Lighting the Way

The Power of Service in Evangelism

A young woman, fresh out of prison with an ankle monitor, stood in her doorway unleashing years of pent-up rage against Christians. She had no idea the two men who’d just paid her rent were from a church. When she finally paused for breath and learned the truth, she broke down weeping.

This is the power of service evangelism—breaking down walls that no argument could ever penetrate. Her stereotype that all Christians were hateful hypocrites was destroyed. At the end of the conversation, she even asked us to pray for her before we left.
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Living for God’s Glory

Note: This blog post is based on a sermon originally preached on June 15th, 2025.

🎧 Listen to the full sermon audio here

Lessons from Jesus’ Prayer in John 17

Introduction

On Father’s Day, we explored one of Scripture’s most intimate passages—Jesus’ prayer in John 17. Known as the High Priestly Prayer, this chapter reveals Christ’s heart as He prepared for the cross. In a culture that often diminishes fathers and challenges biblical manhood, this passage offers profound encouragement about purpose, identity, and God’s love for His people.

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Unleashing the Power of God’s Word in Evangelism

Sharing Jesus Without Fear

Introduction

Evangelism can often seem daunting, particularly when faced with the fear of rejection or confrontation. Yet, as Christians, we are called to share the gospel with those around us. In our latest evangelism training session, we delved into the concept of sharing Jesus without fear, focusing on practical methods to spread the gospel effectively and lovingly. This blog post will explore the key themes and insights from our session, providing you with the tools and encouragement to confidently share your faith. Continue reading

Trusting in Divine Wisdom

A reflection on John 16 from our Sunday sermon

When Mom Knows Best

Growing up in the 1980s as an only child meant finding creative ways to entertain myself. No internet, no YouTube—just imagination and whatever I could find in the backyard. I vividly remember being about five years old, playing with a particularly good stick I’d found under my grandma’s tree. As I threw it higher and higher into the air, my mom came outside with a warning: “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

I assured her it was fine.

“Well,” she said, “when you hit yourself in the eye with that stick, don’t come crying to me.”

You can guess what happened next. That stick came down and hit me directly in the eye. As I held my throbbing eye, trying to stay quiet so she wouldn’t know she’d been right, I wondered: Does my mom know the future?

She didn’t, of course. She just had parental intuition. But as Christians, we have something far greater—we can listen to our God who actually does know the future and can tell us things to come. Continue reading

Empowered Evangelism

When the Spirit Opens Doors

Have you ever wondered why 95% of Christians have never led anyone to Christ? This statistic hasn’t changed in 20 years, and it grieves me every time I teach on evangelism. But what if the problem isn’t that we don’t know enough or aren’t bold enough? What if we’ve been missing a crucial biblical pattern that connects the Holy Spirit, prayer, and effective witnessing?

In week three of our “Out of the Fire” evangelism class, we explored this vital connection. What emerged was both convicting and encouraging: God wants to open doors for His word, and He’s already equipped us with everything we need to walk through them. Continue reading

When Following Jesus Gets Hard: Why the Holy Spirit is Our Greatest Advantage

As a young Christian reading through the Bible for the first time, I found myself stuck on one particular verse in John 16. Jesus told His disciples, “It is to your advantage that I go away.” Every time I read those words, I would pause and think, “Lord, I believe you, but how? How could your leaving possibly be better for us?”

This question becomes even more perplexing when we understand what Jesus was actually saying. He wasn’t promising His followers an easier life after His departure. Instead, He was preparing them for persecution, hatred, and even death—all while claiming this would somehow be to their advantage.
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The Power of God’s Testimony

Reflections from Week Two of Our Evangelism Class

“Who does that sound like to you?” my friend Blaine asked after reading a passage from Scripture. My Buddhist friend paused, then quietly said, “Uh… Jesus.” Blaine smiled. “You know what? I think you’re right. That sounds like Jesus to me too. Does it mean anything to you that this was written 700 years before Jesus was born?”

I watched the color drain from my friend’s face. For the first time in our many conversations about faith, he had no wise-crack response, no smarmy comeback. He just sat there, speechless.

That moment, years ago, taught me something powerful about the difference between sharing my personal experience with Jesus and sharing God’s own testimony about His Son. Both have their place, but one carries a weight and authority that the other simply cannot match. Continue reading

The Missing Piece: What Following Jesus Really Costs

This post is adapted from Sunday’s sermon on John 15:18-27.
Click here to listen to the full message.

Have you ever tried to assemble something with an important piece missing or without all the instructions? Or attempted to understand a conversation when you’ve missed the crucial context?

That’s exactly how many of us approach Christianity—we’re missing a vital piece of information that would make everything else click into place.

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Embracing the Call

Reflections from Week One of Out of the Fire

“I couldn’t keep it to myself… I realized it was all true, and I just couldn’t keep it to myself.”

Those words from Elijah, one of our class participants sharing about his early days of faith, captured something powerful in our first evangelism class this week. There’s something contagious about someone who has truly grasped the reality of the gospel—they simply have to tell others.

But let’s be honest: most of us don’t feel that way most of the time. Continue reading