The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 13: One More

Episode Date: April 2, 2017

When Jesus is before all things, the RESCUED will stop at nothing to tell the world about the RESCUER. When we are in Christ His mission is our mission and His mission is: For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. Luke 19:10 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:17

Amen. How are we doing, church? Doing all right. Looking great. If you got your Bibles, I hope you do, grab them. We're going to be in Colossians chapter 4. Weren't those two days of spring, just really great. One of those was awesome. It was like freezing a couple weeks ago. Now it's 100. So welcome to Florida. So what we're doing here is we're kind of wrapping up, beginning to wrap up, this 14-week study in the book of Colossians. And just in case we weren't here last year, we began a two-year to start. discipleship journey, holistic discipleship journey where all of our church would declare that Jesus is before all things. And so primarily, that is what the book of Colossians is all about. It is about the supremacy of Christ, the sufficiency of Christ, that Jesus is preeminent, that he is before all things in every aspect of our life. A part of that was a generosity initiative, but it's so much bigger than that, and that's why we have been studying this book. And what I'm hoping you will be able to do is to be able to have a grasp of the book of Colossians. And so kind of the way it breaks down is the way that we have been teaching it over the last 14 weeks. And so the first

section is about the supremacy of Christ that Jesus is before all things in his church. And by in his church, we don't mean like a local congregation, like 1122 or whatever church you grew up in, but the cosmic Christ is the head over his cosmic church, and he is doing a thing to renew all things through the church. That was the first section. Now, the church, again, it's not a place that you go. It's not a building that you visit, but the church is a movement of people.

The church is the gathering of the saints. And so the second section was that Jesus is before all things in our hearts. You see, going to church doesn't make you a Christian anymore than stick in your head in the oven makes you a biscuit. Now, don't look for that verse in the book of Colossians, but that's basically what the second section is about. That it's not an outside in thing, it's an inside out thing, and that Jesus is before all things inside of us first and foremost,

which leads to the third section that he is before all things in our day-to-day life. That as God begins to transform us from the inside out, he then begins to impact our most intimate relationships at home and at work. That was what the last section of Before All Things, or the last section of Colossians is all about, which leads us to this final section that Jesus is before all things in our mission. That God doesn't just want to do a thing in you, but he wants to do something through you. And after he begins to transform us from the inside out and to affect our family and our workplaces and those things, he also has called us to a mission, to live our lives on mission, which leads us to last week was about prayer.

and prayer essentially is our ability as Christ's followers to plug in to the power source for our mission. And last week, Pastor Britt shared, in my opinion, the most powerful message on prayer I have ever heard in my entire life. Amen? And so if you were not here for that, please, please, please go to the podcast, listen to that. And also, if you know anybody going through pain, I would highly recommend you share that link with people. in pain so they could understand that they can pray even and especially in those moments of pain. Now next week what I'm going to try to do is help equip you to understand what your particular ministry is. In other words, why on earth are you here? Why do you have the job that you have?

Why do you live in the neighborhood that you do? Go to the school that you do and help you understand why in the world would God wake you up again? Because if he woke you up again today, that means He's not finished with you. And so next week we will talk about at a micro level individually, what is your particular ministry? But before we do that, we've got to handle today, which is at a macro level, every single one of us have been called to the same mission of God. That you, no matter what you do, what your industry is, all of us, if you are a Christ's follower, we have all been called to the same kind of macro mission. Jesus called it the great commission that we are all to make much of him in this lost and broken world. And so last week, Pastor Britt, he talked about kind of the why pray and when to pray in Colossians chapter 4.

And I'm going to start in the same text, but I'm going to talk about the content of what Paul was praying about. So that's where we'll pick it up, Colossians chapter 4 beginning in verse 2. Now you'll remember that Paul writes these words from a jail. sale from prison, he says. Colossians 4.2, continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with Thanksgiving. Verse 3. And at the same time, pray also for us. Now, this makes a lot of sense, right? I'm just telling you, church, if I'm going to write you a letter and say, hey, when you pray, pray for me because I'm in jail. Now, here's what he prays for. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us. Now, don't look at your Bible, look up at me.

Now, this sounds legit, right? Pray to God that he may open a door for us that we could walk up out of this place. That's what I'd be praying. Dear God, would you pray for me, church, would you pray that, I don't know, I get a better lawyer, that the angels come and shake the place down. I've heard that happen before, that the governor just gives me a pardon. I mean, would you pray that God would open a door for me to get out of here? And Paul doesn't pray that.

Paul is going to pray something that will, if you take it seriously, like if you get, like, quit thinking like Sunday school felt bored stories about what Paul's going to do, think about what you would do if you were in jail. Because here's what I'm just going to tell you. I thought about this a lot last week while Pastor Britt was preaching. Most of the time, I just pray for me and mine and what's best for me. Dear God, here I am. Help me.

In Jesus' name, amen. Here's Paul. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison. To which, if you're honest, you go, really, Paul? Really? That's what you're going to pray for? Of all the things to pray for right now, you're praying not to get out of prison, but you're with thanksgiving in your heart, God, may you use this prison stay.

and as you pray for me, pray for an opportunity for me to share my faith with somebody that is actually holding me in prison. Now, let's just be honest. Anybody praying like that? I mean, anybody? Because I think most of us just pray about us. I think most of us are just focused on us. And what this begins to rattle around in me is this, if we're actually living on mission, if we actually believe, that Jesus is before all things,

then how come in my prayer life it seems like I'm before all things? How come that it seems like in my prayer life, what's at the center of it all is what's going on in me? And what I hope the Holy Spirit will allow us to understand here is this, is that when you live a life on mission, then your situation is not the most important thing in your world anymore. That when you live a life, when you actually believe at the core of who you are, that he is before all things, then your circumstances are no longer your priority prayer request.

When you live a life on mission, when you really believe, I'm talking about really believe at your core that he is before all things, then your schedule and your comforts and your conveniences are no longer your Lord, but he is actually before all things. Now, can you imagine that kind of freedom? You see, because it's only in times like that, it's only if God, is actually sovereign over every circumstance in your life that the pain that you are experiencing can actually have some purpose behind it. If not, then it's just an inconvenience to you or to me.

And you see, what Paul gives us a glimpse into here is what it looks like at a very practical level when things are not going your way. What if it's not all about you anyway? What if you're not actually the center of your own universe but that you have been created by a sovereign king to be a part of his. Now, at first, it's a little bit of offensive to your beautiful American face, right? You little snowflake and puppy's breath that you are. It is.

He's like, who is this guy telling me it's not about me? Well, I'm just reading the mail here. Now, the crazy thing about it, though, is if we could believe that, if we could actually believe, I mean, down at like the cellular level that he is before all things and we are not before all things. It could actually be the most freeing thing you've ever experienced in your entire life. You see, John Piper says it this way. I quote him all the time. He's like the evangelical reform Pope, okay?

So I just quote him a lot. And he talks like Yoda a little bit. So sometimes it's a little hard to understand, but here's what he says. I've quoted it many times, I'll keep doing it. He says, life is war. That's not all it is, but it is always that. That's Yoda speak, okay? Basically, he's saying, we are in this eternal battle for the hearts and souls of men and women.

That's basically what he's saying. And then he goes on to say, Our weakness in prayer is owing largely to our neglect of this truth. Prayer is primarily a wartime walkie-talkie for the mission of the church as it advances against the powers of darkness and unbelief. It is not surprising that prayer malfunctions when we try to make it a domestic intercom to call upstairs for more comforts in the den, which is mostly what we do.

But not Paul. Paul is not praying open a door so I can get out of here and get back to me. Paul is saying, hey, church, would you please pray for me? And what I want you to pray about is, could you pray for an opportunity, an open door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison? You see, it is obvious not only through the declaration, but the demonstration of the life of Paul that Jesus is before all things to him. My question is, is Jesus before all things to you? Is he preeminent in first place? And I don't mean first place like you hear this, like God is first, and your family is second, and you're not that thing.

You see, when Jesus is preeminent, when he is before all things, he doesn't make top of the list. He is the paper on which you write the list. So that everything in your world points to him and him alone. Whether you win the lottery or you lose your job, either way, you would say that he is before all things. You see, because if the most important thing to Jesus, according to Jesus, was he said he came to seeking and save the lost. And seeking and saving the loss doesn't even make our top ten prayer request, then how in the world can he be before all things? If what is most important in his heart isn't even own our heart, how can we say that he is before all things? And I'm talking about nothing will reveal your actual heart like those times when you are really praying.

I'm not talking about your little public performance prayers, you know, that we all have, okay? We all have. I'm not talking about when you're in your disciple group and you're praying around the circle and you're thinking, oh, crap, it's almost my turn. Let me think of something awesome. By the way, that's the real prayer. The fake prayer is, dear God, thank you for this food, and the hands that prepare it, may it nourish our body. The only time you've used the word nourish in the last ever is in the prayer.

And is that a, do you have to pray that food nourishes your body? No, that's just what food does. You don't gather around the pool and be like, Dear Lord, may the water be wet? No, you don't. It's just what it does. But I'm talking about the real prayer that just kind of ooze up from within you

will reveal what is most important in you. And since Paul, when pressed and stretched, he prays not for himself, but that God might be glorified through him. by the sharing of his faith. So I'm telling you, man, this is convicting to me in my own prayer time. And not only are sometimes we not lined up with what's most important to Jesus, but I am telling you, if we could get our minds around this,

if we could get our hearts around this, then it could be the most freeing thing in our entire life if we begin to realize that we are not the center of our own universe, but he is. Then you can kind of let yourself off of the mat. then you don't have to be bummed out every time something doesn't go your way. You know? How bummed do you think Paul is about traffic in his town?

If prison doesn't shake him down, then the reality that most people in Jacksonville don't know what the left lane is for is not going to ruin his day. You see, it is a freeing thing to know that the world does not revolve around you. I mean, I really do pray that we all, as a church, had this kind of Copernicus moment. 1543 pops into that fellow's head uh-oh we might not be the center of the universe and yet there's a whole lot of us that still thinks the world revolves around us and what if what if Jesus is actually

before all things what if he is sovereign and it's not about your circumstances and what if he's still got the whole world in his hands and yes he is for you anytime somebody dies for you we know they're for you but it's just not about you you, then you could just exhale and relax a little bit. And what if the next time you didn't get that job? Would you be sad and disappointed? Yeah, no problem. God has given us all kind of emotions to navigate this thing called life.

Don't let anybody tell you how to feel. But what if it did not crush you because you realize, you know what, maybe God has me here for a greater purpose than me making $10,000 more dollars a year and getting a better title on my name badge? but maybe the reason God has me in this office has to do with the eternity of the person I'm saying in a cubicle with. And my promotion is not nearly as important as their salvation. And what if I'm just a part of the greater story that glorify God in their story when one day, when they're sharing their testimony, they're going to say, yeah, this guy next to me that got passed over? It was unbelievable the hope that he held on to when it looked like he was in a hopeless job situation.

You see, that's what it looks like to be before all things. or what if you don't get into the school that you applied to and you dreamed of and you've been wearing the sweatshirt for the last 10 years? And maybe it's God's mission for you is at another school or down another path that you didn't realize, but he, the creator of life, knew more about your mission than you knew. Can you imagine the freedom there? Or here's a big one. What if the reason that you're in the hospital is because there's some doctors and nurses that need Jesus? You see, it's only if God is sovereign that there is purpose. pain. It's only if he's sovereign that there is purpose and pain. You see, because there's a big

old difference between happiness and a bunch of us are in pursuit of our own happiness. And the bummer about happiness is it is based on happenings. And happiness can at best be temporary. At best it can be temporary. But what God wants us to have is not just happiness in our happenings, but he wants us to have joy. And joy is only found in Jesus because only Jesus is eternal. See, we were in the hospital this week praying with some friends of ours. Some 1122ers. 1122 family has a 12-week-old baby boy named Christian who was diagnosed with leukemia on Thursday. And we're gathered around a bunch of us in the hospital praying and praying and praying and hoping and begging God to heal.

And then Ed Layman, the guy that was on the video that's planting Anthem Church out of 1122. Here's what he says as we're sitting with the mom and dad and grandparents of Christian, 12 week old baby boy, he says this. He goes, we don't know why, but here's what we know. Let's hang on to what we know. We know God is good, God is in control, and God called us to pray. That brother's ready to pastor a church, I think. And so that's what we did, man.

We held hands and we prayed like crazy for the healing of this little boy and God's glory in it all, and that many, many people in that hospital would come to know Jesus because God put one of his families in there to be a light and a dark place. You see, you realize when people get sick, should you pray for healing? Yes, and amen and absolutely. But you realize that even if they are healed, you know that's just a temporary miracle? Do you know that in the scriptures or in life, the only eternal miracle is salvation? Do you know that?

I mean, if you look through the Bible, when Jesus comes to Lazarus' tomb, it says, Lazarus come forth. And dead Lazarus comes hopping out of the tomb. You know that was temporary, right? You know what happened to Lazarus X amount of years later? He died again. He's dead. You know how I know?

Anybody seen him at public lately? Me either. He gone. Jarius's daughter, right? Jarius comes to Jesus, we hear my daughter, boom. She gets healed. Guess what? Later on, she's dead.

The blind man that God made him see again, he can't see anymore. Why? Dead people can't see. Okay? Every single miracle that we should pray for for the glory of God. is temporary, the only eternal miracle is when people go from death to life, from hell to heaven. The trajectory goes from eternity apart from Christ to an eternity with Christ. And what Paul is saying is, no matter the cost, I want to declare that Jesus is before all things,

for his glory and for the sake of all of these men and women that you would put in my life, so that they could know what is most important, and that is you. and my circumstances and situations, though dire sometimes and painful for sure, pale in comparison to eternity that hangs in the balance. Now, what if, what if we actually believe that every setback could actually be a set-up for God's mission and glory? You see, God's plan for the world to know him is not a church program. God's plan for the world to know him is when God's people,

declare and demonstrate that he is before all things. This is what Paul is saying. So pray for an opportunity. And not only pray for an opportunity, he goes on to say, this is the second part of his prayer request, and pray that I make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

Paul says, give me an opportunity to share my faith. And when I do, pray that when I talk, it is clear. Now this is a legit prayer request from Paul because sometimes Paul is not that clear. You ever read the book of Romans? okay just so you know this church I'm not exactly sure when it is but

there's going to be a year where we spend an entire year in the book of Romans all right we're going to grow this church down to about a hundred people it's going to be awesome all right so just be me and the people I pay to be here studying Romans teach it past now listen what the apostle Peter says about

I think he's talking about Romans but he's talking about Paul in in 2nd Peter 316 3.15 and 16. Peter says this about Paul. He says, and count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother. Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand. The Bible says about the Bible, you know what, sometimes, especially that Paul part, that's

kind of tough to grab on to. So I think maybe, just maybe, word gets back to Paul. You know what? Peter's been talking about you. Hey Peter, you've been talking about me? Yeah, a little bit, but the Holy Spirit told me too in this Bible, so get over yourself. Okay, so then with that, Paul is like, okay, when I talk, please help me to be clear. So part of what I want to do in the next few minutes is help you be clear when God gives you an opportunity to share your faith. Because there's a lot of things out there that just aren't very clear. By the way, how many of you have ever been witness to, maybe by somebody that you don't know? Anybody ever tried to share their faith through you? Raise them high. If so, Come on, anybody? All right. Yeah, a lot. All right. Good. How many of you just felt super awkward? Just felt really, really awkward. Yeah, I must look like the most heathen person in Jacksonville, okay?

Because people share their faith with me all the time in all kind of different manners of, you know, all kind of stuff. And typically, when somebody shares their faith with me, I don't go along at all. I don't tell them right out the bat, like, hey, same team, I love Jesus, yes, I do, I love Jesus, how much you. I don't do that at all. I'm very difficult. I ask questions that theologically are impossible to answer, point out parts of the Bible they've never seen before. I go all the way to the end, I don't know, I don't know how do you know,

I'm not sure, that kind of thing. And then finally at the end, and then I just kind of coach them up a little bit. Hey, that's a pretty good job, but what you said right there was pretty much heresy. That's not even the Bible. So if you're going to be serious about this, you might want to read the word.

You know, I just do. Because I figure we're going to try to make them better. So that's just what I do. And there's a lot out there that's unclear. Like anybody ever been witness to by the bullhorn guy on the way to some kind of public event? You know what I'm talking about, bullhorn guy? Right? Now just at any of our campuses, has anybody come to Christ through the sharing of the word from the bullhorn guy?

Anybody, anybody? If so, praise God. I mean, I am a sovereignty of God guy, okay? He can use any means necessary. Nobody, we're still looking for that one person at this work going. All right. Now, listen. can God use the bullhorn guy?

Yes and amen. Okay, God saves. We don't save. People don't save. And so one time in the Old Testament, God actually spoke through a donkey, right? So God can speak through anybody he wants. And from then on, he's been talking through jackasses, you know, for a long, long time.

So when the bullhorn guy is sharing his faith, it's not clear. Not even the device isn't that clear, you know, you're walking in sometimes, and you're just here, blah, hell. You're like, whoa. And it's usually got that sign with, like, the first. flames and half a verse from Leviticus, right? And I'm like, why you're so mad, man? Like,

I can't tell if you're recruiting for hell or if you're, like, it just seems mean. And so, to be clear, I sit some of our staff members to a Bible bookstore that will remain nameless. I don't want to talk about who it is, but

the initials are Lifeway, okay? And Lifeway is a Southern Baptist bookstore, and praise God, I'm a recovering Baptist. Any recovering in the house. Any of you recovering badmiss? All right, praise the Lord. Some of you aren't recovering. Some of you're actually Baptist and you're going to go to your real church service after this one. All right, welcome. We're so glad you're here. And so there are all these like, I mean, I'm going to tell you, very doctrinally sound people come up with these

tools to help do what Paul is asking for to make it clear. And so one of which, this is my favorite. Now there's some things in my opinion that are unclear about them. My favorite is called the Evangicube. Okay? The Evangicube. And it comes in this box, all right? And it's just simply sharing Jesus. Very simply with origami, because there's nothing as simple as origami.

And I think the way this, and again, very doctrinally accurate. Okay, it is. Man, it is sound stuff. It's about you or this little red and black guy, you know, because you're a bulldog, and you really want to go to heaven, but you're separated by sin. Now, I'm not sure exactly how you get into the demonstration. That's the part I can't quite figure out that they're not in the instructions.

I don't know if you're at the mall. I'm like, hey, how are you? Are you interested in going to heaven? Well, you know what? I am. I came here for a shirt, but what I'm really looking for is not a shirt, but the gospel.

Well, I'm glad you asked. Because here I have my Evangicube, all right? And so here's man. He's separated from heaven, and that's why Jesus had to die on the cross. See, there he is, boom. And then they put him in the grave, but don't worry about it.

about it you guys know what's happening two weeks right boom he's out Easter and so if you believe in that and you take the dames point right over to heaven and you get the right hand of fellowship with Jesus now all right so that's simple I just uh I don't understand I don't I just think if I'm if I'm not if I don't already kind of know the deal I'm like why hey why you a grown man with a Jesus Rubis cube up in your pants, man. Can you explain that one to me? So I think they heard my complaint, and so they came up with a flat version. You know, it's the same thing. So if you run into someone, I have two passions in life. Salvation and origami. Well, I've got news for you. And you can go through the

same thing. And so that one may be too complex, and so they came up with one that just has to do in colors. Now, just to let you know, the most Baptist person I know is Pastor Ryan Stone. Okay, he is the most Baptist. He grew up in a house where they couldn't drink. IBC root beer because it came in a bottle that looked like a beer bottle. What? Okay, so that was his world. That's Baptist. So they came up with a color version, and he explained it to me twice, and I'm a relatively

intelligent person, but I can't remember the, all I see here is, would you like a sprite? Well, you can't have one because you're a wretched, blackhearted center. I don't know. Try the record. I don't know, but this one's supposed to do it. There are all of these things. If you're an artist, if you're an artist, then they have this verse on the back of a guitar

pick written for somebody that's 16 years old. Here it is. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So, pick Jesus. That's it, man. It's clear. I felt like we should just give a salvation invitation. Anybody want to pick Jesus? Anybody here? Anybody? The buses of wait. I see it, no. Okay? There is, this one is elaborate too. It is, I literally called stone this morning. I was like, now tell me how the thing goes with the book again. He goes, all right, here's the presentation. Does your life feel blank? See, you're already intrigued, don't you? Well, do you know, you could try church, you could try religion, and that would give you kind of a form of what life may look like, but it's not until Jesus that you're in living

color. Right? Now, so crazy. Again, the unclear part to me is, now, why are you a grown man running around with Jesus coloring books, boss. They've got all kind of stuff, man. Braclets and little cards. They've got one to fake out your depressed single friends at Valentine's Day. All right, that's my favorite one. This one's a ticket to heaven. And, you know, I hope people don't take that literally.

Like they get there and be like, what, this isn't it? You know, that'd be bummer. Kind of my style. Heaven, hell, you choose. All right, that's what I like. Now, they've also got a line of candy. called Testaments. Testaments.

For that unreached people group of halitosis, I think. And so, now, listen, if the Lord calls you to use the Evangicube, praise God, you should, all right? If not, I just want to be clear. First of all, to be clear, only the Holy Spirit can make the gospel clear to somebody. Not your presentation. Now, does that mean we should, be ready to share the gospel? No, we should be ready and that we may confuse things. Only the

Holy Spirit of God can make something clear. And so Acts chapter 1, verse 8 says, and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses. And so here's what we do here at the Church of 1122 in regards to sharing your faith. First and foremost, you are completely dependent upon the Spirit of God. And what we're trying to do is just get us as a church always, sort of like Paul, thinking about God, maybe it's for your glory that I am in this situation and not just my own circumstances. So God, would you give me an opportunity and would you give me an opportunity to make it clear, the mysteries of Christ? Not based on my own timing, but based on the power and the nudging of the Holy Spirit. And listen, man, when I first got saved as a high school student, I came out of

the gates running 100 miles an hour. I mean, I was on fire for Jesus. I used to wear these Christian t-shirts to school, just waiting for somebody to ask. My favorite one, I'd wear it twice a week, the Lord's Gym. And it had Jesus. He was all buff with the cross, you know, and I took the sleeves out just to make it better. You can imagine the conversations that would lead to. And I would, I would just, I would ask people if you were to die tonight, which is a weird question to ask a stranger about their own death that very day.

So I wouldn't really do that, okay? And I can remember one time in high school, in my zeal for sharing my fate, there was a, There was a foreign exchange student from Germany, and she came over to spend a year at our high school, and she was super pretty, and I felt like that was kind of the mission field that the Lord had me on, all right? Pretty people need Jesus too, and I was happy to be the evangelist for them. So I took her out somewhere really nice, you know, like Chili's or some way or whatever it was. And so I'm trying to share the gospel with her, and she grew up in Germany in a post-Christian context where she didn't even have a foundation to begin with. She'd never once heard any sort of. of Christian presentation in her life. And she asked me, she's like, listen, I don't get the whole Jesus thing. So from the beginning, could you just tell me what you believe? I remember thinking, okay, all right, man, I'm probably 17 years old. And I was like, all right, from the beginning, okay, there's one God and three persons.

And so sometimes when Jesus is praying, he's kind of praying to his dad, but he's also the son and they're all God. And then God made a man and a woman, and they were naked, and they were in this garden. and then this snake came up and he's talking to the lady. She's like a snake is talking to the ship, hold on, hold on. I'll get to that part. So the snake is talking to the lady, and then they ate an apple, and then they were ashamed, and they were naked,

and so God kicked them out. He said, get out of here. And so then all these people started coming, and then Moses went to the Pharaoh and said, let my people go. And then they crossed the Red Sea, and then they wandered around for a while, and they went to the promised land, and there were prophets.

And then one day, one day, little eight pounds, six-ounce, baby Jesus wrapped, and swaddling clothes showed up, and he did miracles, and he walked on water, and then he died on the cross for our sin and was resurrected on the third day. And then he went up on this hill and he floated up into heaven. And he said, but don't worry about it because I'm coming back on a horse to take you to heaven. And she said, that's what you believe? Uh-huh.

Want to come? That was it. That was it. And I began to realize, you know, maybe I haven't been equipped to share my faith very well. And so what I want to do just in a few minutes is to help be clear about what we are talking about when we say, what does it mean as a Christian to share your faith? That there are, I mean, there's a whole bunch of ways. You can go bullhorn, you can paint verses on your vehicle if that's what the Lord calls you to do. But generally speaking, when I say share your faith, I'm talking about one of four ways.

Number one is sometimes you just share an invitation. You just share an invitation. By the way, church, at all of our locations, you guys holistically get a big A-plus here. Because you know how our church has grown to what it's grown to? It's because that was what you have done. You have shared an invitation to why don't you just come to church. In fact, some of you are here today because somebody shared an invitation with you. And what I would say to you is the reason that that person shared an invitation with you to come to church

is because they actually love you. They love you. And they want something for you, not for you. from you. Now they might not have told you they loved you because they're your golf buddy and that would be weird. Hey Ted I love you so much. I just want to share something really important with you. Thanks Frank. We're never playing golf again together. Okay?

But what they were doing is just sharing the invitation and it is a very biblical thing to do. If you look in John chapter 1 it says and Philip found Nathaniel and said to him we had found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph and Nathaniel said to him

can anything good come out of Nazareth? And then Philip said to him, come and see. Just come and see. Phillips basically saying, I don't really know the answer to your question, but why don't you just come and see and check it out for yourself? That is a very legit way to share your faith because you know if you invite somebody to 1122 in any of our locations, we are going to share the gospel over and over and over and over because we're a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus. And it's a legit thing for you to say, I can't really answer all your questions. I don't know. Why don't you just come and check it out for yourself and you decide for yourself? So sometimes when you share your faith, you share an invitation.

Secondly, sometimes God gives you an opportunity to share your story, to share your story or your testimony. And the reality is, if you're a Christian, your story is super legit. And don't ever compare your story to somebody else's story. Early on in our marriage, Gretchen would say, I have such a lame testimony. I'm like, nobody has a lame testimony. If God have saved you for his glory, that is a legit story. And what my wife was saying is, she's like, my testimony is in all, you know, it's not dramatic. She grew up in church, she cannot remember a time where she didn't believe in Jesus,

but there was a time where she realized that she was just kind of doing church for church's sake, and so she had to surrender her life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And if that's your story, praise God. There are a whole bunch of people that you work with and you go to school with that need to hear that story. And I know sometimes you compare your story to some story we show here or something you see on television because you think if you don't have a dramatic story, then it's not moving. Because you're like, listen, I, you know, my story's kind of boring. I didn't grow up like selling drugs in Mexico City and then one night on a cocaine binger.

A rival gang stabbed me in the eyeball with a butcher knife and I pulled it down. I was like, Jesus. And then I came to Christ. No. But sometimes God leads you to just share your story. also very very biblical way to share your faith in john chapter 9 there's a blind man and jesus and the disciples walk up and the disciples ask a very theologically inaccurate question who's saying this man or his parents said he would be born blind and jesus said he was born blind

for my glory and then god demonstrates his glory by jesus goes up and he spits on the ground he makes some mud pies he puts it on the dude's eyes says go and wash your face and the guy comes back and he can see and then the whole town starts going crazy and the reason they should start going crazy because they knew he used to be blind and now he can see what happened you see around 1122 that's happened about 4,000 times that there have been people you that that used to be one way you met Jesus and now you're a different way and what what happens in the book of john nine is people start asking the blind man questions and he doesn't really know theologically how to answer them all So here's what he sticks with in John 9 beginning of 25.

He says, as they are asking him questions about how do this happen, he says, one thing I do know that though I was blind, now I see. And they said to him, what did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? And he answered him, I have told you already, and you won't listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to be his disciples? See, all he just stuck with is, look, I don't know, okay?

I don't know about Noah. and the ark and the dinosaurs and the end times. I don't know all these theological questions that you're asking me, but here's what I know. I used to be blind. I met Jesus. Now I can see. Sometimes when God gives you the opportunity that you could just share your story.

I used to be blind. Now I can see. The third thing, when we talk about share our faith, is sometimes that by the power of the Holy Spirit, that we could share the gospel. Like the whole ball of wax, the whole thing that we could be equipped to share the gospel. And so, I want to explain to you how to share the gospel or even understand the gospel.

Maybe you can even preach this to yourself over and over over in a way that is very clear and simple like Paul was praying for. You see, the gospel can be as simple as the A BCs. A is that you admit that you're a sinner, that you admit that you're a sinner. Now, I know these days nobody wants to admit that they're a sinner, you know, because we're a snowflake and we're a skittal and we're just mistakers. But the reality is, is we are not misdakers. We are sinners. And what I mean by this is this, everybody understands nobody's perfect. Nobody's perfect. In fact, here's, when I'm trying to explain sin to somebody, I say, listen, let's just leave off the perfect law of God.

Let's be honest. You and I can't even keep our own commandments, can we? Have you ever broken a promise to you? Have you ever said something like, I'll never do this again and did it? Have you ever found yourself in a place and you said, this isn't like me at all? Actually, it's just like you. because the heart of the problem is we have a problem in our heart. A is to admit it, I'm a sinner.

Uh-oh. I'm not a mistakeer in need of a life coach. I'm a sinner in need of a savior. The B and the ABCs is this. It's just to believe. Not believe that, but believe in. Those are two big, big differences. I always tell you this.

Listen, I believe that there is a college football team down south of here. They like to wear orange and blue. I believe that they exist. I do not believe in said team. You know the difference, okay? You could believe that Jesus is who he says he is, but to believe in him means to trust. So the B is to believe, the way I like to say this is to believe that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow that counted for you. And that counted for me.

A, to admit that you're a sinner, to B, believe that when Jesus died on the cross, that counted for you. And then C, to confess that he is my Lord, that I surrender. I'm not the boss of me anymore. You are. That's the gospel in A, B, C. admit that you're a sinner, believe or trust in Jesus, see, confess that he is Lord. Now, what if you have a whole bunch of doubts? I've got really good news.

Did you know if you've got a whole bunch of doubts, then you can make a really, really good disciple? If you will just believe that when Christ died on the cross for you, that counted for you, and you confess him as Lord, you just pick up your doubts and you keep following after Jesus. One day, one day, you will have no more doubts. You know why? Because you'll get to heaven and all the doubts will go away. And nobody will come to Jesus. Do you believe in Jesus?

But like, well, he's sitting right there. You don't have to believe anymore. You just look, okay? And the original disciples, they had a whole lot of doubts, and they were really, really good disciples. That's the gospel in A, B, C. Now, if you are super varsity, then maybe you want to go with Bible.

That's always a good idea. And so here's a few Bible verses. I would challenge you, write these down and memorize them, and you could share the gospel in a verse. And don't give me this junk about, well, I ain't good at memorizing stuff. half the room could quote the first verse of Ice Ice Baby right now. Okay?

You know you could. You haven't even practiced. You haven't heard of the song in a long time since the last wedding you were at. And if I just go, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. It's in your mind, right? Stop. Collaborate and listen. Eyes of the bag with a brand new.

I can do the whole thing. So if you can memorize that junk, you can memorize some verses. John 3, 16, and 17 is the whole gospel. For God's to love the world. He gave his only begotten son, that whoever believe in him would not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but save the world through him.

That's the whole gospel. Or you can go Romans 623. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. Or you could go Romans 10-9. If you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and you confess with your mouth

that He is Lord, then you will be saved. In other words, if you believe that Jesus died on the cross for you and you confess that he is Lord or he is your Savior, then you'll be saved. My favorite, 2nd Corinthians 521, it's a little more complicated, that God made Him who was without sin to be sin for us, that we would be made His righteousness. You're like, what does that mean? It's just the great exchange that as a believer in Jesus, he takes responsibility for our sin, and we get credit before God for his perfect life.

That's John 316 and 17, Romans 623. Romans 10, 9, 2 Corinthians 521. So those are three ways to share your faith. You share an invitation, you share your story, or you share the gospel. And then the fourth way, and sometimes the most overlooked one is this. Sometimes, by the power and nudging of the Holy Spirit, you just share another cup of coffee. You just share another cup of coffee. You just continue building a relationship that God has established for you.

Because oftentimes what's happening, Christian, is this, is you are just laying a foundation for somebody in your life, that when God finally opens their eyes or begins to draw that person unto himself, and sometimes it happens through tragedy because there is purpose and pain because we serve an almighty God. And sometimes it's because people just get to the point

where they realize, you know what, this world really doesn't have anything for me. Maybe I'll try that whole God thing. And most often, they will come to the place where they begin to think about you because you have been sharing your faith. And let me tell you one of the most disarming ways that you can share your faith with somebody that you love that doesn't seem super interested right now. It's just this.

You just ask this question. So how can I be praying for you? How can I be praying for you? And they'll usually give you some weak sauce response at first. Well, just pray for world peace. Okay. I didn't know you're responsible for that, but I will be in prayer. Because when something happens in somebody's life and they actually need prayer, there are no atheists in a burning building.

Everybody realize that? Dear God help. I didn't think you believe in God. That's not the time for that, okay? I need help. When that person needs help, guess who the person they come to? They come to the person that has been committed to be praying for them. So I want to encourage you not only to pray for an opportunity to share your faith,

but to pray for it to be clear, to clearly share your faith. Now, the question is this, where does this prayer rate on your list of priorities? You see, if this is most important to Jesus, Jesus said he came to seeking the same, the loss, then don't you think it ought to be at the top of our prayer list that you and I are consistently praying, dear God, please give me an opportunity to open my mouth so that I could point someone towards you. And when I open my mouth, God, please help it to be clear. And then what Paul is going to do in verse 5 and following is now he's going to get real practical about what we do when we open our mouth. Verse 5, he says this, walk in wisdom towards outsiders. Walk in wisdom

towards outsiders. And all he means, he's not talking about a gang from the 50s and pony boy, he is talking about everybody 30 and under. He's like, what does that mean? He's about people just outside of the church, okay? And I want you to know, they're very generally speaking, there's three kind of churches. There's churches for insiders, there's churches for church people, all right? Some of us have been there.

I never fit in that kind of church. Then sometimes there are churches just for outsiders. And the problem with that is what happens when those people become Christians and want to grow and grow and grow, you know, there can kind of be a little problem there. And I just want you to know that our church is a church for not church people. It's not a church for not church people. It's a church for all people. It's a church for all people.

That we're a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And if you're a Christian, the best way to help you deepen your relationship with Jesus is to be on mission to help other people discover their relationship with Jesus. And if you would say, you know what, I guess according to this, I think I would be an outsider. Let me just tell you this, okay? first of all, welcome to 1122. And if you're here today, you're not an outsider anymore. Because this is a movement for all people, not just Christian people.

It's a movement for all people. And we want you to understand this is the kind of place that you can belong even before you believe. This is the kind of place that you can belong even before you behave. That's good news. That this is a movement for all people. And please hear me here. The reason somebody invited you is because they love you and they want you. want something for you, and you matter to God, so you matter to us.

And please hear this, you are not a project. You are a person. And if we really believe what we say we believe, that hell is hot and everybody lives forever somewhere, then what kind of people would we be if we didn't tell you that God loved you so much? He sent his only begotten son on a rescue mission for you. You see, that's why, that you are a person. I can tell you this, not a project.

And I thank God that Coach Bull Lee, the guy that led me to Christ, did not consider me a project, but a person that he loved enough to tell about Jesus. That's how I got here. Not through a church service, but by a football coach that prayed for an opportunity and clearly told me what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. And so Paul says, walk in wisdom towards outsiders. He goes on to say, making the best use of your time. Literally in Greek, this means to buy back or redeem time.

The way the NIV translates is this. the most of every opportunity. And the reason I want to point this out is because we are on the verge of an incredible opportunity to open your mouth to share an invitation. It's called Easter. In Jacksonville, a whole bunch of people that aren't even thinking about God this upcoming weekend, they're just thinking about the masters. The following weekend, they're going to be thinking, where are we going to go to church?

And this is an opportunity for you to share an invitation. Now, we have a whole bunch of services. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 40, 50, we have 16 different services that you can invite your friends to, all right? I'm not going to read them all. I can't even figure out the origami chart they gave me on it, but you can go to the website, figure out where they are. At all of our locations, and by the way, if you're at one of our other campuses,

make the most of that opportunity. The reason we put a campus in your neighborhood is to invite your neighbors to the church in your neighborhood. And so make the most of this opportunity. walk in wisdom understanding that we as a church and you partner together to share the greatest news ever told with the people that you love most, that the one that loves them most came on a rescue mission for them. So make the most of every opportunity in the verse 6. Let your speech always be gracious seasoned with salt.

Gracious seasons with salt. You see, it says let your speech. In other words, at some point in the gospel, you're going to have to open your mouth. Maybe you've heard that thing before, preach the gospel at all times. Use words only when necessary. They're always necessary. So it's a dumb quote. Okay.

The heart of it is, don't be a hypocrite, so I understand that. But in reality, there will be times where you need to open your mouth to share your stories, share your faith, share an invitation, whatever it is. And so let your words be gracious. It seems to me that often the people most excited about evangelism are some of the least gracious people that you've ever met in your life. Have you ever noticed that? Like the guy that just accost you on the street corner, it's not a lot of grace, it seems to me, right? It's pretty much, hey, you're going to hell and I'm not. Let's talk about that for a minute. Hold on, Scooter, okay?

And so, make sure that we are gracious with our words. But the other extreme of it is this, a whole bunch of Jesus followers that say, well, listen, I'm just going to let grace abound, and I'm not ever going to talk about Jesus. Well, if you don't bring up Jesus, then you'll never bring up grace because grace is only found in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so what we're doing is letting our, the words that we speak, be gracious and seasoned with salt. Basically, that just means to tell the truth. Salt was a preservative. And the gospel preserves life, preserves eternal life. It is not grace for you to see somebody that you say that you love, leading their life over a cliff and not say anything about the danger that is ahead of them. That is not grace.

That is not grace. How much must you hate somebody to withhold good news from them when they are in a terrible circumstance and situation? And so Paul says, so let our speech always be gracious and seasoned with salt so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. And I love that it says each person. In other words, there's not like a cookie-cutter approach that we should use with every person. Why? Because each person is a different individual with a different set of circumstances, and so are you. And we've got to be guided by the Holy Spirit to know how to answer each person. And what we answer are questions. In other words, if people aren't asking you anything about your faith, one of the things I would ask you to consider is, are you living any differently than this

world. Is your life differentiated from this world at all? I mean, I've heard from a whole bunch of people in our church, some of the most shocking things they've ever heard. It was somebody in their job about three or four years in goes, you know what? I thought you might be a Christian, but I wasn't sure. Uh-oh. You see, if you're not going against the flow of this current culture, that it may be just because you're caught up in the current going in the direction that it is going. And what I am not talking about is the way I was brought up. I was brought up. You see, if you don't order a beer at dinner, people will see that and be like, are you going to heaven? Could you tell me about that? That is not what I'm talking about at all. But what I am talking about is maybe when something doesn't go your

way and people who are watching see that you have a peace that transcends all understanding. And they go, what is that? Or when they see you in what seems like a hopeless situation and yet you hold fast to hope and they say, could you talk to me about that? And so Paul is saying, live your life in such a way that not only you declare the gospel with your mouth, but you demonstrate it with your life. So here's the point. All of that is just to say this. When Jesus Christ is before all things in your life, when he is preeminent, when he is supreme, when he is sufficient, when you read the whole book of Colossians and say, yep, that's who Jesus is. He is before all things. Then the rescued, the rescue, does those of us who understand that we have been saved by grace, then the

rescued will stop at nothing to tell the world about the rescuer. Not because we think we're better than anybody, but because we, we understand and we know that we have the gospel, the good news of eternal life. And so we're not just going to hear this and do nothing about it. We are going to take action. So if you look under your chair, every single one of you, we've given you an Evangicube to go. I'm just kidding. We've not. We've not done that at all. Wouldn't that be great? Go to the beach and think it's hot out here, you know, that kind of thing. No. If you'll open up your notes, open up your notes. There's a blank in there. And what we would ask every single person that is a follower of Jesus to do is write down the one person that you're praying that God might give you an

opportunity to open your mouth and declare the mysteries of Christ. Now I know some of you actually pray that you won't have that opportunity because it feels awkward for you. Okay, please don't talk about Jesus. I understand you pray that. And so for the next two weeks that you would pray, God, would you give me an opportunity or would you do something in this person's life? And again, that person is not a project. I would highly encourage you to not put those notes up in your cubicle, you know? I don't want you to walk in next week and pin it up to the bulletin board over the water cooler and be like, hey, why's my name on that thing? Well, see there, Ted, you're going to hell.

My whole church is praying that you won't. All right, see you Sunday. That's not what we're saying. But this would just be as a reminder so that we would pray the kind of thing that Paul would pray. Dear God, would you give me an opportunity? And if I get the opportunity to open my mouth, may it just be clear that I can introduce this person that I love so much to the one that loves them more than anything. particular, in two weeks, you can make the most of an opportunity and invite that person to one of our 16 Easter services.

And you know why? You never know what might happen. I mean, think back in your own life of how you came to know Jesus. I came to know Jesus because an old football coach decided to focus not on a project or a church program, but to declare the gospel of Jesus to a person, and that person was me. Can you imagine what it would be like if you were that person in somebody's life? Do you know in the Gospels, Jesus' ministry kind of breaks down into the three parts. In the very beginning of the Gospels, Jesus would say, just come and see.

Just come check it out. About midway through the Gospels, it began to shift from come and see to come and die. Come and surrender your life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And then right at the very end of the Gospels, Jesus says, now go and tell. You see, there's a lot of Christians that love Jesus and are going to heaven one day, and you kind of get stuck in one of those first two categories of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, either come and see or come and die.

And what he is, by the power of His Holy Spirit, instructing us to do, is now it's time to go and tell. And don't be awkward about it. It doesn't have to be awkward. If you're an awkward person, it will still be awkward because that's just who you are. No problem. But be authentic.

Be authentic. And pray like crazy that God would give you an opportunity and also the clarity, sometimes in the next two weeks, to open your mouth. Share your story, share an invitation, share the gospel, the ABCs of faith, or maybe just continue to share a cup of coffee to build that relationship for the time when God is ready to draw that person unto himself.

And I can promise you this, we as a church will be praying for you as you are praying for an opportunity to open your mouth and to be clear. Let's pray. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ. God, we thank you and we praise you that you came on our God. a rescue mission for us. God, may we never get over this as believers in you. God, may we be so moved that we have been rescued,

that immediately we sign up to be a part of the rescue team. That we would be most about what you are most about to seek and to save the loss. God, I pray against fear that comes up. God, I pray against the anxiety. I pray against the idea of what happens if I don't know. Lord, I thank you that it's not about what we know. It truly is about who we know. So that we would lean into you.

And then at just the right time, ordained and anointed by you, we would open our mouths. We'd share our story. We'd share the gospel. We'd share an invitation. Wherever you lead us, God, we would share the life-giving invitation that was shared with us. That we could know you as Heavenly Father. We pray this in the good, strong name of Jesus. our Lord. Amen.