1 00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,040 Hey everybody, this is Pastor John Ewart from Inglewood 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,920 Baptist Church in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina. 3 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,119 Thank you so much for tuning into our podcast. 4 00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,320 You're going to hear from God today as we share from his word 5 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,080 about important issues facing your life that can guide you 6 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:22,000 according to the Bible. All right, so thank you for 7 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,080 coming to this session. Thank you for those who are 8 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:25,600 here. I know that we have several 9 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:27,040 church members who aren't feeling great. 10 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,120 And so thank you so much for being here tonight and also for 11 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:31,760 those who'll be listening online later. 12 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:33,920 We welcome you and thank you for that. 13 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:36,240 If you don't have a church home, come see us at Inglewood. 14 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,680 And I hope that you'll listen to the other episodes because each 15 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,560 one of these episodes stair steps on the last one. 16 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:45,160 I'm going to go through puberty again tonight. 17 00:00:45,160 --> 00:00:47,600 This is going to be fun. Just since that. 18 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,040 I don't think I'll cough that much, but I do think I'm going 19 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,360 to crack. Maybe not Sunday night. 20 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:55,920 I was very white, so if that makes any sense to you. 21 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:02,160 But anyway, it was pretty funny. But anyway, so yeah, so each 22 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,080 episode matters. And so you need to go back and 23 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:05,760 stair step. You need to understand some of 24 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:07,320 the biblical and theological foundation. 25 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:10,640 You need to understand how to be engaged in pre evangelism to 26 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:12,880 where we're actually kind of building relationships to 27 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:16,280 building relationships, dealing with the barriers that stop us 28 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:18,760 from sharing our faith. What are those things and why? 29 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:22,880 And then working through praying for people and then and then 30 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:24,840 actually leading a conversation to Christ. 31 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,440 That last session we did very, very important because I'm 32 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:31,360 assuming all of those things are happening to lead to this 33 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:34,120 moment. I'm not sure this moment is the 34 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,000 same without some of those pieces happening. 35 00:01:37,320 --> 00:01:40,200 And I need to make that really clear so that each one of these 36 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:41,920 sessions is not some magic bullet. 37 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,040 This is a process that I watch the Holy Spirit take people 38 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:48,760 through because as I've shared with you before, especially in 39 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,520 our culture here in the United States, you're, you're very 40 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,360 likely going to have to have much more of a dialogical, even 41 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:58,520 multiple encounter type experience with people than 42 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:00,960 simply getting people to sit quietly while you share some 43 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,160 presentation to them. Now in the future, we're going 44 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,960 to talk about some of those presentations and how do we make 45 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:09,600 the best gospel presentation and what does that mean? 46 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:11,840 We're also going to talk about, because several of you have 47 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,000 asked me this in future episodes not long from now. 48 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,400 We're also going to talk about how do I share with people from 49 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,760 specific backgrounds, everything from cross cultural, different 50 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:25,160 religion, different age from we need to talk about children a 51 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:27,960 little bit and family members, because sometimes family members 52 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:31,040 are the hardest coworkers, that kind of stuff, but also people 53 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,320 who have alternative lifestyle issues in their life. 54 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:35,840 And how am I going to share with somebody who's gay and doesn't 55 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:38,760 agree or, or just as making a lot of assumptions about what I 56 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,360 think before we ever have a conversation, et cetera. 57 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:43,840 So we're going to talk through some of those, those real 58 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:48,120 situations that some of you are in and have asked me about and 59 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:50,640 we'll, we'll make sure we tackle that as well down the road. 60 00:02:50,920 --> 00:02:54,800 But for this session, we really need to 0 in and the and the 61 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,440 handout may seem short, but don't let that encourage you 62 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:05,600 because when I do this, and I actually started doing this back 63 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:11,160 in the 1980s when I was working for a brief time with the 64 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,680 Oklahoma Baptist State Convention after I had returned 65 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,160 from being in the Philippines. I worked for a season for the 66 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,080 state convention. It's kind of a missionary in 67 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,640 residence working with their student camp as well as is what 68 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:27,120 they called wind schools in those days, which are that 69 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,280 predates a lot of a lot of stuff for some of you, but that 70 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:32,240 doesn't matter. But part of what we did was this 71 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:34,720 personal testimony workshop in a different form. 72 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:39,400 But I always want to give credit to those people back in the day 73 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:41,560 who wrote Win School. I'm probably the only human 74 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,160 being that still has that material anywhere in a three 75 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:47,640 ring notebook. But but it was good stuff and I 76 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:50,640 always enjoyed this and my students at seminary like this. 77 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,160 People overseas love doing this. I've taught this all around the 78 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:54,400 world. What we're going to do tonight. 79 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,360 And so I hope that you'll kind of embrace it. 80 00:03:57,360 --> 00:03:59,840 You got to kind of get involved and, and own it. 81 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,080 I'm not going to put you on the spot, but but I do want you to 82 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:05,360 participate. And you'll, you'll see more 83 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:07,400 about that in a minute. So let's talk about personal 84 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:08,880 testimony. This can be very, very powerful. 85 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:11,560 This is what you're going to hear Sunday from Cambi's 86 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,240 primarily a doctor Sahuwe. You can't say it in English 87 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:16,680 hardly. You're going to get that back 88 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,320 there. But the Doctor Cambi's is 89 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:21,560 coming. Dear friend, dear brother, 90 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:25,560 you'll love him and his wife. And so we're going to hear a 91 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:28,320 powerful testimony. My testimony is really 92 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:31,160 convoluted and confused. Some of you have said when are 93 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:33,440 you going to share your entire testimony with us? 94 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,160 That's a really complicated thing to do because I had a 95 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,800 salvation experience and then I had a massive prodigal 96 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:42,200 experience and then I had a recommitment experience. 97 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,240 And sometimes it all gets confused a little bit and 98 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:46,880 there's some pretty dark stuff back there. 99 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:48,920 I'll talk more a little bit about that in a minute. 100 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:53,360 So when we we share here some reasons for sharing a personal 101 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:54,880 testimony. Now, these aren't all the 102 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:57,080 reasons. These are just a few of the 103 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,160 reasons why you might want to use a personal testimony. 104 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:03,560 And remember in our culture today, our culture is very story 105 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,840 oriented and, and more than that, there's a proof of 106 00:05:07,840 --> 00:05:10,480 authenticity that they're looking for. 107 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:12,840 This needs to be something that's real to you. 108 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,320 If this just seems to be an artificial presentation sales 109 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:17,760 pitch, they're not going to be interested in that. 110 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:19,680 They've had enough of that in this world. 111 00:05:19,680 --> 00:05:21,840 And I'm going to talk about that when we get to the outline a 112 00:05:21,840 --> 00:05:24,000 whole lot more because this needs to be something that's 113 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:25,720 real. It needs to be meaningful to 114 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:27,600 you. So it ought to be natural. 115 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:31,480 In other words, I, I, I, this is something that is just my story. 116 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:34,320 You don't have to make up somebody else's story. 117 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:39,120 This is your story. And so make it as natural and 118 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,240 authentic as you can. And so your testimony is not 119 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:43,600 going to be the same as my testimony. 120 00:05:44,280 --> 00:05:46,600 And that's OK. And there's not a better 121 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:49,080 testimony than I. So I've, I shouldn't have said 122 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,280 what I said earlier about one of the most powerful testimonies, 123 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:53,960 but there's really, you know, every testimony is powerful. 124 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,200 And I've often talked to, especially to students and to 125 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:00,800 people in, in life to where, you know, my testimony is boring. 126 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,080 I was raised in church my whole life and I, you know, was saved 127 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,080 early in my life and I've been in church the rest of my life 128 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:09,640 and I've, you know, I've never really done anything except 129 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:11,440 church in Christianity in my whole life. 130 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:12,640 You know, and I know people like that. 131 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,280 Man, what a blessing. Don't, don't see that as any 132 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:17,640 kind of negative. You don't need to be a 133 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,080 rock'n'roll drug dealer before you meet Jesus in order to have 134 00:06:21,080 --> 00:06:25,400 a powerful testimony, right? And so embrace that. 135 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:27,640 I talked to my kids about that because that's my kids, you 136 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,600 know, and it's like, it's like, you know, don't, don't shy away 137 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:32,600 from that. You know, embrace that. 138 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,120 To say, this is my not only my whole life, but this is the 139 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,200 foundation of everything that I currently believe in and it 140 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:40,760 still is. That's really meaningful, you 141 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:42,040 know? And then some of us are a little 142 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:46,080 more dramatic and so, but make this as natural as possible. 143 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,000 The other thing about this is it's accessible. 144 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:50,520 I don't need a booklet. I don't need to memorize a 145 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,440 tract. I don't have to have some gospel 146 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,600 that you, I know this, this is a story that's already here or 147 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:57,880 ought to be. And all we want to do is try to 148 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,240 help you frame it. I'm not ever expecting you to 149 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,760 actually use the outline I'm going to give you in real life. 150 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,440 The outline is designed to just make you think about it. 151 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,120 I, I don't talk about this and I ought to talk about this and 152 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:10,480 I'll talk about this to help them along the way. 153 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:13,760 But, but this ought to be very accessible and easy for you to 154 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,360 do it. It's also a great transition. 155 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,960 And I'll show you this to get to the actual gospel, a gospel 156 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,080 presentation, because there's a difference between my personal 157 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,480 testimony and sharing the whole gospel. 158 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:28,520 And we're going to talk about how to, how to do both of those 159 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:30,440 things. But you might find that this is 160 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:33,280 the, the, this is the thing I have and this is the one thing I 161 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:35,760 can do in this meeting in the time I have. 162 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:38,680 And I need to do this to kind of lead them to where they're ready 163 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:40,800 to hear that. And so there's a lot of 164 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,640 transitional aspects of personal testimony life. 165 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:46,080 It can also be quick. I'll show you that. 166 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:48,720 I talk about the two to four minute testimony. 167 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:50,600 I'm not trying to make you do that. 168 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:54,800 I would try to make you not do the 40 minute testimony, please. 169 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:59,320 Most people don't want to hear the 40 minute testimony in a 170 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,520 personal dialogue. People, A have short attention 171 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:05,480 spans and B, they're usually thinking about themselves and 172 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:07,040 they don't want to hear that much about you. 173 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:11,280 And so you, you need to learn how to have a longer version and 174 00:08:11,280 --> 00:08:13,640 a shorter version. I know some of you were trained 175 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:16,120 in some of this before and previous training on how to 176 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:17,800 share that, that quick testimony. 177 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:20,520 But so I actually talked about the two to four minute. 178 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,440 And then when we do it in class and I time people, it's amazing 179 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:26,400 how some of them did it in less than two minutes. 180 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:28,640 And you know, it's not by design. 181 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,040 It's just it gets in their head. Now I'm going to show you that 182 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,880 through a little exercise that I'm I'm going to forcibly make 183 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,840 you do. Now we're going to enjoy that 184 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,919 together. It's also, it can be powerful. 185 00:08:40,919 --> 00:08:45,040 I'm telling you because one of the big differences, and I've 186 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:47,680 shared this story with you before, but like when I was in 187 00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:49,960 Belize and I was talking to the guy in the store and he said 188 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,080 this is real to you, isn't it? And you just got to understand 189 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:57,040 that for a lot of people that functional aspect of religion 190 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,440 doesn't exist. In other words, what does the 191 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:01,680 religion actually produce in your life? 192 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:03,920 We call that the functional part of a religion. 193 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:06,160 What is its function? What does it produce? 194 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:10,680 Peace, hope, joy, assurance, strength, those kinds of ideas. 195 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,320 And for many of these people, it's all fear based because 196 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,480 their religion is a works based background or their non religion 197 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:22,080 is works based. People who claim to be atheists 198 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:25,640 or people who claim to be agnostics often live by a works 199 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:29,400 based morality. In other words, they're they're 200 00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:31,280 somehow trying to balance their karma. 201 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:34,520 They're trying to balance the good versus the evil. 202 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:38,360 And if I do do more good than than evil things in my life, I'm 203 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,840 a good person. And so they define it by, by 204 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:44,440 actions or attitudes or words, etcetera. 205 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:47,120 And they don't recognize what grace is. 206 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:50,160 And so one of the most powerful things about true Christianity 207 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:51,440 is grace. It's the, one of the most 208 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:53,480 powerful things about true Christianity is that ought to be 209 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,600 transformative. Now let me go back, I'm stair 210 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,280 stepping here all the way back to relationship number one and 211 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,160 relationship #2. If you haven't been here, here's 212 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:06,640 what I mean. We have to be engaged in a very 213 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:08,840 intentional relationship with God and his people. 214 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:12,520 Relationship #1 and then secondly, then we'll be ready to 215 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:14,720 engage in a very intentional relationship with the world and 216 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,480 its people. So the more I'm engaged in 217 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:22,200 relationship #1, the better my relationship too will be. 218 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:26,840 And evangelism ought to be the overflowing of relationship #1 219 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,680 into relationship #2 But if you're not spending time with 220 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:34,720 God, if you're not walking with him, if you're not in His word, 221 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,520 if you're not following the seven essentials of discipleship 222 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:42,400 or whatever framework you you have similar to that, if you're 223 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,200 not doing that, it's going to be a rare thing for there to be an 224 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:51,320 overflow in an evangelistic way in your life to where that's 225 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:53,760 going to have any power. It's going to be mechanical, 226 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,360 could be robotic, but it's not going to be powerful. 227 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,680 Because who saves people? All right, God does. 228 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:06,480 I can't save people. And so I need the power of the 229 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:09,360 Holy Spirit working in this situation. 230 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:12,040 And if I'm not connected to him, if I'm not paying any attention 231 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,080 to him, if I'm not listening to him, this doesn't work. 232 00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,200 And so the power isn't mine. The power isn't my dramatic 233 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:21,720 story. The fact that I've been a bag 234 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,000 collector, I've been a bag man. You may not know what that term 235 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:26,520 is. Look up, look up mafia, look up 236 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,120 organized crime. I've been a bag man, a bouncer 237 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,480 and a boxer, right? And that's part of my 238 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,360 background. And the fact that then all of a 239 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:41,800 sudden it not now I'm not well, most days I thought about 240 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:47,280 moonlighting a little bit, but that doesn't mean that my 241 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:51,560 testimonies are more powerful than that sweet person who grew 242 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:54,120 up from the nursery on in the Baptist Church. 243 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:58,720 I mean, what a what a legacy to be thankful for. 244 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:01,240 It just means their testimonies are going to be different. 245 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,720 I might be able to relate to somebody who's violent and, and 246 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:08,440 an alcoholic. I might be able to relate to 247 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,840 somebody in some specific issue, but but you'll be able to relate 248 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:13,920 to other people and God's going to orchestrate that. 249 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:19,160 He's going to put you in those places where these people need 250 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,560 you. The other thing is that if you 251 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:24,200 go to the next one, the next one that we see is, is this is very 252 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:28,400 biblical. Paul shares his testimony in at 253 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:30,520 least two different places in the book of Acts. 254 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:32,960 And I didn't make slides for all these because it's it's very 255 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,520 lengthy. And so in Acts 22, he starts off 256 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:40,120 in verse 3 and he says I am a Jew born in Tarsus. 257 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:46,560 And he goes all the way through his experience of persecution 258 00:12:46,680 --> 00:12:50,240 and the Damascus Rd. experience. He replays all of this in this 259 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,680 chapter. He's telling this as he shares 260 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:57,880 with the people and he talks about how he was struck down by 261 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:01,000 this bright light and he gives the exact, the exact same words. 262 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,160 Let's see earlier that Jesus speaks to him and, and this, 263 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:07,560 this give and take. And then he even talks about 264 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:10,560 Ananias who had to come and restore his sight. 265 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:14,000 So he goes through this whole thing, this whole thing in Acts 266 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,120 22. And then you flip over a couple 267 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:20,560 pages to Acts 26 and he's before Agrippa. 268 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:23,240 This is during some of the trials that he has to go through 269 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:25,640 as well. And again, it's starting in 270 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:28,000 verse 12. In this connection, I journeyed 271 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,800 to Damascus. Damascus with the authority and 272 00:13:30,800 --> 00:13:33,880 Commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw in the 273 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:35,720 way a light from heaven. So again he tells this whole 274 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:37,960 story. Saul, Saul, why are you 275 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:39,800 persecuting me? Who are you? 276 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:41,760 Lord? I'm Jesus, whom you're pretty. 277 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:43,960 I mean. He tells this whole story again 278 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,440 word for word and then ends up with saying, therefore, O King 279 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:49,920 Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but 280 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,240 declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and 281 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,600 throughout the all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles 282 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,640 that they should repent and turn to God performing deeds in 283 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,600 keeping with their repentance. And for this reason he's been 284 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:06,240 arrested, which led us to last Sunday's sermon. 285 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:10,080 And so we see that it's if there's a biblical model. 286 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:14,160 And so I encourage you to go back and read Acts 22 and and 287 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:19,560 read Acts 26 and to, to review what all happened there. 288 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,160 But let me give you a couple of pointers before we dive into 289 00:14:22,160 --> 00:14:24,160 this. So when, when we're going to 290 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:26,280 share a personal testimony, here are a couple of things I would 291 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:27,400 say. Here's how to share your 292 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:32,760 personal testimony a couple of ways #1 focus on God, focus on 293 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,920 what he did, not necessarily what you did right. 294 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,960 This is a story that you're trying to get them to understand 295 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,320 about him, not necessarily about you. 296 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,600 And and you really want to focus on conversion and post 297 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:51,240 conversion life, which is often the opposite of what happens in 298 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,520 testimony life. Often in testimony life, you 299 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,160 hear a whole lot more about being a bagman, A bouncer and a 300 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:01,360 boxer and not so much about So what. 301 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:05,440 And it's just So what that I'm going to force you in an outline 302 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:09,080 in a minute to think more about because this has to be real 303 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,960 today. And so some of you, let's just 304 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:15,640 see for a minute. How many of you were saved 305 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:17,960 before the age of 12? Lift up your hand and leave them 306 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:22,120 up before the age of 12. OK, Leave your hands up. 307 00:15:22,480 --> 00:15:25,880 How many of you were saved before the age of 16? 308 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:30,920 How many of you were saved before the age of 18? 309 00:15:31,480 --> 00:15:32,840 Everybody keep lifting their hands up. 310 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:37,040 Who had them lifted up before? OK, now lower your hands. 311 00:15:37,400 --> 00:15:39,600 How many of you were saved after 25? 312 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:46,920 And there's several of you, but statistically, most people are 313 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,360 saved before the age of 18. In fact, it's a strong high 314 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:54,040 statistic, which is why student ministry and children's ministry 315 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:56,240 become so important in in our life here. 316 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,360 And so I'm thankful for some of you who beat the odds. 317 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,280 You know, and I know some folks here who would say way later in 318 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,400 life, which is really rare and wonderful. 319 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,440 But what's interesting about that is, is that often times our 320 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,720 testimonies will focus when I was 8 years old, I went to camp 321 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:16,200 or I was at vacation Bible school. 322 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:19,160 Again, wonderful part of the story and it needs to be shared. 323 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:24,840 But at the same time is that is that everything that that person 324 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:26,320 needs to hear, they need to hear. 325 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,720 So what? So you know that this isn't just 326 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:32,000 for children. This isn't just something that 327 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,600 happens to kids who were raised in it, that this is actually 328 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,560 something stronger than that. So we need to focus on 329 00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:40,040 conversion and post conversion life. 330 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:41,040 I'll help you with that in a minute. 331 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:43,720 And and so we don't overemphasize that pre 332 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:47,680 conversion drama necessary because what we want to do is we 333 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:52,520 want to focus on now. And that may seem odd to you 334 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,680 because often times when you think of personal testimony, you 335 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,720 think about when I was saved. Now, that's a big, vital, vital 336 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:03,560 part of the story, obviously. But I'm telling you, in our 337 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:09,119 culture today, So what? Because they look at people who 338 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:13,839 call themselves Christians or they look at churches and they 339 00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:17,400 don't see any difference. They've got to understand the 340 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:19,960 difference. There needs to be a difference 341 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,880 between US and people who aren't us. 342 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:28,079 In a sense that makes sense. And so the way we live and our 343 00:17:28,079 --> 00:17:32,400 value system, the way we make decisions, even even our 344 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:36,920 politics, no, I'm not going to go down that cuss word Rd. but 345 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:40,960 all of this stuff is affected by our faith system. 346 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:44,280 Our worldview is affected by our faith system. 347 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,040 One of the things that we've got to talk about is culture at some 348 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:50,640 point a little bit, really understand what that is because 349 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:54,520 we aren't all the same and people who are moving here 350 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:58,560 aren't all going to be the same. And so we need to help them to 351 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:02,040 understand how this makes a difference in my life today. 352 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:08,880 Now, here's the trick. If it's not, if it doesn't, if 353 00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:12,080 you're not really walking with God, if you're not really 354 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:15,440 engaged in relationship number one, if that really isn't a 355 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,600 massive overflow in your life, then your testimony is going to 356 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,600 be shallow. It's going to be weak, it's not 357 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:23,960 going to be current. It's going to be some old story, 358 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,920 right? And So what we want to do is we 359 00:18:26,920 --> 00:18:30,760 want to make sure we're current. This is why everything connects. 360 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:35,520 Why such an emphasis on discipleship this fall tour? 361 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,520 We want everybody walking in a certain way, learning in a 362 00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:41,840 certain way, doing things and and understanding and becoming 363 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:47,200 things so that your testimony will be true and real. 364 00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,320 We want to be authentic. We want to be real, right? 365 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:52,400 We don't want this to be some fake show. 366 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,080 My goal isn't just to run people through something, to have some 367 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:58,000 number. The goal here is that we're 368 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,640 actually seeing transformation take place and lives changed. 369 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:03,840 And so we, we want to focus upon that. 370 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:08,160 So if you'll flip your page over, well, no, I think you've 371 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:09,400 got it on the front page right now. 372 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:11,080 Stay on the front page. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. 373 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:13,840 So let's talk about this outline for a moment, then we'll flip it 374 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,640 over in a minute. So if you'll notice it spells 375 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:20,200 out what? Yeah, you're going to get tired 376 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:24,240 of that before this is over because there's more of these. 377 00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:28,440 But, but again, it just helps me to remember some things. 378 00:19:28,440 --> 00:19:31,640 I don't actually expect you to necessarily follow a reach 379 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:33,840 outline. I do want you to think about 380 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,840 these categories and how these need to be worked in based upon 381 00:19:37,840 --> 00:19:40,560 the specific conversation you're in with whoever you're talking 382 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:41,920 to. Because for some of these 383 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,320 things, they're going to know this already or some of these 384 00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:46,560 things are, you know, there's, you know, are they strangers? 385 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:47,920 Are they friends as your neighbor? 386 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:49,600 You know, how are you going to get to this point? 387 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,200 But one of the things we need to talk about is first of all, we 388 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:55,400 need to talk about the recognition of my need for 389 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:59,040 salvation took place when or because now every one of these 390 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:00,520 is going to be a complete the sentence. 391 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,880 And one of the assignments that I give in my master's level 392 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:09,720 class and my bachelor's level class in the past was you had to 393 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,880 write this out. This is a paper, A2 page paper 394 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:15,880 that you had to write out and you actually had to use my 395 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:17,800 outline. And you had to complete the 396 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:19,560 sentence. So they had actually all all 397 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:21,920 have the same outline. And they would complete, you 398 00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:24,120 know, complete the sentence with a little paragraph, complete the 399 00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:25,160 sentence with a little paragraph. 400 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,800 And you'd be amazed at how they didn't do that very often. 401 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:30,720 And I would tell them in class, if you don't use my outline, 402 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:34,640 you're going to get a bad grade. And still somebody would send in 403 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:39,120 A10 page rant about their whole life, you know, No, no, stop 404 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:41,640 that. Just follow the outline once. 405 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:46,760 It'll be OK. So this is the question, this is 406 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:48,920 the discussion. Sometimes it's hard for some 407 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:51,960 people. How did you know you needed to 408 00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:55,920 be saved? When did you know that? 409 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:59,960 Now for those who were saved at a young age, this becomes a 410 00:20:59,960 --> 00:21:03,960 little blurry sometimes. And I get that this, this part 411 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:07,680 might not be as long as others because it's a little blurrier. 412 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,320 I, I, I, you know, I, I knew about Jesus before I could walk, 413 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,400 right? And so I knew about sin. 414 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:18,200 I knew about these concepts, but when was the personal awareness 415 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:23,760 of, of the guilt of your sin, the conviction that I needed a 416 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,680 Savior? This is a really important 417 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:30,520 question and it's an important question for me to talk to other 418 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:33,200 people about because a, I'm going to have to define a lot of 419 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,920 things for them. And we're going to talk about 420 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:37,760 down the road. Here's a list of things you're 421 00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:39,800 going to have to define for lost people out there. 422 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:44,000 One of them sin, they're, they're not going to agree with 423 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,520 you about what sin is, right? Because they're not going to 424 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:49,320 agree with you about what the Bible is. 425 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,560 And so again, starting in January on midweek, we're going 426 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:55,760 to do a huge study. I'm going to, we're going to 427 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,280 talk about, I got to talk about revelation and inspiration, not 428 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,640 the book, but of the Scripture. Again, just for briefly, but I 429 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:03,520 want to talk about how do we get the Bible? 430 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:05,760 I want to talk about the different translations that we 431 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:07,400 use. Two people asked me tonight what 432 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,040 translation I used and and why we have different translations. 433 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:13,920 I want to talk about how to observe Scripture, how to 434 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,240 interpret Scripture, how to apply Scripture, how to present 435 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:19,200 Scripture. We're going to do all that on 436 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:20,720 Wednesday night. So it'll be a great study. 437 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:22,200 It'll help you in your personal Bible study. 438 00:22:22,200 --> 00:22:23,680 It'll help those of you who are teachers. 439 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:29,160 But how do I recognize? When did the Holy Spirit ZAP me, 440 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,600 knock me to the ground on my Damascus road? 441 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:39,200 And I knew I was lost, right? And that's an important part of 442 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,600 this. And so I, I, I would rather talk 443 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,120 about that recognition than simply save my life before 444 00:22:45,120 --> 00:22:46,960 Christ. OK. 445 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:49,840 Because I, I, I don't, I mean, it's not that I don't care, but 446 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:51,840 I really don't care about your life before Christ too much. 447 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:53,760 You know, I mean, I don't want to emphasize that. 448 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:56,680 So you can sit there and build that into here. 449 00:22:57,320 --> 00:22:59,360 You know, I was drunk one night and God spoke to me. 450 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:04,040 You know, I mean, whatever it is for me, I was about to kill a 451 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:05,720 man with my bare hands. That's the whole another subject 452 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:08,680 better. You really don't need to hear my 453 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:17,120 testimony probably, but then #2 eternal life began the eternal 454 00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:21,440 life with God began the moment I responded to Christ and accepted 455 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:28,120 him as Lord and Savior. OK, when was that you know on at 456 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:29,640 whatever you need to make that transition. 457 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,320 Now for some of you who have this a different a 458 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:36,920 soteriological angle. If you want to change that to 459 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:41,080 say eternal life with God the the the moment I began the 460 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:47,040 moment I responded to Christ accepting me and that either 461 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:48,280 meant something to you or it didn't. 462 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:53,840 You can do that too, but this is when you were saved. 463 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:59,640 When were you saved where, how what happened. 464 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,640 It's an important part of the story, regardless of what age, 465 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:08,480 regardless of where you were. Then we get to the Third Point 466 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:14,040 where accepting Christ changed my life from that moment on. 467 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:18,080 Because, or you could say being accepted by Christ again if 468 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:20,160 you're in a different theological angle. 469 00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:24,920 But after I'm saved, this is what it means. 470 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,280 Now this gets confusing with .4. I know it. 471 00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:29,720 I admitted I understand it. I go through this all the time, 472 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,680 and so one of the things that I'm trying to help people 473 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,000 understand here, number three, are things that would be true of 474 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:40,000 every Christian. So in other words, just shout 475 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,000 something out after you're saved. 476 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:46,560 What do you have say that again, cleansed. 477 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:51,840 What else? Eternal life, peace, hope, 478 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:57,440 forgiveness, Holy Spirit, right? So these are things, these are 479 00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:00,240 the general things that almost any Christian could probably 480 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:01,280 say. That's what I'm looking for. 481 00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:04,640 They need to be true for you. But in other words, the, the 482 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:07,560 answers on #3 a lot of Christians, we could probably 483 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:10,040 say the same thing. Now, if you, if, if you started 484 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:15,440 off, for example, let's say I'm a, I'm a raging violent human 485 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:19,400 being who drinks too much. And then after I saved, I'm not 486 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:23,040 a violent, angry person who drinks too much anymore. 487 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:25,840 I mean, you do have specific things pre and post that you can 488 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:30,280 talk about that makes sense. But these are also those general 489 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:34,200 things. All right #4 is the key. 490 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,320 And believe it. Don't believe it. 491 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:39,720 It's the key in our culture today. 492 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:42,440 You've got to include #4 most personal testimony outlines 493 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:46,920 don't have this number four. And it's a mistake because those 494 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,120 folks out there will listen to everything else That's 495 00:25:49,120 --> 00:25:50,400 wonderful. That's just great for you. 496 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,960 I'm so happy for you. I'm so happy for you. 497 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:57,600 But what they've got to hear is that it hasn't ended. 498 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:00,520 It didn't stop the moment I was saved. 499 00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:04,280 Something started the moment I was saved because I'm still 500 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:06,920 saved. I'm still being saved. 501 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,360 I will be saved. And so Christ makes a difference 502 00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:19,960 in my life today because or how now, that only works if you're 503 00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:24,880 talking to Jesus today. That only works if you're 504 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,000 praying. That only works if you're 505 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:31,200 engaging the Bible. That only works if you're 506 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,640 worshipping him. That only works if you're 507 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:35,800 serving him and you're walking with him. 508 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:38,920 You have that personal time with him on a daily basis. 509 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:42,800 So this is where I go back to leading a conversation to Christ 510 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:47,600 where's now I can sit there and say just this morning God showed 511 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,160 me in his word exactly what we're talking about right now. 512 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:55,480 Just just Sunday, the preacher in between snotting up the 513 00:26:55,480 --> 00:27:00,920 pulpit and and he had to be in the second service. 514 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:05,200 First service I did OK. Second service, my nose went 515 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:07,240 athletic. I'm telling you, it just ran. 516 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,480 It was horrible. I also dehydrated by the time I 517 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:15,800 got home dehydrated. I'm telling you. 518 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:19,760 Thank you all for your patience. Yeah, there was a moment in that 519 00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:26,080 second service from like, should I just stop grossing everybody 520 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,160 out? So anyway, so but last Sunday, 521 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,240 the preacher said, or in my connect group more likely 522 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,480 somebody said, and these are these connecting points. 523 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:38,880 See, he makes a difference in my life today. 524 00:27:38,960 --> 00:27:42,280 Now, some of the same words, hope and joy and peace and 525 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,280 forgiveness, they still work right there. 526 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:52,280 If you really are thinking about him, He's restored a broken 527 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,840 person and he continues to do that. 528 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:00,000 And every single day I have to spend time with him for him to 529 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:04,320 do that right? Every single day I, I, I have to 530 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:08,040 be in his, in his word. I have to be in his presence 531 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:13,120 because he makes a difference in my life every single day. 532 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:15,840 That's either a true statement or it didn't. 533 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:20,960 And so it's hard for somebody who's not a true disciple 534 00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:24,520 walking with Christ to live evangelistically. 535 00:28:25,120 --> 00:28:27,000 I'm not saying you can't do evangelism. 536 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:31,640 You can go out and make a visit and you can recite words, but to 537 00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:36,760 live evangelistically, to be evangelistic and not simply do 538 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,560 evangelism, here's the whole point. 539 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:42,800 It's just an overflow of my walk with God. 540 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:48,000 And so I do pray that Christ is making a difference in your life 541 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:50,640 today. And I hope that you even have an 542 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:54,080 awareness of it. I hope you have a consciousness 543 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,600 of that, that you don't zip through the day so quickly. 544 00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:00,600 I mean, here we are at midweek, middle of the work week for some 545 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,760 of you STEM. Are you so tired working so hard 546 00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:09,080 all day long and you come here anyway, You know, are you taking 547 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:14,160 the time to ask him and to thank him for the difference he made 548 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:18,320 in your life today? Each day is extremely precious 549 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,280 and we don't want to waste it. You tracking with me. 550 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:27,280 All right. Then you get to H Has anything 551 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:30,320 like this ever happened to you? This is my transition. 552 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:33,080 Yeah. I don't care if you use that 553 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:34,760 sentence or not. I make them in my paper. 554 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:37,480 To use that sentence, they have to close their everybody's final 555 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:39,160 sentence in the paper. Is anything ever. 556 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:41,120 Is anything like this ever happened to you? 557 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:43,120 They all have to finish the paper with the same sentence. 558 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:47,960 If they don't Doctor red ink goes to work has anything like 559 00:29:47,960 --> 00:29:49,440 this. Would you like to know more 560 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:53,040 about Jesus how to trust in him? So now I can follow which will 561 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:54,640 be our next session. We're going to start talking 562 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:56,400 about this now, man, I've set him up. 563 00:29:56,400 --> 00:29:59,480 We're now we can actually talk about what the gospel is right. 564 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:02,760 This is all pre evangelism is a precursor. 565 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,960 There's some evangelism mixed in your testimony, but we're going 566 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,280 to get the real hardcore evangelism next time when we 567 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:10,960 start talking about here's what a person actually needs to hear 568 00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:14,120 in order to be saved. You got lost friends. 569 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:15,840 You ought to make them come. It won't be next Wednesday 570 00:30:15,840 --> 00:30:17,800 because of Thanksgiving. We don't meet next week. 571 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,320 But whenever we come back together again in whatever that 572 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:26,600 is, 2028 or whatever it is now, in a couple weeks, I don't know 573 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:28,240 the date, but in a couple of weeks. 574 00:30:29,240 --> 00:30:31,960 So, you know, this is a great time to bring your lost friends 575 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:34,520 or neighbors because even though they were they, they'll think 576 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,320 you're coming to a personal evangelism training. 577 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:41,120 We're going to be outlining the gospel, so you need somebody to 578 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:43,680 hear it. Put them in a headlock, get them 579 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:48,680 here. All right, Now, here's the 580 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:54,160 question. Will you play along with me and 581 00:30:54,160 --> 00:30:57,400 participate? Now, I appreciate the fact that 582 00:30:57,400 --> 00:30:59,800 some of you have intentionally spread out and you did this. 583 00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,480 You actually shared this with us in order to cover every section 584 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:04,240 of prayer. Thank you so much for doing 585 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:06,680 that. Now, I'm going to suggest that 586 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:09,800 you move closer to people. Now, don't leave that you don't. 587 00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:12,120 I'm not. Nobody's marking your name down 588 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:16,160 if you don't move, but I'm going to lead us through a fun 589 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:20,520 exercise, and I want to show you what time looks like. 590 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:23,480 We do this all the time. It's usually pretty full of 591 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:27,800 laughter and enjoyable. So I would appreciate it if you 592 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:33,200 could get in groups of three or so because and you may not get 593 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:37,480 to go every single time we have a round, so to speak, but try to 594 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:39,120 get with with about three people. 595 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:42,000 If some of you are with four, it'll be all right, but you may 596 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:43,560 not get to do every single one of these. 597 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:45,280 Now here's what we're going to do. 598 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:49,600 I'm going to put a a stopwatch on up here. 599 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:53,280 And again, don't don't, don't worry about it. 600 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,760 Nobody going to nobody going to get mad at you about doing 601 00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,400 nothing. Just just enjoy listening to 602 00:31:58,400 --> 00:31:59,800 others. Get to know your friends, 603 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,800 because what I want to do is I want to show you time frames. 604 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:08,160 I want you to understand what 30 seconds is. 605 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,720 I want you to understand what 45 seconds is because I'm going to 606 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:16,600 show you how much you can say in 30 seconds. 607 00:32:16,960 --> 00:32:18,760 I don't have time to share testimony with people. 608 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:22,440 Let's just find that out. Let's just see. 609 00:32:24,480 --> 00:32:28,280 But this is also an exercise where it warms people up to 610 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:29,600 share about things that are easy. 611 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:31,720 So again, let's go back to leading a conversation to 612 00:32:31,720 --> 00:32:34,200 Christ. We're talking about the mundane, 613 00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:37,120 talk about the everyday stuff, and then we're going to 614 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:40,040 transition our way over to more spiritual things. 615 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,480 So. In your little group, figure out 616 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:45,160 whose birthday is closest to Christmas. 617 00:32:47,520 --> 00:32:49,040 I don't care if it's before or after. 618 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,840 All right. Didn't ask for your birthplace 619 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:05,320 or the story of your, your arrival, just your birthday. 620 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:10,640 You get to go first. If you don't feel comfortable 621 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,400 going first, just say Amen. We're going to go in a clockwise 622 00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:16,480 direction. If you don't feel like saying 623 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:18,760 anything, just say Amen. It's a word of agreement. 624 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:21,760 It's a word of affirmation. We'll just go to the next person 625 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:23,280 because here's all you're going to do. 626 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:26,240 You see it on the screen for 30 seconds. 627 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,760 This is me stalling for you for 30 seconds. 628 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:31,760 I just want you to talk about your favorite food. 629 00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:35,480 What's your favorite food? What I mean, if you had, if you 630 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,320 can have anything you want on your birthday from anywhere in 631 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:41,640 your life, anywhere you've ever been, what dish would you like 632 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,440 to have? Now, here's what's going to 633 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,800 happen when I say go. We're going to count. 634 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:49,080 This clock's going to go to 30 seconds. 635 00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:52,520 Now, whether you're mid sentence, mid word, or mid 636 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:55,560 breath, when I say next, the next person starts. 637 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,560 All right, everybody's talking about the same thing. 638 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:01,160 Everybody's just talking about their favorite food. 639 00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:03,840 Don't worry about the screen, Just talk about your favorite 640 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:06,480 food. Everybody's doing that right 641 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:08,800 now. And I'm going to let us go 3 or 642 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:10,880 4 rounds. OK? 643 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:14,560 Christmas baby, you go first on your mark. 644 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:47,739 Get set, go. Now everybody just stop. 645 00:34:48,139 --> 00:34:51,139 Everybody just stop. I didn't say next, just stop. 646 00:34:52,060 --> 00:34:53,699 I didn't give you good enough instructions. 647 00:34:53,980 --> 00:34:57,460 I've been listening. My goal is that you talk for the 648 00:34:57,460 --> 00:35:01,860 whole 30 seconds. So this is my favorite food. 649 00:35:01,860 --> 00:35:03,300 Here's why it's my favorite food. 650 00:35:04,540 --> 00:35:07,100 So the one person talk for 30 seconds if you can. 651 00:35:07,580 --> 00:35:10,300 Now, again, no pressure. We love you. 652 00:35:10,300 --> 00:35:13,800 We're glad you're here. Don't sneak under the chairs to 653 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:15,040 escape. There's no reason to do that. 654 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:17,360 Just hurt your knees. You'll be all right. 655 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:22,000 All right, So the next person get ready on your market said 656 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:52,840 go. Next. 657 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:26,120 All right, everybody stop now. I know some of you in groups of 658 00:36:26,120 --> 00:36:30,600 four, so one person didn't get to share yet, but you just get 659 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:31,360 ready. You're next. 660 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:35,160 Next up, if your groups are three, you start over again. 661 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,480 Now, 30 seconds. Let's talk about this for a 662 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,480 minute. How long was 30 seconds? 663 00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:44,320 Half a minute. That's good. 664 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:51,040 I actually have people who run out of things to say in 30 665 00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:54,560 seconds. It's amazing how much you can 666 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:56,800 say in 30 seconds if you're focused. 667 00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:02,480 Now let's up it to 45, 45 seconds. 668 00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:05,760 Now I'm going to let me do that. I'll do a Texas 2 step for just 669 00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:07,960 a second. Let's talk about your favorite 670 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:10,200 vacation, someplace you went to see. 671 00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:14,400 Now some of you will have to define vacation to somebody. 672 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:18,320 Probably you've heard of that. Not sure what one of those is. 673 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:22,040 Wish, wish you owned one. They're, you know, the heard 674 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:24,600 they're good to eat. So you all think about what one 675 00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:27,880 of those is. But for 45 seconds you went 676 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:30,320 somewhere, you saw something, even if it was the fair 677 00:37:30,320 --> 00:37:32,680 somewhere you went somewhere sometime and saw something. 678 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:39,400 Now see if you can talk for 45 seconds on the mark. 679 00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:49,280 Get set, go. That's. 680 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:36,250 Next. Game going on, Fish. 681 00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:58,130 Next, heard luau somewhere. Next, we'll let the next one go 682 00:39:59,170 --> 00:40:40,880 if you're group of four. Stop. 683 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:47,280 All right. Was 45 seconds longer than 30? 684 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:52,640 Still not long enough For how many? 685 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:54,960 Was it too long? Yeah, I got that. 686 00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:56,840 I see those hands. Thank you for the testimony. 687 00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:02,520 So, so think about this. We're talking about just general 688 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:04,840 food stuff, talking about a personal experience. 689 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:08,760 Now, now what if I said what just what's your favorite verse? 690 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:10,480 Or you know, what's a favorite verse? 691 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:13,120 Maybe the favorite verse is a bad way to put it. 692 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:16,160 They're all, they're all good verses, but think of an 693 00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:19,440 important verse in your life. Whoever's next is going to go 694 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:21,840 next. So and, and what if we had a 695 00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:27,240 whole minute for you to share? This is my favorite verse and 696 00:41:27,240 --> 00:41:29,960 This is why it's my favorite verse. 697 00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:31,960 Can you do this? You OK? 698 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:35,600 This is my favorite verse. This is why if you don't know 699 00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:38,600 any other verse, just John 316 be good, be good. 700 00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:44,920 Jesus wept. You know, whatever you got to 701 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:49,360 do. John 647 whosoever believes has 702 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:50,760 eternal life. There's another one. 703 00:41:51,240 --> 00:41:54,600 So if you need one, there you go, The Lord is my shepherd, I 704 00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:57,680 shall not want, but it is a good one, might be yours. 705 00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:00,880 So talk about it for a minute. This is me stalling just for a 706 00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:02,240 second to give you time to think. 707 00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:04,800 Those of you listening online need to look in the mirror and 708 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:10,240 do all these things three times in a row on your mark. 709 00:42:10,600 --> 00:43:11,850 Get set, go. Next. 710 00:44:11,050 --> 00:45:12,480 Next. One more next. 711 00:45:43,420 --> 00:46:12,140 Good. All right, everybody stop. 712 00:46:12,460 --> 00:46:15,940 I know some of your groups have more people, so on the next 713 00:46:15,940 --> 00:46:19,000 slide, just pay attention. We're not going to try to do all 714 00:46:19,000 --> 00:46:21,920 this tonight, but I want you to see how this would play out. 715 00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:28,760 Look at your outline now in your handout now with this, this warm 716 00:46:28,760 --> 00:46:34,360 up, this kind of training experience in timing and time 717 00:46:34,360 --> 00:46:38,200 frames. I recognize that in your actual 718 00:46:38,200 --> 00:46:42,440 testimony, there may not be equal time given to each point. 719 00:46:43,160 --> 00:46:46,760 In other words, you're recognition of, of when I knew I 720 00:46:46,760 --> 00:46:49,920 needed to be saved, maybe longer or shorter than the actual 721 00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:51,800 experience of being saved and things like that. 722 00:46:51,800 --> 00:46:53,760 I get all that. But for the sake of this 723 00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:56,600 exercise, and you can see how you could do this with your 724 00:46:56,600 --> 00:46:58,120 connect groups. You could do this with your 725 00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:01,160 family, you could do this with student ministry, and they're 726 00:47:01,160 --> 00:47:04,520 doing it by the way, and, and children, etcetera, to teach 727 00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:09,920 them how to begin to share this. And so let's, let's take one of 728 00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:13,480 these anyway and, and let's do one of them. 729 00:47:13,480 --> 00:47:16,240 Does anybody have a strong feeling on which point of the 730 00:47:16,240 --> 00:47:18,320 outline they'd like to talk about the most? 731 00:47:23,830 --> 00:47:26,190 You want to talk about your recognition of, of when you were 732 00:47:26,190 --> 00:47:28,750 lost? You want to talk about when you 733 00:47:28,750 --> 00:47:34,030 were saved? You want to talk about after 734 00:47:34,030 --> 00:47:37,950 that. All right, here's what we're 735 00:47:37,950 --> 00:47:39,310 going to do. Let's do 2:00 and 4:00. 736 00:47:39,310 --> 00:47:43,240 We'll do 2 and 4, so let's go to two now that that you're 737 00:47:43,240 --> 00:47:44,600 presuming you've already told him. 738 00:47:44,600 --> 00:47:47,920 I'm a horrible Pagan Sinner who was lost, right? 739 00:47:47,960 --> 00:47:54,800 Rock'n'roll hitman for the Mafia. 740 00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:59,200 Whatever, sometime I'll share my testimony. 741 00:48:00,760 --> 00:48:06,840 But so this is the story of when you were saved, right? 742 00:48:07,200 --> 00:48:09,400 So you if you need to do a little intro to that, that's 743 00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:11,600 fair. But can you talk for a whole 744 00:48:11,600 --> 00:48:14,600 minute about the moment you were saved? 745 00:48:16,080 --> 00:48:18,040 Let's find out on your mark. Get set, Go. 746 00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:34,160 Yeah, go. Sorry. 747 00:49:47,920 --> 00:49:53,240 Next, I actually think I gave you a minute and a half, but 748 00:49:53,240 --> 00:49:57,520 anyway, when are you paying attention? 749 00:50:00,720 --> 00:50:48,520 That's funny. Next. 750 00:51:48,070 --> 00:52:49,000 Next. All right, let's go ahead and 751 00:52:49,000 --> 00:52:52,760 stop that round. Let's go to .4. 752 00:52:54,600 --> 00:53:01,800 Look at #4 and here's a good discipline to follow. 753 00:53:02,320 --> 00:53:04,240 Start. Whatever you're going to say 754 00:53:04,240 --> 00:53:09,040 with Christ makes a difference in my life today because or how 755 00:53:09,360 --> 00:53:12,920 or whatever the next word needs to be, it'll it'll just help you 756 00:53:12,920 --> 00:53:15,720 focus. And so let's see what you can 757 00:53:15,720 --> 00:53:20,360 say in one minute about what Jesus Christ has meant to your 758 00:53:20,360 --> 00:53:25,560 life today. All right, this will bring it 759 00:53:25,560 --> 00:53:32,360 fresh brings it right now makes it authentic and your mark. 760 00:53:33,280 --> 00:54:35,500 You say go. Next. 761 00:55:34,650 --> 00:56:35,670 Next. All right, let's go ahead and 762 00:56:35,670 --> 00:56:38,590 stop that. I know some of you shared and 763 00:56:38,590 --> 00:56:42,190 some of you didn't get to listen the way this would work in a 764 00:56:42,190 --> 00:56:46,350 full born full day workshop, which is something that I have 765 00:56:46,350 --> 00:56:50,550 done in church life. We may do more of this later is 766 00:56:50,550 --> 00:56:52,710 obviously you would go through all the points. 767 00:56:53,270 --> 00:56:57,880 Then I like to mix everybody up and share the whole thing to 768 00:56:57,880 --> 00:56:59,760 where you put the whole testimony together. 769 00:57:00,280 --> 00:57:02,840 What I found is even though logically you would think that 770 00:57:02,840 --> 00:57:06,480 would be 4 minutes long, what I find is is it's much quicker 771 00:57:06,480 --> 00:57:09,040 than that. In actuality, because of 772 00:57:09,040 --> 00:57:12,160 transitions, it actually gets down to sometimes 2 minutes, 3 773 00:57:12,160 --> 00:57:14,120 minutes. That's not a goal. 774 00:57:14,120 --> 00:57:17,560 I'm not trying to get you to less than a 5 minute testimony. 775 00:57:17,840 --> 00:57:21,640 I do think it's a handy tool to have a less than 5 minute 776 00:57:21,640 --> 00:57:25,280 testimony that you can share with people, people that you're 777 00:57:25,280 --> 00:57:28,840 in relationship with an ongoing basis that they're more willing 778 00:57:28,840 --> 00:57:31,360 to sit and listen to longer stories about your life. 779 00:57:31,880 --> 00:57:33,760 And you may not even do all this at once. 780 00:57:33,840 --> 00:57:37,240 You may be telling part of the story over 1 cup of coffee and 781 00:57:37,240 --> 00:57:39,360 another part of the story over the next cup of coffee. 782 00:57:39,360 --> 00:57:41,640 I get all that. But to be able to put these 783 00:57:41,640 --> 00:57:45,920 pieces together and what I really want to see happen is I 784 00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:50,360 want you to connect this last part of the testimony back to 785 00:57:50,360 --> 00:57:54,960 your walk with Christ because this this doesn't just need to 786 00:57:54,960 --> 00:57:58,000 be an experience at children's vacation Bible school. 787 00:57:58,720 --> 00:58:01,560 It's wonderful. I love vacation Bible school. 788 00:58:01,560 --> 00:58:04,520 I'm so glad that you were saved at vacation Bible school really 789 00:58:04,520 --> 00:58:08,200 AM and look forward to in fact, we have meetings today about 790 00:58:08,200 --> 00:58:10,640 doing multiple vacation Bible schools with some of our church 791 00:58:10,640 --> 00:58:16,920 plant plants and partners. So, but down the road, this 792 00:58:16,920 --> 00:58:20,240 needs to be fresh. And so especially when you get 793 00:58:20,240 --> 00:58:23,680 to be older, it still needs to be something that's meaningful 794 00:58:23,680 --> 00:58:26,160 today. It's not just a religion, it's 795 00:58:26,160 --> 00:58:29,840 not just a ritual, it's not just some duty list I'm walking 796 00:58:29,840 --> 00:58:33,240 through. This is a live, dynamic 797 00:58:33,280 --> 00:58:37,240 relational experience that I'm having in my walk with Christ. 798 00:58:37,240 --> 00:58:40,080 That makes sense. Did anybody hear something 799 00:58:40,080 --> 00:58:42,920 incredibly powerful tonight from somebody that maybe you didn't 800 00:58:42,920 --> 00:58:45,960 even know before tonight? Any or something really sweet 801 00:58:45,960 --> 00:58:46,640 and powerful? What? 802 00:58:46,640 --> 00:58:49,560 What did you hear back there? Shouted out anybody? 803 00:58:51,160 --> 00:58:52,960 Don't embarrass him, but just say something good. 804 00:58:54,160 --> 00:58:57,520 God's mercy. A walking miracle. 805 00:58:58,800 --> 00:59:03,920 Yeah, it's good stuff. Jesus saves. 806 00:59:03,920 --> 00:59:06,360 He does. So years ago. 807 00:59:06,640 --> 00:59:10,920 This story will not make sense, but be par for the course for 808 00:59:10,920 --> 00:59:15,520 most of mine. Years ago, we actually had a 809 00:59:15,520 --> 00:59:20,000 mime. I said the word right, a mime 810 00:59:20,080 --> 00:59:26,400 MIMEA Christian mime come to do a thing for a student thing. 811 00:59:27,360 --> 00:59:32,600 Now he had been at the camp and he did some very meaningful, 812 00:59:32,600 --> 00:59:36,360 even emotional, but very spiritual meaningful drama 813 00:59:36,360 --> 00:59:43,400 experiences as a mime, right? And, and so the, the, the kids 814 00:59:43,400 --> 00:59:44,840 loved him and they wanted to have him. 815 00:59:44,840 --> 00:59:48,720 So we had this huge night and we probably had 7-8 hundred kids in 816 00:59:48,720 --> 00:59:52,400 this room, youth in the room and and he's doing his thing now. 817 00:59:52,400 --> 01:00:00,400 He here this gets weirder. So he had a microphone, he had a 818 01:00:00,400 --> 01:00:03,840 headpiece kind of like this a little different because at the 819 01:00:03,840 --> 01:00:07,720 end of his thing, he actually gave a, an invitation. 820 01:00:08,560 --> 01:00:11,440 So we need to head go ahead and have the thing on him throughout 821 01:00:11,440 --> 01:00:15,720 the whole experience so that at the end he he could give the 822 01:00:15,720 --> 01:00:18,400 invitation. And the sanctuary had this, 823 01:00:18,400 --> 01:00:21,800 these again, these big steps wrap around balcony, big steps 824 01:00:21,800 --> 01:00:23,440 coming down, kind of a tunnel in the back. 825 01:00:23,440 --> 01:00:26,840 And the sound booth was like this one here, but way up high 826 01:00:26,840 --> 01:00:29,840 in the back up, up high and lifted up right. 827 01:00:30,920 --> 01:00:35,480 And my youth pastor had turned his microphone on and then had 828 01:00:35,480 --> 01:00:38,640 come down to introduce him. And there was nobody in the 829 01:00:38,640 --> 01:00:43,840 sound in the sound booth. So lesson number two lesson #1 830 01:00:43,840 --> 01:00:45,120 don't give them, don't give them mine. 831 01:00:45,120 --> 01:00:49,680 Don't, Don't invite a mime. Listen to no, don't give a mime 832 01:00:49,680 --> 01:00:53,200 a microphone. Lesson #3 don't abandoned the 833 01:00:53,200 --> 01:00:57,280 sound booth. So he did some costume changes. 834 01:00:58,400 --> 01:01:03,560 So last Wednesday night, after we were done, I was talking with 835 01:01:03,560 --> 01:01:07,920 someone and I appreciated the fact that one of our beloved 836 01:01:07,920 --> 01:01:10,200 servants came running down here to tell me that they could hear 837 01:01:10,200 --> 01:01:14,080 me in the bathroom and in the lobby because even though I was 838 01:01:14,080 --> 01:01:16,960 muted in here, I really wasn't off and I was being broadcasted 839 01:01:16,960 --> 01:01:23,040 all over the building. Well, this mime went backstage 840 01:01:23,040 --> 01:01:33,040 to change outfits and I guess he had a sinus infection and he 841 01:01:33,040 --> 01:01:35,840 cleared out whatever that was that was congested to him. 842 01:01:38,360 --> 01:01:45,680 I mean, it echoed through the holy moment of great drama. 843 01:01:49,840 --> 01:01:53,360 Here's the point. Don't give a microphone to him. 844 01:01:55,040 --> 01:01:57,080 People are listening. People are watching even when 845 01:01:57,080 --> 01:02:01,320 you don't know they are. They are now. 846 01:02:01,320 --> 01:02:04,280 Fortunately, what I was saying last week was hopefully a 847 01:02:04,280 --> 01:02:06,400 blessing. And there's absolutely nothing I 848 01:02:06,400 --> 01:02:07,520 was saying that was confidential. 849 01:02:07,520 --> 01:02:08,840 We were having a good conversation. 850 01:02:08,840 --> 01:02:12,160 But but people are watching you whether you believe it or not. 851 01:02:13,720 --> 01:02:16,600 And if they know that you think you're a Christian or you claim 852 01:02:16,600 --> 01:02:20,160 to be a Christian or you are a Christian, they're going to 853 01:02:20,160 --> 01:02:24,520 watch even more. And in our society today, 854 01:02:24,520 --> 01:02:27,320 unfortunately, they're also going to try to pick you apart. 855 01:02:29,360 --> 01:02:33,120 If they don't believe, they want us to be hypocrites. 856 01:02:34,360 --> 01:02:38,360 They want us to fail. They want this to not be true, 857 01:02:38,480 --> 01:02:44,080 because if this is true, they're in trouble and they don't want 858 01:02:44,080 --> 01:02:46,040 to deal with point #1 on your outline. 859 01:02:48,000 --> 01:02:51,040 They don't want to ever come to the place where they recognize 860 01:02:51,440 --> 01:02:56,600 that I'm lost and that I really need something greater than 861 01:02:56,600 --> 01:03:00,240 myself to get through this. Now, many of them actually 862 01:03:00,240 --> 01:03:02,200 believe that already, but they'll never admit it. 863 01:03:03,560 --> 01:03:10,400 They know that many of them, but they're too cowardly or they're 864 01:03:10,400 --> 01:03:16,280 too afraid, or they're, they're too egotistical or they're too 865 01:03:16,320 --> 01:03:18,560 masculine. There's too much bravado, 866 01:03:18,560 --> 01:03:21,120 there's too much pride. There's something I'm not. 867 01:03:21,120 --> 01:03:23,160 I can't ever say that to anybody else. 868 01:03:25,840 --> 01:03:31,680 So the more you can disarm them with your real story, what'll 869 01:03:31,680 --> 01:03:35,800 happen is, is that if you begin to share these kinds of things 870 01:03:35,800 --> 01:03:38,320 with them, you'll be amazed at what they begin to share with 871 01:03:38,320 --> 01:03:44,040 you. It opens up a gate of trust, of 872 01:03:44,040 --> 01:03:48,160 authentic relationship, of actual dialogue to where 873 01:03:48,160 --> 01:03:51,680 suddenly they might even be interrupting your point #2 to 874 01:03:51,680 --> 01:03:54,360 say, you know, I wondered if I had an experience like, you 875 01:03:54,360 --> 01:03:56,040 know, you're going to get into this, that you're going to learn 876 01:03:56,040 --> 01:03:57,520 a lot about them. Because remember what we've said 877 01:03:57,520 --> 01:04:00,360 before, You got to listen and you got to pay attention. 878 01:04:01,040 --> 01:04:04,840 Be honest with people, be authentic with people, be real 879 01:04:04,840 --> 01:04:07,760 with people, but also don't be afraid to tell them about Jesus. 880 01:04:09,120 --> 01:04:12,520 Now, next time we meet won't be like this. 881 01:04:12,840 --> 01:04:16,600 It'll be back to normal, more or less, because we've got to 882 01:04:16,600 --> 01:04:24,240 examine what must a person know in order to be saved, what 883 01:04:24,240 --> 01:04:28,440 actual content makes up what we would call a gospel presentation 884 01:04:28,600 --> 01:04:31,440 in a pretty complete form. We're going to look at Bible 885 01:04:31,440 --> 01:04:32,920 stories. We're going to look at biblical 886 01:04:32,920 --> 01:04:34,960 content. We're going to be working out a 887 01:04:34,960 --> 01:04:39,760 framework for I need to make sure I'm talking about this and 888 01:04:39,760 --> 01:04:41,920 this and this if at all possible. 889 01:04:42,640 --> 01:04:44,640 I don't want to get hung up on the formula. 890 01:04:46,000 --> 01:04:48,600 If all you can share is about what Christ has done for you and 891 01:04:48,600 --> 01:04:52,760 you lay John 316 on them, you go for it and let God work. 892 01:04:54,280 --> 01:04:56,840 But if we can share the best we can, if we can intentionally 893 01:04:56,840 --> 01:05:00,560 prepare for, let's do it and let's be the most equipped we 894 01:05:00,560 --> 01:05:03,840 could be. Thank you very much for 895 01:05:03,840 --> 01:05:06,200 participating in this tonight. I know it's awkward. 896 01:05:06,200 --> 01:05:08,360 I know it's weird. I know some of you love it, so 897 01:05:08,360 --> 01:05:10,920 you're welcome. I know some of you hate it, so 898 01:05:10,920 --> 01:05:13,360 you're welcome. Let me pray for it. 899 01:05:14,360 --> 01:05:19,880 Father, we thank you so much. Father, I think about the fact 900 01:05:19,880 --> 01:05:23,840 that tonight is someone shared about that point #2 it might 901 01:05:23,840 --> 01:05:26,320 have been the first time they ever verbalized that to another 902 01:05:26,320 --> 01:05:29,040 human being. It might have been the first 903 01:05:29,040 --> 01:05:33,040 time they actually ever shared out loud about when you saved 904 01:05:33,040 --> 01:05:35,640 them. I know that's often true in a 905 01:05:35,640 --> 01:05:38,360 group this size. I know that's true even in my 906 01:05:38,360 --> 01:05:42,000 classes, that it's the first time somebody's actually put 907 01:05:42,000 --> 01:05:45,240 into words out loud when you saved them. 908 01:05:45,960 --> 01:05:49,640 So, Father, I pray that they will feel your great pleasure 909 01:05:49,640 --> 01:05:52,840 for doing that and that they'll be strengthened by that. 910 01:05:53,000 --> 01:05:56,640 They'll be encouraged by that. I can do this, Father, we can do 911 01:05:56,640 --> 01:05:58,600 this. We don't have to be afraid. 912 01:05:59,600 --> 01:06:01,840 And Father, strengthen us. Go before us. 913 01:06:02,240 --> 01:06:05,800 Help it to be obvious to us when we have the opportunity. 914 01:06:06,440 --> 01:06:08,680 And Lord, I pray we'll have the opportunity tomorrow. 915 01:06:09,600 --> 01:06:11,960 Thank you, Father in Christ's name, Amen. 916 01:06:14,760 --> 01:06:17,320 Thank you so much for listening today, and I also hope that 917 01:06:17,320 --> 01:06:19,880 you'll go to ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 918 01:06:19,880 --> 01:06:22,920 as well as our app and find many other resources that will bless 919 01:06:22,920 --> 01:06:25,120 you and your families. Thank you once again.