Wayne Bryant Fishers of Men

Now is the time to worship. Now is the time to

give. Thank you. Amen. Brother Wayne Bryant,

open the word to us today. Amen. Good morning.

Good morning. Let's try that again. Good morning.

Good morning. That's better. It's good to be

with you today. I'm Wayne Bryant. I am in southwest

Florida. regional catalyst for the Florida Baptist

Convention. About five years ago, the Florida

Baptist Convention, the Ohio Baptist Convention,

formed what we call a partnership. That partnership

is designed to actually work two ways. Jeremy,

your executive director treasurer, was a Florida

pastor, and he moved back to Ohio where he had

been church by three years ago to lead your state.

We chose to partner together. Our state has six

regions. Your state has six regions. We created

a peer -to -peer relationship between those regions

to see how we can help you and to see how we

can help you to be on mission in Florida. I'm

here today to share with you, to share a little

bit about what we do. Most of all, I'm here to

share with you about Jesus. So if you have your

Bible, I want you to turn to Mark chapter 1.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

Good deal. You will not scare me, I promise.

Mark chapter 1, I want to read to you verses

Mark 1 · chapter mention

16 through 18 from my text. And just keep your

Bible open and follow along as I preach today.

Now as he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw

Simon and Andrew and his brother casting a net

into the sea, for they were fishers. And Jesus

said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will

make you to become fishers of men. And straightway

they forsook their nets and followed him. Here

in this first chapter of the Gospel of Mark,

Jesus is beginning to call out the people that

would work with him. He will choose twelve men

that will serve as disciples, ultimately called

apostles by some. and their work is going to

be to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ around

the world. I want to say to you today that God

is still calling people out of his congregations.

God is still dealing in people's hearts and people's

lives and calling them to take the gospel to

lost, dying, hurting people. What a culture,

folks, that is made up of people who are struggling.

Some of those people struggling have nothing.

Some of those people who are struggling have

everything. The reality is the struggle is not

defined by your possessions or your wealth. The

struggle is defined by whether or not you know

Jesus as your Savior. If you know Jesus as your

Savior, you've got the whole world. If you don't

know Jesus, you have nothing. And here Jesus

is beginning to call out those men. that he will

invest in to take the gospel in the next generation

around the world. And God still wants to call

people out today. I fear today we are not as

committed to the idea of going as Jesus intended

for us to be committed to taking the gospel to

every man, woman, and child in our community

and sending that gospel around the world. Now

before I get to dealing with the text, I want

to share with you just a moment about the message.

Today I'm going to ask you to make a commitment.

I'm going to do exactly what Jesus does with

Simon Peter and with Andrew. As he calls them

out, he asks for a commitment. And I'm going

to ask you for a commitment when I get done today.

A commitment to try to win someone to personal

faith in Jesus Christ. a commitment to go outside

the four walls of this church, to go to people

that you know that need Jesus as their Savior.

I want you to be thinking this morning as I preach

about somebody that you know personally that

needs Jesus as their Savior. It may be a brother

or sister. It may be a husband, a spouse. It

may be a mother or father, a grandparent, grandchild.

It may be somebody you work with. Maybe somebody

you go to school with. All of us know someone

who needs Jesus as their Savior. And I want you

to be thinking about that person that you know,

one person, that you know that if they were to

die today, they would not go to heaven, they

would spend eternity in hell. They would face

punishment and judgment and condemnation forever

and ever and ever. Think about that one person

as we walk through this text here. this morning.

First thing I want you to notice in our text

is one word, career. Verse 16, it says, Now as

he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon

and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the

sea, for they were fishers. Everybody needs a

job. Everybody needs income. Jesus begins to

deal with men who were fundamentally laborers

in his culture. These were not the unique people.

These were not well -educated people. These were

people that were just common people. And he looks

at these men and their careers, and he sees that

they are fishermen. Now, Simon was a big man.

Simon Peter was a man who stood above other men.

He had strength and ability. Andrew, his brother,

was a little more quiet. He was not the kind

of personality Simon Peter was who always spoke

up, but rather he was just that quiet person

there that was helping to get something done.

But they were fishermen. They went out every

night in what we would call today a canoe. And

in that canoe, they would catch fish. Simon Peter

had an experience once where he caught 153 fish.

That interesting thing was catching 153 fish

was after he had said, Lord, there aren't any

fish here to catch. And Jesus just sitting right

back out said, you go back and see if you can

find some. And he caught 153 fish, so many fish

that it began to cause his boat to sink. I mean,

that was the unexpected experience for Simon

Peter. But that's what the man did for a living.

Don't miss that God always, when he calls people,

calls them out of something to go do something.

I still remember when God called me to be a preacher.

I had no desire to be a preacher. I had only

been saved about eight months, and God began

to stir in my heart. that he wanted me to be

a preacher. And I did exactly what most people

do, Brother Daniel, and that is I began to negotiate

with God. I began to tell God, well, God, I'll

serve you, but I can't stand in front of people

and talk. God, I will be glad to serve you. Maybe

I could be a youth director. The interesting

part about that is God said, fine, make your

commitment. I did, and I never did get to serve

as a youth director. That never happened. But

God called me out of where I was to put me where

he wanted me to be. If you're here today, you

may well be having a stirring in your heart for

God to call you to do something more than you

were doing. You know, there's a lot of work for

God that is not about standing in front of people

and preaching. There's a lot of labor that goes

on that must be done for the church to be effective.

God may be calling you to do something you never

thought he would call you to do. He may take

you from one place and put you in another. Notice

secondly here, I want you to see the command.

Read on verse 17. He says, If Jesus said unto

them, Come ye after me. The thing that Jesus

wants from you today, wants from me today, wants

from your pastor today. What he wants to have

happen, is he wants you to lay down what you

have and follow him. You hear the words over

and over again in the gospel accounts, come after

me, follow me, and I will make you to become

fishers of men. Here he says, come, follow me.

The most important step of the Christian experience

is the step that you take that once you're saved,

you become a follower of Jesus. It's significant,

folks, that what God desires of us is for us

to follow his example, to follow his plan, to

do his work. There's nobody left to do it except

us. You know, we live in a world that has about

8 billion people in it. Of those 8 billion, there

may be a billion followers of Christ worldwide.

Who do you think is going to take the gospel

to the world if we don't do it? There's nobody

else to do the job. There's nobody else that

can carry that banner. There's no one else that

can get under that burden and make it happen.

When he says, come after me, he is speaking to

every one of us today and saying, just follow

me. We make being a follower of Christ too difficult.

We really do. We think you've got to get an education.

You've got to have a lot of training. That's

not necessary. Some years ago, I was given the

opportunity to get an education. I had a man

come to me in my church and say, I'll pay the

bill if you'll go to school. And I thought, that's

wonderful. Well, I got an education. I got a

doctor's theology degree. And pretty soon people

began to call me Dr. Bryant. And then about 10

years later, I got another doctor's degree. And

a lady in the church who came up to me after

church, right after I got the second doctor's

degree, and said, now you've got two doctorates.

What do we call you, doctor, doctor? I said,

no, I don't think that's good. She said, well,

I think you're a paradox. And if you're a paradox,

I can deal with that. God help us. To realize

education isn't what God's looking for. Wisdom

isn't what God's looking for. What God's looking

for is a submissive heart. That's right. Somebody

who's willing to say, Jesus, I'll do whatever

you want me to do. That's right. I'll go wherever

you want me to go. I'll be whatever you want

me to be. But let me go quickly from the command

to the creation. He says, and I will make you

to become. He wants to change you. The fear of

becoming a follower of Christ is the ultimate

victory of becoming a follower of Christ. We

get afraid of Jesus making us different than

we are. I was on a flight up here while the plane

bounced around in the sky. I was thinking about

what I used to do before I met Jesus. And I,

for one, am ever grateful that God has made me

something different than I used to be. That God

took this mess that I call the life and turned

it into something that he could use to accomplish

his work in the world that we live in. Now, there's

no greater joy than being changed to be more

like Jesus. Being changed to be more like the

one we want to follow after. He said, I will

make you. You know, there's nothing in your life

that Jesus can't change. There's no sin that

is so great that he keeps you back. There's no

inability that is so horrendous that he can't

fix that and move you forward. God is in the

business of changing lives. And one of the great

testimonies of the evidence of God at work in

the midst of a church is that God is taking people

whose lives are a mess and turning them into

people who are followers of him, who faithfully

daily follow him, who faithfully daily read their

scripture, who faithfully daily share the gospel

of Christ with the people they come in contact

with. That happens because he changes us. And

makes us something brand new. Paul wrote to the

Corinthian church. And said all things are passed

away. Behold all things are become new. As a

follower of Jesus our past is set away. The psalmist

said that our sin is as far as the east. It's

from the west. And God remembers it no more.

Whatever your past look like it's the past. God

is interested in taking you. Into a preferred

future. Where he is your king. He is your lord.

He is your savior. And you look like him. He

says I will make you. And thirdly. He says to

become fishers of men. A coachman. You know for

you to become. What God wants you to become.

You have to learn. To go fishing for men. Now

I am not a fisherman. I have a bunch of fishing

partners. They go catch them, they go clean them,

my wife cooks them, and I eat them. That's my

fishing experience. When I go fishing, I think

they must put out on the fish mail in the sea

that I'm coming and they need to go hide. I've

never caught a fish in my entire life. I've lived

in Florida for 64 of my 70 years, and I've never

caught a fish. That's hard to imagine. They're

everywhere around Florida. But God wants me to

become a fisherman. I've got to go catch people.

I've got to go looking for them and find them.

I've got to be able to lure them, literally,

to Christ if I'm going to be a fisherman. Now,

being a fisherman requires at least an astute

in trying to catch men. You've got to decide

who you want to catch. I come in contact with

people every day. I made up my mind almost 50

years ago. I made my mind up for this. I'll share

Jesus with everybody that will let me share Jesus

with them. That means what I'm looking for is

not a particular person, a particular category

of individual. I'm not looking for people that

have more money or less money. I'm not looking

for people that look like me. Praise Jesus. I'm

not looking for people who don't look like me.

Don't care about what color they are. I just

want to talk to people about Jesus. So that I

can present to them the gospel of the death,

burial, and resurrection of Christ. And so that

God can change their life like he's changed mine.

That's right. That's what being a fisher of men

is all about. It's not about having the right

fishing pole or the right bait. It's simply about

catching people for Christ. Helping them to become

what Christ wants them to become. A fisher of

men. And finally I want you to see the commitment

in verse 18. He simply says in a straight way.

They forsook their nets and followed him. Now,

the truth is I could have preached the entire

message on this one verse. He begins by saying,

and straight away, they made an immediate commitment.

They didn't have to pray about it. They didn't

have to think about it. They didn't have to go

talk to someone about it. They together said,

we want to follow you, Jesus. I fear today, When

you ask people to do something for God, Pastor,

when they say they've got to pray about it, that's

just simply their excuse for not doing it. That's

the way they put off having to make the decision.

The word straightway speaks directly to a decision

that was immediately made when they had the opportunity

to make it. They didn't put it off. They didn't

delay. They simply said, we're here, Lord. Send

me. So it's a straight way. They forsook their

nets. Now, we pass over that, not realize what

they did was they got rid of all their old fishing

gear. And it wasn't theirs anymore. Can you imagine

what it must have been like for Simon and Andrew

to when Jesus called them to come follow him?

The first thing they had to do, was give up everything

that identified who they were. Everything. They

forsook their fishing gear. They no longer had

the ability to make a living. They no longer

had the ability to provide for their families.

That didn't stop them from making the commitment.

That was just what the commitment was. You see,

following Jesus is pretty simple. You give up

everything you have and allow him to bring everything

he has into your life. I want you to know, folks,

God is not broke. God owns the cattle on a thousand

hills. He has the wealth of the world right in

the midst of his hands. God has the ability to

do exceedingly and abundantly above anything

we might ever ask or hope from him. God can take

anything and turn it into Everything. My work

in Florida is with about 300 churches. I've got

a region with about 300 churches in it. Those

churches range from a church that runs about

8 ,000 people a week in Naples to churches that

run 6, 7, 8 people a week. And I work with all

of that. What I have to do is I have to learn

that the people in the church with six or seven

people are just as important to God as the church

with 9 ,000 people. Just as important. Just as

valuable to Christ as his shed blood. Here they

make a commitment that says we're willing to

invest. Our lives in reaching all the people

you put in our lives. I was talking with your

pastor. You've got a very good pastor, by the

way. Say amen. Amen. Oh, come on. Say amen. Amen.

Okay. He was telling me that there are about

400 ,000 people in metropolitan Toledo. Now,

I want you to think about this for a second.

How many of those 400 ,000 people could be touched

by your church? What was the pastor who said

your email list is 7 ,800 people that you can

sit down at the computer and send a message to?

Sometimes what we've got to do is lift up our

sights and see beyond where we are to where we

need to be going. Now, I know nothing about what

I'm about to say. I admit that completely. Everybody's

listening now. I want you to not miss this. In

a Sunday or so, I presume, you're going to have

a vision day where you sit down and, I guess,

develop a vision. That vision will drive you

wherever you go next as a church. Hear that.

That will be what drives you to do the things

to reach new people to be a part of your church.

Is that, for example? That vision may determine

what your church looks like 20 years from now,

10 years from now, rather. It may set the tone

for what you can become. There's 400 ,000 people

in your community. There is absolutely no limit

to what you can become. The limit isn't put on

us by the lack of opportunity. The limit is put

on us by what we're willing to make a commitment

to do. If we're willing to make a commitment

to try to reach those people with the gospel

and develop a plan that starts where you are

and takes you where you need to go, then you

can reach a good portion of those folks. It's

an interesting time to be in America. We are

living in a day when generations are beginning

to come back together. Statistically, Did you

know that back 10 years ago, the people that

were in the 20s and the 30s quit coming to church?

They really did. I mean, they almost quit coming

to any church anywhere. But statistically now,

churches are beginning to grow again. And guess

what age group they're reaching? The 20 -somethings

and the 30 -somethings. That's who they're reaching

with the gospel. They're doing that not because

of... who they are, they're doing that because

God said, I'm going to help you reach those fish

that need to be caught with the gospel of Christ.

And here they make a commitment. They say in

verse 18, they forsook their nets. What did they

do? They followed him. Christianity is about

being where Jesus wants you to be. doing what

Jesus wants you to do. If I, as a Southern Baptist,

I've been a Southern Baptist for 50 years. I

mean, if I know anything, I know Southern Baptist.

Here, our biggest challenge as the largest non

-Catholic entity in the world, our biggest challenge

is pretty simple. We quit following Jesus. We

no longer go catch fish. We get together and

enjoy one another. We're thrilled with who we

are rather than looking at what we need at the

time to follow. I've had a busy two weeks. I

will fly back to Florida on Tuesday and get back.

I've got meetings to go to Tuesday night, Wednesday

morning, Wednesday night. and on. The last ten

days I have been away from my house all but one

of them. That's not an uncommon experience because

Jesus has me pretty busy. But I want to share

with you an experience I had in Jacksonville

last Wednesday morning at about 6 .15 a .m. Our

headquarters in Florida is in Jacksonville and

my work takes me to be at the headquarters. About

five, six times a year, I will travel from Sarasota

by the four and a half hour drive to get to Jacksonville

and attend meetings that are part of my work.

I'm thrilled with the opportunity to do so. I

was there for a meeting. In fact, it was two

meetings. Well, three meetings. I preached on

Sunday in Jacksonville as well. Had a great time

Sunday night, Saturday morning. I preached at

a church that runs about 250 attendants. I had

13 people trust Jesus as their Savior. I went

to my first meeting on Monday, then another meeting

on Tuesday, and then Wednesday morning I had

my last meeting. Every morning, Monday, Tuesday,

and Wednesday, I went to a Panera Bread. Panera

Bread is sort of like going to the Holy of Holies.

I don't have an office, so my office is Panera

Bread. I've been to a lot of meetings at Panera

Bread. In Jacksonville, I go to the same Panera

Bread. Every morning they open at 6. I'm there

at 6 when they open. I met a little girl by the

name of Ashley. Ashley's about 23 years old,

has two little kids, no husband, and she's working

at Panera Bread. And just very kind, very helpful.

Every morning she spoke and asked me how I was

doing. And we got to talking on Wednesday morning.

But I asked her, I said, Ashley, where do you

go to church at? She said, well, I really haven't

found a church here in Jacksonville. I said,

let me ask you another question, Ashley. If you

were to die today, do you know for certain that

you're going to heaven? Now, that may be the

most important question you ever ask anyone.

Do you know that you're going to heaven? She

looked at me and she said, well, I'd like to

know. And that's sort of like saying sickle to

a dog. When she said that, I said, well, actually,

if you'll give me three minutes, I'll tell you

how you can know you're going to end it. She

said, if you can do that in three minutes, I

said, yes, ma 'am. And usually when I say that

to a server anywhere, whether they're serving

tables where I'm eating dinner or at a place

like Panera in the morning at the counter, they'll

turn around and walk away and maybe come back,

maybe not come back. Ashley just stood there.

I said, do you want to give me three minutes

right now? She said, I do. And in the next three

minutes, I went through the gospel with Ashley.

I thought, Ashley, going to heaven begins with

the fact that you and I have a common problem,

and that problem is sin. The Bible says all have

sinned and come short of the glory of God. So

we're all guilty. I said, the Bible goes on and

says that the wages of sin is death. But the

gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ

our Lord. So that word wage there is an interesting

word to me, mainly because we still use it today.

The word wage was used 2 ,000 years ago. Today,

a wage is a paycheck. It's something you earn,

something you work for, something that you deserve,

something that belongs to you. And I said, Miss

Ashley? If you get what you deserve to get, you're

going to die and be separated from God for all

of eternity. You're going to go to a place called

hell. And I said, the verse goes on and tells

us that the gift of God is eternal life through

Jesus Christ our Lord. Then going to heaven is

a free gift. We don't earn it, we don't deserve

it, we don't get good enough for it. God gives

it to us just because he loves us and wants us

to have it. In fact, the Bible goes so far as

to say that God has commended his love toward

you and me, Ashley, in that while we're yet sinners,

Christ died for us. I said, Ashley, I want to

ask you two questions. I said, do you believe

that when Jesus died on the cross, that he died,

that he shed his blood to pay the price for your

sin? She called for a second. She looked at me.

She looked around the room. It was not busy.

It was me and her standing there talking. And

she looked to make sure nobody else was there.

And she said, I do believe that. I said, do you

believe that three days later he rose from the

grave, that he conquered death like we celebrate

every Easter? She hesitated. I said, I do believe

that. I do. I said that actually you believe

everything you have to believe to know for certain

that you're going to heaven when you die. But

there's something you have to do. That is, you

have to pray and ask Jesus to come into your

heart and ask him to be your Savior. It says

in Romans chapter 10, verse 5, that if you'll

Romans 10:5

confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe

in your heart that God raised him up from the

dead, thou shalt be saved. I said, what you need

to do, actually, is you need to pray and ask

Jesus into your heart by praying a prayer that

goes something like this prayer. Dear God, I

know that I have sinned and done things wrong.

I know that I need your forgiveness. I ask Jesus

Christ to come into my heart. I ask him to be

Lord of my life. I ask him to save me. I said,

Ms. Ashley, the only condition on that prayer

is whether or not you need business or not in

prayer. If you're willing to be serious with

God and ask him to save you, he will save you

and one day take you to heaven. I said, Ashley,

I can help you pray that prayer. She said what

I've heard somebody say to me probably thousands

of times. You mean you can help me? Would you

do that for me? I said, I'd be thrilled actually

to help you pray that prayer. She bowed her head

and she prayed and she asked Jesus to come into

her heart and be her Savior. That's what it means

to become a Fisherman. Over and over again, every

year, about 100 people, come to know Christ because

I stop and talk to them without asking Jesus

in their heart. I'm not talking about people

that come at invitation time in church service.

I'm talking about people I meet out in the street

that I didn't know before the conversation started.

That happens because I made a commitment to become

a fisherman. I go looking. For the men and women

and children that need to be taught for Jesus.

That's what Simon Peter and Andrew made a commitment

to do in our days. They wanted to become a fisher

in the end. And interestingly enough, 2 ,000

years later, Simon and Andrew are two of about

20, 25 names worldwide for 2 ,000 years that

everybody knows. Why is that? Because they did

what Jesus told them to do. I want to ask you

to bow your head and close your eyes. Every head

bowed, every eye closed, nobody looking around.

I want you to search your heart. How many of

you here today would be honest with me? I'll

try to be honest with you. How many of you will

be honest with me and say to me, Brother Wayne,

I may not be the best person in this room today,

but I do know this. I know for certain, I know

beyond any shadow of a doubt, that if I were

to die today, I know that my soul is going to

heaven. You don't think so? You don't hope so?

You know that you're saved. Would you hold your

hand up high for just a moment? Just lift your

hand up. God bless you. God bless you. Now put

it down. I want you to pray. I want you to pray

for somebody else in the room that did not lift

their hand. Now how many of you will be honest

with me? Again, I'm trying to be honest with

you. How many of you will be honest with me and

say to me, Brother Wayne, I could not lift my

hand just now. I do not know for certain that

I'm going to go to heaven when I die. But I'd

like to know that. I want to know that. And I'd

like for you to pray for me today. Would you

slip your hand up just a moment? Just slip it

up and put it right in that hand. God bless you,

son. Thank you. Anyone else? You don't know that

you're going to heaven, but you'd like to know

that. And you'd like for me to pray for you today.

Anyone? Dear friend, I've got great news for

you. The best news in all the world. You can

know before you leave this room today that you're

going to heaven when we die. And you can know

that because the Bible, the Word of God, says

so. The Bible tells us that being saved is as

simple as the ABCs. For the A, we have to admit

to God that we are sinners, that we've done things

that are wrong. And the Bible calls that sin.

For the B, we must believe. We must believe that

God loves us. We must believe that Jesus died,

shed his blood to take the price for our sin.

We must believe that he'll save us today if we

ask him to. And for the seed, we must call upon

Jesus, commit our heart to him, and ask him to

be our savior. It says in Romans chapter 10,

Romans 10:9

verse 9, that if you'll confess with your mouth

the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that

God raised him up from the dead, thou shalt be

saved. What that means is if you're willing to

pray and ask him to save you, if you believe

he died for you, he was buried, and he rose again,

if you'll ask him to save you, he'll save you

today. The way that you get saved is you pray

a prayer committing your life to Jesus. The Bible

teaches us that that prayer goes something like

this. Dear God, I know that I have sinned and

done things wrong. I know that I need your forgiveness.

I ask Jesus Christ into my heart. I ask him to

be Lord of my life. I ask him to save me. The

only condition on that prayer, friend, is this.

Do you really want to be saved? Are you really

willing to commit your life to him and ask him

to save you? I want to help you pray that prayer

right now. Those of you that raised your hand,

I'm over to go. And others of you who possibly

should have raised your hand saying, I don't

know that I'm saved, but I'd like to know that.

I encourage you just to repeat it in your heart

with me as I pray it out loud. God will hear

the prayer in your heart. And he'll save you

right where you're sitting today. You ready now?

You pray with me, dear God. I know that I have

sinned and done things that are wrong. I know

that I need your forgiveness. I ask Jesus Christ

to come into my heart. I ask him to be Lord of

my life. I ask him to save me. Thank you for

saving me. Help me to know that I am saved. Help

me to live a life that will please you. Amen.

Now keep your heads down and your eyes closed.

If you prayed that prayer with me, I want you

to look right up here at me. If you prayed that

prayer with me, just look right up here at me

for just a moment. Don't be embarrassed. I'm

glad you've done that. The day you've done the

most important thing you'll ever do, you ask

Jesus into your heart. I'm going to ask you to

do something now. If you meant business about

it when you prayed that prayer. Pastor, I want

you to stand right here in front. If you prayed

that prayer and meant business about it, I want

you to get up out of your seat and come down

here and stand with me, Pastor. God bless you,

son. Thank you. Thank you for having the courage

to take a stand. Did someone else? You prayed

that prayer with me? You meant business about

it? Jesus is going to change your life forever.

God bless you, sir. Anybody else? Follow the

way, just a moment. You've got business. When

you prayed that prayer, he forgave your sin and

he's going to take you to heaven. Did you pray

with me? Just get up and come. It's that simple.

It's that simple. I want everybody to look up

here for just a moment. I've got one more thing

I want to do. Say amen. No, you can do better.

Say amen. Amen. These two men have given their

life to Christ. We're thrilled about that. Now

I want you to listen. Remember when I started

the message, I told you to think about somebody

that you know that doesn't know Jesus as their

Savior? Just one person. And that could be a

family member, a friend, a co -worker, somebody

you go to school with. Everybody knows somebody

that needs to get saved. I want to ask you to

make a commitment now. Remember, I told you I

was going to ask for that. I'm going to ask you

to make a commitment. If you're willing to do

your best, whatever your best is, I can't define

that for you, but you know what your best is.

To do your best to try to pray for that person

every day and try to win them to Jesus in the

next 30 days. I want you to stand up. If you're

willing to make that commitment, just stand up.

God bless you. God bless you. All of us know

somebody. Do you care about them enough to try

to win them with Jesus? If you do, just stand

up for just a moment. God bless you. God bless

you, man. Thank you. God bless you. God needs

a commitment, doesn't he? But it's a commitment

that can change the world if we are serious about

it. Anybody else? I'm going to pray with you

and then I'm going to pass it. Father God, I

thank you for your love. I thank you for these

two men who've come to make decisions for you.

I pray, God, that you would bless them as they

begin their walk with Jesus. And I pray for these

who've made a commitment to try to win someone

to Christ. God, it seems so simple to make the

commitment, but it's a commitment that can be

used to change Toledo for eternity. A commitment

that can be used to change this neighborhood

for eternity. if they're serious about keeping

the commitment. One person turns into two, two

turns into four, pretty soon it's a lifestyle

that you're sharing the gospel everywhere you

go. God, use them in their efforts to honor and

glorify you and to be followers of Christ each

day. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.