John 5:30-47 “Bearing Witness”

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Amen.

Good morning, everybody.

For those of you who may not remember, our senior pastor, Will, is in India, and he is

doing very well in India.

He actually is preaching this morning, and tomorrow he starts teaching in one of the

conference-type seminary places that we partner with, and then Wednesday he will be a youth

retreat speaker.

That should be interesting.

And he said he appreciates your prayers, and he's very thankful for this place, so I was

texting with him a little bit.

So just an update there.

He is there safely and doing really well.

And I'm privileged to get to lead us this morning.

I'm also privileged to have Skeets lead with me this morning.

Thank you, Skeets.

I love having our elders be a part of leading up here.

It's not easy to do, and I'm just really thankful to have y'all's voices in our lives,

and so we'll get to do that again next week as well.

But let me pray for us this morning before we jump into looking at God's Word together.

Father in heaven, thank you for this time.

Thank you for these wonderful people.

Every face in here is a life and a soul.

And this morning they're going through something, and you've brought them here for something.

May that be your spirit that ministers to me and to us together as we look at your Word

and consider the things that you say.

Thank you, Father.

It's in Jesus' name that I pray these things.

Amen.

Amen.

So, some of y'all know this.

I play music, and I used to play a lot more than I do now.

And, like, there's this particular place in Birmingham called Work Play Theater,

and there was this guy there who ran the sound.

And his name is Davey, okay?

And Davey is one of the men who you meet and you are like, am I a man?

Okay?

Because he is so very manly man.

And when he talks, he talks like this!

And Davey is one of the scariest men that I ran into for quite some time.

And so I would show up to play these concerts, and I got to know Davey, and I would get sometimes

a little intimidated by him, but I kept, he was on my heart, like I wanted to talk to Davey.

I wanted to interact with Davey.

But he was cold.

He didn't really want to talk to me.

And most of the time he could be misinterpreted as kind of mean.

So it became the backdrop to every concert there that I would play at Work Play.

How am I going to talk to Davey?

And so I found myself, though, praying for Davey a lot.

I found myself wanting to encourage him and to listen to his story.

But I didn't really know what to do to get over that hump.

But what I found was I was longing for this doorway to bear witness.

I think that's what was really going on inside my heart.

If you think about that word witness.

Witness is a person who sees an event and they give evidence or proof of that event or that person or that thing.

Bearing witness, then, would be showing that something exists or is true.

It's giving a truthful testimony about what you've seen.

It's speaking honestly about something that is important to you for the purpose of showing that it does exist or that thing is true.

Now, there's a very popular TV show on right now that's about to enter into its fifth season.

And it follows the life of a lucrative estate businessman.

And he's purchased a large ranch in Utah.

It's a 500-acre site previously owned by the government and the site of purported paranormal and UFO-related activities.

Now, the series follows a team of scientists, investigators, and skeptics who have been brought to the ranch to investigate the reports by testing them scientifically.

And the latest investigation led them to a location on the ranch where they've witnessed time being manipulated and gravity not operating normally.

And they speculate that it could be a naturally occurring wormhole.

Okay?

They speculate.

But as they witness and they film these amazing phenomenon, they bear witness about them, providing evidence in an attempt to show that these things indeed exist and are true.

Now, I recently met some friends who worship at a different church in a completely different denomination than we are in.

And when we had them over for dinner, it was fun to hear how they were talking about what their church services are like.

And one of the really wonderful things that they mentioned that they do in each service is that they have a time where people are given opportunities to stand up and bear witness about what God has done and is doing in their lives.

Kind of what we do at the Thanksgiving service that Kelly mentioned.

And at our meal, when they were over at our house, they were doing that very thing as they told us about how God had delivered them from some really, really tough circumstances in their lives and how he's still at work in their family.

They were giving truthful testimony about what they've seen and experienced.

And so, as I was walking and praying about these scriptures today and thinking through this and praying through it, I started to notice these things around me that I had never noticed when I was walking before.

In a different way.

It's just interesting as I was praying about it.

So, at first, I looked up and I was like, wow, that's really heavenly.

That's really, really beautiful.

And these things, to me, as I looked, I started to notice them crying out, God, God, God.

There was this little anthill that was made from all of the leftovers from the, all these leftovers from the clippings from the grass that was cut.

And these little creatures that God created, they make a home.

Then I looked out and I saw this.

I didn't know what that was.

I got closer and it was that.

And if you get closer, it's that.

It's amazing.

And I'm like, God did that.

God created the thing that created that thing.

And it bears witness to God.

And then there was this beautiful bird.

I mean, that looks like something out of Jurassic Park.

But it's amazing.

And it was just this blue that even, that doesn't even capture it.

It's like a beautiful piece of art that I was looking at.

And then there's ducks.

Have you just thought about ducks?

They're like paddle boat animals.

Like if a paddle boat could have fur on, that's all they do.

And they sit there and they talk to each other.

But if you know what's going on underneath the surface there, it's amazing what ducks are.

And if you look today in our passage that we're going to look at briefly together, what we're really learning about is bearing witness.

Okay?

A witness that proclaims that Christ really is God.

Okay?

They're providing evidence, this passage today, to show that God exists and that God is true.

And so Jesus is going to tell us what he thinks about all that.

And in the verses just before these verses, we learn, remember last week, why the Jews are seeking to kill Jesus.

Because not only had he just healed a man at the pool at Bethesda on the Sabbath, which they said was sin, because it was work.

But he was also now calling God his own father.

And he was making himself equal with God.

And he was pointing to the authority that he himself has to give eternal life.

And then he also had just spoken about right before these verses, the day of judgment.

Okay?

Where all those who have died, everyone who died, he says, will be raised.

Okay?

But not all will be raised to eternal life.

There'll be a resurrection to death and eternal judgment.

And there'll be a resurrection to life.

So all of these precede this verse here.

So now he's going to continue and he's going to shift the focus to witness.

So let's start just by looking at the first five verses.

I can do nothing on my own.

As I hear, I judge.

And my judgment is just.

Because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.

There is another who bears witness about me.

And I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.

You sent to John and he is born witness to the truth.

Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.

He was a burning and shining lamp and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

The first thing that Jesus does here, notice, is he refers to the Jewish law.

Okay.

Not only in the Hebrew culture, but in most every ancient culture, for something to be verified as true in court, there has to be more than one testament.

Okay.

Today you're going to see it in the court system.

What do we have in courts?

Witnesses, right?

Well, in the Jewish courts, if you claim that something was true and you don't have evidence to support it outside of your own testimony or other eyewitnesses, then it fails.

You had to have at least two eyewitnesses.

Okay.

So Jesus knew this and he's speaking their language to them.

Okay.

About himself though.

And he's using the standard of their law.

And he's saying, God has given you evidence, all the evidence that you need to back up the claim that I am God.

That I am who I say that I am.

That I am equal with God, the Father.

And what's the first evidence that he mentions in here?

Who's the first witness that he calls to the stand?

It's John the Baptist.

So witness number one there is John the Baptist.

And he tells us this, that John is a lamp.

So Jesus here is talking about himself.

If you're wondering who Jesus says he is, he's going to tell us in these next verses here.

He describes John first as a burning and a shining lamp.

And he even points to the fact that they believed the things that John said.

And they rejoiced in them for a while.

So Jesus is saying, hey, John was a lamp.

And that's the witness of John.

He was a human who devoted his life to shining a light.

Saying, repent and prepare the way for who?

Jesus.

Now, the handheld lamps of this time, they would have been an oil lamp.

And they only produced a very small amount of light.

Usually about as much as a candle or a big candle.

And though he was a lamp, he's saying he was not the light.

So think about that.

John is a lamp.

He's providing a small amount of light.

Jesus is going to come in and just, right?

Blow the whole thing up.

Turn all the lights on.

So though he was a lamp, he was not the light.

So Jesus then moves on to call another witness to the stand.

And do you know who he calls to the stand next?

It's in your bulletin.

God.

His works, miracles first.

And God the Father.

He's going to put these two together here, okay?

So saying this, and let's read these verses together.

The testimony that I have is greater than that of John.

For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing,

bear witness about me, Jesus, that the Father has sent me.

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me.

His voice you've never heard.

His form you've never seen.

And you do not have his word abiding in you.

For you do not believe the one whom he has sent.

Okay.

If John is a lamp, which he just told us, then Jesus now is the light, the real light.

And God is here.

And so Jesus here is pointing to his miracles first.

Okay.

If you need proof, look at what I'm doing.

And he's been performing them saying they give proof to the realities of the things that he's seen

and who he says he is.

They witness.

And the fact that he and the Father are one.

Remember right before this, the Jews tried to kill him.

And that's because he's bearing witness to these things.

And some people will say to you today, it does not say in the Bible anywhere that Jesus is God.

That is not true.

Okay.

That Jesus never claimed to be God.

That is not true.

You're seeing it right here.

But there's lots of accounts elsewhere where it's right in your face.

But how is Jesus the light?

There's two verses here to look at.

It's really a lot of verses in two slides.

Again, Jesus spoke to them saying,

I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

So the Pharisees said to him,

You are bearing witness about yourself.

Your testimony is not true.

Now remember, this is the same thing Jesus has just been doing.

He knows the whole system there.

And Jesus answered,

Even if I do bear witness about myself,

my testimony is true.

For I know where I came from and where I'm going.

But you do not know where I come from or where I'm going.

You judge according to the flesh.

I judge no one.

Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true.

For it's not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.

In your law, it's written that the testimony of two people is true.

I am the one who bears witness about myself.

And the Father who sent me bears witness about me.

Okay, this would have blown their minds, right?

He right now is saying, you do not get it.

I am God.

Okay, he's pointing to Yahweh as bearing witness about him as God.

This would be an astounding claim.

So the Father, you know, in the Trinity,

the Father God sends the Son.

The Son will accomplish the work of salvation,

who then goes back to heaven and sends us who?

God the Holy Spirit.

This is the Trinity.

They are all co-equal in power and glory, though.

Okay, we don't understand this great mystery,

but you see community from the very beginning of existence

in the Godhead.

And if you ever long for community, that's why.

God made you that way.

Community is a good thing, but because of sin,

it's also a very broken thing.

So it's hard.

It's not easy.

But that's why the church is so important.

That's why the church is so worthwhile.

And I don't just mean these walls.

I mean the people of God.

We're supposed to be restoring that brokenness in the world

and those relationships.

One single smile and hug and conversation at a time.

So he's going to send us, though.

He's going to talk about later in John sending us the Holy Spirit.

But we'll probably get to that in the year 3000 at the rate we're going.

So hang on.

So he tells us that nobody has ever heard the Father's voice.

No one has seen his form.

Okay?

Except for who?

What's assumed there?

Jesus.

Right?

He was there in the beginning when the earth had not been fully formed

and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

This is also what I saw when I was walking.

That just, right?

Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And he says that they've never seen the Father except in Jesus.

Now, why not?

He says it's because they don't have his word abiding in them.

Skeets mentioned that earlier.

What does it mean to have the word abiding in us?

And Jesus is saying, if you don't believe me,

you don't believe the one who God has sent.

Then you don't know God.

I am God.

Okay?

Okay, John told you to look out for me.

And here I am doing the miracles, teaching you the truth,

about to die for you, and you don't believe me.

What does that mean to abide in Jesus?

Because we don't want to make that mistake.

I had this friend in high school, and I couldn't drive,

but he would always drive us around.

His name was John Mark Adrian.

And he always had the phrase, abide or don't ride.

And if you did anything outside of his rules in the car,

he would kick you out.

He was known to just drop you off on the side of the road and make you walk.

And most of it had to do with passing gas.

You could not do that in his car.

Okay?

And he would look at people, he would go,

abide or don't ride.

And he was serious.

Well, to abide in Jesus is to believe and to do exactly what he says,

and then to bear witness about that, to shine light, just like John did,

with our lives, to show him to be true,

to provide evidences to those around us in the relationships,

to bear witness about what he's doing in our lives,

to show God to be true.

John is a lamp.

Jesus is a light.

And as we learned earlier in the book,

the light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness has not overcome it.

And now, as Jesus is continuing,

he's going to call another witness to the stand.

And this is a big one.

Scripture.

You search the scriptures

because you think that in them you have eternal life.

And it's they that bear witness about me.

Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

I do not receive glory from people,

but I know that you do not have the love of God within you.

I've come in my Father's name,

and you don't receive me.

If another comes in his own name,

you will receive him.

How can you believe when you receive glory from one another

and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

Okay, again, equating himself with God.

Don't miss that.

But this is really important.

Okay, and here's why.

Because Jesus is telling us that scripture is so very, very important

to bear witness about him that he's calling it to the witness stand.

Now, why is that different than the other two witnesses?

They're both meaningful and huge, right?

God himself, miracles, John the Baptist.

But we hold what he's talking about now.

You can look at it.

I can't look at John the Baptist right now.

I can't necessarily see all of Jesus' miracles that he talked about,

but I can read the word, and you can read the word.

That's something that's still with us right here and right now

that he's talking about right then and there.

It means that in this world of chaos, okay,

confusion, fake news, whatever you want to call it,

you have truth to guide you.

The things that it bears witness about and hear are true.

The life, the death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

and not only that, the fact that Jesus is coming back, it's all real.

And Jesus is saying all of this to the most educated Bible scholars of the day.

It would be the smartest people that you could talk to about scriptures

out of that time.

And I want you to think about this.

If the most educated Bible scholars of the day could spend so much time

studying and teaching the scriptures that talk about Jesus,

yet completely miss the point and the purpose,

what does that say for us today?

We can make the same mistake, okay?

It's very possible for you to worship Christianity and miss Jesus,

to worship the Bible and miss God himself.

I don't want you or me to make that mistake.

And we have an opportunity to look at our hearts today.

Here God himself is looking in the face of his creation,

and he's saying,

you care more about the glory of man than you do about me.

You use the scriptures that testify about me to your advantage.

You use God as a means to your end.

You twist them to make them say what you want,

and all the while, it's killing you.

Life is standing in front of your face,

and you want to kill it.

Scripture is more than just information, okay?

Scripture is about transformation.

It's how we hear the voice of God.

And if it doesn't transform you,

you should probably stop and ask yourself,

why?

Why does it not transform you?

There's something behind that.

There's something underneath it.

And it might be different for each of you.

Because it's God's inspired word.

It's the sword of the spirit.

And it's the only weapon that Jesus ever used,

if you think about it.

Remember when he was tempted by Satan?

What did Satan use to try to tempt Jesus?

He used the word of God, didn't he?

Mm-hmm.

And what did Jesus do?

He slayed him like a Jedi, right?

He just vanquished him with this.

Well, yeah, you're right.

Scripture says that.

But here's what else it says.

Slam, drop the mic.

Satan runs away, right?

The word made flesh wields those scriptures.

And as we learn in Ephesians,

it's the sword of the spirit.

So don't make the mistake of just getting so busy

that this is another thing you got to do,

that this is just information.

Satan knows this information better than you and I.

Okay?

But we've got to let these scriptures transform us.

This is back to what it means to abide in Jesus.

Right?

It means to abide in his word.

Abide or don't ride.

If we're not in the word

and we're wondering why God isn't at work in our lives

or we don't experience him,

that's where it starts, right there.

Okay?

Start there.

Are you abiding in his word?

It means that in everything,

everything we do,

everything we think about,

every problem we have,

we go back and we search the scriptures.

And then we let the scriptures search us.

And then we let the scriptures lead us.

And in faith,

we take steps to do the things that it says

in every facet of our lives.

And when we're done doing that,

then we do it again.

And the more we do that,

the more we start to conform to Christ

and his word and his principles

and the things that he commands us to do.

And we grow and we become transformed.

And that's all the work of the spirit inside us.

But apart from his word,

what are we listening to for his voice?

Okay?

And I just want to encourage you in that.

If you don't know where to start,

we've got a two-year Bible plan

where you can just read on an app every day.

But I'm going to tell you,

it's easy to get legalists about it

and still see it as information

and forget God.

But it's scripture transforming you.

Okay?

Disciples sit under the authority of their teacher.

In verse 44,

Jesus points out that they cared more about each other

than they did about God.

And when we care more about each other

and our lives and our busyness and everything,

the same thing happens to us.

Okay?

We miss Jesus.

So disciples sit under the authority of their teacher.

And we know our teacher's voice

through this book of his special revelation.

You ever thought about whether or not

you sit under the authority of scripture?

At least this morning you can.

You know who else sits under the authority of scripture?

Angels.

Okay?

Okay?

Consider this verse from Galatians.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him

who called you in the grace of Christ

and are turning to a different gospel.

Not that there's another one,

but there are some who trouble you

and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

But even if we or an angel from heaven

should preach to you a gospel contrary

to the one we preached to you,

let him be accursed.

As we have said before,

so now I say again,

if anyone is preaching to you a gospel

contrary to the one you received,

let him be accursed.

For am I now seeking the approval of man

or of God?

Or am I trying to please man?

If I were still trying to please man,

I would not be a servant of Christ.

Angels sit in submission to scripture.

Can you think of any religion

that bases its context

and its principles upon what an angel said?

Anybody think of one?

Mormonism.

I think Jehovah's Witnesses,

can we throw that in there?

It's been a while.

And it preaches something contrary

to what the scriptures say.

This stuff is very real.

And then there's other things.

It could be,

you can worship TikTok.

Okay?

You can worship anything.

You can put anything in the central core

and receive that information

as the guiding principles of your life

more so than Christ.

But what sits in authority over you?

What is your foundation?

I just want you to consider that.

May our religious lives

not blind us from the God

that is in front of us

every day

and the opportunities

that he gives us to bear witness.

So we can listen to voices each day

as we read his word,

his voice,

and then ask,

would you search me?

Would you lead me?

Will you show me where I'm off?

Will you restore me?

So John is a lamp.

Jesus is the light.

Scripture teaches that Jesus is God.

And now Jesus calls his last witness

to the stand,

Moses.

Do not think that I will accuse you

to the Father.

There is one who accuses you,

Moses,

on whom you set your hope.

Again, man.

For if you believed Moses,

you would believe me,

for he wrote of me.

But if you do not believe his writings,

how will you believe my words?

Moses.

So,

he's telling us here

that Moses is a messenger.

Jesus ends this passage

by appealing to those words

that someone,

that the Jews claim to believe.

So he's using something

that they understand.

But again,

he's pointing out the blindness.

He says,

even Moses was writing about me.

And if you say you believe him

and you don't believe me,

you even really don't believe Moses.

You don't understand

what he was doing.

And he's pointing then later

to the day of judgment

where Moses' words

will be the ones

that condemn them.

Now,

what does that mean?

It means that

because they believe

Moses' words,

yet they chose to

not believe

that they were about Jesus,

that that will be

the very thing

that condemns them.

And it's the law,

remember,

that shows us our sin.

Okay?

But only through Jesus

can we be forgiven

of that sin.

So they're missing

that whole piece.

And this echoes

earlier verse in John 1.

John 1.17 says,

the law was given

through Moses,

but grace and truth

came through Jesus Christ.

So both are necessary,

but one is pointing

necessarily to the other.

So what is grace there?

What is grace?

What does it mean?

Think about this.

To be a people of grace

who experience

sin express it,

which you hear

a lot here.

I think it means this

in a nutshell,

in a very small

secular version

of saying this,

I guess I should say,

not a lot of God language

in this.

I can make mistakes

in front of you,

and you can make mistakes

in front of me,

and it's okay.

Why?

We'll get to the God language now.

Because while we are sinners,

Christ died for us.

He doesn't hold

our sin against us.

So why would I hold

any of your mistakes

against you?

That doesn't mean

we ignore them

or that we say

that they're healthy,

but if you've experienced

the grace of God

in your life

and you've really

been forgiven,

and you're holding

someone else

under your thumb

of condemnation,

you're not getting it.

You're missing the gospel,

and I'm missing the gospel.

Because we're supposed

to be people

of no condemnation.

To live a no condemnation life

means that that worst conversation

you're in right now,

even if it's an unhealthy relationship,

you don't have the right

to condemn them.

Because you don't have the right

to be uncondemned by God

except by His grace.

And we are to share

that grace with the world.

That doesn't mean

don't set boundaries.

I'm not saying

that every relationship

that you're in

that's toxic is a good one,

but if you can't forgive,

then we're missing something.

Because we're supposed

to be able to get to a place

where we can forgive.

Okay?

And we need help

to do it sometimes.

Perhaps what you're missing

is the help to get there

and the work

and the heart work.

But we're supposed

to live no condemnation lives,

and God's sending us now

on this redemption mission

in this great story of grace.

So to experience it

means we go live it.

Okay?

But the best part

of the story

is what's ahead.

Do you know

where you fit

in that story?

Because you today,

if you're here,

you're a part

of God's story of grace

that He's still writing.

And it doesn't have

to be flashy and big.

You don't have

to write the books.

You don't have

to have the big accolades.

God will use you

in the grocery store

if you let Him.

God will use you

at your house

or with your neighbor.

How is He calling you

to express grace

where you are

in the ordinary things of life?

Because that's where

He calls the most of us.

So John is a lamp.

Jesus is the light.

Scripture teaches us

that Jesus is God,

and Moses is a messenger

of that truth,

and we're supposed

to be messengers of it too.

Now here's why

it all matters.

Worship without witness

is not worship.

Worship,

when I say worship,

I don't mean singing

praise songs.

Okay?

I mean Romans 12.1.

Offer your bodies

as living sacrifices,

holy and pleasing to God.

This is your spiritual

act of worship.

Have you done that?

Many of you have,

I'm sure.

Have you asked Him

to save you?

Have you asked Him

to forgive you of your sins

that He offered on the cross

when His blood was given

as a propitiation for you?

Have you accepted that gift?

If you have,

then you say,

I have been crucified

with Christ,

and it's no longer I who live,

but Christ who lives in me.

Holy Spirit,

through me,

going into this world

and bearing witness now.

And you are set apart

as holy

if you are saved.

You're looking to His provision

instead of yours.

Okay?

His life

instead of yours.

No condemnation

in that sense

when you face judgment

one day.

Eternal judgment

will not fall upon you,

but eternal life.

Well,

then you're called

to go talk about the witnesses

and help other people

meet the King,

meet the great mediator.

Okay?

This is where we will find life.

And I'm not meaning

that all of you

have to become

street evangelists,

but do you stop

and look at people?

Do you listen?

Listen,

it's never too late

to turn your life around

from what you're worshiping.

A lot of times

as Christians,

y'all,

we worship God

in our words

and we miss

all of the people

walking around us

every day

who are these opportunities

to just love.

You can bear witness

about God

by saying,

how was your day?

And listening to Him.

Watch where that leads.

Okay?

Is bearing witness

about Jesus

a part of your life.

Worshiping God

without witness

equals consumer Christianity.

Okay?

If you are only coming

and consuming

of God's word

every single week

and doing nothing with it,

it's going to make you miserable.

It's going to make you irritable

and you're going to wonder

where God is.

I don't want you to be there

because we're designed

to be these lamps

shining in the darkness

transformed by the word of God.

Remember Jesus said,

you are salt and light.

You put a lamp on a stand.

We're like cities on a hill.

But if the salt has lost its taste,

what's it good for?

Nothing.

Except to be trampled underfoot

and thrown out.

So every day

God has a purpose for you

and you're going to find it.

I'm going to just encourage you.

When you start to bear witness,

provide evidence

of the things that he's done

in your life

to others,

you will see

a new side of God

and you will see

a new depth in your soul

that makes church itself

even different.

Let me ask you this.

Consider this.

How many sermons

have you heard

in your life

if you totaled it up

in hours?

What are you doing

with that information?

Because

you're supposed

to be doing something

with it.

We get a lot

of great food

at the church

every week.

Are you going

and sharing it

with anybody?

Because when you do,

you will find

something happens.

God becomes bigger.

But it starts

where you are.

Okay?

And what are we

bearing witness about?

that Jesus

is who he says he is.

That he offers

the true meaning

of life and existence

that we're searching for

and so many other things

and that he is the God

that we're all seeking.

The God who created

the universe.

We disobeyed him

and then brokenness

of sin

and death

and condemnation

entered the world

and that's the reason

why things are so

messed up today.

And death

holds us in fear.

And that's the reason

why we are so scared

to talk.

And we become

worshipers of self

and life

and pleasure

but God

sent his son

to undo the mess

and set things straight

to fix it all.

And Jesus

being crucified

for your sins

and having then

paid that penalty

of death

on our behalf

on the cross

as he said he would.

If we look to him

and we put all things

in submission to him

and we ask him

for forgiveness

from our sins

he promises

that we'll be raised

to eternal life.

You have that truth

to take

to the world

to bear light

in everything

that you do

because he took

that judgment already

you can go out

into the world

and you don't have

to create judgment.

And not only that

there's four chapters

of the gospel

it's not just

sin and redemption

there's creation

and restoration.

Creation,

fall,

redemption,

restoration.

Because he created

the world

he's going to

recreate it

but he's doing it

right now

through you.

So now that you

got your fire insurance

from hell

that's just

the two chapter gospel.

If you forget

the whole purpose

of what you do

with it

you miss it.

And Jesus

standing right there

in front of us

saying don't miss me.

Okay?

Don't read the scriptures

get your salvation

go home

and miss me

in the process.

Alright.

Now I've learned

a lot about

witness.

If you want

a practical

example of witness

has anyone met

Adriana Clark?

She loves peacocks

and if you are

around her

you know it.

Why?

Because they're

the most incredible

bird ever.

And if to be

a friend of Adriana

is to know

that she loves

peacocks

and I didn't

care about peacocks

until I met Adriana

now I love them

because she told me

how much she

loves peacocks.

Witness is

simply that.

People see

God at work

in our lives

we talk about it

and they eventually

start to ask

questions.

Are you doing

that?

Where do you

start?

Right?

How might

what you love

be a doorway

for that witness?

So think about

this metaphor.

If I wanted

to lose weight

and I never

exercised

it wouldn't be

a very effective

weight loss

program.

but weight

loss without

exercise

is not

weight loss.

In the same

way

if

you wanted

to lose

weight

I wouldn't

encourage you

to start

by running

a marathon

but rather

to start

small

with a walk

or a run

or just

to change

one little

habit each

day.

Over time

you would

see a

difference.

The same

is true

about bearing

witness.

It takes

time

it takes

intentionality

and you

got to

start

small.

Okay?

So here's

my encouragement

to you.

If you're

like I want

this to be

a part of

my life

and it's

not,

great.

Step one

is identifying.

This is not

a guilt trip.

I mean

this is me

with you

in this

learning this

together.

But Jesus

is bearing

witness about

himself not

just to say

oh now you

know who I

am.

It's to go

do something

with that.

Okay?

So start

here.

Pray.

Slow down.

Listen to

your breath

as you're

walking.

Remember

the breath

of Jesus

that he

breathed

upon his

disciples

when they

were scared

and afraid.

Imagine

he's standing

there with

his hand

on your

shoulder

and ask

God to

help you.

What do

you want

me to do

God?

Two,

listen.

Read his

word.

Listen to

what it

says.

While you're

doing that

throughout the

day,

start listening

to the

conversations

in your

own head

with yourself.

Okay?

What's he

letting you

hear?

And then

what are the

conversations

you're hearing

around you?

The voices

around you.

So pray

and listen.

Then look.

In the same

way that that

spider web

and that

anthill

and that

fog are

open doors

to see

God's glory

and nature,

what people

has he

placed in

your path

as open

doors to

bear witness

for you,

just where

you are?

Ask him

to show

you three

people.

That's just

a number

I'm picking.

It sounds

great.

It's

Trinitarian.

Three

people to

start

praying for

with the

intention to

shine the

love of God

to them.

Not the

intention that

they end up

in church.

We get

sideways.

Let's not

go there.

The intention

to do

nothing,

ask nothing

in return,

but bear

witness about

what God's

done in

your life.

Three

people.

If

everyone in

here just

had three

people that

they were

bearing

witness about

God in,

wow!

You know how many

people are

impacted in

Huntsville?

So pray,

listen,

look,

and then

speak last.

After you've

done all of

that,

repeat steps

one through

three a hundred

more times.

Listen,

look,

pray,

listen,

look,

pray,

listen,

look,

pray,

listen,

look.

Then consider

speaking and

opening your

mouth.

You don't have

to have all

the answers

to everything

to ask

somebody how

they're doing

and believe

it or not,

somebody is

tuned into

your frequency.

They just

need you to

start broadcasting.

Okay?

So every

time I tried

to interact

with Davey,

he was cold

and he didn't

want to talk

and he was

basically mean.

So it became

the backdrop

of all the

concerts that

I would play

in Birmingham

and I found

myself continuing

to pray for

him and wanting

to encourage

him,

but I

didn't know

what to do

until one

day I heard

him say

that he

liked cookies

and from

that day

forward for

about two

solid years,

every time

I played

a concert,

I would

take him

a cookie

and I

didn't say

anything.

I would

just walk

up to him

and give

him a

cookie

and then

walk away

and he'd

be like,

what did

you give

me this

cookie?

I said,

this is

a cookie

and I'd

just walk

off,

go play

the show.

Well,

at first he

thought it

was weird

and then he

started to

talk to me

and the

next thing

I knew

he would

invite me

to sit

with him

and I

would just

listen and

I would

usually just

talk about

a cookie

and then

he started

to talk

about his

life and

then I was

able to

talk about

Jesus.

Fast forward

to two years

ago,

I mean this

is like 15

or something

years,

I hadn't

seen the

guy,

I ran

into somebody

here that

knew him

and I

said,

hey,

would you

tell him,

would you

tell Davey,

I said,

hey,

and the

next time

they saw

him,

they said,

Davey wanted

me to tell

you,

when are you

going to

come back

here and

bring him

another

cookie?

We've got

more than

a cookie,

okay,

to give to

people.

So,

bear witness

about Jesus

and just watch

how it will

change it.

Let me pray

for us.

We've got a

Savior.

Lord Jesus,

thank you that

we can call

upon you

and that you

give us the

good news of

the gospel.

We're merely

beggars showing

other beggars

we're to find

bread.

I pray that

you would show

this congregation

where you're

calling them to

bear witness in

their lives,

not out of

shame or guilt,

but out of

joy,

and that your

spirit would

drive them to

see these

opportunities,

to bring these

to conversations

into their

grace groups

and into their

communities,

to bear witness

about where

they're hurting,

but also where

you're working.

Lord,

as you repair

this world,

one relationship

at a time,

we pray for

salvation for

so many that

don't know you

and restore

unto us the

joy of salvation

that we may

overflow.

And I can't

wait until we

get to come

back next week

and hear about

you then

feeding the

5,000 and

how you overflow

as well.

So thank you,

Lord Jesus.

We give all this

to you in worship

and we thank you

in Christ's name.

Amen.

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information,

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at

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