The Mission of Jesus in a World of Billions - Vance Pitman

Good morning church we're so glad you joined us whether you're in the room or watching from a church house or from Tipton and we're so glad you're here I just want to invite you to sing some good news with us this morning that Jesus is alive Jesus is good he's faithful he's victorious he's glorious he's worthy of our worship and he's here he's in the room he's wherever you're at right now he's with you so let's just worship him let's be reminded this morning of the truth that he's with us he walks with us he's ours that all that we have is in him he's enough amen thank you Jesus we worship you Oh bless it is sure Jesus is mine what a foretaste of glory a prayer of salvation purchase of God born of his spirit washed in his blood thank you Jesus perfect submission all is at rest I am my saviour am happy and blessed watching and waiting looking up filled with his goodness lost in his love we sing this is my story this is my story this is my song praising my saviour all the day long

this is my story this is my song praising my saviour all the day long oh oh what a saviour wonderful Jesus oh what a saviour wonderful Jesus oh what a saviour wonderful Jesus oh what a saviour wonderful Jesus and death could not hold you you are victorious praise to the risen king and death could not hold you you are victorious praise to the risen king oh what a saviour wonderful Jesus oh what a saviour wonderful Jesus and death could not hold you ♪ You, You are victorious ♪ ♪ Praise to the risen King ♪ We sing this is my story. And this is my story. And this is my song. I'm praising my Saviour all the day long.

And this is my story. And this is my song. I'm praising my Saviour all the day long. And this is my song. I'm praising my Saviour all the day long. And this is my song. I'm praising my Saviour all the day long. And this is my song. Before, I don't walk like I used to. And I don't talk like I used to. I've been washed from the inside. I've been washed from the inside out. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I know it was the blood. It could have only been the blood. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I know it was the blood. It could have only been the blood. Oh, the blood of Jesus. Oh, I cannot explain it. I cannot explain it. But nothing's more real than this, in the presence of God. Oh, what my heart experienced when my shame hit the wayside and my sin met the most high. I was washed from the inside. I was washed from the inside. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.

I know, I know it was the blood. It could have only been the blood. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I know it was the blood. It could have only been the blood. Oh, hallelujah, hallelujah. Yes, it is. Come on, we testify this morning. The reason we're saved is in the blood of Jesus. Nothing else we sing has never been. Sing it's never been about performing or striving for acceptance. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. It's never been about deserving or earning. It's a gift that's freely given. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody wanna be holy and righteous? And righteous, purified and swollen? Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody wanna be worthy, forgiven? Justified and living? Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I know it was the blood. It could have only been the blood. Hallelujah, hallelujah. I know it was the blood. It could have only been the blood. ♪ Holy, holy, holy, holy, yeah ♪

♪ Holy, holy, holy, holy, holy, yeah ♪ ♪ I want to sing, I want to sing, I want to sing, yeah ♪ ♪ It's a weeping hallelujah, hallelu, yeah ♪ ♪ Hallelu, yeah, hallelu, yeah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood, it could've only been the blood ♪ ♪ Hallelu, yeah, hallelu, yeah ♪ ♪ I know it was the blood, it could've only been the blood ♪ Thank you, Jesus. Come on, how many of you know this morning it's only by the blood? That you know, that you know, that you know it's only because of Jesus. We got nothing to bring to the table. Nothing good that we have done, not our own righteousness. There's only one thing that can wash away our sin, only one thing that can purchase our redemption, our righteousness, and it's His sacrifice, it's His blood. Right, we got nothing to add to the equation, it's Jesus plus nothing. Jesus plus nothing is everything to us. Paul says at the end of Galatians, we've been studying this letter and he wraps up the whole thing by saying, may it never be spoken from my lips, far be it from me that I should boast in anything but the cross of Jesus Christ. There's a lot of things I could point to in my life, accomplishments, pride that I have, and things that I'm doing, boxes that I'm checking, but may it never be that I would boast in any of that stuff.

And diminish the sacrifice of Jesus. Man, we have grace and mercy and salvation and redemption in droves because of Him, His goodness, amen. So we're gonna sing a new song that we wrote this morning that echoes what Paul says right there, I will not boast in anything but the cross of Jesus Christ. And this song so clearly states, articulates the gospel, that it's by grace, through faith, that we have been saved. So let's just declare together. It's a song that hope fires you up. It's a song of celebration that declares this truth that we can just rest in and we can boast in something today. It's not us, but it's in Him, amen. So let me teach you this chorus and as you catch it, just sing along. This is how it goes. Oh, I will not boast in anything. My hope, oh Lord, in Christ my King. Not by strength and not by might, just the cross of Jesus Christ. I will not boast in anything. Amen, you got that? Come on, sing it with us today, let's go. Oh, we thank You, Jesus. Oh, You saved us. You changed everything. That's been made new. Lord, You freed me. These chains are breaking off because of You,

because of You, because of You. Sing it out. I will not boast in anything. My hope, oh Lord, in Christ my King. It's not by strength and not by might, just the cross of Jesus Christ. I will not boast in anything. Lord, You saved me. Lord, You saved me. Your grace rewrote the story of my life. Lord, You gave me true love and joy and peace. You've been so kind. You sustained me. I testify of all You've brought me through. So amazing. My future is secure because of You. Because of You. I will not boast in anything, my hope, my Lord, in Christ my King. It's not by strength and not by might, just the cross of Jesus Christ. I will not boast in anything. It's only by grace. By grace, through faith, I have been saved. We sing. By grace, through faith, I have been saved. By grace, through faith, I have been saved. It's only by grace, through faith, I'll never be insane. By grace, through faith, I have been saved. It's only by grace, through faith, I'll never be insane. I will not boast. I will not boast in anything, my hope, my Lord, in Christ.

It's not by strength and not by might, just the cross of Jesus Christ. I will not boast in anything. I will not boast in anything. I will not boast in anything. Oh. It's only by grace. Oh, we thank you, Jesus. Yeah. Come on, get up. Come on. Church, give Jesus the biggest shout of glory you got, would you? To God be the glory. He is so good. It's so good to see you. And I told you last week on Mother's Day that we'd be back in our series in Galatians this Sunday. What I really meant was next Sunday. Everybody would go, oh. Yeah, I know you're disappointed, but it won't last long. I promise you'll be glad you came to church today because a dear friend of mine that preached here a year ago, Vance Pittman, is here again. I really want you to hear from him. One of our A-Life initiatives is to plant 200 churches across North America in the next two years, and Vance is a very strategic partner in that. So he is a church planter. He planted, of all places, in Las Vegas. And everybody knows we call that? And, you know, the truth is every city is a? Which means every city needs the gospel. And let me tell you, Vance is a church planter that plants churches all over North America.

He pastors pastors that are planting churches. So he's a very strategic partner of our church as we have a church planting residency. And it's a joy to once again let you hear from my friend Vance Pittman. When you give him the biggest shout, biggest welcome you got right now. It is an incredible joy to get to be back here at Abundant Life. I love your pastor. Amen. God bless this church with a phenomenal leader. And I love him for a lot of reasons, but one of them is I don't get to look up to a whole lot of people and I get to look up to your pastor. I think I'm a tall guy until I get around your pastor. But God's doing something special here in your midst. And it's an honor to get to be here and be a part of it. Let's pray one more time before we dive into the word together. Let's bow our heads. Lord Jesus, we once again just submit to you. And Lord, in this moment, we recognize that the moment of preaching is not the dispensing of information. It's really a call to transformation. So, Lord, this is a holy moment. It's supernatural. God, you're about to take your word. You're about to do stuff in people's lives that some of them will be talking about decades from now What's about to happen in the next few moments for some of them will change their eternal destiny? Change the footprint of their kingdom impact for the rest of their lives. So God we ask your Holy Spirit to move Apart from you we can do nothing And I'm gonna ask you to pray in your seat There's a phrase that Jesus often used in the New Testament. He would say he who has ears to hear let him hear Turn that into a prayer and say Lord. Give me ears to hear what you want to say to me today and Then say this say Lord. I'm gonna do my very best to listen and respond to you

And just before I begin anything else you need to just lay before the Lord Holy Spirit of God have your way It's in the name of Jesus. We pray and all of us say together Amen, I don't know about you, but I am a numbers guy. I Know that in a room like this, there's some people that hear that and I heard somebody whoo. Yeah Yeah, I love number like I love number. I love math in school. I know that's weird, but I love math I didn't like much of the rest of the school, but I like numbers. I love digging into numbers I love studying number. I can smell a bad number a mile away, but for people that aren't numbers people They tend to kind of all blur and run together Like we'll be watching the news or see something on television They'll talk to us about a million and they'll talk to us about a billion and million and billion What's the difference like it all just runs again one starts with an M what starts with a B? This is a really big number. But did you know there's a really big difference between a million and a billion? for example if you're gonna count to a million and You're gonna do it counting one number every second and you're gonna do this 24 hours a day For the near future. Do you know how long it would take you to count to a million by one number every second? 24 hours a day for the near view, you know how long it take you If you know that you you're either too much into numbers or you were in the first service, right Here's the deal. It's gonna take you eleven and a half days So sometime about a week from Thursday or Friday next week You'll finish now. I don't recommend it. It's not a great way to spend two weeks But in two weeks you could count to 1 million You know how long it take you to do the same thing except counting to a billion It take you 32 years So for the next 32 years counting every second in 32 years you'll get to 1 Billion big difference between a million and a billion See why you talking to us about numbers because I want to show you a number It's a big number It's a billion number here's the number

Eight billion 291 million 220,000 and 65 You know what that number is It's the population of people currently living and breathing on Planet Earth actually It's not a true statement Because I wrote this number down sent it to your team here to put on the screen about a week and a half ago So it's not accurate anymore because that number literally changes every single Second Matter of fact take your hands put them out in front of you like this on the count of three We're gonna clap you ready one two three Four people were just born Two people just died Every second four people born Two people died Every second some people are rejoicing Welcoming new life and every second two people Step out of this life Into eternity We're gonna be in this service for another 30-40 minutes you do the math of all the people That are gonna enter eternity while we're sitting here In this room do the math today do the math this week Thousands and thousands and thousands of people Every one of that number eight point two nine one billion everyone represents a person a

soul Created in the image of God made to know God to be known by God To love God and to be loved by God men and women Grandparents aunts and uncles boys and girls college students moms and dads every one of these people precious in the sight of God And you don't talk about diversity out of the eight point two plus billion people on planet Earth. There are eleven Thousand distinct and unique people groups. You say what's a people group? It's a people group It's a group of people with their own language their own culture their own Customs and their own traditions. So among the eight point two billion there are eleven thousand unique distinct languages cultures customs and traditions and Yet out of all the diversity of the eight point two billion people on planet Earth Every single one of them Falls into one of two categories Lost Or found Doesn't matter what country Doesn't matter what culture Doesn't matter what language they speak the color of their skin Every one of the eight point two billion people on planet Earth every one of the two that just passed away Every one of them either lost Every one of them either lost Or found Looked up the word lost in the dictionary. Here's the dictionary definition of the word lost not knowing where you are or

How to get where you want to go You ever been lost in the woods on a vacation on a drive in A city you never been to like being lost Can be scary being lost Can be emotional being lost is a moment for anxiety I remember last summer we were on a beach and a mom and dad were frantic because they'd lost their child They couldn't find them praise God. We found the little fella and got him back to his parents But in that moment like people that didn't even know each other all these people that had never met We all had one mission to find this little guy why because he was lost There's something scary about being lost But you know the worst kind of lost Spiritually lost You say what is spiritual lostness It means to be hopelessly Separated from a relationship with God and Headed to an eternity separated from God and Not knowing what to do about it Out of the 8.2 billion people on planet Earth get this over 6 billion of them with the most positive estimate are lost over 2 billion of them Have no access to the gospel and have never heard the name of Jesus as we know it from the New Testament Now think about that 2 billion people in the world that have never heard the gospel 2 billion people in the world that if today they wanted to know about Jesus would first have to learn another language Because there's no gospel in there in their language, and here's the deal every one of those people has access to coca-cola Now

That's sad and it's funny, but here's the reality a soda company Has done better with their messaging in a couple of hundred years in the Church of Jesus Christ in over 2,000 The Bible says all of us Like sheep have gone astray Each of us has turned to his own way. See here's the reality God created every Human being to know him to love him to note to be known and loved by him But because of our sin, we're separated from God and there's nothing we can do to change that no religion We can perform no morality We can embrace no goodness We can attain to that can change the fact that we're lost if you're here today and a friend invited you or you just stumbled By the church and came in and you feel like you're so far from God. You're in that category of being lost Listen, I have some really good news for you today Here's the good news Luke chapter 19 verse 10. Listen what it says for the Son of Man. Who's that? That's Jesus That's what it says has come to seek and to save That which was lost Hey, listen to me friend. He's looking for you today He's Seeking you you think you're here because a friend invited you you think you're here Because you happened by the church and saw it and said I'm gonna go you think you're here because somebody gave you an invite You know why you're here because he's been searching for you your whole life He's been drawing you to this moment where he can make himself known to you and forgive you of your sin You see that's the whole story of this book We call the Bible from Genesis to Revelation Here's the story God made you to know him to love him and to be known and loved by him But our sin separates us from God every one of us doesn't matter how good we are. We've all done bad stuff We've all sinned against God and it's our sin that cuts us off

From the very reason we were created which is to know him and love him and be known and loved by him We can't have a relationship with God because of our sin and there's nothing we can do to change that Talk about being lost We don't know where we are and we don't even know how to get out of this mess And here's the reality the Bible says there's nothing we can do to get our you can't clean yourself up You can't turn over a new leaf. You can't start a new direction Nothing I can do can change the fact that I've sinned against God But here's the story of this book God loved us so much that he sent his son Jesus into this world Jesus God took on human flesh Entered the world that he created lived a completely sinless life and that on the cross Jesus stepped into my place and he stepped into your place and he took all the sin that we've ever committed every thought Every action every deed every reaction the stuff that nobody knows But you and God he took all of the sin that we've ever committed or that we ever will commit and on the cross Jesus died in our place He drank the full cup of the judgment of God against sin on our behalf and he died That's not the good news yet He didn't stay dead Listen if all he did was die. We got no hope but he didn't stay dead He defeated death He rose again as a testimony that God accepted his sacrifice for our sin so that now you and I can put our faith in Jesus and we get what we cannot earn by grace a relationship with God If you're here today your whole life has been orchestrated to this moment when he makes known to you how much he loves you and He's come today to find you and bring you home to him But the other thing I want you to understand today is for those of us in the room that already know him as the church Jesus has sent us into the world to reach the lost I I Want you to take your Bible turn to Luke chapter 15 in Luke chapter 15

We see Jesus's passion for the lost Now, let me give you the context before I read it. And Jesus is hanging out with lost people If that doesn't fit your image of Jesus, you need to get a new image of Jesus Because this book shows us a Jesus that was comfortable hanging out with people far from God Jesus is hanging out with lost people and the church crowd says What are you doing with those people and And in response, Jesus tells three stories to illustrate his passion for lost people. Story about a lost sheep, a story about a lost coin, and a story about a lost son. Now, we're only gonna focus on the first of these stories, but you can read them all later on. Luke chapter 15, beginning in verse one. Says, now the tax collectors and sinners. Who's that? That's some bad people. Like, those terms may not carry the weight in our century that they did in the first century. Well, maybe they do, tax collectors, but like Jesus is here pointing out the worst of the worst. Like these are some bad people. Jesus is identifying two sets of people that everybody in society in this day would have said, yep, that's the worst of the worst. The tax collectors and sinners, get this, we're drawing near to hear him. Here comes the worst of the worst. Who are they coming to hear?

They're coming to hear Jesus. Why? Because they sensed something in Jesus they hadn't ever sensed from anybody else before. An unconditional love and compassion. So they're coming to Jesus, verse two. And the Pharisees, who's that? That's the church people. And the scribes, say the next word out loud. You ever heard any of that at church? No. Saying, this man receives sinners. Oh, well, not only that, he eats with them. The tone is, how dare him? Who does he think he is? Bringing those people into our church. So in response to that, Jesus said, it says, so he told him a story. He told him a parable. Verse four. What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing, and when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I found my sheep that was lost. Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven

over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. He tells three stories just like this. Like he could have just told one story, but he's trying to make a point. He tells three. And I wanna share with you three truths out of this first story, really out of the setup to the story, the first two verses. I wanna show you three truths. Here's the first one. Jesus loves the lost. Hey, that's a good place for all of us to say amen. Amen. Because you know what you used to be? If you're already found, you used to be lost. Aren't you glad Jesus loves the lost? If he didn't love the lost, I wouldn't had a shot. Don't look at me spiritual. You wouldn't have either. Jesus loves the lost. The whole story of the Bible is Jesus loving the lost. The most famous verse in the Bible. John 3, 16, you know it. You've seen it at every sporting event that's ever been broadcast in America. John 3, 16. For God. What does it say? For God what?

Don't skip over this word. Say that word out loud. Say it again. Say it like you're cheering at a Chiefs game. Come on, for God. That's what it means. For God so loved the 8.2%. 2 billion people on planet Earth. That he gave his only begotten son. What does that mean? He emptied heaven. He gave everything he had. So that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but what? Have eternal life. In Luke's gospel, we see this really demonstrated in two ways. Number one, the way Jesus acted. He acted different. The text says he received them. The tax collectors, the sinners, the worst of the worst, Jesus receives them. The word receive here is a Greek word that means to welcome. And I want you to notice this about the way this is written. And if you don't know this, the New Testament's originally written in the Greek language. This Greek verb is not describing something that happened once in Jesus's life. It's describing the pattern of Jesus's life.

The way this verb is used in the Greek text, it's describing the rhythm of it. It's the way Jesus lived. Here's the bottom line. It's just who he was. Jesus wasn't doing something unique here. Jesus was just being Jesus. And Jesus being Jesus is hanging out with lost people. This word oozes relationship. relationships Jesus is building relationships with lost people. He's welcoming them. He's Connecting with them and in the text you see two extremely different Responses and reactions to what Jesus does first of all, there's the religious crowd the church people They saw a relationship with the lost as something to be avoided Like ooh, I don't want to get that on me Those people We shouldn't be associating with that kind What are people gonna think about me if they see me with them? Like they're far from God They don't they don't look like what I'm supposed to look like. They don't act like I'm supposed to act When you're watching the news and You see them portray people living in a way that is far different From what the Bible teaches us to live. What's your first reaction? You know what's sad for most of the church. Our first reaction is anger It's a how dare they it's like look at this. What how can they live like that? That's so far from God Let me let you in on a deep theological insight that I discovered when I moved to Las Vegas Like in Las Vegas, there's lost that there's lost people everywhere But in Las Vegas like we got we got lost lost people in Las Vegas

Las Vegas your pastor said it's called what city You know the problem with that right? It ain't Las Vegas people doing the sinning It's your people We just making food in beds If people from Missouri and Mississippi and Alabama and Georgia stop sinning we go out of business out there, right? But but but in Las Vegas like there's a whole lot of stuff that people do in Las Vegas It's just normal way of life out there like but here's what I learned in Las Vegas. Here's what I learned This is deep you ready lost people act like lost people Because they're lost people We can't let what's not their problem So become our problem that we can't befriend them and introduce them to Jesus We got such a problem with their lifestyle. We don't want to be in their life Every person that meets Jesus first meets another Jesus follower and Jesus hung out with those people But the church they said we can we need to avoid that here. Here's the second statement Jesus saw a relationship with the lost as something to be pursued It wasn't something to be avoided Jesus said those people those are my people Like that's where you're gonna find me Which means this? Engaging lost people is not here. We go evangelism That's what we call it, right? We're gonna go do some evangelism It's not evangelism. You know what it is Christlikeness You see to the degree that I'm allowing Jesus in me To be Jesus through me You know what? My circle of relationships is gonna look like there's gonna be some people far from God that I'm hanging out with That may cause other people to think wrongly of me because I'm so related to them

They're judging me based on their lifestyle, but I'm just there to build a relationship so I can point them to Jesus Why don't we do this? Well, there's a lot of ways I'm gonna give you three examples One of the reasons we don't do this is seasons of life. We get so busy living life kids career Schedule job living the American dream that we forget we got a greater purpose Listen the greater purpose of your life is not your kids your family your education your career and your long-term Planning for retirement and accomplishing the American dream is any of that stuff bad? No, it's wonderful But all of that is in our lives to be leveraged for the greater purpose Which is making Jesus known locally and globally so that people can come to know God But we get so caught up in a season of life that we miss that Second we miss it because we get self-centered We become so preoccupied with our own needs and circumstances that we don't notice the lost around us Let me give you another deep thought Let me give you another deep theological insight God saved you because he loves you but he also saved you because he loves the people around you and He brought you to himself so that through you he could make himself known to them Another reason we miss it is spiritual activity. We get so caught up in the church You know what the problem with the church in America? We've made it a part-time job Like we got so much going on at the church We can fill our schedule doing stuff for Jesus rather than just being who Jesus is which is building relationships with lost people We got to be careful that we don't create such a Christian subculture that we live in a bubble Isolated from the world the message of the gospel is not isolation. The message of the gospel is Incarnation God stepped out of heaven took on human flesh and dwelt among us We need to live that out. My friend James Roberson pastors the church in Brooklyn, New York He said the church can't save people, but the church can seek people And we need to be intentional about seeking people that are lost We not only see it in the way Jesus acted we see it in the words that he spoke Jesus told these three stories That communicate his Passion for the lost the immense value that he placed on those that are lost the endless

Pursuit that he went after those that are lost with and the overwhelming joy With which he rejoiced when the lost were found if you're here today and You're lost You're far from God. Listen know this he loves You and he doesn't expect you to clean it all up before you come to him You just bring it to him You give it to him you surrender by faith to him and he'll start the cleaning up process on the ends Listen when I met Jesus, I was listen when I met Jesus there was stuff in my life. He wanted I didn't even know he wanted two years later Like I didn't know I gave him what I thought he wanted that was a whole but but but it's a process of Growing in Christ's likeness if you're apart from him if you're far from God today right where you are You just come to him you embrace this Jesus who loves you who died for you who rose again for you? And he'll take you right where you are and he'll begin to conform you to his image and give your life purpose meaning and value Jesus loves the lost You know what another problem we have is we've forgotten what it's like to be lost Some of us been saved so long we forgot what it's like to be lost I was reading in the Psalms one morning in Psalm chapter 9 verse 10 I'll show it to you Psalm 9 10 the psalmist says and those who know your name will put your put their trust in you and when I first read that in my In my Bible that morning in my quiet time. I Rejoice because I thought man what a testimony because I know his name no matter what I face today What obstacle what challenge what difficulty because I know his name today. I can put my trust in him But as soon as I prayed that the Holy Spirit of God convicted me deeply Because I thought about all the people who live around me. They don't know his name and Here's the deal. You got neighbors on your street Gonna face the same problems the same challenges the same difficulties the same Stuff that you face and here's the deal. They got nobody to turn to

They're far from God. They're lost. They don't know how they got there. They don't know how to get out of it We got to get the heart of Jesus he loved lost people number two Jesus reaches the lost through the found He Reaches the lost through the found I showed you a minute ago Luke 19 10 Son of man's come to seek and to save that which was lost Let me show you another verse John 20 21. This is Jesus speaking. Look what he said as the Father has sent me. I Also sinned say that word out loud say it one more time look at the person sitting next to you and say that word Here's why I had you do that, that's the you he's talking about When Jesus said this he wasn't talking about you the preachers You the missionaries you the Apostles when Jesus said this he was talking about you Every follower of Jesus just as he was sent into the world to seek and save that which was lost Now he sent us into the world which means two things number one We need to connect with lost people to accomplish the mission of Jesus the text says in verse 1 It's a phrase that means to draw near it's a word that has to do with spatial connectivity meaning Jesus was living his life in a space that was close to people far from God Who in your life Are you intentionally building a relationship with that's far from God? So that they can come to know God through their relationship with you So that they can come to know God through their relationship with you Like I want you to seriously think about this on the inside don't answer out loud But if I ask you to write down three names right now. Not just of lost people that you know of, but I'm talking about three names that you're intentionally building relationship with so that the Christ in you can make himself known to them and they can go from being lost to being found. But we don't need to just connect with them because if we make that mistake we wind up with what's called friendship evangelism. I'm just gonna, I'm gonna be friends with lost people in hopes that Jesus will so be evident in my life that I'll attract them to Christ and they'll find Jesus on their own. No, we not only need to connect with lost people, we need to communicate with lost people the good news of Jesus. The text here says they were drawing near to hear

him. Jesus was, he was not just doing life with them, he wasn't just around them, he was speaking to them the truth of the gospel. He was speaking the truth of how they could be found in him. We all know the verse Romans 10 13 says, whoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be what? Say it out loud. Saved. Great verse. Do you believe that? Do you believe that? Anybody that calls on the name of the Lord can be saved. Amen? Read verse 17. So faith comes from what? Here's what that means. Nobody's gonna call on his name to believe until they hear. He didn't say see, he said hear. Faith doesn't come by seeing, faith comes by hearing the gospel. Meaning this, if I'm gonna be about Christ likeness in my life, I need to not only connect and build relationships with people that don't know God, I need to be intentional about having gospel conversations, sharing Jesus with people that don't know God. And I know what you're thinking, man, if I start talking about Jesus, people are gonna think I've lost my mind. They're gonna think I'm pushy. They're gonna think I'm preachy. Can I share with you a statistic that was released last fall? A study was done across North America. It was released by Relevant Magazine. Here's the stat. 79% of non-churchgoers in North America say if a friend of mine really values their faith, I don't mind them talking to me about it. How about that? You got friends, according to this stat, 8 out of 10 of them that don't know God. You talk, they see you go to church, they know you're Christian, they never hear you talk about him. And here's what, they're dying on the inside. They're waiting on you. And because you're their friend, because you got skin in the game in the relationship, they'll hear you. I don't mean they run to church and run to Jesus, but they'll hear you. And guess what? Faith comes by hearing. It starts by hearing. Jesus seeks the lost through the found. Here's the last thing and I'm done. Jesus rejoices when the lost are found. Did you hear it? Verse 7, Jesus said, I tell you there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 righteous persons who think they don't need repentance. Here's what that means today. If you're here and Jesus for the very first time in your life, you realize Jesus is what I need. Jesus is God who loves me, who wants to forgive me, who wants to give me life, who wants to

usher me into eternity when I die. If you give your life to Jesus today, do you know what is going to happen in heaven? They are going to throw a party. It is about, listen, I believe there's some people in this room today. You're about to come to faith in Christ. There's some people at other campuses and watching online. You're about to come to faith in Christ. I'm telling you, there is about to be a crescendo. They're about to strike up the band. They're about to start dancing. There's about to be celebration. And listen, I want you to know this. If you're here today and you don't know Jesus, I'm going to ask you in the room today to give a testimony. If somebody in this room today comes to know Christ, what are you going to do in this room? Are you going to rejoice with them? Let them hear that. Here's what that means. You couldn't be in a better place today to give your life to Jesus. And here's the deal. He'd been seeking you. Everything in your life brought you to this moment. He loves you. He's calling you to himself. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus, as only you can in this moment, speak, Holy Spirit of God. With nobody looking around right now but me, if you're here today

and you've never surrendered the control of your life to Jesus, I'm not asking if you've ever been to church or if you're religious. Have you ever surrendered the control of your life to Jesus? You ever put your faith in him? If you've never done that, and today you realize he's calling you to himself. It happened for me when I was a freshman in college in 1989. Maybe today's your day. If you're ready to surrender your life to Jesus, I want to lead you in a prayer. It's not the words of a prayer that save you. It's faith in the person of Jesus that saves. But one of the ways we can express our faith is by praying. If you'd like to surrender your life to Jesus, you just pray this in your own heart after me. Say, Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner. I know that you love me anyway. I know that you died for my sin. I know that you rose again. And right now, Jesus, I believe in you. I surrender my life to you. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me. I didn't do it in the first service, but I feel impressed to do this in this service. Nobody's looking around right now. I want to pray for you in just a moment. If you just prayed with me for the very first time in your life to surrender your life to Jesus,

nobody's looking but me. Just be you and me. Just hold your hand up for just a minute. Just hold it up all over the room. Just hold it up. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. In just a moment, I'm going to pray for you. Your pastor is going to tell you what to do in just a moment as a next step. But before I pray, I want to talk to the rest of you in this room for just a moment. Those of you that are already followers of Jesus, are you allowing Christ in you to live through you? So how do I know? Are you intentionally connecting with lost people? And are you looking for opportunities to share Christ with them? If not, here's my challenge to you this week. I want you right now to ask the Holy Spirit of God, God, put somebody on my heart. If you got a name that God's put on your heart, if you got a name, hold your hand up. Somebody you know that's lost. If you got a name on your heart, hold your hand up. Hold it up. Hold it up for just a second. Hands all over this room. Listen, you didn't put that there. You can put your hand down. The Holy Spirit of God put that there,

which means he's actively at work in their life, drawing them to himself. You know what can happen this week? Divine appointment. You take them to coffee, take them to lunch, take them to dinner. You share with them the story of what Jesus has done in your life. You say, man, I've known them for a long time. It's going to be weird. No, here's how you do it. Just take them to dinner and say, hey, man, can I apologize to you for something? You say, what are you apologizing for? Man, I've never, you're a good friend of mine. I've never told you the greatest thing that's ever happened in my life. And if you'll give me three minutes, I want to tell you the greatest thing that's ever happened in my life. You know what the stat says? Eight out of 10 of them will say, sure, I'd love to hear it. What if next weekend, hundreds of you bring somebody that came to Christ this week because you shared the gospel and they prayed to receive Christ? Wouldn't it be awesome? Pastor Phil couldn't even preach in Galatians next week because you got to spend the whole service baptizing people that had been found. God, do it, Lord. Save people, draw people to yourself. Thank you, God, for what you're going to do. Lord, I pray for these today that have given their lives to Christ. May today be the first day of the rest of their lives of following Jesus. Lord, give them assurance that they've been found. It's in the name of Jesus we pray, amen.