The Second Coming of Christ

[1]
Acts 3:21 [2]
Acts 3:19–20 [3]
Matthew 24:14
[4]
Matthew 16:27 [5]
John 14:3 [6]
1 Corinthians 15:51
[7]
2 Thessalonians 2:1 [8]
1 Thessalonians 4:17 [9]
1 Thessalonians
4:18
[10]
Hebrews 10:37 [11]
Romans 13:11 [12]
Matthew 24:6–7
[13]
Luke 21:36 [14]
2 Peter 3:4 [15]
Matthew 24:32–33

The Real Need

[16]
Matthew 24:21 [17]
Matthew 24:33 [18]
Mark 13:37
[19]
1 Thessalonians 5:6 [20]
1 John 2:28 [21]
Mark 13:35–36
[22]
Matthew 24:50 [23]
Psalms 75:2 [24]
Matthew 24:36
[25]
James5:8 [26]
1 John 3:2 [27]
Galatians 5:5
[28]
Titus 2:13 [29]
1 John 3:3 [30]
Colossians 3:2–4
[31]
Luke 21:34 [32]
Revelation 3:11 [33]
Matthew 24:44
[34]
Luke 21:34 11 [35]
Mark 8:38 [36]
2 Timothy 2:12
[37]
John 16:33 [38]
Hebrews 9:28 [39]
John 17:19
[40]
Hebrews 9:28 [41]
1 Thessalonians 4:14 [42]
Isaiah 14:24
[43]
Galatians 5:5 [44]
Revelation 22:20

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WHERE ARE WE?
 The two foundational
pillars of the Gateway
ministry are prayer and
outreach with the Good
News. These are
supported with tangible
responses to need

WHY?
3
Because .. people need
the good
news

 But aren’t most Americans

‘born again’ ?
 Don’t most people know
the Bible?
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 Born again?
 Believing that the Bible “is the actual word of
God” - held by 32 per cent of the respondents
 Engaging in evangelism by encouraging a
friend or relative to “believe in Jesus” (done by
52 per cent)

 Having had “a born-again experience”

(experienced by 48 %). 

5
“In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one
can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
John 3:3

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but

whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because he has not believed in the name of God's
one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has
come into the world, but men loved darkness
instead of light because their deeds were evil.”
John 3:18-19

6
 
b)Biblical Illiteracy - Of
nondenominational Christian
churches, Christian pollster George
Barna reports that:

 48% believe Satan is real

 60% say works don’t earn heaven
 63% affirm the sinlessness of Christ
 70% believe the Bible is totally
accurate. 7
The State of the Bible:
6 Trends for 2014

8
1. Bible skepticism is now
“tied" with Bible
engagement

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 2. Despite the
declines
most Americans
continue to be
"pro-Bible."

10
 Among those who say their Bible
3. Distraction and reading decreased in the last year,
the number-one reason was busyness: 40%

busyness continue to report being too busy with life's

responsibilities (job, family, etc.), an

squeeze out the increase of seven points from just one year
ago.

Bible. Other factors Americans cite as reasons for

less time reading Scripture include a
significant change in their life (17%),
becoming atheist or agnostic (15%), going
through a difficult experience that caused
them to doubt God (13%) and seeing that
reading the Bible made very little
difference in someone else's life (8%).

These relatively smaller percentages reveal

that Americans don't often turn away from
the Bible over ideological or emotional
conflicts. Indeed, on the whole Americans
say they want to read the Bible—62% wish
they read Scripture more—they just don't
know how to make time.

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4. The age of screens
has come to stay in the
Bible market.

12
5. Increasingly,
people come to the
Bible for answers or
comfort.

13
6. People are less likely
to link moral decline
with a lack of Bible
reading.

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How we got there

15
 What idols
have held the
church back
from the
‘urgency of
the gospel’? 16
The idol of the
lukewarm
heart may be
the number
one reason
why the
church has
allowed Acts 26:17-18: ‘I am sending you to them
18 
to open their eyes and turn them from
abortion for so darkness to light, and from the power of
long. If Satan to God, so that they may receive
forgiveness of sins and a place among
believers those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
‘
hearts change
from self- 17
Another idol that has held
believers back is the idol of
growth and not maturity. This is
so popular that it is no wonder why
so few share their faith .. it involves
sacrifice, and many in the church
have opted for what we might call
“Christianity lite” (bring them in,
they’ll repent later)

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Maturity really isn’t
an option for these
types of churches.
Without the desire
for maturity, lives
remain shallow.
Shallow lives can’t
meet the challenges
thrown at them by
Satan. Non-focused
2 Cor. 5:11: ‘Because we understand our fearful
lives are unable to
responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others.’
share the gospel
because it isn’t 19
A third heart idol is the idol of ‘comfort’ .
This idol whispers..

a)Why worry about the lost.. if

God wants them saved, He’ll
send them a preacher.
Somebody else will do it
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
13 

saved.

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not
14 

believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have
not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is

15 
20
written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
 - or –
b)I don’t want share the gospel
and be rejected – again!

2 Timothy 3:12: ‘Indeed, all who desire

to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be
persecuted‘

If you live Godly in Christ, Scripture

promises that you will be
persecuted, but you can make a
difference and God will bless your 21
Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, our efforts are mere service, no matter
how loving our intentions:

► Service is not salvation

► Encouraging people to ‘turn over a new leaf’ is not salvation

► Asserting one’s manhood or womanhood, honoring biblical chastity or biblical

marriage is not salvation because these things, although very important, are not a
substitute for the finished work of Christ on the Cross.

22
- or –Once they come into our
church, we’ll tell them what we
believe
c)Matthew 28: 19-20 “Go therefore
and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even
to the

end of the age.” 23

d) I don’t have the time to witness
(we have time for other things!)

24
A fourth heart idol is the
idol of ‘change’ This idol
whispers..

“They need to be reformed,

they need to change their
attitude, and I can help
them!”

What they need is..

TRANSFORMATION,
NOT REFORMATION
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Right thinking on the issues we deal with is not salvation – no matter
how many sonograms we do, videos we show or biblical truths on
chastity we share – these cannot by themselves convert the sinful human
heart; only God’s Grace revealed in the gospel can do this.

Denying ourselves for others is not salvation – I Corinthians 13:3 –

giving our possessions, our money or ourselves to a cause cannot earn
us salvation, BUT, they can lead us from salvation if we don’t recognize
that it’s Christ alone, not our works, that removes the penalty of sin.

Sacrifice is not salvation- The prolife movement is a great cause-

probably the single most important issue facing the modern church, yet,
living for or even dying for the prolife movement – yes, the babies is not
salvation -because discipline and sacrifice and suffering don’t cleanse-
from sin.

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Unless our passion is to share His simple gospel of grace, focusing not on
behavior but on the real need of the heart, relying on the Holy Spirit for our
strength and guidance, we’ll tire and even grow discouraged or worse yet,
cynical and judgmental, like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.

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 What is
desperately needed

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Focus on the Real
Need

Personal action
29
Our focus should not be these failings and how we can rehabilitate
people, but a focus on encouraging men and women to allow God to
enrich their soul, which transforms their life and leads to a stability and
purpose seen over many years.

Our focus should not be on opposing something (abortion) but on

lifting up Someone needed by all (Jesus Christ)

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WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE CAN LEARN FROM
TODAY?

1. Man is a sinner
2. God loves you and me
3. Christ died on the cross and
was raised from the dead for
you and me
4. We need to personally trust Him
to take away our sins; then, he
can help us live the life he
planned for us.. It’s never too
early or too late!
What witnessing is Not
Changing a person’s outlook on life or the church

Helping people love God more, but not to see

that they need to be ‘born again’

Helping people reform bad habits

Sharing your testimony

Painful and demanding

Memorizing a script

Refusing to use any tools at all but simply

caring about the person and showing love 32
33
Mans Character : Sinful
Nature
 
Romans 3:23  ‘for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God’

We “miss the mark”

How?
1. Lying
2. Taking things
3. Saying mean things
4. Not loving people
5. Fighting
6. Ignoring God 34
Romans 6:23  ‘For the
wages of sin is death, but
the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord.’

35
Gods Character: Love
 
John 3:16  For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting
life.

36
Action By God -at the
Cross

Romans 5:8  ‘but God

shows his love for us in
that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for
us.’

37
Mans Response :

Acts 16:31  ‘And they said,

“Believe in the Lord Jesus,
and you will be saved, you
and your household.’

38
Romans 10:9 ‘..if you
confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord and
believe in your heart that
God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved.’

39
Romans 10:10 ‘For with the
heart one believes and is
justified, and with the
mouth one confesses and
is saved.‘

40
Maybe it’s time to pray!
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(Prayer is talking with God)

God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your

words as He is with the attitude of your heart – do you really
mean it?

The following is a suggested prayer:

"Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for
dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and
receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving
me of my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the
throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to
be." Did you pray this prayer?
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I John 5:12-13: ‘Whoever has the
Son has life; whoever does not
have the Son of God does not
have life. I write these things to
you who believe in the name of
the Son of God so that you may
know that you have eternal life.’

The purpose of
Jesus coming to
earth

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 So, why share??

COMMANDED GRATEFUL

44
 We are commanded
1 Peter 3:15-16 Always be prepared to give an answer to
everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that
you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a
clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against
your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their
slander.

2 Timothy 1:7-8“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity,

but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not
be ashamed to testify about our Lord...”

45
Psalm 71: 16-18 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O
Sovereign LORD; I will proclaim your righteousness, yours
alone. Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this
day I declare your marvellous deeds. Even when I am old and
gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the
next generation, your might to all who are to come.

Psalm 96:2-3 Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his
salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvellous deeds among all peoples.

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 We are grateful

Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is

the power of God for the salvation of everyone who
believes..

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood,

a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may
declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness
into his wonderful light

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