Latest / Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services / Living Waters of Grace 11.06.25
Transcript
- 0:03This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
- 0:08Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
- 0:12County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
- 0:16continues teaching through God's Word.
- 0:37We're all so self focused. Unfortunately, and we're all so
- 0:40easily offended and the Bible tells us that love is not easily
- 0:45offended, but we unfortunately outside of having the love.
- 0:49Of God working in our life, we get offended over the most
- 0:52ridiculous. Things don't we?
- 0:54Sometimes people won't talk in a family for years and they can't
- 0:58even remember at times why they don't talk anymore because it's
- 1:02such a stupid thing. Well, why didn't you talk to
- 1:05your dad all these years? Or your mom or whatever?
- 1:08Picture this. You find yourself in a Little
- 1:09Mix up with someone you care about.
- 1:11Sometimes, rather than patching things up, you let your pride
- 1:15take the wheel and end up causing them pain.
- 1:18Your ego can cause some serious emotional damage.
- 1:22How often do you find yourself choosing to forgive and move on?
- 1:26Today, Pastor Clark shares a heartfelt message about the
- 1:29importance of embracing humility in your life.
- 1:33God decided to wipe the slate clean for your sins.
- 1:37How about doing the same with your loved ones now?
- 1:40Here's Pastor Clark in Acts Chapter 15 as he begins his
- 1:44message ministry. Leadership fallout.
- 1:48We are in the book of Acts turn there in your Bibles Acts
- 1:51chapter 15 and. Title The message today.
- 1:55Is ministry leadership fallout? So.
- 1:58Let's pray as we open our Bibles to Acts chapter 15, verses 36
- 2:04through the end of that chapter. Father.
- 2:07God, we thank you this morning. For your word, we thank you, for
- 2:09the body of Christ, we thank you for a body of believers around
- 2:14the earth today, Lord, and churches everywhere that are
- 2:16true to your word, that are more desperate than ever, Father.
- 2:20For change. Not any change in our country,
- 2:24but change in the hearts of the human race, Lord.
- 2:27And we know the only thing that can change a heart is the word
- 2:29of God as you transform us as you convict.
- 2:33Us as you teach. Us, Lord, your ways and Lord we
- 2:36come to the acknowledgement and conclusion that Lord, we are.
- 2:40All fallen people and we. Need a savior?
- 2:43We need someone to deliver us from ourselves and this morning
- 2:47as we look at the text, Father we.
- 2:49Pray you would teach us about. The importance of reconciliation
- 2:53and how we're to forgive and how Lord were to be.
- 2:57First reconciled to. You and then Lord.
- 2:59By your spirit of. Grace being reconciled to one
- 3:02another. And so, Lord, guide us, help us,
- 3:05Holy Spirit, teach. Us not only to.
- 3:08Understand these things intellectually, but experience
- 3:12them in our daily life to live them out.
- 3:14To be doers of the word and not hear only bless all those you've
- 3:18brought today and may you be glorified in everything we do.
- 3:22In Jesus name we pray, Amen. So let me read these verses that
- 3:27we're going to look at today and then we'll begin to make some
- 3:30comments. This is.
- 3:32The challenge of life. And challenge of ministry that
- 3:36I'm thankful. That in the Bible it teaches us
- 3:39about how to deal with conflict and how to deal with.
- 3:42Challenges of relationships. God doesn't skip over anything
- 3:47that we might. Have to deal with as.
- 3:49Human beings he addresses everything in the Bible and how
- 3:52we can become more like Christ and so they had this finished
- 3:56some wonderful conversation the. Apostles and the Elders.
- 4:02In the Church of Jerusalem, they were having a conflict with the
- 4:06Judaizers who were pushing the need to be.
- 4:09Circumcised to be saved. Obviously there's nothing that
- 4:12anybody needs to do to. Be saved other than to believe
- 4:15on the Lord Jesus Christ and the Bible says we shall be saved
- 4:20and. So they were going to report to
- 4:23the churches on the second missionary journey.
- 4:25Paul and Barnabas were going to head out and follow up churches
- 4:29they had visited. About five years previous at
- 4:31this. Point to see how they were
- 4:33doing, but some difficulty occurred and so I'll start with
- 4:37verse 36. Then after some days, Paul said
- 4:41to Barnabas, Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every
- 4:45city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how
- 4:48they are doing now. Barnabas was determined to take
- 4:52with them. John called Mark, but Paul.
- 4:55Insisted that they should not take with.
- 4:57Them, the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia.
- 5:01And that. Not gone with them to the work.
- 5:04Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one
- 5:08another. And so Barnabas took Mark and
- 5:11sailed to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and
- 5:14departed, being commended by the brethren to the grace of God.
- 5:18And he went through Syria and Cecilia, strengthening the
- 5:22churches. A tragic encounter here with
- 5:27two. Brothers who loved each other
- 5:28deeply, who served the Lord together faithfully for many
- 5:32years. Barnabas word is encourager.
- 5:36That's the definition, the meaning of the.
- 5:38Word Barnabas and encourager he was a great encouragement to
- 5:42Paul and now they had this disagreement now when you.
- 5:46Read the commentaries about why this could have happened or how
- 5:50it happened or what was the purpose of this happening some.
- 5:53People say, well, this is just God's sovereign plan to get the
- 5:58gospel spread out with more people than this Paul and
- 6:01Barnabas going together. Now there will be two teams.
- 6:05And so that's one way that some people can look at it.
- 6:08But I've come to understand personally, as a pastor of 26
- 6:12years, that we all. Fail.
- 6:15As leaders, we all make mistakes.
- 6:17Things we say and do that we regret, that we can't take back.
- 6:22But that doesn't mean that. There isn't a possibility by the
- 6:25Spirit of God and the grace of God to be reconciled.
- 6:28To anyone that we might have stumbled or discouraged or was a
- 6:33bad witness or testimony. Before in this case, both
- 6:37Barnabas and Saul, Paul the Apostle are not great
- 6:41testimonies. I talked to a lot of pastors.
- 6:45Around the world, friends, others who have been in ministry
- 6:50for a long time. That say this is one of the more
- 6:52difficult times in the history of the church in the evangelical
- 6:56world to be a pastor. Than ever before, there's many
- 7:01contentions and disagreements. Among believers, whether it's
- 7:06cultural things, moral things, political things, medical.
- 7:12Things this unbelievable difficulties and challenges.
- 7:17There's been more. Pastors who have resigned over
- 7:20the last several years. Than probably any other time in
- 7:23the history of the modern evangelical church.
- 7:27I visited a church just to go take a tour of it as I was on
- 7:31business. I went in and it's a very large
- 7:34church. At the peak of their growth,
- 7:35they had over 3000 people coming every Sunday to hear the Word
- 7:40and people getting saved and baptized and discipled.
- 7:43Now they have less than 2000 people over. 1/3 of the.
- 7:46Congregation as left and no longer attends the church or
- 7:50goes to the church. Some people have decided that
- 7:53the way they do churches online and some people have to do
- 7:57church online because of health issues I understand or distance
- 8:01issues, but. God has called us to assemble
- 8:04together physically. He told us not to, not to stay
- 8:10away from the church or to stay away from one another.
- 8:13We're to be with one another, to worship and honor the Lord, and
- 8:19to be in the Word together. And to learn how to do life
- 8:21together. No matter what the conflicts
- 8:23might be, we're working through a book together as leaders right
- 8:27now in regard to ministry itself and leading the church with
- 8:35grace and very divisive times. And so we have to learn when we
- 8:41read the Scriptures, what it is that the Holy Spirit wants us to
- 8:45understand. It's interesting as we read
- 8:48these. Verses today that when Paul and
- 8:50Barnabas were having an argument, they didn't ask for
- 8:53any. Input from the.
- 8:55Rest of the council, the other elders.
- 8:57They earlier had gone to Jerusalem when there was a
- 9:00disagreement about this issue of circumcision and the Gentiles
- 9:04being forced to be circumcised in order to be.
- 9:07Saved from the Judaizers and their position on what they
- 9:11thought salvation entailed, they prayed.
- 9:14They met together. They discussed there was
- 9:16contentious argument during that time, but the truth ruled.
- 9:21Out and they gave the council that together they were to deal
- 9:27with this issue of legalism in the church in a gracious way.
- 9:33It's interesting when Paul and Barnabas started having problems
- 9:36about John Mark. That they didn't say, well, you
- 9:39know, first of all, we should pray about this together.
- 9:43We should get some input from some of the other brothers that
- 9:46we just are with here in Jerusalem.
- 9:48How do we deal with this conflict in our relationship?
- 9:51We've been together all these years.
- 9:53God's used us. Many people have come to know
- 9:55Christ. And now we're getting mad and
- 9:58our pride is in the way. And we're not allowing the
- 10:00Spirit of God to control our hearts.
- 10:04So there was much dispute. This wasn't a simple issue here
- 10:09and there was problems between both of them in their.
- 10:14Hearts at this time. So you might say, well, who is
- 10:17wrong in this contention? Was it?
- 10:19Paul. Or was it Barnabas more than the
- 10:23other person? Or was it both of them together?
- 10:26This confrontation became so sharp that they actually stopped
- 10:33on ministry. Together.
- 10:35And this happens in just about any kind of church you've
- 10:39probably ever been in. You see people that used to be
- 10:42there that served. That loved one another.
- 10:44They're no longer there. Or you see the doors shut of
- 10:47churches. That used to be very vibrant,
- 10:49but because of contention and arguments and.
- 10:52Inability to be reconciled. The work of God is is thwarted
- 10:56and and destroyed. And we know who's behind all
- 10:59that. It's the evil one who wants to
- 11:02scatter the sheep. Destroy your life as a
- 11:05Christian. Destroy the integrity of the
- 11:07body of. Christ and close churches down
- 11:11this heated disagreement. This difference of opinion was
- 11:16basically a difference of opinion.
- 11:18Paul didn't like John Mark for whatever reason anymore.
- 11:22Didn't want to give. Him a chance Barnabas was
- 11:25related. To John.
- 11:26Mark and he had a heart for him. He saw the.
- 11:29Potential in him what's interesting is in spite of
- 11:32everything that happened in this section of scripture, eventually
- 11:36John Mark. Was reconciled to Paul, and Paul
- 11:40said later on in one of his epistles, Please send John, he's
- 11:44needful to me. And so there was that beauty of
- 11:47reconciliation. Eventually it tells us in
- 11:50Proverbs 1310. Only by pride cometh contention,
- 11:55but with the well advised is wisdom, and so we see here that
- 11:59there's pride. In the Apostle Paul's life.
- 12:03And there's pride also in Barnabas life, God tells us in
- 12:08the book of Proverbs chapter 6, verse 16 through 19.
- 12:12These six things the Lord hates. Yeah, they are an abomination
- 12:16unto him, A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent
- 12:21blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that
- 12:25be swift and running to mischief, a false witness that
- 12:30speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the
- 12:34brethren. So we see this disagreement
- 12:36between people, in this instance Paul and Barnabas, leaders of
- 12:40the church. I was thinking as I was studying
- 12:44this, what scriptures did they have access?
- 12:47To in regard to dealing with conflict up until this point,
- 12:52well. We know that Jesus taught
- 12:54clearly in the Beatitudes. How we're to live out our faith
- 12:59and how we're to live in regard to conflict that arises in our
- 13:03life. The Beatitudes were.
- 13:06Responsible to help. Us to understand how to have.
- 13:09A blessed. And a happy life, it says,
- 13:12Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of
- 13:16God. Being poor in spirit is to be
- 13:19humble, to acknowledge our own shortcomings, and to have
- 13:24humility in the opposition of pride, the sin that comes before
- 13:30the fall. Humility is always rooted.
- 13:34In forgiveness and this desire to be at peace, that's the first
- 13:39beatitude that Christ. Gave this is how he has been
- 13:43toward us. Jesus, the lover of my soul.
- 13:48Jesus, I will never let you go. You've taken me from the miry
- 13:53clay. You lifted me up.
- 13:56And the Lord. Wants us to be this way with one
- 13:59another and we all fall so short in actually doing this this
- 14:04morning I'm sure there's not one of us here who has not
- 14:07experienced conflict in our lives, whether it's in our
- 14:10marriages with our children, our family, our neighbors, our.
- 14:15Co laborers in the ministry at work, it's everywhere and.
- 14:20Unfortunately, I find that conflict is never really dealt
- 14:24with in a biblical way. Usually it could.
- 14:27Be someone in the church that's upset about something, about
- 14:30someone who said. Something or did something and
- 14:34they decide they're not going to go to the church anymore because
- 14:37one person maybe didn't say hi to them or didn't smile at them.
- 14:42Or wasn't pleasant toward them? I mean we're all so self focused
- 14:46unfortunately. And we're all so easily
- 14:48offended. The Bible tells us that love is
- 14:51not easily offended, but we unfortunately outside of.
- 14:55Having the love of God working in our life, we get offended
- 14:59over the most ridiculous. Things don't we sometimes.
- 15:02People. Won't talk in a family for years
- 15:04and they can't even remember at times why they don't talk
- 15:07anymore because it's such a stupid thing.
- 15:10Well, why didn't you talk to your dad all these years or your
- 15:13mom or whatever? Well, to be honest with you, I
- 15:15can't remember. I just knew we fought about
- 15:17something, we were upset and I can't even remember what it is
- 15:21anymore. Isn't that sad?
- 15:23And so the Lord looks at these things and wonders, you know,
- 15:26how can we call ourselves as followers and we behave this
- 15:30way. Blessed are they that mourn, for
- 15:33they shall be comforted. Mourning is this morning over my
- 15:37own sins, the sins of the world and the suffering.
- 15:41That other people go through that should break us and make us
- 15:45sad. And make us prayerful that we
- 15:48want to see situations change and reconcile first in our own
- 15:53heart with the Lord, and then in our hearts with one another, and
- 15:57then our hearts in this broken world.
- 15:59If we as believers. Can't forgive one another in
- 16:02this. World, How in the world can we
- 16:04reach lost pagans and people that are really out there that
- 16:09are doing everything that would offend us as human beings?
- 16:12How can we have love in our hearts to take the gospel, the
- 16:16people that really need Jesus, if we can't live out the gospel
- 16:20with one another as Christians? There's a movie coming out in
- 16:24February called The Jesus Revolution and it's on the.
- 16:27History of the Calvary Chapel movement.
- 16:30Kelsey Grammar. The guy that played and cheers,
- 16:32you remember him. He plays a part of Chuck Smith
- 16:35of all people and but anyway, this is a phenomenal film about
- 16:40this little. Church called Calvary Chapel.
- 16:42That was. Dying because of religion and
- 16:44self righteousness and. All the.
- 16:46Suits and the ties and. Everybody thought that because
- 16:49of the way they. Looked outwardly, they were
- 16:51acceptable. God.
- 16:52Inwardly, hippies started coming to this church because they were
- 16:55in desperate need of a savior. They were broken people.
- 16:58Their lives were messed up and ruined because of sin.
- 17:01Chuck didn't know how to deal with it when they started coming
- 17:04in and some of the wealthy people in the church said if
- 17:06these. Kind of people come to our
- 17:07church. The people.
- 17:09That support this church financially will no longer be in
- 17:12this church. Chuck took a deep breath and
- 17:14swallowed. And said, I understand, but he
- 17:17didn't know what to do. And finally this one young
- 17:20hippie came to him and looked him straight in the eye and
- 17:22said, Pastor Chuck, someone has to be willing to love people
- 17:28that are not easy to love. Someone has to be willing to
- 17:32give them a chance and invite them in, in spite of the way
- 17:35they look and the way they dress and the things they've done.
- 17:39Chuck heard this young man started getting choked up,
- 17:42excuse himself, moved away to go wash his hands at the sink,
- 17:46thinking about what was being said to him by.
- 17:49This hippie who had just recently.
- 17:51Become saved he then made the decision that he.
- 17:55Was going to open the doors to whoever wanted to come into the
- 17:58church regardless of the outcome.
- 18:00And he told the. Congregation that the door
- 18:02swings both ways. The door swings inwardly for
- 18:05those who are broken. For those who are easily
- 18:08offended, the door swings the other way for them to leave and
- 18:12so. Some of those people got up and
- 18:14left and never came back. But what happened because of
- 18:17this brokenness in this one pastor's heart, which I need in
- 18:21my own? Life, as we all need, is to be
- 18:25at the point in our lives as Christians that we're not
- 18:27letting things get in the way of what's most important, and
- 18:31that's our relationship to Jesus.
- 18:34And our. Love for one another, Jesus
- 18:37said. By this people will know that
- 18:39you're my disciples, not by your understanding of doctrine, which
- 18:44is important, by the teaching in the Bible, which is also
- 18:47critically important, but he said by the love you have for
- 18:51one another. By this, people will know
- 18:54you're. My disciples, what would
- 18:57Barnabas and Saul say Paul say to those who would ask them?
- 19:03Where's Barnabas now, Paul? What would they have said?
- 19:08Well, we had an argument. And then the.
- 19:10Christians would say, well you guys are supposed to be.
- 19:12Leading us on how? To be Christians and how to act
- 19:15as Christians. And you guys can't?
- 19:17Get along together anymore. That's a That's a bad situation,
- 19:21isn't it? It's not acceptable.
- 19:25The Bible doesn't go into great detail on this, but later on it
- 19:28goes into great detail and how Paul taught about dealing with
- 19:31conflict because I'm sure he never forgot about this
- 19:35situation that occurred in his life.
- 19:37It was a a mark in his ministry, a bad mark in his ministry.
- 19:41It says blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
- 19:45The meek are the humble people, obedient and submissive to the
- 19:50will of God. Jesus was meek and humble of
- 19:53heart, it tells. Us in Matthew 1129.
- 19:55He's learned of me. For I am meek and lowly of
- 19:58heart, and you will find rest into your soul.
- 20:01The only way that we can become like Christ is to become humble
- 20:08and to meet our mistakes and our wrongdoings.
- 20:12And ask for forgiveness. To those we have.
- 20:16Perhaps hurt and offended, Blessed are the merciful, for
- 20:20they shall receive mercy. And boy, do we need mercy.
- 20:25Lord have mercy on us, the publican said.
- 20:28Lord, have mercy upon me, this Sinner.
- 20:31He wasn't judging the self-righteous person that
- 20:34didn't think he had any problems, he was looking at his
- 20:38own need of mercy. It tells us in the book of
- 20:42Leviticus, you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge
- 20:47against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbors
- 20:51yourself. I am the Lord.
- 20:53That's straight from the scriptures.
- 20:56That we're to love our neighbors.
- 20:58We love ourselves. Ephesians 430.
- 21:02One and 32 says And let all bitterness and wrath and clamor
- 21:08and evil speaking be put away from you.
- 21:11Anybody ever have any problem with any of those things?
- 21:16Be kind, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as
- 21:21God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
- 21:24I mean, who am I to hold a grudge or be bitter or
- 21:31unforgiving against anybody for what the Lord has done for me
- 21:37and what He's done for you? This is the heart of the church.
- 21:42Forgiveness. We preach forgiveness of sins
- 21:47through the death, burial and resurrection and.
- 21:49Shed blood of Jesus Christ. But how do we live out this
- 21:53forgiveness? It says in the Beatitudes,
- 21:56Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of
- 21:59God, a peacemaker, someone who can step between two warring
- 22:05parties. The peacemaker initiates
- 22:08reconciliation when others have. Wronged them the.
- 22:11Peacemaker is quick to repent when they have wounded others,
- 22:15so we're. All to be peacemakers, aren't
- 22:17we? Christ is the ultimate
- 22:19peacemaker. He stands between US.
- 22:22And God the Father and through. What he's done on the.
- 22:25Cross for us. He made it possible.
- 22:27For us to not be at. War with God anymore?
- 22:30Because of our sin in Jesus own words in John 1335.
- 22:36By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you
- 22:40have loved one for another. I struggle at times when people
- 22:45come to our. Church for the first.
- 22:46Time I find out like. Hey, nice to see.
- 22:49You where you from where you've been?
- 22:50I always love it when they say, well we.
- 22:52Moved and we used to go to a really good.
- 22:54Church in some other state, and we're here now, and we want to
- 22:56come here because the Bible's taught.
- 22:58I love that. But if they're at the door and
- 23:00says, well, let me tell you, we were at such and such a church
- 23:04and the pastor did this or I don't want to hear any of that
- 23:07because I'm thinking it won't be too long before they're leaving.
- 23:10You're saying that about me, right?
- 23:12I mean, none of us are perfect, right?
- 23:14And there's always going to be something, no matter what church
- 23:16you go to, where you find that there's going to be some kind of
- 23:19issue you got to either deal with or.
- 23:22You know not deal. With I guess and.
- 23:26So when does the? Migration of Christians begin to
- 23:29end. Probably not until Christ comes
- 23:32and sets up his Kingdom on earth and he rules and he's the pastor
- 23:35and we're sitting at his feet. But when would end this
- 23:39migration from one church to the next church to the next church
- 23:43to the next church? How many churches do we have to
- 23:45move to before we realize that the problem isn't really the
- 23:49church? The problem is my own heart
- 23:51usually and how I deal with conflict.
- 23:53Or don't deal with conflict. For joining us on this journey
- 23:58through Acts on today's edition of Living Waters of Grace,
- 24:02Pastor Clark shares that one of the most remarkable things about
- 24:06the book of Acts is how it shows the disciples transformation.
- 24:10The followers of Jesus we meet here are very different from the
- 24:15often confused and fearful disciples in the Gospels.
- 24:19After Jesus's death and resurrection, and especially
- 24:23through the power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles experienced
- 24:27a profound change in their hearts and boldness.
- 24:31Their faith became unwavering, and they move forward with
- 24:34courage to spread the gospel despite opposition and hardship.
- 24:39Acts reminds us that the same Spirit who empowered them is at
- 24:43work in US today, shaping our hearts and giving us strength to
- 24:48live boldly for Christ. Living Waters of Grace is a
- 24:52ministry of Calvary Chapel Westmoreland.
- 24:55If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, we invite you to join us
- 24:58this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St.
- 25:03Unit 6B. Visit calvarychapelonline.com
- 25:07For more information where you can also join our e-mail list,
- 25:11submit prayer requests, give online and download our mobile
- 25:16app. If you are in the Greensburg
- 25:18area, you can listen to Grace FM on the new 91.7 frequency.
- 25:23Pray about helping support the new station that will reach
- 25:26thousands more listeners. Send gifts to Grace FMPO Box
- 25:31716, Greensburg, PA 15601. If you can join us in person,
- 25:37you can subscribe to the Calvary Chapel Westmoreland YouTube
- 25:40channel so you'll be alerted when new material becomes
- 25:44available. We're so grateful that you
- 25:46joined us today in Axe TuneIn again soon for another edition
- 25:50of Living Waters of Grace.