Go Tell It | How Sharing Your Story Can Slay Dragons

00:00:00

[music: Count Me In, Crossroads Music]

00:00:08

- Bienvenidos a Crossroads. Welcome.

00:00:10

And if this isn't your first time, welcome back.

00:00:12

And a special welcome back to all of you

00:00:15

that got to experience Man Camp last week,

00:00:17

which I did not, and I am suffering so much FOMO, man.

00:00:21

Yeah, you went, Andy.

00:00:22

- It was incredible. Incredible time.

00:00:24

There was like 3500 dudes that were there.

00:00:27

Hundreds of people experienced Jesus.

00:00:29

God showed up in a huge, huge way. It was incredible.

00:00:33

Seriously guys I know left that place transformed.

00:00:36

- Awesome, awesome.

00:00:37

Well, we're about to have a transformational time

00:00:39

here with some worship, so we're glad you're here

00:00:41

and we're excited that you're joining us.

00:13:48

- Come on, just say those three words, say I'm honestly.

00:16:14

- Jesus, I owe everything to You.

00:16:18

I believe that You are the giver of all good things.

00:16:21

So any thing that's good in my life,

00:16:25

like all the memories I have from last weekend

00:16:28

with my buddies around a campfire.

00:16:33

Just like laying some burdens down

00:16:37

that I always think are my own to carry,

00:16:41

or that I must be the only one feeling

00:16:43

that stress or that anxiety or that deep burden.

00:16:50

Every time I share it openly and bring it into the light,

00:16:52

I'm reminded I'm not alone.

00:16:56

Everything good in my life,

00:16:58

I owe everything to You. Jesus.

00:17:02

And so why would I try to hold anything?

00:17:07

I surrender all.

00:17:12

You are too good, too kind

00:17:15

and too loving for anything less.

00:17:20

I bless You and praise You, Jesus. Amen. Amen.

00:17:31

So good to be together. I love this.

00:17:33

I love that you're online with us.

00:17:34

I love that you're in the room with us.

00:17:36

Why don't you turn to somebody in the room, say,

00:17:38

"Hey, glad you made it today," and you can have a seat.

00:17:43

- For over 25 years, God has called us

00:17:45

to provide meals for families in need in our community.

00:17:48

Every year we get to be a part of something

00:17:51

Jesus invites us into: feeding the hungry.

00:17:54

To participate, pick up a box on October 23 and 26,

00:17:58

or November 6 and 9.

00:18:00

You grab a box. You fill it with food.

00:18:03

You bring it back.

00:18:04

What feels ordinary to us

00:18:06

becomes extraordinary in His hands.

00:18:08

Stress lifted, bellies filled, hope given.

00:18:13

In Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Lexington.

00:18:16

We fill boxes together

00:18:18

and Jesus meets families at their tables.

00:18:33

- Guys, something I love about this community

00:18:36

is that we show up for our cities.

00:18:39

And this year, this coming week, right now,

00:18:43

it's happening with the Thanksgiving Food Drive.

00:18:46

Jesus couldn't have said it any simpler:

00:18:48

Feed those that are hungry.

00:18:49

And every year for over almost 20 years,

00:18:53

we've been gathering and making sure that

00:18:54

everyone in our city gets to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.

00:18:57

- That's right. Over 10,000 families just this year.

00:19:00

So you add that up over 20 years. It's incredible.

00:19:02

But here's what it's going to look like.

00:19:04

If you live near one of our physical locations,

00:19:06

like this one, hey, go to church and get a box.

00:19:09

Next week we're all going to be out at Base Camp land.

00:19:12

More of that to come in just a second,

00:19:14

but make sure you grab your box on Sunday, November 9

00:19:17

and then bring it back filled the following week.

00:19:19

Now if you're online,

00:19:20

we have another way that you can do this.

00:19:22

We'll actually ship you one of these boxes.

00:19:24

- One of these?

00:19:25

- We'll ship one so you can make an impact right where you are.

00:19:27

But if you live down the street or around a physical site,

00:19:30

hey, we're not going to waste your tithe money

00:19:32

shipping you a box.

00:19:33

It's weirdly expensive to ship an empty box.

00:19:35

- Yes, it really is.

00:19:36

So again, make sure you heard that,

00:19:38

Cleveland, Phoenix, Tokyo, wherever you are,

00:19:40

you can make a difference.

00:19:41

It reminds me of a story of someone

00:19:44

in our Anywhere Community. - The Beeches.

00:19:45

- The Beeches. Shout out to the Beeches in Florida.

00:19:48

They got together about 20 friends at a local taproom,

00:19:50

had Friendsgiving,

00:19:51

and in the midst of celebrating together,

00:19:54

they filled a bunch of these boxes.

00:19:56

And so it you you can join.

00:19:59

You can join and make a difference

00:20:01

wherever God calls you and has called you to go.

00:20:04

- Yeah. That's right.

00:20:05

Hey, if you're new or just checking this place out,

00:20:07

here's what you need to know about Crossroads.

00:20:09

We're a community that doesn't just talk about

00:20:12

helping people, we actually do it.

00:20:14

- Yes, and all of that happens

00:20:17

by those that call this place home

00:20:19

and want to be part of what God is doing,

00:20:22

where He calls us to go.

00:20:23

And so if you want to find out more about how we give,

00:20:25

what we give and all of that,

00:20:27

I want to encourage you to go to Crossroads.net/give.

00:20:30

- Yeah. Hey, we mentioned next weekend

00:20:33

is something we call Revival. - Revival.

00:20:34

- It's not just the name of an event,

00:20:36

it's what it's all about.

00:20:37

Thousands of us gathering together in one place

00:20:40

to ask God to move in our cities,

00:20:42

in our families and in us.

00:20:44

Now, I don't know what comes to mind

00:20:45

when you hear that word,

00:20:46

but this isn't just like a church thing.

00:20:48

It isn't just loud music and crowds and a tent.

00:20:50

No, no, it's about people who are hungry for something real.

00:20:54

- And you know what? That that could be you.

00:20:56

It's definitely me.

00:20:57

And there's just some reviving that

00:20:59

I don't even know that needs to happen in my life.

00:21:01

And the life of my kid and the life of my family,

00:21:03

my wife, everyone.

00:21:05

We think it's important that we are doing

00:21:08

everything that we can and stopping everything else we do.

00:21:11

- That's right. - So that this can happen.

00:21:13

In fact, the weekend Revival,

00:21:15

we're not going to be having services anywhere.

00:21:17

We're going to be having service at Base Camp.

00:21:20

So November 1 and 2, we're all heading to Base Camp

00:21:23

to get out of this, you know, routine

00:21:25

and make space for something new to happen

00:21:28

in all of our lives.

00:21:29

So you can find out everything you would

00:21:31

need to know about that at Crossroads.net/Revival.

00:21:33

But we are going to go through some quick reminders right now.

00:21:36

- Just so you know, camping is optional.

00:21:38

You can come Friday night,

00:21:39

you can come anytime on Saturday

00:21:42

or just for a day or a few hours.

00:21:44

Now tent campers and volunteers

00:21:46

will actually get to park and hike in.

00:21:48

If you're car camping or overlanding, man,

00:21:51

we've got a great team that will direct you

00:21:53

specifically where you can go.

00:21:55

Now here's the key part. Know your entrance.

00:21:57

- Okay, there's two entrances this year. Okay?

00:22:00

So if you're just coming for a day,

00:22:02

Neville-Penn Schoolhouse Road entrance,

00:22:04

that's where you're going to want to go.

00:22:05

It's going to be a lighter traffic entrance for you.

00:22:10

And if you're camping or volunteering,

00:22:11

you want to definitely use what's called

00:22:13

the Burns Road entrance on Burns Road. Right.

00:22:16

So one thing we want to make sure you do

00:22:19

is plan for a little extra travel time. Okay?

00:22:22

It can be, it can be a little bit of a wait.

00:22:25

That's why we want two entrances.

00:22:26

And when it comes to food and supplies,

00:22:28

it's BYO everything.

00:22:30

Bring everything that you're going to need

00:22:32

for as long as you're going to be at camp

00:22:33

and think simple. Okay?

00:22:35

If you need a fridge, nah.

00:22:38

If you need anything more than a fire,

00:22:40

it's not going to happen, okay?

00:22:41

So really think simple about what you're bringing.

00:22:43

And when it comes to bathrooms, don't worry,

00:22:46

there are portlets. We got portlets, people. Okay.

00:22:49

As many portlets as we can get onto Base Camp.

00:22:52

And if Portlets isn't your thing,

00:22:54

well, there's also plenty of trees,

00:22:56

and you know what to do with that, right?

00:22:57

Embrace nature this weekend at Revival.

00:22:59

Just come expectant, guys.

00:23:01

All kidding aside, I am so excited

00:23:03

for what God is going to do for my life.

00:23:05

And I'm excited for what God is going to do in your life,

00:23:08

for those of you

00:23:09

and those that you bring to Revival this weekend.

00:23:12

- That's right. Come, expectant, curious.

00:23:14

Man, bring a friend and just see what happens.

00:23:16

Worst case, hey, you have a really great weekend.

00:23:18

There's gonna be all kinds of fun stuff with this too.

00:23:21

But best case, God does something

00:23:23

that literally changes everything t

00:23:25

hat makes your life different.

00:23:27

If you can't make it for some reason, we totally get it.

00:23:29

Maybe you live in Arizona

00:23:30

or watching this for the first time right now.

00:23:32

Hey, we're gonna have some incredible content

00:23:34

from that time posting for you.

00:23:36

Friday night at 5 p.m.,

00:23:38

there will actually be a digital solitude experience

00:23:40

helping you to slow down, to connect with God

00:23:43

and consider what it might look like

00:23:45

for Him to revive something in your life.

00:23:47

And then Sunday morning, we're actually going

00:23:49

to have a service with worship and teaching

00:23:52

from the land, from the revival experience

00:23:54

and put together just for you.

00:23:57

Here's what you need to know.

00:23:58

All the stuff's on the website, like Arturo mentioned,

00:24:00

but the the basic deal is this:

00:24:03

whoever you are and wherever you are,

00:24:05

we believe that God has more for you,

00:24:07

that He wants to revive things in you

00:24:08

that feel dead or dry.

00:24:11

And we believe that's what's going to happen

00:24:13

this weekend for you.

00:24:14

- Hey, I'm a Base Camp right here.

00:24:15

We call it Base Camp because it's the place

00:24:17

where you get energized and refreshed

00:24:19

before you get to the top of your next mountain.

00:24:22

There's something God wants in you and for you,

00:24:25

and you got to get to the right place to get ready for it.

00:24:27

That's what this property is about.

00:24:29

That's why we have Revival coming up.

00:24:31

It's a few days. Come and camp one night, camp two nights.

00:24:35

Come up for one day, come up for an hour.

00:24:37

Come up from midnight to three in the morning.

00:24:39

Come up and do anything. Come and go as you want.

00:24:41

The point is, we want you to get revived

00:24:44

and have something fresh happen in you.

00:24:46

Because God wants something for you here on this land.

00:24:51

Get here. We have surprises for you.

00:24:53

I think the Spirit of God is going to be thick.

00:24:55

We'll see you then.

00:25:00

- The history of revival is very clear:

00:25:02

God goes where He's wanted.

00:25:05

You're where you are right now

00:25:07

because of where you've been.

00:25:09

And so the fact that we opted in to revival

00:25:12

means, like, something is dead

00:25:14

or we need something refreshed,

00:25:18

and that means something new has to come in

00:25:20

and we've got to open ourselves up.

00:25:26

- Let's go. Let's go.

00:25:29

I'm so excited and giddy about Revival

00:25:32

because God is moving.

00:25:33

And I think next week is going to be amazing.

00:25:35

Hey, you got a card and a Sharpie when you came in.

00:25:38

Hold on to that.

00:25:39

We're going to be doing something with that

00:25:41

related to Revival at the end of our time.

00:25:43

But I've got an announcement, some updates on Revival.

00:25:46

So, um, how many men were at Man Camp again?

00:25:50

All right. Let's do this right. One, two three. Ahoo.

00:25:53

- Ahoo! - There you go.

00:25:54

Those are the guys that were at Man Camp last weekend.

00:25:56

And one of the things we were blessed by

00:25:59

is a Grammy Award winning lead singer,

00:26:02

Dante Bowe was with us.

00:26:03

Was he not incredible?

00:26:05

Like, man, this guy opens his mouth

00:26:07

and you know that God has just gifted him

00:26:09

to sing in a powerful way and to bring us

00:26:11

into the presence of God in a powerful way.

00:26:13

He's going to be at Revival next weekend.

00:26:17

And the reason is because he asked to be.

00:26:21

He had such a sense that God was doing something,

00:26:23

he said, "Can I come back and be a part of it?"

00:26:26

So, man, this dude's changing his schedule

00:26:28

and his plan to be there. You should too.

00:26:30

God is going to be doing some incredible things.

00:26:32

He's already already at work.

00:26:34

I want to share a story with you that deeply encouraged me.

00:26:37

I hope it will encourage you as well.

00:26:39

Any Batavia Bulldog alumni in the house?

00:26:41

Batavia High School? Probably not.

00:26:43

They're all at Eastside, I get it,

00:26:45

they're all Crossroads East Side.

00:26:46

But right now, if they're watching,

00:26:48

they're like, "Yes, Batavia Bulldogs."

00:26:49

Something amazing is happening in our students.

00:26:52

And I just want you to hear about it.

00:26:53

So, a group of students from Crossroads East Side

00:26:56

that attend Batavia have been praying

00:26:58

and asking God to show up to, like,

00:27:00

impact the lives of their friends.

00:27:01

They want to see their friends meet Jesus.

00:27:03

And they had a chance to gather about 100 students from Batavia.

00:27:07

This group of students was gathering them.

00:27:09

It wasn't something Crossroads was doing.

00:27:10

The students were doing it.

00:27:12

And of those 100 students that were there,

00:27:14

there was a young lady who shared her story

00:27:16

about meeting Jesus, what Jesus meant in her life.

00:27:18

And afterwards, this kid, Andon.

00:27:20

And I think Andon is going to be a pastor one day.

00:27:22

I think he already is a pastor.

00:27:23

After she shared her story, Andon got up

00:27:25

and said to 100 of his high school friends,

00:27:27

"Maybe you want to meet Jesus right now.

00:27:29

Maybe you want to receive Him, and if so,

00:27:31

I want you to raise your hand and receive Him."

00:27:32

Ten people sent, ten students

00:27:34

received Jesus in that gathering.

00:27:36

10 of 100, 10 of 100. [applause]

00:27:40

It gets even better.

00:27:41

This is how I know he's going to be a pastor,

00:27:43

because he did the classic pastor thing.

00:27:44

He said, "Maybe you've walked away from Jesus

00:27:47

and you want to come back to Jesus."

00:27:49

Another 30 students stood up, another 30 students.

00:27:55

Now, I'm not great with math, but 40 out of 100

00:27:59

means God is doing something.

00:28:00

There is something going on, and I believe

00:28:03

that's all going to be playing out in Revival.

00:28:05

And maybe that story really blessed me because

00:28:07

it was in a auditorium like this

00:28:09

where I first heard the good news of Jesus

00:28:13

from one of my peers in a way that really penetrated my heart.

00:28:16

I was going to church at the time.

00:28:18

But my friend Omar had the courage to say,

00:28:20

"Man, I know you go to church,

00:28:22

but can I just tell you what Jesus has done in my life?"

00:28:25

And I'm so thankful for that.

00:28:28

I needed an Omar. I think we all do.

00:28:30

Someone who's willing to open their mouth up

00:28:33

and share what God is doing in their life.

00:28:35

And so today, I want to encourage you to be like Omar.

00:28:39

I want to encourage you to go tell it,

00:28:42

to share your story.

00:28:43

So like I said, I've got a challenge for you later

00:28:46

on making this really practical.

00:28:48

But maybe you're here today

00:28:49

and you've not yet received Jesus.

00:28:51

You're on the other side of that equation,

00:28:53

like those ten students.

00:28:54

I pray today as you hear this message

00:28:56

that God is working on your heart

00:28:58

and I believe that He will be.

00:28:59

Let's pray as we jump in.

00:29:01

God, I ask that You would show up.

00:29:04

You've been showing up, and I pray that You would show up now.

00:29:07

And and God, what does show up mean?

00:29:09

We use that word. It means, God, that I pray

00:29:11

that all these people who are listening right now,

00:29:13

when they leave here would say,

00:29:15

"I know something about God,

00:29:16

or I experience something about God

00:29:18

that I hadn't experienced before."

00:29:20

That's what I'm asking for, God.

00:29:21

Because You are real and You are active

00:29:23

and You want to be involved in our lives,

00:29:26

You want to transform us.

00:29:27

And so, God, I pray that You would do that

00:29:28

and You would use this time together toward that end.

00:29:31

I pray this in Jesus's Name. Amen. Amen.

00:29:35

Romans 10:14 says this:

00:29:38

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?

00:29:41

And how are they to believe in him

00:29:43

of whom they have never heard?

00:29:46

And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

00:29:50

What if I told you that that verse

00:29:53

does not apply only to pastors like me?

00:29:56

That it isn't just about people who have

00:29:59

a microphone and amplification, who stand on stages

00:30:02

and talk about Jesus, but that when those words

00:30:04

were written to early followers of Jesus

00:30:06

in the Roman Empire, it was understood

00:30:09

that all of us preach,

00:30:11

that all of us have a story to share,

00:30:14

and that there is something powerful

00:30:16

when we go and tell our story.

00:30:19

I want to encourage you that that verse applies to you.

00:30:23

In fact, let me make it more clear for you.

00:30:26

You have a spiritual enemy.

00:30:28

And he goes by many names in the Bible,

00:30:30

but one of those names is Satan.

00:30:32

That word means the accuser.

00:30:33

It means the accuser.

00:30:35

It means that Satan is the one that tells you

00:30:37

you don't have a story.

00:30:38

Somebody in here really feels like you don't have a story,

00:30:41

or you feel like, "Well, if you knew my story,

00:30:43

you wouldn't want me to share my story."

00:30:44

And I'm telling you that is a lie. That is a lie.

00:30:47

And today I'm just calling that out.

00:30:49

I'm calling his bluff.

00:30:50

Because here's the thing, his bet is that

00:30:52

you and I, when given the opportunity

00:30:54

to tell someone else about how Jesus

00:30:56

has impacted our lives, his bet is that you and I won't do it.

00:31:01

His bet is that we'll keep our mouths shut.

00:31:03

And you know what? He's winning far too often in that bet.

00:31:08

Barna is a research organization.

00:31:10

They do research on the church.

00:31:11

Look at this: Almost half of Christian millennials

00:31:14

say evangelism is wrong.

00:31:18

We have a problem here.

00:31:19

Now, interestingly, 97% of the people

00:31:23

that they interviewed here said that

00:31:24

meeting Jesus is the best thing

00:31:26

that could happen in someone's life.

00:31:28

And yet of that, less than half of them would say,

00:31:31

"But I shouldn't tell anybody else about it."

00:31:34

That tells me two things.

00:31:35

And I think two things can be true at the same time.

00:31:37

I think, number one, it speaks to the fact

00:31:39

that it's hard to talk about Jesus.

00:31:41

It's hard to share your faith.

00:31:43

Like, that's not an easy thing.

00:31:44

It doesn't necessarily come natural to all of us.

00:31:47

And I want you to see it also means

00:31:50

there is a big opportunity.

00:31:52

There is a massive opportunity because you know what?

00:31:54

People in this world are hungry for good news.

00:31:58

Aren't you? Aren't you hungry for good news?

00:32:00

Aren't you hungry for hope?

00:32:01

Aren't you hungry for positive?

00:32:03

I'm telling you, I think there's

00:32:04

a powerful opportunity here if we will tell it,

00:32:08

if we will tell the good news

00:32:09

of what Jesus has done in our life.

00:32:11

Alli last week said that this is a two parter.

00:32:13

So she was like part one and this is part two.

00:32:16

I loved what she said in part one about the good news.

00:32:19

What is the gospel? What is the good news?

00:32:21

That word gospel means good news.

00:32:23

And that wasn't a churchy word.

00:32:25

In Jesus's time and in the time of the early church,

00:32:28

that was a cultural word, because every time

00:32:31

a new king would conquer an empire,

00:32:33

they would send ahead of them evangelists.

00:32:36

Again, not a churchy word, that was a cultural word.

00:32:39

And those evangelists would go ahead and say,

00:32:41

"Let me tell you the good news of this new king

00:32:43

and how this new king is going to make your life better."

00:32:45

That was what it meant to share the gospel,

00:32:48

share the good news.

00:32:50

So Jesus is a King and He has good news.

00:32:53

What is the good news of Jesus?

00:32:55

Alli put it in ten words. I love it.

00:32:56

Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead.

00:33:00

That's the good news of King Jesus.

00:33:04

And that has implications for you and I that are amazing.

00:33:06

I love what she said, that this good news is about Jesus.

00:33:11

It's not about me, not about, hey,

00:33:13

let me give you some helpful principles

00:33:14

to make your life better.

00:33:15

No, there is a God-Man, Jesus who came for you.

00:33:20

It's about Jesus. It's also about our sin.

00:33:25

The understanding is Jesus had to come

00:33:28

because apart from His rescue through His death on the Cross,

00:33:32

you and I would be forever separated from God,

00:33:35

forever separated from life.

00:33:36

We all sin. We all have sinned.

00:33:38

And because of that, we're separated from God.

00:33:40

We needed Jesus to come.

00:33:41

But here's the good news:

00:33:42

He came, He died, and He rose again.

00:33:45

So the gospel is about resurrection.

00:33:47

And here's the thing, we can think about resurrection

00:33:49

as like, yes, dead people coming back to life. Yes, indeed.

00:33:52

But is there anybody who's experienced

00:33:54

a resurrection in their own life?

00:33:55

Maybe a relationship, maybe your purpose,

00:33:58

maybe something's come alive in you

00:33:59

because you're in relationship with Jesus.

00:34:01

That is part of the good news.

00:34:03

And thankfully, the good news is about grace.

00:34:07

I got what I do not deserve.

00:34:10

That's what grace is.

00:34:12

I get all of the righteousness and goodness

00:34:14

that is applied to Jesus because He's perfect.

00:34:17

When God looks at me, He sees Jesus's perfection.

00:34:21

That's grace. I don't deserve that.

00:34:23

But whew, that is good news.

00:34:26

And if you've received that good news,

00:34:28

you have a story to tell.

00:34:29

You may not think you have a story to tell,

00:34:31

but maybe your story to tell is about

00:34:33

how you had peace in a hard season.

00:34:36

Maybe your story to tell is about

00:34:37

how you were anxious, afraid, or addicted

00:34:39

and Jesus came and He is rescuing you

00:34:41

or has rescued you from those things.

00:34:43

Maybe your story is still being written.

00:34:46

Someone needs to hear your story.

00:34:48

And so what I want to do today is two things.

00:34:50

First, I want to give you a simple framework

00:34:53

on how to share a Jesus story with someone else,

00:34:56

because you have a story to tell.

00:34:57

I'll give you a simple framework to do that.

00:34:59

And actually, for this first part, if you feel like

00:35:02

you've stepped into a workshop or a seminar,

00:35:04

I'm doing it right.

00:35:06

Because I want to give you a practical skill

00:35:08

that you can go out of here and use.

00:35:10

That's what the first part is.

00:35:11

And then what I want to do is encourage you,

00:35:14

inspire you, urge you on the why.

00:35:18

Because if you don't know why you should share your story,

00:35:21

you are not going to do it.

00:35:23

And so I want to encourage you in that direction.

00:35:25

Simple framework for sharing your story.

00:35:28

Not rocket science here.

00:35:29

Three parts: before Jesus, meeting Jesus, life now.

00:35:37

Real simple, not rocket science.

00:35:40

And so what do I mean when I say before Jesus?

00:35:43

This is the part where you think about, okay,

00:35:46

what was I thinking or doing before I met Jesus?

00:35:50

What are some of the patterns that defined my life?

00:35:53

Maybe what are the things I was struggling with?

00:35:55

Or honestly, what are some of the things I was oblivious to

00:35:57

and I thought everything was all good?

00:35:59

You're thinking about what was my life like

00:36:01

before meeting Jesus.

00:36:04

Then there's a moment, all of us have a moment

00:36:06

where we met Jesus.

00:36:08

And when you met Jesus, what was happening?

00:36:10

What shifted for you?

00:36:11

Maybe where were you in life at that time?

00:36:13

Maybe you want to think about, like, where was I?

00:36:15

Who was involved? Who?

00:36:17

Who shared their story with me

00:36:18

and it caused me to see something different?

00:36:20

You want to really think about

00:36:21

what is that moment of meeting Jesus?

00:36:23

What was that for me?

00:36:25

And when you receive Jesus, there is a life

00:36:27

you now have that is different than your life before.

00:36:29

What defines your life now?

00:36:32

Like, what do you understand now that maybe you didn't before?

00:36:35

Or maybe what are you experiencing now

00:36:37

that's positive that you weren't before?

00:36:39

What's changed for you?

00:36:41

What's come alive in you?

00:36:43

And so this framework is a simple way to share a story,

00:36:47

and I'm not talking about like writing

00:36:49

an hour long talk based on this.

00:36:51

I'm talking about how can you in 3-5 minutes

00:36:54

share some aspect of meeting Jesus for you,

00:36:56

what life was like before when I met Jesus,

00:36:58

and what my life is like now.

00:36:59

So if you want to take a picture of this

00:37:01

like this is meant to be super practical.

00:37:03

This is meant to be like, okay,

00:37:04

you're going to do something with this later.

00:37:06

You're going to do something with this

00:37:08

in the next 24 hours.

00:37:09

If you want to snap a photo of that,

00:37:11

you go ahead and do that.

00:37:12

Now, the thing that I love about this is,

00:37:14

and the reason why I feel confident that, like,

00:37:16

hey, anybody who's met Jesus can share their story

00:37:18

with this framework is because there's common threads

00:37:21

to the stories we all have in here if we've met Jesus.

00:37:23

Number one, when we met Jesus, we met change, didn't we?

00:37:27

We met change.

00:37:29

If you think you're going to say yes to Jesus

00:37:31

and then just continue on with the life you had before,

00:37:33

I'm sorry, that is not going to happen.

00:37:35

One of the things I can promise you is that

00:37:37

Jesus is going to change your life.

00:37:39

He's going to change your life.

00:37:41

Somebody put it this way:

00:37:42

He loves you right where you are

00:37:45

and loves you too much to keep you there.

00:37:48

And so he's going to change your life.

00:37:49

And part of that change, second thread,

00:37:51

is there's going to be some challenge.

00:37:53

There's going to be some challenge.

00:37:55

Any great story has challenged. And guess what?

00:37:57

Your story of following Jesus is going to have challenge too.

00:37:59

I'm learning this the longer that I am

00:38:01

in relationship with God,

00:38:03

that the voice of God is never harsh.

00:38:07

Like, when you get that harsh critical voice,

00:38:09

that's the accuser, or sometimes it's our own brokenness.

00:38:12

The voice of God is not harsh.

00:38:14

But don't get me wrong, He gently, lovingly

00:38:18

puts His finger in my chest all the time, right?

00:38:21

I'm not saying He's not going to challenge me.

00:38:23

I mean, this is what I think, I feel like

00:38:24

this is what He says so much. It's like this:

00:38:26

"Chuck, let's let's be honest.

00:38:29

This isn't working, is it?

00:38:32

Let's be honest. This is not working.

00:38:34

Okay? So let's go over here.

00:38:35

That's what repentance is, right?

00:38:36

This isn't working. Let's change our direction." Right?

00:38:38

He will do that.

00:38:39

So it's definitely going to be challenging.

00:38:41

But here's the beautiful thing.

00:38:42

Wherever He's getting your attention,

00:38:44

wherever He's bringing something to mind,

00:38:46

it's always because He wants to put new life in you right there.

00:38:49

That's the place where He wants to resurrect something.

00:38:51

That's the place where He wants

00:38:52

to bring birth to something new in your life.

00:38:55

That's the common thread of every person who has met Jesus.

00:38:58

And that's the common thread of every story in the Bible

00:39:01

of every person who ever met Jesus in the Bible.

00:39:04

You can apply this principle,

00:39:05

this framework to all those stories.

00:39:07

We're just going to use one to give you an example.

00:39:10

And this is a powerful story, I think.

00:39:13

This is a woman whose name we're not given,

00:39:16

but we know that her life was changed by Jesus.

00:39:19

We only know her as the woman at the well.

00:39:23

Now, the woman at the well,

00:39:25

we know a couple of things about her.

00:39:26

We know that she was a Samaritan.

00:39:29

And you need to understand

00:39:31

Samaritans and Jewish people did not get along.

00:39:34

They did not like each other, you know?

00:39:36

Like, this is Sunday and I'm looking around

00:39:39

and I see all these orange jerseys

00:39:41

because our Bengals are playing, right?

00:39:42

They're playing the Jets I get it, I get it.

00:39:45

Let me tell you how Jews felt about Samaritans.

00:39:47

If you up and left Cincinnati and showed up

00:39:50

in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with that jersey on today,

00:39:52

that's that's the kind of animosity that they had.

00:39:55

So you guys get me on that. Right?

00:39:56

So we know she was a person that

00:39:58

the Jews would have considered an outcast.

00:40:00

Here's what we also know.

00:40:02

We know she was probably a woman of ill repute.

00:40:05

And the reason we know that is because

00:40:06

she was getting water from the well at the heat of the day.

00:40:10

The only people who got water from a well

00:40:13

at the heat of the day were people

00:40:14

who were social pariahs, people who were outcasts.

00:40:17

And so her before Jesus has a lot to do

00:40:20

with why she's getting water

00:40:22

in the middle of the heat of the day.

00:40:25

John 4:17-18 kind of summarizes her before,

00:40:29

I should say. Jesus summarizes her before this way.

00:40:31

It says, the woman answered Him, Jesus,

00:40:33

"I have no husband."

00:40:34

And Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying,

00:40:37

'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands,

00:40:40

and the one you now have is not your husband.

00:40:43

What you have said is true."

00:40:46

So maybe now we get a little bit of insight

00:40:48

into why she was a social pariah.

00:40:51

Why in that culture, again, remember first century,

00:40:55

having five husbands in the first century

00:40:56

was frowned upon to say it, to put it lightly. Right?

00:40:59

I mean, let's be honest, in 2025,

00:41:01

if somebody tells you they've had five husbands,

00:41:03

you're like, "Okay. Five?"

00:41:06

You know, so like it would raise some questions, right?

00:41:09

So we know, okay, she was probably dealing with shame.

00:41:12

She's probably dealing with judgment.

00:41:14

She probably felt isolated all because everybody

00:41:17

around her defined her by her sin.

00:41:20

Everybody around her defined her by her failures.

00:41:23

But not Jesus.

00:41:25

She meets Jesus, and she's so changed by that interaction

00:41:29

that she goes immediately and tells her friends

00:41:31

and family this in John 4:29,

00:41:33

"Come see a man who told me all that I ever did.

00:41:37

Can this man be the Christ?"

00:41:40

Let me tell you why she was so excited

00:41:41

to share about Jesus with her friends and family.

00:41:45

Because she said Jesus knew everything about me,

00:41:47

but He didn't define me by my past.

00:41:50

He knew everything I had ever done,

00:41:52

but He didn't make me feel ashamed.

00:41:54

This is what Jesus does for people.

00:41:56

Her meeting Jesus was a shift from shame

00:41:59

to realizing she can belong in the family of God.

00:42:02

It was from unworthiness to worthiness.

00:42:04

Some of us have that story of how we felt unworthy,

00:42:07

but we met Jesus and now we know we're worthy.

00:42:10

It doesn't make sense on paper when you look at my past,

00:42:13

but Jesus told me I'm worthy.

00:42:15

Come see a man who has told me everything I've ever done.

00:42:20

Could this be the Christ?

00:42:22

And what is her life now?

00:42:24

What shifted in her was this, in John 4:39 it says:

00:42:27

Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him.

00:42:30

Many Pittsburgh Steelers fans believed in Jesus,

00:42:34

because of the woman's testimony.

00:42:36

"He told me all that I ever did."

00:42:39

Let me tell you how powerful her story is.

00:42:42

She is the first person in the New Testament

00:42:45

recorded as an evangelist.

00:42:48

She's the first evangelist in the New Testament.

00:42:50

Not Peter, not James, not John, not these guys

00:42:53

that we put saints ahead of their name.

00:42:54

No, this woman who was a woman of ill repute

00:42:57

that was getting water in the middle of the day,

00:42:59

met Jesus, changed her life such that

00:43:01

she is the first evangelist

00:43:02

of the good news of Jesus Christ,

00:43:04

which is that He died and He rose again.

00:43:09

I love it, I love it.

00:43:10

Died for her sins and rose again.

00:43:12

You can you can apply this to any story in the Bible.

00:43:15

But I want to take us into some modern stories

00:43:18

because I don't know if you know this or not,

00:43:20

Jesus is still meeting people at their well,

00:43:23

He's still meeting people in their place

00:43:25

of whatever it is that they need,

00:43:26

and He's bringing life to them.

00:43:27

So I'm going to share some stories with you.

00:43:29

We'll do this guess who style.

00:43:30

These are, the next two I'm going to share,

00:43:32

these are public figures.

00:43:33

They are people that you might have heard of.

00:43:36

And so I'm going to read their story of their Jesus story.

00:43:39

And I want you to guess who it is.

00:43:40

So person one says this:

00:43:43

I had all these ambitions and all these things

00:43:45

I really wanted to do, but I was also

00:43:48

just dealing with, like, some dark stuff

00:43:50

that I wasn't unboxing it and trying to solve it.

00:43:53

I just knew something was wrong.

00:43:55

I was not fulfilled by life, even if I got an acting job,

00:43:58

it was like, what's the next thing?

00:44:00

If I had money in my pocket, I was like,

00:44:03

"How much more money can I have?

00:44:04

What else can I get from this?"

00:44:06

It's like nothing literally satisfied.

00:44:08

See, this person talks about, like, before Jesus

00:44:11

getting some things but still feeling dissatisfied.

00:44:15

Meeting Jesus moment.

00:44:16

My friend called me one day

00:44:18

and he was just talking to me.

00:44:20

He's just like, "God told me to call you

00:44:22

and tell you that you're not in a good place.

00:44:25

I can tell you about Jesus.

00:44:27

His spirit set me free, so I'm just sharing it with you."

00:44:30

And in that sentence it was like the interest just clicked

00:44:33

and he gave me Matthew 6:33.

00:44:35

That's a verse in the New Testament that says:

00:44:37

But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,

00:44:40

and all these things will be added to you.

00:44:44

And this person describes their life now this way.

00:44:46

You see a verse and it literally

00:44:48

brings your mind back into alignment

00:44:50

to what God wants you to be and who God wants you to be.

00:44:54

I knew something happened.

00:44:55

I knew there was something different in my spirit.

00:44:58

I felt free and my mind wasn't tripping anymore.

00:45:01

It was like I'm actually free.

00:45:04

See, this person talks about the freedom they found

00:45:06

on the other side of relationship with Jesus.

00:45:08

Any guesses on who this is? Any guesses?

00:45:11

Here's the funny thing, on Thursday

00:45:13

I did this whole guess who thing.

00:45:14

What I didn't realize is the team had

00:45:16

already put up the picture of the person.

00:45:17

So I got to this point, I'm like, any guesses who it is?

00:45:20

And everybody's like, uh, yes.

00:45:21

And I'm like, oh man, it didn't work.

00:45:23

So good, it's not up there. So you still don't know.

00:45:26

This is Letitia Wright, aka Shuri from Black Panther,

00:45:30

talking about her story of how Jesus changed her life.

00:45:34

Let me give you another one, another guess who.

00:45:36

Here's this person's before Jesus.

00:45:38

I made a series of decisions from the age of 14-25

00:45:42

that would lead me to spending most of that time

00:45:44

in and out of the judicial system.

00:45:46

Rightfully so,

00:45:47

I had a completely wrong approach to life.

00:45:49

So this person saying, man, there was something

00:45:50

about my approach to life that was off,

00:45:52

and I didn't know how to fix that.

00:45:54

Here's their meeting Jesus moment.

00:45:56

They say: one time while I was incarcerated,

00:45:58

my last time, my daughter was born.

00:46:01

They knocked on my door and told me that I'd had a little girl.

00:46:04

I instantly compared it to the Damascus Road experience

00:46:07

where there was no more Saul, only Paul.

00:46:10

At that moment, I just wanted to be a father.

00:46:12

And I immediately started coming home

00:46:14

and selling mixtapes out of the trunk of my car

00:46:17

and just trying to figure it out.

00:46:18

Does anybody know who this is? Anybody?

00:46:20

Okay. All right, I'm hearing it. I'm hearing it.

00:46:22

Well, let me have him share his life now directly.

00:46:27

- Y'all forgive me. Um, I'm -- I'm, one,

00:46:30

I'm not sure how much

00:46:31

I even belong speaking up here right now,

00:46:33

but, um, it's just, um.

00:46:36

And I'm nervous.

00:46:38

I ain't been this nervous since I went to criminal court, y'all.

00:46:40

This is a real thing for me. I mean, I'm sweaty palmed.

00:46:43

But, uh, I was listening to him, and I was thinking about Matthew

00:46:46

when he talks about the least, when he said,

00:46:49

"When I was hungry, you fed me.

00:46:50

When I was thirsty, you gave me water.

00:46:52

When I was in jail, you came and visited me."

00:46:56

And I realized that I'm standing here

00:46:58

because people took time with the least.

00:47:01

And I want to give this message as clear as I can right now.

00:47:05

The world is hearing about Jesus

00:47:07

like they haven't in decades right now.

00:47:12

There is a Revival happening in the United States of America

00:47:16

where you can't go on a corner

00:47:18

and not hear about Jesus right now.

00:47:20

And while we are hearing about Jesus,

00:47:22

I encourage you to put faith on your feet

00:47:25

and feet on your faith and walk out of this building

00:47:28

and go do for the least.

00:47:30

They've heard of Jesus. Now show them Jesus.

00:47:32

Go feed the poor. Go visit the ones in jail.

00:47:35

Go show them who Jesus was.

00:47:37

We're done talking. It's time to show.

00:47:40

- Wow. Wow. [applause]

00:47:46

How will they hear if someone doesn't preach?

00:47:51

I tell you what, I don't know JellyRoll personally

00:47:53

but I know this, I know his life was changed by Jesus.

00:47:56

And the way that I know it is, he can't help but tell it.

00:47:59

He can't help but tell it.

00:48:00

I'm gonna give you one more story.

00:48:02

Lesser known person, but this is their story.

00:48:05

Before I met Jesus,

00:48:06

I felt entitled to live however I wanted.

00:48:09

I was rebellious, totally selfish,

00:48:11

and didn't care much about what God wanted for my life.

00:48:14

And then I turned five.

00:48:17

Seriously, part of my story is realizing

00:48:20

that being born into a Christian family

00:48:22

doesn't make you a Christian.

00:48:24

I made a commitment to follow Jesus

00:48:25

when I was eight years old,

00:48:26

but my journey has been learning

00:48:28

what it truly means to be in relationship with Jesus,

00:48:31

rather than just playing church.

00:48:33

Here's this person's meeting Jesus.

00:48:35

In my early 20s, I learned this lesson in a powerful way

00:48:38

in a dingy basement that forever changed me

00:48:40

and my relationship with God.

00:48:42

I had a hidden addiction that was getting worse,

00:48:44

and in a moment of desperation,

00:48:45

I confessed something utterly shameful to a friend.

00:48:48

Here I was, a so-called Christian

00:48:50

who had done this terrible thing.

00:48:52

I expected my friend, also a Christian,

00:48:54

to chew me out and tell me how bad I really was.

00:48:57

But that didn't happen.

00:48:58

Instead, my friend met me in my shame

00:49:00

and spoke to me about my true identity.

00:49:03

He told me that even though I had sinned,

00:49:04

when God looks at me, He sees the son He loves.

00:49:07

He sees someone He has forgiven.

00:49:09

And because He loves me and died for me,

00:49:11

I can be set free from the chains of that addiction.

00:49:14

And here's this person's life now.

00:49:16

That was my turning point.

00:49:18

I now see that as the moment

00:49:19

when this Christian was really saved.

00:49:21

That moment freed me from believing that

00:49:23

life with Jesus was about religious striving

00:49:25

in my own strength, to knowing that

00:49:27

following Jesus is about receiving grace

00:49:28

that transforms you by God's strength.

00:49:31

I'm a different person today:

00:49:32

freer, more grateful, more humble.

00:49:35

I'm not perfect, but I'm forever changed.

00:49:39

And guys, that's my story. That's my story.

00:49:42

That's what God has done for me.

00:49:47

And I share that because whether

00:49:49

you grew up in church or didn't,

00:49:50

whether you were incarcerated or not,

00:49:53

whether you feel that sense of shame

00:49:55

or you feel like you're on top of the world,

00:49:57

I want you to know that you have a story to tell.

00:50:00

Simple framework: before Jesus, what was life like?

00:50:05

Meeting Jesus, what was that moment like for you?

00:50:07

And what is your life like now?

00:50:10

You guys got it? You got the framework?

00:50:12

Awesome. All right, all right.

00:50:13

Now, like I said, you can know the how to,

00:50:16

but if you're not convinced why, you're not going to do it.

00:50:19

And I really want to convince you that

00:50:21

there is power when you share your story.

00:50:23

And I want you to understand how much power

00:50:25

there is when you share your story.

00:50:26

Revelation 12:11 says this:

00:50:28

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb,

00:50:31

and by the word of their testimony,

00:50:33

for they loved not their lives, even unto death.

00:50:37

This is talking about Satan.

00:50:38

Remember I told you Satan has many names in the Bible.

00:50:42

One of them is the father of lies.

00:50:43

The other is he's called the accuser of brothers and sisters.

00:50:46

I know that Satan's greatest weapon

00:50:48

is the lies that he tells us.

00:50:50

The greatest weapon he uses are the ways that he tells you

00:50:53

whether you're in relationship with Jesus

00:50:55

or not yet in relationship with Jesus,

00:50:57

that you can't be, that you won't be,

00:50:58

that you're not enough, that you don't measure up.

00:51:00

It is the lies of Satan that keeps so many people

00:51:03

trapped in that sin and in that broken place in their life.

00:51:07

And Jesus wants you to be free,

00:51:10

and He wants us to be a part of how other people get free.

00:51:13

Now, I gotta tell you, there's some places in the Bible

00:51:16

where there's some really trippy images.

00:51:19

And this verse is from the book of Revelation.

00:51:21

I don't know if you spend much time in that book,

00:51:23

but there's some trippy images in Revelation.

00:51:25

It's a poetic book and so we see these

00:51:28

epic kind of images that are meant to communicate real truth.

00:51:32

And for us to understand the power of what I just read,

00:51:36

I think we need to step into the reality

00:51:39

of what was depicted in Revelation.

00:51:41

So fair warning, y'all, it's about to get weird.

00:51:44

It's about to get weird.

00:51:46

But I want you to trust me

00:51:47

because I'm going somewhere here.

00:51:54

Revelation 12:3 says this:

00:51:57

And another sign appeared in heaven.

00:52:00

Behold, a great red dragon with 7 heads

00:52:05

and 10 horns, and on his head 7 diadems.

00:52:14

And then it goes on to say this in Revelations 12:7.

00:52:17

Now war arose in heaven.

00:52:19

Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon,

00:52:22

and the dragon and his angels fought back,

00:52:24

but he was defeated.

00:52:26

And there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

00:52:28

And the great dragon was thrown down,

00:52:30

that ancient serpent called the devil, and Satan,

00:52:33

the deceiver of the whole world.

00:52:35

He was thrown down to the earth

00:52:37

and his angels were thrown down with him.

00:52:40

And then it says this:

00:52:42

And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

00:52:45

"Now the salvation and the power

00:52:48

and the kingdom of our God,

00:52:49

and the authority of His Christ have come.

00:52:52

For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down,

00:52:55

who accuses them day and night before God.

00:52:58

Friends, that is good news.

00:53:02

And then we hear these words:

00:53:04

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb

00:53:08

and by the word of their testimony,

00:53:10

for they loved not their lives, even unto death.

00:53:14

Why should you share your story?

00:53:16

Why is it important that you open your mouth?

00:53:18

It's because your story has the power

00:53:20

to silence lies and slay a dragon.

00:53:24

The dragon that lies to your friends.

00:53:27

The dragon that lies to your family members.

00:53:29

The dragon that's telling them things

00:53:31

about God that aren't true.

00:53:32

The dragon that's telling them

00:53:34

things about you that aren't true.

00:53:35

Somehow, in God's cosmic equation,

00:53:38

you opening your mouth is part of

00:53:40

how Satan gets defeated in the lives of other people.

00:53:43

It doesn't make sense.

00:53:44

It makes all the sense in the world to me

00:53:46

that the blood of the Lamb is part of

00:53:48

how we find that rescue, because it is.

00:53:50

I mean, that's Jesus dying for our sins

00:53:52

and rising from the dead.

00:53:53

That makes all the sense in the world to me.

00:53:55

But how is it that me telling my story,

00:53:58

how is it that my friend Omar telling my story,

00:54:00

how is it that your neighbor who invited you here today

00:54:02

telling your story is a part of how the freedom comes?

00:54:05

Guys, I can't explain it. I just know it's true.

00:54:08

I just know the Bible says that it's true.

00:54:11

Proverbs 18:21 says:

00:54:12

Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

00:54:14

Do you believe that?

00:54:16

Death and life in the power of your tongue. Here's why.

00:54:20

If grace is us getting what we don't deserve,

00:54:23

the enemy wants to accuse us

00:54:25

and tell us that we haven't received it.

00:54:27

And every time you tell your story,

00:54:29

you're holding it up and saying,

00:54:31

"Satan, I've got the receipt.

00:54:33

I've got the receipt for my freedom.

00:54:35

I've got the receipt for my transformation.

00:54:37

I've got the receipt

00:54:38

for the change that's happened in my life."

00:54:40

It's not based on my power.

00:54:41

It's based on the blood of the Lamb.

00:54:43

It's based on what Jesus has done.

00:54:45

It's based on the good news of the gospel.

00:54:47

But I'm going to tell my story because

00:54:49

I want everybody around me to know that they can be free.

00:54:52

Why share your story?

00:54:54

Because if you've met Jesus, you've been saved.

00:54:57

You've been saved.

00:54:58

Ephesians 2 puts it very clear.

00:55:01

Before Jesus, we are dead in our sins,

00:55:05

helpless in our sins.

00:55:06

But I love how that verse concludes.

00:55:08

It says: But by grace you have been saved.

00:55:12

Who needs grace?

00:55:13

The drug dealer and your favorite grandma

00:55:16

both need grace.

00:55:19

The stay at home mom

00:55:21

and the guy who's working on Wall Street

00:55:23

both need the same kind of grace.

00:55:25

Let me tell you, we all need grace.

00:55:26

And because of Jesus, we can receive it.

00:55:28

If you have met Jesus, you are saved.

00:55:31

And because you are saved, you are also sent.

00:55:34

You are sent.

00:55:35

We talked about Romans 10:14.

00:55:37

The next verse, 10:15 says:

00:55:38

And how are they to preach unless they are sent?

00:55:41

I want you to know, Omar, I'm so thankful

00:55:43

because Omar was sent.

00:55:45

I'm thankful because the person who invited me

00:55:48

to church was sent.

00:55:50

Person who invited you here, sent.

00:55:52

Parents, as you're living your faith out

00:55:54

in front of your kids, you are sent.

00:55:56

You are sent to your neighbors and your neighborhood.

00:55:59

You are sent to your school.

00:56:01

You are sent to your job.

00:56:03

You are sent to this city.

00:56:04

You are sent to this country.

00:56:06

Friends, if you've met Jesus, you are sent.

00:56:09

You're part of it.

00:56:12

I put it to you this way.

00:56:14

You are someone's only sermon.

00:56:19

I just want that to sink in.

00:56:22

You're someone's only sermon.

00:56:25

You know, there's somebody in your life.

00:56:27

They ain't about to come here on a Sunday with you, not yet.

00:56:30

And they darn sure not coming when the Bengals are playing.

00:56:34

They're not coming.

00:56:37

But this week you're sent

00:56:40

and you can be the sermon that they need.

00:56:42

You sharing your story can be the story

00:56:44

they need to hear to know that God still loves them,

00:56:46

that they're not too far gone.

00:56:48

You are someone's only sermon.

00:56:51

A couple weeks ago, Kyle, when he kicked off

00:56:54

this series Go Reach Your People, said that

00:56:56

if we were to have a banner, kind of a rally cry

00:56:59

in this series, here's what it would be.

00:57:01

It would be the simple refrain, "Here I am! Send me.

00:57:03

[speaking Spanish]

00:57:05

And you know, I just went to Notre Dame

00:57:08

a couple of weekends ago, and if you know

00:57:09

anything about Notre Dame football,

00:57:11

they actually have a sign.

00:57:13

And sign says play like a champion today.

00:57:15

And as every team member walks out onto the field,

00:57:17

they all high five that sign: play like a champion.

00:57:20

This is our play like a champion today.

00:57:23

Because here's what I believe.

00:57:24

I believe God wants to transform the lives

00:57:26

of thousands of people.

00:57:27

And you're connected to those thousands of people.

00:57:29

And I believe if it's going to happen

00:57:31

you're going to be a part of it.

00:57:33

I believe that you are not called to be on the sidelines.

00:57:36

You're not called to silence your story.

00:57:38

You're called to go and tell it, because when you do,

00:57:41

it silences, lies and slays dragons for people.

00:57:45

And so I want you to walk into that.

00:57:47

And here's what I have for you.

00:57:48

I told you I had a challenge for you and here's what it is.

00:57:51

Two things. First, sometime in the next 24 hours,

00:57:54

I want you to write out your story.

00:57:55

I want you to use that simple framework:

00:57:57

before Jesus, meeting Jesus, life now.

00:57:59

I want you to write out your story.

00:58:00

Again, you're not talking about writing a dissertation.

00:58:03

What's 3 to 5, couple sentences on each of those.

00:58:05

That is just a way for you to remember your story.

00:58:07

I mean, you know your story. It's your story.

00:58:08

So I'm not asking you to read it

00:58:10

and then go to your friends, say, "Please,

00:58:11

let me just read this to you right now."

00:58:13

No, that's not the point.

00:58:14

The point is for you to internalize it

00:58:16

and be like, "You know what?

00:58:17

Here's what my life was like before Jesus.

00:58:19

And here's what happened when I met Jesus.

00:58:20

And here's what my life is like now."

00:58:22

And the reason I want you to do that in the next 24 hours

00:58:25

is because of what I'm going to ask you to do next.

00:58:27

I want you to take out that card and that Sharpie,

00:58:31

and I want you to invite someone to Revival next weekend.

00:58:38

Look, all I can tell you guys is something is up.

00:58:43

Something is up.

00:58:44

We talked about the number of healings that are happening.

00:58:47

People are saying, "Hey, I went to prayer and I'm healed."

00:58:50

We've got documented people who came into camps,

00:58:53

literally on crutches and wheelchairs,

00:58:55

that are cartwheeling their way out of camp,

00:58:57

throwing walking sticks in the dumpster.

00:59:00

Like I'm telling you, something's up.

00:59:02

There are people who are saying,

00:59:03

"I had a person I couldn't forgive for decades,

00:59:06

and I'm literally able to forgive them."

00:59:08

We had a woman who had nodules,

00:59:10

and the nodules literally got smaller

00:59:12

while she was getting prayed for.

00:59:13

I'm just telling you, God is at work.

00:59:15

Look, we can't manufacture this.

00:59:17

I can't guarantee your thing, your thing,

00:59:19

your thing is going to be the thing.

00:59:21

But let me tell you this, if there's even a chance,

00:59:24

if there's even a chance that the presence of God

00:59:27

is going to show up in an unbelievable,

00:59:29

unprecedented way at Base Camp next weekend,

00:59:33

I am going to be there.

00:59:35

And I want you to be there. I want you to be there.

00:59:38

I promise you you'll be blessed. I promise you.

00:59:40

I don't know what the blessing is going to look like for you,

00:59:42

but I promise you you'll be glad you came.

00:59:44

And what I want to encourage you is to not come alone.

00:59:47

I have great excitement about what's going to happen,

00:59:49

and I think there are people who need to be there,

00:59:51

and they'll only be there if you go tell it.

00:59:54

So here's what I want you to do.

00:59:57

On the back of that card, it says:

00:59:58

this invitation is for.

01:00:01

And I want you to pray in this moment for someone

01:00:05

you will actually have a conversation with and invite.

01:00:10

So maybe this is the time to go for the long shot.

01:00:13

Maybe it's time to go

01:00:14

for somebody that's way closer than that.

01:00:16

I want you to just ask God, just take a moment.

01:00:18

Say God, "Who do you want me to invite to Revival?"

01:00:20

And just write their name in that card.

01:00:25

And we want to use Sharpies because I want you to commit.

01:00:28

I want you to commit to doing this.

01:00:30

I believe there are people who are going to say yes.

01:00:32

Let me give you some encouragement.

01:00:34

Another survey was done from a magazine,

01:00:37

Relevant Magazine, and this is what they found.

01:00:40

80% of non-churchgoers said

01:00:43

they would attend church if invited.

01:00:47

Friends, you have an 8 in 10 chance

01:00:49

of that person saying yes.

01:00:51

And I believe that God wants you to ask them.

01:00:54

He want you to share your story and he want you to invite them.

01:00:56

So here's what we're gonna do.

01:00:58

We're gonna do two more things before we close.

01:00:59

First is, though, I want you to just take that card,

01:01:01

if you've written a name on that card,

01:01:03

or even if you haven't and you're still praying,

01:01:05

thinking about it, just hold that card up name facing me.

01:01:09

And again, if you're online, you can be

01:01:10

a part of this moment too.

01:01:11

You know, maybe for you, you're pulling up

01:01:13

their contact information on your phone.

01:01:15

Because if this is a person you're gonna invite,

01:01:17

you have their contact information,

01:01:18

maybe just pull up their contact info or write a note.

01:01:20

But everybody else, if you have a name on the card,

01:01:22

go and hold those cards up, names facing me.

01:01:25

I just want to pray.

01:01:27

I just want to pray that something this week

01:01:30

happens in the interaction and the invitation that you make.

01:01:35

I pray that God blows you away. Let's pray.

01:01:37

God, I just ask, You know every name on these cards.

01:01:41

You know where they are. You know who they are.

01:01:43

At all of our sites, God, you know.

01:01:46

And I believe, God, that there are people on these cards

01:01:48

that will be in that tent next weekend.

01:01:51

I believe there are people on these cards

01:01:53

that are going to meet You next weekend.

01:01:56

I believe there's people on these cards

01:01:59

who are going to have a transformed experience

01:02:02

that starts with next weekend at Revival.

01:02:04

So God, would You do exceeding abundantly

01:02:08

above what we could ask or think.

01:02:09

We can't make it happen.

01:02:12

But time and time again, You have used people like Omar,

01:02:17

people like us, to bring others

01:02:19

to a place of connecting with you.

01:02:21

God, I pray that You would do that.

01:02:22

I pray that we would have the courage and the boldness,

01:02:25

not just in these seats in this room,

01:02:27

but beyond this, this week, to extend that invitation

01:02:31

and trust that You will handle the rest.

01:02:33

I pray this in Jesus's Name. Amen. Amen.

01:02:38

[cheers and applause] Yes.

01:02:40

Hey, we're not done. I want to do one more thing.

01:02:43

And I'm going to ask our prayer team,

01:02:44

if they will, to come to the front.

01:02:49

I'm really inspired by what happened at Batavia High School.

01:02:55

I'm really inspired at the boldness of those students

01:02:58

to say, "If you don't know Jesus and want to,

01:03:01

now is the time."

01:03:03

And I feel like it would be a miss

01:03:05

to not say that in this space today.

01:03:07

So wherever you are.

01:03:09

If you're hearing me, you're in a physical room right now.

01:03:11

If you're at home, you can chat to be a part of this moment.

01:03:14

Jesus, this good news we talked about, it's for you.

01:03:17

It's for you.

01:03:19

If you came in here and you couldn't say,

01:03:21

"Man, I know Jesus, I'm following Jesus,"

01:03:23

but you want to, today could be your transformation day.

01:03:27

So I want to give you an opportunity to do that.

01:03:29

I'm asking you to do something that

01:03:30

is going to feel uncomfortable, but it's worth it.

01:03:34

It's so worth it.

01:03:36

And that is, if you're in here today

01:03:37

and something's stirring in your heart and you're like,

01:03:39

"You know what? I want to receive Jesus.

01:03:41

I want to pray to receive Jesus.

01:03:42

I want to trust that Jesus died for my sins

01:03:45

and that he rose from the dead so I could have new life."

01:03:47

I'm going to ask you to stand right where you are.

01:03:49

I'm just going to ask you to stand up in boldness

01:03:51

and say, "Hey, I want that. I want that."

01:03:53

And I see some people standing.

01:03:54

If you're standing right now, I just want you to know

01:03:56

we are celebrating in this moment

01:03:58

that you want to say yes to Jesus,

01:03:59

that you want to receive what Jesus has for you

01:04:03

in this moment because it's for you.

01:04:06

His life is for you. That rescue is for you.

01:04:12

I see you standing, and here's what I'm asking you to do.

01:04:14

As you're standing, I just want you

01:04:16

to make your way down right now,

01:04:17

and I want you to just come down to the front.

01:04:19

You're just going to come to one of these prayer volunteers,

01:04:21

and they're going to pray with you to receive Jesus.

01:04:23

And your life will never be the same.

01:04:26

Just start making your way down right now.

01:04:28

They would love to pray for you.

01:04:30

We are so excited about what God is doing

01:04:32

in this moment for you.

01:04:34

This is what it's all about.

01:04:36

This is where revival begins.

01:04:37

It starts now. It starts now.

01:04:39

You don't have to wait till you get to a tent next week.

01:04:41

You can you can experience Jesus's life right now.

01:04:45

Praise God, praise God.

01:04:46

As all these folks are coming,

01:04:48

I just want us to stand right now.

01:04:50

I'm going to pray for the rest of us

01:04:52

that we would leave here with faith

01:04:53

that if God's going to move in this way,

01:04:56

why, just make the invitation.

01:04:58

And again, if you're still coming down,

01:05:00

there's still room for you to come down.

01:05:02

We want you to come down and receive in this moment.

01:05:04

God, I just want to pray for every person

01:05:06

who is coming to the front right now.

01:05:07

Thank You, Jesus.

01:05:09

Thank You that You love them so much that you said,

01:05:12

"Hey, I am talking to you because I have life for you."

01:05:14

God, I pray that in this moment

01:05:16

it would not be lost on us the power of what's happening.

01:05:20

And I pray, God, that it would encourage

01:05:22

people like me to go and invite my neighbor

01:05:25

and say, "Hey, I want you to come.

01:05:26

I want you to be a part of what God is doing

01:05:29

next weekend at Revival."

01:05:30

God, I pray that we would all be inspired.

01:05:33

Thank You that the gospel is good news.

01:05:35

Thank You that it's met and reached us.

01:05:37

May we be those who are sent to reach others.

01:05:39

In Jesus's Name, Amen.

01:05:42

- Wow. I hope it wasn't scary for you, Andy,

01:05:46

or for you listening to know that we have a story.

01:05:49

In fact, I hope it was encouraging.

01:05:50

I'll tell you it encourages me to know

01:05:52

there is a story that I can share,

01:05:54

not just to the family that I wrote down here,

01:05:56

but the others that are coming to mind right now.

01:05:58

- Yeah.

01:05:59

- And I'm just excited to invite them.

01:06:01

Honestly, before this, I would admit I was a little nervous.

01:06:04

- Totally.

01:06:05

- Now I think I'm a little bit more excited.

01:06:07

- Yeah, I mean, I work at a church,

01:06:10

but because of this series we've been in

01:06:12

over the last couple of weeks about Go Reach Your People,

01:06:14

I literally have been like more on the lookout

01:06:17

for the conversations.

01:06:18

I've had more conversations about faith

01:06:20

with my neighbors, with my the people

01:06:22

that live in my community than I normally would.

01:06:25

And some of it's exactly what you said.

01:06:26

It's like being aware we all have a story.

01:06:28

We need to hear each other's story.

01:06:29

And man, we need to be just a little more bold,

01:06:32

maybe a little more aggressive with just

01:06:35

talking about the story of what God has done in our lives.

01:06:37

And that's actually what these are all about.

01:06:39

- Yeah. And for clarity, I don't need to give this to them.

01:06:43

It's just I need to know that this is the family

01:06:46

that I hope this week, before Revival,

01:06:48

I'm just having that conversation with.

01:06:50

I'm sharing my story with them.

01:06:52

- That's right. - Awesome. I hope they come.

01:06:54

- I don't know who it is for you.

01:06:55

I don't know who you're praying for or hoping that

01:06:57

they experience more of God in their lives,

01:06:59

but I want it to be more than just thinking about them.

01:07:02

I want it to be more than

01:07:03

just writing their name down someplace.

01:07:05

Pray for them, encourage them, and then,

01:07:07

man, be bold and go have a conversation.

01:07:09

Because there are people that you know

01:07:11

that God has put into your life who need to be revived,

01:07:14

who need more of God's love, faithfulness, kindness,

01:07:17

and presence to show up for them wherever they are.

01:07:20

So thank you guys so much for watching with us.

01:07:22

And we'll see you guys at Revival or online,

01:07:25

but go reach your people

01:07:27

with the good news that Jesus loves them.

Recent Series