1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:13,600 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. 2 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,720 How do we know where to find answers to the toughest questions in life? 3 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:22,160 While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search and how do we discover 4 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:23,160 this truth? 5 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:30,280 Today, in this teaching podcast, John Metter, lead pastor of Cross City Church, takes a 6 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:43,640 specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth for the life we're searching for. 7 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,640 Thank you so much. 8 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,840 I'll tell you, nobody is happier than I am today to be back in the pulpit. 9 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,000 You just never envision that you're going to lose your voice for 12 weeks. 10 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:55,480 It just never occurred to me. 11 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:57,120 I mean, I talk all the time. 12 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:02,800 I can't imagine and couldn't imagine losing it for 12 weeks, but I want to say a word 13 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:04,240 of appreciation to each one of you. 14 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,400 I just can't tell you how much I appreciate your prayers, your cards. 15 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,680 I've received so many cards, I can't even count them. 16 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,400 And these are not just cards, but great messages in them. 17 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,600 You have just been so kind in your prayers. 18 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:21,560 All kinds of gift cards, food gift cards. 19 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:25,880 I told Kim the other day, we don't know how to cook anymore because we have so many food 20 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:28,000 gift cards at restaurants. 21 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:29,000 We don't mind that. 22 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,840 I mean, we could get used to that, right? 23 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:32,960 It's just been a great thing. 24 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:36,800 I remember saying something a few years ago. 25 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:41,120 We were walking with a family through some real health difficulties and they asked for 26 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:46,120 James 5 prayer, which is when we bring our staff and our leaders around them in prayer, 27 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:53,040 anoint them with oil and read James 5 together and then just go to the Lord and ask for healing. 28 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,720 And I remember saying to our staff about a week or two later, I'm so glad I'm a part 29 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,600 of a church that believes in prayer. 30 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:00,640 Our leaders believe in prayer. 31 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:02,720 Our people believe in prayer. 32 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:04,640 And I actually made this statement. 33 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,600 I said, if I'm ever sick, I want to be in a church like this for people to pray for 34 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:09,600 me. 35 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:12,760 And lo and behold, that was kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. 36 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:17,360 For those of you that don't know, I discovered cancer of a thyroid, had my thyroid and lymph 37 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:18,360 nodes removed. 38 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:25,280 Today, I'm happy to tell you that 12 weeks later, my body scan on Monday told me that 39 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,880 I was cancer free and now have a voice again. 40 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:28,880 So I'm very thankful. 41 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:29,880 Thankful to the Lord. 42 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:39,120 And for 12 weeks, we've had this fulfilled with some great preaching and teaching. 43 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:40,480 And there's some of those guys are in the room. 44 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:41,480 Richard's here. 45 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:42,480 Others are here. 46 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:43,480 They did a phenomenal job. 47 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:44,480 Thank you, sir. 48 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:49,360 Thank you, Russell, somewhere at the back here. 49 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,920 But I'm more than happy to step back up today. 50 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:52,920 I'm excited about that. 51 00:02:52,920 --> 00:02:56,000 If you have your Bibles, please take them in turn to Matthew 28 today. 52 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,840 Now, if you've been with us, you know that we've been in the Rooted series and I'm going 53 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,040 to continue in that today. 54 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:06,160 I have a message that I want to share with you a few weeks from now. 55 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:12,360 And that message has to do with just what I've learned in the last 12 weeks about myself, 56 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:17,440 about God, about the church of Jesus, about prayer, so much to share. 57 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:21,920 But I'm going to hold off until we get through the Rooted series because the Rooted series 58 00:03:21,920 --> 00:03:24,120 is so incredibly important. 59 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:30,280 This is a series of subjects that help us pass on truth to the next generation. 60 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:35,320 And we're passing on truth to the next generation sometimes when that next generation doesn't 61 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,640 have biblical literacy. 62 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:41,040 They may not know where to find a certain book in the Bible. 63 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:42,400 And so we need to start at the beginning. 64 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:44,000 We started with who is God? 65 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:45,640 We can't get more basic than that. 66 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,680 In fact, Richard Taylor kicked us off with a message called Who is God? 67 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,240 Remember him saying, this is a big question. 68 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:53,840 How can you answer it in 30 minutes? 69 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:56,200 And he did a great job of doing that. 70 00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,560 And we looked at things like how does God speak to us? 71 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,640 Where is God in the midst of suffering? 72 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:04,760 How can I make the most out of my life? 73 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:06,940 Is there an enemy? 74 00:04:06,940 --> 00:04:10,240 How does God view bunny, which we're going to look at next week? 75 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,400 Why is the church important a couple of weeks from now? 76 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:20,560 And today I want to visit with you about why and how do I tell others? 77 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:22,920 You know, the Lord left us on earth for a reason. 78 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,440 It's not just to enjoy salvation, even though we can enjoy it. 79 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:32,000 It's also to help other people know what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. 80 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:39,040 I want you to zoom in with me for a few moments on this text and this question, why and how 81 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:40,560 should I tell others? 82 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:41,560 Matthew 28. 83 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:42,560 Let's stand together. 84 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,240 I'm going to read a few verses that you're very familiar with. 85 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,520 Beginning in verse 18. 86 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:54,240 And it may please you, it may get you excited to know that my voice is back, but it's not 87 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,120 back for an hour, right? 88 00:04:56,120 --> 00:05:00,520 It's back for 30 minutes, 35 minutes, something like that. 89 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:05,200 So we're going to have to be as brief as we possibly can. 90 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:06,200 And you don't mind that. 91 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:07,200 I mean, I didn't hear any amen, but that's okay. 92 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,360 You don't have to say it then. 93 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,080 There's one thing I learned from Richard Taylor is that it's a great line. 94 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,600 It's not the only thing I've learned from him, but it's a great line. 95 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:16,880 An amen goes right there. 96 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:17,880 That's Richard's line. 97 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,360 But an amen didn't go right there where I just said that. 98 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,320 So I'll let you know when we have time for one. 99 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,560 Verse 18, Matthew 28. 100 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:32,360 Jesus is talking to the disciples and he's giving them what we know as a great commission. 101 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:37,060 This is your marching order, he says to the church until the end of the age. 102 00:05:37,060 --> 00:05:39,360 This is what I want you to be doing, occupied with. 103 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:42,360 This is what I want the church to be about. 104 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:47,080 And we pick it up in verse 18, Matthew says, and Jesus came up and spoke to them saying, 105 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:49,240 and now these are the words of Jesus here. 106 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,560 All authority has been given me in heaven and on earth. 107 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:57,040 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the 108 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:02,840 father and the son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you and 109 00:06:02,840 --> 00:06:08,160 lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 110 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:09,640 Now an amen goes right there. 111 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:10,640 Amen. 112 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:11,640 Thank you, Richard. 113 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:16,920 Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that you will bless this text in our lives as we follow 114 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:18,880 it in Jesus' name. 115 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:19,880 Amen. 116 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:20,880 Please be seated. 117 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:27,480 You know, there are a lot of high points to the Christian life. 118 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:33,680 I mean, one of those high points of the Christian life is when you come to Christ, right? 119 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:40,160 I mean, that's when you all of a sudden realize that you can know the living God. 120 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,320 And we'll talk about that more in just a few moments. 121 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:48,240 There is a point at which every person reaches a point of decision where they realize who 122 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:53,200 Jesus Christ is and invite him to be the Lord and Savior of their lives, and their lives 123 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:57,200 are changed, obviously, outwardly and inwardly. 124 00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:58,200 What's a high point? 125 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:02,080 There are high points in the Christian life where you are praying about something and 126 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:07,040 God answers your prayer, or you're opening the Bible and all of a sudden it seems like 127 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:13,100 the Holy Spirit so illuminates the text or actually emboldens the passage of Scripture 128 00:07:13,100 --> 00:07:14,920 so you can't avoid it. 129 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:17,640 God is speaking to you at that moment. 130 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:21,840 Another high point of the Christian life is when you have the opportunity to tell somebody 131 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:28,400 else about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ and you plant an incredible 132 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:31,480 life-transforming seed in their heart. 133 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:33,520 That's a high point. 134 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:38,360 Whether they actually come to Christ at that moment or whether they do it down the road, 135 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:39,560 it really matters little. 136 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:45,360 The fact is God has used you to help someone else know who Jesus Christ is. 137 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:51,120 And that's the kind of lifestyle that we are to have, a lifestyle where we're doing that 138 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:55,040 and having some of those high points that the Great Commission points to. 139 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:56,040 Where to go? 140 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:02,520 And as we go, we're to make disciples by baptizing and teaching the things that I'm talking about 141 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:03,520 here. 142 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:08,440 Now I think you know that from the sin's inception, from the beginning that sin took place in 143 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:14,960 the Garden of Eden, our world has been decaying, rotting, and it's been darkened and getting 144 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,520 darker it seems like sometimes. 145 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:22,280 That's been true ever since sin entered into the heart of Adam and Eve. 146 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:29,040 And Jesus' prescription for this decay and this darkness is the gospel. 147 00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:30,040 It's the light. 148 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:31,720 It's the salt. 149 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:36,760 It preserves, it transforms, it illuminates that which is dark. 150 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,720 Maybe you remember Jesus talking in Matthew chapter 5 when he was interacting with the 151 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,720 disciples and they used these two great word pictures. 152 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:50,120 He says, you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has become tasteless, how can 153 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:51,800 it be made salty again? 154 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:57,000 It's no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled and to fit by men. 155 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:58,200 And then he used another picture. 156 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:03,120 He said, you're the light of the world, a city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 157 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:07,280 And he left no question in those disciples' minds. 158 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:11,640 Salt and light is what we're supposed to be about. 159 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:13,040 And that's what changes culture. 160 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:14,640 That's what changes the world. 161 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,440 And that's what changes individual lives. 162 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:23,480 Now, I've learned that if you don't put salt actually onto the food that you're eating, 163 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:24,480 it doesn't really preserve. 164 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,180 It doesn't really make it taste very well. 165 00:09:27,180 --> 00:09:30,640 So we have to be immersed into that, into that culture that we're in. 166 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:36,160 And we have to interact with people around us for our saltiness to rub off on them, for 167 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,080 our light to illuminate the dark places in their lives. 168 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:45,760 And so that means that we are going, and as we go, we make disciples by being salt and 169 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:46,760 light. 170 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,000 And it's an incredibly important command that we have. 171 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:54,840 Every disciple, that is a note that you read about in the scripture, did that in their 172 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:58,960 lives and their living after they came to Jesus Christ. 173 00:09:58,960 --> 00:09:59,960 Peter did that. 174 00:09:59,960 --> 00:10:04,440 You see Peter bowled for Christ in the book of Acts. 175 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,600 You see him interacting with people with salt and with light. 176 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:12,480 You see the apostle Paul as he did the same thing, reasoning with men at Mars Hill, helping 177 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:16,520 them understand what it meant to know the light of the living God instead of the human 178 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,520 light that did not have the same kind of wisdom. 179 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:25,320 Philip was placed wherever the spirit wanted him to be, even in a desert, to help someone 180 00:10:25,320 --> 00:10:30,000 know that Jesus Christ offers salvation. 181 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:34,920 But I want you to know today that just as importantly as Peter was and Paul was and 182 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:40,480 Philip was to the New Testament, you are placed in a place where you can be salt and light 183 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:42,960 as well. 184 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:48,120 It's not Peter, Paul, Philip, and the rest of us. 185 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:52,960 It's all of us who have the opportunity to do that. 186 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:57,960 So today I want to follow a very simple outline as we walk through Matthew chapter 28 verses 187 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:03,040 18 through 20, answering the question why and how should I tell others. 188 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:06,480 And let me just give you two main points and a lot of sub points, okay? 189 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:11,160 So if you're taking notes today, here's the first idea that I want you to grasp, the first 190 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:15,040 requirement for us to be able to pass truth on to others. 191 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:18,920 So first is know the story of the gospel. 192 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:20,880 You've got to know it before you can share it. 193 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:25,560 You can't give away what you don't have and what you don't understand. 194 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:30,040 Now when you open up with Matthew chapter 28 verse 19 and 20, the opening words are 195 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:34,200 go therefore and make disciples of all the nation, but I want you to go even behind that 196 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:37,800 to the context of who Jesus is speaking to there. 197 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:43,280 Jesus is speaking to the disciples that have already learned what the message of the gospel 198 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:44,280 is. 199 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:48,960 He's telling them everything I shared with you for the last three years, you're going 200 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:50,720 to share with others. 201 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:58,960 You know it well, so you can pass it on well, but first we must know the gospel well. 202 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,800 You need to know what it is, if you're a believer in Jesus, you need to know what it is that 203 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:07,000 Jesus did in order to give us a transformed life. 204 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,880 So here's a good question for you. 205 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:12,400 Is the gospel clear to you? 206 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,080 Is the gospel clear to you? 207 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:21,760 I'm going to drink heavily during this message by the way, so those pauses are going to happen 208 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:28,720 today, but I want you to know today that the clarity that the Bible gives us with the gospel 209 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,440 is something that you need to possess. 210 00:12:31,440 --> 00:12:38,200 You don't need to just know a few things about the gospel, you need to know how it works. 211 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:42,900 Because if you have been transformed by the gospel, then all those things weren't worth 212 00:12:42,900 --> 00:12:45,440 in your life, weren't they? 213 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:51,000 A lot of people can talk about Jesus' life and his living as the divine God man. 214 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:55,720 Some people can talk about Jesus' death on the cross, others can talk about the resurrection 215 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:56,720 of Jesus. 216 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:01,840 We can be able to articulate that, we celebrate that at Easter in such a big fashion, everybody 217 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:05,440 knows Jesus rose from the dead. 218 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:09,120 Sometimes people know a little bit about believing and what it means. 219 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:14,180 Sometimes people know something about repentance and how it's important. 220 00:13:14,180 --> 00:13:18,600 But the reality is you need to have a clear view of the gospel in order to pass it on 221 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,520 to a generation that does not know it. 222 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:26,920 I promise you, you can't assume that people around you know what it means to have a relationship 223 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:32,800 with Christ and they can't know how it's even possible that they can have forgiveness 224 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:33,800 of sin. 225 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:39,440 But you can have that because you've experienced it and because you have this book called The 226 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:40,920 Scriptures to Help Us. 227 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:47,960 A few years ago I wanted to find the best single text of scripture that contained all 228 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:49,800 the components of the gospel. 229 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:54,120 And as I was reading one day through Ephesians chapter 2, I found that text and I have been 230 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:56,320 anchored on it ever since then. 231 00:13:56,320 --> 00:14:00,120 If you have your Bibles, would you open them up to Ephesians 2 for a moment? 232 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:04,600 Because I'm going to take just a few moments to spell out very clearly and thoroughly what 233 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,120 the gospel is because you need to know what it is. 234 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:12,680 You have to know it clearly before you can pass it on. 235 00:14:12,680 --> 00:14:17,560 Now I have taken this text and I have highlighted different aspects of it because it's an unfolding 236 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:23,080 picture of the power of the gospel that Paul wrote to the church of Ephesus. 237 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:26,600 But I've also done something that you call building an acrostic. 238 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:33,520 I've used the words of the scripture to spell out the word gospel, G-O-S-P-E-L. 239 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,920 And you can find it where it is in the verse as you walk through this with me over these 240 00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:38,720 next very few moments. 241 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,480 So if you're opening up in Ephesians 2, you've got your finger on 1 through 10 somewhere 242 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:44,880 in there, let me spell out the gospel. 243 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:50,680 The first word is the word G or the letter G which stands for God's character, God's 244 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:52,280 character. 245 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:57,920 If you read the first few verses of Ephesians 2, you'll see that we are depraved and sinful 246 00:14:57,920 --> 00:15:00,120 and we're the object of wrath. 247 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,600 We're the object of God's wrath and our sinfulness. 248 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:09,240 But in verse 4, we have this huge transition that says, but God. 249 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:11,960 And what follows that tells us the other side of God's character. 250 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:17,640 We've got God who is rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us. 251 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:19,960 Aren't you glad God has great love for us? 252 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:23,960 And amen goes to the rich are sad. 253 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:29,440 I'm thankful that we serve a God who is holy and just, but I'm even more thankful personally 254 00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:32,620 that he's merciful and loving. 255 00:15:32,620 --> 00:15:34,260 But God's character is important. 256 00:15:34,260 --> 00:15:39,080 Some people think God is only love and others think that God is only just. 257 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:42,960 And so they're either terrified of God or they give God no reverence and respect at 258 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:43,960 all. 259 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:49,480 But God is both holy and just as well as loving and merciful. 260 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:53,400 The O in the gospel is the offensive sin. 261 00:15:53,400 --> 00:16:00,240 The scripture talks about Christ dying on the cross even when we were dead in our transgressions. 262 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:05,560 Now you need to know that the Bible says all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. 263 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:10,160 That's just one of those key verses that helps us know the offensive sin. 264 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:16,440 And this holy God is offended by my sinfulness and even by my sinful nature. 265 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:17,520 I was born in sin. 266 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,880 I was conceived in sin, the scripture says. 267 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,600 That doesn't mean that the act that conceived me was a sinful act. 268 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:30,800 It means that from the very beginning of my humanness, I carried the human nature of sinfulness. 269 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:32,200 That means that I was a rebel. 270 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:37,040 That means I wanted to do things my own way and my tendency was not to do things God's 271 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:38,040 way. 272 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:43,880 Well, the offensive sin means that I am separated from God until something changes that. 273 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:48,520 And if nothing changes that, I'm separated from God forever and ever and ever. 274 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:50,260 The offensive sin is big. 275 00:16:50,260 --> 00:16:53,040 The S is the sufficiency of Christ. 276 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:54,720 By the way, I love the word sufficiency. 277 00:16:54,720 --> 00:16:59,520 I love it because what it says is that Jesus Christ himself, the person of Jesus and the 278 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:07,640 work of Jesus, was absolutely 100% sufficient to pay for my sins and justify me as a sinful 279 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:09,880 person to become right with God. 280 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,120 I am so glad for the sufficiency of Jesus. 281 00:17:12,120 --> 00:17:14,120 Now how do I know about that? 282 00:17:14,120 --> 00:17:19,160 I know not only because of what the scripture says that he died for us, but because of Isaiah 283 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:24,520 chapter 53 that said God was pleased to bruise his son. 284 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:30,960 He was pleased to crush him and that by doing so he justified the many, the many referring 285 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:35,280 to those who have come to Christ and received eternal life. 286 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:37,560 So the S is sufficiency of Christ. 287 00:17:37,560 --> 00:17:42,400 The sufficiency of Christ says there's nothing you can do by yourself or through your religion 288 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:44,640 to make you right with God. 289 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:49,160 You can't become such an upstanding citizen that God says, you know, I need that guy. 290 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:51,200 I need that lady in my heaven. 291 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:53,120 That's not how you get there. 292 00:17:53,120 --> 00:17:58,720 You get there by the sufficiency of Jesus life and work on the cross, his death, burial, 293 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,800 resurrection as an adequate sacrifice for our sins. 294 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:04,400 So that's the sufficiency of Christ. 295 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,200 The P is the personal response. 296 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:13,240 Twice in Ephesians 2 it says for by grace you have been saved through faith. 297 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:15,760 Verse 5 and verse 8. 298 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:17,380 You know what that says? 299 00:18:17,380 --> 00:18:23,840 It says that until you have made a personal decision, you do not have salvation. 300 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:27,520 We're not saved because we're in a Christian family. 301 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,600 We're not saved because we go to a Christian church. 302 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:36,740 We're saved when we come in a personal way and allow ourselves to be forgiven and put 303 00:18:36,740 --> 00:18:40,200 our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 304 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:45,020 If that's never happened in your life, you have yet to be saved. 305 00:18:45,020 --> 00:18:47,760 Salvation is still ahead of you. 306 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:51,800 The P is followed by the E, eternal urgency. 307 00:18:51,800 --> 00:18:57,800 In Ephesians 2 we talk about this, the surpassing riches of his grace in the ages to come. 308 00:18:57,800 --> 00:18:59,840 It's heaven or it's hell. 309 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:06,120 And the urgency is that if we do not make a decision for Christ before we die, then 310 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:09,480 we die in our sins and are forever separate from God. 311 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:10,480 You know what that means? 312 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:13,460 It means that you ought to be urgent to know where you stand with God. 313 00:19:13,460 --> 00:19:16,720 It means you ought to be pretty concerned about the fact that you either have or do 314 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:18,280 not have salvation. 315 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:23,520 It also says that I need to be urgently looking for people that don't know him so I can help 316 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:25,880 them know Christ as Lord. 317 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:28,700 And then L is life transformation. 318 00:19:28,700 --> 00:19:33,200 Salvation is not just about a ticket out of hell. 319 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,320 Salvation is about becoming like Christ. 320 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,960 And so that life transformation simply says that we're his workmanship, created in Christ 321 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,520 Jesus for good work, which he has prepared beforehand that we should walk in. 322 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:48,960 Once a person comes to faith in Christ, they have a whole other story about how God has 323 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,240 changed them from the inside out. 324 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:52,640 It's life transformation. 325 00:19:52,640 --> 00:19:55,640 So G-O-S-P-E-L. 326 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:59,920 If you can spell the word gospel, you can share the gospel with somebody. 327 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:00,920 I want you to have that. 328 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:02,160 I want you to think about that. 329 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:07,960 I want you to mark that in the scripture because you'll be given an opportunity at some point 330 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:12,640 when you have a chance to share with somebody how they can know the gospel of Jesus. 331 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:14,640 So first of all, is it clear to you? 332 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,240 Now the second question is a little different. 333 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,120 Is the gospel personal to you? 334 00:20:21,120 --> 00:20:24,920 Not just is it clear because you can know theologically. 335 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:30,240 You can hear what someone may have taught you about the gospel, but the second question 336 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:34,080 has to do is if it's personal or not in your life. 337 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:40,440 And by asking that question, I'm asking you, have you had that experience where you realized 338 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:47,400 that you needed Christ and you surrendered your life to Him, put your faith in Him, and 339 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:49,240 from that day on you've had a different life? 340 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:53,960 You know the Apostle Paul was one of the greatest theologians in the Bible. 341 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:58,880 In fact, most of the New Testament books we have, the epistles and the letters are penned 342 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:00,400 by him. 343 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,860 He was a man that was very religious until he came to faith in Jesus. 344 00:21:03,860 --> 00:21:07,760 He was also a man that was very wicked until he came to faith with Jesus. 345 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:10,760 And three times in the book of Acts he tells his story. 346 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:16,300 And each time he tells his story, he tells it in front of very important people and often 347 00:21:16,300 --> 00:21:20,440 a crowd and he always contains these three pieces of his life. 348 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:27,480 His before life, his after life, and his moment that he accepted Christ. 349 00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:29,520 Decision point. 350 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:34,000 Before, after, the moment he accepted Christ. 351 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,400 Acts 26 is a great passage. 352 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,080 You might want to turn to it because I'll talk about it for just a moment. 353 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,440 This is where he's before King Agrippa. 354 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:47,680 And the first 11 verses of Paul talking to King Agrippa, he's telling about how religious 355 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:51,160 he was and how dark that turned. 356 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:55,160 And he began to persecute followers of Christ. 357 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:01,600 And those that were being led us away to death because of their faith, he signed off on that. 358 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:02,920 He allowed that to happen. 359 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,440 Some say he even personally was involved in that. 360 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:11,120 So here's a guy that was nothing short of a religious terrorist in his former life. 361 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,880 But before King Agrippa, he said, this is what I used to be. 362 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:18,200 And then I met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. 363 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:22,680 And he said to me, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 364 00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:25,160 And he said, who are you, Lord? 365 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,160 I am Jesus. 366 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,640 I'm Jesus that you're persecuting. 367 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:33,680 And in that moment, Saul came to faith in Christ. 368 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:35,720 And now we know him as Paul the apostle. 369 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:38,220 Now he shared that with King Agrippa. 370 00:22:38,220 --> 00:22:42,200 And then at the end of that, he said, now here's what my life is now. 371 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:49,200 My life is now a calling to let everyone know of the grace that you can find in Jesus Christ. 372 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:54,920 And there's a great verse in chapter 26, verse 18, where King Agrippa said, Paul, if you 373 00:22:54,920 --> 00:23:01,360 keep talking, you're even going to lead me to become a Christian as well. 374 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:05,320 Before after life transformation. 375 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,120 Do you remember my question? 376 00:23:07,120 --> 00:23:09,840 Is the gospel personal to you? 377 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:18,360 Have you had a moment where you ended your before story, you started your after story, 378 00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:22,360 and you did it because of the power of Jesus Christ? 379 00:23:22,360 --> 00:23:23,480 What was that moment? 380 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:24,960 Where was it? 381 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:31,240 Is it obvious in your life that you're different because of that moment of trusting Christ? 382 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:36,840 Russell Gregory and I have talked recently about a time that he took a connection class 383 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:40,320 he was teaching through the gospel presentation. 384 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,160 And one day they had a testimony day. 385 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:45,320 That is the day where they worked on their personal testimony. 386 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:50,280 The goal was that everyone that was in that class would be able to learn to share the 387 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:52,960 gospel eventually, but to build their testimony. 388 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:57,560 And part of that exercise was talk about your before story, talk about your after story, 389 00:23:57,560 --> 00:23:59,920 talk about how everything changed. 390 00:23:59,920 --> 00:24:07,480 And of course, the answer to how everything changed is a relationship with Jesus Christ. 391 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:13,080 And Russell reported that two men came to him and said, I've been around here a long 392 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:14,480 time. 393 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:19,520 And I know a lot about Christianity, but I don't have a testimony. 394 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:25,200 I can't say that I have a before and an after story because I don't have a story that talks 395 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:29,160 about when my life changed in Jesus. 396 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,840 Of course, Russell wasted no time in helping those gentlemen come to know Jesus as Lord 397 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:33,840 and Savior. 398 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,520 Your amen goes right there, Russell. 399 00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:37,520 Amen. 400 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:41,200 Sometimes it's when you build your testimony or attempt to that you realize, wait a minute, 401 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:42,400 I might be very religious. 402 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:44,120 I might be a part of a church. 403 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:49,200 I might know a lot, but have I ever really had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ 404 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:51,520 that changed my life? 405 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:56,320 Whereas everything after that moment can only be explained by his presence and his work 406 00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:57,320 in my life. 407 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:01,760 You see, if you're going to change people around you by sharing the gospel, you've got 408 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:06,080 to know it clearly, but you also have to know it personal. 409 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,680 Is it personal to you? 410 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:14,640 If it hasn't been personal to you, you can make it personal to you today at the end of 411 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:15,640 this service. 412 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:20,280 I hope, I pray today that in this service there will be those that realize there's something 413 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:26,080 missing in my life and that they would realize we can help you put that something missing 414 00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,880 who is Jesus in your life today. 415 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:31,360 So that's the first part of this message. 416 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:35,720 It's about knowing the gospel clearly and knowing it personally. 417 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:42,800 But I also want to move on and secondly see that this text tells us to share the story 418 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:43,800 of the gospel. 419 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:45,720 It's not just about knowing the gospel. 420 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:47,320 It's about actually sharing it. 421 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:52,320 In fact, in the verses we looked at, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing 422 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:57,840 and teaching have to do with a going and a doing. 423 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:02,680 We are actually telling people and helping them know and teaching them exactly what it 424 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,560 means to know Christ as Lord and Savior. 425 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:12,400 So in looking at this today, I would offer this question. 426 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:13,400 Why do we share? 427 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,800 What are the reasons that motivates us to share the gospel? 428 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:18,880 Well, let me give you three of them real quick. 429 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:22,200 They're not in your notes, but you can put them out if you want to. 430 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:27,960 Number one, we share the gospel because we have been commanded by Jesus Christ to share 431 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:28,960 the gospel. 432 00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:31,040 So we do it for Jesus' sake. 433 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,120 I mean, that's one of the reasons he's left us here. 434 00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:35,720 That's one of the purposes of the church. 435 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,200 If it's the great commission, then it's a high priority. 436 00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:42,240 So we do it for Jesus' sake. 437 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:46,160 I promise you when we share the gospel, we don't do it because it's comfortable necessarily. 438 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:50,240 We don't do it because it's always fun because sometimes people reject it. 439 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,960 But we do it because we are ambassadors for Jesus Christ. 440 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,040 We represent him on this planet. 441 00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:57,040 That's what light is. 442 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:58,560 That's what salt is. 443 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:03,360 We're representing the one that sent us here and placed us here, just like he placed Peter, 444 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:06,200 just like he placed Philip, just like he placed Paul. 445 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,720 You have been placed. 446 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,120 And so you do it for Jesus' sake. 447 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:16,520 Secondly, I think we share because we've experienced salvation and we know it's life-changing. 448 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:22,760 I mean, if you can think of some of the great things that have happened to your life, things 449 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:27,240 that God has done in your life, since you put your faith and trust in Jesus, you can 450 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:32,080 get pretty excited about telling others about Jesus. 451 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:39,600 Now, I have to tell you, most of you that know me know that I'm not a big shopping guy. 452 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:43,920 Until a few months ago, I'd never even gone into a Costco store in my life and I was very 453 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:48,160 happy living my life that way. 454 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:55,160 And then one of my daughters told me about the amazing benefits of going to Costco. 455 00:27:55,160 --> 00:28:00,640 In that same amount of time, a guy came to me, Brad Raleigh, his father-in-law came to 456 00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:07,560 me and he gave me a flashlight that he bought at Costco and encouraged me to go to Costco. 457 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:11,680 Others planted Costco seeds in my heart by telling of the great deals they got. 458 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:16,240 So one day my wife and I decided, you know, we need to try out this place, this place called 459 00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:17,240 Costco. 460 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:21,440 So we went and we thought we'd buy some fresh fruit at a discounted value and we left with 461 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:29,920 $1,500 worth of furniture and a lifetime membership. 462 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:36,680 I'm now a Costco guy because somebody planted seeds in my heart for the value of Costco. 463 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:42,400 I think you know where I'm going with this. 464 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:46,720 Jesus Christ forgave me and cleansed me of all sins. 465 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:51,600 So I'm a pretty satisfied customer that I can tell you, you can find forgiveness in 466 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:52,600 Christ. 467 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:57,160 He helps me know about the principles of life that I need to be living and the direction 468 00:28:57,160 --> 00:28:58,160 I need to go in. 469 00:28:58,160 --> 00:29:02,480 I have to tell you, I'm pretty satisfied that I can open my Bible and know the Holy Spirit 470 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:04,960 will illuminate that and direct me in life. 471 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,880 And I encourage you to go as well and find out for yourself. 472 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,920 I know what it means to pray and have prayers answered and I know what it means to be prayed 473 00:29:12,920 --> 00:29:15,480 for and have those prayers answered. 474 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:19,760 So I'd have to say to you, I'm pretty pleased to be a Christian today and I think you ought 475 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,840 to give it a shot as well because Jesus Christ is real. 476 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:28,800 Listen, if we can help people go to Costco, why can we not help them know the gospel of 477 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:29,800 Jesus? 478 00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:30,800 Right? 479 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:31,800 Right? 480 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:38,840 So we do it because we know that it brings incredible benefit. 481 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:45,320 But the third reason we share is because if they don't have Christ, they will die and 482 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:48,800 forever be without him. 483 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:55,400 The scripture says the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in 484 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:57,360 Jesus Christ our Lord. 485 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:02,600 I mean, I need to want to tell somebody else about the gospel because if they don't ever 486 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:06,480 hear the gospel, then they never have a chance at eternal life. 487 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:11,200 I need to be looking for people who are without Christ so that I might have an opportunity 488 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,280 to have that conversation with them because it's clear to me, it's personal to me and 489 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:20,400 so therefore I have a motivation that it becomes clear and personal to them too. 490 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:25,520 We need to be watching for people like that. 491 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:29,600 I saw a great article about a week ago and I actually printed it out. 492 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:35,400 It was such a great article about a woman, a true story that happened just last week, 493 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:39,680 a woman who was swimming off the coast of China, a beach in China. 494 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:43,280 I know we don't think about that a lot, but apparently there's a beach in China where 495 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:47,680 she and her buddy were and she went out into the water. 496 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:49,720 She had a life ring on, but she went out into the water. 497 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:54,360 A flotation device was with her, but she got carried away by the waves. 498 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:59,080 And the person that was there with her looked up and all of a sudden this woman was gone. 499 00:30:59,080 --> 00:31:00,760 And so she alerted the authorities. 500 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:02,240 I don't know if she got out of the water. 501 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:06,360 I don't know if she's still in the water, but I can't find my friend and they did a 502 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:10,400 very involved search for more than 24 hours to look for this woman and nobody could find 503 00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:12,400 her. 504 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:18,080 Thirty-seven hours into this search, after they'd already called off the typical search, 505 00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:24,240 a tanker, about 50 miles from the coast was in the water and a man on the bridge had binoculars 506 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:29,800 and was looking and saw this woman floating 50 miles from the shore. 507 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:33,840 And of course they were able to stop and rescue her, get her back to shore. 508 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:37,960 It's a really interesting article because it says she was only dehydrated after after 509 00:31:37,960 --> 00:31:40,040 being out there 37 hours. 510 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:44,880 They gave her a bottle of water and she refused medical help and just walked back into the 511 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:46,800 area where she was from. 512 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:49,400 That's a tough woman right there, right? 513 00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:56,960 But the point of the story is somebody was looking and so they saw her. 514 00:31:56,960 --> 00:31:57,960 Are you looking? 515 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:02,400 I mean we're not looking for people floating 50 miles out into the ocean. 516 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:07,040 We're looking for people that are floating around on this planet that don't know Christ, 517 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:13,200 that don't have truth, that don't have light, that were motivated to do it because of all 518 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:14,200 those reasons. 519 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:16,280 That's why we share. 520 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,280 It's incredibly important that we do it. 521 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:21,360 I'll never forget the first church I pastored. 522 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:26,320 A young couple living about a block or so from the church, we learned that they lived 523 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:30,720 close to the church and one of their friends asked me if I'd go visit with them. 524 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:35,600 I'll never forget the visit one of our associate pastors and myself went and this couple was 525 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:37,720 probably 35 years old. 526 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:43,620 And it didn't take long for me to tell that they had lived just about every way you want 527 00:32:43,620 --> 00:32:48,880 to live or anybody would want to live for the first 35 years of their life or so. 528 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:51,840 And yet they were totally dissatisfied with life. 529 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:55,700 I mean they felt like they'd experienced so many things that were good, so many things 530 00:32:55,700 --> 00:32:57,140 that were bad. 531 00:32:57,140 --> 00:33:02,160 And I realized you probably have never heard anything about what Jesus Christ can do for 532 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:03,160 you. 533 00:33:03,160 --> 00:33:07,280 So I asked for permission to share the gospel with them and they said, sure, whatever you 534 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:08,280 want to share. 535 00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:11,800 And I shared with them about Christ and I remember them looking at me. 536 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,200 The woman said, this is the one thing that's missing in my life. 537 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:20,240 I have nothing spiritual at all in my life and I'm so dissatisfied with the way I've 538 00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:21,240 lived. 539 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:23,680 I'm looking for this answer and this is the answer right here. 540 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:28,520 I have to tell you, there are a lot of people like that on this life. 541 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:35,720 A lot of people waiting who need to hear about how to have life with Jesus. 542 00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:37,480 So it's really important that we know how to begin. 543 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:40,040 That's the second question, how do we begin? 544 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:45,680 You know if you read John 1 you'll see a great picture of John the Baptist crying out when 545 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,960 he sees Jesus and says, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. 546 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:56,880 And Bible immediately moves from a conversation by conversation description where two of the 547 00:33:56,880 --> 00:34:01,800 disciples with John the Baptist went to follow Jesus and one of them was Andrew. 548 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:07,040 As when Andrew went to follow Jesus, he quickly went to find his brother because when he realized 549 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,960 who Jesus was, he says, I'm going to find my brother Simon. 550 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,360 So he goes and gets Simon and brings him as well. 551 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:18,940 And then we find that the scripture tells us that Jesus also called Philip. 552 00:34:18,940 --> 00:34:23,720 And when Philip realized who Jesus was, he ran and found his brother Nathaniel. 553 00:34:23,720 --> 00:34:27,000 And that's just how the gospel moves. 554 00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:31,440 Now don't get me wrong, I love revivals and I love camps and I love crusades, but you 555 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:36,840 can never replace the one on one conversation where one person goes to find another person 556 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:41,640 and talk to them about the life giving power of Jesus Christ. 557 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:46,320 That's John 1, that's where it all began. 558 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:53,960 So we begin by looking around where we are and finding people that do not know about 559 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:57,320 Jesus and it's about planting seeds. 560 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:01,800 It's about kindness, small conversations. 561 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:03,920 It's about loving people, praying for people. 562 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:09,520 It's about letting them know if they ever have a need, you're there to help them with 563 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:13,600 that and of course in doing that, you can point them to Jesus. 564 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:18,800 In the rooted book on one page, page 201, it says this, whether Jesus was meeting needs, 565 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:25,280 making friends or moving people towards God, in all cases, he had a real spiritual impact 566 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,920 and there's no reason we can't do the same. 567 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:33,120 Sometimes we make it such a big deal that we're frightened to have a conversation, just 568 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,680 love people in the name of Jesus. 569 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:40,440 And then when you have that conversation, point them to your story, your testimony and 570 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,880 it's the gospel that saved you. 571 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:50,040 Jesus used the illustration of a sower going out to sow seeds and that's really what we're 572 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:51,320 supposed to be doing. 573 00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:58,520 Sowing seeds everywhere we go and in Jesus telling of that parable in Luke chapter 5, 574 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:02,760 he explained it by saying, now the seed is the word of God. 575 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:05,840 Do you have the word of God in your life? 576 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:07,720 Throw it out like a seed. 577 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:10,360 Throw it out like handfuls of seed. 578 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:15,360 And the way you do that and when you do that and with whom you do that gives you open doors 579 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:17,120 to have conversations. 580 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:22,160 And sometimes those conversations don't seem to yield fruit right away, but God will always 581 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:26,560 use that when you plant that seed in someone's life. 582 00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:32,200 As a pastor, I have a great chance to talk to people when they most need a conversation. 583 00:36:32,200 --> 00:36:36,360 A guy named David called me a few years ago and said, would you go with me to the hospital? 584 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:38,240 My grandfather is on his deathbed. 585 00:36:38,240 --> 00:36:42,600 I'm pretty sure you won't make it, but we've shared the gospel with him for years and years 586 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:45,320 and years and he's just not been responding. 587 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:46,320 Would you go with me? 588 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:50,680 And I said, David, if you shared the gospel with him for years and years, he may well 589 00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:51,960 be ready. 590 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,060 You're not looking for an expert, you're looking for an invitation. 591 00:36:55,060 --> 00:36:59,160 So we went and I shared the gospel with his grandfather and his grandfather probably heard 592 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:07,960 it 30 times, but this time on his deathbed, everything looked different because he knew 593 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:10,560 he was about to meet God one way or another. 594 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:15,320 Now, I wasn't even the most important person in that conversation. 595 00:37:15,320 --> 00:37:22,160 The people who planted the seeds made that man ready to meet God on his deathbed. 596 00:37:22,160 --> 00:37:27,840 That means the whole church throwing seeds out every day in every way allows somebody 597 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:32,880 somewhere down the road to be able to help them make that final decision. 598 00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:41,680 So let's make it practical, identify somebody that you need to be praying for, invest in 599 00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:49,200 their lives by conversation, by friendliness, invite them, invite them to come with you 600 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:54,200 to worship, invite them to your home, have a conversation with them that may one day 601 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:58,240 open up the door for a deeper conversation. 602 00:37:58,240 --> 00:38:00,000 I forgot the word intercede. 603 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:05,280 My goodness, we intercede for them all the way through because they need to hear about 604 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,760 Christ and it's amazing what prayer can do. 605 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:13,720 Finally introduce them to the gospel by telling your story, your before, your after and how 606 00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:16,600 your life changed. 607 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:21,360 I have one more question to ask you though and that question is, it's a logical question. 608 00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:24,600 If I'm going to be sharing with people, who will help me? 609 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:26,840 Who will help us? 610 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:30,080 You remember what it says in Matthew chapter 28 verse 20? 611 00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:36,440 Jesus said, and lo I am with you even to the end of the age. 612 00:38:36,440 --> 00:38:42,280 As long as life goes on, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is inside of 613 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:43,280 you. 614 00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,240 Jesus is literally with you wherever you go, whatever you do. 615 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:51,320 So when you share the gospel, you are not doing it alone. 616 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:56,240 That's why in first Corinthians, Paul said, I planted the pot of water, but God is the 617 00:38:56,240 --> 00:39:00,560 one that was causing the growth and that's really what we need to be aware of. 618 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:06,120 He helps us in looking, he helps us in praying, he helps us in sowing seeds and sharing, he 619 00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:11,960 helps us with the supernatural part that we cannot do, drawing people and convicting people 620 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:13,280 that they need Christ. 621 00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:16,640 And you know who really closes the deal on these conversations? 622 00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:21,580 It's not you and it's not me and it's not some expert, it's Jesus himself. 623 00:39:21,580 --> 00:39:26,640 He becomes very present and they want him in their lives. 624 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:29,240 Lo I am with you always even to the end of the age. 625 00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:31,840 That's not just a promise, it says. 626 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:35,040 You don't have to be afraid when you're flying in an airplane or when you're about to go 627 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:36,040 through surgery. 628 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:37,500 I'm with you through all those things. 629 00:39:37,500 --> 00:39:39,920 This was given in the context of witnessing. 630 00:39:39,920 --> 00:39:42,240 Yes, he is always faithful. 631 00:39:42,240 --> 00:39:49,200 He's always there, but especially when you are passing the news on to someone else. 632 00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:55,480 I probably share the gospel with hundreds of people and many times they've said no. 633 00:39:55,480 --> 00:40:02,360 Sometimes they said I'm not open at all and some say not now and then occasionally someone 634 00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:04,680 will say I'm ready. 635 00:40:04,680 --> 00:40:09,840 But I think at the end of the age I'm going to look back and some of those seeds I planted 636 00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:15,460 and some of those rejections that I experienced are no longer rejections because God has used 637 00:40:15,460 --> 00:40:22,800 those seeds along the way to get them ready for the day they do accept Christ as Lord 638 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:24,520 and Savior. 639 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:30,320 You can do this because He's with you and He's caused you to it. 640 00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:33,240 Why and how do we share all those things? 641 00:40:33,240 --> 00:40:34,480 He's made it possible for us. 642 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:39,960 I love what Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15, but sanctify Christ as Lord in 643 00:40:39,960 --> 00:40:46,440 your heart, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account 644 00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:52,640 for the hope that is in you with gentleness and with reverence. 645 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:59,840 I want to close this message today by making sure you know that if you do not have a before 646 00:40:59,840 --> 00:41:04,240 story and an after story, if you don't have that moment that made all the difference in 647 00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:08,720 the world, you can have it before you leave the room today. 648 00:41:08,720 --> 00:41:12,840 You can have it before you walk out of this building. 649 00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:16,800 We actually have people that are prepared every week to talk about these decisions. 650 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:18,160 We call them decision stations. 651 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:21,040 There's one right there, there's another one back here. 652 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:26,440 We're available to answer the question of whether you've ever had that moment of accepting 653 00:41:26,440 --> 00:41:28,680 Christ as Lord and Savior. 654 00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:32,920 If you're unsure, if you have doubts, settle those doubts today. 655 00:41:32,920 --> 00:41:35,980 You can't lose anything by settling those doubts. 656 00:41:35,980 --> 00:41:39,640 If you're sure you've never accepted Christ before, then today we can help you know how. 657 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:42,880 It's still your decision, but we'd help you know how. 658 00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:47,840 No sense in walking out of here with darkness when you can have the light of the gospel 659 00:41:47,840 --> 00:41:48,840 in your life. 660 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:53,040 I want to encourage you after prayers, stop by the decision station. 661 00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:57,640 I'd also like to invite you, if you're a guest, to come to our guest reception room or outside 662 00:41:57,640 --> 00:41:59,720 the center exit doors and across the hallway. 663 00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:00,720 I'd love to meet you. 664 00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:02,920 And I want to invite you to come back next week. 665 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:04,640 What's God say about money? 666 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:05,840 What's God's view about money? 667 00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:11,120 It's not a giving message, but it's a message about how God views money and how He uses 668 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:13,480 it or the lack of it in your life. 669 00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:15,120 You don't want to miss this. 670 00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:16,120 Let's stand together. 671 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:22,440 Father, I thank you so much that you've given us clarity with the gospel and you've given 672 00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:29,360 us a personal, intimate experience with the gospel if we are truly believers. 673 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:34,880 I ask you today to not let a person leave this building without being sure, being certain 674 00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:37,760 that they have eternal life. 675 00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:42,320 And Lord, those that need to have testimonies that don't have them, allow them, Lord, to 676 00:42:42,320 --> 00:42:46,720 have life-changing conversations that lead to that decision. 677 00:42:46,720 --> 00:42:52,120 And then Father, as we leave this place today, I pray that we might go sowing seeds and return 678 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:53,120 rejoicing. 679 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:56,560 Father, we ask this all in Jesus' name. 680 00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:06,880 Amen.