1 00:00:04,396 --> 00:00:10,256 Rod Gomez: Compass Bible Church North Texas is going to die 2 00:00:16,302 --> 00:00:19,242 The question is when and why. 3 00:00:20,622 --> 00:00:23,392 But make no mistake, she will die 4 00:00:25,942 --> 00:00:29,692 When, in large part, is up to you and I. 5 00:00:31,492 --> 00:00:34,712 We will have some say in that, whether we stave off death or 6 00:00:34,712 --> 00:00:37,722 whether we encourage her soon coming. 7 00:00:38,172 --> 00:00:41,071 Question that, that you might be asking is why, and let me just point out to you, 8 00:00:41,192 --> 00:00:45,421 the Jerusalem church, the first megachurch to enter on the scene in the Book of 9 00:00:45,422 --> 00:00:49,952 Acts, thousands of members added over the span of what seems to be just a few 10 00:00:49,952 --> 00:00:51,931 days, and what happened to that church? 11 00:00:52,771 --> 00:00:56,161 I want you to go to www.jerusalemchurch.com 12 00:00:56,162 --> 00:00:59,322 and see if that's still the same one that the apostles planted. 13 00:01:00,922 --> 00:01:01,482 It's gone. 14 00:01:01,961 --> 00:01:03,012 Doesn't exist anymore 15 00:01:05,528 --> 00:01:09,538 Charles Spurgeon's church did well for se- several hundred years. 16 00:01:09,618 --> 00:01:11,048 Uh, actually, uh, not several hundred. 17 00:01:11,268 --> 00:01:15,948 Uh, his pastor's college recently, recently closed down his doors. 18 00:01:15,948 --> 00:01:17,727 And Spurgeon, you know, that's 200 years ago. 19 00:01:18,728 --> 00:01:19,238 It's gone. 20 00:01:19,898 --> 00:01:23,257 It's not a church, but his church isn't doing half as well as it used to. 21 00:01:23,258 --> 00:01:24,348 I don't think they're still around. 22 00:01:24,348 --> 00:01:26,758 I think they closed down 20 years ago or something 23 00:01:29,704 --> 00:01:32,654 The truth is, every church will die. 24 00:01:33,824 --> 00:01:34,904 Every church will die. 25 00:01:36,584 --> 00:01:40,144 And all the church growth experts have reasons for why that takes 26 00:01:40,164 --> 00:01:41,294 place, and there's a lot of them. 27 00:01:41,294 --> 00:01:42,614 There's more than one, surely. 28 00:01:42,924 --> 00:01:47,404 But there's one reason that churches die that has everything to do with you and I, 29 00:01:47,404 --> 00:01:52,574 and there's one major preventable reason, and that's why we need this sermon. 30 00:01:53,353 --> 00:01:56,423 We need this sermon because we want to keep our church alive. 31 00:01:57,743 --> 00:02:00,143 In fact, if we wanna get more technical about this, we could say, "Well, 32 00:02:00,144 --> 00:02:01,384 churches die for a lot of reasons. 33 00:02:01,384 --> 00:02:02,874 You know, there's money, and there's all sorts of reasons." 34 00:02:02,893 --> 00:02:06,184 But, uh, there's several things that contribute to this. 35 00:02:06,253 --> 00:02:10,174 But again, one really is contingent and dependent upon you and I. 36 00:02:10,622 --> 00:02:13,783 Everything about Compass Bible Church North Texas is in the 37 00:02:13,783 --> 00:02:14,983 hands of the Lord, for sure. 38 00:02:14,994 --> 00:02:16,694 None of us would say that's anything different. 39 00:02:16,694 --> 00:02:20,233 But what is important for us to understand is that we have a major, 40 00:02:20,244 --> 00:02:26,014 significant, real role in whether Compass Bible Church North Texas stays 41 00:02:26,014 --> 00:02:28,963 alive for 50 years or whether she dies 42 00:02:31,464 --> 00:02:34,414 wrote a book called The Autopsy of a Deceased Church. 43 00:02:34,414 --> 00:02:38,853 It's by this guy named Tom Rainer, and he observes church trends, 44 00:02:38,853 --> 00:02:42,664 and he tries to understand what motivates these trends, what happens 45 00:02:42,664 --> 00:02:44,404 to a church that c- that dies. 46 00:02:44,864 --> 00:02:48,504 And of course, he notices several things, but one chapter, which 47 00:02:48,523 --> 00:02:50,783 gives one of his answers, is important for you to understand. 48 00:02:50,984 --> 00:02:52,144 Here's that chapter title. 49 00:02:53,644 --> 00:02:56,224 I forget what number it is, but he says it like this: The Great 50 00:02:56,224 --> 00:02:59,493 Commission Becomes the Great Omission. 51 00:03:00,523 --> 00:03:02,723 One of the reasons the church dies 52 00:03:05,934 --> 00:03:08,964 The truth of the matter is that we need to reproduce or we die. 53 00:03:09,774 --> 00:03:11,124 Now, understand what I'm saying. 54 00:03:11,134 --> 00:03:15,414 The church triumphant, Christ Church, the universal church, will never die. 55 00:03:15,793 --> 00:03:18,674 Christ will make sure that his church continues to march on. 56 00:03:18,684 --> 00:03:20,704 It will, it will not be defeated. 57 00:03:20,704 --> 00:03:22,024 The gates of hell will not prevail. 58 00:03:22,024 --> 00:03:23,254 Christ Church will continue. 59 00:03:23,784 --> 00:03:27,323 The question is whether this particular expression, this local church 60 00:03:27,334 --> 00:03:31,024 continues, whether we allow the Lord… 61 00:03:31,364 --> 00:03:32,964 Oh, allow, that's not the right word. 62 00:03:32,973 --> 00:03:37,744 Whether we co- cooperate with the Lord to make this church all that it can 63 00:03:37,744 --> 00:03:42,214 be, or whether we take for granted the blessings of God and say, "Well, Lord, 64 00:03:42,214 --> 00:03:45,183 you, I guess you've been moving so far, like, people are doing the work. 65 00:03:45,184 --> 00:03:46,723 Someone will get, get it taken care of." 66 00:03:47,454 --> 00:03:51,303 Man, my burden for this church is that we not let this church die, at least 67 00:03:51,303 --> 00:03:55,403 not on our watch, not to the extent that we have opportunity and ability. 68 00:03:56,493 --> 00:03:58,803 We want to prevent our church's death, obviously. 69 00:03:58,803 --> 00:03:59,433 This is a nice church. 70 00:03:59,434 --> 00:04:00,034 I like our church. 71 00:04:00,034 --> 00:04:00,823 I like you guys. 72 00:04:01,243 --> 00:04:01,903 Hope you like me. 73 00:04:02,614 --> 00:04:03,353 Hope it's mutual. 74 00:04:04,513 --> 00:04:09,763 We don't want our church to die, but more importantly, we don't want to 75 00:04:09,763 --> 00:04:17,980 fail at the reason, the purpose of our existence This is why Christ saved us. 76 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:23,050 This sermon is all about what Christ calls us to do as His disciples. 77 00:04:23,050 --> 00:04:25,450 Discipleship is not just learning under Christ. 78 00:04:25,450 --> 00:04:26,560 You understand, we know that. 79 00:04:27,860 --> 00:04:31,050 It's not just learning what, what He thinks about our lives and 80 00:04:31,050 --> 00:04:32,320 how to think about our finances. 81 00:04:32,489 --> 00:04:37,619 No, discipleship is about saying, "I'm following after the master," and in this 82 00:04:37,620 --> 00:04:39,409 case, the master being Jesus Himself. 83 00:04:40,759 --> 00:04:43,860 We don't wanna die, we wanna fulfill our life's purpose. 84 00:04:44,599 --> 00:04:48,380 And thirdly, I mean, I, I could say all, I- all of us want to say, "I, 85 00:04:48,380 --> 00:04:49,920 I wanna glorify God with my life." 86 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,880 If you're a disciple, if your heart is right with Christ, I know for a fact 87 00:04:52,889 --> 00:04:56,440 you would say, "I want to glorify God with my life, whatever that means." 88 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:57,149 I hope you'd say that. 89 00:04:57,149 --> 00:04:57,620 Wouldn't you? 90 00:04:58,039 --> 00:04:58,750 You would say that. 91 00:04:59,249 --> 00:05:01,409 "Whatever that means, Lord, I wanna glorify you." 92 00:05:02,729 --> 00:05:04,460 Well, I'm gonna help you cash that check today. 93 00:05:05,490 --> 00:05:06,550 Whatever that means, right? 94 00:05:06,550 --> 00:05:06,979 Blank check. 95 00:05:06,999 --> 00:05:09,370 Lord, whatever you want me to do, here I am, send me. 96 00:05:09,539 --> 00:05:10,369 Here it is. 97 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,239 I'm gonna give you the marching orders of Christ Church, and I wanna 98 00:05:13,239 --> 00:05:17,289 point you to the, one of the best evangelists that's ever existed. 99 00:05:17,860 --> 00:05:19,849 We might talk about Spurgeon or D.L. 100 00:05:19,849 --> 00:05:23,599 Moody, all these great guys of hi- history's past, but this is 101 00:05:23,650 --> 00:05:26,380 probably the best evangelist ever. 102 00:05:26,870 --> 00:05:30,159 This guy was responsible for helping ignite the fire that would become the 103 00:05:30,159 --> 00:05:35,120 church, and he was a late bloomer too, so it's not even too late for all of us. 104 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:38,109 He was a late bloomer to the scene, and yet God used him mightily. 105 00:05:38,330 --> 00:05:41,799 And what I wanna look at today is how Paul approached this. 106 00:05:41,909 --> 00:05:45,629 Paul the Apostle was a great evangelist, and we're gonna take away five 107 00:05:45,639 --> 00:05:49,760 practical things that he did that we can do today, right now, because 108 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,879 we don't wanna die, because we wanna fulfill our church's purpose, our 109 00:05:52,879 --> 00:05:57,649 individual purpose, and because we wanna glorify God, whatever that means. 110 00:05:59,209 --> 00:06:01,079 Turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 111 00:06:01,749 --> 00:06:05,850 I want you to see what we're looking at here, what we're working with. 112 00:06:06,169 --> 00:06:08,159 I want you to see what made Paul so effective. 113 00:06:08,939 --> 00:06:13,169 I want you to see the secret sauce that got Paul's evangelism cooking. 114 00:06:13,439 --> 00:06:14,749 How did this guy do it? 115 00:06:15,459 --> 00:06:16,489 What was his secret? 116 00:06:16,499 --> 00:06:17,839 You know, you can-- people do this all the time. 117 00:06:17,849 --> 00:06:21,639 Recently, uh, people asked M- do you know who MrBeast is? 118 00:06:21,669 --> 00:06:22,980 I know I'm talking to a mixed audience here. 119 00:06:23,209 --> 00:06:28,620 MrBeast is the most significant YouTuber of all time. 120 00:06:28,980 --> 00:06:31,299 Not that he's been around for forever, but he's really good at his job. 121 00:06:31,789 --> 00:06:33,659 People ask him all the time, "What's your secret? 122 00:06:33,679 --> 00:06:34,969 What's your-- how do you do the thing? 123 00:06:35,099 --> 00:06:37,779 You get millions or billions of views on your videos," and now 124 00:06:37,779 --> 00:06:40,308 he's doing game shows with the most amount of money ever given away. 125 00:06:40,529 --> 00:06:41,409 "How do you do it?" 126 00:06:41,569 --> 00:06:43,769 And he, the thing is, he tells everybody what he does. 127 00:06:44,189 --> 00:06:46,229 He tells them, "I don't sleep. 128 00:06:46,679 --> 00:06:48,169 I work incessantly on these things. 129 00:06:48,189 --> 00:06:51,399 I obsess about them, and I am a, I'm a s- I'm a slave to perfection. 130 00:06:51,529 --> 00:06:53,709 I do everything I can to make this thing work." 131 00:06:54,109 --> 00:06:55,650 He tells everybody what he's doing. 132 00:06:55,900 --> 00:06:57,940 He says, "You do what I do, you'll, you'll be able to make it." 133 00:06:59,279 --> 00:07:01,249 And yet, there's only one MrBeast. 134 00:07:02,269 --> 00:07:06,376 Uh People know the recipe, they don't always apply the recipe. 135 00:07:07,806 --> 00:07:11,176 Let's look at Paul's recipe, and let's see what we can learn from his example. 136 00:07:12,076 --> 00:07:14,105 And this is gonna be something of a faster-paced sermon. 137 00:07:14,106 --> 00:07:16,795 I got five points, which means we're gonna have to go rapidly. 138 00:07:17,166 --> 00:07:20,676 I'm gonna ask you to stay in your Bibles and track along with me the best you can. 139 00:07:21,226 --> 00:07:22,136 We're gonna make some progress here. 140 00:07:22,136 --> 00:07:24,566 1 Corinthians 2 starting at verse one. 141 00:07:24,866 --> 00:07:26,075 Lewis read it for us. 142 00:07:26,876 --> 00:07:32,776 Paul starts out this way, "And I, when I came to you, brothers, I did not 143 00:07:32,776 --> 00:07:37,956 come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 144 00:07:39,055 --> 00:07:46,534 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 145 00:07:47,665 --> 00:07:53,715 And I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my speech 146 00:07:53,715 --> 00:07:58,595 and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration 147 00:07:58,616 --> 00:08:04,965 of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the 148 00:08:04,965 --> 00:08:08,215 wisdom of men but in the power of God." 149 00:08:11,096 --> 00:08:17,076 We heard last week as Pastor PJ closed us out in chapter one that one of the reasons 150 00:08:17,076 --> 00:08:21,576 that Paul highlights the foolishness of the church, and even the foolishness of 151 00:08:21,576 --> 00:08:25,605 the preaching approach, is because God doesn't want to share his glory with you. 152 00:08:26,305 --> 00:08:30,605 He's not interested in saying, "Well, me and Garrett, we did this together. 153 00:08:30,606 --> 00:08:31,886 We built Christ Church. 154 00:08:32,645 --> 00:08:35,176 Me and Josh, we built the church together. 155 00:08:35,176 --> 00:08:35,976 We did this thing." 156 00:08:35,976 --> 00:08:37,046 No, it's, it's Jesus. 157 00:08:37,066 --> 00:08:38,164 Jesus gets the glory. 158 00:08:38,655 --> 00:08:40,924 He doesn't want to share glory with us, and he's, and he's… 159 00:08:40,926 --> 00:08:43,005 And we would say, "Yes, that's right." 160 00:08:43,095 --> 00:08:44,355 We would say, "That's, that's agreeable. 161 00:08:44,365 --> 00:08:45,295 We want that to happen." 162 00:08:45,705 --> 00:08:48,385 And so Paul's saying, "Look, let, let the one who boasts, if you're 163 00:08:48,385 --> 00:08:51,245 gonna boast," as we sang this morning, "All my boast is in Jesus." 164 00:08:51,856 --> 00:08:54,315 And so he's saying, "This is why God goes this direction." 165 00:08:54,475 --> 00:08:57,626 And then he says, "And by the way, let me remind you how I came to you. 166 00:08:57,996 --> 00:09:00,225 And when I, when I came to you, was I like that? 167 00:09:00,225 --> 00:09:01,616 Was I trying to get kudos from you? 168 00:09:01,616 --> 00:09:02,995 Was I trying to build a fan club?" 169 00:09:03,235 --> 00:09:06,665 Remember that part of chapter one here, and into chapter two, is he's saying, 170 00:09:06,665 --> 00:09:10,926 "Look, I don't want you to build a fan club around Apollos or Cephas or me. 171 00:09:10,926 --> 00:09:14,485 I, I, I want you to be about the right thing in the right way." 172 00:09:14,485 --> 00:09:17,735 And so it's important that you see Paul saying, "Look, I'm, I'm an example to you. 173 00:09:18,175 --> 00:09:20,566 I want you to understand that as I approached you, I didn't come 174 00:09:20,566 --> 00:09:22,196 with a certain kind of loftiness. 175 00:09:22,205 --> 00:09:26,465 I wasn't trying to, you know, flower your attention with, with my prowess or wit." 176 00:09:26,795 --> 00:09:28,275 He says, "I decided to know nothing among you." 177 00:09:30,465 --> 00:09:34,105 It does not escape me the irony that we're meeting at Founders Classical Academy 178 00:09:34,435 --> 00:09:36,176 that teaches rhetoric and persuasion. 179 00:09:37,495 --> 00:09:40,365 Paul is saying, "I didn't rely on rhetoric and persuasion. 180 00:09:40,365 --> 00:09:41,605 That wasn't my MO." 181 00:09:42,225 --> 00:09:43,556 Paul's not opposed to using that. 182 00:09:43,565 --> 00:09:45,016 He's not opposed to rhetoric and persuasion. 183 00:09:45,016 --> 00:09:45,615 In fact… 184 00:09:46,086 --> 00:09:46,866 How much time we got here? 185 00:09:46,895 --> 00:09:47,245 In fact- 186 00:09:51,136 --> 00:09:51,766 Okay, it's worth it. 187 00:09:51,766 --> 00:09:53,036 Go to Acts chapter 18. 188 00:09:53,366 --> 00:09:53,996 It's worth it. 189 00:09:53,996 --> 00:09:55,556 Just trust me, Acts chapter 18. 190 00:09:55,816 --> 00:09:57,576 I just need you to see some of the context here. 191 00:09:57,576 --> 00:10:00,466 Acts chapter 18 is the place where Paul plants the church. 192 00:10:00,466 --> 00:10:02,086 He's telling you how he did this. 193 00:10:02,416 --> 00:10:05,145 And so we're reading the letter that he writes to the church that he plants. 194 00:10:05,326 --> 00:10:08,595 He came to them, and I just want you to see his approach. 195 00:10:09,986 --> 00:10:13,605 Starting at Acts chapter 18, verse 1 196 00:10:19,478 --> 00:10:23,148 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 197 00:10:23,328 --> 00:10:25,488 All right, so that's a big city, Athens, Greece, right? 198 00:10:25,488 --> 00:10:27,838 These are where all the philosophers are born from. 199 00:10:28,008 --> 00:10:31,638 He left Athens, went to Corinth, and he found a Jew named Aquila, 200 00:10:31,668 --> 00:10:35,448 a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla. 201 00:10:35,477 --> 00:10:36,677 These are names that you probably know. 202 00:10:37,237 --> 00:10:39,947 Because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. 203 00:10:40,157 --> 00:10:43,378 And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade, 204 00:10:43,378 --> 00:10:46,777 he stayed with them and worked, for they were tent makers by trade. 205 00:10:46,787 --> 00:10:48,327 That'll be important later, okay? 206 00:10:48,327 --> 00:10:49,267 Tent makers by trade. 207 00:10:49,287 --> 00:10:52,227 Paul's working with his hands with Aquila and Priscilla. 208 00:10:52,228 --> 00:10:53,298 We'll come back to that later. 209 00:10:53,298 --> 00:10:53,987 I'll refer to that. 210 00:10:53,997 --> 00:10:55,458 Just keep that in the back of your mind. 211 00:10:55,918 --> 00:10:58,067 But verse four is what I want you to see. 212 00:10:58,627 --> 00:10:59,817 Notice what Paul does here. 213 00:11:00,258 --> 00:11:05,587 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath. 214 00:11:05,638 --> 00:11:06,577 He's reasoning. 215 00:11:06,587 --> 00:11:10,297 He's letting the scriptures be used to help him reason with 216 00:11:10,298 --> 00:11:11,388 the people that were there. 217 00:11:12,317 --> 00:11:14,357 Notice this in the second part of verse four. 218 00:11:15,107 --> 00:11:19,078 And he tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. 219 00:11:19,758 --> 00:11:21,877 Okay, reasoning and persuasion. 220 00:11:21,877 --> 00:11:23,127 Paul's not against these things. 221 00:11:23,127 --> 00:11:26,917 Clearly, he thinks that there's a role here for him to play. 222 00:11:28,457 --> 00:11:29,327 Back to our text. 223 00:11:29,438 --> 00:11:30,998 I wanted you to see that because it's important to 224 00:11:30,998 --> 00:11:31,997 understand what Paul is saying. 225 00:11:31,997 --> 00:11:35,507 He's not saying, "I am against understanding or intellect. 226 00:11:35,508 --> 00:11:38,197 I'm, I'm against, uh, there being reason or persuasion." 227 00:11:38,197 --> 00:11:40,187 Obviously, that's what I'm trying to do for you this morning. 228 00:11:40,467 --> 00:11:42,237 It would be a terrible sermon if I'm saying, "Hey, don't use 229 00:11:42,237 --> 00:11:44,447 reason and persuasion, and by the way, I'm gonna use it myself." 230 00:11:44,947 --> 00:11:48,627 No, he's saying, "I'm okay with that, except that when the form and content 231 00:11:48,637 --> 00:11:49,847 get in the way of the message." 232 00:11:49,847 --> 00:11:53,058 In other words, uh, the gospel is shared in weakness. 233 00:11:53,077 --> 00:11:54,448 It's communicated in weakness. 234 00:11:54,637 --> 00:11:58,007 It doesn't work when there's some rock star who's pointing to himself and 235 00:11:58,008 --> 00:11:59,388 saying, "I'm the point of the show here. 236 00:11:59,388 --> 00:12:00,467 I'm the reason that you're here." 237 00:12:00,607 --> 00:12:01,987 No, Jesus is the point of the show. 238 00:12:02,188 --> 00:12:05,048 Paul doesn't want self-reliance, self-promotion, or 239 00:12:05,048 --> 00:12:06,777 self-confidence to get in the way. 240 00:12:07,927 --> 00:12:09,477 He's okay with reason and persuasion. 241 00:12:10,207 --> 00:12:12,337 He's not against eloquence or wisdom per se. 242 00:12:12,337 --> 00:12:13,957 He's just for real, the real thing 243 00:12:16,172 --> 00:12:18,402 Okay, that's our on-ramp into this text. 244 00:12:18,892 --> 00:12:22,732 Five points from this text that I want you to see that are critical to our 245 00:12:22,732 --> 00:12:24,742 making progress in our evangelism. 246 00:12:25,602 --> 00:12:27,232 And the first one starts with verse one. 247 00:12:27,962 --> 00:12:28,772 Notice this, in order… 248 00:12:28,812 --> 00:12:30,002 And I'm even gonna read the whole verse to you. 249 00:12:30,002 --> 00:12:30,812 Look at this again. 250 00:12:30,882 --> 00:12:34,882 Verse one, "And I, when I came to you brothers," pause. 251 00:12:34,941 --> 00:12:35,662 I'm gonna start there. 252 00:12:35,802 --> 00:12:36,282 Let's do this. 253 00:12:36,282 --> 00:12:39,341 Point number one, I want you, like Paul, to go to them. 254 00:12:40,292 --> 00:12:40,751 Go to them. 255 00:12:42,101 --> 00:12:44,892 "When I came to you brothers," it's a small phrase, and, 256 00:12:44,892 --> 00:12:46,132 and this is not Paul's point. 257 00:12:46,142 --> 00:12:47,921 He's not saying, "I came to you, you should go." 258 00:12:48,111 --> 00:12:49,272 I'm just making an observation. 259 00:12:49,631 --> 00:12:51,292 Paul went to them. 260 00:12:51,790 --> 00:12:53,081 That was his whole missionary journey. 261 00:12:53,081 --> 00:12:54,382 He was going to people. 262 00:12:54,382 --> 00:12:56,181 He wasn't waiting for people to come to him. 263 00:12:56,421 --> 00:12:58,331 We just read about him in Athens. 264 00:12:58,412 --> 00:13:00,191 He, he made it a point to go to them. 265 00:13:00,572 --> 00:13:03,892 In Acts chapter nine, when Jesus called Paul to himself, he said, "I'm gonna 266 00:13:04,031 --> 00:13:06,141 have you carry my name to the Gentiles. 267 00:13:06,181 --> 00:13:07,841 This is gonna be your job, Paul." 268 00:13:07,962 --> 00:13:09,621 And Paul ob- Paul obliges. 269 00:13:10,111 --> 00:13:10,971 Paul does this. 270 00:13:12,162 --> 00:13:15,312 But it's interesting that Paul understands this as his job. 271 00:13:15,892 --> 00:13:19,121 I think it's imperative that we understand this as our job. 272 00:13:19,372 --> 00:13:21,462 God is calling us to go to them. 273 00:13:21,612 --> 00:13:24,711 You must initiate evangelistic contact. 274 00:13:25,652 --> 00:13:26,301 You must. 275 00:13:26,911 --> 00:13:28,671 There is no shortcut to this. 276 00:13:29,831 --> 00:13:33,631 I've noticed that today it's super en vogue for young people 277 00:13:33,631 --> 00:13:35,441 to ask each other out over a DM. 278 00:13:35,481 --> 00:13:36,241 Have you noticed this? 279 00:13:36,771 --> 00:13:38,331 You just, you don't, you don't go to them in person. 280 00:13:38,331 --> 00:13:41,011 There's too much at stake there, so you just send them a DM and 281 00:13:41,011 --> 00:13:42,571 say, "Hey, you wanna go out?" 282 00:13:43,171 --> 00:13:44,151 Lame. 283 00:13:45,631 --> 00:13:48,261 Be a man and go talk to her face to face 284 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:53,110 Just saying, guys 285 00:13:56,718 --> 00:13:57,997 There's nothing inherently wrong with the text. 286 00:13:58,027 --> 00:14:00,377 I'm just saying, that's not the way we do- when we were your age 287 00:14:03,828 --> 00:14:04,877 Dad, dadness 288 00:14:08,184 --> 00:14:11,914 We must put ourselves in a place of great vulnerability 289 00:14:11,914 --> 00:14:13,684 and discomfort and go to them. 290 00:14:13,924 --> 00:14:14,634 Simple point. 291 00:14:14,864 --> 00:14:17,983 You're not surprised by this, but this is the whole idea 292 00:14:17,983 --> 00:14:18,833 that Christ has called us to. 293 00:14:18,834 --> 00:14:22,593 In Matthew 28, this, the famous text, 18 through 20. 294 00:14:22,593 --> 00:14:23,743 I'll be referring to this all throughout. 295 00:14:23,744 --> 00:14:25,093 Matthew 28:18 through 20. 296 00:14:25,934 --> 00:14:29,644 Christ calls us to go and make disciples, making disciples 297 00:14:29,664 --> 00:14:30,864 being the imperative command. 298 00:14:31,754 --> 00:14:35,153 This is your life's call, make disciples. 299 00:14:35,514 --> 00:14:38,534 And so he says, "Go make disciples by going, by reaching, 300 00:14:38,543 --> 00:14:39,504 by teaching, by training." 301 00:14:39,674 --> 00:14:41,093 This is what he calls us to do. 302 00:14:41,093 --> 00:14:44,093 This is what he wants us to do, making disciples. 303 00:14:44,264 --> 00:14:46,553 And it's interesting because we of- often think about go make 304 00:14:46,553 --> 00:14:47,874 disciples as being the, the command. 305 00:14:47,883 --> 00:14:48,434 It isn't. 306 00:14:48,733 --> 00:14:51,353 Um, it's as you're going about your life, you're making disciples. 307 00:14:51,793 --> 00:14:54,453 As you're going about all the things that you're called to do, the vocation 308 00:14:54,453 --> 00:14:57,133 that God has given you, you're a student, you're a teacher, you're a grandparent, 309 00:14:57,143 --> 00:15:00,143 you're a nurse, you're a doctor, all these things God calls you to do. 310 00:15:00,223 --> 00:15:02,693 He's saying, "As you go about these things, it is imperative 311 00:15:02,703 --> 00:15:05,593 that you understand your point, your call is to make disciples." 312 00:15:06,313 --> 00:15:07,133 You must do this. 313 00:15:07,174 --> 00:15:08,623 You must initiate contact. 314 00:15:09,623 --> 00:15:10,144 We have to. 315 00:15:10,343 --> 00:15:11,353 There's no other option here. 316 00:15:13,714 --> 00:15:16,173 Acts chapter 17, when Paul is preaching in Athens, let me just 317 00:15:16,174 --> 00:15:21,153 read you what ha- what he says here in verse, verse 16 and 17 really, 318 00:15:21,153 --> 00:15:22,923 but verse 17 is where I wanna focus. 319 00:15:23,104 --> 00:15:27,433 He, he goes to Athens, he reasons in the marketplace every day with 320 00:15:27,464 --> 00:15:28,813 those who happen to be there. 321 00:15:29,943 --> 00:15:31,013 I never saw that phrase. 322 00:15:31,273 --> 00:15:33,784 He reasoned every day with those who happened to be 323 00:15:33,784 --> 00:15:35,634 there, whoever was in his path. 324 00:15:35,983 --> 00:15:38,564 Providentially, God brings someone in front of him and he says, "Ah, there's 325 00:15:38,564 --> 00:15:39,733 a person God wants me to talk to." 326 00:15:39,913 --> 00:15:41,673 He starts initiating conversations with them. 327 00:15:43,534 --> 00:15:44,893 Do you know the name Edward Kimball? 328 00:15:45,793 --> 00:15:47,713 Edward Kimball, you probably don't know his name. 329 00:15:48,293 --> 00:15:51,974 He was a Sunday school teacher from Boston who had a pupil in 330 00:15:51,974 --> 00:15:54,784 his Sunday school, and he thought, "I need this kid to know Christ." 331 00:15:55,453 --> 00:16:02,042 And so he walks to the kid's place of employment He goes past the 332 00:16:02,042 --> 00:16:04,052 door of the place of employment and says, "I just can't do it. 333 00:16:04,052 --> 00:16:04,762 I shouldn't bother him. 334 00:16:04,762 --> 00:16:05,572 It's a working day. 335 00:16:05,572 --> 00:16:05,852 This would… 336 00:16:06,252 --> 00:16:07,372 This may not be the best time." 337 00:16:07,622 --> 00:16:10,512 And so he walks past the door, but then he feels something inside 338 00:16:10,512 --> 00:16:11,682 him that causes him to go back. 339 00:16:11,682 --> 00:16:13,382 And so he goes back to the place of employment. 340 00:16:13,591 --> 00:16:17,832 He walks in, he finds the young man, puts his hand on his shoulder, and begins 341 00:16:17,832 --> 00:16:19,092 to tell him about the love of Christ. 342 00:16:20,462 --> 00:16:24,081 The young man recalls this experience and retells the story 343 00:16:24,081 --> 00:16:27,342 later as he evangelizes the masses. 344 00:16:27,352 --> 00:16:29,072 You might know his name as D.L. 345 00:16:29,072 --> 00:16:29,541 Moody. 346 00:16:30,682 --> 00:16:31,842 Do you know Edward Kimball? 347 00:16:32,091 --> 00:16:32,771 Nope. 348 00:16:33,462 --> 00:16:34,591 I didn't know Edward Kimball. 349 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:36,942 I read about Edward, and I said, "That's fantastic." 350 00:16:36,982 --> 00:16:40,151 He's a nobody telling somebody about the somebody, and that guy 351 00:16:40,151 --> 00:16:41,251 actually did something really cool. 352 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:46,411 Like, well, we can't guarantee that our evangelistic efforts somehow recruit the 353 00:16:46,411 --> 00:16:48,831 next Spurgeon or Billy Graham or D.L. 354 00:16:48,831 --> 00:16:51,652 Moody, but what we can do is say, "I'm gonna be faithful, and I'm gonna 355 00:16:51,652 --> 00:16:53,021 trust God with the consequences. 356 00:16:53,302 --> 00:16:55,372 I will go and initiate contact." 357 00:16:55,602 --> 00:16:56,231 You must. 358 00:16:56,352 --> 00:16:57,071 We have to. 359 00:16:57,212 --> 00:16:59,182 This is a non-negotiable for us. 360 00:16:59,771 --> 00:17:00,991 They're not gonna come to us. 361 00:17:01,681 --> 00:17:02,212 They're not gonna… 362 00:17:02,212 --> 00:17:03,362 They're, they're just not going to. 363 00:17:03,362 --> 00:17:07,461 It's rare that I have an opportunity, even as a pastor, when they find out who I am. 364 00:17:07,461 --> 00:17:09,320 I, you know, I get a haircut for the first time. 365 00:17:09,321 --> 00:17:10,231 "Oh, what do you do?" 366 00:17:10,241 --> 00:17:11,231 That's what they all ask. 367 00:17:12,161 --> 00:17:13,531 It's a female, usually not the men. 368 00:17:14,102 --> 00:17:14,590 Men don't care. 369 00:17:15,112 --> 00:17:16,832 The female will ask, "What do you do?" 370 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:18,931 And then I'll say, "Oh, I'm a, I'm a pastor." 371 00:17:19,830 --> 00:17:20,761 How do you think that goes? 372 00:17:21,991 --> 00:17:24,352 Those are one of the most awkward transitions that most 373 00:17:24,352 --> 00:17:26,060 people struggle to navigate. 374 00:17:26,060 --> 00:17:27,371 Like, what do I say to a pastor? 375 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:29,741 And so I say, "Oh, yeah, I'm a pastor, and I, you know, I've 376 00:17:29,741 --> 00:17:30,231 been doing it for this…" 377 00:17:30,271 --> 00:17:32,952 I try to fill the conversation and give them a lot of things to work with. 378 00:17:33,102 --> 00:17:35,541 You know, with Prosper, and I've been doing this for this many years. 379 00:17:36,231 --> 00:17:38,151 Uh, people struggle to know, "Well, what do I say?" 380 00:17:38,451 --> 00:17:39,401 You know, "What do I say to that?" 381 00:17:40,361 --> 00:17:40,871 It's awkward. 382 00:17:40,941 --> 00:17:41,501 It's gonna be hard. 383 00:17:42,102 --> 00:17:45,001 But even with that, I've never had someone say, "You know what? 384 00:17:45,072 --> 00:17:45,941 I'm glad you're here. 385 00:17:46,411 --> 00:17:47,641 Tell me how to get saved. 386 00:17:48,471 --> 00:17:51,011 I've been dying to have my sins cleansed. 387 00:17:51,381 --> 00:17:52,592 Seems like you're a gift of God. 388 00:17:52,602 --> 00:17:53,181 Please tell me." 389 00:17:53,191 --> 00:17:53,781 It doesn't happen. 390 00:17:54,791 --> 00:17:56,481 Therefore, I have to make it happen. 391 00:17:56,981 --> 00:17:57,881 You have to make it happen. 392 00:17:59,011 --> 00:18:01,631 Simple point, simple ill, simple application then, I 393 00:18:01,631 --> 00:18:02,861 need you to initiate contact. 394 00:18:02,871 --> 00:18:04,641 It can be anybody. 395 00:18:05,782 --> 00:18:08,601 Uh, your, your barber, your stylist, your delivery driver. 396 00:18:08,602 --> 00:18:10,771 Maybe you set up a snack shop for your delivery driver, and 397 00:18:10,771 --> 00:18:11,801 there's gospel tracks in there. 398 00:18:11,802 --> 00:18:12,351 That's something. 399 00:18:12,351 --> 00:18:13,071 That's not nothing. 400 00:18:14,222 --> 00:18:15,112 Your neighborhood walks. 401 00:18:15,142 --> 00:18:17,651 Maybe as you're walking past your neighbors and you see them mowing 402 00:18:17,651 --> 00:18:21,041 their lawn, or you see someone like me watering their f- foundation, you 403 00:18:21,041 --> 00:18:22,962 talk to them, strike up a conversation. 404 00:18:23,211 --> 00:18:24,741 Say, "Hey, what's going on today, neighbor? 405 00:18:24,741 --> 00:18:25,601 I don't know if you know me. 406 00:18:25,601 --> 00:18:26,521 I'm at this address." 407 00:18:28,271 --> 00:18:29,221 Let me just say another quick thing here. 408 00:18:30,071 --> 00:18:31,811 You're never gonna feel ready. 409 00:18:31,892 --> 00:18:32,781 You're never gonna be there. 410 00:18:32,782 --> 00:18:35,291 You're never gonna be like, "Man, I am so thoroughly equipped, 411 00:18:35,291 --> 00:18:37,232 and I know all the apologetics. 412 00:18:37,451 --> 00:18:39,101 I'm so evangelistically trained. 413 00:18:39,101 --> 00:18:40,661 I can just talk to anybody at any time." 414 00:18:40,671 --> 00:18:42,111 You're probably never gonna feel that. 415 00:18:43,222 --> 00:18:44,001 We do it anyway. 416 00:18:44,252 --> 00:18:45,262 You initiate contact. 417 00:18:46,091 --> 00:18:49,492 And in fact, Paul's point in this section is not to say you have to 418 00:18:49,492 --> 00:18:53,111 have it all together or you have to be super, uh, persuasive and eloquent. 419 00:18:53,131 --> 00:18:57,782 In fact, that's the opposite of his point One of the things that we use 420 00:18:57,782 --> 00:19:01,632 as Christians is we say, "Oh man, the decision that you wanna make about where 421 00:19:01,632 --> 00:19:03,932 to go next or, you know, what, what job to take, do you feel at peace about it?" 422 00:19:04,332 --> 00:19:06,852 That's not necessarily a wrong thing, but if that's the only thing 423 00:19:06,852 --> 00:19:10,841 you're measuring, you're gonna find that peace is often not attendant 424 00:19:11,132 --> 00:19:12,442 to sharing the gospel with people. 425 00:19:13,602 --> 00:19:16,041 Paul himself is gonna say there are some serious issues 426 00:19:16,051 --> 00:19:17,032 that he himself wrestled with. 427 00:19:17,292 --> 00:19:20,151 You're not gonna feel the peace of God as you're going into the conversation. 428 00:19:20,151 --> 00:19:21,751 In fact, what you'll feel is butterflies. 429 00:19:22,182 --> 00:19:23,881 You might start feeling some indigestion. 430 00:19:24,081 --> 00:19:26,271 That Chipotle you had earlier is coming back. 431 00:19:26,631 --> 00:19:27,892 It's coming back with a vengeance. 432 00:19:29,271 --> 00:19:31,681 But that doesn't mean, oh, the, the Lord doesn't want me to share the 433 00:19:31,681 --> 00:19:33,271 gospel 'cause Chipotle's coming back. 434 00:19:33,541 --> 00:19:34,021 No. 435 00:19:34,192 --> 00:19:36,712 That means I'm being obedient, even if it costs me something. 436 00:19:36,712 --> 00:19:37,332 It's going to. 437 00:19:37,541 --> 00:19:38,901 Initiate contact. 438 00:19:38,971 --> 00:19:40,062 Let's go back to verse one. 439 00:19:40,102 --> 00:19:40,732 Let's keep going here. 440 00:19:40,732 --> 00:19:41,991 I told you this is gonna go quick. 441 00:19:42,971 --> 00:19:47,521 "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony 442 00:19:47,532 --> 00:19:49,371 of God with lofty speech or wisdom." 443 00:19:49,372 --> 00:19:52,311 Okay, now we're getting into the what and the how. 444 00:19:52,571 --> 00:19:54,811 "I didn't come to you proclaiming the testimony of God with 445 00:19:54,821 --> 00:19:56,191 lofty speech or wisdom." 446 00:19:56,512 --> 00:19:59,121 This is a callback to what we covered a few weeks ago in 447 00:19:59,271 --> 00:20:01,892 chapter one, verses 20 and 21. 448 00:20:01,892 --> 00:20:02,771 We read this together. 449 00:20:02,772 --> 00:20:03,281 I got to preach… 450 00:20:03,281 --> 00:20:04,392 I, um, rather 18. 451 00:20:04,921 --> 00:20:06,081 18 through 20. 452 00:20:06,592 --> 00:20:09,232 Uh, I got to preach on this, so it's kind of convenient that I get to now close 453 00:20:09,232 --> 00:20:10,652 the book on this, at least this section. 454 00:20:11,202 --> 00:20:14,141 Uh, Paul is saying, "Look, uh, we don't wanna come in a certain way. 455 00:20:14,351 --> 00:20:16,541 I don't wanna come lofty or arrogant. 456 00:20:16,541 --> 00:20:18,041 I don't wanna boast in myself." 457 00:20:18,601 --> 00:20:23,121 Uh, this is an attitude of the opposite of arrogance and superiority. 458 00:20:23,361 --> 00:20:26,751 He disavowed all manner of pretense. 459 00:20:27,321 --> 00:20:29,491 He wasn't coming to say, "Look, I've got a PhD." 460 00:20:29,592 --> 00:20:32,661 And by the way, Paul did have incredible knowledge and training. 461 00:20:32,662 --> 00:20:36,191 Remember, he taught, rather, he learned under Gamaliel, who was one 462 00:20:36,192 --> 00:20:37,651 of the preeminent teachers of his day. 463 00:20:37,671 --> 00:20:39,421 Paul was a sharp student. 464 00:20:40,091 --> 00:20:43,482 He was incredibly intellectually gifted, and yet he says, "When I came, 465 00:20:43,482 --> 00:20:45,332 I didn't come flaunting my credentials. 466 00:20:45,332 --> 00:20:48,661 I wasn't trying to impress you with my words or my presence." 467 00:20:48,732 --> 00:20:52,771 He didn't put on airs or speak with flowery language or highfalutin language. 468 00:20:52,991 --> 00:20:56,581 He spoke with humble and plain speech, as one of the commentators put it. 469 00:20:57,302 --> 00:20:58,822 This is kind of his MO. 470 00:20:58,982 --> 00:21:02,561 In 1 Thessalonians chapter two, Paul describes his approach there. 471 00:21:02,561 --> 00:21:06,321 He says, "I didn't come with words of flattery or pretext, but I was gentle 472 00:21:06,321 --> 00:21:07,981 among you like a nursing mother." 473 00:21:08,651 --> 00:21:13,572 He, he shared not only the gospel, but also his own self, 474 00:21:15,071 --> 00:21:16,171 which ought to tell us something 475 00:21:18,634 --> 00:21:24,644 The manner of your, the manner of your delivery matters as 476 00:21:24,644 --> 00:21:26,074 much as the message itself. 477 00:21:27,604 --> 00:21:31,874 The message really matters, but the manner of your message matters, too. 478 00:21:32,594 --> 00:21:37,664 Paul is saying, "I can't come to you with an attitude or a kind of arrogance 479 00:21:37,674 --> 00:21:39,784 about myself that violates the message." 480 00:21:40,324 --> 00:21:45,433 It's contradictory to the message itself, which means he comes 481 00:21:45,433 --> 00:21:50,143 with lowliness, proclaiming, so he's still being assertive, 482 00:21:50,144 --> 00:21:54,923 proclaiming to you the testimony, not with lofty speech or wisdom. 483 00:21:56,504 --> 00:22:04,743 If you go to the doctor, a good doctor will not say to you, "You're presenting 484 00:22:04,743 --> 00:22:06,423 with acute myocardial infarction." 485 00:22:07,533 --> 00:22:08,263 Right, that's what I said. 486 00:22:08,274 --> 00:22:08,953 Well, what does that even mean? 487 00:22:09,783 --> 00:22:12,033 But if he's got good bedside manner, he'll say, "You g- you're, you're 488 00:22:12,043 --> 00:22:14,733 having a heart attack, and we need to, we need to get you in the room quick." 489 00:22:16,083 --> 00:22:19,584 Uh, the f- both doctors said the same thing, but one actually 490 00:22:19,584 --> 00:22:22,663 got you to move . The first one, acute, I know that's a bad word. 491 00:22:22,684 --> 00:22:24,634 Myocard, cardio, that sounds like heart. 492 00:22:24,644 --> 00:22:25,724 That's, that doesn't sound good. 493 00:22:25,763 --> 00:22:27,123 Something really bad about the heart. 494 00:22:27,343 --> 00:22:32,013 I don't know what an infarction is, but that sounds terrible . The 495 00:22:32,013 --> 00:22:33,453 first doctor told you the truth. 496 00:22:33,504 --> 00:22:36,083 The second doctor got you to move 'cause he said, "You're having a heart attack. 497 00:22:36,093 --> 00:22:36,453 Come in. 498 00:22:36,483 --> 00:22:37,814 Let's, let's do something about this." 499 00:22:38,203 --> 00:22:39,433 Now, this kind of… 500 00:22:39,583 --> 00:22:42,923 This is the kind of doctor that Paul wants to be, and he wants us to be. 501 00:22:42,923 --> 00:22:46,404 When we're talking with people, one of the challenges that we have is that it's 502 00:22:46,404 --> 00:22:49,573 not that we're pretentious, but we can say, we can say something like, "Hey, 503 00:22:49,974 --> 00:22:53,894 brother or sister or friend, neighbor, uh, the Lord Jesus Christ wants you to 504 00:22:53,913 --> 00:22:57,663 repent of your sins, putting your hope in the substitutionary atoning work 505 00:22:57,663 --> 00:23:00,793 of Jesus Christ, who was resurrected from the da- the dead three days later 506 00:23:00,794 --> 00:23:03,403 in accordance with the prophecies, and now he wants you to repent and 507 00:23:03,403 --> 00:23:07,013 put your trust in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, so that you can 508 00:23:07,023 --> 00:23:08,263 be washed with the water of the blood." 509 00:23:09,453 --> 00:23:11,013 Most of you understood what I said. 510 00:23:12,794 --> 00:23:16,354 Most unbelievers have no clue what I just said. 511 00:23:17,203 --> 00:23:17,603 They have no clue. 512 00:23:18,733 --> 00:23:21,323 Everything in there is basically a foreign language. 513 00:23:22,074 --> 00:23:26,083 There was a day when Christianity was en vogue and everybody knew the language. 514 00:23:26,083 --> 00:23:28,594 It's like when America's pastime used to be baseball. 515 00:23:28,633 --> 00:23:29,853 Everyone knew baseball. 516 00:23:30,294 --> 00:23:31,473 Everyone would watch baseball. 517 00:23:31,514 --> 00:23:33,094 When someone was playing, people knew about it. 518 00:23:33,393 --> 00:23:36,174 Inside baseball was the normal conversation, so if you were talking 519 00:23:36,174 --> 00:23:41,553 about ERAs and EBTs and CDCs and all those acronyms that you all 520 00:23:41,553 --> 00:23:45,653 know, everyone understood the conversation, and so it made sense. 521 00:23:45,654 --> 00:23:46,554 You didn't have to explain yourself. 522 00:23:46,963 --> 00:23:51,093 But today, like baseball, Christianity's no longer popular 523 00:23:54,812 --> 00:23:55,581 Sorry, I couldn't, I couldn't… 524 00:23:55,812 --> 00:23:57,022 That's between me and Pastor PJ. 525 00:23:57,062 --> 00:23:58,512 That wasn't for you, that's for him. 526 00:23:59,302 --> 00:24:01,111 Just took my shot 527 00:24:03,282 --> 00:24:06,762 Christianity is less popular, and people consequently don't 528 00:24:06,762 --> 00:24:08,532 know about the language. 529 00:24:08,572 --> 00:24:11,461 They don't understand sin, repentance, even faith. 530 00:24:11,761 --> 00:24:14,062 When you use the word faith, put your faith in Christ, people 531 00:24:14,062 --> 00:24:16,271 are just, "Oh," they don't, they import their own meaning into that. 532 00:24:16,712 --> 00:24:20,141 Which means preten- pretentiousness might accidentally come out. 533 00:24:21,631 --> 00:24:24,711 It means that we have to be aware of our Christianese, our jargon, so that 534 00:24:24,712 --> 00:24:28,371 we can speak plainly to people and not come with highfalutin language. 535 00:24:28,371 --> 00:24:30,211 We have to put it down on the bottom shelf. 536 00:24:30,672 --> 00:24:32,981 You have to understand that when we talk as Christians, we're 537 00:24:32,981 --> 00:24:34,301 playing insider baseball right now. 538 00:24:34,621 --> 00:24:37,441 When you bring your unbelieving friends to a gathering like this, 539 00:24:37,722 --> 00:24:40,051 they're gonna say, "I, I don't know what he was talking about." 540 00:24:40,281 --> 00:24:41,101 I had this experience. 541 00:24:41,101 --> 00:24:44,292 We, we brought a friend to church, this is a while ago now, a clo- a 542 00:24:44,292 --> 00:24:50,401 close friend of my, my wife's and my, my wife's possessive S, not wives. 543 00:24:51,472 --> 00:24:52,492 Possessive S. 544 00:24:52,801 --> 00:24:53,972 My wife's friend. 545 00:24:53,972 --> 00:24:55,021 Just to be clear. 546 00:24:58,811 --> 00:25:00,911 I thought my sermon was super clear. 547 00:25:00,942 --> 00:25:05,061 I s- 'cause I knew this friend was there, and she, she's an unbeliever, 548 00:25:05,372 --> 00:25:08,872 and so I was, I was compelling, I was trying to be charming and just 549 00:25:08,921 --> 00:25:10,871 say everything with pristine clarity. 550 00:25:10,872 --> 00:25:13,162 I'm like, at the end of that, I'm like, "I felt good about that." 551 00:25:13,162 --> 00:25:15,972 I, I was as clear, as clear can be. 552 00:25:17,411 --> 00:25:22,411 At the end of this, her friend said, "You sounded really excited." 553 00:25:22,961 --> 00:25:23,861 I said, "Yeah, I was. 554 00:25:23,911 --> 00:25:24,581 Well, what'd you think of it? 555 00:25:24,582 --> 00:25:25,851 What, what did you think about what I said?" 556 00:25:26,421 --> 00:25:27,611 She said, "I didn't understand any of it." 557 00:25:29,711 --> 00:25:30,311 Any of it? 558 00:25:30,511 --> 00:25:32,621 Like, you just, uh, well, like, well, I know she understands 559 00:25:32,621 --> 00:25:34,041 the words, but, like, nothing… 560 00:25:34,091 --> 00:25:36,391 She's like, "I, I have no idea what you were talking about." 561 00:25:37,292 --> 00:25:38,391 That never left me. 562 00:25:38,961 --> 00:25:41,491 Forever and for always now, my thinking is, "Okay, could, could 563 00:25:41,491 --> 00:25:42,741 an unbeliever understand this? 564 00:25:42,972 --> 00:25:43,801 Probably not." 565 00:25:44,101 --> 00:25:45,901 We're, we're 'cause we're doing insider baseball right now. 566 00:25:46,972 --> 00:25:49,891 What that means for you and I is that our ma- our manner, our demeanor has to 567 00:25:49,891 --> 00:25:51,762 be humble, lowly, plain, understandable. 568 00:25:51,991 --> 00:25:54,021 We have to go to people with a willingness to say, "Look, I, 569 00:25:54,191 --> 00:25:55,401 I'm gonna talk to you straight. 570 00:25:56,121 --> 00:25:58,951 Uh, when I ta- when I say the word sin, uh, here, I need to explain that." 571 00:25:59,361 --> 00:26:03,071 Um, we have a lot of insider language in the church. 572 00:26:03,122 --> 00:26:04,411 We've just gotta be careful with that. 573 00:26:04,971 --> 00:26:07,331 If I'm gonna just give you one simple takeaway from that, I'd love for 574 00:26:07,331 --> 00:26:10,311 you to just use the words the Bible uses, but be sure to explain them. 575 00:26:11,152 --> 00:26:12,601 Use biblical words, that's appropriate. 576 00:26:12,812 --> 00:26:13,811 Explain what they mean. 577 00:26:14,312 --> 00:26:17,451 No one's gonna naturally understand substitutionary atonement. 578 00:26:17,482 --> 00:26:18,331 You have to tell them. 579 00:26:19,691 --> 00:26:21,881 Sharing the gospel then is a little sh- more challenging than it used to 580 00:26:21,891 --> 00:26:26,091 be, 'cause we have to be a, a lot more sensitive to the hearers and help them 581 00:26:26,092 --> 00:26:27,462 understand what we're s- talking about. 582 00:26:28,202 --> 00:26:28,792 Verse two. 583 00:26:29,292 --> 00:26:29,822 Verse two 584 00:26:33,774 --> 00:26:37,033 Paul says in verse two, "For I decided," notice that, I decided. 585 00:26:37,843 --> 00:26:39,244 Paul chose this tactic. 586 00:26:39,264 --> 00:26:40,783 I decided to do it this way. 587 00:26:41,254 --> 00:26:43,583 It's not that I couldn't play the game that the Corinthians play. 588 00:26:43,583 --> 00:26:46,414 I, I couldn't show up with eloquence and, uh, persuasive speech. 589 00:26:46,434 --> 00:26:47,553 I chose to do it this way. 590 00:26:47,553 --> 00:26:53,083 I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 591 00:26:53,113 --> 00:26:53,514 Amen. 592 00:26:53,524 --> 00:26:54,714 You can highlight that in your Bible. 593 00:26:55,543 --> 00:26:56,234 That's good. 594 00:26:57,043 --> 00:26:58,773 Paul chose to do it this way. 595 00:26:59,704 --> 00:27:02,593 He decided to know nothing, which means he could have come one way, he didn't. 596 00:27:02,774 --> 00:27:04,523 He's not anti-intellectual. 597 00:27:04,603 --> 00:27:08,283 He's explaining his mindset, and what his mindset communicates is that he 598 00:27:08,283 --> 00:27:10,043 is single-minded about the gospel. 599 00:27:10,154 --> 00:27:12,404 When he talks to people, when he's planting churches, he's thinking, 600 00:27:12,573 --> 00:27:14,813 "I don't wanna say anything or do anything that isn't somehow 601 00:27:14,814 --> 00:27:16,984 connected to this organizing theme. 602 00:27:17,073 --> 00:27:19,443 My life's about Christ and Him crucified." 603 00:27:19,553 --> 00:27:23,194 The primary stumbling block of that audience, they would have stumbled over 604 00:27:23,194 --> 00:27:26,363 the fact that Jesus was crucified in shame and humiliation and dishonor. 605 00:27:26,393 --> 00:27:27,603 So Paul says, "This is my life, man. 606 00:27:27,823 --> 00:27:28,633 I'm okay with that." 607 00:27:29,623 --> 00:27:33,994 The, the centrality of Paul's life was, was the cross. 608 00:27:34,423 --> 00:27:36,553 It was all that Christ is, all that Christ would be. 609 00:27:36,684 --> 00:27:41,393 It informs his total vision of the Christian life, as one commentator put it. 610 00:27:41,873 --> 00:27:43,483 Everything that Paul does is about that. 611 00:27:44,253 --> 00:27:47,814 You might write this ch- this, this reference down, Galatians 6:14. 612 00:27:47,814 --> 00:27:49,203 Paul says this at the end of this letter. 613 00:27:49,333 --> 00:27:52,873 He says, "But far be it from me to boast," as we just sang this morning, "except 614 00:27:52,873 --> 00:27:54,704 in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." 615 00:27:55,674 --> 00:27:57,563 I don't wanna boast in anything except Jesus. 616 00:27:58,204 --> 00:27:59,443 I'll boast in what Jesus is doing. 617 00:27:59,473 --> 00:28:01,183 I'll boast in what Jesus has accomplished. 618 00:28:01,343 --> 00:28:02,674 I will boast in the Lord. 619 00:28:02,774 --> 00:28:04,613 All my boast is in Jesus, we sang. 620 00:28:05,083 --> 00:28:05,923 That's what Paul would say 621 00:28:08,418 --> 00:28:11,517 When you're talking to people, you already see the point here. 622 00:28:11,598 --> 00:28:12,747 Number three, preach Christ crucified. 623 00:28:12,747 --> 00:28:13,598 When you're talking to people 624 00:28:16,032 --> 00:28:20,681 I understand, we all get it, how nerve-wracking it can be to get to Jesus. 625 00:28:21,012 --> 00:28:27,532 We know the second we say the word Jesus, things get weird for them and for us. 626 00:28:28,262 --> 00:28:31,292 Because we know that when we say, "I'm a Christian," they start thinking 627 00:28:31,302 --> 00:28:35,601 about, ah, Fox News, Donald Trump, the, you know, the far right-wingers. 628 00:28:35,601 --> 00:28:36,691 How far right-wing are you? 629 00:28:36,881 --> 00:28:37,232 There's all… 630 00:28:37,291 --> 00:28:39,341 There's sorts of things that are being imported into their mind when you 631 00:28:39,341 --> 00:28:40,561 start opening your mouth about Jesus. 632 00:28:40,771 --> 00:28:43,101 Not to mention the fact that there's spiritual warfare 633 00:28:43,111 --> 00:28:44,601 happening in that very moment. 634 00:28:45,511 --> 00:28:49,252 Demonic warfare that would love to shut you up and love to close their ears to 635 00:28:49,252 --> 00:28:50,911 any opportunity to hearing the gospel. 636 00:28:51,661 --> 00:28:55,341 When we start talking about Christ to u- our unbelieving relatives, friends, 637 00:28:55,341 --> 00:28:59,091 and others, we gotta be willing to say, "Look, I need you to know about 638 00:28:59,091 --> 00:29:02,322 something that's the most important thing to me, and I'd, I'd rather get 639 00:29:02,322 --> 00:29:05,241 over it now than wait till we're three years into our relationship where, you 640 00:29:05,241 --> 00:29:07,581 know, you see me as a good neighbor, and now I can talk to you about Christ 641 00:29:07,581 --> 00:29:08,621 'cause I've earned some credibility. 642 00:29:08,831 --> 00:29:11,972 I, I'm gonna earn credibility, yes, but I'm also gonna tell you 643 00:29:11,972 --> 00:29:13,151 who Jesus is at the same time." 644 00:29:14,121 --> 00:29:15,921 I, I, I need you to get to Christ quickly. 645 00:29:16,451 --> 00:29:17,421 Preach Christ crucified. 646 00:29:17,572 --> 00:29:18,791 Get to Him fast. 647 00:29:18,991 --> 00:29:19,681 Don't delay. 648 00:29:19,711 --> 00:29:22,942 The longer you wait on this, the more you wait in your relationships, 649 00:29:22,942 --> 00:29:24,141 the more awkward it will be. 650 00:29:24,261 --> 00:29:27,472 Because if it really is what you believe that y- that, that the gospel 651 00:29:27,472 --> 00:29:30,901 is, namely, that everybody will stand before God and give an account for his 652 00:29:30,902 --> 00:29:35,012 life, and either he'll stand, he'll stand righteous in the robes of Christ, 653 00:29:35,012 --> 00:29:38,821 which we also sang about this morning, or he or she will stand condemned. 654 00:29:39,542 --> 00:29:41,932 You bring that up to your friend that you've had, you've had a relationship 655 00:29:41,932 --> 00:29:45,121 with three years now, uh, "Why are you just telling me this now? 656 00:29:46,371 --> 00:29:48,431 Haven't we been friends for three years?" 657 00:29:49,031 --> 00:29:50,202 "Well, I was gonna get to it. 658 00:29:50,202 --> 00:29:51,011 I was waiting for the right time." 659 00:29:52,491 --> 00:29:53,041 I get that. 660 00:29:53,072 --> 00:29:53,661 I get that. 661 00:29:53,722 --> 00:29:54,711 I've said that to myself. 662 00:29:54,711 --> 00:29:56,621 I want them to think of me as a good person first. 663 00:29:56,621 --> 00:29:58,752 I want them to, to see my life as a testimony. 664 00:29:58,752 --> 00:29:59,551 I, I get that. 665 00:29:59,841 --> 00:30:00,771 And that's not wrong. 666 00:30:01,182 --> 00:30:04,362 But it's wrong when that slows our process down, because in our minds 667 00:30:04,362 --> 00:30:05,461 we say, "Well, we got lots of time. 668 00:30:05,471 --> 00:30:06,181 We got lots of time." 669 00:30:06,301 --> 00:30:07,211 Is that the truth, though? 670 00:30:07,241 --> 00:30:08,212 Do we have lots of time? 671 00:30:08,801 --> 00:30:10,331 We have no idea how much time. 672 00:30:12,362 --> 00:30:15,121 Tomorrow, my brother would've been 38 years old. 673 00:30:16,621 --> 00:30:17,251 You heard me right. 674 00:30:17,311 --> 00:30:20,381 My brother would have been 38 years old 675 00:30:23,222 --> 00:30:25,702 We plan our days to be this many. 676 00:30:25,762 --> 00:30:27,402 We plan their days to be this many. 677 00:30:27,642 --> 00:30:29,252 The reality is we have no idea. 678 00:30:29,392 --> 00:30:30,092 We just don't 679 00:30:32,174 --> 00:30:35,104 And that doesn't mean you should, with your hair on fire, run down 680 00:30:35,104 --> 00:30:36,764 your block and say, "Repent, believe. 681 00:30:36,764 --> 00:30:37,304 Repent, believe." 682 00:30:37,324 --> 00:30:38,934 I know there's, there's gotta be some wisdom in here. 683 00:30:39,344 --> 00:30:41,764 But I just wanna light a fire under you to say this matters, 684 00:30:42,853 --> 00:30:44,364 and time is of the essence. 685 00:30:45,364 --> 00:30:48,144 And while we can have our hobbies and the things that we love talking about, 686 00:30:48,154 --> 00:30:49,854 this has gotta be up there for us. 687 00:30:51,094 --> 00:30:54,333 People accuse us of having ulterior motives, and I'll 688 00:30:54,334 --> 00:30:55,473 push back on that gently. 689 00:30:55,834 --> 00:30:59,874 I understand, peop- we understand when people start looking at us like, 690 00:30:59,874 --> 00:31:01,014 "Oh, you just think I'm a project. 691 00:31:01,023 --> 00:31:03,943 You just want another notch on your Bible Belt to, to make people 692 00:31:03,943 --> 00:31:05,063 think that you're a good person." 693 00:31:05,063 --> 00:31:06,283 And it's like, "No, that's not it at all." 694 00:31:06,304 --> 00:31:07,303 I don't want you to think that. 695 00:31:07,933 --> 00:31:08,773 A- and that's not it. 696 00:31:10,383 --> 00:31:11,394 Hopefully it's not it for you. 697 00:31:12,933 --> 00:31:15,954 But every conversation you're having, every relationship that God has given 698 00:31:15,954 --> 00:31:19,873 you, God's put there for a reason, and one of the biggest reasons is He wants 699 00:31:19,893 --> 00:31:22,344 you, Christian, to tell them about Christ. 700 00:31:23,764 --> 00:31:24,793 There's no, there's no one else. 701 00:31:24,793 --> 00:31:28,764 Like, I, I wish I could say, "Well, if you don't do it, God'll send somebody else." 702 00:31:29,413 --> 00:31:32,023 Maybe, but maybe God wants you to do it. 703 00:31:32,244 --> 00:31:33,103 No, I take it back. 704 00:31:33,143 --> 00:31:35,833 Let me just … God wants you to do it. 705 00:31:37,663 --> 00:31:38,543 He wants us to do it. 706 00:31:39,203 --> 00:31:39,934 It's our privilege. 707 00:31:40,363 --> 00:31:41,243 It's our responsibility. 708 00:31:43,333 --> 00:31:46,854 Speaking of Spurgeon, he was asked by one of his protege preachers, "What if the 709 00:31:46,854 --> 00:31:49,654 text doesn't have a reference to Christ? 710 00:31:49,654 --> 00:31:53,263 What do I do with the text if it doesn't mention Jesus Christ or 711 00:31:53,263 --> 00:31:54,553 it has nothing to do about Jesus?" 712 00:31:54,723 --> 00:31:59,773 Here's what Spurgeon said, and I quote, "Then I will go over hedge 713 00:31:59,813 --> 00:32:01,803 and ditch until I get to Him." 714 00:32:03,123 --> 00:32:03,903 I love that. 715 00:32:04,433 --> 00:32:06,763 Christ isn't in the message, I'm gonna find a way to Christ. 716 00:32:06,803 --> 00:32:09,773 It's, it's the old canard, you know, make a beeline to the gospel, which 717 00:32:09,773 --> 00:32:11,233 people say he never actually said. 718 00:32:11,644 --> 00:32:12,233 Who's to know? 719 00:32:12,613 --> 00:32:14,764 But here's, here's what he did say, and I read this in The Soul 720 00:32:14,764 --> 00:32:15,963 Winner, which is a great book. 721 00:32:15,964 --> 00:32:18,493 I didn't put that in your notes here under the recommended reading. 722 00:32:18,513 --> 00:32:20,843 By the way, your recommended reading, I have notes for you. 723 00:32:21,203 --> 00:32:22,493 Like, I got, I got direction for you. 724 00:32:22,644 --> 00:32:23,713 But here's a book that you should read. 725 00:32:23,714 --> 00:32:24,174 Here's why. 726 00:32:24,953 --> 00:32:26,633 I didn't put Soul Winner, I should have. 727 00:32:26,823 --> 00:32:30,063 Soul Winner by Spurgeon will light a fire in your bosom. 728 00:32:30,313 --> 00:32:30,953 You need it. 729 00:32:31,543 --> 00:32:32,603 You want it, high octane. 730 00:32:32,643 --> 00:32:34,043 I didn't put that there, but that's one I should've put on. 731 00:32:34,273 --> 00:32:36,084 Here's what he said in Soul Winner again, just to give you the… 732 00:32:36,153 --> 00:32:40,293 He said, "I, I would go over hedge and ditch until I get to Him." 733 00:32:41,144 --> 00:32:43,593 What a good mentality for all of us to have. 734 00:32:43,784 --> 00:32:47,534 This is how we should approach our sports, our weather, our g- everything. 735 00:32:48,504 --> 00:32:50,843 Every one of those roads is a, is a road to Christ. 736 00:32:50,864 --> 00:32:52,723 The question is whether or not we're just gonna do it. 737 00:32:52,733 --> 00:32:56,084 I sh- I just want you to encou- I wanna be encouraged. 738 00:32:56,573 --> 00:32:58,133 This is what Christ is calling us to. 739 00:32:59,023 --> 00:33:03,753 This is, this is what it means to be a disciple, to open our mouths and say hard 740 00:33:03,763 --> 00:33:12,608 things because we love people, because we love them God help us if we choose to stay 741 00:33:12,608 --> 00:33:15,498 silent because we're afraid or concerned. 742 00:33:16,418 --> 00:33:19,148 For some of us, let's be honest, I don't have enough knowledge. 743 00:33:19,198 --> 00:33:20,597 I'm not sharp enough biblically. 744 00:33:20,597 --> 00:33:21,768 I don't know my Bible that well. 745 00:33:22,057 --> 00:33:22,698 I get that. 746 00:33:22,708 --> 00:33:23,397 That's a big one. 747 00:33:23,828 --> 00:33:28,087 Um, you know, what if there's a good argument I don't have access to? 748 00:33:28,088 --> 00:33:31,478 Or recently, I heard somebody-- I was so proud. 749 00:33:31,578 --> 00:33:37,447 I was talking to one of you this week, and they told me, "I had an opportunity 750 00:33:37,447 --> 00:33:42,837 to share Christ with my, one of my employees," and they said, "I knew I could 751 00:33:42,838 --> 00:33:44,228 get fired for this, but I did it anyway." 752 00:33:44,237 --> 00:33:44,767 They said, "Whatever. 753 00:33:44,788 --> 00:33:45,918 The Lord will take care of us." 754 00:33:47,057 --> 00:33:48,207 I, I applaud that. 755 00:33:48,327 --> 00:33:48,828 I applaud that. 756 00:33:48,838 --> 00:33:49,517 I was so proud of them. 757 00:33:49,748 --> 00:33:50,247 So proud 758 00:33:52,664 --> 00:33:54,474 Good news in that is that person was responsive. 759 00:33:55,334 --> 00:33:56,924 Didn't make a profession of faith right then and there, 760 00:33:56,924 --> 00:33:57,844 but that person was responsive. 761 00:33:57,884 --> 00:33:58,874 That happened this week. 762 00:33:58,994 --> 00:33:59,674 It was one of y'all 763 00:34:03,694 --> 00:34:04,813 That's the, that's the mentality. 764 00:34:04,824 --> 00:34:05,704 I wanna get to Christ. 765 00:34:06,264 --> 00:34:07,274 My life is about that. 766 00:34:07,584 --> 00:34:08,623 Your life is about that. 767 00:34:08,844 --> 00:34:10,174 Your parenting is about that. 768 00:34:10,384 --> 00:34:12,293 Your occupation, your calling is about that. 769 00:34:14,204 --> 00:34:15,174 This is what we're about. 770 00:34:15,333 --> 00:34:16,074 This is who we are. 771 00:34:17,284 --> 00:34:18,362 We preach Christ crucified. 772 00:34:19,033 --> 00:34:20,634 He's the only path to our salvation 773 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:26,449 One time I was sharing the gospel with a gal at… 774 00:34:27,590 --> 00:34:30,340 You don't know this if you're, unless you lived in California, the Irvine Spectrum. 775 00:34:31,070 --> 00:34:33,699 It was at night, had a group of teenagers there with me, we were talking to 776 00:34:33,699 --> 00:34:37,020 people, and there was this one gal sitting at the fountain, and I thought, 777 00:34:37,050 --> 00:34:38,149 "Great, this is a good opportunity. 778 00:34:38,149 --> 00:34:38,920 She's not going anywhere. 779 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:39,860 I don't see any friends around." 780 00:34:40,619 --> 00:34:42,719 So I sat down next to her and said, "Hey, how's your night going?" 781 00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:45,089 And she was pleasant. 782 00:34:45,350 --> 00:34:45,770 It was nice. 783 00:34:45,770 --> 00:34:47,679 It was a great exchange, at least for the first 10 seconds. 784 00:34:48,129 --> 00:34:53,458 Then I said, "Hey," something like this, I don't remember the exact conversation, 785 00:34:53,510 --> 00:34:56,139 but it was something like, "Hey, has anyone ever talked to you about Christ? 786 00:34:56,399 --> 00:34:58,129 What, what do you think's gonna happen to you when you die? 787 00:34:58,139 --> 00:35:00,580 Do you, do you believe in heaven, hell, afterlife?" 788 00:35:00,580 --> 00:35:01,109 That kind of thing. 789 00:35:01,299 --> 00:35:03,299 I thought it was a pretty innocuous question. 790 00:35:03,360 --> 00:35:04,919 I, it was a simple startup. 791 00:35:04,919 --> 00:35:07,190 I wasn't trying to be, you know, verbose or anything. 792 00:35:07,270 --> 00:35:08,599 I was trying to do what Paul was teaching here. 793 00:35:09,959 --> 00:35:15,890 I tell you, if looks could kill, I would've been dead right there in 794 00:35:15,890 --> 00:35:17,589 the middle of the Irvine Spectrum. 795 00:35:18,649 --> 00:35:22,449 She gave me this dis- I mean, almost like bile was coming up into her body 796 00:35:22,450 --> 00:35:24,699 and is ready to come and overflow at me. 797 00:35:25,090 --> 00:35:27,259 She was so offended by the question. 798 00:35:28,410 --> 00:35:29,049 She didn't… 799 00:35:29,590 --> 00:35:30,249 This is the worst. 800 00:35:30,770 --> 00:35:31,769 She-- I'm sitting next to her. 801 00:35:32,100 --> 00:35:34,059 She looks at me with this, you know, like, "Ugh." 802 00:35:35,929 --> 00:35:36,849 She didn't even give me an answer. 803 00:35:36,859 --> 00:35:38,330 She just got up and walked away 804 00:35:41,016 --> 00:35:43,576 I, I've had some bad encounters, but that one just stuck with me. 805 00:35:44,276 --> 00:35:45,745 That was one of the worst. 806 00:35:46,036 --> 00:35:48,546 I thought, man, I just felt so ugh on the inside. 807 00:35:49,336 --> 00:35:50,245 I felt so gross. 808 00:35:50,245 --> 00:35:52,676 I just, I wanna throw up myself 'cause this was a terrible conversation. 809 00:35:53,536 --> 00:35:56,036 But I thought, this is what I was told to expect. 810 00:35:57,326 --> 00:35:58,745 This is what my life's about. 811 00:35:59,555 --> 00:36:00,415 This is what I'm here for. 812 00:36:00,415 --> 00:36:04,005 This is what we're here for, to suffer the derision and the scorn and the 813 00:36:04,006 --> 00:36:06,065 shame that people throw at Christ. 814 00:36:06,065 --> 00:36:08,205 And because you're aligned with Christ, what did Jesus say? 815 00:36:08,406 --> 00:36:10,225 "Because they loved me, they're gonna love you also." 816 00:36:10,225 --> 00:36:11,046 You remember that verse? 817 00:36:11,545 --> 00:36:12,035 That's right. 818 00:36:12,076 --> 00:36:12,875 I don't remember that one either. 819 00:36:13,855 --> 00:36:18,485 Because you're aligned with Christ, they hate me, they're going to hate you. 820 00:36:19,315 --> 00:36:20,355 All right, bring it on. 821 00:36:21,065 --> 00:36:21,895 So be it, Lord. 822 00:36:22,195 --> 00:36:22,926 So be it 823 00:36:25,586 --> 00:36:26,546 This is our lives, guys. 824 00:36:26,586 --> 00:36:27,446 This is what we're about. 825 00:36:28,145 --> 00:36:30,886 This is what our church is about, and that's easy to say, "Yep, I 826 00:36:30,926 --> 00:36:34,526 subscribe to that," but this is what we individually are about, preaching 827 00:36:34,546 --> 00:36:36,046 Christ crucified, making His name great. 828 00:36:37,266 --> 00:36:41,865 Verses three and four, Paul says, "Then when I was with you…" 829 00:36:42,046 --> 00:36:42,746 How was I with you? 830 00:36:42,786 --> 00:36:43,786 He's, He's about to explain. 831 00:36:44,026 --> 00:36:44,866 How did he conduct himself? 832 00:36:44,886 --> 00:36:46,346 What was the demeanor in his character? 833 00:36:46,846 --> 00:36:51,506 "When I was with you, I was with you in weakness, fear, much trembling, 834 00:36:52,306 --> 00:36:57,106 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in 835 00:36:57,165 --> 00:36:59,225 demonstration of the Spirit and in power." 836 00:37:00,406 --> 00:37:01,406 Weakness, fear, trembling. 837 00:37:01,426 --> 00:37:02,566 Let's quickly talk about those here. 838 00:37:03,006 --> 00:37:03,366 Weakness. 839 00:37:03,546 --> 00:37:06,165 There's a bit of debate about what kind of weakness Paul is undergoing 840 00:37:06,205 --> 00:37:09,606 here, whether it's his physical frame, whether it's that he's not a good speaker 841 00:37:09,665 --> 00:37:12,806 or, or whether that there's, uh, he's got some kinda sickness or illness. 842 00:37:12,826 --> 00:37:16,506 Some connect this with 2 Corinthians chapter 12, where Paul says, "I was 843 00:37:16,566 --> 00:37:18,286 afflicted by a messenger of the devil." 844 00:37:18,886 --> 00:37:21,006 Uh, we're not entirely sure what weakness he's referring to. 845 00:37:21,046 --> 00:37:24,326 It could just be the fact that this is the way that he presented himself. 846 00:37:24,366 --> 00:37:25,286 He wasn't boasting. 847 00:37:25,326 --> 00:37:26,826 It, uh, could be any number of things. 848 00:37:27,205 --> 00:37:30,926 It could also be, as I told you when we were looking at Acts chapter 18, it could 849 00:37:30,966 --> 00:37:34,366 be that he didn't come like the normal orators who were supported by their 850 00:37:34,386 --> 00:37:37,566 disciples and the, their congregation of people that would give them money. 851 00:37:38,205 --> 00:37:39,006 No, he made tents. 852 00:37:39,426 --> 00:37:42,926 So he was weak in his impression, he was weak in his words, 853 00:37:42,986 --> 00:37:44,125 he was weak in his demeanor. 854 00:37:44,606 --> 00:37:46,286 Uh, he could be, it could be weakness in his eyes. 855 00:37:46,506 --> 00:37:48,886 There's even suggestions that he had some kinda eye condition 856 00:37:48,926 --> 00:37:50,006 that prevented him from seeing. 857 00:37:50,786 --> 00:37:51,906 All sorts of things that could be there. 858 00:37:52,205 --> 00:37:54,906 But the point is, he is weak in his impression. 859 00:37:54,986 --> 00:37:57,225 People weren't looking at Paul and saying, "That dude, he should be 860 00:37:57,266 --> 00:37:58,906 an apostle of the highest order." 861 00:37:59,286 --> 00:38:01,866 Some people walk in a room and they've got a voice and they've 862 00:38:01,886 --> 00:38:04,125 got a big barrel chest, and you're like, "That dude's a leader." 863 00:38:04,346 --> 00:38:04,966 You just, you look at him. 864 00:38:04,986 --> 00:38:05,906 He's got that vibe. 865 00:38:06,906 --> 00:38:08,165 Paul was not that guy. 866 00:38:09,685 --> 00:38:13,286 Could've been short, could've been unimpressive in, in his speech, 867 00:38:13,466 --> 00:38:15,826 which a lot of his letters suggest. 868 00:38:16,926 --> 00:38:17,426 He was weak. 869 00:38:18,705 --> 00:38:19,366 Fear and trembling. 870 00:38:19,426 --> 00:38:21,846 This is interesting because fear and trembling, again, we're looking at 871 00:38:21,906 --> 00:38:25,326 verse three here, fear and trembling usually is a reference toward God, 872 00:38:25,746 --> 00:38:26,806 and that's, that's appropriate. 873 00:38:26,866 --> 00:38:29,625 Paul could be saying, "Look, I have fear and trembling before 874 00:38:29,685 --> 00:38:32,286 God that as I come to you, I'm not trying to make me look cool here. 875 00:38:32,566 --> 00:38:34,225 I'm trying to preach Christ and Him crucified. 876 00:38:34,486 --> 00:38:37,326 I don't wanna make it seem like I'm preaching me, and I don't wanna get 877 00:38:37,406 --> 00:38:38,725 you confused that this is about me." 878 00:38:38,786 --> 00:38:43,766 So Paul is saying, uh, it could be, uh, "I am afraid of being, of offending God. 879 00:38:44,606 --> 00:38:47,225 I'm afraid of, uh, fear, fear and trembling before God." 880 00:38:47,346 --> 00:38:50,066 But, but, but, but I want you to write this text down. 881 00:38:50,106 --> 00:38:52,625 I don't have time to go there, but Acts 18:9. 882 00:38:53,165 --> 00:38:54,225 We just were there a second ago. 883 00:38:54,386 --> 00:38:58,006 Acts 18 was the same section where Paul plants a church at 1 Corinthi- 884 00:38:58,086 --> 00:38:59,746 uh, the church at Corinth, rather. 885 00:39:00,966 --> 00:39:03,006 Acts, Acts 18:9. 886 00:39:04,606 --> 00:39:07,546 Here's what Jesus says to Paul. 887 00:39:07,846 --> 00:39:10,506 Pay close attention to what Jesus says to Paul. 888 00:39:10,566 --> 00:39:10,725 Ready? 889 00:39:10,746 --> 00:39:10,986 Here it goes. 890 00:39:11,006 --> 00:39:11,446 I'm gonna read it to you. 891 00:39:11,486 --> 00:39:19,326 Here's what He says: "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent." 892 00:39:20,786 --> 00:39:21,406 Did you catch that? 893 00:39:23,502 --> 00:39:29,012 The apparently fearless and powerful winning evangelist, the 894 00:39:29,012 --> 00:39:35,332 Apostle Paul, needed Jesus to tell him, "Do not be afraid." 895 00:39:36,872 --> 00:39:43,371 And not only that, don't, d- don't, don't be afraid, but go on speaking and don't be 896 00:39:43,371 --> 00:39:45,122 silent, in case it wasn't clear to Paul. 897 00:39:45,162 --> 00:39:46,772 Go on speaking means, Paul, open your mouth. 898 00:39:46,772 --> 00:39:47,322 Don't be silent. 899 00:39:48,871 --> 00:39:49,672 Don't be afraid. 900 00:39:50,701 --> 00:39:53,711 His fear and trembling very well could be both toward the Lord and 901 00:39:53,711 --> 00:39:56,122 saying, "I love the Lord, I wanna honor him," but also toward people. 902 00:39:56,122 --> 00:39:59,661 "I'm, I'm afraid, I get nervous, and y- I'm afraid that you might hurt me." 903 00:39:59,702 --> 00:39:59,852 Paul… 904 00:39:59,852 --> 00:40:01,732 I think Paul had legitimate reason to fear people. 905 00:40:03,002 --> 00:40:04,301 I think there's real, there's a real reason there. 906 00:40:05,191 --> 00:40:07,142 The Lord Jesus tells Paul, "Don't be afraid 907 00:40:09,902 --> 00:40:11,982 Plausible words of wisdom, we've looked at this previously. 908 00:40:12,472 --> 00:40:14,572 Again, this is a-- the, the rhetoricians. 909 00:40:14,782 --> 00:40:18,732 The cultural power of the day was in s- crafting together skillful 910 00:40:18,732 --> 00:40:21,392 words and phrases that are meant to pull on people's heartstrings 911 00:40:21,392 --> 00:40:23,401 and impress them and persuade them. 912 00:40:24,072 --> 00:40:25,292 Paul says, "I can't do that. 913 00:40:26,662 --> 00:40:27,341 I can't do that. 914 00:40:27,382 --> 00:40:28,752 I'm gonna come to you differently." 915 00:40:29,101 --> 00:40:32,861 He says in verse four, "I'm gonna come to you in demonstration of 916 00:40:32,861 --> 00:40:38,151 the spirit and of power," which does not mean miracle working. 917 00:40:38,802 --> 00:40:40,631 That would actually be the opposite of Paul's point here, right? 918 00:40:40,662 --> 00:40:44,201 He's trying to say, "Look, I didn't want you to depend upon me or the works. 919 00:40:44,722 --> 00:40:45,811 I want you to depend upon the Lord." 920 00:40:46,201 --> 00:40:49,121 So the demonstration of the spirit and power is the fact that these 921 00:40:49,121 --> 00:40:54,772 Corinthians, contrary to their desires for skillful speaking, were 922 00:40:54,772 --> 00:40:58,532 converted under the plain preaching and teaching of the Apostle Paul. 923 00:40:59,291 --> 00:41:00,091 Think about that. 924 00:41:01,091 --> 00:41:04,211 They're now sitting in their pew seats, maybe in a cafeteria 925 00:41:04,211 --> 00:41:06,482 like ours, and saying, "Paul, we wish you were a better speaker. 926 00:41:07,222 --> 00:41:08,601 It would make us look a lot better. 927 00:41:09,201 --> 00:41:12,791 More people would, would be enticed to follow Jesus if you just did 928 00:41:12,791 --> 00:41:15,561 your job better, you spoke more cleanly, and you had better 929 00:41:15,902 --> 00:41:17,981 applications and phrases perhaps." 930 00:41:18,872 --> 00:41:21,252 And yet Paul says, "A-actually, guys, slow down. 931 00:41:21,512 --> 00:41:26,401 Remember, you were saved by my plain speaking of the gospel." 932 00:41:27,902 --> 00:41:29,022 Which doesn't that make sense? 933 00:41:29,022 --> 00:41:33,491 If Paul's point is stop putting yourself i-in the place of favoring teams, rather 934 00:41:33,631 --> 00:41:35,641 favor the Lord, that makes perfect sense. 935 00:41:36,732 --> 00:41:37,401 That makes perfect sense. 936 00:41:37,701 --> 00:41:40,872 So point, point number four then, I need you to welcome your weakness. 937 00:41:41,681 --> 00:41:44,192 Welcome the weakness that attends who you are. 938 00:41:44,311 --> 00:41:45,191 Not educated enough? 939 00:41:45,222 --> 00:41:46,621 Great, you're enlisted. 940 00:41:48,052 --> 00:41:48,971 Not eloquent enough? 941 00:41:49,012 --> 00:41:51,021 Fantastic, you're eligible 942 00:41:53,174 --> 00:41:56,064 I'm kind of nerdy, I'm awkward in social settings, great. 943 00:41:56,334 --> 00:41:58,564 That's exactly the kind of person Christ can use. 944 00:41:59,254 --> 00:42:00,854 Because then you don't get the glory. 945 00:42:01,434 --> 00:42:04,544 Now, that doesn't mean that you can't be some kind of rocket surgeon 946 00:42:04,544 --> 00:42:06,094 with incredible speaking skills. 947 00:42:06,464 --> 00:42:12,813 When Paul says, "Not many of you were noble," he said not many, not, not any. 948 00:42:14,673 --> 00:42:15,954 But I want you to welcome your weakness. 949 00:42:16,903 --> 00:42:20,394 Welcome the fact that you aren't put together, or welcome the 950 00:42:20,394 --> 00:42:22,163 fact that you are inadequate. 951 00:42:22,823 --> 00:42:24,424 Do you have weakness, fear, and trembling? 952 00:42:24,443 --> 00:42:27,023 Great, you're qualified to share the gospel with your neighbors. 953 00:42:27,773 --> 00:42:30,133 Are you not educated with a seminary degree? 954 00:42:30,143 --> 00:42:33,934 Congratulations, you're still qualified to share the gospel with your grandkids, 955 00:42:34,064 --> 00:42:37,554 or your classmates, or your coworkers because this is what you're about. 956 00:42:37,554 --> 00:42:38,404 This is who you are. 957 00:42:40,114 --> 00:42:43,544 Paul Tripp says it this way, and I'm kinda loosely paraphrasing him: "Weakness 958 00:42:43,693 --> 00:42:49,493 is a vital ingredient of an effective evangelist if it makes you run to 959 00:42:49,494 --> 00:42:52,113 God's grace for moment-by-moment help." 960 00:42:53,123 --> 00:42:56,893 If you know you're weak, that is a starting place of actually being 961 00:42:56,893 --> 00:42:58,254 strong for the sake of Christ. 962 00:42:58,263 --> 00:43:00,953 I mean, think about the people that were also weak. 963 00:43:01,073 --> 00:43:02,414 Moses couldn't speak well. 964 00:43:02,513 --> 00:43:03,873 Jeremiah was a boy. 965 00:43:04,144 --> 00:43:04,444 He… 966 00:43:04,494 --> 00:43:07,134 I mean, both of these guys, mighty warriors in the hands of the Lord. 967 00:43:08,273 --> 00:43:12,474 Isaiah, "I have unclean lips," and yet God uses these very 968 00:43:12,474 --> 00:43:14,564 people to accomplish His purposes 969 00:43:18,894 --> 00:43:22,504 Your fears, your inadequacies, your weaknesses are actually 970 00:43:22,504 --> 00:43:27,633 the very thing that qualify you to make the Lord look great. 971 00:43:29,433 --> 00:43:31,483 Your weakness forces you to pray. 972 00:43:32,314 --> 00:43:33,144 It forces you. 973 00:43:34,104 --> 00:43:36,024 It forces us as a congregation to pray. 974 00:43:37,644 --> 00:43:41,433 If the Spirit's power and the demonstration of His working is what 975 00:43:41,433 --> 00:43:43,473 we're looking for, we need to pray. 976 00:43:44,783 --> 00:43:46,823 Our evangelism and our prayer must be married together. 977 00:43:47,413 --> 00:43:47,713 Why? 978 00:43:47,734 --> 00:43:48,523 Look at verse five. 979 00:43:49,303 --> 00:43:52,983 Look at verse five, "So that," here's the purpose that Paul is leading up to, 980 00:43:52,984 --> 00:43:58,723 here's what his goal is, "So that your faith might not rest," might not stay 981 00:43:58,734 --> 00:44:00,674 or be somewhere that it shouldn't be. 982 00:44:00,773 --> 00:44:02,723 I don't want your faith to rest, where? 983 00:44:02,734 --> 00:44:06,814 In the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 984 00:44:06,943 --> 00:44:09,383 Number five, point them to God's power. 985 00:44:10,403 --> 00:44:11,313 Point them to God's power. 986 00:44:11,313 --> 00:44:12,463 It's not you, it's not them. 987 00:44:13,443 --> 00:44:19,223 I want their faith to rest, to settle, to find shop, to, to, to make a home in 988 00:44:19,333 --> 00:44:22,093 the power of God, not the wisdom of men. 989 00:44:22,103 --> 00:44:23,473 Last week, Pastor PJ brought it up. 990 00:44:24,023 --> 00:44:25,854 Jeremiah doesn't want us to boast in men. 991 00:44:25,993 --> 00:44:29,633 Jeremiah, in chapter 17 of his letter, doesn't want us to put our ultimate trust 992 00:44:29,633 --> 00:44:31,724 in men, but rather in the power of God. 993 00:44:32,333 --> 00:44:33,964 It's the power of God that changes lives. 994 00:44:33,964 --> 00:44:35,693 It's the power of God that converts sinners. 995 00:44:36,153 --> 00:44:39,913 This is why w- when parents who fumble their way through parenting 996 00:44:39,913 --> 00:44:41,894 can still produce godly kids. 997 00:44:41,923 --> 00:44:42,924 How does that happen? 998 00:44:43,263 --> 00:44:44,064 It's the power of God. 999 00:44:44,873 --> 00:44:48,923 This is why when you go to work and you talk to your coworker with the clarity of 1000 00:44:48,923 --> 00:44:50,504 God saying, "This is what the gospel is. 1001 00:44:50,633 --> 00:44:53,164 This is why you need to repent," and you've made the best case you can 1002 00:44:53,164 --> 00:44:57,194 possibly make, they still walk away because it's not about intellect. 1003 00:44:57,603 --> 00:44:59,294 It's not about understanding facts. 1004 00:44:59,593 --> 00:45:01,383 It's about the power of God converting people. 1005 00:45:01,563 --> 00:45:04,664 We have to say, "I, I wanna, I want to point them to God's power." 1006 00:45:04,703 --> 00:45:05,643 They, they can't do it. 1007 00:45:05,923 --> 00:45:06,403 They can't do it 1008 00:45:10,104 --> 00:45:13,124 Gospel's about a transfer of trust to Christ and not people 1009 00:45:17,526 --> 00:45:23,895 God designed your faith to rest on Him so that it would survive the loss 1010 00:45:25,356 --> 00:45:29,575 or deconversion, the deconversion of anyone who helped you believe. 1011 00:45:31,466 --> 00:45:36,406 I remember one of the first times I heard about a spiritual hero 1012 00:45:36,406 --> 00:45:41,696 of mine falling face down flat because of some disqualifying sin. 1013 00:45:42,515 --> 00:45:43,276 It rocked me. 1014 00:45:44,076 --> 00:45:48,415 I was, I was rocked because I thought this, they taught me and they, they, they, 1015 00:45:48,455 --> 00:45:50,235 they helped me understand the gospel. 1016 00:45:50,986 --> 00:45:53,035 What do I do with all the things they gave me? 1017 00:45:54,256 --> 00:45:57,036 And if it can happen to him, what about me? 1018 00:45:57,815 --> 00:46:02,225 If he can fall, this gifted, godly dude, if he can fall, then what about me? 1019 00:46:03,905 --> 00:46:08,835 And that's God showing me, you're putting your faith in the wrong place. 1020 00:46:10,725 --> 00:46:14,475 You're putting it in the wisdom of men and even the power of godly men. 1021 00:46:14,736 --> 00:46:16,056 It's gotta be the power of God. 1022 00:46:16,105 --> 00:46:19,335 I gotta put my faith squarely where it belongs, and that temptation starts 1023 00:46:19,355 --> 00:46:21,176 early on in our conversion, doesn't it? 1024 00:46:22,346 --> 00:46:25,286 You start to look at people and give them a, a much greater role and 1025 00:46:25,286 --> 00:46:26,505 deference in your life than you should. 1026 00:46:27,685 --> 00:46:30,146 Nothing wrong with saying, "Follow me as I follow Christ." 1027 00:46:30,986 --> 00:46:32,615 Nothing wrong with having heroes. 1028 00:46:33,105 --> 00:46:35,326 But there's everything wrong with letting that hero supplant 1029 00:46:35,335 --> 00:46:36,645 your ultimate hope in Christ. 1030 00:46:37,596 --> 00:46:39,805 You know where this can often happen without you knowing? 1031 00:46:40,545 --> 00:46:41,305 Is in your marriage. 1032 00:46:42,675 --> 00:46:46,306 You begin to rely on that person, your spouse, in ways that maybe 1033 00:46:46,306 --> 00:46:47,615 God never intended you to. 1034 00:46:48,915 --> 00:46:51,285 You might hear the phrase, "I don't know what I would do without you," and then 1035 00:46:51,285 --> 00:46:54,115 sometimes we mean that playfully, and that's, I guess it's true to an extent. 1036 00:46:54,125 --> 00:46:55,855 I mean, we would have to reorient our whole lives. 1037 00:46:56,795 --> 00:46:59,575 One of the tempt-temptations of being married is that you put so much weight 1038 00:46:59,575 --> 00:47:05,856 in your spouse that really only Jesus can carry, that you set yourself up 1039 00:47:05,865 --> 00:47:11,685 that when something happens, it will happen, that you're left high and dry. 1040 00:47:13,596 --> 00:47:15,485 And you start to think to yourself, "Well then how am I gonna live? 1041 00:47:15,505 --> 00:47:16,455 They were my everything. 1042 00:47:16,475 --> 00:47:17,815 They, they, you know, they were my uh. 1043 00:47:17,925 --> 00:47:18,786 They were everything to me." 1044 00:47:21,784 --> 00:47:26,424 When we're talking with people about Christ, we want to point them to Christ. 1045 00:47:26,804 --> 00:47:29,054 It's a silly, it's, it's a silly thing to say, isn't it? 1046 00:47:29,314 --> 00:47:29,933 But it's true. 1047 00:47:29,993 --> 00:47:34,734 We can't allow ourselves to, in any way, start to point their attention 1048 00:47:34,734 --> 00:47:37,874 to the jars of clay, which is the word that Paul uses in 2 Corinthians 4. 1049 00:47:37,874 --> 00:47:42,703 We wanna put their faith in an arguments or in an apologetic method. 1050 00:47:42,973 --> 00:47:44,064 We wanna put their faith in Christ. 1051 00:47:44,563 --> 00:47:45,833 This is why we're focusing on him. 1052 00:47:48,333 --> 00:47:51,363 I told you that our church is going to die. 1053 00:47:52,763 --> 00:47:55,053 It will, and that saddens me. 1054 00:47:56,274 --> 00:47:59,093 But it also motivates me because that tells me there's something we can do to 1055 00:47:59,094 --> 00:48:02,003 prevent that, at least in our lifetimes. 1056 00:48:02,393 --> 00:48:08,624 There's something we can do that would change that and give her life, and it's as 1057 00:48:08,624 --> 00:48:12,923 simple as being willing to say, "I, I want to be used by the Lord to reach people 1058 00:48:12,923 --> 00:48:17,124 with the gospel," to not let the Great Commission become the great omission. 1059 00:48:17,853 --> 00:48:20,603 And I just laid out to you Paul's not-so-secret sauce. 1060 00:48:21,774 --> 00:48:22,754 He went to them. 1061 00:48:23,223 --> 00:48:24,384 He used simple language. 1062 00:48:24,643 --> 00:48:26,473 He preached and focused on Christ crucified. 1063 00:48:26,503 --> 00:48:27,853 He welcomed his weakness. 1064 00:48:27,913 --> 00:48:31,933 He didn't let that stop him, and he pointed them to God's power, not his own. 1065 00:48:33,043 --> 00:48:33,654 That's it. 1066 00:48:34,463 --> 00:48:37,843 If you wanna know how, how this works, it is God's power through your 1067 00:48:37,854 --> 00:48:39,923 evangelistic efforts, through my efforts. 1068 00:48:41,933 --> 00:48:43,333 This is our job. 1069 00:48:44,873 --> 00:48:48,393 If we're a burger stand and we don't make burgers, we're a bad burger stand. 1070 00:48:49,733 --> 00:48:52,623 If a church doesn't make disciples, we're a bad church 1071 00:48:55,768 --> 00:48:57,508 Thankfully, that's not where we are right now. 1072 00:48:58,848 --> 00:48:59,837 We are not a bad church. 1073 00:48:59,868 --> 00:49:00,857 We are making burgers. 1074 00:49:01,567 --> 00:49:04,698 But I'm telling you, there's a lot more burgers to flip in this community. 1075 00:49:05,718 --> 00:49:08,028 There's a lot more fries to be s- oh, this is taking this too far. 1076 00:49:08,187 --> 00:49:09,417 There's a lot more work to be done. 1077 00:49:10,597 --> 00:49:11,768 There's a lot more work to be done. 1078 00:49:12,328 --> 00:49:13,577 Let me encourage you, Compass. 1079 00:49:14,008 --> 00:49:18,997 We are on the precipice of a new season ahead, and we can decide right now 1080 00:49:18,997 --> 00:49:24,467 together to say, "So help us, God, our lives are about making disciples. 1081 00:49:24,867 --> 00:49:30,317 I will open my mouth, I will embarrass myself, and I will fall flat on my face." 1082 00:49:30,337 --> 00:49:32,297 I'm confident we're, we're gonna mess it up. 1083 00:49:33,477 --> 00:49:38,298 But the Lord will use it, and the Lord will bless it because it's God's power 1084 00:49:38,337 --> 00:49:40,107 through our evangelistic efforts. 1085 00:49:40,147 --> 00:49:41,317 This is how He builds a church. 1086 00:49:41,727 --> 00:49:42,308 This is it. 1087 00:49:42,897 --> 00:49:44,817 As-- there's not a growth campaign, it's not the best 1088 00:49:44,817 --> 00:49:46,367 music or the best this or that. 1089 00:49:46,377 --> 00:49:48,887 I mean, we're in a, we're in a gym, we're in a cafeteria, and the 1090 00:49:48,887 --> 00:49:50,157 Lord's still growing His church. 1091 00:49:50,647 --> 00:49:51,678 I want us to be on that. 1092 00:49:51,717 --> 00:49:53,157 I want us to be on that wave. 1093 00:49:53,508 --> 00:49:57,127 Together, as we commit to this, holding each other accountable, we 1094 00:49:57,127 --> 00:50:00,477 say this is what we're about: making disciples for the glory of God. 1095 00:50:00,947 --> 00:50:04,707 God's power through our weakness, so help us. 1096 00:50:04,877 --> 00:50:05,338 Let's pray. 1097 00:50:05,908 --> 00:50:08,857 God, we need, we need Your help to do this. 1098 00:50:08,897 --> 00:50:09,958 We do feel our weakness. 1099 00:50:10,268 --> 00:50:13,657 We feel our inability, our inadequacy, and we can't do it apart from You. 1100 00:50:13,658 --> 00:50:14,498 We know that. 1101 00:50:15,147 --> 00:50:17,607 No one in here is so delusional to think that they've got it all together. 1102 00:50:17,787 --> 00:50:21,367 But Lord, we do pray, please, don't let us just be motivated 1103 00:50:21,368 --> 00:50:22,307 right here and right now. 1104 00:50:22,758 --> 00:50:25,787 So easy for us to say to ourselves, "Yeah, we want that." 1105 00:50:27,517 --> 00:50:31,047 But when the rubber meets the road, we hit the eject button. 1106 00:50:31,548 --> 00:50:36,057 We get bored or tired, fearful, weak. 1107 00:50:36,937 --> 00:50:37,897 Oh, Lord, help us 1108 00:50:40,174 --> 00:50:43,234 And Father, I trust that there's several of us in this 1109 00:50:43,234 --> 00:50:45,334 room here who need to confess. 1110 00:50:46,794 --> 00:50:51,174 We have made our lives about so many other things, and we've 1111 00:50:51,174 --> 00:50:54,063 neglected the most important thing 1112 00:50:56,206 --> 00:50:56,986 Please forgive us 1113 00:50:59,790 --> 00:51:01,970 Your word says that if we confess our sins, you're faithful and just 1114 00:51:01,970 --> 00:51:04,650 to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, 1115 00:51:04,650 --> 00:51:05,800 and so we confess it right now, Lord 1116 00:51:08,782 --> 00:51:13,922 And we pray, please let us be willing to do the hard work of loving 1117 00:51:13,922 --> 00:51:19,702 people with Christ, with His gospel, like Paul, like Jesus, your Son. 1118 00:51:21,472 --> 00:51:23,032 We ask all these things in Jesus' name. 1119 00:51:23,472 --> 00:51:23,892 Amen.