The Importance of Soul Winning | Creative Church

for us this year. This is the anthem God has for us and this has been burning in my heart. I've been sitting on it for about two months and God's had this burning in my heart and so I can't wait to preach this. So Proverbs 11, 30. Proverbs 11 verse 30. I want you to write these things down when I give them to you for the purpose of adding them to your prayer life. If you pray the scriptures you will never run out of things to pray. Not only that but I want you to memorize these and put them in your heart. Amen? I'm going to give you one more scripture in your heart this year. Do you know I was reading this out the other day says 75% of parents don't know their children's cell phone numbers. 85% of children don't know their parents' cell phone number and the thought is on this that if I know where to find it why do I need to know it. And that mindset is permeating our culture. But you Jesus didn't say hide my scriptures on Google that if you need them aren't you glad Jesus had scripture in his heart when he was on the cross. Aren't you glad that David had scripture in his heart when he went to fight the life. Aren't you glad that Jonah knew some scripture when he was in the belly of a fish. Aren't you glad Elijah knew some scripture when he was in the caves. You can't you can't wait for crisis to come and then go well you're going to find yourself in moments when you've got to have it in you. It's got to get in you hide my word in your heart not on your phone. Come on guys you've got to get some scripture in your heart. It's not okay that you've been saved 30 years and you can't quote one chapter of the Bible. It's not okay. I'm challenging you today to get scripture in your heart because there's other things that you do memorize. I can play songs on these speakers and you know the words every one of them. Thousands of songs we have to get more scripture in our heart so we are not let let astray by every wind or false doctrine. If you can watch the 30-second reel and not and no longer love the church or God you've never met Jesus. Come on I'm preaching to you what you're having to face every day okay. Let's not learn how to parent because we watch the TikTok reel. Let's not parent because we watch an Instagram reel. Who wants a doctor that's like yeah I'm ready to do surgery I watched an Instagram reel last night. Who wants a surgeon that's operating on you because they watch the TikTok reel. Who wants a pilot that's like yeah I watched a couple reels last night we're good. We're good. We're like how long a second. So let's not parent like that. Let's not do marriage like that. Let's look to the scriptures. Come on guys let's look to the scriptures. Let's not do our faith like that.

Let's look to the scriptures. Everybody say look to the scriptures. Okay so here it is Proverbs 11-30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. Let's say that. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. How many of you want to be fruitful? Two of you. Y'all know the lights are on I can see you. How many of you want to be fruitful? There we go. I want to be fruitful. The fruit of the righteous. Are there any righteous people in the room? The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he who wins souls is wise. I want to talk to you today about soul winning. I want to talk about soul winning. That's the reaction I thought I'd get. That's why I'm preaching on it. Salvation was never meant to end with us. It was meant to flow through us like living waters. In the dry places, in the weary hearts the enemy lives in dry places. That's why Jesus said when an evil spirit comes out of a man it goes into dry places. You want all hell to break loose in your marriage let your marriage get dry. Let things in your life get dry and all of a Satan is attracted to dryness. God has not called us to live in dryness. In the moment we stop reaching The minute you stop winning people for Jesus, you start thinking about you. Everything becomes about you. You become judgmental. How did your marriage start? You started focusing outward. How did the marriage end? You started focusing inward. As a church, we cannot be focusing inward. We have to be focusing out. Come on. We can't slowly turn inward. In the gospel, if we turn inward, then the gospel becomes information instead of transformation. And then you go on your phone and you've just got pages and pages and pages of information. And no transformation. Soul winning is not a personality trait. Oh, well, that's the personality. No, it's not. So you can't look at Jeremy and be like, "Well, Jeremy, clearly, he's a soul winner. This is personality." It's not a personality trait. It is a spiritual inheritance given to every believer. Everybody say it's my inheritance. Come on, say it again. Say soul winning is my inheritance.

Celebrate soul winning. The Bible says all of heaven rejoices when one person gets saved. So how many of you want to be wise? Raise your hand if you want to be wise. Okay. Wisdom is measured by who comes with us. Who comes with us? And a church that only gathers eventually grows silent. The church is meant to be a cinder. So if you're taking notes, write this down. Number one, we are not saved to sit. We are saved to send. Let's all say that. I am not saved to sit. I am saved to send. The church needs to send. And when the church sends, the church becomes alive, filled with testimonies and fire. God never intended his people to be reservoirs of blessing. But to flow like rivers, into streets. Come on, into workplaces, into dinner tables, into friend groups, into work environments. We're meant to flow. And then when we stop, we lose our urgency for souls. When you lose your urgency for souls, you lose your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. How many of you have ever been somewhere and all of a sudden you felt the Holy Spirit urged you to tell somebody about your faith? How many of you have ever happened to you? If you override that, you lose your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He doesn't stay where he's not wanted. Do not lose your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. And evangelism is not pressure, it's love. I know you're called to be an evangelist. I want to be wise. Everybody say I want to be wise. And the wise still wins souls. I'm going to be a soul winner. You know why you need to be a soul winner too? Your children are watching. Your children are watching. And they're watching what matters to us. They learn, your children learn your theology way before they learn your vocabulary. They learn what you value. They learn what you think is important, what you celebrate. Do you bring someone to church with you? Do they see you tell people about Jesus? Do they see you share your faith? Do they see you by a Bible for someone? If your children never see you

when someone for Jesus, they'll think soul winning is optional. Some of you know we're all called to share our faith. We're all called to tell someone about Jesus. Our faith should not be private. It should be public. When your children see you when someone for Jesus, it marks them forever. forever. And you become bold, you become alive, because our faith is worth sharing. Our faith is not something we should be ashamed of. And this is a call to our church from comfort to the great commission, to win people for Jesus. From routine, come on, I'm shaking you today. Mom, if these cameras weren't on, I'd come down there and shake you. I'm shaking you from your routine to rescue. You've got neighbors that need rescued. You've got co-workers that need rescued. You have lost loved ones that need rescued. Some of you have mom, you need to rescue mom. You need to rescue dad. You need to rescue those children. You need to rescue those grandchildren. Some of you have grandparents that you need to rescue. You need to get from routine to rescue. You need to get on fire about telling people about Jesus. I believe Jesus is coming soon. I believe it. I believe you call me crazy. You can call me whatever you want to call me.

I'm telling you, the Lord Jesus is soon to return. Our children are watching, and this is a call. And heaven is not casual about souls, guys. And neither should our church. We're called to make disciples. Not a crowd, he didn't say go make a crowd. He said go make disciples, baptizing them. How many of you saw people baptize today? And the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. And soul winning is wisdom. Remember this, soul winning is wisdom in action. Number two, courage is the currency of the gospel. Romans 1 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel. This is Paul, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the, come on church, it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek or the Gentile. Paul says I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm not ashamed. Shame silence is what courage wants to release in your heart. And fear has kept too many of you silent for too long. Too many believers are quiet when they are called to speak up for what they believe. To be courageous, courage is not the absence of fear. It's the obedience to God in the presence of fear. - Good. - Some of you don't share your faith because you're not bold, you're not courageous.

You need to be bold, you need to be courageous. And the gospel doesn't need polish, the gospel just requires your voice to be bold. Everybody say, "Lord, I'm gonna be bold." Yeah, the enemy does not need to stop the gospel, he just needs to make believers self-conscious. I coach people all the time when they get up to speak and they go, "I'm nervous." I'm like, "You're nervous because you're thinking about you." You wouldn't be nervous if you thought about them. I do not care what you think about me 'cause I'm not thinking about me. I'm thinking about you. If somebody was in a burning car and there were thousands of people standing around, you wouldn't be like, "Well, I don't wanna go get 'em out because people might think, 'How do I look? How do I look? Doin' it? Does this look okay?'" What are you talking about? You would just run over there in front of everybody and pull 'em out. We have to stop thinking about ourselves and start thinking about others. We have the truth. Did you hear what I said? We have the truth. Why should we be ashamed, Agnes? Why should we be ashamed to tell people the truth? We live in a world that wants to make you ashamed to share your faith.

Don't you post anything about Jesus? Don't post anything. If I went on your social media, what was the last time you shared something about Jesus? You're so caught up in every other cause. What about the cause of Christ? When David went to the battlefield, he said, "Is there not a cause?" There is no cause greater than the cause of Christ. What do you share on your pulpit? You ought to share something about Jesus. It's quiet, I'm gonna say it anyway. You need to share about Jesus. We've got a world that's lost and dying and going to hell. The Bible says the harvest is plentiful, They're searching for truth. You got people buying crystals, trying to find healing, trying to find life, and believing in rocks. People pushing rocks on people. People pushing crystals when we've got Christ. We've got the cross. [APPLAUSE] And they're not ashamed. They're not ashamed to tell you about crystals can heal. You and rocks can heal. The devil is the liar. There is blood. There is stripes on the back of a Savior that can heal you. His name is Jesus. And by His stripes.

And you're going to let the world go make you embarrassed? You embarrassed. And they out here, the world is bold about their lie. They're not ashamed. They're in your face. They're on the news. They're on media. They do parades. They will tell you what they believe and cuss you out if you argue. Friend to cancel you if you disagree. But I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do not let this world make you ashamed. When you have the truth, you have the truth. You have the gift of eternal life. You have healing, mercy, joy, and peace. You have all the gifts of the spirit. Do not let this world seduce you into silence. The church has been too quiet for too long. And someone's yes in this room. Someone saying yes to Jesus is probably on the other side of your obedience. Boldness is not arrogance. It is compassion with conviction. And our children-- listen to me. Your children are going to inherit your courage or your caution. Be bold, even if you get it wrong, I get it wrong all the time. I get it wrong.

Joanne tells me after church, you should say it like this. Just so you all know, if I ever say it wrong, there is somebody that is telling him how to say it right. When it's over. Somebody say amen. She's my Holy Spirit. Give her a big God bless you. Our children are watching. And I want them to be bold. I'm going to tell you, one thing I love about my son, Nicholas, is he doesn't care what people think about it. I love that about him. He's like six, three, big guy. And he'll just walk around with this giant Jesus picture on his chest. You're like, I love Jesus. I mean, he's just so-- he just doesn't care. I just love it. I just love that he's not embarrassed, like ever. It's just not in him. You know? He had a shirt that if I'm flirting with you, please cooperate. He's just not embarrassed. I just love that. I'm like, I want to be like that. You know, he just walk around like, so what? So what? He'll go and ask people if this, do what every like, tell people about Jesus.

Because he doesn't have this shame. He doesn't have this shame. Like, so many of us live in this, like, worrying about what people might this and what people might think. And we're quiet about our faith. And you look at the world and the world is bold and courageous. And this season calls for boldness. Holy boldness. Not loudness. I don't know if that's a word. I'm not talking about just being loud. I'm talking about being wholly bold about your faith. But clear. And we're not ashamed of the gospel because, you know, the captive free. The gospel still sets the attic free and the alcoholic free and the drug attic free. The gospel still heals a person's mind. The gospel still restores the years that the pom-a-worm and the kenka-worm and the locus ate up the gospel. Only the gospel does that. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel, the gospel moves at the speed of our obedience. So number three, an invitation is an act of love, not marketing. Look at me, guys. I'm done with marketing stuff. I am sick to death of marketing. Nowhere in these scriptures, am I called to do it? Nor am I called to be a news anchor. People want their pastors to be news anchors now, comment on every story. I was thinking to my dad when he grew up. I was like, thank God that there were no phones when I grew up. Just thank God. You had the big Sunday paper and then you had the night news. I think God about it. Now you live in a world that they want the news media to drive the pulpit. The devil is a liar. I don't look to the news to decide what to preach on. I look to the scriptures. I actually pray and spend time with the Holy Spirit and say, God, what do you want me to talk about? Where do you want us to go? All this stuff you talk about on social media, you need to

honestly go back and ask if the Lord Jesus is talking to you about it. Or is the news talking to you about it? Because you tend to think just because you saw something on the news that God is talking to you about it. I actually don't talk unless God talks to me about it. I'm just telling you. It's like, what did God tell you? Nothing. I just saw this. I saw that. Did you see what they say? Did you see what they say? What did they say? It's like, well, what did God say? I don't know. That's the problem. That's the problem. Don't be David's brothers. Always running down to the battle. And just because you are within proximity to the giant doesn't mean you have courage. Because they were at the battle and still afraid. And then they started judging David. You see, when your hearts are not right, you start judging other people's hearts. They said, we know your heart. You know how wicked it is to think you know what's in someone else's heart. Who are you? That you can judge someone's heart. God, rebuke you. David didn't go to the battlefield to fight. David came with prayer. David came with the voice of the Lord. You've got to be careful letting people pull you into every battle. You understand what I'm saying to you? What is God saying to you? You're so focused on other things and you're missing soul winning. You're missing the great commission. You're missing what God is talking about. You're blindsided by distractions. And we're missing that our neighbors are going to hell. I've got people in my family that are lost. And we're out here picking up every cause except the cause of Christ. God is not American. I say that as a son of an immigrant, married to an immigrant, first generation American. And I think America is the greatest nation God ever let live on the face of the earth. If you don't want to be here, our shoulders will drive you to the airport following the service and you can go wherever you want. But I am telling you, I thank God for America, but I am telling you, God is not American. He is a king and his kingdom is not of this world. And we ought to be about the Lord's kingdom. Come on church, can I get an amen about it? And before you think I'm crazy, when was the last time you won someone for Jesus? who in this room is here because you told them about Jesus. We can get so distracted and so preoccupied that we start just thanking the churches about us.

When you don't bring someone to church, church is about you. And you're like, I heard that before. Pastor tells that joke one more time. Gosh, oh my gosh, I get it. Love my kids, pray with them. I get it, pray the time when I go prayer. Dear Lord, how many times do I have to hear? I understand it. I know. Pray, get up and pray. I know, I know, I'm not aloof to it. I've got kids. I tell them what I tell y'all. I understand. I was a scholar, I was doing worship today. It was Leon, I wish Leon was doing worship. It was Skylar, it's too loud, it's too soft. A pastor's praise and wins this over. We've been standing an hour. Now they want to baptize people. We stood for communion last week. God knows my heart. I get it, I understand, I understand. But the day you bring someone, it's not about you. The day you bring someone, it's not about them. All during worship, you're like, I think they lift their hands, Jeremy. I saw them lift their hands. I think they enjoyed the worship. Hey, pastor, can I talk to you before you preach?

You know that thing you say, you say it all the time. You know that joke, can you, the corny one? Can you say that? I think they'd be really good. Can you make that? Because it's not about you. The day you bring someone to church is not about you. It's about them. Everything becomes about them. That's what I'm trying to tell you. You get the beauty back of being a soul winner. The joy of being a soul winner. Wouldn't you actually like to worship in a room with people and you look around and go, man, I remember when I invited them to church. I remember when they got saved. I remember when that brother got border baptized. I remember they, he was lost, man, he was addicted. Now he's saved, now he's married, now he's got kids. I saw his kids get baptized, now they're on fire for Jesus. God's restored everything. Wouldn't you like to be in a room with people that you look around and you go, we're doing what God called us to do? Instead of sitting in a room and it's all about you, everything is about you. It's not about you. It's about us. And we, that's why the one with the Lord prayed. He didn't say my father.

He said, our father, because it's about us. Everybody say it's about us. It's about the corporate. We've got to be soul winners. Look 14, 23, then the master said unto them, go. Everybody say go. Go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come that my house may be filled. It's not the marketing job of the church. It's not us, we're not called to just run Facebook ads to grow the church. And Instagram has to run the church. God rebuke us all. We need soul winners. The books called have soul winners. There's no fivefold ministry of marketing agencies, pastors, prophets, teachers, evangelists, marketing agencies. Are you out of your mind? We're called to be evangelists. Everybody say, I'm an evangelist. You're an evangelist. So start preaching the gospel. - So good. - Start sharing your faith. Start sharing your testimony. Some of you haven't even told your kids how you got saved. Start sharing your faith and compel them. Everybody say, compel them. Compel them to come that they may be in his house, that his house may be filled.

And an invitation is not a transaction. It's an extension of care. We invite someone, we say you matter. We're not asking people to attend an event. We're asking people to encounter the presence of God. And only when they get in the presence of God does healing happen. Do you know how many Sundays there's someone here who was just getting dressed a couple of hours ago and driving and now they're at an altar in front of thousands of people weeping? - Do you know what does that? The presence of God. Do you know Hollywood can't do that? - That's right. - Do you know how hard Hollywood works to make you feel an emotion? They spend 50 million dollars. And they take three hours of you sitting in a room and you're like, "That's all right." (congregation laughing) And now, and you come in the presence of God and a grown man who's never wept in his life, is that an altar on his knees in 20 minutes weeping? Do you know what does that? The Holy Spirit. The presence of Jesus. Nothing else. My last point, don't just invite them, bring them. John 1, 46 and Philip said, "Come and see."

Everybody say, "Come and see." - Come and see. - Come and see. Come and see. That's my prayer. Come and see. What's that building over there with a smile on it? Come and see. Man, why are you always talking about your church? Come and see. Come and see, come sit with me. Come and see. I'll pick you up. Come and see, come and see. That's what they said about Jesus. Come and see the lame walk and the blind see and the deaf can hear and see the dead race. I still believe we serve a God that does miracles. Come on church. We serve a God that does miracles every Sunday. I'm believing God for miracles. In your home, in your marriage with your children and your finances in this house. I'm believing God for miracles. Everybody shout, "Come and see." Come on, say it again. Come and see. - Come and see. - This is the heart of God for our church. That we would be soul winners.

Don't just drop 'em off at the door and disappear. Stay connected to 'em. - Amen. - People don't just need directions. They need companionship, relationship. Disciple them, discipleship begins with presence. Love walks together. This is what we've got a model. And we've got invites for Easter. You can bring them on Easter. You know, 85% of people you invite will say yes. I'm telling you, the world is desperate. Desperately looking for answers. - Yes. - And there's so much confusion in this world. That the only thing that clears through all the confusion is the presence of Jesus. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. And I'm gonna pray for us here in a moment and we're gonna be gone. But listen, I'm asking God to give you back the joy and the zeal that you had when you first got saved. Did you see these four people up here? Weeping in the presence of God. Not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Choosing to be baptized in the waters of holy baptism. When was the last time you told somebody about Jesus? When was the last time you shared your faith? When was the last time you brought somebody with you? Or have we just come professional at judging services?

Come on guys, we have to get back to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have to get back to like, well, I don't know if I like it. You know, pastor wasn't preaching today. Listen to me, I'm not the older I get, the less I'm going preach. What? Yeah. I'm telling you right now, it's the second service. My feet hurt now. (congregation laughing) I've been in two hours of worship today, and I got to worship again. The older I get, the less I will be preaching. Well, I just don't know if I'll listen to me. It don't matter who's preaching, as long as they're preaching Jesus. It don't matter who's up here singing, as long as they're singing about Jesus. We got good preachers in this church. Jeremy's a good preacher. He's a good preacher. Andrew and Emma are good preachers. Andrew's a good preacher. We got great preachers, wait to hear Skylar preach and different ones preach. We got great preachers. Joanne's a great preacher. (congregation cheering)

Cassidy's a great preacher. We got great preachers in this church. And not just Pastor Jonathan. Don't build a church on a person. Don't build a church on a personality. Build it on Jesus, on Christ, the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Don't fall in love with people. Fall in love with the Lord. I will disappoint you. Jeremy will disappoint you. It doesn't matter who's preaching. Next Sunday we're Pastor Jared Neiman's preaching from El Paso. Pastor's one of the largest churches in our nation, 22,000 members. He's going to be here ministry next Sunday, and I've asked him to do a discipleship night at five o'clock, and I just want you to take 90 minutes and just preach the Word. Teach us the Scriptures. How many of you know we're called to be a disciple? Come on, amen. So that's tomorrow. I mean, that's next Sunday. Well, Pastor's not going to be there. Jesus will be there. I have never healed a person in my life. I've never said anybody free or saved anybody. The Lord Jesus has. Come on, can I get any amen about it? The Lord will be here. I know that sounds like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, but people don't come.

Are they doing this? They don't that because you've made it about you. This is not a product to consume. This is a family to belong to. And we are called by God to be so winners. And so I'm now commissioning all of you to be a so winner. I want you to share your faith with somebody this week. I want you to put your eyes on Jesus. I want you to be a bringer and say, I'm going to tell somebody about the Lord. Maybe they come to this church. Maybe they don't. But I'm going to start telling somebody about Jesus. I'm going to start winning them for the Lord. Some of the greatest friends in my life I want for Jesus. I just start telling about the Lord. Tell them about the Lord. You know why, because they would complain. A lot of people complain a lot because their life's terrible, because they don't have Jesus. Come on, guys, they're complaining all the time, because their life's-- and I'd say, man, I wish you had the peace I had. I wish you had the peace. Man, I wish you had the joy. I went through stuff like that, too, and I had joy. I had joy, I had peace. Man, I've been through layoffs, too, and I survived it. You ever want to know how to let me know? Yeah, that's so good.

The best way to make someone hungry is let them watch you eat. Well, so good. [INAUDIBLE] Let me get a big old sandwich up here one Sunday, starting eating it. What is that? What? What is that? Well, I'm preaching. You'd be like, what is it? We need to get something. Come on, guys. You-- listen to me. You have the truth. You don't have a lie. You have the truth. You have it. God gave it to you. Now, share it with others. And I break off of you all fear and intimidation in the name of Jesus. Amen.