Saved to be a Follower and not a Fan

Christmas opens doors that rarely do the rest of the year. As hearts soften, we’re invited to move from being fans of Jesus to followers who carry the cross. Chosen, empowered, and sent, we meet people where they are and offer living water with clarity and love. Find your “well” this season—because ordinary faithfulness can leave an eternal legacy.

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Transcript

Christmas As An Open Door

SPEAKER_00 0:12

I think you know there's no better time than Christmas time to actually go out and witness about why I believe what I believe. Yes or no? I'm gonna talk to you guys, okay? I'm not gonna preach to you guys. I hope that's okay. I'm breaking a few rules today, right? Um Christmas is a great time to actually go and share, to invite people, right? And in fact, our our friends from different worldviews like this season. Why? Because they like the carols, they like the Christmas cake, right? They like the biryani as well, right? So great time, okay? So make use of this time to go and tell them why you believe what you believe. And I really love all that you are doing, you know, the carols that's happening here, uh the outreach that's happening on uh Christmas Eve, right, is happening. Great time, make use of that, right? And this this afternoon I want to speak to you about evangelism. But before I get there, I want to talk to you about four or five different types of Christian personas, right? The first type of a Christian persona is somebody who's interested in Jesus. I'm interested in Jesus because Jesus is an interesting personality. You know, I like his style, his hair, and all nice long hair he's got. Like I like, you know, I like the way he carries himself, I like the way he preaches sermon on the mountain on Kya Bhathaya, how he spoke, right? I like that. So some people are just interested with Jesus. Then there's a second type of um Christians who are fans of Jesus. I like the miracles he did. You know, he asked the blind man, he touched his eyes, and the blind man saw. The lepers, he said, go and watch, they came back. One guy came back and he was clean. He looked at Lazarus' uh tomb and he said, Lazarus, come out. And when when that dead body inside heard the voice of Jesus saying, Lazarus, come out, suddenly a heart that had stopped beating about four days or three days ago started to beat again. Cells started to reproduce in that dead body, right? Skin, which was beginning to get decomposed, became like baby skin. And suddenly, to the astounding uh astonishment of all the bystanders there, they saw a dead man walking out with grave clothes and all. You know, I like that Jesus. I'm a fan of his miracles. And then there's another group of people, right? You know, who have a transactional relationship with Jesus. I follow Jesus because if I follow Jesus, he'll protect me. If I follow Jesus, he'll provide for me. If I follow Jesus, he'll give me peace. Yeah, all that is true. I follow Jesus because when I pray, he answers me. But what if he doesn't answer your prayer the way you wanted your prayer to be answered? Would you still follow him? And some and we get disappointed, right? God, why didn't you answer my prayer? I prayed for my daughter's healing. She passed away 16 months ago. We prayed, we believed, but God had a different plan. What would you do if God doesn't answer your prayer the way you want it to be answered? Somewhere we've got this wrong impression that I get to write God's job description. That what I tell him to do, he has to do. If he doesn't do it, I'll pump my fist to him and say, Why God? I don't need this God. You know, and therefore those are the transactional type of relationship. This morning I want to ask you, what is your relationship type with Christ? There's another relationship type, and that's what we are called to, and that is to be followers of Jesus. And Jesus speaks about that, and he says, Hey, you know what? If you want to follow me, deny yourself, take up the cross and follow me. Don't follow me like this. But deny yourself, carry your cross and follow me.

unknown 4:07

Right?

Appointed To Bear Lasting Fruit

The Great Commission And Witness

What Evangelism Really Means

Always Be Prepared To Share

No Excuses, Just Conversations

Find Your Well In Everyday Places

Be Relevant And Contextual

Break Cultural And Social Barriers

SPEAKER_00 4:08

We can be comfortable Christians or we can be cross-carrying Christians. And followers of Jesus are cross-carrying Christians, not cross-wearing Christians. I'm a cross, I wear a cross, right? Not this. Not even having Christian-sounding names or stickers on your car, all that's good. We've got to be a mark of a follower, is somebody who carries the cross. The mark of a follower says, I follow Jesus because of who he is and not because of what he gives. I follow Jesus because he is the Son of God. You know, by him and through him all things were created and all things hold together. That is who he is. I follow Jesus because he vacated the throne on heaven and walked the dusty roads of earth, right? And he died on a cross, he offered himself on a cross because he paid the wages of my sin, he paid my debt, which I was supposed to pay, I could not pay, but he paid it. And because he died, I live. I follow Jesus because just like he said, he vacated a rented tomb and he rose again. I follow Jesus, you know why? Because he said he's gonna come back and he is going to come back, and that's why I follow Jesus, and therefore, as a follower of Jesus, we are called to become like Jesus. You see, the first time you know, this whole terminology Christians came. You know what Christian actually meant? Somebody with a sect of people suddenly, you know, after Jesus rose again, there was a sect of people that they call them Christians. You know what Christian actually means? Little Jesus or little Christ. Little Christ, which means we're supposed to be like Jesus. And Jesus says, and we're supposed to please Jesus. That is a follower of Christ. And this afternoon, I want to ask you, my friend, my brother, my sister, what type are you? Are you the fan? Are you the one who's interested? Are you the transactional type? Or are you a follower? Are you a follower? God is calling us to be followers, right? And therefore, as a follower of Christ, right, we are called to do everything God expects us to do and primarily to please Him. I love a verse in the Bible. My favorite verse in the Bible is John 15, 16, where Jesus looks at and he says these amazing, amazing words. You did not choose me, but I. I wish the verse ended there. It'll be comfortable. Jesus says, I chose you, you did not choose me, I chose you. Wow, thank you, Lord. I'm grateful for that. But he doesn't stop there. He says, I chose you and I appointed you. Is it there in your Bible? Appointed you. I want to tell you every appointment order contains a set of things that the person who got the appointment order needs to do. Yes or no? If you don't do what's there in the appointment order, what will happen? Sorry? You're fired because you're expected to do what's in the appointment order. You did not chose me, I chose you, and I appointed you for what to bear fruits. Fruits that will last, to bear fruits, quantity, quality, fruits that will last. Not any kind of fruits, but good fruits. I want to tell you, my brother, my sister, you have an appointment order which God has handed over to you. And what does that appointment order involve? In Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 to 20. Jesus is ascending. Before he's about to ascend, he makes these words. He says, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. Everybody say all nations. All nations, all make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Sometimes we take that last part of the verse. Oh, Jesus said, I am with you to all parts of the age, always with you to the end of the age. What is coming before that? Go therefore and make disciples. Baptize them. Teach them. You know, I love this church, and I'm gonna say you have a good problem and a bad problem. The good problem is this is nice, it's comfortable, right? The bad problem is you'll need more space soon because God is going to grow you. I wouldn't call it a bad problem, that also is a good problem. Right? So don't be prepared and comfortable and say, oh wow, this is a nice place. You've got AC and all nice place. I want to tell you, God tells me to tell you this, this church is going to grow. Okay, and you'll need more space. Right? Go therefore and make all disciples. Your appointment order has got that there. Your appointment order has got one more in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. Acts chapter 1 and verse 8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. So, friends, I've got bad news for you again. Don't just be happy with Maratpali and uh Mayendra Hills and Begamphet and Sanikpuri and all of that. Okay, God is gonna cause you to explode. Do you have a vision? Can you see what God is showing you? Without vision, my people perish. Okay, God is saying, enlarge the tents, stretch the cords, right? Because you know you have to go to the ends of the earth. God will bring people from the ends of the earth here. People from here will go to the ends of the earth. Do you believe with me? With God, all things are possible. Okay, but he's looking for willing people this morning. He's looking for people who will fulfill what's there in their appointment order. Okay? What is evangelism? Sounds a very heavy word in saying, Rajiv, I get it, but I didn't go to Bible college. No, no, all of us are supposed to be evangelists. Look to your neighbor and say, You're supposed to be an evangelist. Come on, don't look to your neighbor and say, Okay, look to them and say, You are an evangelist. You are an evangelist. You know, evangelism is not just meant for somebody, Pastor, you only have to do all evangelism. I'll come, I'll sing, I'll lift my hand, up they glow evangelism. No, each of us here are evangelist evangelists, right? What does evangelism mean? It's a Greek Greek word. Okay, the Greek word is called U Anglion. Okay, I hope I got that Greek right. EU stands for uh for for good. Anglion means message or news. Good news. Okay, you got good news. If there's good news in your family, what will you do? Won't you go and share it with the people? I want to tell you there's no good news that can compare to the good news of the cross and an empty tomb. That's the best news. You know what's the best news? That your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. That's the best news. And that your name is entered into the Lamb's book of life, not written by ink, but written by the blood of Jesus. What news is that? How can you stay quiet? How can I stay quiet? Right? Just because the world does not believe it, the world does not see it, right, doesn't mean it's not true. You know, when in Noah's time, Noah said, boss, better be careful, better be good. They made one song for Santa Claus. No, better be good, better be naughty. Why Santa Claus is coming to town, I believe. What news is that? That's very deal. But Noah's time, Noah says it's gonna rain. It's gonna rain. Get, you know, they say, You're mad. Why are you building this? What are you building? I'm building an ark. Ark? What is an ark? Ark's a big boat. Why you want a big boat? There's no water here. You're mad. Noah became the joke of the town. But Noah diligently built his ark. And as God said, one day it rained, and it rained so heavily, everything was drowned except for Noah and his family, because Noah had built an ark. You go and tell others about Jesus, they laugh at you. And because you're scared, they laugh at you, you stop telling them. But I want to tell you, like Jesus said, I'm gonna come back one day, he's gonna come back. Are you going to be standing before him? And is he gonna look at you and say, Well done, my good and faithful servant? Or is he gonna look at you and say, Why were you so ashamed to tell others about me? Evangelism. So you're telling me, Radiv, okay, get all of this. But really, me? Evangelism? Should I? I want to tell you this. Evangelism is God's mandate for you. He has appointed you, he has commissioned you for that. Just think about it, no? Over the last 2,000 odd years, by the way, by the way, by the way, before I go any further, 2033 is pretty significant. You know why? Because 2000 years ago Jesus was born. Okay? How old was he when he was crucified? 33. 2000 plus 33. What's the number? 2033. We are in 2025. 2033. I am not saying he's gonna come back in 2033. Please don't tell. I'm not saying that. Everybody record me. I'm not saying that. But I'm saying that there's a there's a big push across the world to reach the unreached. Okay, to tell people who don't know about Jesus because 2033, it's gonna be 2,000 years since Jesus died and rose again. Okay, and you and me need to be part of that movement. Hope you see Second Rabat has to be part of that movement, right? Of telling everybody around what Jesus did and that he's gonna come back. So evangelism is God's mandate. Over the last 2,000 years, empires have risen. You had the Roman Empire, you had Alexander's Greek Empire, you had the British Empire, you had the Nazis, you had all of these empires have risen. But guess what? They're nowhere today, they're fallen. 2,000 years, kingdoms have been established and vanished. Dictators have risen, but they have disappeared. But you know one thing that's remained and grown and is flourished and is flourishing, you know what that is? The kingdom of God and his church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against that. You know why? Despite the persecution, despite the threats, despite the numerous plots. Why? Because God has empowered and fueled his kingdom through the power of personal evangelism, and that's why evangelism is so important, right? You and me are called to be witnesses. If you are a follower of Christ, it is normal for you to be a witness. It I mean, it's lifestyle to be a witness. I can't be a follower, but you know what? I won't be a witness. That is pastor's job. That is my life's group leader's job. I am only church. God has called, not, and church is important, don't get me wrong. God has not called us only to be church goers, but to be people who go and witness. We're called to be a church that doesn't just come in, but we're called to be a church that goes out. Go out into the world is the word. We come here for fuel. We come here to get fueled so that we can go out. So you're saying, okay, Rajiv, I get all this, but how do I witness? I've not gone to Bible college, I've not done PhD, MTH, MDiv, right? I've not done all of that. You don't need to do all of that. If you want to study, please study by all means. Again, disclaimer, because you won't call me again if you get all the wrong parts. Right? Must do all that, it's nice, but don't depend on that. You need to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit. When when God told when Jesus told the disciples, he didn't say, Go do this, do that. He just said, boss, go wait there, pray there, the Holy Spirit will just rest upon you, and then you shall be my witnesses. Yes or no? You know, I want to give you an example, a practical example of how to be a witness. And I'm gonna read from John chapter 4, verses 1 to 9. Okay. Now, when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples, he left Judea, departed again for Galilee, and he had passed through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sycher, I think that's what it's pronounced, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, if you have your Bibles underlined, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside a well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. For his disciples had gone away into a city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Okay, and as you read that, you know, it's a very intriguing, very simple, basic, but intriguing conversation that leads to an amazing outcome. And you know, as you read that passage, you understand the principles of a practical way of how can I witness. Number one, I want to tell you, as a as somebody who wants to be a witness and evangelize, right? Always be prepared. Always be prepared. Jesus was tired while he rested, he encounters the Samaritan woman. Right? The first step to be a witness is always be prepared. Always be prepared. You're traveling in the metro, be prepared. You're going to the gym, be prepared. Right? You are at work in your cubicle, you're having lunch in your cafeteria, be prepared. Simple. Always be prepared. Right? You know, we we pray all these prayers sometimes. Lord, make me a witness, good prayer to pray. But God's asking us this question: Are you prepared? Are you ready? Because you don't know who God will send your way. Jesus is sitting at that well, he's waiting there about the sixth hour. A Samaritan woman comes. He's tired, but he's prepared. I want to read from 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 15. What does it say? 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 15. It says, But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy. And what does it say after that? Anybody can read that for me? Can we all say it loudly? Always be prepared. Always be prepared. Which means before you get into a situation, you have to be prepared of if I encounter somebody, what will I say? Not go there and struggle. Oh, okay. You should prepare before that itself. Wait on God and say, Lord, I know you're gonna put people in my path. What should I say? Always be prepared. Right? I want to tell you, Jesus isn't a top secret that you've signed an NDA for. You know what an NDA is? Non-disclosure agreement. You join some company or doing some consulting work, they'll say, please sign an NDA. Which means whatever you see here, you're not supposed to tell anybody. Some of us have made, we've we believe that we've signed an NDA, tops non-disclosure. I will not tell anything about what Jesus did in my life. Jesus is not a top secret that you signed an NDA agreement, but breaking news that you have to tell everyone. It's breaking news. I have to tell. I can't stay quiet until I tell what Jesus did for me. There was this blind man, and all the religious people caught them and caught them and said, Tell me, did he did who did Jesus heal your make you see? They wanted him to say no. They called the parents and said, Is this your son? Said, yeah, he's my son. Was he blind? Yeah, he was blind. But we don't know how he what happened to him. Okay, they go to the son and say, Were you blind? What's that man who did it? He said, Boss, I don't know all that. One thing I know, I was blind, but now I see. Whether he's a sinner or not, I don't know all that. One thing I know, he healed me. I was blind, but now I see. He could not keep quiet. So, number one, right? Always be prepared. Second, right? The Bible says Jesus was tired when he spoke. He was tired, he was wearied. He sat there. When the lady came, he engaged in a conversation. He did not give an excuse. No excuses. You want to be a witness? Don't give excuses. Oh, I can't talk. I don't know so much of the Bible. Like, what will they think of me? No excuses. You want to be an evangelist? Be prepared. Second, no excuses. You have to be able to share what God has done for you. What are the excuses you're telling yourself? Well, Jesus could have given any excuses, right? I'm tired. I've just finished such a big ministry. Now I've healed so many people. I don't want to talk right now. I'm tired. But he made no excuses. The most irritating thing that can happen is when you're really tired, when you're sitting on a flight, and the person next to you starts talking. What book are you reading? This author, he's written some other book also. Oh, you read a lot of books, sir. Oh, are you reading? I'm reading a book. They'll ask me, Are you reading? No. I'm playing, um, I'm playing, I'm cooking a dish here. What kind of question is that? I mean, you can answer like that, no? I mean, sometimes I ignore. I'll put my headphones on and sit quietly. It won't be on also, but I'll pretend. Pray for me. I need prayer. But not with Jesus. He starts talking. Maybe you're sitting here and saying, hey, I get all this, but you know, I I can't speak, I don't know how to talk. Tell you a true incident of an 80-year-old lady in Mumbai. Anyone from Mumbai here? Yes, Mumbai. God bless you. People from the promised land. I was in Mumbai. Yeah. So 80-year-old lady, heart on fire for the Lord, doesn't know how to speak. One thing she knows, takes a Marathi Bible, gets into a train, and she gets in Punvale, she goes up to CST and goes back to Punvale, goes back to CST. One thing she's doing in the train, taking a Marathi Bible and reading loudly. Others around her are saying, What are you reading? Great opportunity. I'm reading about Yeshumasi. And then she starts engaging in a conversation. Some people shout at her, don't read like this. She says, No, what's your problem? You want to read, you read. I'm reading loudly to myself. You want, don't want to listen, don't listen. But she's reading so loudly, everybody has to listen. And so many people's lives have been changed because she made no excuses. Third point, right? We read from this, you learn from this incident of this woman and Jesus here, is he and Jesus engaged with the woman at the well. The well is a public place in those days. Right? It was a common place. People came there to, there was no water connection and all of that. I remember when summers when I used to spend here in Mahindra Hills, I'm talking early 90s, summers water won't come. So we used to come opposite and school. There used to be a water department there. Come and fill water and go back in my cousin's scooter and come back. In those days, the well was a place where they came to get water. It was a place where they would, as they get water, they would chat. The well was a common place, it was a public space. It was not a place of sanctity, like a synagogue or a church. This is a place of sanctity, right? It was a place of utility. And Jesus chooses to engage with the women at a place of utility and not at a place of sanctity. Right? I want to ask you, what is your well? Where is your well? Your well could be your gym, your well could be your paddle court, your well could be the place where you take your kids, when your kids are playing in the park and there's other people there. That could be your well. Instead of talking about this battle that's happening there or that politician who seems to have lost his brain, pointless conversations. But point them to your savior because that is your well. What is your well? Where is your well?

unknown 25:50

Right?

The Priceless Offer Of Living Water

Convict, Don’t Condemn

SPEAKER_00 25:50

So B, Jesus knew what he was doing there, right? You've got to be willing to engage in places of utility before you can usher people into places of sanctity. You say, Come to my church, come to my church. Good, good, good, good. But they're like, Why should I come to your church? What will I get? But if you start engaging them in places of utility and then say, hey, why don't you just come along with me? Then it makes sense to them. Does it make sense to you what I'm saying? Right? Where is your world? Number four, right? You gotta be relevant. You gotta be relevant when you want to witness, when you want to engage, when you want to evangelize, be relevant. How does Jesus start the conversation with this lady? What does he ask? Did he talk about uh pre-rapture and pre-tribulation and post-tribulation? Did he talk about the stars and deep philosophy and no? He said, Pani Dedo, like she's drinking water now. Right? Pani Dedo. He said, Give me, give me water. Water was the most basic thing he could have asked for. Right? He was relevant at that particular point in time. Right? The lesson here is that to evangelize effectively, we need to be relevant and contextual. You know, I've been posting things on on Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn for the last 15 odd years. Every morning I would wait on God in my in my quiet time, whatever God would speak to me, I would condense it in two sentences and put it out. And sometimes it would be, you know, I in the early years it was a lot of verses I would put out. You know, God said this, uh, you know, make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lust. You know, I would put something like that, right? And then God, the Holy Spirit tapped me on my shoulder once and says, Hey, do you think your friends from other worldviews they'll understand make no provision flesh fulfill lust? You know, they may think you're asking about Gongura Mam Samuli. Flesh. So how can you condense what you're saying? Put it together in a way that your friends from other worldviews understand, but it's still scripture. The Holy Spirit challenged me. Ever since, for the last whatever, 10 years, I've been doing just that. And I want to tell you the kind of responses I get on on, especially LinkedIn, because that's the corporate platform, right? Right? People from different worldviews, agnostics, atheists, theists, and whatever, right? All of them, many of them have reached out to me and said, Hey, you know what you wrote? Really resonated, really touched me. Where did you get this from? I said, I got it from the Bible. Itna, Bible mehek, yeah. I said, not just this. The Bible talks about relationship. The Bible talks about how do you manage money. The Bible talks about leadership without supervision from an ant. Right? Have you considered the ant no manager, but yet it diligently stores up in summer because it knows winter? Bible may? I said, of course. I give them a Bible. Or I give them a soft copy of the Bible. And I want to tell you, many have become so curious with that. Right? Not me, Holy Spirit and God. But we have to be his hands and feet.

unknown 29:24

No.

Confidence Without Disrespect

Conversations That Multiply Witnesses

Sow Seeds And Trust God

Wise Are Those Who Win Souls

Not Ashamed Of The Gospel

The Cost And Courage Of Following Jesus

Decision And Commitment To Witness

SPEAKER_00 29:25

We have to be relevant. Sometimes we put some uh 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 3, and you put in LinkedIn and we hope the whole world will be saved. Not one person will be saved, only a Christian person will say, right? How do you communicate what you believe in very simple language from that person's point of view? Ask the Holy Spirit for help. Number four, how do you how do you um evangelize, right? Break the barriers. Break the barriers. You see, when Jesus spoke to that Samaritan woman, he was not doing something which was normal, he was doing something which was abnormal. You saw it worse, right? Because Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. He had no dealings with Samaritans, Jews have no dealings, but what does Jesus do? He was breaking those limitations, breaking those barriers. Jews no link with Samaritans. I'm going to Samaria. I am going to go and sit in that well near Samaria. You know, Jews, that lady coming there was not a surprise for Jesus because he's the author and the finisher of faith. He knew that she would come and he was there intentionally, he was there deliberately. So he went there. The first rule he broke, I will talk to Samaritans. Second rule he broke, I will talk to a Samaritan woman. So much so when the disciple came, they were like, hey, how is he alone talking to a woman? You know, all those things. Because you're not supposed to do all this, but you know what Jesus is doing? Systematically breaking the barriers. I want to tell you, I want to evangelize. You have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. You have to be willing to do what Jesus would do, not what people will approve. What will people think? What will people do? Of course, now some of you are sitting here and thinking, ah, Rajiv is telling me I can go to the bar now and sit down, pub, but I go and if you are weak there, boss, you will fall. No license for that. Right? But where is God asking you to go? What barriers is he asking you to break? Right? We will say, please come for Christmas service. But when our friends called up, call us for their so for their festivals. No, no, no, we'll not go there. How will it work that way? I'm not saying go there and celebrate with them. Go there and in your spirit pray to God. Worship God there, but stand with your friend at that point in time. You know, let God lead you, each one to their own. But I'm saying you've got to be willing to break the barriers. Otherwise, we won't be useful. Right? Number six, right, is a precious offer. Okay, Rajiv, I get all of this. Okay, I can do all of this, but what's so special that they will listen to me if I tell them? What's so good about the good news, by the way? What's so good about the good news? I'm just reading from John chapter 4, verse 10 to 15. Jesus answered her. I mean, he asked her for water, and then she says, How can you ask me for water and all of that stuff, right? Jesus answered, If you knew the gift of God, and who is it that is saying to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living waters. Woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? And are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, and as did his sons and livestock, Jesus said, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water, dwelling of eternal life. The woman said, Sir, give me this water so I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. What is the offer? Jesus was offering her a water that if she drinks, she will never thirst again. What is that water, right? In John chapter 7, verse 37 to 39, I'm taking a part of it. If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now, this he said about the spirit. What do you have to offer? When they when the offer that they you can offer them is this, right? That we are born in sin. We have a sinful nature, and we when we are born again, we have the nature of God. God lives in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. What do you have to offer? Well, you have to offer that no longer should you walk around with shame and guilt, right? Because Jesus paid the price for your sin on the cross. What do you have to offer? You don't have to do anything, you don't have to walk these thousand miles, or you don't have to climb these mountains, or you don't have to do anything. You don't have to do anything because everything was needed to be done is done on the cross. You have to do just one. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ with your heart, confess him with your mouth, and guess what? You are a child of God with your name written in the Lamb's book of life. Living water, Holy Spirit. Living water is purification, living water is satisfying the thirst. Living water is, you know, every human being has got a void in that heart, and we try to fill that void with materialism, we try to fill that void with addiction, we try to fill that void with shopping, we try to fill that void, and when nothing can fill our void, you know what happens? We take our own lives. And today's suicide is the biggest epidemic in the times that we live in. Why? Because there's a God-shaped void in our heart, and that void nothing else can fill except Jesus Christ. That's what you have to offer. You have a priceless offer. So don't be shy. Don't be shy. Two more points, and I'm done. Number seven, how do you evangelize, right? Hold up the mirror. Hold up the mirror. Jesus didn't say, You are wrong, you're living in sin, you know, you are terrible. But he just asked her a question. He said, Go call your husband and come here. Verse 7. What was he doing? He's holding up the mirror. Go call your husband and come here. And the woman said, I have no husband. And Jesus says, You are right in saying I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true. And what I pick up from here is that Jesus facilitates the woman to be convicted but not condemned. And today we go around evangelizing, thinking, boss, if you don't change, you are going straight to hell. And we have lost more people for the kingdom by that single statement. We are not called to play judge and jury. We've called to just hold up the mirror. And the Holy Spirit will do the rest. Hold up the mirror. Don't say what you're doing is sinful and terrible and all of that stuff. No, you've lost more people like that. But just hold up the mirror. Jesus does not condemn, he convicts. Right? And then I want to tell you be confident with your conviction, but share your faith without disrespect. Share your faith with conviction and without disrespect. Jesus says, you know, in John chapter 4, verse 21 and 26, he says, Women, believe in me, the hour is coming. When neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem you will worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know. For salvation is from the Jews, but the hour is coming and is now here. When true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. The woman said to him, I know that the Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things. And this is the point when Jesus says to Accalm Lee, I who speak to you, am He. You got to share your faith with confidence and not with disrespect. Jesus says, You know, I am he. I am he. And all of this is in conversation. So don't be shy about sharing why you believe. Don't be shy about what they think if I tell them Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. You've got to be willing to say that. Because either you believe it or you don't believe it, guys. That's the point here. If you believe it, speak it. If you don't believe it, then quit it. Okay, sorry, Pastor, I'm not reducing the population in your church. But if isn't it true? Isn't that what Elijah said at Mount Carmel? If God is God, worship him. If Baal is God, worship him. Isn't that what Jesus is saying? I wish you were either hot or cold, but because you are lukewarm, I would want to spit you in your mouth. If God is God and you're certain, then speak about him, no? Don't stay quiet. And I want to close this by saying, look at the outcome of this conversation. And I want to just use the word conversation. Evangelism is a conversation. It's not a monologue, it's a conversation. John chapter 4, verse 28 to 30. So the woman who came to get water there, what does she do? She left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people in the town, Come see a man who told all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? They went out of town and were coming to him. Jesus met a woman who was living in sin. And when she left the conversation, she became the evangelist of that town. And that's the power that you and me have, which God has placed on us. Are you going to keep that message, that good news that you have in your safe deposit locker? Or are you going to let God do what He can do through you? Choose to engage in the public places, your office, your classroom, your apartment complex, your paddle court, your gym, ladies, your beauty parlor as well. Don't limit yourself to only certain stratas of society. Your security guard, your maid is as important as the Samaritan woman was to Jesus. I mean, he of all people he comes to a woman who's living in sin and is not even a Jew, and he says, I'm gonna engage with that. You know why? Because in God's eyes, everybody is important. Who gave you and me permission to look down at people? Because Jesus, when he died on the cross, he died for all of them. You know why? Because all of them are created in the image of God. Don't let traditions and societal expectations become limits. Don't underestimate what you have to offer. You have the greatest gift. Christmas is about a gift, and it's the greatest gift that God has given to us. Don't play judge and jury. Don't think that that's not sometimes we get we get proud and think that we are super righteous. No, we're all sinners in God's eyes, saved by grace. Be conversational, don't be preachy. Be relational, right? Don't be preachy. I want to ask you, where is your well? Where is your well? But you're saying, Rajiv, I get all of this, but will my conversation be received? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. But our job is not to go and tell anybody and make them a Christian. Our job is to sow seeds. God will bring the growth. Some seeds will fall in fertile ground, some will fall on rocks, some will fall on the path. That's fine. But the question is, are you the farmer who's sowing the seed? Ever heard of this gentleman called Billy Graham? Millions were saved. God used Billy Graham, millions were saved. You know who preached when Billy Graham gave his heart to God as a teenager? There's a gentleman called Dr. Morda Kai Am. He preached and God used a message to convict Billy Graham's heart. But somebody else played a very silent but significant role. You know whose name? Albert McCain. M-C M-A-I-N. Albert McCain, M-A-K-I-N. You know what Albert McCain did? Albert McCain was a 24-year-old farmer. Billy Graham's like a 15-16-year-old teenager. Mordecai Ham is having that camp crusade in that place, somewhere in North Virginia or somewhere there. Billy Graham says, I don't want to go for these meetings. I don't want to go for this Christmas carol service. I don't want to go for this outreach. I am Mordecai and all that's I'm not going. I'm I don't want to go. But Albert McCain said, No, Billy, we gotta go. And Albert McCain would keep encouraging Billy to come for that crusade. And Billy Graham finally, because of Albert McCain's persuasion, said, Okay, I'll come. He went there. God used Mordecai Ham's message. Billy Graham, when an altar call was given, Billy Graham went up and surrenders his heart. But I want you to remember the role of Albert McCain. You are having a Christmas outreach program. You can be that Albert McCain. We don't know how many future generations will be impacted because you chose to pursue after somebody and invite them for this. Right. I want to tell you this, right? Two verses before I close. Never believe a preacher who says I'm closing now. Right? Two verses before I close. One verse is Proverbs chapter 11, verse 30. You got nothing today. Take this verse and go. Proverbs 11:30. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. And he who wins souls is wise. He who wins souls is wise. One last verse. Romans chapter 1 and verse 16. For I am not ashamed of the gospel. Can you look to your neighbor and say, I'm not ashamed of the gospel? I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. It's the power of God of salvation to everyone who believes. Somewhere in Northeast India, there was a missionary who came into that village. It was a very violent village. And one family accepted the Lord Jesus, and that missionary went off. The tribal chief got to know that this family had accepted the Lord Jesus and he was furious. So he called a he called that father and the mother, the husband, wife, and their two kids, and he got his tribal soldiers or whatever to tie each of them on a tree. The tribal chief looked at eyeball to eyeball to the man and with great anger he said, Denounce this Jesus, this foreign God that you're worshiping. If you don't denounce, I'm gonna shoot down arrow, your wife. Man thought about it for a minute. And he said these words in their dialect. And these words, I have decided to follow Jesus. The tribal chief was so infuriated, he took, he gave the command, and at the command, an arrow was shot, piercing the woman's heart. The arrow was laced with poison. The woman fell down dead instantaneously. The two children were crying as they saw their mother fall. The tribal chief had a smirk on his lip, and he looked at the man and said, See you what you have brought to your family. Denounce this Jesus. If you don't, I'll shoot your son. This man thought for a minute and he says, I've decided to follow Jesus. The world behind me, the cross before me. You're saying this in his dialect. Son was shot. The daughter by now is trembling with fear. The father's heart, you can imagine to see his wife dead, son dead, and seeing his daughter and that. What would happen? Would the father's heart give up? Seeing his daughter's situation. The man looked at him and said, You've been very stubborn. At least your daughter, save her. The guilt of your wife's death and your son's death is on you. Your daughter, save her. This man again thought for a minute. He says, Though no one goes before me, yet I will fall. The woman, the daughter was shot, the man was also shot. These words impacted that whole village and even the tribal chief. And he said to himself, What kind of faith is this? The God that this man worshipped must be the true God. That he was willing to die for what he believed. There must be truth in this. And legend goes that that whole village came to the saving grace of the Lord Jesus. And it's from this incident that we get this beautiful hymn, I have decided to follow Jesus. Are you going to be a follower or are you going to be a fan? With every eye closed, and not any emotional response. You're saying I have decided to follow Jesus. I've decided to be a witness. I've decided, I don't know how, but you know, I'm going to be prepared. I don't know what words to say, but I know God will give me the words. But I'm going to put myself out there, Lord, for you. I understand, recognize that appointment order in my life. And people may laugh at me, but they laughed at you as well. But Lord, that's okay. People may ill treat me, but they treated you badly, but that's okay. Because I know how this story ends. I know that you're coming back. I know that I will live with you forever. So I'm going to have an eternal mindset, not a temporary mindset. They laughed at Noah, but I know how the story ended. I know when they laugh at me, I've decided to follow Jesus, and I'm gonna I'm gonna be your witness.