Thank you for listening to this message from
Lifehouse Church. Good morning, good morning.
It's good to see each one of you this morning
at Lifehouse. Hey, we're going to start off this
message just a little bit different. How many
know when you come to church, it is not a spectator
sport? Amen? Some of you are like, yes it is.
No, it's not. We're coming together. We come
together to pray. We come together to worship
God. We come together to get in community, right,
with one another. And tonight, VBS starts. And
we don't do VBS just so like another church that
does VBS. We believe with all our hearts that
kids are going to get saved. Kids are going to
come into the kingdom of God. We believe they're
going to grow spiritually this weekend. We believe
that there might even be parents that are going
to be reached this weekend. And I'm here to tell
you, we need to pray. And I'm going to stop.
We're going to do this together. We're going
to join together. We're going to believe God
for what he's going to do this week at VBS. We're
going to believe that every plan of the enemy
is sidetracked. It's pushed away because the
enemy doesn't want our children moving close
to God. You know that? He doesn't. But we believe
that God's going to do that. So I'm going to
ask you to stand. Come on. This is not spectator
today. We're going to worship together, right?
We've done that already. We're going to pray
together. How many are ready to pray that the
kingdom comes down to VBS? Amen? Let's do it.
So, Father, we come to you. If you'd raise your
hand just with me. Father, we come before you.
God, we come asking. Lord, believing for VBS.
God, we're believing that you're going to reach
lives. You're going to touch souls. God, there
are going to be young people that come into the
kingdom of God this week for the very first time.
God, there are going to be young people who are
going to feel your presence. And God sent you
in a way they've never done before. God, I believe
there are going to be parents. God, there are
going to be adults that are going to be reached
this week. So, Lord, I pray that you would just
use these efforts that have been taken. Lord,
the preparations that have taken place, God,
use them for the kingdom of God. And just, Lord,
anoint it. We ask this in Jesus' name. Everybody
say it together. Amen. Amen. You may be seated.
I'm believing God for a couple of things. I'm
believing for this tank to get filled with invitations
and this one to get filled with salvations. That's
what those are all about. Amen. Anybody with
me on that? All right. All right. Come on. It's
happening. We need to give God glory. He has
been doing it all month long. We keep hearing
stories of invitations and what people are doing
and reaching people for the gospel. So that's
what this message series has been all about.
It's been all about being salty. Say salty. Turn
to somebody this morning and look at them. Are
you salty? Ask them, are you salty this morning?
Come on, are you feeling salty? Right? Are you
salty? One of Chaney and Associates' recent surveys,
produced the following finding. And for me, this
was very intriguing. This was the finding. Confusion
keeps the unchurched away more than the rules
of the church. Church rules are not the deterrent
for the unchurched. This study revealed that
four out of 10 unchurched people believe churches
have too many rules. It's not the rules themselves.
It's the lack of clarity that... surrounds the
church that keeps people away from church. Over
60 % of unchurched people agree or strongly agree
that churches are confusing for outsiders. Surprisingly,
the same percentage of church attendees hold
the same view. Both at the church and the unchurched
agree, right, that it is confusing to those on
the outside. It's not the rules. It's not what
we believe at church that keeps the unchurched
away. Sometimes it's the lack of clarity in our
message and what we're doing, right? One of the
major deterrents of somebody who is unchurched,
who's far from God, for them to come to church
is the lack of clarity. It's how we do things,
right? The methods or the processes in churches,
right? Clarity in the expectations of church
and clarity in the message of the church. And
if there's one thing that we should be clear
on, it is the message of the church, right? Because
we're here to proclaim that as followers of Jesus
Christ, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message
of Jesus, that's our one message. That's what
we're trying to proclaim. The church is not about
a building. It's about the people of God and
the people of God raising up and reaching others.
We should have one and only one resounding message
for somebody who's not currently following Jesus,
and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ, right?
We need to be clear with that message. Everything
that we do, everything that we say should clearly
declare the message of Jesus Christ. We cannot
be salty, right, for Jesus. to a world who does
not know him if we're not telling his story,
if we're not clear in the telling. All right?
That's what today's acrostic word is. I've been
caught up in this acrostic thing all month long,
right? A salty, S -A -L -T -Y. Now, today is
a perfect day to take notes, by the way. If you're
not taking notes at service, you should be on
your phone, right? We got notebooks out at the
connection station. You can run out there. Somebody
will help you get one of those. We sell them,
I think, for five bucks, something like that.
You can get two for 10. It's great. All right?
You'll pick up that later. All right. You know,
four for 20, special today. All right. But T
in the acrostic is tell his story. The greatest
message we ever speak to another human being
is the message of Jesus Christ. It is his story
that is greatest message. John 3, 16. If you've
gone to church as a child, and you'll probably
hear this at VBS at some point along the way,
right? For God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten son, that whoever believes
in him should not perish but have everlasting
life. For God did not send his son in this world
to condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved. Right? It's the gospel. Our
message has to be clear. We come together to
worship. We come together for community, right?
We come together to share the gospel with others,
to learn about that. We tell a story. Now, our
story might get intermixed with that. Our testimony
might get intermixed, but we come and we tie
those together so that we're salty. And salty
is this. I want to give you a reminder because
I'm going to know you might forget the acrostic
from week to week. You need to write this down,
right? Salty S is this. We start a conversation,
right? A is ask a question. L is we listen to
understand, right? Not just reply, but T is tell
his story. To be honest, to be honest, this is
where a lot of Christians get jammed up. This
is where a lot of believers kind of cringe a
little bit. This is where people kind of, you're
right. It's like, oh man, I don't know. Most
Jesus followers are really good at starting conversations.
I witnessed it this morning. There were a bunch
of you in conversation this morning. When we
come to church on Sunday mornings, there is no
issue with conversation. Conversations get started
all over the house, right? And we're pretty good
at asking each other questions. And a lot of
times we're even good at listening to understand
somebody. But when we get down to sharing the
gospel and sharing the good news, sometimes we
just get stuck. And it's not, and here's what
I believe. It's not because you don't love Jesus.
And I don't even believe that you're ashamed
of Jesus. And I'm not here to make you feel lousy
about yourself today, right? How many know, you
don't want to come to church and somebody's like,
you're a big loser, right? Because you're not
evangelizing enough. Turn to the person beside
you, do this, or go ahead. Some of you have been
wanting to do this all day, right? Big loser,
right? That's not how you come to church. That's
not what I'm here for. That's not what I'm trying
to say at all this morning. Most of the time,
Christians get jammed up in sharing the gospel
because they just aren't sure how to do it clearly.
They're just not sure. They're qualified, right?
They're unsure about the approach. How do I bring
this up? You know, this is a deep and serious
subject. This is complicated. This is life -changing.
You know, this message, and how do I do this?
There's so much to tell about Jesus. I don't
even know where to start, right? That's where
people get. I mean, seriously, how do I explain
that the creator of the universe came wrapped
in flesh as a baby 2 ,000 plus years ago in a
little town called Bethlehem? He had visitors
that came to see him at his birth, by the way.
They were led by stars, right? Some angels showed
up and gave directions to all this. There were
stables, a census, and farm animals involved,
right? Then this baby Jesus was in fact God incarnate.
He was part man or actually all human and all
God at the same time. He grew up at age 30. He
launched his first ministry. Right? At age 30,
he healed the sick. He raised the dead. He preached
the kingdom of God is at hand. He died on a Roman
cross as the supreme sacrifice for each one of
our sins because he was the only one that was
qualified to do so. Right? So that we could be
reconciled back to God. Then placed in a tomb
for three days. He rose from the grave, was seen
by over 500 witnesses, ascended to the Father,
sent back the Holy Spirit in his place so that
we would be empowered as believers. Right? And
we believe this now as followers of Jesus Christ.
And because of that, you're saved. Saved, sanctified,
right? Can be filled with the Spirit, right?
Regenerated on your way to heaven. And because
Jesus completed that work on the cross, and God
has now extended that grace and that mercy that's
unfit, right, Meredith? By the way, if you are
saved, you just avoided the flames of hell and
eternal punishment, and you've got a place now
in heaven that you can go to, right? And we're
trying to do all this while we're in an elevator
going from the first to the 22nd floor, right?
And so much more. We're trying to tell the gospel.
No wonder we get intimidated. No wonder, how
am I going to get all of it in? I don't even
know how to tell everybody about all this. I'm
not even sure I know what all that means, right?
But I'm part of the ministerial credentialing
process for a denomination. And it's interesting
as we move them through the credentialing process,
new ministers and they're getting credentialed.
and certified and ordained. It's interesting.
We'll sit down and role play sometimes with them
in this scenario because they need to be able
to explain different parts of the doctrine to
other people. And they even get tied up, right?
Sometimes they get tongue tied with what they're
going to talk about and how they're explaining
clearly. So I'm not here to make you feel guilty.
I'm not here to make you feel bad. I'm not pointing
any fingers in any way. Amen. Everybody good?
Right? All the tensions down, right? Turn to
somebody and tell them, I'm not here to make
you feel bad, right? And you're not a loser,
by the way. Turn to the person you did a loser
thing to and tell them you're not a loser, right?
Listen, I know this can seem overwhelming, right?
This can seem like a lot, telling the gospel.
Sometimes it seems difficult to explain an all
-powerful and an all -knowing and an omnipresent
God. It's a fearful thing to bring the greatest
message that's ever been told to another human
being, right? Describing Jesus as Savior. I know
this can be hard. Sometimes it's the primary
reason. Many don't tell people about Jesus. We
end up just deciding to leave it to the professionals,
right? Leave it to the ministers. I feel guilty.
I don't want to be like this, but the opportunity
comes and I'm not quite sure what to do. And
I stumble over my words and I forget all the
scriptures that I've memorized and I was supposed
to tell them, right? I forget. Well, first, let
me tell you the good news. You can effectively
share the gospel in a simplistic manner. It does
not have to be hard. It does not have to be difficult.
That's the good news. Now, let me give you some
news that might make you clench up just a little
bit again. Guess who the ministers are? You are,
right? Let me read you Ephesians 4, verse 11.
It says this, and he, and it's talking about
Jesus, and he himself gave some to be apostles.
Now, apostles in the church. Vocational apostles,
they're over different churches. They lead churches
in different areas. Paul the apostle in scripture
started and led many churches, right? For some
are apostles, some are prophets. Those who speak
for God, those who speak the word of God, speak
prophetically. Some evangelists, people like
Billy Graham. I may remember Billy Graham, right?
Who was one of the greatest evangelists to ever
walk. They got a special gift as a vocational
minister to bring people into the kingdom of
God. pastors and teachers, professional vocational
ministers, right? The bros. For the equipping
of the saints, that's you for the work of the
ministry. The vocational, right? Those who you
consider professional are here to equip you for
the work of the ministry and for the edifying
of the body of Christ. Till we all come to the
unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of
God, to a perfect man, to the measure and the
stature of the fullness of Christ. My biblical
job description as a pastor is to equip you to
minister to other people. That's part of why
we're doing this series. You're the minister.
You're the minister. You're the one that's reaching
the person that's at your job or at your school
or down the street or at the grocery store where
you're at. Turn to somebody right now and say,
look at somebody right now. Do it this time.
Actually do it. And say, what's up, minister?
Go ahead. Tell them. What's up, minister? Come
on. You're it and I'm it, right? What's up, minister?
We're all called. We're all commissioned to be
salty. It's not reserved for a few select. It's
not for a special endowed group of people, right?
Somewhere where every person who's experienced
salvation and knows the love and the joy of forgiveness
of God in their own lives is called to reach
somebody else. So how do I do it? How do I confidently,
simplistically share the gospel with Jesus, the
good news with somebody else? How do I keep it
clear? How do I keep it simple? How do I keep
it short, right? How do I know what to remember
in the moment of time when I'm in a conversation,
when I'm talking with someone about God? Well,
I'm going to give you another acrostic. I'm on
acrostics this month. Remember I said that, right?
Please forgive me. Next month I'll be something
else, right? But here's an acrostic that you
probably all be able to remember. Maybe as easy
or even easier than salty. Say this with me.
A, B, C. How many can remember that today? All
right, thank you. A, B, C, right? How many know
that's simple, clear, short in nature? A, B,
C's. We learned that in grade school, right?
Kindergarten. And honestly, when I first heard
about this method of remembering the gospel and
sharing the gospel, I... kind of bulked at it
a little. I'm going to be honest. I thought,
well, you know, that's kind of cool, but it's
a little corny. I thought, you know, there's
probably not going to be enough information here.
It's probably an overall simplification of the
gospel and not a clear presentation. But honestly,
if you look at this, what we're going to talk
about today, and you apply it, you can go as
deep as you want with this, with ABC, and you
can keep it as simple and quick as you want with
ABC in presenting the gospel. And A is this.
A is this. A is admit. Say admit. Right? Do I
admit that I am far from God and in need of a
Savior? B is believe. What do I believe about
Jesus? And C is confess. Do I confess Jesus as
my Lord? When you get in a discussion with someone
about the gospel of Jesus Christ, these are the
questions you want to get answered. You know,
does somebody admit that they're far from God
in need of a Savior? What do I believe about
Jesus? Do I confess Jesus as Lord? It's questions
you ask yourself and questions that you'll thread
into a discussion with someone else. So we're
going to start with A. Do I admit that I'm far
from God? Effectively sharing the gospel, the
starting place for sharing the gospel is the
same for everybody. It really is. The message
of the gospel has to start with the good news
of Jesus Christ. But do I admit, do I realize
that I'm far from God? Why would I talk about
a savior if I don't need saved from anything,
right? We talk about Jesus as savior and Lord.
And that might sound very complicated in nature,
but actually it's super easy to understand in
our physical world, right? In our physical world,
it's a very easy concept to grasp hold of. It's
very easy for us to understand. If I'm in the
water and I'm drowning, now, if you ever see
that happen to me, please listen closely to what
I'm saying. If I'm drowning, you get to be my
savior that day. Please do. right? If somebody's
in the water physically drowning, it isn't hard
for us to figure out. They're waving their arms
and saying, I'm going down. I need help, right?
And we understand they need a savior. They need
somebody who's going to throw them a life preserver.
They need somebody who maybe has the skills to
jump in like a lifeguard and pull them out of
the water to save them from death. Easy concept.
Easy thing to understand. If I'm trapped somewhere
in my home and all of a sudden something catches
on fire and the room is surrounded and I can't
get to the stairway, I can't get to the window,
I can't get out anywhere and I'm just yelling
for someone, right? It's easy to understand a
savior. See, it's easy to understand I need a
fireman to show up. God blessed a volunteer fireman.
A couple of years ago, I was going by a house
late in the evening and it was in flames. I stopped,
I called 911 and I stayed there. because people
were coming out of the house, I was amazed. These
volunteer firemen came in and converged on that
house, and they went into action immediately.
They were through the windows, they were through
the doors, and they were making sure that the
rooms were clear. It was incredible to watch,
right? They needed, you need, if you're on the
flames, you need a savior. You need somebody
to come and get you. You need somebody to pull
you out. If I'm hanging on the side of a cliff,
and I'm just hanging there by my fingernails,
and I don't have a rope, and I got nothing to
hang on to, just one hand holding on to that,
I need a Savior. I need somebody with a rope.
I need somebody to throw a rope down and pull
me back up or let me down, right, so I don't
fall to my death. It's not hard to understand.
It's not a difficult concept to picture in the
world around us. You know, if you're in one of
those situations or I'm in one of those situations,
you have no problem recognizing. How many know
we will scream our heads off if we get in that
situation? Your dignity will go right out the
door, right? You will scream your brains out
to get somebody's attention because you need
a savior in your life. Even a child can understand.
We get it. But how many know it gets a little
bit tougher with the spiritual side and drowning
in their sin, right? And the urgency of their
drowning. The difference between the spiritual
and the physical is, in the physical world, there's
an urgency that we see all around us. You can
feel the heat of the flames. You feel the water
rushing into your lungs, right? You understand
that you're going to fall to your death by your
fingertips. But a person who is in spiritual
need, right, is spiritually drowning, is spiritually
in danger of flames and hell, they're not feeling
it yet. They're walking through life. A person
is hanging on by their fingertips sometimes that's
spiritually ready to go down, eternally might
go down, right? They don't understand sometimes
the situation they're in. Most people who are
in need of a savior from the consequences of
sin really don't even know the position that
they're in. They don't really know they're drowning.
They don't really realize that they're burning
or they're hanging on a cliff, right? In fact,
some people are kind of clueless of their current
spiritual situation. It's a little bit like those
movies. I don't know if you've ever seen those
movies that they're all about an asteroid speeding
to Earth. How many know they've made about 500
of them? Yeah, it's true, right? And there's
this asteroid out. It always is the same, right?
There's this scientist. There's like six of them
in one room. And they're the only ones that realize
there's a speeding, enormous asteroid heading
towards Earth. And if people don't get warned,
they don't find out, it's going to blow the Earth
to pieces, right? And what do they do? They show
everybody just going through life. right the
sun's coming out just like it always does everybody's
doing what they've done the day before and the
day before that and the day before that and they're
just going through and there's side just yelling
right it's a little bit like that sometimes they
don't know you know that that there's Death is
imminent. You see it in movies. They don't know
that the tornado's approaching because the sirens
aren't going off, right? They don't know that
the dam's about to break that's up above the
city and a wall of water's gonna come down and
wash everybody away. They're just going through
life. That's kind of what it's like spiritually,
right? Until they understand the urgency. See,
I've gone into the hospital room when somebody's
got the news that they've only got a few weeks
to live. And the urgency goes from here to here.
It's interesting, when you go in and somebody
knows that they're at the end, everything else
goes off to the side. And all they want to know
about is what's next. What's coming next? They
want to know, do they need a savior? Hebrews
9 .27 says this. And as it is appointed for men
to die once, but after this, the judgment. So
Christ offered once to bear the sins of many.
To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear
a second time apart from sin for salvation. If
Jesus doesn't return soon and take us out of
here one day, we will feel the urgency of death,
right? We don't want to wait for that moment
in a time, you know, we don't want to think about
it a lot of times. We don't want to grab a hold
of it. We don't want to think about the consequences
of our sin, right? We don't want to really pay
too much attention or understand it, but we're
in need of a Savior. And that has to come into
the conversation. But, you know, people, sometimes
I have that conversation and they're like, well,
I want to wait. Don't wait. Don't wait. I mean,
no, death is not always a patient guest in our
lives. It's not always a patient guest. A is
that you get that conversation moving towards
needing a Savior. Admit. Admit. Help them understand
the urgency of it. Romans 6 .23 says, For the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. James
1 .12 gives even a better picture. He says, Blessed
is the man who endures temptation. For when he
has been approved, he will receive the crown
of life, which the Lord has promised to those
who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted,
I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted
by evil, nor does he. himself tempt anyone. But
each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his
own desires and enticed. And when desire is conceived,
it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it's full
grown, brings forth death. Right? We need a Savior.
We need a Savior. In a conversation with somebody
that's far from God, you got to broach this subject.
You got to approach this subject, right? Don't
point, now listen, don't point your finger at
somebody and say, you're a sinner, you need Jesus,
right? Admit it. How many know that's not a good
approach? Please don't do that, all right? Please
don't, I'm asking, please don't do that, right?
How do you think that's gonna go? Tell the story,
tell the story. And it might start off you telling
your story. You know, a good way to conversation
is, let me tell you why I needed a savior. You
know, a lot of times we're talking about, I needed
somebody to save me. And let me tell you, because
they can't argue your testimony. Just tell them
your story. Tell them why you needed a Savior
and how that took place, right? I needed someone
to save my life. You don't have to approach them
on theirs. You just start talking about how you
needed a Savior. Sometimes I even go to Adam
and Eve. How many know Adam and Eve needed a
Savior, right? I love telling the story of Adam
and Eve to other people because I can blame them.
How many like to blame somebody? I do, right?
I'm like, yeah, you know, Adam and Eve, they
started this whole mess, right? We wouldn't be
in the situation we were in if it wasn't for
them. You know, they disobeyed God. They rebelled,
right? They needed a Savior big time. They really
did. You can just throw them under the bus. They're
not here to argue with you. Use Adam and Eve.
But get to the, you know, we need a Savior. We
got to admit it. This is where the gospel began
for all of us. Romans 3 .9 says this, what then?
Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have
previously charged both Jew and Greek that we
are all under sin. We all start here. We all
need a savior. Romans 3 .10 says, as it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one. There is
none who understands. There's none who seeks
after God. They've all turned aside. They have
together become unprofitable. There's none who
does good, no, not one. The throat is an open
tomb. With their tongue they have practiced deceit.
The poison of asps is under their lips. Whose
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness? Their
feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and
misery are in their ways in the way of peace
they've not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Romans 3 .23 says, For all have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God. Every one
of us are in need of a Savior. This is where
we all start. This is all of us pre -Jesus. We
were dead to rights. We were undone. Destruction
and judgment were our future. We need a savior.
And can I tell you something that helps make
this a little easier? As you approach somebody
and start to talk about this subject of things,
and you talk about it in your own life even,
one thing you need to understand about the person
that's in front of you that you're talking with,
everybody on the face of the planet has this
God -sized hole inside of them. Now, I know that
sounds very cliche if you've been around Christian
circles, but it's true. Every one of us were
designed originally to be in relationship with
God. So there's this thing that's missing, and
that's why people dive into all these other things,
right, to fill that hole and to fill that void.
And that's in each and every one of us. So understand,
as you start talking about God, how God has come
into your life, and you needed a Savior, and
He changed everything in your life, it's going
to scream out to something that's inside of them.
because that's true for them as well. They filled
it with something else that's never gonna measure
up to Jesus Christ. They put something in that
hole that is never ever gonna satisfy long -term.
It won't. So just know that going into the conversation.
They need a savior, just like you did. And tell
them your story. Just tell them your story. Help
them to recognize it in their own life, right?
That's A. Say admit. Admit. B. What do I believe
about Jesus? If sin is the urgent problem in
our lives, and it is, right, then believing in
Jesus becomes the remedy or the fix for that
urgent problem. It is believing in Jesus that
brings the Savior close and personal to us. He
gets close enough to pull us out, right, of the
flames, to pull us out of the water. It's when
I'm believing. truly believing in my heart that
Jesus is savior, that he's rescued me from the
flames, that he will pull me out of drowning
in my sin. When Jesus is the one throwing me
the rope, right? And I believe in what he can
do in my life. When he fixes my spiritual dysfunction
in my life, right? My belief in Jesus is the
remedy for the sin that's in our lives. Somewhere
in that conversation, you got to find out what
do they believe? And not just believe in general,
but what do they believe about Jesus? What's
their faith in? What do they believe will save
their life? And honestly, the easiest way to
do this is just ask. What do you believe about
Jesus? Super simple question. Just conversation,
right? Jesus asked it to his disciples. In Luke
18, he said, it happened as he was alone praying
that his disciples joined him. And he asked them
saying, who did the crowd say that I am? He starts
the conversation. He asks the question. So they
answered and said, John the Baptist, some say
Elijah, others say that one of the old prophets
has risen again. And he said, but who do you
say that I am? Peter answered and said, the Christ
of God. Peter got it right. Just ask the question.
What do you believe about Jesus? Because you're
going to get all kinds of answers. If you start
this conversation about like, what do you think
about Jesus? Some people are going to say, man,
he was a really good guy, right? But they're
not wrong. He's a really good guy, right? Some
are going to say, well, he was a religious leader
from way back. a Jewish religious leader. Some
will say, I don't really know, you know, much
about Jesus. Some will say, well, he was God
in flesh, right? Others will say, you know, if
they're saved, they'll say he is my savior. Some's
going to say that he's a myth. Others are going
to say, well, that's just a spiritual crutch
for everybody, right? To believe in a leader,
a religious leader of some kind. He's just one
of many. You can get all kinds of answers, but
start the conversation and find out what do they
believe about Jesus? Who do they believe he is?
It's a legit question. Don't come mean. Just
come out of curiosity. I want to know. When I
get in a conversation with somebody, I want to
know what they think. Anybody with me on that?
Yeah, that's really listening to somebody. What
do they believe? And it's not intrusive. Listen,
to ask somebody what they believe is not an intrusive
question to ask. Just jump on social media. How
many know on social media everybody tells you
what they believe? Right? Doesn't matter what
you get on. You can get on X. You can get on
Facebook. You can get on anything, on social
media. And everybody wants to tell you what they
believe. They love telling you what they believe.
You're probably not going to run into the rub
until you start, you know, talking about what
they believe or don't believe or how you believe
different. But everybody wants to tell you what
they believe. It's a little bit about what we
talked about last week. I can't get somebody
to believe street if I don't know how they feel
about Jesus on Jesus street. Right? I need to
know if I'm going to get him direction there.
We got to admit we need a Savior. We got to believe,
right? What do we believe about Jesus? And then
C, do I confess Jesus as Lord of my life? I'm
going to ask if the worship team would come.
C, if you're writing this down, this is a good
morning to write. I'm doing a little teaching
this morning, right? Do I confess Jesus as Lord
of my life? This is kind of where the rubber
meets the road, I think. Who or what do you confess
as Lord in your life? Now, we probably don't
use those terms, right? When we're talking with
somebody, generally people don't go around like,
hey, who's Lord of your life today? You just
don't normally say that, right? You hear it in
church. You hear it in other places. So you have
to just start asking other questions. And what
you're trying to find out is, you know, what
do I declare as Lord in my life? What is first
in my life? What is master in my life, right?
What kind of controls how I think and what I
do? What is king in my life? I'm trying to give
you some synonyms here. Like, you know, what
is it? Because whoever, whatever is master in
my life is Lord in my life. It really is. It's
what I believe in. It's what I believe will save
me. You know, and do I confess Jesus as master
of my life or as money master of my life? Jesus
talked about this, right? You can't serve God
and money. You can't do both. The word of God
says it. So what am I confessing? What am I saying?
Because the longer you talk, you'll confess what
you believe. You'll confess what you rely in,
right? Is my confession in the words that I'm
speaking, and that's what confessing is, is speaking
something, right? Is my confession self -reliance?
It could be that the master of my life is self
-reliance. You know, I don't worry about everything
else that's around me. I just worry about me.
I got it covered. I can handle it on my own.
Anybody ever hear that? Anybody ever say that,
right? I got it figured out. You know, it could
be a religious figure of some kind in life. It
could be a codependency on another person. It
could be the career that they have, right? This
is Lord of their life. This is master of their
life. It could be their accomplishments, their
education. It could be pleasure. It could be
all kinds of things. What's their confession?
What's their confession? What is Lord of their
life? You can start some really good questions
with this too, right? You don't have to come
in with what's Lord of your life. You can ask
questions like, what makes you feel the most
secure in life? What is it that makes you feel
secure? What gives you the sense that everything's
going to be okay in your life? What is it that
you lean on? What do you depend on in your thoughts,
right? When you got a tough day, you've had a
rough day. What do you depend on to get you through
the rough day? You'll start finding out what's
master because they'll start confessing it. And
you'll find out if Jesus is Lord in their life.
See, we ask questions to find out where somebody
really is. And again, you can do all this. You
can admit that you needed a savior. You can admit
that you can talk about your belief in Jesus
because they probably don't believe in Jesus
or might not believe in Jesus. You can confess
that he's Lord of your life, master, and this
is what God's done for me. And this is why I
believe so deeply in Jesus because he really
has changed everything in my life. It's a testimony.
You don't need to know all the Bible. You don't
need to memorize 45 scriptures. to go lead somebody
to Christ. You really don't. You can do A, say
A. A. B. B. And C. C. You really can. And you
can go as deep with those as you want, or you
can go as, you know, maybe not so deep or just
as short as you want. We've got to reach them.
Jesus therefore answered and said to them, do
not murmur among yourselves. No one can come
to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,
and I will raise him up at the last day. All
we have to do is begin to speak. It is not you
that is going to draw them into the kingdom of
God. The Word of God says that the Father will
draw them into the kingdom. I remember this.
When I got saved, I remember when I was young,
I was around the age of 12 when I got saved.
And I remember the spirit of God. I remember
the father drawing me. I remember hearing the
word of God and I realized I needed a savior.
Even at 12 years old, realized I needed a savior.
And I remember in my heart, my heart was just
ready to explode as I listened to the minister.
And the pastor preached the word of God and the
gospel. And I remember that feeling in my life.
I remember feeling at 12, I need a savior. I
need to believe in Jesus. He's the one that's
gonna save my life. I did not know all the scriptures.
Even though I grew up in church, I probably didn't
pay attention a lot in Sunday school. I'll just
confess it right now, all right? I couldn't have
quoted scripture. I can assure you I couldn't
have at that age. I couldn't have explained anything
doctrinally in any way, shape, or form. But all
I had to do was hear about it. Jesus. And something
began to shift with inside of me. It is the Father
who draws them. It is the Spirit of God that
will go before you. All he's looking for is a
vessel just to begin to ask the questions and
start the conversation. I'm going to ask if you'd
stand. Thank you for tuning in to this message
from Lifehouse Church. We pray that you were
impacted powerfully by this message. If you have
been personally affected by our ministry and
you would like to partner with us as we love
God, love people every day, visit our website
at www .lifehousecog .com.