 We're so thankful that you've tuned in for hope today, and that's exactly what it is. I'm Amanda Brocker, and I'm here with my friends, Tom and Sidney. We have a PAC program for you. I just want you to know that God desires not only for you to have hope, but for you to give hope away to others. That's right, Amanda, and I just got back from vacation. I got something to say about that in a minute, but you know, the Apostle Paul said that God has given us, you and me, the Ministry of Reconciliation. You know, what that is, it's telling people how they might be reconciled back to God. He also calls us ambassadors for Christ. So I want to ask you, you know, we're the ones that are called to bring the good news of the gospel to those around us. How's that working out for you? It's hard, isn't it? Well, Pastor Nick Shabrinsky is with us today to tell us how to bring the good news to our loved ones. Guys, this is like one of the most important things we can do. Sidney is to realize that God's called us to this ministry. I think it's really important for us. You know, I think a lot of times as Christians, like we want to hear the word, we want to soak up in His presence, all these things, but if we do not have a compelling thing in our spirit to go out and share the good news of the gospel, what Jesus has done for us, what are we doing? It's like the best news that we can ever have in our lives. And so today we want to equip you because, you know, I heard the statistic actually last night that Todd White was at Covenant Church of Pittsburgh, and he shared the statistic that it's like 97% of the church is not sharing the gospel. 97% of us, 97% of us aren't going out. We're not going to the grocery store. We're not sharing. So there is something inherently wrong with us, but we need to have a mind shift because it is so important that we know that everyone needs to know who Jesus is. So that's so important that we share the good news of the gospel. You know, it's funny, we were with friends of ours for this vacation and our friend Donna, she just shared this gospel everywhere she's at. We're standing in line. She's telling people she loves Jesus and we end up talking to people. But, you know, when we were coming back for a vacation, we stopped at a hotel and we were done there to get breakfast and I hear a black gospel choir singing and I'm like, what's on the TV? It's not what I expect to see in a hotel. It was really good. And I look at it and I'm like, oh, it's the coronation. Now I hear these guys didn't watch any of this and I didn't get to watch. Maybe you watched some of it. There was so much Christianity in the coronation. I was just amazed. At one point, the hand, King Charles, a globe. It's got a globe with a cross on it. And for those of you that grew up in my era and you liked Monty Python or you watched Monty Python, it looks exactly like the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, okay? So, but it's this globe and it says, the priest says, as he hands it to him, the kingdoms of this world, it's a ball and orb. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ. And it shows the cross as being preeminent. And I was like, this is great stuff. I don't know, you know, there's so much about the royal family and everything and all it's a lot of tradition. Does it have real meaning? Well, the real meaning is behind there. The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms. That's right. Well, Tom, I didn't watch the coronation, but while we were out doing Adopt the Block at McKeesport, the neighbors were watching the coronation. So that was a little bit of conversation. They were filling me in what was happening, but it's so important for us to be present. I mean, I love that Christianity is a part of it. I think where the church is, where we all need to be, is that this isn't just something that we believe in and that we are talking about, but it's something that we live out in our life. We are actually living epistles. If you can imagine, someone is reading your life, all the people in your sphere of influence, and God asks that our life would be like a letter that they could read to find Him. How are we doing on that? Oh, Jesus. Hallelujah. It's called to be the light of the world in the midst and in the darkness. So we know there's so many things that are happening in our nation and our culture and around the world, but I think it is so important that when we say that we are in Christ, that we are the ecclesia, that is the governing body of the kingdom of God. So no matter what it means, we're first citizens of heaven. That is our first priority before being American, English, whatever it may be, we are called into a new kingdom, into a new territory and world. We just want to say a good thank you to all of you that are helping us through the kingdom of media of reaching out the gospel. We just want to thank each and every one of you for our hope-arising fundraiser that gave. And the total that we raised was $145,644. So we still have $60,000 left to raise. So if you feel compelled in your heart to give to this ministry here at Cornerstone, we've been on air for 44 years. And if it wasn't for your faithful partnership of giving to this ministry, we wouldn't be able to do all that we're able to do. So we have our prayer line that is open and available and you can give us a call at 888-665-4483. Or if you just have any prayer requests, you know that we're always here for you, Tom. Absolutely. And so please do that. We appreciate every dime that anybody sends here because we could not do this gospel message without it. We're gonna have a lot of, with Pastor Nick Shabrinsky right after this break because we're gonna talk about what it means to do work. We'll be right back. Cornerstone television exists to spread the good news through Bible-based programs and a fully staffed prayer line. Through CTVN, lies are saved. Hearts, minds and bodies are healed and Jesus is lifted high. We can't do this work without you. Would you consider sending a gift this month to keep the gospel moving forward with power? When you give, we'll send you listen, love, repeat which presents scriptural examples of those who lived alert, including Jesus who noticed those who least expected to be seen. Gives creative ideas for showing love to friends and family. Suggest practical ways to reach out to the lonely, marginalized outcast. Helps you comfort the grieving and so much more. Ask for your copy of Listen, Love, Repeat when you give today. Call 888-665-4483 or go to ctvn.org slash donate. Thank you for your generosity. Hope happens here. Well, as we've been saying that as Christians we're all called to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others. For a lot of us though, that could be difficult and we may not even know where to start. Well, Pastor Nick Shabrinsky is the leading pastor at Generations House of Worship in Brackenridge, PA. And in his book, Do Work, A Believer's Guide to Evangelism, he offers advice to help you rekindle your fire for evangelism and motivates you to go change your world for Jesus. For Jesus, Lord Jesus. Pastor Nick, good to have you again. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Well, let me ask you first about that title, Do Work. I guess that's a saying. I'm too old to know this, but tell me about that. So Do Work, I mean, it came really out of the one thing that the Bible tells us as the body of Christ, as the church, that we are to be equipped for the work of ministries by apostles, evangelists, teachers, pastors and prophets. But those five fold ministries, there's only one place in the Bible that says everybody is to do the work of evangelism. And that word, Do Work is really like an urban dictionary kind of thing, which means to go hard at something, to put in overtime on something, to make it actually happen. And for us, the Bible literally says, hey, you need to go do work, man. Like you gotta wake up and go shake this thing up and go win souls. I have to ask you about your own personal story because you didn't grow up in the church and you got saved and all of a sudden people started getting saved all around you. Tell me about that. So by the time I was 12, I had already had three dads. I grew up in a physically, sexually and mentally abusive home. And you know, people, I was a nobody from nowhere. In the worst season of our life, we were in the slums, we were in a house that is actually doesn't even exist anymore. I mean, should have been condemned when we were living in it. And I was probably the stinky kid. We were poor, my family smoked and I probably smelled like a walking ashtray. So anytime I was around like a Christian environment, I never really felt like I fit in. Most Christian kids wouldn't even look at me. I was stealing, drinking, smoking, partying. I was so far from God. And whilst 15 years old, I was addicted to stealing. I was in just the worst, darkest place in my life. And it was literally September 28th, 1996 that a friend of mine had some people he was talking to. So I was like, well, what are we talking about? And he comes over to me and goes, hey, if you died today, would you go to heaven? And I'm like, oh crap, like this is a very serious. Like, what are we talking about? I'm like, no, I would not go to heaven. I said, I just stole so much stuff, did so many bad things, smoked this, did that, fought that person. And he said, man, do you believe in Jesus? And I did, I believed in Jesus. In fact, so much so that when I would steal from every store, I would walk off the sidewalk around the Christian bookstore. I wouldn't even walk in front of it because I respected God, but I did not know him. And I always said, God, if you were so good, why was my life so bad? And he said that night, he showed me in the Bible that we had to be born again. And I gave my life to Jesus in a street alley next to a dumpster that night. I said, God, if you're real, use me. And after that, I became obsessed with discovering the truth of the word of God. And I felt the breath of God enter my life that night like never before. By the time I was 18, I led probably over 1,000 people to Jesus. Wow, wow. So you had this drive from the get-go, this impetus to share the gospel. For many of us, we kind of grew up in the church. We kind of like ourselves in the pew a little bit. We're feeling good about that. We're serving the Lord by sitting there. I mean, a little bit facetious, but at least people are going to church. But that whole thing of reaching out beyond ourselves is so hard. Why is it so hard for so many people? Well, I think, number one, we've definitely created a antisocial society. I mean, we live in a world that people don't answer phone calls anymore. Used to be when the phone rang, you got excited. You ran to it. I want to talk to people. We've become an oversensitive society. We become an offended society. And so I think what's happened is people are so afraid to hurt someone's feelings. And we've created this concept, and I'm not opposed to it. So I want to be very careful that people don't think that I'm saying this doesn't work, but we've created this safe space called relational evangelism. And the only way that I can clearly kind of articulate the urgency of evangelism is if there was somebody in a road that was about to get hit by a bus and you allow them to get run over and we go, why did you not push that person out of the way? Why did you not just rush out there? And you knew, you saw that bus coming. What the heck? You basically guilty of murder for letting that person die. You said, well, I didn't want to offend them or hurt their feelings. I didn't know them well enough to push them out of the way. The fact is, is death is coming. Judgment is coming. People are immersed in the darkness of sin and that bus of eternity is about to run them over. Who cares if you know people or not? Who cares if you're going to offend them or not? Go let them know. Jesus Christ is king of kings, Lord of lords. And he is the hope for the hopeless. That's so beautifully said. I'm just thinking, you know, you might want to get this for your church group for a small group. This book do work, but Nick talked to us about, you know, you go from not knowing really who God is to being free in Christ and help us apply, you know, because there are many people for whatever reason that are still sitting there. Like what is something applicable that someone can do to help move themself in the right direction of getting out beyond the church? So I think first and foremost is make a hit list. Get a note card out, get a book, get a journal and just start writing down. Ask to close your eyes and just say, God, would you please for one moment, Father, help me get my eyes off of myself and off of my situation and just start writing down names of people that are close people, the far off sons, daughters, neighbors, friends, cousins, whatever, workmates and say, Lord, would you use me to reach this person? I think a lot of times we just kind of think everybody's okay. And the reality is is when people are drowning, they'll take air from anywhere they can get it. You have the air, you have the oxygen, you have the hope. So start by first off just getting a list, man, who am I gonna go get? And no, you know, realistically, there's no person that loves Jesus that wants anybody to go to hell, but silence is treason against their soul. Can you just share a quick testimony of when you created, I love that, like a hit list of when God said, okay, this is somebody you put on your spirit and then you just had the opportunity to show them to Jesus. We started, we pioneered a student ministry in North Carolina. I was hired to be the youth pastor and we just launched it from ground zero. There was remnants of a stage slash altar area that existed from the previous student ministry. One night we had worship on and we just had a handful of core team that was coming in. We flipped the stage over and we brought Sharpies in and we had all these young people, college agers, any parents that were involved and we started writing names down. And we said, we lifted that thing to the Lord and we worshiped. We lifted a whole stage for probably 15, 20, 30 minutes. It was for, my arms were shaking, people crying and weeping over these names. I'm not even kidding. First of all, my wife who was at that point was lost in in darkness and was in juvie. Right before that is now here loving the Lord. She was written on that. I didn't even know her at the time. But the very next day, a kid comes knocking on the door of our church. I opened the door and I was like, I had no clue who he was. I had just moved to North Carolina. I didn't know any of the previous people. And this kid, it was six foot tall, big kid. He's, I'm five, five. Like I'm like, what's up dude? He's bawling his eyes out. And I said, are you okay? He goes, I woke up today and he's crying. He says, all I knew was I needed to come home to church. Man that we wrestle not against flesh and blood. We were against principalities. The Bible says that the spirit of this world has darkened people's understanding of God. People are created to know him. There's a song of John Lakin who created the worship. I was born for this thing and people are looking for God and they're looking for him everywhere. And he's sent his only son to snatch them up. Who are we to hoard the gospel? Who are we to hide it? And I don't think anybody truly wants anybody to go to hell. I think that people really want to go win souls. They just don't know how. They like, they read the Bible and it's like, I really want to do that, but how? And my wife looked at me and she said, would you write a book that shows us how to win souls? You lead everybody, you go to the restaurant, you lead the waitress to Jesus. You go to the store, the shoe store, you're leading people to Jesus. She goes, how do you do it? And I said, well, I'm just, I believe they need Jesus. She said, would you write a handbook for it? And I was like, I was so afraid of the 14 plus million books on Amazon that my book would just be another piece of trash and the wind basically. And she, my wife said something so profound. She's so wise. She said, don't write it for the world. Write it for just our church. And I was like, you know what? I could do that. And I grew up really poor and I often, as I became a Christian, I couldn't afford to do a book and buy the workbook. So I was like, you know what? I'm going to just do it all in the same thing. I'm going to make it easy on people. And I created this as not only information but also kind of a walkthrough to help whoever reads this book take practical steps on how do I get off my couch and get into someone's heart? You know, there's so much that this encircles and there's several things I want to ask you but I want to read you a scripture that you have in here. Let me find it here. I just love the scripture because I've never read it in the message Bible. I've read the scripture many times. So I want you to comment on it. I'm going to read the beginning of it. This is Luke 14-23. It says this, the master said to them, then go to the country roads, whoever you find, drag them in, drag them in. I want my house full. Let me tell you not, one of those originally invited is going to get so much as a bite at my dinner party. And it's a story of the parable of the wedding, you know? So what's that scripture mean to you especially that drag them in part? So I got saved between ninth and 10th grade. I was literally on the verge of suicide. Someone shared the gospel with me. And what I realized over those years is that when my friends would go evangelize they would try to kind of tell the same four people about Jesus and then they would get discouraged. And that's even in my book where I talk about, you know, what has kept you from evangelism? A lot of times it's discouragement. I tried telling them they didn't listen. The reality is, okay, you told those four people but there's 40 other kids sitting at a lunch table that nobody's sitting by. There's a person at your job that is hopeless and lifeless and empty. You keep looking at kind of the primaries of your life but what about the seconds and the thirds and the fourth? People that aren't even on your radar. I was telling our church yesterday Jesus crawled on a cross to win you to eternity. Can we not get on our hands and knees and beg people to come to know Jesus? When's the last time you laid on the floor and grabbed someone by the ankle and said, I'm not letting you go until you at least listen to the gospel. And you said what Todd White had mentioned in the 90%ile of those who aren't sharing the gospel, they did an interview. Over 75% of people said, I would entertain a conversation about your faith if you would just share it with me. But people are not sharing it. We have to go find the people that we're not even looking at. Wow, what about God? How does God think about evangelism? What do you think God's heart is? I mean, we can have all the to-dos and I'm glad it's practical that way, your book. But I need that God motivation. Where's God's heart in evangelism? He came to seek and save that which was lost. He came to seek and save. If we truly have the heart of God, we all say, the Bible says, your thoughts are not my thoughts, your ways are not my ways. Never says it couldn't be. So we have to really renew our mind with that and go and God, well, what's your heart, what's your mind? There's nothing wrong with us having things and succeeding and thriving in life. That's great because those create tools and opportunities for us to win and reach people. But God's plan, the Bible says, it is not the Father's will that any should perish, but that every single person would come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. That is literally God's heart. And the Bible says that God peaks over the edge of eternity and he's staring at us, watching us, moved by us, broken by us. And the angels say, what is it about man that you're so just obsessed? And God says, I wanna see, I want them back. They're mine. They've been stolen from me. They've been taken from me. I have a brother who passed away from heroin addiction when we were 25. My step brother, we grew up for 13 years. He's one of my best friends. Still to this day, my stepdad will look at me and say, I just wonder what my son would be doing. I wonder where he'd be. I wonder what his life would look like. And when we don't go find people, the Father in heaven has to sit here and go, I wish I could see what they would be doing. I wish I could see what they could be coming. And every person that we leave lost means a whole world that they impact that will be lost. I think God is truly burdened about evangelism. And the Bible literally tells us, go do the work. It's not an option. It doesn't matter your personality type. It doesn't matter your style. Go do the work of an evangelist. Just as you're talking, this is the purpose of cornerstone television. This is hope today. And this ministry was founded on that very thing that our founders, Russ and Norma Bixler, had a cry in their hearts that everyone should know who Jesus is. So can you take a moment, Nick, and just talk to that person that's out there? May have been watching this whole time, but it's still teeter-tottering on the fence. Can you just take a moment, speak to that heart? The person who led me to Jesus, he was 15 years old. And what happened, the way he found Jesus was somebody was watching cornerstone television. And the person on TV literally led them in a prayer to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. You're watching this, it's not just, this cannot be TV. Christianity cannot be worship music. Christianity cannot be inspirational television. Christianity cannot be a safe space. There is nothing safe about Christianity. The Bible tells us you are the light in the darkness. Be bold as lines, be wise as a snake, be gentle as, I mean, literally the Bible says the kingdom of heaven is suffering violence and the violent taken by force. You have to realize that while you are safe and while you are saved, you are not called to live in a safe space. You are called to go into dark, scary, dangerous, wild places. And to literally, in the book of Jude, it says to reach into the flames of hell and pull people out while also being careful that you don't become entangled in whatever that mess is that they are in. The Bible says Jesus sent them out two by two. So you need to find some partners in crime for you. You need to go find some brothers and sisters that you can go out together with a mission, with a goal, with a plan and wake up every day with this intention. Father God, I wanna advance the kingdom of God and I don't just do that by sitting in a church. I go out by taking what God did in church to the streets. We have to take the church out. We have to go into those places and I'm telling you, my last chapter of my book, I literally said for months, this book would have been done way sooner. And I said that I sat here for months, discouraged thinking what I had to say wouldn't matter, thinking my book wouldn't make a difference, thinking my words would be empty and they would fall short and I had to smack myself in the face one day and say, you know what, just finish it. And immediately upon publishing this book, I had people reaching out everywhere saying, your book changed my life. I've already led people to Jesus because of your book. That last chapter, I put in there to be honest because I know you're sitting there and you're thinking my words won't matter, my life isn't influence-able, I don't have enough likes, I'm not viral, I'm not an influencer. You are, wherever you are, whatever you're doing, wherever God has you is the place that he wants to use you right now in Jesus' name. Amen, that is so powerful, Pastor Nick. And we've gotta turn to God's word because God's word says it all in Matthew 9 and this is verses 37 and 38. It says, he said to his disciples, the harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, ask him to send more workers into his field. You are that worker. That's right. It's you, God is talking to you right now from his word. Those are letters in red from the mouth of Jesus himself and that's our prayer. You know, God desires, cornerstone can't be everyone's answer but those hearing cornerstone then can go and be a mouthpiece as well. So I just, I hear Tom, Sidney, Pastor Nick, like God is calling the people on the other side of these cameras into that deeper relationship with him. But I would love the opportunity for you to even pray for them, to commission them, to send them out because yes, there is every reason the enemy will give them of why they're disqualified but we know the truth of what the gospel says. We have to take the hope for today so that we can be someone's hope for tomorrow. So we have to, it can't be entertainment. It has to be an engagement, it has to be an experience from God that whatever God does here, you take with you. So yeah, can we pray and bless that. Father, I just ask right now that the power of your Holy Spirit would fall on whoever is watching and listening right now. You're watching at home, just say it right now, say Holy Spirit, fill me, use me for the glory of God to advance your kingdom. Father, I pray that the heart of Jesus Christ would penetrate our hearts, that it wouldn't just be that the cross of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus saved us but the heart of Jesus causes me to go seek and save that which is lost. Father, we thank you for every person under the sound of our voices that they're watching and they're viewing and they're listening will no longer be just about them. It won't just be fulfilling, it will be going and giving. It'll be equipping and not just entertainment. It'll be an experience with you on their couch so they can go experience you in their life. Father, I pray that you would empower each person right now in the name of Jesus to go change their world so that we can change the world in Jesus' name. Hallelujah, thank you. The book is called Do Work, Pastor Nick. Thank you so much for being with us. It's an honor to be here. Well, it's an honor to have you and there is so much that God wants to do through you. You have the ability, you have the connections and you say, I don't think I do, yes you do. God's got great things he's built inside of you. You can reach people, I can't. You can touch lives, I can't and none of us can, only you. So let's be those people that are doing work, doing good things as ambassadors of Christ touching lives. You know, just as you were praying, Pastor Nick, I just saw this vision of just like this large field and I saw all these plants just growing up and all these seeds and right now we are in a season. So many seeds have been planted. So many words have been sewn into the hearts of people. And I look at this scripture that says, you know, pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest and ask him to send more workers. We need more workers. It is on us to pray for you and for all of us to go out and to share the gospel, the good news like never before because we know it's gonna continue to be darker but God has said, arise and shine for the lightest calm and even though there's gross darkness over the world, we are the answer, we are the hope solutionist. And so we just wanna encourage you today that as Pastor Nick was praying and this whole program was about evangelism, let's go out and do it. There is a move of God that is happening. Revivalism, something we're waiting on. It's here, y'all, it's here. There is a great move that is happening and we have been called for such a time as this to be part of that. Isn't that awesome? Isn't that amazing? So we just encourage you today that when you leave from this, we go off the broadcast, go out, share the love of Jesus. We love you. Have a great day. On tomorrow's Hope Today, inspiring others to live boldly and keep God's love as the foundation of their lives. Lee Capolino from the Christian Music Vocal Group Point of Grace shares about their new uplifting album and reminds us of how much God cares for us all. That's tomorrow on Hope Today. Cornerstone Television wishes to thank all our faithful viewers, whose consistent prayers and financial support have made this program possible.