Life On Purpose | Silence Is Not An Option

Good morning, Art Church.

How are you doing today?

I know Victor talked about the weather.

We know around here it is temporary, but where I grew up, we called this late summer.

Because anytime you got to this, you knew the snow was gonna be flying and the sub-zero was coming, and we don't have to worry about that, do we?

So enjoy it while we can, right?

So glad you're here on a Sunday morning.

Um, I want you to imagine something with me uh for a moment.

What if you had a friend or family member who was uh very ill, terminally ill, and uh they were in a situation where there was really no seeming cure.

The doctors were perplexed and confused.

And in that, you actually had the cure for what they needed.

You could save their life.

You you had what they needed to take away this otherwise very serious illness.

But instead of doing something about it, you just kept it to yourself.

What if you had a family member or a friend who was accused of a crime and they were thrown in prison and it was a life sentence, and they had gone to trial, but you were a witness to what took place.

And if you were willing to testify, you could set them free.

Otherwise, they were gonna spend the rest of their lives in prison, thrown away, but you could set them free.

And you chose to say nothing.

See, I wonder why it is today.

Here, here's here's here's the the theme, here's the the focus for us, now that I have your attention.

Because we have this thing called the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We we have this thing called the Word of God, which is life and truth that brings not only freedom but eternal freedom.

It not only heals the broken heart, it brings permanent healing to the broken heart.

It not only restores right relationship, it does it forever.

So, why do we choose not to share this good news with the people we love the most and the people we meet along life's path?

And today we're gonna talk about uh the challenge of being a witness for God.

So, in the book of Colossians, this is what it says.

The message today, by the way, is entitled, Silence Isn't an option.

Colossians chapter 4, verse 5 says this Be wise in the way that you act towards outsiders, non-Christians, unbelievers.

Colossians 4:5

Make the most of every opportunity.

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

So here's the first of three.

Three points.

Three points to take home with you.

First one is this be wise.

The passage says, be wise in the way you act towards non-believers.

And that word wise there in the Greek is a very special term that means a sense of spiritual wisdom that can only be gained when we devote ourselves in surrender to God.

And so the challenge before us today from the book of Colossians is that we would live our lives wise as we act or relate with those who are outside of the faith.

Let the spiritual life that's growing within us be evident in the actions, the way we treat others.

You know, because every day when we encounter those who are outside of the faith, who are not Christians, every day they're watching.

And our credibility is at stake.

How we respond when we get frustrated matters.

How we treat other people, it matters.

How we conduct ourselves at work matters.

How we act towards people who disagree with us matters.

Why?

Because our credibility is at stake.

Our witness is on display.

You can't get around, you can't choose not for that to be true.

Whether they know you're a Christian or not, people notice how we treat them and how we act around others, especially when the pressure is turned up.

I love the way James kind of talks about this.

James, by the way, if you don't know, is the half-brother of Jesus.

Think about that for a second.

I mean, I know some of you grew up in a family, maybe you had a brother or sister, and they were the favorite one, you know.

But imagine if you grew up in Jesus' family, you know.

Uh, you know, I know there are families where you had a sibling that made straight A's, and you know, they never did anything wrong at home, and and they were always good.

They never got in trouble, and they always ate all of their vegetables and loved it.

You know, that that child, which in our family was me.

But anyhow, that that's where James finds himself.

He's the second oldest in the family, and he's the half-brother of Jesus.

Of course, they have the same mother, Mary, but Jesus, Father, is the Holy Spirit.

So little difference.

And uh, but I just imagine James would be complaining.

Well, mom, you know what?

Uh Jesus, uh, he's he always thinks he's right.

He thinks he's perfect.

Mom, he thinks he's perfect.

And you just imagine Mary saying, you know, James, you're getting to that age.

I think we need to have the talk about Jesus.

I said, Mom, we always get in arguments and he always wins.

Yeah, because he's perfect.

You're gonna lose every time.

And James has some wisdom for us found in his little letter, chapter three, about how can we live lives that are wise and how we conduct ourselves, how we act, especially when we're around people who are not believers.

He says it this way he says, Who is wise and understanding among you?

Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done, catch this, in humility that comes from wisdom, in humility that comes from wisdom.

How can we be wise in the actions and the way that we treat others, especially outsiders, those who are looking for answers, looking for truth, looking for freedom.

Be wise.

In humility, be wise.

Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

This is how uh Paul writes, he says, Do not out of, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, think of others before yourself.

Let that soak in for a second.

Not looking to your own interest, but to the interest of others.

How countercultural is that command?

And then verse 5, he says, your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

Being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to grasp, but he made himself nothing.

Taking the very nature of a servant, and being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man.

Catch this.

He humbled himself, he became obedient to death, even death on the cross.

But he doesn't end there.

He says, Therefore, therefore, God exalted him to the highest place, and he gave him the name that is above all names.

That at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God our Father.

That's a good word today.

But notice what it says, your attitude should be the same as Jesus.

What did Jesus do?

He had all of the authority, all of the power associated with sitting at the right hand of the Father.

He was omnipotent, omnipotent.

It's hard to get out.

It's omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent.

He knew everything.

He could be everywhere at all times.

And he gave it up for you and me to become just like us.

He knows what it is to deal with difficult people.

He knows what it is, he knows what it is to be questioned and challenged about who he is, his identity, his faith, his purpose in being here.

He knows what it is to be abandoned by his closest friends.

He knows what you're going through because he's lived it.

And we have this challenge.

I mean, have you ever been around someone who's a prideful, arrogant person?

Ever been around them?

You don't look around, but have you ever been around someone like that?

Maybe at work or maybe one of those strange family members, but someone, someone you know.

And how does it make you feel?

I know when I'm around someone who has that kind of look down at you and and thinks they're better than you.

It makes me feel uncomfortable because I don't like being around those kinds of people.

They just simply don't connect.

It's it's it's it there there's reasons why it's important how we act towards others.

God is very clear in his word is because when we find people who are prideful and arrogant, they lose the ability to influence positively in the lives of non-believers.

As Christians, we can fall into this trap.

I remember I was preparing a message uh some years ago on uh humility, and I thought to myself, how can I ever preach a message on humility?

Because I fall short of it so often, you know, and and so I just, you know, I always, before I stand and speak uh in any uh setting like this, I always have the message go through the filter of my life because I don't want to disqualify myself by simply telling you to live a life that I'm not at least living in some way victoriously.

And so I sat down and I just had this conversation with God and I said, you know, God, I don't feel like I have you know pride or arrogance in my life.

That's not, I don't think that's the way I live.

I think I'm a pretty humble guy, but you know, Lord, before I stand up and preach this message on humility, if there's anything in my life that may even be a momentary, you know, diversion of pride, just show it to me.

And God got all excited.

He said, Oh, that's great, great, great.

Get some paper, get a lot of paper, get a pen.

I got some things I've been waiting to say to you.

And so I sat there with my paper and pen, and God's kind of spoken in my heart, and he said, You know, sometimes, sometimes, you know that you have that need to be right.

Yeah, that's that's pride working in your life.

And I said, Okay, ouch.

He said, you know, sometimes, sometimes that you have this need that you've got to correct people if they're wrong.

You've you you you've gotta correct someone.

Like the other day when you were telling people about your plans to go and see your daughter in college, and and your wife said, you know, we're going this weekend to see our daughter, we're going down to Tulsa to see her.

And he said, honey, honey, honey, we're not going down to Tulsa, we're going up to Tulsa.

Did that really matter that you had to correct her in front of everybody else?

I said, ooh, sorry about that, Lord.

He said, Don't tell me you're sorry, tell her.

I said, Okay, got it?

Anything else, Lord?

Oh, yeah, no, we're not done yet.

You know, sometimes, sometimes you need to do things yourself.

You don't know what you're doing, but you're not willing to ask anybody for help.

You know what that is?

Pride?

Yeah, yeah, that's pride in your life.

I said, okay.

Sometimes, sometimes, not always, but sometimes, when someone else is speaking, you have this need to interrupt them and share something else that's going on in the conversation.

You know, when you interrupt them, what you're really saying is what I have to say is more important than whatever you were saying.

And you know what we call that?

We call that pride.

Am I the only one in the room that's that deals with this?

That's what we call it.

We call it pride.

And finally I just said, God, I give up.

You see, pride, so often in our lives, uh, appears in very subtle ways in the way that we act around others and the words that we say.

James 4, 6 says it this way God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

So we have a choice today.

Do you want God's prideful or pridefulness to be a sense where God resists us, or would you like to live in the grace of God?

You see, it's the prideful person that says, I don't need God.

I'll figure it out on my own.

But let me tell you something.

Let me tell you something.

At the root, at the foot of the cross, it's equal.

At the foot of the cross, the ground is even.

You see, you don't have to try and impress other people because no one's better than you.

But you can choose to serve someone because no one's beneath you.

At the foot of the cross, all ground is even.

So I see in the life of Jesus this challenge that we face.

And I remember there was a passage in Jesus was nearing his death, and as recorded in John's Gospel, and Jesus, it says there, Jesus, knowing where he had come from, heaven, and where he was soon returning to, home, heaven, saw that no one had washed the feet of his disciples.

You see, when you know where you come from and you know whose you are, you can choose to freely serve others without regard to how it might reflect in your life.

And Jesus, Messiah, Jesus the rabbi, Jesus the miracle worker, Jesus the Lord did something that no person of authority would do, no person in a position of power would do.

He took off his outer robe, he bent his knee, and he began to wash the feet of those who served him.

This was the most menial task known within the world of Jesus for the servant, the lowest servant at the feast.

That was their job.

And Jesus took it upon himself to show the wisdom and the mercy and the grace of God to those who are around him by doing the greatest act of kindness, submitting to the needs of those around him.

Let me tell you something.

Let me tell you something.

When you're willing to stand up or when you're willing to bend the knee to serve someone else, that's not a sign of weakness.

Humility is not a sign of weakness.

When you give a kind response to a sharp word, when you give a sense of love to those who try to destroy you, that's not weakness.

That's the greatest sign of strength that we can find in our world today.

When you will serve your spouse, not for what you can get from them, but simply as an act of kindness and surrendering and yielding in humility to honor them.

It's the greatest sign of strength that we can find in the relationship of people one to another.

And when we do it to those who don't expect it, those who are harsh, those who are outside of the faith of Jesus Christ, what they see in our actions speaks volumes about our character.

Secondly, not only be wise, the passage says, but be prepared.

Look what it says in Colossians chapter 4, verse 5.

Colossians 4:5

Let's look at it again.

It says there, make the most of every opportunity.

Let your conversation be always full of grace.

Let that sink in.

Seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

I want you to know something in this passage.

It doesn't say so that you know what to say to others, but how to answer others.

I mean, have you ever been in an argument with someone and what they had to say was probably pretty true, but it was how they said it that elevated the conversation?

You see, it's not just the conversations we have with people, and we can speak the truth, but if it's not done in love, it's not, they will miss the words in the attitude and in the temperature, and in the tone of our words, how we say it.

So we so Paul is instructing us here to make everything, make every opportunity available to us.

Make the most of it.

I remember there was a friend of mine once said it this way you can't really say that you care about someone until you're willing to risk offending them with the truth.

It's one thing to say that we we care for someone, that we love someone, that this friend means uh something dear to us, and or this person is important in our lives.

But are they important enough for us to be willing to risk offending in order to share in humility, in wisdom, a truth about where their life is with God?

You understand what I'm trying to say today?

Be prepared.

We've got to be willing today to risk difficult conversations.

We've got to be willing to reach out in love and say, Can I just have a minute?

Can I share something about what's going on?

Can I give you an answer to what you're asking?

Somewhere in there, we have to have the courage to stand up.

Speak up in humility, yes.

Be gentle in our answer, yes, but also have a sense of boldness and conviction and knowing that when you step out in faith, in the middle of your conversation, that God has created this opportunity.

When you step out in strength, when you step out in boldness, God will honor that in the response of others.

2 Timothy says it this way in chapter 2.

Again, I say, don't get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights.

Ever been there?

A servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach and be patient with difficult people.

He says, gentle, gently instruct those who oppose the truth.

Perhaps God will change those people's hearts and they will learn the truth.

That's a challenge, isn't it?

I mean, we get into certain conversations, we work with certain people, we're given certain tasks, we're thinking that sometimes life isn't fair, sometimes we're not treated the right way.

Someone will say something we don't like.

I say, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind.

Say, I have a right to give, I have a right to give a piece of my mind.

No, you don't.

You gave that up when you accepted Jesus Christ.

You have a right to give them peace of God's mind, but not my mind.

You see, there's a difference in how we talk to others when we are preparing for those opportunities God puts in our life to truly be a witness.

But here's the point silence isn't an option.

God has called us to speak up.

Listen, you can win the argument and lose the opportunity to influence that person for Christ.

It's your choice.

And I've seen this a hundred times.

I call this the bullhorn guy approach.

It's the dude when you go to a football game or something that's standing on the street corner or is standing somewhere on a sidewalk with a big sign, repent, you're going to hell.

And they're yelling out through this bullhorn at people, you're going to hell, repent.

Now, all of that may be true for many people walking by.

It's not that the message is wrong, but I question the method.

It's not that there isn't truth to the fact that there is a reality of hell, and sin has its consequences, and the wages of sin is death, scripture says.

And that they need to repent and accept Jesus Christ.

All of that is true.

But notice what Scripture instructs us today.

As a witness for Jesus Christ, gentleness and humility and kindness and words will win the day over that type of a confrontational in-your-face unity.

And I'm saying some people may respond, but the vast majority are not only turned off, but they make it so much harder for the rest of us to have meaningful conversations.

Why is that?

It's because people respond.

People oftentimes don't, they already know that their life is a mess.

They don't need to be reminded.

I found this after 46 years as a Christian.

This is what I've learned in this whole idea of being a witness for Christ.

I've learned that people will embrace the gospel message more if I will challenge them and inspire them and talk to them about the benefits of living in the blessing of a heaven that's yet to come, than to remind them of all of the torture and torment of a hell that they don't want to go to.

It's not that either one is wrong, it's just that I want to emphasize what it is to live in the goodness of God and at times remind them that there is consequences when we don't choose to go that path.

Are you still with me today?

All right, then I'll go on.

So you may ask yourself today, you know, oh, how how do I live a prepared life so that, you know, when when the opportunity approaches, maybe when it arises, and it it will this week, I promise you.

It may be before the day is out.

When the opportunity arises, how can I how can I be prepared?

Thank you for asking the question.

Here's the first one Know the truth.

Start by growing, having a growing understanding of what God.

God's truth is in your life.

What do we mean by this?

Jesus said, I have come that you might know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Pilate once said to him at his trial, What is truth?

Wrong question.

You see, in the Bible, truth is not found in some type of abstract knowledge.

It's found in a person named Jesus Christ.

It's not what is truth, it's who is the truth.

And there's only one answer to that question, and it's Jesus Christ.

So what do we need to do?

We need to know the truth.

Jesus said, He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.

The sense that Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except by me.

Jesus is the truth.

So when it says here to know the truth, that word know there is not talking about an intellectual exercise.

The word know in this concept in this situation within the context of the language is about intimacy of relationship.

Intimacy of relationship.

Scripture says in Genesis that Adam knew Eve and she bore a son.

It wasn't Adam standing in the garden one day as all the animals were walking by going, don't I know you, Eve?

It wasn't that kind of no.

Paul said, listen, I want to know Christ and the power of the resurrection and share in the suffering of the cross, becoming like him in his death, so that somehow, somehow, I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

To know biblically is to embrace a sense of personal relationship.

So you say, how do I live a life that's prepared to be a witness?

I mean, I have, think of the family members you have, think of the friends you have, the people that you work with that are far from God.

Would you like to see them come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?

Well, you have a part to play.

And your part is to be prepared, to be wise in how you act, and be prepared with an answer.

Now, notice it doesn't say there that we have to know what to say, it just says we need to know how to say it.

That's the challenge we face today.

It's not so many times we we we second guess, we wonder if we can even, you know, be a witness for Christ.

I know it can be intimidating.

I understand that.

I'm not standing up here today and say that I'm the greatest soul winner in the world, and I can just tell you all the stories about airplane flights and enclosed, you know, tubes in the sky where somebody just said, Hey, I understand you're a pastor.

Would you just share Jesus with me in this six-hour airplane ride?

And they they just they just said the prayer right there, and we just had.

I wish I had those stories.

I have some, but I tell you what, I understand this as well.

God, in our conversations, when we are prepared, maybe using us for page 71 in the long spiritual journey of someone's life, and that conversation plants seeds that chapter 94 addresses, and then finally over here on page 162 in life, some weeks or months later, someone else has a divine moment with that person, and they accept Jesus Christ as Lord.

You don't know what conversations will garnish a sense of people taking the next step towards faith in Christ.

You don't know just on your own what needs they have.

You know how you can have a sense of understanding, of being prepared, of being intuitive, of sensing the Spirit of God and those divine encounters this week.

Get to know them better every day.

Secondly, make sure that I'm living it behind closed doors before I walk outside in the world.

In other words, start every day in the Word.

Start every day by asking God, use me today.

I don't know in what fashion or what means, but to a life on purpose, this whole series, one of the most important aspects of a life on purpose in Scripture is to be the witness of Jesus Christ to the world.

Jesus says, go and make disciples of all nations.

That challenge is not for pastors, it's not just for ministers who have spoken to every Christian who heard the message of Jesus Christ.

That we are to love God and love others.

That's a life that's lived on purpose.

And thirdly, we need to be willing to share the truth, to overcome all of the oppositions inside of us, all of the fears and concerns.

What if I don't know how to answer a question they have?

How do I start a spiritual conversation?

I don't even know how to start a conversation.

So often we're looking for that perfect moment when our life is aligned and we're living uh, you know, uh in with all of our problems solved, and and we have the answers, and we we that day probably will never come.

But what we need to do is understand that in those moments, it's not so much about how do we start a spiritual conversation as much as in the conversation you're having, when is there a spiritual moment that God wants you to speak up and not be silent?

So often we're fearful of offending people or you know being labeled as one of those, you know, kind of wacky Christians or whatever it is, but I'm more concerned about how God sees the way we're living our lives than I am about the attitudes and the opinions of those who may not see the fact that my motivation in sharing this good news is not because I'm better than you, it's because I've been where you've been.

And Jesus Christ has changed my life forever.

Would you agree?

God is going to bring those moments into your life.

There are people that you're going to meet this week who are disappointed, fearful, lonely, spiritually curious, alone, outside of the love of God, and they know they have a problem.

They're just looking for someone that helped them find the answer.

I remember a time when I was pastoring in the Southern California area, and we're in this church that had a beautiful courtyard and palm trees, and it was, it was, I was on staff.

Penny and I were there on staff, and and and and uh I remember it was the middle of the sermon, and I needed to go and prepare for a class I was teaching in our family ministry center, and so I kind of left the service and I'd walked out into the uh outdoor courtyard area, and there's a little babbling uh pond there next to the offices, and there was a gentleman sitting there in the middle of the service, in the middle of the message, all by himself, the only person in the courtyard.

He's probably in his 40s, and he was just sitting next to this little babbling pond, and he's got tears coming down his eyes.

Now, now I just caught all of that as I was quickly, hastily walking past him to get to my assignment, which is to set up that room for that very important class I was going to teach.

And I did one of those drive-by hellos.

Hey, how you doing?

Smiled and just kept walking.

Let me ask yourself.

What is a middle-aged man in the middle of a Sunday morning when a message is being preached, sitting out in a courtyard by himself, weeping uncontrollably?

Do you think maybe there's a problem here?

Come on.

But I was too busy.

And as I made my way to those glass doors, I opened them up.

I still remember it.

I walked up, got to the third step, and in that moment, the Spirit of God spoke.

I don't know if you've had it just those moments you just don't forget.

You have one of those moments.

It wasn't that there was an audible voice, but there was an overwhelming voice that rose up inside of my spirit.

And it's just said, he just said this.

Go talk to that man.

And I knew instantly it was the man I just walked past in the courtyard.

And I stopped what I was doing.

He'd stopped me in my tracks, and I walked back out.

And just as I got through the glass doors, I could see that man leaving the courtyard and going out to one of our parking lots.

And so I quickened my pace, and now I'm almost almost in a jog.

And as I get to the edge, I could get to the edge of the parking lot just in time to see him get into his pickup truck and drive off our property.

And in that moment, the Spirit of God spoke to me.

And he said, You idiot! You idiot! Now I know we're not supposed to say idiot at home, kids, so but that's what I sensed.

I sense such a sense that God was saying to me, I have orchestrated your entire day, your entire morning around that moment.

You are the only one that walked by that man.

I I set aside, I put you in that moment for a reason.

And you walked by him and ignored everything.

You blew it.

Now, God was more gracious than that, but that's how I felt.

Imagine what I did for the next couple months in that church.

Every week when we come together, I'm looking around, scouring the crowd.

I can see his face in my mind right now, and it's been years ago.

I've never forgotten it.

God hasn't let me forget it because he wants to remind me that he gives all of us divine appointments, moments in time where we need to be aware of our surroundings and have the words that we can say and have the willingness to step forward boldly and ask the question.

You don't have to have all the answers, just ask a question.

Be willing to tell them what Jesus means to you, but ask them the second question.

So often we'll say, Oh, how are you doing?

How you doing?

Oh, I'm doing fine.

No, no.

The second question, how are you really doing?

And in their mind they're thinking, Are you serious?

Because if you're serious, if you really want to know how I'm doing, then you need to sit down and park it because I'm gonna take some time, because what I have to share isn't gonna take 30 seconds.

If you're just doing a wave, hi, good to see you.

If you're just doing one of those, then I'll wave back.

If you're serious about really understanding what's going on, then have a seat.

There are moments in our lives when God prepares us.

And I'm telling you this, I'm telling you, this week, God's gonna give you one of those moments.

I don't know what it is, he's gonna give you that moment.

Thirdly, be an influencer.

Be wise, be prepared, be an influencer.

Notice the shift in Paul's challenge.

In verse 5, he focuses on how we should act around nonbelievers.

And in verse 6, how he shifts it to how we should talk to non-believers.

And don't miss this, don't miss this.

The challenge, friends, the challenge for us to be a witness for God is to have the conversation.

Be willing to step out, encourage.

God is calling us to be an influencer.

In our lives, he's calling us to be an influencer.

You know, I started to think about that, and I thought, you know, in our society, our society has become inundated with social media influencers.

They want to tell you how to dress, how to live, how to think, how to talk, how to put on your makeup, what to buy.

Everything in our life.

There's an influencer who wants to tell you how to live it.

So I did some research and I found out that there were some pretty powerful social influence people on TikTok, and I never understood this.

Here's some just three of the most powerful names in social media.

The first one is Kabela May.

Kabela May on just TikTok has over 162 million followers.

Now catch this, catch this.

And he makes over$259,000 per 30 to 60 second video.

$259,000.

Charlie here, Charlie Diamilo, is uh a makeup artist, from what I understand.

No idea, never saw her.

$159 million TikTok followers,$246,000 per 30 to 60 second video spot.

And then Mr.

Beast, have no idea what he does.

I just know he has over a half a million followers on YouTube.

And on TikTok, he makes over$422,000 per post.

Start thinking about that.

Maybe I'm in the wrong profession.

To post a video.

Lame doesn't even speak.

All of his videos are silent.

He never says a word, which is great for the universality because you don't have to have a translator.

But the man's never spoken on video and he makes$260,000 video.

So I can ask myself, who's influencing our lives if we're going to be an influencer in the lives of others?

Colossians tells us that we are called to speak, to converse in wisdom and in kindness with others who don't know the truth.

But I do know this.

If we want to be an influencer for others, we don't have to listen to all those voices out there who want to influence every part of our life.

And there's podcasts that are good podcasts with good content.

But let me tell you something.

Before we ever go to a podcast or ever listen to some influencer on telling us how to live our life, right here is the greatest influence that we need to have in our lives today.

It's called the Word of God.

The Bible says in Timothy, 2 Timothy 3, all scripture is God breathed.

And he's useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.

Some of your translations say all scripture is the inspiration of God.

Because it comes from the original language, and literally it says all scripture is the in spirit of God.

That's where we get the word inspiration.

It's God's Spirit deposited in us.

So, in a very real sense, every time you go and seek the wisdom and the influence of God's word, this is what God is doing.

He's breathing into your life, into your situation, into your soul, the breath of life, the revelation which is yea and amen.

All heaven and earth will pass away, scripture says, but my word will never pass away.

Every time you start your day, if you want to truly be an influence in the lives of others, if you have loved ones or friends or coworkers that are not committed to a life in Christ, they don't need another voice out there to tell them what the influence needs to be in their lives.

They need the word of God to tell them what the influence is.

And every time God does that, we need to do this.

But we can't keep it in.

God's called us then to do this.

To take the eternal word of God and breathe it in to change our lives so that we can be a witness that breathes it out as truth and life and hope and a deposit of God's joy and happiness and revelation that will change lives not just today, but for eternity, not just in their life, but every one of their family members and all they encounter now are touched by an eternal God who has breathed into our life so we could breathe into their life so that they could get saved and breathe into somebody else's life.

God is calling you today to be a witness.

Silence is not an option.

Some of you were here a couple months ago when I shared for the first time, and I shared the story of my Best Buy days.

And it was the darkest, deepest kind of time of wilderness experience in my life, those couple years that I was in an interim time in between ministry assignments.

And I remember several years after that that I thought, you know, I would love to have a Best Buy shirt that I could frame and just keep as a reminder of the faithfulness of God.

But I I lost or given away or thrown away mine.

But I had a friend, Chris Kaikendal, a young man that I worked with at Best Buy during those days.

And he and I got to be pretty close friends.

He was a very young guy, young enough to be my son.

But we we got along and he knew my story.

And he knew that the season I was in, and then when I got to Gateway and I was there for some years, I said, you know, I don't have one of those shirts.

And so I called Chris.

I said, Chris, do you happen to have one of those old Best Buy shirts?

And if you do, could I have it?

And he said, Well, sure.

Sure, John.

And I said, Okay, I appreciate it.

Could you just mind dropping by the office?

He said, No problem.

Next day, I come back from a meeting.

Sure enough, there's the Best Buy shirt.

But he left a note.

And this is what he said.

Please understand this.

I don't mean this as any other reflection on me except that God uses a sinner, just like me, to still be able to speak life into somebody else.

With all my faults and flaws.

When you told the story of your walk during your season, you spent at Best Buy.

I couldn't help but think back to all the mornings we spent working together.

Thank you for providing such an excellent example.

Never once, never once did I hear a frustrated or discouraging word.

I pray that during the most recent experience, as I walked through a similar waiting season at Best Buy, that I do so with even a tenth of the humility and strength that I saw in you.

May God continue to bless you abundantly for all you do for his kingdom.

Thanks again for sharing your story.

Chris Kaikendal.

Took that letter, kept it.

Didn't realize, you know, Chris had turned his life around after those days I spent with him at Best Buy.

Not because of me, but I had a small, small part, and he he accepted Jesus Christ as Lord, who recommitted his life.

And at that time he was serving as a youth sponsor at a youth camp for wayward teenagers, undisciplined teenagers.

Five weeks after he wrote that letter, he unfortunately took a turn too fast.

His jeep rolled over and he died instantly.

And immediately he was in the arms of Jesus.

In a very small way, a very small way.

Because on his path there was some guy at Best Buy who was frustrated with life but didn't give up on God, who was faithful in the moment to do obediently what God had called me to do and to be there and be a witness for a young man who needed to know, don't give up.

God's not done with you.

Who do you have in your life today?

That God is saying, I'm preparing the moment for you.

And I'm gonna use you as an instrument of my grace and peace.

Would you bow your hands with me, please?

Close your eyes.