1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:14,760 Hey everyone, this is Josh from Encounter Church Henley and thanks so much for tuning 2 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,000 into our podcast. 3 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,680 Our prayer is that through this podcast you can have an encounter with Jesus that will 4 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:22,800 change your life. 5 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:29,520 And now get ready for an inspiring message from our preaching team. 6 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:35,560 Have you ever wanted to do something really badly but quickly found when you started trying 7 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,440 that you were really, really bad at it? 8 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:40,600 All the time for me. 9 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,840 As a 15 year old I had a radical encounter with the Holy Spirit. 10 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:49,600 All the things that I believed in my head became not just really my heart, but real in the 11 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:51,600 objective world. 12 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:54,600 And I wanted to tell my friends about it. 13 00:00:54,600 --> 00:01:00,600 I wanted them to know that Jesus was real and that he was powerful. 14 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:06,320 I wanted to tell them and so I started to try, but I found out very quickly that I wasn't 15 00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:08,080 very good at it. 16 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:11,800 And I wasn't just working out how to tell people about Jesus, I realized that I wasn't 17 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:13,600 good at talking to people full stop. 18 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,840 I just wasn't good at it. 19 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:21,760 I was and can still be pretty socially awkward. 20 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:27,560 I'm by nature in my personality very reserved, shy, introverted. 21 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,800 And by that I mean I don't need or want to be the center of attention. 22 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:35,640 I'm happier to listen to you than I am to talk about me. 23 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:42,880 I really don't like small talk and sometimes I find social situations difficult and scary. 24 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:45,040 And I recharge being alone. 25 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:51,200 So like I love people, don't get me wrong, but just please, not all at once. 26 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:57,920 So I wanted people to know Jesus, but before I could tell them about Jesus, I realized 27 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:02,920 I needed to work out how to make friends first. 28 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:08,480 I wonder for you how easy it is for you to find it, you find it to share your faith, 29 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,360 to be public about the fact that you follow Jesus. 30 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:13,880 Maybe it's the most natural thing in the world. 31 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,120 Maybe you find it really, really hard. 32 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:23,280 I wonder how easy you find it to talk to people, to make friends, to deepen connections. 33 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:26,360 Maybe you ooze charisma like text does. 34 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:31,680 You walk into a room and you're just wondering, how many friends am I going to make today? 35 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,840 Or maybe you're like me, you just ooze some awkward energy. 36 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:41,840 You walk into a room and you're just wondering, when is it acceptable for me to leave? 37 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,360 But not here because this is great, all right? 38 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:47,680 We're in the second week of our series called Mission in Motion. 39 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:51,560 And we're looking at what mission can look like in the different areas of our lives. 40 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,200 And today we're looking at about mission in friendship. 41 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:59,280 If you don't know what mission is, it's not just a brand of tacos. 42 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:04,840 Missyologist David Bosch has the best definition, I think, of what mission is. 43 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:10,960 Mission is alerting people to the universal reign of God through Christ. 44 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:17,720 We alert people by both word and deed that Christ Jesus is the King of the universe. 45 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,160 Because of that mission can be very broad in what it actually looks like. 46 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:27,720 But in our teaching text today, Jesus, who's enjoying some table talk at a Pharisee's house, 47 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:28,720 tells a parable. 48 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:34,160 And a parable, if you don't know, is a masterful allegorical story, which in this case is, 49 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:39,160 Jesus is telling it to criticise and confront the Pharisees specifically and the Israelites 50 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:40,160 generally. 51 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:47,520 But I also think this parable that Jesus tells helps us to frame and understand mission. 52 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:53,600 The story, if you remember that Angus wrote out, is of a great feast and many invitations 53 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:55,480 are sent. 54 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,960 But when the party's about to start, last minute, people bail. 55 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:03,360 I wonder if you can empathise with the master of the party. 56 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:07,760 They're texting him, sorry man, just bought a field. 57 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:12,760 Can't come, I want to look at it. 58 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,400 You didn't look at it before you bought it? 59 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:18,080 It probably looks the same. 60 00:04:18,080 --> 00:04:21,880 Sorry mate, I've got some new cows. 61 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:26,520 I want to road test them. 62 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:27,520 Cows are cows. 63 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:31,400 Sorry mate, the wife, just got married. 64 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,560 You know, wives, wives and all that. 65 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,760 Does anyone who's thrown a party can sympathise? 66 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:40,240 The master, he's furious. 67 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:41,760 He's like, come on. 68 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:43,160 They clicked attending on Facebook. 69 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,440 Does that not mean anything to anyone? 70 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:47,440 Come on. 71 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:53,560 So, to fill the party, he sends his servants out to invite anyone they had, which really 72 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:58,000 reminds me of 2010, solid year. 73 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,840 I was in year 11. 74 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:02,760 Year 11 was alright. 75 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:08,560 A lady named Kate Miller invites a few close friends to her birthday party through a Facebook 76 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:09,560 event. 77 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,440 She'll provide the booze, good vibes, etc. 78 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:21,240 But she leaves the privacy settings open and it gets really out of hand. 79 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:25,440 60,000 people RSVP. 80 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:27,400 From all around the world to Kate's birthday. 81 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,040 I don't know if you've heard of Kate's birthday. 82 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:32,640 It was like one of the original memes. 83 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:33,840 Look has to shut it down. 84 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:35,360 It's just amazing stuff. 85 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,120 It gets completely out of hand. 86 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,600 And I think about that because this man, this master in Jesus' story, decides to throw 87 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,640 an intentional Kate's birthday. 88 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:48,440 Make it an open event. 89 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:49,440 Anyone can come. 90 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:50,440 Anyone around the room. 91 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:51,440 Fill the room. 92 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:52,440 It doesn't matter. 93 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:53,440 I don't care who comes. 94 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:56,920 Bring the poor, the crippled, the lame, the homeless. 95 00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:57,920 At least they'll come. 96 00:05:57,920 --> 00:05:58,920 Just make it happen. 97 00:05:58,920 --> 00:05:59,920 Fill the room. 98 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:05,800 But those who rejected the invitation because they had something better to do will not get 99 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:08,720 to take the banquet. 100 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:09,720 It's a parable. 101 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,160 So everything in this parable means something. 102 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:16,560 The banquet in the story is the feast at the end of the world. 103 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:18,120 There's a prophecy in Isaiah 25. 104 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:23,800 And it also in the Bible verses 6 to 8 says this, in Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven's 105 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,600 army will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. 106 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:32,880 He will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meats. 107 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:37,240 And there he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. 108 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:38,920 He will swallow up death forever. 109 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,440 And the sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears. 110 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:46,400 He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and his people. 111 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:48,800 The Lord has spoken. 112 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:54,120 When Jesus returns and all his people are raised from the dead, we will feast with God in his 113 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:55,920 kingdom. 114 00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:00,120 And the invited guests who come up with unreasonable excuses why they can't attend, they're the 115 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:04,120 Israelites who reject Jesus and his message. 116 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,240 Jesus' parable is a warning to the Pharisees that just because you're an Israelite, just 117 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,840 because you're an invited guest, doesn't mean you get to join in the feast at the end of 118 00:07:10,840 --> 00:07:11,840 the world. 119 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:13,280 You must come to the party. 120 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:15,800 You must come to Jesus. 121 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:17,760 The God is doing a new thing. 122 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,200 His invitation to that feast is open to all the people of the world, even to the lowest 123 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:25,800 of the low, even those without perceived power or influence health, wealth or status. 124 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:27,360 They too are invited. 125 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:28,360 Everyone is invited. 126 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:35,600 Those that the Israelites may never expect at a fancy big banquet, they are taking the 127 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:41,320 seats of the Israelites that the Israelites scorned because they would not come to Jesus. 128 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,000 The implication is this. 129 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,000 God is throwing open the doors to the party at the end of the universe and everyone's 130 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:48,880 invited. 131 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,800 Jesus himself commissioned us as a church as his followers of Jesus to be like the servants 132 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:56,920 and to take that invitation to the world and to urge people to come. 133 00:07:56,920 --> 00:08:02,280 Matthew 28, 18 to 20 says, Jesus came and he told his disciples, I've been given all 134 00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:08,440 authority in heaven on an earth, therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, 135 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:11,320 baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 136 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:15,280 Teach them to obey all the commandments I've given you and be sure of this, I'm always 137 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,480 with you even to the end of the age. 138 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:21,320 Go and invite the nations to join the party. 139 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:23,200 That's our job as followers of Jesus. 140 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:28,880 This is the mission that we are on, to let the world know, to let our worlds, our little 141 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:33,320 worlds know that God is throwing a party that will last forever and he has made room for 142 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:34,320 them. 143 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:39,480 There's a seat at the table and they could be there. 144 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:44,560 So come, come to him, come to the King, pledge allegiance, join his kingdom, come and celebrate 145 00:08:44,560 --> 00:08:45,560 with us. 146 00:08:45,560 --> 00:08:51,520 They can alert people to something but it doesn't mean that they'll come and God in 147 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:54,440 his love gives humanity that choice. 148 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:58,600 Dr. Henry Cloud has this great line which you've probably heard me say all the time, 149 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:00,960 love preserves choice. 150 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:05,280 It's a love of God for humanity that preserves the free will of people to choose God or reject 151 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:06,280 him. 152 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:11,360 For God to do otherwise would be a cruel kind of slavery. 153 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:15,960 Love does not manipulate or force or override someone's will. 154 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,200 Love preserves choice. 155 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:21,240 God does and so should we. 156 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:27,000 We can't manipulate or coerce or make someone come to the party, no matter how tempting 157 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:32,800 it may be to grab people by the ear and drag them and sit them down at the banquet but 158 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:38,240 we wouldn't be preserving their choice and if God willed then so must we, even if that 159 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,200 could be heartbreaking at times. 160 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:45,600 God make them but certainly we can do as the king urges his servants to urge anyone we 161 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:48,160 find to come. 162 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:49,920 So how do we do that? 163 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,800 How do we urge people to come to the party? 164 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:56,160 How do we go about inviting people into God's kingdom? 165 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:57,160 Because we need to. 166 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,600 If we really believe this stuff, if we really believe it's true that we will sit down at 167 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:06,400 a feast in heaven, we should be urging anyone we know and meet to come. 168 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:10,600 Especially seeing as those we know and have tried and tried and prayed and prayed that 169 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:18,800 they come to faith may end up choosing to reject that invitation and that is their choice. 170 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:25,400 Especially seeing as you may be the only Christian the people in your life know. 171 00:10:25,400 --> 00:10:30,200 If you won't invite them, who will? 172 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:33,400 This is the best way that I have found to invite people to the party. 173 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:36,760 It's called radically ordinary hospitality. 174 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:41,200 Jose Barrefield has this great book, the gospel comes with a house key. 175 00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:46,800 She defines radical hospitality as this, using your Christian home in a daily way that seeks 176 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:51,320 to make strangers neighbors and neighbors the family of God. 177 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:57,280 You might not have a home you can currently use in this way in this economy, but the point 178 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:04,120 is this, just use your radical ordinary everyday life wherever you are to help make strangers 179 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,880 neighbors and neighbors God's family. 180 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:12,200 You're surrounded by strangers, people you work with, people you live next to, parents 181 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:18,000 at school, people who see you but they don't know you. 182 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:22,680 But you also have, and God might want, just want to use you to bring those people into 183 00:11:22,680 --> 00:11:26,440 the God's kingdom and sit him down at the feast. 184 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,680 But you also have neighbors, not just those who live next to you but those whose life 185 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:37,280 is around yours, family, friends, colleagues, those in your class, people who aren't strangers, 186 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:42,160 but you know them and they know you and they like you, they listen to you and they serve 187 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:43,960 you. 188 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,600 And hopefully you've picked one of these neighbors to make them your plus one. 189 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:52,400 We have plus ones at Encounter Church, people you are intentionally inviting praying for 190 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:54,120 and trying to introduce to Jesus. 191 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:59,240 And if you haven't, maybe today as we get back into worship a bit later, pray and ask God 192 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,440 who your plus one should be. 193 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:06,200 God might just want to use you to bring them into his kingdom and sit them down at his 194 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:07,200 feast. 195 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:09,880 So this is the conundrum I found as a teenager. 196 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:14,080 I wanted people to know Jesus but I didn't know how to move someone from a stranger to 197 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:15,080 a neighbor. 198 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:19,520 I didn't really know how to deepen a relationship from acquaintance to friend. 199 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:25,920 And once they were my friend, I didn't know how to introduce them to Jesus. 200 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:29,480 Because how can you alert people that Jesus is a king and invite them to the party unless 201 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:34,200 they know you and you know them in a deep way? 202 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:36,880 So here's how we do mission and friendship. 203 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:38,080 It's pretty simple. 204 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:44,240 We do what we can to move people from strangers to neighbors and neighbors to God's family. 205 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:48,800 And here are my introvert hot tips for doing so. 206 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:53,600 This is an introvert's guide to sharing your faith. 207 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,280 Others can learn something too. 208 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,480 How do you make friends? 209 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:03,880 One, the conversation is the relationship. 210 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:07,840 You don't have a relationship with someone apart from the conversations you've had with 211 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:08,840 them. 212 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:12,840 Everything you know about a person, even every experience you have with them, they're surrounded 213 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:15,520 and permeated by conversation. 214 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:19,040 So if you want to move someone from a stranger to a neighbor, unfortunately you've got to 215 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,040 talk to them. 216 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,800 So you've got to take every opportunity to talk to people. 217 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,440 And you can pretty accurately measure the depth of your relationship by the amount of 218 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,200 time you've spent in conversation with someone. 219 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:35,960 If you think about your best friend, someone you consider to be your best friend, what 220 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:40,680 have you spent days, weeks, months of your life just talking to them? 221 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:44,880 And that's probably why they're your best friend. 222 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:47,560 So here's how you begin a conversation with someone you don't know. 223 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:52,520 I learned this from, and just a crazy extrovert. 224 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:54,520 It wasn't text, I promise. 225 00:13:54,520 --> 00:13:56,760 And I didn't believe them because it just seemed so simple. 226 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:59,200 I was like, how do you do this? 227 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,400 How do you connect with people you don't know? 228 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:07,720 She was like, look, you walk up to them and you say, hi, I'm Tim. 229 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:09,480 What's your name? 230 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:12,840 That's it. 231 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:14,680 And they say, hi, I'm Sally. 232 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:15,680 Nice to meet you. 233 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:20,800 And then you can ask a follow-up question like, how do you know Frank? 234 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:21,800 And you're away. 235 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:25,000 I couldn't believe it was that easy. 236 00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:26,800 Like honestly, I was actually shocked. 237 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:33,880 Surely there's some secret superpower, something, I don't know. 238 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:35,480 But it's that easy. 239 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:39,160 So once you've got a conversation going, how do you keep it going? 240 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:43,920 Point two, curiosity never kills the conversation. 241 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,240 It's the worst when you're in a conversation with someone and they just talk about themselves 242 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:48,240 the whole time. 243 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:50,480 You don't feel connected to that person. 244 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:55,120 You probably end up, if it's just a whole conversation, it's just been them talking. 245 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,560 You probably end up thinking that that person's kind of self-obsessed. 246 00:14:58,560 --> 00:14:59,560 Maybe a bit boring. 247 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:00,880 I don't know why I looked at you, Angus. 248 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:03,920 You're not like that. 249 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:07,520 But everyone loves to be asked questions about themselves. 250 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,960 And when someone asks you a lot of questions, you feel connected to them, you feel endeared 251 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:14,200 to them because they're interested in you. 252 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:16,600 So to keep a conversation going, ask questions. 253 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:17,600 Be curious. 254 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:22,200 Ask so many questions that people gave you a reputation for asking too many questions. 255 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:24,320 Take it as a compliment. 256 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:29,720 The best kind of question is a question regarding something that someone else has already said. 257 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,480 You ask Sally how she knows Frank. 258 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:34,240 And she tells you she went to school with Frank. 259 00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:37,840 And there's so many questions you could ask about school. 260 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,880 You could ask her what do you know kind of question, which is just a fact that's really 261 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:43,760 easy for them to share. 262 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:45,600 Like what school did you go to? 263 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:46,600 You and Frank go to. 264 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:48,960 That's a fact that they easily can recall. 265 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:53,080 Well, you could ask them, what do you think question? 266 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,680 Like what was Frank like in high school? 267 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:59,800 You might not want to know the answer to that question. 268 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:03,400 Or you could ask a what do you feel kind of question? 269 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,440 How did you feel about Frank in high school? 270 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:11,000 And if that question leaves you feeling uncomfy, then that's because each question is a level 271 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:15,200 deeper than the next one, two, three, every question is a level deeper. 272 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:19,520 So if you've only just met Sally and you've only just found out she went to school with 273 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:26,160 Frank, asking her how she feels about Frank is will freak Sally out. 274 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:29,440 So just don't do that. 275 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:33,080 So slowly ask deeper, curious questions. 276 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:37,920 As the conversations, you go on, you'll really start to get to know someone. 277 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:42,840 The third thing we can do to help move our straight, our strangers to neighbors is this 278 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,280 be hospitable. 279 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,520 Serve them. 280 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,680 Invite them to eat lunch with you to have coffee with you to hang out after school. 281 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:53,720 Buy them snacks. 282 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,600 Help them out with whatever they're struggling with. 283 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:58,880 Invite them into your life, whatever it looks like. 284 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:00,640 Invite them into things you're already doing. 285 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:03,800 Help her to serve them, find ways to bless them. 286 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:07,920 Just make sure you're willing to follow through with the things that you offer. 287 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:09,960 And don't be dismayed if they say no. 288 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:12,880 Sometimes the thought really does count. 289 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,560 The key to hospitality is just being lovingly persistent. 290 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:21,640 Ash and I built a relationship with our neighbor by just putting out their bins for them. 291 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:26,200 They noticed and they started beating us to the bins on some weeks to put them out before 292 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:32,880 us and that led to us developing a friendship with them, which leads us to point four. 293 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:34,960 Let them serve you. 294 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,480 The issue we face often as Christians is we feel like, because we want people to come 295 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:42,200 in followers of Jesus and we want to show the love of God to people that we just have 296 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,920 to give and give and give and never allow people to serve us. 297 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,840 That I should always be the one to put the bins out and the neighbor should never be 298 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:52,920 allowed to beat me to it. 299 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:55,520 But that's a false dynamic. 300 00:17:55,520 --> 00:18:00,200 After serving others deeply connects us with them, allowing people to serve us deeply connects 301 00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:02,600 those people with us. 302 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:05,760 Learn to say yes when people offer things to you. 303 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:11,400 We had an older lady at one of our old churches pull Ash aside and Ash and I aside when Ash 304 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:16,280 was pregnant with Judah and she gave us this great piece of advice. 305 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:21,880 If someone offers you something, say yes and give them something they can help with. 306 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:26,960 You need the help, which was true. 307 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,920 They want to help and don't worry about overburdening them. 308 00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:36,320 If they didn't mean it, they wouldn't offer and if they offered expecting you to say no, 309 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:44,240 that's okay and you say yes, they will never offer again and they will learn something. 310 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:50,040 So you don't have to say no just because you're a Christian and that is just pride. 311 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:51,920 That's all it is really. 312 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:57,280 Jesus and his disciples lived off the hospitality of others and you can enjoy the hospitality 313 00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:58,280 and service of others. 314 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:02,720 In fact, if you want true friendships, you have to let people serve you because true 315 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:04,280 friendships go both ways. 316 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,640 If you want to develop relationships with the strangers in your life, you've got to let 317 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:09,280 them serve you. 318 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:17,880 Point five, they are just as afraid of you as you are of them. 319 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:23,760 I remember asking an extrovert friend, a different one, who had just expertly navigated a conversation 320 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,320 of three or more people and I was like, in awe of them, how did you do that? 321 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:28,320 This is crazy. 322 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:30,440 How are you so good at doing this? 323 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:36,720 Well, I watch your secret and I feel awkward and nervous in these conversations. 324 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:38,880 And she was like, look, I feel the same way. 325 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:39,880 I just talk. 326 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:45,200 I just talk more when I'm anxious and nervous. 327 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:54,000 I was like, the feeling is the same, but you just open your mouth and I close mine. 328 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,760 And the more people that I talk to, the more I realize that sometimes, especially the people 329 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:02,960 that I just assume are confident and charismatic because they're loud and talkative, feel exactly 330 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:06,200 the same kind of feelings of like, how do I fit in here? 331 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:08,600 Like insecurity, where do I belong? 332 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:12,160 As me as a quieter, introverted, more reserved person do. 333 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,160 It just looks different. 334 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:18,600 And understanding this inverted my social imagination. 335 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:23,080 Instead of feeling awkward and nervous in a conversation like I was the problem in it, 336 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:27,200 I realized kind of everyone sort of feels that way sometimes, or can at least. 337 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:29,560 And they just express that differently. 338 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:35,960 So when I see a person standing alone looking really aloof and cool and you know, like, 339 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,240 you know what I mean? 340 00:20:38,240 --> 00:20:43,040 I realized that just like I do, they're probably saying they're wondering if anyone's 341 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:45,040 going to talk to them. 342 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:46,040 Just like how I feel. 343 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:53,560 So I decided that I could be that person because they're just as afraid of me as I am of them. 344 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:57,480 And maybe they really needed to talk to someone today. 345 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:03,760 And Jesus just beseecheth me to get over myself. 346 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:09,920 So I began to walk across the room and introduce myself to people I don't know. 347 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:13,920 And the more you do it, the easier it becomes. 348 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,000 They are just as afraid of you as you are of them. 349 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:22,000 So you have learned to people and you've built friendships with strangers. 350 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,680 And because God is most full and gracious, maybe they even like you, serve you and listen 351 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:27,680 to you. 352 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:28,680 They are your neighbors. 353 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:32,760 And one of them may be even your plus one. 354 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:37,680 How do you urge those people to come and join God's party? 355 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:43,040 I have five more hot tips for you. 356 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:44,240 First one is this. 357 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,560 Set yourself on fire. 358 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:52,560 I will explain. 359 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:56,840 There's an amazing quote which is attributed to John Wesley, who was at the forefront of 360 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,080 a revival in England in the 1700s. 361 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:06,440 He said, I set myself on fire and people come from miles to watch me burn. 362 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,680 Isn't that just a great quote? 363 00:22:09,680 --> 00:22:13,520 You can't set anyone else on fire for Jesus. 364 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:22,160 But you can sure set yourself on metaphorical fire, metaphorical fire with passion and zeal 365 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:24,000 for Jesus. 366 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,920 People will notice. 367 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:31,520 They will see your life and that alone could urge someone to come and join the party. 368 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:35,120 I think most of the time we think sharing our faith is only about having the right words 369 00:22:35,120 --> 00:22:41,080 to say or right responses to people's questions or challenges they have to your faith. 370 00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:42,960 And part of that is true. 371 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:49,600 But I think it's, and it is helpful to think about and know why you believe what you believe 372 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,560 and to be able to share that in words. 373 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:57,440 But you will never know all the answers to all the questions that people will have. 374 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:01,120 And sometimes people need to meet a Christian who's happy to admit that they don't have 375 00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:06,240 all the answers but are on fire for Jesus anyway. 376 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:10,360 So I think sharing your faith is both about the words you say and the life that you live. 377 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:16,000 Living a life that is on fire and above all things seems to be faithful to Jesus is a 378 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:18,440 life that people will be drawn to. 379 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:23,000 And you will get a chance to share why you live, how you live and why you believe what 380 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:29,000 you believe and they may be urged to come to the party. 381 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:33,520 And the point is this, merge your universes. 382 00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:39,480 Sam Chan in his amazing book, How to Talk About Jesus Without Being That Guy says this, 383 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,160 which is just an amazing book title. 384 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:46,160 One of the major reasons our friends aren't Christians is that they don't belong to a 385 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,480 community of friends who also believe in Jesus. 386 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:53,320 So primarily because they haven't heard the gospel, they probably haven't but they already 387 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:55,400 think they know what you believe. 388 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,920 It's not because there's not enough evidence for the Christian faith because no matter 389 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,920 how much evidence you produce they'll explain it away. 390 00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:06,520 In many cases the number one reason why our friends aren't Christians is that they don't 391 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:10,600 have any other Christian friends. 392 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:14,280 We probably have, you probably have a Christian universe. 393 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:19,040 This church maybe, a Christian friendship groups. 394 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:27,120 We probably also have a work universe, a school universe, a family universe, a uni universe, 395 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:32,480 sporting club universe and never or rarely shall they meet. 396 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:37,880 Sam argues the most important thing that we can do to merge our universes by inviting 397 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:41,840 our non-Christian friends to hang out with our Christian friends. 398 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:46,400 Go to the movies but merge your universes and invite a few from here and a few from there 399 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:56,920 and a few from there and for your non-Christian friends to meet people who believe in Jesus 400 00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:02,440 like you will help them to see that this isn't something you believe in isolation but you're 401 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:05,440 a part of a community of great people who believe the same things. 402 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:11,280 For something like two years, one of my best mates in high school who and still is, he's 403 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:12,280 not a Christian. 404 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:17,320 He came around to our church after, he came around to our house after church on Sunday 405 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:22,160 to eat dinner with the young adults from our church and play NBA playgrounds which was 406 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:23,160 just amazing. 407 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,840 We completed that game as a church. 408 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:30,960 We did it as a family of God, just completionist. 409 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:34,520 And I noticed in my conversations with him over those years how much hanging out with 410 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:41,480 these great men and women, especially Goose, changed and grounded what he thought about 411 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:45,000 my crazy out there Christian faith. 412 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,040 It made it more realistic to him. 413 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:53,800 He could see that I wasn't just some weirdo that he liked for some reason, that there 414 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,520 was something more to it. 415 00:25:56,520 --> 00:25:57,520 Merge your universes. 416 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:02,560 Third point is this, don't say no for them. 417 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:06,840 For years I made a lot of judgments about whether people would come to church or read 418 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:10,960 the Bible with me or do this or that because I thought, I just thought they knew that their 419 00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,400 answer was going to be no. 420 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,760 But I came to realise that I actually have no idea whether they would want to do that 421 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:17,760 or not. 422 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,240 So I was actually saying no for them. 423 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:24,240 Due to my son's started reception at the side of this year and right now I'm doing 424 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:29,600 my best to fool all the other parents into thinking that I'm extrovert, I think I'm 425 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:31,480 doing a pretty good job. 426 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,760 They know about encounter handling because I tell them when they ask me what I'm doing 427 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:35,760 for work. 428 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:41,800 And when I tell them that I'm a pastor, people usually have two responses, they either change 429 00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:52,040 the subject really quickly or they are like, oh, that's nice or something like that. 430 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:56,280 I notice that I tend to move on faster than they do. 431 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:02,680 If they ask me about Henley, I move on how it's going because they know that it's going 432 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:05,920 to be a good thing and they walk past it some of the parents and they're like, oh, there's 433 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:07,920 more people there than I thought there would be. 434 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:14,840 I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or like, that's great. 435 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:20,040 But I move on faster than them. 436 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:25,880 And what I should do is take a breath and ask because I don't know if they're asking 437 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:31,280 me about these things because they want to be asked in turn. 438 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:32,520 They want to be invited. 439 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:34,440 Be lovingly persistent in inviting people. 440 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,600 How do you know that those people in your life who are your neighbors but they're not 441 00:27:37,600 --> 00:27:41,400 yet a part of God's family that they don't want to come to church or read the Bible with 442 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:44,040 you unless you ask them? 443 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,960 How do you know your plus one doesn't want to join the family and the party unless you 444 00:27:47,960 --> 00:27:48,960 ask them? 445 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:54,040 You don't actually know if they are waiting for someone to invite them. 446 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:55,840 So don't say no for them. 447 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:57,840 Ask them. 448 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,680 Fourth one is this, being naturally supernatural. 449 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:05,840 One of the ways I've learned to be normal about my faith is to treat everyone that I 450 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:10,600 meet like I, like followers of Jesus. 451 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:15,120 And by that I mean if they communicate a need, I will offer to pray for them. 452 00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:19,720 Praying for people who aren't yet Christians helps them to see that our faith isn't just 453 00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:24,800 something we believe like a cognitive belief system, but it has the power to change things 454 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:25,800 as well. 455 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:29,160 We're just adding the super to the natural. 456 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,440 If they say that someone's passed away in their family or they're having a hard time 457 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:37,320 at home or whatever it is, we can respond by offering to pray for them. 458 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:40,920 And there are really two levels of difficulty to this. 459 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:44,480 The first one is this, you tell them that you're going to pray about them for it, but 460 00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:46,520 then you actually do it. 461 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:52,800 The second one and the, the, the, the sometimes more difficult one is to ask if you can pray 462 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:55,960 for them right now about it. 463 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,000 I have a mate who's just amazing at this. 464 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,600 I see him as almost fearless, but I'm sure that's not exactly what's going on inside 465 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:03,900 of his head. 466 00:29:03,900 --> 00:29:09,320 He will offer to pray for anyone, including strangers he meets and he will just pray this 467 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:14,400 short and sweet prayer for whatever need they communicate and just seeks Jesus on their 468 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:18,000 behalf and over their situation. 469 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,480 You don't actually know what God would do with that prayer. 470 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:22,480 You don't know. 471 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:24,880 And how that could change that person's life. 472 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:30,360 Being naturally supernatural, for your belief into action. 473 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:36,320 The fifth point is this, win them in prayer. 474 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,760 Pastor and author Tyler Staten tells a story about being challenged by his youth pastor 475 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:43,720 as a 13 year old in a way that radically shaped his life. 476 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:49,280 His pastor said this, what do you think God would do in the lives of your unbelieving friends 477 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:56,200 if you spend every day this summer walking a circle around your school in prayer for them? 478 00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:58,680 He said, I have no idea. 479 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:02,320 And the pastor said, why don't you go and find out? 480 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:04,400 And so he did. 481 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:12,240 Every day during his school holidays, he went back to school and prayed as he walked around 482 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:16,640 the school grounds in a circle and he would pray through the student directory because 483 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:19,400 they had those back then. 484 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:24,440 When school goes back, he asked the principal if he can start a Christian group in the school 485 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:29,280 and to his surprise, the principal says yes. 486 00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:35,800 6.30am, every Wednesday morning they would meet for Bible study and prayer. 487 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:41,880 And this group got so big they had to move it from a classroom to the school theatre. 488 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:48,920 By the end of that year, which would be year 8, I guess, in Australia, one third of his 489 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:52,680 school year had become followers of Jesus. 490 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:55,200 One third. 491 00:30:55,200 --> 00:31:01,120 Do not underestimate the power of prayer to win your plus ones, your colleagues, your friends 492 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:04,400 and your family to Jesus. 493 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:06,880 This is why we do 24 hour prayer days. 494 00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:15,400 This is why we want to be a praying church at Encounter Henley. Prayer really works. 495 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,160 Do you pray for your plus ones? 496 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:18,960 Do you pray for your neighbours? 497 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:22,400 Because you can win them in prayer. 498 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:24,400 These are my 10 top hot tips. 499 00:31:24,400 --> 00:31:27,360 But here's my question. 500 00:31:27,360 --> 00:31:31,680 Why do we seem to find this so hard? 501 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:38,480 We have a seat at the table, the greatest party the universe has ever and will ever see. 502 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:44,240 And we've been commanded by Jesus to go and get people and invite them and bring them 503 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:45,840 to the party. 504 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,160 Isn't that just the most glorious news? 505 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:53,600 Isn't that worth being lovingly persistent and prayerful about? 506 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:59,400 We are better at inviting people to the footy or to the movies than we are to inviting people 507 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:05,320 into an internal banquet with Jesus in resurrected and renewed bodies in a renewed world. 508 00:32:05,320 --> 00:32:10,200 What God has provided us is everything the human heart could ever truly and deeply long 509 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:11,200 for. 510 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:15,240 We have such good news to share. 511 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:16,240 Why don't we share? 512 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:18,240 Why is it so hard? 513 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:21,240 Because it is hard, isn't it? 514 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:26,760 And it's so easy to put that in the too hard basket. 515 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:28,800 Theologize it away. 516 00:32:28,800 --> 00:32:30,280 It's ourselves, it doesn't really matter. 517 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:36,000 But the God would invite them himself if he really wanted them there and not to do the 518 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:40,560 work to live a life of courageous invitation. 519 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:42,560 And we won't. 520 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:48,360 I don't think we won't unless we, until we come to a place of truly realizing that we 521 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:51,320 just weren't strangers to God. 522 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:52,840 We were his enemies. 523 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:56,920 And he didn't just make us neighbors. 524 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,360 He made us family. 525 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:06,240 Romans 5.10 says, For if we were who were God's enemies were reconciled to him through 526 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:08,000 the death of his son. 527 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:12,160 How much more have him being reconciled shall we be saved through his life? 528 00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:17,680 In Galatians 4, But when the right time came God sent his son born of a woman subject to 529 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:18,680 the law. 530 00:33:18,680 --> 00:33:20,600 God sent him to buy freedom for us. 531 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:27,200 He was slaves to the law so that he could adopt us as his very children. 532 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:31,520 And because we are his children, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, prompting 533 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:34,920 us to cry out, Abba, father. 534 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:41,120 Now you are no longer a slave, but God's own child. 535 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,880 And since you are God's child, God has made you his heir. 536 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:57,800 And you realize that through the courage and love of Jesus, God made you an enemy of God, 537 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:00,040 his own adopted child. 538 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:07,240 When you realize that and you accept it, not just in your head, but in your heart, that 539 00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:10,000 God did this for you. 540 00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:12,360 That God loves you that much. 541 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:17,360 And through no act of your own, you and an enemy of God now sits in a place of honor and 542 00:34:17,360 --> 00:34:21,120 privilege as one of God's adopted children. 543 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:22,120 Thanks to Jesus. 544 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:23,360 It changes everything. 545 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,520 It changes your values. 546 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:28,280 It changes what motivates you. 547 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,800 It changes how you think about yourself. 548 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,560 It changes your destiny. 549 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:39,440 No longer does mission and friendship look like the carrot of a banquet at the end of 550 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:46,280 the universe or the stick of what happens if you reject God's invitation or the obligation 551 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:48,120 that I should be doing this, shouldn't I? 552 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:50,160 This is what being a Christian is. 553 00:34:50,160 --> 00:34:52,760 This is what I should be doing. 554 00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:58,640 Mission and friendship looks like courage and love. 555 00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:00,680 Courage to speak out. 556 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:02,200 Courage to take the opportunity. 557 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:03,720 Courage to invite. 558 00:35:03,720 --> 00:35:06,000 Courage to be persistent. 559 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:10,480 Courage to pray bold prayers that only God can answer. 560 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:17,000 Courage to be seen as a fool for Jesus and love. 561 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,760 Love for the one who saved you. 562 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:24,280 Love for those who need his salvation. 563 00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:28,320 For it was the courage and love of Jesus who made you family. 564 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:34,400 How can we not live lives marked by that same courage and love to guide into all the world 565 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:36,200 and to urge them? 566 00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:38,920 Hey, I've been invited to this party. 567 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:41,520 It might be the greatest party of all time. 568 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:45,120 It might be the goat of all parties. 569 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,240 Do you want to be my plus one? 570 00:35:48,240 --> 00:36:06,920 Do you want to be my plus one?