Hi there. My name is Richie Seltzer with Revivalist Culture, and I want to welcome you to God Today. I want to talk to you about sharing your faith, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God, but how can they hear unless somebody preaches? That word “preach” means “proclaim with words.” It doesn’t mean preach at all times, and if necessary, use words. St. Francis said that, but not Jesus. Jesus said, preach the Gospel, preach Me, proclaim with words, just like the Apostle Paul said, that unless you preach, they can’t hear it.
I want to encourage you to preach the Gospel. I want to teach you about how you can use words of knowledge to preach the Gospel. I was in the parking lot one time, on my way to get groceries, and I felt pain in my right shoulder. I don’t normally have pain in my right shoulder. I pulled in with my mother-in-law and I started laughing as soon as I felt the pain. My mother-in-law said, “What you laughing for?” I said, “My right shoulder started hurting”. She said, “That’s not funny.” I said, “No, no, no, you don’t understand. It’s not my pain.” At that moment. My mother-in-law realized I was talking about God, and she got kind of nervous. I remember, or got excited, I don’t know which one it was. And uh, so we go into the store. By the time we get in there, I’m telling everyone, “Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you, Jesus loves you.” There’s this one guy highlighted to me everywhere in the whole store, but I’m looking for somebody with right shoulder pain. So I ignore that one guy. I get up to where the peppers are being sold, and I see this guy doing this with his shoulders. Just kind of rotating his right shoulder. I say. “See? There he is!” I walk up to him and I say, “Hey, by chance, do you have pain in your right shoulder?” He says, “Yes, I do. I had surgery on it years ago from an injury I got while I was in the Army.” I said, “Would you mind if I pray for you to be healed today? I felt like God showed me that somebody was going to have right shoulder pain today, and that He wanted to heal them.” He said, “Sure, you can,” and he turned around and he started shopping again.
See, he thinks I’m going to pray on my own time. But I even got bolder. Got more risk. Faith spells “risk.” And I said, “No, no, no, excuse me, Sir. I just want to pray for you right now.” The worst that can happen is nothing. “Can I pray for you really quick? I won’t be weird. I’ll pray short, brief and powerful.” Practical tip. If you’re praying for somebody in everyday life, short, brief, powerful. It doesn’t take a long prayer to get somebody healed. So I say, “I’ll pray short, brief and powerful.” “ Uh, I guess so.” I started praying for him, short, brief, and powerful prayer. Afterwards, I said, “Amen.” He said, “Thank you very much,” and he turns around to go shopping again.
See sometimes, we’re just proud of ourselves for stepping out and taking a risk, but we don’t actually believe that God’s going to heal the person. I want to suggest, if you believe it, then ask them to try to do something they couldn’t do before. So I said, “No, no, try to do something you couldn’t do before, Sir.” He said, “What?” I said, “Yeah, try to do something you couldn’t do before, without pain.” He starts to do his right arm in a circular motion again. And he says, “Well, I be dang!” Different word, but you get the point. And he starts doing his arm, like a windmill in a row. “Oh my gosh, it’s as good as new! How’d you do that?” And everybody starts looking, and I said, “Jesus healed your arm.” And I’m so excited, see? But if you present Jesus as Healer, He’ll heal. If you present Him as Savior, He’ll save. See, somebody can go straight to hell with a healed shoulder. I want to encourage you. Don’t just present Jesus as healer. Presented Him as Savior. So that happens everywhere that I go. When I pray for people, I don’t just leave it at He heals you, but I’m also wanting to communicate not only did He heal your body, but He’ll heal your soul.
I get around the corner, and I see that other guy. God speaks to me. He says, “This man is creative.” I say, “Hey man, the Lord told me that you’re creative. That you’re a creative genius. That if you worship in The Secret Place, He’ll give you songs and melodies that’ll change the world. You’re uniquely gifted. You play unique instruments. You have a unique voice. And God says, if you’re worshiping in The Secret Place, He’ll give you songs to change the world.” That man looked at me and his jaw dropped open. Where it seemed like an eternity, he pulls out his wallet. He gives me his business card. He said, “Everything you just said is what I do for a living. Everything you just said is what I do for a living.” We exchanged numbers. The next day, he emails me. He says, Richie, I just want to say thank you for stopping me in the store. I now know what I always hoped to be true. That God is indeed real, and always around us. He emailed me six months later. He said, Richie, I just want to let you know, I’m still doing good with Jesus. And I just wrote and directed all the music for the Calgary Theater in downtown Calgary. He’s influencing our whole city with creativity, and now he knows Jesus, all because, as you go grocery store shopping, as you go to the gas station, as you go, God is speaking to you always, be ready in season and out of season to experience what He’s saying to you, to hear what He’s saying to you, and to preach that Gospel!
In Jesus’ Name, I pray that every one of us would realize we’ve been given the Ministry of Reconciliation. We would have eyes to see what You’re doing, so that we can join You in what You’re doing. And we can say what You’re saying in people’s lives in Jesus’ name, Amen.