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Hey everybody, this is Pastor 
John Ewart from Inglewood 

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Baptist Church in Rocky 
Mountain, North Carolina. 

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Thank you so much for tuning in 
to our podcast. 

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You're going to hear from God 
today as we share from His word 

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about important issues facing 
your life that can guide you 

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according to the Bible. 
I just want to welcome those who

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are here live as well as those 
who'll be listening to this 

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later. 
I do want to give a bit of a 

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disclaimer at the beginning of 
this entire series and session. 

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I may do this every single 
session. 

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This is a stair stepping study. 
Although I do believe each time 

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we're together, there'll be 
something special and individual

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that you can learn. 
You're really benefit the most 

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by being in all of them. 
And if you can't be physically 

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present, that you would listen, 
at least because part of what I 

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try to do in this process is 
help people, many of whom have 

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never shared their faith 
personally with somebody else 

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verbally. 
People sometimes have been 

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afraid to do it. 
We're going to talk about some 

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of those personal barriers 
later. 

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And how do I actually move from 
talking about this or that to 

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Jesus? 
And that's a main part of that. 

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That's not tonight, but it's 
coming. 

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But we need each step to get 
there. 

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And, and I don't believe that 
step three works without step 

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one. 
And so that's, that's what you 

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need to understand. 
You need every single one of 

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these in a sequence to help you,
I believe to be the most 

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effective. 
And so thank you for for being 

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here. 
And, and I just, I also want to 

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thank those, thank you guys up 
there, our guy, not sure how 

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many of you are up there. 
Thank you very much, Justin. 

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We are going to be using slides 
during this series as well as 

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handouts. 
And so you'll, you'll be able to

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see those. 
So thank you so much. 

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But we are talking about, as 
Pastor Charles said, we really 

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are emphasizing one of our seven
essentials of discipleship where

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we talk about living out 
evangelism in boldness and love.

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And, and it's this is also, to 
be honest with you, a subset of 

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things that I have taught on 
both undergraduate and graduate 

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levels in the past. 
Don't let that throw you off. 

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I'm also writing a book right 
now about this very subject 

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matter. 
And so I appreciate you being 

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here, and I think this will be a
significant time together. 

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So let's dive in. 
There's a quote on your handout.

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You'll see it. 
There was a Jewish rabbi, and 

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this is several years ago now, 
named Joseph Abramowitz, and he 

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was a Jewish rabbi. 
Who was actually? 

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Responding to Southern Baptists,
we made the press, as we often 

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do, very often for negative 
reasons instead of positive 

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reasons, which is always 
fascinating to me because 

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there's so many positive things 
that should be in the news about

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what Southern Baptists do. 
But there was some controversy 

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because a president of the 
Southern Baptist Convention was 

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talking about how we still need 
to evangelize Jewish people, and

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that was controversial. 
You know, do Jewish people 

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really need the gospel? 
They're the gods, chosen people.

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So why in the world would we 
think we need to do evangelism? 

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How dare we? 
Kind of concept and and this 

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Jewish rabbi actually came to 
our defense and he said this. 

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He said any religion that does 
not consider itself valuable 

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enough to share with non 
believers is fated to crumble 

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from within. 
So in the words he understood, 

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didn't necessarily agree with 
our content or agree with our 

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concepts, but he understood that
if we really did believe what we

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say, we believe that this is 
something we're supposed to 

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share with other people and that
if we don't, that we're doomed 

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to extinction, frankly. 
And so one of the questions we 

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start off with is, are we 
crumbling as as evangelicals, as

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Baptists, as by biblical 
believers? 

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Are we truly crumbling? 
Because if I share with you the 

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statistics that I'm getting 
ready to share with you, they 

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ought to be, they ought to be 
daunting. 

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They ought to be alarming, 
frankly, because if if we 

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recognize how little evangelism 
is actually taking place, it's a

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little bit terrifying. 
And we'll get to that more in a 

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moment. 
So our hope for this whole 

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thing, my hope for you, and I've
said it multiple times in other 

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places already, my goal here is 
not necessarily to teach you how

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to do evangelism, you know, 
although we're going to talk 

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about that, I promise. 
We're going to talk about some 

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of the most famous gospel tools 
you've ever known. 

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You'll know some of them. 
Some of you have probably used 

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some of them. 
I'm going to bring a whole. 

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Box. 
O'tools and we're going to 

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critically analyze some of the 
most famous tracks and some of 

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the most famous tools. 
What's great about them? 

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What's not what what would I 
recommend as the best tools for 

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our culture today? 
That'll be a part of a session 

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also talking about how how do we
actually memorize a gospel 

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presentation toward the end, 
although I've I've already said 

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this is not about memorizing 
some 32 point gospel outline and

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and not at all. 
This is about how do I have a 

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conversation? 
How do I have a dialogue with 

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non believers? 
How do I have a relationship 

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with people? 
But so our hope is to become 

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more evangelistic. 
This is, this is not about just 

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learning some new method because
unfortunately the programmatic 

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methodology of evangelism has 
not been that effective. 

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It often ends up being something
you do at 7:00 on Tuesday night,

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but you're not doing any other 
time. 

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And and that's not what we're 
talking about. 

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We're talking about being versus
doing. 

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We're we're talking about who am
I? 

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What's my identity? 
As a believer, as a disciple of 

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Jesus Christ, this. 
Is something I am, I live out 

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evangelism with boldness and 
love in my life. 

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It's not just something I do 
now. 

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I'm not opposed to 7:00 Tuesday 
nights because sometimes the 

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programmatic stuff gives us, 
gives us opportunities and 

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training and whatnot. 
And I know this church has done 

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some of those processes in the 
past. 

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I know every one of them. 
I promise I have all the lapel 

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pins. 
But but what I'm really talking 

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about is who are you as a 
follower of Christ and how 

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natural is it for you to talk 
about Him? 

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And I'm going to give you some 
helps, I hope along the way to 

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make it more natural. 
To where it's not. 

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Awkward, it doesn't seem. 
Weird it doesn't. 

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It isn't something to be afraid 
of necessarily. 

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So we'll talk about that. 
But so to start, we just got to 

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lay some foundations, and 
tonight's fairly foundational. 

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It's absolutely necessary for us
to do this so that we can build.

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So being evangelistic involves 2
key relationships. 

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And I've mentioned these at 
other times too, but we need to 

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just talk about them for a 
second, for a second. 

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So, so being evangelistic 
involves a relationship, first 

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of all, an intentional 
relationship with God and his 

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people. 
And and note that I'm not just 

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talking about a relationship 
with God, that you know what, 

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sometimes I have students and 
they take the test and they get 

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this. 
Wrong, because they'll talk 

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about a relationship with God, 
and then they're going to talk 

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about a relationship with lost 
people. 

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And, and that's not what I'm 
saying, you don't every word 

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matters. 
This is a relationship. 

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This isn't just a, a vertical 
relationship. 

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This is also a relationship with
the church. 

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And so this is my relationship 
with God and his people. 

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And to really be evangelistic, 
you, you're going to have a hard

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time if you're doing it all by 
yourself. 

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You need a place to bring them. 
You need a community to help 

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you. 
You need a place of 

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encouragement. 
You need a place of training. 

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And, and the church is that 
headquarters of training and 

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encouragement. 
You need a community to bring 

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your new friend to for 
discipleship afterwards too. 

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So this is really important. 
But the second relationship, 

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which is equally important, is 
that intentional relationship 

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with the world and it's people 
and, and the problem we have in 

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many of our programs for 
evangelism denominationally or, 

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or just across the spectrum 
since probably the 1970s. 

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And I, there's a reason why I 
say that I'm a student of this 

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history. 
And there it goes back to the 

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late 1960s, early 1970's. 
The problem we have with some of

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these programmatic approaches is
that we start with relationship 

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#2 and, and, and we thank the 
whole goal. 

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How do I get the gospel to lost 
people? 

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Now that might that, that sounds
great, doesn't it? 

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I want to get the, the gospel to
lost people. 

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But we're making an assumption. 
What's the assumption that we're

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making that, that we're walking 
with God in the 1st place and 

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we're actually going to have the
power and the words to say that 

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we need to say in order to lead 
him to him. 

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Relationship number one has to 
proceed relationship #2 and 

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that's what's missing. 
We need the discipleship piece 

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as a part of this. 
Don't separate discipleship and 

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evangelism. 
They're not separate things. 

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That one is just the fulfillment
of the other and leads to the 

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other and fulfills the other and
leads to the other in a never 

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ending cycle. 
And that's why you'll often hear

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me say that if you don't like to
share the gospel, I really like 

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to study the Bible or I really 
like to teach people. 

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I appreciated that passion. 
But if you never share your 

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faith. 
You're an immature disciple. 

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And I'll stand by that 
statement. 

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Because you're incomplete. 
Let me show you this in 

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Scripture, one of the simplest 
verses, Matthew 419. 

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Jesus says follow me and I will 
make you fishers of men and you 

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can see the two relationships. 
Now I recognize. 

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This is a physical. 
Thing drop your fishing Nets and

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come follow me. 
But the principle still applies.

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Before I can become a Fisher of 
men, I got to follow Jesus. 

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Or in a familiar passage in 
Matthew 22 when you look at the 

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2 great commandments. 
And you shall love the Lord with

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your God, with all your heart, 
and with all your soul and with 

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all your mind. 
Relationship number one. 

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Then, then and only then will 
you be ready to will you be able

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to, will you be equipped to love
your neighbors yourself? 

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You're never going to be able to
love your neighbor the way 

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you're supposed to love your 
neighbor if you're not in love 

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with God first. 
It's just not going to happen 

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that. 
Way it's a part of our spiritual

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nature to be able to do this. 
Or John 15, five. 

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I'm divine. 
You are the branches. 

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He who abides in me and I in 
him, He bears much fruit. 

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We actually see bearing that 
fruit is relationship #2 I can 

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bear fruit, but the only way 
this works for apart from me you

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can do nothing. 
We're not going to bear fruit, 

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we're not going to abide, we're 
not going to do any of these 

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things if we're not in an 
intentional relationship with 

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God and his people. 
One of my favorite verses to to 

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demonstrate this is first Peter 
3:15 because we often quote half

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the verse and first Peter 315 
says, but sanctify Christ as 

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Lord in your hearts. 
Relationship number one, always 

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being ready to make a defense to
everyone who asks you to give an

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account for the hope that is in 
you, yet with gentleness and 

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respect. 
And so it's always interesting 

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to me how we, how we stop doing 
this. 

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And we often think, we often 
just quote the second part of 

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the verse where we talk about, 
where we talk about always being

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ready to make a defense, right? 
And we recognize that sometimes 

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we miss out on the whole point. 
And so if we don't have Christ 

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as Lord in our hearts, we're not
going to be able to make that 

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defense right. 
And so another passage, which is

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even more familiar perhaps, is 
Matthew chapter 28, which we 

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talked about here recently and 
on on Sunday. 

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And we talked about the fact 
that even in the Great 

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Commission, we see these 
bookends that determine for us 

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whether or not we're going to be
able to do this. 

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And so this idea that that all 
authority has been given to me 

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in heaven and on earth, which 
would be a relationship #1 

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issue, go there for and make 
disciples of all the nations, 

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baptizing them in the name of 
the Father and the Son and the 

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Holy Spirit, teaching them to 
observe this relationship #2 and

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then all that I commanded you. 
And lo, I am with you always, 

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even to the end of the age. 
Back to relationship #1 So we 

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see this, this 
interconnectivity, this inner 

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wovenness of these two 
relationships and how important 

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it is that we're in both of 
them. 

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So our authority to go, because 
I've shared some of this with 

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you before, but our authority to
go and the content with which we

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go comes from relationship 
number one. 

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And this is going to become 
vital later. 

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This, this is actually the key 
of how I share my faith. 

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And I'm going to show you that 
later on in a, in a little 

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while, not tonight, but when we 
talk about how do I actually 

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lead that conversation to 
Christ, It is absolutely 

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depended upon this. 
And I'll show you this, that 

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because in our culture today, 
authentic matters, relevant 

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matters, real matters. 
It's and it's got to be right 

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now. 
It's not just about what 

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happened to you when you were 8.
And we're going to talk a lot 

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about that. 
We're going to do a personal 

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testimony workshop one night. 
Some of you have maybe have 

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never written your testimony or 
never shared your testimony with

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anybody before. 
We're going to have a workshop 

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where I'm going to guide you 
step by step on how to write a 

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testimony and how to share it 
with somebody. 

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So this is going to get very 
practical. 

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We'll do a lot of workshoppy 
type things. 

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And by the way, our students are
doing exactly the same thing. 

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They're paralleling this study 
over in The Edge. 

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So our authority to go and the 
content with which we go come 

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from relationship number one. 
But being evangelistic begins 

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with the overflow of 
relationship #1 into the lives 

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or into our from our lives into 
relationship #2 So relationship 

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#2 depends upon relationship 
number one. 

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In fact, the more we're engaged,
don't get lost in this, but the 

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more we're engaged in 
relationship #1 the more you 

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will be engaged in relationship 
#2. 

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I don't have to guess about 
that. 

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I got too many studies that 
prove that. 

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I can show you statistically 
that's true. 

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And so the more I'm in love with
Jesus, the more I'm abiding in 

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him, the more I'm involved in 
spiritual disciplines, the more 

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I'm growing in my discipleship, 
the much more likely. 

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Hood there is that I would 
actually share my faith with 

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somebody else. 
It's rare that a weak Christian 

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talks about Jesus to somebody, 
OK? 

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And so this is crucial for us. 
And so we have to have this very

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intentional relationship with 
the world based upon this very 

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intentional relationship with 
God in the church. 

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And don't, don't let that slide 
away. 

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You might think, OK, I got that 
to move on. 

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You know, you're going to need 
that building block later. 

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I promise you, I will come back 
to relationship number one and 

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relationship number two language
over and over and over and over 

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00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,280
and over again. 
It's vital that you understand 

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that. 
So where do we begin? 

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We begin where I always begin. 
We begin with the mission of 

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God. 
So Missio day the the Latin 

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version of that simply means 
that that God has on mission and

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as you've heard us articulate a 
billion times and we'll 

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articulated a billion more 
because one of the rules of 

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church leadership is simply this
about the time you're tired of 

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00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:15,360
saying it is just about the time
they start to listen. 

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The mission of God is to bring 
glory to himself and for us to 

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join Him in redeeming the 
nations. 

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00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,960
Now let me quote a couple of 
Messiologists and and 

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00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:34,920
theologians for you, Moltman and
Agard. 

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00:15:35,040 --> 00:15:37,800
There you see a couple of names.
How many as can you have in one 

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00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,120
name? 
As you can tell, he's 

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Scandinavian. 
Listen to this quote. 

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Though this is important, it is 
not the church that has a 

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00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:49,880
mission of salvation to fulfill 
in the world. 

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This is not our mission, it's 
God's. 

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It is the mission of the Son and
the Spirit through the Father. 

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00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:05,840
That includes the church. 
So mission is a movement from 

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God to the world. 
The church is viewed as an 

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00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:14,720
instrument for that mission. 
There is church because there is

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00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:20,240
mission, not vice versa. 
So the mission does not exist 

303
00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:26,120
just because we're here. 
We don't own that. 

304
00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:30,360
It's the and that's why you hear
us articulated as the mission of

305
00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:32,440
God. 
Inglewood has a vision, but God 

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00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,720
has the mission. 
And so we recognize that our 

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00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,320
ultimate mission is to bring 
glory to God. 

308
00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,360
And I'm going to that next line 
can be controversial, but you've

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00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:47,280
got to understand what I mean. 
So evangelism is not even our 

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00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,360
goal. 
Now, don't get, don't don't 

311
00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:53,040
misunderstand me. 
We certainly want to see people 

312
00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:57,080
saved and, and our goal is to 
see people saved, but our 

313
00:16:57,080 --> 00:16:59,800
ultimate goal is to bring glory 
to God. 

314
00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:02,360
And, and there's a reason why we
say it this way. 

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00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,880
So evangelism isn't our goal, 
it's our means, it's our method,

316
00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:08,960
it's our way to bring God glory.
Why do I say it that way? 

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00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,119
Because I can't control 
salvation. 

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00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,880
So I've, I've seen this in 
church life to where you go out 

319
00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:19,839
on Tuesday night at 7 and people
go out and they make all kinds 

320
00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:22,839
of visits and then they come 
back for report time and 

321
00:17:22,839 --> 00:17:27,040
nobody's saved and everybody's 
incredibly disappointed and 

322
00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:28,880
everybody thinks the night was a
failure. 

323
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:31,640
Well, the night wasn't a 
failure, was it? 

324
00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,960
Because Why? 
Because we were obedient. 

325
00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,800
We went out. 
That's all we can control. 

326
00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:41,160
All we can control is our 
obedience. 

327
00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:46,680
I can't save anybody, right? 
I can't make anybody doing 

328
00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:48,440
almost anything. 
They don't want to do. 

329
00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,640
All I can do is share about the 
one who can. 

330
00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:58,680
And so if you went out with your
heart's intent, with every good 

331
00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:02,360
intent and motivation is I want 
to share the gospel with 

332
00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:04,440
somebody. 
I want to lead somebody closer 

333
00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:06,240
to Christ. 
Maybe it's one step closer to 

334
00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:07,760
Christ. 
And that's your intent. 

335
00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:11,120
And you go out and you do the 
very best you can. 

336
00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:14,280
And the power of the Holy Spirit
to do that, it's a tremendous 

337
00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:16,760
success and it brought great 
glory to God. 

338
00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:21,520
See, so we got to be careful how
we're measuring the scoreboard. 

339
00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:29,000
We're so bent on result, we 
forget that the process, it's a 

340
00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,280
ewardism. 
The process is just as important

341
00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:34,720
as the product. 
And we don't believe that as 

342
00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,280
Americans sometimes because 
we're so product. 

343
00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:41,800
Oriented we we have to produce, 
we have to achieve something. 

344
00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:44,400
Well, I'm telling you, the 
achieving might just be helping 

345
00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:46,560
somebody for the first time in 
their life to share their 

346
00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:48,320
testimony. 
First time in their life they, 

347
00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,080
they actually had the guts to go
talk to anybody about something 

348
00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,040
spiritual. 
First time in their life, they 

349
00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:54,880
actually tried to move the 
conversation to cry. 

350
00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,720
What a dramatic discipleship 
moment. 

351
00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,080
See, I, I know people who are 
never going to share their 

352
00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,240
faith. 
And if we can get them to even 

353
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:06,480
think about sharing their faith,
that's discipleship. 

354
00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:09,880
We've made progress, so we have 
to be careful. 

355
00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:11,240
Now, do I want to see people 
safe? 

356
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,960
Sure I do. 
We love to see that. 

357
00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:15,720
I love to be part of the 
harvest. 

358
00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:17,360
But do I always get to be part 
of the harvest? 

359
00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:19,040
Even the Bible says I don't get 
to do that. 

360
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,920
Some people are going to plant, 
some people are going to water, 

361
00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:23,720
some people are going to 
harvest. 

362
00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:30,400
But God causes the growth. 
The great preacher, theologian D

363
00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,200
Martin Lloyd Jones, said this. 
The supreme object of a work of 

364
00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:35,920
evangelism is to glorify God, 
not to save souls. 

365
00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,400
And that may seem like an odd 
thing to say, but it's a truth. 

366
00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:43,760
And so the only he goes on. 
The only power that can do this 

367
00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,040
work is the Holy Spirit, not our
own strength. 

368
00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:50,480
I, I can't save you and we and 
we use the language. 

369
00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:53,560
I LED somebody to Christ and and
there's nothing wrong with the 

370
00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:55,280
language to it. 
Make sure that you recognize you

371
00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:58,840
led them to Jesus and then Jesus
saved them, right? 

372
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:04,480
I mean, you, Andrew, Peter, 
write to Jesus, you know, but. 

373
00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:08,960
But Jesus had to do the work. 
All right now. 

374
00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:11,080
So let's talk about what is 
evangelism. 

375
00:20:11,840 --> 00:20:13,800
Sometimes it's helpful to talk 
about what is not. 

376
00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:18,360
So evangelism means a lot of 
things to a lot of people today.

377
00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:23,680
And, and this may not, this may 
not resonate with you because 

378
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:26,160
you, you all may have a great 
definition of evangelism. 

379
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:29,080
But I assure you, in my world, 
there are people who think 

380
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:33,280
everything's evangelism. 
And so, you know, there's 

381
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:35,360
several things that evangelism 
is not. 

382
00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:38,240
Evangelism does not mean being 
added to a church role. 

383
00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:43,480
That's not evangelism. 
There are people who join church

384
00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:47,280
roles all, all over the place 
who aren't even saved, right? 

385
00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,440
Evangelism doesn't mean talking 
about it. 

386
00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:55,400
There are a lot of people who 
talk about evangelism and don't 

387
00:20:56,120 --> 00:20:59,440
actually actually practice 
living evangelism, right? 

388
00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:02,400
It's not just inviting people to
church. 

389
00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:04,680
We, we love inviting people. 
Nothing wrong with that's a good

390
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,280
thing. 
It's a good thing to talk about 

391
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:08,360
it. 
It's a good thing to be added to

392
00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:11,240
a church role. 
But that's not evangelism, not 

393
00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,120
not in our definition. 
It's certainly not living a good

394
00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:19,000
moral life. 
So throw out the fake quote from

395
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:21,480
either Augustine or Saint 
Francis of Assisi. 

396
00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:24,520
Neither one of them actually 
said the words. 

397
00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:27,640
I'm going to preach the gospel, 
and if I have to, I'll use 

398
00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:29,720
words. 
That's actually not a quote from

399
00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:32,120
either one of them and throw 
that out. 

400
00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:36,080
That is not evangelism, and I'm 
going to show you what it is. 

401
00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:37,240
I'm not saying it's not 
important. 

402
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:39,920
Showing is important, but it's 
not. 

403
00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:41,840
Evangelism. 
I'll show you in a minute. 

404
00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:45,560
Expecting others to do it is not
evangelism. 

405
00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,960
Preacher, I got a lost friend. 
I wish you'd come over and share

406
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:50,440
the gospel. 
Well, why don't you share the 

407
00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:54,200
gospel with them, right? 
They're your friend. 

408
00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:58,920
I'm busy. 
No, I'm kidding. 

409
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:00,320
Be glad to come share the 
gospel. 

410
00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:05,560
With your friend, by the way. 
But but it does occur to me. 

411
00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:13,200
So have you tried? 
Yeah, let me give you a couple 

412
00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:14,480
of definitions. 
Just a. 

413
00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:15,440
Just a. 
Two or three. 

414
00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:17,880
Here, so John Stott, these are 
some theologians and then 

415
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:19,800
they'll be me. 
So you go from the top down to 

416
00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:23,080
the bottom here real quickly. 
But John Stott says evangelism 

417
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:25,760
means announcing or proclaiming 
the good news of Jesus. 

418
00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,200
See how simple that is? 
Now see that's going to be my 

419
00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,120
definition of evangelism will be
very narrow. 

420
00:22:31,160 --> 00:22:32,800
I'm going to talk about pre 
evangelism. 

421
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:34,720
I'm going to talk about post 
evangelism. 

422
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,080
Evangelism itself is a very 
narrow thing. 

423
00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:42,080
I am actually verbally sharing 
the gospel with somebody. 

424
00:22:42,400 --> 00:22:45,240
That's the only, that's the only
way the word evangelism is going

425
00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,600
to get used by me. 
So I am proclaiming I'm using 

426
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:50,480
words. 
I am actually sharing with 

427
00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:53,040
somebody. 
Ji Packer, another theologian, 

428
00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:56,560
would say it's an act of 
communication with a view of 

429
00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,000
conversion. 
Sounds like Packer. 

430
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,520
But in other words, I'm 
communicating to somebody. 

431
00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:06,880
I'm speaking to somebody, right?
A very famous definition is from

432
00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:11,160
Bill Bright, the founder of 
Campus Crusade and, and he talks

433
00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:13,000
about this. 
He says it's simply sharing 

434
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,160
Christ in the power of the Holy 
Spirit and leaving the results 

435
00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:19,000
to God. 
And I openly and always give 

436
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,840
credit to Bill Bright where I 
steal part of his thought into 

437
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:25,120
my definition. 
I always give credit to him. 

438
00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:28,600
I don't plagiarize. 
I do it in class, I do it in 

439
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:30,320
writing anytime I talk about 
this. 

440
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,560
Because here's. 
Here. 

441
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:35,760
Well, let me give you my. 
Soapbox first I forgot I got to 

442
00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:39,760
get off my soapbox so so. 
Bill Bright talks about 

443
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:45,080
effective witnessing. 
So I disagree with Bill I I I, I

444
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:49,640
have no Bill's incredible and 
dead now with Jesus, but what a 

445
00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,360
phenomenal person. 
I don't like, and I've said this

446
00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:56,480
to some of you before, don't use
the word witnessing around me. 

447
00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:00,360
Stop it. 
I'm kidding to some degree. 

448
00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:04,600
Not that big a deal, but often 
let's go out witnessing. 

449
00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:06,800
Really. 
No, this is a soapbox of mine. 

450
00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,680
So we are called to be 
witnesses. 

451
00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:13,440
Noun. 
Acts 18. 

452
00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,600
OK. 
If we have been saved, if you've

453
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,160
been saved, you've already 
witnessed His grace. 

454
00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:21,640
What are you witnessing? 
You've already witnessed. 

455
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,040
So the other day I was driving 
down Winstead Ave. and about got

456
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:28,240
killed. 
You about lost your pastor about

457
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,200
two days ago. 
So I'm driving down Winstead, 

458
00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:34,000
coming to the church, and I'm in
that lane all the way over, 

459
00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:36,680
three lanes or whatever it is. 
And I'm all the way over before 

460
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:38,960
we get to sunset, before the two
left turn lanes. 

461
00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:42,040
Y'all with me? 
She comes from a parking lot 

462
00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:44,880
over here off the road to the 
right. 

463
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:48,560
And I'm glad I saw her because 
she obviously didn't care if she

464
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,800
saw me or not. 
And she just kept on coming and 

465
00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:53,760
I thought, surely she's not 
going to. 

466
00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,560
And she did. 
Inches in front of me. 

467
00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:00,200
I slam on my brakes and honk my 
horn. 

468
00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:04,040
And I promise you, to this day, 
this human being has no idea was

469
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,240
ever there. 
They were lost in their little 

470
00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,080
world. 
Right now, if I had an accident,

471
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:13,720
you go out here and you witness 
an accident. 

472
00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,520
You witness your pastor in a in 
a wreck on Winstead Ave. 

473
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:19,520
You don't need to witness that 
again, do you? 

474
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:22,960
No, you've already seen it. 
You've already experienced it. 

475
00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,520
I'm trying to make a I'm, I'm 
overstating a point I'm trying 

476
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:27,280
to make. 
Obviously, I'm really not hung 

477
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:29,800
up on the word witnessing, but, 
but the point being is this, 

478
00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,640
this is not a choice any longer.
You have witnessed it. 

479
00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:36,440
You don't get to choose whether 
you're a witness. 

480
00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,560
You witnessed it. 
If you've been saved, you have 

481
00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:43,440
witnessed the grace and 
salvation of Jesus Christ. 

482
00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,440
You don't have a choice anymore.
You are a witness. 

483
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,880
That's not the question anymore.
So if you've been saved, you've 

484
00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,480
witnessed. 
When we share with others, we 

485
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:54,360
are not witnessing. 
We are what? 

486
00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:57,920
Yeah, we're testifying. 
That's what a witness does. 

487
00:25:58,440 --> 00:26:00,360
Now think about that. 
I'm using my mouth. 

488
00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:05,160
I grew up in a multi 
generational lawyer's house. 

489
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,160
Right now I know what a witness 
is. 

490
00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:11,400
A witness is somebody who has 
first hand or expert knowledge 

491
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:13,320
of something and they're going 
to share that. 

492
00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,880
They're going to speak words 
about what they've experienced. 

493
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,320
So don't go witnessing. 
What are you witnessing? 

494
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:20,360
You going? 
I'm going to go witnessing. 

495
00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:22,520
What are you going to witness? 
I guess you going to argue why? 

496
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,280
I'm going to witness the Holy 
Spirit saving somebody. 

497
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:25,400
I'll give you that. 
That's fine. 

498
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:27,320
If you want to. 
You want to chop it into little 

499
00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:31,040
pieces. 
Anyway, I'm off the soapbox now.

500
00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:36,560
The question is simply this, 
will we remain silent or will we

501
00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:39,520
testify? 
And that's the question. 

502
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:44,760
And most of us remain silent. 
I'll talk about that again in a 

503
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:46,000
minute. 
So here's my definition. 

504
00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:48,640
It's a little long, sorry. 
I think I wrote it down for you.

505
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:52,360
You can get the hand out, but it
says here's what I believe 

506
00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:55,080
evangelism is. 
I am intentionally preparing for

507
00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:58,360
and pursuing opportunities to 
personally share the gospel of 

508
00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:02,000
Jesus Christ with those who are 
unsaved in the power of the Holy

509
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,080
Spirit while leaving the results
to God. 

510
00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:09,480
Thank you, Bill Bright, but 
there's a reason why I say these

511
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,200
words. 
There's an intentionality to 

512
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:14,960
this. 
I don't believe this is going to

513
00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:18,160
happen by accident. 
I don't think this is going to 

514
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:20,840
be a natural default mechanism 
until you make it 1. 

515
00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:24,000
There's an intentionality to 
preparation. 

516
00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,000
And we're going to talk about 
how do I prepare for personal 

517
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,680
evangelism so that when I go out
into the day, I'm not shocked 

518
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,200
when the opportunity comes. 
I've been looking for the 

519
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:36,160
opportunity. 
I've been praying for the 

520
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:38,520
opportunity. 
I've been begging God-given the 

521
00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,600
opportunity, right? 
I'm looking for that person to 

522
00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:44,400
talk to. 
I'm praying for the lost person 

523
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:46,560
every single day. 
I'm praying for my neighbour's 

524
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:50,040
spiritual health so when I see 
my neighbor, I'm not shocked 

525
00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:51,840
when we can get into a spiritual
conversation. 

526
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:54,040
I'm begging for the spiritual 
conversation. 

527
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,320
I'm intentionally preparing for 
and pursuing opportunities. 

528
00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:01,560
Most of us don't live that way. 
Most of us have our own To Do 

529
00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:04,120
List. 
We think it's a good day when we

530
00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:06,160
made progress on our personal To
Do List. 

531
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,640
And so we hope we get up in the 
morning, We push the button, the

532
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,480
Batcave opens up, we go out in 
the Batmobile, we go, do you 

533
00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,760
know, we go fight crime. 
We come back in and we push the 

534
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,040
button and then we go back into 
the Batcave and Alfred has 

535
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,040
dinner ready. 
Good day. 

536
00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:24,160
And we may have missed 
everybody. 

537
00:28:24,160 --> 00:28:27,680
God wanted us to meet that day. 
We may have missed every 

538
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,360
opportunity along the way 
because we weren't looking for 

539
00:28:30,360 --> 00:28:31,840
it. 
We weren't thinking about it. 

540
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,280
This is key. 
If you don't remember this part,

541
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,560
this intentionality aspect, 
you're going to miss it. 

542
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:41,560
This is what's missing. 
In a lot of people's lives. 

543
00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:45,120
Remember what Paul wrote he said
in Romans 116. 

544
00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:48,360
I am not ashamed of the gospel 
because it's the power of God 

545
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:51,560
for the salvation of everyone 
who believes, first for the Jews

546
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:55,240
and then for the Gentiles. 
So I'm not ashamed of this. 

547
00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:58,400
I'm intentionally pursuing this.
But if I'm going to do this, I 

548
00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:02,200
need to know what the gospel is.
So what is the gospel? 

549
00:29:02,920 --> 00:29:04,840
And, and that, and we can't 
overlook that. 

550
00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:07,040
So I'm, I'm not ashamed of this 
thing called the gospel. 

551
00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:10,760
I'm, I'm, I'm pursuing and 
preparing opportunities to share

552
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,440
this thing called the gospel. 
I better know what this thing 

553
00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:17,400
that called the gospel is. 
So what is the gospel? 

554
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:23,800
If we're not clear on this, then
we won't live out evangelism 

555
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,600
with boldness and love. 
We might share something, but 

556
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:28,360
we're not sharing the whole 
story. 

557
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,640
And so part of what we're going 
to talk about, we'll do a little

558
00:29:31,640 --> 00:29:33,720
now, but we're going to talk 
about this much more later. 

559
00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,600
What must be in a gospel 
presentation. 

560
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:39,440
We're going to talk about that 
down the road in one of these 

561
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:41,080
sessions. 
What's the bare minimum? 

562
00:29:41,080 --> 00:29:43,320
And that's not my goal. 
My goal is not to share the bare

563
00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:44,320
minimum. 
My show. 

564
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:46,080
My goal is to share the whole 
gospel. 

565
00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,880
But what is the bare minimum if 
I've got just a few minutes? 

566
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:53,280
What must a person know in order
to be saved, right? 

567
00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:55,360
And so we're going to talk about
that. 

568
00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,120
We're going to talk about 90 
something Bible stories and 

569
00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:03,240
figure out which ones we need to
share the gospel one of the in 

570
00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:04,840
one of these sessions. 
Oh, it's going to be so much 

571
00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:06,120
fun. 
Can't wait. 

572
00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:10,640
But in the meantime, just in a 
general sense, the gospel in 

573
00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:15,320
English, we get this word God 
spell or God's story. 

574
00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,600
It's old English and that's 
where that English word gospel 

575
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:22,080
comes from, just means God's 
story, right? 

576
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:26,200
The Greek word for gospel and 
the Greek word for evangelism or

577
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,840
evangelize are very similar. 
It's, it's very similar to the 

578
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:33,960
word for Angel angelos and, and 
things like that to where it 

579
00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:38,200
means to bring or to announce or
to proclaim good news. 

580
00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:42,120
Now look at those verbs. 
It doesn't just mean I'm living 

581
00:30:42,120 --> 00:30:44,840
a good life. 
It doesn't mean I'm nice to 

582
00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,520
people. 
It means that I'm actually 

583
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:51,800
proclaiming I'm, I'm sharing 
something with them verbally, 

584
00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,440
right? 
And then when we think about the

585
00:30:54,440 --> 00:31:00,000
content of the gospel, one of 
the best places to go is, is in 

586
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,640
First Corinthians chapter 15. 
And I've alluded to 1st 

587
00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:07,760
Corinthians 13 or 15 before, 
sorry, in the sense that if you 

588
00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:12,680
want a summary of the gospel, 
then go to 1st Corinthians 15. 

589
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:17,400
It also will give you a great 
summary of of not only that, but

590
00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:21,720
it it goes into expands even to 
who all saw that and who who all

591
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:23,680
saw Jesus after the 
resurrection, etcetera. 

592
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:26,800
But verses 3 and 4, I'll just 
keep it to those two verses for 

593
00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:30,600
I delivered to you as a first 
importance what I also received 

594
00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:33,880
that Christ died for our sins in
accordance with the scriptures 

595
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,080
that he was buried, that he was 
raised on the third day in 

596
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:40,960
accordance with the scriptures. 
So everything's done according 

597
00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:44,440
to the scriptures. 
Talk about that more Sunday and 

598
00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:47,040
and we're going to see that then
it talks about how many people 

599
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:51,120
he appeared to etcetera. 
And so we need to understand 

600
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:54,240
that the basics of the gospel 
mean that I'm talking about 

601
00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:56,480
Jesus. 
I'm talking about what Jesus did

602
00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:58,960
talking about the cross. 
I'm talking about an empty tomb.

603
00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,600
I make my students write out a 
gospel presentation as part of 

604
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:06,920
their final word for word. 
My finals are not true and false

605
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:10,400
multiple choice matching tests. 
They are essay type things like 

606
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,880
writing another paper and they 
have to write out longhand how 

607
00:32:13,880 --> 00:32:15,720
they would share the gospel with
somebody. 

608
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,920
And I threaten them within an 
inch of their graduation that if

609
00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:22,480
if you don't have something 
about a cross and you don't have

610
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:25,720
something about an empty tomb, 
you ain't sharing the gospel. 

611
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:30,200
And so I make them write it out.
They also have to do weekly 

612
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,600
evangelism reports in my class 
where they actually have to go 

613
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:37,520
out and share the gospel 
one-on-one or personally with 

614
00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:40,720
people so that they'll actually 
know how to do that. 

615
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:45,000
And you can't avoid that class. 
So people who go to seminary 

616
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:46,400
always take it in their last 
semester. 

617
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:51,320
It's hilarious. 
But anyway, so, but the other 

618
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:53,520
thing we got to think about when
we think about the gospel, what 

619
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,600
do the cross and what do the 
resurrection really mean? 

620
00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:59,480
And we go back to some of the 
theological conversations that 

621
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,440
we've been having. 
And there's a reason why we've 

622
00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:03,360
been having theological 
conversations. 

623
00:33:03,880 --> 00:33:07,520
I connect dots. 
And so to understand that we 

624
00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:10,040
have two great problems. 
We've got a sin problem, we've 

625
00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,320
got a death problem, the cross 
and the resurrection. 

626
00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:14,160
They're dealing with these 
problems, right? 

627
00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:17,200
And we're going to talk a whole 
lot more about that content 

628
00:33:17,200 --> 00:33:21,680
later. 
What do I really need to know to

629
00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:25,400
tell somebody? 
And, and, and I find to be 

630
00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:27,600
honest with you, that's often 
not the biggest problem, 

631
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:29,320
especially those of you who've 
been in church for a while, a 

632
00:33:29,320 --> 00:33:32,000
lot of, you know, some of that 
content, the biggest problem is 

633
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,280
getting there. 
How do I get there to where I 

634
00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:38,400
can actually talk about the 
gospel to somebody to where 

635
00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:40,680
they're not slamming the door or
they're not mad at me throwing 

636
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:42,440
coffee on me at the coffee shop 
or whatever. 

637
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,960
So we want to talk about this 
and sometimes we mix in this 

638
00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:50,480
idea of the Great Commission. 
You know, we want to fulfill the

639
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:54,520
Great Commission as disciples 
and we want to do that, but 

640
00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:57,640
we've got to recognize that the 
whole Great Commission, the idea

641
00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,080
of the Great Commission, this 
whole Great Commission includes 

642
00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:04,400
pre evangelism, evangelism and 
post evangelism. 

643
00:34:04,600 --> 00:34:06,840
And if I were to sit here and 
tell you the difference between 

644
00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:09,000
missions and evangelism, that's 
part of it. 

645
00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:15,440
In missions you do all three. 
Evangelism is the middle part. 

646
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:20,159
Very specifically right. 
And so when we talk about Great 

647
00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:23,360
Commission, the Great Commission
fulfillment in its purest form 

648
00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:29,239
is a natural overflowing and 
outpouring of our response to 

649
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:32,520
God's grace and mission. 
Frankly, it's our relationship 

650
00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:37,960
#1 being poured out into 
relationship #2 and I promise 

651
00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:40,360
you that pouring will dry up 
quickly. 

652
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:44,080
If relationship number one is 
not strong, you have nothing to 

653
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:46,320
pour. 
You'll have nothing to talk 

654
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:50,000
about, right? 
One of my favorite passages of 

655
00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:52,880
in all the Bible of evangelism 
is John Chapter 9. 

656
00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:57,360
This guy's born blind. 
Jesus heals him. 

657
00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:00,440
The religious leaders don't like
that because they didn't seem to

658
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:05,600
like anything. 
And so they interrogate the 

659
00:35:05,600 --> 00:35:08,720
man's mommy and daddy and 
they're terrified. 

660
00:35:08,720 --> 00:35:10,680
And they say, listen, he's old 
enough to talk for himself. 

661
00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:12,320
You will ask him, we don't want 
anything to do with this. 

662
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:16,200
And so then they get the the guy
up there and it says, well, tell

663
00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:18,160
us what's going on. 
And the you are paraphrasing the

664
00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,680
whole thing simply this, you 
guys are going to figure this 

665
00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:22,400
out for yourselves and do 
whatever you think's right. 

666
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:25,520
Here's what I know. 
I was blind and now I see. 

667
00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:31,880
And that dude Jesus did it. 
That's evangelism to a large 

668
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:33,400
degree. 
It's your testimony. 

669
00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:36,960
That's your testimony. 
Now you got to tell him how and 

670
00:35:36,960 --> 00:35:40,440
why we've got to talk about a 
cross and a resurrection, but 

671
00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:43,760
you talk about a testimony. 
So when we talk about these 

672
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:48,880
things, Scripture teaches us 
theologically that evangelism 

673
00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:51,000
doesn't start. 
It doesn't begin with the 

674
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:54,440
desires and schemes of man. 
This is a God driven thing. 

675
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:58,600
So this is not anthropological, 
it's theological. 

676
00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,920
So salvation has to come from 
God. 

677
00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:07,560
And, and I believe with all of 
my heart that God is way ahead 

678
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:09,720
of, listen, here's how, here's 
how crazy I am. 

679
00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:13,040
I don't think you would come 
here in the rain physically to 

680
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:15,520
this session if God didn't draw 
you here tonight. 

681
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:19,800
I just believe that I believe in
a God who orchestrates history. 

682
00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:21,720
You just wait till my Christmas 
series and we talk about 

683
00:36:21,720 --> 00:36:25,560
Galatians and the fullness of 
time and what that really means.

684
00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:27,760
What does the fullness of time 
mean? 

685
00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:29,400
I'm going to talk about that in 
December. 

686
00:36:30,400 --> 00:36:32,360
So God's orchestrating. 
So let's talk about this. 

687
00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:35,440
So we need to be able to find 
evangelism in Scripture. 

688
00:36:36,240 --> 00:36:39,240
Is this biblical? 
Is it biblical for us to share 

689
00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:41,040
our faith? 
So one of the things that we go 

690
00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:44,760
do is we recognize that from 
Genesis to Revelation, we see 

691
00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,640
God creating man for 
relationship with him. 

692
00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,760
And so redemption is found 
throughout Scripture. 

693
00:36:52,840 --> 00:36:56,400
In fact, that's the basis to a 
large degree of what we would 

694
00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:59,920
call the grand narrative. 
So the Bible documents God 

695
00:36:59,920 --> 00:37:05,320
working throughout history in 
this grand or meta narrative. 

696
00:37:05,880 --> 00:37:07,120
And don't let that phrase throw 
you. 

697
00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:12,320
It just means big story in this 
big story that usually consists 

698
00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:14,880
of at least four parts. 
And there are multiple ways 

699
00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,240
there are different words that 
people use, but it's but that 

700
00:37:17,240 --> 00:37:20,640
usually these four parts and 
some of the best gospel tools 

701
00:37:20,640 --> 00:37:24,800
today actually share this. 
They're going to actually take 

702
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:27,440
you all the way back to 
creation, which we we've talked 

703
00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:30,600
about before how important that 
is in today's culture. 

704
00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:33,560
We've probably got to start in 
Genesis, not in John. 

705
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:39,600
And so the first part is 
creation that God created, and 

706
00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,080
that's part of redemption. 
You may not think of it that 

707
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:44,200
way, but I tried to share that 
with you not too long ago. 

708
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:49,280
We don't deserve life. 
We don't deserve existence. 

709
00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:52,240
Now, see, this is where the 
problem of evil conversation 

710
00:37:52,240 --> 00:37:55,120
comes back into place because we
get mad because we think we're 

711
00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:58,720
owed something or we think we 
deserve something, or we think 

712
00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:01,760
we don't deserve something. 
You don't deserve anything. 

713
00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:06,000
You don't deserve to exist. 
Now that may sound harsh and 

714
00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:08,120
weird to you, but it's the 
truth. 

715
00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:12,440
God decided to create out of His
incredible nature of grace and 

716
00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:15,720
love because He knew when He 
created we were going to screw 

717
00:38:15,720 --> 00:38:21,520
everything up, and so we don't 
even deserve to be here. 

718
00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:26,520
You don't deserve to breathe. 
So start with that part of grace

719
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:30,000
and redemption, right? 
That wasn't a gospel 

720
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:31,760
presentation. 
That was just the theological 

721
00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:34,280
truth. 
The second part of that is the 

722
00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:38,680
fall, because we all sin. 
And so to to recognize who this 

723
00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:41,800
God is, the nature of this God, 
what God has done, and then the 

724
00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:44,640
nature of sin and the nature of 
man is all part of a whole 

725
00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:46,720
gospel presentation. 
We've messed up. 

726
00:38:46,720 --> 00:38:48,840
We're all sinners. 
We all fall short to the glory 

727
00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:50,800
of God. 
We have a problem, we have a 

728
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:54,160
need, we have a gap, we have a a
price to pay. 

729
00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:56,440
We have a penalty that's going 
to be judged. 

730
00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:58,640
Something has to happen to fix 
this. 

731
00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:02,520
We can't fix this ourselves. 
And somehow that that'll be in a

732
00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:05,560
gospel mix. 
So then the third part's 

733
00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:08,880
redemption. 
God always had a plan. 

734
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:12,280
He had a plan before creation. 
He's always planned on this. 

735
00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:14,520
He always knew redemption was 
necessary. 

736
00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:16,440
He always knew this was going to
happen. 

737
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:18,640
And then the 4th part is 
restoration. 

738
00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:26,720
There's going to come a time 
when it's all fixed and my knee 

739
00:39:26,720 --> 00:39:28,400
won't hurt anymore when it 
rains. 

740
00:39:29,960 --> 00:39:33,600
You know. 
But far much more glorious than 

741
00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:36,560
that. 
So, so the big story is the 

742
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:40,360
whole point of the Bible. 
Don't miss that, that that meta 

743
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,920
narrative, that grand narrative 
is the whole point. 

744
00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:45,720
So I know we chopped the Bible 
up into different books. 

745
00:39:45,720 --> 00:39:47,560
We chopped the Bible up into 
different authors. 

746
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:49,520
We chopped the Bible up into 
different contexts. 

747
00:39:49,520 --> 00:39:51,960
And, and those are good 
hermeneutical ways to study it. 

748
00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:55,360
But we also have to recognize 
that this is a whole and it's a 

749
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:57,520
miraculous whole. 
There's no way in the world this

750
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:00,560
should all make sense. 
There's no one the way where in 

751
00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:02,960
the world this ought to flow 
with the thousands of years and 

752
00:40:02,960 --> 00:40:06,200
authors and places and languages
and situations. 

753
00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:08,760
But that's one of the miracles 
of Scripture. 

754
00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:13,400
That is one story. 
And so that big story being the 

755
00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:16,280
whole point, then knowing this 
helps us to understand the 

756
00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:19,200
various parts. 
That's one of the ways that we 

757
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:21,280
interpret Scripture. 
Don't interpret. 

758
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:22,480
In fact, I was sharing this 
today. 

759
00:40:22,480 --> 00:40:25,240
We were having a conversation. 
Don't take a verse without a 

760
00:40:25,240 --> 00:40:27,840
context. 
And and it's not just this 

761
00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:31,560
context, it's this context, it's
this context, it's that context.

762
00:40:31,640 --> 00:40:34,080
How does that one verse fit into
the whole Bible? 

763
00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,720
Now, you may not think this will
be cool and I'll come up with a 

764
00:40:38,720 --> 00:40:41,520
really cool name. 
So don't worry, I'll make 

765
00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,800
Michelle do that or something. 
But but our Avery will come up 

766
00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:47,800
with a really cool name. 
But in January and midweek, how 

767
00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:49,800
do we actually study and 
interpret the Bible, not only 

768
00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:53,560
personally, but how would we 
teach the Bible to somebody else

769
00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:57,000
in in a really solid way? 
What are the questions I ought 

770
00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:58,840
to be asking in my personal 
Bible study? 

771
00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:01,520
What are the questions I'd all 
be asking in my connect group? 

772
00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:03,840
What are the questions I ought 
to be asking when he stands up 

773
00:41:03,840 --> 00:41:05,200
here and screams at me in a 
sermon? 

774
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:08,040
What, what do I really need to 
do to take a piece of the Bible 

775
00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:10,080
and understand how it fits into 
the whole? 

776
00:41:10,600 --> 00:41:12,320
So we're going to talk about 
engaging the Bible. 

777
00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:16,560
After the first of the year. 
So when we recognize this, that,

778
00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:19,000
that, that, that this is that, 
this helps us understand the 

779
00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:21,120
various parts, then we have to 
ask, how does this story 

780
00:41:21,120 --> 00:41:23,680
actually build? 
How does it become something? 

781
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:27,200
And so that big story becomes 
something and to understand how 

782
00:41:27,200 --> 00:41:29,920
it builds, first we got to ask 
how does it end? 

783
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:32,600
So we're actually going to go to
the end and work backwards. 

784
00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:35,280
Call that scope and sequence in 
education, you call that 

785
00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,280
backward planning. 
So how does it end? 

786
00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:41,320
And then how do we get to that 
end? 

787
00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:44,160
Right. 
So you, you go to Revelation 5 

788
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:46,200
or Revelation 7. 
Either one of them will work. 

789
00:41:47,240 --> 00:41:51,680
And you see these great throne 
room images at the end of time 

790
00:41:52,240 --> 00:41:58,760
and who all's there, People from
every tongue, tribe and nation. 

791
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:03,560
That's the goal. 
That's the end game, right? 

792
00:42:03,720 --> 00:42:06,240
To bring God glory to redeem the
nation's. 

793
00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:08,360
We're helping those people to 
get there. 

794
00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:12,920
We're going to learn about 
people who were in a place and 

795
00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:15,960
have started a church. 
That's the culmination that we 

796
00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:18,200
see. 
So that's the ending. 

797
00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:23,440
And if that's how we bring glory
to God, then why we engage in 

798
00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:26,000
evangelism becomes significant 
to us. 

799
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:31,200
And so if that's the end, we got
to recognize how do we get to 

800
00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:34,880
the beginning, right? 
So, so the, the culmination, our

801
00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:36,400
goal, this is how we bring glory
to God. 

802
00:42:36,400 --> 00:42:38,960
This is why we engage in 
evangelism to help with this end

803
00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:41,560
game. 
So now we ask, so if that's the 

804
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:46,960
end, where's the beginning? 
Where do we begin? 

805
00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:49,480
So where do we begin? 
Well, let's go to the Old 

806
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:52,720
Testament. 
Evangelism in the Old Testament.

807
00:42:52,720 --> 00:42:57,160
Who'd a thunk it? 
So let's talk about redemption 

808
00:42:57,160 --> 00:42:58,600
in the Old Testament for a 
moment. 

809
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:01,280
We'll we'll go through about 
2000 years of history here in 

810
00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:05,200
about 5 minutes just to walk. 
Through this right? 

811
00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:13,080
So we see Genesis and we see hit
the demonstration of our need 

812
00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:18,280
for a Savior from the very first
book in the Garden of Eden, we 

813
00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:20,920
see the flood stories. 
Later we see the patriarch 

814
00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:23,080
stories. 
But even in the Garden of Eden, 

815
00:43:23,080 --> 00:43:26,040
when you go all the way back to 
Genesis 315, and I've talked to 

816
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:29,840
you about this before, the proto
evangelium where we see the very

817
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:33,280
first mention, the initial 
promise of salvation where the 

818
00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:36,680
where the offspring of the woman
is going to stomp on the head of

819
00:43:36,680 --> 00:43:42,840
the serpent talking about Jesus.
So from the very beginning, 

820
00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:47,120
salvation is needed. 
The Christ would come. 

821
00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:50,600
And so it's always been a part 
of the story, right? 

822
00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:54,120
So instead of destroying us, 
which God could have easily 

823
00:43:54,120 --> 00:43:55,920
done, it would have been easy. 
Snuff. 

824
00:43:55,920 --> 00:43:59,280
We're all gone. 
There were just two of them. 

825
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:03,520
That'd have been easy. 
I'd have done it. 

826
00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:07,200
I mean, think about it. 
That wouldn't just give me 

827
00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:09,080
another handful of dirt. 
We'll try this again. 

828
00:44:10,280 --> 00:44:16,160
You know what I'm saying? 
But he wasn't caught off guard 

829
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:21,720
by sin. 
And again, you got to rest on 

830
00:44:21,720 --> 00:44:25,880
that for a second. 
God was not caught off guard by 

831
00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:32,120
sin, and he still created us. 
He's a redemptive God. 

832
00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:37,080
And so from the very beginning, 
instead of destroying us, he 

833
00:44:37,080 --> 00:44:40,640
promises A Messiah. 
And what's really going to be 

834
00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:45,720
the twist of the story is it's 
God Incarnate who dies. 

835
00:44:47,200 --> 00:44:49,640
Nobody else teaches that. 
Nobody else comes close to that.

836
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:52,480
That's why it's the truth, one 
of the reasons. 

837
00:44:53,280 --> 00:44:55,320
So then we go on. 
Do you see the creation in the 

838
00:44:55,320 --> 00:44:57,000
fall? 
And then you continue in the Old

839
00:44:57,000 --> 00:44:58,720
Testament. 
We won't do every book because 

840
00:44:58,720 --> 00:45:00,920
we don't have time. 
But think about how Exodus 

841
00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:03,640
continues the story. 
Think about redemption and 

842
00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:07,240
Exodus, the freedom from Egypt 
of the people, that the fact 

843
00:45:07,240 --> 00:45:10,400
they end up in Sinai and they 
get the law and they go out into

844
00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:12,920
the wilderness wanderings. 
And so you see the law and the 

845
00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:16,800
Tabernacle and this whole system
of blood sacrifice that is 

846
00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:20,000
developed, developed in this in 
with these people so that their 

847
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:24,360
sins could be atoned for Garden 
of Eden. 

848
00:45:24,360 --> 00:45:26,080
Blood had to be sacrificed to 
cover them. 

849
00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:29,800
Blood always covers sin. 
It always has, always will. 

850
00:45:31,080 --> 00:45:35,160
And then the the Old Testament 
continues as you see redemption 

851
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:37,120
throughout the Old Testament 
where you walk through what I 

852
00:45:37,120 --> 00:45:41,680
call the cycle of the judges to 
where to where the people sin. 

853
00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:44,920
And then there's an oppressor. 
And then they cry out and they 

854
00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:47,040
whine and they argue and they 
gripe. 

855
00:45:47,040 --> 00:45:49,080
And if I was God, I'd have wiped
them out then. 

856
00:45:49,080 --> 00:45:51,840
But he doesn't because then he 
sends a deliverer and they get 

857
00:45:51,840 --> 00:45:54,360
delivered and they return to God
for about two seconds. 

858
00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:56,040
And then they start sinning 
again. 

859
00:45:57,280 --> 00:46:00,280
And you can sit there and say 
shame on you Hebrews, Shame on 

860
00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:01,880
you Hebrews. 
And then I look in the mirror 

861
00:46:01,880 --> 00:46:06,760
and I go, I'm not going to say 
anymore because I've got the 

862
00:46:06,760 --> 00:46:10,080
Holy Spirit living in me and I 
still sin. 

863
00:46:11,760 --> 00:46:13,160
They didn't have that. 
They didn't have the whole 

864
00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:16,120
Bible. 
They didn't know what I know. 

865
00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:19,360
So it's pretty. 
Fascinating. 

866
00:46:19,600 --> 00:46:21,920
And it continues. 
So then you see the Tabernacle 

867
00:46:21,920 --> 00:46:25,080
and then eventually the temple. 
So this sacrificial system 

868
00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:29,360
continues, I mean grows, becomes
complicated even to becoming a 

869
00:46:29,360 --> 00:46:32,440
problem eventually. 
And then even the exile comes 

870
00:46:32,440 --> 00:46:34,680
along later. 
You see the exile in the 

871
00:46:34,680 --> 00:46:37,880
prophets to where God says, 
listen, you guys have got to 

872
00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:40,440
learn and I'm going to keep 
teaching you lessons one way or 

873
00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:42,560
the other. 
I'll use Assyria, I'll use 

874
00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:44,840
Babylon, I'll use prophet after 
prophet. 

875
00:46:44,840 --> 00:46:47,160
Listen, I've been studying the 
minor prophets in my personal 

876
00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:49,480
quiet time and let me tell you 
something, after a while you're 

877
00:46:49,480 --> 00:46:53,240
just going to go, whoa, is 
because I'm in every single 

878
00:46:53,240 --> 00:46:56,920
chapter. 
Somebody's getting it because 

879
00:46:56,920 --> 00:47:02,040
they sin and they can be. 
It can be redundant and it's 

880
00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:03,840
reading. 
But then when you recognize the 

881
00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:10,080
lesson and you apply it to 
yourself, and you recognize the 

882
00:47:10,080 --> 00:47:14,160
lost people around you who live 
in woe and they're living in 

883
00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:19,600
judgement, and a permanent exile
is coming if something isn't 

884
00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:21,280
done, if we don't warn them, 
right? 

885
00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:24,400
And so you see 3 themes of the 
Old Testament. 

886
00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:25,920
I didn't create these three 
themes. 

887
00:47:26,200 --> 00:47:29,320
There are other scholars and and
people who've done this. 

888
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:32,720
And so the first thing that you 
see is what's called the 

889
00:47:32,720 --> 00:47:35,640
universality of God's intent. 
Now don't let this throw you 

890
00:47:35,640 --> 00:47:37,040
off. 
This isn't universalism. 

891
00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:40,360
What this means in the Old 
Testament is, is that God wanted

892
00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:44,560
all the nations to know him. 
He wanted all the nations to 

893
00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:48,000
know who he was. 
He wanted his name and his his 

894
00:47:48,120 --> 00:47:50,360
who he was to be known by the 
nations. 

895
00:47:50,360 --> 00:47:53,160
And if you read the Old 
Testament in, in honesty, you'll

896
00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:56,600
see that this was a purpose. 
They were to be a light to the 

897
00:47:56,600 --> 00:47:58,080
Gentiles. 
And we'll see that again in a 

898
00:47:58,080 --> 00:48:00,120
second. 
But he wanted all the nations to

899
00:48:00,320 --> 00:48:01,960
read the Psalms. 
And you'll see this over and 

900
00:48:01,960 --> 00:48:04,680
over and over again. 
Because the second point is, is 

901
00:48:04,680 --> 00:48:08,360
that the purpose of God's people
was to be a light for the 

902
00:48:08,360 --> 00:48:11,080
Gentiles. 
In fact, this coming Sunday in 

903
00:48:11,080 --> 00:48:15,480
the sermon, I'm going to quote 
from the first missionary 

904
00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:20,560
journeys where they quote this 
passage to some people they were

905
00:48:20,560 --> 00:48:22,800
teaching. 
And then the third thing that 

906
00:48:22,800 --> 00:48:24,920
you see is what's called the 
narrowing of the means of 

907
00:48:24,920 --> 00:48:27,320
deliverance. 
Don't let these words throw you.

908
00:48:27,560 --> 00:48:30,360
This just means that he moves 
from a people to a person. 

909
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:37,680
So the Hebrews were supposed to 
show the world this is how human

910
00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:40,760
beings are supposed to walk with
God. 

911
00:48:41,240 --> 00:48:44,080
So the purpose of the law, the 
purpose of the Tabernacle, the 

912
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:48,760
purpose of the temple, we're 
supposed to show everybody this 

913
00:48:48,760 --> 00:48:52,000
is how you do this. 
Now, they did a horrible job of 

914
00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:55,080
it and they got punished over 
and over and over and over and 

915
00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:57,560
over again until the time you 
get to the New Testament. 

916
00:48:57,560 --> 00:49:01,000
It's all twisted and and messed 
up, but I actually wrote a 

917
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:04,680
chapter for a book for Lifeway 
in a prayer series where we 

918
00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:06,880
analyzed prayers from the Old 
Testament. 

919
00:49:07,440 --> 00:49:10,520
And I wrote a chapter about King
Solomon's prayer of dedication 

920
00:49:10,520 --> 00:49:12,760
of the temple. 
And if you don't believe that 

921
00:49:12,920 --> 00:49:16,640
the intent was at the temple and
every part of it was not just 

922
00:49:16,640 --> 00:49:19,040
for the Jewish people, it was 
for the nations, you need to 

923
00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:22,280
reread the stories. 
Because he even says when the 

924
00:49:22,280 --> 00:49:25,240
when the foreigner comes and 
prays here, listen to them, God,

925
00:49:25,400 --> 00:49:28,200
honor them, God, because they've
come to honor you. 

926
00:49:29,920 --> 00:49:31,760
And so we recognize that it 
narrows. 

927
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:35,320
So it narrows from a people to a
Messiah is the point. 

928
00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:37,800
And so then you enter into the 
New Testament. 

929
00:49:39,680 --> 00:49:42,440
And in the New Testament, God 
continues on his sovereign 

930
00:49:42,440 --> 00:49:44,520
mission. 
Again, in Galatians 4, he talks 

931
00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:47,360
about the fullness of time. 
And we'll come back and revisit 

932
00:49:47,360 --> 00:49:51,080
that a lot in December. 
We're going to break that down. 

933
00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:55,480
Why did Jesus come when and 
where he did? 

934
00:49:56,400 --> 00:49:58,440
And I'm going to show you some 
of the reasons. 

935
00:49:58,440 --> 00:50:01,040
Some of them are practical, some
of them are spiritual. 

936
00:50:01,440 --> 00:50:04,800
And you'll see how God is his 
perfectly orchestrating history 

937
00:50:04,800 --> 00:50:07,760
and culture. 
It's amazing what he's done. 

938
00:50:08,720 --> 00:50:10,960
So and then you get into the 
Gospels itself. 

939
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:16,120
And Jesus knew his life was 
actually a fulfillment of the 

940
00:50:16,120 --> 00:50:18,680
Old Testament. 
Remember as he's walking on the 

941
00:50:18,680 --> 00:50:22,680
road to Emmaus after the 
resurrection and he opens their 

942
00:50:22,680 --> 00:50:26,440
eyes and he tells them this is 
how the law and the prophets all

943
00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:29,680
talked about me. 
That's what Luke 24 is about. 

944
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:33,920
The whole Bible is about me. 
Jesus said after his 

945
00:50:33,920 --> 00:50:37,240
resurrection and he and, and he 
pointed that out to him. 

946
00:50:37,240 --> 00:50:40,080
So throughout the Gospels, many,
many, many Old Testament 

947
00:50:40,080 --> 00:50:42,880
prophecies, including the 
suffering servant passage of 

948
00:50:42,880 --> 00:50:45,680
Isaiah being fulfilled, and 
they're clearly referenced. 

949
00:50:45,680 --> 00:50:49,200
They're clearly fulfilled. 
This is God's mission. 

950
00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:54,440
This is God's story, the whole 
book, all of it. 

951
00:50:55,560 --> 00:51:00,120
And so one of the things that we
get into to recognize is how 

952
00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:03,320
Jesus actually shared with 
others. 

953
00:51:04,200 --> 00:51:06,560
So you, you going to do a little
homework right now. 

954
00:51:07,360 --> 00:51:10,120
Get ready. 
So what we going to do, I want 

955
00:51:10,120 --> 00:51:11,600
you to do. 
If you have a Bible, turn to 

956
00:51:11,600 --> 00:51:17,320
John chapter 4. 
If you have a phone, do it 

957
00:51:17,320 --> 00:51:19,280
there. 
If you don't have a Bible 

958
00:51:19,280 --> 00:51:22,240
anywhere near you, look on with 
somebody because I want you to 

959
00:51:22,240 --> 00:51:24,760
see a case study from the 
ministry of Jesus. 

960
00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:29,400
This is the story of Jesus and 
the Samaritan woman at the well.

961
00:51:31,240 --> 00:51:35,760
I make people do this in class. 
This normally takes about 3 

962
00:51:35,760 --> 00:51:37,600
hours. 
We're going to do it in about 5 

963
00:51:37,600 --> 00:51:42,040
minutes, but one of the things I
want to demonstrate throughout 

964
00:51:42,040 --> 00:51:44,400
this whole series are little 
activities that you can do with 

965
00:51:44,400 --> 00:51:46,080
your small groups. 
You can do this with your 

966
00:51:46,080 --> 00:51:48,800
families. 
You can do this yourself to have

967
00:51:48,800 --> 00:51:51,760
a little have ways to to help 
you to learn. 

968
00:51:51,920 --> 00:51:53,400
So I just want you to take a 
moment. 

969
00:51:54,480 --> 00:51:56,200
I'm going to be quiet for a few 
minutes. 

970
00:51:56,200 --> 00:51:57,640
If you want to talk together, 
that's fine. 

971
00:51:57,640 --> 00:51:59,160
You want to do it by yourself, 
that's fine. 

972
00:51:59,280 --> 00:52:01,240
I don't care. 
Talking together would be fun. 

973
00:52:01,440 --> 00:52:03,160
I'd like to hear that, but you 
don't have to. 

974
00:52:03,360 --> 00:52:06,320
And I want you to think about 
this passage and just be ready 

975
00:52:06,400 --> 00:52:09,880
to think about what are some of 
Christ's methodologies that He 

976
00:52:09,880 --> 00:52:12,760
uses with the Samaritan woman at
the well. 

977
00:52:13,120 --> 00:52:16,040
So take a couple of minutes. 
I'll give you a few minutes. 

978
00:52:16,040 --> 00:52:24,880
We have more time than you know.
Now shout loudly and I'm going 

979
00:52:24,880 --> 00:52:26,960
to repeat it so that it gets 
recorded. 

980
00:52:27,960 --> 00:52:31,320
Just name something. 
What was Jesus's methodology? 

981
00:52:31,320 --> 00:52:33,960
He says anything, anything He 
did, anything he said. 

982
00:52:33,960 --> 00:52:38,200
What did he do? 
He introduced himself. 

983
00:52:38,200 --> 00:52:41,240
What? 
He started talking to her. 

984
00:52:41,240 --> 00:52:46,680
Now, now, now, seriously, can 
you talk to somebody? 

985
00:52:47,520 --> 00:52:50,040
I'm telling you, I'm telling 
you, one of the classes that 

986
00:52:50,040 --> 00:52:52,440
I've always said on the masters 
level I need to teach, and that 

987
00:52:52,440 --> 00:52:57,120
may amaze you, is how to have a 
reasonable conversation with 

988
00:52:57,120 --> 00:53:00,360
another human being and our 
culture today, don't take that 

989
00:53:00,360 --> 00:53:03,000
too lightly. 
Think about how difficult that 

990
00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:05,720
seems to be today. 
What else? 

991
00:53:07,720 --> 00:53:12,160
He intentionally went that way. 
He intentionally went that way. 

992
00:53:12,160 --> 00:53:15,080
He asked for something. 
She has made a connection, 

993
00:53:15,080 --> 00:53:16,480
didn't he? 
Yeah. 

994
00:53:16,680 --> 00:53:21,400
What else? 
Spoke in terms she understood, 

995
00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:24,120
Use language, use connecting 
points, Knew us, knew some 

996
00:53:24,120 --> 00:53:25,400
history there. 
That's good. 

997
00:53:26,720 --> 00:53:29,240
Anything else? 
He what? 

998
00:53:30,680 --> 00:53:32,400
Yeah, He. 
He brought up there and then 

999
00:53:32,400 --> 00:53:33,960
talking. 
Started bringing up the subject 

1000
00:53:33,960 --> 00:53:39,800
matter of God. 
Had her confessor sin. 

1001
00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:44,320
That's good. 
Offered something appealing. 

1002
00:53:44,320 --> 00:53:48,800
She needed what he had. 
Yeah, He made her wonder. 

1003
00:53:48,800 --> 00:53:49,960
That's good. 
That's interesting. 

1004
00:53:51,840 --> 00:53:55,520
Say it one more time. 
He did not judge her. 

1005
00:53:55,520 --> 00:53:57,520
He did not judge her. 
Also didn't condone what she was

1006
00:53:57,520 --> 00:54:00,000
doing, but also didn't judge her
harshly. 

1007
00:54:00,000 --> 00:54:06,640
That's right. 
Yeah. 

1008
00:54:07,240 --> 00:54:11,440
Used a normal thing in life to 
bridge and to use this as the 

1009
00:54:11,440 --> 00:54:13,800
illustration. 
Now, I want you to think about 

1010
00:54:13,800 --> 00:54:15,680
this and I want you to take this
home with you. 

1011
00:54:16,200 --> 00:54:20,000
And I want you to use this and 
really dwell on this a little 

1012
00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:23,400
bit. 
First of all, why in the think 

1013
00:54:23,400 --> 00:54:25,760
about the disciples later as you
read the whole story, they're 

1014
00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:27,520
like, what in the world are you 
doing talking to her? 

1015
00:54:29,080 --> 00:54:34,400
She's a Samaritan and she's a 
woman and she's out at the wrong

1016
00:54:34,400 --> 00:54:37,120
time of day, which means she's 
up to no good. 

1017
00:54:38,440 --> 00:54:43,200
And so judgement comes, right? 
And yet for him, that wasn't the

1018
00:54:43,200 --> 00:54:45,920
issue, was it? 
He saw, he saw lostness. 

1019
00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:48,640
He saw a soul and need. 
He saw a person in need, right? 

1020
00:54:49,400 --> 00:54:51,720
And you read the end of the 
story and see what happens. 

1021
00:54:52,360 --> 00:54:54,560
And I want you to study that a 
little bit and think about the 

1022
00:54:54,560 --> 00:54:57,280
methodologies. 
We'll do this in, in sessions 

1023
00:54:57,280 --> 00:54:58,880
that I do. 
And we'll have a whole white 

1024
00:54:58,880 --> 00:55:03,640
board full of things that Jesus 
did or said and the disciples 

1025
00:55:03,640 --> 00:55:06,120
did or said and the woman did or
said, right? 

1026
00:55:07,280 --> 00:55:09,160
He didn't let her. 
He didn't let her take him off 

1027
00:55:09,160 --> 00:55:11,880
subject. 
She tried, she tried to change 

1028
00:55:11,880 --> 00:55:14,920
the subject, tried to distract, 
but he got her right back on 

1029
00:55:14,920 --> 00:55:17,320
track. 
Didn't let that happen. 

1030
00:55:17,680 --> 00:55:23,800
It was honest, but he was also 
loving, cared for her, right? 

1031
00:55:24,240 --> 00:55:27,800
I think he probably shocked her 
a little bit by actually, what 

1032
00:55:27,800 --> 00:55:31,240
are you doing talking to me? 
All right, so think about that 

1033
00:55:31,280 --> 00:55:32,760
and take that with you and use 
that. 

1034
00:55:32,960 --> 00:55:36,240
So we see then as the the 
gospels move forward, finally we

1035
00:55:36,240 --> 00:55:38,880
get to the book of Acts. 
We've talked about that a lot to

1036
00:55:38,880 --> 00:55:41,200
where Jesus ascends to the 
Father. 

1037
00:55:41,360 --> 00:55:44,440
The Holy Spirit then steps in to
continue the work. 

1038
00:55:44,640 --> 00:55:47,240
So God displays his purposes 
through the church. 

1039
00:55:47,240 --> 00:55:51,120
We've we've spent a whole series
talking about that on Sunday 

1040
00:55:51,120 --> 00:55:53,920
mornings and the gospel breaks 
through barriers. 

1041
00:55:53,920 --> 00:55:56,000
Nothing can stop. 
It doesn't matter. 

1042
00:55:56,080 --> 00:55:58,960
Geography doesn't matter. 
Ethnicity doesn't matter. 

1043
00:55:59,120 --> 00:56:02,840
Race, geography, religion, 
language, different things 

1044
00:56:02,840 --> 00:56:05,120
breakdown. 
The gospel transcends all of 

1045
00:56:05,120 --> 00:56:07,680
those and it moves from one 
group to the next. 

1046
00:56:07,760 --> 00:56:10,920
So these linguistic, these 
ethnic, these geographic 

1047
00:56:11,120 --> 00:56:14,560
barriers can't stop the 
spreading of the gospel. 

1048
00:56:14,800 --> 00:56:17,440
In fact, it's quite miraculous 
when you study history, how 

1049
00:56:17,440 --> 00:56:21,400
quickly the Gospel is in every 
single Roman province. 

1050
00:56:22,120 --> 00:56:28,040
Very quickly, in relative terms,
if we did half as much as the 

1051
00:56:28,160 --> 00:56:31,640
first Church did in spreading 
the gospel, we would cover the 

1052
00:56:31,640 --> 00:56:36,160
nation in a heartbeat with as 
many as we are compared to as 

1053
00:56:36,160 --> 00:56:39,960
few as they were. 
And so it's an amazing 

1054
00:56:41,320 --> 00:56:44,480
opportunity we have. 
It's also an amazing lack of 

1055
00:56:44,480 --> 00:56:48,200
participation. 
So one of my goals is to 

1056
00:56:48,200 --> 00:56:51,720
increase the percentage of 
participation. 

1057
00:56:51,720 --> 00:56:55,880
The staff note 100%. 
The staff knows that my increase

1058
00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:58,560
of percentages is a mantra. 
All right. 

1059
00:56:58,560 --> 00:57:00,840
So the evangelism permeated the 
early church. 

1060
00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:04,760
You see this total penetration, 
total participation, everybody's

1061
00:57:04,760 --> 00:57:07,520
sharing, everybody's inviting. 
So the early church didn't just 

1062
00:57:07,520 --> 00:57:10,080
do evangelism. 
They were evangelistic. 

1063
00:57:10,680 --> 00:57:14,000
In fact, a messiologist by the 
name of David Garland would 

1064
00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:17,880
point out that they were, they 
were spurred by a divine 

1065
00:57:17,880 --> 00:57:21,040
compulsion. 
They, they couldn't hold it 

1066
00:57:21,040 --> 00:57:23,880
back. 
They, they wanted the world to 

1067
00:57:23,880 --> 00:57:26,680
know. 
And then suddenly you stumble 

1068
00:57:26,680 --> 00:57:28,440
upon this former rabbi named 
Paul. 

1069
00:57:29,520 --> 00:57:31,680
We're going to talk about his 
first missionary journey Sunday 

1070
00:57:31,680 --> 00:57:33,520
morning. 
I'm going to do a whole 

1071
00:57:33,520 --> 00:57:34,920
missionary journey and one 
sermon. 

1072
00:57:34,920 --> 00:57:36,320
Don't worry, it's not even a 
long sermon. 

1073
00:57:38,040 --> 00:57:40,240
Barnabas goes along too, so 
you'll like that part 

1074
00:57:41,360 --> 00:57:45,880
encouraging in Acts 915, it 
says, but the Lord said to him, 

1075
00:57:46,080 --> 00:57:49,000
go, for he is a chosen 
instrument of mine to carry my 

1076
00:57:49,000 --> 00:57:52,040
name before the Gentiles and 
kings and the children of 

1077
00:57:52,040 --> 00:57:55,600
Israel. 
And so his evangelism, Paul's 

1078
00:57:55,600 --> 00:57:59,240
evangelism flows out of his 
passion for God and one of the 

1079
00:57:59,240 --> 00:58:02,360
great, and I'll make it again 
every time I step over there, 

1080
00:58:02,360 --> 00:58:04,720
that does it another great. 
So I'll step over here. 

1081
00:58:04,960 --> 00:58:07,400
So another statement that I'll 
make when we talk about 

1082
00:58:07,400 --> 00:58:13,680
testimonies is that is that Paul
never survived his salvation. 

1083
00:58:14,080 --> 00:58:16,760
That's one of his secrets. 
That's one of his keys. 

1084
00:58:16,920 --> 00:58:20,320
He remembered Saul and he knew 
who he was and he knew what 

1085
00:58:20,360 --> 00:58:22,440
Jesus had done and he never 
forgot that. 

1086
00:58:22,680 --> 00:58:25,200
And that's a characteristic I 
talk about, that I want to be a 

1087
00:58:25,200 --> 00:58:28,320
part of my life. 
I never want to survive my 

1088
00:58:28,320 --> 00:58:29,720
salvation. 
I died. 

1089
00:58:29,840 --> 00:58:34,280
The old me died, right? 
And so that was one of Paul's 

1090
00:58:34,280 --> 00:58:36,720
strengths and his journeys 
encompass. 

1091
00:58:36,720 --> 00:58:40,480
They go over a decade. 
It's funny when you read Acts 

1092
00:58:40,480 --> 00:58:42,240
and everything seems so 
compressed. 

1093
00:58:42,240 --> 00:58:44,680
You have a hard time sometimes 
understanding time frames. 

1094
00:58:45,200 --> 00:58:46,200
You know, there were times he 
spent. 

1095
00:58:46,200 --> 00:58:49,960
Years here or there. 
And so all those missionary 

1096
00:58:49,960 --> 00:58:53,160
journeys took over 10 years, and
they spread the gospel into at 

1097
00:58:53,160 --> 00:58:57,200
least four major provinces 
around the Mediterranean world, 

1098
00:58:57,320 --> 00:58:59,120
right? 
And obviously he's writing 

1099
00:58:59,120 --> 00:59:01,320
letters to the churches along 
the way as well. 

1100
00:59:01,320 --> 00:59:04,440
So let's talk about these 
letters for just a moment before

1101
00:59:04,640 --> 00:59:07,400
we end up here in a second. 
So one of the things that he 

1102
00:59:07,400 --> 00:59:10,120
does, when you look at 
evangelism in the epistles in 

1103
00:59:10,120 --> 00:59:13,320
the New Testament, you've got to
make some recognitions. 

1104
00:59:13,320 --> 00:59:15,320
Don't make them say something 
they don't say. 

1105
00:59:15,720 --> 00:59:20,200
The the epistles were written as
letters, and in fact occasional 

1106
00:59:20,200 --> 00:59:23,480
letters to specific people for 
specific reasons. 

1107
00:59:23,480 --> 00:59:27,040
Never forget that in your 
context, he's writing to a local

1108
00:59:27,040 --> 00:59:30,080
church. 
This is one of the oddest things

1109
00:59:30,080 --> 00:59:33,240
about, frankly one of the 
dumbest theological conclusions 

1110
00:59:33,240 --> 00:59:36,320
I hear in the world today, that 
I don't need the church. 

1111
00:59:36,680 --> 00:59:40,600
If you don't need the church, 
you are discounting the majority

1112
00:59:40,600 --> 00:59:43,880
of the New Testament because the
New Testament is written to the 

1113
00:59:43,880 --> 00:59:48,160
church and the instructions of 
these letters are written to 

1114
00:59:48,160 --> 00:59:52,400
local churches and real people 
who had real issues in real 

1115
00:59:52,400 --> 00:59:54,720
places. 
And sometimes we don't even 

1116
00:59:54,720 --> 00:59:56,480
know, always know what the 
questions were. 

1117
00:59:56,760 --> 00:59:59,000
And so we have to study and 
understand context. 

1118
00:59:59,000 --> 01:00:01,040
But these were occasional 
letters for very specific 

1119
01:00:01,040 --> 01:00:02,800
reasons. 
They weren't intended to be 

1120
01:00:02,800 --> 01:00:06,000
systematic theologies. 
They were, They were intended to

1121
01:00:06,000 --> 01:00:08,000
deal with the immediate 
concerns, with the false 

1122
01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:11,200
teaching, with the persecution, 
with with whatever was going on 

1123
01:00:11,200 --> 01:00:13,680
in those churches. 
And so although there are 

1124
01:00:13,680 --> 01:00:16,000
certain theological lessons we 
learned from them, but 

1125
01:00:16,000 --> 01:00:19,000
interwoven are these great 
themes of evangelism. 

1126
01:00:19,440 --> 01:00:20,680
Now. 
Now you got to understand that 

1127
01:00:20,680 --> 01:00:23,280
evangelism is also assumed in 
the epistles. 

1128
01:00:23,480 --> 01:00:26,040
You got to think about who was 
writing these things. 

1129
01:00:26,520 --> 01:00:30,040
These were all written by 
missionaries and evangelists, by

1130
01:00:30,040 --> 01:00:34,400
disciples and the like. 
And so these are people who 

1131
01:00:34,400 --> 01:00:39,600
assumed certain things, but the 
universality of God's intent is 

1132
01:00:39,600 --> 01:00:44,000
still clearly seen. 
He wants everybody to know Him. 

1133
01:00:44,520 --> 01:00:47,760
His will is that all would be 
saved, right? 

1134
01:00:48,320 --> 01:00:51,320
And that none would perish. 
You'll see these verses. 

1135
01:00:51,960 --> 01:00:54,480
So let me conclude with this, 
and I'm going to show you an 

1136
01:00:54,480 --> 01:00:58,280
image, and I want you to get the
difference between Old Testament

1137
01:00:58,280 --> 01:01:00,560
and New Testament. 
It's the difference between 

1138
01:01:00,560 --> 01:01:03,840
centripetal and centrifugal 
force. 

1139
01:01:04,440 --> 01:01:06,720
And you may not you, some of you
know these words well. 

1140
01:01:06,720 --> 01:01:08,400
Some of you, like you, get these
confused. 

1141
01:01:08,400 --> 01:01:11,920
I'm not sure which one is which.
So centripetal, where's the 

1142
01:01:11,920 --> 01:01:14,760
motion going? 
Anybody remember Inward, 

1143
01:01:15,320 --> 01:01:19,400
centrifugal, outward. 
So centripetal means going 

1144
01:01:19,400 --> 01:01:21,680
toward, think of a drain. 
You're draining water, so it's 

1145
01:01:21,680 --> 01:01:23,480
centripetal. 
Toward the middle. 

1146
01:01:23,720 --> 01:01:25,320
Centrifugal is where it's 
throwing it out. 

1147
01:01:25,320 --> 01:01:27,480
Think about that weird ride. 
You should never ride at the 

1148
01:01:27,480 --> 01:01:29,640
carnival on Walmart's parking 
lot, but you do anyway. 

1149
01:01:32,480 --> 01:01:35,480
And so that's the difference 
between the Old Testament and 

1150
01:01:35,480 --> 01:01:37,400
the New Testament. 
In the Old Testament, you had 

1151
01:01:37,400 --> 01:01:40,320
this centripetal redemptive 
plan. 

1152
01:01:40,320 --> 01:01:43,840
In other words, you needed to 
come to the law, you needed to 

1153
01:01:43,840 --> 01:01:47,320
come to the temple, you needed 
to come to the Tabernacle, you 

1154
01:01:47,320 --> 01:01:50,720
needed to come to Israel. 
You had to go to see these 

1155
01:01:50,720 --> 01:01:52,480
people. 
That's where you would find God.

1156
01:01:52,760 --> 01:01:55,800
And so you were to come to them,
right? 

1157
01:01:56,640 --> 01:02:00,080
Well, in the New Testament, one 
of these verses we'll talk about

1158
01:02:00,080 --> 01:02:02,400
that we become the temple of the
Holy Spirit, right? 

1159
01:02:02,440 --> 01:02:05,320
And there's a different context 
to it, but the idea is quite 

1160
01:02:05,360 --> 01:02:08,400
profound in the sense that now, 
because the Holy Spirit lives 

1161
01:02:08,400 --> 01:02:11,840
inside of us, the temple now 
goes to you. 

1162
01:02:12,880 --> 01:02:15,320
In the old days, you had to come
to the temple. 

1163
01:02:15,440 --> 01:02:20,320
Now the temple goes to you. 
And that's one of the switches 

1164
01:02:20,320 --> 01:02:25,200
that Jesus and Paul make and 
that we are now supposed to go. 

1165
01:02:26,040 --> 01:02:30,440
In the old days, it would be 
come, come, see, come learn, 

1166
01:02:30,840 --> 01:02:35,040
come watch, come observe. 
Now we go. 

1167
01:02:35,480 --> 01:02:41,040
Here's the problem. 
Most churches still operate on 

1168
01:02:41,040 --> 01:02:45,320
Old Testament principles. 
You got to come here. 

1169
01:02:48,240 --> 01:02:52,200
They know where we are. 
If they want what we have, they 

1170
01:02:52,200 --> 01:02:54,400
will come here. 
Man, I've been told that. 

1171
01:02:55,440 --> 01:02:57,080
And you know what's what's wrong
with that? 

1172
01:02:58,240 --> 01:03:01,040
It's wrong. 
It's wrong. 

1173
01:03:01,920 --> 01:03:05,240
Not only is it wrong biblically,
it's wrong practically. 

1174
01:03:05,400 --> 01:03:10,920
They are not going to just come 
here, not in any sizeable number

1175
01:03:10,920 --> 01:03:12,720
whatsoever, not in today's 
world. 

1176
01:03:13,720 --> 01:03:18,360
So we must be a New Testament 
church and we must go. 

1177
01:03:19,200 --> 01:03:21,680
And So what we're going to talk 
about is how do I intentionally 

1178
01:03:21,680 --> 01:03:27,040
prepare for and pursue these 
opportunities to go and listen, 

1179
01:03:27,040 --> 01:03:30,160
we're not, we're not, you know, 
listen, I'm not opposed to cold 

1180
01:03:30,160 --> 01:03:32,240
Turkey door knocking if that's 
really what you want to do. 

1181
01:03:32,240 --> 01:03:34,640
And you want to just pick a 
neighborhood and go cold Turkey 

1182
01:03:34,640 --> 01:03:36,320
door knocking and show the 
gospel with people. 

1183
01:03:36,520 --> 01:03:38,960
That's not the primary method 
I'm going to be sharing with 

1184
01:03:38,960 --> 01:03:41,240
you. 
I want to talk about the people,

1185
01:03:41,240 --> 01:03:45,880
you know, your neighbors, your 
Co workers, your classmates, 

1186
01:03:46,040 --> 01:03:49,040
people you see on a regular 
basis that you have somewhat of 

1187
01:03:49,040 --> 01:03:51,560
a relationship with. 
If we would just lead all of 

1188
01:03:51,560 --> 01:03:54,480
them to Jesus, we would see the 
greatest revival of human 

1189
01:03:54,480 --> 01:03:59,080
history. 
And so I'm not saying don't go 

1190
01:03:59,080 --> 01:04:02,640
to the complete stranger. 
We'll talk about person X, but 

1191
01:04:02,640 --> 01:04:04,600
I'm really going to be talking 
about what about that person 

1192
01:04:04,600 --> 01:04:09,520
that you can see every week, 
maybe every day they, they have 

1193
01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:11,960
a relationship. 
How, how do I, how do I use this

1194
01:04:11,960 --> 01:04:13,760
relationship? 
How do I steer and build this 

1195
01:04:13,760 --> 01:04:15,960
relationship? 
So next session is real simple. 

1196
01:04:16,200 --> 01:04:17,880
We're going to talk about how do
we pray for them? 

1197
01:04:17,880 --> 01:04:21,560
We're preparing for and in our 
pre evangelism, we're talking 

1198
01:04:21,560 --> 01:04:25,680
about pre evangelism next time. 
How do I prepare and pursue 

1199
01:04:25,680 --> 01:04:28,360
these by prayer? 
And then how do I begin to 

1200
01:04:28,360 --> 01:04:33,040
develop a, a very intentional 
relationship with a lost person?

1201
01:04:33,960 --> 01:04:36,960
You need to have relationships 
with lost people, but they need 

1202
01:04:36,960 --> 01:04:41,000
to be very intentional to where 
you are guiding them toward a 

1203
01:04:41,000 --> 01:04:44,400
place where you can share. 
So how do I develop a pre 

1204
01:04:44,400 --> 01:04:47,320
evangelistic, honest, authentic?
We're not just trying to 

1205
01:04:47,320 --> 01:04:49,400
manipulate people, we're trying 
to love them. 

1206
01:04:49,400 --> 01:04:53,120
Well, a real relationship. 
But I'm also hoping that at some

1207
01:04:53,120 --> 01:04:56,480
point down the road I can share 
with you about who I really love

1208
01:04:56,480 --> 01:04:58,760
and why. 
So that'll be next time. 

1209
01:04:58,760 --> 01:05:01,280
Does that make sense? 
All right, go home with your 

1210
01:05:01,280 --> 01:05:06,560
homework and John and and talk 
more about how Jesus shares the 

1211
01:05:06,560 --> 01:05:07,720
gospel. 
Let's pray together. 

1212
01:05:08,200 --> 01:05:11,840
Father, we thank you so much for
your love and your grace. 

1213
01:05:12,120 --> 01:05:14,360
We don't deserve it. 
Thank you for it. 

1214
01:05:14,520 --> 01:05:18,240
Let us tell other people about 
it in Jesus name, Amen. 

1215
01:05:18,360 --> 01:05:22,480
God bless you all. 
Thank you so much for listening 

1216
01:05:22,480 --> 01:05:24,200
today and I also hope that 
you'll go to 

1217
01:05:24,200 --> 01:05:28,000
ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 
as well as our app and find many

1218
01:05:28,000 --> 01:05:30,360
other resources that will bless 
you and your families. 

1219
01:05:30,520 --> 01:05:31,560
Thank you once again.