You get it, I want you to just hold it up for me.
Y'all look like you're voting, but in reality, we're praying.
Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus, I love you, and I thank you for the opportunity of worship today.
Your sweet spirit's been in this place.
I'm thankful for it.
God, with that same spirit, direct us right now.
Clear our minds, then fill our minds, oh God.
Show us what you'd have us to do, and give us the conviction to do it, oh God, I pray.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Easter will be here in five weeks.
I want to take an excursion today away from our sermon series on creation
to just talk about the importance of what's coming up.
I'll be dealing with Genesis chapter 3 for the next three weeks,
and then on Palm Sunday, we'll look to the cross of Christ,
and on Easter Sunday, thank God, we'll look at the resurrection.
Easter is a great day to honor the Lord and celebrate our new life through resurrection,
and if you have other plans on Easter and can change them, change them, okay?
If you've not made plans for Easter, don't overbook it.
You don't want to miss it, I promise you.
One year ago, it was a significant day in the life of our church,
so much so that we won't do Easter this year like we did last year
because we can't accommodate it, thankfully.
Last year, we hoped for 300 in Sunday school.
We got that.
We wanted to double that in a combined service of an 8 o'clock outside parking lot service
and then a different service at 1030.
If we could combine both of those and maybe have 600.
We had about 200 in the parking lot.
We had 681 for worship.
Amen.
681, we can't handle that.
We had an overflow, and so we need to accommodate that better this year,
but man, what a day we had.
So I want you to get this schedule down, and I want you to understand it.
At 830, we will have a worship service in here,
and then at 915, we'll have Sunday school at 8 o'clock.
Excuse me.
You're right.
8 o'clock.
Thank you.
Don't show up 30 minutes late.
Thank you, Jerry.
8 o'clock.
And then at 915, we'll have Sunday school.
At 1030, we'll have the same.
Well, it says identical.
Ain't two worship hours I've ever been in has been identical, praise the Lord.
But anyway, but we'll have the same program in both,
and so the same order twice.
Our children options will be more advanced at 1030 than at the early one.
If you don't have a Sunday school class, don't leave, okay?
If you are not in Sunday school before Easter and you don't have a class,
then start on Easter.
I'm going to be holding a class in the fellowship hall,
so I want everybody here for Sunday school.
Either you come at 8 and stay for Sunday school,
or you show up for Sunday school and stay for worship.
We're going to have a great day in the Lord.
Last year, we made a commitment five weeks out, and it worked.
And lives were changed because God blessed our faithfulness.
So I want us to commit again today publicly
and to lay that out before the Lord.
The five-for-five card that you received has a tear-off on the bottom.
That tear-off is for you to turn in in a little while.
That top part looks much like a bookmark, and that's on purpose.
So that you can write names upon that list, make that a prayer list for you,
put that in your Bible, put that wherever you need to put it,
to pray over that daily.
Pray about five people that you can invite
to celebrate the resurrection with us on Easter Sunday.
Now, as I preach this morning, I want you to write those names down.
I've asked God to give you those names,
to make them clear to you, to remind you of those things.
I often don't want you distracted when I preach.
I want you distracted this morning
by five names that God lays on your heart to invite.
I'm not asking you to invite them.
I'm asking you to pray about inviting them.
Just write those names down on that sheet.
May God grant that.
Write them twice on both the top list and on the bottom list.
You'll keep the bottom list.
Excuse me.
You'll turn in the bottom list and lay it at the cross of Christ
at the close of this service.
And the top, you can just hold on to that as a bookmark.
I pray that God will let the names flow into your life.
God's been wonderful to us as a church,
and Easter is a wonderful time to invite people to come
and see what God is doing.
People will come on Easter Sunday that will not come any other time.
It is a great opportunity.
And we have something to share.
If you have Christ, you have something to share.
We have no idea how significant it could be to just pray and invite someone to come.
I will tell you that there was a name put on at least one of these cards last year
and placed at this cross.
And that man, since that time, has been saved and baptized as a member of this church
because people were praying.
More than that, but because people were praying.
So I'm firmly convinced that God blesses our efforts in that,
and I'm going to ask God to make that clear to you.
I've been praying in that way.
So I want us to look at John's gospel, John chapter 1,
for just a few moments to give us a glimpse of what can happen
when we walk through the doors that God opens for us.
I want you to see how to respond when Christ walks by.
It's in John chapter 1, beginning in verse 35.
It says this.
The next day again, John was standing with two of his disciples,
and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said,
Behold, the Lamb of God.
The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them,
What are you seeking?
And they said to him, Rabbi, which means teacher, where are you staying?
He said to them, Come and you will see.
So they came and saw where he was staying,
and they stayed with him that hour, excuse me, that day,
for it was about the tenth hour.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother.
He first found his own brother Simon and said to him,
We have found the Messiah, which means Christ.
He brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said,
You are Simon, the son of John.
You shall be called Cephas, which means Peter.
As I prepared for this last week,
I read a devotion around this passage from morning and evening by Charles Spurgeon.
And once again, Spurgeon hit the nail on the head.
The old boy was pretty good at what he did.
And he said this, listen to this.
He said,
When Peter went to find his brother,
he little imagined how imminent Simon would become.
Simon Peter was worth ten Andrews,
so far as we can gather from sacred history.
And yet Andrew was instrumental in bringing him to Jesus.
You may be very deficient in talent yourself.
And yet you may be the means of drawing to Christ,
one who shall become imminent in grace and service.
Oh, dear friend,
you little know the possibilities that are in you.
You may but speak a word to a child.
And in that child, there may be a slumbering,
there may be a slumbering noble heart,
which shall stir the Christian church in years to come.
Andrew has only two talents,
but he finds Peter.
Go you and do likewise.
This morning, I just want to ask you to pray about it.
Who would God have you to pray for?
I don't want you to think about the awkwardness of bringing it up.
I don't want you to think about the fact
that you haven't cultivated a relationship
where you feel comfortable doing that yet.
I don't want you to think about any of that.
I just want you to write that name down.
I want to show you this morning how God works.
How he uses us,
and we don't even realize the impact.
And I want to illustrate that
with something called God's web.
I'm going to do it by looking at a hypothetical lady's life.
All of the experiences that I will share with you
are real experiences,
but not just in one life.
But it shows the strands of God's web
that I've seen in other people's life
and how he works.
I'm going to call this lady Lucille.
That was my grandmother's name.
And although this is not her story by any means,
I loved her,
and I thought about her when I was writing this.
So I want to name her Lucille.
Lucille was one who was not raised in a godly home.
Not a church-going home,
but she was invited to vacation Bible school.
And when she went to vacation Bible school,
people that invited her,
the workers that worked there,
the people who gave out the refreshments,
the friends that were with her there,
it was a positive experience for her to have at church.
It was only for one week,
and she never went back again.
But it made an impact.
As a student in high school,
she was invited to a youth function.
It was one of those overnight kind of events
that youth ministers love,
filled with fun games, lively music,
and good biblical preaching on salvation.
And as she looked around that room,
she saw those who lived that out.
She saw others that played at it,
didn't really live it out.
That confusion caused by their example
caused her to listen,
but to not move forward toward it.
As she grew older,
she had workmates,
workmates that went to church,
churchgoers.
Sometimes she would hear a little about church.
She'd hear them say something about their church.
That community intrigued her.
Maybe it was a place for her child.
She's home one day,
and she also saw a smiley preacher
in a big arena-type church on TV.
He gave a toothy, positive message.
It was not the gospel,
but it was positive,
and he was pretty,
and so she watched him.
She wondered from time to time
how that related to her earlier church experiences.
She heard some ladies one day
talking about a Bible podcast,
and so she downloaded it,
and she listened to that one day.
For just a few minutes,
it sounded relevant.
Food for thought,
nothing much more.
One day at work,
someone invited her to come to church.
She thought it may be good for her child.
Maybe the child would have a VBS-type experience,
and she told them she'd consider letting her child go,
and the one that invited her asked,
why don't you come with her?
Now, that hit her hard.
She was stirred by that,
so she talked to her mother about it,
and her mother surprisingly said
that she had been praying
for that very thing to happen.
She decided to go.
She started in morning worship.
When she attended there,
people were friendly.
She felt at home.
The message was relevant to her life.
The follow-up by the church,
by the pastor,
by those that had invited her,
led to a conversation
that asked her about giving her life to Christ,
and Lucille said,
yes.
Now, let me ask you some questions.
Was it the power of the sermon
that drew her to the Lord?
It played a part,
but not alone.
Was it the friendliness of the people
that drew her in?
Not only that,
but it played a part.
Was it her decision to go to church
that saved her?
No.
Was it her mother praying
that did that?
Was it the one that invited her
that did that?
Was it her persistence in asking?
Was it the TV preacher?
Was it the podcast?
Was it the workmates talking about it?
Was it her experience as a student?
Was it the VBS experience?
Did all of that play a part?
Yes, it did.
They all played a part in God
drawing her in
to a web of salvation.
Was all those steps equally important?
Yes.
Was all those steps
and responsibilities the same?
No.
Somebody
had to give a positive experience.
Somebody
had to invite.
Somebody
had to pray.
Did any of those people
do the saving?
No.
Who did the saving?
Who did the drawing?
Who designed the strands of the web?
And my question is
what would happen
if somebody
disobeyed God
in some part of that?
What if somebody
was not sensitive?
Who knows?
I don't know.
We know all of that
played a part.
So this is what I ask.
Let's play a part.
Let's just play
a part.
Because we do know
a few things.
One is
we know that God
is at work
in your life.
He's at work
in my life.
No matter who we are
He is working
around us
and He is working
in us
and the question is
are we picking up
on it?
Do we sense it?
Second thing
is this.
God is at work
in people's lives
around us.
No matter who you are
no matter who they are
He is working
in people
around us.
He's also working
in us.
So the question is
are we working
with Him
about them
in their life?
Not only that
but God
is drawing.
God's drawing.
He's drawing
people to Him.
He's drawing
Christians
into His work.
God
is at work.
And lastly
we're not to miss
a divine opportunity.
You never know
the difference
that God can make
through you
just inviting
someone
to attend
an Easter
resurrection
celebration.
You have no idea.
You also
don't know
what God
will do
in you
when you
commit to pray
for people
to invite
to an Easter
resurrection
celebration.
Whether it's
an out of church
member
of a long
time ago
that we
just ain't
seen.
Whether it's
somebody that
you know
that might
just need
to be
encouraged
along the
way.
What about
that crusty
neighbor?
The one
you don't
like?
The one
you avoid?
The one
that God
always brings
up to you
when somebody
says you need
to share
your Christ
with somebody?
Has God
placed anybody
in your life
and you go
no not
him.
Not him.
That guy.
Write him
down.
What about
somebody who's
got hangups?
They're messed
up.
What about
somebody that
looks like she
has it all
together and
don't need
anything else?
Write her
down.
Will you
just commit
to pray
for five
of them?
For five
weeks?
Lord,
who would
you have
me pray
about
inviting?
We'll talk
about the
next step
later.
We'll provide
materials for
you to help
with that
process.
But let's
preface
everything we
do
with just
praying.
A concert
of prayer
as individuals
for folks
that God's
laid upon
our heart.
What
difference
would it
make
if hundreds
of people
are prayed
for?
Would that
make a
difference
in people's
lives?
I believe
it will.
And I'm
excited not
only to see
what God
will do
in those
that prayer
may lead
to an
invite
and for
those
who are
committed
to just
pray about
it.
if you
would bow
your head.
I don't
want you to
close your
eyes though.
I want you
to look at
that sheet.
And if you
don't have
five names
yet,
I want you
to ask God
to give you
clarity in
that,
to know
what that
is.
again,
you duplicate
those names.
You write
those on
those first
five lines
so you can
keep that
for yourself.
You write
them on
those bottom
five lines
so you can
rip that
off.
It's
perforated.
You can
rip that
off and
I'll give
you instruction
for that
for just
a moment.
But before
we do
that,
I must
ask,
is it
possible
that someone's
here today
and you've
never given
your heart
and life
to the
Lord Jesus
Christ?
And you
realize,
you realize
that you're
separated from
God.
You realize
that God's
placed you
in this
place today,
maybe many
times over
and over
again,
but he's
placed you
here because
you need to
commit your
life to the
Lord Jesus.
I'm going
to tell you
that Jesus
came to
seek and
to save
that which
was lost.
And I'm
thankful today
that he'll
save you.
He'll
change you
if you
surrender
your life
to him.
I encourage
you as we
give the
invitation in
just a moment
for you to
come.
I'll be here
ready to pray
for you.
Be happy to
thoroughly show
you what it
means to give
your heart and
life to the
Lord Jesus
Christ.
Don't put it
off.
Maybe you've
done that,
but you've
never publicly
acknowledged that
through baptism.
Jesus, by his
example and by
his commission,
told us that's
how we show
folks that we're
Christians.
So I encourage
you if you've
never done that,
come.
Make that
right.
We'll line
that up for
you when you
come.
Maybe you're
here and God's
drawing you to be
a part of First
Baptist Church.
You know this is
where God would
have you to serve.
I encourage you
to come.
I encourage you
to come.
I'd love to pray
for you.
I'd love to guide
you in that process.
Or maybe you're
here and you've
got something you
need to lay
before the Lord.
Might be
something about
your own life.
Might be
something about
somebody else's
life.
But you just
need time before
the Lord.
These steps here
are a makeshift
altar for us to be
able to lay things
down before him.
I have no idea how
God's guiding you.
I don't pretend
that.
I just do what
God leads me to
do.
I just encourage you
to be obedient to
follow him in every
way.
We'll stand
together and we'll
sing.
But more important
than that, I
encourage you to
obey God as he
speaks to your
heart and life.
Lord Jesus, I love
you.
And I ask your
God that you'll
guide each and
every one today to
simply follow what
you would have them
to do, oh Lord, I
pray.
In Jesus' precious
name, amen.
Amen.