Speaker 1: Good morning to each of you.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure I said each of you.
Speaker 1: I think I said each of you.
Speaker 1: We'll try it again.
Speaker 1: Okay, look at the first couple.
Speaker 1: I was like, is this thing sinking or am I tripping?
Speaker 1: I couldn't remember.
Speaker 1: I'm like now I'm seeing it happen.
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, it's not just me, it's not just me.
Speaker 1: I'm good.
Speaker 1: I might not even use the notes anyway, because Pastor said I got till three.
Speaker 1: So it's good to be with you all.
Speaker 1: It always is.
Speaker 1: I enjoy you all as a community.
Speaker 1: It's good to be with you all.
Speaker 1: It always is.
Speaker 1: I enjoy you all as a community, and certainly you're a pastor.
Speaker 1: A lot of things that are happening here is because of the heart that your pastor has and the leadership that he does have, and so I'm grateful for the opportunities to be able to connect with him and our coaching relationship, but just even as friends, and so I think you all should give your pastor a great hand for his leadership and his heart for God, his heart for you.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I mean you guys have gone from one service, a two service, a three services.
Speaker 1: There's a lot that's happening here and I will say churches that are growing today in America in 2025, requires something a little different than churches growing 20 years ago.
Speaker 1: The culture has shifted.
Speaker 1: A lot of things are more challenging today.
Speaker 1: Like 20 years ago, it was culturally cool to go to a church right.
Speaker 1: Nowadays it's not so much Like you have to want to be here to be here.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of things coming against Christians, coming against the church, and so so hats off to what you all are doing not just his leadership, but the community that you all are creating by being who you are.
Speaker 1: So praise God for that.
Speaker 1: One of the things I want to talk about today is is kind of some of the things that have been in response to some cultural trends and some challenges In the American church.
Speaker 1: Evangelism, or sharing Jesus, has been a challenge for quite a while.
Speaker 1: Not so much the individuals like a Billy Graham or somebody preaching and teaching in a stadium to thousands of people and that being on TV all around the world, because that's not happening as much today.
Speaker 1: Today, there's a shift from that to that responsibility being on us, and it should have always been on us, but when you have people like that and others, we can easily think as believers, that that's what evangelism is Like, the people who are really gifted at it and strong at it and called to do it specifically like that's what evangelism is, and so we'll pray for them.
Speaker 1: But that's not where we are today as a church.
Speaker 1: Every believer needs to know how to share Jesus and feel confident about sharing Jesus, so that's one of the things I'm going to talk about today, in kind of a roundabout way.
Speaker 1: So how do we get more believers to share Jesus?
Speaker 1: We'll talk about that, and what I think is actually in the way.
Speaker 1: Another trend that's happening as we look at this landscape is that there are people who are, whether they be pastors or worship leaders.
Speaker 1: There are people who have written worship songs that have been popular all around the world, only for that person to come away and say I don't believe in Jesus anymore.
Speaker 1: So this idea of deconstructing the Christian faith is something that is picking up steam.
Speaker 1: Now, how does that happen?
Speaker 1: How do you have people who are deconstructing Christianity and that's increasing and you have believers who know Jesus but don't want to share Jesus, and I think what we're talking about today is part of something that overlaps into each of those.
Speaker 1: I will say that, globally, christianity is actually on the rise.
Speaker 1: Christianity is growing rapidly in a lot of countries, a lot of countries like China, a lot of countries like Afghanistan, a lot of countries where you don't think it would happen because of the oppression and the kind of government, but Christianity is thriving.
Speaker 1: On the other hand, you have countries like ours, the UK, england where we are free to express our faith, but we're declining.
Speaker 1: We have more buildings, but we're declining.
Speaker 1: We have more seminaries, but we're declining.
Speaker 1: We have more Christian podcasts and Christian books and Christian conferences, but we're declining.
Speaker 1: And in countries where they have none of that, they're growing rapidly.
Speaker 1: Why is that?
Speaker 1: I think on a couple things.
Speaker 1: There is a simplicity that they have that we don't have, and part of that simplicity is when you get saved.
Speaker 1: You know that your role is to know Christ and make him known, and you are expected to do it, you are trusted to do it and you are trained on how to do it.
Speaker 1: But in some of our Western Christianity there's been a separation of the laity or those who are are in the quote-unquote audience versus the clergy, those of us who are skilled and trained and knowledgeable.
Speaker 1: That came at a time where the people on stage are the only ones who could read, and the people who were out there could not read, so you had to listen to the speaker and believe what they were saying about the Bible.
Speaker 1: That same structure is what we have today, although now you can read on your own you have apps, you can read the Bible on your own but yet, institutionally, as the history of the church now, there's just this mentality that all of you would expect most of the work to be done by a few of us, and part of what we're saying is no.
Speaker 1: Based on Scripture, based on God's design, based on how he has equipped you with the Holy Spirit yourself, you are trusted by God to share the news.
Speaker 1: You are instructed by God to share the news.
Speaker 1: So how do we get more believers to share the news?
Speaker 1: So think about this.
Speaker 1: First of all, I took a picture of the slide that had 14 baptisms on there and the 20-something people going through the growth track.
Speaker 1: That's huge.
Speaker 1: As a church consultant, I've been with churches with 400 people that have had one baptism the whole year Out of 400 people.
Speaker 1: It wasn't a priority to them and they didn't even see anything wrong with it, right?
Speaker 1: So I say that to say don't underestimate how powerful that is.
Speaker 1: That that's part of what's happening here, okay, but what is it happening here?
Speaker 1: Okay, but what is it?
Speaker 1: For years and years as a pastor, as a preacher, teacher we're trying to convince believers that we should share Jesus, that the world needs to know Jesus, and all this kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: And as I thought about all the effort I put into all the different sermons, I realized that convincing Christians to share Jesus is not really one getting any results.
Speaker 1: And two, I don't think I'm addressing the real issue.
Speaker 1: It's not moving the needle.
Speaker 1: And then, in talking to Christians 101, I discovered what I think a big part of the problem is.
Speaker 1: So let me share it to you this way.
Speaker 1: First of all, sometimes when you hear people talk about why they don't share Jesus, they say well, I don't want to be awkward.
Speaker 1: I might put the relationship in jeopardy if I end up looking like that Jesus person or being a Bible thumper, these images that we think other people would have of us, because that's some people's reality.
Speaker 1: They've experienced people in a wrong way, trying to shove Jesus down their throats, and I don't want to appear to be that kind of person.
Speaker 1: I get it.
Speaker 1: Other folks will say I just have a problem talking with strangers.
Speaker 1: I just don't know how to bring it up.
Speaker 1: I don't have a problem talking with strangers and I'm like, well, you don't really have a problem talking with strangers.
Speaker 1: You, I have a problem talking with strangers.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, well, you don't really have a problem talking with strangers, you talk with strangers all the time.
Speaker 1: Let somebody cut you off in traffic and see if you don't initiate a conversation.
Speaker 1: I have no problem talking with strangers.
Speaker 1: I was in line at a restaurant that I frequent quite frequently I frequented frequently and I'm standing there looking like I don't even know why.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the menu, because I walked in knowing exactly what I want.
Speaker 1: But there's a person in front of me looking like he's taking an SAT, like, uh, I don't know, you know.
Speaker 1: So then you know the ambassador of the restaurant that I am.
Speaker 1: I'm like, hey, this is your first time.
Speaker 1: Looks like this is your first time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, your first time.
Speaker 1: Okay, this is what you should try.
Speaker 1: You should try number one or number two.
Speaker 1: He's a brand new person.
Speaker 1: I don't know him, but here's the thing I don't mind sharing something that I enjoy.
Speaker 1: Didn't matter, he's a stranger.
Speaker 1: What mattered is what was on the inside of me.
Speaker 1: I enjoy those quesadillas right there.
Speaker 1: I enjoyed them and because I enjoy them and they have been a blessing to my life, I wanted to pass it on the good news because I want you to experience what I've experienced.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, in John chapter 4, this woman at the well encounters Jesus and she runs back to the city saying come see this man who told me everything.
Speaker 1: I want you to encounter what I just encountered.
Speaker 1: A lot of Christians don't share Jesus because they don't really enjoy Jesus themselves, because they don't really know much about him.
Speaker 1: There's not a whole lot of knowledge about Jesus.
Speaker 1: A lot of Christians, your only knowledge about Jesus is whatever your pastor has preached about, because you haven't opened up the Bible yourself on your own.
Speaker 1: Listen, this is not a condemnation.
Speaker 1: We're just trying to highlight the real issue here and talk about what our way is moving forward.
Speaker 1: Okay, and so we can be in church a long time and if our pastor doesn't preach about it, that story about Jesus, we don't know it.
Speaker 1: We don't know it, and it's not reasonable for us because we have access to the Bible all the time.
Speaker 1: Whatever translation we want, whatever language we want, we have access to it.
Speaker 1: And here's why I'm saying this, because as long as you and I are unknowledgeable about Jesus, there is no way we're going to be comfortable talking about him to somebody else.
Speaker 1: We just won't.
Speaker 1: It's awkward.
Speaker 1: It makes us look bad to talk about something so important that we don't know much about it.
Speaker 1: Especially, we say we've been in the game for a while and we still don't know stuff.
Speaker 1: That's embarrassing.
Speaker 1: Can we just have a family Y'all looking all serious at me right now?
Speaker 1: Can we have a family talk right now?
Speaker 1: So I was talking with a pastor friend of mine.
Speaker 1: I'm like how many people in your church right now?
Speaker 1: Give me five people.
Speaker 1: Give me five people that you've been pastoring for 20 years.
Speaker 1: Give me five people in your church right now who you are confident can explain the gospel in simple terms.
Speaker 1: Give me five.
Speaker 1: You couldn't Been there for 20 years Because we talk about a whole lot of other things.
Speaker 1: Here's my point we talk about a whole lot of other things and even when we read the scripture, we're not looking at what the scripture is saying about Jesus.
Speaker 1: The scriptures are pointing to Jesus and we can read the scriptures and still not see Jesus, because we're taught to read it through the lens of where am I at?
Speaker 1: In here there's some stories.
Speaker 1: It's not about you in here, the book is about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Now are there life application principles and points, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1: But what is it that we need to apply most from this book?
Speaker 1: It's the reality that Jesus is the Son of God that apply that truth to your life, and so we're not really as rooted and grounded as we could be With the kind of access and resources we have.
Speaker 1: We're not really as rooted and grounded as we could be in who Jesus is.
Speaker 1: We need to know for ourselves.
Speaker 1: Not well, I'm a Christian because my parents are Christian.
Speaker 1: I'm a Christian because, no, no, no, I'm a Christian because I believe in Jesus.
Speaker 1: I have met Jesus.
Speaker 1: I have encountered Jesus.
Speaker 1: I have experienced him forgiving me of my sins.
Speaker 1: I know that I'm washed by the blood of Jesus and his blood.
Speaker 1: That makes me whole and makes me clean, is what enables me to stand before God completely righteous in God's sight, like I know that for me.
Speaker 1: I've read the scriptures, even listened to sermons and messages and other believers who have poured into me, but I've had my own encounter.
Speaker 1: I can tell you that I believe in Jesus.
Speaker 1: Because I believe in Jesus, I have met Jesus, I know Jesus, I've been forgiven by Jesus.
Speaker 1: Like, when you have that, then we can share it more.
Speaker 1: But a lot of us we don't have that.
Speaker 1: And if you're getting uncomfortable, I kind of want you to be uncomfortable, because if you don't have that you need to, number one, know it and number two, get it Right.
Speaker 1: And you can't get it if you think you've got it.
Speaker 1: And so I was going through a drive-thru one time and ordering this drink.
Speaker 1: I was on my way actually to a conference room to record an online course where I'm talking about the Father's Love.
Speaker 1: Y'all know that's my jam, right, the Father's Love.
Speaker 1: I'm doing an online course.
Speaker 1: As I was on my way there, I was going through this drive-thru and it's a little coffee shop and I like this mango peach lemonade drink that they have, right.
Speaker 1: So I'm driving up and a lady comes out and she says can I take your order?
Speaker 1: I'm like, sure, let me have this mango peach lemonade.
Speaker 1: And so she's having a little small talk, being, you know, nice and cordial and professional.
Speaker 1: And then she says so what are you up to today?
Speaker 1: Now, normally, if there's small talk happening and I just got things to do.
Speaker 1: I would just give you a little answer.
Speaker 1: You know, got a busy day, you know how about you.
Speaker 1: You know that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: But in this moment I felt an intruding thought Tell her what you're doing Now, because I didn't drive up to make a new friend.
Speaker 1: I didn't drive up to have a whole, nother conversation.
Speaker 1: I came through the drive-through because all I want to do is drive through.
Speaker 1: That's it, that's it.
Speaker 1: So, because I knew that that was my will and my desire to have this other idea come in, I knew that that was not me.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm sharing that with you so you can recognize it when it happens to you.
Speaker 1: Amen, okay, you want it to happen to you, right, okay, all right.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, oh, oh, snap Something about to you, right, okay, all right.
Speaker 1: So I'm like, oh, oh, snap, something about to happen.
Speaker 1: Right, because I'm recognizing it.
Speaker 1: And so I said, well, I'm actually on my way to record an online course where I'm talking about people encountering God's love, because God loves us.
Speaker 1: And she goes oh, I used to be a Christian too.
Speaker 1: I'm going to put this car in park.
Speaker 1: Is that a fact?
Speaker 1: Well, okay, now, this is a God moment.
Speaker 1: This is a moment that God didn't put me in because I'm a pastor.
Speaker 1: He didn't put me in because I'm a Bible teacher.
Speaker 1: He put me in because I'm one of his sons, just like you.
Speaker 1: Sons and daughters Like this is what he does.
Speaker 1: We got to be ready for these moments.
Speaker 1: So she says I used to be a Christian.
Speaker 1: I'm like what do you mean?
Speaker 1: You used to be a Christian?
Speaker 1: Well, I was in church, and here's what I'm listening for.
Speaker 1: Here's what I'm listening for.
Speaker 1: I want you to learn how to listen, for this.
Speaker 1: People talk about it.
Speaker 1: I used to be here.
Speaker 1: I'm deconstructing my faith.
Speaker 1: What I'm listening for is what are you talking about concerning Jesus?
Speaker 1: Christianity is about Jesus.
Speaker 1: The gospel is about.
Speaker 1: It's not the gospel of the church, it's the gospel of Jesus.
Speaker 1: So you can have all kinds of issues with the church, but we're talking about Jesus.
Speaker 1: So that's what's in the back of mind as I'm listening and that's what's kind of driving my questions.
Speaker 1: I said so tell me what you mean.
Speaker 1: You used to be a Christian.
Speaker 1: Well, I was in church and I went to my mom's church and I was in church all the time and on Sundays, and then we had the midweek service and I was there.
Speaker 1: I was even a youth leader.
Speaker 1: What happened to that vetting process, I don't know, but okay, I was even a youth leader.
Speaker 1: Okay, I said what happened?
Speaker 1: Well, the church, they hurt my mom.
Speaker 1: When they hurt my mom, my mom stopped going and then I stopped going.
Speaker 1: So that's why I used to be a Christian In my mind.
Speaker 1: I'm like so far you haven't said anything that makes you a Christian, right, so okay.
Speaker 1: So you said people hurt your mom, right, people hurt your mom.
Speaker 1: So you stopped going.
Speaker 1: But you didn't say anything about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Did Jesus hurt you?
Speaker 1: Well, no, I said.
Speaker 1: Well, being a Christian is about Jesus.
Speaker 1: So if Jesus didn't hurt you but the church hurt you, like I don't see how you're saying you used to be a Christian.
Speaker 1: Well, aren't they the same thing?
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, they're not the same thing.
Speaker 1: But this is an important distinction to make.
Speaker 1: I said no, they're not the same thing.
Speaker 1: The church is a group of people who believe in Jesus and are being perfected by Jesus, but the church is not Jesus.
Speaker 1: Jesus is the son of God who came to die for you so that you could be united with God.
Speaker 1: Now, that doesn't have anything to do with the church Now those who believe that become the church.
Speaker 1: But it's possible for the church to hurt you, but Jesus not hurt you.
Speaker 1: I said let me ask you a question how long have you been working at this coffee shop?
Speaker 1: I'm looking in the rearview mirror.
Speaker 1: I'm like do I have a line behind me?
Speaker 1: Because I've been here for a minute and I still got a while to go.
Speaker 1: I said let me ask you this question how long have you been working here?
Speaker 1: She told me.
Speaker 1: She said yeah.
Speaker 1: I said what if this guy behind you I don't know his name, another worker there?
Speaker 1: What if this guy behind you, what if I came and encountered him and he gave me horrible service, absolutely horrible service?
Speaker 1: Do you think it would be fair for me to blame the manager for what happened?
Speaker 1: Do you think it would be fair for me to blame you Because you work here?
Speaker 1: Should I blame you for what this person did, or should I understand that this person is this person and doesn't represent this entire organization?
Speaker 1: She goes yeah, that wouldn't be fair.
Speaker 1: Well, that's kind of what you're doing, though.
Speaker 1: You're blaming somebody Jesus for what these other people did.
Speaker 1: Jesus didn't hurt you.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess you're right.
Speaker 1: Well, you said you're kind of looking for the truth.
Speaker 1: So my question to you is if you really are looking for the truth, then shouldn't you consider all your options?
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, then I want to ask you to consider Jesus.
Speaker 1: Why don't you really ask Jesus, if he's real, to show himself to you?
Speaker 1: And I get the whole church folks have hurt me too, but they're not Jesus.
Speaker 1: Nobody in church died for me.
Speaker 1: Jesus died for me.
Speaker 1: So I encourage you to look at that.
Speaker 1: So it sounds like you didn't really stop becoming a Christian.
Speaker 1: You weren't one to begin with.
Speaker 1: Would that be fair?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess you're right, I know, I know All right.
Speaker 1: Well, god guess you're right.
Speaker 1: I know, I know All right.
Speaker 1: Well, god bless you.
Speaker 1: Now my work here is done.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was it.
Speaker 1: That was the whole conversation.
Speaker 1: I want her to see one.
Speaker 1: There's a difference.
Speaker 1: You didn't leave Christianity.
Speaker 1: You used to be Christian.
Speaker 1: No, you never were.
Speaker 1: That's an important distinction.
Speaker 1: But if you want to be, this is how you do it.
Speaker 1: It was a much longer conversation.
Speaker 1: I just gave you a little snapshot, right?
Speaker 1: So that was it.
Speaker 1: Uh-huh, all these people saying, well, I'm deconstructing my faith.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, you're not.
Speaker 1: No, you're not.
Speaker 1: Let's go to Tell me about when it started.
Speaker 1: Tell me about what you believe about Jesus.
Speaker 1: That's a different thing.
Speaker 1: Now there are others of us who are not deconstructing our faith, although I would say some folks are deconstructing churchianity not Christianity, but churchianity.
Speaker 1: Even though we would say Christianity is a relationship, it's not a religion.
Speaker 1: A lot of people are experiencing it as a religion and they're deconstructing that and I would say you should deconstruct that.
Speaker 1: Here's the difference Christianity, as a religion, treats Jesus and God like you are any other religion, where you're saying I've got to be good to be accepted by God, I've got to do good things to be approved from him to be accepted by him.
Speaker 1: That's religion, where my relationship with God is based on my work and my performance.
Speaker 1: That's religion and that's not Christianity.
Speaker 1: That's not what the gospel says.
Speaker 1: On the other hand, the gospel is about God saying to me John, I know there's not enough good works you can do to meet my standard of perfect holiness and righteousness.
Speaker 1: So instead of requiring you to meet that standard, someone has to do it, and it's going to be my son.
Speaker 1: I'm going to send my son to die on the cross for your sins.
Speaker 1: The blood that he sheds I'm going to use to wash you clean, because all sin has to be covered by blood and has to be covered by sinless, pure, spotless blood.
Speaker 1: You don't have it because you've already sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Speaker 1: But my son is going to come and he's going to come and he's going to do the work for you.
Speaker 1: He's going to do the performance for you.
Speaker 1: He's going to come and he's going to do the work for you.
Speaker 1: He's going to do the performance for you.
Speaker 1: He's going to have a perfect life and be spotless.
Speaker 1: And now you and anyone else who accepts the fact that you cannot be holy for me you can't be holy enough for me but you accept my gift of holiness to you in my son.
Speaker 1: When you put your faith in my son for your holiness and for your forgiveness and for your righteousness, then I will forgive you and make you completely whole and spotless.
Speaker 1: In my sight that's called justification.
Speaker 1: Everyone who does that is a believer and a true Christian, believer and a true Christian.
Speaker 1: So that's how you know Jesus, that's how you meet Jesus.
Speaker 1: He begins to grow in your life and the Holy Spirit is given to you to work in your life and make the Jesus even more real to you as you learn about him and as you know him, so that you can make him known Like.
Speaker 1: This is what it's about.
Speaker 1: But the reality is not.
Speaker 1: Everybody gets quote unquote saved that way, and I would say some folks aren't actually saved If I preach a message about finances because it could be helpful as we look at a biblical view of finances, but then I say that the message all right, do you want to accept Jesus?
Speaker 1: Well, I might not have said anything about Jesus, but do you want to accept Jesus?
Speaker 1: Okay, well, yeah.
Speaker 1: Now, what do you know about Jesus?
Speaker 1: Well, I don't know, but I want my life to be better.
Speaker 1: That's not what we're talking about.
Speaker 1: Or I preach a whole message about what hell is like and I want you, afraid, to walk out of this building without knowing Jesus.
Speaker 1: You could walk out there and get hit by a car and go straight to hell if you don't know Jesus.
Speaker 1: Do you want to accept Jesus today, like right now?
Speaker 1: This is your moment.
Speaker 1: No other moment is promised to you, because if not, you can go to hell.
Speaker 1: You're like I don't want to go.
Speaker 1: Well, sign me up for that.
Speaker 1: I said nothing about repenting from sin.
Speaker 1: I said nothing about Calvary.
Speaker 1: I said nothing about the blood of Jesus.
Speaker 1: I said nothing about that, but I did scare you into heaven.
Speaker 1: And then I wanted you to repeat a prayer and I said now you're saved.
Speaker 1: No, you're not.
Speaker 1: Listen to me.
Speaker 1: Y'all that happened to some of you.
Speaker 1: No, you're not.
Speaker 1: Here's the crisis.
Speaker 1: The crisis and the tragedy is that person walks out thinking that they are saved, thinking that everything the Bible says should be happening to you because you're saved, thinking that's what should happen to them and it's not happening to them.
Speaker 1: Right, because even if you're deceived, the Holy Spirit is not.
Speaker 1: The kingdom of God is not.
Speaker 1: If you didn't repent from your sins and believe in Jesus Christ and what he's done for you, you're not saved.
Speaker 1: If you didn't believe in the resurrection, you're not saved.
Speaker 1: I don't care who put the stamp of salvation on you.
Speaker 1: If your name is not in the book of life, you're not saved.
Speaker 1: And so there are some people who were stamped you're saved.
Speaker 1: And they're walking around thinking okay, I'm saved, I'm supposed to have the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: I'm not sensing the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: I'm supposed to have the power to overcome sin.
Speaker 1: I'm still doing the same old stuff.
Speaker 1: This Christianity thing is not working.
Speaker 1: I'm going to deconstruct.
Speaker 1: That is some craziness happening today.
Speaker 1: We've got to have the clarity and the boldness to say you're not saved.
Speaker 1: Well, you can't judge me.
Speaker 1: I'm not judging you, I'm teaching you.
Speaker 1: I just asked you about Jesus and you can't say squat about him.
Speaker 1: That's a problem.
Speaker 1: You can't tell me he's your king and he's your savior and you can't tell me nothing he said.
Speaker 1: You can't tell me anything that he did.
Speaker 1: Christians are some people who some of the Christians are so illiterate when it comes to knowing about who Jesus is.
Speaker 1: They don't know.
Speaker 1: How did we get here?
Speaker 1: I'll tell you why.
Speaker 1: Some of us, our only experience or knowledge about Jesus is based only on pastor sermons.
Speaker 1: If pastor doesn't preach about that story about Jesus, we won't know that story about Jesus.
Speaker 1: And even though it's not a reality, we're going way back hundreds of years to the same time where the only person who taught was the person who could read and everyone else had to just trust what they were saying.
Speaker 1: When Martin Luther broke from the Catholic Church, one of the things he said was alright, the Catholic Church got to the whole thing with all.
Speaker 1: Everyone has to listen to the priest.
Speaker 1: You sit down and listen to the priest.
Speaker 1: The priest is the only one who knows and got a connection with God and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1: Martin Luther's like no, I think, on our own.
Speaker 1: That's part of the pro-Protestant protest.
Speaker 1: They protested that whole thing, but we still kept some stuff.
Speaker 1: So nowadays we have Christians who think that they can't read the Bible on their own, even though you can read everything else.
Speaker 1: You read all kinds of stuff Any of you can't read.
Speaker 1: There's a whole lot of YouTube stuff out there.
Speaker 1: There's audio, right.
Speaker 1: There's a whole lot of YouTube stuff out there.
Speaker 1: There's audio right.
Speaker 1: Here's my point as a believer.
Speaker 1: If you're saying that you are a believer in Jesus Christ, I want to stir up for you this desire, this opportunity for you to study the life of Jesus on your own.
Speaker 1: You need to become an expert in the life of Jesus.
Speaker 1: You know why?
Speaker 1: One because you can and it's so powerful to get to know Jesus by reading the scripture and letting his spirit speak to you and let the words come alive in your spirit.
Speaker 1: Like there's opportunity for that.
Speaker 1: Then, number two culture is shifting and if you're not grounded in your belief that Jesus is the son of God, not secondhand stuff.
Speaker 1: Well, I believe it because pastor said it.
Speaker 1: I believe it because I grew up in church.
Speaker 1: I believe no, that's not going to hold you down.
Speaker 1: That's not going to hold it.
Speaker 1: These cultural winds are blowing and you and your grandmama's faith is not going to hold it.
Speaker 1: You need to know Jesus yourself.
Speaker 1: You need to be able to answer about Jesus yourself.
Speaker 1: You need to be able to talk about the miracles of Jesus yourself and the teachings of Jesus yourself.
Speaker 1: You cannot limit your knowledge about God and Jesus to sermons.
Speaker 1: As much as I love teaching, as gifted of a teacher you have, it's not meant to do that.
Speaker 1: You're here on Sunday.
Speaker 1: You got money through Saturday.
Speaker 1: What are we doing?
Speaker 1: Read study about.
Speaker 1: You need to know him because you ain't seen crazy yet in this world.
Speaker 1: You ain't seen it yet.
Speaker 1: Just a couple weeks ago, 70 Christians were found beheaded in a church.
Speaker 1: Do you think they stood there with their heads being chopped off, thinking, well, I hope my grandmama was right.
Speaker 1: No, they stood there knowing that to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Speaker 1: They stood there on the teachings of Jesus.
Speaker 1: Don't fear what people can do to the body.
Speaker 1: They stood on the teachings of Jesus, that the tribulations that we're encountering now can't even be worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed for you later.
Speaker 1: That's what they knew.
Speaker 1: They knew Jesus, encountered Jesus, stood on Jesus and didn't think twice.
Speaker 1: It didn't all happen at the same time.
Speaker 1: 70 people all at the same time?
Speaker 1: No, there was one at a time Boom, boom, boom.
Speaker 1: Like you know, your turn is coming.
Speaker 1: Are you going to deny Jesus?
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, at the time, people persuaded me.
Speaker 1: It was a pretty solid argument that I believe, but now this is happening.
Speaker 1: Nah, we can do all day, or I can't deny who I know Can't deny.
Speaker 1: If we're chopping heads off today, we're chopping heads off today, and the worst thing that can happen today is that I see Jesus today.
Speaker 1: That's when you know him.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't really believe in God, because what happened to the dinosaurs?
Speaker 1: Well, would God allow bad things to happen to good people?
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know about the dinosaurs.
Speaker 1: I don't know why bad things happen to good people.
Speaker 1: I don't know why evil exists.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 1: There's a whole lot of things I don't know, but I do know some things.
Speaker 1: I know the tomb is empty.
Speaker 1: I know he rose from the dead.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 1: There's a whole lot of things I don't know, but I do know some things.
Speaker 1: I know the tomb is empty.
Speaker 1: I know he rose from the dead.
Speaker 1: I know he died on the cross, like.
Speaker 1: There are some things I do know and that's what I'm standing on.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to have answers to all the questions, but I have answers to the most important ones.
Speaker 1: What is the purpose of life?
Speaker 1: To glorify God?
Speaker 1: There's a story in scripture where Jesus is walking on the water and the disciples see him walking on the water and they're afraid.
Speaker 1: It's in John, chapter six.
Speaker 1: We're kind of running out of time, so I'm going to summarize this, john chapter six.
Speaker 1: They're walking on the water, jesus is walking on the water and the disciples are afraid.
Speaker 1: Right, and here's part of what happens here is this.
Speaker 1: Well, I'll read it.
Speaker 1: Let's see Verse 18,.
Speaker 1: The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
Speaker 1: When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat and they were frightened.
Speaker 1: Now here's the point here In John's gospel.
Speaker 1: It's different than Matthew, mark, luke.
Speaker 1: John wants to point to the divinity of Jesus, to say that Jesus is God.
Speaker 1: I'm writing to you these things so you know that he is God.
Speaker 1: So John includes these verses in here that talk about his divinity, that point to the fact that Jesus is not just a cool prophet, he's not a great teacher, he's not just all these things.
Speaker 1: No, he is God.
Speaker 1: He is God in human flesh.
Speaker 1: And so he puts this story, among other ones, in the gospel of John, to point to the fact that I want you to believe that he is the Christ and that in believing in him that you'll find life.
Speaker 1: And so he puts the story in here and it says not only did the wind cease verse 21, then they were glad to take him into the boat and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
Speaker 1: Now they're in the middle of the Sea of Capernaum.
Speaker 1: It's seven miles across.
Speaker 1: They were about right around the middle, three or four miles, in which means they had about three and a half miles to go.
Speaker 1: Listen to me they're in the middle of the sea.
Speaker 1: Jesus is walking on the sea, which means he was walking for about three miles on the water.
Speaker 1: That's not normal.
Speaker 1: John is writing so that you will believe that he is the Christ, that he is the son of God.
Speaker 1: See the stories like this.
Speaker 1: We got to look and say what is he saying about Jesus?
Speaker 1: We can't look at the story and go, oh well, jesus, he can calm the storms of my life.
Speaker 1: See, as a preacher, that's what I used to do.
Speaker 1: I used to take this and make some of these things metaphorical and symbolic.
Speaker 1: In John's gospel he doesn't even include Peter, because you know what he'd do.
Speaker 1: What would he do't even include Peter Because you know what he'd do.
Speaker 1: What would he do if we include Peter?
Speaker 1: We'd talk about Peter.
Speaker 1: That's what we've done.
Speaker 1: Peter's saying look at the eyes of Jesus, peter.
Speaker 1: John's like this ain't even about Peter, this is about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Because I want you to know about Jesus.
Speaker 1: So my challenge to you of a few of them, but my final one is, as you're reading scripture, especially in the Gospel of John, the miracles in John's gospel are intended to point to Jesus.
Speaker 1: Don't make it symbolic, don't try to just apply it to your life and turn these real issues and real historical facts into some kind of metaphor or symbolism to encourage you along life's journey.
Speaker 1: They're about Jesus, they point to him.
Speaker 1: And if you begin reading scripture to say God, what are you telling me about Jesus?
Speaker 1: What does it show about Jesus?
Speaker 1: Then you actually know Jesus more, you have more confidence in sharing it, more competence in sharing it and more comfort in your ability to share it, because things will happen to you, and the things that happen to you, the transformation where the pages of Scripture come alive for you, the person of Jesus, is one that you encounter more and more frequently.
Speaker 1: You'll have something to talk about, and you won't need a six-week series on evangelism to convince you to share it.
Speaker 1: You won't be able to help it.
Speaker 1: That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 1: That's the difference.
Speaker 1: So, as we dive into why you and I believe that Jesus is God and the Son of God, we'll be sharing Jesus more frequently.
Speaker 1: As we dive into the scriptures, and instead of blowing over them, trying to put us in the center of the story each time, looking to see what they say about Jesus, we'll grow in our knowledge of Jesus and our experience of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will transform us more and make us more like Jesus.
Speaker 1: And that's my prayer for you that you become more like Jesus and that you grow in your ability to know Christ and to make him known, and to do that when the story is about Jesus, don't make it about you.
Speaker 1: Keep it about Jesus.
Speaker 1: That's how we learn.
Speaker 1: When he turns water to wine, it's about Jesus.
Speaker 1: That's how we learn.
Speaker 1: When he turns water to wine, it's about Jesus.
Speaker 1: It's not about him turning your situation around.
Speaker 1: When he walks on water, it's about Jesus.
Speaker 1: It's not about him calling the storms of your life.
Speaker 1: When he raises Lazarus from the dead, it's not about him raising your dead situation to life.
Speaker 1: It's about he raised somebody from the dead.
Speaker 1: He has power over death, power over the created order, power over water power.
Speaker 1: He is not like us.
Speaker 1: He is the son of God.
Speaker 1: Come in the flesh.
Speaker 1: That is what our faith is built on.
Speaker 1: So, in the midst of our culture trying to make everything about us, don't make the story of Jesus about us.
Speaker 1: It's about Jesus.
Speaker 1: Keep your eyes on him so you can be transformed by him.
Speaker 1: Amen, amen.