Thank you
where you have some excellent song leaders here at Collierville.
We've enjoyed our singing together and our fellowship.
The meal was just a blessing.
And thank you so much for being here this afternoon.
You know, every successful organization has a model.
And the Lions Club, they have a model and they've been following it for a very long time.
Chick-fil-A has a model.
And the employees are trained in that model.
Chick-fil-A wants you to know how their franchise works.
They franchise that model for a better company.
have a model.
FedEx has a model.
FedEx wants you to know that model.
They want you to know how it works and where you fit in.
Every successful unit.
Sports team has a model.
The military has a model.
And they want you to follow the model.
They've been using the same model.
The Navy has been in ship building and operating ships for decades, for a century.
And they want you to follow the model.
Teachers have a model.
And they follow the model every day.
It's a time-tested model.
People use it because it works.
The sports teams, the football team, you know, they have a model.
Tennessee balls, they got a model.
They keep working.
They want you to follow the model.
When the players come, they don't want the player to rewrite the model.
They want you to find your place in the model.
And then they want you to become an expert in your place.
So what is the model of the New Testament church when it comes to evangelism?
Well, when I did not come this morning or this afternoon to reinvent the wheel, the model was invented 2,000 years ago.
The model stood the test of time.
And if we want to know how to grow, we need
to go back to the model and franchise the model.
So what is the model?
What is it that we need to do in order to duplicate what the New Testament church did?
So what I want to introduce to you this afternoon is a model that comes right out of the book of Acts.
How do we get people to sit down around the kitchen table and have a Bible study?
How do we get them to open a Bible?
How do we get them into our home?
How do we tell the hearts of the people that live around us?
Well, the model is nuts.
It's not difficult.
It's a simple six step model that you can read about throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Jesus demonstrates it in his life, acts, implements it, and you can see it practiced throughout the pages of the New Testament.
And it begins with people.
You need contacts.
A church cannot grow without them.
You're not going to grow if you don't reach the people.
The people are the key to the model.
And every industry understands this.
Walmart calls them customers without them.
does not function.
And so you need customers.
You know, FedEx, you have to have customers.
There's no FedEx without customers.
Well, in the military, they need soldiers.
They recruit soldiers.
Without them, there is no military.
The volunteers need players.
Without players, there is no team.
And so the team doesn't function.
Dentists need patients.
Without patients, you have no practice.
Teachers need students.
The airlines need passengers.
You have to have people.
Everybody understands this.
But in the Church of Christ, where is our contact base?
Who are they?
How do we develop a customer base?
Customer acquisition.
And when you look at your strategy for reaching the lost here in Collierville, what's your strategy to develop?
Now, I know that Aaron has a customer acquisition strategy in his area of work.
He knows how to acquire them.
He knows how to use his resources to build and
and to draw in people so that he will have a base upon which to develop.
And some of you here, we have a family that he said he was a plumber, him and his wife, and they're getting ready to sell their business this afternoon.
He said, Rob, I can't make it this afternoon.
I've been in this business for 37 years.
I'm gonna sell my plumbing business today.
He says, and I'm meeting someone at two o'clock.
But I know that that man, I said, how many people work for you?
says, we have eight, we have six service techs, two secretaries.
knows something about what he's doing because he's got a customer base.
He's selling his customer base.
It's not just the tools that he has, it's the customer base that surrounds his business.
It's worth something.
And without it, he does not have any business.
He can't feed his family.
He can't support himself.
So where are your contacts?
So where are they?
So the church, the plumber understands it.
Diploma, he lives by it.
Walmart gets it, FedEx gets it, Chick-fil-A gets it.
How do we develop that?
So that's step number one.
So our school is based upon six simple steps, life steps, steps that everyone in this room practices in life.
Because if you don't succeed here, you fail, you cannot function, you cannot support your family.
Number two, you gotta prospect your contacts.
The military knows how to do it.
place their recruiting centers in high population areas.
That's where they put recruiting centers.
They want contacts.
They're not gonna put them in a desert.
They're gonna put them, not in Iuka, Sam, I'm sorry.
They're gonna be somewhere else.
And so they're gonna put that recruiting station where people are.
That's contacts, they need them.
When they finally find contacts, they're gonna prospect their contact.
$20,000 signing bonus.
I'll pay your college.
All you gotta do is commit four years to us.
Sign the dotted line, $20,000.
So they're prospecting.
Now know we're not going to offer $20,000 if you come to the Church of Christ, but the concept is they know how to prospect their contacts.
know, Josh Hypol knows how to prospect his contacts.
He brings them over to Thomas Bowlin Arena.
I'm talking about football players, five-star recruits.
I was there not long ago and I was watching a basketball game and the announcer comes on and he says, coming into the stadium now is Josh Hypol.
They put a big light on him and he says, sitting next to him at the five,
quarterback, signed him.
He's coming.
Now next year, he's gonna play.
But how did Josh Hyple sign him?
Listen to the crowd.
Look at the people.
Best fan base in America.
He said, I want you to look at the history of this area.
I want you to note the program we have.
I want you to understand the commitment that we're willing to make for you.
don't forget the NIL deal.
We do have the money.
They know how to prospect their recruits.
If a football team doesn't know how to prospect their recruits, the football team loses.
You gotta learn how to prospect.
So there's my question, how do we prospect?
Do we even know what the tools are?
Do we know how Jesus did it?
Because if we don't learn how to prospect our contacts, we're gonna fail.
So now we gotta plant the seed.
Every farmer knows how to fertilize and till up his soil.
He gets the soil, he acquires the soil, those are contacts.
And then he tills it up.
He runs his discs through it.
He runs a color packer through it.
He gets the rocks out.
He fertilizes, puts the nitrogen in there.
He makes sure he gets everything ready.
Isn't it interesting?
Gardeners know how to do it.
Farmers know how to do it.
Josh Heidple knows how to do it.
Church Christ doesn't know how to do it.
We have no idea how to do any of this.
We're not doing it, we're sitting in our pews, we have a sign out there that says come on in.
They're not coming because the gospel of Jesus Christ is a commission that says go on out.
And if we don't go out and get them, they're coming.
Jesus said go out to the highways and the byways and these are his words, compel them.
When's the last time you compelled anybody?
Most of us are not a compelant or a repellent because of the way we treat people, because we don't know how to prospect people.
Instead of a compelling, we're repelling and I would never go to that church if that's how they are.
And so we've got to learn how to do step two.
Now, those first two steps, they incorporate more than half of evangelism.
I'd say 60 % of evangelism is in steps one and two.
If you don't know how to do steps one and two, you lose.
And so we're gonna focus on steps one and two.
She walked down the aisle and she had a piece of paper in her hand and I went to the church and I said, church, I need help.
I said, I didn't grow up in Collegereville.
I don't live in Collegereville.
I don't work in this area.
I didn't go to school in this area.
I don't know people.
And I said, church, I need your help.
I need to know who you know.
I need to know the people that you live next to.
I need to know the people you're friends with and your sphere of influence.
So it doesn't matter if it's in Collegereville, wherever it is you live, that's your neighbor.
And I need to know who they are.
And I specifically want to know who they are when they have a life event.
event I want you to bring me their name so if they get sick I want their name if they have a if they just had a baby I want their name if they just got married I want their name if
get a divorce I want their name depression I want their name surgery I want their name funeral want their name whatever life event they go through I want you to bring me their
name and if you'll do that I'll help you bring them to Christ good deal
Brandy Fleming was the first one.
She walks down the aisle, she has a piece of paper in her hand, she says, Rob, I know somebody.
Her name's Sharon Fisher.
I said, great, Brandy.
She said, Rob, she's disgruntled right now, she just had surgery.
She said, I think we can reach her.
Now everybody open up the Evangelism Simplified Guidebook to page 105.
This is when the church gets busy.
This entire lesson is for the membership.
This isn't for Aaron, this is for you.
Page 105.
And this is the only time Aaron can keep his book closed and you can open your book.
Because this is about the membership.
105, we need to know who they are.
I need to know the prospects because this is the, this is the, this is kind of the bottleneck of the mission work.
If you don't do this, it fails.
We need to know who you know so we can bring them to Christ.
So we put on the list Sharon Fisher.
Look at, says name, Sharon Fisher.
Let's look at description.
She's a friend of Brandy Fleming.
Let's look at a relationship.
Again, friend of Brandy Fleming, description, she's disgruntled, she needs encouragement.
Listen to the address, put it on there, and let's hit that little box that says multiple, meaning that every member of the Church of Christ is going to reach out to, we're all
reach out to Sharon Fisher.
Erin, I know your wife, Erin, finds you irresistible.
I know she does.
That's why she married you.
Erin, look at me, I don't.
Okay, I can resist you, Erin.
Now, I want you to listen, Church.
You can resist one person.
but you won't resist to call your village Church of Christ.
We're not gonna just try to save Sharon with Brandy Fleming.
We're gonna try to reach Sharon with the entire Willette Church of Christ.
Everybody's gonna try to reach Sharon Fisher.
And so this is a different approach.
It's a congregational approach.
Now when I started this seminar in 2018, I called it a personal evangelism seminar.
I don't call it a personal evangelism seminar anymore.
About four years ago, I changed the name of it to a congregational evangelism seminar because I learned that evangelism is not about me, it's about us.
Evangelism is not about you, it's about everyone.
And if we don't get everybody participating, we fail.
And so evangelism isn't about just one person, it's about the entire Church of Christ reaching out.
And I knew that.
but I didn't market it correctly.
Because as soon as I say personal evangelism, you check out.
it's a preacher's job.
that's not what I do.
I'm not very good at that.
Aaron, Josh, that's for you and you can do that, but I'm gonna let somebody else do that personal evangelism stuff.
Well, let me be clear.
What we read about in the Bible is not personal evangelism, it's congregational evangelism.
It's when you get everybody in the church involved, everybody has skin in the game, no one shakes out, no one says, well, that's not my responsibility.
Let me be clear.
It is the responsibility of the entire Collierville Church of Christ to reach the
period.
You can't put that on the back of your preacher or you will break him.
You know we have something called preacher fatigue today.
You know what that means?
Preacher fatigue is when preachers burn out because they can't carry the church on their back.
They just can't do it and if they don't get the help they just finally give up and they say hey I'm tired of it.
I just can't do it anymore.
And so that's because we have a pastoral model.
And we don't call him pastors, that would be unscriptural.
But we do everything but that.
We expect them to do it for us.
And so this paradigm that I'm trying to build as we come to churches is a different paradigm.
It's a paradigm that doesn't revolve around Aaron.
It doesn't revolve around Justin.
It revolves around everybody.
Jacob.
Justin.
Very good, thank you.
right, it revolves around everybody.
And so this is very important.
So I went to the church and I said, church, let's build a prospect list.
Who went on it?
Sharon Fisher.
Now, what are we gonna do?
Compassion cards, lots of cards.
And we've tested this over and over again and we know exactly how to do this because we've done it for years with 325 churches.
What does that mean?
That means that you're going to send cards, two to three cards every single day for three to four weeks to your prospects.
cards are going to be designed to prospect your contact.
That's the second step.
And so we're going to open their hearts, fertilize, till, love them.
We're not going to offer a signing bonus.
Okay, that's not what we do, but we can offer grace, compassion, forgiveness, love, joy.
We can offer the very Christian graces, the fruits of the spirit, because that's what really people want.
People can get money, but what they can't get is your time.
People, you know, they can get stuff, but what they can't get is
forgiveness and grace and they need that in their life and we will provide it.
So what we want you to do is send two to three cards every day to every prospect for three to four weeks.
So what's gonna happen when you do that?
You're gonna open up the heart.
Now there's always a penny pincher in the group and all they can think about is the money.
And so what they're going to think about is this, but that's going to cost a lot of money.
And so if we had one card, we could sign it with 25 signatures, and it works just as good.
On what basis do you say that?
Okay, what study have you done?
Because we have done the studies and we have learned that that does not work.
You will not move the needle doing that.
You're just checking a box.
And if you want to check a box and say, I've done it, don't ask me to come.
Okay, so we know what works.
Two to three cards per day, per prospect, three to four weeks.
Now if you do that, you're gonna move the needle.
You're gonna get their attention.
You're gonna have an opportunity to reach their souls.
Now, that's what we do with Jimmy and Sharon Fisher.
They're our first test subject.
You know what happens when they got those cards?
They were overwhelmed by your love.
They couldn't believe it.
went to Brandy.
Brandy, that church that's praying for me, that church is sending me cards.
Brandy, I've never felt so much love.
Brandy, can you tell that church, Brandy, what can I do to thank that church?
He said,
Visit, come visit.
She said, I'll be there.
Sure enough on Sunday morning, that's exactly what happened.
They walked through the doors.
My wife and I got to introduce ourselves.
It's Sharon Fisher.
I said, Sharon, we're so glad you're here.
She said, are you the preacher?
I said, yes ma'am.
She said, preacher, would you thank the church for all the cards they've been sending?
I said, I'd be glad to.
I said, church, this morning we are visiting Jimmy and Sharon Fisher and they want to thank you for all the cards you've sent.
After services.
We walked up to him and said, Jimmy and Sharon, we happen to have this little custom here at Willette.
They said, well, what is it?
I said, we always invite visitors out to eat.
I said, we'd like to take you out to eat our treat.
Would you like to go?
Jimmy said, well, I like to eat.
I said, good, Jimmy.
I said, let's go eat.
Who doesn't like to eat?
Brother, when a steak costs $20, everybody wants to go out to eat, especially when you're paying for it.
And so we just took him out to eat.
I do this.
do.
My family does this all the time.
This is our MO, right?
took them out to eat, we got around the table, we just talked.
Jimmy and Shane, where you from?
Those are called the introductory questions.
I'm pretty robotic, I do the same thing every time.
You know why?
Because it works.
When I find something that works, why change it?
The crescent wrench has worked since we invented it.
That's why it's still called the crescent wrench.
It hasn't changed, men.
Of course you do have that eight inch to ten inch and six inch, but we've never changed a crescent wrench.
It's always a crescent wrench.
I just keep doing what I do.
I said, where are from?
I'm from a local boy.
I said, good, Jimmy.
I said, tell me about being a local boy.
He told me all about it.
I said, Sharon, where are you from?
I'm from the bayou.
I learned everything there was to know about Louisiana in 45 minutes.
I mean, she told me everything.
And so much that I couldn't get the question to.
That's all right.
It's okay.
So we finished the dinner.
And I said, Jimmy and Sharon, we surely enjoyed being with you.
Well, we did too.
I said, I hope we'll see you again.
you will.
I said,
I got to church Sunday night and I said, hey church, it worked.
I said, this is working.
I said, thank you for sending cards.
Now, I want everybody to go back to the card room and send the compassion cards and say thank you for coming, come back soon.
And we're gonna flood them with cards, more cards.
We're gonna send cards every single day, some on Monday, some on Tuesday, some on Wednesday, some on Thursday, some on Friday, equally distributed.
And we're gonna make sure they get the cards every day.
And we're gonna do it for three to four weeks.
Now, what happens when you do that?
to come back.
That's what happens.
They're gonna come back.
In fact, I was sitting in my living room one evening and I got a message from Brandy Fleming.
I saved the message.
You know why?
Because I knew it was a teaching moment.
I told Nicole right then, I Nicole, this is working.
I said, I'm gonna save this.
Someday I might even use it in teaching.
I received a message from Sharon's husband, Jimmy.
She said, Rob, he and Sharon received at least four cards a day thanking them for visiting or wishing Sharon well.
He said, Rob, it's just the type of church they've been looking for, one that would take
or Sharon if anything ever happened to him.
Now Rob, he says he's still praying and trying to let God lead him to where he needs to be.
Now Rob, I try to be very encouraging.
I even offer to have a Bible study sometimes.
Rob, I wasn't expecting him to message me back so quickly with the question, do you have to be a member there to take communion?
Now Rob, if he's asking that question, doesn't he need to know a whole lot more?
Any suggestions?
Suggestion number one, do not answer that question.
That's my first suggestion.
I typed it and hit sin before I wrote anything else.
I please don't answer that question.
I said, because if you answer the question, you won't have a Bible study.
Don't chase the rabbit.
You're not going to convert someone by having a discussion about the Lord's Supper.
That is not what you need to be doing.
I said, don't answer that.
I said, well, you can discuss it with him.
Don't answer it.
said, Brandy, I said, can you get them to come back to church?
He said, yes.
I said, we need to take them to step two.
They came back to church.
After church, Nicole and I walked up.
I said, hey, Jimmy is here.
And I said, we got a little custom here.
Another one?
I said, yes.
I said, my wife is the best cook in Macon County.
I said, my daughter, best dessert maker you'll ever meet.
I said, why don't you guys come over to the house?
We'll get to know you and have some good food.
they said, Jimmy says, well, I like to eat.
I said, me too, Jimmy.
And I said, don't y'all come?
Tuesday, they came.
Walked in our house.
We sit down.
We're talking.
We're going to go through the rest of the introductory questions.
Question number two.
Jimmy, what do do for a living?
He I'm a security guard at Bonnell.
So Lumen and in fact, they're down there in I-40.
I said, I get it.
I said, tell me some stories.
He's not a big talker.
It's OK.
Sharon Fisher, Sharon, what do you do for a living?
I'm a kindergarten teacher.
That's all that needed to be said for the next 45 minutes.
I heard about every child in the classroom.
Nothing was left out.
so I mean, I never got to question three.
And so we go to the dinner table.
We're having a beautiful meal, best food in the county.
And we're just having a good time exactly where I want them.
It always happens.
All you gotta do is feed them.
You don't have to ask any religious questions, you just feed them.
They'll bring it up.
Hey Rob, yeah?
Could we talk to you for just a minute?
I said, sure, what's going on?
Rob, uh.
She said, I want you to know first we're religious.
Well, I thought you were.
I said, you good people.
She said, we got that big community church down there at Westmoreland.
I said, I know the one.
I said, she said, Rob, we work in their children's home during the summer in Honduras.
I said, well, that's wonderful.
And she said, I'm a Bible class teacher too.
teach that.
I said, Sharon, that's great.
And she said, since I've been sick two months ago, I haven't got one card, one phone call or one visit from my church.
She says, don't even know where my preacher lives.
I said, I'm sorry, Sharon.
I said, I can see how that would be just difficult.
mean, she says, Rob, no one cares about me except y'all.
He said, complete strangers writing me cards every day encouraging me, people praying for me.
She says, you guys are different.
I said, well, Sharon, we care about you.
We really do.
And she said, I can see it.
I know you do.
I said, y'all have gone out of your way.
And Rob, this is our first time.
I said, first time for what?
She says, in all the years Jimmy and I have been married, no one has ever invited us into their home, not once.
Wow.
That's when things begin to, I begin to realize people are lonely.
I I grew up in a home where my mother constantly invited people over to the house.
I just thought that's what we do.
But you know today, are a lot of, when's the last time you had a center in your house?
When's the last time you just had a meal?
You ladies, cooked a nice meal.
You invited them over just to get to know them.
We don't do that anymore.
I began to realize that this is opening a door.
I said, this is great.
said, Jimmy, sure, we've enjoyed this.
I mean, just love this.
I said, I tell you what.
I said, we've enjoyed it so much.
Why don't y'all come back next week?
And Jimmy said, will she cook another meal?
I said, yes, Jimmy.
I said, what would you like?
He said, I love lasagna.
I said, it's her specialty, Jimmy.
At least it became the specialty.
and so, in any way, they came back the next week.
And sure enough, Nicole made the lasagna.
makes the dessert, chocolate chip cookies.
I love it.
And so, we're all sitting around just
I'm a great time.
I'm going to help him.
Hey Jimmy, I said, this nation's in trouble.
He said, yes.
I said, what's wrong with our nation, Jimmy?
Tell me what you think's He said, Rob, it's the morals.
it is.
I agree with that.
Well, tell me about that, Jimmy.
Why are the morals so bad?
Rob, don't you know we've forgotten God?
I said, we have, have we?
I said, Jimmy, tell me about God.
He said, now, Rob, it's all in the Bible.
I said, what do you know about the Bible?
He said, Rob, it's in the book of Revelation.
I said, well, what about it?
He said, Rob, it's Armageddon.
Battle of Megiddo, 144,000.
Rob, pestilence, rapture, it's coming, Rob.
You gotta get ready.
Haven't you read the Left Behind series?
Now we did that in 60 seconds.
Brother, how many of you wanna start a Bible study out in the book of Revelation, anybody?
Because I don't.
And I said, Jimmy, the book of Revelation says a lot of things.
said, thankfully, Jimmy, I said, I do have the answer to all the problems you just gave.
what hard bay.
said, Jimmy, I tell you what, I just so happen to have, let me see if I have them.
These are the booklets are called Back to the Bible.
And I said, Jimmy, why don't we go right over here to the table?
said, in fact, we just so happen to have some Bibles and pins, John 832, when we started the Bible study.
I do this a lot.
I don't ask people for Bible studies.
I earn them.
You've eaten my food.
You're in my house.
You'll do the study.
We just sat around the table and we started it.
We went through the study and we loved it.
At the end of the study, Sharon Fisher, she makes a little fish, she gets a little bit upset, she hits the table and I looked at Sharon and I said, Sharon, you upset?
Yes, I am upset.
I said, Sharon, what just happened?
You guys, I want to know.
church all my life and I've learned more about the Bible in this one study than I have learned my whole life.
I didn't even know there was a difference between the Old and New Testament.
You get it don't you?
Because most people have never done a Bible study in their life.
They've never done a Bible study.
You want to know why they're lost?
They've never studied the Bible.
No one has invited them to their home.
No one has gone to a study.
They don't know their left hand from their right hand.
I said, hey guys, I said, I'll tell you what.
I said, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I said, by the way, would y'all like to come back for another meal and a study?
And Jimmy said, would she cook any more of those desserts?
I said, yes, Jimmy, what would you like?
He said, peanut butter pie.
I said, it's her specialty.
Yes, we will have peanut butter pie.
So Hannah makes a peanut butter pie, Nicole makes one of her nice meals.
We have a great meal, we sit down, and then we do the second study, and they loved it.
They enjoyed it.
Couldn't have gone.
So then they come back for the third meal, the third dessert, and the third study, and we do it again.
Guess what happens when people study the Bible?
They're baptized.
Brethren, you show me a church that's doing Bible studies in their homes, I'll show you a church that's having baptisms.
You show me a church that's not doing this, I'll show you a church that's dead.
I'll show you a dying church.
Because this is how churches grow.
It's when the members realize the enormous potential you have.
Ladies, you have an ability that you don't even realize because most people haven't had a home cooked meal in six months.
And if you don't think you can cook, I got a suggestion for you.
Go to the KFC, get the bucket, put it in a platter, they'll never know.
You've been doing it at Pharris Hook Meals for years.
We still haven't figured it out.
We just think you make good fried chicken.
Let me share with you what happened.
Look, I want you to look at Miss Sharon Fisher after that Bible study.
She is doing a Bible study in Jamaica.
Within one year of her conversion.
On the other side is Richard Pratt from this morning, he's doing a Bible study.
On the other side is Jimmy Fischer, he's doing it.
I want to know how we've got brand new Christians that know enough to do a Bible study and those of us who've been in the pews for 30 years, we don't know enough.
Shame on you.
We should be ashamed.
We know plenty.
We know more than they know.
So what did I learn?
People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
That's what I learned.
My wife taught me this lesson.
there was ever a time when I needed to listen to my wife who was during this stage of the development of evangelism, that she brings something to the table I just don't have.
She taught me to slow down, to get to know people, eat with them, care about them, be genuine and authentic, and you'll get the Bible study.
So where do we find that in the scriptures?
Well, it's all through the life of Christ.
I mean, think about the people Jesus spent time with, the leper, the blind, the hulk, the main, the poor, the women at the well, even John 2, the wedding feast.
That's a life event, by the way.
Have you ever noticed that Jesus focused on the life events?
And when there was a life event, he's there.
It's hard to get people when there's not a life event.
Remember the rich young ruler?
Hard to get to him, isn't it?
Not having a life event, everything's good.
Hard to help people when things are good.
And he turned away and was sad at the same time, for he had great possessions.
The greatest teacher in the world couldn't get to him.
So I wanna know, who do you know having a life event right now?
Who's depressed?
Who's going through some difficult times in their life?
Who's having surgery?
Who's just lost a loved one?
Does this church know anybody like that?
If you know someone right now, a neighbor, friend, or family that's going through a life event, raise your hand.
It's not hard.
All we've got to do is have a plan, and we've got to care.
But that's gotta come from your church.
This is not gonna be organic.
So I can't just teach a lesson and all of a sudden we're just gonna start converting people.
No, there's gotta be a process involved.
There's gotta be training that takes place.
We've gotta make sure the membership understands what we're trying to do.
And in the early church, that's what they did.
Praising God and having the favor with the people.
The church was a favorable place.
People loved the church of Christ.
Why?
the Church of Christ.
Well, because they garnered the faith, they were a graceful people.
They were a kind people.
The Pharisees were not the church people.
People didn't like the Church of the Pharisees.
They didn't like the denomination of the Sadducees.
They didn't like the denomination of the Zealots.
You know when they took Judaism and they denominated it?
You just couldn't be a Jew.
You had to be a Pharisee Jew or a Sadducee Jew or a Zealot Jew or an Essing Jew.
It's not hard to apply this if you just think.
What have they done to Christianity today?
Why they denominated it.
I just want to be a Christian, that's all I want to be.
Jesus just wanted to be a Jew, didn't he?
That's all wanted to be.
Well, oh Jesus, we want you to be a Pharisee.
He said, no.
We want you to be a Sadducee.
No.
Then they both ganged up on him and crucified him because they were envious because he wouldn't join their sect.
We're not joining any sects in the Church of Christ.
We're just Christians, we love people, and we want to help them see the cross.
And so what did the church in the early century do?
They sold their possessions.
They gave things away.
They were, they were benign.
as many as were possessors of lands and houses sold them.
And distribution was made to every man according as he had need.
Jesus increased in wisdom and stature in favor with God and, there's your word, favor.
Favor with God and man.
Did people like Jesus?
They loved him.
Why?
Because he was favorable.
He was graceful, he was kind, he was compassionate, he listened to people.
Some said, preacher, what you're saying today is just too hard.
just can't do this today.
This isn't gonna work in Calderville.
It works with every human being on earth.
Everybody, everybody wants people to listen.
If there's one characteristic about every human being on the face of this earth from Antarctica to the North Pole, here it is.
Everybody likes to talk about themselves.
I mean, everybody, everybody loves to talk.
And if you can just listen to people, they'll talk.
And in fact, I would suggest that our society today is more susceptible to favor than any society on the face of this earth in history.
You know why?
Because we are lonely.
How do I know that?
I'll show you how I know that.
That's how I know we're lonely.
Because when God created you, he created you to be a social creature.
That's how I know it.
Genesis 2, 18, God formed you out of the dust of the ground.
He breathed into your nostrils the breath of life.
Man became a living soul.
In Genesis 2, 18, the Bible says that man was lonely.
And God said, I will make a help meet for you.
We don't do well alone.
Sociologists don't know what to call it, but there's a phenomenon going on right now in our culture, and they don't know what to call it.
You know what it is?
Social media has changed completely how we socialize with people.
because it's created an artificial socialization network where we can artificially try to fill that void.
But what we're finding is that you can have 5,000 Facebook friends, but you're still lonely.
Because Facebook can't fix this.
Twitter or X can't fix this.
Truth social can't fix this.
Instagram can't fix this.
Because what people need is a warm-blooded human being to talk to.
And we don't have it.
Most people, all they get is that.
So how do we fix it?
I'll give you four things.
Y'all ready to write these down?
Four things you can do to fix it.
So if you want to fill the void, and there's a vacuum, there's a void, and a void is a vacuum is always filled.
That's why these social media companies are billion dollar companies, a fill and a void, a vacuum.
Someone's gonna fill it, but I can just guarantee what we have is far better than what Mark Zuckerberg has.
We've got something far better than that.
All you gotta do is sit down with them, talk to them, and listen to them.
First thing you gotta do is open up your house.
You gotta unlock the deadbolt, put out the welcome mat, and invite people in your home.
Have people in your house and talk to them, or listen to them.
I mean, use your home as a mission statement.
Brother, we gotta understand it's biblical.
Acts 5.42 and daily in the temple and every house, they cease not to preach and teach Jesus.
Where did they do that?
In their home.
Acts 2, 46, and they continuing daily with one accord in the temple, breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with singleness and gladness of heart.
Where did they do it?
In their homes.
Acts 20, 20, how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but I showed you publicly and from house to house.
You've got to open up your homes.
We cannot be successful if we do not share the blessing of a home with those who are outside of Christ.
I want to get back on Wednesday.
Guess what's going to happen Thursday in my home.
My wife will open her home.
Her and Hannah will bring in a stranger to do a Bible study on Thursday.
We are in a hotel 200 nights a year.
If my wife can do it, you can do it.
And then on Friday, we're doing it again with another, another couple.
Because we know when we have you in our home, you are baptized and you don't even know it yet.
You're in my home now.
And I'm love you like you've never been loved before.
And I'm gonna show you the cross.
And I'm gonna share with you the blood of Christ.
Try to resist it.
It's gonna be hard.
But you know we don't do that in the church.
You know what we do?
Well they're going to come forward.
They're not coming brother.
They're not coming forward.
All right?
They're not, it doesn't work.
What we've got to do is we've got to get people in a personal situation.
All right?
Where we can share that with them.
And this is hard because we're all busy.
We all get these insane schedules that we try to keep up with.
And so yes, we're going to have to carve out time for your neighbor, carve out time for others.
But I know that if I can ask my wife to do it and she can do it, everybody else can do it too.
I know you can do this.
It's just do you want to?
Next, in Luke chapter 19, Zacchaeus made haste, come down from there, for there today I must abide at thine house.
Why did Jesus want to go to the house of Zacchaeus?
You think it was to learn more about Roman tax policy?
I seriously doubt it.
Why did Jesus want to go to his home?
There's only one reason, to seek and save the lost.
That's what it says in verse 10.
How powerful is the home?
Jesus knew it was powerful.
Let's keep going, you want to see more?
Luke 736, and one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him.
He went into his house and he sat down to eat.
Why did Jesus go into his house?
Why not just do it on the street corner?
Because it doesn't work well on the street corner.
You ever seen these people preaching on the street corners?
What do you consider them when you see them?
They have mental disorders.
Stay away, they're dangerous.
It doesn't work, they may not, I don't know.
But I know that when I'm busy going down the road, right, in my car, the last thing I'm gonna do is stop it and go up somebody in a street corner and listen to them.
Okay, and let me give you another place it doesn't work.
It doesn't work well here.
Most visitors, when they walk in the church building, the first thing that goes up is called shields.
They hear about fourth of what you say.
Put them in your home, feed them.
They'll listen.
You know, we used to be good at this.
How many of you older members remember a time, I'm to ask you to raise your hands if this fits, you remember a time when a visitor would come in, there would always be people ready
to take him into their home to feed them.
You all remember that?
yeah, we used to be good at it.
In fact, I'll just say this, today, in every, almost every country but ours, we still do that.
Because my family has traveled, and I'll tell you, I'll go to a foreign country, and the first thing, come over to the house.
I mean, she's completely unprepared.
Now, you'll sit there for two hours as she prepares, and she will prepare.
And then they do this commonly.
We don't do that anymore.
We better get back to it.
Hospitality.
So it's more than just your house.
We gotta learn how to treat people once they're inside of it.
We gotta learn how to relate to people.
We gotta learn how to interact with people.
We gotta learn how to socialize with people.
Jesus increased in wisdom and stature that's intellectually and physically in favor with God, that's spiritually, and man, that's social.
Never been a more social person than Jesus Christ.
He's the most social person who's ever lived.
People loved him.
You gotta learn how to be social.
And it came to pass, Jesus sat, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto the disciples, why eateth your Lord with publicans and sinners?
Why would you do that, Jesus?
I mean, you're thinking the name of Christ.
I I can't believe you'd spend your time with sinners.
Now want you to notice how Jesus responds.
Jesus said, they that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Brethren, if we'd spend as much time with the loss as we do in our fellowship meals, people would be saved.
We love to socialize with the brethren.
I get it, I love you.
I enjoy talking to you, but you're saved.
I want to know about the people outside this building.
I wanna know about the people that are lost.
I wanna know about the people who need the cross.
Jesus said, they that are whole, they don't need a physician, they don't understand.
Don't learn what this means.
I will have mercy and not sacrifice.
Behold I've come to call not the righteous to repentance, but the sinners.
We have got to learn how to do this.
Another good example is Mary and Martha.
What about Mary and Martha?
Martha says, Jesus.
Come over to the house.
You come to our house, we'll take care of you.
He walks inside the house and what does Mary do?
Mary sees Jesus and Mary says, wow.
Hey Lord, would you tell me about Abraham?
Lord, tell me about the kingdom.
Lord, tell me about Moses.
Lord, tell me about heaven.
And then of course there's Martha.
Martha's in the house thinking, man, I got the Lord Jesus in my house.
This is an incredible opportunity.
oh no, the Lord is in this house.
Oh, I've got dust bunnies in the corner.
They've not been, oh no, I told my husband to sweep those out.
Oh, my floors are not clean either.
And my furniture's not been polished.
And oh, I got the musty smell in the house.
This is awful.
think I'm a terrible house cleaner.
What am I going to do?
My silverware's not polished.
This is just awful.
I'm not a very good cook.
I've to cook something and he's probably got a peanut allergy.
I'm going to kill him.
You know what Jesus said?
Martha, Martha, thou art troubled about a great many things, but there's just one thing that matters.
And your sister has chosen the good part and I won't take it away from her.
How many things matter in life?
How many things?
One thing.
There's just one thing that matters.
Is it possible that we're majoring in the minors and minoring in the majors?
Is it possible that we've become so self-fulfilled?
We're more worried about pine saw on the furniture than we are about souls that are lost.
Shame on us.
Principle number three, we gotta learn to hearken.
James 1.19, wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.
Let me give you a theological definition to this verse.
You ready?
This is deep.
God gave you two ears and one mouth.
You are to listen twice as much as you're to speak.
Pretty good.
I'm sad, I don't need Greek or Hebrew for that one.
I just needed to listen to people.
People want you to listen to them, so listen.
So when Jimmy and Sharon were in our living room and Jimmy says, now Rob, it's all in the book of Revelation.
Pretty important that I'm listening.
Or when Sharon Fisher says, now Rob, in my first marriage.
Kind of important that I listen to that, isn't it?
or when they talk about their religious background.
Important that I listen to that.
Now is not the time for talking.
Now is not the time for interrupting.
And now is not the time for correction and instruction.
Now is the time to listen.
It's okay.
We're not very good listeners sometimes.
We wanna talk and.
We try to teach them everything they need to know in the house and that's not good.
We don't need to be teaching them anything.
We just need to listen to them.
Brother Bobby Bates, the great evangelist, once said, if you'll give them information, excuse me, quote, if you'll show them interest, they will give you information.
All you gotta do is show them interest.
And so just care.
And they'll give you all the information you need.
You don't even have to ask.
They'll volunteer it.
Nothing's off limits.
In 1950, off limits.
You don't talk about that.
2025, there's nothing off limits.
They tell you everything.
They will embarrass you.
They will talk about things you wish they would not talk about.
They're gonna ask you questions you wish they would not ask.
And they're gonna use words that you don't even, you may have to give it some thought, words that you wouldn't even say, but they're gonna ask, because they don't have no
filter.
There are no filters in 2025.
No filters.
People just say what's on their mind.
All right, so be prepared.
What should you do?
Listen.
Don't comment, just listen.
Just be sympathetic.
Realize they're not where you're at.
They don't know what you know.
You should not expect them to.
Don't correct them.
They may not wear, you know, their most modest clothing all the time.
They don't know.
And so they may not use a language.
You know, sometimes my wife and I are with people and they use language.
It's very inappropriate.
I would never use that language, but now's not the time for me to correct them because I have a goal to bring them to the cross and I need to give them a little space.
All these things are important because I'm listening to people.
Mark 4.24, and he said unto them, take heed what you hear.
You know why?
Because you're accountable for it.
You're accountable for it.
By the way, do know you're accountable for your neighbor?
You're accountable for your coworkers?
You're accountable for the people in your sphere of influence?
You will give an accounting someday.
That word accounting is, it's a frightening word.
Accountants give an accounting of their.
of their numbers, of their tally sheets.
And if you're off at the end of the day at Walmart, if you're off, you're in trouble.
You gotta find out where it's at.
We're gonna find out who somebody's steal from us.
We're gonna find out, I think there are Christians stealing from the living God every day.
Look 18, take K, therefore how you hear?
Let's come in the eyes.
Don't play on your cell phone.
Look them in the eyes, talk to them.
Give them your undivided attention.
Make sure they know you're sincere and you care.
Go to principle number four, hesitate.
It's our last one.
Hesitate, you gotta learn how to hesitate.
If we can learn how to hesitate, brethren, we know that if we can do this, we can hold back, we won't ruin the environment.
We'll have a Bible study.
What do mean by that?
Well.
Sometimes it's just not the right time.
When Sharon Fisher said, now Rob, in my first marriage, hesitate preacher.
Now's not the time to talk about marriage, divorce, and remarriage.
When Jimmy said, now Rob, he said, when Jesus comes about, don't you know about the earthquakes, the tsunamis, and the volcanoes?
Brethren, most people don't know enough about the first coming, much less the second.
Why in the world are we engaging people on the second coming when we haven't even got them to the cross?
All right, stop doing that.
Hesitate.
It's now is not the time.
And so there's ample evidence in the life of Christ where he'd said, not yet.
I'm not gonna do it just now.
Tell no man.
Holds his peace.
He wrote on the ground as though he heard them not.
Why?
Because it's not the right time.
Timing's important, isn't it?
Husbands, do you ever pick the right time to talk to your wife about things?
You ever know when not to talk to her?
Any husband who's been married for any length of time knows that one.
How about wives?
You know when to talk to your husband and when not to?
All right, so there times you shouldn't talk to him?
Maybe when he's exhausted.
Now's not the right time, right?
And so, how about our children, mothers and fathers?
Do know there are times to talk to your children and times not to talk to them?
Of course!
So I just always find this fascinating.
Mothers get it, fathers get it, husbands get it, wives get it, the boss gets it, the employee gets it, but what about the Christian?
Do we get it?
We better.
We better learn those lessons.
Because they're going to bring up their doctrine.
They're going to bring up the tongue speaking.
They're going to bring up Mount Miracle, Mount Version.
Rather than instead of climbing Mount Version, let's climb Mount Conversion.
Why are we climbing Mount Version?
We just met these people.
Now is not the time to talk about the different versions of the Bible.
Let it go.
We're not talking about elders and preachers.
We're talking about people who are not even Christians yet.
Do you really want to climb Mount Versin and take out your sword and fight on it?
Because that's what you're going to do.
Don't climb Mount Miracle.
Don't climb Mount Second Coming.
Just leave it alone.
I don't want you to climb Mount Sports Team.
You know what's going to happen, don't you, brother?
They're going to be Alabama fans.
and you're going to have to like Alabama to get a Bible study.
You can do it.
I know it's hard, but I know you can do it.
Go Crimson, my, go Crimson Tide.
If I'm gonna do that to get a Bible study, so be it.
Okay, you take a deep breath, you can do it.
All right, Georgia.
Mounts politics, they're gonna have a different political persuasion than you do.
They're going down your, you
And they're going to go, I mean it's going to be, you know, they're going to just assume you believe everything they believe.
That's what Americans do.
And they're just shocked that anybody believes any differently.
Brethren, let me be clear.
The Republican Party and the Democrat Party are not worth it.
The parties aren't worth it.
There's one party I'm a member of.
It's called the Christian Party.
And I'll take that one to my grave.
We're not gonna let money divide us.
Just be careful.
So all these things you should probably hesitate a little bit.
Just hold back.
All right, you just need to have a sympathetic ear.
You know, Jesus never let the Herodians divide him, did he?
The political party.
They tried.
Jesus, should we give the taxes to Caesar?
That was an attempt to divide Jesus by politics.
He was smarter than that, didn't he?
he's smart about this stuff.
And Jesus, what about that old resurrection?
Who's gonna be married in the resurrection?
They thought they had him, didn't they?
He wasn't biting on that.
You know, if we would just follow his example and not bite on this stuff and allow this stuff to distract us, we hesitate, we hold back.
You know, I've put four more lessons in your hands tonight.
Four lessons, I said this morning, defer, don't debate.
When they ask questions, just defer them.
Number two, show them, don't tell them.
Number three, plant, don't pick.
Number four, open up your home.
Number five, extend kindness and hospitality.
Number six, harken and listen to people.
Number seven, hesitate.
Don't climb up a mountain unless you're willing to pull out your sword and fall on it.
There's only one mountain I wanna climb this afternoon and it's called Mount Galgotha.
and I'll climb that mountain with you.
I'll take Calvary any day of the week.
That's the mountain I want.
And I'm so laser focused on it.
And if I can take you to the cross, you'll become a Christian almost every time.
But you know why they don't become Christians?
Because we don't take them to the cross.
We're too busy on Mount Tongues speaking.
That's why we're losing.
And we've got to learn how to be like Jesus.
She came down the aisle and she had a piece of paper in her hand and...
Man, it's building, will let.
We've gone from 220 to 300, and the church has got it.
And they bring those contacts to me, and they prospect them.
And Brandy Fleming walked down there.
One of the most evangelistic sisters I've ever met.
Never conducted a Bible study to my knowledge, but she's evangelistic.
And I grabbed a piece of paper and I said, Dustin McKinney.
I said, wait a minute, you talking about the basketball coach, Dustin?
She said, yeah.
I said, Brandy, I coach basketball in Cookeville.
I play Dustin in Red Bowling Springs.
what's wrong with it?
Robbie's got cancer, and it's not operable.
I said, Brandy, Rob, I think we can prospect him.
I said, I'll put him on the list.
So we put him on the list, the church started praying for Dustin, sending cars to Dustin, and after about a week I grabbed my son Jared, said, Jared, let's go meet Dustin McKinney,
let's go see him.
And I went to the house, knocked on the door, he opened the door, I said, what's going on?
I said, hey, Dustin, said, huh?
We talked about the season a little bit, we play each other, and I said, Dustin, I said, I heard you had cancer, Dustin.
Yeah.
I'm sorry, man, I don't know how I'd feel right now, but I came to help you.
He said, what can you do to help me?
I said, I can pray.
I said, would it be okay?
My son came in, we just came to pray with you.
He said, man, Rob, please pray for me.
So we bowed our heads and prayed and I finished a prayer and I said, Dustin, I said, is it okay if I come back to pray again?
He said, Rob, you can come back every day and pray.
Don't worry, I will, because I have one mission and I never lose sight of my mission.
A week later I grabbed one of the elders and I said, let's go visit Dustin McKinney.
Went over to the house, knocked on the door and said, hey, Rob, what do you got there?
I said, just a friend of mine, Steve Draper.
Come on in, Steve Draper.
Now I'm in the house.
I have one mission.
I sat in the living room.
Now his little son, his name is, ready, ready, Neeland.
Neeland is his name.
He runs across the living room, little tight basketball, whoop.
He's excited, we're talking about Tennessee, know, basketball.
ball.
Things are going good and I looked around the
I saw your card.
Thank you.
I saw your card too.
I saw yours.
And their house is covered in cards.
And I don't ask questions I don't know the answers to.
I said, Dustin, where'd all these cards come from?
That church I preach for, Rob, they send cards every day.
Oh, they do.
It's strategic.
He says, Rob, those cards get me through the day.
I can't tell you how much they mean to me.
I said, well, Dustin, we're glad to pray for you and keep encouraging you.
And I guess I noticed your lawn's getting a little tall out there.
Rob, the doctor says, I can't get under the sun.
They won't let me.
I said, Dustin, you know what?
Your lawn will be mowed every week by the Willette Church of Christ.
Steve Draper, the elders over here.
He said, will.
Now, when you work with elders, it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.
It works very well.
So anyway, so now we've got it all done.
And so we were walking out of the house, we prayed, and we got to the church that night.
The elder said, Rob, we need to see you.
Uh-oh.
And they said, Rob, we get it now.
And I love these moments as a preacher, when the elders look at you and say, we get it.
We want to help, Rob.
I said, what do you want?
Send a message to Dustin and Natalie.
I said, what's the message, gentlemen?
They said, you tell them we'll pay their highest medical bills, no questions asked.
Wow.
I said, are you sure you want me to say that?
They said, yep.
Don't tell anybody.
Tell them this is not to be told.
I said, yes, sir.
So I went to their house.
I told them, you ought to have seen the look on their face.
And Natalie says, hey, Rob.
He said, I don't know what to say.
I said, it's OK.
We love y'all.
We care.
Hey, Rob, we finally found a surgeon to do the surgery.
I said, great.
Where is he?
said, Vanderbilt Hospital.
I said, man, I'll be there.
Rob, can't go to Vanderbilt.
That's too far.
I said, I'll be there.
That morning I got up, I told my wife, I'll tell you all day honey, you what happens.
I said just keep the church updated.
want you to update.
It's a day of prayer for Dustin McKinney.
And I got to the hospital after the surgery.
The surgeon comes out.
He says McKinney family, I raise my hand.
I've never seen anything like this, Miss McKinney." He said, it was worse than we thought, but I, Miss McKinney, I got it out.
And I said, Doctor, can I pray?
He said, you better, son.
He said, I can't explain what just happened today.
He said, but I think I got it.
Two weeks later they called me and they said, hey Rob, we're filling up to it, you can come over.
I loaded my family up, went to the house, I'm sitting at the living room surrounded by your cards and prayers and love.
It's not hard.
Hey Dustin, would you like to know more about Jesus?
He said, Rob, I'd love to know more about Jesus.
Good, I just so happen to have, let me see if I have them.
These little booklets are called Back to the Bible.
Can you send a card?
Can you?
Can you give me a name?
Can you send a card?
Can you?
Who here can't help us?
Who here is just gonna be a bystander?
Brethren, it's time that we get some skin in the game.
And everybody in this church needs to step up and help.
We must earn the right to have a Bible study.
Church, you've got to earn it.
And you earn it together.
You work together.
And when you work together, train your members, it's gonna take a little time, equip them with tools, and then begin reaching out.
You can grow.
People are growing all over this country because of that.
It's a great tool.
It's not just one tool in our toolbox.
Nicole wrote a book called Recipes for Evangelism and after this session we'll open that table up and you can take a look, but this is one of her books.
She's only written one book and that book says this.
Sharon Fisher wrote a chapter in it.
So these are Sharon Fisher's words, not ours.
The hospitality we were shown made all the difference to our willingness to get involved in a Bible study.
Without my wife, there is no study.
I can't do it without her.
She's more than my best friend.
She's far more than that.
You want to learn how to reach the lost?
You start working together.
Husbands and wives work together.
As a church, you're a widow or a widower, go to your preacher and say, I'll help you.
Eddie's got three boys.
Eddie, you need help cooking?
I'll help cook.
Eddie, you need help cleaning?
I'll help clean.
Work together, church.
Help each other.
I mean, there's so much that you can do right here in this church.
So I'm thankful for your time and efforts.
This afternoon you're here, that means you love souls and I'm gonna offer the invitation.
If you're a child of God and maybe now's the time to make a change in your life and maybe you need strength and wanna come before this church and ask the church to pray for you,
maybe there's a church we all need to pray.
Render our hearts and not our garments.
Make this an inward change, not an outward change.
Change my life, God.
Help me be the Christian I need to be to my neighbor.
Maybe you're not a Christian and maybe someone taught you and you've not obeyed the gospel.
This invitation is yours.
All you gotta do is come, we'll take your confession, we'll baptize you into Christ for the remission of your sins.
You'll be added to the greatest army in the world, the army of Christ.
So Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
God help us be like Jesus.
Will you come as we together stand.