Live the Gospel and Use Your Words - Grant Partrick

it is such a great season it's been such a great season for us and I'm so grateful that we've been in this collection called orbit being generous with the gospel in our world and I love that you know the way God has set this whole thing up is that we're getting ready to head into the holidays and I don't know about you but if you were here last week you got a card you know kind of like this I've got mine taped in my Bible because I'm sponsored by Scotch tape and I was just thinking how awesome it is that we're being challenged God is challenging us to be bold and sharing our faith and yet for me 1 2 three four of the names on my card I will be at a table with over the next week I'm not at a table with them too often but I will be over the next six to eight weeks as we journey through the holiday and I would guess for many people online that are praying for five names for people in this room you have the same opportunity and God is um stirring something up in us to be sent out with the gospel in our mouths it's been amazing by the way uh what the Lord is doing here uh we had three people put their faith in Jesus this morning at the 9:30 which is awesome which means we've had 82 people put their faith in Jesus since October 1st at Passion City Church and I am believing that somebody in this Gathering is going to come from Death to life in Jesus today someone in this Gathering is going to receive the forgiveness and mercy of Jesus Christ and this GA and I couldn't be more excited about it I couldn't I I woke up excited to come to church today but here's maybe even what I'm more excited about is I believe somebody's going to put their faith in Jesus on Wednesday and on Thursday as they come to your house to celebrate Thanksgiving and sit across the table from you and you are the person that God has appointed and equipped with a gospel message in your mouth to tell them about the hope we have in Jesus Christ that's the heart of of orbit that we all have the responsibility and the opportunity to be on mission on planet Earth this is really the idea of the collection people need Jesus the amount of people putting their faith in Jesus here at cin are evidence of that people are coming they're hungry uh for something bigger than themselves they are broken and can't find a way out and they're meeting Jesus people need Jesus and we are the plan to reach the world we're his plan to reach our neighbors we're his plan to reach our family we're his plan to reach our children we are to be carriers of the good news of the gospel and this is an all skate this is an Allin Mission nobody gets a pass this is on the job description of every single believer to accept the message of Jesus requires us also to embrace the mission of Jesus we are saved and we are sent that's what we talked about in the first week as we looked at at Paul's words in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 where he says we are now Christ's ambassadors representing a different Kingdom while on planet Earth that as we look towards our ultimate Victory our final victory in the second coming of Jesus Christ that we journeyed through and talked about through the Book of Revelation as we look forward to and await that day of his second coming we must be aware of the fact that there are millions of people on planet Earth and in our communities and in our schools and in our neighborhoods that have no idea about his first coming and it is our opportunity to be carriers of the Gospel to tell people about the hope we have in Jesus the Great Commission found in Matthew 28 says this therefore Jesus speaking his instructions to us therefore go I command to make disciples of all Nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you and surely I Am With You Always to the very very end of the age Hudson Taylor the 19th century missionary to China said of these verses the Great Commission is not an option to be considered it is a command to be obeyed this is what we're called to you me all of us we are here on purpose and we are here for a purpose there are no accidents there are no incidents there are no coincidences only God orchestrated gospel opportunities and I know when we talk about this cuz it's to say it can be the saying for me you're like oh great now I'm being told I got to do something else I got to add something else to my calendar I already don't have enough time to do the stuff I'm committed to doing now you're telling me I got to do this other thing and where am I going to fit that in and maybe that's the takeaway for somebody in here maybe your life is just too busy and you can't see anybody around you so maybe for somebody you need to look at your calendar and go you know what I need to create some margin so I can be aware of maybe who God is leading me to maybe that's a few people but for the vast majority of us that's not really the action step from this collection it's not get rid of stuff on your calendar it's changed the way you view your calendar so you understand that every single appointment is not just a random thing you have to go to it is an opportunity for you to be a light and carrier of the Gospel wherever the Lord has sent you and me less about obligations and appointments and more about opportunities and assignments if God gives you eyes to see it that way last week we talked about praying Revival prayers and it was awesome I don't know about you but I can't get the story of DL Moody out of my head of the people he was praying for so powerful especially uh as I think about and pray for my five names this idea that what we long for what what we want to see in the people we love we cannot produce we cannot will them into Faith right we we need an outside power source we need outside help so we pray first it's not our last resort it's our first priority we start with prayer I'm reminded of this quote from em balance who shaped so much of my view of prayer he said around us is a world that's lost in sin and above us is a god who's willing and able to save and it is ours to build the bridge that links Heaven and Earth and prayer is the mighty instrument that does the work so over these two weeks we've established the why of the mission and we've established that we have a great power source enabling us to live out the mission and so today as this Collection comes to a close we're going to talk practically about how we are to do this my hope is that today would be extraordinarily practical for you steps that you can put into place in your everyday life I I remember reading this somewhere along the way where someone was saying it doesn't matter if you go thousands of miles across the globe or if you're talking to someone in the break room at your office or across your dinner table at your house the hardest part of evangelism is the last three feet when you're finally sitting down with someone and it's time to have the conversation and I'm praying that today the Lord would enable us equip us with the tools we need to be able to share our faith so we're going to look at Paul again the life of Paul this time we're going to be in his first letter to the Corinthians found in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and we're going to read 27 verses together is that okay with you okay I was hoping for more than that for the Eternal living breathing word of God anybody excited about 27 verses of God's word that's a little bit better you'll get partial credit for that in heaven here's Paul writing chapter nine some context is he's defending himself so there's a line of thinking in Corinth where where people are challenging him going hey we're not really sure if you're a genuine Apostle or not because you didn't really like live during Jesus's Earthly Ministry you weren't one of his guys you didn't you know walk around and do the ministry with him so we're not really sure like do you have the authority are you a genuine true real Apostle and Paul is defending himself here in these verses and ultimately what you're going to see is his heart and Purity in his message and Mission to reach the Lost verse one am I not free am I not an apostle have I not seen Jesus our lord are you not the result of my work in the Lord even though I may not be an apostle to others surely I am one to you for you are the Seal of my apostleship in the Lord this is my defense to those who sit in judgment against me don't we have the right to food and drink don't we have the right to take a believing wife along with us and do the as do the other Apostles and the Lord's Brothers in sephus or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living who serves a soldier who serves as a soldier at his own expense who plants a a Vineyard and does not eat its grapes who tends A Flock and does not drink the milk do I say this merely on human authority doesn't the law say the same thing for it is written in the law of Moses do not muzzle an ox while it's treading out the grain is it about oxen that God is concerned surely he says this for us doesn't he yes that this was written for us because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hopes of sharing in the Harvest if we have sown spiritual seed among you is it too much if we reap a material Harvest from you he's talking about the right to be paid as a minister of the gospel for your work if others have this right of support from you then shouldn't we have it all the more but we did not use this right on the contrary if you have a pen underline this part of verse 12 on the contrary we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ don't you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar in the same way the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel but I have not used any of these rights and I am not writing this in hopes that you will do such things for me for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast for when I preach the gospel I cannot boast since I am compelled to preach woe to me if I do not preach the gospel if I preach voluntarily I have a reward if not voluntarily I am simply discharging the trust committed to me what then is my reward just this that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge so as not to make full use of my rights as a preacher of the Gospel verse 19 though I am free and I belong to no one I have made myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible to the Jews I became like a Jew to win the Jews to those under the law I became like one under the law though I'm myself am not under the law so as to win those under the law to those not having the law I became like one not having the law though I am not free from God's law but I am now under Christ's law so as to win those not having the law to the weak I became weak to win the weak I have become all things to all people so that by all means I might save some I do all this for the sake of the Gospel that I may share in its blessings do you not know that in a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize run in such a way as to get the prize everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training they do it to get a crown that will not last but we do it to get a crown that will last forever therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly I do not fight like a boxer beating or punching the air no I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I myself will not be disqualified for the prize let's pray and ask the Lord to use this word and stir us up Lord thank you for your word thank you that it is living and active thank you that we can hold it freely in our hands today I ask Lord just that you will remove any kind of competing things stuff competing for our attention and affection this morning that we might hear clearly from you thank you from this example in your word thank you for the life of the Apostle Paul that we can read about his life and understand he was a man just like us and as you enabled him to live out this mission of the Gospel on planet Earth you also will enable and equip us to do the same so I pray today God more than just being hearers of the word we would be motivated to be doers of the word and that because of these verses because of the challenge in these verses the example the power in this word that you will send us out of here today with power with the gospel alive in our mouths I pray this in Jesus name and everyone said amen so here's that big idea if you're taking notes today this is the big idea the gospel is meant to be portrayed with our lives and proclaimed with our mouths the gospel is meant to be portrayed with our lives and critical conjunction proclaimed with our mouths it is meant to be displayed with our lives and it is meant to be declared with our words verse 19 Paul says I'm free but I'm willingly making myself the servant the slave to everyone to win as many as possible to Christ so Paul's going look I'm free I'm not under the Old Testament law I'm not under the law I don't have to do any of that stuff but I'm willing to make myself a servant a slave to everyone for the purpose of trying to influence them and win them over for the gospel Paul knew this isn't about me my life isn't about me it's about him and I love that a few chapters later in Corinthians he writes and he says follow my example as I follow the example of Christ Paul was committed to looking at the Life of Christ and trying to walk it out trying to live like him and this is a perfect example of that because Jesus did this right in Philippians Paul writes about Jesus who in very nature being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own Advantage but rather he made himself Nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness this is the heart of Paul going I I will humble myself for the sake of serving you so he says to the Jews he became like a Jew like he was a Jew so he understood their world he understood them he understood their context he operated underneath their rules when he was around them he followed a Torah faithful lifestyle he was okay to eat their food like when he was around a bunch of Jews he would be kosher as long as he didn't compromise his allegiance to Christ he was willing to do whatever it took to get into their world and to influence them for the sake of the gospel and you see that repeatedly through the text he has no problem really with their Jewish practices as long as the practices aren't considered to be the things that give people right standing with God because he knew only Christ can do that he wants to do anything he can possibly do to make sure the gospel gets a proper hearing with those that he's around he was intentional is a good word he wanted to understand and enter into the world of the people he was with he wasn't standing on the other side of the street with a megaphone he was willing to get into their world he was intentional and in our world it's difficult now to be intentional because we're all so busy all the time but I do think it's important for us to understand that being intentional is not like a spiritual gift that a few people have it is a decision it's a choice that few people are disciplined enough to make anybody in this room can be intentional in your conversations and intentional in with the people that God puts in your path the question is are you disciplined enough to be be intentional Paul certainly was he wasn't concerned with um what can he do what's allowed my position in Christ means man I don't have to do that I'm not under the Old Testament I don't have to do that I don't have to do that I can do whatever I want in that regard and I can do whatever I want in that regard I can eat whatever I want I can do whatever he wasn't concerned with what can I do he wasn't concerned with what is allowed I can hear my mom saying this in my in in my ear right now when I was growing up when I would ask her can I do something she was like well you can I I think a better question is should you I was like your mom ever say that to you like just tell me I can't next time it's better you know Paul wasn't really concerned with legally can I do this or can I not do this he was going should I is it in line with my mission is it going to help people as long as I'm uh committed to and staying aligned with my allegiance to Christ on the nonent nonessential things I'm willing to do whatever I can do to make sure that the gospel gets a proper hearing and try to influence people with the love of Jesus then he says to the Gentiles to those not having the law he lives in a way that's obvious to them that he's not under the law though he certainly is not Lawless he says in the text he's like when I'm with them I'm okay to eat whatever they put in front of me like I'm cool with whatever they put in front of me but he sought to understand them to enter into their world to embrace their practices without compromising his Allegiance and commitment to Christ he made it clear to them that he wasn't under the Old Testament law but also showed them an example of someone who wasn't willing to freely sin why would he do that because he was trying to win them over to Christ and he says to the weak I became weak why would you do that because he's trying to win the weak and verse 22 is really the verse I hope everybody will underline Circle and remember it says I became all things to all people so that by all means I might save some that Paul was willing to flex in certain circumstances to ensure that nothing hindered the gospel being heard and understood that's what it said in verse 12 remember reading it says we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ Tim Keller commenting on these verses I love how he says he goes why would Paul say here that he becomes like the people in the culture he's evangelizing why would he do that it doesn't mean that he's giving them what they want to hear it means that he's giving them much of what they don't want to hear he's just giving it to them in language and with arguments that they can understand he's entered into their world he understands their language this is not some kind of like you know when in Rome do is the Romans do thing this is not Paul being a chameleon this is not Paul not having any conviction in life this is not Paul just kind of like oh I'm over here with you okay I'm going to be this way oh I'm over here with you I'm going to be this way this is not that and you can read that and you can be like come on Paul what what where are you man hold your ground like don't you you believe this stand firm are you some kind of like chameleon don't you have any convictions can't you stand your ground how could you even be seen with them and Paul's going uh one no I'm not a chameleon two I I do have conviction in fact I have incredible conviction and I have Crystal Clear Clarity on my mission in life which is to tell as many people about Jesus as possible so I will step over every single hurdle I will go the long way or the short way I'll go any way possible as long as I don't jeopardize my allegiance to Christ to tell everybody in my path about about Jesus it was his love that propelled him this wasn't hypocrisy in the way he was living it showed the sympathy that was in his heart right Paul wasn't a chameleon who just blended into whatever crowd he found himself in so that he could fit in or be accepted he wasn't afraid of what other people would think of the real him that that would be compromise rooted and compelled by fear that is not the Apostle Paul this for him is not compromised it is him being commissioned and compelled by love he in no way is lowering his standards he is rather giving up his rights Paul's motive in the text is clear five times you see the word win win win win I want to win them over I want to win them over I want to win them over and then in verse 22 we see what is Define what defines the win is that they might be saved this idea the word WI here has has the idea behind it of to gain to make a profit to exchange something lesser for something greater and the only thing that could really convince or compel a person to inconvenience themselves to deny themselves or to lay aside their own personal rights for the sake of someone else is that they must believe the message is better than anything else and this is essential for us we have to believe that the gospel is better not that it's just an escape but en from hell not that it's just a way for us to get to heaven but that it is the best life that it's better than anything else why in the world would anybody want what we have if every time we get around them we look like more we're more interested in what they have if every time they get around a Christian we're compelling Because of You know here we are a Christian and we don't have any joy and we don't have any I really wish I what are you doing this weekend Oh I so wish I could do that but you know I can't do that because I signed up to Ser in my church and I uh have uh I'm just being good I got to be a faithful Christian why would they ever want that our message will be attractive to the broken World when they see in us our message is better there's nothing that compete with it you can't get enough money you can't get enough Fame you can't get enough popularity you can't get a big enough house no drug can cure it no substance can satisfy it it can only truly be satisfied in Jesus Christ The Gospel is better Jesus is better Paul knew knew that Paul knew that and that was his fuel for being willing to deny himself for the sake of telling others about Jesus Christ he was so convinced that the gospel was better that he said I have become all things to all people so that by all means I might save some and as we do this I think you know especially when I was leading student Ministry you would be around students and and they would go okay I really have a burden for this group of my school and I really want to influence them for the gospel which is awesome and I believe the Lord leads us to do that but as you go into these dark places in the world I think you you need to have some questions that you can ask yourself to ensure that your heart and motive is like Paul's and that you're not being propelled by fear and just a desire to be accepted and fit in and here's two good questions to ask number one are you being more influenced by them than they are being influenced by you meaning over time do you feel them drifting more towards Jesus or do you feel yourself drifting more towards the world that would be a good question to ask that would be a good identifier to you number two is as you're around them is your burden and passion and longing for them to be saved growing or Waning meaning every time you're around them do you just kind of get around them well just kind of friends at this point we just kind of hang out I'm just kind of in there Circle and we're just kind of together and you know whatever and I leave and I don't really even think about the fact that I'm there on Mission anymore then you got to ask the Lord to stir up that fire in you so that every time you meet with them you might get in your car and you go Lord I feel like we made a little bit of progress today would you water the seed would you grow the seed would you bring it to fruition would you do what I can't do and every time you leave with them your passion for them seeing Jesus grows and if those two things are true of you then I think you have a heart like Paul I think you have a message and a mission that God is sending you in the Darkness to make people aware of the light and hope of Jesus the gospel is meant to be portrayed with our lives and proclaimed with our mouths so you see the way that Paul lived and now I want you to see the way that Paul talks and when we're talking about sharing our faith I love this Tim Keller said this one time he says the reality is the best kind of evangelism is whatever kind you actually do which I love that DL Moody is famously quoted as telling the story of a woman who comes up to him and uh tells him that she doesn't really like his style of evangelism and the way he's doing evangelism this is the same DL Moody that we talked about last week and he he's famously quoted as saying back it is clear that you don't like my way of doing evangelism and you raise some good points frankly I sometimes do not like my way of doing evangelism but I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it love that J but here's the thing I I want us to understand this today because there's power in this it's not in either or the way we live or the words we use it's a both and so often we in the church make the mistake of uh making an either more either or argument of things that were never designed to be an either or argument like one of the things I can I can remember still in church world people say this it baffles me they'll say like well your church like a a a Seeker sensitive Church like are are you about evangelist and reaching the loss or are you about discipleship and I'm like huh both I think we should be both right we should be both isn't this a Great Commission or did you think that the comma after the first part of the verse was a period and you just ended there where it says Make Disciples of all Nations and you just ended it there well it doesn't end there because after that it says comma and baptizing them in the name of the father Son and the Holy Spirit and then it says comma and teach them to obey everything I've commanded you that sounds a lot like discipleship and it sounds a lot like evangelism this is the message we should be both so be careful that we don't try to force conversations into an either or are you this are you this or are you that no I'm both and when it comes to sharing our faith when it comes to evangelism we must be both it is not just meant to be displayed with our lives it is also meant to be declared with our mouths maybe you've heard this quote before and I'll just preface this by saying this a lot of people aren't going to like this and I'm sorry in advance I said this at Core last week and you could just tell in the hearts of people they were a little bit disappointed but have you heard the famous quote preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words have you heard this quote it's attributed to St Francis of aissi and I understand the the sentiment of the quote and even when I said it last uh week at core you could just hear like a hearty Amen in the people you know like yeah I like that and I get it I understand why we think that but here here's The Thing One Francis never said that so that's the problem uh he lived in the late 1100s early 1200s leader in the Catholic Church um we have no evidence from any of his disciples or people that lived in his era that he ever said that it's not in any of his writings in fact everything we know about the guy suggest that he would vehemently disagree with that statement because he was a preacher often times preaching up to five times a day um so it's like one he wouldn't even agree with the quote that is attributed to him which would be so frustrating by the way can you imagine that like here you are this many years later and everybody's saying you said something that you didn't say that would be frustrating so one it's a problem because the guy never said it two it's a problem because it's not a Biblical idea it's not true like yes we should live the gospel out and people should be able to see that we understand the gospel in the way that we live we should live Winsome and attractive lives that cause people to ask us questions yes but we also should always use our words to proclaim the message of the Gospel it is a both and not in either or the gospel is inherently verbal it is a proclaimed word the good news of Jesus Christ so we must be both Paul writes in Romans how then can they call on the one they have not believed in and how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard it's to be spoken and Proclaim how can they hear without someone preaching proclaiming to them and how can anyone preach unless they are sin as it is written how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news right like we have a two-year-old at home who can talk when she wants to talk and not talk when she doesn't want to talk she she could tell you exactly what show she wants to watch and which one of the shows she wants to watch but sometimes when she gets over to the little snack cabinet she just yells with no words it's infuriating but she will often uh what we will say to her and what we've said to all of our girls my oldest is laughing what we would say to all of them is um at some point we would say use your words you can talk we know you can talk we've seen you talk you got all kinds of words just say what snack you want just tell me don't make me guess don't scream your head off just tell us with your words right the same is to be true when we share our faith we we are are to live lives that are Winsome that are attractive that are evidence to the world the gospel is on display with the way I live yes amen exclamation point 100% and not or but and we are to Proclaim and use our words to share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul's saying this in the text you just see the way that he's living you you see his life that he's humbling himself he's submitting to people that that's what's on display in his life and yet earlier in the text it says woe to to me if I do not preach the gospel proclaim the gospel it is meant to be seen and heard so what is it that we're supposed to be saying because I think a lot of us have got the idea that the way we say it here and I love the way we say it is we want to live a life that leads to why we want to live our lives in a way that causes people to ask questions we've kind of got that in our flow a little bit but we also have to be willing to speak so what is it that we want to speak and I would say first of all share your story tell people how God has changed your life like every follower of Jesus should actively be practicing sharing their story we are story people all of us it's wired into Humanity we should always be in the car on the way to work uh in before meetings we should be rehearsing and practicing in our mind how would I tell the story of what God's doing in my family how would I tell that story about what I just saw God do how would I say that to somebody and we should be practicing that you should be able to do that just on the Fly here's how God's changed my life here's how God's working in my life right and you see God using this in the text John N the man more blind what's his story uh one thing I do know I was blind but now I see you see it in John 4 are you prepared to answer the question if asked what has God done for you you see it in the Apostle Paul in Acts 26 when he stands before King agria he just tells them this is how God's changed my life don't underestimate the power of your story God will use it in a very very powerful way and perhaps the Bible's clearest verse on personal evangelism Peter tells us to be prepared right 1 Peter 3:15 and 16 but in your hearts rever Christ as lord always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have but do this with a megaphone and a loud voice with veins popping out of your necks no do this with gentleness and with respect keeping a clear conscience so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander so you see it in the text it is a both end we should live our lives in a way that people go what is it about you wh why why do you have this hope we're going through the same thing at work we got the same boss we're in the same tension Point why are you treating this so differently they should see it in us so much so that it causes them to ask a question he says later in the verse they should see your good behavior so the way we live matters but it should cause people to ask us questions that we answer yes by continuing to live faithful lives in front of them but also by proclaiming the word to give an answer the words apologia is where we get our word apologetics from to defend to speak out an answer for the reason that we have hope you need to be prepared to do that and number two so first be prepared to share your story and tell about how God has impacted your life number two you need to be prepared to articulate the gospel every single believer needs to be prepared to articulate the gospel why well in Romans 1 verse 16 Paul writes for I am not ashamed of the Gospel here's why because it is the power that brings salvation to everyone who believes so we should be prepared to share it why because it's the power it's the power to awaken people to the beauty of Jesus only people can only be saved in response to the good news of Jesus Christ The Gospel so we need to be prepared to share the gospel we need to know the gospel we need to speak the gospel we need to display the gospel and we need to proclaim the gospel right and maybe just to provide some relief because I know the tension Point always is here of the enemy coming in in that moment of going I don't really know if I can do that let me just encourage you your eloquence can save nobody you're perfect little crafty like I'm going to say this I'm going say this I'm going say this I'm not get any words righty I can answer all the Deep theological questions I can answer why there's pain and suffering in the world I can Define you know I can explain the trinity in 13 seconds I can do all it's not going to save anybody only the spirit of God can soften hearts and illuminate Jesus in a way that's irresistible for people right and the enemy is so quick to put that fear in us well what if I say the wrong thing and what if I ask me a question I don't know the answer to and what if I don't know enough here's some of my favorite verses on evangelism Mark 4 the parable of the growing seed this is what it says verses 26 and 27 this is what the kingdom of God is like a man scatters seed on the ground night and day whether he sleeps or gets up the seed sprouts and grows though he does not know how I love that we should all take a deep breath there our job scatter the seed and go to bed and wake up the next day to go whoa how'd that grow because we can't cause the growth only God can do that our job is to be faithful in the scattering of the seed and to prayerfully ask God to grow it into salvation in the hearts of people Jesus says in Matthew chapter 10 as he he says on my account you will be brought before Governors and Kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles but when they arrest you do not be afraid about what to say or how to say it at that time you will be given what to say for it will not be you that is speaking but the spirit of your father speaking through you so don't let the enemy keep you on the side guidelines right DL Moody once said there's no better evangelist in the world than the Holy Spirit he he's going to give you words to say so we need to be prepared to share the gospel so that begs the question what is the gospel sadly we've so stretched the meaning of the Gospel over time that for many people it's become hard to Define we've mistaken implications of the gospel for the actual message and definition of the Gospel right like love your neighbor is not the gospel is not um going to church is not the gospel extending forgiveness to people in your life that have hurt you is not the gospel loving people that are different than you is not the gospel they are implications of the Gospel so we should be certainly doing all those things once you have seen and accepted and embraced and cherished the gospel you should love your neighbor 100% but loving your neighbor is not the gospel it's an implication it's not a definition so so what is the gospel well I think Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 maybe gives us the clearest definition in the scripture he says now brothers and sisters I want to remind you of the Gospel that I preached to you which you've received and on which you have taken your stand by this gospel you are saved if you hold firmly to the word I preach to you otherwise you have believed in vain for what I received I passed on to you as of first importance here it is that Christ died for the sins for our sins according to the scriptures that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures the rescue mission of Heaven the Gospel of Jesus Christ we need to be able to articulate this and so I wanted today to be practical and um so there's a million of these but I want to give you maybe one example of a method of sharing your faith so you say okay I've been praying for this person we finally got to a lunch what what do I actually say this is one example there are thousands of these this is one example that could be helpful you could draw this on a nap at the restaurant you could get some paper out at your house and do it on your kitchen table here's just one example it's called the three Circle method this is what we have started teaching in core it was developed by a guy named Jimmy Scroggins and I think it's helpful so he says first I'm hesit to write on an iPad for multiple reasons one my handwriting is terrible two I was discipled by Louis so I can't spell good sorry um so you have God's design God designed everything he cares about it he created it he created the Earth he created you he created me he created us for a purpose to walk with him to be in right relationship with him he is the great designer he designed us to be with him and he cares about all of it he cares about every single facet of your life but for each and every one of us we're born with a disease called sin where we depart from God's design we say no we're good we want to do things our way so we depart from God's design and the Bible's word for this is sin we rebel against God and when we do that every time we end up in a place called Brokenness looks like it should have one in but it does have two fact check it later we we arrive at a place called Brokenness you can see Brokenness everywhere you look on the planet the Earth is broken people are broken it's the weight of guilt and shame we know what this is like in our own heart if you were sharing your faith this would be a great example to tell you tell somebody this is what the Brokenness was like for me I felt empty I felt void I had no purpose I felt ashamed I felt embarrassed I I felt like I didn't have any worth I felt like I didn't have any identity and so when we get to that spot we try all kinds of things to get out maybe if I make more money maybe if I can get some more popularity maybe if I can get in a different relationship maybe if I can restore for some selfworth and that we try a million ways to repair our Brokenness but the problem is that sin doesn't make us bad it makes us dead and dead people can't do anything to help themselves so when you're in Brokenness there's nothing that you can do and honestly Brokenness is a terrible place to be but it also reflects the fact that you were created to be with God because everybody that arrives in Brokenness doesn't want to stay there they long for something else but there's no way in their own power they can get out of the Brokenness caused by rebelling against God God and this is where the gospel is good news and the good news is that heaven on a rescue mission God sent his son to planet Earth that God became paint on his own canvas by sending his son Jesus Christ to come onto planet Earth to live the life you couldn't live to live the life I couldn't live he lived a perfect life on planet Earth he died on a cross to pay for the sins of the world because he loved you so your guilt and your shame went on his back he was buried and put in a tomb but on the third day he raised from the dead ascended to the right hand of the father and he's extending forgiveness and mercy and to any and everybody who puts their faith hope and trust in him and so you go okay well how do I get from this part over here Brokenness over to this thing over here called The Gospel well the you have to turn from your Brokenness the Bible the Biblical word for it is you have to repent and you have to believe the gospel and when you do your Brokenness will begin to be healed you will be offered a new heart you will become a new creation in in Christ Jesus and as you do that he will free you up once again to ((music playing)) pursue God's Perfect Design in your life this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and once you are living in God's design now you you are freed and on Mission and saved and sent back to those stuck in Brokenness so that you can tell them the path you took which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ every single believer should have a tool like this at your disposal where in a minute at a lunch across your dinner table over a Thanksgiving break you could say can I explain something that's really important to you to me we all need to be able to do this and I want to end with these last verses that are beautiful verses 24- 27 they're often taught in the context of self-discipline and they are and I think that's a great application but I think it's more powerful when you see them in their context of denying ourselves for the sake of telling others about Jesus so Paul gives this picture of athletes running in a race getting a crown for their head right this would have made sense this again is evidence of Paul understanding who he was talking to they had the isian games there or what would be similar to like the Olympic Games and the athletes would train hard so that they could compete in the games and ultimately so that they could win and they could get the crown on their head a perishable Crown a perishable wreath you ever seen the old pictures of the wreath you would get on your head that's what the athletes were playing for and he says man athletes had to train incredibly hard they were incredibly disciplined can you imagine like right now could you imagine what a day in like Simone B's life was like or Michael Phelps when he was in the midst of his training or Scotty Sheffer when he just keeps destroying everybody in every tournament can you imagine how hard and committed they have to be to their craft there there's a guy in our church we're going to put a picture up of him he's a a professional triathlete I spoke to him this morning because I just was thinking about him in this text and he's working right now to earn a spot on the USA olympic team uh for 2028 he was in Shanghai this morning as one naturally is um Chas chasing his dreams pursuing his goal disciplining himself working for the sake of accomplishing his goal and he was telling me I have on average three to four workouts a day sometimes up to seven hours a day was like three or four workouts a day I I committed that 2024 is going to be my year to run I didn't hit four times the whole year he's doing three to four a day up to seven hours and then he said this and in my downtime in between sessions I'm either eating or doing something strategic to recover and get ready for the next session this is laser focus to the mission these Elite athletes they're doing this all the time and they're doing it for an imperishable wreath like some leaves on a Crown is going to die and fade away and Paul is going if they're willing to be that disciplined if they're willing to Buffet their body if they're willing to lay aside their own personal desires to be disciplined for the mission that they're on for an imperishable wreath how much more should we be disciplined and aligned in in playing for a wreath that will not perish but that is imperishable a crown that will last forever that should motivate us to live incredibly disciplined lives and how is Paul saying this he's saying it in the context of evangelism that's what he've been talking about winning people to Christ so yes the crown is that we all hope to hear the words well done my good and faithful servant but the crown also is man I want all five of these people right here I want them to be in heaven and I will feel like that is a crown if all these people get to heaven I'm playing for that I'm playing for that Crown so if I am how much should every day there be strategy there be prayer there be alignment there be Focus for sharing the good news of the Gospel to inherit a crown that will last forever this is my prayer for us as a church as we leave here as we go out especially this week on Thanksgiving week that we would first pray that we would prepare and practice that we would plan and pursue the lost and that we would proclaim the gospel with our words