How to Share The Greatest News Ever (John 4)

As we continue in the “Tell Someone” message series about sharing your faith with others, we realize that some people have a hard time moving beyond sharing their personal experiences to sharing the greatest news ever of the Gospel. Simply put, the news can be summarized: “Jesus is Greater!” Jesus is greater than our religious works, greater than our earthly knowledge, greater than our status/race/gender, greater than our sins and failures, and greater than our current temptations and troubles. Jesus can save, sanctify and satisfy. This week we are going to look at John 3 and 4 and be reminded of the message and motivation Jesus has mandated and modeled. Come to Rockwell Church this Sunday to be encouraged that sharing this great news about Jesus can make an eternal difference and is definitely rewarding.

Rockwell Church     May 19th, 2024     Pastor Chris Teien
How to Share The Greatest News Ever
John 4:39-42

"Jesus is Greater!"

A. Jesus is Greater Than the Best You Could Ever Be (John 3:26-27)
   1. Religion  (Acts 4:12, Phil 3:8-9)
   2. Knowledge  (Prov 2:6, James 1:17, Col 2:2-3)
   3. Status/Race/Gender (Prov 22:2, Acts 10:34-35, Gal 3:28, Eph 2:14)

B. Jesus is Greater Than Anyone Else (John 3:29-34, John 17:3, John 16:33)

C. Jesus is Greater Than Life’s Difficulties (John 3:35-36)
   1. Sinful Past (1 John 4:4)
   2. Current Troubles (Matt 6:33, 1 Pet 1:3-7)
   3. Future Fears (Heb 13:6, John 14:27, Phil 4:6-7)

Remember the Five Essentials of the Gospel
1. All Are Sinners and Therefore Lost
2. God Loves the Sinner but Must Punish the Sin
3. No One Can Save Themselves by Any Means
4. Christ Has Provided for Our Salvation 
5. The Sinner Must Personally Accept by Faith God's Provision of Salvation

The WELL Faith Podcast offers encouraging, Bible-based messages from Pastor Chris Teien and guests. New sermons are released every Sunday. Replay episodes are marked with an asterisk. Find us online at ChrisTeien.com and Rockwell.Church in Virginia, MN. Email comments to wellfaith24@gmail.com

Transcript

Chris T 0:16

How to share the greatest news ever. How to share the greatest news ever. So we've been going through this series, Tell Someone. And I even picked up some tell someone books, but now we're coming to the end of the series. So I have a special Memorial Day message next week. It talks about honor and integrity. And then how to tell people about Jesus with confidence and conviction. And then that's the end of the series. So I think there's like five of these books left on the table. And they were like five bucks. But you could just, if you're going to read the book, you can just have it. You can take it. So I listened to the audiobook again yesterday. It's not a very long read, but uh listen to it, uh read it. It's a good book. It will encourage you to share your faith with other people. And I'll probably read from some of it today. But I've been lingering in John chapter 3 and 4, and we've been talking about the Samaritan woman and how she was a woman with a rough reputation. Yet when Jesus crossed her path, she was quick to go tell everybody she knew about Jesus. And those people responded, came to see Jesus, came to hear Jesus, and finally they got to the point where they're like, hey, we're we believe in Jesus now, not just because of what you told us, because we've heard him for ourselves. So that passage is in John chapter 4, verse 39. Uh many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him and Jesus because of the Samaritan woman's testimony. She said, He told me everything I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged Jesus to stay with them, and he stayed for two days. And because of his words, many more became believers. And they said to the woman, We no longer believe just because of what you said. Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the savior of the world. Is anybody on the face of this earth walking around right now telling people that they know Jesus because of you? Because you told them something to direct them in Jesus' path so that they would find out for themselves, that they would they would research, that they would believe, that they would receive, and that they would follow Jesus. And so you didn't save them, but God used you to help point them in the right direction so that they could be saved. And when they got saved, then um they started to live for Jesus. Maybe they're leading people to Christ now, and when they think about, you know, how did all this start? They look back and they're like, Well, I remember when, and you know, fill in the name, when I was a little kid at vacation Bible school, and uh I heard about Jesus, and uh this lady taught me about Jesus, or um, or at work, somebody that I at least suspected told me about Jesus. And I didn't believe in Jesus because of his or her words, um, but it did make me interested, and it did make me want to find out more, and they pointed me down the right path so that I could, so that I could find out about Jesus. So the question is, is what is our message? The problem is that we are way too afraid of what people think of us. We are way too afraid of getting it wrong. There's a spiritual battle that goes on, a little voice inside of our head or maybe outside of our head whispers, you don't need to say anything. They don't want to hear what you have to say. You've messed up your life so much, they're not gonna take you as a credible uh witness anyway. Uh just be quiet. Someone else will do it. You don't need to do it. But what if? What if we got past ourselves? What if we got past uh, you know, thinking that we're inadequate and trusting God to use us, and we started to share the message. And so one of the greatest best ways to think about the message, and I gave you like a ton of resources and notes in this four-page bulletin note thing here, but there's no fill in the blanks, so you don't have to be distracted by that. But the message, the message should not be. Oh, I just want to tell you about I I follow, I f I I go to church and I believe in Jesus, and yeah. No, the message is this Jesus is greater. Jesus is awesome, Jesus changed my life, Jesus is greater than anything. Uh Jesus is the greatest ever. In Tell Someone, chapter two, Greg Laurie wrote, People can tell if you really care about them. A child knows it, even a dog can tell. So I begin with this question: Do you care about people who do not know the Lord? Far too often we see them as the enemy when, in fact, they are under the control and influence of the real enemy, Satan. Speaking of non-believers, Scripture says we are to be patient in our dealings with them. Uh 2 Timothy 2 26 says, then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil's trap, for they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants. So effective sharing of one's faith starts with a concern, a burden. I know sharing starts with caring. Sounds like something cheesy, like a care bearer would say, but it's true. Effective evangelism starts with a God-given concern for the person you are speaking with. Be honest. How do you feel about unbelievers? The great British preacher, Charles Spurgeon, wrote the following words about the unbelievers to whom we present the gospel message. He wrote, The Holy Spirit will move them by first moving you. If you can rest without their being saved, they will rest too. But if you are filled with an agony for them, if you cannot bear that they should be lost, you will soon find that they are uneasy too. I hope you will get into such a state that you will dream about your child or about your hearer perishing for the lack of Christ, and start up at once and begin to cry, O God, give me converts or I die. And then you will have converts, says Charles Spurgeon. Jesus is greater, Jesus is greater than your problems, Jesus is greater than anything we could know, Jesus is greater than our life circumstances, Jesus is greater than the best you could ever be. We have all these, you know, ideas of how we can self-improve ourselves and how we're moral and how we're good, but Jesus is greater than all of that in John 3.26. So back to John, I was there before. I'm just gonna rehash it again. So I used to be in two different jobs. I used to be a trainer and I would train people how to do jobs, I would train people how to make sales calls, I would train people how to go call on doctors and opticians and optical labs. And in training is a lot of repetition. So you repeatedly say the same thing over and over again in different ways until they get it. And if you're if you do a really, really good job, if you do, if you do the training the best that you can, one day you will hear them say what you've been saying all along, and they will think they thought it themselves. That's the best thing that you can do for training. So we're just gonna rehash this a bit. Okay, so in John 3.26, um, the disciples that John the Baptist had, um they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, that man Jesus, who is with you on the other side of the Jordan, the one you testified about, look, he is baptizing and everyone is going to him. And to this John replied, A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. John knew his place. John knew that Jesus was greater than he was. John knew that Jesus was the one that he was supposed to magnify and glorify and serve and dedicate his life to, um, that he was the one, that John was not the one. Jesus was the one. And when we get that in our head, that we are not number one, that Jesus is priority. And we're willing to um humble ourselves to follow Jesus. We're willing to uh face and accept that people might talk about us, think we're naive, um, criticize us, or even um overlook us in uh a job promotion or an opportunity or whatever. Because of our true faith in Christ, um that is the life that we live, and it honors the Lord, and He can provide for us, He can bless us, but Jesus is greater. Jesus is greater than any religion. Jesus is greater than all of the things that we can do as people to try to make ourselves right with God. There's a lot of people that do way more than me to try to make themselves holy, to try to be uh right with God, and but religion doesn't save you. So salvation is found in no one else. There's no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. Jesus is the way, the only way. And so you know this. I'm just giving you some things that you're going to know, need to know, to tell other people as you have opportunities in conversation. So Jesus is greater than any religion. So religion is mankind trying to make themselves right with God. Um, we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, which I guess would classify as religion, but it's not really uh the religion, uh religious that we are trying to do something to make ourselves right with God. Jesus makes us right with God, and then we do good works out of that. But anyways, Jesus is greater than religion. Jesus is greater than anything that we know. We know a lot. Matter of fact, we know more now than I think people have ever known before. And before, like in the last you know, 10 years or so, we've been able to go, we've been able to type things, little search things in our phone, and then a bunch of websites would come up, and then we'd have some general ideas on uh, you know, articles that we could read. And now in the last couple of years, especially right now, now you can literally ask your phone or your computer a question and with the parameters, and it will have a conversation with you and give you some ideas, and a lot of times it doesn't get it totally right, but I think it will get better. But it's taking all this information and it's delivering it to you as you're having a conversation, and it can be really helpful for research, and it can be a great tool for us to um, you know, to learn more and to do more. And so um, you know, I'm not there's a bunch of uh pastors and ministry leaders and stuff that are saying, you know, there's good parts of AI that we can leverage to be more effective for the cause of Christ, to uh get things done faster and to do things more effectively, and it's great for research. So, but knowledge, knowledge is ever increasing. Um, but there are so many times that things that we think we know we don't really know, and then you gotta turn the back the, you know, it's like, okay, whatever you do, don't eat eggs. Eggs will kill you. Oh, the cholesterol, oh, don't eat eggs and bacon. Oh, you'll probably die within a month if you eat eggs and bacon. And then you roll forward the clock, and it's like, you know what? You should probably be skipping that fake margarine stuff. That's what's gonna kill you. The eggs and bacon, that's what's really gonna help you. So the eggs are like the superfood from God. Eat more eggs. And you know, people don't really know anything, uh, it seems, but Proverbs 2.5 says, The Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. Jesus knows more than we could ever know more about everything. Colossians 2.2, uh, Paul writes, I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God's mysterious plan, which is Christ Himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. As you study about Christ, as you look into the Bible, you find all sorts of things that are repeatedly proven to be true. And so we seek knowledge through the Bible, through Christ, and we want to share that with other people, because that is not the normal place that people are going to find information and knowledge. They're rejecting that old archaic book, that archaic book that was written by men, that archaic book that supposedly has lots of um discrepancies. Oh, how could you trust that? Uh, they don't get it. But when they come to Christ and they receive the Holy Spirit, they start to understand scripture. The their blinded eyes are opened and they can see and they can understand, and it starts to transform their life and give them knowledge. Jesus is greater when it comes to anything that we could know. Jesus is greater than our status, than our race, and our gender. We get caught up as people thinking about who we are and how important we are, or how important other people are. Some people think that they're too good to be sharing Jesus with other people, and other people think that they're too bad. So too poor, I'm too rich. I'm not the right race, or I'm not the right gender. So, but Proverbs 2022 says, Rich and poor have this in common. The Lord is the maker of them all. You know, James writes that uh being rich is a burden. Um it can really ruin your life, it can destroy you, it can be a big distraction to some people. Um, being poor can also be a difficulty for some people. Do you know that poor people give a higher percentage of their income to uh to the church and to needs and to other poor people and things that rich people do? You'd think it'd be the other way around. You'd think people would be like, okay, well, I need this much to live on and I have this much left, so therefore I can I can share this all with others. Um, and then poor people are like, I don't have anything left, but let me help you out. Um But God sees and God knows. And in our lives, um, being rich or poor can put us in a place so that we can be effectively used by God and when we trust God. When we trust God, paycheck to paycheck, when we trust God, uh, when we don't have all the resources we need, please trust in God and pray about things before you trust in your credit card because that's super hard to pay back. Um, that Jesus is greater than our status in life. Um, Acts 1034, Peter began to speak. I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. Our race or our nationality or where we came from doesn't matter to God. So when we think about, you know, who we are in Christ or who we're trying to reach out to, on one hand, it is tough when you have uh immigrants come from other countries and try to try to change our constitution and change our laws and try to change it into the same kind of mess that they left to come to our country. That's kind of difficult. But the individuals that come, um, we used to have to send missionaries across the world if we could to share Jesus with them, and now they literally come to our neighborhoods and to our schools and all around us, and we can share Jesus with people of every nation and every tribe all around the world, often um here in America. So um where I used to live, down in the cities, if you wanted to find people from all around the world, you just go to IKEA. I don't really think I don't know if people thought that was like the embassy of all nations or what, but there's a lot of people from different different places at IKEA. So, all right, Galatians 3.28. There's neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither, nor is there male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. So our gender does not make it so that we can't share Jesus Christ. So, and then finally, Ephesians 2.14, he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier of the dividing wall of hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles, so that together we could live and walk in unity as Christ followers be. Jesus is greater than anyone else. Jesus is greater than anyone else, greater than Muhammad, greater than Buddha, greater than Anthony Robbins or Dr. Phil or whoever it is you follow. You know, Dr. Phil actually just uh wrote a book recently, talks a lot about his faith. He's been showing up in a lot of uh different ministries and stuff, talking about um how as America's psychologist that uh his faith in Christ is more important to him now than ever. And uh interesting. But Jesus is greater, Jesus is greater than anyone else. Again, John, um John the Baptist talking about Jesus says the bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice, and that joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater, I must become less. What is it that you are doing to help Jesus become greater in your sphere of influence? Do people know that you love Jesus, that you serve Jesus, that your eternity is wrapped in Jesus? And if you have all of this, it should make it really easy for you to tell people about your faith. If you have this mindset that says, I have what to some is the best kept secret in the world, and to others, what others is a big misunderstanding, but I know the truth, or I have good news that can change someone's life, or I have a remedy to someone's eternal sickness, and you run around and you share that with people, it changes your motivation. So when I worked for the optical company, there was a lot of menial tasks that we had to do. I absolutely hated counting inventory where you'd have to go count thousands of optical lenses and little bags on the shelf. I did not like that job at all, but I did it. But um, whenever I would do the menial stuff that I didn't like to do, or when I do the marketing stuff that I did like to do, or when I'd call on to make sales calls or whatever, I had in my mind that Jesus was using me at this job to make money, to provide for my family, to learn new skills, and to help people see better. That's I'm like, I am I'm going to work today, and I am at the end of the day, and when it's done, I will have helped someone see better. Well, if you're faithful to share your faith, hopefully at the end of the day, somebody will see Jesus and be assured of eternal life, and maybe someday thank you for what you did. I must become less, and Jesus must become greater. I gotta humble myself and get out there and be ready to share my faith. I have to pray that God would give me opportunities. I have to be aware and looking for an opportunity. So many times it's easy to be busy, but if you've got the mindset that says I'm I'm I'm I'm going fishing, I'm going spiritual fishing, and I'm ready to go. I got my got my little Bible tract here. So um I've I got this. I'm just waiting to share this with somebody, or um, your Bible marked out or whatever, I'm ready to go. So John the Baptist then again says, the one who comes from above is above all, the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful, for the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. So John realizes his place, he realizes that Jesus is the one, that Jesus knows these things. He is from God, he speaks from God, he speaks the words of God, he gives us the words of God. The words of God were written down in the 66 books in this Bible, and we can read that, study that, apply that, live that, and it makes a difference in our life. We have been given, hopefully, if we've been saved, we've been given the experience and it transforms us. And we've been given the information and we can be ready to share it. And it is so readily available. I can get you Bible apps that you can like send out to people, or I can you can on our right now media video service at rockwellchurch, rockwell.church forward slash right now. You can now like do virtual group Bible studies. You can find someone and you want to help them grow in their faith, and you're like, okay, let's watch this together. I know that you happen to be a thousand miles away, but let's watch this together and then we'll discuss it. Um, the technology on one hand is distracting a bunch of people and leading them astray, and on the other hand, making it possible for us to disciple people next door and around the world. But anyway, um, Jesus is greater. John 17 3. This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God in Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Eternal life is not just God saying, Well, you know, I know that you are enjoying your life on this earth, and I'd like To give you the extended play mode. So here, get right with me, and I'll just let you live in the current place you're in, in the current situation you're in, uh as you are for all eternity. What do you think about that? Like, I'd be like, no, thanks. I don't think I want to live this for eternity. I mean, y'all are nice people and stuff, but um thinking about being in the presence of Jesus, a place where all things are right, where there's no more sickness, there's no more pain, crying, darkness, all these things. Um, eternal life is not just living forever. Eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ, knowing and being with them. I mean, the greatest hope of what we see of what's described as heaven is the presence of God is with people, um, not distance like we are now. John 16, 33, Jesus says, I've told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world. So does anybody have troubles? Does anybody feel anxious sometimes? Does anybody need a little more peace as we pray about things and put it in the Lord's hands that we can find that peace that we need? Sometimes it's a waiting game, sometimes it's just praying about things and telling God what's on your heart, and then just waiting and just trusting. Um, often that's where the peace comes from. Sometimes we try to run ahead of God, sometimes we try to fix things, sometimes we try to uh manipulate circumstances or schemes to try to get our own way and we don't trust God. Sometimes we spend a lot of time trying to force open doors in our lives that God does not want us to go through. And if we would be patient and trust, God would show us that He has a better plan for us. God has a better plan. I always tell young couples or young people that aren't couples yet. You know, you want to hold out for that godly man or that godly girl. You don't want to compromise for somebody who's just fun or cute or handsome or strong or rich or uh whatever. Um you want to hold out for that godly person to marry. Um, trust God for that person and focus on becoming the man or man or woman of God that you need to be for God to bring that person into your life. See, Jesus is greater than life's difficulties. Jesus is greater than life's difficulties. Life can be very difficult. Maybe you were born into the difficulty. So you were just born into this difficult life, this difficult family. Uh maybe you had some health issues, maybe life's just been difficult. Uh Jesus is greater than the life's life's difficulties. So again, John 3, 35. Um The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. So part of our difficulty is when we try to go through this life without Christ. So sometimes our difficulty comes from going through this life with Christ as we suffer persecution and difficulty. But the Holy Spirit gets us through that and gives us power and encouragement and help to stand strong in that. I hope we all get to the point in our lives when we hit our when we see our death coming that we look back on our lives and just think about God's faithfulness to us. I don't think anybody's gonna say, all my life was perfect and comfortable. I was untouched by pain. I was ever since I came to Jesus, I've just been blessed and everything's perfect. That's not usually the way it works. Um since I came to Jesus, there were hardships, there were difficulties. I was I was I was rejected, I was despised. Jesus has been faithful. I love Jesus. I can't wait to get on to the next chapter. He has been so good and so faithful to me. But Jesus is greater than your sinful past. Jesus is greater than your sinful past. I don't know what you have for a sinful past, but usually there's some secret, some sin, something that someone has done in their past that they would not want anyone to know. And um, that is a tough thing. But 1 John 4, 4. You belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people because the spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Jesus is greater than your sin. Jesus is greater than Satan. Jesus is greater than the people who may um stand against you. But Jesus is greater than your sinful past. He offers forgiveness. Romans 8:1. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Number two, Jesus is greater than your current troubles. I know there's a lot of people that struggle with a lot of things right now. So I've heard that the increase in property taxes and the inflation and the increase in the price of everything is causing a lot of anxiety and troubles in people's lives. Jesus is greater than that. Um pray and look for what God might give you or help you with. If you have the means and resources to help other people in need, be used of the Lord, to be his hands and um help provide for these people in needs. But Jesus is greater than our current troubles that we seek first, his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to us as well. So that passage says, Don't worry about what you're gonna eat, don't worry about what you're gonna wear. Um, put Christ first. And I know that's easy to say and sometimes hard to do, but wait through the process, pray about it, and trust God. Uh Peter, uh writing to a church that is suffering persecution, says, All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's by his great mercy that we've been born again because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and now we live with great expectation. He says, and we have a priceless inheritance, an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see, so be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine and is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold. Though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. That is so exciting to think about how Jesus is greater than our current troubles, and he has a plan for us, and that plan includes joy and hope and provision and so many great, wonderful things are ahead. We can just endure some of the difficulty of this journey called life on the sinful earth in which we live. Number three, Jesus is greater than our future fears. Our future fears, which are many. I say this all the time, but I literally, when we watch, my wife and I we watch the news, we always feel like we're watching these end time videos and things that were popular in the past. It's like, okay, so now China and Russia want to get together and be best buds, and China wants to get together with Saudi Arabia and be good friends, and so China wants to like take over the world. And so then there's little America who is like, oh, we're so strong. But their strength actually came from, I think, God's intervention in history over the years, and as our country turns their back on God, um, I don't know what the future holds. So Greg Laurie, who wrote the Tell Someone book, uh, also talks a lot about Bible prophecy, and he's like, you know, it doesn't appear that the United States of America clearly shows up in Bible prophecy, unless you want to call them Babylon. But he's like, you know, something happens. Either so many people get raptured away that there's no longer America or get sucked into, you know, some other thing or nation or whatever. Fears of that, health fears, you know, uh, what's the next pandemic to come, or when's the next fire gonna roll through, or uh earthquakes and tornadoes and the weather and the global warming and the uh future uh ice. I don't know, some people are saying it's actually gonna get a lot colder. You know, there's all these people saying all these things to make you fearful. And so we need to trust the Lord. We need to trust the Lord. So we say, Hebrews 13, 6. So we say with confidence, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? We go through this life and we're like, okay, God, you've got us here. We're in your plan. You we're your children, and you promise to provide for us, so please uh help us with the resources we need as we seek to serve you and put you first. And as we are telling people about Jesus, we might face persecution, but what can mere mortals do to me? We might um go through hard times because of our faith, but what can mere mortals do to me? Um we might have people abandon us because of our faith in Christ, but what can mere mortals do to me? The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. And Jesus says he leaves us peace. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives, so do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. So it's only a peace that comes from God, it's a peace that comes through the Holy Spirit, it's a peace that uh surpasses all understanding, even when we go through the difficult things. So don't be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to God, and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Do not be anxious about sharing your faith. Pray about the opportunity, pray about the person, pray that God would give you the right things to say in the right way. So if I want to make a home run for Jesus, if I want to tell someone about my faith, what are the bases I need to cover? So there are five, the five essentials of the gospel. I've shared these before. Number one, all sinners, all are sinners and therefore lost. This is in your pamphlet here on the back page, actually. It's on the back page. Um, God loves the sinner but must punish the sin. Three, no one can save themselves by any means, for Christ has provided for our salvation. And five, the sinner must personally accept by faith God's provision of salvation. And I covered verses that go with this last week, but now I want to share with you something that maybe you haven't seen before or haven't read for a while, and I found it interesting. So um Bill Fay was like a salesperson uh that got serious about following Jesus, went from a life of sin to um being really excited to share his faith. And in his book, How to Fear How to Share Jesus Without Fear, he's got all of these different lists, and this is the share Jesus scriptures that he lists in there. He's also got another part in his book, maybe you want to get it, that talks to you about how you can map out your Bible and how you would like write in here Romans 3.23. And then a Romans 3.23, you would write, you know, Romans 6.23, so that as you're sharing scripture with people, um, you can read upside down what you wrote so you know the next place to go as you've mapped out your Bible. And what Bill Fay says is really interesting. His his idea is that um instead of you reading the scripture to the person, that they need to read it for themselves. So here it says, Bill Fay's share the scriptures, it says, Ask your friend to read the verse aloud, and next ask it, next ask him, what does this say to you? If your friend gives an incorrect answer, say, read it again, continue this process until your friend understands scripture. And I thought that was real interesting. So uh repeatedly they read this, they read the scripture, and then you ask, what does this say to you? And then you can have a little conversation about it, but you want the person to read the scripture and come up with the idea of what it means on their own. So the first one, Romans 3 23, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and then you would ask, What does this say to you? Well, it must say that all of us are sinners. You might even say, you know, do you understand what sin is? And um, you know, you could ask questions about that, but it leads in the discussion. But the person is reading scripture for themselves, therefore it's not you telling them, it's um this is what the Bible says. And so they read it for themselves, and it gets number two, Romans 6 23, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus is our Lord. And you know, what does this say to you? And so again, uh Romans or John 3.3, you must be born again. Um I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom. Now, I think this is a misprint in the book, so I verified in the book that my slide was correct. I believe it right here, it should say, What does this say to you? Um, I think that why did Jesus come to die is on the wrong line. Okay, anyway, so next, John 14, 6, Jesus says, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. What does this say to you? Um, Romans 10, 9, if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you'll be saved. For it's with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it's with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the scripture says, anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. What does this say to you? Uh so they read it, and you just asked, What does this say to you? Six Um He died for all, so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again. I think this is the place where you ask why did Jesus come to die? So I'm pretty sure that that question goes with this one, um, even though the book uh has it printed in a different way. So if you're doing this presentation, um that's my suggestion. And number seven, the last one here I am, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me. What does this say to you? So you probably know a lot about this verse, and you'll be like, So just so you know, in that culture, at that time when you had dinner with somebody, that was a big deal. So it took a long time. Um, it wasn't, you know, just you ran out to uh fast food place, got a burger, and ran off and did whatever. It was like uh we're close friends because we're having dinner together. You know, we're we're we're having this is part of the personal relationship with Christ. And if you open the door of your life. So, okay, then there's five commitment questions on there. Five commitment questions uh from Bill Fay's material. Um, one, ask, are you a sinner? Two, do you want forgiveness of sins? Three, do you believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for you and rose again? Four, are you willing to surrender your life to Jesus Christ? And five, are you ready to invite Jesus Christ into your life and into your heart? So that's from Bill Fay's stuff. And then he has the sinner's prayer. And I re there's a bunch of people now that these days pushing back on the sinner's prayer. The sinner's prayer isn't in the Bible. Well, there's a lot of things that aren't in the Bible uh that we that we teach um that are helpful uh when we put together the scriptures and the systematic theology, and so receiving Jesus Christ uh through prayer is a good idea. So just saying the words of this prayer doesn't say save anybody, but truly meaning it and wanting it, and like in prayer, telling Jesus that I totally admit that I am a sinner, and please, I understand that you died on the cross and you rose again, and that by placing my faith in you I can be saved. I want to be saved, I want to be assured heaven. So his prayer is Heavenly Father, I have sinned against you. I want forgiveness for all my sins. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me and rose again. Father, I give you my life to do with as you wish. I want Jesus Christ to come into my life and into my heart. And ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right. So that is another way to share the gospel. And I printed it out on the sheet, and I think I put it on our uh website or I will when we put the message online. Uh, you can watch that or read that. So, next time we get together, I want to talk about how to live a life a Christian life of honor and integrity, um, which ties into Memorial Day, but it also ties into the book of John. So now I want to show you a video on how Jesus is greater. Um, let me just pray, Lord. I thank you so much for everybody that's here and anybody that might hear this message. I pray that we get serious about sharing our faith. We don't know how much religious freedom we're gonna get into the future. We don't know how long people will live that we are connecting to. Lord, we don't know uh how much time we have left until you return and uh start a new uh millennium clock. Lord, we pray that you would help us to worship you through our actions, that you would help us to be bold and courageous and sharing our faith, that we would come together and celebrate new lives that people have been saved, maybe they're even getting baptized. Lord, we pray that you would do great things through us, especially these summer months when we're more likely to come across the paths of our friends and neighbors in casual ways than many other times of the year. So we just commit ourselves to you in Jesus' name. Amen. So after this video is over, the worship team is gonna come up and we're gonna sing our God is an awesome 13 letters.

SPEAKER_00 40:45

Three words, one sentence, and I hope you never forget it. I hope you always remember these 13 letters, these three words, and this one complete sentence. Jesus is better. He's better than any worldly ambition that may have captured your devotion. It's better than anything that could distract you from doing what you were created to do. It's better than money, cars, clothes, entertainment, achievement, and popularity. It's better than anything that the world can offer you. It's better than any person that has ever walked in time. It's wider than commonly walking than I can. It's more comfortable than anything we are and more creative than Mozart. He's more powerful than Napoleon, and more complainable than motherfucking. There's never been anyone like him, nor will there ever be. Not even close. Better than anyone, better than Moses, better than every better than the angel, better than the meaning, better than any more than three percent. From beginning to end one beautiful story, one unified thing. Jesus. Times when it doesn't feel like Jesus is better. The world will reject you, your flesh will fight you, and the devil will lie to you. Storms will come. You're gonna face disappointment, deception, betrayal, and rejection. You're gonna feel tired, empty, brokenhearted, scared, and alone. But don't forget in the darkness what you learned in the light. Jesus is better. He's the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He's the Prince of Peace and the light of the world. He's the friend of sinners and the enemy of Satan. He's the Alpha and the Omega and the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He is the way and the truth and the life. Jesus is better. And if you really truly believe that it's gonna come, you're gonna help the poor. Swallow your brother and love your enemies. You're gonna believe it's when you rather scroll your own. You're gonna break when you rather believe and you're gonna learn when you rather be learnt and you're gonna be up when you rather be out. You'll make one more. I consider everything alone. Christ, Jesus, my Lord, Lord will take me alone, all things I consider them rubbish, and I make a Christ. In other words, Jesus is better. Thirteen letters. Three words. One sentence. No question about it. Jesus is better.