Paul's Passion | Dr. John Maxwell

you [Music] 2017 Happy New Year come on huh another year hey it wasn't yeah I know that may not be excited all of you but when you're 69 another years a wonderful thing it just keeps getting more wonderful all the time and and I'm so excited to not only be a Christ fellowship on January 1st 2017 but I'm so so excited because Church United the churches throughout this whole region of Florida along with Christ Fellowship they've all come together and they're pulling their resources together and they're they're uniting and they're they're realizing that as a group of congregations throughout this region they can make such a difference and so it's great to not only be here Christ fellowship but it's great to know that many of our churches and congregations throughout this region are using this lesson today to start their new year and and for each one of you congregations in this area god bless you may this be the best year of your life may this be the best year for your family maybe this be the best year for your church that's what we want for you okay all right here we go I want to talk today on my prayer for 2017 every year when I go to the new year I ask God to give me a prayer and my prayer is very simple I'll give it to you and I want to read a passage of Scripture then I want to teach from it my prayer is very simple and that is that that you and I would possess the same passion that Paul possessed to reach people for Jesus Christ because Paul was passionate about reaching people and I thought to myself what what could be better than in a 2017 every believer that is listening to this lesson right now would win somebody to Christ would bring somebody into the kingdom would it be just an incredible year for you two to be able at the end of this year to say I know that I personally led somebody to Christ I influenced somebody to come into the kingdom so you're going to see The Passion of Paul right now in him reaching people in this passage that's on the screen 1st Corinthians chapter 9 nine verses 19 through 23 even though I'm free of the demands and expectations of everyone I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people religious non-religious meticulous moralist loose living in morals the defeated that demoralized whoever I didn't take on their way of life I kept my bearings in Christ but I entered the world and tried to experience things from their point of view I become just about every sort of a servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God saved life I did all this because of the message I didn't just want to talk about it I wanted to be in on it Paul's passion number one changed him and I know that because he starts this teaching off he just says even though I am free of them demands and expectations of everyone I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all what a pulse a pulse it I'm a free person I free in Christ and I'm free to go to the left I'm free to the right I'm free to go forward and free to go backward I can go upward I can go downward I'm free but he says I can't live a free life because what I need to do is I need to reach people and so what I need to do is I have to become a servant to any and all what Paul is saying is if I'm going to be effective in bringing people to the kingdom I have to put people first that I have to constantly think of them and adding value to them I can still remember in my 20s going with my father and my brother to to hear Zig Ziglar for the first time in Dayton Ohio and we were on the front row and I'll never forget that great motivating speaker with that Southern drawl would walk around the stage they kept saying over and over again if you'll help people get what they want they'll help you get whatever you want and I remember as a leader I thought man I've been doing it wrong I've been wanting everybody get on my train I've been wanting everybody to get into my vision I'm not finding them where they are and connecting with them and and so I've got to change things I got it I gotta quit putting me first I gotta start putting them first well I I know it kind of dawned on me when Zig said it but when you really think about it if you want to be christ-like somebody come since John I would just like to be like Jesus what that's so easy if you want to be like Jesus just put others first and add value to them every day that's that's Christ like that's that's Jesus like 2017 I'm living at Jesus like life I'm putting others first I'm adding value to them and you say boy John do you think that's just Jesus like I know it's Jesus like Philippians chapter 2 verses 1 through 8 this is powerful stuff look what Paul says if you've gotten anything out of all at following Christ in his love if his love has made any difference in your life if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you if you have a heart if you care well he's kind of qualifying it your knee if if if if then do me a favor agree with each other love each other beep deep spirited friends don't push your way up to the front don't sweet-talk your way to the top put yourself aside and help others get ahead don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage forget yourselves long enough to lend the helping hand then he says I think I'm going to illustrate what I've just told you to do think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself he had equal status with God but he didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what no not at all when the time came he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave became human having become human he stayed human it was an incredibly humbling process he didn't claim special privileges instead he lived a selfless obedient life and that died a selfless obedient death and the worst kind of death at that a crucifixion Oh Paul is saying is very simple if you want to be like Jesus just do what Jesus did give it all up for others that's being christ-like but Paul's passion not only changed him the second thing that is Paul's passion did for him is is it it is it caused him to include everyone his passion had no territory had no turf had no fences around it he says I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach I love this this phrase a wide range of people he said I want to reach religious people I want to reach non-religious people I want to reach meticulous more or less I want to reach loose living immoralist I want to reach the defeated I want to reach the demoralizing and he's finally he's just trying to express all of he wants to reach because he wants to reach him and then finally just he just sums up one word whoever whoever that just kind of does it Paul who do you want to reach whoever just bring them on I just any type it is shape any place any person anywhere just I just I just want to win them you know it's wonderful thing to realize how much God loves this it's wonderful for us to think of how much God values us in fact I want you to repeat with me would you please yes I just love this because this just makes me whenever I say this it just makes me makes me really feel privileged I want you all to as a group say with me God loves me God loves oh that's good now look at your neighbor and say God loves you your net great huh and then say it all together God loves people I don't know God in that crate I mean people you and I don't even know God I want one more thing say with me God loves people I don't like your tongue was a little different on that last one didn't some faces just kind of flash up before you don't you sometimes just kind of feel like Jonah how come on God give it to him give it to I mean I mean they repented and he repented I mean he's just kind of felt bad about it he's just he was hoping that a little destruction could happen I mean not to everybody but I mean the real bad words the real bad ones you see we have a question we've got to ask ourselves as a church there's a question I have to ask myself every day as I'm out in to a secular world the question is this do I want to connect with people or do I want to correct them and you better figure it out because you can't do both I think most of the people outside would say we're better at correcting than we are connecting and you say well John who do I connect with well if you want to be like Jesus gods who love the whole world or if you want to be like Paul whoever then you say who should I connect with anybody that's around you everybody and let me save for 2017 take that phrase everybody cuz that's kind of like big and it's gonna overwhelming take everybody and just reduce it to somebody let me ask you a question who would you in 2017 like to bring into the kingdom of God what what one person would you like to be an influence on and how do we how do we how do we connect with him it's very simple Paul tells us Jesus tells us price like serving people adding value to them intentionally so the passion of Paul it changed him he went from somebody could do anything he really wanted to do to say no I think I'm going to serve and value so it just changed everything about his life but it not only it not only changed him when he got that passion and included everybody it didn't stop it any line for somebody that just was kind of cool disgusting to him and by the way can I tell you why he had no lines there because he was a murderer when you've done something really bad when Jesus changes your life you love people to do things really bad number three his passion established his identity look what Paul says I love this don't miss this Christian's this is this is key to be in salt and light he said I didn't take on their way of life I kept my bearings in Christ in other words he says now I want to reach him but to reach him I don't have to become like him now let me say something you gotta like him Christians have a hard time with that you just gotta like him but you don't have to become like him you you want to be christ-like are you ready he said I didn't lose my bearings I didn't was my way of life high focused on Christ I understood that now listen very carefully because I want to make a statement that is absolutely true birthed out of my own transition from a pastor to living every day basically trying to reach people for God in a secular world listen very carefully you truly find out who you are when you have to leave your culture now you need to go home and spend about five hours on that statement you truly find out who you are when you have to leave your culture your surroundings your friends your church service all the things that make us so comfortable as Christ followers you never know you never know just truly who you are until you have got to leave your world and get into their world when I was 17 I really made a strong commitment to Christ and I can still remember how it was during my school year my junior of high school and and I knew that I had to let my friends know that that Christ had become real in my life but like all new Christians I wasn't really sure how to do that and I was little clumsy and so I just I just sighed after a couple days I had a little Testament just to put it in my pocket of my shirt not saying they would just carry a New Testament in my pocket and if somebody asked me I could just tell them that I was a Christ follower and I like to read the New Testament and follow the Christ and I'll never forget the first morning that I did that I walked into my homeroom and Susan walked into my homeroom jack Martin who was in my room looked at me and he looked at he said John what is that I said oh that's a New Testament I said I became a Christian this week at 17 I understood something when you enter their world you better know who you are and that day I said to myself I will live with them but I never need to ever want to forget who I am in Christ and so in the crossover I keep asking myself when I left the password and and went into teaching in the business community I kept asking myself why am i crossing over or very stuff I'm crossing over I'm crossing over to reach people for Christ that's one reason I'm doing it and so I keep saying to myself constantly John don't forget who you are and so I look at people and I say hey my name is John I'm your friend I look I came here to add value to people no other Jenna just want to add value to people and every opportunity I get when the opportunity comes doesn't come every time is yes I'm a person of faith but hey I came to add value dude - I'm not here to talk about my faith I'm here to add value I'm here to take care of you I'm here - I'm here to make your company better I'm here to help you go climb this ladder of success but also not only forget who don't forget who you are John but don't forget why you're in the world the church has forgotten why we're here we think we're here to sing Kumbaya till Jesus comes and we're here to be salt and light that's why we're here and as Christ followers I you all of us we need to constantly remind it we are here for one reason and that is to get the bride ready hey hey that when Christ comes back we we've got people too we got a people to take with us on my on my iPhone I'm not very technical but I love the salt light pass you because Jesus said that's what we're to be salt lightened so when I turn on my little iPhone baby I mean I got my right oh shoot I've got a crazy message right there turn alright if I get rid anyway had that just killed a great illustration when the first time will be the last time welcome the life of a public speaker I'm gonna try it one more time it's a little light bulb at a salt shaker and it just says be these just be these be salt and light John that's that's that that's who you are number four Paul's passion challenged him to enter their world and get out of his comfort zone his passion challenged him to enter their world and get out of his comfort zone What did he say but I entered their world and I tried to experience things from their point of view this is this this I love this passage I entered their world and I tried to experience things from their point of view you see as Christians were always wanting everybody know our point of view we always wanted to declare ourselves good you just quit declaring yourself just just get over into their world and do your very best to enter that world and begin to see things from their point of view she when I know who I am and what I need to do then I need to know who they are now I live in this world and I can give you illustration after illustration of how God has helped me to understand how they see God not how the church sees God but how they see God I've got a wonderful friend and in 2016 and going into 2017 now I've got a wonderful interesting project with an atheist by the way I hope you got a whole bunch of sinner friends III think I don't know I think that I don't know maybe that people shouldn't be able to go to church until they've got like 25 sinner friends you lose your sinner friends and you lose your passion to reach him for Christ so I've got an atheist and and every other month I call him and you know we've talked about a lot of things I've helped him add a lot of value to his company to his business and so we started to move towards the agenda a couple of months ago and I said what do you want to the agenda to be for the next few months and he said okay he said now John you know I'm an atheist I said I know you are I know you are he said I would like to talk about the historical Jesus I saw like that he's not the biblical don't wanna do Bible the historical days I said god I think historical Jesus be good one let's do that so we've now been into three phone conversations an hour each time on the historical Jesus now I'll take them wherever they give them to me folks folks quit trying to move them around what are we doing go find them where they are and stay with them until they're comfortable listen they're not going to be comfortable with you until you're comfortable with where they are and too many Christians aren't comfortable with where they are and so they get nervous so I historical Jesus that works historical Jesus let's talk body so in our third phone conversation he said now Johnny said I'm going to tell you why I'm an atheist she said this is one of the main reasons that's it good what is it he said well he said I just can't believe in a God that would send people to hell and I called him by name and I said oh my gosh I so agree with you on that and it got real quiet he said what do you mean you agree with me why should I I think you're exactly right I surely would I couldn't believe in a God that would just send people to hell we said what do you mean that's your God Oh I said no that's not my god somebody's giving you some bad information I said that's that's not my god yeah I said let me said let me spend something to you there is a hell but my god he's exactly opposite of the god you're thinking about my God does everything he can do in his power to keep me from going there in fact he's so bent on keeping you from going to such a terrible place that he gave up his own son and he not only gave up his own son but but he also he loves us unconditionally and I started going through this whole process and he gave us a way a way of salvation so that we wouldn't have to go through in fact I said let me explain this - according by name I said just got to understand if you go to hell you have to step over God to get there instead I've never thought of it like that I said I know you haven't you're my friend I said you're not an atheist you just think you are but it's okay it's okay it makes you comfortable I love atheist I'd say atheist but I said you're not an atheist you're just an atheist because there's a false God that you don't believe in and I said now that today is not today but there's going to be a day when you're going to want to know the real one and when you're ready I'll talk to you about but it's not today it's not today it's not today I could still remember when I crossed over and I one of my first speaking gigs with Sam's Club and so I talked to the executives I spoke all day for Sam's Club at the Convention Center in Tampa and so I spoke to kind of the leaders there that and I said could we do it like a volunteer service tomorrow morning you know for people just like to come and I could just maybe share faith a little bit with them and I said they get volunteered that'd be anybody and I said do it before you start your schedule if you know anything about Sam's Club Walmart they start early I mean they start really early and so they said yeah we'll let you do that it's all volunteer they said it'll have to it'll have to be at 6:00 in the morning I can still remember walking from my hotel three blocks to the convention center at 5:30 and I was so incredibly discouraged and defeated because I thought who is going to come out at 6:00 in the morning and by the way when you go into my world you don't get worship on the front end some of your worship teams are so good you don't have to preach good and somebody can get saved you could just get up and say hickory dickory dock and fight people who come forward [Applause] and as I walk that walk those few blocks over the Convention Center I understood that day that I was lonely because I entered their world and when you enter their world you'll be lonely because you're in the world but you're not of the world number five Paul's passion helped him to become creative his passion reach people gave him a creative edge that I just loved What did he say I've become just about every sort of a servant there is you can attempt to lead those I meet into a god saved life now when he said I become just about any kind of servant there is ears what Paul said plus as I look at people and I asked myself what do I gotta do to add value to them and oh this this person I get okay that's the kind of serving I'll be for them Oh what I'll be other kinds know as Paul said my whole life is directed not upon what I know but upon where they are you've got to find them before you can lead them you see I grew up in a Holiness Church where they just wanted to be holy and I went back and spoke for their 100th anniversary and I said I thank God for my heritage holiness is a beautiful thing but I just got to tell you something you got to catch the fish before you clean the fish we've got a bunch of fish cleaners and they haven't caught anything for a long time see the key to creativity is this creative people they're not like brilliant like above other people creative people are creative because there's one thing they all have in their DNA and it's very simple all creative people believe one thing there is always an answer you show me a creative person they believe there's an answer the moment you don't think there's an answer guess what you quit being creative creativity is stimulated on the fact there's always an answer and Paul said there's always a way to reach people for Christ there's always a way for me to be creative I become all things to all men that can win some okay what's your name that's kind serve and I'm with you oh I'm that kind of a servant over there with you oh I've al you to you that way but all I gotta do is find out where you are now I'm gonna I'm gonna connect with you so when I do the four pictures of God when I do the four pictures of God people people come to me and say John why did you ever come up with that idea from hanging around with sinners and getting their point of view about God see we're telling him all kind of things about God that they never thought about you see when I started hanging around sinners one of the first things I found is there are a lot of people they just thought God wasn't reachable so I put a fence in the picture and showed them that God would hop the fence to have a relationship with them and when I started hanging around with lost people I found a whole bunch of I said well I'm just not a good enough person so I said well let's talk about a garbage can let's talk about how fat God loves garbage and I talked to somebody to say well I am a good enough person and I'm working hard and and I'm better than most people anyway and I'm I'm a good person and I'm climbing this ladder so I said let's stick a ladder it connected the four pictures of God is nothing but hanging around with lost people when's the last time your best thoughts were not your thoughts but were the thoughts of lost people so that you could understand them connect with them and then bring them into the kingdom so I'm always I'm so creative I am so stinking creative and I'm good I mean I'm really good people here male dancer John you're so good you see the Bible says he that winneth Souls is wise I'm gonna for I started winning people to Christ I didn't know that I kept I went in how do you get wise winning souls then I found out you go out and start sharing your faith with lost people they'll ask you questions you don't know you're not in Sunday school now everybody happy and they'll ask your questions you know and when they would ask me questions I know didn't know I'd say you know what I don't know but if you give me a week I'll go find the answer I'll come back and talk to you again about it after you do that for about five years you got all the answers and one day you say yeah he that when the Souls is wise where did you get wise you got wise by hanging around and trying to connect and lead people to Jesus that's the wisdom you get so I'm creative so when I'm talking to the business world I say now there are four ways to add value to people and for you today I'm going to give you three of them and so I give them the three of them and I just look at their face and sometimes they'll say well what's the fourth one oh I say I can't give that to you that's not for you that's just for me I there are four ways I'd tell you to people but but I'm a person of faith and and and I don't want it I don't want to mix that in with with with with my business teaching today drives them crazy many times they just say just the demand I say okay okay I'm going to tell you you just asked for it so I'm going to tell you but we're not going to talk about it in fact if you don't want to hear it just don't listen to me on this one I'm here to tell you when the world knows you got something that they need they'll hang around with you to try to figure out what it is and I learned how to bait the hook so when I'm talking about if I could spend a date with you I have a seminar that literally would I have an all-day what I could do about seven hours I do five things that I if I could spend one day you and I sat around the table and I could only absorb gonna see you once this is my day and when I'm done I'll never see you again these are the five most important things I've talked to you about your life to be successful they love this seminar but only give them four because this honestly I can't give you the fifth one because if I could I would I would talk about my faith because those are the things that live beyond you I promise you every time I do that 20 30 40 50 people come say what would you say what what what does that think you would say about your connection the world is hungry we don't have a hunger problem with the world we got a Christian problem who doesn't understand the world enough to even know how to make him hungry and Paul knew it Paul said my passion to reach people makes me creative I teach about wholock I say the best kind of like you could have in life as who luck who you know who you meet my gosh that's better than any other kind of luck you wanna and so I said let me tell you how to get who luck when you have a meeting with somebody you admire ask them who do you know that I should know and can you help me to know them I mean I've met presence of United States but asking that question I met John wouldn't ask a neck wish I can give you 50 great people I asked but but just said who do you know that I should know so I teach him I say and so I'll get around and I'll say okay let's talk about who locked every one of you talk about who you know that the rest of us in this group should know I mean I ask questions all the time because if you ask questions you set the whole conversation up whether it's a dinner or any other kind of meeting and so they'll go around they'll say well I know this person I know this person and they come to me and I said oh my gosh I want to go last because I've been even debating if I should tell you about this so I'm God's just going to say but let's not talk about it you see if you ask me who I know that you should know I'd say boy I wish you knew God because he's amazing and what he said of my life is amazing but but let's go on now let's not talk about it anymore a lot of times in Q&A somebody say who's the greatest leader that ever lived Wow okay it's just from a historical point of view I'm a person of faith but Jesus was the greatest leader that ever lived now let me tell you something I could give you 50 things like this that I do every day of my life and you say how do you get so smart I get so creative how can you have all those hooks how do you know those think I'll tell you what I hang around with lost people it's not good for Christians to hang around with Christians listen to me my name is John I'm your friend when you go to heaven you get a hang around with Christians for eternity here's a thought while you're on earth and we're supposed to get the bride ready let's start hanging with some sinners number six Paul's passion allowed him to love and live out this incredible message his passion allowed him not only to love the message he could live it out what did he say I did all of this because of the message I didn't just want to talk about it I wanted to be in on it I loved that I didn't want to talk I want to get I want to die I don't want to just have another Bible study about reaching people my neighbor's for Christ's worthless worthless we are educated in the church way beyond the level of our obedience and the only transformation comes not from intellectual teaching transformation comes from application transformation does not happen until you act upon what you know we're the greatest gap of the world is a gap between knowing and doing I was recently given this to me by a person that I have to reach for Christ and it was a little poem that I never heard her before it's kind of simple and I've just kind of been hanging on to it but the poem says when you enter that beautiful city and the saved all around you appear what joy when someone will tell you it was you who invited me here I was privileged last month a couple of months ago now to do to have a brief audience with the Pope and because I knew I was going to have some time with him I want to get him a gift and and he took on the name Francis because Pope Francis admire Saint Francis of Assissi and so I said I would love to take him something on st. Francis of Assissi and there's a bookstore in New York City that I love that Ola has his old great great books great books I go there every time and and so I had learn to call them up and sure enough they had a they had an old book a Freight Sansa st. Francis of Assissi of wood block cuttings pictures of him 54 and it was the only one in the world and I bought it and I'm so excited and to take that and give it to Pope Francis and all the time and the effort and the energy to give him a gift that I knew would really you know connect with him and and it was kind of a good time for us and when I left him I said there's going to be a day when I stand before Jesus and I began to ask myself the question I mean I kind of worked hard on the gift for Pope Francis what's going to be my gift when I stand before him first of all it's not going to be me when I look at people that love God I feel a lot of people love him more than I do and I know a lot of people live a much better Christian life than I do and I look at people who have given their life up for the cause of Christ and and I just look I look if some Christians and just say you know there's got to be some kind of a I don't know an overflow somewhere in heaven where you kind of watch by satellite I'm probably going to be hanging there somewhere but I know what I want to give Jesus I do this um when I stand before him and thank him for what do you send for me I've just like to have people around me that I can say Jesus I just punch it in him I help bring them into the kingdom and they're up here today because I tried to be what you wanted me to be salt and light I don't want to stand before the one who gave His life for me empty handed said hey Jesus just got saved myself and Here I am no I want to look at him and say what you did not only change my life but what you did changed all these people's lives in heaven I want somebody look at me and say it was you it was you who invited me here let's pray you're a wonderful father and you gave us the most wonderful gift Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and conquered death and gave us the hope of eternal life and I just pray for every church within this Florida region I pray for every member of every congregation that is listening to this lesson today I pray that you will begin with the pastor and then you'll go through the staff and then you'll go through the elders and the laypeople and I just pray that God in 2017 wouldn't it be wonderful at the end of this year we could look at you and say there's one person going to heaven that I influenced into the kingdom I led to Christ this year that if I wouldn't have been here on earth they wouldn't be ready to meet you may we stand before you not empty-handed may we stand before you with people around us people that have found you and your grace and your goodness and your forgiveness so I pray a covering of revival renewal on every Church and on every person in that building may today we catch fire and in our heart may we get a passion like Paul to become all things to all men and all women that we might win some we ask in the name of Jesus and everybody said amen come [Applause]

Channel: Christ Fellowship Church

Views: 63,331

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Keywords: Christ Fellowship, Dr John Maxwell, John Maxwell, Church United, Church, God, Faith, Jesus, Holy Spirit, New Year's Day, Sermon, Hope, Love, Inspiration, Christ Fellowship Church, Pastor John Maxwell, Paul's Passion

Id: 7KULEep00qs

Length: 38min 33sec (2313 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 01 2017