On Mission Together | Colossians 4:2-6

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? It's great to see you, great to be with you. If this is your first time ever with us on a Sunday, thanks for trusting us with your Sunday morning. I hope this place feels like home very quickly. Now that I do have an opportunity to speak, I don't want to miss the opportunity to say Blake Holmes is one of my favorite people in the world.

No one has championed me more, encouraged me more, sharpened me more, protected me more, and defended me more than Blake Holmes. He truly is… And I tell him this, so this isn't just flattery from the stage. He's the best pastor of people I know. I've watched him bleed for this place in ways you'll never know. So, Blake, thank you. Rebecca, thank you. The way you guys have invested in this place for decades… People will never know the influence you've had, and I'm grateful for both of you.

Okay. I'm so excited about where we're going today, but before we jump into it, I want to pray. As we do every week, I want to give you a chance… Even if you're here and you don't pray, I want to invite you to pray right now and say, "God, would you speak to me this morning?" Pray that really quick. "God, speak to me today." Then would you pray for the people around you and say, "God, would you speak to them as well?" Then would you pray for me and say, "God, would you speak through TA to us today?"

Lord, what a joy and a privilege it is to have your Word. Thank you that you've given us your Spirit and your Spirit leads and guides us into all truth. Lord, give us eyes to see you this morning. Give us ears to hear from you. I pray, God, that our hearts would be receptive to all you want to say to us today. In Jesus' name, amen.

Five months ago, I made the decision to join a CrossFit gym. John and Julia Marshall are members here. They own CrossFit Richardson. That was a big decision for me to make, because my primary form of exercise prior to CrossFit was just running. Getting into the gym wasn't a normal thing for me. Now that I'm five months in, I've come to some conclusions, and I want to share them with you today.

The first conclusion is there are different times where people who have been doing CrossFit for years will take their shirt off at the end of the workout. I've come to the conclusion that if my shirt is ever off at the gym, it's because a paramedic had to cut it off. Now, we'll see how the next month goes. I might be preaching the Christmas Eve service in a tank top and a scarf. We'll see. But the shirt stays on.

The second conclusion I've come to is that I had muscles that were never well engaged. Early on, I was experiencing all sorts of soreness, and an orthopedic surgeon in my Community Group… His words were, "Dude, you're just waking up your body." That's encouraging. "Your body has been asleep for years. Welcome to the world." But that was helpful. That's true.

Thirdly, it's so encouraging to take new ground. It's encouraging to see growth, yet there are consistently workouts that remind me, "You're new to this thing, and you have a long way to go." But that's okay. The fourth conclusion I've come to is it is so much more enjoyable to be in it with others. That's the beauty of CrossFit. It's a community. I get to work out with the same people every morning, which means I get to suffer with the same people every morning. I get to be encouraged and pushed by the same people every morning, and there's joy there. It's exciting.

The reason I'm sharing this with you is as we jump back into the book of Colossians, what Paul is going to speak to today is how we share our faith with other people, share Jesus with those who don't know Jesus. What he's going to push the Christians in Colossae and the Christians here at Watermark Community Church to do is to begin to wake up the muscle of sharing your faith. My hope, as we step back into the book of Colossians, is your experience with sharing Jesus with those who need to hear about Jesus would be a lot like my experience at CrossFit.

If that's a muscle that hasn't been awoken, if it's not used often, then my hope is you would experience new joy and new life in that muscle of your faith, and my hope is in the coming days, months, and years there would be this excitement as you experience new growth. Even as you experience the feeling of, "Man! I have so far to go" or "That was clunky; I wish that had gone better," you can still experience the joy of growth.

Finally, I hope you experience the joy of sharing your faith in community. The vision statement for the church that we're rallying around is abiding in Jesus, we are making disciples together. That's the vision statement of our church. That's what we are rallying around: abiding in Jesus, we are making disciples together. Did you see how it ended? We're making disciples together. We want to be a people on mission.

When it comes to sharing Jesus with others, you don't have to figure it all out on your own. There's actually a lot of excitement and joy that can come from being in the game together. So, we want to talk about that today, and my hope is not one person here would leave feeling guilty or full of shame for what you haven't done but that there would be this urgency and expectancy in your heart for what you're going to get to be a part of in community. That's why we're talking about sharing Jesus in the midst of a community series: we want to be on mission together.

So, if you have a Bible, I want to invite you to turn with me to Colossians, chapter 4. As you're turning there, let me say this. If you're here this morning and don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, here's what I want you to know. This is an opportunity for you to, in a sense, peek behind the curtain. It's going to feel a little bit like getting sucked into an infomercial. Do you remember infomercials? Twenty minutes go by, and you're like, "Man, I've been watching a commercial about a mop. What is my life?"

Do you know why you'll get sucked into an infomercial? It's because of the results. You see the results, and you're like, "I kind of want that to be true for me." So, if you don't know Jesus, I hope you hear what's on the table for you, what could be true of your life if you put your trust in Jesus. Listen to what Paul says in Colossians 4:2-6.

"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person."

This passage centers upon two imperatives. The first one is in verse 2: "Continue steadfastly in prayer." The second one is in verse 5: "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders." That's Paul's point today: to marry prayer and mission and watch what happens when you marry the two. Let's just walk through the passage. Paul starts by saying, "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving."

I'm just going to take a minute and go off on prayer. We are talking specifically about sharing your faith with others, but I want to talk generally about prayer for a moment, because if you remember all the way back to the beginning of the year, we did a series called A Praying Church because we want to be a praying church. We don't want to just be a church that prays; we want to be a church that is known for prayer.

Paul says, "Continue steadfastly in prayer…" He's not just writing to individuals; he's writing to a church made up of people who have Christ in common, and his point is "Continue steadfastly in prayer." Another way of saying it is "Be devoted to prayer. Prioritize prayer. Don't just pray sporadically; pray consistently. Be known for prayer."

Just think really quickly. Is there anyone in your life who you know for their commitment to prayer? That's what I've heard about Jim Wimberley. When I've been around him, he jumps to prayer quickly. Do you know anyone like that? Are you known for that? I want to be known for that. I want people to know me for prayer. I want people to know me as someone who has consistently sought to take ground in the area of prayer every day and every year until Jesus takes me home.

I never want to settle in. I always want to experience more in prayer. I want to be known for prayer. I want Watermark Community Church to be known for prayer. Like, if there's a compliment floating around DFW, let it be, "Man, those people are about prayer. If they do anything, they pray." If we're going to be a praying church, just dream with me for a second.

Imagine what this place would be like if every member believed Jesus and took him seriously in John 15 where he says, "Apart from me you can do nothing." If we really took Jesus at his word, we would pray. Imagine a day when this auditorium is literally overflowing every single time we gather for a Night of Prayer and Worship because thousands of us want to taste the goodness of God that is available when God's people gather to pray.

Imagine a day when Watermark members are regularly gathering in neighborhoods and walking neighborhoods, begging God for revival in every home. When we do 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting again in February, just imagine that every member participates and loves it. Imagine a day when one of the ways members serve is simply by showing up early on Sundays to walk the campus and walk the auditorium, begging God to move on this campus.

Imagine a day when prayer is a defining mark of every Community Group. It's not just the transition to start and the transition to close; it is defining what we do. Just imagine how different this place would be. Imagine the stories that would come from prayer. I've been so encouraged in my own Community Group as our leaders, John and Molly Arvesen, have sought to make prayer more central for us.

They strategically prepare each week to have a guided time of prayer where we are praying Scripture together. It feels like there's liturgy now in our Community Group, and we're working to carve out a more meaningful time of prayer where we can pray with and for one another. What does it look like even for you guys in your Community Group to reevaluate your commitment to prayer?

Some of you guys hear this, and it's not resonating with you. You're like, "I mean, I pray sometimes. What are we talking about here? Enough is enough." Well, here's what I want you to think about. Your prayer life says everything about what you believe about yourself and what you believe about God.

If you want to know if you have a big view of God, look at your prayer life. If you want to know if you have an accurate understanding of yourself, look at your prayer life. It'll tell you everything you need to know about how you view God and how you view yourself. What you have to understand is a small prayer life indicates a big view of yourself and a small view of God, because you're crushing life on your own. You have it under control. God doesn't have anything you need.

On the other hand, a big prayer life indicates a big view of God and a right view of yourself. Through prayer, we get to communicate with the God of the universe. Through prayer, we get to taste and see the goodness of God that alone can satisfy souls, and we get to invite God's help, which is resourced by his limitless power, which is incredible. So I just encourage you to evaluate personally. What do you really believe about prayer? Then, as a Community Group, evaluate where prayer falls in your group.

Now, we're talking this morning specifically about sharing Jesus with others, so let's get back to the text. Paul says, "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." Paul says that when you pray, thanksgiving should be a part of it. Why should gratitude be a daily part of your prayer life? Because when you express gratitude to God, in order to be grateful, you have to look back and see where God has been faithful. When you're grateful, it reminds you that God has been faithful, and when you're reminded that God has been faithful, you're confident that he's capable. He has been faithful in the past. He's capable in the present. And when you're confident that he's capable in the present, you pray.

So he says, "Make thanksgiving a part of your prayer life." Then he also says to pray watchfully. What does it mean to pray watchfully? It's the idea of praying like Jesus is really going to come back sometime, and it could be soon. My friend and Watermark member Jennie Allen talks about if we knew Jesus was coming back in 10 years, what would change? What if we knew Jesus was coming back in one year? What would change?

We would do things differently. It would put some heat on our prayers. We would pray with more urgency and intensity. That's what it means to pray watchfully. It's to pray like Jesus really is coming back. So, if we're going to pray like Jesus really is coming back, then the first thing I want to encourage you to do, if you want to take a step in exercising the muscle of sharing your faith…

1. Begin to pray for those who are not ready for Christ's return. Here's the thing. If the Bible is true, then Christ's return is the day every Christian is longing for, and it couldn't come soon enough. We long for that day. We're ready for that day. We anxiously anticipate that day, because that's the day where this world will finally be what we hope it is, a day with no more cancer, no more addiction, no more shame, no more disease, no more disability. It is a life where everything is as it should be. We long for that day.

But if the Bible is true, then the day of Christ's return is the day unbelievers wish they had just one more day. Why? So they could spend another day with family? No. So they could close one more deal? That's not it. So they could check off one more thing on the vacation bucket list? No. The day of Christ's return is the day unbelievers wish they had just one more day to surrender to Jesus Christ, because the day of Christ's return… I don't want to sugarcoat it. If the Bible is true, then that's the beginning of hell, eternal separation from God.

If that's true, then we, as Christians, should pray for those who are not ready for Christ's return, and when we do, we reflect God's heart. Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." When you pray for those who are not ready for Christ's return, all you're saying is, "God doesn't want you to perish, and neither do I." You're reflecting his heart.

So, what's a step you can take? Well, have y'all ever heard of the Watermark top 10 list? We haven't talked about it in a while, but that's part of Watermark's DNA. We have to bring it back. I want to encourage you to cultivate your own top 10 list of people who don't know Jesus who you are regularly praying for and asking God for an opportunity to pursue with the gospel. Now, you might hear "10," and you're like, "That's too much." Okay. Maybe for you it's a top five list. You're like, "Too much." Okay, top three. You're like, "Still two too many." Okay. Top one list. Start somewhere.

I want to encourage you to have a list of people you're regularly praying for and looking for opportunities to pursue with the gospel. You can even put their names on the background screen of your phone so anytime you look at your phone one of those 200 times a day that you pull it out, you see one of those names and pray for three to five seconds for that person.

What does this have to do with your community? It's a community series. Well, I want to encourage you to begin to share those names in your group. A healthy Community Group is a group where the members know the names your group is seeking to reach with the gospel. I'm just going to warn you. Sometimes Community Groups can become insular. We just focus on us.

If you start praying for the names of unbelievers, you might not like your group anymore. Do you want to know why? Because it's no longer about you. That might be tough for some people, but I promise you it'll make a much more healthy group when you're caring for one another but then activating toward those who don't know Jesus. I want to take a moment right now. If there's anyone in the room who isn't a Christian, I want to pray for you right now. I don't want to wait until the end of the talk.

God, I pray for anyone in the room right now who doesn't know you. I pray that today they would know your love. I pray that today they would know your pursuit of them and your longing to be in relationship with them. I pray for the roughly three billion people in the world who have yet to hear the name of Jesus, and I pray for revival among the nations. Amen.

2. Pray for God's work of opening. The reason I use that wording is because Paul uses that wording. Look again at what he says. Verse 3: "At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak."

Paul is inviting prayer for an open door. An open door is a God-prepared opportunity where two things are happening at the same time. It is a God-prepared opportunity where God is giving you an opportunity to share at the exact same time that someone is ready to hear the gospel and begin to contemplate it and even respond to it in faith. That's only made possible by the preparation work of the Holy Spirit.

We see the Scriptures talking about God's work of opening in Acts 16:14. Listen to this. This is awesome. Luke writes, "One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul."

What do I mean by the Spirit doing a work of preparation? Well, this is where we have to have an accurate theology of the Holy Spirit. One of the things the Holy Spirit does is the Holy Spirit convicts unbelievers of their sin. Another thing the Holy Spirit does is the Holy Spirit illuminates our minds and hearts to the truth. Anytime someone is hearing the gospel and understanding it and considering it, that's only possible because the Spirit is doing something supernatural in their lives. So, we pray for God's work of opening.

I shared last week about our missionary friends who were staying with us. They live in one of the top 50 countries in the world where Christians experience the most persecution, yet they're sharing the gospel all the time. Do you know what they told our Community Group they're praying? They are praying that God would lead them to the people whose hearts the Holy Spirit is preparing to hear. That's what they're praying for. They're praying, "God, lead us to the people your Spirit is already preparing."

I remember hearing someone who lives in a country closed to the gospel. If they were found to be sharing the gospel, they would either be killed on the spot or imprisoned and beaten brutally. Do you know what this person said? They said this is what they do, because anytime they share the gospel, their life is on the line.

They will fast and pray for two days, and during those two days of fasting they're asking God, "Which doors do you want us to knock on?" As they fast and pray for two days, the Spirit of God shows them, "This is the door you're going to go knock on," and then they go and knock, and they share the gospel. Do you know what they are doing? They are praying for God's work of opening. They're praying for an opportunity to share with those people the Spirit of God is already preparing.

So, this is what it has to do with us, and this should be really encouraging. God is preparing people's hearts all over Dallas right now to hear the gospel and respond. Isn't that good news? Think about it. There are people at your workplace, at your gym, and on your street who the Spirit of God is already preparing to hear the gospel, which is amazing. One of the best things we can do is pray that God would lead us to the people he's already preparing.

When you do that, you're just praying for God's work of opening, that he would open up an opportunity for you to go to the people whose hearts he is already opening. So, some of you realize now why there is a door onstage. Some of y'all can finally check that box in your mind. You're like, "Just tell me what the door is for. I just need to know. Why is there a door onstage?" Welcome to the talk.

I just want to talk about the difference between an open door and a locked door and what faithfulness looks like in sharing your faith. Some people are carrying around so much guilt and shame because they think the only version of faithful evangelism is just walking around, pounding on every door, like, "You probably don't want to hear this, but I'm just doing this because this is what I'm supposed to be doing." You're just pounding on any and every door.

That's okay. There are some people… God has given you the gift of evangelism. I have friends who, if I'm with them somewhere… It doesn't matter where we are. In 10 seconds or less, they're sharing the gospel with anyone they meet. It's amazing. It's awesome. But some of y'all hear that, and you're like, "Please, don't make me do that."

We have to be clear. Remember, Paul was praying for an open door, so we're talking about God-prepared opportunities. There are some times where there's a completely open door. You don't even know when you wake up that morning that that's what God is going to have you experience, but you're going to walk past someone and interact with someone where there is a completely open door.

What does that open door look like? Well, it could look like a bunch of different things. They could be expressing curiosity to you about you. "Hey, do you go to Watermark? What's that place about?" "Hey, why aren't you stressed out right now while everyone else is stressed?" It could look like curiosity. It could be someone saying, "Look. I sense I need to start looking for a church. Can you help me with that?" That's an open door.

It could be someone in crisis coming to you, looking for help and hope. "My spouse just served me divorce papers, and I am wrecked. Can you help me?" "I don't know if I'm going to keep my job. I think I'm about to lose my job, and if I do, I don't know what I'm going to do about it. Can you help me?" "Last night, I went out and had way too much to drink, and I ended up making some decisions that are going to cause havoc in my life. I need help. I need hope." That's an open door.

Anytime God allows you to stumble upon an open door, one of the best things you can do is ask these questions. This is what my missionary friends are doing. You just ask them, "What do you believe you need right now? Can I share with you where I would be turning if I were you?" That's what you do when a door is wide open.

But it's not always going to be an obvious open door. This is where it's helpful to test the lock, where you kind of walk up and just want to see if it's unlocked or not. Now, some of us deal with so much fear. It's like you're the robbers in Home Alone. You walk up, and you're like, "Man, if I even touch the knob, I'm going to have an M imprinted on my hand for the rest of my life."

You don't want to open the door, because if you do open it, there's going to be a paint can that jacks you up. It's going to be painful. No one wants to hear. No one wants you to step into their life and share Jesus. The reality is there are plenty of doors that are unlocked. You just don't know it. You just have to test the lock.

What does that look like? How do you test the lock? Well, an easy way is to ask people if church is a part of their life. Tomorrow someone might ask, "How was your weekend?" "It was good. I spent time with my roommate. I spent time with my kids. I went to church yesterday. Do you go to church anywhere?" That's it. You're just testing the lock.

You can test the lock by offering prayer to someone. If a waiter or waitress comes up… "Hey, we're about to pray for our meal. Is there anything you or your family needs that I can ask God to help you with right now?" All you're doing is testing the lock. That will make it clear to you whether the door is locked or unlocked.

There are going to be times where it's unlocked where people are like, "Man…" When you ask someone if you can pray with them, you'll know if the door is unlocked if they stop and are like, "Man, thank you so much for asking that. Actually, yes." Or you'll tell if the door is locked… Like, this past week I asked a guy at breakfast, and so quickly…

I was like, "Hey, man. Is there anything you or your family needs I can ask God to help you with?" He was like, "Oh, yeah." He was a young, healthy guy. He was like, "Just pray for continued health." I'm like, "Man, so many Watermark people come to breakfast here that you have spent the time to prepare your answer." It's okay. Sometimes the door will be locked.

I remember when we lived in Austin, we walked down our street at either Christmas or Easter, and we were inviting people to come to our church. When I invited one neighbor, she literally did this. She goes, "Uh! We're Catholic." That's what she said. I was like, "What am I, a vampire? Do you have a wooden stake back there? I don't know what's happening right now." Okay. Door is locked…at least right now.

I have a family member that at Christmastime, when I see her, I want to check the lock. Up until this point, it has been a locked door. I'll tell you this. I am clear that my responsibility isn't to be like, "But are you sure? Are you sure about that? Are you sure that right now you don't want to trust…?" No. She's not ready. The Spirit of God is not preparing her heart at this point. My responsibility is to pray.

A community director on our staff, Nate Roberts… This week we were talking about this, and he said something so encouraging that I wanted to share with you. He said there are more unlocked doors than you think, and there are fewer locked doors than you can imagine. I tell you that just to say…

What does this have to do with community? Well, what would it look like this week for your group to come together and ask, "Are there any open doors right now in your life? Who are you checking the locks on? This week, who can we, as a group…?" If y'all live in the same neighborhood, who are the neighbors you can invite over to have dinner to just get to know them and check the locks to see if there's an open door?

3. Practice sharing a clear message. Practice with your Community Group. Our groups should help each other grow in our ability to communicate the gospel clearly. Listen to what Paul says in verse 3. "At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak."

Do you see it? The apostle Paul himself is asking people he has never met to pray that he himself will communicate the gospel clearly. So, if the apostle Paul asks for prayer that he would speak clearly, we should invite others in our lives to help us grow in our ability to communicate the gospel clearly.

Now, I want you to see Paul was very clear on what his message was. He is asking them to pray for an open door. An open door for what? He says, specifically, an open door for the word. That's the exact wording. What's the word? He shares that too. It's the mystery of Christ. What's the mystery of Christ? Well, for Jews, the mystery would have been that Jesus is actually the Messiah. Salvation is found in the one who was crucified like a criminal. That carpenter turned out to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

For Jews and Gentiles, the mystery would have been that salvation is not only for the Jews but for people from every tribe, every tongue, every people, and every nation. The mystery is that Jesus is the Savior of the world. Only Jesus can make you right with your Maker. Only Jesus can bring you into the family of God. Only Jesus can free you from your shame. Only Jesus can satisfy the longings of your soul. Only Jesus can give you an eternally significant purpose, and only Jesus can give you hope and confidence of eternal life with God in heaven.

That's the mystery, and Paul was clear on his message. Right? So his prayer isn't that he would figure out what the message is; his prayer request is that he would communicate it clearly. I'll just share this with you. One of my concerns for the people at Watermark is you wouldn't know how to share the gospel clearly with those who need to hear it.

If we were to sit down and I were to ask, "What's the gospel?" you'd get there, but you'd take the long way. You'd take the scenic route. "Well, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And you know what? There were trees, and there was land, and there were fish in the sea." I've shared this before, but I'll share it again because we did it just this past week. My brother shared with me an exercise to do with my kids.

So, at the dinner table this week, we sat down for dinner, and I was like, "All right, boys. Andrew, you're walking down the street, and there's a wreck. There's a guy lying on the ground. You walk up to him, and he's like, 'It's too late for me. I'm going to die. I only have 30 seconds, but I want to know for sure how I'll go to heaven. What is the gospel?' What are you going to say to him?"

We've done this enough now that my kids are like, "Oh, not this again." Like, "Here we go." But they are clear now that the answer when that guy is dying… It doesn't start with, "Well, in the beginning God created… Here's what you need to know, man. Land, fish…all God. Next, people of Israel." No. "Jesus died for your sins. He rose from the dead. Put your faith in Jesus Christ, and you can be saved."

My fear is that you wouldn't know what to say when you have an opportunity to say it. There are a bunch of different ways to communicate the gospel. What I've used for years is a hybrid of what's known as the good news/bad news and the bridge illustration. I've kind of merged the two together. When our missionary friends were staying with us, they shared with us what's called the three circles.

It's all over the Internet, but I hadn't seen it before. It was so encouraging, so I want to show it to you. If you're taking notes, I'd encourage you to draw this out. If you're not taking notes, that's okay, because we're going to get it to you. It's on the Internet. There are actually iPhone cases on Amazon you can buy with the three circles on them. There are stickers you can buy and all that. I've found it to be a really compelling presentation of the gospel. Here it is.

It's three circles. The first circle is brokenness. Our world is a broken place. Here's a little fracture. You look around, and things just aren't as they should be. There's cancer. There's disease. There's crime. There's abuse. This world is broken. But it's not just broken out there; it's broken inside as well. We are not who we should be. We do things where we can be selfish. We can be prideful. We can be lustful. There's something that is broken inside each one of us.

But this isn't always as it has been, because there's God's perfect design. The Bible is clear that God actually created us to be in a whole relationship with him, for us to experience a real, enjoyable, intimate, personal relationship with him where we live all of life clear on his love for us and it creates wholeness in us, but the Bible is clear that we have departed from God's perfect design and life is broken because of sin.

What's sin? It's all of the ways we live contrary to God's way. It's all of the ways we live that are offensive to God. The Bible is clear that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin, what we deserve for our sin, is eternal separation from God. It's hell. That's a problem. There's nothing you can do about that.

The good news is God has provided a remedy. That remedy is Jesus. The good news is that Jesus is, in fact, God and as God he came down from heaven and lived a perfect life. He lived perfectly so he could die sacrificially on the cross for all of our imperfection, and then he rose from the dead as a demonstration that he had made payment for all of our sin.

When we come from our brokenness to Jesus, we can be restored to God's perfect design, which is to be in a right, enjoyable, whole relationship with God. Well, how do we come to Jesus? The Bible is clear. It's two things. First, it's to turn. It's to turn from our sin. It's to realize that life without Jesus is not working for us and, secondly, it's to begin following Jesus. It's to believe that life with Jesus is the only way.

The good news is when you come to Jesus and begin to experience God's perfect design, two things can happen. You can grow in Christ. You can grow in your understanding of what it looks like that you're completely forgiven by the God of the universe. You can grow in your understanding that you actually belong in the family of God. You can grow in your understanding that you have hope that you're going to experience God's perfect design one day where he makes everything new.

Until then, now you can go to that broken world and help broken people find Jesus who alone can restore a right relationship with God. You can share that with people and just ask them. You can say, "Look. Everyone in the world is in one of two places. You're either experiencing God's perfect design or you're living in brokenness. Where are you right now, and where do you want to be?" That's it.

My encouragement to you is to dial in how you would share your faith. With my boys this week, when I asked that question… There was some paper and crayons on the table, so I got them, and I sketched out the three circles for them. Our next step is to begin to practice it with the kids so that they, too, if they have an opportunity, can sit down and draw that out for someone.

Another thing I would encourage you to do is to begin to practice how you're going to share the gospel in your Community Groups. This is a way you can help each other. I would also encourage you to come up with a 15-second statement about how Jesus is working or changing your life. Here's the formula for it: "Life on your own. Now I follow Jesus. Life now with Jesus." It's just 15 seconds where you're helping someone understand what Jesus is doing in your life.

So, if you're talking to someone who's really stressed out, you can say, "Look. If I'm left to myself, man, I lean toward anxiety, and I can really worry, but I follow Jesus, and Jesus has forgiven me of my sins, and what I'm realizing is when I look to him, there is a peace that can come from him which changes me." That's it. Fifteen seconds. "Do you want to hear more about Jesus?"

Another thing I could say is "If I'm on my own, man, I'm such a people-pleaser. My tendency will be to chase people's approval, but I follow Jesus, and Jesus has forgiven me of my sins, and now I've come to realize that everything I'm looking for is found in the approval of Jesus Christ that I already have." That's it. "Would you like to hear more about Jesus?" It's just 15 seconds. That's something you can rehearse in your group. So practice sharing a clear message.

Look at what Paul says. He's very clear in verse 6. "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." He's saying you might be clear on what to say, but you're not clear on how to say it. You need to say it in a way that people can receive it. His encouragement would be to be warm and winsome. Let's be clear. No one gets shamed into heaven. No one gets scared into heaven.

This is why I have a problem with people who go and stand on the street and just yell at people, telling them they're going to hell. Heaven is not going to be full of a bunch of people scared of going to hell. Heaven is going to be full of a bunch of people who realized and saw the beauty of Jesus Christ and enjoyed the fact that they get to be with Jesus for all of eternity. So practice how you say it.

4. Live a compelling instead of repelling life. I remember when I was a student pastor, a student left me a note after the service was over. I picked it up, and he was quoting something that was attributed to Gandhi. His note said, "TA, I like your Christ but not your Christians." The quote that has been attributed to Gandhi is "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Paul says in verse 5, "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time." To walk…that's your daily life. Wisdom…that's biblical wisdom. It's living a life congruent with, not contrary to the truth of God's Word. "To make the most of the time." That's the idea of buying back the time.

Here's what you need to understand: the way you talk and the way you live are either declaring that Jesus changes everything or that Jesus changes nothing but still requires something. Do you understand what I'm saying? Your life is the greatest display and the best testimony about whether Jesus Christ is worth it or not, because your life might be declaring, "Jesus changes everything" or your life might be declaring, "Jesus changes nothing, but he still requires something. He still wants you to be at church every Sunday. He still requires you to give some of your money." That's not a very compelling Jesus.

Now, you might hear this and think my message to you is "Okay. So, Christians, go out there and be on your best behavior." That's not my message. That's the message we give to our kids when we're going into some situation where we need them to act in a way that they don't normally act. I remember when we would have lunches on special holidays, like Mother's Day or an Easter lunch. We'd get our kids all dressed up.

Their shirts are tucked into their pants. They have a sweater over the shirt. It's so uncomfortable for them. Before we go in, what's the conversation? "Hey, guys. We're going to be on our best behavior. We're not going to climb on things. We're not going to destroy things. We're not going to talk really loud, and we're not going to run around, because this is not a playground." So then we go in there, and they're sitting down at the table for two hours, not saying anything.

Do you know what I'm expecting them to do? I'm expecting them to project an image of a false reality. They're little kids. They don't want to wear nice clothes; they want to wear athletic clothes. They don't want to sit and be still and talk softly for two hours. No, they want to eat and then run around and make a bunch of noise and climb on things and tear them apart. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, just wait until the Christmas Eve service here. It'll all make sense.

This should never be the Christian life where because you're around some people who aren't Christians you try to project an image that's the opposite of reality. No, the goal is for the gospel to truly transform us into compelling Christians. Do you realize how compelling it is when a Christian lives forgiven or a Christian lives with new desires? They don't have the same appetite as the rest of the world. They have the new power of the Holy Spirit at work with them, bringing out things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

You have a new identity, a new purpose. You're no longer living just for money or just for your name but for his name. Do you know how compelling it is when you have a new hope? Trials are heartbreaking, yet they don't lead you to despair, because you have hope that this is not the end and this is the closest you'll ever get to hell. This is why community is so important, because our responsibility to one another is to preach the gospel to one another and to help each other put on Christ.

So, what do you do with a message like this? Well, I'll tell you this. When I first started going to CrossFit, there was all this fear. It was this fear of "I'm not one of those people. It's not for me. I'm going to have to work out muscles I've never worked out before." That feels insecure and embarrassing. Look. The goal today is no shame, no guilt, no embarrassment. This is for you. There's an invitation from God to be on mission with him.

Just take a step. Let's just begin to let the muscles wake up. Begin to pray. Pray individually. Pray in your Community Groups. Begin to practice. Practice in your groups sharing your faith. Thirdly, proclaim the gospel through your words and your actions. Then, fourthly, preach the gospel to one another. If you're here this morning and don't have a relationship with Jesus, put your faith in him.

Do you know what's amazing? We've talked about how Paul prayed for an open door, but in John 10:9, Jesus says, "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved…" If you're here this morning, and you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ, the door is wide open. It doesn't matter where you've been or how long it has been. Jesus just says, "Come. Come to me. Anyone who enters through me will be saved."

Lord Jesus, that's my prayer. If there's anyone here this morning who doesn't know you, I pray that today they would trust in you. Lord, I pray that you would help us. Help us to wake up the muscle of sharing Jesus with others. Lord, if that's something that causes people fear or shame or insecurity, my hope and prayer is that you would replace it with joy this week. Would you just use us, God?

Thank you for the beautiful news of the gospel. Lord, I pray that we would be changed by it and that we would help each other in the context of community. Would you use the people at Watermark Community Church? May we be a church that lives on mission, abiding in Jesus, we're making disciples together. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen.