1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,000 I believe our society needs help. I believe that globe is not in a good place. 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:14,000 I believe even in our local communities there are issues that have to be addressed. 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:22,000 And I believe that if we try to help our communities, help this nation or help this world, 4 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:28,000 without Jesus Christ we are going to have a hard time doing so. 5 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:37,000 In fact, I would say it's impossible to help this world without the Savior, Son of God, to lead us and guide us. 6 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:44,000 Now, if we are going to help this world, if we are going to win the loss, 7 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:52,000 we have to get strategic and intentional about doing so. We have to get smart about what we are doing. 8 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:56,000 And a lot of Christians, if you are not careful, a lot of times we sit around and we like to complain 9 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:00,000 and they are like, look what's happening in the world, it's all going to hell, what are we going to do? 10 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,000 I don't know, somebody better do something. And we don't get strategic about it. 11 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:13,000 And that's why, to be frank, let's be honest, that's why we are losing the battle. 12 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,000 I've got a few quotes I want to share with you today from the Art of War. 13 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:26,000 First quote, victorious warriors win first and then go to war. 14 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:28,000 Oh, that's good. 15 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:40,000 Well, defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win. 16 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,000 How many of you played sports growing up? 17 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:56,000 How many of you ever played with a coach or a teammate who already lost the game before they went into the game? 18 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:05,000 Do you know why it is Christianity is losing ground in America is because we've already lost the game before we get into the game. 19 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:07,000 Look what Napoleon Bonaparte said about strategy. 20 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:12,000 He said, strategy is the art of making use of time and space. 21 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:17,000 We are more and more concerned about the latter than the former. 22 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:19,000 Now, notice this, watch what he says. 23 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,000 Space, we can recover. 24 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,000 Lost time, never. 25 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:38,000 Do you know the problem with Christianity right now is that we are allowing time to slip through our fingers and we have no strategy to win the lost. 26 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,000 War is war. 27 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:45,000 Some would say football is war. 28 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,000 Look at the next quote by Vince Lombardi. 29 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:55,000 Look what he said, hope is not a strategy. 30 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,000 Here's what some of us are hoping for. 31 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:00,000 Some of us are hoping the world turns back to God. 32 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,000 Some of us are hoping our nation turns back to God. 33 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:08,000 Some of us are hoping our friends and our family and our coworkers and our neighbors turn to God. 34 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,000 But hope is not a strategy. 35 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:25,000 So today and the next two Sundays, I'm going to be providing a very specific, intentional, strategic plan to win the city with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 36 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:29,000 If you're with me, say amen. 37 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:36,000 And as I begin to develop a strategy for reaching the city with the gospel of Christ to lead this church as the shepherd that I'm supposed to be, 38 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:42,000 I began to ask the question, what did the early church Christian people do to reach their community? 39 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,000 Because you know what the Bible says about the early church Christians? 40 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:50,000 The Bible says of the early church that they turned the world upside down for the gospel of Jesus Christ, 41 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:55,000 that they literally shifted history, that they changed everything. 42 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,000 And I wonder what was their strategy? 43 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:07,000 And then I found a very specific man who had a very specific strategy that won the friends around him to Jesus Christ. 44 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:12,000 His name was Matthew, and in this passage, he's referred to as Levi. 45 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:16,000 When I say Levi, you say Matthew. Levi, Matthew. 46 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,000 Look what it says in Luke chapter five and verse number 27. 47 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:28,000 After these things, Jesus went out and saw the tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office. 48 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,000 Now, let me be very clear about tax collectors. 49 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:37,000 Tax collectors in all societies sometimes are not the favorite people. 50 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:39,000 Roughly, right? 51 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,000 Now you might be here today, you might be like, but I'm a tax collector. 52 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:46,000 Well, Jesus loves you. 53 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:51,000 The rest of us have a hard time with you, but Jesus loves you. You understand? 54 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:58,000 But today we joke about it, but in that day and age, it was a very serious matter. 55 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:04,000 Because Levi means he was of the tribe of Levi, which means he was of the Jewish lineage, 56 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,000 which means he was of the people of God. 57 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,000 The people of God had been conquered by the Romans, 58 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:16,000 and the Romans had put in place a taxation that was above their national taxation. 59 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:22,000 How many of you pay Nevada taxes? Say amen, or say, oh me, oh me. 60 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:27,000 How many of you pay not only Nevada taxes, you also pay federal taxes, right? 61 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,000 All right. They had the same situation. 62 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,000 But not only did they pay local taxes and national taxes, 63 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,000 they had an overlord that made them pay taxes outside of their own country. 64 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:40,000 Imagine if another country came in, took over America, you paid Nevada taxes, 65 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:44,000 you paid county taxes, you paid United States taxes, 66 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:49,000 and you paid name some other country taxes. 67 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:55,000 And now you're paying so many taxes to so many people that you literally can't even take care of your family. 68 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:03,000 And the way they collect those taxes is that they pick out people among your own community to be the tax collectors. 69 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:08,000 They collaborate with the enemy overlord to take your money, 70 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,000 and they take part of it, and they send it away to some foreign nation. 71 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:16,000 How many of you would love those people? Yes or no? No, we would not love those people. 72 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,000 Matthew was one of those people. 73 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,000 And so the Bible says Jesus was here to save everybody. 74 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:26,000 Aren't you thankful that Jesus has come to save everybody, amen? 75 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,000 There's not one person that Jesus doesn't want to reach out to. 76 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:33,000 Even the people you don't like Jesus loves. 77 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,000 And even the people that don't like you might be upset at the fact that Jesus loves you. 78 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:43,000 And he's here to save each one, and so Jesus saw the tax collector that nobody else loved and thought, 79 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:44,000 okay, I'm going to go save him. 80 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:51,000 And so Jesus does, he goes to reach out to Levi or Matthew while he was collecting taxes. 81 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:56,000 And look what happens. 82 00:06:56,000 --> 00:07:07,000 Jesus walks up to Matthew and says, follow me. 83 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:16,000 And verse 28, so Matthew left all and froze up and followed Jesus. 84 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,000 That was the day you got saved. 85 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:23,000 Hey, do you remember the day you got saved? 86 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:29,000 Do you remember the moment that Jesus said, follow me and you repented of your sins and became a believer in Jesus Christ? 87 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,000 If you're here today, now I don't want to embarrass you. 88 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,000 If you're here today and you say, Pastor Josh, man, I can remember the day I got saved. 89 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,000 I remember praying and calling upon Jesus and asking him to save me. 90 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:41,000 I remember turning my back on my, I've not been perfect ever since, but I remember when I got saved. 91 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,000 If that's you, say amen and raise your hand. 92 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:44,000 How many of you are like that right now? 93 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:45,000 Raise your hand, amen. 94 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:48,000 Now you're here today and you say, maybe I'm not there yet, that's okay. 95 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:49,000 I'm so glad you're here. 96 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:54,000 But you're surrounded by people who can remember when the day they receive Jesus Christ to save you. 97 00:07:54,000 --> 00:08:03,000 And if you're not there yet, let me just stop and say, I would love to have a one-on-one conversation with you about how to become a believer in Jesus. 98 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:08,000 But you have to come and ask me and we'll go out to coffee and we'll talk about how you can become a Christian. 99 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,000 Just come and talk to me. 100 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:14,000 But Jesus came up to Matthew and said, follow me and look at what the Bible says Matthew did. 101 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:15,000 I love what Matthew did. 102 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:23,000 It says, so he left all, he rose up and he followed him. 103 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:27,000 It doesn't just say that he became a believer in Jesus. 104 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,000 He became a follower of Jesus. 105 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,000 He wasn't just a fan, he was a follower. 106 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:41,000 And to be a disciple of Jesus means that you rise up, you leave everything behind, and you follow Jesus. 107 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,000 Here's what I'm trying to say here today. 108 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:52,000 For some of us in this room, we believe in Jesus, but we're not following Jesus. 109 00:08:52,000 --> 00:09:07,000 And it could be that today, God might call you into a deeper discipleship with Jesus Christ by asking you to get up, follow Christ, and leave behind some things. 110 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:08,000 Like what? 111 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:14,000 Like maybe he's going to make you today leave behind some comfortability. 112 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:19,000 Maybe today he's going to make you leave behind some preconceived notions. 113 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:25,000 So Matthew left all, rose up and followed Jesus, verse 29. 114 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:30,000 And then Matthew, or Levi, gave him a great feast in his house. 115 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:35,000 And there was a great number of the tax collectors and others who sat down with him. 116 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,000 Now watch what happens in the story. 117 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,000 Just three verses, that's all we're studying today. 118 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:43,000 The Bible says Jesus went after Matthew. 119 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:48,000 Matthew receives Jesus Christ as his savior, gets up, leaves everything behind and follows him. 120 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,000 Okay, follow the logic. 121 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:59,000 Jesus saves Matthew, Matthew follows Jesus, and then the last thing that happens is that Matthew holds a party. 122 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:01,000 Interesting. 123 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:04,000 And what is the party that Matthew holds? 124 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:08,000 He holds a party for all of the other tax collectors. 125 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,000 Now let me ask you, you say yes or no. 126 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:15,000 Are the tax collectors in this society a beloved group of people that everybody loves? 127 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:16,000 Yes or no? 128 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:17,000 No. 129 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,000 Do most of these tax collectors know Jesus? 130 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:21,000 Yes or no? 131 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,000 No. 132 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:25,000 So Matthew has an idea. 133 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:26,000 Jesus saved me. 134 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:28,000 Now I'm following him. 135 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,000 And he has a really honest question. 136 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:37,000 How do I get all the people that I know to know Jesus? 137 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:38,000 Let me ask you a question. 138 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:44,000 How many people do you know that don't know Jesus? 139 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:50,000 Like the people that you work with, the people that would call you a friend, right? 140 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,000 Like you're not deep friends, but they would be like, oh yeah, that person's my friend. 141 00:10:53,000 --> 00:11:00,000 How many people that you know would call you a friend, but they don't know your best friend, Jesus, your savior? 142 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,000 They don't know. 143 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:09,000 How many neighbors in your community don't know Jesus, but you know Jesus? 144 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:18,000 How many of your family members, coworkers, neighbors, how many of your relatives, your cousins, your aunts, your uncles, your grandparents, your children, or grandchildren? 145 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,000 How many of them you know Jesus? 146 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,000 In fact, some of you don't just know about Jesus. 147 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:26,000 You know him intimately because he saved you. 148 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:29,000 And they don't know him. 149 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:33,000 And so Matthew was wrestling with this idea of I know Jesus. 150 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:41,000 Jesus saved me, he loves me, and now he goes to work and he sees all these people that don't know Jesus, and he thinks to himself, what are we going to do? 151 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,000 And thank goodness Matthew was a party man. 152 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:46,000 Matthew liked going to parties. 153 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:47,000 He liked hosting parties. 154 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:48,000 He said, this is what I'll do. 155 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,000 I'm going to host a party. 156 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:54,000 And I'm going to invite all the tax collectors. 157 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:59,000 And I'm also going to invite Jesus. 158 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,000 He said a trap. 159 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:05,000 It's a Jesus trap. 160 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,000 This is tricky. 161 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,000 This is pretty good. 162 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:10,000 This is a great idea. 163 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:15,000 Matthew thought, if I can't get them to Jesus, I'll bring Jesus to them. 164 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,000 I'll create a little party, bring everybody over. 165 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:18,000 Jesus is in the middle. 166 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:23,000 And it'll be like, hey Jesus, tell the people the stuff. 167 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:30,000 That's, listen, that's strategy. 168 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,000 Now there are a thousand strategies the church has used over the years. 169 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:38,000 Today I want to present one strategic idea that I want you to join me in. 170 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,000 And that's the title of today's sermon. 171 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:50,000 Today's sermon is entitled, 100 Super Bowl Parties. 172 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:51,000 I have a question. 173 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,000 Do you know who's going to win the Super Bowl? 174 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:54,000 Yes or no? 175 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,000 How many of you have a good guess? 176 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:58,000 How many have a good guess? 177 00:12:58,000 --> 00:12:59,000 Raise your hand. 178 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:00,000 You have a good guess. 179 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:01,000 Yeah? 180 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:02,000 Who do you think? 181 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:03,000 What? 182 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:04,000 The Raiders. 183 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,000 I was going to say, you're wrong. 184 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,000 I thought he said the Raiders. 185 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:14,000 So Tate says, the Ravens are going to win. 186 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:15,000 Incorrect. 187 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,000 I'm sorry to burst your bubble. 188 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,000 Anybody else want to take a guess? 189 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:22,000 Anybody else want to win the Super Bowl? 190 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:24,000 The Chiefs. 191 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,000 Incorrect. 192 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:29,000 Anybody else want to take a guess? 193 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:30,000 The Lions. 194 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:31,000 The Lions. 195 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:32,000 Incorrect. 196 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:36,000 Anybody else want to take a final guess? 197 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:37,000 I'll tell you who's going to win. 198 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:38,000 Let me tell you who's going to win. 199 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:39,000 Mark it down. 200 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,000 Take it to the bank or take it to your bookie. 201 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:42,000 Here's the truth. 202 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:43,000 I'll tell you who's going to win the Super Bowl. 203 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:44,000 We are. 204 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:49,000 So what do you mean we are? 205 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,000 Mark is going to leverage this cultural moment in our city. 206 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:57,000 Where five miles from here will be the biggest celebration our entire nation will be focused on. 207 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:07,000 We're going to leverage this cultural moment to bring hundreds and hundreds of people to Jesus Christ. 208 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:08,000 How? 209 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,000 100 Super Bowl parties. 210 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:17,000 This may be, if you've been here for 10 or 20 years or five or six weeks, the most unique and different sermon you'll ever hear me preach. 211 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:25,000 Because I'm asking you to host a Super Bowl party for Jesus. 212 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,000 You say, oh, that's a great idea for some people. 213 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:29,000 No, no, no. 214 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:33,000 I think you misunderstand the main thought. 215 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:40,000 Pastor, this is theoretically such a great idea for some people to think about in the next few years. 216 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,000 Wrong answer. 217 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:51,000 I'm talking about you hosting a Super Bowl party in your place where you put your head at night for Jesus. 218 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:52,000 Why? 219 00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:53,000 Here's why. 220 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:54,000 Let me walk you through it. 221 00:14:54,000 --> 00:15:02,000 Because there is a mass media campaign taking place around the Super Bowl party or Super Bowl on February 11th, two weeks from now. 222 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,000 It's called the He Gets Us Advertising Campaign. 223 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:11,000 And it challenges seekers, explorers to ask more questions about this man named Jesus. 224 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:21,000 You may be familiar or not with this campaign, He Gets Us, but to familiarize those who are not aware of it, let me show you their Super Bowl commercial from last year. 225 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:43,000 But another's. 226 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:59,000 This is one of dozens of commercials that the He Gets Us campaign has been showing as sporting events since last Super Bowl when they kicked off this campaign. 227 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:05,000 During the Super Bowl this year, once again, they'll have a massive Super Bowl commercial called He Gets Us. 228 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:10,000 The entire goal of it is to get people to begin searching for Jesus Christ. 229 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:21,000 And the He, our church, has been invited to capitalize on this advertising campaign by taking advantage of this free media outlet. 230 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:29,000 So that's why today I begin a three week sermon series called Battlefront that is going to call our church to take this step and others. 231 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:42,000 It's going to take several steps to develop a system of 100 Super Bowl parties that will take place two weeks from today to bring unchurched people to Jesus Christ. 232 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:48,000 We're going beyond the theoretical and we're getting very, very practical. 233 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:55,000 Whereas I could get up and preach like pastors do to a bunch of Christians, all sorts of concepts like, we need to bring people to Jesus. 234 00:16:55,000 --> 00:17:00,000 And Christians are like, amen! And then I say, this is how we'll do it. 235 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:07,000 And people are like, I'm not sure I'm available. 236 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:11,000 Today we're saying, I think you can be. 237 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:24,000 See, what we're doing today is we are providing for you an all-inclusive Super Bowl party kit that talks you through inside step by step with a lot of other cool stuff 238 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:32,000 or what your Super Bowl party could actually look like and how you can include Jesus in that moment. 239 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:39,000 You say, why would we be doing this? Here's why we're doing this. 240 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:45,000 Because people need Jesus. 241 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:53,000 I'll tell you, the older I get, all I really care about is people finding out about Jesus Christ. 242 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:58,000 It's become my passion. It's become my focus. 243 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,000 And I know that you feel the same way. 244 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,000 See, there are people like Brad, who I go out to coffee with. 245 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:09,000 Brad's been coming to our church for a while and went out to coffee after a Sunday service. 246 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:14,000 He came and talked to me. And by the way, if you're new here and have never talked to anybody about Jesus, come and talk with me after the service. 247 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:22,000 We'll go out and coffee. And like Brad and I did, and we went out and he didn't understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, though he knew about God. 248 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:29,000 And his big question that he struggled with was about sin. 249 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:34,000 Like from the very moment I met Brad, I knew he was an extremely helpful person. 250 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:38,000 He opened the door. He offered to buy my coffee. 251 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:42,000 He said, can we sit here? You know, you ever meet somebody like this? 252 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,000 They're just always serving the other mindset. 253 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,000 And so when we sat down, his questioned and it surprised me. 254 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,000 I said, hey, why are we meeting today? He said, Pastor Josh, here's my big question. 255 00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:59,000 He said, how is it possible that I'm a sinner? You say that I'm a sinner, but I also want to be a savior. 256 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,000 And I was a little off put by that question at first. What does that mean? 257 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:09,000 And he said, I really want to serve and save other people, but you say the Bible says I'm a sinner. 258 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,000 So how could I be both a sinner and a savior at the same time? 259 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,000 And I said, that's a great question. 260 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:20,000 And I began to ask him questions back. Like, do you ever make mistakes? 261 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:23,000 He said, occasionally. I said, so do I. 262 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,000 I said, can I share some with you? And he's like, sure. 263 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:35,000 And immediately I started diving into sins of my past and sins that I still fight today. 264 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:42,000 And I looked at him and I said, Brad, I don't know about you, but I got to tell you, sin is a big issue in my life. 265 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:48,000 And I started naming stuff and his eyes opened up and I said, I don't know about you, 266 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:54,000 but I'm a sinner who needs a savior. I said, do you ever sin? 267 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:58,000 Suddenly his eyes went down. I said, yeah, I do. 268 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:01,000 I said, I told you some of mine. Do you want to tell me some of yours? 269 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:06,000 And he did. 270 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:13,000 And our conversation about being honest with each other allowed us to open up and be vulnerable and real. 271 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:18,000 Not trying to project how good we were, but to be honest about how screwed up we were. 272 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:22,000 By the end of the conversation, he said, you're right. I need a savior. 273 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:27,000 In fact, I'll never forget his words. He said, now that I understand who Jesus is, 274 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:31,000 my big question is, why would he want somebody like me? 275 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:39,000 Now he can be saved. And right there, Brad bowed his head and received Jesus Christ as a savior. 276 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:43,000 And his life is turning around. 277 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:47,000 It's not just Brad. Look at Cody. This is Cody. 278 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:51,000 Cody's been coming to our church with his girlfriend, Forchet. 279 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,000 And he came down and he just got baptized, I think just like last week or two weeks ago or something. 280 00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:58,000 I don't know. People get baptized all the time. 281 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:02,000 And he sat down and he said, hey, pastor. And I said, hey, buddy. 282 00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:04,000 He said, I got a big question for you. I said, what is it? 283 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:08,000 He said, I think God's been laying down hints and I need to pick them up. 284 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:12,000 I've never heard anybody say that before. 285 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,000 So I said, what do you mean he's been laying down hints? 286 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:20,000 He's like, I think God has been laying down hints and I need to pick them up. 287 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:24,000 And I'm like, I don't, okay, sure. What do you mean by that? 288 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:28,000 And he said, well, for example, my girlfriend Forchet started coming to church and she'd been inviting me and telling me to come. 289 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:32,000 And I'm like, finally, I start coming. I'm like, oh my goodness. And like, I feel something there. 290 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,000 You know, and I'm like, oh, that's God. And he's like, yeah, I think so. 291 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:39,000 And then he said, out of the blue, my friend calls me that I game with. 292 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:42,000 And he's any, I thought he was calling to play Fortnite. 293 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,000 And he said, can you get on the phone? I thought we're going to play Fortnite. 294 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:49,000 And he said, instead of Fortnite, he wanted to talk with me about Jesus. 295 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,000 And he's never done this. And this is all in the midst of like, like going to church and all this stuff. 296 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:58,000 He's like, I think God's been laying down hints. And I said, I agree with you. I think God has been laying down hints. 297 00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:02,000 So let's talk about how you can be saved. 298 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:07,000 And so I explained the gospel of Jesus Christ, how Christ loves him and died upon the cross for his sins, was buried, rose from the grave. 299 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:12,000 Does he believe this? And if he called upon Jesus and repented of his sin and received Jesus as his savior, he'd be born again. 300 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:17,000 And right there at coffee, Cody bowed his head, repented and received Christ as his savior. 301 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:22,000 And he and his girlfriend Forchet were just baptized, like I said, so cool. 302 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:28,000 Man, I just don't have time to tell you about Carrie Ann and who got saved. 303 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,000 And then Lauren, who got saved on exactly the same day. 304 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,000 And then, and then Joseph, who's been bringing into church. 305 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,000 Joseph has been brought to church multiple times by multiple people. 306 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:39,000 And he told me this, this was what he said. I said, why are you coming today? 307 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:44,000 And he said, he said, Pastor, he said, I feel like God's been chasing me. 308 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:50,000 Is that weird? And I'm like, it's a little weird, but I do know what it means. 309 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:56,000 For example, I've, I've, I've felt at times in my life, God's been chasing me down. 310 00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:01,000 How many in this room have ever felt like God was chasing you down and he would not let go? 311 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,000 Yeah, see, look around, raise your hand, look around. 312 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:08,000 See, some of you don't know that that's how God works. He loves you. 313 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,000 So he ain't gonna let you go. And so he says, that weird. 314 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,000 And I said, I know, I think I know what you mean. Explain. 315 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:18,000 He said, well, like for my, for example, my grandma, man, she used to pray for me all the time. 316 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,000 And he said, then he told me a story about these generous Christians in this moment of need that he had, 317 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,000 and he'd never met them before and they took care of him. 318 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,000 And then he told me about coming to this church and how everybody was so kind and friendly 319 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:30,000 and a couple of other big God moments in his life. 320 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,000 And he said, I just think God's chasing me down. And I said, I think he is too. 321 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:38,000 I shared with him how he could repent or receive Christ's savior and there Joseph bowed his head 322 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:42,000 and received Christ's. Isn't it wonderful when Jesus saves people, amen? 323 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,000 Say, how are we going to get more of this? Well, how about a plan? 324 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:55,000 See, the reason why we come up with ideas like this is because we must reach the world with the gospel of Christ. 325 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,000 And here's what I think our church has been doing to be quite honest. 326 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:07,000 I think we as a church have been doing really well at bringing people to Jesus Christ that are kind of like, 327 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:20,000 right there. We need to keep doing that. But I also think you have some skeptical friends who are not quite there, 328 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:26,000 but we need to get them a little closer. That's where the He Gets Us campaign comes in. 329 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:31,000 He Gets Us campaign is not necessarily about those who are ready to be saved today. 330 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:37,000 It's about opening the mind of people who are not yet ready to get saved to the possibility of Jesus. 331 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:45,000 And so a non-confrontational environment like a party in your home may work better for some of these people 332 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:49,000 than inviting them directly to the church service. Does this make sense? 333 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:53,000 And so we thought to ourselves, what could we do to encourage our church? 334 00:24:53,000 --> 00:25:02,000 And the answer is we can use the Super Bowl Party to get your most skeptical friends to this particular sermon series 335 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:09,000 that I'm planning on preaching on February 11th, I mean February 18th and 25th. 336 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,000 So this is how the weeks are coming. There's a very strategic plan. Do you see it? 337 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:18,000 Today is three weeks, begins three weeks, called He Gets Us. 338 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:24,000 Practical, as well as theoretical, as well as theological, how we can have a strategic plan to reach the lost. 339 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:30,000 The week after Super Bowl, there is a two-week sermon series I'm preaching called He Gets Us. 340 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:36,000 It is the perfect sermons to bring a skeptical person to. 341 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:43,000 It is the perfect sermons that I'm writing to talk about who Jesus is and to see your friends brought to Jesus Christ. 342 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:51,000 So the week before I start the sermon series, you have a Super Bowl Party where you invite people to that sermon series. 343 00:25:51,000 --> 00:26:00,000 That is our strategic plan. And every single person that comes on the 18th and the 25th, we are going to give this book to. 344 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:07,000 This book so they can hear the sermon series. They can see the ad campaign all over the city on social media and on sports. 345 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:12,000 And they'll get this book. They can read it throughout, absolutely free. 346 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,000 You might be having a few questions and so I'm going to walk through them with you. 347 00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:20,000 Number one, it might be this question. Number one, who should do this? 348 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:24,000 Who should host the Super Bowl Party? Great question. Great question. 349 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,000 You might be like, I'm not sure I should do it. 350 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,000 All right, I'm going to describe the perfect person that can host the Super Bowl Party for Jesus. 351 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:32,000 So you're ready? If you're ready, say amen. Who should do this? 352 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:37,000 Number one, those who love football. 353 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,000 Those who love football. 354 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:44,000 How many of you in this room, you love football like I do? Say amen. 355 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:47,000 You're perfect for this. You say, but Pastor Josh, I got a problem. 356 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:51,000 What else can I do because here's the thing. Here's the thing. I love football. 357 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:56,000 Like Super Bowl Sunday is like the most holy day. It is the holiday that I look forward to. 358 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:00,000 And so like any other time, not the Super Bowl because the Super Bowl is like the Super Bowl. 359 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:04,000 I can't be like Jesus stuff on the Super Bowl because it's the Super Bowl. 360 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:08,000 I love the Super Bowl. Perfect. You're the perfect person. Here's why. 361 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:13,000 Because what you're doing is you're using something you love to bring people to Jesus. 362 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,000 You're the perfect person to host a Super Bowl Party for Jesus. 363 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:20,000 Do you know who else? Number one, who should do this? Number one, people who love football. 364 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,000 Number two, people who hate football. 365 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,000 So like it's perfect. It's perfect, especially if like you love football, 366 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:31,000 but she hates football or vice versa. You're the perfect couple to do this. 367 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,000 And here's why. If you hate football, here's why. 368 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:38,000 Because you don't even have to watch the game. 369 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:42,000 You're going to be up in the kitchen and putting things around and serving chips and salsa. 370 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,000 You're going to be taking care of everybody. Is there anything you need? 371 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:49,000 The whole thing. You're going to be, why? It's perfect. You don't even have to watch the game. It's great. 372 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,000 So who should do this? Number one, those who love Super Bowl, love football. 373 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,000 Number two, those who hate football. And then number three, number three, 374 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,000 those who want people to know Jesus. 375 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:03,000 Specifically targeting the people that you work with, your neighbors, your friends, your family, 376 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:09,000 who are not so close to Jesus, but you want to get them in a room that mentions Jesus. 377 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:14,000 And you're not getting them here. So maybe this is what, see, that's what we're talking about. 378 00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:17,000 Yeah? Hey? I want everybody in this room to start thinking, 379 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:22,000 what is the possibility that this could actually be what I do? 380 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:27,000 I don't want deacons in the room being like, this is a good sermon for these people to do. Amen? 381 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,000 What should I do? Number one, who should do this? 382 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:37,000 Number two, how do I prepare? All right. Let's suppose pastor, I do this for God, 383 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,000 and we have this Super Bowl party about Jesus. Like, what does that look like? How do I prepare for it? 384 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:48,000 Well, number one, it's very simple. All you have to do is pick up a Super Bowl, Super Bowl party kit. 385 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:54,000 My wife Heather has put these together. By the way, don't we have such a wonderful pastor's wife at our church? 386 00:28:54,000 --> 00:29:00,000 Amen, amen. I like her. She's one of my favorites. Like top 10, at least. I like her a lot. 387 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:06,000 And she put together this Super Bowl party pack. It's got step-by-step instructions on what it would look like 388 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:12,000 and all the things you need to prepare and do. And that begins the concept of like, how do I prepare? 389 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:16,000 What does this actually look like? How do I prepare for this? And then number two, let me, number two, 390 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:24,000 if you're going to do this, number two, I encourage you, pick a church partner. Don't do it alone. 391 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:30,000 You don't have to carry this burden by yourself. Who in the church can you host a party with? 392 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:37,000 With whom can you do this? Right? Like right now, you might want to think, you know what, I don't have to, 393 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:45,000 maybe what I'll do is I'll ask them to host with me. Like right now, maybe you're getting a text message. 394 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:50,000 Like I'm looking over at Sorrel and everybody loves Sorrel. They're like, man, if I have Sorrel do it, 395 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:56,000 then he'll be the life of the party, then I can stay in the bathroom. You know what I mean? 396 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:02,000 Who is it that you could do this with? Maybe you do it with your brother, maybe you do it with your friend in the church, 397 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:06,000 maybe you do it with somebody in your small group, maybe you contact your small group leader and say, 398 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,000 are you doing one? Can I do it with you? Now, here's a dangerous pitfall that a lot of you might make. 399 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:16,000 Some of you are like, yeah! And small groups are like, yeah, let's do this. And instead of hosting the Super Bowl party 400 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:22,000 for Jesus for the unsaved, you just host a Super Bowl party for your small group. 401 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:27,000 And now it's like 12 people who know Jesus and you got one person you invited that doesn't know Jesus, 402 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:37,000 and they're sitting on the couch and you're all just looking at him like, watch the ad. 403 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:42,000 Like, don't do that. Let her freak people out, you know? Like, stop. 404 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:47,000 And maybe you, maybe one other church family, maybe two other church families, depending on how big it is, 405 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:54,000 but don't host it alone, but don't also make it a church party. The church already parties by itself all the time. 406 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:58,000 That's what you're doing right now, right? That's why you go to small group. 407 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:02,000 I'm talking about breaking out of that, bringing one or two and then doing this together. 408 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:08,000 Number two, pick a church partner. Number three, by the way, how do you do that? How do you do that? 409 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:15,000 Just text them and say, listen, like right now, text them and say, let's do this together. 410 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:19,000 Hey man, I want to do the Super Bowl party. You want to do the thing? Let's do it. Let's do it together. 411 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:23,000 Some of you have been deeply part of this church for a very long time. Listen, 412 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:28,000 some of you come to church because you like the teaching and that's your extent of church. 413 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:37,000 Okay, let me be really clear. I love you and I'm so thankful to be your preacher. Let me be your pastor. 414 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:49,000 It's time that you don't just be a fan of Jesus, but a follower of Jesus and get strategic about you winning your friends to Jesus Christ. 415 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:55,000 I say that at the risk of you not wanting me to be your preacher anymore, but I got to be honest. 416 00:31:55,000 --> 00:32:03,000 I'd much rather be your pastor than your preacher. Pick a church partner. You can do this. 417 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:08,000 Number three, pick up a pen and a pad and a paper. 418 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:18,000 And what you do is this. Sit down for 15 minutes with God and say, God, who can I invite? 419 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:23,000 God, who do you want me to bring to this? 420 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:32,000 And God will bring names to your mind. This person. This person. This person. 421 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:36,000 In fact, right now I'm going to do something that is something only preachers can do. 422 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:43,000 I'm not just a public speaker. I'm a pastor, a preacher, and public speakers can't do this, but I'm going to do this right now as a preacher. 423 00:32:43,000 --> 00:33:00,000 I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit of God to bring to your mind and your heart specific names and faces of people that don't know Jesus that you're supposed to bring to Jesus. 424 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:10,000 Holy Spirit of God, I pray that you would bring to the hearts and the minds of the people in this room that are true followers of you, the names and faces of people that don't know Jesus that you're trying to get to Jesus. 425 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:15,000 Help them think of them. 426 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:29,000 Now you sitting down with a pen and a pad of paper and start saying, OK, Jesus, who do I work with that doesn't know you? 427 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:38,000 Who are my friends from my former years who don't know you? 428 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:47,000 Who are my neighbors that I drive by every and we wave, you know, and then you close the, you know, the castle gate and you don't see them? 429 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:51,000 They don't know Jesus. 430 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:56,000 And some of you are thinking this is a really good thing for rich people to do. 431 00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:01,000 And the wealthier people are thinking this is a really good thing for these young couples to do in their apartments. 432 00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:06,000 And what God is saying is, no, you should do this. 433 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:12,000 Maybe for you it's somebody that you play sports with. 434 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:15,000 Maybe it's somebody that you game with. 435 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:20,000 Maybe for you it's somebody that you sit on a bench and you watch your children play sports every week. 436 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:24,000 And you know them and they know you and you're like, well, why don't you come over for a Super Bowl party? 437 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:26,000 And it's very simple. You know what you do? 438 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:31,000 Here's all you do. You look at them and you say, what are you doing for the Super Bowl? 439 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:36,000 Like, right, like literally you sit down with that pen and pad. You've got a list of 20 names. 440 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:40,000 You can text them. Hey, what are you doing for the Super Bowl? 441 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:44,000 You're laying a Jesus trap. 442 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:47,000 They think it's about football. It's really about Jesus. 443 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:49,000 Hey, what are you doing for the Super Bowl? 444 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:53,000 Now, half of them are going to come reply back, oh, we're doing such and such. 445 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:55,000 And you could be like, okay, cool, that's great. 446 00:34:55,000 --> 00:34:58,000 We're having a party. Just want to know if you wanted to come. 447 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:03,000 And the other half are going to be like, not much. What do you got going on? 448 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:05,000 Reach out to them and invite them. 449 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:09,000 Next thought here. Next thought. How do I prepare? 450 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:12,000 Invite five to 10 friends. 451 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,000 After you develop your list, invite them. 452 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:19,000 Say we're doing a Super Bowl party. It starts at three o'clock, whatever, whatever, whatever, right? 453 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:21,000 Two weeks from now, we want you to come. 454 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:25,000 You got to get on it today or tomorrow because it's coming up. 455 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,000 Now, can I give you a tip about getting people to show up to stuff? 456 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,000 Okay, so I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself. 457 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:37,000 My whole life has been about getting people to show up to stuff. That's all I do. 458 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:40,000 Like, literally, that's why you're here. 459 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:47,000 Because somehow, through various trickeries, I have made you show up here. 460 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,000 Okay. Here's the trick about getting people to show up for stuff. 461 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:57,000 If you want 40 people there, excuse me, if you want 20 people there, invite 40 people. 462 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:01,000 If you want 20, invite 40 and get 30 of them to promise you they'll be there. 463 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:05,000 And 30 promising you means 20 will show up. 464 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,000 Does that make sense? 465 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:14,000 So if you're like, well, I can only have seven people over and you invite seven, I promise three will show up. 466 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:18,000 Now, you've set the stage. 467 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:22,000 Number three, last thought, Super Bowl Party itself. What does it look like? 468 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:25,000 A few thoughts that I want to share and then we'll close for the day. 469 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:28,000 Super Bowl Party Day, it's coming up two weeks from now. 470 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:31,000 You've got everybody coming over, all the food set, everything's good to go. 471 00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:34,000 You've went through the details that are in the packet. You've got it set. 472 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:38,000 And number one, first day comes. Number one, what do I need to do? Don't be weird. 473 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:45,000 Like, how many of you agree that the world has too many weird Christians, right? 474 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:50,000 Like, don't be weird about this, you know. Welcome to our humble abode. 475 00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:00,000 Now, before we begin, let us pray. 476 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:04,000 And before the Super Bowl begins, we're going to watch one episode of The Chosen. 477 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:09,000 Don't be a weirdo, okay? Please don't be a weirdo. 478 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:12,000 Because it won't help. You understand? 479 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:15,000 You'll be like, oh, what did I come to? This is driving me nuts. 480 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:20,000 Now, before halftime, here's a thought. Before halftime, say at some point, 481 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:24,000 say, hey, our church actually is part of a Super Bowl ad. 482 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:27,000 Which is like, what? For real? Oh, yeah, yeah. I can't wait to see the burritos one 483 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:31,000 and the Budweiser one, but there's like one coming up. It's our church's ad. 484 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:34,000 Say, your church has an ad? Yeah, it's called He Gets Us. 485 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,000 And you can show them. They're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Our church is doing a Super Bowl. 486 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:44,000 And we are. Our church is directly linked to these commercials 487 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:49,000 that are linking them back to our church and other churches in the city. 488 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:55,000 And so when it comes up, all you've got to do, you see, is be like, oh, here's the ad. Here's the ad. 489 00:37:55,000 --> 00:37:59,000 And then turn it up. And then watch the ad. 490 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:04,000 And be like, that's our church. And then after the ad, lead everybody in a prayer. 491 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:08,000 No, don't do that. Remember I said, don't be weird. 492 00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:16,000 Don't be weird. Just watch the ad, you see, and allow the ad to do much of the work. 493 00:38:16,000 --> 00:38:19,000 Now, don't bring it back up. Don't make the thing about church. 494 00:38:19,000 --> 00:38:22,000 Don't make the thing about God and Jesus. Just let it be what it is. 495 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:27,000 And then as people leave inside your packet, you'll have a stack of these cards. 496 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:29,000 And say, hey, remember that ad? 497 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:36,000 My pastor is actually doing a sermon series connected to that ad, and it starts next Sunday and the week after. 498 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:39,000 If you can't come to the next one, come to the one after, but either one, here you go. 499 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:44,000 And just be done. Don't make it weird. 500 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:57,000 And then that's it. And then pray for them. 501 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:09,000 So pastor, I wish I could have a party where Jesus actually would show up. 502 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:11,000 Don't you wish, right? 503 00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:15,000 Don't you wish right now the person you could text in the church would be like, hey, let's do this together. 504 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:20,000 Would be Jesus? Jesus. Do you already have plans? 505 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:21,000 Like that's what Matthew did. 506 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:25,000 Matthew had a party and invited all his friends and Jesus there. 507 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:29,000 But Jesus can't come to your party. 508 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:31,000 He's busy. 509 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:36,000 He sits at the right hand of the throne of the Father, interceding for you and I. 510 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,000 And Jesus actually addressed this. 511 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:44,000 In the upper room with his disciples, the night he was betrayed, this is what Jesus said to his disciples. 512 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:50,000 He said, I have to go away. 513 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:54,000 But it's okay. It's actually better that I go away. 514 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:58,000 Because I'm going to send him to you. 515 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:02,000 Does anybody know who the hymn is that Jesus sent to us? 516 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:04,000 Holy Spirit. 517 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:10,000 And Jesus said, when he comes, he will guide you into all truth. 518 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,000 And Jesus made this amazing claim. 519 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:17,000 Jesus said, it's actually better for you that I'm there and I send him. 520 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,000 Why is that the case? 521 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:22,000 Here's why. 522 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:32,000 Because if Jesus was here, he could only attend one of these parties. 523 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:39,000 But because the Holy Spirit's here, the Holy Spirit of God can be in every place at the same. 524 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:44,000 He will attend yours as well as mine. 525 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:51,000 And when the ad goes up, the Holy Spirit of God will touch the hearts and the minds of the people. 526 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:53,000 This is the promise. 527 00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:59,000 And at the end of the day, when you give them this, the Holy Spirit will go with them. 528 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:01,000 And as you pray for them, this is what's going to happen. 529 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:04,000 They're going to take this card and they'll put it on their thing. 530 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:10,000 And the Holy Spirit will say, go to that, go to that, go to that, go to that, go to that. 531 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:13,000 And as they go to throw it away, they'll think maybe I'm not going to throw it away. 532 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:16,000 And the Holy Spirit says, hold on to that, hold on to that. 533 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,000 Do you understand? 534 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:21,000 You are teaming up with the Holy Spirit. 535 00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,000 You are not doing this alone. 536 00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:30,000 He will guide and comfort and teach even throughout your event. 537 00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:40,000 Frankly, according to the Son of God Himself, it's actually better to have the Holy Spirit there than Jesus Himself. 538 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:43,000 Okay. 539 00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:54,000 I'll be honest with you, it's a weird idea. 540 00:41:54,000 --> 00:42:02,000 But I mean, come on, we got to do something. 541 00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:04,000 People are going to hell. 542 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:05,000 Do you understand? 543 00:42:05,000 --> 00:42:18,000 People are going to hell that people you work with and your family and your neighbors, they're going to hell. 544 00:42:18,000 --> 00:42:21,000 And you think to yourself, I got a better idea. 545 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:22,000 Cool, bring it to me. 546 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:34,000 We'll do it next year because we've got to do something to get people to Jesus before it's too late for them. 547 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:40,000 And so if we got to set a few traps and serve some guacamole, I'm game. 548 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:43,000 I hope you are. 549 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:44,000 Find your partner. 550 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:46,000 Pick up a packet. 551 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:51,000 Pull out a pen and a pad and say, God, who am I going to invite? 552 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:58,000 And as the nose roll in, invite more people and bring people to Jesus. 553 00:42:58,000 --> 00:42:59,000 Yeah? 554 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:01,000 We got to get strategic and win this war. 555 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:02,000 Let's pray. 556 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:04,000 Father.