Arcade Church Service 6-21-20

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] why did the crab never share no because he's shellfish was the leading cause of dry skin in America skin most gather [Music] towels stand with man's no skin no dress yet what do you call a candle burn that does not work I can not opener yeah okay what did one ocean say to the other ocean I don't know nothing they just waved [Music] how do you organize a space party not like socially distance spaced-out party like a space for in space you plan it mmm planet get in mmm I used to be hooked on the hokey-pokey I turn myself around I turn my club right I just did the holy buggy did you hear it I heard it in my head happy Father's Day and welcome to the arcade Church online service we are so glad that you're joining us this morning if you're new with us today we would love to get to know you you can do that by texting arcade guests to four eight four eight four eight or visiting us at arcade Church calm now are you ready to worship let's do it [Music] in the world [Music] life begins in the Durst you form they come in handle mountains move [Music] grounds you I hope [Music] that you [Music] street cars haha chain Jesus he tried a dog [Music] t9 with the store [Music] [Applause] [Music] nothing shall be impossible your kingdom reigns unstoppable we'll shout your praise forevermore Jesus our God unstoppable nothing shall be possible your key no more Szabo you're praised for Jesus our God I think Charlie you're kidding Savva bowl you sound you're pretty sore oh Jesus I gotta stoppable nothing shall be Kingdom News Jesus song [Music] we go [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] I cast my mind to Calvary where Jesus bled and died for me I see his wounds his hands his feet my savior on that curse a tree his body bound and drenched in tears and they laid him down in joseph's to the entrance sealed by heavy stone messiah still and all of [Music] praise his name [Music] stays we will sing [Music] and at break of [Music] [Music] [Music] in robes of wide the Blazing Sun I shall pierce the night right and I will rise among the saints my gaze transfixed on Jesus face [Music] [Music] we [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] who you every song we could ever see worthy of all the praise we breathe worthy of every bird we could have a breathe [Music] Jesus the name above every other name Jesus the only one who could ever say worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live [Music] Oh [Music] me every song we could ever see worthy of all the praise we can never breathe [Music] morning every breath we could have a breathe we live [Music] Jesus every other day Jesus the only one [Music] worthy of every breath we could have a breathe we live [Music] besa [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] what a beautiful thing it is to worship our Savior together I know when I'm in my home on Sundays I imagine you and your home singing praise to the Lord and then I imagine hundreds of other homes in Sacramento and Beyond doing the exact same thing and I think God for that I thank God for our worship team for our video team for the common grace of Technology that together with one voice we can sing praise and worship continues on another thing that continues in our church is that we continue to bear one another's burdens even if we can't see each other face to face so this morning you are weary and you are in need of a rest if you're a morning and you long for comfort we want you to know that arkaid Church opens its heart wide for you and we want to pray for you so let us do that would you do that by texting arcade prayer two four eight four eight four eight or visiting us at arcade church comm or it's slash prayer so that we can offer up your requests to the Lord it would be a great privilege we're humbled and encouraged by your faithful giving and generosity to support arcade church and its ministries if you would like to give this morning there are four different ways you can do that you can download our app you can visit us online at arcade Church /give you can text arcade give two four eight four eight four eight or you can do it the old-fashioned way and put a check in the mail to our church office now as we get ready for our time of offering I would love to just thank the Lord for his great provision would you bow your head with me in prayer Heavenly Father you're such a good God what a joy it is to worship you today Lord even though our church sits empty today your church carries on as the fullness of Christ resides in each and every one of us what a beautiful thing that is Lord lord I thank you for this time of offering and how you sustain us father may we be reminded that the gifts that we give belong to you and that you first gave to us and above all you gave us your son Lord maybe these gifts be used to magnify your name may they be used to further your kingdom may more people here see and follow your son Jesus and Sacramento and around the world because of our k church god we thank you for the people that are listening in today and for the homes that they sit in lord may their hearts be encouraged by your truth and maybe draw closer to your son we thank you and we thank your son Jesus and in his name we pray amen thank you for worshiping us with us this morning may you be safe and healthy good morning RK Church this is Patrick George I'm an elder here and I have some exciting news to share on July the 5th we are gonna have a new option for joining us in worship and it is gonna be live here at the church at 10 o'clock and 1 o'clock we'll have the services available for a limited number of people to come here and we'll still have the option of viewing it online but we're just so excited that we're gonna be able to have this option available Craig's gonna fill us in on some of the other details hey we are very very excited about the chance to worship together face to face it's been a long time since we've been able to experience that but here's the thing we recognize that there are some of you that still don't feel at ease with coming and worshiping in the same location with others we totally understand that that's why Patrick mentioned the 10 o'clock online service that we've been having for the last three months it will continue and so at 10 o'clock on Facebook live and YouTube you'll be able to join us in worship but we also want to abide by sac county guidelines regarding gathering together and so that means only a hundred people maximum can be in our sanctuary at one time that's why the two services and so we have to know who's gonna be here that's what we're gonna have a reservation system set up on our website that you can be able to let us know that you would service you're going to attend and how many will be with you and in the sanctuary we're gonna operate by all social distancing guidelines and you know what if we have more people sign up than we have services we'll add a service I hope that happens okay all right we are so looking forward to being with you guys I can't wait how about you Patrick I am so excited to see people face to face and in the meantime we're gonna be safe and we're going to do things the right way and right now we're gonna get ready to listen to a great sermon from Pastor Craig [Music] good morning arcade family it is so great to be with you again on this beautiful day and happy Father's Day no doubt something is being grilled as we speak and so I hope that you have a great day go for a walk enjoy doing what you ever whatever you want to do dad I hope you have a great day for that hey I want to begin today right off the bat with a question okay and the question is this what comes to your mind when you hear the word evangelism now I want you to think about this and I know this isn't going to be a message that is gonna be geared towards Christians and specifically arcade Christians those of you who attend or are members of arcade and you profess to be believers in Christ this is gonna be a message for you and so we're gonna use words like evangelism and if you're not a Christian I'm hoping that you can hang on because we're gonna be talking to you in a few minutes as well all right but Christian what comes to your mind when you hear the word evangelism I think for a lot of us it's panic anxiety confrontation cold calling a spiel a lot of the negative aspects of evangelism I think the reason why is for those of us were raised in churches we were taught that every single Christian if you're a serious one is going to be an evangelist you're gonna do evangelism you're gonna go out and and you're gonna tell people about Jesus you're gonna tell your neighbor and you're gonna tell your co-worker you're gonna tell your family and member you're going to tell the person on the street and many times that's what we conjure up when we think of this word evangelism it's typically not very good but we here's the thing we know we need to do it we've been told that since day one that we need to be evangelists in other words we need to be witnesses of the gospel of Christ we need to tell people even if they don't want to hear it we need tell him I know about you but before I became a pastor I went through training after training evangelism explosion eight steps to peace with God the four spiritual laws the Romans robe trying to learn this wonderful little formula that tears down all arguments against the Bible and causes people to receive Jesus nothing and it's led me to think that maybe just maybe not all believers are called to be evangelists like some are called to be evangelist and the reason why I think that before you tuned me out Christian I want you to look at this verse are these two verses in Ephesians chapter 4 here they are theses chapter 4 the Apostle Paul is writing and he's he's done some really heavy lifting from a theological standpoint in the first four chapters of Ephesians and now he's moving into the practical side and before he does that he says some things to the church in Ephesus and subsequently to you and me this is what he says and God God gave the Apostles the prophets the evangelists the shepherds and teachers to equip the Saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ now I want you just to think about this for a moment God we tend to think that this is about the spiritual gifts that God gave people the gift of evangelism that's not what he's saying he's saying God gifted the church with evangelists he gifted the church with men and women with this unique supernatural ability to persuade and proclaim the gospel of Christ and I got to tell you right now I've been a preacher for a long time I think it's Asus safe to say I'm not that I'm not a gifted evangelist now once again before you tune me out I believe that all believers are to be witnesses of Jesus Christ but it looks differently it looks significantly differently and so here's the question for us today this is the question so what should the rest of us do if if in the church let's talk about arcane church if in the church there are a few men and women who have the gift of Evangeline because they're gifted evangelists and the others of us don't I'm one of them then what do the rest of us do and I'm gonna go really quick through this outline because I think it's very very important for what we're gonna be talking about in though in a while because today we're talking about the shocking life and I want to talk to you about in a way that the gospel is meant to shock every culture in which it invades including our own including our so-called Christian culture the gospel is meant to shock so with that what do I mean by that well in the weeks to come we're gonna be talking about the shocking life what it looks like what it doesn't look like but today I'm kind of laying the foundation because a lot of what needs to happen is evangelism it is witnessing to people in our community co-workers at our company friends at our school in a way that they can be able to know the gospel of Jesus Christ and profess their faith in Him but what does it take to get to that point and that's what I want to talk about because that's where all of us play a part so what do we do if I'm not a gifted evangelist and and maybe you're not either then what do we do number one if you're taking notes we pray like crazy we pray like crazy in Colossians chapter four the Apostle Paul is talking to the church of Colossae and he's saying some very unique very strange things and it's easy for us to gloss over that if we allow ourselves but we're gonna stop a minute here and just land on Colossians chapter four and look at this in verses two three and four continued steadfastly in prairies talking to the Christians in Colossae continued steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with Thanksgiving at the same time pray also for us that God may open to us a door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I am in prison that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak now notice what Paul here is saying he's saying Christians of Colossae I want you to take an evangelism training class I want you to go door-to-door I want you to witness boldly to all of your coworkers I want you to witness boldly to your relatives who don't know Jesus and to your neighbors who don't know Jesus and I want you to tell everybody I want you to stand on street corners I want you to go cold door-knocking I want you to do all those things I want you to present the gospel is that we saying no he's saying I want you the Christians I want you to continued steadfastly in prayer being watchful in it with Thanksgiving so come before the Father and being watchful watch around be alert to what you need to pray for and don't forget to be thankful but then he goes on at the same time pray also for us pray for us Paul says why why should we pray for you Paul pray that we can be able to speak the gospel Paul is saying I am one of the gifts to the church in the sense that I'm an evangelist and so pray for me that I have opportunity to proclaim the gospel in a way that that you don't Colossians so you remain steadfast in prayer be watchful look around find things to pray about find people to pray for and then pray also for me that I have opportunity and I see that time and time again in Paul's letters where he is wanting us to continually pray to pray like crazy over things not because that's all we can do but that's all we should do that's all that's that's what we do is we we our prayers we were asking God for opportunities for him to ignite in people's hearts a desire to follow him and Paulo sing and pray that I have an opportunity to be clear to be bold to proclaim that mystery of Christ don't you think I'm hoping by now Christian that your maybe your heart is not racing as much because maybe with that first question I asked you about evangelism you're thinking oh no this is going to be a No the reason why I should be telling everybody about Jesus but then there's some of you there's some of you that are thinking yeah I want to tell everybody about Jesus I'm not a betting man but I'm guessing you might be one of the evangelists that's been gifted to us and if so we need to talk alright so we pray like crazy we pray like crazy we're alert we're watchful we're steadfast in prayer thankful and we're praying for those gifted evangelists within our church to have those opportunities to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ but that's not all we do yes we pray like crazy but then we do this we shock some people we shock some people and I want to just look at some passages here do you remember remember when you're a kid and you'd walk in the living room and you'd shuffle your feet to get a electoral charge and then you touch each other and shock each other remember that if you turn the lights off you can actually see an arc when you're when you're touching people and oh that's just the fun game and boy I'll tell you it's not a heart you don't you don't doze off when there's people around you don't want to shock you right I was raised or in the country and we had beef cattle and so I was raised around electric fences and you had to either go over the lunder or go through electric fence and sure enough something would happen and you'd brush up against an electric fence and you did a shock and get a jolt what happens when people they stop breathing they get the defibrillator out and what's the defibrillate they shock someone it's meant to jolt them it's meant to wake them up it's meant to bring them to life I think that's what God is calling us to do I think he's called us to shock the world to shock the people around you I mean right out of the gate I want you to just think about this maybe even as you hear me talking you're thinking of people that need Christ it could be a loved one it could be the person who's sitting next to that you've invited to the watch party it could be a co-worker a classmate a teammate they need Christ and so you've been thinking all the time I need to I need to just muster up the courage and the boldness to go download the Romans road and I'll ask the evangelism explosion questions and I'll bring in some 8 steps with peace with God use the four laws and I'll tear down all their arguments so that they can become Christ that's that's what you're thinking and yet my guess is that probably won't happen we'll in we talk ourselves out of those kinds of conversations which really turn into confrontations after a while well maybe God's not calling you to do that he's calling you to shock them in a different way I feel compelled though to give some biblical data for that because this is probably something that maybe you're not used to hearing so let's go back to Colossians chapter 4 and let's find out in verses 5 and 6 just a little bit later later after that passage I told you about he says to the Colossians walking wisdom toward outsiders did Paul really say that he said wait a minute for outsiders I'm supposed to I'm just to download the gospel to them if they don't believe that I go on to the next person isn't that we're supposed to do no he says walk and wisdom toward outsiders making the best use of the time well what's the best use of time walking and wisdom being wise among the outsiders those who do not believe in Jesus you need to make the best of the time by being wise around them let your speech always be gracious seasoned with salt so that you may know how you ought to answer each person well why should I know how to answer each person why should I know how to do that because you are living what Michael Scott Michael frost says is you're living a questionable life you're living your life in such a way that they see there is a uniqueness it shocks them that gets their attention that's why Paul never once mentions you need to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ now we could say that when he says seasoned with salt but what that simply means is make sure that your life is a life-giving influence on that person that you're bringing flavor to that person that you're blessing that person yes with the gospel of Christ because you're living the gospel out now keep in mind miss in the same text where Paul says pray for me that I have opportunities to proclaim the gospel but here Paul is saying hey walk in wisdom walk in wisdom in taya and first Peter yeah Titus 2 Titus 2 the first nine verses of Titus 2 Paul is just downloading how men should live how women should live how young men how young women should look he even downloads how slaves should live in view of their master now slaves back then were much different than what we have historically in our own country but he's even giving wisdom to slaves he says you live this way older men you live this way younger men you live this way older women this way younger women listen this way why why should I do all of that Paul he says in verse 10 so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior it's just it's just Paul's way of saying you live your life in such a way that a directly draws attention to the gospel of Jesus Christ and even the skeptic sees how beautiful it is your your actions your words adorn the beauty of the gospel yes that shocks people 1st Peter chapter 3 this is a familiar one maybe to you 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 you that is in you so you make your life questionable you make your life provocative you make your life intriguing as you live out for gospel and that will elicit questions from people and in this time of rage of anger of injustice along with times of fear and sickness boy howdy this is a time for us as believers to live our lives in such a way that adorns the gospel because people will be asking people are are afraid they're anxious they're worried and when they see the robust faith that we have in Jesus through praying like crazy they begin so what why aren't you guys angry why aren't you guys enraged why aren't you guys anxious why aren't you guys worried why you can be able to respond to them well it's not because of our government it's not because of the virus it's not because of the injustice that we see we trust our master would you like to hear about it would you like to hear about this incredible master that Jesus is so he goes on for the hope that is in you yet do it with gentleness and respect having a good conscience so that when you are slandered those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame we live in a slanderous time about the Christian gospel Christians are the butt of jokes and sometimes we deserve it but that's what's happening in our world today and so when someone slanders an acquaintance of yours who's not a believer and they character a Christian as being a certain way voting a certain way liking a certain politician and that person says wait a minute that's not true of this person I know them and they're a Christian and this is how they are these are the kinds of things I'm talking about and I know I'm I have a 30,000 foot view but I think it's very very important that we understand this so what I'm talking about here is this two-pronged idea of ministry all right the first prong is this we pray for the evangelists and we pray for the rest of us to have opportunity to live the gospel out that people can see what mercy looks like what forgiveness looks like what loving our enemies looks like that they can be able to see those things because that indeed will shock the world it's almost like this it's almost like these are my San Francisco giant scissors by the way it's like having a pair of scissors you see if if one blade works and the other one does not then these scissors are ineffective if neither one of them works then there's no use having them around for this this pair of scissors to be affected they have work together before they can truly cut and the same thing is true with these two truths here we're praying for the Evangelist and on top of that we're praying for opportunity to live out the gospel and that seems to be what happens and here's the thing Rome was turned upside down because of the Christian gospel inside about 250-300 years millions and millions of people had come to Christ in the Roman Empire to the point where some of the Emperor's had come to Christ let me read you there's there's one ampere though that's very interesting and his name is Julian and Julian the great and he he reigned in the mid fourth century about 350 AD and it's interesting because he was a nephew to Constantine Constantine typically is known as the first Christian Roman Emperor Julian lived in his household and he was raised with the Christian ways but then he rejected the Christian Way he rejected Christ and he wanted Rome to get back to the old gods he would have been the one who wore the Hat that says make Rome great again that was that was his moniker he wanted to get the old Rome back and to do that he had to get rid of the Christians he was so frustrated he wrote a letter and I've got what the letter is here it is let they'll just listen to this we must pay special attention to this point and by this means effect a cure he thought that Rome need to be cured of Christianity for when it came about that the poor were neglected and overlooked by the pagan priests then I think the Empire's Galileans he calls them he calls the Christians Galileans because that would be like I saying those redneck Hicks no offense to those of you who are redneck Hicks so that's what they thought of the gal of the Christian there they're just nothing but a bunch of Hicks in Pius X he said observe this fact and devoted themselves to philanthropy and they have gained power in the worst of their deeds through the credit they win for such practices for just as though don't get this now you get what he's going to for just as those who entice children with a cake and by throwing it to them two or three times and deuced them to follow them and then cast them on board a ship and sell them as slaves by that same method I say that galleons also begin with their so-called love feasts or hospitality or service tables for they have many ways of carrying it out and hence call it by many names in other words he's saying these Christians they're being good to our own people and they're enticing them into the slavery of Christian like real slave traders trying to get kids go on their ships three's saying and the result is that they have led very many into atheism Christianity at that time was considered to be atheistic because they denied the existence of the Roman gods so Julian is frustrated he's frustrated his own priests his own pagan priests he says you guys you're not caring for the poor those Christians are and the poor are becoming Christians we can't have that happen you but you got to be gooder you've got to be better than them he goes on why do we not observe that is their benevolence to strangers their care for the graves of the dead and their pretended holiness of their lives that have done most to increase atheism I believe we ought really and truly to practice every one of these virtues for it is disgraceful that when the Empire's Galilean support not only their own poor but ours as well all men see that our people lack aid from us it makes us look bad when these Christians are so good so priests get out there be good do good serve the poor here's it's not funny as sad they tried and they couldn't they lost interest because they didn't know what we know you see these Christians were caring for the poor they were caring for the invisible they were caring for the oppressed not because they were better but because Christ is better and crisis in them and that was the fuel they began to see the world through the eyes of Jesus and they saw they saw the invisible people they saw the poor they saw the marginalized they saw the oppressed and they did simply what Jesus did on those three years when he was here on there they moved towards them and cared for them and loved them and Julian as an emperor he was downright frustrated with the whole thing of what was going on so here's the question I want to ask you how shocking is your life how shocking is your life there's a there's an old way of communication that says when predictability is high impact is low when predictability is high the impact is low think about this wood if you like murder mysteries would you ever start reading a murder mystery and you know on page one whodunit I wouldn't I part of that reason why I love the Agatha Christie novels are growing up with the hardy boys novels is because I can never I never know who done it until the end of the book Debbie and I we watched TV shows every once awhile and we played the game is that we know what's coming next this person's gonna die that person's gonna kill them this person tells you what kind of shows we watch and this person they're gonna have probable and that person over there's gonna do this and by in five minutes if we figured out the show we're changing the channel when predictability is high the impact is low if people know how you're going to live and they know what you're going to say your impact on them is going to be very low but if predictability is low if people don't know where you're coming from if they don't know what you're going to do then that impact on them is going to be very very hard best example ever Jesus think about this a lot of you are reading the Gospels during this quarantine I can't find a better place for you to spend time in the word but when you come to the red-letter parts ask yourself the question who's Jesus shocking here is he shocking the Pharisees and the Sadducees is he shocking his own family is he shocking the multitudes is he shocking his disciples I guarantee you in almost every conversation Jesus was a part of he was shocked someone not just with his power but with his love shocking the Pharisees you're hanging out with prostitutes and tax buggers are you kidding me shocking the tax collectors and the projects by hanging out with them Jesus everywhere he went was shocking people because his love was that shocking what would happen to us if the same thing were to go on you see here's my point because I think I know what you're thinking okay uh Craig that this makes total sense what I need to do is I need to live a good life I need to make sure that my lawn is manicured I need to make sure that my Christmas lights are off the house by July I need to make sure that I say I wave to my neighbors as I Drive into my garage I need to say hello to people I need to walk I just need to be a fine upstanding citizen that is high predictability low impact because you know what that's not being a good Christian that's just being a good decent human being oh I okay alright I need to give sacrificial organizations and I need to be very benevolent and caring and give to the guy in the street corner with the open cup and I need to do you know what those things are great but those are very predictable and so therefore the impact would be very low there are other things that we as believers can do that absolutely shocks the world because this is this is what we're doing here here's another image for you I know I know you're probably thinking what kind of movies are Craig and Debbie watching on quarantine this is an episode from the first Mary Poppins I haven't seen the second one this is Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke and you might recall the episode in the in the movie where this happens there's some street art and Mary Poppins takes Dick Van Dyke and the children and they jump into the picture but the picture is animated it's not real but they are you realize that's the gospel this real beautiful magnificent God jumps into our picture this Jesus for three years he showed us what reality is everything else was animated and he shows us what reality is and he has come into our picture and guess what you and I are to do in our neighborhood in our communities in our school we are to jump and place ourselves in the story of our culture and show them the real love of Jesus Christ the real mercy of Jesus Christ the world power of Jesus Christ that's what you and I have been called to do the gifted evangelists as long as well as the rest of us we are called to jump inside the art the the the picture of this world and show and display the real love the real mercy the real forgiveness of Jesus Christ because everything else is animated the rage that we see is animated it's not real Christ is real his love Israel his forgiveness is real the kind of change that people are calling for it's it's good change but it's not lasting change the change that Jesus Christ has to offer is real it's substantial and it's eternal that's what Jesus Christ can do so I've got a couple of things for you to think about this week while you're thinking about this and thinking hey I might be a gifted evangelist and so or I'm not think about these two things first of all think about the rhythm of your weekly life alright don't don't worry about it nothing guilty about this think about the rhythm of your weekly life what do you do that is only done because you are a follower of Jesus Christ think about the rhythm of your daily life throughout the week and what is it that you do that you do only because you follow Jesus now it could be the Chaz I do this I do this I do this because I'm a follower of Jesus good or it could be you can't think of anything all right well that that that's good that's that's a good response but then think about this next thing of those things that you do which would shock your non-christian friends and acquaintances if they know if they knew that you did them what were those things that you do that you answered up here one of those things that you do which would shock your non-christian friends and acquaintances what would those things be just begin to think about those things as we as we move along throughout these next month and a half and we talk about some shocking things that we have been called to shock the world with but I want to close with something I've been talking about gifted evangelists and I believe that every church is to have gifted evangelists to do evangelism but also to train those of us who don't have that gift to be equipped to be able to respond to people when they ask us questions so you might be thinking yourself I wonder who at arcade has the gift of evangelism well I'm gonna ask him to come up here because I believe that my guest and your friend and mine has that the gift of evangelist is a gifted evangelist or Dan thanks so much for coming up here I really appreciate it well pastor Craig I am delighted to be here excited as always really I can't tell you know it's so weird that's so weird I I miss you and we haven't we haven't eaten a fellowshipping face to face because of Kovan 19 and so it's just good to see your smiling face I love working with you and things like ants I think that most of people that know you would agree that that you're exactly what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 4 that that God has gifted us with an evangelist like you and I and we both know that we have other people are well in fellowship indeed but I just want to talk to you what does that look like from your perspective because I think it's safe to say you're not the rest of us I don't mean that a bad way we shouldn't rehearse this but you're not the rest of us that that we're not like you and that's and I mean that no in a compliment sound like that probably well I receive it yeah yeah thank you from your perspective and what we've talked about what does that look like from from an evangelist perspective in your mind well first of all I was he probably I was biting my tongue when he said pray like crazy because prayer is really pre evangelist you is absolutely great and then to live that shocking life you know by showing radical acts of love just like you express and Jesus did I mean whether we do that or not we have to be doing that yeah and that that opens the door that really sets the stage there's a saying that you have to win the right to be heard yeah and we don't want to beat somebody over the head with a with the Bible in fact we're not fruit inspectors yeah we only pick the fruit when it's ripe yeah amen you know even just hearing you talk you remind me of the Father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding okay the Father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding he was so enamored with Greek culture that he would say pick a topic pick any topic and I'll find a way to bring it to Greek culture and I think I think you could be talking about tomatoes to someone and you would find a way to have a divine appointment to bring Christ into that and so what I'd like you to do right now and and because you knows what Wells I that there are non-christians online with us right now which we are so honored that you are with us I'd like you to get the gospel to him would you mind doing oh I'd be very honored okay once you go live for that all right you know this presupposes that we have set the stage yeah that I built a relationship with that person and they are now ready and I would start off by saying you know can I just tell you a little bit about a story and this story you are involved in you can have a big part in it and it's an epic story and I'm gonna just use a tool fact it's one I can't get rid of it's my left hand and my tool will be my props for this epic story that God wants to involve you in the first part of that story I've got five fingers so there's five parts the first one is when I do this what am i doing well we would call it hitchhiking what I'm really asking for is a is a gift to get me from one place to another that gift and I want it to be without cost and God offers us a free gift without cost we can't earn it or deserve it and that gets gets us from one place where we are today in a place of difficulty and hardship and brings us into another place that gift of eternal life and he gives it to us absolutely free and we call that grace and I'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute but there's another part to this and that's my index finger if I go like this to you Craig it's not I'm not forming a gun that's not to deal but I might be pointing at you I might be critical of you but when I look down at this I realize oh I've got three fingers pointing back in me and those three fingers condemn me that I realize that you know what I have failed thousands upon thousands of times and I've not lived up to a standard and that standard is perfection and I can't attain it it's really what the Bible calls sin and you know sin is like an infection and sin its ultimate result ends in death in fact it's worse than a copepod infection because some people will die unfortunately but in sins case all die worldwide all die including you and me that's a very hopeless situation but God wants to take us out of that hopeless situation and so I look at my next finger the middle finger careful oh yeah you know that that'd be a problem yeah I'm gonna do this we call this the great finger and the great finger called that because there's two fingers together okay all right and the great finger if you probably can see it I have my index finger and I have my middle finger and one is a bit longer it's a little bit bigger it's predominant over the other okay the first finger is what tells me about God that God is a God of justice he says that he in no way will he let the guilty go free he has to punish our sin but he's a God of justice and one day justice will prevail on earth and that's a good news for a time like this where we live with lots of injustice but it also tells me that one day my sin will be judged where I wanted to be formally on the good side of things I wasn't I was on the bad side of things and I would be judged severely for that in fact there's a huge punishment associated with that but the good news is and this is where our story begins the good news is is about to unfold in this great story that God wants to involve you in that is this finger is that God is a God of love and of mercy and of grace and those prevail over justice and so God's mercy and his love and His grace caused him to do something you just said to jump into the picture he jumped into the picture of humanity he became a man and his singular purpose on earth was the cross and he went to the cross and that leads me to this we would call this good luck most people on earth trust in good luck is superstition it's what they can do but a cross crossed fingers remind me of the cross of Jesus and the cross of Jesus is the singular point in all of history when Jesus went to the cross he paid the penalty for all those sins I could never pay for I was hopelessly lost and just before he dies he cries out it is finished telling the whole world that it is finished in what he had accomplished and paying for all of my sins and your sins didn't leave one out isn't that great and I agree and it didn't leave one out and he dies and he accomplishes what couldn't be accomplished before he rises from the dead and he offers eternal life to all who would just put their trust in him and that leads me to my ring finger and my ring finger reminds me that oh I'm married I'm married to Darlene in this case I have a personal relationship with Darlene God wants to have a personal relationship with you and me as his bride and when we enter into that relationship he gives us this abundant life that begins this very moment and will extend throughout our entire life and then on and into eternity and it's a life full of love and grace and kindness and hope and it's amazing he doesn't promise to take us out of our hardship in our troubles but in the midst of those he promises to give us the love and the hope and the mercy that we so desperately need and this is what abundant life is all about and it comes to us catch this the Cova 19 virus has no has no I just lost mine a lhasa idea here it has no vaccine yet however with the sin Jesus provided not a vaccine but he provided a guarantee his own holy spirit in our hearts Craig said that Jesus lives in us and that is a guarantee of abundant life now and a bunt and eternal life forever with him and so he gives us that as a free gift and that leads me to our last point of our gospel my little finger if I have just enough faith as a small mustard seed that's all it takes it's not big faith that you need it's not the amount of faith that you need it's where we put our faith if faith is the Jesus is the object of our faith the cross and when we put our faith and trust into the cross alone it's not having faith and the good works I've done the good deeds I've done the religious things that I performed none of that counts it only counts what only counts is Faye in Jesus alone I can't add to anything to it and when I put my faith I transfer my trust from myself and put it solely in Jesus like I'm sitting on this stool right now trusting in it jesus promises to come into our life as Craig said earlier to forgive all of our sins to to forgive all of our transgressions and to declare us not guilty and that is the wonderful part of the story that you are now declared not guilty but now the story really unfolds because not only are you declared not guilty we know how the story ends of course this is different than the TV things and so spoiler alert you know how the story ends you win we win and because we win you can live life on a different plane you can live life in a way that shocks people with love because you win you can take risks that you never thought you could take before because you win because Jesus won and he is our captain and so just a little bit of faith is all it takes so transfer your faith from yourself to putting your faith solely in Jesus Craig I know you did that years ago as a young boy and all these decades later it's remarkable to see how that story we call it the redemptive story or maybe God's rescue story yeah how that story is unfolded but it's not over yet no there are still lots to be written yeah and God wants to include each of us in our own redemptive story it's a winning story and he wants to include you in that story I know today that there are people who are listening who are watching this program and you may never have come to that point of placing your full trust you're transferring your trust and believing fully in Jesus Christ and what he's done for you that five-point story that I just shared with you and if you've done that today and you're in the small stillness of your heart you feel that little tug yes yes I'd like to believe I'd like to do that right now well I want to tell you some good news you've come to that point where Jesus came into your life he came into your heart that moment that you believed and he's forgiven your sins I want to do something right now I'd like to pray for you could I do that it would be such an honor to pray for you when I conclude if you've done that today at arkaid church we are committed in helping people see hear and follow Jesus it's that last part follow Jesus we want to help you in that journey in your epic story would you text me call the church communicate in any way that you can write me a letter we want to get you started on the most incredible adventure of faith that you could ever imagine and we're committed to that so let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for what you've done for us Lord we thank you for the incredible act of love that you have bestowed upon us to make a way when there was no other way and Lord we pray for our friends today who made that decision to put their trust in you lord I pray that that you would make it real to them Lord that they would have this sense that yes I'm different that jesus is alive in my heart today that yes I've been washed clean though my sins were as scarlet they are now white as snow and I can walk forward in great boldness in freedom just like so many people in the Bible where Jesus lived a shocking life and he forgive them and they walked out and freedom and had a new we would call a new lease on life that life looked differently they saw life through a different lens Lord I pray that today that would be the case for our friends today who put their trust in you lord I pray that they'd communicate with us so that we could begin our own personal relationship with them and help them to grow as followers of Jesus thank you Lord in Christ's name I pray amen amen amen Dan thank you thank you all right and hey hope you guys have a great Father's Day May the endurance and encouragement grain to live in harmony with one another that together the one voice you may glorify the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you and we all stay together for the glory of God have a great day I love you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Arcade Church

Views: 719

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Arcade Church

Id: WwdxoQOC6jM

Length: 85min 17sec (5117 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 21 2020