In the closing installment of the 'Spring Cleaning, Tending to the Soul' series, the focus shifts to the theme 'The Power of Invitation,' exploring the significance and impact of being invited and inviting others. Highlighting Jesus as the greatest inviter, Daniel Sumoge delves into biblical stories, including Zacchaeus and the calling of Jesus' first disciples, to demonstrate how invitations signal inclusion and value. May God's message inspire and encourage you today.

00:00 Kicking Off the Spring Cleaning Series Finale

00:35 Exploring the Power of Invitation

01:55 The Many Forms of Invitations

02:34 Jesus: The Ultimate Inviter

06:29 Personal Reflections on Fishing and Faith

21:03 Action Steps for Sharing Faith and Inviting Others

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OC Church of Christ

We're gonna be finishing up our series, uh, Spring

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Cleaning, Tending to the Soul.

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Now, I know it may not feel like spring

because Mother's Day is here, and usually

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that's when the summertime begins, but

technically, we're still in spring.

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So, you know, the past few weeks,

uh, we've been talking about,

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uh, you know, the need to clean.

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We need to see the reason why we

have to clean our homes and clean our

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souls, and we also talked about, you

know, cleaning out and decluttering

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some of the sins in our lives.

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And then, uh, Two weeks ago we talked

about, you know, scrubbing out the

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bitterness and resentment left.

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Um, and as you see, we quickly lay

our homes and our souls together.

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Just as homes can get

messy, so can our souls.

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So, this week, we're going to be

closing out our series, and it's going

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to be titled, The Power of Invitation.

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Right?

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So, let me ask you guys this.

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Have you guys ever been invited to

something where you're like, Wow,

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like, yes, I want to go to that.

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Maybe it was a wedding or a party.

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Like, have you guys been

invited to something like that?

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Right?

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And it's one of those things

where it's so fun because you're

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like, wow, I'm, I'm part of this.

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Someone thought of me.

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I get to be part of this party going down.

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But there's also power when there's

things you're not invited to, right?

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Maybe I don't know if you guys have been

on social media and you see your friends,

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they're all hanging out and you're just

at home just like, oh, that's weird.

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How come I wasn't invited?

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I don't know.

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That's just me.

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I don't know about you guys, but I just

think, man, that's a sinking feeling.

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There's even power in maybe being invited

something you don't want to be a part of.

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You know, this past week, I was

invited, or called, to do jury duty.

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Exactly, right?

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Oh, what an invitation.

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I'm like, alright, cool.

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Now, for me, I was like, alright,

I'm gonna serve my country.

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I'm Captain America over here.

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And then, when I get there, I was there

for three hours, and then, everyone

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started getting dismissed, and then,

this lady comes up and saying, Alright,

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guys, so, you guys are all gonna

be eligible for a nine month trial.

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Yeah, I was like, nine months?

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What?

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Everyone just, oh.

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And even me, I was like, I don't

want to be part of this invitation.

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Now, you know, I'm not part of it,

I got removed from it, but we see

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that there is power in an invitation.

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You know, invitation comes

in all shapes and sizes.

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You know, there's the informal invitation,

such as, Hey, what are you doing Friday?

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Watch a movie?

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Dinner?

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Yeah, cool.

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Let's, let's go ahead and do that.

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Then there's the invites.

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Those are the more popular ones today.

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Thank goodness for invites.

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Uh, you know, you go on your

email, inbox, you check to see

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if you want to RSVP or not.

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And the good thing with an e

vite is you get to see who RSVP'd

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and who's going and who's not.

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So then from there you can decide,

oh, like, is it, maybe I'll stay, or

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maybe I'll go, this person's going.

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And then there's that old school, the

old fashioned, the formal, you know,

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uh, you send the letter, the card

stock, the writing's in calligraphy,

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you send it to the, the person's

address, and you see that, wow,

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something special's about to go down.

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And when I think about invitations,

I think about Jesus being the

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greatest inviter of all times.

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I mean, think about it.

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When you are invited to something, it

says you are wanted and you are welcome.

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And no person in history has

ever epitomized that than Jesus.

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You know, there's many stories

that I think of of Jesus when

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he was just inviting people.

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I think of, you know, Jesus

and the Samaritan woman.

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But right now, today, for some

reason, the Spirit just kind of led

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me this week to talk about Zacchaeus.

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And I was just thinking about, uh,

Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector.

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Who, back then, you know, no

one loved the tax collector.

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Even today, no one

likes the tax collector.

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But still, there's power

in that invitation.

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We see in Luke, chapter 19, verse

5, it says, When Jesus reached the

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spot, he looked up and said to him,

Zacchaeus, come down immediately.

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I must stay at your house today.

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And we see Zacchaeus, he was a vertically

challenged tax collector and, you

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know, Jesus was walking through, he was

walking through, um, the town and next

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you know, Zacchaeus got wind of this.

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He's like, oh man, I gotta see this.

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Now imagine trying to, probably be

my height, maybe a little smaller,

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and Zacchaeus is trying to see over

these crowds of people, but he can't.

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So what does Zacchaeus do?

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He climbs up a sycamore tree, and

I'm like, man, I gotta go see Jesus.

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And what Jesus says next is so powerful.

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He says, So he came down at

once and woken him gladly.

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All the people saw this and he muttered,

He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.

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But just thinking about how

God or Jesus called Zacchaeus

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down saying, Hey, I need you.

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I want you.

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You know, it's such a great

feeling to be part of that,

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especially for, for Zacchaeus.

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Someone who was an outsider that

no one loved, that no one wanted.

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He always was rejected and yet

Jesus was like, Hey Zacchaeus,

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come on, I want to be your friend.

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Amen.

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There's so much power with that.

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Have you guys ever been excluded

from like a friend group?

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Maybe back in elementary

school for whatever reason.

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Like, I know for me, I was

like, Man, I can't play kickball

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because I can't kick the ball far.

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Like, are you serious?

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Now looking back, it's like,

Oh, man, that's whatever.

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But back then, I was like crying.

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I was like, why can't I do this?

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I want to just be part of the group.

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But there's power when you invite

someone to be part of the group, right?

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Maybe you're an outsider and then someone

says, Hey, why don't you come on join us?

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You're like, wow, there's

power in that invitation.

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You know, Jesus is the great inviter.

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That's who he is.

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Even when he went after his

disciples and pursued them.

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He didn't pursue the, the, the bright,

he didn't pursue the smart people.

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He pursued ordinary people.

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Ordinary fishermen.

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Those that rabbis didn't

want to invest in.

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They were like, no, they're,

they're not that wise enough.

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But Jesus saw something in them.

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You know, in Matthew 4, verse 18 through

19, it says, As Jesus was walking

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beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw

two brothers, Simon and Peter, Simon

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called Peter and his brother Andrew.

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They were casting a net into the

lake for they were fishermen.

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Come follow me, Jesus said, and I

will send you out to fish for people.

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So Jesus finds people.

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Jesus looks for people.

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And Jesus seeks people out that

he doesn't see, uh, he doesn't

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just see people for who they are.

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He doesn't see, uh, you know, Peter

just as a fisherman doing his work.

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He doesn't see Zacchaeus or, or

Matthew as just a tax collector

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who may be ripping people off.

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No, he views them as his followers.

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He views them as people who wanted

to join their movements so they

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can turn this world upside down.

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Amen, church?

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And I believe that that's

what we are supposed to do.

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You know, as we tend to our souls and as

we, we, we see the need for God, it should

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inspire us to invite others to see God.

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We're supposed to call that God thing

out of people, into people, so people can

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see something that they could have never

imagined, but God had planned for them.

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And because, notice how Jesus calls his

disciple, he doesn't just say, follow me.

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He also says, I will send

you out to fish for people.

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You are not just called to follow, church.

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You're called to also

fish for people as well.

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You know, two years ago, it reminded

me when I was wearing this lesson.

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I remember going on a fishing trip with

some of my buddies back in my old church.

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And, I don't know about you,

but like, by show of hands, who

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here has gone fishing before?

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Raise your hand.

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Okay, good amount of people, alright.

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Now raise your hand if you

consider yourself a good fisherman.

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Okay, yeah.

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Rusty, come on.

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I feel like you are rusty.

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But yeah, so when I went, I

was kind of like, alright, this

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is my first time fishing in a

while, but I'm somewhat excited.

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My friend's dad, he got a boat

for us, so we went fishing.

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And I just remember, when I was working on

this lesson, there was a few lessons that

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I remember learning about fishing that I

think applies to our life in Christianity.

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I think the first one is,

some people are really good at

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fishing, but anybody can do it.

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Now, what do I mean by that?

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I don't know.

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Some people are really good, like

people, some people have the tackle,

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they have that, you know, shiny

little bait they have that makes

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the fish go wild in the water.

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They know what bait to use and everything.

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And they can, they can catch it.

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But when you think about it, I'm

like, anybody can do that, right?

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Anybody can throw a line in the

water and wait for fish to, to

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bite on it and to reel them in.

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So when it comes to our walk in

Christianity, I think about how there's

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people in this room who are, just have

the gift of just sharing and evangelizing.

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And that's great.

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But then when I think about it

also, I'm like Anybody can do that.

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Anybody can share about Jesus.

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You know, the second lesson reminded me

of is that fishermen know their fish.

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Now, what do I mean by that?

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So, when I went on the boat, my

friend's dad, he fished a lot.

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So, he knew exactly what

fish to, we were going after.

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He knew how deep, uh, the fish

were swimming in the water.

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He knew what type of bait they

like, what type of, what time

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of day they would come out.

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So, he knew all of it.

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And I started to think that if we're

going to reach people, church, if we're

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going to fish for people, we have to

know the people we're reaching out to.

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We've got to know what

they're going through.

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We have to be willing to get down

on their level and see what they're

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going through and the mess they may

be going through because we might help

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them see where God wants them to be.

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So we've got to know our fish.

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We've got to know our people.

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The other one thing I realized

is fishing requires patience.

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Man, you can go eight hours, we

were in the water for eight hours.

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We didn't catch a single thing.

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So I guess my friend's dad didn't

really know the fish like he thought

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he did, but he was telling us

what I was thinking about my man.

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You just gotta sit there and be patient.

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You're reminding me that many of

you guys in this room has probably

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been sharing your faith with a

loved one, with a child, with a co

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worker, a friend, and they probably

haven't, you know, turned to God yet.

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I just want to encourage you guys all,

just keep throwing that line out there.

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I know it can be hard to, or it can be

easy to just give in and just be like,

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you know what, I don't care about it, I'm

gonna move on, I didn't catch any fish

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today, I should just move on from fishing.

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But no, just keep throwing

that line out there.

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Because keep sharing Jesus with them,

because at the right time, they're gonna

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be hungry for what you have in Jesus.

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You are not called just to follow

Jesus, you are called to fish as well.

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In that verse, it's full

of promise and purpose.

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It's a promise because Jesus says, Follow

me and I'll make you fishers of men.

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But it's also speaking to our

purpose on what you're called to be.

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That one verse in Matthew 4, 19 can

be both descriptive and prescriptive.

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It describes.

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The life you do when you follow Jesus.

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It's saying that if you follow me,

you're going to fish for people.

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And it's going to produce a spiritual

life in you, and it's going to

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produce a spiritual life in that

other person you're reaching out to.

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It's also prescriptive because it says

what you should do as a follower of Jesus.

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So when we follow Christ, we

pattern our life after Christ.

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Remember, He came from

heaven to seek people.

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And as followers, we're

called to do the same thing.

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And what his priority was,

that's our priority as well.

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People are a priority.

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I want to show you a picture.

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Obviously, I said, this is

how much fish we caught.

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You know, it was, it was brutal.

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Long eight hours.

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But, I know it's been two years,

but it doesn't mean I haven't

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been talking to my friends.

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We've been like, hey, let's

do this fishing trip again.

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We gotta catch that big one.

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Cause we just spent eight hours, man.

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We, we gotta do this again sometime.

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You know, in Romans 10, 13 through

14, it says, For everyone who

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calls on the Lord, uh, calls on

the name of the Lord will be saved.

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How then can you call on the

one they have not believed in?

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And how can they believe in the

one whom they have not heard?

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And how can they hear without

someone preaching to them?

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This is very humbling and

sobering, just reading that.

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Because it's saying that someone

has to go reach out to them.

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Someone has to go share the

good news with them, right?

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And who, who's that?

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Who is that someone?

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You and me, to us, we have to share it.

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And I believe that most of us,

deep down, we want to share church.

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I know we do.

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I know most of us are like, you know

what, I want to go share about Jesus.

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Being honest here, there's opportunities

that come in our lives, right?

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Where we're just like, hey, man,

maybe we could share this person.

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But for whatever reason,

we just pull back.

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We freeze.

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We retrieve.

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Like I mentioned, some of us in the

church, we have this gift of evangelism.

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It's a spiritual gift.

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But for the rest of us, it's

something we have to work towards.

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It's something we struggle,

we may have a fear in.

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And I was thinking about,

you know, why do we do that?

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Why do we not send that great invitation?

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And when I think about it for us, I know

for me, whenever there's something that

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brings me joy or passion in life, I'm so

quick to want to share it with someone.

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Like, for some reason, like, for

me, I mean, campus knows, I love

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this restaurant called Chili's.

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I'm like, man, Chili's is so good.

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It's so, it's, it's so cheap, that

three for me, that's a cool date spot.

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Or, I don't know if it's a cool date

spot, but it's a cheap date spot.

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And I'm like, man, it's so good,

I'll be telling people about it.

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Or maybe it's a movie.

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I'm like, wow, we just saw this

movie, on Monday I saw this movie,

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uh, with, uh, Craig and Alan, and

I was like, wow, this was okay,

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but it was just cool being invited.

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And we're like, wow, we get

to justice to other people.

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But why can't we do the

same when it comes to Jesus?

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If Jesus brings us that

joy and peace, why?

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Why don't we share about that?

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What stops us?

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And when I think about it, there was

two reasons that came to my head.

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The first one is, you know, we

know how imperfect our own life is.

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You know, we think about all the mess

ups we've had, and when it talks about

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sharing our faith, we, we feel like

we might have to have it all together.

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And, you know, to tell you the

truth is you're not perfect.

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I'm not perfect.

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But you are God's perfect choice to

speak to that person about faith.

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You are the one he places

right there, right in front

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of their lives for a reason.

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Even with all the mistakes and failures.

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You know, for me, I always think

about how, man, I can't really share

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with this person, like, I don't

relate with them or anything at all,

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or I'm going through this or that.

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You guys, can you guys relate to that?

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You guys feel like, I don't know if

I can share with this person or not.

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But, have you guys ever thought

that the very thing that you think

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that disqualifies you from sharing

your faith is the very thing that

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qualifies you to speak to that person

about what you're going through?

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You know, for me, just hearing Maureen

share, I'm so grateful for her sharing,

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but in the back of my head I was like,

oh my goodness, like, I can't relate

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to her story, like, how are people

gonna see the power of God in me?

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You know, I just grew up in this

church and I feel like I was, you

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know, well protected and everything.

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But when I think about it, when I

think about the position Savannah

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and I are in and just being able

to serve in the youth ministry.

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We both grew up in the youth ministry.

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We're just like, well, like we have

something, we have a story as well.

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We can relate to some of the kids

here in this room, to some of the, the

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campus people grew up in this church.

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Like, wow, we have a story we can

share, not saying we can relate

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or we can, uh, know exactly what's

going on, but we can relate to them.

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That's the first thing.

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That's kind of one of the first hangups

I see about why, why we don't invite.

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And the second one I think is we're

afraid we do not have the answers.

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Have you guys seen that Connie Westman?

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We said you ain't got the answer sway.

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That's what I was thinking of.

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I was thinking about it What if I

begin talking to them and they start

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asking these questions, you know, when

I'm at Cal State Fullerton Something

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they'll ask some crazy questions.

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They'll be like what about evolution?

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What about creation?

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Why do bad things happen to good people?

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God is so loving And I

get overbearing with it.

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But at the end of the day, I

have to realize I can I can say

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I should point back to Jesus.

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I can't even say, I don't know.

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You know, I don't know about

creation or evolution as I should be.

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I don't know why bad things

happen to good people.

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But I knew, I do know about Jesus.

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I do know that Jesus was there for me in

a point in my life where it was so dark,

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where I feel like there was no hope.

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Yet here I am today standing before you.

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Just point back to Jesus.

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You know, Jesus says, you

will be my witness, right?

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He says, you will be my witness.

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He didn't say, you will be my attorney.

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He And by that meaning, you

know, attorneys always have to

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defend, they always have to,

to prove innocence or whatever.

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But Jesus doesn't call that.

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We don't have to prove anything.

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We are His witness.

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And what witnesses do, they share

first hand testimony, their account.

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They can't say, your story is not

true, because it's your story.

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You know, in 1 John chapter 5 verse

10, in the amplified version, it says,

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The one who believes in the Son of God,

who adheres to, trusts in, and relies

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confidently on Him as Savior, has the

testimony within himself, because he

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can speak authoritatively about Christ

from his own personal experience.

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You have the testimony of

God inside of you, church.

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Do you believe that?

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We need to keep sharing

our story with people.

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Keep going back to Jesus.

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Jesus.

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Because there are people in your life

that aren't in mine, and vice versa.

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There are people at your work, there are

people at your schools, there's people

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in your neighborhoods, at your local

Starbucks or coffee shop, who may never

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walk through the doors of our church.

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But they're walking through the doors

of your everyday life, and every week,

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and your story can change their life,

and could even change their perspective.

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You know, some of the final words

Jesus were was sharing, uh, about

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inviting others is in Matthew, uh, 28.

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It's called the Great Commission.

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In verse, uh, 19 to 20.

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It says, the, therefore, go and make

disciples of all nations, baptizing them

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in the name of the Father, son, and of

the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to

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obey everything I have commanded you.

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And surely I'm with you always

to the very end of the age now.

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This is the great commission.

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This wasn't just given to a few stragglers

left around, this was given to the church.

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And if you're a part of the

church, this is our commission.

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This is our co mission because

we are co workers of Jesus.

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We're trying to help carry

on what Jesus came to do.

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Helping people that are far

from God be close and find God.

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And I love that as a follower of Christ,

we are not called to follow alone.

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We read in the Bible that, uh, when

we're part of, uh, of, uh, Christ,

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we're part of a family of Christ.

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So there's this family dynamic

and caring for one another.

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But just as you're not called to

follow Christ alone, you're also

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called not to fish alone either.

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You know, we're called to fish together.

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Called to encourage one another

as we are fishing for people.

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You know, the reason why I had such

a good time on my fishing trip, even

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though I didn't catch any fish, is

because of the people I was with.

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It's because the people, I, I,

I grew up with them, you know.

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Yes, we didn't catch anything, but I

know their life, they don't mind, I

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know their families, they don't mind.

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We know each other's struggles,

we know each other's joy.

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We have this unity and family

dynamic with each other.

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That's why it was so fun.

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And we want this place to be a place

where you, we can have this close and

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family dynamic, where you can bring that

somebody who has all these questions

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that you may not have the answers to.

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Even the disciples didn't have

answers to all the questions.

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And I love it in John chapter 1.

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It says, Philip found Nathanael

and told him, We have found the one

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Moses wrote about in the law, and

about whom the prophets also wrote.

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Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

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Nazareth?

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Can anything good come from

there, Nathanael asked?

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Come and see, said Philip.

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And I love that response.

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You know, Philip didn't get into this

debate with Nathanael, just about what

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the prophets were prophesying back then.

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I But Phillip said, I don't

know, but come and see.

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And I believe that if we just get our

friends and families, our neighbors,

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in the presence of Jesus, Jesus will

change them just as, uh, Phillip

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knew it would happen to his friends.

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I want us to be like Phillip

Church, uh, come and see people.

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I want us to be telling everybody

like, Hey, you just come

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and see, come to our church.

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Hey, I, I may have been, you know, I just

got baptized recently, but, you know,

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I don't really know much, but hey, just

come, come and see, come and check it out.

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You know, I'm so proud of our, of our

youth ministry, some of our teens,

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you know, we have great Friday events

and everything, and that's great, but

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I know people, you know, some of our

teens have been bringing out some of

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their friends so they get to know Jesus.

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They tell him, hey, just come and see.

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And when I think about it, the

only reasons we all know about

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Jesus today is because someone in

our life said, Hey, come and see.

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Somebody told you about Jesus.

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You know, I think about, you

know, so many people on campus

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have been baptized recently.

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So many people, you know, reach out

and say, Hey, just come and see.

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You know, my good friend Aiden

Miller, a few years ago, we

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met him at Cal State Fullerton.

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Dallas just told him, Hey, come and see.

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When I think about it, you know, I

wonder who is waiting on us, church.

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Who is waiting on us to

send that invitation?

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Who is waiting on us to

say, hey, just come and see.

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Jesus says, you will follow me and

I will make you fishers of men.

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Now there's a lot of joy when

it comes to catching a fish.

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I never caught a fish in my life.

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But when I see pictures of people

catching fish, they're just holding like,

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yeah, like, you're all fired up, right?

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I caught a big one.

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Oh, please take me on a fishing trip, man.

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I want to catch a fish so bad.

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Yes.

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But I want you to know.

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Yes.

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I want you to know that there is this

indescribable joy that comes when

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you know you have been used by God.

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When you've been used by God to help

somebody go from darkness to light.

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It might have been a

conversation you had with them.

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Maybe a simple invitation.

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Maybe a prayer that you prayed for

them, but you were part of their

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faith journey, getting them from where

they were to where they need to be.

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So I want to challenge us this week,

church, I'm not saying to go on the

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street corner and just say, turn or burn,

like that's not going to do anything.

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But I do have some action steps

I think we, we can have as we

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work on inviting others in to our

lives, in to the kingdom of God.

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Here are some action steps.

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First one is pray that, for God to

help see the people in our lives.

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That can be co workers, neighbor,

family, friends, and help open

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our eyes to their need for you.

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And know that you placed me in

their life, God, to, you know, to

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help, help them find you, Lord.

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And the next one.

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It's pray for the spirit of

boldness over the church.

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You know, it's one thing to recognize

that, alright, there's certain people

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in our lives that, okay, yeah, I

can, you know, they can use Jesus.

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But it's another to actually just do it.

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You know, it starts with

a simple conversation.

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Maybe it's to that co worker

that you know that may be a

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single mother or a single parent.

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You just say, hey, is there

anything I can pray for you?

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Maybe it's, you know, I

know it's finals week.

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Maybe going up to some of the people on

campus, campus, just being like, hey,

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is there anything you need prayer for?

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You know, at first they

might look at you weird.

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They may say, uh, no.

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And that's okay.

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But, they might go, you know what?

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There is something.

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And that one question can open a door

that would change the rest of their life.

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So let's be bold this week.

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Let's ask those questions.

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Let's reach out to some of

the people in our lives.

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And at this time, we're

gonna take communion.

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And communion at this

time is remember Jesus.

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And Jesus, as I said earlier,

was the great inviter.

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In Romans chapter 5, verses 8 through 10.

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But God demonstrates his

own love for us in this.

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While we were still

sinners, Christ died for us.

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Since we have now been justified by

his blood, how much more shall we be

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saved from God's wrath through him?

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For, uh, for while we were God's

enemies, we were reconciled to him.

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Amen.

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Through the death of his son, how

much more have you been reconciled?

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Shall we be saved through his life?

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God's love is so great for us.

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His, he sent his son Jesus, stepping out

of the throne of heaven to help save us

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while we were in a state of sinfulness.

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You know, this, this ultimate sacrifice

on the cross just shows how Jesus

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was the great inviter as he invited

us to have a relationship with God.

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So let's pray.

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Father, we just come to you in

reverence, in reverence, Lord.

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We're so honored just to be

called your sons and daughters.

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Thank you for just how you accept us

for who you are, for who we are, God,

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and how you just call on us, God, just

as ordinary people, God, to really

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just carry out your mission, Father.

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God, I just pray, God, that we

just remember that we were called

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to follow and we were called

to fish, but we weren't called.

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For that soul of life, God.

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That we have you with us, and

that we have our brothers and

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sisters here to surround us.

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To, to carry our burdens, to

be there for one another, God.

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God, I just pray, you

know, for our church, God.

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That, that we can invite other

people just like how people

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invited us into your kingdom, God.

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God, I just pray as we

take communion, God.

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As we take the, the bread that

represents your body and the juice

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that represents your blood, God.

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Just help us remember, God, how you were

the great inviter as you sacrificed.

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Your son, Jesus, on the cross so we

can have a relationship with you, God.

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God, I pray that we continue

to rely on you, God.

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That we continue to

tend to our souls, God.

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We love you so much.

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In Jesus name, Amen.