Featured Outreach ideas that work??

I like that! But what if these folks are not baptist....what if they are tied by heritage to a particular church (like the RCC) in my neighborhood is huge & they could never consider becoming Baptist, that is what we encountered.

 

Ohhhh, wouldnt that be nice...can I bring the beer into church....I would prefer a pub however.:laugh:

 

I just wonder if all Christians would be like Jesus in public (myself included) would we have to resort to going door to door inviting people to church? If everyone knew Christians as were are supposed to be then they would be knocking the church doors down. Is it advertising that makes you go to MacDonalds or is it that they have good food? If Christians were true salt and light we wouldn't have to run around the neighborhood begging people to come to church. IMO

 

What drew the crowds to Jesus?

 

What drew the crowds?

Matthew 7:28-29 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

It was doctrine, doctrine taught with authority.

 

Most were drawn for two reasons, amazement at some of the acts He performed, and the other is some were hoping for a leader to get rid of Roman government and to for their own. Both were wrong.

 

They were drawn to Him seeking healing, and to see miracles take place, and hear Him because of the power that comes with His word. The word always comes with power.

 

The gospel itself is power:
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Miracles and healings never saved anyone.
The rich man wanted Lazarus to go to his brothers that they might be convinced and be saved. What was Moses answer?

Though they see one be raised from the dead they will not believe.
They have the Law and the Prophets, let them believe them.

 

Yes, it is the same power that raised Him from the dead.

 

What percent of the crowd gathered around Jesus because He was the Savior, the Son of God, and they were there to have their sins forgiven, to believe the Gospel, and seeking eternal life? I would say that percentage was very low. There is a difference between loving Jesus because of His sacrifice for us, and seeking Him for what we can get out of Him. One motivation is spiritual, one is worldly. I would say those who were amazed at his supernatural acts did not relate them as a sign He was the Savior, but a curiosity or amazement sort of like we would view a magic act. The others were interested in an earthly king to restore the independence of Israel and stop Roman tyranny.

What was the primary purpose Jesus healed? It was that we might believe. I am sure He had compassion on those suffering, but His purpose here was not to amaze people with supernatural acts, or to take business away from the doctors, or to change the government. His kingdom, as He said many times, is not of this earth. These were signs that pointed to Him as the Savior and Messiah.

The Lord was kind and patient to almost all He encountered despite our lack of understanding. In fact, the only two groups I can recall the Lord getting visibly angry at was the Phariees who should have known better, but were the greatest hypocrites of all. The other group was the money changers trying to make a buck off thehouse of God. They Lord did not even get angry at his Roman executors. In fact, did not one of the Roman soldiers confess Jesus?

More important than why the crowds followed Him back then is why do they follow Him now? After all, back then, while Jesus was on earth, there was no New Testement. We have no excuse. The Gospel is in print, media, video, etc, and is proclaimed every week at least once. What draws us now? Is it a love for the Lord because of what He did for us, a Savior that is worthy of our worship and praise? Or, do we follow Him to have our names on a church roll for whatever reason, a free pot luck, a social club, gossip center, to please our spouse? Are we involved in a ministry for some reason other than love for the Lord, like maybe working our way to heaven? This gets back to the thread of the relation between works and faith.

I cannot be too harsh on the early church crowd, as for all their faults, they did not have the knowledge of the Gospel we do today. And certainly, they took many more risks to their lives for expressing their faith in Christ than we do in America today.

In some ways humanity has not changed from 2000+ years ago. Without a relationship with Jesus, if we bother to seek Him, it is out of some selfish reason. Back then, it might have been the amazement of an act of Jesus, today it might be to get out of a fix we got outselves into.

The bottom line is that praise and worship goes to Jesus Christ. We trust Him to guide us through life, make us more like Him, get us through the rough times, and bring us to glory. Jesus Christ is not an insurance policy, a quick fix, or a magician. He is God.

 

No one said He was an insurance policy, or a magician. And you are right in saying we are to be more and more like Him, doing the works that He did, and greater shall we do.

 

No, you are right. No one said He was an insurance policy. That is from me, how I have lots who show an interest in the Lord pictured. It seems like I have seen tons of people want to come to church, seek the Lord, etc, to get them out of this or that situation, and when it passes, they are never heard from again.

 

So if I try to go and heal people like Jesus did, but am not being successful, what should I do?

 

You keep at it. When you go to pray in your private prayer place, ask God. It is the same as the disciples, unbelief. Could be something in your life is stopping your faith. This is why our walk is faith to faith, grace to grace. If you keep at it in earnest, it will happen. If you don't try, it won't.