The Power of Your Personal Story

let's turn our Bibles out to John chapter 4 were in our brand-new series that were calling God came near which is a chronological look of the life ministry teachings miracles death resurrection in a sense of Ascension of Jesus from all the Gospels and the title of this message is the power of your personal story you know over in Hawaii they have an expression I like the expression is talk story to say this is sort of their own lingo they call it pidgin English let's say hey brah you come and talk story yeah or they might also say hey you know the kind you not be giving me stink eye brah you'll hear what I'm saying to you so talk story what is talk story basically it's getting together shooting the breeze spending time talking story and you know what we all should talk story we have a story to tell Chuck we have two stories to tell as Christians number one we have our own story of how we came to faith in Jesus Christ it may be dramatic it may not be as dramatic but everybody has a legitimate story to tell of how they came to Jesus number two we have the greatest story ever told and that's a story of the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ now God's given us sort of an evangelistic tool box if you will and one of the best tools in it is your personal testimony because you can use that as a bridge to share your faith and that is what we see presented of the story before it's here in John 4 in the encounter of Jesus with the woman at the well she believed in Jesus this day and shared her story with others and as a result many believe because of her testimony look at John 4 39 many of the Samaritans of that city believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified he told me all that I ever did so how did this happen will it happen when Jesus overcame the prejudice of the day and sought her out normally a Jewish man would never talk with a woman so he overcame that hurdle then that to that effect a Jewish man would never talk with a Samaritan woman because Jews wouldn't even speak with Samaritans he overcame that hurdle then add to that the fact that he went and spoke to an immoral Samaritan woman and led her to faith on this day let's reflect on a few of the bullet points from our last message before we dig into our text in this message number 1 if we want to reach people we have to go where they are you know Jesus did not say the whole world should go to church but he did say the church should go to the whole world we have to go to where people are and we may need to overcome a barrier or two they may be older than us they may be younger than us they may be a different race than us they may be from a different social or economic background than us there's no room for prejudice or barriers of any kind we have to go to where people are number two we have to care about the people we speak to trust me a person can tell if you care about them if for pete's sake a dog can tell if you care about them it's the way you treat the dog a Spurgeon the great preacher said quote their spirit will move them by first moving you number three we need to keep at it even when we're tired and this particular instance Jesus was tired from a long walk yet he still had time for this burned-out immoral woman the Bible says that we are to be on duty at all times so think about it this way as you give God will give to you there have been times when I've been exhausted and a ministry opportunity has come my way and I wasn't all that excited about there been times where I'm scheduled to speak in the evening and it's a long day maybe some unexpected things came up and I wasn't in the perfect mood to speak but I just got up with a word of god confident that he would bless it and I've started on empty and I've ended on full and what I mean by that is you give the Bible says it will be given back to you press down shaken together running over with the same measure you give it will be measured back to you so as I take these blessings God has given and not merely hoard them but share them God replenishes you know sometimes I think we we sort of come to church we have our little cup in a way Oh Lord just fill my cup Lord fill it up we've got our blessings okay it's time to leave don't spill the blessings careful with the blessings spill the blessings share the blessings because now your compass empty and ready for some more but if you're just so careful this is mine don't take a sip of it it's mine it's not for you no now share it with others and then the Lord of fill it share it he'll fill it again we need to do it when we're tired number three we need to use excuse me number four we need to use tact Jesus the master communicator shows us how it is done the objective is to build a bridge not burn one the goal is to win the soul not just the argument I'm not suggesting you lose the argument every Christian should be equipped to share their faith sometimes it's called apologetics I come from the root word apologia and it's a word that means a legal defense of the faith you should know what you believe and why you believe it but it's not to merely win an argument it's to win a soul many an argument has been won and the soul has been lost number five we must adapt to the situation there's not a one-size-fits-all approach to evangelism we should not be robotic when we share our faith I've seen certain people that say the same thing to every person and frankly it doesn't work hey god loves you in this wonderful plan for your life left you in there's wonderful point unless you as wonderful probably here live kind of it's wonderful but again that was the little thing you know okay are the battery insec got no children aren't reward rofl fraud for your he'll look at you like what a jerk what's wrong with you Jesus never dealt with any two people in exactly the same way the way that he dealt with Nicodemus is different than the way he spoke with a woman at the well which is different from the way he dealt with Zacchaeus which is different from the way he dealt with the rich young ruler so we in the same way must adapt to this situation number six we must know when to pull the net in no one to pull the net in so for fishing well we know when the moment comes pull the net in or or reel it in or to put it in business vernacular no one to close the deal in the words of the great theologian Kenny Rogers he got a no one to hold him no one to fold them no one to walk away no one to run so there will be times when the Lord will lead you to close the deal years ago I was talking with someone and I was going through all my things I go through when I share the gospel and the Lord spoke to my heart and said ask him right now if they want to accept Christ we can't ask him yet I'm not done with my little speech no ask so I just stopped midstream and say let me ask you might seem crazy but would you like to accept Jesus Christ right now they said I would well there you go you just never know there'll be times when you just saw the seed there'll be times when you reap where others have some we'll talk about that more in a moment so with that in mind we come to our story here's a woman at the well she's been married and divorced five times she's living with the man Jesus calls her out on her sin she's coming near to the conviction of the spirit right to get him oh excuse me off topic in a debate that have been raging for years between the Samaritans and the Jews about where God should be worship Jesus got a right back on the main topic reminding her that God is a spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth now she's beginning to soften she starts off sarcastic a bit flippin now her heart is becoming more receptive and she makes this insightful statement she says well we know Messiah is coming so now she she's open and now Jesus is gonna lay some more truth on her and this is big truth he's gonna drop the bombshell after she says we know Messiah is coming Jesus says look at verse 26 I speak to you a.m. he by the way the Greek words are very forceful Jesus was saying it is I am who speaks with you not just I who speak with you me hey it is I am who speaks with you now she would know that that's what God said to Moses Moses is at the burning bush he said hey Who am I gonna say sent me God said I am that I am so jesus said I am God in human form is standing in front of you right now girl you're talking to God can you imagine that - look God in the face to hear his voice with your own ears to see him to be able to reach out and touch him and she believes right on the spot and that just reminds us that salvation doesn't take a long time how long does it take to become a Christian not this long sometimes people say well you know I'm in the process of converting well listen you're either converted or you're not converted I mean maybe you're chucking out the claims of Christ you're looking into it and that's great but once you believe it only takes a second just a few moments what happened next let's read John 4 verse 27 I'm reading from the New Living Translation just when his disciples arrived they were astonished to find him talking to a woman but none of them asked why he was doing it or what they'd been discussing don't wanna left her waterpot beside the well went back to the village it's old everyone come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did could this be the Messiah so the people came streaming from the village to see him so here comes the disciples they've picked up the food they've got to take out bags they're coming back in and there's Jesus talking to clearly an immoral woman today we might call her a hooker yeah you know him when you see him oh whoa why why is he talking to her this this doesn't look good at all but wisely they hold their tongue trusting him and it's a good thing they were gone I think maybe that's why he's sent him on an errand go go get some food you guys he didn't want them around because he had a delicate spiritual surgery to perform and if he had tried to do this with them sitting there he didn't spend most of the time pacifying them or explaining to them why it was legitimate to talk to someone like this because they would have carried their typical bias and Prejudice of the average Jewish man of this time instead he was just gonna show them how to do it you know sometimes Christians with good intentions but no tact can keep people from Christ did you hear what I just said sometimes Christians with good intentions but no tact keep people from Christ he said what do you mean well they see someone and they're put off by something oh wow they they cussed they cussed and they they lit up a cigarette what I can't talk to a person I hit I have to go away that's bad wait wait okay they customs so you yeah and then they said the thing that just was wrong it wait wait how are you gonna reach them you see I'll talk to the cussing smoking person some people don't even know they're cussing they cuss so much they don't even realize that blankety blankety blankety like normal word blankety blankety here's how I look at it I want to get to the heart of the matter I don't want to major on minors y'all they have these outward issues that need to be dealt with I believe that we can get this person to Christ these other things will be sorted out in time get to the heart of it reach the person don't focus so much on the way they express their sin get to the solution of removing their sin which is turning to Christ and being forgiven and sometimes we drive them off with hypocrisy it's been said there are two reasons non-believers don't go to church number one they don't know a Christian number two they do know a Christian of course I would be thinking of a hypocritical Christian or possibly even someone who pretends to be a Christian but really is not one at all so Jesus wins this woman over this former harlot became the first female evangelist of the New Testament and God used her to reach an entire city so what do we learn here about telling our story number one telling your story is a powerful bridge for the gospel message telling your story is a powerful bridge for the gospel message a person cannot argue with you about what is God what God has done in your life listen it's a way to preach to a person without preaching directly at a person see they might argue with why I don't agree with your view of evolution or I don't agree with your view about the inspiration of the scripture I don't agree with your view about this or that okay wait let me tell you my story they can't argue with that because it's your story let me tell you how I used to be let me tell you how I used to think let me tell you how I used to live and so just using my story as an example I'll talk about my lifestyle choices the stupid things that I did how empty it was and then one day I heard someone in my high school campus sharing the message of the gospel and he said Jesus said your for me or against me so I'm not preaching out the person I'm just tell what the preacher said to me and how I reacted initially and then how I responded so you're using that story to bridge a gap and that's what the woman did look at verse 28 she went back to the village and told everyone come and see a man who told me everything I ever did can this be the Messiah so that people came streaming from the village look at verse 39 many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said he told me everything I ever did here's a few tap tips not taps I don't know what taps are and I don't think you need them here's a few tips in sharing your personal testimony number one listen don't miss this don't glorify or exaggerate your past don't glorify or exaggerate your past accuracy is important so is truthfulness I bring this up because you know I hear some people give their testimony and then maybe ten years later I hear them give it maybe in a public setting and their testimony is well it's gotten a little more traumatic and I'm wondering did those things happen to you or are those the movies you've been watching or bits from other people's testimony just tell your story truthfully and don't glorify your past you know I listen to some people and their past sounds more interesting than their present in the way they tell their story well let me tell you what I used to do we partied and we did this drug and we went into this place and I'm telling you with something but but hi I gave it all up for Jesus and now I carry the old wooden cross and I don't go out and party anymore I go home and I go to bed at 6 o'clock after having my hot cocoa and little marshmallows though that may be a little bit of an indulgence those marshmallows I'm praying about that yeah you know what dude your life is boring I don't want it so you're not telling your story right here's how you should tell you sorry yeah I used to do this and I did that and it was miserable and it was empty but now let me tell you what Jesus has done for me that's how to tell listen don't boast about what you gave up for him boast about what he gave up for you I don't care what you gave up you didn't make any sacrifices well I left a lot to follow Jesus shut up you did not you left nothing you gave up nothing to follow Christ in fact here's Paul's words now usually when we read these you read them from the New King James Version or King James hears from a modern translation listen now here's Paul talking about his past he says all things I once thought were so important are gone now from my life compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my master firsthand everything I once thought I had going for me it's insignificant it's dog dung I've dumped it in the trash so I can embrace Christ and be embraced by him now the King James says those things I counted as gain I now count as loss they're mere rubbish now look rubbish was a good word a hundred years ago it's not a good word now because it's not graphic enough you know that's what they say in England and that's just rubbish just rubbish Cheers you know boy I'm English and it's rubbish okay fine you know that doesn't communicate it right it's a garbage but even garbage isn't enough he's not saying it was garbage Hughes's a word that could be translated excrement dog dung ah poop that's what he's saying so you said quick that's graphic you shouldn't say the word poop in church well Paul said it in the Bible okay so deal with it here's the point here's the point when you take your dog out for a while and I hope you clean up after your dog I hope you're not one of those people that leave things cuz I've stepped in it I'm coming after you but you know you you clean up and really is a nice deal for the dog isn't it yeah I'm gonna go take a walk and do whatever I want to do and you clean up after me you're there with the little bad okay you pick it up and don't tell me you put him in the stroller cuz that would just be wrong it push the dog back in the stroller okay now what do you do this is graphic gross I probably should never do this but I'm gonna finish it I'm in I have to finish keep got your little bag they're usually blue right what do you do with it you go home I showed everyone look what we have here is this awesome or what you give it to someone as a gift if you hate them maybe no here's what you do you tie it up so you won't smell it you pick up the trash can you throw it and you shut the lid that's what you do with it because that's what you should do with it and that's what you should do with your past and that's how you should share your story don't be known for who you were be known for who you are in Christ and when you tell your story number three it's not about you it's about him it's not about you I mean your story has this place tell it don't take too long get to the big story get to the main story the story of the life death and resurrection of Jesus and everybody has a powerful story to tell granted some are more dramatic than others here's an email I received from a man who came to Christ at our crusade in 1991 these are his words and I read all right quote on that divine Thursday evening of 1991 God took this loss suicidal hardened fifteen-year-old member of the Crips and radically transforming my life was instantly revolutionized and I've not been the same since next month I'll celebrate 24 years on the Lord by God's grace have had the privilege of ministry in his word all around the world had I not gone to the Harvest Crusade that evening I'm confident I would now either be dead or I'd be in prison now that's a good testimony isn't it but that doesn't mean your testimony is less Talent you know you remember a member of you are not a member of the crimps you actually were a Girl Scout you didn't do drugs you didn't have that short binge with the Oreos but you got over that you were kind of a nice kid and then one day you realize you need me to Jesus and you ask him to forgive you why can't share that yeah you can't because you know what there's someone out there just like you see everybody needs Jesus they may be down and out they may be up and out they may be immoral as you can be and they may be moral but everybody needs Jesus and there's someone that will relate to your story so don't undersell it don't think it's not legit if you took all of our story and simplified it it would go along the lines of that man who was who said once I was blind but now I see here I'm gonna give your testimony right now without even knowing you you were a sinner separated from God by your sin which caused you to do really stupid things one day you realize those things were stupid you turn from the sin and believed in Jesus and now you're forgiven by God that's your testimony okay and that's my testimony that's our testimony so let's share it now having said that having said that I want to show you a testimony of a man named Errol and this is a dramatic testimony he came to faith in our crusade that we did in New Mexico but the reason I want you to watch this and some of you have seen this story before I never get tired of watching it but the reason I'm showing it as I believe Errol gave a perfect testimony he talked about his old life in his new life so check this out this is how to do it one day a young teenager Wow enduring well my father I decided to defend myself and this was viewed as rebellion against a head never thought the audio killed it in history calls me thrown out of the house living on the street I became involved with alcohol and drugs soothe the pain of being rejected I started using the drugs in their ever-increasing amount while living out in the street I did also meet my future life we were married and when she could no longer satisfy the selfish desires I sought to have my desires might need satisfying in the arms of a different woman so I divorced my wife and moved with this woman to Albuquerque New Mexico and living in Albuquerque we fell into some hard financial times and my car was up for a repossession and I was being evicted from my apartment and there was no hope for my future much less any hope for the next day so I decided the miserable life I was living was not worth it anymore and wanted commit suicide and I decided the way I would do this was by purchasing enough cocaine my drug of choice to use in one instance and overdosing committing suicide as I was headed to purchase this drug from my dealer I was going through radio station looking for some deep dark music they would serve as a soundtrack to the end of my life but rather than finding this type of music I found a Christian radio station that paid this song which really grabbed my attention and after the song was over the announcer said that this band will be performing at the University of New Mexico basketball Stadium also known as a pet and I looked up and directly to my right I saw a sign that said the pet and I couldn't resist I had to go into auditorium and go see this band and after the band had played their music I sat down and Greg Laurie came out and started talking about Jesus and a love of God he assured me that God loved me I thought how could God love me look at the way I live my life I do not please God in any way I thought God hated me but Greg assured me that God expresses his love in this that while we were still sinners christ died for her sense and Greg gave the invitation to come forward and to pray to receive Christ and I remember praying to God not Allah that my life was a mess but if he wanted it if God wanted it will be as it was my intent to at my life that they died that evening and it was God's intent that I also died to self and be raised in the new creation and deed by His grace and in his love and his compassion I am a new creation today that's how to do it that's how to tell your story when I love it about Errol story is he tells about the things he did he did not glorify the past so he talked about it and then he brought it to the message of the gospel what Jesus did for him on the cross well let's shift gears to one final movement in this story and it's also here in John 4 in its verses 35 to 38 because now Jesus has led this woman at the well to faith she's gone and told her entire village many have believed now he's trying to expand the mind of his followers he wants to show them a new paradigm he wants to show them great opportunity so he tells them to lift up their eyes look at verse 35 from John 4 again from the New Living Translation do you think the work of harvesting will not begin until the summer ends four months from now look around you vast fields are ripening all around you and you're ready now for the harvest the harvesters are paid good wages and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life what joy awaits both the planner and the harvester alike you know the same one person plants it's someone else harvests and it's true and I sent you to harvest where you didn't plan others have already done the work and you will gather the harvest so we'll stop there Jesus is using the analogy of planning a crop sowing seed watering seed reaping a crop to describe what it means to share the gospel verse 35 vast fields are ripening all around us and people are ready now for the harvest listen the mission field is everywhere I've heard people say you know one day I'd like to go in the mission field and be a missionary I want to cross the sea for Christ he how about crossing the street first there's a mission field in your neighborhood that neighbor over there have you even talked to them about your faith what about the person behind you what about the person in the cubicle next to you would work or on your worksite or in your classroom or what about your family reunion do your family members know that you're a believer in Jesus now see Jesus is saying look the mission field is out there and I'm telling you right now as I look at our own country I think things are ripe for evangelism I think spiritual ignorance is at an all-time high dublicate literacy is at an all-time low there was a day when you would talk to people and they'd say well I'm already a Christian I'm an American right go to church you know what that tastes behind his folks there are some people like that laughs but but not that many especially in California I mean you talk to most people today they don't claim to be a Christian they don't go to church on Sunday and they'll admit it and you say well that's horrible yeah it's horrible but in a way it almost removes one barrier that sometimes in the way of someone hearing the gospel for many people we talk to they're hearing it for the first time so here are these great opportunities here are these open doors here is this spiritual hunger here is this technology that we can utilize right now to reach so many people as we have in harvest America of our last two years and will utilize again in Dallas in just a few months so here are these great opportunities and what are we doing a lot of the times in the church we're arguing with each other it's vans have never once said quote if we are too busy using our sickles on each other we'll miss the harvest we're arguing over minutiae we're disagreeing over minor minor doctrinal differences when we effectively have a world on its way to hell Jesus says lift up your eyes and look the harvest is ready and we have two secret weapons in the church we rarely is you know what they are boycott and protest these are the most important things we should do in the church boycott and protest no they aren't I'm kidding some person with a picket signs yes oh it's kitty okay here are two secret weapons are you ready register and vote that's the most important thing register and vote hey by the way I believe we should register and vote and some of you are clapping but actually those are not the secret weapons here they are on this time is no joke pray and preach clap for that pray and freeze yeah I don't know I can't like to register and vote part more myself I'll tell you what yeah you know what I'm for registering and voting I think you know that praying and preaching those are secret weapons praying for revival in our country praying for a spiritual awakening praying for people that need to hear the gospel then proclaiming the gospel itself in a related text Jesus says in Luke 10 to the harvest truly is great but the laborers are few therefore pray the lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest oh that's so true the harvest is great but the laborers are few listen the experts so-called are great there are many experts oh the critics or many of them all the armchair quarterbacks lots of them too laborers people get out there and do it very few when when a woman months once came to the great evangelist Neal Moody he was the Billy Graham of his day he would hold large events large evangelistic outreach --is that he called campaigns so a woman didn't like the way Moody did it she said mr. Moody I don't like the way you do evangelism moody being a humble man said well ma'am I'm always open to correction tell me how do you do evangelism she said I don't he said well ma'am I like the way I do it better than the way you don't do it and we have critics people critique what we do in our harvest events and I'm always open to criticism I'm always open to learning more is there something you're doing that's more effective than what we're doing here's my response I like our way of doing it better than their way of not doing it you know what are they doing what are you doing I know what I'm doing I know what we're doing maybe it's not perfect we do the best we can but what are you doing to get the gospel out so what do we learn from this text number one souls are of the greatest value to God and they should be to us souls are of the greatest value to God and they should be to us every person matters to Jesus and John 15 Jesus told three stories that give us three snapshots of God if you will three movements to it it's about lost things it's about God carrying about lost people first we have a shepherd who lost a sheep then we have a woman who lost a coin then we have a father who lost the son first it was a shepherd who had a hundred sheep one went astray Kida said well you know when if you lose a few cost of doing business what's one sheet know jesus said he left the 99 and searched until he found it and brought it back saying rejoice I found it then there's a woman who lost a coin now that may not seem like a big deal but back in those days the bride's would wear sort of a headband and then the headband would be coins that were given to her so to lose a coin would be like losing your wedding ring now you don't want to do that right so see she searched until she found it if he gave that message today probably be someone lost their iPhone I don't know something of value that you must find finally it's a father who lost a son the story of the prodigal son we must care about lost people their souls matter Spurgeon again said quote some laugh and think that salvation of the soul is nothing but I trust you know so much of the value of souls that you will ever think is it is worth laying down your very life if that might be the means of the saving of one single soul from death it's like the firefighter rushing into the burning building to save the person in peril we must see lost people that way and reach out to them number two a farmer needs to be patient a farmer needs to be patient James 5:7 says be patient brothers under the coming of the Lord see how the farmer waits of the precious fruit of the earth waiting until he receives the early and latter rain be patient establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is there if you're a farmer you gotta be patient you gotta wait plants don't grow over and I do they you don't plant the seed next day there's a plant know it takes time in fact if you already even pull up a chair and watch I don't think you could discern any growth whatsoever but it's happening the roots are going down it's getting ready it'll break ground in its time and there is a time to sow and there's a time to reap but we are impatient sometimes we'll take a person to a church service or maybe a crusade we say this is it they're gonna become a Christian and after it's all over they're like yeah whatever let's go eat seriously well what happened well you need to wait there's time now I don't know about you but I am an impatient person microwave seems slow to me now am I the only one remember when microwaves first came out what a revolutionary idea you didn't have to wait for like 30 minutes it's like you could have your meal in four minutes or three minutes now I'm like three minutes come on if I go and pick up a pizza I must eat some of the pizza before I get home i pizzas are not good things to eat on the road you know there are certain things that are good for eating when you're traveling Pizza is not one of them burritos work pretty well unless you have the blowout on the bottom you ever have that happen you know you take a compass oh no you're on your way to that business meeting applying for that job this is not good but pizzas you know have the Box I'm bringing it home from my family and I'm driving along it all smells so good I'm gonna have one bite so you kind of pop up keeping around the road you put reach down you got a dislocated to get it loose from the other ones there's all that cheese you're pulling it up the cheese's on your arm it's free and then you know there's a little tip of the pizza it kind of drooped it so you get in there grease all over your shirt or is this just me I think it's only me it's hard to wait there's tiny you try to reap when it's not time you'll make a big mistake but if you wait too long you can make a mistake too listen everyone has a role to play in the salvation of a soul look at verse 37 you know the same one person plants another harvest it's true I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant others have done the work and you will gather the harvest listen my job is to preach the gospel God's job is to convert people I would suggest to you that you may have played a role in the salvation of a soul that you know very little about it's not just a person who prays with them it's a person who maybe got their attention in the first place maybe you just as a good Christian got them to even start thinking about Christ then somebody else water that seed you know down the road a bit then somebody else did something else that moved it a little bit more in the right direction and then one day it's reaped you know we have a crusade we invite people for it I'm not reaping that that's not me that's the work of thousands of people that have been done I have the privilege of may be calling them but we're all just working together as Paul writes in 1st Corinthians 3 I planted this eat Apollo's another preacher watered it but God made it grow so neither is he who plants or he who waters anything it's God who makes things grow the man who plants in the minute waters have one purpose and each will be rewarded according to their own labor we all have a part to play and listen to this sometimes the CGT so today is like a little time bomb that will detonate later you know you tell him these things now they go I don't care I don't want to hear anymore but it went into their little heart and into their mind and they may hit him at 3 o'clock in the morning and I wake up under the conviction of the spirit we were in Hawaii a number of years ago holding a crusade at the Aloha Stadium and we were handing out flyers early in the day and a man told me a story about his son little guy was handing up fires and there was this big biker dude muscular arms you know tatted up and all that looking really mean and in the Sun when to give a flyer to this guy is that said son don't talk to that man and the boy went anyway and tapped on the guy's alarm the gun looks down little guy gives him the fire it's so cute you know what does the guy do takes it crumples it up throws it on the ground the father is like son get back here now I told you that was not a good idea wasn't it that night when the invitation was given at the crusade Aloha Stadium one of the first men to go forward was that biker guy see it was like a little time bomb went later happened later so don't be afraid to sow that seed don't be afraid to say that word don't be afraid to speak up and we grow discouraged sometimes when people don't respond but I love someone 26 those who saw with tears will reap with songs of joy those who go out weeping carrying seed to soul will return with songs of joy carrying sheaves with them right now maybe you're sowing in tears you know you're wondering if it's ever gonna break ground hang on one day you'll reap with songs of joy don't give up praying for that non-believing husband or that nom believing wife or that mom or dad or that son or daughter or whoever it is and there's a special reward waiting for those that take their part in evangelism look at verse 36 what joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike back to Pauls words are first Corinthians 3:6 each men will be rewarded according to his own labor the Olympics are almost done right over there in Russia and Sochi Sookie is it so kir Sochi I don't really care but anyway they're in Sochi Sochi the Winter Olympics now I'm gonna be honest with you I don't get all the events in the Winter Olympics there are some events that are odd to me I'm gonna get some of them I mean I love hockey speed skating skiing but there's this one thing called the biathlon where they ski and then they ever done they shoot they ski and they shoot okay that's an Olympic event fine I guess their skills involve a tap here's one of the weirdest ones the luge why I don't know you get you just drop down this chute eats even worse and you have your the gun in the bottom the guys on top you till the V time but here's the weirdest of all I didn't know the name I actually looked it up it's called curling you know what that is they describe it as chess on ice I describe it as sweeping you know they got the little thing under little brush and this this is you're gonna give a cold metal to these people yes they are if you win and so your team goes to the podium and you step up there and that special place they have reserved for you and you receive your metal gold silver or bronze and if you win the gold you get the top spot and the flag of your country is higher than the other flags and the national anthem of your country is played you're given an award well one day there's gonna be a reward ceremony in heaven we're not gonna receive medals we're gonna receive crowns and to the point the first Olympics which started in Greece they gave crowns back in those days not medals and it would be the laurel leaves put on the head of the victor so what kind of crowns will we get in heaven well there's the crown of life given to those who resist temptation and endure hardship James 1:12 says blessed is the man who endures temptation and perseveres under trial because when he has stood the test he'll receive the crown of life God has promised to those who love him but there's another crown you could describe it as the soul-winners crown versus Aloni it's 219 Paul says what is our hope our joy or the crown of rejoicing and the presence of the Lord Jesus when it comes is it not you yeah there's a reward so here's what you need to do do everything you can to share your story to build a bridge to his story so that seed water that seed that somebody else so reap when the Lord would lead and ask a person as they would like to accept Jesus Christ cannot and do your part and one day you'll be rewarded in heaven and that's the great hope of the Christian heaven I mean heaven would be enough at the fact that we would receive special rewards when we get there is even better only the follower of Jesus has that hope listen if you're not a follower of Jesus you too will stand at a judgment but it will not be an award ceremony if you will there'll be no rewards but you will reap what yourself because if you've sowed of the flesh the Bible says you'll reap corruption and there you will be held accountable for what you did with Jesus Christ and if you turned him away if you said no to Jesus the father well firmly say to you depart from me I never knew you you worker of iniquity so what's gonna happen in your future you determine that now you decide now where you're gonna end up then you decide now if you're gonna be in heaven or in hell if you've believed in Jesus and turned from your sin you can have the hope that you'll go to heaven if you've not believed in Jesus you will be separated from God in yes I'm sorry to say you will go to hell you don't hear preachers say that much these days but it's the truth and if I didn't say that I wouldn't be giving you the whole truth and God doesn't want you to go to hell he wants you to go to heaven that's why Jesus died for you would you like to be sure you go to heaven when you die you can right now no moment we're gonna pray and I'm going to extend an invitation to any of you who have never asked Christ to come into your life to be your Savior and Lord if you need him to come into your life respond to this invitation now as we bow our heads for a prayer everybody praying father we thank you for your word to us today we thank you for loving us so much you sent Jesus to die on the cross and then he rose again from the dead and he's here with us standing at the door of each life and he is knocking and he is saying if we'll hear his voice and open the door he'll come in Lord I pray for any who have not opened that door yet I pray for those who have not believed yet help them to come to Jesus now and receive your forgiveness now what our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed and we're praying how many of you would say today Gregg I want to go to heaven when I die I want to be absolutely sure my life is right with God and I'm not sure now I'm ready to say yes to Jesus Christ I'm ready to believe in him pray for me I want Jesus I want to heaven I want forgiveness if that's your desire if you want Christ to come into your life if you want to be forgiven of your sin if you want to go to heaven when you die would you lift your hand up right now wherever you're sitting and I'll pray for you lift your hand up where I can see it and I'll pray for you you want us forgiveness you want him in your life god bless you lift your hand up wherever you are god bless you god bless you there are two satellite sites I can't see you it doesn't matter God sees you do you need him in your life right now you want us forgiveness lift your hand up let me pray for you right now god bless any of you wherever you are god bless you maybe you've fallen away from the Lord I mentioned prodigal sons and daughters if you need to come back to Jesus today would you raise your hand up and let me pray for you god bless you anybody else raise your hand up I'll pray for you god bless you and you god bless all of you now I'm ask if you raise your hand if you would please stand to your feet and I'm gonna lead you in a prayer just stand up if you raise your hand if you did not but you want to make this commitment or recommitment at Jesus stand up and we're gonna pray together god bless you and our standing anybody else stand now god bless you god bless you if you're watching the video screen stand up and pray this prayer with me anybody else stand now god bless you the understanding one final moment anybody else if you want to stand stand now let's pray let's get this right one final moment anybody else stand now god bless you alright youth understanding I want you to pray this prayer out loud after me again as I pray pray this prayer out loud after me pray this now Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner but you died in the cross for my sin and I turned from that sin now and I ask you to come into my life and be my Savior and be my lord in me my god I choose to follow you from this moment forward in Jesus name I pray amen god bless you the gist

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 14,426

Rating: 4.9115043 out of 5

Keywords: harvest, greg, laurie, power, your story, your personal story, personal story, women at the well, Jesus, Christ, tips for sharing, sharing with others, bible, church, God

Id: b_rnRMYPGXE

Length: 51min 38sec (3098 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 26 2014