WEBVTT 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:21.040 And he goes, Hey, we should we should pray. 00:00:21.920 --> 00:00:25.039 And he goes, Pastor, why don't why don't you pray? 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:25.760 Let's all grab hands. 00:00:25.840 --> 00:00:27.280 This the neighbor is like, let's all grab hands. 00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:28.080 Okay, does that sound good? 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:29.600 Everybody's like, Yeah, yeah, let's grab hands. 00:00:29.760 --> 00:00:29.920 Wow. 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:34.000 And so our whole neighborhood just all of a sudden is a prayer circle. 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:36.560 And we didn't initiate it. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:36.799 Yeah. 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:37.840 The neighbor did, you know. 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:42.400 Welcome to the Midweek Motivation Podcast, where we bring practical help for your faith and life. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:44.159 Here's today's episode. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:47.519 Hey guys, welcome to this week's Midweek Motivation. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:50.560 Uh, my name is Jess, and we've got Pastor Gabe here. 00:00:50.799 --> 00:00:51.359 Nice to be here. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:52.719 It's been a little a little bit. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:53.359 A little bit. 00:00:53.519 --> 00:00:53.760 Yeah. 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:54.079 Yeah. 00:00:54.239 --> 00:00:55.040 So I'm glad to be back. 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:55.599 It's fun. 00:00:55.680 --> 00:00:55.920 Yeah. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.840 We're going to jump into a super fun conversation. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.159 And I'm really excited to talk to you about it. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:03.840 Yeah, I love this topic. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:04.239 Yeah. 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:04.960 It's good. 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:06.079 It is really good. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:08.239 And it's what we're all called into, right? 00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:08.480 Right. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:10.000 Like as followers of Jesus. 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:21.200 So, question, I guess, is um uh the as we jump into this is uh when you heard the hear the word evangelism, just gonna verbatim. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:23.519 What baggage do you think Christians carry? 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:26.159 I mean, I can tell you what baggage I carry. 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:26.480 Yeah. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:38.000 Uh and I think most people probably resonate, at least people like myself who have a little bit of shyness, a little bit of introversion, a little bit of, you know, maybe trauma from conversations gone bad or whatever. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:46.399 But I think like uh I put myself in this weird strait jacket of that that is the shape of another different person. 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:47.039 You know what I mean? 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:50.480 Like I think the baggage I bring is like I'm not that. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:52.959 I'm not that person. 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:59.920 I'm not that persuasive, get in your face, you know, um, talk you into something. 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:00.959 That's not who I am. 00:02:01.120 --> 00:02:04.319 It almost feels like that's who I have to be to do that. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:05.280 Like a salesperson. 00:02:05.759 --> 00:02:07.679 Yeah, like a salesperson, but I don't know. 00:02:07.759 --> 00:02:13.360 It's even like to me, there's a salesperson and then there's evangelist, and in terms of aggressive, aggressive or aggression, you know. 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:14.000 Yeah, yeah. 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:19.120 In my, and I'm just saying, like the image that comes in my mind, the baggage that I bring into it is that. 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:25.439 And and I wonder if most people, it's just like, I not only do I not feel like I fit that mold, but I'm not sure I like that tactic. 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:25.919 Right. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:26.639 You know, yeah. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:29.599 There's a lot of uh I did a little bit of diving into this. 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:36.719 There's a lot of like biblical and historical um baggage that comes with this topic as evangelism, right? 00:02:36.960 --> 00:03:00.800 Um, I've talked to so many people personally that like hold uh uh some sort of like a negative um perspective because they've been on the receiving end or because uh they're afraid of hitting those certain marks of absolutely like aggressive um evangelism, like what you're talking about, like bullying. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:06.960 Yeah, yeah, that's a great way to spiritual bullying, maybe is a is probably the baggage that a lot of us bring to it. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:07.840 Yeah, yeah. 00:03:08.079 --> 00:03:08.560 Yeah. 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:12.000 And um, yeah, so I'm excited to talk about an alternative to that. 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:14.879 That's amazing, which is what Jesus shared. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:15.439 Absolutely. 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:16.240 What he showed us. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:30.400 Yeah, and I really I think you know, even the word evangelism is probably um become less used in probably in a pretty smart attempt by a lot of people to redefine what the activity is that Jesus was pointing to. 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:41.280 Um, Jesus used the word evangel or you know, good news, but he didn't use it as uh in the exact same way that we that that baggage brings. 00:03:41.439 --> 00:03:41.599 Yeah. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:42.000 Right. 00:03:42.159 --> 00:03:44.240 So tactic-wise, you mean tactic-wise. 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:50.639 So there's been a lot a lot of new language that's been used to explain this, and I think that language could be a lot more helpful. 00:03:50.960 --> 00:03:51.840 Yeah, that's great. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:03:54.079 Okay, well, let's dive into that for sure. 00:03:54.240 --> 00:04:00.800 Um, what uh yeah, just go ahead and jump into that, I guess, is the question. 00:04:01.359 --> 00:04:18.000 What is the well, I mean what we're gonna talk about specifically today is um a framework that is very easy for anybody to understand that that that that takes into consideration that this is not a um one-step thing, right? 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:33.519 That like if you if anybody's listening to this and they're maybe not a Christian yet, um, they're like, well, I don't know, I'm still thinking about this and that, and I've still got a question over here, and my spouse has got, you know, so that's like there's all of these things, and so it's a multi, it's a journey, right? 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:38.319 It's a it's a multi-step thing to come to faith in Christ. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:46.240 Um, and and this so so this framework I think takes into consideration that's a mul that it's a it's a process of trust, honestly, is what it is. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:58.800 And so we start way, way, way back at the very basics, instead of jumping all the way to a conversion demand or you know, even a can even necessarily conversion opportunity. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:08.079 I mean, there's definitely times if God opens up the door and somebody's right in front of you and God's like asked them, you know, pop the question, you know, it's time, that's a different story. 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:09.040 Yeah, and he does that. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:17.920 I mean, I've had that happen myself, but um in general, I think you even if you look at how Jesus did his ministry, it it how did he start? 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:24.560 Yeah, he's on a hill teaching interesting things and it's a free lunch, you know, and like that's how he actually started. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:25.199 Great. 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:26.000 That's awesome. 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:33.199 Okay, well, before we jump into the actual tactics, motivation seems really important when it comes to evangelism, right? 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:50.879 And just the understanding that uh there's a reason why Jesus sent us to go and share the good news, and there's a reason why it might like it might be an important part of our lives, and that's because we've experienced the change of Christ in our own lives, right? 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:53.360 So I think so true. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:05:53.600 Yeah. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:54.000 Yeah. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:59.519 It's which is you know, if you looked at it from the salesman perspective, it's a quota. 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:03.839 But if you look at it from from that perspective, it's uh it's an overflow. 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:04.319 Yeah. 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:04.639 Yeah. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:08.719 An overflow of love and an act of love towards someone else. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:09.839 So that's cool. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:10.399 Okay. 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:14.480 Well, so we uh you mentioned that we see this with Jesus. 00:06:14.719 --> 00:06:22.719 He showed like displays uh and really just kind of uh step by step step introduces us into this tactic. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:25.360 So do you want to dive into that what that tactic is? 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:26.639 We talked about it a little bit on the side. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:27.120 Sure, we did. 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:30.399 We barely yeah, we started a new series Sunday called The Wild Work of God. 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:30.800 Yeah. 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:36.079 Um, and it's funny because this phrase was dropped on me in a pretty unique circumstance. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.279 I talked about it on Sunday or Sunday and Saturday, the weekend. 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:48.079 And also uh then I swear it was like two or three times in the next few days, other people came to me with very similar phrases in just a conversation. 00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:56.000 And and they and they're like, I don't know if God told them, you're gonna slow down and say the word wild and you're gonna emphasize it, you know. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:00.319 And anyways, it was one of those moments I was like, obviously, this is what we're gonna do, is the wild work of God. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:01.920 And it's Acts chapters one through six. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:08.879 So we're talking about the way that the first believers just caught fire and how that changed the world. 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:14.240 And uh simultaneously we're unpacking this tactic, this sort of model framework here. 00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:15.680 It's called bless. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:32.639 And um, it's a five obviously B-L-E-SS, it's a five-part system or step process where um we learn that we can take an approach that begins at the beginning instead of at the middle or at the end of the process. 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:39.120 So um, yeah, I don't know if you're ready for me to start kind of like saying what what the B B L E S S are all about. 00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:44.800 Well, before we jump into that, you have like some Bless has been around for a while. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:46.079 It's not the first thing we've talked about. 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:46.560 That's right. 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:48.959 Do you uh want to share how it came about? 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:49.519 Yeah. 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:53.519 There's a couple of brothers named Dave and John Ferguson in Chicago. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:08:05.600 They lead a church called Um Community Christian, and they're part of an organization they started called Exponential, which uh has been tremendously influential for our church and for so many leaders that we know. 00:08:05.839 --> 00:08:17.040 And um, if you're at West Side and you've been through um high capacity leader intensive, which is like a nine-month cohort, we've done we've seen lots and lots of leaders come through that. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:21.519 Um, every all those people know what exponential is because they've read the book and you know, all that. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:28.399 Um, but they uh had started just thinking about this, this kind of solving this problem, this tension in their local community. 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:38.080 And so they came up with this acrostic uh and started teaching it to their church and then to the churches that they were encouraging, and it sort of caught on. 00:08:38.160 --> 00:08:42.160 They wrote a book called Bless, and um, then it really caught on. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:44.480 And people started creating tools. 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:55.040 One of my friends created a paper-based tool where you gamified this thing where you're like, hey, I'm I'm in relationship with somebody here, and now I see that I have an opportunity here. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:59.920 And so they're just kind of like, how can I help move with the Holy Spirit? 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:03.920 How can I help move with the Lord as He's bringing people to Himself? 00:09:04.560 --> 00:09:07.680 And so that's what the tool really has become. 00:09:07.760 --> 00:09:12.080 And now it's actually a web-based, I mean, it's an app-based and web-based thing. 00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:15.760 Our app, the Westside app, it's the featured top thing. 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:21.040 It's the first thing you'll see if you go on the app, and you can fully use the tool just right from our app. 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:22.560 So it's it's a great way. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:28.080 So if there's somebody out there going, like, wow, I do have some people in my life that I'd love to encourage toward Jesus. 00:09:28.160 --> 00:09:34.720 I'm just not, I don't want to get the megaphone out or get the contract and sign here because I'm not there with them yet. 00:09:34.880 --> 00:09:37.520 Well, this is exactly how to move forward in that. 00:09:37.680 --> 00:09:38.160 Yeah, yeah. 00:09:38.400 --> 00:09:43.360 I've actually been using the I started using the beta program when this first came out. 00:09:43.520 --> 00:09:47.200 And granted, we've been using the bless system for a long time. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:47.840 Yeah. 00:09:48.080 --> 00:10:00.320 But um, I am not naturally uh gifted with evangelism, and I am very shy and introverted and am not necess like usually the one who's gonna step out and just introduce myself to somebody new. 00:10:00.400 --> 00:10:00.640 Yeah. 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:18.080 So being in my community personally has not been something that is been a strength for me, but I've started using this bless tool and it's incredible, incredible just for learning and figuring out how to take your next step into engaging with your neighborhood. 00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:18.400 Yeah. 00:10:18.560 --> 00:10:19.520 And so I'm excited. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:20.880 Well, and it's getting better and better. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:32.800 Um, the Palau Association recently got involved and have really poured themselves into uh really getting this to the point where it's super, super helpful for individuals and even for churches. 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:39.120 And so it is probably to me, you know, at West, we talk about the Jesus Mountain, the community mountain, the mission mountain. 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:44.000 And if that sounds new to you, it's just our way of describing a spiritual journey that grows. 00:10:44.160 --> 00:10:44.320 Yeah. 00:10:44.560 --> 00:10:51.680 Jesus being the beginning of our relationship with God, community being the thing that really he calls us into his family, and now we're not alone. 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:54.320 And then mission is something he has for everybody. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:00.080 I think the blessed tool is like one of the top ways that you get and stay on mission. 00:11:00.160 --> 00:11:00.560 Yeah. 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:03.360 Um, with real relationships and with real people. 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:03.680 Yeah. 00:11:03.840 --> 00:11:04.880 So it's pretty powerful. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:05.360 Yeah. 00:11:05.520 --> 00:11:10.800 The the amazing piece of it being that it's just like what the things that you do in everyday life. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:11.200 Yeah. 00:11:11.280 --> 00:11:11.440 Yeah. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:11.920 100%. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:12.400 Yeah. 00:11:12.560 --> 00:11:12.800 Yeah. 00:11:12.880 --> 00:11:18.880 It's like you don't, you're not putting on some weird outfit or uniform, you're not learning different words than you normally say. 00:11:19.040 --> 00:11:19.200 Yeah. 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:20.240 It's just, it's fantastic. 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:21.600 It's because of that, it's so fantastic. 00:11:21.760 --> 00:11:22.000 Yeah. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:22.240 Cool. 00:11:22.400 --> 00:11:22.640 Okay. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:24.480 Well, do you want to jump into the Okay? 00:11:24.560 --> 00:11:25.040 You ready? 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:25.360 Yeah. 00:11:25.520 --> 00:11:25.840 Okay. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:30.000 So if you are like if it was me, I'd be driving in my car. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:34.400 I'd probably find some receipt and I have a pen on the seat and I'd be writing these down. 00:11:34.560 --> 00:11:34.800 Okay. 00:11:34.880 --> 00:11:37.920 So I'm I'm I'm like saying if you're somewhere you could take notes, you should write this down. 00:11:38.160 --> 00:11:40.080 B stands for, is this what you want me to do? 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:40.400 Yeah. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:40.880 Okay. 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:42.400 B stands for begin with prayer. 00:11:42.640 --> 00:11:42.960 Uh-huh. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:45.840 Um, which is just, yeah, what it sounds like. 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:49.280 You know, instead of begin with the megaphone or, you know, it's begin with prayer. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:50.160 You're gonna pray for people. 00:11:50.400 --> 00:11:51.680 How are you gonna know who to pray for? 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:54.400 The blessed tool exactly just walks you right through it. 00:11:54.560 --> 00:11:55.440 Your own neighbors. 00:11:55.520 --> 00:11:57.440 We'll talk all about that next week, right? 00:11:57.600 --> 00:11:58.240 Yes, yep, yeah. 00:11:58.400 --> 00:11:59.920 Uh L is listen. 00:12:00.560 --> 00:12:06.560 And and this is the I love this part because this is like where the stereotype gets gets, you know, the myth gets busted. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:07.200 Yeah. 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:08.720 It's not about talking. 00:12:08.880 --> 00:12:09.200 Yeah. 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:10.240 It's about listening. 00:12:10.400 --> 00:12:10.720 Yeah. 00:12:10.880 --> 00:12:12.160 Everyone can do that. 00:12:12.400 --> 00:12:15.440 And you know, what's the greatest thing that draws you to somebody? 00:12:15.520 --> 00:12:16.720 It's when they're willing to listen to you. 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:17.440 Yeah. 00:12:17.760 --> 00:12:18.640 That's what this is. 00:12:18.800 --> 00:12:20.800 And then it's an outward focus, right? 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:21.280 It really is. 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:22.800 So you're you're engaging with other people. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:31.520 Yeah, hearing per people's stories, learning about their dogs' names or what they like to do in their spare time and just like actually getting to know people. 00:12:31.680 --> 00:12:34.240 The E stands for eat together. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:36.720 Uh, the which is fantastic. 00:12:37.040 --> 00:12:37.440 My favorite. 00:12:37.520 --> 00:12:37.680 Yeah. 00:12:37.920 --> 00:12:38.560 Fantastic. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:38.960 Yeah. 00:12:39.040 --> 00:12:43.600 And and I can't wait personally to share some stories if we get to that in in that week. 00:12:43.760 --> 00:12:46.640 Uh, and that's the next five weeks, by the way, B-L-E-S-S. 00:12:46.800 --> 00:12:49.920 So, and then the S, the first S stands for serve. 00:12:50.560 --> 00:12:56.880 So, you know, if you just stop for a second and go, oh, that's escalating in trust, actually, knowing people personally. 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:01.920 So now I'm able to find out what they need and I'm gonna serve, find a way to serve that need. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:02.240 Yeah. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:04.960 And then the last S is share your story. 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:11.920 And that's why I was like, you know, sometimes if you just say the word evangelism, it's like, uh, but share your story. 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:13.200 That's a that's a whole different thing. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:14.640 Share your spiritual story. 00:13:14.880 --> 00:13:16.960 Okay, I could probably I can do that. 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:17.440 Yeah. 00:13:17.680 --> 00:13:21.200 And um, I don't even need to know all the answers to all the Bible questions. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:24.560 You don't actually need to know many answers to the Bible questions. 00:13:25.040 --> 00:13:25.760 Yeah, yeah. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:26.720 That's true, yeah. 00:13:26.880 --> 00:13:29.440 So, anyways, that's the that's what it is. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:32.640 And I just think it's like the best thing since sliced bread. 00:13:32.800 --> 00:13:33.120 Yeah. 00:13:33.280 --> 00:13:34.480 I love the step by step. 00:13:34.640 --> 00:13:43.120 And it it it really points out the fact that, or doesn't point out a fact, it it mirrors what Jesus exemplified in connecting with people. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:43.680 100%. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:49.520 And so we've got a model that we can follow that is not non-aggressive, but it's service-based. 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:49.920 Yeah. 00:13:50.160 --> 00:13:54.720 And uh develops relationship, which is one of my one of my favorite things to do anyway. 00:13:54.880 --> 00:13:59.280 So yeah, we do it every day in our entire, like our whole lives. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:00.560 Yeah, you know, absolutely. 00:14:00.640 --> 00:14:14.080 And I and I just I I probably can't emphasize the trust aspect of it enough, especially for those of you who are listening that are in the Portland area, um, an area that thrives on trust. 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:14.560 Yeah. 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:19.600 Um, and where there is no progress um for the gospel without trust. 00:14:19.760 --> 00:14:20.000 Yeah. 00:14:20.160 --> 00:14:27.040 And and everybody who's coming to faith is coming to faith because somebody demonstrated demonstrated trust. 00:14:27.280 --> 00:14:32.400 Because it's not a social expectation here to come to faith in Jesus or to be part of a faith community, not at all. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:32.800 Yeah. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:42.640 Um, and and so it's a little bit still swimming upstream to do that, which means you got to really know that somebody's sincere and genuine if you're gonna, if you're gonna jump on board with their thing. 00:14:42.800 --> 00:14:43.120 Yeah. 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:53.920 I think also another encouragement along those lines, though, is is though we do live in a uh area that you have to build a lot of trust to, there's also a lot of seeking. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:54.240 Yeah. 00:14:54.400 --> 00:14:59.520 Like it's a community, an area that's looking for whatever that missing thing is. 00:14:59.680 --> 00:14:59.840 Yeah. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:03.840 And so the people in our lives are wanting something. 00:15:04.160 --> 00:15:17.680 And that creates an open door that we might um ignore if we lean in on our own doubts and our own insecurities and uh uh assumptions about people conversations. 00:15:17.760 --> 00:15:19.760 So yeah, cool. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:20.560 All right. 00:15:20.800 --> 00:15:22.080 Well, let's see. 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:29.440 Um I think that's is there anything else about bless that you wanted to talk about as far as overview goes? 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:40.800 I I don't, you know, the only thing I would say is uh I'm I'm looking at this personally, not so much as like the latest hack, but honestly more as a lifestyle. 00:15:40.880 --> 00:15:46.000 Yeah and something that I could foresee myself seeking to grow in for the next for the rest of my life. 00:15:46.160 --> 00:15:46.400 Yeah. 00:15:46.560 --> 00:15:47.680 Like how do we get better at this? 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:57.520 Because somebody might come up with a new title for something, or there might be another thing that comes out, but it's not gonna change what Jesus did in and and what he's calling us to do. 00:15:57.680 --> 00:16:01.680 So for me, this is this is not uh the latest thing, it's it's like the lifestyle. 00:16:01.920 --> 00:16:02.240 Yeah. 00:16:02.400 --> 00:16:07.200 And and it's always existed, but maybe yeah, like we've we've put a shiny new title on it. 00:16:07.280 --> 00:16:07.760 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:08.240 Yeah. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:10.320 But this is the Jesus way, right? 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:10.880 Yeah, yeah. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:11.440 Good stuff. 00:16:11.520 --> 00:16:13.200 I'm excited to jump into this. 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:16.480 Like you said, we're gonna be doing this for the next five weeks. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:17.040 Five. 00:16:17.520 --> 00:16:20.880 And uh blessing account. 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:21.120 Yeah. 00:16:21.280 --> 00:16:21.600 Yeah. 00:16:23.280 --> 00:16:32.960 And so um we're gonna dive into over the next five weeks each one of those tactics, each one of those um uh steps. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:33.840 Yeah, steps. 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:34.240 Thanks. 00:16:34.400 --> 00:16:34.640 Yeah. 00:16:35.040 --> 00:16:44.160 And uh and you know, we'll hear more stories of how you know we've seen this stuff actually play out in our real lives and make real change. 00:16:44.400 --> 00:16:48.800 And so I hope that our I hope you guys will be with us as we as we jump in. 00:16:48.880 --> 00:16:50.000 So I think that's it. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:52.000 Thanks for stepping in with us. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:52.560 Yeah. 00:16:52.800 --> 00:16:52.960 Yeah. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:59.280 You know, um, I would say um last little encouragement. 00:16:59.680 --> 00:17:02.640 I forgot, and maybe we could just put this in there somewhere, Caleb. 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:08.640 Um, I meant to say that we had seen some fruit of these kinds of things in our in our neighborhood. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:09.680 Yeah. 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:15.279 Um, so I don't want to oversell that, but yeah, uh, that would be kind of okay. 00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:22.160 So the question being uh I've said I said before that you're actually really pretty good at at demonstrating this. 00:17:22.320 --> 00:17:28.160 Like you've shared stories um in your own neighborhood about how these types of things have had impact. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:28.559 Yeah. 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:30.320 You have anything that you want to share? 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:30.960 Yeah. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:37.600 Yeah, I would say that Melissa and I've lived in the same neighborhood since 2006. 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:39.600 So it's 2026. 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:46.400 So we literally just crossed the line a couple weeks ago on the 20-year mark for living in our same house, which I can hardly believe that. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:47.920 Except for when I go to the attic. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:51.039 And then I'm like, definitely 20 years worth of stuff up here. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:59.039 But um, you know, for there's there's definitely some some coming and going in our little neck of the woods, but uh, but a lot of also stability. 00:17:59.120 --> 00:18:02.640 So there's been a good group of neighbors that have been there the whole time we've been there. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:03.039 Wow. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:08.240 And it's funny because when we first moved in, I wasn't operating from this standpoint. 00:18:08.320 --> 00:18:11.600 I was a little bit more like, you know, I'm gonna invite everybody to church. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:12.960 We're gonna invite everybody to church. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:19.440 And so Easter would come up, like the first Easter, you know, we're like blitzing every house, like everybody, everybody's coming to Easter. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:19.840 Yeah. 00:18:20.080 --> 00:18:29.039 And I will say that there was one family that did, and and and the guy uh accepted Jesus as a savior that Easter. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:31.840 And and so, like, you know, there was fruit from that. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:38.960 But then, you know, one of the one of the problems with that is then you go, okay, then it's like, oh, it's pumpkin, it's pumpkin Sunday. 00:18:39.039 --> 00:18:40.720 So now every everybody's gonna get an invite. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:45.680 And so if we're only known as the person, and this is part, like I'm confessing a little bit here. 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:50.960 If we're only known as the person that's gonna go approach the doors to say, you should come to my thing. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:52.160 As a solicitor. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:53.360 Yeah, I'm a solicitor. 00:18:53.600 --> 00:18:53.840 Yeah. 00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:56.960 I mean, I know my my motive, I know it's it's good. 00:18:57.120 --> 00:19:01.039 It's just that they don't know me because we haven't hung out. 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:07.759 Um, they may not even know what even a pastor is, or you know, or if if I'm I mean, they don't know anything. 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:21.039 So, you know, that kind of cold approach, I would call it, does sometimes work, but often actually uh is counterproductive if it doesn't, it's not accompanied with this kind of trust-based philosophy, right? 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:30.320 So, anyways, long story short, something changed during COVID, where um I think all of us were just looking out for each other a little bit. 00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:32.240 And so we did our share of that too. 00:19:32.320 --> 00:19:43.039 And then we started talking when you when you couldn't go to people's houses, we never did, anyways, but when when you couldn't, we were all hungry to talk to each other in the cul-de-sac. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:44.160 That's amazing. 00:19:44.320 --> 00:19:44.559 I know. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:50.000 So we would be like standing outside, you know, to 50 feet away from where like, so how's thing? 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:51.920 You guys got any toilet paper in your house? 00:19:52.080 --> 00:19:55.680 You know, asking yeah, like asking weird questions. 00:19:55.840 --> 00:19:58.720 Um, and eventually, anyways, things started warming up. 00:19:58.799 --> 00:20:01.039 And so we started uh thinking like this. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:06.880 And at some point, uh, I don't know if it was our idea, somebody else's idea, we did a we did a barbecue. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:12.880 I think it was because we were doing 4th of July fireworks in our cul-de-sac every year for a long time. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:16.559 Um, but somebody suggested we do a barbecue right before that. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:23.680 So um the neighbor that had just moved in goes, Well, I am a caterer and I can do ribs, so I'll bring ribs for everybody. 00:20:23.840 --> 00:20:26.799 We're like, deal, barbecue is on for sure. 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:31.360 So he brings like this huge spread, and um, everybody did. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:38.960 And so we had Korean food there and Chinese food there, and like all of this amazing food, and we're getting around the circle. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:47.120 And we had been kind of practicing like this this sort of we're gonna invest in our neighbors, not to get something from them, but just because we're there and God's calls to be the light. 00:20:47.360 --> 00:20:50.799 And they were doing the same thing, and some of them are believers and some of them are not. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:59.519 And anyways, so this new neighbor, uh, right before we were gonna eat, uh, and there was probably, I don't know, 40 or 50 people in a circle. 00:20:59.600 --> 00:21:03.039 And he goes, Hey, we should we should pray. 00:21:03.840 --> 00:21:06.960 And he goes, Pastor, why don't why don't you pray? 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:07.680 Let's all grab hands. 00:21:07.840 --> 00:21:09.440 This the neighbor's like, let's all grab hands, okay? 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:10.000 Does that sound good? 00:21:10.080 --> 00:21:11.600 And everybody's like, Yeah, yeah, let's grab hands. 00:21:12.080 --> 00:21:19.840 And so our whole neighborhood just all of a sudden is a prayer circle, and we didn't initiate it, yeah, the neighbor did, you know? 00:21:20.320 --> 00:21:25.920 And so I that that that picture sticks with me because that's now happened several times since then. 00:21:26.240 --> 00:21:42.480 And um I think the picture is how if we will invest ourselves in the lives of the people that God's put us in front of, that's where things open up, you know, and to just do that like walk with people, um, not the transaction. 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:49.120 And I have to confess that I just I started with that approach, even in our neighborhood, that kind of transactional, almost like the quota. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:50.320 It's like that's awful, right? 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:56.000 Almost like the quota philosophy of I'm gonna invite everybody to the thing that I do. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:56.559 Yeah. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:00.000 Um, but it's easy to, it's easy to land there though. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:06.559 It's easy to start there, especially when it's not something that you're used to to having just incorporated in your life. 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:12.240 But also know knowing that it's something that Jesus has called us to is to reach other people. 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:22.080 So we think that handing them a business card and inviting them to church is like the path of least resistance when it might actually be the most most resistance, yeah. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:22.480 Right. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:25.840 So it's building the trust and creating relationship in your neighborhood. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:28.720 Yeah, really slowing it down, actually by demonstration. 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:30.880 Wow, that's that's pretty incredible. 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:40.160 So I what like I it gives me a picture and and a question um that that I wonder what that would look like in my neighborhood. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:50.480 And what would happen, you know, if all of Westsiders, like we've got what like numbers wise as far as people who attend Westside on the regular. 00:22:50.799 --> 00:22:51.279 I yeah. 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:56.080 I mean it's hard to tell in the summertime, to be honest with you. 00:22:56.240 --> 00:22:58.799 But but I know our database is thousands of households. 00:22:58.960 --> 00:22:59.120 Yeah. 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:00.559 Um so let's just call it that. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:06.559 Yeah, you know, that's like sprinkled throughout Aloha, Hillsborough, Beaverton. 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:11.600 What if every neighborhood, like every Westsiders neighborhood, looked like that? 00:23:11.840 --> 00:23:12.080 Yeah. 00:23:12.320 --> 00:23:16.960 Like what what kind of a difference that would make in yeah, lights everywhere, right? 00:23:17.120 --> 00:23:17.440 Yeah. 00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:18.320 Incredible. 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:18.960 Love it. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:19.519 Okay. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:21.600 Well, thank you so much for joining. 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:23.600 Um, I'm inspired. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:24.160 Good. 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:24.720 Me too. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:25.840 I can't wait to just dive in. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:27.519 I mean, really, really do think. 00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:30.880 Yeah, we could we could see God do some crazy cool stuff. 00:23:31.120 --> 00:23:37.360 There's the stories that'll come out of us just being faithful on the on whatever, you know, because we don't control the response. 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:40.240 We control the input, we control our obedience. 00:23:40.400 --> 00:23:43.200 If we will be faithful, he will tell the story. 00:23:43.360 --> 00:23:44.000 It's gonna be beautiful. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:45.440 Wild work so God. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:46.000 Yeah. 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:46.640 That's cool. 00:23:46.799 --> 00:23:47.120 All right. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:49.279 Well, we'll see you guys next week. 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:52.880 We hope you enjoyed this episode of Midweek Motivation. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:56.799 To make sure you don't miss any content in the future, please subscribe, share. 00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:02.160 And if you enjoyed this, give us a like and consider popping by a Westside service some weekend. 00:24:02.320 --> 00:24:05.360 You can find out more at Westside Community Church.com.