Sermon Notes

"Liking the Life"

By Chris Ulrich

October 18^th, 2015

 Click here to download printable sermon notes in pdf format.  

Thank you; you may be seated.  It’s good to see everybody this morning.  It definitely got cold, quick, here.  I know I mention the weather for to time to time; I’m just giving you an update.  I’m not a meteorologist or anything, but, just in case you hadn’t noticed, it got cold.

Our theme for this month is, “Working the Field of Souls-Lessons of Evangelism.”  We’ve gone over several themes in the last year, and the last couple of years.  Sound doctrine.  We have months that are dedicated to thanksgiving, we have months that are dedicated to—we had one that was, “It Starts With Love.”  So, this isn’t anything new, but it’s definitely something that, if you’ll hear from God, then you’ll get something from it.  I know that Parrish, he started the month out a couple of weeks back.  And, his message, there was one take away that I would say stayed with me, and that was about how sometimes our testimony gets put on display.  It might be something relatively dramatic or it might be something kind of minor but, either way, it’s out there.  So, I have a short story to tell, about kind of being put on display.  You know, it wasn’t anything that was a major catastrophe but there are lessons to be learned here.  Earlier this week, I had taken a couple of days off, but then on Wednesday, I was asked by one of our managers to do a ride-along.  In the business world, that’s where somebody comes and spends some time with you, and kind of gets an idea of what the responsibilities of the job are.  So I went down to our office; I actually ended up working out a little bit, finished up, got a cup of coffee, and even got to the room a little early.  Everything’s just fine, nice, and well, just the way it supposed to.  So, the lady that had come down from Wisconsin, she as siting there.  We were actually in a conference room that faces one of the main hallways.  So, I’m getting everything set up, and I’ve got my coffee right here, and then, the next thing you know, “Oh, whoops!”  I spilled my coffee, I mean, all over the table, all over my laptop, and all over my leg.  So, she’s running to the restroom—I appreciate that—she’s like, “I’m going to get some paper towels,” and I’ve got some in my bag, so I start grabbing those.  She gets back, and, fortunately, she’s there, and she’s helpful.  I don’t know this person—I’ve never met her n my life, but, I look at something like that like, I appreciate that, so, I’m thinking, “What a great first impression, right?”  This is something where it’s like, I had never met her before, and she’s probably thinking, “What a klutz!”  You know?  Now, some of you were here a couple of months ago when I—this projector, right here—I got a little excited and knocked that over.  Pete came up, and it was still working.  Let’s just put it like that.  I know a projector is not a cheap item.  So, fortunately, we got everything cleaned up; I was wearing black pants so there wasn’t any big stain.  I was shaking my computer out, to get all the coffee dripping out of it.  We ended up getting going; the training session really went well.  I mean, it wasn’t anything, once that stumbling block got done, and we got going.  I thank God for that.  What I would say is, “What does that really have to do with evangelism?”  Well, a lot of times, things like that get put on display.  I mean, I’m not saying this was a major catastrophe, this wasn’t a tragedy, this wasn’t something where it was like, you know, a car accident.  I say that because I know that several of you have experienced that.  Several of you have experienced tragedy, or some heartache that, you know, words can’t even come across to convey how you might feel.  And those are challenging things, and people are looking at you like, “Okay, how are you going to act, how are you going to melt down?  Are you going to fly off the handle?  Are you going to go into a rage?  Are you going to become so withdrawn that you’re completely unreachable?”  And it’s times like that where it’s like, okay, we are on display.

I know that Jesse had shared last week, and he and his family are sick today, they’re not here, but, one point that he shared that really stood out to me was, “If we can’t share with one person, then why would God give us an entire audience to share with?”  And, something like that, where, I appreciate that because Jesus saves one soul at a time, and it’s about understanding that we have a personal relationship with God.  This isn’t about our relationship with our family and God, or with an organization and God, or even with the church and God.  It’s us as individuals.  Now, we come together in fellowship; we come together and we teach and we preach sound doctrine, and, even what was shared in that song, which I do appreciate the fact that we hadn’t done that in a long time, up until, maybe, a couple of months ago.  But it is, baptized in Jesus’ name; being born again, it’s a major thing, and we’ll get into that a little more, as the message goes along.  Evangelism is about taking time for people and that’s going to require some leg-work and getting our hands dirty at times (maybe literally and maybe figuratively). 

I’m going to ask Rick to come at this time.  He is going to lead us in a prayer for the message.  But, yeah, we’re going to have some times when we’re going to have to do some leg-work, but the effect is still going to be the same. 

Rick:  If we could bow our heads.  Lord Jesus, God, as we prepare our hearts for this message, God, we just pray for such a strong anointing on our brother, Chris, Lord.  He’s got an idea from You, Lord; he’s sought You, he’s prayed, he’s got notes and everything that he’s worked on, Lord, and we pray that as he brings the message toward us, that the Holy Spirit would just light a fire, God, that, as the words hit our ears, Lord, that it would just burn within us, God, and not just be a message, and not just be a nice thing to hear, God, but that it would just burn within us, and just leave with us, today, God, and bear much fruit, God, as we go about our week, God, and we just think about the idea of evangelism, and reaching out to other people, God, that we could bear much fruit, and be a greater testimony.  God, we just thank You, and we pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Thank you.  Amen.  There’s a couple of points this morning.  I know sometimes we do a few; sometimes we do more than that, but there’s actually going to be just two.

•             Sold out for ourselves 

•             Sold out for others

•          1st Point – Sold Out For Ourselves

 So, what do we do to reach out to evangelize?  I think we’ve all heard sales pitches in our life, whether a commercial in the newspaper, on television, on the internet, or on one of the thousands of billboards, millions, maybe, that are strewn across our highway system across America.  I was riding down by O’Hare, maybe about a year ago, maybe a little more, give or take.  Maybe some others have seen this billboard.  So, I’m riding along, and this billboard just says, “YOUR WIFE IS HOT!”  And I was like, “Whoa,” you know, and I’m like, and then it says, in much smaller letters, “It’s time to get your air-conditioner fixed. Thanks, Your good friends at Four Seasons Heating and Cooling.”  And I thought, “Wow!  That’s pretty attention-getting.” I’m not even a married guy but I would have to say, that could be pretty offensive, but, ultimately, you look at it like, if you read the entire billboard—as long as you’re not going so fast that you pass it completely—but, it got my attention. 

I know that I’ve told some of us that I was actually down in Indiana a couple of months ago, and, again, this is about sometimes you see things along life’s journey.  You hear things, expressions, you come across advertising, you know, talk to different people, and this one I saw—and, many of us I think have heard the expression, “God bless America.”  If you haven’t then you’re haring it for the first time now.  But, I would think just about everybody’s heard that.  And that’s well and good; that’s a very appropriate thing, and we do ask that God bless America, and His name is Jesus.  His name is Jesus.  I know there’s beliefs out there that don’t claim Jesus, but Jesus Himself said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life:  no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6)   But I saw—I was driving along, down by Indianapolis—and I just happened to see this one billboard, and it’s not like I’m always looking at the billboards, or check every time I drive again, but they’re there by the side of the road, and they’re like eighty feet long and twenty feet tall, but, this one, I actually appreciated a lot.  It just said, “America, bless God.”  Has anybody else seen that?  Okay, okay.  I have to say that I thought, “You know what?  We do need more of that.”  I mean, as a country, we say, “God bless America.  Bless us,” and we live any old way, or act any way, and think, “Oh, it doesn’t matter what I say or how I act or what I do, and go on my merry way…”  Well, it does matter.  I’m here to say, and that’s a convicting thing—I’m talking about, Maria, what you mentioned about sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), that’s something that cuts both ways; we’ve heard that before.  It’s something where we look at it like, okay, we’re saying it, and it’s not about just preaching, we’re not talking about that as far as evangelizing, but we’re talking about, like, sharing our faith, conveying our faith.  But, I would say, getting back to America, bless God.  That’s something that we have to take individually.  I mean, I understand, we’re not going to give account for the whole 300 million, whatever the population of this country is, and I’ll have say this, the Bible says that iniquity shall abound, and the love of many shall wax cold (Matthew 24:12), and it talks about times worsening, and we see that evidence in morals, and behavior, and just declining values and principles, and it’s a disheartening, and it’s a discouraging thing, but, ultimately, we have to look at it like, well, the Bible does prophesy about it.  The Bible does tell us that these things are going to happen, so we have to brace ourselves.  We have to understand, this isn’t some joke.  This isn’t like, “Oh, well, you know…”  I’m going to share, Andy and Parrish, I appreciate you guys bringing in that movie we watched the other night as a fellowship.  I understand not everybody was there.  And I’m not saying I’m looking at that like this was something where I’m just going to take that as doctrine and I’m just going to go by that, and every time I feel conviction from God, I’m going to watch that.  That’s not what I’m talking about.  But, I think there are plenty of things as we go through life that get our attention, and I would say that was one of them.   

Romans 14:1-5  Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.  For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.  Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.  Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.  One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

This message today isn’t about billboards, or advertising, or commercials, or anything that may be an attention-grabber, it’s about working the fields of souls; it’s about knowing that there is some degree of marketing involved, whether we know it and even whether we like it or not.  But before we get into the seeking to convert aspect of it, how convinced are we, individually, that this born-again, baptized in Jesus’ name, endure to the end gospel is certain?  How much are we really sure of that?  How much are we really taking it seriously?  How much of it, do we have a plan to stay in the faith no ifs ands or buts about it?  Are we sold out for ourselves at this point?

And getting back to that being our first point, that we have to be sold out for ourselves before we can convince anybody else.

How many have ever heard the expression, “Life’s unfair…”  or, “Life’s short…” “…and then you die”?  That’s a pretty desperate place to be, and I’ve heard people say that in a pretty convincing manner, to the point where it was like, “How do you reach somebody like that?”  I know that there’s some—I’ve heard that before I became a Christian, and since I became a Christian.  And it’s one of those things where it’s like, you want to just be able to, like what you shared, again, Maria, about thinking about all the people, in different parts of the world, that are living in squalor, or living in conditions that would be considered to be unspeakable, or the kind of thing where it’s just heart-wrenching.  So, looking at it like, okay; then we have to have a balance.  Then we have to understand, “Okay, well, what’s God provided me with?”  I can’t live anybody else’s life except my own, and God has blessed this country, I mean, even getting back to that point.  But, about this expression, I mean, sometimes you hear that—or maybe you’ve never heard it, but—it seemed like they were persuaded that they were engulfed in absolute hopelessness, and it’s like, “Okay, how am I going to reach people like that, and persuade them that the Gospel is real?”  Well, by being persuaded, ourselves, that this Gospel is true, first and foremost.  There’s a peace that passes all understanding and there’s a help in time of need.  And there’s a personal walk, and we grow in God, and there’s a verse that in proverbs---I’m not going to turn to it—but, it talks about the path of the righteous is a shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day (Proverbs 4:18).  And that’s just talking about making progress in God, that’s talking about, like, light at the end of the tunnel, because, sometimes it does feel like it’s a long tunnel, a long journey.  And it is.  I mean, there are people that will get baptized and get saved at the eleventh hour.  And it’s not a matter of looking at it like, “I’m just going to wait until the last minute.”  Don’t wait until the last minute; I’m here to say, don’t wait ‘til the last minute.  Because when God reveals His truth—and He does—and that’s another thing, the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all people (Titus 2:11).  We can’t make excuses for others, and we can’t make excuses for ourselves.  But you know, we do have a cross to carry; the Bible talks about to live is Christ and death is gain (Philippians 1:21), and that we die daily (1 Corinthians 15:31), and that we won’t always get what we want.  But we will get what we need.  And, the truth is, there’s no other lifestyle I’d rather live.  And we need to be fully persuaded in our own minds of that truth.

Romans 8:35-39                Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

              So let me ask you this question, and you don’t have to raise your hands, or jump up, or anything like that.   Do you like living this lifestyle?  That also happens to be the title of this message today, “Liking the Life.”  Liking the Life.  And I’m not talking about everything that we have to endure, but I’m taking about the blessings that God gives us, the benefits that God gives us.  The realization that there is an eternal plan of salvation, that there is something to look forward to—not just in the next world, but also in this world.  When I look around, and I think about—I’m going to tell you something, all the mixed signals that you get, the iniquity, the—I’ll tell you this, and I’m not going to get into politics at all, but sometimes I just get turned off; I’ll just say that much.  Sometimes it just feels like—there was a movie several years ago called, “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” maybe some of you have heard of it, maybe some of you haven’t heard of it, and it’s just like what the title sounds like.  I’m not going to get into all the plot, but, sometimes I feel like the guy that actually wrote that book, he did a lot of homework and research about the conditions that were in these institutions, and I thought, “You know, without the power of God, without the love of God, without the truth of God, I honestly thought I was on my way.  I just telling you the bare, flat-out, my face hanging out truth, because I want to give glory to God for that, and just say that I’m in my right mind and I’ve got a purpose.  I’ve got structure, and everything else you’d think God would offer and then some; I’m talking about and then some.  God is never going to leave us hanging; he’s never going to leave us high and dry.  And, you know, we get that we don’t always get what we want.  Are you content with the things God’s given you in this life?  Is there a satisfaction in your life, in your ministry, in your job, in your school, in your friends, in your fellowship, in your travels, in your highs and lows of daily living?  Or are you disenchanted and dissatisfied with the way things are going?  And, again, I’m not talking about bumps in the road; I’m not talking about occasional setbacks, and I’m not even talking about the passing of loved ones.  I know that there are those things, and it would be easy to write it off, and say, “That’s just life.”  And it is, but I’d rather have the power of God to be able to deal with those things, to deal with that heartache, to be able to deal with loneliness, to be able to deal with depression, because we’re not impervious from those things.  Those things can affect us at times; I’m not talking about in a completely overwhelming way, but there are times when we’re going to feel those emotions, too.  I mean, that’s one thing for sure.  And, again, getting back to liking it, liking the way things are going.  But, do you feel ripped occasionally?  Do you feel like, “I just haven’t gotten what I expected out of this?”  Well, I’m here to say, “I’ve been down that road.”  I mean, I’ve felt that burden, that pain, that grief, that—times where I’ve had to really examine myself, and think, “You know what?  What’s the big picture?”  The big picture is that we have our names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.  That is definitely the big picture.  And that’s talking something that transcends any problem that we’ll ever have, because, when you look at life, and, we’ve heard this before, probably the gold standard of suffering, look at Job, and I’m not even talking Christ Himself, because, obviously, He’s our Savior, but as far as you want to take all this aside, and say, “Well, no, He knew all this was going to happen,” okay, that’s true.  That’s true that Christ knew, but He still didn’t want to go through it.  He said, “Father, if this cup pass from Me, nevertheless, not My will but Thy will be done.  But, you look at the Book of Job, and you look at some of the things that he experienced, and it’s something where I just think, “Now, would I just up and run?”  I don’t know, and I’m not asking for that, either.  I mean, I’m just going to tell you that flat out; I’m not looking at that like, “Bring it on, God!”  Like what Parrish was talking about, heads up, I just want to face that, and experience as much suffering and torture as possible.  That’s not it; that’s not the case.  But, you know, I knew that discontent, when I was in that place, wasn’t from God.  The Bible talks about, whatsoever state I’m in, therewith to be content (Philippians 4:11).  God wants us to like this life, and all the benefits, and I’m firmly convinced of that.  Oh, I believe Revelation 12:11, in case some of you were thinking of that, where it says that those Christians who’ve overcame the devil by the blood of the Lamb, they loved not their lives unto the death.  I believe that, but that’s talking about the world.  That’s talking about living in this world; that’s not talking about what you get from God, because, otherwise there’s no joy.  Otherwise, you can just toss joy.  If you take away that, then, you’re right, it is a pretty hopeless place to be.  We’d still have eternal life, but I wouldn’t want to go through this world without any joy, or without liking anything.  I’m just going to tell you flat out. 

I’m going to go to my second point, which is alos my last point.  We only have two points this morning.

•          2nd Point – Sold Out For Others

 It’s about doing for others at this point.  This is when we prefer one another above ourselves with no strings attached.  It’s when we bear one another’s burdens and not just our own.  We have to be sold out for ourselves before we can be sold out for others and that’s just the order of things, and the way things are.  When we arrive at this point doesn’t mean we’ll never get anything we like ever again, like, “I’m caring for somebody else, that means I’ll never get to do anything I like, ever again.”  That’s not true.  I mean, I don’t think it is true.  I mean, I’m not a parent, but I know that parents do make great sacrifices, and a lot of times, we, when we’re children, don’t realize that until we’re much older, and there’s that much greater appreciation at that point in time.  And I would say that’s something where you have to have that love and respect that is God-given to be able to see that, and you will see it.  But, when we’re sold out for others, it means that we’re convinced that this gospel is tried and true, we’re in it for the long haul, and that we’re not just salesmen or saleswomen for the gospel.  I hope that doesn’t sound like too much business jargon, but the honest to God truth is that we are God’s ambassadors.  I think we’ve all heard that expression, that we are ambassadors for Christ. 

John 21:15-21    So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.  He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.  This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

 We’re going to go some places that we wouldn’t choose to go on our own.  We’re going to be put in situations and circumstances that a lot of times are going to make us uncomfortable, and we’re going to squirm.  But our desire to evangelize can’t be manipulative or with strings attached.  It shouldn’t be to convert people in order to get them in our image, or do what we say, or to jerk them around.  I mean, that’s the honest to God truth.  Or even to pat ourselves on the back.  If we’re exuberant, or we’re quiet, we shouldn’t try to, like, influence them, “Well, you’ve got to do this; you’ve got to do that.”  Like, let them grow.   Corinthians 3:6 says, “One man plants, one man waters, but God gives the increase.”  Yes, we still need to be there to teach, guide, encourage, and uplift, but we also need to let God give the increase and let each person form an individual relationship with God.  That is a major part of what evangelism is all about.

This is a little bit along the lines about what I just shared.  It’s not trying to be manipulative, or trying to, like, get somebody to do exactly what we want them to do.  This is actually like—Andy, you were up here earlier, and you were, like, I forget what part, but you read something and said, “No, I don’t like that part.”  Oh, “We’re evil.”  That was like that verse that Andy read earlier, “If you, yourselves, being evil…”  I know, I’m just recapping, not reading what’s up here, but I heard you sort of say, “Well, we don‘t really like that part.”  I appreciate that; I appreciate that, because we’re thinking, in the flesh, in our natural human nature, without God, that is true.  That is true. 

Matthew 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte [which means to convert them], and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

 So that’s definitely, definitely not the picture that we want to see.  That’s definitely not the work of an evangelist that we want to have.  A good amount of evangelism goes back to upholding biblical truth and it also includes people genuinely seeing that we enjoy living this life.  If they think that we’re just grinning and bearing it all the time, or we’re in the torture chamber, “Oh, I don’t know how much longer I can take this before I pop!”  I get it, we’re going to have hardships at times, and we’re going to have some things.  The Bible says, “Endure hardship as a good soldier in Christ Jesus,” (2 Timothy 2:3) but, my God, if they don’t see some of that joy manifested, and shining through, what kind of turn off is that?  I’d be like, “Man!”  I know, when I first started coming around, and I think, we’re all examples of what evangelism is on an individual level.  We were all evangelized at some point, and I’m going to share something that might not even sound like a spiritual point, but here it is:  I’d just been baptized a few days and I was down in Virginia, and there was a brother, who’s still around, John Hoffman.  He was one of the older guys, a little more seasoned in the faith, but, they had some apartments over there.  To kind of get off the military base, it was nice, like, to go over there and relax, and just get away from the chaos.  But, I remember, John, he just had some photo albums.  And we’d get home, “Hey, you want a sandwich?”  “Sure.”  You know.  “You want to look at a few pictures?”  It was just little things like that, that made such an impression, that made such a big difference.  While we were there—and I want to share this, because these are things that are very impressionable, these are ways that people evangelize us, that, again, you could say, “He didn’t have a Bible study?  He didn’t bring out the Bible and have a prayer until two in the morning?”  No.  No, he didn’t; he actually just said, “Do you want to look at some picture?”  I know that, around that same time, I’d had a few days off—I was working, like a night shift, and Pastor Thomas, and Pastor Wilson, and, I think, one—I don’t remember who else was there, but they invited me out to go to lunch.  I’m going to back up just a little and say, there was a couple of so-called evangelists, or so-called very religious people that had made these proclamations about, “If the church doesn’t give me sixty million dollars, then God’s going to take me.”  Or, they’ve made all these outlandish claims that had to do—and I believe in tithes and offerings, don’t get me wrong—but, when you start talking in God’s place, and you know it’s not of God, that’s a turn-off, and it drives people away.  So, here’s what I was expecting:  A couple of pastors, the head pastor, and another guy are taking me to lunch, and I’m thinking, “Here comes the shakedown.  They’re going to talk to me about, ‘Well, we want you to give this much to the church, and we want…’”  And I was like, I was ready; I had my guard up.  So, we get to the restaurant, and we’re talking, and there was water, and we get the sandwiches and stuff, and it was like, the meal went by, they paid the bill, we left and that was it.  It wasn’t like any—and I’ve got to say that God just said, “See?  You’re in the right place.  This isn’t a shakedown.”  This isn’t, like, trying to get you to do something that you don’t want to do, or maybe that you’re not even ready to do.  But, as a result of that—and I’m going to tell you this—as a result of that, it caused me to want to give.  I’m talking about wanting to give, financially.  I’m not talk about out-of-bounds.  I’m not talking about trying to do it to out-give anybody, but just, that blessing of God, it was like, “You know what?  There is a work of the Lord.”  That is part of evangelism.

I’m going to share one last verse.  This is a simple verse.  This is, basically, people are looking, “Okay, how do people treat each other?”

John 13:34           A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

 That’s the words of Christ.  That’s where He’s talking about, like, people are going to see that difference.  People are going to look at, like, how you guys act in front of each other. 

John 13:34-35    A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

 It pays to relish the joy of the Lord, to appreciate our time here on earth, and, yeah, even to enjoy your team winning every now and then.  Abby, I’m talking to you!  She’s a big Cubs fan.  Even though they lost last night, they’re still in it.  I know what I’m talking about here.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  There’s nothing wrong with having some hobbies; having some likes and dislikes.  Yes, it is important to put ourselves in uncomfortable places at times, to make you do a visit, to do a hospital visit.  Or maybe it’s spending some time with somebody you really don’t know.  I know that, when Mary and Mike were here, just before they went down to Texas, here a couple of weeks ago, Mary shared something that, to me, stood out a lot.  She said, “You know, sometimes the most important thing is just to sit with somebody; just to spend a little time with them.”  I thought, “That’s wisdom from God!”  That’s not just her trying to impart, like, her personal convictions on us.  I mean, I thought, “I appreciate that, because that is important.”  That is something, and I’m not talking about getting in people’s faces or imposing on people.   We need to weep with those that weep and rejoice with those that rejoice (Romans 12:15) and if the circumstances call for that, then so be it.

We also need times—and I’m closing—to be instant in season and out of season and realize that being a blessing to someone is never a bad thing.  Showing hospitality, courtesy, friendliness, and (here’s a word) graciousness...   Tom Hanson, many of you remember Tom; Tom was up here many years.  He’s heading up the fellowship in Everett, Washington, but, he and used to walk quite a bit.  He mentioned that word every now and again.  Tom’s actually written a couple of books, and he’s s literary guy, and he used that word, graciousness.  And it was like—sometimes you don’t hear that as a quality of men.  I’m just telling you the truth, like, graciousness and graceful are two different things.  And I appreciated that, because there’s nothing wrong with deferring to somebody, or paying respect, or being humble, or just relaxing, or just encouraging people, and trying to uplift them, and not driving them into the ground, or humiliating them, or telling them off.  That’s another thing, sometimes I hear—I hear that more from the world—but, when I hear like somebody who claims to be a Christian, and it’ like, “Telling them off?  Oh, that made you feel good?”  I mean, the goal here is to be gracious, not to “…just to tell them off!”  That just made you feel gat and put them in their place…  Okay, okay.  We’re talking about liking the life, and we’re talking about evangelism, and I am closing.      People are watching us, young and old, rich and poor, relatives and strangers, friends and enemies, and they’re watching to see how much we really like being a Christian.  And hat is a fact.  And that just might be all it takes to persuade them, too.

I thank you for your time this morning.  God bless.

                           Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd