S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Well, if there's some things that I think universally bother
S2: people we can't agree on much. Especially not right now.
S3: No. Certainly not.
S2: You're you're you're dancing around hand grenades, trying to find
S2: what you can talk to people about.
S3: Oh, goodness. Yeah. Wow. It's like, okay, what's not gonna
S3: make anybody mad? I don't know if there is something.
S2: But you know what is pretty universally hated? Blatant hypocrisy.
S3: Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
S2: People don't like it. You know, I saw a commercial,
S2: and it was for a, uh, it was a helpline
S2: for people who were struggling with sports betting, online gambling,
S2: which has become rampant, apparently a huge problem.
S3: Oh, yeah. Goodness. Yeah.
S2: Ease that. People can bet on games. I don't know
S2: a lot about this industry. Yeah, but I know that
S2: it's become a real problem.
S3: Well, there's a reason. So we we broadcast out of
S3: here in Chicago. There's a reason that Wrigley Field has
S3: added a whole addition to the stadium that is specifically
S3: for sports betting. I saw that there's, you know, and
S3: and it's they're not the only stadium around the country
S3: that does this. There's a lot of stadiums that do this.
S3: And there's a reason that there's not two sports betting companies.
S3: There's about 50 of them that are all really well
S3: known and highly used.
S2: And newsflash, gambling destroys people, is addictive. It's addictive. And
S2: it becomes very problematic for people. So when I saw this. Yes,
S2: for families, for people's finances, there's a lot of secrecy.
S2: There's a lot of shame associated with because people just
S2: one more and then the just one more ends up
S2: being you losing a lot more than you had bargained for.
S2: So when I saw this commercial, I was intrigued. Help.
S2: For people who have an online or sports betting problem,
S2: here was the problem that I had. Though the company
S2: that was putting out this message was an online gambling
S2: sports betting company saying if you need help, if gambling
S2: has become problematic in your life, call this number. And
S2: it was like, hey, that's a great message, but how
S2: about you stop offering up on a platter? The thing
S2: that's causing people problems. Oh yeah. Does anyone else have
S2: a problem with that?
S3: Oh, absolutely. It's, uh, you know, the. So gambling companies
S3: are required by law to to have that in there.
S2: They did not know that until this morning.
S3: Yeah. They have to put that in. But it's like, uh,
S3: it's like a cigarette, you know, or a vape or
S3: whatever that says, you know, this this product contains nicotine,
S3: which is an addictive substance. And it's like, hey, I'm
S3: selling this to you, and I'm telling you how good
S3: it is. But at the end, okay, I gotta tell you.
S2: Help. Quitting smoking.
S3: Yeah.
S2: It's like.
S3: But after you smoke the next pack.
S2: There's a problem. When you see a real disconnect between
S2: the message that's being put forth, which may be right
S2: and the actions behind it that don't line up. I
S2: think people spot hypocrisy from a mile away. This is
S2: what a lot of people turns people off to politics.
S2: And I'm talking about politics in general. I'm not talking
S2: about any party or any person. But people get really
S2: tired of hearing somebody say something and then their actions
S2: are so far from it.
S3: There's a reason that, uh, the, the two most distrusted
S3: things are, I think, Congress and the news and which
S3: is crazy. Uh, but and it's not again, they're not
S3: talking about one specific party, but they sense hypocrisy. Yes.
S3: Across across all boards, all people. Is you say all
S3: these things and you don't do them, and that's really hard.
S2: So we've been talking about fasting this week and fasting.
S2: There is absolutely a reward attached to it. And it's
S2: okay to desire that your father, who sees you in secret,
S2: will reward you in secret. But what about when your
S2: motives are way off, when you're using fasting or some
S2: other spiritual discipline for that matter, to avoid dealing with
S2: something else in your life? I'm going to take you
S2: to a passage of Scripture in the book of Isaiah
S2: coming up hypocrisy. We can spot it from a mile away.
S2: God does not like it either. I'll explain more coming up.
S1: She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.
S1: Super di is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
S1: on Moody Radio.
S2: So doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. Does
S2: it cease to become the right thing? Let's go to Isaiah.
S2: Isaiah 58. Now in in my Bible, this one has
S2: the heading of true and false fasting. So yeah, there's
S2: a there's a true way of fasting and there's a
S2: false way of fasting. And Isaiah has given the charge
S2: of confronting the people who were fasting in the wrong way.
S2: And interestingly enough, they were kind of like, God, don't
S2: you see that we're fasting? This is Isaiah 58, starting
S2: with verse three. Why have we fasted and you see
S2: it not? Why have we humbled ourselves and you take
S2: no knowledge of it? Just that question is kind of funny. Like, hey,
S2: we're fasting. Don't you see that?
S3: You see how humble I be?
S2: See how much we've humbled ourselves.
S4: Jumping up and down. Hey, hey, you see what we're
S4: doing over here?
S2: Let me continue reading out of this passage of Scripture,
S2: Isaiah 58, picking it up in the second half of
S2: verse three. Behold, in the day of your fast you
S2: seek your own pleasure and oppress all your workers. Behold,
S2: you fast only to quarrel and to fight, and to
S2: hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day
S2: will not make your voice to be heard on high.
S2: God's people were trying to use fasting to circumvent obedience
S2: to God's Word.
S3: Like I'm not doing what I should be doing, but
S3: if I just fast, it'll all be okay.
S2: Don't you see that we're fasting? Meanwhile, they're seeking their
S2: own pleasure. Oppressing their. The people. They're workers. They're quarreling,
S2: they're fighting. They're acting wickedly. And then they want to
S2: know why God doesn't seem to be pleased by their fasting. Yeah.
S2: And I find this to be an interesting illustration here
S2: because I don't we've talked all week about fasting and
S2: how there's rewards that come with fasting. Yeah, which is
S2: absolutely true. We've been looking at Matthew six all week,
S2: Matthew 616 through 18, that when we fast not to
S2: be seen by others, but by our father who is
S2: in secret, and your father who sees in secret will
S2: reward you. So there's a reward that comes with fasting.
S2: But like fasting, like anything else, we never want to
S2: use with the motive of trying to manipulate God know,
S2: or trying to circumvent obedience. God has shown us what
S2: to do. And instead of doing what he says to do,
S2: I'm going to fast instead. And you know, and I
S2: think and I'm going to be tread very, very carefully
S2: here because this is a can of worms that I
S2: don't necessarily want to want to open, and especially without
S2: Carl here. But I think sometimes religious tradition can encourage
S2: you to adopt a posture of sort of giving up
S2: something to get something.
S3: Yeah.
S2: And I think we have to be careful that we
S2: that we don't miss God's heart in that. Yeah. Does
S2: that make sense?
S3: Yeah. Very much. It does. We have to be so careful.
S3: I you know, when we go into prayer or fasting.
S3: We absolutely want to tell. Thing. Tell God the things
S3: that our hearts desire, you know. So if I'm going
S3: to pray and I want to pray about this specific thing,
S3: maybe I want to pray for someone to be healed.
S3: Of course I'm going to let him know. God, I
S3: desire for this person to be healed. Would you heal them?
S3: But I also have to come to that prayer humble
S3: enough to say, God, if he doesn't heal this person,
S3: I still trust him. I'm still okay because me meeting
S3: him in prayer aligns my heart with him, not my
S3: prayer is going to convince him to do what I
S3: want him to do.
S2: Yeah, and just a great question that came in by
S2: text message. Um, it says define the wrong reason. Oh
S2: good question. Wrong reason for fasting. I'm going to just
S2: go point you straight back to the Word of God here,
S2: the principle here. They were fasting, wanting to be heard
S2: by God while they were rampantly sinning against him. And
S2: so the the wrong kind of fasting is the kind
S2: of fasting that ignores what God's already told you to do,
S2: and tries to use the fast to still get what
S2: you want from God. So what does that look like?
S2: In practical terms? I'm not even going to try to
S2: define it, because I'm going to let the Holy Spirit
S2: work on that one. And I mean, I don't know
S2: that this is super common because I think that fasting
S2: is still not a discipline that many people adopt. No,
S2: but I think that it's it's very easy to adopt
S2: a heart posture where we try to do something to
S2: get something from God.
S3: Absolutely, absolutely. And and to not get something almost, but
S3: to expect it. You know, the people are shouting, saying, God,
S3: don't you see us over here? Don't you see all
S3: that I'm doing? Why won't you give me what I want? Yeah.
S3: You know, and and so there's a sense of going
S3: to going to fasting or prayer to see God's hand
S3: is good. Going to say, yeah, I'm going to do
S3: this so that God gives me what I want. And
S3: if he doesn't give me what I want, I'm going
S3: to be mad at him.
S2: And I'm going to keep reading this because this is
S2: I want you to hear more from the Word of God.
S2: And I don't I don't want you to hear my
S2: opinions on this. I want you to hear from God.
S2: So I'm going to pick it up now in verse six.
S2: Isaiah 58 verse six says, is not this the fast
S2: that I choose to loose the bonds of wickedness, to
S2: undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed
S2: go free and to break every yoke? Is it not
S2: to share your bread with the hungry, and to bring
S2: the homeless poor into your house? When you see the naked,
S2: to cover him and not to hide yourself from your
S2: own flesh, then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
S2: and your healing shall spring up speedily. Your righteousness shall
S2: go before you. The glory of the Lord shall be
S2: your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord
S2: will answer. You shall cry, and he will say, here
S2: I am. So in this specific instance. He was really
S2: confronting their hypocrisy as it as it pertained to them
S2: the oppression of people, the mistreatment of people. He was saying,
S2: let's deal with this. The wickedness, the oppression, the way
S2: that you're keeping people down, the way that you're overlooking
S2: the poor among you. Let's talk about this. And, you know,
S2: I think we can all think of a time where
S2: we didn't want to talk about the thing we knew
S2: God wanted to deal with us on. It was easier
S2: to focus on other things. Yes. Like, can we just
S2: ignore this over here? And that's not how God works.
S2: And so the right and wrong way of fasting, if
S2: you any confusion on that, ask God to search your heart.
S2: I mean, that's the Karl quotes this one off and
S2: look up the exact passage of. Search me, know me.
S2: That's out of Psalm, but I don't know the exact passage,
S2: so Jonathan's going to look it up. But I think
S2: when we go to the Lord with the posture to
S2: ask him to search our motives. We confess, I'm not
S2: even sure if my motives are right here, but I'm
S2: asking you to help me even with that.
S3: It's Psalm 139, 23, and 24. Search me, O God,
S3: and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
S3: See if there is any offensive way in me. And
S3: lead me in the way everlasting.
S2: Yeah, that's a good prayer to pray in so many instances,
S2: and there are definitely times when I have questioned my
S2: own motive in something. Yeah, like, God, there's this thing
S2: that I, I want to do it, but I'm not
S2: sure if my motive is right. So can you search
S2: me and help me even discern my own motives? Because
S2: we don't even sometimes we think we know ourselves pretty well,
S2: but we actually don't.
S4: No, no, no, we do not.
S2: So just a little bit of a hopefully a help
S2: for you today. If there's something in your life, there's
S2: some area in your life that you've been ignoring truth.
S2: Let's deal with that first.
S1: He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then
S1: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl
S1: and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Where were you when you heard the gospel? Maybe not
S2: for the very first time, but for the time that
S2: it was pretty significant for you. Were you inside of
S2: a church? Many people heard the gospel in church. But
S2: today we're looking for your story. If you heard the
S2: gospel outside of church, it was shared to you by
S2: maybe a friend or a neighbor or a stranger, maybe
S2: over the radio. You heard the gospel, but it wasn't
S2: in church. Looking for your story. On this Freedom Friday,
S2: we're going to open the phone lines. 800 555 7898.
S2: This is your opportunity to share your story. You heard
S2: the gospel outside of the walls of a church. (800) 555-7898
S2: now there are some nuances to this because, Jonathan, you
S2: heard the gospel from a young age.
S4: Yeah.
S2: Your father was a pastor, so he was in the
S2: context of church life. Yeah. But you heard the gospel
S2: when it penetrated your heart.
S3: Yes.
S2: Later in life?
S3: Yes.
S2: Not in church.
S3: That's correct. Yeah. I grew up in church, and I
S3: lived in church for a long time. But it wasn't
S3: until I was in my early 20s that I heard
S3: the gospel on the radio here, and it cut me
S3: in a way that it hadn't ever before. And I
S3: realized that I wasn't saved. I thought I was that
S3: whole time kind of leading up to it, but God
S3: used that gospel presentation to show me that I wasn't
S3: and to get me there.
S2: Yeah. And I'm so curious about this because when we
S2: talk about evangelism, evangelism often happens in the context of relationship.
S3: Yeah.
S2: Someone tells you about Jesus, maybe not a formal gospel presentation.
S2: Maybe they don't walk you through. What is it? Romans. Romans? That.
S2: Maybe it's not that. But you were going through a
S2: tough time and someone shared with you their the hope
S2: that they have in Christ. So I want to hear
S2: from you if you've heard the gospel. But it was
S2: not in church. 805 55 7898 we know that incredible
S2: ministry happens inside the church and we are all about
S2: the local church, but I think we want to be
S2: reminded that each of us, because we have the hope
S2: of Christ, because we have the power of the Holy Spirit.
S2: Wherever we go, we have opportunities to share Christ with people.
S2: And we're going to give you some practical coaching on
S2: that coming up in the next half hour. But let's
S2: start with this. Your story. 805 55 7898.
S1: A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke, Ali is
S1: in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Sometimes we our outreach efforts become about getting people to church.
S2: You know, I love when churches host big events and
S2: you can pass out a card and invite a friend
S2: to come to church with you. That's awesome. But what
S2: if God wants to use you, not your pastor, but you,
S2: to share the gospel with someone? Is that an intimidating
S2: thought to set up a guest we have coming up
S2: in this next half hour? I wanted to hear stories
S2: from those of you who heard the gospel, but it
S2: wasn't in church. 800 555 7898 let's go to Roberta
S2: calling in this morning from Illinois. Roberta, where did you
S2: hear the gospel? It wasn't in church.
S5: No. We had neighbors down the street and a husband
S5: and wife. And his mother. She used to teach Bible study.
S5: Her name was Dorothy Lord. And I actually have a
S5: I'm 84. I have a picture of sitting on the
S5: bed when I'm eight years old in 1948, you know,
S5: and they didn't take photos that much in those days.
S5: Their husband had a camera. And I'm sitting there listening
S5: to her read the Bible and that was the first awareness.
S5: Although my family would talk about blessings and we'd go
S5: to church sometimes. But this was the first, you know,
S5: real inclination of just how Jesus was in my life.
S5: And from that day forward, I think I in retrospect,
S5: looking back on that, Jesus has been in my life
S5: for my whole life. And I think it really started
S5: there because I now have that photograph to look at.
S2: Wow. Roberta, thank you so much from Chicago. Cool story.
S2: A neighbor's mother in law shared the gospel. Let's go
S2: to Kim. First time caller from Illinois. Kim, you heard
S2: the gospel, but it wasn't in church.
S6: No, we were pretty much sisters when I was growing up.
S2: So you went to church on Christmas and Easter, right?
S6: Exactly, exactly. And. But after an Easter, there was a
S6: Billy Graham. I think it was a pre crusade. I
S6: was a young teenager back in the 70s and I
S6: remember Nicky Cruz. I don't know if you're familiar with him.
S6: He was a former gang member in New York and
S6: he helped me see that I was a sinner and
S6: that I needed Jesus. And I have been walking with
S6: him ever since.
S2: Awesome. Thank you. Kim. First time caller from Illinois. I
S2: love this. The question I've asked you this morning, you
S2: heard the gospel, but it wasn't in church. Was that
S2: your story? 805 55, 7898. Willie from Chicago. Willie, I
S2: got to hear it. Tell me.
S7: Yes, I knew about church, and I was kind of
S7: like the young man. I heard about church. My grandparents, them.
S7: They was always in church. But what happened? Somebody invited
S7: me to a prayer meeting or. And I received Receive
S7: Christ from beating a drug habit. And I was on
S7: the Eisenhower Expressway, and I had to pull over to
S7: the side, and I knew that it was something happening
S7: to me different then so that I, I saw it,
S7: I saw it, and I and I never received that
S7: feeling in the church. I wish I received it on
S7: the side of the Eisenhower Expressway.
S2: So you so the Lord revealed himself to you while
S2: you were, while you were on the expressway? Is that
S2: what you're saying, Willie? The Lord. That's when you really
S2: felt like the Lord revealed himself to you.
S7: He revealed himself to me on the Eisenhower Expressway. I
S7: had to pull over. I pulled my pickup truck over,
S7: and I got the misty eye. I was crying and
S7: couldn't control what was taking place. That's how I knew it.
S7: That was. It was God.
S4: Wow.
S2: Willie from Chicago. Thank you so much. Haven't heard from
S2: Willie in a while. Great to hear your voice. Let's
S2: go to John. First time caller from Illinois. You heard
S2: the gospel in a on an airplane. Is that right?
S8: That's right. I was traveling on business. A young, young
S8: guy at the time, 40 years ago now. And, um,
S8: a guy sitting next to me, I saw he was
S8: reading his Bible. He turns to me and says, so
S8: what are you doing in 100 years? And he and
S8: I had a conversation. Um, I got back to my
S8: apartment that night, and I could hear the Lord saying
S8: to me, do you believe anything you told this guy?
S8: Or are you just a hypocrite?
S2: Wow.
S8: And there, alone in my apartment, I gave my life
S8: to the Lord.
S4: Wow.
S8: It's. It's been a heck of a ride since then.
S8: Lord has just blessed me in so many ways. But
S8: I always keep this guy in my heart because he
S8: has no idea of the influence that he's had on
S8: my life, and of the other lives that he's touched
S8: through me.
S4: Wow.
S8: The Lord has touched through me. John, it's it's John.
S2: Let me let me interrupt you just for a second.
S2: I want to get some clarification here. So you. So
S2: he asked you that question, where do you know where
S2: you're going to be in 100 years? What was your
S2: what did you answer him?
S8: Well, I saw that he had been reading his Bible,
S8: and I was raised as a Roman Catholic, and I
S8: actually I unusually, I had read the Bible thoroughly through
S8: several times, actually. So I knew how to give him
S8: his answers, but I knew he didn't believe them.
S2: Yes. Okay. That was the part. Yeah. Wow. So you
S2: got home that night thinking. Do I actually believe what
S2: I said I do?
S8: Yeah.
S2: Wow. John. Awesome. First time caller. Thank you so much
S2: for sharing that story. Let's go to Cheryl calling in
S2: this morning from Illinois. You heard the gospel, but it
S2: wasn't in church. Tell me about it.
S9: Yes, I was at a slumber party in sixth grade
S9: and a friend shared the gospel with me, and I responded.
S9: And then fast forward 40 years. She passed away. Um,
S9: in October. November. Sorry. This past November. And I was
S9: able to thank you. I was able to talk at
S9: her funeral and share the gospel there, so that everyone
S9: else could hear the impact she had on my life.
S2: Wow. Cheryl. So 40 years after you still that had
S2: that moment had still made an impact in your life.
S2: Do you do you believe you you you got saved
S2: as a result of of her, her gospel influence?
S9: Definitely, yes. Wow. Yeah. And because it was such a
S9: young age when I did that in sixth grade, um,
S9: you know, I don't have one of those stories that
S9: was this dramatic change in my life. But God has
S9: walked with me all of my life and through very
S9: difficult circumstances. And I know that, um, you know, that
S9: he's been with me and he's allowed me to to
S9: share the gospel with people throughout my life.
S2: Yeah. Cheryl, thank you so much for that story. You know,
S2: for those of you who came to genuine faith in
S2: Christ at an at an early age, don't you think?
S2: Don't think for a second. And I know Cheryl would
S2: agree with me on this, that your testimony is somehow
S2: less important or because it doesn't have maybe some dramatic
S2: drugs to Jesus. I mean, any person who turns from
S2: death to life, from darkness to light, your testimony is radical.
S3: It's radical. And be so grateful and celebrate and joy
S3: and be joyful that that God grabbed you up so early. Yeah,
S3: he grabbed you up maybe before some other things could
S3: set in.
S2: That is an important testimony. Boy, I love hearing about
S2: how you heard the gospel, but it wasn't in church.
S1: You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't
S1: take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.
S1: It's Karl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Sidewalk prophets saved my life. You know, listening to the
S2: lyrics to those songs, that song. And I've heard that
S2: one quite a few times, but heard it a little
S2: bit differently today. That especially that last part. Right now,
S2: I need a little hope. I need to know that
S2: I'm not alone. I can hear you calling me tonight.
S2: Only Jesus, only you can save my life. Maybe you
S2: feel that this morning that you need hope. You're short
S2: on hope. You need to know that you're not alone.
S2: I got to tell you, the only hope that you're
S2: going to find is in Jesus. Full stop. You can
S2: go and search for a lot of different things. You
S2: can try to find a new job. You can try
S2: to find a new partner. You can try to find
S2: a new life. But unless you find your life in Christ,
S2: that hope, that peace that you've been looking for is
S2: going to continue to be elusive. And I want to
S2: tell you that today, because that's the heart of Christ,
S2: is that we would, in all of our searching, that
S2: we would reach out for him because he's as close
S2: as the mention of his name. And so I want
S2: you to know that today, the hard truth is that
S2: you're a sinner. We're born into sin. We're born with
S2: our back to God. We are not born. Even if
S2: you were raised in a good Christian family, I was
S2: raised in a good Christian family too. That didn't make
S2: me a Christian. I was still a sinner and I
S2: needed a Savior. And I spent a lot of years
S2: trying to perform and trying to be good enough and
S2: trying to have do good things and impress people and
S2: live a well ordered life. And you know what it was?
S2: It was still empty. And that piece that you're looking
S2: for is found in Jesus. So today, if you want
S2: to know Jesus. It's. You don't have to be in
S2: a church. You don't have to be in the presence
S2: of a pastor. This is a conversation with you and
S2: God where you admit that you are a sinner, that
S2: you have missed the mark. Full stop. You cannot save yourself.
S2: And because of your sin, you deserve death. We all do.
S2: But the good news, and it is indeed good news,
S2: is that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and he
S2: rose from the grave so that we could have new
S2: life in him. We're going to be celebrating Easter here
S2: in a couple of weeks. Resurrection Sunday. That's what it's
S2: all about. It's a celebration of the life of Christ
S2: and the new life that we have because of his
S2: death and resurrection. So today, you can put your trust
S2: in Jesus as your Savior. You're going to turn and
S2: you're going to go a new way. And this is
S2: an inward transformation that's happening that I can't fully explain
S2: to you, except for that it's the best thing that
S2: could ever happen to you, because literally you will go
S2: from death to life, from darkness to light. You will
S2: be a new person today when you put your trust
S2: in him. So if that's you and you're ready, and
S2: by the power of the Holy Spirit, this is making
S2: sense to you. And in fact, it's exactly what you
S2: needed to hear, even though you didn't know you needed
S2: to hear it. I want you to pray and acknowledge, Lord,
S2: I am a sinner. I deserve death, but I thank
S2: you that you went to the cross for my sin,
S2: so that I didn't have to face the wrath of God.
S2: Your death and your resurrection means today I can have
S2: peace with God. So today I accept the free gift
S2: of salvation, and today I put my faith in you.
S2: It's okay if you didn't get all the words right.
S2: It's not about the words. It's the posture of your
S2: heart that says, Today I'm a follower of Christ. And
S2: if that's you, I want you to text the word
S2: new to 805, five, five, 7898, 805 five, five 7898.
S2: Just text the word new. We want to send you
S2: some materials that are just going to encourage you and
S2: give you some next steps. Text new to 805 55
S2: 7898 maybe for one person today. And if it was
S2: just for you, I promise you this is exactly what
S2: God wanted us to pause and do so that you
S2: could have a new life in him today. Coming up,
S2: as we've been talking about evangelism, I want to give
S2: you some practical coaching. You want to share Jesus with people,
S2: but sometimes you get stuck and don't know how. Help
S2: is on the way. Coming up here on Carl and
S2: crew mornings.
S1: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: So you want to tell people about Jesus? You want
S2: to share the gospel? It's not just a worthy goal.
S2: Scripture actually Commands it. And yet so many of us
S2: find ourselves sort of stuck with this desire to share
S2: our faith, but somewhat hesitant and even fearful to actually
S2: take that step. I've got a special guest who's going
S2: to give us some good insight today. Andrew Steyer joins us.
S2: You ever had a place in your life where you
S2: were timid to share the gospel?
S10: Absolutely. All the time.
S2: Give me a little bit about your background. I know
S2: you were a pastor's kid, Bible college student, a professional Christian,
S2: a little bit.
S10: Yeah. I like to say that I was born and
S10: raised in the guts of the church. I'm from North
S10: Dakota and so small town churches up there, but really
S10: just grew up. And faith was always something that I
S10: saw people do professionally pastors, ministers, things like that. And
S10: so as I, as I aged, as I grew up,
S10: as I met the Lord and went to Bible college,
S10: became a youth pastor, Faster. This was so wrapped up
S10: in my identity about like what I do, and the
S10: Lord really had to do a lot of work on
S10: me for me to realize that my faith is actually
S10: like who I am, not just what I do. So
S10: when you say professional Christian, that's exactly it. I've had
S10: to relearn how to go back to the basics, even
S10: after working in churches and ministries over the years.
S2: Andrew Stier with us right now, he's the director of
S2: Always Going. Always Going believes evangelism is not an event.
S2: It's an overflow. You want to help people with the book,
S2: with the website, there is a free course that people
S2: can take. You want to help people overcome this sense
S2: of duty and obligation that can often drive us. When
S2: it comes to evangelism. Why are we often wrong even
S2: in how we approach it?
S10: Yeah, I think that a lot of people see this
S10: great commission and they go, oh, God told me that
S10: I have to go and do this thing. Therefore he
S10: will only be proud of me. He will only love me.
S10: I will only make him happy if I do that thing.
S10: And then because it's scary and because it's difficult and
S10: because we are timid, sometimes we don't do that. And
S10: it colors our view of how God sees us. It
S10: colors our relationship with God. And so when I talk
S10: about evangelism, being an event or an obligation, that's the
S10: mindset that I think a lot of people are trapped in.
S10: But really, it should be an overflow of our loving
S10: relationship with God. He invites us to run with him,
S10: and as he advances the gospel and uses us to
S10: do that, we get to be a part of that
S10: mission instead of it resting solely on our shoulders like
S10: our worth was tied up in it.
S2: You know, when we talk about the overflow of something,
S2: that means there's something inside that's flowing out. You know,
S2: I remember specifically a time in my early 20s where
S2: I was honestly pretty far from God, but I still
S2: felt a sense of duty or obligation to share about Jesus.
S2: And I remember one time telling somebody that I was
S2: going to pray for this specific situation, because that's what
S2: I knew to do. I knew to pray as a Christian,
S2: and I could feel as the words came out of
S2: my mouth that they felt so hollow and so powerless,
S2: because what I was saying didn't really match what was
S2: actually going on in my heart. So talk more about
S2: the overflow. It has to be kind of an inside
S2: out approach. We have to start on the inside first.
S10: Yeah, absolutely. I think when a lot of us think
S10: of evangelism, we think of the Great Commission, the end
S10: of the book of Matthew, but we forget that it
S10: was in Matthew chapter four where Jesus called the disciples
S10: and said, follow me, and I will make you fishers
S10: of men. We just think of evangelism as go make disciples,
S10: not follow Jesus, and he will make me a fisher
S10: of men. The Great Commission was at the end of
S10: their time with him, not at the beginning. And so
S10: for a lot of us, as we think about how
S10: we are going to begin sharing the gospel, it has
S10: a lot more to do with our relationship with God
S10: than it does just this cold obedience to go out
S10: there and obey, or Jesus great commandment, right? Love the
S10: Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength.
S10: Love your neighbor as yourself. It starts by loving him.
S10: And that's where we fill, and that's where we go
S10: to abide with him. And that's where we go to
S10: to experience all the goodness of God so that it
S10: just spills out as we love our neighbor and to
S10: make disciples. And that's really how it has to be.
S10: Because if I go and try to love my neighbor,
S10: and I'm not full of everything that God has for me,
S10: if I'm not pursuing him, but I'm still trying to
S10: obey him, they're not going to see him. What's going
S10: to be pouring out of me and overflowing from me
S10: is just me. And nobody wants that. They want Jesus.
S2: Now, I'm curious about a survey you did at a
S2: local church in Florida. What did you find when you
S2: surveyed this congregation?
S10: I asked the question, how many of you feel confident
S10: that you could share the basics of the gospel message?
S10: Just just the basics. And these were all professing Christians. Um,
S10: 60 plus professing Christians. They were at an eight hour
S10: evangelism workshop that they signed up for on a Saturday.
S10: And I just asked this question before the workshop just
S10: to float it out there. It was something like 25%
S10: of them said that they felt confident they could share
S10: the basics of the gospel and like, just let that
S10: sink in for a second. 75% of them could not,
S10: like they did not have an adequate answer, could not
S10: communicate an adequate answer for where they would spend eternity.
S10: And that was shocking to me. And I realized that
S10: there are a lot of Christians sitting in church who
S10: desperately love the Lord, but the reason they don't participate
S10: in his mission is because they don't know how to
S10: communicate the things that they believe. They don't know how
S10: to take what they believe and put it into words
S10: to tell anyone else, and that that'll stop you right quick.
S2: So let's talk about this ministry and the book that
S2: you've written, because your your mission is to help kind
S2: of close this gap where people who love Jesus can
S2: more freely and naturally talk about him. But it's not
S2: tips and tricks and methods. So what is it that
S2: can help us?
S10: So we actually walk people through eight foundational questions that
S10: must be asked in order. We call them the eight
S10: elements of an outward focus, faith or a faith that
S10: overflows into others. And so when I talk to people
S10: about our ministry, they typically think, oh, you're the evangelism guy.
S10: And I said, actually, about 80% of what I do
S10: has more to do with discipleship and what's going on
S10: in my heart and mind than it does actually sharing
S10: the gospel. Because if I believe that evangelism is an overflow,
S10: then we need to talk about what's filling us up,
S10: like you just said. And so as we help people
S10: navigate through this. We ask them to really focus on
S10: eight questions.
S2: Go through four of them for us.
S10: Yeah. So the first one is really, really important. That's
S10: am I rooted in the gospel? You know, that survey
S10: revealed to us that people don't really know how to
S10: share the gospel, and we might know tricks. We might
S10: know the Romans Road or the Three circles, or, you know,
S10: the ABCs or one two threes. But what we teach
S10: is that we really need to be rooted in the message,
S10: not just know a method, because the gospel is really
S10: about taking the message of Scripture and communicating it in
S10: the right way to people. So not everyone's going to
S10: respond the same way to the Romans Road. So can
S10: we speak the gospel fluently? Can we keep it simple?
S10: So am I rooted in the gospel? Is one of them.
S10: Another one is does my life reflect what I claim
S10: to believe? Basically, am I a good ambassador? Am I
S10: convincing or unconvincing ambassador of Christ? And does my lifestyle
S10: Style confirm or contradict the gospel message. One of the
S10: other questions is am I hesitant to share the gospel?
S10: We talk through seven gospel gaps. I call them the
S10: top seven reasons that people don't share their faith, and
S10: a biblical a biblical walk through each one of those.
S10: Kind of like myth busting them a little bit and
S10: showing believers that they don't really have any teeth and
S10: can't stop us. And then I'll share one more. The
S10: very last question we ask is, am I celebrating every
S10: gospel conversation? The ones where I see the fruit, the
S10: ones where someone professes faith in Christ or recommits their life,
S10: and the ones where someone spits on me and walks away.
S10: Because if I truly believe that God is the one
S10: who changes hearts and he measures success by faithful conversations,
S10: not immediate conversions, and he's doing things behind the scenes,
S10: I just play a role planting, watering, harvesting. I can
S10: celebrate every time the gospel comes out of my mouth.
S2: Good stuff. Andrew steer with us right now. Director of
S2: Always Going. And we've got a resource that we want
S2: to offer to you. This is an overflow evangelism crash course.
S2: This takes what, just a couple of days to go
S2: through this. Is that right, Andrew?
S10: Yeah. It's five days, five emails that will come to
S10: your inbox once a day to take about five minutes
S10: to read. And it will give you the basics, the
S10: tools that you need to start engaging in overflow evangelism.
S2: We've got it for you. Text overflow to 800 555 7898.
S2: Text overflow. Just one word overflow to 800 555 7898. Andrew,
S2: appreciate your time this morning. I'm excited about what this
S2: is going to do for our listeners.
S10: My favorite part of working in this ministry is just
S10: seeing believers set free. Set free from obligations. Set free
S10: from burden. Reframing how God wants to use them in
S10: his mission, and just watching them step into evangelism with joy,
S10: not fear.
S2: Text overflow to 855 five 7898.