So, You Said The Prayer—Now What?

Ever notice how “try harder” leaves you tired and unchanged? We dig into Romans 15 and pull apart the comforting story we tell ourselves about being naturally helpful people. Paul refuses to boast in anything except what Christ accomplishes through him, and that flips the script on effort, ego, and spiritual growth. We talk frankly about selfish habits, why uncoachable hearts don’t change, and how honest confession opens the door to real transformation.

From there, we get practical about sanctification. This isn’t theory—it’s daily repentance, disciplined habits, and speech that builds instead of corrodes. We unpack the difference between happiness and durable joy, and we name the trap of being “Christian in words only.” Paul’s journey from persecutor to apostle shows that the gospel alters what we think, how we talk, and what we do. But none of it works without the Spirit. We explore why clever arguments can’t raise the dead, how God’s breath brings life to dust, and why surrender beats hustle when it comes to heart change and lasting rest.

Mission doesn’t stop at the church doors. You’re placed where you live on purpose. We share simple, non-awkward ways to invite friends and neighbors—barbecue tables, school events, two honest questions—to spark deeper conversations. Evangelism is presence, patience, and prayer, not a memorized pitch. We close with clear questions to act on: Do you believe what you say you believe? What deed will show it today? Are you ready for the next faithful step, from repentance to baptism? If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help more people find it.

Chapters

• 0:00 Light Opening And Prayer
• 1:01 Paul’s Humility And True Source Of Good
• 5:12 Selfishness Versus Counting Others First
• 9:20 Sanctification And The Model Of Jesus
• 14:32 Joy, Not Just Happiness
• 16:20 Word And Deed: Beyond Saying The Right Things
• 21:33 Discipline, Repentance, And Daily Dying To Self
• 27:02 Power Of The Spirit Over Human Effort
• 33:19 Ambition To Preach Where Christ Is Unknown
• 39:05 Everyday Evangelism And Community Invitations
• 44:20 Placed With Purpose: Preach In Your Sphere
• 50:52 Honest Belief, Next Steps, And Prayer

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Alright, hope everyone's doing well. Um did anybody I know it's gonna be like 80 today, right? But did anyone ride with their windows down listening to Christmas music on the way here? So just just me and Tom, huh? Alright, I I get it. Some of you wanna celebrate Thanksgiving in the in-between. Look, Halloween's over, Christmas season has begun. Okay? That's all we need to know. Alright, so I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna jump into Romans 15. Father God, I thank you so much for your word, Father, because it is your word that allows us to know who you are. And Father, we just pray as we go through it this morning that God, it be your word. That it's not my thought, not my opinion, but God, it is the power of your spirit working through your word to penetrate our hearts. Father, I ask and I pray that we leave here looking more like Jesus than when we came in. Father, I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, so starting in verse 17, it says this in Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud for my work for God. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed. Alright, so if we're looking at these first two verses, there are actually two things that Paul is really trying to. I feel like I'm in a cage right now. This is not gonna work for me. That Paul is really trying to like push into. And that's the first thing is this is make no mistake, the good I do isn't because I'm an amazing person. I'm gonna tell and it it pains my soul to admit this to everybody this morning. I do not wake up in the morning and go, you know what? I'm gonna do something nice for someone today. Like that's not even in the top ten things that I'm thinking as Debbie is trying to get me up to go to work. It's not something that I sit here and just like press into and go, who is it today that I can do something nice for? Most of my thoughts, if I am honest, are very, very selfish. Like, Debbie, why are you waking me up right now? I'm still tired. I don't want to go to work right now. I want to just kind of lay in my bed and let my body naturally wake up when it's time to wake up. And then when I wake up, I sit here and go, Debbie, did you pack my lunch? Because you woke up before me, so therefore you have more responsibility because you chose to have this extra responsibility. Is there a frosted fudge cake in my lunch? Because if I don't have that with my Mountain Dew in the morning, I'm not gonna have enough sugar to jumpstart my brain to go, hey, it's time to get ready for the day. And then at 8:30, when the kids walk in, I sit here and go, Debbie, I need you to sit in here for a second. I gotta run next door because there's something I have to do. Can you just watch them till, I don't know, 2:30? That is how my brain naturally will work, and as much as it pains me to say that, I don't naturally sit here and go, hey, can I be a blessing for others? However, though, there's this other part of me. There's this Holy Spirit that resides in me that sits here and goes, hey dude, you know better than that. You know that this isn't why I gave you a new heart, so that you could just sit here and look at you. In fact, Paul would remind us of this in Philippians 2, 3, he says this do nothing, do nothing, nothing, nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. But in humility, count others as what? More than yourself. How many of us, this is like how we're rocking our lives? If we're honest. See, and this is the other thing. We gotta start being a little more honest with ourselves. Because you want to know how to actually have change in your life, you gotta be honest about who you are to start with. Because if you're sitting here going, no, I'm all good. There's nothing I need to work on, there's nothing I need to change, I got this figured out. You are what we call uncoachable. And there's a sign if you play at any of the local ballparks, and I absolutely love it, uncoachable kids become unemployable adults. Think about this. When we get to a point where we go, there's nothing else I can learn, what will you never do from that point forward? Learn. And the sad thing is, is most of us walk around like this. Because we sit here and go, I got it all figured out. That's why Paul says, in humility, count others as more than yourself. We should be looking at everyone else and going, How can I put your needs above mine? And here's the beauty of this. What if everybody else is looking at you, going, how can I put your needs above mine? We get to what we saw in Romans chapter 12, right? I'll do one another in honor. Think about it, if like you're that person that immediately sends out the thank you note, what's going to happen? People are gonna want to give you what?

unknown: 5:44

More stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 5:45

More stuff. Because they like that. But if you're that person that just never even like says thank you, you just deserve everything, who's gonna give you something? Why? And I go, and that's what Paul is sitting here driving at. He's going, it's not me. This isn't like natural of us. Every single one of us by nature are selfish from the time you are born. And if you don't believe me, just hang out with like a baby for a little bit. You know what that baby does not care about? Anything you have planned. Debbie used to like when the girls were born, especially. JT was almost three, the girls are newborns, and there's two of them. Debbie, I would call like from work. See, I got it easy, all I had to do was go to work. Debbie would call in tears and all I want to do is take a shower. I just feel like I haven't bathed, not that she didn't, in weeks. And all I want to do is just take a shower. A nice hot shower where I can kind of just let all of this melt away, but I can't. Because every time I go to put the girls down, they want to wake right back up. And I go, that's who we are. By nature, every single one of us. And some of us, let's be honest, we didn't grow out of that, did we? I will tell you right now, when it comes to especially Debbie, I am probably the most selfish person you will ever meet. Because I can't tell you the last time I had to go to the kitchen and make myself a plate of anything. Like I am very used to being able to just sit down and have my food. Like Debbie is the original DoorDash, because she would just deliver it right to the table. But then you know what happens when she goes out of town? Now I'm like, Gabby, you gotta fill in. Like, Daddy can't walk all the way to the kitchen. That's way, you know, our sprawling estate. That's way too far.

unknown: 7:57

20 feet.

SPEAKER_00: 7:58

Because that's who we are, and what Paul is driving at here is he's sitting here going. If you are a true follower of Jesus, you have to come to that conclusion. You have to see who you are without Christ to understand what Christ is trying to do in your heart. Because if we're sitting here going, I got it, then we will never see others the way that Jesus does. And that honestly is the goal. The whole goal of the Christian life is this big fancy word that's called sanctification. Now, what does that word mean? Oh, you got nothing now? Okay. JT? Becoming more like Jesus, looking more like Jesus. And the Bible would tell us in 2 Corinthians 3.18 this. Now that we, with unveiled eyes, can see the glory of Jesus, we are being transformed from one degree of glory to the next. That is sanctification. That in Ephesians 4, we would all reach mature manhood, that we would stop eating or drinking milk and start eating meat. That we would become more and more and more like Jesus. That is why when Jesus starts his earthly ministry, he starts with this repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is here. Why? Because Jesus, and guys, I just said we're in the Christmas season, right? So this is gonna be a little bit of a Christmas message. Jesus leaves glory, becomes incarnate, becomes flesh. John 1 says that the word took on flesh, became flesh, and dwelt among us. If it was only about salvation, then why wouldn't God have allowed Herod to just kill Jesus then? Why would he give him 33 years before he goes to the cross? He did that because he went, hey, not only am I here for your salvation, but I'm here to show you this is what it's supposed to look like. Anyone want, like, show me any Bible verse that shows Jesus took more than he gave? Or that Jesus at any point went, do you guys not know who I am? I am God in flesh. How dare you talk to me that way? Anyone? How many of us? And we don't say it out loud because we're good Christian kids like kids, right? We know what we should and shouldn't say. So none of us absolutely would look at someone else and go, uh, do you not know who I am? How dare you talk to me like that? But how many of us think that? And if you're a parent, I know you've said it at least once in your life. Because you have little spawns of Satan in your house, and like you sit here and go, how dare you? I am your parent. Jesus never did that. Why do we? See, and Paul's sitting here going, I like this is all Jesus. Because without the Holy Spirit residing in my heart, I know who I am. I am just as dead and just as lost as anyone else in this world. I can think of the most evil person I know. I can think of that one person that you sit here and go, they need Jesus. And without Jesus just taking over my heart, I'm just as bad as them. Like me and Hitler have a lot more in common. Because I sit here and go, without the grace of God, I could have been just as evil and wicked. But because of the grace of God, because the Holy Spirit invades my heart, I can look different. Do you guys have any idea how important that is? I use this analogy a lot, and I used it, I think, last week. But you're gonna hear it again. When you're out fishing, you want your lure to look different because if it looks just like everything else that fish sees, it ain't gonna catch nothing. Think about this. We should look different. Matthew tells us that we are a city on a hill, a light in the darkness. There should be an attraction to us because we don't look like, sound like, and act like the world. People, look, look, guys, like church attendance just, and I get all these like crazy emails from like all these different research places. Since the Charlie Kirk assassination, church attendance is up 56% here in America. Understand how big that number is. Why? Because people have seen the world and they sit here and go, There's nothing out here for me. Think about it. People have spent their lives trying to fill this Jesus-sized hole and their heart and where they end up. Miserable. That's why they're so miserable with everybody else in the world. Because they're sitting here going, if I can't be happy, why should you? And yet we in here have this hope that resides in us that should be overflowing from us to be able to go to them and go, hey, but I know something better than anything you're gonna find out here. Better than any person you could find, better than any operation you could find, better than anything you could hold on to, better than any bank account, better than any job, better than anything out here. Because what I can offer you is eternal. Is joy. Now understand, joy and happiness aren't the same thing, right? Happiness is very circumstantial. You could be very happy one minute and very, very something else the other minute. But joy, joy doesn't leave. And see, and Paul is sitting here going, without Christ, I wouldn't have any of this. So when I brag, I should never be bragging on me. That's why he said, I'm proud of the work I have done for God through Jesus. And then a second point, Paul says here. For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed. This is a big one. Because a lot of us Christians, we are only a Christian in word only. We know the right words. I tell middle and high school this all the time. Most of them would pass any Bible test I would put in front of them. They know the answer, they know the right words to say. And as adults, we're pretty good at this too, right? Because when we walk in here and someone goes, hey, how you doing? I'm good. I'm a little tired, you know, but I'm good. None of us are walking in the door going, hey, can you please pray for me? Like my week, this week sucked. And it was just one thing after another after another. And you know what? I got some bad news from the doctor, and and my marriage is on the rocks, and and and my kids are acting crazy. Why? Because I'll deal with that out here by myself. I got that. I don't need you all up in my business. You're gonna judge me. But yet your life is falling apart. Guess what? I needed help taking down our pool enclosure. And you know what I did? I went, JT, I need you to come out and help me. You know why? Because I didn't feel like dying. Because I needed another set of hands to be able to hold stuff, so I'm not trying to hold up an entire pool enclosure and saw off metal. But yet, in our lives, when we are literally dying, we don't reach out for help. Because if you really knew the real me, here's the thing. You guys ready for a huge secret? Every single one of us in here is jacked up. Every single one of us in here has some problems. Every single one of us in here does not have life figured out in together. We look like we do, and we lie to everybody else and say we do, but every single one of us in here is dying. And instead of going, hey, you know what? I'm having some marriage problems. Mr. Alan and Miss Kathy have been married a very long time. They probably got some secrets figured out. Let me go ask them. Because they've been where I am. Instead of doing that, we're like, no, because I don't know her that well. Look, Miss Kathy will talk to anyone. You want to get to know her, just go, hey, how are you doing? And then she's off. Like you don't even have to talk anymore. She'll let you know everything you want to know. And that's how we get stronger in this. But see, most of us are just Christian in word. We know all the right things to say, we know all the answers, but they have no effect on our life whatsoever. Think about this. Some of us look the same exact way today as when we first met Jesus. We have no growth that has happened in that intern. This would be like you starting kindergarten and then graduating high school and going, I still have no idea how to count to 10 or any of my shapes or colors. And I'm not saying that exists, right? If you're a teacher, you know there are seniors graduating in May that can't read or add or subtract. Well, we don't have any seniors graduating. Give it a couple years. It'll be a true statement. I have so many jokes that just popped into my head. Do you really want to keep interrupting? I feel like I'm trying to deal with a heckler at a comedy club. Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot. Now I'm gonna have to edit all this out. But think about this. Some of us, some churches, we got people going off and graduating, which means they're going home to the Lord, and they still can't do the basic things of Christianity. Why? Is it because there's no churches out here that teach truth? No, it's not. Is it because there weren't like midweek classes that you couldn't have been a part of? No. It's this. I refuse to be honest with myself. I refuse to look at myself and go, hey, there are things I need to grow in. That's why we don't get better. Again, like I said, if you're uncoachable, if you're sitting here going, I got all the answers, how are you gonna get better if you're like, I don't even need to work out, I'm strong enough. And that's what Paul is sitting here saying. He's saying, stop being a Christian in word only. He's sitting here going, nope, not only do I preach the gospel, but I practice what I preach. Understand who Paul is. Paul is a persecutor of the church. He is a guy going around going, hey, because you said you believe in Jesus, I'm going to have you arrested. I'm going to confiscate all your stuff, and in extreme cases, I'm going to kill you. That is who Paul was. Paul meets Jesus on the road to Damascus, spends three days blind, and then all of a sudden becomes the author of half of the New Testament. That's what our story should look like. How did he do this? Because he went, I met Jesus. I saw Jesus for who Jesus is, and it literally changed everything about the way I think, the way I speak, and the things I do. Think about it. Did Paul have to deal with his old life when he when he came into his new Christian life? 100%. Like if there, like if there was someone out here, a terrorist of the church, just going around killing people that are Christian, and all of a sudden they walked in the door, are we all gonna be like, hey, how you doing? No, we'd probably like be drawing down on them and going, hey, like let's let's handle this, right? Paul still had to deal with that. But he goes on to write half of the New Testament. How? Because he's disciplined and repents of the old self. In 1 Corinthians 9, he says this, so I do not run aimlessly. Any of you like, you're like super tired, you're always busy, but you notice nothing in your life is getting done? That's running aimlessly. You're just going from thing to thing to thing to thing to thing to thing to thing, and nothing is actually getting accomplished, though. I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air. GT does this all the time. Does not matter what room we are in in the house. He'll walk in and you'll see him go. And you know who he never beats up? The air.

unknown: 22:11

I win.

SPEAKER_00: 22:13

I'm not playing. There have been times I have seen him like box, like shadow box, and then if you really pay attention when he gets done, you'll see him go. And I go, you're tired, and yet you didn't win that fight. And that's what he's sitting here saying. He's like, I don't box as one beat in the air. I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified. Here's what Paul is saying: the Christian life takes work. And it takes a lot of work on our part. We have this stupid idea that all I had to do was like say a prayer and I'm done. Should we say prayer? Like, should we repent and go, God, I'm a sinner, I need you to save me. Yes, those words should come out of our mouth. But the message of the Bible is not, hey, accept Jesus. The message of the Bible is die to the old self and repent. To repent literally takes work. The reason your life looks the same is because you choose to not repent of your old life. You choose to not change. And if you do the same thing you've always done, you will get what you have always got. You're someone who struggles with fighting with your spouse, change something. Anything. And I guarantee your situation will change. You may fight worse, but you know what else might happen? You might stop fighting as much. Because you changed something. We had that idea of no, this is just free and it's done by grace. And I get that. Your salvation is free and was accomplished by nothing other than the grace of God. But now that you have salvation, there's a lot of work you need to do. See, on November 9th, a week from today, we're going out to the beach and we're going to baptize those who are sitting here going, hey, I believe that Jesus is exactly who he claimed to be. And it's very easy for you to walk out into the ocean and let me dip you underwater. But in Luke 9, not to be confused with November 9th, Jesus shows us that following Him is something totally different than saying a prayer or going swimming. Jesus says this pick up your cross, deny yourself, and follow me daily. Understand it's a daily thing. Because you know what? Yesterday I made some mistakes. Yesterday I sinned. And today, you know what my goal should be? To not do what I did yesterday. And the crazy thing is, is we hear that, and everyone's first thought was this. What'd you do? What'd you do yesterday? How did you sin yesterday? Here, I'll go ahead and tell you. I said a joke yesterday that I probably shouldn't have because it had like different correlations in it. And with the group I was with, I probably should have just been like, hey, you know what? Probably should just keep my mouth closed on this one. It wasn't a terrible joke. It wasn't something that would disqualify me from ministry. But I still should have not done that. And because I knew I shouldn't have done that, especially before. And here's how I knew I should have done that before. I looked at my daughter and went, hey, plug your ears. Right there, it should have been a red flag in my mind. Probably shouldn't say this out loud. Because if I'm having to tell people, hey, close your ears, then I know I shouldn't be letting this out. So you know what my goal is today? Let no uncorrupting talk come out of my mouth except only that which is useful for encouraging and building up. Will I hit it? I don't know. The day is still pretty early, and sometimes my kids can make me really angry. But that is what I strive for because that is what repentance is. Because when I first came out of construction, I could not put a sentence together without a minimum quotation of at least nine four-letter words in that sentence. So the fact that I can stand up here and preach for half an hour to 40 minutes without dropping any of those words is repentance. Because as sometimes I have to, like you guys have all heard me stop it right in the middle of a sentence, be like, nope, can't say that. Like that is literally what it should look like, but it's work. I should be fighting the old meaning. Then in verse 19, Paul says this by the powers of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem all the way around to Illercom, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Jesus. We talked about it last week. I'm gonna talk about it again this week. Paul says this. He stops in the middle of that sentence. That's what is JT, is it still up there? Alright, so you see the little dashes, that little dash? He's stopping in the middle of a thought because he doesn't want us to miss this. So this ties to verse 18, right? Because when Paul wrote, it's just one long letter, it's not different verses that was added later, so we could find stuff easier. But he stops and he goes, I've done this by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God. Here's what that means. Without the Spirit of God, it doesn't matter what we're doing, you are wasting time. This is why every Sunday morning, when I right before I preach, what do I say? God, let it not be my words, let it be your words. Because I can get up here and I can make you laugh and I can make you cry and I can preach my face off and I can put all my emotion into it, and I can raise my voice at the right time, and I can get like somber at the right time to set all of this up. But if the power of God is not working through me, my words will never penetrate your heart. Anyone in here you have that person that you've like talked to and talked to and talked to and talked to and talked to, and you've pleaded with them and you've preached the gospel to them and you've answered all of their objections and they're still like, eh. Because it takes the Spirit of God to breathe life into what is dead. That is why in Ephesians 2, in verse 5, it's not on there, GT, in Ephesians 2 and verse 5, Paul says this, but God, being rich in mercy, with a great love for which he loved us, made us alive together with Christ. By faith you have, or by grace you have been saved. Because without God going, because just so everyone in here, and this is a huge thing I'm definitely not gonna have time to get into. God creates, right? Like we we can't create. None of us in here have the power to create. God is the one who created. And on the sixth day, God took dust from the ground, molded it into a man, and then what? Breathe life into the breathe life into him. If you were to look at that in the Hebrew, that word breathed is huah. And when you say it, like you notice how you're breathing out as you're saying the word. God literally got nostril to nostril with Adam face to face and went, and the dust became life. When you fast forward into The New Testament, that word rua translates into this word pneuma. It's where we get the word pneumonia, and it deals with the same thing. It's the breath. So when a dead sinner comes back to life, it is because Jesus got face to face with them and when they didn't even have a choice. Like Adam, when God formed him, Adam wasn't sitting there going, hey, like let me come up, let me be alive, let me do all of this. God went, I'm gonna bring you to life. This is why you can plead and plead and plead with people, and nothing changes because it takes the spirit of God to go and breathe that life into that person. This is why I don't want to do events just to do events. I don't want to have a school just to have a school. I don't want to do a podcast just to have a podcast, and I definitely don't want to be up here every Sunday morning when the weather, especially right now, is absolutely gorgeous for the boat. If the Spirit of God is not involved in working throughout everything we are doing. Because if it isn't, we are simply wasting time. This is why our dependence should be solely on the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit who resides in us. This is why, like we just talked about, some of us look exactly the same today as when we first met Jesus because we didn't really meet Jesus. We just knew the right words to say. That's why in Matthew 7, Jesus says, Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, didn't I? Didn't I prophesy in your name? Didn't I cast out demons in your name? Didn't I heal people in your name? Who does that sound like? Are those atheists? Are those people who completely deny Jesus? No, he's sitting here going, hey, those people that said, that used my name, and I will say, Depart from me, for I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness. You looked the part, you sounded the part, and Jesus is still looking at them, going, You're a worker of lawlessness. You know why? Because all you did was learn a part. You know the Greek word for that? Hypocrite. You're an actor. See, and things don't change in your life because all you're doing is acting your way through it. Because you never stopped and went, hold on, let me be honest about this. Let me be self-reflective about this. Hey, you know what? I am jacked up and I got some things I need to work on. And by the power of the Spirit of God, I'm gonna be dependent on Jesus to go, hey, you know what? I need to change some of this. Jesus, help me change this. Jesus, I beg of you to change this. God, help me believe. That's what Jesus tells the man with the demon-possessed son. When he cries out, he's going, he goes to Jesus and he's like, hey, he keeps throwing himself in the fire and he keeps throwing himself in the river. If you are able to, Jesus. And Jesus looks at him and he goes, Your faith has healed your son. In other words, hey, don't even worry about asking if I'm able to. Because I'll tell you right now, if one of you came to me and you were like, hey, are you able on the next barbecue to like smoke a brisket instead of a pork butt? My reaction would not be like, hey, your request has given you a brisket in February. Okay? My request would have been like, What do you mean if I'm able to? Did you not have the food yesterday? Do I not have burn marks all over my arms to give you this delicious food? Like, what is wrong with you asking, Am I able to? But Jesus doesn't respond like that. He goes, Your faith has healed your son. And the man's next response to Jesus is this help my unbelief. Help me believe more in you, Jesus. How many of us are looking at Jesus going, help me believe more in you? Help me go deeper in you, Christ. Jesus, lead me into depths with you. Because you are talking about an everlasting fount. God, there's so much. That's why every prayer I pray is simple. Not my words, Jesus, but yours. Because if we're trying to work in our own strength, you want to know what's gonna happen to you? What are you gonna do, Deb? You're gonna fail. Not only are you gonna fail, you're gonna fail tired. Because you're sitting here going, I'm trying to press through, I'm trying to press through, I'm trying to press through. And the key is just I just need to work harder. Anyone in here you ever said that? I just told Debbie this last week. I know this isn't the answer, Deb, but it feels like I almost fell there. It feels like all I need to do is just work harder. Because if I can get done with more, then I can get to some rest. And I go, but I know that can't be the answer. Jesus, what's the answer? And you know, as soon as I pray that, come to me, who all who are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. And you know what that meant to me? Stop trying to do everything. You can't. You're a finite human. You get tired, you get sick, you get burnt out, and then you're useless to everybody around you. How about this? How about put some trust in me? How about put some faith in me? How about sit here and understand that if you don't do it, I'll still make sure it gets done. Think about it. At my house, if JT doesn't take out the trash, do we just keep piling it up and let it just like fill up the kitchen? What happens? Someone else takes out the trash, right? Same is true here. And that's what Paul is trying to drive at. That this is all Jesus. And if we walk by faith and we do the things we're supposed to and we we pray that the Spirit move through us, then guess what we can do? According to Scripture, move mountains. And in Matthew 19, here's how Jesus words it. With man, this is impossible. As much as I can sit here and I can answer 99.8% of your questions and just give you the information you are asking for, with me, it's impossible. You'll just come back with more questions next week. But with God, all things are possible. And then he closes it out with this in verses 20 through 21, and he says, And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel. Anyone in here? Is that your ambition in life? Just mine, right? Because I'm the preacher. But yet the word of God says, if you call yourself a Christian, you're what? An ambassador of Christ, right? You're a royal priesthood. So he says, I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, those who never been told, those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand. Last week I said it, but I'm gonna say it again. When you meet Jesus, when you see Jesus for who Jesus is, the only possible outcome is found in Acts 4.20. Whether we should listen to you or God, I don't know. But as for us, we cannot help but talk about what we have seen and heard. Understand that. I can't even help it. Like it just flows out of me because I've seen who Jesus is. Do you guys understand why we did the barbecue yesterday? Like it wasn't because me and Joe were sitting there and we're like, hey man, I'm bored Saturday. Just want to do a barbecue, man? Like that's not how it came to be. Anyone know why we did the great pumpkin chase? Because those things are super easy. Super easy for you to invite a friend to. For you to go, hey, why don't you come eat barbecue with me? I get it. It can be super hard to invite someone here on a Sunday morning. Like, I get it. Because you're you're sitting here going, hold on, they ain't there yet. And then he's gonna get up and Lord knows he's gonna say something stupid, and then I'm gonna have to spend the rest of the afternoon explaining to my friend, like, well, that's not what he meant. I get it. How do you think Debbie feels all day, every day? But I sit here and go, I get it's harder to invite someone here, but to a barbecue? Like, that's pretty easy. In fact, I would venture out and go, hey, if Joe had a barbecue at his house, and it was just at his house, he could probably pack out his house with people, right? I mean, he could probably even get people he doesn't even know to show up at his house. That's why we do these things, and that's what Paul's sitting here saying. He's like, it's my ambition to preach the gospel. Yesterday we went, hey, like next barbecue, we gotta figure out a way where people aren't just grabbing food and leaving. We need to figure out a way where people have to sit and talk. And then guess what I need? You guys ready? This is a big ask. I need people to sit and talk to them.

unknown: 40:01

Pray in the temple.

SPEAKER_00: 40:03

Pray? Absolutely. I'm not sitting here going, hey, we're gonna go through evangelism explosion, I'm gonna tell you what each finger means, and then you need to give the gospel pitch to them. That's not at all what I'm saying. I'm sitting here going, just sit and go, hey, how are you doing? Can I pray with you about anything? And I promise you, if you ask just those two questions, conversation will open up for you to be able to preach the gospel. And in a in a situation especially like that, if you get in over your head and they start asking a question you can't answer, come find me. I have no problem going. Like I love, we our our last Wednesday QA, which was Wednesday. Okay, it's supposed to go six to seven. We went two and a half hours. And it probably could have gone on another three or four hours. But I sit here and go, I told everyone that was there Wednesday, I love this. I wish service was like this. There is so much engagement when you're sitting here going, well, okay, but hold up, what about this? Well, what about that? Okay, I hear what you're saying about this, but then what about this over here? Because that's how we learn, right? But that can't happen in a situ or like a situation right here. It can happen as you're sitting down eating barbecue, sitting across the table from someone. And that's why we do these things. Like, think about it, okay? Let's just look at the great pumpkin chase. You're the driver. You know what you have the ability to do now? Control everything that's going on inside your car. Right? So you put on some good Christian music, maybe it, maybe a podcast. Like, maybe you're like, hey, we're gonna listen to practically Christian podcasts now, right? So you're driving, you're like, hey, do you know what's gonna happen when you die? And they're like, No. You know what you can do? You like make sure your seatbelt's like super tight, make sure the kids are seatbelted, and then you like start just drifting around every turn, you're like, boy, you better get right with Jesus. It might be right now, right? Right? Like, you scared the hell out of them. That's the point. And then they're like, whoa, like I I see Jesus for who he is now, right? If they and if they refuse, drive to the back the back part, the third part of Deltona, and just tell them to get out of the car and drive off. Figure out your own way home now and then, walk by faith. But see, that's what we have to understand. And we have to sit here and go, are we preaching? Because I'm gonna tell you in Acts 17, 26, Paul is is he's arguing with the Athenians, okay, and he's trying to get them to understand who God is and all of this, and he and he he starts saying this with this argument. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having, you guys ready, determined allotted periods and boundaries for their dwelling place. You know what that means? You live where you live on purpose. The illustration I have given people a lot over the years is this. Tawny and Kevin are not even from this state. Here's how it came to be that Tawny and Kevin came to be part of, at the time, Sen, over in Lake Mary. We were hard up for money. Okay, it was summer. Debbie decided, hey, I'm gonna, yeah, I get my paycheck over summer because we're teachers, but I'm gonna go work a second job. There was a church right down the street from us that had an opening at a daycare. So Debbie's like, hey, like, cool, I'm gonna apply. She got the job. Her boss was Tawny. Do you guys think that was coincidental? Like, do you think that wasn't God going, hey, like, look, your dwelling places, I've already determined. Where you are has already been determined. Your family has already been determined. Like, God went, I put you where I wanted you to be. Now do the things I told you to do. I'm gonna bring the people I want around you, around you. You just preach it to them. Because Romans 10 says this: how are they to believe in whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear if there is no one there to preach? And faith comes from hearing and hearing the word of God. Going back to without the power of the Spirit, all of this is null and void. And that's what he's driving at here. He's saying that there is nothing and no one outside of this. So I'm gonna go where Christ hasn't been proclaimed, and I'm gonna proclaim him. Because if I preach Jesus, guess what's going to happen? Some are going to see him. Are all of them? No, they're not. In fact, the Bible tells us broad is the way many will find that leads to destruction. But narrow is the way, and few will find. You go all through the book of Isaiah, you hear this word over and over and over, remnant. What's remnants? Just pieces, right? You guys ready for the illustration I give middle and high school? Because it seems to work with them, because they remember this word very quickly. Remnants are what are left over after you wipe. Hang with me. It's the little pieces that wind up on your underwear. I bet next week, though, if I want, what's a remnant? You're like, it's the little pieces left over after you wipe, right? And all you need to do is remember that little pieces part. Because that's what a remnant is. But see, how are they going to hear if there is no one there to preach? Guess what? God puts you where you are to be the one to preach to them. God didn't put me there. So I can't preach to them. I a hundred percent will tell you if you bring them here, I'll preach to them. But he didn't put me in your family. He didn't put me at your dining room table. How many of you, like when you're eating dinner at night, you go, hey, like, let's dig into like this super theological topic? Your family is the first person God puts you with. How are you not discipling your family? How are you not sitting here going, hey, let's go through a devotion? And if you're sitting here going, I don't even know what to do, how have you not texted me and been like, hey, we need a family devotion? What what you got? Like I like I'm just gonna be like, nope, that's not a Jesus question. Like, only text me important stuff. If you really want to, just be like, hey, can you come over and eat dinner and talk about Jesus? Sure. Depending on what you're having. But I sit here and go, that's what Paul's sitting here doing. I'm gonna proclaim Jesus. Do your family and friends, co-workers and neighbors, do they even know if you're a Christian? Do you even know them? Especially when it comes to neighbors. Like I sit here and go, I heard this beautiful thing the other day about these people that were like, hey, we have fires in our yard, and like our whole neighborhood comes to it. I go, man, that's gorgeous. Like that is how our lives should look. How many of us can even name our neighbor? Like, how many, yeah, but we've had so many now that are moving. Gosh, I hate them so much. They were such good neighbors too. Like, and they're like, oh, we're gonna rent the house out. And I'm like, dude, it better be the good people. But I sit here and go, and and some of you are like, well, we don't have neighbors. Yeah, you do. They may be a mile up the road, but you have them. And I go, and that's what Paul's talking about. Like, that's what we're called to. Because everywhere we go is a mission field. You don't need to go overseas to preach. You can do it right here in Deltona. There's a hundred thousand people here who need to hear the gospel of Jesus. So as we close today, the call to action is very simple. Do you believe what you say you believe? And if you answer yes, yes, I actually believe that, how are you showing that? How by either word or deed are you showing yes, I actually believe? How is your life changing to look more like Jesus and less like you? If your answer is yes to that, are you preaching through the power and spirit of the gospel? And if you're sitting here going, you know what? No. My answer is no, I don't believe in Jesus. Cool. I get it. I'm gonna tell you the same thing I tell Jesus, uh Jesus. JT, we gotta change his name because that is all the time. I'm gonna tell you the same thing I tell JT. I won't love you any less. I will not like you any less. I won't talk to you any less. I would rather you be honest though, and go, no, I don't believe in this. Hang on. The only thing I will ask of you is be able to defend what you believe. Because see, I'm huge into truth. And you want to know how to win in any argument you ever get into? I'm gonna give you guys this like this is worth at least 20 bucks. I don't care if it's an argument with a friend, with your spouse, with your kids, kids at school, like it doesn't matter. Here's how you win any argument you ever get into. Don't argue. Let them argue their own point. Because unless it's based on truth, fact, and evidence, guess what's going to happen eventually? It falls apart. Just ask questions. That's all you gotta do. That was a loud bird. So if the answer is no, are you sitting here going, I'm ready though, to take that first step? I'm ready to put a stake in the ground and go, yes, I believe. And I can't help but talk about what I've seen and heard. Next week, right after service, we're headed out to the beach anyway. Maybe some of you in here are sitting here going, you know what? No, I do need that. I need to put that stake in the ground, and I need to have that to look back on because I need a transformation in here, because this ain't working for me. There's nothing magical about the Atlantic Ocean, I'll tell you that right now. Oh, actually, there's a lot magical about it if you're on the boat. But inherently in the water, there is nothing magical. But you know what's super powerful? Taking a step in faith and going, yes, I believe Jesus. Taking that step in faith and going, Jesus, I want to identify with you. I want to be like you. It will literally change your life. So, Father, I ask and I pray if there is anyone in here today, Father, that is sitting here and going, you know what, I need to. I need change. And Father, you just weigh on their heart. That God, you just woo them to you, that you just sit here and by the power of your spirit, grab a hold of their heart. That you breathe your life into them. Father, I ask and I pray that if there's those in us in here that are like been doing this too long and we're just too used to it, Father, I pray for revitalization. I pray that we sit here and we go, you know what, there's just so much more to God than I ever thought possible. And I I could spend every minute of every day diving into that and I'll still never finish. And God, you just set a fire on our heart. Father, I pray that you give me a book to read. And I know that's a personal prayer, Father, but I do. Father, we ask and we pray that if there's anyone in here, God, that you are calling to you. That Father, they take that step in faith. Father, we pray this in Jesus' name.