When you're driving around town, you drive through hundreds of intersections. You may or may not notice anything at those intersections. Subconsciously you may be aware that there are cars waiting for their light to turn green. Subconsciously you may notice that there are no cars at the intersection.

However, if you're an alert driver, you notice approaching cars at intersections. Or there may be something out of the ordinary going on at an intersection. Then you almost always notice. Like the Liberty Tax folks, dressed up in Lady Liberty attire and face painted green. That will get your attention. Or students with posters waving in the air, advertising a fund-raiser car wash.

On a typical day you intersect with many people at the office, at school, at the gym, or at the grocery store. You know they are all around you, but most likely you don't think anything about it. But what if starting tomorrow you approached these intersections a bit differently? What if you started your day off by praying, "Lord, in all my intersections today, show me at least one opportunity where I can say something or do something to be a witness for you"?

If you were to do this, let me tell you what will happen. God will allow you to intersect with someone like the Liberty Tax lady. Not in the literal sense, of course. But someone will cross your path that will supernaturally move from your peripheral vision right into the center of your intersection. And that will be the answer to your prayer. Do something.

This is how I try to live my life each day. Tuesday at the gym I noticed an acquaintance I hadn't seen in a while. There was no question in my mind that God allowed our lives to intersect that day. So before I left, I walked up to him and said, Tom, I'm going to pray for you today. What do you want me to pray for?" He proceeded to tell me that he and his 44 year old wife are expecting their second child. You could see the joyful gleam in his eye. I assured him of my prayers. I prayed for him throughout the day. Seeds of evangelism were planted.

We're in the third week of our sermon series called "Go Deep." To go deep with God involves more than just snorkeling around on Sunday mornings. We talked about the importance of taking some of the noise out of our lives so that we can hear God whisper to us. Last week Kenny went deep over the center field wall as he talked about worship and how we need to turn our time here on Sunday morning into a genuine, energy-packed encounter with Jesus Christ. Today, were going to talk about evangelism. If you want to go deep with God, you must be willing to tell your story to others.

Let me be frank with you. Every day you intersect with many, many people in the Chapin/Columbia area. Approximately half of them do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you know what that means? It means that about one-half of the people you pass each day will die and spend a Christ-less eternity in hell. That bothers me. Does it bother you? It should. When you ride home today, count the houses you pass. Half of the people in those homes are living their lives far away from God.

The problem is not that so many are living far away from God. The problem is that there are only very few Christians who take this evangelism issue seriously. We love to see people get saved. We just expect that someone else, especially the church pastors, to do the work that leads people to Christ. My prayer today is that somehow God would use what I say to start a process of changing this pattern. If you claim to be a follower of Christ, but are unwilling to share your story with others, you've got some serious spiritual issues. You need to go deeper in your walk with God by taking advantage of those daily intersections He plants along your path.

There are a couple of key passages I want us to study this morning. The first is 2 Peter 3:9. "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." This verse is filled with principles for evangelism. But I want to focus on two truths. They stand in direct contrast with each other.

First, God doesn't want anyone to spend an eternity in hell. Some of you have sons and daughters, parents, brothers, and sisters who don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. They are spiritually lost. It grieves you to think that they could spend eternity in hell. God doesn't want that to happen either.

You may be here this morning and spiritually lost. You may not even believe in hell. But that doesn't negate the fact that heaven and hell are for real. In your heart you know that you need to get your spiritual life in order. Let me assure you this morning that God loves you very much. He doesn't want you to spend eternity in hell.

Now notice the contrasting truth. God wants everyone to be saved. Everyone. From the serial killer to the small child. From your son to the neighbor down the street. From your boss to the homeless man you passed on the sidewalk. He wants every single person to come to repentance. What does that mean? He wants every person to turn away from his sinful lifestyle and turn to Jesus who is mighty to save.

Turn with me to Romans 10. God doesn't want anyone to perish. God wants everyone to be saved and spend eternity in heaven. These truths seem to be no-brainers, don't they? So what's the issue? Why don't more people receive Christ in their lives? Romans 10 gives us insight. Read verses 13-15.

These verses explain the problem in logical fashion. He begins by stating that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That's great news. But there is a dilemma. A person will not call on the name of the Lord if he doesn't believe in Him. That makes sense, doesn't it? But why don't people believe in Him? Very simple. They have not heard the truth of the gospel. In other words, someone must hear and understand the gospel message before he can believe in Jesus. And he must believe in Jesus before he can call on the Lord to save him.

The logic continues. How can people hear the good news of Jesus unless someone tells them? Don't get hung up on the word preaching here. Don't assume that it's just the preacher's job to tell the good news. And don't assume that if you're the messenger, you must "preach" to the person. The point here is that there are people all over Chapin who will spend an eternity apart from a loving God simply because no one told them the good news that Jesus can save them and give them hope and purpose for living.

There is one more step in the logic. How will you ever share the good news with others unless you're prompted and motivated to do so? So maybe, just maybe, we could start a movement this morning that would result in hundreds being saved. How? Very simple. In the most loving, yet most compelling way I know how, I challenge every single one of you who claims to be a follower of Christ to tell others about Jesus. I charge you to take the gospel that has changed your life to those who intersect your path each day. I give you permission to invite your lost friends and neighbors to church next Sunday.

There is a significant part of me that truly believes the people of Chapin Baptist Church love Jesus and want to be obedient to Him. I believe you really would like to go deep with God. And I believe that almost every believer here acknowledges that God wants you to be engaged in efforts that will help bring others to Jesus.

But at some point in this area of evangelism, you must start being obedient to what you know God wants you to do. You know that Jesus died on the cross to save people from their sins. And you know that Jesus saving you from your sins is the greatest thing that has ever happened to you. But to keep that good news to yourself is hypocrisy and in effect you're proclaiming to lost people in Chapin, "Frankly, I don't care whether you spend eternity in hell. At least I'm not going there." Your silence in your daily intersections is communicating just that!

Looking for these God-ordained intersections is actually very simple once you say, "Yes, God. Please use me to lead others into your kingdom." A couple of weeks ago one of our members emailed me, telling me of one particular intersection. She kept seeing the same man each day. Wondering if the man was homeless, she sensed that God must be prompting her to do something. She went by the Christian bookstore and bought a gospel booklet. The next day, sure enough, she saw him. Moving out of her comfort zone, she pulled over, handed him the tract as well as a little money, spoke a few words, and then pulled away. That's what I'm talking about.

A few weeks ago while preaching, I noticed an unfamiliar face in the audience. He looked a little rough. It wasn't until later that day that I learned that one of our high school students saw the man hitchhiking, picked him up, brought him to church, took him to McDonalds, then to his home, and then helped put him up in a hotel that night. I'm not suggesting that you pick up hitchhikers. But I am calling each of us to look for and be bold when God sends those divine intersections.

I need to wrap things up shortly, so let me give you four specific ways you can position yourself to become more aware of divine intersections. First of all, pray for the lost to be saved. Look in Romans 10:1. "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved". Instead of "Israelites," put the word "Chapinites." My prayer to God is that the people in Chapin may be saved. At the end of the 40 Days of Outreach last fall, 334 people made a commitment to pray that the lost will be saved. Be true to that commitment.

Second, invite people to church. That's a very simple thing to do. God is moving at Chapin Baptist. Think of your friends at school. What about the people you work with? Or the parents you met at your son's basketball game? Or the waitress at Chapin Station? During the 40 Days of Outreach commitment, 198 of you said you would bring one unchurched family to Chapin Baptist in the next year. What are you waiting on? You get them here; and we pledge to create worship services each week that will help your friend connect with God and move closer to a life-changing experience with Jesus Christ.

Third, tell your story. If you look for divine intersections each day, God will provide you opportunities to share your story. Be prepared. Be bold. Here's a challenge to you. Write out your story in brief form, one that could be presented in 45 seconds or less. What was your life like before you became a Christian? What difference has Christ made in your life? I used to go through life with very little joy and no sense of direction. But now that I'm a Christian, each day is filled with joy and I have a clear sense of purpose for living. I used to be an addict, but Christ has set me free. I used to worry all the time, but since Jesus is in my life, I have a genuine peace in my heart. I used to be afraid of dying, but now I have the assurance that when I die, I will go to heaven and spend eternity there.

Fourth, build relationships with those who are not believers. I was leading a Bible study a couple of months ago and asked those present to make a list of lost people they could begin praying for. Most struggled coming up with even a handful of names. Why? Because all their time is spent with Christians. Remember our verses we studied. How can the lost be saved unless someone tells them? And how can we tell them if we never intersect with them?

Go deep. You may not have considered evangelism as one of the keys to going deeper with God. But it is. Evangelism stretches your faith in ways that nothing else will. Sometimes God uses you to plant the seed in someone's soul. Sometimes He uses you to water the seed and bring a person closer to a spiritual decision. And, yes, sometimes He allows you to be the one to finish the deal. And when that happens, I'm telling you words cannot express the joy that will overpower your soul. God's mandate is very clear. But what an awesome privilege we have to help others find their way to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.