FBCPS
Sermons, teachings, and podcasts from First Baptist Church in Powder Springs, Georgia.
FBCPS
The Secret to Witnessing | Acts 1:8
Ever felt like sharing your faith is too intimidating? Like you're standing 300 feet up, afraid to "pull the cord" and take the plunge into witnessing? This powerful message tackles the uncomfortable truth that many Christians avoid evangelism out of fear or perceived inadequacy.
Drawing from Acts 1:8, we discover the transformative secret to witnessing – it's not about our eloquence or theological expertise, but about the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit working through our simple testimony. The Greek word for power here is "dunamis" – the root of our word dynamite – suggesting an explosive spiritual force capable of breaking through even the hardest hearts.
We were created for more than comfortable Christianity. While only about 10% of believers may have the spiritual gift of evangelism, every follower of Jesus carries the call to witness. This message unpacks a practical four-step approach anyone can use: ask their story, share your story, tell Jesus' story, and invite them into God's story.
Jesus instructed us to be witnesses in our Jerusalem (people we know and love), our Judea (people around us), our Samaria (people different from us), and to the ends of the earth (people far from us). This comprehensive approach ensures no one is excluded from hearing the gospel.
Why did Jesus ascend to heaven rather than staying physically present? Because "God inside you is better than God beside you." The indwelling Holy Spirit provides supernatural power for witness that transcends our human limitations. Are you ready to pull the cord and discover the exhilarating adventure of Spirit-empowered evangelism?
Thanks for listening! Find us on Instagram or visit our Website.
Well, good morning. Aren't you glad to be in church this morning? Put your hands together one more time for all of our first-time guests, for one another and all that God is doing. God is so good. If you're a first-time guest with us here at First Baptist Church, powder Springs, just want you to know that we are one church and we are in two services 930 and 11, but we have one purpose and that is to worship our one Lord and Savior, jesus Christ. What an honor it is to be one church. Everybody say one One, and I love that.
Speaker 1:Today is Graduation Recognition. Sunday, in the first service, when the graduates were up on stage, I was in the front row and I guess I hadn't thought about it in a while. I was kind of doing the math and I thought man, I graduated a few years ago, you're right, and I'm doing the math. And it hit me that it will be 30 years next year since I've graduated high school. So I'm doing the math in my head like man. It's 29 years ago. I was getting older just while I was sitting there and because I just could not believe how long that it had been. And I still remember that experience.
Speaker 1:I remember my senior year we went down to Pompano Beach kind of Miami Beach area of Florida for our senior trip and I went to Tuscaloosa Christian High School there in Tuscaloosa, alabama, and so we probably had 20 or so wasn't a huge high school, about 20 or so going on our senior trip. And I remember getting down to Miami and I just remember we just got scorched by the Florida sun. I remember how sunburnt we were all week long. We were not ready for the Miami sun. And I also remember about midway through, about midweek Wednesday, we had gone to some like putt-putt, golf, go-kart, whatever place, track you know.
Speaker 1:But I remember at the time they had what was known as the largest pendulum swing in all of the Southeast. It was about 300 feet high. So I remember, man, we wanted to do it. So me and two other buddies, they put us all in this harness. I remember I was in the middle and I had a buddy here.
Speaker 1:My buddy, adam, was right here and I remember them telling my buddy Adam, now when you get to the top, you got to pull the cord for you guys to swing down. And so they start, they start putting us through the top and 300 feet high they pull us all the way to the top and we are pointing straight down like nose diving to the ground. Right, we're looking in beneath us, at the on the ground, right, there was concrete some 300 feet down. So there we are at the top, hanging upside down, looking straight at the ground, and we hear, 300 feet down, pull the cord, pull the cord. And I said, adam, do not pull that cord. Whatever you do, don't pull, we'll just stay here forever. Don't pull the cord, pull the cord. He's like I'm gonna pull the, don't pull the cord. So we're having an argument about 300 feet high, right? Finally, adam pulls the gourd and we go nosediving, face first, free falling to the ground. I said every Christian cuss word I could think of, like Shadrach, meshach, abednego, or whatever it was right, whatever it was. And so we're free falling to the ground and the swing catches after 300 feet. The swing catches six feet from the ground, right, and so we are nose diving to concrete, saying every Christian customer we got. And so it catches and we swing up in the air. We're screaming like girls, you know. And then we just man, it was crazy. And then we just we figured out this is the most exhilarating ride ever right, because now we're swinging back and forth, we're seeing Miami Beach, we're seeing the city, we're seeing the sunset, we're seeing all this kind of stuff, and all because we had to pull the cord.
Speaker 1:Everybody say pull the cord, pull the cord. Well, I want to encourage you in your life that, as a Christian, here's what I find that's true about me. So I'm imagining, assuming, that the same is true about you. In our Christian life, often we are tempted I am tempted, just like you to play it safe. Sometimes we are tempted to just live a safe, comfortable life, that we don't want to go through any difficulty in our life. But God says that we have been made for more. Everybody say more. I want you to know this morning that you are made for more than comfort. You are made for more than safety. You are made for more than to dodge, than to avoid difficulty in your life. We are made for the mission of Jesus. Everybody say mission. We're made for the mission of Jesus. What is the mission of Jesus? It is to spread the gospel, jesus tells us, throughout the earth. Now I just want to be real, honest and transparent as a pastor, with you this morning.
Speaker 1:Witnessing is not easy for most people, in fact, only about 10% of people would say that they actually have the gift of evangelism. But just because we may not have the gift, maybe you don't have the gift of evangelism, doesn't mean that you don't have the call of evangelism Every single Christian we're gonna see in the word of God today. We're all called to witness, we're all called to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. But it's not always easy. It's not always easy for you, it's not always easy for me.
Speaker 1:I remember some 10 years ago we were living in Woodstock, georgia, at First Baptist Church, woodstock, and I remember going down to Georgia State University and we were just going to share the gospel with some friends and just do some evangelization. And I remember talking with a guy there on the Georgia State campus and I remember saying hey, just tell me a little bit about what you believe. And he said well, I don't believe anything. Well, I said, but you gotta believe in something, right? He said no, I literally don't believe in anything. He said I don't even believe that there is right and wrong. I said that's impossible. I said well, you mean anybody can just walk up to anybody and say whatever they want? Yeah, if it's right for them. Anybody can just walk up to anybody at any time and physically hurt them yeah, if it's right for them. Anybody can walk up to anybody at any time and just kill them yeah, if it's just right for them. I'm like somebody arrest this guy right here, right.
Speaker 1:And I started going down all of these different avenues and I'm not even going to share things that I asked him. I won't share it publicly because I really wanted to see do you really believe that there's no such thing as right and wrong? And sure enough, he believed there's no such thing as right and wrong. And he looked at me and he said now you tell me what you believe. And he looked at me and he said now you tell me what you believe. And I said well, since you ask, I believe that there is a God who is present, who's existent, who's eternal. I believe that God is everywhere. I believe that his home is heaven. I believe that God sent his son Jesus. I believe that Jesus came to the earth. I believe that Jesus lived a perfect life. I believe that Jesus suffered and he died a death for our sins. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead after he was buried for three days he rose from the dead. I believe that he gave his disciples his mission for the last 40 days before he ascended back to the Father in heaven and Jesus is coming back again one day. And I will never forget the look on this guy's face. He looked at me like I had three heads. He looked at me like I was absolutely crazy right. He looked at me like I believed in some alien that came from outer space and he went back and he's coming back again into the mothership.
Speaker 1:That's what it felt like, and sometimes that's what it feels like for you, because sometimes, when we are sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, we realize what is happening in that moment. What is happening in that moment that we are speaking to someone who does not believe and at that moment, at that time, can we just be honest in the room for a second? We feel completely powerless, and I want you to know that that is actually a good feeling for you to feel, because you are powerless, because you are powerless, because I am powerless. There is nothing in us, there's nothing of us, there is nothing about us apart from God, that we have any business, that we have any authority, that we have any truth, that we have any power when it comes to spreading the gospel of Jesus, and I think sometimes that's why, as Christians, we often choose not to witness, because we get so intimidated by this.
Speaker 1:And so what I want you to see this morning you can turn with me to Acts, chapter 1 this morning. I want you to see this morning that Jesus, he constantly told his disciples about the way in which they were to live when he ascended into heaven. So the day that he resurrected Luke 24, we talked about it last week Jesus was going over the Great Commission with them and he was telling them look, I want you to be witnesses for me, to all the nations, me to all the nations. And then, in Matthew 28, is when Jesus told them, somewhere in the middle of those 40 days between his resurrection and his ascension, in Acts 1, this is the time that Jesus is going to tell them right before he ascends. I mean, it is that moment, right before his ascension, that we get to see that he is again sharing the great commission. So why does Jesus share the great commission with them over and, over and over again? It is because that they needed to be reminded of it, just like I need to be reminded of it, just like you need to be reminded of it. We need to hear it many times.
Speaker 1:So, as we've been going through this series, we've been reciting together Matthew, chapter 28,. Jesus' great commission. In Matthew, can we all stand together here in this moment? Just stand together, as in this moment, just stand together, as we've been doing this just for this six-week series, and I just want you to read this with me Matthew 28, 19 and 20. Let's read it together. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold, put your hands together for the words of Jesus. God is so good you can have a seat.
Speaker 1:This morning. I want to talk to you about the secret to witnessing, the secret to witnessing. I believe that there is something true about you and about the witnessing that Jesus has called you and me to do that if we don't understand this, we will struggle all of our lives and, unfortunately, possibly live all of our lives without being the witness that Jesus has called us to. And what is that secret? First of all, it is power. Everyone say power, power. Jesus is telling you that there is something that is true about you that you may not even know. In fact, even if you know about the power that is in you, you are not even and I'm not even fully aware. We don't fully understand, we don't even fully comprehend the power that is within us.
Speaker 1:Here's what Jesus says in Acts, chapter 1, verse 8. He says but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You won't believe what that word you means in the Greek. The word you in the Greek. This is crazy. It actually means you. Isn't that nuts? No one would have ever guessed that. Right, it means you. Now notice, jesus didn't say they. He didn't say them. He didn't say just for his apostles, just for his disciples. Jesus said you, because Jesus means this for me and he means it for you, for we will receive power from the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit comes upon us. The purpose of the Holy Spirit in your life is to give you the very power of Jesus Christ. You realize that you have the Holy Spirit in you in such of a way that they did not get to experience.
Speaker 1:In the Old Testament, all those days leading up to Jesus, it was prophesied. They prophesied the Holy Spirit, isaiah 61.1,. The Spirit of the Lord, god is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. These are prophesied words about Jesus and about us To bring the good news, that's the gospel To who the poor. He has sent me, sent up to bind up who the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty, the liberty of the gospel To who the captives, and the opening of the gospel To who, the captives, in the opening of the prison to who? To those who are bound.
Speaker 1:The Old Testament prophesied that there would come a day that all believers, that all Christians, would be empowered by the same power. It was promised by the same person, the person of the Holy Spirit. And look at what the New Testament says about you today. You got to believe this about yourself. It says in him, in Jesus. When you heard the word of truth, that's the gospel. When you heard the word of the gospel, the gospel of your salvation, when you believed in Jesus, that is when you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. When you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, the moment you were saved, god says in his word, he promises it to be true that you received, that you were given the gift of the Holy Spirit in you and you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which means you have that third person of the Trinity within you. He is a promise, he is a power, but also he is a person. Did you know that? The word when Jesus said and you will receive power? Did you know that word power? The Greek word is dunamis, where we get our English word dynamite?
Speaker 1:You realize that dynamite is one of the most powerful things that humanity has invented and it has actually done a lot of good. Back in the 1930s they had a major issue that the Colorado River was blocking the way and all of the rock around there was blocking the way from many people getting power and many people getting food and many people getting water. And so what they did is they took eight and a half million pounds of dynamite to blast through over 45 million cubic yards of rock. And so they took all that eight and a half million pounds of dynamite, they took it down to that Colorado River area and they started blasting through rock and they made tunnels and they made passageways and they redirected the river and they were able to then construct the Hoover Dam and now, even today, millions of people continue to get water and food and power just because of all of that effort they did because they used dynamite.
Speaker 1:You realize that God has given you dunamis. He's given you power within you, and the power within you is able to blast through the heart, the rock hardest of hearts in your life, so that they can believe the gospel. I've seen it for myself. I've seen the people who are the furthest away from god that they give their life to God, not because whoever was witnessing was some incredible witness. I think. Often we think I don't get it. I don't have the arguments, I don't have the debates, I don't have all the words that it takes in order to share my faith with someone else, and I need you to hear me say it is not going to be what you do, it's going to be what the Holy Spirit does in you and what the Holy Spirit does through you. What we need to do, what I need to do, what you need to do, is just to continue to submit and surrender ourselves to the Holy Spirit, to grow in the power of the Holy Spirit in our life. So how do we grow in the power of the Holy Spirit? Well, ephesians 5 tells us. Ephesians 5 tells you how you can grow in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:It says and do not get drunk with wine, for that's debauchery or that is just being completely out of control, but be filled with the Spirit. Now time out for a second. If God just wanted to tell us to be filled with the Spirit, why did he have to go to the whole don't get drunk with wine thing? Here's why Because people that feel weak or people that feel powerless, people that feel hopeless, people that feel like they need something else in them to make them feel more like themselves or less like themselves, they turn to other substances, and many people turn to drunkenness. On alcohol, when God is saying I've got something that's far better. I've got the Holy Spirit that you can drink from. I've got the Holy Spirit that can be inside of you. I've got the Holy Spirit that you can drink from. I've got the Holy Spirit that can be inside of you. I've got the Holy Spirit that can give you power. I've got the Holy Spirit that can give you hope. I've got the Holy Spirit that can give you peace. I've got the Holy Spirit that can give you clarity of mind. I've got the Holy Spirit that can solve any and every single issue in your life.
Speaker 1:He said don't get drunk with wine that's out of control, but be filled with the Spirit. And how we receive the Holy Spirit at our salvation. But how do you get continually filled with the Holy Spirit in your salvation? He says by addressing one another in the Psalms. That is the word of God, that you are being filled with the Holy Spirit in a continual way. Just by being in the word of God, as you are reading the word of God, you're being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1:He says addressing one another in the Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. What is that? That is worship? That's worship when you are worshiping Jesus with your heart. What is that? That is worship? That's worship when you are worshiping Jesus with your life, in the way in which that you sing, when you are getting in the word of God so the word of God can get in you. The Bible says that you are being filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, I would encourage you these three ways Number one word. Number two, worship. And number three he said you're doing it with one another, which means never underestimate what God is doing in your life. Right here, right now, when we are together with one another, gathered as the body of Jesus Christ, god is saying I am filling you with my spirit. There is something that happens when we prioritize the gathering of the body of Jesus Christ in worship, in the word, when we're together as brothers and sisters. That doesn't happen the same way throughout all of the rest of life. When we prioritize this, that God is filling you. God is filling your family, god is filling your children with the Holy Spirit. There is nothing more important than this of what God wants to do in your life. That's how we're filled with the power of God.
Speaker 1:Secondly, I want you to see the plan. Everybody say plan, plan. I want you to see Jesus' plan there. He is talking to his disciples, talking to his apostles. He is just about to ascend to heaven. He says look, the Holy Spirit's gonna come, you're gonna receive him, you're gonna get empowered by him. And then here's what Jesus says. He says you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses. Now, this is so interesting because he's only talking to probably 12 men at this point and he's talking about the whole world and he says you're going to a power that's gonna come upon you and you're gonna be my witnesses and he's speaking to them and he's speaking through them to every other believer. He's talking about the Holy Spirit, that promise, that power, that person that is within every believer.
Speaker 1:But here's what I need you to hear the word witness. It's a very interesting word. You ever done a study on this word witness? And what Jesus said is true about you and true about me. Did you know that this Greek word witness is martus? Martus? They would use this word for someone they would bring into a court case and they would prioritize or they would value an eyewitness or a firsthand experience over anything, over anyone else in a court case. Back then, in that day, they were the martus. The martus would come in and say this is what I experienced, this is what I saw, and often they would make verdicts based upon the martus.
Speaker 1:Well, in the same way, here's what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying listen, you're not my debaters, you're not my arguers, you're not someone that's coming up with all of these different proofs in life. You're not my defense attorneys. I've heard someone say Jesus said you are my witnesses. You are just sharing with people firsthand, eyewitness account of what Jesus has done in your life. Now, to be honest with you, I've never been a part of a court case. I've never been in a deposition. I've never been in that courtroom where the lawyers are getting people to go up on stand on trial and share their testimonies and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:But it applies in other ways. Like I love to be an eyewitness, I love to be a first-hand experience of where people need to go eat because I love food. Can I get an amen? Right, I love to be like I've experienced it. You need to go get it. Like y'all know, I love some Texas Roadhouse, but I also love some Southern Barbecue. Can I and amen man, I love me some Southern barbecue and I love the whole experience. I like to choose the restaurant where it is like quantity and quality all at the same time, right, and I want the appetizer, I want the meal, I want the dessert. One of my favorite. There's a lot of great barbecue places around and I don't like to rank them necessarily, but one of my favorites for the whole experience is the Jim and Nick's barbecue.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I love Jim and Nick's, and why? Because you go and you sit down, you get your drinks, so they'll slap down a sweet tea right there, but that's not. They go ahead and get to it. They go ahead and bring you some of those cheese biscuits Am I preaching or am I preaching? They bring you that basket. Some of y'all are like salivating right now. They bring you that basket of cheese biscuits right then, right there, and you can't eat just one. Can I get an amen? You cannot eat just one, man. It's like another basket please. And so if you have any room left from the cheese biscuits, what I love to get is that fatty marbly brisket, right, and it's gotta have like, those burnt ends, those burnt edges on it. They bring out the red sauce, they bring out the white sauce. I love their potato salad, I love their baked beans and, man, I just love to gorge myself in some Jim and Nick's. I think I'm eating for Jim and for Nick right there, and so I just, man, I love Jim and Nick's and but it's not done right, when you've already eaten all that food and then you got to get for dessert. You got to get dessert while you're there and you got to get the lemon pie. All right, the lemon pie. It is the sweetest. It's cold, it's tart and it's got like a quarter-inch graham cracker crust on the bottom. It will make you lick your eyebrows. I mean it's unbelievable. It's so good and you get the whole experience right and let's all just leave right now and go to Jim and Nick's. Let's go, let's go Now.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, if you're a foodie like me, sometimes we can get more excited and even more comfortable telling somebody about our restaurant, telling somebody about food, than we can about our Savior. Isn't it interesting that the Bible says in Psalm 34, verse 8, it says taste and see that the Lord is good. Maybe we need to talk about Jesus a little bit more like a meal. Maybe we want to be like hey, let me tell you about the appetizer. Let me tell you where Jesus started, man. Where it all started was is that God created you, and he created you out of nothing. And he created you because he had a purpose for your life, because he loves you. And let me tell you Jesus, man, he's already done all this. This is the appetizer. It's already happened. Jesus has already come down out of heaven, he's already lived in your place, he's already gone to the cross, he's already died for your sin, he's already risen from the dead, he's already ascended back to heaven. And now, boom, you're born 2,000 years later. And that's just the appetizer.
Speaker 1:But let me get to the meal. Here's the meal. The meal is that God says that you can believe in him, that God can save you, that God can forgive you of your sins, that you can have a fixed home in heaven, forever, eternal security, and that God can forgive you and save you, and that God can come into your life. And here's the dessert, here's the best part. And then God starts a relationship with you and God just wants to bless you, and God wants to speak to you, and God wants to fill you with his spirit, and God wants to put purpose into your life and he wants you to understand the destiny for your life. Man, don't you want to experience God? Can I get an amen? Man, that's who we're called to be as witnesses, because we have firsthand experienced the goodness of God in our life.
Speaker 1:So what I want you to see here from this passage is that sometimes people say well, I don't know what to tell a lost person. Can I just remind you that if you are saved, you know enough for someone else to get saved. If you are saved, you already know enough for someone else to get saved. You just tell them how you got saved and they can get saved the same way you got saved. There's only one way to get saved Can I get an amen? And that is to make Jesus the Lord of your life, to believe that Jesus died for your sin, to believe that Jesus rose from the sin, to believe that Jesus rose from the dead, to believe that Jesus is God and to ask him to receive him as the Lord of your life. I would encourage you to write this down or take a picture of this.
Speaker 1:This is a simple outline of how you can share the gospel with anybody. Number one ask them their story first. Ask them about them, because you get to hear from them things they're struggling with, questions they have answers they need in their life and you get to connect the rest to them. Then you get to tell them your story where you came from, what you were struggling with, how you received Jesus into your life, and then you get to tell them the story of Jesus and all that Jesus did for them. The story of Jesus and all that Jesus did for them and how Jesus did it all because he loved them. Jesus just wants to save them. And then you get to invite them into God's story. Do you want to give your life to God right now?
Speaker 1:And that's why I preach the gospel every single Sunday. I preach the gospel every single Sunday and we do the salvation prayer every single Sunday. Why Number one? Because I believe that any Sunday could be anyone's day of salvation. I want you to feel free to bring somebody in that needs Jesus on any Sunday and they could get saved on any given Sunday. But also, I do it every Sunday so you can hear it repeated over and over and over on a weekly basis, so that you can do it in your life as well for someone else. That is the plan of salvation. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. We have the plan of salvation.
Speaker 1:And then, lastly, is people. Everyone say people, people, or the question is, who is it that Jesus is sending us to? He says in Acts 1.8,. He says again but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses. He says in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in all Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Now let me just make an interesting point real quick, and you're probably not going to like what I say at first.
Speaker 1:Isn't it interesting that Jesus did not say and you will be my worshipers and you will be my Bible studiers, and you will be my Bible studiers and you will be my small groupers or my Sunday schoolers or my servants on Sunday or my volunteers or whatever it is. He didn't even say you will be my dogs. He didn't say any of that, right? What did Jesus say? He said you will be my witnesses. Why, while worshiping and studying the word and being in group together and serving Jesus and all of those, and volunteering and all of those things are so important. And Jesus did say them at different times throughout his life and ministry. But he called us one thing, one final instruction before he left for heaven. And Jesus said you will be my witnesses. Why? Because the pinnacle, the height, the most important calling of the Christian life is to witness firsthand experience to other other people what Jesus has done in you, so that he can do it in them. And where do we do that? Jesus said to do that in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
Speaker 1:You may have heard this preached before, like I have, and I've heard many people say so. That means you start in your city and you go to your state, then you go to your country and then you go out of your country and you go around the world. And that is true. I think that Jesus does mean this geographically. I think Jesus is saying we need to be witnessing our city, our state, our country, and to other nations as well, to other countries around the world. I think that Jesus does mean it geographically, but hear me for a second. I think Jesus also means it personally, personal to you and personal to these people. Let me show you what I think Jesus is saying. I think Jesus is saying that your Jerusalem, like as they were living in Jerusalem, your Jerusalem are those who you know and those who you love. These are your friends and family, that we are called to live the gospel before them and to share the gospel with them. They're Judea. The Judea was those around them and near them. In other words, jerusalem was a city in the region of Judea. And so Jesus is saying go into all Judea. He's saying anybody around you, anybody near you, I want to encourage you. He's saying share the gospel, share my name with them.
Speaker 1:Samaria, samaria the Samaritans were people that other people did not like, because the Samaritans were Jews and Gentiles that came together, they compromised, and so people were often racially divided against the Samaritans, and Jesus is saying I don't want there to be any racial division. Jesus is saying I don't want you to hate anybody. Jesus is saying I want you to see that everybody is created in my image. You all have sin in your life. You all got stuff in your past. You all need to be forgiven. So I want you to go to absolutely anybody and everybody. Even. Go to absolutely anybody and everybody, even those that are different from you, even those that may not like you. You go to them and share them the love of Jesus. And Jesus said and I want you to go to the end of the earth, those far from you.
Speaker 1:I believe we are called to go to the nations. I believe that we are doing mission trips this year, in 2025. We are going to go to Puerto Rico, we are going to go to Uganda, and I want to encourage you to sign up for those trips, as God makes that possible. We have scholarship money to help and you'll be able to fundraise, and all of that we can make it to. Wherever you can't afford, that we can cover. We just believe that we are called to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Can I get an amen?
Speaker 1:So, wherever you are in your witnessing journey maybe you've never witnessed before I just want to encourage you. Just pick somebody. Just pick someone and pray for them. And pray for the opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus, the good news of Jesus, what he's done in your life as a firsthand experience. Just share the gospel of Jesus, the good news of Jesus, what he's done in your life as a firsthand experience. Just share the gospel with someone and then, once you share the gospel with someone, and then what Jesus is saying is now you understand what it feels like and, man, it feels good and God worked in that moment and while they may not have been saved in that moment, you know it takes often several different gospel encounters in order for someone to get saved and just going up to somebody and saying, man, I'm going to share the gospel with them and if they don't get saved, I'm never doing it again. That would be like those people in the 1930s taking one stick of dynamite right to all of that, the millions and millions of cubic yards of rock, and saying we're just going to try one stick of that. Well, that didn't work, let's try something else. No, it takes time after time after time after time. Sometimes it's the first time, sometimes it's many times.
Speaker 1:And God is saying just witness to someone, get comfortable to where you can witness to anyone, so that, lord willing, one day that you can witness to absolutely everyone. And then what Jesus says, what he does in Acts 1-9. He says and when Jesus had said these things and they were looking on, jesus was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. And Jesus is gone After some 33 years on earth, some three years of ministry that they've been walking with him and talking with him and he's been discipling them and he's been training them and he's been preparing them. And then he says now I want you to be my witnesses, and here's the power in you, the Holy Spirit, and he lifts up and he's gone.
Speaker 1:My question I wanna answer this morning in closing is why? Why did Jesus go? Jesus told us. He said nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the helper, the Holy Spirit, will not go away. Sorry, will not come to you, but if I go I will send him to you. Here's what Jesus is saying God inside you is better than God beside you is better than God beside you.
Speaker 1:God said in the whole Old Testament. The people heard from God, but they never got to physically visibly see him with their eyes. In the New Testament, the Gospels, they got to physically visibly see Jesus. But today, in the church age, god is in us. He's that power in you. You have power over sin. You have power unto obedience. You have power for hope. You have power for joy. You have power for love. You have the power of the Holy Spirit. But Jesus says what we are ultimately called to use that power for all of those things, but called to use the power of the Holy Spirit to be his witnesses to those we know and that we love, to those around us, to those not like us, to those that are far from us.
Speaker 1:So what I wanna encourage you to do this morning is pull the cord. God has more for you. What you're experiencing in your life, what you're living for, what your goals are. They may be great, they may be honorable to God, but I wanna encourage you to make your highest goal, your greatest dream, that God would use you, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to be a witness of Jesus Christ and to live on his mission, because that's what you were made for. I'm gonna ask us to bow our heads, close our eyes, no one looking around.
Speaker 1:I just want you to ask the Holy Spirit right now, just to place a name on your heart. Holy Spirit, put a name on my heart. Ask the Holy Spirit right now to put a face in your mind. Who is it that he is working in and calling for you to witness to them, for you to witness to them so that he can save them. Who's your someone? Who are your anyones? And I want to encourage you. Ask God for courage, ask God for boldness and ask God for that power to go, to make an opportunity to talk to them about Jesus.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're here this morning. You're thinking I can't. I can't witness to anybody because I haven't given my life to him yet. I want you to know is right now you can give your life to him. I'm just here to help you. I can't do it for you, but I'm here to help you and I believe that, if that's really what you wanna do, I believe with all my heart that God's word says that he will save you, that today can be the day of your salvation.
Speaker 1:Right here, right now, you can pray something like this to him in your own words, from your own heart. You can say dear Jesus, I need you and I believe you. Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and I ask you to forgive me of all my sin. And, jesus, I believe that you rose from the dead. You're alive, you're real. And, jesus, I pray that you would come into my life, you would be the Lord of my life. The Bible says that if you call on Jesus to be your Lord, you believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead. God promises you will be saved. Tell him right now, jesus, I believe in you. Be the Lord of my life. And, jesus, we believe that we thank you for that. In Jesus' name, we pray and all God's people said would you put your hands together for anybody that gave their life for Jesus.
Speaker 1:This morning, nothing is more important. We just want to say welcome, welcome to the family. We're so thankful for what God has done in you. I want to ask us all to stand up right now, and what we're going to do is we're going to worship Jesus together, and I just want to remind you here, in this moment, that you are worshiping the real, the resurrected Jesus. I want to remind you that your words, your voice is not wasted. I want to remind you that your words, your voice is not wasted, that your worship is being ushered to the throne of heaven and it reaches the ears of Jesus, and he is pleased in you. I want to remind you that you were made for more. You were made for worship. You were made for witness. So let's give him the glory right now, because when we worship him, we are filled and empowered with the Holy Spirit. Let's worship Jesus together.