Being a Kinetic Christian

Thank you. What time are you normally done? Thank you for singing. Well, good morning. That was a very good song.

Hear my Lord. Use me. Good message. Good good challenge. Pastor said that you've been doing an emphasis on missions and that's a very good emphasis in the Sunday school hour and so I shared a little bit about that this morning.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Mike Pelletier, evangelist Mike Pelletier, called by God, equipped by God. It's all a work of God. It's not me. You're called by God. You're equipped by God to do what you're supposed to do and if we all do what we're supposed to do where we're at, we'll see some great things accomplished for the Lord in our day.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and we need to remember that and we need to stay at the work of God, the mission of God, keep our faith in God, and not be down. God is doing great things. I'm seeing in my meetings when I have them. We've had a lot change because of COVID. But and because my wife being sick but I am seeing probably some of the best meetings we have ever seen.

I personally think because Greg Murray is not with me now. No, I'm kidding about that but Greg will be with me some this year as well but the Lord's been blessing and people are being saved and good things are happening. Since I was with you, I've been on a few mission trips, shared that. Tonight, I'm going to share a video of our Liberia trip and so I want to encourage you to be here tonight. I'm not a professional photographer.

So, all I do is I take video and you see it like I see it. It's not polished or anything but I think you'd be blessed by it and come for that. I'll preach the word tonight. I know that there's a I think there's isn't there like a golf tournament going on today or something on TV? Ice skating or something like that.

But anyway, I guess a lot of people are watching it but the service just be here and let God do more for you than a football ever will and then you can get out and catch the second half or something or use DVR or whatever that is and just don't wanna beat you but I do wanna encourage you, come tonight. My mom told me I could play little league baseball when I was a boy but then, she found out I was going to have to miss church to play and she said, you're not going to get to do little league. I said, mom, I want to play baseball and she said, no, you can play baseball. We'll get you on teams but you're not going to miss church over it and she would say, it's a game, not a god and that's what the Super Bowl is. It is a game but it's not God.

So, no feeling guilty but I do want to encourage you. Be here tonight because we want to hear from the Lord and sometimes you don't go to church for what you get, you go to church for what you can give. You get encouraged by somebody else. So, you're an encouragement to somebody else. So, appreciate you coming tonight if you can.

Well, let's take our Bibles this morning and let's stand together out of respect for God's word and as pastor has been emphasizing the idea of being used by God, I'd like us to turn to Matthew chapter 25 and we'll when you find it, stand up and we'll read the text in just a moment. So, Matthew 25, if you find it, stand up and if you're still seated, people think, oh, they don't know where it's at. So, oh Pedro found it. Good. Okay.

Alright. Yeah. He hasn't found it yet. Oh, he he he just woke up, How you doing, buddy? Okay.

Now, you were awake. Alright. And some of you shouldn't stand because you're in so much pain but thank you all for praying for my wife. My wife, Becky, has been sick for about three years. We're still not finding the answers but a lot of you are praying.

How many have prayed for my wife at least one time since we were here? You're praying for. A lot of you are. Well, and others of you that don't know anything about it, my wife has been sick. Her name is Becky.

Got sick on a mission trip in Liberia, Africa and we had about 200 professions of faith on that mission trip and I said to her after she's been sick, do you sometimes wish we wouldn't have gone to Liberia? And she said, well Mike we saw 200 people saved, of course I'm glad we went to Liberia. So her attitude is, very good and she said she'd go back in a heartbeat as soon as she can. So pray that that day will come. Alright, let's look at Matthew chapter 25 and we're gonna begin reading at verse 14.

For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country who called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods and under one he gave five talents to another one and to another two and to another one to every man according to his several ability and straightway took his journey. Then, he that received the 5 talents when it traded with the same and made them other 5 talents and likewise, he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one, when digged in the earth and hid his Lord's money. After a long time, the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them and so, he that had received the five talents came and brought other five talents saying, Lord, thou deliverest unto me five talents. Behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

His Lord said unto him, well done thou good and faithful servant. Thou has been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord. He also received two talents, came brought others, and delivered unto him verse 22, he also received two talents, came and said, Lord, thou deliverest unto me two talents.

Behold, I have gained two other talents besides them. His Lord said unto him, well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee rule over many things and are thou into the joy of the Lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strawed and I was afraid and when it hid thy talent in the earth, Oh, there thou hast that is thine.

His Lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and slothful servant. Thou knewest that I reap or I sowed none and gather where I have not strawed. Thou oughtest therefore to put my money to the exchangers and then at my coming, I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him which has 10 talents for unto everyone which hath shall be given and he shall have abundance but from him which hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath and cast you the unprofitable servant in the outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Again, heavenly father, we ask for your blessing and we ask for you to speak to us and we pray Lord for you to do a supernatural work as you promised to do.

In Christ name, we ask your blessing. Amen. Thank you and you can be seated. When I was a boy, I enjoyed science class and we did all kinds of experiments. We dissected frogs.

We dissected other animals and we learned a lot of different things in our science class. Most of what I learned, I forgotten but there's one experiment that we did that taught us about energies. We made our own batteries. We took some plastic containers, put some copper coil in it, two lead sticks, battery acid, charged it up, and we had batteries. Now, the poor purpose of that experiment was to teach us potential energy versus kinetic energy.

Now, the battery had the power in it that was potential but we hook it up with some wires to a light bulb and put a switch down in there and when we connected the switch, we transferred the power from the battery through the wire to the light bulb and it illuminated the light bulb and our teacher taught us it's the same energy that was sitting in the battery but now it's actually doing something and it's a great illustration of what we have in the church. We have a lot of potential but we need to be people that are using our potential. We've got one life to live and as you've heard the song say, only one life so soon it will pass, only what's done for Christ will last, only one chance to do his will, So, give to Jesus all your days. It's the only life that pays. When you recall, you have but one life.

Now, I'm 56 years old. I don't know if I'm going to live to be 57. I don't know if I'm going to live to be 56 in a few months. I don't know if I'm going to live like I want to if the Lord tarries. I'm hoping I can preach till I'm 87 because one of my heroes was still preaching at 87 and if the Lord will let me, I would like to see 100,000 more souls saved than I've already seen and I believe it's possible and so many times, we're sitting, looking at the past, and we're not believing that God can do great things in the future but he can.

God is the same yesterday, today, and what? Forever. Forever. Now, the Bible says that God has built his church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

God has also said, to him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. In other words, to the entire church age, God is going to keep working as long as we keep surrendering to be used by God and meet the conditions, keeping our focus. Now, God is working and we're seeing people saved in other countries. Liberia, 200 people saved. Haiti, this last trip, 27 people saved but 27 people saved and everywhere we're going, we're seeing people saved.

In Africa, in India, we saw over 100 people saved in the two weeks that I was there. Just a few two, three years ago and in our revival meetings, people are being saved in a local churches, people are being saved but the only way it's getting done is when people are focused on the mission and going about the mission. Now, this passage of scripture that we looked at, it is talking about the the the Israel but it's also an application to the church in that there is a master who is our Lord and savior Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ went away and he's coming back again and he gave us a job to do and that is the great commission and as he gave us the great commission, he is going to come back and we are to occupy till he comes. We're to serve the Lord till he comes not just coast but we're all to be involved in the work of God. This is not a message that is going to put you on a guilt trip because a lot of you are already heavily involved in the work of God.

It's to encourage you to keep going and those of you that don't feel like you could do something for God or that you're not called to do something big for God, I want you to understand from the smallest child to the oldest person to the most healthy, to the most ill. There's not a believer that does not have potential to do something for God and we all need to consciously decide that we're going to use our energies for God. Now, as the illustration goes, there was the battery. It had potential. We transferred it through a wire to a light bulb and it became kinetic and this kind of energy is represented here in this building today and you know what DL Moody used to say?

The only way that you're going to reach a community, you have to mobilize the layman. A preacher cannot do it by himself. He's got to have an army and I often challenge people about being involved in God's work and they'll think, I am trying to get somebody to witness or somebody to be a missionary or a pastor's wife but what I often will say is that we don't need a soldier. We need an army. And we need as many people as we possibly can to believe that God can use them and that they want to be used by God and they decide to be somebody that God will use.

So, we're going to look at this this morning and I'm talking to us today about using your energies for God and reminding you to do this. If you're already doing it, keep doing it because it's no more important business than the business of the great commission. Amen. Now, let's go ahead and first look at potential energy in this passage. Now, I want you to notice the distribution of potential, who has potential to serve God.

Now, this is a good picture of all of us here in this room and the question is, who in this room has potential to serve God? Is that worth asking? Sure it is because there are some that will think, I don't have any potential to do anything for God. I'm just a very meek, quiet person. I'm a very quiet lady.

I'm not comfortable talking to people or getting in front of people or I don't have very many talents. But according to the Bible which we all believe more than we believe our feelings, we believe our Bibles, am I right? The Bible says something about who has potential to serve God. Alright, let's look at verse 15. Under one, he gave five talents to another two and to another one.

To every man according to his several or separate ability and straightway took his journey. Now, the master here gave each of his servants some talents. One, he gave five talents, another he gave two, and another he gave only one. Now, the guy with only one could have said, I can't do anything for the master. I just have one talent but the reality is, he had a talent and the master intended him to use that and had a purpose for giving him that talent.

Now, some people that you look at are five talent Christians. There's some people that are here that are probably five talent Christians. They can teach Sunday school. They can do good with administration. They can sing.

They can do different things. Now, others of us maybe three talent Christians. I can preach a little bit. I can sing a little bit and I'm not necessarily multi talented. I may be a three talent Christian.

You may be a one talent Christian or you may be a five talent Christian but the issue is not how many talents that I have or how many abilities I have. The issue is will I make use of what I have. Now, what Deal Moody said is we have to mobilize the layman. There cannot be a young boy. There cannot be a teenage boy.

We got one right here. Okay? Right here. We got a teenage boy. We got a teenage girl.

We've got women. We've got men. We've got people that are sick. People that are healthy. And the issue is not how healthy am I, how wealthy am I, how talented am I, the issue is, will I make use of what I have?

And we each have to start their understanding that God didn't make us to do nothing. He gave us abilities to do something for the work of God and I know it sounds like a pep talk but I'm telling you, it's not just a pep talk, it's a Bible truth. So, I'm not a motivational speaker. I'm a Bible preacher, some have five, some have two, some have one, but each has some and so each could do something for God. Now, God does not need much.

One day, God looked down and he saw a man by the name of Moses and he says, Moses, what is that in thine hand? He said, a rod. He said, go show my power to pharaoh. He dropped it on the ground. It turned into a what?

Serpent. Serpent. He picked it up by the tail and it turned back into a rod. Now, what did God use? Just an old beat up stick.

And when it came to crossing a Red Sea, you know the story, boys. He just held out the rod and the sea departed. They walked across on dry ground and then it was done. He took the rod down. The water came and killed Pharaoh's army.

Now, a scale of one to 10, how big was that miracle? About a 72 and what did God use? Just an old beat up stick. God does not need a lot of brains, a lot of talent, a lot of personality. He just needs what we have.

One day, God looked down and he saw a guy by the name of David and he said, go defeat Goliath and what did he have? He had five stones in a sling and he won and then Gideon, take clay pitchers, candles, and trumpets. You got too many men, whittle it down, and let's get serious. You guys that are serious, you go do this thing and with 300 serious men, they defeated all the Midianites with toys, clay pitchers, candles, and trumpets and so John chapter six, you got five loaves and two fish and the stories go on and on. Now, all I'm doing first of all, is simply affirming that God says that we each have been given special gifts.

Now, here's what Timothy says. First Timothy one twelve. Actually, apostle Paul says it, I thank my God for counting me worthy, putting me in the ministry, and then it says this, enabling me. Now, what that shows is that God supernaturally enabled the apostle Paul to do what he did. But do you know that in the Old Testament, it says that God supernaturally equipped.

I think the guy's name was Hazael. I can't remember his name but to do the building of the tabernacle and to do the building of the ark of the covenant and the building of all the furniture and the tabernacle and in the temple, people were gifted by God and were gifted in different ways but the issues we all have the ability to do something for God. So, let me ask you something. Are you doing something for God? Now, sometimes we think, if we do something for God, God will like us more.

You don't have to do anything to get God to love you because God already does love you. So, we're not on a merit system where we're going to gain favor with God if we serve him more but the fact is, we have been told by God to do something for him and it's a matter of if we're obedient, if we love him enough that we're going to do this or live for our self. If we're going to believe that we can be used by God. Now, the first thing you've gotta do is believe that God has given you talents because he has. Now, God does not need much.

I was on a mission trip in Nassau, Bahamas suffering for the Lord and they brought in a man in a wheelchair. He was in a withered up body. His hands were flat like cardboard up against his chest. His legs were flat like cardboard up against his chest and the only way that he could hold his head up, he was so weak. They had to prop this head up with a pillow and they strapped him across the head to the back of the wheelchair, strapped him across the waist with the belt, strapped him across the legs to tie his legs to the wheelchair, and the only thing he could do is move his eyes right and left and he could say some things.

Now, I looked at this guy and I thought how horrible to be in a body like that. He can't do anything. Now, my wife is sick right now. She can't do what she used to do. Some of you are sick.

You can't do what you used to do but if you're not careful, you're going to think you can't do anything. And you won't. Now, my wife says, well, I can't do this but praise God. She is saying, I can do this and she's serving the Lord. Now, this guy was in a wheelchair and no, he can't go around and no, he can't knock on doors and no, he can't do what maybe I could do but he did what he could and in the revival meeting, I can remember the pastor got up and he introduced all the visitors.

He said, if you came for somebody, if you brought a visitor, introduce him and this guy introduced his guest. He did over here and then when it was all done, he said, did we miss anybody? And some somebody said, Tom has a visitor. Tom is the guy in the wheelchair. So, the pastor says, since Tom can't talk loudly and Tom can't stand, let me introduce his guest.

So, if you're the guest who came for Tom, would you stand up? I'd like to introduce you. And do you know what I saw looking for the man that Tom brought to the wheel to the revival meeting? I saw somebody right next to him on this side stand to his feet but then I saw somebody on the other side stand to his feet and someone next to him stand to his feet and looked over here and someone stood at their feet back here over there and over there and over there and I counted 19 people that Tom in the withered up body got to revival meeting. Now, if Tom would have felt I can't do anything for God, he probably wouldn't.

And so we get the idea from the devil that we can't do anything for God. We're just us and I tell you what, I'm one of the most insecure evangelists you'll ever meet. But my security is not in me, my security is in two things. Number one, the message that I preach and two, that God enables me to do what he has me to do. And this is what we all need to be.

I'll guarantee you, God has a task for you. Or you would not still be here. I think about my grandmother and she was 96 years old and I go visit her and she'd say, Mike, I just don't know why God doesn't just take me home. I know we feel like that. But I said, grandma, do you ever think about maybe God's going to keep your life for another four years so that there's somebody who'll come into this nursing home and you will say just the right thing and be a tool in God's hand to get that soul into heaven.

I said, would you be willing to live four more years in a crippled up wore out body if you could get one person to heaven instead of hell for all eternity? She said, I sure would, Michael. I sure would. Now, the Lord took her home at shortly a year after that but my grandmother had the idea that she couldn't do anything else for God and sometimes we have that idea and we've gotta change our thinking. Now, each of us has potential.

Now, it is important that we develop our potential. I want you to notice that. I please look in your Bibles at verse 16. It says, then, he that received five talents went and traded with the same and made them other five talents, right? So, he turned five into 10.

Likewise, he had received two talents, he gained other two. He turned two into four but he had received one talent when it digged in the earth and hid his Lord's money. He buried it in the he didn't do anything with it. Now, this is an illustration. It's an application, a secondary application.

This is not a deep Bible message. It's just application. You can develop your talents. Now, I remember the first time that I went weightlifting and you could tell by looking at me, it was the last time I went weightlifting but the first time I went weightlifting, I got down on the bench and I didn't know what to do and I looked around and I see all these guys going, and then they lifted up. So, I got on the bench and I went and I got that thing up but it was too heavy for me and it came right back down to my chest and I could not get it up and so I start laughing and the spot, my friend who was supposed to help me if that happened was laughing so he couldn't lift it and I had all this weight on my chest.

I was about to die. This big guy came by with one arm literally. I'm not exaggerating. I'm not making it up. One arm went boom and he put it on the bar.

I felt like a dork. So, I thought, well, I know I can lift this. I saw those skinny guys do it and so I grabbed again this time. I concentrated. I went, right back down to my chest.

Same guy came back and he lifted it up off me and he said, you need to try some lighter weight. I said, I saw those skinny guys do it. I just, I'm sorry. I just thought I could do it. He said, they look a lot, they look skinny but they're a lot stronger than you you might think because they've been developing the muscle and he says, start with something lighter.

So, I start with something lighter and I can lift that and eventually, I added more weight and eventually, you know how it works. I could lift more than I originally attempted. Now, you can develop yourself physically but you can develop yourself educationally. Am I right? Now, that's why I went to college for four years.

That's why some of you went to trade school. That's why some of you that are enjoying like crochet or knitting or making quilts have gone to some place or watch somebody and you can do things now that you couldn't do before. Why? Because you took the time to learn how to do it. Now, I'm not wasting time here.

The Bible says this, study to show thyself approved unto God. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. You know what that means? God wants us to develop our spiritual potential. Now, what I mean?

Some of you have been saved for let's say more than a year, more than five years and you still don't really feel comfortable giving the gospel to somebody. Now, I understand that a lot of that is our personality but I ask you this, when the opportunity comes, are you ready for it? Now, I can remember when I was in eighth grade, I did not know how to share my faith and I can remember as an eighth grader thinking, I want to know how to tell somebody how to go to heaven. See, you know what I did? I went to the church rack though I'm not the standard and I've got everything right.

I'm not saying I'm good and you're bad. I'm not saying that but I'm saying what helped me. I went to the church gospel track rack and I pulled out all the tracks that I could get different ones and I looked at the way that they presented the gospel and I started to learn those ways and what was I doing in essence without even knowing it? I was studying so that I could be a workman for God. Now, if you've been saved for five years or longer, don't raise your hand.

How many of you would feel comfortable if pastor asked you to take somebody out and win them to Christ? Show them how to be saved. How many of you would know how to do that? Now, some of you would, probably at least half of you would but there may be a good number of you that would not even know how to do that. Now, that's one reason that you're not doing it because you don't know what to say.

And that's normal but I will challenge you. If you could win someone to the Lord and they go to heaven instead of hell, how many think that'd be pretty exciting? Amen. And you think, well, I can't. Yes, you can And what you have to do in order to get to the place where God can use you is you gotta learn the Bible verses.

Now, you could start with John three sixteen. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Let's quote that together. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Alright, so you could get just that verse and you could ask somebody, hey, do you know if you die, you'd go to heaven?

They'll say, well, I hope so and then you could say, well, if you could know how to get to heaven, would that be a good thing? And they'll say, well, yeah. Well, let me give you something. I'll show you one Bible verse. John three sixteen, for God so loved the world, not so hated the world, so loved the world.

You just tell him what it says, that he gave his only begotten son, that's Jesus, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. So, it says right here, you can have everlasting life. Do you see that? And then you could say, through the verse, what it says. God so loved, not so heeded.

He loves you. The world, that means everybody, that he gave his own begotten son as Jesus. You know he died on the cross. Do you know why? That whosoever believeth in him should not go to hell and perish but have everlasting life.

Does that sound like God wants you in heaven? Yes and you can explain it perishing going to hell. Eternal life going to heaven. How? Believe it in him.

And what you gotta do if you're going to have everlasting life is you gotta put your faith in Jesus Christ to save your soul. That's the gospel always been it, can't improve on it, don't need to improve on it and if we would just get this mindset, I can be used by God. I may not be a 10 talent Christian. I may only be one talent Christian but there's something I can do and as DL Moody said, we've got to get them layman mobilized and if you cannot remember the last time you've ever attempted to win someone to Christ, can I challenge you? That's too long.

So, let's get at this again. First of all, realize that we all have potential and take the responsibility to develop it and we can. So, as we're going through this idea of being used by God, if you are somebody that doesn't know how to witness, I'm not beating you up. I'm telling you this. Learn how to do it.

And you will be so glad if God uses you. You know what I used to dream about? Being a hero. I used to dream about taking that basketball and going behind the back between the legs, go like this and slam dunking. You know what I could slam dunk for at least one minute of my life?

If I used a baseball instead of a basketball. I could never get all that high. But I always wanted to be the hero. I always wanted to be a hero who would help somebody physically pull him out of a fire. I always wanted to be somebody that saved somebody's life.

One day, was driving along and sure enough, there was an accident and I didn't get to have a part in saving somebody's life. Now, I've had the opportunity to do these kind of things. Yes. I did play basketball. Yes.

I was on the second in the nation, third in the nation, fifth in the nation, Christian school team during my sophomore, junior, senior year and yes, we had some amazing things that we were able to participate in but nothing has meant even a piece of dirt to me compared to being able to see a soul come to know Jesus and when we look at the value of these things, I want us all to understand. God used David, God used Gideon, God used a little boy with five loaves and two fish and God can use Mike Pelletier and God can use you. Now, the second thing that I want to look at very briefly is directed energy. Let's go ahead and look please at verse 16. Then he had received the five talents when it traded with the same and made them other five talents.

Likewise, he had received two talents. He also gained other two but notice verse 18, he then received the one talent when it digged in the what? The earth. And hid his Lord's money. Now, two of them traded with the same, they went to the bank, and they invested it but then one of them buried that talent in the ground and there's a good picture of what we as Christians often do.

We could put our our talents and time into the bank of heaven or we could bury it into the things of the earth and we already know what God says we should do. Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth undress doth corrupt where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves do not break through nor steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Now, how many would agree that heaven is a better investment than the earth? Now, I've got as you look at this, the idea of God's work being limited by two things, money and manpower And the devil doesn't have any trouble with getting either one of them. But we have a lot of trouble getting them for the things of God.

Now, if I am 56 and the Lord lets me live to be 87, I got thirty one years if he lets me live to preach that long. So, that would mean I'd have thirty one years that I could direct the energy into the earth and temporary things or I could direct it into the bank of heaven. My mother is now 83 years old. If she lives to be 87, she has four years. Not a long time.

I'm not trying to be morbid. Everybody was alive two hundred years ago. I'm just letting you know is now dead. And so everyone of us, two hundred years from now will be dead and I'm not trying to be morbid but it's likely for many of us it'll be within ten years. Glad you came to church today?

But I will say this, we know what we know and we can do something with these five years, with these ten years, with these fifteen, with these twenty and we can decide that we'll direct it into the Earth, into the temporary things like just relax, just store up for the future, just make sure you've got enough money to make it through to the end and give each of your children a million dollars inheritance and we can then just make sure. Hey, listen. What happens if we die ten years from now? What will we wish we'd have done with our life? Now, fifteen years from now, it's not going to matter if we had everything on Earth that we wanted, did everything and all those things are good.

God gives these things but what we need to do is make sure that we are directing what time we have into the things of God because one hundred years from now, the only thing that's going to matter is what we accomplish for God in the next ten years. So, we want to make sure that we are doing what God would have us to do. Turning our energies on. Now, some of that might be directing it into financial sources for the kingdom. It might be using your voice and every person ought to be using their voice.

Whether you're healthy or whether you're sick, you know people. Whether you're wealthy or whether you're poor, you have something. And so we ask God to help us to direct things into the bank of heaven. Now, anything put into the bank of heaven, number one, it is profitable. Now, notice he turned five into 10.

He turned two into four. It's a picture of prophet. Now, as I mentioned, sometimes we feel like what we're doing is not that important and I understand that. You ought to be an evangelist. I travel around.

I try to turn the country over to the Lord and try to stir the country to Lord and that's on my heart. It's my passion and you know what I do? I influence two people get saved there. Three people get saved there and I say, praise God for that. But there are two eighty million plus Americans and I feel like I'm not making a dent.

But when I look at the Bible, it teaches that God was concerned about one Zacchaeus, one Nicodemus, one woman at the well, one Peter, one Paul, one James, one at a time and so when one person gets saved, the Bible says that that soul is more valuable than all the money in the world. What will a man profit if he gain the whole world but loses his own soul and so never underestimate the value of what you're doing. Now, as we look at what we do, we might feel like it's not very profitable but but I want to remind us, he turned five into ten, two into ten, two into four, and it's a picture prophet. Everything we do for the work of God is profitable. If you help around the church, it's profitable.

If you give a gospel track, it's profitable. You say, well, I don't know if they got saved. It's profitable. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word and there are people that are saved because of those gospel tracks. I gave somebody a gospel track.

I actually laid it down on the counter because I was just not with anybody. I laid it on the counter. Hoping somebody pick it up. I walked into a Chevy dealership, laid it on the counter in the bathroom, went out, bought a truck I needed to buy for my RV. So, I travel around the country.

A man came out to show me about the truck, the details, and he said, why do you have such a big truck anyway? I said, well, I'm an evangelist and I pulled a trailer. He says, oh, well, you must have put this in the bathroom and he pulled out that gospel track. I said, I did. I said, do you know if you die, you'd go to heaven?

He said, no, I don't. That's why I picked this up. That's what he told me. So then, I said, well, would you like to know how to get to heaven? And we've been out to eat two times.

He hasn't gotten saved yet but he's heard the gospel and whenever I'm in his area, I go see him when I can. And I believe he'll get saved and why? Because the gospel track is profitable. Now, God is saying that anything that we do for him, whether it's a gospel track, a phone call. If you help a poor person, Bible says you're loaning it to the Lord and anything that you do for the cause of Christ, don't think that you're wasting your time.

Number two, anything that we do for God is rewarded. I now notice what he said to the one that turned 5 talents into 10. Look at verse 21, stay with me. His Lord said unto him, well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things.

I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Now, notice verse 22, he also had received two talents, came and said, Lord, thou deliverest unto me two talents. Behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. Notice what God gave to the guy who turned two talents into four.

His Lord said unto him, well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler of many things and are thou into the joy of the Lord. Do you know what God gave to the man who turned five talents into 10? A certain reward.

Do you know what God gave to the man who gave, who turned two talents into four? The same identical reward. And so here's what I'm simply saying, God's not keeping track if you lead more to the Lord than Mike Pelletier. If you influence more for the Lord than your husband or the other lady in the church. What God is looking for is that you do what you can and you really do what you can.

And if you do what you can and you get involved and you don't just sit on the sidelines, God will one day say to you, well done, good and faithful servant but if we don't serve God, what did God say to that one? Thou wicked and slothful servant. Thou knewest that I reaper I have not sown and gather where I have not strawed and he says, take the talent from him, give it to him that 10 talents and he said, cast him into outer darkness, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Now, does that sound like the disobedient Christians going to spend some time in hell? No, that's not what it's saying but it's saying that we don't want to show up if it's ten years from now having just watched sports for the next ten years without investing our life into the things of God.

We don't just want to pay the bills until we die. We want to make sure that we're turning our energies on for God, that we're doing something for the Lord. Now, each of us has potential and that's what we're talking about. It's not a pep talk. Doesn't matter if you're healthy or sick.

Wealthy or not so wealthy. Doesn't matter if you're a man who is middle aged or a man who is above 90 in age. There's a 95 year old man that I'm staying with this month and you know what he does? He goes to the fairs and he hands out tracks all the time at the fairs. 95 years old.

Greatly being used by God. I've met little nine year olds. They walk up to people and say, you going to heaven? What are they supposed to say to a kid? No, they usually break down.

Kids have a way of talking to adults in a way adults will listen. It doesn't matter if you're a little kid, doesn't matter if you're a teenage kid, doesn't matter if you're a teenage man, doesn't matter if you're a woman, a single woman who's never done anything significant for God. If you can understand, if we all can understand, God wants everyone of us in this thing. It does sound like a pep talk but it is a Bible talk. Now, if we turn back here to Matthew 25 and verse 16, as simple as this is about becoming kinetic and turning your energies on.

Notice verse 16, I emphasize again, he didn't receive the five talents when and traded with the same. He did something with it. He did something with it. He traded with it and likewise, verse 17, he had received two. I also gained other two.

He did something with it. He did something with it. He got active with it and so just an illustration of being kinetic. Now, when I was a boy, my mom had a light switch obviously on the wall and she would say, don't play with the light switch. Somehow, my mother would figure out I was playing with a light switch.

Maybe it was when the light turned on, the light went off, turned on, and turned off, and turned on, and turned off. But my mom would say, don't play with a light switch. And you know what I learned obviously as a little boy, you can turn the light on and you can leave it off. You can turn it on. You can leave it off and you can do that anytime that you want.

Now, as a Christian, we can turn our energies on. We can. We can turn our energies on. Everyone of us can. Now, there may be some of you here that are thinking this isn't that significant but it is.

If we have 100 people, if we have 70 people here, I don't know how many we have. If we have 50 people here, if you got 50 people that will determine to turn their energy on for God at least regularly, we could see in a year, you would expect 50 people maybe influenced for God. 100 people could be influenced. Lots of people but you can do more if more people will work and if everybody will get involved. If you mobilize the layman, we don't need a soldier, we need an army but there are not many that are turning their energies on.

Now, we're faithful in coming to church. We're faithful maybe in our tithe. We hope you are. We're faithful in your giving even financially. That's good but financially, we need people participating but we also need people to use their voice, use their energies, turn their energies on, go to be a witness, hand out the track, make the phone call, and decide to be a kinetic Christian.

You can turn your light on anytime that you want. I can remember the first time that I turned my light on. I was a little boy. I had just been saved at the age of five and a half and then I was at the playground at Limestone and we were swinging on a swing and I got to thinking about the guy next to me and I thought, I wonder if Matt saved. And it's like the Lord said, well, ask him.

So, I said to him, Matt, can I talk to you? He said, okay. So, he went down by the garbage dumpster and I sat down in a concrete slab and I said, Matt, you going to heaven? He said, I don't know. I said, do you want to go to heaven?

He said, well, sure. I said, can I show you? And I told him the Bible verses that I knew and Matt got saved. And I loved it. I took him to bible school with me and I said, this is my buddy, Matt.

He just got saved and I was so excited about that. I thought I'm going to get another one. So, then, I thought about Tim Panazzo, the bully on the block. So, I said to my dad who was still alive. I said, dad, I'm going go witness to Tim Panazzo.

My dad said, guys like Tim don't get saved. Well, I'm going to talk to him anyway. So, I went to Tim. I said, Tim, can I talk to you? We sat down and we sat in my backyard.

I said, Tim, you know, if you die, you go to heaven? He said, I don't know. I knew he wouldn't go to heaven. But I said, Tim, if you don't get saved, you're going to go to hell and I did the best I could. And I said, would you like to go to heaven?

He said, sure. I said, well, let me tell you and Timpanazo prayed and got saved. Now, I don't know if he really got saved because he still beat me up but I tried and then, little bit later, I was with some friends downtown. They had two teenagers came by and we were a little two two junior age come by and played football. I said, your friend's going to heaven?

He said, I don't know. I said, let's ask him. We asked him. They didn't know and so we borrowed that boy's mother's Bible and we led those two teenies, two young people to Christ and then as I got older, I remember being at college and being challenged with DL Moody. DL Moody would share a faith with somebody at least one person every day and so I went home over Christmas break and I thought I got three weeks at home.

I'm going to spend at least every day sometime share the gospel with at least one person a day. I got to week one, one a day, week two, one a day, week three, one a day and I was loving it and the last day, I can remember, I was out with some friends and I got home a little bit after midnight and missus Lang was standing at the door and she said, Mike, did you have a good time with your friends? I was staying with missus Lang because my mother lived in Guam. Did you have a good time with your friends? I said, yeah, we had a good time, miss Lang.

Tomorrow, I go back to college. She said, well, good. Let me ask you, did you witness to anybody today? I said, I forgot I guess I'm not going to reach my goal and you know what missus Lang said? Yes, you are, Mike.

You promised God, get back out there. I said, missus Lang, it's after midnight. She said, I don't care. Get back out there. You promised God, get back out there.

So, I went back out and I found a person walking down the street. I got out, talked him a little bit. I don't think he got saved but I did give him a witness and what I'm saying is not that I am the standard. What I am saying is, we all have got to turn our energies on for the Lord. Now, I am an evangelist.

I have been doing this a number of years. I've been here a number of years and you know what I've seen with the COVID-nineteen situation, our efforts for evangelism have been dwindling. And it's time for us to pick it up again. Souls are still dying, souls are still in need, we know what the answer is and somehow we've got to get active and kinetic again. Let's bow our heads and we'll have a word of prayer.

Now, with our heads bowed and our eyes closed this morning, how many of you would say brother Mike? I do have a Bible reason I may not be everything I should be but I do have a Bible reason why I know that if I were to die that I would go to heaven and I can give you a Bible reason why I know that I am going to go to heaven. If you can say that, would you slip up your hand if you know that you're going to go to heaven and you're sure of it? Hold it up just a moment. Help me see the need.

I have no doubt if I died I'd go to heaven, I am confident I've got a bible reason, alright? Thank you, you can put your hands down. Although I didn't preach in it this morning, is there anybody here would say brother Mike, I could not raise my hand, I do not know if I were to die, I would go to heaven. But if you can know how to get to heaven, I want to know, would you pray for me? If that's you, would you slip up your hand?

I want to go to heaven, hope I'm going to heaven but I don't know that I'm going to heaven and I want help. Alright, God bless you there. Thank you. God bless you there. That's another.

That's two. God bless you here. That's three. Praise God for that. Is there anybody else along with these three?

I want to go to heaven but I don't know I'm going there and if you can know, I want to know. Wonderful. In a moment, we'll pray for you three and then, we'll offer you help. We don't force, we invite. Now, how many of you would say in addition to that, brother Mike, God is speaking to me about using my energies for the Lord and I know that there's more that I should be doing and I want to.

You say, count me in. I want to reenlist or I want to enlist in being used by God. Maybe I didn't feel God could use me but I know he can in some way and I want to be used by God. If that's you, you'd say, brother Mike, I needed this encouragement. I know God can use me and I want to be used by God.

Would you slip up your hand and say, pray for me that God will use me in a special way now. God bless you there. God bless you here. God bless you there. God bless you there.

God bless you there. God bless you there. Over here, dear friend and part of it is believing that God can do something again through us and if God uses you to reach one person in the next couple of years, work on one a week, work on people regularly but when God uses you, what a blessing it will be. Now Father we have some needs here today. We ask you Lord to use the message, the simple truth that we have potential.

I believe that I have potential. It's not a pep talk, it's a bible talk. And I pray Lord that you help each of us to turn our energies on for you, that there'll be people that'll be in heaven for all of eternity because we've had this service today to remind us that God can use us. I pray Lord that there'll be people here today that'll turn their energies on, that have raised their hands and then they'll have the privilege of being used by you. I ask you father for these to be used.

Help them to turn their energies on. Help me to turn mine on. Help us not to waste time or years. Help us to realize only one life and it's over and we want to make it count and we can. Help us to be determined to turn our energies on and not let time go by without doing it.

Then, I pray for these who do not know they're going to heaven, these three and they want to make sure. I pray Lord that we could help them at this invitation time and I pray that each of these three will find salvation and confidence of it today. Now, with our heads bowed and our eyes closed, there were three of you that said, I don't know I'm going to heaven but I want to. I'm going to ask the pianist just to softly play a stands of invitation and you three that said, I want help with nobody looking but me. Would you three just kindly lift your head and look at me?

I'd like to help you where you're seated. Alright, good. Did you mean sir that you're not sure? You don't have to say it out loud but you wanna make sure you're gonna go to heaven? Wonderful.

Did you mean you wanna make sure that you're on your way to heaven, ma'am? Alright. Young person, friend, do you wanna make sure you're gonna go to heaven? Now we don't force, we invite. If I sent pastor to the back, would you be comfortable slipping out the other room and letting him talk to you for ten minutes about it?

Would you be comfortable with that? So, why don't we do that? Pastor will slip out toward the back and if you want to slip out and go with him right now, he'll help you. If someone's in your way, they'll move. The pastor, do you need more personal workers?

You pick em if you want to take all three. You just slip out with him if you're ready. You don't have to but if you're ready, we'll help you. God bless you there. God bless you there.

Now, across the room, if God has spoken to you about turning your energies on for God, would you pray about it right now? Pray about it where you're at right now. If you want to, you could come forward and kneel at the front and pray. You want to make sure your salvation, you slip out to the back, two have slipped out. If there's a third or fourth, you slip out.

Let's all stand together, please. You can look up this way if you're done praying. Thank you all for letting me speak to you today. I I know we went a little longer than you were supposed to go and I apologize for that. But tonight we are going to try to still keep it in good time.

But thank you for coming and let's do something for God. Amen? Amen. How many have already gotten to win someone to Jesus in your lifetime? Would you raise your hand if you got to?

Nothing like it. How many haven't seen anybody get saved yet but you've been trying here and there? That's exciting too. And encourage you. Don't miss out.

And believe God can use you. So, learn a Bible verse, learn a couple, and let's be an army for the Lord. Amen? Amen. Alright, let's pray.

Father, we thank you for the time we've had in the word. Thank you for the people here at this church, their faithfulness through the years. Thank you for the new ones that you've brought here. Thank you for the ones that just keep coming and keep coming and keep coming and they've never yet won a soul to Christ but they're keep coming. Bless em.

And Lord use them and help them to not feel bad what they haven't been able to do but look forward to what they can do and pray Lord you give them the privilege of being part of this army of winning someone to Jesus Christ. In Christ name we pray, amen.