I want to take just a moment to introduce our guest speaker
today. So Pastor Jeremy Doyle is the
missions pastor at Valley Baptist Church.
If you're not familiar with Valley Baptist Church, it's this
really tiny church. Valley Baptist is a sister
church in the Southern Baptist Association with us, and they
have planted and revitalized multiple churches in the last 2
1/2 years here in Kern County and in San Jose, sending pastors
and congregants and funding out around California to plant new
churches. They also have a really robust
missions program. And So what I wanted to do is
bring someone to talk about missions.
That was really doing missions all the time.
Pastor Jeremy moved here from San Diego, That's right, moved
here from San Diego to wrestle at Cal State Bakersfield.
And now instead of wrestling sweaty college students, he
doesn't wrestle against flesh and blood at all.
He wrestles against the principalities of this spiritual
realm. So will you do me a favor and
introduce or welcome Pastor Jeremy Doyle?
Thanks brother. We pray over you, Father God, we
thank you for commissioning men and women all around the world
to bring your gospel message. We thank you for Pastor Jeremy
as he opens your word today. It proclaims your truths today.
God, we ask that your spirit would move mightily in this
place and that you would stir us up to action, that you would
bind our wounds for those of us that are hurting God, and that
you would Pierce the hearts of those who have become complacent
or hard hearted. In Jesus name, Amen.
Amen. Well, good morning, Resurrection
Church. It is great to be with you guys
today. And Pastor Daniel, thank you so
much for having me out. If you could please open up your
Bibles to Romans chapter 10. That's where we'll find
ourselves this morning. We'll be going to some other
passage as well. But the message this morning
I've entitled God's Rescue Plan. So let's begin by just reading
Paul's words inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Starting in verse 13, Paul says For everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him
whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in
Him of whom they have never heard?
And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
And how are they to preach unless they are sent as it is
written? How beautiful are the feet of
those who preach the good news. Let's pray again.
God, we thank you so much for the good news.
We thank you, Lord, for your word, for the truth that we find
in it, And we thank you for many of us here today being rescued
by that truth. God, as we consider this passage
and other scriptures that you've inspired, Lord, would you
challenge every single one of us, no matter how long we've
been sitting in a Pew or within the walls of what we call a
church? God, would you inspire each and
every one of us to follow you more intimately, more
obediently? And God, if there's anyone here
today that does not know you as their Lord and their savior,
God, I pray that you will bring them from the depths of their
sin to salvation. And God, I pray that you will
speak through me this morning. God, I pray that it won't be my
words that anyone hears but yours.
And God, I thank you for Resurrection Church.
I thank you for the people that make up this local body and what
you're doing in and through them.
God is so encouraging. We pray you'd continue to work
mightily in this church. And we pray this in Jesus name,
Amen. Well, the Apostle Paul, he
shared the gospel with as many people as he could.
He was once a lost Sinner in need of this gospel message.
And when he encountered that gospel message, Paul was
radically changed and he was saved.
And Paul shared the gospel from person to person, from house to
house, from city to city, and from nation to nation.
He shared the gospel everywhere that he went.
Paul lived a scent life in every single way.
And in Romans chapter 10, Paul's lays out a sequence of events
that must take place for a Sinner to be saved from their
sin. He lays out God's rescue plan,
and this plan is like a chain. And if you think of a chain, a
chain has several links within it.
And if a chain is missing just one of those links, that chain
fails. So what we're going to look at
this morning is we're going to look at each link in the chain
of salvation. And we're going to get right
into it with our first point this morning.
And the first link in the chain to be saved, one must call on
the name of the Lord. Now for context, I want to look
a little bit further back in this passage starting in verse
11, Paul says for the Scripture says everyone who believes in
him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction
between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is Lord of
all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
We see here that salvation is for everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord. Salvation is for the Jew.
Salvation is for the Greek. Salvation is for the Gentile,
meaning all non Jews. That means every single person.
We see here that your heritage does not qualify you or
disqualify you for salvation. Salvation is for the rich and
salvation is for the poor. Your money cannot get you into
heaven and your lack of money cannot keep you out.
Salvation is for those who are living an openly evil life and
salvation is for those who seem to or appear to be living a
decent life or some might even say a good life, which by the
way no one is truly living a good life.
Paul says in Romans chapter 3 verse 12 he says no one does
good not even 1 and verse 23. He goes on to say for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
You see, every single individual on this earth is in need of
salvation because of our sin, our sin that separates us from a
holy God. So if you're here this morning
and you don't need God's help, for some reason you're thinking
I don't need God's help for salvation.
Well, I've got news for you. Every single one of us needs
help for salvation. We cannot earn our way to God.
We do not deserve to be with God.
We need help. But if you're here today
thinking that you're too far gone for God to save you, well
then I've got news for you as well.
You are not too far gone. You have not sinned too great to
be able to be saved by Jesus. In First Timothy 24, in speaking
about God our Saviour, Paul said that he desires all people to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
You see, God wants to save the murderer and the thief.
He wants to save the liar and the cheat.
He wants to save the adulterer and the idolater, the slanderer
and the fornicator, the prideful and the arrogant.
God wants to save everyone, including you, if you're not
saved already. Now, I want you to imagine for
just a minute that you're on a deep sea fishing boat and you're
having the trip of your life. It's a fun time with some
family, with some friends, but all of a sudden the boat begins
to take on water and this boat begins to sink.
And the captain of the boat puts out a frantic mayday call to the
Coast Guard on the radio, saying that they need help, that they
are sinking fast. And this Coast Guard ship races
to the scene to rescue you and to rescue those that are in the
boat with you. When the Coast Guard gets there,
everyone is in the water and everyone's treading water trying
to stay afloat. And as the Coast Guard arrives,
the Coast Guard gets on the intercom and announces to
everyone. Everyone who gets on the boat
will be saved. Swim to the boat, and as people
swim to that boat and as they reach up to climb into that
boat, notice that the Coast Guard would never begin to check
passports. The Coast Guard would not begin
to do a criminal record check to see if you're worthy of coming
on the boat. Everyone who comes and swims to
that boat and climbs aboard will be saved.
And this is how salvation is for us lost sinners that are
treading in this crazy world, in this crazy life.
God does not rescue us based on our background.
He doesn't rescue us based on our merit.
Whoever realizes that they need help and humbly calls on Jesus
to save them will be saved. But Paul, he pushes deeper in
this passage and he begins to ask some rhetorical questions.
So look with me at the first part of Romans 10, verse 14.
He asked the first question and says, how then will they call on
him in whom they have not believed?
Here we see the next link in the chain of salvation.
To call on the name of the Lord, one must believe in Him.
We all know John 316 so well, For God so loved the world that
He gave his only Son, that whoever what believes in him
should not perish, but have eternal life.
For someone to be saved, they must believe that God Himself
came to the earth in the form of a man, Jesus Christ, God in
flesh. That He lived a perfect life,
that you and I could never live, that he was arrested, that he
was beaten, and that he died a death that you and I deserved.
That he was buried, and that on the third day Jesus Christ rose
from the dead. He defeated sin and death to
give us salvation, something that you and I could never earn.
Jesus is the only way, He is the truth, He is the life, and no
man comes to the Father except through Him, the one true God.
In Acts chapter 4 verse 12 it says, and there is salvation in
no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given
among men by which we must be saved.
It is belief in Jesus and Jesus alone that can save us from our
sin. But James warns us about a
belief that doesn't save. Look with me in James chapter 2,
starting in verse 19, James says you believe that God is 1.
You do well, even the demons believe and shudder.
Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart
from works is useless, useless. That kind of faith is useless.
A faith that says but doesn't do is a dead faith.
It is a useless faith. It is a belief in your head that
has never made it to your heart. And James is teaching us here
that that kind of belief does not save a person.
The demons have that same kind of belief.
I mean, think about it. Demons believe in God, don't
they? Demons believe in Jesus.
I mean, they were with God in heaven.
How could they not believe? Certainly they believe in the
crucifixion, in Jesus burial, and certainly they know of His
resurrection if they didn't see it for themselves.
But these demons live in rebellion against God.
These demons have rejected God and they will be separated from
Him for all eternity. To call on the name of the Lord
for salvation, you must first believe these things with your
heart, not just with your head. So put yourself back on that
sinking boat in the Pacific Ocean.
You're in the water, and again, you're treading that water,
trying to keep your head afloat, hoping to be rescued.
And this Coast Guard boat arrives on scene to rescue you.
But you don't even know that the boat is there.
You're seeing something in the distance, but you can't quite
make it out, and you're just a little bit delirious and you're
just trying to save yourself, trying to swim ashore.
Before someone can call in the name of Jesus to save them, they
have to believe that He is real, that He is there and able to
help with their sin problem. If you don't believe the boat is
there, you're not going to swim to it.
If you don't believe Jesus is the only way, you're not going
to call out to Him. You must believe this, and
belief is the foundation that makes that call possible.
Look with me again in Romans 10 verse 14.
How then will they call on Him and whom they have not believed?
And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never
heard? This brings us to the next link
in the chain of salvation. To believe in Him, one must hear
the gospel. At the time that Paul is writing
this letter, these words, the New Testament had not been
completed. The New Testament wasn't
available to the reader like it is today.
So the hearing of the gospel message was the one vehicle of
the gospel that was available to the people of that time.
The gospel had to be communicated by word of mouth
for others to hear it so that they could believe it.
And the same was true during the times of the prophets of the Old
Testament. The message of God had to be
heard, to be spread, and to be believed.
Verse 17 says So faith comes from hearing and hearing through
the word of Christ, you and I and the lost in this world.
We must hear the good news about Jesus in order to believe in
Jesus. But for someone to hear the good
news, an obvious action must take place.
Let's look at the entirety of verse 14.
Paul says, how then will they call on him and whom they have
not believed? And how are they to believe in
him of whom they have never heard?
And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
The 4th link in this chain of salvation is to hear the gospel.
Someone must preach the gospel. For one to call on the name of
the Lord for salvation. They must first believe the
gospel. For them to believe the gospel,
they must have first heard the gospel, and for them to hear the
gospel, someone must preach the gospel to them.
The announcement must be made. The rescue instructions must be
given to those who are perishing or they will never have a chance
to be saved. If the rescue boat is near those
needing rescue, needing help in the darkness of night, yet no
one on that boat shines the light of those individuals that
are drowning and no one announces to them to come to the
boat to swim to the boat so that they can be saved.
Those individuals will perish. The famous quote that says
preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary.
It's not true. This statement is false.
To preach the gospel, you must use words, God's words from
God's word, the Bible. Now you might be thinking,
pastor, that's that's great and all.
I agree with you. The word must go forth.
But, but I'm no preacher. I'm not a pastor.
That's Pastor Daniel's job. He's a preacher.
He's been called to do that. He does the work of preaching
the gospel. That's the Ramos's job.
That's for the missionary. They've been called by you to go
and preach the gospel. That's for the professionals.
You might be thinking, but I want you to know this morning,
brothers and sisters, that Paul never limited the preaching of
the gospel to only pastors and missionaries.
We are not all called to be pastors, that is very clear.
We are not all called to even be full time missionaries like the
Ramos, but we are all called to be Proclaimers.
Proclaimers of the gospel message.
Proclaimers of the gospel to our children.
Proclaimers of the gospel to our family members, to our friends,
to our coworkers, our classmates, our teachers.
Proclaimers to the ends of the earth.
And maybe I should even add Proclaimers to our next door
neighbors. When Jesus called Peter and
Andrew to follow him, He told them that He would make them
fishers of men. Being a disciple and being a
Fisher of men was not separate back then.
It wasn't a separate calling and it's not separate now.
These things go together. Let's look at verse 15 as Paul
continues. He says, and how are they to
preach unless they are sent? This is the fifth link in the
chain of salvation. To preach the Gospel, 1 must be
sent. Jesus Christ sent out his
disciples to preach the Gospel right before He ascended into
heaven. Matthew 2818 through 20 is the
famous passage we call the Great Commission, and I know you've
heard that over and over. I know it was shared from this
stage just last week. But that passage should never
get old to us. Let's look again at Matthew 28,
starting in verse 18. It says, And Jesus came and said
to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to
me. Go therefore, and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always
to the end of the age. Jesus Christ told his disciples
to go and make other disciples. Literally as you are going, he's
telling them make disciples. But did you know that this is
not the only Great Commission passage in the New Testament?
There are actually four other Great Commission texts.
In Mark 1615 Jesus said go into all the world and proclaim the
gospel to the whole creation. In Luke 2446 through 47, Jesus
said, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on
the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for
the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
And in John 2021 Jesus said, peace with you, be with you as
the Father has sent me, Even so I am sending you.
And then in Acts chapter one, verse 8, Jesus said, But you
will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and
you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
We see here that Jesus is disciples.
They were commanded to go make disciples of all nations.
They were commanded to preach the gospel to every creature.
They were commanded to preach repentance and remission of sins
to all nations. And they were commanded to be
witnesses of Jesus wherever they went.
As the Father sent Jesus out of heaven into the world, Jesus is
sending out his disciples out from him to preach the gospel to
all the world. And that's exactly what they
did. They preach the gospel from
person to person, house to house, city to city, nation to
nation. And this cost the disciples
greatly. It cost them their lives.
But these commands from Jesus, they weren't just for the
disciples of that day. These commands from Jesus are
for all disciples who will ever walk this earth until Jesus
returns. That includes you, and that
includes me. It doesn't matter how old you
are or how outgoing you are. This command is for all of us.
Jesus is sending you out into the world to proclaim the
gospel, so that lost people can hear the gospel, so that lost
people can believe the gospel, so that lost people can call
upon the name of the Lord, so that lost people can be saved.
God's rescue plan for the lost world involves every single one
of you, and it involves me as well.
Now He doesn't need you, but He has chosen you to be His
mouthpiece, to be sent out to proclaim the good news to a lost
and dying world. Look again with me starting in
verse 13. Pay close attention to these
words, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved. How then will they call on Him
and whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in
Him of whom they have never heard?
And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
And how are they to preach unless they are sent?
When we look at Paul's questions and we reverse the order, we see
something very significant. Without preachers being sent out
to preach the gospel, no one will preach the gospel.
Without people preaching the gospel, no one will hear the
gospel. Without people hearing the
gospel, no one will believe the gospel.
Without people believing the gospel, no one will call upon
the name of the Lord for salvation.
Without people calling upon the name of the Lord for salvation,
no one will be saved. This is God's rescue plan.
The question I have for you this morning, brothers and sisters,
is will you choose to be a part of it?
Will you choose to play your role as one of the links in that
chain? Paul says something about those
who do in the last part of our passage.
Look with me in verse 15 in the second-half he says as it is
written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the
good news for the disciples to do what Jesus told them to do.
They would have walked many, many miles on rugged dirt roads
and trails while probably wearing some kind of leather
sandal, maybe at times even being barefoot.
Their foot, their feet wouldn't have been soft.
Their feet wouldn't have been well manicured.
They would have been dirty. They would have been wrinkled.
These feet would have been leather.
They would have been rough. They would have been stinky.
And at times, I'm sure these feet would have been bloody.
Yet Jesus said that those are the feet that are beautiful.
Isn't that interesting? Why are those the feet that are
beautiful? It's because of the beautiful
message that these feet bring to its hearers.
Because of what that message can do to a lost person's life and
the praise that that can bring to the Father that we may all
have such beautiful feet like these disciples had.
Feet that place us in front of lost people and mouths that
would proclaim the gospel of peace to them so that they can
believe and call upon the name of Jesus.
Now in closing this morning, I want to give you 1 application
point with several sub points. And here's your application and
your challenge to consider. The wise person wins souls.
Look with me in Proverbs Chapter 11 verse 30.
This verse I'm going to read from the new King James.
It says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and
he who wins souls is wise. Now why is it wise to win souls?
And the answers to this question will be our sub points #1
because the Lamb of God is worthy of our worship.
You see, when a Sinner comes to repentance and faith, their life
is changed forever and instead of worshipping creation, they
begin to worship the Creator. Oh, and isn't He worthy of our
worship? Isn't He so worthy of not only
our worship, but more worshippers?
God deserves the worship of every person on this earth, but
only those who truly believe in Him will do so in this life.
John 423 says, But the hour is coming and is now here, when the
true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,
for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.
You, if you're a believer this morning, are one of those
worshippers. And God wants more, and He will
get more as more souls are one with the gospel.
But for more souls to be one with the gospel, believers must
preach the gospel to people. The wise person preaches the
gospel to people and wins souls. But why else is it wise to win
souls #2 because the Lamb of God is worthy of our obedience.
John 15 verses 13 and 14. Jesus said greater love has no
one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
There is no greater act of love than for someone to die for you.
What an amazing sacrificial act. And Jesus Christ, God and flesh,
did just that. But Jesus is alive today.
Don't you want to be his close, intimate friend?
Don't you want to honor that friend for the great sacrifice
that he made for you? Well then, a true friend of God
does whatever God commands. And God commands that you go,
that you make disciples, that you be a witness, that you
proclaim this gospel message. I love what Charles Spurgeon
said. He said, do you want arguments
for soul winning? Look up to heaven and ask
yourself how sinners can ever reach those harps of gold and
learn their everlasting song, unless they have someone to tell
them of Jesus who is mighty to save.
But the best argument of all is to be found in the wounds of
Jesus. You want to honor Him, You
desire to put many crowns upon His head, and this you can best
do by winning souls for Him. These are the spoils that he
covets. These are the trophies for which
he fights. These are the jewels that shall
be His best adornments. It is wise to win souls because
the Lamb of God is worthy of our worship and worthy of our
obedience. But why else is it wise to win
souls #3 because the soul winners reward is joy.
To know that the gospel message you shared with someone saved
them will bring so much joy to your life.
And it is so sad that many, many Christians are missing out on
this great joy. In James 520, James says let him
know that whoever brings back a Sinner from his wandering will
save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
Besides being saved yourself, I don't believe there's any
greater joy in the Christian life than getting to lead
someone to Christ. Another thing that Charles
Spurgeon said is to be a soul. Winner is the happiest thing in
the world, and with every soul you bring to Jesus Christ, you
seem to get a new heaven here upon earth.
If anyone of you has experienced that amazing thing of leading
someone to Christ, you know that this quote is true.
If you've won a soul, you know the joy that it brings with it.
But not only will winning souls bring joy to you while you're
here on this earth, it will also bring joy to you when you're in
heaven. In First Thessalonians 219
through 20, Paul said, For what is our hope or joy or crown of
boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy.
These are believers that Paul led to Christ while he was on
earth. And these believers will be his
joy, his crown of rejoicing at Jesus's second coming.
He will get the joy of laying those crowns at Jesus's feet.
He will get the joy of Jesus saying to him, Well done, good
and faithful servant, you are faithful over a few things.
I will make you ruler over many things.
Enter into the joy of your Lord. If you are a faithful soul
winner, you will experience this joy.
The wise person wins souls. I want to share a story of my
childhood. There was a boy named Josh that
I became friends with, and Josh and I went to elementary school
together. We went to middle school
together and we went to high school together.
And Josh and I were close friends.
And I would go over to Josh's house and we would play on the
football team together. We had dirt bikes in common and
we had a lot of fun together. As Josh grew older, he began to
hang out with the wrong crowd and he got kicked out of school
and went to a continuation school.
So I didn't see Josh much, but I remember coming to a wrestling
event and one of my teammates said, Jeremy, did you hear what
happened to Josh? And I said, no, no, what
happened? And he told me that Josh had
died the night before. Josh was at a party and he was
drinking. My next door neighbor was also
there drinking, and his friend was there drinking.
And as these three individuals left this party, one of them
took the keys to drive Josh's truck.
All had consumed alcohol and took a corner way too fast.
And that truck rolled several times, ejecting Josh and killing
him instantly. As I thought back of the years
spent with Josh, there wasn't one time I proclaimed the gospel
to him. I never told Josh about Jesus.
And you know I'll never get the chance to do that.
I will never have the opportunity to tell Josh about
Jesus. And I don't live in that past
mistake anymore, but I let it motivate me to never let that
happen again. Maybe you've had a similar
experience, or maybe you haven't.
I want to challenge you this morning.
Some statistics show that one in 10 Christians, if asked if
they've shared the gospel of just one person in the last
year, one in 10 would say, yes, I have.
This is more than saying come to church with me, which is a great
thing. Please do that.
This is more than saying God bless you, Jesus loves you,
which are great things. Without the proclamation of the
full gospel, no one will be saved.
And Resurrection Church, you every Sunday are sent from this
building by Pastor Daniel. You are sent to go proclaim the
gospel. If you have never taken that
seriously, I hope that today you will.
You are sent from this place to be a proclaimer.
Don't practice the sin of silence any longer.
Now, today you may be in this place and you're not the one
that needs to go reach the lost. You're actually the one that
needs to be reached. It is very possible that there
are some men here today sitting hearing this message,
recognizing that you are the one that needs this gospel message.
You are the one that needs to call upon the name of the Lord.
Pastor Roger who helped found Valley Baptist, used to always
say the furthest you could ever be from God is 1 prayer.
If you would recognize your sin and your need of a Savior, and
you would be willing to turn from that sin in repentance,
believing that Jesus lived the perfect life, you couldn't.
Believing that he died on the cross to pay for your sin, a
death that you deserve. Believing that he was buried and
then on the third day he rose from the grave.
No matter the mistakes of your past or your present, Jesus died
for you. And the Bible says today is the
day of salvation. Why not tomorrow?
Why not next week? Why not next month?
Why not the next stage of life when you're ready to settle
down? Because only today is a
guarantee. Not even later today.
Only this moment is a guarantee. And God wants to save you.
He wants to rescue you from your sin.
He desires to save you, a Sinner.
So if you don't know Jesus, then I beg of you this morning, don't
let sin hold you back any longer.
Release your tight grip on that lifestyle and put your faith in
Jesus this morning. Would you bow with me?
If that's you today and you know right now you are not saved and
you need that Savior and you want to pray and ask Jesus to
come into your life to call upon His name, Would you raise your
hand up for me? Would you let me know that
that's you this morning if you need to receive Christ?
Amen. Now maybe this morning you're
here and you've already been saved, but you're here this
morning and you know, you have not been sharing the gospel like
you should. And you want to say today, you
know what I'm deciding I'm going to be sent and I'm going to obey
and I'm going to proclaim the gospel.
I'm no longer going to be silent.
If that's you today and you want to make a commitment to God this
morning to say I'm going to share the gospel with others,
would you raise your hand up? Amen.
Well, for those who raise your hand to give your life to Jesus,
would you pray with me? And you're not praying to me.
This is to God. And in the quietness of your own
heart, you could say this to the Lord.
Lord, I recognize that I'm a Sinner.
Lord, I know that I need a Savior.
And Jesus, you are the Savior. Jesus, I believe you are
perfect, that you are God, that you died on the cross for my
sin, that you were buried, and that you rose from the grave.
And I want to ask you to save me from my sin.
Rescue me, come into my life and change me.
My life is yours, Jesus. I turn for my sin and I turn to
you. Thank you Jesus.
Amen. Let me continue to pray.
Jesus, we thank you for sending us from this place.
We thank you for choosing us to be your mouthpiece, your hands
and feet, to be Proclaimers of the gospel.
And I pray that every single person in here, including
myself, that we would take this seriously every day, that we
would proclaim the gospel and that we would use words every
time. Help us to be a bright light,
help people to see our lives being different and then wanting
to know the difference. And then give us the words.
Lord, give us the courage to share.
And God, I want to pray specifically this morning for
Resurrection Church. I want to pray for the next door
neighbors that each of these people here have.
God, you've placed us in our homes, in our apartments,
wherever we're living. You've placed us in those
locations not just to dwell, but to be bright lights.
God, would you challenge Resurrection Church to continue
to be a bright light in their neighborhoods?
And maybe for some who haven't shared the gospel with their
neighbors, would you challenge us to meet those neighbors and
to share our faith with them? Help us to love them and serve
them and bless them and pray for them, but at some point help us
to share the gospel with them? God, we love you and we thank
you and pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
Well, if you raised your hand,
or maybe you didn't raise your hand and you genuinely prayed to
give your heart and life to Christ, then we would love for
you to go back to these prayer tables that say I raised my hand
again, if you didn't raise it, but you prayed, go back to those
tables. We've got a gift for you and we
would love to talk with you and share with you more about
knowing Jesus and making Him known.
But also, if you need prayer for anything else, I'm going to be
off over here. I would love to pray with you.
I know there'll be a prayer team up front and we would love to
pray with you. So why don't we stand together
and let's sing and let's pray?