### Quotes for Outreach

1. "The sermon in a sentence is this, that evangelism begins with a prayerful dependence on God, and this expectant readiness to proclaim Jesus. Like, that's the heart of the message. The whole sermon can be summed up in this sentence, that evangelism begins with a prayerful dependence on God before anything else, and that will create in us a watchful expectation." [06:33] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "What if what was said of us as a church, what was said of you as an individual, is they had an unwavering faith? Whatever came after them, their faith was unwavering, and they were dedicated to prayer. They steadfastly prayed and interceded for those who did not yet trust in Jesus." [10:58] (22 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "What if we were intentional to steadfastly pray and intercede? Like, put it on a post-it note on your mirror, and while you brush your teeth, use that. Mumble between brushing your teeth, your prayer to God. Put it on your, your steering wheel, a mirror, like, somewhere in your home that it reminds you to pray." [14:27] (21 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "What a joy that God would use you to call one of his children home. Like, what a joy. I, this past week, I visited, some of you, you know, Pat, who we prayed for. She's 87 years old. Living with us before she had to go to the hospital and now in rehab. She might be watching now. But so I'm sitting there, and she's in the hospital bed." [33:50] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "What if that's how we were described? That's the story I want for us. So how will you write it down? How will you remind yourself to be steadfast in your prayer? Second Corinthians chapter four, as a model of prayer, I find myself praying these words often to Lord, let your light shine into darkened hearts, to remove the veil that hinders them from seeing the beauty of the gospel, to see and behold the beauty of the gospel in the face of Christ for his glory." [37:29] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




### Quotes for Members

1. "The first is it's meant to establish a solid biblical foundation of understanding of God's Word. How all of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, ultimately points us to Jesus. And this is a biblical understanding beneath our feet. But it's also meant to equip you then to walk with others on the road of the discipleship, to share with them how all Scripture points to Jesus." [01:26] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "To understand the things of God, we have to... We need the Spirit of God to help us see and understand what He has written us. And the third and final component is we need one another. It's not meant to be a solo journey. It is together as a companion and as a community following Jesus together. Discipleship happens life on life." [02:53] (23 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "Who are the five unbelieving people that you are presently and will commit to steadfastly praying for? The five people. Like, think of them in this moment. The family member, the friend, the co-worker, the neighbor. Picture their face. You know their story. The highs, the lows, the joys, the sorrows. Who are the five people that you will use to personally live out this steadfast prayer?" [10:58] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but we. We proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. And we then are servants for Jesus' sake. For it's God who said, let light shine out of darkness. And he has shown in our hearts, it says. He has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." [27:30] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "Let us then be expectant and watchful. Look for opportunities. Expect God to answer the prayer. Look for opportunities. Maybe it's just, hey, I'm praying for you. Maybe it's, hey, if you ever need to talk or you have any questions spiritually, I would love to answer, but no pressure. I just want to make myself available. And just planting seeds, it doesn't mean like, hey, let me now present to you the whole gospel." [37:29] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

Amen. Good morning, Crosspoint. Good morning. Thank you. Hey, how are you guys doing? Sorry. It's so good seeing you guys. It's been a while.

So kids, you can be released for Children's Church, and thank you guys so much for joining us in worship this morning.

So today we are starting a brand new three-week series. But before I get into that, I kind of just want to review where we've been up to this point. Because when we started this year, we started by kind of casting a vision, this initiative for something that we're calling the Emmaus Project. This is something that's a multi-year initiative focusing on discipleship here at Crosspoint. It gets its name from, if you remember in the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus is walking with two disciples. They don't realize it's Jesus, but they're on the road to a town that was called Emmaus.

And we're going to be talking about that. And what happens is while they're walking down this road, Jesus is telling them how all of Scripture, from Moses to the prophets, how it was all pointing to him as the Messiah. When they finally realized that this had been Jesus all along who had been walking with them, they said, "Didn't our hearts burn within us while he was speaking?"

This discipleship initiative is meant to do two things in the life of Crosspoint. The first is it's meant to establish a solid biblical foundation of understanding of God's Word—how all of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, ultimately points us to Jesus. And this is a biblical understanding beneath our feet.

But it's also meant to equip you then to walk with others on the road of discipleship, to share with them how all Scripture points to Jesus. And for you personally to walk with others. That led us into the story of the Bible. And I want to share with you a story of the Bible. This four-part series, we took a break during the summer. We're going to be starting part three. I have the books back in the closet, so we'll be releasing those in the next couple weeks to start part three.

But before we jumped in, if you remember, looking back to January, we did a series called Packing for the Journey. This journey that was going to take us from Genesis to Revelation. I want to remind us because this present series is a complement to that series. That series is going to take us from Genesis to Revelation.

And I want to remind you what are the essential elements for discipleship? Like, what do you need for discipleship to happen? There's so many resources out there. Where do we look? What do we need? Do we need to have fancy lights and fog machines? Do we need to have a crazy kids ministry or comfortable chairs? Which some of you might be like, "I wish we had that." But yes, we get applause for that. Maybe comfortable chairs would really help.

But what are the essentials? Number one, God's Word. We need the Bible, God's perfect revelation, who describes and tells us who He is—not who we want Him to be, not who each of us thinks He is, but who He declares Himself to be without error. It is essential that we have God's Word.

And then the second thing is to understand God's Word, we need the Holy Spirit. To understand the things of God, we have to... We need the Spirit of God to help us see and understand what He has written us. And the third and final component is we need one another. It's not meant to be a solo journey. It is together as companions and as a community following Jesus together. Discipleship happens life on life.

You give me those three things: give me God's Word, His Spirit working in our life, and people gathered together, and discipleship will happen. Those are the essential elements that we need.

That leads us up into... Now, that's part of establishing the foundation beneath our feet, but the second emphasis of the Emmaus Project is to equip you then to go and make disciples. Evangelism. What are the three pillars of evangelism? Necessary, absolutely essential for us as a congregation to understand for evangelism to take place. That's what we're going to be looking at over the next three weeks, starting with today in prayer. The absolute necessity of prayer, this surrendered dependence upon God in prayer.

This is going to be the emphasis as we head into part three of the story of God. The call for you, personally, to be equipped to go and proclaim the gospel will begin on your knees. So, I want to invite Jim Fox out. He's going to be reading for us two passages that I'll be focusing on this morning from Colossians chapter 4 and then 2 Corinthians chapter 4. So, if you will, stand with me for the reading of God's Word, if you are able.

This is God's Word. Thank you very much. You can be seated.

The sermon in a sentence is this: that evangelism begins with a prayerful dependence on God, and this expectant readiness to proclaim Jesus. Like, that's the heart of the message. The whole sermon can be summed up in this sentence: that evangelism begins with a prayerful dependence on God before anything else, and that will create in us a watchful expectation.

Now, I also realized, as Jim was reading, that I made a mistake when I was texting the passage to read. If anybody caught that, yeah, a few did. Okay, if you know me, you're going to know that I'm not great with details, but the difference between chapter two and chapter four matters. I messed that up. I'm so sorry.

So, let me read for you the passage I was thinking for my first point so that it makes sense, okay? It's Colossians chapter four, verses two through four, and what I want us to see here is that the goal is for an open door to the gospel.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison, that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

That this goal, the desire of Paul, is for the door to be open for the proclamation of the gospel. He's praying for this. He's praying steadfastly for this. He's actually in prison for proclaiming the gospel, and while he's in prison for proclaiming the gospel, he's saying, "I want you to pray steadfastly that God will continue to open the door." The prison may be shut, but open the door for me to proclaim the gospel, the mystery of Christ. That's the goal.

And so what I want us to see is this call to a steadfast prayer, this persistent prayer, this prayer that is continual opportunities to not just praying once—not just saying, "Lord, would you save this family member or neighbor?"—but to pray persistently, ongoing.

It reminds me of George Mueller, who was a Christian evangelist and director of Ashley Down Orphanage in Bristol, England, in the 19th century. He had a reputation for his unwavering faith and a complete dependence upon God in prayer in extraordinary ways. But one thing that stood out to me is he was persistent to steadfastly pray for five friends of his who were unbelievers. And he prayed for them day after day, 365 days, 730 days, 1100 days—persistently, steadfastly praying for them day after day.

And then he saw three of those friends come to faith, and he continued praying. And you can see the days increase, the years that went by—6,000 days, 6,000 days—continuing to pray for his friends who did not yet trust in Jesus. And just before his death, the fourth friend trusted in Jesus. And it was soon after his death that the fifth friend came to Christ.

And I wonder, what if that was our legacy? What if what was said of us as a church, what was said of you as an individual, is they had an unwavering faith? Whatever came after them, their faith was unwavering, and they were dedicated to prayer. They steadfastly prayed and interceded for those who did not yet trust in Jesus.

I have one application for us today that will be repeated through the end of the year and that we're going to build on today. And it's this: Who are the five unbelieving people that you are presently and will commit to steadfastly praying for? The five people. Like, think of them in this moment. The family member, the friend, the co-worker, the neighbor. Picture their face. You know their story—the highs, the lows, the joys, the sorrows.

Who are the five people that you will use to personally live out this steadfast prayer? To be steadfast in your prayer for the lost? That God would open the door to have the gospel be declared? Who are those five people? Because I believe that if we are steadfast in prayer, it not only impacts the spiritual realm, and it not only impacts those people for whom we're praying, it also begins to transform and change our own hearts.

It creates within us this watchful expectation. Look at what it says. It says, in the passage, "Continue steadfastly in prayer," verse 2 of chapter 4, "being watchful in it with thanksgiving." Being watchful. It means staying alert. There's a readiness. There's this expectation. Like, I'm praying for God to open this door, and I'm waiting. He's going to answer that prayer. Is it today? Is it this moment? Is this the open door?

And there's this expectation that it creates within us as we're committed to steadfastly pray. It reminds me of Hudson Taylor, who was a British missionary in the 19th century. He founded a China Inland Mission, and it said that he would lay his hands, and in tears, he would pray over the map of China, praying for people—millions of people that he had never met personally, but for whom he knew they had never met before.

And he would pray over the map of China, praying for people—millions of people who had never heard the name of Jesus. And he poured out his heart, longing and in steadfast prayer, praying for them to hear and believe on the name of Jesus.

He's reported as saying, "Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin your day with God's word and prayer." Think about this. If you went to hear an orchestra, and none of them decided to tune their instrument before the concert, but then afterwards, you hear them tuning it, and you're like, "That might have been helpful beforehand," right?

There's a sense that before we go on about our day, before we just enter into all of our activities and to-do lists, what if we were intentional to steadfastly pray and intercede? Like, put it on a post-it note on your mirror, and while you brush your teeth, use that. Mumble between brushing your teeth your prayer to God. Put it on your steering wheel, a mirror—like, somewhere in your home that it reminds you to pray.

Because what it does is it begins to tune our heart to the song that God is singing in our life. How is God at work? There's this expectation. God is at work around me, and I want to have my heart attuned to how he's working in my life. I want to be aware when there's this open door. I want to be steadfast in my prayer, and I want to be watchful in my prayer.

It creates within us an expectation and a readiness that when God opens the door, we will faithfully walk through it. It says to declare the mystery of Christ, that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak, that this steadfast prayer creates a watchfulness and a readiness to when God is moving, I'll be faithful. I'll be faithful to proclaim the gospel.

It's simple. Like, what we're called to proclaim—what is it that we proclaim? The gospel is Jesus Christ. It is the message of who he is and what he has done. We've broken it down to help us remember into four parts. This is the four parts of the story of God. It started with creation, when, as we've seen, it was Jesus who said, "Let there be light." And what happened? There was light.

Everything we see and that we don't see was created by Jesus. For him and to him and through him, all things have been created. They were created perfect and good. But then why is there brokenness? Why is there disease? Why is there a tropical storm that might turn into a hurricane approaching? Why do these things happen?

Because the creation, mankind that was created in the image of God to reflect his glory, chose to not reflect his glory and to let it be. And in that way, it brought rebellion, sin, which causes separation—a separation between humanity and the God who made them. Separation between people. Separation between people and the creation which God created. A separation that leads ultimately to death—a death of separation physically, in physical death, but also a spiritual separation in our relationship with God.

Unable to save ourselves, God, who is both just and loving, sent his only son, Jesus Christ. And so in his justice, the punishment for our sin was poured out on Jesus. And in love, he offers forgiveness to anyone who places their faith and trust in Jesus. That's the heart of the gospel.

And those who follow Jesus, there is the promise of a restoration, a recreation, that as it was intended in the garden of Eden, so it will be. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. And those who have trusted in Jesus will spend eternity in his presence in a perfect creation where there are no more tears and there is no more disease and there is no more death and there is no more sin.

And those who have rejected Jesus will take the punishment upon themselves and be eternally separated from God for all eternity. That's the gospel. This is what, when it says, we proclaim Christ, this is what we proclaim. This is the heart of the gospel.

It's this call. And what I want us to see and to feel is that this call—who are the five friends? Those five names, those five lives, the stories represented in them—that we would be steadfast in praying for them. Think of the number that would be represented just among our midst if each of us are praying for five people. The steadfastness that's just represented here, that we would be watchful and expectant that God is going to move.

God is going to work, that he wants to draw people to himself. Christ died that all peoples and all languages and all nations would come to place their faith and trust in him. He is worthy of all our worship. We can pray with confidence. So be steadfast, be watchful, and be faithful when God opens the door to speak the gospel clearly.

So how do we pray for those five? That I want to encourage, that you're going to hear me say again and again as we move forward in the story of God series, that it is to equip you then to engage with those that God has placed in your midst. They're not in my circles; they're in your circles. Your goal is not just to invite them to church, but for you, as you go, to make disciples, that you would be equipped to share with them the hope that you have in Jesus.

How then do we pray? How do we pray for those five? I think 2 Corinthians chapter 4 is, for me, kind of the model I find myself praying again and again. If you look at what this says together, beginning in verse 3, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 3:

"But if our gospel is veiled," meaning we proclaim a gospel but others can't see it. What we see and we celebrate and we worship and we sing today out in the world is ridiculed. It's mocked. It's not seen as beautiful. It's not seen as good. It says if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

Can we just pause there for a moment? When we think of those in our life, those close relationships of people who have not yet placed their faith and trust in Jesus, the gospel is veiled. It's going to say that their eyes are blinded. It's those who are perishing as we once were.

I want us to see that when we talk of the lost, and even as I think about like the Olympic opening ceremony and what's been talked about there and we've seen online, whether it was Greek mythology or an intentional mockery of the Last Supper. How do we respond as believers? There can be anger initially because what we behold as beautiful is ridiculed and mocked, but there should be a sadness. There should be a longing. There shouldn't be a surprise. The eyes are blinded. They can't see what's beautiful. They don't know what's beautiful, and it should cause us to pray—to pray that the eyes of their hearts would be open.

These aren't arguments to be won. These aren't notches in a belt of victory of "Look at who I've won" or "I've argued" or "I've persuaded into the kingdom." No, what I want us to see is that evangelism is first and foremost a spiritual battle of which we are called to faithfully proclaim, but we have no power in and of ourselves to cause someone else to believe. This is a work of God, and what is happening here is a spiritual dynamic, and change will not happen by mere argument, by social media post, by an article, by anything else. Change will only happen by the Spirit of God.

The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers. They're blind—eyes darkened and unable to see the light of the beauty of Jesus Christ. Unable to see.

I want you to imagine a scene with me. There's a picture that you're going to see up on the screen. I took this picture while on vacation at Aledo Beach. It's actually my screen on my phone at the moment. I want you to imagine you're standing there on the beach. You're watching the sun set over the horizon, and there you are with your five friends next to you, standing there. And you're looking at these beautiful colors morph across the sky. You see those colors dancing against the crashing waves. You smell the salt in the water. You feel the sand beneath your feet.

And there you stand, and you're in awe at God's creation and the beauty of it. And then you look over and you realize your friends are blind. They can't see the colors. They can't see the crashing waves. They can't hear the waves. They can't feel the sand beneath their feet. They can't smell the salt in the air.

What do you say? Do you say, "Why are you so foolish? Open your eyes and look. Isn't it beautiful? Why don't you look?" Or do you try, in feeble words as they may be, to describe for them the beauty that you're beholding? To describe for them the colors in the sky? Do you pray for them, saying, "Lord, open their eyes. Let them see the beauty. Let them feel the sand beneath their feet. Let them smell the salt in the air. Let them feel the sun as it cools, as it's setting on the horizon."

Do you pray and plead and intercede steadfastly and with the watchfulness that they would enjoy what you're standing there beholding? That's the heart that we're called to have for the lost. That's what I want to see stirred in us as a congregation. That we would not just be satisfied to come here on Sundays and together in our community groups and behold beauty and then keep it to ourselves.

And not feel compelled to intercede for the lost. To not feel compelled to pray for the lost. To not feel compelled to share what we're seeing. Don't you see what Christ has done? Don't you see what Christ has done? Don't you see what Christ has done? Don't you see what Christ has done?

Don't you see? He has made the very sunset. He is greater than the setting sun. His love has a multitude of colors more numerous than the colors in the setting sun sky. Let me tell you what God has done in my life. Let me show you. Let me plead and pray.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it's veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of God in Christ Jesus, who is the image of God.

Do you see this? That what's happening is a spiritual battle. This is why we must—evangelism, the very first pillar—is a prayerful dependence upon God. Because what's happening here is a spiritual battle—not a physical one. Not if my argument was good enough. Not if I could communicate or articulate the gospel in a specific way. Then maybe they will believe. No. Their eyes are spiritually blind, and we need the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

For what we proclaim, what we go out and proclaim as a church, it's not ourselves. It's not Crosspoint. It's not you. It's not how wise you are. It's not how good your words are. It's not how good your argument is. Well, someone else could say it better. They don't need to hear it from someone else. They need to hear it from you.

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. And we then are servants for Jesus' sake. For it's God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness." And he has shown in our hearts, it says. He has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

I love that phrase. But that's the reality. We were the ones who were perishing. We were the ones who were held captive. We were the ones whose eyes were blind and unable to see the beauty of the gospel in the face of Jesus Christ. And now you're here, and you're celebrating, and you're singing, and we're worshiping. That is because God has shown in our hearts a light that broke through the darkness and has enabled us then to see and behold and enjoy the beauty of Christ.

As those who have been rescued from darkness, let us then pray for those who are still in darkness. Not from a position of pride, not from a position of, "I have it figured out." It was because God's light has shown in our hearts. God spoke light in the darkness of creation. And God has shown in our hearts a light that broke through the darkness and has enabled us to see the spoken light in our darkened hearts. He has given us the gift of faith to believe on Jesus Christ.

J.I. Packer, in his book, Evangelism in the Sovereignty of God, says this: "While we must always, always remember that it is our responsibility to proclaim salvation, we must never forget that it is God who saves. It is not our job to make people respond to God. It is our job to make people respond to the gospel."

That is God's work. Our task is to be faithful in making the gospel known, trusting God to bring about the results according to his sovereign will.

Let me tell you why this is good news. Why I see this as such tremendous good news, because I know some of you, myself included at times, it's one thing to stand up here and preach the gospel. It's another thing when you're with a friend or family to proclaim that. A lot of people have a fear. "I don't know what to say. I don't know how to say it. What if they ask a question I don't know the answer to? What if I stumble over my words? I can't say it as well as you," and you compare yourself to someone else, and you're like, "They should be the ones to go out and share."

There is hope in the reality that it is God who saves. You are called to be faithful to proclaim. You are called to be faithful to steadfastly pray. That's what you're commanded to do—to be watchful as you pray for the lost. To share your story and to look for open doors with a watchful expectation, and when God opens the door, to not talk about yourself, but to talk about Jesus, and then trust God.

To be faithful instead of fearful. Imperfect, stumbling over your words, to be faithful. I was telling someone recently, I remember when I was young, I was a student pastor, and we were having this thing after it was a Super Bowl party, but instead of the halftime show, we were having like it was going to be an evangelistic. One of the youth pastors, it was a bunch of churches coming together, and one of the guys was going to share.

And I remember he gets up, and he starts talking, and it's terrible. I mean, it's like one of those—he's super nervous. He's stumbling over his words. I can barely follow his line of thought, and I'm just like, "Oh, this is such a missed opportunity. Like, I can't believe that I'm going to be a part of this. I can't believe that I'm going to be a part of this."

I wish this was better. Like, we have all these students in the room, and all this. And so I'm really being critical in my mind, probably thinking I could have done it better, in all honesty. And then they kind of ask, like, "Okay, who feels convicted to place their faith and trust in Jesus?" And numerous, a multitude of students in tears responded to the gospel.

And I'm like, "I'm an idiot." Like, it was such a humbling experience, because I was like so prideful in that moment. And I was so just thinking, "Oh, I could have done it so much better." And God was moving all along. That's what was needed in that moment—not a well-spoken, well-put-together, but a vulnerable person who was being obedient to faithfully share the gospel in his own broken words and through his own broken story. And God moved.

A well-spoken presentation does not change hearts. Do not be fearful that if you say it wrong or you trip over your words, it's not about that. I believe that God faithfully uses our broken faithfulness for his glory. What a joy that God would use you to call one of his children home. Like, what a joy.

I, this past week, visited—some of you know Pat, who we prayed for. She's 87 years old, living with us before she had to go to the hospital and now in rehab. She might be watching now. But so I'm sitting there, and she's in the hospital bed. And we had this conversation many times before. We had it again at the hospital. And it was, she's like, "I'm 87. I'm a late-in-life believer." She's a new believer, a new follower of Christ at 87.

And there are two things that she still continues to marvel at that have been such an encouragement to my own heart. She's like, "One, I have the Spirit of God in me." Like, she's still in amazement about this. Like, "God put his Spirit in me. In me." She's like, "That's amazing." Like, I think sometimes we get so mature, and we're like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that." She's 87, and she's like, "Really?"

The other thing that blows her away, she's like, "I'm a disciple. I'm a disciple." I've never thought of myself. I've never called myself a disciple. Disciples were those 12 men who followed Jesus. But she's like, "I'm a disciple." There was something so new and so fresh in seeing her experience the joy of salvation, learning to hear God's voice at work in her life, leading. Like, "That's amazing. Look what he's doing here. I never saw this before at 87 years old."

What an amazing, encouraging story that we get to proclaim Christ.

So I want to think back to the application. Who are the five people that you're praying for? The call is to be steadfast in prayer. Let's walk through this for a moment. Will you commit to steadfastly praying for five believers in your life, five unbelievers in your life? Who are they? Like, in this moment, I want you to begin to see their names. Maybe you need to write it down. Who are those people? Who are they? Who are they? Who are they? Who are they?

Who are those five people? Family members. Picture their face, their story. Family members, co-workers, neighbors. Who are the five people? How will you seek to pray steadfastly for them? Like, every day, to be steadfast in praying. That if I come up to you next week and I'm like, "So who are the five that you're praying for?" Will you have them in your mind? They'll be like, "That was last week's sermon. We're going to get some new action step today."

Right? That is a little bit what I feel sometimes. Like, how do we, like, let this be a lingering reality in the life of Crosspoint? This is something we do. That as a church, we have an unwavering faith and we are dedicated to prayer. What if that's how we were described? That's the story I want for us.

So how will you write it down? How will you remind yourself to be steadfast in your prayer? Second Corinthians chapter four, as a model of prayer, I find myself praying these words often: "Lord, let your light shine into darkened hearts, to remove the veil that hinders them from seeing the beauty of the gospel, to see and behold the beauty of the gospel in the face of Christ for his glory."

Let us then be expectant and watchful. Look for opportunities. Expect God to answer the prayer. Look for opportunities. Maybe it's just, "Hey, I'm praying for you." Maybe it's, "Hey, if you ever need to talk or you have any questions spiritually, I would love to answer, but no pressure. I just want to make myself available."

And just planting seeds, it doesn't mean like, "Hey, let me now present to you the whole gospel." Maybe the door's not open for that, but maybe God's opening the door for something. How do you be faithful in that, to be watchful in that, to be obedient in the moments you're given?

And if you're here, if you're here, if you're here, if you're here, if you're here, and you're like, "I don't know that I have five names." I've heard that before. I've felt that at seasons in my life. And I would say, let me know. I've thought about doing like a message or something on just that aspect. What happens when the church becomes so insular that we are no longer engaged in the community? How do we build relationships outside of just the community that we appreciate and love here?

To be a witness. To be able to proclaim. Let me know because I've wondered if that's something we need to talk through or teach through here. Be watchful. Be steadfast. Be watchful. Be ready. And share your journey with others.

Here's what I mean. In our community groups, as we get ready to relaunch in the fall, I want this to be part of what we're praying for. Not just for one another, but also for the lost. I'm going to be building on this next week in the second pillar and the way that we can respond personally and individually to this list of five names we're going to be building on in the coming weeks.

But I also want this to be part of the journey that we're sharing with one another. We're praying now, not just for our own names, but I'm also praying for you. And I'm praying for those that you're praying for. And we're interceding together and expecting that God is going to do something for his glory in our midst.

Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you. Lord, I'm amazed at just the reality of the privilege that it is that you would even invite us in to participate in your work. Lord, that it is you who opens eyes. It's you who gives understanding. It's you who transforms hearts. And yet you invite us to proclaim. Lord, to share the beauty that we behold in the face of Christ.

Lord, I pray that you would make Crosspoint a place of unwavering faith. That you would make us into a people that's dedicated to prayer. Lord, I pray that you would bring five people, five names to each of our minds—lives, people that you have created in your image to reflect your glory, but who are perishing. Who are experiencing brokenness and lostness and hurt.

Lord, I pray that you would fill us with compassion and humility. Lord, that you would lead us to be steadfast in our prayer. Lord, I pray that you would fill us with this hopeful expectation that you're going to answer our prayer. That our prayers do not fall on deaf ears, but a God who is ready to seek and to save the lost.

Lord, make us bold. Make us faithful. Make us patient and persistent and watchful. To always behold ourselves and proclaim to others the beauty of the gospel in the face of Jesus Christ. And Lord, we ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.