How to Talk About God Without Knowing Everything

Oh, come on, 127 baptisms, you can do better than that. Praise be to God. Wow, wow, wow, wow. We could just close up shop for the day and go home. We've had church already y'all. Well, welcome everybody to church today here in Yorktown and Newport News, Virginia Beach, online. Of course, the men at Indian Creek were so incredibly thrilled that you're here, by the way, if you missed last Sunday, if you missed it, sorry, sorry, but if you missed it, it was an incredible experience. But if you're thinking man, I really wish I really wish I had been one of those to get baptized. I wish I'd have been number 128 or 129 or 130. There's a baptism coming up in June. You can register today to be baptized and I promise you this, with the same excitement, the same fervor, the same energy that we celebrated last Sunday, we'll celebrate your baptism in June as well. Come on, can you encourage somebody today? Take a step and be baptized. Well, we are so thrilled that you're here and as we do every week, I want to take just a moment and give our church family some opportunity to show love to the men and women in our military, those who serve our country, many of whom are here. You and your family mean so much to us. Many are deployed watching online. We love you and we pray for you today. We're in a series called testify and God's been working powerfully through this incredible series.

We've been learning that if God has done something for you, if he's been good to you, if he saved you, if he's forgiven you, if he's provided for you, if you've ever been anxious and he gave you peace, if you've ever needed him to come through and comfort you and he's comforted you, if you've ever prayed and he's answered you, then you've got something to share. You've got a story to tell. You've got an opportunity to testify and we've been learning that all series long. But here's the challenge that a lot of us face is that when we think about testifying, when we think about sharing our faith, when we think about saying something about Jesus outside of these four walls, a lot of us get afraid. A lot of us are fearful that, hey, somebody's going to ask me a hard question or somebody's going to call me a hypocrite or somebody's going to need me to explain a difficult verse in the Bible or somebody's going to want to argue with me about faith or I'm going to offend somebody if I testify. And so we let fear cause us to remain silent. But all series long, we've been learning that to testify doesn't mean you have to be an expert. It doesn't mean you have to have read a book. Doesn't mean you have to have taken a seminary class. It doesn't mean you have to be able to enter into a debate. Doesn't mean you have to be able to answer hard questions. It just means that you have to have had an experience, an experience that has changed your life that you can share with others. In fact, that little word testify, every time we see it all throughout the New Testament, it just means to share

something from a firsthand experience to share what has happened to you. And that's exactly what this man we've been looking at all series from the Bible did. There's a man in the Gospel of John who was born blind and he encounters Jesus or better yet, Jesus encounters him and Jesus heals him, gives him his sight. In the moment, the man can see the religious leaders of that day, pull him in and start asking him all kinds of questions, start causing him to need to answer all sorts of theological debates. And instead of entering into all of that and instead of shrinking back in silence, the man speaks up and this is what we built our whole series on, this one theme scripture from the Bible where it says this, the man said, I don't know, speaking of Jesus, I don't know whether he's a sinner, the man replied, but this is what I know. I know this, I was blind and now I can see and that's how you testify. You just have to say I was this but now I'm not, this is the difference that Jesus has made in my life and today, today I'm just trying to give us all permission. That's my goal today. I want to give you permission today to testify, permission to live out what Jesus has called all of us to be. The Bible says this, these are Jesus's words. Jesus said you will be my, and everybody say the last word with me, my witnesses. That's what Jesus said about you, that you're going to be his witness, you're going to be.

Telling others from a firsthand experience what you have experienced. Notice Jesus doesn't say, you will be my attorney. He didn't say that. No offense to all the attorneys in the room. We love you. We're grateful for you, but Jesus doesn't need a defense attorney. You might one day. I might one day, but not Jesus. Jesus just needs a witness. Jesus says, and that's what I'm calling you to be. I'm calling you to be my witness. I want you to say, this is what I've seen. This is what I've experienced. This is how my life has been changed. And that's how you testify. So I'm giving you, I've given you permission today. My whole goal in this sermon is to set you free from fear, to release you from insecurities and doubts and worries and concerns and to send you out on mission with permission to testify. Permission changes everything. When I was in seminary getting my master's degree, I, as a little side hustle, a little side job on the weekends, I drove a limousine. Your boy was a chauffeur, everybody. All right. And Tabitha and I, we just got married and we were so broke. I mean, we were, I mean, we were, we were so poor and we drove these old, you know, ratchety, broke down cars. But on the weekend, I drove a limousine. I drove a beautiful black Lincoln stretch limo. And I, and I actually would keep it with me on campus all weekend long. Cause I would drive people all weekend, all weekend, all weekend long. And surely, surely all of our neighbors on campus must've thought somebody rich and famous lives in this 400 square foot duplex. Somebody had to felt that they actually, the stretch limo was bigger than the duplex we lived in. All right. And, and I thought it was just so cool. You know, it was in my early twenties. I just thought it was so cool. This beautiful car that I got to drive on the weekends. And I always wanted to take Tabitha, my wife out, um, in the car. I wanted, I wanted her to experience limo life. I wanted, I wanted to take her in the car, but something you need to know about Tabitha is that she is a rule follower. Okay. Girl, don't break the rules. All right. You give her a rule and she is locked in on the rule. There are no, she will not break a rule. And, um, and, and so she would not get in this limousine cause she thought, well, she thought that would be breaking a rule. She thought, you know, I'd get in trouble if I, if we were spotted out driving around and tooling around town in a limousine with her sitting beside me. So she would never get in the limousine until finally one day, one day I driven long enough. I built enough trust with the owner of the company that he says to me one day, he says, Hey, um, he says, if you ever,

if you ever want to like take the car out and like, I don't know, maybe like take your wife out on a date or something, feel free, feel free. He gave me permission. So that night I come home. I'm like, babe, you're not gonna believe this, but he gave me permission. Let's go for a ride. Let's go for a ride. And that's the day it all changed. It all changed for Tabitha. Cause every single time I had that limousine at home, she's like, we're going for a ride. Take me somewhere. Drive me somewhere. Chauffeur me somewhere. Girl got chauffeured to the food line. She didn't care. She was just like, take me somewhere. It was like a scene from home alone. She's sitting in the back ordering pizza, living large. And all it took everywhere around that there she is in the back of the limousine. I'm just chauffeuring her around. All it took was a little permission. That's all it took. And as I've dreamed about today, I'm just going to tell you my dream. I've just, I just, I feel like the same. I feel like today I'm giving you the keys to the limo. I'm giving you the keys to the Lincoln town car, and I'm giving you permission. Go drive it. Take, take it around town, take it down to the food line, take it up to the Starbucks, take it to your office, take it to your school. Cause I'm giving you permission now to testify everywhere you go, to testify, to share, to tell others what God has done in your life. The difference he's made in your life. This is, Hey, this is part of God's purpose for your life. It's part of God's plan for your life that you would testify. In fact, the Bible says this, the Bible says that we are now look at this. We are Christ's ambassadors. And then notice it says, this is who you are. If you're a follower of Jesus today, then you are an ambassador of Jesus Christ. It's part of your purpose. It's hardwired into you. It's part of now your DNA. It's who he made you and created you to be an ambassador of Christ. What is an ambassador? An ambassador is someone who represents the one who sent them. An ambassador represents the one who sent them. speaks on behalf of the one who holds the power. So I'm not saying you gotta walk out of here and hold all this power. You don't have to walk out of here and have all this knowledge. You don't have to walk out of here and be an expert in nothing.

Y'all listening? But what you can do is walk out of here and speak on behalf of the one who sent you, the one who does hold the power, the one who knows it all, who is omniscient and omnipresent and has all power. You are an ambassador of Jesus Christ and he's made you, designed you, created you to live on purpose, to testify to others as to what God has done for you. Let me show you some of Jesus's final words. We call these words from Jesus, the great commission. Have you heard that phrase before, the great commission? Notice it is not called the great suggestion. Everybody, this is not Jesus suggesting something to us. It is us, it is him commissioning us to something. He's sending us to something. Some of Jesus's final words to his followers to set the expectation on how they're to live their life and how to move the mission and message of Jesus forward. And this is what Jesus says, the great commission. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, Jesus says. And how do you do that? How do you go and make disciples? You testify. That's how you do it, you testify. The original language of the Bible is probably better translated. Therefore, as you are going, make disciples. As you are going, in other words, everywhere you go,

as you're going to school, as you're going to practice, as you're going to work, as you're going to Starbucks, as you're going to the grocery store in a limousine, as you go, as you are going, you testify. And in testifying, you're making disciples. What I'm trying to say is you don't even have to make a special trip to testify. It just becomes part of your normal, everyday life. You just have to be willing to share as you go. That's how you testify. You share as you go. And today, here's what I wanna do. I wanna give you five things you can share to testify. Five things from the Bible. I'm gonna show you these straight from Scripture today. Five things that you can share to testify. And all five of these, you can do as you're going, as you're going. You don't have to take a special trip somewhere. You don't have to plan a mission trip somewhere overseas. These are just five things you can share as you're going. And I'd love it today if you'd write down these five, and I'll tell you why. Because at the end of our time together, I'm gonna ask you to choose one of the five to practice this week. One of the five. One of the five to practice this week. So write down these five things I'm giving you permission today to share.

Here's the first one. I'm giving you permission today to share. Number one, to share your life. It's one of the greatest ways. One of the greatest ways to testify is to just simply open your mouth and share your life with others. It's a great way to testify. Live authentically and genuinely with others who do not know the Lord. Just live with them. Just live among them. Just share your life with them. The Bible says it like this. The Bible says, live such good lives. Now notice it doesn't say live bad lives, everybody. It says, live such good lives among your unbelieving neighbors that they see the good things. Notice it doesn't say bad things. That they see the good things you do and will honor God by believing. Just by living a good life, letting your neighbors see the good things you do. That means you gotta be a good neighbor. That means if you still got Christmas lights on your house this month, take them down. That means if your dog barks in the middle of the night, shut him up. Y'all listening?

Like you gotta be a good neighbor. You can't be acting all crazy as a neighbor. This won't work. But if you are living a good life so that they see your good deeds, your good acts, your good living, that's a means by which you can testify. Just let them see. Just let others see how authentically and genuinely you follow Jesus. Just let others see how you love your spouse and raise your kids. Just let others see. Just let them see how you pray. Prioritize your church. Prioritize your group. Prioritize your faith. You know one of the best ways to have an impact in your neighbor's lives? Host a group at your house every week. Those group members show up consistently every Tuesday night, block up the street with traffic. What's going on at your house? Why do you have a party every Tuesday night? Oh, that's my group from my church. You wanna come join in? It's one of the best ways. Because what are you doing? You're just living a good life, letting your neighbors see the good things you do.

And the next thing you know, they're gonna wanna know why. It's living your life. Sharing your life with them is a great way to testify. And you don't have to be perfect. I'm not saying you gotta be perfect. But you gotta be different, everybody. Hello, you gotta be different. You can't live just like everybody. You gotta live a good life, doing good things. And you share your life with them. This is why the Bible says just two simple words in this verse, it's so powerful, though. Just two simple words, practice hospitality. Practice it, like do it. Be hospitable to your neighbor. Open your home. Let unbelieving friends, neighbors, relatives, let them see the behind the scenes of your life. Let them see how you live. Be hospitable to the people in your neighborhood, to the people at your school, to the people on your team, to the people at your work, to the people who serve you at the restaurant. Be hospitable, be nice, be kind, be caring, be inviting, be friendly. Be a good tipper. Hello? This is how you practice hospitality. Can I tell you something about people today,

maybe more so than ever before, people today. People today are lonely and looking for genuine connection. People are lonely and looking for genuine connection. And God has actually strategically placed you where you live, where you work, where you go to school, the team you're on, God has strategically placed you to meet that need with your life so that others can see your life and be drawn to Jesus. It's a means by which you can testify. So you share your life with people who don't know Jesus. Okay, here's number two. I'm giving you permission today. Share your, number two, share your church. Share your church. And why wouldn't you? Because your church is awesome. Yeah, it is. Yes, it is. It's awesome. So share it. Say, hey, why don't you come sit with me at church? If you're watching online, hey, why don't you watch online with me at church? It's one of the easiest ways to testify. You just share your, you share your church. This is basically what the Samaritan woman at the well did in the Gospel of John chapter four. And you've probably heard this story before. There's a sinful woman who's drawing water from a well and Jesus encounters her and they have a dialogue

and Jesus basically sees right through all of her stuff and says, hey, I just want you to know that you're here drawing water from this well, but you're really looking for a water that's gonna quench a thirst that's deeper than your physical thirst. You're really here because you're looking for meaning and purpose and significance. And Jesus says, and I can give to you a water that'll cause you to never thirst again. I can give to you the living water because that's who I am. I am living water. And the woman is so taken by the testimony of Jesus, by his own testimony that she runs back and look at what the Bible says about her. It says the woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, testifying to everyone, come and see, come and see. Everybody said those words with me. Come on, come and see. Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Just come and see. Just come and see. What if you told that this week? Hey, God's working in our church. 126, seven. Woo, get fired up. One more, 127.

People got baptized on Sunday. You wanna come and see? And that's a testimony. That's how you testify and share your church. Just come and see, give it a try. And I know there are a bunch of you. I'm so thankful for you. A bunch of you use our. Invite cards, there's plenty of them at the invite kiosk. Right out in the lobby, you use our invite cards and you share our church. There's a bunch of you who post and repost things on social media about our church. That's awesome. There's a bunch of you who text your friends and invite them to church. That's incredible. There's a bunch of you and you help us spread the word and that's awesome and you're awesome. Please keep that up, please. It's a great way to testify. But I wanna take it a step further today. You might remember this, about a month ago, we introduced these one more cards. These cards are available at the invite kiosk. They're also available for you online with a digital link. And these cards aren't for you to take and give out. These cards are for you to take and hold on to because they're a reminder to us that there's somebody in our life,

somebody in our life right now that is close to us but far from Jesus and His church. There's somebody close to you but not close at all to Jesus, not close at all to His church and that's your one more. That's the person that God has placed in your life for you to say, come and see, come and see, come and experience. I wanna give you permission to testify to them. And when you do, listen, with your one more, don't just drop an invite card and walk away. With your one more, don't just say it once and forget it. Don't just make the invitation and then leave it hanging. No, no, no, no, I'm saying with your one more, the person close to you but far from Jesus and His church, with that one more, don't just say, come and see, say, I'm gonna come and get you to see. Like, bring them, bring them, like bring them with you. Bring them with you, like compel them to come. Entice them to come, bribe them to come. Like, if somebody invited you today and this is your first time, you're sitting with the person who invited you today, after this service, you should look at them and say, hey, where are you taking me to lunch today? Huh, because I came to church with you, where are you taking me? Like, there's, I don't think I've ever talked about this, how to bring somebody to church, but you get them here. And when you get them here, you don't just say,

hey, I hope to see you there, no, no, no, no. You say, I'm gonna pick you up, we're gonna go to brunch. You say, I'm gonna meet you at the front doors, I'll be waiting for you, don't leave me hanging. You, listen, you say, I bought your ticket, I got your reserved seat. You don't have to tell them how much it cost. And then you, you host them when they're here. You introduce them to your friends. You make sure that they meet the campus pastor and staff. You fix them a cup of coffee. Then you give them a breath mint when it's done. You sit with them in the service. You say, I'm gonna meet you at the front doors, I'll be waiting for you in the service. When we say tap the seat back in front of you to fill out the form if you're a first time guest, you take their phone and tap the seat back with their phone. At the end of the service, when I say every head bowed, every eye closed. You bow your head, close one eye, keep the other one open. Because the moment they give their heart and life to Jesus, it changes everything for you. And when they say yes to Jesus, you take them out to the change wall. You get them a change box. You come with them to growth track. You stand beside them when they get baptized. Hey, I'll make you a deal. You wanna be in the water with them when they get baptized.

Come on, we'll put you in the water too. Be careful, Pastor Ben, my legs sweep you and take you down with them. This is how you share your church. Now watch what happens when you do. Watch what happens when you do. The Bible says this. The Bible says many will see what he has done and be amazed and they will put their trust in the Lord. Come on, can we believe that for our one mores today? They're coming to Jesus. They're gonna put their trust in Jesus. I believe it, I believe it. And it happens when you share your church. I'm giving you permission, giving you permission to share your church. Number three, number three, I'm giving you permission to share your pain. It's one of the greatest ways to testify. To share your pain with others, to testify. One of the most powerful and compelling parts of your testimony is to share how God worked through your pain. Do you know that people? will admire your strengths, but people will actually be drawn to your pain. They'll relate to your pain. They'll connect to your pain. It's one of the greatest ways to connect with others. Pain connects us.

Oh, you had cancer, I had cancer. We're connected. Oh, you had a miscarriage, I had a miscarriage. You're struggling with infertility, I struggle with infertility. You lost somebody in your life, I lost somebody in my life. The next thing you know, you're connected because of pain. A couple months back, I was preaching to our students at student night, and I testified, and I shared about my pain as a senior in high school and watching my dad walk out on us. And the next day, I got a text message from a single mom in our church, and she just wrote this. She said, I wanted to take a minute to thank you for sharing the story of your father with the students on Sunday night. She went on to tell me the story of her son, whose dad walked out and is absent. And then this is what she said. She said, your message gave him hope, her son. Your message let him know he isn't alone. And that's what happens when you share your pain. She didn't send me that text message because of a funny story I told when I preached that sermon. She didn't send me that text message because of a scripture I taught the students that night. She didn't send it because of some action point

or deep theological truth or answer to a difficult question. She didn't send me that text message for any of those reasons. She sent it because of the pain I shared. And I just wanna give you permission today that God wants to use your pain as your testimony. The biggest wounds make for the biggest testimonies. There can be purpose in your pain. And when you take whatever point of pain that you've experienced and from that place, you begin to serve others and help others and care for others and testify to others. God will use that pain to help them and to heal you. I'll show you, the Bible says it like this. The Bible says he, and that's God. God comforts us in all our troubles. Oh, yes he does. That's some of our testimonies today. God has comforted me in my troubles. But look why, not just for your comfort, but so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort that God has given to us. You're his ambassador, you're his witness. You're making disciples as you go. And you're doing it through your pain. Stop thinking you gotta show everybody how strong you are. It's okay. It's okay to show people the pain you've experienced. But listen, don't stop there.

That's the mistake some of us make. Some of us stop there. Some of us talk about how much pain we've had in our life, how terrible our life has been, how hard our life has been. We leave out the most important part of the story. But God, but God. And if you've got a but, God's still part of your pain, you oughta tell it to somebody. God comforted me, God helped me, God healed me, God came through for me, God was with me. Use the comfort you've experienced from God during your pain to help others who are in pain. Point people to a God that helps, a God who heals. A God who is near to the brokenhearted. A God who saves those who are crushed in spirit. This is our God. And I've experienced it in the midst of pain, I wanna share it with others. I'm giving you permission, share your pain. Number four, today I'm giving you permission. Share your story. Share your story. He's changed you, He's forgiven you, He's helped you. Every one of us, every single one of us have a story to share. The Bible says this, tell everyone. Tell everyone the amazing things He does. You can't keep it to yourself, you gotta open your mouth and tell everybody. The psalmist said it like this, he said come and listen

and I will tell you what He did for me. It's story time with Stu, come listen. I got a story to tell and I want to tell it to everybody my story That's that's why I'm all series long We've been asking you to tap to testify tap To testify you take your phone and you tap that little Sticker on the seat back in front of you and it takes you to a link. You can tap to testify There's a link online for you in the chat because in part listen, listen, why are we doing that two reasons one? We want to hear your story We want to celebrate with you but two I Want you to get used to telling your story? Oh Let's for some of us it is so difficult so difficult to share our story But the more practice you get the better you'll be the more natural it'll flow The more common it'll become to share your story With others. It's really what God wants you to do. He wants you to share your Story, I thought maybe I could share a few of the amazing stories we've been receiving of Ways that God has been working in people's lives because good stories have to be shared So these are a few stories. We've already received from From tap to testify. This one is from Aaron Aaron shared I lost both my parents at a young age My mom at 15 my dad at 22. I was lost for a few years and Stumbled back into church thinking Jesus probably didn't want me But here's her testimony He scooped me up and Showed me he was with me the whole time. I was never alone. I graduated high school

I became the first college graduate in my family and now I get to speak about Jesus to my children God is good. Aaron says God is good. That's her testimony This one this one this one is in from Katie she said this 16 years ago Someone invited me to waters Edge Church. I came reluctantly Grew up in church. I even graduated from a Christian school, but I promised myself that as soon as I graduated high school I was never going to church again for me Church was a place of hurt and isolation not a place of love and acceptance When I agreed to come to waters Edge I Found a place that was not like the church. I grew up in and I've been here ever since That was 16 years ago 11 years ago. I got sober So as you can see I spent five years in church But also very addicted to alcohol this place showed me love Jesus showed me love even when I felt undeserving and incredibly ashamed of the secret that I was hiding from everyone Today, I'm so grateful for 11 years of sobriety I'm a beyond amazed at Jesus Come on that's awesome She says I am beyond amazed at how Jesus has affected the life of my 14 year old daughter because of Jesus And because of this place I was made whole and my daughter is living her life on fire for Jesus. Come on Katie testify That's awesome Then do you sense it do you I just want you to sense it what's happening in the room right now What's happening in the room is hope is rising for somebody Faith is rising for somebody Somebody who's addicted to alcohol right now sees that they can be set free to why why because Katie was So somebody who had a bad taste in their mouth about church now sees all the church can be for me in a safe place in a Caring place and and and it shifts the atmosphere and it raises our faith and our hope This is why last Sunday

after 127 baptisms Many of us went home horse. We could barely talk. We'd scream so loud our hands hurt from clapping so much Like I got to about tears. I'm like man. My hands are sore wonder why cuz I clapped so much And what happens in those moments I wasn't being baptized But there was a move of the Holy Spirit of God because people were testifying in the waters of baptism I'm reading testimonies and there's a move right now. It shifts the atmosphere favor Follows testimonies. And if you can learn to open your mouth and testify. Oh my goodness favor will follow. Give you give you one more one more. This is Sam's story. Sam says before giving my life to Jesus. I was so ashamed that I wanted to die. I couldn't even take care of myself when I was in college. I thought I could go my own way without God. I started drinking doing drugs exploring other lifestyles. And after I flunked out of college and moved back in with my dad, I was overwhelmed with guilt. I became suicidal and paralyzed with anxiety and depression. I was admitted to the hospital three times for my own safety. But during that tough year and a half. I went to church. I gave my life to Jesus because I obviously wasn't able to manage it without him. Jesus saved me. He gave me hope. I started trusting God. I started following his word. Today. I have been cured of mental illness.

I quit drinking doing drugs and smoking. I'm happily married and together. We have raised two daughters who now know Jesus. That's Sam's story. If he can do it for Sam, he can do it for me. He can do it for you. And you got a story to share. A story where God gets all the credit. And that's what I want to help you with because a lot of us like to be the hero of our own story. A lot of us like to be the main characters in our own stories. But I'm telling you if you'll start to tell stories of how God's worked in your life. Stories of what God is up to in your life. People will be drawn to you and drawn to Jesus because of the story. Remember I told you about the woman at the well. She ran, left her water pot, testified, said come and see, come and see, come and see. Let me show you how the story ends. The Bible says this, many, many, I said many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony. They believed in Jesus because of her story. Not because of the books she read, not because of the lessons she taught, not because of the answers she gave, not because of the proof she provided. No, no, no, no. I'm giving you permission today. Just tell your story and people will believe.

Just share what God has done and God will use that for people to believe in him. Watch what God does when you willingly share your story. One more thing to share, one more thing. Number five, I'm giving you permission. Share your hope. Share your hope. Now this is a command right out of Scripture. Okay, straight out of Scripture. And I just want you to dial in on this verse. It's so important that you understand it. The Bible says this, always, always be prepared. Now there are a lot of us, I'm afraid, that walk around unprepared. A lot of us who aren't prepared to testify. That's what this series is about. That's what today's message is about. Come back next week. I'm going to give you the most practical message you've ever heard on testifying. You got to be here for it. It'll be a life-changing message, a game-changer for how you're prepared to share. Always be prepared, the Bible says, for what? To give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. There are two things I want to make sure you see in this verse, two expectations that I don't want you to miss. First, there's an expectation that people are asking about your hope.

I don't know if you saw that. If you're always prepared to give an answer to the reason for your hope, that means that people are asking you about your hope. That's the expectation, that you're living your life in such a way that people are asking. The Bible expects that you're the kind of neighbor, the kind of friend, the kind of customer, the kind of boss, the kind of employee that lives in... such a way that people want to know why you live that way. Why do you have hope like that? Why are you so kind? What makes you so thoughtful? What's going on in your life that gives you such hope? The expectation is people are asking. So that means that some of us have got to fix our face because when people look at your face, they don't see hope. Write that down as an action item. Some of us have got to fix our language because when people hear us speak, they don't hear hope. Some of us have got to fix our perspective because when people read your posts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, social media, wherever, they don't hear hope, they don't read hope. So the expectation is you're living with hope in such a way that people are asking about your hope. That's the first expectation. People are asking. And if they're asking, they got to know why you have it. So the expectation is this,

you're prepared to give them an answer. Why do you have hope? Why are you so happy? Why do you live different? Why do you do that on Sundays when I'm mowing the grass and I see you going to church? What are you doing? Why? Why do you raise your kids like that? Why do you love your spouse like that? Why do you work so hard? Why do you have such a great attitude? Why? You got an answer to give. You need to be prepared to give the answer. The answer is not, oh, because it's sunshiny outside today, woo-hoo, I'm so happy. Because everything's going in my life, nothing ever goes wrong, woo-hoo, it's wonderful here. Because my wife is so awesome and I, oh, she never upsets me at all. Or I'm such a great husband, I never get upset. That's not the answer. I got the answer, Keith. Why do you have such hope? Jesus, that's the answer. That's the answer. Everybody say his name. Jesus, that's the answer.

That's the answer. Why are you smiling so much? Jesus, he's my hope. Why do you work so hard? Because Jesus is my hope. I want to represent him well. Why are you so kind to those employees? Jesus is my hope. Why'd you give such a big tip? Jesus is my hope. Jesus is my hope. Jesus, Jesus, he's the answer. If I'm just giving you permission today, when somebody asks you something about your life, you respond with Jesus. Come on, put his name out there. Jesus, say it with me, Jesus. You can't say his name in here, you ain't gonna say it out there. Jesus is my hope. I'm giving you permission today. Go home and put it on social media. Jesus is my hope. See what happens. You testify. Some of your friends will call you and say, hey, I think you got hacked. Somebody Instagrammed, hacked you. No, no, I didn't get hacked. I've been saved.

And Jesus is my hope. I just gotta tell somebody. I'm giving you permission. When somebody tomorrow says to you at work, hey, what'd you do this weekend? Don't lead with, oh, I went to the kid's soccer game. Everybody went to the kid's soccer game. Nobody cares. I went to church to celebrate that Jesus is my hope. What'd you do? Went to the kid's soccer game. Nobody cares. I'm just giving you permission. Smile so big today at the grocery store. The checkout line, just so big. When they look at you and say, hey, how's your day going? You say, I couldn't be better. Jesus is my hope. I'm giving you permission. Call your friend on the way home today from church and say, dude, I know this is out of nowhere, but I'm leaving church right now. And I can't even explain it, but I gotta tell you, Jesus is my hope. You gotta come to church with me next Sunday. I just think you've been silent long enough. You gotta open your mouth and tell somebody what you've seen and what you've experienced. Jesus is my hope. And I'm telling you, the way it works is this.

When you do, when you open your mouth, the atmosphere shifts. Just like it did a few moments ago when I read those testimonies. Just like it did last Sunday when we celebrated baptism. Just like it did the first Sunday when you shared your testimony and it was somebody beside you. The atmosphere shifts. The atmosphere shifts. Favor follows. Well, I gotta share one more verse. We're almost done and we are out of time. So listen fast. If you need a breakthrough, if you need to overcome temptation. If the enemy is knocking on your door, here's the answer. Last verse. The Bible says this, and they overcame him, that's the enemy, that's the devil, and they overcame him because of the blood of the lamb, thank you, Jesus, for the blood, and because of the word of their testimony. Both, both. The blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. You speak testimony words. You testify, and the enemy has to flee. At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, every tongue confess, Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Watch and see. Share this week, share this week, testify this week. Now you got five things, you got five things. You got them written down? I do, let me read them again. You gotta choose, your life, your church, your pain, your story, your hope. Which of those five will you share this week? Let me pray for you. Father, we thank you today for your word. We thank you that it's alive, it is active, it changes us. We thank you, Jesus, that we've been changed by you, so we got a story to share, we got a church to share, we got pain, how you've come through for us to share, we got, God, we've got our lives to share with others, and we've got hope to share. Help us to do it this week. Today, heads bowed, eyes closed, I'm gonna give you a moment now, this is for you. If you've never said yes to Jesus, it's time to give your life to him. God's speaking to you right now, and you wanna say yes to him. If that's you, I'm gonna pray a prayer, include you in this prayer, but I'm gonna ask you to do something right now. If you're saying, I'm giving my life to Jesus, would you just shoot your hand high in the air so I can know, so your campus pastor can know, so we can pray for you?

I'm gonna give my life to Jesus right now, put your hands in the air, right now. God bless you, God bless you. And put your hand down, pray this and really mean it. Say, Jesus, I wanna know you, I want my sin forgiven by you, and I wanna live my life for you. Be my Lord and Savior, in Jesus' name we pray, amen? Amen, come on, everybody, thank God for his word today.