Pastor Roy Yamamoto
July 15, 2012 - W1229

Everyone matters to God. The Bible says, "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2 Pet. 3:9)

I’m really grateful that God is and was patient with me after all the mistakes I have made in my life. I really relate to a lot of the people in the Bible with all of their faults. Saul, especially, was really like me. He was a murderer and a sinful person but God knocked him off his high horse and blinded him. Ananias laid hands on him and healed him.

I was a terrible sinful person and while in jail I prayed to the Lord for help and promised Him I would reform. But when I was released I went back to my old ways and ended up in prison again but this time facing a life sentence. But with a lot of support from God and Pastor Elwin Ahu, I was freed again and began serving God.

As a new Christian I was enthusiastic but not confident of my own abilities to personally bring others to Christ. One day I asked Pastor Wayne Cordeiro to pray with a prison inmate we called the “Hammer” but he repeated refused me and told me to do it myself. I was nervous but I did pray with the “Hammer” and he did come to Christ! How the Lord has blessed me and used me tells me that …

Everyone matters to God so EVERYONE should matter to us!

And if everyone matters to us then we should remember that the Bible says, "My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." (Jas. 5:19-20) We all should evangelize and examine why we do not evangelize.

Check your top (3) reasons/excuses why you don't evangelize:

• Fear of being rejected
  "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Phil. 1:21) We should ask ourselves, “What’s the worst that could happen?”
• Don't know how to
  "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses..." (Acts 1:8)
• Fear of losing a friend
  "Whoever does God's will is My brother and sister and mother." (Mark 3:35)
• They have already heard
  "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." (1 Cor. 3:6) Actually, a study showed that it takes hearing the Gospel 7 times before the average person accepts Christ.
• I am just lazy
  "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (Jas. 4:14)
• I don't know enough (of God's word)
  "What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so we may understand what God has freely given us." (1 Cor. 2:12)
• They won't want to talk about it
  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Prov. 3:5-6)
• I can't answer their questions
  "You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4)
• I procrastinate
  "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." (Jas. 1:22)

After I got out of prison, my biggest fear in evangelizing was my lack of education. I was not sure if I knew what to say to people about Christ. One of the first times that I gave my testimony in front of a large group, I could not stop shaking! I think people watching me probably thought I still was on drugs! Afterwards though, 100 men accepted the Lord that day!

So do not fear because it is written, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)

Remember, God used a sinning drug addict criminal like me to bring people to Christ so …

God can use ANYONE, and He wants to use YOU!

As the Bible says, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Eph. 2:10) So let us be a church that works to bring others to Christ.

Study Suggestions

1.  Who matters to God? Why?

2.  Who should matter to us? Why?

3.  Why should we turn a sinner?

4.  Why should we not be afraid of rejection when we evangelize?

5.  Why should we not be worried that they have heard about salvation all before?