WEBVTT 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.240 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:17.920 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:24.879 Awesome, man. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:26.079 It's so good to see you all here. 00:00:26.160 --> 00:00:28.480 We're glad you can make some time to join us for a service today. 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:30.879 If you are new to MetaCurch, my name is Noel. 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:36.719 I'm the worship pastor here, and as always, I'm so honored to be able to be bringing you guys the message today. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:40.159 As you were walking in, you probably noticed we got a lot of stuff going on outside. 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:44.880 I'm gonna tell you some more about that after the message, but let me just tell you cancel your lunch plans. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:47.920 You're gonna want to be a part of what's happening out there. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:50.000 Man, I'm so excited to get into the message. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:58.320 You know, Pastor Clayton last week issued us a challenge to invite people not only to come to MetaCurch, but to actually sit with you in a service. 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:01.439 And I know so many of you have already done that way to go, MetaCurch. 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:03.439 Y'all are always showing up for these challenges. 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:09.519 But today we're gonna continue in the same spirit in a message that I am calling evangelize. 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:10.079 Will you pray? 00:01:10.239 --> 00:01:11.519 Guys, pray with me. 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:20.319 Heavenly Father, we are so grateful for a place like MetaCurch where people come and can come and investigate you, can ask questions, can belong before they believe. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:22.480 Father, we trust you in all things. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:25.439 And God, I just uh I submit myself to you. 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:26.079 I trust you. 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:35.760 I'm uh just uh a normal person, so Holy Spirit, I'm asking you to fill in all the many, many gaps uh and in this message that we've prepared and that you would speak to people's heart today. 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:40.319 Jesus, we love you, pray all things in your name, and everyone said together. 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:41.439 Amen. 00:01:42.159 --> 00:01:44.640 Man, I can remember it like it was yesterday. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:53.359 It was December 1998, and my mom was driving a couple of my friends and myself to what would be my very first like real concert. 00:01:53.760 --> 00:02:02.319 I mean, I've been to some other concerts in my life before, but those were usually at Christmas time, at my church, with the choir, with them singing like Handel's Messiah. 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:04.959 This was gonna be completely different than all of that. 00:02:05.040 --> 00:02:09.120 And my journey to get to this concert has started just a few years before. 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:14.560 My brother had gone to our local Christian bookstore in Uvaldi looking for a birthday present for me. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:20.879 He wasn't really sure what he should get, and so he asked an employee, hey, do you have any ideas on what I could get my little brother? 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:26.719 And this young woman said, Well, we did just get the CD by a band that some young people seemed to like. 00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:29.759 Maybe, maybe he would enjoy this album. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:31.039 They had no idea. 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:34.800 They changed the trajectory of my musical life forever. 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:37.599 I listened to this album over and over. 00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:40.240 The band was called MXPX. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:42.000 Anyone know MXPX in here? 00:02:42.159 --> 00:02:44.560 Okay, I got one, just one in the service. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:47.759 I had like a whole section over here hooping and hollering. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:48.479 That's okay. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:52.639 MXPX, it was unlike anything I had ever heard in my life. 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:57.360 Like most kids growing up, I listened to whatever my parents listened to on their radio, which wasn't bad. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:58.400 This was just different. 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:04.240 This felt like it was my music, and now I was going to see them live in concert. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:06.240 I'll never forget pulling up to the venue. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:07.120 It was a white rabbit. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:08.719 Now, y'all know the white rabbit, right? 00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:10.000 Come on, San Antonians. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:12.000 Y'all gotta, y'all gotta help me out a little bit here. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:13.520 Y'all remember the white rabbit? 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:16.800 I was just struck by how many people were waiting to get inside. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:22.560 I was even more astonished when I got inside the venue and we were packed in there like sardines in a can. 00:03:22.639 --> 00:03:24.319 I mean, we were shoulder to shoulder. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:26.560 Let me just tell you how packed we were. 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:28.000 This is not an exaggeration. 00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:33.039 We were packed in so tight I could lift both feet up in the air and I wouldn't fall to the ground. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:34.080 That's not the truth. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:35.280 I literally did that. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:40.159 In fact, during the concert, my nose started to itch, so I picked up my hand, scratched my nose. 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:41.280 I couldn't put it back down. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:42.479 The space filled in. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:45.439 I just sat with my arm on the person in front of me. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:47.360 It was so awkward. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:50.400 Man, it was a completely insane event. 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:54.479 I, you know, from a small town, I'd never seen anything like this in my life. 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:58.400 The opening bands were rowdy, they were working the crowd into a frenzy. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:03:59.599 There were mosh pits. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:04.960 The thing I remember the most was how cold it was outside, but it was like sweltering hot inside. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:07.039 It was like a literal sauna in that place. 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:09.840 You could feel the moisture from people's body heat. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:10.960 I know what you're thinking. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:12.159 It was awesome. 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:16.000 It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen in my life. 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:19.360 And then the time came for MXPX to play. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:20.720 The lights dimmed. 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:28.160 I could see their silhouettes run across the stage really quickly, and before I knew it, there was just this wall of sound washing over the entire crowd. 00:04:28.319 --> 00:04:32.800 The lights flooded the stage, and there they were, my musical heroes right in front of me. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:34.959 They played for well over an hour. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:39.439 And it was one of the best shows I've ever seen in my life to this day. 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:43.920 And I took a lot of things from it, but what I took away the most from was the lead singer. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:47.279 His name was Mike Herrera, and he played bass guitar. 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:54.639 It really spoke to me because I sing and I play bass guitar, and I played the same kind of music they played because they were my biggest influence. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:56.319 And so I just sat at that show. 00:04:56.399 --> 00:04:58.879 I wasn't getting rowdy, I just watched him the whole time. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:02.879 Everything he did was everything I wanted to do. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:06.800 From his tattoos to the bass he played, it was an Ernie Ball music man. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:08.879 I wanted to be just like him. 00:05:09.279 --> 00:05:11.519 I talked about that concert for days, months. 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:14.879 I mean, at this point, now I've been talking about it for decades. 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:16.959 It was that monumental to me. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:19.519 I knew three things leaving that concert. 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.560 I knew that I was going to tour with my band one day. 00:05:22.720 --> 00:05:29.199 I knew I was gonna get a bunch of tattoos, and I knew that I was gonna play Ernie Ball, Music Man, bass guitars. 00:05:29.439 --> 00:05:33.040 Now, I never made it to on tour, not for a lack of trying. 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:34.720 I just never made it that far. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:43.120 But I did get a lot of tattoos, and since I was a senior in high school, I have always played Ernie Ball, Music Man, bass guitars. 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:45.680 I've never wanted to play anything different. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:46.959 Is baby Noel up there? 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:48.319 Oh, there he is. 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:51.279 I never wanted to play anything different. 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:52.639 This is weird for musicians. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:06:02.399 If you know a musician or maybe you are a musician, it's like you're on this eternal quest to find like the perfect guitar with just the right tone, the right look, the right feel. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:03.199 Not me. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:09.839 The first time I played an earning ball music band bass, I knew that that was the bass I would play for the rest of my life. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:15.199 In my first uh job in ministry, I started teaching bass lessons to some of the students. 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:20.959 And uh, out of all the kids I taught, two of them really stuck with it and became really great bass players. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:24.000 One of them plays every weekend here at Meta, Matt Garcia. 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:26.480 He's been playing with me since he was 14 years old. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:28.639 Yeah, y'all can clap for him. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:31.680 And you're never gonna believe it. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:36.720 Both of those bass players play on Ernie Ball Music Man bass guitars. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:41.839 They caught my passion for the instrument, and now it's the only instrument that they'll play. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:45.199 There's actually a term for this, it's called brand evangelism. 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:53.920 Now, when I was young, the an evangelist was like this older person that came in in an oversized sports coat and they would preach at your church for like a week and then they would leave, right? 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:56.480 Brand evangelists really aren't all that different. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:06.879 Brand evangelists are super fans of a product or an ideology, and just like the evangelists of old, they preach the good news about the thing that they are an evangelist for. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:12.399 I tried to think of an example that would apply to most people in this room, and I think I found one. 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:16.319 You see this in Apple fanboys and Apple fangirls, right? 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:25.120 Like you may not be an Apple product person, but I'd be willing to bet that every adult in this room at one point or another has owned an Apple product. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:26.639 They're just that good. 00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:33.839 And sure, they made computers for your home and everything, but I think they came to the forefront of technology when they released the iPod. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:37.199 And most of you like youngins, you're like, that's not that big of a deal. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:38.720 I mean, we have iPhones now. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:41.680 You don't understand the struggle of a CD Walkman. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:43.439 That's why you're not impressed by this. 00:07:43.680 --> 00:07:48.720 We used to have to wear these big square things on our hips, and every third step they would skip. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:55.680 And if you wanted to bring any other music, you had to have a whole other satchel to hold the CDs as you walked around. 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:57.839 The iPod was revolutionary. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:02.560 You could carry hundreds, if not thousands, of songs on that one little device. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:05.600 And then they just kept on expanding on that technology. 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:09.600 Then you had the iPod touch, and eventually you had the iPhone, right? 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:15.279 Apple has changed the way that we view our world in a lot of ways for the better. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:28.160 Pastor Clayton actually told me as I was preparing for this that he was such a fanboy of Apple products that in the first church he worked at, he would not stop talking about it until they switch all of their technology over to Apple products. 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:30.639 That's what a brand evangelist does. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:41.840 They take their passion for a product and they preach it to anyone they come into contact with so that they can bring more and more people into the same understanding that they have found. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:48.080 Now, I know you guys know what I'm talking about because almost everyone in this room has done this at one level or another. 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:52.559 And if you haven't done this exact thing, then you've definitely experienced it. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:56.320 Let me give you a couple of examples of how we see this in our day-to-day lives. 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:58.480 So, first thing I thought of were fad dice. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:08:59.840 Nothing wrong with fad dice. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.320 I'm just saying it seems like every couple of years, there's like that one diet everybody wants to do. 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:06.000 It was like paleo for a while. 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:08.480 It was keto, like, gotta get my body in ketosis. 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:09.519 I don't know what I'm talking about. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:11.200 I just heard people say that a couple of times. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:15.600 Keto diet, if you're old school, it was like Atkins diet or the South Beach diet. 00:09:15.759 --> 00:09:17.440 The point is always the same though. 00:09:17.679 --> 00:09:20.000 People experience change in their lives. 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:23.759 They lost weight, they got more energy, and they had to tell other people about it. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:26.159 That's what brand evangelists do. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:29.039 You see this a lot of times with like movie franchises, right? 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:36.240 Like you have the fanboys and fangirls of Star Wars or the worst ones of them all, the fanboys and fangirls of Harry Potter, right? 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:41.360 Shout out to Celeste, because she is the biggest fangirl of Harry Potter that I know. 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:44.960 Or maybe it's a new workout routine that you have. 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:50.960 Or as I get older and older, what I hear more and more about are people and uh what they do to stretch in the morning. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:53.679 I hear this a lot because I married one of those people. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:10:05.440 My wife, Elizabeth, will do her God time in the morning, and then she spends 15 minutes stretching, and she says, Noel, I promise you, if you will just stretch with me in the morning, your day will be completely different. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:07.039 You will have such a good day. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:11.120 Now, here's the thing that Elizabeth knows, and that y'all are about to find out. 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:13.600 I don't stretch, I don't bend very well. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:16.080 I never have in my life, so I'm probably not gonna do that. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:22.639 But full transparency, I did wake up with a really stiff back this morning, so I'm thinking about going to the dark side and stretching with her a little bit. 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:33.039 But no matter what my response is to her preaching that good news of stretching, she will continue to push it towards me because she thinks it will be good for my life. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:36.080 Here's a point I'm making clearly stated. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:44.240 We all have those things that pop up in our lives, maybe for a short time, maybe for a long period of time that we just have to tell everybody about. 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:46.080 Why do we do this? 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:50.080 Why do we have to tell everybody about the good things in our life? 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:54.559 I think inherently we want good things for everyone else in our life. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:10:58.639 We experience something good, and we want other people to experience that same good thing. 00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:00.879 It was just like me at that first concert. 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:02.799 I went and watched my favorite band. 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:10.080 I saw their passion on the stage, a passion poured over onto me, I was passionate, and then other people caught my passion for music. 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:14.320 This is the fundamental idea of what we're going to be looking at today. 00:11:14.799 --> 00:11:18.960 Where your passion is found is what your mouth will preach. 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:22.879 In other words, you will preach your passion. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:27.519 Our scripture for today is going to be in Paul's second letter to Timothy. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:30.320 Let me just tell you a little bit about Paul and Timothy's relationship. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:31.360 They were very close. 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:33.200 Paul was Timothy's biggest mentor. 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:35.120 They traveled into ministry together. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:39.600 Even a couple times in the New Testament, Paul says that Timothy is like his son. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:43.919 Now, in these letters, Paul and Timothy don't have close proximity to each other. 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:46.720 Paul's in prison, Timothy's overseeing a church. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:55.039 And so Paul's writing him these letters, just giving him some advice, maybe some best practices and encouragement as he oversees his church. 00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:59.440 And the second letter he writes to Timothy, the tone changes just a little bit. 00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:02.320 Paul knows that the end of his life is coming. 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:06.080 He has some very important things that he wants to tell Timothy. 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:08.159 And this is where we're gonna pick up the letter. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:10.480 It's in chapter four of 2 Timothy. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:15.759 We're gonna start on the first half of verse 1, and then we're gonna jump all the way down to the back half of verse 5. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:22.159 And I'm doing this because I think that's the main point that he's actually making to Timothy and this portion of scripture. 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:26.960 Verse 1 starts like this I solemnly charge you before God in Christ Jesus. 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:28.960 Like this is serious, Timothy. 00:12:29.039 --> 00:12:30.960 I need you to listen, I need you to pay attention. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:32.720 I have a directive for you. 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:35.120 I this is imperative, this is part of your mission. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:35.840 What is it? 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:42.639 He says at the end of verse 5, he says, Do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:45.759 Now, obviously, Paul's talking to Timothy. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:48.960 We know this because the letter is titled Timothy. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:53.200 But if you're reading the scripture, I'm telling you, he's talking to you. 00:12:53.360 --> 00:13:01.200 And whether you understand this or not, you have a personal ministry to fulfill in your life if you have placed your faith in Jesus. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:07.039 Now, MetaCurch can be a part of your ministry, but we are not your ministry, just like MetaCurch isn't my ministry. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:08.799 I have my own personal ministry. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:10.720 And here's why this works that way. 00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:14.320 You have influence in the world that meta church will never reach. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:19.679 It's why it's important that you go out and invite people to come in because we don't know the people that you're around. 00:13:19.919 --> 00:13:26.000 You need to fulfill your ministry, and that ministry started the moment you place your faith in Jesus. 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:32.000 Now, from time to time here at Meta as a staff, we have to have what we call crucial conversations. 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:36.559 And we say if a conversation is crucial, then the conversation needs to be clear. 00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:41.919 And if the conversation is gonna be clear, then we need to start with the bottom line up front. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:46.960 We're just gonna tell you the bottom line of what we want you to hear, and then we can talk about it from that point forward. 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:50.879 So, Meta Church, I do think that this message is a crucial conversation. 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:57.679 I do think you should very much, if you have placed your faith in Jesus, consider what this means for your life and what it looks like in your life. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:00.080 And so we're gonna start with the bottom line right up front. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:00.960 No big reveal. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:01.600 Here it is. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:06.080 You are called to do be an evangelist for Jesus. 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:10.960 The call to faith is to believe in Jesus, the person and the work. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:17.679 But the call of Jesus is to follow him and to share his good news with the world around you. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:19.519 Y'all remember Acts 1.8, right? 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:21.679 We've been talking about this for the last couple of months. 00:14:21.759 --> 00:14:33.919 Here's what it says: it says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:38.559 This is a charge that's given to you, you, you. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:42.399 And this is how the movement of Jesus is actually gonna grow. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:46.799 It's how it was gonna grow back then, and it's how it's gonna continue to grow now. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:14:52.000 Here's the good news: the fuel for the movement is power from the Holy Spirit. 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:53.759 Like you're not in this alone. 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:57.600 He's going to inspire you, he's gonna encourage you, he's gonna guide you in this. 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:02.960 But the vehicle God has chosen to make this movement move forward is you. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:07.840 Now, many of the letters that you read in the New Testament were written to entire churches. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:14.559 So when you read the word you, it actually in texts and should be uh translated to y'all, right? 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:17.200 It's like all of y'all, this is for y'all. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:26.639 But this in no means absolved any person of their personal responsibility to go and share the gospel and their individual scopes of influence. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:30.480 And this absolutely applies to all of us still today. 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:36.559 You know, my role on Sunday at MetaCurch is a pastor, I get to lead worship and I get to preach from time to time. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:50.799 But my role Monday through Saturday is to go out into the world that I have influence in and bring people back in, to bring people back so they can learn the good news that Christ has to offer, the life-changing news he has for them. 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:56.240 We always say it, but when movements move, movements will grow. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:04.639 You, as in y'all, but you also as in you directly, actually have to go out and do the work of an evangelist. 00:16:05.120 --> 00:16:09.039 Paul's charge to Timothy is still active in us today. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:10.399 That's the bottom line. 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:13.279 You are called to be an evangelist for Jesus. 00:16:13.759 --> 00:16:14.720 Paul doesn't leave it there. 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:21.279 He actually tells Paul what he can do to actually fulfill his ministry and actually do the work of an evangelist. 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:24.559 There's three things he says he can do, and we find them in verse two. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:26.720 He says that you can preach the word. 00:16:26.960 --> 00:16:27.919 That's the first thing. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:31.120 He says you need to be ready in season and out of season. 00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:32.480 That's the second thing you need to do. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:38.720 And then lastly, he says you need to correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 00:16:39.200 --> 00:16:41.840 Those are the three things you can do to do the work of an evangelist. 00:16:41.919 --> 00:16:42.960 We're gonna flesh those out. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:44.960 We're gonna start with preach the word. 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:52.639 In the context of scripture, this would have been the oral teaching that Paul had given or any other apostle had given to the church that they had started. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:54.559 The same is true for us. 00:16:54.799 --> 00:17:03.279 You preach what you've been taught, you teach what you've been taught, which as a side note makes it very important on who you're listening to that's preaching the word. 00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:05.440 But it doesn't stop there. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:10.880 It's also what you read in Scripture, which we believe is the inspired word of God. 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:16.559 Here's the thing: you cannot preach the word of God if you do not know the word of God. 00:17:16.720 --> 00:17:20.640 It's no different than any other thing that you're an evangelist for. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:24.559 Let's go back to our previous example of the fad diets. 00:17:24.720 --> 00:17:36.400 If you knew someone that was preaching the good news about whatever diet that they were on, they were telling you all the benefits that came with it, and yet over the months you never saw any of the changes they said would happen. 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:38.640 You probably wouldn't want to do that diet, right? 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:40.240 Like, I don't see this actually happening. 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:41.839 I hear you talking about it a lot. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:46.319 You seem very convicted about it, but I don't actually see anything happening inside of you. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:47.759 You probably wouldn't do that diet. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:50.400 And the same is true for us as believers. 00:17:50.559 --> 00:18:02.000 For those of us who go out and preach Jesus to the world and yet none of our life reflects that thing that we say has changed in us, people will not want to investigate what we say that we've found. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:11.440 If you go out and say that I've been saved by Jesus and yet you're still angry, you still hold contempt for people, you're gossipy, you're unforgiving. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.640 People will not want to find out what Jesus is about. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:25.759 On the flip side, if you put your faith in Jesus and you really allow him to do work inside of you and things actually do change, maybe not perfectly, maybe not quickly, but they are changing. 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:27.839 People will take notice. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:31.359 They will want to know what Jesus is all about. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:35.920 I'm not suggesting that you become a Bible scholar. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:40.000 Although, Medichurch, if we had a church full of Bible scholars, I think that would be amazing. 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:42.960 I don't know how practical it is, but it would be amazing. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:49.039 I'm just suggesting that you develop a daily discipline of scripture reading. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:53.759 When you get into scripture, when you read scripture, that's you getting into the word. 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:57.440 When you meditate on what you've read, that's the word getting into you. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:06.160 If you can get in the word, and if you can allow the word to get into you, the next natural step is for the word and the truths of it to come out of you. 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:08.960 That will make you preach the word. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:12.720 It's the first thing that Paul tells Timothy that he needs to do. 00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:18.240 It's very important because the next two actually build off of this idea of preaching in the word. 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:20.319 If you preach it, you gotta know it. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:24.799 Once you know it, you need to be ready in season and out of season. 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:25.680 I love this phrase. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:30.240 I feel like we say it a lot, like, oh, it's just not my season, or maybe I'm stepping into a season. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:31.680 Y'all have heard people say this, right? 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:42.799 Yeah, it's like when your kid's teacher comes and is like, hey, I need like a hundred cupcakes by Friday for a fundraiser, and you're like, I'm sorry, it's just not my cupcake season right now, and then you get to get out of it because that was a nice way to do it. 00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:45.279 Yeah, that's not actually how Paul means it. 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:56.640 When you look up the Greek word for this and look at its definition, it really holds more of a meaning of being ready for an opportunity that's coming your way, whether you actually want it or not. 00:19:57.200 --> 00:20:00.640 Being ready for that opportunity, whether you want it or not. 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:03.920 My son Jack is playing baseball for the first time this year. 00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:06.880 Baseball, as some of you know, is my favorite sport. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:10.319 And so naturally he caught my passion for it, and now he loves baseball. 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:13.200 That's brand evangelism in real time for you. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:20.240 So it might be a little odd that at nine years old, Jack has never played baseball on a team as of yet. 00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:25.440 I wish I could say there was some wisdom behind this, like I did that on purpose, but it's just the way life worked out. 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:29.119 But I have noticed something very interesting that it has come from it. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:33.920 He's never played on a team, but when Jack was five, I started teaching him how to play. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:42.160 I taught him how to catch the ball, taught him how to throw the ball, taught him how to swing a bat, and let me tell you, he was pretty awful at it at first, and he got better and better as time. 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:43.440 There was a lot of frustration. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:47.920 Sometimes there was even a little anger directed at me because he didn't want me to coach him all the time. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:50.559 But Jack inevitably did get better. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:57.359 Not only was I teaching him how to play, but we were also watching baseball on TV Ghost Strows, if there's any Astros fans in here. 00:20:57.519 --> 00:20:58.079 Thank you. 00:20:58.240 --> 00:20:59.839 I did I hear a Rangers fan. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:01.359 I wasn't talking to y'all. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:07.200 We started watching Astros every season, and he started learning all the rules of baseball. 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:10.640 He even started learning some of the strategy in baseball. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:17.519 And even though he's never played, he could, he had all the mechanics down and he had all of the rules down. 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:24.640 Now we're getting ready for his first season of Little League, and I just want so badly for him to do well. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:27.279 I want this to be a good experience for him. 00:21:27.599 --> 00:21:35.279 So a month ago, we started going to these clinics held by his local Little League, just so he could get acclimated to playing with other other kids his age. 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:41.119 I didn't know how he was gonna perform compared to all the other kids that had been playing longer than he had. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:42.480 I didn't want him to be embarrassed. 00:21:42.559 --> 00:21:44.559 I didn't want him to be let down or discouraged. 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:48.640 Let me tell you, I was a nervous wreck, but not Jack. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:50.799 Jack wasn't nervous at all. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:54.799 He was ready for the opportunity that was coming his way at that first clinic. 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:59.759 In his own words, he said, Dad, I've been training for this all my life, which seems a little dramatic. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.440 But he's nine and he has been training for it for a long time. 00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:05.519 So I guess that does feel like all his life. 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:09.839 And let me tell you, he went out there and he did exactly what he needed to do. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:11.279 He did such a great job. 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:15.759 There were coaches that couldn't believe that he hadn't played baseball on a team yet. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:18.960 He saw his opportunity and he took it. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:24.240 Your opportunity to preach a word, which hopefully you've been learning, is coming. 00:22:24.559 --> 00:22:26.720 You need to be ready for it. 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:36.240 I hear so often with people that I meet with that they find themselves in these situations in which they could have evangelized to someone, but they just didn't know how. 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:39.599 Or maybe they were a little worried about how it would be received. 00:22:39.680 --> 00:22:43.519 They didn't know what the reaction would be, and so they don't do anything. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:46.640 The opportunity came, but they didn't take it. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:51.440 And here's what I have never heard a person say about that situation. 00:22:51.680 --> 00:22:55.200 I've never heard them say that they were okay with what happened. 00:22:55.359 --> 00:23:04.960 What I have heard is them expressing deep disappointment and frustration because they felt like they couldn't do what they needed, we needed to do in that moment. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:13.599 Preaching the word to people, being evangelists is gonna an evangelist is gonna be uncomfortable at first. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:16.559 Let me tell you, all growth happens in discomfort. 00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:18.240 You never grow when you're comfortable. 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:21.599 There's no reason to push yourself any further than where you are right now. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:23.680 You will grow when you're uncomfortable. 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:26.799 You should embrace the opportunity, whether you want to or not. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:28.640 You may not get it right every time. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:29.759 That's okay too. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:32.960 The more you do it, the better you'll get at it. 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:34.319 Let me tell you something. 00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:41.039 You will never, ever regret sharing the gospel with another person that you come into contact with. 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:42.240 You have to preach the word. 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:44.160 If you're gonna preach it, you need to know it. 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:47.119 You need to be ready in season and out of season. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:48.960 Your opportunity is coming. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:50.400 You need to be ready for it. 00:23:50.640 --> 00:23:56.799 Lastly, you need to correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:00.720 I don't know if I'm the only one, but I'm just gonna say it in case somebody's feeling it. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:02.000 This doesn't read really well. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:04.000 It kind of feels like a little bad, right? 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:08.880 This gives me PTSD when I think about all the ways this was done very poorly in my past. 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:14.400 And just in case my parents are watching, not talking about my parents, I'm talking about like all church leaders, right? 00:24:14.559 --> 00:24:17.279 Sometimes this isn't done very well. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:21.039 This is not about thumping people over the head with a Bible. 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:27.519 This is about being on a journey with people that we're fostering a relationship with and leading them to Christ. 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:38.400 The next two verses that Paul writes paint a picture of a culture that has rejected truth and only believes in things that will give them immediate gratification. 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:42.160 Sounds a lot like the culture we live in today. 00:24:43.200 --> 00:25:00.079 Timothy was in community with people, and Paul expected him to constantly add people to that community through preaching the word, to do it whether he felt like it or not, and once they were in community, to patiently and lovingly lead them to a life of truth. 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:08.559 But here's the thing about leading people, in case he didn't know, you cannot lead a person to a place that you're not willing to go to yourself. 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:10.319 This is true all throughout scripture. 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:14.480 If you want grace shown to you in your life, then you need to show people grace. 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:18.480 If you want to be forgiven in your life, then you need to be able to show forgiveness. 00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:21.039 And the same thing is true with this last step. 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:27.519 If you want to be able to help people in it, you need to be able to go through it yourself. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:29.279 Paul knew this. 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:35.920 In fact, in the previous chapter, in chapter three, in Second Timothy, this is what he tells to Timothy directly about Timothy himself. 00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:47.920 He says, All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:52.720 He tells Timothy in chapter four that you are to do the work of an evangelist. 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:54.160 That's the work he's talking about. 00:25:54.319 --> 00:26:00.960 In chapter three, he's saying you need to allow scripture to rebuke and correct you and train you in righteousness. 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:05.039 And it's the same thing he says that we need to do for the community that's around us. 00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:08.400 We can't lead people to a place that we're not willing to go. 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:10.960 So we need to let this happen to ourselves. 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:17.839 When you allow scripture to do those things, you will understand what it takes to make true, real, lasting life change. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:21.359 I'm not talking about just having a bunch of Bible verses in your mind. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:28.000 I'm talking about the maturity that comes with living out those truths that we find in Scripture. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:40.160 Only after you've gone to that place where you let the truths of scripture refine you will you be ready to take others down the same path with kindness and love and patience. 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:47.599 To do this, it will require you to be in community and have relational equity with the people you seek to lead. 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:55.519 The person you're walking with needs to know that you love them and that you're for them, and they need to know that you've been through the same thing yourself. 00:26:55.759 --> 00:26:59.200 And the oddest thing happens when you walk with people down this path. 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:03.200 Your faith will grow as you see the change that happens in their life. 00:27:03.359 --> 00:27:07.359 And when your faith grows, your passion will grow with it. 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:12.079 Metachurch, you are called to be an evangelist for Jesus. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:20.319 Evangelists preach the good news of Christ to the people around them that desperately need the light of his love in the midst of a dark world. 00:27:20.640 --> 00:27:21.920 You will preach your passion. 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:29.759 And I believe that if we can put these three things that Paul tells Timothy into practice in our life, that our passion for Christ will grow. 00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:32.400 You need to preach the word. 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:34.400 More simply put, you need to be knowledgeable. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:37.119 You need to know the word that you're going to preach. 00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:39.920