A Compelling Faith

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for tuning in.

We're in a series called Ecclesia, and we're just simply asking this, you know, how do we return to Jesus' vision of the church?

And we said there were three distinctive marks of the early church.

They had a radical generosity, a bold faith and a sacrificial love.

And we're spending two weeks on each of those.

We spent two weeks on a radical generosity.

Last week we kicked off just a bold faith with a sermon called Irresistible.

And one of the things we want to do is steward the stories well in our community.

And so I want to invite up Alex and Bree Miley, if you guys would come welcome them up.

They serve in a ministry called Called Up here locally.

We've gotten to know them, love them, adore them.

They just had a baby a year ago.

It's all he's a year.

It's not half a wow.

Come on, oh, come on, oh, come on, come on over here.

And so they lead a ministry that ministers to Santa Clara University, San Jose State, and others.

It's for college athletes.

Alex actually was a D1 track guy at Duke and Santa Clara.

And so would love to hear your story, your journey of like what does your journey of just sharing your faith look like?

So we both actually grew up in Minnesota.

We're raised in Christian homes.

And for me personally, sharing the gospel essentially was something that was frightening to me because I'm very introverted and quiet.

And I just didn't think that I had the personality for it.

I thought that if I was just a nice person, people would be like, oh, tell me about Jesus because you're really nice.

You are nice.

Partly why I married you.

Other things.

But uh so I'm kind of the other side of the spectrum.

Uh I was, you know, very bold, outgoing as a high school young adult, still a young adult, I guess, but um, you know, for me, honestly, like when I was talking about my faith with people, I was kind of a deer in headlights.

Like, I mean the lights are actually a little dimmer right now, but I feel like the lights are just like completely in my eyes.

I couldn't, I'm like, yeah, I don't I don't know what to say.

I was like a loss at words.

Um and I felt like I had to say the right thing, I had to, you know, continue to learn more.

I had to because if I learned more, then you know I would be ready if someone had a counter-argument for you know why I believed in Jesus.

And um I never felt like my faith was strong enough.

Sound familiar to the myth of more that we've been talking about that here, but um there was I was always more I could learn, and I never felt confident enough to share my faith, even though maybe in other things in my life I felt pretty confident.

So and then for me, I guess something that slowly started changing was that I went to a Christian school, it's called Liberty, um, and so I learned more and actually also like gained more knowledge about like what to do.

Um but then when it came into play was more like even my roommate, I like prayer prayed with her in my dorm room.

Like she was unsure about her faith and she accepted Christ into her life, and then just like being one-on-one with people, like in our ministry called up, um, I slowly started like building relationships and just getting to know people, and then um started just genuinely living out my faith, and then it just came more naturally to me.

Yeah, similar to um to Brie, I I think understanding kind of where it changed for me was understanding that you know my relationship with Christ is is first and foremost, like it's important to me, and authentically living out my faith um, you know, is a testimony in itself.

It's um you know, being an evangelist on its own.

And kind of in college, I started, you know, really living out my faith more authentically, and I was around a lot of individuals that maybe were um, you know, kind of following the typical college scene and just living my life and um you know following the word of God, I think that lent itself to questions, right?

My friends were like, why are you not doing this?

And um, you know, it was a very natural way for me to bring up my faith, right?

Um I didn't have to do a special thing to hook them in, right?

Like I just lived my life authentically and had conversations, and um, I think of the verse uh 1 Peter 2.9, right?

We were he calls us a royal priesthood.

Um, we're God's special possession, right?

And a life marked by Christ is gonna look different.

Um and showing his praise, uh praising him because he's called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, right?

That just sharing the transformative, like transformative, you know, life that you've gone through or undergone because of Jesus, right?

That's a testimony in itself.

You don't have to do something special, it doesn't have to be coded or you know cure curated to something specific, right?

Every person you meet or chat with or that knows you, right, you're living a life for towards Christ and learning more about him and wanting to be like him.

And that alone is enough to you know kind of have those questions start spurring and and have an authentic conversation with someone about your faith and something that's actually important to you.

And then I'll just add that we because we didn't grow up here, I think when we came here, especially like going up in a Christian home and then like going to a Christian school, when we came to the Bay, I was like, whoa, like people don't know what the gospel is.

Like I thought people just go to Sunday school even if they don't like personally know Jesus.

Like I just thought that's what everyone did.

Um, and so I think the Bay area has definitely stretched us and just being involved in this ministry and like just knowing like my coworkers and like teachers and students that I work with, like um just like authentically living out my faith and like the pressing concern of like this actually is a big deal, and like some people don't know about it.

Um, and so I think a verse though, because my mom actually and Alex both have this personality where they just are very bold in their faith, um, I never felt like I could have that, but I think a verse that stuck with me is also from it's from 1 Peter 3.15, it's always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.

Do this with gentleness and respect.

Um, and I think that you've done that well, and um I've just seen um like with certain influences, and that that's something that I can do as well.

And yeah, yeah.

I mean, I think for me, you know, kind of now, you know, after kind of understanding that change, you know, I interact with student athletes we both do weekly, and you know, a lot of them don't have a faith, right?

But their their curiosity and their humbleness towards learning just fires me up, right?

Like, you know, many of you probably have met a new believer or someone that's curious, right?

It's like it's it's really cool to see just how into the faith they are, right?

And like um they want to learn, they have a bunch of questions, right?

And you know, for me, that's something where I think about that and I'm like, they're so bold in their questions, and like that challenges me to be bold in my faith.

And like I'm someone that's followed Jesus for 15 years, right?

Like, I I want to be just as bold as them about asking about Jesus.

And I think for me, I found too is like finding a common ground, building an you know, authentic, genuine relationship with them about being a good listener and understanding their interests, and then again, I think asking them simple as this tell me your story, tell me not just like the small talk, but tell me about yourself, like and then start digging into what drives you, what motivates you, right?

And um, and then it kind of lends itself into you being able to speak about what's important to you and and what motivates you, and um you know that a lot of times ends with talking about Jesus.

It doesn't always have to, right?

I think um sometimes I go into it thinking, oh, this is gonna be a perfect opportunity to to talk about Jesus, and sometimes it's not, but um, having a conversation with them and and interacting and kind of planting those seeds.

So um, and we just kind of wanted to leave you guys with with this, um, just as a challenge to the church.

You know, I I found too is I've not always you know the most confident talking about my faith, but it's encouraging to know that everyone has a story, everyone has a unique story, and you also have a unique story and and sharing that you know genuinely, and God has done things in your life for a reason, um, and he's put people in your life for a reason, and interacting with them and sharing just how what he's done in your life, right?

And and being bold in that.

And um, again, we we thank you for bringing us up here.

And we felt very blessed to be in the Bay Area.

We felt welcome by Awakening since we've been here, and um just this ministry that we're part of at Called Up has really helped us grow and um being a bit more evangelistic.

I love it.

Thank you guys so much.

Hey, real quick before you go, called up uh it meets on Monday nights.

You have around a hundred or so college athletes showing up.

When does it kick off?

Uh kicked off last week.

Kicked off last week.

So tomorrow night, if you can be praying for them every Monday night.

Uh literally a hundred or so athletes show up from Santa Clara University, San Jose State, and some other JCs around, but predominantly those.

Um, and you know, I just got to reach out from a buddy um whose friend son is playing ball for Santa Clara, and he's like, Can you help him get connected?

I said, Yes, I got the perfect place.

So thank you guys for what you do.

Can we thank them one more time?

Um today the sermon titles A Compelling Faith.

Will you say that with me?

A compelling faith.

How do we have a compelling faith?

Um we live in the age of relativity.

We live in the age of what's good for you may or may not be good for me, right?

And in some regards that's absolutely true, right?

Uh just take food.

For some gluten, what's gluten for you may not be gluten for me.

Uh, or you know, whether you're um dairy, you know, free, you have a dairy allergy, or maybe you're keto, or you're um vegan, or you're all like like we get that.

And yet at the same time, there are some things, there's this reality.

I've never heard of anyone saying, yeah, uh not really the water.

You know, you know, I'm trying to quit, I'm trying to cut back.

It's it's a bit, you know, nobody's done that, right?

They're not like, oh, not water.

Like, I get that what's true for you or what's good for you may not be good for me when it comes to certain things, but there are certain things that are absolutely good for you, not just good for you, necessary for you.

Can't did you know that a little over or around 60% of your body is this?

Now we don't always get it in this form.

Some of you, like me, get it in this form a lot more, or some other sugary uh substance there, but the reality is is without this you can't survive.

It's foundational for life.

And what if what if Jesus is a whole lot like m water than gluten?

What if Jesus isn't just good for some people?

What if he's good for all people?

We treat Jesus a little bit like gluten.

Well, he's kind of, you know, I'm gluten intolerant, it's not really my thing, or I'm, you know, keto or I'm vegan.

It's not my thing, but it's your thing.

But what if Jesus is far more like water than a preference or what you desire or what's good for you?

What if he's absolutely good for everyone?

And then the question, because if it's true, if he really is good for everyone, how do we have a compelling faith in the heart of Silicon Valley?

How do we have a compelling faith?

We've seen what a condemning faith looks like.

We've seen the bullhorn guy, we've seen, you know, even last week we were talking about what word comes to mind when others who aren't part of the faith, you know, a part of Jesus, um, what word comes to mind Christian is like harsh, judgmental, uh, critical, hypocritical, all these areas.

How do you have a compelling faith?

Uh, this question, it was not just a question that we're wrestling with, it's actually a question the very first followers were wrestling with as well.

Uh, ancient Rome didn't have presidential elections, they had regime changes.

When the Apostle Paul penned his letter to the church in Rome, uh, the Emperor Claudius had recently died.

Now, Claudius in 49 A.D.

had expelled all the Jews, which included all the Christians, from Rome.

Uh, he died uh in around A.D.

53, 54.

The Jews and Christians are come returning back to Rome, and yet Nero ascended to the throne in A.D.

54.

It began uh decently under his advisors.

He was only 16.

And then Nero became one of the most infamous rulers in history.

AD 64, he set ablaze Rome called the Great Fire of Rome, tore through the city, and Nero blamed the Christians, and the first great persecution of the church erupted.

One historian described how Nero executed Christians with lavish publicity.

Crucifixions and the gladiatorial games, feeding them to the wild beasts, covering them in tar, tying them to poles, and then setting them ablaze to light his parties that he hosted at night.

This is the world and the city that Paul is writing to the church in Rome.

And in this context, under that emperor, he pins these words.

For I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

Because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

I am not ashamed of the gospel in the heart of Rome.

With an emperor that is killing Christians with glee, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and then to the Gentile.

How do you have a compelling faith in the heart of the Roman Empire?

How do you have a compelling faith in the heart of Silicon Valley?

There were three convictions the first followers had when it came to their faith, this bold faith, this compelling faith.

We see it here in the text.

The conviction number one was that the gospel fundamentally is good news, not good advice.

The gospel is good news.

The Apostle Paul says, I'm not ashamed, or you can write next to that in your notes, embarrassed.

I'm not embarrassed of this.

I'm not embarrassed of the gospel.

What is the gospel?

It's the Greek word uangelion.

It literally means good news, news that makes one happy, information that causes one joy, words that bring a smile, a message that causes the heart to be sweet.

News, and T.

Wright says, is something has happened as a result of which the world is a different place.

Good advice.

The gospel is not good advice, a new philosophy, a new way of thinking, a better, you know, life hack, five steps for you to, you know, improve your life, seven habits of highly effective people.

That's not the gospel.

We need good advice.

Nothing bad with that.

But that's not what the early church was convicted.

This is good news.

And he wright, he writes this the whole point of advice is to make you do something to get a desired result.

Now there's nothing wrong with good advice.

We all need it, but it isn't the same as news.

News is an announcement that something significant has happened, and good news is what Jesus and his first followers were all about.

When Paul told people his good news, he did not mean for them to say, Well, that's interesting.

I'll see if that's going to suit me or not.

He wasn't inviting them to try on a new way of thinking or living that would enable them to live differently or think differently.

He was telling them that something had happened which had changed the world, that the world was now a different place, and that he was summoning them to be a part of that new, different reality.

He was telling them about an event that would cause them to adjust their entire lives in order to come into line with the way things now were.

That's why the apostle in 1 Corinthians said in 1 Corinthians 15, this for I was what I received, I pass on to you of first importance.

That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, that is Peter, and then to the twelve.

And after that he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, then all the apostles, and last of all, he appeared to me as one abnabnormally born.

This is what the Apostle Paul is saying.

It's like that something happened.

Did you know that there's five historical facts that all major scholars agree upon?

Whether you're theist or atheist, is simply this: that Jesus was a real historical figure.

He died a Roman crucifixion, that he was buried in a tomb.

The tomb was empty.

Now there's disagreement about how the tomb was empty, but the tomb was empty, and that his disciples, his first followers, truly believed they saw the resurrected Jesus and died for that belief.

And that the skeptics, Paul, who was a skeptic, no, he was worse than that.

He was trying to stamp out the faith.

He was killing those who believed in the way, said he saw Jesus, his life was changed, and he died for life.

The historical evidence of the resurrection is better than anything we have in ancient antiquity.

You can have confidence in your faith, and if you don't have faith, would you examine the resurrection?

Because everything hinges on it.

Because if Jesus did rise from the grave, then all that he said is true and trustworthy.

He is Lord.

If he didn't, this is a waste of time.

Go enjoy your Sunday afternoon.

Have a bagel, or if you're gluten-free, have eggs.

I don't know.

Yeah, yeah.

C.S.

Lewis said it this way Christianity, if uh false, is of no importance.

If true, of infinite importance.

The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

Oh God, would you keep the church from allowing your gospel to be moderately important to us?

On January 1st, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, officially outlawing slavery in the Confederate States.

However, it wasn't until June 19, 1865, when Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of all enslaved African Americans.

For two and a half years, these men, women, and children were free, but nobody told them.

The war had been won, and their freedom had been.

Secured, but they were still enslaved.

Why?

Because no one told them, and the powerful in the land held on to power as long as they could.

The gospel is fundamentally good news.

Jesus came, he died for you, he took on our greatest foe, death itself, and rose again.

The second conviction is that the gospel is powerful.

For he said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel.

Why?

Why aren't you ashamed?

Why aren't you embarrassed of this?

It's embarrassing to have a king who was crucified.

It's embarrassing.

It's shameful.

The most shameful way to die in the ancient Rome was by crucifixion.

You wouldn't even utter the word crucifixion in polite company.

It was worse than a cuss word.

I'm not ashamed of this gospel where my king was crucified.

Why?

Because it's the power of God that brings salvation.

This news that changed everything has the power to bring salvation.

It's powerful.

It's not a method.

It's powerful.

It changes lives.

It is life-altering, life-shaping, life-changing.

This is part of their witness and their boldness wasn't that they had it all together figured out and knew all the right words to say.

Here's all I know.

This carpenter rabbi.

He taught, predicted his death, did a lot of really amazing miracles, was crucified, resurrected on the third day, and he changed my life.

And he can change yours too.

It's powerful.

And it's not even just that the gospel is power, powerful, it's like he's empowered you.

Jesus said this to his disciples, but you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you to be my witnesses.

What is a witness, by the way?

Help me out.

Pardon?

Yeah, witness, but like fundamentally, they saw something.

They experienced something.

They're telling you what they saw, what they experienced, they're telling you what happened.

You'll be my witness.

What is it?

It's not like let's not over-spiritualize this.

If you saw, you know, um a car accident, you're a witness to it.

You're explaining the details of it.

I'm a witness that Jesus changed my life, and all I need to share is how he changed my life.

I have witnessed it firsthand, and I've witnessed it in many of your lives as well.

Jesus said, the Holy Spirit will come on you with it, and you'll receive power.

You'll be empowered to be his witness.

The gospel's powerful, and every follower of Jesus is empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Think about that.

Because I think when we think about this bold faith, and it's easy to like get caught up in like, oh man, this is a lot.

I gotta, you know, I loved how Alex and Bree were sharing, like, you know, I need to learn more and have the right words and some of these sort of things.

It's just the gospel's powerful and you're empowered, and if you show up, Jesus works.

It's that simple.

The gospel's powerful, you're empowered.

And if you just show up, if you're present, Jesus will work.

I've shared this story so many times, you're probably annoyed with it, but it's my story, so I keep sharing my story.

And I love the part of the reason I love to share it is because it happened to me at 17.

And it's like I want our high school students, I want our college students, I want our young adults to know that there isn't an age limit to this.

There isn't an age, like I need to reach this level.

No, listen, the gospel's powerful, you're empowered, and like if you just show up, Jesus works.

When I was 17, I had a life-changing encounter with Jesus.

He changed my life, set the course and trajectory of my life.

I couldn't help but share about him because that's what you do when somebody changes your life.

When you experience the good news, it's good to you, you can't contain it.

And I showed up on my high school campus as a senior, day one of U.S.

Gov class, sitting in a little four kind of table thing.

The most popular guy in school next to me, Preston Caffrey.

The dude could sell snow to Eskimo.

He was a part of every like friend group.

I didn't know what I'm doing, I didn't know how to say it.

I just, the gospel's powerful, I'm empowered.

I just turned to Preston in the middle of US Gov and asked this simple question.

Has anybody told you about Jesus?

And his answer, no.

I was so naive, I was so dumb.

I said, could I?

I mean, we're stuck for like a 90 minutes in this US Gov class.

He said, sure.

And I just began to share about this Jesus that changed my life.

Having no idea.

Just a little bit ago, a year or two ago, he lost his brother to keep leukemia.

That though he looked perfect on the outside and was the coolest, most popular guy, there was so much heartache and pain.

And one 17-year-old just asking a simple, probably foolhardy, dumb question, you gotta have a better plan than that, Ryan.

That doesn't work.

And at the end of the time, Preston goes, hey, could we talk more about that?

Jesus.

Like, yeah.

In fact, could I, you know, could we start meeting on Wednesday nights?

Cool.

Could I bring some of my friends?

Does that mean we're friends?

You know.

Preston, who did not know Jesus, started a Bible study in my house, and we started reading through the Gospel of John.

And about four months later, in January, he gave his life to Jesus.

So significant was that January date that he not only has it tattooed, but that's the date he got married because his new life began that day.

You have no idea what hangs in the moment.

You have no idea the people that you're sitting across from, and they look picture perfect and they're presenting picture perfect and they have it all together, and you don't know the deep pain.

All you know is your pain that you're walking through.

You have no idea the pain on the other side.

The gospel is good news for every single person.

It's powerful, and you're empowered.

And if you just show up to the moment Jesus moves, Jesus works.

What would change for you if you just began to go?

Okay, I'm gonna show up at work.

I'm just gonna show up with my friends or my classmates.

I'm just gonna start praying for them and looking for an opportunity.

And then you're gonna have this moment, like this gulp moment, and where like the Spirit of God actually presses upon your heart like you need to talk to them, and you're freaked out, you know, and you're like, I don't know if I can do it, and your heart's racing, I don't know, I don't know.

And you're gonna miss some of those, by the way.

We all do, and then you're gonna go like I don't want to miss that moment, I'm gonna follow through, and you step through and you're like, I just said all the wrong things.

It was so dumb.

I was an idiot.

I can't believe I said that.

But then they're like, really, tell me more.

Why?

Because the gospel's powerful, and you're empowered.

And the gospel, by the way, isn't just for some people, it's for everyone.

This was revolutionary in the ancient day.

You had your personal deities, you had your city's gods.

The gospel of Jesus Christ wasn't for perfect people, the right people, certain people, some people, a certain race or creed or nationality is for all people.

To everyone who believes.

In fact, the uh verse that we talked about, the most famous verse last, you know, in the Bible, John 3.16, we talked about it last week.

For God so loved the world.

When we read that, we are so familiar that the wonder and the scandal of that statement just well, of course, God loves the world.

That's not how gods in the ancient day worked.

They were capricious, by the way.

Uh, you seek to appease or please your God, you know, and you had your gods and they loved you, but they hated everybody that you hated.

God loves the world.

The gospel is for every single person.

The gospel is the singular yet comprehensive solution to all that is broken in our lives and in the world.

Uh there was this uh something a couple years ago called the Asbury Pouring Outpouring Revival that happened at the Asbury College.

Encourage you to look it up if you're not familiar with it.

Uh some of the professors and people tried to kind of figure out what was happening.

There's a movement, by the way, Gen Z is called the Quiet Revival.

We're seeing Gen Z come back to Jesus, or come to Jesus rather, uh, at rates that we haven't seen.

This next generation is turning to Jesus.

I'm so glad we're a church that exists to awaken this generation.

We're perfectly placed in the valley next to Santa Clara, Stanford, San Jose State, City College, West Valley.

I'm not gonna get them all, guys.

I'm sorry.

There's so many JCs.

But you can go to awakeningrevival.com.

I believe that's what it is.

If it's wrong, I'll get it right.

Yeah, email me.

But it unpacks the origins of awakenings, of these revival moments.

And one of the things that it said here that I just loved in our day of the pantheon of advice and things that we want, like, oh, this is good, or what about this?

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a competing spirituality in the pantheon of religions, it is not a self-help therapy, it is not a philosophical construct, the gospel is not a spiritual solution to a material problem.

The gospel is a profoundly integrative and comprehensive solution for a deeply complex and disintegrated world.

The vision of the gospel is not a socially engineered utopia, but the in-breaking of the kingdom of God.

Structural and systemic evils will change only when human beings are transformed.

This is the gospel that is good news for every person.

Tim Keller says it this way: the gospel is this we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.

And the truth is that you are the greatest Christian, your classmate, your co-worker, your neighbor, your friend, your family member, whatever.

No.

And then the question remains if the gospel is so good, why don't we share it with everyone?

Why do we struggle with this?

And I think the reason is back to this guy.

Bullhorn guy.

We've all seen it, we've all probably experienced it, especially if you're on a college campus or if you go to a concert or from random times, someone yelling on the corner that's just, I mean, I remember going to a concert and some guy just yelling at vitriol and hate, and I just wanted to yell back, that's not Jesus.

See, I think we're either shamed into silence or we're embarrassed.

I'm not embarrassed of the gospel, we're embarrassed.

Because there's five myths I think we buy into or we believe when it comes to sharing the gospel.

The first is that my faith is a private issue.

My faith is private.

It's just about me and Jesus.

Let's be clear.

Your faith is personal.

It was never intended to be private.

You have a personal relationship with Jesus, and you are called, and he said, You are the light of the world.

You are the salt of the earth.

The second is that my well, my life is my message, Ryan.

You know, so I keep my Bible on my desk at work, or I wear the cross, necklace, and those things are great, nothing wrong with that.

St.

Francis of Assisi gets uh misapplied all the time.

He says, preach the gospel at all times.

When necessary, use words.

And like, well, my life is my message.

I'm preaching the gospel with my life.

That is wonderful and beautiful, and yes, and amen.

But it is necessary to use words.

In fact, Romans 10 says, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

How will they hear unless someone shares with them?

My life is my message.

Third myth.

Well, it's just not my gift.

I love that Miley's hit on that.

Well, it's not my gift, it's not my thing, you know.

Like, I don't know.

Some of you, well, Ryan, you've been trained by this.

That's why I like sharing the story of a 17-year-old kid before I had any training of anything.

It's not my gift.

Yeah, there are some people who are gifted.

Evangelists, that every time they share, like somebody comes to Christ.

It's amazing, it's beautiful, it's wonderful, and yet we're all called to share our faith.

Um, fourth one.

I don't know enough.

I just don't know enough.

The truth is, you do.

Uh, John 9 is blind Bartimaeus.

Jesus heals him.

He's being grilled by the religious leaders who healed you.

And they're not like wanting to know this because, like, wow, this guy's amazing.

This somebody healed on the Sabbath, and we're gonna get him.

And I love his response.

He's like, I don't know all of your answers.

I don't have answers to all those.

Here's all I do know.

I once was blind, but now I see.

I don't have all the apologetic answers, I don't have all the historical stuff.

You're asking some great questions.

Here's all I do know.

Jesus entered my life and he forever changed my life.

I once was blind, but now I see.

You don't need to know enough, you just need to share your story.

Your story is irrefutable.

It's powerful.

This is how Jesus has shared my story, and I love that.

Absolutely, the Milo is talking about get to know other people's stories.

Ask them their what's going on in their life.

And finally, myth number five, people are just not open.

That's a big one for us, isn't it?

People just aren't open.

They don't really, I don't, you know, they're this is Silicon Valley, it's fast-paced, it's you know, um, upwardly mobile, they have it all together, they're driving the right thing, they're wearing the right stuff.

They're just not open.

Jesus would say this that the harvest is ripe, but the workers are few.

When Jesus sees Silicon Valley, he sees a harvest waiting to be brought in.

What if his church saw the same thing?

What if our vision at our office or our vision at our school or our vision at our neighborhood or our apartment complex was like there's people here who desperately need to hear the gospel of Jesus, and they're actually needing it and wanting it.

They're looking and searching and running after so many things, and they're hoping that somebody somewhere might just help them, and you have the solution in Jesus.

And we begin to look and go, the harvest is ripe, but the workers are few.

So here's what I want to ask you to do, all right?

This is our whole strategy for bold faith, to live a compelling faith.

It's simple.

Three words.

You'll remember it as you go, and you won't ever forget it.

I promise you.

Three words.

You ready?

Prayer, care, share.

Did you got that?

Yeah, say it with me.

Prayer, care, share.

It's that simple.

Prayer, say it again.

Care, share.

What was that again?

I totally forgot.

What I did I don't remember.

What was it?

Prayer.

Care, share.

In fact, just take it off the screen real quick and see if you can say it.

I don't know if you can remember those three words.

There you go.

Try it again.

Prayer, share, share.

It's that simple.

Uh tomorrow we kick off 21 days of prayer.

If you haven't gotten your prayer journal book, it's going to be out there on the way and on your way out.

Would you pick it up?

Join us for 21 days that leads up to our birthday.

When I was 17, and Preston, you know, started this Bible study.

Again, I didn't know any better.

Boy, do we need a lot more people that just don't know any better.

I grabbed a three by five card and I just wrote the names of all the guys that were showing up to the Bible study.

I put it on my bedside table, and I just prayed for them every night before going to bed.

And the amazing thing, and God doesn't always work this quickly, by the end of my senior year, every single one of them had come to know Jesus.

Because one kid just prayed and then cared and shared.

So here's what I want you to do at the front of your book.

Who's your one?

Who's your two?

Who's your three?

Who are the people that you're gonna pray for?

Let's just at least do 21 days.

Would you write them down and pray for them?

Who are your co workers, your classmates, your teammates, your friends, your family members?

And then care that you would actually care.

For people.

So in my neighborhood, I about 10 years ago, I started running.

And I have I run the same route.

I'm very boring every day.

And I would go up and down the same, you know, street and then around, up and down, and all this.

And I would run past this one house, and this dad would be playing with his kids quite often on the runs.

And so I just started praying for them.

And uh one day, while I was running past, I felt that spirit prompting that tugging.

And it's like, Ryan, you need to like stop and share Jesus with them.

And you know, I do the same, I'm a pastor, I do the same thing.

I'm like wrestling with God.

I'm like, no, that's a terrible idea.

What a weirdo, you know.

And then I finally get to the point where like, okay, fine.

Um, I'll do that.

And so I'm like, if he's outside with his kids, I'll I'll share it with them, I'll stop.

And I would come back and he's inside.

There's they're not out fun.

I was like, dodge that bullet.

And I kept running.

And like that, like angst, that feeling in my chest of like, no, you're being disobedient now.

I'm like, oh, uh, you know, like you need to turn around.

I stopped my run, I turn around, I knock on the door, he opens it up, like, hey, I'm Ryan, I'm your neighbor.

He's like, I'm Craig.

Yeah, I I run the neighborhood, and he's like, Oh, I see you.

And hey, you've lost some weight.

I'm like, thanks.

That's the reason I run.

Um and I'm like, this is kind of weird.

I it might be a little weird, but like I'm a Christian, and like I just, I every time I run, I I I pray for you and your family, and I just wanted to like stop and share Jesus, a little bit of like who Jesus is to me.

Again, I haven't grown much since 17.

And he's like, I don't think that's weird.

Because if you really believe that, why wouldn't you share that?

I'm like, yeah, no, that's what I was meaning.

Um developed a friendship with him.

He happened to be a volleyball beach volleyball player too.

We started playing volleyball together.

And then he, after about six months, he moved away.

And we lost contact.

I don't have like the shiny wrap-abo on it like he gave his life to Christ ending.

There's some research that tells us that people need about six to seven positive encounters with the gospel before they respond.

Here's all I know with Craig.

I wasn't number seven.

But man, I might have been number one.

I don't know like his full story and history with church, but I know he had a background where he was anti-faith.

Uh, but I and so I don't know if he had any other positive.

I know I was at least number one, I might have been number three, I might have been number four, but I was along the chain of his story, him coming to know Jesus, and I pray that he does, and when God brings him to mind, I still pray for him.

So you don't have to have that shiny end of the story.

You just go like I'm faithful.

I'm I'm I'm number three.

I'm number four in the line of what God's doing in this person's life.

Would you care enough to share?

This quote has always been challenging to me.

If I can find it.

Magician Pin Gillette, who's an outspoken atheist, once said, I don't respect people who don't proselytize.

If you really believe in heaven and hell, how much do you have to hate someone not to tell them?

Prayer, care, share.

It might be risking, hey, would you like to get coffee?

Would you like to go to lunch?

Love to have you over for dinner.

I'd love to hear your story.

Love to get to know you.

Look for opportunities.

God, where are you working?

How are you moving?

One of the easy things that we do, our birthday.

21 days from this day.

Would you share with them?

Hey, we want to make it a Sunday where you show up and you know like everything's done to such a level that as your friend comes in, your your family member, your coworker, they're going like, oh my goodness, that was an incredible experience.

And God was in that place.

I don't even know.

I had I had something something happened.

And where you would share with them, and that you would invite them.

We do these Sundays, we call them easy invite Sundays.

We we don't water down the gospel, but we want to make it easy for you to invite your friends here.

Where it show up and it's like, oh man, this something's happening.

You want to be a part of it.

Would you join us for that?

What's our evangelism strategy?

Thank you.

What if Jesus isn't just good for some people?

What if he's good for all people?

What if he's not gluten at all, but he is, as he said, the living water of life.

I want to pray a prayer for us that I prayed last week, or really quoted it, but I want it to be a prayer for us as we close and we partake in communion by Henry Nellan.

That we'd make it our prayer for how we see a watching world.

And as we take communion, realize that Jesus sees us this way.

God help me to see others, not as my enemies or as ungodly, but rather as thirsty people.

God help me to see others, not as my enemies or as ungodly, but rather as thirsty people.

And give me the courage and compassion to offer your living water.

Give me the courage and compassion to offer your living water, which alone quenches deep thirst.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

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