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[0:00] Well, it's good to see you this morning.

[0:14] And if you've come prepared to open your Bibles to 1 Peter,! then you're going to be disappointed because we're not going there this morning. And I'm going to give you a couple of reasons. Two events are taking place in our church that, well, one of them, Mike, shared with you this morning about Sunday school.

[0:38] And kind of an emphasis that we're placing upon that very important ministry of our church throughout this month. And I'm not going to reiterate what Mike has already said, but to encourage you.

[0:52] But if you're not a part of a Sunday school class right now, then you need to be. And there is one for you. And I would encourage you to get plugged in to that very important ministry.

[1:07] The small group Bible study is just tremendously important. That's one thing to gather in the congregation, to assemble like we have here, and to worship corporately, and to study God's Word corporately.

[1:21] And that is a very vital part of what the church is all about. But there's something else about that small group. And so I would encourage you, be a part of Sunday school.

[1:33] So important. And not just for this month when we're emphasizing it, all right? And in a few Sundays when we have the, quote, high attendance day, don't just come on that day so we can meet some kind of goal.

[1:43] But come because it's important to you. And it's relevant to you and vital to your life. And so I would encourage you about that. So Sunday school is one thing.

[1:55] And we're going to be talking a lot more about Sunday school as we go along because I believe it's so important. The other thing is G-R-O-W, grow.

[2:05] And that is our church visitation evangelistic kind of outreach ministry that started a few weeks ago. And you've been hearing about that.

[2:16] And some of you are already participating in it. We've already gone through some training, a brief time of training. And if you missed that, we're going to be doing it again. Tom will be letting you know about that.

[2:26] But get involved in that. And it's not hard at all. And there's not this kind of high pressure kind of thing placed upon you.

[2:40] If you're not quite ready to go out and knock on somebody's door, then you can stay right here at the church, write a letter, make a phone call. You can team up with someone, go out and make some visits, and be a part of grow.

[2:57] Now, both of those things that I've mentioned are not new things, not at all. Now, grow might be a new thing to you, but it's not new. Certainly outreach, an organized form of outreach for the church is not a new thing, is it?

[3:13] Certainly not. So Sunday school, of course, is not new. I mean, if any denomination is known for a Sunday school, it's Southern Baptist. So those are not new things.

[3:25] And we're not starting something new in that sense. But maybe revisiting and reemphasizing and putting an extra measure of importance on these two things.

[3:38] That is what we're doing. And also encouraging all of you to be a part of it. Both of these ministries involve, to some extent, evangelism.

[3:55] The proclaiming of the good news of Jesus Christ to the lost and the unchurched. Sunday school is a part of that. With some other things as well.

[4:07] Some other wonderful things that that ministry does. Grow is certainly involved in that. And so it's the outreach of the church. It is reaching out beyond the walls of this building.

[4:21] And carrying good news to people who need to hear it. And that's what we should be about. Right? I should say, amen.

[4:36] Amen. Well, that's... We'll let that pass for now. Amen. All right. Thank you. I don't know what happened to Wes. I mean, I was just expecting. That's what we're about.

[4:48] And so I want to bring a message to you that I hope would challenge you. That I hope would engage you in what the Bible calls the Great Commission.

[5:03] And I hope to share with you from a particular passage of Scripture, as well as bringing into play some other portions of God's Word.

[5:14] I hope to challenge you to connect with the Great Commission in at least one very vital way.

[5:29] One very tried and proven way. To propagate, to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[5:42] And I'll define that here in just a minute. You're wondering, where do I need to go? Some of you are kind of just... Mark chapter 5. So take your Bibles and open them to Mark chapter 5.

[5:52] And we'll get to the passage that I'm going to read here in just a moment. But let me set all this up this way. I want you to think for a moment about a phenomenal event.

[6:10] An event that took place in history. And yet it is an event that is still going on today.

[6:22] An event that took place back in the first century. And is continuing now on into the 21st century.

[6:37] It's an event that started at the beginning of the first millennium. Oh no, not the first millennium. Actually at the first of the millennium.

[6:49] And now has carried on into now the second millennium. And I'm talking about the birth of the church.

[7:01] An incredible, phenomenal event. And not just the birth of it, but the continued growth of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[7:13] The Bride of Christ. Now, when did it begin? Well, in a sense, it began with Jesus. And I would argue, in a sense, it began at his baptism.

[7:27] And his selection of his disciples, his apostles. The twelve. That first assembly of the Bride of Christ, so to speak.

[7:40] And by the way, that's what we're doing here. We're assembling. This is the assembly of the Bride of Christ. This is the ecclesia. The assembly.

[7:52] That's what we are. We call ourselves Highland Park Baptist Church. But the church really has its beginnings there with Jesus. And the birth, or rather the baptism of Jesus.

[8:04] And the selection of his disciples. And then we would have to say, and I think rightly so, that officially, the church was birthed at Pentecost. At Pentecost.

[8:18] And you remember reading about that in the Bible. There in Acts chapter 2. When the Holy Spirit came upon that small, very small congregation of really, technically, eleven men.

[8:33] Not twelve. Because Judas, of course, had gone out and hung himself. He was not part of them. Started with that small congregation. I call them a congregation.

[8:43] That assembly. That ecclesia. The apostles. And before Pentecost, you might remember that Jesus said to his apostles in Acts chapter 1.

[8:56] He said, wait for the promise of the Father. Wait for his promise, which ye have heard of me. That is, I've taught you about this. I've already given you a heads up about this.

[9:08] Wait for this promise. For John, that is, John the Baptist, truly baptized you with water. But he said, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.

[9:19] Not many days hence, he said. So he's giving them instructions. Wait here. And then he said, you will receive power after that the Holy Ghost comes upon you.

[9:31] And you will be witnesses of me. Unto me. Both unto Jerusalem and in Judea. All Judea and Samaria.

[9:41] And to all the world. The uttermost part of the world. And what a beginning. When the Holy Spirit came upon that assembly.

[9:53] That congregation. That first one on the day of Pentecost. What a beginning. The church birthed there. And exploding.

[10:05] Really in a very literal sense. From 12. The 12. To 120. To 3,000 on one day. To 5,000 on another occasion. And the church grew by addition.

[10:18] But it also grew then ultimately by multiplication. From 1. To 2. To 4. To entire families. To entire communities. And all of this.

[10:30] Initially anyway. In just one city. Jerusalem. Soon the same thing would begin to take place. Beyond the city limits of Jerusalem.

[10:43] Because soon the church would then begin to grow. And expand into ever widening circles. And that's what Jesus said would happen didn't he? Jerusalem.

[10:55] Judea. Samaria. The uttermost parts of the world. Now. How did it happen? This church.

[11:06] Growing. How did it happen? Now theologically we could look to scripture. And certainly it grew because of the work of God. Through the Holy Spirit.

[11:18] Upon the hearts of men. And saving. And adding. Men and women to his church. We could look at it from that angle. But I mean from. From the perspective.

[11:29] Or from the side of. Man's responsibility. Or the responsibility placed upon. Those early converts. Those early church members. How did it grow?

[11:40] How did it happen? Well. A number of ways. Of course. It happened. Then and on. Going. And up into our day. A number of ways.

[11:51] And. But there has always been. One way. One way. Always been. One way. The church. Or God has been pleased.

[12:02] To grow his church. Better. More effectively. than any other way. Than any other way. From its beginning.

[12:15] Down through the centuries. And on into our day. There has always been. This one very effective method. God ordained.

[12:25] God blessed. Method. For growth. In his church. More effective. I believe. Than any other method. And we can name many of them. And it is this one method.

[12:37] That I want to preach. About. Today. And here it is. Are you ready? The church. Grows.

[12:49] When. Born again. Believers. With. The good news. About. Jesus. Christ. Reach. Certain. People. For. Christ.

[12:59] Christ. By. Crossing. Over. The bridges. Of. God. They say that again. Because you're looking at me like.

[13:12] Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. I was thinking about something else. I didn't get that. Didn't hear it. The church grows. When born again. Believers. That's you.

[13:22] That's me. When we take the good news. Of Jesus Christ. And reach. A specific. Or. Certain. Group. Of people. For Christ.

[13:33] By crossing. Over. The bridges. Of God. Now you got it that time. Didn't you? Except you're asking. What do you mean. The bridges. Of God. What does that mean?

[13:47] Well. Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. And. I am not going to read. The entire story. Because it's so familiar.

[13:58] And the story itself. Is not really the point. It's what takes place. At the end of it. That. That's important. For us. In our discussion today. And you know the story.

[14:10] And I'll just remind you of it. Jesus. And his disciples. Had traveled over. Crossed over the Sea of Galilee. Into the region of the Gadarenes. As soon as I mentioned Gadarenes.

[14:23] Now. You're making that connection. Oh. I remember what happened there. Because. There. In that region. They confront. A man.

[14:34] Who was demon possessed. I mean. Really. Demon possessed. In fact. Luke. In Luke's account. Of this same story.

[14:44] He said. That the man. Was possessed. By many. Devils. Many devils. Were living in him. And he was. A scary man.

[14:56] Frightening. To the people. Who lived in that region. Who lived in that area. Is well known. Because he was a very scary guy. And he lived in the caves there. And was naked.

[15:08] And that's scary enough. As it is. And. And he. At night. He would cry out. In the night. Can you imagine. You're there in bed.

[15:18] In your home. And you hear this madman. Crying. With these kind of. Death curdling. Cries. And. It would be quite frightening. Think about. Having to get up. And calm your children.

[15:29] Because they are terrified. Of this. This. This man. Whatever he is. Some monster. And he. And the Bible says. That he went around.

[15:40] And took sharp. Stones. And cut his body. So. You can have. Some kind of imagination. There. What this guy looked like. And.

[15:51] Mark. Though we're not going to read this part of it. He says that he. And he uses the word. That this man was fierce. Fierce. And that means. This guy was someone.

[16:02] That you just did. You didn't want to deal with him. He's fierce. No one. Would ever pass by. Where this guy lived.

[16:12] In the caves. Where he dwelled. There. They wouldn't pass by there. They would go the other way. Go around it. They would never go there. He was a fierce man. And some. Apparently. On occasion.

[16:23] The men of the city there. Thought we need to take care of this guy. And so they would go out and capture him. Chain him up. And guess what? Somehow he was able to break the chains.

[16:35] Into. Quote. Pieces. That's what the Bible says. Imagine that. Get in your mind. This fella. He was wild.

[16:46] And. And. And. He was demon possessed. And he was a madman. A really scary person. But Jesus.

[16:58] Changed his life. Permanently. Transformed. This. This. Demoniac. Jack. And when the people of the village heard about it.

[17:11] They went out to investigate it. Guess what? They found this madman. Who ran around. Naked. And. And. And bloody. Because he. He. He. He. He.

[17:21] He. He. He. He. He. He. He. He. And. In. His. Right. Mind. You.

[17:33] See. He. He. He. with the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was radically saved and transformed by Christ.

[17:49] And now Jesus and his disciples are about to board the ship and leave the area. And this fellow comes up and he makes a request, a very understandable request.

[18:02] And that brings us to the focus of the message and into the passage itself. So let me read verse 18. And when he, that's Jesus, got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with him.

[18:25] However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you.

[18:42] That is, go home, tell him the good news. And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him and all marveled.

[18:56] that's the conclusion of this rather interesting story. Now, the part that I told on the front end, we're familiar with that.

[19:08] And I would dare say that we've paid very little attention to how the story concludes and the import of that for us and how, as I'm going to share with you this morning, how that relates to the Great Commission.

[19:25] And the most effective means, the most effective tool we have for obeying that Great Commission. Because I see here one example, one of many examples in the Bible of the bridges of God.

[19:47] I want you to notice from this passage this morning, three important truths about evangelism. Effective evangelism.

[20:01] Because there are many aspects, many features of evangelistic work that most of us in this room are not called to do.

[20:13] Not qualified to do. Not able to do. But this one thing every single one of us are able to do. Three truths. Number one, there is here the mission of the evangelist.

[20:31] A particular mission. The mission of evangelism or the mission of the evangelist. Here is this former demoniac who's now been saved, been transformed, transformed, and he says, Jesus, I want to go with you.

[20:52] I want to be with you. That is, Jesus, I want to join your ministry and I want to travel with your team. That's how we might say it in our day. And what does Jesus say?

[21:05] He says, no. He says, you can't come with me. And he gives him instruction. He says, no. Go home to your friends.

[21:22] That's the word in the New King James and I believe also the King James. Some might have the word to your people. But this is what Jesus said. Go home to your friends.

[21:34] Go home to them. Now I want you to think just for a moment about this phrase and particularly the word friends here. As I said, it can be translated in many different ways.

[21:47] In fact, literally, it could be translated go home to thine. To yours. Your people. We could supply the noun.

[22:00] Go home to your people. That's why it's been translated by many. Go home to your friends. Go home to your people. Go home to thine. That is, go home to those who know you. Those you know.

[22:10] That would include family. It would include friends. It would include other acquaintances. So he said, go home to your friends. You see, this is a mini great commission that is extended or commanded here for this former demon-possessed man.

[22:28] It's a mini great commission. And it's direct. And it is personal. A personal commission. I think we ought to take the great commission very personally. Jesus isn't just giving it to some kind of collective body.

[22:43] He certainly is doing that. But we ought to receive it as a personal commission to each one of us. Well, Jesus is giving this man a personal great commission.

[22:55] And there are numerous ways, of course, to fulfill that commission. But Jesus is identifying the one that I want us to get here this morning. Because, you see, this man was connected to a bridge.

[23:10] A bridge of God. And that bridge, his span, reached across to this man's family and to his friends, the people within his circle of relationship, and no doubt many of his friends, maybe all of them, I don't know, were unbelievers.

[23:27] Maybe many of them, at this point in the growth of the church, maybe many of them, maybe all of them, had not yet once even heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[23:39] And so they needed to be saved. And so this man obeyed the Lord Jesus, and he went home. He may have been, in one sense, at least at that moment, may have been the only one who could reach them.

[23:55] The only one there that had a connection, and he certainly had a testimony, didn't he? And so Jesus is saying, cross over, this is what he's saying to us, cross over those bridges that exist between you and those that you know who are lost.

[24:17] And so he did. And the result, I think we can imagine, the result was that many were saved. many came to Christ because he obeyed that commission.

[24:32] Many others, maybe not, certainly not as dramatically as his life was changed, but their lives were changed by the life-changing life of Jesus Christ because he obeyed that commission.

[24:44] Now what if we brought that guy into our context, in our day, and let's say an evangelist is doing a tent revival out there in the Gadarenes, and this demon-possessed guy, this notorious man was gloriously saved, and everybody saw that, what do you think that evangelist would do in our day?

[25:09] Why, he would join him to his team, he would make him travel with him and go all around the world, so he could give his testimony. And we might think, well that seems like a reasonable thing, think what God could do through that testimony.

[25:22] By the way, that's a very common method of some evangelistic ministries, get some young lady or some young man who's been dramatically saved and delivered out of a life of drug addiction or whatever, and then have that one travel with them and give their testimony all around.

[25:47] And certainly if God wants to do that, that's alright, I'm not against that, but that's not what Jesus did with this guy. We might be thinking or maybe in our kind of 21st century mind, we might be thinking, well Jesus, you know you missed a great opportunity, just bring this guy with you so everywhere you preach you could have him give a testimony and there would be many who would be wowed by that great testimony and many would be saved.

[26:14] That's not what he did. There are other examples of course of these bridges in scripture. We can find many, I'll just mention a few of them.

[26:28] In John 4 and verse 53 Jesus heals the nobleman's son. We'll not get into the story but the Bible tells us there that he believed this nobleman's son or the nobleman that he believed and then it adds this and his whole house because everybody in his home was saved.

[26:55] And I don't think we're to understand because of, you know, put our culture back into that culture. We're not talking about, you know, a mother and father and two kids. We're talking about his whole family, an extended family.

[27:09] They most likely all lived together or lived in the same area. And so this nobleman was saved and his whole household was saved. That's the bridge of God from the nobleman to his whole household.

[27:24] Luke 19.9 is another example of it. Zacchaeus, you know that story, very familiar story, and he's gloriously saved. And Jesus says, this day has salvation come to you.

[27:36] Now that's not what he said. He said, this day salvation has come to this house. the implication being that not only was Zacchaeus saved, but other members, maybe all the members of his household were saved.

[27:52] But it came through Zacchaeus. Mark chapter 2 and verse 14 and 15, Jesus calls Matthew, a tax collector, to be one of his disciples. And Matthew accepts the call.

[28:04] And the Bible tells us that Matthew invites a bunch of his tax collector friends and high society friends, over to his house for dinner with Jesus. That was a good idea.

[28:20] Over in Ukraine, we'd call it a gospel supper. Bought all the friends and family and others over to the house to hear the gospel. And that's what Matthew did.

[28:31] And the Bible says the result was many of them believed. Now how would that have happened? Well, certainly God's sovereign and God can save and God is not hindered by anything.

[28:43] But God has, in a sense, chosen to use each of us to cross over bridges to people we know and family and friends to share the gospel the most effective way to bring the gospel to the lost.

[29:01] And if you have difficulty actually sharing the gospel or you're unsure about you can at least cross over the bridge and bring them here where the gospel is preached.

[29:12] But it's the crossing over of the bridge and these bridges of God they span and cross over into all kinds of different contexts of life.

[29:24] I mean family certainly and friends and business associates and other acquaintances. John chapter 4 we have another kind of a bridge we have the story there of the immoral Samaritan woman you remember that story and how she was gloriously saved there at the well and Jesus there was the evangelist and what does she do?

[29:48] Well the Bible says that she left her water pot and she went into the city and told the men told the men listen there's a guy out here who told me everything I've done is he not the Christ and he brings that she brings them out there but the Bible says that she said this to the men now who were these men I don't think I'm stretching the text and you know making it say something that it's not I don't think we have to speculate about it this was an immoral woman she had had five husbands no telling how many other men and I think she went to tell the men she hung out with that was her circle the men you see the bridges of God in her life reached out to her partying friends maybe even former husbands and others and she was able to bring them to

[31:04] Christ and the Bible of course ends that story by telling us that many believed many believed God just blessed she reached across the bridge gave the good news led them to Christ and Jesus saved them many of them could he have done it another way certainly our understanding or conceptualizing the need to cross over bridges does not somehow limit God or say that our efforts are going to help God out God's going to do what he's going to do but are you going to get in on that and reach out across those bridges there are other examples Peter you know was without a debate maybe the lead apostle and

[32:07] Peter you know made that open profession and confession of who Jesus Christ was he says you are the Christ the son of the living God and Peter preached that great sermon on the day of Pentecost thousands were saved God God saved them but do you know how Peter came to know the Lord do you know how that happened John 142 tells us that Peter's brother Andrew brought him to Jesus there's a bridge there see now had God chosen Peter to be his disciple yeah to be one of his apostles great apostles certainly it's not something that God didn't know about or was surprised about we're not talking about that side of this we're talking about what Andrew did and Andrew faithfully crossed the bridge and he brought

[33:09] Peter to the Lord in that same chapter we read about Philip following Jesus and then Philip had a friend his name was Nathaniel and Philip went out and found Nathaniel and brought him to Jesus see the bridges of God reach out into all directions it is for us to identify them and to cross over them with the good news of Jesus Christ in Acts chapter 16 verse 30 we have an example of what we might call a temporary bridge Paul and Silas you might remember have been thrown into prison and instead of being discouraged the Bible says that they began to pray and sing hymns and the Lord sent an earthquake to bring to open up the gate the doors of the prison and the jailer of course he thought everybody had escaped and so instead of submitting himself to the capital punishment because he was a jailer and he let all of his prisoners go he was going to take his sword and kill himself take his own life and Paul called out you remember and said wait we're still here and the jailer what did the jailer ask them do you remember he asked them what must

[34:41] I do to be saved and so Paul and Silas had the opportunity to go to this jailer's household and speak the word of God that's what the Bible says they gave them the gospel and the result was this man and his entire household was saved they were all saved see there was no bridge to this jailer's house so God built a bridge to his house and he had to put a couple of his missionaries in jail to do it many times Paul had been in jail of course and on one occasion because he was incarcerated he had the opportunity to share the gospel to Caesar's household and many were saved what I'm talking about are the many bridges of God that are out there and the mission of the evangelist is to cross those bridges a study was done some years ago by the

[35:46] American Institute of Church Growth and I don't advocate everything they hold to but they did this study this survey and I think it's informative for us and what they did was they asked 14,000 Christians lay Christians they didn't ask pastors or people in church work they asked 14,000 lay Christians this question what or who was responsible for your coming to Christ and to his church it's a very simple question and they they got eight answers or you could really categorize them under eight things and you might be able to guess some of them one of them was special needs that is a person had a special need and the church met the need it was an opportunity for them to share the gospel and so they kind of came to Christ first by the meeting of a need in Jesus name and that's that's that's wonderful and we ought to identify needs and meet needs and so forth secondly some said they came to Christ because they just walked in

[36:54] I mean walked into the church not walked into salvation they walked in they just came came by you know they walked into the service or attended the Sunday school or Bible study they just walked in and the people there identified them and they were saved as a result of that third and this would be common some said because of a pastor fourth visitation ministries of the church the outreach ministry of the church and that that makes sense doesn't it some said Sunday school was kind of the the way that they came to Christ through the Sunday school ministry of the church some said evangelistic crusades and then some said church programs you know like children's ministries and youth ministries and singles ministries and different kind of ministry programs in the church and then an eighth response was a friend or a family member so there you have eight of them eight reasons guess what in this survey according to the survey ninety percent of those surveyed said they had come to

[38:11] Christ because of the efforts of a friend or family member ninety percent so you see I'm not just kind of dreaming this up that somehow these bridges of God are the best and most effective way to to spread the gospel ninety percent came to Christ because of the witness of a friend or a family member and we thought that people primarily came to Christ through a strong outreach ministry or the preaching ministry or I'd love to think that that's the reason or through a Sunday school you know we might pick you know it's going to be you know one of those three or those would be the three top ones that's what we would think and yet those three combined accounted for less than five percent of those who said they came to Christ now of course these ministries are important

[39:18] Sunday school is important what's the best way to get people to Sunday school through crossing over the bridges outreach ministries are very important I'm thankful that many of you have committed yourself to be a part of the outreach ministry of our church all of you need to be a part only need you here once a month you can do that and that kind of ministry is very important isn't it but how are we going to know who to visit because someone crossed over the bridge identified someone unchurched someone lost gave us the name address and someone reached out to them see these ministries are important and certainly the preaching ministry is important and I'm not saying that because I'm the preacher listen this is

[40:29] God's ordained way to proclaim his word and teach his word we ever get rid of the pulpit in the church then we have we have departed from God's method to proclaim his word his command is preach the word some of you may be here even this morning because somebody invited you or you heard about the church from a family member or friend or maybe you're here because a family member is a member here see the bridges of God you can identify them they're all over the place and we need to cross those bridges bridges to unchurched people people who need Sunday school ministry we all do young people who need to come to Christ children who need to be in the church need to be in Awanas or our ministries and you may be the only one the only one that can provide a connection with the gospel cross the bridges of

[41:50] God that's the mission secondly there is the method of evangelism the method when you cross the bridges of God what's the most effective method for for reaching the lost what's the most effective method well look at verse 19 Jesus did not permit him that is to come with him but said to him go home to your friends and tell them you ought to underscore that word tell tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you and he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him in all marvels that is he departed and began to proclaim you ought to underscore the word proclaim to tell and to proclaim he wanted to go with

[42:55] Jesus wanted to join his team travel with Jesus wouldn't that be exciting and Jesus said no go home that's the bridge and he said go home to your friends and tell them tell them anangelo is the Greek word anangelo is the root that's the word for angel and angel means messenger anangelo saying to this man go home and announce that's what the word means announce this message announce this message and the word is normally used in the sense of a divine message you see you're not just telling him to go tell him about your experience here but to give the divine message to declare some truth that's what the word means that's what this man was commanded to go and do and that divine message is the gospel the good news of

[44:18] Jesus Christ and then notice in verse 20 I've already highlighted it you have the word proclaim he departed and began to proclaim that's the word keruso and it is the word that is used to describe the official herald of the king I mean in those days you know they didn't have email and didn't have TV and didn't have other forms of communication and so when the king wanted the word to get out about some new edict or some law whatever it may be then he would send out his official herald his caruso or carux and he would go out and he would stand there in his official capacity and he would proclaim the message he might read it or whatever it may be and that herald carried the authority of the king himself and so as if the king himself was standing there proclaiming the message and that's what this man was did when he went home and that's what you and I are commanded to do as God's people we are commanded to be the carux!

[45:43] to be heralds of the good news of Jesus Christ back there when Stephen was put to death you know stoned to death and it took that event by the way for God to strike fear in a sense strike fear in the hearts of God's people because they were all kind of congregated there in Jerusalem and the church had not grown any further than the borders of Jerusalem and so Stephen is killed put to death and as a result of that persecution came upon the church and because of the persecution the Bible says that they scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria they scattered out beyond the borders the bounds of Jerusalem and so what God did was create a bridge for the gospel where there was no bridge at the time and God did that and what did these Christians do as they were scattered throughout the region well

[46:45] Acts chapter 4 tells us in Acts chapter 8 rather and verse 4 the Bible says therefore they that were scattered went everywhere preaching the word now that's another word we get our word evangelize from they went everywhere preaching now were they all called to the preaching ministry like I have been no they were just lay Christians and yet they're out there preaching in this sense they were just simply proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ they had found Jesus Christ his love his forgiveness his salvation and the very natural thing for them to do would be then to go out and tell everybody they met about it God had created this bridge and he kind of scattered them in that sense and they went everywhere preaching the good news of Jesus

[47:51] Christ the mission of evangelism is cross over those bridges find them they're there cross over them the method of evangelism is to proclaim to publish to preach and what do we preach well what's the message of evangelism well it's certainly the gospel and though the word doesn't appear here the idea is here he says there in verse 19 tells this man go and tell tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you and he went out and proclaimed all that Jesus had done for him now folks God is it's God's business to grow his church

[48:53] God will grow his church Jesus said I will build my church it's our business to join him in that as he has called us and this church any church will grow when God's people get excited about what God has done for them personally and what he is doing continuing to do in their lives look how dramatically this man's life had been changed demon possessed man to a born again Christian and the change was noticeable and this man could not keep silent about what God had done in his life and so here's the bottom line do you have a personal testimony testimony of what

[49:58] Jesus has done in your life and you know why and what happened do you also have a fresh testimony of what God is continuing to do and has done recently in your life are you visibly excited about the Lord are you publicly excited about your church what God is doing here if you are and you should be then there are many bridges of God out there connected to your life connected to other people connected to people who need to see certainly see your excitement and hear of the reason for it that's good news good news cross those bridges bring those people in you may be at this very moment the only way

[50:59]  God's appointed way like Esther said come to this place in my life for this reason and that includes every one of us you may be the only witness of the gospel certain ones that are connected to you will ever ever have you may be God's appointed preacher to share the gospel or to bring them where they can hear it The End