It's a Given
Sharing the gospel of Jesus is a priviledge and a duty.
Linn Winters
Feb 4, 2018 39m
Everything we set out to do comes with certain expectations that are assumed at the beginning.
When we follow Jesus and are sharing the gospel of Jesus, there is an expectation that because Jesus loves people and wants to see them saved that we too should have the same heart. Video recorded at Chandler, Arizona.
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This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
-- Introductory video plays –
Pastor Linn 00:50 Hey Cornerstone, how are you doing?
Pastor Linn 00:55 Okay. My guess is right now everybody gets it. The super bowl is coming. No one cares. But uh, we actually have some super bowl quality guests in the house today. Mama Zapporah, who most of you know. Yeah. Uh, she's here. And then, uh, Joe Joe is also with her. Joe Joe is one of the young men that grew up in the orphanage there. Very, very cool.
Pastor Linn 01:21 So, let me catch some of us up, because there was a couple of us that may not know, but we have had a longstanding relationship with Mama Zapporah in an orphanage in Kenya called Humura Children's home. And we've done that because we have just been in awe of what God is using Mama to do there and the lives that are being changed; and there's just a ridiculous amount of little orphans who either have lost their parents, been abandoned, been abused, whatever that is, that brings them to a children's home. But while they're there, mama is just helping them figure out Jesus Christ, preparing them to go out and live in the culture, but to live as Christ followers, whatever their occupation would be, or they would do, that, they would just live out loud for Jesus. And we've just seen such remarkable results. And one of those stories is Joe Joe, who Joe Joe, I think you got to the orphanage when you were seven years old, um grew up in the orphanage, felt a call to go into ministry, uh, actually went to Bible College, graduated Bible College. I think you're doing a double major, right? Which is just wrong. Why would you do double major? And is now the pastor at Humura Children's Home, and this children's home and has tons of influence in Kenya with that. Yeah.
Pastor Linn 02:46 So, just a caveat to that, so I go to Kenya about every two years. I do a pastor’s conference there. Joe Joe's the guy who puts it together and literally hundreds of pastors come together because of his influence. That's what God is doing and come and get training and prepare to go out and do ministry. And, I'm just telling you, it's one of those incredible God stories were something that on first look you go, hey, it's, you know, it's just 150 orphans that all of a sudden become something way, way, way, way, way bigger when God lands it. So, we're just thrilled to be part of that and we've supported it, but what you need to know today is, is that there's a shift in the support. So, Mama has formed, is part of now a 501(c)(3) that's called Hope for Humura.
Pastor Linn 03:28 Here's why that's different. Up until now, all the money has come through Cornerstone, and then we have sent that on to her. What forming this 501(c)(3) Hope for Humura does is it makes it much easier for other churches to jump on. So, instead of them having to send their money to a church they don't know about and then have us, now they get to send it right to Hope for Humura, and then it goes right to Humura Children's Home. But what that means for me and you is that there's going to be a shift, and if you've been part of supporting Mama and Humura Children's Home, then you and I need to begin to direct our giving to Hope for Humura, instead of going through Cornerstone. So, if you'll just go at some point (if you're one of the people) to hopeforhumura.org, and then right there it will explain exactly how to do it. But, guys I'm just asking you, please, please, please don't skip this. Literally, Humura Children's Home waits for our check every single month. You and I are making a huge impact. We don't want that to weign. So, take this seriously, go after it. And if you've never given before, then you have our permission to go on and just check it out, see what God's doing and maybe become involved. Okay? Mama, would you do us a favor? Would you pray for us today? Thank you.
Mama Zapporah 04:39 Sure, sure. I bring you greetings from my children. Do you receive them? Can you stand up and we pray? Father, in Jesus' name, I just want to thank you so much for Cornerstone. Oh God. I want to thank you for the Lord, they have prayed since my husband died. Today, being, uh, this year being the tenth year since he died, and thank you God because they became daddies and mothers for my children. Thank you for all the giving they have given. Thank you for helping me to build a better charter for my kids that they are sleeping well. Thank you for making sure that we have got food on the table and clothing. Oh God, thank you Lord for even giving us money to take them to hospitals, oh God. I just want to honor you for each one of them who has contributed. Oh God, those who have been praying for us, oh God. And, this morning, I want to thank you so much for Mama Lisa and Pastor Linn. God, thank you so much for being a voice for us in their country. Oh God, I'm praying for the church, for anybody who is not well. Lord, I am praying that may you touch them and cure them. Oh, God bless their children, too Oh God. I'm praying for the Church, oh God, that Lord you shall open gates for them or God that Lord, you shall open gates for them, for being a blessing to those people who have so little to give back, oh God. Thank you so much for each one of them. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
Pastor Linn 06:20 I tell you what, if Mama prays for you, you've been prayed for. Okay, I'm just saying. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much.
Pastor Linn 06:26 Alright, so hey, we're jumping into our series which is just titled Follow, and we've just been asking this question, "Am I actually following Jesus, or have I been asking Jesus to follow me?" And, we've just been exploring this idea of getting up out of our seats of saying, Hey, you know what? I'm in with this Jesus thing and I get, I get it's going to probably involve some sacrifice. I get it. It's going to change my life, but I am just determined I'm going to follow this Jesus in my life. And uh, today we're just going to go back and unpack something that I call the unwritten expectation of every single person who claims to be a follower of Christ. You get that there are certain jobs that if you decide to do that job, it's just unspoken. There are certain things that are just part of that job. Nobody really needs to tell you that. It just, it's just understood. For instance, if you decide to be a doctor, it's kind of an unspoken reality that you're going to work with sick people. It's just, it's just what you do if you're a doctor. If you end up being a fireman, then you're going to probably be around fire. Okay. If you're a veterinarian, you're probably going to be around (inaudible). I was kind of thinking a little different. I was thinking (inaudible), but either way you get it right. There's unwritten expectations. If you're going to be a cheerleader, you're probably going to do a lot of yelling. If you're going to be a gymnast, you're going to do a lot of tumbling. It's just no one should even have to tell you that. It's just an unwritten expectation of whatever that is, which is what makes it surprising to me that there are Christians who say, "Hey, I'm going to be a follower of Jesus," and yet never invite anybody else to follow with them. What you need to know, what we need to grasp is this: that when you decide, hey, I'm following this Jesus person, it is an unwritten expectation. I mean, it's just part of what it is. It's as much a doctor working with sick people that you and I would extend that invitation to other people around us and say, "Hey, would you ever consider following my Jesus?"
Pastor Linn 08:38 It's just, it's just part of following that shouldn't even have to be said out loud because it's so core to what it means to follow Jesus. As a matter of fact, grab your Bibles right now because Jesus, in a moment when He's inviting a person to follow him for the very, very, very, very, very first time, literally extends this expectation to them. It's in Matthew Chapter Four. If you're not familiar, if you go to the back of your Bible, work to the left, you're going to find this book of Matthew. Matthew 4:19. Some of us in the room may be familiar with the story. It's the moment when Jesus was talking to Peter. Peter's a fisherman. He hears a sermon that Jesus teaches. Jesus has asked him to go out and push out from the water and try fishing in the afternoon. And he does that, and he catches this incredible amount of fish. And, now they've come back to the shore and Jesus says to Peter, you ready? Matthew 4:19 Come follow me. Invitation to follow. Same invitation every one of us has. "Come follow me", Jesus said, "And I will send you out to fish for people." You go, well He said that to Peter because he was a fisherman. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. We don't know. If he'd been a mason, he would've said, I'm going to send you out to quarry for people. If he had been a farmer, he would have said, I'm going to send you out to harvest hearts. But, you realize the implication is the same. That with the invitation that Jesus gives, "hey, come follow me", is this idea that's just absolutely core to the conversation. It's intrinsic; it's understood from the beginning. If you follow me, you're going to be inviting others to come follow me too. You'll be fishing for the hearts of people. You'll be harvesting people around you and inviting them and saying, hey, this Jesus who's changed so much of me and help me so deeply, would you, would you, would you ever consider following Him too? It is absolutely the unwritten unspoken expectation of being a follower of Jesus that we would invite others to follow are saying, Jesus.
Pastor Linn 11:05 And guys isn't it true that Jesus's entire purpose, if you stop and think about it as ministry, His entire reason for coming to earth was this invitation to follow. So, think about this. Jesus is in Heaven. He looks down at humanity and He says, oh my goodness, too many people just scores and scores of people aren't figuring out, God. What is the best way that I could influence them? What's the best way that I could give them an invitation? And, so, He decides to come to Earth, think about this, be born in human form so that He could live amongst humans and spend his entire life saying, "Hey, God is that way. If you'll follow me, I'll help you find Him." It's the very purpose for which He even came to Earth was this invitation to follow. When Jesus does His ministry, as Jesus speaks, He's not around saying, "Hey, let me impress you with my Bible knowledge. Let me, let's find some little nugget in the book of Isaiah." That's not what he did. If you watch over and over and over again, whether you were a fisherman or a tax collector or a prostitute or a religious person, it didn't matter. The invitation was always the same: "Hey, come follow me. Come follow me and let's just figure out what happens next." When Jesus dies on the cross, you realize He's there paying for our sins so that the very thing that keeps us from God is eliminated. He is creating a path for us to follow, to get to God. Come follow me. Everything about Jesus's life was an invitation to follow, which means if you and I are going to be followers with Jesus, just like the invitation he gave to Peter, you and I are going to be inviting others to join us in following.
Pastor Linn 13:04 Let me see if this helps. We have a family in the church. Their name is Todd and Candy Harrison. Now, here's what you need to know about Todd and Candy: super successful, super successful in business. He had a carpet cleaning, they had a carpet cleaning business together and we're not talking ma and pa, you know with one little van going around. We're talking about serious carpet cleaning, business thriving. They've got the 5,000 square foot house. They've got their Mercedes. They've got two beautiful kids. I mean everything. If you would've seen a Todd and Candy, you would have said man why would they even need Jesus? Because it's just, it's just so good. What very few people knew is that all through Todd and Candy's life, they had dabbled with drugs. There came a season in their marriage when the marriage was spiraling down, and, in that moment, they turned to the God that had always been there for them. They turned to drugs. It ended with them being involved with meth. In the midst of it, Todd and Candy lose the business. They're so messed up. They're so unable to manage and do what they need to do. They're spending money they shouldn't be spending. They lose the business. At one point in the midst of their marriage and the struggle, Todd is asked to move out. He's living homeless, sleeping behind Filiberto’s. And yet for him and for Candy, the drug use continues, to the point, are you ready for this? Candy was arrested more than 20 times for drug related charges. Todd apparently was not as bad as Candy; he only got arrested twelve. Candy ends up spending a season, she ended up spending, she got a year sentence for prison, for drug possession. When she gets out, Todd is sent to jail. When Todd gets out of jail he says "Candy, something has to change. Something needs to be different in our lives" They end up coming to Cornerstone. They discovered Jesus Christ and guys, everything changes. Their marriage gets on the right track, their finances in order, everything. Their kids get to see a mom and dad who love each other. I mean everything changes for them. But here's the key part of the story. So, I asked Todd and Candy, "How did you get there"? Was there, was there anybody speaking into your life during that whole thing that helped you figure this out? And without hesitation, without a moment, they said "Absolutely. It was Doug Whitmarsh. Doug Whitmarsh was our neighbor, Doug was different than us. We couldn't have explained that. We didn't know what that difference was. We just knew that Doug had something that we were desperately lacking. Doug would come over and just check on us and say 'hey, how are you doing? How's life.' Several times he actually worked on our car and was just being kind to us. And and as he would do that, and we'd say, hey, let us pay you and he's say no, don't worry about it. You know, whenever you can." But in that moment, you ready for this? Doug would look for the opportunity to say to them, Hey, I know you're struggling. Would you ever consider just going to church with me? And, time after time after time after time, they turned him down until Todd gets out of jail and says, "hey, something has to change." And all of a sudden, they say, "Hum. I wonder if we ought to go to church with Doug"?
Pastor Linn 17:00 You want to hear a really, really cool part of the story? Not only did their lives change, not only in a completely different place, not only have the absolutely plugged in here at Cornerstone and serve, but today we're going to do communion, and Todd and Candy are going to serve you communion today.
Pastor Linn 17:17 Yeah, I think you're at the back. Aren't you in the back? Yeah, they're in the back. But, guys, guys, guys, guys, don't miss the hero of the story. It's a neighbor named Doug who said, "If I'm following Jesus, then it only makes sense that I would do what Jesus did, that I would look for opportunities to invite people around me to follow Him too. Guys, here's why. Here's why. You ready for this? If you love Jesus, you have to love what Jesus loves. Let me just say this again. If you love Jesus, you cannot love Jesus and not love what Jesus loves or at least be concerned about what Jesus is concerned about.
Pastor Linn 18:05 Let me see. Some of you know my 7-year-old granddaughter came to live with us about seven months ago. Can I tell you that the injection of my granddaughter's life into my home has changed me? I'm just saying because you can't love a granddaughter and now not all of a sudden love the things or at least care about the thing she cares about. Anybody know what this is? It's not just a doll. It's an American Girl Doll because apparently there are statuses of dolls, which I had no idea before Catalina. Anybody who knows, how many American Girl Dolls. So, here's the other thing, you know they are stinkin expensive. American, man they got a racquet going because these things cost bucks which means you, are you ready for this? It means grandpa is on eBay, cause I ain't too proud to buy used. I can scrub the scuff marks off, right? One-third of my eBay searches are either American dolls and accessories or mermaid related. Now if you were to come to me a year ago and said, Hey Linn, you're going to be searching dolls on the Internet, I would have went "you are so whacked. You're wrong". But when you love somebody, you're compelled to love the things they love or at least care about the things they care about.
Pastor Linn 20:07 You ready for this? Jesus, your Jesus, loves people. He loves your neighbor. He loves your coworker. He loves Uncle Elmer. And, although it wouldn't be intuitive to you, it wouldn't be natural for me, if I love Jesus, I am compelled to, at the very least care about the things my Jesus cares about especially if I'm purporting to follow him. You get that following Jesus means every single one of us in this room is on assignment. Every one of us. Matter of fact, when Jesus leaves, He's simply says, Hey, I'm going to be gone. You're going to be my representatives on Earth. The only place, I'm not going to be here for them to see me, so the only place that they're going to see me is you. And so, I'm going to strategically place you on this assignment so people who don't understand me, people who are living in darkness have a glimpse of me through you. Every single one of us in this room who calls himself a Christ follower, is strategically positioned and on assignment that people who have not figured out God yet would figure it out because of us.
Pastor Linn 21:49 Matter of fact, grab your Bibles because Jesus is going to tell us exactly this. It's Matthew Chapter Five. If you didn't close your Bible, it's literally just a few verses down. Here's the irony. He tells Peter one moment, He says, "Hey, I'm going to make you a fisher of men", and now He's going to have a conversation about being the light of the world. Just a few verses later. It's Matthew Chapter Five. If you close your Bible, just open from the back and work to the left. Matthew 5:14, this is Jesus again, okay? Here's what He says, "You [all of us] all are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden; neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl." That would be dumb. Instead, they put it on a stand. You take the candle, you take the lamp, whatever that is, whatever that light source is, you put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. And then, watch this - in the same way with that same amount of strategery, with that same amount of thought, "let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven." Now think about this for a second. If Jesus says to you and me, you and I are the light, okay? He says, when you have a light, you think about where you're going to place it and you put it in the place that it's going to have the greatest effect. If you and I are the light, who's the placer? Who's the person strategically deciding where to put that light? It's not the light that decides. It's the owner that decides which means, ready for this? Jesus strategically placed every single person in this room where you have the greatest opportunity to be light to people who don't know Jesus yet who haven't become followers yet, which means that soccer team you signed your kids for - you thought the other kids playing on that soccer team were just random luck or just happened to sign up at the right time. But didn't Jesus just say it's a possibility that I knew the team and made sure that exactly the right families ended up on your team so that they would be exposed to someone who's different than them, so someone who would reveal me to them and suddenly those families on that soccer team look different to you and me because the you made be their best chance to ever figure out Jesus. You may be the best light source in their lives here. That work group you're in at work. You're still trying to figure out why your supervisor invited Fred to be part of that work group. He's obnoxious. He says too much. He stonewalls everything. Is it possible that it wasn't your supervisor with the plan? Is it possible that Jesus leveraged Fred onto the work group so that Fred would see you because you are Fred's best chance to ever, ever, ever, ever figure out Jesus because He places lights where it has the greatest effect?
Pastor Linn 25:28 See, some of you are angry and bitter at God for your family. You're like, why in the world is my family is so screwed up? How come we got Uncle Elmer? Why didn't I get the mom that I got? Why did I get the brothers and sisters? You think that was an accident? Or, is it just possible that God placed you in your family because you are their best chance to ever see your Jesus. You are the lamp stand in your family. Your neighborhood. I get it. You believe you bought your house because you like the floor plan? You believe you bought that house because you talked the owner down and got a good price. Is it possible that there were three other houses somewhere in your community that you would've liked just as much as that house and your realtor never showed them to you? How did that happen? Is it possible that God placed you on the street in the home you're in because you are your neighbors' best shot to ever figure this Jesus person out? That's exactly what Doug did for Todd and Candy. He saw his neighborhood as God strategic placement and he said, look, I've got these people next door who are messing up their lives, losing their business, doing drugs like themes, and I just may be their best shot. And guys, you don't have to look for the worst person in your neighborhood. Anybody on your street. Anybody in your work group. If they were to figure out Jesus, their life would be better. I don't care if they've got the big house. I don't care if they've got the means. Anybody who doesn't know your Jesus. If they figured out your Jesus, their life would be better. And is it possible that your life is actually a life on assignment and you are someone's best shot at ever figuring out, and the call on us is to simply do what Doug did. Hey, would you ever consider coming to church with me? My guess is Doug was just afraid of doing that as you and I are. My guess is Doug sat at home and said you know maybe they're going to think that's intrusive. And I don't know all the Bible verses, so what if they ask me some deep theological question that I don't know and, and what Doug was able to do for Todd and Candy was simply to position his life and to see his neighbors, people who needed to follow Jesus and to see himself as possibly their best chance of following Jesus. And he simply just said, hey, would you ever, would you ever consider following me to church? You might figure out how to follow my Jesus.
Pastor Linn 25:28 Let's be honest, this, gets a little weird for you and me because we've all seen obnoxious Christians, right? We've seen the Christians who wear the t-shirt that says you're going to hell, just to ask me. Right? Or the Christian who's just so, so hyper excited about Jesus that they're just like cramming and Jesus down someone's throat and you just go, man, I just, I just don't want to be that Christian. Right? I don't want to be that person because I'm pretty convinced that that probably just turns people off more than it leads them to my Jesus. And I'm just going to tell you, I think you're right. I think you're right. Matter of fact, if this is the door to their heart and you're over here and you're trying to break the door down, and you're going "You need Jesus!", then if you're doing that, it's just instinct that they're going to be on the other side pushing back with equal force and just saying "man, if that's what following Jesus is like, I don't want any of that". Here's what interesting: Jesus never owned a Christian t-shirt. He never had a bumper sticker on the back of his donkey, "turn or burn baby". He just never had it, right? He didn't do that. Matter of fact, in Revelation Chapter Three, Jesus described how he went about this. Here's what he said. You Ready? "Behold, I stand at the door and I knock." I simply, without pushing or yelling or screaming or painting, heathen on the door big, well, don't do any of that. So, I just knock. And if anyone would be willing to open that door, I'd have the conversation. I'd invite them to follow me and so guys, I'm just gonna ask what would it mean for every one of us to leave here today and simply say, who was it in my life that I'm on assignment for? Who is it that I'm their best chance, and would I begin to simply knock? See if they would open up and begin to ask me questions about this Jesus that I follow, and I could have the opportunity to invite them to follow my Jesus.
Pastor Linn 31:03 Let me tell you how this works. Okay? Super simple, but here's what I'm going to ask you to consider doing. Number one: remember in the story with Todd and Candy, they said about Doug that there was something different about him. Guys, you got to go and follow. You got to live like Jesus. You got to let this Christian thing sink in and I'm not telling you to be perfect. I'm just telling you to be different, and in those moments, you blow it, you apologize. You just do your very, very best to live like Jesus because there's got to be a sense of the person on the other side of the door that you're a little bit different and there's something that you have that they don't have, so just just live Jesus as best you can. That's all I'm asking.
Pastor Linn 31:45 The second thing: would you look for opportunities to be kind? I love in the story about Doug. Doug went over and fixed their car. He just said, hey, let me, let me help. And would you consider just being kind? Especially, think about this, especially to the people that you think I might be as on assignment - that horrible person in the work group, the family member that nobody else invites to Easter. Think about being kind. Just kind. Kind of what Jesus would do, right? And then once we've lived like Jesus, once we just have been kind to people around us, we’re gonna knock (and knocking is as simple as asking questions). Hey, how are your kids? Because isn't that the truth that everybody will talk about their kids? If their kids are wonderful, they're going to talk about them. If their kids are demon possessed, they're going to talk about them, right? It's just everybody will talk about their kids. Okay, and don't be surprised if they go, you know, we're struggling right now. How are your kids? Not so good, and suddenly the door opens, and you have the opportunity to just simply say, hey, would you ever think about bringing your kids to church? It's an amazing youth group. They'd meet totally different friends. They'd hear stuff about honoring their parents. Would you ever think about doing that with me? Here's another question. How's life treating you? How's life treating you? And a whole bunch of times you're going to get, oh, it's great, it's good, it's fine, but you guys are going to come that moment someone's going to say not so good, and you're going to say what's that about? And they go, hey, someone I love is in the hospital. My marriage is struggling, and you realize that in that moment when they respond that way, if anyone will open the door and you and I have the opportunity to step in and just say, "hey, in the midst of that struggle, in the midst of that, which would you ever, ever, ever consider following Jesus"? And, guys, it can be as simple as "Would you would you ever consider just coming to church with me?"
Pastor Linn 34:30 So, here's the question. Who is it that you're their best chance to ever figure this Jesus out? And my guess is for the vast majority of us, if we were to stop and think about that and pray about we'd have multiple names. Oh, I bet you that mom on the soccer team. I'll bet you my neighbor three doors down. I bet you my nephew. I'm probably their best chance to ever figure - if they're ever going to figure this Jesus out, I'm probably their best chance. How cool would it be if you and I simply did what Jesus did? We just knocked on the hearts of people and just said, hey, you know, would you consider the conversation? And what if literally you and I were responsible for dozens and dozens of people becoming followers of Jesus in your family? At your workplace? How cool would that be?
Pastor Linn 35:38 But it doesn't happen without the knock. Here's what's happening. We've already told you that next Sunday we're all coming together. We're saying, hey, would you move one? So, we're simply saying what you make a decision about your discipleship. You are following Jesus. Am I going to start daily devotions? Am I going to make church a regular thing every single Sunday? Am I going to begin to give? Am I going to begin to serve? What am I going to do that would be a significant step? I'll move one step in following Christ. Some of us are going to do more, but we're all going to do one that is going to change my follow ship in 2018. What's that one thing? And today I'm gonna ask you to consider a second thing. Who's the person that I would invite to follow my Jesus to just come to church with me? To just check it out? This year. Who is the person? I'm probably their best chance.
Pastor Linn 36:30 To ever get this right and what we're gonna do together next week is we're gonna fill out our cards. Part of the card is going to be, hey, give us the first name. You're the only one that's going to know. Yeah, I'm gonna be inviting Ed, or I'm going to be inviting Alan. Just give us the first name and then at every one of our campuses we've built kind of a sign thing that has sockets, empty light sockets in it, and we're going to take the names that you'd give and put them in the light sockets. We're going to fill them up and when you're one comes, when they show up, you're going to go up to the light socket, and you're gonna grab us one of those slips of paper out and you're going to screw in a light bulb to say I invited. I asked if they would be willing to consider, and they came. And you and I are going to hopefully just fill those signs up with people that we have invited to follow our Jesus. Because, it's just absolutely unspoken that if you follow Jesus, you've got to invite others to do the same.
Pastor Linn 37:40 Let's pray. Hey, dear Lord Jesus, we simply come to you and God we're going to ask that you would begin to let us see the lives around us completely differently. That we would understand that if we love you, then we've got to love the things that you love and that's people, and that you have strategically placed as you've placed us in our families. You've placed this in our neighborhoods. You've placed us on that soccer team because there's somebody in proximity that we are their best chance to ever figure out to ever to begin to be a follower of you and God. I'm just going to ask that every person in this room today would resolve in their hearts. I'm going to knock. I'm going to be somebody's Doug. I'm going to be kind and gracious in their life. I'm gonna live my story about Jesus in front of them so they can see and when the moment comes I'm going to say, hey, how are your kids? How's life? All the while whispering a prayer that they would open the door of their heart and say, not so good. I'm really struggling. And in that moment, we just promise Jesus, we're going to ask would you ever consider coming to church? Ever consider following my Jesus? God, it's just what followers do. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Recorded in Chandler, Arizona.
Pastor Linn 00:50 Hey Cornerstone, how are you doing?
Pastor Linn 00:55 Okay. My guess is right now everybody gets it. The super bowl is coming. No one cares. But uh, we actually have some super bowl quality guests in the house today. Mama Zapporah, who most of you know. Yeah. Uh, she's here. And then, uh, Joe Joe is also with her. Joe Joe is one of the young men that grew up in the orphanage there. Very, very cool.
Pastor Linn 01:21 So, let me catch some of us up, because there was a couple of us that may not know, but we have had a longstanding relationship with Mama Zapporah in an orphanage in Kenya called Humura Children's home. And we've done that because we have just been in awe of what God is using Mama to do there and the lives that are being changed; and there's just a ridiculous amount of little orphans who either have lost their parents, been abandoned, been abused, whatever that is, that brings them to a children's home. But while they're there, mama is just helping them figure out Jesus Christ, preparing them to go out and live in the culture, but to live as Christ followers, whatever their occupation would be, or they would do, that, they would just live out loud for Jesus. And we've just seen such remarkable results. And one of those stories is Joe Joe, who Joe Joe, I think you got to the orphanage when you were seven years old, um grew up in the orphanage, felt a call to go into ministry, uh, actually went to Bible College, graduated Bible College. I think you're doing a double major, right? Which is just wrong. Why would you do double major? And is now the pastor at Humura Children's Home, and this children's home and has tons of influence in Kenya with that. Yeah.
Pastor Linn 02:46 So, just a caveat to that, so I go to Kenya about every two years. I do a pastor’s conference there. Joe Joe's the guy who puts it together and literally hundreds of pastors come together because of his influence. That's what God is doing and come and get training and prepare to go out and do ministry. And, I'm just telling you, it's one of those incredible God stories were something that on first look you go, hey, it's, you know, it's just 150 orphans that all of a sudden become something way, way, way, way, way bigger when God lands it. So, we're just thrilled to be part of that and we've supported it, but what you need to know today is, is that there's a shift in the support. So, Mama has formed, is part of now a 501(c)(3) that's called Hope for Humura.
Pastor Linn 03:28 Here's why that's different. Up until now, all the money has come through Cornerstone, and then we have sent that on to her. What forming this 501(c)(3) Hope for Humura does is it makes it much easier for other churches to jump on. So, instead of them having to send their money to a church they don't know about and then have us, now they get to send it right to Hope for Humura, and then it goes right to Humura Children's Home. But what that means for me and you is that there's going to be a shift, and if you've been part of supporting Mama and Humura Children's Home, then you and I need to begin to direct our giving to Hope for Humura, instead of going through Cornerstone. So, if you'll just go at some point (if you're one of the people) to hopeforhumura.org, and then right there it will explain exactly how to do it. But, guys I'm just asking you, please, please, please don't skip this. Literally, Humura Children's Home waits for our check every single month. You and I are making a huge impact. We don't want that to weign. So, take this seriously, go after it. And if you've never given before, then you have our permission to go on and just check it out, see what God's doing and maybe become involved. Okay? Mama, would you do us a favor? Would you pray for us today? Thank you.
Mama Zapporah 04:39 Sure, sure. I bring you greetings from my children. Do you receive them? Can you stand up and we pray? Father, in Jesus' name, I just want to thank you so much for Cornerstone. Oh God. I want to thank you for the Lord, they have prayed since my husband died. Today, being, uh, this year being the tenth year since he died, and thank you God because they became daddies and mothers for my children. Thank you for all the giving they have given. Thank you for helping me to build a better charter for my kids that they are sleeping well. Thank you for making sure that we have got food on the table and clothing. Oh God, thank you Lord for even giving us money to take them to hospitals, oh God. I just want to honor you for each one of them who has contributed. Oh God, those who have been praying for us, oh God. And, this morning, I want to thank you so much for Mama Lisa and Pastor Linn. God, thank you so much for being a voice for us in their country. Oh God, I'm praying for the church, for anybody who is not well. Lord, I am praying that may you touch them and cure them. Oh, God bless their children, too Oh God. I'm praying for the Church, oh God, that Lord you shall open gates for them or God that Lord, you shall open gates for them, for being a blessing to those people who have so little to give back, oh God. Thank you so much for each one of them. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
Pastor Linn 06:20 I tell you what, if Mama prays for you, you've been prayed for. Okay, I'm just saying. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much.
Pastor Linn 06:26 Alright, so hey, we're jumping into our series which is just titled Follow, and we've just been asking this question, "Am I actually following Jesus, or have I been asking Jesus to follow me?" And, we've just been exploring this idea of getting up out of our seats of saying, Hey, you know what? I'm in with this Jesus thing and I get, I get it's going to probably involve some sacrifice. I get it. It's going to change my life, but I am just determined I'm going to follow this Jesus in my life. And uh, today we're just going to go back and unpack something that I call the unwritten expectation of every single person who claims to be a follower of Christ. You get that there are certain jobs that if you decide to do that job, it's just unspoken. There are certain things that are just part of that job. Nobody really needs to tell you that. It just, it's just understood. For instance, if you decide to be a doctor, it's kind of an unspoken reality that you're going to work with sick people. It's just, it's just what you do if you're a doctor. If you end up being a fireman, then you're going to probably be around fire. Okay. If you're a veterinarian, you're probably going to be around (inaudible). I was kind of thinking a little different. I was thinking (inaudible), but either way you get it right. There's unwritten expectations. If you're going to be a cheerleader, you're probably going to do a lot of yelling. If you're going to be a gymnast, you're going to do a lot of tumbling. It's just no one should even have to tell you that. It's just an unwritten expectation of whatever that is, which is what makes it surprising to me that there are Christians who say, "Hey, I'm going to be a follower of Jesus," and yet never invite anybody else to follow with them. What you need to know, what we need to grasp is this: that when you decide, hey, I'm following this Jesus person, it is an unwritten expectation. I mean, it's just part of what it is. It's as much a doctor working with sick people that you and I would extend that invitation to other people around us and say, "Hey, would you ever consider following my Jesus?"
Pastor Linn 08:38 It's just, it's just part of following that shouldn't even have to be said out loud because it's so core to what it means to follow Jesus. As a matter of fact, grab your Bibles right now because Jesus, in a moment when He's inviting a person to follow him for the very, very, very, very, very first time, literally extends this expectation to them. It's in Matthew Chapter Four. If you're not familiar, if you go to the back of your Bible, work to the left, you're going to find this book of Matthew. Matthew 4:19. Some of us in the room may be familiar with the story. It's the moment when Jesus was talking to Peter. Peter's a fisherman. He hears a sermon that Jesus teaches. Jesus has asked him to go out and push out from the water and try fishing in the afternoon. And he does that, and he catches this incredible amount of fish. And, now they've come back to the shore and Jesus says to Peter, you ready? Matthew 4:19 Come follow me. Invitation to follow. Same invitation every one of us has. "Come follow me", Jesus said, "And I will send you out to fish for people." You go, well He said that to Peter because he was a fisherman. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. We don't know. If he'd been a mason, he would've said, I'm going to send you out to quarry for people. If he had been a farmer, he would have said, I'm going to send you out to harvest hearts. But, you realize the implication is the same. That with the invitation that Jesus gives, "hey, come follow me", is this idea that's just absolutely core to the conversation. It's intrinsic; it's understood from the beginning. If you follow me, you're going to be inviting others to come follow me too. You'll be fishing for the hearts of people. You'll be harvesting people around you and inviting them and saying, hey, this Jesus who's changed so much of me and help me so deeply, would you, would you, would you ever consider following Him too? It is absolutely the unwritten unspoken expectation of being a follower of Jesus that we would invite others to follow are saying, Jesus.
Pastor Linn 11:05 And guys isn't it true that Jesus's entire purpose, if you stop and think about it as ministry, His entire reason for coming to earth was this invitation to follow. So, think about this. Jesus is in Heaven. He looks down at humanity and He says, oh my goodness, too many people just scores and scores of people aren't figuring out, God. What is the best way that I could influence them? What's the best way that I could give them an invitation? And, so, He decides to come to Earth, think about this, be born in human form so that He could live amongst humans and spend his entire life saying, "Hey, God is that way. If you'll follow me, I'll help you find Him." It's the very purpose for which He even came to Earth was this invitation to follow. When Jesus does His ministry, as Jesus speaks, He's not around saying, "Hey, let me impress you with my Bible knowledge. Let me, let's find some little nugget in the book of Isaiah." That's not what he did. If you watch over and over and over again, whether you were a fisherman or a tax collector or a prostitute or a religious person, it didn't matter. The invitation was always the same: "Hey, come follow me. Come follow me and let's just figure out what happens next." When Jesus dies on the cross, you realize He's there paying for our sins so that the very thing that keeps us from God is eliminated. He is creating a path for us to follow, to get to God. Come follow me. Everything about Jesus's life was an invitation to follow, which means if you and I are going to be followers with Jesus, just like the invitation he gave to Peter, you and I are going to be inviting others to join us in following.
Pastor Linn 13:04 Let me see if this helps. We have a family in the church. Their name is Todd and Candy Harrison. Now, here's what you need to know about Todd and Candy: super successful, super successful in business. He had a carpet cleaning, they had a carpet cleaning business together and we're not talking ma and pa, you know with one little van going around. We're talking about serious carpet cleaning, business thriving. They've got the 5,000 square foot house. They've got their Mercedes. They've got two beautiful kids. I mean everything. If you would've seen a Todd and Candy, you would have said man why would they even need Jesus? Because it's just, it's just so good. What very few people knew is that all through Todd and Candy's life, they had dabbled with drugs. There came a season in their marriage when the marriage was spiraling down, and, in that moment, they turned to the God that had always been there for them. They turned to drugs. It ended with them being involved with meth. In the midst of it, Todd and Candy lose the business. They're so messed up. They're so unable to manage and do what they need to do. They're spending money they shouldn't be spending. They lose the business. At one point in the midst of their marriage and the struggle, Todd is asked to move out. He's living homeless, sleeping behind Filiberto’s. And yet for him and for Candy, the drug use continues, to the point, are you ready for this? Candy was arrested more than 20 times for drug related charges. Todd apparently was not as bad as Candy; he only got arrested twelve. Candy ends up spending a season, she ended up spending, she got a year sentence for prison, for drug possession. When she gets out, Todd is sent to jail. When Todd gets out of jail he says "Candy, something has to change. Something needs to be different in our lives" They end up coming to Cornerstone. They discovered Jesus Christ and guys, everything changes. Their marriage gets on the right track, their finances in order, everything. Their kids get to see a mom and dad who love each other. I mean everything changes for them. But here's the key part of the story. So, I asked Todd and Candy, "How did you get there"? Was there, was there anybody speaking into your life during that whole thing that helped you figure this out? And without hesitation, without a moment, they said "Absolutely. It was Doug Whitmarsh. Doug Whitmarsh was our neighbor, Doug was different than us. We couldn't have explained that. We didn't know what that difference was. We just knew that Doug had something that we were desperately lacking. Doug would come over and just check on us and say 'hey, how are you doing? How's life.' Several times he actually worked on our car and was just being kind to us. And and as he would do that, and we'd say, hey, let us pay you and he's say no, don't worry about it. You know, whenever you can." But in that moment, you ready for this? Doug would look for the opportunity to say to them, Hey, I know you're struggling. Would you ever consider just going to church with me? And, time after time after time after time, they turned him down until Todd gets out of jail and says, "hey, something has to change." And all of a sudden, they say, "Hum. I wonder if we ought to go to church with Doug"?
Pastor Linn 17:00 You want to hear a really, really cool part of the story? Not only did their lives change, not only in a completely different place, not only have the absolutely plugged in here at Cornerstone and serve, but today we're going to do communion, and Todd and Candy are going to serve you communion today.
Pastor Linn 17:17 Yeah, I think you're at the back. Aren't you in the back? Yeah, they're in the back. But, guys, guys, guys, guys, don't miss the hero of the story. It's a neighbor named Doug who said, "If I'm following Jesus, then it only makes sense that I would do what Jesus did, that I would look for opportunities to invite people around me to follow Him too. Guys, here's why. Here's why. You ready for this? If you love Jesus, you have to love what Jesus loves. Let me just say this again. If you love Jesus, you cannot love Jesus and not love what Jesus loves or at least be concerned about what Jesus is concerned about.
Pastor Linn 18:05 Let me see. Some of you know my 7-year-old granddaughter came to live with us about seven months ago. Can I tell you that the injection of my granddaughter's life into my home has changed me? I'm just saying because you can't love a granddaughter and now not all of a sudden love the things or at least care about the thing she cares about. Anybody know what this is? It's not just a doll. It's an American Girl Doll because apparently there are statuses of dolls, which I had no idea before Catalina. Anybody who knows, how many American Girl Dolls. So, here's the other thing, you know they are stinkin expensive. American, man they got a racquet going because these things cost bucks which means you, are you ready for this? It means grandpa is on eBay, cause I ain't too proud to buy used. I can scrub the scuff marks off, right? One-third of my eBay searches are either American dolls and accessories or mermaid related. Now if you were to come to me a year ago and said, Hey Linn, you're going to be searching dolls on the Internet, I would have went "you are so whacked. You're wrong". But when you love somebody, you're compelled to love the things they love or at least care about the things they care about.
Pastor Linn 20:07 You ready for this? Jesus, your Jesus, loves people. He loves your neighbor. He loves your coworker. He loves Uncle Elmer. And, although it wouldn't be intuitive to you, it wouldn't be natural for me, if I love Jesus, I am compelled to, at the very least care about the things my Jesus cares about especially if I'm purporting to follow him. You get that following Jesus means every single one of us in this room is on assignment. Every one of us. Matter of fact, when Jesus leaves, He's simply says, Hey, I'm going to be gone. You're going to be my representatives on Earth. The only place, I'm not going to be here for them to see me, so the only place that they're going to see me is you. And so, I'm going to strategically place you on this assignment so people who don't understand me, people who are living in darkness have a glimpse of me through you. Every single one of us in this room who calls himself a Christ follower, is strategically positioned and on assignment that people who have not figured out God yet would figure it out because of us.
Pastor Linn 21:49 Matter of fact, grab your Bibles because Jesus is going to tell us exactly this. It's Matthew Chapter Five. If you didn't close your Bible, it's literally just a few verses down. Here's the irony. He tells Peter one moment, He says, "Hey, I'm going to make you a fisher of men", and now He's going to have a conversation about being the light of the world. Just a few verses later. It's Matthew Chapter Five. If you close your Bible, just open from the back and work to the left. Matthew 5:14, this is Jesus again, okay? Here's what He says, "You [all of us] all are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden; neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl." That would be dumb. Instead, they put it on a stand. You take the candle, you take the lamp, whatever that is, whatever that light source is, you put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. And then, watch this - in the same way with that same amount of strategery, with that same amount of thought, "let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven." Now think about this for a second. If Jesus says to you and me, you and I are the light, okay? He says, when you have a light, you think about where you're going to place it and you put it in the place that it's going to have the greatest effect. If you and I are the light, who's the placer? Who's the person strategically deciding where to put that light? It's not the light that decides. It's the owner that decides which means, ready for this? Jesus strategically placed every single person in this room where you have the greatest opportunity to be light to people who don't know Jesus yet who haven't become followers yet, which means that soccer team you signed your kids for - you thought the other kids playing on that soccer team were just random luck or just happened to sign up at the right time. But didn't Jesus just say it's a possibility that I knew the team and made sure that exactly the right families ended up on your team so that they would be exposed to someone who's different than them, so someone who would reveal me to them and suddenly those families on that soccer team look different to you and me because the you made be their best chance to ever figure out Jesus. You may be the best light source in their lives here. That work group you're in at work. You're still trying to figure out why your supervisor invited Fred to be part of that work group. He's obnoxious. He says too much. He stonewalls everything. Is it possible that it wasn't your supervisor with the plan? Is it possible that Jesus leveraged Fred onto the work group so that Fred would see you because you are Fred's best chance to ever, ever, ever, ever figure out Jesus because He places lights where it has the greatest effect?
Pastor Linn 25:28 See, some of you are angry and bitter at God for your family. You're like, why in the world is my family is so screwed up? How come we got Uncle Elmer? Why didn't I get the mom that I got? Why did I get the brothers and sisters? You think that was an accident? Or, is it just possible that God placed you in your family because you are their best chance to ever see your Jesus. You are the lamp stand in your family. Your neighborhood. I get it. You believe you bought your house because you like the floor plan? You believe you bought that house because you talked the owner down and got a good price. Is it possible that there were three other houses somewhere in your community that you would've liked just as much as that house and your realtor never showed them to you? How did that happen? Is it possible that God placed you on the street in the home you're in because you are your neighbors' best shot to ever figure this Jesus person out? That's exactly what Doug did for Todd and Candy. He saw his neighborhood as God strategic placement and he said, look, I've got these people next door who are messing up their lives, losing their business, doing drugs like themes, and I just may be their best shot. And guys, you don't have to look for the worst person in your neighborhood. Anybody on your street. Anybody in your work group. If they were to figure out Jesus, their life would be better. I don't care if they've got the big house. I don't care if they've got the means. Anybody who doesn't know your Jesus. If they figured out your Jesus, their life would be better. And is it possible that your life is actually a life on assignment and you are someone's best shot at ever figuring out, and the call on us is to simply do what Doug did. Hey, would you ever consider coming to church with me? My guess is Doug was just afraid of doing that as you and I are. My guess is Doug sat at home and said you know maybe they're going to think that's intrusive. And I don't know all the Bible verses, so what if they ask me some deep theological question that I don't know and, and what Doug was able to do for Todd and Candy was simply to position his life and to see his neighbors, people who needed to follow Jesus and to see himself as possibly their best chance of following Jesus. And he simply just said, hey, would you ever, would you ever consider following me to church? You might figure out how to follow my Jesus.
Pastor Linn 25:28 Let's be honest, this, gets a little weird for you and me because we've all seen obnoxious Christians, right? We've seen the Christians who wear the t-shirt that says you're going to hell, just to ask me. Right? Or the Christian who's just so, so hyper excited about Jesus that they're just like cramming and Jesus down someone's throat and you just go, man, I just, I just don't want to be that Christian. Right? I don't want to be that person because I'm pretty convinced that that probably just turns people off more than it leads them to my Jesus. And I'm just going to tell you, I think you're right. I think you're right. Matter of fact, if this is the door to their heart and you're over here and you're trying to break the door down, and you're going "You need Jesus!", then if you're doing that, it's just instinct that they're going to be on the other side pushing back with equal force and just saying "man, if that's what following Jesus is like, I don't want any of that". Here's what interesting: Jesus never owned a Christian t-shirt. He never had a bumper sticker on the back of his donkey, "turn or burn baby". He just never had it, right? He didn't do that. Matter of fact, in Revelation Chapter Three, Jesus described how he went about this. Here's what he said. You Ready? "Behold, I stand at the door and I knock." I simply, without pushing or yelling or screaming or painting, heathen on the door big, well, don't do any of that. So, I just knock. And if anyone would be willing to open that door, I'd have the conversation. I'd invite them to follow me and so guys, I'm just gonna ask what would it mean for every one of us to leave here today and simply say, who was it in my life that I'm on assignment for? Who is it that I'm their best chance, and would I begin to simply knock? See if they would open up and begin to ask me questions about this Jesus that I follow, and I could have the opportunity to invite them to follow my Jesus.
Pastor Linn 31:03 Let me tell you how this works. Okay? Super simple, but here's what I'm going to ask you to consider doing. Number one: remember in the story with Todd and Candy, they said about Doug that there was something different about him. Guys, you got to go and follow. You got to live like Jesus. You got to let this Christian thing sink in and I'm not telling you to be perfect. I'm just telling you to be different, and in those moments, you blow it, you apologize. You just do your very, very best to live like Jesus because there's got to be a sense of the person on the other side of the door that you're a little bit different and there's something that you have that they don't have, so just just live Jesus as best you can. That's all I'm asking.
Pastor Linn 31:45 The second thing: would you look for opportunities to be kind? I love in the story about Doug. Doug went over and fixed their car. He just said, hey, let me, let me help. And would you consider just being kind? Especially, think about this, especially to the people that you think I might be as on assignment - that horrible person in the work group, the family member that nobody else invites to Easter. Think about being kind. Just kind. Kind of what Jesus would do, right? And then once we've lived like Jesus, once we just have been kind to people around us, we’re gonna knock (and knocking is as simple as asking questions). Hey, how are your kids? Because isn't that the truth that everybody will talk about their kids? If their kids are wonderful, they're going to talk about them. If their kids are demon possessed, they're going to talk about them, right? It's just everybody will talk about their kids. Okay, and don't be surprised if they go, you know, we're struggling right now. How are your kids? Not so good, and suddenly the door opens, and you have the opportunity to just simply say, hey, would you ever think about bringing your kids to church? It's an amazing youth group. They'd meet totally different friends. They'd hear stuff about honoring their parents. Would you ever think about doing that with me? Here's another question. How's life treating you? How's life treating you? And a whole bunch of times you're going to get, oh, it's great, it's good, it's fine, but you guys are going to come that moment someone's going to say not so good, and you're going to say what's that about? And they go, hey, someone I love is in the hospital. My marriage is struggling, and you realize that in that moment when they respond that way, if anyone will open the door and you and I have the opportunity to step in and just say, "hey, in the midst of that struggle, in the midst of that, which would you ever, ever, ever consider following Jesus"? And, guys, it can be as simple as "Would you would you ever consider just coming to church with me?"
Pastor Linn 34:30 So, here's the question. Who is it that you're their best chance to ever figure this Jesus out? And my guess is for the vast majority of us, if we were to stop and think about that and pray about we'd have multiple names. Oh, I bet you that mom on the soccer team. I'll bet you my neighbor three doors down. I bet you my nephew. I'm probably their best chance to ever figure - if they're ever going to figure this Jesus out, I'm probably their best chance. How cool would it be if you and I simply did what Jesus did? We just knocked on the hearts of people and just said, hey, you know, would you consider the conversation? And what if literally you and I were responsible for dozens and dozens of people becoming followers of Jesus in your family? At your workplace? How cool would that be?
Pastor Linn 35:38 But it doesn't happen without the knock. Here's what's happening. We've already told you that next Sunday we're all coming together. We're saying, hey, would you move one? So, we're simply saying what you make a decision about your discipleship. You are following Jesus. Am I going to start daily devotions? Am I going to make church a regular thing every single Sunday? Am I going to begin to give? Am I going to begin to serve? What am I going to do that would be a significant step? I'll move one step in following Christ. Some of us are going to do more, but we're all going to do one that is going to change my follow ship in 2018. What's that one thing? And today I'm gonna ask you to consider a second thing. Who's the person that I would invite to follow my Jesus to just come to church with me? To just check it out? This year. Who is the person? I'm probably their best chance.
Pastor Linn 36:30 To ever get this right and what we're gonna do together next week is we're gonna fill out our cards. Part of the card is going to be, hey, give us the first name. You're the only one that's going to know. Yeah, I'm gonna be inviting Ed, or I'm going to be inviting Alan. Just give us the first name and then at every one of our campuses we've built kind of a sign thing that has sockets, empty light sockets in it, and we're going to take the names that you'd give and put them in the light sockets. We're going to fill them up and when you're one comes, when they show up, you're going to go up to the light socket, and you're gonna grab us one of those slips of paper out and you're going to screw in a light bulb to say I invited. I asked if they would be willing to consider, and they came. And you and I are going to hopefully just fill those signs up with people that we have invited to follow our Jesus. Because, it's just absolutely unspoken that if you follow Jesus, you've got to invite others to do the same.
Pastor Linn 37:40 Let's pray. Hey, dear Lord Jesus, we simply come to you and God we're going to ask that you would begin to let us see the lives around us completely differently. That we would understand that if we love you, then we've got to love the things that you love and that's people, and that you have strategically placed as you've placed us in our families. You've placed this in our neighborhoods. You've placed us on that soccer team because there's somebody in proximity that we are their best chance to ever figure out to ever to begin to be a follower of you and God. I'm just going to ask that every person in this room today would resolve in their hearts. I'm going to knock. I'm going to be somebody's Doug. I'm going to be kind and gracious in their life. I'm gonna live my story about Jesus in front of them so they can see and when the moment comes I'm going to say, hey, how are your kids? How's life? All the while whispering a prayer that they would open the door of their heart and say, not so good. I'm really struggling. And in that moment, we just promise Jesus, we're going to ask would you ever consider coming to church? Ever consider following my Jesus? God, it's just what followers do. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Recorded in Chandler, Arizona.
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