Participants: Steven Mirkovich
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR000779
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01:00 It's funny how the Lord gives us the opportunities
01:03 we never thought we'd quite have. 01:06 When we get into this business of preaching the Lord's word-- 01:10 it's not a business really, I shouldn't use that word. 01:12 It's an inappropriate word for this work. 01:14 But when we get into this line, this calling, 01:17 this calling on our lives, 01:20 we don't ever even think about the situation 01:22 sometimes that the Lord is gonna place us in. 01:26 Today we are going to be studying 01:28 a passage in the Book of Acts. 01:29 In fact, we'll be studying a very unique passage, 01:33 something that we often look at. 01:35 And as we read through it, just sort of a cursory glance, 01:37 there are certain things that stick out. 01:39 I hope today that we'll find several lessons in this passage 01:44 that will help us better understand exactly the way 01:50 in which certain New Testament characters went about 01:53 their calling, their calling to preach. 01:59 But before we do that, before I jump 02:01 right into our passage today, 02:04 I'd like to take the opportunity to open with a word of prayer. 02:09 Awesome Father in Heaven, 02:12 each and every one of us pauses at this moment 02:17 thankful that You use us earthen vessels. 02:21 We pray now that Your spirit be present in a very special way. 02:26 Father, I pray that You right yourself into our very hearts. 02:32 Make this an opportunity to learn. 02:35 And we pray these things in the precious name 02:37 Jesus, amen. 02:40 I've been pastoring now for a little over 10 months. 02:44 And I told myself-- as soon as I entered my pastorate, 02:49 that I was going to take the opportunity 02:51 to teach while I preach. 02:53 In particular, to really take an opportunity to share things 02:57 that maybe, perhaps seem more 02:59 like a Wednesday night prayer meeting type 03:01 of a sermon or event. 03:03 You see, pastors know and I've soon found out 03:08 upon entering my ministry that when you ask people 03:10 to come out in the middle of the week, 03:12 you ask them to come out and to get trained up 03:15 and to really enjoy things, they sometimes don't come. 03:18 And you could be preaching to a few meager souls 03:22 when you instead want to be preaching to your whole church. 03:25 So I've taken it upon myself in just 10 short months 03:28 of ministry to preach as many training sermons as I can. 03:33 Today will be no different. 03:36 We're going to be going to the Book of Acts. 03:40 My church members are beginning to get 03:41 a little bit fed up with me, just a little bit. 03:44 You see, when I first came, 03:47 the very first sermon I preached was from Acts Chapter 1. 03:50 And I've preached about 25 or 26 different sermons. 03:55 You see, I preach each week in a different church. 03:57 So I only have to prepare two sermons a month. 03:59 And I am only now at Acts 12. 04:03 Ten months in I've preached through only 04:05 12 Chapters of the Book of Acts, 26 plus sermons. 04:09 And every Sabbath it's sort of a joke between us. 04:13 How much longer pastor is it gonna be? 04:16 So nonetheless, we're going to be jumping 04:19 into one of my favorite sermons 04:22 from this series and it's in Acts Chapter 8. 04:26 My sermon today is entitled "Miracle on the Gaza Strip." 04:30 Now how many of you know where the Gaza Strip is? 04:34 No doubt if you watch CNN for any length of time, 04:38 even just for a few days, perhaps even almost everyday, 04:42 it seems like, there's something 04:44 regarding this Gaza Strip place, huh? 04:47 It's kind of a sort of a hubbub of where things happen. 04:52 Seems to be-- it's kind of a central location 04:55 in the events on our globe today. 04:58 You see, it's sort of a hotly debated place 05:02 this Gaza Strip, between the Arabs and the Jews. 05:06 Many things happen on the Gaza Strip. 05:09 Lot of fighting happens there, surprised--territory. 05:13 And many of us, as Christians, 05:15 we pray for this situation out in the Middle East 05:17 and we want more than anything for this to come to an end. 05:20 We're tired of seeing all the fighting. 05:22 We're tired of everything that takes place on the Gaza Strip. 05:28 While there aren't very many miracles 05:29 perhaps taking place on the Gaza Strip today, 05:32 we turn to our Bibles in Acts Chapter 8 05:35 and we find a story that took place-- 05:38 I want to use my preacher's imagination 05:40 here a little bit today. 05:41 And I believe that this whole event took place 05:45 right there at the Gaza Strip. 05:49 We're turning to Acts Chapter 8 in our Bibles. 05:53 Acts 8 Chapter beginning in verse 26. 05:56 We're gonna be looking at the story 05:58 of Philip and the eunuch. 06:01 Philip was a deacon. 06:03 In Acts Chapter 7, Steven and Philip 06:05 are featured prominently. 06:07 And now we're--chapter 6 and 7, they feature prominently. 06:12 And now we're really going to hone in on an event 06:14 here in Philip's life and in the eunuch's life 06:18 that serves to teach us many lessons. 06:22 I'm going to read right through our passage today Acts 8:26-40. 06:27 And then we're going to slow down and see 06:29 what the scriptures have to teach us today. 06:32 So that's 8-- Acts Chapter 8: 26. 06:38 My little heading here and my Bible says, 06:40 "Christ is preached to an Ethiopian." 06:44 Verse 26, "Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, 06:47 saying, 'Arise and go towards the south along the road 06:50 which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.' This is desert." 06:54 If you have your Bibles 06:55 you can even turn right in here to the maps, 06:58 if you have one of these nice Bibles. 06:59 And you can come right down here and in the south west corner 07:03 there's a little place here called Gaza. 07:05 This is that stretch right here, 07:07 that Gaza Strip that we're talking about. 07:11 From Jerusalem to Gaza. 07:13 The Bible says here, "This is dessert." 07:17 Put that on a shelf in your mind, 07:18 we'll come back to that. 07:19 This is an important thing-- I don't think 07:21 the Bible just minces words. 07:23 It doesn't record events or facts 07:25 just for the sake of doing it, 07:26 in order for Luke to be a good historian. 07:27 Now Luke was a good historian. 07:29 And that is the person who wrote the Book of Acts. 07:31 Luke was a good historian. 07:33 But he records this phrase "This is dessert" 07:37 for a very important reason. 07:39 And we need to be certain we're gonna come back to that. 07:41 But just put that on a little shelf in the back of your head, 07:44 we'll be returning to that shortly. 07:46 Verse 27, "So he arose and went. 07:49 And behold, a man of Ethiopia, 07:50 a eunuch of great authority 07:52 under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, 07:55 who had charge of all her treasury, 07:56 and had come to Jerusalem to worship." 08:00 Verse 28, "Was returning and sitting in his chariot, 08:03 he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 08:05 Then the Spirit said to Philip, 08:06 'Go near and overtake this chariot.' 08:09 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading 08:11 the prophet Isaiah, and said, 08:12 'Do you understand what you are reading?' 08:15 And he said, 'How can I, unless someone guides me?' 08:18 And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 08:21 The place in the Scripture which he read was this." 08:24 It's Isaiah 53 by the way. 08:26 "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. 08:28 And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, 08:30 So He opened not His mouth. 08:32 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, 08:34 and who will declare His generation 08:36 for His life is taken from the earth. 08:43 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, 08:45 'I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, 08:48 of himself or of some other man?' 08:51 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, 08:54 preached Jesus to him." Amen? 09:00 "Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. 09:04 And the eunuch said, 'See, here is water. 09:06 What hinders me from being baptized?' 09:08 Then Philip said, 'If you believe 09:09 with all your heart, you may.' And he answered and said, 09:11 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' 09:15 And so he commanded the chariot to stand still. 09:17 And both Philip and the eunuch went down 09:19 into the water, and he baptized him. 09:22 Now when they came up out of the water, 09:23 the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, 09:25 so that the eunuch saw him no more 09:27 and he went his way rejoicing. 09:30 But Philip was found in Azotus. 09:32 And passing through, he preached in all the cities 09:35 till he came to Caesarea." 09:38 This is a powerful story. 09:41 My sermon today is entitled "Miracle on the Gaza Strip." 09:46 Upon a cursory reading, most of us would scan down 09:50 and we'd get to verse 39 and we'd say, 09:52 that's the miracle right there, 09:54 that's what the preacher talking about today. 09:55 Philip was just zapped away. 09:58 How many of you stars trek people? 10:00 Trekkies? You like the show Star Trek? 10:02 Well, I don't really like the show anymore. 10:05 But there was a time when I was much younger 10:07 that my mom and I used to watch Star Trek. 10:10 And I liked Star Trek: The Next Generation. 10:12 Well, anyways in all the Star Trek episodes 10:14 and movies and stuff, 10:16 there's this thing that they say, 10:18 "Beam me up, Scotty." 10:19 And I can't remember-- it's slipping my mind right now 10:21 what that machine was called but they would-- 10:24 they'd appear and disappear and they'd be transported 10:27 throughout the universe just very simply from their ship. 10:31 And so as we're reading we come to verse 39 and we say, 10:34 "Now when they came up out of the water, 10:35 the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away." 10:38 He sort of beamed him away. 10:39 He beamed him to some other part. 10:42 And most of us will say, "Well, that's the miracle." 10:44 Philip didn't have to travel anywhere. 10:45 He didn't have to go anywhere. He just-- gone. 10:50 This morning-- today, I would rather mention 10:54 to say that-- in fact, 10:59 the miracle is not Philip here 11:01 just sort of disappearing into thin air 11:03 and appearing somewhere else. That was a miracle. 11:07 But there is a far greater miracle here 11:10 that the Lord is wanting us to see. 11:13 And so we're going to break this passage down 11:17 into what I believe are seven distinct steps 11:21 in reaching those around us for Christ. 11:26 I get it a lot and I'm asked all the time 11:29 and it was something I wanted to know. 11:31 When I entered college to study for the ministry 11:34 and took some evangelism training, 11:36 I wanted to know just what steps do I take 11:39 to get to the heart of an individual. 11:43 How do I know how to share my faith? 11:48 I think that this story lends itself well 11:50 to seven steps in witnessing. 11:53 Seven steps that we can take, 11:56 things that can be brought to our minds to help us 11:59 reach those that need to hear the gospel. 12:05 Verse 26 says, "Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, 12:09 saying, "Arise and go towards the south 12:12 along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 12:15 They're on the Gaza Strip. 12:19 Lesson number 1, then is always be listening 12:22 to the Lord. Pretty simply. 12:27 Not very profound at this point. Christians know that. 12:31 We've been told that from when we're little 12:33 or from the moment we enter Church. 12:35 The moment we give our lives over to Christ we're told, 12:37 listen to the Lord, listen to His little biddings. 12:39 And we're constantly been told this. 12:42 And so many of us are struck in this, 12:44 this thinking that it needs to be an audible voice. 12:47 Now Philip was lucky, 12:48 this was an audible voice from the Spirit. 12:51 He could actually hear the spirit. 12:54 But I think there are times 12:56 when it's not going to just be an audible voice. 13:00 And I think perhaps the hardest thing 13:01 that we run into is the fact that-- 13:04 we find ourselves in situations where we say, 13:06 "No way is the Lord gonna actually talk to me right now." 13:10 And that when I asked you to put that phrase 13:12 "This is dessert" in your minds. 13:16 A lot of times we find ourselves in a modern day dessert. 13:19 And this could be a variety of situations. 13:23 And we think to our self, "No way is the Lord gonna listen. 13:26 I don't need to be listening to the Lord right now. 13:27 I'm not gonna hear Him. He's not gonna 13:29 speak to me in this situation." 13:30 And so too could have Philip. 13:32 Philip could have said, "I'm in the middle of nowhere. 13:34 It's hot, it's steamy. 13:36 There's a sand storm. I'm traveling. 13:38 The Lord's not gonna speak to me." 13:40 And he could have been so busy, 13:41 so caught up that the Lord could have been 13:43 screaming in his face and he wouldn't have heard Him. 13:48 So well, it may not be an audible voice. 13:51 We may be in a situation that we think, 13:52 "How was the Lord going to reach me now?" 13:56 But we always need to be listening to the Lord. 13:59 Now how does this really take form? 14:02 I think a lot of times listening to the Lord is learning 14:05 to recognize a unique situation we might be in. 14:10 And there's a whole paradigm shift 14:12 that takes place in our minds 14:14 when we start to put principles of witnessing in order. 14:17 No longer am I just in line at the pharmacy 14:19 to get my antibiotics to make my sore-throat go away 14:23 or that bronchial infection I have go away. 14:27 No longer am I in line just buying my silk soymilk 14:29 to have breakfast in the morning. 14:32 No longer am I just strolling through the park 14:34 with my wife to get exercise. 14:38 These, all of these situations, 14:39 these dessert type situations become 14:41 opportunities for us to be listening to the Lord. 14:44 Maybe you spotted somebody. 14:47 Maybe it was 12 O'clock at night like it was recently for me, 14:50 I came down with a terrible fever. 14:52 I know right away when I get a fever. 14:53 My skin starts to hurt. 14:55 It's just-- I don't even want clothing on my body. 14:57 And I knew I was getting a fever and before I knew it 14:59 my ears were hurting and I was sick and my wife and I, 15:02 we went to the emergency. They did all sorts of tests. 15:05 And the doctor said, "You've got some infection." 15:07 And he sent me to CVS to get some antibiotics to get better. 15:12 And it was midnight and praise the Lord, 15:16 Walgreens or CVS one of those was open all night 15:19 and we walked in and there was a-- 15:21 just a young lady pharmacist working there. 15:24 And I wasn't feeling well. I had a fever. 15:28 I wanted to get home as soon as possible. 15:30 And a lot of times that's the kind of hubbub we're in. 15:32 We're in a situation, we just want to get home. 15:34 We just want to go to bed. 15:36 We want to get home with our family, 15:37 eat supper, prepare things, go to work. 15:39 We don't want to be ready to listen to the Lord. 15:43 And this lady started to talk to me. 15:45 In fact, she was way more talkative 15:47 than any pharmacist I had ever been near. 15:49 And I was thinking to myself, 15:51 "Lord, is there any opportunity here for me to say something?" 15:53 And anyways it came about that I got to share with her 15:56 that I was a pastor, I was a minister, 15:57 I was looking for, you know, 16:01 a way to just really get in there 16:02 and peak her interest. 16:04 I recognized that perhaps this is 16:06 one of those unique situations. 16:10 But it goes even further than that. 16:11 It doesn't just mean our day in and day out existence. 16:15 Again as a pastor, we have calendars, praise the Lord. 16:19 We have things to keep us line. 16:20 We know where we're gonna be in the coming days, 16:23 even sometimes coming months. 16:24 Even sometimes up to a half a year in advance 16:26 we know where we're gonna be for a certain occasion or event. 16:31 So I would venture to say today 16:33 that you need to take your calendar. 16:34 And not only spend time recognizing 16:37 what's gonna happen today, but be thinking in advance. 16:40 Maybe you've planned a fantastic getaway with your wife, 16:44 with your husband, with your family. 16:47 You're going to Austria, to the Austrian Alps 16:50 to go skiing in the heart of January 16:53 when the snow is falling and you're not even considering 16:56 that maybe there's an opportunity 16:58 for you to share the gospel. 17:00 I think the paradigm shift that Christians need today, 17:03 that all of us need today, if this work is going to get done, 17:06 is that we need to be even willing to think 17:08 that far in advance, that far into the future, 17:12 that perhaps just maybe we can take that opportunity 17:17 to sit beside somebody on the gondola up the mountain 17:19 and share a little bit about Jesus. 17:23 So not only do we recognize unique situations 17:25 and we're listening to the Lord day in and day out, 17:28 but also we need to be listening to the Lord, 17:29 is there going to be an opportunity 17:31 in the future here and be preparing for it, be ready. 17:34 Maybe you need to think of a sentence or two 17:36 or a story or two for that situation 17:38 that will help you share Jesus. 17:42 Ask the Lord, how can He use you? 17:46 How can He use me in the coming weeks from here, 17:48 tomorrow, or later this afternoon? 17:51 It's a matter of perspective. 17:53 We need to have a perspective that the situations 17:56 the Lord places us in can be situations to share Jesus. 18:00 Philip was in a desert. 18:03 There's not a whole lot of people on the desert. 18:05 There's not a whole lot of people to see there 18:07 or perhaps I know there's Benjamins and different people 18:10 that travel and stuff but, you know, this is a desert. 18:12 I think the Bible records just like that. "This is desert." 18:16 Because it's trying to clue us into the fact 18:18 that even in the desert people need to be won to the Lord. 18:25 Verse 27, "So he arose and went. 18:31 And behold, a man of Ethiopia, 18:32 a eunuch of great authority under Candace 18:34 the queen of the Ethiopians, 18:36 who had charge of all her treasury, 18:37 and had come to Jerusalem to worship, was returning. 18:41 And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 18:44 Then the Spirit said to Philip, 18:45 'Go near and overtake this chariot.' 18:48 So Philip ran to him." 18:51 I was sharing this as a devotional thought 18:54 at the ARISE Institute not too long ago. 18:58 And when I was done, a good pastor friend of mine there, 19:01 the Director David Asscherick he says, 19:02 "I've got a great two word title for this section of your talk." 19:06 And he says, "You need to call this section 'Soul Sprinting.'" 19:10 And I thought to myself that's perfect, 19:11 that's exactly what this is. 19:13 This is soul sprinting. 19:15 So it's not enough just to recognize 19:17 the situation that we find ourselves in. 19:20 It's not just enough to hear the Lord. 19:22 We need to-- the moment the Lord speaks to us, 19:24 the moment we recognize the situation, 19:26 we need to be willing to run to it. 19:28 We need to be willing, 19:29 to the best of our ability, to sprint. 19:31 Philip here didn't drag his feet. 19:33 He didn't say, "Oh, this is the desert. 19:34 I can see him from miles, I'll catch up to him. 19:38 I'll just take my time. 19:40 It will give me enough time 19:41 to figure out what I'm gonna say." 19:43 No. What did Philip do? 19:44 So Philip ran to Him. 19:48 Why is this so important? 19:51 We want to witness. 19:52 All of us want to be effective witnesses for Christ. 19:56 Why is it important to run? 20:00 I'll tell you why. 20:02 I'm gonna use my wife as an example. 20:04 She knows I'm going to share this with you. 20:06 I've asked her permission. 20:08 That's an important thing to do by the way, 20:10 to ask her permission sometimes. 20:12 Not all the stories are as nice and as pleasant as this one. 20:17 Nonetheless my wife was a secular kind 20:21 of strangely agnostic at believing in God, 20:24 not really sure of what God she believed in or how 20:27 and she was attending the University 20:28 of British Columbia in Canada, perhaps the second largest. 20:31 I think close to the second largest university 20:33 in all of Canada, next to the UFT. 20:35 60, 000 day students and she was just in the midst of this. 20:39 Going in, studying literature, studying philosophy, 20:43 and yet she began to think to herself-- 20:48 I actually kind of believe in God 20:50 and I would even probably tell people 20:52 I'm a Christian if they asked me. 20:54 And yet I've never read the Bible 20:55 and she started to read the Bible. 20:57 She started to get ready. 20:58 Her appetite was whet. 21:01 She was ready to go. She wanted to hear. 21:07 And at that time, certain circumstances came about 21:10 and she was able then to go 21:12 and a pastor actually approached her--her parents-- 21:14 I can't get into the whole story but there was 21:16 an opportunity for her to start going to church, 21:19 to start taking Bible studies, 21:21 because some other people would say, 21:22 "Hey, listen, I know this family, 21:24 this girl, they're just ready, they want to hear about it." 21:27 Now suppose I was that pastor and I would say, 21:30 "Oh, well, I'll get there. 21:32 You know, I've got a busy schedule. 21:33 I've got a lot of people to visit." 21:35 You put yourself in whatever situation it might be. 21:37 You've heard that. 21:39 You know those opportunities come and go. 21:42 What was the key here in all of this? 21:44 The key was that the spirit of God 21:46 was already working with my wife, 21:48 already working with her, preparing her, 21:51 waiting, and then the man servant-- 21:53 the woman servant, somebody had to go and preach that message. 21:57 Philip recognized that when the Lord was calling him saying, 22:00 go and Philip says, "Okay, the spirit has been working, 22:03 the iron is hot, I need to strike now." 22:07 We can't drag our feet. 22:08 Too often we drag our feet and the situation is gone. 22:12 I've got many stories like this. 22:14 Door knocking, opportunities 22:15 we have to share and we drag our feet. 22:19 We're not wanting to really-- we're just kind of down trodden 22:25 and we're scared and we need to get past that, friends. 22:29 We need to be willing to run when the Lord speaks. 22:32 So step number 1, listen. 22:34 May not just be an auditable thing. 22:36 It may be the-- the Lord setting up 22:38 a situation and you're listening. 22:40 And then when you recognize that. 22:41 "Hey, the Lord has set this up for me," 22:43 we need to run to it. We need to run to it. 22:49 Back to our Scriptures then. 22:52 Verse 30, "So Philip ran to him, 22:54 and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, 22:57 'Do you understand what you are reading?'" 23:03 I call this next step, step number 3. 23:06 I call this "Asking leading questions." 23:11 So we run to the situation. 23:14 I've been trained in Canada by St John Ambulance. 23:17 It's kind of first aid care. You take a course. 23:19 I think we did in high school-- 23:21 probably my little card there's run out already. 23:24 But during this time, during this training opportunity 23:27 I learned something that very important. 23:30 When you're coming into an emergency situation-- 23:32 and by the way, is soul winning an emergency situation? 23:35 Do these people need to know? Could they die the next day? 23:38 Yeah, we just don't quite know what's involved. 23:41 We need to run to these situations. 23:43 Anyways, I learned that when there's an emergency situation, 23:47 you don't just run in and start throwing things around 23:49 and trying to help the person. 23:51 As you're running in, as you're approaching the situation, 23:53 you're taking a quick glance over everything that's around. 23:56 You're looking for other possible dangers. 23:59 Maybe it was an accident on the highway, 24:00 the car has been flipped over. 24:02 And there's gasoline leaking. It might explode. 24:04 All of these things need to enter your mind very quickly. 24:07 You need to do a cursory evaluation of the situation. 24:12 Asking leading questions in soul winning allows us 24:15 to take the time as we're approaching the situation 24:18 to really grasp what's going on here. 24:21 And let us put out feelers and see 24:23 what's going on in the person's mind. 24:26 Where have they been in the last little while? 24:31 I know I wanted one and I know many of you want one. 24:33 You know, that magic silver bullet 24:35 where you could just take dead aim 24:36 and just shoot one statement and it's finished. 24:38 And you know that one silver bullet, 24:40 that one statement, for sure it's gonna have them 24:43 just begging to know more about Jesus, 24:44 they'll be eating out of your hands. 24:46 Listen, that silver bullet, 24:48 that magic situation, it doesn't happen. 24:50 Each and every one of us is different. 24:52 This eunuch was different. 24:54 Philip ran to him and he asked him a question. 24:58 Do you understand what you're reading? 24:59 He's asking leading questions. 25:01 Why do we ask leading questions? 25:02 We ask leading questions because it opens 25:04 the floodgates to their heart. 25:07 It lets them open up to us 25:09 and we get to see a better picture, 25:11 a clearer picture of just 25:13 what situation they find themselves in. 25:16 Listen, there's abuse out there. There's drugs out there. 25:20 There's lost jobs, finances, 25:22 broken homes, broken families, 25:24 we just don't know what situation this person's in. 25:27 So when we recognize-- the Lords says go 25:29 and we've run to it, we ask a leading question. 25:33 And we ask things to start opening them up. 25:36 Because the more information we have the more ability 25:39 we're now going to have to reach out to them 25:42 and to really hone in and really be able 25:45 to develop this conversation as such as to know exactly 25:49 what to say to open up their spiritual lives, too. 25:58 We recognize the possibility of doing something for Jesus. 26:02 We take a quick evaluation of the situation. 26:06 We've asked questions and we're listening. 26:09 We're listening to these situations. 26:11 We need to know for sure what's going on here? 26:16 And as we've assessed the situation, 26:18 as we've noticed all the dangers, 26:21 we've noticed the things that might occupy their attention. 26:24 Maybe it's a television in their living room. 26:27 And you've taken this quick evaluation. 26:29 You're asking questions. 26:30 And they're more interested with what's going on in the TV 26:32 than with what you're asking, with what you're doing. 26:35 Then you simply ask them to shut off the distraction. 26:37 You have evaluated the situation. 26:39 You can turn off the dangers. 26:41 You can try and distract them from the dangers. 26:43 You can try and win their attention. 26:46 Philip here, he doesn't just do anything, 26:48 he asks leading questions. 26:52 And this then leads to the next very important point. 26:56 Only if we've asked questions-- now, 26:58 99 out of 100 times by the way I should say, 27:00 it takes the form of a question. 27:01 Sometimes it will be a statement. 27:03 It could be a joke. 27:04 But most effective thing is a question. 27:07 You know, ask them a question. 27:08 Get them talking about themselves. 27:09 And why is this so important? 27:11 It leads to point number 4. 27:13 And we find this right here in this passage. 27:18 "He asked the question, 'do you--'" verse 30, 27:20 "'Do you understand what you are reading?' 27:23 And he said to me, 'How can I, unless someone guides me?' 27:27 And he asked Philip to come up and to sit with him." 27:31 Then we read that section and we jump 27:33 down to verse 34 and it says, 27:34 "So the eunuch answered Philip and said, 27:36 'I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, 27:39 of himself or of some other man?' 27:41 Then Philip opened his mouth, 27:42 and beginning at this Scripture." 27:46 All of this asking questions part, 27:48 all of this figuring out where they're at. 27:50 Why are we doing it? 27:51 Because we need to start where they're at. 27:54 I don't know how many times I've been tempted, 27:57 you know, to just take this opportunity and-- 28:00 I know what's been important to me 28:02 and what won me to the Lord 28:05 and I want to go that direction and I want to be certain 28:07 that I win them with what won me, 28:09 but that's not gonna work all the time. 28:13 We need to be willing to start where they're at. 28:18 You may if you want to call that contextualization, 28:23 making sure that we're in the right context. 28:27 We don't want to start with something 28:29 that's not gonna peak their interest. 28:32 We don't want to start with an illustration or something 28:34 or some event or something 28:36 that we think is gonna be effective. 28:37 We want to know we're being effective. 28:39 And what does Philip do here? 28:40 He doesn't say, "Oh, you're reading Isaiah, 28:42 that's too hard to understand. 28:43 Let's not go to Isaiah 53. 28:44 Let's go to john 3:16 first. 28:48 You know, let's go to John-- you know what, 28:50 I think Isaiah 53 it's a little bit difficult for you." No. 28:53 did Philip change where he was headed? 28:55 No, he says beginning and this scripture, 28:58 we need to meet them where they're at. 29:01 So if they're-- you know, crazy heavy metal 29:06 long-haired punk rocker kind of dude, 29:08 you know, we don't need to wait till they change. 29:10 We need to meet them where they're at. 29:12 We need to figure out a way. 29:13 We need to ask leading questions. 29:14 We need to know what gonna work? 29:16 Not everything is gonna work. 29:17 Not everybody has a spiritual appetite yet. 29:20 Philip got off easy here. 29:22 The guy was reading his Bible. 29:24 Now most of us are not in that situation 29:26 to just stumble across somebody reading their Bible. 29:30 That's not the way it works. 29:33 We would all love it that way, wouldn't we? 29:36 That's not the way it works. 29:37 People are in all sorts of different situations in life 29:40 and we ask those leading questions. 29:42 And when we realize where they are at, 29:46 then we can take the opportunity to meet them there. 29:50 So step number 4 is to meet them where they're at. 29:51 Step number 1, listen to God. 29:53 Step number 2, run when you hear Him. 29:56 Step number 3, ask leading questions. 29:58 Step number 4, meet them where they're at. 30:00 Once those questions have done their work 30:02 and you've really heard what they have to tell you, 30:04 meet them where they're at. 30:05 Begin with that scripture, so to speak. 30:10 And this then takes us to step number 5. 30:15 I'm gonna spend some time on this one. Step number 5. 30:22 Reading again, let's read verse 34 and 35 together. 30:25 "So the eunuch answered Philip and said, 30:27 'I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, 30:32 of himself or of some other man?'" 30:36 Take note of that. 30:38 "Then Philip opened his mouth, 30:41 and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him." 30:48 You see, dear friends, when these situations come, 30:52 people are spiritually hungry. They want to know. 30:58 There's this-- you've heard it said before, 31:00 this God shaped hole that's empty in everyone's life. 31:05 They don't have it filled. 31:06 They can try and fill it with all sorts of things. 31:10 They can fill it with relationships. 31:12 They can fill it with money. 31:14 They can fill it with whatever they may 31:16 want to fill it with at that time. 31:19 But it's God shaped and it doesn't fill it just right. 31:25 You see, what do you say? 31:27 Is this--is the prophet speaking of himself or some other man? 31:33 Then Philip opened his mouth beginning at the scripture, 31:36 preached Jesus to him. 31:39 Now we're sometimes tempted to preach 31:40 the second coming and the signs of the times. 31:43 And we're just itching to preach the Sabbath. 31:47 Or we're just itching to preach something 31:49 that we just know, oh, the prophecies, 31:51 the mark of the beast, and all of those things, 31:54 sure they inform our picture of Jesus, 31:56 amen? They do. 31:58 Those things are important things. 32:01 But we need to get to the root of the matter. 32:04 They've got things missing in their lives. 32:07 But the most important thing missing in their life is Jesus. 32:11 This huge hole in their heart filled 32:13 with all sorts of nonsense, 32:15 all sorts of things that just are never gonna work. 32:18 So you need Jesus. 32:22 Favorite author of mine inspired 32:26 and inspiring wrote the following. 32:30 We're gonna read through this a couple of times 32:32 because it's just such a powerful quote. 32:34 Perhaps one of the most powerful quotes I've ever read. 32:41 This author recognized it. Philip recognized it. 32:44 You and I need to recognize this. 32:50 From the Seventh-day Adventist Bible commentary 32:52 volume 6, page 1113. 32:57 The author writes "Hanging upon the cross 33:01 Christ was the gospel." 33:05 She goes to say, "Now we have a message, 33:08 Behold the Lamb of God, 33:10 which taketh away the sins of the world. 33:12 Will not our church members keep their eyes 33:15 fixed on a crucified and risen Saviour, 33:17 in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered? 33:20 This is our message, our argument, our doctrine, 33:25 our warning to the impenitent, 33:27 our encouragement for the sorrowing, 33:29 the hope for every believer. 33:32 If we can awaken an interest in men's minds 33:34 that will cause them to fix their eyes on Christ, 33:37 we may step aside, and ask them 33:40 only to continue to fix their eyes upon the Lamb of God. 33:43 They thus receive their lesson." 33:52 Slowing down now. 33:54 I read it through so you could get 33:56 the totality, the oomph behind it. 33:59 Let's slow down and see just what was she saying. 34:01 "Hanging upon the cross 34:05 Christ was the gospel." 34:14 Now, I don't condone watching movies. 34:19 And I think for the most part they're a big waste of time. 34:23 But I just couldn't keep myself. 34:25 I mean, it was a phenomenon, 34:28 this "Passion of the Christ" movie. 34:30 Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ." 34:33 And I just-- I had to see it. 34:36 I had to know what everybody was talking about. 34:37 I needed to know what are the interviews were about. 34:39 What are the magazine cover articles were about. 34:41 I needed to know. 34:43 And so I watched this film, "The Passion of the Christ," 34:47 fully aware of all the problems along with it. 34:51 And I recognize those problems and as I said, 34:54 for the most part, you know, hands off sort of an approach. 35:01 But I watched this. 35:04 And you know, that situation 35:08 when Christ was put on that cross, 35:12 there's something about that-- hanging upon the cross 35:16 "Christ was the Gospel." 35:21 Melted my heart, even a Christian, 35:24 Christian of many years at the time, 35:26 one that had given his life to Christ, 35:28 that was working, walking with Christ, 35:30 it melted my heart again. 35:34 "Now we have a message, Behold the Lamb of God, 35:38 which taketh away the sins of the world. 35:41 Will not our church members keep their eyes 35:45 fixed on a crucified and risen Saviour, 35:47 in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered?" 35:51 You see that, that God shaped hole in their hearts, 35:54 that need for something transcended, 35:56 something beyond that, something to worship, 35:58 something to believe, something to love, 36:00 to hold on to, something that grounds them, 36:02 something that gives them a reality in the midst 36:05 of all of this mayhem that's around us. 36:13 "In whom their hopes of eternal life are centered? 36:17 This is our message, 36:22 our argument, our doctrine, 36:27 our warning to the impenitent, 36:31 our encouragement for the sorrowing, 36:35 the hope for every believer." 36:36 You see how, how wide that is? 36:38 She doesn't leave anybody else. 36:40 Those that want to argue with you, 36:41 I don't agree with this, I don't agree with that, 36:43 they always want to argue, you know those arguing types? 36:46 She says, "Jesus hanging up 36:48 on the cross, that's your argument." 36:51 Those that want to know-- just, 36:53 just what do you believe? What's your message? 36:55 What do you stand for as a church? 36:56 She says, "This is our message, 36:58 hanging upon the cross, our doctrine." 37:03 Sometimes we want to take them through 28 Bible studies. 37:06 Oh, and again as I said those 28 Bible studies, 37:08 those will inform their picture. They're all parts of it. 37:13 At the very heart of it, at the very root of it 37:15 it is Christ hanging upon the cross. 37:18 Without that meaningless second coming, 37:21 meaningless Sabbath, meaningless all of those things. 37:25 They're meaningless unless that event had taken place. 37:28 Hanging upon the cross, 37:30 Christ was the gospel. 37:33 She says, "If we can awaken an interest in men's minds 37:37 that will cause them to fix their eyes upon Christ, 37:40 we may step aside." 37:43 That's what we all really want to do, right? 37:45 I don't want to be the one convincing them. 37:47 I don't want to be the one constantly spoon feeding them 37:50 their spiritual life, their spiritual food, 37:53 their spiritual desires. 37:55 I don't want to be the one doing that. 37:57 I'm just a man. I make mistakes. 37:59 I may not prepare the right meal for them that day. 38:03 If we can fix their eyes on Christ we can step aside. 38:06 That's what we all want to do. 38:08 We want to be effective soul winners for Christ. 38:11 We want to do our part, 38:12 but the moment we can't we want to step aside. 38:15 We want to--and this story bears that out by the way, 38:18 we're gonna get to that at the end. 38:19 Philip has just vanished. He stepped aside. 38:23 The eunuch's eyes had been focused on Christ. 38:26 He preached Jesus to him. 38:29 The eunuch got a lesson from Jesus. 38:32 He got to hear Jesus. 38:33 He got to smell and to taste Jesus 38:35 and Philip was able to just disappear. 38:37 You think, "Well, wait a minute. 38:38 Doesn't he need to disciple him? 38:39 Doesn't he need to nurture him?" 38:41 Yeah, yeah, all those things are there. 38:42 The eunuch was gonna find a place to have 38:44 all those things happen but really he could just step aside. 38:48 Christ was now the lesson giver. 38:53 "We may step aside and ask them 38:55 only to continue to fix their eyes upon the Lamb of God. 38:59 They thus receive their lesson." 39:04 Throughout the Bible we find this. 39:07 We find this same approach preach Jesus, 39:09 preach Jesus, preach Jesus. 39:11 Now you may be thinking to yourself, 39:13 "Hang on a second, the word there is preacher. 39:15 I'm not a preacher. I can't preach. 39:18 I can't even stand up. 39:19 I don't know how you're standing up right now 39:21 and preaching the word of God. 39:22 I'm too nervous to preach." 39:25 Now it's interesting that the Bible you chose 39:29 to translate the word preach here 39:31 it actually comes from a Greek word, 39:36 which means where we get the word evangelism from. 39:39 Now the traditional word in the Greek 39:41 for preaching is (foreign word) 39:43 means to proclaim, to tell, to share, 39:45 and it doesn't mean a public speech. 39:48 That's not the definition that when Paul 39:50 and others will preach or evangelize-- 39:53 (foreign words) They weren't saying stand up front 39:56 in front a group of a lot of people and preach, 39:59 a public, you know, sermon type event. 40:02 No, that's not what they had in mind. 40:05 When they said preach or evangelize 40:08 they had this right here, one on one. 40:11 You think Philip jumped off the chariot and said, 40:15 "Hang on a second, pulled out his Bible, 40:17 put in a pulpit and started to preach? 40:19 No. That's not what we're talking about here. 40:22 Preaching can be just the very simple 40:24 sharing one on one of what Christ has done for you. 40:30 What is He meant to you? 40:32 What do you know about the Scriptures? 40:33 Oh, you say, "I don't know my Bible well enough." 40:35 You know enough to share Jesus from the Bible. 40:41 The woman [ preached Jesus. 40:45 All throughout the Bible we find these situations. 40:49 It simply means to communicate God to that individual. 40:54 That's what it means. 40:58 We go to Christ first then. 41:03 A favorite illustration of mine 41:07 is the illustration of the pizza delivery boy. 41:11 I'm borrowing this by the way and you know 41:13 if you ever see this who I'm borrowing it 41:14 from speaker or individual. 41:16 I didn't ask you if I could borrow this illustration 41:18 but I'm gonna borrow it nonetheless. 41:21 I love pizza. I think it's good. 41:26 I've even really learned to like soy cheese pizza. 41:30 But here's the thing, it's no good 41:33 to just have a pizza shop with a good pizza in there. 41:37 There's no good to even have the best Italian pizza maker. 41:40 You know, tossing his pizza dough into the air 41:44 and putting all the fixings, feta cheese on there nicely. 41:48 You know, and to have good smelling pizza. 41:52 And then just to have it stay in the store. 41:55 No. You need a delivery boy. 41:58 You need a delivery girl. 42:00 You need somebody to get in their car with that, 42:03 you know, sleeve that keeps them warm 42:05 and then to drive across town 42:08 and get to that individual and deliver the pizza. 42:11 Now it's no good for Jesus just 2000 years ago 42:14 to have been upon a cross to die for our sins 42:16 and then never to have anybody deliver that message. 42:19 That happened 2000 years ago. 42:21 We need delivery boys and girls, 42:23 delivery men and women. 42:25 We need people to take a look at that pizza, 42:26 that--the aroma of Christ upon the cross, 42:30 of what it's meant to life and to deliver the pizza. 42:36 Christ is only beneficial to someone 42:38 if he has been delivered. 42:40 And I know we all have fulltime jobs. 42:43 But the least you can do is to be a part time 42:46 delivery boy or girl, delivery man or woman. 42:52 Moving along then, that was point number 5, 42:57 preach Jesus Christ, the moment you can 42:59 preach Jesus, the moment. 43:01 Don't wait, don't drag your feet, preach Jesus. 43:05 Step number 6 then. 43:08 We must learn to recognize conviction. 43:13 Verse 36, Acts Chapter 8:36. 43:16 "Now as they went down the road, 43:18 they came to some water. 43:19 And the eunuch said, 'See, here is water. 43:20 What hinders me from being baptized?'" 43:23 They've obviously gotten to this point in their Bible study. 43:27 Now again Philip here, he got off easy, scot-free. 43:30 I'm gonna walkup to Philip in heaven one day 43:31 and I'm gonna say, "Listen, man, 43:33 I learned a lot from your story but you got off scot-free." 43:36 This is an easy way to tell conviction. 43:39 When somebody asks you, "When can I be baptized?" 43:41 And they're just waiting to get dunked. 43:42 And then you just know that their life 43:44 needs to be given over 100% to Christ. 43:46 They're the lucky ones. 43:47 Now that is a sign of conviction, 43:49 no doubt about it. 43:50 That's a positive sign of conviction. 43:52 The person wants to give their life in baptism to Christ. 43:55 But we need to be wiling to sit silent at times 44:01 and let the Holy Sprit speak and then watch. 44:05 You need to be a studier of people. 44:07 I love to observe people. 44:09 One of my favorite pastimes is to go into a mall 44:13 and sit down on a bench and just watch people go by. 44:17 Watch their faces, watch what they're doing 44:18 and you know now it's very intriguing 44:20 is all these people with these Bluetooth earpieces 44:23 and they just think that they're 44:24 the most important people in the world. 44:26 They got the little Bluetooth earpiece on 44:27 and you can never stop them, 44:29 they're just trudging through that mall and you think, 44:31 "Man, do they have an appointment with the president?" 44:34 Like do they have an appointment with the Queen of England? 44:37 Like who do they have an appointment with? 44:39 They're in such a rush to get through the mall. 44:41 Anyways they look so important 44:42 with that little Bluetooth earpiece. 44:44 Anyways that's just something I've noticed recently. 44:48 But we need to learn to recognize conviction 44:49 and that means studying people. Don't kid yourself. 44:53 Philip as he said something truthful, 44:55 he'd kind of peak over around the corner of his eyes 44:58 at the eunuch and he'd be like 44:59 trying to look for signs of conviction. 45:02 He's trying to see-- did he twitch funny? 45:04 Did his face grimace? 45:06 Did he sigh? Did he roll his eyes? 45:10 So we need to be looking for conviction. 45:14 Now there's positive ones, joy, sharing with others, 45:18 their personal application of what you've taught them. 45:21 Have they got a tear in their eyes, 45:23 the positive crying by the way? 45:24 They can't stay away from you. 45:26 You're sharing with them, they're a co-worker, 45:28 you've had that experience. 45:30 And that co-worker just-- they just don't leave your side 45:31 they want to know more and you say, 45:33 what do you still doing there? 45:34 You know, they just don't run away. 45:36 And every time they're calling you upon the phone, 45:37 when's your next Bible study? 45:38 Those are positive signs of conviction. 45:40 Lighting up of the face. 45:42 You can just see they're being brightened by the gospel. 45:45 They become friendly. They ask more questions. 45:47 They study on their own. 45:49 You see positive attitude changes. 45:50 They used to be sour faced and upset and angry 45:54 and furrowed eyebrow and they were upset. 45:56 And now you see positive attitude changes. 45:58 You see them opening up, starting to flourish. 46:01 These are positive changes. 46:05 And basically all the opposite of those things 46:07 can be negative signs of conviction. 46:10 People don't always respond positively 46:12 to what the Holy Spirit is doing in their hearts. 46:17 Sometimes takes the other direction 46:20 and they're crying uncontrollably. 46:23 They reject you. They say, "I don't want it." 46:25 They close up their Bible, 46:27 "Get out of my house, 46:28 get away." 46:30 And they reject. They start to argue 46:31 "but it can't be--" 46:33 And they start to argue with you. 46:37 They avoid you. 46:38 You try and call them, 46:39 "Are we gonna have another Bible study? 46:41 Are we--" And they'll never return--no phone calls returned. 46:44 It's just always going to voice mail. 46:46 They get angry with you. They resist you. 46:47 They object. 46:49 Those are signs of conviction as well 46:50 because they recognize 46:52 that the cross has a claim on their life. 46:58 So we need to recognize these signs of convictions 47:00 and not give up, not lose hope. 47:02 The positive ones, keep on going. 47:04 The iron is hot. 47:05 The negative ones, you may have to back off a little bit, 47:07 but you don't want to back off so far. 47:09 You want to continue to press. 47:12 Not pressure, press. 47:15 You don't want to like sit out front of their door and, 47:19 you know, you don't leave 10 messages a day 47:21 but you want them to know 47:22 that you're still thinking about them, 47:24 maybe a week's gone by you can dial up your phone and say, 47:25 "Hey, I've been praying for you. 47:27 I know this is hard. 47:29 I know this isn't easy. 47:31 Listen, I myself went through much 47:33 of what you're going through. 47:35 I know what it's like. 47:36 It seems like it's so different and it's seems like, 47:38 no they can't be so." 47:40 And you can leave a message with them. 47:41 You can work with that conviction. 47:46 And step number 7. 47:49 Step number 7, I cannot tell you 47:50 how important step number 7 is. 47:52 So let's review very quickly. 47:54 Step number 1, listen to god, 47:55 recognize the situation, look at your calendar 47:58 and look for future situations, recognize them. 48:01 Listen to God. Listen to what He's setting up in your life. 48:04 Don't think that He doesn't have a hand 48:06 in what your schedule looks like 48:08 and where you're gonna be 48:10 and what you're gonna do and what you're not gonna do. 48:11 He's got His hand in it. 48:14 Then run to the situation. 48:17 Run to it. Don't drag your feet. 48:18 Don't say, "Oh, God, I'm not really ready for this." 48:21 Run to it. Philip ran. 48:22 You need to run. We need to run. 48:24 I need to run. 48:25 Ask leading questions. Remember to evaluate. 48:27 But don't forget the first aid, the first aid story. 48:30 You evaluate very quickly and those questions 48:31 help you to evaluate. 48:35 And then meet them where they're at. 48:36 Don't start somewhere else. 48:38 Don't start where you think they need to be. 48:40 Start where they're at. 48:41 Beginning with this scripture. Remember what Philip did? 48:43 Beginning with that scripture. 48:45 Step number 5, the moment you can preach Christ. 48:48 Don't preach anything else, peach Christ. 48:54 Number 6 is, recognize conviction. 48:57 It was easy for--easy for our friend Philip here. 49:00 The eunuch asked, "I want to be baptized, 49:02 what's stopping me? 49:03 What's stopping-- this needs to happen. 49:05 Look, there's water there. 49:06 What stopping me, I want to be baptized." 49:09 We need to recognize conviction. 49:12 And finally number 7, 49:14 we must facilitate a decision. 49:19 This is the hardest part. 49:21 No doubt about it, the hardest part. 49:24 This is where we back off 49:27 because we don't to step on peoples toes. 49:29 This has been the biggest struggle in my ministry, 49:33 the biggest struggle in many people's ministries, 49:34 bringing people to decision. 49:38 We need to facilitate a decision. 49:39 We can't bring them to the point of acting 49:41 and then not let them act. 49:43 That's cruelty. 49:46 Like they just say, "Oh, don't preach a powerful sermon 49:48 and then not have an appeal." 49:49 Basically, facilitating a decision 49:51 is the appeal process. 49:57 So we don't want to bring a person 49:58 to the point of decision and then not provide a way 50:01 for which they can make that decision. 50:03 For which they can go forward with that decision. 50:10 Maybe you've gone through the first six steps now 50:13 and you recognize-- 50:14 and not all situations are gonna be same. 50:16 Now listen, this decision might not be to be baptized. 50:19 That's not the decision we're talking about. 50:20 Now, that's ultimately where we want to get with people. 50:22 We want them to fully be devoted disciples, 50:25 followers, transformed in Christ, 50:27 that's what we want. 50:28 The spirits gonna do that. 50:29 We're gonna lead them in that direction. 50:31 But not every decision that I'm talking 50:32 about is that decision. 50:36 Maybe it's, you know, 50:41 super play station playing, 50:43 16 year old kid just got his license 50:45 but you had an opportunity 50:46 to sit down and talk with him. 50:48 Maybe you're a teacher in a school. 50:50 And you know how-- hey, listen, 50:51 this guy is far from ready to be 50:52 just totally giving his life over. 50:54 But you've done enough 50:56 and they now have a serious enquiry, 50:58 serious questions into Christianity. 50:59 They think well, maybe there's something there. 51:02 And you can sense that if a position-- 51:04 if an opportunity was provided they would go forward, 51:06 they would study, they would want to. 51:08 You can sense that there's a bit of hunger. 51:12 So maybe there's just a serious enquiry 51:13 into Christianity. 51:15 You need to provide a means 51:17 by which they can check it up. 51:18 That means buying them a good book. 51:20 You know, introductory book to Christianity. 51:22 Steps to Christ something like that. 51:23 And you need to give it to them 51:24 and encourage them to read it, 51:26 check up if they've read it. 51:27 You need to provide. 51:29 You need to facilitate a decision. 51:30 You cannot say, "Oh, Christianity is interesting, 51:31 Christianity is great, Jesus is great, 51:33 He's died for your sins," 51:34 and then just leave them on their own. 51:39 That's criminal. You cannot do that. 51:41 We cannot do that. 51:43 What if Philip had said, "Hey, hang on second here. 51:45 You want to be baptized?" And he just said, 51:48 "Oh, well, I'm not so sure, the water is cold 51:50 and there's a bit of current 51:53 and I'm not so sure I want to--" No. 51:57 Conviction was there, the opportunity was there 51:59 and he facilitated the decision and he said, 52:00 "Yeah, let's stop." 52:02 Commanded the chariot to stop, 52:03 baptized the guy. 52:08 Verse 38, "So he commanded the chariot to stand still. 52:11 And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, 52:13 and he baptized him." 52:19 Maybe the person is beyond questioning 52:22 just the validity of Christianity 52:23 and they know that the Bible is true, 52:25 but they have just never studied it. 52:26 May be you've gotten to the point now where they say, 52:28 that person seems to have 52:30 a pretty good understanding of the Bible. 52:34 And you have this opportunity 52:37 now to give them Bible studies. 52:41 You need to take out that calendar, 52:44 take out that PalmPilot, laptop computer, 52:48 whatever it is you keep your schedule on. 52:50 And you need to say, "Hey, listen, 52:52 I can make this time available in my schedule 52:55 to give you a Bible studies." 52:56 Don't pass it off to the pastor, 52:58 the pastor's got enough Bible studies. 53:01 You need to give those Bible studies. 53:02 You've brought them to this point. 53:04 Why wouldn't you want at least fellowship now 53:06 with what you've done? You've done all the work. 53:08 Why pass off the best part to somebody else? 53:11 Maybe there's a Bible working. 53:12 Oh, yeah, this person is just ready 53:14 to study the Bible. 53:15 No, no, take out your own calendar, 53:17 your own scheduling book 53:18 and figure out when you have 45 minutes, 53:21 an hour to give them a Bible study. 53:23 Facilitate a decision. 53:25 Don't bring them to the point of decision. 53:26 Don't tell them the Bible is gonna answer all their problem. 53:28 The Bible has got answer to this, 53:30 the Bible, the Bible, the Bible and then 53:31 not teach them the Bible. 53:33 Take it out of your schedule. 53:37 Maybe this person knows about the Bible. 53:39 Maybe they were a Christian at one point, 53:41 but they're just not coming to church anymore, 53:43 but you've brought them to the point 53:44 where they're just about ready to go to church. 53:47 You need to facilitate that decision. 53:49 Tell them you're gonna pick them up Sabbath morning. 53:51 Tell them you're gonna pick them up 53:53 just before church. 53:55 And if they say, "Oh, ah--" 53:57 You know, I'll give you a little secret. 53:58 The best way to make sure they come to church is 54:00 not just to make an appointment for church, 54:02 but to make an appointment for after church 54:04 as well and say, "Oh, come to church with me 54:05 and then we'll go home and we'll have a nice lunch." 54:08 It's harder for people to say, 54:10 no to an invitation where they're going to eat 54:12 with you and they know that you want to spend time 54:13 with them than simply to say no to church. 54:16 So you say, you come to church with me 54:17 and then we'll go home and we'll have lunch. 54:19 We'll making it a big day of it. 54:20 It's much harder for them to say no. 54:22 so you need to make sure that you facilitate that decision. 54:25 If they want to come to church, 54:26 make it possible for them to come to church. 54:31 And maybe it's the greatest joy of all. 54:34 Maybe you've brought them to the point 54:35 in their life when they can make a decision for Christ. 54:40 Maybe you've been studying with them. 54:42 You've been seeing this transformation 54:44 and you've just presented salvation to them. 54:47 That hanging upon the Christ, Christ is the gospel. 54:52 Not only was He the gospel for everybody else, 54:55 but He was the gospel for them 54:57 and they're ready to give their hearts to Jesus. 55:00 They're just waiting to give their hearts to Jesus. 55:04 You do not want to flounder here, friends. 55:07 Learn the sinner's prayer, 55:09 ask them, invite them to kneel with you 55:11 and then you say a part of the prayer 55:14 and they'll repeat after you 55:15 and you lead them through repentance. 55:18 You lead them through the putting away of sin 55:20 and accepting of Jesus into their hearts, 55:22 so that transformation can begin. 55:26 That's what we all want. 55:28 We don't want to be somebody everybody follows. 55:31 We don't want to just know the Bible 55:32 for the sake of knowing the Bible 55:34 to win the argument. 55:36 We want to know the Bible, 55:37 we want to do these things 55:38 so that they can know Jesus for themselves. 55:45 They're many decisions that people will make 55:48 during these opportunities 55:51 and we need to be prepared always 55:54 to provide that opportunity. 55:59 The Lord has placed us there. 56:00 2 Corinthians says that, we are ambassadors 56:04 with a message of reconciliation. 56:07 The Lord is asking us 56:08 as Christians to listen to Him, listen. 56:13 Run when He asks us to run. It's not so hard. 56:15 We're not so out of shape spiritually 56:17 that we cannot run. 56:20 And then learn a question or two 56:21 that you can lead that person down the right road. 56:23 You can evaluate the situation. 56:25 You can be better prepared. 56:28 Meet them where they're at. 56:30 Don't wait till they've got to a point 56:31 where you now feel you can deal with them. 56:33 Meet them where they're at. 56:34 And if you can't meet them where they're at, 56:36 find somebody who can. 56:39 And the moment you get an opportunity 56:41 preach Jesus to them. 56:42 He's the one that can fill that hole. 56:44 Nobody else, you can fill it. 56:47 Recognize the conviction in their hearts. 56:49 Don't let them run too far. 56:54 And finally, facilitate a decision. 57:00 Help them, dear friend, to know Jesus for themselves. 57:06 It's the greatest joy anyone of us could ever have. |
Revised 2014-12-17