Welcome to the Lansdale Life Church podcast.
If you're seeking a closer relationship with Jesus Christ, this podcast is for you.
Thank you for joining us today.
Good morning, everyone.
You look marvelous today.
Thank you for coming out.
You know, I think the Lord is just going to grab all this and just move it out to sea.
What do you think?
I don't know.
I'm not prophesying, so it's just a hunch, okay?
It's prophecy if it comes true.
No, I'm just kidding.
But, you know, thank you for coming out, and I'm just looking for you.
This message I know is for everyone, and especially for me.
I need this probably more than you do.
So let's pray and ask the Lord to really guide here today.
Father God, we just thank you for being here.
Lord, we thank you, Lord, that you love us so much.
We thank you that even if it's gloomy outside, Lord God, the warmth, the sun is in here, Lord God.
The light is in this place.
So we ask you, Lord, in Jesus' name, that you would use your scriptures, your word, your ideas, your thoughts to pierce into all of us
so we can leave here thinking and acting like you.
And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.
So this message, sharing your faith, you know, like I really mean, this is something that I have to remind myself,
it's important to be sharing my faith, you know?
Because we can start to get caught up in routines of life and forget that it's really important.
God has us in every place for a reason so that we could be an expression of Him in wherever we are, you know?
Because in every situation, we are the changing catalyst as a born-again believer.
You realize that?
Like there's spiritual realms, there's things happening in the unseen world, but when you walk into the room,
you have the Holy Spirit, so you are the changing denominator of that whole equation because the Holy Spirit is in you.
And so as we're going to talk about sharing our faith, it's important, it's really important because it's important to God,
it's important to others and it's important to us, okay?
And the Lord made it real clear that His expectations when He was training His disciples on earth,
that His expectations that they would share their faith with others and they would convert,
they would become followers of Jesus and then they would share their faith with others.
Luke 9 captures when He was talking to the 12 and He was telling them to go out and preach the gospel.
And then chapter 10, and that was only 12 of them, by chapter 10 coming along, He had 70 of them He was sending out.
He was giving instructions to go out to every town where He was about to go to be sharing the good news.
And He said this in Luke chapter 10, if you have that, He said He told them the harvest is abundant and the workers are few.
Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.
So He was telling them, remember this was prior to the Holy Spirit indwelling believers, okay?
And He was telling them that at that time, telling the 70, pray that more of you would come along to be willing to share their faith.
You know, the harvest was plenty back in Jesus' day and you know what, the harvest is still plenty today, isn't it?
I mean, the world is starving for redemption, reconciliation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
So the work is still there and He's saying, pray that more workers.
And guess what? We are the workers.
So it was important to Jesus during His earthly ministry.
And then just before the night He was betrayed, He was praying to His Father in the high priestly prayer in John chapter 17.
If you ever get a chance, just read through that.
I read it this morning again and it's just very moving to hear Jesus' own words.
And He was praying in front of others, praying on behalf of His disciples.
And He said, I'm praying for them that you would keep them from the evil one.
But then He said this, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word that they all may be one.
So He was fully expecting that after His crucifixion and then resurrection,
that there would be a time that His disciples would be sharing their faith to others and others would believe
and then share their faith with others and more would believe and so on and so on.
And so Christ is crucified. He is risen.
And just before He is going to ascend to heaven, He was telling them, be prepared.
I'm going to send my helper, the Holy Spirit. Don't do anything until you're filled with the Holy Spirit.
And then He gave the Great Commission. Probably many of you already know it by heart.
But in Matthew chapter 28, He said, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.
And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.
So He was telling them, make disciples. And it wasn't just the 12.
It wasn't just the 120 that were following Him, but it was everyone beyond them.
Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
So it's still the Great Commission. It's important to God for us to be sharing our faith, isn't it?
We need to be sharing our faith. You know, if I were to say, share the gospel, okay?
If I were to say, I want you to go out and share the gospel.
If I just called on someone in this place, I'm sure you'd get a little butterflies.
I mean, you know, if somebody just comes up to me and shoves a mic in my face and says,
get ready to, you're going to give the gospel, okay?
In one sentence or less, okay? Give the gospel.
I mean, does that get you a little butterflies inside a little bit?
You know, a little, you know, because it's the gospel.
And so the Lord put in my mind this morning, Cindy.
I don't know why, but this morning when I was praying about like,
actually, I've been up since 230. Don't I look pretty good for being up since 230?
I just got up and I'm like, what am I laying here for? I feel tremendous.
But anyway, and the Lord gave me Cindy, and I'm saying, I've got to ask Cindy
if she would do this, and I just told her a few minutes ago, okay?
After worship. So she had all of about, what, six minutes to think about this.
But I said, would you give the gospel? Because this is how it happens.
It happens spontaneous, right? So Cindy, in one sentence or less,
what is the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, the resurrection.
And everyone needs to come through Jesus, to Jesus, to receive salvation.
Amen. Thank you, Cindy.
And I'm purposely not choosing a person that you see all the time up here speaking.
You're thinking, well, they better get it right, you know?
Because, you know, they're always thinking this way.
But also, Des, would you like to share in your words,
one sentence or less, what's the gospel?
I would say the gospel is the good news,
and if somebody were to ask me what it was, I would take them to Romans.
And I would go to Romans 8 to 11, it says,
but what does it say? The word is near you in your mouth,
and in your heart, that is the word of faith that we proclaim.
Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For with the heart, one believes, and is justified,
and with the mouth, one confesses, and is saved.
For the Scripture says,
everyone who believes in Him would not be put to shame.
That's all I would tell them.
Amen. All right. Very good. Awesome.
So, but that could be kind of daunting, right,
if you're not used to thinking this way,
or if you're not prepared to give the gospel.
But if you notice, I didn't title this message sharing the gospel.
I said sharing your faith, sharing your gospel.
Do you know, actually, Paul calls it his gospel.
Three times, twice in Romans, and one time in 2 Timothy.
He said, and this is the reason I'm in change
is because of my gospel. It was his.
Is the gospel your gospel?
Is the good news, which gospel means, is it your good news?
Do you embrace the gospel as your own?
Because if you do, it's so much easier to share it.
Because if I were to say, share the theology behind Christ
coming as ordinary man, word in the flesh,
and he lived a perfect life,
and he was the perfect sacrifice on the cross,
and he died for it, and you're like,
whoa, I'm not, this isn't my thing, okay?
I'm just a believer, okay?
But if you share your faith, what has God done for you?
You know, I was in the hospital.
Thank you so much for all your prayers.
I'm telling you, your prayers, man, are lifting me up, man.
I feel like I got a new heart already. I'm sure of it.
And in fact, I might have them scan it in a couple of years
just to see that there's no scars.
Maybe, why not, right?
But, you know, I could feel it,
but a couple weeks ago I was in the hospital
and I knew something was coming up.
He was telling me maybe this, maybe that.
And so I remembered a guy, this real estate broker
that I knew from business,
and, you know, we were pretty close way back,
like we're talking 30 some years ago, okay?
And I had seen him here and there
when we have a mutual deal, a transaction together.
And so, but I remember him telling me,
believe it or not, 32 years ago.
I remember him telling me that
he was an avid basketball player.
I mean, he played since he was a little kid,
so I'm sure he was very good.
And he just played all the time.
And he says, I just found out from my doctor,
I can't play basketball anymore.
And now this was 32 years ago.
And I'm like, what?
You know, you were just playing it, weren't you?
Yeah, he said I have a microcardialis
or something, anyway.
It's hardening of the heart.
Some of you are saying,
oh, he's so biologically illiterate, but, sorry.
But macrocardia, I'm not seeing anyone
trying to correct me yet.
So you don't know either?
Okay.
But he had a condition that he says,
like professional athletes drop dead on the court.
You know, they just die, you know?
So his doctor said, you can't do that.
It's thickening of the heart and blah, blah, blah.
And so I'm like, I don't know.
You gotta get a second opinion.
So anyway, he went and got second and third opinion.
And so I knew he started playing basketball again.
So here I was with this heart condition
and suddenly my old friend popped into my mind.
I'm like, I wonder what he's up to.
And so I'm going somewhere with this.
Stay with me.
So I text him, hey, Alan,
I remember you had this thing with your heart, you know?
I just found out I have a thing with my heart.
And how are you doing?
And he says, I'm still playing basketball
two times a week.
And he says, I got a defibrillator last year,
but I keep going.
And this is all through text.
He goes, can I call you?
I'm like, OK, wow.
He's being aggressive here.
Sure.
So he calls me.
And he says, yeah, how are you doing?
And we're just connecting.
And he says, yeah, you know, I'm doing it.
I say, how's your family?
He goes, well, that's why I wanted to talk to you.
Because you know, he said, my son, man, he's doing phenomenal.
He ran into a bunch of stuff and problems and all this.
But you know, he's one of you guys.
He's born again.
And I'm like, that's awesome.
Yeah.
And he said, I'm like, praise the Lord.
I'm like, that's so good.
He goes, yeah, you know, he's doing so good in all this.
And as soon as he told me that, I thought of you after like decades.
Right.
And I'm like, that's so good.
I said, but what about you?
He goes, well, he's working on me.
Right.
And he's a Jewish guy and he doesn't know.
But you know, he just he's listening and he's paying attention
and he's seeing the effects of his son and it means something to him now.
But why the reason I bring this up is I shared my faith with him.
Of course, you know, I talked to him various times
and I was far from being in ministry way back then.
I was only saved a couple of years or whatever.
And so I didn't know the theological blah, blah, blah to how to say something.
I just talked from what God is doing for me.
And he remembered and he never forgot it.
Sometimes it's amazing what people know and remember.
Another guy in business recently just said the same thing.
He goes, you know what?
I'm one of you guys.
And I'm like, really welcome.
You know, it's so good because you don't know you're just leaking faith.
If you're just open to it, the Lord is speaking and acting through you.
It's not high pressure.
It's not this, you know, like, oh, I got to do this.
It's like, I'm just going to, I'm just going to carry the Lord wherever I go.
When Peter was writing to the early church and he was sharing with them how, you know,
they were going through persecution and everything.
And he goes, you know, just stay the course.
And he said in First Peter chapter 3 15, he said, but in your hearts,
I use an IV version on this because it's the words are kind of gritty,
really grabs the meaning.
But in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the
reason for the hope that you have or the hope that is within you.
My new King James version says, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.
But, you know, that's not normal language.
I'm trying to just capture it, make it real simple for us to grasp that
really revere the Lord in your heart.
Keep him holy in your heart, set him apart in your heart.
And even says there that people will ask you.
You don't realize people are asking you in various ways, but they're asking you
and you can give them the reason for the hope that is within you.
Do you have hope in you today?
I mean, why are you so hopeful?
Right.
Because you're forgiven.
I mean, that's a number one.
I am forgiven.
You know, on this side of heaven, people say I forgive you and they may.
But that sin sticks with you.
If you don't have Jesus Christ, he's the only name anyone can call upon
and be saved.
It's only through the blood of Jesus Christ that we can be forgiven.
It's only through him.
I'm forgiven.
That's why I have hope.
I was thinking this morning about that song.
Remember?
I'm forgiven because you were forsaken.
I'm accepted.
You were condemned.
I'm alive and well.
Your spirit is within me because you died and rose again.
Ready?
Amazing love, how can it be that you, my king, would die for me?
Amazing love, I know it's true.
And it's my joy to honor you in all I do.
I honor you.
Amen.
We are forgiven because of what he did for us.
Isn't that awesome?
We have hope, don't we?
You know, I have hope because he changed me.
Did he change you from the inside out?
I'm not saying he made you perfect, right?
None of us here are perfect, but did he change you?
You know, I'm just a better person.
Aren't you since you came to Jesus?
I'm not a perfect person, but I'm a better person.
I'm a better husband.
Can I get an amen, Jill?
She knew me when I wasn't saved.
You know, she said a really exhilarating amen up here.
I don't know if you're...
I'm a better husband.
I'm a better dad.
I'm a better granddad.
I'm just a better friend.
I'm a better businessman.
I'm a better everything.
I'm not perfect, but I'm better because I came to Jesus.
I have hope.
You know, we have hope, don't we?
And Peter's saying, be ready.
Just cherish that hope that the Lord has put in you
and just be ready to share it.
It will come up.
Someone will ask or you'll hear an opportunity
and you'll share.
And that's your opportunity to just share your faith.
It's no pressure.
It's just sharing your faith.
I love that, that we are forgiven.
You know, why do we have to share our faith?
Like, aren't we saved anyway, whether we do or don't?
And some of you say, well, if I never want to, I might...
Why share your faith?
Well, there's three reasons, okay?
It's good for God, okay?
That's the first reason, because it's good for God.
He commanded it, right?
He didn't say, by the way, if I leave, if you get around to it,
if you think about it, you know,
if you come across someone who's crying or something,
just share that there is this guy who...
No, he says, share your faith.
This command I give you, make disciples.
So it's not an option.
But you know what?
We don't got to share our faith.
We get to share our faith.
That's my new phrase.
I keep saying to Jill, she's like, stop it.
You're annoying me.
No, I don't got to, I get to.
You think about that.
I don't got to do anything for God.
I get to.
You get to lay down on your face every morning
and just pray to the Lord and say,
Lord, I am putty in your hands.
Just whatever you're going to do with me today,
I'm yours.
You get to do that.
You get to say to someone,
man, I have forgiven of all my sins.
You get to help someone and say,
by the way, I'm doing this
because there's someone greater than me
who loves you desperately.
You get to do that.
You don't got to, you get to.
You know, it's good for God.
He loves humanity.
He wants none to perish.
If you aren't going to do it,
then who's going to do it?
You realize we are the only people
walking planet earth who are qualified.
I'm not saying just lands of the life church,
thank God.
Christians are the only ones
who are qualified to share our faith
because the other humans don't have it yet.
You know, we are vessels of faith.
We have to share our faith.
The next reason is it's good for others, obviously, okay?
Because if they don't receive Jesus Christ,
they are missing the whole purpose of life.
They don't even really truly know life.
They're living in the old nature,
which is the dead nature.
They don't know the Savior.
You know, it's good for them.
And you know what?
You know, we love those who Jesus loves, right?
So it's good for them.
We have to think that way.
That I have to do this
because there might not be anyone else around here
who ever will.
I remember when the Lord was speaking through Ezekiel.
It was a time when Israel was in exile,
in Babylon, and he called Ezekiel out
because the Israelites were getting complacent
and a little sinful, or maybe a lot sinful.
They were starting to dabble in the Babylonian ways.
They were no longer looking forward to their homeland.
And the Lord was only saying,
you're going to only stay there so that you could repent,
and then I'm going to bring you back, okay?
They're starting to get comfortable in their new exile home, okay?
And they were forgetting about the Lord,
forgetting about the temple,
forgetting about the relationship with him.
And he was saying, don't forget, okay?
And he was warning them through Ezekiel
because if they forgot them,
they would lose their souls, really,
because, you know,
because Israel had to have faith in Yahweh, okay?
And so he said, but if the watchman,
this is after he just says, well, just before he says,
Ezekiel, you're my watchman.
If the watchman sees the sword coming
and does not blow the trumpet,
and the people are not warned,
and the sword comes and takes any person from among them,
he is taken away in his iniquity,
but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.
Ezekiel.
Now, you're saying, now, wait a minute.
Wait a minute.
So I'm going to have to suffer some kind of wrath or penalty
if I don't share my faith.
I'm not saying that.
Don't take it that far.
But what I am saying is the heart of God is consistent, isn't he?
I mean, we said two weeks ago
that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and always, okay?
He is the word of God.
God doesn't change his heart
because he's always right.
So he still, if he calls you to do something,
his attitude is that I am equipping you to do it.
You have to do it.
Just like he told Moses, go back and get my people out of Egypt.
Just like he told Jonah, go tell Nineveh.
He's saying, you got to do it
because he's calling you to do it.
We don't do it because of compulsion and guilt
and a guilt trip and so forth.
We're doing it because we get to do it.
But that same heart of saying, you know,
do you want to see a vast volume of population
go through the gates of destruction?
We don't.
And the word says that that is a narrow gate
through Jesus Christ to heaven,
but vast and wide is the gate that leads to destruction
and many go through it, many.
So he's saying, be that prophet.
In fact, we learn that we are all prophets in a sense
because we have the word of God, right?
And so it's important for others.
And then finally, I'll just say it's important for us.
It's important for you.
It's good for you to be sharing your faith.
You know why?
Because you were called for such an upward call,
such a high calling.
You have a transcendent purpose.
Do you know that?
You might think you're just an accountant
or I'm just in a mechanic or I'm just a painter
or I'm just a this or I'm just a that.
You might just think, oh, I'm just this.
No, no, no, no.
You are a chosen mouthpiece for the Lord.
You are a chosen prophet for the Lord.
It doesn't matter the function of life that you're in,
you are significant.
You have a high calling in Jesus Christ.
And you say, don't squander that opportunity.
You're right in the place that I want you to be
to say the words that I want you to say,
let it go.
Just share your faith.
Don't worry about what you're meant to say.
I will give you the words to say when you get there.
That's a promise of his
that he will anoint you to share your faith
with whoever asks or even who doesn't ask
but they could sense.
That's what the Lord will open doors for you
to share your faith.
Amen.
It's good for you.
It's really good.
It builds confidence.
There's been so many times in my life,
different situations that like I was just,
I had no courage to say or do what I was supposed to do.
And I knew I was supposed to do something
but the dynamics of the situation were like,
this is too uncomfortable.
Like I've never been in this situation before.
I don't know how to navigate this.
I feel, I just feel awkward.
I just, I can't.
I just can't do it and I don't do it.
And the Lord puts a little tapping.
And I know, you know,
the next time something like that comes along,
I can't, I can't say no.
You know, it's not guilt.
It's not a guilt trip.
It's like he's saying,
why do you want to miss out on something
that we can do together?
Because he's in you.
He's doing it with you.
In fact, he's doing it really for you, through you.
Okay.
Because that's what he's calling us.
It's good for us to build confidence,
to build character
and it builds your own faith up.
Every time you share your faith,
you just receive more faith.
It's amazing how that happens, isn't it?
The more you give away, the more you get.
Isn't that amazing?
That's why the Bible says,
it's better to give than to receive
because as you keep giving out, he pours in.
There's a never ending flow of his grace.
You know, while I was thinking about this,
I once heard this amazing metaphor analogy
and it has to do with the Holy Land.
And if you look, I have a map up there.
If you have that satellite view.
So, in fact, if you could show the first one first,
if you don't mind.
So here, anyone ever been to Israel, a few people,
if you ever get there,
but I will tell you that Jesus said to the woman at the well,
you know, worship and spirit and truth,
not on a special location.
The temple's right here, okay?
So I'm not saying if you never get there,
it's not like a Mecca for Christians, okay?
You know, this is where you need them.
This is where you need to be with him,
right here in the heart, right?
But so, this is the Sea of Galilee, okay?
You've read many times about Jesus,
you know, go with the disciples there.
This huge area, the Dead Sea,
dead, this is 1,400 feet below sea level, okay?
Imagine that, there's the sea.
This is 1,400 feet below that, right?
And this is the Jordan River,
and Jesus probably baptized people and was baptized.
I mean, I'm sorry, he was baptized around here.
This is where John the Baptist was baptizing,
somewhere along here.
Sea of Galilee, right, okay?
And above this, if you could show that next picture, Pat.
Up here is Mount Hermon, okay?
And Mount Hermon is this high up mountain,
9,200 feet above sea level, okay?
And it's the only place you'll find snow in the Holy Land, okay?
And it's actually the only ski slopes in Israel,
or on Mount Hermon.
And the reason why I share this is because
Mount Hermon provides a lot of the water
that flows down to the Jordan River
into the Sea of Galilee,
and then the Sea of Galilee empties back into the Jordan River,
and it eventually empties into the Dead Sea.
And you know where the Dead Sea empties into?
Nowhere.
It just sits, and it gets deeper and deeper
and drier and drier,
and the land around it is sinking.
It's a sinking hole.
Isn't it amazing?
That's exactly where Sodom and Gomorrah were,
right around there.
And it used to be a lush land.
We can read in the Bible.
It used to be lush, okay?
But now it's barren.
It's salt.
It's the salt lands, you know?
And it's just desolate.
And the reason I'm bringing this up is
this is a lot kind of like fate.
Like Mount Hermon, if you want a picture,
if you have that next picture of Mount Hermon,
it's that snow cap.
So there it is, right?
And that's probably not even winter, you know?
And so, but the ice, the snow melts during the spring,
and summer, it melts into the Jordan,
or whatever that aqueduct there is,
leads into the Sea of Galilee.
I picture almost like God giving us gifts.
He's giving to us, okay?
But the whole reason He's given it to us
is because He loves us,
but He wants us to pour back out,
just to keep pouring.
And you know, the Sea of Galilee is a thriving sea of life,
of aqua life, and all kinds of creatures.
And it's, you know, that's why they always fish there.
It's phenomenal, right?
It's very rich with all kinds of life.
And then it pours back out and goes down,
but it eventually hits the Dead Sea,
and the Dead Sea doesn't pour out into anyone.
And it's dead.
The reason I bring this up is because
when we picture ourselves receiving from God,
Mount, our Mount Hermon,
and we receive from Him,
we're alive in the Spirit,
and water is always a picture of the Holy Spirit,
but we're filled with the Holy Spirit.
But then we realize, I gotta keep giving,
so I can get more from God,
a new fresh filling of the Holy Spirit,
and keep pouring into other people, sharing my faith.
When you share your faith, your faith is revived.
It's built up.
It's strengthened, right?
And you gain more and more of your faith
because you're sharing it.
You can never out-give God.
Isn't that amazing?
He will just keep giving and refilling you
as you keep pouring out into others.
And so we don't wanna be like the sea of Galilee
walking this life.
And by the way, I have a couple pictures of sea of Galilee.
It looks beautiful, okay?
Just like a lot of people's lives can look beautiful.
And that other picture too,
I remember we drove down to visit this,
and it was so cool.
It looked like almost another planet.
Yeah, what did I do?
Oh, sorry, that's the Dead Sea.
Thank you.
It's my AI up here.
Okay?
But my chat GPT.
But like the Dead Sea we drove there,
we're going through it.
It's like the time of day.
It looks like this world of pastels.
It's so cool because there's nothing living.
It's just shades of lighting and this and that.
But there's nothing alive.
We can live a life and look okay.
But like we're never really living
until we start giving.
You ever notice that?
You're not really living unless you're giving.
That's why it's better to give than to receive
because when you receive from God, that's great.
But we don't need from man.
We can just keep pouring out.
And so this is what the Lord wants us to be doing.
And, you know, how do we share our faith?
Okay?
And this is where I think some of you are going to be
a little relieved, okay?
Because I always think of sharing.
I must admit, my last church was,
there was a lot of evangelists in that church.
Okay?
So I was trained up by some people that had boldness
like you wouldn't believe.
Okay?
Just courage, you know?
You know, Times Square and Coney Island Beach
and different wherever.
Turkey, you know, just powerful, anointed people, you know?
Danny's a great evangelist next to his dad
who's another great evangelist.
And I'm sure some of you are, but, you know,
I was spoiled having people in my old church
that were just really gifted this way, you know?
So I learned, I thought,
this is what they mean by evangelism.
But there's other ways to evangelize.
If you don't see yourself walking up to a perfect stranger
and say, hey, do you got Jesus?
You know?
Or you look sad.
You want to be happy?
They'll think you're selling them something.
Don't say that, actually.
But, you know, it's like you may not feel,
that's not my thing.
Well, evangelism is sharing your faith.
In fact, an interesting thing,
when Jesus told the disciples to go to these towns,
he didn't tell them to keep hopping
from one house to the next.
He said, stay in one house
as long as they'll keep you
and just keep sharing your faith with them.
Because then, guess what?
They'll tell others, okay?
Everyone has spheres of influence, right?
But the first thing is relational.
Just share with other people in your life,
you know, your family, friends,
your coworkers, people you know real well.
Just wait for the opportunity
and the Lord will give you the things to say.
Relational evangelism is much easier,
much less pressure.
Now you might say, yeah, but you don't know my family.
You know, if you're the youngest sibling,
which I was, that was an uphill battle,
but maybe I kind of,
it was rough in the beginning because I was too bold
and they're like, you're the youngest one.
Remember, you're the one that didn't have your act together.
What are you trying to tell us anything for, right?
You know, sometimes the dynamics of family,
you know, it could be challenging,
but at least you know them.
You could say, you know, do you remember
what a loser I used to be?
I did this, I did that, I did the other thing.
Like, that just makes me sick
thinking about what I used to be like
because now I have Jesus, you know?
I mean, sharing with your immediate people that you know
despite of your past,
sharing with people you know,
that's just relational.
And then another one would be spontaneous interaction,
I called it, but you know what I mean.
You're coming along like the other,
well, a few months ago,
but this Amazon guy just came up,
I started sharing, you know, with him
and you know, we prayed together, you know?
It's so cool, like you could pray with anybody.
Isn't that amazing?
You're allowed.
You're allowed to share Jesus with anyone.
No matter who they are, you're allowed.
Not in some countries,
but in this country,
you are permitted to share your faith with anyone.
And if they don't receive it,
remember what Peter said with gentleness and respect.
Okay, that's cool.
I'm not here, I can't convert you anyway.
It's the Holy Spirit, I can't do anything.
I'm just sharing something I have.
If you don't want it, that's okay.
I love you anyway, you know?
But like the Amazon, the waitress, the waiter,
hey, is there anything I can pray for you?
We're about to pray for our meal.
Can I pray for you?
You know, just those random things
that God shows you,
someone that you can share your faith with.
I'm telling you, the more times you do it,
the more confident you are.
You feel so weird in the beginning.
You really do.
I mean, there's no easy way
to get past those first couple of times
and then you get rusty if you don't keep doing it.
So I'm just saying, you know,
if you're not doing it,
it's not easy the first couple of times.
But once that flow starts,
it's like priming a pump.
It's like, I don't care what they think of me anyway.
You know, who cares?
I get to do this, right?
And you just keep sharing, you know,
those random people.
And then finally, evangelistic outreach, you know?
And that's where like, no, I want to do this thing.
You know, I want to go out and I, you know,
make sure it's not something hiding the first two.
Because a lot of times, we don't want to deal with those.
We want to kind of be something.
You don't want to be anything.
You just want to be a believer in Jesus Christ, right?
We're not trying to be, you know, some superstar.
We're just trying to serve Jesus Christ.
We're there on His behalf, right?
And so the evangelistic average just, you know,
saying, no, I'm going to go into the public.
I'm going to go up to people.
I'm going to knock on doors.
And that takes way more courage in the beginning.
I admit it does.
But that, if you want to stretch your faith,
man, that really does it.
And that's outreach, you know?
And whether alone, usually at least with two.
And we even have opportunities in this church to do that.
We have sandwich ministry that Jill leads on Fridays,
which will be starting back up in a couple months.
Door hangers that we're going to be giving out
to invite people to Good Friday and to Resurrection Day.
And so you can go out.
We can knock on doors, you know?
And I got to admit, sometimes it's late in the afternoon.
I'm getting a little lazy and tired.
I start just putting them on the door handle and sneaking away.
No, I don't sneak.
All right, I'm going too far.
I don't sneak, but I don't keep knocking either.
You know, I don't think they're home.
Uh-oh, they're coming.
No, you know, if you can knock on the door
and try to talk to them,
a lot of people have the no solicitation.
But, you know, it's something.
We do the door hangers.
We have the first Fridays are coming up.
They're awesome times, right, Dan?
To go out there and share our faith.
And, you know, we have a vendor booth and people come to us.
It's, you know, how can it be better than that?
They're coming to you.
And you could say, hey, here's a water.
Do you have the living water?
You know, I've actually used that corny phrase one time.
Hey, you know, it makes them laugh, you know?
But it's, you know, just those purposeful outreach opportunities.
City Hall.
I mean, Jerry, I don't think is here today.
But City Hall, great opportunity.
Homeless are coming.
And they're here in the gospel.
And you get to share, you know?
There's so many opportunities.
And if you really desire to go out of your way
and do something like that, you know, come and see me.
And we can formulate a team and figure out what we'll do next
and how we'll do it.
And maybe we'll start this thing up
and start to evangelize Lansdale
and then beyond.
But so those are the kinds of evangelism.
That's how you do it.
It's easy.
It's no pressure.
Start with relational.
Start with someone who's living under the same roof.
Try it out on them, you know?
And then finally, how do we prepare to share?
And so first thing is pray.
And I know this is very practical,
but I think we needed this, didn't we?
Sometimes we just need practical, what am I doing?
What should I be doing, you know?
Because these are things that really build your faith.
I love studying the Word, but I also love concepts
of Christianity, of being a believer.
What is my lifestyle supposed to look like, you know?
And so praying, Lord, change me, prepare me, empower me,
strength, I want confidence.
Remember when the disciples were in that upper room
and they're praying and the place they were in
were shaking, you know?
Lord, I want confidence.
I want boldness.
I want to have no fear at all.
Pray for yourself to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, Lord.
And you just pray that way.
Pray, John did a great job last week about prayer,
saying when you pray, it changes the atmosphere.
You know, there's a spiritual realm we don't see.
And it's everywhere, you know?
It's almost like if we actually could have spiritual goggles
and see everything, we'd either be freaked out
or we'd be like when Elisha showed Gehazi his servant.
No, look, look again.
Suddenly there's so many armies of fire with chariots.
We're like, I got nothing to worry about.
We outnumber them, okay?
Because, you know, if we were to see everything
that was going on, it would probably blow our minds.
But that spiritual element, pray for it to break.
Lord, just bust down those doors.
You know, the gates of heaven advance
against the gates of Hades, you know?
The kingdom of God advances.
And guess what?
When the kingdom of God is advancing
and an offense is just going, okay?
It's like trying to think of a horrible defense
that we've watched recently.
Well, anyway, I won't bring up the Patriots.
And I know a couple of you, it's like putting salt in the wound.
But that was a pretty cool game.
Anyway, so the Super Bowl.
But it's like when we are advancing,
the defense is just like, well, we got nothing.
What are we going to do?
We can't do anything.
The enemy, just, he will flee from you.
Submit yourself to the Lord and he will flee from you.
We just keep going.
What are you going to do?
I don't mean like arrogance of like, you know,
talking to celestial beings with arrogance
and like thinking we're all that.
No, it's like I come in the name of Jesus Christ.
You can't touch me.
In fact, listen clearly.
As you crush the head of Satan underneath your feet,
you know, I picture like a bug.
You just, but anyway, I'm getting weird.
Maybe my, but you're with me.
Amen.
Next thing is just review.
Just go through it.
Like, Lord, if I was going to share, you know,
like what does did, you know, having, you know,
Romans 10, nine and 10.
Maybe just have that, snap it in your phone.
It's a picture now, right?
I just want that there in case it goes that far.
You know, I want to be able to, ready to pray for someone,
you know, or I just want to be prepared.
Maybe watch some videos on just some people that are
going out on the street and sharing their faith.
Don't get too complicated.
But just saying, I want to be sort of equipped and ready
because I don't know what's going to happen.
Remember Peter said, always be prepared, be ready.
So review some things.
You know, just have it in your back pocket.
Have it as a reserve.
Have it as arrows in your quiver, right?
Just, just in case, you know, there's nothing wrong with it.
Or even just reiterate what God has done for you.
You know, he has set me free of addiction.
He has healed me.
He saved me from being insecure, of being angry all the time,
of being just a loathsome sinner.
He saved me from all of that.
Go through it in your own heart.
And all of a sudden, you're going to muster up so much faith.
You're ready to share it, right?
So kind of review that.
Get prepared, okay?
The next thing is, when you get out there,
whatever your situation is, you're going to the family
for Resurrection Day for Easter.
You're going to visit some people, and you're like,
Lord, help me listen, look, and pray.
Like, I want to be ready.
If somebody, Lord, if you highlight my niece
and she starts talking about something,
make me ready to share your words in that situation.
I don't want to just speak.
I want to share you, share my faith with them.
But I want to share what you want to share.
Otherwise, we can get caught up in issues.
We can get it caught up on things
that aren't kingdom-minded, you know?
And just listen.
Look, if you're going out on the street and walking around,
we've prayed many times.
Lord, show me, Simon.
One time I prayed, Lord, show me something.
It was funny.
He showed me this person in aqua, okay?
I'm like, okay.
You need to talk to that person.
Never tell you this.
So I'm like, okay, so we're out at the kugel ball.
You know, going out the street witness.
And suddenly this lady drives by with aqua pants on a scooter.
And she's going with, there she goes, right?
And I'm running after her, okay?
And I'm not kidding right now.
And I'm running, and suddenly she hits the brakes,
and I almost run right into her.
I'm like, oh, oh, oh.
I must have scared her to death.
And I just said, oh, yeah, hi.
Hi, you know what?
I just, the Lord gave me a vision of someone wearing aqua,
which isn't the normal color.
And I think I'm supposed to share with you.
Do you have anything you want to pray?
And all of a sudden, bam, it was like a geyser.
Yes, this, yes, that.
She was a believer, but she had so many burdens
of her family members who weren't
and are going through a rough patch in life.
You know, just listen, look, pray for opportunities.
And then finally, don't leave them hanging, okay?
And if the worship team comes up, but don't leave them hanging.
I put on there, don't leave them at the altar with a gate.
And do you know what I mean by that?
I talked one time recently, well, maybe half a year ago,
but to somebody who was really an evangelist
in terms of being pretty bold, and I said so like,
so what did you say next to them?
Well, I just told them and, you know, and that was it.
And I'm like, well, did you like pray with them?
Well, no.
Like I just, you know, I've left them alone to think on that
and do it like, you know, you're right there.
You're right there.
Like, you know, when the seed is sown, okay,
it lands on rocky soil and those birds
are just waiting to snap it on up, right?
The devil just wants to snap up what you just told them.
And as soon as they walk away from you,
they're going to think about, oh, yeah, well, I don't even,
I don't even remember what that person said.
It's just out.
Keep going.
And I know that things, well, I'm not qualified to pray.
Yes, you are.
Just read Romans 9, 10, Romans 10, 9 and 10.
If you confess with the math that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved, right?
Because with the heart, one believes unto righteousness
and with the math, one confesses to salvation.
It's the heart and the math.
Don't assume they get it.
Tell them right then and there.
And I know the sales pushy.
But if you say to them,
does that sound like something you would want to do?
I'm telling you.
How many people just start saying, yes.
Can I do it now with you?
Okay.
Don't get, well, what if they don't fully get it?
What if, no, no, no, no.
You're there, it's time.
Even if they pray with you and don't fully get it,
they did it.
We don't know what the Lord's doing
in the cosmos of their heart and mind.
We don't know what's happening in heaven.
We don't know who the Lord is sending next
as the second backup to what you just did with him.
We don't know any of that.
We just know you're there at that moment,
at that gate with them, close the sale.
And I know that sounds so businessy.
Close it.
You know, don't you, those pressure phone salesmen
drive me nuts.
I say, yeah, I never make decisions like this.
When it comes to salvation, make it.
Make it now.
You don't know if you have tomorrow.
Tomorrow is not a guarantee.
Today, right here, this very second,
this is guaranteed.
You need to receive Jesus Christ right here, right now.
And just say, can I pray now with you?
Just repeat after me.
I know I'm a sinner.
I'm saying this right now to someone here.
If someone doesn't know the Lord, it's time.
Come on, don't waste any more time.
It's time right now.
If you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, it's time.
Father God, I know I'm a sinner,
and I know I need a Savior.
Today, I want to give you my life so that I can have yours.
Today, I surrender my life.
I believe that you died on the cross for my sins.
So Lord, I want to receive that gift of salvation
that you did on the cross for me.
Today, I surrender my life, and I ask you for your life in me.
Fill me with your Holy Spirit in Jesus' name.
Close it.
Don't leave them at the gate.
Escort them.
Come on, you're coming with me.
We're both going in together.
They need a Savior.
Right now, you're the Savior's messenger, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
You know, one last verse, I know it's getting a little late.
We're finishing now.
But Matthew 24, 14, time is of the essence.
The good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world
as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
We don't know when the end is coming.
But it's going to come.
It might come to the end of their life.
You're the one in the position right then and there
to share Jesus. Amen.
Let's pray.
Father God, we want boldness.
We want courage.
We want confidence, Lord.
We ask you in Jesus' name to fill us.
To fill us up, Lord God, to be bold messengers,
evangelists for your kingdom, Lord God,
because there's a world that's going to hell,
and they all need a Savior, Lord God.
And Lord, you're calling us into that great commission
to make disciples.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Let's give the Lord a happy clap.
Amen.
Thanks for joining us at Lansdale Life Church
as we praise God and discuss His word.
Don't forget to join us for Worship Lives Sunday mornings
at 10 a.m. Eastern on YouTube.
Be blessed and have a great day!