1
00:00:01,560 --> 00:00:04,040
Hey everybody, this is Pastor 
John Ewart from Inglewood 

2
00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:05,920
Baptist Church in Rocky 
Mountain, North Carolina. 

3
00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,119
Thank you so much for tuning 
into our podcast. 

4
00:00:08,360 --> 00:00:11,320
You're going to hear from God 
today as we share from His word 

5
00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,120
about important issues facing 
your life that can guide you 

6
00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:21,880
according to the Bible. 
So as we get started tonight, I 

7
00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:23,480
just want to welcome all of you 
who are here. 

8
00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:27,280
Again, I know it's cold outside 
and thank you for for braving 

9
00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:28,840
that and coming out. 
Thanks for those who are 

10
00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:31,280
listening online. 
You can always go back and 

11
00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:33,920
listen to these sessions online 
over and over again. 

12
00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,560
And I'll be calling attention 
more and more to that as we move

13
00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:41,160
down the road. 
Next time we're together here 

14
00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:43,960
physically, we're going to have 
a our winter prayer service next

15
00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:45,960
Wednesday night. 
So come back. 

16
00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:47,560
It's going to be a very 
important time. 

17
00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:52,920
Think of a time to thank God for
2025 and all that He's given us.

18
00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:55,920
And we should do that. 
We should stop and do that 

19
00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:00,640
because He's given us much in 
2025 and then we're also going 

20
00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,800
to be thanking him for what's 
ahead and what we can give him 

21
00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,320
in 2026. 
So it'll be a very, very special

22
00:01:06,320 --> 00:01:08,400
time. 
Pastor Charles and his office 

23
00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:11,000
will be leading out of the 
pastors be participating. 

24
00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:12,320
So you'll be back next Wednesday
night. 

25
00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,400
Then we'll be off for one week 
because I was at Christmas, and 

26
00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,680
then when we're back in the new 
year for our midweek service, 

27
00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,160
we're going to really be 
tackling and gauging the Bible. 

28
00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,200
What I mean by that is we're 
going to actually be talking 

29
00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:28,960
about how do we dive really 
deeply into Bible study? 

30
00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,920
How do I know? 
In fact, I'm recording a podcast

31
00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,520
tomorrow to kind of walk you 
through a personal Bible study 

32
00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:37,200
that's kind of like we have done
with prayer. 

33
00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:39,600
And so that'll be released later
this month. 

34
00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,200
We also have already done the 
session with Danny Aiken and 

35
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,160
Dylan and I are doing another 
one tomorrow as well. 

36
00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:47,800
But but on midweek, we're going 
to compliment that. 

37
00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:51,160
How do, how do I actually take a
passage of scripture and know 

38
00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,720
what to do with it? 
How do I, how do I interpret it?

39
00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,920
How do I, how do I search the 
meaning for it? 

40
00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,560
How am I actually going to help 
other people understand it? 

41
00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:01,920
And so it'll be a really, I 
think, helpful time in our 

42
00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:05,200
discipleship conversations to 
know how to handle the word of 

43
00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,080
God will. 
So we'll do that for a few weeks

44
00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:09,479
starting in January. 
I'll be preaching out of 

45
00:02:09,479 --> 00:02:13,120
Nehemiah on Sunday mornings 
starting in January is a very, 

46
00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,920
very fascinating book. 
If you want a background to 

47
00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:19,560
Nehemiah, read Ezra and Haggai 
and Zechariah. 

48
00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,600
If you were to read Haggai, 
Zechariah and Ezra before the 

49
00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:25,840
beginning of the year, you'd 
have the whole backdrop to 

50
00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,520
Nehemiah. 
And so a very important study 

51
00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:29,840
together. 
So we'll enjoy that. 

52
00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,200
I hope a lot Tonight. 
We're finishing out our our 

53
00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:35,760
series for now. 
That doesn't mean we're 

54
00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,160
finishing the idea, but we're 
going to finish out the the idea

55
00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,680
of living out evangelism with 
boldness and love. 

56
00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:44,800
We need to talk about not only 
sharing the gospel from memory, 

57
00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:46,440
but a few other really important
things. 

58
00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,160
I know that you have handouts 
that have seemed thick, but 

59
00:02:49,160 --> 00:02:54,440
don't worry, I talk quickly. 
So we'll get through this, but I

60
00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,440
want to review before we start. 
Just remember, especially from 

61
00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:01,560
the very, very beginning of this
series together, to think about 

62
00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,160
the stair stepping that I've 
been talking about all along the

63
00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:05,920
way. 
I am assuming that you're 

64
00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:09,600
recognizing relationship number 
one and relationship #2 that we 

65
00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,600
talked about weeks ago if you 
weren't here or haven't heard 

66
00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:14,800
that yet. 
But we need to be in a very 

67
00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:17,640
intentional relationship with 
God and His people so that we 

68
00:03:17,640 --> 00:03:19,880
can be in a very intentional 
relationship with the world and 

69
00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:21,840
its people. 
But the first one comes first. 

70
00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:24,760
And the more intimately I'm 
walking with God, the more 

71
00:03:24,760 --> 00:03:28,400
prepared I'm going to be to be 
engaging the world in the proper

72
00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,600
way as well as to be actually be
living out evangelism. 

73
00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:34,480
Remember, the goal here is not 
to teach you how to do 

74
00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,440
evangelism. 
It's to become evangelistic in 

75
00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:41,400
my 24/7. 
And so how can I actually live 

76
00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:43,120
this life? 
Well, that's really going to 

77
00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:46,360
depend upon my walk with God. 
So then as I'm developing 

78
00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:48,880
relationships with lost people, 
I'm praying for them. 

79
00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:51,080
I'm leading conversations to 
Christ. 

80
00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:53,880
I'm sharing personal testimonies
when that's appropriate. 

81
00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,960
I may use a gospel tool to help 
me share the gospel, or I may 

82
00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,880
have something memorized, which 
we're going to talk more about 

83
00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,800
tonight, as well as some other 
tools to help you. 

84
00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,960
So when we talk about memorized 
presentations, let me share a 

85
00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:09,800
few advantages and 
disadvantages. 

86
00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:12,400
The list could be much, much, 
much longer. 

87
00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:14,760
Obviously, these are not 
exhaustive, but to think about 

88
00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,320
just some practical things. 
The thing about a memorized 

89
00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,079
presentation is it's always 
available. 

90
00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:20,480
In other words, you've got it up
here. 

91
00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:22,280
You know, I don't have to have 
it a book. 

92
00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:24,440
I don't have to have a guide. 
I don't need a multi colored 

93
00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,040
bracelet. 
I got it right in my head and I 

94
00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:31,040
know what to say and what it is 
and it tends to strengthen the 

95
00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,040
witness. 
And what I mean by that is that 

96
00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,680
that it actually, if I, if I'm 
able to share this just from my 

97
00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,240
heart and my mind, it can 
actually help the testimony. 

98
00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:42,800
And it often is the result of 
discipleship. 

99
00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,040
So in other words, a person 
who's actually walked through 

100
00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:47,120
and memorized the gospel 
presentation has gone through 

101
00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:49,920
some kind of study, at least to 
be able to do that. 

102
00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,200
And so it's often a sign of 
that. 

103
00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,080
There are some disadvantages. 
We've talked a little bit about 

104
00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,520
this along the way, I think, but
it's kind of a hard beginning 

105
00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:01,840
point for a lot of people. 
You know, this is not 

106
00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:04,320
necessarily step one. 
For some people, it takes a 

107
00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,160
minute or two to memorize 
everything you might want to 

108
00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:08,520
memorize. 
And we're going to talk about 

109
00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:10,000
what those things might be in a 
minute. 

110
00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:13,080
But so it's a hard beginning 
point for some folks. 

111
00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:15,760
It also obviously requires 
training. 

112
00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:19,400
And so you've got to study 
enough and know what the things 

113
00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,440
are that you need to say, and it
can be received as canned or 

114
00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:25,520
impersonal if it's not shared 
well. 

115
00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:28,840
In other words, if I'm really 
working through a complex 

116
00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:33,000
memorized presentation, like 
much of our programs in the past

117
00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,360
have taught us how to do, 
sometimes it can be kind of 

118
00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:42,280
perceived of I'm on point A, sub
point B, illustration 2, and I'm

119
00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,640
more worried about memorizing my
next step than I am about the 

120
00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,400
person I'm talking to. 
And so it can seem a little 

121
00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,040
impersonal. 
It's just about how well you are

122
00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:53,840
at doing it. 
But a lot of what I want to 

123
00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:56,040
spend this session on is what's 
next. 

124
00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:58,240
I want to talk about the content
of the gospel. 

125
00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:03,720
And this is really important for
us because we've mentioned this 

126
00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:07,400
and other times together, but 
what are the essentials of the 

127
00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:11,240
gospel? 
What's the minimum that a person

128
00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,120
needs to know? 
And I've I've shared 100 times. 

129
00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,080
I think that's not my goal. 
My goal is not to share the the 

130
00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:20,680
least amount I can share, but I 
need to make sure I'm sharing 

131
00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,040
it. 
And So what is it that a person 

132
00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:28,120
must know in order to be saved? 
You have a handout that goes 

133
00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:30,760
along with your listening guide 
and it's 2 sided. 

134
00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:33,760
On one side you'll see a list or
maybe it's even 3 sided. 

135
00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:36,120
I don't have any pages that 
ended up being but look for the 

136
00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,920
one that has the the table on 
it, not the list of Bible 

137
00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,520
stories. 
So you have a list of Bible 

138
00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:43,560
stories. 
We'll talk about that in a 

139
00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:44,560
minute. 
Look at the one that has the 

140
00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,080
table memorizing a gospel 
presentation. 

141
00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:50,080
What must stay here? 
What must we share? 

142
00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,840
And this is a basically a 
classic modern approach. 

143
00:06:55,840 --> 00:06:59,720
Most of the gospel tracts that 
we've talked about in a previous

144
00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:01,960
session would follow this kind 
of outline. 

145
00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:03,720
Not all of them, but most of 
them would. 

146
00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,360
That doesn't mean it's bad. 
It's it's how you share it 

147
00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,280
necessarily what we're sharing. 
So you'd start off somewhere 

148
00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:13,240
along the way with God's purpose
or plan for your life, perhaps 

149
00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:16,800
God's nature and love. 
You would then get into the sin 

150
00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,000
problem, man's problem there and
you would have to talk about 

151
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:25,040
God's holiness as well and the 
issue of sin, God's solution of 

152
00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:28,840
grace, of salvation, of what He 
did, what He does with Jesus on 

153
00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,800
the cross. 
Our response in faith and some 

154
00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,800
invitation including repentance 
and confession, and then the 

155
00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,000
follow up. 
Now, obviously there are some 

156
00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,760
points to every one of these 
things to a large degree. 

157
00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:46,240
One of the things I would 
encourage you to do is to think 

158
00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:49,440
about what's the major concept 
that I really am trying to share

159
00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,040
here. 
What scripture could I use with 

160
00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:56,680
that to help me? 
What, what, what major concept? 

161
00:07:57,080 --> 00:07:58,360
And you'll see, it's just a 
repeat. 

162
00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,960
You'll see there's, there's, 
there's, there's these three 

163
00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:02,760
columns and then a repeat of 
columns. 

164
00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:05,880
In case you don't like this 
outline and you like some other 

165
00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,640
outline, it just gives you a 
worksheet to think about What 

166
00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:14,120
are some of the passages of 
Scripture that I might use to 

167
00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,920
make this point? 
Well, keep keep your God-given 

168
00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,880
bookmark right there and then 
look on the other side or at 

169
00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:23,720
your Bible stories at the other 
piece of paper. 

170
00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:25,440
I'm not sure how it ended up 
being printed for you. 

171
00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:29,200
So these are 90 something Bible 
stories. 

172
00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,520
I believe at one point that I 
think they were 93. 

173
00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:35,760
I don't know, don't count them. 
And one of the exercises that 

174
00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,960
often do with people, as I would
say, as you look through all of 

175
00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:44,200
these stories, put a one by the 
one that you have to include. 

176
00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,200
It must be included in a gospel 
presentation. 

177
00:08:47,680 --> 00:08:51,800
If I'm sharing the gospel via 
Bible stories, this is one that 

178
00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,920
has to be included. 
You can't not share this. 

179
00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:59,160
And so it's mandated. 
And then often we'll do a #2 

180
00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:01,200
here's one that I might include.
I wish I could. 

181
00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:04,080
If I had time, I'd love to. 
And then often we'll even have a

182
00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:08,040
number 3 for further follow up 
discipleship, etcetera. 

183
00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:10,920
And so it's helpful to think 
through this because it will 

184
00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,880
help you put the scripture you 
might want, although you may 

185
00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:17,680
want a verse and not a story. 
I get that for your outline, but

186
00:09:17,680 --> 00:09:21,960
to think about what, what Bible 
stories in today's everything 

187
00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:23,520
we've talked about over all 
these sessions. 

188
00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:28,720
For those who have any idea, you
know what, what stories might we

189
00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:32,600
have to share if you were 
writing your gospel presentation

190
00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:36,840
out And I said you've got to use
gospel stories to do your gospel

191
00:09:36,840 --> 00:09:40,240
outline your gospel presentation
in your paper to me. 

192
00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:46,480
I was grading a paper today at 
what stories must you use right 

193
00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:48,480
now? 
There are a couple of obvious 

194
00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:50,240
ones. 
And if you don't share those in 

195
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,800
your paper, I'm going to mark it
really red and I'm going to hand

196
00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,800
it back to you and probably give
you another chance to not flunk 

197
00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:00,280
the class. 
So what's 1 of the stories that 

198
00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:02,640
has to be in a gospel 
presentation? 

199
00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:04,360
Say it. 
Say it real loudly. 

200
00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,320
OK, creation maybe that I'm not 
denying it. 

201
00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,360
I would include creation even 
more significant. 

202
00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:19,480
OK, say it again. 
Somebody first sin. 

203
00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:23,360
I know you are going in order. 
Don't do that. 

204
00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:25,760
Think of the whole Bible. 
What's the what? 

205
00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:27,640
What better you share What? 
What? 

206
00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:31,880
What must you share The cross. 
Thank you very much. 

207
00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:35,560
You better talk about Jesus 
dying on a cross and then you 

208
00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:38,640
better talk about what? 
Thank you so much. 

209
00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:40,960
The resurrection. 
You're not wrong in all your 

210
00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:45,200
other answers, but but you 
better make sure that you're 

211
00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,240
getting to a cross and you're 
getting to a resurrection. 

212
00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:52,800
Now often times you can even 
start there and then go back and

213
00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:57,000
say, why does that matter? 
And then I can go back to the 

214
00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,920
Old Testament even and and 
support why the cross had to 

215
00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:02,560
happen the way it did. 
You don't have to do it that 

216
00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:03,640
way, but that's one way to do 
it. 

217
00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:05,840
Or you can start from the Old 
Testament moved all the way 

218
00:11:05,840 --> 00:11:08,520
through, depending upon the time
you have, the relationship you 

219
00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:13,720
have and the knowledge that you 
have of of the Bible. 

220
00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:16,080
This is also an interesting 
exercise to do with people. 

221
00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:18,760
This is an actually an exercise 
to do in a class or small group 

222
00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:21,440
or or even with friends, but to 
think about. 

223
00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:25,240
So I know that you said 
creation, some of you said the 

224
00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,040
first sin, and I, I get why you 
would say that. 

225
00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:30,480
That makes sense. 
I, I would want to include that 

226
00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,240
at some point we have to talk 
about the fact that man sinned, 

227
00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:36,680
you know, because, because the 
cross didn't make sense unless 

228
00:11:36,680 --> 00:11:38,280
we know that. 
So I get all that. 

229
00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:41,080
What's another one that you 
think would be really important 

230
00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:43,520
to scan that sheet for a minute,
shout it out. 

231
00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,360
What do you think would be 
really important to share the 

232
00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:49,000
birth of Jesus. 
That's interesting. 

233
00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,600
So that you can identify who he 
is based on what we've talked 

234
00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:53,360
about before. 
Yeah, it's good. 

235
00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,920
What else? 
The Holy Spirit coming? 

236
00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:00,680
Yep. 
The baptism of who? 

237
00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,840
Jesus. 
See, this is where we start. 

238
00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:06,680
And in class we would have 
debates. 

239
00:12:06,680 --> 00:12:08,400
You know what I'm saying? 
We'd say, well, I don't know 

240
00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,360
about that one, you know what I 
mean? 

241
00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:17,000
The second coming being be good.
Say it real loudly. 

242
00:12:18,560 --> 00:12:23,000
Say it again. 
Thank you, Lazarus. 

243
00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:26,480
I, I, you'd use that as an 
illustration, wouldn't you? 

244
00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:27,760
I get you from raising from the 
dead. 

245
00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:29,480
So it's interesting to see 
because it's all about 

246
00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,960
perspective, isn't it? 
So I, so the reason I look like 

247
00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,680
I've been in situations to where
somebody will sit there and say,

248
00:12:37,120 --> 00:12:42,280
let me find one that seems 
really, you know, like Balaam. 

249
00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:46,320
And I'm like, well, I don't, I 
don't know that that would have 

250
00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:48,560
been in my top 10. 
But then somebody will share. 

251
00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:50,560
Well, here's why I would say 
that, you know, here's what I 

252
00:12:50,560 --> 00:12:51,960
would use that for. 
It's illustrative. 

253
00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,680
It becomes the illustration of 
one of my theological points. 

254
00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:57,040
And so you can make those kinds 
of arguments and that's great. 

255
00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:00,560
That's why you personalize it. 
See, so, so there's not really a

256
00:13:00,560 --> 00:13:03,600
wrong answer. 
There certainly are necessary 

257
00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:05,960
right answers. 
We've got to talk about certain 

258
00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,400
things, make sure they 
understand certain things. 

259
00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:10,760
But to think about how can I 
back up? 

260
00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:14,120
I mean, I've had people calm 
Jesus calming the storm and I'm 

261
00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:15,720
like, huh. 
And then they use that as an 

262
00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:18,600
illustration of who he is and 
his power and these different 

263
00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:20,560
things. 
This is that he is the creator 

264
00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:23,040
God with power over. 
I mean, they're trying it all 

265
00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:25,600
the way back to Genesis. 
And I'm like, oh, OK, I get what

266
00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:28,000
you're doing that. 
And so there are a lot of angles

267
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,280
to this. 
And the cool thing about it is, 

268
00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,760
is that it doesn't necessarily 
have to be the same every time. 

269
00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,480
So the more I study the Bible, 
the more I understand all these 

270
00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:37,760
stories. 
These things can come out very 

271
00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:42,320
naturally in the context of the 
person I'm talking to, and can 

272
00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:46,320
be used to actually make a 
personalized presentation in 

273
00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:48,600
that moment based upon their 
need, based upon our 

274
00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:51,880
conversations. 
But there are some standards. 

275
00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:56,040
So when you go back to the other
page, recognize that some of 

276
00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:00,160
those key theological points 
probably need to be illustrated 

277
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:03,600
in one way or the other at some 
point especially, and I'm going 

278
00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:06,680
to talk about this again in a 
minute, key apologetic points, 

279
00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:09,800
key points that go all the way 
back to the core training 

280
00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:11,840
sessions that we did this 
summer. 

281
00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:14,840
But to think about, here's 
something I really do need to 

282
00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:16,440
define. 
We've talked about that in many,

283
00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:20,080
many sessions. 
Who God is, what sin is, who 

284
00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,200
Jesus is, how salvation works, 
those kinds of ideas. 

285
00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:26,640
And so to make sure that if I'm 
sharing a complete gospel 

286
00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:30,480
presentation, the whole gospel, 
that I want to make sure they 

287
00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,520
understand it all. 
And then don't forget, don't 

288
00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:39,440
forget the end game to where you
really are hoping to bring them 

289
00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:43,560
to a point of some conclusion 
and even decision. 

290
00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:46,280
You can't make them do that. 
And you don't want to make them 

291
00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:48,000
do that. 
You don't want to manipulate 

292
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,840
them into doing that. 
Some of the gospel presentations

293
00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,440
are, are a little interesting in
the way they kind of almost put 

294
00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,840
people in a corner to where 
you're either stupid or you 

295
00:14:57,840 --> 00:14:59,560
understand this and you're going
to get saved. 

296
00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:02,040
You know, it's almost like that.
And it's like we that's not, we 

297
00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,400
can't manipulate people into 
salvation, but at the same time,

298
00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:08,880
we do want to bring them to this
point of repentance, this point 

299
00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:12,320
of confession to recognize what 
faith is, what is grace? 

300
00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:16,800
What is faith? 
What does it require for me to 

301
00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:20,280
be saved? 
Is that a sinner's prayer? 

302
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:25,040
Is that me praying by myself? 
Is that you helping me pray? 

303
00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:28,000
Is that me confessing certain 
things? 

304
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:30,680
Is that what is that and what is
repentance? 

305
00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,760
So each of these points along 
the way, and you'll have a 

306
00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:38,080
harder time with some of that, 
probably you'll have verses that

307
00:15:38,080 --> 00:15:41,520
you can certainly use to say 
that this needs to happen, but 

308
00:15:41,520 --> 00:15:44,040
the stories are not. 
You can go to some of the 

309
00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,400
stories of the New Testament 
where you see people repenting 

310
00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:48,880
and confessing their sins, 
etcetera. 

311
00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:51,680
And then obviously we want to 
lead them into some of the 

312
00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:55,840
discipleship essentials that 
we'll continue to talk about. 

313
00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:01,240
So this kind of exercise is 
something I strongly encourage 

314
00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:06,080
you to do in the sense of, you 
know, find out how you feel 

315
00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:09,560
comfortable sharing the gospel 
based on what we talked about 

316
00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:13,560
last time with gospel tools, 
based upon the theological 

317
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:18,160
biblical outline and and 
scriptural support that you need

318
00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:22,760
to use so that you have in your 
mind a way to do it. 

319
00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,160
And if you can't figure that 
out, you don't know what else to

320
00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:30,080
do, then get the story, get the 
three circles, start there and 

321
00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,040
let that help you along the way.
If you need tools to start you 

322
00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:35,680
and you and they'll, they'll, 
they're, they're going to get 

323
00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:39,000
you down the right road. 
Now, I'm not done with this, but

324
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:40,160
I'm going to move on for a 
minute. 

325
00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:45,560
OK, So as we move on, I want to 
talk about how do we share with 

326
00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:47,680
people from specific kinds of 
groups. 

327
00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:50,000
Then I'm going to loop back 
around to this theological 

328
00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,280
biblical conversation again. 
But I want to talk about this 

329
00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,200
for a minute because this can 
get kind of complicated and a 

330
00:16:56,200 --> 00:16:57,960
lot of you are living in this 
place. 

331
00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:02,000
There's an old book. 
It's it's not an easy book to 

332
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:03,680
read. 
It's more like an encyclopedia 

333
00:17:04,079 --> 00:17:06,119
called the Complete Evangelism 
Handbook. 

334
00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:09,400
Guy named Scott Dawson read it's
really nice book, but it's, you 

335
00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:11,880
know, you, you read this little 
chapter and then you read this 

336
00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:15,119
little chapter and part of his 
table of contents would divide 

337
00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:18,359
people up into these ways. 
He has relationship groups like 

338
00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:23,359
family, etcetera, age groups, 
vocation, religion, race, life 

339
00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:25,839
situation. 
These are a few of the things 

340
00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:29,400
that that he has. 
And then you also see gender and

341
00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:31,880
sexual orientation. 
They're all in the book. 

342
00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:35,600
We'll talk about some of these 
in detail. 

343
00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:39,760
So I want to talk about talking 
and reaching children and youth 

344
00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:41,520
just for a moment. 
Some of your parents. 

345
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:45,080
And there are some unique things
and I don't want to be 

346
00:17:45,080 --> 00:17:47,720
offensive. 
If the students were in here, 

347
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,480
they might be offended by what 
I'm about to say, but so I'm 

348
00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,400
including teenagers in this. 
And it depends upon your 

349
00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:59,440
teenager as to whether they're 
included or not teenagers and 

350
00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:02,040
are not teenagers or not. 
And they're not all equal, 

351
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,280
right? 
A 13 year old and a 19 year old 

352
00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:08,840
are not the same animal. 
And so some of that is 

353
00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:13,160
physiological and biological. 
The brain increases in size 3 

354
00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:16,240
times during adolescence. 
And so there's probably a 

355
00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:20,000
scientific justification to say 
that teenagers lose their minds.

356
00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:26,680
And so they go from concrete 
black and white thought to 

357
00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:29,280
abstract thought during that 
development. 

358
00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,520
So things like sin mean 
something very different 

359
00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:34,920
depending upon where they are in
those developmental levels. 

360
00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:38,800
And so sometimes you have to 
treat students like children in 

361
00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,440
terms of evangelism. 
And there there's some 

362
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,320
principles that are true. 
And sometimes this is a mistake 

363
00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,640
that's made in student ministry 
one time. 

364
00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:50,600
And I just share the story. 
And because it's not about here,

365
00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:56,000
but when when our daughter was 
12, she's in a student ministry 

366
00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,440
at church and there's some 
college young people helping 

367
00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:00,680
with the student ministry, 
wonderful people who were trying

368
00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:03,600
to do a wonderful job. 
I'm the senior pastor and 

369
00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:07,240
they're calling my daughter up 
directly and they're planning a 

370
00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:09,800
whole thing at the mall on 
Saturday with my 12 year old 

371
00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,160
daughter. 
Well, we had a whole family trip

372
00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,160
planned for that Saturday. 
So guess who becomes the bad 

373
00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:20,920
guy, right, Dad? 
Because my 12 year old daughter 

374
00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:23,400
wasn't making decisions on her 
own like that yet. 

375
00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:27,160
And so there's developmentally 
developmental things even in the

376
00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:29,080
ministry side that we're always 
thinking about. 

377
00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:31,120
So it depends upon who they are,
where they are. 

378
00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:33,360
But anyway, I've made too much 
of that. 

379
00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:35,000
And you all can send those notes
to 

380
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:42,120
jayreese@englewoodbaptist.com. 
Those are forward to see Taylor.

381
00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:48,000
So, but one of the things you 
need to recognize and one of the

382
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:50,360
things you will have to come to 
grips with is a little bit of 

383
00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:52,120
theology. 
Children are lost too. 

384
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:54,360
And often we don't think like 
that. 

385
00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:57,880
You have to come to terms with 
what your doctrine of the age of

386
00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:02,760
accountability is and and the 
doctrine of the age of 

387
00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:07,560
accountability is the question 
of whether or not a a child who 

388
00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,160
is too young to know what sin 
is. 

389
00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:12,840
Too young to understand right 
and wrong. 

390
00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:17,960
Are they under the care of God 
and and and saved when they die 

391
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:21,680
or not? 
Some of this could also go into 

392
00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:26,160
the special needs category 
depending upon depending upon 

393
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:30,320
that level of, of need. 
And I, I tell you the best part 

394
00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:32,320
that I mean, we could spend a 
whole maybe why should maybe I 

395
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:34,240
should come back to this someday
and do a whole because that's 

396
00:20:34,240 --> 00:20:35,880
enough. 
That's a whole two or three-week

397
00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:40,840
series. 
Al Mohler, my former boss, has 

398
00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:44,200
probably written some of the 
best material and you can, you 

399
00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,280
can look up Al Molars website 
and look for age accountability 

400
00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,200
and he's probably written some 
of the best material in that 

401
00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,520
category. 
Doctor Aiken would affirm Dr. 

402
00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:57,760
Molars material. 
But one of the things we do know

403
00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,280
is that kids can be easily 
pressured and manipulated. 

404
00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:06,320
I was in charge of the 
counseling team at both children

405
00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:10,160
camp since the world's largest 
student camp in various years, 

406
00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:15,640
the the world's largest at the 
time are EU s s largest student 

407
00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:17,720
camp is called Falls Creek. 
It's in Oklahoma. 

408
00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:22,480
They'll have anywhere between 7 
to 9000 students a week and and 

409
00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:25,240
so you can have 1000 decisions 
in one service. 

410
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,800
And so you have a whole team of 
counseling people who are ready 

411
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,080
to go. 
And then we had children's camp 

412
00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:35,320
in the hundreds of kids, younger
elementary type age and 

413
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,000
etcetera. 
And I've done the counseling for

414
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:42,440
them and, and you'll see them 
sometimes to where, and this 

415
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,520
will come up again later, but 
they, they're kind of herd 

416
00:21:44,520 --> 00:21:46,760
animals. 
And so, you know, all of a 

417
00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:48,840
sudden it becomes kind of an 
emotional experience. 

418
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,720
And three of their friends come 
forward and suddenly Susie's 

419
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:53,600
coming forward too. 
But Susie doesn't really know 

420
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:56,320
why she came forward and she's 
crying, but she came forward 

421
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,160
because her two friends came 
forward. 

422
00:21:58,400 --> 00:21:59,840
And you just got to be really 
careful. 

423
00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:02,520
And so one of the things that 
we, they can be easily 

424
00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:04,440
pressured, they can be easily 
manipulated. 

425
00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:09,120
I could probably take a group of
children and get them all to say

426
00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:12,160
they wanted to ask Jesus into 
their heart if I pressured them 

427
00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:15,080
the right way and ask them the 
right questions in some kind of 

428
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:16,680
presentation. 
But that's not what we want to 

429
00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:18,040
do. 
We need this to be legitimate. 

430
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,680
And so we want to be careful 
with them. 

431
00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:23,280
And so we certainly want to deal
with them one-on-one. 

432
00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:26,280
So we need to be knowledgeable 
about these developmental issues

433
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:28,680
and then also we need to watch 
our vocabulary. 

434
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:30,680
Some of this is common sense. 
I'll move through this fairly 

435
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:32,560
quickly because there's some 
other things we need to spend 

436
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,440
some time on. 
And so you got to think about 

437
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:40,040
age level definitions again, 
what's sin, What is lordship, 

438
00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:45,360
What is obedience to an 8 year 
old compared to an 18 year old? 

439
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:48,400
One of the issues that we've 
dealt with many, many times in 

440
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:50,920
ministry is somebody is saved 
when they're seven or eight 

441
00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:54,480
years old, then they're 18 or 19
and they're coming forward and 

442
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:55,680
they're not sure they were 
saved. 

443
00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:58,600
They were baptized when they 
were 7 or 8. 

444
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,880
And now they don't know that 
they knew what they were doing 

445
00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:03,680
at 18 or 19. 
And we're walking through the 

446
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,600
whole issue of do you really 
need to be baptized or not? 

447
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:08,920
Were you really saved or not? 
And walking through all that 

448
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,920
together, the better job you do 
at 7 or 8, the easier the job 

449
00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,640
will be at 18 and 19, which is 
why we're careful. 

450
00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,640
And so, and there's, but there's
also, again, there's this 

451
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:24,080
understanding of I, I, the, the 
things I did that were sin when 

452
00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:26,640
I were seven or eight are 
different than the things I do 

453
00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:30,120
that are sin when I'm 18 or 19. 
And so they're struggling 

454
00:23:30,120 --> 00:23:32,840
through definitions and they're 
struggling through ideas of 

455
00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:36,400
obedience and lordship and what 
it means to follow Christ. 

456
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,440
So assessing readiness is a big 
deal deal. 

457
00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:41,280
Again, that peer pressure is 
really there. 

458
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:43,560
And so you want to ask 
open-ended questions. 

459
00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,400
You never ask yes or no 
questions to kids when it comes 

460
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,520
to evangelism. 
Make them explain to you what 

461
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:51,560
you just said. 
So don't say, do you believe 

462
00:23:51,560 --> 00:23:53,520
that Jesus died on the cross for
your sins? 

463
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:58,480
Because they're all going to go,
yes, you need to ask them what 

464
00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,840
does it mean that Jesus died on 
the cross? 

465
00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:03,560
And have them explain that back 
to you. 

466
00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:07,880
So essay questions, not true and
false, really important for 

467
00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:11,240
everybody, but especially for 
kids when you're talking to 

468
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,560
them. 
Obviously parental participation

469
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:17,840
can go both ways. 
I've been in in every number of 

470
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,120
situations where the parents 
were pushing for it and also the

471
00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:22,760
parents never wanted it to 
happen. 

472
00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:24,840
So we've been in all those 
situations. 

473
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:29,000
So you got to work with family 
and figure out what that what 

474
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,840
that reality is going to be. 
So for us, before they're ever 

475
00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:38,000
going to get up there behind the
Saran Wrap, there's heavy follow

476
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,480
up. 
There's pre baptism on that next

477
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:44,240
slide, pre baptismal counsel. 
And then this whole question of 

478
00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,960
quote UN quote, re baptized. 
I'm not going to quote, I'm not 

479
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,400
going to re baptize anybody. 
But if no, if somebody hasn't 

480
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,400
really been baptized biblically 
in the 1st place is the question

481
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,320
we're working through, were they
really believers or not? 

482
00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:00,600
And so we need to talk about 
what the absolutes of the gospel

483
00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:03,920
are. 
And So what, what, what must you

484
00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,720
believe in order to be saved, 
right? 

485
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,560
And so there's a conversation 
like this going on right now 

486
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:16,720
with a family here to where am I
saved or not? 

487
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:21,640
And where the belief is, is that
you have believed in what is 

488
00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:24,880
necessary for you to be saved. 
But there's still a lot of 

489
00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:25,920
doubt. 
There's still a lot of 

490
00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:27,960
confusion, there's still a lot 
of questions. 

491
00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,960
And so we're working through 
that and we'll talk more about 

492
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:33,560
those absolutes in just a 
second. 

493
00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:36,320
Let me move on to another 
category just for a moment 

494
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:37,760
because all these are going to 
kind of relate. 

495
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:41,440
Let me talk about reaching 
family and close friends for a 

496
00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:43,920
minute because this can be 
touchy. 

497
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,520
I've been into a number of 
situations like this to where 

498
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,560
this was hard because one of the
issues you have is what we'll 

499
00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:54,520
just call personal credibility. 
They've seen you, they know you,

500
00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:59,080
and if you have been living in 
relationship number one in a 

501
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:03,160
great way, then fantastic. 
If you've been struggling with 

502
00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:06,360
relationship number one with God
and His people and that 

503
00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:08,600
testimony is going to kind of 
shine through to them, and 

504
00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,000
that's going to be there too. 
There's an honesty to it. 

505
00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:13,560
I've had to deal with a lot of 
seminary students in this 

506
00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:15,480
categories. 
You also have broken 

507
00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,720
relationships with relational 
credibility issues where there's

508
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,960
been problems in the past and 
you got to talk about how do you

509
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,120
seek forgiveness or give 
forgiveness in order to to work 

510
00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:28,080
through that the best way you 
can. 

511
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:31,320
You also have long term silence.
I've told you the story before 

512
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:34,640
of the person who goes home, 
they share the gospel with their

513
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:36,240
uncle. 
Their uncle is saved and their 

514
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:40,760
aunt gets really angry with them
because they realize that they 

515
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,120
knew about this for years and 
years and years and years and 

516
00:26:43,120 --> 00:26:46,440
years and never told them. 
So I've wasted half of my life 

517
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:49,200
being lost when you knew this 
the whole time, How come you 

518
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:54,080
didn't tell me, right? 
And so these issues are 

519
00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:56,520
significant. 
So we've got to live out our 

520
00:26:56,520 --> 00:26:59,320
testimony. 
We've got to live out our 

521
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:04,640
relationship to where and we got
to be honest about it. 

522
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,920
I, I didn't do a good job of 
this. 

523
00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:16,200
And so when my parents, when I, 
when I was saved, I basically 

524
00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:18,800
condemned my parents, told them 
they were going to burn in hell.

525
00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:20,600
And that didn't go over real 
well. 

526
00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,040
I can't imagine why, but it 
didn't. 

527
00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:25,120
They didn't appreciate that 
much. 

528
00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:27,840
And there were many moments 
where I had to kind of go back 

529
00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:32,560
and seek forgiveness, apologize,
work through my own hypocrisy 

530
00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:35,400
with them. 
And then they met Teresa, which 

531
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:39,680
really sealed the deal because 
she's who she is. 

532
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:41,560
She just hugged them till they 
came to Jesus. 

533
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:50,560
You know, it's about the truth. 
But anyway, so you know it can 

534
00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:54,440
be sensitive. 
Co workers are are similar and 

535
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:57,280
so very people who see you 
everyday, people who you're 

536
00:27:57,280 --> 00:27:59,640
with. 
But you also need to think about

537
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:02,960
the work ethic and behavior you 
have in your employment. 

538
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:04,840
You need to be the best 
employee. 

539
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,960
You don't need to be gossiping. 
You don't be joining in with the

540
00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:12,080
stuff that is not going to help 
your testimony to Christ will be

541
00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:15,320
the opposite of that. 
Have the greatest work ethic, be

542
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,320
the best employee, be the 
encourager, but a lot of those 

543
00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:22,800
same things aware but also in Co
workers. 

544
00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:24,960
In that next one, we got to be 
aware of context. 

545
00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,000
If you're going to try to share 
the gospel at work, you got to 

546
00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,440
remember where you are. 
Be sensitive enough to think 

547
00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:34,080
about breaks and lunch and and 
then think about the 

548
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:37,000
relationship that would be 
appropriate for you to have 

549
00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:40,640
beyond work. 
You know, and some of those 

550
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:42,800
relationships are a little 
touchy, but to think about what 

551
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,760
that relationship ought to be 
beyond work to where you could 

552
00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,600
actually share with them. 
I'm generally not the guy who 

553
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:53,720
tries to hold the waiter at my 
table so that I can share my 16 

554
00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,640
point gospel outline with them 
while they're taking my order. 

555
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:01,760
We do pray for them and we share
with them who we are, but a lot 

556
00:29:01,760 --> 00:29:03,080
of that's going to have to 
happen later. 

557
00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:06,760
All right, bulk of our time. 
What about people from 

558
00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:08,520
completely different belief 
systems? 

559
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,440
This is going to be significant,
and it's going to touch on some 

560
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:13,920
of this gender and sexual 
orientation as well, believe it 

561
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,520
or not. 
So people come from different 

562
00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,160
religions, different belief 
systems. 

563
00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:22,480
They could also be atheists, 
agnostic, whatever. 

564
00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:24,720
What are we going to do with 
them? 

565
00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:26,800
So the first thing that we've 
got to do is build 

566
00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:29,080
relationships. 
So we're going to go back in a 

567
00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,360
sense, you're going to see the 
stair stepping that we've talked

568
00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:33,520
about on that next slide, where 
we're actually going to build 

569
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:38,040
these intentional relationships 
and find common bridges. 

570
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:42,520
And so we're we're going to 
hopefully get to know them in a 

571
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:45,200
very intentional way. 
And then we're also going to be 

572
00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:49,680
praying evangelistically for 
them and, and helping people to 

573
00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:51,800
know that. 
But before we get to that, let's

574
00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,760
talk about religion in general. 
So one of the things that we 

575
00:29:55,760 --> 00:30:00,120
recognize is that, and I've 
shared a lot of this before. 

576
00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:03,040
And so I just just just review 
real quickly that religion is 

577
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,040
made-up of three components. 
Never. 

578
00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:07,800
And this really I, I, I've 
harped on this so much with you 

579
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,240
because I need, I really do want
you to key in on this because 

580
00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:14,640
this is a significant 
evangelistic factor for me, 

581
00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:16,840
regardless of who that person 
is, to be honest with you. 

582
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:21,080
So there's a functional and kind
of a, you know, religion 

583
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,400
functions and functional, 
emotional, social and 

584
00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:26,480
intellectual. 
But these three components on 

585
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:31,160
the next one, you have the 
substantive that goes along with

586
00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,760
the functional. 
So the functional that first one

587
00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:35,840
is what is this thing produce in
your life? 

588
00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,640
What does the religion do? 
That's again emotional, social, 

589
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:42,200
etcetera. 
Then you got substantive, which 

590
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:46,240
is what is the actual content of
the religions religious 

591
00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:49,560
teachings. 
And then you've got the the the 

592
00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:52,160
formal, which would be the forms
itself. 

593
00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:53,480
So in other words, am I going to
church? 

594
00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:57,440
Am I going to a temple? 
They're building 150 foot tall 

595
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,600
Hindu statue on the other side 
of Apex right now, for example. 

596
00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:08,960
And so if you go to Morrisville,
NC over by the Kerry Apex area, 

597
00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:13,320
it is majority South Asian and 
many of them are are Hindu. 

598
00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:18,080
You can go not far from our old 
house in Roseville to a church. 

599
00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:21,480
I was the inner pasture for a 
couple years. 

600
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,320
Just down the street is a huge 
Vietnamese Buddhist temple. 

601
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:29,240
And so throughout the whole 
area, the Triangle, you'll find 

602
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:33,760
every type of worship center 
that is probably represented 

603
00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:38,200
from every major world religion.
And all of that is moving here 

604
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,080
and is already here in 
individual form. 

605
00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:46,640
And as that population grows in 
the Rocky Mount area, you'll 

606
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:48,960
find that you'll actually have 
these formal expressions 

607
00:31:49,280 --> 00:31:52,880
becoming more prevalent. 
To have a Buddhist temple in 

608
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:54,640
Rocky Mount would not be unheard
of. 

609
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:58,360
If it doesn't already exist, 
then there probably will be 1 

610
00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:02,800
soon. 
They'll be a, they won't call it

611
00:32:02,800 --> 00:32:04,880
a mosque. 
They'll call it a Community 

612
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:08,280
Center, Islamic Community 
Center. 

613
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,000
You will also probably have a 
Hindu temple. 

614
00:32:11,760 --> 00:32:15,200
And so you just got to recognize
that this is normative in North 

615
00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:18,120
Carolina, big cities and in 
growing areas. 

616
00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:20,840
So the world is coming here. 
So you might think, well, I 

617
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:22,160
don't know anybody like that 
right now. 

618
00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:27,600
We'll just give it a minute. 
And a, you probably do, you just

619
00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:30,640
don't know their belief system. 
They probably live down the 

620
00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:33,480
street. 
So to recognize, but even if 

621
00:32:33,480 --> 00:32:36,120
it's less formal, it's not 
necessarily one of the great 

622
00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:38,760
world religions. 
They can have their own 

623
00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:42,360
syncretic syncretic belief or 
they've, they've formed their 

624
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:44,840
own version of Christianity, 
right? 

625
00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:50,440
Or they could be, they could be 
Mormon, they could be 7 day, 

626
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:52,760
they could be Jehovah's Witness.
They could be all kinds of 

627
00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:57,640
different variations out there, 
some more Christian than others,

628
00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,160
some not at all. 
So we need to build these 

629
00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,200
evangelistic bridges by 
examining the similarities 

630
00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:06,960
between belief systems and not 
just the differences. 

631
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,000
So what I do is I think about 
the functional. 

632
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:11,080
I've shared this with you 
before. 

633
00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:14,400
This is review, but in other 
words, I'm I'm not going to 

634
00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:17,480
argue at the very beginning 
about the content. 

635
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,040
I'm not arguing about the fact 
that you go to a temple and I go

636
00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:23,640
to a church. 
I'm going to talk to you about 

637
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:28,440
what Jesus Christ produces in my
life and the fact that I have 

638
00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:31,600
hope, I have peace, I have 
assurance, I have purpose. 

639
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:35,240
I know what exactly what's going
to happen to me when I die. 

640
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:37,640
That assurance issue is a major 
thing. 

641
00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:40,120
We are the only ones who have 
that. 

642
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,160
Everybody else is a fatalistic 
hope. 

643
00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:46,320
So yeah, I'm going to work my 
way to maybe. 

644
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,080
And I'm in this karma good, bad 
balance. 

645
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:55,520
And so we're, you know, grace is
not known outside of biblical 

646
00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:58,160
Christianity. 
So I want to talk about grace. 

647
00:33:58,160 --> 00:33:59,840
I want to talk about 
forgiveness. 

648
00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:03,880
I want to talk about strength 
for dealing with life. 

649
00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:07,000
That's where I'm starting. 
Normally in these conversations.

650
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,480
I'm not talking about how come 
you study that and I study this 

651
00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:13,400
even though I need to know about
it and we'll talk about it a 

652
00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:15,719
minute. 
I really want to talk about 

653
00:34:15,719 --> 00:34:17,639
functional. 
And then some forms, for 

654
00:34:17,639 --> 00:34:21,719
example, I can use form as a 
bridge because every world 

655
00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:24,960
religion has some version of 
prayer. 

656
00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:28,560
Now that doesn't mean they're 
biblically praying, but every 

657
00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:33,480
world, major world religion has 
a form prayer of prayer form of 

658
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,600
some kind. 
And so I can talk about let's 

659
00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:39,679
talk about how you pray, because
if I'm talking to a Muslim, 

660
00:34:39,679 --> 00:34:40,960
they're they're praying all day 
long. 

661
00:34:40,960 --> 00:34:44,199
So it's like, how do you pray? 
And I talk about how I pray and 

662
00:34:44,199 --> 00:34:46,320
we can begin there. 
I that can be a part of a 

663
00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:48,760
conversation. 
And one of the things that's 

664
00:34:48,760 --> 00:34:52,840
interesting, if you actually 
identify them as being a fairly 

665
00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:56,320
faithful member of a different 
world religion, they're going to

666
00:34:56,679 --> 00:35:01,960
probably be wide open to talk 
about spiritual things far more 

667
00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:05,320
than your quote UN quote 
Christian neighbor who thinks 

668
00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:07,600
it's a personal thing and 
shouldn't be discussed. 

669
00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:11,440
That's a very American Christian
concept. 

670
00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:15,640
And Western European Muslims are
wide open. 

671
00:35:15,640 --> 00:35:17,720
They're they're living right on 
the edge of spirituality all the

672
00:35:17,720 --> 00:35:19,080
time. 
They have no companies who would

673
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:22,280
tell you just start asking them.
He told you when he preached 

674
00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:23,600
here. 
The third question ought to be 

675
00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:25,040
what, what religion do you 
belong to? 

676
00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:27,680
And they're wide open to talk 
about that. 

677
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,920
They'd be glad they they would 
enjoy talking to a Christian 

678
00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,560
about Christianity. 
Many of them, a Buddhist would 

679
00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:35,920
be the same way, a Hindu would 
be the same way here in the 

680
00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:38,680
United States. 
And so just recognize that most 

681
00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:41,520
of these people are far more 
spiritual than than most of the 

682
00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:45,240
Baptist, you know. 
And so this isn't a hidden 

683
00:35:45,240 --> 00:35:47,120
secret thing we don't dare talk 
about. 

684
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,640
Now, if you're talking to an 
atheist or an agnostic or, or 

685
00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:54,000
somebody who's anti something, 
then you're in a different 

686
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:56,760
ballpark, obviously. 
So how do I build a 

687
00:35:56,760 --> 00:35:58,640
relationship? 
How do I find these common 

688
00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:02,120
bridges? 
How do I pray evangelistically 

689
00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:05,960
for them? 
And then I do want to know my 

690
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:07,800
faith in theirs. 
And I'm going to come back to 

691
00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:09,280
this. 
In other words, if I know, like 

692
00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:13,920
in in Louisville, we had next 
door neighbor who is a, a pseudo

693
00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:16,760
Buddhist Chinese Communist 
humanist. 

694
00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:23,640
That's who he really was. 
But he had a Buddhist heritage. 

695
00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,960
And so to honor his his dead 
relatives, he practiced a 

696
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,720
certain level of Buddhism, but 
he was really Chinese Communist 

697
00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:36,720
humanist in his worldview. 
And so this was a cultural thing

698
00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,600
that he did, but it wasn't a 
guiding force in his life. 

699
00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:44,760
And so to to just know. 
So if I know I have a Buddhist 

700
00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:47,240
who lives next door, I should 
study Buddhism some I should 

701
00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:49,480
know that I should read up. 
And there are a couple of good 

702
00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:51,880
books that we can share with you
again. 

703
00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:53,800
One of them is called 
Neighboring Faiths. 

704
00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:56,000
It's a good book on world 
religions. 

705
00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:58,720
It's a big book, not cheap 
necessarily, but it's a good 

706
00:36:58,720 --> 00:37:01,720
book on the world religions. 
If I know that I work with 

707
00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:03,640
somebody who's a Muslim, I 
should know a little bit about 

708
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:07,160
Islam so that we can have 
educated conversations. 

709
00:37:07,480 --> 00:37:09,080
But mainly I need to know my 
faith. 

710
00:37:09,080 --> 00:37:11,600
So I need to know what I believe
and why. 

711
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,000
But I need to know as much as 
possible about what they believe

712
00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:17,480
and why if I can. 
So I want to do my research 

713
00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:20,840
because it is on us to become 
all things to all men. 

714
00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:24,480
It's on us to go and share the 
gospel. 

715
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,720
It's on us to build the bridge. 
We don't sit back and hope they 

716
00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:31,320
build a bridge to us. 
We've got to build a bridge to 

717
00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:34,200
them. 
And so we need to do our, our 

718
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:37,920
fair share of an intentionally 
preparing for and pursuing 

719
00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:40,800
opportunities, which means I 
might have to do a little 

720
00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:43,680
reading sometime. 
I know that's, but that's right.

721
00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:46,440
In today's world, you'd watch a,
you can watch a video online. 

722
00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:52,680
You probably, you really can't, 
so that's OK Google it. 

723
00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:54,720
It'll be there. 
There'll be a 3 minute video 

724
00:37:54,720 --> 00:37:56,280
give you the basics of oral 
religion. 

725
00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:58,400
At least you got that. 
So there you go. 

726
00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:00,680
But then I'm, I'm also not going
to attack. 

727
00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:02,920
You're going to hear that over 
and over again tonight. 

728
00:38:03,720 --> 00:38:06,320
That might be counterintuitive 
to some of you who want to do 

729
00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:08,800
that, who just want to argue. 
I appreciate you. 

730
00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:11,760
I'm not going to advise that. 
I'm going to advise that you 

731
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:14,200
don't attack, that you seek to 
find common ground, that you 

732
00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:16,960
don't burn the bridge and that 
you lead the conversation to 

733
00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,680
Christ whenever it's possible. 
You're going to see these stair 

734
00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:21,440
stepping, then I'm going to 
share my testimony. 

735
00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:24,320
Then I'm going to need to live 
my testimony probably in front 

736
00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:26,320
of these people. 
They're going to need to see it.

737
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:30,400
You know, once I self identify 
as a Christian, they're going to

738
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:34,320
need me to prove it to them 
probably and to show them what 

739
00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:38,320
does that mean? 
Because I know this may seem odd

740
00:38:38,320 --> 00:38:42,040
to you in Nash County, but many 
of the people around you will 

741
00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:45,520
have not ever seen anybody who 
actually claims to be 1 and who 

742
00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:47,600
actually claims to live out 
Christianity. 

743
00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:51,200
And that's not a guess. 
That's a statistical truth. 

744
00:38:51,640 --> 00:38:54,440
Most of these people have never 
heard the gospel from a loving 

745
00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:57,560
personal testimony before. 
And then they have somebody who 

746
00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:00,920
actually professes this. 
They're, they want to watch you 

747
00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,960
and see how you behave, how they
might even try to push your 

748
00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:06,440
buttons. 
And so I need to show my 

749
00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:09,080
personal testimony. 
I need it to be real. 

750
00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:14,120
The more real I am, the more 
authentic I am, the more people 

751
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:16,720
will listen to me. 
But then I do want to explain 

752
00:39:16,720 --> 00:39:19,520
the gospel and I'm going to come
back and repeat this about 10 

753
00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:21,880
times. 
But, and I want to specifically 

754
00:39:21,880 --> 00:39:24,400
deal with works righteousness 
versus grace. 

755
00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:29,680
And I also want to focus on 
assurance and certainty because 

756
00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:32,800
whatever system they're coming 
from, even if it's not a system,

757
00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:35,320
it's a system. 
Atheism is still a system. 

758
00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:39,840
Humanism is still a system. 
And so whatever that system is, 

759
00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:44,040
they're working on some kind of 
wholly balanced 90 plus percent 

760
00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:47,520
of the time of good versus bad. 
I'm a good person. 

761
00:39:47,520 --> 00:39:51,400
I don't need this or I'm better 
than you are, so I don't need 

762
00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:53,440
that. 
And so they're working on these 

763
00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:57,000
definitions of good and bad. 
And so to to deal with works 

764
00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:01,000
righteousness versus grace is a 
huge part of a gospel 

765
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:03,920
presentation in today's culture.
Never forget that. 

766
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:06,760
So when you're working back with
your gospel stories, you're 

767
00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:09,840
working back on your outline, 
make sure that you're dealing 

768
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:13,280
and defining works righteousness
versus grace. 

769
00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:16,160
And then this idea of assurance 
that I said before and 

770
00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:20,640
certainty, it freaks people out 
when I stare them in the eyes 

771
00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:23,600
and I say. 
I know beyond any shadow of a 

772
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:27,600
doubt that if I were to drop 
dead right now that I will be in

773
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:30,560
heaven forever. 
And because of that I have 0 

774
00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:34,640
fear of death. 
Now I get accused of being 

775
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:38,200
arrogant, I get accused of being
crazy or whatever. 

776
00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:42,000
But a lot of times I'm also like
I'm not kidding yet they'll say 

777
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:46,240
to me I don't have that. 
I don't have that or I don't 

778
00:40:46,240 --> 00:40:50,720
know how you can know that this 
coming fall, working through 

779
00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:53,960
Nehemiah and and starting in 
January, we're going to work 

780
00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:56,240
through the book of Romans, 
which should take about 10 

781
00:40:56,240 --> 00:40:58,800
years, but I'm going to try to 
do it in a few weeks and not a 

782
00:40:58,800 --> 00:41:02,280
few weeks, but several weeks. 
It'll take a few months. 

783
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:07,240
Then in the fall of 26, we'll be
in first John and and the, the 

784
00:41:07,240 --> 00:41:10,360
title of the book is actually 
called the question to know or 

785
00:41:10,360 --> 00:41:12,880
not to know. 
And we're going to hit this even

786
00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:15,080
harder. 
Then I'm going to be reinforcing

787
00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:18,600
everything we're talking about. 
Everything connects and we'll be

788
00:41:18,600 --> 00:41:21,960
reinforcing all of these pieces 
all along the way to help you 

789
00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:24,560
from different angles. 
But to recognize that assurance 

790
00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:26,240
is certainly. 
Then again, don't burn the 

791
00:41:26,240 --> 00:41:28,760
bridge and invite them to join 
you. 

792
00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,880
Invite them to come to your 
small group and connect group. 

793
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:34,360
It's called a connect group 
here. 100% of you are in connect

794
00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:37,640
groups. 
By the way, real testimony. 

795
00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:39,840
We had a bunch of visitors last 
week. 

796
00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:44,080
Most of them were because 
connect groups reached out to 

797
00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:47,320
them and invited them to come. 
So thank you very much for doing

798
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:49,640
that during age week. 
It worked. 

799
00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:52,520
We have several who are 
interested in learning more. 

800
00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:57,240
So invite them to join you here.
Invite them to join you in that 

801
00:41:57,240 --> 00:41:59,320
Christian experience along the 
way. 

802
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:02,720
Now, a specific group that some 
of you are dealing with, and 

803
00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:05,120
maybe even in this room you're 
you're dealing with this a 

804
00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:08,640
little bit, are related to 
alternative lifestyles and 

805
00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:13,080
gender beliefs. 
Now recognize that everything I 

806
00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:20,320
just said applies, OK, 
alternative lifestyles, gay, 

807
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:23,360
homosexual, whatever the various
letters are going to be tomorrow

808
00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:24,600
because they'll be some more 
tomorrow. 

809
00:42:26,240 --> 00:42:30,200
Whatever the self identification
issues are and the confusion 

810
00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:33,960
over gender are. 
This is coming from a completely

811
00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:36,440
different worldview and belief 
system, and you've got to 

812
00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:39,800
recognize it. 
And so it's easy to attack the 

813
00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:41,760
sin. 
That's what they expect. 

814
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:44,520
I've shared with you about my 
conversation with the German 

815
00:42:44,520 --> 00:42:47,920
doctor on the plane before. 
They're expecting me to attack 

816
00:42:47,920 --> 00:42:52,000
them for what I would call a 
horrible sin, right. 

817
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:57,280
And we and, and Christians like 
to rank sin and they and, and 

818
00:42:57,480 --> 00:43:00,320
evangelical Christians think 
some sins are worse than other 

819
00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:03,040
sins. 
And, and that's not true. 

820
00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:05,120
So we, we think that way 
sometimes. 

821
00:43:05,200 --> 00:43:08,360
So, so certain sins really 
bother us more than other sins. 

822
00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:13,680
If I feel like, but the bottom 
line is, is, is I need to, I 

823
00:43:13,680 --> 00:43:17,680
need to think better than this. 
I'm, I certainly am not going to

824
00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:21,360
condone their lifestyle. 
I'm not going to condone their 

825
00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:23,480
sin and I'm going to be honest 
about that with them, but I need

826
00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:26,400
to be able to tell them why 
because they're coming from a 

827
00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:30,360
different truth place and that's
part of the problem. 

828
00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:32,560
They're real. 
They're real Problem goes all 

829
00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:35,080
the way back to August when I 
talked about our hill of 

830
00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:39,240
authority and the word of God. 
Because they're not interpreting

831
00:43:39,240 --> 00:43:42,880
the word of God at all or 
they're not interpreting the 

832
00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:45,480
word of God the same way that we
would. 

833
00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:50,040
And so you, you have churches 
that are endorsing anything and 

834
00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:52,400
everything that call themselves 
Christians. 

835
00:43:53,240 --> 00:43:55,280
And so you have Christian 
churches that endorse 

836
00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:57,120
homosexuality. 
You have Christian churches who 

837
00:43:57,120 --> 00:43:59,760
have homosexual leadership. 
You have churches that have 

838
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:04,800
everything under the sun. 
And so it's easy to justify I'm,

839
00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:07,840
I'm a Christian even and believe
this, right? 

840
00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:10,600
But you've got to recognize 
they're coming from such a 

841
00:44:10,600 --> 00:44:15,520
different perspective of truth, 
of whether the Bible's inerrant,

842
00:44:16,160 --> 00:44:19,440
whether the Bible is really true
or not, the way it appears. 

843
00:44:19,760 --> 00:44:23,160
Because it's easy to sit there 
and say that Romans 1 doesn't 

844
00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:25,920
really say what we would 
interpret Romans 1 to say. 

845
00:44:26,240 --> 00:44:29,240
And Romans one's very clear. 
If you ever wonder, and I've 

846
00:44:29,240 --> 00:44:33,040
said this to you before, you'll 
see sometimes clips of 

847
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:36,600
politicians who'll say what is 
what did Jesus say about 

848
00:44:36,600 --> 00:44:38,240
homosexuality? 
And then they'll sit there for 

849
00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:43,080
this moment of silence. 
And I, I, I just wish that if 

850
00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:45,760
politicians are going to be 
theology theologians, they'd be 

851
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:48,720
good ones. 
Because if you, if you ask the 

852
00:44:48,720 --> 00:44:53,160
question, what does the Bible 
say about homosexuality, there 

853
00:44:53,160 --> 00:44:57,200
are tons of passages. 
Romans 1 is an easy one to go to

854
00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:00,480
in the New Testament. 
And so, but it's also easy for 

855
00:45:00,480 --> 00:45:03,200
somebody to simply say, well, 
that was just cultural that 

856
00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:05,840
didn't apply anymore. 
So it's a different belief 

857
00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:07,280
system. 
It's a different perspective of 

858
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:09,840
Scripture, it's a different 
interpretive, it's a different 

859
00:45:09,840 --> 00:45:12,360
hermeneutic. 
And so we need to know how to 

860
00:45:12,360 --> 00:45:15,760
handle the word of God well. 
So everything I just said about 

861
00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:19,080
somebody from a different 
religion can often apply to 

862
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:23,080
people who are in alternative 
gender and lifestyle issues as 

863
00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:24,520
well. 
You've got to almost treat them 

864
00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:26,160
like it's a whole different 
religion system. 

865
00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:28,320
They're coming from a whole 
different worldview. 

866
00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:30,480
They're coming from a whole 
different belief system. 

867
00:45:31,240 --> 00:45:34,080
And you can sit there and say, 
because for some of you, it's 

868
00:45:34,080 --> 00:45:36,200
your child. 
And I know some people in this 

869
00:45:36,200 --> 00:45:38,480
church, this is an issue you're 
dealing with. 

870
00:45:39,160 --> 00:45:41,200
And you can say, well, they were
raised and they know better. 

871
00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:44,880
Well, no, they don't. 
So I'm sorry, but right now they

872
00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:48,840
don't. 
They might have at one point, 

873
00:45:48,840 --> 00:45:51,840
but right now they don't. 
They've they've switched that 

874
00:45:51,840 --> 00:45:55,120
word that out for a different 
belief system and they're 

875
00:45:55,120 --> 00:45:57,600
justifying that belief system. 
Even if it's some point they 

876
00:45:57,600 --> 00:46:00,120
knew something else, they're not
justifying something else. 

877
00:46:00,400 --> 00:46:02,880
OK. 
And so you can either scream and

878
00:46:02,880 --> 00:46:08,320
argue and point to the sin, or 
you can deal with the Sinner in 

879
00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:11,760
the same way you would almost 
anybody from any religious 

880
00:46:11,760 --> 00:46:14,800
background. 
And and so you can be careful 

881
00:46:14,800 --> 00:46:17,160
you burn the bridge. 
It's easy to do. 

882
00:46:17,560 --> 00:46:19,840
They're, they're assuming the 
bridge is on fire most of the 

883
00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:22,040
time when they meet you anyway, 
if they hear, I'm a Southern 

884
00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:25,000
Baptist pastor, the bridge is on
fire before we ever have a 

885
00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:28,360
conversation. 
And it's really frustrating to 

886
00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:30,680
me because once I get him into a
conversation to learn that it's 

887
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:33,760
not. 
And I've had many intelligent 

888
00:46:33,760 --> 00:46:37,320
conversations with people who 
are self identifying as 

889
00:46:37,320 --> 00:46:40,800
everything. 
And so just recognize that. 

890
00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:43,760
And so we'll talk a little more 
about that in a second too, but 

891
00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:49,160
just recognize that, that that 
there's some common theological 

892
00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:52,360
objections that I really want 
you to nail down. 

893
00:46:52,360 --> 00:46:55,440
And so this is a bit summary, 
but this is also a short list. 

894
00:46:56,120 --> 00:46:58,120
And so if you can't remember 
anything else out of any of 

895
00:46:58,120 --> 00:47:01,600
these sessions from the theology
or anything else, make sure you 

896
00:47:01,600 --> 00:47:03,400
understand your view of 
authority. 

897
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:07,120
Go back back, I think it's 
August 6th or something like 

898
00:47:07,120 --> 00:47:11,400
that to our core training 
primary, the hill of authority. 

899
00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:13,880
It'll be online. 
Look for the hill of authority. 

900
00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:17,360
And I talk about the Bible. 
Do you know what your authority 

901
00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:21,080
is and why you, you need to know
what you believe about the 

902
00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:22,960
Bible? 
Because if I'm going to show the

903
00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:26,920
gospel, at some point, I'm going
to share some story or verse out

904
00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:29,520
of the Bible and it needs to 
matter. 

905
00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:34,720
And that other person may have 
zero respect or concern about 

906
00:47:34,720 --> 00:47:37,320
what the Bible says. 
So I'm going to have to 

907
00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:40,120
articulate to them. 
Here's why this is so important 

908
00:47:40,120 --> 00:47:43,360
to me because this is the 
authority of my life. 

909
00:47:44,080 --> 00:47:46,560
And you have to let the Holy 
Spirit work hard, right? 

910
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:49,720
Which is always the case. 
I also really need again, to 

911
00:47:49,720 --> 00:47:52,880
emphasize words, righteousness, 
and then also along with that, 

912
00:47:52,880 --> 00:47:56,000
the idea of grace. 
What do I mean by that? 

913
00:47:56,000 --> 00:47:57,200
What is that? 
What is that? 

914
00:47:57,720 --> 00:48:00,440
How does that work? 
How does grace work compared to 

915
00:48:00,440 --> 00:48:03,920
works righteousness? 
Because I'm 90 plus percent of 

916
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:07,120
the time, I can just guarantee 
that they're dealing even even 

917
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:11,600
even Christians, even members of
Inglewood Baptist Church are 

918
00:48:11,600 --> 00:48:13,840
still some of you on works 
righteousness because we've had 

919
00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:17,040
those conversations. 
Some of you are still, I was in 

920
00:48:17,040 --> 00:48:21,480
a conversation the other day 
with somebody in their home and 

921
00:48:21,480 --> 00:48:24,120
I, I, I hope I'm doing enough 
things. 

922
00:48:24,840 --> 00:48:28,120
I hope I'm being good enough. 
I hope I'm earning it. 

923
00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:32,520
Or I'm afraid I've, I've, I've 
lost it or I afraid I'm not 

924
00:48:32,520 --> 00:48:35,200
doing enough. 
And that kind of language you 

925
00:48:35,200 --> 00:48:37,400
got to understand. 
It's just not where the Bible 

926
00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:40,280
has us. 
And so you can also go back on a

927
00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:44,080
Sunday morning when I in the 
series of Come Be the Church's 

928
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:46,880
Bride, where I actually talk 
about why do we need salvation 

929
00:48:46,880 --> 00:48:51,400
And I talk about how salvation 
works and how assurance works on

930
00:48:51,400 --> 00:48:53,240
a Sunday morning. 
You can look at that and listen 

931
00:48:53,240 --> 00:48:56,760
to that as well, because that's 
not how salvation works. 

932
00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:02,640
But to recognize what that is, 
exclusivism, very important. 

933
00:49:03,160 --> 00:49:08,840
Exclusivism will alienate you 
and isolate you from 90 plus 

934
00:49:08,840 --> 00:49:10,160
percent of the world's 
population. 

935
00:49:11,040 --> 00:49:14,440
Probably. 
Even though Christianity is, is 

936
00:49:14,680 --> 00:49:18,000
still billions of people, not 
all of them are exclusivists. 

937
00:49:18,480 --> 00:49:21,160
Exclusivism says that Jesus 
Christ is the only way to 

938
00:49:21,160 --> 00:49:24,000
salvation. 
He's the only way you can be 

939
00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:26,480
saved. 
And there are many people who 

940
00:49:26,480 --> 00:49:29,480
identify as Christians who are 
pluralists and universalists 

941
00:49:29,480 --> 00:49:33,080
and, and inclusivists and all 
kinds of isms. 

942
00:49:33,840 --> 00:49:37,080
And so to, to articulate that 
you, you, you hold to 

943
00:49:37,080 --> 00:49:39,400
exclusivism is important. 
Then we're back to that 

944
00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:41,760
assurance and certainty issue as
well. 

945
00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:45,040
To just recognize that because 
of the way salvation works, 

946
00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:49,360
because of who Jesus Christ is, 
my certainty of salvation isn't 

947
00:49:49,360 --> 00:49:54,160
up to me. 
See, I, I can't not be saved at 

948
00:49:54,160 --> 00:49:56,720
this point. 
That's not possible. 

949
00:49:56,920 --> 00:49:59,640
It doesn't work that way. 
I've been saved already. 

950
00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:02,800
I've been exigorazoed, I've been
completely bought up. 

951
00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:05,960
I've been completely redeemed 
and I'm in the palm of the 

952
00:50:05,960 --> 00:50:08,960
Father's hand, in the palm of 
the Son's hand, sealed by the 

953
00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:11,480
Holy Spirit. 
And I'm not more powerful than 

954
00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:13,240
the Triune God to break out of 
that. 

955
00:50:14,280 --> 00:50:18,000
It's not my grip on salvation. 
It's God's grip on me. 

956
00:50:18,160 --> 00:50:20,800
That is the deal. 
And that's so different. 

957
00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:24,640
But, but I'm telling you, if you
can get that point across, that 

958
00:50:24,640 --> 00:50:30,040
will hit a heart that hits a 
heart because I want to be 

959
00:50:30,040 --> 00:50:32,120
careful why you say this because
that because this is always the 

960
00:50:32,120 --> 00:50:34,280
case. 
But but some of these people are

961
00:50:34,280 --> 00:50:36,920
really working hard on judgement
of themselves and they're 

962
00:50:36,920 --> 00:50:40,160
working hard on anger issues and
they're working hard on 

963
00:50:40,160 --> 00:50:42,000
frustration and pain in their 
life. 

964
00:50:42,280 --> 00:50:45,960
And to really think about the 
fact that that any God they ever

965
00:50:45,960 --> 00:50:50,960
knew was not that God, any God 
they ever knew was a punitive, 

966
00:50:51,960 --> 00:50:54,640
wrathful being that was out to 
get them. 

967
00:50:56,640 --> 00:50:58,720
Almost all the world religions 
work that way. 

968
00:50:58,720 --> 00:51:02,480
Buddhism is different because 
Buddhism is different but but 

969
00:51:02,680 --> 00:51:05,160
almost all the world religions 
work on a wrathful God. 

970
00:51:05,160 --> 00:51:10,200
Allah and Yahweh are nowhere 
near the same and Hindu gods are

971
00:51:10,200 --> 00:51:14,160
nothing like Jehovah. 
These are fatalistic theologies 

972
00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:16,720
that are fear based and 
hopefully I can appease them and

973
00:51:16,720 --> 00:51:22,120
escape the lightning bolts that 
would destroy me and somehow eek

974
00:51:22,120 --> 00:51:27,360
my way into a better existence. 
Right while we were yet sinners.

975
00:51:29,280 --> 00:51:34,000
Grace, nobody has that. 
That'll that'll hit hearts. 

976
00:51:34,000 --> 00:51:35,760
Now, it may not happen in that 
moment. 

977
00:51:35,760 --> 00:51:38,080
They may sit there and say, oh, 
that's wonderful, I like that a 

978
00:51:38,080 --> 00:51:39,960
lot. 
But I guarantee it is to you. 

979
00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:43,520
You just watch. 
Can't tell you the number of 

980
00:51:43,520 --> 00:51:45,640
times. 
Yeah. 

981
00:51:46,160 --> 00:51:49,600
No, I remember when I said that.
Yeah, I'll be glad to talk 

982
00:51:49,600 --> 00:51:52,840
again. 
Can tell you the number of times

983
00:51:52,840 --> 00:51:56,240
because it hits. 
You mean somebody really loves 

984
00:51:56,240 --> 00:51:59,680
me? 
I mean, even people who are in 

985
00:51:59,680 --> 00:52:03,120
all kinds of alternative 
everything's, there's a, there's

986
00:52:03,120 --> 00:52:08,680
a lot of lot of confusion, a lot
of hurt in some of their lives. 

987
00:52:09,320 --> 00:52:12,040
A lot of nobody loved me in 
their life. 

988
00:52:12,040 --> 00:52:13,960
And a lot of these, I'm not 
saying that's always the case, 

989
00:52:13,960 --> 00:52:16,160
but in some of these cases, it's
just, and that's not a guess. 

990
00:52:16,160 --> 00:52:19,680
That's because of conversations.
And so to think that somebody 

991
00:52:19,680 --> 00:52:23,480
actually loves me 
unconditionally, that's amazing 

992
00:52:23,520 --> 00:52:26,000
for some people. 
And because of that, I have 

993
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:27,560
peace. 
Because of that, I have hope. 

994
00:52:27,560 --> 00:52:28,680
Because of that, I have 
assurance. 

995
00:52:29,720 --> 00:52:33,360
You can't do anything to me. 
You know, what am I afraid of? 

996
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:35,600
I'm afraid of failing him. 
That's it. 

997
00:52:35,600 --> 00:52:37,440
I don't want to fail him. 
I don't want to disobey. 

998
00:52:37,920 --> 00:52:40,640
What can me or man do to me? 
Nothing. 

999
00:52:41,240 --> 00:52:45,080
Nothing. 
See, man, it makes life 

1000
00:52:45,080 --> 00:52:46,360
different when you feel that 
way. 

1001
00:52:47,400 --> 00:52:49,200
Means that makes today 
different. 

1002
00:52:49,680 --> 00:52:51,320
What do I have to fear about 
today? 

1003
00:52:52,480 --> 00:52:56,560
My own stupid disobedience. 
That's what I fear, just being 

1004
00:52:56,560 --> 00:52:59,400
stupid. 
And for me it's a spiritual 

1005
00:52:59,400 --> 00:53:01,880
gift. 
So it's kind of regular, but you

1006
00:53:01,880 --> 00:53:05,200
know what I'm saying? 
All right, so then a couple 

1007
00:53:05,200 --> 00:53:07,640
other specific hang ups you got 
to think of. 

1008
00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:10,520
And it's going to be based on 
their faith system, Who is God, 

1009
00:53:11,120 --> 00:53:13,240
these definitions. 
What does judgment mean? 

1010
00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:17,440
The virgin births a big deal 
with some people, depending upon

1011
00:53:17,440 --> 00:53:19,640
who you're talking to. 
The incarnation would be a big 

1012
00:53:19,640 --> 00:53:21,520
deal. 
The Trinity's a huge deal to 

1013
00:53:21,520 --> 00:53:24,400
Muslims. 
You, you start off talking about

1014
00:53:24,400 --> 00:53:27,200
the Trinity to a Muslim and 
you're a, you're a polytheistic 

1015
00:53:27,200 --> 00:53:29,640
Pagan. 
They think you believe in three 

1016
00:53:29,640 --> 00:53:34,080
gods because they have no 
concept of Trinity in Islam. 

1017
00:53:35,080 --> 00:53:38,720
And so, you know, you just have 
an awareness as much as you can 

1018
00:53:38,720 --> 00:53:41,000
about who you're talking to and 
when you have no clue 

1019
00:53:41,000 --> 00:53:45,720
whatsoever, just trust in the 
Lord and still share about him 

1020
00:53:46,280 --> 00:53:47,720
and let him take it and run with
it. 

1021
00:53:48,160 --> 00:53:52,880
Just remember first Peter 315 
say it says, but sanctify Christ

1022
00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:55,040
as Lord in your hearts. 
That's the key relationship 

1023
00:53:55,040 --> 00:53:59,360
number one, always but always 
being ready to make a defense to

1024
00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:02,320
anyone who asked you to give an 
account for the for the hope 

1025
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:04,760
that that is in you. 
Yet with a with a sense of 

1026
00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:08,880
gentleness and reverence. 
I'm not very good at beating 

1027
00:54:08,880 --> 00:54:10,280
people over the head with the 
Bible. 

1028
00:54:10,280 --> 00:54:12,240
If you wanted me to be better at
that, I'm sorry. 

1029
00:54:12,240 --> 00:54:14,520
I'm not very good at it. 
I could I used to do it in my 

1030
00:54:14,520 --> 00:54:20,280
past, but not with the Bible. 
But but I'm just, I would rather

1031
00:54:20,280 --> 00:54:24,600
love people and talk to them 
about my God who loved this 

1032
00:54:24,600 --> 00:54:29,640
thing, who doesn't deserve it. 
And so I, I, I try to approach 

1033
00:54:29,640 --> 00:54:32,040
things fairly humbly, I hope 
when it comes to this. 

1034
00:54:32,560 --> 00:54:34,240
So let let's talk about a couple
of things. 

1035
00:54:34,240 --> 00:54:36,560
What about some objections? 
How do I deal with objections? 

1036
00:54:36,560 --> 00:54:39,760
What am I going to do? 
And so as we move forward to 

1037
00:54:39,760 --> 00:54:42,520
think about how do I deal with 
some of the some of the 

1038
00:54:42,520 --> 00:54:45,480
arguments and objections that 
people are going to have my way.

1039
00:54:45,880 --> 00:54:49,480
And so first of all, the excuse 
or the issue often hides a real 

1040
00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:52,560
problem that that sometimes 
these are just smoke screens. 

1041
00:54:53,960 --> 00:54:57,400
And so the presented problem is 
not always the real problem. 

1042
00:54:58,320 --> 00:55:01,640
What I find entertaining and, 
and it doesn't work often. 

1043
00:55:01,640 --> 00:55:06,680
And with me, once they find out 
kind of who and what I am and 

1044
00:55:06,680 --> 00:55:09,760
who I've been in my life, it 
stops a lot, you know, because 

1045
00:55:10,120 --> 00:55:13,600
because they know I know better.
You know, I know what they know,

1046
00:55:13,600 --> 00:55:16,040
I've studied, they know, I've 
researched. 

1047
00:55:16,320 --> 00:55:19,320
They know that if we need to, we
can go to the Hebrew or the 

1048
00:55:19,320 --> 00:55:22,440
Greek or whatever we got to go 
to and we can go straight from 

1049
00:55:22,440 --> 00:55:24,440
it and talk about things. 
You know that that won't 

1050
00:55:24,440 --> 00:55:27,440
necessarily be all of you, but 
because of my education and 

1051
00:55:27,440 --> 00:55:31,960
background experience. 
But but so sometimes I can smell

1052
00:55:31,960 --> 00:55:34,400
the smokescreen and like that, 
you know, tell me what's really 

1053
00:55:34,400 --> 00:55:36,360
going on. 
I mean, and I often say that to 

1054
00:55:36,360 --> 00:55:38,320
people. 
I that's fine, that's fine, but 

1055
00:55:38,320 --> 00:55:42,520
tell me what's really going on. 
But remember, my purpose is to 

1056
00:55:42,520 --> 00:55:44,400
win the person to Christ, not to
win a debate. 

1057
00:55:46,240 --> 00:55:47,560
My goal is not to win the 
argument. 

1058
00:55:47,560 --> 00:55:50,440
Yes, I won the argument. 
Congratulations. 

1059
00:55:50,440 --> 00:55:52,640
You probably just alienated 
people from every coming to 

1060
00:55:52,640 --> 00:55:54,320
Christ. 
Maybe you know, that's not what 

1061
00:55:54,320 --> 00:55:57,120
I'm after. 
I'm not after to win the debate.

1062
00:55:58,920 --> 00:56:00,680
I'm, I'm trying to win them to 
Jesus. 

1063
00:56:01,880 --> 00:56:04,960
And so the same excuse doesn't 
mean the same thing to every 

1064
00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:06,800
person either. 
So every person is unique. 

1065
00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:10,000
Don't just don't just think of 
canned responses and canned 

1066
00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:12,000
approaches. 
You've got to treat people like 

1067
00:56:12,000 --> 00:56:14,800
people, right? 
And then I need to answer 

1068
00:56:14,800 --> 00:56:17,280
excuses with the right spirit. 
I don't want to ignore them. 

1069
00:56:17,480 --> 00:56:20,440
I don't want to be argumentative
and I don't want to ridicule. 

1070
00:56:20,440 --> 00:56:22,640
At the same time, I want to get 
back to being on track. 

1071
00:56:24,320 --> 00:56:26,240
And so I'll I'll tell them that,
you know, that's, that's an 

1072
00:56:26,240 --> 00:56:28,120
interesting question. 
It's a good question. 

1073
00:56:28,120 --> 00:56:30,400
We can talk about it more later,
but right now I'd like to share 

1074
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:34,840
this with you first. 
I'm just going to say that or I 

1075
00:56:34,840 --> 00:56:37,040
need to make sure I'm 
maintaining this positive hat. 

1076
00:56:37,040 --> 00:56:39,880
I need it and and show real love
for somebody. 

1077
00:56:40,560 --> 00:56:42,600
You know, I mean, you know, the 
old bumper sticker. 

1078
00:56:43,480 --> 00:56:47,160
They're not going to they're not
going to hear what you they're 

1079
00:56:47,160 --> 00:56:49,440
not going to care about what you
want to share until they know 

1080
00:56:49,640 --> 00:56:51,200
what is that the one they know 
that you care. 

1081
00:56:51,200 --> 00:56:52,680
You know how that goes. 
You know how that one is, 

1082
00:56:53,320 --> 00:56:56,600
whatever that was, it's an 
incredible, brilliant statement.

1083
00:56:59,640 --> 00:57:02,440
So I'm depending upon the Holy 
Spirit, obviously the whole time

1084
00:57:03,280 --> 00:57:06,760
and, and I want to use Scripture
to answer as much as I can. 

1085
00:57:08,080 --> 00:57:12,280
And, and I also want to again, 
acknowledge the issues at hand, 

1086
00:57:12,280 --> 00:57:15,800
but I really do want to try to 
complete the gospel presentation

1087
00:57:15,800 --> 00:57:19,480
and, and hopefully what I've 
done is I've LED them to a place

1088
00:57:19,480 --> 00:57:21,400
to where I have permission to do
that. 

1089
00:57:21,400 --> 00:57:24,000
Do you want to know why I feel 
the way I do? 

1090
00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:26,960
If they're my testimony after my
leading a conversation to 

1091
00:57:26,960 --> 00:57:29,080
Christ, after I've been praying 
for them, after I've been 

1092
00:57:29,080 --> 00:57:32,400
building this relationship with 
them, that they're at a place to

1093
00:57:32,400 --> 00:57:36,680
where I can share with them the 
real story, My prayers is that 

1094
00:57:36,680 --> 00:57:39,880
they're hungry for it, that they
want it. 

1095
00:57:40,640 --> 00:57:44,200
I can't always make that happen.
It's not up to me, but I want 

1096
00:57:44,200 --> 00:57:45,240
to. 
I want to be there. 

1097
00:57:45,560 --> 00:57:49,480
There's a several reasons why 
they might object and you got to

1098
00:57:49,480 --> 00:57:50,840
recognize some of these are 
legitimate. 

1099
00:57:52,160 --> 00:57:55,120
The fact that some of them are 
going to feel discomfort because

1100
00:57:55,120 --> 00:57:59,400
of the Holy Spirit conviction is
not always pleasant. 

1101
00:58:00,760 --> 00:58:04,800
And so when they start hearing 
truth, it can be like a burning 

1102
00:58:04,800 --> 00:58:08,040
iron up against their skin in 
their heart. 

1103
00:58:08,040 --> 00:58:11,760
It can hurt and they're 
legitimately, I'm not enjoying 

1104
00:58:11,760 --> 00:58:14,600
this. 
I don't want to hear anymore. 

1105
00:58:15,800 --> 00:58:18,920
A lot of people carry guilt. 
A lot of people are carrying a 

1106
00:58:18,920 --> 00:58:21,760
lot of emotional luggage and 
they're just going to feel like 

1107
00:58:21,760 --> 00:58:23,680
you're you're loading up on 
them. 

1108
00:58:24,240 --> 00:58:26,480
And so for some of them, this 
discomfort can actually come 

1109
00:58:26,480 --> 00:58:29,720
from true conviction as well. 
Some of them had bad past 

1110
00:58:29,720 --> 00:58:34,080
experiences. 
A lot of reason I don't, I don't

1111
00:58:34,160 --> 00:58:36,520
know, in this area I should, but
I don't. 

1112
00:58:36,840 --> 00:58:41,080
But the statistic of the 
unchurched in a lot of parts of 

1113
00:58:41,080 --> 00:58:43,840
North Carolina, the majority of 
them are previously churched. 

1114
00:58:45,840 --> 00:58:47,720
And so not all these people are 
lost. 

1115
00:58:48,440 --> 00:58:53,640
They're unchurched, but many of 
them are previously churched and

1116
00:58:53,640 --> 00:58:56,000
so they had a bad experience in 
church. 

1117
00:58:56,440 --> 00:58:59,800
Now I, you know, some of those 
are probably legitimately bad 

1118
00:58:59,800 --> 00:59:03,360
experiences and some of those 
are, are hypersensitivity and 

1119
00:59:03,360 --> 00:59:06,120
excuses for not being in church.
So they arrange that whole 

1120
00:59:06,120 --> 00:59:09,880
continuum of of reality. 
So, so talking through that is 

1121
00:59:09,880 --> 00:59:12,800
sometimes helpful. 
Some people legitimately need 

1122
00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:16,080
time to process. 
This is a big deal and they 

1123
00:59:16,080 --> 00:59:17,520
might have a legitimate 
question. 

1124
00:59:18,280 --> 00:59:20,200
I mean, you got, again, I've 
said this to you before, but you

1125
00:59:20,200 --> 00:59:22,120
think about somebody from a 
different world religion 

1126
00:59:22,120 --> 00:59:23,960
background. 
So my whole life we've been 

1127
00:59:23,960 --> 00:59:25,640
Muslim. 
Everybody I know is Muslim. 

1128
00:59:25,640 --> 00:59:27,200
Everybody in my family is 
Muslim. 

1129
00:59:27,360 --> 00:59:30,760
Grandma was Muslim, grandpa was 
Muslim, great, great grandpa was

1130
00:59:30,760 --> 00:59:32,200
Muslim. 
Mommy and daddy are Muslim, 

1131
00:59:32,200 --> 00:59:34,320
uncle and and are all Muslim. 
Brother and sister all, 

1132
00:59:34,560 --> 00:59:36,000
everybody's Muslim. 
And you're telling me 

1133
00:59:36,000 --> 00:59:37,880
everybody's wrong and they're 
all going to hell and I'm there 

1134
00:59:38,040 --> 00:59:39,080
and you're the only one that's 
right. 

1135
00:59:39,080 --> 00:59:40,160
And I've known you for 10 
minutes. 

1136
00:59:43,160 --> 00:59:47,280
It's a pretty big deal. 
That's amazing anybody like that

1137
00:59:47,280 --> 00:59:51,720
ever gets saved in it. 
That's why God has to do it. 

1138
00:59:52,880 --> 00:59:56,600
So all I can do is share. 
But I can also be sympathetic. 

1139
00:59:56,600 --> 00:59:59,200
I know this is a lot. 
I do. 

1140
00:59:59,400 --> 01:00:01,720
For some people, there's real 
confusion and lack of 

1141
01:00:01,720 --> 01:00:04,240
understanding. 
They don't get it. 

1142
01:00:05,360 --> 01:00:07,600
And sometimes there's a 
disconnect between the message 

1143
01:00:07,600 --> 01:00:09,640
and the messenger. 
This goes back to they know you.

1144
01:00:11,560 --> 01:00:13,080
Who are you to be telling me 
this? 

1145
01:00:13,720 --> 01:00:17,800
I remember when me and you used 
to, or I remember when you used 

1146
01:00:17,800 --> 01:00:22,840
to, and I used to catch you 
stealing my apples from the 

1147
01:00:22,840 --> 01:00:26,320
apple tree. 
Probably not that. 

1148
01:00:31,720 --> 01:00:33,600
And sometimes there's just sin, 
isn't it? 

1149
01:00:35,320 --> 01:00:39,200
They're living in sin. 
Some people like to live in sin.

1150
01:00:40,600 --> 01:00:43,200
The pigpen is a happy place 
until it's not. 

1151
01:00:45,600 --> 01:00:48,280
And so some of them think 
they're having a good time in 

1152
01:00:48,280 --> 01:00:52,040
their sin for now and hadn't 
quite caught up to them yet. 

1153
01:00:52,040 --> 01:00:53,520
And there'll be all kinds of 
others there. 

1154
01:00:54,000 --> 01:00:56,640
So how do I deal with this? 
Well, I, I need to not be afraid

1155
01:00:56,640 --> 01:00:58,880
to state and quote the source of
my authority. 

1156
01:00:58,880 --> 01:01:01,360
I got to go back to that. 
But I also need to assume that 

1157
01:01:01,360 --> 01:01:03,200
they don't necessarily share 
that belief. 

1158
01:01:04,040 --> 01:01:06,640
So I need to really understand 
my belief. 

1159
01:01:06,640 --> 01:01:10,240
I this, I can't drive that home 
enough that no matter what they 

1160
01:01:10,240 --> 01:01:13,840
think, I have the truth, see? 
And so I'm going to listen. 

1161
01:01:13,880 --> 01:01:14,920
I'm going to listen with my 
eyes. 

1162
01:01:14,920 --> 01:01:16,520
I'm going to listen with my 
ears. 

1163
01:01:16,520 --> 01:01:19,320
I'm going to notice that twitch.
I'm going to notice that 

1164
01:01:19,320 --> 01:01:23,520
response that struck home with 
you, didn't it? 

1165
01:01:23,520 --> 01:01:25,600
Now, that one's bouncing off 
your heads when we need to 

1166
01:01:25,600 --> 01:01:28,360
repeat that one. 
But every now and then you'll 

1167
01:01:28,360 --> 01:01:31,560
see that response. 
Sometimes you'll see that tear 

1168
01:01:32,560 --> 01:01:35,520
down their cheek when 
something's happening. 

1169
01:01:37,080 --> 01:01:40,000
So don't become defensive. 
You have the truth whether they 

1170
01:01:40,000 --> 01:01:43,440
believe it or not. 
You don't have to defend God. 

1171
01:01:44,440 --> 01:01:46,440
God's a roaring lion. 
He can defend himself. 

1172
01:01:47,240 --> 01:01:51,240
He's the lion of Judah. 
But at the same time, I'm going 

1173
01:01:51,240 --> 01:01:53,320
to make sure they understand why
you believe what it is. 

1174
01:01:53,320 --> 01:01:56,680
So one of the first lessons 
we're going to have in January 

1175
01:01:56,760 --> 01:02:00,040
is how did we get the Bible and 
the way we have it today? 

1176
01:02:00,800 --> 01:02:04,000
Why is this thing, this book we 
have called the Bible the way it

1177
01:02:04,000 --> 01:02:06,280
is? 
Why are those books in it? 

1178
01:02:06,440 --> 01:02:09,120
Well, I hear about the Da Vinci 
Code or I hear about the Gospel 

1179
01:02:09,120 --> 01:02:11,480
of Thomas and I hear about and 
it's like they just found it. 

1180
01:02:11,480 --> 01:02:14,080
It's really stupid. 
It's so people are so funny. 

1181
01:02:14,080 --> 01:02:17,120
It's like they just found this 
mysterious ancient document 

1182
01:02:17,280 --> 01:02:19,640
that's been around since the 2nd
century and they knew about it 

1183
01:02:19,640 --> 01:02:23,920
since the 2nd century and all of
a sudden Mary Magdalene is 

1184
01:02:23,920 --> 01:02:27,400
Jesus's wife or something. 
That's there's nothing new about

1185
01:02:27,400 --> 01:02:30,800
that at all that's been around 
since the beginning, those kinds

1186
01:02:30,800 --> 01:02:34,000
of those kinds of myths. 
And they disproved those books 

1187
01:02:34,000 --> 01:02:36,400
long time ago. 
But it's just funny. 

1188
01:02:36,400 --> 01:02:37,840
They circulate every now and 
then. 

1189
01:02:37,840 --> 01:02:40,400
They'll be at the airport 
bookstores every now and then, 

1190
01:02:40,400 --> 01:02:43,560
You know, they'll be ATV show at
Christmas and Easter. 

1191
01:02:43,560 --> 01:02:45,560
One of the great television 
stations will have the 

1192
01:02:45,560 --> 01:02:47,600
documentary of who the real 
Jesus is. 

1193
01:02:47,600 --> 01:02:50,560
And they'll paint all these 
pictures based on things they 

1194
01:02:50,560 --> 01:02:53,040
think are brand new that have 
been around for centuries. 

1195
01:02:54,280 --> 01:03:00,200
It's amazing. 
So we want to show respect, but 

1196
01:03:00,200 --> 01:03:03,640
we also want to show confidence.
We need to seek to find, I want 

1197
01:03:03,640 --> 01:03:05,000
to find that common ground with 
them. 

1198
01:03:05,000 --> 01:03:07,280
What can I do to find common 
ground with you so I can be in a

1199
01:03:07,280 --> 01:03:10,080
relationship, a human 
relationship with you and we can

1200
01:03:10,080 --> 01:03:12,560
talk about life. 
So I don't want to become 

1201
01:03:12,560 --> 01:03:16,080
defensive with them, but but 
listen, we may not be able to 

1202
01:03:16,080 --> 01:03:18,160
tell. 
We may not be able to tell 

1203
01:03:18,160 --> 01:03:21,800
people all they want to know, 
but you can tell them what they 

1204
01:03:21,800 --> 01:03:26,480
need to know. 
See, and so I may not be able to

1205
01:03:26,480 --> 01:03:28,400
do everything, but I can tell 
them what they need to know, 

1206
01:03:28,400 --> 01:03:30,920
which is why I better know what 
my gospel presentation is. 

1207
01:03:32,000 --> 01:03:34,880
I better understand what I 
believe that minimum amount is 

1208
01:03:34,880 --> 01:03:36,480
and, and how I'm going to 
present it. 

1209
01:03:36,680 --> 01:03:39,360
I need to recognize the 
obstacles or the objections, but

1210
01:03:39,360 --> 01:03:41,560
I got to stay focused. 
I got to trust in God for this 

1211
01:03:42,040 --> 01:03:47,880
because again, many, many of 
these objections are never even 

1212
01:03:47,880 --> 01:03:49,680
going to occur. 
I don't need to be afraid of 

1213
01:03:49,680 --> 01:03:51,560
these things because most of the
many of these things are never 

1214
01:03:51,560 --> 01:03:53,240
even going to occur. 
If I have the right attitude. 

1215
01:03:53,760 --> 01:03:55,640
If I come in with the right 
attitude, many of these aren't 

1216
01:03:55,640 --> 01:03:59,440
even going to happen. 
And again, remember that most 

1217
01:03:59,440 --> 01:04:02,800
people, and this is I said this,
I don't know how many times, but

1218
01:04:02,800 --> 01:04:05,560
it's just statistical truth, in 
the United States of America, 

1219
01:04:05,880 --> 01:04:09,520
most of the population of 
unchurched or lost people have 

1220
01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:13,040
never, ever, ever in their life 
been confronted with the truth 

1221
01:04:13,040 --> 01:04:16,240
of a whole gospel presentation 
and a personal encounter with 

1222
01:04:16,240 --> 01:04:19,480
somebody who cares about them. 
And so don't assume they know 

1223
01:04:19,480 --> 01:04:20,800
all this. 
They don't know all this. 

1224
01:04:22,000 --> 01:04:23,720
They may think they do. 
I mean, they may know something 

1225
01:04:23,720 --> 01:04:26,960
about Jesus dying on a cross. 
They saw that in a cartoon 

1226
01:04:26,960 --> 01:04:30,200
somewhere. 
Or they may they know that he 

1227
01:04:30,400 --> 01:04:32,680
supposedly rose from the grave. 
But they don't know why. 

1228
01:04:32,680 --> 01:04:34,880
They don't know who he is. 
They don't know why he is. 

1229
01:04:35,440 --> 01:04:36,640
They don't know why that 
matters. 

1230
01:04:36,640 --> 01:04:39,000
Why does it matter that some old
rabbi died on a cross? 

1231
01:04:41,240 --> 01:04:42,560
They don't have a clue who he 
is. 

1232
01:04:43,960 --> 01:04:47,320
So remember that. 
Assume they don't. 

1233
01:04:47,800 --> 01:04:49,720
And again, many of these 
objections are just smoke 

1234
01:04:49,720 --> 01:04:51,040
screens. 
They're not real issues. 

1235
01:04:51,040 --> 01:04:53,640
So dealing with questions we 
can't answer, and one of the 

1236
01:04:53,640 --> 01:04:55,840
things I really try to tell 
people, especially leaders 

1237
01:04:55,840 --> 01:05:00,560
around the world who says we 
have to, I don't have all the 

1238
01:05:00,560 --> 01:05:04,200
answers. 
I'm not going to send the sin of

1239
01:05:04,200 --> 01:05:06,640
omnicompetence. 
I don't know. 

1240
01:05:06,640 --> 01:05:08,800
That's a great question. 
I don't know, that's a good 

1241
01:05:08,800 --> 01:05:10,320
question. 
I've struggled with that one 

1242
01:05:10,320 --> 01:05:11,520
myself. 
I'm just going to be honest with

1243
01:05:11,520 --> 01:05:13,840
him, explain the Trinity to me. 
Well, I don't know if I can do 

1244
01:05:13,840 --> 01:05:19,480
that. 
You know, liquid vapor and ice. 

1245
01:05:19,600 --> 01:05:22,840
No, that's not good enough. 
Father, son, husband. 

1246
01:05:22,840 --> 01:05:26,480
No, that didn't do it. 
It's a mystery. 

1247
01:05:26,480 --> 01:05:28,640
Paul calls it a mystery. 
The Bible calls it a mystery. 

1248
01:05:28,760 --> 01:05:31,080
That's about like, that's about 
like declaring when the second 

1249
01:05:31,080 --> 01:05:33,040
coming is going to come, when 
Jesus says nobody's going to 

1250
01:05:33,040 --> 01:05:34,360
know when the second coming is 
going to come. 

1251
01:05:35,280 --> 01:05:38,200
Paul says this is a mystery. 
See. 

1252
01:05:38,840 --> 01:05:41,600
Yeah, We try. 
And again, avoid emotional 

1253
01:05:41,600 --> 01:05:44,640
confrontations, exercise 
gentleness, check your 

1254
01:05:44,640 --> 01:05:46,400
motivation. 
What's the ultimate mission? 

1255
01:05:46,720 --> 01:05:50,000
The ultimate mission here is to 
get them to where they hear the 

1256
01:05:50,000 --> 01:05:53,600
gospel and they can understand 
the gospel and they can 

1257
01:05:53,600 --> 01:05:56,680
understand the true gospel. 
My my goal in the end is that 

1258
01:05:56,680 --> 01:05:58,800
they'd be safe. 
I can't control that part. 

1259
01:05:59,000 --> 01:06:01,400
All I can control is what I'm 
sharing with them. 

1260
01:06:01,520 --> 01:06:03,200
So I want to try to share with 
them. 

1261
01:06:03,200 --> 01:06:06,560
My goal is that I share with 
them everything I can, whether 

1262
01:06:06,560 --> 01:06:08,960
they get saved or not. 
God has to do that. 

1263
01:06:08,960 --> 01:06:11,640
I'm going to pray for that, beg 
for that, plead for that, but I 

1264
01:06:11,640 --> 01:06:13,840
can't manipulate that. 
I've got to share with them 

1265
01:06:13,840 --> 01:06:15,920
every single thing. 
I can do it in a way to where 

1266
01:06:15,920 --> 01:06:19,200
they understand grace and, and 
again, we focus on that 

1267
01:06:19,200 --> 01:06:21,440
assurance. 
And then what I want to do is I 

1268
01:06:21,440 --> 01:06:23,280
want to close the communication 
loop. 

1269
01:06:23,280 --> 01:06:25,160
And this may seem like it's 
weird to you, but this is the 

1270
01:06:25,160 --> 01:06:27,480
way communication actually 
works, which is why settings 

1271
01:06:27,480 --> 01:06:29,000
like this aren't really 
communication. 

1272
01:06:31,640 --> 01:06:33,920
Real communication requires an 
understanding. 

1273
01:06:34,920 --> 01:06:37,400
The goal of communication is not
that I dumped a bunch of 

1274
01:06:37,400 --> 01:06:40,240
information on you. 
The goal is that you understood 

1275
01:06:40,240 --> 01:06:43,480
what I said. 
There's a big difference between

1276
01:06:43,480 --> 01:06:47,040
those two things. 
And so I need to constantly be 

1277
01:06:47,040 --> 01:06:51,000
asking the questions of what do 
you think I just said and what 

1278
01:06:51,000 --> 01:06:53,960
did that just mean? 
Just like I'm dealing with a 

1279
01:06:53,960 --> 01:06:57,160
child. 
What does Jesus die on the cross

1280
01:06:57,160 --> 01:06:59,360
mean to you, which is one of the
cool things. 

1281
01:06:59,360 --> 01:07:01,480
Last time I showed you some of 
those tools, I showed you the 

1282
01:07:01,480 --> 01:07:04,680
perspective cards where you kind
of create a hand of worldview. 

1283
01:07:04,680 --> 01:07:07,920
How do you view Jesus? 
How do you view man, etcetera. 

1284
01:07:08,040 --> 01:07:10,200
So you get this idea of their 
belief system. 

1285
01:07:10,760 --> 01:07:13,040
It's a campers crusade tool for 
those who weren't a part of 

1286
01:07:13,040 --> 01:07:14,560
that. 
But but to think about that, 

1287
01:07:14,560 --> 01:07:16,560
that's really helpful. 
So I can really kind of know. 

1288
01:07:16,560 --> 01:07:19,680
So this is who you think he is 
and this is because otherwise 

1289
01:07:19,680 --> 01:07:23,840
I've got to ask him who do you 
think Jesus is rather than me 

1290
01:07:23,840 --> 01:07:25,520
just tell you this is who Jesus 
is. 

1291
01:07:26,000 --> 01:07:30,120
I also want to know what you 
think about Him 'cause that's 

1292
01:07:30,120 --> 01:07:33,600
going to tell me where you are. 
And again, I don't want to burn 

1293
01:07:33,600 --> 01:07:35,440
the bridge. 
The relationship is the bridge. 

1294
01:07:36,000 --> 01:07:37,560
This may not be the day of 
harvest. 

1295
01:07:38,760 --> 01:07:41,240
So all I can do is intentionally
prepare for and pursue 

1296
01:07:41,240 --> 01:07:43,720
opportunities to share the 
gospel with those who don't know

1297
01:07:43,720 --> 01:07:46,360
Jesus Christ in the power of the
Holy Spirit and the results up 

1298
01:07:46,360 --> 01:07:49,160
to Him. 
And so I'm going to take the 

1299
01:07:49,160 --> 01:07:52,080
initiative. 
I'm going to share and recognize

1300
01:07:52,080 --> 01:07:55,520
God's at work, and then again, 
I'm going to invite them to join

1301
01:07:55,600 --> 01:07:58,280
us. 
They need to be invited to come.

1302
01:07:59,720 --> 01:08:03,720
They need to be invited to come 
to church and to fellowship, to 

1303
01:08:03,720 --> 01:08:09,160
experience it and recognize that
I I may not be the only person 

1304
01:08:09,160 --> 01:08:10,960
in their life who's trying to 
share with them. 

1305
01:08:10,960 --> 01:08:14,080
Part of my prayer for a lot of 
lost people is that I'm not the 

1306
01:08:14,080 --> 01:08:17,840
only Christian in their life. 
That was a prayer I had to pray 

1307
01:08:17,840 --> 01:08:22,880
for my mom and dad. 
A wise pastor sat me down one 

1308
01:08:22,880 --> 01:08:27,200
day and chewed me out for being 
stupid and which wasn't a hard 

1309
01:08:27,200 --> 01:08:29,319
thing to do. 
And he told me. 

1310
01:08:29,319 --> 01:08:31,960
He said, Johnny, you're 
probably, and you may not be the

1311
01:08:31,960 --> 01:08:33,840
one who can lead your parents to
Jesus. 

1312
01:08:35,319 --> 01:08:37,040
I said they need other people in
their life. 

1313
01:08:38,399 --> 01:08:41,920
You're too close and you've done
some dumb things. 

1314
01:08:43,600 --> 01:08:48,560
And so I appreciate the fact 
that we're all in a network and 

1315
01:08:48,560 --> 01:08:50,880
I don't always know. 
I don't always know what God's 

1316
01:08:50,880 --> 01:08:56,120
doing, you know, and who else is
a part of it, but I want to be a

1317
01:08:56,120 --> 01:08:59,279
part of it. 
And, and inviting them to your 

1318
01:08:59,279 --> 01:09:01,640
connect group, inviting them to 
the church experience is going 

1319
01:09:01,640 --> 01:09:04,200
to be important. 
And so for them to come and to 

1320
01:09:04,200 --> 01:09:07,399
see what it looks like, to see 
that you're not the only crazy 

1321
01:09:07,399 --> 01:09:10,080
person in the world who believes
in Jesus anymore. 

1322
01:09:10,680 --> 01:09:12,600
I mean, I'm not kidding you. 
There are people who don't 

1323
01:09:12,600 --> 01:09:16,319
understand that churches have 
people in them because every 

1324
01:09:16,319 --> 01:09:19,760
other church they've seen is 
empty or the bar that they go to

1325
01:09:19,760 --> 01:09:23,240
their favorite bars in an old 
church building because the 

1326
01:09:23,240 --> 01:09:26,359
number one use of an old church 
building is a bar or restaurant.

1327
01:09:27,920 --> 01:09:30,960
And so they, they don't even 
they don't understand that there

1328
01:09:30,960 --> 01:09:33,680
aren't, there's that you, there 
are actually people in church 

1329
01:09:33,680 --> 01:09:37,520
who aren't old, old men and old 
women filling up a couple of 

1330
01:09:37,520 --> 01:09:39,800
pews because that's a lot of 
times what their experience has 

1331
01:09:39,800 --> 01:09:42,279
been at a funeral or a wedding 
or whatever. 

1332
01:09:43,319 --> 01:09:45,640
So for them to actually 
understand that the church can 

1333
01:09:45,640 --> 01:09:48,920
be loving and dynamic and an 
important part of their life. 

1334
01:09:49,040 --> 01:09:54,520
So now go back to your worksheet
and you see your outline table. 

1335
01:09:55,640 --> 01:09:59,480
You see your gospel stories, 
you've seen and heard some of 

1336
01:09:59,480 --> 01:10:01,480
the things that I would make 
sure you emphasize. 

1337
01:10:01,480 --> 01:10:04,040
So you would want to complete 
your own table with more things 

1338
01:10:04,040 --> 01:10:05,440
than I probably have right 
there. 

1339
01:10:05,960 --> 01:10:09,960
And you want to begin working on
how would you define sin? 

1340
01:10:10,640 --> 01:10:15,480
How would you define grace? 
How would you define faith? 

1341
01:10:16,080 --> 01:10:20,800
How would you define God? 
How would you define Jesus and 

1342
01:10:20,800 --> 01:10:23,760
these lists of things, how would
you share that with somebody? 

1343
01:10:23,760 --> 01:10:27,520
This is what the Bible says 
about sin. 

1344
01:10:28,280 --> 01:10:31,240
This is what the Bible says 
about grace. 

1345
01:10:31,800 --> 01:10:34,440
This is why I believe the Bible 
is what it is. 

1346
01:10:35,520 --> 01:10:40,360
And so for you to work out these
these sentences that that that's

1347
01:10:40,360 --> 01:10:44,400
going to be the natural gospel 
presentation from you rather 

1348
01:10:44,400 --> 01:10:47,480
than reciting what some booklet 
says, rather than reciting what 

1349
01:10:47,480 --> 01:10:51,200
somebody else wrote for you to 
say, no, no, this is this is the

1350
01:10:51,200 --> 01:10:54,480
by the biblical definition, this
is how I would describe sin. 

1351
01:10:56,040 --> 01:10:57,840
It becomes natural and you 
already have it. 

1352
01:10:58,480 --> 01:10:59,960
So we're talking about 
memorizing something. 

1353
01:11:00,480 --> 01:11:02,000
See, it's already in here. 
It's yours. 

1354
01:11:02,440 --> 01:11:05,360
It's already yours. 
I don't I don't have to work on.

1355
01:11:05,720 --> 01:11:07,160
OK. 
So then it's, you know, it's for

1356
01:11:07,600 --> 01:11:11,960
you know, it's there. 
Make it natural, make it real, 

1357
01:11:11,960 --> 01:11:14,480
make it authentic. 
Live this. 

1358
01:11:15,280 --> 01:11:18,480
So you need to live by those 
definitions too. 

1359
01:11:18,600 --> 01:11:20,640
I really do believe that this is
what sin is. 

1360
01:11:20,640 --> 01:11:25,240
That applies to me too. 
I really do believe that that's 

1361
01:11:25,240 --> 01:11:28,240
this is what the Bible is and 
that applies to me too. 

1362
01:11:29,480 --> 01:11:32,120
It's not just something I'm 
trying to download on somebody 

1363
01:11:32,120 --> 01:11:34,480
else. 
This is what guides my life. 

1364
01:11:36,000 --> 01:11:40,520
And so as I encounter lost 
people and I think about how the

1365
01:11:40,520 --> 01:11:44,000
Holy Spirit may be orchestrating
opportunities for me to actually

1366
01:11:44,000 --> 01:11:49,280
share with them, I need to be 
aware of the fact that I think 

1367
01:11:49,280 --> 01:11:52,600
lost people are pretty capable 
of smelling fake 1,000,000 miles

1368
01:11:52,600 --> 01:11:58,600
away. 
Real, authentic, loving 

1369
01:11:59,040 --> 01:12:02,720
conversations. 
And so that's how we have to 

1370
01:12:02,720 --> 01:12:06,000
engage. 
And in closing, I just want to 

1371
01:12:06,000 --> 01:12:07,560
challenge you. 
Don't be afraid. 

1372
01:12:09,720 --> 01:12:15,760
Don't be afraid. 
I was sharing with the staff the

1373
01:12:15,760 --> 01:12:19,640
other day and I was sharing with
Jonathan Taylor about this 

1374
01:12:19,960 --> 01:12:26,840
yesterday. 
Don't don't ever take for 

1375
01:12:26,840 --> 01:12:29,160
granted what you're seeing 
around you right now. 

1376
01:12:31,040 --> 01:12:34,200
It may not seem like much yet. 
I think we're just getting 

1377
01:12:34,200 --> 01:12:38,240
started. 
But when you think about the 

1378
01:12:38,240 --> 01:12:44,680
number of people that were 
worshipping here a year ago and 

1379
01:12:44,680 --> 01:12:50,600
the fact that we had over 1000 
worshipping here last Sunday and

1380
01:12:50,600 --> 01:12:52,640
I'm I'm not here about those 
numbers. 

1381
01:12:53,080 --> 01:12:56,200
I'm here about what God's doing.
Don't take it for granted. 

1382
01:12:56,760 --> 01:12:59,240
Don't take that for granted. 
That is disturbing to us that 

1383
01:12:59,240 --> 01:13:04,480
the baptistry Saran wrap this 
Sunday and that we're more than 

1384
01:13:04,480 --> 01:13:08,880
doubling the number of people 
who were baptized last year and 

1385
01:13:08,880 --> 01:13:11,560
that our giving is up for the 
first time in three years. 

1386
01:13:12,720 --> 01:13:16,040
And that just, and again, this, 
I'm using quantitative 

1387
01:13:16,240 --> 01:13:21,960
expressions to express a 
qualitative recognition that 

1388
01:13:21,960 --> 01:13:27,320
God's doing something. 
So if God's doing something 

1389
01:13:27,320 --> 01:13:31,880
here, I think God wants to use 
you to do something out there. 

1390
01:13:32,680 --> 01:13:35,440
Don't be afraid. 
He's, he's way ahead of you. 

1391
01:13:36,320 --> 01:13:38,640
He's already got people he wants
to draw to Englewood. 

1392
01:13:39,160 --> 01:13:41,160
He's already got people he wants
to save. 

1393
01:13:41,560 --> 01:13:44,400
He's already got people that are
because this church is ready to 

1394
01:13:44,400 --> 01:13:46,480
be a spiritual nursery for new 
babies. 

1395
01:13:47,560 --> 01:13:49,960
And he's already got people who 
need to come here to be 

1396
01:13:49,960 --> 01:13:52,360
discipled. 
So don't be afraid. 

1397
01:13:53,040 --> 01:13:56,680
You're going in the power of the
Holy Spirit and he's at work 

1398
01:13:56,680 --> 01:13:58,360
here. 
His hand is on us. 

1399
01:13:58,920 --> 01:14:02,320
So let's not blow it. 
Let's cherish it. 

1400
01:14:02,760 --> 01:14:06,160
Let's praise him for it and 
rejoice in it, right? 

1401
01:14:07,280 --> 01:14:08,960
Because I think we're just 
getting started. 

1402
01:14:10,320 --> 01:14:13,880
So we're going to celebrate his 
birth this coming Sunday. 

1403
01:14:13,880 --> 01:14:15,640
Just get ready now, parents, 
don't worry. 

1404
01:14:15,640 --> 01:14:18,120
I'm not going to defy your 
traditions. 

1405
01:14:18,640 --> 01:14:22,000
But the message is called myths,
materialism, and the Messiah. 

1406
01:14:22,480 --> 01:14:24,680
We're going to talk about all 
kinds of things about Christmas 

1407
01:14:24,680 --> 01:14:28,040
this Sunday morning. 
And so it'll be a lot of fun. 

1408
01:14:28,040 --> 01:14:30,280
Bring your friends. 
They're going to learn something

1409
01:14:30,280 --> 01:14:33,680
that didn't ever know about 
Christmas, probably. 

1410
01:14:33,720 --> 01:14:36,480
So we'll do that. 
Father, thank you. 

1411
01:14:38,640 --> 01:14:40,960
Thank you that we could just 
spend a few moments together to 

1412
01:14:40,960 --> 01:14:47,840
talk about talking about you. 
Father, I just, I just believe 

1413
01:14:47,840 --> 01:14:52,920
there are are not just a few. 
I think there are thousands, 

1414
01:14:54,400 --> 01:14:59,320
thousands of people that you're 
ready to harvest right here, not

1415
01:14:59,320 --> 01:15:03,960
somewhere else, but right here, 
right in this area. 

1416
01:15:05,160 --> 01:15:09,120
And so, Father, I pray that we 
will be submissive enough and 

1417
01:15:09,120 --> 01:15:13,600
obedient enough to be used. 
So Father, help us to be aware 

1418
01:15:13,600 --> 01:15:18,120
of those encounters, help us to 
pursue them, help us to develop 

1419
01:15:18,120 --> 01:15:20,760
relationships. 
But Father, more than anything, 

1420
01:15:20,760 --> 01:15:24,520
help us to be an intentional 
relationship with you, walking 

1421
01:15:24,520 --> 01:15:27,480
with you, abiding in you, so 
that when we encounter people, 

1422
01:15:27,680 --> 01:15:31,280
it's the most natural 
overflowing experience we could 

1423
01:15:31,280 --> 01:15:33,720
ever have. 
We're just going to share with 

1424
01:15:33,720 --> 01:15:37,000
them what we're going through. 
Just share with them what you're

1425
01:15:37,000 --> 01:15:39,680
doing in us. 
That's what we want to tell 

1426
01:15:39,680 --> 01:15:43,480
them. 
Real authentic Christianity, 

1427
01:15:44,120 --> 01:15:48,160
true discipleship. 
Walking with you and Father, 

1428
01:15:48,160 --> 01:15:50,320
you're going to draw them. 
That is going to be so 

1429
01:15:50,320 --> 01:15:53,200
attractive. 
That's going to be so enticing. 

1430
01:15:53,480 --> 01:15:56,480
That's going to be, that's going
to be like water to a thirsty 

1431
01:15:56,480 --> 01:15:58,880
person, food to someone starving
to death. 

1432
01:15:59,160 --> 01:16:00,760
And Father, you're going to draw
them in. 

1433
01:16:01,600 --> 01:16:04,880
So Lord, we just want to be 
careful that we recognize that 

1434
01:16:04,880 --> 01:16:08,560
you are the one who was doing 
this, and we give you all the 

1435
01:16:08,560 --> 01:16:11,120
praise and the glory. 
Help us to celebrate you well 

1436
01:16:11,120 --> 01:16:15,000
this season in Christ's name, 
Amen. 

1437
01:16:15,840 --> 01:16:20,840
God bless you all. 
Thank you so much for listening 

1438
01:16:20,840 --> 01:16:22,480
today. 
And I also hope that you'll go 

1439
01:16:22,480 --> 01:16:24,680
to 
ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 

1440
01:16:24,680 --> 01:16:27,760
as well as our app and find many
other resources that will bless 

1441
01:16:27,760 --> 01:16:29,920
you and your families. 
Thank you once again.