F.R.A.N.C.E.S.

0:04 This past week leading up into 2026, I talked about the fact that God desires for us to be fruitful. How many of y'all was here for New Year's Eve service? okay that's the wrong question how many of y'all were not here for new year's eve you missed out on what the lord spoke to us in john 15 jesus challenges us to bear fruit it is in john 15 that jesus talks about he's divine and he wants us to be branches and has branches we can only bear fruit if we are cultivating and developing a relationship with him. Outside of him Jesus said in John 15 you can do nothing.

1:09 Amen. You can't do anything. And I love John 15 because he says in John 15 that he wants, he calls for us. If we abide in him, he says he wants us to bear not just more fruit, but much fruit. Somebody say much fruit. That is the ultimate evidence of a person's walk with God is that you're bearing fruit. And bearing fruit means, number one, the reflection of God's character, number one. And number two, bearing fruit means leading others into a personal relationship with Jesus. Amen. Y'all see how few the claps are? See how they're getting lower and lower? I want to challenge you today, leading into 2026, that God's call on your life is to lead others to the Lord, help others to have a personal relationship with Jesus.

2:07 And this is highlighted through so many scriptures. I want to read just a couple of them to you, and I want you to capture the heart of this real quick. and understand how important it is that ultimately God wants to use you. Go ahead, look at your neighbor and say, he's talking to you. Tell him he's talking to you. He wants to use you to help win others to a relationship with Jesus. It's very, very important, very significant. And so I want to read a few passages. Open your Bibles with me to Luke 14. Luke chapter 14. and here's actually a series of illustrations that Jesus gives that goes right back to back to back to back. It's so important to him that the scriptures record all of these things right back to back to back.

3:02 Luke chapter 14 beginning verse 16, it says this. Then he said to him, a certain man gave a great supper and invited many and sent his servants at suppertime to say to those who were invited, Come, for all things are now ready. But they all, with one accord, began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a piece of land, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused. Still another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. Can y'all see these series of excuses of why people can't come to this great supper? Then it says, so that servant came verse 21 and reported these things to his master then the master of the house being angry said to his servant go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind and the servant said, Master, it is done as you commanded and still there is room.

4:34 Look at your neighbor and say, there's still room. Look at the other side of the person and say, there's still room. Verse 23, Then the master said to the servant, verse 23, the master said to the servant, go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. If you don't hear anything else I say, I want you to hear this. God wants his house filled.

5:05 Amen. I'm proud of you. Look at your neighbors. I'm glad you're here. I'm proud that you're here. God wants his house filled. Pull the camera in right here for just a second. Come close. Those of you who are able to physically come to church but don't, it's a shame before Almighty God. You know what I believe? If you can get up and go to work every day, I don't see why you can't go to church. You can come up with all the excuses you want, but one day you're going to have to answer to God for why you can go to the club, you can go to your meetings, you can go to everything else, but you can't find time for church.

5:56 Go ahead and preach, Pastor. I'm preaching. I'm already preaching. God wants this house filled. finally. For I say to you, verse 24, that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper. I invited them. They didn't come. They had opportunities, but they didn't show up. They had every other thing that was so much more important, but they didn't have time to come to my supper, to my meal, to my deal, to something that's important to me. See, the bottom line is this. I'm jumping off and just talking here for a second. Are y'all still with me? All right. If you don't have a choice, if you're sick, if you're incapacitated, if you're in another state or city and you can't be here, another country, we understand. It's those jokers right up the street that I'm worried about, concerned about, that I believe the heart of God is pained Because there's something about being in the building that's not the same in your own life.

7:03 There's an anointing in the building that's not the same. There's an anointing in here. Lives are changed and transformed. But here this whole passage is about Jesus giving an assignment to a man and gave him the instructions to go and gather to bring people into his camp, to bring them to the dinner. And you and I have this same assignment. This is a parable, a story that Jesus is telling that has meaning to us that you and I have a responsibility. We have a call, a mandate from God to go and win the lost, the disconnected to the kingdom of God. As a matter of fact, it is so profound that in Luke 15, the very next chapter, he continues along this vein of thinking and teaching. Jesus does. He says this in verse 4, Luke 15 verse 4, the very next chapter, he says, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

8:06 Stick a pen right there. Paul, let me go back and read that again because I want to highlight something here. What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and, here it is, go after the one which is lost until he finds it. Somebody say, go after the one. That's what I want to be talking about over the next several weeks, about going after the one. this is what my focus is going to be is on challenging you and teaching you how to go after the one because this is the heart of God this is the heart one of the heart of the new testament that is an assignment a call to us to do that verse 5 it says right here in Luke 15 and when he has found it he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing and when he comes home he calls together his friends and neighbors saying to them, rejoice with me for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 just persons who need no repentance. That's why here at the First Baptist Church of Glenard, every time somebody comes to say yes to Jesus, we ought to get enthusiastically glad, proud. We ought to clap our hands. We ought to shout and praise the Lord over one sinner that gives their heart right to God. Amen. We ought to get it. We should be excited. That's somebody's mother, somebody's father, somebody's son, somebody's daughter, somebody's friend, somebody's spouse, somebody's child. We ought to be excited that God reached down and pulled them out of darkness and said, I want to save this person. And they responded to it. You know, I know people get excited about God healing people and God opening up blinded eyes. And all of those are great miracles, but here's the real miracle when somebody gets their eyes open to who Jesus is and want to follow him. That's the real miracle when a person's heart gets changed.

10:14 And not only in this first part of chapter Luke 15, but he goes on through the rest of Luke 15. And he not only talks about the lost sheep, but he talks about the lost coin. He tells the story about a woman who lost a coin in her house and she swept the house thoroughly until she found the lost coin. And when she found the lost coin, she rejoiced. And then he goes on with yet a third parable. Here we go. Now we're on the fourth parable. But the third one in Luke 15, three back-to-back parables that he tells about this whole story in essence of finding and connecting with the lost. It's so important. It's so significant. And the third parable is about the prodigal son who came and received his inheritance and went out and wasted it on loose living. And then this son came back home realizing he had wasted all of his money and ruined his life, goes back home. His father sees him coming from afar, throws a party, celebrates his son.

11:15 All of these stories are about the joy that heaven celebrates and the joy that God has when you and I do our role and responsibility and win somebody to Jesus. You and I are the hands and feet of Jesus. You and I are the mouthpiece of Jesus. You and I are the instrument that God wants to use to win somebody to the Lord. So over the next five weeks, look at your neighbor, look at your neighbor. Say over the next five weeks, look at your neighbor on the other side. Over the next five weeks, I'm going to teach you about how to win people to Jesus. it's going to be a one point message every week it ain't going to be three points and a shout and a poem or a song one point five weeks five different things that you can do and guess what everybody in here can do every one of these things that I want to be talking about amen Now, the question is, who should you be winning?

12:25 Who are the people that you should be reaching out to? Because some of y'all think y'all don't have nobody. Yes, you do have somebody that you can win to the Lord. Over 83%, last time I checked the percentage was 83, but I believe it's higher now. I believe it might be 85. 90% of the people in your life don't have a walk with God. that means out of 10 people that you have relationships with or 10 people that you know or 10 people that you connect with 9 of them don't know nothing about Jesus and God has given you the assignment. All right, I'm going to tell you, I feel tension in the room. I know. Y'all bring the board out. Let me take y'all to First Baptist University. Here we go. Bring this board out. Yallah anointed. they so smooth they put some tape down here so they know exactly where to bring this board out here i'm so proud of you i'm gonna i want to just give you some illustration i've taught on this before so this is nothing new for some of you some of it will be new but some of you won't be it won't be new i want to tell you who you ought to be reaching out to because you have people in your sphere of influence that god has called you to reach man if i want you to take out your phones Did I tell y'all to take out your phones?

13:54 I'm telling y'all now, take out your phones. Take out your notes, your iPad, whatever, and I want you to take notes because I'm going to give you and teach you right now. I challenge you. I want you to write down the names of people who I'm going to talk about that meet some categories that I believe God's calling you to reach. Matter of fact, we call this Francis. The people that you got to reach are called Francis. Okay, now this thing want to act up. boom there you go Francis boom there it is Francis I'm challenging you to reach the Francis's I know that don't sound right but to reach the Francis in your life who are the people you should be reaching out to and connecting I'm glad you asked each one of these letters stand for one thing the first F in Francis stands for your friends you got people that you have friendships with who you know they need Jesus you know that they have no walk with God you know that they are far from God and if they died in their condition you know they would break the gates of hell wide open I want you to write now to write down the names of some friends that you know need Jesus go ahead I'll wait Thank you.

15:14 I want you to write down two or three names of people that you have a relationship with that you're going to make it a point to try to reach with the gospel, that you're going to pray for, that you're going to look for opportunities to share the gospel with them, that you're going to look and believe God to save them. Write their names down. Write those names down of your friends. some years ago I connected with a guy who I went to high school with.

15:46 He and I had a common interest. I'll be talking more about this later, but he and I had a common interest. I was interested in learning how to fly. He was already a pilot. His name is Kendall. Kendall and I went to school together, and Kendall started mentoring me on flying. but Kendall was unsaved and I started sharing the gospel with Kendall I started praying for Kendall I started engaging with Kendall talking with Kendall, relating with Kendall and one Easter Sunday, Kendall got saved and came forth and gave his heart to Jesus You have people in your life just like Kendall. We have a common interest. You have a common interest to somebody. I don't know what that common interest might be or some kind of relationship or some kind of common love that y'all have.

16:39 But God wants to use you to help win them to the kingdom of God. I'm grateful for Kendall. I'm grateful that he's got saved, joined our church, been a member here for 20 years now. Amen. The R in France stands for your relatives.

17:05 Go ahead, write down the name of your crazy cousin, your drunk uncle, your loose aunt. Why y'all act like y'all don't know what I'm talking about? Y'all know y'all got some loose... Okay, maybe she's not your aunt. Maybe she's your sister. Oh, now y'all act like y'all don't know what I'm talking about. Whatever that relative is. We all got some relatives that need Jesus. we all got some people that God has given us the opportunity to be a channel to lead them to the kingdom of God God put a word in your mouth God put a message in your heart to share with them God's given you the burden to pray for them write down the names of those relatives whoever they might be I was preaching this morning and I thought about my cousin.

18:16 My cousin, who when I was a teenager, my mother and father let me go stay over my cousin's house. And my cousin took me with him. He was influencing me to go down to the school in his community and participate in stealing the lawnmower. back in that day I was a teenager just a long time ago they would steal lawn mowers and take the motor off and put it on a bicycle and make a mini a mini bike some of y'all don't know what that is but that's what they did and I was with him we broke into the tool shed took the lawn mower and here we are pushing the lawn mower across the yard and we got to a fence and they bought some wire cutters to cut a hole in the fence.

19:18 By the way, I'm not teaching you how to steal a lawnmower. While they were cutting the fence, they said to me, jump over the fence and look and make sure nobody's coming. If somebody's coming, call out and we all duck down and hide. So I climbed the fence, jumped down on the other side and broke my ankle.

19:44 He was mentoring me on doing the wrong things. but God has a way of shifting things so when I broke my ankle I had to go home so I could no longer be hanging out with my cousin Corky who would have been teaching me bad things and I was telling this story one Sunday unknowns to me cousin Corky was in the church service that day and he's been coming ever since. Come on, somebody. I'm telling you. I'm telling you that God is doing a work in people's lives and you don't even realize what he's trying to do. Amen. So put your relatives' names down that you know need the Lord.

20:35 Y'all got it? Relatives. Here's some more. Here's another name. Put one or two or three names down for each one of these areas. Here's the next one. It has to do with acquaintances. acquaintances are people that you may not even know their name but you just are acquainted with them you see them from time to time these are people that your paths might cross frequently think about who those people you might not even know their name you might just need to say the man at the store or the man in the security gate or whoever i used to i was again thinking about this uh every i used to walk every day with bishop owens and and i would go pick up bishop boy was from his house and in the house where he lives he lives in the gated community and I have to go past the the guard the guard had to let me into this gated community every day and I started cultivating I didn't even know the man's name I started to cultivate a relationship with him so I'd come to the gate and say good morning by the way what's your name he gave me his name maybe the next time I came around I'd say to him do you have a family uh you're married you got kids yeah what's your wife's name? What's your children's name? He'd tell me these things. Then I'd ask him, how can I pray for you and your family? And I added his name on my list. I'm trying to teach you how to engage people that you may not know them. Some of y'all go into the same store every day to get your Starbucks coffee or to go into the same 7-Eleven and you see the same person every day. And yet you could be the instrument that God wants to use to win that soul to the kingdom of God.

22:03 go ahead write it down I'll wait for you go here right you might not have a name but just think about somebody that God gives you interactions with that he wants to use you to make a difference in that person's life can I get an amen right there that's very important some acquaintances okay let me go to the next one I'm acting like I got all day I only got five more minutes neighbors the N in Francis stands for neighbors your neighbors God wants to use you now the problem I have with the First Baptist Church Glenard in Maryland it's so many y'all are so busy in church you ain't got time for your neighbors you're so busy going to church meetings and church rehearsals and church this and church that you don't even know some y'all don't even know who your neighbors are you're so busy that you haven't you don't even know their names I'm trying you know I'm trying tell you, slow down and engage relationally with the people in your community because God might want to use you to make a difference in their lives.

23:03 I know the claps are getting low because y'all are writing, but that's okay. I'm not mad at you. I'm proud that in the community that I live, there's only about 33 homes. I think that's right, 33 homes. Five of the families in that community go to this church. Five.

23:27 Amen. Amen. I'm working on to give the next five. Amen. I want to make it my goal, my passion to help win people to the kingdom of God and I want you to have the same goal and the same passion to win some people to the Lord that you know that you have the grace God has given you the grace to share the gospel with them the C in Francis are y'all still with me? have I lost y'all yet? the C stands for your co-workers people that you work with every day I got convicted of this some years ago when I had a good government job my co-workers now they got to be saved they're going to be here at the First Baptist Church of Glen Arden but when I had a good government job I had a co-worker that got cancer and I went to the hospital to see Brother Steve with his cancer and while I was in the hospital visiting him the Holy Spirit said to me Thank you.

24:29 here you are coming to visit him you call yourself a preacher but you have never shared the gospel with him and i got convicted that he asked i said i saw this guy every day he went to lunch with him spent years work with him he didn't know i was a preacher and i never shared the gospel with him some of you the same you got people that you work with every day that you have personal relationships with, but you've never shared the gospel. You've never engaged them in conversation to find out where they are spiritually. I'm going to teach you over the next five weeks how to engage those conversations. Amen. Since y'all don't come to Bible study, I bring Bible study to you.

25:21 Write down those coworkers' names that you know need the Lord, that you know they're in a bad position and posture. Write down their names. Put them on your list. I want you to see it every day. When you pray, I want you to pull out this list and put their names on that list. Here's the E. The E in this stands for your enemies. Oh, I know you're excited about praying for your enemies. but God wants you to pray for the people that you know don't like you.

25:45 I'm grateful that God gave me grace to pray for people who I know trying to destroy me. You know you got the Holy Ghost when you can pray for people that don't like you. Don't want to cuss them out. I want to see them one to the kingdom of God. I want God to do something spectacular in their lives and just guess what? I'm here to tell you God will do something spectacular in your enemy's life. Don't try to pay them back.

26:13 Don't try to hurt them because they tried to hurt you. Because you know, here's the truth of the matter. Here's the reality of the point is if you decide you want to pay them back, God says, oh, I see you got this. I'll let you handle it. But I'm telling you here today, if you let God handle it, when he handles it, it will be fixed, sure enough. I wonder how many of you have prayed for people, have actually put the name of the person that you know don't like you on your prayer list. How many of you have really cried out and asked God to do something on their behalf? Ask God to open their eyes and help them. I wonder how many of you have actually put their name down. Amen.

26:59 And they answered him, now the word. Go ahead, preacher. Okay, now I got to figure out how to do this. Now see what you done done, you done messed the whole thing up. Okay, they told me how to make this bottom dot, this thing go down. Okay, I don't know what to do. Y'all come here and show me how to do this. Okay, it's up there. Okay, y'all got it.

27:42 Strangers. You come across strangers every day. and God can use you to win strangers I told you I'm a pilot I like to go to air shows one Saturday I went to an air show at Andrews Air Force Base and at the gate you had to go through security at Andrews Air Force Base I started conversing with the guard at the gate it was a young lady and I shared Christ with this young lady she asked me about the church I pastored I invited her to come she came that next Sunday that next day this was a Saturday air show she came on Sunday and on that Sunday when I gave the invitation after preaching that Sunday she walked up and gave her heart to Christ And she brought a friend.

28:41 They both came together. She brought one of her friends to church that day. I did the same thing when I'm trying to model for you all things that you can do and engage with to win people to the Lord. I had the alarm system in my house go have a problem. I called the alarm company. and they sent a technician out and the technician came.

29:06 And instead of me going and doing something else while they worked on the alarm system, I stood there and talked with him and communicated with him and shared with him and asked him questions about his family and talked to him about his life and asked him if he knew who Jesus was. Did he have a relationship with Jesus? I had a conversation with him and invited him to church and he came that Sunday. He came.

29:29 And when I gave the invitation that Sunday, he came with his girlfriend. Both of them came and joined the First Baptist Church at Glen Arden and gave their hearts to the Lord. You know what I'm trying to do? I'm trying to model for you and show you that God wants to use you to make the difference in somebody's life who's broken, who's on their way to hell, who's unsaved. God wants to use you. Can you imagine what it would be like if everybody in here won one person to Jesus? I see the claps getting lower and lower. I know you think you can't be used, but you can. Can I tell you this? It's not about you. It's about the power of the God that we serve. It's not even, I don't want y'all to think it's even about me.

30:31 I know y'all say, well, that's what the pastor's supposed to do. Oh, no, no. That's what everybody's supposed to be doing. Look at your neighbor and say, you are everybody. Tell them, you are everybody. You're supposed, God's calling everyone in here to help make the difference in somebody's life. Can I say amen right there? Amen. That's my word. I'm going to teach you for the next five weeks. Don't miss. Look at your neighbor and say, don't miss one week. Don't miss one week. Because you're going to need this. You're going to need to know. You're going to need to know how to win somebody to the Lord. Amen.