Sharing the Gospel Is Easier Than You Think | Ken McIntyre

Discover what it means to “fish for people” and how God can work through you to bring others into His grace.

Through practical steps and inspiring stories, Pastor Ken challenges us to live out and talk up our faith. In this final message of our “Follow Me” series, Pastor Ken dives into Mark 1:1-18, exploring the heart of the Gospel and the call to follow Jesus by sharing the Good News.

 🏆 Weekly Challenge:
This week, take a tangible step in sharing the Good News. Identify one person in your life who needs to hear about Jesus' grace. Invite them to coffee or a casual chat, and share your personal testimony of how Jesus has impacted your life. Measure your success by the act of sharing, not the outcome. Let this be your step in "fishing for people" and living out your faith.

🎧 If you missed last week's episode, catch up here to understand the foundational call to deny ourselves and take up our cross, as explored in Matthew 16:13-26.

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Transcript

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Maybe you're listening and you're like, Hey listen, the gospel part, I'm about that. That's great. The grace part, amazing. I'm all about that. The fishing part, isn't that what we pay other people to do? I don't know what to say. I'm unqualified for this. Well, the disciples were the most regular, unqualified people in the world. We are in our second and final week of a real short series we're calling, Follow Me. Where we're looking at one question. We're trying to bring clarity to just one question. What does it mean to follow Jesus? So last week we laid the foundation. Jesus himself gives the clearest statement in all of scripture of what it means to follow him. In Matthew 16, he says whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. So he's saying, if you want to follow me, it's going to cost you, you. Today I want to look at the second irreducible, non negotiable aspect of following Jesus. And so we're going to go to Mark chapter 1. Right off the top, verse 1, this is what he says. The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God. I want to talk to you quickly about this idea of good news, this phrase, good news. It's the same word as gospel in Greek, so you can use those two words interchangeably, good news and gospel. So depending on what translation you have, it might read gospel there instead of good news. Now in first century Roman world, which is where and when Mark is writing, this idea of gospel, the word, it carried a lot away. It was significant and joyous news, often tied to a political or a military victory. And so messengers and runners would be sent to the corners of the empire, you know, declaring that, that a new Caesar had taken the throne and that his reign would bring peace and security to all people. Or maybe a military victory. We have fought and we have won. All hail Caesar. So in Mark 1, when you hear this, the beginning of the good news, the gospel, it's about Jesus the Messiah, Mark is being a little subversive here. He's saying, no, no, no, what you think is gospel is not real gospel. Who you think is Lord Caesar is not the real Lord, it's Jesus. The true good news comes from Jesus Christ. And so right off the bat, this idea of good news separates Christianity from every other world religion. Because every other world religion does not define as Good news. They don't, they don't self define that way. Instead, they're good advice. There's a big difference between good advice and good news. Good advice is something that you should do. Good news is a report of what has already happened. So let's, let's imagine you're in medieval times and there's an army that's coming towards your village about to take you over. And someone comes and says, listen, someone's coming to destroy your village. Let's build up a nice, big, strong wall. And here's how. That's good advice. But imagine someone comes riding in a messenger and says the king has defeated the enemy. There's no need to build a wall. The war is over. That's good news. That's a big difference, right? Between good advice and good news. And so Mark is saying, hey, listen, I got good news for you. It's gospel. And so what is this gospel that Mark is talking about? In 1930, uh, 1930, excuse me, there was a British conference on comparative religions. And And so they gathered all of these experts from around the world who wanted to talk about the unique Aspects of christianity if there was any and they were stumped they're saying is it is it the fact that god had become man? It's like actually that's not unique to christianity other, you know mythologies would include that in their in their religious variations Was it this idea of heaven or the eternal soul? It's like no Is it love of neighbor? No, is it good works? You No? So this debate goes on and on. And then famed author and theologian C. S. Lewis walks in. And so they ask him, What is unique about Christianity? He goes, Oh, that's easy. Grace. Grace. That's what's unique about Christianity. So if you want to start talking about the gospel, you gotta start with grace. And grace really begins with the character of God. So this is the first thing we have to understand. The character of God. Particularly his holiness and his love. So God is holy, meaning He's perfectly good without a trace of evil. And because of that, He wants to rid the world of evil. And that shouldn't surprise you because you hate evil, right? And you want to rid the world of evil, right? At least in other people, you don't like evil in other people. Sometimes for whatever reason, we seem to be okay with it in ourselves, but we don't like it in other people. So that shouldn't surprise you. Not only is God holy, but God is love. 1 John 4, 8 says this. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. Love is not just something that God does. It's actually who He is. It's His nature. So the way that God always works in the world is at the perfect intersection of His love and His holiness. He never, He doesn't ever do anything that is not holy. He doesn't do anything that is not loving. Every action that He takes is the intersection of those two things. So that's the first thing we have to understand. The second thing we have to understand is the human condition. God is holy. I am not. Despite what your mama says, you aren't either. Okay, I hate to break that to you, but you know that. You know you're not perfectly loving. You know you're not perfectly holy. Even if you don't use God's Word as your standard for right and wrong. Even if you don't use this as a standard of good and evil, you intuitively know that you mess up. You intuitively know that you're not perfect. You know that you missed the mark. In fact, this term sin that we use in Christian theology, that is an archery term that means just that, missing the mark. And so since God is holy, and you are not, His holiness and your sinfulness separates the two of us. Again, this shouldn't be a surprise for you, because if someone sins against you, right, if you're at work and you hear that somebody lied about you to the boss, you're like, Oh my goodness, I can't believe they did that to me, right? Something happened there. Their sin, their lie, it's like friends off, the relationship is now broken. And so we have a problem because God is holy and we are not, we are separated. Thirdly, and this might feel like a little bit of a left turn, but I want to talk about the Old Testament sacrificial system. In ancient times, God decided that the payment for sin would be the death of an animal. And this sounds disgusting to us. It's supposed to be. God is showing us that sin is disgusting. It's disgusting. It's messy and even results in death. He's telling us that sin is serious. And so the animal would become a substitute for the sinner. So instead of the sinner receiving the punishment, the animal would receive the punishment instead. And the animal had to be perfect. Okay. No defects, no illnesses. You couldn't just offer up a goat with like a gingivitis. Okay. You have to choose the best of the best. You can do that. The point being that perfection was required to blot out and cover and cancel imperfection. You couldn't have an imperfect sacrifice that would just make the situation even worse. You needed a perfect sacrifice to cancel out the imperfection. And so you might ask, why does God need to do this anyway? I mean, is God, can't he just like just sweep it under the rug? Why does this have to happen? It's actually, no, he can't. Because he never does anything that violates his character, and he is holy. You wouldn't want a God who shrugs his shoulders in the face of evil. You wouldn't want that. You wouldn't trust a judge who would let a criminal go free, and so you wouldn't trust a God who would let a sinner go free. And so God is holy, and so he confronts sin. But he's not just holy, remember, he's loving. And so that brings us to Jesus. See, the Old Testament sacrificial system was temporary. It just served as a sign of what God was going to do. At the beginning of the Gospel of John, John the Baptist, he sees Jesus. And, and these are the words that he says about Jesus. He says, look, there's Jesus. Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus was the perfect substitute for you and for me on the cross. And every sin that had ever been committed to that point, and every sin that would be committed in the future, was placed on and covered by the death of Jesus. And so the cross is the ultimate symbol of where the holiness and the love of God intersect. His holiness because sin was dealt with, but his love because he dealt with it himself. This is what the Apostle Paul says in Romans 5. God demonstrates his own love for us in this. That while we were still sinners, couldn't earn it, didn't deserve it, Christ died for us. This is a stop everything, something wonderful has happened gospel that Mark is trying to get at. And so that's the, that's the framework, or maybe the, the technical or theological framework for grace. But I want to show how this works towards you. And I want to share this by a story, a paraphrased retelling of the prodigal son from Philippiancy. I thought this was just beautiful and would get the point across. He writes this, There was a young girl who grew up on a cherry orchard just outside of Traverse City, Michigan. Her parents were a bit old fashioned and tended to overreact to her nose rings and her short skirts. They grounded her a few times, and one night, when her father knocked on the door after an argument to try to reach out to her, she screamed, I hate you! Later that night, she ran away. She headed for Detroit, and on her second day in the city, she met a man who offered her a ride, bought her lunch, and arranged a place for her to stay. He even gave her some pills to make her feel better than she had ever felt before. And she knew she was right all along. Her parents were just trying to stop her from having fun. The man even taught her how to make some money by doing things with men that she knew her parents would never approve of. Every now and then, she thought about her parents back home, but their lives just seemed so boring and old fashioned she could hardly believe that she even grew up there. However, she had a brief scare when she saw her picture on a billboard with the headline, Have You Seen This Child? But now she had blonde hair, and with all the makeup, nobody would ever mistake her for a child. After a year, the first signs of her illness began to appear. It amazed her how fast her boss turned mean, and he told her that he couldn't risk having anyone around who was sick like that. And so he threw her on the street. One night as she lay awake listening to the footsteps that might harm her, everything about her life suddenly looked different. And she felt for the first time like the little girl that she really was. Lost. In a cold and frightening city. Suddenly, a memory came into her mind of springtime in her hometown with the cherry trees in bloom. And she started saying to herself, Why did I leave? She began to cry. And knew that more than anything else, she wanted to go home. So she tried to call her parents, but three straight calls, three straight voicemails. But on the third call, she left a message. Mom, Dad, it's me. I was wondering about maybe coming home. I'm catching a bus up your way, and I'll get there at midnight tomorrow. If you're not there, I understand. It took seven hours for the bus to make all the stops between Detroit and her home, and during that time, all she could think about was all of the flaws in her plan. What if they're out of town? What if they didn't get the message? What if they don't even want her back? Then she began to rehearse what she would say. Dad, I'm sorry. It's my fault. I knew I was wrong. Dad, can you forgive me? She said the words over and over and over. Finally, the bus rolls into the station. I wonder if they'll be there. She got off the bus and taped across the terminal back wall was a sign that read, Welcome Home, and she wondered, Was that for me? Then out of the crowd stepped her dad. She walked towards him, not knowing how he would respond. Would he be angry? Would he let her come home? She didn't deserve to come home. Through her tears, she started to say, Dad, I'm sorry, I know, but her dad immediately interrupted her with the biggest hug that she'd ever received in her life. You're home. That's Grace! That's grace. God loves you. God loves you. He has forgiven you. He's welcoming you home in Christ. And there's nothing that you could do to deserve it. You can't earn it. Because it's grace. You can't earn grace. It's given to you. And that's really good news. And so, this is where I want to continue and pick up in Mark, chapter 1, verse 14. This theme of good news. It says this, after John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. The time has come. He said The kingdom of God has come near, repent and believe the good news. As Jesus walked beside the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew, casting Annette into the lake for they were fishermen. Come follow me. Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people. At once, they left their nets and followed. Do you see the order of things? The order is important. You know, Jesus says, follow me, and then, after you follow me, I am going to send you out to fish for people. The order is important because God has first and foremost called you to himself. The primary mission of your life, the reason you're here, is to enjoy a relationship with God through Christ. That's it. That's a primary calling on your life. But that's not just it. You have a secondary calling on your life as well. God has something for you to do. This is what Paul says in Ephesians 2. Probably the clearest explanation of the gospel in one sentence. This is what Paul says. For it is by grace that you have been saved through faith. It's not from yourself. It's a gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. Verse 10. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do. Before you were even born, God had like a job sheet for you. Like, this is it. This is what you were made for. This is what you were born for. See, a Christian doesn't just show up on Sunday, right, with their nice clothes. Listen, I woke up this morning, I even ironed this. That's how, that's how much I cared about my nice clothes this morning. But it's not just that. We also need a good pair of work boots for the rest of the week. We need a good pair of car hearts because we have work to do. What's that work? Jesus says, and I will send you out to fish for people. Jesus is reorganizing Simon and Andrew's life. He's saying You used to fish for fish, but I'm calling you into something much more important. I'm calling you into something much more deeper. I'm calling you through me to live a life of impact through me to show people the exact same grace that I showed you. And this isn't a small thing because this is not only the first task. That God has given his, his disciples, but also the very last one as well. In Mark 16, this is what it says. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Jesus is saying, don't forget what I'm about. Make the main thing, the main thing. Yes, the gospel, the good news, it's for you. It is for you, but it's not just for you. It's for everybody. You better share it. You better tell people, that's what I want your life to be about. So the good question might be, well, why? Of all the work. That Jesus could call us to. Why is this primary for him? Because this is what Jesus came to do. Luke 19 says this, For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. John 3, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save the world through Him. 1 Timothy 1, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's His mission, His purpose. Of whom I am the worst. Remember, the question we're looking at is what does it mean to follow Jesus? It means that you do what Jesus did. That's what it means. And Jesus fished for people. It might sound like strange imagery, but I love it. Because what happens when you fish? You are pulling a fish from one realm into another. It's like a whole different space. Now, the sea, for ancient people, was a symbol of chaos, of darkness, of death. To fish, then, is to bring someone out of that realm. Now, this is what happened with us. This is what Paul says in Colossians 1. For He, Jesus, has rescued us from the dominion, the realm of darkness, and brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Here's the bottom line. God wants to work through you to save others. That's what He wants to do. God wants to work through you to save others. Some of you may be happy about that. Some of you have some objections. You have some reservations about that. I'm sure of it. Maybe you're listening and you're like, Hey listen, the gospel part, I'm about that. That's great. The grace part, amazing. I'm all about that. The fishing part, isn't that what we pay other people to do? Isn't that a pastor's job to do? But, anyway, I'm introverted. So this is just for all those other people. I don't know what to say. I'm unqualified for this. Well, the disciples were the most regular, unqualified people in the world. So here's Here's my pastoral advice to you in regards to this objection. Get over it. That's it. That's it. You gotta get over yourself. God wants to use you and work through you to say, do my best sharing with them what Jesus has done in my life. That's the responsibility. See the power of the gospel is not in a dynamic presentation. It's not. The power of the gospel is in the work of the Holy Spirit applying Christ's saving work to the heart of the hearer. The power of the gospel doesn't rely with you. It relies with God. You're never gonna make the gospel seem so cool that you have a line of appeal feeling. Can I join? That's probably not gonna happen. Listen, people rejected Jesus. Your responsibility is simply to cast a line and let God do what God does. Now, maybe another objection, maybe the most real objection for you is, well, I don't really think it's good to push your beliefs on other people. It's like, okay, number one, who said, right? Number two, why not? And number three, who cares? We live in a culture defined as postmodern. And the major tenet of postmodernism is this. There is no objective truth, everyone can have their own, and just make sure you don't push your truth on other people. Does that sound familiar? So let's just play this game, just for a moment, okay? So there's no objective truth, which means that that is not objectively true, which means There is objective truth. It's, it's a system that's built on a, on a contradicting thought. It has to be abandoned. And we don't take our cues on what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong by our culture. We have a tool for that. And it can't be improved. And so this is what we use. Jesus didn't say, go into all the world and preach the gospel 21st century. Then it's fine. Then it's fine. I get it. It's really hard. That's not it. God wants to work through you to save other people. So we have to lift our heads out of the cultural muck and just simply be obedient to Christ. And let the cards fall where they fall. So, you can't follow Jesus if you don't do what He tells you to do. And sharing the good news is what He tells us to do. And so the question might be, well, okay, well, how do I do it? How do I share the gospel? And I don't want you to overcomplicate this, again, because Jesus did not. There are really two aspects that I want to share on what you need to think about when it comes to sharing the good news. Number one, you have to live it out. And number two, you have to talk it up. You have to live it out and you have to talk it up. Live it out. Hypocrisy is going to kill your credibility. Meaning, this isn't going to work if you're a jerk. Okay, write that down. This is not going to work if you're a jerk. You have to allow the gospel to shape you. You have to. If you're bitter and jealous and filled with anger and pride and you gossip at work, I mean, that is going to kill your credibility. It doesn't mean that you have to be perfect. I mean, that's not possible, but you have to allow the gospel to shape you. The gospel says that you're loved, so live like God loves you. The gospel says you're free, so live like you're free, not enslaved to your evil desires. The gospel says you have peace with God. That's wonderful news. Live as if you have peace with God. Let the gospel shape you. And so when it comes to sharing the gospel, you have to live it out. But number two, you have to talk it up. You know, being, you know, a good dude who, who, who shares a beer with his friends and, you know, plays fantasy football just to show how normal and cool Christians are is not what, what Jesus is calling us to. Some of us have, have, have been witnessing to our friends or our co workers for over a decade and they don't even know you're a Christian. Like, you haven't shared what, what God has done in your life. You haven't shared what Jesus means to you. That's like fishing without a hook. It's like sitting in a boat, just hoping the fish sort of jump in. You can't do that. You have to talk about it. You have to. It's a non negotiable. Because, because we're told how, the key ingredient of faith. And it's not through seeing, it's not through observing, it's through hearing. This is what the Apostle Paul says, Faith comes through hearing the message. And the message is heard through the word about Christ. And so you can't just live it out, you also have to talk it out. Listen, when we, When we love something, the most natural thing that we do is we talk about it, right? And if you have a great, you know, band that you love, or a great movie that you watch, or a great restaurant, we just share that news. We don't expect people to guess our favorite restaurant. Like, oh, you look like a keg guy, right? We don't expect that. We tell them. When it comes to sharing your faith, you don't have to have an answer to every single one of their questions. I know that that's scary for us. What if they have a question I can't answer? Listen, you don't have to know everything. You All you have to know is what Jesus has done in your life. He forgave you when you felt unforgivable. He gave you peace in the middle of a chaotic moment in your life. He provided when you were in need. He healed your broken heart. He gave you new purpose. He showed you your true worth. He showed you your true identity. He gave you the courage to, to, to confront a problem. He, he gave you a new family in the church, a new hope. He was faithful with you every single step of the way. He saved you. You can share that. You can talk about it. I want to tell you a story of my friend Larissa. Larissa came to Canada last year from New Zealand with her husband and two children. No jobs, no friends, just came. She had her children in daycare and Danielle, one of our co workers here at the church, she also had her children in that same daycare. And Danielle became friends with Larissa. Now, she didn't see Larissa As a fish to be reeled in. Oh, I got a live one. Like she's not thinking that about Larissa, right? That's in genuine. That's not how relationships work, right? People are not problems to solve. They're not tasks to be completed, right? People are to be loved. And so Danielle loved Larissa. And because they were friends, Danielle would share about her life. And because Jesus is central to Danielle's life, how could she not share about it? That'd be weird. How could you ever be known? How could you ever really be friends if people don't know what's most important to you? And so, Danielle just shared about Jesus. And she invited Larissa to church, and Larissa came. And she invited Larissa to an Alpha course last spring, and Larissa came. And Larissa, during Alpha, made a decision to follow Christ. And then, last Thursday, Larissa was just in the gym over here. And then next month, Larissa is going to be in the baptismal tank. Amazing. Amazing. God wants to work through you to save others. So I want to ask you, who needs to hear the good news in your life? Who needs to hear what Jesus has done in your life? Get your work boots on. You got some work to do. We have a number of opportunities coming up right away. For you in this avenue. We have Christmas Eve that's coming up. Canadians are twice as likely to attend church on Christmas than any other time of the year. Okay, you got momentum on your side. So we got some invites. Now grab some on your way out and don't just throw them at your friend and run away, okay? Simple. Simple. Be a human, okay? Hey, I'm going to Christmas Eve. Would you like to come sit with me? See what God does with that. We have an Alpha course that's starting up in January. Alpha is a practical introduction to Christianity for people who aren't Christian. You You know, if you have people who are skeptical, who are questioning, maybe they're atheistic, maybe they have a different, you know, religious background, Alpha is for them. You get a wonderful meal, you sit and you, you get teaching that is, um, for them, where they're at, and you have a discussion. It's awesome. And it's free. Now, if you're like me and like, well, I want to check that out before I actually invite a friend to that, I get that. We actually have something called Alpha Preview Night that is for you. It's not actually for your friends who aren't Christians. It's for you. That you can come and you can experience Alpha firsthand. You're gonna get a good meal out of it, and you're gonna see what Alpha is like so you have some confidence. to invite some people to that. Later this afternoon, you're going to get an email with all of those different details. And so if you don't get our emails, you can get them at HopeCity. ca forward slash weekly. Why don't you stand? I'm going to pray. God, we're so thankful that in your word, we can, number one, know who you are through Christ. We can know who you've called us to. That the goal of life is to know and be known by God. And so we thank you for your grace. Amen. Not something earned, not something deserved. We don't work for it, but because of your holiness and your love through Christ, we can know you. And so Lord, we just renew that commitment in faith today. We love you, God. We love you. Lord, we're all so thankful that we can be, um, rock solid. We can know without a doubt what you are calling us to. You've called us to yourself, but you also have work for us to do. And the work is to tell people about your good news, that Jesus Christ loves them, they can be forgiven, and all that comes through is faith. It's an act of grace. God, I pray in your Holy Spirit that you would fill people with courage, you embolden them, Lord, to witness, to share. Lord, to fish. Lord, our heart breaks. Just, I pray that you would help people, uh, have their heart break again for those people in their life that don't know Jesus. Don't let us just be okay with that and accustomed with that. Lord, but people are, are going to spend eternity without you. And Lord, you have put us in their life to share. We're not responsible for what happens. Lord, we put that with you. But Lord, we are responsible for our witness. And so God, I pray, Lord, that you just put just this new inspiration and encouragement in our heart. Lord, to work. To tell people who you are. You don't love us because we do that. You love us because of Christ, but you've asked us to do this in obedience. And so, God, we pray that we would be obedient. Fill us, God, with your spirit to allow us to do the things that we are afraid to do, that we don't know how to do. Lord, you want to work through us to save others. So help us be obedient, God. We pray this in the wonderful name of Jesus. Amen. If you're here today, and you don't know Jesus, but you would like to know Jesus, www. We would like to help you do that. We're going to have some pastors at the front left here who would love to pray and talk with you. If you got to go or maybe you're just not interested in talking, you can scan that QR code on the screen or your seat back. That will help you take some next steps. Thank you so much for being in church today, and we'll see you next week.