Evangelism is Our Calling

Hey, I just want to say, you guys doing okay? Y' all sleep last night or no? Be honest. Who got more than five hours of sleep? Raise your hand.

Okay. Six, seven, eight. Okay, I'm trying to hang out with you. Then if you sleep for eight hours, I want the eight hours sleep. Come on now.

Anybody get more than eight? Anybody get nine? Who's that crazy? Not okay. Nice.

Let's go. Let's go. If you got 10, I'm praying for you because you're not okay right now. Okay?

What did you guys think about last night? Be honest. Be honest. How was it? Was it powerful?

Come on, I want to just hear real quick. If you guys can't tell. Like I said last night, I like to do things a little bit different. I'm not like some preacher who's trying to print on the front. I'm a human being just like you.

I have the same spirit of God that you have. I want you to just shout out a few words. What. What stood out to you last night? Just shout out a word.

Anybody? Just shout something out.

Okay? Yes, Amen. But, like, what happened in somebody's heart? Like, what was God revealing to you? Was there something that stood out?

I just want to hear if there's anybody, anybody. You guys are all nervous and shy now. It's okay. Okay, okay. Well, if God did something last night, I want you to come find me after we do this session.

And I just want to hear what God spoke to you and what God shared in your heart. Because I believe that when God speaks, it's not just like something cool. If the God of heaven and earth spoke to you, you should probably take that really serious. If God gave you a dream or vision last night, you should probably tell your leader. Because I believe that not only does God speak to us with his voice, but he speaks to us in dreams and visions because he wants to get our attention.

And I don't want to take those things lightly. Okay? Amen, you guys. Okay. Okay, here's what we're gonna do today.

We're gonna talk on evangelism. Now, I want to share my heart real quick on evangelism, because I'm gonna go through some practicals, like, how do you share your faith? You know, what do you say to somebody who's a stranger? You know, it can be a little nerve wracking. It can be.

There's like some, like. I don't want to get it wrong. And we're going to talk about all that. But before we get into that, I want to just Share with you guys a few quick stories that have happened in my own personal life to show you how real this is and how somebody's life can literally be transformed in five minutes through you opening your mouth. You know, sometimes the biggest obstacle or the biggest challenge for us as Christians is not our theology.

It's not how much of the Bible we know. It's not how much church we go to. We should all do those things, but it's we don't open our mouth and share our faith. Did you know that our faith is based on the fact that we would share our faith? If we don't share our faith, you want to know a secret?

People won't get saved. Did you know that God's solution is not the person next to you, it's you. When every time I ask, God, God, would you save this person? You know what he tells me? You go tell them about Jesus.

Every time I say, God, would you heal this person? He goes, you go lay their hands on you. You go lay your hands on them. Every time I say, God, this person needs breakthrough, and they need this in their life. They need to be blessed.

They're struggling. He goes, guess what? Why don't you go be the blessing in their life? You see, for so long, guys, in the church, we've done really good at preaching sermons, which I'm all for. I do it full time.

It's what I do for a living. But then when we hear a sermon, it stays in our head and never goes to our heart. You know, we have many people, like I said last night, they'll lift their hands and they're praying and they. They're reading their word. That's incredible.

Do those things. But if you never share your faith with somebody, my question to you is, why? You see, in our generation, guys, you'd be shocked. In the last four years alone, I've probably shared the gospel with. I mean, I can't even count how many people I've shared.

And I've only had two people tell me. No, two. Evangelism is not hard. Evangelism is not some challenging thing where you gotta challenge, try your best and say the right thing. And no, no, it's really simple.

It's called just sharing what Jesus has done in your life to the person next to you. I'm gonna share five stories with you guys. You guys. You guys like stories? Okay, story one.

Three months ago, I was at the gym. And while I was at the gym, you know, if you go to the gym at the same time, you typically see the same people. And I remember this one day, I saw this friend of mine in the gym. I don't know him. Outside of the gym, we were literally talking about bicep curls.

Come on, somebody. Can I get an amen? Oh, my God. I said amen. Okay, okay.

So we're talking about bicep curls, right? And I'm about to walk away from him, and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit says, right now. I'm like, right now what? He says, I want you to share Jesus with him right now. So I go up to him.

I said, his name's Tyler. I said, hey, Tyler, I know we're working out. You know, I know this isn't a spiritual atmosphere. I know we're sweaty and nasty and smelly, but I believe Jesus wants to say something to you. And I looked at him, and I don't even remember what I said.

And I gave him what we call a word of knowledge. It's when God speaks to you about somebody else's situation, and there's no way you can know that unless God told it to you. So I tell him what the Lord spoke to me. And he looks at me and he's like this shocked. And I go, is that true?

Is that happening in your life? He says, yeah, it is. I give him my phone number. I said, listen, I want to connect with you. I want to tell you more about this God that I serve.

Because I had to go in that moment. I couldn't stay right there. I had to leave. And I said, here's my phone number. Shoot me a text.

You know what he did? He ghosted me. Ghosting sucks. Nobody likes to be ghosted. But here's what happened in that moment when I got ghosted, I could have easily said, well, God, I said what you wanted me to say.

I did what you wanted me to do. I opened my mouth. I used my voice. No, what I did is I said, you know what, God? He didn't respond.

But that doesn't mean you're not moving in his life. That doesn't mean you don't love him just because he didn't text me. But here's the crazy part. Two months later, which is about a month ago, he texts me and he says, ross, I haven't heard from him in three months. He says, ross, my life isn't working.

I need a brand new life. I was like, whoa. I said, this is what I want you to do. You're gonna meet me right now. We're gonna meet in the parking lot of a grocery Store, super spiritual place.

So we meet at the. In the parking lot of the grocery store. There's a restaurant there. We go outside, we eat. I start talking to him.

I'm like, tyler, what's going on, man? You got to tell me. And he starts telling me how he's done everything he has. Life is good. He has a good amount of money.

I mean, things are going good for him. But there's something wrong in his soul. And I start sharing Jesus with him. And I start sharing how Jesus wasn't just some good teacher, some good man who had a good life, but that Jesus was the son of God and that he can understand every bit of pain and trauma you're going through. Tyler.

He looks at me, I kid you not. Kid you not. He looks at me face to face and he says, if I was an effing Christian, I'm not going to say that word. He says, if I was an effing Christian, I'd be sharing this with everybody. I'm like, exactly.

The gospel, the good news of Jesus, the good news of the God we serve, is so good that people cannot resist it. But here's the deal. He looks at me. I said, tyler, do you want to surrender your life to Jesus? He says, I don't want to do it right now.

I want to think about it. I said, tyler, listen, I love you. And if I say I'm a Christian and I say I love you, I have to share the truth with you. Because truth and love go hand in hand. I said, today is the day for salvation, Tyler.

If you don't choose Jesus today, there might not be another opportunity. He said, I still want to think about it. I said, you know what? Okay. Because we're not here to headlock people into prayer.

So that's okay. Tyler, when you're ready for Jesus, let me know. He leaves. He goes to the gym to work out. He texts me 30 minutes later.

He says, ross, I can't focus on my workout. I'm like, why? Was the pre workout too strong? He's like, no, I can't stop thinking about Jesus. I said, tyler, listen, come back to the grocery store a second time in one hour and meet me again.

He leaves the gym. He comes to the grocery store. He meets me. We get in his car. He's weeping.

I'm in the front seat. And I say, tyler, do you want to surrender your life to Jesus? He said, I do want to do that. And while weeping in the middle of a grocery store parking lot, he surrenders his life to Jesus. That is Evangelism 101.

Evangelism. Come on. Thank you, Lord. Evangelism is simply giving people an opportunity to encounter the God that you've encountered. Second story.

I want to share. I travel a lot, so I have to take a lot of Ubers and Lyfts. Typically, when I get in an Uber and Lyft, I don't want to talk to anybody. I'm tired, I preached, I'm sunburnt, I'm hungry, all the things. But did you know that sharing your faith doesn't mean you do it only when you feel like doing it?

Uh oh. Do you know that sharing your faith isn't something you do just because you had a good meal that day or because life is going good for you or because you feel really good, you have a really good emotion. No, sharing our faith doesn't matter what we feel. What did I say last night? What is God doing?

He is destroying the idol of feelings in our generation. What does that mean? An idol is something we prioritize or we place above God. And for so long in our generation, we only want to do things when we feel like doing it. Who are going to be the people in our generation who say, I don't care if I have a feeling or not.

I don't care if life is as good as I want it to be. I don't care what's going on. I love God so much, and I love Jesus so much that I can't help but sharing with the world around me. So I'm in the car, I'm in the Uber. I'm in the lift.

This girl picks me up. And I'll be really honest with y', all, I was really tired this day. I did not want to talk. And y' all ever met those people who. They just want to talk for five hours?

You're like, man, I love you, but I can't talk for five hours. It's okay. I know some of them are in the building today. We love you. We bless you.

And so I'm sitting in this car, and she's just talking. And I'm like. I'm kind of sitting there. I'm like, you know what? I'm.

She wants to talk. Let's talk. You want to talk? I'll talk about something with you. And so she starts talking.

I go, her name was Karina. I remember her name. I said, karina, do you know Jesus? Start talking about Jesus. She tells me about her experience in church and yada, yada, yada.

And before I get out of the car, I said, karina, I want to pray for you. She said, sure, that's fine. I said, karina, I want to put my hand on your shoulder. Are you okay with that? She said, yes.

I put my hand on her shoulder, I pray for her, and then I take my hand off. I said, what's going on right now? She said, I. I don't know what's going on, but when you touched me, I felt something in my body. I said, karina, that's the presence of God. That's the presence of Jesus.

He's more real than you think, Karina. I ended up giving her my phone number. I said, karina, I can tell God's really working in your heart. She says she had given her life to Jesus before. I said, you know what, Karina, I want you to come to my church.

Karina has been coming to my church for the last two months, and every single week, she hasn't missed one service. We. One worship gathering, one prayer gathering, nothing. She is hungry for God.

But here's. Here's what breaks my heart. Please don't hear these stories this morning and say, well, Ross, man, you're a really powerful man of God. Amen. Thank you.

I received that. No, what breaks my heart is this. If I would have never opened my mouth, she would have never encountered God. If I wouldn't have opened my mouth and been so bold, even when I was tired, even when I flew across the country and was working on four hours of sleep. And if I would have never opened my mouth, Karina might have never encountered Jesus.

Did you know that you're the only Jesus somebody might ever meet in their life? You might be the only Bible they ever read. You might be the only person. Listen, I don't even have to tell you guys this because, you guys, we live in the same culture and generation with all the social media, the AI, all the apps we have. You can literally live your entire life, go to school, not talk to one person, go home, watch Netflix for four hours, YouTube for two hours and do it every single day, day.

And never have to engage with anybody. But what if one day that one person who never has an opportunity to hear about Jesus, what if they run into you? What if God puts you in their path? What if God is saying, hey, you're the only person in your city that's going to tell them about Jesus. You're the only person in fifth period that's going to tell them about Jesus.

You're the only person at lunch who's going to Sit at them at that table because nobody else will sit with them. You know, it's so easy to share Jesus in our culture because we're so divided right now. You guys know when you're at school and you see people kind of by themselves and they're just hanging out, they don't have a ton of friends. That's like God saying, hey, red flag, Wake up. This is a person I want you to talk to.

You know those people that nobody really likes? You know those people who are kind of sitting by themselves, they might not have the most friends. They might be a little awkward. Whatever the case may be, those are the ones God loves. And he's looking for those of us who would say, you know what?

They might not look like me. They might not sound like me. They might not believe what I believe. But guess what? The love of God is too powerful for me to not go over and sit with them.

I want to share one more story, you guys. Okay, Third story I want to share is Christian. Two weeks ago, I was preaching at a church up in Los Angeles, and I'm feeling good. I'm in the car, I'm praying. I'm like, I'm ready.

I'm about to preach. We're going to let it rip. It's going to be fire. And I get out of the car after I park at the church, and I get out of the car, and when I get out of the car, I. I look to my left and I see this big dumpster. And there's this guy sitting down right next to the dumpster.

You want to know what my first thought was? God, please don't bother me right now. Just let me get in this church and preach.

And I felt the Holy Spirit say, are you really going to disobey me right now? And I said, God, I'm not going to disobey. So I'm walking by and I said, I'm not going to do that. And I stop. I walk over to him.

He has a beer can in his hand. I said, hey, man, what's your name? He said, my name is Michael. I said, bro, what are you doing out here? He goes, life is hard.

I can't pay my bills. My girlfriend just broke up with me, yada, yada, yada. And I just start sharing with him about God. I start sharing with him about Jesus. And I look at Michael, and his tears start coming into his eyes.

I said, michael, there's a plan and purpose for your life. I know it may not seem like. It might not seem like it right now. I know you might be in the lowest place of your life, but if you would give Jesus an opportunity, everything could be transformed. I shared my testimony, what God did for me.

I turned around to go to my car because I wanted to bless him with some money. And when I turn around, I hear the dumpster open and I hear it close and I look and he threw away his beer can bottle without me telling him to do that. Why? Because when the presence of God shows up in somebody's life, they don't want the things of the world anymore. Literally, right there on the spot.

I asked Michael, Michael, are you tired of living life your own way? Do you want to give your life to Jesus? He told me no five times. But you know what I said? I don't care what you say, I'm gonna keep going after it.

He told me, no, you don't understand. I'm too much of a sinner, Ross. I've done too many bad things, Ross. I said, perfect. That's why Jesus died for you and me.

He ends up giving his life to Jesus. I invite him to the church, which is literally across the street. After the service, he comes up to me. He actually came to the service. He looked like a brand new person.

I met him two hours ago sitting next to a dumpster, drinking a beer can with no hope in his life. And two hours later, he had the biggest smile on his face, gave his life to Jesus and encountered the presence of God. Why? Because I decided to take a step of faith and open my mouth and share Jesus with him.

Listen, I'm not saying I have it all figured out. I don't have it all figured out. I'm not saying I'm the most gifted preacher. I'm definitely not the most gifted preacher. But here's what I do know.

I give my yes to God. If you would give your yes to God and trust him to use your mouth, you'd be surprised at what he can do. You know, the Bible says that if you don't know what to say, the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say right when you need to say them. I want to encourage our generation as I've been traveling all across America. In our generation Gen Z, there is burning ones coming alive in this hour.

What do I mean by that? There is people in our generation who don't just say they love God. They are willing to burn for him. They're full of passion, they're full of hunger, they're full of faith, they're full of belief and they're willing to preach the gospel because I don't know if you know this or not. Nobody knows the day or the time that Jesus is returning.

But I have a feeling it could happen sooner than we think. And if eternity is real, hear me closely. We don't like talking like this because we don't want to think about it, because we're young and we want to live a good life. But eternity is real. There's a real heaven and a real hell.

God did not create hell for any person. He created it for the devil and his demons. But he created heaven for you and I if we would give our lives to him and come into relationship with Him. You and I possess the greatest story in all of mankind, and the world is longing to hear it. Who in our generation is going to open their mouth?

Be bold, say, you know what? I don't care what my friends think about me. You want to know a secret? Most of your friends in high school, you're never going to see them two years from now.

Honestly, I think I only know one friend from high school right now. I hope you know more people from in your friend group. I'm not saying to ditch them when you get out of high school. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is this.

We care so much about what that person in high school thinks about us or middle school or at a workplace or whatever the case may be, that we don't want to share Jesus because they're going to look at us and say, that's that Jesus guy. I want them to say that about me. Yeah, I am that Jesus guy. You need healing, Come find me. You want salvation?

Let me tell you about Jesus. You need breakthrough in your life. Let me lay my hands on you. Why don't we want to be those people instead of the people like, oh, my gosh, I don't want to be that weird one. No, I want to be that weird one.

I want to live outside of the box. I don't want to live like everybody else. I don't want to do what everybody else is doing. You guys okay? All right.

Open your Bible real quick. Go to Matthew, chapter nine. I want to read a few things. We're going to do something crazy. I want to lay hands.

If you don't know what that is, I'll explain it in a sec. Matthew, chapter nine.

I'm sorry. Go. I'm sorry. Before we go, Matthew nine, go to Mark. It's the next book after Matthew.

Go to the last chapter, Mark 16. Why do we preach the gospel? Guys, let me tell you why. These are some of the last words Jesus said before he left earth. He said, this says, go.

Mark 16, verse 15. Go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. And these miraculous signs will accompany those who believe.

They will cast out demons in my name. They will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes for safety. And if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick and they will be healed.

Did you know when you preach the gospel, miracles begin to break out in your life? Did you know that when you preach the gospel, sick people begin to be healed? Did you know that when you preach the gospel, demons begin to flee?

Go to the Book of Matthew now, Last chapter, verse 20, or chapter 28, verse 18. This is the same words Jesus said, but a little bit different. He said it like this. He said, I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this. Listen right here. I am with you always, even to the end of the age. You know, this is called the Great Commission.

Where before Jesus left the earth, before he ascended to the Father in heaven, he says, hey, there's some things I want you to focus on if you call yourself a Christian. I want you to preach the gospel. I want you to make disciples. I want you to cast out devils. I want you to heal the sick.

I to want you. I want you to do all these things. Why? Because when Jesus left the earth, he gave us his spirit to do the works he did while he was here on the earth. You see, it's so significant that if we call ourselves believers in Jesus, then we actually do the things God told us to do.

You know, I've never met one person till this day in my life who's preaching the gospel in their everyday life. And their life is in shambles. I have never met somebody who, whether they're 16, 46, 66, whatever the age is, I've never met one person who's preaching the gospel at their workplace, at gyms, at restaurants, at schools, everywhere they go, and their life is in shambles. Why? Because when you preach the gospel, you see breakthrough in your life.

When you preach the gospel, not only do you see People saved, healed and delivered. But all of a sudden, you begin to see God do things in your life that you can never imagine. When people say, ross, would you pray for me? I need breakthrough. You know, One of my questions to them is, I'll pray for you.

But I say, when's the last time you preached the gospel? This is a different type of evangelism. Evangelism isn't just something we do because we have to do it. Evangelism is something we do because if we don't do it, we might lack something that God wants to do in our life. But not only that, and more importantly, if we don't open our mouth, guess what?

That person sitting next to you in your class, that friend of yours who you know is battling with depression, anxiety, suicide, fear, conflict, confusion, and all these different things. If we don't open our mouth, they might not ever get free.

Few more Bible verses. Matthew, chapter nine. Just go with me a few pages back. We were just in Matthew 28. Go to Matthew, chapter 9, verse 35.

Matthew 9, verse 35. Listen to this. It says, jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the good news about the kingdom. Even Jesus preached the gospel, and it says this. And he healed every kind of disease and illness.

Once again, the Bible's making it clear if you preach the gospel, you'll see people get healed. Verse 36. Listen here. This is where I want to key in. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.

Verse 37, he said to his disciples, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest. Ask him to send more workers into his fields. One of my greatest prayers in the last six months of my life has been this, God, I want compassion. How you have compassion?

See, when Jesus saw that people were lost and broken in an addiction and bondages and sickness and disease, it says compassion came on him. The reason why I believe sometimes it's so hard for the church to preach the gospel because we actually don't have compassion. We don't weep for those who are lost. It doesn't bother us. It doesn't bother us enough.

One of my prayers lately is God. Whatever bothers you has to bother me. Whatever you desire to see happen, that has to be my greatest desire. Whatever your dream is, God, I want that to be my dream. How many times we pray and we say, God, you know, I want this to take place.

I Want this to happen. Do this in my family. I want this college to go to. Those are not bad prayers. But we have to go from being surface level Christians to the higher things.

What if instead of asking God for our dreams, we ask for his dreams? What if instead of asking God to bless us, we say God, use me to bless others. What if we say God instead of I need breakthrough. What if we get the breakthrough by spending time with God and then we can be people where they meet us and now they see breakthrough because we know Jesus and he flows through us. You see the purpose of Jesus living in your heart.

You know last night how we pray at the altar, Jesus, I receive you into my heart. Holy Spirit, fill me. We don't just say that to be cute and to be nice. What we're saying is the Son of God, Jesus, come and live inside of me. Give me your spirit so that now that your spirit's in me, now it can flow through me.

Jesus said it like this in John chapter six. He said, the words that I speak are spirit and life. You know, when you open your mouth, you're not just saying nice things and patting people on the back and making them feel good. When you speak, the Holy Spirit is released. This spirit is the same spirit that rose Christ from the dead.

And guess what? It lives in you. If the spirit that rose Christ from the dead lives in you, now it's time for it to be released through your mouth so that those who are dead in their lives can come come alive through Jesus. But I believe, like Matthew chapter 9 says, we have to ask God for a compassion. If you don't feel a hunger or desire for God, news flash, ask him for it.

If you're like God, I've been listening to these sermons. I've been hearing worship. I can feel something's going on, but I'm not quite sure what to do. Say, God, give me compassion. Because I can sit here and teach you guys all these things, which I'm so glad to do.

But if you don't have compassion, you'll never step out and share your faith. We need compassion that moves us. So now when I see that person who's depressed instead of me just saying, I don't want to think about it, I don't want to look, I don't want to look at it. It's too hard. I just want to go back to my normal life.

No, God, that person is depressed and I have the solution. I'm going to give them the solution. See, it's not our job to save somebody. God does that. Paul said it like this.

We plant and we water, but God brings the increase. Your job is not to save people. Your job is just to open your mouth and tell them how to be saved. And it's their choice to make that decision.

Last scripture. Go with me to Romans, chapter 10. It's a few books after Matthew. Romans, chapter 10. I want to hit this home, and then I want to pray.

You guys still here? Okay, good, good, Good. Romans, chapter 10. We're going to read 10 verses. Can you guys hang?

All right, 10 verses. Even if you said no, we're going to do it. Amen. Romans, chapter 10, verse 5. Listen to this.

This is Paul talking about how salvation is for everyone through Jesus. Okay? Listen to his words. This is what he said. For Moses writes that the law's way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.

Remember that before Jesus came to the earth and before he died on the cross and rose from the dead, the way that they thought you had to be saved was to obey all the commands of God, which is impossible to do. So this is what Moses is saying. Verse 6. But the way of faith is what gets you right with God. God says this.

Don't say in your heart, who will go to heaven? And don't say, who will go down to the place of the dead. In fact, it says this. The message is very close at hand. It is on your lips and in your heart.

Now, here's where I want you to key in. And this is the message about faith that we preach. If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you're made right with God. And it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

Verse 12. Sorry. Verse 13. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Verses 14 and 15.

This is for every person in the building right now. Listen to this. After Paul explains how to be saved, he says this. How can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they've never heard about him?

And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? How will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the scriptures say how beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news. What's the point here? People will not be saved unless they hear about the Gospel.

And how will they hear the gospel if nobody ever tells them? And how Will anybody tell them unless they're sent? You see, in our generation, I believe God is so pleased and so proud, because what we're doing is Bailey started prophesying the last night when she was singing We've crossed the line. What we're gonna do in our generation is instead of saying, you know what, Pastor, you can do that. Worship leader, you can do that.

Christian influencer, you can do that. Ross, you can do that. Clay, you can do that. Pastor Sam, you can do that. Instead of looking at the person next to you to do it, you're gonna say, you know what, God?

I'll do it. You know what, God? I bless my pastors. I bless my leaders. I bless the preachers.

I bless my church. But it's not just their responsibility. It's on me, too. It is time. In our generation, if you wonder why your life feels hopeless and purposeless is because you're not doing the things of God.

If you want to stop feeling hopeless, purposeless, like you don't know why you exist on this planet, start doing the things of God and your heart will come alive. Start doing what this Bible says, start talking about Jesus, and then all of a sudden, Jesus becomes so real to you that your greatest desire is his presence. You see, in our world, I preached about it last night, where we have so many preferences and options and so many things at our fingertips. We don't like to work hard. We want it now.

I call us the microwave generation. Give me it in 30 seconds or don't give me it at all. We need to break that off of ourselves. How do we do that? We get in a room with God with no hype, music with no hype, preachers with no hype anything, and we say, God, I'm not moving until you speak to me.

I might not feel a thing. I might feel bored. I feel like I'm wasting my time. But, God, nothing else is going to satisfy me than you. So you got to show up in this room.

You know, the revivalist of past. These guys were crazy. There's this one guy that would literally pray for five hours. He prayed so much that he locked himself in a basement. I'm not saying to lock yourself in a basement.

Okay, just hear me out for a sec, okay? He was so hungry for God that he said, I'm gonna go into my room, I'm gonna shut the door, and I'm gonna pray until the presence of God meets me. Who are those people in our generation? You know what I hear more of than that? Well, you know, I gave God 20 minutes while I was in the shower, sipping my coffee and on my way to school, and he didn't show up.

Imagine. Let me say it like this. Let me make it make sense to our generation. If President Trump walked into this room right now, every single person here would be paying attention. If Donald Trump walked into this building right now, people might clap, they might shout, they might get excited, they might get happy.

But. But yet when we seek God, this is us.

When Jesus walks into the room, he deserves all of our attention. And whether we feel good or we don't, he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. In our generation, we have to catch a glimpse of God more than anything else we saw in our lives. The last thing I want to say is this, and I want to pray for you guys. You know how we talked about the Great Commission?

You guys know how we talked about that, right? Mark 16, Matthew 28. This is what I like to say before the Great Commission comes the Great Encounter. Did you hear that? You see, I find this theme in the Bible, that it's messing me up, that before anybody ever did.

Before anybody ever did anything for God, they encountered God in such a way they could never forget it. Think of Abraham. Genesis 12. God speaks to him. He says, abraham, look up.

He says, you see those stars in the sky? You're going to have that many descendants. Then God comes to Moses. One day, Moses is walking. He looks over.

He said he sees a bush on fire. He's like, what the heck is going on? There's a bush on fire, but it's not burning up. He walks over to it, and boom, God speaks to him. How about Joshua?

Joshua is about to enter the promised land. And it says, all of a sudden, this man appears to him. Joshua says, are you a friend or foe? He says, I'm the commander of the Lord's armies. And Joshua falls to the ground.

What about Ezekiel, a prophet? He says he sees God and he sees his throne. He. He starts describing it, and he says, the glory of the Lord hits him and he falls to his face. You see, before you could ever do anything great for God, you have to encounter him personally in your life.

God wants to encounter you. Show him who. He wants to show you who he really is. Because when things get hard, tough and challenging, if you don't know who God is, you'll give up. But when you encounter this man named Jesus, it'll shift your life forever.

Watch this. Revelation 19, the last book of the Bible. This is where I want to close Revelation 19, verse 11. If you feel bored with God, bored with Jesus. If you rather watch Netflix than read the Bible, let me tell you why that's wrong.

The Bible is the most entertaining movie you'll ever watch in your entire life. This man named Jesus is so glorious and so beautiful. It has so many facets and aspects of who he is that he never ends. For generations upon generations upon upon generations. If you're bored with God, I want to challenge you and encourage you.

When you read the Bible, don't just read it as a cute book that says some cute Christian lines. Say God, show me what this means. Be captivated by the storyline of God. I want you. I want to read this.

Revelation 19, verse 11 have you ever heard of Jesus like this? If you haven't, you should really pay attention. Then I saw Heaven open and I saw a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named faithful and true, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire.

On his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one could understand. He wore a rib, a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations.

He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. Like a wine press on his robe, at his thigh. Yes, Jesus has a tattoo was written this title, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This Jesus we serve has eyes of fire, hair like wool, a sword coming out of his mouth, tattoo on his thigh, robe dipped in blood.

This Jesus is not just a cute little baby in a manger. If you've been bored or you haven't shared your faith with somebody, I want to encourage you to ask God to encounter you in a fresh way. You might be looking at me like Ross, you're really intense. You're really serious. I'm not just like this because I'm a naturally intense guy.

It's because I've seen this man named Jesus. It's because this God who I talk about, he's not just up here in my head. He's in my heart. And not only is he in my heart, I've sensed him with my eyes. I've seen him transform people.

I've seen so many tears, so many. So much weeping, so many crying, so many groans, so much hunger. I've seen so many things that I marked for the rest of my life. And if you have not Seen these things, you have to ask God. You just say, God, I want to see you.

I don't want to just read about you. I don't want to just hear about you. I don't want to just learn about you. God, you have to meet me in my room, you have to meet me in my house, you have to meet me in my car, wherever it is that you have space alone. Just say, God, I want to meet you.

If you want this Bible to go from just a book to your actual life, you have to cry out and ask God. You see what marked the early church for thousands of years ago is they were so hungry for the things of God that they lost sight of everything else. Paul said it like this. He said, I have forgotten, I have forsaken, I have discarded everything but Christ.

If you wonder why, when you listen to certain preachers and certain pastors, you go, there's something different about this one than this one. It's because they've seen God. It's because they've encountered Jesus with their own eyes, they've heard his voice with their own heart, and they felt him in their heart as well. If you have never shared your faith, you're going to begin to do so. I promise you that.

God is raising up an army of evangelists. An evangelist is not somebody who's just called to full time ministry. An evangelist is any Christian who's alive on the face of the planet who wants to share their faith so that their friends, family and those around them would be saved. Stand up with me. Just stand up.

Stand up. We're not going to do any music today. We're not going to. I love the keys and I did it last night. I just, I don't want it right now.

I'm going to pray real quick. Father, I pray for every person in the room right now that you would encounter them afresh. God. And just like you met me in my room at 15 years old, Father, I ask right now for your manifest, tangible presence to come. We don't need the music, we don't need the lights.

We don't need the hype. We want you, God. We've tried all the things, we've done it all, we've seen it all, we've tasted all. God, we need your presence. Just open your hands right now in front of you.

If you want more of God, just open your hands.

We're going to activate your faith right now. I want you for 20 seconds to ask God yourself. Just say, God, I want you. God, I want more of you. I'm hungry for your presence.

God, I want to see you. I want to feel you. I want to see those eyes of fire. I want to see your hair like wool. God, I want to know you more than just a book.

I want to know you as my best friend. Friend as the lover of my life, as my king and my lord. Come on, just open your mouth right now. I know this might be new for some of you. You don't know what to do.

It's okay. This is where you learn, right here. If you can't do it around other Christians, you probably won't do it ever. You're safe here. This is a safe place to test.

You don't have to be perfect. You don't have to have the right words. Just open your mouth. Just open your heart. Just believe in faith and just speak whatever's coming to your mind.

Just say, God, I want to encounter you. I want to know your presence. I want to know this man named Jesus. I don't. I want to share my faith because I'm so moved with compassion.

God, I don't want to just walk by people anymore. I don't want to just live my own life. God, I want to be the solution through your spirit, God. Father, I pray for compassion to come upon our generation, God. Break our hearts, God, for what breaks yours, God, what's your dream?

What's your desire, God, what is it that you long to see, God? We give up our own ways, God, and we choose your way.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. We ask Holy Spirit, fill us, fill us, fill us, God. Fill us. Fill us, God.

Thank you, Holy Spirit. Here's the last thing I want to do. And this is not going to be for everybody.

As I was sharing this morning. If you feel a hunger in a pool and you're like, Ross, I want to preach the gospel. I want to share my faith. I want to be one of those Christians who's not silent anymore. I want to take it serious that people are dying and going to hell.

If that's you, just come up right now and I'm going to pray for you. Just come up right here. Just stand up here. I'm going to pray for you guys. Just real quick, come as far forward as you can.

It's okay. There's going to be a lot of us. It's all right. Just come forward. Keep coming.

Keep coming. Thank you, Jesus. Keep coming.

Is there anybody else? Keep coming.

This is a serious decision.

Just going to wait 20 seconds. Just keep coming forward. If you want to get on Your knees, you can. Whatever you want to do, you can do it. You're free.

If you want to stand, you can stand.

Either one's fine. No pressure. God's going to touch you either way. I just want you to respond how God is putting it on your heart.

I'm going to go around and lay my hand on each of you guys as fast as I can. But before I do, I want to pray a few more things. Father, I pray for every single person who's responded to the call this morning. God, send a fresh fire upon them right now. Fresh fire, God, from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet.

Let them burn with the gospel. Let them burn with the gospel. I pray, Lord, that it goes from a head knowledge to a heart revelation. Jesus, we're done with the hype. We're done with the hype.

We want your presence, God. We want you. We don't need anybody to lead us. We don't need anything specific to get us going on an emotional high. God, we're hungry.

We're hungry for you, God. And I just pray for this generation, for my generation. God, cut us afresh. Mark our hearts with compassion, Lord. Let your love fill us, God, I just pray right now that the Lord will begin to show you people at your school, people at your workplace, people in your family, or just people that you know in general that you wouldn't be able to walk by them anymore.

You wouldn't be able to just let them live how they're living. You would say, I have to tell you about Jesus. I have to tell you. I don't. Even if you think I'm weird or crazy or maybe they would just want to hear it.

I have to share this Jesus with you. I have to share what he's done in my life. I have to let you know there is good news. You don't have to live in depression. You don't have to live in anxiety.

The Bible says, don't despise your youth. Just because you're young doesn't mean God can't use you powerfully. You don't have to wait till 45. It starts with your yes, I'm gonna pray a few things, Father. I pray for every woman.

I'm gonna get to the guys in a sec. I pray for every woman who's responded, raise them up like Esther's for such a time as this. God, I pray for the anointing of Esther to fall on every woman in the room right now that you would use your voice to save a Generation, you would use your voice to call people back to God. The first time the gospel was ever preached in the Bible. Peter said this.

Save yourself from this wicked and crooked generation. I pray for every woman here that God would give you the gift of tears. You think crying is a bad thing? No. It's because God is groaning through you.

God's compassion is bursting forth out of your heart. Father, I pray for every woman. Raise them up like JL's, those who destroy the enemy. The enemy thought you served him. The enemy thought he had you.

But little did he know that your loyalty was not to him, but to the God of the heaven and earth. So, Father, I pray for every woman right now. Evangelism is not just for men to lie. Some of the greatest evangelists I've ever seen are women. Father, I pray right now.

Fill every woman here. Fill every woman here. God. Fresh anointing, fresh fire. God, let that sword that comes out of your mouth come out of their mouth to destroy the works of the devil and every bit of darkness that comes against them.

Thank you, God, that you're releasing the mantle of deliverance on the women of our generation. Yeah, lay your hands. Lay your hands on those women when you preach the gospel. Watch the devil flee out of them. Weep over them.

Give them a hug. Watch God work through you. Fill. Fill every woman here. Fill with the Holy Ghost.

Fill, fill. Now, I pray for every man.

All shame, guilt and condemnation comes off of you. By the blood of Jesus. Your past is your past. Sin is your past, not your future. So I declare over every single man responding to the call that you would be men of righteousness, men of integrity, men of purity, that you would set the standard in your generation.

Holy Spirit, mark every guy right now. I pray for that mantle of David, that they would be undignified and they wouldn't care what the world says about them. That as a man, you were created to confront darkness first. As a man, you were created to go to the battle line first. As a man, you were created to defend this nation, to defend women.

As a man, you were created to preach this gospel. Our nation of America was built on preachers. So, Lord, I declare over every man right now. Release the mantle of evangelism right now. Let them burn for you.

God, sometimes the hardest thing for men to do is be vulnerable. But, guys, it's time to be vulnerable when we preach the gospel. Share what God has done in your heart. Share the reality of the battles that he's helped you to overcome. Don't be afraid of your story and of your shortcomings.

Because now you're free by the blood of Jesus.

Just wait up here a little bit longer. We're just lingering.