The Word Proclaimed

Well, this morning I'm going to finish this series in the month of November.

I'd like you to turn it once again to the first chapter of the book of John, john's Gospel, chapter 1, and this finishes out a four-week series We've begun at the beginning of this month called "Who Is This Man?

We've been looking if you're new to Trinity, we've just been looking in the first chapter of John, at who the Lord Jesus is.

My prayer for the weeks that we've gone through this is that you would have, and I would have, a fresh vision of the glory and the majesty of the Lord Jesus.

Is that happening to you?

I hope He's becoming larger and larger on your scope.

And this morning is called the Word Proclaimed, and I want to read from John, chapter 1.

John 1 · chapter mention

We're going to read a lot of Scripture here at the beginning of the message and then we will comment on it.

Let's begin in verse 1.

It's sort of summarizing where we've been for the last three weeks.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things were made through Him and without Him was not anything made.

That was made In Him was life, and the life was the light of man.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness is not overcome.

Who's He talking about here?

Shout it out.

Jesus, verse 6,.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light that all might believe through Him.

He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

Who's this talking about?

John the Baptist, the first Baptist in Scripture, verse 9, the true light which enlightens everyone was coming into the world.

He was in the world and the world was made through Him.

Yet the world did not know Him.

He came to His own and His own.

People did not receive Him.

But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh.

Who's it talking about here?

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory.

Glory is of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness about Him and cried out.

This was He of whom I said He who comes after me ranks before me because He was before me Verse 16,.

And from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses.

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the Father's side.

He has made Him known Verse 19,.

And this is the testimony of John.

When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask Him who are you?

He confessed and did not deny, but confessed I am not the Christ.

Let's stop there.

I want you to imagine if you wrote or if John turned his first chapter into your eighth-grade English teacher.

she would have marked it up and would have unmercifully corrected it, probably give you a D.

You don't do this.

When you write literature, you don't introduce somebody and right in the middle of introducing somebody, introduce somebody else and then go back and introduce somebody else and then go back and introduce somebody else.

This chapter violates every rule of English grammar.

He starts in verses 1 through 5 talking about the Lord Jesus and then in 6 he shifts and he's talking about John the Baptist.

Then, after introducing John, he goes back in verses 9 through 18 to talk about the Lord Jesus.

Then, in 19, he goes back and reintroduces John as the one who was sent to testify to the Lord Jesus.

Obviously, the writer of the fourth gospel was not concerned with good grammar, but he was doing something theological.

Now, this is critical to grass.

You see, in ancient literature, if you wanted to emphasize something, you didn't have the luxury, as we do in English, of making it bold or italics or even paragraph indentation.

You didn't have any of those things in the ancient world.

Instead, if you wanted to emphasize something in ancient literature, you arranged it in a certain way so that the structure itself gave emphasis.

With that in mind, it becomes obvious in John 1 what the structure of John's gospel is trying to say.

It is simply this, and it's where we want to go this morning It is that the eternal Word, who became the incarnate Word, who was the crucified Word before the foundation of the world, is now the Word proclaimed.

John the Baptist demonstrates that God always calls men and women on earth, in time and history, to proclaim the eternal Word, and this is vital for the church to grasp and never, ever forget.

I think it's more vital than it's ever been in light of the negation of preaching and proclamation that we often hear about today.

You've heard it, i continue to hear it.

Things like well, if preaching could change the world, the world would have already been changed.

Or you know, there's people quoting if you read mission literature, they love a quote supposedly attributed to St Francis of Assisi.

I find that interesting because he was a preacher, but supposedly he said preach the gospel and, if necessary, use words.

And the inference is if you're going to preach the gospel, it's not necessary to use words.

And then you have all of the emphasis today on the church being a missional people and letting unbelievers see your love, rather than preaching to them.

We have been told that we are living in a postmodern world and people don't like preaching.

People like people who assert, make statements that are supposedly, you know, conclusive statements of truth.

We have to come to people, we are told, and we have to love them and we have to win their respect.

Now I think that all of this which the missional church community is putting out has done us a great service, because it's true, it's certainly true, that we need to approach unbelievers in a certain way in a postmodern world.

It is true that our lives must affirm the truth of the gospel and often, when we're trying to reach people, we have to love them and serve them before we earn the right to proclaim to them.

But listen to me, this morning church, that cannot negate the fact that, when all is said and done, the gospel is news and God has determined that this news be proclaimed by heralds, men and women, men and women who have come to know the gospel powerfully and been transformed and now live to share it with others.

I said this months ago in the series on the gospel the gospel is good news, it's not good advice.

If it's good advice, then the church shouldn't send heralds to proclaim the word.

It should send advisors to tell us how to live.

And when I listen to most gospel presentations in many churches, you would think the gospel is advice because we have a lot of advisors who tell us and you know there are messages four steps to a better life, five steps to health and wealth, six steps to successful living.

But the gospel is an advice, it's news.

And if it's news, the church is in the business of sending advisors.

The church is sending heralds, men and women who proclaim from the rooftop the good news of Jesus Christ.

Now this becomes crystal clear not only in John 1, but throughout the Scriptures.

Every time God wants to move almost without exception there are a few, but every time God wants to move, the first thing He does is find heralds, men to proclaim His word.

Here's an example, and you know it well God wants to set Israel free from 400 years of Egyptian bondage.

They've been in the clutches of slavery for 400 years.

God had announced to Abraham beforehand that his predetermined purpose was to allow his people to be in bondage to Egypt and then he would set them free.

But he doesn't start by sending the military, he doesn't send advisors.

He comes to Moses on a mountain and he says Moses, i want to set my people free.

I need you to herald it and announce the news.

And if I'm Moses, i would be saying and essentially this is what Moses and his argument with God is if you want to set the people free, why are you talking to me on a mountain?

And God had one word for Moses Go and announce the good news that Israel is coming out of slavery from Egypt.

You are my people.

I'm redeeming it.

Announce it.

You can fast forward several thousand years, maybe longer.

To a young man named Jeremiah.

God says I want to do something in the nations.

I want to pluck them up, i want to break them down, i want to destroy them, i want to overthrow them, i want to plant and build.

So what does he do?

He doesn't start there.

He comes to a young man named Jeremiah And he says Jeremiah, i want to move in the nations.

Okay, why are you talking to me?

God touches him And here's what he says in the first chapter.

First he tells him that God has known him, foreknown him and predestined him to be a prophet to the nations.

And then he touches him.

He says behold, i have put my words in your mouth.

Go, i am doing something in the nations and I need a herald to announce it Here.

Jeremiah wished he hadn't signed up because, how many know, sometimes the word is not a pleasant thing.

But it is clear from these examples in the Old Testament that when God wants to move, the first thing he often does is look for heralds, men and women who will proclaim news, not give advice.

Look forward another less than a thousand years.

The apostles are preaching and teaching Jesus in Jerusalem and they get arrested.

And while they're in jail, in the middle of the night, an angel comes, opens the prison doors.

Now imagine this You've spent the whole night in prison.

You don't know what's going to happen to you.

You probably haven't slept, you don't smell too good And the angel lets them out of prison in the middle of the night.

And guess what he tells them to do?

Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.

And the apostles probably thought can we get a quick nap?

Can we take a shower?

No, the angel says go.

It's urgent that you go immediately and speak.

And I love this story because in the morning, when the high priest says bring out the prisoners, the guards come back with a stunned look.

They say the prison is locked, everything looks the same, but the guys are missing.

And then, while they're wondering what has happened, somebody brings the high priest to report And the guys you arrested.

They're standing in the temple proclaiming the message you arrested them for And they bring them in.

And the high priest says we strictly warned you not to preach in this name.

And the apostles respond we must obey God rather than man.

He told us to herald this news and we cannot shut up.

But I think the ultimate statement about preaching and heralding the news of God's deliverance is probably found in the 10th chapter of the book of Romans, a very misunderstood text.

Paul's talking about preaching.

Why is it necessary that men and women herald the good news?

And after telling us that the message of salvation is for all Jew and Gentile, rich, poor, different ethnic groups, it's for everyone, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved then he asked this question in Romans 10, 14,.

How, then, will they call on him in whom they've not believed, and how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?

And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.

That statement faith comes through hearing is a reference to preaching.

Paul is saying the only way that men and women in this dispensation can come to faith is by hearing the Word of God preached, so it produces faith in their hearts and they believe the gospel.

The point is clear preaching is absolutely necessary.

Now, all these verses really deal with the formal act of preaching what I'm doing right now, and God still calls men and women to stand up and proclaim the gospel.

I have absolute conviction that I'm called to do that with my life.

There are other men in this room called to do that, but not everybody is.

But what about the majority of us sitting here who are not called to preach in a formal sense or occupy a pulpit in a church building?

What part do you play in heralding the gospel, in proclaiming the eternal Word in the earth?

If you go back to John 1.6, it answers that question.

You and I have a very important place in the process of the gospel advancing in the earth, and it's found in a word that is very familiar to most people in this church.

It's the word witness.

And listen how John is introduced again in the gospel of John.

It says there was a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness to bear witness about the light that all might believe through them.

He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

That word witness contains for every man and woman in this room an understanding of why God saved you and what your role is in advancing the kingdom.

You see, even if you never formally occupy a pulpit as I do or others do, you and I have a critical point or a critical task where part of this gospel explosion, every man and woman is called to herald the gospel and the key word that describes who we are is the word witness.

It's not only used of John the Baptist, but of Jesus himself.

In fact, the noun witness is used 14 times in John's gospel alone And it's only used seven times in the rest of the New Testament.

John loves this term.

John sees in this term, wrapped up in this term, the entire responsibility and privilege of the Christian in the earth.

In fact, jesus used this term of John the Baptist.

Listen, remember.

Jesus said you have sent to John and he has born witness of the truth.

And Jesus also said of himself I am one who bears witness of myself and the father who sent me bears witness of me.

And you remember when Jesus was standing before Pontius Pilate right before his suffering, and he said I have come into the world that I should bear witness of the truth.

Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.

And the ultimate statement, familiar to most of us, which we'll end with in a moment, is in Acts, chapter 1, verse 8,.

Acts 1:8

As the church and it is arguably a description of the entire book of Acts is found in verse 8 of chapter 1, when Jesus, before his ascension, turned to the disciples and said you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth.

And people come upon you in power and you shall be my witnesses.

Now some people have pointed out something interesting, and that is that the word witness is the Greek word martyrs, from which we get our English word martyr, and some have posited the idea that the only ones who are called to witness are men and women who lay down their lives for the gospel.

And I want to say there are men and women throughout church history who have been called upon to witness by laying down their life for the gospel.

We prayed Norman Melissa led us a few weeks ago as we prayed for the persecuted church.

If you live in China, if you live in North Korea, if you live in Iran and you witness, you take your life in your hands.

I stand before you this morning and I thank God that I live in America and I thank God for this country, but it is not true that the only way to witness is to relinquish your life.

Now.

Anybody who witnesses takes their life in their hand.

You never know what could happen, but for the most part, most of us are not going to risk our physical lives sharing the gospel in Knoxville.

So witness is not limited to people who die for the gospel, though.

It includes that, and we need.

I'm so glad that we did have that morning where Norman Melissa led us.

We need to remember our brothers and sisters in those countries who take their lives in their hands.

But what about us who will probably never lose their lives physically by sharing the gospel?

What are we called to true?

Do We need to know that the word witness is a forensic term used in legal proceedings to prove the truth?

A witness is someone who is called by an attorney to give testimony to what he or she has heard and seen, and we need to get this right Now.

Listen carefully to what I'm about to say.

A witness is not an attorney.

Jesus actually used the word attorney of someone else.

Guess who it was The Holy Spirit.

He called him the paracletos in Greek, and one of the translations of that word in English is advocate, counselor, lawyer.

So I have some great news for everybody in here You're not the lawyer, you're not the counselor the Holy Spirit is But you and I are witnesses, which means it's not my job to get people to respond, it's the Holy Spirit's job.

My job is to witness to what I've seen, what I know to be true.

This is important And I've said it here before.

But please get this, because that means when you say hey, i just and, by the way, we prayed last Sunday in the foyer at the coffee bar for a young man that gave his life to the Lord Jesus, after the service, and if I, jack, and I prayed for him, and if I say to you, we let him the Lord.

What I really mean is I'm the last witness.

The attorney called before he wrapped up the case.

Now, this is critical because we have been trained I'll say I, maybe you have I've been trained improperly to bypass what witnesses really do and go right for a decision.

This young man was ready, and that's often the case with some people that the Holy Spirit has prepared.

But our job as a witness is not to go right for a decision, but first to help people understand the accuracy of the message of the gospel by witnessing to the truth of Christ, not just getting a person to respond.

There is a time and a place, a valid place for a biblical response to the gospel.

But the chief focus of a witness is not to rush to a decision.

It is to give witness to the gospel properly and accurately.

And I want to talk about three words that are essential to be an effective witness.

Because the word, the eternal word, who became the incarnate word, who was the crucified word before the foundation of the world, now has become the word of the gospel in the church.

And now God has given us the responsibility of being a witness to the truth.

It doesn't matter where we live.

It doesn't matter if we live in Knoxville or we live in China.

We are responsible to witness.

What is involved in that?

Let me tell you three things.

Number one first, responsibility of witness, accuracy.

Number two testimony.

Number three enablement, accuracy, testimony and enablement.

Let me start with accuracy.

What often happens in gospel presentations is we are so focused on getting people to respond that we ignore or completely misconstrue or don't even mention, by playing down, certain aspects of the gospel.

If you look at the history of evangelism in the Western church, we decided that repentance is not popular.

Let's play that down.

Let's just go right to faith, because repentance is negative.

We don't want to be talking about repenting, but the chief goal of gospel witness is accuracy bearing witness to the person and work of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit does the work.

Our job is to be accurate in proclaiming the truth of the claims of Jesus Christ, and whenever we see witnessing in the New Testament, whenever we see the word proclaimed in the book of Acts, we see men and women testifying to the death and resurrection of Jesus as historical facts that have been corroborated.

They're not running around talking about their experience and saying you all need to experience this.

They are talking about one fact.

You can read it in Acts again and again, and actually I wasn't entirely accurate, because they didn't even focus on the death of Christ as much as they focused on one simple historical reality.

It is the basis of being a witness.

He's alive.

In fact, at one point one of the Roman governors is passing Paul off to another Roman official and he says there's this Jew here from Tarsus.

He keeps talking about this dead Galilean and all he can say is he's alive.

He's alive, he's alive, he's alive.

It's just possibly L-but theExc k hachi-to Jesus is to die.

Just the right one, letuning people, and these men, of course, in the book of Acts, paul included, who was untimely born.

These are men who had first-hand accounts or witnessed first-hand the resurrection, and that's all they could talk about Now.

By accuracy, i don't mean that you can't witness unless you get it completely right.

I mean a lot of us.

Jesus will use anything.

I'm amazed how people get saved sometimes.

It must be a work of God, but accuracy precedes testimony.

The gospel is news.

It's not about your experience, my experience.

It's about news the incredible declaration that God now commissions the church to do that.

Jesus of Nazareth died.

God raised him from the dead and he sits at the right hand of the Father.

He is Lord of all, and all governments, all nations are now submitted to his Lordship.

He is the sovereign one.

Therefore, the invitation is not an invitation, it's a command Repent, change your mind and believe the gospel.

Reaching is, first and foremost, testifying to facts that are unchanged.

I'll never forget my year-long journey before I was regenerated, struggling in my heart with who is Jesus.

If I'm going to proclaim the gospel powerfully in this age, i need to know the accuracy of the gospel so I can share it.

We need to be careful never to make our personal experience the message.

But the message of the gospel is simple, but it is profound.

Jesus is Lord And, by the way, the message isn't you've got to make him Lord, god made him Lord.

The church's declaration is repent, he's Lord.

Your faith, which is a response to the gospel, is not a stab in the dark.

It's not sort of.

I've heard people in prayer rooms saying put your mind away.

You don't need your mind in this, except Jesus with your heart.

But the truth is, when you come to Jesus and believe in him, you are convinced in your mind and your heart that he is exactly what the New Testament says he is the Lord of all.

That is not some stab in the dark.

We have no evidence, no credibility.

We're just offering, hoping.

Faith is true because it's rooted in facts.

Men and women saw Jesus die.

They saw him rise from the dead and he's alive as the testimony of the church for 2,000 years.

So the first thing we need to do if we're going to be effective witnesses is we need clarity.

We're reading Colossians 4, and Paul's asking the church at Colossians to pray for him.

He's in jail.

Guess what he wants prayer for.

I would have said pray to get me out of here, pray to let me out of prison.

But Paul knew if I'm in prison, i'm under the sovereignty of Jesus.

Therefore, he has work for me and listen to his prayer requests for the Colossians.

Please, at the same time, pray for us that God may open to us a door for the Word to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak.

Look at Paul.

I can't believe it.

He's in prison.

If I was in prison and I'm writing a letter to Trinity, i have two requests First, pray that I get out of here and if that doesn't happen, pray for the food.

It's terrible.

I am not thinking about gospel witness, but Paul knew he lived under the Lordship of Jesus.

Some of us need to learn what that means.

And he said if right now, under the Lordship of Jesus, i'm in prison, i'm asking for a door for the Word right here.

And then he says and not only am I praying for a door for the Word, but please pray for clarity So when I open my mouth, i might make it clear which is how I ought to speak.

So I have a question for you Is that your prayer?

Two things Are you praying right where you are?

I'll never forget asking a guy who worked in a factory What are you doing right now?

And he'll never forget his response.

He just looked at me.

He said well, i'm working in a factory.

And he looked real forlorn.

And then he said but I'm looking for the will of God.

And I remember thinking what are you on hold?

It's like the factory couldn't be the will of God, it had to be something else ministry.

But what would happen if every one of us witnesses in this room started realizing that, right where we are, in our neighborhoods, in our jobs, in our schools, in our relationships, god has a door for the Word.

Right where I am, house churches Listen to this house churches.

Right where you are, wherever your house church meets, in whatever neighborhood or in relationships through the members of the house church, there's a door for the Word.

What did Jesus say in the Sermon on the Mount we should be doing?

He said don't knock.

He said wait for Jesus to knock on your heart.

Right, i'm worried because some of you aren't sure.

No, he said knock and the door shall be opened.

Are you knocking for opportunities for witness?

See, there's two extremes.

One extreme is I'm not knocking.

If Jesus wants to use me, let him knock on my door.

That's a wrong attitude.

I had the second problem.

I didn't have that problem.

I had this problem No one's home.

So, in the name of Jesus, i ripped the door off its hinges.

I'm going to witness whether God's opened the door or not.

How many of you have ever bow guarded your way into a witnessing scenario?

God didn't open.

But the right posture is exactly what Colossians 4 says Knock.

Don't rush in and break the door.

Don't sit back and wait for Jesus.

The church is always knocking.

I want to ask you house churches, are you guys knocking saying give us opportunity for gospel witness?

And then the second thing we should be asking for is not only knocking for doors to open for the word, but praying what Paul did, that I might make it clear which is how I ought to speak.

Lord, give us clarity, help us to explain the gospel.

And, by the way, in a religious culture such as ours, where people know religion but don't know Christianity, there is clarity that is needed for us to open the door.

We need clear speech so people get the message.

Accuracy is not a religious thing where you go to a building once a week.

It's a living relationship with a living Lord who is now in control of the entire universe.

The second word accuracy.

Number two testimony.

Is there a place in our witness for personal testimony?

The answer, of course, is certainly There is.

Jesus Christ has changed us in a significant way is often used by God to draw others into an interest in the gospel.

That's why, by the way, because testimony is effective.

That's why and this is statistically proven, i can show it to you, but it makes sense that's why new believers, for the most part, are the ones who bring new people to Jesus in the local church.

Can anybody know why that's true?

Why new believers, significantly, are the ones who bring people to faith.

I'll give you two reasons.

There's probably more.

Number one they're the only ones that still have old friends.

You know, i get saved and within a year.

I remember when I got saved, they gave me a 14-foot Thompson Chain Bible, had me cut my hair, put on a nice dress shirt and I didn't have to give up my friends.

They ran from me.

I mean, they stayed away.

This guy's weird, seriously.

So new believers constantly bring people to the faith because they're the only ones who have old friends And number two, they're the ones who still have a living and fresh testimony of what Jesus is doing.

I remember the days immediately following my conversion I know it was true for Steve and true for others in this room When we first had Jesus touch our lives, i couldn't think of anything.

I couldn't imagine a day going by When I didn't talk to someone about Jesus.

And I remember when and here's what happened to me I was in junior college when I got saved my first year And I would show up at eight in the morning for my first class and start sharing the gospel outside of the school in Miami, and I'd look at my watch and it was noon.

I missed every class.

I wasn't trying to miss my classes, i just opened my mouth and started sharing the gospel And every day I looked at my watch it was noon, i missed my classes.

I remember going to my assembly of God pastor and saying what do I do?

I'm sharing the gospel day and night and I'm missing all my classes.

He said I think you're called to the ministry.

A wise, a wise assessment.

Accuracy is first.

Testimony has its place.

We are men and women who've been transformed by the gospel Two times.

Paul gave personal, three times an ax that we can record.

He told his account of how he was on the Damascus road minding his own business, killing Christians, and Jesus showed up and interrupted his life.

We have to be careful, though, when we make testimony personal testimony the main way we convey the gospel Because if we're not careful, we can subtly convey to people.

I want my experience to be yours, and it may not be exactly the same.

Be careful, when you give personal testimony, not to set it up so that you give people the impression that they will experience the same thing as you did.

I'll never forget, years ago, going to a city for ministry in North Carolina and having the church pick me up at the airport and tell me the following story There was a restaurant in town very prestigious restaurant and the restaurant was going out of business.

The business was failing and Christians got ahold of the owner and told him if he came to Jesus, his restaurant would be saved.

That's what they promised him.

He did.

He responded to the gospel and when I got there weeks later, his business was in worse shape and he was offended with Jesus because he signed up to save his business.

Well, i got news for you.

Maybe they didn't discern that he needed to lose his business because he's a covetous man.

Could that ever occur?

Jesus told the rich young ruler sell everything you have, give it to the poor and follow me.

There are some people that if they're gonna follow Jesus, they don't need to get more, they need to lose more.

That's popular.

Now maybe somebody before him came to Jesus and their business was saved.

And maybe the guy said this is a great gospel If you're losing your business, come to Jesus, he'll save it.

He might, but he might not.

The message is never my experience needs to become yours.

The message is always about belief in Jesus and accuracy about his person.

Now, don't get me wrong.

Testimony is powerful, but don't ever give the impression that everyone's experience will be the same.

And finally, the third word.

I love this word enablement X-1A.

But you shall receive dynamite, dunamis, power, dynamic power.

Brothers and sisters, i'm gonna make a statement.

Please let it settle in your hearts.

It is critical.

We must always keep at the forefront of our minds that the ultimate reason the Holy Spirit is given for the church is for mission, for supernatural enablement to proclaim the gospel to an unbelieving, anti-christ world.

The Holy Spirit wasn't given to me primarily to make me feel better, to give me goosebumps, but to empower me to share the gospel with others.

And we will never know power like we should unless we're involved in being missional, in advancing the kingdom and sharing the gospel in word and deed.

There are two ideas associated with X-1A, with the power to enable us to do this.

Number one you shall be witnesses.

This is a life thing.

Those who focus on the being witnesses are right.

Before we do witness, we be witnesses As the Holy Spirit has filled our lives and we live lives full of the Holy Spirit.

We don't just proclaim, we are men and women who live the gospel before people.

A few weeks ago I had lunch with Pedro and he brought a friend to me from Guatemala named Tito.

I was so impressed with this brother and I'm hoping that we as a church can relate to him in the future and what he's doing.

He's doing a work in Guatemala, but he wisely said that what their philosophy is instead of just going to an area for a week or two, they focus on an area of the country and they go there over a consistent matter of years, serving them with medical missions, serving them with construction, and over the years, the people in this region are so blown away by their caring and their sharing and their love that it opens an opportunity for gospel witness and people get saved.

You shall be my witnesses.

It is true that when we're trying to reach neighbors or fellow workers, we may not immediately start with proclamation but with affirmation.

I want you to think, and I want the house churches to really think, about all the people in your neighborhood where your house church meets or through relationship with your members The loneliness, the depression, the marriages that are breaking up, the struggles people are having with children and with sickness.

Just think of all that around you.

And it's before it becomes simply.

I need to burst into somebody's life and proclaim.

He may call you to burst into somebody's life and affirm the gospel by building a loving relationship and saying how can we serve you?

And this church is doing that.

I thank you so much for your response to Sturkey Elementary and all the baskets and what we are doing.

It's part of being a missional people.

But secondly, when Jesus said these words, you shall receive dunamis power.

He was telling us that the ultimate purpose of the Holy Spirit coming to our lives is that we can live the Christian life, because apart from the Spirit it is impossible to live the Christian life.

But one primary reason we have received the Holy Spirit is we must be made bold if we're going to speak the gospel in our age.

In Ephesians 6, 18, listen to what Paul says.

Even Paul felt his need for this And he says this as he's closing out the Ephesian letter.

In verse 18 of chapter six He says to that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints and pray for me that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I might declare it boldly as I ought to speak.

How many of you would confess this morning that you are timid in your own self and you need enablement from the Spirit to be bold?

And I want you to know the Spirit is God's dunamos to take timid people and make them bold.

I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing this morning because I flunked kindergarten.

I'm serious all through grade school I was so immature that they kept me back in kindergarten and in early primary school years, the teachers.

If I had to stand up and speak before my class, i didn't sleep, i trembled, so I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing.

And some of you are listening, saying we agree, god bless, you have a merry Christmas.

But as I read Acts 1-8 and Ephesians 6-18, i realized that the power, the dunamis of the Spirit is to make us bold witnesses in a world that discredits Christ.

This takes boldness and an enablement of the Spirit, because when you lift up your voice and proclaim the gospel, yes, you could be rejected, you could be mocked, you could be ridiculed.

I'll close with this funny story.

I love this because it's also from Acts and let me close with it.

The apostles are preaching the gospel in the fourth chapter of Acts, before the Sanhedrin, and the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council, says you can no longer speak.

It's a chapter before the other one, and the members were astonished at the boldness of Peter and John, because they knew these guys are not graduates of theological school, they're uneducated, untrained theologically.

And then, as they're listening to them, because of their boldness, they got it.

They said wait a minute, these guys have been with Jesus.

It was their boldness and their unashamedness that triggered in the Sanhedrin the knowledge where these guys were with Jesus.

Now think about it.

The Sanhedrin had Jesus killed and they went.

That takes care of that.

We've wiped out this Jesus movement now they got 12.

And the thing that reminded them that they had been with Jesus was their boldness, it says.

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and knew they were uneducated men, they took note of them and remembered that they had been with Jesus.

I don't know about you, but I feel my weakness When it comes to proclamation of being a witness.

I feel my weakness there more than any other area.

One of the reasons the Holy Spirit comes is to receive due to us and power.