Acts chapter 2. It really is that simple. A successful human life is simply this: to see your need for Jesus Christ and to find that need satisfied in Christ. And we don't like our neediness exposed. So that we don't like to hear about our sin, but unless we hear about our sin, we don't know about an all-sufficient Savior. We don't want to be challenged to do things outside of our comfort zone, but unless we're challenged to do things outside of our comfort zone, we won't meet this Savior who walks with us and equips us. And so if all of life boils down to simply knowing Jesus and knowing that He's sufficient, basically feeling a need for Jesus and then seeing Jesus fill that need, if that's the basic fundamental reality in which we live, and it is, that's successful life.
Successful life is sensing your need for Jesus, seeing Jesus fulfill that need. In fact, if you want to be really clear, like when we're talking about sharing the gospel, what the gospel is is simply this: I have through God's law become aware that I cannot stand in front of a holy God And as a moment of faith and desperation, I put my hand on Jesus Christ and say, I'm so glad he's here for me to be my Savior and to be my Lord. And so that's the gospel. I am aware that I cannot stand before a holy God. Jesus can. He has offered himself for me, and I place my hand on him, and I'm so glad.
And in that moment, when you find Jesus to be the relief the thing you needed, the bucket of ice water after you burned your hand, you know, in that moment when you find Jesus to be this sweet relief, you're glorifying God. You're fulfilling your purpose in life. Like, that's why we exist. We exist to see Jesus that way.
And the truth is, is that we see Jesus that way in salvation, and then many of us will shrink our lives as small as possible with as many comforts and controls as possible so that we no longer need the bucket of ice water. We no longer need the relief. We no longer need the strength. We no longer need the miracle every day. And so when we talk about the gospel, we talk about leaning into the gospel, what we mean is, is that I'm willing to go into the hard places because I know that if I enter into those hard places, I know that as my need is magnified and become more clear to me, that Jesus will become better to me and sweeter to me and truer to me. And so I'm willing to go into the desert because I know that when I go into the desert, I find another oasis, right?
So the hunger, the desire for Jesus is what compels us to move into difficult places. It's what moves us into hardship, which moves us into vulnerability. And as we speak about vulnerability, there's really nothing that makes us feel more vulnerable than this clear biblical teaching, which is put forward always in Scripture, including in the character of Jesus himself, that we as believers in Jesus are supposed to go out into the world and tell others about their need for Jesus. And you won't do that unless you believe you will find more of Jesus by doing it. You won't do that unless you believe that failing to do that means you are getting less. You're seeing Jesus less. You're enjoying Jesus less. You're seeing Him fill less of your life. The whole idea behind sharing the gospel with others is to make this need for Jesus more pronounced in our own lives.
And in our text today, we see that very message bearing great fruit. Acts 2:41, so those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about 3,000 souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, and to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together, breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
6 · Connects the current sermon to last week's focus on Peter's transformation from cowardice to courage, framing the current sermon's focus on the method of gospel witness rather than the man or message
Last week we examined the man and the message behind this moment. We saw the conversion that took place in Peter's life from someone who was cowardly to the point where he would deny Jesus 3 times to someone who had the courage to insert the gospel into a very tense moment in which many people who already thought they were right with God were gathered together. And Peter said, no, no, no, no, you're not right with God. You killed Jesus. Save yourself from this wicked generation. So we looked at the man and we looked at this conversion experience, this— oh, this is a terrible theological word— this second conversion experience, which is really just sanctification, in which Peter grew again, right, out of a life-dominating sin, which was a cowardice, a fear of being publicly identified with Jesus, into something far more courageous. And we said that the gospel did that. Just as the gospel would convert someone from darkness to light, the gospel changes us from cowards into people of courage. So we looked at the man and we looked at the message. We looked at how the gospel did that. And today we're going to look at the method that was used.
7 · Establishes the pastoral philosophy that desire to evangelize is more foundational than methodology, using the gym membership analogy to show that tools are useless without motivation
In our membership materials, we say that we want to equip every member to verbally share the good news of the gospel with others. We want to equip every member to verbally share the good news of the gospel with others. Now, that's my responsibility, and I will tell you that I believe that the most important thing that the saints need to be equipped with is the desire to share the gospel. That's the most important thing that we need to be equipped with. Methods, which we will discuss in a moment, are important, But the truth is that without the desire to share the gospel, methods will simply be like a gym membership can be for many of us. It's a great tool, but not actually necessary to get into shape.
8 · Brief illustration supporting the gym membership analogy — people with desire can achieve fitness without formal tools
Have you seen these dudes who like, they get all jacked with a truck axle and some sandbags? I mean, they don't, you know, they don't need a gym membership. The desire's there, right? They don't need that.
9 · Articulates the pastoral strategy of prioritizing motivation over methodology for the past two years and directly confronts the congregation's excuse that they need more 'how-to' instruction, identifying it as responsibility-avoidance
And for most of us, we fail to remember how little, in many important areas of life, tools— how little of importance tools are when compared to skill and desire. We fail to remember the proper role that tools play. So moving too quickly into methodology and helping people learn how to share their faith is not helpful when many people lack the desire to share their faith, I would simply be giving someone a gym membership who has no real intentions to work out. So the goal and my approach over the last 2 years in this particular area is to mostly speak at the motivational sense, addressing the want-tos. And if you've responded with that thinking, 'Well, but if I knew how,' I would just tell you I don't think that's probably true. I would push back and say that you're just unloading responsibility back onto someone else. Like, that's probably not the key. It's not probably the key. The know-how is probably not the key.
10 · Provides biblical warrant for prioritizing desire over method by noting Scripture's lack of explicit evangelistic methodology in contrast to its emphasis on desire
And I say that because the scripture is remarkably devoid of straight-up breakdown teachings on methodology on how to share the gospel. If, if it were that important to have a clear, simple, linear methodology, the Bible would present that as such. But what seems to be far more important is to have a desire to share the gospel.
11 · Transitions from motivation to methodology while maintaining the warning that receiving a method without using it will only serve as further evidence of heart-level resistance to evangelism
Now, having said that, at some point it would not be me— I would not be serving you well if I didn't at some point offer some kind of clarity on, well, how? How do we do this? Just bear in mind that sometimes getting a new tool makes you overly optimistic that you're actually going to do the job. So I do want to give you a tool today. But this tool, it could actually condemn you in the same way that a gym membership could condemn me, right? This tool could actually condemn you. If you have this tool and you don't use it, then you just have one more piece of evidence that goes to show a problem with the heart. So I want to give you the tool, but I want you to like understand this isn't all good for you.
12 · Introduces the three-part evangelistic method through a fictional character named Sam, framing the method as prayer, showing supernatural work, and conversation, creating a memorable structure ('tip Sam's hat') and setting realistic expectations (one conversion every two years)
So now we'll go into a lighter, more enjoyable movement in the message. I asked Sadie a few weeks ago— Sadie gets these very random requests from me because she can do so many things. Where are you? Oh, there you are. She does so many things well, but they're all kind of weird things. So I Like the Oswalds will ask her just random weird things. And I sent her a note on Basecamp. I was like, can you draw a picture of a guy named Sam? He has to have a hat on that says I love Jesus. He has to look nice. I gave her no more information than that. And praise God, she did it. So I want to show you this picture of Sam. There's Sam. So, it looks great. Good job. I almost like colored his eyes in like red just to freak you out, but no, Sam's a good guy. So I want to, as we're going to talk about how to share the gospel, I want to do this in somewhat of a story form so that it's memorable for you and helpful for you. So Sam's a good guy. He's an engineer here in town. He's a very friendly guy, maybe kind of naturally an introvert, but he's a good guy. He loves Jesus. And there are basically 3 things that Sam does throughout his life, 3 rhythms that wind up allowing him to share the gospel with others. And more than allow him to share the gospel with others, let's say every 2 years or so, he actually sees a friend come to Jesus. Alright, so this is a very kind of average expectation, but beautiful because if all of us saw a friend come to Jesus every 2 years, Wow, right? So there are 3 things that Sam does, and they are— don't go to the next slide yet, okay? All right, so 3 things that Sam does. He spends time in prayer, praying over this issue. He shows miracles, and I don't mean that Sam's a faith healer. I'll explain this more in a moment, but Sam shows in the world to his friends, to his coworkers, that there's a supernatural power at work in his life. And the third is that Sam has, has a talk with people. Okay, next slide. Alright, we're gonna talk today about how to tip Sam's hat: spend time in prayer, show a miracle, and have a talk.
13 · Establishes the biblical foundation for the three-part method by tracing it through Jesus's ministry (prayer in Gethsemane and on the cross, resurrection miracle, 40 days explaining the miracle) and the early church in Acts 1-3 (prayer, Pentecost tongues, Peter's explanation; prayer toward temple, healing miracle, Peter's explanation)
If you were to try to condense all of Scripture and all that it teaches about how to share the gospel into 3 basic practices, 3 basic practices of the Christian life, it would be 3 things. Number 1, spending time in prayer, praying about the opportunity to share the gospel. Number 2, showing a miracle, and I will explain that more in a minute, but just this idea of showing a supernatural force at work in your life. And number 3, when the opportunity presents itself, to have a talk explaining why this supernatural thing is working in your life. In your life. This is, as far as I can tell in my time in God's Word, the simplest but also the most scriptural way of me communicating the methodology we see at work in the Scriptures from Jesus himself all the way through the apostles and the early Christians. This is just to give you an example of one time we see this come into play. Right before the book of Acts, we see some things happening in Jesus's life. We see Him spending time in prayer in the garden and on the cross. He's praying for strength, right? He's praying for strength to do this thing, to go to the cross. And then when He's on the cross, He's actually praying for those who are crucifying Him, and He's praying for their salvation. We see a miracle take place. What's the miracle? He's raised from the dead, right? And then after that, we see Him spend 40 days explaining the miracle. We see him explaining this supernatural event that just took place. Now, that's, that's something we see routinely in the ministry of Jesus— these, these three things happening often in sequence. But I'll tell you that if you're doing these three things all the time, you're gonna forget about which part of the sequence you're in with one person or another person. These are just three disciplines, three habits, that if you did every day if you sought to do every day, would just sort of generate a biblically appropriate evangelistic life. Now let me go in and explain. Well, so Jesus does these things, and then we see them repeated again in the early church as early as Acts chapter 1 and chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 is these 3 points playing themselves out. So in Acts 1:1-2, they're gathered together in prayer. A miracle happens. They speak in tongues of many nations that are gathered there. That miracle provokes a conversation. What are these people doing? Are they drunk? So on and so forth. And that miracle then initiates a conversation. That Peter has in saying, 'No, they're not drunk. It's only this time of the day,' so on and so forth. Here we go. Right? The very next chapter, chapter 3. This is the time when Peter's on his way to the temple to pray. As he's on his way to the temple to pray, there's a cripple there who's begging for money. He says, 'Silver and gold have I none, but what I do have I give you. Be healed.' Time in prayer, headed to the temple in prayer. Be healed, miracle, and now an explanation of the miracle is requested. And Peter offers an explanation which leads to more gospel sharing. Over and over again in the Gospels and in the book of Acts, you see these three things kind of working their way through the lives of believers, and you see as a result of these three things, people coming to faith in Jesus, or God using these three things to lead people to faith in Jesus.
14 · Transitions into detailed examination of each practice while reframing them as basic Christian disciplines already present in the believer's life, not additional burdens
Now, these are just 3 things that we should do, right? I mean, these are just kind of basic things that we're— honestly, if we're not doing these, we're really not walking with Jesus. But I want to talk about each one of them, break them down, help you to see how these are basically already opportunities in your life that you have right now.
15 · Critiques the contemporary Christian obsession with tools and programs by contrasting American consumer culture's tool-focus with God's heart-focused work, using examples from marketing and denominational discipleship programs
And the first one is time in prayer. So the tip part of Tip Sam's Hat. So we are, as I mentioned earlier, a tool-forward culture, and that I think is because of marketing, as best I can tell. You can't market creativity or grit, right? But you can market the tools that artists and athletes use. And so because we have a marketing-forward culture, we can't sell you Picasso's talent, but we can sell you Picasso's tool brushes. And when it comes to all things Christian, we do the very same thing. It's, you know, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, they have a department that is responsible for discipleship, and that is the only department in that denomination that is also for-profit. So their whole push for discipleship is a for-profit kind of, let's sell you tools. Let's sell you books. And we really have come to believe that if we just had the right tools, there's a Picasso in us, each one of us. I don't know if I want a Picasso in me, but there's an artist, there's an athlete, there's a something. And if I get the right compression shorts or the MacBook Pro with all of the graphics tools, like, I'll become this thing. It's a tool-forward culture, which is exactly the opposite of what God says and what God does. Because God just uses people and God uses hearts. God works out of the heart, on the heart.
16 · Establishes prayer as the New Testament's primary evangelistic tool by referencing a previously demonstrated Lukan pattern where prayer precedes significant events
So it's interesting that really the first tool you see— we did, we went through a message a while back where I showed you this pattern that Luke develops where he just over and over again shows that prayer comes before big things. You remember that? It's just this idea like over and over again Luke is showing us that prayer happens before big things happen. So if you were to say that, what's the tool, what's the tool in the New Testament for the gospel? By and large, that tool would be prayer.
17 · Provides empirical support for prayer's priority through a church survey showing prayer as the only common factor among evangelistically fruitful churches, then catalogs six specific biblical prayers for evangelism: three thanksgivings (for personal salvation, ongoing salvation of others, gift of the Spirit) and three petitions (for workers, for active faith, for boldness, for opportunity, for fruitfulness)
By and large, the number one thing you can do, activity in which you can engage in, that you could see as a predictor of evangelistic fruit would be prayer. There was a survey done of 1,000 churches, I think randomly selected in the United States not that long ago, and they discovered that there were 5% of them are what they would consider to be effective evangelistically. These are churches from all kinds of different denominations and so on. It's about 5% of them saw 1 person converted for every 10 members every year. So that's, that's 1 person out of every 10 members converted members every year. That's what they would consider to be an effective evangelistic church. Most of them are, you know, 1 in 20, 1 in 50, you know. What are we? I didn't do the math. So they determined that 1 out of 10, like 1 new convert for every 10 members, is an effective evangelistic church. That's only 5% of churches in the United States. And they went through and tried to figure out, well, what's going on? How is this happening? And they could not find any methodology that was a commonality. They couldn't find one program. They couldn't find anything except prayer. Prayer was the single greatest predictor of evangelistic fruitfulness in the local church. And I want to tell you that the Scriptures are clear that when we spend time in prayer, praying for God to save people, that God saves people, that God uses our prayers. So I want to give you a number of things. We'll post this on Basecamp, but I want, I want this to sink in so much, I want this slide to stay up the whole time. But I'm going to give you a number of scriptures that you should be praying, that you should be praying. The number one is, Lord, restore to me— Psalm 51:12— Lord, restore to me the joy of my salvation. Help me to remember why being saved is such a big deal, and uphold me with a willing spirit. So number 1, thank God for saving you. Number 2, thank God that He is still saving people. John 10:16, Jesus says, I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd. Remember what we said last week about the key fob, and you're walking through the parking lot, you're pushing the button, and one car will respond? That we know that God's Word will not return void, and that His gospel work will awaken those whom He's chosen. You can go back to that message to hear more about that. So thank God that He's still saving people. Thank God that He gave you the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And what will you do with that power? I know you'll be great parents and you'll have better marriages and you'll get over your addictions. Well, good, but the power described in Acts 1:8 is so that you can be witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and in Samaria and to the ends of the earth. Thank God that you have the Holy Spirit. So there's 3 points of gratitude: thank God for saving you, thank God that He's still saving others, and thank God that He's given you His Holy Spirit. Now let's talk about things to pray for as far as goals go. Well, the number 1 would be let's just pray for workers. Matthew 9:37, Jesus says to His disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly for the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. I would encourage you just to be honest with God and say, God, I've chosen to disobey you on this area. I don't want to do this, so would you send someone else? Pray that every day. So we should pray for workers. We should pray for an opportunity for our faith to be active. Philemon 6:9, 'I pray that the sharing of your faith,' Paul writes, 'I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.' So pray that our faith, our sharing of our faith, would be active and effective. Pray for boldness. At the end of Ephesians, Paul asked the Ephesian church to pray also for him. That words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly as I ought to speak. If Paul's praying for boldness and he feels like if he doesn't get those prayers, he's not going to be appropriately bold, you and I need to be praying for boldness. Pray for opportunity. In Colossians 4, Paul says, 'Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I'm in prison, that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.' And pray for fruitfulness. To the Thessalonian church, Paul writes, 'Finally, brothers, pray for us that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as happened among you.' We'll post these on Basecamp, and these are just 6 prayers that you could pray throughout the week, that you should be praying, that will have predictive positive effects on both your prayer life and also, I think, the kingdom.
18 · Brief structural transition from prayer to miracle
Number 2, the second point. So we're spending time in prayer and then we're showing a miracle.
19 · Addresses confusion about miracles by establishing that even spectacular miracles don't guarantee belief, using Jesus's resurrection as proof, and redefining miracles as setting terms rather than compelling belief
This is probably the one with which we're the most likely to get confused because we see all kinds of different tiers of miracles in the Scriptures, and many of them are far more miraculous than you and I have ever seen. So we can— I think I thought this as a young man. I thought, man, like, if Jesus, if you really want people to be saved. Like, just let the kid down the street get run over by a car and then let him raise from the dead and we'll be good. Like, everybody will believe. Which of course, that's not true, is it? I never prayed. I never volunteered myself in those prayers. It's not true, is it though? That if little Billy got ran over and raised from the dead, it's not a predictor that people would believe. Many, many people did not believe when Jesus was raised from the dead. In fact, the Bible outlines a whole host of cases in which huge miracles did not convince people to believe. So miracles aren't this sort of like absolute guarantee that people will believe. What they are is absolute guarantee that the terms are set on the table and that those who will reject will reject, and those who will believe will believe.
20 · Illustrates the definition of miracle through a personal story of parents' radical conversion and lifestyle change witnessed by their atheist teenage son, whom the pastor confronted about the unexplainable nature of the transformation
I knew a young man who was an atheist, and his parents were kind of— I don't know what they would call themselves. They weren't walking with Christ. There were lots of bad habits, substance abuse, and so on in their home. And they became followers of Jesus, and they started changing quickly, big changes in their life. Speech, everything, just big changes. And I remember telling this kid, he's probably 15, 16 years old, you know, that the really well-informed kind of atheist. I remember telling him like, hey, just so you know, you're witnessing a miracle and you will have to give an account to God for the miracle you see in your parents' life. So you need to explain this right now. You've lived with them long enough to know them, and you see all their weaknesses and their failures and their foibles, and many of them have hurt you, and now they're different people. You need to be able to give an account for that, and you will have to one day give an account for that.
21 · Defines miracle for evangelistic purposes as evidence that invites (but does not compel) a person to consider transcendent explanations — something unusual that provokes wonder about supernatural causes
So the idea of miracle is simply this: this sort of evidence— not irrefutable because there's always a way— The sort of evidence that invites the right kind of person at the right time to say, 'I see something going on here that I can't explain without making my mind and heart go to transcendent places.' Right? You have to remember the baseline definition of a miracle is something unusual, something outside the norm, something that helps someone sometimes, but not always, Sometimes it's just something different, something out of place.
22 · Hypothetical illustration of a marriage conflict resolved through apology and grace observed by non-Christian friends, demonstrating how ordinary Christian virtue in relational conflict can function as a noticeable miracle
So imagine this. Suppose I took a neighbor couple, suppose Angie and I took a neighbor couple out for a day of boating down at the lake. The first miracle would be that someone gave me a boat. It's a hint. We don't know this couple very well, but we're out on the boat and And throughout the course of the day, whatever happens, maybe Angela and I argue about how close I got to running someone over or something, you know. And we're out on the boat and she kind of snips at me and I kind of step back and then she says, 'I'm sorry,' or I say, 'I'm sorry,' and kind of have this little heel-biting moment, but then there's this apology and there's grace and then everything's okay again. And this couple is out on the boat with us, and they see like, well, there's this guy, this pastor and his wife, like they did the little heel bite thing. We know exactly what that is, but the thing is, is like we never see it go away like this. We never see it like resolve. This is a day ruiner in our household. This is maybe even a week ruiner. Like things start getting thrown at this point. And so they're with us out on the boat, and they just noticed that. And maybe that day, maybe not that day, but that little moment of peculiarity was enough of a miracle to make them notice something's different.
23 · Identifies humility as one of the greatest miracles available to ordinary believers for evangelistic witness, defining it as teachability and meekness despite abilities
As I think one of the greatest miracles in the world is humility. I mean, just consistently showing teachability, humility, an eagerness to learn, a meekness in which you have intellectual or physical powers or whatever, but you're not trying to show them to the world. These are miracles that if God wants to get someone's attention, you've provided plenty of opportunity simply by choosing to live Christ-centered, outwardly influenced by Jesus kinds of lives.
24 · Continues the boat illustration showing how an observed miracle of grace months earlier creates credibility for a gospel conversation when the observing couple faces their own marriage crisis
And so that moment on the boat translates 6 months down the road when this couple is really fighting and they're really kind of at that existential moment in their marriage, and we just get to say, like, well, listen, God's Word is true. We necessarily don't always like that, but it is this thing that anchors us. It is this thing that centers us. And the truth is that I don't have to be right all the time. I don't have to be vindicated all the time because Jesus showed what it's like to trust God. And he trusted God when he was unfairly crucified and he was raised from the dead. Or so on and so forth. And I'm speeding this conversation up. It may happen that way, it may not.
25 · Redefines 'showing a miracle' as simply inviting non-Christians into areas where Jesus is already at work in the believer's life — suffering endured with grace, church community care, functional family relationships — things that seem small but are supernatural
The point is, is that if you are walking with Jesus in full view of the outside world— by the way, which means like actually like having friends that don't know Jesus, right? If you're doing that, then all you really are doing with life is you're inviting people in to the miracles that are taking place already in your life. You just don't necessarily see them right now. So what this really becomes, and this is really what Jesus was about, was inviting people into your miracle. Inviting people into your miracle. How about this? I'm suffering right now and God is helping me trust him. Come on into my miracle. It's not pretty, just, just is what it is. Just come into my miracle. I had surgery and the church provided me with meals. Come eat a meal with me that the church made for me. You have people that make meals for you when you have surgery? Like, this was just a bunion and I got 2 weeks of meals. Or, you know, I have a decent relationship with my teenage son. Why don't you and your teenage son come out and we'll go hang out? It is this tiny little thing to me that isn't tiny at all because Jesus is making it real and true in my life.
26 · Elevates the church as the most predictable and accessible miracle for evangelism, contrasting the unpredictable pool of Bethesda with the reliable 'Old Faithful' of gospel-centered church unity, and provides the specific method of inviting non-Christians to help with church tasks
So the church— this is the next level of this— the church is the most predictable miracle you'll ever find in the world. There's a story of the scriptures where the cripple is waiting by the water And you know, random times an angel supposedly comes and disturbs the water. That's sort of like not a good evangelistic— it's not a predictable evangelistic technique. You're like, invite your lost friend, like, we're gonna sit by this water. Eventually water's gonna move, and you're gonna have to tell me why that is. Well, the church is more like Old Faithful. It's this predictable miracle. It's this thing that just keeps proving itself to be miraculous. And when you invite people who don't know Jesus to spend time in the church— and the greatest trick, the greatest tool I've ever used is I ask them to come help. Hey, we're cleaning the church today. Hey, we're setting up for this dance. Hey, we're building, we're We're building something. Neighbor, can you come help me? Would you come help us at the church? Like, the truth is, is that when we get people who don't know Jesus around the church for a given length of time, and we've been careful to cultivate the right kind of gospel-centered unity in the church, truth is the church is this extraordinarily predictable miracle to which we can invite others to participate.
27 · Synthesizes the miracle principle by connecting individual Christian virtue to the larger miracle of church unity, citing the church's membership materials to establish biblical warrant that unity is the primary witness to the gospel's power
So, so a lot of the miracles that we would show have to do with this unique, incredible relationship we have because we are brothers and sisters in Jesus, because we're brought into God's family. So in our membership materials, we say this: the New Testament presents unity in the church body as a primary witness to the supernatural power of the gospel. The New Testament presents unity in the church body as a primary witness to the supernatural power of the gospel. Various providence contexts provide opportunities to introduce people to what is perhaps the most powerful witness to the truth of the gospel: the community of our local church.
28 · Synthesizes the first two points and transitions to the third by connecting prayer and miracle to the conversational explanation that follows when the Spirit opens doors
So we spend time in prayer, and then we just sort of invite people into our miracles. We show a miracle, whether that's humility or a a marriage that's somewhat functioning, or a local church. We invite people into our miracles, and then when the time is right, when the opportunity presents itself, or when we see that the Holy Spirit's opened a door, we have a talk. We explain the miracle. We explain the reason for the hope that we have, right?
29 · Diagnoses the primary barrier to evangelism as not lack of apologetic skill but self-imposed relational isolation from non-Christians, calling out the excuse-making and comfort-seeking that leads to 'ghettoized' Christian life
The problem for most of us is not that we don't have a reason for the hope that we have. It's that we are living such ghettoized lives that we really don't spend enough time living with people who don't know Jesus. There was this tendency that we have to think that, man, if I just I'm just gonna— and our kids can be great excuses and so on and so forth, but let me hem this whole world in to make it as small as possible, as predictable as possible. Christians are nice people. I don't want to be around mean people, so let me spend as much time as possible with Christians. How are you gonna do this thing that the Bible shows over and over again is the primary kind of way that we share the gospel unless you have regular interactions with those who don't know Jesus.
30 · Reframes 1 Peter 3:15 from apologetic preparedness to lifestyle proximity to non-Christians, then defines 'having a talk' as interpreting the miracle while avoiding the temptation to explain the miracle without giving glory to Jesus
So they used to say, you know, always have a reason for the hope that you have in you. Always be able to give a reason. It's sort of like, well, always live a life around people who would think it was special that your marriage is functional, who would think it is special that you're suffering with grace. Be around people who would even notice these things. So, have a talk is just this simple idea of explaining, of interpreting the miracle. And of course, the greatest temptation we see in Scripture, as well as in our own lives, is to offer an explanation for the miracle which does not give glory to Jesus. Right? It's just the greatest temptation And all of us have fallen into this, and we've not even, like, felt terrible about it afterward. We didn't intend to give ourselves glory. We didn't intend to make much of ourselves or to make much of some particular method. But the whole sensitivity in this moment is simply to remind you, people will ask, people have asked. You need to remember what to say. Not in a specific sequence of words, but simply that you make it clear to them that you have someone else to thank, and that someone is God himself.
31 · Clarifies the content of the gospel conversation by negation — salvation is not moralism, theism, church attendance, or Christian niceness, but faith in Christ's finished work
Again, in our membership materials, we aren't merely calling others to live a moral life and asking them simply to believe in God or go to church, much less trying to convince them that Christians are nice people. Salvation comes only through faith in the finished work of Christ on our behalf.
32 · Synthesizes the threefold method through Sam's story, providing concrete measurements (5 minutes of daily prayer, living with integrity in normal interactions, intentional presence among non-Christians, occasional divine appointments), and summarizing the basic faithful evangelistic life as praying, showing Christ's work, and trusting God for opportunities to explain
So let's go back to Sam. Sam spends 5 minutes a day praying that God would send workers, that God would give him boldness, that God would give him opportunity, that God would give him the words to say when the opportunity comes. 5 minutes a day, he prays a prayer about this. Throughout his day, Sam lives with integrity. You know, when he has an opportunity to cut corners at work, he doesn't. When he has an opportunity to be disrespectful to someone, he isn't. Throughout his life, he just lives with integrity. He seeks to personify Jesus in his daily life and He does that throughout his normal interactions with the people in his life. He's intentional to play on a softball team full of dudes who don't know Jesus or whatever. So there's these places where these miracles that are already happening in his life get exposed. And then from time to time, just like that one car in the parking lot that corresponds to that like a fob on your keychain, from time to time, God creates a divine appointment. And this visible life of integrity and the prayers that he'd been praying consistently, small prayers, just frequent small prayers consistently, these things come to a head and someone asks, 'What's going on? That's weird that you didn't cheat on your taxes even though you could.' What's going on with this? And then he says, you know, Jesus is what's going on with this. Like, I'm a crook in my own heart, or I'm a thief, I'm a bully in my own heart, whatever. But Jesus has changed me. And then the opportunity, every once in a while out of those few talks that happen a year, someone comes to faith in Jesus. And that's what it means to have kind of a baseline evangelistically faithful life. That you're praying about it, that you're showing the work of Jesus in the world in which you live through your work, through your speech, and then you're trusting that God's going to give you an opportunity to give Him praise. And you're going to have the opportunity every once in a while to say, you know, This is like not a secret insiders-only club. You could have Jesus too. That's, that's a very stripped-down, basic explanation of the method that I think the Bible commends. Time in prayer, show a miracle, and then have a talk.
33 · Direct application pressing the congregation to respond concretely by praying, living among non-Christians rather than in cloistered Christian communities, and trusting God to create opportunities, using escalating rhetorical questions to create urgency and accountability
Now, what are you going to do with the gym membership? I mean, it's no more 'if I only knew how.' No more 'I need to know more.' You don't. What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do with this? Baseline: you need to spend time in prayer. Praying these things. Baseline. You've got to ask yourself whether you're going to spend the next 20 years of your life living mostly around Christians with relative little real relationship with people who don't know Christ. And you gotta ask yourself if God's gonna be pleased with the decision to spend the next 2 decades of your life cloistered off in a safe community with which everyone basically agrees with you. You gotta ask yourself, did I get the Holy Spirit for that? Is that what Acts 1:8 teaches? Spend time in prayer. Be the miracle that you are in full view of the world, and God will work it to where you have occasion to give him glory.
34 · Closing prayer opening the congregation toward God
Let me pray for us. Oh, gracious God,