The Art of Engaging the Lost
by Kenneth Carpenter
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Matthew 10:5, John 4, Matthew 1:21, Luke 5:31, Luke 19:10, Romans 5:6, Genesis 45:24, Acts 2:38, John 4:19

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--the-art-of-engaging-the-lost
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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remain standing with me now normally Bishop gets up and he will say I have no Greater Joy than to see and hear that my children walk on in truth but I turned the tables on him because we are now trying to minister to a disillusioned generation that were raised by men throughout the years that told him told them how to govern their lives told them what they should do and what they shouldn't do where they should go and where they shouldn't go what they should wear and what they shouldn't wear only for that man in his older years to turn around and stop preaching any of that and it's left a generation disillusioned but I am so thankful he would say I'm thankful that my children walk on in truth I am thankful tonight to have a bishop that has not changed so thankful Matthew chapter 10 and verse number 5 I will be very brief tonight brother Tony is coming after me and I feel much like John the Baptist he that cometh after me is mightier than I Matthew chapter 10 and verse number 5. these 12 Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans inner ye not John chapter 4 and verse number one when therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John though Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples he left you he left Judea and departed again into Galilee and he must needs go through Samaria then cometh he to a city of Samaria which is called psychar near to the partial of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph now Jacob's Well was there Jesus therefore being weary with his journey set thus on the well and it was about the sixth hour there cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water Jesus saith unto her give me to drink for a few moments this evening I want to minister to you upon the subject the art of engaging the Lost the art of engaging the Lost precious God Of Heaven tonight I feel that you have laid this deep down within the crevices of my heart Lord Jesus I pray tonight that I can articulate and that I can communicate with this body of people the art of engaging with a lost world around us oh God move up and down the aisles of this church use me for the next few moments we'll give you praise and honor in Jesus name I pray amen you may be seated the objective of the movement conference is to equip and Inspire God's people that they find their purpose of life in Soul winning and discipleship making allow me just a few moments tonight to remind us of our mission to remind us of our mission I have been told that there is a restaurant in the state of Georgia that is named the Church of God Chicken Grill it is a restaurant when you study the history of this restaurant you will find that many many years ago it was as its name says it was a Church of God somehow this church Through The Years got indebted and to pay for the church mortgage they begin the ladies of the Church begin cooking chicken dinners on Fridays they sold chicken dinners to pay the note the dinners were so delicious and the crowds were so large that they decided to open it up on Friday and Saturday as the crowds grew they decided that they would open up after church on Sunday and over time the church board met and they decided that they would turn it into a restaurant and they kept the name Church of God Chicken Grill I submit to you tonight somewhere on their pathway they forgot the mission now we may never turn our churches into restaurants we may never turn our churches into businesses but I do fear tonight and I'm examining my own soul I don't want to lose sight of our mission let me remind you this evening contained in scripture is Matthew 1 21 and she shall bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins Luke chapter 5 verse number 31 listen to the Lord and Jesus answering said unto them they that are whole need not a physician but they that are sick I came not to call the righteous but Sinners to repentance hear him again in Luke 19 and verse 10 for the son of man is come to seek and to say that which was lost Paul would Echo this in Romans 5 and verse number 6 for when we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly please let's not forget the mission I am fearful tonight that we are a generation like no other generation we are living in houses we did not build we are drinking from whales we did not dig and we are eating from Vineyards that we did not plant but in the midst of our blessing in the midst of talented like never before in the midst of Technology like never before and I'm not I'm not bashing on technology I'm not bashing on anything that you saw here tonight King Jesus is Worthy of everything that we can give to him but I do want to sound the alarm to the church don't forget the mission yo forget the mission we can allow our blessings we can allow our prosperity it had been 15 years since Joseph had seen his brother it had been 15 years and a lot had changed in 15 years in 15 years Joseph had went from the despised baby brother to the second in command of the mightiest Nation of Egypt 15 years later Joseph stands in a room takes his Veil away from his face and reveals to his brothers his identity it was a moment of silence it was a moment of shock it was a moment of regret for Joseph would have to tell them you meant this for evil but God meant this for good Joseph without stretched arms and tears streaming and bathing his face was reaching for his brothers and then Pharaoh the wealthiest man in the world heard that Joseph's brothers had come and Pharaoh sends a blank check down to Joseph and he says I want you to go get your father I want you to go get everything that he's got I want you to take wagons money is no issue as a matter of fact Pharaoh told Joseph you tell your father that when the wagons pull up to his house don't carry a stick of furniture don't bring any clothes with you you won't need any of this I'm going to provide you land I'm going to provide you everything that you need Joseph began to line the wagons up Joseph began to turn the LED screens on and Joseph began to turn the choir up and Joseph began to Joseph began to gather the organizations together and he gathered the superintendents in the district superintendents and he gathered the presbyters and he he he gathered he gathered all of the leaders and he gathered all of the officials and he says this is a day like no other day I want you to go bring my father to me I want you to reunite my father to me I want you to take all this wealth take all this technology take all this education take all that you have take all your Scholars take all of your technology take all of your wealth take all of your Pentecostal blessings of that that you have because of previous generations I want you to take it all and I want you to go bring my father to me but chapter 45 of Genesis and verse number 24 reveals a a caution that he gives he says so he sent his Brethren away and they departed but before they did he said unto them see that you fall not out by the way see that you don't forget the mission you're going to bring my father I love seeing Benjamin I love seeing Reuben I love seeing all of my brothers but it's my father's face I want to see see that you fall not out don't forget the mission Pentecostals were talented we're living in better we're driving better we're wearing better we're worshiping and better but for God's sake let's not forget the mission yeah you feel it don't forget what good is it if we have 500 Voice Choir if we forget the mission you see tonight Jesus told his disciples don't go to Samaria don't go into the ways of the Gentiles don't go into any of the cities of Samaria don't don't don't go there don't go there but then he turns around and he marches himself as a matter of fact I believe he left brother him and I believe he left where he was at because Jesus is not in the numbers business your wealth tonight is not on how many you have on Sunday I have come to tell somebody tonight stop beating yourself up over a number on Sunday beat yourself up if you forgot permission but don't forget don't beat yourself up hey Lord have you heard have you heard Lord heard what we baptized more than John hey did you hurt did you hear we're baptizing way more than John baptized the Pharisees begin to talk about Jesus and his disciples are baptizing more than John and his disciples Jesus said I'm out of here guys I'm out of here because I'm not in the numbers business I I'm not in the listen we're not competing with anyone my good neighboring my good neighboring Pastor brother Harley Arwood and sister R wood we're not competing with each other we're preaching the same Apostolic message he's on the other side of town he's got the mission over there we're over here but let it be clear we've got the same mission we're not in competition nobody's in competition competition brings torment but you don't need to be in competition you need to be in combat with hell over every lost soul body chose we need to understand the art of engaging the Lost in that I Rejoice with every story that I hear some Apostolic person was sitting eating lunch and someone walked up to them and said hey there's something different about you hey would you tell me what's different I thank God for all those stories but I think those should be the exception and not the rule it should be you and I that break the silence barrier we ought to be the one breaking the silence barrier it shouldn't be the sinner starting the conversation with us but it ought to be we starting the conversation with them we've got to be conscious of a loss in a dying world that is around us it is our mission Jesus said I'm I'm out of here and I must need to go through Samaria wait a minute you said we couldn't go to Samaria I didn't say anything that I couldn't you're not ready for Samaria now there'll come a day you will be ready for Samaria and you shall receive power after the Holy Ghost has come upon you and you shall be Witnesses unto me in Judea and Samaria but you don't have my spirit right now you're waiting on the woman at the well to bring a conversation to you and she don't like you to begin with but just because people don't like you means you give up on them that's what it means to be a soul winner oh I hope this is coming across the way that I want it to but I want to engage the Lost I don't care how good you can sing thank God for that but how good can you engage the Lost you know usually I come to movement to hear good preaching you could have stayed at home and heard good preaching I prayed tonight I was in my office praying and I I looked at across the parking lot out the window and I saw some of the finest preachers in Pentecost making their way into this into this Sanctuary you didn't have to come here to hear good preaching you could have stayed home and heard good preaching you've not come here to hear good preaching you've come here to be reminded of the mission that God has ever one of us need to have the art of engaging with the loss oh could you pray just a moment or could we pray in just a moment should we pray God come on you're waiting for a door to open and God is waiting for you to be able to engage the loss he's not going to send you until you're able to engage the laws Jesus meets this woman he goes where she's at and he breaks the silence barrier woman would you give me a drink she looks at him she can tell by his prayer tassels she can tell By His Garment brother Chester he can she she can tell this is another one of those Jews it's another one of those Jews and he's got the audacity to ask me for a drink of water how dare him they won't eat with us they won't allow us in their Temple as a matter of fact I've got old scars because 133 years ago our forefathers built a temple on this mountain for the Samaritans to worship and history says that the Jews came from Jerusalem and destroyed our place of worship and so I've got ugly scars with me how is it you being a Jew you asked a Samaritan to drink and Jesus said if you only knew if you only knew see if people only knew I have a saying you'll never know till you go you don't find a lot of things out until you go and you don't know if somebody's going to be receptive to the gospel until you teach them a Bible study if you only knew the gift of God and who it is that says give me a drink you could have asked of him and he would have given you living Waters Living Waters is the opposite of dead Waters in other words he said to her if you just knew who you were talking to I have a better quality of life for you I have something much better for you I have Living Water I have a promise to give to you and when he offered her a promise Sinners have a promise when he gave that woman a promise of a better life and here him is engaging the Lost we have got to make them a promise of a better life God has a better life not just for us but every person in your city God has a better life you will notice you will notice with me he says if you just knew who it was you could ask and he would give you Living Waters verse 11. the woman saith unto him sir sir notice she doesn't say Jew she says sir because when I first saw you all I saw was the external when I first saw you I just saw the outward but when you opened your mouth and begin to make me a promise of a better life you don't know me but I live a miserable life you don't know me but I'm taking pills to get up in the morning and pills to keep going through the day and peels to go to bed at night you don't know me I've got kids scattered all over the country you don't know me but all of a sudden Jesus promises her a better life and she doesn't address him as a Jew she gives a high respective title of sir you say Sir to dignitaries you say Sir to those that are in power anytime the church can make a lost world a promise of a better life the world is going to begin to see us in a whole different light sure would you pray for a moment would you just pray oh God foreign stop blaming come on let's stop blaming what we believe is a reason that we're not growing let's stop blaming Holiness for the reason we're not growing it has nothing to do with that if we're not growing it's because we don't have an understanding of the Lost Art of reaching the lost the woman said sir you have nothing to draw with when the well is deep are you greater than our father Jacob that gave us the well Jesus again just simply says if you just knew who you were talking to I could give you water you would never thirst you would never have to come here again sir give me that water sir give me that water and then Jesus said go call your husband you see sometimes our problem is we try to address their sin before we convince them of how much we love them we want to address he didn't walk up to that well and said hey lady I need to I need a drink of water and by the way stop sleeping around hey lady I wanna I wanna drink a water you know you really got a messed up life he didn't do that he convinced her that he had something to offer her that would bring life but you can't have life without addressing the sin issue and aren't you thankful that we have the message of then Peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost that's drug addicts that's alcoholics that's people hooked on porn that's messed up marriages that's homosexuals that's lesbians that's all of humanity need to hear come on pray with me right now we gotta have the art of engaging the laws we got a world hungry we got a world hungry go call your husband she said I have no husband he said you really put a good spin on that you don't currently have a husband you're living with one right now that's not your own and that you said that truly verse 19 reads like this the woman saith unto him that's it I'm tired of judgmentalism I'm tired of being judged for the way that I'm living not in my Bible she now says I perceive you are a prophet you're a prophet buddy we've come a long way in a few moments haven't we we've come from a Jew to a sir and now she says you you you are a prophet and our father said worship over here and you Jews say worship over there and Jesus said let me tell you something the day is coming we're not going to worship over there on that mountain or over in Jerusalem but they that worship the father must worship the father in spirit and in truth he's saying woman I gotta get you to begin to worship the father on the inside of your heart and if I can get you worshiping the father on the inside of your heart Miracles are going to take place if I can get you to worship the father oh isn't it beautiful when we can get a sinner to lift up his hands and begin to say I love you Jesus I Need You God I got to have to help God I need you something wonderful and she said we know that one day Messiah cometh Messiah means anointing and they understood that anointing wasn't a preacher preaching fast or a singer singing fast they knew that anointing would break yolks it would break bondages they were waiting for the day that Messiah would come and break the Yokes off of their life and the messed up woman and if numbers are important in the Bible you listen to this if the number seven represents God and the number seven represents Perfection and completion five men she had been with living with one currently that's six but she met a man at a whale that's number seven and when when we can meet that number seven she went into town and said I want you to come and see a man that told me everything he's the young breaker he can break yolks there's not a bondage that the power of the Gospel can't break it doesn't matter how big your choir is it doesn't matter how big your church is there's an anointing that can break those yokes in your church last Sunday preach preach one day Messiah is coming the Yoke breaker's coming and Jesus said he that speaketh unto thee and me and I'm going to tell you something the Bible says but the Hammond would you help me she came to that well she came to that well with a a water pot she came to that well with a water pot but when she got the revelation I walked up and saw a Jew and before I got finished he was a sir and before I got finished he was a prophet and before I got finished he was Messiah he was yoke breaker help me brother Hammond can I tell you something I know it's old-fashioned I know it's old-fashioned that's a Bible study short no it ain't it's a yoke breaker that's a Bible study chart oh it ain't it's a yoke breaker you don't see it much at church because you don't belong in church it belongs in a mobile home park it belongs in an apartment complex that's my favorite page right there can I tell you what your city needs is somebody to get a hold of them they just see a Pentecostal but before you get over they're gonna see the anointing of God the York right here it is right here it is stop making excuses stop saying when I build a bigger building when I get a gymnasium when I get a dude ranch stop making excuses get you a Bible study chart and engage the laws they're gonna forget their water pot they're gonna leave it there may be seated look at all these lights digital this and smoke and all that it all looks good I do wish the lights were just a little bit brighter I can't see the people on the back row I do like I'm just a I like to see what I'm shooting at says Carpenter you got a Bible study going right now huh two Pastor Chad Anson you got a Bible study Pastor Hammond brother Nolan you better have one but I want to tell you something don't you Pat anything on the back around here and say that's successful that's successful as a matter of fact many of these people right here first had a water pot and they got one of these and when they got one of these God cleaned the life up and they came out of sin Masa Masa and James Kano Camp Kano you check this out you maybe see if you check us out Kip Kano was the first Kenyan to win a gold medal in the Olympics his son came to the United States his son came and to the university in Arkansas he and his wife Masa Met she's Japanese and they met she had very little knowledge of God but they moved to Maryville and it just so happened to put their kids in our Apostolic Christian daycare daycare Culvert operation don't tell nobody it's a covert operation for so winning it gives us a way to engage the loss some of y'all some of y'all have to go some of you all have to go out and go up down streets to go door knocking and win people I can just dress up and stand right here in the lobby at the daycare and meet people all day long you know what I'm doing engaging engaging engaging James and my succumb to church long story short got one of these Carpenter got one of these omasa received the baptism of the Holy Ghost it was a setup it was a setup so help me as a setup God spoke to me on a Saturday night and told me there was a part of a message she was dealing with faith and it was a part of a message and I told sister Curtner I said in the morning I said I'm gonna get to a place in my message I'm not wink at you I might do this but I said when I get to that part you walk over and slap your hand right on masa's forehead she gonna get the Holy Ghost I came to that part I gave her that right there said the carpenter will walked over laid her hand on her head Masa received the Holy Ghost James received the Holy Ghost years go by you hear this years go by they stay in the church they're disciples they get a burden for Missions they start a business and last year or year before the last they gave 75 000 dollars to missions well you're staying with me right now will you pray with me right now God make me a soul winner God help us to teach Bible studies God I rebuke every excuse of why we're not teaching Bible studies God I'll rebuke every excuse God I rebuke the excuses right now people have taught them and nobody came God I reviewed that I reviewed that in the name of Jesus I rebuke that right now come on come on pray right now for God to give you a burden for a Bible study come on pray right now for God to give you a burden for a Bible study I'm gonna pray right now y'all to give you a burden for a Bible study I want to be a Bible study teacher I Gotta Buy Me A Shard I gotta buy me a book I gotta get a Bible study I I gotta I gotta engage the loss come on pray with me just for another moment pray ER the art of engaging a lot hear of them your value your value the first thing and I'm done but the first thing that you got to do is you have to instill inside of them that you see value in them you you would come to my house come to my house sure week after week and I'm going to tell you the phone calls that you'd never hear hey girl you don't believe this lady keeps coming my house week after week after week teaching me Bible study you know why you're instilling in them they are valuable they are valuable have you got somebody on your mind right now that you'd like to teach a Bible study to do you have somebody on your mind like right now that you'd like to teach a Bible student dear God I don't want this to just be a sermon about a sir and a Jew and a sir and a prophet and a messiah I don't want to be something that that that that that makes its way to Twitter for a few few sayings I'm asking do you have somebody right now that you'd like to teach a Bible study to have their name do they have a name do they have did they have a name do they have a name not just in vague yes I'd like to teach but I mean I'm talking about a cousin I'm talking about an aunt or an uncle I'm talking about a cousin that's on crack cocaine I'm talking about I'm talking about a cousin I'm talking about a family member that's suicidal do you have it would you lift up your hand one more time and would you call that name out before God right now oh God come on come on call it out loud enough you can hear it call it out loud enough that you can hear it oh God In The Name of Jesus God oh God you sir Prophet Messiah Bible study Jesus God Jesus God oh God Church Lord God touched them right now that's got their hands lifted here's what I want us to do tonight is what I want to do tonight all three nights sometime in the service this is going to be brought out here it's gonna be set right there if you have the name if you could write down the name of the person that you want to teach a Bible study to if you will bring it sometime this week and put it in this water pot as long as Jesus comes I'm going to find this water pot in my private prayer time and I'm gonna walk around this Auditorium and I'm going to ask God to touch the names that are in here because Church we have got to learn the art of engaging we've got to learn the art of engaging if you have that name tonight you want to write it down and you want to bring it while they're praising and worshiping God you may one more time lift up your hands and your voices