Building God's Kingdom

Thank you so much for joining us today. My name is Tim Powell, and I have the privilege and the honor of being the campus pastor at our new life church, Greenbriar Campus. We are a non-denominational church located in the state of Arkansas with 19, about to be 20 campuses across the state. Our heart behind partnering with Pando through God Behind Bars is to allow your family an opportunity to connect to biblical community so that they can be growing in their walk with Christ at the same time that you were growing. So if you do have family in Arkansas, encourage them to check out newlifechurch.tv to find a campus that fits them. Thank you so much for being here. Now, let's listen in to today's message. All right, well, good morning church. Do me a favor and let's give God the praise that he deserves in this place today. Come on. I want to welcome everyone in that's listening and through our Pando out today. I appreciate you guys joining us. And I also just want to say this. We realize that in any given weekend that we have people that are visiting in from out of town. One of the things that we say all the time is we're not the best church. We're a church doing the best job we possibly can

to share the gospel and the love of Jesus Christ. But I want to encourage you to encourage those family members that you have around the state of Arkansas that may not be connected to biblical community yet to give one of our campuses a shot. We had 20 campuses, 19, about to be 20. We were about to launch one in Northwest Arkansas. We just launched our Sherwood campus. But if you have family that has not found a place, how many of you know that it's important to be connected to biblical community? We know that we have to be connected. And if you have people that you love and that you care about that has not been connected, I'm not talking about people that are already plugged into a church. That's not what I'm saying at all. But I'm saying if you know someone that is not connected to biblical community, encourage them to at least give a shot. If that doesn't work out for them, don't stop there. Find a place to get connected. How many of you know that we have to be connected in the season that we're living in right now? Amen. Well, listen, we kicked off a series last weekend on building God's kingdom. It was our family series. And how many of you want to build a stronger household? I know I do.

I want God to be in the center of everything that we do. I taught him this last week, but we know that Psalm 127 and one tells us that unless the Lord builds the house, that the builders labor in vain. Well, we want the Lord to build our church. We want the Lord to build our families. We want the Lord in the center of our relationships and then all that we do. But first, we cannot forget that God's asked us to build his kingdom. And that as the body of Christ, we have a responsibility. We have a job to do. And God has commissioned us and called us and empowered us not to just grow our kingdom, but to also grow his, amen? Well, in this series, we're gonna talk about several different things. We're gonna discuss marriage. We're gonna talk about raising children. How many of you know you need God in the center of raising your kids? Amen. (chuckles) School started back this week, and I'm really thankful for that. But you need to know, we're gonna talk about leaving a legacy and what our church family is called to do. But today, we're gonna do something a little bit different, Shocker, right?

And today, we're gonna give you some practical exercises. And we're gonna, this is more of an interactive service. So all of you people that thought you could just come in here on a Sunday morning and take a nap? Not today. (chuckles) It's gonna be a little bit different. But I believe that it's important. And it's so important that it's something that we've also been teaching our students. It's something that we hit on in our collide conference. And it's being taught across the state of Arkansas today. And it's important that we understand the calling that God has placed upon our life, but how are we supposed to respond to that? I know that there are a lot of people in this room that love Jesus, amen? Well, I believe we have a lot of people in this world that love the Lord, but they don't fear the Lord. But we also have a lot of people that have never been introduced to the Lord. So we have a responsibility as the body of Christ to introduce them to the only one that can save them. Jesus isn't just a way, he's the only way, amen? Well, personally, I didn't grow up on a church pew. You go, "What do you mean? You're a pastor. "You were supposed to be on a church pew "before you were born." I wasn't, I'd been a church two times by the time I was 14 years of age.

The first time scared me so bad, I said I would never go back to church again. Bad experience. Anybody ever had a bad experience in church? The second time, the only reason I win is because someone that I consider a true friend looked me in the face and lied to me. He invited me to a Valentine's banquet and told me there would be cute girls with this Valentine's banquet and he lied. There wasn't a single cute girl at this Valentine's banquet. I didn't meet a single one, Shelley was not there. That's a brownie point right there, right? I ended up bounding my knee to the Lord, full of questions, but enough faith to take that next step. We all have questions when it comes to our faith. As a matter of fact, I believe God designed it that way. So we're always growing. We're always digging into His Word. We're always trying to understand. And throughout scripture, there are areas that are very clear. And there are some areas that are not. We challenge people to make sure don't get high centered or hung up on the things that are not clear through scripture. There's a lot of different interpretations out there. Would you guys agree with that? Well, sometimes people turn into war

over differences of opinion and different interpretations in different areas, but there are certain areas throughout scripture that God is very clear on. And we're gonna talk about some of those areas today, but just because I surrendered my life to the Lord didn't mean that I had everything figured out. As a matter of fact, the next three years, I would classify myself as a Christian. I would raise my hand if someone asked me, but I didn't have what you would call a personal relationship with Jesus. Well, it wasn't until tragedy struck our home that I began to dig into His Word and begin to grow in a relationship with God. So God was able to take that pain and use it for a purpose that was far greater than anything that I could have ever imagined. I taught on this a couple of weeks ago. If you didn't, if you were not here for whatever reason, I encourage you. God will not waste our pain, amen? But it's through that pain that I begin to grow in my relationship with God. Well, if you were to look at my life as a baseball game, how many baseball players we have in here? Anybody love baseball? I do. I was just talking to a gentleman a little few minutes ago that I coached his son in tee ball with my son.

So that was a long time ago. Well, if you were to look at my life as a baseball game, there were innings that I put the ball in play, but there were some innings in my life that I struck out and I had to sit on the bench for a little while. Anyone ever struck out in an inning before? Well, we've all made mistakes. We've all fallen short, but it was through that process that God began to develop me and grow me through the last 50 years of my life. I know you think 50, he don't look 50. And look 60, no, don't say that. I've witnessed a lot of pain. I've witnessed a lot of sorrow. I've witnessed a lot of evil in this world. And it's through our testimony and through the experiences of our life. And personally, it's been through my experiences that God has created a hunger inside of me. And that hunger is to see as many people possible come to know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, that there's people that I love, that I don't want to go to heaven without. Why am I sharing this with you? Because our testimony is powerful and it's your testimony, but God will use that testimony to share with others. And today, we're gonna have some practical application. We're gonna have some interactive moments in this service

where you get to apply some of the things that you've learned. We've never done anything like this in a church service, but I believe God's gonna move. Amen? In Luke 15, seven, says I tell you that in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one. Everybody say one, one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent. Jesus has an incredible desire to reach those who are lost and expand his kingdom. We know this and he wants you to have that same desire and that same passion inside of you as well. I wanna ask you a question. By a show of hands, how many of you in this room would identify yourself as a Christian? Raise your hand. Raise it up high. We're not t-rexing it here, raise it up high. Okay, hold, leave it up, leave it up, leave it up. You're gonna hold your hand up all service. No, I'm just kidding, but hold it up for just a minute. Now, I want you to look around this room. Now, I'm not doing this. If you're here and you do not raise your hand, I'm not pointing you out. You can put your hands down. No, I'm pointing out the people that raised their hand today. If you raised your hand in this room today, it's filled with people that at some point in time,

you got to a place in your life where you said, God, I cannot do this on my own. I got I've tried and I failed miserably. Every person that raised your hand in this room today, you got to a place, if you truly identify yourself as a Christian, you got to a place where you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The Word of God says, if we believe in our hearts Well, that's not the finish line. And today we have multiple baptisms at the next service. That's not the finish line. That's the next step. The Word tells us that we should be public with our faith, to go public with our faith. And I've heard people say before, "Well, my relationship with God is private." No, it has never been designed to be private. It's designed to be personal. But God never designed our relationship with Him to be private. Jesus came to reach the lost. God bless you. And He's here for you as well. But I have a question for you. If everyone in Christianity shared their faith like you, like the way that you have been sharing your faith, if everyone shared their faith like you, would anybody be saved? He got really quiet in here. Now, I don't want you to feel condemnation around this. I want you to feel conviction from the Holy Spirit, because I believe that God has given us a job to do.

Now, how many of you know that there's times that, "Man, you just want to be alone. You just want to relax and spend some time out in the wilderness. But God has called us to share our testimony." Now, we had the privilege of getting away a couple of weeks ago and going to Montana. I'm convinced it's one of the most beautiful places in the world in August. I don't know about January. In August, it's definitely one of the most beautiful places in the world. And if I'm being a little transparent, I'm a pastor, right? Like, I went to relax. Like, I talk to people all day, every day. Like, "Man, we're getting away and I'm going to spend some time in the wilderness." My wife gets up and prays, "God, would you show me at least one person that I can pray with today?" I thought, "Well, that's a...maybe that's harmless." But we're on a trail and I'm like, "Man, look at the waterfall. Hey, look at all the people. Look at all the animals." She stops this family, cool family. I mean, a guy like had a 45 strapped to his chest and I'm like, "Well, that's a good family." At least I hope it's a good family. She starts talking to him and in 30 seconds, she said, "Can I pray for you?" I'm like, "Oh, here we go. I'm a pastor, just being real." He's heard some of their story and got to pray with them. And I was really proud of my wife at that moment and a little convicted at that moment as well because we do not take vacation from our testimonies. But what was cool is that couple or that family actually went one way on the trail and we went the other way on the trail and we met them halfway. I was breathing a little harder than he was.

But we didn't even get past them and they go, "Hey, what was the name of y'all's church? Hey, where is it at? Like, how can we find it?" I thought about that a lot beyond that point because God is going to place people in your life and give you the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with that may be on track to go to hell. Well, pastor, that's a little strong, isn't it? Yeah, it's reality. What if God places placing people in your path wherever you're at? Maybe you're listening in, maybe you're in this room. Maybe God is placing people on your path so that you can tell them why you have the faith and the hope that you have in a season of pain. You see that testimony in that moment with them, just a few minutes. In some cases, less than 60 seconds. I taught you several weeks ago about the importance of you need to be able to share your testimony in 30 seconds. Did you go 30 seconds? Yes, 30 seconds. You don't have to tell everybody what size shoes you wear, but in 30 seconds, you can clearly articulate why you have the hope that you have in difficult seasons of your life. That's the first contact. Typically, the second time you get around two minutes. But how do we share our testimony in such a way that it makes an impact? And why do we do it? Some people would say, "No, sharing our testimony is not that important." No, I would take it a step further and say that sharing our testimony is the most important calling that we have. Some would say, "No, it's discipleship, no, it's Bible study, no, it's ministry," whatever. No, I believe our testimony is the most important calling that God places in our life, and I'll prove it to you. In the 1700s Amsterdam was known for its amazing cathedrals and places of Christian worship. There would be people that would travel from all of the world to Amsterdam to be able to visit these amazing churches.

Just incredible. They would travel in in hopes of drawing closer to God. We know that you don't have to go to a place to experience God's presence. But it was incredible the way that this area was growing. Amsterdam is now known for its heavy drug usage and human trafficking. The church buildings have been converted into museums, libraries, and there's one that we even have a picture of. I'm going to ask her to put up. It's been converted into a skate park. This was a place that at one time people came together to worship God and to get in His Word. Well, what happened? I'll tell you what happened. People stopped sharing their testimony. People stopped sharing their faith. And we say, well, God's moving in our world right now. I'll agree with that. I will agree with that. Well, there was like 4,000 people that were baptized. This last month, that's right. But if you look, and we're not going to put it up, and I won't teach on this at a different time, but I shared with some of our staff this morning, you know, in the early 40s, if you were to ask someone if they were connected or a member of a church of some kind between 70 and 71 percent would say, yes. You know what it is today, like 43 percent. They go, well, that must have changed on the backside of COVID. Well, no, actually, the decline began before COVID hit. So what does that tell us? Well, what it tells us is that we have a responsibility, and we can't just look at the number of people that are coming in here on a Sunday or a Saturday night and say, oh, well, must

be doing something right. Now, we need to live with a sense of urgency in our life in every place that we go and every person that we come in contact with. You are carrying the greatest news in the world. And the majority of you in this room raised your hand just a few minutes ago and identified yourself as a Christian. As I teach through this today, I want you to think about that one person. Everyone has the one. I want you to think about that one person that you need to share your faith with. There are people who listen to me. There are people who if they don't meet Jesus, they're going to die and go to hell. It's just reality. But if they meet Jesus, they could be delivered from the hell that they're in right now. Well, that responsibility is not just upon the pastors and the leaders of a church. That responsibility falls upon all of us as the body of Christ. What our world desperately needs is for you to be that name to someone else. Who is the one? Acts 1 8 says, but you will receive power. Everybody say power? You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. You know, well, I don't live in Israel. I want you to look at Jerusalem as your family. I want you to look at Judea as your friends, the people that you come in contact with, the people that you're in school with. I want you to look at Samaria as your enemies. Oh, yeah, man, you want me to share my testimony with my enemies? Yes. The ends of the earth, I want you to look at the ends of the earth as someone that you

have not met yet. It may be someone on a trail while you're on vacation in the middle of the woods with the people that you do not know. You know, when we talk about the gospel, you may wonder, well, what is the gospel? Well, if you look in the Greek, the word for gospel in the Greek is euangelion and it means a public declaration of victory. Everybody say victory? Well, we sing that there's victory in Jesus, don't we? Or are we sharing the victory that we have experienced? You ever noticed, though, that some people, you don't have any problem sharing about certain topics and certain areas of your life? You ever noticed that? I mean, like, when you first started dating your spouse, think about this. Think about the way that you let the world know. Those love notes got kisses all over them. the things you used to say. I know Jonathan said that at some point in time to go, you don't wear a cowboy hat in church and don't say that at least once. (audience laughs) Good night, baby, boo, boo, boo, boo. (audience laughs) You know what happens? In the end, what about grandparents? I can't make fun of the people that are younger because the grandparents, you guys are even worse. You're sharing pictures of these grandchildren. You're like, "Look at my grandson. "He's the most beautiful thing in the world. "Everyone that looks at him says he looks like a Martian.

(audience laughs) "He's the ugliest kid they've ever seen, "but boy to a grandparent, they are gorgeous." So we don't have a problem sharing about the things that we love and we care about. Oh, he went there. But why don't we find it so difficult to share about our faith? (audience laughs) You'll discuss who the greatest of all time basketball player is, which we know was Michael Jordan. Okay, we'll move on. We're not even gonna talk. LeBron, hoo! (audience laughs) Point number one, if you're taking notes. Now, Jesus came seeking the lost. I'm gonna give you five reasons while we should all be sharing our faith and declaring our faith. The first one is because that is why Jesus came. Jesus came seeking the lost. Luke, 1910 says, "For the Son of Man," which is Jesus, he came to seek and to save the lost. I'm really glad about that. How many of you are thankful for that? I know I am. As a Christian, we're called to walk with Jesus and act like Jesus and love like Jesus and forgive like Jesus,

but we're also called to seek others with the same love that Jesus has. So how do we do that? I'm gonna teach you today. But the truth is, we do a lot more hiding than we do seeking though, don't we? How many of you like football? I love football. That's God's sport just for the record. I'm convinced that God loves football. Well, you take a football player, for example, weighs approximately 200 pounds. You give him the football, sending to the end zone. And he gets totally destroyed by 200, 300 pound men. That's 600 pounds of force. Any way you look at it, you don't have to be a mathematician. Like a train wreck, out cold, seeing Tweety Bird flying over his head, slapping him around a little bit, put him back in the huddle. And what's the first thing he says? Give me the ball. Let me run it again. But why is it that same person can come to church and walk through the door and for whatever reason, nobody say hi to him or the coffee not be strong enough and get offended and say, I'm not going back to that place. Reality is in your walk with Christ,

you're gonna get busted in the mouth sometimes. That's just reality. The devil is gonna do everything in his power to get his, isn't he? We know this. But just like that football player gets back up and gets back in the huddle, we have to be believers that do the same thing. You go, well, you know, I just don't have time. No, you have time for what you make a priority in your life. That's just reality. Well, we're in the middle of ball season and we're this season and practicing this and doing this and going to that. Well, whose fault is that? The last time I checked a five year old doesn't drive themselves to sign up for four different sports. What are you making a priority in your family? Because at the end of the day, when they get in their car and they drive off to college, let me tell you what you pray that they have. You're gonna pray that they have a solid foundation built upon God's word and connections to biblical community and godly friends in their life so that when they come into problems, they've got someone they can pick up the phone and call. They're not gonna remember how many dusty trophies are in the top of your attic. I was one of those parents.

I've been there. I watched my son get in his truck, drive off to college. I was not thinking about how many sports he played, how well he did. I was like, God, I pray that I, I pray that I taught him what I could about what was really important. So it's important that we as the body of Christ, not only are we seeking and reaching out to those around us and the people in our community that we come into contact with, we have a responsibility as parents to make sure that we're putting Christ as the most important person in our family as well. This next service will probably have to pull seats out. We know historically that the week after school starts back, people start getting into a routine again, and I'm not saying anything against vacations. I love vacations and getting away. I'm not saying that. But why do we have such a high increase after school gets back and such a decrease in the summertime? It's because we place priority on things above coming to church and being a part of biblical community. That's just reality, but I'm glad you're here. But how do we respond to that? How do we move forward? The second reason why we should be sharing our faith is it proves you're a Christ follower.

It's the evidence that God calls us to have. Mark 1 17 says, "Then Jesus said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.'" Well, that implies that if you're not fishing for men and sharing your faith, then sharing your faith, then you must not be following Jesus. That's what that applies. Sometimes we try to redefine what being a Christian is, though, don't we? Well, I go to church some. I have a Bible. You know, I was a part of a life group one time. No, to be a Christian means that you live your life like Jesus. You use the example that He gave us. That we do everything in our power. We're going to make mistakes. You're going to have innings where you strike out. You're going to have to sit on the bench for a little while. But also, God has called us to get back in the game. And that's my challenge to you guys this morning. Just get back in the game. We cannot change the past. I quote this all the time. We can't do anything about the past, but starting today, we can change the future. We can change how we end. Maybe you've heard the saying before, preach the gospel and use words only when necessary. Don't say that. That's an easy way out.

You can only preach the gospel with your words. Yes, your life can be a testimony, but no one is going to look at that and say, you know what I need to do is now we should live our life in such a way where people ask us why we have hope and what we do, but there is a second step to that responsibility. It goes further than that. Number three, it's why you have the Holy Spirit power. And you go, well, you know, Pastor, I just sometimes I'm uncomfortable sharing my faith and I don't know the right words to share. And sometimes it's a little intimidating for me. Well, the good news is is you don't have to do it on your own because God has given you the Holy Spirit power that you need to be able to share the gospel with those around you. Acts 1 and 8 says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And then it goes on, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all of J.A. and Sumerian to the ends of the earth. We've already talked about that. But it's the power of the Holy Spirit that allows you to be able to have those conversations in a time when you don't know what to say. In other words, God's saying, I'm giving you the power so that you can be my witness. And the Holy Spirit, it doesn't give power just to some pastor or some preacher or someone that has a microphone.

Know as a Christ follower, when you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior, that power is extended to you as well. I watched it so many times this summer we were able to send out two different mission teams this summer. One to Costa Rica and one to Peru. And I watched people from all different walks of life set aside their pride and everything else. Everybody from truck drivers to nurses. And pray with the power of the Holy Spirit. Watch people get healed. Hey God, why is it so much easier for that to happen on a mission trip in another country, but so difficult here? Well, the reality is is because of the distractions that we face here, we set aside when we go on mission. My challenge to you is let's live on mission every day, every place in our schools, in our workplace. Number four, it explains our source of hope. A first Peter 3 15 says always be prepared. Everybody say always, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. This is a call to each and every one of us. You know, I heard about an experiment. It was actually one of our pastors, one of the campus pastors shared an experiment that scientists did with a group of mice. They took a bucket, they filled it with water swimming. They took them out. They dried them off. They gave them a snack. Let them rest. They put them right back in the same bucket of water. Except the second time, they swam

for 60 hours. 15 minutes to 60 hours. What was the difference? It was because they knew when they were swimming that someone was coming to save them. We have hope when we're in the midst of chaos and trouble because we know that Jesus is not going to leave us there and that we can walk through those storms. We can walk through those seasons of life when it feels like the world is caving in upon us because we know we're not walking through it alone. He's not going to abandon you. He will never leave you and he will never forsake you. Number five, it is a sin not to share. You go, whoa, wait a minute. James 4 17 says if anyone, everybody say anyone, if anyone then knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them. So we know that God has called us to share our faith. We know that God has called us to be fishers of men. But when we don't do it, we're denying the purpose and the plan that he has in our life, you go, man, I'm just scared to do that. I don't know how to do that. Well, we're fixing to do something that we've never done inside of a Sunday service or a Saturday service for that. No, I can't say that we did it last night. But I'm going to give you three separate exercises and then I'm going to give you 60 seconds on each one to practice with a person next to you. You go, well, I'm not talking to that person. You can you can shuffle around your seat if you want to. Well, they're going to talk to you and they'll just get used to doing this for someone that has a bad attitude. But, let me tell you why sharing our personal story is so important. I can stand up here and speak for 35 minutes after preparing for 35 hours and finish. You guys will be like, what's for lunch? I can call one of these students up here right now and let them share their testimony and you guys will stand up and give a standing ovation. I don't know if it's because I'm that bad of a preacher or not. Maybe that's part of it. But there's power in our testimony. Well, how do we do that? How do we share our testimony? Revelation 1211 says, "They triumph over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony." Their testimony. They did not love their their life so much as to shrink from death. Maybe you know exactly how to share your testimony. Well, I'm going to give you some very clear practical easy steps for sharing your testimony and you're

going to get to practice it today because I've tried giving you people homework and you don't do it. So, we're going to do it in here this morning. I'm going to slide I want to put up for you. Here's three very simple very easy phrases that you can share today and moving forward. Three phases, just a few sentences. And this is how you share that testimony. Before Jesus, before I met Jesus, before Jesus was in my life, I was blank. You filled it in personally. Then Jesus blank. Do you fill it in? And since then blank. So, was then since. For me, I would say before Jesus, I was full of fear. I was full of pride and anxiety. And then Jesus found me and he showed me his love. And since then, I found true joy and confidence and I found purpose in my life. That was less than 30 seconds. I want you to take just a second and I want you to think through this. And then I'm going to set a clock and I'm going to give you 60 seconds. And I want you to turn to the person next to you. And I want you to share your testimony with the person sitting next to you. Ready? One, two, three, go. Turn into it right now. [Music] [Music] [Music] Okay, if you guys can hear me clap twice. Oh my goodness, come on, church. If you can hear me clap twice. (clapping) Much better. I don't think you're as coordinated as Saturday night, but the jury's still out. So in 60 seconds, you just took time out of your day to share your testimony with the person next to you. Seems silly, didn't it? It seems simple. It may be one of the most powerful things that you ever have the opportunity to do.

So you just shared your testimony. So what do we do next? Well, when you see someone going through a hard time, you can say, "I know you're going through a tough season." Can I tell you what helped me? So you just shared your testimony, and you come into contact with someone that's walking through a storm. And you say, "Listen, can I just share with you "really quick what turned things around for me in my life?" This is the second exercise. This is where you explain where the hope is found. I say, "Well, my life changed when I prayed a prayer "as simple as ABC. "It wasn't complicated. "It was very simple, but my life changed at that moment." Now let me tell you the tendency that some of you with a little touch of religious spirit get, you want to start adding three or four scriptures into this. Well, let me take you to Chronicles, and they go, "Cronicles, I'm not in anything, what are you talking about?" (audience laughs) No, keep it simple, keep it simple. This is that first step. I've got another slide for you. ABC. My life changed when I prayed a prayer as simple as ABC. That prayer was as I had to get to a place where I had to admit, had to admit that I was a sinner who needed forgiveness. But through that I had to believe.

I chose to believe that Jesus died and rose again for my sin. And C is I had to confess. I confessed him as Lord and asked his forgiveness as easy as A, B, C. So now we're gonna do that same exercise. You got 60 seconds. Now I want you to do the same thing with the person next to you. So you know what? Let me share with you where I found hope in a storm. One, two, three, go. (upbeat music) (audience singing) (audience singing) (audience singing) (audience singing) (audience singing) (audience singing) (audience singing) (audience singing) (audience singing) (audience singing) (audience singing) ♪ Won't drain in the middle of time ♪ ♪ Time ♪ ♪ Who's next to out of the battery ♪ ♪ Time ♪ ♪ Time ♪ ♪ Would you do I know to see ♪ ♪ Time ♪ ♪ Be alive ♪

♪ Tell me who's to be ♪ ♪ Time ♪ You can hear my voice clap twice. Hey, you guys are catching on. So you just finished with someone that maybe was going through a difficult season, somebody in your workplace, somebody in school. You showed them what it meant to admit, believe, and confess. And then comes a very important question. Hey, can I ask you something? Have you ever made that decision to invite Jesus into your life and be forgiven of your sins? You would be surprised at people that you have contact with on a daily basis that would say, you know, no, not really, or maybe when I was a kid, I think, maybe, when I was... I was. Are you ready at this moment to receive Jesus?" Well, yeah, I would, but I don't know how. Let me show you how. Last night, I walked everyone through this, and standing here, I'm not walking you through it. I want you to walk the person next to you through it. So we've got another slide I want you to put up. This is as easy and simple of a salvation prayer that I can give you. And it's very important that you allow them an opportunity and time to pray that prayer themselves. So don't just say it, but allow them the opportunity to pray that prayer. So what that means is you have to pause and give them an opportunity. I'll give you an example, "Dear God," and let them say, "Dear God,"

I admit that I've sinned and paused. So what I want you to do is I'm going to take 60 more seconds, and I want you to turn to the person sitting next to you, and I want you to lead them through this prayer right here. You're going to practice. One, two, three, go. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. And you're going to be able to help you. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. You're going to be able to do that. Okay, instead of having you clap twice, I want to explain something to you. What if you just led that person to Jesus? You just walked through the importance of your testimony. You just walked through and you did it. Not me. Of explaining where you find hope in the midst of a storm. And then you showed them how. But let me tell you what you're going to face at times. You're going to have people that say, "You know what? I would really like to, but you don't know what I've done." And then that's not scripted. That is the word of God. Because you have to understand that Jesus, while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us.

And there's no sin too big that my God can't handle. But the enemy wants to convince you that you're not worthy. You're not good enough and that you could never have a relationship with Jesus. And that is a lie from the devil. And I want you to hear that right now. I don't care what you've done. I don't care what mistakes you've made. And I'm not saying that that means that there's no longer consequences to our actions. But I am telling you that we serve a God that loved us so much that He sent His only Son to die on a cross. So that we could be forgiven. Couldn't He have just forgiven us? He's a just God. Someone had to pay for that sin. And He chose to send His Son to pay. So when you say things like, "Well, I'm just not worthy of forgiveness." Or you don't know what I've done in the past. What you're saying is, "Oh, so what you're telling me is that God should have hung on that cross a little bit longer." So he should have taken another last year. I want to encourage and challenge and empower and commission you guys that as we leave here today of where you're at, wherever you're at, as you're listening in. If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, there's somebody you need to share that with. Because you never know the impact that it could make for God's kingdom and for their future, amen? Bow your heads, let me pray for you. Father, I thank you so much for this opportunity. I thank you for your word and God, I thank you that we don't have to just assume everyone else is going to do what you have empowered and called us to do. So, Father, today I just pray a conviction from the Holy Spirit that would you just give us a gentle nudge? Maybe it's a conversation, maybe it's a classroom, maybe it's in our workplace, maybe it's someone that we have a ride to and from work, maybe it's someone that maybe just came to us with a question about the Bible. And Father, right now, I just ask that you empower each and every one of us. Give them the courage, the confidence, and the opportunity to share the love that can

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