The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
1 Thessalonians 4mentioned briefly at the opening as the basis for being caught up to be with the Lord forever, before the first hymn
1 Finally then, brothers, we beg and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, that you abound more and more.
2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality,
4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in sanctification and honor,
5 not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who don’t know God;
6 that no one should take advantage of and wrong a brother or sister in this matter; because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we forewarned you and testified.
7 For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.
8 Therefore he who rejects this doesn’t reject man, but God, who has also given his Holy Spirit to you.
9 But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that one write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another,
10 for indeed you do it toward all the brothers who are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brothers, that you abound more and more;
11 and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you;
12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing.
13 But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
15 For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first,
17 then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
quoted to make the point that faith must be verbalized: how can they hear without someone preaching
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher?
quoted on the topic of obedience: obedience is better than sacrifice, submission better than offering the fat of rams
22 Samuel said, “Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying Yahweh’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
cited as the location of the phrase God is love, noted it appears two or three times there, and that the book addresses false Gnostic teaching
1 Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them.
6 We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God.
8 He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.
9 By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.
16 We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
17 In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love him, because he first loved us.
20 If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21 This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Nick Stern, First Baptist's technology and communications director, shared stories and lessons from two pilgrimages he made along the Camino de Santiago, in Spain and Portugal. The walks became unexpected mission trips, and he wove those experiences together with a straightforward challenge to the congregation: verbalize your faith. The message drew on Romans 10:14, 1 Samuel 15:22, John 14:6, 1 John 5:3-5, 1 Peter 5:6-8, and Matthew 28:19.
What was said
Nick opened by pushing back on the popular quote attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, "preach the gospel at all times, when necessary use words." He said that quote gets used as a way to wiggle out of the actual work, and pointed to Romans 10:14 as the corrective: how are they to hear without someone preaching? The congregation in Jackson lives in one of the wealthiest communities in America, faces no real persecution, and has every reason to speak up rather than stay comfortable and quiet.
From there he laid out five topics, which became six, that kept coming up naturally in conversations with pilgrims from around the world. The first was obedience. Drawing on 1 Samuel 15:22, he said people on the Camino were hiking to show penance or sacrifice, and people in Jackson can write a check, but neither is what God is actually asking for. What God asks for is our hearts, our attention, and our obedience, and when we give that, we get to know Him in a way that sacrifice alone never produces.
The second topic was that following Christ is all-in. He described meeting pilgrims who were assembling a personal religion from Buddhism, Eastern philosophy, and a little Jesus, and said that is not what is on offer. He quoted John 14:6 directly: Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. If you want any part of Jesus, that claim has to be taken seriously and not softened.
Third, he addressed the phrase "God is love." He said people used it constantly as a way to justify holding on to something they did not want to give up. He pointed out that 1 John, where that phrase lives, is actually a letter written against false teaching, and that 1 John 5:3-5 defines love for God as keeping His commandments. God wants to be fully known, not reduced to a single attribute that excuses whatever we want to excuse.
Fourth, he encouraged people to find out what Jesus actually said about Himself rather than taking anyone else's interpretation, and to compare that honestly with what other religious leaders claimed. He said that exercise is what confirms his own belief. Fifth, and most personally, he talked about laying down burdens, and cited 1 Peter 5:6-8. He described the Cruz de Ferro on the Spanish route, where pilgrims leave a stone at a roadside cross, and said he has tried since the Camino to practice casting anxiety on God the moment it surfaces, because God genuinely cares for us.
The sixth point returned to Matthew 28:19 and the phrase "as you are going." Nick told the story of baptizing a man named Anders in a river along the trail, a conversation that started while he was washing his laundry outside a hostel, already sick with COVID. He said he is not ordained and has no special degree, but when the opportunity came he said yes. He closed by pointing to the upcoming Look Up Tour with Will Graham in Idaho Falls as a concrete, near-term way to bring someone along and let a straightforward gospel message do the work.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Nick mentioned that the quote 'preach the gospel at all times, when necessary use words' is often used as a way to avoid actually speaking our faith out loud. What holds you back from verbalizing what you believe to people in your everyday life?
Nick described obedience as the topic people on the Camino wanted to talk about most, and pointed to 1 Samuel 15:22 where Samuel says obedience is better than sacrifice. In what ways do we substitute visible sacrifice or generosity for the harder work of actual obedience?
It's all good. Intimidating. It's the I mean, it's the what? Intimidating. He's probably trying to park.
Harking is pretty crazy.
Alright. Good morning, everybody. How are we doing? It's good to see you. Didn't anybody get to spend a little time mix and mingle outside?
Alright. Good. Good. Good. Good.
Well, here we're here to worship. Will you stand with us, and we'll, we'll start by singing. When we all get to heaven from first Thessalonians, we will be caught up to be with the Lord forever. Let's sing of it. Can I get a big amen with that?
Really? Seriously. This is something to look forward to. Lord, give us time on earth as much as you would have, but, really, this is our hope is sure and certain in the resurrection. It It is is sure sure and and certain.
Certain. It is something to celebrate, to sing, to look forward to. Shall we keep on singing? Until then. Beautiful.
That's a beautiful song, isn't it? You can have a seat here for a moment, and, Nick is gonna give us a few announcements.
Okay. Oh, we'll get to that. Turn your mic on. There you go. Nice.
Hello. Sorry. Hello, everybody. We are working on the directory. We try to do this every year if we can.
If you go through this and find your name and check all the phone numbers, all the email addresses. And if you'd like to be in the directory but are not listed, if you do me a favor and just write that somewhere in the white page part. Follow the example of what you see, and we'll take a picture of you afterwards. And if you don't want to be a part of it, just pass it on to the person behind you. So can you guys pass that down?
Yeah. Here, I'll pass that to Chuck there. Great. Okay. That's good.
Get that church business going. And on Monday nights, we have meal music and a message every Monday night here at First Baptist Church. It's pared down a little bit for a little bit of discussion. Just a meal and a gospel conversation. But you can if you want to.
If you want to bring the music, feel free to That's good. First, the BBQ was happening between services today and will happen again August 27. Sorry, I guess. I'm the sound guy. I should I should be better at this.
There we go. Okay. What a professional. Okay. So we're it's gonna happen again August 27.
Please come and experience and get to mix with everybody. It's a good place to be. We're also gonna have a kitchen committee forming too. So that way, one person isn't carrying all of the burden of the kitchen. But everybody can take a little piece.
So if you'd like to volunteer, contact Nancy Tracciano with that phone number there. And she'll get you taken care of Next week, this is really important. There's only one service and it's at the fairgrounds under the big top tent, okay? We'll try to remind you in the church Email this week but 10AM under the tent and if you would, come a little early and buy breakfast at the from the Lions Club. We kind of take over their space a little bit, and that's just a nice way to show our appreciation that we get to be there if we can buy some pancakes and stuff.
But 10AM, one service, no child care next week. If you would, check the lost and found in the back of the sanctuary underneath the coat racks. There's a lot of stuff back there. And hey, take home a treasure. Hopefully, just your own.
And it's birthday birthday wishes for Carl today. Can we all sing happy birthday to our beloved Carl? Happy birthday to you. He loves this. Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear Carl. Happy birthday to you. And let's applaud for our friend, Yeah. What a what a great guy is. And if you'd like to sign up for our church emails, there's so much going on.
We try to put everything on the website as well and we don't do the paper bulletins anymore and just recently too, we put up on the bulletin board back here a bunch of small groups and things. So, if you want to get involved in a small group, get back there and look at those And now, Chuck from the Good Samaritan Mission is going to share with us. Do you have the extra mic, Carl? It's back here. Oh, nice.
Okay. I'll turn mine off then.
I'm gonna start out first with what's happening with Chuck. I don't know how many of you know me from years and past, but I I think last year I said that I had cancer. And now Thursday, I start chemotherapy. It's metastasized throughout my bones and everything. There's a bunch of other stuff wrong with me, but you know who's got me is God.
So I start chemo on on Thursday. But, you know, when we think about our relationship with God and what we're doing here on Earth, if I live, more people are gonna hear about Jesus because I love just sharing with everybody. You know, there there's a fear and there's a faith. And fear and faith can't live in the same body. And there's no fear inside of here.
I love Jesus with all of my heart. And, you know, I'm gonna go be with him someday, but only he knows the number of days. So, anyway, how many people know that there's a mission in Jackson Hole? Almost everybody. That's unusual in this town because we change people so often.
But, yeah, we got 29 beds for men, five for women. We do 15,000 meals out of our kitchen. That's breakfast and dinner seven days a week, lunch on weekends. We get food out the back door to people that need food boxes. One of my favorite programs is Totes of Hope, and that's where we do 40 bags of food each week.
We take them over to the children's learning center, and those kids that have been identified as food insecure get food for their family, about 12 to 15 pounds of food a week. So that's that's probably my favorite one. When I when I take them over there and put them in the bins, I'm feeding little kids. I can't believe I say that on stage everywhere I go, but but that's what motivates me, you know, to do it so I can get the strength to go from the mission over there and then walk back and forth and and fill up those bins. And it's just reward my heart.
But all that is stuff. That's all the stuff that we do at the mission, and that's good. That's ministry. But the most important ministry that each of us has is to share Jesus with somebody. And I had a guy sitting across from me.
His name's Patrick. He's now my assistant. About three months ago, he was I was praying for him right after he right after he came to the mission. He was out of jail on on probation for drinking alcohol, and I prayed for him. He's a 20 marine vet, and he had guilt and shame for all the people that he has killed in the wars.
And he was sitting across from me, and I prayed, and I saw the cross there. In my mind's eye, I saw the cross and the blood pouring from the cross, pouring over him in full military guard with this metal helmet. And the blood was pouring over him, and you could just see the guilt and the shame rising up from him. As I opened my eyes in this prayer, I looked across, and there was Patrick crying like a baby, 20 year marine vet. He accepted Jesus at that moment into his heart, not just his mind.
And then it was a couple of weeks later, he was at a AA meeting that he was required to do for the state. One of the guys in the AA meeting pulled him aside and said, I don't know what it is, but there's something about you that's really impressive. Could you pray for me? And that just blessed my heart because now I know it's not just me, but it's went from me to him, and now he's sharing it with the world. And anyway, that that's the most important thing.
One more for Jesus. Last thing I the reason I do this every year is for old Bill's fun run coming up. Well, I think it starts August 13, the giving, But I like the people to remember what we do. So it's old Bill's fun run, Good Samaritan mission. Old Bill's fun run, Good Samaritan mission.
Old Bill's fun run, what? Alright. You got it. Thank you.
Before you before you leave, Chuck, stay up here for a second. Can we can we pray for Chuck real quick too for his, chemotherapy coming up too? Lord God, thank you for this man and for all he's done for this community, for the hundreds and thousands of people he's met, Lord God, throughout his time here. Lord God, would you would you help the doctors to see what they need to see, to prescribe what they need to prescribe, to heal this man, Lord God? Would you would you heal him, Lord God?
And would you bring him comfort as he goes through this, Lord God? That you're there with him. Lord God, would you bring him peace, help him to be free from pain. And Lord God, we just pray that we'd have many more years with our friend Chuck. And Lord God, would you reward him strongly in heaven, Lord, for all of the the many things he's done on this earth and the how much he's sown into so many other people, Lord God.
And would you help him have somebody else to come along and take along some of those responsibilities so he can focus on getting better, Lord God. And would you provide the right people at the right time to take your word forward in this community, Lord, in your holy name. Amen. Alright.
Should we stand and sing worship again? Open our eyes, Lord. Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. That's Jesus in Matthew five eight. Let's sing it.
Let's sing this again. Make it our prayer song. Jesus, we just want to thank you. And then you can have a seat here for a moment. That's the worship through giving.
I ask the ushers to come come on forward and Julia and Evan and Emily are gonna share some special music but before they do, let me ask. Would you pray and give thanks?
Yeah. Thanks. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, it's your good to be in your house today with your people. Thank you so much for leaving us your church.
We praise you for who you are, and we're gonna take a little bit of time here to pass this plate. And we're gonna put our offerings in it, Lord, and our sacrifices, giving up some of the things that this world cherishes because we cherish you. And we would just ask that you take this like that, fish and the bread, and do your will with it, multiply it, and do what you want done. Thank you for letting us give. Amen.
Thank you so much for classing up the place. That's great. That's amazing. Like, wow. The channel can we give them a round of applause?
And
and you're invited back every week. Yeah. And can I pray for Nick? He's gonna be sharing the word while while Ray is out. Just good news there on on on Ray's end.
They had a a mission to to deliver a a four wheel drive vehicle into Ukraine that would be used as an ambulance to rescue people out of war. And mission mission complete. So praise God. We're thankful for that. Yeah.
And let me pray for for Nick Yerazee. Lord, I thank you for my friend, and, lord, what a gift that we as friends get to get to serve on staff here. And I thank you for Nick's heart for evangelism. And, Lord, would you speak through his personality? Most of all, would you see speak through the the scriptures shared this morning that, Lord, it would encourage us and and spur us on, to do exactly what you, have called us to do, and that is, to be gospel not just gospel, to to receive it, but to share the gospel.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Thanks, Carl. That's so nice. And thanks to all of you too. My name is Nick Stern. I'm the technology and communications director here at First Baptist Church, which means I do a little bit of everything including this.
So yeah. And I make it look good too. I'm actually dressed like this today because I'm gonna be sharing with you all a little bit, some stories from the Camino De Santiago. I got I turned 40 years old last year and I got to hike 550 miles across Spain. Actually, here's a map from the right hand side there in France, just on the border, and Saint Jean Pied De Porte, a lovely little town, all the way to Santiago De Compostela, 500 miles away.
And when we got there, we decided we hadn't gone far enough and went clear to the ocean, wearing clothes just like this. So so normally, would wear a suit and tie or something, but casual Sunday. Why not? That's alright. And then this year, I got to go from Porto in Portugal to Santiago to Compostela.
Same destination, different path of getting there, a 175 miles along the coastline. Here's where I started in Porto. This is actually a view from the cathedral where I started, and then this is where I ended in Santiago De Compostela, 175 miles away. In this this chapel here, the cathedral are supposed to be the bones of Saint John Saint James the apostle. Although, with the story of how they got there and everything, we're like, Saint Saint James ish maybe is there.
But there are bones there and people, thousands of people make a destination, a trip, a pilgrimage every year. This is actually me at the beginning of the trip with my passport looking so hopeful and nothing aching yet. And that little booklet, you carry that with you every stop. You get a a stamp to say that you ate a meal someplace along the trail, or slept along the way. Helps you get discounts, and also proves you did it.
And then at the end, you turn it in for a certificate. This is one of my certificates up here. Feel free to come look at it, and you have to carry a shell with you all along the way. Back in the day, they used to have pilgrims that would be trying to do it to to show their penance, try to show their holiness or their their willingness for God by hiking this trail. Or it was also a penalty, and if they wanted to kill you, you would hike the trail because chances are you weren't coming back.
So that's that's great. Yeah. Woo hoo. So here's the view I had on my first day. This beautiful this beautiful ocean right along the way.
I was walking on these boardwalks. And I can't complain about that at all. But my favorite part was meeting all the people from all over the over the world. These folks were just from The United States. But then this The next night, I met these people who had become my Camino family.
Two of them would anyway. The guy next to me, his name is Flo, and we hiked together nearly the entire way. And then our friend Kiki Kiki is in the middle, and I I'm sorry I can't remember the girl on the right because that was the last time I saw her. I think, it might have been my smell at the time that scared her away. Hard to say.
But this guy this guy, I hiked with him. His name is Dino. I hiked with him. I had never met him before. We had dinner the night before, and then the next day, he invited me to talk about Christianity on his podcast.
So I'm actually wearing a microphone in this picture. And for three hours as we were walking, I got to share with him and anybody listening about the gospel of Christ. Completely unexpected, but kind of a a cool opportunity. This is an example of the places to stay. They're called Albergues.
They're basically hostels. And for €8, you get to stay in a place like this. You get a bed, and you get some plastic sheets and a shower, and are introduced to all the wonderful sounds and sights and smells of your neighbors. And it's it's actually fantastic. I highly recommend it, and it's a great way to meet people.
Here's all of our backpacks lined up in order of who gets in first. I'm kinda in the middle there. And this is my favorite hostel that I got to stay. Actually, was supposed to stay at the place before that, and I was waiting in line. I felt like God said, no, go on one town further.
So I hiked a little further, got to this place, and it was very relaxing. I got to kind of rest and heal up. And the last picture for this series here is of a church that's actually in the shape of a shell, which is the kind of a shell you're supposed to get to prove that you did this trip. And this is this is that that that church that I love so much. But the reason for sharing all this with you today is because while we were on this trail, it it became apparent to both my brother and I that this would be the best mission trip we'd ever be on.
As we're walking with people from all around the world, you get to talk to each other, and all of a sudden you're talking about the Lord. And if you're bold enough, you could share little bits about your life, your faith, who Jesus is along the way. And I wanted to share with you all some of the talking points that we talked the most about with people because people were really interested and really excited to talk about who God is. And Romans ten fourteen has something to say about that. And then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?
Sorry, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? I really like this first because of that last part especially, and how are they to hear without someone preaching? We have to verbalize our faith.
We have to actually speak it out. And let me tell you, in this room are some all stars of knowing how to do that. And many of you have spoken into my life. Many of you probably also heard this this little quote supposedly by Saint Francis of Assisi, preach the gospel at all times at all times when necessary use words. Well, Saint Francis of Sisi didn't say that and I hate it.
So, I bring it up mostly because this is this is some a way we kind of wiggle out of the responsibility of actually having to verbalize our faith. Right? But what what did that scripture say that we just read? How really do you hear without someone preaching? We have to speak it out.
They don't know. And in today's world, we were sold a lot of fear on the news, on the internet, on emails, all those kinds of things. We're supposed to be so afraid of everybody else. Nobody wants to hear our message. Stay quiet.
All that stuff. Folks, they don't know what you believe. Okay? That we are the wealthiest community in America, and we are not in persecution right now. So if people who are in persecution, who have poverty, and who have problems in their preaching, why aren't we preaching too?
It's easy for us to be comfortable, to feel like we don't need to share, to feel like we've got everything we need, or we're just too busy with whatever. But there's people right next to us, whether we're in Spain or in Portugal or we're in Jackson, Wyoming that need to hear about the gospel of Christ. And guess what? You're right there too. How exciting is that?
So we're gonna we're gonna talk a little bit about that and talk about that as it applies to also the Camino De Santiago. And here's an example. This is a guy named John that I met. One of my, this this picture is taken my last day in Spain, but a few days beforehand, we were hiking along, and I was terrified of this guy. If you look at him, he's got that million yard stare where he just burns a hole in you.
He's ripped. He's he's he's got these muscles that are crazy. And when I met him, he was wearing a t shirt that said punch it. And I thought it meant me. Like punch me.
That's what I thought he was inviting us to do. And I didn't want to be part of it. And I I'm kind of ashamed to say, I didn't talk to the guy at first. Until the last day I'm in Spain, and I'm in a bar. I don't even drink, but I was invited to go along with his people, and God opened up a door to share the gospel with him.
And yeah, I'm scared. I I'm scared. But God gives that opportunity through that conversation to be able open up and let them know who Jesus really is. And I think we got somewhere. God only knows.
Be praying for John. Folks, they don't know the gospel, but you do. And one of the best ways we can get ready for this is to practice preaching the gospel to ourselves. My brother who's a great evangelist, I actually think he's better than me by far. He practices in the shower or someplace where you're alone.
Maybe you're in the car. Just go over what somebody would have to tell you to to help you know who Jesus really what who really is. Or also pray for those people that you you want to reach out to, and and practice how you would preach to them. So when the opportunity comes up, it's not a surprise. And you're not saying the words for the first time.
Just practice them maybe in the mirror, or where wherever your comfortable spot is, try practicing it. Now we're gonna talk about a few things too that we we spoke to people. The five most popular things we spoke to people about on the Camino De Santiago. And number one was obedience by far. And we don't like talking about obedience, do we?
We're independent people. We do things our way, but what God calls us to is obedience in him. First Samuel fifteen twenty two says, but Samuel replied, what is more pleasing to the Lord? Your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen, obedience is better than a sacrifice and submission is better than than offering the fat of rams.
On the Camino De Santiago, people are walking that trail to show penance, to show their sacrifice for God. I'm giving this to him. Or here in Jackson, we could just write a check and make problems go away. Which believe me, working at the church, please keep doing that because we have a lot of But it it really does help. But but what God is asking for is actually our hearts, our time, our focus, our attention, and our obedience.
He wants us to obey him, to follow him with all of our hearts. And it's not easy, right? But when we do, we see a sweetness and an opportunity to really get to know Him. And as I mentioned, we were hiking along the Camino. It was a 105 degrees when this picture was taken in Pamplona.
And we had to leave at 04:30 in the morning to get out ahead of the heat. And this is us. So this is sun is coming up. We can try to put these things out there that show our sacrifice, show our devotion to God. To say like, Lord, I'm doing this, but what you know, that's not really what he's asking for.
Obedience is better than sacrifice and submission is better than the offering of the fat of rams. Stop number two. We're cruising right along folks. Here we go. Being a follower of Christ is an all in proposition.
The phaser for chicken wings and not faith. Don't use that on your vegan friends. They won't appreciate it as much. But it's true. God desires all of us.
Some of our, the people we talk to along the way would be like, well, gonna take a little scoop of Buddhism. I'm gonna take a little scoop of Eastern philosophy. I'm gonna take a little scoop of Jesus. But that's that's kinda how it goes. It feels like a build your own religion factory kind of thing.
And as nice as that sounds, that's not what God's offering to us. If if he is real, if he is the God of the universe, and I believe he is, then we should go all in and trust him on that and push all else aside. And John fourteen six says, Jesus answered, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. If you believe in the Bible, if you believe in who Jesus is, if you want part of Jesus to be in your little buffet salad, follow what he says.
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you want to be a Christian, if you want to follow Jesus, if you want to follow his teachings, he has to be it. No one comes except through me. Otherwise, you end up with something like this.
This is a dish I had in Spain. Fried egg, fried bacon, french fries. Sounds appetizing for a couple of minutes until your stomach erupts. Right? This is this is what happens when we build our own faith.
We get all the good stuff. We put it together and it's not what we're what's really good for us. Right? Stop number three. God is love.
Whenever you share with people or you start talking about faith in general, people will bring up God is love, and he is. God is love, but he's also complex. There's a lot to the Lord. There's a lot of aspects of him, and one of them is God is love. But he's also other things.
I talked to these folks when we arrived in Santiago De Compostela the first time. And lovely folks, he's actually a pastor at a church, but they were using God is love as, well God is love therefore, I can do this. Or God is love, therefore I can believe this extra thing. Or God is love, so therefore, and it's there's a lot of I'd like to believe that's too. Like, well, I'd like to believe that God is love, so therefore he overlooks this thing.
Or I can hold on to this part. If we want to obey the Lord, we we can't do that. We can't we can't change his words and things like that. Because God is love is only found in first John four. In some translations, it's three times as said, it's God is love.
So most of the times it's two. But that book, the whole book is actually reaching out to people who believe in the Gnostic faith. John is trying to go after these folks that that believe in the Gnostic faith. And it's very pointed about false teaching. And actually says first John five three through five, this is love for God to keep his commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God.
John John is narrowing things down here. Right? He's showing us that this is the path. Yes, God is love and our love back for him is to keep his commandments. Not to use it as a tool to justify that extra thing we want to do.
That little hidden something. That little extra addition. But in order to keep his commandments, which means we also have to know them. Right? We have to dig in and find out what they are.
It's a tough teaching. But God wants to be fully known as much as we want to be known. I don't know about you, but for most of my life I was kind of a loner. I didn't have a lot of friends in high school and stuff. And it just, it feels good when you feel known.
When you're home with your family, with your when you're with your Jean and Marshes, and you're Marion, and they're they're they know you so well, and they're taking good care of you. Well, God also wants to be known. And through his scripture, and through his Holy Spirit, he allows us to know his character, to see how he's acted in the past, to be able to meet him. And the more we obey, the more we follow him, the more his Holy Spirit fills us up and directs us how we're supposed to go. He wants to be known as you want to be known as well.
Step four, who did Jesus say he is? A lot of people in that kind of buffet style are like, well Jesus was a good teacher and he was all about love, but they don't really know who he was. I believe that if you really look at any of the religious leaders out there and you look at who they said they were, that's that's how we should define their religion. Right? Who who did Buddhist say he was?
Who did Joseph Smith say that God was? Who did who did Jesus actually say he was? So I like that's the way we're at with Christianity. And when you see who Jesus actually said he was, I believe he comes out heads above everybody else. That's why I believe in in the Lord.
That's why I believe in Jesus because of what he actually said. And don't try to interpret or take hearsay from other things, but find out what Jesus actually said about himself and go there. Stop number five. One of our last ones here. Lay down your burdens.
Now this is something I talked about a lot on the Camino De Santiago with people Because this is my problem. Last week Brad talked to us about sharing openly and sharing faith with each other. And this is the problem that I have. I don't lay down my burdens very well. I carry things with me.
I hold on to past regrets, to pains, to those kinds of things, and it's not good. It's it's killing me. And this is one of things I've been working on hard since the Camino De Santiago because that was, I wanted that to be my turning point. Because in first Peter five six through eight it says, therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that he may exalt you at the proper time, having cast all of your anxiety on him because he cares about you. How nice is that?
He cares about us and he's willing to take our anxieties and our fears on him. But what do we have to do? Cast it on him or give it to him. Another way to say this, give him your cares. Give him your cares.
And he does take those things. And here's an example for you. This is a picture of the Cruz De Ferro. As you're hiking across Spain on the French route, which we did, three quarters the way across, you come to this cross. And they encourage you to start your trail carrying a stone from wherever you begin, and laying it here to represent something you're giving up and laying at the foot of the cross.
And look how many tiny little stones there are. That's a mountain. That could represent just the things that I could lay down at that cross. But our buddy Dave polished some stones from the Snake River and we carried them with us. And I did lay down a burden there that I didn't want to pick up anymore.
And I remember later that day, I'm hiking along and that little burden came back to my brain. I was like, no. I left that at the Cruz De Ferro. That's God's now. But we don't have to be in Spain to do that.
We could be anywhere we are, and this has been a practice that I have tried to take on this year. When something rises up to the surface, some disappointment from the past, some hurt, some something that something I failed at. I just like, Lord, would you take that from me? Would you take this anxiety? Even today, getting ready for this message, I was feeling some anxiety and prayed and the Lord took that away, which is amazing.
It's awesome. He does that for us because he cares for us. So we can do that freely. Number six. Oh, I said there were five and there's six.
So sorry. If you want to leave, you can go. It's fine. I won't hold against you. No extra homework today.
Alright. So Matthew twenty eight nineteen says, go therefore and it can also be translated as as you were going and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and the son of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And Ray has pointed this out many times, as you are going, as you're doing what you are doing, you don't have to be out in the mission field necessarily, although that's great. You don't have to be out in Spain or Portugal. Wherever you are, and wherever you're supposed to be going, be taking this with you.
Be reaching out. In fact, one of the best and most effective ministries I've ever seen was a church back in Cleveland, Ohio, which where I'm from. They sent all their people out to go go be somewhere and be embedded in the community and witness where you're at. And so I was in an improv troupe, and there were like 14 of us on the stage and three people in the audience. So it's a good crowd, good turnout for Cleveland.
And and two of those people were this couple that came from this church, and they what they did is they they loved comedy. So they came and saw the comedy show every week, and they found out when people's birthdays were, and they bring them a cake. If they're going through a divorce, they would talk to them. If they they would pray with people, they would listen, and they would they would into the community just doing what they wanted to do. Just being in a comedy show, they built a a lovely mission that just made those comedians feel so loved and so at home.
Believe me, when there's only three people in the audience, you notice when two of them are there. Right? And and that then that's a great thing. And I want to tell a story that relates to me in the Camino on this point as well. But this part really doesn't have anything to do with me.
I I reluctantly I'm reluctant to share it. Because I I really am not a great evangelist. I'm not the perfect symbol. But I want to tell you this story because it really impacted my life. I was walking on the trail and this guy Anders stayed at one of the Albergues one night.
And we, it was a 105 degrees. And we're outside. I am standing in my underwear, outside washing my other pair of underwear. And this guy was sitting there smoking, and we start talking about faith. It just comes up, and I am in no shape to talk to him.
As a matter of fact, I didn't know it yet, but I had COVID. In fact, it would develop to a really bad case, but God gave me a couple more moments before I got super sick. And and he starts talking about, you know, I've known the Lord, but I've never been baptized. And I was like, well let's go. And he's like, know, what do you mean?
Was like, well let's go. There's a river right down the way. This is the river. This is right by the bridge. We were on the other side of this bridge.
And we walked down, and I was able to talk to him about who the Lord is, reaffirm his faith. He he affirmed with me. I was able to baptize him in that river. And and when he comes up, he's like, I gotta call my mom. I was like, that's never a bad idea, you know?
And all these moms gonna get an amen for that one? Call your mom, right? And and so he he comes up, he calls his mom, and she says, what happened? He hadn't said anything to her yet, but she says, what happened? I felt like the Lord said something happened to you.
He said, mom, I was baptized today. She says, oh, I knew it. Oh, I knew it. And like praise God, know, just those opportunities come up and we'll go back to that scripture there. Go therefore as you are going and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
I'm not ordained. I don't have a special degree. I've never been, none of that stuff. You know, but and as good as those things are, those are great things. That's never happened to me, but when the opportunity came up, I said yes, and I hope that we would do that too.
That if the opportunity comes up and you're there, be the person that that that baptizes. Be the person that prays with them. Be the person that goes the extra mile to to to lead them to the Lord. And one way we can do this, an easy way coming up, is actually through the look up tour. Now I may have talked about this a lot during the announcements in the in the spring, but I'm the contact here at First Baptist Church.
Will Graham, who's Billy Graham's grandson, is coming to Idaho Falls at September twenty third and twenty fourth. It's free. Would you consider taking one of your friends, one of your neighbors, somebody you meet along the way, the butcher, who cares? Somebody along the way, would you say, I'm going to buy you dinner tonight, and we're gonna go see this speaker who means a lot to me. Would you come?
Because they're gonna preach a straightforward gospel message. David Crowder's gonna be playing there too, a bunch of other musicians. And would you would you open up that opportunity? Would you be praying for somebody today that you can invite to that? And would you be inviting for the would you be willing to pray for that person who you think would never come?
That person that God can't save. You know, the quote unquote, of course he can. Would you be praying for that guy like that John, that punch it guy? Pray for somebody like that in your life that I'd like to invite that. It's a good motivator.
They they did some classes here a few months ago, and they left behind some amazing materials that are really great. I actually keep this one by my desk in case I'm having an off day, and it has a step by step introduction to talk to people about Christ. Maybe you want it for yourself too to find a little bit more. There's a gospel of John in this orange book over here, And it's an opportunity to strengthen and sharpen yourself to be ready to preach the gospel when the opportunity comes. It can be at the lookout tour.
It cannot be at the lookout tour. And if you just want to be equipped or if you want somebody to pray with you, to be accountable with, come talk to us or talk to each other. This is a really good group of people right here that could sow a lot of maturity and depth into your life. And if there's any way we can help at the church, please let us know. And then finally, this is a picture of me at the end with my good friend Flo who hiked with me for about eight days.
One of my favorite people in the whole world. Would you find that person and go with them the extra mile today and and preach the gospel with them? You don't need a certificate to do it. And the reward comes at the end. But when we obey the Lord, when we really find out who Jesus is, our lives get filled up.
And we should be sharing that with other people too. Thanks for coming and thanks for being there for me all these years too. Many many of you have sown into my life in beautiful beautiful ways. And I hope as my generation comes up to bat that we can do that as well as you have too. So let's pray.
Lord God, thank you so much for the opportunity to to share today. Lord God, would you would you place somebody on our hearts our hearts and in our lives that we can that we can bring to you, that we can talk about you with, Lord. Would you soften their hearts? Would you bring them to you, Lord? And help us to have somebody we can take to the look up conference, Lord.
I pray for my people that I met on the Camino. Lord, would you be with them today? Would you be working in their lives? Would you bring other people? Would they be reading your scripture, Lord?
And thank you for the extreme opportunity, extremely wonderful opportunity to be here at First Bee all these years, Lord. In your holy name, amen. Thanks, guys.
You stand, and and we will close here in a in in the doxology. And and may I encourage may I encourage you? You might be the person to share the gospel with that person. In your mind, think of who that person might be. It may not be somebody else.
It may not be Ray or I or anybody speaking up here. You might be that person this week, this month. So Lord help us. Let's sing again. I got a benediction verse here as as we part it.
But I'm gonna say, in your but in our but in our hearts, revere Christ as Lord. Let's always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks us to give a reason for the hope that we have. But how are we to do this? With gentleness and respect. Amen.
