Big Mouth For Jesus
Has anyone ever told you that you have a big mouth? Some probably more than others I would imagine. I get told that all the time. Ryan, you have such a big mouth!!! Not necessarily a big mouth in the way of telling secrets, but, man, I’m just plain loud. I like to make my presence known! You know when you go out to eat, you’re sitting there quietly with your spouse having a pleasant conversation; ok so really you’ve got the kids with you and their being really loud. But then all of the sudden, the hostess seats someone 3 tables over and it’s a guy who’s talking louder than all of the other people in the restaurant combined, including the kids! Chances are that guy was probably me…I know I’m loud, I’m working on it! But in all seriousness, how many times do you see people like that? They’re all over, laughing and carrying on conversations that you can’t help but overhear about John and Susie’s relationship, what sport his kid excels at, or how crummy his job is.
Today, it’s the idea of the Big Mouth that I want talk about. Our Scripture for the morning is going to be Acts 2:14-41. This passage is a long section, longer than I usually choose, but this passage is very relevant in what we are talking about today. If you would, please read along with me.
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “ ‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
22 “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:
“ ‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
29 “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.” ’
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
This whole passage is known more commonly as the “First Christian Sermon”. Of course Jesus preached sermons, but this was the first time it was preached by someone other than the Son of God. Of all people, it was Peter who was the one preaching it. Knowing Peter’s history, he’s pretty good and fluffing himself up, talking a good game, but the evidence is that he denied Jesus 3 times the night of his trial. Now here we are, Jesus has restored him, they have the power of the Holy Spirit, and Peter is up in front of thousands of Jews accusing them of murdering God’s Son. Whoa. What a turn around that was! That’s a good way to get yourself crucified!!! Now Peter not only has a big mouth, but he’s got one that is proclaiming Jesus!
In today’s world, we are all too quick to gossip about the latest scoop on a celebrity gone wrong, what the neighbors were fighting about the other day or how our spouse came home in a sour mood yesterday. We love to complain about politics, the schools in the country our how the world is going to Hades in a hand basket. But the real issue is, what are we doing about those problems?
As evidenced by Peter himself here, we need to be turning our sometimes-big mouths into ones that are for Jesus; ones that very well might get us into trouble. Peter was faced with the very loss of his life if the Jews rejected what he said. What are the consequences of our speaking up? Will you lose your life over it? Probably not. You might get rejected, ridiculed, razzed, or even persecuted. At worst you could lose your job, but nowadays that’s quite illegal.
So, the first part to growing a big mouth for Jesus is to be brave and open up. Become vulnerable by talking about Jesus…he made himself vulnerable to the point of being tortured and maimed on a cross…for you. We can at least talk about him. Living our lives for Jesus will only get half the battle won. Have you ever been to a funeral where no one was too sure whether the deceased was a believer or not? The simple fact was, they didn’t talk about it. In order for Jesus to be known, we have to talk.
What do we do next? How does this process work? Maybe the issue isn’t bravery, but it’s unclear how to go about sharing Jesus. Well today, I’m gonna help with that.
If being brave is first, the second step is to form a relationship with someone new or work within the ones you have. The whole key is the word relationship. It’s what Jesus is all about. Jesus knows you, he loves you and he wants a relationship with you, not just praise and worship (which are vital might I add), but he wants to have an open relationship where the two of you communicate. That’s what he wants for you to do with others. That is how we ‘love’ our neighbor. Form the relationships with them to build the rapport. Most people won’t take what you say seriously until they know you. Peter is preaching to a group of Jews who most probably already know who he is.
The third step is once you have built up the relationship, share your testimony. There is nothing better than first-hand knowledge of what Jesus has done for you. What is your story? How did you come to Christ? Who was the first person to introduce you to him? What were the circumstances surrounding your decision? How long did it take for your to accept the message of salvation? Answer all of these questions and give your story. People relate with personal testimony. Even though this is pure speculation, I have no doubt within me that somewhere within Peter’s sermon here in Acts (which is an abbreviated version; it can be read in about 3 minutes, in those days they had a tendency to preach for hours) Peter gave personal testimony as to his experience of what Jesus has done for him.
Now, this fourth step can be a touch tricky. It has to do with the use of the Scriptures. The example here in Acts 2 for today is being preached to the Jews, so it is vital that OT Scripture is used to prove the prophecy of Christ. If we are witnessing to someone who is familiar with the Scriptures, this is VITAL to use prophetic Scriptures such as Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Genesis 3:15 and so on. However, if we are witnessing to someone who is not familiar with the Scriptures, we’re going to want to use Scripture that encourage like John 3:16, Jeremiah 1:5, John 14:6, Acts 2:38-39. You see, someone who does not know the Scriptures will not necessarily hold the Bible high like we do, so it will carry less weight on the authority end. We have to build that up in them. They will be swayed more by personal testimony than Scripture. Peter does a fantastic job here of quoting Scripture relevant to his audience: Joel 2:28-32, Psalm 16:8-11, and Psalm 110:1.
The fifth step is to share what Jesus' purpose was. Who for, why he came, where he came from and was intended for us to go, when did he accomplish this, for what purpose does Jesus have for us, and finally, how he accomplished it. Most the relevant questions about Jesus purpose lies in these questions.
Immediately to go with the previous step sorta like step 5b, is to encourage questions and have the word in your heart ready to be put into action. Now the problem is the time between steps 5 and 6 is an undetermined amount of time. Steps 1-5 might have to be repeated depending on how strong against the message of Christ the person is. Here’s an example.
I have a friend that for the purpose of the sermon (for confidentiality sake) we’re gonna change his name. I’ll refer to him as Richard. Richard has an amazing story. Richard and his entire family were agnostic/atheist. He was hounded in junior high and high school by a couple different kids he called “Bible Thumper’s”. He was cordial, just acted not interested…because in reality, he wasn’t. Later on in College, he studied Math and Science and he was pretty hard-nosed against the idea of the existence of God. Low and behold, a classmate of his shared Jesus with him repeatedly. After a while, Richard told this guy where to go, I mean he was rude. It wasn’t until after he had graduated and lost contact with this man that he finally opened up to the idea of Christ. He finally accepted the message of Christ. It took another several years for him to get geared up enough to take his faith very seriously, but the point is, the seeds had been planted years earlier and needed time to grow. Unfortunately, this guy didn’t get to see the end result of Richard accepting Christ, because the two grew apart and lost contact.
What I am trying to say is, do not get discouraged if your efforts are not met with immediate fruit. Patience when sharing Jesus is key. Sometimes, like for Richard, it takes 20 years for those seeds to actually see growth.
The sixth and final step is discipleship. Now, this subject could be a sermon or two or six in and of itself. There is so much involved in this process. It is something that once we accept Christ, never ends. We continue the process of learning, which is what Discipleship is all about; teaching and learning about Christ. There are many tools; as a matter of fact, 12 pointed out by Richard Foster in his book, Celebration of Discipline, prayer, fasting, meditation, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. These are the tools we need to utilize if we want not only to remain in a relationship with Christ, but to build on it and share it with others.
Do you remember those Big Mouth Billy Bass? The one that sings, “Don’t Worry Be Happy”, “Pretty Fishy”, and “Take Me to the River”? Those things were so annoying they were lovable. We wore ours out in a week. It didn’t last.
Are you so annoying that you’re lovable when it comes to talking about Jesus? Have you grown that Big Mouth for Jesus? Don’t just be a Big Mouth, Be a Big Mouth for Jesus! Being a Big Mouth for Jesus can make someone's life change course...maybe not now, but somewhere down the road, your seeds just may affect them. My friends, follow these steps outlined by Peter and you’ll have one of those Big Mouths bringing people to Jesus.
Where are you at in your walk with Jesus? Are you still in the first 5 steps, or are you working step 6 currently? If you have not accepted Jesus, please, do not hesitate any longer. Today is the day to give your life to him. Seek out a minister in your area and ask him about baptism today. Invite Jesus to dwell with you and committ to following him.
If you are perhaps one of the millions in the world who are working in step 6 right now, maybe you need a recommittment too. Is your heart heavy with pain or frustration? Once again, seek out a minister for some spiritual counseling. Give your life to Jesus in recommittment every day. Each and every day is a chace to renew yourself with Jesus. Make today your day. May God Bless you.
Today, it’s the idea of the Big Mouth that I want talk about. Our Scripture for the morning is going to be Acts 2:14-41. This passage is a long section, longer than I usually choose, but this passage is very relevant in what we are talking about today. If you would, please read along with me.
14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “ ‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
22 “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:
“ ‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will live in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’
29 “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,
“ ‘The Lord said to my Lord:
“Sit at my right hand
35 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.” ’
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
This whole passage is known more commonly as the “First Christian Sermon”. Of course Jesus preached sermons, but this was the first time it was preached by someone other than the Son of God. Of all people, it was Peter who was the one preaching it. Knowing Peter’s history, he’s pretty good and fluffing himself up, talking a good game, but the evidence is that he denied Jesus 3 times the night of his trial. Now here we are, Jesus has restored him, they have the power of the Holy Spirit, and Peter is up in front of thousands of Jews accusing them of murdering God’s Son. Whoa. What a turn around that was! That’s a good way to get yourself crucified!!! Now Peter not only has a big mouth, but he’s got one that is proclaiming Jesus!
In today’s world, we are all too quick to gossip about the latest scoop on a celebrity gone wrong, what the neighbors were fighting about the other day or how our spouse came home in a sour mood yesterday. We love to complain about politics, the schools in the country our how the world is going to Hades in a hand basket. But the real issue is, what are we doing about those problems?
As evidenced by Peter himself here, we need to be turning our sometimes-big mouths into ones that are for Jesus; ones that very well might get us into trouble. Peter was faced with the very loss of his life if the Jews rejected what he said. What are the consequences of our speaking up? Will you lose your life over it? Probably not. You might get rejected, ridiculed, razzed, or even persecuted. At worst you could lose your job, but nowadays that’s quite illegal.
So, the first part to growing a big mouth for Jesus is to be brave and open up. Become vulnerable by talking about Jesus…he made himself vulnerable to the point of being tortured and maimed on a cross…for you. We can at least talk about him. Living our lives for Jesus will only get half the battle won. Have you ever been to a funeral where no one was too sure whether the deceased was a believer or not? The simple fact was, they didn’t talk about it. In order for Jesus to be known, we have to talk.
What do we do next? How does this process work? Maybe the issue isn’t bravery, but it’s unclear how to go about sharing Jesus. Well today, I’m gonna help with that.
If being brave is first, the second step is to form a relationship with someone new or work within the ones you have. The whole key is the word relationship. It’s what Jesus is all about. Jesus knows you, he loves you and he wants a relationship with you, not just praise and worship (which are vital might I add), but he wants to have an open relationship where the two of you communicate. That’s what he wants for you to do with others. That is how we ‘love’ our neighbor. Form the relationships with them to build the rapport. Most people won’t take what you say seriously until they know you. Peter is preaching to a group of Jews who most probably already know who he is.
The third step is once you have built up the relationship, share your testimony. There is nothing better than first-hand knowledge of what Jesus has done for you. What is your story? How did you come to Christ? Who was the first person to introduce you to him? What were the circumstances surrounding your decision? How long did it take for your to accept the message of salvation? Answer all of these questions and give your story. People relate with personal testimony. Even though this is pure speculation, I have no doubt within me that somewhere within Peter’s sermon here in Acts (which is an abbreviated version; it can be read in about 3 minutes, in those days they had a tendency to preach for hours) Peter gave personal testimony as to his experience of what Jesus has done for him.
Now, this fourth step can be a touch tricky. It has to do with the use of the Scriptures. The example here in Acts 2 for today is being preached to the Jews, so it is vital that OT Scripture is used to prove the prophecy of Christ. If we are witnessing to someone who is familiar with the Scriptures, this is VITAL to use prophetic Scriptures such as Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Genesis 3:15 and so on. However, if we are witnessing to someone who is not familiar with the Scriptures, we’re going to want to use Scripture that encourage like John 3:16, Jeremiah 1:5, John 14:6, Acts 2:38-39. You see, someone who does not know the Scriptures will not necessarily hold the Bible high like we do, so it will carry less weight on the authority end. We have to build that up in them. They will be swayed more by personal testimony than Scripture. Peter does a fantastic job here of quoting Scripture relevant to his audience: Joel 2:28-32, Psalm 16:8-11, and Psalm 110:1.
The fifth step is to share what Jesus' purpose was. Who for, why he came, where he came from and was intended for us to go, when did he accomplish this, for what purpose does Jesus have for us, and finally, how he accomplished it. Most the relevant questions about Jesus purpose lies in these questions.
Immediately to go with the previous step sorta like step 5b, is to encourage questions and have the word in your heart ready to be put into action. Now the problem is the time between steps 5 and 6 is an undetermined amount of time. Steps 1-5 might have to be repeated depending on how strong against the message of Christ the person is. Here’s an example.
I have a friend that for the purpose of the sermon (for confidentiality sake) we’re gonna change his name. I’ll refer to him as Richard. Richard has an amazing story. Richard and his entire family were agnostic/atheist. He was hounded in junior high and high school by a couple different kids he called “Bible Thumper’s”. He was cordial, just acted not interested…because in reality, he wasn’t. Later on in College, he studied Math and Science and he was pretty hard-nosed against the idea of the existence of God. Low and behold, a classmate of his shared Jesus with him repeatedly. After a while, Richard told this guy where to go, I mean he was rude. It wasn’t until after he had graduated and lost contact with this man that he finally opened up to the idea of Christ. He finally accepted the message of Christ. It took another several years for him to get geared up enough to take his faith very seriously, but the point is, the seeds had been planted years earlier and needed time to grow. Unfortunately, this guy didn’t get to see the end result of Richard accepting Christ, because the two grew apart and lost contact.
What I am trying to say is, do not get discouraged if your efforts are not met with immediate fruit. Patience when sharing Jesus is key. Sometimes, like for Richard, it takes 20 years for those seeds to actually see growth.
The sixth and final step is discipleship. Now, this subject could be a sermon or two or six in and of itself. There is so much involved in this process. It is something that once we accept Christ, never ends. We continue the process of learning, which is what Discipleship is all about; teaching and learning about Christ. There are many tools; as a matter of fact, 12 pointed out by Richard Foster in his book, Celebration of Discipline, prayer, fasting, meditation, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. These are the tools we need to utilize if we want not only to remain in a relationship with Christ, but to build on it and share it with others.
Do you remember those Big Mouth Billy Bass? The one that sings, “Don’t Worry Be Happy”, “Pretty Fishy”, and “Take Me to the River”? Those things were so annoying they were lovable. We wore ours out in a week. It didn’t last.
Are you so annoying that you’re lovable when it comes to talking about Jesus? Have you grown that Big Mouth for Jesus? Don’t just be a Big Mouth, Be a Big Mouth for Jesus! Being a Big Mouth for Jesus can make someone's life change course...maybe not now, but somewhere down the road, your seeds just may affect them. My friends, follow these steps outlined by Peter and you’ll have one of those Big Mouths bringing people to Jesus.
Where are you at in your walk with Jesus? Are you still in the first 5 steps, or are you working step 6 currently? If you have not accepted Jesus, please, do not hesitate any longer. Today is the day to give your life to him. Seek out a minister in your area and ask him about baptism today. Invite Jesus to dwell with you and committ to following him.
If you are perhaps one of the millions in the world who are working in step 6 right now, maybe you need a recommittment too. Is your heart heavy with pain or frustration? Once again, seek out a minister for some spiritual counseling. Give your life to Jesus in recommittment every day. Each and every day is a chace to renew yourself with Jesus. Make today your day. May God Bless you.
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