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Living Waters of Grace 11.07.25 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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  This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
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  Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
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  County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
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  continues teaching through God's Word.
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  We preach forgiveness of sins through the death, burial and
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  resurrection and shed blood of Jesus Christ.
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  But how do we live out this forgiveness?
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  It says in the Beatitudes, blessed are the peacemakers, for
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  they shall be called children of God, a peacemaker, someone who
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  can step between two warring parties.
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  The peacemaker initiates reconciliation when others have
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  wronged them. The peacemaker is quick to
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  repent when they have wounded others.
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  You must have seen this. When 2 folks get into a heated
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  debate, there's usually someone else who steps in trying to
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  smooth things over and bring a little peace to the situation.
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  Today, Pastor Clark has an inspiring message for you about
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  the importance of being a peacemaker.
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  Why not be the spark that encourages others to let go and
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  move on? Arguments rarely lead to
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  anything positive, but when you embrace forgiveness, you open
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  the door for God to work through you in incredible ways.
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  Now here's Pastor Clark in the book of Acts Chapter 15 as he
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  continues his message ministry leadership fallout.
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  It's interesting when Paul and Barnabas started having problems
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  about John Mark, that they didn't say, well, you know,
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  first of all, we should pray about this together.
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  We should get some input from some of the other brothers that
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  we just are with here in Jerusalem.
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  How do we deal with this conflict in our relationship?
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  We've been together all these years.
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  God's used us. Many people have come to know
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  Christ, and now we're getting mad and our pride is in the way
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  and we're not allowing the Spirit of God to control our
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  hearts. So there was much dispute.
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  This wasn't a simple issue here, and there was problems between
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  both of them in their hearts at this time.
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  So you might say, well, who is wrong in this contention?
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  Was it Paul or was it Barnabas more than the other person?
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  Or was it both of them together? This confrontation became so
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  sharp that they actually stopped on ministry together.
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  And this happens in just about any kind of church you've
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  probably ever been in. You see people that used to be
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  there that served, that loved one another.
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  They're no longer there. Or you see the doors shut of
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  churches that used to be very vibrant.
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  But because of contention and arguments and inability to be
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  reconciled, the work of God is is thwarted and and destroyed.
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  And we know who's behind all that.
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  It's the evil one who wants to scatter the sheep, destroy your
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  life as a Christian, destroy the integrity of the body of Christ,
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  and close churches down. This heated disagreement, this
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  difference of opinion was basically a difference of
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  opinion. Paul didn't like John Mark for
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  whatever reason anymore, didn't want to give him a chance.
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  Barnabas was related to John Mark and he had a heart for him.
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  He saw the potential in him. What's interesting is in spite
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  of everything that happened in this section of Scripture,
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  eventually John Mark was reconciled to Paul.
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  And Paul said later on in one of his epistles, please send John,
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  he's needful to me. And so there was that beauty of
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  reconciliation. Eventually it tells us in
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  Proverbs 1310, Only by pride cometh contention, but with the
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  well advised is wisdom. And so we see here that there's
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  pride in the Apostle Paul's life and there's pride also in
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  Barnabas life. God tells us in the book of
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  Proverbs, chapter 6, verse 16 through 19, these six things the
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  Lord hates. Yeah, they are an abomination
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  unto him, a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent
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  blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that
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  be swift and running to mischief, a false witness that
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  speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the
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  brethren. So we see this disagreement
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  between people, in this instance, Paul and Barnabas,
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  leaders of the church. I was thinking as I was studying
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  this, what scriptures did they have access to in regard to
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  dealing with conflict up until this point?
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  Well, we know that Jesus taught clearly in the Beatitudes how
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  we're to live out our faith and how we're to live in regard to
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  conflict that arises in our life.
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  The Beatitudes were responsible to help us to understand how to
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  have a blessed and a happy life. It says blessed are the poor in
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  spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.
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  Being poor in spirit is to be humble, to acknowledge our own
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  shortcomings, and to have humility in the opposition of
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  pride, the sin that comes before the fall.
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  Humility is always rooted in forgiveness and this desire to
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  be at peace. That's the first beatitude that
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  Christ gave. This is how he has been toward
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  us. Jesus, the lover of my soul.
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  Jesus, I will never let you go. You've taken me from the miry
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  clay. You lifted me up.
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  And the Lord wants us to be this way with one another.
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  And we all fall so short in actually doing this this
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  morning. I'm sure there's not one of us
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  here who has not experienced conflict in our lives, whether
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  it's in our marriages, with our children, our family, our
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  neighbors, our Co laborers, in the ministry, at work, it's
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  everywhere. And unfortunately, I find that
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  conflict is never really dealt with in a biblical way.
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  Usually it could be someone in the church that's upset about
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  something, about someone who said something or did something,
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  and they decide they're not going to go to the church
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  anymore because one person maybe didn't say hi to them or didn't
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  smile at them or wasn't pleasant toward them.
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  I mean, we're all so self focused unfortunately, and we're
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  all so easily offended. The Bible tells us that love is
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  not easily offended, but we unfortunately, outside of having
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  the love of God working in our life, we get offended over the
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  most ridiculous things, don't we?
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  Sometimes people won't talk in a family for years and they can't
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  even remember at times why they don't talk anymore because it's
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  such a stupid thing. Well, why didn't you talk to
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  your dad all these years or your mom or whatever?
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  Well, to be honest with you, I can't remember.
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  I just knew we fought about something, we were upset and I
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  can't even remember what it is anymore.
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  Isn't that sad? And so the Lord looks at these
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  things and wonders, you know, how can we call ourselves as
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  followers and we behave this way?
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  Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
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  Mourning is this morning over my own sins, the sins of the world
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  and the suffering that other people go through that should
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  break us and make us sad and make us prayerful.
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  That we want to see situations change and reconcile first in
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  our own heart with the Lord and then in our hearts with one
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  another and then our hearts in this broken world.
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  If we as believers can't forgive one another in this world, how
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  in the world can we reach lost pagans and people that are
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  really out there that are doing everything that would offend us
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  as human beings? How can we have love in our
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  hearts to take the gospel, the people that really need Jesus,
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  if we can't live the gospel with one another as Christians?
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  There's a movie coming out in February called The Jesus
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  Revolution, and it's on the history of the Calvary Chapel
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  movement. Kelsey Grammar, the guy that
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  played and cheers, you remember him.
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  He plays a part of Chuck Smith of all people.
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  And but anyway, this is a phenomenal film about this
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  little church called Calvary Chapel that was dying because of
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  religion and self righteousness and all the suits and the ties.
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  And everybody thought that because of the way they looked
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  outwardly, they were acceptable God.
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  Inwardly, hippies started coming to this church because they were
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  in desperate need of a savior. They were broken people.
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  Their lives were messed up and ruined because of sin.
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  Chuck didn't know how to deal with it when they started coming
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  in. And some of the wealthy people
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  in the church said, if these kind of people come to our
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  church, the people that support this church financially will no
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  longer be in this church. Chuck took a deep breath and
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  swallowed and said I understand but he didn't know what to do
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  and finally this one young hippie came to him and looked
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  him straight in the eye and said.
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  Pastor Chuck someone has to be willing to love people that are
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  not easy to love. Someone has to be willing to
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  give them a chance and invite them in in spite of the way they
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  look and the way they dress and the things they've done.
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  Chuck heard this young man started getting choked up,
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  excuse himself, moved away to go wash his hands at the sink,
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  thinking about what was being said to him by this hippie who
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  had just recently become saved. He then made the decision that
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  he was going to open the doors to whoever wanted to come into
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  the church, regardless of the outcome.
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  And he told the congregation that the door swings both ways.
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  The door swings inwardly for those who are broken.
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  For those who are easily offended, the door swings the
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  other way for them to leave. And so some of those people got
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  up and left and never came back. But what happened because of
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  this brokenness in this one pastor's heart, which I need in
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  my own life, as we all need, is to be at the point in our lives
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  as Christians that we're not letting things get in the way of
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  what's most important. And that's our relationship to
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  Jesus and our love for one another.
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  Jesus said by this people will know that you're my disciples,
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  not by your understanding of doctrine, which is important, by
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  the teaching of the Bible, which is also critically important,
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  but he said by the love you have for one another, by this people
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  will know you're my disciples. What would Barnabas and Saul
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  say, Paul say to those who would ask them, Where's Barnabas now,
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  Paul? What would they have said?
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  Well, we had an argument and then the Christians would say,
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  well, you guys are supposed to be leading us on how to be
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  Christians and how to act as Christians, and you guys can't
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  get along together anymore. That's a that's a bad situation,
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  isn't it? It's not acceptable.
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  The Bible doesn't go into great detail on this, but later on it
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  goes into great detail and how Paul taught about dealing with
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  conflict because I'm sure he never forgot about this
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  situation that occurred in his life.
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  It was a a mark in his ministry, a bad mark in his ministry.
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  It says blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
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  The meek are the humble people, obedient and submissive to the
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  will of God. Jesus was meek and humble of
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  heart, it tells us in Matthew 1129.
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  He's learned of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you
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  will find rest into your soul. The only way that we can become
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  like Christ is to become humble and to admit our mistakes and
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  our wrongdoings and ask for forgiveness to those we have
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  perhaps hurt and offended. Blessed are the merciful, for
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  they shall receive mercy. And boy do we need mercy.
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  Lord have mercy on us, the public and said, Lord have mercy
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  upon me, this Sinner. He wasn't judging the
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  self-righteous person that didn't think he had any
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  problems. He was looking at his own need
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  of mercy. It tells us in the book of
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  Leviticus, you shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge
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  against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbors
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  yourself. I am the Lord.
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  That's straight from the Scriptures that we're to love
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  our neighbors. We love ourselves.
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  Ephesians 431 and 32 says, And let all bitterness and wrath and
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  clamor and evil speaking be put away from you.
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  Anybody ever have any problem with any of those things?
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  Be kind, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as
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  God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
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  I mean, who am I to hold a grudge or be bitter or
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  unforgiving against anybody for what the Lord has done for me
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  and what He's done for you? This is the heart of the church,
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  Forgiveness. We preach forgiveness of sins
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  through the death, burial and resurrection and shed blood of
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  Jesus Christ. But how do we live out this
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  forgiveness? It says in the Beatitudes,
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  blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of
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  God, a peacemaker, someone who can step between two warring
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  parties. The peacemaker initiates
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  reconciliation when others have wronged them.
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  The peacemaker is quick to repent when they have wounded
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  others. So we're all to be peacemakers,
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  aren't we? Christ is the ultimate
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  peacemaker. He stands between US and God the
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  Father. And through what he's done on
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  the cross for us, he made it possible for us to not be at war
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  with God anymore because of our sin in Jesus own words in John
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  1335. By this all people will know
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  that you are my disciples if you have loved one for another.
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  I struggle at times when people come to our church for the first
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  time. I find out like, hey, nice to
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  see you. Where you from where you've
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  been? I always love it when they say,
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  well, we moved and we used to go to a really good church in some
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  other state and we're here now and we want to come here because
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  the Bible's taught. I love that.
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  But if they're at the door and says, well, let me tell you, we
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  were at such and such a church and the pastor did this or I
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  don't want to hear any of that because I'm thinking it won't be
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  too long before they're leaving here saying that about me,
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  right? I mean, none of us are perfect,
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  right? And there's always going to be
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  something, no matter what church you go to, where you find that
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  there's going to be some kind of issue you got to either deal
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  with or, you know, not deal with, I guess.
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  And so when does the migration of Christians begin to end?
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  Probably not until Christ comes and sets up his Kingdom on earth
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  and he rules and he's the pastor and we're sitting at his feet.
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  But when would end this migration from one church to the
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  next church to the next church to the next church?
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  How many churches do we have to move to before we realize that
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  the problem isn't really the church?
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  The problem is my own heart, usually, and how I deal with
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  conflict or don't deal with conflict, and then trying to
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  work out my own salvation with fear and trembling along with
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  everyone else. To learn to give people grace or
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  give them space to make mistakes and to not right away want to
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  squash them or slander them or put them down, but to figure out
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  ways to help people and to build them up.
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  The works of the flesh in Galatians 519.
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  And Paul wrote this himself in the book of Galatians.
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  This describes the fallenness of our sinful nature, Hatred,
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  contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish
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  ambitions, dissensions. And this is disagreements that
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  lead to discord and distrust among one another.
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  So here's Paul exhorting the church in Galatia of the
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  believers, not walking in the flesh, which we do at times.
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  He had to be reminded of the contention he had with Barnabas,
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  right? He lived this himself.
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  He failed. He made a mistake as well.
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  Versus this beauty of the fruit of the Spirit being filled with
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  the Holy Spirit where there's peace, long-suffering, that
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  means patience, hanging in there, kindness, gentleness and
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  self-control. So as God's servants, we all
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  fail. We struggle with pride and
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  unforgiveness and fractured relationships and homework,
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  family, neighbors, church. How does Jesus treat us when we
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  fail in these relationships? I think of one of the greatest
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  examples of a failed relationship and ministry is
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  Simon Peter, who became the great apostle Peter whenever he
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  was a rookie, being trained by the Lord in dealing with people
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  and ministry and the gospel. And so Peter thought he had it
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  all together. He thought he would never do
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  anything that would offend his Lord or let him down.
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  And the Lord speaks to Peter shortly before he's eventually
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  going to deny him three times. And the Lord says in Luke 22,
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  verse 31, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked for you that he may
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  sift you as wheat. That means to shake someone
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  apart and break a person down. That's what the enemy wants to
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  do to you. He wants to shake you so hard
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  and break you down so much that you don't want to have anything
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  to do with Christians, church, the Bible, anything.
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  You're done. And I've been close to being
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  there at times. Anybody else ever been close to
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  being there? Probably every one of us, if
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  we're honest. But where do we go?
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  Where do we go? We go to the Lord.
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  This picture of the sifting is they use these big large
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  strainers to shift sift the wheat and the grain as it was
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  shaken violently. The dirt and other impurities
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  that clung to the grain during the threshing process would
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  separate from the good usable grain.
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  It's good. And the Lord, in his wisdom,
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  Satan is not someone who does something independent of God's
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  authority is. It's good to know that.
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  So the Lord knows and allows the enemy to do what he needs to do
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  in order to bring us to our senses.
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  The enemy's goal is to destroy us and to cause us not to want
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  to follow the Lord. But when God's involved in this
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  process, we are broken and we're more prepared to do what it is
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  that God's called us to do. So Satan wants to crush us and
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  wreck our faith. The good news is that Jesus
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  speaks in Luke 22, verse 32, the next verse he says, but I've
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  prayed for you that your face should not fail.
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  And when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren.
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  Isn't that beautiful? Everybody else at that time, if
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  you and I were hanging out with Peter, I'm not going to listen
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  to this guy. I'm not going to sit under his
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  leadership. I reject his authority.
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  You know what this guy did? He denied Jesus.
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  That's like one thing everybody remembers with Peter.
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  He denied Jesus. Well, which or who here has not
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  denied the Lord one time and our witness by the way, we live DC
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  Talk had a great song one time that talked about the reason
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  people don't want to have anything to do with Christianity
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  is because they say one thing, but they live something out
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  that's completely different than what Jesus taught.
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  So Jesus says I prayed for you that your face should not fail.
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  And when you've returned to me, strengthen your brethren.
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  So there's this picture all the time of the opportunity to
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  repent, to get things right, not to see our ministries destroyed,
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  but to see them reconciled and to be renewed and to be
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  refreshed and to be more powerful and dynamic than they
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  ever could have been without our feelings.
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  Right. When we fail and we falter,
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  that's when we're humbled. And when we're humbled, that's
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  when God can begin to work for. God says he resists the proud,
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  but he gives grace to the humble.
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  Paul and Barnabas needed grace in their problem and their
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  conflict. We all need grace and prayer and
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  the power of the Holy Spirit to be reconciled first to God and
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  then one to another, to be at peace again, to make amends, to
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  be forgiving. And this is so important because
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  God allows these things to be put in the Bible that we might
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  stop and think and reflect and say, well, how does this
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  teaching today impact my life personally?
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  What is it that God wants to show me in regard to my need of
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  reconciliation with others? And even you today, you might
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  have been in this church a long time and you might be offended
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  of something that we as pastors or elders have done that we
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  don't even know about. If you could come to us and talk
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  to us and help us to be better pastors, that would be the best
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  thing to do. Don't give up on us.
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  Give us a chance like Jesus gave Peter a chance.
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  When you've returned, strengthen the brethren and whatever church
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  you're affiliated with, whatever church you're committed to,
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  whatever pastors and elders you sit under, I pray that you would
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  pray for these men. They're just men like you.
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  They're weak, they're not perfect.
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  They're learning, they're growing in the grace and the
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  knowledge of the Lord. They need your support, they
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  need your prayer, they don't need your slander, and they
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  certainly don't need you leaving the church over something that
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  doesn't make sense. 3 reasons to leave a church RC Sproul said
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  Financial propriety, sexual immorality and heresy.
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  Most of the time when I talk to people that have gone from one
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  church to the next has nothing to do with any of those things.
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  It has something to do with something that's stupid.
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  It doesn't make sense. We're so glad you joined us
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  today on this edition of Living Waters of Grace.
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  Pastor Clark is teaching through the Book of Acts, which is the
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  only book that chronicles the history of the early church
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  immediately after Jesus's ascension.
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  It gives us a front row seat to how the Gospel began to move
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  outwards, starting in Jerusalem and reaching into the heart of
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  the Roman Empire. In just three decades, a small
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  group of frightened ordinary believers became a bold, spirit
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  empowered movement that transformed the known world.
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  Acts is not just a history lesson.
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  It's a reminder of what God can do when His people are
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  surrendered, obedient and filled with the Holy Spirit.
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  Their perseverance still inspires us today.
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  May we follow their example and live faithfully for Christ in
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  our own time. We hope today's message
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  encouraged you. Living Waters of Grace is a
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  ministry of Calvary Chapel Westmoreland.
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  If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, we'd love to have you join
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  us in person. Our Sunday service begins at
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  10:30 AM at 400 E Pittsburgh St. Unit 6B.
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  Be sure to visit calvarychapelonline.com to
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  confirm times and learn more. If you are in the Greensburg
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  area, you can listen to Grace FM on the new 91.7 frequency.
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  Please pray about supporting this outreach.
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  Gifts can be sent to Grace FMPO Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601.
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  Stay connected through Facebook, YouTube, or our Calvary Chapel
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  Westmoreland app. Join our e-mail list, submit
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  prayer requests, and give online all at calvarychapelonline.com.
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  Thank you for tuning in and spending this time in God's
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  Word. Be sure to join us again for
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  Living Waters of Grace.