Six Actions For Effective Evangelism

So now so am I on hey if I could if I could just have your attention just real quick just real quick if you have not received the elements for communion we're gonna be taking communion during the I guess the music worship part of the service okay and so they're available at each one of the entrances we're gonna get started here in about five minutes so if you have not received the communion cup and bread make sure that you go grab them me thank you so well good morning every one of you good morning church today is memorial day it's the time that we take as a special day in our nation to remember those who lost their lives defending our country and I wanted to read to you the names of the people who died defending our country while an active duty army specialist Joshua m noosh 20 years old of montreal missouri he died of non-combat causes in hamburg hospital in germany he was active duty with a 203rd engineer battalion he died july 12 2003. Army private first class jesse a givens 34 of springfield missouri givens was parked in an m1 main battle tank alongside the bank of the euphrates river in al habanaya

Iraq the riverbank gave away resulting in the tank falling into the river givens was assigned to the second squadron third armored cavalry regiment died on may 1st 2003. Marine corporal dallas l kearns 21 years old of mountain grove missouri kearns died of a result of enemy action in al anbar province in iraq he was assigned to the 3rd battalion 7th marine regiment first marine division first marine expeditionary force died july 5th 2004. Army sergeant travis l burkhardt 26 of adena missouri burkhart was part of an escort mission when the vehicle he was in hit a curb along the road and rolled over in baghdad iraq burkhart was assigned to the 170th military police company he died june 6 2003 army sergeant ryan m campbell 25 of kirksville missouri campbell died in baghdad iraq when a vehicle approached his unit and the driver detonated a bomb he was assigned to the 4th battalion 27th field artillery regiment first armored division died april 29 2004 army sergeant first class richard s gottfried 42 of lake ozark missouri gottfried died in tampa iraq when struck by an improvised explosive device gottfried was assigned to the first division support command first infantry division died march 9 2004 and that's why we remember those men who died in active duty who gave their lives very willingly on our behalf for the rights that we have as americans I want to turn your attention to the screen as we show a brief video [Music] well here at first baptist church we are all about loving God loving each other and loving our community and world amen and just a couple of things that I want to direct your attention to firstly if you're visiting with us welcome to our church we're glad that you're here each one of you are special you have been created and designed by the Lord and it is by no reason of chance that you are here today God he wants to share something with you and so I pray that you are richly blessed today a couple of things we have our new constitution that is going to be available next week for you to pick up it's the final revision it's done okay and yeah praise the Lord we've been at it for two years that team has done a fantastic job and I'm very thankful to the Lord for them one of the things that we did was we recorded a discussion that we had a couple of weeks ago about it is available to you all you have to do is just request it we don't want like all our business out on the internet you know what I'm saying so we just want to like share with you the link through an email and so you can do that by just talking to debra say hey can you can you send me that link and we will get that out to you it'll answer your questions during the business meeting that's what we're going to be voting on that won't be until after father's day though so that's going to be happening we'll do that special calling two weeks before the business meeting also we've got summer camp that's coming up in just what two weeks now one week is it one week away really oh my goodness and so we got a bunch of awesome knuckleheaded teenagers that you know I always love seeing kids go to camp you know why because God works in really spectacular ways when people unplug from like their common everyday hustle and bustle and they take time to intentionally connect with the Lord amen anybody ever have a special experience

With God while you were at a summer camp raise your hand yeah yep hands up all around the room and that's my testimony too and so we want to pray for these students and we'll have a list of those students available in next week's bulletin so that way you can spend some time especially praying that they have an encounter with the Lord also at the end of our service today we are going to be taking up a benevolent offering our benevolent offering is used for people that have local needs things like folks saying hey I need new tires for my car and we say well we can't get you a whole new set of tires but we can give towards that and of course most of our support goes to lamb house but if someone comes in with a desperate need we want to be able to meet that need and when you give to the benevolent offering that helps us be the handsome feet of Jesus now we are going to be moving into a time of preparing our hearts for worship my hope in my prayer today is that you are ready to receive communion that you are ready to worship the Lord that you are ready to hear from the Lord as we continue in our study of the book of Daniel and so if you would would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me as we pray as we prepare our hearts for worship maybe you're here and you're just here for a great weekend and you don't even know why you're here at church this morning but the Lord has you here I want you to take a moment and just ask him to prepare your heart ask the Lord right where you're at to give you a heart for missions as we are about to hear from some missionaries that are about to go onto the mission field ask the Lord to motivate your heart to go

And give right where you're at maybe this week has been full of some shocks and some hurts maybe it's just been a hard week tell that to the Lord and tell him that you need some encouragement this morning and so God we do give this time to you we pray for the sharps as they fix to share I pray that you would just bless them in their testimony as they share about what the Lord's calling them to do and as they depart from our congregation they leave knowing that they are loved and we ask that you would speak to us today in Jesus name amen I want to introduce to you chandler and jamie sharp if you all would come on up here they're going to be leaving us on tuesday right eller departing tuesday wednesday wednesday I was off by day but they're going to share a little bit about how the Lord is calling them and then I will come up and we will pray over them as a church thank you chandler good morning so being [Music] coming up here to speak after watching that video veterans that's hard to follow to be honest I'm from a military family but the one thing I that I don't want to say thank you for thank you because of those guys and those guys that cody read we have the freedom to come to a building like this to where cody can

Preach from this to where he just finished praying I mean I don't know if you guys realize this but there are our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who are being persecuted for this very same thing that's something to think about right because I often let's just be honest often do we really think about that I don't sometimes sometimes I do sometimes I don't to be honest but I think we should be thankful that was that was free information so my name is chandler sorry my name is chandler and this is my wife jamie we have four kids yeah just so real quick we were in tanzania east africa for about three years [Music] we lived there learned the culture learned the language we were still learning the but God had other plans for us our documents were ending and then the thing cover 19 kicked us out early so yeah and then in God's providential sovereignty if you believe that God is sovereign and if you believe that sovereignty is providential obviously I do and so in the sovereignty he brought us to [Music] believe it or not there's a town called roach missouri right when we came here in training nine years ago I was telling you know we're telling family and friends and people that we were raising support to come to the training where you going we're going to roach

Missouri what yeah it's a real place yeah so God brought us to roach missouri we been on staff at the training center with ethanol 360 for about two years or so give or take some weeks yeah that time has been healing pool for sorry for me my family yeah so we know we knew that about a year ago that this place in roach missouri was not long term for us we our hearts were still beating for the nations yeah so you know we're like okay guys stop ahead to go out please lead and direct and we were seeking this face and truly intentionally for about a year and he closed some doors and he opened up a new door for us and it is pretty wide open and we are all right yes okay thank you no just walking forward we are moving to papua new guinea yeah that's weird to say right after living about three years in east africa east africa is africa papua new guinea is papua new guinea and different cultures so that's that's something interesting that we're walking into we've never been to that part of the world the furthest we've been was tanzania right on the coast of africa yeah so we're we will actually

Be running a guest house doing supply buying for the missionaries there I guess level on them as best that we can and not only that but building relationships with the locals there we enjoyed that in tanzania and then also I praise Jesus there is a maturing church around where we're going to be so that's a praise right and so we're going to you know the best that we can we're going to learn the language and culture and our desire is to be part of that local church there yeah so we will be leaving here wednesday we're traveling out east coast I'm from virginia southeast coast yeah so we will be is what ethnos 360 calls partnership development connecting reconnecting with our partners and supporters and then at towards the end of the year be around our ascending church for about three months or so and then you know God's provision buy some buy six and one-way tickets to papua new guinea sometime in january [Music] so please be praying for us we I put we have prayer cards it's sharing the table with vbs since I did that because you guys shouldn't know where the vbs the table for vbs is right out there so

If you want to volunteer like I'm sure cody would like that so we just want to say thank you so much for being part of because it's not just us going right I mean whether whether you guys partner with us financially great if not great prayer great if not great but it's not just us going right it's like we're all in this together and so together we're making his name known not ours not anyone else's but his name so we just want to say thank you so much for being part of our lives for these past two years I just also wanted to say a big thank you I'm more the emotional one but you guys have really taken us in like family and we've felt it and it's been a joy to be here with you all to serve together those who have been in children's ministry and have loved our kids week after week like that doesn't go unnoticed like it makes a difference and yeah it's just been enjoy we love you guys and we're gonna miss you a lot so thanks for sharing your lives with us for these last two years and it's our joy and our privilege to do this because that's what makes being in our area so wonderful and so hard is that we've got people that come and they serve so well and they become a part of our dna and then we have the honor and the privilege to send them whether it's through prayer whether it's through giving that's up to you okay this they've got ascending church back home in bedford right and in bedford virginia and

They get to have that kind of accountability and you guys know I want you guys to know that we've had a lot of folks that we've sent out from our church over the past several months that serve week in and week out and we do have some holes over in the children's ministry and so if you want to serve and make an impact in the lives of families like this like my own you need it that's how the church functions because we're all in this together as you guys have said and it's our privilege to pray with you don't forget to grab one of those prayer cards because he said whether you pray or not great I'm gonna challenge that you need to pray you need to pray for our missionaries okay and it's true it's true you know we want we want you to pray for our missionaries because it's good and it's right for us to do if y'all would would y'all join me in prayer as I pray for the shark family here I'm going to come over here and lay hands on you guys if y'all would pray with us and so God we do thank you so much for this great day that you've given to us I pray for I pray for the sharps God what a wonderful family that they are Lord I pray that you have blessed their ministry partnership development pray for good reconnections as they go and travel east and Lord as they enter into a season of preparing to go to papua new guinea Lord continue to open up doors do amazing things God thank you for opening up this door and I pray that you would continue to heal their hearts I know that [Music] when they came here they had some heavy things Lord thank you for the healing that you've brought in their lives and I

Pray that you would continue to work in their lives and that they would be able to spread that news that you bring healing God ultimately through faith alone in your son Jesus Christ we love this family God be with chandler be with jamie be with salah be with miriam God be with gideon be with mali we love you in Jesus name amen [Applause] amen who's ready to sing praises to our Lord and Savior this morning okay there's a couple of us who are ready the rest of you will get there don't worry please stand with me as we sing we're going to start off with a song called it's psalm 150 praise the Lord and if you were here at our men's conference what was that march then you should already know it front to back so you need to sing loud and help those around you [Music] you made the starry hosts you trace the mountain peaks you paint the evening [Music] your skies from desert to the sea all nature testifies your splendor praise the Lord praise the Lord sing his graveness all creation praise the Lord raise your voice you heights and all your deaths from birth is east to west let everything that has breath praise the [Music] reached Lord the dust in love your spirit briefed you formed us in your very [Music] lightness to know your one whose works to tell your mighty deeds to join the [Music]

Sleep is everlasting [Music] all creation praise the Lord raise your voice your heights and all your debts from to west let everything that has [Music] praise the Lord praise the Lord sing his graveness all creation praise the Lord raise your voice [Music] praise the Lord praise the Lord sing his grace [Music] near and far from the sky to see the shore sing out forever [Music] [Applause] [Music] his name is great he is worthy of all our praise amen [Music] hear the Savior say thy strength indeed is small child of weakness wash and pray find in me thine all in all Jesus paid it all Jesus made it all to him sin had left a crimson stain he washed it white ass [Music] Lord now indeed I find thy power and nine alone can change [Music] oh he

Washed it white as snow [Music] and when before the throne I stand in him complete Jesus died my soul to save my life shall still repeat Jesus paid [Music] he washed it white washed it white as snow [Music] he washed it white as snow [Music] oh praise the one who [Music] up [Music] oh praise the one who paid my desk and raised his life up from [Music] oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised his life up from the dead Jesus [Music] Jesus paid it all to sin had left a crimson stain he washed it white as snow sin had left a crimson stain he washed it white as snow amen you can be seated in many places they call the Lord's supper the memorial supper and the reason why they call it that is because it does serve as a memorial as a reminder of what our Lord Jesus did for us on the cross

If you would just take a moment and bow your heads and close your eyes and remind yourself of what Christ did for you on the cross Lord we remember today not just the sacrifice of our men and women in the armed forces but more importantly God the death of your perfect sinless son on the cross on our behalf Lord how infinitely wonderful and terrible it is that the purest of peers the holiest of the only begotten son of God would endure the cross and its shame so that we might be redeemed thank you for it in Jesus name amen in order to partake in communion you do not have to be a member of our church but you do have to be the member of the church capital c in other words if you need to know that if you were to die that you're going to heaven based upon what Christ did for you on the cross the Scripture says in first corinthians chapter 11 verse 23 it says for I received from the Lord but I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed he took bread and his bread it symbolizes his body it symbolizes what he did he was bruised for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the chastisement that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed that's what the Scriptures say so Lord Jesus he took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me take neat Lord we do thank you for your body Lord it wasn't just your pierced body but also your blood that you shed for us on the cross it is by you shedding your blood that we can be considered clean and pure and holy thank you thank you for drinking the cup of God's wrath for us thank you for yielding your spirit on the cross thank you for pouring out that holy blood that was more precious than the purest lamb or ram or goat or ox God we don't have to do that anymore but we enter through you thank you for it God in Jesus name amen the Scripture goes on to say in verse 25 in the same way also he took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me take and drink for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes Lord we do thank you for this symbol of what you've done for us we thank you that it is a constant reminder of your death and your burial we thank you for your body freely given we thank you for your blood freely poured out help us to remember that not just today but especially today on this memorial day weekend of what you did and what you endured on the cross

On our behalf in Jesus name amen [Music] so [Music] please stand and join me as we continue to sing today so [Music] how deep the father's love for us how last that he should give his only son to make a wretch his treasure [Music] turns his face away as wounds which are the chosen one bring many sons to glory [Music] behold the man upon a cross my sin upon his shoulders ashamed I hear my mocking voice call out among the scarves [Applause] it was my sin that held him there [Music] I know that it [Music] I will not boast in anything no gifts no power no wisdom but I will boast in Jesus Christ and resurrection why should I gain from his reward I cannot give an answer [Music] why should I gain from his reward I cannot give an answer [Music] but this I know with all my heart his wounds have paid my ransom [Music] but this I know my heart [Music] and that's the death the burial and the resurrection that we can boldly proclaim this morning and every day we proclaim it until indeed he comes again for us to redeem us once and for all from this dark and broken world and

Into his glorious light where we'll dwell with him forever we read in the book of revelation and they sang a new song saying worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God and they shall reign on the earth then I looked and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice worthy is the lamb who is slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing and I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all that is in them saying to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and [Music] ever do you feel the world is broken we do you feel the shadows deepen [Music] but do you know that all the dark won't stop the light from getting through do you wish that you could see it all made new [Music] we do is all creation groaning [Music] is a new creation coming is the glory of the Lord to be the light within our midst is it good that we remind ourselves of this is anyone worthy is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll the lion of judah who conquered the

Grave is David's root and the lamb who died to ransom the slave is he worthy is he worthy [Music] he is does the father truly love us does the spirit move among us our Messiah hold forever those he loves he does our God intend to dwell again with us he does [Music] is anyone worthy is anyone able to break the seal and open the scroll the lion of judah who conquered the grave he is David's fruit and the lamb who died to ransom display from every people and tribe every nation and tongue he has made us a kingdom and priest to God to reign with the sun [Music] is he worthy [Music] is he worthy [Music] [Applause] [Music] he is worthy amen Lord we come before you today because you are worthy you're worthy of all the praise that we could ever muster up God you are worthy of so much more even Lord let every breath every action that we take be in service to you because we find our freedom in service to you we find our freedom as bond servants of Christ Lord we pray that we would be united recognizable as your kingdom even here now on earth God help us to serve you because you are worthy

It's in Jesus name we pray amen well good morning whew man God is good he's so good to all of us isn't he you know it's it's important to remind ourselves of that of that truth every single day especially it's been a hard week for our nation hasn't it's been a tough pretty rotten week to be honest with you if we were to look at things I guess very closely you know we see chaos everywhere but when we see it from kind of a bird's eye view we know that God he has a plan it's a good plan for us you know last week we many of you probably have seen on the news the southern baptist convention released their sex abuse task force report the guidepost report might be a shorthand way of saying that austin and I we're in the process of reading that document it's 400 pages of just various things that we want to be prepared for as we go to anaheim in just a couple of weeks we want to look at things rationally objectively prayerfully lamentingly these are things that should never happen in a church never happened it's one of the reasons why you know as a church we say we want elders because God's way is better than ours we want accountability for myself and for other godly men when we look at the at the shooting that happened in texas you know our hearts grieve when we hear about murders and awful disgusting horrible things our

Hearts can't help but groan and we agonize we wait for God to return and we're all right God I think that we've had enough of this and we gotta kind of think probably Daniel could really relate to the things that we were feeling all right I've been in here for three years God I get the point I understand that your nation was in the wrong we repent of that and it would be close to 67 years later that God would provide deliverance we don't know when the Lord's going to return we have no clue but in the meantime you know what we are called to do as Christians we are called take the next step of faith be obedient to what he's told us to go and make disciples of all the nations teach them to observe his commands to go with confidence because it goes with us and so the kingdom work that we do is not going to stop amen you know like you know a lot of folks think that the gates of hell are here but they're they're not we're going to attack the gates of hell we are on the offensive we are not on the defensive and so that's what we will do as ambassadors for Christ and today we're talking about six actions for effective evangelism that's the only way that we're going to reach our country is by sharing the truth and the power of the Gospel by singing the songs that we sang today about his death his burial his resurrection his return it's the only way that this country will ever

Correct itself is by submitting itself to the authority and the lordship of Jesus Christ it's the only way now this passage it takes place between nebuchadnezzar condemning the wise men of babylon and allowing Daniel more time to gain understanding and he has this dream to reveal to him and he's getting that revelation from God and Daniel he is going to nebuchadnezzar now to share the dream and so this week we're going to see a little bit about Daniel's prayer his interaction and how completely God focused that this young man is and remember at this point in time Daniel he's probably between the ages of 15 and 19 years old that's a young man and we see how God he can use even youths to take a stand and be bold for the Lord Jesus and he's been in babylon for three years and so far his biggest stand has been what I'm not going to defile myself with the king's food that's the biggest stand that he's taken so far and yet taking that one little stand has now allowed for him to take an even bigger stand for the Lord and so in three years of faithful ministry as an ambassador he hasn't done so much but just remain faithful in where God has placed him and I think that's really what God asks of you and I is to be faithful and to sow the seeds of the Gospel in the people's lives that are around us in psalm chapter 126 verses 4 through 6 this passage is up on the screen I've always been kind of mystified by this verse it says those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy

He who goes out weeping bearing the seed for sowing shall come home with shouts of joy bringing his sheaves with him I'm like what on earth does that even mean what does it mean to sow in tears and so I was I was listening to a sermon the other day and this pastor he was he was sharing about his testimony he's a local pastor in africa and he was preaching on this passage and there's this region in africa called the sahel region this is it's just south of the sahara and it's known for being very dry and arid it's between the lush tropical jungles of like the congo where the shimongas are going and so it's north of that and south of the sahara desert and he said that this area they get all of their rain in june july and august and so september october november those are the really beautiful times for this region it's when the harvest comes in and people they sing and they dance and they eat two meals a day because the harvest is so plentiful they their main crop is sorghum which is a kind of flower that they make and it's made into a paste they drop it into little balls into hot oil they fry it up dip it into some sauce and stuff like that and that's what they eat december comes and the granaries begin to dwindle down families begin to cut back on the sizes of their meals by january 1 out of every 50 families they might be eating two meals a day it's down to about one for most of them by february most are only eating a midday meal by march children they begin to get sick from malnutrition in april it's the worst month because

Babies are starving at that point they're crying well into the night moms can't produce milk and the only thing that a family might have is a small cup of boiled sorghum and so this pastry tells the story of a six-year-old son who says daddy we've we've got grain this is in march april around that time daddy we found grain we found a sack of have mom please go and prepare it because because we want to be able to go to bed and sleep tonight he says where'd you find it he said it was it was hanging up on the wall he says son we can't can't eat that you see that's next year's seed grain it's the only thing between us and starvation and we are we're waiting on the reins and then we can use it so the rains they finally arrive in may and what does the father do instead of giving it to a son who has been starving he throws it on the ground and he sows his seed that's what it means to sow with tears instead of feeding his desperately weakened family and goes into the field why to sow the seed why because he believes that there is a harvest that is coming that's the meaning of the text and as we see in our country today it is hard we have lots of tears and yet it is in those the midst of that tear in the midst of those tears and all the hurt and everything that's when we must share the Gospel we have to the Lord has given us an opportunity to share the truth and the peace that comes from Christ and so let's let's stand together and

Let's take a look at Daniel chapter 2 verses 20 through 30 as we read about six effective actions for evangelism Scripture says this Daniel answered and said blessed be the name of God forever and ever to whom belong wisdom and might he changes times and seasons he removes kings and sets up kings he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding he reveals deep and hidden things he knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him to you o God of my fathers I give thanks and praise for you have given me wisdom and might and have now made known to me what we asked of you for you have made known to us the king's matter therefore Daniel went into aryak whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of babylon he went and said thus to him do not destroy the wise men of babylon bring me in before the king and I will show the king the interpretation then aryak brought in Daniel before the king in haste and thus said to him I have found among the exiles from judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation the king declared to Daniel whose name was belteshazar are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation Daniel answered the king and said no wise men enchanters magicians or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries and he is made known to king nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these to you o king as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be but as for me this

Mystery has been revealed to me not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king and that you may know the thoughts of your mind so Lord we do thank you for this time and we pray that you would help us to rightly understand your word this morning we love you and we thank you for your kindness and your mercy in Jesus name amen now Daniel he has just had his prayers answered and it has come to him in a vision in the night and this understanding that he knows the dream that has been haunting nebuchadnezzar here I need to find that tissue excuse me sorry and he knows he now knows this dream that's been haunting nebuchadnezzar the first action that we see Daniel take here is blessing the Lord bless the Lord the word here in aramaic means to kneel it means to worship the Lord this is the right means and ends to everything is the worship of God and this is really the only response that Daniel should have and it's the only response that you and I should have we exist by the upholding of the hand of God the next heartbeat that you take is because God allows it's not by any strength of your own it's because God has allowed for it and he upholds you by the word of his power and so Daniel he's been praying these prayers of mercy it's been Daniel and azariah and mishael and azariah and God he has blessed these men and now Daniel he spends time worshiping God and he continues to do wonderful and marvelous things even among us and the reason anyone worships the Lord is because they have a right view of God and a right view of themselves

Daniel he identifies two attributes that belong to God here wisdom and might it's something that the gods of babylon didn't have they didn't have wisdom they didn't have power because they were nothing but a sham and a lie wisdom because of God's knowledge an understanding of his dream and might or power by his sovereignty over the human over the events of human history it is within these two attributes of God that Daniel he blesses the Lord I want you to listen to me the most effective Christians are going to be worshipping if you don't enjoy worshiping God it's because you don't have a right view of him you don't understand his goodness and his vastness and his magnitude and his mercy when you begin to comprehend just how surely wonderful he is you can't help but overflow and worship and joy the second action is to know the Lord you cannot be an effective evangelist if you're not a worshiper of God and if you don't know the Lord if you want to share the Lord then you have to know him first and everything that Daniel prays after this blessing it's it stems from you know him praising God for the wisdom and might that God has for example look at look at the first thing that he says he says that God he alters occasions and events that's kind of the theme of verse 21 he changes times and seasons it means that things change not just because like you ever heard the phrase I'm sure that you have things change you know it's it's just how life goes and I think that as Christians like we buy into that's just kind of what happens in life is that things change but here we learn that things change because God allows them to he's

The one that brings about those changes in lives it's not because we're just exist on this linear plane of reality it's because God is intimately involved in our lives intimately and so he brings about change in our lives although he never changes think of how God has he changes the course of history to suit the purpose of greater salvation people of israel before they get into exile they thought well we're the chosen people of God we can do whatever we want to because we have the covenant promises God said that he would be faithful to us God said that he would never leave us nor forsake us God said this God said that we're awaiting the Savior to come and establish his kingdom here and God he's going to do it despite our idolatry and sin but that's not the way that God works God he corrected them over and over and over again by sending judgment and judgment in judgment he sent them judges to bring them back he appointed good kings he sent them prophets his messengers in order to call them to repentance and we see this cycle over and over and over throughout the entirety of the old testament until they get to this point when they're exiled in three different stages out of the promised land God's not quite as concerned about the promised land as he is about his promised people he's okay leaving the promised land a desolate deserted and destroyed he cares about his people and yet his plan wasn't to abandon his people to babylon to let them just assimilate into the culture and disappear for all time which is what should have happened but God he had a greater

Redemption you see because he changes the times in the seasons and sometimes the economy is awesome and there is prosperity and we say leaders good job and other times the economy stinks and it's awful and we say leader's bad job God he uses our leaders good and bad for purpose to drive us to him do you seek the Lord in the changing of the seasons do you seek the Lord when things are awesome and wonderful or simply when there's tragedy and devastation that's why God sends travesty and devastation into our lives is to drive us to his throne otherwise we might not find ourselves there how are you redeeming the time that the Lord has given to you to minister to your neighbors to your co-workers to your friends how are you storing up for yourself treasures in heaven where moth nor rust destroy well where they don't destroy he also provides and he destroys leaders look at what it says he removes kings and he sets up kings and we see this in israel's history king Saul he was appointed by God anointed by Samuel the chosen one by the Lord to be the king but the kingdom was torn away from him and given to someone better named David and likewise later in Daniel we see babylon it's going to fall in the leadership of that land it's going to go to a guy named belshazzar who in the span of a knight is going to lose everything and it's going to go to the medo-persian empire and this is important to remember because this is not just an old testament principle where things rise and things fall romans 13 verse 1 it says let every person be subject to the governing authorities

We hate reading that sometimes don't we for there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God the reason why anyone is in leadership anywhere in our country in our in our city in our county is because God has allowed for them to be there either as a sign of blessing or as a sign of judgment I'll let you be the interpreter and this means that God he has a plan even in the midst of it even in the midst of the chaos Daniel he also knows that the Lord he gives gifts of understanding and intelligence look at what it says it says that he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding these four young men they were particularly gifted in wisdom and in knowledge not because they were inherently gifted in that okay it wasn't any gift that was given to them or any gift that they obtained by themselves it was because God gave it to by his own good grace and pleasure you know God he can take the mind quickly he can take your mind like that I've had friends and family who one day they're fine next day they have a stroke they're changed forever we've all seen it God can take away your body we've all seen that too everything that we have that you have isn't because simply that you earned it but because it's the gift of God he also discloses and he illuminates hidden things Daniel says it this way he reveals deep and hidden things he knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him before the creation of the world in the universe the spirit of God it hovered over the waters of the deep

He created the universe and all that it contains by the word of his power on the first day of creation the Lord said what let there be light and there was liked in the universe for the very first time God he has illuminated many things that were hidden from creation we didn't know how it was created until he revealed it to us and even then there's people that want to argue with God we don't know what the consummation of the world would look like apart from the revelation of God and when he returns his visible kingdom is going to be established here on the earth and there's some mystery to what that may entail in the timeline and all that kind of stuff and there's some folks in here that they're a part of the congregation they come from a dispensational point of view for others it's a historical pre-millennial view for others it might be non-millennial view what we all agree on is that Christ is returning for his bride and that he will establish his kingdom here in a true and a visible way amen the third act action for effective evangelism is to have confidence in the Lord look at verse 24 therefore Daniel went into aryak whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of babylon he went in and said thus to him do not destroy the wise men of babylon bring me in before the king and I will show the king the interpretation this is a pretty dramatic moment for him to be able to go in and speak to the executioner the guy that just maybe a few hours maybe a day before previously was there to kill him and say I have the answer and it's this kind of confidence that we need in order to share the Gospel

Because the Gospel that we have is not some sort of willy-nilly like possibility of salvation like we have been guaranteed by the author of all things that we are saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ and so when we act like we don't have the answer shame on us how do we get past that to be willing to step out with confidence you know a few years ago my wife and I we had some visitors at our house they were Jehovah's witnesses and my mom always said son if you see anyone come to the door just lock the door and get away from it and that's all these like missionaries biking I'm like what about those guys they look nice especially those guys well we sat down with his name was it phil I think it was phil anyways he we sit down and he was specifically coming to amber's thursday morning Bible study was thursday I think and trying to teach them about how Jesus wasn't really God he was the son of God and that Jesus was a created being that there that God is not triune some of these like kind of bigger questions that I'm like I know what I believe but I'm not quite sure why and so you know what happened is that drove amber and I deeper into God's word and we were listening to sermons and studying Scripture what does Colossians 1 mean when it says that Jesus is the firstborn of all creation what does it mean and it drove us to know God more intimately and deeply because you got things that are need to know and need to grow right what do you need to know to be a Christian my son josiah on thursday night he repented of his sins and placed his

Faith and trust in Jesus Christ amen now we want to make sure that he knows what he knows but you know do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins yes I do what did you do to earn salvation I just believe in Jesus I'm like hey that's like good enough for me of course there was a lot more questions and can't go into it but there's things that we need to know to be Christians and then things that we need to grow in our knowledge of the Lord and of his of his goodness and his will and his good pleasure and as you grow in that you know what happens is that it gives you a greater confidence to know what you believe and why you believe it now once you notice what aryak does he runs to nebuchadnezzar he runs straight to him and he says I have found from among the exiles from judah a man who will make known to you the king the interpretation don't forget king nebuchadnezzar that I was the guy that found this guy not really though I mean he was just rounding him up to butcher them I suppose that aryak was glad to not have to kill a lot of innocent men but nebuchadnezzar he turns his attention to Daniel all eyes are on him are you able to make known to me the dream that I've seen and its interpretation what does Daniel say no I think I want to believe that he gave a dramatic emphasis there no partly because Daniel is not like aryak aryak he wants as much credit as possible for this and Daniel he doesn't want that much credit because he wants to give glory to God that's why he's so humble fifth action

Is to glorify the Lord no wise men no enchanters and magicians or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries not even I king nebuchadnezzar can tell you what your dream is but God this was the exact same response that Joseph gave to Pharaoh in the book of Genesis it is not me it is not in me o Pharaoh God will give Pharaoh a favorable favorable answer so we must glorify the Lord in all that you do and all that you think and all that you say we seek to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ and you know what does he say there is a God in a heaven the things that you study the stars that you track that is his abode that is his dwelling place and this is what Daniel asked as ryan michael and azariah to pray in verse 18 pray to the God of heaven not some sort of like mystical being but a God the God the sustainer and the creator of everything the Lord and what the wise men of babylon couldn't do through astrology and magic and occult practices the Lord provided and he provided quickly because God he reveals mysteries and he has made known to nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days in the latter days it seems it's a lot of people like to look at that and say this is in regards to the end times but this is actually a direct fulfillment of Deuteronomy chapter 4 verses 25 and 30 through 30. It says when you father children and children's children have grown old in the land if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything and by doing what is evil inside of the Lord your God so as to provoke him to anger which is exactly what they did

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the jordan to possess you will not live long in it but will be utterly destroyed the Lord will scatter you among the peoples you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you and there you will serve the gods of wood and stone the work of human hands that neither see nor hear nor eat or smell but you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul and when you are in tribulation and all these things have come upon you in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice now why would God do this why would God reveal some sort of like sign this prophecy to a pagan narcissistic selfish king I believe that one of the signs is because it was a sign of judgment on God's people that God he could send prophets to the nation of israel but he could also use the most pagan devil-worshipping king for his own glory if God is willing to use nebuchadnezzar and he prefers to speak through nebuchadnezzar then what does that say about the nation of israel and so Daniel he points nebuchadnezzar the man ready to kill him and everyone else that's involved in this situation Daniel he says that there is a God in heaven and God gave nebuchadnezzar this dream God he reveals mysteries for his glorious purpose to stand in this way takes great courage

And it takes great boldness because it's the spirit of truth it's the spirit of that John the baptist had thus saith the Lord it's the spirit of Stephen this is the Messiah Jesus Christ it's ultimately the same spirit that Christ had as he stood before pilate and Daniel he stays true to his calling in the sixth action here is to share what you know share what you know in acts chapter 3 Paul Peter he healed a man by God's power told him rise up and wonkan in verse 12 people are looking at him and Peter said that he addressed people men of israel why do you wonder at this or why do you stare at us as though by our own power our piety that we have made him walk Peter goes on to glorify the Lord and he points people to Jesus and his work on the cross and his resurrection in verse 16 it says and by his name by faith in his name has made this man strong whom you see and know and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health and the presence of you all we have to share what we know we all have different experiences it's why we share testimonies in our community groups and in our services and so for us to be effective witnesses we just have to we grow in the Lord we know the Lord we love the Lord and we share what we know about the Lord with others what do you know about the true God what are the experiences that you have with our Lord that you can share with someone that desperately needs hope if you know God then you have something to share with him David he knew or Daniel he knew about God's power and his covenant and his character and he knew that nebuchadnezzar had received this dream from the Lord

What are you what are you learning about the Lord I mean today is well tomorrow's memorial day but this weekend we're celebrating memorial day I hope that you go out and that you remember the sacrifices that were made I also hope that you have some time of relaxation and peace I hope that you get together with neighbors and that you have opportunities to share the Gospel with them and to share things that you've learned God he doesn't just bless you to gain more information but he blesses you to share it with others you know I want to give you this illustration real quick and then we'll wrap it up Christians need to have an outlet they you know why they call it the dead sea right it's because the dead sea doesn't have an outlet it just it just kind of gets there and it stays and so I want you to imagine this as your Christian walk this balloon that's in here and this is your ministry okay if you don't have a way to serve what happens is that you try to you get all this knowledge that fills you up and there's no way for you to pour it out so you kind of feel a little frustrated and stuck in your walk it doesn't matter how hard it doesn't matter how hard I blow I can't do it but if you have an outlet don't stab yourself cody but if you have an outlet yeah it worked hey but you have if you have an outlet you know what you experience is you

Experience growth and many people in the Christian world they're not serving some of you serve way too much and I thank the Lord for you know we need it we need it but remember that burnout is not a sign of spiritual health and some of you need to hear that and some of you need to hear that you need to start serving when you look at Daniel's life the Lord had equipped him to share [Music] this interpretation with nebuchadnezzar he had an outlet and so we look at him and go wow that's amazing you know God he can do amazing things through you as well not because you're so great because well many of you know me and I'm not that great either but you know who is great is God he is the greatest and the most wonderful and so share the truth of God's word with someone this week head hand heart head I want you to know that evangelism requires you to share the word of God you don't have to know everything but you all know something and so God he has called you to share it and I want you to commit to knowing the Lord better this week what I found is that the more that you know the Lord the more that you love the Lord and the more that you love him the more you want other people to love him that's why the sharps are going to pop well it's because they know the Lord they love the Lord and they want others to experience that same thing heart I want you to believe that apart from the Gospel people will perish

Perhaps you're a Christian you can't recall the last time that you shared the Gospel with someone [Music] commit yourself to doing that friend that neighbor that co-worker tell them about the life-changing truth of the Gospel message and so God we do thank you for this day I pray that today that you would just be with us that you would guide us that you keep us and whether we go from here to be with friends or family or go to restaurants or wherever we go God we go as your ambassadors help us to go with the joy of the Lord sharing what we know and I pray for everyone that's here and if there's someone that maybe has said you know what we know about the Lord that's what we're called to share and someone might be here and they say I don't know the Lord cody I pray that today would be that day that they make that declaration of faith that they know you that they love and that they want you to be the Savior and Lord of their life be with us this day in Jesus name amen let's stand let's worship together [Music] how deep the father's love for us how vast beyond all measure that he should give his only son to make a wretch his treasure how great the pain of searing loss the father turns his face away as wounds which mar the chosen one bring many sons to glory [Music] I will not boast I will not boast in anything [Music] no gifts no power no wisdom but I will boast in Jesus Christ

His death and resurrection why should I gain from his reward cannot give an answer but this I know with all my heart his wounds have paid my ransom but this I know but this I know with all my heart his wounds have paid [Music] a couple of notes just real quick don't forget that we've got the benevolent offering right up here and also what was the other thing oh you guys y'all have y'alls prayer cards out there be sure to hug their necks before they go I'm gonna have John green he's one of our deacons come up and pray us out of here he's already mentioned I'm one of your deacons and I've I've been a la I'm listening to this sermon he said allowed to do something you know I've been allowed to do that and you might be asking well what's what did he can do well he serves he's a servant and you know he serves in lots of different ways and he never quits he serves if you if you want an example of what a deacon is you go to acts and you start in verse in chapter six and read all the way through chapter eight don't don't just stop at six it go on you know it talks about there there are seven guys in there but two of them are mentioned later one of them is Stephen he knew I made my notes here okay he mentioned something about knowing the word I think it's I think it says I want you to commit to know the word

Better look at that in acts there old Stephen knew the word inside and out it's obvious okay evangelism that second guy Philip he was a great evangelist tells you so in chapter 7 chapter 8 long in there so and I supposed to just get up here and pray so we better get that done cause it's lunchtime but I also would like to mention one thing we lost one of our deacons this week olin bradshaw heard those famous words well done good and faithful servant so with that in mind I'd like to pray for his family heavenly father we thank you today for this opportunity to be here and we thank you for the many men that I've been a I've been able to serve with and in the church here as a deacon olin was a good man and a good deacon and I thank you for him as Philip and Stephen were able to remember those guys forever and olin will long be remembered and I'm thankful for that we ask you go with us today and remember that we are to be evangelists in Jesus name amen you