Chris Hodges - Open Your Eyes - Victory Tulsa

all right come on you Jesus the best in club ever come on come on that's not good enough come on keep Jesus your best yeah all right thank you very much come on give somebody a high five next to you maybe you've seen it come on look at him and tell him looks like you've been losing a little weight come on tell him tell him come on tell him look like you've been losing weight you look good that's my favorite thing to hear from somebody it's never true but I love hearing it praise God it's awesome I'm from South Louisiana we think eating is a spiritual gift come on somebody yeah I sent a go at the beginning of this year you always do New Year's resolutions and one of my new year's resolutions was to lose 20 pounds over the course of 2016 that's that's very doable I thought you know a reasonable goal guys I'm thrilled to report here I am in May and I only have 30 pounds to go come on Salah T so I'm close I'm right there praise God it's good to see y'all what a joy what a joy it is to be a victory everybody yeah and and I know you may not know me but I know you my my home church Bethany world prayer center in Baton Rouge pastor Larry Stockstill still my pastor and ya know but you guys love him and your founding pastor and and he have been close friends there you know for a long long time and so I know of you and and I feel like actually I feel like we're family already it's all right we just kind of be family everybody can I come into the victory family today it's all right and and so I don't want to be a guest speaker I want to I want to be here just be a part of you and just know that I love you and just so thrilled at what God's doing here and I want to give honor to this great church and to Pastor Sharon thank you so much what an honor it is to be on this stage and yeah and pastor Paul and Ashley I mean this from the bottom of my heart I'm not just saying this I'm blown away about at the maturity and the leadership at such a young age dude you're doing it you're doing an incredible incredible job come on you showing some love everybody Ashley you're amazing nothing mean it we went out to eat with them last night and man they're fun oh my god in heaven we had we had the best time ever and it's just awesome so I am here with my wife this past Tuesday 30 years married everybody I know pretty awesome I know it's blowing your mind cuz I look about 35 ain't that right y'all just thinking my god they got married young and we have five kids everybody and I know that's a lot I realize that some I always react five I'll just cross that line that's a lot of kids you know and and I realized that I had a guy stop me in California I was speaking at a conference he said man five kids you must really like kids I say no I don't I really like my wife come on somebody so I wanted to she wanted three we had five praise Johnson y'all need to bring me back for your marriage conference I got stuff to say come on we all so and then you need to know I even though my churches in Alabama I'm a Cajun everybody all right so I'm from south Louisiana all right so let me just tell you what that means all right that means you may not learn nothing but we gonna have a good time all right so as we can't you say we gonna pass a good time it's gone it's gonna be it's gonna be awesome there are nine reality shows on television right now about people people from Louisiana right now and it's not cuz they're smart it's cuz they're fun okay so we gonna have a good time I believe y'all have a good time in church the Bible says the merry heart does good like a medicine so you're going you gonna get a little dose of some laughter and some medicine today in Jesus name and everybody said a good amen all right are you ready to study the Bible yes or no yeah all right so once you open your Bibles or your iPhones or your iPads or your eyelids whatever you got all right so to John chapter 4 John chapter 4 come on now all right like that teach my church to do that I like that John chapter four let me set this story up in fact the setup of the story is usually the part that preachers preach it's the story of the woman at the well where Jesus and the disciples are separated for a little bit they I think they went on an errand or something about really doesn't say but Jesus is one of the rare occasions where he's by himself thirsty goes over to a water well and a woman walks up a Samaritan woman and Jesus strikes up a conversation and that culture you would not do that for two reasons one is men didn't talk to women they they actually consider themselves so superior that it would be really beneath them to talk to a woman Jesus smashes right through that gender barrier can I hear a good amen and then you wouldn't you didn't talk to a Samaritan they just they didn't like each other there were racial tensions and praise God Jesus smashes right through the racial tensions and that's just the kind of God he is so he's talking to her and he says to her are you married and she goes no and then he starts property actually reads for male man he he prophesized to her and he says you're right you're not married you actually have had five husbands already and the guy is shacking up right now with his not your husband and she goes how in the world did you know that the Bible says it this way sir I perceive this vow to be a prophet and and so she realizes he couldn't know that unless God had told him so she realizes she may be talking to God and so she obviously has this amazing encounter with Jesus and he goes on and ministers to her and says I'll give I'll give you water where you never thirst again and you guys know that part of the story then it picks up with this in verse 27 it says just then the disciples returned and they were surprised to find him talking to a woman for the reasons that I already told you the two reasons gender and race they were so yeah I want you to pictures the scene the Bible key needs to come alive in your eyes you got to read the Bible hey everybody the Bible is amazing why do drugs when you can do Scripture come on somebody alright just it's really amazing but you got to kind of bring your mind there okay and so they're walking up from the air and my goodness what is he doing he's talking to that woman you know so they're surprised to find him talking about one then John does something you never do when you tell a story I want you to catch this because it's important because this is a detail in Scripture that almost everybody reads by and I've never heard anybody preach on it now and I'm not saying well anyone it ever has I just have never heard it but there's not one single detail in scripture that's there by accident not one and so John writes something knows he's telling a story can imagine yourself writing a story and now he's going to mention things that didn't happen so when you're writing a story you don't write down things that didn't happen unless after the story's over you wish they would have happened there's regret so he's writing his gospel on the under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wishing these next two things happen because they didn't so he says in his gospel he says but no one asked Jesus Lord what do you want which is honestly just called courtesy anytime you walk up to anybody that you you're trying to honor like I'm not even close to Jesus or God and your team here at the church has asked me that a thousand times special critics gotta get you anything need something to drink you want it hot you want it call you want a mint how about a tic-tac on gum can I get you a cookie I muffin are you hungry are you thirsty I mean like hey I'm great you know they have taken care of me team has done a good job that's just called courtesy and John says no one no one did that no one asked him Lord what do you want that's just rude I mean they're the disciples and in John wishes they would have and then he also says and then no one asked why were you talking to that woman now listen to me if you're the if you're the student your does a disciple and he's the teacher he's the rabbi and you see something you don't understand you ask and no one did that and John's going and that was boy we really missed it that day when we didn't care about what Jesus needed and we were there to serve Him and we didn't ask him things we didn't understand we just didn't do that and boy I wish we would have no one asked him and he goes on to say and then while these things are not happening then leaving her water jar the woman goes back to her town and when I say town the town's not another city the town's around the corner because all this is gonna happen in a matter of minutes so it'd be like going to the University there it's just she just goes oh it goes into her village and she tells the town people in her load of village hey come see a man who read my mail he told me everything that I ever did in my life could this be the Christ could this be the Messiah we've been all waiting for for centuries could could this be the one so it gets the attention of the town and watch the next verse and it says and they the town came out of the town to that well where Jesus was so I want you to picture it like pitching your mind 200 people led by a woman crossings south Lewis right now like hey something's going on over a victim once you to picture that just this pile there you come over here here it is in the town now the next verse takes a turn I see I have a sense of humor so I read humor you know into a lot of things and your might you might not think the next verse is funny I think it's hilarious because the whole town's coming out to see Jesus and the disciples can see it and the next line says meanwhile thank you some of your ahead of you saw the verse right me meanwhile the disciples said hey rabbi let's go to Pier change let's go get something to eat now look you can look at me and tell you tell I like food all right I'm ready to go to lunch with the best of them all right but there's there's a good time at a bad time and this was a bad time why cuz the whole town's coming out like so disciples are watching yes they're so missing it there listen to me they're so missing the moment there's a complete disconnect between what Jesus is seeing what they're seeing that they in the middle of that moment say hey let's go get something to eat so Jesus does what he often does because he's a teacher and that is if you bring up a topic he'll use that topic as a metaphor to teach a spiritual truth he was the master of parables and pictures so he babe read they bring up lunch so he uses the lunch metaphor and says no no no guys my he says I have food to eat that you know nothing about and what he was saying your spiritual people y'all careers come on you know you know no guys lunch for me would be to reach this town that would be a good meal for me that's what he's saying but they didn't see that you know the next line says they say they the disciples then said to each other did he already eaten didn't take us I mean come on okay y'all have seen it see y'all are the best service so far cuz you see the humor there cuz that's hilarious I don't care what y'all say that's funny did he did you go while you were supposed to wait till we got back from the errand you know that's how they're still missing it even though he just he just as we Cajun say he justs planed it to him come on somebody right so Jesus Christ round number two with the whole food metaphor and he says no no guys my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish the say the last word finish his no no there's a time to go to lunch and there's a time to work and guys this is the time to get to work and then he says the classic verse that I didn't know until last night I preached this message last night at the first service and pastor Shannon came to me and pastor Paul said that was that was dad verse that was this is this next line is what password Billy Joe I mean he lived he believed he goes you know I I'm here to finish the work he says you keep saying do you not have a saying that says no we can harvest another day for months more then we'll get out there and get all those fields well then we'll harvest you keep saying let's put it off you keep wanting to procrastinate the harvest he says but I say I tell you saying the next three words out loud I'll tell you open now every voice said come on full not golf tournament level here we go one more time I'll tell you open yeah hey guys see it see it don't you see it pastor's been bleeding us through a series of messages can't can you see it can you see it let me tell you something about the eyes that your scriptures about the eyes all throughout the Bible oh wow because these are massive like Jesus says the eye is the lamp of your entire body what goes into here is dictating everything but here's what I've learned about eyes these aren't your real eyes you don't look through these you have a set of eyes here Paul prayed in Ephesians 1 he says I pray that the eyes of your heart be enlightened so your real eyes are hard eyes and that's why I listen to me church that's why we can all see the same thing and I'll see something differently why because we're overseeing it through a filter of our past experiences good or bad by the way so you've had church experiences so you're seeing your church this this church right now through the filter of your past Church experiences you you you're seeing life through the filter of your relationships your wounds your hurts your experiences you're seeing through that and that's why a whole town could come out to want to meet Jesus and the disciples miss it and want to go to lunch and that's why Jesus says your problem is you're not seeing right open your eyes look at the fields they are right for harvest you got to see it the way I see it here's my prayer for you is very simple and that is that we need to see Tulsa we need to see America we need to see the world waste Jesus sees it and I'm not convinced that we do in fact I want to be so bold to say that I think we are actually what I call spiritually nearsighted I'm actually nearsighted like physically really you can see how we're glasses I'm kind of new to glasses I'll be 53 in a in a couple of weeks but I had perfect eyesight for 46 years of my life I could see a freckle on on that I mean I had real good eyes you know and and uh and then all of a sudden I didn't notice it because I I still don't need glasses to read I can see the dust on my iPad I mean I mean I just don't I don't so you don't notice that when we don't have any of these issues but little by little my is the distance stuff started blurring complete like I can't all I see is a blurry color right now and I was actually at a football game with my sister and she saw me squinting to see the names of my boys who were playing football the jerseys and the numbers and she hands me her glasses she goes put this on and I go oh my god my my my world came in hi-def again you know I just could see and so I went to the eye doctor and I never been to the eye doctor before so I didn't know what to expect and it's really strange I want you so have you never been I'm getting ready to I'm gonna help you out you're gonna get you're gonna get God's Word and a little help on my exams right here okay I'm on I mean something cuz i'ma tell you they do you go in there because you can't see and they blind you all the more I mean they put stuff in your eyes you can't nobody you know I can't see nothing I get really and then and then they blow he blew error in my eyeball come on you outta people you don't know how that's like glaucoma check and like anymore like Warner brother first you know for you start blowing him in the eyeball there and they and then they make you they get you to make decisions they put stuff on your like okay a or be near AAA BBB RA a be like slow down I don't know it's one notes dude it's 2 1 1 2 I forget but we know you just don't know you gotta get those under pressure I couldn't couldn't Silas and then he gets real close like dude get a tic-tac or back up you know that's right there anyway he goes out any um and he says when he says we got you figured out that's like awesome he said um you're near-sighted it's like no no no I got all the NIR stuff I got farias my issues were all out there you see you out people are laughing cuz you know it's the only medical profession that names your condition for what you're good at that'd be like your arm being broke and he says what your legs work I mean you don't do that it's backwards and by the way if you're in that field you're in optometry I'm on a mission to change that y'all have it backwards that's not the way you name the problem not the good anyway so he goes no no that's what we call it I like well that's backwards but okay so we leave we leave in you know I'm from south Louisiana I need the cookies on the bottom shelf you know I'm a simple guy you know and and and the Holy Spirit speaks to me in a very simple way and says you know that that's not only your spiritual condition but it's also the spiritual condition of the church and that is we're nearsighted so when you're near-sighted you just see stuff that's close to you and you're only concerned about you only feel responsible for that which you can see so since I can't see you I don't really have to worry about you because I can't see you so I just focus on me in fact in the church and it's honestly son team just the church it's human nature there's a gravitational pull to selfishness you you leave it alone you let you leave us alone I mean you go look at any baby like you're born with it mine mine mine you have to teach them that word they know it because we're all born our sin nature listening to me church our sin nature is selfish so if you leave it alone there will be a gravitational pull to selfishness to check it out this apartment might hurt your feelings and you don't have to invite me back that's okay okay but it is true and that is by and large the church is selfish we create experiences that we like that lost people don't get so we don't come and we don't care yes so so we'd rather just do stuff that's good for us we'd rather go to lunch and Jesus cares more about the lost town in fact spiritual nearsightedness has three characteristics the first is is that you're blind you actually are blinded by your own needs so here's how it plays out I'll just tell you high plays out of me so this is my prayer life Lord I love you me my mind me mind my kids my kids my car of my life my house my world my me my my give me this day my daily my me and and that's just not the world that is so short-sighted that is just so what I see until I open my eyes and then I look wow there's a bigger world in fact you can tell if you're spiritually the nearsighted by your prayers and here's the let me just answer this question if God answered all your prayers would it change the world or just change you yeah so for the large part of my Christian life if he answered all my prayers it just would make my life better it wouldn't make anybody else's life that's that's not good and that's why we have to be reminded that's why the disciples if the disciples who live with Jesus needed this message do you think we could need it yeah I think I think it's I think there's a chance that we could need it too you also know secondly that that that if you're spiritually nearsighted and that is you're in see you get insulated and you forget about the needs of others so especially those of us who call ourselves Americans America the American Christian we have the best of the best we're saved we're going to heaven we have the best auditoriums with the best air conditioning we live in the best country on the planet we have everything we have we will get 30 different choices of lunch just driving down two miles of highway like we have the best of everything and that is awesome to God be the glory unless we experience it so much that we forget that right now there's a girl in Amsterdam who will be used for the 20th time today in that brothel yeah she's there it's really happening and and that there's like there's a family I've seen this now there's a family one mile across the American border in Juarez Mexico living in a refrigerator box now that's really hat like it's they live there right now I've seen it and every time I go see it I remember and honestly when I go I discipline myself to go to somewhere around the world that just shows me that there are people who have it worse than me just to remind me because because if I don't I'll just start building the church around everything our church needs and every time I do it's like okay we're selling everything and we're gonna hear right cuz you care again because you saw it again open your eyes we can't get so insulated that we forget about the needs of others can I hear a better Amen somebody we can't so don't sit back I'm not trying to be ugly I'm just trying to be real okay so don't sit there the in that comfortable chair and like enjoy it but don't forget yo didn't know you had the most comfortable chairs in church world right i sat down there us pastor Paul was leading this er either talking about Memorial Day I'm sitting back there thinking brother take your time I'll stay right here you know I this is good stuff praise God for it but don't forget thirds characteristic of a spiritually nearsighted person is that we get away from the heart of the one we serve and whether you like this or not and it may hurt your feelings and honestly just you're just gonna have to deal with it Jesus loves you but he's not thinking about you as much as he you think he is because the Bible is clear that he has distracted not by his found kids but by his lost ones like his I go read Luke 15 for emphasis purposes there are three parables in the same chapter and anytime you see that in scriptures because the Holy Spirit's trying to emphasize a big deal lost sheep lost coin lost son and all three of those stories the moral of the story is what they would leave the found things to go find the lost thing you're just if you've ever lost something of value to either lost your keys or your wallet when you've lost it you don't think about any of your found things it's like when you're looking for honey where am I where am I where's my wallet you see my wallet when you're doing that you don't think well there's my couch you know you don't do that because you don't care about your found things you only think about where where is where is it that actually lost one of my five kids once and it's funny now and it was not funny that day we were on vacation my youngest of my five kids is on the autism spectrum pretty high-functioning and by the way thank you for your vision to meet special need the needs of special needs families and and because I'm okay it's huge it's huge no it's really huge and thank you for that vision I think thank you for an investing in it Church that's you have no idea because because there are families like mine you just can't go to church you can't you can't you can't bring them they can't function in those environments and so I you'll you'll never know how many people you'll reach because of that and so anyway Joseph we were we were actually in a we were on a ski trip in Colorado and and on the last day we're with two other families we're just gonna spin a day just hanging out in the village in fact I brought a picture of the village we went into that Starbucks right there on the left and so there's like 20 of us and so Joseph goes into the bathroom and didn't tell us so we came out of the Starbucks and then we just went right into that marble slab Creamery we were gonna eat our way down the street come on somebody and so so we go in there and so when Joseph comes out of the Starbucks bathroom he didn't see us he goes the other way well he can't talk well he couldn't at all at that age and we lived there Tammy and I lived there seven years it was pretty it wasn't the safest place in the world in fact we had a girl in our neighborhood at 15 years old abducted from her home before her parents came home when she got home from school and before they came home from work and they found her dental remains on a satanic altar in the mountains of Colorado like kidnapping it for that purpose was pretty was common anyway I loved his huge buzz calm well my brain goes there somebody stole my son I'll never see him again I'm freaking out now can't even try to tell the panic that I felt that day I can't do it I'm freaking out and there's never a moment when you're looking for your lost kid like that there's never a moment that you that you think about the other for like there's and I never thought I got four others 80% ain't bad you know you don't think that it's doubled in fact we just all win-win all these different directions looking for Joseph almost like we had pre-planned it and and all sudden everybody left just palm I found a security guard leaning up against a building he's got a gun in a radio and I'm like sir Sir you got to help me find you gotta help me find a sudden he didn't even flinch he never unfolded his arms he said you look the last place you saw him can I confess my sins in church today everybody I was not the nicest person but I fit right right then because something of value to me was missing Simon you're the one with the radio helped me I was irritated by his inactivity and I wonder I just wonder if the Lord ever gets irritated by our inactivity because something of value is missing to him I just wonder and I and if one of my kids would have come up to me during that time and said daddy daddy daddy what's for dinner tonight are you serious that's the prayer you're gonna pray that's the request you have right now I mean it's a good one but not now and I wonder what our prayers sound like the gods I mean I'm happy to answer that prayer request but seriously that's the prayer you're gonna pray right now it changed me I'm just going to tell you to change me Joseph found us bawling his eyeballs out ran Timmy threw his arms around me daddy where were you I was looking for you guys that just messed me up and I'll never be the same and I just became a different pastor that day and I told the Lord that I would I would I would we would do in our church anything short of sin to reach people like like even if we have to give up stuff that we've grown to love in church that the loss people just don't get I'm full look look I'm going to heaven I don't have to have everything fit me we're gonna figure out a way and that's why you want to know why so many people come to Christ because I came back from that trip saying no no we are gonna reorganize ourselves in a way to recapture what I think is the true heart of God by the way which also let me just say I think is the true purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit you are a sea power when the Holy Spirit comes on you so that you can be my witnesses people think that the baptism always spirit is for your personal entertainment no it's not it's not so you can get some Holy Ghost goosebumps and go woo presence of God if so is sweet today no you're supposed to leave here empowered so you go change the world everybody that's why the last part of the day of Pentecost story is and about three thousand got saved in one day that's the purpose of the Holy Spirit is evangelism so I'm fired up about it and I've asked God to pour out a fresh evangelistic anointing on victory Church I've asked God on every one of us as individuals that we capture the heart of God once again so I personally lead our membership class at Church of the Highlands and I tell the Joseph's story and I'm basically what I say I say say um if you're looking for a church that's just good for you you're gonna hate it here it's like I'm gonna do everything we can to meet your needs but it's not about you we're gonna reach the people in Alabama and if you don't like that you're gonna hate it here like if you hate traffic you'll hate this church because there's a lot of people coming it's like if you need a church where there's a good parking spot there's plenty doing nothing you can park right up next to the building you can be right right there cuz if you love Souls when you're getting a traffic jam coming to church you'll think look at the people getting saved but if you love your citizens but if you love yourself you'll think oh my god they need to do something about the traffic around here open your eyes open your eyes open your eyes open come on you got to see it so so imma train you in evangelism in two minutes cuz oh I do that on purpose to show you how easy it is I teach my church four things if you're a note-taker jot these down and that is number one except the personal responsibility so like realize it's not pastor Paul's job it's our job this is like it's our like let me say it this way the only way Tulsa is gonna get saved is you and God doesn't have a plan B like we are Christ's ambassadors as though he were making his appeal through us I'm quoting second Corinthians chapter 5 like we we're it and there's not a plan B second thing is you do it by first developing a personal relationship I always say connect before you correct always connect like I can spank my kids you can't spank my kids you didn't connect but you don't look you didn't you didn't roll around on the floor with them they receive it from me because they know I love them too many Christians are trying to correct before they connect no you develop a personal relationship first I've gotten more people interested in Jesus by giving them Tami's famous chocolate chip cookies can I get a better Amen somebody when I was a youth pastor I used to invite kids over teenagers over come just come eat the best chocolate chip cookie you ever had had one girl after four months of chocolate chip cookie she said well then you gonna tell me about Jesus I don't know I was kind of waiting to you ready I don't think you are I am she is talking me and a leading heard of Christ come on somebody and I didn't do it through a sound theology cuz I wasn't able to explain just no chocolate chip cookies just go ahead and put that in your theology chocolate chip cookies third thing is look for an opportunity to share your story it's the best evangelism advice I'll ever give you our jobs not to tell people what's wrong with them it's to tell them the difference Jesus made in us big difference when you're a witness a witness just tells their side of the story so our message is not turn or burn or as they say in Alabama you're going to hail or really in Alabama it's two syllables you're going to hail that's where you're going you're going that happened no our messages can I tell you the difference Jesus made of me my life's not perfect but it's so much better that's our message let your light Matthew five let your light shine in front of it men that they see your good works in the glorify your God in heaven so you're supposed to show work tomorrow in woe great day to be alive air bounces got the Monday morning blues what is up with you two I think the most amazing time yesterday in church you got it you got you got to come see you that's our job and finally after you do those three things you look for an opportunity to give a personal invitation if to Christ if you know how if you don't know how get make the invitation to church so just listen to me you are doing yourself a disservice by not having at least one Sunday a year a lost person sitting next to you in church you trust me if you're at once think about the last time you got a lost person sitting next to you it changes the whole way like you're you're thinking pastor Paul better get it right today oh my god I got my friend here you know you care you care I can't believe they say that song well what a difference though like you care about everything now cuz right come on get on us I like I tell my staff pastor Paul I make I tell my staff say I said we can ensure that church stays the way it should when all you guys who work here have lost people coming to church cuz then you care about everything you you really do cuz your friends there and then I tell my church I say get a lost person sitting next to you and when I say every head bowed every eye closed I'm giving you permission to peek so you can head bout one eye closed see what your friends gonna do when their hand goes up and tears come down their face you'll say this was your favorite service ever at church of the highlands and you will to open your eyes so I'm just gonna be very honest with you I'm selfish I'm not saying this for the sermon purposes then I'm good at me uh there's a I really am you leave me alone I'm gonna take care of me so I'm flying to go speak at a church in Boston I get on Birmingham to Cincinnati Cincinnati to Boston a good omen Cincinnati flight my travel companion did not get the chair next to me ended up in a different seat and so I've got this empty seat next to me and I'm and I've got to land and speak so I'm thinking I need to get I need a Kitchel a nap but I'm thinking I need to go ahead and get a nap posture before this person comes or they'll talk to me and I won't ever get the nap in that really spiritual praise God all right so so I'm in I'm in fake nap posture so that the the person who comes leaves me alone and so so the guy comes and he and he throws I know it's him cuz he throws his new paint newspaper in the seat and he's putting his stuff in the overhead bin and then he takes his coat off and he flips it over Shore and he hits me upside the head with it I know and so so so I didn't want to do anything cuz or he'll talk to me so I just stayed there and I'd already claimed like my half of the shared armrest right and so he plops down and pushes my arm off the armrest I know and so you know I'm thinking I gotta let him know that's rude but I don't want to wake up and talk to him or he'll talk so I so bad I had like that I know real spiritual I'm embarrassed to share this actually and so that plane takes off and he elbows me real hard in my ribs just fall and I sit up and he goes he says so what do you do for a living and when you're a pastor you got to decide if you gonna law or not I think you do I just I'm just telling you the truth anyways I said well I'm a pastor and he starts bawling what not not crying not tears wailing and I'm embarrassed to tell you what I'm gonna tell you but my next thought was oh man there goes the nap counseling session all right what's the problem you know I know I'm embarrassed something but it's what happened said all right bro what's the deal what can I pray with you about and I'm never gonna get this nap and so anyway and he just buried his best friend in Cincinnati 55 years old had a massive heart attack died unexpectedly merry old feelings really like it was really over the top grief actually if I'm honest with you I've seen a lot of it it was it was too much and it's why I know he's lost you can only grieve that bad if you never see people again and I said I said you're grieving this hard cuz you never get to see him again I said the Bible says and he goes no no no don't go there I said why not because I'm Jewish I said what Jesus was Jewish he goes all right go ahead I mean that happened just like I am NOT making that out of our probably and he said I said well the Bible says this is 1st Thessalonians 4 it that we grieve Christians grieve but not like this we don't grieve like the rest of men who have no hope and he said well how you get the hope well I mean he teed it up for me if you can't hit that you can't play you don't I'm saying I mean it's right there in my face alright so I said well and I explained the gospel between my way to Boston the plane lands and I'm thinking I wouldn't even think about closing the deal I've actually thought my job was to get him on third base somebody else a bad him in later you know that he's really close so we're I asked sorry Billy was good talking to you he goes no you gotta I gotta get the hope I'm like well Brian you going up to confess Jesus as your Lord he goes I'm ready I said here you're just gonna do it here he talked me into it like all right and I mean right there hundreds of people at Logan International we join hands and Billy from Boston prayed to receive Jesus and he went he went like this he goes in Jesus name Amen oh I have the hope I said I told you he goes he goes man what oh yeah this is good stuff really he grabs his wallet like no man you there's a verse that says it's free I can't charge it you know and he goes look you don't understand because I I can I own a chain of toy stores in Boston I said well good well I have five kids I didn't think I thought it but I didn't say it but anyway I said no man you're not you're not given I don't want anything from you as my joy to lead you to Jesus he goes as an expression of thanks can I send your sons some hand-signed baseball cards from Dennis Eckersley he's I was I was in his wedding I was in dinners the great hall of fame relief picture from the Red Sox in fact I brought the card you'll show him the car that's the card I said can I can I send you these baseball cards and I said sure send a semi for baseball cards for my sons and sure enough the next few days later I got four hand signed baseball cards that I have never given to my sons so there you go kind of glad to get that off my chest in church actually stuff it feels good but anyway but I filed three I'm Sears I filed three of them and I put one on my desk that I see every day to remind me that the nap was good for me not napping was good for Billy that lunch was good for the disciples not going to lunch was good for the town that Church doesn't exist for us that it exists for the people who are not here yet it's it's my constant reminder so here's I look at on my desk I just pray a 10-second prayer Lord today helped me not to be selfish help me to focus my life not on me but on others and may that be the truth of here at Victory and all God's people said it good bow your heads in prayer right there where you are I'm gonna pray this pastor Paul come I'm gonna give this service to you Lord I pray for an evangelistic anointing on this church I pray God that it not even be the responsibility just of the church but every one of us in this room take that responsibility for ourselves and God we're gonna we're gonna develop some friends and we're gonna we're gonna share some stories and we're gonna invite some people we're gonna have that done the joy of having a lost person sitting next to us god I pray for scores and scores and scores of people to come to Christ in Tulsa Oklahoma America and literally around the world God put us back on mission we want to have eyes to see what you see I pray in Jesus name every head bowed every eye closed you're here today and maybe you're like Billy and you say Chris I don't have the hope I'm not gonna make you stand up or come down to the front right now I'll let pastor Paul leads you in a moment but if you want me to pray for you say Chris I'm like that I need that hope I want you to look at me wave at me say count me in that closing prayer thank you thank you thank you anybody else count me in that closing prayer yes yes yes I need that boat I need that hope thank you anybody else count me in just give me a little look a little wave thank you thank you anybody else good thank you sir god bless you anybody else just look little wave yes ma'am thank you right over here good anybody else want to join us I need that hoe way at the top god bless you anybody else want to join us anybody yeah thank you good job thank you thank you good anybody else want to join us thank you Church allowed everybody pray this prayer let everybody join us allowed not a soft a loud here we go say Jesus thank you for dying on the cross paying for my sin I receive it today I ask you to forgive me come live inside of me change me today I give you my life I surrender all in your name I pray amen come on congratulate a bunch of people

Channel: Victory Tulsa

Views: 2,239

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Chris Hodges, Victory Tulsa, Victory Christian Center, Victory

Id: Cy-wK6w4TN4

Length: 42min 41sec (2561 seconds)

Published: Tue May 31 2016