Open House - Week 2

Two of our open house series talking about friendship evangelism,

the New Testament way of doing evangelism, not the modern

church way, but the way God intended for us to evangelize.

I want it just to show a hands. How many

of you have people in your family that's far from Christ,

somebody that is not saved.

Raise your hand.

And today we're going to talk about that specific thing

of winning our family to Christ. Because most of the

time that's the place that we want to start, but

it is often the most difficult place to start. Winning

those people that know us the most. Making an impact

in the people that know us the best, that's often

the most difficult arena to share our faith in. And

I want to just show you what Scripture says about

and a new perspective on it. So if you've got

a Bible, go to Mark chapter six, Mark chapter six,

we're going to start Mark chapter six, Verse one. It says,

then he went out from there and came to his

own country, and his disciples followed him. And when the

Sabbath had come, he began to teach in the synagogue,

and many hearing him were astonished, saying, where did this

man get these things?

And what wisdom. Is this which is given to him, that.

Such mighty works are performed by his hands? Is this

not the carpenter the son of Mary, whose brother is James, Joseph,

Judas and Simon, And are not his sisters here with us?

So they were offended at him. I just want to

stop right there for just saying, we're going to read

the rest of it. And now they looked at each other,

and they were astonished at the wisdom and the power

that he preached. And they were absolutely blown away by

the miracles that were performed at his hands. But because

he was like them, come on, somebody, because he lived

in town, they were offended that he did those things.

They were offended by the same thing that everybody else

was moved by and drawn to that when those miracles happened.

They said, Hey, isn't that the carpenter's son. Isn't that

the little boy that used to run around in town

with a dirty face. Isn't that the same boy that

used to play with Aunt Sally's kids out.

In the backyard.

And you know, they tore that above ground pool down,

and you know, I just can't believe that they would

do that and just leave Aunt Sally without a swimming pool.

I know she had swimming in eighty years, but I mean,

you know she needed that pool. They were offended because

God was doing listen to me. They were offended because

the Father was doing something through Jesus. But Jesus said

to them, a prophet is not without honor except in

his own country, among his own relatives, and in his

own house. Now, he could do no mighty work there,

except this one gets me too, He said.

Listen.

He didn't do a whole lot there. I mean, there

was no real mighty works.

He just healed a few.

He just these men that were so in tune with Jesus,

that walked with him, and they saw the things that

he did. They lived in such a level of expectation

that when he only laid hands on a few people

and they were healed, they said, he couldn't really do

many mighty works.

Wouldn't it be incredible if.

We were let down because only a few people got healed.

If we had.

Such an understanding of who Jesus was, if we were

so close to him that we knew what he was

capable of, that what he wanted to do, that when

we got together, he moved in such mighty ways that

when only a few people got saved, we left and

we thought, I don't know what was wrong, something was

a little off. Today, where is our expectation as believers

that the goal is for just something to happen? We

have that faith of well, you know what.

At least we made it to the end.

At least we survived another song service, and at least

we survived another long winded message. But where is our

expectation for God to do incredible things? But Jesus said

to them, a prophet is not without honor, accepting his

own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.

Now he could do nobody work there, except that he

laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

And he marveled because of their unbelief.

Then he went about the villages in a circuit, teaching, Father,

thank you for your word. It's the only change agent

on the face of this planet. Father, our desires that

you marvel at us because of our faith, like the centurion,

not marvel because of.

Our lack of faith.

Father, Help us to believe, help us to be agents

of change, that we do profound things for the Kingdom

of God in Jesus' name.

Amen.

See when we talk about our families, they see our

whole life. They know those things that nobody else knows.

They see those things that nobody else sees. So when

we begin to have simple conversations about the Lord, they're

able to look past the conversation because.

They see how we live out our faith.

They see those moments of fear and insecurity better than

anybody else.

Come on, now, they see.

Those failures lived out larger than other people see them.

They see those moments.

Where where we're cowering in the floor because we don't

know where.

That next meal's coming from.

And they see those moments when we lose our temper,

They see those moments when we get a little bit

in the flesh. They see those times when everything doesn't look.

Like the Jesus they have in their mind.

And they hold on to all of those things not

because they're vindictive and not because they're means spirited, but

just simply because hurt and disappointment from someone you love

cuts deeper and hurts worse than from someone that's a

stranger out on the corner, and it's seared into our

being because if we can't be safe around those that

love us. Where can we be safe? And it's our

repeated disappointments and missing the mark that makes it most

hard to minister to the people that we love the most.

In Luke chapter six, verse forty one, it says, and

why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye,

but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?

Or how can you say to your brother brother, let

me remove the speck that is in your eye when

you yourself do not see the plank that's in your.

Own eye, hypocrite.

First remove the plank from your own eye and then

you'll clear, and then you'll see clearly. To remove the

spec that's in your brother's eye, he says, Hey, when

we're trying to when we're trying to fix somebody, come on,

some how many of you your goal when you start

ministering to those people that are far from Christ in

your mind, somewhere in your mind, your desire is to

fix them, Your desires to fix what's wrong with How

many have you got that kid that you just wish

you could fix? Honestly, raise your hand. I mean, have

you got that parrot that you just wish you could

fix Mom. I'm not talking about you, baby. We all

have those people, and the ideology is that they're different

from us, so we want to fix them. But the

reality is, culture says, and the Bible says, that.

They're not the weird ones we are.

That literally fallen man is the normality on the face

of the planet, and we are peculiar. We're a little different.

We're pilgrims, we're strangers in this land. We're no longer

citizens of Earth, we're citizens of Heaven, even though we're

temporarily here.

And we come to this.

With this attitude that I'm going to fix you and

I'm going to change you. But the reality is that

Jesus says, it's not about fixing people, it's about serving people.

It's about realizing those missteps that we've made instead of

ignoring those things and just simply boasting about how good

we are.

Now that we go back and we repent.

Of those mistakes and those failures and those let downs,

not just to God but to those that we've hurt,

to those that we've let down, because see, if we're

going to win our families, if we're going to win

those people, listen, at my house. I just want y'all

to transparency right, our core, our core value, our our

foundational core value. I'm not Pastor Steve. My wife doesn't

call me pastor Steve at home. That may disappoint you,

But she doesn't say, oh, Pastor, could I have a

moment of your time? She says, pick your dirty underwear

up out of the floor.

You know.

My daughter doesn't say, oh, Pastor, could I get a

ride to the house of worship? She says, Daddy, take

me to the church. See, there's a different perspective. That's

that's not the first thing that our flesh and blood

think about.

It's not it's not spiritual first. It's it's that commonality.

It's that it's that relationship.

That that that builds and breeds this this familiarity that

is not about reverence and holiness. Most of the time,

it's about just that down and dirty let's get life

done and let's move on to the chapter because somebody's

got to do it. And the reality is we have

so separated faith from the everyday life that this looks

different than this. But the truth is they should both

be the same thing. That when we're doing the monotonous

things of life. It's just as spiritual as when we

come in and we're lifting our hands and we're worshiping

and we're giving and we're serving, and we're doing all

those things. There is no separation to God, so there

should not be a separation to us.

You know.

I was, I was Uh, I was serving on staff

with this guy, and uh. It was a big church

and we uh, we had a helicopter and we would

fly in between campuses and uh and I had It's

not a get to I had to do that with

him several times. And we were we were going down

to Jacksonville, Florida. We were in the helicopter and we

get down to Jacksonville International Airport and uh, the pilot

calls for clearance for us to fly through the airspace,

and tower says, UH, what, I don't remember the tail

number of the helicopter, whatever it was. You're cleared to

fly direct pass straight over the tower. All right, So

we go through there, and I mean, like ten seconds later,

now we've seen these fighter jets doing maneuvers all around

the place. We could see them for miles and we're

flying over and we're in this little helicopter that.

I mean, let me just ask up.

There was a lot of pounds of preacher in that helicopter,

and it was a little helicopter. I mean, it was

like bumblebee. I don't think those wings are gonna hold

him up.

Amen. We start flying.

Over there and these helicopters there, I mean, these airplanes

they're practicing landing on an aircraft care so they're just

touching the ground and then taking back off. And air

traffic control comes over and he says, uh uh when

that happened, I knew we were in trouble. When it

was was the first thing I heard. I knew he said,

didn't hell who? He just said, break right and mark

our policies. And he turned that thing up on its side,

and I'm looking at the ground and this airplane comes you.

When my pastor at the time said, oh blank. And

at the moment I thought we're dying. You know we're dying.

He said, oh, I mean, it was just a moment.

It was just that that that moment, you know, and

and and the plane goes.

We shook a little bit, and I cried a little bit.

I'm just gonna be out. I cried a little bit.

You know, I thought, I knew I should have been

on this helicopter. We straightened back up. Everything's okay, everybody's like.

It takes a few breaths. And this is what I

heard through the headset, Father, your bid Your word says

that out of the abundance of the heart, my mouth speaks,

and the word that I just must have come from

my heart and I don't want that in my heart

helped me to be a better believer, helped me only

have Jesus spilling out of my heart. And you know what,

in that moment, I could have been critical over the word,

but I was so impressed with that moment of repentance

and reflection because it was just us. Nobody else heard it,

only the people in there, and we did life together.

We were down and dirty in life. We knew, we

knew failures, we knew successes, we knew those things about

each other. But it was just his desire to be

more like Jesus and not have that as a reflexive

moment in his life. What if we lived in such

a way that those people closest to us that when

we failed, they saw that immediate response of correct and

brokenness before the Lord that instead of trying to fix them,

what if we realize that we're still broken in the

process of being. You know, just because you're saved doesn't

mean you're fixed. When we look at Israel, they came

out of Egypt, but it took forty years for Egypt

to come out of them. They wanted to go back.

They wanted the leaks, they wanted the onions, they wanted

the hand of the taskmaster. They wanted they wanted those

things because it takes.

A while.

For us to ever be discipled, or if you want

to use a big fancy you know, Pentecostal, we're sanctified.

It takes a while for those things to happen in

our lives. And if people can see the earnest journey,

especially those people the closest to us, if they can

see the seriousness of the journey, they respect who we

are and the stories we tell with such much more

honor and attentiveness. In March chapter three, verse thirty one,

it says, then his brother, then his brothers and his

mothers came and standing outside, they sent to him, calling him,

and a multitude was sitting around him, and they said

to him.

Look, your mother and your brothers are.

Outside seeking you. But he answered them saying, who is

my mother or my brothers? And he looked around in

a circle at those who sat about him and said,

here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does

the will of God is my brother and my sister

and my mother. Jesus said, listen, we've got it wrong.

We got it wrong when we say blood's thicker than water.

We got it wrong. Because faith is thicker than everything.

Faith is the thing that moves the needle. And Jesus

carries that to another level and he says, hey, when

I look around, I know there are people that are

related to me on the outside, and I have a

natural love for them. I have a natural slant towards them.

But the reality is is that there is a transformation

that happens that makes us more family once we're saved

than before when we're just born into it. He says, So,

if we really love our family, we'll do everything we

can to make them real family. We'll live a life

of transparency and brokenness and openness in front of them.

And instead of getting mad, I'll serve a little more.

Instead of trying to fix them, I'll pray for them.

Instead of trying to point out the era of their ways,

I'll show them the era of mine that I'll live

a life of humility, because there is no weapon to

combat love and humility. The enemy can combat everything else

in the Kingdom of God, but he cannot combat a humble,

loving life. He has nothing to answer love. Because love

penetrates the very heart of men, women, boys and girls.

It's the love that we show, not the love that

we say, but the love that we show that means everything.

If your goal is to talk somebody into the kingdom,

the enemy will talk them out of it. But if

your goal is to love them into the kingdom, God

will put his stamp on their life, and nothing the

devil does will ever be able to convince them otherwise.

Because true love is what the world is desperate for

and is missing. And to show you that it can

be done.

When we look at Jesus and we follow his ministry,

all four of his brothers are named by name as

followers of Jesus. Some of you are just some of

you just had it look on fact like I don't

even know Jesus had brothers. He have four brothers and

multiple sisters. We don't know how many sisters, but he

had multiple sisters, so all four brothers and his mama

were all named as followers of Christ. So it's not

something that can't be done. It's something that's very attainable.

We just have to live much different lives and we

have to go a it in a much different way

because I want to assure you of something we are

living in the last days. I want to assure you

that we've never been closer to the coming of Christ

than we are right now. And I don't do that

to I don't say that to scare you. I don't

say it to bring fear in your life. I say

it to bring urgency to your story, urgency to your witness,

urgency to your capacity to love.

If you could, just if you could just love with

a reckless.

Abandon for the next six months and put aside every

bit of pride and all of those things that have

held you back from being able to win those people

that are the closest to you. If you can set

that aside and just for the next six months between

now and Christmas, you can make such an impact in

your family that they could be here celebrating with you

during our Christmas Eve service, if they could be here

lifting their hands up with you, celebrating the name of Jesus.

But it takes us making a decision to live a

little different, to carry ourselves in a little different way.

And Sega Corinthians, chapter three, clay, you guys can come

and get ready. In Sega Corinthians chapter three, verse two,

it says you are our epistle written in our hearts,

known and read by all men. Clearly, you are an

epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink,

but by the spirit of the Living God, not on

tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh, that is

of the heart.

He said you. You are the story of the Kingdom.

You are the crafted poetry of the Lord. That your life.

Lived out not in words, but in deeds and in actions,

is the steering factor of those around you. We got

to quit hoping for something to happen. You got to

stop now. Listen to me. Do not leave here and

tell somebody I told you to stop praying. That is

not what I'm about to say. You got to stop

just praying for it to happen and start getting involved

in God's plan. You're asking for God to send somebody

else to do it, when God's trying to send you

to do it. He's trying to make you the difference maker.

He's trying to make you the conduit of the Holy Spirit.

He's trying to position you to be that agent of

grace so that people have a collision with Christ's mercy.

And their lives are turned upside down. Look in the mirror.

And say, how have I hurt those closest to me?

How have I disappointed those closest to me?

What have I done that they don't see the purity

of Christ in me?

And then start making those amends, Start asking for forgiveness,

start serving in those areas where you've.

Let them down.

Until they can see the genuine presence of God in

your life. Because scripture is clear that the same spirit

that raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells on the

inside of you.

Let me say that again. The same spirit that caused

Jesus' body to move in the tomb that.

Day, the same spirit that caused his heart to beat

again and his lungs to fill, that shook the ground

and moved the stone.

Is on the inside of you.

And that's our insecurity, is our fear, our selfishness, our pride,

our vanity that keeps people from being shaken by that

same spirit.

So pray bless of me, more of you, less of me,

and more of you.

Because your family's too important, Your loved ones are too

important to give up. Now, Father, right now, in the

name of Jesus, I pray that you reveal every area

that we've caused heard and brokenness. Father, that you give

us the wisdom to live transparently so that people can

receive your love flowing through our lives. Lord, we give

you glory and honor and praise. If everybody would stand

with me all over the building today. You know, maybe

you're here today and you don't know Jesus as your

personal savior. You've never asked him to forgive you of

your sins to be the lord of your life. And

the thing that maybe has always held you back is

you just feel like you're not good enough. You don't

have your stuff together. I want to tell you nobody

else here does either. As a matter of fact, we

don't even allow perfect people to come to church here.

They're not invited. We're just hurting people saved by God's grace,

loving him the best way we can, and we want

to invite you to experience that same grace that we experience.

So, if you're here today and you've.

Never asked Jesus to save you, to forgive you of

your sins, but you want to do that. In just

a moment, I'm going to count to three.

If you're here.

And you have those family members that you're desperate for,

that you want to see saved, that you want to

see born again. When I count to three, I want

you to come and we want to agree and prayer

with you.

That you'll be the vessel that God uses either of

those things. I want you to move. The band's gonna.

To lead us in another song at time of worship,

but don't sit there. Move we cat of three to

one two three, step out and move right now. Come on,

come on, if that's you, I got family members, I

want to give my life to Jesus.

Come on, come on, come on.

Come on, come on.

That's your name.

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