Transformation | Guest Trevor Rubenstein

Trevor Rubenstein shares his journey from atheism and self-destruction to faith in Jesus. Raised in a Jewish home, he had no belief in God until encountering the words of Jesus in Luke 15. Now a missionary with Chosen People Ministries, he spreads the gospel among Jewish communities and beyond. Trevor highlights how God transforms individuals, cities, and nations, using biblical examples from Paul’s conversion, Jonah’s mission to Nineveh, and the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. He challenges believers to take evangelism seriously, emphasizing that the world needs the gospel now more than ever.

Key Themes & Scripture References:

• God Transforms Lives – 2 Corinthians 5:17 ("If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.")
• Grace and Redemption – Luke 15:11-32 (The Prodigal Son, a story that helped lead Trevor to Christ.)
• God Uses the Unlikely – Acts 9:1-20 (Paul’s radical conversion from persecutor to preacher.)
• The Urgency of Sharing the Gospel – Romans 10:9-15 ("How can they hear without someone preaching?")
• God’s Plan for Nations – Daniel 2:44 ("The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.")
• Supporting Israel and the Jewish People – Genesis 12:3 ("I will bless those who bless you.")

Personal Reflections & Stories:

• Trevor’s Testimony: From a rebellious, suicidal lifestyle to faith in Jesus through Scripture.
• The Story of John Newton: A former slave trader transformed by Christ.
• Paul’s Conversion: A dramatic encounter with Jesus that changed history.
• Nineveh’s Revival: The power of repentance when a city turns to God.

Notable Quotes:

• "God is in the business of transformation—changing individuals, cities, and entire nations."
• "If you want to change the world, start by sharing Jesus."
• "We can't blame the world for acting like the world, but we can blame the church for not sharing the gospel."

Application & Takeaways:

1. Recognize That God Transforms Lives – No one is beyond His reach.
2. Pray for the Lost – Intercede for non-believers and missionaries.
3. Step Out in Evangelism – Share the gospel and invite others to church.
4. Support Missions – Invest in spreading the gospel.

Scripture References Mentioned:

• 2 Corinthians 5:17 – New creations in Christ.
• Luke 15:11-32 – The Prodigal Son.
• Acts 9:1-20 – Paul’s conversion.
• Jonah 3:4-10 – Nineveh repents.
• Romans 10:9-15 – The urgency of sharing the gospel.

Keywords & Tags:

transformation, evangelism, Jewish missions, faith in Jesus, gospel impact, Paul’s conversion, Jonah and Nineveh, God’s plan for Israel

This episode reminds us that God is still in the business of transformation. Will you take part in His mission?

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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

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Today's special guest speaker is Trevor Rubinstein. Alright, so Trevor's gonna come on up here and he is gonna share his message with us, and we're really excited about what he has to say. So he spoke during Sunday school and it was really helpful and good. So as we wait for him to arrive, any minute now, I'm sure, I'll just share some other things. So oh, there you are. I was like, where are you? So you're so close I couldn't see you. Come on up here. You're running out of time. Can't you smell the food? So, all right, well Trevor. So what's really great is he's a local. So when you see the children in children's ministry, they could grow up to become like Trevor.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Maybe that's a bar higher. Well, praise God. Bless you guys. Wonderful to be here as always. Uh I just love an excuse to come up to this area. So again, my name is Trevor Rubinstein. I was actually born in the Virginia Hospital. Um I used to go to a school that hasn't been there for a while. It was called Horace Mann School. And I I lived up the street from uh actually from Peplin Jack Park. We used to call it the South Side Park, right? It was we we were actually right across the street from uh Horace Mann, so it was uh a nice commute to go to school. And in Minnesota winters, particularly up here, it's a wonderful thing to be able to uh just have to go across the street. But uh it was a wonderful place for us, for my family for many years. Um we uh so I'm born and raised in a Jewish home. Actually, we attended the synagogue that it now is a museum in town, and uh and so we were raised in something called conservative Judaism, which actually means you conserve the traditions of your ancestors. That's very much what we did. Um but it really wasn't a deep faith conviction, it was more so of an identity as to who we were, a people group that were coming out of actually um persecution from Europe and so fled here and and were blessed by the community. And so when I was about uh nine years old, my family, about exactly nine years old, my my family moved to the Littleton, Colorado area. I was a troubled kid. I struggled a lot. I spent most of my youth as a uh unprescribed pharmaceutical test engineer, and uh and it uh led to eventually being expelled from school and some other fun things, um, which uh which then eventually I got my uh good enough degree, my GED, um, and went to a local community college, in which case I was tricked into a Bible study, um, actually by a cult. Uh but uh yeah, um, but they use the Bible. And uh and so I read the words of Jesus for the first time in my life. I actually read Luke chapter 15, the parable of the prodigal son, this powerful story of a young man who asked his father for his inheritance early, and his father grants it to him, and he goes and he squanders it on sinful living. And then after he, of course, spends all his money on sinful actions, he finds himself impoverished. And he desires to come back to live in his father's home as a servant, because even the servants in his father's home were living better than he was. But his father instead embraces him when he returns and says, You're not a servant, you're my son. And uh, this very powerful story I can tell you meant nothing to me. Um and but I what I wasn't expecting was the first time I read the words of Jesus, was also the first time I ever felt the presence of God. Um, to where three things became real to me, one of which was Jesus himself, because I was an atheist at this point in time. Uh and I didn't even believe in the Lord. And uh, and all of a sudden I'm becoming overwhelmed in a way that I recognized that something spiritual was happening. I don't know how to describe it apart from that. Something that hit me out of this was a recognition of my own sinfulness, and uh and I recognized that everything that I was doing was separating me from this very holy God. And uh the other thing that hit me very powerfully was greater than my sinfulness, was this desire that God had to be with me, and I could do that through Jesus Christ, his son. Um, as a Jewish person, I struggled with this mightily. You see, for um 2,000 years, of all of my Jewish ancestors, I'm the first one to ever believe in Jesus. And uh so it was something that was not even conceivable uh to me or to my family members. Um, and so uh after struggling with this for a while, in a time of desperate desire, I gave my life to the Lord and he changed me. Uh I was always suicidal, uh, that was gone. Um He uh He actually really changed my heart. I I learned to love people in a new, deeper way. Uh really uh since that time, my focus and my goal has been reaching people with the good news of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, because for me, in a very literal sense, he was the difference between life and death, but also in an eternal one. And he is for all of us. And so what a blessing he is. So I I worked in uh drug and alcohol rehabilitation for years. I'm very familiar with with uh with those substances, and uh um and so I really was brokenhearted for those people. Actually, I've done a lot of work with cults um throughout the years because uh, again, the organization at least that originally introduced me to the Bible was a cult. I by the grace of God never joined them, but I was brokenhearted for people that would have been pulled in in a similar instance. And uh most recently I'm so fortunate that I work for an organization called Chosen People Ministries. And Chosen People Ministries is the oldest organization in America that reaches Jewish people with the gospel. Our mission statement is to pray for evangelized disciple and serve the Jewish community everywhere and to help other believers do the same thing. If you guys want to know more about the ministry, how to support the work that we're doing, um I actually live in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. For any of you that are familiar with the uh Minneapolis-St. Paul area, it's affectionately referred to as St. Jewish Park because there's a very large Jewish population there. Uh 25% actually in my city. Um so that's why we function in that area. But I'm a missionary really in uh that oversees this entire area at the moment. Really blessed to do so. Chosen People Ministries works all over the world wherever there's any Jewish communities. Uh, we're based in New York City. We have a very large contingent of missionaries in Israel. Some of them actually are serving in the military right now because uh, if you're under a certain age and you're a citizen, that's what you're required to do. Um and so uh so yeah, we really appreciate your guys' support. If you're interested in taking one of these, please, please, please pray for us. And I mean that sincerely. Um, it is so meaningful because really we have yet to see people come to faith without prayer, but we have seen so many come to faith because of prayers of devoted people like yourselves. And if you have a heart forgiving, you guys need a roof. Just to put it out there. Amen. Abba Father, God, Lord, we thank you for this day, Lord, Father, for the opportunity to gather together, Lord. Father, as a family united in your Son. God, today, Lord, we ask, Father, that above anything else, Lord, that your name be glorified because you are worthy. Lord, we owe you everything, God. Father, but you require so little because you did all the work on the cross, just asking us to put our faith and trust in you, God. And so, Lord, today, God, Lord, we ask, Father, that you bring us to greater conviction. Lord, Father, that you encourage us, you strengthen us, Lord, to be able to be used by you, Father, to further your kingdom, Lord, in this lost and hurting world that you have called us to be. We love you so much. We are forever indebted to you, God. Let that love in us grow and let our lips continue to shout your praise. In the name of your son, Jesus the Messiah, Hashem Ishua. Amen. We're gonna talk about transformation today. That's a picture of me uh sharing actually in uh Ben Yehuda Street that's in Jerusalem with some Orthodox Jewish people. I was younger and uh less gray and probably thinner and all that good stuff. But anyway, anyway, uh we're talking about transformation. You see, the Lord is in the business of transformation, he enjoys seeing hearts and minds renewed and changed by the grace of our Lord and through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. In 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 18, the scripture says, But we all with unveiled face, beholding, is in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. You see, the redemptive work that the Lord does continues in us and changes us as he begins to mold us more and more into his image. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. So many of us maybe even recognize the changes that the Lord has made in our lives. I myself recognize it daily. But it goes beyond that because not just, he doesn't just change me, but he changes others. And we have to remember this and remember the Lord's hope for us. What I want to talk about again is transformation today. There's an individual who maybe some of you have heard about. His name is John Newton. He wrote one of the most famous worship songs in American history that we sing. It's actually British, uh, but it's called Amazing Grace. And the song, you know, Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see. You see, John Newton was a slave trader. His mother was a believer in Jesus, his father was not. And he understood that during the time when he lived, that it was very lucrative to be able in the 1700s and 1800s, to be able to pick up slaves in Africa and sell them throughout Europe. You would buy a ship and you would transport human beings, bringing them into servitude of other people where they would be treated horribly and they would be abused horribly. And in one instance, when John Newton was on the ship and they were transporting a ship full of slaves and a massive storm came and he was about to die, he cried out to God because his mother had raised him to believe in the Lord Jesus. And even though he was not following Jesus by any means at this point, he remembered how he was raised and he cried out and he said, Lord, have mercy on me. What mercy can there be for me? The ship's chief blasphemer, the loudest swearer, the man who mocked the Lord's existence. What mercy can there be for me? And in the midst of this, the storm calms, and then what happens is John Newton recognizes his sinfulness before a holy God and decides that his mother was right. There you go, kids. Your mother's right. And that Jesus Christ can change him. And so John Newton gave up eventually after a while. He gave up his lucrative career of slave trade and he became a minister. But he was so distraught over what he had done that he would regularly speak about his repentance and his broken heart, recognizing how good and gracious and merciful God is for changing him and still then now even using him to preach the gospel of Jesus to others. And one time when he was in his services and he says something like this, I hope it will always be a subject of humiliating reflection to me that I was once an active instrument in the business at which my heart now shudders. There was a man sitting in the crowd. His name was William Wilberforce. William Wilberforce heard this message and became the predominant driving force that ended African slave trade. Because God took a wicked man and he transformed him to not just his own personal repentance, but to even transform one of the most horrific atrocities in our modern history. Here we have a picture, a painting that is a representative of Paul the Apostle. He was known as Saul early in his ministry. I want to correct something that sometimes people don't understand just because it's one of my little pet peeves. It's not that he went from wicked Saul to good Paul. Actually, what occurred is his name in Hebrew is Shaul. So the way you would translate that into English is Paul, or Saul, excuse me. And what happens is when he was primarily focused on his people, on the Jewish people, he would go by his Hebrew name. So he was known as Saul. And then when God did a transformative work, as we're about to read in his life, he went to the Gentiles, so he used a Gentile name, Paulus. This is what it states in Acts chapter 9, verses 1 through 5. Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogue of Damascus, so that if he found any who were in the way, that he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Here was this man's heart. He was a very devout Jewish man to his own tradition, and he saw the Jewish people that came to faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, as enemies to the one God that he believed was true and real. And so his heart was to bring them in and murder the followers of Jesus. This was who he is. And then the Lord. Verse 3. As he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, Who are you, Lord? Then the Lord said, I am Jesus whom you were persecuting. He had an interaction with the one true God, whom he was killing people for following, and he became transformed. In verse 15, it goes on and says, But the Lord said to him, Go, for he, speaking of Paul, is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel, for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. He took this individual who was wicked beyond all understanding to our Lord and revealed himself to Paul, to Saul the apostle, and he convicted him and changed him to become the great minister of the gospel. In verse 20, it says, Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues that he is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed and said, Is this not he who destroyed those who called on his name in Jerusalem and is come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests? How many of you here are not of Jewish ancestry as far as you know? Most likely you can largely attribute the fact that you heard the gospel through this man. Two-thirds of the scriptures were written by him. He was the loudest voice, and he went not to the Jews, but to the Gentiles to spread the good news of Jesus. This wicked man who was bringing forth the destruction of the church to spread it greater than any of the other apostles. Because God is in the business of transformation. There's a wicked nation that we read about in the Hebrew scriptures called Assyria. Assyria was a brutal kingdom. What Assyria would do is they would conquer through fear and intimidation in such wicked, horrific ways that when other nations would see it, they wouldn't even want to take arms against them. When they would conquer other people group, they would impale them on poles and decapitate heads and carry those on poles and hang them up throughout city streets so that people would see this in great fear and submit themselves to these wicked and horrific individuals. This was the most wicked nation of its time that the Lord eventually used to bring judgment to the northern kingdom of Israel. We read a little bit about them in 2 Kings chapter 19, verse 36 and 37. It says, So Sene Herab, king of Assyria, departed and went away, returned home, and remained in Nineveh. This is the capital of Assyria. Now it came to pass as he was worshipping in the temple of Nizrach, his god, pagan god worshippers, that his sons I'm not even going to say their name because it's uh hard to pronounce right now, struck him down with the sword, and then it's it's uh Essaheradon, uh his son, reigned in his place. The way that you would actually take over the next uh the next position is you would actually just king if you kill the previous king. It's just a wicked, horrible, oppressive nation. What hope would there be for them? God sent a prophet. Interesting story. He sends a Jewish prophet. He was rejected by his own people, by the way. Jonah was rejected by Israel. And then Jonah runs away from God's calling. And there's a group actually of Gentile pagan worshipers that decide in the midst of a storm that Jonah says, throw me into the water and God will spare you. So we have Gentile pagan worshipers throwing a Jewish prophet into the water to die, and then the waters cease, and then they actually start worshiping the one true God. It actually states in Job chapter 2 that he cries out from Sheol. You know what Sheol is? The place of the dead. It's actually possible according to the story of excuse me, Jonah, went into Sheol. It's actually possible according to according to the story that Jonah actually died in the fish. And then he comes back three days later. Sound familiar. And then he goes to a group of Gentiles because the Jews wouldn't have him. And he says this Jonah chapter 3, verse 4. And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk, then he cried out and said, Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, put on sackcloth, and the greatest to the least of them. Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way, and God relented from the disaster that he had said he would bring upon them, and he did not do it. You see, the Lord used a prophet that dies and comes back three days later to cause a transformation in the most wicked city of the world of any time. It would be like if New York City repented and turned to God entirely. The Lord's in the business of transformation. Not just for individuals and cities, but also for nations. Chapter 2. You see, God had given Nebuchadnezzar a vision that later is interpreted by Daniel, the prophet. And in this vision, it's talking about these different statue with a head of gold and an upper body of bronze, and then it has brass underneath, excuse me, silver, and then bronze, and then it goes into iron, and the feet are made of iron and clay, and it represents consecutive kingdoms that were coming from the time of Babylon. And one kingdom would destroy another by force. But yet then there was a stone that came from heaven, not made of human hands, not cut by human hands, it was going to come and was going to destroy all of these nations. But the idea for how nations became empowered and conquered was they would come militarily and they would force their way upon others and destroy them and take over. This is how things occurred. And so in the interpretation of the vision as Daniel was explaining it to Nebuchadnezzar, he says this in verse 37 You, O king, are the king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. Speaking of the gold head is what he described. He said, But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours. Because the kingdom of Babylon and is conquered by the kingdom of Persia, we know this historically. And then after that comes Greece. That's what the bronze was representative of. Then in verse 40 it says, and the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron. Biblically, almost universally, when it talks about a kingdom of iron, it's talking about Rome. Rome would use iron weapons to decimate their opponents. But it continues after the Empire of Rome comes in in verse 44, and it says, In the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. A kingdom shall not be left to other people. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Let me just bring your attention to this briefly. This is written hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus. It actually says that the kingdom of the Messiah has to come during the time of the Roman Empire. It's relevant. But how is it going to come? Not like the others, because one kingdom would destroy another, that would destroy another, that would destroy another. But what happens is during the time of the Roman Empire, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is born. And he comes and he lives a perfect life, and he dies for our sins. And then he rose again on the third day, and all of his followers saw him and began to profess that he was offering us forgiveness of sins and eternal life through his resurrection throughout all the nations of the world during the time of the Roman Empire. And so we saw a transformation from within the range of the areas that we see that was the Roman Empire. You see, the Roman Empire contained all of Europe, and it contained much of the Middle East, and through North Africa, it was a massive, massive empire. And within the Roman Empire, they worshiped pagan gods. And so during the beginning of the Roman Empire, they worshiped pagan gods. By the end of its time, all of a sudden, there was an emphasis to worship the only one true God. Why? Because the people went forth and preached the good news of Jesus. In Matthew chapter 4, verse 10, it states, Then Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. So no longer even were the people elevating kings to the positions of gods. Why did that leave Christian society? Because they believed in Jesus. He is our king. We have leaders, of course, but we would not elevate them to that position any longer. That changed. Not just that, but all of a sudden the emphasis within Rome to continue to expand and to militarily conquer and decimate and enslave other nations went away. Why? Because the populace lost a heart for it, because they heard the gospel of Jesus. Look at what it says in John chapter 18, verse 36. Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to them, the leaders of the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here. You see, the people's hearts changed to expand the gospel as opposed to expanding their kingdom, the military and powerful kingdom in which they served. In the Roman Empire, sexual abuse and sexual perversion was at an all-time high. You see, if you were in a position of power, you could sexually oppress anybody, no matter what gender, no matter what age they are, if they were in a position lower than you. This was commonplace. It was accepted behavior. It was expected. It was actually a good thing from their perspective. But it changed. Why did it change in all that area throughout those nations that that covers to where all of a sudden sexuality became understood as this is what happened this is what occurs with a husband and a wife together, because they heard the gospel. And it expresses some early church beliefs. You see, children were so devalued in the Roman Empire, particularly young girls, that if you had a girl, they weren't going to inherit anything and they were expensive, and so you just throw them on the side of the street and let them either die or be taken by somebody and eventually raised to be a temple prostitute. This was the norm. Babies weren't of value. What changed? The gospel went forth, and people heard that everyone is made in the image of God. In the Didiche, it says this is the second clause. You shall not murder a child by abortion, nor kill that which is begotten. This is from 150 around in the common era. And all the nations started to value their children that heard the gospel. God judges nations based on specific things. He actually judges the nations based on sexual perversion. Leviticus chapter 18 is a chapter in scripture that goes through all the sexual sins, lists them sin after sin after sin. And in that section of scripture, it states, these are the things that God judges the nations by. Not for Israel. God judges nations based on how they treat their children. He would judge the nations when they would take their babies and offer them to other gods. Here was the idea. Here was the idea. If I offer my baby to this God, then the God will give me financial blessings. Today, in our nation, sexual perversion has become accepted. Today in our nation, most abortions are because it's too much of a financial burden. These are strong indicators that your nation is heading into judgment. God also judges nations based on how they treat Israel. This is a prophecy. This is future. It says this. Now the Lord said to Abraham, get out of your country, from your country and from your father's house to the land that I will show you. Excuse me, this is not a this is a prophecy, but this is not what I was thinking. This is a promise God made to Abraham. He says, I will make you a great nation. So he's going to have children, and eventually that becomes Israel. I will bless you and make you a great nation, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those that bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed. No nation in world history has been as blessed as we are. No nation has been as kind to the Jews as America historically. Is that a coincidence? God blesses the nations that bless Israel. But as we see an increase of hatred towards the Jewish people, which we're seeing in our cities, in our schools. I live in St. Louis Park. We're seeing Jewish children beat up because of what's happening in Israel. What does an American Jewish child have to do with anything that's happening in Israel? This is simply anti-Semitism. It's growing here tremendously. It's a sign that we are heading into judgment. But God has a solution. God has a solution for us. His solution is that the gospel needs to go forth. Because we've seen it. This happened in Rome. Actually, do you want to see our nation change their understanding for sexuality? Share the gospel. Do you want to see our nation change how it values its unborn children? Share the gospel. Share the gospel. It changes hearts. We see radical Jewish hating Muslims turn to love and appreciate the Jewish people when they come to believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior because he's Jewish. And he's coming back to a Jewish Jerusalem. That's what his prophecies say. We see people transformed. I am a sinner saved by grace. It was a suicidal, drug-abusing, drug promoting, manipulative, lying, cheating. Horrific person, only looking out for myself, to being slightly better. But I'm better because he's changing me. And he changes us when we come to faith in Jesus. Let's read this. This is Romans chapter chapter 10, verses 9 through 15. It says this that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture says, whoever believes on him will not be put to shame. Isn't that simple? I just read a report from you from uh on the Christian Post that 35% of evangelicals say that they can sh uh that they could share the gospel with somebody. Thirty-five percent of us. Thirty-five percent. Actually, i i if you want to know what the problem is with the world today, uh what's what why is our world going so crazy? I I I can't blame them. It's my fault. I can't tell you how many times I've missed opportunities to share Jesus with people when I know I should have. That's my fault. He called me to do this, but not just me, all of us. He didn't just save you and then leave you here in this planet just to sit around and and to twiddle your thumbs. I mean, that's not what his desire is for us. He he empowers us by the Holy Spirit to be able to further the kingdom. Look at this. Look at how it says that how this is how the gospel is spread. Verse 13 For whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How shall they call on him and who they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him and who they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they're sent? And I this this quote, and I don't even know if it's an accurate quote, so horribly disturbs me. It says, preach the gospel always, and when necessary, use words. The scripture says use words. Scripture says use words. Excuse me. He told us what to do. Actually, I don't want to go into those. I think we're good with that. We'll come back and talk about this briefly. He told us what to do. He told us when he departed, he said that you will be empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is Acts chapter 1. And he said, For you shall be witnesses for me, starting in Jerusalem and then going to Judea and Samaria to the othermost parts of the worth. And then he left. And then actually earlier he said, When I come back, make sure I find you serving me. That's actually what Jesus said. We can all do this, by the way. It's very simple. The gospel is very simple. Okay? It's so simple. My sin led to death. That's the consequence. Why? I can even explain that so briefly. So we have a perfect creator of heavens and the earth, and he's good, and he is eternal. And so when I act away contrary to his nature, this is what we call sin. What that does is that separates me from God. But not just from God, but also from his characteristics. When I get separated from eternity, what does that lead to? Death. But he loved us so much that he sent his son to take that death upon himself. So if we just put our faith and trust in him, we accept the gift, we can be reconciled to God and we can be with him for all of eternity. That's the gospel. How simple. We can all share it. I know we're Minnesotans, we don't like to talk to other people if we don't have to. I have the same problem. So what do we do? Well, we can invite people to church. But first we gotta fix the roof. And they'll hear the gospel here. If you don't feel equipped to share the gospel, come to Bible studies. Spend time with your pastor. He'll help you. But it's something we're called to do. But pray, pray, pray, pray, pray, pray every day for non-believers. Because the work is all the Holy Spirit. Pray every day for them. Pray for missionaries. Every day pray for them. The work is hard. Support them. After the roof is fixed. We can do these things as a church. But we have blood on our hands. Because what we see happening here, we can't blame the world for acting as the world. We can't blame ungodly people for doing ungodly things. But we can blame ourselves for not doing the work that the Lord has called us to do and to share his good news with a lost and hurting world. You see, the Lord is planning on another form of transformation. Says this in Romans chapter 11, verse 25 and 26. For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, and so all Israel will be saved. This is something that's that's consistent throughout Scripture. Jesus says that this gospel of the kingdom must be preached throughout all the nations, and then the end will come. What we see here is we see this consistent message throughout Scripture that as the gospel goes throughout the nations, that after whatever happens, happens there, then he lifts the blind eyes of Israel. Israel cries out to Jesus. If you missed it in the Bible study, I'm sorry for we explained all this. And then the Lord comes back. If we're desperate to see Jesus, share the gospel. Because he says he's not coming back until all those who believe will believe. And I I'm afraid that we failed him. Let me close with with this just very quickly. And by the way, I'm the biggest failure I know in this context. I'll explain why. So there's a parable in Matthew chapter 25, and in Matthew 25, uh, there's a parable of talents, and what happens is a master gives different people different amounts of talents. He gives one man five. Talents are like uh it's like it's like uh a day's wages. Okay, so it'll say bag of gold. He gives one man five bags of gold, and then he gives another two bags of gold, and then he gives another one, and he departs, and he tells them to do good things with these while he's gone. Then he comes back, and the one he gave five gives him back ten because he used it to make more money, and the one that he gave two to gave him back four because he used it to make more money, and the master said, Well done. And then the one that had one bag, he hid it. And the master said, Take what he has and give it to the others and throw him out. Because he hasn't done what I asked him to do while I was gone. And let me tell you what the church in America looks like. We make the person with one bag look good. Because never in world history has anyone ever had the freedom and resources to be able to preach the good news that we've had here in this country. We're like an individual who receives a hundred bags, except we spend 98 of those on our own pleasure, and then the master comes back and we give them two. If we're heading towards judgment, which it looks like from all the indicators, we wouldn't be excluded as the church from suffering in the process, and we wouldn't be guiltless because we haven't done with what God's done for or done for or given to us that He would ask. And it's not difficult. It can be uncomfortable, but it's not difficult, and we've had freedoms that no one else has. Well, you don't understand how hard that is. Uh look at the church in the most persecuted places in the world, it's exploding. Why is it shrinking here? God forgive us. God forgive me. You see, I I probably have more bags than many of you because I'm a paid missionary and I fail him daily. God's gracious and merciful, and loving kindness abounds from the Lord. He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, of course. Our salvation is not found in how many people we share the gospel with, but do we appreciate? Enough what he did for us to be able to do with it what he asked us to do and to be able to share it with others. Let's pray. Ah the Father, God, forgive me. Father, because I've fallen short of your calling. Lord, countless times, Lord, I've squandered opportunities to share your truth with others. And Father, I am not alone in this, God, Father, we as the church have done the same. And so, God, we ask, Father, that you would forgive us, Lord. Lord, because you've given us so much here. And instead of taking advantage, Father, of the wonderful opportunity, Lord, often we have squandered it. So, Lord, we ask for your forgiveness. And Lord, we ask, Father, also, God, for your empowerment, Lord. Father, make us brave, make us bold, God. Father, that you help give us the words, Lord. Father, give us hearts to invite people to church who don't know you, Lord. Father, give us the desire to pray for them daily. Father, open our eyes and our ears to opportunities to share your truth of your word with the lost world around us, God. Lord, we love you and we praise you, God. And Lord, we ask, God. Father, because you are so capable, God, we ask because you're in the business of transformation and you're going to eventually even transform the nation of Israel to turn to you. God, Lord, we ask that you transform the city of Virginia, Minnesota. Father, that becomes a city, Father, of people who know the good news and who have heard the good news. Whether they accept or whether they reject, God, Father, that's not the concern for us. But our concern and our job is to share. So give us the strength and courage to do so, God. Lord, we love you so much. We're so grateful for how kind and merciful you are to us, God. Despite our shortcomings, your love abounds. We praise your holy name. In Jesus' name. Amen.