Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / March 1, 2017 | Men's Fraternity - Spring 2017, Session 8

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March 1, 2017 | Men's Fraternity - Spring 2017, Session 8 · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning, men.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Before we get started, I'm going to turn the mic over again to Wes and uh let him remind you all about uh this upcoming uh event here at TBC.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: Good morning, men again.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_03: Uh the dreaded talk on pornography.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: Um so that event is actually this Sunday, six o'clock.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um I do I'd like to see a lot of men there.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_03: I know it's a big problem in the church that uh it's kind of like Bill Goebbel had on the stage, an elephant, uh something that a lot of men struggle with, but don't do anything about it or too shameful to deal with.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um so the event's open to all ages.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um really if you have young young men, uh Bill Roller really only wants down to the age 16.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um so if you have young young boys in your house, um bring them with you if you're gonna come.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_03: Um just because the effects of pornography at a young age affect the brain so much where you get hooked into it.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_03: Um so if you can reverse those effects at earlier in age, um it'd be great.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um through my through my history and going through recovery in my own own self.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um I've seen marriages of 40 years get torn apart because of pornography.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um a friend that uh goes to one of my groups in Lawrence, he just married 25 years, has three kids.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um three kids disowned him, his wife has disowned him, they're going for a divorce because she doesn't want to work on it all because of pornography.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_03: So I know that sometimes it doesn't seem like it's a very big deal, but it's a really big deal to me, and I think uh it's gonna take men like us to step up and conquer the challenge.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_03: So uh it starts at six, it's gonna be over in the Mulvaine building.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um hope we have a full house.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, Wes, and uh thank you too again for breakfast this morning.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: It was uh great.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so uh this week, uh Matthias, gee, once again we see how much material Gene Getz can put into a chapter on a uh person where there is so little in the Bible about, probably even less than the than the last time, uh just a couple lines.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: But uh so I was thinking um, how would you feel if you were the person that somebody came to and said, Hey, we'd like to consider you for this job.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh by the way, the last person committed suicide.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And um rather than do an interview, um we're just uh there's another candidate that we're also considering, but we're not we're gonna forego the interview process and just roll the dice.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: So good luck.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: So anyway, uh yeah, we we've got Gene uh putting together a chapter.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think there are some uh some good points, some good principles, uh uh, but we're we'll learn what we can about uh Matthias.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna turn it over to uh Derek and Jim.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, buddy.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: And uh well, I should have put uh Wes and Derek up there for coffee and breakfast.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think Keith couldn't uh couldn't do it this morning, am I right?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: And and Derek, I hear you get here super early.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: What time did you get here this morning?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Come on.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Come on, I want to hear it.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: A few minutes before Wes.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: What time was that?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: It was like five or two.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: I know I know I was I was so scared this morning.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: Because I showed up and I was the only one here.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: All the lights were off.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh, I gotta do this all by myself.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm sending my thrift flare from here and say, Lord, you gotta help me on this morning because we gotta have breakfast for all these guys, and then I'm here banging on the door, and Wes is outside there just smiling and waving.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: He's like, Oh, thank you, Jesus.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Man, am I glad?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's my favorite my favorite morning, breakfast of the week, man.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: I love this breakfast.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: So uh, you know what she said, Wes about uh where'd Wes go?
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we had a we a good friend of mine lost his wife last year.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Marriage broken up here at the church because of porn.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: She got him in porn.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: And and in fact, after Sunday morning, I think it was after uh uh you know, we got an I got an email, she didn't identify herself, you know.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: So glad you guys are doing this.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: My marriage of 29 years.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: 29 years, she said uh broken up because of porn.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just so so you know it is it is a it is a problem.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: I gotta figure out how to get around.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_02: How are we gonna do this?
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: It's a maze here.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: How are you doing this with this?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'll switch you mics.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: Or I'll just take both mics.
• 4:48
  unknown: Sounds good to me.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: Sam's not here, so it's okay.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, let's talk about sports for a minute.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: Is there even anything going on?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: Isn't this like the dead season of sports?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I apologize for what Desmond said over in the Mulvaine building during announcements, second and third service about K-State.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: I he shouldn't have said that.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: But um So the Hawks, as you know, uh Roche jumped from third to number one because uh two teams ahead of him, Villanova and Gonzaga, both lost at home.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it looked to me like uh KU was gonna lose at home this week, too, but they didn't.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: They beat Oklahoma.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: But the more important thing for me was that uh uh sitting there was really great because it uh senior night, and uh and it was really amazing to me that uh Tyler Self there is on the right, that's Coach Bill Self's son, and Landon Lucas from Grand High School in Portland, Oregon, uh where I am, where I was from.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: And uh then Frank Mason, uh stubby little short guy who may win player of the year in college basketball.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: So what happens is um this happens after the game, so they come out with their parents and it's kind of cool, and and um that's Bill and that's Tyler self's parents on the right.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: And uh it was nice to see that they all had parents.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um so and of course it was really touching uh to have Coach's son there.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: Tyler hasn't I met him once, I took my boys to a game up in Chicago, and we were in the same hotel and we chatted with Tyler once a couple years ago, but he came out with his parents and and it was pretty emotional.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then Taylor Tyler begins with saying, First of all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know, I I I'd heard from some people associated with the team that you know Bill was a Christian who has a problem with his mouth, you know, with uh F with bad language sometimes.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: But he'd been associated with uh uh fellowship of Christian athletes in the past.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: But while Tyler clearly was a fervent Christian, and it was, you know, he uh it was really what was really even cooler to me was that the students every time he would mention Christ or mention God was cheer.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that really surprised me being at KU.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, having been at K-State that I th which I think of is a far more Christian school, sorry, but uh and and and and hearing those students shout the F word during a during a game a month ago.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: So that surprised me, but that was really neat.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then Landon Lucas came up, really surprised me.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: Had no idea he was a Christian.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: He starts off by talking about how his faith's the most important thing in his life to him, that it's really transformed his time.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: He's how he's met God at KU and that it had been baptized by Wayne Simeon.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: And he said, I know it doesn't seem to affect my foul shooting late in games, but I can tell you that between every foul shot, I'm reciting Philippians 4 13.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: He says, I was reciting that really hard at the end of the West Virginia game when I missed two straight free throws.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: It almost cost us the game.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: So everybody laughs.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, it was just really cool to me that there was a lot of cheering going on as they were doing that.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: So uh we're talking about the Apostles of Jesus, and now we've got I like your introduction, Paul.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: We're talking about uh how diverse these guys are, and we've got this uh the last one who doesn't join the team until um he's sort of a substitute or a replacement.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: And as far as we know, he never scores a winning bucket.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we never hear about him again.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: I love the fact when I was studying this guy online, I did not realize.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you can read this small print down there at the bottom.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know how uh the Catholic Church makes him the patron saint of certain things?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: Can you read what it says there?
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: A patron of alcoholic patron saint of alcoholics and carpenters.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that I just how do how do you pick a patron saint of alcoholics?
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you know, I wonder how he feels about that.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm looking for it.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, Matthias, how do you like the fact that they picked you as the patron saint of alcoholics?
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: Did you have a problem?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know, just it just tickle my funny boat.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, uh open your uh uh book to page like 181 or something.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, chapter 11.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: So uh he titled it A private man who suddenly became prominent, tell starts off with a story about how Billy Graham uh was a nobody, uh basically.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Billy Graham, as I was just reading about him lately, because I just read this book Unbroken, he really uh didn't have much of a following at all.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: He'd had a he'd had a rally out on the East Coast, he was this young, young kid, and people made fun of him.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Very few people came out to see him.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing was happening in his tent in LA, and all of a sudden William Randolph Hearst goes to the newspaper, says Puff Graham, and so he's all over the front pages.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: And that little comment, you know, um wow.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so many people came to Christ because of that, because people come out because there are 10,000 people in a tent and it's all over the front pages.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's just the way it works.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why um gets his question, bottom page 81, 181.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Have you paused recently to think about the great privilege we have as Christians to be members of the body of Christ?
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: And what he's talking about is that is not just that Matthias was suddenly famous because he got on the team of apostles, but um but I mean, what a privilege that we all have to be on God's team as Christians.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: On page 182, he uses the word chosen, quoting Ephesians 1 in the top paragraph.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: And it is kind of amazing if if you just think about it for a second, we're all sitting in this room and it's pretty cool.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean the fact that out of six, seven billion people in the world, you know, somehow before the foundation of the earth, God chose us and he called you, you know, uh through his spirit to put you in a situation where you'd hear the gospel, maybe from a friend or from an evangelist, I don't know.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: And for me it was in a tent down in California at a camp and and it just suddenly was touched by it and walked a side of the trail to the front.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, but it's all because God chose me as part of the club and anyway, it's a privilege, right?
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_02: It really is.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we don't we don't deserve this.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: We don't deserve to have fellowship like this.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: We don't deserve to be in relationship with God, but somehow, through God's love, he says, Hey, I want you to be on the team.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_02: I want you to be with me.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a that's a really cool thing.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Matthias was just, as far as we know, a no-name, who was part of the crowd following Jesus around.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And on pages 182, 183, 184, and mentions some events that happen in Acts chapter 1.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: Matthias is still on the outside, you know, when the first one happens, which is, you know, the eleven go up to the Mount of Olives, and Jesus ascends up into heaven, and he had the angels saying, You know, close your mouths, quit staring up into heaven, he'll come back.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: And it says they they go back and then they start praying, 120 of them in the upper room, and or in the upper room, and then there are 120 of them praying, and and uh Matthias is probably one of the 120.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: He's probably that group, and all of a sudden, like Paul said, you know, you have this uh Acts 115 to 22.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm on page 183, 184.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna defer here to Derek, but but um you know Peter stands up and says, you know, we need to uh need to pick a replacement for Judas, right?
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but we but he's gotta be qualified.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: So why don't you take this part?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, this is I think this is one of the one of the coolest things about Matthias, partly because it's one of the only things we have of Matthias.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um but I want to start by reading the scripture that's on page one eighty-eight.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh this is Acts 1, 16 to 17, and then 21 and 22.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_02: It's in the italics on 188.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: It says, Brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as a guide for those who arrested Jesus.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: He was one of our number and shared in this ministry.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_02: And Jim, like what you were saying, Matthias, what we learned from that is that Matthias was there, kind of in and out in different some situations with the disciples, um, with the twelve disciples, but obviously in the in the larger following.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: But he saw and was with Jesus this almost this entire time.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: And we see that he was learning from Jesus.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: He was in the group that was following Jesus, he saw all of these, all these different miracles of Jesus.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: He could have even been there at Cana when Jesus turned the water into wine.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um was probably there when Jesus was feeding the 5,000 with the with the fish and the loaves.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_02: And all of this time, we saw a we see a lot of the disciples, not the 12 disciples, but um some of the other followers, we see a lot of these guys fall away from Jesus.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: No, there's the Pharisees, there's other religious leaders who are trying to attack Jesus, and kind of because of some of these things, some of Jesus' followers defect from him.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_02: They leave.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_02: And so what we see from this is that Matthias is one of these guys who, through the bad times, through the good times, through the tough times, he stuck around.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_02: And he was there, he was he was kind of in it for the long haul.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, this is on page 186, the end of the first full paragraph.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: It says, However, when many of Jesus' disciples had turned and walked away because they couldn't understand what Jesus was talking about, this man didn't.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: Matthias stayed and followed Jesus.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you guys probably know different people who maybe they start out following Jesus and then they kind of run into some bumps on the road and then they kind of fall away from Jesus and maybe stop following him.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe stop following him for the rest of their life.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_02: And Matthias could have been one of these guys.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_02: Matthias could have been one of the guys who said, no, the the persecution is getting too much.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm out.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'm I'm completely done with Jesus.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_02: But he didn't.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: And he surely he knew Judas, as Paul is alluding to earlier.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: And now Matthias is going to be the guy who is the replacement for Judas.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: And the question that Gets begins this section with it's on the bottom of page 184, is why is it so important to choose highly qualified men to serve as leaders in the church?
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_02: Why is it important to choose highly qualified men for leaders in the church?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: So I found this this article is kind of interesting.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um I don't know really anything about the guy who wrote it, Brian Cosme, but I thought he had a few main points.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_02: And the title of his article is Four Reasons for Biblical Leadership Qualifications.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: So kind of the not the only four, but I think four important ones.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um when you when we choose people to lead in the church, and I think you can even apply this to your businesses or anything else where you're choosing somebody to join your team to lead in some kind of capacity, number one, they make decisions on behalf of the church.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: So when when we choose leaders for the church, when you choose leaders for your for your businesses, the person that you choose is in some capacity going to be making decisions.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: And so do you just want any person who comes up and and fills out an application, maybe not even knowing if they're actually qualified with any any skills or or abilities to be to be in there?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think the obvious answer is is no.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um number two, they're examples to the flock.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: So the people that we choose in our leadership roles are serving as the examples.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: They're serving as the examples to the to the flock in the church, they're serving as examples to the rest of the employees in in your companies.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: Whoever we choose for leadership, they are going to kind of set the tone for everything else.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um number three, it provides greater unity and peace in the church when we have leaders who are qualified.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: And as we'll see later, you know, in First Timothy Titus lists a whole bunch of qualifications for church leaders.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_02: But I think we see that to be true.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_02: Not that it eliminates all discussion and division that that could happen, but when we do have qualified leaders, chances are they are being very connected with God's Spirit and seeking to lead in a way that is going to be bring peace, even if they may not necessarily agree on some of the preferential things.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think is interesting, it's a functional trust in the sufficiency of scripture.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's pretty neat.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: That's pretty neat, especially in the church.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_02: When we when we look at, you know, 1 Timothy 3, when we look at Titus and we see this list of qualifications, which he puts towards the back, I think at the end of one of his principles.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: But when we trust in that and we say, all right, these are the things that I'm looking for.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm looking for people who are not drunkards, I'm looking for people who don't have a quick temper, looking for people who are going to be honest.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: When we have all of these different characteristics of people leading the church and we do it God's way, I think we see God bless that because we're following kind of his prescription.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so two of the questions that I had was when we're choosing leaders to be on our on our teams, what what do we look for?
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: What do we look for in our companies?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_02: What do we look for for people to serve maybe in different leadership capacities in our families?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um who do we who are we gonna send our kids to?
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: Is it is it just anybody who says, hey, we'll take your kids, or is there a certain a certain checklist, kind of some qualifications that we look for?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_02: And then also kind of on our personal end, when we are looking to be a part of a team, how do we exhibit some of these godly characteristics?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I kind of I wore this shirt a little bit for a reason, because part of my role is join getting people to join up and be a part of the student ministry here at TBC.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I think of people like Bill, I think of people like um Brady, who's not here today.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: But these guys, according to the qualifications for for elders and deacons and church leaders, like these guys fit that bill.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_02: Are they are they perfect?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely not, because none of us are.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not perfect, Jim's not perfect, none of us are perfect.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: Jim, you might be perfect.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: But choosing these leaders is such an important thing.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I think of our summer internship program that we have here at TBC.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_02: I've had sometimes it's a struggle to find three qualified guys and three qualified ladies to serve as interns for the students for the summer.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I can't, I I can't and I won't just choose any part.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Person that fills out an application.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: And I'll I'll give you an example.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: Last summer I was interviewing several guys to be one of our interns for the summer.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: And one of these particular guys that I was interviewing, you know, he was telling me kind of how he grew up in church and his family and different things like that.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then I asked him what his favorite Bible verse was, and he couldn't tell me one at all.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: Not that he just didn't have a favorite, but that he couldn't even think of one to tell me.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: And so for me, that was like an instant red flag of I don't know if you're the person.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like you're you're really nice and you're a funny guy and you're creative and you have these different abilities, which are awesome, those are perfect, but the primary thing is is spiritual here.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: The primary thing is that relationship with the Lord.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I think about my time, I think most of you guys know I worked as a summer camp counselor at Kids Across America for two summers when I was in college.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: And unfortunately, it could have been three summers when I was in college.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: But the first year that I applied, they didn't hire me.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, man, I've been going to church all this time.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm, you know, in these in a couple of small groups here on campus.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: Why wouldn't they hire me?
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: And thinking back to my interview, one of the questions that they asked me was, How often do you get into the word?
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: How often do you spend time with the Lord in the Bible?
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I had to think during that interview and said, I mean, on Sundays, like when I go to church, that's that's when I get in the word.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_02: And after that interview, just realizing how are they going to entrust me to be leaders over these different students, Christian students, over the course of the summer and teach them about Christ if I'm not in the word myself?
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: And so that was a really heavy hitter for me in my personal life of, you know, am I am I serious about Christ?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: Am I serious about getting to know the savior of the world who chose me?
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: Or am I more serious about kind of doing the different activities that make me look like I'm being a good Christian or following these these different things?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so I think I mean choosing leaders for businesses, for churches is one of the most crucial things that we can do.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: Would you agree with that?
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I guess so.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: We're so blessed at TBC right now.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um because, you know, a couple of the staff are in here.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: There's Jason.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: But uh and you've heard you heard you've heard Doug and me say this before, Doug will and I say this.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: That um I mean just we're the best staff we've ever had.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: And um because they're qualified, but they're also humble.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: And the hum humility is such an important characteristic.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: It enables you to laugh at yourself, not take yourself too seriously, admit failure, listen to correction, and so forth.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: And um so you know, it's um you know, I'm just amazed.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just so happy with the staff, with the leaders that we have.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: Same with our elders.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: We have the most amazing elder and deacon board at this point.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Best that we've ever had in my 40 years, as far as humility, hardworking, godly, and so forth.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I feel a little guilty when I talk with other pastors or I'm around other churches.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: I have a young young couple, I have a brother, younger brother and a son who are both pastors, and I listen to them and I have to keep my mouth shut because you know, well, how are you doing, Jim?
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, and you know, there's they've got some difficulties, you know, and I don't.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, it's it's it's uh I mean, yeah, there are little difficulties every year, and sometimes we have big difficulties, but at this point, God has just really blessed us.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's important.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: Are you done?
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'm done.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: So uh Acts 1.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: So uh then they nominated it, says two men, two guys.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: Joseph.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: He's got three three names.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know how he didn't win, he had three names.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Joseph, called Bar Sabbath, is also known as Justice.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I mean, you can sign any one of those, and Matthias.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh then they all prayed, Oh Lord, you know every heart.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: Show us which of these men you have chosen as an apostle to replace Judas in this ministry, for he has deserted us and gone where he belongs.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's just interesting.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Then they cast lots, and Matthias was selected to become an apostle with the other eleven.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, so you know, uh, where are we on here?
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: We got this question, um, a mystical method, he calls it.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: This is page 188.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but anyway, so we have Matthias replaces.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: I love some of the cartoons.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody loves doing cartoons on this because it's so weird.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: Matthias, Rob's gonna like this because Rob's a graphic guy.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Matthias replaces Judas as an apostle.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: And so you have here voting, Barsabbas for 12th disciple sample ballot, Matthias for 12th disciple there and there.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: I thought that was funny.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: But I like this one even better.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: They have you rock, paper, scissors.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: Before Matthias is chosen as the new disciple, there were several elimination rounds using a new sophisticated high-tech selection technique.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: So, anyway, people, people, I mean, I love this.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_01: So the other goes a mystical method.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: Now, uh, I love Gene Getz.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: He's not a scholar, he's he's just a good guy.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is not a mystical method.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna cross out mystical.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna put in a traditional Israelite method.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: And now I think his point is still well taken, though God can use any method he wishes to reveal his will.
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Why is it important to avoid trying to duplicate specific methods?
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this is a uh um really quickly, okay, his little seminary moment.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: This book Acts is written partly to convince Jewish people who are sitting there saying, I'm not sure.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Paul's on his missionary journey, for example, and you got Jewish people going, I don't buy this at all.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: I'm used to the Old Testament, I'm used to twelve disciples, twelve tribes, the number twelve, and so forth.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I was willing to grant you a little bit with the whole Jesus thing, because at least he's got twelve apostles, and you know, they're celebrating all of the Jewish feasts and everything.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: But now I'm not hearing it.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: Jerusalem's gone.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, now you're settling in Rome.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: Rome?
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_01: These people are not Catholics yet.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: Rome, Rome, and we got Paul, where are the 12?
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so you got the book of Acts is partly written to say, hold it, this whole Christian thing, this whole Christian thing comes right out, solidly, out of ancient Israel.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh this is God's will to move from Jerusalem to Rome, from the 12 tribes to the 12 apostles to the Apostle Paul and so forth.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Here's the story.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: Look how it all starts.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_01: It starts with Jesus just like Elijah rising into heaven with the angels.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: It starts with 120, that's 10, a perfect number in one way, multiplied by 12, a number another way.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_01: And then you've got Peter standing up and making basically an Old Testament prophetic statement saying, uh, the Old Testament says we have to replace Judas.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_01: You can imagine people going, since when does the Old Testament say we have to replace Judas?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, for one reason, you know, we've got Peter, Peter told him it's not in this text, that we've got to have twelve, we've got to have twelve judges on twelve thrones one day judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
• 30:03
  SPEAKER_01: So we need the number twelve.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: But also Peter quotes an Old Testament text that David said, King David.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I imagine, I imagine somebody probably raised their hand and said, Peter, just a second, you quoted an Old Testament verse saying we have to replace Judas.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_01: Where do you get that?
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: And just to be really quick, Judas probably said this.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: Judas said, Do you remember who in the Old Testament was most like Jesus?
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they go, King David, because Jesus is the son of David.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: Do you remember that King David had a best friend who hung around with him, his personal counselor?
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they go Ahithophel.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, do you remember that Ahithophel betrayed David, just as Judas betrayed Jesus?
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_01: When David, when Absalom rebelled against David, Ahithophel, his trusted counselor, went over to Judas and gave and went over to Absalom and gave him counsel and said, You got to go against David tonight, kill him, don't wait.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: And when and when his advice wasn't taken, he went and hung himself.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: And David said, My trusted David at that time said, My trusted friend has betrayed me in a psalm that was Jesus quoted later about Judas.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_01: So you see, uh this, and you remember after he hung himself and David won that war and came back, David said, We have to replace Ahithophel.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's the verse I quoted to say that we've got to replace Judas.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, they go.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: So, so I mean, all this is behind the scenes, this is seminary-level stuff.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: But Dave Peter's, the the picture in this chapter is just this is all perfectly biblical Old Testament Jewish stuff.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: If you're a Jew, you've got to buy into the fact that this is the most Christianity is the most Jewish religion in the world.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: Okay?
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the whole argument being made in chapter one.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so it's not a mystical method.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: It is basically, you know, a wonderful traditional Israelite method where you sign these little broken pieces of pottery, whichever name you think, throw it in the hat.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: This is lots, and God always in the Old Testament, using the lots, has picked out who the person he's chosen.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_01: So this is all Israelite stuff.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: So you guys need to buy into it.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Getz is right though, that doesn't mean we should use this method today.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: This is not the way Derek should choose his interns.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's not, because Derek, you know, God's not promised.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: He's gonna have you pick out the right guys.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_01: So so I think I think this point is well taken.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: But but uh but uh in in Acts 1, this was exactly the right method.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, uh that's the story, and just to honor Hunter Roo um with these Legos, a guy picks it out and he goes, It's Matthias.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_01: And look at Matthias.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Matthias is standing really close and his eyebrows go up.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, great, it's me.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: But look at the other guy, Barabbas or Bijabbas or Justin or whatever his name is.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: He goes, Oh, C-R-A-P.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: I got I was just about to be famous.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: I was just about to win free tickets to KUK State Games for the rest of my life, and I was getting about to be in the Bible, and I was about to have one of the Twelve Thrones, and I just got shafted.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, I just think that the whole thing's kind of funny.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: So, anyway, now let's go to the principles, okay?
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh two uh two principles at the end, and then we'll let you guys discuss.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, uh I'll take this one, okay?
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_01: You take the next one.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: God is an omniscient, sovereign person who makes choices and uses methods and means that only he understands.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um can everybody say amen?
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, amen.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_02: Let's move to number two.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_02: Though God is omniscient and sovereign and makes eternal choices, he has designed that leaders be chosen on the basis of Christian character.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's huge.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_02: You can find the list on page 193.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um it's kind of a conglomeration of 1 Timothy and Titus there.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: Let's end this by this is our memory verse uh for this week and this week alone.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: Ephesians 3, 20 and 21 together, now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_01: You'll find that verse on page um 196.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: So um read chapter 12 for next week.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: We get into Paul.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: We've done Paul before, and um we'll spend a couple of weeks on that, and then I think I'll add a chapter.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um maybe two, and then we'll be done.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um small group discussion, pages one ninety-four to ninety-six, then pray for each other.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_02: Heavenly Father, thanks for this morning.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for the breakfast.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um the hard work that Wes put in to do that, and the hard work that Tom did yesterday to prepare some of that for us.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_02: And we just pray that in our decision making that we would choose leaders for the church, leaders for our organizations, um, leaders for our families who exhibit those godly characteristics that you prescribe for us.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_02: And we also pray that we would be men um who would live up to those characteristics, those qualifications through your spirit.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_02: In Jesus' name.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.