(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) and in every house they seek not to preach and preach Jesus Christ for the victory. All right, amen. Well look down to verse number 11 real quick, Acts chapter 5 verse 11. It says this, and great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things. Now we're gonna talk about what that means this morning and a little bit of a different sermon for you guys this morning because this marks the second year anniversary of our church for everybody in here knows this but this church started out as a satellite and brother Mike Acres and his family hosted the church while it was a satellite and even after we first became independent for a while and basically what happened is you know we grew and moved into our house and we moved into this building and now here we are two years later as an independent fundamental Baptist Church what I like to do and I did this last year is to just kind of review what happened the year prior because I think that learning from things that went well things that didn't go well is good for us and just like we're reading here in verse 11 it says as many as heard these things right the whole idea is that we allow and we become a people that fear the Word of God you know fear the applications and the teachings that come from the Bible and so there's a lot of parallels in this story with Ananias and Sapphira about how we began the second year because if you remember or if you weren't here I'll just tell you we basically began this year right after losing I mean like a couple weeks right after losing two families now if you think about it if you look back at verse number one yeah so actually five verse one it says but a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira's wife sold a possession kept back part of the price his wife also being privy to it and brought a certain part and laid at the apostles feet but look at verse three it says but Peter said Ananias why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land that was sold and so what you have to understand here is that nobody told them to do this nobody told them hey you have to go sell this and give this to the apostles they made a decision in their hearts you know we're gonna sell this and we're gonna give this to God and then when it came time to actually pull the trigger they decided you know what no let's not do that it's too much you know we've got all this other stuff we'd like to do with money and so on and so forth and so they kept back part of the price and we learned from reading this passage here that that was inspired by the devil himself because why Peter says why have Satan filled thine heart and that's a good question and that's something we all need to ask ourselves now these two families that left right before the beginning of the second year in the same way they did that because they said hey you know what we're gonna go ahead and sell some of our time we're gonna give up some of our time to come to church to come soul winning right to invite people over to our houses to fellowship and to come soul winning and to do all these things right they did that but there was something that they were keeping back and that wasn't money it was their hearts it was their intentions if you will and so it's the same thing that so if you look at this story right what eventually happened God got rid of ananias and it's fire now does God go around killing everybody who lies the Holy Ghost they know if you understand the Bible you learn one thing that when God begins a thing he often brings a harsh punishment when people buck the system okay you could see that philosophy all throughout the Old Testament regarding the kings and of Israel and stuff like that and so we have the beginning of basically these churches being built you know the church in Jerusalem here God's trying to strengthen them trying to build upon that foundation so that they can go out into all the world and preach the gospel and to teach all nations and baptize people in the name of the Father Son and the Holy Ghost and here you have a couple of people that are starting to buck the system they're starting to corrupt what's going on there and they don't even realize that they think in their own hearts well no one's gonna know but there's a problem with that we don't get to play by the rules of the world God knows and says hey I'm gonna deal with this and I'm going to get rid of these people and there's some miraculous things that happen after they're gone now keep your place there we're gonna come back to that later on but go to act I'm sorry no go to 1st Corinthians chapter number 5 1st Corinthians chapter number 5 so back to these two families right kind of a lot of people because we'd already gone through the other fiasco I don't even want to talk about this year so you know we began the year off kind of rough and you would expect like yeah we literally started the year with half the people that we started when this church was first one you know I mean it was it wasn't too uncommon to have you know 38 39 40 people when I come to visit you guys and even when we first started you know even meeting here regularly in this building you know a lot of Sunday mornings we'd have close to 40 people and then beginning of year two we're like down to like 20 you know Sunday nights it's like 12 you know 13 and hey praise God for all of it and you're gonna see why that doesn't didn't affect anything why it doesn't even matter now I don't know about you but year two has been my favorite year so far okay definitely been my favorite year so far I think everybody in here could say the same thing you know same thing definitely been a much much better year but let's take a look at why okay 1st Corinthians chapter 5 look at verse number 6 it says this your glory is not good know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump and that's a good question isn't it we all need to understand what Paul's talking about here a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump so you can some people have this idea well if things get crazy and more people start believing what they believe then we'll do something about it but that's not biblical anytime as a church we see you know a little brush fire a little person like you know hey I don't really believe in eternal security you know we have to pounce on that we have to jump on that and make sure that that doesn't grow into something larger because that type of leaven what does it do look at verse 7 he says this purge out therefore so for the reason he mentioned in verse 6 he says purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump as ye are on leaven for even Christ our Passover sacrificed for us and that's literally how we began year 2 as a new lump without that leaven now I feel like we didn't have a little leaven like beginning the church we had a lot 11 like half this lump was like literally 11 it seems like you know but why does he say purge out there for the old leaven what's the problem with old lemon what does leaven even do what causes the dough to ferment and to expand and to rise right that's the whole point of it we says get up he says purge out there for that old leaven old leaven can't do anything it per if you put old leaven into a ball of dough is it going to rise no it's going to cause problems going to stunt growth you see and a lot of people can't figure that out and really that concept there is why we lost so many people because the first person that we ever kicked out of this church other people were like I can't believe you did that it's just one person really you can't just keep them here and work on them you can't Matthew 18 them aren't you supposed to help people out but what that idiot with that fool what she didn't understand and her fag kids didn't understand is that a little leaven leaven ith the whole lump in year number two proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt any good Baker knows that old you got to get rid of that old leaven you know you reach back in the shelf and you check the date it's five years old it's probably not going to work you're gonna put that leaven in that lump of dough and come back tomorrow morning and nothing has changed nothing at all so you say okay go to act chapter 19 so what in the world happened because think about this you know those two families left late January February we begin year two what happens in March and April well now all of a sudden we've got this coronavirus lockdown stuff now all of a sudden people are wearing masks and scared to death to come to church and you know at the beginning I understand you know we didn't know what was gonna happen now we have uncertainty with jobs you know all of us like are we still gonna be able to work this year you know I mean or how are we gonna pay the rent our own rents right how we pay our own cars our own bills let alone pay for the church building and now it's like man and these things started to cross my mind like we lost half the church how in the world are we gonna make all of this stuff work well when you get rid of that old leaven you know what happens right you begin as a new lump and then the thing can grow so what happened after all those people left well tell you what happened our soul winning went skyrocketing high right I mean we have I mean like right now the only days we don't have soul winning is Tuesdays and Fridays we got to have a break you know it is crazy and not to mention our salvation numbers literally after they left double right so instead of having like six or seven and there's nothing wrong with that praise God if we have one hey praise God if we have zero and we still went soul winning because if you're not soul winning at least your soul warning right but after those people left it's like instantly it's like something happened to this church like something happened in the community and all of a sudden we're getting 20 30 and it's like what in the world I mean it just like completely blew up and then you know all of a sudden like I said we have all this coronavirus stuff oh you know travel restrictions and all of this stuff you know the mega soul any marathons called off it's like man you usually get a lot of Salvations that day what are we gonna do well we just decided to branch out and on Saturdays just go to small towns and we went to Emmett we went to Ontario we went to Middleton Middleton suck but you know at least we went right that was a soul warning event but we went to Mountain Home a few times you know we wound up having like 10 was it nine people saved and just one regular soul winning time over in Nampa it's like Nampa woke up meridian woke up you know and all of a sudden we're starting to get visitors to pile in you guys are reaching people in your families and in the at work and you know just meeting people everywhere and it's like a whole completely different church not to mention I don't you know talk about money that often but the money went out how do you explain that you know I go back over these books I'm like oh oh there's people just never gave you know they figured they come in here give their time give their frowns to people you know give their you know their dirty looks and that's it you know they kept back part of what they initially decided they were going to commit and God got rid of them they were leaven you know and it's kind of weird because it's like well those of us who are here now it's like well we're strong how do they hold us back you know they hold us back in ways we don't even realize and that's why God says hey don't worry about the mechanics of all that just get rid of them purge it out obviously there's a process we want to try to deal with it if we can but if not man we have to get rid of them you know and I kind of knew that you know in the beginning we knew certain we knew false Nimrod was a problem but he kept showing signs like maybe he's he maybe he's growing maybe his family's growing I didn't see his wife frown like the whole sermon just half today so maybe you know maybe maybe things are changing right kids seem happy you know and then the other guy he came to church like once and and and in June and once in July so it was like oh there's some growth there he came to services in two months you know I mean it's things might maybe things are improving but then after a while I started to notice you know something's going on here because they're always whispering in the corner they're always I'm starting to hear things I'm like you know what I'm gonna have to get rid of them and so I began a process of doing what I do best taking digs of people that's just good but I did do that I started to understand when I said certain things that Nimrod and then and mrs. Nimrod would get upset and so I started to do it over and over and I'd watch them squirm and and it's just I don't you guys understand it's distracting when you could tell someone's pissed off and they don't want to be here and they're just looking at you like they want to kill you it's distracting it's the problem that I have it you know I wish I would have known that before I started preaching because that bothers me it's no longer bothering me as well I think God used that to kind of kind of help me out you know it's that to help all of us out though it bugs you too I mean you guys understand you I've heard you guys talk you guys know when you know somebody comes week after week and they're not on board it hurts right because we're all of one mind we want to see people saved we want to see people come in here we want to see people grow we want to make a difference in the community and we are we definitely are and so what I continue to do is just take digs and take digs until that one day they had enough and they just left you know because we were I felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place because I know they're talking trash I know they're not happy but they won't admit it and they won't tell anybody they won't tell me and so what do you do well all I could do is pray to God hey Lord just please just either get them on board or get them out because they're a problem and obviously that prayer worked they were like Ananias and Sapphira actually I think they were worse especially Nimrod I think he was a devil I don't believe that guy is saved I would even if he called I'm sorry I want to come back as my buddy turd burger Todd's dead I'd be like nope don't ever don't even look at me on the street if you see me I don't ever want to talk to you again because of some of the things that he has said about this church and about our salvation message which is the Bible's salvation message okay now let's see where to have you turn acts 19 so again our soul winning times increased our salvation's increased our visitors increased I'm on everything increased because once we got rid of that leaven we were able as a new lump to properly ferment and to properly rise and that's the goal of this third year is to do more of the same to allow more of that to happen okay now let's move on here look at Acts chapter number 19 in verse 13 it says this so that I like to use this to preach against the Catholic exorcist but let's look at it it says in verse 13 then certain of the vagabond Jews exorcist took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits in the name of the Lord Jesus saying we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches okay red flag red flags all over this situation look at verse 14 it says this and there were seven sons of one Siva a Jew and chief of the priest which did so verse 15 and the evil spirit answered and said Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are ye that had to be terrifying you know like oh wait a second these guys actually know Paul no what now look at the results of this in verse 16 and the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded now here's the first point that I want to make this morning and it's fakes can't follow through and eventually get found out fakes cannot follow through and eventually get found out those people who left I we're talking about this last night me and Jessica's like they never really grew they had peak they had little peaks but it was always just like right back down right they'd come you know I remember Nimrod came to me and he was like you know the kids they really want to go soul-winning and I think that's of the Holy Ghost and I don't want to quench that I knew right there he said that to me on the other side of this wall and I knew right there this guy's done it's just a matter of time that's one of the reasons why I was like this guy's just not getting it he's just never going to get it so all the stuff that I'm hearing he's saying about me and about other people must be true even though he's not going to admit it right but he's really like this and if you think about it fanboys are the same way right fanboys what do they say they walk through the store and before they get to the end of this partition right here every one of them 100% every one of them what do they say we yeah Pastor Anderson and we look I don't have problems and I like you know one of the reasons I'm here today is because of his preaching okay okay but look at verse 14 sorry look at the end of verse 13 we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches you know what the fanboys say before they end there hey we greet you by Jesus who Pastor Anderson preaches and they never grow beyond that statement before they it literally I'm not kidding before they get to the end of that partition now I'm serious III don't know I'm keeping track of all the visitors this year but I want to know what happens to one of them that says that like when they get to the carpet here does that make a difference I don't know oh but that's what they basically say hey we come to you because we've heard of the Jesus of the pastor Anderson preaches and we heard that the Jesus you preach is close to his and what happens they come here and I think their ears just close up and they see YouTube up here instead of me instead of you and they they just don't hear a word they say they don't hear a word the pastor Anderson even says because a lot of times they come in here after calling faithful word and they talk to brother Corbin you know and they're like hey is there a church like yours anywhere in Idaho and he's like yeah shield faith Baptist Church right you should go there and they say yeah that's great and they come in here and they're like this isn't Tempe right but they think they're so hardcore they think they're gonna go out in the world and just slay dragons and you know cast out demons and get people saved and do all these great works but what happens to them what happens to 100% of those people they ring that bell and they never come back and they never come back and look we want to come back they're not doubles you know they're not bad people we want them to stay but they've made a decision in their hearts that they're gonna remain fanboys new IFB fanboys instead of becoming a fanboy of the Lord Jesus Christ and fearing what he says in fearing his book you know it's like what else are you looking for him we're doing the works right we have two days during the week where we don't go soul winning and one of them's about to be taken up with something else okay what else do you want from us what else do you need but the honest truth is they're no different than these exorcists they're saved a lot of them born-again you know but they just can't get past that fanboys dad they just just can't get over it you know well how come you don't have the same background how come you don't use the same shampoo you don't have the same amount of people you don't have the exact it's like just get out just go yeah just go we don't need that and so I said point one fakes can't follow through and eventually get found out and you know obviously these people here in Acts chapter 19 they're not say they're Jews they're just you know well we can't deny what Jesus has done so we might as well try to just use his name right you know but what we have to understand is that we can get to a point in our lives we backslide where we get complacent where we just realize you know what I'm slipping and then what happens well you're already in a routine of coming and in in fellowshipping and stuff and this hasn't happened here yet I'm just saying this this happens I see this go on a lot and you know their church and it will happen here it's just human nature it happens okay it happens to all of us at some point we we backslide we're up and down okay but sometimes people go a little too far you know what happens they come here and it's like man what's going on with you what's what's wrong with you well they get to a point where the backsliding so much that they're just faking it and instead of trying to nip that thing early on and asking for some help what happens is they get found out the evil spirit says you know what Victor I know and Mauser I know but who's David I'm just teasing I'm just teasing all right so what I get from this is like when you feel burnt out and let me just stop right here and just just say this we have all these soul winning times and I've said this before no one's looking down on anyone because you don't go to all right I told you before I I I aim for three and I usually hit two sometimes I get that three once in a while I get that one you know it's just it's just life right we all have busy lives we all have things that we've got going on we're just happy if you go once you know not once but you know one day a week right not just one time but one day a week it's early and that Baptist hangover is still affecting me I think it was like 213 when I left the parking lot on Friday so good times though good times all right look at verse 17 says this and this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus and notice this in fear fell on them all in the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified doesn't that what happened this year the phonies the fakes the fanboys they all washed out this year we didn't kick anybody out of church right so this year I've proved to you that my goal is not to just keep kicking people out of church we've literally made it from February to February without kicking anybody out we just had a lot of people come in here for three months maybe six months I'll have a look at the log but months fanboys two weeks was storm yeah that's true did we kick storm out this year that forget about was he last year he was last year on yeah I think he was last year but still either way two weeks but it this year it's like it's been the fanboys you know they come in here right and like I'm coming every day I'm doing this and some of them came for several weeks like the D brothers right where's the D brothers at before he got through that wall what did he say yeah I've come to bestow myself a gift unto you and to preach that Jesus who Pastor Anderson preaches another couple came but January before they even got to this door so we'll give you a try like to give you a try we call Tempe and we want to a jury we want to preach that same Jesus that Pastor Anderson preaches okay where are they anybody know well they're not here right but they took it upon themselves as exorcists exercises right they're gonna exercise their faith I'm not down on I'm not bashing them but it's true right they took it upon themselves you know to set out and to go head-to-head with the spiritual warfare it's out in the community and couldn't last one week it's crazy but look at this verse 17 and fear fell on them all in the name of the Lord Jesus is magnified regardless first year we boot half the church second year we literally have almost 20 people had come in here and either came for a while but but just couldn't hang never come back you know just the revolving door but what ultimately happened the Word of God was magnified right we're preaching to God I mean we got 200 and something people say versus the 100 with less people how does that work we don't have to know we just know it does it works by purging out that old leaven it works because fakes and phonies get found out when we're doing the will of God and we have the same mind the same vision and the same goals God's gonna make sure that the phonies get found out and that they get the boot one way or the other because he wants this mission to succeed he wants us to get his word he wants us to fill our area that he's given us with his doctrine all of it not just salvation the whole package look at verse 18 and many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds many of them also which use curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all men an account of the price of them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver now look at verse 20 so mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed this year we've had some very very very interesting soul-winning stories so many I can't even bring them all up you know I feel like you know if you got we should just come up here and tell it you know we'd be here all all afternoon right people I mean I just won the other day was it brother David you got that that guy who used to be a Satanist used to hang out with Satanists right is that what it was yeah he used to hang out with Satan it's just kind of curious just kind of like friending and palling around with those types of people and you know what he understood he understood the reprobate doctrine he had a dream woke up in the middle of night and sweats just panicked freaked out of his mind and what did he do did he ask he asked just ask God if you real send somebody to show me the way basically something like that well we went back over to the townhomes by the Subaru dealership where crazy Melfi tried to run down Mauser and David and Jeff because she's obviously protecting something over there I don't know what it was but it doesn't matter you knock on this guy's door and he's got his house full of buddies joking around mocking this guy says let's go across the street where there's lights and keep in mind is what 28 degrees that day pretty cold dark and a t-shirt and he wants to hear the whole thing so this guy using curious arts understanding Satanism he got to a point to where he realized within his own heart I'm gonna have to make a decision and it's like he knew if he talked to David he tells you the story like he knew that he was about to cross the line that he couldn't come back from he didn't really know what that meant but he knew it was there he knew it was true has this dream you know says God if you're real please just send somebody to explain to me what's going on these guys show up and get him saved and it's funny he understood the reprobate doctrine he's like that is so true didn't he he's like I know that I know what the sons of Belial are he's like I fully I'm fully aware of that and I understand how they get that way ain't that crazy that's what's going on here many of them also which use curious arts brought their books and that's just that's just one story out of many a lot of you have had that right I had a great one we went to Emmett and I ran into a lady that we got saved over in Caldwell the first week that we were an independent church you know I just happened to knock on her door she had moved all the way to Emmett you know it's kind of far from here and she's just like you know some guy got me saved last year you know and he's doing what you're doing and I think God's trying to tell me something I'm like yeah actually wait that was me it's like well how are you doing right so there's a lot of stories that we have like that but the point is those things happen more when we get rid of the old leaven and we become a new lump and we realize that we just allow God to ferment us and to build us up and so I would say you know the goal for this year is to just keep doing the same thing right keep the sowing times if we can and just keep working God allow that fear right allow that healthy fear of God to rule in our lives this is what produces works now go back one chapter to chapter number 18 so point number one fakes can't follow through and eventually get found out and the same thing for fanboys you know some of the the worst part some of our fanboys actually learned how to go soloing but they just couldn't get over YouTube you just couldn't do it it's sad you know it is as a pastor as a congregation you guys know it's frustrating because we need help there are a lot of doors out there that we need to knock there are a lot of people that we need to follow up with there are a lot of hurting people in this community that we got to reach and to see that it's disheartening acts chapter 18 so let's move on here look at verse number one and says this after these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Quon so you know chapter 17 Paul's in Athens you know doing preaching to the Mar the famous Mars Hill sermon and after all of that we read here in verse number one that he departs and he's gonna meet somebody and I want you to notice this in verse number two it says this and found a certain Jew named Aquila born in Pontus lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because the Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome and came unto them so Paul finds this certain Jew we don't know if he gets him saved or if the guy was already saved but the point is that Paul was always minded to either get people saved or to get people that were saved to do more okay look at verse three and because he was of the same craft he abode with them and wrought for by their occupation they were tent makers so obviously this is a divine appointment here you know because he has a lot in common with them and so he uses that opportunity and you can just tell about the context to actually build a good bond with them to build a friendship you know and what happens he starts to teach them the Word of God and we're gonna take a look at that and point number two is this engaging strangers strengthens the local church this is why we go soul-winning this is why we ought to get over ourselves and stop being so shy and things like that and to always have the mind hey there's somebody who's saved hey well what are you doing for God what's going on in your life what Cara did this at at the place that she previously worked and met a guy I forgot his name but he's come a couple of times right and he's always told me you know I'm so glad that I met her and I found this place and I live far away and I've got you know other things going on but I'd like to come more often you know who knows what that could turn into down the road but it's that mindset that we all need to have and I think we do all have the reason why we're back up to the numbers that we were is because you have this mindset and so the thing I want to say is let's not detract from that let's enhance that let's enhance the engagement this year I heard some of you talking on Friday I think Jeff and Dave were talking about different ways to get people to come to church I like this and we're gonna try some new things out this year and I think you'll be pleased now jump down to verse number 26 I want to just kind of show you quickly three results of what we read in verse number one what actually happened because Paul found this Jew what were the results well look at verse 26 and he began so this is Apollo so now we have a situation time has gone on these guys Aquila and Priscilla they've been discipled and they're listening to somebody speak in a synagogue and they pick up on some cues and it says this and he began to speak boldly so this is Apollo's now and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard they took unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly so the first thing that we see them do because of that appointment that Paul initially made with them is he had trained them up to a level to where they had the discernment to say hey there's a guy that we can invest in there's somebody that we can befriend and expound the way of God more perfectly and get him to do more and you all know what Apollo's did he started tearing things up right they picked up on that instead of just like oh he believes like me I'm out right or or whatever turning their backs they didn't do that they said hey hey come here we we've got to talk we have something in common here and they began to explain the way of God more perfectly to him and that multiplied and that grew the word of God that helped churches that did all sorts of stuff and it's the same thing that will happen to this church to us when we take on this attitude now go to Hebrews chapter number 13 right and so now because Paul engaged strangers we find these same strangers now his friends his disciples they're able to locate and make disciples and number two you don't have to turn there but in Romans 16 verse 3 Paul says this greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Jesus Christ so because he was able to find that common ground and to disciple them and to connect with them what happened he describes them as his helpers in Christ Jesus hey these are my helpers in the new IFB fan club right no he said hey these are my helpers in Christ Jesus right they became fans of the Lord Jesus Christ that's the goal for all of us that's the that's the goal that's that's what we want to push I'm not against giving out these documentaries we do it all the time right because I think it helps to wake people up but when we get them in here it's like man we got to try to hey listen to the preaching this is great watch the movies be in the new IFB group on Facebook whatever but read your Bible come to church learn and apply if you are not applying you are what dying that's right you don't have to turn there but here's the third thing 1st Corinthians 16 9 it says this the churches in Asia salute you Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord with the church that is in their house so because of that appointment in Acts chapter 18 verse 1 2 & 3 what happened they started a church so they were able to go out and make disciples they were able to go out and preach the gospel you see that progression there it ultimately led to a church starting in their house and then that growing and that multiplying and that getting stuff done for God so all I'm saying is that we need to learn how to enhance our engagement we need to keep doing what we're doing but also enhance always looking for an opportunity you're in the store and you hear somebody talking about you know the sodomite deception grab them you know hey and expound explain the way of God more perfectly hey it's great that you're watching these documentaries it's great that you listen to Pastor Anderson it's great that you listen to Pastor Mendez it's great that you heard about Pastor Mejia but guess what we have a church in Boise that you can go to three times a week and you can learn things to apply to your life to make you a disciple right and get works unto yourself that lasts for an an eternity right that's the idea here now Hebrews chapter 1 chapter 13 I'm sorry verse 1 I want to show you a couple of these verses here look at verse 1 it says let brotherly love continue and that's what I would like to say for our church in this third year let's let this continue because what ultimately happened in year two is we became a great church family with peace right we have I feel like we have rest and internally now you know we no longer come here and we're like someone's so gonna be here it's so I'm so gonna say this you know and walking on eggshells and all of that garbage we don't have to deal with that anymore and so let's let that continue but look at verse 2 be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares that's not saying that this is a guarantee that you're gonna entertain an angel someday and invite him to your house and you're gonna have visions now that's not what he's talking about but you never know because God has all sorts of tests and things that he does for his disciples in his people the idea here is that we ought not to forget that we should entertain strangers when people come in here and maybe they're you know a little bit different on certain things we shouldn't just be like you know what I'm not talking to you until you know you can really prove yourself or and we don't have anybody in here with that attitude that person's gone you know but we ought to entertain them we ought to say hey you know what's going on and nurture them and bring them up in the way of the Lord and really try to help them out and like I always say you know you can this is a popular proverb you know you can bring a horse you can lead a horse to water but you can't get them to drink all you can do is try all you can do is just be not forgetful to entertain strangers and if we do this a thousand times we'll get at least one of them to stay right we'll get at least somebody to stay go to Romans chapter 12 Romans chapter 12 and so we've talked about this and I decided we're gonna go ahead and focus on this for this next year and let's just see what happens we're gonna have follow-up Fridays so what I'd like to see is that when you guys are out soul winning you're at work or you talk to somebody now here's the thing if you can tell that they're interested if you can tell that you know what I think this person wants to be a disciple they want to come to church they want to grow you know you ought to fill out we're gonna have some follow-up cards in the back there I've already designed them we just got to print them out and you write down their information and make the actually you know what a good thing to do is have them write it give them a pen in the car to make them fill it out and say only fill this out if you're really interested in coming to church if you're if you want me to come back and maybe answer some more questions bring you a Bible bring you a movie you know or something right and then once you get that information if you could give that to me I'll find one of you guys to come with me on a Friday you know we're probably just a couple Fridays a month because this is new and I'm gonna go and be diligent we're gonna follow up with these people you know and and see what happens you know the the two or three times in my life where I've actually gotten somebody to come to church and stay and actually be a disciple and I went out and soul winning with them you know has been from doing that now I'm not talking about like hounding people like hey you got to come right because look let's just be honest man most people take the grace and run it's really only that couple that'll look back and give thanks but it's those two people that we don't want to neglect we want to entertain those strangers and we want to try to build them up because let's face it some people they just need that kick they just need that push it could be an intimidating thing to come to a small church it can be a lot of be you know it was always easier for me coming up you know as an adult to go to a large church because I feel like you can walk in there nobody knows anybody anyways there's a small group they don't know if you've been there before and it's just kind of easy to sit down and alright this is cool right and people out there they know this you know they understand this I had one lady now but she goes you know is your church small I said yeah she's I want to go there because then you know when I'm backsliding and stuff people are gonna know I was like well what are you gonna do man I said you know what though I'd like that you said that you're honest you know and I hope someday you do come and visit us you know and I say promise I won't make fun of you too much if you backslide right but follow-up Fridays I think would be a good thing so you guys you guys get somebody cuz cuz look we're all busy right and so I'd like to take time on Fridays to just solely dedicate to follow the people that you guys meet that I meet you know and see if they really are interested and I'm only gonna do it one time you know if I go back there and they're like oh well my dog is still stuck behind the refrigerator my cat is still behind the microwave I'm done okay I'm out of here I'm not necessarily gonna give up the whole program though but I'm not gonna keep going back to that person because sometimes we go to people and they really want to hear it and this is where I've failed because I have met people out here they're like I wish you'd come back or whatever and I'm just like man no you don't I'm done with you I'm not ever coming back here again I don't say that but I'm like yeah right sure you are or I'm like okay you know I will come back and then I don't I gotta stop yeah I have to work on that okay and I think that we would all do well to work on that so you're there in Romans chapter 12 look at verse 13 just want to show you some value of being hospitable look at verse 13 Romans 12 13 it says this distributing to the necessity of the Saints given to hospitality bless them which persecute you bless and curse not this is not talking about those who curse God verse 15 it says rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep and so what is he trying to tell the Romans here he's saying hey be relatable to people you know isn't this what we saw with Paul when he met Aquila and Priscilla they're all tent makers and he said well this is something that we have in common and he used that as an opportunity to disciple those people and look what happened they were able to go out and do the same thing hey there's a guy who who understands the Bible well there's a guy who gets it let's explain the way more perfectly to him then what Paul's describing them as there's great helpers in Jesus Christ meaning they got over the fanboy thing right because there were people that were fanboys back then these Jews in Acts chapter 19 they were what were they they were fanboys hey we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches they weren't in it for themselves they just heard about it and they were like hey that guy we you know we're gonna cast out demons by just by his name without doing the work without going to church without learning the doctrines look at verse number 16 be of the same mind one toward another mind not high things but condescend to men of low estate be not wise in your own conceits there's some things that we shouldn't be wise about and that's the stuff that we're conceited about it's the stuff of the world because why well it subtracts from our efforts it hinders the work of God go to Matthew chapter 25 real quick Matthew chapter number 25 so any time that you're talking to somebody if you really honestly have something in common with that person don't be afraid to bring that up because that could be the one thing that gets them to drop their guard and allows you to actually make a good connection with them and to get them saved or if they're already saved to get them to actually come to church stick with it and become a disciple now here's the thing as a disciple you have to understand you've got to build that endurance because most people are gonna just give you that lip service they're gonna tell you I will be there on Sunday they say this every week you guys that go soul winning today you will probably hear somebody say that I'll come check it out or you'll get them saving they'll say yes I will be here I'm coming tonight they're gonna say Jeff you're preaching to I'm coming tonight David you're preaching I'm coming tonight because you guys came to my door I'll be there and they won't come and you can go back a thousand times and they won't come they're not devils they're just whatever it's just the attitude that most people have you know but does that mean that we need to quit or give up no because sooner or later you're gonna knock on that person's door and realize this person actually does want me to come back you're gonna come back you're gonna get that person saved and they're gonna come to church this happened to me in Tacoma I remember the first time I'd been so winning for three years wondering when is someone gonna actually come to church and stick with it well one night these guys come to me and like hey we met this guy and he was interested in the gospel but you know we can't give the gospel so we told him we know a guy at our church that'll do it so will you go back on Thursday with us say sure I'll go back there I go back there I get the guy saved and I said hey you interested in coming to church yeah I think I'm sure you are I said oh yeah cool well I'll call you on Saturday and see you right and I filled up filled out the little follow-up garden sure enough I called him on Saturday yeah I'll be there called him up Sunday morning like hey he's still gonna be coming to church yeah oh yeah and he didn't lie he was and that guy still goes to that church to this day so I'm saying you got to put in the work first you have to realize this takes endurance it's not you know and here's the even crazy part sometimes you know you're gonna have somebody who just learned soul winning they're gonna go out they're gonna get somebody saved and get a disciple and they're gonna come to church and you're gonna be like what am I doing wrong that person's watching you know and you're gonna don't do that don't compare yourselves like that you know it it just it's just a lot just happens okay Matthew 25 look at verse 40 so Jesus says this and the king shall answer and say unto them verily I say unto you inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren you have done it unto me and he's talking about doing great things unto the people that believe in the Lord you know so here's another thing I just just like to bring up you know when around the community you find somebody who say but maybe they're struggling maybe they have to move or maybe they need help maybe they just don't want to come to church yet but they want someone to talk to maybe a good idea would be to say you know what I'm gonna actually invest a little bit of time and see where this goes you know and put the pride aside because what is Jesus saying here that when you take the time to help one of his brother now you're helping him and there are a lot of people in this community not a lot but they're a lot more than other places that are actually saved and those people are his brethren don't forget about that they may not believe like us but if they have a need let's put our pride aside let's go help them out you guys know the story scope and I knocked on this lady's door after the Boise bench fight she recognized me said you're the guy on YouTube I've heard about your church and your pastors really mean I was like you're talking about pastor minutes what are you talking about she's like no the pastor of this church he's really mean I saw what he said to people on Facebook right cuz I said some pretty much sold people to pound sand but anyways she she's like and that's she's I'm gonna go get my coat and I'm like whatever right we decided to take a different approach I was kind she wasn't saved but I could just we could just kind of sense that something was different like she she was mad but she was still like open to the truth that makes sense she every time I give her a verse and explain why I said what I said why we do what we do she's like okay well I've never heard that before you know she's still upset but it made sense and I could realize that she was hurting she's had a rough life so I see you know she's talking about how she has to move and she starts going off on that and I say you know what we'll help you now we will help you she's not even saved I said you know we're gonna help you move and it was kind of rough right it was it's a long story but we went and we helped her pack up her things and take some of her junk to Goodwill late on a what was it a Thursday or a Tuesday something like that and we went you know got my truck and loaded it up took two or three trips and we basically went to Goodwill over on Overland and took that whole warehouse over we just told the guy working there like we've got this you know I'm serious and we like we like bypass it we like he like you mean nothing you don't even work here right now we do you know we went in there and we started bringing all her stuff and putting it in the back of the Goodwill warehouse you know and at the end we turned her you know a foe into a friend you know I don't know what's gonna happen as a result of that because she moved away she wound up coming to church one time and you know who knows but here's the thing what happens if up in Coeur d'Alene you know sure foundation Spokane knocks on her door right and says now are you ready I'd be interested in eternity to find out what happens to that lady it's all I'm saying is that you know we did that for somebody who was just kind of open to hearing a little bit of truth what happens when we do that to somebody who is actually safe then what's gonna happen well what's gonna happen is that we enhance the engagement what's gonna happen is possibly in a Quill and Priscilla situation right so let's just let's just focus on this here let's not always just get into the mindset well you don't believe in these certain options that we do that come from the Bible that we can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt so the heck with you right sometimes we have to just sidestep that and help these people out help them overcome whatever it is that's troubling them whatever it is that's preventing them from actually being a disciple and invest in them and help them grow okay go to Matthew chapter number 28 Matthew chapter number 28 and so the point number one was fakes phonies fanboys can't follow through and they eventually get found out and point number two is engaging strangers strengthens the church you notice that everything that we do as a church what does it all point to it points to the Lord and it and what is what else does it point to soul winning right the whole reason that we meet on Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesdays while we meet at off times while we talk to each other and these chat groups that we have it's too well to relieve steam right because that's important it's to talk trash about the wicked which I think is very important and it's ultimately to get better at soul winning knocking on doors and making disciples that's the whole point Matthew chapter 28 look at verse 16 very important to understand this here Matthew 28 look at verse 16 then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them and when they saw him they worshipped him but some doubted and Jesus came and spake of them saying all power is given unto me in heaven and earth go ye therefore let's stop right there I love saying this all what did Jesus say in verse 18 all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth you have to realize this and you all do that we have the power of God in his word that church right across the parking lot here right what do they say oh well God's power is in people flopping around like a flounder in the aisles and rolling around and barking like a dog being filled with a Holy Ghost right no that's not the power of God my friend you need to give up that rock and roll music you've got going on over there and these shouts of hell and actually read and believe the Bible and understand that Jesus said all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth and who is he speaking to here his disciples remember how David had his mighty men those were his disciples the disciples of Christ today you are we are the mighty men we are literally the special forces of his kingdom and we have power and it's in this earth so we have to have the Word of God verse 19 go ye therefore so he's saying hey for that reason because of that power that's an earth that I own that I have that I've set up that I've established teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and so here's the thing you know if somebody doesn't believe in any one of those three they are not saved they are not truly baptized into the body of Christ they have not been placed into that okay but that's a sermon for another day verse 20 teaching them to observe all things teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I'm with you always even into the end of the world amen so that tells us that this wasn't hermeneutically speaking dispensationally speaking only to the people at this time no because the end of the world has not happened yet that means there's still power in this earth there's still a mission in this earth there are still disciples in this earth and we have to fulfill this commission which is what verse 20 to observe all things we are to teach people to observe all things so when people say oh you know you just you should just preach the gospel every day you shouldn't teach Leviticus 2013 and try to apply that is that not God's word where did Jesus say hey I'm I've come to destroy the law I've got you know not even the NIV says that yet yet it's coming it's coming so what is the whole purpose of being a disciple why have this exchange between the resurrected Christ and his disciples why have this preserve for us to read today what is the point well it's this the whole point of being a disciple is to commence the whole Commission remember so many and getting people say it is a very extremely important part of what we do but it's really only part because we're commanded to have them observe all things which is coming to church which is applying so that we are not dying it's all doctrine right we are to fill this place up with God's doctrine we are to speak and to preach against the wickedness of these politicians why are you preaching against the mayor what does he ever do to you well she hates God she enables these fags around here to get away with all sorts of stuff that they should not be getting away with and now that their champion dirty riding Biden's in office they feel emboldened don't they they feel empowered oh you're just a stupid Christian get out of here I'll call the police you're just a stupid Christian you have no right to knock on that door even though I don't pay their rent and they enable this stuff she supports this stuff but you know we're not gonna be bothered we're not going to be moved or shaken by any of that because we realize that the true power Jesus owns and it's in this earth and it's in comes from this book it comes from understanding this and you know what we're gonna go follow up with people say hey now that you're saved let me show you Romans chapter number one let me show you why we kick fags out if they come in here let me show you why we don't support pedophiles let me show you why these people can't get saved it's not just that but everything let me show you why as we see the day approaching we need to assemble ourselves together even more so right maybe not necessarily just adding another church service but you know getting together sticking together being that new lump that we need to be now look at verse 20 again he says teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you that you there is plural he's talking to the disciples as a whole that is preserved for us and so we need to realize that because sometimes these guys out there they have a lot of questions don't they they get saved like what about this what about that and you're like we'll get back to that and then we're so excited to get saved where we forget well hey write that down you know ask these people hey I say this look we don't like to bother people we don't want to waste your time you know we don't want to waste your time but if you're interested you know could we get your information we'd like to bring a DVD to you you know say hey you know our pastor would like to meet you and maybe just just encourage you do you have anything that we could pray for you for we have prayer time on Wednesday you know something to that effect and if you can sense that these people are genuine that they really want to help we'll follow up with them and we'll begin to teach them all things and hopes to get them to come in here and become disciples because the whole point of what we do is to make disciples it's to get people saved and disciple them help them to grow to commence the whole Commission not just part of it see a lot of these liberal churches they just focus oh we got a discipleship program a discipleship discipleship which really isn't discipleship at all it's foolishness it's curious arts that's what a lot of these commentaries are they're curious arts if you didn't know that that's what they are and then some churches they take it the other way well we're just gonna do soul winning right not gonna disciple people you know just the heck with them we don't want to do the truth is in the middle we need to fulfill the whole thing we need to work on that I think this is a good opportunity in the time of our church to actually go ahead and implement follow-up Fridays and to do this so go back to Acts chapter 5 real quick we're almost done we are almost done and you know when you read about Peter James John Paul all the disciples what do you read them do it if you you read about their lives and what they taught it wasn't only the salvation message was it it was all things whatsoever he commanded they were never afraid to teach doctrine to anyone they got beaten for it right they got stoned for it they got whipped for it and they continued to do more because they realize the value in this the things that we do as disciples it goes on to eternity it will follow you after your physical body goes into the grave think about this church now you know when we started we literally had half the people in here not on board for a full year now we're back to that same number and I feel like now we're all of the same mind I think that year three we can do some very very very good works for God and I think that we will we already have but now I think that we can enhance that we can do more so right where we began Acts chapter 5 verse 11 says this great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things you see now do you understand it was important for these people to hear what happened to Ananias and Sapphira it's important for us to tell new people that come in here the history of our church hey you know we had to kick these people out we actually went through a period in our church we had to purge the old leaven out because they were preventing us from growing it's important you know those people are probably gonna watch this and I can't believe he's still bringing it up but here's the thing it produces a healthy fear of God because you see what happens when you get rid of them it's like whoa that wakes me up it's like man look at all the stuff that we did this year how in the world did we get 200 salvations with half the church think about that we had we've had two weeks as well yeah yeah two weeks in the last month we've had 20 soul winners or close to that number we used to have that regularly when we had all those other families but we've had double the salvation and that's because as we all heard these things we all who are genuine began to fear the Lord and that fear is the beginning of what wisdom and knowledge and so therefore that new lump with wisdom and knowledge the right leaven right we can grow we can expand we can actually be baked in the oven properly and so I better stop before I get himself in trouble there but anyways look at verse number 14 so after Ananias's wife after she gets the same treatment and dies look at verse 14 it says this in believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes both of men and women and of course during this time frame they still had people that could do the miracles and heal the sick and all those signs and wonders those also increased isn't that exactly what we saw this year and believers were more added to the Lord with half the numbers that we'd had originally now that we're back to like where we were number wise and we shouldn't always just be about the numbers but we do care about that right now man year three we could do all sorts of stuff you know just because we didn't do the mega marathon last year it's okay God said hey I'm gonna allow you to just go out and you know have these small town events you know every every so often and guess what he adds more believers he's not going to use people like the Melfies like Nimrod and their pals to do the job because their phonies are fakes and so I would just say I think that the vision is very simple is to keep doing what we've been doing I'm not trying to like add a bunch of stuff and load you up just keep doing what you've been doing we're all saved I don't think we have any doubles in here I'm being serious when I say that I'm not looking out here at you guys's faces and seeing a bunch of frowns except for Mauser but maybe Kenley I'm just kidding I just did she's great Kyle in though I don't know not she's like what she's like this I'm just teasing I'm just teasing but you get the point more of the same somebody asked me that you know I told him there was a pastor cuz they kind of just like oh you see my question yeah well what's your goal for for your your third year as a church they're just more of the same stuff that's it no stress it's more of the same stuff keep doing what we're doing but focusing on the fundamentals the Bible reading the prayer the edification all the stuff that we've been doing let's just keep doing it right I think the only new thing that I'm really trying to push really just I'm putting it on me and it's just the follow-up and I'm gonna harass some of you hey can you come with me I don't ever have to ask anybody calls call you any one of you up like yeah right away cuz everybody's of the same mind we have the same goal we just want to see people say and guess what it's not a crime right it's not a crime and a guy yesterday pastor Thompson knocked on his door and he's got two little dogs about this big and he's got his mask on right and he's just like do you wear masks at your church is I know you guys like well I think I'll find one where they do he's like yeah that's really good go ahead and do that go ahead and do that please there's a church on five mile and victory with a rainbow flag it would be perfect for you go there and we'll enjoy the show okay all right let's thank you so much Lord for this church for all that you've done for us Lord the second year I just pray for this third year Lord let's pray that you would help us to do more of the same I pray that you would help us to go out into the community continue to teach people Lord to observe all not just some but all of your Commandments all the things that you teach us to do and just pray you that have your hand your blessing on our our programs Lord at this church pray bless the fellowship after the service