Now is the time to worship. Now is the time to
give. Thank you. Amen. Brother Wayne Bryant,
open the word to us today. Amen. Good morning.
Good morning. Let's try that again. Good morning.
Good morning. That's better. It's good to be
with you today. I'm Wayne Bryant. I am in southwest
Florida. regional catalyst for the Florida Baptist
Convention. About five years ago, the Florida
Baptist Convention, the Ohio Baptist Convention,
formed what we call a partnership. That partnership
is designed to actually work two ways. Jeremy,
your executive director treasurer, was a Florida
pastor, and he moved back to Ohio where he had
been church by three years ago to lead your state.
We chose to partner together. Our state has six
regions. Your state has six regions. We created
a peer -to -peer relationship between those regions
to see how we can help you and to see how we
can help you to be on mission in Florida. I'm
here today to share with you, to share a little
bit about what we do. Most of all, I'm here to
share with you about Jesus. So if you have your
Bible, I want you to turn to Mark chapter 1.
Good deal. You will not scare me, I promise.
Mark chapter 1, I want to read to you verses
16 through 18 from my text. And just keep your
Bible open and follow along as I preach today.
Now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw
Simon and Andrew and his brother casting a net
into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus
said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will
make you to become fishers of men. And straightway
they forsook their nets and followed him. Here
in this first chapter of the Gospel of Mark,
Jesus is beginning to call out the people that
would work with him. He will choose twelve men
that will serve as disciples, ultimately called
apostles by some. and their work is going to
be to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ around
the world. I want to say to you today that God
is still calling people out of his congregations.
God is still dealing in people's hearts and people's
lives and calling them to take the gospel to
lost, dying, hurting people. What a culture,
folks, that is made up of people who are struggling.
Some of those people struggling have nothing.
Some of those people who are struggling have
everything. The reality is the struggle is not
defined by your possessions or your wealth. The
struggle is defined by whether or not you know
Jesus as your Savior. If you know Jesus as your
Savior, you've got the whole world. If you don't
know Jesus, you have nothing. And here Jesus
is beginning to call out those men. that he will
invest in to take the gospel in the next generation
around the world. And God still wants to call
people out today. I fear today we are not as
committed to the idea of going as Jesus intended
for us to be committed to taking the gospel to
every man, woman, and child in our community
and sending that gospel around the world. Now
before I get to dealing with the text, I want
to share with you just a moment about the message.
Today I'm going to ask you to make a commitment.
I'm going to do exactly what Jesus does with
Simon Peter and with Andrew. As he calls them
out, he asks for a commitment. And I'm going
to ask you for a commitment when I get done today.
A commitment to try to win someone to personal
faith in Jesus Christ. a commitment to go outside
the four walls of this church, to go to people
that you know that need Jesus as their Savior.
I want you to be thinking this morning as I preach
about somebody that you know personally that
needs Jesus as their Savior. It may be a brother
or sister. It may be a husband, a spouse. It
may be a mother or father, a grandparent, grandchild.
It may be somebody you work with. Maybe somebody
you go to school with. All of us know someone
who needs Jesus as their Savior. And I want you
to be thinking about that person that you know,
one person, that you know that if they were to
die today, they would not go to heaven, they
would spend eternity in hell. They would face
punishment and judgment and condemnation forever
and ever and ever. Think about that one person
as we walk through this text here. this morning.
First thing I want you to notice in our text
is one word, career. Verse 16, it says, Now as
he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon
and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the
sea, for they were fishers. Everybody needs a
job. Everybody needs income. Jesus begins to
deal with men who were fundamentally laborers
in his culture. These were not the unique people.
These were not well -educated people. These were
people that were just common people. And he looks
at these men and their careers, and he sees that
they are fishermen. Now, Simon was a big man.
Simon Peter was a man who stood above other men.
He had strength and ability. Andrew, his brother,
was a little more quiet. He was not the kind
of personality Simon Peter was who always spoke
up, but rather he was just that quiet person
there that was helping to get something done.
But they were fishermen. They went out every
night in what we would call today a canoe. And
in that canoe, they would catch fish. Simon Peter
had an experience once where he caught 153 fish.
That interesting thing was catching 153 fish
was after he had said, Lord, there aren't any
fish here to catch. And Jesus just sitting right
back out said, you go back and see if you can
find some. And he caught 153 fish, so many fish
that it began to cause his boat to sink. I mean,
that was the unexpected experience for Simon
Peter. But that's what the man did for a living.
Don't miss that God always, when he calls people,
calls them out of something to go do something.
I still remember when God called me to be a preacher.
I had no desire to be a preacher. I had only
been saved about eight months, and God began
to stir in my heart. that he wanted me to be
a preacher. And I did exactly what most people
do, Brother Daniel, and that is I began to negotiate
with God. I began to tell God, well, God, I'll
serve you, but I can't stand in front of people
and talk. God, I will be glad to serve you. Maybe
I could be a youth director. The interesting
part about that is God said, fine, make your
commitment. I did, and I never did get to serve
as a youth director. That never happened. But
God called me out of where I was to put me where
he wanted me to be. If you're here today, you
may well be having a stirring in your heart for
God to call you to do something more than you
were doing. You know, there's a lot of work for
God that is not about standing in front of people
and preaching. There's a lot of labor that goes
on that must be done for the church to be effective.
God may be calling you to do something you never
thought he would call you to do. He may take
you from one place and put you in another. Notice
secondly here, I want you to see the command.
Read on verse 17. He says, If Jesus said unto
them, Come ye after me. The thing that Jesus
wants from you today, wants from me today, wants
from your pastor today. What he wants to have
happen, is he wants you to lay down what you
have and follow him. You hear the words over
and over again in the gospel accounts, come after
me, follow me, and I will make you to become
fishers of men. Here he says, come, follow me.
The most important step of the Christian experience
is the step that you take that once you're saved,
you become a follower of Jesus. It's significant,
folks, that what God desires of us is for us
to follow his example, to follow his plan, to
do his work. There's nobody left to do it except
us. You know, we live in a world that has about
8 billion people in it. Of those 8 billion, there
may be a billion followers of Christ worldwide.
Who do you think is going to take the gospel
to the world if we don't do it? There's nobody
else to do the job. There's nobody else that
can carry that banner. There's no one else that
can get under that burden and make it happen.
When he says, come after me, he is speaking to
every one of us today and saying, just follow
me. We make being a follower of Christ too difficult.
We really do. We think you've got to get an education.
You've got to have a lot of training. That's
not necessary. Some years ago, I was given the
opportunity to get an education. I had a man
come to me in my church and say, I'll pay the
bill if you'll go to school. And I thought, that's
wonderful. Well, I got an education. I got a
doctor's theology degree. And pretty soon people
began to call me Dr. Bryant. And then about 10
years later, I got another doctor's degree. And
a lady in the church who came up to me after
church, right after I got the second doctor's
degree, and said, now you've got two doctorates.
What do we call you, doctor, doctor? I said,
no, I don't think that's good. She said, well,
I think you're a paradox. And if you're a paradox,
I can deal with that. God help us. To realize
education isn't what God's looking for. Wisdom
isn't what God's looking for. What God's looking
for is a submissive heart. That's right. Somebody
who's willing to say, Jesus, I'll do whatever
you want me to do. That's right. I'll go wherever
you want me to go. I'll be whatever you want
me to be. But let me go quickly from the command
to the creation. He says, and I will make you
to become. He wants to change you. The fear of
becoming a follower of Christ is the ultimate
victory of becoming a follower of Christ. We
get afraid of Jesus making us different than
we are. I was on a flight up here while the plane
bounced around in the sky. I was thinking about
what I used to do before I met Jesus. And I,
for one, am ever grateful that God has made me
something different than I used to be. That God
took this mess that I call the life and turned
it into something that he could use to accomplish
his work in the world that we live in. Now, there's
no greater joy than being changed to be more
like Jesus. Being changed to be more like the
one we want to follow after. He said, I will
make you. You know, there's nothing in your life
that Jesus can't change. There's no sin that
is so great that he keeps you back. There's no
inability that is so horrendous that he can't
fix that and move you forward. God is in the
business of changing lives. And one of the great
testimonies of the evidence of God at work in
the midst of a church is that God is taking people
whose lives are a mess and turning them into
people who are followers of him, who faithfully
daily follow him, who faithfully daily read their
scripture, who faithfully daily share the gospel
of Christ with the people they come in contact
with. That happens because he changes us. And
makes us something brand new. Paul wrote to the
Corinthian church. And said all things are passed
away. Behold all things are become new. As a
follower of Jesus our past is set away. The psalmist
said that our sin is as far as the east. It's
from the west. And God remembers it no more.
Whatever your past look like it's the past. God
is interested in taking you. Into a preferred
future. Where he is your king. He is your lord.
He is your savior. And you look like him. He
says I will make you. And thirdly. He says to
become fishers of men. A coachman. You know for
you to become. What God wants you to become.
You have to learn. To go fishing for men. Now
I am not a fisherman. I have a bunch of fishing
partners. They go catch them, they go clean them,
my wife cooks them, and I eat them. That's my
fishing experience. When I go fishing, I think
they must put out on the fish mail in the sea
that I'm coming and they need to go hide. I've
never caught a fish in my entire life. I've lived
in Florida for 64 of my 70 years, and I've never
caught a fish. That's hard to imagine. They're
everywhere around Florida. But God wants me to
become a fisherman. I've got to go catch people.
I've got to go looking for them and find them.
I've got to be able to lure them, literally,
to Christ if I'm going to be a fisherman. Now,
being a fisherman requires at least an astute
in trying to catch men. You've got to decide
who you want to catch. I come in contact with
people every day. I made up my mind almost 50
years ago. I made my mind up for this. I'll share
Jesus with everybody that will let me share Jesus
with them. That means what I'm looking for is
not a particular person, a particular category
of individual. I'm not looking for people that
have more money or less money. I'm not looking
for people that look like me. Praise Jesus. I'm
not looking for people who don't look like me.
Don't care about what color they are. I just
want to talk to people about Jesus. So that I
can present to them the gospel of the death,
burial, and resurrection of Christ. And so that
God can change their life like he's changed mine.
That's right. That's what being a fisher of men
is all about. It's not about having the right
fishing pole or the right bait. It's simply about
catching people for Christ. Helping them to become
what Christ wants them to become. A fisher of
men. And finally I want you to see the commitment
in verse 18. He simply says in a straight way.
They forsook their nets and followed him. Now,
the truth is I could have preached the entire
message on this one verse. He begins by saying,
and straight away, they made an immediate commitment.
They didn't have to pray about it. They didn't
have to think about it. They didn't have to go
talk to someone about it. They together said,
we want to follow you, Jesus. I fear today, When
you ask people to do something for God, Pastor,
when they say they've got to pray about it, that's
just simply their excuse for not doing it. That's
the way they put off having to make the decision.
The word straightway speaks directly to a decision
that was immediately made when they had the opportunity
to make it. They didn't put it off. They didn't
delay. They simply said, we're here, Lord. Send
me. So it's a straight way. They forsook their
nets. Now, we pass over that, not realize what
they did was they got rid of all their old fishing
gear. And it wasn't theirs anymore. Can you imagine
what it must have been like for Simon and Andrew
to when Jesus called them to come follow him?
The first thing they had to do, was give up everything
that identified who they were. Everything. They
forsook their fishing gear. They no longer had
the ability to make a living. They no longer
had the ability to provide for their families.
That didn't stop them from making the commitment.
That was just what the commitment was. You see,
following Jesus is pretty simple. You give up
everything you have and allow him to bring everything
he has into your life. I want you to know, folks,
God is not broke. God owns the cattle on a thousand
hills. He has the wealth of the world right in
the midst of his hands. God has the ability to
do exceedingly and abundantly above anything
we might ever ask or hope from him. God can take
anything and turn it into Everything. My work
in Florida is with about 300 churches. I've got
a region with about 300 churches in it. Those
churches range from a church that runs about
8 ,000 people a week in Naples to churches that
run 6, 7, 8 people a week. And I work with all
of that. What I have to do is I have to learn
that the people in the church with six or seven
people are just as important to God as the church
with 9 ,000 people. Just as important. Just as
valuable to Christ as his shed blood. Here they
make a commitment that says we're willing to
invest. Our lives in reaching all the people
you put in our lives. I was talking with your
pastor. You've got a very good pastor, by the
way. Say amen. Amen. Oh, come on. Say amen. Amen.
Okay. He was telling me that there are about
400 ,000 people in metropolitan Toledo. Now,
I want you to think about this for a second.
How many of those 400 ,000 people could be touched
by your church? What was the pastor who said
your email list is 7 ,800 people that you can
sit down at the computer and send a message to?
Sometimes what we've got to do is lift up our
sights and see beyond where we are to where we
need to be going. Now, I know nothing about what
I'm about to say. I admit that completely. Everybody's
listening now. I want you to not miss this. In
a Sunday or so, I presume, you're going to have
a vision day where you sit down and, I guess,
develop a vision. That vision will drive you
wherever you go next as a church. Hear that.
That will be what drives you to do the things
to reach new people to be a part of your church.
Is that, for example? That vision may determine
what your church looks like 20 years from now,
10 years from now, rather. It may set the tone
for what you can become. There's 400 ,000 people
in your community. There is absolutely no limit
to what you can become. The limit isn't put on
us by the lack of opportunity. The limit is put
on us by what we're willing to make a commitment
to do. If we're willing to make a commitment
to try to reach those people with the gospel
and develop a plan that starts where you are
and takes you where you need to go, then you
can reach a good portion of those folks. It's
an interesting time to be in America. We are
living in a day when generations are beginning
to come back together. Statistically, Did you
know that back 10 years ago, the people that
were in the 20s and the 30s quit coming to church?
They really did. I mean, they almost quit coming
to any church anywhere. But statistically now,
churches are beginning to grow again. And guess
what age group they're reaching? The 20 -somethings
and the 30 -somethings. That's who they're reaching
with the gospel. They're doing that not because
of... who they are, they're doing that because
God said, I'm going to help you reach those fish
that need to be caught with the gospel of Christ.
And here they make a commitment. They say in
verse 18, they forsook their nets. What did they
do? They followed him. Christianity is about
being where Jesus wants you to be. doing what
Jesus wants you to do. If I, as a Southern Baptist,
I've been a Southern Baptist for 50 years. I
mean, if I know anything, I know Southern Baptist.
Here, our biggest challenge as the largest non
-Catholic entity in the world, our biggest challenge
is pretty simple. We quit following Jesus. We
no longer go catch fish. We get together and
enjoy one another. We're thrilled with who we
are rather than looking at what we need at the
time to follow. I've had a busy two weeks. I
will fly back to Florida on Tuesday and get back.
I've got meetings to go to Tuesday night, Wednesday
morning, Wednesday night. and on. The last ten
days I have been away from my house all but one
of them. That's not an uncommon experience because
Jesus has me pretty busy. But I want to share
with you an experience I had in Jacksonville
last Wednesday morning at about 6 .15 a .m. Our
headquarters in Florida is in Jacksonville and
my work takes me to be at the headquarters. About
five, six times a year, I will travel from Sarasota
by the four and a half hour drive to get to Jacksonville
and attend meetings that are part of my work.
I'm thrilled with the opportunity to do so. I
was there for a meeting. In fact, it was two
meetings. Well, three meetings. I preached on
Sunday in Jacksonville as well. Had a great time
Sunday night, Saturday morning. I preached at
a church that runs about 250 attendants. I had
13 people trust Jesus as their Savior. I went
to my first meeting on Monday, then another meeting
on Tuesday, and then Wednesday morning I had
my last meeting. Every morning, Monday, Tuesday,
and Wednesday, I went to a Panera Bread. Panera
Bread is sort of like going to the Holy of Holies.
I don't have an office, so my office is Panera
Bread. I've been to a lot of meetings at Panera
Bread. In Jacksonville, I go to the same Panera
Bread. Every morning they open at 6. I'm there
at 6 when they open. I met a little girl by the
name of Ashley. Ashley's about 23 years old,
has two little kids, no husband, and she's working
at Panera Bread. And just very kind, very helpful.
Every morning she spoke and asked me how I was
doing. And we got to talking on Wednesday morning.
But I asked her, I said, Ashley, where do you
go to church at? She said, well, I really haven't
found a church here in Jacksonville. I said,
let me ask you another question, Ashley. If you
were to die today, do you know for certain that
you're going to heaven? Now, that may be the
most important question you ever ask anyone.
Do you know that you're going to heaven? She
looked at me and she said, well, I'd like to
know. And that's sort of like saying sickle to
a dog. When she said that, I said, well, actually,
if you'll give me three minutes, I'll tell you
how you can know you're going to end it. She
said, if you can do that in three minutes, I
said, yes, ma 'am. And usually when I say that
to a server anywhere, whether they're serving
tables where I'm eating dinner or at a place
like Panera in the morning at the counter, they'll
turn around and walk away and maybe come back,
maybe not come back. Ashley just stood there.
I said, do you want to give me three minutes
right now? She said, I do. And in the next three
minutes, I went through the gospel with Ashley.
I thought, Ashley, going to heaven begins with
the fact that you and I have a common problem,
and that problem is sin. The Bible says all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. So
we're all guilty. I said, the Bible goes on and
says that the wages of sin is death. But the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord. So that word wage there is an interesting
word to me, mainly because we still use it today.
The word wage was used 2 ,000 years ago. Today,
a wage is a paycheck. It's something you earn,
something you work for, something that you deserve,
something that belongs to you. And I said, Miss
Ashley? If you get what you deserve to get, you're
going to die and be separated from God for all
of eternity. You're going to go to a place called
hell. And I said, the verse goes on and tells
us that the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Then going to heaven is
a free gift. We don't earn it, we don't deserve
it, we don't get good enough for it. God gives
it to us just because he loves us and wants us
to have it. In fact, the Bible goes so far as
to say that God has commended his love toward
you and me, Ashley, in that while we're yet sinners,
Christ died for us. I said, Ashley, I want to
ask you two questions. I said, do you believe
that when Jesus died on the cross, that he died,
that he shed his blood to pay the price for your
sin? She called for a second. She looked at me.
She looked around the room. It was not busy.
It was me and her standing there talking. And
she looked to make sure nobody else was there.
And she said, I do believe that. I said, do you
believe that three days later he rose from the
grave, that he conquered death like we celebrate
every Easter? She hesitated. I said, I do believe
that. I do. I said that actually you believe
everything you have to believe to know for certain
that you're going to heaven when you die. But
there's something you have to do. That is, you
have to pray and ask Jesus to come into your
heart and ask him to be your Savior. It says
in Romans chapter 10, verse 5, that if you'll
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe
in your heart that God raised him up from the
dead, thou shalt be saved. I said, what you need
to do, actually, is you need to pray and ask
Jesus into your heart by praying a prayer that
goes something like this prayer. Dear God, I
know that I have sinned and done things wrong.
I know that I need your forgiveness. I ask Jesus
Christ to come into my heart. I ask him to be
Lord of my life. I ask him to save me. I said,
Ms. Ashley, the only condition on that prayer
is whether or not you need business or not in
prayer. If you're willing to be serious with
God and ask him to save you, he will save you
and one day take you to heaven. I said, Ashley,
I can help you pray that prayer. She said what
I've heard somebody say to me probably thousands
of times. You mean you can help me? Would you
do that for me? I said, I'd be thrilled actually
to help you pray that prayer. She bowed her head
and she prayed and she asked Jesus to come into
her heart and be her Savior. That's what it means
to become a Fisherman. Over and over again, every
year, about 100 people, come to know Christ because
I stop and talk to them without asking Jesus
in their heart. I'm not talking about people
that come at invitation time in church service.
I'm talking about people I meet out in the street
that I didn't know before the conversation started.
That happens because I made a commitment to become
a fisherman. I go looking. For the men and women
and children that need to be taught for Jesus.
That's what Simon Peter and Andrew made a commitment
to do in our days. They wanted to become a fisher
in the end. And interestingly enough, 2 ,000
years later, Simon and Andrew are two of about
20, 25 names worldwide for 2 ,000 years that
everybody knows. Why is that? Because they did
what Jesus told them to do. I want to ask you
to bow your head and close your eyes. Every head
bowed, every eye closed, nobody looking around.
I want you to search your heart. How many of
you here today would be honest with me? I'll
try to be honest with you. How many of you will
be honest with me and say to me, Brother Wayne,
I may not be the best person in this room today,
but I do know this. I know for certain, I know
beyond any shadow of a doubt, that if I were
to die today, I know that my soul is going to
heaven. You don't think so? You don't hope so?
You know that you're saved. Would you hold your
hand up high for just a moment? Just lift your
hand up. God bless you. God bless you. Now put
it down. I want you to pray. I want you to pray
for somebody else in the room that did not lift
their hand. Now how many of you will be honest
with me? Again, I'm trying to be honest with
you. How many of you will be honest with me and
say to me, Brother Wayne, I could not lift my
hand just now. I do not know for certain that
I'm going to go to heaven when I die. But I'd
like to know that. I want to know that. And I'd
like for you to pray for me today. Would you
slip your hand up just a moment? Just slip it
up and put it right in that hand. God bless you,
son. Thank you. Anyone else? You don't know that
you're going to heaven, but you'd like to know
that. And you'd like for me to pray for you today.
Anyone? Dear friend, I've got great news for
you. The best news in all the world. You can
know before you leave this room today that you're
going to heaven when we die. And you can know
that because the Bible, the Word of God, says
so. The Bible tells us that being saved is as
simple as the ABCs. For the A, we have to admit
to God that we are sinners, that we've done things
that are wrong. And the Bible calls that sin.
For the B, we must believe. We must believe that
God loves us. We must believe that Jesus died,
shed his blood to take the price for our sin.
We must believe that he'll save us today if we
ask him to. And for the seed, we must call upon
Jesus, commit our heart to him, and ask him to
be our savior. It says in Romans chapter 10,
verse 9, that if you'll confess with your mouth
the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be
saved. What that means is if you're willing to
pray and ask him to save you, if you believe
he died for you, he was buried, and he rose again,
if you'll ask him to save you, he'll save you
today. The way that you get saved is you pray
a prayer committing your life to Jesus. The Bible
teaches us that that prayer goes something like
this. Dear God, I know that I have sinned and
done things wrong. I know that I need your forgiveness.
I ask Jesus Christ into my heart. I ask him to
be Lord of my life. I ask him to save me. The
only condition on that prayer, friend, is this.
Do you really want to be saved? Are you really
willing to commit your life to him and ask him
to save you? I want to help you pray that prayer
right now. Those of you that raised your hand,
I'm over to go. And others of you who possibly
should have raised your hand saying, I don't
know that I'm saved, but I'd like to know that.
I encourage you just to repeat it in your heart
with me as I pray it out loud. God will hear
the prayer in your heart. And he'll save you
right where you're sitting today. You ready now?
You pray with me, dear God. I know that I have
sinned and done things that are wrong. I know
that I need your forgiveness. I ask Jesus Christ
to come into my heart. I ask him to be Lord of
my life. I ask him to save me. Thank you for
saving me. Help me to know that I am saved. Help
me to live a life that will please you. Amen.
Now keep your heads down and your eyes closed.
If you prayed that prayer with me, I want you
to look right up here at me. If you prayed that
prayer with me, just look right up here at me
for just a moment. Don't be embarrassed. I'm
glad you've done that. The day you've done the
most important thing you'll ever do, you ask
Jesus into your heart. I'm going to ask you to
do something now. If you meant business about
it when you prayed that prayer. Pastor, I want
you to stand right here in front. If you prayed
that prayer and meant business about it, I want
you to get up out of your seat and come down
here and stand with me, Pastor. God bless you,
son. Thank you. Thank you for having the courage
to take a stand. Did someone else? You prayed
that prayer with me? You meant business about
it? Jesus is going to change your life forever.
God bless you, sir. Anybody else? Follow the
way, just a moment. You've got business. When
you prayed that prayer, he forgave your sin and
he's going to take you to heaven. Did you pray
with me? Just get up and come. It's that simple.
It's that simple. I want everybody to look up
here for just a moment. I've got one more thing
I want to do. Say amen. No, you can do better.
Say amen. Amen. These two men have given their
life to Christ. We're thrilled about that. Now
I want you to listen. Remember when I started
the message, I told you to think about somebody
that you know that doesn't know Jesus as their
Savior? Just one person. And that could be a
family member, a friend, a co -worker, somebody
you go to school with. Everybody knows somebody
that needs to get saved. I want to ask you to
make a commitment now. Remember, I told you I
was going to ask for that. I'm going to ask you
to make a commitment. If you're willing to do
your best, whatever your best is, I can't define
that for you, but you know what your best is.
To do your best to try to pray for that person
every day and try to win them to Jesus in the
next 30 days. I want you to stand up. If you're
willing to make that commitment, just stand up.
God bless you. God bless you. All of us know
somebody. Do you care about them enough to try
to win them with Jesus? If you do, just stand
up for just a moment. God bless you. God bless
you, man. Thank you. God bless you. God needs
a commitment, doesn't he? But it's a commitment
that can change the world if we are serious about
it. Anybody else? I'm going to pray with you
and then I'm going to pass it. Father God, I
thank you for your love. I thank you for these
two men who've come to make decisions for you.
I pray, God, that you would bless them as they
begin their walk with Jesus. And I pray for these
who've made a commitment to try to win someone
to Christ. God, it seems so simple to make the
commitment, but it's a commitment that can be
used to change Toledo for eternity. A commitment
that can be used to change this neighborhood
for eternity. if they're serious about keeping
the commitment. One person turns into two, two
turns into four, pretty soon it's a lifestyle
that you're sharing the gospel everywhere you
go. God, use them in their efforts to honor and
glorify you and to be followers of Christ each
day. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.