October 10, 2004, Sunday Morning
Webmaster's Birthday



"Your Greatest Ability" The most effective thing you can do in your life Visiting Pastor Jim Wolf First Baptist Church of Montgomery, Alabama OPENING: Acts 8

---

What is a Christian's greatest ability? Availability

• Matthew 25:14-26: You do no good if you don't utilize and expose your God-given abilities to the world for God's glorification
  
  
• Acts 8: If you're available--like Philip was--you may make an eternal difference in people's lives by giving your best to Jesus Christ as He did for you
  
  
  • Acts 8:5-13: Philip went to Samaria where his preaching of the Gospel saved not only the lost but a sorcerer named Simon
    
    
  • Acts 8:26-39: And when the Spirit told Philip to meet a lost eunuch, Philip ran to help him understand a passage of scripture, leading the eunuch to becoming saved and baptized
  
  
• 80% of success is showing up

FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE CHRISTIAN

#1: BE AVAILABLE

• Matthew 11:25: You don't need to preach like Billy Graham or be as well known as the pope to convey the Gospel to others; simply have the faith that Christ will work through you to say the right words
  
  
• Philip was an outcast of Sumeria but his preaching led to a great revival of the whole city; eternal needs were met
  
  
• Your availability is critical: are you serving General Jesus or gone AWOL (Absent, WithOut Leave)?
  
  
• Some are AWOL because they're scared/scarred or not worshipping (walking with God daily)
  
  
  • SCARED: afraid that by serving God, He'll cheat you or cause you marry an ugly spouse
    
    
    • TRUTH: you will be filled with joy, like Philip when he caused the great revival in Samaria
    
    
  • SCARRED: you may believe Satan's lie of being unworthy to serve God--an unrecoverable loss
    
    
    • TRUTH: 2 Corinthians 5:17: Once you become saved, you're a completely brand new person--your lost forgotten; your eternal future secured
    
    
  • Isaiah 6:5-9: Isaiah declared himself an unworthy sinner, yet when God asked for a volunteer, Isaiah said, "send me" and God did so, without hesitation
    
    
  • The Titanic was built by experts--Noah's Ark was built by amateurs

#2: BE OBEDIENT

• Acts 8:26-30: When the LORD told Philip, "go," Philip "ran" without question; instant obedience
  
  
• John 10:27: You have to be saved to be tuned in to God's voice; the lost cannot hear Him, even if they claim so
  
  
• Matthew 22:37-40: God's greatest commandment is to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" with the second being to "love thy neighbour as thyself"; by following these two, you're effectively following all of God's laws for your life
  
  
• Living in obedience results in not only pleasing God but bringing joy into your own life and greater power to tell others of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19)--a win-win situation

#3: BE CONFIDENT (BOLD)

• Philip not only preached alone (without help of friends), he was in a completely different social class and race; yet, with these differences, Philip still successfully delivered God's message only because God was with him
  
  
• Matthew 28:18-20: QUESTION: Are you bold or cold for helping fulfill the "Great Commission"? (Gospel)
  
  
• Philippians 4:13: No matter your differences with respect to your audience, you can do all things with Christ's strength

#4: BE BIBLICALLY LITERATE

• 2 Timothy 2:15: "Study to shew thyself approved unto God"
  
  
• Acts 8:30-39: Philip was able to help the eunuch understand the scripture he was reading because Philip was trained and equipped--he knew the answer
  
  
  • Isaiah 53: The passage the eunuch was trying to understand originally comes from Isaiah 53--and the person in question is the Lord Jesus
    
    
  • Pastor Wolf claims Billy Graham's wife was saved because of Isaiah 53
  
  
• This Jesus Christ that is described in the Bible over 2,000 years ago is the same One who is alive today, available to save you and guide you to an abundant life (John 10:10)
  
  
• QUESTION: What if this week you cross paths with a secular co-worker who asks you for a Biblical interpretation; will you have had the proper training to be able to answer the question? BE PREPARED FOR SUCH OPPORTUNITIES!
  
  
  • The path to discipleship is through a church's FREE "soul winning" course; click HERE for the complete curriculum from Berean Independent Baptist Church of Alamogordo, New Mexico

#5: SHARE JESUS AND HIS MESSAGE (GOSPEL) WITH OTHERS

• Acts 8:35: Philip won the eunuch over by preaching about Jesus--not because he was able to answer the eunuch's question
  
  
• The focus is NOT on man's solution (i.e., "positive thinking," yoga, diet, antidepressants, psychologists, etc.) but the need for Jesus Christ in your life
  
  
• Share not only the Gospel but how it has changed your life for the better; people inherently want joy and success in their life

CLOSER

---

You must first meet people's physical needs before you can help them meet their eternal needs

A prerequisite to God unlocking your greatest abilities is to become saved; only then can they be nurtured

Be available; life is supposed to be God-centric, not career-centric

When God directs you, be like Philip and make haste to your objective