Who's On Your Front Row

God has strategically placed 8 to 15 people in your relational world - your oikos or household - who are watching your life and asking spiritual questions. These individuals are uniquely positioned for you to reach with the gospel. The early church grew rapidly through this simple principle, as seen in Acts 16 with the Philippian jailer whose entire household came to faith. You are more equipped to reach these specific people than anyone else because of your existing relationships with them. The key steps are developing spiritual awareness to see them, making a list of pre-Christians, prodigals, purposefuls, and potentials in your life, and praying for them daily. This relational approach to evangelism is how God designed the church to grow.

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If you haven't been with us lately, you probably haven't heard the phrase 8 to 15. And you're going, what's that all about? Well, we're in the beginning stages of a new series we're doing called the Table. And what we believe the biblical strategy is that Jesus left for us for reaching our relational world is those 8 to 15 people that God has supernaturally positioned in your life. Right now, there are 8 to 15 people who are sitting on the edge and living on the ledge of your life, and they're watching you and they're observing how you do things. And there is a biblical principle behind that because when we look at how rapidly the church spread in the first 500 years where it crossed cities and countries and continents and eventually found its way here, we have to ask the question: how did the church grow so rapidly? And what we've come to the conclusion is that the way the church grows isn't a program, it isn't a simple strategy, it is a basic principle that Jesus modeled for his disciples about how we were to reach the relational world living in front of us. And we kind of call that your table. Right now, there are people who are sitting at the table of your life, and they're asking questions about you, your faith, and they want to know: is Jesus for real? And they're asking, does he really change your life, or is he more like an insurance policy you've got that when you die, you don't go to hell? And you just go to church on Sunday, but the rest of the week, Jesus really doesn't make any difference in your life. So they're looking at you, they're watching you, they're listening to what you say, and they are wrestling with spiritual questions. Now, there's a problem, most of you really don't know who that 8 to 15 people are who are setting in your relational sphere because you haven't really stopped and taken time to think about it. And that sphere of people, the Bible uses word, it's called oikos, and it's not Greek yogurt. It is a word that stands for your household. It's not the physical house, but it's the people that are in and out of the spiritual household, relational household that you exist in. And so the question we need to be asking ourselves this morning is who is setting on the front row of my life? And answering that question is way more important than you could ever imagine. And there's one simple reason. The people who are sitting on your front row, there's one person who is more spiritually and relationally equipped to reach them than anybody else. And that's you. And if you don't know who they are, then you're going to miss open doors and opportunities that God brings your way in order to what? Share the good news of Jesus. Now, I know what many of you are thinking, oh, this is about evangelism. No, it is and it isn't. Because we're not talking about a program, we're talking about a mindset, about how we live our lives and how we walk through it with the spiritual awareness that the Holy Spirit gives us. And if you aren't walking with your spiritual eyes wide open, you're gonna miss people. You're gonna miss people. You know, I've come to the realization that God has equipped me to do a couple of things really well. You know, and when I was entering my senior year in high school, I had lettered in four sports and had done that throughout my high school career, but there were only two that I was really good at, and that was baseball and football. And so I came down to the point where I knew if I was going to go to college, I could only focus on one. And so I decided if I was gonna go to college on an athletic scholarship, I wanted to hit somebody. So I decided football was what I was best at. And uh I was good at a lot of sports, but I really excelled at basically too. And the same thing is true when it comes to the spiritual gifts that God has given to his church. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, you have a spiritual gift that God has given to you not only to serve his church, but also to reach a lost and dying world that doesn't know him. And if you don't understand how God has wired you, then you're gonna miss the best possibilities to leverage those spiritual gifts for God's advantage. Listen to what the Apostle Paul said to the church. In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 18. Here's what he said. He said, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wants them to be. When I first entered ministry, I was a youth pastor. That's where a lot of guys end up starting. You know, and I did youth in education, youth and recreation. And then God kept pushing me out of that, and he said, No, that's not your strength. You are a preaching teacher, teaching preacher, I don't know what you want to call it, but that was where my gifts were, and so I began to leverage those for God's advantage. Now, every single one of you sitting here are probably thinking, I don't have the gift of evangelism. That's not the way God wired me. I'm not comfortable sharing the four spiritual laws, going door to door, or evangelism explosion, you name your thing. But that is not God's strategy for changing the world. God's strategy for changing the world is for you to reach your slice of it, the age of 15 people that God has supernaturally positioned in your world that no one else is gonna be able to reach like you. It's like this. If you try to reach everybody, you know who you're gonna end up reaching? Nobody. If you're going, oh, I gotta reach the world, and that's so overwhelming, it's so consuming that you're going, oh, I don't even know where to start. So what do you do? You don't start. You don't reach anybody. Aiming for everyone usually gets you no one. Trying to be good at everything, you end up being good at nothing. Focus in on what God has called you to do. Now, there's one problem with that. How many of you drove to church today? Okay. Anyone walk? We got a couple of walkers in the house. Most of you drove here. Unlike those who walked here, most of you drove here, and I drive here almost every day of the week. And you know what? A lot of days I will drive, I drive the same route every time, and some days I pull into the parking lot here, and I'm going, how did I get here? Because I don't remember anything about the trip. I just know I pulled into the parking lot and I'm going, God, did I kill anybody on the way? I get out, walk around the car, okay, it's good. But I don't remember half of what I passed. The same thing is true when it comes to reaching our oikos, our eight to fifteen people. We drive right by them, spiritually speaking, every day. We see them, but we don't really see them. Why? Because we're not focused on them. We will never reach the people we intentionally, we refuse to see intentionally. And so the first step in reaching your oikos, your relational world, is simply naming them and praying for them. This is this is how God intends to change the world. It always has been. And this is what God wants our mindset to be when we walk out of this place and we begin to look at the relationships that He has given us. If you don't believe me, read through the Bible. The word household is used consistently throughout the Old Testament when God is speaking about a faith and a future for a people. That God intended to not just call Abraham, but to call Abraham, his entire household, and all of his descendants. In the New Testament, God's strategy didn't change. It just simply focused through Jesus. And we see a different word being used, but it means the same thing. It's your oikos or your relational world, household. If you don't believe me, let's turn to Acts chapter 16 together. Acts chapter 16, as you're turning there, let me just say, Paul definitely had the gift of evangelism. He knew how to leverage opportunities. The only problem was Paul was hard-headed. Any hard-headed people in here today? There's a few. You know, uh, if we keep doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results, we're probably hard-headed. This has kind of been the church's approach to evangelism for the last hundred years. We lost what Jesus taught, modeled, and gave to his church. Here's the strategy. So the Apostle Paul's setting on the edge of Asia and he's wanting to take the gospel to Asia. And the Holy Spirit kept stopping him. Can you imagine how our world would look today if the Apostle Paul had gone to Asia first with the gospel instead of to Europe? We would probably be like the ones in China who are going to church underground. And so God stopped him, not once, twice. And then Paul has a vision of a guy in Macedonia going, come over here and help us. Come over here and help us. So when Paul wakes up from his dream, he tells Silas, hey, get Luke, we're going to Macedonia. And it's a pretty good trip. So they get there, and the first thing he does is he goes to the city of Philippi. And outside of the city of Philippi, he wants to go to the place where people are praying wine. He's thinking, okay, if they're praying, they're probably looking for God. And that's a great opportunity for me to talk about Jesus. And so his first convert is a woman named Lydia who is out by the river with another group of women. I don't know if they were doing their laundry or dyeing garments. You know, this is where they were. Paul reached them where they were, and Lydia came to faith, but not just her. She invited Paul to go back to her house after he baptized her, and then all of the people in Lydia's household heard the gospel and put their faith and trust in Jesus. It says, Lydia and her entire household. When it says household, it's not just talk, it's not talking about they baptize the babies. They baptize those who are old enough to hear the message and believe it. And so after that, Paul begins to go around the city and he begins to preach. And every day he's getting followed by this slave girl who is possessed by a demon. And every day she goes behind Paul and she tells everybody, listen up. These men are telling you how to be saved. Listen to them. Why would a demon-possessed woman do that? It's because these guys who owned her made their living from her ability to foretell the future. And sometimes she spoke truth. So actually, it was to their advantage that she followed Paul around. Well, Paul's had enough of it, and so he turns and he tells the demon in that woman come out of her, and all of a sudden, there goes their paycheck. They don't like it. So they drag Paul and Sauce in front of the authorities and they're thrown into jail. Not just thrown into jail, but they're flogged severely. Anybody's parents ever spank you? We're not talking of spanking. We're talking a whip with pieces of metal and bone in it, and you would be flogged to an inch of your life. So they throw them in jail. Acts 16, 23, look at what happens. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison and a jailer commanded them to guard them carefully. Now this is hugely important. Because if you were in a position of authority, anyone that you were responsible for, if they got out loose, got away, then you would suffer the punishment that was due to them. If it was flogging, you would take their flogging. If it was having a hand chopped off for stealing, then that was your penalty. If it was death, then you would die for losing them. So upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell, the deepest, darkest part of the dungeon, and fastened their feet in stocks. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the other prisoners were listening to them. You get that? Can I tell you something? Sometimes God does his greatest works when it is the darkest. Some of you right now are walking through some of the darkest periods of your life financially, relationally, and you are going, God, where are you in this? When you can't see your hand in front of your face, then sing your faith. Sing your faith. Because God's still God, whether you see what he's up to or not, he has you. And he had Paul and Silas exactly where he wanted him. The other prisoners were listening and they were thinking, who, what kind of people is this? And it says, suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Can I ask? Anybody had your world shaken lately? Sometimes all it takes is a visit to the doctor. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call. Sometimes all it takes is coming home and there's a letter. Sometimes the things that we hoped would happen but don't. And it rocks our world. But sometimes when things are shaken, it's because God is getting ready to do something. So right now, if your world is shaking, can I tell you something? God has not abandoned you or forsaken you. God may be getting ready to do something. He may be getting ready to make a way where there's been no way. And it says, at once all the prisoners' doors flew open. And everyone's chains came loose. I believe there's some people who walked in here today wearing chains, not physical chains, but spiritual chains. Chains that have kept them from the truth of the freedom that is ours in Christ. And they have bought into a lie that this is the way, it's always going to be. You're never going to change. Things won't get better. And so you've been bound by a lie, and God's intention is to set you free today. And it says the jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. He would rather kill himself than suffer the consequences of the punishment that was due to the prisoners. Think about that. He wanted to save his family the shame and the blame that they got away on his watch. And so as he's drawing his sword out, Paul hears him, and Paul cries out, Don't harm yourself, we're all here. The jailer called for lights, rushed in, trembling before Paul and Silas. Every time I've read through this passage until this week, I missed this. The jailer called for light. See, I believe the jailer was like so many others. He was walking and living in spiritual darkness. He was looking for light, but he had never seen the one true light that was found in Jesus. And so God puts his circumstances and his situation as such that Paul and Silas walks into his relational world, bearing the light of Christ. I don't think it could have happened any other way. And Paul realizes that. And then he asks a question. He brought Paul and Silas out and he says, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? This guy's a pagan. He's got really no relationship with Christianity, no relationship with God. And yet he's asking the question that is at the heart of every man and every woman's soul. He wants to know how can I be saved? How can I be made right with God? See, because I believe there's this reality that's in the hearts and minds of every person on the planet. God made us in his image and he made us for a relationship with him. We're born knowing that deep at the core of our being. And yet, so much of our life we spend wondering in the darkness, looking at false lights, thinking that's the answer. And this jailer has the awareness to realize this is different. There's something going on here. I want to know how can I be saved? Paul and Silas don't hesitate. Paul speaks up. Listen to what he says: believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. You and your household. He says, believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. You know what I've come to the conclusion after almost 40 years in ministry? The gospel is simple. The gospel is simple. We are the ones who mess it up. Think about it with me for just a second. Paul says, believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household. Believe, receive, be changed, be set free. See, the gospel's always been simple. In the garden, God said, here's the rules, don't eat from that tree. God said, here's the punishment. Eat from the tree, the cost of disobedience, sin will kill you. The law's lesson was simple to understand. We're all in trouble. We've all blown it, right? We've all disobeyed God's law. The plan of redemption was simple. In Christ, you can be set free. The price of redemption was simple. A blameless lamb had to be sacrificed. The result of the cross is simple. God's love is. Uncondition. The essence of salvation is simple. God's grace is never ending. God loves us, He made us for a relationship with Him, and this is a message many in the world have never heard or understood. Oikos is God's strategy for building his church. People come to faith through relationships. You know, I came to faith because of a Sunday school teacher and a children's church leader? That's where I came to know Jesus is because of somebody that I knew. How many of you came to know Jesus because of a relationship with a family member, a friend, a coworker, a teammate? Somebody else introduced you to Jesus. How many of you came to Jesus just because you picked up a Bible and read it, or maybe you heard Billy Graham preach a message, or somebody you didn't know came into your world and said, Let me tell you how to be saved. Very few hands. There's a few. See, but the reality is that God's plan and his intention for growing his church, growing his family, is through relationships. So here's the question we need to be asking themselves. Look at what happens. It says, then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and all of the others in his house. At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. Then immediately he and his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them. He was filled with joy because he had come to believe in Christ. He and his whole family. Why does this matter? The jailer's salvation extended toward his relational world. Faith came into his life, and then that one life, many lives, ended up being saved, but yet they were all a part of his 8 to 15. The 8 to 15 people that God had put in his world. This is Jesus' plan. And this is how the church is meant to grow. We're the ones who make it complicated. I love what the church came to the conclusion of in Acts 15, verse 19. As Gentiles were coming to know Jesus, they had a big council in Jerusalem and they said, What rules should we make them obey in order to be Christians? And Paul said, Hey, we couldn't keep the law. We're not going to make them do it. And so they came to the conclusion we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Why does this matter? Because we all have an oakose. And God has gifted you and equipped you to reach the people that are in the front row of your life. And I'm thankful God didn't call me to reach them because I probably don't know many of the people or any of the people in your front row, but you do. And the one thing that my 8 to 15 and your 8 to 15 have in common is us. We are the ones God has asked to reach them. And so how do we do that? And your pew is a card. Would everybody pick that up with me? I just want to leave you with this. And you shall be saved, you and your household. That's the most important thing. But the message that we need to leave with today is how do we reach our oikos? How do we reach our eight to 15 people God has put in our life? I'm going to go quick, so hang with me. Number one, it starts with an awareness. Be aware that you are driving by your mission field every day, and most of the time you don't see them. So begin with the awareness that, God, you've got people in my life that you want me to reach. Help me to open my spiritual eyes that I will see them. Here's the second thing. Step two. Step one begins with an awareness. Step two begins with make a list of the eight to 15 people that are right now in your life, and you're going, I don't have that many. Well, that's probably, if you can't think of eight to 15 people, and I guarantee you, right now, the Holy Spirit is bringing people in your life to mind. Some, it's your sons, it's your daughter, it's your parents, it's your friends, it's your family, it's your coworkers, it's your teammates, it's your teacher, it's the woman at the grocery store, it's the waitress that waits on you, it's all of those people. But if you stop and think about it for just a second, here's the categories of people that you can begin to think through and put on your list. Number one, pre-Christians. These are people who don't yet know Jesus as their savior. Pre-Christians. We all know them. But if you've been a follower of Jesus for more than 10 years, your circle of pre-Christians is probably smaller. Because probably now you just hang out with other Christians. You don't associate, but yet at the same time, there's more lost people in your world than you're aware of. Take a minute to think about that. Here's the second group, prodigals. How many of you know somebody who started out with Jesus who isn't walking with Jesus anymore? There's some of you who have friends and family who used to be faithful and follow Jesus, but they're not now. So some of the people on your list will be prodigals. Others in your group will be purposefuls. You're going, purposefuls? What's a purposeful? That's somebody who's following Jesus the best they can, and yet at the same time they're growing, but yet they're struggling, and they just need somebody to encourage them. Maybe God has put you in their relational world because you are to encourage them. Here's another group of people. Potentials. He's got great potential. Ever heard that? She's got great potential. You know what potentials are? These are the people that used to be a part of your life. Anybody got some used to bees? They used to be a part of your life, but now they don't hang out with you anymore. But all of a sudden they start appearing back in your life. Like, whoop, I heard I hadn't heard from them in months, years. They start showing back up. These are people that God may have in your 8-15. People who keep showing up. So if if you've got your list, 8 to 15 people, what's the next step? And can I tell you something? Your 8 to 15 is going to change. You'll have some people on your list for a long time and they'll never come off of it. Others will come on and go off. Start praying for them. Pray for them daily. Can I tell you why? Is because prayer follows clarity. When God shows you who the 8 to 15 people are, then we begin to pray for them. Here's why. We need to pray and ask God not just to open doors and opportunities for us to have spiritual conversations, but we also need to understand that prayer is an important part of your discipleship. As you begin to pray about them, guess what? God's going to bring them to your heart and mind all throughout the day, not just in your morning prayers or evening prayers. He's going to bring them up all the time. And as he does, as you think about them, then your prayer life is going to change and you're going to change. So start praying for them daily. Listen to what Paul said to Timothy, 1 Timothy 2, 1. I urge you then, first of all, that request prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone. And here's why. Because prayer can open what you can't. Prayer can open what you cannot. Why? Anybody ever try to open a door or a walk and you can't get it and you get frustrated and you're about to walk away and somebody else comes up, opens the door. And you're going, how'd that happen? Sometimes we try to force open doors God has closed. But when God wants to open a door, he can open it and nobody can shut it. And prayer opens doors that we can't. He said, This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. Can I tell you something? I can't change anybody's heart, can you? I can't save anybody, but I know somebody who can change anybody's heart, and I've got access to him 24-7. And God's the one who can change hearts that I can't. And consistent prayer aligns us with the heart of God. Listen to what it says. Colossians 4, 2 through 4. Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful, and pray for us too, that God may open a door to our message so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ for which I'm in chains. See, God's gonna, God's gonna, before he uses your voice, he's going to change your heart. If you are a follower of Christ and you've got that list with you, I want you to put it in your Bible. I want you to put it in your pocketbook. I want you to take it home with you. Because if you are a follower of Christ, then you are going to be doing what Jesus does. And if you are following Jesus, I guarantee you you're gonna walk into lost people. People who need to know him. Listen to what Jesus says. He says, Come and follow me. And I will make you, I will show you how to fish through people. If you're a follower of Christ and you've never seriously thought about the people that God has put in your life, the 18 to 15 people that are sitting right here. Can I challenge you? Start focusing on the 8 to 15 people that God has put in your life now. You know why? Because it's the one thing you won't be able to do later. The second you die, you will know fellowship like you've never known before, because you'll be with God. The second you die, you'll know the best worship you've ever been in. Because you'll be worshiping him, you'll be with him forever and ever. You'll know what discipleship, the end goal is. Why? Because we'll be like him. But the one thing that we'll never have an opportunity to do again is to be able to speak truth and life into the 8 to 15 people that God has put in our world. So begin to focus on them now. Let God change how you see them. That's your challenge. It doesn't, this is not a program, it's not a line item in our budget, it's a mindset. This is what God wants us to do. And some of you came in here today thinking I'm not gifted for evangelism, that's okay. I'm not either. But yet, that's the purpose for which God put me on the planet was to share Him. And some of you came in here today, and this is totally outside your wheelhouse, but you're not here by accident. You may not realize it or not, but if you came here today and you have yet to enter into a relationship with Jesus, you're probably on somebody's age of 15 right now. There's probably somebody in here who's been praying for you, who's been looking for an opportunity to introduce you to the one who has changed their life, who has set them free, who's made them a new person from the inside out. See, following Christ is our only hope of heaven. Every other road, every other path leads us to destruction. Intellect leads us to destruction. Depending on ourselves, it leads us to destruction. It takes us farther away from God. It doesn't make us more like God. The only hope we've got is in what Jesus did on the cross for us. You're here because you're on somebody's age of 15, and the Bible says salvation is simple. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, commit your life to Him, repent of your sins, and you'll be saved. Not complicated.