessing By Going the Extra Mile," personal story about Celeste
Holwick by Rev. David Holwick; March 6, 1994.
#3881 "How To Talk About Jesus Without Getting Weird," by Randy
Raysbrook, Discipleship Journal #79, January 1994, page 25.
#4452 "To Illustrate - Evangelism," submitted by Wayne Willis, Online
Leadership Journal (America Online), June 1996, page 64.
#4485 "Reflections: Good News Can't Be Hidden," by Pope John Paul II,
Online Christianity Today (America Online), November 13, 1995.
These and 18,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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