I don't talk to people about God because...

01. I Don't Know Enough

1 Peter 3:15 NLT And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.

1 Peter 3:15 MSG Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy.

02. My Testimony Isn't Impressive

03. Someone Else Will Do it.

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?" I said, "Here I am. Send me."

04. I Don't Want To Offend Anyone

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.



1 Corinthians 13:5 AMP 5 It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured.



John 3:16-17 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.



1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.



01. Hail Mary



02. The 'Get In My Car'



03. Undercover Kid



04 Long Game

Matthew 5:13-16 You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

You are the __________ of the earth.

You are the __________ of the world.

The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. - Mark Twain

Three Attributes of Salt:

1. Salt is __________

 The human body needs salt to:

-transmit nerve impulses (respond)

-contract and relax muscle fibers (prayer)

-maintain proper fluid balance (riving of living water)

2. Salt is __________

When we pull our families out of this world, we remove the preserving agents God has set in place.

3. Salt Adds __________

As the salt of the earth, we are called to intensify the God-flavors in this world while dialing down the flavors that are disagreeable to God’s Word.

LIGHT

God __________, __________, and __________ light. (Genesis 1:4)

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge - a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete. 

1 Corinthians 1:7-8 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, set aside to be a royal order of priests, a holy nation, God’s own; so that you may proclaim the wondrous acts of the One who called you out of inky darkness into shimmering light.

We can’t be light if we’re __________ darkness.

Luke 15:8-10 (Lost Coin)

The __________ of our lives is a key element in helping Jesus find what is valuable to him.

Matthew 5:14-16 You are the world’s light—a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see. 15-16 Don’t hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father. 

1. Your Life Is Influential

Romans 14:7 For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 

2. Your Influence Is Valuable 

influencer - an individual who has the power to affect others because of his or her authority, knowledge, position or relationship with his or her audience.

God wants to collaborate with your relationships to achieve His objective of seeing all come to life in Jesus Christ!

relationships = influence. 

3. Your Influence can make a difference

Acts 16:28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved— you and your household.”

OIKOS - the people who were under your roof of influence. 

4. God Placed You Where You Are

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,

Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you  and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

1 Peter 2:9 But you you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Identify your sphere of influence

1. Your people 

Mark 5:19 “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

2. Your place 

Acts 17:26 He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live. 

Your vocation is your ministry location.

3. Your passion

Ephesians 5:16 Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

God wants to bless you

Jeremiah 32:41 I will enjoy blessing them. With all my heart and soul I will
faithfully plant them in this land.

Isaiah 56:3 My blessings are for gentiles too when they accept the Lord. Don’t let
them think that I will make them second class citizens. They can be as much mine
as anyone.

The blessings of God are conditional.

Every promise has a premise.

Deuteronomy 28:2-8 You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord
your God: You will be blessed in your towns and in the country. You will be
blessed with many children and productive fields. You will be blessed with fertile
herds and flocks. You will be blessed with baskets overflowing with fruit, and with
kneading bowls filled with bread You will be blessed wherever you go, both in
coming and in going. The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you...
And the Lord will bless everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain.

Psalms 31:19 Your goodness is so great! You have stored up great blessings for
those who honor you.

God is after your heart.

Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Your heart follows your money

Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and
love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve both God and Money.

Money = Mammon.

Money has a spirit attached to it

Money submitted to God and His purposed has the spirit of God attached to
it.

Money NOT submitted to God has the spirit of Mammon on it.

God blesses tithers

Malachi 3:6 I am the Lord, and I do not change.

Malachi 3:7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My
ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says
the Lord of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’
Says the Lord of hosts. 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you
say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are
cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
10 Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be
food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not
throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there
will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your
crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the
Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a
delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.

Malachi 3:8-9 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In
what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a
curse, For you have robbed Me,

God Owns Everything

Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who
live in it;

God is a giver

Luke 12:32 Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give
you the kingdom.

John 10:10 My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

God wants to be first

Proverbs 3:9-10 Honor the Lord with your possessions,
And with the first fruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with
plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

Healing Is A Primary Issue 

Psalm 103:1-5 “Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 

Proverbs 18:9 He who does not use his endeavors to heal himself is brother to him who commits suicide.

#1. Healing is part of the salvation package

Isaiah 53:5 He was wounded for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities The chastisement  for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed.

Matthew 8:17 “He took our sickness and bore our diseases.” 

Isaiah 52:14 But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. 

#2. Jesus Majored On Healing
 Acts 10:38 (NKJV) God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healingall who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
 

#3. Jesus Called and Empowered Us To Do It

Matthew 10:1 And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.

Misbelief #1. God doesn’t heal anymore.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Malachi 3:6  For I am the Lord, I change not;
 
 Misbelief #2. It’s not God’s will to heal

Matthew 6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Misbelief #3. It’s God’s will to heal, just not everyone

Romans 2:11 For God shows no partiality [no arbitrary favoritism; with Him one person is not more important than another].

If you’re going to experience the promise of healing… you have to:

1. Hate Sickness

Acts 10:38 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil

2. Deal With Healing Hindrances

3. Pray God’s Word

1 John 5:14-15 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.

4. Speak To The Sickness

Mark 11:23 whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 

#5 Stand in Faith

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV) 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 

#6 Look To The Lamb

#7 Keep Believing

1 Corinthians 13:12 we can see and understand only a little about God now, as if we were peering at his reflection in a poor mirror; but someday we are going to see him in his completeness, face-to-face. Now all that I know is hazy and blurred, but then I will see everything clearly, just as clearly as God sees into my heart right now.