7 Things to Remember When Sharing the Gospel

When we're talking about inviting people to come and see, to come and meet Jesus, to tell people about something that's changing our lives, let me remind you, we are called to be witnesses, not lawyers.

You don't have to convince everybody. You don't have to bring up all the evidence. You don't have to do all that stuff. You just have to be a witness to the glory and the things that He is doing in and through your life.

See, we don't have to convince people who meet Jesus. There's already a craving there. There's already something there. When people meet Jesus, there's no convincing needed.  

I'm a pastor and we started Pipeline.Church, but when people go I love your church, I die a little inside. This isn't the church of Jeff. This isn't the church of beautiful Kailee and her voice. This isn't the church of Cindy and her massive ability to make everybody feel comfortable.

No, this is the church of Jesus Christ built for His glory and His passion and His honor and His name and His renown. I'm never the hero of the story, and that's what John set forward. He said, "Hey, remember, I must decrease, and he must increase, so back off, boys. Stop complaining."

He must become greater; I must become less. - John 3:30

Here's what I would say from what I see there, ordinary moments often create extraordinary opportunities.  It doesn't take much for you and me to introduce people to Jesus; it doesn't take a bolt of lightning or a special rainbow or something to light the way, or a special bumper sticker on your car or anything like that.

It doesn't take that. It just takes ordinary moments and 20 seconds of bravery for you to declare He is Lord.

At Pipeline Church, we say this and I mean it every week, people matter.

Life is about more than the moment that you're living in these circumstances that you are living in. If you find yourself here and you feel unworthy, let me tell you, God has a greater plan. He's not looking at what you've done or what you've been dealt. He's looking at who you are. I love how Jesus said, "If you knew the blessing that awaited you if you only understood and knew the gift that God wanted to give you if you knew who you were talking to, but much less the plans that God has for you."

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” - John 4:10

We love to quote Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord." We love that. Yet to live in that is completely different. When Jesus says, if you only knew the blessing that was awaiting you, you'd be asking a completely different question. Why? Because life is about more than this moment in these circumstances.

Don't get stuck by saying, this is all we have and this is all we can do. It's not about where we worship or how we worship or what we do or that tradition or this tradition. Just lay it all down and remember, truth breaks through past pain and present sin.

People want to meet Jesus. They really do. They just don't know it yet.

When Cindy and I started in ministry, we were trying to rally people around our big plans and get people going. We were at this church, and it was a great church for us and getting started, and we had some great friends. I remember the pastor's wife talking to Cindy and I one day, and she said, "Here's something I've chosen to live my life by. When it comes to working with the church and with people, everybody wants to do what you're doing. They just don't know it yet. All you got to do is tell them. All you got to do is invite them."

That's the mindset. We go into it. Let me tell you this. People want to meet Jesus. They may even talk junk about Jesus, but when they meet him, they'll say, "Sign me up. I'm tired of living this way. I don't want to live for myself anymore. I want to live for something. I want to be part of that story." That seems like something real. People want to meet Jesus. They just don't know it yet.

People will always try and deflect to avoid looking at their own life and their own struggles. We like to shift our blame. We like to blame everything else instead of just getting to the problem. Jesus said, "Hey, I'm just going to shine some light on a place that's probably going to be a sore spot."

Remember: truth breaks through past pain and present sin. The truth of who Jesus is means that we don't need to deflect or hide.

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. - John 4:27-30

This is where it all came from. "Come and See. Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could he possibly the be the Messiah?" Here was the result of her one three-word statement and invitation. It says, "So they came streaming from the village to see him." This was a lady who was hiding from people just moments ago and now everybody is hearing her invitation to come and see.

The message of someone whose life has been changed by Christ is: come and see. I'm asking you to get into the story, to be the church that the world desperately needs us to be.

I'm asking you the church followers of Christ, would you engage in 20 seconds of insane courage, of embarrassing bravery, and invite someone to come and see that the Lord is good? It could change somebody's life, it could change a family's story. It could change the trajectory of generations. you never know. One lady who wasn't worthy, who didn't feel worthy, who felt like the world would reject her if she was made known, said, "Come and see." And an entire village saw what would happen when Jesus got ahold of their lives.