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The title of the soul winning tip today is safety out soul winning. I sort of came up with this tip here because pastor asked me to be part of the safety team. So I started thinking about things and I started making a list and looking at things why we are while we are out soul winning. So I'm going to go. I got 10 things I'm going to go over real quick. It shouldn't take too long. But you're there in Matthew Chapter 10. But first I'm going to read 1 Corinthians 16 9 1 Corinthians 16 9 says for a great door and effectual is opened unto me. And there are many adversaries. You see, there are many people why we're out soul winning that want to stop us to prevent us from spreading the gospel. They would like to hurt us if they could. Matthew Chapter 10 and verse 16 says, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. You know, we are out as sheep in the midst of wolves. You know, think about sheep. They're helpless. You know, they need somebody to guide them. They need somebody to direct them. They need somebody to herd them together and send them out. And that's what we're here for. But we're in the midst of wolves. You know, what does a wolf want to do to a sheep? It wants to eat them, right? You know, wants to kill it, wants to destroy it. It says, be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. So, you know, why we're out soul winning? We need to be smart. We need to realize and look and pay attention. All right. So the first thing I want to talk about is, number one, we need to stay aware while we're out soul winning. You know, the most effective way to ensure our safety while we're out soul winning is to just simply be aware. Be aware of your surroundings. Be aware of what's going on around you. If you're vigilant, you could often spot a potential problem down the road. You know, you could see it before it even happens. You could see it coming your way. You need to recognize the potential for danger and proceed with caution when you're out there. Right. So if you're out at a door, you know, and you're talking to somebody here and you see guys down the road, you know, that look kind of shady, that look kind of like they're out to hurt you, you know, you might want to avoid them, you know. At all costs, you'd be better off trying to avoid them rather than going down there and confronting them. Now, if you're with you, your wife and your family, you know, that's the thing you want to do. If you're a single guy that's out there and you want to take that chance to go preach the gospel or you're out there with another guy, you know, and you don't have your kids with you, by all means, try to give them the gospel. But, you know, that's what we're out there for. But we also need to be safe. Right. Number two, you know, don't argue. You know, you don't need to start arguments at the door. The last thing you need to do is be at somebody's door causing a fight. Right. You know, you're at their house. They're not at your house. So when you knock on a person's door, you know, and they're unreceptive, they just don't want to hear it, you know, or they're already agitated and angry, you don't know what's going on in their lives. You know, just say here's the invitation. If you want it, you know, give it to them if they take it. If they don't want to hear it, just go. You're fine. All right. Number three, this is big around here. Look for dogs. Right. Dogs are everywhere out here. You know, rattle the gates before you enter the yards. You know, if there's a gate or you see that door to the house is already open, wide open, you know, and you got your kids, you don't need to be going up there knocking on the door. You need to pay attention. You need to be careful. If a dog does come after you, you know, you might want to try to run up a tree, jump over a fence, close a gate, jump in a truck bed or something, right. Another thing I do is I carry this, you know, pepper spray. You spray this in a dog's face and they're going to run away. You know, and you don't have to do anything else but just spray it in their face. It's not going to hurt the dog, but they're going to take off. Number four, and this is especially for, like, ladies. I don't know of anybody that actually does this around here, but don't go inside somebody's house if they invite you. You don't know who they are. You don't know what their intentions are. They could be the nicest person in the world, but they could have ulterior motives or there could be somebody else in the house. You don't know. I always stay on the doorstep. You know, I don't go inside somebody's house. I don't go in any farther than I have to. Number four, or number five, trust your gut. You know, don't knock on a door if you feel uneasy about the house. You know, that could be the Holy Spirit telling you, you know, you need to go somewhere else, right? And this is another one, you know, and people may do this here or whatnot, but that's up to you. But my thing is I don't knock on the house of Billy, all right? If they got the homo flag flying, I'm not going to go knock that door. I'm not going to knock it at all. You know, I don't want my kids exposed to anything that's there. I don't want anything coming out after me. I don't want it, you know. In Acts chapter 17, or all throughout the New Testament, what do we see? We see Paul going around and preaching the gospel, right? In Acts 17, he goes, 17, 1, it says, now when they had passed through Epichilis and Apollina, they came to Thessalonica. Where was the synagogue of the Jews? And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of scripture. So what did Paul do? He went into the synagogues, right? He went to the religious, the people that already believed in God. He didn't go into the house of Billy or the people that have rejected God, the people that have been given over. He was not preaching the gospel to the homos, and you'll never find anybody that does that in the Bible. But what did the homos do, right? And turn to 2 Samuel chapter 20, if you can. And this is my reason why, right? In 2 Samuel chapter 20, verse 1, says this, and there happened to be there a man of Billy, whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichrai, a Benjamite. And notice what he does. He says, and he blew a trumpet, you know, loud and proud. You know, when they're flying that flag, they're loud and proud, right? That's what they're telling you. They're saying, look, he says, and said, we have no part in David, neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tent saw Israel, right? They don't want any part of it. That's why they got the flag out there. So you might as well just avoid them, all right? So number six, always have a cell phone. Bring your phone with you. Keep the ringer up, keep it on. You don't know if somebody else is gonna call you. If you lose your group or you get separated, you need to give them a call, right? Number seven, travel light, all right? Leave your valuables in the car. Don't be walking around with your purse. You know, you're just gonna look like a target to somebody that's out there, all right? Number eight, and this is especially for the ladies. You know, I'm not picking on my wife or anybody else, but stay with your pairs. If the guys are talking to somebody at the door, don't go down around the corner knocking the rest of the doors. We can't see you. Stick with us. We're out there to protect you. That's what they're there for. Stay around us. Number nine, and this is what I do right here. If I knock on a door and a kid answers the door, number one, I'll ask them if their parents are home. You know, if they're smart, they'll say yes, right? Number two, if they are home, I'm gonna ask them if I could have permission to talk to their kid, all right? Because a lot of times, what we do is we have people that knock on doors and they give tracks to the kids, they preach the gospel, and then we give phone calls or the cops called or something, right? Don't even leave a track. If there's not somebody there to give you permission, don't talk to them. Don't leave a track because you don't know what the kid's gonna say, all right? And you don't know what's gonna come from it. If they don't have cameras or there's no proof, you know, it's your word against theirs, you don't know. That's why we're in pairs. You know, we have a witness. But if the parent's not there and they're not gonna give you permission, don't talk to the kid. You know, as sad as it is, we want to see everybody saved, but those parents are on this earth to raise their kid. If they want to send their kid to hell by preventing them from hearing the gospel, that's on them, it's not on you. Number 10, it's hot out. Drink some water, all right? I got this little flyer from the CDC. You know, we should be drinking water before we actually go out there, and we need to be drinking water during the time we're out there. And you may all know this, but by the time you feel thirsty, you're already behind and starting to get dehydrated, right? So when you're out there, drink water. Before you go, drink water. And after you're done, drink water, all right? So in conclusion, you know, Psalms 127, three says, lo, a children are in heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of the youth. Look, if you're gonna go out there and be dumb and get yourself arrested, put in jail, or possibly shot, you can't raise your children for the Lord. So put your pride away, try to be safe, keep your kids safe. First Peter 5, eight says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. The devil's out there and he wants to stop us. He's gonna do whatever he can, and he's gonna use you against yourself to do it. Proverbs 21, 31 says, the horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord, right? We need to go out there, be prepared, but the Lord's one is gonna keep us safe. Even if we follow all these rules or we don't, the Lord will keep us safe. So we do have that Lord on our side, but we need to go out, we need to get people saved, but we need to be safe while we're doing it. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father Lord, I thank you for this time to preach your word. I thank you for this time to edify these people. I pray that you place a hedge of protection around us while we go out and preach your word. I pray that you keep us all safe. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.