Zach Peters' Podcast
A place for sermons, reflections, and general pondering on life and stuff.
Zach Peters' Podcast
Flexibility and Faith: Paul's Approach to Gospel Outreach
Unlock the secrets to effective gospel outreach by embracing flexibility and adaptability. We promise that by tuning into this episode, you'll gain insights into how to share the transformative message of Jesus with courage and strategic thinking. We reflect on Acts chapter 21, illustrating how the Apostle Paul set aside personal preferences to fulfill his mission. By balancing cultural connections and maintaining the core tenets of the gospel, Paul serves as a model for us in today's diverse world.
Explore how Paul navigated the delicate balance of adhering to Jewish law while fully embracing the new covenant of grace. You'll learn how he skillfully avoided imposing customs on Gentile converts, focusing instead on faith in Jesus alone. We delve into the importance of specializing in your approach to different cultural and religious backgrounds, ensuring that the gospel's moral significance resonates without compromising core Christian values. This episode offers a roadmap for using creativity and strategic thinking to engage with various communities.
We wrap up the conversation by calling you to action. Through prayerful commitment and the boldness of the Holy Spirit, listeners are encouraged to step beyond their comfort zones and actively engage in their unique spheres of influence. Whether reaching out to family, coworkers, or strangers, we invite you to be the light and salt of the world, sharing the gospel in everyday moments with dedication and love. Let this episode inspire you to live out your faith and passionately pursue God's mission.
If you enjoy the content, please leave a review and share it with others. Thanks!
All right. Well, good morning, as always, I'm glad you're here. Very exciting. It's just exciting. We get to do this. It really is to me, and we got a lot of scripture today and I don't know. It's just gonna be fun. We're gonna get back into the book of Acts. How exciting is that? It's been a while. It's been a little bit Back into the book of Acts, acts chapter 21. And sort of We'll stay there for like five minutes and then we'll jump back into a different scripture here.
Speaker 1:But here's the reality. We're going to look at a scripture today, two scriptures in particular, and they sort of show us something that we need. And we're going to look at the fact that there's a certain mindset, a certain tool set or quality that we need to have as a church and as individuals in a world where we're living that desperately needs the hope of Jesus. Amen, the world needs Jesus. They do 100%, they need Jesus, they need everything Jesus is, and we have it, and so we got to give it to them. And so that sort of fact, that sort of mission, that sort of thing that's at the center of what we do as a church, should mean that we've got to do some things differently. Our natural inclination as people, as humans and as a church is to gather around people who are like us right, and I even think that's pretty healthy in life, especially as a church. We're going to find other people who are like us right, and I even think that's pretty healthy in life, especially as a church. We're gonna find other people who love Jesus. We're gonna find people who are living life in a similar way as us and we're gonna gather around together and we're gonna spend time together. We're gonna do life together, we're gonna grow together, we're gonna seek God together, and that's healthy, that's good. But we can't forget that there's another side of this thing, where people have to have what we have. People have got to have this Jesus stuff in their life and so we have an obligation to go out there. That means we've got to do things a little differently. Sometimes. It means we've got to have a strategy. It means we've got to be a little creative.
Speaker 1:The Great Commission says go, go. As Christians, we understand that we don't just have an obligation to one another, as wonderful as you guys are. We also have an obligation to people outside the four walls of this church or this building or wherever we're meeting, it's more than just the meeting. The church exists outside of that as well for a purpose, and so if that's part of the mission, if that's part of what we're supposed to do, if we've got to go like Jesus tells us to go, it means we must develop an attitude and a tool set that we see in Paul in his life, and it's a flexibility, it's a willingness to get out of your comfort zone, it's a willingness to lay aside personal preference in order to share the good news of Jesus Christ, and that's what our scripture is all about today.
Speaker 1:John is going to come help us out. This morning. You didn't know we're going to have a special guest speaker. We do Special guest speaker right here, mr John Dewar. Let me go tell you. If this would have been me, I called him like Thursday or Friday and I was like John. Will you do this? If it would have been me, I called him like Thursday or Friday and I was like John. Will you do this? If it would have been me, I'd be like I know I'm a pastor, but no, I'm good, I'm good. But John very graciously decided to read for us. He's going to read Acts, chapter 21, 17 through 26. If you want the microphone, you don't have to use it. That's fine. Acts 21,. Verses 17 through 26.
Speaker 1:When we had come to jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. On the following day, paul went in with us to james, and all the elders were present. After greeting them, he related, one by one, the things that god had done among the gentiles through his ministry, and when they heard it, they glorified God and they said to him you see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law and they have been told about you and that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, tell them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Do, therefore, what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. Take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads. Thus, all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. But as for the gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from sexual immorality. Then paul took the men and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.
Speaker 1:Thank you, let's give him a round of applause. A round of applause. Shannon's not here, so we don't have the normal applause giver. All right, again, thank you, john. I really do appreciate that. Again, if that would have been me in his shoes, it would have been like pulling teeth to get me to do that. So I do absolutely appreciate that we're not going to spend all of our time today really any time breaking that scripture down line by line, verse by verse, idea by idea.
Speaker 1:What I wanted us to see amen, that's right what I wanted us to see was this thing that Paul was doing he was being flexible, right, he walks into a situation and he knows that there are Jewish people in Jerusalem who are not going to be pleased that he's there. They've heard some rumors about him dealing with Gentiles and he is willing to do some sort of out of the way silly stuff that he doesn't really do anymore in order to build a bridge to these people who need to hear about Jesus. But their eyes and their ears and their hearts will be closed if he walks in abrasive. So he allows himself to do this sort of silly stuff in order to sort of keep the peace with them, and we see him do this multiple times in the New Testament. And this leads to our next verse, which is connected to this, in 1 Corinthians 9, verses 19 through 23. But it's interesting, it's related to our topic today this flexibility, this willingness to lay aside pride or preference in order to build a relationship, to build a bridge to people who need to hear about Jesus.
Speaker 1:1 Corinthians 9, start with verse 19, says this, and this is Paul writing to the Corinthian church. He says this For, though I am free from all, he's free, he's under no obligation to anybody. He says I have made myself a servant to all that I might win more of them To the Jews. I became as a Jew in order to win Jews To those under the law. I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law To those outside the law. I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ. That I might win those outside the law To the weak. I became the weak. That I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings.
Speaker 1:So not only in the book of Acts that John just read for us, but in this letter, paul's mind is so set to the mission of sharing and expanding the gospel that he is willing to put aside personal preference. He's willing to put aside his culture. He's willing to put aside his norm. He's willing to put aside his norm for his life in order to connect with people who needed to hear about Jesus for the first time. Right, he says to win or to save as many people as possible. Basically, six times in that verse, six times, he says I'm winning people, I'm getting people. If we go back to our verses in Acts, there he says he's willing to do this seemingly convoluted thing of helping these people fulfill this Jewish ritual, rite, cleanliness thing, in order to keep the peace and to build a witness for those who needed to know what he knew, who needed to hear what he was preaching. He understood the assignment for his life, which was to proclaim the gospel, and it impacted his life. It changed the way he did things. His life was built around that job.
Speaker 1:Now, before we get any further this is sort of a little side note, we'll touch on it again later In this instance, this attitude, this tool set, this flexibility doesn't work in this setting in particular. Right, what he did like, he did it from a good heart. He did it in a way that he wanted to keep the peace and make a connection with the Jewish people in Jerusalem, who were probably angry at him. But you know what? It didn't matter.
Speaker 1:And for our lives, as we talk about this attitude, it's not always going to matter that we are agreeable, that we are nice, that we are polite to those who don't agree with us, because sometimes people just are not going to listen to us. Sometimes people are just, they don't care. They want to watch us burn, they want to watch the church burn, they want us to fail. And so there's a limit to this attitude. There's a limit to this tool set. There's a limit to being all things to all people if it means that we have to somehow sacrifice the basics in order to make a connection, because the fact of the matter is that's just not always going to work like here, but it works a lot of places, as we see in Paul's life. But Paul has this freedom from human strings or entanglements, he says, and it allows him to give the best possible service and connection to the widest ranges of people. And I just want to say that Paul is not born with this gift, he develops it. This is a developed skill which means we also can develop this skill of flexibility to varying degrees of success in our life.
Speaker 1:Paul, in his life, especially after he becomes a Christian and becomes this missionary, he ends up spending many decades in places learning to deal with different cultures and different religions and different philosophies and ideologies. And so this tool set was necessary for him to have any monocle of success in his life. Okay, it's necessary. It might not be that necessary for us sometimes. It might not seem so necessary that we have or develop the skill. It might not be so easy for us to do this sometimes because ultimately, we are planted in a community right now.
Speaker 1:Not really any of us are called to be missionaries. Not really any of us are called to be missionaries. Not really any of us are called to be like these people who go out and do these crazy things in all these crazy places. You are called to right here, right now, where you are, and it is relatively a comfortable place that you understand other people around you. There's not a lot of different theologies going on out there. Most people are at least somewhat familiar with church and so there's a connection point there. So it might not seem like this is a skill that you need to develop, but I promise you, even if you develop a percentage of the skill in your life, it'll help you reach the people that you do. Connect with the people who are around you all the time for your kids, your family, your co-workers, right, this is a skill we need, even if it's not to the level that Paul has. Paul understands and this is how he gets to this skill. By the way, this is the launching point of the skill. He understands that, with the death of Christ and his resurrection, the age of the law right, the law, the Pentateuch that the Jewish people live by that age had come to an end with Christ.
Speaker 1:Scripture itself was still relevant for the followers of Jesus. It didn't go away. But now Old Testament Scripture was interpreted through a new lens. It was interpreted through the actions in the life of Christ and what he had done. And so, despite that knowledge, despite Paul understanding that, believing that and preaching that to the Jews that he was preaching to, to the Jews that he was rubbing elbows with, he lived as if he was still under the law, even though he knew he wasn't Right. That's what he did in order to make a connection Right. He still connected with the laws of Moses so that people would accept him, so that he could talk to them about Jesus at some point.
Speaker 1:And what he made clear in this process was that his submission, his humility to the laws of Moses was not to grant him salvation, was not to grant him a closer relationship with God. It wasn't to make him special or make him stand out. It was only a tool in his tool belt that he used so that he could tell people hey, things are different now, you don't need that anymore. What you need is Jesus. But if he came to these Jewish people as a Gentile. If he came to them unclean, they immediately get turned off, they immediately shut off and he is losing the opportunity to connect with them.
Speaker 1:Right, we talked about a little bit of this with the superstition and hyper-spiritualism. Right, what Paul was willing to do was to not necessarily skirt their line is the wrong phrase but what he was willing to do was to walk in some of that in a cultural sense, in order for him to help deliver people from that. It wasn't a sin for him to do these things. It wasn't a sin for him to be circumcised. It wasn't a sin for him to do some of the ritual cleaning stuff, because it's probably good that you clean, wash your hands before you eat anyways. Right, some of this is just cultural. Now people turn that cultural stuff into spiritual. But he was willing to walk into cultural stuff in order to build a bridge so that they could understand Jesus.
Speaker 1:He wasn't really under the law like the Jewish people were. Right, in many communities he went to, it was the Jewish community that he went to first. When he went to some of these cities, he found the Jewish people first. He went to the synagogue first. So he had to. He had to find a way to make that connection and he was perfectly fine living in the law so that he could build relationships with them. But he knew the law was not above him. The law was not what it was to him anymore. The law was not some sort of spiritual connection anymore, it was just a tool. Now, similar but different. Whenever he was coming to the Gentiles, when he was coming to people who didn't know anything at all about Judaism, he wasn't going to put his Jewish culture, his Jewish scruples and his Jewish rituals on them. He wasn't going to do that. So not only was he willing to live as a Jew, even though it wasn't really called for anymore, he also wasn't going to expect Gentile people to fall into line with the Jewish part of Christianity.
Speaker 1:It's a tool, and he does all of this while finding this balance. He avoids this trap that says grace is so big that nothing else matters except for grace. You can do whatever you want, because that's the danger here with this, that's the danger here that Paul was dealing with Grace is not so big that you are now absolved from any sort of moral standard. In particular, you're not absolved Just because the law doesn't matter anymore. Paul understood that it doesn't mean that the law isn't necessarily important anymore, that it's not a part of who Jesus was anymore, and because you were following Jesus, the law of the Old Testament still matters, just in a different way than what it used to.
Speaker 1:And he finds this balance, and this is the balance that we have to study and work for in our life. We have to understand, sort of in one instance, that our works, our good behavior, is not going to produce salvation right. Being good is not going to produce salvation right. Only faith in Jesus and his work and his grace and mercy will do that. But then from that point we have to understand that that grace is not an excuse to ignore the right thing shown to us by God in his scripture, including the Old Testament. And so for Christians and we are a Christian church the right thing, the correct thing, the correct morals that you can hold on to, is God's will, and God's will is summed up as Christ's law, not the law, but Christ's law. And that includes Jesus's teachings, his gospel, his lessons, his parables, all of that above. And it also includes the Old Testament and the Old Testament laws which Jesus lived in perfection to.
Speaker 1:So Jesus was listen. He didn't come to kill the Old Testament. He came to fulfill the Old Testament. They didn't go away. The laws did not go away.
Speaker 1:The moral principles, the moral standard that we find in the Old Testament still exist. It's different now. It's not our connection to God anymore, it's not representative of any sort of sanctification or anything like that, but it's still a part of who Jesus is. And because we are followers of Jesus, what does that mean? It means it still matters for us. So there's a balance here in this. Be all things to all people.
Speaker 1:We are not giving up our morality. We're not giving up this holy standards that Jesus has in order to connect with people. We are simply living in the areas where it might not really matter. Right, there's some like peripheral areas of things that you could agree on or not agree on, and it's probably not going to send you to hell either way. And what Paul is living in is this area where he's saying I'm not going to bother about the stuff that doesn't matter. I'm grounded in grace, I'm grounded in mercy, I'm grounded in who Jesus is in my life. I'm grounded to the morality of Jesus Christ and who he is and the Holy Spirit that enables me to live to that standard now.
Speaker 1:But also there's a ton of stuff that I can do that makes connections with people that simply doesn't matter to God, and that's the balance that we also have to find in our life. When we do that, when we can get to that, place it us to, enables us to sort of have a different mindset and strategy when it comes to reaching out to people and evangelizing to people and and sort of going after people. This, this has massive implications for our strategies and for outreach, for friendship directed towards unbel, even though it can be exaggerated. And I say exaggerated because, again, paul is not preaching about some sort of pure ethics. This isn't an ethics course, ethics class. He isn't saying that we can just do whatever we want to do in order to fit in with people and make a connection with people.
Speaker 1:Paul is really talking about some sort of, like I said, morally neutral areas that allows us to make connections with people. Paul is I mean, how can I put this? It's in my notes, but I don't think my notes are going to do it justice we're not going to apply the all things to all people strategy to issues of fundamental morality that we find in scripture, old Testament and New Testament. Right, you're not going to be all things to all people in a way that says I'm going to join in with your sin in order that I build a relationship with you so that I can get you to Jesus. That's not what Paul is doing. Okay, that's not this process. He's not what Paul is doing. Okay, that's not this process. He's not saying and can't say to the thief I become a thief. That's not what he's saying. He's not saying to the adulterer I become an adulterer. To the murderer I become a murderer. That's not what this process is all about. Okay, that's not what Paul is saying.
Speaker 1:He's also not saying that he's going to stop doing certain things that God has called him to do in order not to offend people, so that he doesn't make them mad. So, for instance, the fruit of the Spirit, which Paul preaches on and talks about, let's see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are the fruits of the Spirit that God gives you in your life. These are good things. These are great things.
Speaker 1:Just because one of those things might make someone angry in a particular culture or philosophy doesn't mean that to fit in, to make a connection, that Paul's going to stop being those things. No, paul is going to stay grounded in the basics. He's going to hold on to the basics, but he's going to allow himself not to be distracted by these periphery issues that might allow him to make a connection with people that otherwise wouldn't happen, but he's staying grounded in the important stuff, right, this model that Paul is talking about, it's friendship evangelism, friendship evangelism. It's coming along and coming next to people, unbelievers, people who don't know you, unbelievers, people who don't know you, and you're valuing them as God's creation in his image, even knowing they may never actually believe in Jesus the same way you do. But you love and appreciate them and make a connection with them anyways, so that hopefully, one day, as you build that relationship, you will learn what makes them tick. You will learn the things that move them, their fears, their hopes, their dreams, and maybe, in this process of friendship, you are able to contextualize the gospel in a way that matters to them.
Speaker 1:You're going to specialize in the gospel. For them that's sort of like a custom computer that's designed to play video games versus a computer you buy at a store that's going to do office work. That's sort of like a custom computer that's designed to play video games versus a computer you buy at a store that's going to do office work. It's sort of like buying a pair of flip-flops as opposed to a pair of cleats. Right, there's a specialization here. This tool set, this attitude, this all things to all people in balance stay connected to the basics allows you to specialize in people. It allows you to specialize in different groups that need a specialization, because the same way you talk about the gospel to a Muslim is not the same way you talk about the gospel to someone who's Buddhist. The same way you talk about the gospel to someone who's atheistic or agnostic is not the same way you talk about the gospel to someone who is Catholic. Okay, it's different. And whenever you build relationships, you learn this, you make connections and you can understand what makes them tick and what part of the gospel might inspire them to make a change in their life. But we don't get there unless we develop this tool set in our life.
Speaker 1:I'm almost finished, but I want to end with sort of three phrases that we can take a, take away with us, bring them home with us. The first phrase is this we have a mission for all. We have a mission for all. Right, this is, uh, this has a bit of a double meaning, because we have a calling to reach all people. We have a calling to reach all people, but that calling to reach all people, we have a calling to reach all people, but that calling to reach all people is for all of the church, all for all. Every single one of us has an obligation and opportunity to reach all people. Right, it's this unique, unique thing. And Paul has built his life and he's come to this place where he has all things to all people, because he takes seriously the commands of Jesus in the Great Commission, which says go, therefore, go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you and, behold, I'm with you always, to the end of the age.
Speaker 1:That's a very broad mission statement. There's not really a lot of details there. He doesn't really tell us exactly how we're supposed to go and make disciples. He doesn't even tell us where to go specifically, just everywhere. That's very, very broad. So what we have is a series of broad instructions Go everywhere and talk to them about God. That's it. That means, in the margins of that instruction, it gives us the comfort and gives us the sort of go ahead and command to be creative, to use our God-given talents and abilities, to use our God-given personality to reach people, to get the job done. It means that we can be strategic. We can be creative as a church and as individuals.
Speaker 1:But it wasn't just a mission for Paul, it wasn't just a mission for Peter. It wasn't just a mission for Jesus. It was a mission for all okay, mission for all All people in the church and out of the church. Everyone's tied up in this mission and we have that same mission today, the same mission and passion as a church. All people get out there, all people Listen.
Speaker 1:I want this church to be fun. I want this church to be healthy. I want, when we come in here, for the worship to be wonderful and it is. I want to be prepared so that, whenever you show up, you don't feel like you're wasting your time with someone who just doesn't know what they're talking about. I want the kids to have a place where they can go and it's excellent and it's safe, it's wholesome, it's fun where they can learn about God. I want us to have a good church, I want us to be comfortable and have fun.
Speaker 1:All of that being said, and all of you are so wonderful and gracious and lovely and I love you, but we can't forget about the fact that we are at least 50% called not to be just comfortable. Oh, listen, guys, this is just a recharge zone for your life before you get out there and you minister out there. That's what this is. We come in here, we get encouraged, we get built up, we make connections, we get strengthened and all of this good stuff happens at church so that whenever you walk out of the doors of our services, of our small groups, that you are ready, that you are able, that you are energized to go do this mission because you have an obligation and responsibility.
Speaker 1:And that leads us to our next phrase. It's together, get individual opportunities. We do this together, as a team, as a church, we will do things, but you yourself have a calling by yourself, by yourself, you have a calling. You have your own unique opportunities to figure out how to live out the great commission that will be wholly unique to you and to your life and to your sphere of influence you heard that phrase before your sphere of influence? Right, it's the people that you rub elbows with. It's the people that you develop relationships with. It's the people that you run into on a regular basis.
Speaker 1:For all of us in here, we got family that's your sphere of influence. You got co-workers that's your sphere of influence. You've got neighborhood friends that's your sphere of influence. You've got people that you've met throughout your life, that you keep up with high school friends. That's your sphere of influence. And your sphere of influence is different than my sphere of influence, which means that your individual opportunity will be different than my individual opportunity.
Speaker 1:Okay, maybe you're not going to be Paul, maybe you're not going to be some crazy missionary all things to all people, to the extreme. Maybe the amount of rubbing elbows with radically different people and cultures is not going to be something you're going to go through in your life, and that is 100% okay. I'm not telling you you've got to be out there and be a missionary, but you still have a chance to make the gospel plain and to connect the gospel with people who are close to you, make the gospel approachable to your kids, to your family, to your friends, to your co-workers and to your others. It is a corporate opportunity and an individual opportunity that we have to do this thing called church right. It's not just about Sundays, it's not just about small groups, it's about everything every day. Final phrase being based in the basics creates a greater reach. All things to all people only works when you know who you are in Christ. It only works when you know who you are in Christ.
Speaker 1:Paul built this attitude of his over time. It developed right, he learned he was a disciple of the teachings of Jesus and the disciples and he learned right, and so he developed this as he got closer to God and connected to God. Maybe you don't reach the same level he does with this tool, that's okay. But you have to shoot for some level of this in how you view the people around you, because they need the hope of Jesus and the only way to get them there is to make a connection with them, and that might mean that you've got to rethink how you connect to that person. But there's a danger in that, because maybe you get a little confused, maybe you give up things that you're not supposed to give up, maybe you bend too much. The more you know about the gospel, the more you're secure in the gospel. The more time you spend in God's word, the more time you spend with other people in God's word and in prayer and relationship, it will improve your reach to grasp people without you yourself being lost.
Speaker 1:It's sort of like learning to swim. I remember learning to swim. Benjamin did swimming lessons this summer and I liked watching him and you sort of you know you start with the basics, right, you're learning how to float, you're learning a doggy paddle, you're learning to kick, you're slowly building up some endurance, but you're stuck with the floaties. Then you get rid of the floaties and then you're stuck in the shallow end. Then you learn some more strokes and your endurance builds up and you're even more comfortable. Before you realize it, you've spent so much time in the basics. You realize that now not only do you have access to the shallow end, you've got access and reach to the entire pool. Now, well, that's what the discipleship and evangelism process is. You are building in endurance, you are building skills, you are building in the basics so that your reach increases. Your reach to other people gets larger and larger and larger. You're learning how to swim in this world with a mission, with a purpose, and it starts with grounding yourself in the basics, in the basics.
Speaker 1:This is like the fourth week, where I've mentioned being grounded in the basics, because unfortunately, I see far too many people who are not grounded in the basics and they lose track of what matters. They pick up things that don't belong. They're ineffectual Christians. They struggle in so many things in their life, all because they sort of I don't know phased out in their attempt to be a disciple. They sort of only learned to doggy paddle and stopped learning the breaststroke. They stopped stretching themselves. They sort of only learned to doggy paddle and stopped learning the breaststroke. They stopped stretching themselves. They stopped exercising. Dig into the basics. Whenever you are grounded in Christ and in the basics, our ability to reach our friends and family, to reach the people that we need to reach, to reach other communities in this community Muslim communities, hindi communities, buddhist communities, atheistic communities, it doesn't really matter Our ability to reach them a lot of times is connected to our understanding of who we are in Christ. So that allows us the comfort zone to walk in uncomfortable places so that we might pull some people back into this thing called Christianity, into grace and mercy.
Speaker 1:I want to end with a warning and some encouragement. Very briefly, the warning is simple. I know we're talking about all things to all people. I know we're talking about being flexible. I know we're talking about I don't even want to say the gray area, but the periphery areas of Christianity, where scripture perhaps is silent or maybe stuff like that. Let me give you this warning God's never going to ask you to step outside the gospel to reach someone. He's never going to ask you to bend the basics to get rid of grace and mercy. He's never going to ask you to reach so far that you to build a relationship with someone that you are no longer technically a Christian. That doesn't work. That's not what I'm talking about and unfortunately there are plenty of people out there in the name of this, in the name of love A lot of churches out there talk about love, have bent the gospel in a way that, frankly, I don't know if they're Christian anymore. That's not what all things to all people is. That's not what it is. Now, the encouragement One little sentence.
Speaker 1:You have a mission right now, and I say you specifically. You have a mission. Maybe you've never had a word from God in your life, maybe you've never felt inspired. Maybe someone's never spoken a word over your life. It doesn't really matter, because God did in scripture. You have a mission. You do right where you are.
Speaker 1:Mike, you've got a mission. Buddy, dave, you've got a mission. John, you've got a mission. Kim, out there with a baby, you've got a mission. You got a mission and it's outside the four walls of this church. Now you guys help me, mike, you help me with technology, you help me tear down. As we grow and get bigger, there'll be other things that you can serve and love this church. That way, I would rather you not serve and have boldness to do your mission out there.
Speaker 1:If I'm honest with you, I appreciate your service, I appreciate you showing up, I appreciate you helping and everything and all of the above, and God's going to bless you for it. Right, that's an act of worship and service from you, that's an offering from you. God is pleased by it, but God will be more pleased by your attempt to live out your mission out there. He will. That matters more In the scale of priorities in the kingdom of God. It matters more that when you step out of here, you are grounded in the basics and your eyes are open to make a connection with people who desperately need Jesus Now.
Speaker 1:Not telling you you've got to be a street evangelist, but we can all find a way. We can all find moments whenever we know we need to drop a hint about the gospel into somebody's life. Be the light of the world, to be salt to the world, as Jesus says. You have a mission, right where you are, right as you are. I'm not saying there's no room for improvement for all of us, but never think that you've got to be better to do something for God.
Speaker 1:Do something right now. Do something in your brokenness. Do something while you're struggling with a bad habit. Do something while you're struggling with a bad attitude. Do something while you're struggling with this or that, or you're afraid of this, or you're worrying about this. Do something right now, in spite of those things, and see how faithful God is to the mission that he has given you specifically in your life. Amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Hey, let's pray. Let's pray, and then we can go home and do the mission. Lord, we come to you right now and we submit ourselves to your mission. Lord, we come to you right now and we submit ourselves to your mission. We know your commands, we know the Great Commission, we know what you desire. We've seen your example in Peter, paul and James and all the other disciples and all the other people mentioned in Acts who are living for you and reaching people who need to be reached, and I pray that 2,000 years later we would pick up the same mantle and go.
Speaker 1:Let's go to our families, let's go to our children, let's go to our coworkers, let's go to the uncomfortable places, let's go to these people that maybe we wouldn't have anything to do with, but because we are picking up the mantle of all things to all people that we might win, some to the gospel. Let us do that, lord. Let us recognize and understand that one is worth the effort. One, one soul, one person is worth it to get out of our comfort zone. God, anoint us for this task. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would anoint us. You give us the boldness that we need. Give us the tools that we need. Lord, send and develop the fruit of the Spirit in our lives to make this happen, to make this evident. Lord, give us the gifts of the Spirit that we need to make this happen. Lord, we love you so much and we say yes to you and to your mission. In Jesus' name we pray. We all said Amen.