What the Camino Taught Me About Sharing Faith
First B Jackson
2023-07-23

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Alright. Good morning, everybody. How are doing? It is good to see you this morning. Would you stand with us together in worship?

Here's a psalm from Psalm one fifty to lead us in worship. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Everybody take a deep breath in. And let it out. Hey, that's us.

Shall we sing together? There's a song, my soul.

Sing for you. There's a hope in my heart. There's a hope in my heart. Turning bright in darkness. This I know for sure.

And

Let for my life

and let my life be to you a symphony singing out holy, holy. All my days, every single songs I sing for you.

Hey. You can have a seat here for a moment. We've got a few announcements for you, and Nick has them.

The other microphone. Did it pop on yet? Okay. Alright. Good job, Preston.

Okay. So hey, everybody. My name is Nick and we're gonna start passing around the first b directory. We're supposed to do this every year and it's been about a year and a half, so that's pretty good, right? We got the directories here.

If you go through, check everything, make sure your name, phone number, everything is correct, that'd be great. If you don't see your name in there, please write all your information in and see me after the service and we'll get a picture of your family and everything. And and just keep passing them around. There's plenty of white space on here too if you need to make a note to let me know how to fix it, that'd be great. I'll pass one off for this side and one off for this side if you just keep passing it around.

Great. Nice. Okay. And so next one, Monday night's a first meeting. Monday night is tomorrow.

Monday night is on tomorrow. It's a pared down version, just a meal and a gospel conversation. And Bradley is going to, he's going to be, leading that. And, did I say Bradley? I'll just say Brad.

It's great. Brad Yates. Brad's gonna be leading that gospel conversation on, on Mark 15. So know that that's down the hall tomorrow night at six Nice.

And then also the first BBQ is happening between services today and also August 27. So after the service here, go on out and grab yourself some food, stick around, play some games, and meet people. That's the real the real purpose of it all is to kinda get everybody mixing and mingling, especially if you're new. Stick around, would you? Let's get to know you a little bit.

A kitchen committee is forming. We're trying to get a group of people together to help manage the kitchen. It's a lot of work. And the more eyes and the more hands, the easier the work. If you can contact Nancy T up there, or you can call the office if you have any questions about that one too.

Cowboy Church at the Fair. This is very important. Next week is Church at the Fair. So Sunday at 10:00, we'll have only one service. There'll be no children's services.

Everything's going to be over there. And if you would, consider going early and buying some breakfast from the Lions Club too. It's their big fundraiser for the year, and we take over their tent. So it's always nice if we eat a little bit of the food too just to kind of help them out as well. It helps us to look good and be good neighbors.

Check the lost and found. There's a big mound of stuff after VBS sitting in the back under the coat racks. If you'd go back there and check everything out, see if it's yours. And if it's not, don't take it. Don't tank it.

Don't take it. And check up on the the racks too. There's a bunch of coats and things. We'd like to be able to clear that space out. And it's Carl's birthday.

He says stop it. Can we all sing happy can we sing

happy birthday to him real loud? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday you. Happy birthday dear Carl. Happy birthday to you.

Don't we love this guy? Let's clap for him one time. And if you want to sign up for any of the church email announcements, we don't do paper bulletins anymore, but you can sign up through our website to receive those. And we also post everything on the website too. Just keep scrolling down and you'll find all the information you need.

And right now, a very important message from Chuck over at the Good Samaritan Mission.

Good to be back again. I think COVID kinda scared everybody out from doing stuff. Anyway, I'm Chuck from the Good Samaritan. How many people knew there was a mission in Jackson Hole? More than half.

That's unusual. But there is. We got 29 beds for men. We got five beds for women. We do 15,000 meals through the kitchen.

Breakfast and dinner seven days a week, lunch on the weekends. We get food boxes out the back door. One of my favorite programs is Totes of Hope, where we take 40 bags of food over to the Children's Learning Center every week, and those kids that have been identified as food insecure get food for the week. So it's about 12 to 15 pounds of food in each one of those bags. That's my favorite part.

I I deliver them. I don't know if I'll be doing it this year, but I deliver them. I pick up those bags and to get motivated, I sing to myself, feeding little kids, feeding little kids. You know, and it makes me feel good to do that. That's one of my favorite program.

At on Christmas, somebody prays Santa Claus too and gives out a whole bunch of gifts to the kids. Ho ho ho. I don't know who that would be. But that's always fun too. So, you know, that's all good.

All the statistics and stuff that we do is a wonderful, wonderful ministry but one person coming to the Lord ever is better than anything else we could do. Had a man, Patrick. He's my assistant now but when he first got there, he was still on an alcohol program because he was in jail for alcohol and he came to the mission. He went into the program with me and I teach I've been teaching him how to be clean and sober and focused. He was doing the program and everything and one day I prayed for him.

I was sitting across the table from him during one of my Bible study and I prayed and I saw him laying down before the cross of Christ And I saw the cross of Christ bleeding over him. And as it was bleeding over him, the sin and the guilt were moving from him. See, he was a twenty year marine vet. And this twenty year marine vet had all kinds of guilt and shame and for all the people he had to kill in hand to hand combat and he didn't think there would ever be forgiveness and that was one of the reasons why he drank and then just as I was praying for him was the first time in his life he felt free and now he's he loves Jesus. He's just really responsive.

He's been discipled of and about two weeks ago, he was sitting there and he says, he was in one of his AA meetings and the guy in the AA meeting said, hey, listen. I can tell there's something different about you. Could you pray for me? That touches me. Why?

Because it didn't stop with me to him. It's going on from him to others and that's what we're looking for. That's what evangelism is all about is sharing Jesus with people who are share with others to share with others to share with others so we can all know. So, one reason why I'm here is Old Bill's Fun Run. Old Bill's Fun Run is coming up.

It starts on August 13, I believe, is the first giving date somewhere around there. And so I want you to remember one thing. Old Bill's Fun Run, Good Samaritan Mission. Old Bill's Fun Run, Good Samaritan Mission. Old Bill's Fun Run, what?

Good Samaritan Mission. Alright. Thank you.

And before we let Chuck go, he's about to begin chemotherapy treatments this Thursday, right? Oh yeah. Oh yeah, I forgot.

I forgot

that it was sick.

Yeah. Can we pray for him? He's given so much to this community and we want the Lord to keep him around as long as possible. But Lord God, thank you so much for Chuck and the mission that you've set on his heart and the many, many people that you've had him influence everywhere he goes, Lord God, not just at the mission but across the world and in the grocery store and on the street, Lord. Would you, Lord, provide comfort for him as he goes in for chemotherapy this week?

Lord, would you help the doctors to be able to see what they need to see, to fix what they need to fix? Lord God, would you heal him? Lord God, would you give him that comfort, that knowledge that you're there, that you love him, Lord God, that and I pray Lord God for selfishly for us, lord. Would you heal him entirely, Lord God, and make it quick and painless for him too, lord. Thank you for this man.

Help him know that he's loved. Help them to know that he's cherished. And Lord God, would you provide for the mission too and all of the other things that Chuck does, Lord, so that he doesn't have to worry about those things while he's undergoing treatment, Lord. In your holy name, amen. Yeah.

He's going to stick around hopefully. So please talk to him in between services, and we'll go back to some music here.

Yeah. Would you stand and greet one another? We'll bring you back in song. I want you to let's hear this together, shall we? This is Jesus speaking in Matthew seven, and he says, anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it as wise.

May we be wise, Lord, Like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes and torrents and the floodwaters rise, the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse. Why is that? Because it's built on bedrock. It's built on Christ.

Lord, help us to trust. Help us to trust.

I won't be shaky. I won't be shaken. My fear doesn't stand a chance when I stand in your love. My fear doesn't doesn't stand chance when stand in your My feet doesn't stand chance when I stand in your love. My feet doesn't stand chance when I stand in your love.

And there's power. Let's sing it again. There's power that can break off every chain. There's power

from Galatians. Let's not boast about anything other than Jesus Christ and what he's done, really. Galatians six, as for me, may I never boast about anything except for the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, God, for the cross. Thank you for your finished work.

Lord, if anyone here think is thinking today, I've gotta earn my way to you. Could we stop and trust the work that you've done for us? To put our trust in you. In Jesus' name.

The from thy wounded side which flow beyond seeing the double cure. Save from wrath

You can have a seat here for a moment. This is the the worship through giving part of the service. I'll invite the the ushers to come forward, and I'll ask Gary to grab a handheld mic here to to pray and give thanks. We're gonna sing my God, my king. Just a simple song, and I do invite you to to sing it with.

But from Psalm 95, it's come. Let's sing to the Lord. And let's give let's come to him with thanksgiving and sing psalms of praise. But before we do, Gary, can I ask you to pray? Sure.

Lord, we come to this offering time so blessed, Lord. And now we have an opportunity to to just give a little portion of that back to you, Lord. I just pray that the offering this morning would that you would bless it, that your kingdom would grow, and that and that through it, this church would reflect more of you to this community. So, I just give you thanks in Jesus name.

Else fades away. And I will love love with this heart you made. For you've been good fades away. And I will love love army man. For you've been

Amen. And it's children's church time. So can we invite you little ones to to head downstairs? And would you please keep us, please keep us in prayer? This would be Liz's last, official Sunday as the children's director.

Can we please give her a hand for all of her hard work? And and also for us in in our search, you know, we're looking for God's person to fill those very big shoes. And so it's a big deal and ask to keep please keep us in prayer. And, Nikola Nicholas, would you come on up here?

Sure. I guess.

And may I pray for you before you

Yeah.

Before you share? God, I thank you for my friend. I am so, so grateful for him as a friend and a staff member here. And, God, I am I'm so thankful for his heart, his heart of evangelism to make you known. And I pray that this morning that as he shares on this very topic, that through his through his personality, God, and through most of all the the scriptures and the good news of the gospel, that we would be encouraged and spurred on.

In Jesus' name.

Amen. Well,

good morning. Oh, good morning, everybody, and welcome to First Baptist Church. My name is Nick Stern. I am the technology and communications director, which means I do a little bit of everything including this, apparently. So look at that.

This is not in the job description, but here we go. Pastor Ray will be back in a couple of weeks. Keep me praying for him as he's gone, but it has been a pleasure to be here. I've been here for almost fifteen years, which is hard to believe. And so many of you who have sown into my life and helped shape me, forgiven me, have been forgiven by me, and it's been nice just to be able to grow and feel nurtured and welcome here.

And let's keep that going with each other and with people around us, please. And also, I have been given the opportunity while working here to get to hike the Camino De Santiago across Spain and Portugal. Two different trips, same destination, and I I'd like to share a little bit, about those trips and also some things I learned and shared with other people along the way. So the first trip was a year ago today. We actually finished this trip.

We started in Saint Jean Saint Jean Pied De Porte, which is on the right side of the screen, went all the way to Santiago De Compostela, 500 miles away, Decided that wasn't far enough and went all the way to the ocean, another 50 miles in 105 degree weather sometimes, which is Yeah, thank you. That's the appropriate response. That's good. And then this year in the spring, I got to go from Lisbon up to Santiago. Again, same destination, different route to get there.

I got to go along the coastline. This year, I started in Porto, Portugal. This is one of my photos from up in the city of the cathedral where you start the trip. And this is the end of the trip in Santiago De Compostela in Spain. In this cathedral, supposedly are the bones of Saint James the Apostle.

The story of how they got there is a little but hey, we'll just say those are the bones of Saint James, know. And every year thousands of people hike across the country, probably not wearing Tivas and socks, but as you can see, these are the same, Tivas and socks that I was wearing when I was there because my feet swelled up so badly I couldn't walk in my shoes anymore. So I walked in those bad boys for about 500 miles. That was great. And then this is me at the beginning of my trip this spring with my pilgrim's passport.

I've got one of them in this little case up here. And you get that little passport, you stamp it along the way, when you stop to get food, when you go to sleep at night, and it's for discounts, and also to prove that you did it. And that tradition has actually gone back over a thousand years. These routes have been around for about a thousand years, and you would have that little passport book, and if you got all the way to the end, now they give you a certificate that back in the day, you'd get a little shell that would prove that you went all the way to the coast, and then you could come back. And believe it or not, sometimes it was for punishment.

If you were convicted of a crime, sometimes they'd say, why don't you go to Spain? That's a better place for you. But basically it was a death march, because unlike today, there weren't grocery stores and places to stay. There was just a lot of dysentery and fun things like that. So I think I got the better end of the deal.

But this is the, one of the views from where I was hiking. Very beautiful sandy beaches along the way on these boardwalks, which is pretty great on the feet for the first couple days. But for me, the best part of both trips was getting to meet people. I am an extrovert. Lauren Fry, shocked look on your face.

She is as well. Extrovert. I love meeting people. I love getting to know people from different parts of the world. This is my first Camino family from this year.

My buddy next to me there, his name is Flo. He's from Germany, and Kiki's next to us. And I I'll admit, I can't remember that other girl's name. But you get to know these people. You're spending literally all day with them, having meals and sleeping right next to them.

This guy's name is Dino. And for I hadn't met him until the day before this picture was taken, and he decided he wanted to do a podcast about different faiths. So for three hours, he interviewed me while we were hiking about Christianity. Didn't plan it, but there it was. There's the opportunity to speak to Dino and and who knows who else.

And we got to stay in hostels or they're called Albergues over there. There were 10 beds in this room and lots of smells and sounds. Your guess is what they are, but for €8, we got to stay in there, which is basically $8 and like 50¢ or so. I got to stay in there. You get a shower, you get a bed that's reasonably comfortable, and you get to meet a lot of great people.

Here's our backpacks lined up, waiting in line to get into one of the Albergues, one of the days. And here's a picture of my favorite Albergue. There's all these grapevines there. Very peaceful. I actually kind of felt like the Lord led me to this one because I needed a little break.

It And was such a peaceful little respite along the break. And my favorite cathedral along the way, it's actually shaped like one of the shells you have to pick up along the way. So so why bring all this up? Why bring all this up? It's because it felt to me like the best opportunity I've ever had to evangelize to people.

My brother and I would be hiking along. He went on the the 550 mile one last year with me. And we'd be hiking next to people and all of a sudden somebody would have a question about who Jesus was. And you're like, I'm not really ready for this. You know, I'm wearing toe socks and I'm wearing an ugly shirt, but you know, okay, here we go.

And and over and over again, God just continued to to prove faithful. And I I just wanna be able to share with you a little bit of what what people are talking about out there, and then also how we can talk to people and share our faith. Because one of the things I hear the most from Christians is fear. We're scared of other people. We're scared of persecution, and we're sold this.

I mean, if you watch news of any stripe, you're supposed to be scared about everything always, but that's not really what the Bible says. In fact, we are the wealthiest community in America, one of the wealthiest communities in the world. We have no persecution right now. What is our excuse? And it's convicting to me because like we have the world literally coming to us.

We have visitors from from all the world in here today, and we should be preaching to them. We should be reaching out to them, sharing the gospel because we have nothing to lose. We're we're the people in in history that have, you know, the safest, easiest lives. But even if we didn't, even if we were persecuted, it is a joy. It is a it is a treat.

It is our honor to be able to share about Christ. Because in Romans ten fourteen, you've probably seen this before. It said, how will they call on him and whom whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him and whom they've never heard? And how are they to hear it without someone preaching?

It takes words. And it's hard. It's scary. We we have to go out on a limb sometimes. But I'll tell you, people are really eager to hear about Christ.

There's so many people who really don't know. Part of that fear right now is like, they don't share our beliefs. They don't know your beliefs. How how are they supposed to hear without someone preaching? That's us.

That's you. Person who's hiding in the back. Person who's hiding in the front. It's all of us in between. Some people have seen this this very famous quote, Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.

It's not actually spoken by Saint Francis of the Sisi, and I hate it. Okay, we got a clap back there from my brother. Always supportive. He's always ready. I get it.

I get the heart behind this. I understand what they're trying to say. Live out your life fully in your actions, in your words, in your family life, as your as if Christ is with you. I get that, but you also need to use words. Let's let's go back to what the Bible actually says.

How were they to hear without someone preaching? That's us, and what a joy. This is a guy named John. I was very scared of John. I was.

He's he's very strong. This is a guy who's lost, I think, over 200. He has a very intense stare when he looks at you. He's ripped. And the first time I met him, he was wearing a shirt that said punch it on it with these two fists.

And I didn't want him to punch me. Okay? Usually, I'm the it in that sentence. That's not me. So I actually avoided John.

And my last day in Spain this year, I ended up in a bar. I don't even drink. I ended up in a bar with John and a group of other people, and the Lord opened wide the opportunity to speak to him. I couldn't say no. God does this for us sometimes, and for an hour, I got to talk to him about who Jesus actually is.

A guy I was afraid of. God calls us to go to whomever you are afraid of, to pray for our enemies, to love them, to forgive the people that have hurt us, and to go to them. And it's a pleasure. I can't tell you how thankful I was that the Lord gave me the opportunity, because I was a little ashamed that I hadn't given this guy the time of day for the whole fourteen days beforehand. But I did get the opportunity at the end.

It's a joy. They don't know the gospel, but you do. And if you don't, come talk to us. We would love to talk to you about that. And one of the great ways to do this is to not just like jump out there, but to to practice at home.

My brother always likes to say, practice when you're in the shower. When nobody can hear you, practice preaching the gospel to yourself. And sometimes it's specifically to a person. If there's somebody you're praying for, practice what you would say to them along the way, so that when it comes up, it doesn't feel so alien to you. Because a lot of us haven't verbalized gospel.

And there's nothing wrong with that. I understand. I have to force myself to do this too. Really, it's not as easy as it looks. But with practice it becomes easier, it becomes more natural, and it really deepens and strengthens your faith.

Now here's we're going to stop along the way. Each night on the Camino De Santiago you stop at a hostel or a hotel or some people camp, and we're going to go through about five different stops just like you would in the Camino and talk about the things that people talk to us the most about. And believe it or not, number one was obedience. This is a word we don't like. We really hate the word obedience as Americans.

But in Samuel fifteen twenty two, it says, and other places in the Bible, but Samuel replied, what is more pleasing to the Lord? Your burnt offerings and your sacrifices or your obedience to his voice. Listen, obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than the offering of the fat of rams. This is this is convicting. Because again, we live in the wealthiest community in America.

It's easy for us to write a check. It's easy for us to give something. And and on the Camino De Santiago, a lot of people are hiking 550 miles for penance. They're trying to to show their love for God, to show their sacrifice for the Lord. As as a matter of fact, when this picture was taken of my friend John and my friend Dave, two great guys, it was a 105 degrees outside in Pamplona.

We left at 04:30 in the morning to avoid the heat, so which means we're retired. Here's us leaving early in the morning again. That won't buy you salvation in the eyes of the Lord. That won't get you what God wants from us. He wants us to obey.

And this is really hard because we feel like we need to sacrifice. We need to carry our burdens along with us. This is my burden to bear. I'm to bear this myself and what God wants us to do is to find out what he desires from us and then do it. And that's really hard, isn't it?

Because we we live in a a society where we can do things our way. I could just hold on to this thing. I'd rather sacrifice this way. It's not what God's calling us to do. He's calling us to obey what he's laid out for us.

And guess what? He designed us. He knows how we best operate, so he knows what we need to best operate. These these things that he asks us to do are also for our own good. Stop number two.

Being a follower in Christ is an all in proposition. The phaser for chicken wings and not faith. Didn't use this on my vegan friends, but you know, that's alright. A lot of people take the opinion that I could just take a little bit of Buddhism over here. I can take a little bit of Hinduism over here.

I can take a little bit of Jesus over here, and that's okay. Not at all what Jesus offers. It's it's not. It's it's an all in proposition. And you know what?

It can be really beautiful when we when we finally give in to that that moment. I was 10 years old. I went to a play called Heaven Gate Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames. And on one side of the stage they depicted heaven. On the other side they depicted hell.

And I decided I want to go to heaven. And I really felt like the Lord was calling me to him that day. That the Holy Spirit was saying, this is who you are now. And and and basically what it is is is that turning from you're walking in this direction, you're following your own desires, you're following what you want want, and then all of a sudden you're going a 180 degrees the other way. You're following only what God wants.

You're following His desires. You're following His path. And that's that's what He's asking for us is that 180 degree rule, leaving behind what we desire and following a 100 a 100% what he wants from us. And it's joyful because then the Lord is with you. He starts to talk to you as as you as you go.

And sometimes it can be confusing to know what we have to do in life. Well, He's outlined a lot of that in the Bible. It's like, when will God talk to me? Like He has. It's it's there in the Bible.

And then through His Holy Spirit, as you practice and as you follow, He will begin to speak with you. So it's it's better to not just take a little piece. In fact, in John fourteen six six it says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. I don't know about you, but I like a clear answer every once in a while.

Sometimes working at the church we get these little we get these little things where people are like, someday we'll do this thing. And I'm always like, who? Who's gonna do that thing? And and this is the clear answer that nobody comes to the Father. Nobody goes to God except through Jesus.

And it's a clear open invitation, great. I know what to do now. There's no guesswork. That's great. Instead, a lot of us like to choose the buffet style.

This is the one of the meals I had in Spain. It's a fried egg on top of fried bacon on top of french fries. Sometimes we end up, when we create our own dishes, we end up with something like this that's really of no substance and doesn't leave you with much afterwards. Jesus wants to fill us up to change our lives to be that healthy dish. Here's an important one too.

On our third stop, God is love. If you get in a conversation with anybody along the way, inevitably, God is love will come up. And good. He is. He is love.

But let's add a little context to that, okay? This is a couple that we met after we finished the Camino De Santiago the first time. We met this lovely couple and started talking to them. And they they were basically, well, because God is love, I can also believe this. Because God is love, I like to think that.

But they kept bringing up these things that aren't really scriptural. They kind of wanted to believe that because God is love, He'll let this thing go. This doesn't matter. This sin doesn't matter. God and His love is only found in one John four, and it's found two or three times.

And in that Bible, John is actually talking to the Gnostics or about the Gnostics who basically believe that you could kind of do whatever you wanted to because it was just the body sinning. It wasn't really you. And they were trying to find these little loopholes to get around recognizing the sin that was in their own lives. But goddess love is only one of God's attributes. He's also just.

He's also fair. He's slow to anger. He does judge us along the way. And as part of it too, he he calls us to him. First John five three through five, this is love for God to keep his commandments.

Not a lot of us like who you know, the God is love folks like to think that I have to keep his commandments. Most of us are like, well, because God is love, I don't have to keep his commandments. It's not biblical. It's not not really what what Jesus is offering. Right?

This is the love of God to keep his commandments and his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes in Jesus is the son of God.

It's a very narrow offering. Okay? You can't just dance around and decide, since God is love, I don't have to obey His commandments. Times have changed. I don't really you know, there's a little wiggle room here.

There's freedom in knowing what God expects of us, and there's an opportunity to walk with Him in this way, to keep His commandments, is showing love for God. And as we slowly release, as we slowly work through that, we we resign ourselves more to follow God, we do find that freedom. We find that his commands are not burdensome once we really lean into them. And God wants to be fully known as much as we do. I don't know about you, but sometimes I just feel alone in the world, misunderstood, those kinds of things.

God wants us to fully know him just like we desire to be fully known. And we have that opportunity through scripture, talking to each other, through prayer, to see His character, to see His desires, to see His designs the way He does, and it really fills out that view. And you have this friend with you always who's with you and knows you completely as you know him. So why wouldn't you want to dive in? Why wouldn't you want to know who God is and what he expects of you?

There's that opportunity there for you. And through that, stop four, who did Jesus say he is? Now this is tough because a lot of people want to believe different things about who Jesus said he was. Well, Jesus was a good man. He was a good teacher.

All those sorts of things. But a lot of people don't know who Jesus actually said he was. Then a lot of our conversations with people too, I I encourage people to know who whoever their chosen leader, who what did they say about themselves versus who did Jesus say. Like, if you look at Mormonism and you really look at it, you probably wouldn't believe it if you really looked at what they said, who they said they were. But if you look at who Jesus says he was, you're going to fall in love with him.

You're going to you're going to see that trust. You're going to you're going to know what he expects of you. And and it's sometimes it can be scary to read that in the Bible, to go through the scriptures yourself but it's worth going through the scriptures yourself to see who he said he was to get that full honest picture of who Jesus was. Now, here's the one I need. Last week, Brad said that we need to talk to each other more to share about our weaknesses so we can build each other up, so we can deepen our faith, and this is one I really struggle with, laying down my burdens.

I hold on to stuff all the time like I'm holding on to this remote with a death grip, my only friend on this stage. We we hold on to those burdens thinking that like, oh, I can take care of this thing. I need to, oh, I, you know, it was really my fault, so I need to hold on to this thing. I need to to carry this burden and it's it's not really necessary. God God gives us an option to not have to carry them.

In first Peter five six through eight, therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, give up. So that He may exalt you at the proper time, having cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares about you. Also our VBS verse of the of the year. How cool is that? Having cast all cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares about you.

So I'm going show you another picture again. This is the Cruz de It's a cross. And it's about three quarters of the way through the trip across Spain. And the idea is that you're supposed to take a little pebble at the beginning of your journey, carry it all the way to the crucifero, and lay it at the cross as as a reminder, as a a symbol of laying down your burdens at the cross of Christ. And do you see how many tiny stones there are at the bottom of that cross?

So many. All of those could be mine, really. Our our friend Dave polished these great little stones from the Snake River, and we carried them across and laid them there. And it it was the start of my my attempt to hold on to the God's promise to take my anxieties and my worries. To to really lay it there because we we came up there at sunrise, and throughout that day, I kept trying to bring up that thing, that burden that was back there.

And I kept having to be like, no, that's not mine anymore. That's not mine anymore. And God offers to do that for us without us carrying a stone. We can do this right now. We can pray like, Lord, I can't take this thing anymore.

Cast that anxiety on to give it to him. And I pray this sometimes. I've been praying that about this message. Like, Lord, if you want me to give this message, would you help me to do it and take the anxiety away? And he does.

He's been really faithful over the last year as I've actually given it up to take those things away. And a lot of those things don't bother me anymore. And we talked to a lot of people on the trail who were just carrying these heavy burdens. God offers to take it from you if you'll give it to him. If you'll really release it.

And that's offered to all of you too, not just people on the trail. Here's one Ray's talked about. As you are going. In Matthew 2eight 19, the great commission, go therefore or as you are going in some of the translations, 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 as I have commanded you. One of the most effective ministries I've ever seen was in Cleveland.

I used to live in Cleveland, Ohio, and I was part of the improv troupe where there were more people on stage than in the audience. Pretty exciting stuff, know. But there was this couple who decided to show up every week, for they were from a church, and they were given the opportunity to go be a part of the community, and love the people they found wherever they landed. And they chose our improv troupe to show up. They found everybody's birthdays out, and they celebrated.

They'd bring a cake. They would pray for people when somebody was going through something. They would pull them over, like, hey, what's going on? Give them a hug. And guess what?

They laughed at our jokes sometimes. I mean, let's sometimes. They would laugh at our jokes. And and that was such an effective ministry because they were just there where they wanted to be. As you are going, wherever you're called to be, If you're called to go to a trivia night, if you're called to go to Music on Main or wherever, be that presence for people.

Be outspoken. Be that light and that anchor they can hold on to. And I do want to share another, one more story with you all, but I don't want to lift myself up. I didn't include this as, I really don't want to make me seem like I'm anything. I'm really not.

But this is a really powerful story. This guy, his name is Anders. He's next to me there. And it was 105 degrees. I'm washing my underwear, sorry to share that, while wearing only my other pair of underwear that was clean.

And I came to find out that I also had COVID at that moment. I wasn't feeling great. It's 105 degrees. I'm standing in a backyard in the beating sun, and this guy is smoking a cigarette, and he starts talking about how, you know, I I believe in in the Lord. I believe in Jesus, but I've never really been baptized.

I've always wanted to take that step. And I'm like, well, let's go. Yeah. You know, I'm already wet. Let's go, man.

So we walked down. We were in in this this city which escapes me right now. But we're on the other side of this bridge, Longorono, in Longorono in Spain. On the other side of this bridge, we walked down to the water. I have never been a pastor.

I've never been ordained, but somebody was calling to be baptized, and I was available, and water was nearby. So I I reminded him what the scriptures say about who Jesus was. I got to pray with him, and then I got I got the extreme privilege of baptizing this guy. I've got goosebumps right now in this river. And and he comes up, and he said, I gotta call my mom.

She's a faithful Christian. I gotta call my mom. And he calls her, and before he could say anything else, she said, what happened? I felt like the Lord was saying something happened to you, and I was worried. And he says, mom, I was baptized.

And she's like, oh, praise God. I knew it. Like God is there for us if we're willing to be faithful. You don't have to be ordained or trained. Some of the best missionaries I've ever seen are the people that you would consider the ugliest.

The people who have, you know, who don't have the gift of speaking, who stutter, who stammer, all that kind of stuff. But we were there, and we're willing, you know. Take that opportunity. And and one way we can do this is through the look up tour. It's coming to Idaho Falls in September twenty third and twenty fourth.

There, Will Graham is going to come and preach, and it's just going be an open gospel message, an opportunity for any of us to bring our friends there to hear a good clear message of the gospel. And it's and it's a chance for you to take your friend and say, hey, I'm gonna buy you dinner in Idaho Falls. I want you to come hear this speaker. And they'll they'll share the gospel, and then you can follow-up with them. If you're looking for a way to to get somebody involved in Christ, think about the look up tour.

It doesn't have to be this, but it's a goal. It's an option. And would you be praying for somebody that you can take? And and one of the calls I was making earlier this spring when we announced this, would you be praying for somebody who you think God would never have show up there? And then pray for opportunities to to take them, or to witness to them, or to share with them.

Now, the Will Graham people also came here this spring, and they did these great classes here. They left a ton of materials up here. This is great stuff. I actually leave some of it on my desk here at their church in case I'm having an off day. They actually, this red book especially, shows you the steps on how to lead someone to Christ.

And if you need a refresher, you've never done it before, take one of these and review it. They're absolutely free. We have tons of them. Please take them. And we also have these cards for the look up tour down here too, that you can invite somebody using that.

Would you consider bringing somebody to that? My final slide is from the end of the Camino De Santiago with my really, really good buddy, Flo. I got to talk with him and pray with him about him along the way. And I ask you, would you guys be praying for my buddy Flo? He's he's just a really good friend.

And would you find those people, and would you pray for them? And would you pray for your enemies? And would you look for opportunities to reach out? And if there's any way we can equip you, please let us know. Let each other know.

So hey, I'm I'm trying to pray for my buddy here at the bowling alley. I'm praying for my friend at work. Look for those opportunities to reach out for Christ because it really is a part of our job, but also a part of our joy as Christians to be able to share the faith that Christ has given us because somebody did it for you. Okay? I want to thank you all for the opportunity to be here and again for fifteen years of being out at BF Church.

Hopefully, I'll get to stay for a little bit longer. Can I pray for us all before we wrap up? Lord God, thank you so much for saving us, for offering us an opportunity to get to know you fully, Lord God. To get to also share with our friends, Lord, to be your a plan for the world. Lord God, would you help us to be bold?

Lord, we pray right now for that person that we feel like could never come to the Lord who's against you, Lord. Would you bring that person to a full knowledge of you? Lord God, would you help us to not be afraid of the people around us, but to be encouraged to share, Lord God, through our lives and through our words. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for sending your son to save us because we are not worthy, Lord God, but you have given us sacrificially of your of your son, Lord God. And thank you for that that wonderful gift that we get to share with others.

In your holy name. Amen.

Good job, Nick. Would you stand? We'll close with one more song.

Above it all. Hallelujah God I'm shakable hallelujah you I've done great thing

Amen. And before you you head out here on the lawn, can I just, leave us with a a little benediction here? It's but in I'm gonna say in our hearts, in our hearts, let's revere Christ as lord and always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks us to give the reason for the hope that we have. But how are we to do this? It is with gentleness and respect.

Amen.