Full Send – Preach the Word

This podcast is presented to you by Pastor Jason Burns and Access Church in Lakeland, Florida.

For more information, visit Access.tv.

Good morning.

Good morning.

How are you today?

Hello.

Hi.

I hope everybody is doing amazing on this beautiful Sunday.

If we have not met, my name is Liz.

I'm so thrilled you are here today.

Last week, Pastor Jason said this.

He said, I'm doing a message.

He said, but it's gonna feel like half of a message, he said.

And so today I want to give you kind of like the other half of that message.

Uh, this series we're calling full send.

Last week, Pastor Jason said, if you'll just get your friends here, it's like, come and see.

Come and see what God is doing.

But today, I want to talk about our responsibility in evangelism.

What does that mean?

What does that look like?

Why are we kind of afraid of that word?

Well, answer me this.

Have you ever gotten really good news?

And you had a hard time not telling everybody.

Um, I uh I when I was younger, it was like we had to uh I got engaged in 2004, which is a long time ago.

I'm 39 years old.

So we didn't have Facebook to tell people that we got engaged, okay?

We didn't have Instagram, like y'all got it.

So lucky.

When you get married, your wedding pictures are there like then on Instagram.

Like we waited, I think, three months for our wedding pictures to come in, okay?

But when we got engaged, we had to call people to tell them, okay?

So we were so excited.

We were calling all our friends.

We're like, we're engaged, we're engaged, we're engaged.

And I remember we called um Jason's brother Michael, and we were like, How are you doing today?

He's like, Well, I'm doing we're like, we don't care, we're engaged.

We just told him like we were so excited.

Um, I remember when we found out we were pregnant with Joey.

Joey was the first grandbaby on both sides of the family.

So you know what a big deal that is.

So for my parents and for Jason's parents, first grandchild.

So this was like that scene in The Lion King when they live Simba on the cliff.

Like this was a moment.

Um, so when we found out, we told my parents, of course, they are like living their best life.

And my sweet mom like could not keep it to herself.

You know, she was just like, I'm gonna be a grandmother, I'm gonna be a grandmother.

She's like telling everybody, like, mom, don't say anything until we've told Jason's parents, like, don't say anything now.

Like, don't tell anybody, mom.

Like, let us tell them.

And like, she listened pretty good.

Um, but then I remember Jason's littler brother Aaron had not heard yet.

And she thought we had told him, I guess, or bless her, she just couldn't help herself.

And she just went up to Aaron and she was like, You're gonna be an uncle.

And he was like, I am, like, he didn't know.

But bless her, it was just so pure, she couldn't keep it back.

And isn't it true that it is hard to keep good news to yourself?

I mean, if you won the lottery today, you're gonna tell everybody, right?

If you get engaged, if you find out you're pregnant, if something great happens to you, you're gonna find out and you're gonna wanna tell people.

So if it's so hard to keep good news to ourselves, why is it that many of us struggle with sharing the best news with anyone?

Why is it that we have a hard time about that?

When we talk about evangelism, I think it's a scary word.

Um, I think some people are a little freaked out when we mention the word.

Um, my boys like to watch these videos by Dude Perfect.

Do you know them?

Dude Perfect.

Yeah, okay, big fans.

They uh, from what I understand, are like they throw things at things.

So it's very popular.

And um Dude Perfect does these videos called stereotypes.

Okay, so we were um watching those and I had this idea like what are stereotypes we have when we think of the word evangelism, and I kind of wanted to share a few of those with you because I think when we think of this word, maybe some things come to mind.

So the first one is this it's the bad tipper.

Okay, I don't want to step on toes today, but I'm gonna step on toes today.

All right, so the bad tipper.

I used to be a waitress, I waited tables right here at Carabas on the Southside, and everybody be like, oh, it's Sunday, like the bad tippers are coming in, like they're gonna tip 10% and leave a track.

In fact, I saw this meme the other day, um, and let me just share it with you.

It says, um, the Sunday lunch crowd, 30 minutes before screaming at a 16-year-old restaurant hostess.

Yo, listen, I wanna say I'm proud of you, Access.

We hear like the opposite about you.

We honestly do.

You are so generous.

Like, we've had people at Starbucks be like, Oh, you're from Access.

Like, they are really good people.

Like, so I think we're doing good, but that's like a real stereotype that exists, yeah?

Like, be nasty, come in, praise God, and then leave and be like, my table's supposed to be ready 20 minutes ago, and I didn't got my sweet tea.

Um, and that's a real thing, okay?

Another stereotype you may have when you think of the word evangelism is this guy, the street corner preacher.

Um, we've all seen it.

I'm from, I have the privilege of being born in the greatest state in the United States, New York.

And um I was born in New York City, that's right.

And in New York City, if you're walking around Manhattan, you can't walk around without being yelled at, you know, handed something.

And it's a lot of times like a lot of shouting at you, giving things, telling you, you know, you're dying.

Um, very encouraging.

Uh so that may be like kind of what comes into your mind when you think of evangelism.

And maybe this one, this one is what I call the holier than thou.

Um sadly, this is was me growing up because when I came up in church, it was like, we gotta go save the world.

And I was like, we're gonna go, we're gonna go save the world.

But it was just like, run in, tell people about Jesus, tell them how bad they are.

Like that was gonna be really impacting, you know?

And that's where I found myself.

Uh, you may think of people that way, like, oh, they're a Christian, they think they're better than everybody.

And um, the fourth one, this is kind of a funny one.

Um, this one is the only acknowledges God at award shows.

And speaking of award shows, we're not gonna do this.

We do have added security measures now, though, should anyone try to slap me today.

Um, but like famously and truly, Justin Bieber said this once at an award show.

He said, Um, I just want to say thank you so much, not only to God, but to Jesus.

Which I don't know, I don't know.

I don't know.

That's cool.

I mean, I don't know.

And this is not, the point is not to say anything about Justin's faith.

I don't know him, I'm sure his faith is good.

And I'm not even saying there's not sincerity in all four of those things.

But I think true biblical evangelism, if we take a minute, I want to look at that.

What does that look like?

What is, if we have these stereotypes, is that it or is there maybe something more?

And I want to go to a passage in scripture in Acts.

Uh, there's a man named Paul, and he's just prolific in the New Testament.

He wrote a bunch of the Old Testament.

He is coming in the time, so after Jesus has lived.

So Jesus has lived, he has been crucified, he's been buried, he's risen again, he's come and gone.

And now Paul is out there spreading the word with Silas, a man named Silas, and he's his co-worker in the ministry.

So they're traveling and they're going around, sort of, sort of preaching one day, spreading the good news.

And a woman starts following them.

And this woman, it says in the Bible, has possession of a demon spirit that helps her to see the future.

Okay, so some people found this out about her, and they're using her to make money.

They're like, hey, we bring this girl around, she'll tell fortunes, we'll make some cash, right?

So she's following Paul and Silas around one day for whatever reason, and she keeps shouting at them, These men are with the most high God.

These men are servants of the most high God.

And I love this moment in scripture because I think we think of people in the Bible as like super holy, but Paul gets like straight up annoyed and he finally turns around, he snaps, and he casts this demon out of this woman.

So suddenly she can't tell the future anymore.

So the people that have been using her as a cash cow are upset.

They're like, man, our cash, our income is gone.

She can't tell the future anymore.

They're really mad at Paul and Silas.

Okay, so they grab Paul and Silas, they bring them into the center of the city, and let's pick up an Acts 16 and see what happens.

It says this: it says the crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.

And after they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully.

Listen, I don't know what you think about when you think of prison, but I've been to a prison in Rome and seen what it would have been like, and it's completely different than what you and I think of.

There would be like a room with like a hole in the floor, and if someone was found guilty, they'd throw them in the hole, and the bottom of the prison was just this dark, disgusting place.

And it says, um, when he received these orders, that's the jailer, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Okay?

Now think about this if you're Paul and Silas.

You're doing good things.

You're out there doing good things for God.

God, I was out there spreading the word for you.

What the heck?

You know?

Lord, I was preaching, I was doing what you said to do.

Jesus, we were telling people about you.

Why you let this happen to us?

And I would think, if I was Paul or Silas, that I'm pretty upset.

I mean, all you're doing is out there preaching, and now all of a sudden you found yourself beaten.

You found yourself in prison.

If I was Paul and Silas, I'd be like, God, thanks a lot.

But let's see what it says about them, where they were at.

It says, about midnight.

Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.

Praying and singing hymns to God.

This is after their beating, it says, end, the other prisoners were listening to them.

The other prisoners were listening to them.

I want to pause right there for just a second.

Maybe you've gone through something tough in your life.

I'm here to offer that maybe one of the best testimonies you will ever have in your life is the way people watch you walk through those things.

Paul and Silas didn't even say anything in that moment.

They were praying God, praying and praising God.

That was their own personal relationship with God, but somebody was watching them.

And then it says, go on.

It says, suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.

And at once all the prison doors flew open and everyone's chains came loose.

So the jailer, he woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.

So this jailer is like, oh man, I'm in charge of all these people.

The doors are open.

What did I do?

He knows it's bad for him.

But Paul shouted, Don't harm yourself.

We are all here.

Okay, so not only has Paul been thrown into prison unjustly, but now he's been singing praise and worship.

Then the doors fly open, and he has a chance to go, and he's like, hey, we're all here.

He stays.

So the jailer called for the lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

He then brought them out and asked, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

It's interesting to me that he says that there, right?

There was no plan of salvation presented prior.

Paul and Silas were praying, and then the doors came, and then they stayed when they could have left, and times were tough.

And then the jailer says, What can I do to be saved?

And they replied, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.

Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house at that hour of the night, right then and there, the jailer took them and washed their wounds.

Then immediately he and all his household were baptized.

If anybody had a reason to feel a little bitter, a little upset, Paul and Silas, they had been doing good things for God and they were thrown into prison.

And yet it says they were praying and praising God in that moment.

And yet it something even bigger than that, it says that people were watching.

Why?

I think Paul and Silas understood what a few of us don't, which is that their calling hadn't changed, their missing hadn't changed.

In fact, they realized that God's calling on our lives isn't circumstantial.

What is God's calling on their life?

Well, I have news.

God's calling on Paul and Silas's life is actually the same calling He has for each one of us here.

You ready?

It's in Mark 16, 15.

He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

You're like, oh, I'm not like them.

I don't know.

This is all of our callings.

You see, we have a calling to preach the word.

And this story shows me, shows you that wherever you are, preach the word.

Wherever you are, preach the word.

See, I think some of us are confused.

We have a voice, we have something that's like our voice, and we've been um using it, but not to preach the word, we've been using it for everything else.

But we all have a calling.

We've all been called by God to preach the word.

Wherever you are, you may say, yeah, but you don't know about me.

Like I'm just a stay-at-home mom, okay?

Preach the word.

I was a stay-at-home mom for 12 years.

I had three tiny little congregants.

I'll never have as much influence on anyone else as I had on those three children for those 12 years.

Preach the word.

Maybe you say, I'm a businessman and it's not appropriate in our office.

Preach the word.

Preach the word.

You've been uniquely given favor in your area of business wherever you are, and God is asking you to preach the word where you are.

Maybe you say, I'm a college student, or I go to a Christian college.

Nobody needs to hear it, friends.

I went to a Christian college too.

Believe me, preach the word.

Preach the word.

There are places in your life that you have been uniquely assigned.

Remember, it says that they were in prison and it was midnight and they were singing and everybody else was listening to them.

I want to suggest to you that somebody is out there listening to you.

You may not think that, but you have a voice.

And that simply means who you're talking to and who is listening to you.

You have a voice and you have a calling.

And if I could get nerdy for a minute, this is my nerd thing.

Everybody has like a nerd thing.

Mine is vocal health.

This is so exciting.

Calm down.

Um, but I studied voice in college, like for proper singing.

And so I um when I was studying voice, I realized that my voice was getting hoarse.

And it I found out I had something called pre-nodular swelling, which meant that I was in danger of getting nodules.

Nodules are just little bumps on your vocal cords, um, and it prohibits your vocal cords from fully meeting, so you have like a lot of air that comes through.

And I was told by the doctor I went to, is that ornithologist?

I don't know.

Anyway, um, I probably just said like somebody who studies birds.

I don't know.

But the doctor of the voice, I was told by him, uh, you are in danger of losing your voice because you've been overusing your voice.

And I think that's a word for us today.

You have a precious voice, somebody that's listening to you, and you're in danger of losing it because you speak up for all the wrong things.

You've been speaking up and complaining to the 16-year-old hostess.

You've been speaking up and complaining on Facebook about everything, but then you won't speak about Jesus, and you're in danger of losing the very limited piece of voice you have to influence somebody because every old anybody else hears is anything but God.

You're in danger of losing your voice, he told me, because you're abusing your voice.

And gosh, I gotta tell you, I'm sorry, by the way, this is not a funny message.

Everyone was like, You're preaching today, it's gonna be so funny.

I'm like, Yeah.

Um but I feel this on my heart so heavy, guys.

Wherever we are, we have to preach the word.

I think we've been using excuses for like why we're not preaching the word.

You're like, I'm not Jason, I don't have a doctorate, I'm not you.

Okay, biblically speaking, the role of the pastor is actually to equip you, like two of us, or even our pastoral staff of 10, 15, like we can't do that much, but 1,200 people from the body of access could literally go change the city.

So you go preach the word.

Or you may say, like, well, you don't know what I've been through.

God owes me one.

I'm actually pretty upset at him.

Yeah, well, Paul and Silas were flogged and thrown in prison just for preaching, and they decided to keep preaching the word.

Preach the word.

God's calling is bigger than me, you, or what we go through.

Or you may say, like, I'm honestly just afraid of judgment.

And like, I do get that.

I really do.

It's a little scary, right?

Like one time I watched a lady and she was so sweet, I was in line at a bed bath and beyond, and she was in front of me, and she's paying, and I'm waiting, and I see her, and she's like getting to the end of her transaction, and she looks nervous, and she's kind of like, you know, like walking like this from side to side.

And then the lady's like, okay, here's your money, here's your um, she hasn't said a word, by the way, the whole time they're checking her out.

And then, like, lady's like, here's your change, have a good day.

And she's like, she pulls this thing out of her pocket and she's like, I think you would really like my church.

And she like fully ran out of that bed bath and beyond.

And I was like, bless her, poor lady, she was so scared.

I'm like, I get it, I get it.

You know why?

Because we do live in a world where like it does feel like everything but being a Christian is celebrated.

But am I more afraid of being judged for being a believer, or am I more afraid that someone around me is gonna die without knowing the love of God?

I went to a conference recently and they showed this example, and it was so silly, but it stuck with me.

It was like this guy was blindfolded and he was walking towards the edge of a cliff, and his friend was like, I don't wanna tell him he's walking to the edge of a cliff because I don't want to scare him.

So the guy just like keeps walking, and he's like literally walking to the edge of a cliff, and he's like, Well, I don't wanna offend him, so I won't tell him, you know?

And it was like, it stuck with me.

It was so dumb, but it's true.

We do that.

Like, I don't wanna speak up, I'll be ostracized, I don't wanna speak up, I'll be labeled.

And we do live in a world where it's like, oh, you're Christian, you're closed-minded, you know, we're gonna fight all those stereotypes.

We're gonna be the best tippers, we're gonna be the most generous, we're gonna be the most loving, we're gonna do all those things, but we also have to preach the word.

We also have to preach the word.

Um, I think sometimes when I was coming up and growing up and thinking about like the way God would use me, I really focused on like self-serving gifts.

So it was like, I'm good at talking to people, like I'm good at singing.

And I was like, I'll use those gifts for God, and that's honest and that's real, and he might use that.

Um, but when I'd strip all of that away, like that was my assignment, not my calling.

My calling is to preach the word.

Your calling is to preach the word.

So whether I'm singing, standing, or can I be really honest?

I think the thing I'm best at in the world is none of this.

I'm, you know what I'm great at?

I'm a gatherer of people.

I gather people.

I love to invite people over, I love to throw parties, and I think, oh man, that's really simple.

I could use that to reach people for Jesus and never preach another word for the rest of my life.

What is in you that's innate that God gave you, specifically you, that you can use to preach the word?

See, evangelism is scary, but I actually believe evangelism should be natural.

I think evangelism should be natural.

What did God give you that you can use?

Now, maybe you're really like understanding, you're a good listener.

And you don't have all the answers, but like people are, trust me when I say this from a pastor, people are dying for somebody who will listen to them.

Maybe you're just like a good servant.

You can use that, like whatever it is.

But it should be natural.

See, the Bible calls us a peculiar people.

It says we're a peculiar people, a chosen nation, and I do think we're meant to stand out, but I do think we're standing out for the wrong things, if I'm honest.

I think we're really missing it.

I think we're kind of shooting each other in the foot.

We're not helping each other.

I think we're standing up for the wrong things and missing the thing.

So we are meant to stand out, but we're meant to stand out like what if we stood out because we were the most generous?

This is not a message about tipping.

I just keep coming back to that because when I saw that meme posted, you know how many people wrote, oh yeah.

And it hurt my heart.

Because I love the church.

I love you guys.

I've come up in the church.

But we can do better, right?

Um, what if we stood out with godly marriages, marriages that we're making it and we're thriving, not because we're so in love and we're so great, but just because we were able to say, like, hey, it's me and him, and through God's help, we're making it.

And that was how we stood out.

What if we stood out through forgiveness?

Like, forgiveness and apology is dying.

Um, we are in a generation that is saying, like, everything you do is right, embrace it, pick your own truth.

But what if I humbled myself and came to you and said, I'm sorry, forgive me?

Whoa.

But now we'd start standing out, right?

But for better reasons.

What if we uh started, man, I never said this in any other service, so Lord.

But what if we started standing out because we were taking the children out of foster homes and fostering them?

What if we were meeting the needs of the children in our city and that's how we stood out because we were feeding them?

What if they had enough people volunteering to read to kids because we were standing out that way?

What if we started standing out differently?

And that when you see the tired cashier and everybody's backed up and somebody's got 1,500 coupons, you just smiled and showed grace.

What if we stood out that way?

Um Paul, that same Paul that was in prison, later is writing uh to Timothy, one of his fellow ministers, and this is in the book of 2 Timothy.

It's it's Paul's last letter, and it's before his death, people think he died in like 64 or 67.

Um and so Paul is writing this, and he's in prison again, and you could tell he knows his end is coming.

It's kind of like that feeling of like he's getting his affairs in order, you know.

And so for this great life, this mighty man of ministry, what does he say at the very end of his life?

Let's look at it.

2 Timothy 4.

What does he say as his like final thing?

He says, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in the view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge.

Preach the word.

Preach the word.

Be prepared in season and out of season.

Correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction.

Preach the word.

Preach the word.

Preach the word.

If last week Pastor Jason said, our part is to bring him and say, Come and see, let me take it a step further and say, we are accountable.

You have been uniquely placed with purpose, on purpose, so that someone in your life can come to find Jesus.

You know, I grew up with a mom who was like quasi-embarrassing if you're a teenager, because my mom led the people at Publix to Jesus, and like we were in line, and I'm just like behind her, like, I am so sorry.

Like, and it was so awkward.

We led two people to Jesus in a Miami subs one time.

I'm not joking.

I do not know if that's still a restaurant, but we led them to Christ in a Miami subs.

And I just remember thinking, like, this is so embarrassing.

But now sitting back, I go, wow, she just got it.

She was a pastor on Sunday, sure, but she didn't clock out after that.

Maybe you're coming to church on Sundays and going, did it?

Checked off my God card.

No, preach the word.

You have a calling on your life.

It has nothing to do with your talents, nothing to do with what you think you can offer back to God.

He's just like, come and be available and preach the word wherever you are, wherever you are.

Preach the word, mom at home.

Preach the word in your office.

Preach the word in the car line.

Preach the word wherever you are.

Preach the word at Starbucks this week.

Stop standing out for all the wrong reasons.

What if I came to my life and it was at the end and people stood around me and they said, Liz was so funny.

That's great.

I like to be funny if I'm incredibly honest.

It's great.

But God forbid that be what you remember about me.

Jesus is everything.

Let me tell you that Jesus healed my body when I was 23 years old of cancer.

Let me tell you that Jesus has been the hope for me in the middle of the night when I fought depression so severe I wanted to die.

Let me tell you that Jesus is everything and the only thing that matters.

And God forbid I use my voice, and that's all you remember, anything but Jesus.

And I woke up with this so heavy on my heart.

Last night before I went to bed, I was scrolling Facebook, and a friend of mine said, I'm here at Soand So's Memorial.

And I said, What?

This lady passed that I was on the PTA with at my kids last school.

Healthy, young.

And I was shocked.

So when I woke up this morning, I was like, nothing else matters.

Preach the word.

Preach the word, friends.

We're gonna close our eyes in a second and we're gonna take a moment to repent of the times we have not spoken up when we could have spoken up.

We're gonna repent of the times we used our voice carelessly and wasted words when they could have gone to spreading the gospel.

Will you do this with me?

Will you bow your head right now?

God, we repent.

We repent, we repent, we repent.

Forgive us, God, for the moments we didn't speak when we should have.

Forgive us for the moments we did speak when we should have shut our mouths.

God, today we dedicate ourselves to you anew and we say, God, I will preach the word.

Wherever you put me, I'll preach the word.

It's not about me, it's about you, and I will preach the word.

God, I'm available to you today.

Use me at my job.

Use me with my kids.

Use me at my school.

I will preach the word.

I will say yes today to my calling.

I'm praying right now for you, friends, that God is bringing up names and faces of those you are meant to tell about God's love.

Not hesitating because you're not a pastor, not hesitating for fear of judgment, not hesitating because you're kind of thinking it's not your right to do it.

That name right now, that face, that's the Holy Spirit.

Just begin to pray right now for that person and the way God is gonna use you to preach the word in their life.

And with every head still bowed, I believe that in a room this size, there's people here today who have never accepted Jesus as their savior, who have never prayed a prayer to be saved.

And I want to give you that chance today.

If you're in this room and you say, Liz, I've never even accepted Jesus as my Lord, but I want him to save me, I want him to forgive me.

I want to do that today.

Guess what?

Today is your moment.

It is not an accident that you were here.

God put this here for you today.

Every head is bowed, every eye is closed.

But if you say that's me, I want to accept him in my heart today.

Will you raise your hand?

No one's looking.

No one is looking.

Thank you.

I see you.

I see you.

This is your moment.

Thank you.

So, right now, in your own heart, your own words, will you just say this prayer with me?

Say, Lord, forgive me for my sins.

Thank you for saving me.

Thank you for dying for me.

Today is my day.

I give you my life.

Come into my heart, be my Lord and Savior.

Forgive me and give me life with you, eternal.

I will serve you from now until forever.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Friends, we have had people all day accepting Jesus as their Lord.

Let's celebrate that.