Neighbor Series: Planting Seeds Where You Are...

It's always it's always an honor to be here on a Wednesday night because you you know on Sunday morning this is where you're supposed to be, right? But this is where you're supposed to be on Wednesday night. I know a lot of people think that but I think that what happens is is that you have a very long day. I have long days and when I get to come in here and then we hear the music and just for like that that moment you're like it's kind of how I feel right now. So, um happy to be here. Happy to be here in the presence of the Lord. You know, when I was a when I was a kid, I'm going to uh have lots of scripture, so you guys can sit down now if you'd like. And um but when I was a kid, I just remembered this is we were singing. Um my parents attended an Assemblies of God church. I know you guys are thinking, you went to church when you were a kid? It's hard to believe, but I did for a little bit. And you know, then I left and I did what I wanted to do.

But um they had this person who prophesied that I was going to be um a preacher. And um here's the reality. You get the joke. I am I'm also a father. I'm also a financial planner. I'm an employer. I'm a friend. And I know that's hard to believe. Um, but so are you. So are you. Those things. You are other things than just a minister of the gospel. The truth is is that if you're here, your job is to be a minister of the gospel. And when I was about, I don't know 22 years old, I was here youth week. It was a a Friday night, I believe. And Sister Willilifford heard me talk. He probably forgot this. I would forget it, too. Um, but she said afterwards, and somebody told me that she had said it, she said, "That boy is going to be a preacher." Here, here we are. So, I say that simply to say again, so are you. So, are you uh I'm going to read this is going to be the longest portion of of scripture that we start with here, and then we're going to get into the meat and potatoes here.

Matthew 13:3-9. Then he told them many things in parables. A farmer went out to sew his seed, and as he was scattering the seed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate up, some fell in the rocky place where it did not have much uh soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they were withered because they had no root. Other seeds fell among the thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil where produced a crop 160 or 30 times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let him hear. Your job is to sew seeds. Your job is to be a seed swower. And so the Bible doesn't necessarily call us to be farmers as much as it is seed sers. Because when you're farming, what's the job? You want to you want to save everybody. You want to have all of the crop uh be bountiful. The reality is is that some of that seed that the farmer threw out there, it didn't take root.

Other seed did take root. So your job as a minister, remember, we're all ministers. Your job is to sew seeds. You cannot uh you can't save everybody but your job is to try by throwing seeds. Toby's currently reading a book on critical thinking and she shared some things with me uh about what she is uh learning and she said she used this this analogy in the book the author did and was talking about experiencing something. The author says the safest way to learn is through reading. It's the safest way to learn. Like for example, if I was going to do dynamite explosives, the first thing I would probably do is read. Even though I'm a man and I don't like to read the instructions, right, Amber? So, um, so what happens though is that if I'm going to work with dynamite, I probably I'm going to read because I like to have my fingers. That's the safest way is to learn is reading. Uh the next thing I could do if I wanted to uh let's let's switch the analogy to a violin because it translates to the other two points.

Um but the other thing that I could do is I could watch YouTube videos. And then the third thing that I could do is actually play the violin. And I think that what we can have the danger of doing sometimes is we read the Bible or we read about evangelism. We never actually do it. So, we study and we study and we study and we've got all of this head knowledge and maybe we have a heart for people, but if we don't share that heart for people, then I don't want to say it's gone to waste, but it certainly hasn't been maximized to what it could have been. And so, what I'm going to talk to you about tonight is again planting seeds where you are. You are all somewhere. You all have a field. You all reach people that I will never talk to. We all live separate lives and we run into people who have souls and those individuals need to know about Jesus. So when we're here, this is kind of the reading portion of the analogy. We're reading about it. We're studying about it.

And sometimes we go home and we look at the violin video. We're like, "Oh, that's really great. I like the violin." Uh or you can be like my son who is playing the violin and when he started I just told myself it'll get better. It kind of hurts right now. And it has gotten better. I was in the back room and I stopped what I was doing and I went to the front room and I just watched him and I said, "You're really good, bud." I was like, "This like this is good." And like I I meant it. It wasn't just for encouragement. I was like, I'm pretty impressed. And he said, thank you. And he continued to play for me. And so, he has learned to play the violin. He didn't just watch a video. He didn't just read about it. He's doing it. And that is what again we should be doing here. Praying that God will send laborers into the field. Great first step. Great first step. the Bible. Such a great first step that the Bible even says pray that he will that he will send laborers in the field.

Who's the laborer? You are. I am. We are those laborers. We are the answers to our own prayers. So, it's kind of like when we go to an accident. Side note, by the way, if you ever see this before, if you see this, if you see an accident, call it in on the highway, you What does everybody think? Oh, somebody's already called it in. No, no, they haven't. If you call Star55, public service announcement, if you call Star55, they'll say, Highway Patrol, what's your emergency? And you say, I'm at 55 and 255 and there's an accident. And they will say, what does the vehicle look like? What is this? What? 75% of the time I'm the first person who's called. That's crazy. Whole point is I'm not driving by that accident and going, I hope somebody calls it in. Same way that we should say, hey, I need to find a way to present the gospel that somebody will receive that gospel. Not everybody hears it the exact same way, but we be we need to be looking for uh that opportunity.

People sometimes will have preconceived notions of what a Christian looks like. Um they've probably had some good experience or maybe a bad experience. Imagine that you were going to Orlando and you had a limo driver. This is directly from a book uh that pastor gave you. He said, "Hey, read this chapter." Um, and so I read this chapter like, "Oh, this this is really good stuff." Um, so, uh, he says the limo driver picks this guy up and he he, uh, he has a great experience and now burned in his brain is that people from Orlando are nice. But what would have happened if the opposite were true? If the limo driver was, you know, imagine this, uh, me in a past life. I'm the limo driver. I pick it up and somebody's coming and I go, "Uh, Mr. Wilford, I'm your limo driver here. Hold on." And I and I flick the cigarette butt and I'm like, "Here's the back door for you." And you're like, "People from Orlando sure smoke a lot." Okay. So um you see what I'm saying is is that people will associate that will associate that experience.

So when you this is by the way one of the reasons why if you are not the uh most courteous driver don't put a fish on the back of your car. Okay. So I'm talking to you Toby. So um so the point being is is that it is our job to leave a good lasting impression on individuals because they will associate that with that's what Christians are like. Evangelism is about faithfulness. It's not about pressure. It's not about like you need Jesus. Now, some people that's going to work that way, but most of the people if you're just doing this, it's not going to it's not going to work. But when you're kind and courteous and you want to be involved in somebody's life and you look for the opportunity, the opportunity will present itself. But you also have to be on the lookout for that opportunity. I will tell you one of the dumbest things I've ever done when an opportunity it was like Jesus himself like took a softball and threw it in the air and said Bachmann just smash this.

I was I had been in church for approximately a year and somebody at my office said Aaron why you know what what's different about you? He literally said the best question that could ever be ever be. And I said, I guess I'm just happy. And I walked away and I was like, you are so dumb. You how in the world? Like that couldn't have been a better opportunity. There was a beach ball that was thrown at you and you just said, "Yeah." So my point is is that look for those opportunities and when they come hit the ball hit the ball out of the park because you will have those opportunities uh if you are ready for them. So the question is where is your field? Your field is where you are. It's where you are. Look for opportunities. If there's a person, you go to the gas station all the time, the person's always frowning, ask yourself, "How do I make that person smile?" If you have a coworker that has a family situation, look for the opportunity to say, "Do you mind if I pray for you?" Has anybody ever had somebody say in a time of desperation when you've said, "Do you mind if I pray for you?" Have you ever had it more than twice in your life where somebody said no?

I've had it happen one time where somebody said, "Okay, if you want to, but that wasn't even a no." So, the point is is that when people are desperate and hurting, news flash, how do you know that people need love? They're breathing. They're breathing. So if you treat most people like they're desperate or they're hurting, you're probably treating most of the people correctly. So look for that opportunity. Look for the opportunity at the playground or at the gym or at a family reunion. Um some people's families are better than others, but uh look at your job, look at the grocery store or even at a ball game or on a plane. Um I I have two friends who I met uh on a plane uh 25 years ago and we still talk to each other to this day and we've talked we've had conversations about Jesus just by sitting on a plane. One guy his name was Dave and I talked to him zero minutes during the flight and when we landed in Boston I literally saw him put his book away getting ready to do this and I said tell me about that book and then four minutes later we exchanged phone numbers and we're still friends to this day.

I actually just text messaged him yesterday. So the point is is if you look for those opportunity, God will do this. And if you're smart enough not to say, I'm just happy, you're going to be able to share the gospel. Acts 18, start in Jerusalem. Start where you are. That is where they started. They started in Jerusalem. Acts 18. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and the other parts of the earth. You see the concentric circles are getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. They started in Jerusalem and spread out from there. Um you don't have to quit your job to be an evangelist. You know, one of the things here, pardon the personal reference, it's the only life that I've ever lived. Um, but there I just recently had an experience that is nothing short of you're like, "How in the world is this not a God intervention?" So, um Toby and I were in Montreal uh earlier this year for a work trip and um I had gotten an Uber to the airport and literally if this set of microphones here is the car.

Okay, in my story, I'm standing here. I'm standing right here and I'm waiting for the car and I'm looking on Uber and I'm saying it's coming. It's coming. Oh, he there there there he is right there. He's he's going to go like this. And so I go like this. And I literally see the guy. I literally see him look at his phone and I go like this. I'm this close to the car and he speeds off. And I go to look at look at the guy. Look at look at him. He's gone. And I was like, that is I was like, there's no and I know there's no way to give somebody a bad review when they cancel. So I I I couldn't I was like, well, it is what it is. And so um I order another Uber. Guy pulls up. I tell him what happened. He goes, "I'm really sorry that that happened to you." I'll go find the guy. No. Um so he says, "I'm really sorry that that happened to you." And so I go, "Just out of curiosity," I said, "Why? What's going on today?" He's like, you know, man, I've just been so busy.

I'm driving in downtown and I'm just I'm tired of being here. I'm just tired of being here. And yeah, the airport, it's a pain to go out to the airport, but it's a little break for me right now. So, I just decided and on the last second that I wouldn't do downtown and I would just pick you guys up and take you to the airport. I was like, great. And I felt this prompting and I was like, "Okay, what what am I going to do? What am I gonna do? Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm thinking. I'm thinking. I'm thinking. And I'm asking questions." And I just looked at him and I just said, "Hey, out of curiosity." And the guy looks like he's Middle Eastern. And I asked this question. Are you a person of faith? That's an open question, right? Because if he's Middle Eastern, what is the statistical probability that he's a Muslim? It's it's high. And so here's the thing. Do you guys do you know that there's two ways that Muslims come to come to Christ? Number one, they have a dream where Jesus comes to him.

Comes to them. Look it up. That's how when people have that conversion. The other part is they are literally loved into the church. Served into the church. Most Muslims aren't debated into the church the way that we Westerners are, but they are loved in or Jesus comes to them. So, I'm just like, "Well, here we go. Let's see what happens. I feel like I'm supposed to do this." And he goes, "I am." And he goes, and he starts talking about it's like, "I I used to be a Christian. You know, I grew up in Syria." And I said to him, I was like, "Okay, I know what to do, Lord." And I said,"I bet you've seen a lot." He goes, "I have seen a lot." I go, "I bet you've seen so much in your life that you've asked yourself, how could a good God let all that bad stuff happened?" And he goes, "That's exactly how I feel." And I go, and I go, "Are you from Damascus?" And he goes, "I am from Damascus." And he turns around, he looks at me, and I go, "I'm sorry." Sometimes it's hard to explain why those things happen.

And he goes, "Yeah, it is." And I said, "And so we talk and we have more conversation." And I said to that man, I said, "Here, here are two videos." I we were running out of time. And I took two videos that I thought would help him that I had on YouTube. And I said, and I wrote these down. I said, "Watch these two videos." And then I I said, "Do you mind if I pray for you?" And I prayed for him. Then I gave him a really good tip, right? Because what would happen if I didn't give him a good tip? That's what that's what Christians are like. So, so um by the way, professional note, if you're going to talk to people in a restaurant about Jesus, you should tip them. So, um but the whole point is is that being ready. The Bible in First Peter says, "Be ready to give an account." Be ready. So, we talked about the violin. I read about it. I watched it. And then we did it. Okay. So, don't just answer questions. Answer people. Don't just question. Don't just answer questions.

We're going to answer people. So, uh Eric, I think there we go. There we go. So, um my wife got this slide for me, by the way. You guys, thumbs up, thumbs down on this one. You like this one? You're okay. So, um, here's the thing. When we when we answer the question, we're a lot of times missing the mark because people come to a question with baggage. Everybody has different experiences. Everybody has a different life. My life is different than Michael's. and maybe he had a good experience with X and I didn't have a good experience with X. And so when he asked the question and when I ask the question, we actually mean different things. So you So the first step when we're asking good questions is to follow up with somebody and say something like, "What do you mean by that? Can you tell me more about why did you I'm curious. Why did you ask that question?" And I've got a great story. There was a guy who was debating somebody and he he he he crushed he was crushing this person in a debate and this person goes, "What do you think about suicides?

Do they go to heaven?" And the guy who's doing the debating says, "Let's stay on topic here. I know what you're doing. You're trying to divert the conversation here." And then answers the question. So his buddy who's watching this go on says, "Hey man, do you know why? You know why he asked that question about suicide?" Yeah. Because he wanted to like throw me off the scent. He's like, "No, his wife just committed suicide." So the question wasn't necessarily what does God do about suicides. The question is where's my wife right now? So being sensitive to somebody's needs, being sensitive to their hurts, because here's the truth. Most people are hurting. Even people who are here, this is a great place to be, by the way, if you're hurting. Great place to be if you're hurting. Um, I'm seeing if I want to skip something here, so give me just a second here because, uh, I'm looking at the time here. Uh so three questions that will help you. What do you mean by that?

How did you come to that conclusion? And would you be open to the idea? And just like with fishing, there's multiple ways that you can share the gospel. So you can fly fish. Has anybody ever fly fish? Okay. Fun, right? Hard. Very hard. Uh real. Has anybody real fished? Okay. How about How about net fishing? Who's ever gone net fishing? It's kind of cool, isn't it? You take it and you throw it out there and you pull it on back. It's like cheating though, really, because then you pull them all in. So, he said, "Thank you." Um, so, but um, but there's all sorts of different types of fishing, right? Just like there's different ways to evangelize to individuals, there's different ways that we can reach them. in Acts 17, and we're not going to read Acts 17, but what we have is Paul, and he goes um to I believe it is Thessalonica. And while he's there, he goes to three different places. He's got different ways of talking to individuals. And when he's talking to the people in Thessalonica, he gets a mixed reception.

Um jealousy leads to opposition uh in Berea. uh their openness and their they're eager to know more about the scriptures. And then in Athens, he says we all we if you've you know this is a scripture that is um taught a lot of times to the unknown god. So they're saying hey there's this god and we don't know. He's like hey that's the guy I'm talking about. It's the unknown god. And so he was all things to all people. That doesn't mean that you're a hypocrite. That means be well-versed in the methods of fishing because we're called to be fishers. Okay? We are called to be ministers. So therefore, know more than one way to engage in a conversation with people. In Acts 8, Philip with the Ethiopian unic, he sees the unic. What a great, right? This is this is a softball moment. What if Philip by the way had been like I'm just happy like and that was recorded in the Bible. Thank God they didn't record my words. So what happens is is that Philillip, he's there just chilling.

That's the right way to say it, but that's what he's doing. And he sees this Ethiopian going by and he's reading and he says, "Hey, do you know what you're reading?" And he goes, "I I don't know. like can you help me understand what I am reading? And then he goes, can I get baptized? And he says, yes. And it leads to a baptism right there because he was prepared. He was ready. Be ready to give an account for the reason that you have hope. be ready. Use different methods for different people. And I will say that what will also happen in the workplace because most of us here are not employed by a ministry. Most of us have a job where we go and we get a paycheck. Some people are bivocational. So, Michael, that means two jobs. Okay. So, most people most people have one job. Okay. Now, that job that they're paid for, they're going to encounter other individuals. And when people see you live out principles, they will watch you. Has anybody ever been a coach before?

And when you're a coach, do your players watch you? Yeah. Yes, they do. Um, I remember when I was 14, coach Mike Adams. Mike Adams uh was a great coach. He was a doctor. And, uh, I got up and it was ball one, ball two, ball three. Guess what I did on the fourth pitch? I grounded to second. That's right. I swung. Are you supposed to swing on ball four? on the fourth pitch if it's you got three balls. No, no, you're not. And not one time did I ever look down at coach. So I ground out. I go there and he goes, "Bachmann, come here." And he says, "On the bench." And I'm like, "What? I'm the best center fielder. Do you know who I am?" And so he I just I just go and I sit on the bench and I just go to the bench and I'm like, you know, grumbling. And after the inning, he comes here and he takes me and he he takes me down to the third base side and he puts his arm around me and he says, "Discipline is not meant to push you away. It's meant to pull you back in.

Now go back out on the field." Never forgot that lesson. Because he was an example. You are an example. When you go on to Facebook and you lambast people because they're the other political party, you're an example. Is it fun? Yeah, it's fun. I love doing that. I just don't do it. Does that make sense? Am I making sense? So, try as you might, don't do that. You are an example. You are an example. What is your job? Your job is to move I'm going to use a sports analogy here. Your job is to move the football downfield. For the record, that's not Moses. That's just supposed to be a random person who's dressed like an apostle. So what happens is in football, how do you win in football? And people will overthink about, oh, you got to score more points than the other team. Well, how do you actually do it? Let's break it down to the simple. Break it down to the simple. Here's the reality. Your job, if you're the offensive coordinator, your job is to get first downs.

And if you get enough first downs, it will result in a it'll result in a touchdown when you get enough first downs. So, is your job to go out if you're the quarterback and try to score three touchdowns on one play? Nope. Your job is to get first downs. So, for an example, I have individuals that I have just been throwing little things in. What do you think about this? What do you think about that? Um, one of my favorite questions that I've asked right now is I said, "Can I choose to be a Calvinist?" That was one thing that I talked to talked to one of these guys that I work with at work. If you guys don't know what that means, you should Google it. So, so I ask him if I can choose this. He laughs a little bit and then what ends up happening is we talk about it or we talk about it later. So, I'm literally throwing out little things here and there because I'm just trying to score first downs. That's all that I'm trying to do. Just trying to get first downs.

Move the ball downfield. 1 Corinthians 3:6. I love this scripture. I planted, Apollos watered, God gave the growth. Paul didn't say, "I planted, I watered, and I grew it. I did it all." He didn't say that, did he? He said, "I did one thing, somebody else did another." And guess what? Maybe the guy in the limousine in Montreal, like, "Wouldn't it be so awesome if we get to heaven?" He's like, "Do you know who I am?" And I say, 'You're the you're the taxi driver. You're the you're the Uber guy. Yeah. Yeah. So, here's what happened after we talked. Now, I I may never know. I may never meet that person again. I said, but the re but the reality is is that that's just throwing seeds. Just throwing seeds. That's all we're doing is throwing seeds. So, um sometimes you do get a touchdown. Sometimes you get to be the quarterback. So, I got to be a quarterback uh and watch this with Bruce Cleo. So, Bruce worked with me. Bruce said, "Hey, we started talking and I wasn't I wasn't interested in sharing the gospel with him.

I was trying to share it with somebody else." And then he kind of hijacked the conversation. And so, we start talking and then he says, "Hey, like I'd like to go to church with you sometime." And I'm like, "No, it's going to be grandparents day. That's not a good idea." Um, so I tried to discourage him from going to church. You know, it's got to be the right service, right? Because God can only move in these services. So, um, here's the reality. The other part, this lady right here in the in pink, she's actually the real winner here. So, what happens is is, and Bruce will tell you this, she's like, "Yeah." So, they're talking and they said, "That guy reminds me of Aaron Bachman." And he goes, "They just said Aaron Bachmann." And he's like, "Uh, no. Yeah, I'm doing it. I'm doing it." And he goes, "I go back." He's like, "Do you know Aaron Bachmann?" "Yeah, I know Aaron Bachmann." And they're like, "And and and she said, "I'm sorry. You know that guy.

I know. He told me." So So what happens is is though that he goes, "Well, I want to go to church for you guys to go to church." And I think they're actually the ones who who invited him because I told him not to come. So, but the whole point is is that I got to be a part of that. I got to be the part of that. So, I guess it was like we both kind of threw a touchdown or I handed the ball to you and then you threw it. So, um but it is important by the way to be the best that you can be. It is important. Hear me please. You know, I like to joke and I like to have fun. I am deadly serious about this. You need to be the best you can be. People are looking at you. A lot of times we'll hear people and they'll say uh to Sunday school teachers, they'll say, "Well, you could be raising the next UPCI president or maybe the next CEO of Microsoft." Okay? Or maybe the next stay-at-home mom who does X, Y, and Z. You need to be the best that you can be.

We're not just clocking in and clocking out. And the application, I say this to myself sometimes. I do. And a lot of times the truth is I'm just like, uh, Bachmann, do everything like you're serving the Lord. And I'm like, but I'm not that good because if I was really serving the Lord, I would have done a better job on that. That's my own self-criticism, but the reality is is that's what we're supposed to be doing. You are serving the Lord. That is what you're doing. Your job is to be the best that you can be. Let me give you an example of this. So, this wonderful person here in the front row, she works with me. This, for you guys who don't know, this is Amber. Amber is the daughter of these two right here. Okay? So she has worked three three years. Three years. Now you don't know this, but Moise came to me the other day and he said that Amber is a winner. She's a hard worker. I watch everything she does. Did he tell you that? told me that.

By the way, he's a Muslim. Be the best. Be the best you can be. How you look to others, it matters. It matters. Share purposes. Share the purpose. Not just the religion. Not just say, "Well, you know, there was this guy, his name was Jesus, and I'm a Christian, so yeah, I go to church on Sunday." But why? But why do you do that? Why is that important to you? Knowing what you believe is one thing. Knowing why you believe it is a completely different thing and I would argue even more powerful than what you believe because you can spout off a thousand Bible verses, but if you don't know why they're important, I'm not going to say it doesn't matter, but it's kind of kind of close. You're just spouting off words. You need application. You need to play the violin. We're playing the violin, not just reading about it. Um, so again, be the best that you can be. Whatever you do, you're doing it for the Lord. Excellence earns credibility. If you're going to write one thing down, write that down.

Excellence earns credibility. When you are excellent, people will listen to you. If you're just a slob, they're not going to listen to you. They're like, it's kind of like, you know, well, I don't need the analogy. You guys all get the analogy. I could come up with a thousand analogies of like we've we've all been told, hey, do this from somebody. You're like pot, meat, kettle. Be credible. Be the best that you can be. Joseph, great example in Egypt. Great example. We all know the story of Joseph, potterer's wife, dungeon, second in charge of the most uh powerful empire in the world at that time. Pretty cool story, right? He earned credibility. He was the best he could be. And because he was the best he could be, God was able to use him. God does have the ability to wear you like a glove. But he's probably not going to. He's probably going to say, "I gave you talent. Use it. Do something with it." He's not going to just say, "Well, you know, uh, Mike, you, uh, you didn't do that, so I'm going to marionette you into doing it and fixing it." Nope.

And if you don't do it, he'll get you to do it. And if you don't do it, you'll do it. Because that's what God does is he uses people who volunteer for his kingdom. Excellence isn't pride. Excellence isn't pride. It's a platform for influence. Excellence is a platform for influence. So, what are the action points? What can you do next? You're sewing seeds. Remember, we're going out. We're looking for opportunities. You can even say to somebody, "Hey, you know, this is kind of a little bit forward." And usually if you come to somebody in humility and just say, "Look, we've talked about God a lot, do you want to do a Bible study?" You'd be shocked at how many people would just say, "Yeah, yeah, let yeah, I'd kind of like to do that." That's not going to be your opening line. This is again, we're sewing seeds. Farming is such a great analogy because it takes time. We're not elephant hunting. We're going out and we're farming. Now, some people get to be the elephant hunters.

Some people do. There's all sorts of different ways, but again, most of us are farmers. So, what I'm saying is is your action point is to develop relationships with people and realize people are watching with you, watching you. And because they're watching you, take advantage of the credibility that you've earned with them. Take advantage of that. Say to those individuals, "Would you like a Bible study? Do you mind if I pray for you?" Here's a crazy thing. You might even say to somebody, "Look, I know this is going to sound forward, but you want to go to church with me sometime?" And they'll go, "Yeah, sure." Now, they may never take they may never take you up on that. They I've got lots of people who've said yes, and half of them come and half of them don't. I'm just throwing seeds here. Just throwing seeds. Plant seeds where you are. That first or second slide, gas station, grocery store, know your Starbucks barista. They need Jesus, too.

Uh, know your gas station attendant. Know your employees. Know the person who waits on you. Strike up. have a conversation. Be interested in their life. One of the things that you can do if you're at a restaurant, know somebody's name. When we sit down, I say to Max, I said, "What, Max, what's that person's name?" Um, and and so he'll say, "Uh, that is uh uh that was Ronald." And I go, "Right." And I for the rest of the day, you're going to call him by his name. You're not going to say, "Sir." Sir is anybody. Ronald's a person. I'm interested in Ronald. I'm interested in his life. And I look for the opportunity to insert something something. Now, the chances are in that short brief meeting of my life and his life, probably not going to see a touchdown thrown, but I might get a couple yards downfield. I might be able to move the ball just a little bit. And that's your job. Remember your job. You want to set your my job is to get first downs.

That's your job. U love people. Move the ball downfield and let God bring the harvest. Lord, I thank you for this night. I thank you for your word. I thank you for each person who who is here who's heard these words. And I ask Lord that they would have an impact as they have had in my life. Lord, I ask that they would have an impact in the lives of the people who are here tonight. That we would be sensitive to the needs of people who are around us. We would be intentional with our action. We'd be motivated to be the best that we can be because your word commands us to be excellent. Let's all stand together. Anyone else want to go find a Ron? Thank you, brother Aaron Bachmann, not only for teaching it, but for living it. He said a line in there that stirred my heart. many of them. But if you're looking for someone who needs love, just see if they're breathing. And it's a lot easier than you think to sew seed. Just takes discipline like we talked about Sunday.

And it might feel foreign at first, but telling you, it's one of the most fulfilling things you will ever do. I was thinking of stories even as he was talking. One that happened just this morning that had me fired up, ready to go reach more people. This case, it wasn't Ron, it was Robin. So, the Lord is stirring our hearts. I've been having conversations recently, and of course, we've got events upcoming that lend themselves to this. And really, as he said, every service should lend itself to this. Uh we're having moves of God that are changing lives every Sunday. But I know that the Lord is stirring hearts and minds to the discipline of sewing seed and moving the football down the field. And before we leave, I think it'd be all right if we just commit to the Lord just like we did last week. Lord, I'm going to leave here. I'm going to look for an opportunity. I'm not going to leave the seed at home on the shelf, but would you commit to him?

Jesus, we hear you loud and clear, Lord, that we're all called to make disciples. We're all called to preach and proclaim the truth. And it may not be over a pull pit, uh, but we've got seed to sew. We've got reasons for hope that are with within us. And we've got people around us who need love and who need the truth of the gospel. And you just reminded us again tonight in such a clear and powerful way. We commit to you. We're going to sew seed. And it may feel foreign at first, but we're going to develop the discipline of making disciples. We thank you for your word, your truth in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.