Your story is part of God’s story

[SPEAKER_00]: from here to everywhere.

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I want to thank you for being here with us this morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: However, you might be joining if I can see your face or if I can't, I'm stoked to be joining with you guys this morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've got a question though to start us off.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want to know who is staying tuned in with the FIFA World Cup.

[SPEAKER_00]: Is anyone watching it here?

[SPEAKER_00]: Some soccer fans?

[SPEAKER_00]: Anyone watching?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, today's game, Australia versus United States.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was a rough one, Lucy is still cheering on for us.

[SPEAKER_00]: We were still in it guys, but if you didn't watch it, I'll catch you after speed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Basically, the soccer rooms were in the United States.

[SPEAKER_00]: We didn't really have our games together in the first half.

[SPEAKER_00]: We weren't really too sure what we were doing, but then something happens.

[SPEAKER_00]: We'd conceded two goals, but we got to half time.

[SPEAKER_00]: something happened in the locker room, something happened at our halfway point, and our troops just locked in.

[SPEAKER_00]: They switched on.

[SPEAKER_00]: We've almost got a couple goals.

[SPEAKER_00]: We just didn't make it.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're a couple dodgy ref calls, but we're able to hold back any more goals against us.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, and I feel like this is something we see happen all the time in sports.

[SPEAKER_00]: A game's going one way, a team's playing one way, and then something happens at the halfway point.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're always starting, it's like a whole new team is playing for the next half.

[SPEAKER_00]: Reason why I'm saying that today is because today's message we're going to be opening the word together as we always do, but it's not going to be so much of a viable study.

[SPEAKER_00]: Today we're in the middle of our vision offering series, but that's not going to be a centerpiece of today's message.

[SPEAKER_00]: Today's message is going to be a bit more like, imagine we're a sports team, okay?

[SPEAKER_00]: And we're in half time we're heading to how to end together.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I want to give you an indication of what's going on.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because right now, God is doing something.

[SPEAKER_00]: Here in Mount Evelyn, outside of Mount Evelyn, in our region across Australia.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're not at the start of it.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're not, you know, preseason, but we're in the middle of something that God is doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there's an opportunity for each of us to be able to wake up to that and recognize the part that we have to play within it.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you're not a big fan of sports and the analogy's lost in you, it's okay, I'm not massive on sports either.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm only just starting playing soccer this year for the first time, and yesterday, I scored my first goal, which was just, it was an own goal.

[SPEAKER_00]: Ah, sorry, it wasn't much of a win, but I got on to the score charts.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sorry, sorry to my captain who's with us today.

[SPEAKER_00]: But hey,

[SPEAKER_00]: reason why we're talking about I'm setting this up this way is because this message my aim is that it can encourage us.

[SPEAKER_00]: It can give us something you can catch the spirit of this message that you actually have a part to play.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're a part of a community and you're a part of what God's doing and there's an opportunity and an invitation for you to be a part of what's taking place.

[SPEAKER_00]: Today's message where we're talking about the idea of sharing your faith of evangelism, of being a witness to what God is doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you might be like, man, you hear that word of evangelism, or a evangelist, and you kind of switch off a little bit, because people come to mind, like we're seeing a lot of this guy, Bryce Crawford, who's out preaching on the streets, sharing the gospel with people.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you think of people like Billy Graham, you know, great names of this story, who he was responsible for preaching messages that saw 3.2 million people respond at auticles, which is just incredible to think of.

[SPEAKER_00]: He preached a 215 million people.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you think of, you know, Avengers and you think, oh, it's like someone like that who's really bold, who's willing to go out and preach on a street corner or share with just no shame, no fear.

[SPEAKER_00]: And kind of look at myself and I'm like, well, I'm not like that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can't see myself doing that every week.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can't see myself down on fenders.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so we kind of tune out a little bit and go, this is a message for someone else.

[SPEAKER_00]: My encouragement today is that sharing your faith doesn't have to look like one thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: It actually looks unique to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: You have something unique to offer the world.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's what we're gonna be gathering around today.

[SPEAKER_00]: So which is joined with me as we pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: Father, little we gather here to look to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: We create space right now in our lives, in our minds, inside of us, you to be able to speak.

[SPEAKER_00]: Our ears are open, so would you come?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you speak to us?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you encourage our spirit?

[SPEAKER_00]: Father, any words that are from me let them fall to the ground and let your words be the ones that go straight to people's hearts?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you touch on things that need to be addressed this morning?

[SPEAKER_00]: Would you speak to us with a sinning?

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus name, and then.

[SPEAKER_00]: a word for us can be found in Matthew chapter nine.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus is talking to us disciples and I think that it applies to us today.

[SPEAKER_00]: He says to them, the harvest is great.

[SPEAKER_00]: People are ripe to hear the news, but the workers are few.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's relevant because I'm going to go through on a moment some indicators to us that that is the case right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: We find ourselves in a season where the harvest is right for people to turn towards God.

[SPEAKER_00]: And guess what discovery where the work is?

[SPEAKER_00]: Where the ones who go out and play a part in the harvest.

[SPEAKER_00]: So you might have heard about some of the Barner research that is going into what they're calling a silent revival.

[SPEAKER_00]: This turning to faith, these people are curious about spirituality.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're seeing in the community this behind us I've got some research that I did, just looking at Google Trends.

[SPEAKER_00]: So this isn't coming from any organization.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is just simply an indication of what people are searching for over the last five years.

[SPEAKER_00]: And look at this trend that we're seeing, where there is an increase in interest, particularly around churches.

[SPEAKER_00]: People's searching for churches has gone from a 53 rating to a 93 rating.

[SPEAKER_00]: People looking to the internet to learn about the Bible

[SPEAKER_00]: We see Jesus as increased from 39 to 52 and prayer 24 to 35.

[SPEAKER_00]: People are curious about church, people are curious about Jesus, people are curious about spirituality.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're turning to things like AI and the internet to find out more.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're turning to podcasts and they're turning to us to people.

[SPEAKER_00]: See, the age of postmodernism has come to an end.

[SPEAKER_00]: People are sick of this idea of, go find your own truth, whatever true to you is true to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're looking for something more to be able to rest their life upon.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're looking for the truth that comes in the gospel.

[SPEAKER_00]: they know that when we live just following our own discernment and direction, it's not freedom, it's actually slavery to the desires of the flesh.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so they're looking for something beyond just human.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're looking for God.

[SPEAKER_00]: So God is doing a great work right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not just starting, it's been happening.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're in the middle of it.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is our half-time moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: We've got to wake up to what God is doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: So let's take a look at Scripture and see what we can learn from it.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you've got your Bible with you, you can open up to Acts 26.

[SPEAKER_00]: Last year, if you were with us, we did a series on the Book of Acts.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a book where we hear about the moves of the Holy Spirit and what he did in the early church across,

[SPEAKER_00]: after Jesus's death and resurrection and what's a Holy Spirit can.

[SPEAKER_00]: A large portion of this book is taken look at Paul's life.

[SPEAKER_00]: In Acts 26, we're coming towards the end of Paul's ministry journey and we're actually jumping right into the middle of a court drama.

[SPEAKER_00]: See what's taking place is Paul's been out preaching the gospel.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's been out leading people to Jesus and the Jewish leaders that they're upset with him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so what they've done is they've called some strings, they're brought in before a judge and they've tried to put it in case against him, but the judge couldn't find him guilty.

[SPEAKER_00]: brought forth a king and said, hey, give your accounts to the king and see what the king's verdict is.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that's where we see this scripture right here taking place.

[SPEAKER_00]: Paul is in front of a court, in front of a king, and has been asked to defend to plead his innocence, and this is what Paul has to say.

[SPEAKER_00]: In verse 9, I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that is what I did in Jerusalem.

[SPEAKER_00]: On the authority of the chief of priests, I put many of the Lord's people in prison.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

[SPEAKER_00]: Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished and tried to force them to blaspheme.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was so obsessed with the persecuting of them that I even hunted them down to foreign cities.

[SPEAKER_00]: On one of these journeys, I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief of priests.

[SPEAKER_00]: About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions.

[SPEAKER_00]: We all fell to the ground, and I heard of voice saying to me in Aramaic.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, so, why do you persecute me?

[SPEAKER_00]: It's hard for you to kick against the goats.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am Jesus whom you are persecuting the Lord replied.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, get up, stand to your feet.

[SPEAKER_00]: I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and what you will see of me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am sending you to them to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light,

[SPEAKER_00]: so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.

[SPEAKER_00]: First, to those in Damascus, then those in Jerusalem and now all of Judea.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.

[SPEAKER_00]: That is why some Jews have seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me, but God has helped me to this very day.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I stand here to testify, to small and great alike.

[SPEAKER_00]: I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen, that the Messiah would come, suffer and be the first to rise from the dead.

[SPEAKER_00]: would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.

[SPEAKER_00]: So this is what Paul chooses to say.

[SPEAKER_00]: One of your first questions that might have popped up to you is who is a gripper?

[SPEAKER_00]: Who's this a gripper guy who keeps being brought up?

[SPEAKER_00]: That is the name of the king, and you might not be familiar with it, but a name that you might be familiar with is herred.

[SPEAKER_00]: So King Agripper is actually King Agripper, or King Herred Agripper the second.

[SPEAKER_00]: and Herod should ring a couple bells for you if you've read your Bible, you would know that Herod is his great grandfather was the Herod who tried to kill Jesus as a baby.

[SPEAKER_00]: His grandfather was the one that had John the Baptist beheaded.

[SPEAKER_00]: His father was the one that martyred the first of the apostles, James.

[SPEAKER_00]: And now Paul is standing before King Agripper II.

[SPEAKER_00]: Knowing that there's a bad line and history of His family trying to stand against what Jesus is doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this is the story that Paul chooses to share.

[SPEAKER_00]: Not a defense, not a plea of innocence, but his story.

[SPEAKER_00]: He sees an opportunity to share about his journey.

[SPEAKER_00]: He finds an opportunity to be able to connect himself with King Agrippa and say I too sought to persecute Christians.

[SPEAKER_00]: I too was serving under the authority of the priests and this is what has happened to me and this is what changed everything for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: So that is what we're going to be taking a look at today.

[SPEAKER_00]: How is it that Paul has this mentality to seek out the opportunity to speak, not to save his own neck, not to worry about the future, not to worry about the small things, not trying to keep up to date with trends or keep up to date with what's going on or exchange pleasentries with us.

[SPEAKER_00]: He sees conversations with other people as an opportunity to be able to testify about what God is and doing in his life.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so today's message is titled, Your Story is a part of God's story.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because each of us, who's here under the sound of my voice, has a story that's unique to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And those of us who are found within the Christian faith, who are found to be Christians.

[SPEAKER_00]: Our story has been woven in to God's story.

[SPEAKER_00]: God's story didn't end with the last book of the Bible.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's still being written today.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you and I get to play a part in that story.

[SPEAKER_00]: Perhaps you feel like you don't have much to offer.

[SPEAKER_00]: And encouragement we also find in the book of Axis, the story of Peter and John going to the temple.

[SPEAKER_00]: In Acts chapter 3, there is a man begging in need.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: And he asked them for money.

[SPEAKER_00]: And Peter says, silver and gold, I do not have, but what I do have, I give to you in the name of Jesus, be healed.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in that moment, this man is healed.

[SPEAKER_00]: See, the lesson we can take away from that story is that you might think I don't have this, I don't have anything incredible to share, I don't have, you know, the boldness to be able to preach on the streets, but what you do have is something that will cost you nothing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Your story, the story of what God is doing in your life right now, what God has done in your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: So the first thing that we're gonna gather around the first idea is that you don't need a degree in theology, to be able to talk about Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: So no, without sharing from what you don't know, but sharing from what you do know.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, people, they're not actually coming up to you, asking you questions about, hey, can you exegelically break down this Bible scripture for me?

[SPEAKER_00]: Can you help define the difference between sanctification and a quiziology?

[SPEAKER_00]: Or, you know, any crazy biblical theological term?

[SPEAKER_00]: They're not asking these questions.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're looking for answers to their problems.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're looking for answers to the world's problems.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not theology that they're needing, it's a story about Jesus and what he's doing about these problems.

[SPEAKER_00]: Consider for yourself, how did you first come to believe and follow Jesus?

[SPEAKER_00]: What first brought you into a relationship with him?

[SPEAKER_00]: Preaching might have played a part in it, but it wasn't theology.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, it was the fact that you became aware to the invitation of a God who loves you, to do life with you.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what people need to hear about.

[SPEAKER_00]: The experience you've had and how your life has changed since making that decision.

[SPEAKER_00]: If we look to a story in the gospel, in the gospel of John, it emphasizes this point.

[SPEAKER_00]: See, there is a blind man.

[SPEAKER_00]: And one day he had an interaction and an encounter with Jesus and in that moment everything changed for him and he was healed.

[SPEAKER_00]: But because he was healed, this caused quite a lot of commotion.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was a Sabbath, and it was from a guy named Jesus who the Pharisees weren't associated with.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so they came up to this guy, and they were asked him, who is this Jesus?

[SPEAKER_00]: How could he have done this?

[SPEAKER_00]: How could he have healed you?

[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't make sense.

[SPEAKER_00]: Explain it to us.

[SPEAKER_00]: They had all these questions for this blind man.

[SPEAKER_00]: This blind man turned to him, and he said, we see it here in John 9, verse 25.

John 9:25

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know him.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know whether he was a sinner.

[SPEAKER_00]: But I know this.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was blind and now I see.

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't have all the answers to their questions.

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't know what to respond other than to say, all I can tell you is this is my experience.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is what God has done for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is who I know Jesus to be.

[SPEAKER_00]: So who do you know Jesus to be?

[SPEAKER_00]: What's your story?

[SPEAKER_00]: What has God done in your life?

[SPEAKER_00]: The next thought for us to gather around is the fact that

[SPEAKER_00]: Your witness is part of your discipleship.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're ability to share your faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's a part of growing.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we get caught up in focusing so much inwardly or maybe what we feel like is missing from us.

[SPEAKER_00]: What we feel like the areas of our life that aren't matching up when God's not actually looking at the path is just looking at wanting to work through you, work with you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we've become so focused on good things, wanting to sit in God's presence, wanting to praise, wanting to dig into scripture, want to spend time, in church, want to spend time in Christian community, all good things.

[SPEAKER_00]: But as we've just come out of the over-voice series, we've learned all about the fact that it's not about just pouring into ourselves, but overflowing, laden, while God's doing in your life impact those around you.

[SPEAKER_00]: If we're not doing that, we're missing the point.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not about just us alone.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's about all of us.

[SPEAKER_00]: Every heart found in Jesus' story.

[SPEAKER_00]: We see this example, this teaching, this idea that actually your story, your ability to share about what God's doing, example in this story we find in Mark.

[SPEAKER_00]: You might know this story.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is the story that Sunday school was love and know well.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's the story about the pigs.

[SPEAKER_00]: Does anyone know the story about the pigs in the Bible?

[SPEAKER_00]: If I say pigs, does that bring up to mind?

[SPEAKER_00]: Some kind of story.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you didn't know this story, it's about this man who was tormented by these spirits.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's depressed.

[SPEAKER_00]: He is held captive by these spirits that have been tormenting him, taken away from community.

[SPEAKER_00]: And in a moment with Jesus, he finds freedom.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus casts out all these spirits and sends them away into some peaks.

[SPEAKER_00]: This man now stands completely sober-minded, completely fixed and healed, all of his depression, all of his addiction gone.

[SPEAKER_00]: And for him, he comes to Jesus' feet.

[SPEAKER_00]: And as Jesus is getting into a boat, as the story picks up here, Mark 5 verse 18.

Mark 5:18

[SPEAKER_00]: As Jesus was stepping into the boat, the Gentile man who had been demon possessed was begging him, asking that he might go with Jesus as a disciple.

[SPEAKER_00]: But Jesus did not let him come.

[SPEAKER_00]: Instead, he said to him, go home to your family.

[SPEAKER_00]: Tell them all the great things that Lord has done for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: and how he is at mercy on you.

[SPEAKER_00]: So the man obeyed and went away and began to publicly proclaim in, I don't know what this city's called, Deca Capollas, the region of the 10 Hellenistic cities.

[SPEAKER_00]: All the great things that Jesus had done for him and all the people were astonished.

[SPEAKER_00]: So sometimes we think that the next step in my discipleship is just sit more on Jesus' teachings, just to sit more and learn more and study more and actually maybe the next step for you and your discipleship is going out and sharing the story of what God's already done in your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we need to be so worried about what God's going to do next in your life and start thinking about what do I have to share?

[SPEAKER_00]: What do I have to be able to tell about God?

[SPEAKER_00]: About His goodness.

[SPEAKER_00]: But this man, he didn't just go home.

[SPEAKER_00]: For some of us, it's going home to be able to share about what God's doing in your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: But he didn't just go home, who went out to the next city and the next city and the next city.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is what his discipleship journey looked like, sharing his story and how he became part of God's story.

[SPEAKER_00]: What does your next step look like this morning?

[SPEAKER_00]: The third thought that we're going to come around is this.

[SPEAKER_00]: The truth is that the world needs the truth.

[SPEAKER_00]: The world is looking for the truth.

[SPEAKER_00]: The word is searching.

[SPEAKER_00]: The world is searching for the word.

[SPEAKER_00]: That is Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: We know Jesus, and if you know Jesus, you will know that with Jesus, we can find hope.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can find freedom.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can find joy.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can find purpose and meaning.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can find justice.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can find redemption.

[SPEAKER_00]: We can find these things because of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: When we have a relationship with Jesus, all of a sudden,

[SPEAKER_00]: breakthrough happens.

[SPEAKER_00]: All of a sudden we're able to see miracles.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're able to see A, I have a purpose in my life.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't need to worry about being alone anymore because I know I've got a Savior who is always available to me, who is always watching over me.

[SPEAKER_00]: We know these things because of the person of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: As it says in Romans the day, as we open up the scripture to Romans 10 verse 14, the world is searching for these things.

Romans 10:14

[SPEAKER_00]: But how can they call on Jesus to save them, unless they believe in Him?

[SPEAKER_00]: And how can they believe in Him if they've never heard about Him?

[SPEAKER_00]: And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?

[SPEAKER_00]: The world's searching for answers, how are they going to find Him?

[SPEAKER_00]: Unless someone tells them about who they can find the answers in.

[SPEAKER_00]: Unless someone tells them about Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: We play a part in this.

[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't come from an event.

[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't come from evangelists.

[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't come from a preacher.

[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't come from a conference or a camp.

[SPEAKER_00]: It comes from Christians talking about what Jesus has done in their life.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is how we saw the early church grow.

[SPEAKER_00]: We see this in Acts.

[SPEAKER_00]: It goes from thousands to thousands, not because of sermons or moments, but because of people talking about, hey, I heard about this.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, here's what Jesus did for me.

[SPEAKER_00]: Here's what He can do for you, too.

[SPEAKER_00]: It comes to everyone taking on more what's their part to play in sharing the good news.

[SPEAKER_00]: The world is curious, they want to know about Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is why this year vision offering, we're taking a look at partnering with what God is doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're looking at the fact that people come into faith, people are searching for churches.

[SPEAKER_00]: And we're partnering with planting churches.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're partnering with expanding the kingdom because we're seeing it.

[SPEAKER_00]: In our church, I serve in June youth.

[SPEAKER_00]: Most Sundays, I don't get to sit with you lovely people.

[SPEAKER_00]: I get to hang out with most of your kids.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's great.

[SPEAKER_00]: But we're in too small for us, because young people are turning to fate.

[SPEAKER_00]: We saw it at S.Y.G.

[SPEAKER_00]: hundreds of young people are turning to fate.

[SPEAKER_00]: If we're going out and we're taking this from here to everywhere, we're bringing people into the kingdom.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're going to need a place to find community.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're going to need a place that's able to refine them, able to sharpen them.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that looks like more than just Mount everyone.

[SPEAKER_00]: That looks like the place is where your school is.

[SPEAKER_00]: That looks like the place is where your work is.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it looks like more than just one building.

[SPEAKER_00]: You might still be thinking, I don't know what I have to offer.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know about where I'm out with God right now.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if I've seen breakthrough.

[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I'm actually in the middle of needing breakthrough, of needing God to show up.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm needing God to help me deal with that addiction, help me deal with that struggle, help me deal with that loneliness.

[SPEAKER_00]: If that's you, there's an invitation, an invitation to consider, well, if you don't have something to share about what God's doing,

[SPEAKER_00]: you have an opportunity to be able to invite him in, to be able to invite him into the struggle that you're going through.

[SPEAKER_00]: If that's you and there is something you're needing serious breakthrough for, we're gonna have a prayer team as well, available at the end of the service, who's able to pray for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you're feeling like,

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if I've got anything impressive to share.

[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if I have anything crazy or radical to share.

[SPEAKER_00]: I can talk about some of the good things that I have within my faith, but there's not anything radical or bold that I have to offer.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not, it's our lack of a ability that actually qualifies us.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's our weakness that brings out God's strength.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's able to use you, he's able to use your story in ways that you wouldn't imagine.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, I'm going to invite the band up and maybe this for you I hope that you feel encouraged.

[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that you realize and are aware of the fact that people are actually desperate for this.

[SPEAKER_00]: They actually want to hear the good news and we have a part to play in it.

[SPEAKER_00]: But maybe you want to remember what does that look like?

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, that's great.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm encouraged and I'm inspired, but tomorrow I'm going to be off at work.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going to be in church and what does this look like for me?

[SPEAKER_00]: Here are some things that I hope will be helpful for you to consider on what it could look like for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: What is your story?

[SPEAKER_00]: Reflect on that, what actually is your story?

[SPEAKER_00]: How is it that you came to know Christ?

[SPEAKER_00]: What's God doing in your world right now?

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you've been a part of this fasting that we've been doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know that there have been times when I've been fasting and praying for breaks when I've seen God show up in radical ways.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've been fasting for other people and I've seen their life turn around a circumstance in their life, turn around to full 180.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you've got a story like that to share, share a story of something good that God is doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: The people around you, they actually care about you.

[SPEAKER_00]: They want to hear the good news.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's enough bad news going around.

[SPEAKER_00]: They want to hear the good news in your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you've been praying for something and you've seen God show up, talk about that.

[SPEAKER_00]: tell people about that, even if they don't believe in prayer, they're going to be excited for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's an opportunity that you can talk.

[SPEAKER_00]: It can even be as simple as just going saying something when you, when you're with a colleague or with a friend, you can say, hey, you know what, like I heard this over the weekend, I've been thinking about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: You don't need to explicitly say it was pasta or is it someone in the foreign church who said it to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: But if there's something that has been on your mind, something you've been reflecting on, that God's been speaking to you about, share it.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've been thinking about this recently.

[SPEAKER_00]: What are your thoughts?

[SPEAKER_00]: Being thinking about this about identity.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've been thinking about this when it comes to purpose and what are your thoughts?

[SPEAKER_00]: Start a conversation then.

[SPEAKER_00]: When people ask you how's your weekend, if you're serving in church, tell people about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Don't worry about telling about the food for game.

[SPEAKER_00]: No, I tell them about, hey, I was actually serving chips.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was making copies for people on Sunday at church.

[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know you did that.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's cool, well, why do you do that?

[SPEAKER_00]: To talk about your involvement, how you serve, because people are curious about that.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not a normal thing to offer up your time, but for free, people want to know why you would do that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I've heard from so many people I know who work in cafes in hospitality and retail.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're seeing this, they're seeing this openness for people to ask questions about faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even to ask for bread, I want to encourage you to be bold about offering to brave people.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe you're like, I don't know about someone's history with church or with Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: But hey, chances are, if you offered to pray for someone, they're gonna just see that as like, oh, this is just someone's thought about blessing me.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not gonna turn that down.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even if they don't believe it, they're probably gonna welcome.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know what?

[SPEAKER_00]: If you get the chance to pray for someone, you get to so much more than just pray for them in that moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because you're actually giving them, and enabling them with the words to be able to pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe they've never heard someone pray before, you're able to teach them in that moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is what prayer can look like.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is the relationship that I have with God.

[SPEAKER_00]: I get to call my father.

[SPEAKER_00]: And maybe that's something they can take with them.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe what you share is something that they can take with them.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it might not be, you know, this groundbreaking moment in their life in that moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: But maybe in a week or two, they're in need.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe in a week or two, or a month down the track.

[SPEAKER_00]: They're needing an answer to something.

[SPEAKER_00]: And they remember what was shared.

[SPEAKER_00]: They remember what you pray.

[SPEAKER_00]: They remember the way that you spoke.

[SPEAKER_00]: See, our job, it gives us, in the New Testament, it gives us this parable of the so-in of seeds.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a parable to tell us that our job is to sow the seeds.

[SPEAKER_00]: We don't need to worry about the water or the sun or how the seed will grow.

[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes our part is just to plant the seed and see what God does.

[SPEAKER_00]: He does the heavy lifting.

[SPEAKER_00]: Our job is just to plant the seed in people's lives.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, there's a story I love and I'd love to share with you guys about this church volunteer who someone who was a fair few years ago now but he was serving in a Sunday school and it was just one morning he felt the Holy Spirit put on his mind, this student who was attending, it was a young man who was attending that Sunday school and he felt that God put it on his heart to go and and tell this person about the love of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so he went, he knew where the student worked, so he went to the workplace.

[SPEAKER_00]: He found him stacking the shelves with shoes and the shoe shop in Boston.

[SPEAKER_00]: And he went up to him and as his recollected, he doesn't know what he said.

[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't know the exact words.

[SPEAKER_00]: He probably would've punched it in his words.

[SPEAKER_00]: He didn't have all the right words to say, but all he did was just communicate the fact that, hey, Jesus loves you.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's a guy who loves you and he wants to live in a loving relationship with you.

[SPEAKER_00]: And just so happened that that young man was in the exact right position in his life to receive Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: It was a little point where he needed to hear that message and to write there in a shoe shop in Boston, he gave his life to the gospel.

[SPEAKER_00]: His gave his life to Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: That young man then went on to become a pastor of a church.

[SPEAKER_00]: His name is D.L.

[SPEAKER_00]: Moody, who's a pastor that went on to pastor in London.

[SPEAKER_00]: And from there,

[SPEAKER_00]: A man named F.B.

[SPEAKER_00]: Mayer came to faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: Mayer was then responsible for a man named Wilbur Chapman.

[SPEAKER_00]: Wilbur Chapman influenced Billy Sunday, and all these people became pastors and evangelists and preachers.

[SPEAKER_00]: Billy Sunday was a man who led Mortica Ham to come to faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: Mortica Ham was the one who preached the message responsible for leading Billy Graham to Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: This generation of preachers, of communicators, of people sharing the gospel, of people giving others an opportunity to be invited into Jesus' story, to have their life transformed and changed.

[SPEAKER_00]: Even Billy Graham himself came about just because a volunteer church decided, you know what I think God speaking to me, I think I need to tell someone about Jesus this morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just imagine what God can do with you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Just imagine what God can do.

[SPEAKER_00]: You give them a moment and respond to what He's doing.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I want to invite you to stand in a moment the band is gonna play over us so you can join with me and we'll stand up And we're gonna sing this song.

[SPEAKER_00]: I speak the name of Jesus But as we stand on it and go to you to just take a moment to consider Who's someone that you know?

[SPEAKER_00]: Who's someone in your world who could use the gospel message who someone you know who needs to know about Jesus?

[SPEAKER_00]: Who's someone this week, you can talk to.

[SPEAKER_00]: Doesn't even have to be super over, but just had to start a conversation around faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: I want you to consider and find that one person.

[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's a person in your family that you're praying, we can't take faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: And as we declare the name of Jesus, I want you to pray into that.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hold onto that name and lift them up.

[SPEAKER_00]: Send your request to heaven.

[SPEAKER_00]: So, the band's gonna lead us now and invite you and encourage you to join in, to worship, to declare Jesus' name.