 Okay good morning everyone and good morning to those who are online. Welcome to our session on lifestyle evangelism. Right, so last week we talked about the way the Lord Jesus ministered. He ministered in power. He ministered in love. He ministered in authority and He's giving us the authority to go out and minister the same way. So very important point that we learned last week was when we minister to people we must love them. We must have compassion for them. Never should we go to minister to people saying okay in an attitude where we feel okay we are better than them. Jesus never did that. He always walked in humility. The Lord Jesus whether they were people who were the Roman leaders or whether they were people who were sick, He walked in humility. He walked in love. He walked in compassion and He walked in power. He walked in authority, authority over people, authority over demons, over the works of the enemy. So the same authority Jesus is giving us. Today we look at overcoming inhibitions. Now this is a very important chapter. The word inhibitions means you know it's a way of saying oh a feeling of I don't I don't want to do this. Right? So sometimes you know we have different kinds of inhibition. I don't want to learn English or I don't want to learn Hindi. I don't want to... there'll be many reasons not to do something. I don't want to learn an instrument. I don't want to do this. So we may have reasons. Right? So this is called inhibitions. Things that stop us from doing something. Right? Now usually inhibitions refers to things that stop us from doing something good. Right? So if we want to do something good sometimes there will be situations, there will be people or our own self that will stop us from doing that good thing. So what are some of the inhibitions or the reasons why we don't share the gospel with people? Right? We all have some reasons or the other. Right? I had many reasons. But important as believers we must overcome those inhibitions. Right? So today let's look at some of those inhibitions. Why we don't share the gospel with people? Right? What stops us? What hinders us from sharing the gospel? Number one, not knowing what to say. Right? I don't know what to say. So if I meet somebody, I meet my friend, I want to share the gospel. I want to share about Jesus but I don't know what to say. How to start? How should I speak? Should I speak from Genesis? Should I speak only about Jesus? Should I speak about my life testimony or should I give him a story and tell him about Jesus? What can I say? How many of you have gone through that? Right? I have. Right? Where I felt I don't know what to say. I know everything about Jesus, about the cross. But how do I say it? I don't know what to say. So it's better to keep quiet. Right? Many times we feel that the fear of this fear is because sometimes it is many reasons. Number one reason is because of the ignorance of the gospel. That means we don't know the power of the gospel. So sometimes we become believers. We want to minister to people. We want to share the gospel. But there's a feeling of oh I don't know what to say. I don't know how to say it. Or we don't know the power of the gospel. We haven't tasted the power of Jesus yet. But we know Jesus has changed my life. The fear of ignorance of the gospel. What if this person asked too many questions? Right? So these are reasons. What to say? How to share it? And so how can we overcome this, you know, this fear of not knowing what to say? Number one best example is to practice it. Right? Anything we do when we practice, we'll get better at it. Right? So for example, when we have worship in the morning, it's good to practice. Right? When you practice, what happens? You know, okay. Chorus one, no, verse one, bridge, interlude, chorus two, bridge, go back chorus one, finish the song. Right? So you have the order. So you know as a team, okay, this is what we practiced. Or what about, you know, any sport? You look at any sport. Right? If you, if you're a runner, you have to run 100 meters race. You can't get up one morning and say, I want to run. You have to practice. Right? We have to spend many hours or many years practicing to win a 100 meters race. Any sport, you look at it. Practice is what is needed. There's a saying, practice makes perfect. The more we practice, the better we get. So how can you practice ministering the gospel with each other? Right? So you've got friends here. Practice with them. You've got friends, maybe those who are online, you've got friends in the workplace. You can practice with them. Right? So it's called role-playing. Right? So in one situation, you can be somebody who's very accepting of the gospel. In another situation, you can be somebody who is, you know, very stern and saying, no, I don't, I don't want to believe in this. Right? So you practice or you stand in front of the mirror and practice. All of this will help. Right? So even if you're preparing and practicing to preach for a Sunday sermon, prepare your sermon, practice it. You know, as pastors, I, what I do personally is I stand in front of the mirror. It's been more than a decade that I've been preaching on Sundays. But even now, on Saturday, I'll stand in front of the mirror and I'll preach the whole sermon two times at least. And then on Sunday morning, I'll preach it again. Front of who? Front of the mirror. Right? And then on Sunday morning, deliver the sermon. Why? Because we're practicing it. So when you're delivering the sermon on Sunday, you'll know what to say, you'll know how to say it, when to put the example. And you'll learn more in homiletics about all of this. Right? Let's read 1 Peter chapter three and verse 15. 1 Peter three, verse 15. Is there a mic here for us to read? No, Mike. Okay, I'll read it. 1 Peter chapter three and verse 15, very common verse. It says, but in your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. Now, some of the translation says, always be ready to give a defense. Some other translations, the KJV says, always be ready to give an Apollo gear. Right? Apollo gear means to defend your faith. Right? So what does it say here? Paul is, the Apostle Peter is talking to believers and he's saying, see, many people will come and ask you why you believe in Jesus. So it says here, set apart Jesus as Christ as Lord of your heart and always be ready to give a defense. Now, this does not mean you start fighting with them. Give a defense means that somebody asked a question. You must be willing and be ready to give the right answer. Let's look at this example. Has anyone come and asked you, how can you believe in three gods, fathers and Holy Spirit? Has it happened to you? What has happened to me? Right? Somebody, many times people come and ask, how can you believe in three gods, father, son and Holy Spirit? So for many years I was thinking, how can I give a good response to this? Because the Bible says, you set apart Christ as Lord and be ready to give a defense. So I began to understand, began to read. And I saw this example, very simple example, but it made so much sense. The example was, for example, me, right? I am a son to my father. I am a husband to my wife. And I am a father to my children. But I'm the same person. Yes or no? I'm Paul. I'm a son to my father. I'm a son. Whatever it is for my father, when my father sees me, he sees me as a son. He doesn't see me as a pastor. When my wife sees me, my wife sees me as a husband. And when my children see me, they see me as a father. Now all three are different roles. Right? When I'm with my parents, I'm in a different role. When I'm with my wife, it's a different role. When I'm a father, it's a different role, but the same person makes sense. So I told this person, Hey, this is what it is. Three different essence, one person. I don't change the way I look just because I'm a father here and I'm a son here. No, three different functions, three different roles, one person. And it makes so much sense. Right? So like this, you and I must be ready to give a defense for the gospel. Where's the Holy Spirit? You can't see. Where is Jesus? You can't see. They'll come and ask. Normally they'll come and ask. Right? Must be ready to give a defense. God is spirit. You can't see a spirit. But he is a person. He has the attributes of a person. So you can minister to them that way. And even as you're doing that, I like the worst first three 15 says first set apart Christ as Lord. First you be confirmed. You be, you know, fully 100% convinced that Jesus is Lord. Then when you give the defense, there is power in that. Right? So not knowing what to say is something which is natural. But we can overcome it by learning, by studying, by reading books, by watching videos and listening and learning. See, right now you're in first year. Now, after two years, when you graduate from here, you would have learned so much. Right? And you'll be ready. You know, you'll be so much more learned than what you are now. Right? All of us, we are learning step by step. So don't be afraid to give those simple answers also. It's all right. Right? But let it not stop you from sharing the gospel to the feeling second reason why people don't want to share the gospel is the feeling that no one is interested in the gospel. Hey, this person is rich. He has enough money. He has a big house. He has a big car. He has children. Children are going to college or to school and everything is okay for him. He has no problems at all. I don't think he needs the gospel. The reality is that, you know, we can be rich, we can be poor, we can be healthy, we can be unhealthy. Everyone needs the gospel. We did look at this in chapter one, right? Everyone, every human being in this world needs a God, needs a savior. And everyone are searching for meaning, searching for purpose in their life. So you and I, when we share the gospel, it is we never look at the person and say, okay, this person may not like be interested or this person may be interested. No, our responsibility is to share the gospel. So for example, if you see somebody was very rich, right? And everything is okay in his life. Everything is okay. No problems at all, right? And maybe he's your friend. Will you share the gospel with that person? We may think, oh no, everything's all right with him. But listen, in his heart, right? In his, in his life, you never know there'll be something that is missing. Nobody's life is perfect. Nobody can say I have everything. No, right? It's not possible. So you and I should overcome that feeling, right? We must remember that God has designed us as spiritual beings. So we desire spiritual things. It is a common thing. Look at people from different faith, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, any religion you see. Why are they going to places of worship? Why are they doing all this? Why? Because they're seeking something spiritual. Why do people go to, you know, religious sites and spend so many days and spend time and effort there? Why do they do that? Because they're seeking something spiritual. By nature, whether you're Christian or not, people are spiritual. So that gives us an opportunity to understand that, hey, no matter what it is, spiritual beings, we are spirit, they will want something spiritual. And so when we share the gospel, we can, we must understand that everyone are interested in the gospel. Everyone need the gospel. Our responsibility is to share it, right? Let's read Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 11. Anyone online would like to read? Sorry, there's no mic here, so you won't want to read and then you won't be able to share. So Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 11. Everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. Yes, thank you. God has put eternity into each and every heart and there's a time for every purpose. So remember that God has put eternity into every person's heart. So when we share the gospel with people, be assured that this person needs the gospel. It doesn't matter where he's standing in life. He may be a businessman, he may be a rich man, poor man, it doesn't matter. He needs the gospel, right? Third one, very important point is fear of rejection and ridicule. All of us go through this. Imagine you're sharing the gospel with somebody and they come and say, hey, what rubbish you're talking? It's nonsense what you're talking. As it happened to any of you, right? It's happened to me many times. What are you talking? It is silly. Paul, you're a learned fellow. You've, you know, you studied. Don't act like electorate. How can the blood of Jesus? Who's this person Jesus? He's in Jerusalem. He died so many years ago. How his blood will forgive your sins? You tell me. Fear of rejection. Christians, especially in our nation of India, if you say Christian, they get angry. We're only 1%, 1.2%, 1.3% in this entire nation. Hardly anything. Only now we are growing a little bit more and more. But we are just a percentage in our nation, very small. We're dropped by the ocean, right? And sometimes we feel the fear of rejection. What if they don't accept the gospel? What if I share the gospel and they laugh at me and they make fun of me? What if they do that? Right? We can learn to respond graciously when people reject us. Right? Now, rejection will happen. Yes or no? Did they say, Jesus please come, sit on the throne? I've made one nice place for you. Did they do that? When Jesus was being born, what happened? They rejected Him when He was born only. No place. Then when He became, when He started His earthly ministry, did everyone believe in Him? People rejected Him. They laughed at Him. His own brothers. You read this portion. I always, always think of this. In the book of Mark, it's very interesting. Mark chapter 6, right? Mark chapter 6 and verse 3. Look at, look at this, okay? I'll read it. The, this is the context is Jesus left, left a certain place and went to His home. Now, when He went home, everyone are talking about Jesus. Oh, Jesus did great miracles. Now, He went to His own house where He grew up. Look at this. The people around. Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and brother, and the brothers of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon aren't, aren't his sisters here with us? And they took offense of Him, right? Hey, who's this guy? Everyone are saying, Oh, Jesus was coming from Galilee. He's going, He did great miracles. He's coming to His own house, right? Now, this boy, Jesus has been running around in the house from the time He's small. Okay? Picture this. He's running around. He's playing with all the children. He was a normal boy. Now, everyone are saying He's a prophet. The response is, what are people saying? He's a carpenter's son. We've seen Him. Isn't He Mary's son? Yeah, He's Mary's son. Doesn't He have, His brothers are here, His sisters are here. We've seen Him grow. We've seen Him when He was 10 years old, 15 years old, 20 years old. We've seen Him. They made fun of Him. They ridiculed Him, right? In another place, the brothers get angry. Jesus' own brothers, His half-brothers, right? Jesus' own brothers get angry and say, Now, you're saying you're a prophet, no? You're saying you're doing all these wonderful miracles. Go and tell everyone in the temple why you're coming home and sitting, right? Before the feast of the tabernacles. They ridiculed Jesus. Jesus said before Abraham was I am. They ridiculed Him. They wanted to kill Him. So, what does it teach us? If they rejected Jesus and His message, there will be people who will reject us. We don't have to go to the room and start crying. You move on. There will be people who will accept. There will be people who will reject. What did Jesus do? Jesus said, If you get into a town, if they accept you, stay there, pray with them, bless them, move on. If they don't accept you, shake off the dust from your feet and move on. Continue to share the gospel. So, you and I will face fear. We will face rejection. We will face ridicule. People will laugh at this. They will say, all these Christians are mad. They don't know what they're doing. They're praying to some cross. They will say many things to say. But you and I can understand that if they've done this to Jesus, they'll do it to us. Move on. Let it not stop you from sharing the gospel. If they make fun, what if they make fun? They make fun. It's okay. But what if they accept the Lord Jesus? One soul added to the kingdom of God. Imagine that. And that one soul can touch thousands of people. Yes or no? So, let not rejection, ridicule, stop you from sharing the gospel. Especially now when we look at what's happening around us. The survey says that 10, 15% of people from villages are moving to towns and cities. Lifestyle is changing. Things are changing. The economy is increasing. Life is getting better. Technology is getting better. Who knew five years before? Who knew that even the cobbler will have four, you know, these online payments. Even the smallest shop fellow has the online payment. Who knew it five years back? Things are changing. So now people's mindset also changes. Let me say about Jesus. Give us something new. They want new things. But that's not the gospel. The gospel is the same. That does not change. The way we do ministry will change, right? Street ministry or whatever online churches, all of that will change. But the gospel will remain the same. So you don't have to be fearful or feel rejected, right? Jesus warned us and he said that some of us will reject us, but we must just move on and be open. Those who reject us move on. Those who receive us, be there for them, teach them, build them up. Like the Apostles in, we see in the Book of Acts, the Apostles, they counted it a blessing. They counted it a great joy to be, you know, ridiculed for Jesus Christ. Now, what is so joyful in that? Everyone making fun of us, put us into prison, beating us. What is so joyful? Let's look at the Book of Acts, Acts chapter 916. Yeah, Acts 16. Paul and Silas are in, I'll just give an explanation here. Paul and Silas are in a certain place, right? And they've gone into Philippi and here they've been beaten and put into prison because of their faith. Paul and Silas have been beaten and put into prison. Now in prison, what are they doing? They're probably chained, their legs are probably shackled up. What are they doing in prison? They had hundreds of reasons to cry. So, oh man, they beat me up, they hit me, they, why did they do this to me? Lord Jesus, we are doing your ministry. Did they cry like that? What did they do? Look at that verse in open Acts, Acts 16, verse 25. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the other prisoners were listening to them. Now, they were ridiculed, they were persecuted for their faith, they were beaten up and put into prison. They could have done so many things, they could have complained and said, God, what is this? We're doing your work only. How many of us feel that sometimes? God have come for ministry but they're all shouting at me. God, I want to do this but they're all stopping me. Why are you stopping me? There is. Paul and Silas have been beaten and bruised and put into prison. About midnight, they are singing praises and hymns to God. When you look all through the book of Acts, the disciples, they took it, they considered it great joy. Peter and John, they're going to pray in the temple, right? This is in Acts again, Acts chapter three. Peter and John, they go to pray and what happens later on? You know, he heals the lame man there in Acts chapter three and then they catch Peter and John and they beat them. What does Peter and John say? How did the joy that we are being persecuted for Christ's sake? So, what does it teach us? Now, persecution is difficult to go through, right? Especially people, some of you from North India may have seen persecution. It's difficult but let it not stop us from sharing the gospel, right? Fear and rejection will come but you've got to overcome it. You know, before joining the, before joining ministry, I was working in the corporate sector. I was in a, I was in one of the corporate sectors here working in a very good organization, right? And I wanted to do something for God. So, I said, God, what should I do? So, I think I share this example where we started a small prayer fellowship but you know how much they used to ridicule me, right? They used to make fun. They used to purposely come up with things, you know, what they'll do, they will say, hey, Paul, can you change this water into wine? Can you change the water into wine? This is an office, right? Then they will say, oh, I'm feeling, feel like I can't walk. Can you, Paul, can you pray for my leg so that I, this is all like ridicule to mock, right? They don't believe, right? And sometimes they were Christians who have become atheists, right? They would take food, they will put it on the plate, they will sit. Suddenly they'll say, oh, no, let, let's ask Paul that he can turn this into biryani, this food. He'll pray and turn it into biryani. People made fun, people ridiculed. I had two choices. I was 21 years old. I had two choices. Choice number one, go home and cry or start a fight. Choice number two, continue to share the Gospel. Now, number one, the choice number one was easy. Go back and cry and say, God, what is this? They're all making fun. The choice of number two was shake off the dust, continue to do the Gospel. What started with five people all of a sudden, you know, in a couple of years, there were 200 odd people sitting. Now, all these people who made fun of me, out of all of them, I got a promotion. Now, I'm their manager. You want to leave? Come and sit down and pray for you. No leave. No leave. I was not unkind, but I was very kind. I made sure that I would, you know, but I was stunned. Right. So I was a manager, a couple of years. Oh, Paul has become manager. And now they're under me. So they would say, so then I turned the tables around or say, I'm drinking some water. I'm going to turn it in a wine and drink it. No, no, no, Paul. It's okay. We're sorry for all that we said. No, it's okay. Do your work. Do what you have to do. See, the Bible says in Psalm 72 that the Lord will place double honor upon His children. Right. Now, it may take time, but if you're going through rejection, if you're going through persecution, ridicule, the Lord will place double honor on you. Right. Never feel, because you're sharing the Gospel, people making fun of you, never feel that you're too low. You're not low. What are we learning in identity class? You're seated well in heavenly places. You're seated there. The earth, people may look at you low. The identity is different. So let not pure persecution, ridicule, stop you from sharing the Gospel. Right. Next point. Number four, being ashamed. I think this is the number one cause of not sharing the Gospel. How many of us are ashamed of the Gospel? They're ashamed of the Gospel. They're ashamed of the Gospel. How many of us are ashamed of the Gospel? We don't like the Gospel. We like the Gospel. We like Jesus. But Monday to Saturday, when we're going to office, Jesus is there. Only Sunday will come. Jesus, can you please come to church? Monday to Saturday is like you can do everything what everyone are doing. Sunday morning, suddenly holiness will come upon us. Righteousness, sanctification, justification, everything will come on that day. Sunday morning. Now I'm sharing this because we all may go through this. Right. Number one, don't be ashamed of the Gospel. Jesus was not ashamed of you. So you don't be ashamed. See, you're a Christian. You believe in Jesus. You stand with them. Do you see any person from the other faith ashamed of their faith? You don't see them. They know. No, no. This is what I am. The thing is, there's not much of persecution there. But for us as believers, there's persecution. Because we are a minor community. But we must not be ashamed. Never be ashamed of the Gospel. In, if you're filling up form, no. It comes religion. Don't look everywhere first and then write Christian. You write Christian. Don't worry. Nobody's, your application won't get rejected. Right. Sometimes you don't, don't write Christian. Indian will write. No, don't do that. Don't be ashamed of the Gospel. When you're sharing, when people ask you, hey, what is it? Sunday, you're going to church. Why don't you come? We'll go out. Sunday is the only day we can, you know, meet and talk and have some good time together. No, Sunday is church. That's something that my friends, when I was working in the corporate sector, they knew. Sunday, no need to ask Paul. He will not come. Any team meeting, team outing, you want to go out of station? Is it on a Saturday, Sunday? Yeah. Then you all go, I'm not coming. But it is a team outing. You're the manager. You should be there. No, I'm not coming. I'm not coming. I want to be there and church. Say, what is this? One day if you miss, doesn't become, doesn't mean you'll become unbelievable. I know. I know I'll not become unbelievable, but I don't want to miss church. There was a reason you stand for what you do, for who you are. Sometimes we are ashamed and we deliberately hide the facts from others that we believe in Jesus. Don't do that. What will they think? Are we too old-fashioned? Sometimes we are afraid to be branded, you know, people will call us fanatics. Or he's, you know, the word fanatic means, you know, these people who are strong in their faith, they do not do anything else. They're fanatics. There are people who, from other faiths, when they persecute Christians, they're the fanatics. There may be many people who are, you know, Hindus from that faith, but only few of them cause persecution. Why? Because they're fanatics. Now, the same way, as believers, people may say, hey, he's only praying, only reading the word, he's a fanatic. Right? You understood that word? So, people may brand you. Hey, you're Jesus, boy, you're Jesus girl. Without Jesus, he won't go anywhere. Right? We need to be bold and unashamed of Jesus. But even as you're being bold and unashamed, we must not be rude and brash and say, you know, they say, for example, they say, hey, what are you believing in Jesus? You don't say, hey, what are you all believing in? You want me to give, talk about what you're believing in? Now, that would be rude and brash. Right? People may ridicule and, you know, make fun, but we are called to be. Remember the previous chapter? Walk in. Walk in love. Walk in compassion. Now, we feel like, you know, many times people may come and, people have come and ask me, hey, what do you believe in Jesus? Sometimes I feel like giving points on proof of their faith. Sometimes I just stay by it. There's no point. Right? There is, there will come a time when you can reason and give a defense. But sometimes you just have to be wise. Don't be ashamed. Do what you have to do. Right? If God has called you for ministry, He's called you for ministry. You don't have to be ashamed of it. Right? When I was leaving my organization, people asked me, what are you going? Why are you leaving? Your life is, you're settled. In a few years, you'll become senior manager. Before you get married, you'll be, you know, a big guy. Before 30, you've already achieved so much. Why are you leaving the company? Tell us what you're doing? I said, I'm going to join Bible College. What is Bible College? What do you do in Bible College? I'll study the Bible. You know, they all had a meeting. They all the managers, they came, they sat, they had a board meeting. They said, they called me. They said, Paul, see, I think you're too young. You're not understanding about career. Your career is very important. Right? All this you do, if you want. But your career is very important. You, you can become a very top official. You keep doing well. We'll give you promotions. You'll do well. Are you sure? What is this Bible College? It's not going to give you any career. So they're all like managers, right? They're all sitting. They finished talking and I said, see, tomorrow, do you know you'll be in office? Yeah, we'll be in office. How do you know? What if you die in the night? What if you get some problem? What if I get a problem? And I don't know. So I'm not thinking about 10 years. Now, planning is important, right? But at that moment, I said, see, how do you know you're there tomorrow? You're talking so much about me. You're worried so much about me. I said, don't worry about me. My hand, my life isn't God's hand. It's not in this company's hand. I like this company. God has blessed me this job. I enjoyed my time, but it's time to move on. I worked here for three years. It's time to move on. So whatever you say, I appreciate your, you know, you want me to do well, you'll come and talk. I appreciate it. But my, my life, my future is in God's hand. It's not, it's not in your hands. You have given me promotion, but there's a different promotion that I'll get. So always never, never feel like, okay, people can control you. Remember, your, your, your whole life is in God's hand. Don't be ashamed of the gospel. Never be ashamed of it. Now, don't be ashamed means don't wear one chain with one cross and show everyone. That is not the point at all. That is zero. Don't put one tattoo here. Hey, I'm a Christian. See Christian cross. Nobody's impressed with all that. The devil will look and laugh, but when you know Christ inside, then he will shiver. There's a difference, right? So don't be ashamed of the gospel. Paul writes in Romans 116, he says, what? For I'm not ashamed of the gospel. We saw that, right? Romans 116, chapter one, we saw, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Paul is saying, I'm not ashamed. When he's standing front of people, imagine this. See, the Apostle Paul is not one guy who was walking down the streets and suddenly he saw Jesus. No, he's Pharisee of the Pharisee, Roman citizen, commander of the temple guard, studied under Gameliel. Now, if you had all these degrees, how will you be? You'll stand and, you know, imagine he was standing in front of Stephen. What was he doing? He was standing there, said, kill him. If he had said stop, they would have stopped because the Bible says he was guarding their clothes, which means he said, okay, do it. So he was a man of authority, studied under Gameliel. He knew everything in Judaism, everything. If you had met Apostle Paul that time, he said, explain to me the guilt offering. He will explain point by point what the guilt offering is. He knew everything. Now, the Apostle Paul is being beaten, put into prison. People are slapping him, hitting him. Imagine how he'll feel, but here he's unashamed. He's saying, God, do what you want. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Gameliel, laugh at me. You know, in Acts 28 later on, when he's standing in front of Felix, Felix saying, Paul, why have you chosen this? What's wrong? You're a learned man. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. For you, it's foolishness, but it's the power of God. I'm not ashamed of this. I'm not ashamed to be a prisoner. You beat me. You put me in a prison. You do what you have to do. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. I will not turn away from the gospel. You see that? Now, we must pray that we have that kind of conviction in our heart. Not ashamed of the gospel. Right? Next one, the fear of mixing with unsaved friends. Now, another reason is, sometimes we may feel, oh, if I have unsaved friends, non-Christian friends, you know, somehow their power will come off into me. No. Which is more powerful, light or darkness? Which is more powerful, light or darkness? Like, if this place is off in the morning, when you come, it's dark, no? What do you do? Do you pray? Oh, Jesus, we want light. Do you pray? What do you do? Well, switch on the light. Even if you pray, Jesus says, switch on the light. You switch on the light, light will come. Now, you are the light of the world. If you go into a place of darkness, will the darkness come and sit inside you or will the light go outside? Which is more powerful? Right? So, if you're, if you have people, friends who are unsaved, who are, you know, maybe it's Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist, whatever religion they are, and don't be afraid to be with them. Don't feel, oh, a devil is inside them. Now, by mistake, if I've done anything, you know, devil comes and sits inside me. No. Light is greater than darkness. Right? We must be willing to step into their world, understand their point of view, understand their life. What did Jesus do in John 4, when he met the Samaritan woman? Right? Jesus met the Samaritan woman. What did Jesus say? Hey, you're Samaritan. You go stand there and talk to me. Did Jesus say? He was willing to talk. Give me some water. He was willing to, you know, overcome all those barriers. We'll talk about that later on. The barriers, Samaritan. Jews don't speak to Samaritan. Then Samaritan woman. So, so many barriers. Jesus didn't look at all that. Give me some water. So, you and I should break those barriers. If we have friends who are from other faith, be friends. You know, my best friend is not a Christian to date. He's not a Christian. He's a very good friend of mine. He's not a Christian. He's very good friends. Right? So, it's okay. It's not wrong, but do I share the gospel? I share. I keep sharing with you. But here's the point. Don't be afraid to have friends. Hey, people, Jesus mixed with everyone. He didn't tell the Roman centurion, no, I'm not talking to you. This is only for Jews, not for Romans. No, everyone. In fact, he said, I've not seen anybody with greater faith than this Roman, the Gentile. He has greater faith than everyone else. Right? So, we must be willing to reach people. We must be willing to understand their perception of life, understand where they are coming from, step into their world and help them out. Right? If you have a friend who is a Hindu or a Muslim or any other faith, try to understand what they believe in, step into their world, try to understand them and then you minister the gospel. Right? And we learn more in the next chapters as well. The last reason we have different excuses, one is it's not my personality. You know, some of us may say, I'm an introvert. I don't talk to people. I'm very quiet boy. I'm a very quiet girl. From small, I'm like that. That is okay. From small, if you don't talk, you change and start talking about the gospel. This can be an excuse. Oh no, I'm an introvert. I am an introvert. From the time I'm small, I never used to go on stage. Very fearful. Now, after I became a believer, I wanted to preach. I wanted to lead worship. Where will I do in my bedroom? No, I have to stand in front of people. I have no other choice. So I said, pray, I began to pray. I said, God, I'm very fearful. From the time I'm small, I've never stood on the stage. Even to take my 10-standard Mark's card, I didn't want to go on the stage. Can you believe that? I told my parents, I will not go. You tell them to post the Mark's card to the house. Because I was scared. I had to go on the stage like that, take this certificate and come down. I was scared. I was afraid. I was fear. I've never gone on the stage. Now, the same person wants to have to preach in front of people. How will I preach? God, then even if it's two, three people, I will get so scared. I won't know what to say, what to sing. But I knew if God is calling me for ministry, I have to do it. So overcome it. Even we have to overcome. There's no other option. So if you say my personality is I'm an introvert, but Jesus is saying, I've called you to share the gospel, you have to step out. Ask God to help you overcome and you can overcome. Two, second reason why people don't minister is saying it's not my responsibility. Let the evangelists do. Pastors also will do little. I am worship leader. I'll write song and sing songs. No, it is all of our responsibility. Or maybe sometimes we may say, I am working in business or I'm working in the corporate sector. I'm working. I'm helping out my father. I'm helping out in family business. So let the pastors, evangelists, those in full-time ministry do. It's not my responsibility. No, it is your responsibility. All of us must be willing to share the gospel. And the third reason is I'll just live a good life. I'll live a good life. Others, if they go to heaven or not, is their problem. For me, I'll go to heaven. Right? And the last one is afraid of people asking difficult questions. We looked at that. What if he asked me difficult questions? What if he says, you know, where is the blood of Jesus? Show me. What if he asked me, you know, tell me from the Old Testament, where is Jesus? Where is, you know, in the New Testament, where Jesus said, I am the Messiah. Show me. What if they ask all these difficult questions? I don't know the answer. Listen, we don't know all the answers. If people ask questions like that, all we can say is, if we don't know it, say, hey, I'll get back to you. I'll just go find out. I'll read. I'll get back to you with the right answer. Doesn't mean that you lost the argument. No, it's not an argument. You're bringing Christ into their life. Right? Difficult questions will come. Don't be afraid of it. If you don't know the answer, don't feel you're not adequate enough. Don't know the answer. Tell them I'll find out and get back to you. But let it not stop us from sharing the gospel. All right. All right. So we'll stop here and we'll pick up from next week. Thank you to those students online. Thank you. God bless you. Have a good day.