Untitled Sermon

Encourage Carly for evangelizing

I want you to have real handlebars for what to do when you leave here, but I cant give you those, only God can. Only God can give you direction on how to apply these things. Can I encourage you? Listen to His voice. Many disobey Him not directly but indirectly, when we refuse to listen to Him, that too is disobedience. When I was a kid I almost, And i mean almost, bought the lie where I didnt want to grow in my knowledge of God because I didnt want to be responsible.

Luke 12:48 “But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

So I told myself if I just don’t learn the bible then I can just do what I want and not be responsible for it. That was such a backwards way of thinking.

See, because I didnt realize that He was the most beautiful thing, I didn’t realize that this Word is his character literally written out.

Romans 15:1–7 ESV

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Old testament

How do we have hope?

Endurance, encouragement

God of endurance, and encouragement

It ties endurance and encouragement together

This endurance, and encouragement doesn’t just make us feel nice, it leads to something, HARMONY

So if your endurance is not leading to harmony it is not the endurance of Christ, it is the burden of satan, and if your encouragement does not lead to harmony, it is not the encouragement of Christ, it is the smooth words of the decetiful one to keep you in passivity and out of the will of God.

This harmony enables us to be in one accord with Christ. So without harmony of each other we cannot be in one accord with Christ. The promises of God are not individual promises they are collective ones. They are meant for our Christian brothers and sisters around the world. Christs reward is not you, its US

When we have harmony, then we have one voice.

THEREFORE WELCOME

This places the biggest weight on the welcome team.

WELCOME EACH OTHER. when we see each other we should be excited as if we havent seen our best friend in 5 years.

Philippians 2:27–30 ESV

Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Be clear who your opponents are

Ephesians 3:10 “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”

We have a role as christians. How we relate to each other matters

How we talk to each other matters

The nature of disagreement is the byproduct of hostility. But is it possible for there to be disagreement and no hostility. REMEMBER WHO YOUR ENEMY IS. ITS NOT YOUR BELIEVING BROTHER OR SISTER.

I believe it is possible. It has to be. For us as christians how can it be possible. Show us Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

This is what they devoted themselves to. We are given many commands in the new testament for what to do in our gatherings. I fear in this ministry to the Lord we would forget how to minister to each other. I fear that we forget the importance of how we relate to and talk with each other. IT MATTERS.

Ephesians 6

Acts 20:27 “for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”

We have lots of people come to us that say, teach us about prayer and worship. Im sorry, I dont like that question.

I CANNOT TAKE THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS I LIKE AND LEAVE BEHIND THE ONES I DONT. IF YOU CAME HERE, AND ALL WE TAUGHT ABOUT WAS PRAYER AND WORSHIP, THEN I FEAR THAT PRAYER AND WORSHIP WOULD BE OUR IDOL AND NOT JESUS.

THE GOAL OF BEING A CHRISTIAN IS TO BE CHRISTLIKE, NOT JUST TO BE LIKE CHRIST IN ONE AREA OF OUR LIVES, BUT IN EVERY AREA. If i teach on prayer and worship to those who do not know the full counsel of God, their actions will mirror the form of who He is but their hearts will not be like His.

The essence of evil and sin is to pursue satisfaction outside God.

Some of us just need a willingness to say yes. To say yes no matter the cost. To say yes no matter what you lose. YOU GAIN HIM. IS THAT NOT ENOUGH?

“First, from the outset you need to commit to believe whatever Jesus says. As a Christian, it would be a grave mistake to come to Jesus and say, “Let me hear what you have to say, and then I’ll decide whether or not I like it.” If you approach Jesus this way, you will never truly hear what he has to say. You have to say yes to the words of Jesus before you even hear them. - David platt

Here is what will make you say yes no matter the cost. To see Him as most beautiful.

“IF HE CALLS ME TO DIE, MAKE MY DAY”

I recently heard john piper talk about, when you tell someone to go to the mission field. its not mainly, get ready to die. Mainly its, “GET A NEW HEART SO THAT YOU LOVE THE WILL OF GOD. You cant imagine a happier place than on the streets of Hollywood walking by poop and homeless people for the will of God. YOU CANT IMAGINE A MORE SIGNIFICANT, HAPPY, SATISFYING LIFE. A LIFE OF FRUITFULNESS AND HOLINESS THAN IN A SHACK IN CHINA BEING PERSECUTED FOR THE GOSPEL. I WANT A NEW WILL, SO WHAT MAKES HIM HAPPY MAKES ME HAPPY. IF HE CALLS ME TO DIE, MAKE MY DAY.

Communion with God may lead us to the valley of the shadow of death or to green pastures, But it never destroys our joy. It is our joy.

If you just desire God, the logistics, the planning, the Holy Spirit will give you those things.

IF WE JUST DESIRED GOD!! Like if we got this!! Then deliverance ministry would NOT be needed!! If we truly desired God more, we would never go to the things of this world, and if that was true, there would be nothing in our lives to be delivered from!!

Deliverance ministry is responsive to something we are doing wrong, so rather than trying to spend decades of our life learning how to do deliverance right, can we just learn to desire Him rightly! Deliverance ministry wont be needed if we got this ministry right. What ministry? WORSHIP

James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”

Enjoying God is different than believing in Him.

Demons can look at God and know He is real. but they could NEVER tremble before Him IMPOSSIBLE for demons to enjoy Him. It is impossible for demons to savor Him and stand in awe of His majesty.

If you got equipped in evangelism and he came back in the next 10 minutes, i dont know if you would have wished you spent the time learning to evangelize. I think i could assume that if we only had 10 minutes left thered be a better use of time. I think that our best use of time would be to be satisfied in Him, no matter what we do. So do not evangelize without being satisfied in Him, so that whether he comes back in 5 years or 5 minutes we don’t regret what we spent our time on

Sometimes we think we have to step outside of enjoyment with Him to learn how to enjoy Him. YOU DON’T.

You know what makes something beautiful? Truth.

Truth is what makes something beautiful. Our eyes have a way of surveying beauty. They are constantly taking surveys of the things in life we find beautiful.

How many of you ever saw someone and you thought they were gorgeous, then you talked to them and you were like wait ew. You liked what they looked like, but not who they were. There was an appeal to them, but when what appealed you was revealed, you saw that what appealed you wasn’t true. Appeal: the power or ability to attract. We all have an appeal. There are things about us that attract others to ourselves. When we say that God is a God of beauty, we are not just referring to His appeal. We are referring to HIM. Not just what He looks like but WHO HE IS. HIs nature, His character, His essence ITS BEAUTIFUL

Evangelizing in the Spirit

Ask if anyone has any testimonies evangelizing

Have a tesimonies note on your phone and write everything God has done. Date it so you can look back on it.

Testimonies

Ben- Getting evangelized to, then being baptized

Some of you will go back home and have jobs. How can that be practical? How can you still take what you learned here and apply it?

Spirit powered evangelism starts in the secret place. We need to receive a burden for people. And that burden only comes from prayer

The bible doesnt say write a good evangelism track and you will bear much fruit. The bible says abide in me and you will bear much fruit. 

We must bear fruit to be kept on the tree. If we do not bear fruit, we will be cut off and thrown into the fire. (John 15:6)

So i asked myself what is fruit then? 

Fruit is what causes growth for the body of christ. Every believer is called to the growth of the body of christ. Thats what ephesians 4:16 says after it lists all the different things believers are, teachers, preachers, evangelists, etc.. we as believers need to pursue growth of the body of christ

Evangelism doesn't seem like a priority to many christians. Do we know the weight that hell holds? Its more convenient for us to believe that everyone gets into heaven. Its more convenient to use theology to downplay our role in the great commission.

Lakes grow stagnant, rivers stay alive

No one wants to drink from the life of someone who isnt flowing

I need to flow. What gets full gets pressurized and hardened. I am numb because I’m not flowing. Im not preaching. Im not evangelizing. I do not need more teachings. Go teach, go heal, go evangelize

Obedience starts behind closed doors.

Four types of people we’re preaching to 

Never heard, Never received 

Have heard the gospel but not received it. 

Have heard the gospel and received it, but are lukewarm

4. Have heard the gospel and have received it and are walking in it

Depth is not the enemy of conversion

Both biblically centered and evangelically centered churches are great. but learn how to combine the two. And in any church, no matter how good it is, even if the pastor unpacks the truth and builds accountability systems, the people must own it as their own. I hate the idea that feeding sheep is the enemy of reaching people. and I hate the idea that your all about lost people that you don’t care about growing and feeding the sheep. It must be both. Evangelism first tends to isolate depth and view depth as the enemy of conversion. But lets not make it that way. We must build the church. Thats what paul talked about in Ephesians. If we don’t build the people they wont last in the church. Seed falls on rocky soil and when it sprouts up it dies

The evangelical gospel is when we value converts more than disciples, its essentially asking, What are the minimum requirements for me to stay legally married to you? Do you see the problem with that?

What part of the cross isn't enough to forgive you? The crown of thorns on His head for every evil thought you've thought and every evil thing you've looked at. The nails in his hands for everything you've touched, the nails in His feet for everywhere you've walked. The spear through His side for every time you've hardened your heart against Him

When did we forget that the Gospel is enough? 

The longer i go without sharing my faith with someone, the greater the odds are that i don't share it with them. 

Pray for boldness 

God can use me in spite of me not being versed enough. The scoreboard for evangelism is sharing not saving. Its a heart posture thats acted upon. 

Build bridges with people: 

give people our time

ask people questions (questions disarm people, statements make people want to defend themselves) jesus answered people with questions. (Do you have a faith) Jesus only answered 3 questions with answers, he answered 307 with more questions. (If you were to stand before God in heaven do you think He would let you in?) Don't answer when people ask. Ask back! 

• ⁃ Meet the needs of those around you

Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son. - Eugene Peterson

How to mess up evangelism

Evangelism is one of the greatest acts of love. Call people to be evangelists and soul winners, don’t cloud it in humanitarian service language. Be direct. Don’t be overly poetic

• ⁃ do not evangelize without talking about the cross, the power is in the cross, the center point of our faith is the cross. if i miss the cross i have thrown the dart off target

• ⁃ If we are only evangelizing because of the culture around us we will never sustain that culture when we leave it. But if i live evangelistically in response to the love of God i will never lose that culture. 

Initiator vs responder

An initiator does not wait for a solution, but takes action the moment they see a need. They work to meet the needs of others in a way that serves one another, not themselves. An initiator is a creative. Because it takes imaginability to find a solution to a need.

There are two types of responders: Responders who see needs and responders who don’t see needs. Responders who see needs see them but they wait for a solution, they often complain about issues and expect someone else to fix them. Responders who don’t see needs are often so unaware they are unhelpful. They don’t see the need because they are not looking. They wait for commands and instructions.

There is a role of an evangelist and a life of an evangelist. Whats the difference?

The role of the evangelist is to have the role of taking the lost sheep home,

Think of sheep. An evangelist spends his time outside the gates, trying to convince sheep to come inside the gates,

A christian will spend parts of his life both inside and outside of the gates, he will tend to his flock, but will undoubtedly encounter lost sheep on his way home from tending to his flock, there he can evangelize,

We are ALL called to be evangelists.

When the whole world is running off the edge of a cliff, those who are walking in the opposite direction appear to be crazy

My whole entire being is to live a life sold out for God. I have no life. Its Gods. And thats the problem. I try to keep my life. I try to keep my reputation. But living a balanced life brings death to your calling. Its either all out for God or not. When I was growing up, I often thought of jesus. It’d be easy to do miracles and evangelize and live a life sold out for God, like He did, if you were the son of God. Because He literally knew His purpose on earth. To die for our sins and save as many people on earth while he was here. He came to the earth with the realization that He had no reputation in Himself but in God. Everything He did was with God. But LOOK!! That’s exactly why I am here to. To live out my God calling. I have no life of my own, and just because i didn’t realize that until I was 17 doesn’t change it in any way. I am still called to live a life sold out. Don’t be ashamed to share the Gospel, because that is my life. That is my purpose. Thats what I do best. The life that I live is not my own. Don’t hold on to it. But when I lay my life down. “Then Jesus said to His disciples, this is my life verse: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” -Matthew 16:24-25 NKJV

God: if you don’t live an all out life for me now you never will. 

Im trying to balance things when I am supposed to prioritize them.

You were never called to balance things you were called to prioritize them

Evangelism isn’t pointing people to church, its being the church. Cole. I challenge you to be the church,

Evangelism is a lifestyle not an event. Like no matter what time of the day it is we carry that mindset. 

What is the best way to be radical in evangelism?I have an answer. We cannot be passive, and we cannot be afraid to mention jesus. We cannot be powerless. We may get more people to come to church, but the church will not change them if we don’t carry power.

Being radical isn’t just praying for healing. Stop trying to do miracles without having a genuine love for their heart.

Miracles will come as a result of genuine love for their heart.

When you evangelize do not look at their outward nature, if you evangelized to trump your demeanor would be different than if you evangelized to the homeless man down the street. Why do we make such a distinction when God never does? Forget about the seen. Look to the unseen.

How?

No boundaries

Let’s get better at evangelizing. When I am talking with people. Bring Jesus up, and if they say oh sorry I’m Jewish, say, so was Jesus, or cool, I’m Cole. Next question. Stop using the structure of what you grew up in as an excuse from meeting Jesus. Do you know Jesus or not. That is the goal

Sometimes we don’t evangelize to somebody knowing their past prejudices, beliefs, practices, and exposures, but jesus went up to a samaritan woman. Initiating a conversation with her. Who had different standards. And jesus ministered to this woman, and gave her a word of wisdom. This woman ended up going back into town and telling all of her samaritan relatives and friends of a jewish messiah. Jesus broke standard. He broke reputation, and went straight for the heart of people. It was no boundary for jesus, and it shouldn’t be for us either.

Go to the gays, go to the bars, go to the homosexuals, Jesus had no care if he offended others, and we should not either

Some of you will go back home and have jobs. How can you evangelize in those environments.

If i talk about jesus immediately, it may turn some people off, but some may be inclined to it. If I introduce myself and build trust first, then talk about jesus, i think more people will be inclined to it. But if i don’t ever get around to telling them about jesus my work is useless and unfruitful. It would’ve been much better to do it immediately. Matthew 7:15 says that it is determined by our fruit. It doesn’t matter our approach. Don’t attack christians for their approach. Attack them by their fruit. If they do not bear fruit, they are a false prophet. If they want to build trust first and then evangelize, let them do so. For me, i have had a better experience building trust and then evangelizing. But building trust is different than building relationships. Be careful to not build relationships, then evangelize because the light cannot have fellowship with darkness, so if you build a relationship before they are in the light than you are in fellowship with darkness. 

Theres no one way to evangelize, remember you are just the vessel. If someone says you have to use this method, NO theyre wrong.

If the method changes you’re doing something right, if the message changes you are doing something deadly

Compassion versus proclamation.

We have to pull back and look why were here, we are here for the glorification of God, the edification of the saints and the evangelization of the world. Its clearly not one of the other, Acts 2:42-47. If I have not given them the gospel in the acts of compassion I have failed at my mission. Its easier to give someone a cup of water to a dehydrated person than say repent and turn to christ

I have always wondered why God gave me a soft voice. I think one reason is that when I’m preaching. There is more of a contrast between when I’m talking and when in yelling. Some people have such harsh voices is sounds like they are yelling the whole sermon. Diluting the points that they are trying to drive in when its time to yell. For me, i can switch. I have duotone. I can talk and then yell when i feel the lord is highlighting something to drive in

Dont allow your differences to make you insecure, use them - thats where God has called you to

Be appalled, O heavens, at this, And shudder, be very desolate, declares the Lord. For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:12–13)

What were we created for?

Isaiah 43:7 “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.””