The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - How To Talk on Water

Episode Date: April 12, 2019

Have you ever tried walking on water? It is definitely not something we can do on our own. But this scripture passage is an invitation for each of us to get out of our comfort zones and come to him. One of the ways we can do this is by sharing the good news of the Gospel with people he puts in our paths. Jeff talks about what to say to others about God as well as tips for approaching people. When we share the message of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit confirms that message in those hearts. One person plants the seed, another waters it, and God allows the growth. How do you share your faith with other people? Snippet from the Show Sharing Christ with others begins with a personal relationship with the Lord. As St. Peter said, “Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you.” SHOWNOTES 1 Peter 3:15 - Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you. CCC Paragraph 1 - God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls together all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life. CCC Paragraphs 1430-1431 - Jesus' call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, "sackcloth and ashes," fasting and mortification, but at the conversion of the heart, interior conversion. Without this, such penances remain sterile and false; however, interior conversion urges expression in visible signs, gestures and works of penance. Interior repentance is a radical reorientation of our whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil, with repugnance toward the evil actions we have committed. At the same time it entails the desire and resolution to change one's life, with hope in God's mercy and trust in the help of his grace. This conversion of heart is accompanied by a salutary pain and sadness which the Fathers called animi cruciatus (affliction of spirit) and compunctio cordis (repentance of heart). 7 Steps of the Kerygma God loves YOU and has a plan for your life Sin will destroy you and ruin God’s plan for your life Jesus Christ died to save you Repent and believe the Gospel, the “good news” Be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit Abide in Christ and His body the Church Go and make disciples yourself Jeff’s 5 Tips 1. Get to know the 7 points of the kerygma. 2. Find your way of conveying this kerygma. 3. Practice situational awareness. 4. Ask questions. 5. Suggest a next step or next get-together. Resources from this episode can be found at ascensionpress.com

You're listening to the Jeff Kaven Show, Episode 111, How to Talk on Water. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavins. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven Show. Welcome to episode 111. Good to have you with me today.

I'm really looking forward once again to talking about all things discipleship and how to become activated disciples and how to faithfully walk as modern-day Christians and disciples. I think it's very, very important. Today I'm going to talk about how to walk. No, I guess not. No, I'm not. I'm going to talk about how to talk on water. That's what we're going to talk about today. How do you share your faith with other people, a theme that I keep coming back to. And as I think about upcoming shows, as I put together all the shows coming up in the future, I keep coming back to this. And I feel like I've got to, every once in a while, I've got to talk about how do we share our faith with other people. And so that's what we're going to be addressing.

I want to thank you again for all of your feedback. Wonderful feedback from all over the world. And I appreciate that. And all the activity in iTunes and Google Play and Ascension Presents. It's heartwarming, really, to be honest with you, to hear your response to the show. And one of the common denominators that I hear about the show is that it is practical and people consider it generally uplifting in the midst of all kinds of negative news, you know, when you watch CNN, Fox or MSNBC, whatever it might be.

And people talking about the problems, of course, in the church. I think it is nice to have an island like this where we can talk about. the good things of the Lord and how do we conduct ourselves as modern day disciples. Good, good stuff. Again, thank you for going to iTunes and to Ascension Presents, Google Play, and ranking the show and leaving some comments. It's kind of funny today, you know, the way that these shows work in that if you work with me as a partner in giving the show a ranking or mentioning, you know, some comments about the show, it has something to do with the algorithms, which is way above my pay scale. when people on the web are searching for the things that we're talking about here on the Jeff

Kaven show, they find them quicker. And so we're partners in this. I really mean that. I thank you for just taking a moment out of your day to go ahead and rank the show or download, subscribe to the show. It really does some amazing things. Okay, so let's talk today about sharing our faith. Something that I have made a deal with the Lord in, and that is that I've said to the Lord in the last few years is that I'm going to share you with two people every day. And I'm finding that as I do that, I probably could have said three or four because the opportunities seem to come my way to share the Lord with family members, co-workers, people in the neighborhood, people at the club,

people at the coffee shop all around. And this is an interesting dynamic, isn't it? The more you do something, the more opportunities you have. and people will come up to me a lot of times, you know, at conferences that I speak at and they'll say, well, that kind of opportunity never comes to me to share Christ with someone or to give them some kind of witnesses to what the Lord has done in my life. And I would say to that that if you are not in the habit of sharing your story or some nugget of what God is done in your life or what he's doing currently in your life, the chances are

you're not going to be looking for the opportunities. It is when you make up your mind and your heart that you are going to share Christ when given the opportunity that suddenly opportunities spring up. They do. They spring up. And I do think, I honestly do, that you become more sensitive to the voice of the Lord when you start to make a commitment that, you know, if I get an opportunity, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. Now, I want to share with you today, again, a little bit about the carigma, and I'm calling this show, learning, you know, learning to talk on water or how to talk on water, because when you share the message of Jesus Christ with other people, you are doing something supernatural. You're not doing something just in the natural. You know, this is not just common conversation. It is if you just share things about your own life or ideas you have, but if you share a particular message, which the church calls the carigma, the basic proclamation, seven basic points to that corigma. A lot of people talk about five basic points, seven altogether, but five that are right in front of us. I'm going to go over on the show today. If you do that, you're learning to talk on

water. You're doing things that you normally wouldn't do, and you are seeing a manifestation in a tremendous way as Peter walked on water. Now, I take the name of the show from that great text, you know, where Peter is out on the boat and Jesus comes walking on the water towards the disciples. And they started screaming, it's a ghost. And Jesus says, no, you know, be of good cheer. It's me, you know, it's me. And Peter says something really, really important. He says, Lord, if it's you, bid me come to you on the water. And what does Jesus say in response? Well, Jesus says, come. So Peter says, Lord, if that's you asking me to do something that I know is out of my wheelhouse here, and if it's really you, then ask me to come to you on the water. And Peter does. He

begins to walk on the water, and then, of course, he sees the waves and the wind, and he becomes afraid, and he starts to sink, and the Lord rescues him at that point. Well, in the area of sharing Christ with other people, we are facing the same kind of obstacle, right? When Jesus says, come out of the boat, come out of the boat, walk on water. Most of us would say, wow, I'm going to have to pray about that. Well, you don't, because that is the Lord, asking you to get out of the boat and walk on water. But I'm sure that there's reason for fear and trepidation. And I think that's one of the reasons that Jesus said more than anything else.

He said, be not afraid, because he's going to ask us to talk on water. He's going to ask us to walk on water. So just as Peter was probably a little bit nervous about getting both legs over the edge of the boat to walk on water, so you too, my friend, driving down the road right now, you too might be a little bit afraid when it comes to sharing Christ with other people. and you've heard me say before that oftentimes people will squirm out of this obligation by saying, well, that's not my gift. Well, you know as well as I do. That's baloney. That is nothing to do with it. Sharing your story or telling someone about the good things of the Lord has nothing to do with natural giftedness whatsoever. It has to do with a passion and a fire in your belly and that you want people to know about the greatest thing in your life. And so for many of us, the when we share with others, Jesus Christ, and how he loves them

and has a plan for their life, that is equivalent in my mind to talking on water. You know, it's daring, but it gets things done. It's the message, right? So now the temptation that we face in communicating the basic proclamation of the gospel is this attitude. And this attitude is that the message is too simple to accomplish anything. And you'll get a hold of this when I tell you how simple it is. If we proclaim the basic proclamation of Christ, people will think that we are simpletons, right? And we're not in touch with modern society, technological advances, sexual revolution, scientific advancements, all of it. Well, this simply

is not true. It's not true. As I wrote in my book, The Activated Disciple, the corigma that we proclaim does not specifically address the issues that cable news networks are focused on. Rather, the message of the corigma is aimed at the desires of the heart, the goal of life, the problem with our brokenness, the solution, and our identity as a family. now here's the truth that you can choose to accept or reject the power for conversion listen real carefully here this is so important the power for conversion is not in your cleverness but the message itself that's right the power to influence and change lives is actually in the simple proclamation of christ the simple proclamation of christ the

simple proclamation of Christ, the charygma, or what I call, you know, brewing a cup of curigma. This is where the power is. An honest, transparent, and heartfelt communication of the basic message of the gospel will penetrate. Say that with me. It will penetrate, lonely, broken, and needy hearts. And I've seen this phenomenon over and over and over again. And after sharing the seven points of the chrygma, again, I will share with you maybe a story or two if we have time how this works. It simply works. And we've got to get that into our heads and hearts that we only have one message as Catholics, and that message will penetrate hearts. And it will make a difference. And I would go as far as to say, look, if you don't believe that, what are you doing with your

life? And what are you sharing with other people? Are you just receiving the benefits of a covenant relationship with Jesus and then going on through life, hoping that you make it to the end to get to heaven? Well, what are you going to do for the 70 or 80 years? You're here on earth and you were already baptized. What are we going to do? Well, you say, I'm going to worship the Lord. Yay, that's great. We need to do that, and we're going to do it in heaven. But we got work to do. Do you know the church is losing members at almost an unprecedented rate because of scandal and because we have not done what Vatican II told us to do, and that's to remain relevant to this changing society and how to communicate to this society. If we don't begin to win people to Jesus

Christ and introduce them to this great family of the church, how in the world are we going to grow? How are we going to grow? It's really a basic question. So I have not found anything as powerful as simply telling people the truth about Jesus and his love for them. You know? So before we look at these seven points of the Caribbean, it's important to point out that proclaiming these key points presupposes a conversion in your own life. So I want to ask you, on this day, you're listening, we're together now, you and me, have you had a conversion in your own life?

You say, well, I've never had one like you, Jeff. I didn't leave the church and become a Protestant minister. come back and get on TV? No, but have you had a conversion? A conversion can be quiet. It can be loud. It can be very evident to everyone. It can be very subtle. But have you had a conversion in your own life? Well, if you were baptized as a baby, and right now you're listening to this show and you're thinking, I do love God. And I can remember it was four years ago that I got serious with the Lord. Well, that's a conversion. Sharing Christ with others does not be. begin with Scripture, but with a personal relationship with the Lord. That's right. Personal

proclamation of Christ, how He has impacted you and me. That is always the beginning of evangelization. Scripture gives a detailed account as to the why our lives have changed. St. Peter said it this way, and I love it. He says in 1st Peter chapter 3 in verse 15, don't write it down, don't, don't keep driving. I'm going to put it in the show notes. St. Peter said, always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Our full account begins with the change in our life. And then we bring Scripture into the conversation. That's how this happens. And so if you say to me, well, Jeff, I've never robbed a bank. I've never been in prison. I've never been to

addicted to opioids. I, you know, I've never, never an atheist and came back to the church or anything like that. Fine. But if Christ has changed your heart, that is a story. And it doesn't have to be tremendous and exciting in the whole world. Wow, that was something else. It's your story, and no one can take it from you. And all you have to say is that Jesus Christ has given me peace. Jesus Christ has changed my life. The Lord has given me purpose, and he has given me healing and peace and shalom in my heart, where at one time I felt more anxious. That's a testimony in itself. And so as you encounter people throughout the day, it's important to begin to make the message of the carigma your own. In other words, the seven points I'm going to give you in a moment,

and we'll put in the show notes are not exactly the way that I would encourage you to share with people, but make it your own, you know, make it your own story and how you would relate to people and how you would keep your ears and your eyes open to opportunities to share with other people. I'll give you an example. The other day I was at a car dealership, and they have this popcorn machine at this car dealership, and of course I like stopping by there because you get free popcorn. I'm kidding. But anyway, I was there, and I got the free popcorn.

And as I was going upstairs to talk to someone in an office, I consciously was aware of everything I was hearing as I got on the elevator and went upstairs, listening to conversations, looking at people's eyes, looking for opportunities where I might be able to say something to someone. Well, I did meet someone there. And I overheard them talking about something in their life. and I just came up and said, my name's Jeff, and I overheard you say so-and-so and this and that, and I just wanted to share something with you, and it was about the Lord.

And so once I did that, then I'm very aware of the points of the corigma, of introducing them to the Lord, and it might be one or two points that I can share in my own way, but that's what we do, right, as disciples. That's what we do. We share Christ everywhere we go. I think Jesus personally is more exciting than the final four, which just took place in Minneapolis. I think Jesus is more exciting than any Hollywood film. I think Jesus is more compelling than any sporting event in the world or any news on the news networks. He is the good news, and we want to learn to share him with others.

Now, I'm going to take a break, and when I come back, I'm going to give you those seven points. I've shared this before in other shows, but as St. Peter says, it does you well to hear it again. And I want you, as I go through these seven points, think about how you can learn to share them with other people. You're listening to The Jeff Kaven Show. And if you're looking for a way to learn more about your Catholic faith, I invite you to check out the Ascension Presents YouTube channel. You're going to find tons of free videos featuring Catholic presenters like Matt Frad, Leodero, Jackie Bobby Angel, and Emily Wilson. go to YouTube.com slash Ascension Presents.

That's YouTube.com slash ascension presents. And if you like what you see, please share and subscribe. Welcome back. Welcome back, my friend. So good to be with you on a weekly basis and share the good things of the Lord.

And we do have a relationship. We're members of the body of Christ and a brother and sister in Christ. And it's a beautiful thing to be able to communicate like this. By the way, if you are not Catholic or Christian, but you are curious and interested, I appreciate you spending time with me. I really do. I know where you're at. I know what it is to search and to be curious. And if you have any questions, you can email me at the Jeff Kaven Show. That is,

the Jeff Kavan Show at ascensionpress.com. And I am spending a lot of time on Instagram, just my name, Jeff Kaven's on Instagram. And, of course, Twitter and Facebook, I'm there as well. But my point is, if you are not Catholic, not a person of faith right now, but kind of interested, love to talk to you. And so you can send me an email. All right, back to the show. We're learning to talk on water, how to talk on water. That is how to talk in a way that we normally never would. We're a little bit scared. We feel like we might sink. Oh, my, what am I going to do? Hey, this is what it's all about. This is what it's all about. Push through it. walk in faith, trust in the Lord, believe in the message. You have to. This is what we have. This is the only

message we have to share with the world. I can't give them Hallmark theology. Hallmark theology. Do I ever get into that with you? I just, I'm not saying about Hallmark. Don't get me wrong. I don't want a lawsuit on my hand. What I'm saying is I do not like Hallmark theology when it comes to us sharing Christ with people and using it as a substitute. I remember one time someone said that they lost a loved one and they wanted to say something encouraging to them. So they found on one of these greeting cards, I don't know if it was hallmark or who it was, it doesn't really matter. But on that grieving card, they open it up and it says, sometimes God picks the prettiest flowers first. And I thought, oh, gag me.

I cannot believe it, you know. and that's not the message we have for the world. We don't have cute Twitter sayings and Instagram pictures for the world. That isn't our message. It's nice sometimes, but it's not our message. Our message is very clear. All right, what is it? Well, in the New Testament, the church teaches us that the corigma, which is the proclamation, is given in the book of Acts over and over and over, okay, six times. And there's a certain structure to the message that the disciples were entrusted with. Now, before I give you those seven, let me tell you what is absolutely incredible about what we're talking about today, which is how to talk on water.

How to talk on water depends upon the power of the Holy Spirit to confirm what we're saying to people. Even though you sound like you think you're a nerd or some kind of dweeb talking about these things and this isn't me. No, this is. This is. you. This is the real you. This is what you were created to do was to share Christ. And it says in Mark 16 in verse 20, and they went forth and preached everywhere while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen, right? That is so beautiful. And so what I'm going to share with you in these points of the message, which you're going to make your own in your natural conversations with people, the Holy Spirit,

Think about this. Think about it. The Holy Spirit is going to confirm that message that you share. That is so exciting. So when you learn to talk on water, you're not alone. Jesus is there. And you're thinking, I can never do that. You're right. But with Christ, all things are possible. Do you know, I'm getting so much email from people and texts and things, people saying that as a result of this show, they are doing. things they never thought they would do before. Had someone come up to me the other day or the other day and say that I had mentioned that when you say to someone, hey, I'll pray for you, do it right then. She said, can I pray for you right now? Can I pray for your mother right now? And I say that on the show, and this young lady was telling me that I'm doing it now. Everybody that I say

it to, I just say, you must pray right now. And it's changing her life. It's exciting, exciting stuff. All right, so what are the seven points? Let's go through those real quickly. I know you're about to get to work. Okay, so the first one, the first part of the message, the seven points, is that God loves you and has a plan for your life. That's powerful. God loves you and has a plan for your life. Now, I'm not saying you got to walk up to someone and say, hey, sir, God loves you and has a plan for your life. What I am saying is that that is the message.

Now, you've got to find a way to tell people that, that God loves them and has a plan for their life. I find that it's actually easy to say. You know, when I talk to somebody and they tell me that their life is falling apart and they're depressed and they're going to go into, you know, support groups and so forth, I'll say to them, you know, can I just share something with you? Now, what's wrong with that? Can I just share something with you? And they'll say, well, sure. In my life, Jesus Christ has made such a difference in my life. Now, that's the change point. That's the miracle. That's the thing that happens. And every time the curriculum was proclaimed in the the book of Acts, it was on the tail end of a happening, a miracle, a sign, a wonder. What's the miracle and sign and wonder in your life? Christ has changed you. So I start with it. Jesus Christ has come and has really changed my life and reoriented my life in such an amazing way. And I got to tell you that God really loves you as well. He loves you as well. And he has an amazing plan for your life. Now, when I share that, just like that, you would be surprised at how many times this turns out so positive.

Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of what they're going to ask you or anything. Just be responsible for giving the message. And I've never had anyone hit me or yell at me, but people have responded very kindly because I'm saying it in a transparent way and in love, you know, that I, I, I want you to know that God really does love you, and he has a plan for your life. So the truth that God loves us is contrasted with the reality that most people are desperately searching for love and meaning in their life. They really are. And here you have it. Oh, but I don't want to give it to them.

It's not my gift. Oh, come on. Come on. You have the message. They're looking for this. Give it to them. Give it to them. The catechism says in the first paragraph, God infinitely perfect and blessed in himself

in a plan of sheer goodness, freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. The beginning of facing a world that is less than satisfying is to know that God indeed loves us and has a plan of sheer goodness for us. Life can be better than we are currently experiencing. This is the message that we have. So that's number one. God loves you and has a plan for your life. Number two, sin will destroy you and ruin God's plan for your life. It's a fact. Sin will destroy your life. You're not an old fuddy-duddy by saying that. You're a realist. You're proclaiming the truth here. The truth that can keep someone out of eternal hell. There's nothing in the world that will destroy God's best for us,

like sin. And sin is when we walk contrary to his plan and make our own plan the number one thing in our life. And so sin is the choice to put first the creation of God, the beautiful, tasty, and the things that make us wise, put that first rather than his will and his plan. And we have to point this out to people in a way that I would say, it doesn't sound weird and corny, but I would say to somebody, if I was in a conversation, I would say, look, I know this probably better than anyone, and that is that when I'm out of touch with God's will and I'm walking contrary to his will, which is, I'm describing sin to you without even saying it. When I do that, and I choose my will over his will, it really destroys my life. And it ruins

his plan for my life. So that's number two. And number three, Jesus Christ. There's good news. Jesus Christ died to save you. And now this is the most basic part of the message, isn't it? It's probably the part you can't imagine yourself saying that Jesus died for you. He loves you so much. He died for you. But again, let me ask you, is that true? Is it true? Is it? Yes, it is. So, if you don't say it, then what's the alternative plan for that poor person in your life? What's the alternative plan? You're going to spend time praying that somebody else will while you're standing there? I know this sounds hard. I know this is a direct message I'm giving here today, but if I could, I'd shake everybody up. And I'd put this in a shot form and just put it right in your arm and give you a shot. You know, of, hey, let's get some guts. You know, let's get serious about this message. Jesus Christ died to save you. It is right in the midst of our futile search for happiness that Christ has come to save us and to give us life. and introduced thus to his plan of sheer goodness. See, this is what it is to walk on, to talk on water. I almost went back to the old version, huh? This is what it's like to talk on water.

This is what it is like to talk on water. It's to do things and say things that we don't normally do and say. Now, the third part is, number four, repent and believe in the gospel. And I love this one so much because if I just walk out there and start talking to people, and I get to the point where I say, God loves you and has an amazing plan for your life. Sin has screwed up this plan. Jesus has come to die for us. And the fourth one, and you need to repent and believe the gospel. Well, I know what that sounds like to the world. I know that. So I don't use that word repent when I'm talking to someone new. I use what the

catechism uses, and that is in paragraph 1430 and 1431 of the catechism. I'll put it in the show notes. It says to repent, it's the Greek word metanoya. It means to undergo a radical reorientation of the whole life, a return, a conversion to God with all our heart, an end of sin, a turning away from evil. So I love that phrase, don't you like that? A radical reorientation of the whole life. You know what? That's actually inviting. That's actually inviting and powerful to know that I can totally have a radical reorientation. Oh, wow. And when I share that with people, they get all excited. They think, man, I need that in my life. I do. So I think, great. So what we're asking them to do is radically reorient their life or repent and believe the gospel, the good news. And the fifth one is to be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. And I'm going to do this quickly. But to be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit means that your sins are forgiven. You're part of the church. You receive faith, hope, and charity. and you have new life now in you.

And to receive the Holy Spirit is confirmation. Those are two of the three sacraments of initiation to get you going. And I really believe that confirmation is one of the most misunderstood sacraments because it's not just a rite of passage that says you're an adult, but it is literally empowering you and finishing, completing the work of the Holy Spirit in baptism, and it's giving you courage to proclaim the gospel. Now, there's nothing in the Bible or nothing in the catechism that says that after you have been confirmed, you receive the power and courage to be authentic witnesses of Christ,

oh, unless it's not your gift. It doesn't say that. It says that it'll empower you, and that means you need power. And that's why you got it now. I love this stuff, don't you? Write me an email. I want to know what you're getting out of this, okay? The Jeff Kaven Show at ascensionpress.com or make a comment on my Instagram account.

I want to know what you're thinking. I'm really serious. So be baptized, receive the Holy Spirit, number five, number six. Abide in Christ and His Body of the Church. Abide in Christ and His Body of the Church. In other words, become part of his kingdom family. And you're not going to do it alone. It means you're going to go through this with other people that are here on

earth, but also those who have gone before us, we call them saints, and you're going to have a big family. You can put together a posse of saints to walk with you and pray for you, and you're not alone. I love that. And then the last one, which you're going to get around to here, is to go and make disciples yourself. Isn't that beautiful? So you come full circle, and now you're going to go out, and you're going to start sharing with people the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I would give you just some real quick points. You know, if you want to, if you want to know how to talk on water. Number one, get to know the seven points of the

Corrigma. They're going to be in the show notes, but Ascension Press actually has a nice laminated card. Sometimes they're out of stock because those things fly off the shelves, but you can go and look at ascensionpress.com and at least go on back order if they don't have it.

But you've got them here in my show notes, and if you're not getting the show notes, send me an email subject line show notes. We'll put you on that list. Get to know the seven points of the carigma, right? Get to know it. Number two, find your way of conveying this message, the charygma.

Learn how to brew up a cup of curigma for people. Learn how to brew it up. Practice situational awareness, what you see and hear or become aware of. Just do it. If you get this inkling that you should talk to someone, just do it. Do you only have so many years, do it, do it. This is how we learn. This is how we learn.

This is how boldness is cultivated. And when you're in a conversation with people and you are learning to talk on water, ask questions. One of the greatest ways of getting information and knowing where someone is at is just ask. How's your life doing? What's been going on today? Do you have children? Do you enjoy your job? Where do you guys go for a vacation?

There's all kinds of questions just to genuinely get to know people. Ask questions. Keep asking questions. sooner or later, you come to something where you can say, wow, that's really a struggle you went through, or that's really quite a hurdle in your life. Has the Lord been able to help you? Do you know the Lord? And I say, well, I don't know.

I was raised Lutheran or raised Catholic, but no, that's fine. But has the Lord been able to really help you in this situation? Well, I don't know. Well, I got to tell you, he loves you. He really does. He's got an amazing plan for your life. And you're off to the races at that point. And then when you talk to someone, suggest a next step or a next get-together to talk. Say, do you come to this coffee shop regularly? I do. Would you like to sit down and have a cup of coffee next week? I'll buy you one. Or just can I call you? Can I email or text you and keep that conversation going? Hey, by the way, by the way, if you do not have a Bible that you regularly live in and learn the mind of Christ and his will is planned, I would suggest that you get a brand new

Great Adventure Bible. They're in stock right now, which has been rare over the last four months, let me tell you, they've been flying out of the warehouse. I had to build warehouse, I guess, just for that practically. But they, I'm kidding. But they've been flying off the shelves. And what I would say to you is that if you have an old Bible that you don't use anymore, it's all torn apart, or you don't have a Bible, buy a Great Adventure Bible. I'll put a link in the show notes for you. And I would invite you to start a new conversation with God. Could you use a new conversation with God? Get a new Bible. Start reading it. The Great Adventure Bible is an amazing Bible that shows you how to read the Bible in chronological order as a narrative. If you're serious about how to talk on water and learn how to talk on water, then really, seriously, you've got to know the story of salvation history. It'll enhance your ability to share tenfold, 15fold. But either way, we still have to learn to talk on water, don't we? But anyway, that's a side note.

If you're looking for a Bible, go for it. All right. So that's what I wanted to share with you this week is a little bit about how to talk on water and to know that talking on water is a little like walking on water. There can be some fear, a little bit of nervousness, but go for it. Go for it. You'll be surprised at what the Lord can do in the midst of a conversation. I'm serious, go for it.

Will you do that? Will you at least give it a try? Please give it a try. give it a try. If you and I, in this modern era right now, you and I, if we don't do this, who's going to do it? Seriously, who's going to do it? Who are you going to throw this over onto and say, you do it? I'm not going to do it. If you're listening to this podcast, my word, you're one of the most well-suited persons in the world to share the gospel. So let's start this and tell me how it's going for you, seriously. And if you're, you're one of the most well-suited persons in the world to share the gospel.

want to send me a voice comment, you can even send that through the email to me, and I'd love to hear that. If you don't want to write something out, just do a little recordings, attach it to the email. And if I can use it on the show, just put on there, you got permission to say, yeah, go ahead and use it. And I'd like to hear, I'd like other people around the world that we're spending time with. I'd like them to hear a little bit about what's happening in your life and how the Lord is changing your life in terms of learning to talk on water. Okay. So this could be fun. This can be great. This can be contagious and uplifting. All right. So God bless you this week. And I hope you do talk on water this week and let us know about it. And let me close in prayer and ask the Lord to

bless you and give you the courage to talk right through those waves, right through the wind and right through the waves. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I love you and I thank you, Lord, for inviting us to be in your family, the church. Thank you for redeeming us and dying for us and giving our life such purpose. You are so awesome. We praise you and we worship you. You're the creator of the world. You know all things. You know us so well. And you have entrusted to us this message of salvation. Help us, Lord, to be courageous and to learn to talk on water and to go out and to make a difference in the world. Give us courage when the waves are high. Give us fortitude when the winds blow. And may we continue to say the right things, the message. And thank you for confirming

it as we work with you. In Jesus name, amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now you go and talk on water. Thank you.