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Hey everybody, this is Pastor 
John Ewart from Englewood 

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Baptist Church in Rocky 
Mountain, North Carolina. 

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Thank you so much for tuning 
into our podcast. 

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

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about important issues facing 
your life that can guide you 

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according to the Bible. 
Well, so those I just want to 

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thank you all for being here. 
Live with me. 

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It's always good to see all of 
you here. 

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And, and then I also want to 
thank those who are listening 

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online to the podcasts that 
we're generating out of this. 

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I also want to just remind 
everyone that there's some new 

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podcasts that'll be coming out 
very, very soon. 

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We're actually recording a 
podcast about engaging the 

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Bible. 
How do I do that on a personal 

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level? 
In other words, how do I have 

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the very best personal Bible 
study? 

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How do I know how to interpret 
Scripture and apply Scripture in

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my life? 
And then how do I know how to 

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teach other people? 
That's going to be coming out in

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a podcast soon. 
In fact, Pastor Jordan and I 

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recorded one episode today with 
Danny Akin, and others will be 

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joining us for that. 
So you'll all be watching for 

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that as well as those who are 
listening to this. 

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We have folks who are serving. 
In fact, we appreciate very much

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the number that we've had some 
increase in those who are 

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serving like an marijuana's 
program. 

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And so we, we, we, we thank 
them, but they're not in here, 

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they're over there. 
But we appreciate all the of you

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who are serving that way. 
And I know some people need to 

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listen to this recording because
right now they're in other 

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places serving around the 
building. 

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So, so very thankful for for 
that. 

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You know, if I was going to sit 
there and say, and I tried to 

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say this Sunday that if I 
thought there was a session, you

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really needed to make sure that 
you were paying attention to 

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this is this is one of two of 
them. 

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All of them are important. 
And just to give you an idea of 

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what's coming, because remember,
I'm stair stepping this process 

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down the road to several of you 
have asked me these questions 

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down the road I am going to 
address how do I share with 

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people from special backgrounds 
or special life situations. 

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For example, how do I share with
family? 

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Sometimes that's hard. 
How do I share with Co workers, 

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but also how would I share from 
somebody from a different 

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religion? 
And then also how would I share 

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with somebody from an 
alternative lifestyle that is 

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not necessarily with the one 
that we're living. 

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And so I know several people who
are working with people who are 

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in various communities and 
identities. 

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And so how do I share the gospel
with them as well. 

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So we're going to be talking 
about that and more down the 

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road, but we want to get there. 
So if you've missed the 

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episodes, you need to go back 
and listen because we did a 

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biblical and theological 
foundation. 

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We've also talked about some pre
evangelism. 

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How do I actually develop 
relationships with lost people? 

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And I appreciated there were 
people who came up to me who 

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were very convicted about that. 
And it's just we're open and 

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transparent sharing that I'm not
doing that enough. 

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And then also, how do we pray 
for our lost friends and family?

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So now we're in a place where 
we're in a conversation or we're

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in a relationship with a lost 
person. 

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That's the state that we're 
talking about. 

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So now what do I do? 
And one of the biggest hurdles 

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for a lot of people, not maybe, 
maybe not you, because we also 

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talked about the personal 
barriers last time that we have 

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concerning fear, apathy, 
busyness, introspection, 

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etcetera, and ignorance. 
How do I overcome some of these 

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barriers that keep me from 
sharing my faith? 

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And so part of what we're 
talking about now, So now I'm 

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here in this relationship with a
lost person. 

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I'm primarily talking about 
people that you see on a regular

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basis, although it could be that
person X that I hope you're 

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praying for, that we talked 
about last time, that person 

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that you'll meet today, that 
person you don't know, that 

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person I that you're praying 
that God would put into your 

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path, I hope. 
But we're also just talking 

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about your neighbor. 
We're talking about your Co 

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worker, we're talking about your
family member. 

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We're talking about somebody you
might seem more than once, you 

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know, so I'm in this 
relationship. 

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So how do, how do we do this? 
So part of what we're talking 

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about is how do I then lead this
conversation to Christ? 

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So how do we move from praying 
for the lost? 

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How do I move from that and 
talking about the weather or 

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whatever it is to actually 
sharing Christ? 

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And so you just need to 
recognize, and I'm, I'm going to

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take this slowly because you 
can't rush through this. 

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That second point on the that 
you're seeing is incredibly 

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important. 
I'm presuming that you're 

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praying, I'm presuming that 
you're actually intentionally 

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trying to build this 
relationship. 

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I'm not sure that what I'm about
to say to you will work if 

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you're not doing that. 
And so you've got to understand 

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that each step is crucial to 
this. 

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I, I can't save people, I can't 
convict people, I can't make 

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people want to be saved, right? 
In fact, if I could do that, it 

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would be fake. 
And so God the Holy Spirit has 

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to do this, which means that the
Holy Spirit has to be all over 

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this situation, which means I 
better be praying and better be 

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understanding the biblical and 
theological foundations under 

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girding all of this situation. 
Does that all make sense? 

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So this relationship, number one
drives relationship #2 my 

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relationship with God and His 
people drives my relationship 

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with the world and its people. 
And that's going to come up here

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in just a second in a huge 
practical way. 

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And I may trap you in a minute. 
So get ready because we're, 

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we're stair stepping our way 
into this. 

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So I'm presuming that you're 
praying hard for whoever this 

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is, whether that's your buddy, 
your neighbor, or person X. 

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You've been praying for them and
you're praying that way. 

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So your heart and your mind, 
you're ready. 

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You're, you're, you're in a good
spot with God. 

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And so you're going to be the 
best conduit of power that you 

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can possibly be. 
And that's important. 

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The conduit needs to be clear. 
And if God's going to use you, 

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you need to be usable. 
So there there's a profound 

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theological statement. 
So let me show you a model that 

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a friend of mine that I've 
mentioned to you before, Tim 

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Booker, who also talked to us in
the last episode about our 

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barriers, but he also has an 
outline. 

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This isn't my outline, but I 
just want to give it to you 

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because you might find this one 
more helpful than what I'm going

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to say. 
And he talks about exploring, 

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stimulating, and sharing. 
So in other words, you explore 

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the relationship with this 
person. 

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You're getting to know them. 
And these are the everything 

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about this is true and 
everything about this is good. 

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In other words, I actually am in
a relationship with this person.

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This isn't just a target. 
This isn't just project #32 this

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is a real human being. 
Jesus didn't treat people like 

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project #32 neither does Paul. 
He, he, he's, he's actually 

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trying to engage with them in a 
real human relationship. 

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And so I'm getting to know them.
I'm asking them questions, I'm 

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listening. 
And that word listen is huge in 

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this. 
In fact, if we're going to talk 

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about evangelism in a pre 
Christian post postmodern 

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culture, listening is one of the
greatest tools and it's one that

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we don't pay enough attention to
because we're so monologically 

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driven. 
Listen to me, listen to me. 

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And we're trying to present, 
we're trying to do content dump 

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and sometimes we need to be 
quiet. 

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I have a big sign in my office. 
It's down on the floor so it 

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doesn't offend anybody who walks
in there because it's not 

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directed towards you. 
It's directed toward me. 

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It's a big old metal sign on a 
bottom shelf in my office. 

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Is never miss a good chance to 
shut up. 

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OK, so you're you often need to 
ask yourself the question, why 

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am I talking? 
Why am I not listening? 

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All right, because that that's 
an authentic relationship. 

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And so I need to listen and then
I'm going to stimulate. 

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In other words, I'm trying to 
raise the interest in spiritual 

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matters with simple questions 
and then I'm going to share. 

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I want to respond to their needs
and I want to seek to apply the 

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gospel where they are, where in 
where they're living, what based

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upon what I'm learning about 
them. 

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It's going to help me know how 
to share with them the truths of

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the gospel. 
Now, I'm going to break this out

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in much more detail and it's 
going to take a long time. 

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Now, it's going to take a minute
to do it. 

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So what you're going to notice 
on your listening guide and and 

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this is no accident that this 
outline spells out what reach 

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every outline I use spells out. 
Guess what? 

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Yeah, that's because it's easy 
for me to remember. 

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OK, there's no trickery. 
That's just sheer, you know, 

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limited brain power. 
So to to help me and remember 

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these things, I spell this out 
to where I can kind of remember 

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this and pray through this. 
So what I'm about to show you 

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isn't a isn't necessarily a 
technique or a method. 

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This is this is actually, these 
are prayer requests, but this is

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also just who you need to 
become. 

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Because again, my goal isn't to 
teach you to do evangelism. 

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My goal is to teach you how to 
live it, how to be it, which is 

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why we talk about the essential 
of discipleship being living out

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of evangelism with with that 
sense of boldness. 

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So we want to talk about that 
boldness and love. 

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So when we talk about leading a 
conversation to Christ, let's 

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just start at the very 
beginning. 

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We're not this, this first point
I'm going to share with you is 

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not about spiritual things. 
So I want us to recognize the 

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opportunity. 
And you might think this is 

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silly, but it's not. 
I'm telling you, I've shared 

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this with you before. 
I've often believed, still 

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believe that one of the greatest
courses I could ever teach is 

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how to have, how to have sane 
human conversations with other 

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human beings. 
And our culture today that is 

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almost foreign anymore, right? 
And so how can we have good 

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things? 
So part of what I'm praying, 

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remember, I'm praying before 
this, right? 

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Everybody got that You're not 
praying. 

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I don't know if his works you, 
you understand the Bible is 

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telling us to do this. 
We talked about that episode 1. 

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We're praying. 
We're, we're, we're asking God 

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to help us with the fear, the 
nervousness, the ignorance, the,

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the, the introspection, which if
you missed that, it just means I

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don't think I'm good enough to 
do this. 

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I saw a prayer request on our 
prayer list tonight where 

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somebody was praying for 
somebody who didn't think they 

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were worthy to be saved. 
That's introspection. 

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I'm too bad I'm too much of A 
Sinner for God to use me to do 

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anything like this, right? 
So I'm recognizing the 

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opportunity. 
I'm asking God to sharpen my 

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spiritual senses. 
And this is where if you pray 

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with that prayer guide I've 
given you in the past to where I

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start my day or I start my focus
by praying for lost people by 

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name. 
I'm praying for person. 

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Next I'm going to meet. 
So when I hit the gas station or

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when I hit the restaurant or 
when I'm at the Walmarts, as we 

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used to say back home, at back 
home, you get up of the morning 

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and you go to the Walmarts. 
And so, even though there's only

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one of them that, you know, goes
to where we're from, but there's

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like, and, and it was a small 
one, but anyway, so you go to 

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Walmart, but wherever I'm going,
I want to encounter person X 

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And, and I don't, I don't want 
to just treat them like person 

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XII see them in a different 
light. 

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Who, why am I meeting this 
person? 

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So, so we're, we're in Nashville
the other day and I dropped 

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Teresa off because she wants to 
mail her mommy a big box of 

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encouragement. 
Her mom has Parkinson's and, and

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is not doing great. 
So we just wanted to mail her a 

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big box of encouragement. 
That's what Teresa put together.

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And so we go to the post office 
and of course, you know, I just 

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want to sit in the truck while 
she goes in and mails the box 

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because I figured it's going to 
take her about 45 minutes. 

225
00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:51,840
So I'm sitting in the truck. 
It was a good sized box and 

226
00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:53,880
she's only in there for a few 
minutes and she comes out, she 

227
00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,720
goes, you got to come in here. 
You need to come in here as I 

228
00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:57,840
throw my wedding ring on the 
floor. 

229
00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:00,520
You got to come here. 
It's better than my belt. 

230
00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,200
So you've been here for that 
day. 

231
00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:09,840
Yeah, it's better than my belt. 
But anyway, so, so, so she says 

232
00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:11,360
you need to come in and meet 
these folks. 

233
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:16,160
And I'm like, what has she done?
You know, and of course I go in 

234
00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,960
there and she's, you know, 
Englewood, Englewood, Englewood.

235
00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:20,720
Y'all need to come to Englewood.
Everybody needs to come to 

236
00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:21,720
Englewood. 
Everybody, you know, you're 

237
00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:23,320
Inglewood. 
And so I'm like, so you're the 

238
00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:25,440
pastor of Englewood. 
And of course I'm in my ball cap

239
00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,160
and T-shirt and like, yeah, I'm 
the pastor of Englewood. 

240
00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:34,480
Come watch Quasimodo preach. 
But anyway, so, but I mean, 

241
00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,840
she's just all over it, see. 
And then we're at one of the 

242
00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,080
diners, I won't say which one 
because everybody has their 

243
00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:41,760
favorite. 
And you think Dallas Cowboys got

244
00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:43,400
me in trouble. 
I should just name a diner. 

245
00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,280
And so we're at one of those 
meeting one of the new 

246
00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:48,760
waitresses, because we meet all 
the waitresses and they all know

247
00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:52,040
who I am and they all stop at 
the table and they're asking us 

248
00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:54,840
for, you know, we're checking on
prayer requests and their 

249
00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:57,680
husbands and, and everybody 
who's sick and their families 

250
00:12:57,680 --> 00:12:58,880
and all this stuff at these 
places. 

251
00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:05,120
So how am I seeing these people?
How am I going through life? 

252
00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:11,840
Am I going through life so 
rapidly to where I'm absolutely 

253
00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:15,160
missing out on the billions of 
opportunities that God's 

254
00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:17,440
throwing right in my pathway, 
right. 

255
00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,720
Because I'm so I'm so wound up 
with me. 

256
00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:26,520
I'm so wound up with my To Do 
List, Then I'm just, I'm just 

257
00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,920
missing it. 
So I want to recognize the 

258
00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:31,720
opportunity. 
So I've got to deal with a 

259
00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:33,120
burden. 
And there's that word you got to

260
00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:37,280
pray because I don't believe. 
I mean, I wish I could. 

261
00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,520
I wish I could take burden and 
just stuff it inside of you. 

262
00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:43,680
If I could do that, I would. 
You wouldn't like it, but I'd do

263
00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:46,400
it. 
I'd hold you down and I'd stuff 

264
00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:48,800
it in there. 
But it doesn't do any good and 

265
00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:52,320
just makes you mad. 
So the Holy Spirit has to do 

266
00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,440
that. 
The Holy Spirit has to make you 

267
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,000
care and the Holy Spirit has to 
have and has to sharpen your 

268
00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,320
senses. 
And I believe that you all care.

269
00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:01,320
You wouldn't be here listening 
to this, right? 

270
00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:03,440
So we're all in this boat. 
So we want to do this. 

271
00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:05,760
We, we want to, we want to be 
proactive. 

272
00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:08,160
Now, one of the ways to help 
you, and this is one of the 

273
00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:12,080
reasons why we have entry level 
outreach type process is like 

274
00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,360
reach. 
Reach isn't necessarily 

275
00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:16,640
evangelism. 
Reach is just inviting people to

276
00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,360
come to church, just inviting 
people to join your connect 

277
00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:21,800
groups and some of your connect 
groups don't have enough room 

278
00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:24,600
already because of it. 
We've had a 40 plus percent 

279
00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:26,320
increase in our connect group 
attendance. 

280
00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,880
And so, so one of the things 
that we're seeing is we're, 

281
00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:31,920
we're trying to figure out 
schedules in space. 

282
00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:35,480
And so, but it's just not reach.
It's just, you know, hey, we're 

283
00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,200
having a good time. 
Come and join us with our good 

284
00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:38,400
time. 
You need to meet this group of 

285
00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:40,040
people. 
They'll love you, you'll love 

286
00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:41,240
them. 
Let's have a good time together.

287
00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:43,760
So it's just outreach. 
But by participating in that, 

288
00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:48,080
what it does is it shifts our 
mindset from an inward focus to 

289
00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:49,360
an outward focus. 
That's it. 

290
00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:53,200
I'm praying for people, inviting
people, encouraging people to be

291
00:14:53,200 --> 00:14:55,520
here. 
When we will make 1000 contexts,

292
00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,640
we're going to figure out that 
500 of them probably go to other

293
00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:00,640
churches or, or, or something 
else. 

294
00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:02,400
And that'd be great. 
We need to know that so that we 

295
00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:03,880
won't bother for me, we need to 
know that, right? 

296
00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:06,920
We need to figure this out and 
in this one time kind of deal. 

297
00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:09,720
And so we need everybody on 
board, but it's just outward 

298
00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:12,560
focus, loving people, 
encouraging people to come. 

299
00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,600
But it when you do that, it 
helps the mindset to pray. 

300
00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:19,240
It helps the mindset to reach 
out. 

301
00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:21,080
It helps that mindset a little 
bit. 

302
00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:23,800
And and then just remember the 
abiding connection. 

303
00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:27,240
Never forget. 
And I've worn this verse out 

304
00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:29,920
with you a little bit probably. 
But John 15 five, just don't 

305
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:36,920
forget this abiding connection 
that we are simply a, a, a part 

306
00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:38,840
of the vine, right? 
He's the vine. 

307
00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:42,080
We're just an extension of him. 
That's all that we, we're just 

308
00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:47,000
the branches and whoever abides 
in, in him and, and, and he 

309
00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:50,800
abides in us, then we can bear 
fruit. 

310
00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,520
And that really is the key. 
It's relationship #1 the more 

311
00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:57,480
I'm in with him and the more 
he's in me, the more fruit 

312
00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:02,160
that's going to get more going 
to get born, bared, bared born 

313
00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:05,960
going to be there. 
All right, I'm telling you, I'm 

314
00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:08,720
from Oklahoma. 
So I think we, we borned it or 

315
00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,120
something. 
But anyway, so more fruit, you 

316
00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:13,560
know, it's going to come and, 
and, but apart from him, we 

317
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:15,320
can't do anything. 
And we've got to recognize this 

318
00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:17,560
is, this is truth. 
This isn't just a verse thrown 

319
00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,120
in there for, for, for the heck 
of it. 

320
00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:23,560
This is the fact, this is a real
verse and it's a real truth that

321
00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:29,080
apart from him, we really can't.
So this first point is just real

322
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:34,720
that recognize the fact that 
what I'm praying for is that 

323
00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:38,640
Holy Spirit, you will hit me 
upside the head and help me to 

324
00:16:38,640 --> 00:16:41,320
recognize that this is an 
opportunity, right? 

325
00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:43,760
And I'm not just going to slide 
by it so fast. 

326
00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:45,600
And God, I'm asking you to do 
that. 

327
00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:48,440
In fact, I'm begging you to do 
that. 

328
00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:52,600
I, I want your connect groups to
beg God that there will be brand

329
00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:56,120
new people there Sunday, that 
that's the kind of prayer I want

330
00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:58,560
us to see. 
I don't care how crowded it is. 

331
00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:00,840
I don't care how many years we 
got to stuff in there. 

332
00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,440
You're begging more people to 
come study the word of God. 

333
00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:09,520
But in the same way, Lord, help 
me to recognize, wait a minute, 

334
00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:11,880
I'm in this conversation with 
this person. 

335
00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:14,359
I need to do something with this
conversation. 

336
00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:16,880
This is a moment, this is an 
opportunity. 

337
00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,920
The bells ringing off on my soul
and my spirit here. 

338
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,680
All right, big boy, I've given 
you this opportunity. 

339
00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,440
Don't miss this because I'm, I'm
telling you in our world today 

340
00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,520
and, and, and then, and then 
somebody was telling me the 

341
00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:36,080
other day that they were, they 
were very convicted to the point

342
00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:39,560
of emotionally convicted that 
they knew they had missed one 

343
00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:43,600
and they were talking to me. 
But I, I should and I knew I 

344
00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:45,520
should. 
And I as soon as it was over, I 

345
00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,360
realized. 
And So what we want to do is 

346
00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:51,240
just be proactive enough to 
where we don't miss as many of 

347
00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:53,680
them. 
All right, simple .1. 

348
00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,920
We're not even, we're not even 
talking about a cross yet. 

349
00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:59,280
We're not even talking about the
Bible yet. 

350
00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:01,680
We're just recognizing 
opportunities. 

351
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:03,400
Now. 
Step 2 then. 

352
00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,880
So then that means that I want 
to actually begin to engage in 

353
00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,080
conversation that this may seem 
like a dumb moment, but it's not

354
00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:16,040
for our culture today. 
We, we actually need to talk to 

355
00:18:16,040 --> 00:18:19,240
people. 
And in our world today, that's 

356
00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:22,440
often weird. 
I was in this conversation today

357
00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:27,960
about how in some parts of our 
culture today, it is weird to 

358
00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:32,920
talk to a stranger, period. 
Now, here in our culture, that's

359
00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:36,440
not as weird. 
The South is still known for 

360
00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:40,160
talking to strangers, but in 
some parts of our country today 

361
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,720
that you don't. 
And so to actually engage in 

362
00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:45,360
conversation. 
I was in an airport bookstore 

363
00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:52,280
one time, my second home and, 
and a guy was talking to me and,

364
00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:54,680
and I, you know, he was across, 
you know, you had a kind of a 

365
00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:55,800
thing and he was right over 
there. 

366
00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:58,840
But because I'm tall, you know, 
I'm, I'm here and he's over and 

367
00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:00,880
he's talking to me. 
So I'm carrying on this whole 

368
00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:03,160
conversation with this guy. 
So finally I thought, well, let 

369
00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:05,400
me walk around the bookcase to 
see, you know, to actually meet 

370
00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,000
this guy. 
And I realized he has his, his 

371
00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:09,920
earbud in and he hadn't been 
talking to me at all. 

372
00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:20,520
In fact, he looks at me and he 
goes, so I really wasn't in a 

373
00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:22,560
conversation. 
I thought, man, look, you know, 

374
00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:27,360
Holy Spirit, here we go. 
Because he was actually, the 

375
00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:30,320
responses in this conversation 
were actually matching my 

376
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:40,160
anyway. 
So I can't be afraid and I won't

377
00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:45,520
be as afraid if I have good 
theology, which is why the 

378
00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:48,040
biblical and theological 
foundations matter. 

379
00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,760
Because if I believe that God is
ahead of me and God is already 

380
00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:56,960
working in this person's life, 
you got to decide how much you 

381
00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,760
believe in God. 
I believe in a sovereign. 

382
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,960
In fact, I read Psalm 139 in our
staff devotion this morning. 

383
00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:06,240
And I believe in a sovereign God
who knows my days before I was 

384
00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:09,120
ever born got them numbered. 
He's got them figured out. 

385
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,320
And so I believe in divine 
appointments. 

386
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,760
I, I don't believe that I'm, I'm
meeting Phil, I don't believe 

387
00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:19,680
I'm talking to Phil by accident.
So if I'm, if I meet person X or

388
00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,640
we're engaged in, in a 
conversation, I'm talking to my 

389
00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,720
neighbor, that's not an 
accident, that's an 

390
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:28,840
orchestration. 
And so I don't want to be afraid

391
00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,200
if I'm praying that way, I'm 
asking for these things. 

392
00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,120
And I really want, I'm really 
going to believe that. 

393
00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:35,880
And so I, I want God's ahead of 
me. 

394
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,440
I don't need to be afraid. 
I'm not meeting them by 

395
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:42,720
accident. 
So then I have to learn how to 

396
00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:45,960
be a real human being. 
That's a struggle for me because

397
00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:48,760
I'm weird. 
But, but to figure out how to be

398
00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:52,200
natural, but also intentional, 
right? 

399
00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,320
And and that's, that's part of 
that class. 

400
00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:58,760
I need to teach sometime how not
to be an awkward geek, weird 

401
00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:04,600
person, Christian, right? 
But, but I, I want to be 

402
00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:07,640
natural. 
I, I want to be intentional and 

403
00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:09,960
I need to be equipped, which is 
what you are doing. 

404
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:12,200
And over these next few weeks 
you're going to have the tools, 

405
00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:14,240
you're going to have the whole 
bat belt ready to go with the 

406
00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,000
various things you need, various
methods, various tools, various 

407
00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:19,520
presentation. 
That's not usually the issue. 

408
00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:22,120
What we're getting ready to talk
about is usually the issue. 

409
00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:28,800
And so I, I want to be equipped.
So then I'm actually in a 

410
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:34,840
conversation with a person and I
want to ask the right questions.

411
00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:38,400
Now, we're still not talking 
about spiritual stuff yet. 

412
00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:42,480
Don't be thrown by it. 
We're still not talking about 

413
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:47,360
spiritual stuff, but I want to 
move from the mundane to the 

414
00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:48,920
more important. 
Now, I'm not talking about the 

415
00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:50,280
gospel yet. 
Don't get ahead of me. 

416
00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:51,560
I promise you we're going to get
to that. 

417
00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,720
But this step right here, it's 
crucial. 

418
00:21:55,760 --> 00:22:01,040
I promise you, this is as much 
my evangelistic methodology as 

419
00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:02,720
anything I could ever share with
you. 

420
00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:07,760
I actually, and my dad beat this
into me, bless his heart. 

421
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:13,360
My dad was a small town lawyer 
for a practice for well over 50 

422
00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:16,120
years, worked with blue collar 
regular folk. 

423
00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,400
And he knew how to talk to 
regular folk. 

424
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:23,000
And for all his interesting 
parts, he was, he was very good 

425
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,200
at talking to people and, and, 
and, but what he really was good

426
00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:29,800
at is listening. 
And so he would engage people in

427
00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:31,520
conversation. 
We would travel, we traveled the

428
00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:35,080
world together and he and he 
beat into me literally one time.

429
00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:38,680
Beat into me how you ought to 
ask questions and how you'll be 

430
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:41,560
interested in where people are 
from and get them to tell you 

431
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,040
their stories because people 
love to talk about themselves. 

432
00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,160
And so how do I build bridges in
common areas? 

433
00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:53,080
And this, this is where I live. 
So this is one of my first. 

434
00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:54,720
So I want to find out if they're
married. 

435
00:22:54,720 --> 00:22:56,960
I want to find out if your 
husband, your father, your 

436
00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:59,920
grandfather, you like sports, 
what's going on? 

437
00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:02,560
What do you do for a living? 
I want to learn all these things

438
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:05,240
because I'm going to find 
commonalities between me and 

439
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:06,720
that other person. 
I don't care what their 

440
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:08,400
background is. 
They could be a Hindu, they 

441
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,440
could be a Buddhist, they could 
be a Muslim, they could be an 

442
00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,080
atheist. 
But if they're a grandpa, I got 

443
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,640
a bridge, see? 
And it's a real one. 

444
00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,440
That's not a made-up thing. 
This is who you really are. 

445
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,920
One of the things I often say to
people is when I get further 

446
00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:26,080
into this, we're actually 
talking about the gospel and 

447
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,040
they start getting uncomfortable
and they'll say, remember, you 

448
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:33,760
started this, you, you started 
all this, You know, you answered

449
00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:34,960
the questions. 
You're the one that told me 

450
00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,640
this. 
And, and, and we're in a, we're 

451
00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,640
in a mini relationship already. 
See. 

452
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:43,520
And so one of the things that 
we're going to do is we're going

453
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:46,080
to talk about building bridges 
and common experiences, even 

454
00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:48,520
hobbies. 
You play golf or you don't play 

455
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,880
golf or whatever you do. 
You know, this is important for 

456
00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:54,840
me. 
You may not use any of this, but

457
00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:56,680
at least listen to what I'm 
getting ready to tell you 

458
00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,000
because I'm going to make the 
connection now here in a few 

459
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:03,760
minutes because if I can 
understand something common in 

460
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:08,160
common, you like football, You 
like college football, man, we 

461
00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:10,680
can talk all day like Danny 
Aiken. 

462
00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:12,640
Today we were talking about how 
to engage the Bible. 

463
00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:14,760
Then I got him off on Georgia 
football and that was it. 

464
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,000
We were gone. 
He'd still be talking. 

465
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:22,240
All right. 
And then I wanted to try to 

466
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:27,080
remove any stones. 
So there's a verse that hangs in

467
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,920
my office. 
It's a verse that God used to 

468
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,760
call me out of seminary or out 
of pastoral life, into seminary 

469
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:37,480
life, and then drove me all 
around the world and back. 

470
00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:40,840
And it's Isaiah 6210. 
I've shared this verse with you 

471
00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:43,760
before. 
I won't go into all the details 

472
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:45,120
of this verse. 
They're coming back from the 

473
00:24:45,120 --> 00:24:47,680
Babylonian exile. 
This is about the rebuilding of 

474
00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,640
Jerusalem. 
Think of Ezra, Nehemiah, by the 

475
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,200
way, I'm going to preach through
the book of Nehemiah starting in

476
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,920
January, and then we're going to
go to the book of Romans. 

477
00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,920
That's next year. 
So Nehemiah and Romans are going

478
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,480
to take up most of 2026 on 
Sunday morning. 

479
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,560
And so, but one of the things 
that we learned in that story 

480
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:10,600
is, is they had to rebuild. 
A lot of it was in rubble. 

481
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:12,560
You know, it's totally destroyed
by the Babylonians. 

482
00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,640
And that, and this is a prophecy
of that imagery. 

483
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,520
So Isaiah says you got to go 
through, go through or another 

484
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:23,240
translation would say pass 
through, pass through the gates.

485
00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:25,360
The gates were destroyed. 
They had to go back out. 

486
00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:27,000
They had to rebuild so the 
people could come. 

487
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,120
I've told you this before in 
different settings. 

488
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:31,880
So they go through, go through 
the gates, prepare the way for 

489
00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:33,720
the people, build up, build up 
the highway. 

490
00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:35,720
But they had to clear it of 
stones. 

491
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,480
This would be chunks of the wall
that had fallen down. 

492
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,760
And we're blocking the gates, 
blocking the roadways, blocking 

493
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:43,960
the way in. 
They had to clear all these 

494
00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,200
obstacles out of the way so that
the people who had not returned 

495
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:50,920
yet could get into the city. 
And that's part of our job. 

496
00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,440
Part of our job is we can't just
sit inside of here. 

497
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,560
We got to go back through the 
gates, we got to build a 

498
00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:01,800
highway, we got to build the 
path for people who haven't come

499
00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:04,960
yet to come. 
And we got to move the stones 

500
00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,480
out of the way. 
And this was tons of rock. 

501
00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:09,440
So they couldn't do that. 
They had to do that together. 

502
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:10,840
They had to work together to do 
that. 

503
00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,040
And so we want to remove any 
stones. 

504
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:16,440
And so in our conversations with
people, we may hear why they 

505
00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:19,400
don't like church or why they 
don't like Christianity, all 

506
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,040
these different things, or why 
they don't like you. 

507
00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:27,120
But but we got to do everything 
we can to try to build a bridge 

508
00:26:27,120 --> 00:26:31,480
with them in commonality. 
This isn't about an argument. 

509
00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,680
I don't try to argue people into
Christianity. 

510
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,320
I don't. 
I try to love them and share 

511
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,120
honestly with them about my 
Savior who can save them. 

512
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,160
And so one of the things we want
to do is build commonality, not 

513
00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:48,360
have obstacles. 
So any obstacle I can get out of

514
00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:49,800
the way. 
This, the cross is a big enough 

515
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,440
stumbling block in and of 
itself. 

516
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:56,800
Let that be the only one and let
anything in my life get out of 

517
00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,720
the way. 
So not only am I doing this, but

518
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:02,760
as I continue to ask the right 
questions, I'm trying to 

519
00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:06,720
determine life needs. 
So what's going on in your life?

520
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:09,760
And I'm, I'm learning to listen.
I'm telling you, I'm going to 

521
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,480
say that word over and over and 
over again. 

522
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:16,400
It's a key to postmodern 
evangelism in our culture today.

523
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:19,800
People are not interested in the
sales pitch. 

524
00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:23,240
They're interested in you 
actually being interested in 

525
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:27,840
them and caring about them. 
And so I want to determine life 

526
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:31,720
needs and I'm trying to earn 
permission through respectful 

527
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:35,480
relationship to actually have a 
conversation with him on a 

528
00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:37,440
deeper level, which is coming. 
I promise. 

529
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:39,760
We're getting there. 
All of this can take 10 minutes 

530
00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:44,960
in my in my world, it might take
10 visits too with somebody. 

531
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:48,960
You know, remember I talked 
about before the different 

532
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,840
levels of lostness. 
Not everybody's the same lost, 

533
00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:54,120
you know, You have U ones and U 
fives. 

534
00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:57,000
You have, you have people who 
are farther away from the gospel

535
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:58,440
than others. 
You have some people who are 

536
00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:00,760
probably here tonight who aren't
saved. 

537
00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:04,080
You have people who'll be here 
on Sunday morning who aren't 

538
00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:06,000
saved, but they're coming to 
church already. 

539
00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:10,680
And then you have people who are
complete, a complete atheist and

540
00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,760
agnostic, hostile people toward 
anything in terms of the church 

541
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:16,760
or Christianity. 
That's a very small percentage 

542
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,840
of our population, by the way, 
as I've shared with you before. 

543
00:28:20,600 --> 00:28:22,200
And so, so not everybody's the 
same. 

544
00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,760
So, so sometimes this is going 
to take 10 minutes, sometimes 

545
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,920
this is going to take 10 visits,
right. 

546
00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:32,520
And, and one of the great 
testimonies that one of our dear

547
00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:37,040
sisters shared with us last week
was how she prayed for her lost 

548
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:41,120
brother since 2009 to since 
2009. 

549
00:28:41,120 --> 00:28:47,960
And he was just saved last week.
So we don't give up ever, ever, 

550
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,680
but we're trying to figure out 
and, and we want to earn this, 

551
00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:54,360
this permission through 
respectful relationship, but we 

552
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:56,720
also need to remember that God 
gives us the authority and the 

553
00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:58,400
right, and I've talked about 
that before. 

554
00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,520
We have the authority to share 
about Jesus. 

555
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:03,800
We have the right to share about
Jesus. 

556
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,120
And if anybody asks you who 
gives you the right to talk 

557
00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,280
about this, Jesus does. 
And he has all authority in 

558
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:12,440
heaven and on earth, whether you
believe that or not. 

559
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:17,680
But but in First Corinthians 
Chapter 9, Paul talks about this

560
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,360
a little bit. 
He says, listen, for though I am

561
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:24,920
free from all, I've made myself 
a servant to all. 

562
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:30,040
Don't skip over that. 
In other words, in our culture 

563
00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:34,360
today, this is a this is foreign
language because part of what 

564
00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,800
our culture's fighting so hard 
for is everybody believes they 

565
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:39,360
have the personal right to 
something. 

566
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:42,960
And it's my right to have that. 
In fact, every TV commercials 

567
00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:44,120
going to tell you, you deserve 
it. 

568
00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:49,320
And so and So what the problem 
is, is this leaks over into our 

569
00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:53,520
psyche as a culture to where 
somehow you're invading my 

570
00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:57,040
right. 
Well, Paul's saying, listen, 

571
00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:00,360
I've given up my rights. 
I want to serve. 

572
00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:04,040
I want to serve all. 
I'm a servant to all that I 

573
00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:08,400
might win more of them. 
So to the Jews I became as a Jew

574
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:10,840
in order to win Jews. 
Now, that didn't work for all of

575
00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:11,920
us. 
It works for him because that 

576
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,760
was his background to those 
under the law. 

577
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,480
I became as one under the law, 
though not being myself under 

578
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,000
the law, that I might win those 
under the law. 

579
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:23,480
He has a background as a 
Pharisee to those outside the 

580
00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:26,040
law, I became as one outside the
law. 

581
00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:30,440
He was apostle to the Gentiles, 
not being outside the law of 

582
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:32,920
God, but under the law of 
Christ, that I might win those 

583
00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:34,760
outside the law. 
To the weak. 

584
00:30:34,760 --> 00:30:36,840
I became weak that I might win 
the weak. 

585
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,480
I have become all things to all 
people that by all means I might

586
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:45,080
save some, and I do it all for 
the sake of the gospel that I 

587
00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,520
may share with them in its 
blessings. 

588
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,000
And so in missions, we call this
contextualization. 

589
00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:57,000
In our culture today, we've I 
call this a fight because so few

590
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:02,640
are willing to do this. 
How far are you willing to go to

591
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:06,680
serve a lost person? 
You following me? 

592
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:08,960
I'm not talking about 
compromising your belief. 

593
00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:11,840
It's just the opposite of that. 
It's because of your belief 

594
00:31:11,840 --> 00:31:14,800
you're willing to do this. 
How far are you willing to go to

595
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:17,680
engage in a conversation and to 
love somebody who might be 

596
00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:21,000
unlovable, who might actually 
throw the love right back in 

597
00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:24,400
your face? 
How far will we go? 

598
00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:27,520
Because here's the here it is 
right here. 

599
00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:31,120
Here's here's the point. 
We want to connect with 

600
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:33,520
spiritual matters. 
Now. 

601
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:39,560
Don't start here necessarily. 
Now, if you're doing with AU one

602
00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:41,640
who's already coming to church, 
they're already in your connect 

603
00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:43,000
group. 
You can start probably right 

604
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,040
here, right? 
There are certain people in your

605
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:48,840
life who they're ripe and ready 
for most people that you're just

606
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:51,280
now talking to. 
You need to go all the way back 

607
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,760
to the biblical and theological 
foundations to be praying for 

608
00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:56,640
them, overcoming barriers, 
developing a relationship, and 

609
00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:59,400
then leading the conversation to
Christ along the way. 

610
00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:03,560
And part of the mistake that 
we've made as a Southern Baptist

611
00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:07,520
denomination, frankly, and as 
the Church of America, which is 

612
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:14,360
horrible at evangelism, horrible
at evangelism statistically, is 

613
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:16,280
that sometimes this is where we 
think we got to start. 

614
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:21,640
And they're not ready for that. 
And and we offend more than we 

615
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:26,200
attract because it's listen to 
me, I've memorized a 32 point 

616
00:32:26,200 --> 00:32:29,040
gospel outline with 16 
illustrations and 14 sub points.

617
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,800
I'm on sub Point C, illustration
B listen to me. 

618
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:38,480
And it's just, it's robotically 
mechanical and they know that. 

619
00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,160
Is this real? 
I mean, are you real? 

620
00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:44,800
Is this authentic? 
See, now I'm not saying that all

621
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,240
gospel presentations that way. 
We're going to talk about gospel

622
00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:48,880
presentation. 
I got a whole box of gospel 

623
00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:50,240
presentation we're going to talk
about. 

624
00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:52,720
We're also going to talk about 
how to analyze, critically 

625
00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,760
analyze gospel presentations. 
What are the better ones? 

626
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:57,480
How do I know that? 
How do I not know that? 

627
00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:00,280
What's the best one I can use? 
We're going to talk about gospel

628
00:33:00,280 --> 00:33:02,400
content. 
What must a person know to be 

629
00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:06,680
saved? 
It's coming, but right now, 

630
00:33:06,680 --> 00:33:09,640
let's share about and invite 
them to connect, group and 

631
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:11,800
church. 
Submit their name and 

632
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:14,800
information to reach. 
This isn't an infomercial, this 

633
00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:17,280
is reality. 
You might need to start by just 

634
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:20,440
inviting them to join you in 
your spiritual journey. 

635
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,840
You would be a well, maybe you 
wouldn't, but there are people 

636
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:25,400
especially, and this is going 
to. 

637
00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:28,880
I'll mention this again later, 
not tonight, but other times 

638
00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,880
when you're talking to somebody 
from another religious 

639
00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:36,320
background, you might be shocked
at how willing and excited they 

640
00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:39,840
would be to come see what a 
Christian Church is like that. 

641
00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:42,800
That's true of most Muslims. 
That's true of many Hindus. 

642
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:45,160
It's true of many Buddhists in 
the United States of America. 

643
00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,040
They're curious and they'd 
actually like to know what you 

644
00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:52,440
all do inside the hidden temple.
And many of them don't know they

645
00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:54,640
can come here without you 
bringing them. 

646
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:56,040
They don't know they can just be
here. 

647
00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:59,200
They don't know that, don't 
think they know that, don't 

648
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:01,080
think that that what we're 
sitting here, this big old 

649
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:02,880
building and they'll know and 
they'll just come. 

650
00:34:02,880 --> 00:34:06,080
They don't know they can. 
You got to throw this out of 

651
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:09,480
your head. 
It's a new normal out there and 

652
00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:12,159
many of them wouldn't know if 
they would even be welcome or 

653
00:34:12,159 --> 00:34:14,560
not. 
I don't know how many times I 

654
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:18,080
have conversations where people 
would say to me looking like I 

655
00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:24,400
look, I can come to your church 
and I want to be able to say 

656
00:34:24,400 --> 00:34:28,880
yes. 
Sometimes in my history, I've 

657
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:34,520
wondered if I could honestly say
yes, would they just be looked 

658
00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:37,000
upon? 
Listen, I've had brand new 

659
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:39,159
Teresa Lat. 
I've had brand new Christians 

660
00:34:39,159 --> 00:34:41,880
who were saved, biker 
background, biker background, 

661
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:44,760
people who were saved and they 
had their kids had never been in

662
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,639
church in their entire life. 
And they ran relay races in the 

663
00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:49,600
in the in the balcony during the
sermon. 

664
00:34:50,679 --> 00:34:52,840
They didn't know what to do. 
They've never been in church. 

665
00:34:56,120 --> 00:35:01,320
What price will we pay? 
What tolerance will we have for 

666
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:05,760
them versus US, Right? 
So we, we, we want to submit 

667
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:07,160
their name. 
We want to ask for prayer 

668
00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:08,800
requests and turn those in as 
well. 

669
00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:10,720
Seriously, we want to pray for 
them. 

670
00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:12,800
We want connect groups to reach 
out to them. 

671
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,760
You've got somebody in your life
that you want somebody to reach 

672
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:18,920
out to put them in reach. 
John Rosal, Rosal, Rosal, you 

673
00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:22,560
got to say that right way. 
Rosal, He'll put that into a 

674
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,000
connect group and a whole group 
of other people reach out to 

675
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:29,440
them. 
Then we want to share. 

676
00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:31,720
Honestly, here we go. 
Here it is right here. 

677
00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:38,440
Now, what's the second word? 
Honestly. 

678
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:44,000
Now here's where the rubber 
meets the road. 

679
00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:48,520
I have no idea what that saying 
means, but here's here's where 

680
00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:52,480
it hits. 
If you can't do this, honestly, 

681
00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:58,880
this isn't going to work and I'm
going to share what it is I want

682
00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:02,560
to share honestly how the Lord 
blesses you and helps you in 

683
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:05,440
those areas of common bridges 
that you just built. 

684
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,440
So in other words, I'm a paw 
paw. 

685
00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:13,040
That's that's in some circles, 
that's all I am. 

686
00:36:13,440 --> 00:36:17,720
So the greatest title, the 
highest title I could possess to

687
00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:19,120
a couple of the kids here, I'm 
paw paw. 

688
00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:23,640
I'm pastor paw paw. 
OK, but at home, but at home 

689
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:25,240
with my grandkids, I'm just paw 
paw. 

690
00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:26,840
They have no idea what my name 
is. 

691
00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:30,720
I'm just Paw paw. 
They could care less what I that

692
00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:32,800
I stand on that plat that they 
could care less. 

693
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:39,240
I'm just paw paw. 
And so if I meet somebody else 

694
00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:44,720
who's a Paw Paw, or maybe 
they're AG Paw, or maybe they're

695
00:36:44,720 --> 00:36:47,960
grandpa, or maybe they're Dib 
Dib, or whatever the weird name 

696
00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:57,680
you get from your grandkids, I 
can honestly say sometimes I'm 

697
00:36:57,680 --> 00:36:59,320
scared to death for my 
grandchildren. 

698
00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:04,560
Sometimes I don't know what this
world's going to be like for my 

699
00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:06,160
grandchildren. 
It's a scary world. 

700
00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:10,320
And I don't know how I could 
face that fear if it wasn't for 

701
00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:16,400
the fact that I know the Lord 
Jesus Christ as my Savior and 

702
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:20,400
Lord. 
In fact, just this morning in my

703
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:25,640
personal quiet time, when I was 
reading through Psalm 139 before

704
00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:29,960
I shared it with the staff, I 
was reminded of this God who's 

705
00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:34,720
in complete control. 
And that helps my anxiety. 

706
00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:40,040
That's as honest and natural as 
I can be, right? 

707
00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:44,920
I, I, I don't know how I would 
have ever made it in my marriage

708
00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:49,600
this far because I'm not easy if
it wasn't for the fact that I 

709
00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:52,680
have the word of God and the 
Spirit of God living inside of 

710
00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:54,040
me. 
And I just say those things to 

711
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:57,880
people because we've been 
talking about being married or 

712
00:37:57,880 --> 00:37:59,360
we've been talking about being a
grandparent. 

713
00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:03,080
We can even talk about sports. 
You know, I, I at one time was 

714
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:06,760
playing fairly high level sports
and I blew my knee and it caused

715
00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:11,280
me to spiral into a depression 
and into a really dark place in 

716
00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:14,480
my life. 
And I don't know how I would 

717
00:38:14,480 --> 00:38:19,360
have ever recovered from that 
except God save me and pulled me

718
00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:23,040
out. 
I, that's exactly how I talk on 

719
00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:25,600
airplanes. 
That's exactly how I talk in 

720
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:28,240
airports. 
That's exactly how I talk to to 

721
00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:32,280
people I encounter after I have 
that little relationship with 

722
00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:35,920
them, we build a common bridge. 
I, I don't know how you doing 

723
00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:38,520
it. 
I, I can, I, I, I can remember a

724
00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:40,040
surgeon on a plane. 
We had this kind of, I don't 

725
00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:41,240
know. 
I don't know how you do deal 

726
00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:42,600
with that, how you deal with the
pressure. 

727
00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:47,360
I, I, how do you deal with that 
pressure without some strength 

728
00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:50,080
in your life like he can 
provide. 

729
00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:51,960
See, I'm not even talking about 
the gospel yet. 

730
00:38:53,320 --> 00:38:56,560
I'm just sharing a testimony 
sort of all right. 

731
00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:01,480
But I want to connect that 
honestly of how the Lord blesses

732
00:39:01,480 --> 00:39:07,680
me in those common areas. 
But you got to recognize, and I 

733
00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:09,560
mean, I made land here for 30 
minutes. 

734
00:39:09,560 --> 00:39:14,320
I won't because we can't. 
But you can't do this unless 

735
00:39:14,520 --> 00:39:16,480
relationship number one is 
strong. 

736
00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:21,800
It's not real if God didn't just
show you that. 

737
00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:25,680
It's not real if God's really 
not doing that in your life. 

738
00:39:26,240 --> 00:39:29,280
So if you're not abiding in him 
and you're not walking in him, I

739
00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:32,280
don't know how powerful your 
personal evangelism could ever 

740
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:35,720
be. 
This has to be real and it's 

741
00:39:35,720 --> 00:39:38,320
uncanny. 
My friends, I'm telling you 

742
00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:43,120
where I I can honestly say just 
this morning in my personal 

743
00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:51,560
Bible study, God showed me this.
But that means that you actually

744
00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:57,600
have a personal Bible study. 
Lesson 1 is vital. 

745
00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:03,720
Relationship number one has to 
pour into relationship #2 for 

746
00:40:03,720 --> 00:40:05,720
this to be natural, for this to 
have power. 

747
00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:09,720
It doesn't make sense. 
Listen, the the most natural 

748
00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:12,200
blew my mind and I've shared 
this story with some of you 

749
00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:14,640
before. 
Monroe Hembree I, I, I don't 

750
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,160
understand Monroe Hembree. 
He's dead now and he's with 

751
00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:18,880
Jesus and one day I'm going to 
go to heaven. 

752
00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:20,600
I'll understand. 
Monroe Hembree What? 

753
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:22,960
He wasn't in my church, but he 
was in our association. 

754
00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:24,960
And we were the larger church at
times. 

755
00:40:24,960 --> 00:40:27,400
And we would do mission trips 
where we'd have all the churches

756
00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:30,240
of the association work together
on a mission trip because these 

757
00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:32,040
little bitty churches could 
never send a team, but they 

758
00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:34,400
could send one or two. 
And then we'd make sure we had a

759
00:40:34,400 --> 00:40:35,880
team. 
So we had these associational 

760
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:37,240
teams. 
We went all over the world 

761
00:40:37,240 --> 00:40:40,920
together and Monroe Hembry, he's
70 something years old when I 

762
00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:43,560
first met him, never been on a 
trip, wanted to go on a trip. 

763
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:45,960
You always knew brother Monroe 
was in that room because he was 

764
00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:47,720
man. 
You could always hear him back 

765
00:40:47,720 --> 00:40:50,960
there. 
And I've shared this with some 

766
00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:53,640
of you. 
Monroe Hembry built houses for a

767
00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:54,880
living. 
And Monroe Hembry was 

768
00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:57,600
illiterate. 
He couldn't read. 

769
00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:01,640
He was saved as an adult, almost
a senior adult. 

770
00:41:02,680 --> 00:41:05,360
And when he was saved, he asked 
God, and this is because of the 

771
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:07,960
church he went to. 
He asked God to give him the 

772
00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:11,880
ability to read the King James 
Version Bible when he was saved.

773
00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:16,560
I don't ask me to explain it. 
Can't don't care if you believe 

774
00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:19,840
me or not because I've sit there
across I've spent hours and days

775
00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:23,280
with Monroe Hembree and across 
the table and watch this before 

776
00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:25,160
my very eyes. 
He could open a King James 

777
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:29,000
Version Bible and read, read 
King James, thou and thy I mean 

778
00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:32,120
just all over the place. 
You put a newspaper in front of 

779
00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:33,000
him. 
He couldn't read a word. 

780
00:41:34,120 --> 00:41:36,480
You put the NIV version of the 
Bible in front of him. 

781
00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:39,880
He couldn't read a word, but he 
could read the King James. 

782
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:42,800
And he asked for the King James 
because that was the version of 

783
00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:44,640
the the Bible that church used 
that he went to. 

784
00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:46,880
He didn't know there was another
one. 

785
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:52,400
I took Monroe Hembree 14 hours 
down the Amazon from Manaus and 

786
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:54,920
to a place called Boa Vista de 
Hamos, where I don't know that 

787
00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:57,120
they'd ever seen anybody with 
our skin color before. 

788
00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:03,200
And we slept in hammocks on a 
boat for a week and did 

789
00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:05,640
evangelism and some 
construction, all kind of stuff 

790
00:42:05,680 --> 00:42:07,600
in this village. 
Medical, a lot of medical. 

791
00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:12,400
And I've never seen a pied piper
for the gospel like Monroe 

792
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:15,160
Hembree with a group of people 
that didn't even speak English. 

793
00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:19,040
He'd have a little translator 
with him and Monroe would walk 

794
00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:20,920
around. 
He'd just talk about Jesus. 

795
00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:23,720
I'm telling this just like a 
crowd, an entourage, following 

796
00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:26,960
Monroe all over this little 
village and just coming to know 

797
00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:34,480
Christ, the most natural, 
authentic, heartfelt believer 

798
00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:36,280
you could ever imagine. 
Because this was real. 

799
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:39,080
And he studied his Bible every 
morning. 

800
00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:42,840
I watched him and he prayed like
a warrior. 

801
00:42:44,120 --> 00:42:47,720
And so you can't do this unless 
relationship number one is real 

802
00:42:47,720 --> 00:42:49,360
to you. 
This means you're actually 

803
00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:52,360
having this. 
You are engaging the Bible with 

804
00:42:52,360 --> 00:42:55,080
a humble and teachable spirit, 
which is what our midweek's 

805
00:42:55,080 --> 00:42:57,920
going to be about in January. 
We're going to talk about how 

806
00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:00,000
did we get the Bible in the 1st 
place? 

807
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:03,040
Why is our Bible different than 
say the Catholic Bible? 

808
00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:05,760
How did the Bible come to be? 
We're going to talk about that. 

809
00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:07,720
Then we're going to, what do we 
do with this thing? 

810
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:10,680
How do I actually personally 
interpret scripture? 

811
00:43:11,040 --> 00:43:13,840
How do I actually work through 
the hermeneutical process as a, 

812
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:16,240
as a, as my personal time? 
I won't use that big word. 

813
00:43:16,240 --> 00:43:18,160
Don't worry. 
We're going to break it down. 

814
00:43:18,160 --> 00:43:20,960
How do I actually understand 
what the Bible's teaching and 

815
00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:22,440
how can I help somebody else 
understand? 

816
00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:29,440
So think about this. 
Just this morning, God showed 

817
00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:31,400
me. 
Now you'd be amazed how many 

818
00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:34,520
times because remember, he's 
divinely orchestrating these 

819
00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:37,960
meetings. 
You have a conversation tomorrow

820
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,400
afternoon, you watch how God 
will use the Bible verses you 

821
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:45,800
read tomorrow morning. 
And heaven forbid you actually 

822
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:48,520
believe this, He might actually 
use part of a sermon you heard 

823
00:43:48,520 --> 00:43:56,000
last Sunday, maybe the 
travelogue of Paul 40,000 verses

824
00:43:56,000 --> 00:44:00,000
in 20 minutes. 
Or because the other thing you 

825
00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:01,760
can talk about, you might talk 
about this next. 

826
00:44:01,760 --> 00:44:04,680
And this is or, or this is how 
the Lord answered my prayer 

827
00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:09,160
about something just as 
legitimately man children. 

828
00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:12,200
You're right. 
And I, I remember when some of 

829
00:44:12,200 --> 00:44:14,520
our kids were struggling with 
things and how we pray and we 

830
00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:17,840
pray and we're so thankful how 
the Lord answered that. 

831
00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:24,640
Now, I'm going to segue in a 
minute, but we're just building 

832
00:44:24,640 --> 00:44:29,120
commonality and I'm just being 
honest because here's what I've 

833
00:44:29,120 --> 00:44:31,720
learned about lost people in the
United States of America. 

834
00:44:31,720 --> 00:44:33,640
I've said this to you before. 
Most of them have never heard a 

835
00:44:33,640 --> 00:44:36,360
personal loving presentation of 
a gospel, never have. 

836
00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:39,680
Statistically, you can bet on 
the fact they've never had that.

837
00:44:40,960 --> 00:44:45,760
Secondly, most of them, this 
fact, most lost people in 

838
00:44:45,760 --> 00:44:49,440
America would testify they don't
even know anybody they would 

839
00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:56,760
consider an authentic Christian.
And so that didn't mean they 

840
00:44:56,760 --> 00:45:00,120
don't know Christians, but they 
know a bunch of quiet, silent 

841
00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:03,120
ones maybe. 
And so for many of them, they, 

842
00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:07,440
they will have never heard 
anybody talk like this and mean 

843
00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:09,520
it. 
But if you don't mean it, don't 

844
00:45:09,520 --> 00:45:11,640
fake it. 
They'll smell that a mile away. 

845
00:45:13,480 --> 00:45:16,320
So my entire living out of 
angelism means you're actually 

846
00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:18,600
living out of angelism. 
This isn't a method. 

847
00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:21,600
This isn't something memorized. 
This isn't some some gizmo or 

848
00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:25,240
gadget or gimmick. 
This is a life, and either 

849
00:45:25,240 --> 00:45:27,720
you're walking with God and 
you're in his word and you're in

850
00:45:27,720 --> 00:45:30,520
prayer and that's overflowing in
the most natural way in the 

851
00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:37,080
world in all your conversations,
or you got to start square one. 

852
00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:41,880
The problem with the with 
evangelism in the United States 

853
00:45:41,880 --> 00:45:44,240
of America is not really 
evangelism, it's just 

854
00:45:44,240 --> 00:45:48,640
discipleship. 
We're just not walking with God 

855
00:45:49,120 --> 00:45:54,600
closely enough in many cases. 
So, you know, not only did I see

856
00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:58,000
this in my personal Bible study 
this morning, this is also maybe

857
00:45:58,000 --> 00:46:00,520
the Lord answered my prayer 
about this or the next one. 

858
00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:03,360
Maybe there's some lesson that I
learned from Doug Ezell's 

859
00:46:03,360 --> 00:46:05,600
Connect group last Sunday. 
I mean, you know, Doug got up 

860
00:46:05,600 --> 00:46:08,240
there and he, you know, he did 
sermon #1 before Brother John 

861
00:46:08,240 --> 00:46:13,040
got a what, you know, got got up
to bat and Douglas L's teaching 

862
00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:15,080
this lesson. 
Y'all studying something and 

863
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:17,000
that, and that's what stuck with
you that day. 

864
00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:19,960
And I'm telling you on Monday 
morning, that lesson that you 

865
00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:22,440
studied, that passage that you 
heard in Connect, it was the, 

866
00:46:22,480 --> 00:46:26,040
that's the, I mean amazing. 
The exact passage that human 

867
00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:30,360
being needed that you're talking
to, you watch because you're 

868
00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:34,400
asking for it, You're begging 
God for it. 

869
00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:37,480
God, make this fit. 
Make the puzzle fit. 

870
00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:40,440
Make what I'm doing in my 
personal, make this work, make 

871
00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:43,360
this conversation go. 
I'm praying for that every day. 

872
00:46:43,480 --> 00:46:47,440
You can't do this without that, 
you with me. 

873
00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:53,160
So just last Sunday, my preacher
said. 

874
00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:57,560
And all I know is we're supposed
to do 100% of something. 

875
00:47:03,880 --> 00:47:10,000
But to recognize that that we're
we're in the middle of a dynamic

876
00:47:10,000 --> 00:47:15,600
experience that's real and 
they're spiritual forces at play

877
00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:19,760
and we're supposed to supposed 
to be obedient and be used in 

878
00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:21,920
this incredible chess game 
that's going on. 

879
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:25,280
And to recognize that God is in 
control of the board. 

880
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:32,040
Then you can go to H finally and
you can help them to understand 

881
00:47:32,720 --> 00:47:34,720
how Christ has changed your life
now. 

882
00:47:34,720 --> 00:47:37,160
Now we just get into a 
transitional conversation, 

883
00:47:37,400 --> 00:47:39,600
right? 
Would you like to know? 

884
00:47:39,600 --> 00:47:45,560
How would you not to know why? 
Why do I believe the Bible is 

885
00:47:45,560 --> 00:47:48,360
actually helpful to me? 
Why do you believe? 

886
00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:50,760
Why do I believe God actually 
answered my prayer? 

887
00:47:51,280 --> 00:47:54,760
Why do I believe that? 
It's only because of the power 

888
00:47:54,760 --> 00:47:58,320
that Christ gives me that I'm 
able to be a a decent husband or

889
00:47:58,320 --> 00:48:01,840
a grandfather. 
You want to know how? 

890
00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:04,880
Now we've just transitioned into
presentation. 

891
00:48:05,840 --> 00:48:08,280
Now next session, we're not done
yet. 

892
00:48:08,720 --> 00:48:10,640
So sit down everybody. 
I'm kidding. 

893
00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:12,600
Those of you online, keep 
listening. 

894
00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:18,840
The next session is about 
personal testimony. 

895
00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:23,320
Now I need to warn you, next 
session is interactive. 

896
00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:25,160
Now it'll be funny to see if 
half of you show up. 

897
00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:29,760
We're going to do a personal 
testimony workshop. 

898
00:48:31,240 --> 00:48:34,920
Now, some of us need to realize 
it might be the very first time 

899
00:48:35,040 --> 00:48:38,720
a person has ever verbally 
shared any part of their 

900
00:48:38,720 --> 00:48:43,080
testimony to another person. 
This happens in seminary class, 

901
00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:47,480
but you don't want to miss. 
It's so much fun you'll laugh 

902
00:48:47,480 --> 00:48:50,120
your head off next session. 
It's fun. 

903
00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:53,680
I want to demonstrate a way for 
you to teach other people to do 

904
00:48:53,680 --> 00:48:55,680
this. 
I'm going to give you an outline

905
00:48:55,680 --> 00:48:58,280
that's different, and we're 
going to work on writing out and

906
00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:01,160
creating our personal 
testimonies, but we're also 

907
00:49:01,160 --> 00:49:03,480
going to demonstrate ways to 
share with other people. 

908
00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:05,440
Don't worry, it's not high 
pressure. 

909
00:49:05,640 --> 00:49:08,880
You're not going to get a 
microphone unless you misbehave,

910
00:49:08,880 --> 00:49:13,080
so you'll be good. 
But I want to help them to 

911
00:49:13,080 --> 00:49:16,880
understand how this makes a 
difference in my life. 

912
00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:19,520
And so one of the things that we
need to do this next part, I 

913
00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:21,800
need you to go back and to 
remember some things that I've 

914
00:49:21,800 --> 00:49:23,320
taught you before about 
religion. 

915
00:49:23,480 --> 00:49:27,480
We need to focus on the 
functional aspects of your 

916
00:49:27,480 --> 00:49:29,680
faith. 
Remember, religion has three 

917
00:49:29,680 --> 00:49:31,400
parts. 
This is not original with me. 

918
00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:34,320
I give credit to Wayne Cordeland
who wrote a good book called 

919
00:49:34,320 --> 00:49:37,000
Neighboring Faiths. 
So there's, that's that 

920
00:49:37,240 --> 00:49:40,240
footnote. 
But religion has three parts. 

921
00:49:40,240 --> 00:49:42,720
You have the functional, the 
substantive and the formal. 

922
00:49:42,720 --> 00:49:44,160
You don't have to memorize that 
at all. 

923
00:49:44,160 --> 00:49:47,800
Just listen to what they mean. 
So the functional is what does 

924
00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:49,360
this actually produce in your 
life? 

925
00:49:50,480 --> 00:49:52,360
So Christianity ought to produce
something. 

926
00:49:52,360 --> 00:49:54,560
And next time when we talk about
our personal testimony, you're 

927
00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:57,240
going to begin writing. 
What does, what does trusting a 

928
00:49:57,240 --> 00:50:01,560
Christ really mean to me? 
It's, it's got to be more than I

929
00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:03,000
don't go to hell. 
I'm going to heaven. 

930
00:50:03,640 --> 00:50:05,360
Now that's a part of it. 
And I'm glad for that. 

931
00:50:05,360 --> 00:50:09,080
I'm, I'm very thankful for that 
part, but that's not all 

932
00:50:09,080 --> 00:50:13,280
Christianity is. 
Where's the idea of hope, of 

933
00:50:13,280 --> 00:50:18,120
peace, of assurance, of purpose?
See. 

934
00:50:18,400 --> 00:50:20,960
And so these are some of the 
functional aspects of what a 

935
00:50:20,960 --> 00:50:23,880
relationship with Jesus Christ 
ought to produce in your life. 

936
00:50:24,400 --> 00:50:27,040
There's actually positive effect
in your life. 

937
00:50:27,920 --> 00:50:31,480
And So what I want to do is I'm,
I'm really focusing on this part

938
00:50:31,480 --> 00:50:36,240
right now because I, I'm telling
you, statistically, that lost 

939
00:50:36,240 --> 00:50:38,600
person in the United States of 
America doesn't have that. 

940
00:50:40,280 --> 00:50:42,200
They don't have that. 
Now, they may pretend like they 

941
00:50:42,200 --> 00:50:44,680
do they, they can be, they're 
pretty good facade people, but 

942
00:50:44,680 --> 00:50:46,880
they don't in their heart of 
hearts, this is what's going to 

943
00:50:46,880 --> 00:50:49,480
stick with them. 
I can't, I can't tell you the 

944
00:50:49,480 --> 00:50:50,800
number of times I hear this 
later. 

945
00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:54,200
I remember when you told me this
and I acted like I was just 

946
00:50:54,200 --> 00:50:56,480
fine, but I really wouldn't. 
And I knew I wouldn't. 

947
00:50:57,880 --> 00:51:00,680
And later that night I couldn't 
sleep because I realized I don't

948
00:51:00,680 --> 00:51:03,560
have any peace. 
I don't have any hope. 

949
00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:05,440
I have no assurance, I have no 
strength. 

950
00:51:06,040 --> 00:51:08,640
I realized I'm trying to do this
all on my own and I can't. 

951
00:51:09,760 --> 00:51:12,120
It becomes very similar to a 
cycle of addiction to where 

952
00:51:12,120 --> 00:51:14,280
someday, so that I'm going to 
quit drinking or I'm going to 

953
00:51:14,280 --> 00:51:17,120
quit, I'm going to quit doing 
drugs and I can, I can do this. 

954
00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:18,520
I can do this. 
I know you can't. 

955
00:51:19,600 --> 00:51:21,440
Very rarely will you. 
You need help. 

956
00:51:22,320 --> 00:51:24,680
You got to have help. 
You got to replace that 

957
00:51:24,680 --> 00:51:25,960
addiction with another 
addiction. 

958
00:51:26,920 --> 00:51:29,920
You got to have help. 
And so I, and so I, I want to 

959
00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:32,240
focus on what it produces. 
It gives me this assurance. 

960
00:51:32,240 --> 00:51:35,440
It gives me wisdom and not 
simply the substantive. 

961
00:51:35,840 --> 00:51:39,360
The substantive is the teaching.
Now I'm going to get to that. 

962
00:51:39,360 --> 00:51:41,360
I promise. 
We're going to share the gospel.

963
00:51:41,360 --> 00:51:43,840
We're going to share a whole 
gospel presentation. 

964
00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:46,680
I get to that. 
But right now I'm trying to, I'm

965
00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:48,040
trying to help them to 
understand. 

966
00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:50,960
Here's the benefit of believing 
what I believe. 

967
00:51:51,720 --> 00:51:54,520
It's not just because I can name
all the books of the Bible and I

968
00:51:54,520 --> 00:51:59,800
can tell you what they all say 
that knowledge is not enough. 

969
00:52:02,320 --> 00:52:04,640
And then it also, I also don't 
want to just focus on the 

970
00:52:04,640 --> 00:52:07,000
formal, which means how are we 
doing this? 

971
00:52:07,000 --> 00:52:09,080
It's, it's not just about 
whether or not I go to a 

972
00:52:09,080 --> 00:52:11,200
Southern Baptist church and I go
to a church or not. 

973
00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:14,680
And, and whether or not I, I, I,
I, I go to a, a small group or 

974
00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:15,600
not. 
It's not just about those 

975
00:52:15,600 --> 00:52:19,560
structures either. 
Yet, although be glad for you to

976
00:52:19,560 --> 00:52:21,800
join me. 
I'd like to show you, but my 

977
00:52:21,800 --> 00:52:24,240
main focus. 
I'm not saying you're excluding 

978
00:52:24,240 --> 00:52:26,520
all this. 
You're not a heretic and you're 

979
00:52:26,520 --> 00:52:29,240
not hiding anything. 
You're honest and if you get 

980
00:52:29,240 --> 00:52:32,520
asked questions to answer them. 
But what I'm trying to show you 

981
00:52:34,480 --> 00:52:40,000
is being saved changed me. 
Being being saved is 

982
00:52:40,000 --> 00:52:43,840
transformative. 
And if you need hope in this 

983
00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:47,000
world, because this world will 
grind you up and spit you out, 

984
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:50,960
and if you want hope and you 
want strength, there's only one 

985
00:52:50,960 --> 00:52:53,960
place you're going to find it. 
That's how I talk to people 

986
00:52:57,320 --> 00:53:00,880
because they don't have that. 
And and by that point, they're 

987
00:53:00,880 --> 00:53:04,400
usually honest with me and say, 
man, I don't, I don't have that 

988
00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:07,800
in my life. 
I wish I did, but I don't. 

989
00:53:09,400 --> 00:53:13,040
And then I'm going to continue 
to talk to them about how to get

990
00:53:13,040 --> 00:53:16,520
that. 
So again, I want to next, I want

991
00:53:16,520 --> 00:53:18,080
to bring them to my connect 
group. 

992
00:53:18,080 --> 00:53:19,880
I want to bring them to my 
worship time. 

993
00:53:19,880 --> 00:53:23,040
I want them to see what we do. 
I want them to meet you. 

994
00:53:23,840 --> 00:53:26,920
They need to recognize that not 
all Christians are crazy people,

995
00:53:29,760 --> 00:53:32,560
that Christians can be normal 
people who are really living a 

996
00:53:32,560 --> 00:53:36,120
life, loving the Lord, doing the
best they can, perfect sinners, 

997
00:53:36,520 --> 00:53:41,560
messed up, broken. 
But we can bring it all here and

998
00:53:41,560 --> 00:53:44,920
help one another in the 
headquarters of encouragement, 

999
00:53:45,880 --> 00:53:48,200
right? 
And then I want to share my 

1000
00:53:48,200 --> 00:53:50,120
personal testimony with Him as 
soon as I can. 

1001
00:53:50,200 --> 00:53:52,080
So I want to share with him my 
story here. 

1002
00:53:52,200 --> 00:53:54,800
Here's why this happened to me. 
See. 

1003
00:53:55,320 --> 00:53:57,160
And we're going to talk about 
that in great detail. 

1004
00:53:57,160 --> 00:53:59,240
That's the whole next time 
together. 

1005
00:54:00,240 --> 00:54:03,640
How do I share not only about 
how did, how did I realize I 

1006
00:54:03,640 --> 00:54:05,560
needed to be saved and how was I
saved? 

1007
00:54:05,560 --> 00:54:08,400
I mentioned this to some of you 
before, but also what does that 

1008
00:54:08,400 --> 00:54:11,120
produce in my life? 
But also what is Jesus doing for

1009
00:54:11,120 --> 00:54:13,680
me today? 
And that last point will be 

1010
00:54:13,680 --> 00:54:21,200
invalid if you're not in 
relationship #1 you have to be 

1011
00:54:21,200 --> 00:54:24,680
abiding in Christ and Christ has
to be abiding in you for you to 

1012
00:54:24,680 --> 00:54:28,000
live evangelistically. 
This is not just a program. 

1013
00:54:28,920 --> 00:54:30,560
This is not just Monday night at
7. 

1014
00:54:31,200 --> 00:54:34,400
This is not a 16 week 
memorization test. 

1015
00:54:35,240 --> 00:54:39,800
This is who we are. 
Imperfect, broken, hurting, 

1016
00:54:40,200 --> 00:54:44,520
sometimes wrong, sometimes 
misled. 

1017
00:54:46,240 --> 00:54:49,600
We're really trying to do the 
best we can under the grace and 

1018
00:54:49,600 --> 00:54:55,080
the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 
And so I get forgiveness in this

1019
00:54:55,080 --> 00:54:58,400
too, you know, because part of 
what they're going to think I'm 

1020
00:54:58,400 --> 00:55:01,920
going to throw on them is that 
I'm holier than you, but somehow

1021
00:55:01,920 --> 00:55:03,960
I'm better than you. 
I'm not better than you. 

1022
00:55:03,960 --> 00:55:08,000
I'm in a better spot than you're
in because I know the best one. 

1023
00:55:09,640 --> 00:55:11,800
So I want to share with them. 
I want to bring them with me. 

1024
00:55:11,800 --> 00:55:14,760
I want to share their testimony.
And then obviously I want to get

1025
00:55:14,760 --> 00:55:16,640
to the point. 
This next one, I want to share 

1026
00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:19,720
the gospel and we're going to 
talk in big terms about that. 

1027
00:55:19,720 --> 00:55:23,000
What does that mean? 
We've got to know what that 

1028
00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:25,400
means because we've got to share
a whole gospel with them. 

1029
00:55:25,400 --> 00:55:27,000
We can't just share part of the 
gospel. 

1030
00:55:27,160 --> 00:55:29,560
We need to get, and you may not 
get to do that all in one visit,

1031
00:55:29,760 --> 00:55:32,560
but in other words, they need to
understand certain key doctrinal

1032
00:55:32,560 --> 00:55:34,760
points. 
You wonder why somebody taught 

1033
00:55:34,760 --> 00:55:37,120
you doctrine all summer. 
Duh. 

1034
00:55:38,600 --> 00:55:42,960
All the dots connect. 
Everything I do for you is 

1035
00:55:42,960 --> 00:55:46,360
connected. 
We needed to do theological 

1036
00:55:46,360 --> 00:55:50,600
triage so we can understand 
what's most important and we can

1037
00:55:50,600 --> 00:55:54,600
share about that. 
So I want to focus on those 

1038
00:55:54,600 --> 00:55:56,680
things and I want to share the 
gospel. 

1039
00:55:56,840 --> 00:55:58,600
And then I've obviously got a 
show too. 

1040
00:55:58,600 --> 00:56:00,480
I mean, Christ needs to be a 
part of my life. 

1041
00:56:00,720 --> 00:56:02,960
And so my hypocrisy needs to be 
minimal. 

1042
00:56:04,320 --> 00:56:07,560
And when, when it's evident I 
need to apologize and seek 

1043
00:56:07,560 --> 00:56:12,200
forgiveness, and I've said this 
before, depending upon how far 

1044
00:56:12,200 --> 00:56:14,720
away from the gospel they are, 
be ready. 

1045
00:56:15,080 --> 00:56:17,360
They might just need to see you 
go through crisis. 

1046
00:56:19,440 --> 00:56:23,760
And so be careful about how hard
you reject crisis because 

1047
00:56:23,760 --> 00:56:28,200
sometimes that might be exactly 
what God's using to bring 

1048
00:56:28,200 --> 00:56:33,160
somebody to him. 
There are people overseas right 

1049
00:56:33,160 --> 00:56:36,400
now who know Jesus because of 
crisis. 

1050
00:56:38,440 --> 00:56:40,040
That doesn't mean we wish it 
upon anybody. 

1051
00:56:40,040 --> 00:56:42,640
It doesn't mean we stop praying 
to get out of it because we 

1052
00:56:42,640 --> 00:56:44,440
don't know how is to pray. 
That's the only way we can 

1053
00:56:44,440 --> 00:56:47,720
honestly pray. 
But we also recognize what God 

1054
00:56:47,720 --> 00:56:51,880
can do. 
First Thessalonians 15 says 

1055
00:56:51,880 --> 00:56:53,880
this. 
I love this verse. 

1056
00:56:54,400 --> 00:56:56,080
The rest of them are no good. 
This one's good. 

1057
00:56:56,080 --> 00:57:03,320
It's funny when we talk like 
that because our gospel came to 

1058
00:57:03,320 --> 00:57:08,520
you not only in Word, but also 
in power and in the Holy Spirit 

1059
00:57:08,520 --> 00:57:12,280
and with full conviction. 
You know what kind of men we 

1060
00:57:12,280 --> 00:57:14,160
proved to be among you for your 
sake. 

1061
00:57:15,280 --> 00:57:19,840
They earned the right through 
these relational dynamics. 

1062
00:57:20,840 --> 00:57:22,320
They not only heard them, but 
they saw them. 

1063
00:57:23,120 --> 00:57:27,560
There was consistency in their 
life and they loved them. 

1064
00:57:28,400 --> 00:57:30,960
So here's a couple of things to 
remember. 

1065
00:57:32,200 --> 00:57:35,280
Number one, as we work through 
this, we too often in today's 

1066
00:57:35,280 --> 00:57:39,320
culture, you need to expect more
multiple encounters and perhaps 

1067
00:57:39,320 --> 00:57:41,240
less single encounters. 
That doesn't mean we're not 

1068
00:57:41,240 --> 00:57:43,440
praying for person X. 
It doesn't mean we're not 

1069
00:57:43,440 --> 00:57:45,200
praying for that single 
encounter. 

1070
00:57:45,440 --> 00:57:49,320
But statistically anyway, people
are going to need to hear 

1071
00:57:49,320 --> 00:57:51,200
something more than once in our 
culture today. 

1072
00:57:52,440 --> 00:57:54,520
Now, Jesus could return at any 
time. 

1073
00:57:54,520 --> 00:57:59,480
So the urgency level's high, but
it's very often that that person

1074
00:57:59,480 --> 00:58:02,480
that you're sharing with may not
get saved that first time. 

1075
00:58:02,480 --> 00:58:06,720
Don't be destroyed by that. 
Just recognize they're working 

1076
00:58:06,720 --> 00:58:09,280
through things and you might 
need to talk to them again. 

1077
00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:13,560
You might only get so far the 
first time in that relationship 

1078
00:58:13,560 --> 00:58:16,680
because who you know, that might
be AU4U5 way away from the 

1079
00:58:16,680 --> 00:58:18,080
gospel. 
They don't want anything to do 

1080
00:58:18,080 --> 00:58:20,320
with that. 
But odds for them to get saved 

1081
00:58:20,320 --> 00:58:23,560
in a single encounter are small.
Doesn't mean it never happens. 

1082
00:58:23,560 --> 00:58:27,160
God's miraculous, but I don't 
necessarily expect that. 

1083
00:58:27,160 --> 00:58:28,600
So I've got to. 
I've got to bring them. 

1084
00:58:29,040 --> 00:58:31,080
I've got to bring them closer, 
right? 

1085
00:58:32,200 --> 00:58:36,360
I've known people who said they 
would never and they are right. 

1086
00:58:37,760 --> 00:58:39,240
We also need to be a good 
listener. 

1087
00:58:39,240 --> 00:58:42,440
There's that word again. 
You thought I said connect 

1088
00:58:42,440 --> 00:58:44,880
groups enough or 100% enough. 
Be a good listener. 

1089
00:58:45,520 --> 00:58:48,720
Be my next one. 
Be less self-centered. 

1090
00:58:50,600 --> 00:58:52,320
There's a theological truth 
there. 

1091
00:58:54,040 --> 00:58:56,320
And part of the problem is that 
sometimes we like talking about 

1092
00:58:56,320 --> 00:58:58,160
ourselves more than we like 
listening to others. 

1093
00:58:59,440 --> 00:59:01,760
We need to make sure that our 
own pride and ego are not part 

1094
00:59:01,760 --> 00:59:02,760
of it. 
So we want to be more 

1095
00:59:02,760 --> 00:59:05,320
dialogical, less monological. 
This is just part of the 

1096
00:59:05,320 --> 00:59:09,960
postmodern culture. 
They, they, they like stories, 

1097
00:59:10,720 --> 00:59:14,280
they like authenticity. 
They, we got to be real. 

1098
00:59:15,920 --> 00:59:18,480
And so that that means we, we 
can't just be some kind of fake 

1099
00:59:18,480 --> 00:59:20,640
production. 
Some, some great sales pitch 

1100
00:59:20,640 --> 00:59:23,400
isn't going to get it done. 
They need to see reality. 

1101
00:59:24,000 --> 00:59:26,080
And so this is going to be a 
dialogue where we're talking, 

1102
00:59:26,080 --> 00:59:28,520
we're learning about each other,
we're we're listening to one 

1103
00:59:28,520 --> 00:59:30,960
another. 
So this is more story, less 

1104
00:59:30,960 --> 00:59:33,920
presentation. 
Doesn't mean we're not going to 

1105
00:59:33,920 --> 00:59:37,120
present the gospel, but the way 
we present the gospel becomes 

1106
00:59:37,120 --> 00:59:40,200
important. 
And so, and this may or may not 

1107
00:59:40,200 --> 00:59:44,680
make sense, moderns communicate 
in a certain way versus 

1108
00:59:44,680 --> 00:59:46,240
postmoderns. 
This is one reason 

1109
00:59:46,240 --> 00:59:50,760
generationally some of you don't
understand each other and so we 

1110
00:59:51,320 --> 00:59:54,600
I have to teach students how to 
write this way in academic 

1111
00:59:54,600 --> 00:59:59,040
writing too. 
So story then proposition, not 

1112
00:59:59,040 --> 01:00:03,000
proposition then story. 
I really need to switch the way 

1113
01:00:03,000 --> 01:00:06,480
I preach and be a better 
preacher because most of the 

1114
01:00:06,480 --> 01:00:08,600
time what they need. 
Think about how Jesus taught. 

1115
01:00:09,640 --> 01:00:12,920
How did Jesus often teach with 
what stories? 

1116
01:00:12,920 --> 01:00:16,200
Parables. 
So he'd share the story, then 

1117
01:00:16,200 --> 01:00:18,040
he'd share the principles you're
supposed to get out of the 

1118
01:00:18,040 --> 01:00:20,800
story. 
Too often in evangelism, we're 

1119
01:00:20,800 --> 01:00:22,880
sharing a principle. 
God loves you and has a great 

1120
01:00:22,880 --> 01:00:26,520
plan for your life. 
And what we really need to do is

1121
01:00:26,520 --> 01:00:29,000
start with the story and then 
hit the principal. 

1122
01:00:29,400 --> 01:00:35,440
I mean the yeah, so you start 
with start with the story, not 

1123
01:00:35,840 --> 01:00:38,720
the proper, the proposition. 
I can write preposition. 

1124
01:00:38,720 --> 01:00:39,680
I'm all over the place right 
now. 

1125
01:00:40,080 --> 01:00:42,440
Sorry. 
So that may seem weird. 

1126
01:00:42,440 --> 01:00:43,640
You may not quite understand 
that. 

1127
01:00:43,640 --> 01:00:45,720
We'll talk about that more in 
the weeks ahead. 

1128
01:00:46,040 --> 01:00:48,920
We also need to next one. 
We need to ask good questions 

1129
01:00:49,440 --> 01:00:51,440
and don't give lots of 
information that may seem 

1130
01:00:51,440 --> 01:00:55,000
counterintuitive to you, but in 
these initial encounters, you 

1131
01:00:55,040 --> 01:00:58,920
need to learn who they are and 
they need to, they're going to 

1132
01:00:58,920 --> 01:01:02,200
respect you for that. 
You saw me, you hear these words

1133
01:01:02,200 --> 01:01:03,840
in our culture. 
They saw me. 

1134
01:01:04,120 --> 01:01:09,200
They heard me, right? 
And, and, and as much as I that 

1135
01:01:09,200 --> 01:01:12,280
might drive you crazy, that's 
reality out there. 

1136
01:01:13,440 --> 01:01:14,560
And we've got to understand 
that. 

1137
01:01:14,560 --> 01:01:17,800
We've got to listen and get and 
ask good questions. 

1138
01:01:18,120 --> 01:01:20,600
So this is consideration, not 
argumentation. 

1139
01:01:20,960 --> 01:01:25,520
This is soft, not loud. 
This is guided tours, not ticket

1140
01:01:25,520 --> 01:01:30,280
sales. 
They want you to invite them to 

1141
01:01:30,280 --> 01:01:33,040
join you in an authentic life 
journey. 

1142
01:01:34,080 --> 01:01:37,560
Walk alongside of me, see what 
I'm experiencing. 

1143
01:01:37,960 --> 01:01:42,360
Join me in this journey. 
In fact, Chuck Kelly, who was 

1144
01:01:42,360 --> 01:01:45,480
the president of New Orleans 
Baptist Theological Seminary for

1145
01:01:45,480 --> 01:01:48,680
many years, I believe this was 
actually his doctoral 

1146
01:01:48,680 --> 01:01:52,080
dissertation years ago. 
But he there's a great quote out

1147
01:01:52,080 --> 01:01:55,680
of a book that Doctor Kelly 
wrote and he basically says 

1148
01:01:55,680 --> 01:02:01,800
Southern Baptists are a harvest 
oriented denomination living 

1149
01:02:02,520 --> 01:02:05,360
oriented in an unseeded 
generation. 

1150
01:02:08,080 --> 01:02:13,840
Some of us are so used to even 
the two week long revival, the 

1151
01:02:13,840 --> 01:02:18,520
week long revival, the three day
revival, the weekend revival, 

1152
01:02:18,520 --> 01:02:23,080
the Holy Ghost tent revival, 
whatever it was where you would 

1153
01:02:23,080 --> 01:02:27,400
see all these people come 
forward at once. 

1154
01:02:28,280 --> 01:02:30,560
And that's what we grew up on. 
That's what we're used to. 

1155
01:02:30,560 --> 01:02:34,000
Some of you in church life, how 
many of those do you see 

1156
01:02:34,000 --> 01:02:37,320
anymore? 
And it's not because the 

1157
01:02:37,320 --> 01:02:41,080
methodology is good or bad part 
of us because the culture has 

1158
01:02:41,080 --> 01:02:45,960
changed and you can buy that or 
not, but I promise you it's 

1159
01:02:45,960 --> 01:02:48,680
true. 
And that what we're going to see

1160
01:02:48,680 --> 01:02:52,760
is, is that this generation out 
there, they they need to 

1161
01:02:52,760 --> 01:02:56,800
understand a lot of things we 
talked about all summer long in 

1162
01:02:56,800 --> 01:03:00,360
our doctrinal, in our theology 
one O 1 theological triage 

1163
01:03:00,360 --> 01:03:04,480
series, Who is God? 
What's the Bible? 

1164
01:03:05,880 --> 01:03:10,760
Why should I believe in Jesus? 
And so these conversations and 

1165
01:03:10,760 --> 01:03:13,880
definitions are going to be part
of the conversation that often 

1166
01:03:13,880 --> 01:03:17,680
have to take place rather than 
simply assuming that I can start

1167
01:03:17,680 --> 01:03:22,240
with the Romans road and that 
you're going to understand that 

1168
01:03:22,240 --> 01:03:24,360
we're all sinners and fall short
of the glory of God. 

1169
01:03:24,680 --> 01:03:31,160
What's a Sinner and who's God? 
And these people out there don't

1170
01:03:31,160 --> 01:03:32,720
all get it. 
And you might say, well that's 

1171
01:03:32,720 --> 01:03:33,960
too hard and that's not worth 
it. 

1172
01:03:33,960 --> 01:03:35,400
Well, that's decision you got to
make. 

1173
01:03:37,280 --> 01:03:40,120
But I can't neglect the calling 
that says that I have to go. 

1174
01:03:41,920 --> 01:03:44,200
And so I've got to figure out 
how I can become all things to 

1175
01:03:44,200 --> 01:03:47,360
all men without compromising the
truth. 

1176
01:03:48,640 --> 01:03:51,600
So I've got to figure out the 
best way to package this gospel.

1177
01:03:51,600 --> 01:03:54,560
So you we need to think in terms
of interpersonal relationships. 

1178
01:03:55,600 --> 01:03:57,960
How am I interacting with this 
person one-on-one? 

1179
01:03:59,480 --> 01:04:01,840
How am I engaging in this 
person, this person? 

1180
01:04:03,600 --> 01:04:05,640
Because one of the things that 
we've got to be careful about 

1181
01:04:05,640 --> 01:04:08,080
here in Englewood is Englewood 
in the past has been known for 

1182
01:04:08,080 --> 01:04:10,520
some really big events. 
But I'll also tell you what 

1183
01:04:10,520 --> 01:04:13,920
Englewood's been known for is 0 
to lousy follow up on those 

1184
01:04:13,920 --> 01:04:17,600
really big events. 
And some of you know that's 

1185
01:04:17,600 --> 01:04:21,560
true. 
So we can have thousands of 

1186
01:04:21,560 --> 01:04:23,880
people come to something, but if
we don't do anything with those 

1187
01:04:23,880 --> 01:04:27,000
thousands of people, it doesn't 
amount to much. 

1188
01:04:28,640 --> 01:04:33,120
So what we're going to do is 
we're going to make 1001 on one 

1189
01:04:33,320 --> 01:04:37,720
personal contacts. 
We're going to go back almost 

1190
01:04:37,720 --> 01:04:41,240
apologetically, not really been 
almost and say, I'm sorry that 

1191
01:04:41,240 --> 01:04:42,680
it's taken us two years to do 
this. 

1192
01:04:45,400 --> 01:04:47,680
But we're going to come back and
make contact with these people 

1193
01:04:47,680 --> 01:04:49,800
who've come to see us at some of
these large events. 

1194
01:04:50,400 --> 01:04:52,560
Now here's here's my question, 
the same question I asked the 

1195
01:04:52,560 --> 01:04:56,640
staff because I get, I get eyes 
that roll at me. 

1196
01:05:00,920 --> 01:05:03,080
Underestimate God. 
That'll be fun. 

1197
01:05:04,400 --> 01:05:12,750
What if this is successful? 
You're going to get in your 

1198
01:05:12,750 --> 01:05:15,350
letter about the budget this 
week that our worship attendance

1199
01:05:15,350 --> 01:05:18,710
is over 30% higher. 
Our connect group's over 40% 

1200
01:05:18,710 --> 01:05:22,070
higher, 200 and something people
want to go on mission trips. 

1201
01:05:22,870 --> 01:05:24,910
We have hundreds of people 
showing up to this. 

1202
01:05:24,910 --> 01:05:29,470
Now you know where this was a 
year ago and I'm not driven by 

1203
01:05:29,470 --> 01:05:34,920
these numbers at all, but you 
realize that if you maintain a 

1204
01:05:34,920 --> 01:05:37,800
30 something percent annual 
growth rate, I've done that in 

1205
01:05:37,800 --> 01:05:41,800
churches, that this church will 
be doubled in size in 3 1/2 

1206
01:05:41,800 --> 01:05:44,360
years. 
What are you going to do with 

1207
01:05:44,360 --> 01:05:48,560
them? 
Where are they going to meet? 

1208
01:05:49,680 --> 01:05:54,120
See, what if this is successful?
Now some of you may sit there. 

1209
01:05:54,120 --> 01:05:56,280
Well, I hope not. 
I'll miss my parking spot. 

1210
01:06:04,800 --> 01:06:06,520
Somebody going to have to learn 
how to park in the back. 

1211
01:06:06,520 --> 01:06:11,280
By the way, some of you need to 
start doing that now. 

1212
01:06:11,280 --> 01:06:13,760
I heard Sunday morning that out 
front was bad at one point. 

1213
01:06:15,520 --> 01:06:20,200
So who we going to be? 
It's missions month. 

1214
01:06:20,200 --> 01:06:21,280
So, you know, I'm not going to 
let up. 

1215
01:06:21,280 --> 01:06:24,360
I'm going to keep beating the 
horse. 

1216
01:06:25,360 --> 01:06:27,240
It may be lying dead in the 
dish, but I'm going to keep 

1217
01:06:27,240 --> 01:06:30,720
beating it. 
Listen, I love you and I 

1218
01:06:30,720 --> 01:06:33,800
appreciate so much. 
It's always funny because you 

1219
01:06:33,800 --> 01:06:37,560
are the ones that are here. 
So thank you very much for being

1220
01:06:37,560 --> 01:06:40,040
here and for listening to this. 
And and I'm telling you, you 

1221
01:06:40,040 --> 01:06:42,480
don't want to miss next time. 
It'll be so much fun. 

1222
01:06:42,760 --> 01:06:45,840
You will learn something. 
And I'm not going to force 

1223
01:06:45,840 --> 01:06:48,040
anybody to participate in some 
way they don't want to. 

1224
01:06:48,040 --> 01:06:51,240
So you come next week, it will 
be more participatory 

1225
01:06:51,240 --> 01:06:52,920
potentially if you want it to 
be. 

1226
01:06:53,240 --> 01:06:55,160
But we're going to actually talk
about how do I take this 

1227
01:06:55,160 --> 01:06:59,480
personal testimony and make it 
into this, this ability to 

1228
01:06:59,480 --> 01:07:01,080
present it. 
And I'm going to show you how to

1229
01:07:01,080 --> 01:07:03,360
do that in in less than 4 
minutes. 

1230
01:07:04,080 --> 01:07:05,880
But then I'm also going to show 
you how to have a longer 

1231
01:07:05,880 --> 01:07:07,360
version. 
If you have time, you don't have

1232
01:07:07,360 --> 01:07:09,640
to try to do it. 
I actually have a 2 minute 

1233
01:07:09,640 --> 01:07:12,600
version. 
But then after that, we're going

1234
01:07:12,600 --> 01:07:14,560
to actually talk about how do we
continue to stair step? 

1235
01:07:14,560 --> 01:07:16,920
So how do I actually share a 
gospel? 

1236
01:07:16,920 --> 01:07:18,840
What does that mean? 
We're going to walk through that

1237
01:07:18,840 --> 01:07:20,040
together. 
What does it mean? 

1238
01:07:20,040 --> 01:07:22,400
How do I, how do I use Scripture
to share the gospel? 

1239
01:07:22,400 --> 01:07:25,200
What all needs to be in the 
gospel presentation and then 

1240
01:07:25,200 --> 01:07:27,280
we're going to talk about these 
special groups that we need to 

1241
01:07:27,280 --> 01:07:28,600
deal with. 
How do I share the gospel with a

1242
01:07:28,600 --> 01:07:31,000
child? 
How do I share the gospel with 

1243
01:07:31,400 --> 01:07:34,560
that family member, right? 
Or these people from other 

1244
01:07:34,560 --> 01:07:38,200
backgrounds. 
You know, I've, I've mentioned 

1245
01:07:38,200 --> 01:07:40,600
this to some of you before, but 
one of the things that I found 

1246
01:07:40,600 --> 01:07:44,120
with some of my students in 
school was, was that I'd had, 

1247
01:07:44,120 --> 01:07:46,360
you know, we had these weekly 
evangelism reports that I've 

1248
01:07:46,360 --> 01:07:49,000
mentioned to you before. 
And, and they'd go home and 

1249
01:07:49,000 --> 01:07:53,520
they'd share with relatives. 
And I've mentioned one of them 

1250
01:07:53,520 --> 01:07:57,080
before, but others would come 
back and their relatives were 

1251
01:07:57,080 --> 01:08:01,520
really upset with them, not 
because they shared the gospel 

1252
01:08:02,680 --> 01:08:05,200
because, but because it had 
taken so long. 

1253
01:08:07,240 --> 01:08:12,800
And the fact that they realized 
you knew all this and you didn't

1254
01:08:12,800 --> 01:08:16,960
tell me part of that study that 
I mentioned to you last time, A2

1255
01:08:16,960 --> 01:08:19,439
year study of of contacting 
unchurched people in every 

1256
01:08:19,439 --> 01:08:22,279
single state and in Canada for 
two years for a research 

1257
01:08:22,279 --> 01:08:24,319
project. 
Not only did we talk to people 

1258
01:08:24,319 --> 01:08:25,920
who talked about their next door
neighbor going to church. 

1259
01:08:25,920 --> 01:08:29,439
I mentioned that I think last 
time, but for example, 11 real 

1260
01:08:29,439 --> 01:08:33,479
conversation was I work with 
Christians. 

1261
01:08:34,640 --> 01:08:36,880
I know they're Christians. 
They got their cubicle all 

1262
01:08:36,880 --> 01:08:40,520
decorated with Christian stuff 
and they have Christian music 

1263
01:08:40,520 --> 01:08:43,640
playing down there. 
And I'm going through a horrible

1264
01:08:43,640 --> 01:08:48,800
divorce. 
How come not one time, not one 

1265
01:08:48,800 --> 01:08:53,000
time did you Christians come two
cubicles down and tell me you 

1266
01:08:53,000 --> 01:08:54,920
were praying for me and trying 
to help me. 

1267
01:08:55,359 --> 01:08:58,160
Why not? 
They know I'm going through the 

1268
01:08:58,160 --> 01:09:04,479
worst time of my life. 
There's a burden that we must 

1269
01:09:04,479 --> 01:09:06,520
have an awareness that we must 
have. 

1270
01:09:06,520 --> 01:09:09,240
And, and, and those Christians 
over there, probably they're, 

1271
01:09:09,240 --> 01:09:12,040
they're not intentionally trying
to be mean to him. 

1272
01:09:12,840 --> 01:09:15,479
I know that they're just not 
thinking about it. 

1273
01:09:16,800 --> 01:09:19,080
They're just not aware. 
They're not. 

1274
01:09:19,279 --> 01:09:22,200
They haven't sharpened their 
spiritual senses to be sensitive

1275
01:09:22,200 --> 01:09:25,000
enough to what's going on around
them. 

1276
01:09:25,960 --> 01:09:28,920
Let me tell you, friends, if a 
church like this doesn't do 

1277
01:09:28,920 --> 01:09:35,960
this, nobody's going to do it. 
And one day, I'm afraid what 

1278
01:09:35,960 --> 01:09:40,720
we're, what we're going to learn
and the opportunities we missed 

1279
01:09:42,399 --> 01:09:44,479
and the people who should have 
been there with us. 

1280
01:09:46,479 --> 01:09:51,240
So let's take as many as we can.
Let's take them away from Satan 

1281
01:09:52,720 --> 01:09:55,240
and let's take them with us. 
Father, thank you for that 

1282
01:09:55,240 --> 01:09:56,880
privilege. 
Thank you for that opportunity. 

1283
01:09:57,840 --> 01:09:59,840
Thank you, Father, for so much 
for these people. 

1284
01:09:59,840 --> 01:10:02,600
All these many people who've 
come on a dark, cold night to 

1285
01:10:02,600 --> 01:10:05,280
hear this in here. 
Thank you for those that are 

1286
01:10:05,280 --> 01:10:08,840
listening online right now. 
Some are driving, some are 

1287
01:10:08,840 --> 01:10:10,520
walking, some are sitting at 
home. 

1288
01:10:12,200 --> 01:10:15,120
And I pray, Father, even right 
now, you, just, you just blitz 

1289
01:10:15,120 --> 01:10:18,840
our brains and our spirits with 
the face and the name of a lost 

1290
01:10:18,840 --> 01:10:21,440
person. 
And the Father, you won't let it

1291
01:10:21,440 --> 01:10:23,560
go. 
The Father. 

1292
01:10:23,560 --> 01:10:25,440
We won't be able to shake that 
face. 

1293
01:10:26,560 --> 01:10:30,880
We won't be able to shake that 
name until we've started at 

1294
01:10:30,880 --> 01:10:35,840
least some kind of relationship,
some kind of prayer life, some 

1295
01:10:35,840 --> 01:10:39,840
kind of awareness, some type of 
conversation with that person. 

1296
01:10:40,840 --> 01:10:44,680
Give us the opportunity and make
us aware of it. 

1297
01:10:45,440 --> 01:10:47,080
And Father, I thank you for 
that. 

1298
01:10:47,560 --> 01:10:51,560
And Lord, I look forward to the 
harvest that I totally and 

1299
01:10:51,560 --> 01:10:53,480
firmly believe is coming our 
way. 

1300
01:10:54,640 --> 01:10:58,000
And thank you for allowing us to
be a part of it in Christ's 

1301
01:10:58,760 --> 01:11:00,640
name, Amen. 
God bless you all. 

1302
01:11:00,640 --> 01:11:05,400
Thank you all so much. 
Thank you so much for listening 

1303
01:11:05,400 --> 01:11:07,000
today. 
And I also hope that you'll go 

1304
01:11:07,000 --> 01:11:09,240
to 
ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 

1305
01:11:09,240 --> 01:11:12,320
as well as our app and find many
other resources that will bless 

1306
01:11:12,320 --> 01:11:14,480
you and your families. 
Thank you once again.