How Should I Talk to Someone About Jesus When I Don't Know What to Say?

Okay, look around, guys. Look around. Okay, keep that in mind because the majority of you are raising your hands there. It's not that this pulpit is the primary means of evangelism. It's not. That's never been God's intention. God's intention has always been through you. Say me. >> Oh, it's always been through you. Say me. >> Me. >> It's been through each and every single one of us. It's not limited to programs or important people. And before we do this, before we dive in, it's not about the sermon is not about making you feel guilty. It's not about getting you to do better. It's ultimately about people who are not a part of the family of God yet. It's about God's plan for evangelism and how you and I are invited to take part in it. And what Luke does here is he shows us exactly how Philip does this by

Asking a series of questions. And they're really good questions. And I'll point them out as we go. If you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read Acts 8:es 26 through the end of the chapter. God's word, it says this. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philillip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place." And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a unic, a court official of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, who is in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning seated in his chariot. And he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the spirit said to Philillip, "Go over and join this chariot." So, Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you were reading?" And he said, "How can I unless someone guides me?" And he invited Philillip to come up and sit with him. Now, the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this. Like a sheep that was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shears is silent. So he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth. And the unic said to Philillip, about whom, I ask, does the prophet say this about himself or about some someone else? Then Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road, they came to some water. And the Enoch said, "See, here is water. What prevents me from being baptized?" Now, if you're reading from the ESV, it skips verse 37, and I'll explain that later. Verse 38. And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the unic, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord

Carried Philillip away, and the unic saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. And Philip found himself at Azotus. And as he passed through the And as he passed through, he preached the Gospel to all the towns until he came to Cesaria. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord, we do ask that you would open up our minds to see your plan for personal evangelism. As we talk about this and as we see your hand at work, I pray that we would be submissive to what your plan is, God, not our own. That we would just be willing and being available. Lord, as brother Nathan always points out, God uses people that do those two things. I pray that you would just help us all to be willing and available to what you have to say. Father, we do pray for each one of us that are here. We pray that you would build us up today, equip us for every good work, and we know that you will. We ask that we would be encouraged and that we'd speak truth to one another. We ask that you would help us to encourage one another as we know that day of your return is drawing near. I ask, Father, that you would just be with our brothers and sisters that aren't here. Maybe they're traveling abroad and we lift them up to you and we ask for safety for them. For those that are at home sick, or maybe they're unable to be here, God, we lift up to you, our brothers and sisters that we know and that we love. We ask that you would please minister to their hearts and one day that we would be able to worship together again soon. We thank you for your kindness and your mercy. We ask that you would build us up today. In Jesus name we ask. Amen. Well, I want to share with you a quick story from Charles Spurgeon who he shared this story on a number of occasion. It's it's it's about his conversion experience about how he became a Christian. And it was January 6th, 1850. And he was going to

Church in the middle of a snowstorm. And he couldn't make it to his regular church. And so he ducked into what's known as a prim primitive Methodist church and it was on Artillery Street in Colchester. And in Spurgeon's own words, he said, "The minister did not come that morning. He was snowed in, I suppose. Instead, a very thinl looking man, a shoemaker or tailor or something of that sort, as Spurgeon put it, he got up and he preached from Isaiah 45:22 says, "Turn to me and be saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other." And that man, that tor that untradeed man looked at Spurgeon and he said, "Young man, look to Jesus Christ. Look to Jesus. Trust in Jesus Christ. Turn your heart and look to him." And Charles Spurgeon, he testified. He said, "At between half 10:00 when I entered that chapel and half 12:00 when I was back at home again, what a change had taken place in me." It wasn't a preacher that was used. God used an ordinary man to explain one verse in Isaiah to lead the prince of preachers to the Lord. It's the same story on this desert road, isn't it? It's a different passage in Isaiah, but still the same book. And you hear that says, "Turn to me and be saved. All the ends of the earth." All the ends of the earth. The same Gospel. And the same God is sending ordinary men and women like you and like me to go and make an impact in Camden and in Camden County and around the world. And he calls you to do it. And let's see how God does it. First point that I want to make from the passage is that God, he sends ordinary believers to the lost. Look at verse 26 with me. Says that an angel of the Lord spoke to Philillip and told him to go down a desert road. Verse 26, it says rise and go. Verse 27 says he rose and went. Amen.

No questions like, "What am I supposed to do? Who am I looking for? Where exactly am I going?" No. The spirit by the angel spoke to him and he just did what he was told. That is simple faith. And it's amazing faith, isn't it? You and I, we are oftentimes told exactly what to do in the word of God. And yet we still need all sorts of qualifiers and clarifications, don't we? We know exactly what we're supposed to do. Oftentimes when I sit down for counseling or for advice, I just simply ask, "Well, what does the word say?" And 99 times out of a hundred, most people know exactly what it is that they're supposed to be doing. And yet, we have a hard time doing that. We should remember the hymn, trust and obey. For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. Philillip is being led by the Lord and the initiative in his mission is entirely with God. He didn't know what he was supposed to be doing. He was just walking by faith. Exactly. Doing what God had called him to do and it's being carried out by a believer. And I want you to notice what the angel does and what the angel doesn't do. The angel, he directs Philip to the road. And then we never hear from the angel ever again. In verse 29, it's the Holy Spirit that tells Philillip the next command. In verse 35, it's not an angel who opens his mouth to tell the good news. It's Philillip who opens his mouth to tell the good news about Jesus. That the author of Hebrews, he tells us what angels are. He describes them as ministering spirits sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation. And here, one serves a man who is about to inherit salvation. But hear me on this. Acts never tells us, the Bible never tells us to wait for an angel or

To wait for a voice. >> [clears throat] >> never tells us that we have the written word of God and God, he puts people in front of us by his providence. We just have to open our eyes. We just have to look. We just have to be aware and we will see lostness all around us. In verse 35, we see that Philip is willing to share the good news. The angel's job was to get Philip in the right place. To get him on the road. And your job is outside of these walls as well. Doesn't take place primarily here within this church or at your campus or anything like that. It takes place in life. And I want you to look at Philillip. He's not an apostle. In fact, his whole job in the church is waiting tables. And when the church needed men to serve, they were told to pick men of good repute, full of the spirit and of wisdom. And Philippy makes that list. When persecution scattered the church in Acts 8:1, it says that all of them were scattered except for the apostles. In verse four, it says that it as they were scattered, they went about preaching the word. Not the apostles, just ordinary church people. And I know some of you are thinking, well, Cody Phillips called an evangelist later on in the book of Acts. And that's just a gift that I don't have. And that might be fair. You might not have the gift of evangelism, but you are called to share the Gospel, every single one of us. The Baptist faith and message, which is our confession of faith. It's what we believe as Baptists. It says this, and listen carefully. It is the duty and privilege of every follower of Christ and of every church of the Lord Jesus Christ to endeavor to make disciples of all nations. If you are a member, that is your standard.

That's what each one of us are called to do. Every follower of Christ, every church that's a part of Jesus Christ, that's all of us. And it's God's plan for the growth and the health of the local church body. Amen. But look at the man that's that's that Philip is being sent to. We know a lot of different things just based on this short description. He's he's Ethiopian, so he's probably very dark-skinned. He served the queen of the Ethiopians, Candace. It could have been her name. It could have been a title. There's differences of opinions like that, but he was in charge of her entire treasury, which means he's a very trustworthy man. He's a man that was influential. He was likely very wealthy. He was educated. He could read. He owned a scroll of Isaiah, which to own a scroll was a big deal back in that time. He made He made a trip from the edge of the known world all the way to Jerusalem to worship. We also know that he was a unic. And so here's this man with position and power and privilege and prestige and money and education and all these different things. And we can we can reasonably assume that he's a sincere man, that he's a religious man, that he's a spiritually hungry man. And he still didn't understand who it was that Isaiah is talking about. Sincerity, church, is not enough. Zealousness is not enough. What people need is Jesus. The lost needs someone to come alongside them and explain to them Jesus. They need to read Jesus in your life. And so, look at who God sends to this important man. This man with power and privilege and prestige and all these different influences. Who does God send? He sends him a nobody.

According to the world's standards, Philip is unimportant. He is a waiter at the Christian church in Jerusalem. That's the position. That's the power that he has. That's the prestige and the unic. He had all that this world had to offer. But he didn't have Jesus. Now, I know some of you are wondering, how do I even know if someone is ready to talk about Christ? You don't. You don't know. Sometimes you do. Sometimes sometimes people will come to you and they will just be spiritually hungry and it's very clear and plain and obvious and those those are those are good times man those are good times. Other most of the time you're not going to see that. You're not going to be able to sense how hungry someone is. But you know the angel spoke before Philillip ever laid eyes on the man. Philip knew God had sent him and that was enough. He didn't have to wonder is this the opportunity? No. If we just look and see and we're walking with the Lord, he's going to lead us as we're walking in obedience. He's going to lead us as we're walking by faith. Your job is to be willing and available. In Acts 10, it repeats this. At the household of Cornelius, an angel goes to one man, the spirit of God goes to another, and a messenger explains Christ. Like, that's just how it happens. That's how it happened in Acts. And so, this does teach us a little bit of something about boldness. The Holy Spirit says, "Go over and join this chariot." And look at verse 30. What does he do? What does Philillip do? He runs. Philillip ran to him. Now you might not know some much about someone but every person that you come in contact with you do know one thing about them. The one thing that you know is that each

Person has a soul. Every person that you come in contact with has a soul and that soul needs Jesus and that soul needs the Gospel. Has anybody ever anybody a people watcher? You like watching people? Like I'm I'm a people watcher. I love watching people like seeing their faces. Sometimes if I go to Walmart, I like to just prayer walk. Has anybody ever tried prayer walking at Walmart just to see what the Lord might reveal to you? It's actually a really good habit. Okay, I'm not saying that you do it every time because it's a big Walmart. There's a lot of people there. But I am saying if you if you take some opportunities to go and your prayer walk and let me tell you, God has a way of showing you opportunities to share the Gospel with him with others. Every time that you look around, you can make eye contact and you can pray for that person and you have to be intentional about it. And you might think, Cody, I'm just not good at talking to people about Jesus. Listen, if you are if you are saved, if you are called by Christ, the call to evangelize the lost is for you as well. It is for you. It's not something that you have to wonder about. It is for you. And you don't even have to be good at it. That's the beautiful thing. The spirit of God will give you exactly what to say as you just speak for him. Philip's first words, they weren't even a sermon. And they were just a question. Paul, he asked that the church would pray that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly. If the apostle Paul asked for prayer to speak, you can ask for prayer, too. Ask the Lord for boldness and then trust and obey that he's going to give you the words to say at the right time. You know, in your seat, you probably saw these cards. I don't do anything with these yet. We'll visit these later, but I do want you to think

About that friend, that neighbor, that co-orker, that person that you're praying for. Okay? I want you to think about that person, the lost person in your life. It could be a family member. And I want you to think about that person as we continue going through this sermon about evangelism. Second point is that God, he often opens his word through people. So look at what happens when a local believer follows the Holy Spirit and walks by faith. Acts 8:30. So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" That's the first question, isn't it? Do you understand what you were reading? Not a speech. Doesn't hand the man a Gospel tract. He just asks the question. And people in the ancient world when they would read, they would usually read out loud. That was just the habit. And so Philip he runs up beside the chariot overhears a man reading from the scroll of Isaiah and the fact that is that reading it doesn't show that we understand something. So the question is natural and that's when it starts. Acts chapter 8 verse 31 sorry he says how can I understand unless someone guides me and he invited Philillip to come up and sit with him. How can I unless someone guides me? He invites Philip to come up and sit with him. And I want you to think about that for a moment. How amazing that is that the Scriptures they are clear enough to save sinners. Psalm 119 verse1 130 says that the unfolding of God's word imparts understanding to the simple and a lost man can simultaneously say I need a guide. The Bible is clear in God. He still chooses to use people to open it. And this is why we have teachers in our church. This is why we do a wana. This is why we have community groups and preaching is because God uses people and that includes you as well. Listen to the

Passage that he was reading. This is Isaiah 53. Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its sheer is silent. So he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life was taken away from the earth. The question is who is this about? And it's the right one. Who is this about? The answer is Jesus. Philip, he opens his mouth and beginning with this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. And so, let's do what Philip did. Let's begin with the Scripture. Isaiah wrote it 700 years before the birth of Christ. Isaiah says that a lamb before its sheerers is silent. And when the chief priests and the elders they accuse Jesus, Matthew 27 says that he gave no answer. And Pilate, he hear he's he's seeing all this take place and he says, "Do you not hear the how many things that they are testifying against you?" And Jesus still didn't give an answer, not even for a single charge. And as a result of that, Pilate, he was greatly amazed. John the Baptist saw him coming and said, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Isaiah says, "In his humiliation, justice was denied to him." Luke, he wrote Acts. In Luke, he records what Pilate said three times. There is no guilt in this Jesus. Three times he said that. And yet, he handed him over to be crucified. Anyway, justice was denied him. Isaiah says his life was taken away by the from the earth and they nailed our Jesus to the cross and he died. Why? If we keep reading in the book of Isaiah, it answers it. He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and by his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has

Turned to his own way. But the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Not just a good man treated unfairly. Jesus is the substitute. He took the place for sinners. And the apostle Peter, he says he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Philip begins with the Scripture and the scroll keeps going. Luke doesn't tell us exactly where he goes. He just knows. We just know that he explained the good news about Jesus and we know that includes the death, the burial, the resurrection all in accordance with the Scriptures. And it's exactly what Christ himself did on the road to Emmas once again written by Luke. And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Why? Because Jesus is the key to understanding the Old Testament. Augustine said, "The new is in the old concealed. The old is in the new revealed." Church, we have to be clear about what the Gospel is and what the Gospel is not. The Gospel is not a strategy. It's a message. Strategies, they change from time to time and place to place. Some people they love to use Romans Road to share the Gospel. Praise the Lord. That's a strategy. Some people like to use three circles. It's a Gospel evangelism strategy. Some people like to do that. Some people like to share their testimony. Some people like to use the way of the master. Those are strategies, but they're not the Gospel. We just walk through the Gospel. The Gospel is the life, the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ for sinners. The Gospel is not an altar call. It's not. The Gospel is not admit, believe, confess. The Gospel is not the sinner's prayer. Those are ways to maybe perhaps respond to the Gospel call.

But you have to understand that and you have to be willing to stand on the hill of the Gospel. If you're standing on a strategy, then you're standing on a hill which is not Calvary. Here's what Philip teaches us about explaining Jesus to someone. Start with a question. Start where they're at and point them to Jesus. If you're uncomfortable sharing the Gospel, then it's good to start with questions. People like answering Some good questions are, you know, what do you believe about God? What do you think happens after we pass away? Do you think that God is involved in our world or do you think that he's hands off? And people talk. It's what we do. We can talk about the weather, right? We can talk about the Kansas City Chiefs. We can talk about our pets or our kids. We should be willing to talk about the most important thing that there is. And then when the door opens, do what Philip did. Open the word. Most of you carry one in your pocket. These things are a curse and a blessing. Ask them, say, "Can I show you something about Jesus?" Read to them Isaiah 53 or a chapter from one of the Gospels. You don't have to have every answer. Just let the text do the work. Let the spirit of God lead you. And you might think, I don't know that much, Cody. And that might be true, but you can share what you know. And if you are a Christian, then you know the Gospel. If you don't know the Gospel, listen, you stake your entire eternity on the Gospel. You should know it. If you can't say it in a few sentences, that's your homework this week. The life of Jesus, the death, the burial, the resurrection for sinners. And you can say it out loud in your car. Third point, God, he welcomes the outsider into his people. Look at what the word of God says. And

As they were going along the road, they came to some water and the unic said, "See, here is water. What prevents me from being baptized?" The conversation has moved from the scroll and the Gospel to a response. Here's water. And that's the third question. What prevents me from being baptized? Think about the man asking that for a moment. Luke, he will use the same word prevents when he's talking about Peter later on in Acts 10. Can anyone withhold prevent water for baptizing these people in Acts 11:17? Who was I that I could stand in God's way preventing? Same question over and over because the Gospel crosses lines. What might an outsider like him think? What about my body? What about me being from Africa? What about the distance I am from Jerusalem? And I can't tell you that he thought every single one of those things, but look at the scroll he was carrying. Think about the beliefs that he may have carried in. In Deuteronomy 23 verse one, a man of his condition being a unic was cast out and not allowed to be a part of the assembly of the Lord. But in the very book that he was holding in Isaiah 56:es 3-5, it says, "Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, 'The Lord will surely separate me from his people. And let not the unic say, behold, I am a dry tree." God promises them a name better than sons and daughters. And Luke, he doesn't quote Isaiah 56 here, so I'm just drawing that line, not Luke. But the servant that he was reading about was the one opening the door to that promise. It is Jesus that un that allows and brings the promises of God. Now verse 37, it's skipped over in the ESV and it's not for anything nefarious. It's just simply not included in the oldest and best manuscripts that we have. Here's what it says. And Philip said, "If you believe with

All your heart, you may be baptized." And he, the unic replied, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God." It's a really old statement. Actually, Arinius in 180 AD, he knows the Unix said this. He references it in his commentaries and homalies on this. And so it's very early in Christian history that this confession is attached to this part of history. I can't be dogmatic about verse 37, but the confession is true. Do you believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ is the son of God? That he lived a perfect sinless life and died on the cross for sinners in their place and rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven and will one day return. Do you believe that? Do you lean all of eternity on that? Are you willing to stake all of your reputation and all of your hopes and everything forever on that statement right there. That is the faith of a Christian. And it comes with repentance. Paul, he summed it up as a repentance toward God and of faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. Look at verse 38. And he commanded the chariot to stop. And they both went down into the water, Philip and the unic, and he baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the unic saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing. The first public step of obedience in a Christian's life is baptism. And some of you, you need to get your baptism on the right side of your profession of faith, right? It takes place after salvation. It takes place after faith causes you to be born again. It doesn't justify you, but it is a sign of God's work in your life. And it is a testimony of being raised to life. Some of you need to profess Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. That's just where you're at today. You need to make it public and look at who it is that's baptized. We look and it's a believer. Yes, I believe.

The man heard, he believed, and he asked. And all throughout the book of Acts, people are baptized after they hear and they believe the Gospel. Now, some of our friends here locally and all over the world, they sprinkle their babies and baptize them. And as Baptists, we disagree. That's like the most Baptist thing that anyone can do is baptize believers. That word baptize means to dip. It means to immerse. That's literally what it means. And Scripture describes baptism as being buried and raised with Christ. And then something unique happens. We should not expect after we share the Gospel to be carried away by the spirit of God. Think about what that does in the life of a brand new believer. Seeing something like that on a deserted road and you're heading heading home after a really long trip and the only Christian that he knows about for miles and miles is carried away. Luke tells us that he went on his way rejoicing. He went on his way rejoicing and he doesn't tell us what came next for him. But we shouldn't expect to be carried away. Because as a church, we are called to walk with new believers. We should come alongside of them to help them grow. It's not a job for a man on the road. That's what the local church is for. Acts chapter 2 verse 47 says that the Lord added to their number day by day those who are being saved. And he adds the saved to a church. Every person that you reach should land in a local church family which should baptize them, teach them, pray for them. And so if the Lord uses you to guide a neighbor to saving faith in Christ, they need to be and we need to be a church ready to receive them exactly as they are. Exactly as they are. And be willing to walk with them through the thick and the thin of it. Actsapter 8:40 it says but Philip he found himself in a zotus and as he

Passed through he preached the Gospel to all the towns until he came to Cesaria. Now Philip he keeps going if you notice that he just keeps preaching the Gospel. He finds himself 22 miles north of Gaza and he keeps preaching on the way north until he comes to Cesaria. That's Philip's life and he lived like that for many years. In Acts 21, he's known as the evangelist still in Cesaria. And this desert road was just simply a stop on his faithful life. And so I want to turn back to that third question that the unic asks. What prevents me? And so what prevents you from coming to Christ? What prevents you from doing that? Maybe it's shame. Maybe it's shame that keeps you enslaved. You take it to the Lord. Romans chapter 10 vers 11 says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. So don't allow for your shame to keep you from Christ." Maybe it's your pride. Maybe you don't think that you're as bad as you are. Well, the Gospel is for you, too, because it shows you that you are indeed a sinner in need of a Savior. And it promises that the spirit of God will make you new and that your sin and your guilt and your past and the fact that you're not good enough is exactly why Christ came. Jesus, he said, "I came not to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance." Look at Isaiah 53. Going back to that, there we go. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? The son of God, he was cut off and he died. Why? For the transgression of his people. So that all who come to him can be brought in, made alive, and healed. Listen to Ephesians chapter 2. But now in Christ, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. Far off. That was the unic from the end of the earth. And that

Might be you, too. You come near to God by the blood of Jesus Christ. John chapter 6, all that the father gives me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. No one who comes to Christ will be shut out of the kingdom of God. The only thing that keeps someone from coming to Christ is unbelief and unrepentance. And so to you who are not Christian, what stops you? Repent and believe the Gospel. That's what it is. Lean all your hope on it. And if you want to be saved, you can talk to me or an elder after service. I'll be up here at the front. You need to look to Jesus. And church, if you are a believer, I do want to talk to you because you remember at the beginning when we raised our hands, you know, of who you heard the Gospel from. I want you to remember remember that someone explained Christ to you. Someone took the time to tell you about Jesus. Parent to grandparent to a friend, co-orker, a friend from church. Someone stood at the ta sat at a table with you or stood at a fence and they explained the Gospel. Remember that you are an ambassador for Christ. God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ. Be reconciled to God. God, he sends you as his ambassador to bring those who are far off to be near to Christ. He's not asking you to be an expert, but he is asking you to be willing and available like Philillip. Ask a question, open the Bible, point him to Jesus. Now, I want to ask you to take out the card that's in your chair. I want you to look at this. I want you to think about this because it's one thing to write down the name, okay? It's another thing to have people coming alongside of you and praying for this name, ain't it? It's a totally different thing. And I want you to just take a moment and fill

Out that name. Fill this out during the invitation time. Finish writing it out during our response time. And what I want you to do is I want you to tear it in half where it says tear here. Keep the top. Give the bottom to the church. After the service, after we finish with our response time, I want you to bring the bottom half up where it says, "Let someone know." Bring it up and put it in this in this bowl that's up here. Okay? Because we're going to commit to praying for this as a church. Praying for your lost friends, praying for your lost family, your lost neighbor, your lost co-orker. We're not going to contact that person. Okay, we're not going to do that, but we are going to pray for them. Philip, he was carried away, but Philip kept going. And the Ethiopian unic, he went home rejoicing. And someone explained Christ to you. And so now, who is God sending you to? Head, heart, hand, head. Here's what God wants you to know from this passage. He wants you to know that he sends ordinary believers to explain Christ. You guys are going to have plenty of opportunities during the holiday season to point people to Jesus. Take advantage of those opportunities as you're connecting with friends and having people over or maybe that lost neighbor. We are committing to pray with you as you seek to share the Gospel with them. Heart based on this sermon. God. He wants you to believe based on what you know to believe that no one who comes to Christ is turned away. We all come to God as needy sinners and yet he takes us and he radically transforms us into his image. Praise God that he does that. In hand. God wants you to write one name down and pray with your church about these people and ask one question this week. Point them to Jesus because that's what people need.

Our gracious Lord, we do thank you so much for this time that we have together. And I pray for anyone here that maybe they don't know you. I pray that today would be that day that they come to know you by faith. That I pray that you would help us as a church to be ambassadors for your kingdom, God, sharing and declaring victory of the Gospel in people's hearts and lives. Father, I pray that you'd help us to ask good questions to open up the word and to point people to Jesus. God, there is a hungry hungry world out there. I read somewhere that o over 80% of people like having spiritual conversations, Lord. So help us to have spiritual ones, but to point them to the truth of Jesus Christ. I pray that you would give us opportunities and that we would capitalize on those opportunities as we go forward as your ambassadors. Lord, help us, God, to shine your light to be salty salt to a world that needs it. Father, help us God in Jesus name. Amen. Let's all stand and let's respond in worship together. The water. [music] So my souls after you. [music] >> You alone [singing] are my heart's desire [music] and I long to worship you. You [music] alone [singing] are my strength, my shield. To you [music] alone [singing] may my spirit. You alone are [music and singing] my heart's desire and I long to worship you. You're my [music and singing] friend and you are my brother. Even though you are a king, [singing] I love [music] you more than any other [singing] so much more [music] than any. [singing] You alone are [music] my strength, my [singing]

Shield. To you alone [music] may my spirit heal. [singing] You [music] alone are my heart's desire [singing] and I long [music] to worship you. I want [music and singing] you more than gold or silver. Only you can satisfy. [music and singing] You alone are the real joy giver [singing and music] and the apple of my God. [music] You alone [singing] are my strength, my shield. To you alone [music] may my spirit heal. [singing] You [music] alone are my heart's desire [singing] and I long to worship you. You alone [singing] are my strength, my shield. To you alone [singing and music] may my spirit heal. >> You [music and singing] alone are my heart desire and I long to worship [music] you. If y'all could have a seat, I want to introduce to you a few friends that said they want to come forward and join our church. This is Schoolfields. Sean and Jade. They've been at our church now for a while. And they recently got hitched and they said this is the church that they really want to be a part of and see the spirit of God working in our midst. And so I got to sit down with them, hear their testimonies, good testimonies of faith, and welcome with the Lord. If you're a church member and you would receive them into our fellowship based on their statements of faith, would you say amen? >> Amen. >> All right. Any opposed? Awesome. Praise the Lord. And yeah, welcome them into the family.

Be sure to come by and hug their necks. Say welcome to our church. And don't forget to bring the bottom half of that card, drop it off here. Also, get some information and visit with Miss Teresa over there about the pregnancy health center. She would love to answer any questions that you might have about how you can participate, be a part of that ministry as it makes an impact here in Camden and Camden County. Would you all please pray with me and pray for school fields as we dismiss some worship. Father God, I do thank you so much just for Shawn and Jade and for their good testimony of faith. Thank you for just working in their lives and bringing them together as husband and wife and thank you for his leadership in engaging in a local church. We ask that you would bless them, bless their relationship, bless their marriage. And Lord, as we've all heard from you this morning about what we are called to do, help us, God, as your ambassadors to go out from here and share the good news of Jesus Christ. We ask that you would please use us, use First Baptist Church of Camon to impact this city. God, we love you so much. We dedicate ourselves to you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.