WEBVTT - Stepping Up to a New You-Part 2 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:03.290 Today on Bold steps, Mark Jobe shows us how to 0:00:03.320 --> 0:00:05.300 be a light to the world. 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:09.740 One light can be hidden. Two lights. Maybe it's hard 0:00:09.740 --> 0:00:14.090 to ignore. Thousands of lights put together. And when we 0:00:14.090 --> 0:00:17.750 start living for Jesus Christ and influencing our society, and 0:00:17.750 --> 0:00:21.620 when we come together as a community of faith, the 0:00:21.620 --> 0:00:25.310 light of Jesus Christ will attract other people in this place. 0:00:37.550 --> 0:00:41.360 Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Mark is president 0:00:41.390 --> 0:00:44.180 of Moody Bible Institute and senior pastor of New Life 0:00:44.180 --> 0:00:48.740 Community Church in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shephard. Yesterday, Mark pointed 0:00:48.740 --> 0:00:50.600 out how we are to be salt to the world 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:53.750 around us. And today, as we conclude this series titled 0:00:53.750 --> 0:00:56.450 Step Up Living Higher, he'll be turning to the Book 0:00:56.450 --> 0:00:59.180 of Matthew chapter five to show us how we can 0:00:59.180 --> 0:01:01.530 be a light to the world. If you missed the 0:01:01.530 --> 0:01:04.950 first message, catch up online. Visit our program archive when 0:01:04.950 --> 0:01:09.149 you visit. Bold steps org. Right now let's join Mark 0:01:09.150 --> 0:01:11.310 as he explains how you can step up to a 0:01:11.310 --> 0:01:12.990 new you this year. 0:01:14.459 --> 0:01:16.410 How many of you remember when you first came to 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:19.260 Christ and God had done something in your life, and 0:01:19.260 --> 0:01:21.179 you look around and you think, the whole world needs 0:01:21.180 --> 0:01:23.220 to be saved? How can they be so dark? And 0:01:23.220 --> 0:01:26.610 everybody needs to know, everybody needs to hear this. So 0:01:26.610 --> 0:01:29.730 you go to the birthday party, your family's birthday party, 0:01:29.730 --> 0:01:32.040 and you wear a t shirt that says, turn or burn, 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:34.890 and you have a big cross with you and a 0:01:34.890 --> 0:01:38.850 big King James Bible, and people go to talk to you. 0:01:38.850 --> 0:01:41.880 You're slapping beers out of people's hand and saying, telling 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:43.979 them what they need to do. And you have them 0:01:43.980 --> 0:01:46.680 cornered like this and they're looking, how do I escape? 0:01:46.680 --> 0:01:50.100 And you wonder why people scatter while you're after them, 0:01:50.100 --> 0:01:54.030 and they stop inviting you to things all over? Why 0:01:54.030 --> 0:01:56.850 you say, well, because they just are hard hearted and 0:01:56.850 --> 0:01:58.710 don't accept the gospel. No, no, no, you're putting too 0:01:58.710 --> 0:02:03.320 much salt on it. You see if you're if you're 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:05.990 salting something, well, you know, you get you get a 0:02:05.990 --> 0:02:11.000 little salt and it's a little salt like that. But 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:18.800 if next time you go to salt your corn and 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:26.630 you go like this. You just you just spoil the corn. 0:02:27.169 --> 0:02:30.170 You just messed it up. It's not that people don't 0:02:30.169 --> 0:02:32.930 want the salt. It's just you poured out too much 0:02:33.500 --> 0:02:36.680 at the same time. I know you're wondering now, what's 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:39.440 he going to do with that salt? I'm not going 0:02:39.470 --> 0:02:41.210 to eat it. No, no, I'm not going to eat it. 0:02:41.210 --> 0:02:42.859 I'm just going to put it here on the side. 0:02:43.669 --> 0:02:46.340 I hope our cleaning people. Sorry. Cleaning people. I didn't 0:02:46.370 --> 0:02:53.990 mean to do that. So this is what. This is 0:02:53.990 --> 0:02:58.340 what Jesus says. But if the salt loses its saltiness, 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:04.290 imagine salt that doesn't taste salty anymore. You would just 0:03:04.290 --> 0:03:08.070 be pouring like it would be like sand. It's granular, 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:12.810 but it's not salty. If the salt loses its saltiness, 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:16.140 how can it be made salty again? That's the question. 0:03:16.410 --> 0:03:19.500 How can it be made salty again? It is no 0:03:19.500 --> 0:03:22.020 longer good for anything except to be thrown out and 0:03:22.020 --> 0:03:26.640 trampled by men. What Jesus is saying listen to me. Well, 0:03:26.669 --> 0:03:29.910 because these are pretty tough words. What Jesus is saying 0:03:29.910 --> 0:03:36.630 is that a Christian that that's lost their saltiness, a 0:03:36.630 --> 0:03:40.590 Christian that doesn't make people hungry for God, a Christian 0:03:40.590 --> 0:03:44.220 that doesn't have an effect on society around them, a 0:03:44.220 --> 0:03:48.090 Christian that has no influence. That's not letting the influence 0:03:48.090 --> 0:03:51.300 of Jesus come out of them. A Christian that's not 0:03:51.330 --> 0:03:55.950 operating that way is a person that's lost their purpose. 0:03:56.970 --> 0:04:02.600 They've lost the main reason why God engineered them and 0:04:02.600 --> 0:04:05.780 put them on earth. They've absolutely lost their purpose. And 0:04:05.780 --> 0:04:07.460 you say, no, oh no, no, pastor, I haven't lost 0:04:07.460 --> 0:04:09.260 my purpose. I'm climbing the corporate ladder and I'm going 0:04:09.290 --> 0:04:11.420 to give to charity. Listen, you can climb the corporate 0:04:11.450 --> 0:04:16.310 ladder and absolutely miss your purpose in life because your 0:04:16.310 --> 0:04:20.779 life is bigger than that. There's something more eternal than that. 0:04:20.779 --> 0:04:24.560 There's something more compelling than that. It's not about success 0:04:24.560 --> 0:04:27.680 as the world counts. Success. If you are a follower 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:31.370 of Jesus Christ, you have a calling upon your life, 0:04:31.370 --> 0:04:36.140 and your calling involves influence. And if you've lost your influence, 0:04:36.140 --> 0:04:40.490 you have lost your purpose. Yeah, and it's time to 0:04:40.490 --> 0:04:47.450 regain it. I was thinking about this a minute. I 0:04:47.450 --> 0:04:55.339 was thinking, well, how do we lose our saltiness? I 0:04:55.339 --> 0:04:58.339 thought that there's three ways that Christians that I know 0:04:58.339 --> 0:05:01.409 that lose their saltiness. Three types of Christians that don't 0:05:01.410 --> 0:05:05.039 make people thirsty. Number one is what I would call 0:05:05.070 --> 0:05:10.950 cosmetic Christians. Cosmetic Christian is someone that's a nominal Christian. 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.310 When you're filling out your Facebook status, you have to 0:05:14.310 --> 0:05:22.500 put something. So you put Christian. You were raised Christian, 0:05:22.500 --> 0:05:26.460 or you go to church. If you got to do 0:05:26.460 --> 0:05:29.909 something on Easter and Christmas, you go, so you're a 0:05:29.910 --> 0:05:33.779 nominal Christian, but in reality it's just more of a 0:05:33.779 --> 0:05:36.210 cultural thing than it is a real thing. You don't 0:05:36.210 --> 0:05:40.590 have a vibrant, dynamic relationship with God. You have a 0:05:40.589 --> 0:05:46.500 cultural heritage that you embrace. And so, yeah, well, my aunt, 0:05:46.529 --> 0:05:49.980 my uncle, my cousins, you know, they were all confirmed 0:05:49.980 --> 0:05:52.410 and baptized and go to such and such parish. And 0:05:52.410 --> 0:05:55.710 so I guess I'm one of those two. But but 0:05:55.710 --> 0:05:57.539 it doesn't really mean much to your life if you 0:05:57.540 --> 0:06:00.300 don't embrace it. It doesn't change you. It doesn't do 0:06:00.300 --> 0:06:04.640 anything to your life. It's like it's three generations removed 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:12.890 from you. Or you could be a judgmental Christian. A 0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:18.919 judgmental Christian is a person that isn't. They haven't. They've 0:06:18.950 --> 0:06:23.540 embraced the religion, but not the relationship. And so, um, 0:06:23.540 --> 0:06:26.450 they when they look at the world, they don't see 0:06:26.480 --> 0:06:28.729 people that need the grace and the love of God. 0:06:28.730 --> 0:06:31.820 They see people that need to be condemned and judged. 0:06:32.510 --> 0:06:34.880 And oftentimes we see their pictures on the news. They're 0:06:34.910 --> 0:06:39.469 the people with the angry billboards and red faces and 0:06:39.470 --> 0:06:43.400 spit streaming out of their mouth and angry verbiage coming 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:47.870 out of them because they they're like the Pharisees. They 0:06:47.870 --> 0:06:51.230 are judging and condemning the world, but not offering the 0:06:51.230 --> 0:06:58.100 world good news at all. And so nominal Christians or 0:06:58.100 --> 0:07:01.680 judgmental Christians, or they've lost their saltiness. They don't make 0:07:01.680 --> 0:07:04.710 people thirsty for God. You know how many people I've 0:07:04.710 --> 0:07:06.720 run in that don't run into that, don't want to 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:09.809 have anything to do with God because they've run into 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:14.370 judgmental Christians and they lump everybody together. They think we're 0:07:14.370 --> 0:07:18.120 all that. And I want to say, I'm so not 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:21.570 in their camp. Well, I believe we need to seek 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:24.150 speak for righteousness. And I believe that we need to 0:07:24.180 --> 0:07:26.670 call out sin. But I love the way that Jesus 0:07:26.670 --> 0:07:29.670 did it. Jesus was full of mercy and compassion. A 0:07:29.670 --> 0:07:34.170 lot of love when he called people out. Thirdly, is 0:07:34.170 --> 0:07:39.390 lukewarm Christians. You lost your fire. There's very little difference 0:07:39.390 --> 0:07:41.550 between you and the people out there, except for the 0:07:41.550 --> 0:07:43.800 fact that you go to church and maybe you say 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:48.210 less swear words, but pretty much you and everybody else 0:07:48.210 --> 0:07:51.090 is living the same. There's no longer a fire in 0:07:51.090 --> 0:07:54.540 your soul, no longer an energy in your life. Because 0:07:54.540 --> 0:07:58.020 you've allowed the fire to die down. You've allowed your 0:07:58.020 --> 0:08:02.240 spiritual energy to wane. You've You allowed that fresh excitement 0:08:02.240 --> 0:08:05.810 for God to dissipate from your soul. You become lukewarm, 0:08:05.810 --> 0:08:09.470 and so you act and look like society around you. 0:08:09.470 --> 0:08:12.260 So when people are around you, they don't really know 0:08:12.260 --> 0:08:14.780 you're a Christian. They it doesn't make them want to 0:08:14.780 --> 0:08:18.620 be a Christian. It doesn't create a thirst for God 0:08:18.620 --> 0:08:21.530 in your life. Why? Because you're lukewarm. Those are people 0:08:21.530 --> 0:08:26.150 that have lost their saltiness. And Jesus says, have you 0:08:26.150 --> 0:08:29.750 lost it? Listen, you need to regain it. Or or 0:08:29.750 --> 0:08:33.500 you've lost your purpose and you're wasting the entirety of 0:08:33.500 --> 0:08:39.949 your life. Then he goes on and he talks to them. 0:08:39.950 --> 0:08:43.910 He uses another imagery which is very similar, but has 0:08:43.910 --> 0:08:46.520 a bit of a different focus to it. He says 0:08:47.179 --> 0:08:51.440 you need to be salt because salt causes people to 0:08:51.470 --> 0:08:54.530 thirst for the goodness of God. We need to be light. 0:08:54.770 --> 0:08:58.760 When we're light, others will see the goodness of God. 0:08:58.790 --> 0:09:01.960 Notice what he says in verse 14. You are the 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.650 light of the world. Not you need to be the 0:09:05.650 --> 0:09:11.559 light of the world. You are light already. Some people 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:13.870 think I need to be more light. No, no, no. 0:09:13.900 --> 0:09:19.480 You are light. You already have the light of God 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:21.790 inside of you. You're already light, but you need to 0:09:21.790 --> 0:09:24.699 let your light shine. Many of us are light, but 0:09:24.700 --> 0:09:29.319 we hide our light. We cover our light. Our light doesn't. 0:09:29.350 --> 0:09:32.050 It's not as bright as it needs to be. Because 0:09:32.050 --> 0:09:37.449 somehow our light isn't shining. We are the light, but 0:09:37.450 --> 0:09:42.340 it doesn't always shine. Jesus spoke to his disciples in 0:09:42.340 --> 0:09:44.860 John chapter eight, verse 12 and he says, Then Jesus 0:09:44.860 --> 0:09:47.920 spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:51.429 the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, 0:09:51.429 --> 0:09:54.699 but shall have the light of life. When Jesus was 0:09:54.700 --> 0:09:56.320 in the world, he said, I am the light of 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.020 the world. When Jesus left the world, he said, you 0:09:59.020 --> 0:10:03.050 are the light. So what Jesus was. Now we are. 0:10:03.590 --> 0:10:08.630 Those are big shoes to follow, aren't they? We are 0:10:08.630 --> 0:10:12.080 the Jesus to this world. We are now the light 0:10:12.110 --> 0:10:14.750 of the the world. You say, pastor, I don't want 0:10:14.750 --> 0:10:16.579 that pressure because I got a lot of issues, a 0:10:16.610 --> 0:10:20.060 lot of faults. And listen, Jesus knew when he selected 0:10:20.059 --> 0:10:23.809 broken vessels like us that we were full of issues. 0:10:23.809 --> 0:10:26.900 Yet the beautiful thing about the gospel is he chose 0:10:26.900 --> 0:10:32.510 us in all our messes. There's not a person here 0:10:32.510 --> 0:10:35.150 that doesn't have issues. There's not a person here that 0:10:35.150 --> 0:10:38.150 doesn't have messes. There's not a person here that doesn't 0:10:38.150 --> 0:10:43.370 have history that they're ashamed of. All of us do. Not. 0:10:43.370 --> 0:10:45.620 Every history is the same. Not every story is the same. 0:10:45.620 --> 0:10:48.410 Not every issue is the same. And it's not about issues, 0:10:48.410 --> 0:10:51.170 but it is about being honest with our issues, confronting 0:10:51.170 --> 0:10:53.660 those issues, and being willing to bring those issues to 0:10:53.690 --> 0:10:59.660 the light. Jesus said, you are the light of the world. 0:11:01.470 --> 0:11:07.709 He's very clear that he's calling them to be light. 0:11:07.740 --> 0:11:10.500 You are the light of the world. And then he 0:11:10.500 --> 0:11:15.510 says a city on a hill cannot be hidden. Don't 0:11:15.510 --> 0:11:19.500 miss that dimension because he's not calling you simply to 0:11:19.530 --> 0:11:23.160 be a light. He's calling you to be a light 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:26.189 that is connected to community. Because when a lot of 0:11:26.220 --> 0:11:33.750 dots together join, they create a bright focus. Some of 0:11:33.750 --> 0:11:39.959 you are light, but for some reason or another, you've 0:11:39.990 --> 0:11:44.820 stopped letting that light shine. I'm compelled by this imagery 0:11:44.820 --> 0:11:46.740 that he's giving us of a city on a hill 0:11:46.740 --> 0:11:50.100 that cannot be hidden. One of the things that aggravates 0:11:50.100 --> 0:11:53.790 me about the church is that often church. Oftentimes the 0:11:53.790 --> 0:12:00.030 church seems invisible. People don't even know the church is around. 0:12:00.050 --> 0:12:04.550 They don't know what the church is doing, oftentimes, because 0:12:04.550 --> 0:12:07.880 the light of the church has been contained in the 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:12.620 four walls of a worship service. What I love about 0:12:12.620 --> 0:12:14.390 this building that we're in right now is that it 0:12:14.390 --> 0:12:17.600 was a factory. Some of you really didn't like it 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:23.390 when you walked in. You're like, wow. Seriously a factory? 0:12:24.020 --> 0:12:25.520 I'm not going to go to that poor church. They 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:29.630 don't even have money to build statues, man. They they need, like, 0:12:29.660 --> 0:12:34.850 up their offerings. I don't want people to know that 0:12:34.850 --> 0:12:37.520 this is a church because there's a steeple on it 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:41.000 or a cross on it. I want people to know 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:45.980 that this is a family full of faith, a community place, 0:12:45.980 --> 0:12:49.550 because they've been touched by people in this place. I 0:12:49.550 --> 0:12:54.440 want them to know. I want them to know because 0:12:54.950 --> 0:12:59.540 their cousin, who was suicidal, had people reach out to them, 0:12:59.540 --> 0:13:02.309 and now they're having hope and getting on target. I 0:13:02.309 --> 0:13:04.679 want them to know, because a couple on the verge 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.230 of divorce came here and they had fusion Ministry reach 0:13:07.230 --> 0:13:09.150 out to them and help them out and get them 0:13:09.150 --> 0:13:11.250 on track. And now they're walking. Well, I want them 0:13:11.250 --> 0:13:13.710 to know, because there was a 16 year old nephew 0:13:13.740 --> 0:13:16.380 that came and he was a he was involved in gangs, 0:13:16.380 --> 0:13:18.600 and he realized, there's a way out of this, and 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:20.609 you don't have to live in violence, but God has 0:13:20.610 --> 0:13:23.400 a purpose and a destiny. And they got out of there. 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:26.700 I want them to know because someone was addicted to 0:13:26.730 --> 0:13:30.540 drugs and they came to celebrate recovery. Support recovery. And 0:13:30.540 --> 0:13:33.239 they broke their addiction and got out. I want them 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:35.429 to know this place, because there was a man who 0:13:35.429 --> 0:13:37.710 had no idea what it was to be a father, 0:13:37.710 --> 0:13:39.990 and was taught by men in the church to step 0:13:39.990 --> 0:13:43.439 up to the plate of responsibility, to love his wife, to, 0:13:43.470 --> 0:13:47.189 to to guide his children, to take care of his family. 0:13:47.190 --> 0:13:49.980 I want people to know because they see the good 0:13:49.980 --> 0:13:53.640 deeds and they say that is a church because people 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:55.350 of God are full of God. 0:14:00.050 --> 0:14:02.959 That's Mark Jobe and a lesson titled Stepping Up to 0:14:02.990 --> 0:14:05.660 a New You here on Bold Steps. We'll get to 0:14:05.690 --> 0:14:07.910 the final half in just a moment, but let me 0:14:07.910 --> 0:14:10.400 remind you that all of these daily messages are available 0:14:10.400 --> 0:14:15.079 for listening any time over on our main website at bird-stamps.org. 0:14:15.110 --> 0:14:18.110 And if you'd enjoy hearing these Bible lessons on the move, 0:14:18.110 --> 0:14:21.500 whether you're out traveling or exercising, then you'll love our podcast. 0:14:21.530 --> 0:14:24.740 Find us on most podcast platforms by searching for bold 0:14:24.740 --> 0:14:28.100 steps with doctor Mark Jobe. Remember to hit subscribe and 0:14:28.100 --> 0:14:29.960 leave a five star review while you're at it with 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:33.380 a comment to help others discover the show. Have you 0:14:33.410 --> 0:14:36.080 heard about our Bold Steps app? It's packed with Mark's 0:14:36.080 --> 0:14:39.500 video teachings and even more content like the Bold Steps Minute, 0:14:39.500 --> 0:14:41.810 as well as a convenient Bible feature to help you 0:14:41.810 --> 0:14:44.150 pull up scripture. While you're in the app. Just open 0:14:44.150 --> 0:14:47.360 up your favorite app store today and download it for free. 0:14:47.390 --> 0:14:50.570 Now back to today's lesson. Here again is Mark Jobe 0:14:50.570 --> 0:14:52.729 with more bold steps. 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.420 I believe that. So to wrap things up, let me 0:14:59.420 --> 0:15:02.260 just close with this. I believe that there's two types 0:15:02.260 --> 0:15:05.770 of light managers. And Jesus says neither do people light 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:07.870 a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they 0:15:07.870 --> 0:15:10.960 put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone. 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:15.400 I believe there's undercover Christians. That means they have a light, 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.670 but they keep it undercover for whatever reason. Sometimes you 0:15:18.670 --> 0:15:24.190 know that we live in a world that's hostile towards Christians. 0:15:24.220 --> 0:15:26.350 A lot of people have stereotypes, and so you keep 0:15:26.350 --> 0:15:29.350 it undercover. You're the kind of person that goes to work, 0:15:29.350 --> 0:15:31.300 and you kind of feel like you should pray before 0:15:31.300 --> 0:15:33.490 your meal, but you don't want people to see you 0:15:33.490 --> 0:15:45.790 praying so you get a headache. Or you drop your napkin. Lord, 0:15:45.790 --> 0:15:48.550 I pray for this one for you, Jesus. Thank you Jesus, 0:15:48.550 --> 0:15:50.380 but you don't want people to know about it. You 0:15:50.380 --> 0:15:52.480 don't want people to know because you think people are 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:57.850 going to think you're weird, wacko, fanatic, you know, holy roller, 0:15:58.300 --> 0:16:03.590 right wing extremists, whatever it is. Abortion clinic bomber. And 0:16:03.590 --> 0:16:05.840 so you say, well, I'm not going to I'm not 0:16:05.840 --> 0:16:07.729 going to let people know what I am. And so you, 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:11.930 you just kind of keep it under cover, but or 0:16:11.930 --> 0:16:16.340 you're just awkward about your faith. And I want you 0:16:16.340 --> 0:16:20.390 to know that you let your light shine naturally. I've 0:16:20.390 --> 0:16:23.030 been married to my wife, Dee, for 26 years. You 0:16:23.030 --> 0:16:24.950 know I love her. She's a part of my life. 0:16:24.950 --> 0:16:28.610 If you know me for some time, I'll talk about her. Why? 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:31.910 Because she's part of who I am. If you've known 0:16:31.910 --> 0:16:34.010 me for three years, it would be really weird if 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:36.320 you knew me for three years and talked with me, 0:16:36.350 --> 0:16:40.340 worked with me somehow. And then my wife comes in 0:16:40.340 --> 0:16:44.840 and you say, wow, you're married. I think my wife 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:49.190 would be like, yeah, no, I'm married. If you know 0:16:49.190 --> 0:16:50.900 me because she's a part of my life, I'll talk 0:16:50.900 --> 0:16:52.370 to you about. I'll talk to you about my kids. 0:16:52.370 --> 0:16:54.770 I'll talk to you about my wife. Why? It's natural. 0:16:54.770 --> 0:16:58.910 It's normal. Part of you knowing who I am. And 0:16:58.910 --> 0:17:01.050 she's such an important part of who I am. I'm 0:17:01.050 --> 0:17:03.210 going to talk about her and it's going to come out. 0:17:03.210 --> 0:17:06.810 That's the way it is with Jesus. Now, when I 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:09.689 meet people, I don't say, hi, I'm Mark and by 0:17:09.690 --> 0:17:12.390 the way, I'm married. And here's a picture of my wife. 0:17:12.900 --> 0:17:15.419 And we've been married for 25 years. You'd say, well, 0:17:15.420 --> 0:17:19.800 that's a strange and weird. I don't do that. I 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.919 just comes out naturally. But sometimes we talk about Jesus 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:25.800 that way. We feel compelled and we meet someone. And 0:17:26.010 --> 0:17:28.860 by the way, I'm a Christian. You need to get saved, too. And. No, no, no, 0:17:28.859 --> 0:17:33.869 just hey, just chill out a little bit. Take a 0:17:33.869 --> 0:17:39.119 deep breath. Let Jesus shine. You don't have to be 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:42.480 a preacher. You don't have to put on a King 0:17:42.480 --> 0:17:49.379 James voice when you talk to people about Jesus. Your 0:17:49.380 --> 0:17:51.629 first conversation. You don't have to give people a CD 0:17:51.660 --> 0:17:56.970 of pastor Mark. You don't have to do that. Love 0:17:56.970 --> 0:18:00.470 Jesus and let your love for Jesus come out naturally 0:18:01.070 --> 0:18:05.330 and talk about life and people. But but don't don't 0:18:05.330 --> 0:18:10.190 carve Jesus out of your conversation either. Let people know 0:18:10.190 --> 0:18:12.890 he's important and and people that are interested will ask, 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:17.119 and so what is that Jesus stuff you're talking about? 0:18:17.150 --> 0:18:20.810 And then it allows you to be natural about your witness. 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:25.580 And so some people are undercover. Some people are lampstand Christians. 0:18:25.580 --> 0:18:28.700 That means that you don't cover you live it out 0:18:28.700 --> 0:18:31.910 among people and you influence many people. And and I'll 0:18:31.910 --> 0:18:33.830 close with this. Listen, there's three things I want you 0:18:33.830 --> 0:18:37.040 to do to be a lamp stand. Lamp stand, Christian. 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.070 And if you feel like you're light and salt hasn't 0:18:40.070 --> 0:18:42.260 been out as much as it should, I want to 0:18:42.260 --> 0:18:45.530 challenge you in three ways. Number one. Number one, tell 0:18:45.530 --> 0:18:48.649 your Jesus story. Everybody has a Jesus story. If you 0:18:48.650 --> 0:18:51.830 know Jesus, you have a story. It doesn't have to 0:18:51.830 --> 0:18:56.720 be dramatic. It doesn't have to be a like a 0:18:56.720 --> 0:19:02.619 television series drama. It's your story, but it's your story. 0:19:02.619 --> 0:19:05.710 And here's the thing about your story. No one can 0:19:05.710 --> 0:19:11.020 argue with your story because it's yours. People debate theology 0:19:11.020 --> 0:19:15.429 and people argue religion, but they can't debate your story. 0:19:15.460 --> 0:19:17.560 When you tell your story, someone says, I don't think 0:19:17.560 --> 0:19:19.300 it happened that way. No, hey, this is my story. 0:19:19.330 --> 0:19:22.629 Not your story. You can't tell me my story is 0:19:22.630 --> 0:19:28.330 not my story. Don't try to be a theologian. Just 0:19:28.330 --> 0:19:33.550 tell your story. Tell your Jesus story and tell it often. Secondly, 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.940 live the Jesus life. See if you're telling your story, 0:19:36.940 --> 0:19:39.040 but you're not living the Jesus life well, people are 0:19:39.070 --> 0:19:41.590 going to see the dissonance between your life and what 0:19:41.590 --> 0:19:44.050 you say. It doesn't mean you're perfect, but it means 0:19:44.050 --> 0:19:47.980 that you, when you fail, you admit it. It means 0:19:47.980 --> 0:19:50.379 that you're living with integrity. You're trying to live the 0:19:50.380 --> 0:19:54.700 Jesus lifestyle. You're you're trying to walk with integrity. You're 0:19:54.700 --> 0:19:58.389 trying to allow how you live and how you work 0:19:58.390 --> 0:20:01.070 and what you say and how you talk. Reflect that 0:20:01.070 --> 0:20:05.000 you are a follower of Jesus. And number three, join 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:09.980 the Jesus community. You see, a city on a hill 0:20:10.010 --> 0:20:17.060 cannot be hidden. One light can be hidden. Two lights maybe, 0:20:17.420 --> 0:20:28.130 but three, four, five, six, seven, ten, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100, 200, 300, 405, six, seven, 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:33.950 a thousand. It's hard to ignore. Thousands of lights put together. 0:20:34.490 --> 0:20:37.970 It just can't be ignored. And when we start living 0:20:37.970 --> 0:20:41.450 for Jesus Christ and influencing our society, and when we 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:45.379 come together as a community of faith, the light of 0:20:45.380 --> 0:20:50.540 Jesus Christ will attract other people in this place. I 0:20:50.540 --> 0:20:54.350 don't want to be a cloistered, closed, four walls type 0:20:54.380 --> 0:20:58.040 of place. I want to be a place that every Sunday, 0:20:58.040 --> 0:21:01.920 every activity that we do. People are being drawn in 0:21:01.950 --> 0:21:05.790 that have no religious background or very religious or haven't visited. Listen, 0:21:05.790 --> 0:21:07.500 if you're here and you haven't been to church in 0:21:07.500 --> 0:21:12.390 ten years, I'm really glad you're here. And I hope 0:21:12.390 --> 0:21:18.810 we didn't scare you off. Seriously, I'm really glad you're here. 0:21:19.470 --> 0:21:21.480 And I hope that it was the life of someone. 0:21:21.480 --> 0:21:23.550 Or the testimony of the words, or the love or 0:21:23.550 --> 0:21:26.850 the grace or the invitation of someone that compelled you 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:31.830 to come to a place like this. And I have 0:21:31.830 --> 0:21:35.010 to say, I'm absolutely biased. 100% biased. If you come, 0:21:35.010 --> 0:21:40.140 I want to see you follow Jesus. I do. I 0:21:40.140 --> 0:21:44.969 have an agenda. I'll be up front. My agenda is 0:21:44.970 --> 0:21:48.119 I want you to know the God that I know 0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:52.050 and experience. His love and his compassion and his forgiveness 0:21:52.050 --> 0:21:54.540 and his power and the fullness of the joy that 0:21:54.540 --> 0:21:58.859 I've experienced through His Son, Jesus Christ. And I'm upfront 0:21:58.859 --> 0:22:02.600 about that agenda. I'm biased towards Jesus, and I want 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:05.030 you to know him because I believe it's the best 0:22:05.030 --> 0:22:09.050 decision you ever make in your entire life. I really do. 0:22:09.140 --> 0:22:21.110 I believe it. Yes, I am biased about Jesus and 0:22:21.109 --> 0:22:26.420 this program. We want people. Wherever you're at, listening in 0:22:26.420 --> 0:22:30.080 whatever state you're at to be drawn to Jesus, and 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:34.280 we are unabashedly calling you. If you're not a follower 0:22:34.280 --> 0:22:37.520 of Jesus, to make a decision to follow Jesus and 0:22:37.520 --> 0:22:39.379 make no apology about that. 0:22:39.410 --> 0:22:41.629 You're right up front with us on radio, just as 0:22:41.630 --> 0:22:43.340 you were when you preached this message in church. 0:22:43.369 --> 0:22:46.220 Mark, you know, this past Sunday, I preached and a 0:22:46.220 --> 0:22:49.850 couple came forward who had been invited by someone and 0:22:49.850 --> 0:22:53.300 they told me they're not church goers. They were living together, 0:22:53.330 --> 0:22:56.990 have two kids. The one guy was all, you know, 0:22:57.020 --> 0:22:59.609 tatted up. I could tell he came from a rough background. 0:22:59.609 --> 0:23:02.580 And so I said, can I pray with you? And 0:23:02.580 --> 0:23:04.530 they looked at each other and said, yes. And so 0:23:04.530 --> 0:23:07.800 I just prayed over them a short prayer. But when 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:10.770 I opened up my eyes, they were both crying. Two 0:23:10.770 --> 0:23:13.410 people that admittedly, we don't go to church, we don't 0:23:13.410 --> 0:23:16.800 have a church background. And I just I know that 0:23:16.800 --> 0:23:19.590 they sense the love of God. And there's something powerful 0:23:19.590 --> 0:23:22.740 about the love of God that draws us to himself, 0:23:22.740 --> 0:23:27.090 even if you don't fully understand what it is. And 0:23:27.090 --> 0:23:30.600 so if you're listening today and you are feeling that tug, 0:23:30.600 --> 0:23:35.070 I want to encourage you to go to Bold Steps Radio. 0:23:35.310 --> 0:23:38.370 There's a little video that I have trying to briefly 0:23:38.369 --> 0:23:40.890 explain what it means to be a follower of Jesus, 0:23:40.890 --> 0:23:42.510 and I would encourage you to go there. 0:23:42.540 --> 0:23:45.090 Yeah, just go to Bold Steps. Org and click the 0:23:45.090 --> 0:23:48.210 connect tab and look for the drop down. My next 0:23:48.210 --> 0:23:51.570 step in faith. Well, as a listener supportive ministry, Bold 0:23:51.570 --> 0:23:54.480 Steps relies on the voluntary donations of friends like you 0:23:54.510 --> 0:23:57.359 who share our vision. Right now, you can give a 0:23:57.359 --> 0:23:59.510 one time gift or sign up to be a bold 0:23:59.510 --> 0:24:02.000 partner when you commit to giving a monthly donation of 0:24:02.000 --> 0:24:05.660 any amount for either opportunity, just click the donate button 0:24:05.660 --> 0:24:11.030 at our website, boldsystems.org, or call us at 800 D.L. Moody. 0:24:11.030 --> 0:24:17.300 That's (800) 356-6639. And when you give today, we'll say thanks 0:24:17.300 --> 0:24:20.060 by sending you a copy of our latest Bold Step gift. 0:24:20.090 --> 0:24:22.820 Do you find yourself wondering how to navigate all the 0:24:22.820 --> 0:24:27.530 unprecedented changes happening in our society? Many believers feel caught 0:24:27.560 --> 0:24:30.980 off guard by the rapid shifts in technology and values 0:24:30.980 --> 0:24:33.590 and beliefs around us, and that's why we're excited to 0:24:33.619 --> 0:24:37.310 offer this month's Bold Step gift in a Non-anxious presence. 0:24:37.310 --> 0:24:41.179 Author Mark Sayers reveals a powerful perspective that seasons of 0:24:41.180 --> 0:24:46.100 upheaval often precede periods of profound spiritual awakening. Rather than 0:24:46.130 --> 0:24:50.000 seeing our current challenges as setbacks, what if they're actually 0:24:50.000 --> 0:24:53.540 setting the stage for revival? This timely book will give 0:24:53.540 --> 0:24:56.270 you fresh eyes to recognize God's hand at work, even 0:24:56.270 --> 0:25:00.000 in uncertain times. The opportunities for Kingdom impact have never 0:25:00.000 --> 0:25:03.060 been greater than they are right now, right where you live. 0:25:03.119 --> 0:25:05.910 Don't miss what God is doing in this pivotal moment. 0:25:05.940 --> 0:25:08.670 Learn to spot the seeds of renewal and lead with 0:25:08.670 --> 0:25:13.200 clarity through change by requesting a non-anxious presence. This book 0:25:13.200 --> 0:25:15.510 is our gift to you with any donation to support 0:25:15.510 --> 0:25:18.780 bold steps to give right now. Just go online to 0:25:18.810 --> 0:25:23.490 Bold Steps. Org or call us at 800. D.L. Moody. 0:25:23.580 --> 0:25:25.590 You can even send a check in the mail. Just 0:25:25.590 --> 0:25:30.389 address your envelope to bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, 0:25:30.420 --> 0:25:35.250 Illinois 606 ten. Well, that's our time for today. I'm 0:25:35.250 --> 0:25:37.770 Wayne Shepherd, inviting you to join us again tomorrow for 0:25:37.770 --> 0:25:41.370 a special Bold Steps TV edition. It's coming up next 0:25:41.369 --> 0:25:46.050 time right here on Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. Bold 0:25:46.050 --> 0:25:49.020 steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of 0:25:49.020 --> 0:25:50.610 Moody Bible Institute.