The Service-First Gospel: A Critical Look at Evangelism Methods

• Exclusivity of Christ [00:26:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor addresses the controversy of Jesus being 'the' bread of life, arguing that this exclusivity is necessary for true inclusivity and is often perceived as offensive or hostile by the world.
• Spiritual Satisfaction [00:29:04 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that believing in Jesus means one will never be spiritually hungry or thirsty, as their identity and satisfaction are no longer defined by seeking fulfillment in other places.
• Idolatry of Relationships [00:30:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using personal anecdotes about his wife and children, the pastor illustrates that while family is good, expecting them to be the source of ultimate life and satisfaction is cruel and impossible, as only Jesus is the bread of life.
• The Exclusivity of Christ [00:31:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that while family and marriage are good gifts, they are 'horrible Gods' if expected to provide ultimate satisfaction; only Jesus can be the 'bread of life' without failing.
• The Feeding of the 5,000 [00:33:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > A detailed recounting of the miracle, emphasizing the scale (15,000 people), the lack of lunch, and the teenage boy's hospitality, used to illustrate Jesus' power and timing.
• Evangelism Strategy (Service before Words) [00:39:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts 'John 6:35 the message' with 'Luke 9 the method,' arguing that believers should serve immediate physical or emotional needs to 'earn the right' to speak eternal truths.
• Personal Anecdote: The Uber Driver [00:40:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > A story about an interaction with an Uber driver named Fwad, illustrating the failure of rushing to 'win' someone to Christ without first building relational capital through service.
• Evangelism and Service [00:41:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that serving others is a more effective 'fast way' to reach people for Christ than simply having theological conversations.
• Authenticity in Christian Witness [00:46:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts 'church fans' who contradict their songs with actions against Christians who live out their faith, noting that actions make the gospel 'tender' to listeners.
• Personal Testimony [00:48:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares his personal story of conversion, highlighting how his father's heart was prepared by church members serving at his restaurant before he ever attended.
• Evangelism through Service [00:51:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that Jesus met ordinary needs to connect people to eternal truth, contrasting this with front-loading theology.
• Kindness and Repentance [00:54:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references Romans 2 to explain that kindness is the mechanism that leads to repentance, urging the congregation to let kindness lead rather than just speaking truth.
• Personal Intercession [00:53:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor calls the congregation to identify specific individuals ('ones') they know who do not know the Lord and to commission themselves to serve and pray for them.

• Sermon Illustration [00:26:20 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a story about a festival organizer in California who expressed concern that preaching John 6:35 ('Jesus is the bread of life') was too exclusive for an interfaith event. The pastor clarified that he intended to be 'offensive' in the sense of pleading with hearts, affirming that Jesus is the only way, not just one of many options.
• Sermon Illustration [00:29:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a humorous analogy involving his wife, stating that while she is an amazing wife, she is a 'horrible God' and cannot be the 'bread of life.' He argues that expecting her to provide ultimate spiritual satisfaction would be cruel because she will inevitably fall short, unlike Jesus.
• Sermon Illustration [00:30:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor briefly mentions his daughter Grace, a law student passionate about social justice and the gospel, and his adopted son Rudy, who is dyslexic and passionate about helping children find forever homes, to illustrate the goodness of his family while reinforcing that they are not the source of life.
• Sermon Illustration [00:30:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares personal details about his wife (calling her an 'amazing wife' but 'horrible God'), his daughter Grace (law student), and his adopted son Rudy (dyslexic, passionate about adoption ministry, spelling Jesus with a 'g').
• Sermon Illustration [00:36:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > A humorous comparison between Jesus and preacher Josh Howerton, noting that while Howerton is great, he has jet lag and lacks 'all content,' whereas Jesus holds all time and knowledge perfectly.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > A personal anecdote about an Uber driver named Fwad. The pastor felt the conversation was going so well that Fwad might get saved in the driveway, but Fwad disagreed, highlighting the pastor's mistake of rushing the spiritual conversation without serving first.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells a story about an Uber driver named Fwad who was close to accepting Christ but rejected it upon arrival. He then shares a detailed anecdote about a hotel cleaning lady in Gatlinburg who was moved to tears by the kindness of a youth group, leading to her conversion through the pastor's wife. Finally, he recounts his own conversion story, where church members served at his father's restaurant, preparing his father's heart to allow him to attend church.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story about his father, who was initially resistant to church ('stupid Americans'). A church member named Aubrey invited the father to serve shifts at the pastor's family restaurant. This act of service softened the father's heart, leading him to eventually allow his son to attend church, which resulted in the father's conversion. The pastor later met the waitress (Aubrey) in Orlando, who revealed she was the one who served his father, highlighting the long-term impact of that service.
• Sermon Illustration [00:54:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of 'dirty fingernails' to illustrate that sometimes people find clean hearts only after the believer is willing to get their hands dirty through service.

• Pastoral Charge [00:17:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > Type 'amen' in the chat or say it aloud to receive the prayer.
• Pastoral Charge [00:17:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > Say hi in the chat, click the connect button, or click the volunteer link to connect with the church.
• Pastoral Charge [00:18:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > Text 'give' to 20411, visit the website, or click the give button to partner financially.
• Pastoral Charge [00:18:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > Download the Lake Point app to access the podcast and discipleship guide.
• Pastoral Charge [00:40:25 ▶️ 📄]
  > Identify a specific individual ('one more') in their personal circle who is close to them but far from God.
• Pastoral Charge [00:41:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > Actively seek opportunities to serve others as a method of evangelism.
• Pastoral Charge [00:52:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > Stand up if the individual has a specific non-believer in their life they are burdened for.
• Pastoral Charge [00:53:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > Commission oneself to serve a specific non-believer, pray for practical ways to serve (like cutting grass), and commit to serving before conversing.

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:00:02] Well, hey Lake Point family. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Lake Point Church Online. Hey, we are so glad you're here. If you are here and we have not met yet, my name is Carlos and I serve as pastor of Digital Discipleship. And right now, let me just ask you this. Where are you joining us from right now? We would love to hear from you. I want to give a couple shout outs in this moment. We got Lynn M. from Stratford, Connecticut. We got Kenny and Cheryl Day from Evergreen, Colorado. We got Morris Vincent from Baylor Scott and White Institute for Rehabilitation in Frisco, Texas. Let us know where
[00:00:32] you're joining us from again we have hundreds of people joining us right now literally live and so hey if you're here at any point throughout the service you need somebody to process with or you
[00:00:41] have a specific prayer request here's what you need to know our team is ready to pray for you we'd love to do that if you're joining us right now on our church online platform you can hit that
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[00:01:42] your house into a house of worship and invite the presence of the Holy Spirit to meet you wherever you are joining us right now. And so, man, I want to encourage you to raise your expectations. This
[00:01:52] is going to be a special time together. Let's get rid of any distractions right now and let's Worship our God together today.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:02:00] Welcome, welcome, welcome to Church Online.

[00:16:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:16:33] If we haven't met, my name is Carlos, and I serve as pastor of Digital Discipleship, and we're so glad that you're joining us this weekend.
[00:16:40] Hey, let me just take a second and encourage you with this thought.
[00:16:43] I've heard it said before that people aren't necessarily on a truth quest, but they're actually on a happiness quest.
[00:16:49] But what many don't realize is this.
[00:16:51] True happiness isn't found in your circumstances.
[00:16:53] It is found in how you respond to them.
[00:16:56] It's interesting, in the Bible, the Apostle Paul, he didn't pray for believers to have easier lives.
[00:17:01] Instead, he prayed this powerful prayer in Ephesians chapter 3, verse 16 to 17.
[00:17:06] This is what he said.
[00:17:07] I pray that out of his glorious riches, God may strengthen you with power through his spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
[00:17:19] And that's my prayer for you today.
[00:17:21] And no matter what you're facing, I pray that God fills you right now with strength peace and overflowing joy in his presence and so if you are ready to receive that go ahead and type
[00:17:32] amen in the chat or just say amen at home right now and hey if you're new here or haven't connected yet go ahead and say hi in the chat or if you're on our church online platform click on the connect
[00:17:42] button that you see at the top of your screen or click the link that the volunteers are dropping in the chat right now we would love to hear from you personally hey lakewood family god is raising
[00:17:53] up an army not an audience every single week through your generosity we are making a difference online in over 100 countries and we believe this is just the beginning of what god wants to do
[00:18:03] through church online and so we want to say thank you thank you thank you for partnering with us and reaching thousands with the gospel to join us in giving today text the word give to 20411
[00:18:16] visit lakepoint.church slash give or you can also click the give button on your screen as well also don't forget every monday morning you can dive deeper into the weekend message through our live free podcast so make sure you download the lake point app for our exclusive discipleship
[00:18:35] guide as well for more details check out the link below or click the link our online team will share in the chat as well lakewood family let's keep making a difference together and now check out
[00:18:46] what else is happening in the life of our church.

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:18:52] Hey, Lake Point, Baptism Weekend is next week on May 2nd and 3rd.
[00:18:57] If you've said yes to Jesus, this is your moment to go public with your faith.
[00:19:02] Registration closes on April 29th at noon.
[00:19:05] So text LIFE to 20411 to register now.
[00:19:10] And on May 16th and 17th, we're celebrating our high school seniors during graduation weekend at each campus.
[00:19:17] During weekend services, we will honor graduating seniors and pray for them as they prepare to step into what's next. Start inviting your family and friends to join you and register today at lp.events. And tune in to Pastor Josh's Live Free podcast to dive deeper into the weekend message
[00:19:37] and live free in Christ. Each episode brings real truth and practical biblical wisdom to the start of your week. New episodes drop every Monday, so text PODCAST to 20411 to make it part of your
[00:19:54] weekly rhythm. Now, let's hear from Pastor Josh. Well, hey, Lake Point family. It is an unspeakable

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:20:00] honor to introduce the man that is going to be bringing the word to us today. Let me give you a 30-second timeline of this guy's extraordinary life. In 1979, this man's family was essentially driven out of Iran by the regime as it came in. And then subsequently, he and his family were
[00:20:18] pretty radically converted out of Islam to Christ. Fast forward to the year 2002, and I was a sophomore in college and a volunteer Disciple Now guy at a Disciple Now in Nashville, Tennessee.
[00:20:34] And this same guy walks up and preaches John 3.16 word by word. And I thought, I have never heard someone preach the Bible like that before in my life. Let's fast forward a few more years. And
[00:20:45] for the last decade or so, this guy has been leading what's called Convo at Liberty University.
[00:20:51] It's a gathering of 16,000 Christian young adults and college students, the largest one in the nation. And then now here recently, he's been on seemingly every news station in America talking about what God is doing in the nation of Iran. So ladies and gentlemen, would you please put
[00:21:10] your hands together and give a Heroes Lake Point welcome to my friend and the minister from the Middle East, David Nassar.

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:21:23] So grateful.
[00:21:24] Thank you.
[00:21:24] Thanks for the warm welcome.
[00:21:28] Let me just say right off the bat that I love Josh Howerton, and I'm so grateful for him.
[00:21:33] His friendship has meant a lot to me through the years.
[00:21:37] And when God planted this church years and years ago, he had so much more than the Dallas-Fort Worth area in mind.
[00:21:44] he had more than Texas in mind. He had the nations in mind. And what God is doing in and through your church, I want to say thank you to you, is remarkable that he literally has used you
[00:21:55] to have a rippling effect in the life of people across the ocean. And just the way you're just really doubling down on global missions even is just impressive. And I'm just so grateful for you.
[00:22:05] And so God gets the glory, but I want to honor you and honor Pastor Josh and just say thank you so much for just what you're doing. Stay at it. I'm going to preach one verse, if you
[00:22:16] don't mind. And so if you are here tonight on a Saturday night and you're kind of already disappointed that Josh Howerton is not preaching today, that's okay. Just go ahead and continue to lower your expectations even more. You're not going to get the deep end of the pool
[00:22:31] here. You're going to get something really, really simple tonight in that we're going to camp out at one verse. And I know that you are studying together the book of Luke. And we're going to touch base. This is going to be tethered to Luke 9, 12 to 17. But before you get there,
[00:22:50] all right, I want us to look at this one verse, which is John 6, 35. And so if you would, go with me to John 6, 35. And while you're going there, let me just kind of tee it up by telling
[00:23:00] you that a guy named Charles Spurgeon years ago labeled this verse that we're going to study together, fighting words. He called them fighting words because when Jesus makes the statement that we're about to read, the people who heard him decided that it was time for them to fight back
[00:23:18] and to silence him. When Jesus made this statement, Spurgeon actually also calls them bloody words. He made a statement that literally cost his life on a cross, on a bloody cross.
[00:23:30] And it's not that just 2,000 years ago when Jesus made the statement they were bloody words.
[00:23:35] These are continuing to be bloody words.
[00:23:38] They continue to be words that cost people, for example, in Iran, the underground church in Iran, their lives.
[00:23:44] These words that we're about to read are going to be controversial at Lake Point Church over the weekend because this is the kind of stuff, the truth that you've built down everything you're about, the essence of who you are about as a church.
[00:23:58] But just know that there's a world that is not hospitable but hostile to what I'm about to read to you.
[00:24:06] And we'll break down why people are so aggressively against what we're talking about here in just a second.
[00:24:11] But Jesus says, and these are red-letter words, Jesus says this statement, and it's a bit of an altoid of a statement.
[00:24:19] You know how altoids are curiously strong, they pack a punch?
[00:24:22] This verse is an altruist in that it is, as Billy Graham puts it, the gospel in a nutshell.
[00:24:30] And so now that I've got your attention, let's read it together.
[00:24:33] John 6, 35.
[00:24:36] Jesus says, I am.
[00:24:40] Now, stop right there.
[00:24:41] Just know, before we even get into this one run-on sentence, that right off the bat, when Jesus said the words, I am, and this is one of the seven I am statements in scripture, that when
[00:24:53] Jesus said the words, I am, that was more than enough for the people hearing him to go, now who does he think he is? Who does this Jewish carpenter think he is, that he would dare utter out loud the
[00:25:08] words that are reserved for God and God alone? And so Jesus clarifies. He doesn't clarify by saying, look, look, look, I didn't mean it. He clarifies by saying, I actually mean it. And so Jesus makes
[00:25:20] this statement and he says, I am, and then he takes it even further. He says, I am, you ready for this? The. I am the. Between this service and the last service, I was in the lobby and an
[00:25:34] English teacher came to me and he said, you know, it's interesting that you were talking about that word the. He said, you know, that's a definitive article. And he said, and it's interesting because we want a definitive faith and that's a definitive article and so I stole it and now it's mine all
[00:25:49] right and uh it's true because that's the part that gets people's sweater snagged the the Jesus doesn't say I am uh which is actually uh is an indefinite statement he says I am the and that's
[00:26:06] the part that people have so much problem with so often a few years ago uh I was in getting ready to go to California to speak at a conference, kind of a festival. And they asked if I would send
[00:26:20] them the Bible verse that I was going to, you know, preach on so that they could put it on the bottom thirds of the Jumbotron. It was going to be at this big racetrack. And I sent the verse over
[00:26:29] and I sent John 635, this verse that we're about to kind of break down. And when I sent it, the guy that was in charge of the festival called our office and wanted to have a conversation. And he
[00:26:39] got on the phone with me and he said, hey, you don't know me. I don't know you. This is your first year to be invited to our festival. And I'm excited about you getting to come back. But I just
[00:26:48] want to make sure that we're clear about something. He goes, as soon as I saw the verse that you're going to preach, he said, I got a little concerned because we've taken a lot of effort in the last
[00:26:58] few years here in the California region to be very inclusive in our festival. And he goes, and I know you don't mean it, but this verse feels very exclusive. And he said, I know that's not
[00:27:11] what you mean, but, you know, we're inviting a lot of Muslims, and we're inviting a lot of people from all over the world, you know, different kinds of faith journeys to come, and I know you don't
[00:27:20] mean it, but when you read Jesus is the bread of life, it just feels very, you know, exclusive, and I'm not, are you sure? And I said, I just want to be clear, that is exactly what I mean,
[00:27:31] and I'm not trying to be rude. I'm not trying to be offensive, as in, like, I'm trying to get in your face. I'm trying to be offensive, as in, I'm trying to plead with your heart. I'm so glad
[00:27:41] that when I was a Muslim as an 18-year-old, someone shared with me that Jesus is the way, the truth, the life, and that no one comes to the Father but by him. I'm so glad that Jesus is
[00:27:53] the and not a. And so he's about to say something else. He's about to take it a little bit further and say, I am, let's keep reading, I am the bread of life. And what he's saying in that is that,
[00:28:06] hey, life is not about every religion is a different kind of bread and all of them, all of them are good for a sandwich. That's not what this is. This is not indefinite. It's definite. This is exclusive in effort to be inclusive. This is God loving us so much that
[00:28:24] he tells us the truth. And he tells us about himself and he says, I am the only bread. It's not that, hey, other religions will feed you too. They're all just good spiritual calories. You know,
[00:28:36] maybe it's the unleavened bread maybe sourdough maybe it's pumpernickel pick your flavor all of them will do what he's saying is there's only one bread of life this guy he's talking about himself he says I'm the bread of life he says I'm the bread of life and let's keep reading let's finish
[00:28:52] this verse together he says I'm the bread of life and whoever comes to me is never gonna go hungry and whoever believes in me is never gonna be thirsty.
[00:29:04] Now, he's not talking about that your hunger won't go away.
[00:29:07] He's talking about the reality that you won't be defined by it.
[00:29:11] Your identity won't be built around you always looking for satisfaction in all the different places that'll leave you unsatisfied.
[00:29:19] You'll forever be able to find yourself finally satisfied.
[00:29:26] Now, what is he saying?
[00:29:28] This is why Billy Graham called this the gospel in a nutshell.
[00:29:30] He's saying, if you have me, you have everything you need.
[00:29:33] If you have me, everything else will finally make sense.
[00:29:36] But if you don't have me, everything else is out of place.
[00:29:40] I've been married for a long, long time.
[00:29:42] And can I just tell you, over 30 years, I've been married to the same girl, all right?
[00:29:46] White girl from Alabama.
[00:29:47] Let's go.
[00:29:49] I didn't just marry, she's more than a green card, y'all.
[00:29:51] I really love her, all right?
[00:29:52] So I just want you to know, I love her.
[00:29:53] And I tell my wife all the time, I'm like, if you ever leave me just know I'm going with you all right so this ain't gonna play with for you and we've never contemplated she's never contemplated divorce but maybe murder but that's
[00:30:05] beside the point but I love my wife my wife makes an amazing wife she really does I texted her this morning I was on I got on the plane and and I was just texting her on the runway and I was just like
[00:30:18] I just can't believe I get to be married to you this you're an amazing she's she's an amazing wife, but can I just tell you this? She's a horrible God. My wife makes an amazing wife,
[00:30:29] but she is not the bread of life. As a matter of fact, it would be cruel if I expected for her to be the bread of life. I'd be teeing her up for something where she's going to fall short
[00:30:41] and leave me unsatisfied. I love my kids. I love my kids. My daughter, Grace, I couldn't be more proud. She's in her second year in law school. She's going to be a world changer. She's smart.
[00:30:51] she's witty she's cool she's a social justice meets gospel you know mission girl she just loves the lord she is like on fire and she's so intelligent my son rudy just as passionate about god my son rudy uh he's not academic like my daughter he spells he's he's a dyslexic so
[00:31:10] he spells jesus with a g and it's just all over the place but some of that's because we're catching up he didn't speak english until he was nine you know we adopted him late in life from guatemala
[00:31:19] And every day Rudy wakes up, even though he's not the most active, he's just this baller for the kingdom of God.
[00:31:24] Rudy wakes up every day and he helps children who need to be adopted find forever homes in Christian places.
[00:31:31] And it's amazing.
[00:31:32] And a kid who was once adopted himself now does this.
[00:31:35] And best thing about Rudy, by the way, is he's given me two grandkids and one more on the way.
[00:31:40] And I love that.
[00:31:42] And I'm just telling you, can you tell him I love my kids?
[00:31:44] I'm proud of my kids.
[00:31:45] and my kids make a wonderful family, but they make a horrible God.
[00:31:51] Does that make sense?
[00:31:53] And so it's not that this is pushing up against other religions.
[00:31:56] It's that Jesus says, I want to be your everything.
[00:32:01] I want to be the only bread that'll satisfy.
[00:32:05] And if I become your everything and everything else becomes a distant second at best, then everything else begins to find its proper place in your life.
[00:32:15] Everything else finally begins to make sense.
[00:32:18] So it's not the best job in the world.
[00:32:20] It's not the best friends in the world.
[00:32:21] It's not the best career path in the world.
[00:32:23] It's not the best country club that you get to live by in the world.
[00:32:26] It's not the best car you get to drive in the world.
[00:32:28] It's not the best social media account that all of a sudden starts to blow up in the world.
[00:32:31] And what is it?
[00:32:32] At the end of the day, nothing compares to the greatness of knowing you.
[00:32:38] And then once I know you, I'm locked and loaded, and then everything else finally begins to find its proper place.
[00:32:45] But what's so interesting about Jesus saying this what is so interesting to me about Jesus making this statement this exclusive fighting words it's me or you have nothing what's so interesting about Jesus the essence of the gospel right there
[00:33:02] right give yourself over to me what's so interesting about it to me is that Jesus gives us John 6 35 the day literally 21 most theologians believe 21 hours post the moment that we read
[00:33:18] about in Luke 9. If you have your Bibles and you want to go to Luke 9, you can go to Luke 9 and you can see that Luke 9 happens about a day before all of a sudden we get into Jesus making the
[00:33:31] statement that he did in John 6, 35. And if you know that story, you can look at the header and probably have it as an instant memory connected to the fact that that's the story we call the
[00:33:41] feeding of the 5,000. Now we call it the feeding of the 5,000, but if you read the story, a few verse is there in the story, it'll actually tell you that there were 5,000 men who were there. So
[00:33:52] it's the feeding of the 5,000, but it's the 5,000 men. Now with those men, scripture literally tells us that there were women and they were not just men and women, but there were kids that came with
[00:34:02] those men and women. And this is before birth control. So it's basically think Catholic numbers, y'all. All right. So most theologians believe there are about 15,000 people that are there on the sea, by the Sea of Galilee one day. And Jesus, in that moment, is on what we call the
[00:34:17] Galilean tour. Everywhere Jesus is going in that particular moment of his earthly ministry, the crowds are getting bigger and bigger. There's a lot of FOMO going on, right? Fear of missing out.
[00:34:25] People are hearing how Jesus made the dead rise, how he made the blind see, how Jesus is doing all these miracles. And so the crowds are just getting bigger. I mean, the buzz is out there. And then
[00:34:34] at this moment, we get to a moment where there are 15,000 people that are there. And if you know the story, you know that out of 15,000 people that are there, 14,999 of them have forgotten to pack
[00:34:51] a lunch. They're all looking around going, did you bring the lunch? No, I thought you bring the lunch. I didn't know he was going to be long-winded. What's going on? And so all this is going on in
[00:34:59] that moment. And if you know the story, you know from the other accounts that what? You know that there's this one teenager who's packed the lunch. One responsible teenager who's got plenty for himself, nowhere near enough for everybody else. Couple of fish, couple of bread, plenty. Very
[00:35:18] sufficient for himself, insufficient for everybody else. I mean, this is a kid, the one responsible kid who's packed the lunch. Let's just call it probably a homeschooler. All right. So he's got plenty for himself and he's there. And I don't know how you would be. I don't know what your
[00:35:31] posture would be but if I had plenty for me and nowhere near enough for everybody else and I noticed that's the environment I'd probably be hoarding but instead of hoarding he's hospitable he takes his little bit of fish little bread bread that he has he brings it to the disciples
[00:35:44] the disciples bring it to Jesus Jesus multiplies it and the next thing you know what happens in the story it's an all-you-can-eat buffet with leftovers and what's so interesting to me what is so clear to me in this moment is Jesus in John 6 35 says I'm the bread of life
[00:36:05] and about a day before that he finds a bunch of people who ultimately need the bread of life they need him but their immediate need not their eternal need their immediate need is they're hungry
[00:36:16] and what does he do he decides you're taking notes write this down he decides you ready for this to feed them. He decides to feed them. As a matter of fact, go to the Luke account,
[00:36:28] and the disciple says, can we just break for a minute and let them go back to the village and get their own food, and then maybe they can come back? And Jesus goes, why would we miss this
[00:36:36] opportunity? There's a need, and this is not a I have to. This is a I get to. They have a need.
[00:36:40] This is awesome. They have a need. Let's feed them. Let's feed them. Let's feed them. What's interesting to me is that the greatest preacher of all time, and I know some of y'all think that's
[00:36:52] Josh Howerton. He's not. He's one of my favorite preachers of all time. But Josh Howerton does not have all content. The creator does. The creator of all content has all content. And that would be Jesus. He does not have perfect timing. Josh Howerton just got back, just got back. The reason
[00:37:11] he's not here today is he just got back with some of y'all, some of your church folks from a Bible trip where he went to Greece and he went to Mars Hill and he went to different places. By the way,
[00:37:20] You can go with him if you want to, those kind of things.
[00:37:22] But he just got back, and he's jet-lagged.
[00:37:24] And the reason he's jet-lagged is because he doesn't get to contain.
[00:37:28] But Jesus actually, like, Jesus, in the beginning, before there was a beginning, there was the beginner who began the beginning.
[00:37:33] That's Jesus.
[00:37:35] In the beginning was the Word.
[00:37:37] Before there was a was, there was already the Word.
[00:37:39] The Word is who?
[00:37:40] Jesus is the Word.
[00:37:41] Does that make sense?
[00:37:42] And so I just want to stop right here and just say that, like, he holds all time in his hand.
[00:37:47] Talk about perfect timing.
[00:37:49] There's no jet-lag with Jesus.
[00:37:50] he holds it all. There's no lack of information. You ever have like Pastor Josh preaching the whole time he's preaching, you're like, did somebody hand this guy a sticky note about what's been going on with my life this week? That is just the Holy Spirit, but he doesn't have all content.
[00:38:06] Jesus knows what everybody's thinking at all. Jesus doesn't know right now. Jesus right now does not know what you're thinking. He knows what you're going to be thinking next Thursday. You don't even know what you're thinking next Thursday. Jesus already holds everything you've ever thought
[00:38:18] every Thursday you've ever had and everything you're ever going to think every Thursday you're ever going to have. How you like them apples? And so I'm just telling you this to say Jesus was the
[00:38:27] greatest preacher of all time. Talk about communication. Talk about timing. Talk about delivery. Talk about content. Amen. The greatest preacher of all time finds 15,000 people and he doesn't preach. The greatest preacher of all time finds 15,000 people. They're hungry. And what does
[00:38:45] he do? He says, let's roll up our sleeves and serve them. Now, ultimately, they don't need physical bread. But he, I call this, I call John 635 the message, and I call Luke 9 the method.
[00:39:05] And he does it all over scripture. He sits by the woman at the well before he tells her later on, go and sin no more. Over and over and over again, Jesus just kind of ate his way through the New
[00:39:14] Testament. He would sit with people and meet a momentary need and find a way to love and serve.
[00:39:19] And over and over again, what would Jesus do?
[00:39:21] Jesus would find people who ultimately needed him.
[00:39:24] But what would he do?
[00:39:25] He would meet a momentary need.
[00:39:27] He wasn't pandering to their need.
[00:39:29] He was leveraging that moment to meet a felt need so that he could earn the right to speak after it was revealed what their eternal need was.
[00:39:42] Jesus earned the right to speak fighting words, undeniably offensive words into the life of people. And I just want to say, I love the way of Jesus in the way that he served up the words of Jesus. You know, so often we get ourselves all
[00:40:02] excited about the words of Jesus because we have one person that God has put on our heart.
[00:40:08] In this moment that you guys are in, you're in the series and it's called, you know, this investigating Jesus moment where, you know, Luke, the author of the book of Luke, was writing to his one more, right?
[00:40:21] The one person who you had closest to him, but farthest away from God.
[00:40:25] And you as a collective church body in different campuses have been asking the Holy Spirit, who is my one more, right?
[00:40:31] Who is the one person that I know in my neighborhood, coworker, my family member, who is close to me, but far from God.
[00:40:39] And so often we're asking God for the right words and God is going, maybe before you earn the right to say words, there's a way.
[00:40:46] there's a way and I know I get it I get it and so often it's just like man when we share these words people come one step closer we somebody else shares it come one step closer the other day
[00:40:59] I was talking to the uber driver about the lord and and I thought oh he's about to get saved I'm a bit of a closer alphas I always feel like they're and I thought oh man this is great and
[00:41:09] for the first time ever like we were getting there too fast it was supposed to take 31 minutes and he was getting us there in 29 minutes and his name is Fwad. Y'all pray for Fwad, all right? And
[00:41:20] I was talking to Fwad and I already had the Middle Eastern thing with Fwad and so I was like, this is going really well. I thought, man, he's going to get saved on my driveway.
[00:41:29] And as we were pulling up, he looked at me and he goes, well, I don't agree.
[00:41:34] And I walked out and I thought, well, I don't get to be the closer, but it's okay. That wasn't a waste because it takes seven times average time. But can I just tell you this? We so often are
[00:41:42] thinking about the next step, next step, next step, next step, next step, these conversations that help people get there. But when the reality is, there is actually a way to take a big old fast step, or at the very least, maybe even two, three steps at once. You want to hack? You want
[00:41:56] a fast way to get there? Figure out a way to serve. I call it worship service. Because so often, we want to figure out the next great thing to say when God is going, what is the simple way
[00:42:09] to serve. Serve. You know, a few years ago, I was in Gatlinburg at a conference. It was a college and youth conference. And when I got there, there were about 500 people from this one church that
[00:42:28] had come to the conference. And when I got there, I realized we'd kind of taken over the hotel.
[00:42:34] This entire Days Inn was basically hijacked by this one church that had brought all these people in this was right after Christmas for this Christmas break retreat and after about three four days of being there the event went great my wife and I are leaving the event so we're on the
[00:42:48] top floor of the conference center or whatever the hotel and so that morning we get our roller bags we go get in the elevator and we're the only two in the elevator and the elevator goes down one
[00:42:57] more level and as soon as it came down the elevator door opened up and the cleaning lady comes on I could tell she was the cleaning lady because she had that cleaning lady apron that
[00:43:06] said days in on it and and a cleaning lady cart you know so it was obvious and she comes in the elevator door closes and as soon as it closed we can't see her face because she's facing there's
[00:43:16] the elevator she's facing the elevator and and the carts between us and her but we can see her shoulders and we can hear her she's crying she's going and you just kind of hear her like she's
[00:43:28] crying and her shoulders are shaking and so my wife Jennifer she she whispers to me she I mean she just kind of mouths to me. She goes, she's crying. And I mouth back, I know. And she mouths
[00:43:39] back, say something, say something. And I'm looking at her like, why would I say something when you're here? Because she's so much better at moments like that than me. You know, like I said, I'm the alpha. I just sometimes say things too weird or too loud. She's the sensitive one. She's
[00:43:54] the tender one. Like if you come up to me in a little while and you're like, I'm going through a divorce, I'll be like, gum, I'm just bad. All right. But she's good. So I'm like, why would I,
[00:44:02] if you're here, you know, and why wouldn't you settle for me when you're here? And so she and I are both kind of going, you say something, you say something. And I realized we're about to lose the
[00:44:09] moment because the elevator is going down, down, down. And so out of panic so that we wouldn't lose the moment, I reached around the cart and you know how all the buttons are pushed except
[00:44:18] there's that one red button that's a pull. I just pulled it. This is before September 11th when Iranians could do stuff like that and not go to jail. All right. So I just, I just kind of pulled
[00:44:27] it. And the cleaning lady startled, she turns around and she looked at, I go, man, I'm sorry to startle you I said I didn't want to startle you I said uh my name is David this is my wife
[00:44:35] Jennifer I said we were we were in this elevator obviously and just noticed you're crying and and I we just want to ask you like are you okay is there anything we don't want to lose this moment
[00:44:44] is there anything we can do before we go out into the real world and as soon as I said that there didn't need to be a whole lot more said as soon as I said that she goes are you with these people
[00:44:52] it was like a dam just broke you know she goes are you with these people and I go what do you mean she goes are you with these people that have taken over this hotel for the past three nights
[00:45:00] are you with them and I thought wow one more college group gone wild that has brought a person in the service industry to tears you know I look right at her and I said no ma'am because I wasn't
[00:45:12] I was their guest I go no ma'am and she was okay she goes well have you been around them she goes I'm sorry to be emotional but I came to work today and when I came to work today I was so excited
[00:45:22] because they've been here and and I just found out that they're leaving and I'm sad that they're leaving because I just got to tell you like and she reaches in her apron she pulls out this big
[00:45:30] go water cash she goes this is eleven hundred dollars in tips and we haven't even been able to make a room because if we go in the rooms for the past three days the beds are made the towels
[00:45:38] are hanging out and it's just been like and they just keep tipping us and she goes and I came to work today and and I don't even have my name tag I forgot my name tag but they knew my name no one
[00:45:48] ever alerts my name and she goes and then I found out they're leaving and I don't want them to leave and I interrupt her and I go I'm sorry to go any further without uh but I just want to clarify
[00:45:56] something. I actually am with them. And she goes, oh, you're with them? She goes, and then she doesn't know it. She's literally initiating the gospel conversation with us. She looks right at me and she goes, what's wrong with them? You know what she's saying? She's saying, I see a lot of
[00:46:14] youth groups. I've never seen a youth ministry. She goes, I see a lot of church fans pull up and use our hotel, but this ain't natural. Look at me. This ain't natural. Why? Because it's supernatural,
[00:46:25] right it's it's it's she sees a lot of christians that aren't christ-like a lot of believers that aren't believable they had all the right words she's heard the songs they go down there and sing
[00:46:37] the same 19 songs we all sing except they contradict the songs that they sing by the way they treat her and the servants in this tree and all of a sudden she is wondering what is so
[00:46:50] different about these crazy weird people that she's been around for three days and then so she asked me she asked us she goes what is wrong with them and my wife finally speaks up my introvert
[00:47:01] wife she looks right at her and she goes I can tell you exactly what's wrong with them Jesus Christ is the matter with them and then my wife starts breaking down John 3 16 and starts telling
[00:47:11] her how she's a sinner in need of a savior but the savior is a savior who knows her name the reason these kids know her name is because God knows her name because it is important and all of a sudden
[00:47:20] my wife starts breaking it down how she can come her life to Christ and then she reaches her hand over and like between, with the cart between us, my wife leads this lady to the Lord. I finally
[00:47:29] released her. We go down, the elevator opens up, all these teenagers are in the lobby, all these college kids. I'm like, hey, this is my brand new sister in Christ. And in the lobby, everybody
[00:47:37] starts singing happy birthday. And I tell you all that to say, we didn't do anything amazing in the elevator. She was already at nine. We just had to stare at her and she tipped. Why? Because a bunch
[00:47:50] of Christians had been the way of Jesus so that when we talked the words of Jesus, what happened?
[00:47:58] It didn't fall on hard ground. She was tender to the gospel. Does that make sense? Now, listen to me. This is skin in the game for me. I know this to be true. If you're actually interested, actually
[00:48:13] interested in reaching your one, I know this to be true because I'm here. I'm a product of this.
[00:48:20] I was an 18-year-old who escaped from Iran when he was a nine-year-old and was a quasi-Muslim by heritage. And when I was 18 years old, one night, a buddy of mine invited me to church, and I didn't
[00:48:31] want to go to church because I had Muslim heritage in my name, and I wasn't even a good Muslim, and I had no interest in it. And my buddy kept asking me if I wanted to go to church. And just
[00:48:40] to get him off my back, knowing my father would quickly say no as a Muslim, as a more devout Muslim than me. I remember on a Saturday night, I walked into my house, and I walked down the
[00:48:51] hallway of our home, and my buddy, standing at the door to make sure I was going to ask my dad, was listening, and I knocked on my parents' bedroom door. And I'll never forget, I thought
[00:49:01] my dad's going to say no really loud and stop it, so he'll stop harassing me to come to church.
[00:49:06] I asked my dad if I could go to church. I said, Mom and Dad, I know you're going to say no. Just say no loud enough so my friend can hear. He wants to know if tomorrow I can get up in the morning,
[00:49:14] put on some chinos, go to church with him. And instead of saying no, my dad in his bed goes, what is the name of it? And I was shocked my father would even be open to the idea.
[00:49:24] But what I didn't know, y'all, was that about two weeks prior to that Saturday night when I was standing there, there were these people from this church, Shades Mountain Baptist Church, this guy named Aubrey Edwards, who was the worship pastor, and a few other staffers who
[00:49:37] were at my dad's restaurant. My dad had opened up a French restaurant. I know it's confusing, but stay with me, all right? He'd open up this French restaurant. And while they were at this lunch rush, these people from this church, they had seen how my dad was shorthanded on waitstaff
[00:49:50] and how the service was bad. And instead of complaining about the bad service, they quietly got up, rolled up their sleeves, and waited on tables at my dad's restaurant.
[00:49:59] Then Aubrey and some of his friends intentionally came back the next day. They got there at 11 and stayed till 3 and just served my dad. They came back the next day and did it again. Can you
[00:50:08] imagine a mega church worship leader leading worship, not with a guitar in his hand, but with a mop in his hand. And I didn't know all that had happened. And then he invited my dad after the
[00:50:21] third shift to choir practice. And because kindness is a superpower, my dad went to choir practice.
[00:50:29] We didn't know any of this because we were not the kind of family that had conversations. You know what I'm saying? So then my dad went to choir practice. And at the end of that choir practice,
[00:50:36] Aubrey got out a piece of paper and said, everybody sign up for shifts. You need to serve my friend, Mr. Nassar at his restaurant. They called it missions. My dad called it stupid Americans, but God was at work. And for two weeks, God had used that to massage my dad's heart.
[00:50:52] Fast forward two weeks later, I don't know any of this is going on. I go, dad, can I go to church?
[00:50:55] And instead of saying no, he goes, what is the name of it? And my buddy yells out the name of the exact church as the people that had been serving my dad. And my dad goes, you can go there,
[00:51:05] but only there. Look at me. I get to be here because they got to be there, right? I was at a church not too long ago in Orlando. I was telling my story, and between the second and the third
[00:51:14] service, this lady comes up to me. She's a grandma. She's got her grandkids around her. She said, when I was in college, I was at choir one night, and they made us sign up for shifts. I was a
[00:51:24] waitress at your daddy's restaurant for two weeks, and we're standing there crying, and I go, it's your fault I'm here. Anybody got a one? You got one person, you're going, how do I reach them? I
[00:51:35] mean, they're closest to me, but they're furthest from God. And we're always thinking about what do I say? What do I say? What do I say? What about what do I serve? How do I serve? So that what I
[00:51:45] say goes louder. Look, so often Jesus did not begin with theology to front load. And that's not because if you're hearing that and you're like, do you not like theology? No, Jesus loved theology too much to serve it on the wrong kind of plate. It was too good. It was too good to just cheaply
[00:52:04] say it. So what did Jesus do? He found a way to meet an ordinary need so that he could connect people to eternal truth. So what if today, in this moment, you're thinking about a person
[00:52:16] that you care about, and you're thinking, what if the way I need to be praying on how to win, W-I-N, right? The one, O-N-E, how Jesus won the one. Well, what if the strategy is,
[00:52:31] why don't I try his way? Why don't I try his way? And so no heads bowed, no eyes closed. And anybody here like, I actually have a one for a while now. I've had a one. Maybe it's your brother.
[00:52:44] Maybe it's your sister. Maybe it's your best friend. Maybe it's the person next to you in the cubicle down the street. Anybody got anybody like, I actually know somebody who doesn't know the Lord. I actually know it's maybe it's the waitress that continues to be in front of you.
[00:52:56] And you've actually like, you know each other's names now and you know more about their life.
[00:53:00] And maybe it's the guy who ends up at the gym always next to you.
[00:53:03] And maybe it's anybody like, man, I actually have a one.
[00:53:07] If you have one, will you stand?
[00:53:09] Like, I actually know someone that I know that I have a burden.
[00:53:14] God has broken my heart for their salvation.
[00:53:17] Will you stand?
[00:53:18] And would you just do this right now?
[00:53:20] First of all, can we just pause right here and just say this?
[00:53:23] They probably think this lie.
[00:53:25] If you're standing up for somebody, they probably think this lie.
[00:53:29] nobody ever thinks about me nobody ever cares about me God doesn't have no idea that the Holy Spirit just had you stand for them in a room that they're not in they have no idea that God so loves
[00:53:41] them that he has put you as an advocate you as a missionary in their life and that you're standing up right now for whoever that person is and so if you're standing up right now for that one this is
[00:53:53] very personal for you this isn't about a bunch of Bible verses and a bunch of stuff you read this is about like, I actually am thinking about Thomas. I'm actually thinking about Stacy. I'm actually
[00:54:03] thinking about my own biological brother, Brandon, and I'm thinking about him. If you're thinking about that person, would you just right now close your eyes for just a second, and would you just commission, like sign up in this moment, commission yourself into this moment, and just say, Lord,
[00:54:22] help me figure out how to cut their grass. Help me earn the right to speak redemptive truth into their life, undeniable truth into their life, but help it not fall on deaf ears because, God,
[00:54:39] I'm figuring out a way to let kindness lead to repentance, like it says in Romans 2.
[00:54:45] So right now, will you just sign up to be a servant? Sometimes the way people find clean hearts is we first decide to get some dirty fingernails. And so will you just right now, just in this moment, just pray for them. Lord, thank you. Thank you for this moment that you've
[00:55:06] given us. We're in a room of a couple of thousand people. God, you have put on the heart of everyone in this room, so many people who are not in this room. And so we want to, we want to adhere to your
[00:55:22] strategy. And we would say, here, my Lord, send me. And it's not send me to conversations. It's Send me to serve so that I could have conversations.
[00:55:39] And so, Lord, right now, in this moment, I pray that you would stir the affection of your people for those who you have commissioned them to love and that they, God, would step into the lives
[00:55:56] of those that you've put on them.
[00:55:59] You bless them with an opportunity to serve and that people would notice something different.
[00:56:05] God, I pray that the co-worker would look at the other co-worker in a couple of weeks and say, man, I've been going through a tough spell.
[00:56:12] You've been doing a lot of work.
[00:56:13] And then the boss, it was a compliment and you didn't want credit.
[00:56:18] Why didn't you want credit?
[00:56:19] And that'll open up an opportunity.
[00:56:22] I pray that people would refrain from being right, winning the point instead of loving the person and that God, there would just, there would just be a kindness that would be magnetic.
[00:56:37] We love you, Lord.
[00:56:38] You're so good to us.
[00:56:39] Thank you that all of us have a story to tell of someone who displayed the gospel and we took it seriously. And we pray this in your name. Amen. Amen. I've loved being here. Thanks for letting

[00:56:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:56:50] me open the gospel with you. Lake Point, can we thank the Lord for the powerful word from Pastor David? So good. And man, I just don't want to leave that moment too quickly because I know
[00:57:02] from so many people standing in this room, there's a whole lot of one mores that are on your hearts.
[00:57:07] Now, I just want to let you know, man, under these crosses at the end of the service, So we're gonna have a prayer team out here.
[00:57:12] And maybe you wanna pray for your prodigal son, prodigal daughter, brother, sister, mom, dad, coworker.
[00:57:18] There's someone in your life that Jesus is wanting you to advocate for, wanting you to move closer towards.
[00:57:25] And the first thing that you can do there is pray for that person, that the Lord would give you an opportunity to do that.
[00:57:31] And maybe you're also here and you're thinking, well, I think that's me.
[00:57:34] I think I'm the one more that my friend brought to church today.
[00:57:37] And I see Jesus for the first time and I wanna put my trust in Him as the Lord and Savior of my life.
[00:57:43] If that's you, then we got a next step for you too.
[00:57:46] Then the easiest thing that you can do is just text the word life to 20411.
[00:57:51] And someone from our church is gonna reach out to you to help make sure you take that next right step.
[00:57:57] Well, hey, something we love doing here at Lake Point Church is we love celebrating and talking about the different ways your generosity is making a difference in our community and abroad.
[00:58:06] In fact, it's one of the fastest growing Christian movements in the world right now is the Christian movement happening in Iran. There's so many Christian believers out there and they're meeting secretly in these underground churches
[00:58:17] all throughout their cities and communities. But make no mistake, the grounds of the church is moving forward. The gospel is being shared and there are new brothers and sisters coming to Christ there every single day. Pastor David has an incredible ministry there that's called Revival
[00:58:32] Iran. And it's all about supplying and resourcing some trusted partners in those cities that are going to help raise up these churches and help bring more and more Iranian men and women to know Jesus the same way that you and I do today. Because of your generosity, Lake Point, we were able to
[00:58:49] send a financial gift to Revival Iran so that they can continue to resource and supply this incredible work. So let's celebrate that, man. Come on. An incredible work that the Lord is doing both here and abroad to give today you can give in one of two ways first in the buckets as they make
[00:59:06] their way through the rows or second the best and easiest way is just text the word give to 20411 that'll take you directly to our giving page and while you're there i'd love to encourage you
[00:59:16] go ahead and set up recurring giving that's going to give our leadership team the ability to step boldly into the future and meet the needs of our community and abroad exactly as they arise thank you in advance for being a part of everything the lord is doing here at lake point church well
[00:59:31] Y'all, it's been a phenomenal Saturday together and we wanna go out worshiping.
[00:59:34] So let's stand together and continue to celebrate all God has done, both as we give and as we sing.