Be a Hero

References:

HYPERLINK "http://preachingtoday.com/sermons/search.html?type=scripture&query=John 1:35-51" John 1:35-51 HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=31&search=John 1:35-51" \t "_blank" INCLUDEPICTURE "http://preachingtoday.com/home/img/icon_bible.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET ; HYPERLINK "http://preachingtoday.com/sermons/search.html?type=scripture&query=Colossians 1:6-8" Colossians 1:6-8 HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=31&search=Colossians 1:6-8" \t "_blank" INCLUDEPICTURE "http://preachingtoday.com/home/img/icon_bible.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET ; HYPERLINK "http://preachingtoday.com/sermons/search.html?type=scripture&query=Colossians 4:12-13" Colossians 4:12-13 HYPERLINK "http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=31&search=Colossians 4:12-13" \t "_blank" INCLUDEPICTURE "http://preachingtoday.com/home/img/icon_bible.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET

Tone:

Neutral/Mixed

Series Subject: Evangelism

Series Purpose: To inspire and equip ordinary believers to make an eternal difference in the lives of non-Christians by investing in their lives and inviting them to Christ and his church

Series Big Idea: Each one of us, no matter how ordinary, can have eternal impact when we do the simple yet heroic acts of investing and inviting—investing time and prayer into the lives of non-Christians and then inviting them to Christ and his church.

Sermon One

Title: Be the Hero

Subject: Evangelism for ordinary Christians

Text: Colossians 1:6–8; 4:12–13

Big Idea: Through a character study of Epaphras, we see that he got to Colosse with the gospel just in the nick of time. His heroic act of sharing Christ there rescued many before the city was destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 64.

Relevance: So often we forget that the people around us are going to meet their Maker one day. And even when we do remember that, we think we're too ordinary to make a real difference. Through the biblical example of Epaphras and real life stories, this sermon helps us keep an eternal perspective while making it within our reach to be "the hero."

Introduction

Our culture is interested in heroes—look at the hit TV show "Heroes" or the reality TV show "Who Wants to Be a Superhero?"

Illustration: The story of Jack and Blaire [see below] captures what it means to be the hero—this five-year-old rescued his two-year-old sister from drowning, just in the nick of time. He got there in time. He saved the day.

I wonder if you have a hero, someone who saved the day for you. And I wonder what it would look like for you to be the hero for someone else?

Epaphras the Hero

The "superheroes"—Paul, Peter, and the other apostles—never got to the city of Colosse to the best of our knowledge. But an ordinary guy named Epaphras did.

It says in Colossians 4:12 that Epaphras was a local—he was from Colosse. He grew up there.

We don't know how he became a Christian, but the best guess is that Epaphras met the Apostle Paul during the three years Paul spent in the city of Ephesus, which was 110 miles west down the major Roman road out of Colosse.

Maybe Epaphras was there on business travel; we don't know. But we know from Acts 19:10 that those were the years that the gospel traveled to the other parts of what is now Turkey, where Colosse is located.

Imagine, if you will, Epaphras walking the last hundred yards towards the city gate of Colosse with a spring in his step, carrying with him not only the parcels and packages he'd purchased on his business trip, but something else he'd gotten for free—the gospel.

Colossians 1:7 talks about how he brought the gospel there.

Epaphras really cared about the people of Colosse, and he invested his heart in them. In fact Colossians 4:12 says he wrestled in prayer for them.

We know from ancient history the approximate dates when Paul wrote this letter to the Colossians—and it was just before the major earthquake that rocked much of central Turkey. The great city of Laodicea, Colosse's neighbor, rebuilt itself after the earthquake, but Colosse was destroyed.

It's a good thing Epaphras had gotten there in the nick of time. He saved the day.

Ordinary Heroes

For all we know, Epaphras was the kind of guy who worked at Target and shared his faith there, starting up a church of enough significance for Paul to write an entire letter to it within a few years.

Illustration: Theresa's story [see below] about growing up without Christ and finding him through a coworker at Target. That coworker died soon after Theresa accepted Christ. She got there in the nick of time. She saved the day for Theresa.

Jack was an ordinary hero—listen to his story again (I share Jack's story and the photo he drew for the first day of school).

Conclusion

Let's spend some time giving God thanks for that person who led us to Christ. Let's spend some time thinking about what person we want to be a hero to.

Illustration: Close the sermon with the hero parade [see below].