Sermon Tone Analysis

PRAYER

I had a powerful experience on Friday that I want to share with you.

I was struggling with the words for this weeks message.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know what point I wanted to make; it was that I just couldn’t seem to come up with the words to make it.

That is when I sincerely believe the Lord sent me a message.

I subscribe to CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) on my phone and, around 2:00 pm on Friday, I received a pop-up notification from them with the headline “‘I Just Felt The Holy Spirit Speak To Me’: Man Stops Dramatic Suicide In Progress, Leads Jumper To Christ”.

I felt compelled to read, it was strikingly on-subject for me at the moment.

As I read, everything this message is to be about came into place in my mind.

I then realized that this event occurred nearly a month ago, on April 25th, but was just now being published.

On May 17th.

At 2:00 pm.

As I struggled with a message about sharing Jesus.

.......The Lord has spoken.

With this in mind, the message this week is going to be unusual.

Normally, our focus is understanding a Bible verse and how to apply it to our lives.

Today, we are going to see our mission applied to real life and explore what the Bible says in support of this incredible story.

The Holy Spirit guides believers in witnessing.

The beginning of the story reads:

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA – On April 25, 31-year-old Collin Dozier was driving home around midnight when he noticed a car pulled on the side of the road on the Lesner bridge.

He said he felt compelled by God to investigate after not seeing the driver of the car.

"I figured he wasn't even near his car that much," Dozier told CBN News.

"So, I just felt the Holy Spirit speak to me and tell me to go up there."

The man, 27-year-old Jacob Palmer, had gotten out of his car to jump from the bridge.

In this case, this man, Collin Dozier, had a million reasons why he couldn’t stop.

It was late.

He was tired.

The man on the bridge was obviously not stable mentally and was in a dangerous position; what would happen if they both ended up dead?

Just to name a few reasons.

However, Collin realized that there was only one reason that really mattered, the call of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:39-40

The Holy Spirit puts us exactly where God wants us and calls us to witness.

Acts 8:39-40 tells us that the Holy Spirit actively calls us to do God’s work:

Here we are told of the amazing power of the Holy Spirit to guide us.

Phillip was literally teleport-ed to an entirely different place, where the Holy Spirit was calling Him.

In similar fashion, the Holy spirit purposely puts us exactly where God wants us and calls us to witness.

Understand that witnessing is not about you knowing what to say, it is about allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through your mouth.

Witnessing is spiritual warfare

In addition, Collin’s story continues to say:

"At that point I was like, 'Hey man, don't do it.

Jesus loves you.

He's got a plan for your life,'" Dozier explained.

Dozier, a devout Christian, said that while Jacob didn't respond, that didn't stop him from talking and at times sharing his own personal testimony.

"No matter what I said he wouldn't listen," said Dozier.

"So, that's when I did the only thing I knew to do in a situation like that and that's to pray.

So, I reached out my hand and I was like, 'Lord Jesus please speak to this man.

I pray right now you open up his eyes and show him your love.'"

He continued, "I was like, 'Man I've gone through a lot of hard times in my life and there's only one thing that's really going to help me get through those hard times and that's turning to the Lord."

Dozier said things escalated when the police arrived.

"He said 'leave me alone.

I have a gun.

I'm going to kill you both, there's going to be two murders tonight if you don't leave me alone right now'," he recalled.

Yet Dozier, a former high school and college wrestler,  inched closer and closer to the Jacob, who by now, was rocking back and forth on the bridge's railing.

That's when Dozier made his move.

"I went for it and I went over top his arms and I pinched my elbows in," he said describing the moment.

"I knew that he couldn't reach for anything.

I stepped up onto the railing and I sucked him back.

I picked him up and I threw him down on the pavement and at that point the police officers jumped over the roadside railing and were able to apprehend him.

On Wednesday of this week, the city of Virginia Beach recognized Dozier's heroic actions by honoring him with its Lifesaving award.

"I really believe that the good Lord puts his hands on our shoulders at times to do great things like this," said Virginia Beach Mayor Bobby Dyer.

"This is an individual who put his own life at risk to save another.

and you know, that's a godly thing."

Jacob has obviously escalated this situation to an extremely dangerous one.

However, more important is how Collin responded.

He does not waiver in his faith, he knows that the Holy Spirit has placed him here because he has been equipped for this situation by God’s grace.

Revelation 12:11

Your personal testimony is powerful

Your life is with God, not with this world

Revelation 12:11 tells us:

The most common excuse for not witnessing to others is claiming to not know what to say or how to do it.

But the bible tells us that our own, personal testimony is the most powerful witness to the world.

We do know what to say, we must resolve to say it.

The second most common excuse is the possibility of physical repercussions to witnessing.

However, God puts us in the situation for a reason and it is our calling from Him to fulfill that purpose.

Even when you must go into harms way.

God’s will is good.

You must seek to fulfill your life with Him, not your life with this world.

Witnessing is a major aspect of Christian living

Our story doesn’t end there, though:

Dozier has since stayed connected to Jacob, who on the night of his attempted suicide, had been high on Meth, PCP, Heroin and Cocaine.

He has since become a Christian and now attends Dozier's church.

He has been sober since that night.

"He said the fact that the love that you showed me, it blew his mind and to the point that he said I want that," explained Dozier.

"He said I want that love.

I just told him the scripture and I said if you'd be willing, I'd love to pray this prayer with you, and he said absolutely, and he accepted Jesus in his heart."

Dozier said Jacob plans to be baptized in June.

"He told me at church on this past Sunday, he said that he's like, 'How can I do this whole baptism thing?

I hear them talking about it church'."

"And I said, 'That would be awesome man.

That's going to like make a huge difference in your life.'

And he said, 'I want to do that.'

And he sent me a screenshot on his phone of where he registered yesterday so that's pretty exciting," said Dozier.

Meanwhile, Dozier said that others have reached out to him for help and for prayer.

"The guy at VB Psych Center saw me talking to this guy, reached out to me two nights ago saying that he's sick of his heroin addiction," said Dozier.

"He can't do this anymore.

He sees the huge difference, the change in this guy's life instantly and he's searching for this joy and the peace and this hope.

And I was able to share the gospel with him and he gave his life to the Lord too."

He says he had been asking God to help him to share the gospel with more people.

"I've been praying for a long time that God helps me be bolder in my faith, and not only that but that someday, somehow be able to bring thousands of people to his kingdom one day.

Maybe this is the start of it," said Dozier.

Many times, Christians think of witnessing as limited to special situations, or as an afterthought to our salvation.