Moving Waters or Moving Saints (Pt. 2)

John 5:1-9 (NASB)

1After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters; 4for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. 5A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said* to him, “Do you wish to get well?” 7The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8Jesus said* to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.

Now it was the Sabbath on that day.

 

I want to use a term from Geometry and since some of us have been away from our school desk a long time, I’ll remind us of its meaning.  The term is “radius” and in Geometry it refers to the distance from the center of a circle or sphere to the circumference or surface of that circle. 

 

If we use this facility as the center and the dwelling of the person attending here who lives farthest from this facility that would probably indicate the ministry radius of Point Assembly.  It would suggest that we have the ability to reach everyone within the circle formed by those two reference points.

 

If that radius is determined to be 10 miles—10 miles north, 10 miles south, 10 miles west, and 10 miles east--then according to statistics from the U.S. Census for the year 2000…

  • It would reach south from New Natchitoches Road and north to Randys Drive.  It would span the distance west from Wade Road and east to Moon Lake Road.
  • It would contain some 12,866 homes or 34,048 people.
  • The average or median age of this population is 35.2 years.
  • 41.3% are households with persons under 18.
    • 75.1% of those children live with married parents
    • 13.8% of those children live with single mom
    • 4.2% live with single dad
    • 4.8% of those children live with grandparents.  The number of children living with grandparents in the US increased from 2.2 million to 4.5 million between 1970 and 2000.  That is an increase of 105%. 
    • 1.0% live with another relative
    • 1.1% live with a non-relative
  • 58.7% contain no households with persons under age 18.
  • 20.6% contain persons 65 or older.

 

The population for this same area is expected to reach…

  • 37,536 by year 2007 (a 9% increase) and
  • 40,334 by year 2012 (a 15.6% increase). 

 

Let’s guesstimate the current population to be 35,000 people. 

  • 2450 are under 5 years of age.
  • 2695 are between 5 to 9 years of age.
  • 2800 are between 10 to 14 years of age.
  • 2555 are between 15 to 19 years of age.
  • 2030 are between 20 to 24
  • 4865 are between 25 to 34
  • 5880 are between 35 to 44      14,385 from 25 to 54
  • 4690 are between 45 to 54
  • 1820 are between 55 to 59
  • 1575 are between 60 to 64
  • 3675 are between 65 years and over.

 

The median age is 35.5 years.

 

The average family in our area consists of three (3) people with an annual income of $42,000.  They live in an $84,000, 6 room home that was built in the late 70’s or early 80’s and has a mortgage on it.  They are paying for 2 cars and working to pay off $10,000 of credit card debt with an interest rate of 20%. 

 

So, what’s the big deal?  What are you getting at?

 

If national statistics are applied to these people, more than 58% of them are facing a Christless eternity.

 

I know, there are growing congregations in our area, but they can usually be traced to other congregations that are experiencing declining attendance.  In other words, congregations are growing, but at the expense of other congregations; they’re merely shifting saints around.  Congregation “A” may increase in attendance, but aggregate or collective attendance is static or remains the same.  For the most part, unreached unchurched people in our area are relatively safe.  I say it’s time that we change that!

 

How?  What can we do to effectively reach the lost in our area?

 

First, and it’s what I’ve attempted to do tonight, we must see the need.

 

Of the 34,048 people living within a 10 mile radius of us only 42% or 14,300 will claim to have attended church this Sunday.  This means that 58% or approximately 6 out of every 10 people within reach of us do not attend church once during the week.  Translate this into breathing human beings and there are 19,748 souls who are not being reached by any Church in our 10 mile radius.

 

The population of Farmerville is less than 19,748, but McDonalds’ went after the existing 8,000 or so potential customers by building a restaurant there.  Surely, 19,748 souls are as valuable as 8,000 potential fast food customers.

 

I’m not foolish enough to believe that we can reach all of the 19,748, but I do believe we can reach some of them. 

 

If we reach 1% or 1 out of every 100, we are talking about 197 souls. If we reach .5% or 1 out of every 200, we are looking at 99 souls.

  • 2% is 395 souls
  • 4% is 790 souls
  • 5% is 987 souls
  • 10% is 1,975 souls
  • 15% is 2,962 souls
  • 25% is 4,937 souls

 

Surely, we can believe God for a tithe of the unreached population of our area?  Perhaps someone here will get a vision of 19,748 people who need Jesus.  They aren’t in Africa or South America, they are our neighbors, our school mates, family members and co-workers.

 

 

Second, we must seek the lost.  Jesus went to where the lame man was.  Who do you know that needs Jesus?  A family member?  A close friend?  The person who lives next door to you?  The young couple that just went through a miscarriage?

  • Begin by praying for them. 
  • Be a friend to them. 
  • Develop a genuine relationship with them. 
  • Get involved in their life and get them involved in yours.
  • Have them over for dinner or to play games.
  • Take them fishing or go fishing when they ask you.
  • Show a genuine interest in their wellbeing.

 

TRANS: Not only must we see the lost and seek the lost…

 

Third, we must live and speak to the lost.   This means we must believe that faith in Christ’s finished work is the answer to man’s greatest need.  We must love people enough to obtain the right to speak to them about their relationship with God and then speak to them about Christ. 

 

Fourth, Christ must have access to the lost through every area of our life.  Draw a circle that represents the circumference of your life and then slice it up according to the various aspects of your life.  How big of a slice would go to work, to family, to recreation, to Church, to socializing, and so on.  Does God have access to the lost through these areas of your life?  IF not, why not?  If not, what do you need to do to give HIM radial control?  If we are going to reach the world, then Jesus must have access to that world through every part of our life:

  • Our social life
  • Our family life
  • Our recreational life
  • Our professional life
  • Our occupational life

 

Fifth, we must be willing to finance the cost.  AOL spends millions of dollars distributing unwanted CD’s via magazines and mailboxes.  Purchasing and distributing DVD versions of The Passion or graphic presentations of the gospel costs money.  Hosting concerts and family clinics is expensive.  We must be willing to go beyond our tithes and invest in reaching the lost.

 

Conclusion

 

If we’re going to do more than stir the water, then we must…

  • See the Lost
  • Seek the Lost
  • Speak to the Lost
  • Finance the Cost

 

 

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 ©2004, by Louis Bartet