Battlefront - A Strategic Plan to Win the Lost

I believe our society needs help. I believe that globe is not in a good place.

I believe even in our local communities there are issues that have to be addressed.

And I believe that if we try to help our communities, help this nation or help this world,

without Jesus Christ we are going to have a hard time doing so.

In fact, I would say it's impossible to help this world without the Savior, Son of God, to lead us and guide us.

Now, if we are going to help this world, if we are going to win the loss,

we have to get strategic and intentional about doing so. We have to get smart about what we are doing.

And a lot of Christians, if you are not careful, a lot of times we sit around and we like to complain

and they are like, look what's happening in the world, it's all going to hell, what are we going to do?

I don't know, somebody better do something. And we don't get strategic about it.

And that's why, to be frank, let's be honest, that's why we are losing the battle.

I've got a few quotes I want to share with you today from the Art of War.

First quote, victorious warriors win first and then go to war.

Oh, that's good.

Well, defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.

How many of you played sports growing up?

How many of you ever played with a coach or a teammate who already lost the game before they went into the game?

Do you know why it is Christianity is losing ground in America is because we've already lost the game before we get into the game.

Look what Napoleon Bonaparte said about strategy.

He said, strategy is the art of making use of time and space.

We are more and more concerned about the latter than the former.

Now, notice this, watch what he says.

Space, we can recover.

Lost time, never.

Do you know the problem with Christianity right now is that we are allowing time to slip through our fingers and we have no strategy to win the lost.

War is war.

Some would say football is war.

Look at the next quote by Vince Lombardi.

Look what he said, hope is not a strategy.

Here's what some of us are hoping for.

Some of us are hoping the world turns back to God.

Some of us are hoping our nation turns back to God.

Some of us are hoping our friends and our family and our coworkers and our neighbors turn to God.

But hope is not a strategy.

So today and the next two Sundays, I'm going to be providing a very specific, intentional, strategic plan to win the city with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If you're with me, say amen.

And as I begin to develop a strategy for reaching the city with the gospel of Christ to lead this church as the shepherd that I'm supposed to be,

I began to ask the question, what did the early church Christian people do to reach their community?

Because you know what the Bible says about the early church Christians?

The Bible says of the early church that they turned the world upside down for the gospel of Jesus Christ,

that they literally shifted history, that they changed everything.

And I wonder what was their strategy?

And then I found a very specific man who had a very specific strategy that won the friends around him to Jesus Christ.

His name was Matthew, and in this passage, he's referred to as Levi.

When I say Levi, you say Matthew. Levi, Matthew.

Look what it says in Luke chapter five and verse number 27.

After these things, Jesus went out and saw the tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office.

Now, let me be very clear about tax collectors.

Tax collectors in all societies sometimes are not the favorite people.

Roughly, right?

Now you might be here today, you might be like, but I'm a tax collector.

Well, Jesus loves you.

The rest of us have a hard time with you, but Jesus loves you. You understand?

But today we joke about it, but in that day and age, it was a very serious matter.

Because Levi means he was of the tribe of Levi, which means he was of the Jewish lineage,

which means he was of the people of God.

The people of God had been conquered by the Romans,

and the Romans had put in place a taxation that was above their national taxation.

How many of you pay Nevada taxes? Say amen, or say, oh me, oh me.

How many of you pay not only Nevada taxes, you also pay federal taxes, right?

All right. They had the same situation.

But not only did they pay local taxes and national taxes,

they had an overlord that made them pay taxes outside of their own country.

Imagine if another country came in, took over America, you paid Nevada taxes,

you paid county taxes, you paid United States taxes,

and you paid name some other country taxes.

And now you're paying so many taxes to so many people that you literally can't even take care of your family.

And the way they collect those taxes is that they pick out people among your own community to be the tax collectors.

They collaborate with the enemy overlord to take your money,

and they take part of it, and they send it away to some foreign nation.

How many of you would love those people? Yes or no? No, we would not love those people.

Matthew was one of those people.

And so the Bible says Jesus was here to save everybody.

Aren't you thankful that Jesus has come to save everybody, amen?

There's not one person that Jesus doesn't want to reach out to.

Even the people you don't like Jesus loves.

And even the people that don't like you might be upset at the fact that Jesus loves you.

And he's here to save each one, and so Jesus saw the tax collector that nobody else loved and thought,

okay, I'm going to go save him.

And so Jesus does, he goes to reach out to Levi or Matthew while he was collecting taxes.

And look what happens.

Jesus walks up to Matthew and says, follow me.

And verse 28, so Matthew left all and froze up and followed Jesus.

That was the day you got saved.

Hey, do you remember the day you got saved?

Do you remember the moment that Jesus said, follow me and you repented of your sins and became a believer in Jesus Christ?

If you're here today, now I don't want to embarrass you.

If you're here today and you say, Pastor Josh, man, I can remember the day I got saved.

I remember praying and calling upon Jesus and asking him to save me.

I remember turning my back on my, I've not been perfect ever since, but I remember when I got saved.

If that's you, say amen and raise your hand.

How many of you are like that right now?

Raise your hand, amen.

Now you're here today and you say, maybe I'm not there yet, that's okay.

I'm so glad you're here.

But you're surrounded by people who can remember when the day they receive Jesus Christ to save you.

And if you're not there yet, let me just stop and say, I would love to have a one-on-one conversation with you about how to become a believer in Jesus.

But you have to come and ask me and we'll go out to coffee and we'll talk about how you can become a Christian.

Just come and talk to me.

But Jesus came up to Matthew and said, follow me and look at what the Bible says Matthew did.

I love what Matthew did.

It says, so he left all, he rose up and he followed him.

It doesn't just say that he became a believer in Jesus.

He became a follower of Jesus.

He wasn't just a fan, he was a follower.

And to be a disciple of Jesus means that you rise up, you leave everything behind, and you follow Jesus.

Here's what I'm trying to say here today.

For some of us in this room, we believe in Jesus, but we're not following Jesus.

And it could be that today, God might call you into a deeper discipleship with Jesus Christ by asking you to get up, follow Christ, and leave behind some things.

Like what?

Like maybe he's going to make you today leave behind some comfortability.

Maybe today he's going to make you leave behind some preconceived notions.

So Matthew left all, rose up and followed Jesus, verse 29.

And then Matthew, or Levi, gave him a great feast in his house.

And there was a great number of the tax collectors and others who sat down with him.

Now watch what happens in the story.

Just three verses, that's all we're studying today.

The Bible says Jesus went after Matthew.

Matthew receives Jesus Christ as his savior, gets up, leaves everything behind and follows him.

Okay, follow the logic.

Jesus saves Matthew, Matthew follows Jesus, and then the last thing that happens is that Matthew holds a party.

Interesting.

And what is the party that Matthew holds?

He holds a party for all of the other tax collectors.

Now let me ask you, you say yes or no.

Are the tax collectors in this society a beloved group of people that everybody loves?

Yes or no?

No.

Do most of these tax collectors know Jesus?

Yes or no?

No.

So Matthew has an idea.

Jesus saved me.

Now I'm following him.

And he has a really honest question.

How do I get all the people that I know to know Jesus?

Let me ask you a question.

How many people do you know that don't know Jesus?

Like the people that you work with, the people that would call you a friend, right?

Like you're not deep friends, but they would be like, oh yeah, that person's my friend.

How many people that you know would call you a friend, but they don't know your best friend, Jesus, your savior?

They don't know.

How many neighbors in your community don't know Jesus, but you know Jesus?

How many of your family members, coworkers, neighbors, how many of your relatives, your cousins, your aunts, your uncles, your grandparents, your children, or grandchildren?

How many of them you know Jesus?

In fact, some of you don't just know about Jesus.

You know him intimately because he saved you.

And they don't know him.

And so Matthew was wrestling with this idea of I know Jesus.

Jesus saved me, he loves me, and now he goes to work and he sees all these people that don't know Jesus, and he thinks to himself, what are we going to do?

And thank goodness Matthew was a party man.

Matthew liked going to parties.

He liked hosting parties.

He said, this is what I'll do.

I'm going to host a party.

And I'm going to invite all the tax collectors.

And I'm also going to invite Jesus.

He said a trap.

It's a Jesus trap.

This is tricky.

This is pretty good.

This is a great idea.

Matthew thought, if I can't get them to Jesus, I'll bring Jesus to them.

I'll create a little party, bring everybody over.

Jesus is in the middle.

And it'll be like, hey Jesus, tell the people the stuff.

That's, listen, that's strategy.

Now there are a thousand strategies the church has used over the years.

Today I want to present one strategic idea that I want you to join me in.

And that's the title of today's sermon.

Today's sermon is entitled, 100 Super Bowl Parties.

I have a question.

Do you know who's going to win the Super Bowl?

Yes or no?

How many of you have a good guess?

How many have a good guess?

Raise your hand.

You have a good guess.

Yeah?

Who do you think?

What?

The Raiders.

I was going to say, you're wrong.

I thought he said the Raiders.

So Tate says, the Ravens are going to win.

Incorrect.

I'm sorry to burst your bubble.

Anybody else want to take a guess?

Anybody else want to win the Super Bowl?

The Chiefs.

Incorrect.

Anybody else want to take a guess?

The Lions.

The Lions.

Incorrect.

Anybody else want to take a final guess?

I'll tell you who's going to win.

Let me tell you who's going to win.

Mark it down.

Take it to the bank or take it to your bookie.

Here's the truth.

I'll tell you who's going to win the Super Bowl.

We are.

So what do you mean we are?

Mark is going to leverage this cultural moment in our city.

Where five miles from here will be the biggest celebration our entire nation will be focused on.

We're going to leverage this cultural moment to bring hundreds and hundreds of people to Jesus Christ.

How?

100 Super Bowl parties.

This may be, if you've been here for 10 or 20 years or five or six weeks, the most unique and different sermon you'll ever hear me preach.

Because I'm asking you to host a Super Bowl party for Jesus.

You say, oh, that's a great idea for some people.

No, no, no.

I think you misunderstand the main thought.

Pastor, this is theoretically such a great idea for some people to think about in the next few years.

Wrong answer.

I'm talking about you hosting a Super Bowl party in your place where you put your head at night for Jesus.

Why?

Here's why.

Let me walk you through it.

Because there is a mass media campaign taking place around the Super Bowl party or Super Bowl on February 11th, two weeks from now.

It's called the He Gets Us Advertising Campaign.

And it challenges seekers, explorers to ask more questions about this man named Jesus.

You may be familiar or not with this campaign, He Gets Us, but to familiarize those who are not aware of it, let me show you their Super Bowl commercial from last year.

But another's.

This is one of dozens of commercials that the He Gets Us campaign has been showing as sporting events since last Super Bowl when they kicked off this campaign.

During the Super Bowl this year, once again, they'll have a massive Super Bowl commercial called He Gets Us.

The entire goal of it is to get people to begin searching for Jesus Christ.

And the He, our church, has been invited to capitalize on this advertising campaign by taking advantage of this free media outlet.

So that's why today I begin a three week sermon series called Battlefront that is going to call our church to take this step and others.

It's going to take several steps to develop a system of 100 Super Bowl parties that will take place two weeks from today to bring unchurched people to Jesus Christ.

We're going beyond the theoretical and we're getting very, very practical.

Whereas I could get up and preach like pastors do to a bunch of Christians, all sorts of concepts like, we need to bring people to Jesus.

And Christians are like, amen! And then I say, this is how we'll do it.

And people are like, I'm not sure I'm available.

Today we're saying, I think you can be.

See, what we're doing today is we are providing for you an all-inclusive Super Bowl party kit that talks you through inside step by step with a lot of other cool stuff

or what your Super Bowl party could actually look like and how you can include Jesus in that moment.

You say, why would we be doing this? Here's why we're doing this.

Because people need Jesus.

I'll tell you, the older I get, all I really care about is people finding out about Jesus Christ.

It's become my passion. It's become my focus.

And I know that you feel the same way.

See, there are people like Brad, who I go out to coffee with.

Brad's been coming to our church for a while and went out to coffee after a Sunday service.

He came and talked to me. And by the way, if you're new here and have never talked to anybody about Jesus, come and talk with me after the service.

We'll go out and coffee. And like Brad and I did, and we went out and he didn't understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, though he knew about God.

And his big question that he struggled with was about sin.

Like from the very moment I met Brad, I knew he was an extremely helpful person.

He opened the door. He offered to buy my coffee.

He said, can we sit here? You know, you ever meet somebody like this?

They're just always serving the other mindset.

And so when we sat down, his questioned and it surprised me.

I said, hey, why are we meeting today? He said, Pastor Josh, here's my big question.

He said, how is it possible that I'm a sinner? You say that I'm a sinner, but I also want to be a savior.

And I was a little off put by that question at first. What does that mean?

And he said, I really want to serve and save other people, but you say the Bible says I'm a sinner.

So how could I be both a sinner and a savior at the same time?

And I said, that's a great question.

And I began to ask him questions back. Like, do you ever make mistakes?

He said, occasionally. I said, so do I.

I said, can I share some with you? And he's like, sure.

And immediately I started diving into sins of my past and sins that I still fight today.

And I looked at him and I said, Brad, I don't know about you, but I got to tell you, sin is a big issue in my life.

And I started naming stuff and his eyes opened up and I said, I don't know about you,

but I'm a sinner who needs a savior. I said, do you ever sin?

Suddenly his eyes went down. I said, yeah, I do.

I said, I told you some of mine. Do you want to tell me some of yours?

And he did.

And our conversation about being honest with each other allowed us to open up and be vulnerable and real.

Not trying to project how good we were, but to be honest about how screwed up we were.

By the end of the conversation, he said, you're right. I need a savior.

In fact, I'll never forget his words. He said, now that I understand who Jesus is,

my big question is, why would he want somebody like me?

Now he can be saved. And right there, Brad bowed his head and received Jesus Christ as a savior.

And his life is turning around.

It's not just Brad. Look at Cody. This is Cody.

Cody's been coming to our church with his girlfriend, Forchet.

And he came down and he just got baptized, I think just like last week or two weeks ago or something.

I don't know. People get baptized all the time.

And he sat down and he said, hey, pastor. And I said, hey, buddy.

He said, I got a big question for you. I said, what is it?

He said, I think God's been laying down hints and I need to pick them up.

I've never heard anybody say that before.

So I said, what do you mean he's been laying down hints?

He's like, I think God has been laying down hints and I need to pick them up.

And I'm like, I don't, okay, sure. What do you mean by that?

And he said, well, for example, my girlfriend Forchet started coming to church and she'd been inviting me and telling me to come.

And I'm like, finally, I start coming. I'm like, oh my goodness. And like, I feel something there.

You know, and I'm like, oh, that's God. And he's like, yeah, I think so.

And then he said, out of the blue, my friend calls me that I game with.

And he's any, I thought he was calling to play Fortnite.

And he said, can you get on the phone? I thought we're going to play Fortnite.

And he said, instead of Fortnite, he wanted to talk with me about Jesus.

And he's never done this. And this is all in the midst of like, like going to church and all this stuff.

He's like, I think God's been laying down hints. And I said, I agree with you. I think God has been laying down hints.

So let's talk about how you can be saved.

And so I explained the gospel of Jesus Christ, how Christ loves him and died upon the cross for his sins, was buried, rose from the grave.

Does he believe this? And if he called upon Jesus and repented of his sin and received Jesus as his savior, he'd be born again.

And right there at coffee, Cody bowed his head, repented and received Christ as his savior.

And he and his girlfriend Forchet were just baptized, like I said, so cool.

Man, I just don't have time to tell you about Carrie Ann and who got saved.

And then Lauren, who got saved on exactly the same day.

And then, and then Joseph, who's been bringing into church.

Joseph has been brought to church multiple times by multiple people.

And he told me this, this was what he said. I said, why are you coming today?

And he said, he said, Pastor, he said, I feel like God's been chasing me.

Is that weird? And I'm like, it's a little weird, but I do know what it means.

For example, I've, I've, I've felt at times in my life, God's been chasing me down.

How many in this room have ever felt like God was chasing you down and he would not let go?

Yeah, see, look around, raise your hand, look around.

See, some of you don't know that that's how God works. He loves you.

So he ain't gonna let you go. And so he says, that weird.

And I said, I know, I think I know what you mean. Explain.

He said, well, like for my, for example, my grandma, man, she used to pray for me all the time.

And he said, then he told me a story about these generous Christians in this moment of need that he had,

and he'd never met them before and they took care of him.

And then he told me about coming to this church and how everybody was so kind and friendly

and a couple of other big God moments in his life.

And he said, I just think God's chasing me down. And I said, I think he is too.

I shared with him how he could repent or receive Christ's savior and there Joseph bowed his head

and received Christ's. Isn't it wonderful when Jesus saves people, amen?

Say, how are we going to get more of this? Well, how about a plan?

See, the reason why we come up with ideas like this is because we must reach the world with the gospel of Christ.

And here's what I think our church has been doing to be quite honest.

I think we as a church have been doing really well at bringing people to Jesus Christ that are kind of like,

right there. We need to keep doing that. But I also think you have some skeptical friends who are not quite there,

but we need to get them a little closer. That's where the He Gets Us campaign comes in.

He Gets Us campaign is not necessarily about those who are ready to be saved today.

It's about opening the mind of people who are not yet ready to get saved to the possibility of Jesus.

And so a non-confrontational environment like a party in your home may work better for some of these people

than inviting them directly to the church service. Does this make sense?

And so we thought to ourselves, what could we do to encourage our church?

And the answer is we can use the Super Bowl Party to get your most skeptical friends to this particular sermon series

that I'm planning on preaching on February 11th, I mean February 18th and 25th.

So this is how the weeks are coming. There's a very strategic plan. Do you see it?

Today is three weeks, begins three weeks, called He Gets Us.

Practical, as well as theoretical, as well as theological, how we can have a strategic plan to reach the lost.

The week after Super Bowl, there is a two-week sermon series I'm preaching called He Gets Us.

It is the perfect sermons to bring a skeptical person to.

It is the perfect sermons that I'm writing to talk about who Jesus is and to see your friends brought to Jesus Christ.

So the week before I start the sermon series, you have a Super Bowl Party where you invite people to that sermon series.

That is our strategic plan. And every single person that comes on the 18th and the 25th, we are going to give this book to.

This book so they can hear the sermon series. They can see the ad campaign all over the city on social media and on sports.

And they'll get this book. They can read it throughout, absolutely free.

You might be having a few questions and so I'm going to walk through them with you.

Number one, it might be this question. Number one, who should do this?

Who should host the Super Bowl Party? Great question. Great question.

You might be like, I'm not sure I should do it.

All right, I'm going to describe the perfect person that can host the Super Bowl Party for Jesus.

So you're ready? If you're ready, say amen. Who should do this?

Number one, those who love football.

Those who love football.

How many of you in this room, you love football like I do? Say amen.

You're perfect for this. You say, but Pastor Josh, I got a problem.

What else can I do because here's the thing. Here's the thing. I love football.

Like Super Bowl Sunday is like the most holy day. It is the holiday that I look forward to.

And so like any other time, not the Super Bowl because the Super Bowl is like the Super Bowl.

I can't be like Jesus stuff on the Super Bowl because it's the Super Bowl.

I love the Super Bowl. Perfect. You're the perfect person. Here's why.

Because what you're doing is you're using something you love to bring people to Jesus.

You're the perfect person to host a Super Bowl Party for Jesus.

Do you know who else? Number one, who should do this? Number one, people who love football.

Number two, people who hate football.

So like it's perfect. It's perfect, especially if like you love football,

but she hates football or vice versa. You're the perfect couple to do this.

And here's why. If you hate football, here's why.

Because you don't even have to watch the game.

You're going to be up in the kitchen and putting things around and serving chips and salsa.

You're going to be taking care of everybody. Is there anything you need?

The whole thing. You're going to be, why? It's perfect. You don't even have to watch the game. It's great.

So who should do this? Number one, those who love Super Bowl, love football.

Number two, those who hate football. And then number three, number three,

those who want people to know Jesus.

Specifically targeting the people that you work with, your neighbors, your friends, your family,

who are not so close to Jesus, but you want to get them in a room that mentions Jesus.

And you're not getting them here. So maybe this is what, see, that's what we're talking about.

Yeah? Hey? I want everybody in this room to start thinking,

what is the possibility that this could actually be what I do?

I don't want deacons in the room being like, this is a good sermon for these people to do. Amen?

What should I do? Number one, who should do this?

Number two, how do I prepare? All right. Let's suppose pastor, I do this for God,

and we have this Super Bowl party about Jesus. Like, what does that look like? How do I prepare for it?

Well, number one, it's very simple. All you have to do is pick up a Super Bowl, Super Bowl party kit.

My wife Heather has put these together. By the way, don't we have such a wonderful pastor's wife at our church?

Amen, amen. I like her. She's one of my favorites. Like top 10, at least. I like her a lot.

And she put together this Super Bowl party pack. It's got step-by-step instructions on what it would look like

and all the things you need to prepare and do. And that begins the concept of like, how do I prepare?

What does this actually look like? How do I prepare for this? And then number two, let me, number two,

if you're going to do this, number two, I encourage you, pick a church partner. Don't do it alone.

You don't have to carry this burden by yourself. Who in the church can you host a party with?

With whom can you do this? Right? Like right now, you might want to think, you know what, I don't have to,

maybe what I'll do is I'll ask them to host with me. Like right now, maybe you're getting a text message.

Like I'm looking over at Sorrel and everybody loves Sorrel. They're like, man, if I have Sorrel do it,

then he'll be the life of the party, then I can stay in the bathroom. You know what I mean?

Who is it that you could do this with? Maybe you do it with your brother, maybe you do it with your friend in the church,

maybe you do it with somebody in your small group, maybe you contact your small group leader and say,

are you doing one? Can I do it with you? Now, here's a dangerous pitfall that a lot of you might make.

Some of you are like, yeah! And small groups are like, yeah, let's do this. And instead of hosting the Super Bowl party

for Jesus for the unsaved, you just host a Super Bowl party for your small group.

And now it's like 12 people who know Jesus and you got one person you invited that doesn't know Jesus,

and they're sitting on the couch and you're all just looking at him like, watch the ad.

Like, don't do that. Let her freak people out, you know? Like, stop.

And maybe you, maybe one other church family, maybe two other church families, depending on how big it is,

but don't host it alone, but don't also make it a church party. The church already parties by itself all the time.

That's what you're doing right now, right? That's why you go to small group.

I'm talking about breaking out of that, bringing one or two and then doing this together.

Number two, pick a church partner. Number three, by the way, how do you do that? How do you do that?

Just text them and say, listen, like right now, text them and say, let's do this together.

Hey man, I want to do the Super Bowl party. You want to do the thing? Let's do it. Let's do it together.

Some of you have been deeply part of this church for a very long time. Listen,

some of you come to church because you like the teaching and that's your extent of church.

Okay, let me be really clear. I love you and I'm so thankful to be your preacher. Let me be your pastor.

It's time that you don't just be a fan of Jesus, but a follower of Jesus and get strategic about you winning your friends to Jesus Christ.

I say that at the risk of you not wanting me to be your preacher anymore, but I got to be honest.

I'd much rather be your pastor than your preacher. Pick a church partner. You can do this.

Number three, pick up a pen and a pad and a paper.

And what you do is this. Sit down for 15 minutes with God and say, God, who can I invite?

God, who do you want me to bring to this?

And God will bring names to your mind. This person. This person. This person.

In fact, right now I'm going to do something that is something only preachers can do.

I'm not just a public speaker. I'm a pastor, a preacher, and public speakers can't do this, but I'm going to do this right now as a preacher.

I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit of God to bring to your mind and your heart specific names and faces of people that don't know Jesus that you're supposed to bring to Jesus.

Holy Spirit of God, I pray that you would bring to the hearts and the minds of the people in this room that are true followers of you, the names and faces of people that don't know Jesus that you're trying to get to Jesus.

Help them think of them.

Now you sitting down with a pen and a pad of paper and start saying, OK, Jesus, who do I work with that doesn't know you?

Who are my friends from my former years who don't know you?

Who are my neighbors that I drive by every and we wave, you know, and then you close the, you know, the castle gate and you don't see them?

They don't know Jesus.

And some of you are thinking this is a really good thing for rich people to do.

And the wealthier people are thinking this is a really good thing for these young couples to do in their apartments.

And what God is saying is, no, you should do this.

Maybe for you it's somebody that you play sports with.

Maybe it's somebody that you game with.

Maybe for you it's somebody that you sit on a bench and you watch your children play sports every week.

And you know them and they know you and you're like, well, why don't you come over for a Super Bowl party?

And it's very simple. You know what you do?

Here's all you do. You look at them and you say, what are you doing for the Super Bowl?

Like, right, like literally you sit down with that pen and pad. You've got a list of 20 names.

You can text them. Hey, what are you doing for the Super Bowl?

You're laying a Jesus trap.

They think it's about football. It's really about Jesus.

Hey, what are you doing for the Super Bowl?

Now, half of them are going to come reply back, oh, we're doing such and such.

And you could be like, okay, cool, that's great.

We're having a party. Just want to know if you wanted to come.

And the other half are going to be like, not much. What do you got going on?

Reach out to them and invite them.

Next thought here. Next thought. How do I prepare?

Invite five to 10 friends.

After you develop your list, invite them.

Say we're doing a Super Bowl party. It starts at three o'clock, whatever, whatever, whatever, right?

Two weeks from now, we want you to come.

You got to get on it today or tomorrow because it's coming up.

Now, can I give you a tip about getting people to show up to stuff?

Okay, so I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself.

My whole life has been about getting people to show up to stuff. That's all I do.

Like, literally, that's why you're here.

Because somehow, through various trickeries, I have made you show up here.

Okay. Here's the trick about getting people to show up for stuff.

If you want 40 people there, excuse me, if you want 20 people there, invite 40 people.

If you want 20, invite 40 and get 30 of them to promise you they'll be there.

And 30 promising you means 20 will show up.

Does that make sense?

So if you're like, well, I can only have seven people over and you invite seven, I promise three will show up.

Now, you've set the stage.

Number three, last thought, Super Bowl Party itself. What does it look like?

A few thoughts that I want to share and then we'll close for the day.

Super Bowl Party Day, it's coming up two weeks from now.

You've got everybody coming over, all the food set, everything's good to go.

You've went through the details that are in the packet. You've got it set.

And number one, first day comes. Number one, what do I need to do? Don't be weird.

Like, how many of you agree that the world has too many weird Christians, right?

Like, don't be weird about this, you know. Welcome to our humble abode.

Now, before we begin, let us pray.

And before the Super Bowl begins, we're going to watch one episode of The Chosen.

Don't be a weirdo, okay? Please don't be a weirdo.

Because it won't help. You understand?

You'll be like, oh, what did I come to? This is driving me nuts.

Now, before halftime, here's a thought. Before halftime, say at some point,

say, hey, our church actually is part of a Super Bowl ad.

Which is like, what? For real? Oh, yeah, yeah. I can't wait to see the burritos one

and the Budweiser one, but there's like one coming up. It's our church's ad.

Say, your church has an ad? Yeah, it's called He Gets Us.

And you can show them. They're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Our church is doing a Super Bowl.

And we are. Our church is directly linked to these commercials

that are linking them back to our church and other churches in the city.

And so when it comes up, all you've got to do, you see, is be like, oh, here's the ad. Here's the ad.

And then turn it up. And then watch the ad.

And be like, that's our church. And then after the ad, lead everybody in a prayer.

No, don't do that. Remember I said, don't be weird.

Don't be weird. Just watch the ad, you see, and allow the ad to do much of the work.

Now, don't bring it back up. Don't make the thing about church.

Don't make the thing about God and Jesus. Just let it be what it is.

And then as people leave inside your packet, you'll have a stack of these cards.

And say, hey, remember that ad?

My pastor is actually doing a sermon series connected to that ad, and it starts next Sunday and the week after.

If you can't come to the next one, come to the one after, but either one, here you go.

And just be done. Don't make it weird.

And then that's it. And then pray for them.

So pastor, I wish I could have a party where Jesus actually would show up.

Don't you wish, right?

Don't you wish right now the person you could text in the church would be like, hey, let's do this together.

Would be Jesus? Jesus. Do you already have plans?

Like that's what Matthew did.

Matthew had a party and invited all his friends and Jesus there.

But Jesus can't come to your party.

He's busy.

He sits at the right hand of the throne of the Father, interceding for you and I.

And Jesus actually addressed this.

In the upper room with his disciples, the night he was betrayed, this is what Jesus said to his disciples.

He said, I have to go away.

But it's okay. It's actually better that I go away.

Because I'm going to send him to you.

Does anybody know who the hymn is that Jesus sent to us?

Holy Spirit.

And Jesus said, when he comes, he will guide you into all truth.

And Jesus made this amazing claim.

Jesus said, it's actually better for you that I'm there and I send him.

Why is that the case?

Here's why.

Because if Jesus was here, he could only attend one of these parties.

But because the Holy Spirit's here, the Holy Spirit of God can be in every place at the same.

He will attend yours as well as mine.

And when the ad goes up, the Holy Spirit of God will touch the hearts and the minds of the people.

This is the promise.

And at the end of the day, when you give them this, the Holy Spirit will go with them.

And as you pray for them, this is what's going to happen.

They're going to take this card and they'll put it on their thing.

And the Holy Spirit will say, go to that, go to that, go to that, go to that, go to that.

And as they go to throw it away, they'll think maybe I'm not going to throw it away.

And the Holy Spirit says, hold on to that, hold on to that.

Do you understand?

You are teaming up with the Holy Spirit.

You are not doing this alone.

He will guide and comfort and teach even throughout your event.

Frankly, according to the Son of God Himself, it's actually better to have the Holy Spirit there than Jesus Himself.

Okay.

I'll be honest with you, it's a weird idea.

But I mean, come on, we got to do something.

People are going to hell.

Do you understand?

People are going to hell that people you work with and your family and your neighbors, they're going to hell.

And you think to yourself, I got a better idea.

Cool, bring it to me.

We'll do it next year because we've got to do something to get people to Jesus before it's too late for them.

And so if we got to set a few traps and serve some guacamole, I'm game.

I hope you are.

Find your partner.

Pick up a packet.

Pull out a pen and a pad and say, God, who am I going to invite?

And as the nose roll in, invite more people and bring people to Jesus.

Yeah?

We got to get strategic and win this war.

Let's pray.

Father.