Spreading the Hope and Love of Jesus

So in 1992, my life took a really crazy turn.

I was kind of this typical 16-year-old kid who was sort of obsessed with making out with girls

and dreaming about what my first car would be like

and how many more girls that would attract to my world

because I was kind of struggling in that department at times.

And all of a sudden, in 1992, it all took a turn when one of my teachers at school,

who was this fiery, very outspoken follower of Jesus,

basically told me, he's like,

you're not going to sit by the pool this summer and do whatever you want.

He's like, you're coming with me for two months to Panama.

We're going to go into the densest jungle in the world, the Darien,

and we are going to share Jesus with people who've never heard about his name.

And I'm just like, who are you?

Who is this guy ordering me around?

I'm like, are you kidding me?

Well, he won.

He was very convincing, pursued me relentlessly.

And that began this long journey of me getting chances to go to different places around the world

to talk to people about Jesus and to do things that would help people connect

and show them the love of God.

I mean, it's crazy.

For those of you who love travel, you already know this,

but sometimes you go to a place and you literally feel like, where am I right now?

Like, this is not, this cannot be the same planet Earth that I was on

when I took off on the plane.

Like, you land somewhere and you're like, oh my gosh.

Like, this has happened to me over and over and over again.

The Darien jungle is certainly one of those places.

The dump in Maputo, Mozambique, where people like live off the trash.

I was just in that place going, is this real?

You know, you think about other places.

I think about other places I've been.

Like, Papua New Guinea, the street kids in Mount Haugen, Papua New Guinea.

Just these little amazing people running around, like, scrounging, you know,

the city for any sort of scrap or substance.

I'm thinking, okay, Denver, Colorado was where I grew up.

Like, that's what I knew to Papua New Guinea street kids and them trying to survive.

I mean, it just, it blew my mind.

But there is one place that at least geographically feels like it couldn't be any further away

from the world that I knew.

And it's this area called Ladakh.

And it's in northwest India.

And, I mean, the place is just, it's stunningly beautiful.

This is the city of Leh where we spent a lot of our time.

And it's like, it's like the highest, they call it the highest desert in the world.

And it's just so dry, but yet so stunningly beautiful.

And we would travel around, see different parts of the landscape, places like this.

So you just go, oh my gosh, this is ridiculous.

One day, I went for a hike.

And I ended up in this spot right here.

It's coming up here in a second, right there.

And as I stood there, looking at this valley,

it was difficult for me to fully enjoy, like, the crazy, beautiful scenery.

Because I was thinking, man, I would love for all my friends and family to be with me

as I explore this crazy new land called Ladakh.

And it was hard for me to do that.

Because I'm like, I was alone on this particular day.

And it just felt wrong for me to be experiencing that in isolation.

How many of you guys are either really good photographers or kind of want to be photographers?

Like the Instagram obsession.

Yeah, some hands going up.

Just before this service, a friend of mine in the back was like, can I get a picture with you?

He's like, I've been Instagramming like every 20 seconds.

It's my goal in life.

And I think...

Photography, at some level, is our way of wanting to share with other people

the coolness, the weirdness, the funniness of different moments in our life.

Like, it's a part, sort of, I think, of who we are.

Like, when we see something that intrigues us or makes us afraid

or makes us feel like, wow, this is beautiful,

we think, I've got to tell the world!

And social media and technology has now made that possible.

And you can see how embedded it is into the fabric of how we do.

I mean, how many of you have over 2,000...

Be honest here.

Over 2,000 pictures posted to your Facebook account?

Don't be shy.

Okay, you guys are...

You're so shy about it.

You're like, it just is.

We want to share who we're with, what we're doing.

I mean, it's so a part of who we are, right?

Unless...

The weird thing about pictures is unless you're Nicole Lever,

the picture does not do the actual scene justice.

There's something that is lacking, something that is missing.

I'm curious.

For me, it was Ladakh and other places I've been around the world.

What are some places for you guys that you just, like, you cannot help

but want to share them with people you love?

Just curious.

What are those places that you just, like, I've got to share this?

Don't be shy.

Come on.

Yosemite!

Ocotillo Wells?

I have no idea what that is, but I've met at school.

Ireland, did someone say?

Finland?

Italy.

Very exotic Italy, yes.

Did someone say In-N-Out over here?

Did I hear that?

What was it?

Come on, yell it out.

Be bold.

What do you love?

You cannot help but share.

Target?

Joshua.

Ooh, Joshua Tree.

Are you a rock climber?

Backpacker, very cool.

What else?

Ripper, ripper, river.

Awesome, I love that place.

So awesome.

The rapids are just class five.

Amazing.

Ripper, ripper, river.

I love it.

So cool.

You know, I think something similar actually unfolds in the pages of Scripture

that Paul encounters something, and it's crazy.

He's describing it, and then there's this shift.

Like, he can't believe that these other people that he loves,

aren't experiencing it alongside with him.

And we'll pick up in Romans chapter nine.

We'll start reading in verse 35.

Paul writes,

Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?

Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity

or are persecuted or hungry or destitute or in danger or threatened by death?

As the Scriptures say,

For your sake we are killed every day.

We are being slaughtered like lambs.

No.

Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us.

And I'm convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love.

Neither death nor life, neither angel nor demons,

neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow.

Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.

No power in the sky above or in the earth below.

Indeed, nothing.

And all of creation will ever be able to separate us

from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So here Paul stands sort of surveying all that Christ is and has done and provides for us.

And he's just going off, right?

Like if he had Facebook, he would be posting like a mad dog.

Like Jesus, ah, Jesus, and post, post, picture, picture.

I mean, he would be like going off about this.

And he's excited.

Earlier in chapter 8, he says,

There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ.

Meaning like the sin that could send you to eternal separation from God.

That's taken care of because of what Jesus has done.

Like, do you get it?

And Paul is just going off in chapter 8 like,

Jesus is awesome.

Do you get it?

I mean, he's excited.

And then there's this shift in chapter 8 where suddenly it's like,

Errrr.

The brakes get pulled and he realizes, wait a second.

Not everyone sees this.

Not everyone is perceiving this new reality that Christ has made possible.

And you just hear him like crying out.

This is chapter 9, verses 1 through 3.

With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness.

My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it.

My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief.

For me.

My people.

My Jewish brothers and sisters.

I would be willing to be forever cursed.

Cut off from Christ.

If that would save them.

And I don't know if Paul in writing to the church in Rome.

As he's crafting chapter 8.

If he knows where he's going in chapter 9.

Part of me thinks, no.

That he's just lost in this idea of God's glory, God's goodness.

And he's just, he's probably himself just overwhelmed in that moment.

And then it all of a sudden hits him.

My people don't see, don't know.

And I would be willing to take me, God, as like, as the one.

If there's any way that somehow my condemnation could mean them understanding what I just talked about.

And he's like, oh.

I mean, for him to say, let me be cursed if it would save them.

I mean, there was a sense of urgency in him.

He was so in touch with the goodness of God.

It was just killing him.

Like, this cannot be.

You see this show up in all kinds of places in Paul's life.

This is Philippians 1.

Starting in verse 12, he says,

Now, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.

As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.

Can you tell what's on Paul?

Can you tell what's on Paul's heart and mind?

He's like, I would rather be cursed if it would mean they could know Christ.

Here I am in chains and I'm saying, wow, I'm suffering.

I mean, prisons back then and prisons now, you want to choose?

This is like a holiday at a spa compared to that.

He's suffering.

Who knows under what conditions?

And he's saying,

But I'm kind of stoked about this.

What?

I'm kind of stoked about suffering in prison.

Does that sound odd to any of you?

Why?

Because it's actually inspiring other believers to more passionately tell their friends, their family about how amazing Jesus is.

Can you tell what Paul's priority is?

It's that other people would see and experience what he has.

It's something about his encounter with Jesus was so amazing, was so glorious.

Not just the initial encounter, this ongoing relationship that he got pulled into was so great

that he then spent the rest of his life in whatever capacity, in whatever means possible,

sharing, trying to open other people's minds, eyes, being a part of what God was doing to bring that message wherever.

So much so that he suffered.

He suffered countless things.

Can you tell what his priority was?

Yeah.

I mean, really.

It's not too hard.

He was passionate.

And his life reflected that passion.

Now, if you're here tonight and you consider yourself outside or maybe one step removed from this thing we call Christianity or following Jesus,

I think it's fair to say that...

That I slash we, as followers of Jesus, owe you a bit of an apology.

Because I think in some of our passion to share Jesus with you,

we've actually made Jesus very unattractive.

Unlike Paul, who was this really life-giving experience.

I mean, I don't know if this is an appropriate expression, controversial still,

but was this really appropriate expression of who Jesus was?

Sometimes, some of us have misguided passion.

And you're sitting there thinking, man, this whole telling others about Jesus,

this has left a really bad taste in my mouth.

And I'd love for you to talk about anything other than telling people about Jesus,

because the last time that happened to me,

it wasn't...

It wasn't very fun.

I mean, I think some of us...

Some of you are very likely the victim of someone coming up and saying,

hold still, I'm about to shove some cold, hard truth down your throat

with no sense that you're actually a human being.

That you maybe have felt like someone's project.

Like, I will convert you.

I am conversion man, and I have come to convert you to my ways.

If that's you, I'm sorry.

What happened was the most beautiful, the most important, most glorious message, truth,

on the planet, was handed to you in a really stinky paper bag.

And no wonder you didn't open it.

You went, I don't want to open that package because of how it's packaged.

And tonight, as we talk about what I believe is an authentic expression,

an authentic and Jesus Christ-like effort to share hope and love,

I hope that part of that injury in your heart will be healed.

And that you won't throw away the message because of how it was initially delivered to you.

So, now if Paul...

If Paul's life reflects reality,

that as believers, our priority should be to become messengers of God's hope, of God's love,

I think we're left with a simple question.

How do we spread the love and hope to people that wouldn't otherwise experience it?

How do we become the embodiment of the hope and love that Jesus is

to others who would not otherwise experience it?

I mean, this is a pressing question.

This is part of why God created us.

This is a privilege.

I mean, there's all sorts of baggage and things that we carry.

For most of us, when we think about sharing Jesus,

we think about...

It's like being some awkward, very weird conversation that's forced and unnatural

and that will make us so nervous that we won't sleep for days.

It's just the thought of talking to someone else about Jesus.

And so we just never go there.

And so tonight, I think we need to break down some of those misconceptions

about what it would look like to actually bring hope and love,

the hope and love of Jesus to people that we interact with every day.

The first thing...

that I think we can do

is we ask and look for opportunities to embody Jesus.

One of my friends was talking to me this week and he said,

you know what's crazy?

He said, this week, I've actually just been praying in the morning,

saying, God, I want to be a part of someone else.

Seeing, even if it's just a little glimpse of who you are today,

will you let me be a part of that?

And so he prayed that in the morning.

And then throughout his day, he was just like looking, saying, where is it?

And he goes, the craziest thing has happened to me this week.

He said, there was stuff every single day.

And all I had to do was ask for it.

And it wasn't this burdensome, awkward, weird thing.

It was like, I asked God.

And of course, I mean, that's the kind of prayer that God's going to answer.

Right?

He said, I asked for it.

And now I'm getting to experience it.

And as he talked, you can just see like part of him was coming alive.

Right?

Because what an amazing privilege it would be

to help someone even take one step closer to knowing Jesus.

I took a trip a couple of years ago.

And one of the guys on our trip was this guy

who really lived.

He lived this out.

And it was crazy.

It wasn't so much what happened on the mission trip,

the official mission trip that caught my eye.

I mean, we did some cool stuff in the country we went to.

But it was what happened when we were traveling.

This guy, again, it wasn't awkward.

It wasn't forced.

But I could tell he was a guy that was very in tune

with the joy of showing little things,

little acts of kindness to others

in hopes that they would kind of catch something.

Right?

Kind of be curious about why this guy,

I mean, we would sit down in airports

and an elderly couple would walk in.

He would like basically go and kind of act like the host

for them in this airport restaurant.

Like a lot of times I thought,

they're going to think he works here.

So he was like, oh, hey, here's a spot over here.

And he would like clean off the table for them.

He's like, oh, come sit right here.

He's like, can I get your refill on your drink?

And I'm like, what is this guy doing the first time I did it?

I was like, whatever.

And then he just sat down

and he started to very genuinely

just engage in a conversation with them.

And ask them questions

and just show genuine interest in him.

And then a lot of times he didn't bring up,

you know, not every time did he bring up

anything about the Bible or Jesus or the church.

Sometimes he did, but I could tell

he was just kind of trying to get a sense of

where are these people?

How can I, how can I love them?

And it was as he went, I mean, we were traveling.

That was it.

And he was just there.

Like he was totally open.

I think.

I don't know.

I never asked him, but I'm pretty sure

he's the kind of guy that woke up every day

and just said, God, like, here I am.

Like, I would love to be a part of

whatever you want me to be a part of today

in the life of somebody else.

And there was like this twinkle in his eye.

I watched him time and time and time again.

I could tell it wasn't because he was traveling

with Pastor Brad and trying to like impress me

with how loving and spiritual he was.

Like it was who he was.

It's still, it's who he is.

But what would that look like for you and for me

to have a mentality shift and say,

I think maybe, just maybe God would want me

to be a part of what he's doing

in the life of somebody else today.

I guarantee you that it's most likely

a lot less complicated and difficult

than we've made it out to be.

It could be as simple as,

pretending to be the host for an elderly couple

at an airport restaurant

and offering to refill someone's drink

and just getting a sense of what God was doing in their life

and seeing if there was an opportunity

to share if it was appropriate.

Sometimes the opportunity is so simple we miss it.

Sometimes it's just noticing somebody,

showing them that you see them.

Asking them a question.

What's your name?

My name is blank.

Just meeting people.

Just treating them like a person

instead of like there's some wooden post

that has no point in life.

When we interact with someone in a genuine way,

if Jesus resides inside of us,

there is something that happens in that exchange

that I believe nudges people closer.

There's this part of the scriptures

where Paul talks about this process

that people are going through

and laboring for God.

And he said like,

hey, some of us,

we like plant seeds.

And others of us water the seeds.

Like in other words,

we all have this kind of different role that we play

in helping God's kingdom,

God's people grow.

You know, what if,

what if in your life,

you know, you didn't see that way?

You didn't see that way.

You didn't see that many people like

whatever we've decided is that moment of conversion

or the crossing of the line, you know?

But we played a role

in watering the seeds

that were already in the hearts of somebody else.

Is our role any less significant

than the someone who prays the official prayer?

A lot of us don't even know

when that official moment was

that we said yes to Jesus.

It was just something that all of a sudden we realized.

Like, oh my gosh,

I'm in a relationship with God.

And what happened?

I think there were all these people

that God

had given the privilege

to work the field

of our heart.

There's this guy named Warren Wiersbe.

He writes a ton of commentaries.

And he said this,

you're a Christian

because somebody cared.

Now it's your turn.

And I just love the simplicity of that.

You're a Christian

because somebody cared.

Colossians 3.17 says,

whatever you do or say,

let it be as a representative

of the Lord Jesus.

1 Peter 3.15,

always be prepared

to give an answer

to anyone who asks you

to give the reason

for the hope that you have.

That verse in my mind,

whenever I read it,

I always have to laugh

because there's kind of like

this assumption that people

are actually going to ask.

You know, he's like,

be ready

to provide an answer

when people ask you.

Well, some of us go,

well, no one's ever asked me.

Maybe it's because we're not living a life

that begs a question.

What if every day we said,

God, help me live a life

that begs the question,

what's the hope inside of you?

Because you don't interact,

you don't treat me

like everybody else does.

What is it?

You got to tell me.

So how do we spread the hope

and love of Jesus

to others that wouldn't

otherwise experience it?

We ask for the opportunity

and then we just look for it

every single day.

Next,

we intentionally make friends

with people largely isolated

from the reality of God's love.

The first one,

the first point in a way

is sort of like

as we go about our day.

It's sort of like

it should be,

this idea of showing

and sharing Jesus

should be interwoven

into everything we do.

The second one

is more like a targeted,

intentional process

where we step out of

what we would normally do.

And I think God

has put us

in contact somewhere

in our life,

school, work,

home,

neighborhood,

where there's somebody

that's so isolated

from ever hearing

or experiencing anything

related to Jesus.

And he's saying to us,

I want you to be part of this.

I want you to be a part of

going,

stepping into the darkness

that is that person's world.

And bringing a little hope,

bringing a little life.

It's not going to be comfortable, maybe.

It's not going to be natural.

But it's going to be an adventure.

You're going to be right

in the smack dab middle

of what it means

to be a follower of me.

And something inside of you

is going to come alive.

If Jesus,

if God is life,

then when we line up

our life with him,

we naturally become more alive.

If people that don't know God

are beating on his heart,

if it's part of what makes him just,

oh,

then as we press into him,

we're going to experience

that same thing.

And we're going to have this purpose,

this direction,

and suddenly our life

isn't going to be about

our little world of success

and comfort and popularity.

We're going to be people that,

okay, that's way over here,

but man,

I've got this focus.

You know, for me,

there's,

we live,

Carrie and I live

in a really cool neighborhood

and we love our neighbors

and there's,

there's one neighbor in particular,

like,

they aren't a family.

If I'm just being really honest,

they're not a family

I would naturally be like,

ooh,

I want to like,

be really close to them.

They just aren't.

They're not like,

crazy psychos or anything.

They're just like,

eh,

I would be content

to like,

say hi to them

as I took the trash out.

Okay, dude,

how's it going?

Cool.

And yet,

as we've lived there,

year after year,

I'm going,

I see that,

I see their marriage,

I see their,

their habits

and I've just gone,

man,

they gotta know.

Like,

ugh.

And my wimpy little attempt

at trying to help was,

they were leaving town recently

and I just said,

look,

I said,

there's a garage sale coming up.

You're going to be gone for it.

Whatever you want to do,

put all your money in it.

Put all your junk in your garage.

I'll pull it out

and I'll sell it for you

and I want to house it for you.

Like,

dude,

just let me do it.

Oh, no, no, no.

Just let me do it.

It was my little attempt

to like,

step out,

you know,

and be like,

God,

I want to be a part of

whatever you're doing

in their lives

and it's such a,

it's such a wimpy attempt

but I think sometimes

it is just us

taking that step

into someone else's world

and saying,

I'll be that person.

It might be slow.

It might be painful at times.

It might cost me a little bit

but oh my gosh,

look at the potential payoff

that they may,

that they may feel

a little bit of God's heart

through me.

You may have heard it said

and I think it's a,

it's kind of one of these

Christian statements

that's a little cheesy

and overused

but I think it's spot on.

Like,

you and I may be

the only Jesus

that some people experience.

We may be

the only authentic truth

and love

that anyone,

that someone tastes,

that someone can see

actually lived out.

Look at this.

This is Paul,

1 Corinthians 9,

verse 22.

It says,

whatever a person is like,

I try to find

common ground with him

so that he will let me

tell him about Christ

and let Christ save him.

I do this

to get the gospel to them

and also for the blessing

I might have for them.

I do this to get the gospel to them

and also for the blessing

I might have for them.

I do this to get the gospel to them

and also for the blessing

I myself receive

when I see them come to Christ.

You know,

there's so many neat examples

of how this idea

of stepping in

to people's lives

that are isolated

from God's love

and bringing Jesus

right in the middle of it.

One of my favorite

actually comes

from the life of Jesus

and you guys know, right,

that Jesus is the one

that Jesus is.

Jesus is the one

that Jesus is.

Jesus is the one

that Jesus was accused

of being the friend

of drunkards,

prostitutes.

Like he was accused,

like why does this

spiritual guy

hang out with all these people?

And I think that started

to infect and affect

his followers.

They started to model this.

Levi or Matthew,

one of his followers,

he was a tax collector, right?

Very despised

in first century Judaism

because they were basically like,

these are the people

these Jews

who really were like

siding with the Romans

who were oppressing the Jews

and they were collecting taxes

on behalf of the Roman Empire

but yet they were Jewish.

So it'd be like,

you would look at them

as a Jew and go,

you've betrayed us.

You're basically like

one of the Romans

but you're a Jew.

Like you're even worse.

Like you're not supposed

to be siding with them.

You're supposed to be

siding with us.

And this Matthew guy,

he'd met Jesus

and he was like,

all these other tax collectors,

they gotta know this Jew.

This Jesus guy.

And so guess what he does?

His great evangelism technique

was he threw a party.

The scripture says

that he threw a huge dinner party

for Jesus and his people.

Did you ever think about that?

Like one of the ways

you could help people

experience Jesus

is throw a massive party.

You guys are like,

no, I don't think you understand

what my parties are like.

You throw a party

and in your heart

and mind,

you're inviting people

that you know

are just like

completely like

Jesus, God, the Bible,

no thank you,

party,

party, party,

party people.

You're inviting those people

and you're praying for them

and then you invite

a bunch of just authentic,

normal followers of Jesus

who are willing to like

get to know people

and not freak them out

by being a weird Christian

and just can,

hang and you pray

and you gather your friends

and you pray for them.

You watch what happens.

You watch what'll happen.

I don't know exactly

what'll happen

but I know it'll be messy probably

but it'll be good.

Good things will come of it.

So throw parties.

That's the whole message tonight.

Lastly,

how do we spread the hope

and love of Jesus to others

that wouldn't otherwise experience?

We refuse to shy away

from sharing our story

in the simplicity of the gospel.

A very, very few percentage

of Christians

err on the side

of being too bold,

of being too upfront,

of being too in your face.

Those are all the people

that we agree

they're just freaks.

And we go,

no thank you,

bullhorn,

on a little egg cart stand

and yelling at people

that they're all gonna burn in hell.

We all know like

there's something

that's not right about that.

That's very few.

That's like 0.1%.

The other 99.9%,

you know where we err on?

We err on the side

of not ever speaking up.

Of not ever

like actually realizing

that we have this great relationship.

That there's total ruin.

There's a total appropriate context

for us to go,

man, like I gotta tell you

like what's going on in my life.

Like two years ago,

I started like

really talking to this God,

Jesus guy.

And I know it maybe sounds weird to you,

but I gotta tell you

what's happened in my life

as a result of this.

Your friend,

your family member,

is totally ready to hear that.

You know what's stopping it from happening?

Your fear,

my fear.

We cannot shy away any longer

from stepping up

and sharing our story

of how Jesus changed us

and the simplicity of the gospel

with people that in our heart of hearts,

we know they're ready to hear it.

Being ready,

being ready,

being ready is not a guarantee

that they're gonna say yes,

but we know that there's plenty

of foundation built

for them to go,

yeah,

I can have a dialogue

with you about this

and it not,

it not even disrupt

maybe at all our friendship

whatsoever.

And we're so like,

you don't know how they'll receive it.

I was on a flight,

a long,

you know,

it was a long international flight

so that you're just like,

wow,

I'm glad they've loaded like 300 movies

because I have time to watch all of them.

And I sat down next to this guy

and he was,

it turns out he was a professor of philosophy

and

I don't know about you,

but sometimes I get on planes

and I'm like,

all I want to do is like watch a movie

and then sleep as long as I can,

take lots of drugs

and just sleep, right?

You know,

really hard stuff like melatonin or something.

And,

and I started talking to this guy

and it really became apparent that he,

he was super like,

super skeptical,

then super hurt by the church.

And so he's just talking about all this stuff.

Like he's one of these conspiracy theory guys

about 9-11.

He was like,

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

He's like started pulling out diagrams and everything.

And,

and I listened to him for three hours,

like talk about that

and talk about,

you know,

like Da Vinci code and all this stuff.

And,

and I'm just like,

yeah, yeah.

And,

you know,

then he asked the dreaded question of like,

well,

what do you do for a living?

Yeah.

I'm like,

I'm a spiritual architect

that builds communities of people

that have spiritual experiences

with spiritual things.

And I say like,

I,

I'm a pastor.

Yeah.

And it was so cool because

we,

I'd taken the time just to listen

and ask questions for three hours.

He started asking me questions.

And,

uh,

it was crazy.

It was crazy at 38,000 feet.

Like the window,

the time was right.

And I just completely laid out my life.

I mean,

I told him a lot.

I mean,

I told him the good,

the bad,

and the ugly of my life

and what Jesus had done

and what he was doing

and that I was by no means,

you know,

like this perfect person

that I had these struggles,

but God was in the middle of them.

And I just talked and talked and talked.

And at the end of it,

I just,

I just laid out very simply.

I said,

um,

so I know you have,

you know,

kind of questions about

whether Jesus was actually a real person

versus a robot.

Um,

but,

um,

here's what the Bible says

this whole Jesus guy was all about

and here's what the cross meant.

And I just like walked him through the gospel.

And,

uh,

and I just shut up.

And he sat there,

sat in silence

for like 20 minutes.

And he,

it wasn't like a silence like,

I'm going to sleep now.

It was a silence like a,

a chin-scratching silence like,

hmm.

And it finally,

he broke the silence

and he just said,

you know,

I,

I got onto this flight

feeling one way about

Christians and the Bible

and Jesus.

And I,

I have a feeling I'm gonna get off

thinking and feeling something totally different.

Never prayed the prayer.

Never talked to the guy again.

But I think about him a lot.

And I think,

what a privilege that I,

I got to have

of helping him see

just a little bit more

that God and Jesus weren't this far off concept

attached to some right wing political movement

that blew up the Twin Towers.

but that God was this personal,

intimate,

loving,

eternal being

that wanted to know him.

I wonder how many moments

there could be

like that one

in your life

and in my life

that I could be like that one.

If it would just simply ask for them,

look for them,

walk across the room

and make a friend

and then dare to take a risk

to in a loving,

authentic way

open our lives to people.

What would happen?

How would our church,

how would our schools,

how would our workplaces look different?

If we dared to believe and think

that we could be

the hands,

the feet,

the voice,

the representative

of Jesus himself.

Jesus said,

you are the light of the world.

He's put his spirit inside of us.

and that spirit longs,

longs for the lost

to be brought home.

And as we yield to that spirit within us,

something inside of us comes alive.

And we begin to see that perhaps

way more significant

than anything we could ever achieve for ourselves

is this invitation of God

to share him with others.

What if we lived in that reality

even just a little bit more tonight?

What if coming to know,

people coming to know Jesus

became a normal thing?

Not normal in the sense that it was mundane and boring,

but normal in the sense that it was happening all the time.

Because we,

as a community, as individuals,

as pockets of friends,

begin to encourage one another and say,

let's see who we can share Jesus with today,

now,

in this classroom,

in this class,

at this workplace.

We need each other.

This is one of those things that

there's a lot of pressure against

in our culture,

even in our Christian culture.

Because there's so much fear

that's wrapped around it.

Tonight Jesus is saying,

come on,

take one step in this direction

and let my heart beat inside of you.

Let my heart beat inside of you for other people.

Let's stand and pray.

God, tonight,

we marvel at

who you are

and what you've accomplished

that became true.

That because of you, we've been made new on the inside.

That the guilt and the burden and the shame of our sin and our past has been destroyed,

has been taken away because of what you did on the cross.

And God, as glorious as that is, as much of a reason as that is to celebrate God,

tonight, we can't help but think of those who are searching for love, for hope, for substance, for purpose

in things that will never deliver.

God, we pray for those people that are coming to mind right now that we see at school

and

we see at school

and we see at school.

At the place that we work, in our own family, God.

God, will you give us your heart for them?

Will you just give us a picture of what it could look like for us

to share our lives with them in such a way that they could see you,

they could catch a glimpse of who you are.

God, we pray that you would set us free from

the lie that

that sharing you with others is complicated and scary

and awkward.

God, we want the same passion that

that was so alive in the heart of Paul

and he was willing to suffer

and pay really any price.

And we want that same passion to start to come alive in us.

Because we know that as we give our life away,

for you, that we find life.

God let us be found in you and your purpose.

Let us be found in you God.

in your dream for our life.

God, we just ask that as we sing to you, God,

that you would just continue to speak to us

and mold and shape our hearts, we pray.

Amen.