Sunday Message - Sharon Dutra (May 26, 2019) | Life Bible Church

So Mike and Sharon Dutra, would you come? And

congregation, would you welcome them as they

come and just bring the word of the Lord this

morning? Thank you. Wow. I just wanted to thank

Pastor Brad and Jennifer so much for allowing

us to come and be here. And, you know, we came

to this church a year ago, September, on a ministry

trip. And your worship wrecked us. And we knew,

we were just thinking, if they have worship like

that, how are we going to speak after that? And

I've got a pocket full of wet Kleenex. I hope

you realize how special, how special this place

is. And the worship. We have been to so many

different churches. And there was only one church

that compared to the worship in this place. And

let me tell you, that worship was that of 50

Iranian expats in the Persian church in Beverly

Hills where we were privileged to talk. And let

me tell you, when you are worshiping with people

that have lost family members and pastors and

friends who were killed for proclaiming Jesus.

and for saying that they would not deny their

Lord. That is some. We didn't understand a word

that they sang, but let me tell you, it was like

this. It was so close to God. So let's start

out. Of course, you know, I'm Mike, and this

is my beautiful bride, Sharon. Hi. And we are

Be Transformed Ministries. And we never dreamed

that we would be coming and speaking in places

like this, but God has purpose. when he recreates

someone anew. And you're going to hear some of

that today. I'd like to start out with prayer,

if we may. Lord, we just thank you so much for

this privilege. Lord, we are honored. And, Lord,

we are so thankful that you love us all so much

that you will not leave us as we are. You will

help us grow and change. And, Lord, help us find

the purpose in our lives that you have already

set aside for us to learn and to grow into. Lord,

may we all find our place in your army, Lord,

to be able to serve in your kingdom's sake. In

Jesus' name, amen. I wanted to start out with,

I have to use notes. About 10 years ago, I was

on my 29th year working for AT &T as a splicing

technician, splicing copper and fiber optic.

The fiber optic got to me for the chemicals we

used. It started cluster chronic migraines, and

I continue to get them to this day. But praise

God, I call them paydays because they pay me

now Social Security to have them. facilitated

us getting more into the ministry and it's a

miracle he lets me do these things. But we've

been married for almost 28 years and we've been

in some sort of fashion of ministry ever since.

And you'll understand a little bit better after

we tell you these stories. Our ministry that

we're currently doing, Be Transformed Ministry,

was started after Sharon wrote the book, Be Transformed

by the Spirit of the Living God. And it was written

for the church. It wasn't written for prisons,

jails, or rehabs. And we started to use it in

our local church, and then it started to spread.

And it was amazing what God was doing with these

books. And we're like, what? It was just... Phenomenal.

He continues to do that. So as we started sending

these books into prisons, jails, and rehabs for

free, along with any Bibles that were requested,

my thought was, how can we afford this? But he

keeps providing for us to do this. And after

eight years, we're now in 62 different prisons,

jails, and rehabs across the USA. Thank you.

That's Tim. And we get so many different stories

from inmates and from chaplains and from church

members of the various denominations. There's

two pages of testimonies on our website of how

these books have impacted people's lives. We,

in the last five years, six years, we sent over...

1 ,800 of our books into the L .A. County Jail

alone. And there's been a mini revival in that

jail in one of the hardest pods that no one ever

thought would a revival begin in. And it started

by him reading Be Transformed. About a year ago,

2017, Sharon wrote her second book and published

it, and it was called New Beginnings, The Basic

Principles of the Christian Faith. And it, too,

has just taken off. Both books have been translated

into Spanish by an inmate. And he did a phenomenal

job. Those aren't the inmates. Yeah, those aren't

the inmates. That's Africa. That's Africa. So,

again, we started out as a prison ministry, but

the books started to hit Mexico. They went into

Africa. And they've even landed in the Jim Elliot

tribe, if you've ever heard of that, missionary

Jim Elliot who went into Ecuador and was killed

trying to share the gospel to them. New Beginnings

is there now too in Spanish. So we're no longer

a prison ministry. We still are definitely a

prison ministry, but we're doing so much more

than prisons. Last year alone, we sent out just

under 2 ,500 books. And believe it or not, we

can't. It's all God. This year already we've

sent out more than that. And please don't get

us wrong. This is not about a Mike and Sharon

boast competition or what the books are. This

is about what God can do with any of us that

find our purpose in his kingdom that he has set

aside for you. And I mean, we could never dream

of doing what we're doing today or what he's

doing with these books. It's all him and it's

all to his glory. So the last thing is New Beginnings.

I mentioned the Persian -Iranian church that

we visited. One of the members there translated

our New Beginnings book and now be transformed

also into the Farsi language. So it is now in

the Iranian language. And we had a slide of that.

Oh, there it is. Good. It's not quite published

yet, but it's on its way. And we've been so connected

with different ministries. It's going to go,

I mean, to the Netherlands and to Turkey. And

we hope to get it on a website so anyone in Iran

can read it. There is a huge... Underground church

growth in Iran right now is just growing in multitudes.

So let's send them Jesus instead of bombs and

missiles. Sharon, would you like to describe

a little bit more about your books? Hi, I'm Sharon.

I'm just going to quickly finish up on our ministry

information so that you're aware of why we have

books and DVDs in the back. Be transformed is

a 14 -chapter Bible study, and it's on such subjects

as anxiety, commitment, faith, holiness, self

-esteem, forgiveness, and guilt. New beginnings

is for new believers or those who have not been

discipled in the faith. We've found that so many

people come to faith in Christ, but they're never

taught what they believe, and therefore they

can't go out and spread the gospel because they

don't even know what they believe. And so this

is a really perfect book to hand out to anyone

who is searching or seeking, you know, God. These

books are perfect for men and women, old and

young. They can be used in an individual setting

or in a group setting. And if you'd like to use

our books for your church, they're available.

You can contact Pastor Brad and we can talk about

that. And if you'd like to use New Beginnings

as an outreach tool, just let us know and we

can give you a discount on the books. If this

is for a prison, jail, or rehab, we can send

the books for free. We have a sign -up sheet

on the back table. If you just want to give us

the person's name and the state they're in and

the facility, we can send those books out for

free, including Bibles. Our contact information

is on the brochures that are at the back table.

We also have DVDs of my testimony, which is very

powerful. It's the one Pastor Brad cried on,

so you might want to take a look at that. And

we also have books for purchase in the back.

So our mission at Be Transformed Ministries is

really, it began to minister to people who were

lost, for sinners. We do street -level ministry.

We want to reach people who don't know Jesus.

But over the last couple of years, God has been

giving us a new vision for the church as well.

And so we're kind of doing a dual personality

thing here where we believe that we have to get

ready for Jesus. We believe that his return,

at least if we, we may die first because we're

getting old, but at the same time, he may come

for us any minute now with all the prophetic

things that are lining up and we just don't have

time to mess around anymore. And so we like to

equip the church. We want to excite people and

invite people to start sharing the gospel. And

if you don't know how, find out how, because

that's the only answer in this world. Jesus.

So a lot of people have heard Sharon's story

and they always ask, you know, where was I at

and how did I get into the position of bumping

into her? So I'm going to start out with a brief

story about... I was raised in a Lutheran home

by a CHP father. That's a California Highway

Patrol. It was a very black and white environment

with very little gray. And you didn't cross my

dad. He carried a gun. When I was a sophomore

in high school, I was invited to Mount Hermon

Christian Conference Center down in the Santa

Cruz Mountains. And I was going through a real

rough time in high school. And I landed there

and I learned something completely different.

God opened my eyes to a relationship with Jesus.

And he gave me a life verse. Have you ever had

him just give you a verse that impacts you so

amazingly? Well, that's what he did for me, and

it impacts me to this day. This is an older version

of NIV, and the newer versions actually might

be a little better, but it's Galatians 1 .10.

And the verse reads, Am I now trying to win the

approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to

please men? If I were still trying to please

men, I would not be a servant of Christ. So it

had me asking, who am I trying to please? The

guys at school, you know. And I ask myself today,

who am I trying to please? Am I just trying to

please myself? Am I trying to please my spouse?

Am I trying to please my children? Or am I trying

to please Jesus? It's just an amazing verse when

you really think of how deep that goes. So back

then in high school, I met this girl, don't we

all? And she was my high school sweetheart, Judy.

I wanted to marry her when I was a senior in

high school, and I'm thinking, how can I afford

to do that? So I decided to join the Navy because

I knew it would give me an income, and my dad

did that, and it paid for him to be able to get

married young. So Navy messed me up pretty bad.

because I was walking with the Lord very closely,

and then I got into boot camp, and I learned,

because I went from St. Helena High School in

the Napa Valley, graduated with 96 students in

my class, into the big bad world of the U .S.

Navy, and I learned that there was a huge gray

world out there. It wasn't all black and white

like I thought. We did end up, I married my high

school sweetheart, Judy. And we were married

for 10 years and had two wonderful children.

We got stuck into the big quest of bigger is

better. And so many people today... are into

the materialistic things of this world. Yes,

there's a lot of nice things out there, but we

really, I really started striving for it. We

bought one small house in Napa, went to another

new house in Napa, and then moved into our third

house in Napa, and it was a four -bedroom, three

-bath, tri -level, black -bottom pool, quarter

-acre lot, north Napa. And at the same time,

I had gotten involved in the city politics. I

had become a planning commissioner for the city

of Napa. I was working 10 hours a day, six days

a week, trying to afford to pay for all of this

stuff that I thought we really needed. And my

priorities were wrecked. God was not anywhere

near first. The priority list that I had written

down for the time that... It was horrible. It

was me first. Second was the planning commission

because I had designs on becoming a commissioner.

Third was my job because that paid all the bills.

Yeah. Fourth was my children. Fifth was my wife.

And last was God. And let me tell you, that doesn't

work long. I was so focused on building my kingdom

here and now, and I wasn't looking at what's

going to come. I wasn't looking that this little

life of 80 to 100 years is a speck on the timeline

of eternity that goes on forever. Uh -oh. So

the hardship really began. When I neglected my

wife to the point where she fell in love with

her boss. I didn't know this at the time. She

had a secret affair for about four months that

I later found out after she had come to me. She

worked up enough courage to say, Mike, I don't

love you anymore. I want a divorce. And I was

just lamb blasted because I was so busy thinking

of other things. And she was last on the list

almost. Everybody knows what that's like. There

are so many people that have been through divorce

now. It's like throwing a rock into a pond and

the ripples affect everyone around you. So I

went through the forest fire of divorce. I begged

and waited and prayed, ran back to Jesus immediately,

got right with him, but tried to keep that marriage

together and not lose my two children because

I knew what a divorce puts children through.

But, you know, What's amazing with God is that

he can use the worst forest fires in our lives

to break us, to mold us, and to recreate us.

He heals us from the inside out if we let him.

And that's what God began to do with me. Literally,

there's a book that I ran into then that we're

still giving out today to people. It's called

Love Life by Ed Wheat. Fantastic marriage book.

And the last chapter is How Do You Save Your

Marriage by Yourself? And I went through that,

and unfortunately, it didn't work, but God had

a better plan for me. I had ran back to Mount

Hermon when I was beginning this divorce, and

they had a singles conference. And I went through

three of those. And by the third quarter that

I had gone to a singles conference at Mount Hermon,

I was asking God, who can I help that is back

in the stage that I was when I first showed up

here, a miserable wreck walking through the forest

fire of divorce. And he was actually saying that

person might use some help. And it was such a

joy. When you're going through hardships, someone

will come along your side. But then as you go

out of it and through it, you can go back and

help others that are back in that spot. So anyway,

I'm at Mount Hermon for my fourth singles conference.

The divorce is done. And I'm asking the Lord,

who can I help? And I see this woman standing

out on the deck. And literally the Holy Spirit

said, maybe she could use someone to talk to.

So I go walking over to Sharon and didn't know

her. And I said, hello, I'm Mike. And how are

you? And literally in the first 15 minutes of

us talking, she tells me the story that she's

going to tell you about her past. And again,

I was raised in a black and white environment.

She was one of those people that you stay far,

far away from. They're trouble. They're broken.

But God said to me, Mike, you've been broken.

You were an ash heap laying on the ground over

there from the forest fire of your divorce. The

10 years that you worked to build that house

and everything, I walked away from that thing

with three grand in my pocket, and that was it.

And the first car I ever owned was this little

Datsun that was not a really good running car,

but hey, she took everything else. She lied,

she cheated, she did everything she could to

destroy me. The opposite of love is hate, and

it can get really ugly, as some people have known.

I want to say to you, if you're going through

that divorce process, And that highway of tears,

there's hope. There's purpose for your life.

God has a design for you to grow into. And reach

out to him, and he will take you on that path.

He will dodge the falling trees, and he will

show you the way through. And in time, I mean,

he'll bring you through. So anyway, I start talking

to Sharon. She tells me this story, and I'm just

like, what? And then literally the Holy Spirit

said to me, Mike, I brought you out of that mess.

I redeemed you by the blood of the Lamb. I made

you a new man. I created you into a new being.

Who are you to say I can't do that for her? She

had the most knowledge of the Bible that I had

ever met. She had lots of time to read it, and

she was extremely versed in it. And she was redeemed

by the blood of the Lamb. And she was so exciting

to me because I'd been through this horrible

lying and cheating, and here was a woman that

was so honest that she presented this worst -case

scenario on the first day we met. So with that,

I'll turn it over to Sharon, and she'll tell

you. What a guy. So my story is that I was born

in Glendale, California, and my father was an

alcoholic and a womanizer, and he was married

four times by the time I was 17 years old. When

I was four years old, my real mother left me

on the doorstep of my grandfather's house and

rang the bell, and I never saw her again. My

dad remarried when I was six years old, and they

had a child together, but they divorced a year

after that, and I went back into a foster home.

He remarried when I was eight years old, and

that marriage lasted six years, and then I had

run away from home when I was 15. Because I just

couldn't handle it anymore. I started using drugs

when I was 13. And I think it was at that time

that I realized how much I hated myself. Because

I had internalized all of this rejection and

abandonment and verbal and mental abuse that

I thought that I was unworthy of anyone's love.

I wasn't worth sticking around for. When I ran

away from home when I was 15, I lived on the

street for a month until they arrested me, and

I ended up in East Lake Juvenile Hall in central

Los Angeles. That was quite the experience for

me because I was the minority there, and I learned

a lot about gangs, gay activity. racial tension

and I was, like I said, the minority and it took

a lot for me to gain trust in that place. I would

end up going back to Juvenile Hall several times

before I was through there and unfortunately

I ended up making friends there so I was welcomed

back about the third time they actually accepted

me. I was transferred to a girl's home in East

Los Angeles, which if you've ever been in East

Los Angeles, you just don't go walking on the

street there, especially at night. But I was

transferring buses from West Los Angeles to Central

Los Angeles to East Los Angeles at night. And

I had no idea the trouble that I could have been

in. But God had his hand on my life, even at

that young age. I ran away from the girls' home,

Florence Crittenden, three times, and I was considered

incorrigible. And so they put me in the convent

of the Good Shepherd, which is in central Los

Angeles, and we had to move our beds away from

the walls on holidays because they would try

shooting through the windows in the convent.

And so, again, I was in a very dangerous location,

but we were locked in. Well, guess what? Sharon

decided to climb up on the laundry. and climb

over the ivy and climb down 12 feet. And I hitchhiked

into Santa Monica, and unfortunately I was arrested

that night, and the nuns had to come down to

the jail and pick me up in their full habit.

So I really wasn't the criminal that I thought

I was. I joined the Conservation Corps in...

when I was 18 years old. And one of our responsibilities

was feeding firefighters on the big fires. Well,

I met this man who I really couldn't talk to,

but he had a convict hat on, and his name was

Bill. And we started, you know, looking at each

other, and then I found out his address, and

we started writing letters. When he was released,

we ended up living together, and we ended up

having two small children. I had already been

using every known drug to man by then. I was

drinking heavily. I was smoking marijuana. And

I was really just trying to deaden my pain. It

wasn't because I wanted, you know, I woke up

one day and I wanted to be a drug addict. It

was more because I just wanted to be blotted

out. And little did I know that Bill was using

IV cocaine and speed. for a year before I found

out. You know, I'd find syringes in the house,

and I'd say, what is this? And he would give

me some story, and I was so naive about that

that I didn't really understand what he was doing.

But it ended up that I found his gear one night,

and I put out my arm, and I said, I want to try

that too. And I was 23 years old. And I had no

idea that I was going to be an IV drug user on

almost a daily basis for the next six and a half

years. I almost OD'd. The ambulance was called.

I did OD four times. The ambulance was called

once. And, again, God had a plan for my life.

I could not see it at the time. I was oblivious

to God and his purposes for me. I always believed

there was a God, and I always believed in Jesus,

but I never submitted to him. I never had the

personal relationship with him. I was probably

too afraid of my own pain to open up and submit

to anyone else. I ended up being arrested for

the 13th time when I was 31 years old, and I

ended up in prison in the California Institution

for Women in Southern California. And they have

it set up so that there's a receiving unit that

all inmates go to before they go to the general

population. And in this receiving unit, there's

a 7x10. You're locked in there with someone you've

never met in your life, and you're in there for

23 hours a day for six weeks. Thank goodness

my cellmate one day was working in the kitchen,

and I had just finished a book called Devil's

Driver, and it was about Al Capone, the guy in

the Mafia guy in the 1940s. His chauffeur had

killed people, had had people killed, and he

ended up in prison. Well, he accepted Jesus in

prison, and he had a radical transformation in

his life. He began ministering to the other prisoners

in the jail, in the prison, and he ended up writing

a book called Devil's Driver. Well, I'll tell

you, I was not looking for God at the time. I

was in a God forsaken place. I was, I didn't

think I had the potential for redemption at all.

I was really at a place in my life where I was

going to choose life or choose death. I had no

other option. This middle of the road thing just

wasn't working for me. And I had left a wake

of people in my life, my children, my ex -husband,

my family. All in my wake of all of my pain and

suffering and anger and rage and self -hatred.

I finished the book and little did I know that

there was the sinner's prayer at the end of the

book and I got down on my knees and I wept for

an hour. I just wept and wept and wept for all

the things that I had done to people, for all

the things that had been done to me, for all

the people that I had hurt. And when I got up

off the floor, it was like a brand -new person.

It was like a ray of hope, like God, wow, God

is real, and he's talking to me, and he has something

planned for my life. And it was a profound idea

for me that I had something to do for God. I

ended up going on into the general population

and I started teaching Bible studies after a

couple of months because again, like Michael

said, I was reading the book. The chaplain there

got me my own Bible with his own money. And I

just read that book every day for hours and hours.

I was so used to the lies that I believed about

myself that when I first started reading the

Bible, I'm thinking, oh, this, I don't know.

This doesn't really seem like truth to me. But

as I continue to read it, The Holy Spirit was

imparting to me that this is the truth. You can

stand on it. And what you've believed all your

life is a pack of cards of lies. That's a hard

one. It's like waking up when you're about 16,

17 and realizing that your parents aren't perfect,

something like that. It was like my whole life

had been built on all these lies. Now what was

I going to do? But God continued step by step

to redeem my life. I was released from prison

after 10 months for good behavior, and I went

back to the county where I had done all my drugs.

I had lived on the street for two years. I was

homeless. I was the bag lady that you see on

the street. I was emaciated. I was 118 pounds

when I got arrested for the last time, and I'm

5 '8". I was emaciated, and I just didn't even

know how close to death I was. So when I went

back to Santa Cruz, all I knew was drug addicts,

prostitutes, and addicts. And I said to God,

how could you send me back to this place? And

when I got off the bus, I had $50 left in my

pocket. I had no family, no place to go, no job,

no prospects. And it was like the angel devil

thing. It's like, go down to the flats and spend

your $50 on drugs. And God said, call the church.

And I did. And I probably wouldn't be here today

if I hadn't had that happen in my life. I met

Michael 10 months after I was released. And he

is, I always say he's the second best thing that's

ever happened to me because Jesus is the first.

And I went back to school after several years

and I got my registered nursing degree and I

graduated with honors. I was able to see my children

again after nine years of weeping and begging

God to restore our relationship. My daughter

is now a born again Christian. She has six kids.

She homeschools them and their family is serving

God with all of their hearts. And my son also

knows the Lord. So I only give my testimony.

I think that, you know, there's a reason why

the Bible says that we overcome by the blood

of the lamb and by the word of our testimony.

And I think it's because when we share our testimony

with people, no one can refute your own story.

Right? It's your story. And it's a way for people

to connect with us. We should be sharing. If

God hasn't done something as radical as he has

in my life, well, maybe he did something for

you at the market this week. Go ahead and share

that with someone. So that leads into the message

that I'd like to give this morning. It won't

be a long message, but it's the scripture that

God gave me. And the title of the message is,

How do they know you've been with Jesus? And

the scripture comes from Acts 4, 13. And I love

this scripture. It says, the members of the council,

of course, these were the high priests and all

the people who hated Jesus. They were amazed

when they saw the boldness of Peter and John.

for they could see that they were ordinary men

with no special training in the scriptures. They

also recognized them as men who had been with

Jesus. And I think just that one scripture is

so powerful because sometimes we feel like we've

got to know the Bible backwards and forwards.

We've got to, you know, be perfect and all this.

No, we don't. We just have to share our lives,

share what God is doing in our lives with other

people. So how many people here, with a raise

of your hands, how many of you have been in love

before? Oh, wow. Not Pastor Brad? Really? Wow.

Are you going to put up with that? So how did

it make you feel when you were in love? If you

can think back, maybe it was 50 years ago. Maybe

you're in love, like, you know, new love right

now. How does it make you feel? I know when I

met Michael, I was a disaster. It was like, I'm

surprised that I was able to keep my job. I am

that serious. I would, you know, a pack bell

truck would go by and I would croon out the window.

Oh my. And my coworkers had to put up with me.

I talked about him incessantly. I would drive

two and a half hours to see him on a work night.

We'd spend two hours together. I'd drive back

home and go to work the next day. Gosh, it makes

me tired thinking about it now. But at the time,

I was so, and still am, so crazy about this guy

that I would have done anything, spent any amount

of time, any amount of money, talk about him,

all the time. And I want to ask you, does that

describe your relationship with Jesus? Are you

in love with him? Is he just something you tack

on to your daily life and you say, oh, I'm a

Christian and I'm going to church on Sunday,

but where is that? encompassing passion, the

desire to get into the word every day and to

meet with him and to ask his opinion on your

life and everything in it. Where's the desire

to tell people about your God? Where's that passion

for the people who are going to hell in your

midst? Have we lost our passion for Jesus? The

scripture the Lord gave me is Isaiah 12. And,

you know, it's really neat because God, you know,

you'll be in your daily devotions and all of

a sudden, boing. I've read that before. Wait

a minute. This is a whole new thing. This is

a whole new meaning. So I'd like you to read

aloud with me, please. Hold on one second. Let

me get there. In that day, you will sing. I will

praise you, O Lord. You were angry with me, but

not anymore. Now you comfort me. See, God has

come to save me. I will trust in him and not

be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my

song. He has given me victory. With joy, you

will drink deeply. From the fountain of salvation.

In that wonderful day you will sing. Thank the

Lord. Praise his name. Tell the nations what

he has done. Let them know how mighty he is.

Sing to the Lord for all he has done wonderful

things. Excuse me. Make known his praise around

the world. Let all the people of Jerusalem shout

his praise with joy, for great is the Holy One

of Israel who lives among you. Thank you, Lord,

for your word. That is so true. So I'd like to

condense this scripture into three prongs, and

I believe there are many things that make up

the Christian life. learn about those every Sunday.

We learn about them as we're reading the word

every day. But the three prongs in this scripture

are praise, worship, and witness. It says that

here that in the scripture that we praise him.

Praise is a way of adoring someone. It's a way

of showing off on someone. It's telling other

people how great this other person is. It's a

thank you to God for what he's done for us. When

we praise, we have praise on our lips. And guess

what? All the negative connotations that come

with Paul's Galatians 5, all of the characteristics

like gossip, complaining. looking down on people,

coveting. All of those things disappear in the

light of praise because our hearts are turned

now towards the Lord, and we are praising him.

We can't say two things at one time, so either

we're praising like James says, or we have something

bitter coming out of our mouth, and we all do

it. We're all guilty of it. But if you praise

the Lord on a regular basis, your heart becomes

grateful. That's one prong. Another prong is

worship. A lot of people put the words praise

and worship together, and they are both exalting

the Lord. But I think worship is deeper than

praise. Praise is how God affects us. It's what

he's done for us. It's his characteristics and

praising him with our lips and our heart. But

worship is really about getting to the feet of

Jesus. It's about Thinking of him as he really

is. He is majestic. He is enthroned. He is riding

across the heavens to help us. He created the

world and the heavens and everything within it.

Majestic. He is holy. He is beautiful. Lord,

we are not God. I can't run my show. You can't

run your show. But God can run your show. And

that's worship. knowing who God is and knowing

who we are and not putting ourselves in God's

place as we love to do. But how does that work

for you? I know it doesn't work very good for

me when I try to play God and Michael can attest

to that. The last part is the part I really want

to focus on and it's witness. I think that in

our culture, we have gotten so embarrassed, so

shy, so afraid, so timid, so backed into a corner

to share our faith. We can't share it at school

without being reprimanded. We can't share it

at our workplace. You can't have a cross on your

desk. Okay, I'm just going to say it, people.

We are being shoved into a corner. And in my

opinion, are we going to let that happen? We're

not militant. We don't have to fight back with

bad words and rude comments. How are we going

to do it? We're going to do it through prayer

and through our witness. Are we really kind to

the lady at the bank? Are we in a hurry? Are

we rude? Are we frustrated? Are we missing those

opportunities that God is giving us? to share.

We were at dinner last night and the waitress

came up to us and said, are you a group of people

who go to church? And we're like, yes. And it

was like, wow, she's asking us instead of us

asking her. And we gave her the information for

Life Bible Church and the address and the time

that church was starting. And if we had been,

you know, just like, oh, well, yeah. you know,

have a nice night, then we would have lost an

opportunity to share with her this beautiful

church. And we do that constantly. We're so busy

with our own agendas and our own structures,

our own jobs, families, blah, blah, blah, that

we're missing these sweet opportunities to share

God with others. You don't have to go around

with your Bible and hit people over the head

and go, you're going to hell in a handbasket.

In fact, that's not the way to do it. The way

to do it is to cultivate relationships. I have

a hairdresser. I've had her for 15 years. She's

not a Christian. I talk to her about the Lord

every single chance I can get. And she asked

me about a month ago, she texted me and she said,

will you pray for me? I'm sick. And that just

goes to tell that you never know. Don't be embarrassed.

Don't be shy. Tell people about Jesus. They will

come to you in their time of need because they

know that you know the living God. And it may

even be an opportunity for you to bring them

to Jesus. Don't miss the opportunity. It's a

lot of fun, too. It's really, really fun. So

this scripture again in Isaiah says, tell the

nations what he's done. Let them know how mighty

he is and make known his praise around the world.

We need to, if we're shy, we need to get over

it. If we're embarrassed, we need to kneel at

Jesus' feet and say, Lord, I know your word says

that if I am ashamed of you before men, you will

be ashamed of me before your angels and father

in heaven. We need to get serious about our faith

and not serious as in mean and ugly, but serious

about there's a bad place called hell. I don't

know if you believe in it or not, but I do, and

it's in the Bible, and Jesus said it, and I know

people are going there, and I do not want to

see the anguish. I don't want to see the suffering

forever. Because I was too shy or embarrassed

or weak or incapacitated to tell them about my

Savior. God's going to put people in your life

that only you can reach. He's going to do it

in the perfect setup, the perfect timing, the

perfect way. And you're going to open your mouth

and that person's going to go, wow. And it's

happened, Michael and I, a bazillion times. And

we know it's true. We're evangelists. You don't

have to be an evangelist. All you have to do

is have a mouth and a tongue and a voice and

go blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's really,

really easy. So I love the analogy of the rivers

of flowing water into the lake. And it reminds

me of our relationship with Christ. Do we have

rivers of flowing water coming into our life

because of the Spirit of God, because of the

Word of God, because of His presence, because

we're rubbing shoulders with other people who

love Him and they're passionate about Him? Do

we have those rivers of flowing water coming

down on a daily basis? If we don't, it's not

his fault, it's our fault. We need to find out

how we can get that water into our lives. And

then there's the lake. The lake is a place of

sustenance. It's a place of reflection. It's

a place of beauty. But what happens in our lives

when we are the lakes, we receive the rivers

of flowing water. Now we have a lake and there's

no spillway. There's no way for the water to

be released. Well, what happens? Does anybody

know? It dies, it dries up, gets algae, it stinks.

It's not a place of living water anymore. The

witness in our lives is the spillway. And if

we're not spilling over, if we're not being filled,

if we're not being overflowed so that we are

spilling out onto our friends, our family, our

community, our coworkers, then we have to find

out why. We have to be serious. So one last scripture.

It's Romans 10, 13 through 15. And it says...

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord

will be saved. But how can they call on him to

save them unless they believe in him? And how

can they believe in him if they've never heard

about him? And how can they hear about him unless

someone tells them? And how will anyone go and

tell them without being sent? That is why the

scriptures say, how beautiful are the feet of

messengers who bring the good news. How beautiful

are your feet when you share the good news. I

would like to close with one. Oswald Chambers

is my favorite guy as far as devotionals are

concerned. I'm not a real devotional type girl.

But Oswald, Michael, and I have been reading

for almost 28 years since we... Began dating.

And it's from February 23rd, and it says, The

determination to serve. The Son of Man did not

come to serve, to be served, but to serve. Jesus

also said, Yes, I am among you as the one who

serves. Paul's idea of service was the same as

our Lord's. Ourselves are... bond servants for

Jesus' sake. We somehow have the idea that a

person called into ministry is called to be different

and above other people. But according to Jesus

Christ, he is called to be a doormat for others.

Called to be their spiritual leader, yes, but

never their superior. Paul said, I know what

it's like to be abased. Paul's idea of service

was to pour out his life to the last drop for

people. And whenever he received praise or blame,

it made no difference. As long as there was one

human being who did not know Jesus, Paul felt

a debt of service to that person until he did

come to know him. But the chief motivation behind

Paul's service was not love for others, but love

for his Lord. If our devotion is to the cause

of humanity, we will quickly be defeated and

brokenhearted since we will often be confronted

with a great deal of ingratitude from other people.

But if we are motivated by our love for God,

no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder

us from serving one another. Paul's understanding

of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret

behind his determination to serve others. I was

formerly a blasphemer. I hated God. I was a persecutor

and an insolent man. In other words, no matter

how badly others had treated Paul, they could

never have treated with him the same degree of

spite and hatred with which he had treated his

Lord Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus

has served us even to the depths of our meagerness,

our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter

from others will be able to exhaust our determination

to serve others for his sake. Thank you so much

for allowing us to come. And we just pray that

this would have reached your heart and motivated

you to begin sharing your faith with others.

Thank you. If you are interested in hearing other

podcasts or contacting Life Bible Church, go

to www .lifebiblechurch .org or call us at 541

-995 -8282.