Salty - Week 5 - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. Good morning, good morning.

It's good to see each one of you this morning

at Lifehouse. Hey, we're going to start off this

message just a little bit different. How many

know when you come to church, it is not a spectator

sport? Amen? Some of you are like, yes it is.

No, it's not. We're coming together. We come

together to pray. We come together to worship

God. We come together to get in community, right,

with one another. And tonight, VBS starts. And

we don't do VBS just so like another church that

does VBS. We believe with all our hearts that

kids are going to get saved. Kids are going to

come into the kingdom of God. We believe they're

going to grow spiritually this weekend. We believe

that there might even be parents that are going

to be reached this weekend. And I'm here to tell

you, we need to pray. And I'm going to stop.

We're going to do this together. We're going

to join together. We're going to believe God

for what he's going to do this week at VBS. We're

going to believe that every plan of the enemy

is sidetracked. It's pushed away because the

enemy doesn't want our children moving close

to God. You know that? He doesn't. But we believe

that God's going to do that. So I'm going to

ask you to stand. Come on. This is not spectator

today. We're going to worship together, right?

We've done that already. We're going to pray

together. How many are ready to pray that the

kingdom comes down to VBS? Amen? Let's do it.

So, Father, we come to you. If you'd raise your

hand just with me. Father, we come before you.

God, we come asking. Lord, believing for VBS.

God, we're believing that you're going to reach

lives. You're going to touch souls. God, there

are going to be young people that come into the

kingdom of God this week for the very first time.

God, there are going to be young people who are

going to feel your presence. And God sent you

in a way they've never done before. God, I believe

there are going to be parents. God, there are

going to be adults that are going to be reached

this week. So, Lord, I pray that you would just

use these efforts that have been taken. Lord,

the preparations that have taken place, God,

use them for the kingdom of God. And just, Lord,

anoint it. We ask this in Jesus' name. Everybody

say it together. Amen. Amen. You may be seated.

I'm believing God for a couple of things. I'm

believing for this tank to get filled with invitations

and this one to get filled with salvations. That's

what those are all about. Amen. Anybody with

me on that? All right. All right. Come on. It's

happening. We need to give God glory. He has

been doing it all month long. We keep hearing

stories of invitations and what people are doing

and reaching people for the gospel. So that's

what this message series has been all about.

It's been all about being salty. Say salty. Turn

to somebody this morning and look at them. Are

you salty? Ask them, are you salty this morning?

Come on, are you feeling salty? Right? Are you

salty? One of Chaney and Associates' recent surveys,

produced the following finding. And for me, this

was very intriguing. This was the finding. Confusion

keeps the unchurched away more than the rules

of the church. Church rules are not the deterrent

for the unchurched. This study revealed that

four out of 10 unchurched people believe churches

have too many rules. It's not the rules themselves.

It's the lack of clarity that... surrounds the

church that keeps people away from church. Over

60 % of unchurched people agree or strongly agree

that churches are confusing for outsiders. Surprisingly,

the same percentage of church attendees hold

the same view. Both at the church and the unchurched

agree, right, that it is confusing to those on

the outside. It's not the rules. It's not what

we believe at church that keeps the unchurched

away. Sometimes it's the lack of clarity in our

message and what we're doing, right? One of the

major deterrents of somebody who is unchurched,

who's far from God, for them to come to church

is the lack of clarity. It's how we do things,

right? The methods or the processes in churches,

right? Clarity in the expectations of church

and clarity in the message of the church. And

if there's one thing that we should be clear

on, it is the message of the church, right? Because

we're here to proclaim that as followers of Jesus

Christ, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the message

of Jesus, that's our one message. That's what

we're trying to proclaim. The church is not about

a building. It's about the people of God and

the people of God raising up and reaching others.

We should have one and only one resounding message

for somebody who's not currently following Jesus,

and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ, right?

We need to be clear with that message. Everything

that we do, everything that we say should clearly

declare the message of Jesus Christ. We cannot

be salty, right, for Jesus. to a world who does

not know him if we're not telling his story,

if we're not clear in the telling. All right?

That's what today's acrostic word is. I've been

caught up in this acrostic thing all month long,

right? A salty, S -A -L -T -Y. Now, today is

a perfect day to take notes, by the way. If you're

not taking notes at service, you should be on

your phone, right? We got notebooks out at the

connection station. You can run out there. Somebody

will help you get one of those. We sell them,

I think, for five bucks, something like that.

You can get two for 10. It's great. All right?

You'll pick up that later. All right. You know,

four for 20, special today. All right. But T

in the acrostic is tell his story. The greatest

message we ever speak to another human being

is the message of Jesus Christ. It is his story

that is greatest message. John 3, 16. If you've

gone to church as a child, and you'll probably

hear this at VBS at some point along the way,

right? For God so loved the world that he gave

his only begotten son, that whoever believes

in him should not perish but have everlasting

life. For God did not send his son in this world

to condemn the world, but that the world through

him might be saved. Right? It's the gospel. Our

message has to be clear. We come together to

worship. We come together for community, right?

We come together to share the gospel with others,

to learn about that. We tell a story. Now, our

story might get intermixed with that. Our testimony

might get intermixed, but we come and we tie

those together so that we're salty. And salty

is this. I want to give you a reminder because

I'm going to know you might forget the acrostic

from week to week. You need to write this down,

right? Salty S is this. We start a conversation,

right? A is ask a question. L is we listen to

understand, right? Not just reply, but T is tell

his story. To be honest, to be honest, this is

where a lot of Christians get jammed up. This

is where a lot of believers kind of cringe a

little bit. This is where people kind of, you're

right. It's like, oh man, I don't know. Most

Jesus followers are really good at starting conversations.

I witnessed it this morning. There were a bunch

of you in conversation this morning. When we

come to church on Sunday mornings, there is no

issue with conversation. Conversations get started

all over the house, right? And we're pretty good

at asking each other questions. And a lot of

times we're even good at listening to understand

somebody. But when we get down to sharing the

gospel and sharing the good news, sometimes we

just get stuck. And it's not, and here's what

I believe. It's not because you don't love Jesus.

And I don't even believe that you're ashamed

of Jesus. And I'm not here to make you feel lousy

about yourself today, right? How many know, you

don't want to come to church and somebody's like,

you're a big loser, right? Because you're not

evangelizing enough. Turn to the person beside

you, do this, or go ahead. Some of you have been

wanting to do this all day, right? Big loser,

right? That's not how you come to church. That's

not what I'm here for. That's not what I'm trying

to say at all this morning. Most of the time,

Christians get jammed up in sharing the gospel

because they just aren't sure how to do it clearly.

They're just not sure. They're qualified, right?

They're unsure about the approach. How do I bring

this up? You know, this is a deep and serious

subject. This is complicated. This is life -changing.

You know, this message, and how do I do this?

There's so much to tell about Jesus. I don't

even know where to start, right? That's where

people get. I mean, seriously, how do I explain

that the creator of the universe came wrapped

in flesh as a baby 2 ,000 plus years ago in a

little town called Bethlehem? He had visitors

that came to see him at his birth, by the way.

They were led by stars, right? Some angels showed

up and gave directions to all this. There were

stables, a census, and farm animals involved,

right? Then this baby Jesus was in fact God incarnate.

He was part man or actually all human and all

God at the same time. He grew up at age 30. He

launched his first ministry. Right? At age 30,

he healed the sick. He raised the dead. He preached

the kingdom of God is at hand. He died on a Roman

cross as the supreme sacrifice for each one of

our sins because he was the only one that was

qualified to do so. Right? So that we could be

reconciled back to God. Then placed in a tomb

for three days. He rose from the grave, was seen

by over 500 witnesses, ascended to the Father,

sent back the Holy Spirit in his place so that

we would be empowered as believers. Right? And

we believe this now as followers of Jesus Christ.

And because of that, you're saved. Saved, sanctified,

right? Can be filled with the Spirit, right?

Regenerated on your way to heaven. And because

Jesus completed that work on the cross, and God

has now extended that grace and that mercy that's

unfit, right, Meredith? By the way, if you are

saved, you just avoided the flames of hell and

eternal punishment, and you've got a place now

in heaven that you can go to, right? And we're

trying to do all this while we're in an elevator

going from the first to the 22nd floor, right?

And so much more. We're trying to tell the gospel.

No wonder we get intimidated. No wonder, how

am I going to get all of it in? I don't even

know how to tell everybody about all this. I'm

not even sure I know what all that means, right?

But I'm part of the ministerial credentialing

process for a denomination. And it's interesting

as we move them through the credentialing process,

new ministers and they're getting credentialed.

and certified and ordained. It's interesting.

We'll sit down and role play sometimes with them

in this scenario because they need to be able

to explain different parts of the doctrine to

other people. And they even get tied up, right?

Sometimes they get tongue tied with what they're

going to talk about and how they're explaining

clearly. So I'm not here to make you feel guilty.

I'm not here to make you feel bad. I'm not pointing

any fingers in any way. Amen. Everybody good?

Right? All the tensions down, right? Turn to

somebody and tell them, I'm not here to make

you feel bad, right? And you're not a loser,

by the way. Turn to the person you did a loser

thing to and tell them you're not a loser, right?

Listen, I know this can seem overwhelming, right?

This can seem like a lot, telling the gospel.

Sometimes it seems difficult to explain an all

-powerful and an all -knowing and an omnipresent

God. It's a fearful thing to bring the greatest

message that's ever been told to another human

being, right? Describing Jesus as Savior. I know

this can be hard. Sometimes it's the primary

reason. Many don't tell people about Jesus. We

end up just deciding to leave it to the professionals,

right? Leave it to the ministers. I feel guilty.

I don't want to be like this, but the opportunity

comes and I'm not quite sure what to do. And

I stumble over my words and I forget all the

scriptures that I've memorized and I was supposed

to tell them, right? I forget. Well, first, let

me tell you the good news. You can effectively

share the gospel in a simplistic manner. It does

not have to be hard. It does not have to be difficult.

That's the good news. Now, let me give you some

news that might make you clench up just a little

bit again. Guess who the ministers are? You are,

right? Let me read you Ephesians 4, verse 11.

Ephesians 4:11

It says this, and he, and it's talking about

Jesus, and he himself gave some to be apostles.

Now, apostles in the church. Vocational apostles,

they're over different churches. They lead churches

in different areas. Paul the apostle in scripture

started and led many churches, right? For some

are apostles, some are prophets. Those who speak

for God, those who speak the word of God, speak

prophetically. Some evangelists, people like

Billy Graham. I may remember Billy Graham, right?

Who was one of the greatest evangelists to ever

walk. They got a special gift as a vocational

minister to bring people into the kingdom of

God. pastors and teachers, professional vocational

ministers, right? The bros. For the equipping

of the saints, that's you for the work of the

ministry. The vocational, right? Those who you

consider professional are here to equip you for

the work of the ministry and for the edifying

of the body of Christ. Till we all come to the

unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of

God, to a perfect man, to the measure and the

stature of the fullness of Christ. My biblical

job description as a pastor is to equip you to

minister to other people. That's part of why

we're doing this series. You're the minister.

You're the minister. You're the one that's reaching

the person that's at your job or at your school

or down the street or at the grocery store where

you're at. Turn to somebody right now and say,

look at somebody right now. Do it this time.

Actually do it. And say, what's up, minister?

Go ahead. Tell them. What's up, minister? Come

on. You're it and I'm it, right? What's up, minister?

We're all called. We're all commissioned to be

salty. It's not reserved for a few select. It's

not for a special endowed group of people, right?

Somewhere where every person who's experienced

salvation and knows the love and the joy of forgiveness

of God in their own lives is called to reach

somebody else. So how do I do it? How do I confidently,

simplistically share the gospel with Jesus, the

good news with somebody else? How do I keep it

clear? How do I keep it simple? How do I keep

it short, right? How do I know what to remember

in the moment of time when I'm in a conversation,

when I'm talking with someone about God? Well,

I'm going to give you another acrostic. I'm on

acrostics this month. Remember I said that, right?

Please forgive me. Next month I'll be something

else, right? But here's an acrostic that you

probably all be able to remember. Maybe as easy

or even easier than salty. Say this with me.

A, B, C. How many can remember that today? All

right, thank you. A, B, C, right? How many know

that's simple, clear, short in nature? A, B,

C's. We learned that in grade school, right?

Kindergarten. And honestly, when I first heard

about this method of remembering the gospel and

sharing the gospel, I... kind of bulked at it

a little. I'm going to be honest. I thought,

well, you know, that's kind of cool, but it's

a little corny. I thought, you know, there's

probably not going to be enough information here.

It's probably an overall simplification of the

gospel and not a clear presentation. But honestly,

if you look at this, what we're going to talk

about today, and you apply it, you can go as

deep as you want with this, with ABC, and you

can keep it as simple and quick as you want with

ABC in presenting the gospel. And A is this.

A is this. A is admit. Say admit. Right? Do I

admit that I am far from God and in need of a

Savior? B is believe. What do I believe about

Jesus? And C is confess. Do I confess Jesus as

my Lord? When you get in a discussion with someone

about the gospel of Jesus Christ, these are the

questions you want to get answered. You know,

does somebody admit that they're far from God

in need of a Savior? What do I believe about

Jesus? Do I confess Jesus as Lord? It's questions

you ask yourself and questions that you'll thread

into a discussion with someone else. So we're

going to start with A. Do I admit that I'm far

from God? Effectively sharing the gospel, the

starting place for sharing the gospel is the

same for everybody. It really is. The message

of the gospel has to start with the good news

of Jesus Christ. But do I admit, do I realize

that I'm far from God? Why would I talk about

a savior if I don't need saved from anything,

right? We talk about Jesus as savior and Lord.

And that might sound very complicated in nature,

but actually it's super easy to understand in

our physical world, right? In our physical world,

it's a very easy concept to grasp hold of. It's

very easy for us to understand. If I'm in the

water and I'm drowning, now, if you ever see

that happen to me, please listen closely to what

I'm saying. If I'm drowning, you get to be my

savior that day. Please do. right? If somebody's

in the water physically drowning, it isn't hard

for us to figure out. They're waving their arms

and saying, I'm going down. I need help, right?

And we understand they need a savior. They need

somebody who's going to throw them a life preserver.

They need somebody who maybe has the skills to

jump in like a lifeguard and pull them out of

the water to save them from death. Easy concept.

Easy thing to understand. If I'm trapped somewhere

in my home and all of a sudden something catches

on fire and the room is surrounded and I can't

get to the stairway, I can't get to the window,

I can't get out anywhere and I'm just yelling

for someone, right? It's easy to understand a

savior. See, it's easy to understand I need a

fireman to show up. God blessed a volunteer fireman.

A couple of years ago, I was going by a house

late in the evening and it was in flames. I stopped,

I called 911 and I stayed there. because people

were coming out of the house, I was amazed. These

volunteer firemen came in and converged on that

house, and they went into action immediately.

They were through the windows, they were through

the doors, and they were making sure that the

rooms were clear. It was incredible to watch,

right? They needed, you need, if you're on the

flames, you need a savior. You need somebody

to come and get you. You need somebody to pull

you out. If I'm hanging on the side of a cliff,

and I'm just hanging there by my fingernails,

and I don't have a rope, and I got nothing to

hang on to, just one hand holding on to that,

I need a Savior. I need somebody with a rope.

I need somebody to throw a rope down and pull

me back up or let me down, right, so I don't

fall to my death. It's not hard to understand.

It's not a difficult concept to picture in the

world around us. You know, if you're in one of

those situations or I'm in one of those situations,

you have no problem recognizing. How many know

we will scream our heads off if we get in that

situation? Your dignity will go right out the

door, right? You will scream your brains out

to get somebody's attention because you need

a savior in your life. Even a child can understand.

We get it. But how many know it gets a little

bit tougher with the spiritual side and drowning

in their sin, right? And the urgency of their

drowning. The difference between the spiritual

and the physical is, in the physical world, there's

an urgency that we see all around us. You can

feel the heat of the flames. You feel the water

rushing into your lungs, right? You understand

that you're going to fall to your death by your

fingertips. But a person who is in spiritual

need, right, is spiritually drowning, is spiritually

in danger of flames and hell, they're not feeling

it yet. They're walking through life. A person

is hanging on by their fingertips sometimes that's

spiritually ready to go down, eternally might

go down, right? They don't understand sometimes

the situation they're in. Most people who are

in need of a savior from the consequences of

sin really don't even know the position that

they're in. They don't really know they're drowning.

They don't really realize that they're burning

or they're hanging on a cliff, right? In fact,

some people are kind of clueless of their current

spiritual situation. It's a little bit like those

movies. I don't know if you've ever seen those

movies that they're all about an asteroid speeding

to Earth. How many know they've made about 500

of them? Yeah, it's true, right? And there's

this asteroid out. It always is the same, right?

There's this scientist. There's like six of them

in one room. And they're the only ones that realize

there's a speeding, enormous asteroid heading

towards Earth. And if people don't get warned,

they don't find out, it's going to blow the Earth

to pieces, right? And what do they do? They show

everybody just going through life. right the

sun's coming out just like it always does everybody's

doing what they've done the day before and the

day before that and the day before that and they're

just going through and there's side just yelling

right it's a little bit like that sometimes they

don't know you know that that there's Death is

imminent. You see it in movies. They don't know

that the tornado's approaching because the sirens

aren't going off, right? They don't know that

the dam's about to break that's up above the

city and a wall of water's gonna come down and

wash everybody away. They're just going through

life. That's kind of what it's like spiritually,

right? Until they understand the urgency. See,

I've gone into the hospital room when somebody's

got the news that they've only got a few weeks

to live. And the urgency goes from here to here.

It's interesting, when you go in and somebody

knows that they're at the end, everything else

goes off to the side. And all they want to know

about is what's next. What's coming next? They

want to know, do they need a savior? Hebrews

9 .27 says this. And as it is appointed for men

to die once, but after this, the judgment. So

Christ offered once to bear the sins of many.

To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear

a second time apart from sin for salvation. If

Jesus doesn't return soon and take us out of

here one day, we will feel the urgency of death,

right? We don't want to wait for that moment

in a time, you know, we don't want to think about

it a lot of times. We don't want to grab a hold

of it. We don't want to think about the consequences

of our sin, right? We don't want to really pay

too much attention or understand it, but we're

in need of a Savior. And that has to come into

the conversation. But, you know, people, sometimes

I have that conversation and they're like, well,

I want to wait. Don't wait. Don't wait. I mean,

no, death is not always a patient guest in our

lives. It's not always a patient guest. A is

that you get that conversation moving towards

needing a Savior. Admit. Admit. Help them understand

the urgency of it. Romans 6 .23 says, For the

wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is

eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. James

1 .12 gives even a better picture. He says, Blessed

is the man who endures temptation. For when he

has been approved, he will receive the crown

of life, which the Lord has promised to those

who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted,

I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted

by evil, nor does he. himself tempt anyone. But

each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his

own desires and enticed. And when desire is conceived,

it gives birth to sin. And sin, when it's full

grown, brings forth death. Right? We need a Savior.

We need a Savior. In a conversation with somebody

that's far from God, you got to broach this subject.

You got to approach this subject, right? Don't

point, now listen, don't point your finger at

somebody and say, you're a sinner, you need Jesus,

right? Admit it. How many know that's not a good

approach? Please don't do that, all right? Please

don't, I'm asking, please don't do that, right?

How do you think that's gonna go? Tell the story,

tell the story. And it might start off you telling

your story. You know, a good way to conversation

is, let me tell you why I needed a savior. You

know, a lot of times we're talking about, I needed

somebody to save me. And let me tell you, because

they can't argue your testimony. Just tell them

your story. Tell them why you needed a Savior

and how that took place, right? I needed someone

to save my life. You don't have to approach them

on theirs. You just start talking about how you

needed a Savior. Sometimes I even go to Adam

and Eve. How many know Adam and Eve needed a

Savior, right? I love telling the story of Adam

and Eve to other people because I can blame them.

How many like to blame somebody? I do, right?

I'm like, yeah, you know, Adam and Eve, they

started this whole mess, right? We wouldn't be

in the situation we were in if it wasn't for

them. You know, they disobeyed God. They rebelled,

right? They needed a Savior big time. They really

did. You can just throw them under the bus. They're

not here to argue with you. Use Adam and Eve.

But get to the, you know, we need a Savior. We

got to admit it. This is where the gospel began

for all of us. Romans 3 .9 says this, what then?

Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have

previously charged both Jew and Greek that we

are all under sin. We all start here. We all

need a savior. Romans 3 .10 says, as it is written,

there is none righteous, no, not one. There is

none who understands. There's none who seeks

after God. They've all turned aside. They have

together become unprofitable. There's none who

does good, no, not one. The throat is an open

tomb. With their tongue they have practiced deceit.

The poison of asps is under their lips. Whose

mouth is full of cursing and bitterness? Their

feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and

misery are in their ways in the way of peace

they've not known. There is no fear of God before

their eyes. Romans 3 .23 says, For all have sinned

and fallen short of the glory of God. Every one

of us are in need of a Savior. This is where

we all start. This is all of us pre -Jesus. We

were dead to rights. We were undone. Destruction

and judgment were our future. We need a savior.

And can I tell you something that helps make

this a little easier? As you approach somebody

and start to talk about this subject of things,

and you talk about it in your own life even,

one thing you need to understand about the person

that's in front of you that you're talking with,

everybody on the face of the planet has this

God -sized hole inside of them. Now, I know that

sounds very cliche if you've been around Christian

circles, but it's true. Every one of us were

designed originally to be in relationship with

God. So there's this thing that's missing, and

that's why people dive into all these other things,

right, to fill that hole and to fill that void.

And that's in each and every one of us. So understand,

as you start talking about God, how God has come

into your life, and you needed a Savior, and

He changed everything in your life, it's going

to scream out to something that's inside of them.

because that's true for them as well. They filled

it with something else that's never gonna measure

up to Jesus Christ. They put something in that

hole that is never ever gonna satisfy long -term.

It won't. So just know that going into the conversation.

They need a savior, just like you did. And tell

them your story. Just tell them your story. Help

them to recognize it in their own life, right?

That's A. Say admit. Admit. B. What do I believe

about Jesus? If sin is the urgent problem in

our lives, and it is, right, then believing in

Jesus becomes the remedy or the fix for that

urgent problem. It is believing in Jesus that

brings the Savior close and personal to us. He

gets close enough to pull us out, right, of the

flames, to pull us out of the water. It's when

I'm believing. truly believing in my heart that

Jesus is savior, that he's rescued me from the

flames, that he will pull me out of drowning

in my sin. When Jesus is the one throwing me

the rope, right? And I believe in what he can

do in my life. When he fixes my spiritual dysfunction

in my life, right? My belief in Jesus is the

remedy for the sin that's in our lives. Somewhere

in that conversation, you got to find out what

do they believe? And not just believe in general,

but what do they believe about Jesus? What's

their faith in? What do they believe will save

their life? And honestly, the easiest way to

do this is just ask. What do you believe about

Jesus? Super simple question. Just conversation,

right? Jesus asked it to his disciples. In Luke

18, he said, it happened as he was alone praying

that his disciples joined him. And he asked them

saying, who did the crowd say that I am? He starts

the conversation. He asks the question. So they

answered and said, John the Baptist, some say

Elijah, others say that one of the old prophets

has risen again. And he said, but who do you

say that I am? Peter answered and said, the Christ

of God. Peter got it right. Just ask the question.

What do you believe about Jesus? Because you're

going to get all kinds of answers. If you start

this conversation about like, what do you think

about Jesus? Some people are going to say, man,

he was a really good guy, right? But they're

not wrong. He's a really good guy, right? Some

are going to say, well, he was a religious leader

from way back. a Jewish religious leader. Some

will say, I don't really know, you know, much

about Jesus. Some will say, well, he was God

in flesh, right? Others will say, you know, if

they're saved, they'll say he is my savior. Some's

going to say that he's a myth. Others are going

to say, well, that's just a spiritual crutch

for everybody, right? To believe in a leader,

a religious leader of some kind. He's just one

of many. You can get all kinds of answers, but

start the conversation and find out what do they

believe about Jesus? Who do they believe he is?

It's a legit question. Don't come mean. Just

come out of curiosity. I want to know. When I

get in a conversation with somebody, I want to

know what they think. Anybody with me on that?

Yeah, that's really listening to somebody. What

do they believe? And it's not intrusive. Listen,

to ask somebody what they believe is not an intrusive

question to ask. Just jump on social media. How

many know on social media everybody tells you

what they believe? Right? Doesn't matter what

you get on. You can get on X. You can get on

Facebook. You can get on anything, on social

media. And everybody wants to tell you what they

believe. They love telling you what they believe.

You're probably not going to run into the rub

until you start, you know, talking about what

they believe or don't believe or how you believe

different. But everybody wants to tell you what

they believe. It's a little bit about what we

talked about last week. I can't get somebody

to believe street if I don't know how they feel

about Jesus on Jesus street. Right? I need to

know if I'm going to get him direction there.

We got to admit we need a Savior. We got to believe,

right? What do we believe about Jesus? And then

C, do I confess Jesus as Lord of my life? I'm

going to ask if the worship team would come.

C, if you're writing this down, this is a good

morning to write. I'm doing a little teaching

this morning, right? Do I confess Jesus as Lord

of my life? This is kind of where the rubber

meets the road, I think. Who or what do you confess

as Lord in your life? Now, we probably don't

use those terms, right? When we're talking with

somebody, generally people don't go around like,

hey, who's Lord of your life today? You just

don't normally say that, right? You hear it in

church. You hear it in other places. So you have

to just start asking other questions. And what

you're trying to find out is, you know, what

do I declare as Lord in my life? What is first

in my life? What is master in my life, right?

What kind of controls how I think and what I

do? What is king in my life? I'm trying to give

you some synonyms here. Like, you know, what

is it? Because whoever, whatever is master in

my life is Lord in my life. It really is. It's

what I believe in. It's what I believe will save

me. You know, and do I confess Jesus as master

of my life or as money master of my life? Jesus

talked about this, right? You can't serve God

and money. You can't do both. The word of God

says it. So what am I confessing? What am I saying?

Because the longer you talk, you'll confess what

you believe. You'll confess what you rely in,

right? Is my confession in the words that I'm

speaking, and that's what confessing is, is speaking

something, right? Is my confession self -reliance?

It could be that the master of my life is self

-reliance. You know, I don't worry about everything

else that's around me. I just worry about me.

I got it covered. I can handle it on my own.

Anybody ever hear that? Anybody ever say that,

right? I got it figured out. You know, it could

be a religious figure of some kind in life. It

could be a codependency on another person. It

could be the career that they have, right? This

is Lord of their life. This is master of their

life. It could be their accomplishments, their

education. It could be pleasure. It could be

all kinds of things. What's their confession?

What's their confession? What is Lord of their

life? You can start some really good questions

with this too, right? You don't have to come

in with what's Lord of your life. You can ask

questions like, what makes you feel the most

secure in life? What is it that makes you feel

secure? What gives you the sense that everything's

going to be okay in your life? What is it that

you lean on? What do you depend on in your thoughts,

right? When you got a tough day, you've had a

rough day. What do you depend on to get you through

the rough day? You'll start finding out what's

master because they'll start confessing it. And

you'll find out if Jesus is Lord in their life.

See, we ask questions to find out where somebody

really is. And again, you can do all this. You

can admit that you needed a savior. You can admit

that you can talk about your belief in Jesus

because they probably don't believe in Jesus

or might not believe in Jesus. You can confess

that he's Lord of your life, master, and this

is what God's done for me. And this is why I

believe so deeply in Jesus because he really

has changed everything in my life. It's a testimony.

You don't need to know all the Bible. You don't

need to memorize 45 scriptures. to go lead somebody

to Christ. You really don't. You can do A, say

A. A. B. B. And C. C. You really can. And you

can go as deep with those as you want, or you

can go as, you know, maybe not so deep or just

as short as you want. We've got to reach them.

Jesus therefore answered and said to them, do

not murmur among yourselves. No one can come

to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,

and I will raise him up at the last day. All

we have to do is begin to speak. It is not you

that is going to draw them into the kingdom of

God. The Word of God says that the Father will

draw them into the kingdom. I remember this.

When I got saved, I remember when I was young,

I was around the age of 12 when I got saved.

And I remember the spirit of God. I remember

the father drawing me. I remember hearing the

word of God and I realized I needed a savior.

Even at 12 years old, realized I needed a savior.

And I remember in my heart, my heart was just

ready to explode as I listened to the minister.

And the pastor preached the word of God and the

gospel. And I remember that feeling in my life.

I remember feeling at 12, I need a savior. I

need to believe in Jesus. He's the one that's

gonna save my life. I did not know all the scriptures.

Even though I grew up in church, I probably didn't

pay attention a lot in Sunday school. I'll just

confess it right now, all right? I couldn't have

quoted scripture. I can assure you I couldn't

have at that age. I couldn't have explained anything

doctrinally in any way, shape, or form. But all

I had to do was hear about it. Jesus. And something

began to shift with inside of me. It is the Father

who draws them. It is the Spirit of God that

will go before you. All he's looking for is a

vessel just to begin to ask the questions and

start the conversation. I'm going to ask if you'd

stand. Thank you for tuning in to this message

from Lifehouse Church. We pray that you were

impacted powerfully by this message. If you have

been personally affected by our ministry and

you would like to partner with us as we love

God, love people every day, visit our website

at www .lifehousecog .com.