We must stay aware, be sure to care and always share.”
Mike Northcutt, pastor of Eastmont Baptist Church, Montgomery, said those three things must happen “if we are going to be the light that shines in the darkness.”
Northcutt developed this theme from John 4:35–39 as he delivered the convention sermon “Connection, Conversation, Conversions” Nov. 14 during the annual meeting of the state convention. Along with PowerPoint and verbal illustrations, he used two videos to demonstrate his points throughout the sermon.
“We must stay aware of the lost around us,” Northcutt said following one of the videos. “They need that light of the gospel.”
Pointing out that just a few verses earlier the disciples were more concerned about getting something to eat than what was happening spiritually, he said the awareness is important. “We must not be so caught up with the physical that we forget the reason God leaves us here on the earth.”
Caring for people is also important, Northcutt said.
Just as the disciples had been prejudiced against the Samaritans, “we sometimes do this, too,” he said. “We can also get so busy that we forget to care for the people right in front of us.
“When we open certain doors, we open ourselves to certain obligations, but we have to care enough to talk to them,” Northcutt noted.
“I don’t want to imply by any means that we should compromise our standards and become bosom buddies with the world, but when we interpret separation to mean isolation, we have forgotten the reason … for us to remain on earth,” he said. “We are light in a dark world.”
Northcutt said he has found that people today want demonstration before proclamation. “They want to see and they want to know you.”
Once a connection is made, “we must also share with them the Savior,” Northcutt said.
It is not enough to simply be a good witness and portray positive qualities, he explained. “Somewhere the words of the message of Christ have to be conveyed.
“It is the height of conceit to think that my life can communicate to them that Jesus died on the cross,” Northcutt said. “They must hear that we must repent of sins and that Christ died for them.
“We as God’s people are the light to shine to a world that is very dark, and they want to see that light.”
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