Bring Them To Jesus

If church growth feels complicated, we think you’re asking the wrong question. The real issue is simpler and more challenging: how do people actually come to know Jesus, and what is our specific role in that journey? We start in Matthew 4:24 with one loaded phrase: “they brought him all the sick.” That single “they” exposes God’s normal strategy for evangelism, discipleship, and mission. People meet Christ because someone who has already been changed refuses to stay quiet and makes an introduction.

From there, we get practical and a little uncomfortable. We talk about why your faith shows up in your words, why “abundant life” is not about stuff, and why personal invitation still drives church attendance more than signs, social posts, or even great online content. We dig into Gen Z and church trends, why many people are open to coming if a friend simply asks, and how church hurt becomes a wall that only real relationships tend to lower.

Then we widen the lens to healing and the supernatural. We don’t pit prayer against doctors, but we do question why prayer is so often treated like a last resort. We explore spiritual oppression, mental suffering, and physical illness, and we connect today’s cultural obsession with UAPs and “interdimensional” language to the Bible’s clear teaching on unseen reality and spiritual warfare. The takeaway is direct: our job is to arrange the meeting, and Jesus does what only Jesus can do.

If this challenges you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review. Who are you bringing to Jesus this week?

https://www.facebook.com/MissionSentDeltona

https://www.missionsent.org/resources

Transcript

The Real Question For Churches

Josh 0:00

So today we're going to confront the most important question a church can ask. And our big idea is this how do people actually come to know Jesus? Right? Think about this. People aren't just like randomly stumbling into the kingdom of God. Now, I will tell you right now, and especially in like the Middle East, what they're seeing is a resurgence of Jesus just actually showing up to people in dreams and in visions and in things like that. And then Jesus going, hey, you need to go to this particular place in town, you need to look for this particular person because they are going to tell you more about me. See, how does a person go from a hardened skeptic to a fully surrendered disciple of Jesus? And more importantly, as we work through today, here's what I want you to think about is what is your specific role in that journey? Because what we're gonna see today is God does have a plan to seek and save what is lost, and shockingly enough, each and every one of us that go, Jesus is my Lord, is part of that plan. And it was funny because I think it was this week, it might have been last week, but Kayla was asking, or uh I was doing something, I don't even remember what I was doing, and Kayla was like, You did that really fast. And it was something, fixing something or something of that nature. And I went, Kayla, make no mistake. If I do it by myself, it goes a lot faster. It is usually nine times out of ten much harder to have one of my kids help me do a task because then I'm sitting there like dying on the inside because they're not doing it right. And I go, just just give it to me. I'll I'll do it. However, how are they going to ever develop in their skills as adults if I can't give them tasks to do? And shockingly enough, our Lord in his infinite wisdom went, Hey, you have a part to play as I seek and save the lost. So I'm gonna pray, and then we're gonna jump into that. Father, I just thank you so much for your word, and I ask and I pray, Father, that as we go through it this morning, that it be just your word, that it is not my opinion, not my thought, but God, it is your word speaking to your people, so that we are changed from the inside out to look more like your son. Father, I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Who Are “They” In Scripture

Josh 2:40

So let's kick it off in Matthew 20 or 424. It says this. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Alright, so as we dive in, it's important to remember, just like we looked at last week, that Jesus has three main parts to his mission. Alright? Everything Jesus does throughout all of the scriptures is gonna follow teaching, he's proclaiming, or he is healing. Those are the three things we see that we looked at last week that Jesus does. And in this this section right here, there Matthew is diving pretty deep into the healing aspect, and we're gonna get to that, and it's gonna make some of us uncomfortable because I don't know if you even heard, like in my prayer as we opened this morning, as I'm praying for healing. It's kind of like one of those weird, like, okay, how do I like what do I actually pray for? Like, how do I do this? And we're gonna get into that in just a little bit, but the first thing we need to look at is this. In verse 24, it says, they they brought him all the sick. Don't put that one up yet. Okay? We're obviously gonna get to that in just a second, but they brought him all the sick. And before we jump into the miraculous and all of that, let's stop and ask ourselves this one question. Who is they? Like a lot of times we read things in the Bible and we kind of just like skip over it because it just makes sense in our mind, right? They are they. Now, the Bible isn't politically correct, so this they is referring to a group of people, not a person who identifies as a group of people. But they refers actually to multiple different groups of people. The first group of they are the disciples. These are the people that Jesus himself went to and went, hey, Peter, follow me. Andrew, follow me. Right? We looked at that two weeks ago. So for starters, it is his disciples, the people that he empowered to go, hey, you're gonna be on mission with me. But then it also encompasses another larger group of people. And that larger group of people are people that like we'll see eventually, but we've talked about before. They are the people who have already encountered Jesus, who already know who Jesus is, who know what Jesus is about, and have been changed by Jesus. A couple of weeks ago we looked at it like this the woman at the well. After she meets with Jesus, and let's be honest, that meeting with Jesus wasn't this cookie cutter, like, oh, here, go live your best life. Jesus is calling out all of her sin. You can find it in John chapter 4. And she does what? Runs back to town and tells everybody, and here's how she tells everybody, you ready? Come meet this man who has told me all that I have done. Could you imagine that? Being astonished because this teacher has like confronted you on your sin. Or you can think the man at the tombs, right? This demon-possessed man who runs around graveyards naked. He meets Jesus. Jesus casts the demons out of him, and then what does he do? He asks to follow Jesus. Which, yeah, if I'm in his position, I too am sitting here going, please can I go wherever you're going? Because you have healed me. And yet Jesus goes, No, you can't come with me, but here's what I want you to do. Go back and tell everyone what I've done for you. In Acts 4, we see eventually Peter and John are before the Pharisees. They're getting beat, and they're like, the Pharisees are sitting here going, hey, stop talking about this, Jesus did. And Peter and John, their response to them in Acts 4.20 is this whether we should listen to you or God, hey, we don't know. But as for us, we cannot help but talk about what we have seen and heard. In other words, I have seen Jesus for who Jesus is, and I can't help but talk about it. Because as Jesus will tell us later, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. You want to know what you have inside of you? Record yourself. What do you talk about? Is it all your problems and everything that you have going on in life? Then guess what's abundant inside of here? See, if Jesus isn't coming out of here, he can't be abundant inside of here. And everywhere we look throughout Scripture, anytime people interact with Jesus, Jesus is who they talk about. Whether they are hardened to who Christ is or whether they are softened, it doesn't matter. When we meet Jesus, he becomes all we can talk about. And that's why the question isn't like, how do we do this? The question is simple. Do you see Jesus for who Jesus is? Are you part of they? Like, did you meet Jesus? Because if you did, then you should be part of they. Just like the they we see here of people who have already met Jesus and know exactly who he is. Because every time we see that, they are excited to bring people to Jesus because they know who Jesus is. And when you know who he is, you're sitting here going, like, I know what ails you. And I also know the fix for it. Because the more you see Jesus for who Jesus is, the more you bring your life into line with what Scripture says our life should look like.

When You Meet Jesus You Speak

Josh 9:10

Listen to me, I promise you, the happier you're going to be, the calmer you're gonna be, the less depressed you're gonna be. Why? Because Jesus said, I came that you may have life and have life abundantly. Now that doesn't mean things, that doesn't mean the material things of this world, because the material things of this world are not gonna make you happy. Think about it. Everybody in here should be like, you know what would make me the happiest is if I had a boat. I will tell you, as someone who has a boat, yes, when it's working and everything's going right, you are extremely happy on the inside. When you're out fishing, everything in life makes sense. Until you come back and like you go to like get off the boat and your console moves on you. And you're like, well, now I have to spend the next three weeks figuring out how to fix fiberglass holes in the bottom of my boat. Because I don't know if you know this or not, but holes in the bottom of the boat don't equate for good times inside the boat, right? And all of a sudden, what makes you the happiest in the world can make you the most neurotic in the world. So he's not talking about physical things. When Jesus says have life abundantly, here's what he means. Like you can actually enjoy living. You can actually wake up in the morning and go, thank you, God, I get another day. Because too many of us wake up in the morning and we're like, I gotta do it again. We're just working for the weekend, right? We're just working to when we can actually enjoy life. And when Jesus is sitting here going, no, no, no, no, when you see me for who I am, you get to enjoy all of this. We looked at it a couple of weeks ago, but JT, go ahead and put those stats up. This is what happens when they interact with the world around them. Fifty percent of all Gen Z people pulled by Barna. When I would go to church if someone I knew would just invite me. Notice that's all you gotta do. Open your mouth, go, hey, come with me on Sunday. You can even sweeten the pot and go, if you come with me on Sunday, we'll go get food after we leave. Or whatever the case may be. Some of y'all are probably like, you don't eat breakfast before you come? I don't.

unknown 11:39

Okay?

Josh 11:39

Nice

Gen Z Is More Open Than You Think

Josh 11:40

little thing and didn't little bites, and that's good. Forty-nine percent of Gen Z polled interacts with scripture weekly. Now, when I say interacts with scripture, here's what I mean. They're looking for Jesus. They're watching videos on YouTube, they're they're reading the Bible.

unknown 12:02

Who is Gen Z?

Josh 12:04

Alright. Hang on, I'll let me explain this and then I'll go through that. They're they're interacting with scripture, they're reading the Bible. Now, for all of us in here who who sits here and and we're going, okay, like the different generations, alright? So my mom is a late baby boomer, early Gen Xer. Okay, a Gen X, you're usually born between 19, depending on who does the actual poll, all right, between 1955 and 1965, or uh 75, I'm sorry. Now, most of us millennials in here, you were born between 1976 and 1996. Gen Z was born between 96 and 2007. JT is an old Gen Z. Okay, or I'm sorry, a new Gen Z. Gen Alpha would be like my daughters and their age, and then the next generation, which would be our like you know, kindergartners and stuff like that now, they're still unnamed. Now, within that, like I said, depending on who does the research, because sometimes it's like millennials would be 1980 to 2000. All right, and then Gen X would be 1960 to 1979. So it really does like differ on whoever is doing the actual poll, but usually only by a handful of years. And then even within those generations, if you're a sociologist, they even break that down even more. So like you can be a millennial, but it now they have a new one called Zelennial, all right, which is actually where most of us millennials would actually fall into, which would be like a subcategory of a subcategory if you're looking for research. All right. Don't get lost on the gen the like the generation thing. That is just what this particular study was looking for, because right now, for those of you that don't know, Gen Z is actually the fastest growing generation of all churchgoers, and just so you guys know, it is only Gen Z males. In fact, they they have done a lot of survey to find that Gen Z females actually only make up about 29% of the Gen Z who are actually in church, which is usually backwards. Normally, it's you have a lot of females, and the males are the ones sitting here going, no, I don't want anything to do with that. Alright, so don't get like lost on all of it. There's a if you guys are into research and stuff like that, like I there's a lot of stuff I can send you. This is one of those areas that really fascinates me when you start looking for like patterns and stuff like that within like who responds to what. All right, but like understand the same is true for everybody. In fact, 88% of people, which is that last stat, who come to church came because they were personally invited by someone they know. And here's why. Because none of us like walking into a weird place we've never been by ourselves, not knowing anyone there. If you guys remember years ago we went to a another church service at a different church when we were doing Saturday night services, and I'm not gonna get into the whole reasons and why and all of that, but I don't know about you guys, but even after sitting and talking to the pastor at the church before we went, it was still weird when I went up to the church, and I'm a pastor. So 88% of people are sitting here going, no, if someone would just invite me, I would go. The question isn't, would people go? The question is, are we doing that? Because that's what they did. They saw Jesus for who Jesus was, they saw Jesus do the miraculous, they heard Jesus like teach his sermons, they they heard Jesus proclaiming the kingdom of God, and here's what they did: they went to the people they knew and went, you should come with me. You should grow with me. This is church growth. This is how a church grows. See, a digital ministry, just think missionscent.org, for instance. A digital ministry is great for two types of people. Number one, and who we make it for are you. It's an easy place for me to put a lot of resources because listen very carefully. Discipleship doesn't just happen on Sunday mornings. Here's the thing, and I'm not gonna call her out by name, but this one right here. We were sitting there talking Thursday night. All right? And as we're talking, the whole understanding of memory came up. Does anybody in here know how much you remember when you just hear something? About 4%. Gabby is my daughter. Gabby lives in the same house as me, and listen to me. This stuff comes up in my house a lot. Like if I'm standing up here preaching, understand my kids have heard it almost all week. So I looked at Gabby and I went, Gabby, can you tell me anything I preached about on Sunday? Can you tell me the verse I used to preach? And you know how much Gabby could tell me? About 4% of what I preached on Sunday. Because listen, if this is all you get, you're taking about 4% away with you. That's why we went and got the church membership for logos. That's why some of you have claimed that. Which isn't amazing. Because all you had to do was give me your email address. And those of you that did, am I spamming your email button box? No, I'm not, right? Because I hate when people do that to me. But what I did is I went, hey, I want to make sure you have software so that throughout the week you can be discipled. You go to Mission Media, you know the everything that lives there? Podcast and videos and sermons and daily devotionals and all of that. Because being discipled isn't I showed up and listened to you ramble for about 40 to 50 minutes on Sunday. Because listen, come Monday, you're going to forget most of what you hear me say today. You're gonna forget about 96% of what you hear me say today. That's why we have all of these things. That's why I went,

Why Personal Invites Beat Online

Josh 19:10

hey, look, you're looking for resources? Cool. Here's books. Be very careful with that bookshelf because they told me they had one up here, and that thing is a death trap. So if you're getting a book off of it when you leave, please be careful with it. Now that being said, a digital ministry is great for you guys. For you guys that are like sitting here going, I'm gonna go there because these are where these resources live. Do you think someone out here is hitting up mission media?

unknown 19:41

No.

Josh 19:42

No, they're not. One, they don't even know it exists. Two, they're not gonna click here and click here and click here to get to this resource that they don't even know what it is. Now you know what they would do? They would listen to it if you went, hey, here. This is why we podcast, because it's so easy for you to go, hey, I just heard a podcast right now. There's one, there's an episode coming out tomorrow that deals with what it is to be a dad, how to raise your kids. And it's it it I'll tell you, our normal podcast is like 25 to 30 minutes long. This one was over an hour. And not only do you get to hear me and Debbie talk about this, but we also went, hey, you know what? We're gonna have our kids on because I want you to hear from my kids' point of view those things that you think work as a dad, you would be shocked at how little impact they actually have in your child's life. This is why you guys in here, this is why you got a message this past week that went, hey, I need two volunteers at the end of every service to give me a 30 to 45 second video on one thing about service. Why? Because I went, that's an easy way for us to share. Here's what the gospel is. It's an easy link at that point to just go, hey, here, listen to this. Here's a minute-long video. It's very hard to sit down and get someone's attention and go, hey, let's talk about Jesus. Because as soon as you say that, remember the big word from last week, right? Presupposition, which is just your position, as soon as you say Jesus, everyone's defenses come up. Because listen to me. Everyone I know, everyone I know has a story about church hurt. And you know what? And me and Debbie were talking about it this week because here's the thing that really, and I almost cussed right here, makes me angry. I was just gonna say the P word for that about church hurt. Raise your hand if you've ever had a bad experience at a restaurant. All of us, right? Raise your hand if you still go out to restaurants. All of us, right? Why? Because we've had a bad experience at a gas station, but yet we still go to gas stations. We've had bad experiences at shopping malls, but yet we still go out and shop. But, oh God, I had a bad experience at church, and therefore I'm gonna swear off church for the rest of my life. It doesn't work like that with anything else in our lives, but when it comes to Jesus, it does. Because listen, it's an excuse. And I'm gonna tell you what my dad used to tell me, but I'm gonna tell you the censored version. Excuses are like buttholes. Everyone has one and they all stink. But that's what we do. We don't do it in any other aspect of our life, but we do it when it comes to church. Now, going back to a digital ministry, less than 15% of people who walk through those doors walk through those doors because they saw or heard something online. Now, for those of you that are like investors in here, is that a good ROI? No, it's not, right? When 88% of the people that are gonna walk through those doors walked in because you went, hey, let's talk about this. Hey, you should come with me. Hey, you should be a part of this. That is the they. Alright, so moving on from they in verse 24, it said,

Jesus Heals Every Kind Of Sick

Josh 23:20

all of the sick, right? They brought all of the sick. And then Matthew lists three different types of sicknesses here. He says, demons, seizures, and paralytics. Now, the reason why I think he mentions these three in particular is because these three encompass almost everything you can think of. And I'll tell you, as someone who has a couple of different degrees, especially in the mental health field, what one of those three do we actually like really downplay in today's society? Demonic, right? Because now we're so evolved and we know all of this. Listen, as a cop, I will tell you right now, there were plenty of people I looked at and I went, yeah, I I understand you have a diagnosis, but I'm gonna tell you right now, you can see in the eyes, that's demonic. And you know the one thing you can't do as a cop? You can't pray with them. Now, did I? Absolutely. Because when we were in the back of the car, we didn't have the the body cams and all of that yet. And chances are they're not gonna remember I prayed anyway. But this is one of those things that we in our culture we really, really, really try to downplay. So demonic or demons right there, that encompasses any kind of spiritual illness you can think of. Seizures, seizures come encompass any type of mental illness that we can think of. And then paralytics encompasses all of the physical illnesses we can think of. So what Matthew is saying by using these three is he's sitting here going, hey, Jesus heals it all. Now, I'm gonna say this because this is something I believe that the modern world has lost, that Jesus is the answer to whatever ails you. And I'm gonna say this with this caveat. I believe in doctors. Please do not misunderstand anything I'm about to say. I believe that God had in his common grace has gifted human beings with understanding how the body works. And there are certain human beings that he has in, like this is their role is to sit here and go, hey, I'm gonna like run all these tests and I'm gonna tell you what's wrong. I believe in viruses and bacteria, guys. And that is where sicknesses can be coming from, correct? And if you don't, cool. But I'm telling you right now, this isn't one of those like churches where it's like, hey, just pray. God gave us doctors for a reason. Does everybody understand that point before I get into the weird stuff? Alright. I was at the doctor's twice this week. Not me personally, but I was there with Debbie one day and then JT the next. And guess what? They got antibiotics, and I believe in that for certain things. Okay? Not everything's an allergy, right, mom? However, with that caveat being said, I believe that people have tried too hard to move past the spiritual and away from the supernatural. Why? Because, well, we're sophisticated now. We know it all now, right? Like you guys do understand, and and I'm sorry if this if I start nerding out for a second, we can't even explain what gravity is. Like we have no, we know it's a force of nature, right? Or no, it's not a force. I'm sorry. That's what Newton said it was, that it was a force. Um, but then now in new physics it's no longer a force, and then quantum mechanics came along and went, well, now we can't explain gravity at all because it works ex like completely opposite at quantum levels than it does at macro levels. So we can't even understand why our feet are planted on the ground. But yet, we can explain all of the mysteries of the cosmos and how everything comes into being. Think about it. Someone comes to you and they go, hey, I'm not feeling well. What's your first piece of advice to them?

unknown 27:44

Go to the doctor. Suck it up.

Josh 27:47

Suck it up, buttercup, go to the doctor. How come our first piece of advice isn't, hey, let me lay hands on you and let me pray with you? Why is that not the first thing that our mind goes to? Well, we've moved past the supernatural. Yeah, we say out of our mouths we believe that Jesus heals, but how many of us are actually looking at people who need healing and going, let me pray with you, let me lay hands on you, let me anoint you with oil? No, we've moved past the supernatural. All you have to do, really, in today's terms, is watch the news for a couple of minutes. Here's how we know we move past the supernatural. What is the big classified release

Why We Avoid The Supernatural

Josh 28:30

things that people are arguing about right now?

unknown 28:32

UFOs.

Josh 28:32

Well, I heard it. What was it? UFAs UFOs, right? UAPs. Because UFOs, we don't call them UFOs anymore, now they're UAPs. Um and listen very carefully because I think you guys might want to start doing research into this. Because if you don't know this or not, your neighbors are talking about this. Your coworkers are talking about this. This is all over everything we see. And and in fact, we have a new movie coming out this year called Disclosure Day, which is gonna tell us everything that the government knows about the UAPs and UFOs. And we call them aliens, right? We call them these things from extraterrestrial.

unknown 29:15

I can't.

Josh 29:24

I never said it was.

SPEAKER_01 29:25

No, no, I'm not talking about Joe said.

Josh 29:30

It is not. That's why I started with I believe in bacteria and viruses. But I never said that. But going back to the UAPs and UFOs, Florida representative, Anna Luna was on Joe Rogan, and here's how she described the things that she's seen under classified uh meetings with all of these people who are in the know. She said she describes them not as extraterrestrial, but as interdimensional beings that can operate outside of our known laws of physics and space-time. Uh-oh. That sounds kind of weird to me. What is an interdimensional being? Listen, understand that there are scientists who sit here and go, there are all these different realities stacked upon each other. And they sometimes call them parallel universes and all of this. And we as Christians, just like we do in everything when science comes up, we go, oh, well, we can't engage with this because, well, this is science-based and they have all this evidence and proof. Number one, understand for the most part they don't. And number two, where on earth have we heard that there are all these different realities and everything stacked on top of each other? The Bible. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Where are the heavens? Where are the heavens, guys? In Jewish thought, it's anything above your head. So here's what that means. Joe lives in different heavens than most of us in this room. Has anyone stopped and thought about that? Paul very clearly says that he's been to the third level of heaven. In fact, as we go through scripture in Genesis 6, go ahead, JTs, we see these beings, and what are they called? The Nephilim. Who are the Nephilim? We don't know. We just know it's what happens when the sons of God come with the daughters of man. And I'll tell you, I can go into a lot of different theory and a lot of different ideas about who the Nephilim are, but understand, these are what we would call otherworldly beings. Which is why God went, no, I have to flood it all. In Ephesians 6, Paul is talking about the full armor of God. And he says, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. You know what who's flesh and blood? We are. We are flesh and blood. And Paul goes, this isn't who we wrestle with. We wrestle against the rulers, against the authorities, against the what? Cosmic powers. What are cosmic powers? They definitely ain't earth-based. And uh in Jude 6, we see angels who did not stay within their own dwelling. In Genesis 3, we see what most people think is the antagonist of all the serpent that talks. Kind of sounds like if you've ever seen how to train your dragon, right? And understand, this serpent that talked, when we get past Genesis 3, 15, how does God curse the sh uh serpent? Makes him what? So what was he doing before that? Uh-oh. Guys, think about this. Anything you see in mythology, right? You see dragons. Can anybody in here think of something that's never been thought of before? Huh? Let me go ahead and tell you. You can't. Now you can take things and you can add them together and get something new. But it's impossible for us to think of things that have never been thought of before. This is why Ecclesiastes says that there is nothing new under the sun. In Ezekiel 1:4, we see this: that there is this great cloud with brightness around it and fire flashing forth continually, and it looks like what? In the midst of the fire? As it was gleaning metal.

UAP Talk And A Biblical Worldview

Josh 34:10

What would you think if you saw a giant cloud with fire coming from it made of metal?

unknown 34:16

Lightning. Uh blue.

Josh 34:18

UAP. 100%. So therefore, why have we moved past the supernatural? Think about it. If if certain files actually were released, all of them, would it be very hard to understand that the people who are claiming to be in control are run by demonic forces? No, because anytime you go to an entire island that is dedicated to little kids and you getting along a little too well, how else would you call that? That's not something normal people think. That's not something normal people do. That is demonic. And yet, who in chains are we preaching to? Because let's be honest, we as Christians, we want to be in safety. We want to come together in buildings like this where everyone pretty much believes everything I believe. And I have no problem talking to everybody in here because you're not going to call me out on things. But who in chains are you preaching to? See, Jesus said that I came to set the captives free. And we spend way too many times preaching to already free people. You know where we see explosions of the gospel throughout all of human history? When the people who are bound are the ones who are preached to. When those people that we went, hey, no, no, no, no, no, you're not good enough. When those are the ones that are preached to, when it looks messy. Because, see, that's what the church was called to be a light in the darkness. But if we're only lights in the light, raise your hand if you need a flashlight right now. Why not? Because we're in the light. We don't need more light. We need to be preaching to those in captivity. We just saw they were bringing all of the sick to Jesus. The sick are those people that society went, we got nothing for you. Like back then, they didn't have universal health care. So if you were lame, here's what they did: they picked you up in the morning, they dropped you off at the city gate so that you could sit there all day and beg people who were walking by you for money. And who does Jesus go to preach to? Those. In fact, in Acts, when we see Peter and John walking through, and the paralytic goes, hey, alms for me, hey, you got any money for me? Peter starts with this silver and gold I have not. You know why? Because he's a pastor. And he goes, I ain't got no money. Because we're broke. But what I do have, I give freely. Rise, pick up your bed and walk. How come none of us in this room are doing that? Myself included. How come none of us in this room are looking for the chained, for the broken, for the ones that are downtrodden? How come none of us in this room are preaching to those in bondage? How come none of us in this room are bringing them to Jesus? Because, see, the Bible tells us what happens when we preach to those in chains. In verse 25, Matthew ended with this. It says that great crowds followed him all the way from beyond the Jordan. Guys, think about this. Why are you sitting in this room right now? This is something that happened 2,000 years ago and about 30 years away from where we are right now. Why are you sitting in this room? Because they, because somewhere along the lines, they preach the gospel. Because after Jesus ascends back into heaven, the great persecution comes, and all of the Christians in Jerusalem get persecuted to where they just go, and as they leave Jerusalem, they're bringing the gospel to all of the different places they are going. And then at some point, back in like the 1492-ish,

Preaching To People In Chains

Josh 38:32

the gospel got on a boat and went across the ocean and they preached. And then the Puritans settled up in what is now like Vermont, New Hampshire, and that terrible, awful place. And they went, we can't stay here, so they moved down to Florida because that's what everybody does when they retire now. That's why we have a thousand people moving in every day. See, it great crowds followed because the church opened their mouth and proclaimed the gospel. Let's do an experiment in this room this morning. Raise your hand if you were sitting in this room right now because you were driving down Del Tono Boulevard and you saw a sign that said Mission Sent. No one? Alright. Raise your hand if you're sitting in this room right now because we did a barbecue and you were a part, like someone invited you to come to that barbecue. No one? Raise your hand if you were one of the ones who got one of the 10,000 different invite cards that we've passed out in the past six years. Raise your hand if you're sitting in here this morning because you saw a Facebook post, or you heard a podcast, or you saw a fishing video. No one. Alright. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. All of the oh yeah, one person. That is correct. Emily is here because of a Facebook post. Now it was for something completely different, it had nothing to do with the church, but it was a Facebook post for a bike we were given away. And don't misunderstand me. I'm not bashing these things. These are good things, and we're gonna keep doing these things. But raise your hand if you're in this room because someone opened their mouth and went, hey, you should come here. Oh, look. Magically all of us. Because that is how we grow. That is church growth. It's opening our mouths and proclaiming the gospel just like Jesus said. This is where we need to spend our time. This is where we need to spend our resources. It's equipping each and every one of us in this room to understand that great crowds followed Jesus past the Jordan because they brought people to Jesus. There's a book that is over there called Expository Apologetics. Okay, and for those of you that don't know, expository just means you work through something step by step by step. Apologetics is a defense for the hope found in us. But it's just a fancy way of going. Here's how you do apologetics and the everyday things you do. Here's how you make a defense for the church or for Christ and everything you do. Things as simple as going to work can make a defense for Christ. Try this. Ready? Tomorrow when you go to work, listen very carefully. Don't be the miserable person at work. Don't be the one that people are avoiding. Don't be the one that, like when you're in the break room, everyone else is like, I'll wait. Because some of us were like that. Some of you, people don't want to be around you because you are completely miserable. You have the hope of the world living inside of you, and you are completely miserable. Why? See, this is how we push back against darkness. We proclaim the gospel to those bound in chains, those oppressed by demons, those who cannot free themselves. And then we let Jesus be Jesus, and Jesus will heal. Listen, Jesus will heal everything. Every heartache they experienced growing up, Jesus will heal. The abuse by a loved one, Jesus will heal. The terrible choices of their own lives, Jesus will heal. The weight of our own sinfulness, Jesus will heal. It may not look miraculous the way it does in Scripture. It may be a slow burn. But I promise you, Jesus will heal. How do I know that? Because just like anyone else in this room, I've been hurt, I've had a sinful past, I've made terrible choices. All of those things. And Jesus along the way has gone, hey, we're gonna take this wound by wound, and we're gonna heal here, and we're gonna heal here, and we're gonna move past here, and we're gonna heal here. This is what being preached to is. It's taking those little steps. No, it may not go from here to here like that. It might. There are certain things Jesus might just go, hey, you know what? Boom, we're done with this, let's move past it and let's get right here. That is what sanctification is, though. It is one degree of glory according to 2 Corinthians 3 to the next. And when we're done with this, all right, now we can move on to this. And you never finish it. This is a lifelong process.

Arrange The Meeting Then Trust Jesus

Josh 44:01

Of Jesus continually healing. Because if you ever get to a point where you're sitting here going, okay, I'm good now, Jesus, now you struggle with lying. And we need to let Jesus heal that too. Because we're not good. There is only one good, Jesus says. And it ain't us. See, when Jesus was murdered on the cross, the devil thought he won. And three days later, Jesus walks out of the grave so that he would have the power to give his creation, his life to his creation to heal all those who would ask. So as we close this morning, there are two camps of people in this room. Are you sitting in here this morning bound in chains? Are you sitting in here this morning going, I need healing? I can't let go of my past. I can't let go of the hurt. I can't let go of the anger. I feel as I'm being oppressed. Then listen, before you leave, get prayed for. Because if you're sitting here going, no, there's no power in that, then you've missed who Jesus is to begin with. It may be uncomfortable for you to go, hey, I need. Because we're so afraid to go, I need. Because I don't want to look less than. I don't want to look like I don't have it all together. And camp two, Jesus has already worked that. Jesus has already started that healing in your heart. Jesus has already grabbed you. And if that's you, why aren't you part of they bringing the sick to Jesus? If that's you and you're sitting here going, I already know who Jesus is, why aren't you telling others about him? The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon, understood exactly how this works. He says this, God has ordained the means as well as the end. He has ordained that a soul, if he has ordained that a soul shall be saved, he also ordained that they shall hear the gospel. How did he ordain that? Because he went, I have you. Matthew 28 is very clear, is it not? Go, therefore. Our problem is, we're not going. We're staying. And don't misunderstand how God works. Jesus is the only one who can wake the dead. Jesus is the only one who can heal the broken. But he has chosen you to be a deliverer of that inventation. And Man on Fire, Denzel Washington, has this great line. It's not Christian Movie, but it fits perfectly with what I'm about to say. He goes, forgiveness is between them and God. It's my job to orchestrate the meeting. Guys, is that not a gospel-centered line? Forgiveness is between you and God. It's just your job to get the meeting there. It's your job to bring the sick to Jesus. And our challenge this week is simple. You know people, bring them to Jesus. See, next week, and I love it, because we normally start every service by going, hey, here was the challenge we had last week. Who did it? Next week is going to be very easy. I'm not even going to have to ask who did it. Because what's the challenge? Bring them to Jesus. Bring them. You know people who are in bondage, you know people who are hurting. Guys, this is where we get all of those answers at. This is where Jesus can go. Hey, I'm going to take my people, lay their hands on you, and pray for you. We just have to arrange the meeting. So, Father, I ask and I pray as we move from this place that God, if there are those in here who are sitting here going, I need. Then Father, you bring them. You allow them to get prayed over. You allow them, Father, to experience healing. You allow them, God, to move past everything that has been going. And Father, I pray if there are those in here who are sitting here going, I've already experienced the grace of Jesus, the goodness of God, I pray, Father, that you ignite something in them. That Father, they just can't help but talk about what they have seen and heard, that they can't help but talk about what you have done in their lives. That they can't help but bring them to you. Father, I ask and I pray that whatever, wherever we find ourselves, that God, that be the direction we go. Father, I pray that we are emboldened and courageous by the power of your spirit to be pushing back against the darkness. Father, I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.