[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Message podcast of High Ridge Church, Longview, where our vision is to help you know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and ultimately make a difference. We are so glad that you're here and we pray that this message impacts your life as you apply the spiritual truths from God's word in practical ways. Let's listen in.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: Good morning. Good morning. Good morning, Highridge family. It is so good to be with you guys. As you can see, I am not Pastor Tim.
He's here.
Well, he's off ministering at another church, but I accused him of being in mourning today because it's Super Bowl Sunday. And my name, though, is Danny Stanley and I'm a member here at High Ridge. And all you guys, my family here love you guys and it's a great honor and privilege for me to be able to stand here before you. And so thank you for coming and all of you that are watching and joining us online. I want to thank you for joining us today.
I'm sure we have people from all over the world, but probably not any of our people are in California at this time. So. And there's a reason for that, because our Cowboys aren't there today.
In fact, if you're Super Bowl Sunday, by the way, in case you didn't get that joke, but it is, there is an alternative for us Cowboys fans. There's ice skating on tonight. So if you, if you need something to watch tonight, if you're a Cowboys fan, the Olympics is a good place to start. So again, welcome everybody. Welcome, you guys, everyone online. And so we're going to begin today. We're going to talk a little bit about the good news. And one of the things that I really love about the way some athletes do, many Christian athletes is that they use their influence and their platform, being popular, having a large amount of success to be able to share a witness and share the gospel with people. And so they see that as a gift from God, that they're talented, that they've been successful in their areas of influence and ministry. So they use that. So you'll see after the Super Bowl, I'm sure. If you've not already seen, I went online yesterday and There's a whole YouTube channel just of testimonies of athletes that are on both sides of the field today, even from the Seahawks and the Patriots, teams that shared their testimony in just a, you know, short two minute videos, some of them a little longer. But I really appreciate that and that they use that and, and other celebrities, other people that see and take advantage of their place, of their sphere of influence, to give glory to God and what a great opportunity to share the gospel. And so sometimes when we see them doing that and, and think, well, it must be nice to be able to have that opportunity and that platform to be able to share the gospel. But part of what we're going to talk about today is that we all have a platform. You have a platform and you may not have a million followers on your social media or you may not be standing in front of the cameras or at the halftime show or at the end of the game or on the podium with a gold medal, but you have a platform. And. And so I want you to think today and join with me, get our minds around the gospel and what it means when we talk about sharing the gospel.
And I want you to think for a minute about what that sort of, the feelings that go along with that when you think about sharing the gospel.
What does that mean? What does that look like and feel like to you?
Because honestly, for some of us that feels like guilt because we're thinking, well, I know I should be, or I know I've missed this opportunity or had that chance and, and I didn't say the right thing and I don't really know all of those scriptures, I don't know all of that stuff. So you feel a little pressure, maybe you feel a little anxiety if you start thinking about, you know, how are you going to talk to someone about the gospel?
And maybe it's just pure intimidation.
And I grew up in a Baptist church and we were one of these very conservative Baptist churches. I don't despise my roots at all. I'm thankful for that. We learned a lot of scripture. I had that Romans road down like that. We went out knocking on the doors. We had, we made this joke earlier, but it's like we were always told to like carry the big Bible because you carry your big Bible when you go door knocking because they might have a big dog. And so you got to have something, you got to pop the dog with if you can't. So you gotta have a little self defense there. But we go cold calling, you know, just knocking Saturday mornings and trying to get kids to come and ride the bus on Sunday morning. And so we would get involved in all these different ministries. We'd go out on Tuesday evenings and visit and we had all kinds of visitations. We had revival services in our church a couple of times a year. So we'd go out visiting and witnessing them. Sometimes we just get together. I saw A group in Kilwar just yesterday, I don't know anybody went through Kilwar. I don't know what church they were at, the youth group there holding up signs and saying, can we pray for you? And things like that. And that's all great and good, and I grew up that way and I don't despise that. But in fact, I felt like from an early age that I was called to be a gospel witness, to be a missionary, to be someone who could share the gospel. I always wanted to do that. But somehow, in the way that I was raised and the way that I think, I guess, whatever, it just didn't feel. It just didn't feel right.
Because if I'm really honest, I just didn't wanna do it. You know, you go up there, I'm gonna go knock on this door, and you kind of hope they don't answer. It's like.
It's like I tried and checked that one off. I went to that house, you know, or whatever, and so I was just that guy.
But as I grew older and I really wanted to honor God and be faithful to God in sharing the testimony and sharing the gospel, I just felt that it was a bit of a burden. And so I had this question that haunted me. It' if the gospel is good news, why does sharing it feel so heavy? We know it's good news, but sharing it is so intimidating and so heavy. And so it really all came to a point in my life when I had gone with a team from my church down to Salvador, Brazil, during Carnival. And any of you that might be familiar with that Carnival in Salvador, Brazil, makes Mardi Gras, you know, look like a Liberty City Christmas parade. You know, it's just like, no diss. I live in Liberty City, so I can say that I'm family. Family can say that. Not making fun of my neighbors there. I'll be getting phone calls from neighbors. Aren't Christmas parades good? No.
Carnival, though, is a wild free for all.
They call it the world's largest street party. And it gets wild and crazy and dangerous.
And in fact, most of the churches there, that's the week that they schedule, like, their youth retreats and things like that because this goes on all week long. So they just get out of town, but a few of them stay. And so we had some missionaries that we worked with there and a church that was right on the main parade route. And so we would go down there and pass out tracks and get out in the crowds and it's like, just crazy. It's their summertime. It's hot, sweaty, loud.
People are passed out everywhere. It's just. You can't even imagine it. And so about the third night, because we would go all night long, start on Thursday night, Friday night, it just kept getting bigger, all the way to Fat Tuesday. They're just letting it all go. And so after about the third night of that, I'm really tired and we're taking a break and I get up on the balcony and looking over the sea of people down there. If you can imagine something like in New York City and New Year's, you know, when you just like, they're so. Crowd impact in there. And I'm looking out above all that and everyone's jumping and bouncing and loud. They have their. Their bands are on these big 18 wheelers full of speakers, just roaring down the roads and. And I realized something.
And I thought, well, maybe I'm just tired or whatever, but I realized something.
I really didn't want to be there.
I didn't. You know, I was using the old school method. You know, I'm going out, passing out tracks and all that.
As I watched all of this going on, I was there with my pastor and I was like, you know what? I'm supposed to love people. I'm supposed to love the loss I don't have. I really don't care about any of these people, to be honest with you. It's like, oh, go. Just go. Just. You know, I think I still have tinnitus to this day because of that. No, I just didn't want to be there and much less risk my safety, my comfort, staying up all night sleeping in a sleeping bag on a church floor and just dealing with all. I've had grown men that I've taken down there on trips that literally just cried.
And I was at that point. And so because you just feel so overwhelmed, it is so overwhelming. And that's when the Lord really spoke to me because I felt the burden of, like, am I doing any good here?
Is this really worth the time and money and effort and all of that?
And the Lord really spoke to me about that. And he said, you know what? He said, I don't know what you're thinking, but it's not your job to come down here and save Brazil.
It's not your job to save people. You can't save anyone. It's your job just to bear witness to my goodness and my mercy. And that's your job. Not out of guilt and fear and obligation, but out of love and not duty. But out of delight.
And I realized that it wasn't that my love for the people was too little. It was my love and passion for God was too little.
And so standing there on that balcony there in Brazil that day, I came to that realization that I was just what Christ was inviting me to is to trust him and to join him and see what he's doing. And it's his work. And we get the privilege and honor of joining him in what is his work. That he was the one that wanted to save those crazy people down there. I didn't. It wasn't me. But because he did, then I wanted to join him in his work. So here's what I want you to hear today.
The first thing. We don't save people.
We bear witness to a reigning king who is actively seeking and saving the lost. That's his job. That's what he does. And we just come in to testify and take part in that.
You can't talk people into their salvation.
You have to understand first and foremost that salvation, regeneration, whatever the term you want to use, the changing of a man's heart, moving from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive is a supernatural work, work of God. It's a miracle. And if you don't stand amazed at that when you see a child or a neighbor or a co worker come to faith in Christ, if it doesn't make. If it doesn't just blow your mind, then you don't understand the full measure of the work of God in a person's heart to take that person, to turn them from death to life. It's like literally watching Lazarus come up from the dead. And that's what it's like. So.
So Jesus death and his burial and his resurrection, though in light of that go far beyond just keeping you or getting you out of hell, keeping you away from some sort of fiery furnace. It's not just about, okay, well, now I'm saved. I'm good to go.
I can do whatever I want to. But the gospel message and salvation is an announcement of his victory over everything. And we've sung it here this morning. We sing it every week. Our God reigns. And that's what we're announcing. And so we're telling people this announcement of his victory over everything that separates us from living out our created purpose. So that's why he came, to destroy the works of the devil. He came to save you. But there's a bigger picture. That's only a small part of it. So he made us a people for his glory as first Peter says it like this.
You're a chosen people that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
What an amazing verse that you're chosen. Why am I chosen? Why would God choose me? Why am I here in America right now, standing in this place, in this body, and all the questions you could ask, why? So that you could do what you were created to do, what every other part of creation does, what every bird does when it sings, what the Grand Canyon does when you go stand on the rim, what the starry night does, declare the praises of God. That's what you were created to do. And that's what salvation is all about. And that's what the gospel is about. So let's look at this from a little different angle and the proclamation of the message of the gospel. So Psalm 96 puts it this way.
Psalm 96 says, oh, sing to the Lord a new song. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, Bless his name. Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols. But the Lord made the heavens. Well, that's a great way to preach the gospel. It's just like, okay, everything that you think is so important, every idol that you've set up, they're just false, empty idols. So this paints a whole different picture for us when we think about evangelism or when we think about missions. Because in our tradition, especially here in America and in much of the gospel today, message that's preached today is we've shrunk the message down into a nice tight little package.
And we've left out some of what I believe is the most important things about the gospel.
When we're told to declare his glory and to declare his reign in all the earth, we're not just talking about people get out of jail free pass for people.
We're reducing it down to like just a few four spiritual laws. Like God has a wonderful plan for, has a purpose for your life, he loves you and he just has a wonderful plan for your life. And like, well, what is that? Well, the psalmist is telling us what, what that is. And Jesus himself, when you go through and you read the gospels, the four gospels and listen to what did Jesus say about, about the gospel?
What message was tied to the gospel and Jesus message? Well, what Jesus came and said, he said that the kingdom of God is here. The kingdom of God is among you. Now he's announcing that God reigns. He's announcing that he is ushering in a new day, a new rule, a new reign with a new people.
And that's where we come in.
That's where we get to join in. He didn't start off and walk up to people in the streets and go, hey man, if you died tonight, do you know if you'd go to heaven? That wasn't his message. His message is repent, because the kingdom of God is standing right here with you. And so the message is about the kingdom. So the gospel is first and foremost about God.
Yeah, it's first and foremost about God. It's about his glory and his reign over all things.
So he didn't come merely here to affirm your value and to give you that pass from hell, but he came to reveal his glory by revealing his mercy and his grace toward you. Let me put it this way. Jesus didn't, did not suffer and die and rise again and ascend back to the throne in heaven in order to make much of you, but to set you free so that you can make much of him.
That is the purpose. That's why this salvation has come to you. And that is the most loving thing that he could do. You say God loves me? Well, yeah, he loves me so much that he set me free from all that stuff so that I can serve him and I can declare his praises along with the birds and the rocks in the Grand Canyon and do what I'm really created to do and be fulfilled in doing that. Because that's who I am in Christ. That's what salvation does. And if your hope is just that, to escape some eternity of fire and brimstone, you're missing the biggest part and the glory of what salvation in the gospel is all about. So the gospel announces that God reigns, that he, that he restores what is broken, that he reconciles all things to himself.
And so this supernatural work of God is bringing you to that place that you can enter in. He's breaking down every barrier that you can enter into his kingdom, into his place. He's restoring all things. So that's the first thing. The second thing is the method. Then what does this look like for kingdom people? If we're going to be kingdom people and kingdom minded people.
I almost did it, Ben, in the first service.
I knocked my mic off. I'm sorry, I had a moment there. I'm like, I got excited.
If you're going to be kingdom people Then what does this gospel living look like?
Because evangelism is not only to be proclaimed, but it's to be lived. It's a living gospel. And so St. Francis of Assisi said it like this. He said, preach the gospel at all times and when necessary, use words. Well, it is necessary to use words, but your words are validated by the life that you live. You know, we were taught.
My youth pastor used to always tell me, you know, you may be the only Bible some people only ever get to read. You may be the only Bible some people ever read. You may be the only representative of Jesus some people ever have. You may be the only touch of grace and mercy towards someone of forgiveness, of compassion, of love, of care to someone that they may ever experience.
You are the hands and feet of Jesus. And so if the gospel is about a kingdom, a king and his kingdom, then evangelism is just about citizenship. It's about kingdom living.
And this is where Jesus really messes with us.
I mean, he really does, because his kingdom is upside down than what the world's is. And we know this. And Pastor just preached on some of this just last year, that in the Sermon on the Mount, he describes the kind of people who are citizens of his kingdom. They're the people who are poor in spirit. They're the people who are meek and merciful and peacemakers and willing to love their enemies, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, be generous in their giving. This isn't just a list of virtues.
He's not prescribing a list of rules for you to follow. He's describing what kind of people are his. People are his citizens. It's proof of your citizenship when you do these things so your life becomes evangelistic when you forgive instead of retaliate, or when you choose generosity over. Over hoarding and gaining more. When you live with joy instead of fear, or when you serve instead of demand to be served.
When you do those things, you are declaring to a lost and dying and chaotic world that our God reigns. When the apostle Paul, he said that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. When we say Jesus Christ is Lord, we are glorifying God and we are saying the same thing as saying our God reigns when we say Jesus is Lord. Let me say that again. We are saying the same thing as our God reigns. When people ask you why you're doing this, well, I do, because Jesus is my Lord and my God reigns. So that's the method. But let's look at the motivation.
Let's look at what fuels us, what gives us the passion and the power and the will to go out and sometimes go into hard and difficult and dangerous and intimidating places and do God's work. Okay, so let's go back to Psalm 96.
Oh, sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing to the Lord all the earth Sing to the Lord Bless his name Tell of his salvation from day to day.
What a great challenge and what a great opportunity.
What precedes the gospel proclamation is worship is worship. And that's where our passion comes from.
It's not worship isn't what we do, what we just did here, what we do for 20 minutes or so on Sunday mornings, we can say, well, okay, we had a great worship service. Okay, well, that's good. That is worship. But we're singing to the Lord a new song. But our worship on Sunday morning is the product of our worship on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And when we come here, we celebrate all that God has been doing all week long in our lives as we worship, live for him and what he's going to do tomorrow morning as we follow him. Worship is what we do, how we live our lives in every way. So we get to express that worship when we sing a new song, when we sing, when we celebrate and we sing an impassioned song to the Lord that comes first. That's what can drive you out into some hard places and some difficult places, is when your passion for Christ, when your love for him, when your worship for him become. You become so enthralled with him. You can go to some hard places and do some hard things. Not because you love those people so much, not because you necessarily love to travel or get out of your comfort zones, but because you serve a God who's worthy of the highest of praises.
Okay, so I want to say it this way.
Out of that heart of worship, then we call others. So the gospel declaration is also a call to come and join in worship. Evangelism flows out of worship because when you found that treasure, silence stops being an option.
Have you ever noticed that when you find something that you really care about, you know, no one has ever had to guilt me into telling someone about a great restaurant or a great recipe or favorite food, or, like a car going down the road. If Pastor Doug and I are going in a car and I look over there and I see this Lamborghini, you know what I'm going to do? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Check this out. Check this out. Because it's natural for us to do that.
No one ever has to give at that point.
Whenever you enjoy and take delight in something. I posted something on my Facebook recently, this last week. Just. I wasn't really thinking this way, but this is a great example.
We love to go to the Zen Kitchen in Kilgore, and some friends of ours own it and everything, and it's a great place. They have great pizza. I'm highly recommending it. And this is making my point.
They just got free advertising right here to a lot. I'm. You know what? I was terrible as a salesman. I tried that. I've tried a lot of different things in my life. One thing I'll never do again is be a salesman. I shouldn't say that, but I don't. But I am a salesman because when I. When I have something that I'm passionate about. You want to go mountain bike riding? Then let's go. I'm going to sell you on some. We're going to. We're going to get David. We're going to come to Woolly G's, and we're going to buy the most expensive bike we can afford, and we're going to go hit the trails. That's a plug for Woolly GS, by the way. See, you don't have to be. You don't have to be a great salesman. You just have to have something that you delight in, that you care about. And that's what we do. That's the difference between duty and delight. When something has captured your heart, you don't need the pressure. You don't need to be coerced. You don't need to be organizing. Go out in a campaign and do all that. All. All you need is the opportunity.
I took this opportunity to plug Zen. So, Mitch, give me some kickback on this.
So sharing.
I'm kidding.
But sharing the gospel shouldn't be about salesmanship. It's about testimony.
It's about.
It's like this. The psalmist said it like this. Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
And that. And we do it every day. We do it with other things, too. We do it with great deals and cars and with hunting trophies. You know, put our pictures up there and say, look at this.
And we do it with our sports teams and not so much this time of year, but we do it. And we do it with grandbabies. You know, you get a little baby Look. Look at my new little grandbaby. She's so precious. And you can't say she's not right.
Yeah, looks like her grandpa. And I'm telling you, there's that. But. No, but we love our grandbabies.
But when you really want to praise and you really want the highest delight, the fulfillment of that is not just in pointing something out, that something's good, okay? It's actually, if you want the highest praise and we want to give God the highest, highest praise, it's for me to commend Zen Kitchen to you. Okay? For Mitch, if I go in there, then sit in the corner every week, and then I'm like, man, I love this pizza. I am not telling anybody about it, right?
But, Mitch, good job. Thank you again. But if I go out and I say, hey, Mitch, hey, I brought a bunch of my buddies over here, we're going to have dinner tonight over there, that's when the highest praise comes into play. The highest praise isn't gratitude. It's not, thank you, Mitch, for making a great pizza. It's like, you know. And you'll hear it if you go to a restaurant and you say, hey, you know, thank you for making this or whatever, if they go, well, if you enjoyed it, tell someone else about it. That's the highest praise. You want to pass it on. You want to share it with someone else, and that is the most that you can give someone.
So if you want to praise God, the highest form of worship isn't here. This is great. This is all good. Thank you, Jesus. But when you go out and commend him, and when you go out and say, hey, listen, taste and see that the Lord is good, we do it. It's kind of like at a restaurant, you get the little dessert tray that comes out, and you're like, okay, I wasn't gonna have dessert, but, man, those look good. And then you're like, okay, well, you get the cheesecake, and I'll get this tiramisu over here, and then we'll share it and we'll compare. You know what? You. And then you. And then you stick your fork in and you taste it, and you go, oh, that is so good.
And then you go, what's the first thing you do after that? You don't go, oh, that is so good. I'm not. You know, it's like everybody around the table, you know, you're like, okay, guys, here, here, taste it. You just have to taste this. You have to taste it. You use my fork. I don't care about the germs. It is so good. You have to do it. We'll lick the plate together. It is that good.
I'm gonna put myself out there and do that. It's easy, it's natural, and we do that. I had an opportunity when I was in East Africa several years ago. I had a group of pastors that I'd been working with for a while, and they were bush pastors, these were Maasai, and some of them had never even been to town, to a city where they saw buildings outside of their little huts and stuff. So they're villages. So I took them to town.
One of the pastors that was there, he.
He had been to America. He had come to do some seminary training. And so he said, hey. He said, danny, can. Can we take the. Can we take the guys to a place and get some pizza in Arusha? And I said, yeah, I know where there's a good pizza place and we'll go there. So we went to this place, and so there's pizza there. And he was so excited. He goes, guys, he's all. All he could talk about.
All the way into, you know, from out in the bush. Two hour drive out in the bush, he's talking about pizza. He is so excited. And so we get around the table, and it's a big round table, and he's telling him he can't stop talking about pizza. And so we order the pizza, we get several different ones for them to try. And so the first thing, they bring out all the pizzas. And the guys are just like, why? They've never eaten any food like this. I mean, they're used to, like, beans and goat meat, right? I mean, it would literally, that's what they were used to. So they get this. And we didn't know how they were going to respond, but he was so excited and he would not eat his pizza. He's looking at each one of them and watching for them to take that first bite. And he's grinning. I did do that, Ben.
Okay.
I got it on quicker this time. He did.
I was fumbling around, so he's looking at them and he's like, okay.
And he's watching each one of them and they bite. And then he's just, like, about to fall out of his chair. And then when they would just. Their eyes would light up and they'd go, oh. Oh, this is so good. And he literally, like, they're very animated. He, like, stands up in the restaurant. I told you. See, I told you. And he Goes. And he. And he gets down, he goes. And you know what the best part is? And they're like, what could be? You know, they're like. They're getting really excited. I'm kind of like looking around the restaurant and all these, you know, all these people, you know, we were the only. Had this little circle, these Maasai pastors there, and everyone else was from the west, you know, it was one of these places where all the, you know, Europeans go to eat and everything. So they're looking around, these crazy guys, and he stands up, he goes, you know what the best thing is? He said, in America, you can pick up a telephone and call, and they bring it to your house.
Who would have thought that would be the most amazing thing?
And when I asked him, when I'd ask him, I said, what did you like best about coming to the stage? What did you see? What fascinated you the most?
It was the same answer. The pizza. And that fact that I could bring up. I said, well, really, out of that, out of all the things you experience, the cars, elevators, doing all these things, he goes, oh, no. The pizza. Being able to. So he could not stop talking about pizza.
And so here's the deal. Your joy in Christ fulfilled. Not when you're just sitting there reading your Bible and worshiping. It's a great time with the Lord, but when you come to someone else, when you're in a life group or when you're sharing the gospel with someone and their eyes are opened up and they come and taste and see that the Lord is good and say, oh, Lord, what have I been missing all these years? Thank you, Lord. And they fall on their knees and they call on Christ, and you see that miracle.
That is the highest point of your joy in Christ. That's the fulfillment of your joy in Christ. So I want to give you three simple little steps here to close with, to think about for this week. A little challenge. So number one is very simple. Release the savior complex.
You don't have to be a salesman for God. Don't go. Don't go. Take a. If you think that's the case, go take a Dale Carnegie course. But you don't need that. You don't need a Dale Carnegie course. You need a testimony. And your testimony doesn't have to be one of these radical. You know, I was. I was in prison and came and I was restored and God restored my family and all of this. In fact, you know, some people's testimony is just the opposite of maybe if you go over to Pakistan, where Pastor Doug does. You know, it's like, no, I was living a great life and became a Christian. Then next thing I know, I'm thrown in prison and all that. You don't have to have all of that, but you do have to have a testimony about the mercy and the goodness of God in your life. And if you know Christ, you do have that testimony. You do have it if you've tasted and seen that the Lord is good. So you might pray something like this. Just, lord, help me be faithful, to trust you with the results, and let me see you at work. And so the second thing is pay attention to where God is already at work.
Our God has been working from day one since Genesis one to the last chapter of Revelations. God is at work. He's at work in Longview, Texas. He's at work in your home, in your life, in your job, in your place. He's at work in this very room right now. God is always working. We sing that song. He never stops working. So what you pray is God, open my eyes. Almost did it again. Open my eyes to see where you are at work. Work. Because God's revelation of his work is also his invitation to join him in his work.
When you see God at work, it's like God's like, hey, I'm over here. You. I don't know what you're doing over there, but here's where I'm working. And you put down whatever it was you thought was so important and come and join him in his work and leave the results to him. And you will see the results.
If you try to get over there and say, no, God, you. You're. You're working on those people over there. I'm gonna go over here and try to convince this person that he really needs Jesus. It's like, you can convince him all I want them. I'm working on this guy's heart, okay? So pay attention to where God is working. Pay attention.
So it often just begins with listening and noticing.
Ask better questions. Notice some pain. Be curious about people's lives and look for opportunity where God is already drawing people.
And the third thing is just live one visible act of kingdom life. Just let your light shine. That's the way Jesus put it.
Don't put out the spotlight. Don't turn on the stadium lights and try to expose every sin. Some of us are so busy shining our light that we're just blinding people. It's like, I can't see because you are like, got the floodlight on. You've got the led Something bright, you know, driving down the road and you're about to run somebody off the road. And because you're trying to shine the light, he says, let your light shine. Let me live through you. Let me do it. That's what. That's what the kingdom looks like when you forgive and when you're generous, you are just letting your light shine.
So I want to encourage you to do that today.
I also want to encourage you. You don't have to go.
I want to encourage you at some point to go on a mission trip. That's always good. Good for the soul, good for everything. But you know what? You don't have to go.
You don't have to go with Pastor Doug overseas. You don't have to go to carnival.
You have a platform right where you are.
I love what Jesus said to the demoniac, the guy that's possessed by a legion of demons. After he cast the demons out and the guy wanted to follow him, he goes, let me go with you, Jesus. And you know what Jesus said?
He said no. He said, go home. Go home to your friends. And here's what he told them. He said, go to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you. That's what he told them to do. He said, don't go.
Trust me. I'm not opposed to going and visiting your neighbors and knocking on doors. But that's not what he told him to do. He just said, go home and tell the people what God has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.
Every one of us, if you know Christ, today you have a platform. God has given you a platform. That platform may just be with one person, but there's a platform, and he's given you a testimony.
If you've tasted, if you've seen that God is good, if you've tasted of his mercy and you've tasted of his grace, then share it.
Taste and see that the Lord is good. I want to pray for you today.
And then we'll be closing. Father, I just want to thank you for this opportunity to share. Lord, you are the God who reigns and rules over all things. And your kingdom has come, and we represent you. We represent your kingdom. And I pray that we'll be faithful in that, in everything that we do.
Lord, help us to just see you at work, around us. Help us to recognize when you are working in someone's heart and in situations in our community and family members and co workers and just to be free to join in with your work that you're already working in their heart. So give us the right words to say and the right attention to give to them to let that light shine so that you may be honored and that you may be glorified in and through us in all things.
And, Father, I just want to bless this church today. I'm so thankful that we have a pastor and elders who lead us into our community, into those places where you're at work, that we pray and seek after that every year. And we want to just follow you right here in Longview, Texas, and around the world as we join you and partner with you in your work. And so bless us. I pray and keep us in your mercy and in your grace in Jesus name. And I'm going to ask Pastor James. Okay. To come up and dismiss us. Thank you, guys. I love you guys. I love being a part of High Ridge Church, and I hope you guys have a great week.
[00:38:47] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, you'll give Danny a hand.
Thank you so much, Danny. What a challenge for us to realize that it doesn't take a huge stage or platform. You all have a story to tell and someone needs to hear it, right?
So if you're good, let's put our Bibles away, let's put our notes away, and let's take a moment to respond to the Lord. Let's close our eyes, bow our heads, and just ask the Lord, Lord, what is it you're showing me? What is it you're wanting me to do with this message, God? What.
What things do I need to share? What things have you done in my life that you want me to share with the people around me?
So, God, we just come before you today asking you to speak to us, open our eyes to opportunities, to divine appointments this week where we can speak truth and hope and encouragement into somebody this week, Father, and with eyes closed and heads bowed, still, if maybe you've heard Danny's message today and you're like, that sounds great to share that kind of story with somebody, but I don't even know if I know who Jesus is, really. I don't know if I've entered that relationship with him or given my life to him or.
Well, here at Harwich, we always want to give you that opportunity. So today I'm going to pray. And collectively, as a group, we're going to repeat these words back so no one feels excluded or kind of called out. We just want.
We want to make a response. So if this is you, if you're saying, yes, I want to walk with the Lord. I want to say yes to Jesus today.
Will you repeat this with me, everybody?
Dear Jesus, I recognize that you died, but you rose again for my sin and my mistakes.
So, Lord, today I give my life to you.
I ask you to save me, to put purpose in my life, and I'll follow you all the days of my life and with eyes closed and no one looking around. If that was you and that was you responding for the first time, or if that was you just coming back to the Lord again, could you just kind of raise your hand and wave at me real quick? We just. We want to recognize you and honor that.
Awesome. Thank you so much.
If you're in the room or whether you're watching online, there's going to be a phone number coming up.
We don't want to lead you to Jesus and then not show you what to do next. So if you text the phone number on the screen, you'll get a text message back with some information, and it will show you what just happened in your heart, but then also the next steps for you to take. This is just the beginning of your walk with the Lord, and we want to walk alongside and support you in all of that.
All right, well, Harry's church, will you stand up with me this morning?
So good to be in the house. If you're watching us online, we're so grateful that you tuned in today. A huge thing and a huge honor for us would be if you would share the service with your friends. This could be your first step.
Sharing the good news today is to go share the service with somebody.
Want to invite the elders and their wives forward every week. We want you to have the opportunity to be prayed for.
We never want you to leave this place without being prayed with if you've got something going on. So that would be the silliest thing you could do today, is to come in here and walk out and not be prayed for. So our elders are here to pray with you for everybody else. I'm going to pray for us and you'll be dismissed. So, Father, we thank you for today. We thank you for the word and the encouragement and the challenge from Danny that you will place people in our path this week, that we'll be able to share the stories of our lives, share the goodness of God with. I pray a blessing over every single person, every family in this room today. Lord, we love you and we're grateful for you. In Jesus name and everybody said amen. Amen. Love you guys.
[00:42:50] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening in today. Our prayer is that you are encouraged and strengthened by the message. If you haven't done so yet, be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review wherever you're listening. If you want to be a part of our online community, connect with us through Facebook or Instagram with the handle hyridgelv. Or you can check out our
[email protected] lastly, if this ministry has impacted your life and you'd like to support its work, visit highridgelv.com we appreciate your support and we're believing with you today for God's best in your life. Have an incredible week and we will see you next time.
