I am A Voice || Victory Church [Book of John #4]

Well, good morning, Victory. Come on, are y'all excited to be in the house of the Lord? Come on, somebody. Well, I'm thrilled to be here with you. My wife and I, man, had the incredible privilege this past week hosting a retreat for young couples who were in ministry, just talking about soul care, vision, values. We had couples come in from all around the country. It was a phenomenal time of ministry, and God showed up. But I gotta be honest, even in the middle of those powerful moments, there was this constant kind of weight on the back of my mind. I won't say in my spirit, but on the back of my mind, because we're teaching all these sessions, and I knew I had to preach this weekend. And so I had to be very mindful, right? So even though we're laughing, we're talking, we're pouring in and sharing with these couples, you know, I was constantly checking the clock. I was managing the volume of my voice because I wanted to protect it and preserve it. Why? Because the retreat was awesome, but I had an assignment here in this house, and I did not want to lose my voice. Because if you neglect the health and the care of your voice, how many of you know, you will lose it, right? And when you lose your voice, here's what happens.

Then the message that you were called to deliver, it doesn't land, and people could miss what God had for them. And I would venture to say this, that you never really know how much your voice matters until it's gone. Come on, that'll preach all by itself. And I think you all kind of get the hint of where I'm going with this message this morning, because I'm not really talking just about my voice. I'm talking about your voice. I'm talking about our voice collectively as the body of Christ. I'm here to tell you today that your voice matters. Let me say it again to this side. Your voice matters. And the truth of the matter is this, that every one of us, there's power in the things we say. There's power in the things that we use our voice to amplify, and our voices are gonna do one of two things. It's either gonna point people towards life, or it's gonna point people away from life. And I want us to really lean in today, because that's what we're gonna talk about as we jump into the text. I'm really excited. For those who are new at Victory, we have been on this paradigm-shifting course as we dived, dove, diven, dived? I don't know, we're here, though.

Pfft. Whatever we did, we have been it. Ha ha ha ha ha. Oh, man. So, at the top of the year, we dove. There you go. Come on, Holy Spirit. We dove into the book of John, and we're gonna spend the whole year in this book. And for the past three weeks, we've been in what many theologians call the prologue of the book of John. So, the first 18 verses really lay some strong foundation concerning who Jesus is. And so, today, as we step out of the prologue into the narrative of the book of John, we are now gonna discover what we are called to now do with those revelations and those realities, okay? So, again, just a quick recap. In 2026, we have two primary objectives as we're in the book of John. As Pastor Johnson has shared, number one, the first objective is for us to understand that the desire of our hearts is that we grow deeper in love with Jesus this year. That's what's gonna happen as we go through the book of John. And secondly, I love this language Pastor Johnson has been using. We believe that as we grow more in love with Jesus,

that we are also gonna grow in our desire for this broken world to know him. And so, our desire this year is that we will be the church that robs hell. Come on, we're gonna rob hell and we're gonna populate heaven. It's not just a cute slogan. Come on, this is a war cry for this hour. Because the reality is this, there's no way you can spend an entire year getting closer to Jesus and not have a desire to share him with the world around you, right? And so, that's what our desire is for this house. When you catch on fire, you cannot help but give off light. So, let's look at the prologue really quick. I have three quick truths. I just wanna recap for those who are new. Here are the three main, I would call them prologue points that we have extracted from the text so far. For one, John has made it emphatically clear that Jesus is indeed God. That's pretty foundational. Number two, that Jesus also pulls people out of darkness and brings them into his glorious, marvelous light. And lastly, he, Jesus, is full of grace and truth. Now, if you were here last week, that was a powerful message, and we dove into that. And the reality is this, is that so many people

bombarded the lobbies that every one of our campuses asking the same question. And the question everyone was asking, Marla, is how do I take this concept of grace and truth and how do I share that with my loved ones? How do I share that with my coworkers, with people that are in my life? And I believe that's a great question to ask because here's the deal. We can sit in these rooms and receive all the truth that we can receive, but how many of you know, truth without activation is nothing more than information. And listen to me, friend, information has never set anybody free. We need transformation by the power of God's spirit. You know, I love this quote from our founding pastor, Dennis Rouse, in his book, Title 10. He said these words, that believers go to church to hear the word of God, but disciples go to church to learn how to do the word of God. That's the word right there. So here's what we're gonna do. Let's get into the word. And I want us to go back to the prologue if you would allow me to do that, because there's a little hidden gem in there that I wanna point out. Let's jump in, starting at verse one.

It says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. And through him, speaking of Jesus, Jesus is the living word, through him, all things were made and without him, nothing was made that has been made. And in him was life. And that life was the light of all mankind and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not understood it. I mean, can you hear this language? It's heavenly, it's supernatural language. He's talking about the beginning and Jesus being preexistent. I mean, this is some high level theological content, but I want you to look at what happens in the very next verse, verse six. In the middle of this high level thought, the Bible says, and there was a man sent from God whose name was John. And he came as a witness to testify concerning that light so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light, he only came as a witness to the light. Now, here's my question, all right? I wanna pause here, keep this up on the screen because what many theologians have collectively spoken to is this thought. Many theologians believe that John one,

verses one through 18, the prologue, is one of the most densest theological passages in the entire Bible. Because in this passage, we hear about some really, really mind-bending ideas such as the supremacy and the preexistence of Christ, the hypostatic union, right? The incarnation of Christ. We see the Trinity at work here in the prologue of John. I mean, I'm talking about the language of heaven, church. But then right in the middle of that, we get introduced to this guy named John. What is so special about John that he would be inserted right in the middle of this heavenly insight? Kind of awkwardly, actually, he's placed there, but I want you to know that there is nothing that is by chance or coincidence in the word of God. If it's there, it's intentional. And John is placed right here in the middle of this high-level heavenly instruction and insight, why? Because John is used as the bridge. John, not the Baptist, the witness is the human hinge between heaven's language and earth's sin dilemma. All right? God did not just send a word. God sent a witness to point people to the word. And how many of you know that the God we serve is a God of systematic order?

In the book of Malachi, it says that he is the Lord God and he changes not. So I believe today that if God sent a witness then, he's still sending witnesses today. Come on, somebody, look at your neighbor and say, well, where they at? Other neighbor. or look back and say, I'm right here, boo-boo. Come on somebody, right? Now that we know who Jesus is, we have a responsibility to make his name known in the earth to make a big deal about Jesus, but watch me. But if we're gonna use our voice effectively, then I think it would behoove us to follow the model that John has laid out. And that's what we're gonna do today. So the question, the million dollar question is this, how do I use my voice as a witness? And the first step is this. You have to detox your voice. You have to detox. Anyone ever done a detox before? Just wave at me, wave at me. Ooh, Jesus. I'm gonna tell you, they got so many different types of detox programs going on. We got Whole30, some of y'all do Dry January. Some of y'all are doing 75 Hard. Anyone know about the 75 Hard? Woo, some of y'all struggling right now.

Right? But regardless of the program, you can call it whatever you want. A detox is a detox. I'll define it this way. A detox is eliminating whatever has been dulling your system so you can reset and perform at your highest level. And in the context of today's conversation, it's no different, right? It's the same idea, but it's a different application. Somebody say, my voice needs a detox. Here's what I'm saying to you today, church. Before we discuss what your voice should be used for, we have to first discuss what your voice first needs to be freed from. More, more, more. Now let's jump in the text, verse 19. Now this was John's testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was, speaking about John the witness. And I love this. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely that I am not the Messiah. They asked him, well, then who are you? Are you Elijah? He said, I am not. Well, are you the prophet? And he answered, no. Finally, they said, well, who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us.

What do you have to say about yourself? Now, I don't want you to miss this because I want you to see what John says in this moment. Watch this. Before John said anything about who he was, he first clarified who he was not. Are you the Messiah? Nope. Are you Elijah? Nah. Are you the prophet? No. Three times, no, no, no. Before he told them what he was, he clarified and made it clear who he was not. And I want to stop right there because I think this is a great moment for us to do a little self inventory because most of us don't realize that just like the food that we eat and we realize we need to detox from the additives and all the junk and gunk that we consume, we fail to realize sometimes that our voice is also full of additives. And we call it normal. It's what we do. We scroll, we comment, we argue, we vent, we beef, we weigh in, and we've been doing it so long, it feels like it's just normal. It's just what we do.

But I want to soberly ask you today, what are you using your voice for? Because one thing you may not have ever considered is this, what you like on social media is what you were lending your voice to, right? It's not just what you post. It's not just what you say out loud. It's the things you like, the things you share, the things you post. That is the things that you amplify. And look at what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 12. He said this, that I tell you, surely everyone will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every empty word that they have spoken, every word. And in our context, every post, every story, well, I'm stepping on some toes. It's okay though, it's gonna be all right. Every repost, everything we share, we don't realize it, but it's putting something in the earth. You see, the problem with the church is not that we don't have a voice. The problem is that we spend our voice on the wrong conversations. Some of us have built an entire personas centered around our opinions and the things we like, the things we enjoy. Some of it is okay, but oftentimes the loudest voices in the church are the quietest voices about Christ. But let that not be said of us.

Let it be said of us, let it be said of this house that every time we open up our mouths to declare anything in the earth, that it's gonna point men and women back to a savior that is named Jesus. Let it be true of us that we understood the weight of the voice that God has given us. You know, I remember years ago, years ago, whenever I was on the road doing hip hop music full time, me and my wife traveled quite a bit extensively almost every weekend for about 12 years. And I remember that season of my life, I would get all types of crazy opportunities to endorse programs and come and communicate to represent different organizations and platforms, yada, yada, yada. But y'all, I remember when I stepped into pastoral ministry and there was just a shift that happened because I felt the Lord say, hey, moving forward, you can't say yes to every invitation. And I've tried to live that out in my own life. Why? Because here's what I've come to discover and someone needs to hear this. There is no such thing as an innocent yes. Every yes comes with a cost. So what I'm saying is this, if I give a yes to an invitation, then I'm actually giving a no to an assignment. And in this season of my life,

I don't have time for invitations. I wanna be living on purpose, on mission, in an assignment. The main thing that I want my voice to be known for is Jesus. And hear me, when you make that decision, it comes with a cost. Because those opportunities left, man, some of them paid really well, too. But what really matters in this life, right? I refuse to prostitute my voice for anything that is less than the glory of God. What are you talking about? No, no, no. I walked away. And we have to walk away from the things that are just robbing us. Why? Because hear me when I say this, you cannot broadcast the frequency of heaven through a voice that is muffled by the noise of this world. You gotta pick, you gotta choose. And just because you can say something and just because you can use your voice doesn't always mean that you should. Paul said that under grace, all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial. Right? So even when everyone else is doing everything and saying everything and everyone has an opinion, I'm gonna be real with you.

Sometimes the wisest thing for you and I to do is to just be quiet. Come on, look at your neighbor and say, hush. Tell it like my grandma used to say, boy, go somewhere and sit down. Not sit down, sat down. If I go get that switch, y'all don't know about that. We don't do that no more, anyways. Yeah. We have to be aware of what we're using our voice for. Because watch this, Proverbs 17, 28. Look at what the Bible says. It says, even a fool is thought wise if they just be silent. And even a fool is thought to be discerning if they simply hold their tongues. Isn't that incredible? Right? And the reality is that we're living in the loudest moment of history. Everyone has an Instagram account. Everyone has a TikTok account. Everyone has a microphone. Everyone has a podcast. Everyone has a YouTube channel. Everyone has a megaphone and they're screaming as loud as they can. But we as the church cannot spend kingdom capital on temporary outrage. We can't.

And here's why. Because you carry a weighty truth. You carry the key to set a world free. But if you spend your voice on everything, then eventually your voice will mean nothing. So before you ask, how do I evangelize? You first need to ask, where has my voice already been wasted? Let's start there. Because a scattered voice cannot carry a sacred message. And we know this, because look at what Paul said in Ephesians 4.29. He says, don't let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for. building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen. And that's what a detoxed voice sounds like. It's not always just silent, but when it speaks, it's purposeful and it's missionally driven. Y'all with me this morning? All right, how are we gonna use our voice to be a witness? Well, we detox our voice and then secondly, we have to define the voice. We have to define the voice. Now, verse 23 makes it emphatically clear. Let's read it. John says this, that John, the witness, replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet.

He said, I am the voice that is calling out in the wilderness. Make straight the way for the Lord. Now notice this. John, he didn't promote a brand. He didn't promote his platform. He didn't promote a personality. He says, no, I am a voice. So when I say define your voice, I'm not talking about your style of communication. I'm not talking about your approach to speaking. I'm talking about the substance from which you speak. It's not how you speak, but it's what you predominantly speak about. What I'm asking is this, when people look at you and they see you, what do they correlate you with? Because when they press John and ask, who are you? Are you this? Are you that? Well, who are you, brother? John doesn't give him a resume. John doesn't quote his follower count. By the way, keep in mind, the reason the Pharisees were even pressing him in the first place is because he had a huge following. He was baptizing and calling people to repentance. And he could have easily said, I'm that guy. What you talking about? I'm him.

But no, John's response is, I am a voice crying in the wilderness. Get out the way because the King of glory is coming. Come on, listen to me. Watch this. John defines himself by his assignment. You see, in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in the other gospels, in the synoptic gospels, that's what they're called, John is referred to as John the Baptist. But the author John, he doesn't use that language. No, he's never called that. He is simply John the witness. We told y'all the book of John's gonna hit different. Now, listen, watch this. Now, this verbiage, again, is not by accident. It's intentional. Why? Because for John the author to call this John the Baptist, then what he's essentially doing is reducing him to a role and a ritual, thus defining him by what he did instead of defining him by who he was and what he was called to do. The gospel writer shuts it down on purpose. John's entire identity was rooted around two things, who he was not and who Jesus is. It was less about John, and it was more about Jesus, and he understood the assignment. Come on, Lord, that you would raise up

a generation of people who understand the assignments, that we would understand that you've called us to define our voice, to be able to articulate and understand and share who we are and what we are put in the earth to do. Because hear me, sanctified speech, it always diminishes the speaker while magnifying the one we're speaking about. Lord, would you sanctify our voices? Because the Lord knows, we know, that we live in a society that celebrates self-promotion. We celebrate it, right? We celebrate self-promotion. We celebrate it. But what this world does not need is more self-promotion. We need Jesus' promotion. Come on, we need some people to open their mouth and shout it from the rooftops. Get out the way, because the King of heaven is coming through. So again, I ask you, if people know more about your opinions than they do about your Savior, something's off, something is wrong. So is your life pointing to Jesus, or is it pointing to yourself? And if you need help answering that question, easy. Just go look at the last 10 things you've posted on social media. That'll say a lot. Go back to the last 10 moments of influence

that you shared with someone else where maybe you had an opportunity to speak life. Did you? That's the question, did you? Because I'm gonna tell you as a son, as a daughter, we are not defined by our accolades. We should be defined by our assignments in the earth to make known the voice of Jesus. Your assignment is to be a voice, not the verdict, not the judge, not the closer, but a voice. And whenever we get that rooted in our soul, right? When we detox the junk and we stand on business, right? Concerning who God's called us to be. I wish I could tell you that all of a sudden there would be this courage that would just rise up and now you're ready to preach to thousands. But it don't quite work like that, right? There's a process, right? Let's get to the next one. Here it is, you gotta detox your voice. You have to define your voice. And thirdly, you then have to develop your voice. Let's keep going on in the text. Verse 26 says this, John, he replies saying, I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know. He's the one who comes after me and he has the straps on his sandals that I am not even worthy to untie. Now here's where it gets real.

Because some of y'all are here and you're tracking with me, like, yeah, you're right, I got a voice. I should use my voice. God has done so much for me. I should use my voice. God has done so much. The world's gotta know. I gotta do these things. But brother, I still ain't ready. I don't know what to say. I don't know how to say it, right? I don't know where to begin to tell someone about Jesus. I don't know. And there's a lot of people that feel that way, which is why this next passage is a mind-blowing thought to consider. I wanna read this to you right here. Because in verse 31, look at what John the Baptist, the witness, says. He says, I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel. Think about this. John the Baptist, the one that God specifically sent to prepare the way, did not have full clarity concerning who this Jesus was. And yet, he was still faithful to the assignment God called him to. I've been walking with the Lord for about 23 years, and I don't know if I ever caught that

until this past week studying this word. What John is saying is this. Listen, he's saying that I don't have all the answers, and there are mysteries that I've yet to understand. However, if God called me to dump these folks in the Jordan River, if he's called me to call people to repentance, then I don't have to know the plan from A to Z. All I know is what God told me to do, and in being obedient to that, he's gonna develop my voice. And he's gonna use me to do the things that I need to do. Watch me. God does not need a perfect voice. He needs an obedient one. And I've come to tell you today that when it comes to sharing your faith, friend, you don't have to have a theology degree. You don't. You may not ever go to seminary, right? You don't always have to have all of the answers. In fact, let me just go ahead and make it very, very easy. You will never have all the answers. I don't have all the answers. People come up to the lobby all the time asking me these hard questions. Sometimes I'll be like, I don't know. I don't know. When I was young in my faith, oh, I'd be just hustling, hustling, sweating bullets,

trying to, oh, oh, oh, oh, making stuff up. I don't know. You got the same Bible I got. No, there are many times, you know, I get asked a question. I'm like, man, that's a really good question. I don't know. But I'm gonna take this week and study on that. And I'm gonna pray about it. And let's circle back next week and let's have a conversation. Because we're not gonna understand everything. In fact, one of my favorite verses in the Bible, Deuteronomy 29, 29 says this. The secret things belong to the Lord our God. Whew. Come on, do you feel the Holy Ghost on that? The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us. and our children forever, that we may follow all the words of his law. What is the Bible telling us? That there are some things that will remain a mystery that we'll never understand until we're in the presence of the Lord for all eternity. But what he has revealed, we gotta lock in. What he has revealed, we follow and we obey and we're faithful and we keep our hands on the plow, do you, right? Because here's what I'm saying to you, listen,

a witness, God's called you to use your voice to be a witness, watch me. A witness, they don't argue theories. I've never seen a witness walk into the courtroom with a theory. Witnesses walk in the courtroom, they sit there behind on the little seat and they testify to what they have seen, to what they have heard and to what they have experienced. And can I tell you something? I may not have all the answers and I may not be able to intellectually debate with the atheists, do y'all know some atheists know the Bible better than you do? Do you realize that? So I don't have time to argue intellectually, I barely made it out of high school, if I'm gonna be real with you. So I'm not gonna argue with you because you have no desire to truly know the God of the Bible. So no, I won't go there, but however, what I will tell you is that I once was lost, but now I'm found. I once was an addict on my way to death, but now I've been raised to newness of life. I come from a history of alcoholism, brokenness and death, but because of the grace of God, I am free from that. That's what I know and that's what I will testify to.

Stop playing. Guess what? You can't argue with that. Because you weren't there when I was in the jail cell facing 10 years in prison. Because you weren't there when I was waking up, passed out on a floor in a crack house 27 years ago as a teenager. Because you don't know my life, you don't know what God has done in my life. So that's why when I open my mouth to declare the goodness of God, even if I don't have all the answers, I know what God has done in my life. And you are fully aware of what God has done in your life. So open your mouth and tell somebody who God... Hallelujah. You gotta tell somebody. He's been better to you than you've been to yourself. You better talk to these people. He's been good. He's good. He's faithful. Now watch me. And let me flip that coin on the other side and say this. Now there are some times where we feel doubt. And our voices get a little shaky, okay? Let's just speak to that. And I love the word of God because the Bible shows us the full spectrum

of the human experience. Because the same guy, John, the witness, look at what happens a few years later in his life. He's arrested, he's thrown in prison, and in a moment of doubt, he sends word to Jesus. And here's what he asks. Are you really the one? Are you really the one? Or should we be looking for someone else? Come on, the same man that baptized the Son of God, the same man that saw the Spirit descend upon Jesus like a dove, found himself sitting in a dark cell wondering if he missed the whole thing. And what I love about this moment is that Jesus didn't rebuke him. Jesus didn't say, bro, where's your faith? He didn't correct him. Jesus sent back evidence of who he is. So hear me. Someone needs to hear this. God is not offended by honest questions from a hurting heart. He's not. So there's grace. So if your voice feels shaky right now, if doubt has crept in, you gotta understand that the hardest season does not disqualify you. It actually deepens you. The darkest seasons will bring forth

sometimes the sweetest affliction. fruit in your life, and we have to lean into that so we can be developed. Some of you are saying, listen, I'm not ready. But could it very well be that you taking a step of obedience could be the very thing that makes you ready? Come on, keep witnessing, keep testifying, keep talking about them, keep telling people about them, keep making a big deal about them. Roll down your window with your own 85 in the middle of traffic and just shout out, Jesus is Lord, one time. Make a big deal about them, right? Come on, Lord, sanctify our voices. Because once we detox it, once we define our voices and we begin allowing the Holy Spirit to develop our voices, then it's go time, baby. It's time to deploy our voice. It's time to do it, right? In verse 29, it says this, that the next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and he said, look, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And he goes on to say that this is the one that I met when I said a man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was actually before me, right? In this moment, John, he doesn't self-promote. Jesus shows up on the scene and he doesn't make a big deal about all the work he's been doing, preparing for him. No, John doesn't promote, John simply points.

And that's the posture God is calling us to, to point men and women to Christ, to embody verse 34 as our testimony, right? John said that I have seen and I now testify that this is God's chosen one. Listen, friend, you may not have a stage and you may not have a platform, but what you do have is a circle of influence. You realize that, right? You do. Now, some of our circles are large. Some of you can reach millions of people. Maybe you're an influencer on social media. Maybe you have millions of people and those people do exist in victory. Or maybe your circle of influence is just your workspace at work, 10, 12 people. Maybe your circle of influence is just a few people in your family. Can I tell you something? It don't matter if it's millions, thousands, hundreds, or just a couple, every soul matters to God and you are placed in that circle on purpose. Come on, Jimmy, on purpose. So we gotta own that space. Paul said in Romans, right? He said, how can they hear without a preacher? Well, pastor ain't no preacher. So he ain't talking about me. Oh, no preacher, man.

He's talking to you because you don't realize it, but that classroom that you attend, young person, that's your pulpit. The office that you go in for your nine to five, that is your pulpit. You don't need, no, no, no, no. We wake up and we step on a platform every single day of our lives. So the question today that we should not be asking is, well, Lord, if you'll just give me a platform, then I will do what you've called me to do. No, the question we have to ask is this, am I using the platform that God has already given me? Am I found faithful with the little? Because he will never entrust you with more if you're not faithful with where he's put you already. We gotta bring this thing home. We gotta boil it down, practical, simple. It's not that hard to deploy your voice. And people think to testify, to evangelize, to be a witness, people oftentimes think that they gotta have a three-point sermon. Just beat people over the head, yah. Bro, chill. If a friend's going through a hard time, right, that doesn't know the Lord, what would happen if you made a statement like this? Like, man, bro, I'm really sorry what you're going through. And in moments like this, bro, I really wish you had the hope that I have.

You know what that does? It awakens curiosity. It makes people say, what you got? Well, how about this? Just simple as this. Hey, friend, I don't have all the answers, but would you mind if I share with you a little bit about what God's done in my life? I think He would bless you in a big way, right? Listen, this is what it looks like to use grace to pull people in a space where the truth can hit them in the face. Peace. I made that up just now, that was pretty good. I'm gonna write it down, I'm gonna use that again. 11 o'clock, 1 o'clock, let's go. But listen, when it comes to evangelism, y'all, I wish there was like this ABC formula, but there's not. Because every situation is different, right T? Every interaction, every conversation is different. We all are on a journey, but the journey's like this. So you can't approach every conversation with the same methodology. Look at Jesus. Whenever he met the woman at the well, it was purely conversational. But whenever Jesus encountered the religious leaders and the Pharisees, 10 toes down. Confrontational. When Jesus met with the rich young ruler,

the young man who just couldn't part with his earthly possessions, Jesus was sorrowful. He was empathetic. But when Jesus met with Nicodemus, he had all the questions, right? Like some of y'all got all these questions. Jesus was theological in his conversation, right? So listen, there is no script to this thing, but there is a call to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. All right? So your voice, listen to me, your voice must be spirit led. It's gotta be context aware and relationally sensitive. Because listen to me, you can't manufacture evangelism. There is no one size fits all. No, no, that's why we have to learn to integrate the call to witness into every rhythm of our life. Do y'all understand what I'm saying? That means every time me and my family, off that, every time, there's been many times where we're at a restaurant ordering our food and we sometimes will ask the server, hey, is there anything we can pray with you about as we bless our food? Little things like that. The more you have interactions like that, the stronger your faith grows. Because I cannot tell you how many servers have busted into tears right there at the table because the Spirit of God showed up in that moment

and did a work in their life. Come on, somebody. And he did a good work. Then I was like, praise God. Now go get my shrimp, please. I'm kidding. John, the witness, was obedient to his call. He was faithful. Even when he didn't understand it all, he was using his voice. Oh my Lord, he used it. He used it well. And I bet John never imagined that 2,000 years later that we'd be here at this church talking about this brother, right? And do you realize, listen, I know we all think we're gonna live forever, but the reality is that if the Lord would tarry, like the seasoned saints would say, the Lord was so tarry that one day my life will end. Your life will end. And a day will come where people will stand at your graveside, and they're gonna say some things about you. The life you lived, what you built, the things you valued, your contribution to the earth, right? What do you want them to say about you? That you were great at business, that you were a good real estate agent,

that you were smart, that you had a lot of money, that you were super fashionable, that you were a great influencer. I'll tell you what I want them to say about me. I want them to say that I cherished my wife, that I raised godly children who loved the Lord, that I cared for people, and although all of that is honorable and good, the one thing that I want people to say about my life is that I spent it all so that those who were far from God could know Him. I want it to be said of my life that I appointed people to Jesus. And watch me, and not just on the stinking platform, But that I pointed to Jesus in aisle seven at Publix. And when I was ordering my shrimp brochette at Papa Doe. At the Starbucks. At my kids' school, when they have the little stuff going on, and they make all the parents show up. And you gotta talk to parents. They wanna hang out. That's what I want to be said about my life. Because the abundant life that Jesus talks about, it's not about earthly gain. I love the blessings of the Lord. I do. We all do. We like nice things and all that. But y'all, I've never seen a U-Haul following a Hearst. You catch that?

Some of y'all didn't catch that. Let me break it down. You can't take a thing with you, friend. You can spend your life building an empire. And one day when your soul is required of you, it'll all be burned to ashes. And all that will be left is the testament of the eternal impact that you either made or didn't make in this earth. And when I stand before God, I want my life to be wrung dry. I want every ounce of influence. I want every drop of my voice. I want it to be spilled. That's what I want. Is that what you want? Because I'll share this last thought here. Pastor Moe had this word, it's a prophetic word. He felt that the Lord gave him for the house. And it was this, simply this, that what is not stewarded will be taken away or it will be diminished. So you have a voice, you have influence. But if we don't steward it well, then God will redirect it to someone else who will. We see it with the story of the talents. The three individuals were each given talents. One guy multiplied it, invested it, multiplied it. The other guy, he did as well. He didn't make as much, but he did something with what he had. The other one, he just hit it in the ground. Now one would think, well, bro, he didn't lose money. So he should be good, right? He didn't, he's not in the negative.

The Bible says he was called a wicked servant. But not because he was evil. Not because he was incompetent. He was called wicked because he was simply inactive. Because he didn't do anything. But let that not be said of us. Our voice is a talent. Your influence is a talent. Your personality is a talent. The things that draw people to you, whatever it is, it's a talent. And God has called us to steward it well. To point people to Christ, to make a big deal of Jesus. So that being said, I want to give y'all some homework. Y'all want some homework? You don't get it anyway. All right, here we go. Because Easter's coming up, as Pastor Jerry was sharing with us. And this is the time where people are so open to coming to the church. So I want to challenge you, use your voice to invite somebody. So I'm going to give you all three prompts, you know. All my extroverts, y'all like, I know how to talk. All right, so maybe you're a little more introverted. You're like, man, I don't know how to engage. Here are a few prompts. You can take a picture of this with your phone if you want. It can be as simple as like, hey, come sit with me at Easter this year. Or, hey, I've been thinking about you a lot lately. I would love if you come to church with me, right? My life has been completely changed and I would love for you to hear about it, right? Now watch me.

It's not enough to just invite someone. No, invite them to sit with you. There's a difference. If you tell them to just pull up, they ain't pulling up. But if you invite them to sit with you, maybe go get lunch afterwards, get coffee, right? There's a difference. I want to challenge you to have these conversations this week, like before you leave. All it takes, listen, God has not called you to convert people in the first place. first conversation you have with him. I mean, it would be amazing if that happened every time. And in fact, if that happens for you on the regular, you should probably be up here preaching and not me. It's not what God has called us to. Paul said, one man sows the seed, another man waters, and God gives the increase. So just take the pressure off. Come on, just do this, like, ah, just take it off. Take the pressure off. It's never been about you, so why do you think it's about you now? It's the work of the Spirit, He does the work. Let your words be the seed, and let your life be the water. And let's trust God to do the rest. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. With every head bowed, every eye closed,

I do wanna give an opportunity now, if you're here today, and if you never made Jesus Lord of your life, then my friend, that is the first step. Like, we're talking about using your voice. My goodness, until you know Jesus, you have no voice. If you don't know the Lord, your voice is just noise in an earth that is already polluted with noise. But Jesus wants to give you a purpose. He wants to give you forgiveness, a second chance. So if you're here today, and if you're far from God, I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to Him. He loves you, my friend. He's not mad at you. He's not frustrated with you. He has a plan and a purpose for your life. And today, how you respond in this moment determines a lot. So I'm gonna count to three, and when I do, if that's you, if you're here, and if you would be so honest to say, I don't know this Jesus you're talking about, but I'm ready to know Him. You're gonna lift your hand, and I wanna pray with you. Here it is, one. You say, Pastor, I've done my own thing for a long time. I realize I just hit a brick wall time and time again. I'm tired. Two, it doesn't matter who's beside you or who's around you. It's not about them. It's not about him or her. Right now, this moment is between you and God.

And my friend, hear me emphatically clear when I tell you, you will stand before God one day, and you will have to give an account for the life you've lived on earth. Are you ready to meet your maker? If you're not, you can be. And if you're ready to receive Him, here it is. One, two, three. If that's you, just lift your hand right where you're at. Lift your hand if that's you. You're saying, I choose the Lord. I see that hand. Lift it up high enough so I can see it. I see those hands in the risers. I see those hands right here. God bless you, a whole family. God bless you. And you can put those hands down now. And I wanna lead you in a prayer. And every Christ follower in this room, we're gonna pray this prayer with you. Come on, church. Say, God. God. It's me. It's me. You know who I am. I've made mistakes. I've broken your heart. And I've broken your law.

But I believe that my life can change. Jesus, you are the son of God. You died for my sin. You rose from the dead. And one day, you're gonna bring me home. But I need you right now. Come into my heart. Forgive my sin. Change the way I think. And use me to be your voice in a world that is polluted with noise. I love you. And I thank you for loving me first. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen and amen. Come on, can we celebrate today? Praise God. It's a big deal. It's really a big deal. So I wanna invite everyone to stand to their feet. Don't leave yet. But stand to your feet if you're able. And have a declaration that we're gonna put on the screen. And I want us to declare this together, especially as we gear up for Easter weekend. And we're gonna say this together, not call and response, all right? So let's lock in, all right? Here we go, one, two, three. Father, we receive this not as information,

but as activation. We confess that we have spent kingdom capital on things that don't matter. We have been loud about everything and meaningful about nothing. But today, we detox. We define, we develop, and we deploy. We are not the verdict. We are not the judge. We are not the closer. We are a voice. And we choose today to point to Jesus in every room, in every conversation, in every moment. pre-season in Jesus' name, amen and amen. Come on, praise God. Thanks for being a part of Victory Church on the Pando app. We hope this content was a blessing to you, but we want you to know that you're not done yet because we want to hear from you. So send us a letter and tell us things like what God is doing in your life, how we can pray for you, or even content that you would like to see us create in the future. We just want you to know that we see you, you're important to us, and we'd love to continue to create some things in the future that will bless you. So send us a letter and we hope to hear from you soon.