Sermon Illustrations for Baptism of Our Lord (2020)
Isaiah 42:1-9
Mainline Christian denominations in American are losing ground. A Gallup poll noted that church membership in America has dropped from 70% in 1937 to 50% of Americans in 2018. Meanwhile the religiously unaffiliated (the so-called Nones) are the fastest-growing segment of the American population. This Lesson testifies to the Servant (Christ) as the light of the world (vv.7-8), and so seems to be about how to remedy these dynamics – through evangelism.
Martin Luther nicely expresses why Christians should do evangelism: