WEBVTT 00:00:00.900 --> 00:00:07.580 Good morning. It's good to be with you all. My name is Jonathan. I've been with you the last three weeks, or this is the third week. 00:00:08.140 --> 00:00:15.220 I serve as a college pastor with our denomination Campus Ministry. It's called Reformed University Fellowship. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:20.980 But I'm good friends with the pastor of this church, Matthew Capone. He and I were in seminary together. 00:00:21.100 --> 00:00:25.620 Actually, my wife met Matthew before I knew Matthew. We go way back with Matthew. 00:00:25.620 --> 00:00:32.219 And so he asked me as he's on his break to come to you all and bring the word to you all this morning. 00:00:32.420 --> 00:00:37.579 And so that we are in our third week of looking at the topic of evangelism. 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:45.140 Why are we doing this? Why are we spending four weeks studying the topic specifically on Sunday morning? 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:51.159 Well, there's a lovely, there's a quote in your bulletin right next to, on page seven from Kevin DeYoung. 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:54.700 He says, the central plot line of scriptures is about sinners being saved. 00:00:55.619 --> 00:01:02.320 Salvation should be the theme of our preaching, the mission of the church, and the priority of our ministry. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:11.259 We are convinced as a church and as Christians that Christianity is the best and only hope for our world. 00:01:11.819 --> 00:01:13.079 That is what we cling to. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:18.500 We are convinced of that, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 00:01:18.500 --> 00:01:29.640 And that it is our calling and our great privilege to go tell our friends, tell our families, tell our coworkers of what God has done in our world. 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:31.620 And that's very challenging. 00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:35.140 If you've ever done this, Andy said at the beginning, it's scary. 00:01:35.819 --> 00:01:41.120 If you've ever even tried or if you thought about sharing what you believe as a Christian, it feels invasive. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:45.900 It feels like you don't, you know, what if they ask a question and I don't know the answer? 00:01:46.620 --> 00:01:49.400 What if they don't like me anymore? 00:01:50.100 --> 00:01:54.219 What if there's all these things, these fears that we have when we think about evangelism? 00:01:54.300 --> 00:02:00.520 And so what we hope to do with the session, your church leaders, myself, we're hoping to give you tools. 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:26.500 Not just guilt you into it, not just exhort you with a theology, but give you words and tools so that as you speak with your friends and your neighbors, for the opportunities to come up to share the only hope, the great hope for our world, which is Jesus Christ and what he has done to save us and to reconcile all things and to fix a broken world. 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:28.719 That's what our, that's what my hope is. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:31.819 And you guys, I think you've latched onto that the last few weeks. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:35.020 You've had such great encouragement and questions. 00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:36.860 Please keep asking those questions. 00:02:37.020 --> 00:02:43.500 If you have more, what my favorite part is when you come up to me and say, Jonathan, you said this and I'm thinking about this relationship. 00:02:44.180 --> 00:02:52.039 And that tells me that you're thinking through how do I care for the person that each of you is thinking about right now as we think about the topic of evangelism. 00:02:52.099 --> 00:02:53.280 And so please keep it coming. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:54.900 I'll be with you all next week. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:56.699 The next week will be the last week. 00:02:56.699 --> 00:03:03.439 This week we are looking at the topic of Acts 17. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:04.519 Acts 17. 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:07.599 So turn in your Bible to Acts 17 or it's in your bulletin. 00:03:07.899 --> 00:03:09.679 It's a little bit longer text today. 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:14.339 We're going to start in chapter, I mean, at verse 16. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:15.620 This is God's word. 00:03:15.620 --> 00:03:24.640 Now, while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:32.579 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 00:03:33.059 --> 00:03:36.219 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. 00:03:36.539 --> 00:03:39.599 And some said, what is this babbler wish to say? 00:03:40.259 --> 00:03:45.479 Others said he seems to be preaching of foreign divinities because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:53.639 And they took him and brought him to the Oropagus saying, may we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 00:03:54.500 --> 00:04:00.479 For you bring some strange things to our ears and we wish to know, therefore, what these things mean. 00:04:01.539 --> 00:04:08.519 Now, all the Athenians and foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:10.120 Verse 22. 00:04:38.519 --> 00:05:08.500 Verse 22. 00:05:08.519 --> 00:05:38.500 Verse 22. 00:05:38.519 --> 00:06:00.599 This is God's word. 00:06:01.299 --> 00:06:02.019 Would you pray with me? 00:06:02.699 --> 00:06:21.039 Lord, as we have come into your house one more time, one more week to worship you, to make you big and beautiful, to recenter our hearts and our attentions from all the things that would distract us and our hearts this week. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:33.680 We pray that you would send your spirit now to show us to show us to faithfully love and proclaim him and to serve our neighbors. 00:06:33.939 --> 00:06:36.280 It's for your name and glory that we pray. 00:06:36.400 --> 00:06:36.620 Amen. 00:06:36.620 --> 00:06:37.620 All right. 00:06:37.620 --> 00:06:38.360 All right. 00:06:38.420 --> 00:06:41.819 So, in 2005, you've probably heard this before. 00:06:41.899 --> 00:06:45.620 In 2005, a famous writer named David Foster Wallace. 00:06:45.939 --> 00:06:58.399 David Foster Wallace, generally acknowledged or recognized to be one of the premier literary writers of the 20th, 21st century, delivers a speech at Kenyon College. 00:06:58.680 --> 00:07:00.819 Kenyon College, the commencement address. 00:07:00.819 --> 00:07:09.279 And this speech has become famous, almost infamous, and the stuff that he says in it throughout, all throughout this speech. 00:07:09.719 --> 00:07:12.259 And in this speech, he reflects on the human condition. 00:07:12.379 --> 00:07:13.420 And it's a wonderful speech. 00:07:13.420 --> 00:07:15.140 I highly recommend that you go read it. 00:07:15.259 --> 00:07:18.360 David Foster Wallace, Kenyon College, graduation speech. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:22.319 But he says something that, in one particular place, it's prophetic. 00:07:22.780 --> 00:07:25.140 It's prophetic and it's challenging for our world today. 00:07:25.340 --> 00:07:28.800 Because in our world, we often think, well, I don't really worship anything. 00:07:28.939 --> 00:07:32.259 And particularly, our non-Christian friends would say, I don't know. 00:07:32.500 --> 00:07:33.700 Remember, we've talked at the beginning. 00:07:33.819 --> 00:07:35.240 They'd say, I'm really a non. 00:07:35.319 --> 00:07:37.759 I would describe myself as not particularly religious. 00:07:38.220 --> 00:07:39.980 Or, hey, I grew up in the faith. 00:07:40.020 --> 00:07:41.540 But that doesn't really describe me anymore. 00:07:41.540 --> 00:07:44.340 David Foster Wallace challenges this in his speech. 00:07:44.780 --> 00:07:46.260 It's old, but it still stands. 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:46.960 He says this. 00:07:47.040 --> 00:07:47.640 Listen carefully. 00:07:48.860 --> 00:07:50.280 He says, everybody worships. 00:07:50.780 --> 00:07:52.879 The only choice we get is what to worship. 00:07:53.400 --> 00:07:58.620 If you worship money and things, if they are where you really tap into meaning for life, 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:01.600 then you will never have enough and never feel you have enough. 00:08:01.700 --> 00:08:02.400 That's the truth. 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:07.860 Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure, and you will always feel ugly. 00:08:07.860 --> 00:08:15.680 Worship power, and you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb your own fear. 00:08:16.400 --> 00:08:17.360 Worship your intellect. 00:08:17.560 --> 00:08:20.900 Being seen as smart, and you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud. 00:08:21.420 --> 00:08:24.020 Always on the verge of being found out. 00:08:24.740 --> 00:08:25.220 Listen to this. 00:08:25.259 --> 00:08:30.939 He says, but the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they're evil or sinful. 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:32.600 It's that they're unconscious. 00:08:33.560 --> 00:08:35.000 It's the default settings. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.399 What is David Foster Wallace saying in this? 00:08:39.779 --> 00:08:40.700 This is so important. 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:46.820 He's saying that every human being worships something. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:50.379 Every human being worships something. 00:08:52.379 --> 00:08:56.240 John Calvin, the great Reformed theologian, says this. 00:08:56.240 --> 00:08:59.180 He says that the human heart is an idol factory. 00:08:59.779 --> 00:09:06.799 That every person generates constantly, all the time, something out there to say, 00:09:07.019 --> 00:09:13.860 this is what I'm asking to be my meaning and my purpose and my hope, my value. 00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:19.080 This is the default position of every single human heart. 00:09:19.080 --> 00:09:26.240 And in 2025, we would say, well, we no longer do this because read this text from Actwood. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:29.860 We don't make up statues of gold or silver or stone. 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:31.100 We don't do this anymore. 00:09:32.560 --> 00:09:36.720 But the impulse behind it, and here's the challenge, is still nonetheless true, 00:09:36.800 --> 00:09:43.840 that we set up something to say this is what gives me hope, value, meaning, and purpose. 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:51.759 And what I want to consider today is how every heart worships, how every heart worships, 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:59.540 how idols cannot satisfy our deep needs, and evangelism, evangelism is showing our friends 00:09:59.540 --> 00:10:03.860 that reality and how Jesus can and does satisfy them. 00:10:04.680 --> 00:10:09.220 I want to consider how every heart worships, how idols cannot satisfy our needs, 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:14.279 and how Jesus is what we truly need and how we must call others to worship him. 00:10:14.340 --> 00:10:17.940 And so to do that, we're going to look at three things, three things that I want us to see. 00:10:18.279 --> 00:10:22.899 First is the eyes of the evangelist, the eyes of the evangelist. 00:10:23.080 --> 00:10:27.460 Second, the heart of the evangelist, the heart of the evangelist. 00:10:27.500 --> 00:10:29.620 And third, the words of the evangelist. 00:10:30.300 --> 00:10:33.700 The eyes, the heart, and the words of the evangelist. 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:35.960 That's what we'll see today. 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:39.879 So first off, look at the eyes of the evangelist. 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:42.580 Verse 16, Paul is going into Athens. 00:10:42.720 --> 00:10:46.460 Athens is the cosmopolitan city of the Roman Empire. 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:50.220 It's a sophisticated, intelligent city. 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:51.500 And look what it says. 00:10:51.580 --> 00:10:54.700 He says, now Paul, verse 16, while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, 00:10:54.900 --> 00:11:00.420 his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was full of idols. 00:11:02.160 --> 00:11:05.139 He sees that the city is full of idols. 00:11:05.139 --> 00:11:10.120 He looks around and he sees a city that is covered in idols. 00:11:10.199 --> 00:11:18.199 And that word, full of idols, in verse 16, does not cover the depth of what Paul is observing when he looks around. 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:21.120 We would look at that word and say, well, it's full of idols. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:22.519 The Greek word is stronger. 00:11:22.639 --> 00:11:24.539 It literally means smothered. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:27.080 Smothered in idols. 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:31.179 It's chock full, inundated, loaded with them. 00:11:31.179 --> 00:11:34.179 It's loaded with idols, right? 00:11:34.239 --> 00:11:39.559 And he says in verse 23, as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship. 00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:43.120 He says, I walk through your city and I see all these idols. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:46.879 All these different things that you are worshiping. 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:53.480 All these different things that they are asking to be their God. 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:57.320 Now, we look at that again and we say, well, that was Athens 2,000 years ago. 00:11:57.480 --> 00:11:59.200 I drive down Colorado Springs. 00:11:59.299 --> 00:12:01.879 I go to old Colorado City or I go downtown. 00:12:02.460 --> 00:12:04.639 I don't see what Paul saw. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:10.840 I don't see that same city full of stone statues of gold and silver and idols. 00:12:11.439 --> 00:12:12.639 But think with me about this. 00:12:12.740 --> 00:12:14.419 Remember what David Foster Wallace says. 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:16.179 He says, everybody worships. 00:12:16.299 --> 00:12:17.220 Everybody worships. 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:28.039 And while this is important, while you and I may not create in our age, in our moment, physical statues of gold and silver and stone, 00:12:28.039 --> 00:12:46.480 we still do emotionally with our resources, our energy, our hope, we still create and set up things in our lives to be the ultimate anchor point of our lives. 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:50.439 The ultimate thing to say, this is what I'm hoping in. 00:12:50.759 --> 00:12:53.980 This is what I'm asking to give me value or identity. 00:12:53.980 --> 00:13:00.879 Every person is looking for something to give them meaning or something to save them. 00:13:02.139 --> 00:13:07.539 And when we look under the hood of our American world or when you start to, and this is what I hope to train you to do today, 00:13:07.820 --> 00:13:11.720 look under the hood of your friends' hearts, you'll see this at work. 00:13:12.220 --> 00:13:13.019 Think of it this way. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:21.700 In Athens, an ancient Greek city, go back to your high school classics classes, some of the great gods. 00:13:21.700 --> 00:13:24.660 What was Apollos the god of? 00:13:25.480 --> 00:13:27.080 Wisdom, knowledge. 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:33.800 Is there some place in our worlds where we highly value those things and say knowledge will save us? 00:13:34.680 --> 00:13:37.200 Of course, higher education. 00:13:38.220 --> 00:13:44.700 The higher education machine of telling students, I work on a college campus, get a college degree. 00:13:44.860 --> 00:13:47.840 This is what makes you important in the world of the market. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:52.660 Or we tell them, go get a PhD and then you'll actually be intelligent. 00:13:54.160 --> 00:13:56.740 Go get more knowledge. 00:13:56.899 --> 00:13:58.860 Make sure your grades are good enough. 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:03.780 Your grades are what, you know, college students are obsessed with saying, you know what makes me acceptable? 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:06.320 Is if I have a high enough GPA. 00:14:06.860 --> 00:14:08.180 I'm smart enough, right? 00:14:09.940 --> 00:14:10.879 Think of another one. 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:12.519 Think of the Greek god of Aphrodite. 00:14:12.660 --> 00:14:14.940 What was Aphrodite a goddess of? 00:14:14.940 --> 00:14:19.440 She was the goddess of love and beauty and sexual satisfaction. 00:14:20.680 --> 00:14:21.760 Now think about our world. 00:14:23.200 --> 00:14:33.380 Think about all of our friends who are desperately looking for a romantic partner to satisfy their search for meaning and hope and acceptance. 00:14:34.100 --> 00:14:40.080 Think about how people will go from app to app to app, swiping and swiping and swiping, 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:44.160 looking for the next person who will make them feel loved and cherished. 00:14:45.060 --> 00:14:54.200 Think about how people will spend days, weeks in front of mirrors and in gyms to make their body look just the right way in front of another person. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:59.800 Thousands of dollars on surgery and care to look a special way to be beautiful. 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:03.279 How about the Greek god Plutus? 00:15:03.539 --> 00:15:04.579 He's the god of money. 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:15.919 Think about how there's this drive within our world to pad your portfolio, to make sure that you have enough or even far beyond what you could ever imagine is enough. 00:15:16.419 --> 00:15:20.199 More money, working, always more and more work. 00:15:20.299 --> 00:15:25.359 Another hour in the office, another promotion, more and more up the corporate ladder. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:27.259 So that you are what? 00:15:27.500 --> 00:15:31.120 Enough, secure, safe in your money. 00:15:32.460 --> 00:15:35.560 Or think about the god of Zeus, the god of power. 00:15:37.419 --> 00:15:45.180 How many of us would say, if I just had power in this relationship or if I had power in this piece of my life, I would be content. 00:15:45.179 --> 00:15:54.019 All of these things that we are chasing today, that our friends are chasing today, beauty, power, success, romance, independence, autonomy. 00:15:54.339 --> 00:16:01.459 All of these are things that we ask to be a god to us, to save us, to deliver us. 00:16:03.319 --> 00:16:05.339 This is the impulse of the human heart. 00:16:05.340 --> 00:16:13.899 And while we may not be Athens that has physical idols everywhere, our hearts and even our lives are full of idols. 00:16:14.340 --> 00:16:23.580 Idolatry is when we begin to emotionally and spiritually look to anything, something other than the god of the Bible, Jesus Christ, to satisfy our wants and needs and desires. 00:16:23.580 --> 00:16:25.320 And here's the point. 00:16:25.660 --> 00:16:39.840 Paul the evangelist, the eyes of the evangelist, is one who can look around his world, look into the lives of other peoples, and see past their behaviors, see past what they value, and begin to see what are they asking to be ultimate. 00:16:40.360 --> 00:16:46.180 What are they asking to give them meaning and purpose and significance in their life? 00:16:46.179 --> 00:16:56.799 We must develop the eyes to see through our friends' hobbies and interests and work and see where is the idol in their hearts. 00:16:57.939 --> 00:16:59.139 Let me give you an example. 00:16:59.719 --> 00:17:01.079 So I have a friend. 00:17:01.199 --> 00:17:08.519 I'm a 35-year-old white guy, and I've got a lot of 35-year-old white guys, friends, and all he wants to do is exercise. 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:13.779 And all he wants to do is every free weekend is spend his time in the mountains. 00:17:13.779 --> 00:17:16.619 I love spending my time in the mountains. 00:17:16.759 --> 00:17:21.240 This one actually strikes close to home to me because if I wasn't a Christian, this is what I would do, right? 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:29.680 Spends all his time in the weekends hiking, climbing, skiing, cycling, all the things, things I love, good things. 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:41.119 And he would ask that thing, those activities, being strong, physically fit, what he is is valuable based on his athletic performance. 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:55.619 How valuable he is to himself and to his friends is how his latest outdoor activity, how fast he did this run, how fast he did this cycling event, right? 00:17:56.759 --> 00:17:58.559 That becomes an idol to him. 00:17:58.639 --> 00:18:05.979 And his value, his significance, what makes him worthy of taking up space in our universe is his athletic performance. 00:18:05.980 --> 00:18:09.779 Another example, I have another friend. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:11.700 I'm sure this one, you all know this person. 00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:14.079 He works all the time. 00:18:14.860 --> 00:18:20.339 He works 70-plus hours a week at the expense often of his family and of his friendships. 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:28.380 He's always got his phone right next to him because what if that email comes in that he has to respond to? 00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:40.260 And he's thinking constantly about how can I leverage my time to move up the ladder, to increase the sales, to make myself more valuable to this company? 00:18:41.400 --> 00:18:42.640 It's the same thing. 00:18:43.540 --> 00:18:49.600 He's asking his work to give him purpose and meaning and security and peace. 00:18:50.340 --> 00:18:51.400 It's become his idol. 00:18:52.300 --> 00:18:53.300 It's become his idol. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.480 And this can be anything, friends. 00:18:55.560 --> 00:18:56.340 It can be romance. 00:18:56.339 --> 00:18:57.579 It can be leisure. 00:18:58.399 --> 00:18:59.399 It can be romance. 00:19:00.019 --> 00:19:00.839 I mean, it can be money. 00:19:00.959 --> 00:19:05.939 Our hearts can turn anything in this world into an idol. 00:19:07.139 --> 00:19:11.779 If you want help thinking through how to observe this in your friends, there's two books I recommend. 00:19:11.899 --> 00:19:13.259 One is called Seculosity. 00:19:14.519 --> 00:19:18.919 It's a little made-up word that the author makes for religiosity and secular. 00:19:20.159 --> 00:19:24.259 Seculosity by an author's name of David Zahl, Z-A-H-L. 00:19:24.259 --> 00:19:32.400 And he explores different ways that we've asked different pieces of our lives, leisure, pleasure, money, romance, to save us. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:33.940 It's really helpful. 00:19:34.039 --> 00:19:36.019 The other one is a book by a man named Tim Keller. 00:19:36.119 --> 00:19:37.440 It's called Counterfeit Gods. 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:44.380 I highly recommend those two to you and help you develop what Paul has here, the eyes of the evangelist. 00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:47.400 To see past what our friends are doing. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:49.880 Heck, to see what we're doing. 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:56.820 And say, what am I asking to save me in some other way than the living God? 00:19:58.160 --> 00:20:00.600 So it's the first thing to develop is the eyes of the evangelist. 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:03.159 Second is the heart of the evangelist. 00:20:03.480 --> 00:20:04.539 The heart of evangelist. 00:20:04.579 --> 00:20:05.740 Look again at verse 16. 00:20:06.099 --> 00:20:14.159 Now, while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 00:20:15.480 --> 00:20:15.899 Look again. 00:20:16.199 --> 00:20:17.179 Notice what it says here. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:19.799 It says his spirit was provoked within him. 00:20:19.879 --> 00:20:22.459 Again, the English translation is not strong enough. 00:20:22.740 --> 00:20:25.599 It means almost that he has a spiritual spasm. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:30.139 He looks around the city and he goes, oh, no. 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:34.099 What is this place that I'm walking in? 00:20:34.980 --> 00:20:43.899 He looks around at this city full of people asking anything and everything to give them hope, meaning, and purpose other than Jesus Christ and the God of the Bible. 00:20:43.939 --> 00:20:45.719 And he goes, oh, my gosh. 00:20:46.339 --> 00:20:47.659 This is terrible. 00:20:48.299 --> 00:20:49.439 This is horrible. 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:58.320 It's a contortion of his soul that he feels when he sees this idolatry rampant throughout his world, right? 00:20:58.539 --> 00:20:59.259 Think of it this way. 00:20:59.320 --> 00:21:00.220 Think of a powerful. 00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:04.500 Think of what happens to you when you watch a really well-made documentary movie. 00:21:05.380 --> 00:21:12.500 You'll watch a documentary film, and a good documentary can make us feel something strongly, feel it in our gut like we've been punched in the stomach. 00:21:12.860 --> 00:21:15.840 You ask a documentary filmmaker, why did you make this documentary? 00:21:15.980 --> 00:21:17.880 And they'll say this, to raise awareness. 00:21:17.880 --> 00:21:22.440 I want to make people aware of what this thing is that I'm trying to show. 00:21:23.500 --> 00:21:25.360 And it rattles our minds. 00:21:25.980 --> 00:21:28.680 It's a mixture of anger and sadness and frustration. 00:21:28.840 --> 00:21:30.680 We ask, what can I do about this? 00:21:31.220 --> 00:21:37.980 What can I do to try and address, to solve the problem that this documentary is raising up? 00:21:38.300 --> 00:21:41.340 I'm sure you've experienced this, whatever the topic is. 00:21:42.060 --> 00:21:44.980 That's what Paul felt as he walks through Athens. 00:21:44.980 --> 00:21:53.420 He sees with the eyes of the evangelist the magnitude of the idols around him, and he has an emotional, visceral response. 00:21:55.079 --> 00:21:56.539 He says, this is destructive. 00:21:57.559 --> 00:21:59.720 A spasm within him as he sees it. 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:01.120 Now, why does Paul feel this? 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:02.940 Well, there's two reasons. 00:22:02.940 --> 00:22:08.160 One, idolatry is, it robs God of his glory. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:10.640 It robs God of his glory. 00:22:10.759 --> 00:22:12.580 Look at verses 24 to 28. 00:22:13.920 --> 00:22:21.680 He says, the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands. 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:25.740 He is the one who made every human being on earth. 00:22:25.840 --> 00:22:33.480 And when you are asking or asking anything other than him to save you or to be your God, you are denying him the glory that he deserves. 00:22:33.480 --> 00:22:36.200 I'll say it this way. 00:22:36.900 --> 00:22:44.460 Students will often, you know, I'll talk about God being a person who deserves glory, and students go, ugh, does that make God a giant narcissist? 00:22:44.620 --> 00:22:46.620 And I say, no, think of it this way. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:23:00.740 If my wife, if I was to give the attention to another woman that my wife deserves, it doesn't make my wife selfish because she says, no, I just, no, she deserves that because she's my wife. 00:23:00.740 --> 00:23:10.980 And for me to give the attention that is due to her to anyone else robs her of the dignity and the love and the glory that she deserves. 00:23:11.079 --> 00:23:13.680 Now, God is the most glorious person in the universe. 00:23:14.339 --> 00:23:16.359 God is the most beautiful person in the universe. 00:23:16.500 --> 00:23:20.079 And so for us to not worship him robs him of glory. 00:23:20.180 --> 00:23:23.900 And Paul sees that and goes, no, this is terrible. 00:23:23.900 --> 00:23:32.560 The second reason Paul feels this contortion of his heart is that idolatry is spiritually destructive. 00:23:34.500 --> 00:23:36.280 It is spiritually destructive. 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:38.600 Ultimately, it leads to God's judgment. 00:23:39.080 --> 00:23:39.640 Verse 30. 00:23:42.300 --> 00:23:52.120 In the times of ignorance, God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness. 00:23:52.119 --> 00:24:04.819 Idolatry left undealt with, unrepentant of, unchanged, unconverted to worship of the living God leads to God's punishment. 00:24:05.539 --> 00:24:06.799 That's the stakes. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:18.699 That is what we look at our friends and say, I want, I desire you to know the God that I know because this is destructive to you spiritually. 00:24:19.839 --> 00:24:20.879 And Paul knew that. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:23.180 That is why he has a spiritual spasm. 00:24:23.540 --> 00:24:29.480 But other than that, even before that happens, idolatry erodes and corrodes the human heart. 00:24:30.540 --> 00:24:31.880 It's bad for us. 00:24:32.580 --> 00:24:35.860 Several weeks ago, I was talking with a student who has an idol of her grades. 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:39.380 College students, they are asked to perform on an academic level. 00:24:39.760 --> 00:24:41.260 You remember this if you went to school. 00:24:41.620 --> 00:24:45.480 And so they set these grades up as the thing that makes me valuable is what my GPA is. 00:24:45.480 --> 00:24:46.720 And I was meeting with her about this. 00:24:46.779 --> 00:24:51.579 And I said, when you ask grades to be your God, I'd helped her see that this is what she was doing. 00:24:51.640 --> 00:24:55.120 I said, you're essentially running a gasoline engine on diesel fuel. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:59.399 It's going to burn the engine up eventually. 00:25:00.459 --> 00:25:02.119 It's bad for your heart. 00:25:03.719 --> 00:25:06.899 It will distort and corrode and erode your heart. 00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:11.099 The idol promises things it cannot deliver. 00:25:11.779 --> 00:25:12.339 It promises. 00:25:12.500 --> 00:25:17.979 A grade says, if I can get that illustrious 4.0, then I'll be valuable. 00:25:17.980 --> 00:25:20.740 But it never measures up. 00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:23.019 It never actually satisfies. 00:25:24.440 --> 00:25:31.799 And the only thing that an idol actually will deliver is more anxiety and more and more sacrifice. 00:25:32.819 --> 00:25:37.019 And more and more disappointment and shame and ultimately despair. 00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:39.839 It never gives what we ask it or think it will give us. 00:25:42.380 --> 00:25:44.559 It leads to a miserable life. 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:55.259 And Paul sees that in them and he says, oh, we must develop this heart for the lost that Paul has. 00:25:55.339 --> 00:26:00.000 When I was in seminary, we had a professor who taught us evangelism and apologetics. 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:01.200 His name was Jerem Bars. 00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:01.919 You can look him up. 00:26:01.980 --> 00:26:04.700 He actually has a book called The Heart of Evangelism. 00:26:05.319 --> 00:26:09.659 And he would describe to us his friends that he was currently sharing the faith with. 00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:13.000 As he was teaching his class, he said, I'm meeting with this friend. 00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:16.180 And we're talking about Christianity and we're talking about the faith. 00:26:17.140 --> 00:26:20.839 And he taught this class every week for decades. 00:26:21.339 --> 00:26:27.359 And every time he would share something with us, his eyes would well with tears and he would cry. 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:30.619 And sometimes he would keel over and silently say, I'm sorry. 00:26:30.839 --> 00:26:32.220 And he would cry in front of us. 00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:35.539 Because this man loved his neighbors. 00:26:35.539 --> 00:26:41.240 And he desired for his friends to know Jesus as king and savior. 00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:44.859 That's the heart of the evangelist. 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:46.259 That's what Paul has. 00:26:48.220 --> 00:26:53.139 And the challenge to us as Christians is, do I feel that way for my non-Christian friends? 00:26:53.140 --> 00:26:58.780 Often I fear that we only feel indifference or apathy. 00:26:59.320 --> 00:27:01.060 We look and say, well, they're okay. 00:27:01.960 --> 00:27:03.140 They're doing their thing. 00:27:03.300 --> 00:27:04.600 They're living their life in one way. 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:05.700 And I don't want to intrude. 00:27:06.780 --> 00:27:11.560 I don't want to impose my thoughts or beliefs on them. 00:27:11.960 --> 00:27:13.720 I don't want to have an awkward conversation. 00:27:13.980 --> 00:27:15.340 I don't want to risk our relationship. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:17.000 I don't want to argue. 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:20.740 Or what if they don't want to hang out with me anymore? 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:24.839 Apathy is not loving. 00:27:25.640 --> 00:27:26.859 Indifference is not loving. 00:27:28.099 --> 00:27:32.299 Now, that doesn't mean we go banging down their door and do it in a rude or a crude way. 00:27:32.359 --> 00:27:40.799 But it does mean that we sense an urgency in our hearts to say, what you are asking to save you cannot save you. 00:27:40.880 --> 00:27:42.380 Let me tell you the one who can. 00:27:42.380 --> 00:27:47.900 Which leads us to the last and final point, which is the words of the evangelist. 00:27:48.360 --> 00:27:49.940 The words of the evangelist. 00:27:50.380 --> 00:27:52.680 Looking here at verses 23 through 30. 00:27:53.320 --> 00:27:53.920 I've read them. 00:27:54.000 --> 00:27:55.100 I'll let you skim over them again. 00:27:55.180 --> 00:27:56.240 But what does Paul say? 00:27:56.720 --> 00:27:57.440 What does Paul say? 00:27:57.560 --> 00:28:02.520 Well, overall, he says, let me tell you about the God that you are seeking to worship. 00:28:03.360 --> 00:28:06.120 Let me tell you about the God that you are seeking to worship. 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:08.180 Let me tell you who he really is. 00:28:08.180 --> 00:28:12.539 He says, men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious. 00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:17.940 We now perceive with our eyes that see idols that our world, our friends, are very religious. 00:28:18.460 --> 00:28:21.519 Then he says, where is it? 00:28:22.620 --> 00:28:26.880 What you therefore worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 00:28:27.140 --> 00:28:29.500 Let me tell you what you are looking for. 00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:33.039 He points his audience to the true God. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:38.119 He says, I see this impulse in you to worship even the unknown God. 00:28:38.220 --> 00:28:41.000 And here I am to tell you who he is. 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:42.420 Jesus Christ. 00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:46.379 And he tells them it's not idols that will give them meaning, love, or purpose. 00:28:46.379 --> 00:28:54.200 But it's God who created them, who knows them, who formed every piece of who they are and who will save them. 00:28:54.440 --> 00:28:58.019 He says, we do not create gods, but God created us. 00:28:58.019 --> 00:29:06.720 God is not the one, idols cannot save us, but the God who created and knows and loves you can, does, and will save you. 00:29:07.619 --> 00:29:09.279 Now, how do we do this? 00:29:09.619 --> 00:29:10.420 How do we do this? 00:29:10.480 --> 00:29:11.819 Two things I want to share with you. 00:29:12.180 --> 00:29:15.139 First, and most easily, you share your story. 00:29:15.500 --> 00:29:16.879 You share your Christian story. 00:29:17.019 --> 00:29:17.680 Very simple. 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:31.259 Often, I think that we, I feel the pressure when I come to a situation of evangelism to present the whole of Christian faith and defend every component and piece of it in that moment. 00:29:31.420 --> 00:29:32.299 And it's too much. 00:29:32.560 --> 00:29:36.279 It's too much to accomplish in one conversation or in one relationship. 00:29:37.100 --> 00:29:38.279 There's too much to say. 00:29:38.380 --> 00:29:40.700 There's too much that I fear that I won't say. 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:44.320 Instead, what I would commend to you is just say this. 00:29:44.320 --> 00:29:45.960 Can I share to you why I'm a Christian? 00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:49.519 Can I share why I'm a Christian? 00:29:50.580 --> 00:29:53.840 Let me share to you why I, Jonathan, am a Christian. 00:29:54.620 --> 00:29:56.860 I, Jonathan, grew up in a Christian home. 00:29:57.380 --> 00:29:59.740 I professed faith in Christ when I was six. 00:30:00.860 --> 00:30:03.140 And I followed Jesus my whole life. 00:30:03.600 --> 00:30:09.019 But then when I got to college, I went to college in New York City, a city full of very smart people. 00:30:09.900 --> 00:30:12.840 And I fell in love with a girl who I really liked. 00:30:12.839 --> 00:30:24.759 And then my senior year of college, after pursuing grades and being really smart in a city full of really smart people, I realized I would never be smart enough. 00:30:25.799 --> 00:30:26.859 I'm not good enough. 00:30:27.859 --> 00:30:33.359 There's dozens of higher education institutions in New York City that will blow me out of the water. 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:34.179 There's Ivy League. 00:30:34.259 --> 00:30:36.399 There's 800,000 college students in New York City. 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:37.719 I'm not smart enough for them. 00:30:38.779 --> 00:30:43.459 And at the same time that I realized that, this woman broke up with me. 00:30:43.699 --> 00:30:45.299 And it devastated me. 00:30:45.939 --> 00:30:52.419 And so here I am feeling not valuable because I'm not smart enough and unloved. 00:30:52.420 --> 00:30:54.680 And I was devastated. 00:30:56.140 --> 00:31:06.580 And slowly but surely, through dear friends and a good pastor, I began to realize that the God of the Bible loves me even though I'm not the smartest. 00:31:07.460 --> 00:31:14.000 And he loves me with an unfailing love that will never cease unconditionally forever. 00:31:15.779 --> 00:31:17.200 That's the God I follow. 00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:19.400 Would you follow him with me? 00:31:20.539 --> 00:31:21.660 Simple as that. 00:31:22.420 --> 00:31:24.519 I'm not defending the whole Christian faith. 00:31:24.600 --> 00:31:27.120 I'm saying that why I follow Jesus. 00:31:27.460 --> 00:31:28.539 Would you follow him too? 00:31:29.060 --> 00:31:32.880 Paul does this over and over and over again in his letters. 00:31:33.019 --> 00:31:34.600 He says, I was, he tells his story. 00:31:34.720 --> 00:31:36.259 He says, I was the best Pharisee I knew. 00:31:37.340 --> 00:31:38.440 I kept all the rules. 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:40.039 I was the best one. 00:31:40.660 --> 00:31:44.759 And then one day, Jesus literally blew me off a saddle and said, it's not enough. 00:31:44.759 --> 00:31:45.840 And I realized that. 00:31:46.500 --> 00:31:50.640 And now I see that I am content and sufficient being known by Jesus. 00:31:50.779 --> 00:31:51.300 And that's all. 00:31:51.299 --> 00:31:52.559 Would you follow him with me? 00:31:53.919 --> 00:31:57.180 Share your story of why and how God loves you. 00:31:58.879 --> 00:32:00.859 And say, I think he can do the same for you. 00:32:00.859 --> 00:32:04.079 Simple as that. 00:32:04.119 --> 00:32:06.319 The words of the evangelist is to share your story. 00:32:06.479 --> 00:32:09.879 Now, the second thing, this is a little bit more challenging, but I think it's more effective. 00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:10.779 Pay attention here. 00:32:10.779 --> 00:32:19.740 We want to tunnel underneath the idol to the felt need. 00:32:20.240 --> 00:32:24.700 To the felt need that our friends are asking the idol to do for them. 00:32:24.700 --> 00:32:34.620 We want to tunnel underneath the idol to explore what is the felt need that our friends are asking the idol to do with them. 00:32:34.700 --> 00:32:38.400 What is it that they think the idol will provide for them? 00:32:38.740 --> 00:32:43.680 Paul looks at a city that is smothered in idol and even sees one to the unknown God. 00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:50.299 But Athens had a felt need that they had to make sure that all their bases were covered. 00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:56.200 What if there's some God out there and we're not giving him worship and he doesn't take care of us? 00:32:56.340 --> 00:32:57.560 He doesn't protect us. 00:32:57.720 --> 00:32:58.820 He doesn't provide for us. 00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:00.400 Well, that's a scary thought. 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:06.920 So let's just set up some idol and say, if you're out there, unknown God, here's our worship for you. 00:33:08.560 --> 00:33:14.060 And Paul tunnels underneath that and says, let me tell you who that true God is. 00:33:14.920 --> 00:33:17.860 The God that you're looking for, I proclaim to you. 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:24.860 What we want to do is a bit of spiritual spelunking and to explore the need underneath our friends' idols. 00:33:25.240 --> 00:33:29.280 You can go to your friend and say, hey, you think too much about your bank account. 00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:32.940 And they'll say, okay, maybe. 00:33:33.779 --> 00:33:37.379 But what you want to try to do is to say, and I wonder why. 00:33:38.099 --> 00:33:41.960 You think too much about exercise and I wonder why. 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:46.240 Get pastorally, evangelistically curious with them. 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:53.099 I wonder why you think this idol will satisfy your heart. 00:33:53.099 --> 00:34:00.819 And try to show them that there is a need behind or underneath the idol. 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:02.459 And here's a hint. 00:34:02.799 --> 00:34:10.299 Almost every single time, underneath and beneath the idol is a need to be either secure or loved. 00:34:10.300 --> 00:34:14.500 It's a need to be accepted or safe. 00:34:15.880 --> 00:34:18.620 That is what we are asking idols to do for us. 00:34:18.840 --> 00:34:21.539 To make us either safe or valuable. 00:34:23.080 --> 00:34:24.519 Secure or cherishable. 00:34:25.640 --> 00:34:31.240 And we think, our friends think, that if I make enough money, I'll be safe. 00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:36.199 Or if I meet the right romantic partner, I will be loved. 00:34:37.719 --> 00:34:39.619 That's what we're asking an idol to do. 00:34:42.039 --> 00:34:45.719 Last week, I met with a friend who wants to make a ton of money. 00:34:46.759 --> 00:34:52.379 He's in college and he's owned several businesses that he started as a college student because he wants to make a ton of money. 00:34:52.479 --> 00:34:53.439 And he's pretty good at it. 00:34:54.019 --> 00:34:55.479 He's pretty good at making a lot of money. 00:34:55.480 --> 00:35:00.900 And as we're talking, I said, you know, he knows, he's like, I want to make money. 00:35:01.019 --> 00:35:03.400 And he lets his faith lapse because of that. 00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:04.000 He's a Christian. 00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:05.639 But he's not a strong Christian. 00:35:06.900 --> 00:35:10.099 And I asked him, I said, I wonder why you feel the need to make all this money. 00:35:11.000 --> 00:35:11.659 I wonder why. 00:35:11.740 --> 00:35:15.740 And as we talked, we realized that basically, he grew up really poor. 00:35:17.300 --> 00:35:24.400 And now he has the opportunity to use his intelligence and his hard work to make a bunch of money so that he doesn't have to feel poor anymore. 00:35:25.480 --> 00:35:30.659 Because he felt really scared when he was poor growing up. 00:35:32.740 --> 00:35:34.059 And he wanted to feel safe. 00:35:34.219 --> 00:35:36.199 And he thought that money would make him feel safe. 00:35:39.240 --> 00:35:40.559 That's where evangelism gets. 00:35:40.679 --> 00:35:42.639 This is where the gospel gets good, friends. 00:35:43.300 --> 00:35:45.920 Because we get to say, man, money is never going to be safe. 00:35:47.039 --> 00:35:49.599 Look at the past history of the U.S. economy. 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:52.099 People can lose fortunes in hours. 00:35:52.619 --> 00:35:54.900 It's never, you are never safe with money. 00:35:55.480 --> 00:35:56.980 It can evaporate in a moment. 00:35:57.079 --> 00:35:58.159 But you know who is safe? 00:35:58.820 --> 00:35:59.179 Jesus. 00:36:00.440 --> 00:36:01.800 He's perfectly safe. 00:36:01.880 --> 00:36:04.740 How do the Psalms describe the God of the Bible? 00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:07.019 Over and over again, he's a rock. 00:36:07.559 --> 00:36:08.719 He's a refuge. 00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:09.940 He's a fortress. 00:36:11.320 --> 00:36:16.280 The security that you are asking money to provide, Jesus provides. 00:36:16.280 --> 00:36:19.540 Jesus makes us safe. 00:36:19.620 --> 00:36:22.900 Think about our friends who are looking to romance. 00:36:23.540 --> 00:36:26.220 I just need someone to make me feel loved. 00:36:26.320 --> 00:36:28.560 And so I'll keep moving from partner to partner. 00:36:29.080 --> 00:36:30.100 What do we get to say? 00:36:30.099 --> 00:36:33.079 No human's ever going to be able to do that. 00:36:34.219 --> 00:36:37.039 But underneath that is a desire to feel loved. 00:36:38.380 --> 00:36:40.199 Jesus loves you unconditionally. 00:36:40.480 --> 00:36:42.440 Not based on your performance. 00:36:42.699 --> 00:36:44.420 Not based on how good you are. 00:36:44.779 --> 00:36:46.319 Not based on how beautiful you are. 00:36:46.380 --> 00:36:49.199 But based on his righteousness given to you. 00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:52.139 And it's only by faith. 00:36:53.779 --> 00:36:56.500 We help our friends see that idols can never save them. 00:36:56.599 --> 00:36:59.039 Whatever it is, it's never going to satisfy their heart. 00:36:59.480 --> 00:37:05.299 But there's a felt need buried underneath the idol that God can satisfy in spades. 00:37:06.099 --> 00:37:08.199 A false God will always disappoint you. 00:37:08.299 --> 00:37:09.579 Money cannot make you happy. 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:11.519 Romance cannot make you happy. 00:37:11.739 --> 00:37:13.699 Status, outdoor experiences. 00:37:13.699 --> 00:37:18.500 None of these things will provide the safety or the enduring love that you are looking for. 00:37:19.019 --> 00:37:22.579 They'll give you a candy rush that feels so good when it's happening. 00:37:22.639 --> 00:37:24.539 But it leaves you starving at the end. 00:37:26.179 --> 00:37:28.460 We get to show them that God will satisfy. 00:37:28.699 --> 00:37:30.899 Taste and see that the Lord is good. 00:37:31.339 --> 00:37:32.819 And do you remember what I said last week? 00:37:32.879 --> 00:37:33.779 This is so important. 00:37:34.099 --> 00:37:37.980 When you do that, you are no longer just showing them that Christianity is true. 00:37:38.259 --> 00:37:39.279 Which it is. 00:37:39.480 --> 00:37:40.699 But they're not interested in. 00:37:40.699 --> 00:37:42.879 We get to show them that Christianity is good. 00:37:44.379 --> 00:37:45.879 That our God is good. 00:37:46.119 --> 00:37:48.899 That he satisfies the desires and longings of the heart. 00:37:54.119 --> 00:37:55.799 So first, share your story. 00:37:56.000 --> 00:37:57.099 This is why I'm a Christian. 00:37:58.119 --> 00:37:59.279 Would you follow Jesus with me? 00:37:59.339 --> 00:38:05.439 But then tunnel underneath the idol to find the felt need and show them that Jesus meets that need. 00:38:05.519 --> 00:38:07.619 And again, it's probably safety or security. 00:38:08.319 --> 00:38:09.500 Love or acceptance. 00:38:09.500 --> 00:38:13.739 What does this passage show us? 00:38:14.079 --> 00:38:16.860 First, it tells us that we must develop the eyes of the evangelist. 00:38:17.599 --> 00:38:19.179 Look around our world. 00:38:19.519 --> 00:38:25.139 Look into the hearts and lives of our friends and see where are they looking for something to satisfy you. 00:38:25.139 --> 00:38:30.779 If you're here today and you're exploring Christianity, you're not a Christian, I would ask you, what are you asking to save you? 00:38:31.679 --> 00:38:36.239 What are you asking to give you meaning, purpose, value, identity to make you feel safe and loved? 00:38:36.239 --> 00:38:39.859 You see, it won't measure up. 00:38:40.359 --> 00:38:41.059 It can't. 00:38:42.619 --> 00:38:45.559 The second thing is to develop the heart of the evangelist. 00:38:45.559 --> 00:38:49.400 It's compassion, a yearning for them to know Jesus as their king and savior. 00:38:50.340 --> 00:38:54.460 And lastly, the words of the evangelist to share your story of why you are a Christian. 00:38:54.980 --> 00:39:00.199 And then to set them up to see that what they're asking an idol to do, it can't do it. 00:39:01.340 --> 00:39:06.299 But God does and can and will and always has been that salvation. 00:39:06.299 --> 00:39:11.539 That God who created us and saves us and loves us. 00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:13.420 That's evangelism. 00:39:13.960 --> 00:39:14.599 Would you pray with me? 00:39:15.880 --> 00:39:26.199 Jesus, thank you that you are our God, that you created us as the confession stated, as we've confessed earlier, that you've saved us and that you will bring us to you again. 00:39:27.039 --> 00:39:39.099 Father, as we seek to faithfully witness to these truths, to our friends and neighbors, would you give us your words to make it good, to make it compelling? 00:39:39.199 --> 00:39:43.400 And would your spirit be working in the minds of every person that we're thinking of right now? 00:39:43.400 --> 00:39:49.840 That they would know, that they would taste and see that you are God and that they would worship you. 00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:50.900 It's in Jesus' name that we pray. 00:39:50.900 --> 00:39:51.099 Amen. 00:39:51.099 --> 00:39:51.500 Amen. 00:39:51.599 --> 00:39:52.039 Amen. 00:39:52.039 --> 00:39:52.039 00:39:52.039 --> 00:39:52.039 00:39:52.039 --> 00:39:52.039 00:39:52.039 --> 00:39:52.039 00:39:52.039 --> 00:39:52.039