WEBVTT - Chip Ingram - Oct 19 - 9:30 am 0:00:11.750 --> 0:00:14.310 Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. 0:00:14.550 --> 0:00:17.310 Do you ever wish you could really experience God? 0:00:17.510 --> 0:00:19.750 I mean, you believe in Him. He lives inside of you. 0:00:20.430 --> 0:00:23.590 If you have been missing out on not just knowing 0:00:23.650 --> 0:00:27.030 God or even knowing about Him, but really experiencing Him, 0:00:27.510 --> 0:00:28.150 stay with me. 0:00:28.610 --> 0:00:29.890 That's today on Living on the Edge. 0:00:32.229 --> 0:00:35.070 A crippled man, 40 years old, who has never taken 0:00:35.130 --> 0:00:37.629 a single step in his life, is jumping through the 0:00:37.670 --> 0:00:41.810 temple courts and praising God. The crowd is stunned. Peter 0:00:41.850 --> 0:00:44.769 and John are probably a little stunned themselves. And the 0:00:44.850 --> 0:00:47.950 early church discovers a key lesson. Taking a step of 0:00:48.010 --> 0:00:52.350 faith doesn't guarantee smooth sailing. It guarantees God will show up. 0:00:53.110 --> 0:00:55.310 I'm Dave Drewy. And today on Living on the Edge, 0:00:55.610 --> 0:00:59.490 Chip Ingram continues his series, The Jesus Revolution. And a 0:00:59.520 --> 0:01:02.000 quick note, later in today's program, Chip will be sharing 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:04.860 about a very special opportunity here this month with our 0:01:05.020 --> 0:01:08.360 mid-year match. You won't want to miss that. But right now, 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:09.160 here's Chip. 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:13.220 Open to Acts chapter three, and what we're gonna see 0:01:13.260 --> 0:01:18.039 is how God begins with Peter and John and helps 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:22.080 them take baby steps, and he's gonna give them just 0:01:22.100 --> 0:01:26.370 a very specific baby step game plan, and they change 0:01:26.410 --> 0:01:26.830 their world. 0:01:27.670 --> 0:01:29.950 So follow along, because what I'm gonna. 0:01:29.810 --> 0:01:32.890 Do is there's four baby steps that we learn from 0:01:33.010 --> 0:01:35.770 the story, and there's one or two baby steps we'll 0:01:36.010 --> 0:01:38.910 look at in terms of a sermon today. One day, 0:01:38.990 --> 0:01:41.410 Peter and John were going up to the temple at 0:01:41.430 --> 0:01:44.730 the time of prayer, at three in the afternoon. Now, 0:01:44.810 --> 0:01:47.760 a crippled man from birth was being carried to the 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.260 temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:52.940 to beg from those who were going into the temple courts. 0:01:54.140 --> 0:01:57.520 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:02.140 asked them for money. And Peter looked straight at him, 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:05.240 as did John, and then Peter said, look at us. 0:02:05.940 --> 0:02:08.320 So the man gave him his attention and he expected 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:13.230 to get something from them. Then Peter said, silver or gold, 0:02:13.950 --> 0:02:17.370 I do not have. But what I do have, I 0:02:17.389 --> 0:02:20.510 will give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ 0:02:20.580 --> 0:02:24.799 of Nazareth, walk. Taking him up by his right hand, 0:02:25.380 --> 0:02:27.580 he helped him up and instantly the man's feet and 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:30.510 ankles became strong. And he jumped to his feet and 0:02:30.530 --> 0:02:33.630 he began to walk. And then he went jumping into 0:02:33.650 --> 0:02:36.690 the temple courts and walking and leaping and praising God. 0:02:36.710 --> 0:02:39.350 And when all the people saw him walking and praising God, 0:02:39.870 --> 0:02:42.790 they recognized him as the same man who used to 0:02:42.870 --> 0:02:46.350 beg sitting at the temple gate called Beautiful. And they 0:02:46.370 --> 0:02:50.930 were filled with wonder and amazement at what was happening 0:02:50.950 --> 0:02:51.150 to him. 0:02:52.410 --> 0:02:53.030 Baby steps. 0:02:53.850 --> 0:02:58.420 Step number one for us regular people who have desires 0:02:58.540 --> 0:03:00.690 in our hearts that God wants to use to change 0:03:00.750 --> 0:03:05.130 the world is simply draw near to God. Second is 0:03:05.210 --> 0:03:08.510 look through Jesus' eyes. When you do that, the third 0:03:08.550 --> 0:03:11.030 baby step, now those aren't too hard really, is it? 0:03:11.030 --> 0:03:13.810 I mean, how hard is it to draw near to 0:03:13.830 --> 0:03:16.510 God and then just to look through Jesus' eyes? Third 0:03:16.830 --> 0:03:22.490 is act on your good impulses. God is giving you 0:03:22.530 --> 0:03:25.070 and me those kind of promptings all the time. What 0:03:25.130 --> 0:03:27.540 if we acted on them? What if we acted on him? 0:03:28.350 --> 0:03:31.300 Act on those good promptings. Notice what it says to remember. 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:35.620 God daily prepares divine appointments for you to be the 0:03:35.780 --> 0:03:40.660 answer to someone's prayer. Let your light so shine before 0:03:40.700 --> 0:03:43.810 men that they might see your good works and glorify 0:03:43.850 --> 0:03:49.810 your Father who is in heaven. Number four, give God 0:03:49.830 --> 0:03:52.730 the credit. Notice when this happens, because I think Peter 0:03:52.770 --> 0:03:55.530 is as shocked as anyone else. You know, long before 0:03:55.570 --> 0:03:57.330 these guys got to be in stained glass, they were 0:03:57.350 --> 0:03:59.580 just ordinary blue-collar workers trying to figure out what was 0:03:59.620 --> 0:04:02.380 going on. So, you pick up the story. Look at 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:05.510 verse 11. While the beggar held on to Peter and John, 0:04:05.670 --> 0:04:07.850 all the people were astonished and came running to them 0:04:07.890 --> 0:04:11.780 in the place called the Solomon's Colonnade. When Peter saw this, 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.420 he said to them, men of Israel, why does this 0:04:14.460 --> 0:04:18.060 surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:21.300 by our own power or godliness we had made this 0:04:21.339 --> 0:04:25.190 man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the 0:04:25.230 --> 0:04:30.370 God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. Guys, 0:04:30.390 --> 0:04:35.630 you understand, this isn't about us. This is God. God 0:04:35.710 --> 0:04:39.490 does miracles. He did miracles then, he does miracles now. 0:04:40.170 --> 0:04:44.050 Isaiah 42.8, I am the Lord. That is my name. 0:04:44.390 --> 0:04:47.710 I will not give my glory to another. You'll notice 0:04:47.730 --> 0:04:49.510 what you need to remember is the world has yet 0:04:49.550 --> 0:04:53.790 to see the extent of what God will do through 0:04:53.850 --> 0:04:57.750 someone who does not care who gets the credit. 0:04:59.910 --> 0:05:01.170 And that's what God wants from us. 0:05:02.870 --> 0:05:04.650 God wants us to realize, you know what, you're like 0:05:04.850 --> 0:05:08.240 one really bad decision or doing something stupid from God. 0:05:09.510 --> 0:05:12.650 Having a life where you'd say, well, how did that happen? 0:05:13.930 --> 0:05:17.430 We're all people of flesh. I praise God. The Spirit 0:05:17.450 --> 0:05:19.570 of God lives in me. The difference is we're forgiven. 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.460 The difference is He lives inside of us and we're 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:26.599 the conduit to share and to care. The Holy Spirit's 0:05:26.620 --> 0:05:31.279 job is to convict. You share the truth in grace. 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:34.630 Usually you hear people that they give people all truth 0:05:35.330 --> 0:05:35.790 or they give. 0:05:35.690 --> 0:05:36.469 Them all grace. 0:05:37.070 --> 0:05:40.980 Love is is giving both in balance from a heart 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.920 that really cares. I love the verse here I put 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:48.120 in Luke 1.37 because it's so interesting who God chooses 0:05:48.170 --> 0:05:51.730 to use. This is a response of an angel to Mary. 0:05:51.750 --> 0:05:56.770 Remember Mary, the little teenager? Scholars believe probably 15 years old, 0:05:56.810 --> 0:06:00.969 maybe 17 at the oldest. And the angel says, God 0:06:00.990 --> 0:06:03.530 has a God-sized dream for your life. I know you're young, 0:06:03.570 --> 0:06:05.770 but it's a God-sized dream. He's going to show up 0:06:06.210 --> 0:06:08.590 to the planet today And he's going to live a 0:06:08.610 --> 0:06:10.950 perfect life and die for the sins of all mankind. 0:06:10.990 --> 0:06:12.270 He's the Messiah. He's the Savior. 0:06:12.930 --> 0:06:17.110 And very soon, he's going to implant in your womb 0:06:18.610 --> 0:06:20.510 the supernatural seed of the Spirit of God. 0:06:20.750 --> 0:06:21.530 And you're going to have a baby. 0:06:22.810 --> 0:06:27.280 And this little 15 to 17-year-old girl goes, like, I 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:29.620 haven't majored in biology, but how can that happen since 0:06:29.640 --> 0:06:34.120 I don't have a husband? And the angel says, marry 0:06:35.020 --> 0:06:39.170 with God. all things are possible. He wants you to 0:06:39.210 --> 0:06:42.030 know that. With God, all things are possible. 0:06:43.010 --> 0:06:43.890 With God, at. 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.880 Your work, in your marriage, in your home, in your singleness, 0:06:47.020 --> 0:06:49.820 on your campus, with God, all things are possible. 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:50.430 Do you believe it? 0:06:50.900 --> 0:06:52.360 See, at the end of the day, really what it 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:54.880 boils down the whole Christian life, you draw near to 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:57.580 God and live before him. You get strengthened in community 0:06:57.640 --> 0:06:59.640 and as you're on mission, it's just believing. 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:01.200 It's just trusting. 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:03.980 With God, all things are possible because if that's true, 0:07:04.339 --> 0:07:07.710 you take steps that you would never take. If it's impossible, 0:07:07.890 --> 0:07:10.650 then what you do is you cul-de-sac in your mentality 0:07:10.950 --> 0:07:12.700 and you figure out how can my life and my 0:07:12.740 --> 0:07:14.200 little world, can I. 0:07:14.180 --> 0:07:15.660 Get it safe to make it work for me? 0:07:16.700 --> 0:07:20.780 And then we lose. We lose the purpose for our living. 0:07:21.260 --> 0:07:23.020 We lose the purpose for why God put us here. 0:07:23.700 --> 0:07:26.460 The number one priority of the church is to build 0:07:26.580 --> 0:07:32.100 up the life of fellow believers so that those who 0:07:32.140 --> 0:07:34.700 don't know might know. And they can know not just 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:36.940 by what we say, but by how we live. 0:07:38.660 --> 0:07:40.220 Well, it shifts. 0:07:41.420 --> 0:07:45.010 And we've got a pretty good crowd. And the crowd 0:07:45.430 --> 0:07:46.930 now is gonna hear a sermon. 0:07:46.970 --> 0:07:49.870 We've got the story. And he's gonna pick up the sermon. 0:07:49.890 --> 0:07:52.050 And remember, it's a very Jewish group. 0:07:52.910 --> 0:07:55.300 And he's done this right outside in the open area 0:07:55.330 --> 0:07:57.600 of the temple courts. And so we pick up the 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:00.480 story in verse 13 where he says, the God of Abraham, Isaac, 0:08:00.520 --> 0:08:01.580 and Jacob, the God of our. 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:06.100 Fathers, has glorified... His servant, Jesus. 0:08:07.060 --> 0:08:09.520 Now, for some of us, that's not a real key word, 0:08:09.580 --> 0:08:13.700 but if you would go back and read in Isaiah 42, 49, 52, 0:08:13.700 --> 0:08:17.020 and 53, there's a whole section where the Messiah is 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:20.760 described as the servant of the Lord. So this would 0:08:20.810 --> 0:08:24.250 very quickly get their mind thinking, oh, so you're saying 0:08:24.290 --> 0:08:25.730 this Jesus was the Messiah. 0:08:25.770 --> 0:08:26.030 Yep. 0:08:26.990 --> 0:08:30.950 And then when you share with people, you need to understand, 0:08:30.970 --> 0:08:32.850 and let me just give you this, and you can 0:08:32.890 --> 0:08:33.210 listen to. 0:08:33.190 --> 0:08:33.849 How Peter does it. 0:08:34.559 --> 0:08:36.739 There's part of it, part of the good news of 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:40.400 the gospel is bad news. It's that you really have 0:08:40.500 --> 0:08:44.300 blown it, just like I have, and you've sinned, and 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:47.040 you fall short of a holy God. And we gotta 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:50.000 make sure we say that. And then after the bad news, 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:53.140 there's the good news. But God really, really loves you 0:08:53.260 --> 0:08:56.280 and cares for you. And in that good news, there 0:08:56.320 --> 0:08:59.740 needs to be an explanation that Christ died for you, 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:03.690 literally as your substitute. And then the final part, when 0:09:03.730 --> 0:09:06.199 you share, as you're going to see Peter, you have 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:09.280 to call people to a point of decision. It's not just, 0:09:09.380 --> 0:09:11.260 this is what he did. I hope you're now aware 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:13.540 of it. When you share the gospel, you need to 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:16.440 say to them, is there anything keeping you from putting 0:09:16.460 --> 0:09:17.520 your faith in Christ today? 0:09:18.580 --> 0:09:20.589 I mean, is it uncomfortable? Of course it's uncomfortable. 0:09:21.630 --> 0:09:25.689 But if people just hear, you know, there's a movie, 0:09:26.170 --> 0:09:29.310 it's free, it's the best ever, but you can't get 0:09:29.350 --> 0:09:30.810 a ticket or I won't tell you how. 0:09:30.890 --> 0:09:32.250 Well, you see what I'm saying? 0:09:32.929 --> 0:09:36.170 So listen for the bad news, listen for the good news, 0:09:36.570 --> 0:09:38.360 and then listen as he calls them to. 0:09:38.270 --> 0:09:39.910 A very specific response. 0:09:41.140 --> 0:09:45.060 Verse 14, you disowned the holy and righteous one and 0:09:45.260 --> 0:09:49.280 ask that a murderer be released. You killed the author 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.700 of life, but God raised him from the dead. We 0:09:52.740 --> 0:09:57.300 are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, 0:09:57.420 --> 0:10:01.490 this man whom you see, and know was made strong. 0:10:02.590 --> 0:10:05.370 It is in Jesus' name and the faith that comes 0:10:05.429 --> 0:10:08.230 through him that has given us complete healing to him, 0:10:08.610 --> 0:10:12.110 as you can see. So this man for 40 years 0:10:12.150 --> 0:10:16.240 has been laying outside. He's leaping and dancing and praising God. 0:10:17.550 --> 0:10:21.670 A crowd of thousands of people are mushrooming. And now 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.840 he says, this Jesus that you disowned, the author of 0:10:25.900 --> 0:10:28.960 life that you killed, that you, does this sound like 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:29.340 good news? 0:10:31.220 --> 0:10:31.860 Man, I'll tell you what. 0:10:31.900 --> 0:10:34.760 I mean, this would be like, oh my, what if 0:10:34.800 --> 0:10:39.560 this guy's right? And by the way, here's the proof. 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:41.679 You see this guy? It's in his name. It's not me. 0:10:42.100 --> 0:10:44.339 It's in his name and his power and faith in 0:10:44.380 --> 0:10:46.620 him that's done this. And so they're looking at this miracle. 0:10:47.790 --> 0:10:50.949 But notice, once you share, and I think his tone 0:10:50.990 --> 0:10:54.050 of voice was not condemning. I think it was very matter-of-fact. 0:10:55.890 --> 0:10:57.570 I think Peter loved these people. 0:10:58.910 --> 0:11:01.750 This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and 0:11:01.770 --> 0:11:04.730 we'll continue in a minute. Right now, Living on the 0:11:04.850 --> 0:11:06.970 Edge is in the middle of a mid-year match, and 0:11:07.130 --> 0:11:09.850 every dollar you give this month will be matched dollar 0:11:09.870 --> 0:11:13.170 for dollar by a group of generous ministry partners. It 0:11:13.210 --> 0:11:16.410 costs you nothing extra. Your gift simply does twice the work. 0:11:16.990 --> 0:11:21.099 To find out more, just go online to livingontheedge.org and 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:23.939 Chip will share more details in a little bit. Now 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:24.800 back to our message. 0:11:25.440 --> 0:11:27.860 And so notice he shifts gears. He goes, now brothers, 0:11:28.340 --> 0:11:31.520 I know that you acted in ignorance. I mean, you 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.179 didn't get it. You didn't really believe he was a Messiah, 0:11:35.820 --> 0:11:38.740 as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:41.020 what he foretold through the prophets, saying that the Christ 0:11:41.059 --> 0:11:44.680 would suffer. And so basically the good news is, you know, 0:11:46.080 --> 0:11:49.240 If you fully understood it all, I don't think you've 0:11:49.260 --> 0:11:52.360 done that. So now here's the option. Here's the call. 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:55.179 Repent then and turn to God. 0:11:55.340 --> 0:11:55.620 Why? 0:11:56.340 --> 0:12:00.160 So that your sins may be wiped out. The times 0:12:00.179 --> 0:12:02.760 of refreshing may come from the Lord and that he 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.240 may send the Christ who has been appointed for you, 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.340 even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time 0:12:08.420 --> 0:12:11.120 comes for God to restore everything as he promised long 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:12.679 ago through his holy prophets. 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:14.700 Then he quotes Moses. 0:12:14.740 --> 0:12:17.020 For Moses said, the Lord your God will raise up 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.400 for you a prophet like me from among your own people. 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:24.160 You must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:27.340 does not listen to him will be completely cut off 0:12:27.580 --> 0:12:32.329 from among his people. Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, 0:12:32.490 --> 0:12:36.050 as many have spoken and foretold about these days, these 0:12:36.190 --> 0:12:39.050 messianic days when the spirit would come, when the Messiah's 0:12:39.110 --> 0:12:41.770 promises would be true, And you are heirs of the 0:12:41.809 --> 0:12:44.030 prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers. 0:12:44.570 --> 0:12:47.459 He said to Abraham, through your offspring, all the peoples 0:12:47.500 --> 0:12:50.240 of the earth will be blessed. When God raised up 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:54.079 his servant, he sent him first to you to bless 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:57.520 you by turning each of you from your wicked ways. 0:12:59.660 --> 0:13:02.300 I want to encourage you that this gets, it's a 0:13:02.340 --> 0:13:06.100 baby step, but boldly share the good news. 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:08.439 Boldly share. 0:13:08.730 --> 0:13:11.900 If you want to know Everyone wants to know, what's 0:13:11.940 --> 0:13:14.280 the real evidence of the Holy Spirit? I mean, how 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:16.350 do you know the Holy Spirit really has a hold 0:13:16.370 --> 0:13:18.770 of your life? And some people will say, well, it's 0:13:18.809 --> 0:13:20.870 an event like this or it's an experience like that. 0:13:21.050 --> 0:13:22.709 Let me tell you, you read all the way through 0:13:22.730 --> 0:13:26.320 the book of Acts, the common denominator when you are 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:30.420 filled or saturated and controlled by the Holy Spirit is boldness. 0:13:31.860 --> 0:13:32.600 It's boldness. 0:13:33.340 --> 0:13:36.230 You actually get where you're not so afraid of rejection. 0:13:36.470 --> 0:13:38.930 You get where you realize the love of God and 0:13:38.970 --> 0:13:42.050 your concern for people who don't know him outweighs your 0:13:42.110 --> 0:13:44.050 fear of what they're gonna think of you. And that 0:13:44.070 --> 0:13:45.390 takes a spirit of God moment. 0:13:46.230 --> 0:13:48.670 It's boldness. He's bold. 0:13:49.429 --> 0:13:52.430 I don't know about you, but I take a deep 0:13:52.480 --> 0:13:55.880 breath when I have to tell someone the bad news 0:13:55.920 --> 0:14:00.480 of the gospel. You're lost apart from Christ. Oh, am 0:14:00.540 --> 0:14:02.160 I going to get put in a category? That sounds 0:14:02.220 --> 0:14:04.630 very narrow. You're saying Jesus is the life and the 0:14:04.690 --> 0:14:06.330 only one? No, no, I'm not saying that. 0:14:07.270 --> 0:14:11.720 He said that. Okay, listen, at some point in. 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:15.040 Time, you're either gonna kind of slide and sort of 0:14:15.110 --> 0:14:18.290 try and be okay with everything and everyone and sort 0:14:18.330 --> 0:14:19.930 of have this private, you know, I know this is 0:14:19.950 --> 0:14:21.570 what the Bible says and I know what Jesus has 0:14:21.610 --> 0:14:23.590 done in me and you know, it says in chapter four, 0:14:23.630 --> 0:14:26.050 there's no other name by which we must be saved. 0:14:26.410 --> 0:14:28.830 At some point in time, you're gonna realize you're gonna 0:14:28.890 --> 0:14:32.350 share some things with some people in love with tears 0:14:32.410 --> 0:14:35.380 rolling down and they can be nice people, good people, 0:14:35.430 --> 0:14:39.500 moral people, but the God who made them The second 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:41.440 person of the Godhead came to the earth and lived 0:14:41.460 --> 0:14:44.040 a perfect life and died in their place. And there 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.440 is only one way to have a relationship with a perfect, 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:50.450 holy God and be righteous. And that's the atoning covering 0:14:50.730 --> 0:14:54.870 of Christ. If you have the son, not if you 0:14:54.890 --> 0:14:57.470 have religion, you have life. If you have the son, 0:14:57.850 --> 0:14:59.290 not if you try to be a good moral person, 0:14:59.530 --> 0:15:02.970 you have life. And that means that there's a time 0:15:03.100 --> 0:15:06.700 where you and I talking with people need to move 0:15:06.740 --> 0:15:10.960 beyond the comfort level And talk about the bad news 0:15:11.020 --> 0:15:13.650 of the gospel. If a person never sees their need, 0:15:15.130 --> 0:15:19.270 they can never hear the good news. And I would 0:15:19.310 --> 0:15:22.790 guess that the great majority of us struggle with being bold. 0:15:23.270 --> 0:15:26.570 Think about the people that, I mean, if someone you 0:15:26.610 --> 0:15:28.750 know that you care about at work or in your 0:15:28.820 --> 0:15:32.340 family or in your neighborhood or in your network or 0:15:32.380 --> 0:15:37.450 who you chat with, what if you knew they had 0:15:37.530 --> 0:15:40.970 cancer and they got three days to live. Would you 0:15:41.210 --> 0:15:44.740 today relate to them the same way for the next 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:50.100 three days as you are now? They're gonna slip into eternity. 0:15:52.460 --> 0:15:52.780 Would you? 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.780 Because at some point in time, I gotta get out 0:15:56.820 --> 0:15:59.140 of being so worried about what people think or what 0:15:59.180 --> 0:16:01.380 I can answer or what I can't answer and I 0:16:01.420 --> 0:16:04.820 need to boldly share the gospel. And the gospel has 0:16:04.860 --> 0:16:08.790 a promise of eternal life. But he begins with bad 0:16:08.850 --> 0:16:11.070 news and the problem is sin. And then it goes 0:16:11.130 --> 0:16:12.910 to the good news is that Christ has paid for 0:16:12.930 --> 0:16:16.380 your sin. And it has an explanation that he's our substitute. 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:19.540 And then there's an action call. You need to repent. 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:23.600 You need to leave and turn from your sin and 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.660 put your faith in Christ and what he did. And 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:28.940 that's when the spirit of God comes inside of people's 0:16:28.980 --> 0:16:31.560 lives and they're sealed by his spirit and they have 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:33.440 new life and eternal life. 0:16:34.540 --> 0:16:35.170 And that's not. 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:38.350 Pastor's jobs or missionary jobs or Christian books jobs. 0:16:41.570 --> 0:16:44.830 It's us. I'm always shocked. 0:16:44.850 --> 0:16:46.410 I remember the first time I was an early Christian, 0:16:46.430 --> 0:16:49.250 some guy came up to me and said, you know, 0:16:49.270 --> 0:16:51.710 you're the greatest Christian I've ever met. And I thought, man, 0:16:51.730 --> 0:16:55.960 this guy's in trouble. I mean, this guy's in really 0:16:56.020 --> 0:16:58.780 big trouble because, you know, I mean, if I'm the 0:16:58.820 --> 0:17:01.780 greatest Christian he's ever met, you know, the percentages look 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:03.760 a little bit low for how much of Jesus he's 0:17:03.780 --> 0:17:06.439 really going to see. And then I just realized, you 0:17:06.460 --> 0:17:09.060 know what? That's true of all of us. You are 0:17:09.520 --> 0:17:12.159 someplace at work, people you don't even know. I was in, 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:14.460 played a little basketball and a guy I've kind of 0:17:14.480 --> 0:17:16.859 got to know. And I've not talked with him directly, 0:17:16.900 --> 0:17:18.980 but built a relationship. And then I went out to 0:17:19.020 --> 0:17:21.020 Lyft and he was lifting. And out of the blue, 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:23.760 he turns to me and goes, can I tell you something? 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:24.520 I said, sure. 0:17:24.540 --> 0:17:28.369 He said, I started going to church here recently. I said, great. 0:17:29.050 --> 0:17:32.330 You know, you're a pastor, right? I said, yeah, how'd 0:17:32.350 --> 0:17:38.420 you know? I heard those other guys talking. Okay. He said, 0:17:38.900 --> 0:17:40.120 can I ask for your help? 0:17:40.260 --> 0:17:42.200 I said, well, what do you need? He goes, like, 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.030 I'm like going to church in this group I'm with, 0:17:44.070 --> 0:17:46.570 you know? I mean, there's like a Bible study midweek. 0:17:46.590 --> 0:17:47.209 Have you ever heard of those? 0:17:47.270 --> 0:17:49.730 I said, yeah, we do some of those. And he said, 0:17:49.770 --> 0:17:52.070 so I'm going to church. I'm in this Bible study. 0:17:52.470 --> 0:17:53.330 And I stopped. 0:17:53.430 --> 0:17:54.770 I mean, I knew I was doing stuff that was 0:17:54.950 --> 0:17:57.659 really wrong and I'm not doing the external stuff. But 0:17:57.680 --> 0:17:59.040 he said, man, I got stuff going on in my 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:02.200 head that's really bad. He said, is there any help 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:03.480 for that? I said, you bet. 0:18:03.500 --> 0:18:05.640 You bet. By the way, we all have that stuff. 0:18:05.780 --> 0:18:06.060 Really? 0:18:06.140 --> 0:18:06.400 Yeah. 0:18:06.859 --> 0:18:08.179 So I said, give me your email address. 0:18:08.220 --> 0:18:09.680 And anyway, I sent him the book, The Miracle of 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.700 Life Change and a book that most men would understand 0:18:12.740 --> 0:18:14.310 about how to overcome the dragon of lust. 0:18:15.330 --> 0:18:16.570 And you know what? 0:18:16.590 --> 0:18:19.710 It was just a divine appointment. But some point in time, 0:18:20.330 --> 0:18:22.630 you got to cross a bridge and get a little 0:18:22.670 --> 0:18:25.690 uncomfortable and share the truth with someone realizing, you know what? 0:18:27.470 --> 0:18:32.060 It may not 100% go well. Notice what the remembrance 0:18:32.100 --> 0:18:34.510 here is. How will they know if we do not 0:18:34.550 --> 0:18:40.100 tell them? And if not you, then who? And if 0:18:40.170 --> 0:18:46.260 not now, then when? Paul would write in Romans 10, 0:18:46.260 --> 0:18:50.420 how then will they call upon him, Christ, in whom 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:54.060 they have not believed? And how will they believe in 0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:58.670 him whom they've not heard? And how will they hear 0:19:00.750 --> 0:19:04.909 without a preacher? You know, one of the things I'm 0:19:04.970 --> 0:19:09.460 praying just for me, these baby steps for me, I'm praying, God, 0:19:09.500 --> 0:19:13.780 will you please, please help me begin to see people 0:19:13.820 --> 0:19:18.680 through your eyes, see their need, not their exterior. And 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:22.460 I'm practicing, kind of going into practice to act on 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:26.490 those good impulses. And one of the things I'm praying 0:19:26.530 --> 0:19:29.070 for me is just rather than an odd or should 0:19:29.109 --> 0:19:30.830 or guilt, I guess we could rub each other up 0:19:30.869 --> 0:19:32.810 for a couple weeks and let's love lost people, let's, 0:19:32.930 --> 0:19:35.439 you know, and then kind of sink back to the normal. 0:19:35.900 --> 0:19:38.580 I've been there, done that. I could get real emotional. 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.960 We've got her love. I'm sorry. I'm just kidding. Just kidding. 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:42.200 Right? 0:19:42.260 --> 0:19:43.590 I mean, have you been there? Right? You know? 0:19:44.890 --> 0:19:48.990 You know what instead I'm doing? I'm just, little tiny prayer. God, 0:19:49.430 --> 0:19:51.970 will you give me your love for people who don't 0:19:52.020 --> 0:19:54.780 know you? Would you help me love them so much 0:19:54.840 --> 0:19:56.100 that I wouldn't care what they think of me? 0:19:56.740 --> 0:19:57.400 Would you give me. 0:19:57.400 --> 0:20:00.160 Sensitivity that instead of it being about how much did 0:20:00.220 --> 0:20:01.919 I share, did I share the whole gospel, am I, 0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:04.280 would you just give me your love for them? Some 0:20:04.300 --> 0:20:06.119 of them probably aren't ready to hear this yet, but 0:20:06.300 --> 0:20:08.920 will you help me love them? And whether it's groceries 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:10.879 today or helping them with one of their kids or 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:13.420 doing something here or just inviting them over. And I 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:15.270 don't have to tell them anything about Jesus to start out. 0:20:15.310 --> 0:20:17.450 You know, tell me your story. How are you doing? 0:20:17.710 --> 0:20:20.510 Do you have any kids? Where's your biggest challenge? And then, 0:20:21.010 --> 0:20:25.170 you know, would you mind? I met an unbelieving guy 0:20:25.230 --> 0:20:27.300 recently and I don't know how we hit it off 0:20:27.340 --> 0:20:30.060 pretty quickly. And I just asked him, I said, God, 0:20:31.320 --> 0:20:33.440 Would you be offended if I prayed for you? Is 0:20:33.460 --> 0:20:35.320 there one thing I could pray for you? And he 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:37.020