Your Heart: The Key To Impacting Your Community

Danny W. Davis
16 June 2010 (Youth Day Event at Rosettenville)
Greetings

I want to thank Pastor Sibanda as well as Isaac for the opportunity to be with you today. My goal
for this event is three-fold. First, I want to challenge your heart for the lost people of your
community. Secondly, I want to challenge your heart to consider how your personal relationships
have an impact on your community and the gospel of Jesus Christ. And lastly, my hope for the
first two goals is, to help you understand your role in helping extend the Kingdom of God
wherever you are.

For those of you who may not know me let quickly introduce myself. My name is Danny
Davis (you can call me Pastor D). I am the husband of ONE wife – Sherry; and the father
of two AWESOME boys: Wade (11) and Dylan (soon to be 10). I am also the Lead
Pastor of Turning Point Community Church in Alberton. I hold a Bachelor of Science in
Biblical Studies from Indiana Wesleyan University, and am currently working on a
Master of Divinity in Missional Leadership from Northwest Nazarene University. In my
spare time I like to read and spend time with my wife and children. My wife is an Interior
Designer and one of the most creative and talented people I have known in my entire life.
But enough about us….

Before we get into the Word this morning I want us to get to know one another a little better.
After all, we are all a part of this great thing called the Church so let’s try something today…

Group Icebreaker

1. Count the people into 3 groups (1,2,3 all 1’s are a group, 2’s, etc).

2. The leader tells the group to pretend that they are going on a camping trip overnight.

3. Have the groups gather in circles somewhere in the hall.

4. The group leader then passes the roll of toilet paper and tells the group that they will need
to take from the roll the amount they think they will personally need for an overnight
camping trip in the forest.

5. After each person has taken the toilet paper they think they need THEN tell them that for
EVERY PIECE of toilet paper they have they must tell the group one thing about
themselves.
Your Heart: The Key To Impacting Your Community
Danny W. Davis
16 June 2010 (Youth Day Event at Rosettenville)
6. Return to the seats.

Introduction

Well, I hope you know some other people better and that you are now well supplied with toilet
tissue for the rest of the day!!!!

As I said before my goal today is to challenge your heart for the lost people of your community. I
know of no other way to do this than to look into the Word of God and allow it to speak to us in
a profound manner.

If you have been in the church for more than a few years you will, no doubt, have heard the
stories I am about to share with you. However, I ask you not to jump to any conclusions but let
these stories be fresh and new to you this morning – OK? Can we agree on that?

You can turn in your Bible to Luke 24:13-33.

Emmaus – Setting the Stage

Let me begin by kind of setting the stage for Luke 24. If you look back at the 23rd chapter of
Luke’s gospel you will find it details the Crucifixion, death and the burial of Jesus Christ. The
disciples are in a state of shock because their great leader, Jesus. They thought he would take
over Jerusalem and set up His kingdom but instead He WILLINGLY submits to a Roman Cross
and is killed. Can you imagine the sadness and despair that must be filling the hearts of all those
who had believed in Jesus Christ as the Messiah?

But then we come to Luke 24:1-12 where we are told some women had prepared some spices to
be used to anoint Jesus’ body as it lie in the tomb. Arriving at the tomb these women notice
something peculiar. The great stone that had been used to seal the tomb was rolled away. I think
their immediate thought was that others had come to do exactly what they had planned to do, that
is, anoint Jesus. They entered the tomb and were amazed that the One they had come to anoint
was not where He was supposed to be. I mean can you imagine the thoughts that might have ran
through their minds:

• Someone has stolen His body

• Animals have come into the tomb and dragged him away.
Your Heart: The Key To Impacting Your Community
Danny W. Davis
16 June 2010 (Youth Day Event at Rosettenville)
• The religious leaders have put him somewhere else in order to cause confusion.

Lot’s of things must have passed through their thinking and “while they were wondering about
this” (Lk. 24:4) two men whose clothing was as brilliant and shiny as lightening said to them,
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, he is risen!”

The same Jesus that was dead yesterday is now ALIVE! So, what does a man who was dead but
is now alive do? HE GOES FOR A WALK! – That is where we are in the story.

Emmaus – The Walk

Luke tells us there were two men: Cleopas and an unnamed guy simply referred to as “the
companion of Cleopas.”

• They are walking and talking about what happened three days ago in Jerusalem

• While they are talking Jesus, while on His walk-about, catches up to them and begins
walking with them. BUT THEY WERE PREVENTED FROM KNOWING WHO WAS
WITH THEM

• Jesus asks them a question, “What are discussing as you walk along?”

• DOWNCAST – SAD – “They stood still…” When Jesus asked them this question it
knocked these guys back on their heels. It’s almost as if Luke is trying to describe them
as, stunned or amazed, that whoever this guy was he must be clueless about what is going
on.

• (v. 18) “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have
happened there in thee days?”

o Are you blind, stupid, daft, do you not pay attention to what is happening?

• (v. 19) Jesus sort of plays the along with them and says, “What things?” To which the
men reply, “About Jesus of Nazareth.”

Now let’s look closely at how these men responded to Jesus. These two men, Cleopas and his
companion, begin to summarize who Jesus is and what had been done to him.

"He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.
The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and
Your Heart: The Key To Impacting Your Community
Danny W. Davis
16 June 2010 (Youth Day Event at Rosettenville)
they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to
redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. (Luke
24:19b-21)

Notice the words of anticipation in their voices as they describe who Jesus was: prophet and
powerful. But then see the sudden change in their voice when they talk of him being handed over
by the religious folks to be crucified. It’s almost as if they are saying, “We thought this guy was
powerful, we thought he was a prophet, we had hoped he was the redeemer of Israel BUT
apparently we were wrong!” It has been three days since all of this happened and the only thing
we have heard was what some women said this morning. Look at what they say…

In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this
morning but didn't find his [Jesus] body. They came and told us that they had seen
a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to
the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see” (Luke
24:22-24, emphasis mine).

“We thought these women were bringing us some good news but it was just nonsense (24:11)
and we just couldn’t believe them. Peter ran to the tomb but Jesus was not there. All Peter saw
were some strips of linen and he went away wondering what was going on. Where was Jesus?
Where had he gone? Had he just disappeared?”

If you look back at the scene where the two women are speaking to the angel at the empty tomb
you will find something very interesting. The two women were wondering what had happened to
Jesus. The angel speaks to them and reminds them that everything that had happened: Jesus had
told them about the crucifixion, the death and the resurrection. Then look what Luke records as
their reaction to the angel’s reminder? “Then they remembered his words” (Lk. 24:8). They had
to be reminded of what was to happen but they immediately saw that Jesus was RISEN. But
when they went to tell the other disciples no one believed them. It’s as if there is this GROUP
AMNESIA. No one remembers the promise of resurrection because they are so caught up in the
crucifixion.

So, now these tow men walking with Jesus are bemoaning the situation. In their hopeless voices
they recount the problem of the day: where is Jesus?
Your Heart: The Key To Impacting Your Community
Danny W. Davis
16 June 2010 (Youth Day Event at Rosettenville)
Look at Jesus’ reaction to their downcast and down hearted words,

He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that
the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then
enter his glory?" 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained
to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Lk. 24:25-27)

Now think about this folks, the angel gives a short little speech to two women and they
remember what Jesus had told them would happen. They try to share that with some and no one
remembers. Jesus rebukes these men for their foolish talk and reminds them of what He had told
the disciples would happen BUT THEY STILL DO NOT REMEMBER! So they just keep
walking and keep talking about all the problems that surrounded them.

The travelers came close to their village and it seemed as if Jesus was about to go to another
place without them. They asked Jesus to stay because it was nearly evening. Apparently they
entered into the home of one of these men and began to have a meal together.

Jesus picks up the loaf of bread, gives thanks and then breaks the bread. And “they recognized
him” and then Jesus disappears. I don’t know what it was about the bread that caused them to
finally remember. Had these men been at the place where Jesus told the disciples that the bread
would symbolize His broken body? Had they heard other disciples talk about what happened the
night before Jesus was crucified? We DO NOT know but something about it all finally jarred
their memories and they RECOGNIZED WHO IT WAS THAT WAS WITH THEM!

But then look at their response,

They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked
with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (Lk. 24:32).

Look closely at the order of these men’s words. The “burning” they felt in their heart happened
while they were “on the road” NOT AT THE TABLE. In other words, they had been feeling all
along that something was going on their hearts. BUT WHEN…as He “opened the Scriptures to
us…” When Jesus reminded them of all that had been prophesied by Moses and the words He
had spoken to the disciples something happened in their hearts – a burning.

• Totally set alight - consumed by fire

Your Heart: The Key To Impacting Your Community
Danny W. Davis
16 June 2010 (Youth Day Event at Rosettenville)
Even before they fully understood to whom it was they were talking too there was a burning in
their hearts. There MUST have been a fire in the heart of Cleopas and his companion at one time.
But the events of the past three days had somehow caused that burning to cool down. Jesus came
along side them and His very presence “REKINDLED” that flame. The longer Jesus was with
them the more that flame grew until finally it burned away their disbelief and doubt and they
recognized that the RISEN SAVIOR WAS AT THE TABLE WITH THEM!

That passion for the things of God BURNED within them and they did what they were supposed
to do – they went and told others! They took that burning fire back to the Eleven and in doing so
RE-FIRED a group of men who were in agony.

(TRANSITION) These two men on the Road to Emmaus came alive as they allowed the fire for
the things of God to be reignited within them. They used that fire, that zealousness, to inspire
others whose fire had also been nearly extinguished. But this is not how all people responded to
Jesus Christ and His powerful ministry.

Man Healed At Bethesda

Jesus had been traveling and preaching in Galilee where the son of a government official had
been healed by the mere words of Jesus. After this miracle Jesus left and began making his way
to Jerusalem. When he arrived he came by a pool of water called Bethesda (house of mercy or
flowing water) that was surrounded by magnificent colonnades (like a shade covering for people
to get out of the weather).

John 5 tells us that many disabled people would lie around this pool waiting for a visitation from
an angel. The story was that every so often an angel would come by and stir the water in the
pool. When this happened the first one to get in the water would be healed of their disease or
disability. Can you imagine this scene? Here is this pool of water and five huge areas where
people can get shelter from the elements. All over those colonnades or porches there are people
who are missing legs and arms, dying with leprosy, unable to walk and a whole host of dreaded
sicknesses. They are all just – there - Sitting, waiting, dying! Then someone thinks the water is
beginning to move and suddenly the mass of diseased and disabled people begin scrambling to
get into the pool. There must have been an amazing sense of desperation in this scenario – there
must have been some great sadness.
Your Heart: The Key To Impacting Your Community
Danny W. Davis
16 June 2010 (Youth Day Event at Rosettenville)
As Jesus is passing by this pool he takes the time to speak to one man who had been lame for 38
years. Jesus asks the man, “Do you want to get well?”

Now, folks, you will have to bear with my somewhat twisted mind. I have always found
this question a little bit humorous. I mean, here is a guy who has been disabled for nearly
four decades. Who probably spent every last gram of energy and money to get positioned
near the pool and Jesus questions whether or not he wants to be healed! I don’t know why
he asked the lame man the question but obviously Jesus thought it was important to know
what this man wanted (or what he did not want).

The lame man answer, “Absolutely, I want to be well but I need some help getting in the pool!”
Then Jesus just says, “GET UP” and the man GETS UP! Amazing! No angels. No heavy lifting.
No competition. Just the miraculous and powerful Word speaking healing into this man’s life!
This man who 5 seconds ago had been lame for 38 years was now CURED. He picked up his
mat and began to walk.

I want you to notice something about John’s writing. He never records this man’s reaction to his
miracle. He does not tell us the man leaped for joy or bowed down at Jesus feet to worship Him.
No! There is nothing except a sudden jump to John 5:9b,

“The day on which this took place was a Sabbath…”

Uh oh, Jesus had really messed up! Here was a man who had been unable to walk. Most likely he
had been a beggar living off the kindness of strangers coins. His health could not have been good
as he probably went days without food. Lying around the Sheep Gate (near the pool of Bethesda)
surely must have had an adverse effect on what he smelled like. Ragged clothes and unkempt
hair made him the picture of what it meant to be homeless and disabled. BUT after he is CURED
he picks up his mat and begins to walk.

Here comes this man in tattered clothes walking down the street with his beggar’s cup dangling
from his side and his dirty bed mat tucked safely under his arm. Even though John doesn’t
mention his reaction it would not be a stretch to say the man is in a pretty good mood. Maybe his
dirty teeth and dusty face revealed a smile and attitude of a man who had just been delivered.

But it was the SABBATH! And the Jews see this man carrying his bed and say to him,

"It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." (John 5:10)
Your Heart: The Key To Impacting Your Community
Danny W. Davis
16 June 2010 (Youth Day Event at Rosettenville)
Here are group of men with their long black religious robes, their black hats and long curls of
hair questioning this man about his bed. Here are men who are supposed to understand and be
obedient to the Old Testament Law. They were men supposedly understood the importance of
caring for the sick and poor. Part of the Covenant God made with the Jews included the
responsibility to look out for the welfare of the poor, the orphan and the widow. But their hearts
had grown callous to the Spirit of the Law and had given over to the mechanics of the Law.

Not one of these men said, “Hey, can I get you a drink of water? Can I help you carry your mat
because it looks like you may need some help?” No one offered this man a meal or invited him
to their home in order to show him the love of God. NO! THEY JUST QUESTION HIM AS TO
WHY HE IS CARRYING HIS MAT ON THE SABBATH!

He tells them he doesn’t know who it was but he was told to take up his bed and walk. The Jews
then want to know who it is that told him that. The man did not have a clue until later when Jesus
found him at the Temple and revealed who He was. Then the man goes back to Jews and tells
them it was Jesus “who had made him well.”

This seems to indicate that at this point the Jews were informed that this man had been crippled.
I think they found out his whole story. They heard about the pool, the 38 years of infirmity, and
the missed opportunities to get in the pool and be healed. YOU WOULD THINK THAT MEN
WHO WERE SUPPOSED TO BE WALKING WITH GOD WOULD HAVE BEEN, AT
LEAST, THANKFUL! After all, it’s not everyday that a man who could not walk for almost 40
years is walking. Even more than this he is not sinning and might even be able to go to work
now. BUT THERE IS NOT EVEN THE SLIGHTEST HINT THAT THESE MEN WERE
ANYTHING OTHER THAN UPSET AND ANGRY BECAUSE THIS MAN DARED TO
CARRY HIS MAT ON THE SABBATH – AND THAT JESUS HAD TOLD HIM TO DO IT!
As a matter of fact they are so angry they make a huge decision, John records that decision,

“So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him” (John 5:16)

The hearts of these religious folks had grown so cold they could no longer rejoice with one of
their own. Not like the men on the Road to Emmaus who HEARTS BURNED with a passion for
God. No, these men were ice cold and ready to defend their coldness, even if it meant killing
Jesus.
Your Heart: The Key To Impacting Your Community
Danny W. Davis
16 June 2010 (Youth Day Event at Rosettenville)
The Hearts of Many

(TRANSITION) Now before we get all, RIGHTEOUS, and condemn the Jews for their actions,
we might want to look at what Jesus has to say about the hearts of men. Matthew 24 records
Jesus telling us about some of the signs of the LAST DAY church:
1
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to
call his attention to its buildings. 2"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell
you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown
down." 3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him
privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of
your coming and of the end of the age?" 4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one
deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and
will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that
you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
7
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be
famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth
pains. 9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you
will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away
from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will
appear and deceive many people. (Matthew 24:1-11)
In the midst of all the deceivers and false preachers; the wars and rumors of wars, and the
earthquakes and famines, Jesus mentions a little known and often overlooked SIGN OF HIS
SECOND COMING…

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold…” (Matthew 24:12a)

Did you hear that – the LOVE of most will grow cold! Where does love come from? THE
HEART! In other words, as the wickedness increases more and more the reaction of MOST will
be to allow their hearts to become colder and colder toward the things of God.

• When the hearts of believers becomes cold then the world GOES TO HELL!

• When the hearts of God’s people becomes cold then our neighbor dies lost!

• When the hearts of God’s people becomes cold then you community loses all hope!

If we could somehow take a temperature of your PASSION FOR GOD AND THE LOST, what
would yours be today? Are you HOT? Are you COLD? Are you LUKEWARM? You may be
involved in ministry. You might even be a preacher; or youth pastor, or singer in the choir but
what is your GOD TEMPERATURE today?
Your Heart: The Key To Impacting Your Community
Danny W. Davis
16 June 2010 (Youth Day Event at Rosettenville)
The world is growing more and more wicked and the longer Jesus waits to return the more
wicked it will become. And the danger in this is the fact that if we are not careful we will
measure our temperature for the things of God against a wicked world – and not the Bible!

Where is your heart today? What is your God temperature?

Three Ways Our Heart Becomes Cold

You may ask, “How does someone’s heart grow cold?” Well, there are three ways that cane be
described like this…

1. Slowly: little decisions that bit by bit replace God things with worldly things. It is really
unnoticeable until all those little things add up to a failure or worse backsliding.

2. Quietly: we grow cold in sort of silent vacuum where there are no great noises to warn
you of your temperature. Somehow the silence makes us think there is peace but in
actuality the silence is the enemy.

3. Circumstantially: coldness can come whether we are successful or in failure. When

failure comes we are tempted to blame God and distance our self from him. When
success comes we are tempted to trust in our own ability but the result is the same:
distancing our self from God.

Look at what Jesus said to some of the churches in the book of Revelation.

To the Church at Ephesus

"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who
holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden
lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know
that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be
apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have
endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this
against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which
you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I
will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Rev 2:1-5)

The church stayed true to doctrine, tested those who claimed to know God and preserved in
Your Heart: The Key To Impacting Your Community
Danny W. Davis
16 June 2010 (Youth Day Event at Rosettenville)
hardships. But in the end they allowed their doctrine and their perseverance to cloud their vision
of God. Please don’t misunderstand me – we need sound doctrine. But when we, like the Jews at
the pool of Bethesda, allow the traditions of men to become greater than the LOVE OF GOD –
we have grown cold.

What is the answer to the problem – REPENT!

To the Church at Laodicea:

14
"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the
Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15I know your
deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!
16
So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out
of my mouth. 17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a
thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and
naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become
rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and
19
salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and
discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

This church was the epitome of success. They had riches but did not need God. They had
everything the world could offer but Jesus said they were pitiful and poor. He told them their
temperature was not hot and not cold but lukewarm.

What was the answer to the problem – REPENT!

Conclusion

Your love for the lost of this world is directly tied to your passion for God! Where is your heart
today? Is it fixed on the things of this life or is settled on the will of God?