Empowered to Share: Our Divine Commission

### Summary

Good morning, Limitless Church! Today, we gathered with great expectation, bringing all our weekly burdens to Jesus and shouting His name over every aspect of our lives. We welcomed our first-time visitors, emphasizing that their presence here is no accident but a divine appointment. We celebrated the generosity of our church community, which has enabled us to complete significant projects like our new roof. We also highlighted upcoming events, including the National Day of Praise and Worship and the Limitless Deep Dive, designed to deepen our community and faith.

We continued our series, "Limitless Edition," focusing on what it means to be a believer at Limitless Church. We recapped the previous weeks: taking ownership of our faith, the importance of being in the room, giving generously, and serving passionately. Today, we added the final pillar: being sent to tell others the good news of Jesus Christ. We explored Mark 16:14-15, where Jesus commissions His disciples to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel. This is not just a suggestion but a divine mandate.

We discussed the importance of evangelism, defined as the visible and verbal declaration of Jesus' death and resurrection with the goal of converting the hearer to faith. We acknowledged the excuses we often make, such as not knowing enough or fearing rejection, and dismantled them with practical advice. We emphasized that our personal testimonies are powerful tools for evangelism. We also provided a simple ABC method for leading someone to Christ: Admit, Believe, and Confess.

We concluded by challenging everyone to think of one person who needs to hear the gospel and to pray for them. We symbolically brought these names to the cross, praying for their salvation. We were reminded that we are the church, uniquely positioned to share the gospel in our daily lives. The question remains: Will we go and fulfill our divine commission?

### Key Takeaways

1. **The Power of Gathering in Expectation**: When we come together in the room with a collective expectation, something unique happens. The presence of God meets us at our point of expectation, shifting our lives and circumstances. This gathering is not just a routine but a powerful encounter with God. [31:33]

2. **Generosity Fuels God's Work**: Our church's generosity has enabled us to complete significant projects, like our new roof. This generosity is a testament to our faith and trust in God to use our resources to fulfill His will and build His kingdom. It's a reminder that our giving is a seed that God multiplies for His glory. [35:25]

3. **Evangelism is a Divine Mandate**: Jesus' command to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel is not a suggestion but a divine mandate. We are uniquely positioned to share the gospel in our families, workplaces, and communities. Our personal testimonies are powerful tools that can lead others to Christ. [47:59]

4. **Overcoming Excuses in Evangelism**: Common excuses like not knowing enough or fearing rejection can hinder us from sharing the gospel. However, our personal stories and a simple ABC method (Admit, Believe, Confess) can effectively lead someone to Christ. We are already equipped to share the gospel; we just need to be bold and take action. [55:54]

5. **The Urgency of the Gospel**: People are dying every day without knowing Jesus. We cannot let excuses stand in the way of sharing the gospel. The world spends billions pushing messages of death, while we have the message of life. We must be relentless in our mission to share the good news of Jesus Christ. [01:01:27]

### YouTube Chapters

[0:00] - Welcome
[31:33] - Welcoming First-Time Visitors
[32:50] - Connection Card Instructions
[34:04] - Transition to Giving
[35:25] - Celebrating Generosity
[36:42] - Ways to Give
[38:23] - National Day of Praise and Worship
[39:43] - Limitless Deep Dive
[41:01] - Praise and Worship Celebration
[42:33] - Introduction to Limitless Edition Series
[44:13] - Recap of Previous Weeks
[47:59] - Final Pillar: Sent to Proclaim the Gospel
[50:22] - Definition of Evangelism
[55:54] - Overcoming Excuses in Evangelism
[01:01:27] - The Urgency of the Gospel
[01:09:05] - ABC Method for Leading Someone to Christ
[01:20:05] - The Divine Commission
[01:23:04] - Practical Steps for Evangelism
[01:28:38] - Bringing Names to the Cross
[01:35:41] - Prayer for Salvation
[01:38:55] - Invitation for Salvation, Recommitment, and Prayer
[01:41:01] - Closing Remarks and Baptism Celebration

### Bible Reading
1. **Mark 16:14-15**: "Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.'"
2. **1 Peter 2:9**: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."
3. **Romans 10:14-15**: "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'"

### Observation Questions
1. What command did Jesus give to His disciples in Mark 16:14-15? How does this relate to the concept of being "sent" as discussed in the sermon? [47:59]
2. According to 1 Peter 2:9, what are believers called to proclaim, and how does this align with the sermon’s emphasis on evangelism? [52:39]
3. In Romans 10:14-15, what sequence of actions is described for someone to come to faith, and how does this passage support the sermon’s message about the urgency of sharing the gospel? [01:20:05]
4. What practical method did the pastor suggest for leading someone to Christ, and what does each step (A, B, C) stand for? [01:07:32]

### Interpretation Questions
1. Why is the command to "go into all the world and proclaim the gospel" in Mark 16:14-15 considered a divine mandate rather than a suggestion? How does this affect the way believers should approach evangelism? [47:59]
2. How does 1 Peter 2:9’s description of believers as a "chosen race" and "royal priesthood" empower them to share the gospel? What responsibilities come with this identity? [52:39]
3. Romans 10:14-15 outlines a process for evangelism. What challenges might believers face in each step of this process, and how can they overcome them? [01:20:05]
4. The pastor mentioned common excuses for not evangelizing, such as fear of rejection or not knowing enough. How do these excuses compare to the urgency and responsibility highlighted in the sermon? [55:54]

### Application Questions
1. Reflect on the command in Mark 16:14-15. How can you personally respond to this mandate in your daily life? What specific steps can you take this week to share the gospel with someone? [47:59]
2. Considering 1 Peter 2:9, how can you live out your identity as a "chosen race" and "royal priesthood" in your workplace or community? What actions can you take to proclaim God’s excellencies? [52:39]
3. Romans 10:14-15 emphasizes the need for preachers to be sent. How can you support or participate in sending others to share the gospel? Are there local or global missions you can get involved with? [01:20:05]
4. The pastor challenged the congregation to think of one person who needs to hear the gospel and to pray for them. Who is that person for you, and how will you approach sharing the gospel with them? [01:23:04]
5. The sermon discussed overcoming excuses in evangelism. What is one excuse you have used in the past, and how can you address it moving forward? What practical steps can you take to be more confident in sharing your faith? [55:54]
6. The ABC method (Admit, Believe, Confess) was presented as a simple way to lead someone to Christ. How comfortable are you with using this method, and what can you do to become more familiar with it? [01:07:32]
7. The pastor emphasized the urgency of the gospel, stating that people are dying every day without knowing Jesus. How does this urgency impact your perspective on evangelism? What immediate actions can you take to share the message of Jesus with those around you? [01:01:27]

Day 1: The Power of Gathering in Expectation
When believers come together with a collective expectation, something unique and powerful happens. The presence of God meets them at their point of expectation, shifting lives and circumstances. This gathering is not just a routine but a powerful encounter with God. When we gather with the anticipation that God will move, we create an atmosphere where miracles can happen, hearts can be transformed, and burdens can be lifted. This is why it is essential to come to church not just out of habit but with a heart full of expectation, ready to experience God's presence in a profound way. [31:33]

Isaiah 40:31 (ESV): "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

Reflection: When you come to church, do you come with a heart full of expectation? How can you prepare yourself to encounter God in a powerful way the next time you gather with other believers?


Day 2: Generosity Fuels God's Work
Generosity is a testament to our faith and trust in God to use our resources to fulfill His will and build His kingdom. The generosity of a church community can enable significant projects and initiatives that further God's work. When we give, we plant seeds that God multiplies for His glory. This act of giving is not just about financial contributions but also about offering our time, talents, and resources to support the mission of the church. Our generosity reflects our commitment to God's work and our belief that He can do immeasurably more with what we offer. [35:25]

2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (ESV): "He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God."

Reflection: In what ways can you be more generous with your time, talents, and resources to support God's work? How can you trust God to multiply what you give for His glory?


Day 3: Evangelism is a Divine Mandate
Jesus' command to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel is not a suggestion but a divine mandate. As believers, we are uniquely positioned to share the gospel in our families, workplaces, and communities. Our personal testimonies are powerful tools that can lead others to Christ. Evangelism is about the visible and verbal declaration of Jesus' death and resurrection with the goal of converting the hearer to faith. It is our responsibility to share this good news, knowing that we are fulfilling a divine commission given by Jesus Himself. [47:59]

Mark 16:15 (ESV): "And he said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.'"

Reflection: Who in your life needs to hear the gospel? How can you take a step today to share your personal testimony or the good news of Jesus with them?


Day 4: Overcoming Excuses in Evangelism
Common excuses like not knowing enough or fearing rejection can hinder us from sharing the gospel. However, our personal stories and a simple ABC method (Admit, Believe, Confess) can effectively lead someone to Christ. We are already equipped to share the gospel; we just need to be bold and take action. Overcoming these excuses requires us to trust in God's power and guidance, knowing that He will give us the words to say and the courage to speak. By relying on our personal testimonies and the simplicity of the gospel message, we can confidently share our faith with others. [55:54]

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV): "But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect."

Reflection: What excuses have you made for not sharing the gospel? How can you overcome these excuses and take a bold step to share your faith with someone today?


Day 5: The Urgency of the Gospel
People are dying every day without knowing Jesus. We cannot let excuses stand in the way of sharing the gospel. The world spends billions pushing messages of death, while we have the message of life. We must be relentless in our mission to share the good news of Jesus Christ. The urgency of the gospel compels us to act now, knowing that every moment counts. We have the responsibility to share the message of salvation with those around us, understanding that their eternal destiny may depend on it. [01:01:27]

2 Corinthians 6:2 (ESV): "For he says, 'In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

Reflection: Who is one person you know who needs to hear the gospel? How can you make it a priority to share the message of Jesus with them today, understanding the urgency of their need for salvation?

and we don't need cops, of course, and we don't care about your skin. We just want an all-out win.

And tell me it's illogical, but anything is possible. If God be for us, we can overcome.

In the room, yeah. Well, good morning, Limitless Church! How we doing this morning? That was whack! I was glad when I saw you.

When they said unto me, "Let us go into the house of the Lord," there's something that happens when we get together in the room.

It is something amazing that happens when we're here, when we're here in expectation of what God is going to do. When we bring all of the things that happen in the week, all the things that have happened in the upcoming week, and we say, "You know what? We're going to give it to Jesus."

And we get to scream Jesus over our friends, over our family, Jesus over our situation, Jesus over our finances, Jesus over our health.

And when we get together in expectation of that, God does something amazing. And so for me, I'm excited whenever I can get in here with my brothers and sisters and scream the name of Jesus. Amen? Amen!

Well, I want to just take a few seconds and welcome any first-time visitors that we have today. We're so excited that you're here this morning. My name is Pastor Keenan. On behalf of myself and my wife, who's currently serving in our kids' ministry, we want to welcome you.

We're excited that you're here. It is a big deal that you chose to be here this Sunday, and we're excited about that. We don't think that it's an accident that you're here.

I know you got up this morning, you got your hair done, you put your makeup on, you made sure you had the good outfit on, and you were like, "Yes, I'm going to church today."

But we don't believe that it was just that decision that allowed you to be here. We believe that God has been working on your heart, that He has been working in your conversation, that He has even so much as worked your schedule to make sure that you were here for service this morning.

We believe that there is something significant that God wants to do in your life, and that is why you're here today. And honestly, here at Limitless, we're just excited to be a part of that process.

Limitless, can we make some noise for our visitors this morning? Come on! It's a big deal that you're here.

We know that it's a big deal to come into a church for the first time. There's a lot of things that go into making that decision. There's a lot of things that go into that, but you made it, and we're excited to see what God is going to do.

Limitless, if you could do me a favor. Everybody wanted to come to church today, so could y'all scoot in for me so we can make some room for the people? If you see a seat next to you, we want to scoot in to make sure that people are coming.

I told y'all. I told you. I told y'all that a day would come. I'm going to just leave that right there, but let's scoot in.

So visitors, if you could do me a favor, on a seat pocket in front of you, you'll see something. One of my favorite things is the QR code. And what you simply do is take your phone out and point your camera to that QR code.

Now, what'll happen is a notification will pop up. You'll touch that notification, and it'll be right there on the right-hand side of the screen, and you'll see at the top, it'll say, "Visitors here."

And I would love for you to just take a second. It only takes 30 seconds and fill out our connection card. I would love the opportunity to just welcome you.

And after service, I will be out at the connection table, and I would love the opportunity to just say hello to you, to welcome you, to find out how you found out about our service and about our church, and just to greet you.

It's a big deal for you to be here, and I like to take every opportunity to do that. Also, I will personally be sending you a video, just a welcome video.

I will be sending you a video, just a welcome video, and I will be sending you a video, just a welcome video, just a welcome video, just a welcome video.

We don't take it, it's not a small deal to us when somebody walks through the door. So as a pastor, I like to take a second just to say thank you, so you'll get that from me too.

As we move, continue in our service, we're going to transition. We're doing things a little bit different today because we are celebrating baptisms today.

And so what I like to do is I'm going to go ahead and transition to a time of giving through our tithes and our offering. Normally, we do this at the end of service because we believe once you eat the meal, then you should have an opportunity to do that.

So I'm going to go ahead and transition to a time of giving through our opportunity, but we're going to do it different in light of baptisms.

And so as we transition to that, I just want to continually say thank you. Last week, we had some people who were here, and they just wanted to come by and see the church.

They heard about what was going on, and they asked about what was going on next door, and the parking lot is full, and the crane is going, and you hear the crane all throughout the day.

And I began to tell them about our roof situation. I told them that, hey, there was no underlayment in the roof. We found that out after we made the purchase.

And so we had a need to get our roof repaired. And of course, as anyone would say, they said, "Ah, I know that that was a huge bill that had to get taken care of."

And the next question they said, "Well, how did you guys, you're a new church. How did you guys do that?"

And I had the privilege and the pleasure and the opportunity to say, "Well, we have a generous church. We made known what needed to get done, and our church came together and said, 'We believe in our church. We believe in moving next door to our building.' And we came together and got it taken care of."

And then as of Friday, they were able to finish the roof and get that roof taken care of. So when we do move next door, we don't have to worry about it raining on top of our heads. Amen!

And so I just want to say thank you because yes, it's important for me to let you know all of the things that are happening here at the church.

And if you notice, if you drive by on Court Street to the front of our offices, you'll see that our offices now have a new facelift as well. Thank you to Joel and his team.

And they were here. But what happens is when people walk by and they see all the things that are happening in the church, what happens is now they want to come inside the church because they see what's happening on the outside.

And they want to know if the same newness that's happening on the outside is happening on the inside. And when they get to walk in this building, they get to see what's happening on the inside.

And when they get to see that. So thank you. Thank you for being a generous church. Thank you for sowing into the lives of what's happening here at our church.

And so as we transition, the three ways for you to give here, there's a bucket that will go past the offer envelopes in front of you.

And if you're watching online, welcome, first of all, but you have the opportunity to give. You can text the word "give" to 833-879-0161 or type the word "give" in the comments. Somebody will send you the link.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity you've given us to give. Father, as we talked about two weeks ago, we believe that our finances are a seed that you have given us.

So we sow this seed into good ground and we command it to go, to grow, and to multiply, to do exactly what you have called it to do.

Thank you for the job. Thank you for waking us up and protecting us for the ability to get to the job. Thank you for the ability to get to the job. Thank you for the ability to get to the job.

And thank you for the resources that it has provided. And we commit it to you and our tithes and our offering. We love you. We honor you with this in Jesus' name. Amen.

God bless you. And as you give, we have some announcements for you, and I'll be right back.

Hey guys, Pastor Kenan here. I want to invite you to the National Day of Praise and Worship Celebration here at Limitless Church.

We're going to have some Christian hip hop music, some praise music, some worship music. It is going to be an amazing time.

We're going to have some Christian hip hop music, some praise music, some worship music. And we want you to celebrate with us the last Wednesday of September, September the 25th.

We want you to join us. We're going to start at 6:30 p.m. and we're going to go, and we're going to have a wonderful time. I cannot wait for you to join us.

Don't just bring yourself. Invite somebody you know. Invite a family member. Invite a neighbor. Invite a friend.

We want to pack this place out as we celebrate National Day of Praise and Worship. See you there!

Hey guys, I am excited to invite you to something new that's happening here at Limitless Church.

Wednesday, October the 2nd, we are beginning something called the Limitless Deep Dive. And basically what it is, is it is a time of community for us to dive into what we heard on Sunday.

It'll start at 6 with some community time, and at 6:30, we'll do a small recap of the Sunday service, and then we'll break into groups based on our life season and talk about what we heard.

I think this is going to be a wonderful time of community and a wonderful time of worship. We're going to have some Christian hip hop music, some Christian music.

We're going to have some Christian hip hop music. We're going to have some Christian for our church.

And so if you would like to be a part of that, please register and sign up. Or if you say, "Hey, I would like to lead a table here at the church," then hey, sign up for that.

We want you to be a part of it. We are excited to take some time and really dive into the Word of God. God bless.

All right. All right. We ready to get into this word? Okay. Well, if you weren't ready, we're going to get into it anyway.

All right. Trick question. All right. Very quickly, I'm not supposed to do this, but I want to do it anyway.

Wednesday. Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday. Somebody say Wednesday!

Come on. Say Wednesday! Wednesday at 6:30 is our praise and worship celebration. Yes, yes, yes, yes!

All right. So I need y'all to be here. I've been running two miles every day for the past month to make sure I'm not up on this stage tired.

So I need to make sure y'all show up. I don't want y'all to be up there like, "Pastor Keenan was tired. He need to get in the gym." He shouldn't have did this.

I don't want that to happen. So I have invite cards. I would love for you to grab one on your way out. It says praise and worship celebration.

We are turning it up for a night of Christian hip hop praise and worship. Get ready to experience uplifting worship and the presence of God like never before.

September 25th, 6:30. That's this Wednesday, 6:30. Myself, Pastor Brandon from Real Life Church will be here.

It is going to be an amazing time. I encourage you, especially if you have some people that are like, "Hey, I'm not going to a church on a Sunday. I think the wall's going to fall down."

Tell them the walls are stronger on Wednesday. They should be here. They should be here.

Make sure that you get an opportunity to at least invite one person. It is going to be an amazing night. And I would challenge you to get in here and let's have an awesome night. Amen!

All right. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the opportunity to hear from you.

God, it is evident that your presence is already here. Lord, we declare this is the day that you have made. We make a conscious decision to rejoice and to be glad.

As we're here, would you speak, God? Your word is already anointed. It's already anointed. So God, would you anoint our ears to be able to hear what you're saying?

Would you anoint our hearts to be able to receive your words? That we are in this place, not just being hearers of the words, but doers of your word.

God, you are the only one that could speak to each and every one of us at one time. We prepare our hearts to hear you, God. Speak in Jesus' name. Amen.

All right. We are in a series called Limitless Edition. We are allegedly at the end of this series.

The reason I say allegedly is that leaves me leeway in case I want to do another one next week. Y'all be like, "Pastor, lie!" No, I said allegedly.

All right. So we're closing out this series, and we've been talking about what it means to be a believer here at Limitless Church.

Not just at Limitless Church, but what it means to be a believer according to the word of God. But we said that we recognize, if you look around, you will see that there are many different ethnicities here.

There are many different age groups that are here. There are many different backgrounds that are represented. So it may mean something a little bit different to you when someone says, "I am a Christian."

So as a pastor, it's my responsibility to make it very clear what it means to be a Christian here at Limitless Church.

And so we call that Limitless Edition. And so it is my prayer that this series has encouraged you and it has given you a deeper knowledge of what it means to be a Christian.

My desire is not for... My desire is not for you to be a better church attender, okay? My desire is not for you to be a better church attender.

My heart is for you to be a better follower of Jesus, okay? And for Him to be glorified through your life.

The vision of this church is to take the limits off of the way that people see Jesus, faith, and the church.

Take the limits off of the way that people see Jesus, faith, and the church. And when we excel in these areas that we've discussed in this sermon series, it allows that vision to come to life, okay?

So let's do a recap of you, if you will, over what we've talked about, okay? Week one, we said we take ownership of our faith.

At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith.

At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith.

At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith.

At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith.

At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith.

At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith.

At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith.

At Limitless, it is our responsibility to hear and know the voice of God. At Limitless, we take ownership of our faith.

Week two, we said that there is something in the room. We said that we are committed to being in the room when the doors are open because we believe that there is something significant, there is something unique that happens when we are together in the room.

When you come in with your testimony and I come in with my testimony and others come in with their testimony, even when we come in brokenhearted and need to be lifted up, when we come in discouraged, but when we get together in the room, something unique happens.

The presence of God meets us at our point of expectation and begins to shift our lives. We said that we are committed to attending.

Two weeks ago, we said we give generously, and we give generously because we have received generously and we trust God to use our resources to fulfill His will and to build His kingdom in the local church and the church overall.

So we said we give generously, and last week we said we serve passionately because we understand that God has given each one of us a gift.

He's given each one of us a gift, and we are to use that gift to serve passionately. We are to serve others and to help build the body of Christ.

We said each one of us, nobody can do it like you do it. You have been uniquely crafted with something that God has placed in you, and He placed that in you to use that gift to serve the kingdom of God.

And today I want to add the final pillar of this series. All right, here's the final pillar.

At Limitless, we believe that we are sent to tell others the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is our final pillar.

At Limitless, we believe that we are sent to tell others the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

All right, Mark chapter 16, verse 14 through 15. It reads, "After He appeared, He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table.

And He rebuked them for their unbelief and the hardness of their heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen.

And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.'"

So Jesus is here. And Jesus appears to all of the disciples after He has risen, but people came to the disciples and they didn't believe Him.

So Jesus began to have a conversation with them to get them back in line. And He begins to tell them just about how, "Didn't I tell you that I was coming back? Didn't I tell you? Didn't I give you instructions?"

And after He did that, He began to have a conversation with them. Now, He could have talked about anything. He could have said anything.

He could have told them to do anything. But the first thing He does is He sends them. He sends them.

"Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel." As believers, we are sent, and we are uniquely positioned to go and proclaim and tell others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, if you're here today and you are not a believer, we're going to take care of you. We're going to take care of you at the end of service.

But for everyone else, we have been uniquely positioned to tell people about the difference that Christ has made in our life and to tell them about the gospel of Jesus.

As a believer, there are things that the Lord has placed a heavy importance on. And one of the things that He makes a big deal about is testifying, is being a witness, or what we call evangelism.

Okay, evangelism. Now, if you've been in church for a while, you might have heard this word. You might not know what this word means.

So allow me to explain it to you. This word evangelism is the visible eyes and verbal mouth declaration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the sins of mankind with the goal of converting the hearer to faith.

Again, visible and verbal declaration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the sins of mankind with the goal being to convert the hearer to faith.

The reason that this in part is very significant is because a lot of times we will bring up Jesus. We will bring up faith. We'll have these conversations with no goal in mind.

We'll just be talking, but we won't have a goal in mind. But this is telling us that our goal should be to convert the hearer to faith.

And it's not just our conversations. It's not just our conversation, but every area of our life. The goal should be that people could see us and we would have an opportunity to win them to Jesus.

The reason that we don't cuss people out when they cut us off on Main Street is because we're trying to be an example.

Because it's awkward if you cut somebody out and then you start talking to them about Jesus. The reason that we have peace in the midst of turmoil.

The reason that we are not moved when things are going on around us. The reason that we walk in love. The reason that we walk in joy.

The reason that we have this sense of assurance is so that when people see us, that we have an opportunity to win them to Jesus.

Right now in this season, it is full of tension and it is full of division. It is full of tension and division.

We will argue people down for our position. We will end friendships. We will alienate family for our stance.

And we will die on a hill that has no eternal value. But we will remain quiet about the one who came down from heaven, lived a sinless life, that was nailed to a cross and died for our sins.

We'll be quiet about that. We don't want to stand ten toes. We don't want to stand on business when it comes to that.

We want to on everything else except for this. We are called higher. We are called higher.

We are called to be an example and tell others about the sacrifice of Jesus and about the goodness of God.

One of my favorite scriptures, 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 9. It says, "You are a chosen race. It says you are a royal. It says you are a priesthood, a consecrated nation."

That word consecrated means set apart. He says you are a set apart nation that you would proclaim the excellencies, that you would proclaim the wonderful deeds, the virtues and the perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Let's not forget why we are believers. Let's not forget. Let's not forget why we became believers.

We encountered a love and a grace that transformed us and changed us forever. And now we are called to share that same transformation with others so they have an opportunity to encounter a love and a grace that they've never known.

A lot of us, you know, we're like, "Hey, I made it. I got saved." And we're excited. "Hey, I got saved. Good. Good. Praise God."

Praise God for that. You got saved. And then you made it to church. You're like, "Hey, all right, I'm making it to church. I got my thing together. I'm making it to church."

Some of us will go a step further and we'll begin serving. And we're like, "Oh, I got this Jesus thing down. I am in there. I love Jesus. I go to church, and I even serve."

And we'll stop there. We'll stop right there because we feel like, "Hey, I did it. I got all my things. I’m together. We got it."

And there's this big piece that we don't ever touch, that we don't ever walk into, that we don't ever evaluate.

We're stingy with our Jesus. We're stingy. We don't want to tell people. For whatever reason it may be, we're comfortable at the place of, "I got saved. I go to church, and now I'm serving."

And we're comfortable there. But God said, "I commissioned you." The first two letters in the gospel is the word "go."

Why? Because we're called to tell people about it. Because we have tons of things that we will tell people about. Tons of things.

We eat at a restaurant. We want everybody to go to the restaurant. We will go post about the restaurant. We will leave a review about the restaurant.

We will make reservations to go back to the restaurant. We have a great experience with technology or a store.

We will tell people about it. And Christ literally changed the course of our life. From going to hell to now spending eternity with Him in heaven.

From living a life in the dirt, in the muck, broken, beat up, disgusted. To Him changing our life and us living life and having life abundantly.

But we don't want to tell nobody about that. And so the question we have to ask ourselves, the question we have to ask ourselves, do we care enough about others to see their lives changed?

Or are we just satisfied with our own transformation? Do we care enough about people that are going to hell?

Or are we just like, "Hey, I got mine. I'm good." Because that's what it communicates.

I'm going to heaven. I'm good. And so what we do is we hide our faces and we keep our glasses on.

And we just try to make it to eternity and make it to Jesus comes. Or we go and no, no, no, no, no. That's not what He called us to do.

He called us to go. Mark chapter 2, verse 1. I got to get out of here. Jesus returned to Capernaum. A few days later, the news went out.

He was at home. So many people gathered together. There was no longer room for them, even near the door.

Jesus was discussing with them the word of God. And then they came bringing to Him a paralyzed man who was being carried by four men.

Who was being carried by four men. Who was being carried by four men. When they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Jesus.

Then they dug out an opening and they let the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying. They let it down.

When Jesus saw their active faith springing from confidence in Him, He said to the paralyzed man, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

This is an example of who we are supposed to be as believers. This is who God has called us to be.

These four men did whatever was necessary to bring their friend to Jesus. They knew that he had a need.

And they knew that the only person that could satisfy that need was Jesus. The world has a need. Your family has a need.

Your co-workers have a need. Your neighbor has a need. The people you walk by every day, they have a need.

And the only one that can fulfill that need, that can satisfy that need, is Jesus. But it is up to us to do what it takes to bring them to Him.

We have been sent. How will the world know about their freedom if we never tell them that they have the ability to be free?

We are the ones that they've been waiting for. How long will we make them wait? How long will we make them wait?

And we give all kinds of excuses while we don't evangelize. We give all kinds of excuses while we don't want to tell people about Jesus.

We say, "Oh, you know, it's too hot. Oh, you know, it's too cold. Oh, you know, it's pushy. Oh, it's awkward. What if I get rejected? What if I..."

All of these things. I was reading Paul is talking in Acts. He's talking to the church in Acts. Acts 20, verse 24.

He says, "I don't consider my life as something of value or dear to me so that I may finish the course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus."

He says, "I don't care about nothing except to testify faithfully of the good news of God's precious undeserved grace, which makes us free of the guilt of sin and grants us eternal life."

Paul says, "I consider my life as nothing outside of the responsibility that he's called me to do."

He says, "My only desire is to do what he has asked of me, and that is to testify about Jesus."

And because of Paul's commitment and his relentless desire to do what Jesus said, you and I sit here right now and have an opportunity to hear, to know, and to respond to the message of grace, to respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Because he chose to be relentless about it. Because he chose even death to make sure that people had an opportunity, the Jew and us, the Gentile.

This has to be the posture of our heart. If those four men were willing to carry somebody to the top of the roof, then remove the roof, then dig a hole, then lower somebody down so that they could have the opportunity to get to Jesus, we have to be willing to do what it takes so that people have an opportunity to know Him as well.

We cannot let excuses stand in the way of people getting to know Jesus. People are dying in front of us every day.

They're dying in front of us every day. We can no longer ignore what's happening. We can't let excuses stand in our way.

They spend billions of dollars. Listen to this. The world spends billions. Billion B, would it be? I mean, you can't even count that high.

Billions of dollars pushing death every single day. Billions of dollars. And they are not ashamed about it.

They're not tiptoeing around it. They're not doing none of that. They're like, "No, you're going to get this death all day."

You're going to get it in the news. You're going to get it in the commercials. You're going to get it in the shows.

You're going to get it in social media. You're going to get it in news. But anywhere, we're going to make sure you receive this death.

They don't care. We are walking around with life. We are walking around with living water next to people who are starving.

And we refuse to give them the water. We have to get rid of the excuses. I got to go. I got to go.

Excuses. We have to get rid of the excuses. Excuse number one, or should I say the category of excuses?

The first one is the excuse of "I don't know." Now, I've been in ministry a long time. And so evangelism is a big deal for me.

Even before I was a pastor, it was a passion of mine to make sure people knew Jesus. As a Christian hip-hop artist and even as somebody who just loved outreach, I just love making sure people had an opportunity to know Jesus.

And so I've heard all of the reasonings. And so I asked my team this week, what are some of the excuses? Or the things, because I want to be nice.

What are some of the things that we've heard as for reasons that people don't want to communicate the gospel?

Here's the excuse of "I don't know." Number one, I don't know enough. I don't know enough to tell somebody about Jesus.

Yeah. If you can't say amen, just say ouch. All right. Number two, what we say.

We say, "You know, I just feel like I don't know enough of the Bible to really tell somebody about Jesus like that. I don't know enough. I don't know enough of the Bible."

Or here's the third one. I don't know how to lead somebody through a salvation prayer. I hear pastor do it. I can't remember. He talks a lot. I don't know what's happening.

I don't really know the salvation prayer to be able to lead somebody through Jesus. And so we say, "I don't know enough. I don't know the Bible. I don't know a salvation prayer."

Therefore, I won't lead somebody to Jesus. So today we are getting rid of all of the excuses.

Let me encourage you. And let me tell you something that I hope that you're going to hear. You remember leading someone to Jesus does not require you to be a theologian.

Okay? Leading someone to Jesus does not require you to have a master's in divinity. Leading someone to Jesus does not require you to know the book from end to end.

Now, I encourage you. Y'all already know what I'm going to say. What do I tell you? Read the word for who? Read it for yourself.

Don't trust nobody. Read it for yourself. So I encourage you to learn the word. But it does not require you to do that, to tell someone about Jesus.

The best evangelism tool that you have at your disposal is you. You are the best tool to lead somebody to Jesus.

Your story, the things that God has brought you through. You know how much of a mess you was. Hallelujah. You know.

You know. And you also know what God has done for you and how far He's brought you. He's brought you from where you used to be.

And so sometimes, most times, that is the only thing that you need to lead somebody to Jesus. You tell them, "Let me tell you something. I was a mess, and now I am not.

And the reason that I am not is because Jesus. I see that you're a mess. Do you want to not be a mess? Then let me introduce you to Jesus."

It's simple. It's simple. You don't got to know everything. You don't have to know it book to book.

But let me tell you, your story. Your story could be the thing that changes somebody's life.

I used to be addicted to this. I used to be deep down in this. I used to struggle with this. I used to be full of depression and anxiety.

I used to do this. But then along came Jesus. Being able to communicate that is the best tool that you have to lead somebody to Christ.

I got to go. John chapter 9, verse 25. I love this. I love this. Because this was me right here. Right when I got saved.

I love this. Jesus is healing the blind man. When the blind man gets healed, they come to him and they're asking him all kinds of questions.

And he's like, "I don't know what y'all talking about." He says, "Listen, whether he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."

Simple. Simple. He was like, "All that thing you talking about, I don't know nothing about that. Here's what I do know. I was blind, but now I see.

I was sick, but now I'm healed. I was addicted, but now I'm free. I was in lack, but now I have.

You see, I was leading, going down a wrong path and a destination for my life. But now I have life and I have life more abundantly."

That's sometimes that's all you need. All right. I got to keep going. Okay.

So, so what was the last one? The last one was, uh, uh, uh, uh, I do not know how to lead someone through a salvation prayer.

I understand this. This one, I will give you, I give you some grace on this one. Cause you're like, "Pastor, I just, it's a little hard for me. I, I, you know, what if I say the wrong thing? Why? I don't really know what to say."

I got you. Uh, there was a song I used to sneak and listen to when I was young, um, by Michael Jackson.

And, um, uh, uh, it went like this. It says, uh, ABC easiest one, two, three. All right. I can't sing no more. Cause they go cut the live stream off. Copyright.

All right. So, uh, it's very easy. It's easy as a B C. Okay. Say it with me. A, B, C.

C leading someone to Christ. The salvation prayer is easy as a B C. And you're going to remember cause you're going to, every time you're going to be like, "Oh, Pastor Keenan was singing that thing. A, B, C."

Okay. Here we go. A admit, B believe, C confess. Very easy. Here we go.

Heavenly Father, I admit that I am a sinner and that I need your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ is your son, that He died on the cross for my sins and rose again.

C, I confess my faith in Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I commit to following Him. Thank you for your grace and for the gift of it.

It's easy as a B C. Now we're going to leave that up there. Get your phones out. People, come on, come on, come on, get the phone, get your, oh yeah.

Oh, y'all think the Lord ain't going to give you an opportunity this week. No, He is. I already prayed about it.

Get your phone out. Take the picture. Cause you're going to need this. You're going to need it. You're like, "What did pastor? I know he said ABC. What was A? Hey, wait, you know what? I got it in my phone. Cause Pastor Keenan told me to take a picture. There it is right there."

All right. A, B, C, admit, believe, confess. You have this opportunity to lead someone.

And let me be very clear. Cause people will be like, "Oh, I don't know." There is nothing specifically unique about these words, but my job is to equip the saints.

The Bible says it is the job of the pastor to equip the saints to do what? For the work, right? So I want to equip you with something that is easy and a tool that you have at your disposal.

Cause somebody going to come to you this week or next week, and they're going to want to know about Jesus.

And you're going to be able to say, "You know what? Where that picture at? I just..." And you're going to start singing.

As soon as that, you're going to ABC easy as one, two, like, "Yeah, admit, believe, and confess."

What do we want to do? We want to get rid of the excuses. I want to equip you with the tools necessary so you can do what God has called you to do. Amen.

Next week we will have these cards that will be available at the connection table. Cause you're going to need one.

So I suggest you grab one, put it in your car, put it in your wallet, put it cause you're going, you're going to pull it out and you can be like, "You know what? Let me, let me pray with you real quick. You know, boom, there you go."

Why? Because eternity is on the line. And when we pray for God to do something, I think God is up there like, "No, I don't want people to get..." No, He's like, "Yes, I will open the door for you to be able to do this."

All right, I got to go. The excuses of "I don't want to," that's the second set. The excuses of "I don't want to."

They wrote it. You got it up there. They wrote it. I didn't write it like that. They wrote it grammatically correct.

I wanted it wrong. I wanted it wrong. I don't want to. Cause that's what we say.

I don't want to force anything on anyone. You know, I don't, it's just, I don't want to really force anything on anyone.

I don't want to step on anybody's toes. Right? I don't want to come off as judgmental. This is what we say.

And we fail to realize that in our desire to be palpable and our desire to be right, we forget that the gospel is anti.

The gospel is very anti. The gospel is anti-culture. It is anti-tradition and it is offensive.

Well, you know, I feel like, you know, there's not just one way to God. I feel like there's many courts. The devil is a lie.

There is one way to God, and His name is Jesus. The scriptures say, "No man come to the Father, but by me."

That's what the scripture says. That's offensive. That is offensive to others.

Are you telling me that if I don't say, "Accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior," you're telling me that a loving God is going to send me to hell?

Yes, because that loving God is just, and He gave you an opportunity. And so you have a decision to make.

CC, that's touchy right there. It's touchy. But we are called to spread the gospel and proclaim it anyway.

Why? Because the world don't care. They're pushing it in our face. They don't care whether we like it or not.

We are called to proclaim Jesus Christ anyway. The world wants to force what they deem correct on us and what they deem as what should be on us.

We have to continue to unashamedly wave the banner for Jesus Christ like never before, especially in this season, especially in this time where right is wrong and wrong is right.

Paul is talking to the church in Galatia in Galatians chapter one, verse 10. He says, "For now, am I seeking the approval of man or God?

He said, or am I trying to please man? If I were trying to please man, if I were trying to make it comfortable for them, if I was trying to get them on, I was trying to get on their side.

He says, "I would not be a servant of Christ." If I were trying to please man, if I were trying to get them on, I would not be a servant.

The gospel is offensive. Preach it anyway. It is actually the offense that makes it the gospel because the world says, "You know what? Do whatever you want to do.

It don't matter. There's no consequences. Treat people how you want to. But Jesus says, "No."

He says, "You put others before yourself. You treat others as better than you. You serve people. You love one another."

The world says, "If somebody do something wrong to you, forget it. Forget them." God says, "No. Seven times seven times seven, you forget."

It is very anti. Romans 1, 1, 6, one of my favorite scriptures. "I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

I'm not going to be ashamed of what it says because I understand that there is power in it. There is power that is associated with the gospel and the name of Jesus Christ.

So I don't care what they say. This is the foundation for my life. And if it's not in here, then it's not in here.

If it's not here, it's not going to be here. I am unashamed of the gospel.

The last one, the excuse of "What if?" Now, this is a trick that the enemy has been using since the beginning of time.

The excuse of "What if?" And the enemy is very tricky with this one. What if I can't answer the questions? What if I don't know what to say?

What if I get rejected? These are things that the enemy uses ahead of time to get us to a point of inaction because we can't figure out what we're going to say.

We're so afraid that if we get rejected, we're so afraid that we can't answer the questions that we preemptively make a decision.

We preemptively make a decision to do nothing. And we say, "Oh, well, I'll just get them to church." Yes, get them to church.

By all means, you can get them saved right there. I think we forget sometimes. We're like, "Man, if I can just get them to church, if I can just get them to church."

You are the church. This is just a building. You are the church. And they came to you.

You have already been uniquely equipped and positioned to tell people about the day and night difference that Jesus has made in your life.

You already have. You have everything you need. You have been equipped to communicate the gospel of Jesus.

You can do it right there. You are already qualified. The day you said yes to Jesus, you became qualified to tell somebody about the goodness of God.

Mark chapter 13, verse 11. See, this is not a new thing. And I got to show it to you in scripture.

So you say it. So you believe it. So you see it for yourself. Mark chapter 13.

Jesus says, "When they take you and turn you over, don't worry beforehand about what to say, but say whatever is given to you by God in that hour."

Here we go. "For it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit that will speak through you."

See, you trying to figure out what you're going to say. Don't worry about it. When you get in that moment, it's going to be bubbling up out of you, and you won't even remember what you said.

Because the Holy Spirit on the inside of you will begin to speak through you to be able to communicate exactly what they need at exactly the moment that they need it.

It'll be right on time. Paul is talking to the church in Ephesus. I got to show you this.

So, you know, it's not just you. Paul, the guy who a snake bit him and he was fine. The guy who laid hands on people who wrote a great portion of the New Testament.

He dealt with the what ifs as well. This ain't a new tactic the enemy's using.

Says Ephesians 6. He says, "Pray for me." What? He said, "Pray for me that words may be given to me when I open my mouth to proclaim boldly the mystery of the good news of salvation for which I am an ambassador in chains and pray that in proclaiming it, I may speak boldly and courageously as I should."

He says, "Pray for me." I say what needs to be said. The disciples and Paul all had the same questions, but they chose to go anyway, regardless of the what ifs, regardless of the questions, regardless of their feeling of inadequacy.

They chose to go anyway. And because they chose to go anyway, we stand here today. We sit here today as a product of their decision.

Having encountered the grace, the love, and the gospel of Jesus Christ, we are fully empowered to tell all those we come in contact with the day and night difference that Jesus has made in our life.

The question is, will we do it? You've been sent. You've already been sent. You've already been equipped.

You have everything you need. Will you? You go close with this Romans 10, verse 14.

How will people call on Him in whom they've not believed? And how would they believe in Him of who they not heard?

And how will they hear without a preacher or a messenger? And how will they preach unless they are commissioned and sent for that purpose?

Just as it is written. And forever remains written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news of good things.

How will they hear without a messenger? And how will the messenger speak unless they have been sent?

You have been sent. Jesus said, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel."

When Jesus said, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel." When Jesus appeared to the disciples, He didn't offer parting advice.

He sent them on a mission and a purpose that echoes throughout eternity. And we are part of that legacy.

We are uniquely positioned in our families, our workplace, and our communities to share the gospel of Jesus.

It is not a suggestion. It is a commission. It is a calling. And in a world filled with division and strife, we are called to be vessels.

We are called to be vessels of grace, not just in our words, but also in our actions. The question is, are we willing to risk discomfort so that someone can spend eternity with Jesus?

Or are we more passionate about our opinions than sharing the gospel? We have been sent. The question is, will we go?

I pray this week that the boldness of the Holy Spirit will rise up on the inside of you. I pray this week that someone would have an opportunity to hear the message of Jesus through you.

And don't be discouraged if they don't receive it. Ms. Bonnie told us earlier. Ms. Bonnie, where you at?

She ain't here? Ms. Bonnie told us a story earlier. Consistently, her coworker began telling her the message and encouraging her with Jesus three years.

Three years consistently. And one day, she decided to say yes. And it has changed the course of her life.

And the life of many of those around us simply because someone chose not to give up. Some plant a seed. Some water.

Will you go? Every week in this series, I've given you an opportunity to respond to the message. And today is no different.

I want to challenge you guys to take a practical step in faith right now. I want you to think of one person.

One person that needs to hear the message. The message of Jesus. Just put them in your mind. Just think about them right now.

If you're getting baptized and you need to change your clothes, go ahead. But for the rest of you, if...

I want you to think of that one person. And when you get that one person in your mind. Okay?

I want you to go. I want you to think about that person. And then I'm going to have you take another step.

Okay? I want to do something significant today. You've got that one person in your mind.

All right? To the right of each row. To the left. Did we move it? Okay. To your right.

On the end of each row, there's a sticky note. If you're on the end of the row, congratulations. You are now an usher.

Please grab a sticky note and pass that sticky note down. I hear you're an usher today. Grab that. Pass that sticky note down.

And I want you to be thinking about... Thinking about that person. Grab that sticky note.

If there's not one on your row, just raise your hand. Our ushers have them. They'll get them to you.

Okay? So I got three in the back that need one. Okay? We got tons of sticky notes. We bought like a million of them.

So we got enough. Pass them down. Take one. Pass them down. Should be on the end of your row.

Look in the pocket. Look on the floor. There we go. We got them coming. Get that sticky note. Pass it down.

As you're thinking about that person. We got them coming down. There we go. Your usher is making sure you get one on your row.

Everybody got one? If you don't have one, raise your hand. We'll make sure you get one.

All right. Everybody got one. Good. I don't see any hands. All right. We got that person in our mind.

Can you lift that sticky note up for me? Lift it up in the air. If you have that person in your mind, lift that sticky note up in the air.

We're going to pray over them right now. We're going to pray over them right now. On the line.

Hallelujah. Thank you for revival, Jesus. Raise that sticky note up in the air.

Okay. Heavenly Father, we pray for this soul that is represented. God, I pray for revival in the life and in the heart of this person.

God, I pray that even now you have already been revealing yourself to this person. That you've already been showing your grace and your mercy to them.

God, we thank you for the opportunity to close the deal. God, I thank you that you've already uniquely equipped us to minister the gospel.

And in this moment, in this opportunity, they will come to know you. Thank you for revival. Thank you for salvation being received through the communication of the gospel.

Thank you for it. We declare it is so. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

All right. Write that name on that sheet of paper. And as you're writing that name, I skipped over this, but I want to make sure you hear it.

As you're writing this down, you say, "Pastor, but how do I do it? How do I communicate this?"

Number one, you pray. "Lord, show me what to do and what to say." Number two, you continue being the example.

You just live your life. Let your life shine amongst men that they would see your good works and they would glorify our Father in heaven.

Number three, as you are the example, God will present you an opportunity. You don't got to go out your way. You don't got to do nothing special.

God will open the door. Number four, be aware of the opportunity. And when that opportunity comes, be bold and close the deal.

Be bold. Close the deal. I had an opportunity this past week, and I'm at a restaurant, and I'm trying to eat my dessert, and I got this waiter there, and we're talking to the waiter, and we get in the car, and my wife says, "We missed it."

I say, "Yeah, we sat there and talked for 10 minutes, and I didn't close the deal." When I got home, I prayed, "Jesus, I apologize. If you give me another opportunity, I'm closing the deal."

And God being God, presented me another opportunity. And I went in with this mindset, "You're going to get this, Jesus."

Plain and simple, "You're going to get this, Jesus." And at the end, I got an opportunity to pray with him.

I said, "Hey, what you going to do? We here now." And that person received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Why? Because I went in with the mindset. You gave me this opportunity. I prayed for it. We here. I'm closing the deal.

My prayer is that that person in your hand, you're going to get an opportunity to close the deal.

Here's the last step. Y'all ready? This is it. I believe that something happens when we come together and pray together for a thing.

Okay? So what I'm going to challenge you to do is I want you to take that sticky note. Remember that name.

Pray for that name all this week. But this is what we're going to do. Adriana is going to lead us in worship.

And in this worship time, I'm going to challenge you to bring them to the cross. Bring them to the cross.

Those four men brought them to Jesus. And today, symbolically, we're going to bring them to the cross.

My ushers are here. They have pushpins. And I want you to bring that name and put it on the cross.

And once you put it on that cross, we are going to sing. And I want you to sing in victory as if it has already happened.

Go! Yeah! Take it. Bring it. We got time. We got room. We're going to worship.

Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for each and every name that was placed on that cross. We believe and receive salvation in the name of Jesus.

We declare that their life is redeemed from destruction. God, I thank you that salvation is coming to their house.

Today is the day of salvation. We declare it is so in Jesus' name. Amen.

Hallelujah! Very quickly, if you're here today and you have not made Jesus Lord of your life, I can't think of a better message than this one.

So if you haven't made Him Lord, then today is the day of salvation. Believe in your heart and confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord.

As Lord, that means King, ruler, reigner over everything in your life. Maybe you've made Him in case of emergencies only.

Maybe you've made Him Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day Jesus. Maybe you've made Him when something goes hard Jesus.

No, He says you need to confess Him as Lord. That means He is the ruler and reigner of your life.

And He says when you do that, you shall be saved. And so if you've never made Him Lord, then today we want to offer you that opportunity.

Secondly, maybe you made Him Lord, but your faith hasn't looked like you made Him Lord. Maybe there was an opportunity or a point in your life where you did receive Him as Savior, but you haven't been following Him.

And you would like to recommit your life to Jesus. We want to offer you that opportunity.

The wonderful thing that I love about Jesus is He says, "I haven't gone anywhere. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you, and I'm right here with open arms ready, willing, and waiting to receive you."

Why? Because I love you that much. If you want to recommit your life to Jesus, then we want to offer you that opportunity.

We would love to pray with you. And lastly, if you're here and you're just in need of prayer, you say, "Pastor, hey, I'm believing God for something. I'm in need. There's something I need someone to agree with me in prayer on."

Then we want to pray for you. We want to see God be God in your life, and we want to have the opportunity to participate in that.

So if either one of those things apply to you—salvation, recommitment, or prayer—would you grab your Bible, grab your book pack, whatever you came with, and meet us over to my left, your right?

Here, our altar team is ready and waiting to pray for you. If that is you, don't wait. Don't wait for somebody else to move.

You get what God has for you. This is between you and God. Get it right. Get it done.

Why? Because we believe eternity is on the other side. So if either one of those things apply to you, then we want to pray for you.

If either one of those things apply to you, make your way to our altar.

Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus. We got altar team. We got altar team is ready.

Thank you, Jesus, for your word. Thank you for what you continue to do in the hearts of your people.

Thank you for how you're already moving as we prepare to celebrate baptisms. God, we thank you for those who are making a choice to go public with their faith today.

Thank you for the opportunity to pray for you. Thank you for the opportunity to thank you for the decisions that were made that led to this moment.

We honor you, we praise you, and we thank you in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God bless you. We love you.

Don't forget, live limitless. If you are, we would love for you to celebrate baptism with us.

Please exit out the door to the right, grab your kids, and we will meet you in the parking lot to celebrate baptisms.

1. "We believe that God has been working on your heart, that he has been working in your conversation, that he has even so much as worked your schedule to make sure that you were here for service this morning. We believe that there is something significant that God wants to do in your life, and that is why you're here today. And honestly, here at Limitless, we're just excited to be a part of that process." [31:33] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "When we get together in expectation of what God is going to do, when we bring all of the things that happen in the week, all the things that's happened in the upcoming week and we say, you know what, we're going to give it to Jesus and we get to scream Jesus over our friends, over our family, Jesus over our situation, Jesus over our finances, Jesus over our health and when we get together in expectation of that God does something amazing." [31:33] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "My desire is not for you to be a better church attender, okay? My desire is not for you to be a better church attender. My heart is for you to be a better follower of Jesus, okay? And for him to be glorified through your life. The vision of this church, to take the limits off of the way that people see Jesus, faith, and the church." [42:33] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "At Limitless, we believe that we are sent to tell others the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is our final pillar. At Limitless, we believe that we are sent to tell others the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ." [44:13] (21 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "We are called higher. We are called higher. We are called to be an example and tell others about the sacrifice of Jesus and about the goodness of God. One of my favorite scriptures, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9. It says you are a chosen race. It says you are a royal. It says you are a priesthood, a consecrated nation." [52:39] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




6. "We encountered a love and a grace that transformed us and changed us forever. And now we are called to share that same transformation with others so they have an opportunity to encounter a love and a grace that they've never known. A lot of us, you know, we're like, hey, I made it. I got saved and we're excited. Hey, I got saved. Good. Good. Praise God. Praise God for that. You got saved." [53:44] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




7. "The reason that we don't cuss people out when they cut us off on Main Street is because we're trying to be an example. Because it's awkward if you cut somebody out and then you start talking to them about Jesus. The reason that we have peace in the midst of turmoil. The reason that we are not moved when things are going on around us. The reason that we walk in love. The reason that we walk in joy." [50:22] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




8. "We are walking around with life. We are walking around with living water next to people who are starving. And we refuse to give them the water. We have to get rid of the excuses. I got to go. I got to go. Excuses. We have to get rid of the excuses." [01:02:15] (18 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




9. "The best evangelism tool that you have at your disposal is you. You are the best tool to lead somebody to Jesus. Your story, the things that God has brought you through. You know how much of a mess you was. Hallelujah. You know. You know. And you also know what God has done for you and how far he's brought you. He's brought you from where you used to be." [01:04:09] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




10. "The gospel is offensive. Preach it anyway. It is actually the offense that makes it the gospel because the world says, you know what? Do whatever you want to do. It don't matter. There's no consequences. Treat people how you want to. But Jesus says, no. He says, you put others before yourself. You treat others as better than you. You serve people. You love one another." [01:13:08] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)