Who's Next?

My name is Brea and I want to invite you to come check us out in person. I am so glad that you're tuning in to this online message, but it gets even better when we connect face to face. If you're ever in the Central Florida area, come check us out. I also want to encourage you to check out our website, freelifetravel.org, to learn more about who we are, what we do, and how you can be apart. Now, let's get into what you've been waiting for. Check out this message. I want to talk to you for just a few moments this morning on this idea that if we're not careful, this is something that I found myself leaning into, maybe not you. If I'm not careful, I will look to leaders in front of me, people beside me, and those coming up after me to say, "You know what, they can be the next ones to do it. I'm too old, I'm unqualified, I'm not prepared, and I will sideline myself from doing what God wants me to do." You ever disqualified yourself before, you could state more reasons why you can't than why you can. That's been my life. I've done that as well. But this question of who's next. I've asked that in sports, who's the next Jordan, who's the next LeBron, who's the next Tom Brady, who's the next goat, who's the next one that's going to lead this team. I get the chance to talk with high school athletes frequently, and we say, "Okay, the seniors graduated, who's the next one to step up, somebody's got to take the reins, somebody has to take the lead, who's going to do it?" You see this in corporations, organizations as well. You see a transition happening, and now it's, "All right, who's going to lead this team? Who's going to be the team lead? Who's going to be the shift lead? Who's going to take this level of responsibility? Who's going to help grow the company higher?

What are we going to do? Who is going to do it?" This isn't a question that we just ask in culture. This is a question actually that Jesus asked to you and to me. Matthew, chapter 9, verse 37. The Bible says this, and I love you to read the highlighted parts with me. Here's what he said. "He said to his disciples, 'The harvest is great, but the workers are few.'" Imagine this, we out in Plant City, you got miles and miles and miles of strawberry fields. Looking beautiful. Bring me some. Looking beautiful. He says, "There's so many shoppers, the harvest is so great, but that ain't enough people to collect it. We don't have a deficit of the byproduct. We have a decifit of those wanting to work in order to achieve that byproduct. He's saying, "People are eager to know about me. People are eager to hear about me. They are willing to be receptive to my message, but the workers are few. I need more people willing to share, more willing people to share at work, but I can't say Jesus at work, no, but you can love. You can give joy. You can give some hope. You can give some strength. I cannot gossip and that's pretty Christ-like as well. I can hold a boundary. There's things for you and I to be able to do to show that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. The harvest is plentiful. People are there, maybe in your family, maybe at work, maybe on that bald scene.

The people are there, but am I willing to shap on my boots and get to work with Jesus?" You see that one decision, one decision can change absolutely everything. It doesn't matter if you're nine or if you're 90, God is famous for. He's known for using ordinary people to do extraordinary things. He's known for using people who do everything that they can in the natural, and then he adds his super right on top of it. He's famous for doing this. The question for you and for myself is not, is there someone ready? It's, "Will I say yes?" The question doesn't get asked to just those on a stage, to just those who have read through the whole Bible, to those who have been in church their whole life. The question gets asked to every individual, "What am I going to do with the message that I have received about Jesus Christ?" We just got done singing a song of praise saying, "I won't be quiet. This news is so good, I don't wanna gatekeep, I don't wanna hold it, I don't wanna just let people just skate by not knowing that I have the answer for them and just let them keep running off the cliff. I don't wanna do that everywhere I go. If it's the gym, the barbershop, the coffee shop, I don't hangin' out with the homies out at dinner, watchin' University of Florida, you lose another football game. However, everybody needs Jesus. (audience laughing) What am I gonna do, what am I gonna do with the question that God has asked me? Will I say yes? There's three stories that I would love to debrief on real quick.

There's three different aspects of three different people who said yes to Jesus, not people that have it all together, not people that idolize 'cause they're humans just like being you, they got junk, they got history, they got a pazzer, they themselves are not God, but they decided this, I'm gonna put my trust in the one who is God. And maybe, just maybe something can happen. The first one is this, there's a story in John chapter four about the Samaritan woman, the woman at the well. This lady, man, she, the Bible, it starts writing her story right in the middle of her junk. What if the church met you right in the middle of your junk? One of the things I tell Pastor Liz all the time is I'm so grateful you didn't know me earlier. (audience laughing) I'm so grateful God allowed me to mature a little bit before I met Pastor Liz. Like there's some things in certain things that I've done that I don't want people to remember. I pray amnesia on people and on things. Well, well, she didn't have that opportunity. Right when she gets brought into the scene is in the middle of all of her mess. She got a messy history. Been married before, been left, married left, married left. Now living with this dude who she's not married to, everybody in the city knows who she is. She's in the outcast, the guys don't like her, the ladies don't like her.

She's down with the street, she's completely isolated. Has no one to go to. Baba says she gets her pot and she goes to the well. She went at a completely different time than when the ladies went 'cause she wasn't able to go with them. She went in the middle of the day when it was hot, it was rough, she's going there, going to get some water. In this cat named Jesus walks up. And Jesus starts having this conversation with her. Now she didn't know what, to her it was another man. Been there, done that. I know how y'all treat me, I know how y'all think about me. I've already been in this cycle long enough, I know how to identify her whenever I'm in it. And they start having this dialogue going back and forth. In Jesus there's something that she's not used to. Listen, he gives her room, he gives her space to speak. He gives her an opportunity to question. He gives her the ability to converse back and forth that it wasn't just, he stated it and then she was done. No, there was a dialogue. Wait, hold on, I don't understand. What are you saying that life with you is better? She didn't get what was going on in this story. Jesus told her this, you come to get water, but the water that I give will, you will never thirst nor quench anymore. That I will give you something that is the living water.

That will fulfill you for the all of time. Jesus goes back and forth. This chick is like, huh, would you add some meo to that water? What you mean living water? I don't get what's happening. As Jesus continues to talk to this young lady, he begins to tell her everything that she has done. Paul's, I wouldn't want that to happen to me. It's bad enough for me to remember. Let alone for you to audibly hear it coming badly. All right, you can suck, yeah, I get it. She's over here hearing Jesus talk, telling all the things that she had done. But it's so touched her. 'Cause here's what the Bible says that the Lord draws men to repentance through his kindness and his kindness in talking and conversing with her. Allowed her to see a side of him, maybe that she had not seen or had not heard to the point where she left her posh, she went there to go get some water, left without getting the water. But she got everything she needed. Everybody know who she is. When she gets around 10-foot pole, everybody back up, back up, back up, there's a radius. She began raving. Y'all have to come and hear this man who told me everything that I had ever done

and was raving and raving and raving and opening up about what had happened. Her experience and her encounter with Jesus that the Bible actually says this in John chapter four verse 39, "Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, 'He told me everything I ever did.'" The story continues to say that the city, they went out to meet Jesus and here's what I love. It was not up for her to make sure that people stayed attached to Jesus. She just helped them create the immediate encounter. Jesus can handle the rest of the work. Bible says that whenever the people went out, from the city, went out to the world to go talk to Jesus, that after meeting him, they devoted their lives to him. And so for you and for me, this story has some points to it. Here's one, your story has power even if it's not finished. I guarantee you, she didn't know that her life could be used like that. She was the outcast. She was the past. She had the shame. She had the guilt. She had the restless nights. She had the isolation from people. And Jesus said, I can use that. You're not done, you're not trash, you're not broken goods, you're not damaged, you're somebody that I can use. If you say yes, if you say yes, one yes can impact the city, 'cause here's why God doesn't use perfect people.

God uses available people. Huge difference, huge difference. Never in the Bible does it say that you and I have to be perfect. Never in the Bible does it say that we have to have all of our eyes dotted and teased cross. I don't have to show my GPA report, God. I don't have to have employee of the month, every single month for God to use me. But it does, it is my heart willing. Am I pursuing? Do I give you my all? Am I posturing in a way that is pushing back on you? Or am I embracing all that you are? How am I living my life? This lady showed us that it doesn't matter what your history is, it doesn't matter what you're currently going through, 'cause mind you, after that, in interaction with Jesus, her stuff was still in Homie's house. Let your theology deal with that. But the interaction with Jesus changes the direction of my next steps. So just 'cause I was here don't mean I'm staying here. Now there's some things that will begin to change. This lady showed God, you don't use perfect people. He uses available people. There's another story that I absolutely love. It's in Acts chapter nine. It's maybe a familiar story to you. It's about this guy named Ananias. And most of us have maybe not heard Ananias

or we don't know him as well. Maybe if I said the name Paul, the guy who wrote two thirds of the New Testament, Pastor Scott would say, quarterback of Christianity, this guy who was a staple in our faith. Okay, so him, Ananias is the guy that helped get Paul formerly known as Saul in his relationship with Jesus. Here's how that goes. Acts nine, Ananias, an ordinary follower of Jesus. Hey, nothing crazy. He ain't nothing over the top special, but he is somebody who is pursuing God. God calls him. Bible literally says, "Hey, I need you to go down a straight street." I promise you to go read it. I need you to go down a straight street. And I need you to straighten out Paul. I need you to go to Paul. I need you to pray for him. Holy Spirit had already shown himself, revealed himself to Saul not to moff a donkey as he was going to assassinate and enslave more of those who were following Jesus. Has this radical encounter with God? Blinded, couldn't really see was being taken care of somewhere. God sent Ananias to go,

"I need you to pray for Saul." Ananias had a brain 'cause Ananias was scared. He said, "You know what he does to people like me? "He will kill me, cut my air off." He, and if he don't do that, he gonna put me in prison for something I ain't do. They're gonna throw the kids away. God, are you setting me up? I've been so faithful to you. I've loved you. Why are you putting me in this kind of a position? I thought you were someone who comforted me, and now you're pushing me to this place of uncomfortable. God, what is going on? And even in the midst of Ananias' questionings and worries and fear, he packed them all in a suitcase and said, but if he said it, let's go with it and brought that suitcase with them. And see, my boy was doing a stinky leg, walking in here, just over here, just shaking. Ananias gets to Saul, and Ananias prays for Saul. Saul then later becomes everything that he has become, not God, not Jesus, but definitely somebody who was helping us build our faith in God and in Jesus. Here's what I want you to know about this story. Sometimes your yes is in the middle of being uncomfortable. I wish following Jesus was always comfortable. And yet, no, I don't, because if it was always comfortable, then I would never grow. There's an answer. When I'm in the gym, if I do only what's comfortable, I'm going to remain the same. There's a form of tension, there's a form of pressure that I have to get into that causes my body. It demands a growth.

There's a yes to Jesus that might put me in some uncomfortable positions that as I engage with it, there is a spiritual demand, Caleb, you've got to grow. You can't do it how you've been doing it. There's more capacity, there's more increase, but I need you to say, yes, son. My yes might be in the middle of something uncomfortable. I don't always get the full picture whenever God tells me to do something. I bet if God told Ananias everything that Saul who changed his name to Paul, if Ananias heard everything that Paul was going to do, I guarantee you, he'd have skipped over there. He'd have brought him a Starbucks for a fresher drink. He'd have done all this stuff like, let me bring you a present, like he'd have hooked him up. God didn't always give us the big picture, which means this, my yes to Jesus requires trust. I have to trust. I have to trust the speed of my relationship only moves at the speed of trust. Ananias, he didn't understand it, but he trusted. He didn't like it, but he trusted. He didn't comprehend it, but he trusted. So my yes comes from a place of trust, because here's what God actually tells in Ananias Acts 9, 15, but the Lord said it, Ananias, go now to Saul, why? I have chosen him to work for me. He will go to those who are not Jews and to their rulers. He will tell them about me. He will also tell the people of Israel about me. God has a plan for every single person that has ever been burned. You will never encounter a person that Jesus didn't die for. You're never going to encounter a person that Jesus doesn't love. You're never going to encounter a person that God didn't put his image on them. So there's, I want a relationship with all of them. I have a plan and a purpose, and here's what Ananias learned.

My obedience can unlock somebody else's calling. My obedience can unlock somebody else's calling. What if Ananias didn't go? Would we have two thirds of the New Testament? God is God. God is going to do what he needs to do. I don't think that God would ever leave us down if this was supposed to be the entire Word of God, the canon, all 66 books, God is going to make his way, but what if I don't? Who's missing out on their purpose because I'm not sharing about Jesus? Who's missing out on their calling because I'm just walking by, because I'm scared. I'm there. What are they going to say? What are they going to post about me? Are they going to unfollow me? What is going to be the chatter in the gym if I go and I pray with somebody less? What is somebody going to say about me? What am I going to do? It says, "Man, don't even worry about that because my obedience can unlock somebody's calling." You ever heard of this famous, well, he's not famous, he's a struggling, was a struggling preacher named Billy Graham? Billy Graham, huge in the faith, forefront Christianity, especially in modern time. He was a man that God used in a day. I had the chance to go to the Billy Graham Museum in Carolina, and as I was there, something that I loved seeing. I had never thought about this before. Who was Billy Graham before he got saved? Billy Graham, this televangelist on radio, on TV, meeting with world leaders, meeting with influencers

from around the world, boxers, presidents, leaders from other countries, TV hosts, movie stars, the hoo-soo that he was there and would unapologetically talk about Jesus. Unapologetically talk about Jesus. Who was he before? He was a Christ follower. Somebody had to lead Billy Graham to Christ. He didn't just get there on his own, and in South Carolina, at a tent church revival, more preacher named Mordecai Ham was the one who was preaching that night. Billy Graham happened to give his life to Christ in the middle of that church service, and then turned into what it turned into. What if Mordecai Ham did not go and preach at that revival? What if he didn't have that altar call? What if he didn't share what God had placed on his heart? Would we have had the Billy Grahams? Somebody, everybody gets led to Christ by somebody. Everybody, for me, it was my mom and daddy. For some of you, it might have been grandma and auntie. It might have been a person who was like your big brother or like your big sister. It might have been a teacher. It might have been a coach. It might have been social media. I don't know who it was or how it was, but I know that by me obeying and saying yes to Jesus and by sharing about him,

it has the potential of unlocking somebody's calling in life. There's this next door I'd love to begin the close with. It's a disciple named Andrew. Don't really hear a lot about Andrew. At least I don't. I don't really hear a lot. You don't really see a lot about Andrew. It's one of the disciples and he's not real famous. He's not real loud. He doesn't have a book of the Bible. It doesn't really say that he's out here preaching messages. I don't really know how popular he was on X at the time, but he's not really going through doing all these things, but here's what he was. He was still faithful. And I think you and I, I think I need to continue to get in my brain, maybe you too, give yourself permission to be quietly faithful. It doesn't always have to be on a stage for it to be effective. There is some, I would actually say this, discipleship happens through relationship. The one on one level conversations. I love being in a room like this where we get to talk and celebrate and worship Jesus. And when we get to get face to face and we get to go specific on specific, that becomes a game changer. Andrew showed, I'm bold, I'm a proud follower of Jesus.

Don't get it twisted. It might seem quiet to y'all, but it's looks faithful to Jesus. What do you mean? Looks faithful. Okay, well it was Andrew that brought his brother Peter to Jesus. You ever heard about that guy that walked on water? Yeah, you ever heard about the guy that Jesus said, and it's on this wife that I will build my church a staple in the church? Yeah, Andrew brought him to the table. Andrew was the one who said, I got a guy you need to know, come on, let's go. Even my family needs Jesus. He said, man, come on, let's go with Andrew. Don't do it. Another story, very often heard. The feeding of the 5,000. Here's the story Jesus had been preaching. He had been teaching. Jesus said, what is church without food? He did not say that I did. What is church without food? Jesus, these people have been listening, man, we gotta get something to, we gotta feed them. Well, all the boys, the Bible says that there was 5,000 of them counting only the men add in the children and the women to that number. Man, disciples went up around.

Sam's ain't open yet. Publix's clothes, Walmart, Jesus, if you like organic, it might not have. They're like, we gotta figure out what it is that you're wondering, like, we don't have the opportunity. Well, here's what Andrew said in John chapter six, verse nine, said this, there's a boy here who has five loaves of blood. But there will certainly not be enough for all of these people. Man, reading this, I've preached this story so many times and I've always preached that Andrew was being sarcastic with Jesus. You wanna feed everybody? He has five loaves and two fish. Go get it done. This guy I talk about. Come on, Jesus, I made you know what you're asking for? Bro, we can't do this. And I recently have felt so convicted. 'Cause what if that wasn't sarcasm? I'm putting that on him. Maybe because that's how I would have responded. What if what he was doing was showing Jesus, I don't have the answer to feed 5,000. But I'm gonna bring to you an answer that I had available to me. And maybe if I do everything I can in the natural, you'll add your super on top of it. And so God, what I have to bring, it ain't enough.

But God, if you get involved with it, you can bring more than enough, more of a supply, more of an increase. So what if it had nothing to do with sarcasm or being passive in everything to do with I'm obeying God to the best of my ability? And I'm so grateful. You know this Jesus doesn't say, what are you doing bringing me something so small? Jesus said, I can use it. I can do something with it. If you bring it to me, if you show me you're available, if you just come to the table with it, watch what I can do. You don't have to control the result. You don't have to control the outcome. You don't have to control how many of feeds. I just need you to put something in my hand which unlocks the door for me to be able to do the supernatural. Andrew has taught us some lessons that you and I, we don't have to do everything, but we can do something. It's not my job to save the world, but it is my job to all those who are in my circle of influence from me to express the love of Jesus Christ, from me to embody the fruits of the Spirit when I'm on social media. How I say, how I talk, it rings loud. What I post, what I don't post, it rings loud. How I treat somebody out of register, it rings loud.

How do I treat somebody who does wrong to me? It rings loud. How am I being a living witness, not of perfection, but of somebody who died to save me and died to save them? Truly for you and I to be able to live this free life in Christ. Show us that quiet faithfulness can have eternal impact. You don't need to stage in order to be impactful in the kingdom of heaven. You don't need a microphone to be impactful in the kingdom of heaven. It's neither right heart of availability. Saying, Jesus, what you've done in my life, I want to share that and express that in the lives of everybody else in a small yes can create a domino effect. You know, a domino effect is right. You get this, you set up, you see a lot of videos on it, but you set up a domino and then you set up more and more and more as it goes back. You click the first domino, you hit it over. And then it just starts this chain reaction of dominoes going in. It started at one in this video and it goes all the way to a thousand. The first domino never touched the last one, but it was because of the first one that the last one had any movement. Your yes to Jesus is dynamic. There is movement and there's an engagement that happens that when I say yes and I'm able, partnering with heaven to do something in somebody's life,

there's no telling whose life they're going to impact and whose life they're going to impact. There is a domino effect to your yes with Jesus. But it starts with your yes. Can't just blow on it. Can't just clap loud enough in the church service. I can't just know enough. It's got to come from here. It's my yes that God I am available. Matthew chapter 9, 37, the verse that we opened up with. Jesus, he said to his disciples, "The harvest is great, but the workers are few." There's people all around us in this world who need and are ready to hear about Jesus. This is one of the most spiritual, this is one of the most times in culture that we have been spiritually aware or hungry, but spiritually, People are looking for something. Looking for something to worship, looking for something for clarity, looking for something for direction. And so they might go to crystals, they might go to a horoscope, they might go to a psychic, they might go to a palm reader, they might go to social media. They might go to a family member, they might go to a friend. They're using anything and everything to just grab onto to make them feel that sense of security when the only answer is Jesus. So it's not a matter of people not being hungry. It's not a matter of them not being proud of them, them being aware. It's them having the access. What if God has you where you are to unlock the door for somebody to gain access to him? To create that connection for you to partner along with Heaven. Everybody stand to your feet.

Something to highlight when it comes to these three stories that are brought out. The Samaritan woman, I'd classify her as a new believer. She wasn't a believer when she first met Jesus and then after meeting Jesus turned into a believer, immediately went and shared her story. And God used her which means this, God can use your story even if you're just now getting saved. Even if you're in this room right now and you're like, you know what, I don't really know where I am with Christ. It's okay, keep listening, keep engaging and the more engagement you have with him, the more you're going to see how he loves you. The more you're going to see how he sets you up, the more you're going to see how he really does give you the free life in this world. You can use your story. Ananias, he was the growing disciple. That God may call you to do something uncomfortable. But that growing in my relationship with Christ, it doesn't always feel good. It's not always roses and dandelions and a wide open field. It's not always going to be that, but it is always strength. It is always the best thing for me. It is always about growth. And then Andrew represents this mature follower of Jesus. That even if you've been following him for some time, even if you've been walking with Jesus for a little bit of time, God can still use your faithfulness. That no matter where you are on your journey, your yes matters to God and the people that he is reaching through you. So here's my question. Who's next? Who's the next one to say, I love my people enough to share Jesus? I love my friends enough to make sure they know that I'm there to pray for them. I love my family enough to make sure that they know the way, the truth, the life. That listen, you're allowed to have an opinion, but where God has an opinion, mine is irrelevant. And so think about all these things, learn, educate, have your own opinion about certain things. But where God's word is very definitive, man, we stand on that. Who is next to take that stance and then who is the next for you to be able to share the good news of Jesus with? Family, coworker, homie at the gym, your classmate, or maybe it's you. That the next person for me to take to Jesus might even just be myself. That I've known of him, maybe I've been around it, but I don't know if I've accepted it. So with heads bowed and eyes closed, if you're in this room and you say, you know what? If Jesus is really not asking for perfection, but if he's really just asking for somebody who's available,

somebody who's willing to engage in this relationship with him, I can't sign up to be perfect, but I can sign up to pursue. And if you want to say, you know what, I want to be the next one. I want to be somebody that God is able to use. Maybe it's in my life, in my family's life, in my work life. I don't know where, but I just want to be partnering with God in this life. I want Jesus to come into my life. If that's you on the count of three, I want you to raise your hand. One, two, three. Yeah, hands all over the room. You can put your hands down. Can everybody repeat this prayer after me? Yes, I love you. Thank you for dying on the cross from my sins. I accept you as my Lord, as my Savior. Use me, give me confidence, and give me a boldness to share your love with everybody. In Jesus' name, amen. Father God, I pray over every single person in this room, everybody who listened to this message. Father God, I pray that you give us a supernatural boldness, a confidence, a confidence walking in through life, that we are here on purpose, that we didn't just by happenstance get here, by happenstance interact with that person, but there is a very high potential that you placed us here in order to be able to show your love, your joy, your peace, your patience through us to others. And so, God, we thank you for allowing us to partner with Heaven in doing your work here on this world.

In Jesus' name, we pray, amen, amen. We really hope this message encourages you. For more encouraging messages, feel free to check out our website, freelifechaffle.org. I hope you have a fantastic day. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)