Real Christianity #120： Overcoming Fear in Evangelism
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Summary
In this episode, Pastor Dale Partridge answers a question from Jeff in Atlanta, Georgia. Are you a quiet Christian? Do you have strong convictions, but you haven t shared the raw biblical gospel with even one person this year? Are you tired of being passive or fearful when it comes to talking about the gospel?
Transcript
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My name is Dale Partridge, where each week I offer 15 to 20-minute answers to tough theological
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This is a 100% listener-supported audio ministry of relearn.org.
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And for those who don't know, our mission at relearn.org is to educate and equip ordinary
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Christians to plant biblical, confessional, and missional house churches. For more information,
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just visit relearn.org forward slash house. All right, are you guys quiet Christians? Would you
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identify yourself as a quiet Christian? Do you have strong convictions, but when you look at
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your life, you haven't shared the raw biblical gospel with even, say, one person this year?
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Are you tired of being passive or fearful when it comes to talking about the gospel or proclaiming
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the gospel? Are you ready to speak up for righteousness? Well, stay tuned because today
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we're going to be talking about all of those things. But before we begin, I just wanted to
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make one quick announcement. Just last week, we finalized our 2021 financial need. As you guys
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know, this is the end of the year for our ministry and nonprofits really make a majority of their
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income via donations in the last two months of the year. And that's the time for us. And thanks to
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the hundreds of donors that have committed to $20 a month or $50 a month or $5 a month or
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people that have made $500 gifts or some who've offered several thousand dollar gifts. We've
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actually met our 2020 budget because of you, faithful podcast listeners that have just committed
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to that, again, small amount. Thank you so much. We've even had one gentleman donate the profit
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of the sale of his house to support the ministry earlier this year. And so we have just been so
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blessed by this community. We had another few families join our pillar community, and this is
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a community of families that support our ministry at $10,000 or more per year. If you're interested
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in that, you can just write us at support at relearn.org. But next year is looking like it
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may be a hard year for the church here in the West. And we want to be there to serve the body
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of Christ with theologically sound content and pastoral training to plant more and more and more
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biblical house churches in the West. But in order to do that, we really do need your help.
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We have our church planting training school. We need instructors. We need to hire an academic dean
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in order to watch over the curriculum. We need church planting support individuals.
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We need writers. We need a managing editor. There's a variety of needs that we have over here.
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what we've done in our donation analysis, we need about $220,000 in addition to what we're
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already producing in order to achieve the 2021 goals that we have and execute our plan.
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And so I know that sounds like a big number to a lot of people,
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But if you feel the Lord leading you to support our work, again, at any amount, $10 is a fantastic donation.
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We just want you to do what the Lord has put upon your heart to do.
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And you can do that just by going to relearn.org forward slash donate.
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Again, that's relearn.org forward slash donate.
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And if you feel led to donate an old car or sign over an investment account or make a large lump sum donation, again, you can just email us and I'll get back to you at support at relearn.org.
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We've had people do these things in the past, and I'll personally help you, direct you to the right person to manage those details.
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But again, a gift of any amount at relearn.org forward slash donate.
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I know that these donation calls might be a little bit annoying for those that are regular listeners, but thank you.
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It's these things that really help support us in ministry to continue doing the things that we are doing.
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I know we're already about four or five minutes into this episode.
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Atlanta, Georgia, and he asked the question, Pastor Dale, I'm an introvert by design,
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but I'm passionate about the gospel. That said, the current political climate and the growing
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hostility towards Christians, especially here in cities like Atlanta, has made me more timid
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toward public ministry than ever before. I want to speak up, but the intimidation and verbal
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attacks are very real here. How can I get past this fear and be more public about the private
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convictions that I have radiating within me? Great question, Jeff. Thank you for writing in.
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You're not alone in this question. I think that we're actually having many people who are trying
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to overcome the fear of evangelism or the fear of the proclamation of God's truths in our world.
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So I think that we're dealing with two things when you ask this question.
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The first and most obvious issue, I believe, is the fear of man.
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But the second is really an issue of disobedience.
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And I know that can seem like a heavy word, but we're going to break that down later in
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But let me start with the fear of man, and then I'll move on.
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I think this would be a great way to start this episode.
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In the 1960s, Sabina Wurmbrand, she's the wife of Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, they were living in
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the incredible fear of communism in Romania. And in an outdoor event of some kind, the government
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officials were disrespecting the name of Christ. And Sabina asked her husband a question. She said,
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are you going to let these men throw mud in the face of Christ? And he responded to her,
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if I say something, you won't have a husband any longer. And she said, well, I don't want a coward
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for a husband. Speak up. And he did. And he preached the truth and he won the crowd, actually.
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Later, he paid for his boldness in a variety of ways. And he was experiencing years of torture
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in a communist prison just for being a Christian and not letting people, letting them know where
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other Christians were staying. He actually lived through this and is now the founder of the
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ministry, The Voice of the Martyrs. And you can actually watch this incredible story if you go
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to Amazon Prime and you look up the documentary. It's a docudrama called Tortured for Christ.
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you can get that story there. Dr. Garrett Higbee, I think he helps us understand the lesson
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here when he said, the person characterized by a fearful heart has a propensity to make an idol
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of security. The person who chooses to not deal with a fearful heart always ends up with spiritual
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paralysis, the fear of man, and a shaken faith." End quote. The only person the Bible gives
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permission for us to fear is God himself. And sadly, many Christians fear man more than they
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fear God. That is that they fear the reaction, the rejection, and the response of other humans more
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than they fear the disappointment and the disobedience, the discipline of the Lord.
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And what we forget is that when we fear God, his response back to us is fear not, right?
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In other words, to fear man as a child of God is to forget the power of God's sovereignty over our lives.
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He didn't give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind or of self-control.
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You will not die one minute before God appointed the time of your death.
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You will not change the appointed time of your death.
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You will not be wounded or hurt without God's permission.
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You will not be rejected without God's permission.
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We forget that the enemy of this world is called the prince of the power of the air,
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And we forget that Satan needed permission to afflict Job.
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all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
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we have been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things
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So in other words, we forget that nothing can happen to us that the Lord himself has not permitted to occur.
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We know that while God has not promised us a life free of sickness or persecution or trial,
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he has promised us that he will never leave us or forsake us.
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We have the confidence that even though we may be hated for his name's sake,
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And though we might be imprisoned or even martyred or wounded or hurt over our testimony of him,
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we are eternally secure in our life, in our spiritual life, in the hand of God.
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The fear of man brings a snare, but one who trusts in the Lord will be protected.
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And this is, in the Proverbs, there are two types of proverbial sayings.
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There's axiomatic, which means that they're general principles, but not always true.
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For example, raise a child in the way they should go, and when they are older, they will not depart from it.
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We wish that that was an absolute truth, which is the other type of truth, but it's not.
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It's an axiomatic truth. It's a general principle.
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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of the wisdom, is an absolute truth.
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And this is, the scripture here is a absolute truth.
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The fear of man brings a snare, but one who trusts in the Lord will be protected eternally,
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Matthew 10, 28 says, this is Jesus's words, do not fear those who kill the body, but are
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unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body
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The fear of the Lord tends to take away all other fears.
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This is the secret of Christian courage and boldness.
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To fear is to believe that you, as a slave of Christ, hold the circumstances of your
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You have handed over the keys of your life to Christ and vowed to him that he will be Lord.
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And this is why Paul could say in Galatians 2.20,
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I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.
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And the life which I live now in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me
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and gave himself up for me. And so my first exhortation to you, Jeff, and to all that are
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listening is to stop fearing. I know this is a difficult thing, and I have my own fears that
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I've dealt with, so I'm not saying that I don't fear ever, because I do. But our call from on high
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is to stop fearing and simply be faithful and let the Lord take care of the results.
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You may be hated by men when you speak, but as a son of the King, you're never going to be hated
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by God. And that should give us a great confidence and courage. Now let's talk about the second issue,
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which I believe is just disobedience. The result of fear is always disobedience.
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Okay, I'm going to say that again. I want you guys to swallow that one and let it just sit in
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your gut. The result of fear is always disobedience. And that is that most Christians don't start
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with disobedience by saying, I don't want to be faithful to the Great Commission. That's not what
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they're saying. It's the other way around. They want to talk about Jesus, but they don't because
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of their fear. Disobedience is the result of fear. And I'm not sure who originally said this
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statement, but it always stuck with me. And it says, the Great Commission is not the great
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suggestion. And sadly, in America and in the West, really, the church here is filled with
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fear-laden Christians that result in dead ministries. Okay, dead ministries. I'm not
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talking about dead 501c3 ministries. I'm talking about individual Christians with dead ministries.
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And I want you to ask yourself a question. Do I have a ministry? Ask yourself that. Do I have
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a ministry? If you're a believer, then the answer is unequivocally yes. But the better question might
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be. The ministry that I do have, is it fruitful? Do I have a fruitful ministry? And I mean it.
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Examine yourself. Ask yourself that question. Do I have a fruitful ministry?
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Is your Christian ministry a priority in your life? And in a world with many ways and opportunities
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to proclaim the gospel, do you take advantage of them? Do you have a blog or a podcast or a social
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a media ministry? Do you have a local ministry or a small group or a church program that you're
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involved with? Do you just share the gospel with those you meet or disciple others that are in
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your church? These are all valid ways. I'm not saying that you need to have a massive ministry,
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but do you have any ministry? Are you actually participating in the Great Commission? Or
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Are you an inactive spectator who just consumes sermons and reads books and opens your Bible
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every now and then, but never participates in sharing God's truths or the gospel of Jesus
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Christ with those around you? Jerry Bridges, he once wrote, too often today, we listened to be
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entertained instead of being instructed, to be moved emotionally rather than moved to obedience.
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Now, again, I'm not saying that you need to have a ministry like my ministry.
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No, I'm saying that you get to be faithful with the gifts and the time and the resources
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And sharing the gospel, teaching Christians about holy living, studying the word of God,
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correcting and instructing one another in righteousness, testifying to the world of
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These are not optional activities. These are things that we should be doing on a regular basis.
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They're wonderful responsibilities of the redeemed. I recently tweeted,
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if Christ died for you, you should be willing to speak up for him.
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And Jesus says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. In other words, the evidence of a
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saved person will be seen by their willingness and eagerness to keep his commandments. And this
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willingness is not primarily driven by duty, okay? I'm not telling you to go do things. It's
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driven by gratitude. It's a reaction to the work that Christ has done in your life. You're so
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incredibly thankful for God's call upon your life and the redemption that you have received
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that you were not worthy of, that you had no participation in. You're so thankful for what
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Christ has done for you that you are eager and excited to serve Christ, whatever the cost.
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And if you don't have the passion, if you're struggling to be grateful for the salvation,
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which is the seat and the root and the heart of all evangelistic work.
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If you don't have that, then consider listening to the episode I just did a couple weeks ago.
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It's titled, How to Have a Greater Appreciation of Your Salvation.
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don't let the fear of man overcome your passion to proclaim the gospel. I've learned that
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in ministry and in life, the right thing is almost always the hard thing.
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Faith is difficult in our flesh, but your faithful example, especially in the face of risk,
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especially in the face of rejection and hatred, will be, I promise, encouraging to those other
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believers around you. I think it was Billy Graham who once said, courage is contagious.
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When a Christian man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.
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I think that's true. I think that's true. And I think we're going to see a lot more of that
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in the coming years in the Western church. So get out there, brother. Be faithful,
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preach, write, share, discuss, post, defend, and just leave the results to the Lord.
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So as always, guys, I'm going to leave you with two resources that will offer further understanding on this topic.
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And I think that you will appreciate the little collection that I put together for you on this episode.
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You can find them on the post page for this episode at relearn.org.
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This is episode 120, titled Overcoming Fear in Evangelism.
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And the two resources I got for you this time is a video.
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One is titled, How Do I Overcome My Fear of Evangelism?
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We love to introduce more people to sound doctrinal theology that'll help them live
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Hopefully this episode was helpful for your journey.
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My name is Dale Partridge, and I will see you guys next week.
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Thank you for listening to this episode of Real Christianity.
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would you prayerfully consider making a donation to support our ministry efforts?
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Again, that's relearn.org forward slash donate.
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And for those looking to explore the idea of joining or planting a church in your home,
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you can download our free pdf ebook titled the basics of biblical house church by visiting
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the show submit your question at relearn.org forward slash question thanks for joining us
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on this episode of real christianity we will see you next wednesday