SPEAKER_03 0:00

We are in the middle of a series called Love Where You Live, The Art of Neighboring. And I've shared this every week, but just in case you've missed it, want to reiterate, this isn't just a series that we are doing. It's not just a conversation we're having here at Point Community Church, but it's actually a conversation, a series, teaching that's going on across our city in roughly 400 different churches across Greater Austin. And here's why, because we really believe that the church should be known for what Christ said it should be known for, and that's love. That we should be a people of love. Not at the sake of compromising truth or belief, but truth with love. And that when people think about Point Community Church or any other church in our city, when they think about the name of Christian, our hope is that they would think, yeah, those those people are people who love me. They love our city. They love the place where we live. And so this idea, this graphic here, this love where you live. There are churches again all over our city that are having a conversation about how do we not just do an initiative or have just this plan to uh have a one-year strategy, but how do we help the church over the long term really be a people who love where we live. Because it's a great place to live, isn't it? I mean, we are in a really unique spot to be in Austin, Texas. Uh everyone I talk to outside of Austin uh seems to say, oh wow, that's such a cool place. It's such a neat, neat place you get to live. Um, even if they've never been here, they just hear good things about Austin. And my prayer is that we would make it an even better city to live because we are the kind of people, again, who are hospitable and gracious and loving and generous, kind, servant-hearted people because that's the way Jesus lived when he was on the earth. He was a that kind of leader, that kind of human being. And he's called us to follow his example. So, all that said, um, we are gonna actually have a conversation about having spiritual conversations this morning because over the last three weeks, we talked about how that Jesus said the greatest commandment is to what? Love God and love people. So there's this vertical component that we are to love God, and actually all of our love towards God is a response to his great love for us. Uh, the more we understand that he loves us, I am convinced that the more we will love him back. But a tangible way that we love God and the way we demonstrate a love for God, the way that we can say it's not just words, but it's action, the way that we can say it's not just what we sing or what we say on Sundays, but how we live is the way we treat people, uh, the way that we care for our neighbors, the way that we care for those that are in our workplaces, that uh the the the folks that we encounter uh in Austin Traffic, which we all love, right? How do we actually show and demonstrate love towards other people? And so uh we talked about that the first week, that that's what we're called to do. And then the last two weeks we've actually taken a little time to unpack two primary barriers that we all face and actually loving our literal neighbor. The people that live next door to us in that apartment complex or in that on that block in your neighborhood. Uh, how do we actually love them if, one, we don't make time to love them, and two, if we are afraid of them or we're afraid of being rejected by them. And so we talked a little bit about how to how to overcome both of those barriers in the gospel. The good news about Jesus that uh number one, that God made time for us, and he wants us now to follow that example again and make time for others, but also uh that we don't have to be afraid of people because God is the one who is taking care of us. He is our security, he is our identity, he is our worth and our value. And so all those things are tied to the personal work of Jesus. But as I get us started this morning, I just want to ask a question for you uh to you. Uh have you ever had an awkward conversation? Now, if you're a human being, uh you've probably had an awkward conversation. Uh you've probably had at least one, right? Uh and you kind of can replay that conversation in your mind. I I can remember multiple times having awkward conversations with people. Sometimes uh, you know, there's different factors that drive those conversations. Sometimes I was just totally tired and worn out, and I was trying to have a conversation that was making no sense, and I could tell that it just wasn't, we weren't connecting. So it was this weird, awkward conversation. But one thing I've noticed for sure is that uh spiritual conversations tend to be the most awkward. When we actually talk to someone who doesn't believe what we believe, or we're not really sure what they believe, a lot of times that conversation gets really weird. And a lot of that is on us. Um I'm saying when I say us, I mean we Christians, because we make it awkward. Uh we change the tone of our voice, uh the pace. Uh you can tell our palms are sweaty, our faces are contorting, and we're like, we want to talk about what's most important, but we we're acting so weird, and they're going, Are you okay? You know, like are you are you alright? Uh because we we've become these different people. And and and it's so funny to watch, even in my own life, as I've tried to become more natural at having spiritual conversations with people, uh, how there's these things in me that switch. And and and I think part of it's because it's it because it is a spiritual conversation, and it's a very important conversation, uh, we tend to feel this tension rise like I don't want to mess this thing up. I don't want to do this wrong, I don't want to offend them, uh, I don't want them to say, yeah, I don't follow Christ because I had an awkward conversation with my neighbor. And and so it's like we we sometimes we put way too much stress and strain on ourselves. And rather than just being honest, being open. So we're gonna actually look at some pass a primary passage of scripture and some other side scriptures today to speak into this, but I want us to start in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 15, where it simply says this. This is Peter speaking to a group of uh Christians who were under the weight of persecution. Uh they were going through some hardship, they were suffering, and all through 1 Peter you see that, and here's what he says to them. He says this in verse 15, and I'm I'm not gonna read the whole verse, I'm just read this the middle section of it, okay? So just be straightforward with you. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you, to give the reason for the hope that you have. Okay, this is what he says. He gives this instruction. He says, always be prepared, not just sometimes, but always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you, to give the reason for the hope that you have. Now, again, that tells me something. That means we actually have to do some work to prepare to have spiritual conversations with people. And then, two, it's also anticipating that people are actually asking us about the hope that we have. So our lives hopefully are establishing a witness that we look different. We, we, and I'm not talking about like purposely trying to be the weird Christian, okay? We've got enough of those people out there. I'm talking about how are we living with hope and peace, uh, an awareness that this life is so much bigger than just the here and now. And so it changes the way that we interact with people. And that again, as we said a while ago, that we're the kind of loving, gracious, servant-hearted people that when people look at us, they're kind of scratching their heads thinking, why are you like that? Why are you different? And when they ask that question, however they ask that question, it probably won't come out straight up as why are you like that? But whatever that question looks like, we're able to speak in because we've thought through the hope that we have and how to convey that to someone else. So, that said, I think one of the best places to learn how to have spiritual conversations is Jesus. He was masterful at having these conversations. And uh, he was so good at engaging people right where they are, uh assessing them, uh and understanding where they were in the process of their spiritual journey, and then communicating the truth of who he was and why he had come on the scene to them. And so, John chapter 4, if you have your Bible, I encourage you to pull it out, John chapter 4. So we're gonna unpack just a little bit today five key applications that come from a story that John records about Jesus and a woman at the well. And some of you probably know this story, some of you probably have read this story, some of you, this may be a completely new story to you, and that's great. Uh, but if you look at this story, you will see just how incredible Jesus was at meeting this complete stranger and then having a serious, uh, intentional conversation with her, that ultimately she comes to the point where she realizes who Jesus is and what he has done for her. So I've asked Jada to read this story, it's a little lengthy, just kind of hang with us. And so she's gonna read this, and you can read it along on the screen as well. Uh, but if you have your Bible, I'll encourage you to read it with her.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

When Jesus knew that the Pharisees heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John, though Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were, he left Judea and went again to Galilee. He had to travel through Samaria, so he came to a town of Samaria called Sichar, near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Give me a drink, Jesus said to her. How is it that you, a Jew, asked for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? She asked. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. Jesus answered, If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, Give me a drink, you would ask him, and he would give you living water. Sir, said the woman, you don't even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this living water? You aren't greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock. Jesus said, Everyone who drinks from this water will not get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. Ever. In fact, the water I give him will become a well of water springing up from within him for eternal life. Sir, the woman said to him, Give me this water, so I won't get thirsty, and come here to draw water. Go call your husband, he told her, and come back here. I don't have a husband, she answered. You have correctly said, I don't have a husband, Jesus said. For you've had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true. Sir, the woman replied, I see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you Jews say the place to worship is in Jerusalem. Jesus told her, Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, it is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. And when he comes, he will explain everything to us. I am he, Jesus told her, the one speaking to you.

SPEAKER_03 11:15

Okay, so in this story, it's pretty powerful. Uh, to if you can imagine with me, here's Jesus, he's with his disciples, he's at the end of his day, they've been walking, they're tired. It's been uh a journey that that I'm sure has been taxing on all of them. And as he comes to this well at the end of the day, Jacob's well, in fact, is what the scripture tells us. Uh, he's thirsty. And he sends his disciples, of course, into the town to get some food, and as he's there, this Samaritan woman, which we can't overlook this, she walks up and she's going to get water from the well. And and Jesus asked her simple question, Can you give me a drink? And she's blown away because here's a woman who is a Samaritan, and this Jewish rabbi is speaking to her. Now, for us, we're kind of like, what's the big deal? No, no big thing. But for them, he crosses two massive barriers instantly by speaking to a woman and speaking to a Samaritan. And so the first thing that we can draw from this conversation that Jesus has at this well, and there's so many things in this story, we just are gonna have to zoom past today. I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you that. But I encourage you to read it again this week, is this idea that Jesus bridges the gap. He builds a bridge with this woman, he finds common ground, and he instead of seeing this as uh her over there and me over here, he closes the distance. So I've asked Matt, one of our elders, and he teaches uh some here at Point, uh, to just share a little bit about what that looks like to practically bridge the gap with with someone.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

So I think on screen it says something about uh bridging a relational gap and then finding common ground. And really, there's a lot of ways that this can happen. Um I've written down uh four things, so if you want to write these down as part of your notes, you can. Uh one of the first things that people tend to find common ground in is hobbies. Um it's a real simple thing. We all have things we like to do. I'm a big baseball fan, even despite the massive loss yesterday that the Rangers experienced. You know, so that that would naturally draw itself out in a conversation very quickly for me. And if that person had the same hobby, we would have an instant connection. Um a second one would be your environment. And that might include your workplace. Uh it might include the grocery store. I mean, wherever you find yourself spending time, there's naturally going to be people around you and opportunities to have conversations. Uh the next two, uh let's start with personality. We are all unique individuals. I think uh somebody said one time, if we were all the same, the world would be a really boring place, right? So God has gifted us with unique personalities that have unique strengths. And so myself, I uh it comes as no surprise. I I love to talk, I'm very outgoing, and so I can strike up a conversation with just about anybody. My parents used to tell me you would just go through the grocery store and talk to whoever would listen, and and uh and I still do that. Like wherever I'm at, just uh it's not hard for me to just reach out and and and try to introduce myself to somebody. Um that's a strength in a lot of ways, and it and it can also be a weakness, but um maybe you're more introverted, and maybe that you find that you're more withdrawn. There are still unique things about that personality type that lends itself to being perhaps a much better listener than I might be, or or something along those lines. So I encourage you to really think about uh what is your personality type and how does that help you have conversations with people. Uh one of the other ones that I think is pretty big is your phase of life. Um some really wise counsel was given to my wife and I uh shortly before we were getting married, and and some friends of ours just told us that whatever season of life you're in, make sure that you capitalize on the unique opportunities that that season provides you. Because once you're through that season, a lot of times you don't you don't get to have that season back. So if you're single in the room, you can do things that married people can't do, and you have a freedom that allows you to maybe open up your schedule more and and put you in some unique places to be able to have conversations and to build relationships with people. Maybe you're married and you don't have children yet, and you again have some opportunities that people without that people with children don't always get to have. Uh myself, uh we have a two-year-old daughter and another uh child due in December, and so we're right in the throes of the of the parenting phase of life, and naturally that comes up in conversations quite a bit. Uh uh, you've got a little one, you know, what do you do when this, right? Because kids aren't perfect and and parents, you know, tend to want to pull their hair out about things, and parenting is an easy thing for us to talk about because we're living it. Um I would encourage you though, as you think about these things, to always be genuine. Don't try to be somebody that you aren't. You know, if if uh if you're not a huge baseball fan, you know, maybe maybe an opportunity will prevent its present itself to where you can try that out, and who knows, you might you might enjoy it, but also don't force yourself into something that's gonna be completely uncomfortable and awkward that you think this is just not gonna go anywhere. Um I'll give you an example though of how this can work in your favor. When I first moved here, I had a friend of mine invite me to go uh to watch an MMA cage fight, and I wasn't like real into that kind of thing, you know. I was like, uh, but it's like real manly, you know. So I'm like, okay, well, sure, he invited me, like, I'll give it a shot, you know, and sure enough, I show up and there's about ten of us there, and we all got into it, and we had a great time, and we started doing this on a regular basis, and then all of a sudden I'm having spiritual conversations with these guys, and I I was in a setting that I didn't think I would find myself in because I was willing to give it a chance. And so um a passage that I'd like for you to think about is 1 Corinthians 9, 19 through 23, and I'm not gonna read it to you, but basically to sum it up, Paul said this. He said, I try to be all things to all people so that I might win some of them. He said, if uh if they're weak, I I make myself weak so that I can be like them. And Paul demonstrated here just a great way to build relationships in a variety of circumstances. Ultimately, though, we know that our model is Jesus. And I think Jesus demonstrated crossing that relational gap by doing what he did and even coming to earth in the first place. Right? Jesus is the Son of God, He's eternal, He is the King of Kings, and yet He said, I'm gonna leave heaven to be like the people that you've called me to save, and therefore He crossed a massive gap that that we could never cross. He became like us, and ultimately that's our example as we think about how do I bridge a gap with the people around me.

SPEAKER_03 18:04

It's really helpful, Matt. And I think this is kind of lean all these are gonna sort of lean into the next point and the idea that you know if we overlook this part of the conversation, if we we just try to convince somebody to follow God, or and maybe some of you here are actually exploring faith, and so you're just um just curious even what we do believe as Christians, and and maybe that's part part of your journey right now, uh you can very quickly turn this into a sales process. Like I'm trying to be a salesman. And I just want you to know, like, we as Christians, we're not salesmen, uh we're messengers and we are sharing what Christ has done in us and for us, and we're gonna talk about that in a minute. But we do want to build relationships so that we can build those bridges uh to carry truth and into people's lives. And so uh the next thing you notice that Jesus does in this passage is that he listens, uh, but he asks a good question. He asks uh a simple question initially, can you give me a drink? Uh, trying to help bridge that gap, but also just uh opening up a conversation to explore is she willing to talk to me? Is she willing to take this conversation further? Uh so Harley, why don't you speak a little bit to how you ask good questions? Because I've seen you do this really well uh in recent days, and and uh think it'd be helpful to get some insight on how to practically do that.

SPEAKER_02 19:16

Yeah, so uh, whoa, hey, there I am. Uh so asking good questions is just huge on building relationships, building trust, um, building rapport with somebody. You you kind of touched on this in something you just said. When you when you're building a relationship, uh you've got to think of it like a connection, a bridge between you and that person. And if if you have a paper-thin relationship, you can't carry much truth in that conversation, right? Like you try and like tell them something significant and it can just crash and burn. But if you if you build on a relationship and there's a lot of relationship that's built up, you can carry a lot of truth in a conversation. Does that make sense? So uh having this these good questions really helps with that. Uh when you're having a conversation with somebody, I really think it's important to remember you can always talk about one of three things. You can always talk with somebody about where they've been, where they are currently, or where they want to be. Now, I don't mean specifically like where are you? Like, I mean like, hey, tell me a little bit about your past. Tell me about your childhood, or where did you grow up, or you know, talking about the future. Hey, what are you guys planning? Where do you want to be five years from now? What are you guys interested in? What are your hobbies? Like, having those sort of conversation is huge to building these relationships. And so that's just something I've I've thought of over the years. You can talk to anybody with those three questions and really build that relationship. And the thing to remember is spiritual conversations, I believe, can and should be a part of just normal conversation. It's not like Nick kind of hinted at this earlier, too. It's not like you shift gears and all of a sudden you're evangelist mode, you know, Billy Graham coming down at somebody in a different tone of voice and you know, whatever else. Like, what a spiritual conversation should be woven into a conversation. I mean, you and you're talking about spiritual things in the midst of a conversation, it may go into more spiritual things at momentum, it may drift back out of those. But whatever the case, I think it's important to remember that just having asking good questions is a huge part of that, whether it's a spiritual question or not so much of a spiritual question. And the thing that really goes along with that is being a good listener. Listening is a lost art in our culture. I don't know if you guys have realized that or noticed that, but being a good listener is not something we're we're typically very good at. What we do typically is we talk and then we're wait the other person talks, we we're patient, you know, waiting for them to talk, thinking about what we're gonna say again, right? Like so the what what we need to really be good at, or at least that's how it is for me sometimes. What I've been trying to really be better at is actually listening to what people are saying to me so that I can then respond to what they're specifically saying, letting them know, hey, I heard you. And and as you look at Jesus in this conversation with this woman, he's doing that. Like he's saying, yeah, I hear. What you're saying, you're kind of getting off, and we'll talk about this in a second, you're getting off the track a little bit, but he really listens well to what she's saying and responds to what she's saying. And I think being a good listener is huge on this. Uh, I kind of um felt like I I learned a little bit about this uh with a spiritual conversation with a writing buddy of mine. Um I've got this guy that I met with a group of guys, and we uh I don't know how, but for whatever reason, we kind of knew where each other stood spiritually. We just kind of met with a group of guys. He knew I was a pastor and I knew he was an atheist. And for whatever reason we we knew that, but later on in the in the relationship, several months actually into the relationship, uh, we finally had more of a lengthy spiritual conversation. And it was an interesting one because I I said to him, I we're we were riding along and I said to him, Hey, uh, so tell me, like, what do you is it weird that you're friends with a pastor pastor? What do you think of me being a pastor? Is that like weird to you? Like, just tell me about that. So we went into this conversation, and and one of the things he said was really kind of insightful for me. He said, You know what? Like, you've loved me and respected me, and I've seen you love and respect my family, and because of that, like, it doesn't really matter that we believe different things. Like, the fact that you love and respect me is enough for us to continue this relationship. Those weren't his exact words, but it was along that line. And I was like, wow, okay, like I feel like I'm God's showing me some stuff even through this relationship where He's He's showing me that, yeah, by listening, by loving, by respecting, that's really given me permission to have more of those spiritual conversations. One of the scriptures I kind of was thinking about on this was this one in uh James 1. James 1 is kind of like this outline of how to live as a Christian. And it says in James 1.19 that we, everyone must be quick to hear and slow to speak. That's not something we typically do very easily, but on this whole thought of being good at asking questions, I really would encourage you to be good listeners. Ask good questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions. People, you know, are okay with having conversations. I think sometimes we get more tense and uptight about these things than we need to.

SPEAKER_03 24:10

That's good. It's good. I think you mentioned this a little bit, Harley, even in the the particular illustration story you talked about, but it takes patience because you can't just force your way into a spiritual conversation. The goal isn't just to uh you know make sure, hey, I've got to get the gospel to this person in right this minute, right now. Now I know our human humanity sometimes feels that way. Um and and there and there are there's there's a place where we can actually wait too long to have a spiritual conversation with people. Uh I've talked to some folks recently about neighbors that they had and and uh and even some of the practical things that happened if if you don't meet your neighbors and you've lived there beside them for 12 years, it's kind of weird to finally say, hey, I'm gonna break this you know barrier that's been here, I'm finally gonna introduce myself. Uh in some some ways, as we talk about sharing the gospel, uh if we haven't talked about our faith and we've known these people for years, it can be a little bit of an awkward deal. Like, why didn't we tell them sooner, or why didn't we have a conversation sooner? But all that said, there is a need for us to be patient, and Jesus is very patient with this woman. I mean, we only get this little window into the story, and I'm sure this didn't take all night to have this conversation, but he was patient with her, waiting for the right moment to kind of transition to here's who I am and here's what I've done. So talk a little bit about the patience piece.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

Yeah, I think that's huge. It's honestly something I'm not very good at. If I could like name all the fruit of the spirit, patience would probably be that, you know, the one down low. Uh but I really uh as I look back over my life, I can see examples of times that I was too timid, and and and there were moments, I think I've shared some of that with you guys before, where I really feel like I've waited too long in a relationship. But as I look back over the years and see the most significant relationships I've had with people who don't believe the same things as I do, they're like the the two examples of that that I can think of, a friend in college that I was friends with, and and now this this writing buddy of mine, I I think in both of those relationships, patience and and being a friend over the long haul has been the key to that. Like just really being willing and and able to just be a friend and then allow God to work in and through that relationship. I think really one of the keys to this is being willing to allow the Holy Spirit to be working and convicting our hearts. And that's that may sound kind of airy-fairy, but I really do believe that that happens. Like, we believe as Christians that God's Holy Spirit lives inside of us. And so if he lives inside of us, we're told that the Holy Spirit brings conviction. And so there'll be moments you'll be having a conversation, you're like, I really need to say something now. Or there'll be other moments where you're like, you really don't need to say something now. Like, you know, and and if we're not connected with God, this is why we've got to keep coming back to the gospel and reminding ourselves, yeah, this is all about having a personal relationship with God. It's not some formula you plug and play, and then you know everybody's gonna, you know, become a Christian around you. No, it this is more of a thing where we are really listening to God and realizing that we all have a part to play in somebody's journey, and and whatever that part may be may be different. Because if you use that spiritual analogy that some of you have probably heard before, we we each play have a different role. Like somebody may come into somebody's life and plant a spiritual seed. Somebody else might come along and water that seed by the way that they live or the conversations they have, somebody else might come along and kind of tend to the soil, somebody else may come along, and then there's a moment of harvest where they finally come to make a decision. Yeah, Jesus is real and I'm gonna believe in him. So we've got to realize it would be quite arrogant of us to think that the whole process of somebody's spiritual formation and journey is on us to do that and realize that, yeah, I have a part to play, and I'm gonna faithfully walk beside this person for whatever, you know, whatever whatever that means, the time, the journey, the process, the mess, you know. We talked a few weeks ago about how relationships are messy. So I think that it's really important to remember that yeah, this takes time. Uh, one of the scriptures that came straight to my mind when I was thinking about this was 1 Corinthians 13. That's the chapter that talks about love, right? And it talks about all the things that love isn't. I don't know if you guys are very familiar with that passage, but it goes through these things that love isn't, and then all of a sudden it starts to talking about what love is in verse 4. And the first thing it says is love is, do you guys know? Patient, right? So love is patient, and and I think that if we're gonna really love people, it's gonna take us being patient. It's gonna take us patiently praying, patiently relating, patiently loving and serving the people that God has placed around us, whether that's our neighbors, our co-workers, people we share our interests with, whatever.

SPEAKER_03 28:43

That's right. It's good. Well, the next thing we see from the story is that uh this woman at the well, she wants to sidetrack the conversation. She realizes Jesus knows something about her. Uh, like he calls her out on the fact she's had five husbands and she's now uh living with another man who's not her husband, and so he just says it straight up, and she sort of says, Hey, you're a prophet, and wants to take this conversation down uh towards where which uh hill should we worship on, which mountain should we worship on? And uh, in doing that, uh, really quickly that conversation could have been lost in the weeds. But Jesus brings it back, and I think this is something that you're gonna find, and I find fairly often when I have spiritual conversations, be it at a coffee shop or in my neighborhood, uh, people want to have a lot of the side conversations. They want to talk about uh creation versus evolution. They want to talk about, well, was there really an ark in their flood? And or did Jesus, was he really born of a virgin? Uh like there's these a lot of these conversations that come up, and and let's be honest, uh, the way that Christians are painted in the world in which we live today is that Christians are foolish, that they're not intelligent, that they they can't speak with an intellectual capacity to have real conversations about some of these difficult questions. And I just want to say to that, first off, that many of the great thinkers, if you go back historically and you look uh at history, you will find that many of the great thinkers uh uh were Christians. And that faith brings a lot of clarity to the things that we try to reason through in our brain. So I do think it's important for us as Christians to know what we believe and to even know how to speak intelligibly into some of these particular conversations that I mentioned. But at the same time, we don't want to get lost in those conversations because the bigger questions are who is Jesus and what did he do? Uh because even in the conversation I had with a man recently who always wanted to bring it back to science versus the Christian faith. Uh, you can only choose one or the other, which I honestly believe that science continues to work to prove that there's something behind all of this what, that there's a why behind the what, if you will. And it was interesting that every time we we get into a conversation, he would take it there, and that would be where he'd land the plane. And I just said, look, here's the thing. I want you to explore and wrestle, and and I I validate that question, but I want you to also know that at the end of the day, for me, I go back to who is Jesus, and if he really did come onto the earth and he really did walk, uh walk on this earth and live and then die, and then he was resurrected from the grave, like everything else is plausible. Like we can we can look at the scripture and go, this has actually got merit because uh if Christ truly came out of the grave, that's that's kind of the crux issue for our faith. If he didn't, then let's just kind of throw everything out, and I totally get it. Like we shouldn't follow him and we should just uh not be doing this whole religion thing that we do. So that said, um, Matt, why don't you just speak to this? Because as a teacher, I know you interact with a lot of people who are intelligent and who have had strong opinions on this. How does that work in trying not to get lost in these side conversations?

SPEAKER_01 31:45

So you used a word earlier, you said validate, and I think that that that's a big starting point in that when people have a question, 90% of the time their their question is very genuine when it comes to faith. And there may be some people that are are very uh very anti-faith and are very defensive about their beliefs as well. I would in I would challenge you, don't don't get overly defensive. It's not a battle, it's not who's the best debater and who's gonna come out on top. You know, we've you've heard us say this before. Like, I don't know many Christians who said, you know what, or they became a Christian through this. You know what he debated so well that I finally just said, yeah, I that I gotta believe that because I was wrong and he was right. Like that's not the goal. Uh but with that, and just like Nick pointed out in the story, you see that Jesus was very sensitive towards this woman. As she did, you know, things came into her mind. She thought, well, what about this? And and Jesus was able to address that issue, but then again, point it back to that he was the greater issue and that he was what really needed to be talking about. Um and so uh there's another story that I think really paints this idea of how do we keep things focused and what does it look like to share our own story. Um I'm not gonna read it all, I'm just gonna read one verse, but if you want to write down in your guide John chapter 9, uh it's a great chapter, and I'm gonna kind of summarize the story for you. Uh basically, there's a man that was blind, and he had been born blind from birth, and uh the disciples and Jesus are walking along and and Jesus heals this man. And uh it just so happens that it was on a Sabbath day, which according to some laws, there were people who would argue that Jesus shouldn't have done that. He shouldn't have, he shouldn't have worked on the Sabbath day. And regardless, though, this blind man is now able to see, and so uh he gets brought before the Pharisees, which were the legal teachers of the day. The you know we talk about intelligence, these were the intelligent people of the day. And they ask him like what happened? And he said, Well, this man Jesus told me to put some mud on my eyes, and I can see now. I was blind and now I can see. And and they just keep grilling him with question after question about, well, get your parents in here. Maybe you really weren't blind, and then they ask his parents, is this your son? And uh i i was he really blind? And even his parents are afraid, and they say, you know what, ask him. Like, we're we don't want any part of this. Like, he's of age, he's old enough to speak for himself. And so they ask him again, so what happened? And he says, I I told you already I was blind and now I can see. And they again they just keep pounding on him with all these questions that really don't matter. They're really avoiding the issue of who did this and what is Jesus really all about. So they ask him a third time, and he says, Look, do you want to believe this too? Because I'm starting to get the feeling like you keep asking me that maybe you're ready to, you know, believe in Jesus just like I have. And they get really defensive, he says, Look, I don't know everything about him. I don't know, I think he's probably a prophet. He had a kind of a similar response. I don't know exactly where he came from. I don't know all that he is, but I know one thing I was blind and now I can see. And as much as the Pharisees wanted to argue with this man about issues that didn't matter, they could never take away his personal experience with Jesus that transformed his life. And so my encouragement to you is you don't have to have a theology background, you don't have to be the most spiritually intelligent and well-versed person in the world, but you do have a story. If you're a Christian in the room, you've had an encounter with Jesus where you can say, I used to have this life and now I have this one. And you can share that with people, and people can't argue that and they can't take that away. So keep yourself out of the weeds and you know, again, be sensitive to people. Their questions aren't all bad questions, and some people will genuinely ask things that are on their mind, but at the end of the day, it comes down to like what you were talking about. It's who is Jesus and what has he done, and that's where we're gonna go from there.

SPEAKER_03 36:01

So that's really helpful, Matt. I think that there's a lot of us in this room uh who probably fear, uh feel, like we talked about last week, fear uh of not being able to answer their questions or not being able to address this in an intelligible way. And and uh to your point, personal story is so powerful because we know that we have experienced life in Christ. Hopefully, uh, if we say we're a Christian, we truly have experienced a transformation process, even though we're we've got a long way to go and a lot of growing to do, and and we we have struggles just like people who are not Christ's followers. Uh we know Christ is our Savior, He's our Redeemer. So um the final thing that we notice here, and again, we've alluded to it throughout this entire process, you know, build a bridge, ask good questions, be patient, and wait on the Holy Spirit to show you when's the time to have that conversation, avoid those side distractions, but then ultimately point them to the grace of God in Jesus. We say here at Point Community Church, we're about pointing people to life in Christ. That's our hope is that Christ is life, he is the source of our salvation. And so it's not in what we do, it's not in how much we know, it's not in how good we are, uh, it's in Christ. And so we want to make sure that that happens. And I had asked these guys to help a little bit sharing some of this today because we wanted to do something different in this. But um shortly after I'd ask, Jada had a conversation with a lady just this past week, and uh, I wanted her to share a little bit of that story because it it it it it it mirrors much of what we see here in this story at the woman at the well.

SPEAKER_00 37:30

My children and I think my children and I attend a sports club every Tuesday, and uh my friend Renee, who goes here to this church and other friends here, um, attend this regularly, and we had prayed that it would be a venue that we could have spiritual conversations with people, and so not every Tuesday, but most Tuesdays, I'm driving to sports club and praying, God, if you have a spiritual conversation for me set out today, God just help me to see who that person is and and walk with me through that. And um, this particular Tuesday though, I'm like driving in my to-do list is in my head, and it's just like getting longer and longer. I had like a ton of family company coming in on um Tuesday evening in the rest of the week. And so I was kind of my prayer was a little bit more like, okay, God, if you have a spiritual conversation for me, can you just make sure it's like really short and really easy? And um, and it helped me to maybe get home like an hour early. And um, so that was kind of my heart and mindset going into the conversation. I'm just being honest. But I get there and there's this lady sitting off to herself, and I just met her briefly the week before, but here she is again, and um, so I just felt like I was supposed to go talk to her. So I went and sat down, and within just a few questions, you know, kind of what what Matt alluded to, kids and you know, stage of life and stuff, I realized that she has a daughter at home recovering from surgery, and um, this daughter has actually battled not one, not two, but three bouts of cancer. And due to that cancer, she had lost a leg and has a prosthetic limb um leg. And my heart is just like all of a sudden, you know, just heavy as I'm engaging with her and and wanting to just ask more questions, and and in a small way I'm sitting here um just relating with her. Like, I know that cleft palate and cancer are like not hardly comparable, but I do understand having a child that's gone through multi multiple surgeries, and so for that I'm sorry. And then actually, my grandfather has had a prosthetic leg for 20 years, and so in some sort of way I can kind of relate to these nuances of having a prosthetic leg, and so those um that bridge, that common ground was easily established, though I'm not walking through anything like what she's walking through. But in that, I'm also praying God, if you would turn this to a more you know spiritual conversation, just help me to know when and how to do that. But I asked her, um, you know, what you're going through is heavy, this is a lot. Do you have community? And I'm thinking, you know, perhaps she'll say, I have a church community, and then maybe it's like, and I'm a Christian, check that box and walk on. But I asked her, and she said, Yeah, I have family and friends, and I am but part of a church. Oh, I'm a part of a church. What church do you go to? And she said, I'm a part of the church of Scientology. And in that moment, I was just like, Oh God, okay, this is why I'm here. And um I don't know anything about the church of Scientology. And so there was that moment of kind of panic, fear that I just don't even know what to say. But I felt like God was just saying to me, just listen. And and in in the in my mind, I felt like it was not just listen to her, but listen to him. And so I just asked more questions. Um, tell me about that. I don't know anything about that. Can you tell me about your faith journey? What do you believe? Can you um explain that to me? And she just really um took off in that conversation. And I asked a few more probing questions. What do you believe about God? Who is God to you? Um, what do you believe about afterlife or eternity and how do you get there? And so there were just these questions that just kept coming, and she kept sharing. Um but there was a point, and I kind of laughed when Matt was also sharing about the uh rabbit trolls that she she kind of threw out some statements about tolerance and about um politics, and I kind of sensed that that could really lead us a direction that would it would be really hard to kind of get back, and so um I just sat there and prayed that God would give me a really good question and maybe like bring us back to um spiritual conversation, and um I felt like he had led me to ask, Um, so how do you know that what you believe is really true? Like, is there something historically? Is there like a personal experience? I mean, how do you know that this is true? And um she started trying to explain that, and um, I could hear a common theme throughout all of what she was sharing that for her her faith was um based a lot on humanity and what humanity can do and be good enough to do, and um and and gather enough, you know, strength or peace, and so just trying to listen and process through what she was saying, but um, you know, around me, granted, mom's in the room, you totally get this. Like sports club was dissipating, the kids are like running around screaming, crying for water, you know, one of mine is like drinking everyone else's water and asking for the bathroom, and I'm going like we we're dwindling here, you know, we're this is about the end. And there was that part of me that was feeling like man, I I haven't got to share anything, and partly like I, you know, some of you would feel the same, like, okay, what what what am I gonna share? And and again, just felt peaceful about being patient, knowing that hopefully there'll be more opportunities. But I felt like there was just this one opportunity at the very end to maybe say something um to point towards my faith and um a relationship with a real personal God that cares. And so I hugged her and just said um something in effect of you've you're going through a lot, and um I just want you to know that the God that I believe in, the God of the Bible, um talks about that he is the hero of the story, and he's powerful, and he he talks about those who believe in him, that he'll work all things out for the good, those who love him and are called according to his purpose. And so I'm praying for you and um just trying to point her to the fact that God is bigger than what we as humans can do in a situation like cancer. And so, you know, that I think that conversation. Is still open. I hope it is. And I'm just praying that even next week when we go back, that we get to continue on, that maybe I will get an opportunity to share more about my faith. That maybe she will ask questions of me. But in the meantime, I was just encouraged when I left that even though I didn't really get to share a whole lot, that God had led me, even though I was kind of kicking and screaming, dragging my feet, into a spiritual conversation. And I came home and reflected and kind of processed with Nick and even looked at this list of things that we were going to be talking about today. And I just thought, God, you're so good that I was not anticipating that. I wasn't even full on wanting that today, but you are faithful and you allowed me to enter into a conversation and then walked me through it because just like some of you would have felt, I felt that almost panic of what do I say and how do I respond? But he was present and he was speaking and he was leading me in that. And I was just I was encouraged just to um to know that he was very present with me and um as he would be for you too. And so I just encourage you as well to just be mindful to pray for God to open doors for spiritual conversations because he will walk us through those doors and walk with us.

SPEAKER_03 45:16

Yeah, that's right. Well, we started out this whole conversation in 1 Peter chapter 3, and I just want to revisit it quickly because I said I gave you the middle section of that verse, and I want to give you kind of the bookends now, uh, where he says there, he says, But in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect. And I think that as Christ followers, first and foremost, we want to surrender to God's plan. Because there are moments where we're just not ready or we're not interested or we're tired or we've got our own thing going on, and God wants to use us. I think some of us here uh maybe see the Christian faith as boring or dull or just uh that it's just about what you do on Sunday. I want you to know that in every setting environment you're in, God wants to use you. He wants you to be a part of the work he's doing, to help people see his goodness, to see his grace, to see his mercy, uh, to see the life that they can experience in Christ. And so for some of us, it's an opportunity, it's an invitation to actually be engaged with people around us and to point them to the hope we've experienced in Christ. And that ultimately, you know, even starts there. But in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord, seeing that God, you're in charge, you're sovereign, you're in control. And if you want to use me, God, I'm available. My yes is on the table. I'll talk to a neighbor, I'll talk to a coworker, I'll talk to a friend. I'm available if you want me. Uh I'm not here to convert people. In fact, we would even say we don't love people to convert them. We love people because we have been converted. And I think that's really, really important for us as Christians to remember, we're not here to be, as I said on the front end, to be salesmen, but to share what we have experienced in our personal relationship with Christ. Um in light of that, we're wrapping up the series today, uh, Love Where You Live. But this is a this is a year-long focus for us and hopefully a lifelong uh plan to live more intentionally where God's put us by his sovereign plan. And so with that in mind, uh we've got an acronym in there that we're gonna revisit over the coming weeks and months and and really over the next year to say how do we practically engage in mission in our lives on a daily basis? And and maybe you are very young in your faith, maybe you're even just exploring faith, you haven't crossed the line of faith. But if you're a Christ follower, I want to challenge you to think through this grid over and over because it's just a practical, simple way to do it. That every day we start in prayer. We begin praying and we just say, God, I want to be used by you. I'm I'm here, I'm available. God, just use me. If you can use me somehow. So it's begin with prayer, prayer. Um, we can't do this on our own. We can't love our neighbors in our own strength. We won't do it very long, and we won't do it very well because we just don't have the human capacity to do this well on our own. Um, begin praying and asking God. And even asking God to help, like be really honest. God, I just don't feel like loving my neighbor. I don't really feel like engaging people. That honesty is a good place to be because God's big enough to handle all those honest conversations. The second thing is to listen to their story, as in the people that you meet. Listen to their story, as we said. Ask good questions and listen and look for gospel need, look for where they put their hope. Because everybody's putting their hope in something to save them. Some it's a job, some it's their kids' performance on the sports field, some it's, you know, what kind of car they drive, some some for some it's the kind of house they live in, or their long-term range for success and how they're gonna retire one day. Whatever it looks like, people are putting their hope in something. And we know that for Christ's followers, our hope isn't in the temporary things of this world. All that stuff's gonna, at the end of the day, be gone. But our relationship with God will last forever. And so we want to see listen to that so that you know how to encourage them and how to share with them that there's something more. You want to eat with them. Jesus was masterful at this, right? And this is a good thing. Anybody can do this. How many of you men got a barbecue grill? Pull it out, right? Uh cook some cook some food and invite people over. Uh, eat with people, get to know them. This week is national night out on Tuesday night. Okay? Practical way you can get to know your neighbors. Get out there on the streets. Hopefully it's gonna be beautiful weather. National night out on Tuesday night. I know Jade and I are planning to do that, and just to get to know some of the new folks that are that are in our neighborhood. Uh, serve people. Just look for practical ways you can serve them. Whether that's saying, hey, if you ever need anything, let me know. This week I had a neighbor walk down. She said, I'm gonna be gone for three weeks. Can you guys watch our house and kind of just be aware while we're gone? Absolutely, we can do that. We exchanged phone numbers, had never done that, and just uh she texted me and said, Thank you so much for just being available to watch my my house while I'm gone to Italy. And I was like, Well, I wish I was gonna be in Italy. Uh but I'll I'll do this, you know, sadly. But anyway, um, so but we serve our neighbors practically and then share your story as we talked about today, having spiritual conversations with them, sharing what Christ has done. Again, isn't this cool that God wants us to be a part of people spending eternity with Him? Like, think about this. Uh, your impact through having a conversation with them, God's impact through you, put it that way, could mean that someone is gonna get to spend eternity with God. I mean, that's awesome, people, that we get to be a part of that. That we get to be involved in people's lives and hopefully help them see more clearly a picture of who Jesus is and what he's done. So let me pray for us, and then we're gonna close out our time today in worship in response to that.