ACTS 1:4-8

1. A BILLBOARD IS UNASHAMED:
1. There they stand: unabashed, unblushing, boldfaced, bodacious and brassy! "“Pepsi!  The choice of Major League Soccer!”  “Grab life by the horns: 2003 Dodge Viper!”  “A career with America’s Finest: FBI!”  “‘Mind if I smoke?’  ‘Care if I die?’”  Unashamed of what they proclaim!
2. Be a "Billboard Christian!"  Be bold, be bodacious, be unashamed!
1. Live it -- unashamed!
2. Show it -- unashamed!
3. Share it -- unashamed!
4. Walk it -- unashamed!
5. Talk it -- unashamed!
3. The Bible says:
1. Mark 8:38 (NIV) "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father's glory with the holy angels."
2. Romans 1:16 (NIV) "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
3. 2 Timothy 1:8 (NIV) "So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me His prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,"
4. 1 Peter 4:16 (NIV) "However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name."
4. A billboard unashamedly seeks to call attention to its product! It testifies! It advertises! It makes its product known! Unlike the junior high girl who used to attend our Bible Study in The Dalles. She showed up the first day and took her Bible out of her lunch sack. One of the other girls asked, "Why are you carrying your Bible in your lunch sack?" She replied, with surprise, "Why, you don't think I want any of my friends to see me carrying a Bible, do you?"
5. A billboard is unashamed; be a "Billboard Christian!"
2. A BILLBOARD SPEAKS OUT FOR ITS OWNER:
1. You won't see the Campbell soup company buying a billboard to promote Heinz! You will never see Ford advertising for Dodge! Cellular One won't try to tout U. S. Cellular! When you see a billboard, no guessing who bought it and for whom it speaks!
2. Speak for your Owner!
1. Paul reminds us: 1 Corinthians 6:20 (NASB) "For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."
2. He says, further: 1 Corinthians 7:23 (NASB) "You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men."
3. Peter says: 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV) "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."
4. And further, 2 Peter 2:1 (NIV) "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them - bringing swift destruction on themselves."
3. Ours must be the true message of Jesus Christ as contained in the New Testament!  He bought us -- speak His word, undistorted, untwisted, unaltered. You won't see a Chevrolet billboard claiming that Chevy is like a Marshmallow - no! "Like a rock!" Speaking for its owner, unaltered.
4. Let us be unlike the man who formed a preaching team with another. He was a dynamite speaker, but couldn't write or recall a sermon for beans. The other man was a whiz at outlining and writing, but couldn't speak publicly for sour apples. So the speaker would stand to speak, while the writer would hide under the pulpit and tell him what to say. They were doing a sermon on Moses. The man under the pulpit said, "Moses was an austere man!" Not hearing correctly, the speaker pronounced, "Moses was an oyster man!" The writer whispered, 'He came to make atonement for the sins of his people." The speaker said, "He came to make ointment for the skins of his people." Exasperated at his friend's stupidity, the writer said, "You big idiot! You've spoiled it all!" And the speaker intoned, "And the big idiot, spilled it all!" That's a distorted message!
5. So don't distort, but speak accurately the message of the one who bought you! Be a "Billboard Christian!"
3. A BILLBOARD STANDS IN ALL SORTS OF WEATHER:
1. Let it rain! A billboard will still stand. It won't flee to shelter! Let the sun beat on it. It will not run away to find shade! Let it snow and the billboard won't pack up and head for the tropics!  Only the most severe of winds can blow it over.
2. The Christian ought to stand for Jesus rain or shine, hail or snow, good or bad weather. And if, perchance, we fall, there is one to pick us up again!
3. Listen:
1. Satan may try to defeat us, but greater is He Who is in you than he who is in the world. His temptations cannot bowl us over: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV).
2. Circumstances may threaten to undo us, but He puts us above, not under, the circumstances.
3. Trials and tribulations may seem to undermine us, but Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 (NIV).
4. People may laugh at us for our faith, but God holds the scoffer in contempt.
5. Personal weaknesses may seem to be our downfall, but we can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us.
6. The enormity of our sins may seem to knock us over, but He has grace and mercy greater than our sin.
7. Failure in our lives may try to make us fall, but it is not failure to fail; get up and try again. He doesn't require that you succeed, but that you be faithful.  And Jude wrote, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."  Jude 24-25 (NASB77)
   
4. During the Boxer Rebellion in China in the 1900's, a strong resistance to foreign influence was felt. The rebels came to a Christian School where they placed a cross on the ground in front of the gate. They told the students and staff that whoever would spit on the cross would be spared; otherwise, they would die. The first, an adult, spat on the cross and was permitted to leave. The second, also an adult, spat on the cross, as did the next 5, some adults and some young people. They were spared. The next, a little girl of 12 or so, knelt by the cross and said, "I will never spit on the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ!" She was immediately led to execution. But her stand ennobled the next 93 who also knelt, and died. You see, she was not ashamed; she spoke for her owner; and she stood under the worst of conditions. She was a "Billboard Christian!"
5. A billboard stands in all sorts of weather! Be a "Billboard Christian!"

Illustrations original and from various unknown sources

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