Healthy Church - Strong Church | Courageous Evangelism (January 19th, 2020) - Mike Armstrong

All right, well, if you want to turn in your Bibles uh to Matthew chapter nine, I had a pastor friend uh text me last weekend and said, hey man, don't get too used to this whole like church every other weekend uh thing.

I know we've had uh we've been at the mercy uh of the weather and uh kind of the permit being canceled or not.

That's really on uh on the school board and that's their decision, so we're at their mercy a little bit.

And how many of you just be honest, you were like refreshing your email a million times yesterday to see if the weather uh would take us out of commission for today.

Yeah, I was uh I was right there with you.

Uh, but grateful uh to be uh back with you and uh hoping that we can get a few weeks in a row here under my belt.

Uh but excited to get into uh God's word.

This has been uh kind of brewing in my heart and my mind for two weeks now.

Didn't get a chance to preach this uh last week, but excited to get into this.

Now uh Matthew chapter nine is where we're going to be.

Now, uh perhaps, just as you're turning there, perhaps the greatest uh sporting achievement of all time uh took place in June uh of 2017.

Okay, when professional rock climber Alex Honnold uh free soloed El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

Now we got some uh pictures here uh for you.

You'll be able to kind of check out what that was uh like.

But for those of us uh unfamiliar uh with the terms, maybe free soloing is where you climb with no ropes, okay, nothing.

Okay, there's no ropes, there's no there's no anchors, there's no one you know belaying you and there to catch you if you fall.

It is just uh a climber and um and a sheet of granite, okay, meaning one slip and uh it's over.

I mean, it is over.

Now, El Cap, uh the wall that he climbed, is in Honnold's own words, uh basically the most impressive wall on the planet.

All right, so as you think about this, what uh what Mount Everest is to mountaineering, okay, El Cap is to rock climbing.

And like I said, uh uh Honnold achieved this goal uh of climbing, it's nearly get this, 3,000 feet of vertical, uh rope free, and he did it in uh just under four hours.

He did it in uh in a morning.

All right, while and then while he did this, uh a National Geographic crew filmed uh the accomplishment.

Now it was all made into uh a film.

Perhaps uh you've heard of it or watched it.

It's called just called Free Solo.

It went on to win uh a lot of awards, including an Oscar for Best Documentary uh last year.

I personally am kind of obsessed with this movie.

I've watched it like four times uh in the last month alone, I think.

It kind of blows my mind.

Now, there is little doubt here uh that this feat required an absurd amount of courage.

Now, I mean, you might also say it required an absurd amount of stupidity, right?

And and uh just a lack of you know, care for his own human life, right, and all of that recklessness, and you know, we could debate all of that uh for sure, but uh there's no question that courage played a critical role in uh in what he did.

Okay, now courage uh is defined simply as uh not deterred by danger or by pain.

Okay, and you just I mean just put yourself in Alex Honnell's head here.

You would have had to work through some of that, I think.

Right?

He would, and the documentary actually uh talks about that and shows how we kind of process that.

Okay, but I also think here that that courage or or courageous is the right word to describe you and I, to describe Christians and you know the local church when it comes how uh you and I are to engage in evangelism.

All right, I think it's a great word.

Evangelism now, as simply, we're just kind of divining our terms here, but evangelism is simply sharing the good news of Jesus, right?

Sharing the gospel, telling people about what Christ has done uh for them.

Now, this, that, I should say, absolutely requires courage.

Okay, where we're not deterred by danger or pain or or the possibility of those things.

Okay, because courageous evangelism, I mean, it is at the very heart uh of the mission that you and I have been given by Jesus to uh to make disciples.

Right?

And that's why it's one of our six distinctives here.

If you think about it, if we're not pursuing this individually and as a church, if we're not growing in this area, if we're not, you know, sensing the urgency uh to tell a dying world about what Christ has done, uh then really we we can't really consider ourselves or call ourselves a healthy church or a strong church.

And so today we're gonna look at a couple of different scriptures here, a couple of passages, and see what they have to say about it, see what God's heart is for us.

And and then as we're doing that, and as God's word is being proclaimed, I think even just prayerfully, you can do this kind of where you're seated.

Just pray that the Lord would give you and give us as a church just a real heart of courage here to evangelize the lost.

Okay, so we're gonna get into uh Matthew chapter nine here, first of all, but first uh let's pray.

God, we thank you for uh this time this morning, this opportunity to worship, Lord, to uh to remember the gospel, to remember uh your sacrifice in communion together.

Lord, we thank you for this.

Lord, we thank you that your heart to save uh is so on display throughout the scriptures, Lord.

And I pray that as uh many of us here in this room have received Christ uh personally, Lord, we've received the salvation that you purchased for us uh at Calvary, Lord.

I pray that our heart would then be in turn uh to go and uh tell the world about this, Lord.

And Lord, we know that, you know, as we see this and as we're gonna see this morning, this requires a lot of courage.

Father, it does.

It requires boldness, it requires all of that, Lord.

So would you be so gracious as to change our hearts where we're weak here?

Lord, would you help us to not be so concerned about what people think, not be so fearful, not just be so centered on ourselves that we don't even think about it.

God, forgive us for uh for the sin that gets in the way of just being on mission.

And so, God, uh, we know that uh it's very easy to feel guilty about our lack of evangelism, Lord, and and I pray that we would just bring that before you and trust in you to change us and and really unleash us here as a local church.

And so we pray that you would do all of these things to the glory of Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, here's the first thing uh this morning in your notes.

We are committed to glorifying God through courageous evangelism.

And then here it is, having having compassion for the harassed, helpless, and lost.

All right, so to kick things off here, we're gonna we're gonna take a peek here at Christ's mentality, all right, as uh at his approach, at the heart that he had when it came to proclaiming the gospel, when it came to evangelizing uh lost and uh and weary and dying people, all right?

And he provides, no surprise here, a good example uh for us to follow in this.

He provides for us uh a good example of just the kind of heart that we should have, the kind of desire that we you and I are to have when it comes to our approach to the mission that he's given us.

All right, so here it is, Matthew 9, uh verse 36.

Uh, here it is, it's on the screen for you if you don't have a Bible with you, but it says this when he, this is Jesus, okay, when he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them.

Because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

Now that first word, I think, or probably the first word that jumps out at us there as we read that first line, I think is that word compassion.

Right?

That word compassion.

Now, what does that mean?

Well, we probably have a sense of it, but it really just means to have pity on someone or or or or affection for them or or or to be deeply moved by something.

Right?

This is the heart, this is the love that drove Jesus to carrying out his mission.

This is what drove his actions.

He had uh compassion, right?

His his compassion was was deep in his his heart.

And this is what he had as he you know kind of traveled around and saw these crowds and saw these people.

He went from you know city to city and and village to village.

He went and taught in their synagogues, he he healed their their various diseases and afflictions.

And I know we don't have it up on the screen, but that's really verse 35.

It tells us that that's what Jesus was doing.

Now, what exactly uh provoked this heart of compassion in Christ for them?

Okay, well, the next part of this here, verse 36, uh, tells us.

It says, Because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

Now, if you think about it, that sentence right there, that part of the sentence, is uh really just a good description of the spiritual state of all people who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior.

Okay, apart from salvation, this is man's existence.

Okay, this is our our reality.

And I mean, even as even as believers, I think we we kind of feel these things as we work out our own growth in Christ.

Right?

That first word there uh shows that people are harassed.

That's what Jesus noticed in them.

You never notice how harassed we are on on any given day?

Do you feel that?

I mean, we're harassed in a number of ways.

You and I are harassed by the world, right?

By the world's uh value system, by all the by all the priorities that the world would have for you, all the all the demands that it screams at you to live up to and uh and to achieve.

There's a very uh distinct uh messaging system that is constantly being whispered at you and and and screamed at you in in the media, in books you read, in all of that.

Right?

Have you noticed that?

You feel uh harassed by that?

You know, I I've gotta, you know, I've got to be wealthy, right?

I've got to have I've got to have money and find my hope and meaning in that.

Right?

I've got to have you know per uh perfect relationships.

I've got I've got to find satisfaction and pleasure in in sexual relationships, maybe in multiple ones.

Right?

There's all kinds of different messages that are being screamed at you.

I mean that that's that's harassment, if you really think about it.

Do you feel the harassment of those of those messages throughout uh the week?

I mean, I know I do, certainly.

But another way that humanity is harassed is not just the message coming from outside, but the message coming from within, right?

From from within our own sinful nature.

Right, you noticed how how hounded you are by by your own selfish desires?

Have you noticed that at the end of the day, what do we really want?

We want what we want.

It could be anything, right?

It really could, but we are we are inherently selfish because we are warped.

We have a sinful, a sinful nature, a sinful flesh.

I don't know about you, but I feel harassed by that constantly.

You ever feel like, man, I feel like I should be I should be further ahead in my growth in these things, but man, that selfishness, that desire to please myself and just get what I want, it's just there, it's nipping at my heels.

It's harassment.

Now, to make matters worse, we're also harassed by the evil one.

Right?

That's by by Satan, by the spiritual warfare that exists as God's enemy, the devil.

He hates all people.

Right?

Every single person.

He just works to lead us as far away from God as he possibly can.

I mean, each and every one of us, you know, in different ways, some of them subtle, some of them maybe a little bit more major and obvious.

We're dealing with warfare.

The church certainly is.

Now, not only is mankind harassed in these kinds of ways, but we're also, what's that next word you see?

We're also helpless.

Oh, great, great, we're helpless too on top of that.

Well, on our own, though, we know this.

We know that we just get sucked into the world's ways.

You find it's like a vortex, and you just get kind of sucked into it, right?

On our own, we, you know, we can't fix ourselves.

We can't fix our flesh, those desires that we have deep down that are still warped, and that Christ is redeeming and sanctifying.

It's it's it's still there.

And if you notice that you can't fix your heart and those desires, you need you need Christ.

We're helpless on our own.

On top of all of that, mankind apart from Christ, we're we're like sheep without a shepherd, it says.

Now, sheep without a shepherd are just sheep that, I mean, think about uh, you know, sheep being in a field out in the wilderness without a shepherd to guide them.

Right?

They're vulnerable.

Right?

They're they're they're aimless.

They they don't really know where they're going.

Right?

They're they're just wandering all over the place, they're exposed to attack.

They're, I mean, at the end of the day, I think a good word to just kind of sum that up is there, is they're lost.

Right?

They're completely lost.

I mean, that's where people are at uh spiritually.

That's the state of every man, woman, and child apart from Jesus, our shepherd.

People are harassed, helpless, and lost.

But as I think kind of heavy and maybe even somewhat depressing is as all of that is to kind of consider here is you know, realize uh that Christ sees you and I, he sees the world in this state, and he has compassion on us.

He came to He came to protect the harassed.

He came to help the helpless.

He came to rescue the lost, right?

We who were wandering sheep.

Right?

And Christians are are those who've had their eyes opened to this reality.

They've they've recognized Christ's compassion towards towards them, towards us.

And and what have we done?

We've we've repented.

We've repented of our of our sin and received Christ as Lord.

We have believed in his name and what he has done on the cross and through his resurrection.

Right?

And because we've seen and because we've experienced his compassion for us, it then causes you and I to have compassion for others.

That's that's what ends up happening in the life of a believer as they grow.

Right?

We have compassion on others who are harassed and helpless and lost.

We want them to experience the protection that you and I have received when we've been harassed.

Right?

Have you experienced that before?

We want we want other people to experience and find strength in his grace, right?

In his Holy Spirit, like we do when we're helpless.

If you cried out to the Lord and you're helpless saintly, Lord, I need you, and he comes through by his grace, it's an amazing thing.

As we experience his compassion, we want, you know, compassion wells up in us, and we want them to be found, right?

We want them to be found by the great shepherd as we have been found by him.

A lost no more.

This is the core of evangelism.

Having compassion on others because God first had compassion on us.

Does this describe your heart?

Would you say that that this is kind of your mentality towards the lost?

Would you say that you are you are growing, even bit by bit, maybe?

Would you say that you are trending in the direction that we're seeing Christ model for us here?

Christ-like compassion for the unsaved.

Do you have that?

I mean, I was personally just really convicted about that uh very recently.

I was just kind of reading and kind of scrolling through the news uh on my phone the other day, and I saw some stories that were coming up about uh actress Michelle Williams' uh acceptance speech at the Golden Globes.

Okay, I don't know if you saw that, but basically uh she stood up there and accepted uh the Golden Globe.

And in her speech, she uh she really uh said that it was because of her freedom to choose, because she had an abortion, it freed her up for the time and the energy to be able to put into her acting career so that she could stand there and now receive this golden statue.

Now, I'll be honest, um, as I read that and as I listened to her speech, uh, I wasn't exactly feeling all that much compassion for Michelle Williams.

To be perfect, again, honest, I was grossed out.

I was appalled by this, and and I sensed the anger welling up in me as I read this, and you know, people are retweeting it, and they're you know, clapping at what she's standing on and what she believes, and you know, and just giving her kudos.

And and and honestly, I think there's some some goodness to some anger towards that.

We should be angry towards the things that that God would be angry about.

But anger was really the predominant and only thing that I was experiencing in those moments, uh, that is, until I saw someone comment online something to the effect of, oh wow, this is this is awful.

I I can't believe she said that.

I'm praying for Michelle Williams.

And I remember thinking, man, that right there, that is Christ-like compassion.

Right?

Not not sweeping what she said and what she's done under the rug, not acting like it's okay, but at the same time having having a heart for her.

And I got kind of thinking about this, and yeah, you're like, yeah, sure, it's it's good to and and right to be angry.

I think if we're not angry, something's wrong there.

But I was kind of just thinking, like, would I pray for Michelle Williams?

Do I actually want her to get saved?

Do I have compassion just in general towards those who need Christ?

Do you?

Do we have this?

Now, if you sense that compassion is something that's lacking in yourself and really needs to grow and it and it needs to be fanned into flame and increase, really just kind of start by asking, I think, if there's something that that's in your heart right now that's occupying the space uh where compassion should be.

Is there something there that needs to be removed?

Is there something kind of festering in your heart, in your soul, in your mind that needs to go so that so that compassion can reside there and flourish?

Now there's a few things, there's a bunch of things that could be there that maybe you would identify in your own heart.

Uh, maybe for you, it's kind of like me, it's it's anger.

Right?

And again, uh some of that, some of that I think is righteous anger, and and some of that disgust is because we love God, right?

And we believe in the sanctity of life.

And it breaks our hearts to see this happen.

But sometimes when we're angry and we're angry towards the lost, sometimes that's just self-righteous anger.

You ever notice that in yourself?

Where you get angry at uh at unbelievers and and really what's lurking there in your heart and it's ugly, is like, man, I I can't believe they would do that.

I would never do something like that.

Right?

And in the in somewhere in your mind, there's this idea of like they should be more like like me.

Right?

I'm better than them.

I am a good person, they are not.

And you see how sometimes that anger can be self-righteous.

That's gotta go.

Maybe for you, what's present in your heart and needs to go so that compassion can flourish is just apathy.

Maybe it's apathy.

Maybe you look at other people who seem to get so riled up and fired up about every every single issue, and and for you, you you know, kind of pride yourself in being a little more low-key.

Right?

I I'm more relaxed, I'm kind of calm about this, and again, it's kind of uh, you know, kind of wear it as a badge of of honor, and I'm, you know, I'm more laid back than those those overly intense Christians who seem to have an opinion about about everything.

Yeah, or you're just apathetic.

Okay, and you don't care, and you need to care, and there's something there in your heart that needs to get kick started.

Apathy, maybe that's the thing for you.

Maybe for you it's just distraction.

Distraction's a big one.

We're far too busy, we've got way too many things going on, we just don't have time to have compassion on the lost.

Right?

I it's you know, once I'm done this, I'm rushing off to the next thing.

I think a lot of that just speaks to how I think self-absorbed we are as a nation.

Just all about ourselves only.

Don't even think about you know the person shoveling their driveway this morning beside us and where they might be at in terms of knowing the Lord or not.

Maybe distraction is a thing for you.

I think an obvious one is fear.

I'm just scared.

I'm nervous about this.

I I don't want to say something that I shouldn't.

I don't want to rile somebody up.

I I don't want to suffer for it.

We're gonna get into more of that as we go.

Go here, but what should we do if we start seeing these things in our hearts?

We're noticing them.

We gotta start by confessing, right?

We gotta call that out, we gotta face that and confess that as as sin, where it is sin, uh before the Lord.

And then I think really praying, right?

Praying for compassion.

Lord, would you give me this?

Lord, would you give me a compassion for the lost and praying for the lost themselves as well, that they would open their eyes, whoever it might be, and see their need for Jesus and for salvation.

Now, interestingly, but again, to no real surprise, that's the direction that Jesus urges us in here in the passage.

Take a look at verse 37.

Let's get that back up on the screen.

It says, Then he said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful.

The harvest is plentiful, meaning a lot of people out there, ripe and ready to hear the good news of the gospel.

Right?

There are a lot of people.

I I think the messaging that often happens in in churches and maybe in the world, the messaging is that every single person who you could possibly share the gospel with doesn't want to hear it.

They'll get in your face, they'll they'll shame you, they'll they'll be angry.

Sure, that that's gonna happen a little bit, and we we need to kind of accept that.

But have you noticed how many people are actually very open to it?

They want to know.

How simple is it for you to just like even simply invite them to church?

Hey, I go to this church on Sundays, you should come check it out.

I think what we talk about there and and what we do could really maybe be the answer to some of the struggles that you're dealing with, right?

Something as simple as that, right?

The harvest is is plentiful, Jesus says.

People are ready to get saved.

But he says there, the laborers are few.

The workers, right?

Christians, people, people who who are willing to go out and be courageous in this way.

So he says there, therefore, pray earnestly, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

Hey, pray, church, pray that, pray that the Lord would use you.

Well, I don't, I don't really want to pray that.

I I kind of like my my comfortable life, and I don't want to say that.

Would you be willing to just admit that to the Lord and ask him to change your heart?

Pray that he would use you.

Pray that he would give you compassion for the lost.

Pray this for us.

Pray this for us as a church.

That we would be known here as redemption church, so fired up, so jacked about evangelism that we would just spread the news of the gospel all throughout New Market, all throughout this surrounding area.

How cool would it be to you know to have a conversation with somebody and say, hey, you know, I go to this church and it's about it's about Jesus Christ.

It's about He, how He saved us from sin.

In the church's redemption, how amazing would it be to be like, oh yeah, I've already heard I've already met a bunch of you people.

How cool would that be?

Like, oh yeah, I've heard about that redemption church.

There's a few other people in my life that keep kind of bugging me to come out to this.

I think that would be amazing.

Pray for this.

Pray that we would be courageous, right?

That we would evangelize this town, be be compassionate, where we would become known for this and long for Christ to save.

Here's the second thing this morning.

We are committed to glorifying God through courageous evangelism, displaying confidence in the gospel as the power to save.

Take a look at uh what the apostle Paul had to say about where God's power is found in preaching uh and evangelism.

Uh, and it's really it's it's in the message, okay?

Look at the first part of Romans 1, uh, verse 16 here.

Yeah, Paul says, he says, I am not ashamed of the gospel.

I'm not ashamed of it.

Now I find that a very uh thought-provoking statement.

Because I think there's a very uncomfortable yet very necessary question found in there that each person here needs to ask themselves.

Right?

And it's a, you know, is our lack of courageous evangelism in any way due to the fact that we are somewhat ashamed or embarrassed of the gospel.

Do you have that kind of shame lurking there?

Maybe that's one of the reasons you don't share it.

You come and you're real bold in front of a bunch of believers to sing and to raise your hands and to be involved in the church, but in people who you know who are lost, you're you're quiet as a mouse.

Right?

You don't say much at all.

Maybe there's a there's a shame in the message, and it's it's not really as, you know, you don't have a sense that it's as it's powerful enough.

And so I kind of shrink back and I hide.

It's tough to face even asking ourselves that question, let alone the possibility that the answer might be yes.

Now, I'll leave you to just kind of chew on that a little bit this week and be prayerful about it, but for now, I'll just take a look at the rest of this verse.

This is why Paul wasn't ashamed of the gospel.

He says, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Now, now, how does Paul know, right?

How does Paul know that the gospel is the power of God for salvation?

How does he know this?

Well, because he experienced it, right?

He experienced it uh firsthand, the power of the gospel.

I mean, Acts chapter 9 and and even in Galatians uh chapter 1, right?

Acts 9 · chapter mention

We see the story.

We see Paul's testimony, and we know that that Paul was, you know, breathing murderous threats towards the church.

That's what it says in Acts.

He hated the church, he was a Pharisee, and and he couldn't wait to see the way of Jesus Christ uh get snuffed out.

And so he was on the road to Damascus.

He was going to get to put more Christians in jail when he was met by by Christ himself, and and Christ showed up and and there was a light.

He said, Why are you persecuting me?

And and the light was so bright, it it struck him blind.

And he and he and he couldn't see, and and and the Lord sent someone to him, and they and they led him to this person, and this person shared the gospel with him.

And then in that moment, he he confessed his sin.

He realized he was persecuting the Lord.

Right?

And from that he he completely changed and he went on to plant churches and and proclaim the gospel and be used mightily by the Lord.

Right?

Paul experienced it firsthand, but not only the gospel's power for himself.

I mean, he saw God save countless others as well through the gospel, just as it was, you know, very simply and and very clearly shared by him to others in various uh towns, uh and we see that in the scriptures.

Now, I think what um sometimes what just kind of stops us from evangelizing today is I think that we just don't realize how much power uh there really is in the simple gospel message itself.

Right?

We often believe, I think, uh somewhere in our minds or hearts that you know the the the gospel, it's it's maybe it's not flashy enough.

Right?

And so so I need to I need to kind of add to it.

I need I need to dress it up a little bit here with kind of something I can bring to the table.

Right?

I I need some seminary level uh know-how.

Right?

I I need to have I need to have that.

Or or or you know, I I need to have a certain speaking ability, and I need to be really good with words and able in order for the the gospel to really be effective in another person's heart if I was to share it with them, or or I need to have a really winsome personality, and you know, maybe you know I'm a little bit too, you know, I just like to be alone and I'm kind of quiet and and therefore the Lord could never use me and and and the gospel is not really enough.

I need to add to it.

You see how we do that in different in different ways?

But listen, those things do not save people, they don't save anyone, right?

The gospel itself is the power of God for salvation.

Okay, why do you think that that that brand new converts, right?

Brand new Christians are often the most powerful and often the most effective evangelizers.

Why do you think that's the case?

Well, because they're so captivated by Christ and the gospel.

Right?

They're like, man, this is amazing.

Like, like I can be forgiven.

I'm kind of scuzzy, I've done a lot of bad things, and and it's amazing to think that my that all that can be wiped away, that Christ paid for, you know, paid for all of my sin and and He He's alive and He's in me and He's transforming me.

And He has a mission for me that's to use me and oh yeah, and then heaven is waiting for me at the end of this life.

This is amazing, right?

That's that's what they're thinking, and these new converts, they haven't even been Christians long enough to know any more than that.

Right?

All they know is the gospel.

Honestly, church, I think we need to get back to more of that as a church.

Right?

Stop overthinking it.

Stop overcomplicating it or believing that I gotta make this message more appealing somehow, or add whatever gimmick man or churches might employ, because you know, well, our society it's it's just so advanced, you know, more now than it than it is ever before, and and people's minds are so complex and and the attention spans are short, and and so you know, we really need to we need to add some things to this here in order to reach today's culture.

Nonsense.

It's just not true, right?

Our our culture today has has maybe never been so lonely, never been so weary and and and angry and hopeless and and just lost.

They need the gospel now, more than ever.

They need a church that believes that's where the power is found.

It's in the message.

The gospel saves.

Okay, why else did Paul, who we've been talking about this morning, right, a very educated man himself, again, he was a Pharisee, went, went to all kinds of seminary-level degrees and all of that.

Why else did he say in 1 Corinthians chapter 2?

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

Let's get that on the screen here.

Look what he says.

He says, When I came to you, brothers, I did not proclaim to you the testimony of God with listen, with lofty speech or wisdom.

He's like, I wasn't the best with words, I wasn't the most wise person ever who ever came to you.

Look what he says.

He says, For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

What's that?

That's the gospel.

I didn't want to know anything more than that.

You don't need anything else to make this message powerful.

It's powerful on its own.

He's like, and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.

He's like, if anything, I was pathetic when I was with you.

I was terrified.

I I was weak.

I had I had all kinds of issues.

He's like, I am weak.

The gospel, Jesus Christ, it is power, it is strength.

Why?

So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

Listen, Paul proclaimed a message that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

You remember this from 1 Timothy chapter 1?

1 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

Right?

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

That's what Paul said.

That's the gospel right there.

Jesus came to save sinners.

We don't need to overcomplicate it.

It's simple, but but that's power, right?

That's what Paul had his confidence in.

So listen, do you, do, do I, do we have our confidence in the same place?

Do you believe what God's word says about the gospel itself, that it is the power of God for salvation?

Do you rest in that?

In understanding this, do we proclaim it confidently?

Do we have confidence in this message, knowing that as we simply proclaim it, the rest of that, the rest of it's up to the Lord.

Whether the person gets saved or not, that's in God's hands.

Right?

He chooses to save whom he will.

The Holy Spirit does the spiritual work of regenerating the person's heart, of forgiving their sin, of imputing Christ's righteousness to them, bringing them from death to life.

We simply witness.

We simply share the message confident.

Because that's where the power is.

You know, boldness, courage.

I mean, you see both those words there.

I mean, they're really just one and the same.

And it's what Paul uh asks the church at Ephesus uh to pray for him.

He's like, pray that I would be bold.

Look what he says here in Ephesians uh chapter 6, 19 and 20.

He says, Pray also for me, that words may be given to me.

Notice how he's he's relying on the Holy Spirit here.

Right, you ever got into a conversation before and you have that quick, like, Lord, I need some words here, right?

Help me lead me here through this conversation.

That's what Paul's doing.

Give me the words, he says, Pray that the words will be given to me in opening my mouth boldly, right?

Boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.

What's that about?

Well, mystery uh really just means you know, something that was once unknown, but now it's known.

And the mystery of the gospel is is referring to salvation, right?

How to get saved has been revealed through Jesus Christ, through what he did.

How to get saved is really repent and believe.

Right?

Repent of our sin that's against God and believe in what Jesus Christ did on the cross.

That was for you.

That's that's the message we need to share.

Right?

He says, Oh, in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador or a representative in chains.

I'm an ambassador in chains that I might declare it.

He says it again boldly, as I ought to speak.

Now, church, I I don't say this here to be you know dramatic, you know, or or to kind of whip us up into a panic frenzy here or anything, but it's just it's not hard to imagine a day coming here in our lifetime where you know something like this that we see in Ephesians uh chapter six and what Paul says, this could become our story as well.

Right?

He's an ambassador in chains.

He's writing this literally from a prison cell in in Rome.

Why was he there?

For proclaiming the gospel.

Now, while I would you know readily admit that you know what we suffer for um today, you know, for being Christ's ambassadors in Canada in 2020, while I would admit that that's a far cry from you know what Paul and other believers suffered under uh the Emperor uh Nero, uh there's no question uh that there is a growing disdain uh in our own country uh for what Christians believe.

Are you aware of this?

Are your eyes open to this?

You know, whether it's our our stance on abortion, whether it's our you know traditional and biblical views on marriage, whether it's gender politics, right, believing anything other than evolution.

Listen, the the prevailing thought in our country is that they got no time for anything that we believe.

They have no time for it.

Right?

And in the cancel culture that that we see becoming more prevalent and more nasty and more vitriolic, where you just get destroyed online, right?

Or or or your business gets boycotted or or you get sued or or your family gets harassed, right?

All for simply opening your mouth and and sharing what historical Christianity has always held to and proclaimed.

Okay, now more than ever, Christians and churches, we gotta wake up.

We got to wake up.

We are sleepy.

It's getting harder and harder to be a believer, to be a Christ follower and be liked and be respected.

What I'm getting at here is that there is a growing cost to being a Christian in Canada, and everything points to how it's just gonna get worse before it gets better.

Are you aware of this?

Are you watching for this?

Listen, I again I'm not trying, it's this is not a scare tactic.

Okay, I'm not trying to freak you out into you know making some flimsy commitment here today.

Well, I guess I better like read a couple more books so I'm more aware, or they never actually order them.

No, I'm not I'm not trying to do that.

I'm just trying to share with you reality.

And it's just to kind of give you a sense as to where my head has been at for quite a while now is you know, I fully expect, church, that at some point we're gonna have something like you know, picketers out front of our church service protesting.

Just because we believe that marriage is between one woman and one man born as such.

It happened in Oshawa just last year.

Not even be remotely surprised if you know we get priced out of our current facility.

Right?

All because they just don't want to deal with churches anymore.

Really that wouldn't happen.

It happened a long time ago in Toronto already.

Churches can't get into schools.

Are we ready for where this is headed?

Where it's at?

Okay, again, are you ready to maybe, I don't know, lose your job?

Have you thought about that?

Just for having Christian values?

Are your kids prepared for what they're walking into every day in the schools?

Are you discipling them in such a way where they don't just get swept away in it?

Are we willing to stand for Christ and then proclaim him no matter the cost to us?

Are we willing?

What are we gonna do?

What are you going to do?

Are we gonna wilt?

Are we gonna cave in here or are are we gonna cower in fear and let somebody louder and meaner and angrier just you know, just kind of have their way with us?

What are we gonna do?

I'll tell you what the move is.

It's pray for boldness.

Pray for boldness.

That's what Paul does here in Ephesians 6.

We just looked at it.

Right?

Uh he's in prison and he's praying for more boldness.

Right?

This is what the early church does in Acts.

In Acts chapter 4, you remember this?

Acts 4 · chapter mention

You know, Peter and John, they're they're hauled before the the religious council, the Jews, and and and they're and they're threatened, right, for evangelizing.

They're threatened for sharing the gospel.

And so after they kind of threaten them some more, right, they took a stand for Christ.

After they released him, they they meet, they gather with with their other friends, other other believers, and and and they pray.

Only they don't they don't pray that God would just, you know, keep me safe.

Lord, Lord, make all the scary stuff go away.

Lord, protect my kids and and and let nothing bad ever happen to them.

They don't pray those prayers.

North America prays those prayers.

How often do we pray those prayers?

Protect me from anything bad ever happening.

They don't pray that, they pray for boldness.

They pray in verse 29 here.

This is Acts chapter 4.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

He says, And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.

Let's keep going.

Let's accomplish more for your glory, Lord.

Let's see, let's see more people get saved.

They continue.

While you, God, stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.

That's what Paul prays for.

He's not he's not asking for you know minimum security prison with a comfortable cot for him to sleep on.

More boldness.

Like I think some of us, we he's in jail, it's kind of over.

Right?

His death was imminent.

Why don't you just kind of kick your feet up, Paul, and just kind of become Comfortable.

That's not what Paul's heart was.

That's not what the early church's heart was at all.

Will we pray like this?

Is this what we want?

Will we demonstrate God-given boldness to proclaim Christ regardless of the personal cost to you or ones that you love?

God is glorified when we do this, church.

Souls are saved.

Do we want this?

Is this what we're gonna go after?

This is this is the DNA of our church.

This is what we're trying to build here.

It's not just something we say, it's not just a cutesy sermon up here, and then we'll move on to something else.

It's like who we are.

This is what we're supposed to be doing.

We're gonna go after that?

Let's let's pray.

Let's seek the Lord for this.

We need Him, we need courage.

He's strong enough to provide it.

Do you believe that?

Let's pray.

Lord, thank you for this time.

Lord, it is good for us to be shaken a little bit, I think.

It is good for us to be stirred and to consider maybe our own apathy or our own fear and realize that that doesn't satisfy anybody.

It doesn't satisfy a dying world.

It doesn't satisfy our desire for comfort.

It's empty.

Lord, and it certainly doesn't satisfy you.

And so, God, I pray that we would be willing to just face the fear and all of those things that are in us, Lord, and bring it before you.

Lord, I pray that you would transform us if that in fact is where we're at.

Lord, give us boldness, Lord.

Give us courage to proclaim the gospel, Lord, that that you would do a work in Newmarket and in this area, Father.

God, would you do it?

Would we be a church that is known for this, Lord?

It's not so that we can feel great about ourselves and pat ourselves in the back and look how awesome we are, Lord.

It's not about that.

It's about glorifying you.

It's about glorifying Jesus.

And so give us hearts for this.

We pray, Lord, we need your help, Lord, as we sing.

Lord, I pray that we would sing prayerfully.

I pray that we would honor you.

I pray that we would be needy and we would be open handed and stretching out to reach out for your strength to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We pray this in your name.

Amen.