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July 18, 2023
Insta-Grace: Navigating the Paradox of Silence and Faith Stories
Have you ever stopped to consider the potential of a 15-second Instagram video? In the blink of an eye, it can spark conversation, captivate attention, and even begin a conversation about Jesus. We're taking an in-depth look at the power of these brief moments, from the history of Instagram to the rise and fall of Vine and its six-second video. We're sharing tips on getting that perfect shot and examining the paradox of silence. Why we're enthusiastic about sharing our lives on social media yet often hesitate to share about Jesus, the most transformative force in our lives.
We explore the incredible truth of God, who is both immense enough to hold the world in His hands and intimate enough to live inside us. We reflect on our duty to spread the good news - the remedy for the fatal illness of sin that Jesus provided. We hope this discussion inspires you to share your story, express your faith more openly, and live out your faith in a transformative way. This is a journey of discovering the power of sharing your story. So, are you ready? Let's get started!
Chapters
Transcript
0:00:26 - Speaker 2
Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at CityLightNYCcom. That's CityLightNYCcom. Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that He has a real hope and a future for you. I have the Supreme privilege this morning to celebrate, invite and welcome up our Executive Pastor, pastor James Chavez.
0:01:22 - Speaker 1
Thank you, thank you. How many of you know what Instagram is? How many of you do? Some of you even follow Instagram. You know the church Instagram account and we appreciate that. But if you've been living under a rock for the last 13 years, let me tell you what Instagram is. Okay, it's a photo and video sharing app. Don't you feel good today? We can pray and go home, but this thing actually.
A couple of guys started Instagram with the novel idea of creating an easy way to share pictures and videos across platforms and around the world and combine the concept of the Instamatic camera and the telegram, hence the name Instagram. Now you can like have a leg up at like trivial pursuit. When you guys are playing in your life group, you're like wait, i know that one. They told me that in church. So this thing, 13 years into it October of 2010 is when they launched this thing now boasts over 2.3 billion users who have uploaded over 50 billion pictures and videos. That is a lot of selfies and stupid animal tricks. That's a ton. But it's simple. You just download the app to your smartphone, point and shoot right, and this thing has gone viral.
What I love is watching people figure out the perfect way to get that perfect shot right Now. They have filters, like they have whole YouTube tutorials on how to get the perfect selfie. So you're going to take a picture of your lunch, right, because that's what we do. We just eat. Everyone has to know what you ate, because once it goes down or once you start cutting into it, it doesn't look pretty anymore. So you have to take a picture right. So now you got to take the picture. You got to get the right lighting. You got to make sure, check your backstop, make sure there's nothing weird, right? I've seen people take selfies in the bathroom mirror and somebody's sitting on the can or something in the background. I, like you, got to make sure what's in the background. Okay, that's just a little tip, that's free, okay, but people look. They got to get the right lighting. If it's a selfie, you got to make sure you got the right angle right. You told me, the higher you get, the thinner you look. I can never get a high enough to look good, but you got all these ways to get the perfect video and the perfect picture. I love that.
You got to condense your videos right If you got a long video. Remember when they used to have like was it stories or something Had to be in 10-second chunks, 15-second videos. They've evolved over the years. Anybody remember about a decade ago there was an app called Vine. If you remember Vine right?
Vine came on the scene and they were notorious for having the six-second video. That was their claim to fame. We'll let you upload a six-second video to the internet to show the world Six seconds What are you even doing? Six seconds? I can't even blow my nose in six seconds. Six seconds, but everyone was crazy about Vine. I can remember 10 years ago I even preached a whole sermon series called Six Seconds about Vine. It was six seconds.
There, it is right, but Instagram is not going to be outdone because they're up and coming. So they said six seconds. You kidding me? They're going to upload 15 seconds. So guess what happened to Vine? Bye-bye, they're gone, poor Vine. Rest in peace, vine, and I love that. They keep evolving.
Right, it was 15-second stories. Then it was going to be IGTV. If you wanted longer than 15 seconds, remember IGTV. That was another fun one. What is IGTV? Who knows, who cares? It's gone already, but that was when you could upload a video longer than 15 seconds. Now there's stories and reels and carousels and posts, and who cares? There's so much. On and on and on It goes.
But it got me thinking what can you do in the 15 seconds that Instagram used to give you to post a video in? Well, there's the obvious You can post an Instagram video, right Duh. But you could also make a first impression. You can do that in 15 seconds. You could tie a tie if you're good at it Not a bow tie That takes longer than 15 seconds, but a regular tie. You could watch a quality bull ride if you're into rodeo Maybe three fourths of a second one. You could solve the Rubik's Cube five times in 15 seconds and beat the world record holder, max Park. Can anybody beat the Rubik's Cube? I have to peel the stickers off to beat a Rubik's Cube, but this guy can beat it in like three seconds. It's ridiculous. You could start a conversation with the phrase Jesus has radically changed my life. Can I tell you about it? That took less than 15 seconds. Was anyone counting? There's a lot you can do in 15 seconds And there's power in sharing your story, and that's what I want to talk to you about today.
Does anyone remember back in 2007 when Apple got into the phone business and they launched the iPhone. Did the early adopters have the first generation iPhone? There were a few. I want to show you something. I actually was an early adopter and I still have my first generation iPhone, even in the box. Can you believe that? Did you know that the first generation iPhone still in its shrink wrap, mind you just sold for over $63,000 at auction? I think I'm going to put some cellophane on this and try and get some money out of it. I've opened it.
But this thing, look at it. Steve Jobs, june of 2007, introduced the first iPhone to the world. Look at that. Look at this thing. It even still powers on Like let's see, oh, oh, the almighty Apple. In a few thousand years, people are going to find these encrusted in the subway and they're going to say what was that? It was their god. Look at that thing. I'll tell you what This thing was amazing. We had never seen anything like that. The camera on the back. It's like a one little dot camera. Who does that anymore Now? there's like six telephoto lenses on the back of your camera, bigger than the whole thing. We were just joking. We were talking between services. He pulled out his cell phone and it's like 100 times bigger than this. It's like an iPad, but this was the phone. It was like Zoolander on his little phone, hello, but this was the perfect size phone.
I got this thing early and I was so excited. So I remember going out of town with a couple of friends to a conference And this was down south, mind you, so if I slip into a southern accent it's because I'm living it in real time. So we went down and so what did I have? I had my trusty iPhone with me, because you never leave home without this anymore. Back in the old day I had a brick phone, and I didn't just have the tan one, i had the gray one. This was like the fancy executive brick phone, but it was like $45 a minute to use this thing. So I had calling party pay on my thing. So if you call me, it got charged to your bill because I didn't want to pay that. So you just, most of the time, left this thing off and you left it in the car in case you got a call for an emergency Because you didn't use the iPhone until this thing came along and it changed our lives.
This thing could do everything. So I took the phone with me everywhere. You could put it in your pocket The old brick, i used to have this leather case and you clip it to the side And once you put it on, you go oh, What's wrong. I got the phone, but now this thing's so small it doesn't affect your center of gravity, your phone to body mass weight ratio. So I had it in my pocket.
We go out of town, we're getting to the car rental place And my friend hands me the directions he printed out to get us to the hotel. Now this is how long ago this was, because do you remember back before everyone had GPS? What did you have to do to find your way somewhere? MapQuest. You either had to know where you were going Nobody does that Or you went onto a website called MapQuest and you'd print out the directions. We used a lot of paper, but we would print this thing out as like go a mile, turn left, go this way, turn right. See, I have like six pages for this trip. You carry it everywhere you go. Who has the directions? Oh my gosh, i don't know. We got to stop at a gas station and buy a map. Anybody ever heard of a map. We used to buy paper maps I'm talking old school.
Ok, now he hands me these directions. I said I don't need these, i have GPS in my phone. He's like what, what do you mean GPS? I knew that was going to get him, because he had been in the market for a GPS system Even before the phone. You could buy these GPS boxes And stick them on your dash And then you could like navigate. And this was like government technology. You'd like the satellite could tell you where to go. Only you, nasa and the Army knew how to use this stuff, and so he was excited because this is why she'd get lost, even in their neighborhood, bless her heart.
So he was really shopping for this Garmin GPS thing. I'm like I have one right here. Look how small this thing is. It's as big as like your credit card. He's like what? So we threw those MapQuest pages in the back seat And he said well, lead on. Very sarcastically because he was confident I was going to get us lost. But I didn't. My GPS in that iPhone got us right to the hotel. I was so proud I puffed out my chest.
0:10:20 - Speaker 2
What do you think?
0:10:20 - Speaker 1
of that. Fine, so we went, we dropped off our bags. They said, well, let's drive around And let's see if we can find a place to eat lunch. I said we don't have to do that. I have an app. I could just press this little button right here. It'll show me all the restaurants around us And then I could just look at the restaurant, see what people are saying about them, which one's good, which one's bad. I could click another button. I can see their menu And then, if we want to go there, hit another button. Gps will take me right there. He's like how does it do all that? There's an app for that. You remember that? No commercial campaign.
He said well, what's an app, james? I said, well, an app. It's an application that you download from the app store onto your smartphone. Tells you what you need to know. He's like all right, sounds great, let's get some food.
So we had lunch. I'm poking them. I'm like hey, one of these days you guys get in the 21st century, get yourselves a real phone. They were still using the Razer Flip phone. Remember the Razer Flip phone? They just snapped that thing at me. We don't need your phones. Fine, can yours help you find a place to eat lunch. I didn't think so. Probably can't even take a picture or send a text message, so I'm rubbing it in. I'm really laying it on thick.
So they said well, we've got a little time before the conference, why don't we drive around and maybe see if there's a place to do shopping? I said, well, there's an app for that. He said well, what if we want to go see a movie? There's an app for that. He said well, what if I want to punch you in the face because your iPhone is far superior to my Razer Flip phone? Is there an app for that? He didn't say that, but I could tell he wanted to Just eyes on me.
So I went on and on. You could surf the internet, you could watch movies, You could listen to music. You could even make a phone call. We used to do that on these. I don't think anybody actually used it for a phone. Now You just text or send an instant message, right? Tell my kids now. Hey, did you call them? Call them No, i sent them a text, but it is a phone. For those of you that don't know, you can still make phone calls. There's all kinds of things you could do with this phone. They said, wow, that's incredible. I said I know There's an app for just about everything you need. I was an evangelist for this thing. I was selling it big time. Crazy. You can do anything you want. Why was I so excited about my piece of technology?
Because we will go on and on and on about something we're excited about. Right, if the Yankees win a championship, you're going to talk about it. Well, if you're a fan, some of you will. If you find a new great place to cut your hair, you can tell people to cut your hair. Find a great store, a great restaurant? You can tell people I found this great restaurant. Did you know? I found a burger village just a few blocks away. They make a great burger. You got to go check it out.
You're going to tell people about things you're excited about. Right. New song got to catch a beat. Would you hear this? It was really good. We'll share, we'll instant message, we'll post things. There's a new TV series that we're binge watching, streaming. We're going to tell people.
I talk to people all the time And you're just watching The Mandalorian. That thing is crazy. A new movie Wow, got to go see this movie. It's amazing. There's no shortage of things that we're going to talk about with our friends because we're excited about, We want to know what's good, what's bad, right, and we count on each other to talk about it. So my question to you is why are we so strangely silent when it comes to sharing about the absolute most important thing that's ever happened to us, and that's Jesus? There is no shortage of words that come out of our mouth when it comes to things that are important Our jobs, we got a promotion, i'm getting married, i got a new car, i got a new apartment, i got a new phone Yet we're strangely silent when it comes to sharing about Jesus.
Most people say they have not heard from one Christian friend in their life the difference Jesus has made in their life. Why do you think that is? I mean, i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Jesus is a little more exciting than an iPhone. Would you agree? Good, the answer is yes, if some of you were kind of on the fence like He's a little more exciting than an iPhone? Yeah, we're not talking about it. I can't. An iPhone forgive you of your sins? No, has an iPhone ever laid down its life and died for you. No, i know some have tried, because I've seen the cracks greens Giving them a run for their money, but no, not willingly and voluntarily laying down its life for you. Can an iPhone give you purpose and peace? Make no mistake, it's fun, you can do a lot of neat things with an iPhone, but it can't feel the void in your soul, it can't give you a purpose for living. So I don't know about you, but Jesus is more exciting.
Every day we walk by thousands of people Who've never clearly heard from one of their Christian friends the difference Jesus has made in their life. So why am I telling you that story? Because sharing your story is powerful, it's compelling, it's undeniable. Because here's the thing people can argue religion all day long, and they do. They love it. They have their little argument, their little zingers. Well, yeah, but what a loving God do shut up. They can't argue results And you're a walking testimony of a before and an after. They can't argue that your story is powerful and it's undeniable.
So why are we so silent? Why do we keep the most important thing that's ever happened to us a secret? I guess we don't talk about Jesus because we think nobody cares. The world tells us that you watch the news. Youtube advertisements, instagram whatever the algorithm is filling your feed with is telling you be quiet. Nobody's into that. That was America of olden days, back when people used razor, flip phones. Nobody cares about Jesus or religion anymore. We've evolved, we're enlightened, we're a secular nation. No one wants to hear that junk And so we slink back and we tower fear. Shame. But I'm here to tell you and encourage you with the fact that it's not true.
People are curious about God and spiritual things. They do want to engage. God built it inside of us. Even if they look antagonistic on the outside, on the inside they are screaming for hope. They are screaming for answers.
Gallup just came out and updated a statistic that held for many years. That used to say that 90% of Americans are Interested in God or a higher power. Now they had to update it and we lost nine points. Now It's 81% of Americans are interested in God or a higher power, and We get discouraged. I think, man, we're going in the wrong direction. But guess what? 81% is still a lot. When can you get 81% of anything anymore? We are so divided on everything That still means eight in every ten people that you cross paths with is open to a conversation about God. That's a lot of people I can remember. Several years ago, time magazine was experiencing a news drought and so they decided to do something kind of novel And so they just slapped the picture of Jesus on the cover and wrote a story about him And that was their best-selling issue for the entire year. And I remember because it stood out to me, because every year books, movies, even TV series will come out about God, whether they're for him or not, but he's the subject matter and they're always at the top of the best-seller list in the box office.
Why, if no one wants to hear about it, how come everybody wants to hear about it? We just don't want to say we want to hear about it. It's like in the political world There's the quiet Majority and there's the very loud minority, so everyone believes that. Everyone believes this crazy stuff, so no one wants to admit. You know, polls are all crazy. Now, when you come out of the voting Stations and they said, well, who did you vote for? and they lie, they don't want to tell the truth, and then the real statistics come out, you're like wait what You made? it sound like a hundred percent of people are gay and conservative. They went the way of the dinosaur and no one believes in morality anymore. But we're not really voting that when we draw the curtain in the voting booth. But we're afraid. But just look at reality. Look at what is really happening.
It's been my personal experience that people are open to a conversation, even with a crazy preacher like me. You don't have to be like a normal person. They expect it to be scary. When they talk to someone who works for a church, you're like, oh my gosh, and so you know sometimes. You know Pastor Boyan's joke. Did they ask what he does? He's like I work for a nonprofit, right, you try to sneak it in and see if they'll be normal for like five more minutes before you like hit them with the zinger.
But they'll still engage in a conversation about God, church, the Bible, even with someone like me. If I'll just show them a little respect, if I let them speak their mind. I want to know what they have to say, what they think, what they believe, questions they have. Then in turn they're going to listen to what I have to say. Guess what now happened. We had a meaningful conversation, go figure. Never once did they throw something at me. They didn't flip their razor phone at me in my face. They didn't yell at me No arguments. That's weird. I mean when you turn on the news it looks like you need riot police and gear just to talk about Jesus. But that's not the case.
People are open to conversations about Jesus. They're interested in talking about things like that because they're hungry for something that'll give them purpose and meaning in their soul. Jesus said in Matthew 9.36, when he saw the crowds, he meaning Jesus. He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples the harvest it's great, but the workers, they're so few. So pray to the Lord, who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send more workers into his fields. The world is full of people who are lost and confused. They don't know where to go. Their problems seem so big. They don't know where to find the solution. Satan has gotten us believing that no one cares about the solution we have and that we need to stay silent, that nobody believes anything anymore. They're not interested in anything spiritual. But that's not the case And there's evidence upon evidence to prove otherwise.
People are interested in the difference Jesus has made in your life As a follower of Christ. They're going to want to know the difference that Jesus has made in your life And so you get the opportunity to tell him the difference he's made in your life. You have the privilege of showing them the difference Jesus has made in your life When you let people know that you're a follower of Christ, the first thing that they're going to want to know is if what you say you believe lines up with what you live and how you react. Right, we can talk a big game. They can go to Wikipedia and find out what Christians are, but they want to see what you do. Is it different and is this thing real? People are going to watch to see if we extend the same forgiveness to people in our life that Christ has extended to us. They're going to want to see if we extend the same love to the people in our life that Christ has extended to us that aren't very lovable. There's a lot in New York City. I'm just going to say They're going to want to see if we relate to people in our life the way Jesus has related to us and our relationships with our spouse, our coworkers, our kids, our friends. They're going to want to see if what we live and how we react to life lines up with what we say we believe. Bottom lines are going to watch to see if there's a real difference.
Lee Strobel in his book The Unexpected Adventure he tells the story of a guy named Ron Bronsky. At the time Lee was a writer for the Chicago Tribune and he was in criminal court doing a story on this very unique case, because Ron was actually, he said, a really hardened criminal and he, since the age of eight, had been in the criminal system. He was a drug-using, alcohol-abusing, glue-sniffing delinquent, in his words. I didn't know him so I didn't call him that. He might be a very nice fellow, but he had gotten in some really bad stuff. And so by the time he's 21 years old, he's got a rap sheet like as long as my arm. And now he found himself in some serious trouble. See, he's in a gang and a rival gang had attacked one of Ron's reviews Ron's really close friends So he vowed revenge. So what he did is he tracked down the brother of the attacker His name was Gary and he found him and he put a gun in his chest and he pulled the trigger one day. Now the gun misfired. So he put the gun up in the air and he pulls the trigger again and this time it fires. So Gary takes off running, while the second time he hit his mark. He hit Gary in the back and the bullet lodged through next to his liver. He hits the ground, he runs over to Gary, flips him over, pulls the gun back into his chest, pulls the trigger and now he's out of bullets. Not a very good criminal. So before he could reload his gun, he hears sirens in the distance making their way to him. So he makes his escape.
Well, ron and his girlfriend. They flee to Portland, oregon, and they decide that they're going to kind of lay low. The Chicago police put out an arrest warrant and they're looking for him. Meanwhile in Portland, he and his girlfriend are there. He gets a job and one of his new coworkers over time starts telling him the difference Jesus has made in his life. And as a result of those conversations, ron and his girlfriend, they give their life to Jesus and become fully devoted followers of him, turns his life around. Then he's telling people about Jesus, highly active in his church.
Years go by, he's living his life he's made things right with God. But he said something was stirring and his conscience wasn't right because he hadn't made things right with society. Now the Chicago police had long given up looking for him. Years had gone by, it's another unsolved crime. But he decided to do something mind-blowing. He left the security of the new world he had created. He went back to Chicago, turned himself in. So now he's standing before a judge and he says I did it, i'm guilty, i'm the guy you're looking for. If I have to go to jail for what I've done, so be it. I've become a Christian and the right thing for me to do is to confess and take whatever payment you think I deserve.
Well, lee is dumbfounded At this point in his life. He's an atheist, okay, and I don't know if you know about Lee Strobel. He's written books like The Case for Christ. He's a credible apologetic for Christ and his journey is amazing. You should read about it. But at this point in his life, atheist doesn't believe anything and he is shocked at this man's faith in Christ. So he said you know, i didn't even wait for Ron to approach me to tell me about his faith. I approached him and said tell me about Jesus, tell me what is going on in your life.
So over a cup of coffee, ron told Lee the entire story of what had happened and how Jesus had changed his life. Well, lee still being a skeptic, i just I can't believe this. So he was looking for holes in the story. So he interviews Ron's family, his friends, his coworkers back in Portland, even his pastor, and they all said the same thing God was the one who turned this young man's life around. And he was the real deal. Huh. So the judge ruled that Ron was no longer a threat to society, gave him probation and sent him home. That's pretty incredible. So Ron asked Lee. Lee asked Ron what do you think about what the judge just said, that decision? He said I'll never forget this. He said Ron looked me right in the eyes and he said well, what the judge did today will show me grace, Kind of like what Jesus did. He said can I tell you something, lee? If you let him, god will show you grace too. Don't forget that. And Lee said I never did Never underestimate the power of a changed life in the eyes of a skeptic. Powerful.
The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 6-3,. We try to live in such a way that no one will ever be offended or kept back from finding the Lord by the way that we act, so that no one can find fault with us and blame it on the Lord. So when Christ followers start living like Christ followers, people stop and take notice. They begin to see that our Christianity is not just a set of superficial beliefs, but it has truly transformed us from the inside out And they wanna know if it's real And they wanna know if they can have some of that.
People aren't looking for perfection. I hear that all the time. You know, i'm just embarrassed because, gosh, if you know what I've done and I start telling you about Jesus, they'd be like are you kidding You? really? I get it. They say I don't wanna represent God that way, but I just wanna encourage you right now and tell you that people aren't looking for perfection, they're looking for honesty. And when you tell them the mess you are, the mess you were and what God has done, that's powerful, it's relatable. If you're there with your shiny, happy smile and you just tell them, hey, everything's hunky dory, i'm perfect now. I'm perfect now. God is good.
Yeah, come to church with me. Who wants that? They can't relate. They're like well, that's not my life. They're looking for honesty, and when you're honest they're like yeah, man, that's my story too. Share your story. They're looking for something that's genuine, something that is transformative about our life, that took us from where we were to where we are. They're looking for Jesus in us. That reminds me of a story of a family driving home from church one Sunday afternoon. Little girl was in the back seat and she kinda leaned forward. She said mom, i gotta ask you a question. She said yeah, what is it, honey?
She said well there's something bothering me about the preacher's message today. She said oh, what's your question? She said well, the preacher said that God is so big he can hold the whole world in his hands. Is that true? She said no, yeah, that's true. She said well, he also said that God comes and lives inside of us when we ask him to come into our life. Is that true? She said well, yeah, that's actually true too. And the little girl was really confused. Now And you see the perplexed look on her face She said well, okay, if God's that big and he's living inside of us, shouldn't he show through us? Let that sink in for a second. If God's that big and he's living inside of you, shouldn't it be showing through you? Shouldn't people see it? Do they? Or do they even know you're a Christian? Shh, don't mess up my Instagram followers. If I thought like that, i got a good thing going. I might be an influencer someday, he's gonna shine through. Look at what it says in 1 Peter 315, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect.
Ruder Kipling was one of England's most distinguished writers in the latter part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, and he was a man of few words but profound, and it was even reported that his publisher would even pay him a dollar per word for his work. That's pretty cool, right. I mean, my wife's published dollars. She got several books. If you got a dollar per word, i might be on a beach somewhere. So some students at Cambridge they thought this was a really cool thing and they thought they were gonna be super clever. So they sent him one dollar along with a message that said give us one of your very best words. So the clever man of few words that he was, kipling, responded with a telegram that simply said thanks.
Well, later in his life he was deathly ill. On his deathbed he was stirring restlessly in a lot of pain And the attending nurse said is there anything I can do for you? Can I get you anything? And he said I want God. I can't tell you how many stories I've heard like that. People of such pride and accomplishment, but at the very end, if they're not wanting their awards and their accolades, even their fans to gather around and recount their greatness, they want God, because none of that stuff. Just like the iPhone, it can't fill the void in your soul. Only Jesus can. So when I read that story, my question was I wonder if that nurse was able to deliver. Do you think she was able to give him God? Think she was able to deliver the goods and tell him exactly how to find God? Would you have been able to? I want you to be able to. God wants us to be able to Imagine for a second that you're a doctor and the whole world has been diagnosed with a terminal disease.
There's no cure. So day after day, you go into the labs and you research and you work tirelessly to find a cure. And one day you do. You find a cure for this terminal disease, but then you refuse to share it with anybody else. What kind of a person would that make you? It's getting really quiet in here.
Every day you walk by thousands of people who have a terminal disease of sin, and somebody cared enough about you to share the cure with you. That Jesus was the cure. His death, burial and resurrection, taking your sin and shame on the cross, with Him dying and rising back up from the dead, conquering death's sin in the grave, gave you now the cure and eternal life. You have the power to share that with people. Are you doing it? We have to get good at this, because there really is a heaven and there really is a hell. The stakes could not be higher. So you actually do have the cure to a terminal disease that people in your life have. Are you sharing it with them, or are you just keeping it to yourself? I got mine, i'm good. Or are you going on like a COVID vaccine campaign and you got a vaxed necklace and you're telling everybody get your shot, get your booster, come on, this is real. What We'll do it for that, but not this. This is real. Every day we're walking past people that need what we have. Somebody cared enough about you to share the cure with you.
There's a legend that recounts Jesus' return back to heaven after his time on earth, and he returned to heaven still bearing the scars of his crucifixion. And then the angel Gabriel approaches Jesus and he says wow, you suffered incredibly for them. I was watching. Jesus said yeah, i did, and I think Gabriel kind of looked at him and he said do they know how much you did for them and how much you love them? Jesus said no, not yet. So Gabriel said well, what have you done to make sure that people understand how much you love them and everything you did for them, like we know? but if they don't know? he said well, i've asked Peter James and John and some others to tell people what I've done for them and that they in turn, will tell other people until everyone on earth has heard about my love and sacrifice for them. Well, at this point Gabriel kind of was grimacing a little bit. He said Jesus, i don't mean to be disrespectful, but I've been watching humans for a long, long time. They're not very dependable. He said what if, peter James and John? they don't tell everyone? What if the people they tell, what if they forget and they stop? or what if, way way down in the 21st century, people get too scared or too afraid to tell people about your story? Please tell me you've made other plans for everyone to hear what you've done and the sacrifice you've made. There has to be another plan. There's got to be another way. Jesus kind of smiled and he said there's not. I'm counting on them. He said I've been watching him too. He's counting on you, he's confident. Oh, gabriel's not, james is not, but Jesus is. There's no plan B, you're just the plan. You ready to do it? I'm going to ask the worship team to come.
Father, thank you that you've given us the blueprint. Thank you that you sent Jesus and that He, with all His power, laid it down to pay the price that we couldn't pay for our sin. Now we have the cure for the disease that was destroying us and that vowed to separate us from an eternity with you. But you created a way. Now we have a cure, father. Now we have the ability to share it with everyone in our life.
Father, i pray that if there's anything in our world that's distracting us from sharing that, understanding, the importance and the critical nature of sharing that, the stakes, that you just take it away. Father, don't let anything keep us silent. Don't let the world don't let pressure don't let culture don't let politics, don't let friends, relationships, pride, anything keep us from sharing the power of our changed life. Father, you've made a difference in us. Now we have joy, we have purpose and we have an eternity destined with you. Let us live in that reality with purpose, confidence and a big smile on our face as we share that story with the world. Father, you've given us so much to enjoy, but I pray that everything pales in comparison to the excitement and the passion in which we share your story with people in our lives. You're worth it. Thank you for loving us. We love you back, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen. This is the City Light Church podcast.
0:38:47 - Speaker 2
If you've missed any part of today's message, or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Bojan Jansic and City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.
Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at CityLightNYCcom. That's CityLightNYCcom. Pastor Boyan Jansik and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that He has a real hope and a future for you. I have the Supreme privilege this morning to celebrate, invite and welcome up our Executive Pastor, pastor James Chavez.
0:01:22 - Speaker 1
Thank you, thank you. How many of you know what Instagram is? How many of you do? Some of you even follow Instagram. You know the church Instagram account and we appreciate that. But if you've been living under a rock for the last 13 years, let me tell you what Instagram is. Okay, it's a photo and video sharing app. Don't you feel good today? We can pray and go home, but this thing actually.
A couple of guys started Instagram with the novel idea of creating an easy way to share pictures and videos across platforms and around the world and combine the concept of the Instamatic camera and the telegram, hence the name Instagram. Now you can like have a leg up at like trivial pursuit. When you guys are playing in your life group, you're like wait, i know that one. They told me that in church. So this thing, 13 years into it October of 2010 is when they launched this thing now boasts over 2.3 billion users who have uploaded over 50 billion pictures and videos. That is a lot of selfies and stupid animal tricks. That's a ton. But it's simple. You just download the app to your smartphone, point and shoot right, and this thing has gone viral.
What I love is watching people figure out the perfect way to get that perfect shot right Now. They have filters, like they have whole YouTube tutorials on how to get the perfect selfie. So you're going to take a picture of your lunch, right, because that's what we do. We just eat. Everyone has to know what you ate, because once it goes down or once you start cutting into it, it doesn't look pretty anymore. So you have to take a picture right. So now you got to take the picture. You got to get the right lighting. You got to make sure, check your backstop, make sure there's nothing weird, right? I've seen people take selfies in the bathroom mirror and somebody's sitting on the can or something in the background. I, like you, got to make sure what's in the background. Okay, that's just a little tip, that's free, okay, but people look. They got to get the right lighting. If it's a selfie, you got to make sure you got the right angle right. You told me, the higher you get, the thinner you look. I can never get a high enough to look good, but you got all these ways to get the perfect video and the perfect picture. I love that.
You got to condense your videos right If you got a long video. Remember when they used to have like was it stories or something Had to be in 10-second chunks, 15-second videos. They've evolved over the years. Anybody remember about a decade ago there was an app called Vine. If you remember Vine right?
Vine came on the scene and they were notorious for having the six-second video. That was their claim to fame. We'll let you upload a six-second video to the internet to show the world Six seconds What are you even doing? Six seconds? I can't even blow my nose in six seconds. Six seconds, but everyone was crazy about Vine. I can remember 10 years ago I even preached a whole sermon series called Six Seconds about Vine. It was six seconds.
There, it is right, but Instagram is not going to be outdone because they're up and coming. So they said six seconds. You kidding me? They're going to upload 15 seconds. So guess what happened to Vine? Bye-bye, they're gone, poor Vine. Rest in peace, vine, and I love that. They keep evolving.
Right, it was 15-second stories. Then it was going to be IGTV. If you wanted longer than 15 seconds, remember IGTV. That was another fun one. What is IGTV? Who knows, who cares? It's gone already, but that was when you could upload a video longer than 15 seconds. Now there's stories and reels and carousels and posts, and who cares? There's so much. On and on and on It goes.
But it got me thinking what can you do in the 15 seconds that Instagram used to give you to post a video in? Well, there's the obvious You can post an Instagram video, right Duh. But you could also make a first impression. You can do that in 15 seconds. You could tie a tie if you're good at it Not a bow tie That takes longer than 15 seconds, but a regular tie. You could watch a quality bull ride if you're into rodeo Maybe three fourths of a second one. You could solve the Rubik's Cube five times in 15 seconds and beat the world record holder, max Park. Can anybody beat the Rubik's Cube? I have to peel the stickers off to beat a Rubik's Cube, but this guy can beat it in like three seconds. It's ridiculous. You could start a conversation with the phrase Jesus has radically changed my life. Can I tell you about it? That took less than 15 seconds. Was anyone counting? There's a lot you can do in 15 seconds And there's power in sharing your story, and that's what I want to talk to you about today.
Does anyone remember back in 2007 when Apple got into the phone business and they launched the iPhone. Did the early adopters have the first generation iPhone? There were a few. I want to show you something. I actually was an early adopter and I still have my first generation iPhone, even in the box. Can you believe that? Did you know that the first generation iPhone still in its shrink wrap, mind you just sold for over $63,000 at auction? I think I'm going to put some cellophane on this and try and get some money out of it. I've opened it.
But this thing, look at it. Steve Jobs, june of 2007, introduced the first iPhone to the world. Look at that. Look at this thing. It even still powers on Like let's see, oh, oh, the almighty Apple. In a few thousand years, people are going to find these encrusted in the subway and they're going to say what was that? It was their god. Look at that thing. I'll tell you what This thing was amazing. We had never seen anything like that. The camera on the back. It's like a one little dot camera. Who does that anymore Now? there's like six telephoto lenses on the back of your camera, bigger than the whole thing. We were just joking. We were talking between services. He pulled out his cell phone and it's like 100 times bigger than this. It's like an iPad, but this was the phone. It was like Zoolander on his little phone, hello, but this was the perfect size phone.
I got this thing early and I was so excited. So I remember going out of town with a couple of friends to a conference And this was down south, mind you, so if I slip into a southern accent it's because I'm living it in real time. So we went down and so what did I have? I had my trusty iPhone with me, because you never leave home without this anymore. Back in the old day I had a brick phone, and I didn't just have the tan one, i had the gray one. This was like the fancy executive brick phone, but it was like $45 a minute to use this thing. So I had calling party pay on my thing. So if you call me, it got charged to your bill because I didn't want to pay that. So you just, most of the time, left this thing off and you left it in the car in case you got a call for an emergency Because you didn't use the iPhone until this thing came along and it changed our lives.
This thing could do everything. So I took the phone with me everywhere. You could put it in your pocket The old brick, i used to have this leather case and you clip it to the side And once you put it on, you go oh, What's wrong. I got the phone, but now this thing's so small it doesn't affect your center of gravity, your phone to body mass weight ratio. So I had it in my pocket.
We go out of town, we're getting to the car rental place And my friend hands me the directions he printed out to get us to the hotel. Now this is how long ago this was, because do you remember back before everyone had GPS? What did you have to do to find your way somewhere? MapQuest. You either had to know where you were going Nobody does that Or you went onto a website called MapQuest and you'd print out the directions. We used a lot of paper, but we would print this thing out as like go a mile, turn left, go this way, turn right. See, I have like six pages for this trip. You carry it everywhere you go. Who has the directions? Oh my gosh, i don't know. We got to stop at a gas station and buy a map. Anybody ever heard of a map. We used to buy paper maps I'm talking old school.
Ok, now he hands me these directions. I said I don't need these, i have GPS in my phone. He's like what, what do you mean GPS? I knew that was going to get him, because he had been in the market for a GPS system Even before the phone. You could buy these GPS boxes And stick them on your dash And then you could like navigate. And this was like government technology. You'd like the satellite could tell you where to go. Only you, nasa and the Army knew how to use this stuff, and so he was excited because this is why she'd get lost, even in their neighborhood, bless her heart.
So he was really shopping for this Garmin GPS thing. I'm like I have one right here. Look how small this thing is. It's as big as like your credit card. He's like what? So we threw those MapQuest pages in the back seat And he said well, lead on. Very sarcastically because he was confident I was going to get us lost. But I didn't. My GPS in that iPhone got us right to the hotel. I was so proud I puffed out my chest.
0:10:20 - Speaker 2
What do you think?
0:10:20 - Speaker 1
of that. Fine, so we went, we dropped off our bags. They said, well, let's drive around And let's see if we can find a place to eat lunch. I said we don't have to do that. I have an app. I could just press this little button right here. It'll show me all the restaurants around us And then I could just look at the restaurant, see what people are saying about them, which one's good, which one's bad. I could click another button. I can see their menu And then, if we want to go there, hit another button. Gps will take me right there. He's like how does it do all that? There's an app for that. You remember that? No commercial campaign.
He said well, what's an app, james? I said, well, an app. It's an application that you download from the app store onto your smartphone. Tells you what you need to know. He's like all right, sounds great, let's get some food.
So we had lunch. I'm poking them. I'm like hey, one of these days you guys get in the 21st century, get yourselves a real phone. They were still using the Razer Flip phone. Remember the Razer Flip phone? They just snapped that thing at me. We don't need your phones. Fine, can yours help you find a place to eat lunch. I didn't think so. Probably can't even take a picture or send a text message, so I'm rubbing it in. I'm really laying it on thick.
So they said well, we've got a little time before the conference, why don't we drive around and maybe see if there's a place to do shopping? I said, well, there's an app for that. He said well, what if we want to go see a movie? There's an app for that. He said well, what if I want to punch you in the face because your iPhone is far superior to my Razer Flip phone? Is there an app for that? He didn't say that, but I could tell he wanted to Just eyes on me.
So I went on and on. You could surf the internet, you could watch movies, You could listen to music. You could even make a phone call. We used to do that on these. I don't think anybody actually used it for a phone. Now You just text or send an instant message, right? Tell my kids now. Hey, did you call them? Call them No, i sent them a text, but it is a phone. For those of you that don't know, you can still make phone calls. There's all kinds of things you could do with this phone. They said, wow, that's incredible. I said I know There's an app for just about everything you need. I was an evangelist for this thing. I was selling it big time. Crazy. You can do anything you want. Why was I so excited about my piece of technology?
Because we will go on and on and on about something we're excited about. Right, if the Yankees win a championship, you're going to talk about it. Well, if you're a fan, some of you will. If you find a new great place to cut your hair, you can tell people to cut your hair. Find a great store, a great restaurant? You can tell people I found this great restaurant. Did you know? I found a burger village just a few blocks away. They make a great burger. You got to go check it out.
You're going to tell people about things you're excited about. Right. New song got to catch a beat. Would you hear this? It was really good. We'll share, we'll instant message, we'll post things. There's a new TV series that we're binge watching, streaming. We're going to tell people.
I talk to people all the time And you're just watching The Mandalorian. That thing is crazy. A new movie Wow, got to go see this movie. It's amazing. There's no shortage of things that we're going to talk about with our friends because we're excited about, We want to know what's good, what's bad, right, and we count on each other to talk about it. So my question to you is why are we so strangely silent when it comes to sharing about the absolute most important thing that's ever happened to us, and that's Jesus? There is no shortage of words that come out of our mouth when it comes to things that are important Our jobs, we got a promotion, i'm getting married, i got a new car, i got a new apartment, i got a new phone Yet we're strangely silent when it comes to sharing about Jesus.
Most people say they have not heard from one Christian friend in their life the difference Jesus has made in their life. Why do you think that is? I mean, i'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Jesus is a little more exciting than an iPhone. Would you agree? Good, the answer is yes, if some of you were kind of on the fence like He's a little more exciting than an iPhone? Yeah, we're not talking about it. I can't. An iPhone forgive you of your sins? No, has an iPhone ever laid down its life and died for you. No, i know some have tried, because I've seen the cracks greens Giving them a run for their money, but no, not willingly and voluntarily laying down its life for you. Can an iPhone give you purpose and peace? Make no mistake, it's fun, you can do a lot of neat things with an iPhone, but it can't feel the void in your soul, it can't give you a purpose for living. So I don't know about you, but Jesus is more exciting.
Every day we walk by thousands of people Who've never clearly heard from one of their Christian friends the difference Jesus has made in their life. So why am I telling you that story? Because sharing your story is powerful, it's compelling, it's undeniable. Because here's the thing people can argue religion all day long, and they do. They love it. They have their little argument, their little zingers. Well, yeah, but what a loving God do shut up. They can't argue results And you're a walking testimony of a before and an after. They can't argue that your story is powerful and it's undeniable.
So why are we so silent? Why do we keep the most important thing that's ever happened to us a secret? I guess we don't talk about Jesus because we think nobody cares. The world tells us that you watch the news. Youtube advertisements, instagram whatever the algorithm is filling your feed with is telling you be quiet. Nobody's into that. That was America of olden days, back when people used razor, flip phones. Nobody cares about Jesus or religion anymore. We've evolved, we're enlightened, we're a secular nation. No one wants to hear that junk And so we slink back and we tower fear. Shame. But I'm here to tell you and encourage you with the fact that it's not true.
People are curious about God and spiritual things. They do want to engage. God built it inside of us. Even if they look antagonistic on the outside, on the inside they are screaming for hope. They are screaming for answers.
Gallup just came out and updated a statistic that held for many years. That used to say that 90% of Americans are Interested in God or a higher power. Now they had to update it and we lost nine points. Now It's 81% of Americans are interested in God or a higher power, and We get discouraged. I think, man, we're going in the wrong direction. But guess what? 81% is still a lot. When can you get 81% of anything anymore? We are so divided on everything That still means eight in every ten people that you cross paths with is open to a conversation about God. That's a lot of people I can remember. Several years ago, time magazine was experiencing a news drought and so they decided to do something kind of novel And so they just slapped the picture of Jesus on the cover and wrote a story about him And that was their best-selling issue for the entire year. And I remember because it stood out to me, because every year books, movies, even TV series will come out about God, whether they're for him or not, but he's the subject matter and they're always at the top of the best-seller list in the box office.
Why, if no one wants to hear about it, how come everybody wants to hear about it? We just don't want to say we want to hear about it. It's like in the political world There's the quiet Majority and there's the very loud minority, so everyone believes that. Everyone believes this crazy stuff, so no one wants to admit. You know, polls are all crazy. Now, when you come out of the voting Stations and they said, well, who did you vote for? and they lie, they don't want to tell the truth, and then the real statistics come out, you're like wait what You made? it sound like a hundred percent of people are gay and conservative. They went the way of the dinosaur and no one believes in morality anymore. But we're not really voting that when we draw the curtain in the voting booth. But we're afraid. But just look at reality. Look at what is really happening.
It's been my personal experience that people are open to a conversation, even with a crazy preacher like me. You don't have to be like a normal person. They expect it to be scary. When they talk to someone who works for a church, you're like, oh my gosh, and so you know sometimes. You know Pastor Boyan's joke. Did they ask what he does? He's like I work for a nonprofit, right, you try to sneak it in and see if they'll be normal for like five more minutes before you like hit them with the zinger.
But they'll still engage in a conversation about God, church, the Bible, even with someone like me. If I'll just show them a little respect, if I let them speak their mind. I want to know what they have to say, what they think, what they believe, questions they have. Then in turn they're going to listen to what I have to say. Guess what now happened. We had a meaningful conversation, go figure. Never once did they throw something at me. They didn't flip their razor phone at me in my face. They didn't yell at me No arguments. That's weird. I mean when you turn on the news it looks like you need riot police and gear just to talk about Jesus. But that's not the case.
People are open to conversations about Jesus. They're interested in talking about things like that because they're hungry for something that'll give them purpose and meaning in their soul. Jesus said in Matthew 9.36, when he saw the crowds, he meaning Jesus. He had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples the harvest it's great, but the workers, they're so few. So pray to the Lord, who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send more workers into his fields. The world is full of people who are lost and confused. They don't know where to go. Their problems seem so big. They don't know where to find the solution. Satan has gotten us believing that no one cares about the solution we have and that we need to stay silent, that nobody believes anything anymore. They're not interested in anything spiritual. But that's not the case And there's evidence upon evidence to prove otherwise.
People are interested in the difference Jesus has made in your life As a follower of Christ. They're going to want to know the difference that Jesus has made in your life And so you get the opportunity to tell him the difference he's made in your life. You have the privilege of showing them the difference Jesus has made in your life When you let people know that you're a follower of Christ, the first thing that they're going to want to know is if what you say you believe lines up with what you live and how you react. Right, we can talk a big game. They can go to Wikipedia and find out what Christians are, but they want to see what you do. Is it different and is this thing real? People are going to watch to see if we extend the same forgiveness to people in our life that Christ has extended to us. They're going to want to see if we extend the same love to the people in our life that Christ has extended to us that aren't very lovable. There's a lot in New York City. I'm just going to say They're going to want to see if we relate to people in our life the way Jesus has related to us and our relationships with our spouse, our coworkers, our kids, our friends. They're going to want to see if what we live and how we react to life lines up with what we say we believe. Bottom lines are going to watch to see if there's a real difference.
Lee Strobel in his book The Unexpected Adventure he tells the story of a guy named Ron Bronsky. At the time Lee was a writer for the Chicago Tribune and he was in criminal court doing a story on this very unique case, because Ron was actually, he said, a really hardened criminal and he, since the age of eight, had been in the criminal system. He was a drug-using, alcohol-abusing, glue-sniffing delinquent, in his words. I didn't know him so I didn't call him that. He might be a very nice fellow, but he had gotten in some really bad stuff. And so by the time he's 21 years old, he's got a rap sheet like as long as my arm. And now he found himself in some serious trouble. See, he's in a gang and a rival gang had attacked one of Ron's reviews Ron's really close friends So he vowed revenge. So what he did is he tracked down the brother of the attacker His name was Gary and he found him and he put a gun in his chest and he pulled the trigger one day. Now the gun misfired. So he put the gun up in the air and he pulls the trigger again and this time it fires. So Gary takes off running, while the second time he hit his mark. He hit Gary in the back and the bullet lodged through next to his liver. He hits the ground, he runs over to Gary, flips him over, pulls the gun back into his chest, pulls the trigger and now he's out of bullets. Not a very good criminal. So before he could reload his gun, he hears sirens in the distance making their way to him. So he makes his escape.
Well, ron and his girlfriend. They flee to Portland, oregon, and they decide that they're going to kind of lay low. The Chicago police put out an arrest warrant and they're looking for him. Meanwhile in Portland, he and his girlfriend are there. He gets a job and one of his new coworkers over time starts telling him the difference Jesus has made in his life. And as a result of those conversations, ron and his girlfriend, they give their life to Jesus and become fully devoted followers of him, turns his life around. Then he's telling people about Jesus, highly active in his church.
Years go by, he's living his life he's made things right with God. But he said something was stirring and his conscience wasn't right because he hadn't made things right with society. Now the Chicago police had long given up looking for him. Years had gone by, it's another unsolved crime. But he decided to do something mind-blowing. He left the security of the new world he had created. He went back to Chicago, turned himself in. So now he's standing before a judge and he says I did it, i'm guilty, i'm the guy you're looking for. If I have to go to jail for what I've done, so be it. I've become a Christian and the right thing for me to do is to confess and take whatever payment you think I deserve.
Well, lee is dumbfounded At this point in his life. He's an atheist, okay, and I don't know if you know about Lee Strobel. He's written books like The Case for Christ. He's a credible apologetic for Christ and his journey is amazing. You should read about it. But at this point in his life, atheist doesn't believe anything and he is shocked at this man's faith in Christ. So he said you know, i didn't even wait for Ron to approach me to tell me about his faith. I approached him and said tell me about Jesus, tell me what is going on in your life.
So over a cup of coffee, ron told Lee the entire story of what had happened and how Jesus had changed his life. Well, lee still being a skeptic, i just I can't believe this. So he was looking for holes in the story. So he interviews Ron's family, his friends, his coworkers back in Portland, even his pastor, and they all said the same thing God was the one who turned this young man's life around. And he was the real deal. Huh. So the judge ruled that Ron was no longer a threat to society, gave him probation and sent him home. That's pretty incredible. So Ron asked Lee. Lee asked Ron what do you think about what the judge just said, that decision? He said I'll never forget this. He said Ron looked me right in the eyes and he said well, what the judge did today will show me grace, Kind of like what Jesus did. He said can I tell you something, lee? If you let him, god will show you grace too. Don't forget that. And Lee said I never did Never underestimate the power of a changed life in the eyes of a skeptic. Powerful.
The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 6-3,. We try to live in such a way that no one will ever be offended or kept back from finding the Lord by the way that we act, so that no one can find fault with us and blame it on the Lord. So when Christ followers start living like Christ followers, people stop and take notice. They begin to see that our Christianity is not just a set of superficial beliefs, but it has truly transformed us from the inside out And they wanna know if it's real And they wanna know if they can have some of that.
People aren't looking for perfection. I hear that all the time. You know, i'm just embarrassed because, gosh, if you know what I've done and I start telling you about Jesus, they'd be like are you kidding You? really? I get it. They say I don't wanna represent God that way, but I just wanna encourage you right now and tell you that people aren't looking for perfection, they're looking for honesty. And when you tell them the mess you are, the mess you were and what God has done, that's powerful, it's relatable. If you're there with your shiny, happy smile and you just tell them, hey, everything's hunky dory, i'm perfect now. I'm perfect now. God is good.
Yeah, come to church with me. Who wants that? They can't relate. They're like well, that's not my life. They're looking for honesty, and when you're honest they're like yeah, man, that's my story too. Share your story. They're looking for something that's genuine, something that is transformative about our life, that took us from where we were to where we are. They're looking for Jesus in us. That reminds me of a story of a family driving home from church one Sunday afternoon. Little girl was in the back seat and she kinda leaned forward. She said mom, i gotta ask you a question. She said yeah, what is it, honey?
She said well there's something bothering me about the preacher's message today. She said oh, what's your question? She said well, the preacher said that God is so big he can hold the whole world in his hands. Is that true? She said no, yeah, that's true. She said well, he also said that God comes and lives inside of us when we ask him to come into our life. Is that true? She said well, yeah, that's actually true too. And the little girl was really confused. Now And you see the perplexed look on her face She said well, okay, if God's that big and he's living inside of us, shouldn't he show through us? Let that sink in for a second. If God's that big and he's living inside of you, shouldn't it be showing through you? Shouldn't people see it? Do they? Or do they even know you're a Christian? Shh, don't mess up my Instagram followers. If I thought like that, i got a good thing going. I might be an influencer someday, he's gonna shine through. Look at what it says in 1 Peter 315, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect.
Ruder Kipling was one of England's most distinguished writers in the latter part of the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century, and he was a man of few words but profound, and it was even reported that his publisher would even pay him a dollar per word for his work. That's pretty cool, right. I mean, my wife's published dollars. She got several books. If you got a dollar per word, i might be on a beach somewhere. So some students at Cambridge they thought this was a really cool thing and they thought they were gonna be super clever. So they sent him one dollar along with a message that said give us one of your very best words. So the clever man of few words that he was, kipling, responded with a telegram that simply said thanks.
Well, later in his life he was deathly ill. On his deathbed he was stirring restlessly in a lot of pain And the attending nurse said is there anything I can do for you? Can I get you anything? And he said I want God. I can't tell you how many stories I've heard like that. People of such pride and accomplishment, but at the very end, if they're not wanting their awards and their accolades, even their fans to gather around and recount their greatness, they want God, because none of that stuff. Just like the iPhone, it can't fill the void in your soul. Only Jesus can. So when I read that story, my question was I wonder if that nurse was able to deliver. Do you think she was able to give him God? Think she was able to deliver the goods and tell him exactly how to find God? Would you have been able to? I want you to be able to. God wants us to be able to Imagine for a second that you're a doctor and the whole world has been diagnosed with a terminal disease.
There's no cure. So day after day, you go into the labs and you research and you work tirelessly to find a cure. And one day you do. You find a cure for this terminal disease, but then you refuse to share it with anybody else. What kind of a person would that make you? It's getting really quiet in here.
Every day you walk by thousands of people who have a terminal disease of sin, and somebody cared enough about you to share the cure with you. That Jesus was the cure. His death, burial and resurrection, taking your sin and shame on the cross, with Him dying and rising back up from the dead, conquering death's sin in the grave, gave you now the cure and eternal life. You have the power to share that with people. Are you doing it? We have to get good at this, because there really is a heaven and there really is a hell. The stakes could not be higher. So you actually do have the cure to a terminal disease that people in your life have. Are you sharing it with them, or are you just keeping it to yourself? I got mine, i'm good. Or are you going on like a COVID vaccine campaign and you got a vaxed necklace and you're telling everybody get your shot, get your booster, come on, this is real. What We'll do it for that, but not this. This is real. Every day we're walking past people that need what we have. Somebody cared enough about you to share the cure with you.
There's a legend that recounts Jesus' return back to heaven after his time on earth, and he returned to heaven still bearing the scars of his crucifixion. And then the angel Gabriel approaches Jesus and he says wow, you suffered incredibly for them. I was watching. Jesus said yeah, i did, and I think Gabriel kind of looked at him and he said do they know how much you did for them and how much you love them? Jesus said no, not yet. So Gabriel said well, what have you done to make sure that people understand how much you love them and everything you did for them, like we know? but if they don't know? he said well, i've asked Peter James and John and some others to tell people what I've done for them and that they in turn, will tell other people until everyone on earth has heard about my love and sacrifice for them. Well, at this point Gabriel kind of was grimacing a little bit. He said Jesus, i don't mean to be disrespectful, but I've been watching humans for a long, long time. They're not very dependable. He said what if, peter James and John? they don't tell everyone? What if the people they tell, what if they forget and they stop? or what if, way way down in the 21st century, people get too scared or too afraid to tell people about your story? Please tell me you've made other plans for everyone to hear what you've done and the sacrifice you've made. There has to be another plan. There's got to be another way. Jesus kind of smiled and he said there's not. I'm counting on them. He said I've been watching him too. He's counting on you, he's confident. Oh, gabriel's not, james is not, but Jesus is. There's no plan B, you're just the plan. You ready to do it? I'm going to ask the worship team to come.
Father, thank you that you've given us the blueprint. Thank you that you sent Jesus and that He, with all His power, laid it down to pay the price that we couldn't pay for our sin. Now we have the cure for the disease that was destroying us and that vowed to separate us from an eternity with you. But you created a way. Now we have a cure, father. Now we have the ability to share it with everyone in our life.
Father, i pray that if there's anything in our world that's distracting us from sharing that, understanding, the importance and the critical nature of sharing that, the stakes, that you just take it away. Father, don't let anything keep us silent. Don't let the world don't let pressure don't let culture don't let politics, don't let friends, relationships, pride, anything keep us from sharing the power of our changed life. Father, you've made a difference in us. Now we have joy, we have purpose and we have an eternity destined with you. Let us live in that reality with purpose, confidence and a big smile on our face as we share that story with the world. Father, you've given us so much to enjoy, but I pray that everything pales in comparison to the excitement and the passion in which we share your story with people in our lives. You're worth it. Thank you for loving us. We love you back, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen. This is the City Light Church podcast.
0:38:47 - Speaker 2
If you've missed any part of today's message, or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Bojan Jansic and City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.
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