The Danger of the ‘Solidifying’ Hand: A Gospel-Centric Approach to Evangelism

• The Transformation of Paul [00:27:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes Paul's journey from a 'religious terrorist' to a missionary who traveled 10,000-12,000 miles planting churches and was eventually beheaded for his faith.
• Opposition in the Christian Life [00:32:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor debunks the idea that Christianity guarantees an easy life, asserting that believers gain Satan as an enemy and should expect a 'bullseye' of opposition.
• Redemption of Waiting Seasons [00:34:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using Paul's two-year imprisonment as an example, the pastor argues that waiting seasons are never wasted because God can redeem them to produce significant ministry fruit.
• Practical Evangelism [00:31:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces Acts 25-26 as a practical model for sharing faith, comparing it to throwing a life jacket to someone drowning rather than explaining the Greek word for it.
• Waiting and Divine Redemption [00:34:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor addresses the pain of waiting for God (for a spouse, prodigal children) and uses Paul's imprisonment as an example of how God redeems 'wasted' seasons to produce lasting ministry.
• Practical Evangelism (The ABCs) [00:35:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces a practical method for sharing faith, starting with 'A' (Assume people are interested), contrasting human judgment of external appearances with the spiritual reality that God prepares hearts.
• Historical Context of Herod Agrippa II [00:38:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor details the family tree of Herod Agrippa II to highlight the improbability of Paul's audience, emphasizing that Paul assumed interest despite his family's history of killing Jesus' enemies.
• Assumption of Interest vs. External Judgment [00:40:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor confesses his own failure to assume interest based on external cues (the woman with the abortion sticker) and contrasts this with the theological concept of 'provenient grace' where the Holy Spirit prepares hearts beforehand.
• Assuming Spiritual Preparation [00:44:53 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues believers should assume the Holy Spirit has already prepared non-Christians for a divine encounter, citing the example of a pastor in Ghana whose Muslim father had a dream about Jesus.
• Building Bridges vs. Walls [00:46:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts building walls by focusing on disagreements (politics, media, sin) with building bridges by finding common ground, using Paul's strategy of relating to his persecutors.
• The Advantage of the Ordinary Believer [00:48:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asserts that laypeople have an advantage over professional clergy because their friends can relate to them and see themselves becoming Christians like them.
• Church Culture and Dress Code [00:54:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story about being judged for wearing work clothes to church, leading to a decision that the church should have a simple dress code: 'Just please wear something,' to remove barriers for lost people.
• Evangelism Strategy (First Downs vs. Touchdowns) [00:56:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor analyzes Paul's interaction with Agrippa to argue that evangelism is rarely instantaneous. He introduces the concept of 'converting first downs' rather than expecting every conversation to result in immediate salvation.
• The 'One More' Concept [00:59:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the church's strategy of identifying one person 'closest to you but farthest from God' and praying for them daily to soften their heart.
• Practical Steps for Spiritual Progression [01:00:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor outlines specific actions to move people from negative numbers toward faith: generous tips to change perceptions, public identification ('I'm on team Jesus'), sharing personal struggles, and inviting them to church for a clear gospel presentation.
• Evangelism and Spiritual Gifts [01:03:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between the general call for all Christians to share their faith and the specific spiritual gift of evangelism, noting that most believers are not 'awesome at closing the deal'.
• Fear and Anxiety in Sharing Faith [01:03:44 ▶️ 📄]
  > He addresses the common fear that others will ask difficult questions (like about dinosaurs) that the believer cannot answer, validating the response of admitting ignorance.
• Role Identity: Witness vs. Attorney [01:04:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > He corrects the misconception that believers must be 'prosecuting attorneys' with airtight defenses, clarifying from Acts 1 that their role is simply to be 'witnesses' who share what God has done in their lives.
• The Invitation Strategy [01:05:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > He explains that the believer's role is to make the awkward invitation to church, leaving the actual presentation of the gospel to the pastor or the service itself.
• The 'One More' Concept [01:06:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > He defines the best church service as the one where a person the believer has prayed for for years finally attends and responds to the gospel.

• Sermon Illustration [00:29:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells a humorous anecdote about an escalating theological war between two churches in Ohio (Catholic and Presbyterian) via their outdoor signs, debating whether dogs, animals, and rocks go to heaven.
• Sermon Illustration [00:32:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the movie 'Sicario' and explains its etymological origin from the 'Sicarii,' a group of Jewish dagger assassins who made a blood oath to kill the Apostle Paul.
• Sermon Illustration [00:41:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about sitting next to a woman on a Southwest flight who had an abortion sticker on her laptop and was reading an article about a pastor resigning due to sexual misconduct. He admits he lied about his job ('nonprofit') instead of sharing his faith, later realizing God positioned him there to challenge her misconceptions.
• Sermon Illustration [00:44:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a story of a girl at his church who commented that her non-Christian family members never went to church with their Christian friends because they felt they would be 'inviting themselves' and didn't want to be rude, illustrating how Christians forget what non-believers think.
• Sermon Illustration [00:44:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > A story about a family who didn't attend church because they felt they would be 'inviting themselves' without a direct invitation, illustrating how non-believers perceive church culture.
• Sermon Illustration [00:45:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The testimony of Mohammed Zibleem, a pastor in Ghana whose father was an Islamic imam, who had a dream of Jesus at age 15, illustrating God preparing hearts before missionaries arrive.
• Sermon Illustration [00:47:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > An analogy comparing evangelism to showering: you don't ask someone to wash their hands before they get in the shower; Jesus cleans them up, not the evangelist.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > A personal anecdote from the pastor's youth ministry in Kentucky, where he befriended a Papa John's employee with a rough appearance and drug history, inviting him to church. The employee missed the service because he was embarrassed to enter the church wearing his greasy work uniform after being criticized by a man in a suit.
• Sermon Illustration [00:54:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a story where he arrived at church in his Papa John's work uniform. A man in a suit stopped him, saying, 'We wear God's best into God's house.' The pastor felt convicted, wept in his car, and decided that his future church would have a simple dress code to welcome lost people exactly as they are.
• Sermon Illustration [00:56:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical account of Paul defending himself before King Agrippa. Despite Paul's clear testimony, Agrippa responds with sarcasm, asking if Paul thinks he can persuade him to be a Christian 'in such a short time,' illustrating that even the greatest evangelist doesn't always result in immediate conversion.
• Sermon Illustration [00:58:06 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a numerical analogy where everyone is at 'zero' upon salvation, and unsaved people are at negative numbers (e.g., -10). He argues that Christians should not try to move someone from -10 to 0 in one conversation, but rather take 'first downs' to gradually move them closer.
• Sermon Illustration [01:00:37 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a practical example of his own evangelism: leaving large tips for waitstaff to change their perception of Christians from 'stingy and jerks' to 'thoughtful and caring,' thereby moving them up the spiritual spectrum.
• Sermon Illustration [01:02:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes using 'Lake Point' stickers on his truck. He notes that people often ask about the sticker, leading to conversations that eventually bring them to the church, illustrating how public signals can initiate spiritual curiosity.
• Sermon Illustration [01:05:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts an experiment from nine years ago where he invited a man named Elvis to church at a Mexican restaurant named Tito's without revealing he was the pastor. When they arrived at the front row, Elvis asked why they were sitting there, and when the lights went down for the pastor to go preach, Elvis grabbed his belt buckle asking where he was going.
• Sermon Illustration [01:07:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > He describes a recurring moment in services where he asks the congregation to keep their heads bowed and eyes closed, except for one specific instance where he invites them to 'cheat' and raise their hands if they have brought a 'one more' person they have been praying for, allowing them to see that person's hand go up.

• Pastoral Charge [00:35:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > Identify and mentally hold the name of one specific person who is close to the listener but far from God.
• Pastoral Charge [00:44:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > Assume that the Holy Spirit has prepared people for divine encounters before the Christian arrives.
• Pastoral Charge [00:46:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > Assume that people, even those from opposing religious backgrounds, are interested in the Gospel because God prepares them.
• Pastoral Charge [00:46:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > Build bridges by finding common ground rather than focusing on disagreements, politics, or moral flaws; leave cleansing to Jesus.
• Pastoral Charge [00:55:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > To tear down walls and build bridges for the glory of Jesus Christ.
• Pastoral Charge [00:59:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > To write the name of a 'One More' person on a card and place it in a visible spot to pray daily.
• Pastoral Charge [01:07:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor commands the congregation to raise their hands during the prayer to signify their commitment to bringing 'one more' person to Christ.
• Pastoral Charge [01:08:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor leads the congregation in a verbal affirmation of commitment to discipleship and evangelism ('We're in on team Jesus').

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:02] Well, hey, Church Online. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Hey, it is great to have you here. If we haven't met, my name is Carlos and I serve as pastor of Digital Discipleship. And hey, you could be watching from somewhere across the globe, somewhere in Texas or right here in the DFW area. You might even perhaps be in your living room or maybe with your kids sitting in a car, wherever you are. Maybe you're tuning in for the first time or you've never actually been to any of our campuses. No matter where you're watching from, listen to this, you are not here by accident.
[00:00:31] Hey, we believe God sees you, knows your story, and he's ready to meet with you today.
[00:00:37] So do me a favor, drop your city, state, or country in the chat.
[00:00:41] We'd love to say hi and see who is joining us right now.
[00:00:44] And if you found Lake Point Church through Live Free or social media, let us know in the chat.
[00:00:49] Now, some info for all the different parts of our Church Online community.
[00:00:53] If you're in the DFW area, we would love to help you connect at one of our eight Lake Point campuses.
[00:00:58] Come visit. We'd love to meet you.
[00:01:00] we're not just a service you tune into we're a church you can belong to and it'd be awesome to meet you in person if you are somewhere else in texas or maybe another part of the country
[00:01:10] so glad you're here we hope today's service encourages you grows your faith and helps you take your next step with jesus and everyone else joining from outside the u.s man we love that to see how god is working around the world we're so thankful with us and we're praying that the
[00:01:25] service connects you in a real and personal way. Wherever you are, our hosts are chatting right now and our prayer team is ready. If you need prayer for anything, just let us know. Drop it in the
[00:01:36] chat. We are here to serve you. Go ahead. Also introduce yourself in the chat. Tell us where you're joining us from and how you found Lake Point Church. Pastor Arthur, Sal, and his team cannot wait to say hello. So all over the world, let's open our hearts right now. Look to Jesus
[00:01:50] and worship our God together.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:01:53] Everything around you's shaking.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:03:18] Please look to the screens

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:17:40] because we've got something just for you.

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:17:43] You tied my shoes and called me brave.
[00:17:50] You were the warmth the whole world gave.
[00:17:53] You chased the monsters from my bed and kissed the worries from my head.
[00:17:59] Kitchen with flower and song.
[00:18:03] You made the broken feel less wrong.
[00:18:06] You clapped loudest at my show You were the reason I could go Then I grew tall and pulled away Too cool for hugs in the light of day But still you loved without a sound
[00:18:21] A quiet grace that held its ground Now I'm grown and finally see The mountain range you were for me Not just a mother, you were home the reason I could leave and roam, and all that I am, all I do, has roots that reach right back

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:18:44] to you. Amen. Amen. Hey, Lake One family, happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day. Hey,

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:18:56] we want to do, so I got Miss Jana with me. We want to do something just to honor our moms.
[00:19:01] You know, what I really want everybody to understand is that when a church decides to honor motherhood and lift up and exalt the mobs that lay themselves down, really what we're doing is in one way, it's kind of like an act of spiritual warfare because, you know, the Bible tells us Satan is the father of lies.
[00:19:22] And what you need to know is that you, especially if you're in my generation and down, um, you have been raised in a culture that where the Bible says, honor your father and mother, honor your
[00:19:34] father and mother. Um, our culture says, blame your father and mother, blame your father and mother. And honestly, man, it's evil. It's evil. And, uh, and so what we want to do is, um, my,
[00:19:47] my dad used to say, growing up, he's, he always say the worst kind of guy is the guy that was born on third and acts like you hit a triple and uh man i just want you to know that um man this
[00:19:56] culture is going to teach you to like focus on any of your mom's faults and just you know center that in your mind about her um what you need to know is if you if you got a mom that uh man she um she
[00:20:08] laid down some things in her life um for you a lot in fact a whole lot of things and there's all these little secret sacrifices she made and little quiet crucifixions if you get if you in fact if
[00:20:19] You got the type of mom who what she wanted for Mother's Day was to attend church with her kids.
[00:20:25] And then in at least one sense, you were born on third.
[00:20:29] And we need to honor her for that.
[00:20:32] The other thing I want to say, and then Jana's going to pray for our ladies, is especially the younger you are, what you need to understand is that all the moments in your life where you're celebrating, your mom is grieving.
[00:20:44] And what I mean is you had a celebration moment.
[00:20:47] I got my driver's license.
[00:20:49] And what your mom started thinking was, man, I'm going to lose all that time in the car with my son.
[00:20:54] And then, mom, I got accepted into college.
[00:20:56] And you're excited.
[00:20:57] She's going, oh, man, I'm about to lose my daughter.
[00:21:00] And then, you know, there's that moment where, you know, hey, just got engaged.
[00:21:04] And you're celebrating and your mom is too.
[00:21:06] But she's also thinking, ah, I'm about to lose.
[00:21:08] I'm about to give one away.
[00:21:10] And so what we want to do on a day like today is just honor the fact that, man, we're just so thankful.
[00:21:15] we're so thankful for all the the sacrifices and the quiet crucifixions and so lake point family would you please help me give a hero's welcome to honor our mamas would you do that amen amen amen

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:21:28] amen thank you moms thank you thank you that's right it's smart that's right thank you moms thank you thank you thank you thank you we love you thank you so much we love you we love you

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:21:40] amen y'all can have a seat well i got miss janna with me and um janna just thank you uh you know you know they don't know but you do know i couldn't do what i do without you while i'm
[00:21:51] preaching she's praying there ain't there ain't no way i could do what i do without miss janna so janna would you please pray for our moms and our ladies i'd love to let's do that let's pray

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:22:00] father thank you so much for each and every woman who is in here thank you for each woman who is a part of our church body. Thank you for just divinely just making her and creating her to be
[00:22:13] the woman she is and the mom she is. And you have made her to be that mom to her unique children.
[00:22:21] Father, thank you for how you have knit her together and given her the gifts that she would need to parent the children you've given her. I pray that you will encourage her heart. I pray
[00:22:31] that she will see that every thing she pours out is worth it. And I pray that father, that you will just be just planting seeds of faithfulness in her children and that they will rise up and call
[00:22:45] her blessed and be faithful to your name. And that she will just leave the world with a godly heritage. Father, I pray for all of the spiritual mothers out there who may not be biological
[00:22:58] mothers, but I pray that they will know that they are seen and loved today. I pray for all of the women who will one day be future mothers, or they're in a season of waiting, Father. I pray
[00:23:11] that you will give them peace, give them your presence, and I pray that you will give them the desires of their heart, Father. You are so good to us, and I thank you for all of these women who
[00:23:23] are changing lives around them because they know you and they love you.
[00:23:27] I pray that you will prosper them in all that they do.
[00:23:30] And I just pray that they will know that they are loved by you today.
[00:23:34] In Jesus' name, amen.

[00:23:35] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:23:35] Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen.
[00:23:38] Hey, I do wanna, hey, at all of our campuses, we got the little photo booths out there.

[00:23:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:23:42] And man, you know, especially for the younger guys, you may hate it, just do it and act like you love it.
[00:23:48] She's gonna love it.
[00:23:49] We also, for all the mamas, we had a little gift for you on your way out.
[00:23:51] Make sure you grab that.
[00:23:52] hey, if you're new with us, I just, I want to say welcome and glad you're here. If you're wondering like, man, you know, we want to help you take your next step, not just in your walk with God,
[00:24:02] but honestly, we're all about not just building strong Christians, but building strong families.
[00:24:07] So either of those, your next step is what we call our next steps class. So that's where we cover our vision, theological orientation, where we're headed as a church in the next five years.
[00:24:17] We just help you grow in your walk with God. You can sign up for that by texting the word next to the number 20411, and we'll get you signed up, and we'll hang out with you. It's
[00:24:27] gonna be awesome, okay? A lot more going on in the life of our church, so right now, if you could,

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:24:31] check out LP News with me. Hey, Lake Point, happy Mother's Day to all the moms and mother figures here today. We are so grateful for you. Mark your calendar for Gear Drop on June 6th and 7th.
[00:24:46] For one weekend only, we've got all new Lake Point hats, shirts, and more designed to help you share your faith. Not only do they look great, but every purchase supports mission efforts locally and around the world. Gear Drop is in-person only and items go fast. So if you're
[00:25:02] at Rockwall, Forney, or Firewheel, come to a Saturday service to shop early. Check out the full line now at lp.events. Graduation weekend is next week on May 16th and 17th for all graduating high school seniors. This is a special moment during weekend services to honor and pray over
[00:25:21] graduates as they step into what's next. Registration closes May 13th, so don't wait.
[00:25:27] Register today at lp.events. The next Young Adult Worship Gathering is this Thursday, May 14th, at the Rockwall Campus. If you're 23 to 30 years old, this is a time to connect, worship, and build community with others. This is the last Young Adults Gathering until the fall,
[00:25:44] so make sure you're there. Get all the details at lp.events. Now, let's dive back into our series,

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:25:51] there is more end game. All right, man. All right. It's going to be a good day. It's going to be a good day. Hey, if you guys got your Bibles, head over to Acts 25 and 26. I want to do something
[00:26:27] real quick because let me cut something off of the past. I get it every Mother's Day, every Father's Day. Let me cut it off the past. So every Mother's Day and Father's Day, a bunch of the single people
[00:26:36] in the church, they grab me and they're like, ah, you do stuff for moms. You do stuff for dads and you do more stuff when you have some singles mixers or whatever it is. So let me just happens
[00:26:45] every Mother's Day. I'm going to cut it off of the past right now at all of our campuses. If you are a single dude that loves Jesus and are not creepy. Would you raise your hand right now? Right. I'm
[00:26:53] serious. Hey, I ain't joking one bit. Thank you. Keep it up. Keep them up. Get them up. I'm don't listen right now. Get them up. Get them up. Don't put them down. Don't put them down. Don't put it
[00:27:03] down. All right. All the ladies, you look around, everybody look around, keep them up, keep them up, man. She might've started looking over here. She hadn't got to you yet. Keep it up. Keep them up.
[00:27:12] All right. Ladies are by look around. All right. Y'all do what you're supposed to do. We'll see in two mother's days. Okay. That's great. Okay. Now here's what we're doing today. If you're brand new with us, I just need to give you a heads up. Here's how we roll here at Lake Point. If you're
[00:27:26] brand new and you're like, oh man, he's going to do a cotton candy sermon. It's going to be 18 minutes and three poems and two verses and a story about being a mom. That's not what I'm going to
[00:27:35] do. If you're new here, here's how we roll. The ladies of Lake Point, what they want is they want the word of God. That's what they want. Okay. And so that's what we're going to do. We're rolling
[00:27:44] right in. We are in a series right now called There Is More Endgame, where we are preaching verse by verse through the book of Acts all the way up to the end of the book of Acts. And the
[00:27:54] events of these books, what it's going to do is it centers around a guy named the apostle Paul.
[00:27:59] Now, what you got to know about Paul, I want to remind you of this. What you got to know about Paul is he starts the book of Acts as literally a religious terrorist. Think ISIS, think Hamas.
[00:28:09] He's literally traveling around killing people for being Christians. And then he meets Jesus bends his knee to Jesus. It gets on him, then it gets in him, then it changes him. Then he, for the
[00:28:19] rest of the book of Acts, he literally, check this out, he walks, rides, and sails somewhere between 10,000 and 12,000 miles, planting these little churches, telling everybody about Jesus in primarily Greece and Turkey. And then by the end of the book of Acts, the dude that started by
[00:28:34] killing Christians for being Christians, he ends up, after the events of the book of Acts, being killed and beheaded in the city of Rome for being a Christian and testifying to Jesus Christ. Now, I just want to say this side note. If you got dragged here by mom or grandma and you're like,
[00:28:49] I'm not into this. In fact, I hate this thing. I just want to warn you, man. And I mean this for real. You better watch out because this thing will get on you. It'll get in you. It'll change you.
[00:28:58] God can use anybody. He can use you. He can use anybody. That's a whole bunch of people's story in this room right here. So watch out now. What we're going to see in Acts 25 and 26,
[00:29:07] this is like the linchpin series this is the linchpin thing that sets off the chain of events that leads the apostle Paul's beheading now I want to set it up like this um I'm a I'm a church rat
[00:29:19] I'm a third generation pastor and so I'll people um people send me I collect church signs they send me church signs I got a little folder on my computer of dumb church signs my favorite ones
[00:29:29] I've ever been sent somebody sent them to me six years ago and I here's why I was I was told that there were two churches in Ohio. Okay. So let me set it up like this. Now, first it started with
[00:29:40] Our Lady of Martyrs, a Catholic church going to put it up there. And I don't know what, they just got a weird, they just were feeling funky one weekend and they went all dogs go to heaven. I
[00:29:48] don't know where that came from, but I don't know where a lot of their stuff comes from. That's a whole different sermon. Okay. So this is where they started. Now the Presbyterian church across the street did what Presbyterians do and they needed to correct everybody else's theology.
[00:30:01] So this is what they fired off the next week.
[00:30:04] Only humans go to heaven to read the Bible.
[00:30:06] It's very Presbyterian, very Presbyterian.
[00:30:08] Okay, now the next week, the Catholics, they weren't done.
[00:30:11] So the Catholics fired right back.
[00:30:13] Here we go.
[00:30:14] And they went, God loves all his creations, dogs included.
[00:30:17] Okay, now we got a thing going.
[00:30:19] So we got a thing going.
[00:30:20] So the next week, the Presbyterians come back and they're not done yet.
[00:30:24] Dogs don't have souls.
[00:30:25] This is not open for debate, okay?
[00:30:27] So now we're, you know, this is an escalating warfare situation.
[00:30:31] Now, the Catholics aren't done.
[00:30:32] They go back the next week.
[00:30:33] We're five weeks running.
[00:30:34] Catholic dogs go to heaven.
[00:30:36] Presbyterian dogs can talk to their pastor.
[00:30:38] This is what they say, okay?
[00:30:41] Now again, Presbyterians, they got some fight in them.
[00:30:44] So next week, Presbyterians, converting to Catholicism does not magically grant your dog a soul.
[00:30:49] This is what we have.
[00:30:51] Now the Catholics, they're gonna, let's take it a different direction.
[00:30:53] Free dog souls with conversion.
[00:30:55] Now we're marketing, now we're marketing.
[00:30:57] Now we go back across the street at the Presbyterians.
[00:30:59] dogs or animals, there aren't any rocks in heaven either. I got theological quibble here, but that's a different discussion. Now the Catholics aren't done yet either. Now we finished all rocks go to heaven. We finished where we started. Now here's my point. Check this out.
[00:31:14] Here's my point. What we are awesome at, what we are awesome at as Christians a lot of times is fighting with people on the inside instead of reaching people on the outside. We're awesome at
[00:31:24] at. Awesome at it. What you're going to see in Acts 25 and 26 is everywhere the apostle Paul went, he viewed himself as a spirit-filled ambassador of the kingdom of heaven. God making his appeal
[00:31:36] from heaven to people. This is what you're going to see right here. It's the apostle Paul's, it's his most clear example of here's how, it's very practical. Here's how you share your faith with somebody. This is what Paul does in Acts 25 and 26. Now I got to get a run and start into it.
[00:31:53] So this is like previously on Yellowstone.
[00:31:56] Here's what happens, okay?
[00:31:57] In Acts 23, Paul gets arrested and there's this whole little group of Jewish assassins, for real, that they make a blood oath that none of them are gonna eat or drink anything until Paul's dead.
[00:32:10] These guys were probably guys called the Sicarii.
[00:32:13] By the way, a little side note, that's where we got the title for that movie, Sicario, a few years ago, for real.
[00:32:17] That's where that came from.
[00:32:18] There were these little Jewish dagger assassins.
[00:32:20] Think little Jewish ninjas, if you can do that in your head.
[00:32:22] and they go, hey man, none of us are gonna eat or drink until Paul's dead.
[00:32:26] Now, I need you to know this because this is my job as your pastor, okay?
[00:32:30] This is not a cute mama's day sermon.
[00:32:32] So here's what you need to know.
[00:32:35] Everywhere the apostle Paul went, he was attacked and opposed and they tried to kill him.
[00:32:39] Heads up, you've been lied to.
[00:32:41] You becoming a Christian is not the way to punch your ticket to a low maintenance, hassle-free life where everybody loves you and praises you all the time.
[00:32:49] In fact, what you need to understand is when you became a Christian, Yes, you gain God as your heavenly father, but the Bible says that when you are transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light,
[00:33:00] from the, listen, from the kingdom of Satan to team Jesus, that you gain God as your father, but you also gain Satan and hell as your enemy, which is why I like to consistently say
[00:33:10] that the birthmark of a believer is a bullseye, that you have to expect opposition because you're on team Jesus now, and before you were on team Jesus, hell had no reason to wage war on you.
[00:33:21] This is what happens to the Apostle Paul.
[00:33:23] Now he gets rescued and he gets put, he gets taken to this place called, today it's called Caesarea Maritima.
[00:33:30] You can go there.
[00:33:31] Google it later, you can see all the maps.
[00:33:33] All the ruins we talk about on the podcast of what we're talking about right here are still there today.
[00:33:38] So he goes to Caesarea Maritima.
[00:33:40] He is there in a prison cell for two years.
[00:33:42] Now I want you to think about this.
[00:33:43] The Apostle Paul spends 12,000 miles telling people about Jesus and planting churches.
[00:33:48] I'm sure what Paul was thinking while he was two years in a prison cell, God can't man couldn't I be doing something better why you got me in this waiting season and heads up here's what I know some of you especially on Mother's Day you're thinking man
[00:34:00] it's a waiting season maybe you're like my family who struggled with infertility for decades and you're waiting for a baby maybe it's like man you're waiting for God to bring you Mr. Right maybe you're in a spot where honestly moms and dads you're waiting you've been praying for years
[00:34:15] and decades for a prodigal son or a prodigal daughter and you're like God why are you making me wait. Well, check this out. Paul was thinking that too. He's in prison for two years, but check
[00:34:23] this out. While Paul thought that he, it was like a diversion from his calling. It was a wasted waiting season. It was actually while Paul was in prison in the book of Acts that he writes the
[00:34:34] books of the Bible, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. So think about this.
[00:34:39] The season in Paul's life where he probably thought the most, what a wasted season, it ended up producing the ministry that God has used in every single one of our lives for Christians for two millennia to bring us closer to Jesus. Here's the point with God, listen, with God, a waiting
[00:34:56] season is never a wasted season. He will redeem your season. He can turn it in his, that he can restore the years. The locusts have eaten. The Bible says, this is what God does in the apostle
[00:35:06] Paul's life. Now, when we get to acts 24, 25, and 26, Paul is going to stand courageously in front of three Roman political leaders, a guy named Festus, a guy named Felix, and a dude named Herod.
[00:35:20] Festus, Felix, and Herod. Now, this sermon is going to be very practical, like way more like practical. And here's why. When somebody's drowning, they don't need the Greek word for life jacket. They just need you to throw them one. That's like my conviction as a preacher. So here's
[00:35:35] what I need you to do. I need you to think of your one more. Who's the one person that's closest to you, but farthest from God. Like actually get a name in your head right now. Whole sermon, I want
[00:35:44] you to have this name in your head. And the whole time I'm preaching, I want you to be going, this is how I share Christ with that person. What Paul does in this passage is it's practical. It's,
[00:35:54] I'm going to call it the ABC of sharing your faith. Most Christians want to, they don't know how to. This is the ABC of sharing your faith. Okay, so here we go. Real practical, real right
[00:36:06] right at it. Number one, A, what Paul does in this passage is he, watch this, A, he assumes people are interested. He assumes people are interested. Now, here's what keeps most people ever from sharing their faith is you go around and you look at people's exterior and you're like,
[00:36:23] man, you'll see what they look like. And you're like, oh, they wouldn't be into what I got because of what you see on the outside. Maybe it's what they look like. Maybe it's their vibe.
[00:36:32] they're just sort of standoffish they look angry maybe honestly maybe they're real successful and happy and you're like ah they're not into this uh maybe it's their political beliefs maybe they're from Austin and you're like I wouldn't be into that's it that's it and you think you look on
[00:36:47] the outside you think they wouldn't be interested in what I have to say but can I say something to you the Bible says that man looks at the outward appearance but God works on the heart and you
[00:36:57] don't know what's going on their heart. You don't know what that person's hurts are, what their unanswered or answered prayers are. I'm going to get this in a second. You don't know where God might've visited them in dreams and visions to prepare them just for this encounter they have
[00:37:14] with you. And you're the only chance they will ever have to hear the gospel before they go to hell. You don't know that. Paul does the opposite, man. Paul assumes everywhere he goes that people
[00:37:26] are interested. Now let me show you this. Now when I read it, you're gonna be like, I don't know why that's a big deal. And I'll show you why it's a big deal. Here's what Paul does. So he's standing
[00:37:33] in front of Agrippa and Agrippa said to Paul, you got permission to speak for yourself. So Paul motions with his hand and he begins his defense. King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today. In other words, I'm so glad we're talking. I'm assuming this is a big deal to you
[00:37:46] as I make my defense. Then he goes against all the accusations of the Jews, especially so because you, now this is really interesting, I'll show you why. You are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Now, let me bobble nerd out for a second, let's go a layer
[00:38:00] deeper. When you read Acts 25 and 26, you gotta know this, there's two names in the Bible that trip people up, and here's what they are, because there's a whole bunch of Herods, and there's a
[00:38:09] whole bunch of Marys, and it's hard to keep up with who's who, okay? In the Bible, you read the word Herod a whole bunch of times, that's not one guy, that's four guys. Now, the guy Paul's talking
[00:38:19] to here, bookmark this in your head, is a guy called Herod Agrippa II. This is important, Herod Agrippa II. The other three Herods are related to Herod Agrippa II. Let me show you his family tree and why it's a big deal. Paul's going, I bet you're interested in what I got to
[00:38:35] say, okay? So the first Herod that's mentioned in the Bible, this guy's great-grandfather was Herod the Great. He's mentioned in Matthew 2. This is the Herod who sends a bunch of people to slaughter all of the Jewish boys
[00:38:48] under the age of two in Jesus' hometown because he's trying to kill Jesus.
[00:38:54] So that's this guy's great-grandfather related.
[00:38:56] Now, the second Herod the Bible mentions, his great uncle was a guy named Herod Antipas.
[00:39:01] He's mentioned in Luke 9.
[00:39:02] Luke 9, this is the Herod that beheads John the Baptist, cuts his head off, puts on a silver platter and gives it to his little mistress.
[00:39:11] That's that dude.
[00:39:12] So right now we're two for two.
[00:39:14] Great-grandpa tried to kill Jesus.
[00:39:16] great uncle actually did kill John the Baptist. Okay. But there's a third one. This guy's dad was Herod Agrippa I. He's mentioned Acts 12. Acts 12, this is the Herod that beheads James, the apostle James, beheads James and arrests Peter and tries to kill Peter. Now with that in your
[00:39:34] head, think about this. Paul's standing in front of this guy. Paul's on trial, can easily be sentenced to death. He knows, Paul knows, and Agrippa knows that Paul knows that his great granddad tried to kill Jesus. His great uncle did kill John the Baptist. And his dad is the one that
[00:39:50] killed James and imprisoned Peter. Paul knows this. Paul has every reason to think this guy hates what I got to say, but Paul does the opposite. And he assumes that the Holy Spirit has gone ahead of him to open Agrippa's heart. And he's going to be interested. And watch this.
[00:40:08] Paul's right look at what he says Agrippa says this I would like to hear this man myself he assumes he's interested in the spirit's prepared him now can we be honest I want to be practical
[00:40:21] and honest I'm going to confess my sin here real quick what we usually do is we'll look at people and we assume the opposite based on what we see on the outside but ah they they don't want what I
[00:40:30] got I'm gonna give an example a failure for my life so what I do I got to go to move okay but you need to go to move. You know, Iverson had a crossover and Dirk had to fade away. LeBron's
[00:40:40] got the flop here, but you need to move. That's a joke. That's a joke. That's a joke. My go-to move is, is especially on airplanes. Cause you're traveling for two hours. Uh, my go-to moves on
[00:40:50] an airplane. I get three questions. Here's practical. I get three questions deep. And then I say, Hey man, can I pray for you? So I just asked question number one, man. Hey, how you doing? Hey. Okay. Oh, question number two, man. Tell me about that. What do you mean?
[00:41:03] Just okay. Oh man. This is like a literal conversation on a plane from two months ago.
[00:41:07] Oh man, I gotta give both of my son's news today one good news, one bad news.
[00:41:12] Question number three.
[00:41:12] Oh man, do you mind me asking what the bad news is you gotta deliver to your son?
[00:41:16] Now we're for real, for real.
[00:41:18] I get three questions deep and then I just go in a non-cringe way.
[00:41:21] I just go, hey man, I'm a person of faith.
[00:41:24] Would you mind if I pray for you?
[00:41:25] Or I'll be praying for you.
[00:41:26] 90% of the time they say yes and 60% of the time it opens up to more conversations.
[00:41:31] That's my move.
[00:41:32] So I'm on this plane.
[00:41:33] It's a Southwest flight.
[00:41:35] I sit in, everybody chooses their seats back in the day on Southwest, Southwest flight. This is years ago. And, uh, I sit in the middle seat because I'm hoping if I sit in the middle, nobody else is going to sit on this seat or this
[00:41:45] seat. So, but then this girl comes and, uh, and she's, she sits where I didn't want her. So she sits down and I look at her and, uh, it's like literally the exact stereotype of who you would
[00:41:56] think would not want to talk to me. It's like the hair's a certain way, the whole vibe's a certain thing. She gets out her, uh, her laptop and there's like a, it's like a shout your abortion
[00:42:05] sticker on the top of the laptop. And I'm like, okay, it's, you know, and then no joke. She picks up a magazine, a print magazine. She'd gotten at the airport, opens it up. And, uh, the title,
[00:42:14] there's no joke. The title of the article she's reading next to me on the plane is mega church pastor resigns because of sexual misconduct. So I'm like, Oh, you gotta be kidding me. You know,
[00:42:24] that kind of thing. And then I'm like, am I going to do my move? So I'm thinking, am I going to do my move? So finally, you know, I'm just like, I'm, I'm thinking about it. And finally she just
[00:42:33] turns to me, no joke, opening line. This is the first thing she says. So what do you do for a living? So in that moment, I'm telling you a failure. In that moment, I'm like, I got to decide,
[00:42:43] am I going to lie? You know, that's what, and literally what came out of my mouth was, well, I work for a nonprofit, you know? Now, like 30 seconds later, it was like the Holy Spirit wrecked
[00:42:55] me. And it was like the Holy Spirit said, yep, you are a nonprofit. That's exactly right. A nonprofit is what you just were. Okay. Now here's my point. Think about that moment. That's a real
[00:43:04] thing think about that moment I assumed based on external appearance she wasn't interested in what I had to say but here's what I've wondered every day since then what I've wondered is what I really think was happening is God intentionally positioned me in that seat
[00:43:20] to be sitting next to her while she was reading that article so that if I had been a man and stood firm and acted like a man with some courage that God would have used me to flip everything
[00:43:31] she thought and misconceptions she had about Christians. You see, I missed it. You've got to assume that everybody around you is interested. And can I give you a heads up? If you've been on Team Jesus for a minute, can I tell you something? The bad thing about being on Team
[00:43:48] Jesus for a long time is you start forgetting what people who aren't on Team Jesus think like.
[00:43:53] You start forgetting it. I'm going to give you one example of this, and then I'm going to move to B.
[00:43:58] So a couple years ago, there was a girl at Lake Point who I asked on Instagram for some help on a sermon.
[00:44:04] She posted this comment, and when I read it, remember, you, I guarantee, you've probably forgotten what lost people think like.
[00:44:12] So watch what she said right here.
[00:44:13] She said this.
[00:44:15] Yes, invite family and friends.
[00:44:18] I have family who are not Christian, and they live in another state.
[00:44:21] They started hanging out with a Christian couple, and they really wanted to go to church with them.
[00:44:25] The couple never invited them.
[00:44:27] Now, when I read this next sentence, watch this.
[00:44:29] You forgot what people who aren't on Team Jesus think like.
[00:44:33] I guarantee it.
[00:44:34] This is what they thought.
[00:44:35] These family members of mine didn't grow up in church and they felt like they'd be inviting themselves if they just showed up.
[00:44:42] They didn't wanna be rude by showing up at their church without an invite.
[00:44:45] See, you forgot what people think like.
[00:44:47] Some people are waiting and hoping you'll extend the invitation.
[00:44:52] Here's all I'm saying.
[00:44:53] We need to do what the apostle Paul does and assume it's called the doctrine of provenient grace.
[00:44:59] We need to assume that everywhere a spirit-filled Christians goes, the Holy Spirit went ahead of us and prepared the people that we were gonna come in contact with for that divine encounter with us and open their heart to us.
[00:45:12] You need to assume that.
[00:45:13] You need to assume, I'll give one example.
[00:45:16] You need to assume things like our international partner, Lake Point's international partner in rural Northern Ghana is a pastor named Mohammed Zibleem.
[00:45:25] He pastors Shalom Baptist Church in rural North Ghana.
[00:45:29] Now you may be going, why is a pastor's name Muhammad?
[00:45:31] Well, here's why.
[00:45:32] His dad was an Islamic imam.
[00:45:35] When he was 15 or 16 years old, he had, by the way, this is happening to Muslims all over the world right now.
[00:45:41] He had a dream of a man in white who explained to him in the dream that he was Jesus Christ and that he was the way, the truth, and the life.
[00:45:52] And that someday someone would come to tell him about the way to salvation through Jesus.
[00:45:59] Kid's 15, dad's a Muslim imam.
[00:46:02] When that missionary comes, listen, what that missionary could have done is gone, that guy's a Muslim imam's family, he definitely is not interested.
[00:46:11] But Jesus Christ had gone ahead and where everybody else would have said, ain't no way they're interested, listen, God's a way maker, he can make a way where there is no way.
[00:46:20] You've got to assume, assume people are interested.
[00:46:24] Let me do the others quick. B, once you assume people are interested, watch this. Build a bridge, not a wall. B, build a bridge, not a wall. This is what Paul does. Now check this out.
[00:46:33] What some Christians do that are really bad at this, here's the worst strategy to share your faith ever. You'll find somebody that's not on team Jesus and you'll figure out all the stuff that you disagree on and you'll make the whole relationship about the stuff you disagree on.
[00:46:48] Instead of building a bridge, you're building a wall. So you end up making a whole conversation about politics or about media.
[00:46:55] Oh, you watch that, I don't watch that, that kind of thing, that kind of thing.
[00:46:58] Or maybe they got sin in their life.
[00:47:00] They're like a little rough around the edges.
[00:47:01] Hey guys, let me just remind us all of something.
[00:47:03] Hey, heads up, newsflash.
[00:47:05] Lost people act like lost people, newsflash.
[00:47:08] So some people are like, oh, you're trying to clean them up.
[00:47:10] Hey guys, Jesus is the one that washes us white as snow.
[00:47:13] He does the cleansing.
[00:47:15] You don't get people to wash their hands before they hop in the shower.
[00:47:18] You don't gotta clean them up.
[00:47:19] We just gotta get them to Jesus.
[00:47:21] Jesus will clean them up in his way, in his time.
[00:47:23] That's his job.
[00:47:24] We do our job, okay?
[00:47:25] So you just gotta remember this.
[00:47:27] So what we gotta do, what Paul does is he does the opposite of finding what they disagree on.
[00:47:33] And talk about that.
[00:47:34] He finds the one thing they got in common and he's like, I'm gonna make the relationship about that.
[00:47:38] Check this out.
[00:47:38] Watch how he does it.
[00:47:39] It's actually kind of funny.
[00:47:41] So he's talking to them and he goes, I too was convinced I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
[00:47:47] That's just what I did in Jerusalem on the authority of the chief priest.
[00:47:50] I put many of the Lord's people in prison when they were put to death. I cast my vote against them. This is kind of funny. Here's what he's doing. He's going, Oh, you like killing Christians.
[00:47:58] I used to be into that too. We got a thing together is what he's doing. Many a time. I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished. And I tried to force them to blaspheme.
[00:48:09] I was so obsessed with persecuting them. I even hunted them down in foreign cities. He builds a bridge. So here's what it looks like. When you got your one more, you're trying to win your one.
[00:48:19] what you do is just like whatever they're into you're into all right you're into sports i'm a sports guy now you're into bass fishing i just bought a zebco hey man you into bowling i'm gonna
[00:48:31] go get some shoes you like cats well somebody's got to go to hell you know i wouldn't that's a joke that's a joke that's a joke if you're new here that's a joke i had a bad experience as a
[00:48:39] kid let's calm down over there i had a bad experience kid now what i want to point out to you is listen let me go a layer deeper on something i said just in one sentence last week
[00:48:47] check this out. What some of you do is you look at a guy like me and you're like, oh, it's easy for you, man. You're a professional Christian. It's like, you're like, I'm not like you. Listen
[00:48:55] to me, listen to me. The fact that you're not like me, that's your advantage, not your disadvantage.
[00:49:01] Because all your friends will look at me and be like, I don't want to be a Christian like that, but they'll look at you and go, oh, I could be a Christian like him. I could be a Christian like
[00:49:10] her. That's your advantage. In fact, I'm going to give you, I'm going to give you an example.
[00:49:13] So last week, it was the biggest party ever.
[00:49:16] Last week, largest baptism weekend in Lake Point history.
[00:49:19] And last week, in one week, and they're sitting all around you, and so they need to hear us.
[00:49:23] Listen, last week, in one week, 741 people went public in their faith in Jesus Christ.
[00:49:28] Come on, man.
[00:49:29] That's you, man.
[00:49:29] I'm proud of you.
[00:49:30] Proud of you.
[00:49:31] Proud of you, man.
[00:49:31] In one week, proud of you.
[00:49:33] Welcome to Team Jesus.
[00:49:34] Welcome, okay?
[00:49:36] Now I'm gonna show you pictures of three of them, and I'm gonna do this to make a point, all right?
[00:49:40] So this one right here, this is Miss Carolyn.
[00:49:42] This is shout out Forney campus over there.
[00:49:44] Ms. Carolyn, she started, she's at a senior care facility in the DFW area.
[00:49:49] There was some ministry from the Forney campus going on over there.
[00:49:52] She starts watching us online through that ministry.
[00:49:55] She gets a bent her knee to Jesus, but problem, she's in a senior care facility in a wheelchair.
[00:50:00] Well, the dudes over at Forney are like not on our watch.
[00:50:03] So literally she comes in a wheelchair.
[00:50:05] These big burly guys are at Forney.
[00:50:07] They pull her out of the wheelchair, carry her down in the water, baptized miss carolyn last week come on proud of you miss carolyn proud of you miss carolyn so senior care facility now this one this is sue shout out sue sue su
[00:50:20] sue is a korean woman who moved to japan and i just want to say this real quick because sue might be watching i got to meet sue last week sue about a year ago um she saw some of our stuff
[00:50:31] online started watching church online every week started listening to podcasts started studying her Bible alone in her apartment in Japan, bends her knee to Jesus halfway across the world in Japan. Last week, she flew here to be baptized with you. Shout out, Sue. Shout out, Sue. That's
[00:50:48] amazing, man. That's amazing, okay? Now, this guy, I want to meet this guy. I didn't get to meet this guy. I don't know what his name is. Face tats, tats, all the thing. Here's what I'm pointing out,
[00:50:57] okay? Now, here's my point. I'm going to stereotype. I don't know anything about their friends. I'm sure their friends are all wonderful, but I'm going to make a point here. Sue, senior care facility, if her friends met me, they'd probably be like, man, who's that young, dumb
[00:51:11] whippersnapper? They don't want to listen to me. If Sue's friends met me, they'd probably be like, who's that? Who's the dumb white kid from rural Kentucky? You know, I don't know what, that's probably not what they'd say, but I'm whatever, you know, you get the point. They don't want to
[00:51:23] listen to me. If this guy's friends met me, they'd probably be like, who's that soft fella up there?
[00:51:28] That's my guess. Okay. They listen. They wouldn't listen to me, but do you know who they would listened to? They listened to her and her and him. They listened to them. You see, you got to
[00:51:38] understand you're the bridge. You're the person that God has appointed as an ambassador of Christ into all the friend groups you got. Now, let me give an example of what we need to be as a church
[00:51:52] and then let me land it on the third thing. So check this out. Lake Point, heads up. This is an anchor story in my life. What I'm getting ready to say, it tattooed itself on my soul. So my first
[00:52:05] ministry job ever, I was 22 years old. I was a youth pastor in rural Kentucky. And we had our little worship service, little youth worship service. It was called WOW, which stood for worship on Wednesday because we were cool like that, you know. And what I would do is I would,
[00:52:20] every Wednesday, I'd go across the street to the Papa John's there. And I would get a bunch of pizza to like bribe the kids who didn't want to come and uh and I went to the same one at the
[00:52:30] same time every week and the same guy was working every week and we just got to know each other and uh this was the kind of guy who like when you saw him you would just kind of go like man
[00:52:41] this guy has probably not lived a very easy life uh he was missing some teeth I don't know why kind of might've looked like from some drug use.
[00:52:55] He had the same little Papa John's gear on and it was just like caked in Papa John's grease.
[00:53:02] Same little pair of jeans, every week holes all up in it and everything sort of had like, there was like a smell to the thing.
[00:53:10] But I just liked this guy.
[00:53:12] And I just wanted to know Jesus.
[00:53:14] And so here was my move with this guy is I was just like, hey man, me and my wife are new to the area.
[00:53:20] We don't got any friends yet.
[00:53:21] Do you wanna come sit with us at church?
[00:53:22] we don't really know anybody yet and I did it every week and finally there came a week where he was like you know what I'm in you know I was like okay man I'll meet you there and I told him
[00:53:32] where to meet me so the next Sunday I showed up and I was 20 minutes early heads up if you ever invite somebody to church if they're not a church person they're gonna be super early that happens
[00:53:41] a lot so I'm 20 minutes early standing in the lobby and 20 minutes early I'm waiting and he doesn't come and then 15 minutes he's not there and then 10 minutes not there five minutes not
[00:53:52] there service starts he's still not there and then five minutes after service are still not there 10 minutes after still not there and i'm going man uh i i'm i got a job i gotta do my job so i
[00:54:02] i just go in and i don't see him well the next wednesday i go over to the papa john's and i'm like hey bro uh man missed you and he his face kind of falls and he goes oh um man actually i
[00:54:15] did come like what what do you mean he said man i came but i had a shift right after church so i just wore my Papa John's gear. And as I was walking in, there was a man in the parking lot in a suit
[00:54:29] and he stopped me and he said, son, don't you have anything else to wear? We wear God's best into God's house. And dude, when he said that, man, I, uh, you know, I just sort of choked back
[00:54:43] to, you know, thing. And I was like, oh man, I'm so sorry. And I just went out in the parking lot, in my little 96 green Kia Sophia and I just man honestly I just wept and and it wasn't because I
[00:54:55] was driving a 96 Kia Sophia you know I was I was just like something broke in me and when that happened to me there was like a decision that I made in that moment it was like something that
[00:55:05] sort of crystallized non-verbally in my heart what I decided in that moment is hey man if I ever get to decide what a church is like if I ever am the one who sort of gets to set the culture and the
[00:55:17] vibe, something's going to be very clear at whatever church I get to pastor. And here's what's going to be clear. If you're a lost person that's trying to come to church to hear the good news of
[00:55:27] Jesus Christ, dress code's going to be very simple. Here's going to be the dress code. Please wear something. That's it. That's all we want. Just please wear something, man. If you're trying to get a Jesus, just come exactly like you are. You don't got to dress up. Here's what I'm saying.
[00:55:41] If you're trying to get a Jesus, come exactly as you are. Man, come with your doubts. Come with your fears. Bring all your failures. You bring your sins up in here. Bring your addictions up
[00:55:50] in here. We want them up in here. Bring them and bring everything you got. Just come to Jesus.
[00:55:55] Lake Point, we got to tear. It's tearing down walls. It's building bridges for the glory of Jesus Christ. Build a bridge. Last one. See what Paul does in this passage is he last one. Just
[00:56:05] go with me on this. He converts a first down ABC convert a first down. Now here's what I mean by this. Paul's sharing his faith. It doesn't end how you think. Doesn't end how you think. So Paul ends
[00:56:19] telling this guy about Jesus, and here's what he says. He says, I'm saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen. That the Messiah was going to suffer, and as the first arrives from the dead, he would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.
[00:56:33] Now, Paul's finished sharing his faith with somebody. Now, what you would think is Paul, greatest evangelist in church history, greatest church planner in history.
[00:56:42] What do you think, actually go to the next slide.
[00:56:44] At this point, don't put up the next thing yet.
[00:56:46] At this point, Festus interrupted Paul's defense.
[00:56:48] Now, how do you think Festus responded to the greatest evangelist church he's ever seen?
[00:56:53] Do you think he went, you know what?
[00:56:55] I'm cut to the heart, what am I supposed to do to be saved?
[00:56:58] Do you think he went, hey man, I wanna raise my hand because something solidifies in you spiritually when you respond physically, one, two, three.
[00:57:03] Do you think, no, he didn't do that.
[00:57:04] Hey, Paul, can I pray this prayer?
[00:57:07] Can I do it?
[00:57:07] That's not how he did it.
[00:57:09] Watch what he said.
[00:57:09] Here's what he says.
[00:57:10] He says, you're out of your mind, Paul.
[00:57:12] He shouted.
[00:57:14] Then Agrippa said, do you think in such a, watch this, short time, you can persuade me to be a Christian?
[00:57:19] In other words, it didn't get this dude over the line.
[00:57:23] He didn't get over the line.
[00:57:24] Now, here's my point.
[00:57:26] Check this out.
[00:57:27] He said, short time.
[00:57:28] Do you think in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?
[00:57:32] Now, here's what I'm gonna do.
[00:57:32] I'm gonna finish a sermon like this.
[00:57:34] What you're getting ready to see is like an anchor sermon illustration at Lake Point.
[00:57:39] My predecessor, Pastor Steve Stroop, the founding pastor of this church, one of the greatest pastors our nation has ever seen.
[00:57:46] This is a Pastor Steve Stroop illustration that he did for many years.
[00:57:50] He shares his faith with everybody.
[00:57:53] This thing, it just makes it super easy and practical.
[00:57:56] So here's what I'm saying, check this out.
[00:57:59] What I'm saying is what most people think, imagine this, people don't get saved how you think they get saved.
[00:58:06] What I want you to imagine is this is zero.
[00:58:09] Everyone's a number here.
[00:58:10] This is zero.
[00:58:11] This is the point of them crossing the line of faith.
[00:58:14] Everybody you meet is somewhere along the way.
[00:58:16] This is negative one, negative two, negative three, all the way down to negative 10.
[00:58:19] Everybody you meet is somewhere along this spectrum of number of steps away from making a decision to bend their knee to Jesus Christ.
[00:58:27] Now, here's a big idea.
[00:58:29] What a lot of people think is that, oh, I need to figure out in one conversation how to get them over the line and for them to trust Christ.
[00:58:39] Okay, listen, if you think your job is to do everything in one conversation, you won't be able to find a way and you'll end up doing nothing.
[00:58:48] So what we need to do, you see this in the New Testament, is be comfortable converting first downs.
[00:58:53] You don't gotta make every conversation a touchdown.
[00:58:56] First downs, not touchdowns.
[00:58:57] So check this out.
[00:58:58] Here's how this works.
[00:58:59] I wanna make this super practical, super practical.
[00:59:02] so you can, this stuff with your one more, okay?
[00:59:06] Now, here's how people get saved that you don't see because I see it all the time.
[00:59:11] I just watch it happen.
[00:59:11] Here's how people get saved.
[00:59:12] They'll start right here.
[00:59:15] And where it starts is at Lake Point, we say that everybody has a one more.
[00:59:20] Your one more is the person that's closest to you but farthest from God.
[00:59:23] That's why we give you those little one more cards.
[00:59:24] Where it starts is a Christian starts praying.
[00:59:28] They got a one more and a one more card.
[00:59:29] They start praying for that person.
[00:59:31] Now, here's what you do with that.
[00:59:31] you take it you write the name of the one person that's closest to you but farthest from God then you put it in a place that's like super visible so that you pray for them every day
[00:59:42] for God to give you an opportunity to share the love of Christ with them now heads up let me give you a tip don't put it in a super public place like don't put it on your computer screen in your
[00:59:51] cubicle so that Hank walks in he's like hey man why is my name on that card and you're like well you're going to hell Hank that's why you know you're gonna burn in the lake of fire and I'm
[00:59:59] trying to, you don't do that. What I do, I put mine on my bathroom mirror so that when I brush my teeth in the morning and in the evening, I'm just praying for God to give me a chance to show
[01:00:09] the love of Christ, that person. Okay. So you're praying. Now here's what happens. You start praying. God begins to supernaturally soften that person's heart and they don't even know it, but they go from a negative 10 to a negative eight. That's how it starts. Now, usually around
[01:00:22] right here, negative eight, seven, six, something around there. What happens next is it's usually, it's a loving interaction with a Christian that changes how they think about Christians.
[01:00:33] So check this out. Here's what me and Jana do. I'm giving you our moves. Here's what we do.
[01:00:37] When we go eat out, the waiter or waitress almost always figures out either that we're a Christian or I'm a pastor. So what we like to do is we like to give really, really big tips, like tips they're
[01:00:48] going to remember so that when they leave it, let's say before then they always thought Christians were kind of stingy and jerks when they leave they're like man those that christian family that those are the best people i waited on all day today and they were thoughtful and caring and
[01:01:05] they blessed me and it changes how they think about christians and they go from here to like maybe a negative five something like that they just move up now it's about right here where here's
[01:01:14] what we need man we're disciples of jesus christ about right here the best thing you can do is you just need to be public. I'm on team Jesus. You need to be public about this. Jesus said, if you
[01:01:26] deny me before man, I will deny you before my father's who is in heaven, no secret agent Christians.
[01:01:31] So if the world has the courage to come out of the closet for worldly things, Hey guys, Christians need to have the courage to come out of the closet for team Jesus. That's it. It should
[01:01:39] be really obvious. So this is really easy. It's just like, Hey man, you know, it's wearing the shirt. It's your buddy at work is like, Hey, how was your weekend? Good. Hit the bass pond,
[01:01:49] went to church on Sunday. It was great. You just dropped something non-cringe in that sends a signal. I'm on team Jesus. So it's about right here. Maybe you share something on social media.
[01:01:58] This would shock you. The number of people who end up at Lake Point because they're like, Hey, we go, Hey, how'd you end up here? And they go, well, I was driving around and I kept seeing this
[01:02:07] little stupid sticker with lines on the backs of all the trucks. And I was like, what is that?
[01:02:11] You know? And they saw so many and people were like, Oh, that's my church. I love my church.
[01:02:15] And they're like, it just sort of moves them like here. Well, then they're in traffic. Somebody he cuts them off with a leg point sticker and they go back like this. That's how it happened.
[01:02:23] Okay. Now, now once they get like, somebody gets like right here, here's what it is.
[01:02:28] This is where what Paul does in this passage is he just shares his story. That's all he does.
[01:02:32] Here's how you do this. Okay. They'll be talking to you when they're about right here.
[01:02:36] They'll be talking to you about going through a tough time. They're divorced, the cancer they're walking through. Here's what you're going to do. You just drop in a little sentence like this. You say something like, man, I went through a divorce too, about a decade ago.
[01:02:49] and you say something like this, I never would have gotten through it without Christ.
[01:02:53] And then you just leave it right there.
[01:02:54] No big sudden movements, you're gonna scare the squirrel away.
[01:02:57] Just leave it right there.
[01:02:58] Just like, no, just leave it.
[01:02:59] And if they ask, you go farther, otherwise you just leave it right there, okay?
[01:03:02] Now, that's gonna move like about right here.
[01:03:05] Now, right in this spot, that's where it's like, you see this in the Bible.
[01:03:10] Come see a man who told me everything I ever did.
[01:03:11] This is where you invite, it's like an invite to church where they're gonna hear a clear gospel presentation.
[01:03:16] Let me explain something that a lot of Christians have a theological knot about.
[01:03:20] Every Christian is called to do evangelism.
[01:03:24] That's a big churchy word that just means share your faith.
[01:03:26] But there's about 10% of Christians who have the spiritual gift of evangelism.
[01:03:31] They're awesome at closing the deal.
[01:03:33] For some reason, God has given me that gift.
[01:03:35] And so listen, what you do is you invite them, you know, church, that's why we do things like at the movies, they hear a clear gospel presentation and it's gonna move them over the line.
[01:03:44] Now, I'm gonna be honest with you.
[01:03:45] Here's what I know.
[01:03:46] the thing that keeps you from doing this stuff is I know it's in your head. You're scared. They're going to ask a question you can't answer. You know, what are they? Oh, they're going to ask
[01:03:56] about dinosaurs. What am I? That's what you're going to, you're scared of that. Now, the reason it's first of all, let me explain this. It's okay for you to go, bro. I don't know. I'll let me see
[01:04:07] if I can go find that out. But here's what I know God did in my life. Here's what's tripping you up is you're confused about what your role in the courtroom is supposed to be.
[01:04:17] Here's what I mean.
[01:04:18] In Acts 1, Jesus gave us marching orders.
[01:04:22] And here's what he said.
[01:04:23] You're gonna receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my, now check this out.
[01:04:29] The reason, you're getting tripped up here.
[01:04:31] The reason you're like, I gotta be able to answer every question is because you think Jesus meant something like you will be my prosecuting attorneys.
[01:04:40] Because what a prosecuting attorney does is they're like this. I'm gonna nail your butt to the wall. If you ask me a question, I can answer any question you're gonna answer. In fact, if you ask me a question, I'm gonna judo flip the question
[01:04:50] on you. I'll ask you a question that you can't answer, and I can give an airtight defense for everything that I, you know, on my side. That's a prosecuting attorney. Hey guys, Jesus did not
[01:05:02] command you to go into the world and be his attorneys. Here's what he said. He said, you will be my witnesses. Different spot in the courtroom. An attorney makes an airtight case. Listen, a witness just shares their side of the story. That's your job is just to go, man, here's what
[01:05:21] I know God did. That's all I know. Now, again, this is where it's like you make the invite to church right around here. Okay. Now let me just say something. This is the one part of this process.
[01:05:31] It's easier for you than it is for me. It's the only part. Cause what am I supposed to do? Say something like, Hey man, come to church and hear me preach. My mom says I'm amazing. What am I
[01:05:39] supposed to do? It's awkward. In fact, years ago, I had so many, you know, I ran an experiment. It was about, uh, nine years ago. It was at a Mexican restaurant named Tito's with a dude named Elvis.
[01:05:52] And, uh, and you know, I, I just, I invite it was, I tried this experiment where I invited him to church on Easter. And I was just like, I'm not going to tell him I'm the pastor. It was an
[01:06:01] experiment. So he came, it was on Easter and he came in, we walked up to the front row. He's like, why we got to sit in front? I was like, ah, I just like it up here. And then, you know, we get to that
[01:06:12] spot in the service, lights go down. I started to get up. He literally grabbed the back of my belt buckle and he went, where are you going? I was like, I'll be back in 40 minutes, brother. You
[01:06:20] know, God, I did my thing, came back. Okay. Now here's the deal. Listen, listen, listen. Let me tell you something the best church service you ever attend it actually isn't going to be the service where God works in your life the best church service you ever attend it's going to be
[01:06:40] the one where you're one more that you've been praying for for three years your prodigal son your prodigal daughter that you've been praying for for three decades that they're with you and then if you've been around you've seen me do it well I'm gonna get to this spot in the store I do
[01:06:55] the same thing every time. It's like my favorite thing I ever get to do. My eyes start leaking every time. We'll get a spot in the service where I start talking about Jesus. And then at the end
[01:07:04] of the service, I'm going to say something like this. I say, everybody bow your heads and close your eyes. That's what I say. And then I go through the whole thing. I love saying it so
[01:07:11] much. I do the whole, on the count of three, raise your hand because something solidifies in you spiritually because you respond physically. And I say the same thing every time. Your heads are, your heads are going to be closed, bowed, your eyes are going to be closed. And I say it,
[01:07:22] I say, one, God loves you.
[01:07:26] Two, I came here for a reason today.
[01:07:32] And then I just tell you, shoot your hand up in the air right now.
[01:07:34] Right now, shoot your hand up there.
[01:07:35] Now listen, every other church service of the year, you're supposed to keep your head bowed and your eyes closed.
[01:07:42] There's one time where you got my permission to cheat.
[01:07:47] And it's when you got your one more with you.
[01:07:49] And you're gonna have this moment where that person you've poured out tears in prayer for, and you just, I'm like, hey, shoot your hand up in the air and you just do this little guy right here.
[01:07:58] and you're gonna see that shoulder move and you're gonna see that hand shoot up in the air and in that moment you're gonna know somebody is gonna spend eternity with Christ in heaven because God used me God used me that right there as disciples of Jesus Christ that's what God's
[01:08:24] calling you to do as ambassadors of heaven so man I want to pray over that right now right now. Let me pray over it. So would you bow your heads and close your eyes?
[01:08:33] And Father, would you please do that? Would you make us a church of tens of thousands? We don't want to be crowds, Lord. We want to be disciples of Jesus Christ. We're in. We're in on team Jesus.
[01:08:43] And so Father, just like Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost, God, would you make us people who seek and save people with the love of Jesus Christ? Father, make us spirit-filled men and women. Make us men and women of courage and conviction.
[01:08:57] give us spirit filled wisdom just to move one click closer Father would you do it I pray for a tidal wave of grace and salvation and all the people that are on the hearts of all these people
[01:09:09] will be caught up into the kingdom of heaven because of it in Jesus name and all God's people said Amen Amen, Amen, Amen

[01:09:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[01:09:20] Man that's our prayer that God would make us bold witnesses and that he would save one more that's what we're praying for Well, church, it's been a great day.
[01:09:29] And hey, you know this, that every weekend we love to share what God's doing in the life of our church.
[01:09:35] And as a church, we've had amazing opportunities to step into ministry of all kinds.
[01:09:40] And one of those ministries is our Hope Bag Mission Ministry.
[01:09:44] If you've never heard about this, Hope Bags are amazing.
[01:09:48] They're specialized care packages for those people who are walking through cancer treatments.
[01:09:53] And the impact has been incredible all over the world.
[01:09:56] But because of your generosity, we've been able to launch Hope Bags for children.
[01:10:01] So those children and those kiddos who are walking through cancer treatments, we now get to give them a care package with lots of practical needs, but also a Bible that's been specifically highlighted to bring them hope and strength
[01:10:14] in a season that often feels so chaotic, fragile, and even full of anxiety and fear.
[01:10:20] And I just want to say this.
[01:10:21] I want to celebrate that in the last two and a half years since the inception of Hope Bags, we've been able as a church to distribute over 6,000 of these bags across the United States
[01:10:32] and in eight other countries around the world. That's amazing. That's amazing. 6,000 lives impacted for the sake of the gospel. And you need to know that it's because of your generosity. And so can I just say this to you? Thank you for being a part of the work that God is doing in this place
[01:10:47] and through our church. To give today, you can do that in a couple of ways. The buckets are going to come by the boxes in the back or you can text the word give to the number 20411 but hey church
[01:10:59] it's been a great mother's day and so would you do this would you stand to your feet we're going to go out worshiping today our savior is worthy and so let's worship as we give and as we sing
[01:11:10] Come on.

[01:11:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[01:11:18] Wrap up our service.

[01:12:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:12:47] Let me leave you with one simple invitation.
[01:12:50] Man, if you are here and maybe you need prayer, we would love to pray for you.
[01:12:53] Whether you're joining us from the DFW area or from somewhere else outside of Texas or around the world.
[01:12:58] Again, we don't want you to carry this by yourself.
[01:13:02] We want to be here to pray for you.
[01:13:04] So just text the word prayer to 20411 and our team will pray for you this week.
[01:13:09] we know god sees you he cares for you and we do too and so thank you so much again for joining us today hey we love you and we will see you next time