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Just One Challenge - Week 1: Preparation
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I want to start with a story that happened recently. I was at the airport early in the morning, got picked up by an Uber driver at 4:00 AM. During the drive, we got into conversation about his life. He told me about struggles in his marriage—his wife had cheated on him, he had cheated on her with her friend, and now they were trying to work things out but it wasn't really working.
My heart broke for him. So I asked him a simple question: "Have you ever thought about involving God in your life? God can help you with all of that."
Then I shared my own story. I told him, "There was a time before I knew Jesus when I was addicted to cocaine. But Jesus forgave me, and since then I've been walking with God. It was as simple as ABC."
I explained: "You just need to admit that you're a sinner, believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead for your sin, and confess him as your savior. If you want to do that, I can help you. We can do it right now."
When we arrived at our destination, before I got out of the car, I asked him to pray. And he did. He prayed to accept the Lord right there in that Uber.
Here's my question to you: Why did he get saved? He wasn't even thinking about God. He was living his life completely separate from faith. He got saved for two reasons. First, Jesus loves him. Second, Jesus put him in my path at 4:00 in the morning so I could share an opportunity with him.
I've asked all of you to bring one name—just one person—who needs Jesus. How many of you have a name? Raise your hand really high.
If you didn't raise your hand, I want to give you an opportunity to think of someone in your life right now who doesn't know Jesus. Think about someone who, if they don't get saved, will not only go to hell, but will live a more miserable life than necessary.
I was at a conference, sitting at a table with a teenager. After I preached the gospel, he asked me: "If I live my life wild—drugs, women, all kinds of craziness—and right before I die, I ask Christ to forgive me, will he forgive me?"
I said, "If you're sincere at that moment, yes, he will."
He replied, "Well, why would God let me cheat him like that? I live my life my way and then get saved at the end and go to heaven."
I told him, "You didn't cheat God. You cheated yourself. You had a jacked up version of what your life could have been."
We want to give people the opportunity to have the best life they can have. And that only happens with Christ in their life—to help them understand who they are and why they are.
Acts 1:8 says: "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth."
When you get saved, the Holy Spirit gives you power to be a witness to Christ. Now, these locations are both literal and metaphorical. Jerusalem represents your family. Judea is your friends—just outside that circle. Samaria represents your enemies. And the ends of the earth are people you don't know.
Just pick one. Say, "I've got someone in my family. I've got a friend. I've got someone I don't like who doesn't like me. I'm going to pray for them."
You might ask, "Why would I do that for someone I don't like?" The Bible says, "Love your enemies." Why? Because when you weren't walking with God, you were God's enemy. The Bible says you had enmity with God. You pushed him away. But God said, "I still love you. I'm going to send you somebody."
There may be somebody in church right now who's mad at God—maybe because their father died, or they came on a date and got dragged to church. But God loves you even though you don't like him.
I want you to be thinking about who your "just one" is. I want you to think about what would happen to them if they never, ever get saved. I pray that God would break your heart for them.
Today we're starting a five-week sermon series in the book of Mark called Just One Challenge. Over these five weeks, we're going to guide you on a journey to prepare you to share the gospel with this person.
Week One (Today): Preparation. You're going to pick somebody you're praying for and prepare by learning and memorizing your gospel story—which we're teaching you right now.
Week Two: Love. We're going to talk about how to love that person. This isn't about winning an argument or checking a box. It's about loving people. We'll give you four steps on how to love people—not just your "just one," but everybody you meet.
Week Three: Invitation. We're going to look at Jesus's invitations to people. He invited people into relationship, and he didn't always get "yes." So how did he respond when he got "no"? We'll learn from him.
Week Four: Gospel. We're going to talk about sharing the gospel itself.
Week Five: Discipleship. What happens if someone gets saved? What do you do? We'll give you all the information you need to help them in their discipleship journey.
We're going to give you a digital tool on your phone—a web-based app called Just One—where you can get messages every week throughout this series to encourage you in these steps. You'll sign up, put in your contact information, name the person you're praying for, and add a prayer partner if you want. Then you'll receive text messages throughout the five weeks reminding and encouraging you.
Let me explain something important by looking at Mark chapter 9. But first, I need to help you understand the Bible as a story.
The Bible is a story from Genesis to Revelation. Every story has similar components: an introduction, conflict, climax, resolution, characters, and setting.
The introduction: God created the heavens and earth. He made man in his image, and he walked with them in the garden. That was the plan.
The conflict: The devil shows up and deceives Adam and Eve to turn against God. Then the whole Bible becomes about this conflict—God preparing man for the Savior who will come.
The climax: Jesus on the cross. The devil thought he won. God said, "Not yet."
The resolution: Jesus rises from the dead and offers us salvation. Revelation shows us living in a new heavens and new earth.
Every gospel in Scripture follows this pattern. Every gospel introduces Jesus as Savior and introduces the kingdom of God. There's conflict—the devil and demons tempt Jesus, the Pharisees oppose his whole three-year ministry. His disciples mostly support him. Then the climax: Jesus is crucified. And the resolution: the Resurrection.
In the book of Mark, there's an interesting concept called the Messianic Secret. When Jesus performs a miracle or someone declares who he is—when they realize he's the Christ—he tells them, "Don't tell anybody."
Why would he do that?
In Mark 1:34, it says: "He healed many who were sick with various diseases and cast out demons and he did not allow the demons to speak because they knew who he was."
Why? Because those demons were angels in heaven. They knew him. He kicked them out of heaven. When Jesus confronts a demonic person, the demons always bow down to him. The demons always do what he says. Do you always do what God says? Do you always bow down to him? The demons are more obedient in the Bible than we are.
Jesus says, "Don't say anything. Why? I don't want the demons to be my PR campaign."
In Mark 1:44, he heals a leper and says: "See that you say nothing to anyone. Just go to the priest and show them your healing so you can be restored back into community. But don't tell people about what healed you."
In Mark 5, he healed Jairus's daughter and commanded them strictly that no one should know it.
Why? He didn't want people just flocking to him to see what they could get. A lot of us go to God to get something. Once we get that something, we don't need that someone. So he said, "I don't want that. I don't want you making me the president, the king. I don't want to be a political figure. I want disciples who trust me for who I am and what this kingdom is all about."
Then Peter in Mark 8:29 said, "You are the Christ." And the first thing Jesus said was, "He strictly warned him that he should not tell anyone."
Why would Jesus not want people to say, 'I know who the Messiah is'? We're going to find the answer in Mark chapter 9.
Mark 9:1: "He said to them, 'Assuredly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.'"
Mark 9:2-4: "Six days later, he took Peter, James, and John and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no one on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses and they were talking with Jesus."
Now, Elijah represented the prophets. He's the only prophet who never died. He was taken to heaven on a chariot of fire. The book of Micah says Elijah is going to come back.
Moses represents the law. He wrote the law—the first five books of the Bible. The Bible says he died on Mount Nebo and God took his body. No one ever saw his body.
So both of them are on the mountain: the law and the prophets. And Jesus. And we're going to see the Father come.
Peter says: "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles—one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah."
Because Peter didn't know what to say. You know those kinds of people who just say stuff when they don't know what to say? Sometimes it's really good to just be quiet.
Then a cloud came and overshadowed them and a voice came from the cloud saying, "This is my beloved son. Hear him."
Suddenly, when they looked around, they saw no one but only Jesus.
Mark 9:9: "As they were coming down the mountain, he commanded that they should tell no one the things that they have seen until the Son of Man has risen from the dead."
Here's the answer: You can learn Bible information all day long, but until you have revelation of who the resurrected Jesus is, your life isn't going to change that much.
The disciples were seeing this, but they didn't understand the whole story.
All of us—our lives are a story. How you grew up, where you grew up, what you learned as a kid, the pain, the experiences—both joy and sadness that you've experienced, your illnesses. All your life, as you were experiencing these things, guess who has been interpreting and narrating the story for you? The devil.
He told you, "Here's why those people don't like you. Here's why your father died. Here's why your parents got divorced. Here's why you didn't get picked to start on the football team."
You have all these experiences all your life, and the devil's whispering in your ear. He's telling you how to respond, how to interpret what people mean when they look at you a certain way.
How many of you have heard in your mind someone looks at you in a way that you don't know why, but you decided in your mind why they looked at you that way? What they meant? What they're thinking? The devil's whispering in your head. He has interpreted for you and developed a whole narrative about who you are—all based on a lie.
When I was my rookie year with the San Diego Chargers, they asked me to go speak at a junior high school. I said, "I am not a speaker." Who told me that? God didn't tell me that. The devil told me that. So I go there, sweating bullets in front of third graders who have no concept of oratory skills. I'm shaking, sweat pouring down my face. They had this huge banner welcoming the San Diego Chargers. After nine hours trying to get the kids settled and sitting down, they finally introduced me. I said, "How y'all doing? I'm Miles from the San Diego Chargers. I'm so glad to be here. Thank you very much." That was it.
The devil had lied to me all my life. But when you get saved, God has an opportunity to change your story.
Evangelism is sharing your story, God's story, your gospel story. Discipleship is developing your gospel story. Discipleship is not about collecting information but gaining revelation about who you are in Christ.
So what we're going to do is learn your gospel story today in three very simple steps. I shared these at the beginning:
We're going to do three one-minute-and-fifteen-second exercises—maybe not even a minute—with the person next to you. You might say, "I don't know the person next to me." That's okay. We talk to people all the time. This is a friendly environment. You're in church.
Revelation 12:11 says: "They overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony."
The blood of the lamb is the blood that Jesus shed on the cross—his sinless blood. And the Bible says in the same sentence: the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony. Why? Because your testimony that God changed your life is evidence that the blood of the lamb was on your life.
Your testimony is very powerful.
Here's what you're going to do. You're going to take 60 seconds and share with someone next to you. Keep it short. Here's mine:
Before Jesus, I was addicted to cocaine. Then Jesus forgave me. Since then, I've been walking with God.
That's it. Don't go back to kindergarten through high school and summer camp. We don't need all that. You can do that another time. Just keep it short.
Introduce yourself. Say your name. Then share your testimony. Simple.
Here's something crucial: I got saved in 1984. That was 42 years ago. As an evangelist, I've been sharing the gospel for 42 years. 95% of that time, I've shared my testimony, and nobody has ever refuted it. They've never said, "That's not true. Prove it." Nobody.
That's your secret weapon. Please, please share it. The Bible says it has power. Don't back down. Don't think you have to know all the theological things. And if someone asks you a question you don't know, just say, "I don't know. But here's what I know: I was blind. Now I see." That's your secret weapon.
Next, you're going to say: "And that's all because I said a prayer as simple as ABC."
Let's read it together:
A: Admit that I was a sinner and needed forgiveness. I was destroying my life. B: Believe that Jesus died for my sin and rose from the dead. C: Confess him as my savior and ask his forgiveness.
It's simple. You learned ABC when you were three years old.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Not your intelligence. Not your articulation skills. Not your rhetorical skills. Not your sense of humor. Not your personality. These don't save people. The gospel does that. God can use all those things, but at the end of the day, it's the Holy Spirit that saves.
Remember: no matter the response of the other person—whether they say yes or no—don't let Satan talk you out of sharing. I've had every response imaginable, both good and bad, and I still have all my fingers and toes. That's not on you.
You could even say, "Hey, I learned something in church. Can I practice with you?" Then you say, "Would you like to do it for real?" They might say, "Oh, yes."
There are people walking around right now with no exit strategy from the misery they're in. When they hear the gospel, everything changes. I've been in discussions where people are going back and forth, back and forth about various questions. Then I just say, "I understand you have a lot of questions, but would you like to get saved?" And they say, "Yeah."
Never assume you know what someone will say. You don't.
Here's the flow:
First, share your testimony: "I was... Then Jesus... Since then..."
Then say: "It's as simple as ABC. All you have to do is admit that you're a sinner, believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, and confess him as your savior. Would you like to do that?"
If they say yes, you lead them in a prayer. You ask them to repeat after you out loud.
Tell them: "I want you to say out loud what I say. I'm going to say something and then I'm going to pause so you can say it out loud."
Then lead them:
Dear Jesus, I admit that I'm a sinner. I believe that you died and rose from the dead. I confess you as my savior. Please forgive me. I surrender my life to you.
You speak and let them repeat after you. It's important that they say it out loud. When you declare with your mouth, you demonstrate faith.
I want you to practice all three parts. If you can put your phone down and actually say these things to someone, you'll be amazed at how powerful it is.
We've created an app called Just One where you can:
You don't have to memorize anything. Everything will scroll on your screen, and you can practice, practice, practice.
Let me be very clear about something. I've been pastoring this church for 26 years. I became a youth pastor 40 years ago. If there is one thing I want before I die, it's that the church God gave me can share the gospel.
We could have thousands of people, and you could worship all day long, read the Bible, quote the Bible. That's all great. But let me tell you carefully: The devil would love for you to learn the Bible, praise God, serve each other—just don't talk about Jesus. The devil loves when Christians stay in their little circle and don't touch his people.
Years ago, there was a school across the street. The headmaster said to me, "You keep your Christians over there and we'll keep our heathens over here."
That's what the devil doesn't want—you talking about Jesus.
Yes, Bible study is great. Small groups are great. But the whole point—the reason the church exists—is to share the gospel. Jesus said, "I came to seek and save the lost."
Jesus also said, "If you follow me, I'll make you fishers of men." And what that tells me: If you're not fishing for men, you ain't following him. I'm not saying you're not saved, but that's what he said.
When you go to work, when you go to school, and you see these lost people around you, how hard is it to say, "Hey, you mind if I share a story? I used to be this. I used to be that. Then Jesus came into my life. He forgave me. It was simple as ABC. Would you like to do that?" That takes 20 seconds.
There's a brother here who was driving down the street drunk, getting high, chasing women for years. God stopped him on the street, took him out of his car, and looked at a yellow line in the street. God said, "If you follow that yellow line, I'll get you through all this fog. You can't see. In the same way, if you follow me, I'll lead you to life." He got saved right there by himself.
Don't ever underestimate God. Just speak. Because if you don't, the devil's tricking you. And if you don't do it this week, and you don't do it next week, pretty soon it's five years later. And you think, "Oh, yeah. I remember that thing—ABC." But meanwhile, your mother died. Your aunt died. Your grandfather died and went to hell.
My grandfather was my hero. On his deathbed—he lived in upstate New York and I was living here. He was dying, so I flew back and drove three hours up into the mountains. He was laying in bed dying of cancer, and I said, "Grandpa, do you want to accept Christ?" I shared the gospel with him and asked, "Do you believe in God?"
He turned his head away from me.
I said, "Grandpa..." and to make a long story short, he had seen racism in the church where he lived in Jamaica. It was a mess. I said, "But Grandpa, those guys weren't Jesus. That wasn't Jesus."
I said, "You're going to die and go to hell."
Then I got desperate and kind of manipulative. I said, "Grandpa, you want to see Grandma again?" Because I'd already gotten Grandma saved, and she was sitting right there.
And he accepted the Lord.
Let me tell you something: You've got to fight for people. Don't be passive.
This week, sign up for the app. Practice, practice, practice. We're going to send you two or three short videos—just a minute long—to encourage you to keep practicing. Then bring your "just one" to church next week. Why not? Don't worry about waiting for week three. Let the Spirit of God follow you and lead you.
As we close, I want to give anyone here who has heard the gospel today the chance to respond. If you realize that you are a sinner and you want to admit that to God, and you want to acknowledge that you believe he died and rose from the dead, and you want to confess him as your savior—so that you may be saved, forgiven, born again, redeemed, and your relationship with God restored—so that you may receive the presence of the Holy Spirit and walk in a new life, so that you may begin to understand God's narrative over your life instead of the devil's narrative—then I want you to pray this prayer in the privacy of your heart:
Dear God, I admit that I'm a sinner and that the penalty of my sin is death. I believe Jesus died and rose from the dead. I confess him as my savior. Jesus, please forgive me. I surrender my life to you. I thank you for your patience.
If you prayed that prayer, I'm going to ask you to stand up. By standing, you are declaring publicly that you are surrendering your life to Jesus and that you're walking in newness of life and walking away from the lies the devil's been planting in your head.
On the count of three, if you prayed that prayer to ask Christ to be your savior, I'm going to ask you to stand to your feet.
One, two, three. Stand to your feet.
God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.
If you ask Christ to be your savior, I'm going to ask you to come down to the altar. Come on down. Let's encourage these people.
When a man and woman get married, two people become one. When you ask Christ to be your savior, two people become one: God and you. It's a relationship. In that relationship, you speak to him, read his word, and be around people who walk with him. You understand what he wants from you and how he wants you to change.
The Bible is the blueprint.
I don't know any of these people. I haven't talked to them before they came here. They came, sat down, and God spoke to them. Obviously, they heard my voice in their ear, but what was really happening was God working in their hearts. And they said, "I'm going to stand up and walk down in front of all these people I don't know."
God did that.
This is what I've been praying for and working toward. God, please unleash heaven on our world in power. Open up all our eyes to see the pain and the lostness in all the people in our lives and how easy it is to share the gospel with them.
