Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Verse 20.
If we can get it on the screenand say it together, let's read.
Here we go.
We are therefore Christ'sambassadors.
As though God were making hisappeal through us.
We implore you on Christ'sbehalf.
Be reconciled to God.
(00:20):
Amen.
I like that.
Amen.
For our three day, I want tolook at Colossians chapter 4,
verses 2 through 6.
And here's what it says.
Devote yourselves to prayer.
(00:43):
Being watchful and thankful.
And pray for us too.
That God may open the door, say,open the door.
That God may open the door forour message so that we may
proclaim the ministry of Christfor which I am in chain.
Pray that I may proclaim itclearly as I should.
(01:07):
Paul said, I need clarity when Iproclaim it.
Alrighty.
Be wise in the way you aretoward outsiders, that's people
of non-faith.
Make the most of everyopportunity.
Let your conversation always befull of grace.
I can preach that right there,huh?
(01:30):
Season with salt.
Tell your neighbor, not pepper,salt, salt.
So that you may know how toanswer everyone.
So much here to preach.
I can't get to all of it.
We're gonna talk about it alittle bit, but I'm gonna talk
about repping our faith, asimple approach.
Repping our faith.
A simple approach.
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I've been blessed to havenumerous individuals influence
me on my faith journey.
Though I grew up in church, agood old traditional Baptist
church, God was gracious enoughto put the right people in my
path and help me get to theplace where I am in terms of my
faith.
(02:12):
One person I never told you allabout, but had a significant
influence on my life is a man bythe name of Ross Strang.
Ross is someone I'll neverforget, and maybe one of the
kindest individuals I've evermet.
And he really influenced me withhis story of faith.
He did not grow up in church, hedid not have a spiritual
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heritage in his family.
He did not have a love forreligion.
Matter of fact, he would say hewas a classic atheist.
Wasn't mad at anybody in termsof faith, but he said, just
leave me alone.
I won't bother you, don't botherme.
Let me live my life on my ownterms.
(02:57):
Saw nothing in life that wouldconvince him to believe that God
was real.
Stated emphatically to his wifewho attended church, you can go
to church all you want, justdon't invite me.
How many of y'all know God canflip that script real quick?
He says he found himself one daythrough a series of events
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sitting in church and hearingthe gospel for the first time.
He said, for the first time, themessage of the gospel of
Christianity made sense to him.
He said he did not commit toChrist that day, but months
later he would commit his lifeto Jesus Christ.
But it's what happened later toRoss that really influenced my
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life and my faith.
He talked about what happened tohim after he converted.
He said the Sunday after heconverted to Christianity, a man
showed up at his house on aTuesday night at 7 p.m.
And the man was there to teachhim about the basics of the
faith.
Wanted to teach him what itmeant to be a Christian, who
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this Jesus was that he decidedto follow, and what kind of
practices that he had to beginto take on to truly be a
follower of Christ.
It's not that he showed up thisTuesday after he was converted.
He said, but every Tuesday forone year, this man showed up.
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And he said, with patience andwith availability, he taught him
the things of faith.
And he said, this man'scommitment to the process, his
time, his patience, formed himinto the person of faith he
would become.
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As I even share that, those arethe two words that stand out to
me in this story.
This whole evangelizer, thisenterprise that we call
evangelism.
Availability and patience.
I believe God can convert aperson in an instant.
But y'all, we live in a daywhere people are here for the
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long haul.
I don't have anything againstGod.
God can do whatever He wants todo.
Amen.
He can convert people how hewants to convert, but
Christianity is a relationship.
It's a relationship withAlmighty God.
And many times we do all right,but it's that horizontal piece
that gives power andauthenticity to the third to the
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vertical piece.
And we have to be a people thatare available and patient when
we rep our faith.
And all we have to do is thinkabout how God has dealt with us.
Anybody here know that God'sbeen patient with you?
I'm just asking the question.
Has God ever been available toyou?
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Then surely we ought to do thesame for others.
That's kind of what I think Paulis conveying here in the text
when he talks about this doorthat he's looking to be open.
Not saying how smart you are orhow eloquent you are with your
words.
I think he's simply saying thatas people of God, when we rep
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our faith, we have to learn tobe available.
We gotta learn to be a patience.
Those are the two pillars that'sgonna help people to see the
faith.
Matter of fact, here's my thesisstatement at the forefront.
God is already doing a work inus and for us when we rep our
faith.
In other words, if we wouldsimply be available to people,
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if we would simply exercise somepatience in the way God is
patient with us.
Isn't it amazing how we forgethow God has been patient with us
when it comes to dealing withother folk?
You're talking to the parents.
Now you're impatient with thosekids.
Somebody was patient with younow, amen.
Pastor, you didn't have to saythat.
Yes, I did.
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We gotta remember God waspatient with us, He's still
patient with us.
And if we would be patient withothers and we would be
available, God would do a workin us and for us.
He'll do what you and I couldnever do.
You don't have the power to saveanybody, nor do I.
But if we're available, doesanybody know God can open a
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door?
That's what he does.
He works through us and for us.
A meditation text shows us howGod works through us.
He says we are ambassadors forChrist as though God were making
an appeal through us.
We kind of understand what anambassador is.
An ambassador reps his homecountry to another country.
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And what that ambassador does,he he makes a case for those
interests and those issues thatare important to his people.
And hopefully, in making thecase, he can build a bridge
where the two nations can have adifferent diplomatic relations.
And in the same way, that's whatPaul says, that that God, he's
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the one working through us.
He's building a case through us.
We're not even aware of it.
God's working in us, making acase for the gospel to be
reconciled to him.
And understand when he's talkingabout making this case, I don't
think he's talking about thatlogical case or that apologetic
case.
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And surely there are times thatwe ought to be able to
articulate and lay out andstipulate exactly where we stand
when it comes to Jesus.
But I don't think that's whathe's talking about right here
when he says make a case.
I think he's talking about thelanguage of divinity that cannot
be articulated with humanvocabulary.
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In other words, that God usesour lives as a platform for the
power of the gospel.
In other words, many times youdon't even have to say a word,
and folk will look at your lifeand they'll see what you've been
through.
And yet somehow you show up towork or you show up at the
reunion, and you still got asmile on your face, you still
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got a pep in your step, youstill got joy and hope for the
future.
And quietly in their mind, themasking the question what is
their secret?
See, that's God using divinelanguage through your life that
cannot be communicated withhuman vocabulary.
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But everybody knows that God isdoing something in your life.
Oh, I wish I had a witnesstoday.
If I could just testify what Godhas done in my life.
Because folk ain't interested ina mid-tribulation period
position in your eschatology.
They want to know, does God carefor me?
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They want to know, is God real?
Does God understand what I'mgoing through?
So, on the one hand, that's whatPaul is talking about, God works
through us.
When God brings you throughsomething, sometimes all you
gotta do is share your story.
Sometimes just let your storyflow.
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And that's how God works throughus.
But also, our text shows us howGod works for us.
Old folks say God can open doorsthat no man can close, God can
close doors that no man can openas well.
And in a sense, that's whatPaul's talking about when he
asked for that open door in thistext.
Just as then today, culturally,people were close to the gospel.
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And just like then and today,God has to supernaturally open a
door that people will hear thegospel.
And we know that people areclosed to Christianity today.
People are close to the churchand all that the church
represents.
But there's another element herethat many times we miss as
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Christians.
And I think sometimes wemisunderstand when it comes to
the gospel.
Not only is there a sense thatGod has to open the door
culturally, but understand Godhas to open the door
theologically.
In other words, you have tounderstand, and I have to
understand the heartbeat of thegospel.
Paul said it like this we weredead in trespasses and sin.
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What does that mean?
That means that it's not justthat God could save me, but God
had to awaken me to put me inthe position to be able to
respond to salvation.
That I was so far from God thatI was spiritually dead,
incapable, unable to respond tothe very voice of God.
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And so a very good picture ofthis is when God breathed on
Adam in Genesis chapter 2.
All he was was a hunk of clay,y'all.
He couldn't think, he couldn'tfeel, he couldn't respond to
God.
But God got close to him.
Y'all don't hear me today.
Got close enough and justexhale.
And if God exhale, Adam inhale,and became a living soul.
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Oh, that's my story, y'all.
I don't know what he's havingtogether, y'all.
Matter of fact, I ain't got ittogether right now.
But God just came close to me.
And he happened to exhale on meand breathe salvation into my
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life.
Tell your neighbor, salvation isa miracle, y'all.
Not only that God just saved us,but he enabled us to believe the
gospel.
Tell your neighbor, that's amiracle.
Because a lot of Christians getthis wrong.
We think, well, I'm a prettygood person.
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That's not enough.
A lot of good persons ain'tgoing to heaven.
A lot of good people.
Well, Pastor, I grew up inchurch.
That's not enough.
Lot of folk grew up in church,they ain't going to heaven.
Well, well, Pastor, I've been aChristian all my life.
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First of all, that's impossible.
I wish I had a witness.
Because if you know the gospel,you can't be a Christian all
your life.
At some point, God's gottabreathe life on you and bring
you into the kingdom.
You won't even fake your wholebody.
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The only reason why I'm saying,because God got close to me and
exhale and I inhale thesalvation winds of the Holy
Ghost.
And I was born again and madebrand new.
My point is, we gotta understandwe're not good enough.
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And if God had to open a doorfor us, how many of y'all know
He gotta do it for everybodyelse?
See, that's why Jeremiahdeclared that the heart of man
is desperately wicked, who canknow it?
Genesis 8 says the intention ofman's heart is evil from his
youth.
And Romans 3 says it like thisthere's no one who is righteous.
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No, not one.
There is no one who understands,there's no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they havetogether become worthless.
There is no one who does good,not even one.
I don't care if you've never hada jaywalking ticket, I don't
care if you've never even killeda fly.
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We all stand guilty before aholy and righteous God.
We're all morally bankrupt.
Save the blood of Jesus Christand the power and gracious work
of the Holy Ghost that gave melife.
We're all condemned to eternaldamnation.
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And we, we, we are here becauseGod opened the door, y'all.
It's the only reason why wepraise him, it's the only reason
why we give thanks and worshiphim, because God has opened our
eyes, God has opened our ears sothat we can hear his voice.
And because of that, we worshiphim.
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R.C.
Sprobe may have said it thebest.
If you don't know the depth ofyour sin and how lost you are,
you can't even appreciate thegreatness of grace.
Because God has been good to us.
I didn't get here because I wasgood, y'all.
Didn't get here because I wassmart, didn't get here because
of the letters behind my name.
I didn't get here because I wasborn in the right or the wrong
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family or the right or wrongside of tracks.
I'm not here because ofpolitics, I'm not here because I
got good theology.
I'm here because God is good.
And if we're gonna rep ourfaith, we've got to make sure
they get the whole story.
We gotta get off our religioushot horse and let folk know hey,
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I'm in the same boat with you.
Save the wonderful grace of God.
Let me give you these three andget on out your way.
So, what's a simple approach torepping our faith?
Number one, it's simple, it'sright in the text.
Start with prayer.
He says it right there (16:40):
devote yourselves to prayer.
If God's gonna open the door,how many of y'all know we gotta
pray?
We gotta pray that God will openthat door.
And here he's talking aboutprayer in terms of as a way of
life.
Don't just do it every now andthen.
Don't do it because we're inchurch on Sunday morning.
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Pray when you hit the parkinglot.
Pray when you're driving downthe street and you want to cut
somebody off and cuss them out.
Pray in the name of Jesus.
Y'all don't hear me today.
He said, I want a wholelifestyle of prayer.
Daniel prayed three times a day.
And look at all that God showedhim about the end times.
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1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, Praywithout ceasing.
And that phrase, praying withoutceasing, is someone that has an
intermittent cough.
It's like they have a cold andthey can't stop coughing.
Paul says, imagine yourselfgetting a cold or a bad cough.
And as often as you cough,that's how often you ought to
pray.
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We ought to pray at all times.
And let me help somebody.
When you share the gospel andyou're talking to somebody,
particularly when somebody openstheir life to you, you can
always ask them, can I pray foryou?
That's that's good evangelismright there.
Can I just pray for you?
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Because here's the real issue.
Sometimes folk got to see Godfor themselves.
I know what God did in yourlife, but he ain't done that in
my life yet.
And if God has done that foryou, can we trust God to do the
same for somebody else?
So sometimes when people opentheir lives and they come to us,
which says something about yourlife, when people tell you
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something that they share andthey're a little bit ashamed of,
they say they trust you.
That you've already got somecapital that God's been working,
that plea in our hearts.
He's building the case.
The case has convinced them thisis somebody I can talk to.
You can always ask to pray forthem.
And here's what I discover whenyou start praying for folk.
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When you pray for folk, youdiscover what you thought you
knew about them, you reallydidn't know.
See, sometimes the reason whyGod doesn't move fast, because
God wants us to learn them.
Why?
Because God wants us to lovethem the way they need to be
loved, not the way we want.
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Y'all don't hear me today.
See, a lot of times we wantthese quick conversions because
it's more about us than it isthem.
But God uses prayer to change usso that we pray for them the
right way.
Devote yourselves to prayer.
Other thing he says aboutprayer, you gotta be watchful.
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Another translation says, bealert.
The word picture here is that ofa security guard on post.
Be watchful, be on alert.
Because how many of y'all knowthe minute you start praying for
somebody's salvation, thedevil's gonna show up?
And hear me well on this.
The moment we decide to rep ourfaith for God, the moment we
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want people to trust Christ byfaith, we're declaring war on
Satan's kingdom.
I'm gonna say this again (20:03):
the devil is not interested in
Christians that pose no threatto their kingdom.
I'm gonna say this again.
Because a lot of Christians talkabout what the devil is doing.
No, that's just your mess.
But if you never do anything forjustice, you never do anything
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for righteousness, you never doanything for evangelism, you
never do anything for ministryor outreach, the devil is not
interested in anyone that's nota threat to his kingdom.
And a whole lot of Christiansthat's claiming the devil is on
their case.
No, that's just you on your owncase.
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But the moment you startinfluencing people for the
gospel, the moment you starttransferring soldiers from the
kingdom of darkness into thekingdom of light, does anybody
know the devil said, wait aminute, you done started
something up in him.
And messing with Satan'ssubjects is like messing with a
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black man's money.
You mess with my money, baby,you won't have a fight on your
hands.
Tell your neighbor, be alert, bealert.
When we pray, we're doingserious battle and serious
spiritual warfare.
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And we must be aware.
And the moment God opens a door,you better believe me, the devil
is gonna do everything in hispower to close it.
Don't be surprised if things gosouth in their life.
I've seen it too often.
Seriously.
The moment you pray about them,the moment they start asking
questions about Jesus and theword and the church, it's
amazing the stuff that justfalls apart in their lives.
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Doubt begins to creep in, andthey begin to question whether
God is real.
That's because you're dealingwith serious spiritual warfare.
See, some of us don't understandthe devil.
The devil will give youblessing, car, everything you
want if he knows he can get youin hell after you die.
He'll give you whatever youwant.
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As long as you don't mentionJesus.
Tell your neighbor, I'm here forJesus, baby.
We're gonna make a stand forJesus.
So, number one, B, we gottapray.
We gotta pray.
Stop praying.
Number two, don't forget wisdom.
Don't forget wisdom.
If God's gonna open the door, wemust be wise with our words.
Our approach and way of life.
Listen to what Paul says.
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Pray that I may proclaim itclearly.
Pray that I may proclaim itclearly.
As I should.
Be wise in the way you acttoward outside of.
In other words, Paul said, Look,I gotta think about how I say
it.
Now, Peter says Paul's letterssometimes can be confusing.
I said, Amen.
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Because Paul can be so profoundand deep, he don't even know
what he's talking about.
And here, Paul says, I gottapray that God keeps me down to
the simple stuff.
And sometimes, y'all, wecomplicate it, make it more
difficult than it needs to be.
We think we gotta know all thistheology, we gotta know all this
Greek and all this Hebrew.
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No, no.
Folk just wanna know, is Godreal?
And how do you know God is real?
Can I give you one for free?
Folk are afraid.
They're afraid.
I I was I was getting a uh aservice, a service for someone
uh this week, and and it blew meaway.
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Because usually when you go signup for a service, you gotta talk
to a customer service rep, theygotta sit down with you with an
iPad.
It's gonna take 20, 30 minutes.
It's just a hat, it's just ahassle.
I talked to an AI customerservice rep.
And they had that thing sold tome in seven minutes.
AI took somebody's job.
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You don't think people are notafraid?
People are afraid, y'all.
And and I'm gonna say it again,Shay, you bless me with that
song.
Folk need to know who still gotthe power.
He's the king of kings and thelord of lords.
See, I needed that.
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Because you look at what's goingon in the world, makes you
wonder now who got the power.
But but see, I got remindedtoday.
No, God still got the power.
It may look like somebody elsegot the power, but make no
mistake, he's still on thethrone, he got the power.
It looks like it's headed south,it looks like motherfuckers got
in control, but don't get ittwisted.
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He still got the power.
He raised Jesus from the dead,he still has the power.
Here it is.
Here it is, here it is.
Some people, some people areemboldened, and sometimes you're
gonna need some discernment aswhen to speak and when not to
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speak.
That's a tough one.
No, that's a tough one becausesometimes you can speak and you
can push them away forever.
Am I right about it?
But sometimes God won't let yourest.
I wish I had a witness on that.
He likes, I'm not gonna let yourest on this until you tell that
person that this is gonnahappen.
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And the question is, how do youspeak in a situation where
they're emboldened?
You don't want to run them away,but at the same time, you don't
want to be so passive and missan opportunity.
And the Lord brought back tomind a way we can know it.
And and it really goes back towhen my oldest son, he was about
four years old.
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And my wife had me take him tothe doctor.
And I'm still mad at her to thisday about it.
Because she didn't tell me I wastaking him to the doctor to get
some shots.
Tell your neighbor, that'swrong.
That's wrong.
Tell your neighbor, they tellyou to take him to the doctor,
and they're four years old, youbetter ask him, is it for shots?
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Is it for shots?
So I took him to the doctor toget shots.
Doctor said he got to get therest of his shots.
I said, You finna do it now?
He said, Yeah.
I said, Oh Lord.
So I held on to T.
And he's holding on to me.
He just glad his dad holding on,he got a big old smile.
But when he popped that needlein his arm, he screamed in
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horror.
But then he looked at me.
Oh my God.
I can still see his face.
He looked at me with the face ofbetrayal.
Why are you letting him do thisto me?
And my heart just broke it to athousand pieces.
And see, you know what I did,y'all?
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I just held him tighter.
I just held him tighter, Shay.
I held him tighter.
He kept on screaming.
And I held him tighter.
But the third time I grabbed himtighter, guess what?
He started grabbing me tighter.
He realized daddy ain't tryingto hurt me.
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But my father's trying to helpme.
Has anybody ever been there?
You thought God was telling youa lot?
But God held you tighter.
He held you closer.
And you discover God's trying tohurt you.
He was trying to help you.
That's what you're doing.
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You got a whole bunch of them.
Baby, I ain't trying to killyou.
But I'm trying to save you.
Let me get this thing out ofhere.
Last one, watch yourconversation.
Watch the conversation.
Let your conversation always befull of what?
What?
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What?
Say it again.
Tell your neighbor what?
Now, neighbor, tell them.
Not hot chili peppers.
And Paul makes sure you don'tmiss it.
Season with salt.
Not peppers.
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Gotta make it pleasant.
Use good flavors in yourconversation.
And not just with outsiders ornon-people of faith, but with
all people.
Give them grace.
What does this mean?
Listen to them before youanswer.
And give a good listen.
Even if you disagree.
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Give them respect and thedignity they deserve as human
beings, even though yourconvictions are against where
they stand.
God's not telling us tocompromise our convictions,
y'all.
But you can still leave theirdignity intact.
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What is this book called?
Radical Candor, and she talksabout radical candor.
Radical candor is being able totell the brutal truth without
brutalizing them.
That's the challenge ofChristianity today.
We gotta be honest and tell thetruth without bludgeting and
without condemning people, butletting them know that God is
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real and God loves you, but thisis where He stands.
Truth without condemnation.
Grace filled conversation,courteous, patient, encouraging,
truthful.
A lot of salt.
Well, not too much salt.
You get high blood pressure, sobe careful.
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But make an appeal.
Watch our conversation.
My point is, y'all, it's thelong haul.
It's a process.
Let me close with this and I'mdone.
Let me close this thing out.
And so we're gonna rep our faiththe right way.
We gotta be in for the longhaul.
And I read one book and Ithought he nailed it in terms of
what he was trying to say aboutthe long haul.
And he was talking about theprocess of conversion or
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transformation.
And there are individuals thathave used different images
trying to help us understand howthis whole process works when
we're building relationships forconversion.
One image was used of likefrying an egg.
You know, you crack the egg andscramble it up, throw it in the
skillet and fry it.
That's quick.
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And so that's the old way.
And basically, what the authorwas talking about, that's a way
that's gonna be completelydiscarded.
You just can't do it that way.
That may have worked a hundredyears ago, that never will work
today.
What may have worked in my timewas how coffee is brewed.
It's in the hot water, you gottaget some heat in there.
But you let it set over time andyou sit with it.
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And if you let it brew, it getsa good flavor to it.
And that that might be the way,but even that's getting a little
old because it's it's it doesn'tfit our time because that's kind
of quick.
This recent one, he said, no,it's like cooking stew in a
Dutch oven.
Any cooks in the house?
Anybody know what a Dutch ovenis?
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Kind of like a crock pot, right?
When you cook with a Dutch oven,you ain't trying to cook
something in five minutes.
No, you you're gonna cook it forabout five hours.
Now, now here's what Idiscovered about a Dutch oven.
They say Dutch ovens arewonderful for cooking stews and
pot roasts, it gets it realtender.
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They say the problem is though,if you cook it with a Dutch oven
and you walk away from it forabout 15 minutes, you're gonna
burn up what's in the pot.
But now, if you want to makesure the meal comes out
perfectly, you gotta constantlystir it.
You gotta constantly keep yourhand on it.
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You can't step away for longerthan five or ten minutes.
Can't run over and watch alittle TV or run around the
block or run this or run to thestore.
No, you gotta constantly stir itfor five hours.
You gotta sacrifice your timeand stir it.
But now, if you just keep onstirring it and you don't let it
stick to the bottom and youdon't let it burn up, it will
(32:10):
come out the best tasting stew.
What are you trying to say,Pastor?
If you just constantly give itattention, if you're constantly
available to it and you'repatient with it, it will come
out and taste just fine.
Does anybody know that's how Godworked on your life?
(32:30):
Oh, you ain't always been aChristian.
But when you started thisjourney, God just slowly was
through in your life.
And he just slowly stirred yourlife.
And though there were times youshould have burned up, God kept
on stirring.
He kept on stirring.
Because he believed that theimpact was better than the
(32:52):
moment that you were goingthrough.
And because he was patient andavailable to you, he brought you
in the salvation.
And if God has done that for us,shouldn't we do that for other
people?
Does anybody know we son of agood God?
Does anybody know we son of amerciful God?
Hallelujah to his glorious name.
(33:15):
We have a great salvation.
His grace is tremendous.
He walks with me and talks withme.
He's stirring my life everysingle day.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah to his name.
Let's pray, y'all.
(33:36):
Father, we bless you and thankyou so much for who you are and
for all that you say and do.
And Lord, we want to rep ourfaith right.
I'm glad that we got theset-shirts on.
We're wrapping our faith inhere.
But Lord, I hope that we allunderstand from the pulpit to
(34:01):
the pew, including myself, thisis practice for what you have
planned when we leave here.
So many people are afraid.
So many people, Lord, want toknow if you're real.
And so many doors, I believe,Lord, that you're opening,
(34:22):
you're awakening people.
God, give us the spiritualdiscernment, the wisdom to know
that we can rep our faith.
First and foremost, thank youfor every Christian here today
that's already doing this.
(34:43):
And I know there are many herethat pray and use wisdom and
look for opportunities to sharethe gospel.
Pray, Lord, that you wouldcontinue to honor those
requests.
Pray, Lord, you would open thosedoors.
We all can share the gospel.
But then, oh God, you don't justwant a few.
You want all of us to rep ourfaith.
(35:04):
Because the truth is, Lord, weall got a story.
How you stirred our lives, keptus from burning up, kept us from
sticking, and you still keepworking in our lives.
May that story resonate withsomebody else.
May it land for others.
(35:26):
They too may be reconciled toGod through Jesus Christ.
Have your way this day.
Jesus' name.
Amen.
Let's prepare our hearts forGod.
Verse 20.
If we can get it on the screenand say it together, let's read.
Here we go.
We are therefore Christ'sambassadors.
As though God were making hisappeal through us.
We implore you on Christ'sbehalf.
Be reconciled to God.
(00:20):
Amen.
I like that.
Amen.
For our three day, I want tolook at Colossians chapter 4,
verses 2 through 6.
And here's what it says.
Devote yourselves to prayer.
(00:43):
Being watchful and thankful.
And pray for us too.
That God may open the door, say,open the door.
That God may open the door forour message so that we may
proclaim the ministry of Christfor which I am in chain.
Pray that I may proclaim itclearly as I should.
(01:07):
Paul said, I need clarity when Iproclaim it.
Alrighty.
Be wise in the way you aretoward outsiders, that's people
of non-faith.
Make the most of everyopportunity.
Let your conversation always befull of grace.
I can preach that right there,huh?
(01:30):
Season with salt.
Tell your neighbor, not pepper,salt, salt.
So that you may know how toanswer everyone.
So much here to preach.
I can't get to all of it.
We're gonna talk about it alittle bit, but I'm gonna talk
about repping our faith, asimple approach.
Repping our faith.
A simple approach.
(01:52):
I've been blessed to havenumerous individuals influence
me on my faith journey.
Though I grew up in church, agood old traditional Baptist
church, God was gracious enoughto put the right people in my
path and help me get to theplace where I am in terms of my
faith.
(02:12):
One person I never told you allabout, but had a significant
influence on my life is a man bythe name of Ross Strang.
Ross is someone I'll neverforget, and maybe one of the
kindest individuals I've evermet.
And he really influenced me withhis story of faith.
He did not grow up in church, hedid not have a spiritual
(02:35):
heritage in his family.
He did not have a love forreligion.
Matter of fact, he would say hewas a classic atheist.
Wasn't mad at anybody in termsof faith, but he said, just
leave me alone.
I won't bother you, don't botherme.
Let me live my life on my ownterms.
(02:57):
Saw nothing in life that wouldconvince him to believe that God
was real.
Stated emphatically to his wifewho attended church, you can go
to church all you want, justdon't invite me.
How many of y'all know God canflip that script real quick?
He says he found himself one daythrough a series of events
(03:20):
sitting in church and hearingthe gospel for the first time.
He said, for the first time, themessage of the gospel of
Christianity made sense to him.
He said he did not commit toChrist that day, but months
later he would commit his lifeto Jesus Christ.
But it's what happened later toRoss that really influenced my
(03:42):
life and my faith.
He talked about what happened tohim after he converted.
He said the Sunday after heconverted to Christianity, a man
showed up at his house on aTuesday night at 7 p.m.
And the man was there to teachhim about the basics of the
faith.
Wanted to teach him what itmeant to be a Christian, who
(04:05):
this Jesus was that he decidedto follow, and what kind of
practices that he had to beginto take on to truly be a
follower of Christ.
It's not that he showed up thisTuesday after he was converted.
He said, but every Tuesday forone year, this man showed up.
(04:30):
And he said, with patience andwith availability, he taught him
the things of faith.
And he said, this man'scommitment to the process, his
time, his patience, formed himinto the person of faith he
would become.
(04:57):
As I even share that, those arethe two words that stand out to
me in this story.
This whole evangelizer, thisenterprise that we call
evangelism.
Availability and patience.
I believe God can convert aperson in an instant.
But y'all, we live in a daywhere people are here for the
(05:18):
long haul.
I don't have anything againstGod.
God can do whatever He wants todo.
Amen.
He can convert people how hewants to convert, but
Christianity is a relationship.
It's a relationship withAlmighty God.
And many times we do all right,but it's that horizontal piece
that gives power andauthenticity to the third to the
(05:42):
vertical piece.
And we have to be a people thatare available and patient when
we rep our faith.
And all we have to do is thinkabout how God has dealt with us.
Anybody here know that God'sbeen patient with you?
I'm just asking the question.
Has God ever been available toyou?
(06:03):
Then surely we ought to do thesame for others.
That's kind of what I think Paulis conveying here in the text
when he talks about this doorthat he's looking to be open.
Not saying how smart you are orhow eloquent you are with your
words.
I think he's simply saying thatas people of God, when we rep
(06:25):
our faith, we have to learn tobe available.
We gotta learn to be a patience.
Those are the two pillars that'sgonna help people to see the
faith.
Matter of fact, here's my thesisstatement at the forefront.
God is already doing a work inus and for us when we rep our
faith.
In other words, if we wouldsimply be available to people,
(06:46):
if we would simply exercise somepatience in the way God is
patient with us.
Isn't it amazing how we forgethow God has been patient with us
when it comes to dealing withother folk?
You're talking to the parents.
Now you're impatient with thosekids.
Somebody was patient with younow, amen.
Pastor, you didn't have to saythat.
Yes, I did.
(07:07):
We gotta remember God waspatient with us, He's still
patient with us.
And if we would be patient withothers and we would be
available, God would do a workin us and for us.
He'll do what you and I couldnever do.
You don't have the power to saveanybody, nor do I.
But if we're available, doesanybody know God can open a
(07:29):
door?
That's what he does.
He works through us and for us.
A meditation text shows us howGod works through us.
He says we are ambassadors forChrist as though God were making
an appeal through us.
We kind of understand what anambassador is.
An ambassador reps his homecountry to another country.
(07:53):
And what that ambassador does,he he makes a case for those
interests and those issues thatare important to his people.
And hopefully, in making thecase, he can build a bridge
where the two nations can have adifferent diplomatic relations.
And in the same way, that's whatPaul says, that that God, he's
(08:15):
the one working through us.
He's building a case through us.
We're not even aware of it.
God's working in us, making acase for the gospel to be
reconciled to him.
And understand when he's talkingabout making this case, I don't
think he's talking about thatlogical case or that apologetic
case.
(08:36):
And surely there are times thatwe ought to be able to
articulate and lay out andstipulate exactly where we stand
when it comes to Jesus.
But I don't think that's whathe's talking about right here
when he says make a case.
I think he's talking about thelanguage of divinity that cannot
be articulated with humanvocabulary.
(08:56):
In other words, that God usesour lives as a platform for the
power of the gospel.
In other words, many times youdon't even have to say a word,
and folk will look at your lifeand they'll see what you've been
through.
And yet somehow you show up towork or you show up at the
reunion, and you still got asmile on your face, you still
(09:19):
got a pep in your step, youstill got joy and hope for the
future.
And quietly in their mind, themasking the question what is
their secret?
See, that's God using divinelanguage through your life that
cannot be communicated withhuman vocabulary.
(09:39):
But everybody knows that God isdoing something in your life.
Oh, I wish I had a witnesstoday.
If I could just testify what Godhas done in my life.
Because folk ain't interested ina mid-tribulation period
position in your eschatology.
They want to know, does God carefor me?
(10:04):
They want to know, is God real?
Does God understand what I'mgoing through?
So, on the one hand, that's whatPaul is talking about, God works
through us.
When God brings you throughsomething, sometimes all you
gotta do is share your story.
Sometimes just let your storyflow.
(10:25):
And that's how God works throughus.
But also, our text shows us howGod works for us.
Old folks say God can open doorsthat no man can close, God can
close doors that no man can openas well.
And in a sense, that's whatPaul's talking about when he
asked for that open door in thistext.
Just as then today, culturally,people were close to the gospel.
(10:51):
And just like then and today,God has to supernaturally open a
door that people will hear thegospel.
And we know that people areclosed to Christianity today.
People are close to the churchand all that the church
represents.
But there's another element herethat many times we miss as
(11:12):
Christians.
And I think sometimes wemisunderstand when it comes to
the gospel.
Not only is there a sense thatGod has to open the door
culturally, but understand Godhas to open the door
theologically.
In other words, you have tounderstand, and I have to
understand the heartbeat of thegospel.
Paul said it like this we weredead in trespasses and sin.
(11:36):
What does that mean?
That means that it's not justthat God could save me, but God
had to awaken me to put me inthe position to be able to
respond to salvation.
That I was so far from God thatI was spiritually dead,
incapable, unable to respond tothe very voice of God.
(12:00):
And so a very good picture ofthis is when God breathed on
Adam in Genesis chapter 2.
All he was was a hunk of clay,y'all.
He couldn't think, he couldn'tfeel, he couldn't respond to
God.
But God got close to him.
Y'all don't hear me today.
Got close enough and justexhale.
And if God exhale, Adam inhale,and became a living soul.
(12:25):
Oh, that's my story, y'all.
I don't know what he's havingtogether, y'all.
Matter of fact, I ain't got ittogether right now.
But God just came close to me.
And he happened to exhale on meand breathe salvation into my
(12:46):
life.
Tell your neighbor, salvation isa miracle, y'all.
Not only that God just saved us,but he enabled us to believe the
gospel.
Tell your neighbor, that's amiracle.
Because a lot of Christians getthis wrong.
We think, well, I'm a prettygood person.
(13:07):
That's not enough.
A lot of good persons ain'tgoing to heaven.
A lot of good people.
Well, Pastor, I grew up inchurch.
That's not enough.
Lot of folk grew up in church,they ain't going to heaven.
Well, well, Pastor, I've been aChristian all my life.
(13:27):
First of all, that's impossible.
I wish I had a witness.
Because if you know the gospel,you can't be a Christian all
your life.
At some point, God's gottabreathe life on you and bring
you into the kingdom.
You won't even fake your wholebody.
(13:52):
The only reason why I'm saying,because God got close to me and
exhale and I inhale thesalvation winds of the Holy
Ghost.
And I was born again and madebrand new.
My point is, we gotta understandwe're not good enough.
(14:13):
And if God had to open a doorfor us, how many of y'all know
He gotta do it for everybodyelse?
See, that's why Jeremiahdeclared that the heart of man
is desperately wicked, who canknow it?
Genesis 8 says the intention ofman's heart is evil from his
youth.
And Romans 3 says it like thisthere's no one who is righteous.
(14:33):
No, not one.
There is no one who understands,there's no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they havetogether become worthless.
There is no one who does good,not even one.
I don't care if you've never hada jaywalking ticket, I don't
care if you've never even killeda fly.
(14:56):
We all stand guilty before aholy and righteous God.
We're all morally bankrupt.
Save the blood of Jesus Christand the power and gracious work
of the Holy Ghost that gave melife.
We're all condemned to eternaldamnation.
(15:16):
And we, we, we are here becauseGod opened the door, y'all.
It's the only reason why wepraise him, it's the only reason
why we give thanks and worshiphim, because God has opened our
eyes, God has opened our ears sothat we can hear his voice.
And because of that, we worshiphim.
(15:40):
R.C.
Sprobe may have said it thebest.
If you don't know the depth ofyour sin and how lost you are,
you can't even appreciate thegreatness of grace.
Because God has been good to us.
I didn't get here because I wasgood, y'all.
Didn't get here because I wassmart, didn't get here because
of the letters behind my name.
I didn't get here because I wasborn in the right or the wrong
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family or the right or wrongside of tracks.
I'm not here because ofpolitics, I'm not here because I
got good theology.
I'm here because God is good.
And if we're gonna rep ourfaith, we've got to make sure
they get the whole story.
We gotta get off our religioushot horse and let folk know hey,
(16:26):
I'm in the same boat with you.
Save the wonderful grace of God.
Let me give you these three andget on out your way.
So, what's a simple approach torepping our faith?
Number one, it's simple, it'sright in the text.
Start with prayer.
He says it right there (16:40):
devote yourselves to prayer.
If God's gonna open the door,how many of y'all know we gotta
pray?
We gotta pray that God will openthat door.
And here he's talking aboutprayer in terms of as a way of
life.
Don't just do it every now andthen.
Don't do it because we're inchurch on Sunday morning.
(17:03):
Pray when you hit the parkinglot.
Pray when you're driving downthe street and you want to cut
somebody off and cuss them out.
Pray in the name of Jesus.
Y'all don't hear me today.
He said, I want a wholelifestyle of prayer.
Daniel prayed three times a day.
And look at all that God showedhim about the end times.
(17:27):
1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, Praywithout ceasing.
And that phrase, praying withoutceasing, is someone that has an
intermittent cough.
It's like they have a cold andthey can't stop coughing.
Paul says, imagine yourselfgetting a cold or a bad cough.
And as often as you cough,that's how often you ought to
pray.
(17:47):
We ought to pray at all times.
And let me help somebody.
When you share the gospel andyou're talking to somebody,
particularly when somebody openstheir life to you, you can
always ask them, can I pray foryou?
That's that's good evangelismright there.
Can I just pray for you?
(18:08):
Because here's the real issue.
Sometimes folk got to see Godfor themselves.
I know what God did in yourlife, but he ain't done that in
my life yet.
And if God has done that foryou, can we trust God to do the
same for somebody else?
So sometimes when people opentheir lives and they come to us,
which says something about yourlife, when people tell you
(18:29):
something that they share andthey're a little bit ashamed of,
they say they trust you.
That you've already got somecapital that God's been working,
that plea in our hearts.
He's building the case.
The case has convinced them thisis somebody I can talk to.
You can always ask to pray forthem.
And here's what I discover whenyou start praying for folk.
(18:51):
When you pray for folk, youdiscover what you thought you
knew about them, you reallydidn't know.
See, sometimes the reason whyGod doesn't move fast, because
God wants us to learn them.
Why?
Because God wants us to lovethem the way they need to be
loved, not the way we want.
(19:12):
Y'all don't hear me today.
See, a lot of times we wantthese quick conversions because
it's more about us than it isthem.
But God uses prayer to change usso that we pray for them the
right way.
Devote yourselves to prayer.
Other thing he says aboutprayer, you gotta be watchful.
(19:33):
Another translation says, bealert.
The word picture here is that ofa security guard on post.
Be watchful, be on alert.
Because how many of y'all knowthe minute you start praying for
somebody's salvation, thedevil's gonna show up?
And hear me well on this.
The moment we decide to rep ourfaith for God, the moment we
(19:56):
want people to trust Christ byfaith, we're declaring war on
Satan's kingdom.
I'm gonna say this again (20:03):
the devil is not interested in
Christians that pose no threatto their kingdom.
I'm gonna say this again.
Because a lot of Christians talkabout what the devil is doing.
No, that's just your mess.
But if you never do anything forjustice, you never do anything
(20:24):
for righteousness, you never doanything for evangelism, you
never do anything for ministryor outreach, the devil is not
interested in anyone that's nota threat to his kingdom.
And a whole lot of Christiansthat's claiming the devil is on
their case.
No, that's just you on your owncase.
(20:44):
But the moment you startinfluencing people for the
gospel, the moment you starttransferring soldiers from the
kingdom of darkness into thekingdom of light, does anybody
know the devil said, wait aminute, you done started
something up in him.
And messing with Satan'ssubjects is like messing with a
(21:05):
black man's money.
You mess with my money, baby,you won't have a fight on your
hands.
Tell your neighbor, be alert, bealert.
When we pray, we're doingserious battle and serious
spiritual warfare.
(21:26):
And we must be aware.
And the moment God opens a door,you better believe me, the devil
is gonna do everything in hispower to close it.
Don't be surprised if things gosouth in their life.
I've seen it too often.
Seriously.
The moment you pray about them,the moment they start asking
questions about Jesus and theword and the church, it's
amazing the stuff that justfalls apart in their lives.
(21:50):
Doubt begins to creep in, andthey begin to question whether
God is real.
That's because you're dealingwith serious spiritual warfare.
See, some of us don't understandthe devil.
The devil will give youblessing, car, everything you
want if he knows he can get youin hell after you die.
He'll give you whatever youwant.
(22:12):
As long as you don't mentionJesus.
Tell your neighbor, I'm here forJesus, baby.
We're gonna make a stand forJesus.
So, number one, B, we gottapray.
We gotta pray.
Stop praying.
Number two, don't forget wisdom.
Don't forget wisdom.
If God's gonna open the door, wemust be wise with our words.
Our approach and way of life.
Listen to what Paul says.
(22:33):
Pray that I may proclaim itclearly.
Pray that I may proclaim itclearly.
As I should.
Be wise in the way you acttoward outside of.
In other words, Paul said, Look,I gotta think about how I say
it.
Now, Peter says Paul's letterssometimes can be confusing.
I said, Amen.
(22:55):
Because Paul can be so profoundand deep, he don't even know
what he's talking about.
And here, Paul says, I gottapray that God keeps me down to
the simple stuff.
And sometimes, y'all, wecomplicate it, make it more
difficult than it needs to be.
We think we gotta know all thistheology, we gotta know all this
Greek and all this Hebrew.
(23:16):
No, no.
Folk just wanna know, is Godreal?
And how do you know God is real?
Can I give you one for free?
Folk are afraid.
They're afraid.
I I was I was getting a uh aservice, a service for someone
uh this week, and and it blew meaway.
(23:39):
Because usually when you go signup for a service, you gotta talk
to a customer service rep, theygotta sit down with you with an
iPad.
It's gonna take 20, 30 minutes.
It's just a hat, it's just ahassle.
I talked to an AI customerservice rep.
And they had that thing sold tome in seven minutes.
AI took somebody's job.
(24:02):
You don't think people are notafraid?
People are afraid, y'all.
And and I'm gonna say it again,Shay, you bless me with that
song.
Folk need to know who still gotthe power.
He's the king of kings and thelord of lords.
See, I needed that.
(24:23):
Because you look at what's goingon in the world, makes you
wonder now who got the power.
But but see, I got remindedtoday.
No, God still got the power.
It may look like somebody elsegot the power, but make no
mistake, he's still on thethrone, he got the power.
It looks like it's headed south,it looks like motherfuckers got
in control, but don't get ittwisted.
(24:43):
He still got the power.
He raised Jesus from the dead,he still has the power.
Here it is.
Here it is, here it is.
Some people, some people areemboldened, and sometimes you're
gonna need some discernment aswhen to speak and when not to
(25:05):
speak.
That's a tough one.
No, that's a tough one becausesometimes you can speak and you
can push them away forever.
Am I right about it?
But sometimes God won't let yourest.
I wish I had a witness on that.
He likes, I'm not gonna let yourest on this until you tell that
person that this is gonnahappen.
(25:26):
And the question is, how do youspeak in a situation where
they're emboldened?
You don't want to run them away,but at the same time, you don't
want to be so passive and missan opportunity.
And the Lord brought back tomind a way we can know it.
And and it really goes back towhen my oldest son, he was about
four years old.
(25:47):
And my wife had me take him tothe doctor.
And I'm still mad at her to thisday about it.
Because she didn't tell me I wastaking him to the doctor to get
some shots.
Tell your neighbor, that'swrong.
That's wrong.
Tell your neighbor, they tellyou to take him to the doctor,
and they're four years old, youbetter ask him, is it for shots?
(26:07):
Is it for shots?
So I took him to the doctor toget shots.
Doctor said he got to get therest of his shots.
I said, You finna do it now?
He said, Yeah.
I said, Oh Lord.
So I held on to T.
And he's holding on to me.
He just glad his dad holding on,he got a big old smile.
But when he popped that needlein his arm, he screamed in
(26:29):
horror.
But then he looked at me.
Oh my God.
I can still see his face.
He looked at me with the face ofbetrayal.
Why are you letting him do thisto me?
And my heart just broke it to athousand pieces.
And see, you know what I did,y'all?
(26:50):
I just held him tighter.
I just held him tighter, Shay.
I held him tighter.
He kept on screaming.
And I held him tighter.
But the third time I grabbed himtighter, guess what?
He started grabbing me tighter.
He realized daddy ain't tryingto hurt me.
(27:11):
But my father's trying to helpme.
Has anybody ever been there?
You thought God was telling youa lot?
But God held you tighter.
He held you closer.
And you discover God's trying tohurt you.
He was trying to help you.
That's what you're doing.
(27:32):
You got a whole bunch of them.
Baby, I ain't trying to killyou.
But I'm trying to save you.
Let me get this thing out ofhere.
Last one, watch yourconversation.
Watch the conversation.
Let your conversation always befull of what?
What?
(27:53):
What?
Say it again.
Tell your neighbor what?
Now, neighbor, tell them.
Not hot chili peppers.
And Paul makes sure you don'tmiss it.
Season with salt.
Not peppers.
(28:13):
Gotta make it pleasant.
Use good flavors in yourconversation.
And not just with outsiders ornon-people of faith, but with
all people.
Give them grace.
What does this mean?
Listen to them before youanswer.
And give a good listen.
Even if you disagree.
(28:34):
Give them respect and thedignity they deserve as human
beings, even though yourconvictions are against where
they stand.
God's not telling us tocompromise our convictions,
y'all.
But you can still leave theirdignity intact.
(28:56):
What is this book called?
Radical Candor, and she talksabout radical candor.
Radical candor is being able totell the brutal truth without
brutalizing them.
That's the challenge ofChristianity today.
We gotta be honest and tell thetruth without bludgeting and
without condemning people, butletting them know that God is
(29:19):
real and God loves you, but thisis where He stands.
Truth without condemnation.
Grace filled conversation,courteous, patient, encouraging,
truthful.
A lot of salt.
Well, not too much salt.
You get high blood pressure, sobe careful.
(29:41):
But make an appeal.
Watch our conversation.
My point is, y'all, it's thelong haul.
It's a process.
Let me close with this and I'mdone.
Let me close this thing out.
And so we're gonna rep our faiththe right way.
We gotta be in for the longhaul.
And I read one book and Ithought he nailed it in terms of
what he was trying to say aboutthe long haul.
And he was talking about theprocess of conversion or
(30:03):
transformation.
And there are individuals thathave used different images
trying to help us understand howthis whole process works when
we're building relationships forconversion.
One image was used of likefrying an egg.
You know, you crack the egg andscramble it up, throw it in the
skillet and fry it.
That's quick.
(30:23):
And so that's the old way.
And basically, what the authorwas talking about, that's a way
that's gonna be completelydiscarded.
You just can't do it that way.
That may have worked a hundredyears ago, that never will work
today.
What may have worked in my timewas how coffee is brewed.
It's in the hot water, you gottaget some heat in there.
But you let it set over time andyou sit with it.
(30:43):
And if you let it brew, it getsa good flavor to it.
And that that might be the way,but even that's getting a little
old because it's it's it doesn'tfit our time because that's kind
of quick.
This recent one, he said, no,it's like cooking stew in a
Dutch oven.
Any cooks in the house?
Anybody know what a Dutch ovenis?
(31:05):
Kind of like a crock pot, right?
When you cook with a Dutch oven,you ain't trying to cook
something in five minutes.
No, you you're gonna cook it forabout five hours.
Now, now here's what Idiscovered about a Dutch oven.
They say Dutch ovens arewonderful for cooking stews and
pot roasts, it gets it realtender.
(31:25):
They say the problem is though,if you cook it with a Dutch oven
and you walk away from it forabout 15 minutes, you're gonna
burn up what's in the pot.
But now, if you want to makesure the meal comes out
perfectly, you gotta constantlystir it.
You gotta constantly keep yourhand on it.
(31:46):
You can't step away for longerthan five or ten minutes.
Can't run over and watch alittle TV or run around the
block or run this or run to thestore.
No, you gotta constantly stir itfor five hours.
You gotta sacrifice your timeand stir it.
But now, if you just keep onstirring it and you don't let it
stick to the bottom and youdon't let it burn up, it will
(32:10):
come out the best tasting stew.
What are you trying to say,Pastor?
If you just constantly give itattention, if you're constantly
available to it and you'repatient with it, it will come
out and taste just fine.
Does anybody know that's how Godworked on your life?
(32:30):
Oh, you ain't always been aChristian.
But when you started thisjourney, God just slowly was
through in your life.
And he just slowly stirred yourlife.
And though there were times youshould have burned up, God kept
on stirring.
He kept on stirring.
Because he believed that theimpact was better than the
(32:52):
moment that you were goingthrough.
And because he was patient andavailable to you, he brought you
in the salvation.
And if God has done that for us,shouldn't we do that for other
people?
Does anybody know we son of agood God?
Does anybody know we son of amerciful God?
Hallelujah to his glorious name.
(33:15):
We have a great salvation.
His grace is tremendous.
He walks with me and talks withme.
He's stirring my life everysingle day.
Hallelujah.
Hallelujah to his name.
Let's pray, y'all.
(33:36):
Father, we bless you and thankyou so much for who you are and
for all that you say and do.
And Lord, we want to rep ourfaith right.
I'm glad that we got theset-shirts on.
We're wrapping our faith inhere.
But Lord, I hope that we allunderstand from the pulpit to
(34:01):
the pew, including myself, thisis practice for what you have
planned when we leave here.
So many people are afraid.
So many people, Lord, want toknow if you're real.
And so many doors, I believe,Lord, that you're opening,
(34:22):
you're awakening people.
God, give us the spiritualdiscernment, the wisdom to know
that we can rep our faith.
First and foremost, thank youfor every Christian here today
that's already doing this.
(34:43):
And I know there are many herethat pray and use wisdom and
look for opportunities to sharethe gospel.
Pray, Lord, that you wouldcontinue to honor those
requests.
Pray, Lord, you would open thosedoors.
We all can share the gospel.
But then, oh God, you don't justwant a few.
You want all of us to rep ourfaith.
(35:04):
Because the truth is, Lord, weall got a story.
How you stirred our lives, keptus from burning up, kept us from
sticking, and you still keepworking in our lives.
May that story resonate withsomebody else.
May it land for others.
(35:26):
They too may be reconciled toGod through Jesus Christ.
Have your way this day.
Jesus' name.
Amen.
Let's prepare our hearts forGod.
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