Atlanta Bible Baptist Church

Dwight Strozier: Good morning. This morning concerning scripture reading, we're going to read out of three books, okay? First book is going to be Matthew 28:19 through 20. Second book is going to be Acts 1:8. Third book, Romans 10:14. Would you please stand and take your Bibles and turn to the 28th chapter of Matthew, starting at the 19th verse?

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen."

Turn to Acts 1:8 and it reads, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Now take your Bible and turn to Romans 10:14. And it reads, "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" That's it. Thank you very much.

Joel Edison: I'd like to say good morning again. And a challenge has been issued by the pastor to preach an hour's worth of material in five minutes or less. So let's go. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, we give You thanks for this day again. Thank you for all that You've done. How You came down to this earth, this sin-cursed world. You suffered, bled, and died for the sins of mankind, that whosoever would partake of that divine salvation that only You could bring about.

Lord, we're a needy people. And as the message that You laid upon my heart today, may we be about Your business. May we occupy until You come. And Lord again, we lift up our pastor as he's away. Pray Your safety and blessings upon him. Bless now, Lord, as only You can. I plead for the filling of the Holy Spirit, that indeed You would be lifted up high and mighty. For it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Alrighty. It's just amazing how much our Lord and Savior loves us. I can show you how much He loves us. He loves us this much. Do you get it? He loves us this much. Now, last week or so, we journeyed to Detroit, Michigan. I had to take back some things I have said about Detroit, Michigan. I used to say things like hell does not exist anymore for sinners. When people die, they go to Detroit. Okay. But I had to take it back. We had a good time there, not only as far as what we saw but what we heard.

I can't help but say to you that if you saw me limping when we got back, it was because of the—as Pastor McNeary used to put it—we had to pull our toes back from the word being dropped on our feet and feeling like, "Oh my, I am undone." I'm excited about what God can do with us as far as what we heard at that church. Now, as you see, the title of this message: "The Mission." The mission, and it's a mandate from Christ. Every enterprise has a mission.

You see some familiar emblems up there. Every enterprise, every business entity has some sort of mission statement. I want to read a few of them to you. You see Google up there, right? Their mission statement is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." And they have done a good job at that. Microsoft: "to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more." And you see one of your favorites up there: Amazon. Amazon.

Heard a story about a lady that ordered so much from Amazon when she missed one day, Amazon sent a truck out to her house to see if she was feeling okay. Amazon: "to be the Earth's most customer-centric company." And then Nike, we all know about Nike. Their motto, other than "just do it": "to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world." And if you have a body, you're an athlete. Tesla: "to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy." Coca-Cola: "to refresh the world and make a difference."

Walmart: "to help people save money so that they can live better." I don't know about all that saving, though. Spending is not saving. Disney: "to entertain, inform, and inspire people through storytelling." And of course, this may be one of the most favorites also: Starbucks, "to nurture the human spirit—one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time." And then Chick-fil-A. We ate some Chick-fil-A on the way up and on the way back: "to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us." And that should perhaps be our motto as well, to be a faithful steward to all that God has given to us.

Now, what do these missions have in common? Clarity: anyone can repeat them. Purpose: they define why the company exists. And I think you see where I'm going with this. Direction: they guide decisions and culture. And then identity: they express what makes the organization unique. Now, these are some good models if you're building a mission statement even for a church or an outreach program. Now, I want to take one and really get into the weeds as far as their outreach or their reason for existence. I want to do a little comparison of the Army and the church.

Now, the Army's mission is to deploy, fight, and win our nation's wars. Okay, plain and simple. I was going to put the Marine Corps, but their job is to do what we tell them to do. Okay, plain and simple. Say amen. That's it. There's no confusion, no hesitation, no optional clauses. Deploy, fight, and win our nation's wars. The Army exists to protect the nation, to defend its people and win the ground battle. Every soldier trains, prepares, and disciplines themselves with one goal in mind: to be ready to accomplish the mission when the moment comes.

I can tell you there were at least six times I'd been tapped to go and perform. A soldier doesn't wake up wondering what their purpose is. They don't debate whether the mission matters. They don't wait for someone else to stand in. Soldiers may hold different vocations or jobs, but every soldier is trained to be an infantryman. Thus, each Christian may have a different gift or talent. Time and time again, I've been halted from singing for you guys for one reason or another. This time my back is hurting. There's no telling what kind of noises may come out should I start singing.

But each Christian has a gift, each Christian has a talent. And just like the soldiers, we shouldn't run from the battlefield. We should enter it with all joy and gladness as a Christian on the battlefield for the Lord. Now, the Army's mission, of course, it's a powerful picture. And the church, we have a mission. It's not necessarily a physical one, but it's a spiritual one. You see, the Army deploys, and I mentioned deploying a moment ago. Deployed several times, and each time it was a life-changing experience. But you see, the church goes. The church is commanded to go.

Now, Jesus said, "Go therefore," as part of our passage that brother Strozier read. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations." Matthew 28:19. Now, I've been tagged to be the outreach dad. That includes evangelism. That includes going out and making sure that the word of God gets put out into this neighborhood, into this city, and around the world. Now, Jesus said, "Go therefore and make disciples." It's a spiritual deployment. And we cannot wait for people to come to us. Here's the thing. We've got a nice building here.

Got a nice yard that our dear brother keeps up weekly. And may the Lord continue to bless him in his endeavors as far as keeping the grounds nice and pretty. But that's not going to draw people in. Okay. That's not something that I would drive by and say, "Hey, they got a nice yard. Let me pull up in here." You see, we're commanded to go. Evangelism is a spiritual deployment. And as we look at how the difference between the Army and the church, the Army fights, the church engages in what? Not physical warfare, but spiritual warfare.

Soldiers protect us on this earth, whereas believers fight to proclaim an eternal freedom. Paul said we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Ephesians 6:12. Our weapons are not rifles, but they are prayer, truth, compassion, and the gospel. The Army wins on the ground. The Army wins on the ground, but the church wins souls for the kingdom. You see, victory for the Army is securing peace, peace for the nation. Our job is to ensure that the word of God goes out and that the individual soul may come to a resting peace with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Because Jesus said over in Luke chapter 19, verse 10, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost." Every soul is a victory. Every testimony is a victory. Every transformed life is a victory. And key in on that word, transformed life. Has anybody here been transformed? I can tell you where I came from. I have been transformed. Many of you speak about growing up in the projects. Hey, I'm a project product. Okay. Not everything bad comes out of the projects because it's been said, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"

But can anything good come out of the projects? Yes, if the Lord is involved with that person's life to transform that individual. We're not looking for some type of rehab. Okay. I mentioned my back a moment ago. I've gone through rehab and guess what? I still hurt. Okay. But transformation lasts for an eternity. Transformation takes that soul that was headed to hell, turns that person around and gives him a better walk, a better talk, a better outlook on life, and also the clear understanding to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Now, if the Army can deploy, fight, and win for earthly freedom, surely how much more can the church commit itself to go, preach, and make disciples for eternal salvation? You see, when we were at the BFA, there was a lot to digest. And it wasn't just having a good time at that restaurant that we went to. How many are there that remember that restaurant? Called Fixins. I had a fish fillet that must have been this big. My wife had pork chops—not pork chops, smothered chicken. I had the thing that that was Paul Bunyan's chicken as far as how big the portions were.

And then they brought out these looked like gallon-sized mason jars, had everybody's favorite sweet tea. Somebody said diabetic tea. I put a new twist on it: it was diabolical tea. I couldn't even finish it. But it wasn't all about having a good time. It was about getting our toes stepped on for the cause of Christ. You see, we're in a generation, we have these generational differences now. And whichever generation you're in right now as you are seated here, we're at a crossroads. Okay.

And what I'm trying to imply that everything about us is not about us. It's about Him. You've been bought with a price. And as they stated at the conference, you're a slave. And oh, I know that word just sends shivers down some folks' spine. Slave, that's an ugly word. But when you're a slave for Jesus, okay, it's a different ballgame. But it also means you have been bought with a price. What's that price? His precious blood. Bought with a price. So everything about us should be about Him. Everything about us should be about Him. The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.

Now, the church is commanded to go. And let me get a little sophisticated here as far as what that word "go" means. It means to get out. To get out. Now, if we want to bring a modern twist to it, we can say or substitute GTS when it comes about the Lord's business. We need to get to stepping. Okay. Many of you have heard that term before. We need to get to stepping as far as being about the Lord's business. Now, will we as a generation, no matter where you are, will we carry forward the gospel message?

You see, we have these generational and cultural noises. There's political noise. Okay. And I'm a little behind myself here. There's political noise. You could probably stop right there and preach a whole sermon on political noise, but that's not the business we're supposed to be about. Okay. There's cultural noise. There's digital noise. But He said, "Go and make disciples. Teach, baptize, and reach the lost." That word "go" is active. It means that we are to be moving. It means intentionality. It means stepping out of a comfort zone and stepping into obedience.

You see, yes, it is uncomfortable telling people face to face about Jesus Christ. Why? Because of a fear, a fear of rejection. Now, here's the thing, though. This is not some option. This is when the hammer started falling on our feet. This is not an option. It's a corporate command. It's what is called a nominative plural, if we want to get into all the fancy Greek things. And it's not for individuals only. It's for us as a body to come together and put forth the gospel message. Now, we have limitations, but He didn't say wait for them to come to you.

He didn't say share the gospel if you feel gifted. And He didn't say evangelism is optional. He said go. Go. To make disciples means more than just praying for someone, although that is very important. We've solicited folks for our Pray and Go to be prayer partners, and we have felt your prayers out there. But let's take it a step further. When it comes to witnessing to people, it means walking with them, teaching them, shaping them, helping them to grow into mature Christians, mature disciples. And you'll find that evangelism is the door to discipleship.

And He said all nations. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. We've got missionaries all around the world. But it starts with us. You see, He gives what's called a mandate, a mandate. Look up there at that slide. You see what a mandate is. You got two types of mandates. One is political, it hinges upon voter approval, and that gives an elected official or party the right to carry out their promised plans. And then there's a legal mandate. It's a strict rule, a law requirement by higher authority.

Hopefully that word "higher authority" triggers some thinking, such as a government, a court telling others what they might need to do, what they must do. And we have a mandate from the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not for a select few, as I stated a moment ago. And it is a bridge. Those that went to 2:7, you remember the illustration of the bridge. Now I got to confess, I have a phobia of bridges. Big bridges. That bridge right there probably wouldn't bother me, but those big bridges with the big steel girders over the top that seem to just look real spooky even in the daytime.

I have a problem with those. Now, hopefully none of you will try to kidnap me and put me in the back of a car and drive me over a bridge. Now, that has happened. It wasn't a kidnapping, but I found myself on the Oakland Bay Bridge before I knew what was going on. Very, very frightening. But we are to be the bridge so that others may come to know Christ. The ones explaining, passing out words to evangelize. Now, one of the things that we often forget about when we say, "I can't do this" or "I am not equipped."

Well, to the contrary. And I forgot to mention, I've got about six points that I need to make, and I'm going to do my dead level best to get those in. The second point: the power. We must be equipped. Now, if we don't have power to go out and do what I'm implying that we should do, that's kind of akin to a child getting seven or eight different toys for Christmas. All of them are battery-powered, and there's not a single battery to power those toys. And a lot of times we forget that. We buy all of these nice wonderful things for our kids, even our spouses and whatnot, and we find out we left the batteries out.

The object has no power. But we have power. We are equipped to go. According to Acts 1:8, Jesus knew the mission was bigger than our abilities. Think about that for a second. The mission that He called us to, go out and be witnesses for Him, was bigger than our abilities. I'll tell you, it's a humbling experience when you go into some what we would call rough areas to give the gospel and you're scared to death. But then when you pray, "Lord, give me power to witness to these folks," and then all of a sudden you find out that they're afraid of the old bald-head preacher guy coming through the neighborhood with his Bible in his hand.

People start scattering. It's almost like that commercial Raid. [makes sound] Okay. It's almost like that. But Jesus knew the mission was bigger than human ability. So He promised power, and He said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me." Notice He said "you shall be." Not think about it, not an option. "You shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." It is something that you cannot do in your human strength.

And that word "power," dynamis, is where we get the word dynamic, dynamo, and dynamite. You remember J.J. on Good Times when he used to do the old, "Dy-no-mite!" But it carries a rich meaning, meaning that we will have power, strength, and ability. Divine enablement. I like that. Being able to say things that I'm not smart enough to come up with of my own. And the ability to accomplish that which cannot be done naturally. You see, the piercing of the heart is not something that's done with a sharp instrument. It's done with that two-edged sword called the word of God.

Not only does the Spirit make us explosive, but because of His power, we become more active, more effective, and more unstoppable. You see, the Spirit will give boldness. The Spirit will give clarity. The Spirit gives conviction. I remember when I first heard a presentation of the gospel. And I've shared this story many times. I was a heathen at the time that this took place. Professional heathen. And decided to work a summer job selling Bibles. How about that? I'm out there selling Bibles, those big family Bibles that you put on your coffee table.

Didn't know anything about Christ as far as His redeeming work. All I saw was dollar signs. I'm going to make a thousand dollars this summer selling Bibles. And a lady stopped me in my tracks and said, "What are you doing?" "Selling Bibles." She said, "No, son, you have no idea what you're doing. You're out here trying to sell the word of God and you don't even know the author of that book." She started saying things that made me feel uncomfortable. And I couldn't figure it out. And I was saying to myself, "I haven't been drinking. I haven't been doing other things. Why am I feeling this way?"

And then of course hindsight is what? 20/20. Yeah, that was the Holy Spirit making me feel uncomfortable. But you see, that was the power flowing through her, convicting me in only a way that the Holy Spirit could. You see, we have three takeaways as far as what the mission entails. The mission begins with power, not personality. We could take the most congenial person in here, one that has star power and charisma, and if the Holy Spirit is not with that person as far as presenting God's word, it's going to fall at that person's feet.

It all begins with power. And Jesus doesn't tell us now to try harder. He doesn't tell us to be more spiritual. But He does say when you receive the Holy Ghost, when you ask for the power of the Holy Ghost. The mission of God cannot be done in human strength, and one must be empowered by the Spirit to do what Christ commands. No excuses, no exceptions. Now, I have to look in the mirror at myself when these words are spoken and say, "Am I doing enough?" And guess what? The answer is no. No. "But you're doing this and you're doing that." No, it's not enough. It's not enough.

Now I'm talking about myself. Ask yourself, "Am I doing exactly what Christ has commanded me to do through His word?" Don't look at me as far as saying, "Well, that rascal, he said I should be doing this and he—" I'm just a messenger. Okay. But the word is saying go make disciples of Me. The mission of God cannot be done in human strength. Every believer is empowered by the Spirit to do what He commands to do. Secondly, witnessing is our identity and not our activity. It's our identity and not our activity.

Jesus didn't say "go witness." He says "you shall be witnesses." You shall be witnesses. Good or bad. Good or bad. I recall a gentleman that was witnessing to a man, trying to get him to come to the Lord. And this is no slam on anyone that may have a tobacco addiction or anything, but you cannot witness for Christ with a Bible in one hand and a cigarette in another. It just doesn't work. Okay. And I know there are addictions, but those two things being presented to an unbeliever, it cannot happen.

Now, thirdly, the gospel must move from here to everywhere. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Now, our church, we are doing a good job when it comes to the ends of the earth. We're even doing a good job as far as Samaria. Samaria represents the people we don't like. Think about who you don't like. Give them a gospel tract anyway. You witness to them anyway. But where we're failing as this local body is with our Jerusalem, this immediate area right here, say a five-mile radius of this church.

We have to, we must interact with these folks' lives so that no one would have the excuse that those people didn't tell us. Those people at that church at 1419 didn't tell us about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let it not be said. You see, the mission starts where we are, but we can't stay where we are. We have to go. We have to get out. Now, in several capacities, you can utilize your talents. Now, normally, I would pick on this one brother, but I want to brag on him right now.

Normally, I'd throw some hand grenades at old Dwight Strozier. Normally I'd break out my 50-cal machine gun and just try to level him, okay? But I want to brag about him now because Dwight has had an operation. And it tells me about his heart, that even with that operation and his limited mobility, he's still willing to come out and participate somehow, some way with getting the gospel out as far as the Pray and Go program that we have. You see, what we do is we go out into the neighborhood and we take these little things right here and we hang them on the door.

And it simply says who we are: Atlanta Bible Baptist Church. It simply says who the preacher is. And then at the bottom, it says "Stopped by to let you know we are praying for you." Okay. And the hope is that when we do the follow-up, that someone would say, "You know what? I am so glad that you came by today. I'm so glad that you prayed for us because we had this kind of issue. Because we had that kind of issue. Because I was out of a job when you prayed for us, the Lord gave me a job." We're hoping that's what takes place.

But even further, that we would have the opportunity to ask that last question: "Have you ever considered your eternal destiny?" Okay. That's the most important part. Because prior to that, we ask them, "What could we as a church do for you?" And some of those things that we want to do to implement is to have better interaction with them. You see, when Jesus went out and when He fed folks, He met their needs. So we follow that pattern of meeting people's needs. They become more susceptible to the gospel itself versus just a cold-hearted "in the face, ever thought about where you're going when you die?" No. We want to break it to them gently, okay?

Now, Jesus never commands what He does not empower. Now, there's a story told about a fella that had a generator in his house or his garage and a power outage hit the neighborhood. And of course, he fired up his generators and all in the neighborhood could see the lights on at his house, but they were in darkness. And the homeowner realized, "If I keep this light to myself, the neighborhood stays dark. Now, but if I share it, the whole block can see."

This church shines. There's a light that's going out. But the neighborhood is dark. And we must go and do as this gentleman did. He started handing out flashlights. He started handing out candles so that others could be restored into the light and so that others would have the same power that he has. I've got a generator and hopefully it'll never go out, but I'm prepared. I'm prepared. You see, witnessing is not optional. A light is meant to shine. And when you think about it, what good does it do to have a bright shining light in darkness and it's covered by a bucket? Does you no good.

Thirdly, there's the problem. People cannot believe what they have not heard. And believe it or not, in this country, there are people that have never heard of the name Jesus. And you may be sitting, "That's impossible." No, we have folks coming behind us, those that are seasoned, that are not bringing up their children in the church. How many times have you heard that, "I was brought up in the church"? That means you've heard the name of Jesus. You've heard some of the names that are popular stories like Noah, Joshua, David, and so forth.

But there is a generation coming behind us that can say, "I have never heard the name of Jesus." So how can they believe what they have not heard? "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things.'"

Verse 16 of Romans 10. "But they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed our report?' So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Now, that word "preacher," many times we want to ascribe it to whoever stands here in the pulpit. But that's not the preacher he's talking about. You see, the one that stands here is our overseer, okay? He's the bishop, so to speak. The preacher comes from the word *kerusso*, and it simply means to proclaim publicly, to announce as a herald, to declare a message with authority, to publish openly. We're all called to be preachers.

Preachers. Not overseers. Preachers. You see, the *kerusso* was a royal herald or speaker that was sent by a king to deliver an official message. He did not speak his own ideas. He delivered the king's words as given. And that's what we are: royal messengers to go and declare what the King—and of course our King being King Jesus—to declare what He has said. A preacher is one who proclaims, implying that we should all proclaim the gospel. And says, "How beautiful are the feet of those that preach."

Now, you know, some of you may think that you don't have pretty feet. And that may be true in the physical sense. I know I don't have pretty feet, okay? I've got those things that have to be shaved down every so often so that when I walk, I can walk clearly and not like this, okay? But nevertheless, my spiritual feet, your spiritual feet are beautiful. And we are to take those beautiful feet and go out and proclaim somehow, some way the gospel. Now, that word "bishop," and I won't get too deep into that, overseer, that's what Pastor Smith is. The guardian, the superintendent, one who watches over. It's a little bit of a big difference.

Now, and I'm going to speed along here because I know dinner is waiting for some of you. Back to that point as far as not being able to understand because they haven't heard. They cannot call on a Savior that they do not know. And I wanted to make this point: silence from the church equals darkness in the world. Have you ever often wondered, or maybe this thought came across your mind, "What's wrong with the world? What's wrong with it right now?" And before we start pointing, okay, darkness is in the world in part because I haven't done my part.

I don't need a big bandstand to declare all I can do to win the world is one soul at a time. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. How do you win the world for Jesus? One soul at a time. You see, the gospel is powerful. And if you think about the purpose of a lifeboat, a lifeboat. A lifeboat is useless if it never leaves the ship. The church, we, us, me, need to leave the comfort of the ship, to get out of our comfort zone, take this message to a lost and dying world.

Now, what good is a lifeboat if it hasn't been tossed into the water and there are folks out there drowning? So it is with the world. People are drowning, they will drown in their sin unless we take the message to them. A man received a text from a friend. He said, "Call me when you can." He was busy, so he ignored it. Hours later, he learned the friend had been in a crisis and he reached out to him as the one person he trusted. The man said with tears, "I didn't ignore him because I didn't care. I ignored him because I didn't understand the urgency."

And there are people all around us that are calling out. Sometimes the message is a bit garbled, but when we're prompted by the Holy Spirit to attend to those needs. You see, they're calling out spiritually. And let us not miss the opportunity. A couple of weeks ago, Pastor mentioned an opportunity that he missed by not presenting the gospel to someone. I have a far worse personal story in that I spoke with a friend one time, and something said, "Witness to him. Witness to him." And I said, "Ah, I got time. I got time."

And I worked at a government agency where I had access to names and such, and I just decided to pull his name up and see how he was doing. And unfortunately, I saw three letters that sent a chill down my spine. It said DOD: date of death. He died after that phone call I made. I didn't call him back. And I'm carrying that with me. Okay. And it's only the grace of God that gives me comfort that I can and still and must carry on. Let that not happen to you. Everywhere the Spirit prompts you to speak to somebody, give them a gospel tract, and we say, "I got time. The next time."

He was busy and the friend said, "I didn't understand the urgency." There is an urgency out there. People are dying daily. People are dying by the moment. They're calling out spiritually. Will we answer the call? You see, fourthly, God loves the lost more than we realize. You see, the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. And it's not about showing some sort of moral superiority. It's not about boasting and bragging about what nation we live in, but about reflecting the heart of God.

We've got to be very careful with the voices that we hear. God seeks the lost. God pursues the broken. God runs towards the sinner. And He desires that none should perish. You see, when we evangelize, we join God in His rescue mission. How do we do that? How do we do that? This has not been an easy message because like I said, when we were in Detroit, when we were in Detroit, they beat our toes to a pulp. Now, just how do we do this? I'm so glad you asked. First and foremost, we need to live the gospel. Live the gospel. People watch every last one of you. They know where you go on Sundays. In some cases, they know where you should be on Sundays. People watch your life, they hear your words, and they know your credibility. Live the gospel. And then secondly, share the gospel. Speak. Let them know why you do the things that you do. The message is not complicated. Jesus died, Jesus rose, and He saves.

Serve people. Right now I'm coming up on my time, so I'm going to have to speak fast. Serve people. Build relationships. Pray for opportunities. And then the result is that heaven rejoices when we obey. Jesus said heaven rejoices over one sinner when he repents. Think about how every time you share the gospel, you participate with someone coming to Christ. Now, in conclusion, and I'm going to hold myself to my time, here's some simple things we can do. Pray for one person this week. Share your testimony with someone. Invite someone to church. Serve someone intentionally. Be ready to speak when God opens the door. But do this in the power of the Spirit. Do it in the power of the Spirit. The battle cry should be, "Let's go. Let's go."

Now, some things, and I must mention this because I mentioned it earlier, some ways that we can serve this neighborhood better. How many—and I'm not saying this to say a show of hands, please don't raise your hands—how many would be willing to serve with a food pantry? That's one of the things that comes back to us in the questionnaire: "How can we better serve you?" Many folks are saying start a food pantry. Have you bought any food lately? Is it expensive? I don't get out often to the grocery store, but I'm always in a state of shock when I go to the cash register. Six items and I've spent $75. Okay. I'm exaggerating, but I think you catch the drift.

But there are folks out there that have meager means, and they're struggling. What can we do to help with that struggle? A food pantry. You'd like to work in such a ministry. Of course, it's more than just giving out food. We're going to give the gospel out as well. A "Stop and Pray." These are some things we learned at the BFA where we put a sign out front: "If somebody needs prayer, they can whip in under that overhang right there and we'll pray for them, give them a gospel tract, tell them to have a nice day." I think about the times I was out here on the 285/500 and I needed something to calm me down.

And I dare to say that being able to stop and pray with somebody before I got out on that highway would have been a relief. And maybe that's what some folks need, some prayer before they get out there on that highway. But at the same time, we're going to give them the gospel, okay? If you'd like to be a part of that, see me. If you'd like to be a part of the media ministry. Now what does that entail? That means getting the gospel out through the media, mass media, social media. That's actually the word I was looking for. Getting the gospel out through social media. Please see me, we want to get that started up and running. And lastly, and certainly not least, a prison ministry. You want to work in that, see me. Okay. We want to do this. We want to be able to stand before the Lord after it's all been said and done that He says to us, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," not because you sat, but because we went, because we did our part. Just like that brother I just mentioned. He came out and did what he could. He couldn't hit the streets with us, but he drove us around. And that's a part. Wanted to be in on the fight.

Let us do what we've been called to do. This has not been an easy message. This was primarily directed towards those that know Christ. And I've been around long enough to know that in a crowd like this, in a church, not everybody knows Jesus. They may know about Him, but not everybody knows Jesus. That means has one taken Him as Lord and Savior? Has one believed in the heart that He died, was buried, and rose again on the third day? Believe in the heart, not just some mental knowledge about the historical Jesus, so to speak. But about the Jesus that saves. And many will miss heaven by this distance here: the distance between this head and this heart. Transferring what you know, have heard, and transferring it into something that you believe. I hope and pray that no one leaves out this door without feeling the convicting power of the Holy Spirit that's pricking at your heart right now, saying you need Christ.

Let's pray. Father, we give You thanks for this day. And Lord, there are many obstacles when it comes to evangelism. I confess my shortcomings. I hope and pray that I haven't been seen in a light to where I think I'm all that and a bag of chips. I'm lacking. I'm undone. Woe is me. And my prayer for all of us that You create in our hearts that desire to obey the command to go, to get out, to get to stepping for the cause of Christ. And Lord, if there's anyone here that does not know You the way that I describe, to know You intimately, to know that there's a day in which he or she believed in and that not recalled to that person—we pray You touch that person's heart. Lord, that You indeed save. Help us, as only You can. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.