Latest / HBCWestminster / 6.23.24 Acts 14:1-28 Pastor Danny Gardner

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6.23.24 Acts 14:1-28 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

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Would you pray with me, church?
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Lord, would you use this text and this sermon
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to bring glory to your name
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and use it to bring joy to your people
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and use it, Lord, to bring salvation to the lost.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
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Amen.
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Well, at the end of Acts chapter 13,
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you'll recall from last Sunday,
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the Jewish leaders angrily rejected Paul's preaching,
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but the Gentiles rejoicingly received it.
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And the reason was that in their minds,
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the apostle was just handing out free get-out-of-jail cards.
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The currency that they'd been accruing for generations,
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things like adhering to the law
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and trusting in their own religious heritage,
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they were being told now that that currency was no good.
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It was the equivalent of monopoly money.
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We concluded by saying that power, prestige, influence,
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the people we know, the treasure we possess,
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our pride, and even our good works are all fake currency
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and cannot be exchanged for our souls.
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The only currency that is accepted
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for redemption is the currency of God.
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Redemption is the precious blood of Jesus,
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and everything else is monopoly money.
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Now, did you know that a B-25 bomber
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one time crashed into the Empire State Building?
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It was July 1945.
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The United States was filled with hope that summer.
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Only two months before in that summer,
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the German army had surrendered, right?
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And so many soldiers, airmen, sailors
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were all being shipped either back home that summer of 1945
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or were being rerouted to the Pacific,
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but even while they were being rerouted to the Pacific,
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the United States government had recently tested
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a secret new weapon in New Mexico, right?
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That they believed would put an end
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to all wars forevermore.
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And in July 1945, a young American pilot
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was told to transfer a B-25 bomber
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from Massachusetts down to New Jersey.
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As the plane approached New York City,
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it encountered heavy fog.
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The pilot became disoriented.
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He requested permission to land,
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but was advised that visibility on the ground was too low
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and he should just go straight to Newark.
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LaGuardia Air Traffic Control signed off
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with what would become prophetic words
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when the air traffic controller said,
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I can't even see the top of the Empire State Building.
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The pilot replied, thank you very much.
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He looked down and mistook the East River
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for the Hudson River, a fatal mistake.
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He turned right instead of left.
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And on the morning of Saturday, July 18, 1945,
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he was told, I can't even see the top of the Empire State Building.
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He piloted his B-25 into the 78th story
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of the Empire State Building.
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14 people lost their lives that day,
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and all because of fog.
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I'm going to talk for a moment about missions
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and the fog which often surrounds that word.
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The words mission, missions, and missionary
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never actually appear in the New Testament.
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All of those English words are based on the Latin word
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missio, and are often misdefined
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to communicate a special category of believer
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who accomplishes a special task
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under a special subcategory within the church's structure
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using special funds under a special heading
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in the church budget.
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Using this misdefinition,
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the average believer at Highland, you and I,
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can sit comfortably removed
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by at least five degrees of special separation
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from ever considering ourselves
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to be missionaries.
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If I were to ask you, are you a missionary?
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You may be inclined to say, well, no, I'm not a missionary.
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Why do you think that?
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Because missionaries are a special category of people
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under a special category in the church
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using special funds from a special line
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in the special church budget.
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And I'm none of those special things.
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And so I'm just a regular old believer.
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I mean, I'm a member at Highland Baptist Church,
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but I am in no way one of Highland's,
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missionaries.
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But allow me for a moment to dispel that myth
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by breaking down those five degrees of separation.
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Just before his ascension into heaven,
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Jesus said this,
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go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
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baptizing them in the name of the Father
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and of the Son of the Holy Spirit,
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teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
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And we call this command the Great Commission.
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It was given originally to the apostles,
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but its impact and calling,
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are far wider reaching.
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The intention of Christ when he issued this command
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to the apostles was that that mantle of responsibility
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for what we now call missions
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would be passed to every successive generation in the church.
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In other words, the commission was given to the apostles,
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but the apostles were then to give it
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to the first generation church
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who would then give it to the second generation church
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and so on.
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It would be handed down from one generation to the next,
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namely all the way down to you.
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You and I sitting here in 21st century Westminster, Colorado.
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And so we can read that Great Commission
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and accurately ask the question,
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what are we to do?
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Do we have a job according to the Great Commission?
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And if so, what is that job?
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And as you look at the Great Commission,
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you'll notice there is one main verb
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that everything else in that commission kind of hinges upon.
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There is a fulcrum verb,
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upon which the rest of the verse kind of teeter-totters.
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It pivots on this one fulcrum point.
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And that main verb, it's actually two words.
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It's the words make disciples, make disciples.
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That is the main verb in the text.
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That is what we are to do.
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Go therefore, he says, and make disciples.
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And so then you may ask, well, then how are we to do it?
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How do you make a disciple?
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And here's where you get all of the other words
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that look like disciples.
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Look like verbs, but they're actually not verbs.
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There are some participles in here that look like verbs,
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but because they're participles,
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they're actually modifying that main verb.
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How do you make disciples?
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And there are three things.
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By going, by baptizing, and by teaching.
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So that is how to make a disciple.
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You are to go wherever the Lord calls you to go,
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and then to baptize and to teach.
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And if this is true, then all of us,
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our missionaries to some degree,
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all of us are in the ministry
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because we are all commissioned by God to make disciples.
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And we accomplish this commission
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by baptizing and teaching as we go wherever the Lord leads.
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Now, doesn't it feel good, brothers and sisters,
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to know that the Lord did not leave us
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without a clear target?
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Doesn't it feel good?
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You guys okay?
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Okay.
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Does it feel good to know what the target is?
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There's the target, make disciples.
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And doesn't it feel good to know
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exactly what he expects?
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It does to me.
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But doesn't it also feel a little overwhelming
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when you consider your personal role
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in that great commission?
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You're like, wait a minute.
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Am I supposed to be baptizing people?
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Because if that's the great commission,
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and it applies to me,
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and the way that you make disciples
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is to go baptize and teach,
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I haven't baptized a single one of my coworkers.
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And honestly, if I break that out,
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it's gonna be awkward at the next Christmas party.
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Like, I don't even know how you,
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you know, broach the subject.
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Like, do I force people?
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Do I just start throwing water on people?
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What do I do?
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I don't even know what that means.
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I want to do what the Lord is calling me to do.
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But sometimes I don't know how to do it.
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What should I bring?
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How should I pack?
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Isn't there some kind of training?
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I mean, I want to be good at it.
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But I want to witness to my neighbors.
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I want to witness to my coworkers.
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But sometimes I don't know what to say.
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And it feels like,
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as soon as I leave from the church
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and I go out into the world,
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I feel like I'm flying my B-25
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in the fog through the streets of Manhattan.
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And if I ever open my mouth at work,
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I'm gonna crash and burn.
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And as we look to chapter 14,
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we see that we're picking up in the middle of the action.
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It's in the middle of the very first
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church-sanctioned cross-cultural missions trip.
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And this morning we asked the question,
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what do I need to be an effective disciple-maker?
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I know that is the call of God.
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But what do I need to be effective?
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I want to remove the fog.
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I want to see clearly what the Lord expects of me
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as a neighbor, as a friend, as a coworker
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who wants to fulfill the Great Commission.
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Tony Morita, in his commentary on Acts,
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says you need four things.
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He says you need the Holy Spirit,
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you need a Bible, you need a passport,
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and you need a first aid kit.
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I thought that's kind of a funny list.
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Honestly, all four of those are probably indispensable,
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but I'm gonna elaborate slightly on that list
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based on our text this morning.
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Now, I'm gonna say,
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if you want to not just be a disciple-maker,
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but an effective disciple-maker,
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there are five things which you need.
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Five qualities, we'll call them,
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of an effective disciple-maker.
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And first, you must be a Spirit-filled conduit of truth.
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You must be a Spirit-filled conduit of truth.
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Now, we all know what conduit is.
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It's the pipe through which other things flow.
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Often, when electricians are wiring a building,
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they'll run bigger pipes through the walls and ceilings
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through which they can pull all of their wires.
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The plumbers will run pipes through the ground
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that allow water and gas and waste to flow unencumbered
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where it needs to go.
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And the scriptures describe you and I kind of like conduit.
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We are the pipes through which,
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the Holy Spirit of God can flow and accomplish His work.
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Every believer has not only been indwelt by the Spirit of God,
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but has been endowed by God
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with a variety of the Spirit's gifts
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for the purpose of building up the church.
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These spiritual gifts, we call them,
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are different than natural abilities and talents.
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They are supernaturally bestowed upon believers
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by the grace of God.
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And in fact, the Greek word for gift
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is the same word as the Greek word for grace.
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Charis, charis, or charisma,
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can be translated both ways, grace and gift.
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And so God manifests His grace to the church
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by gifting His people for the work of ministry.
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And in Acts chapter 14, we see Paul and Barnabas
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both filled with the Spirit,
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using the gifts which the Spirit provides
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for the advancement of God's kingdom.
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And through it, we see that God is not only
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throughout the chapter,
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Paul specifically employs the gift of prophecy.
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Prophecy has been probably misdefined
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or especially misunderstood throughout the church age,
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but especially in modern times.
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Most people, when they hear the word prophecy,
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think of future telling.
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And there were times when some of the prophets
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occasionally told the future.
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But honestly, that was not the thrust of their ministry.
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Prophets were not the gift of prophecy.
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prophets because they could tell the future they occasionally did but far more often they just
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proclaimed the word of god with clarity power and precision and i believe that's a better definition
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of that spirit gift prophecy it is the proclamation of the word of god with clarity power and
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precision did you know beloved church family that the word of god is clear it speaks with clarity
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and it speaks with power and it speaks with precision and part of our job as disciple makers
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is to proclaim it that way and notice the example of the apostle paul look at chapter 14 in verse 1
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it says that iconium a new city they entered together into the jewish synagogue and spoke
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in such a way that a great number of both jews and greeks believed they went to the
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center of the city and they spoke in such a way that a great number of both jews and greeks
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synagogue and prophesied. They preached the word of God. Look down at verse 3. They remained there
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for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord. Look down at verse 7. They continued to preach
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the gospel. Look across at verse 21. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made
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many disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch. Notice finally in verse 25.
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When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Atalia and a part of their job as
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disciple makers was to proclaim the word of God just like it is our job. If you want to be an
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effective disciple maker, then the word of God must ever be on your lips. And I've heard one
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pastor describe the word of God like a lion. The word of God is like a lion. It's just waiting to
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be loosed upon its hearers. It's waiting to be loosed upon its hearers. It's waiting to be loosed
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upon its hearers. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 18 says it this way. The word of the cross
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is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is what? It is the power of
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God. Does the word of God have power in your life? When you consider the word of God, is it a powerful
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force in your life? Or are there other influences which are drowning out the word of God? Are you
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giving your heart and mind space to other things? Is it a powerful force in your life? Are you giving
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your heart and mind space to other things? And so the word of God is like a lion, yes, but it's
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shackled in your heart. Notice Romans chapter 1 and verse 16. I'm not ashamed of the gospel,
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for it is what? The power of God for the salvation of all who believe. 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse
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16. All scripture is breathed out by God and is useful. It is intended to have a use. It's not
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just something we pay lip service to. It's not just something we pay lip service to. It's not
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just something we pay lip service to. It's not just something we pay lip service to. It's not
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just something that has an occasional impact on us. It's not just something that kind of flops
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open occasionally. We might read a word or two and then kind of wander, what does it have to do with
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me? It's useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. And before we even
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go on, let me ask you, friends, does the word of God have that kind of power in your life?
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Is your life infused by the powerful word of God?
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Is your ministry and disciple making infused with the powerful work, the word of God? Or
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is that lion still shackled in your life? Maybe it's shackled by neglect. Maybe you're just not
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giving the word of God enough time. Maybe it's by lack of discipline. You're like, you know what,
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I read it occasionally, but I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know where to go. It just kind of
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flops open. I read something and I'm like, I don't know where to go. I don't know where to go. I don't
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know where to go. I wonder, well, I guess that's for me today. Maybe it's a lack of tools. I just
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don't know how to do it. Nobody's ever taught me. Maybe it's a lack of desire. You know, the
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scriptures, when they describe our interaction with God's word, and especially throughout the
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Psalms, very rarely does it ever say, I sit and read his word. But more often, the word that is
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used is meditate. I meditate upon. And David in his Psalm, Psalm 1, he says, I sit and read his word.
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One of the best ones. Great way to introduce the book. He says, I meditate upon your law day and
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night. Day and night, I meditate upon it. Now Psalm 119, he says, I've hidden it in my heart
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that I might not sin against you. I've committed my way to it by memorizing it so it is ever
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available to me. A lack of discipline, lack of tools, lack of desire, lack of meditation and
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memorization, all of these are shackles which will limit the power of God's word ultimately and
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they hinder the Spirit's ability to flow unencumbered. I heard a man one time say that
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the word of God is like the sun. It's just waiting to shine upon the hearts of those who will receive
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it. Psalm 119 and verse 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. And maybe you
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just feel like you're stumbling around in the dark. Maybe your life or your work, your marriage
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just don't make any sense and you don't know what to do. I feel like you're only
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just making things worse. Every time I open my mouth, I feel like I'm making things worse.
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Isn't there somebody who can tell me what to do and God's word can turn on the lights?
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I this week had the privilege of speaking with a biliary doctor. Never even heard of a biliary
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doctor until I had to go talk to one. Turns out the root word of biliary is bile. Gross.
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My gallbladder has been malfunctioning and honestly, until that happens in your life,
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consider your gallbladder. It's one of those things you don't even think about, right? But
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then when it goes wrong, you think about it a lot, okay? And so I had to make this appointment with
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this gallbladder surgeon up here at St. Anthony's. Hallie and I walked in. We had our consultation
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with the surgeon. He spent 30 minutes, 30 minutes giving us a lesson on the inner workings of the
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human digestive system and especially as it relates to the proper function of the gallbladder. You guys,
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he had charts. He had maps. He had,
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illustrations. He was enjoying himself and I can remember as a junior in high school taking
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physiology. I remember hearing about all of those things, but you guys, it never made sense to me
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until I was sitting there very in tune with what he was talking about because whatever happened to
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me three weeks ago, I did not want to happen again. And so I was like, you tell me what goes
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wrong. Why is it happening? What do we need to do? Because that was horrific, all right? And it
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really does give me sympathy toward anybody who's had issues like that in the past and I'm so sorry
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if you have. It's horrible. But he had these charts and he's explaining all of this stuff and
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at the end of his whole, I mean, it was a 30-minute presentation. He gets up, he leaves the office for
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a moment. I took the opportunity just to grab my wife's hand. Hallie was sitting next to me and I
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just said again, Hallie, don't you just marvel, marvel at how amazing evolution is. It's amazing
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how lightning could strike goop in a pond. And here we are,
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and look at that chart. I mean, clearly not designed by anybody intelligent at all.
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You guys, you listen to this guy. And actually, the doctor is a believer,
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shared his testimony with us. The intricacy, the complexity, it is unbelievable how all of
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that stuff works. It's unbelievable. I mean, the detail and how every little thing has to work. And
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there are things going on. There are things going on. There are things going on. There are things
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in your bodies right now that you never think about, you never pay any attention to until they
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go wrong. And then you go talk to a doctor and he breaks out this chart and you're like, there is
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no random chance. There's no way. And I looked at Hallie and I'm like, how could somebody
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look at that and understand that function? What happens to your food after you swallow it and
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forget about it? There's no way somebody could look at that and say, random chance.
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And she said, yes, there is. If their eyes are closed, if their eyes are closed, if the lights
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aren't on, then yes, you're going to fumble around in the dark. And I thought, man, Hallie, you hit it
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on the head. That's exactly right. If your eyes are closed, if you're plugging your ears, you're
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just saying, I refuse to see it. Then yeah, you can draw some pretty faulty conclusions.
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The word of God is like the sun. When the sun comes up, everything else makes sense. But if
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you turn the sun off, you're fumbling around in the dark. If your life doesn't make sense,
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can I encourage you to turn the lights of God's word on? Hebrews chapter four describes the word
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of God like a sword. The word of God is like a sword, able to penetrate to a person's core.
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The word of God, it says, is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,
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piercing to the division of joints and marrow, of soul and spirit, joints and marrow,
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and discerning the thoughts and interactions of the heart.
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And I, through the proclamation of God's word, can unshackle it. We can unleash its power and
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uncover its brilliance and unsheath it, allowing it to have its full effect.
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Was Martin Luther the great reformer when asked about his monumental impact upon the Protestant
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movement, who said simply, I did nothing, the word did everything. And beloved church family,
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that's the book you have sitting on your laps. If we want to be effective disciple makers,
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we must preach it, we must proclaim it with the clarity, power, and precision that it deserves.
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But notice second, if you want to be an effective disciple maker, you must also be courageous
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in the face of opposition. Courageous in the face of opposition. Pick up in verse two.
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So he's preaching an iconium. It says, but the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles
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and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So they remained there for a long time,
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speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word.
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His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
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But the people of the city were divided, some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles.
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When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to mistreat them and to stone
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them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyconia, to the surrounding
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country. And there they continued to preach the gospel. Having been driven out of Antioch and
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Pisidia last week in chapter 13, Paul and Barnabas remain undeterred.
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Arriving in Iconium, they pick up right where they leave off. It was a melting pot of cultures,
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languages, and peoples. And as had become their custom, they made their way to the synagogue.
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They began to preach the word. They found some initial success. Men and women were coming to
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faith in Christ. But jealous of that success, the Jewish leaders stirred up the city against them.
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And these unbelieving adversaries would plague Paul's ministry just about everywhere he would go.
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When you read what are called the Paulist scriptures, you'll see that Paul is a man of faith. He's a man of faith.
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He's a man of faith. He's a man of faith. He's a man of faith. He's a man of faith. He's a man of faith.
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All of those New Testament letter books, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and so on,
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that Paul wrote either to churches or to individuals, you read through all of those
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letters, you notice that this same group of people showed up just about everywhere he went.
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He was faithfully proclaiming the gospel as the power of God. But just like Jesus said would
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happen, when the sower goes out to sow his seed and he throws it indiscriminately everywhere,
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there would be birds that would come.
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remember he said the enemy will come up and snatch the seed before it can take root root there would
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be birds who would come and snatch up the seed of the gospel and indeed those birds followed Paul
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from city to city to city and the population here at Iconium became polarized some believed
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many disbelieved but that polarization only emboldened the apostle Paul continued to preach
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boldly verse 3 says he continued to preach everywhere he went verse 7 says and if we want
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to be effective disciple makers we must also take up this call to courage we will no doubt meet
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opposition to our message some will believe and many will not and yet we must continue to preach
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the gospel boldly notice third if you want to be an effective disciple maker you must consistently
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point people's attention to the creator you must consistently
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point people's attention to the creator people are going to try to give you credit
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and you must redirect that credit toward heaven notice verse 8 at Lystra new city there was a
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man sitting who could not use his feet he was crippled from birth and had never walked
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and he listened to Paul speaking and Paul looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to
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be made well said in a loud voice stand upright on your feet and he sprang up and began walking
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now this miracle
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is a miracle
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is yet another one of those reflected miracles from the apostle Peter a very similar miracle
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had been accomplished by the apostle Peter he'd seen a crippled man from birth he told him to walk
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and he walked I think the inclusion of this miracle by the author Luke is probably to legitimize
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Paul's commissioning by God as an apostle his his credit his credentials were criticized so
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frequently that Luke probably includes it here to say he is legitimate just like what Peter could do
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Paul could also do
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but notice the response of the people it was not
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it was not what Paul intended verse 11
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the crowd saw what Paul had done they lifted up their voices and you can imagine them saying praise
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be
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God
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our creator
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that's not what they say they say instead the gods have come down to us and the likeness of men and
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Barnabas they called Zeus and Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker and wouldn't you know what
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they had a priest of Zeus
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whose temple was at the entrance to the city and they brought oxen and garlands to the gates
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and they wanted to offer sacrifices to the crowds we are a people who love our own hype
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we love when others think well of us and speak well of us and treat us well and the more this
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happens the more prone we become to believing our own hype eventually even encouraging it
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it's said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely but equally corrosive to our
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souls is flattery and again again the apostle paul with no hesitation redirects he performs a
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miracle on a crippled man that people not only rejoice but the response takes it way too far
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and how easy would it have been for paul and barnabas to go full marlon brando and let the
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natives worship them as deities
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i try to give illustrations and references for the under 40s occasionally for the over 40s that
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was for the over 40s all right the under 40s have no idea what i'm talking about because they never
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saw apocalypse now but you guys remember he goes full-on weirdo and lets people worship him
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and that's what they're attempting to do here
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we're going to worship you as as gods and he very quickly puts down that little spiritual
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rebellion the verse 14 says when the apostles barnabas and paul heard of it they tore their
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guardrails
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garments they rush out into the crowd and they say men why are you doing these things we also are men
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of like nature with you and we bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things to a
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living god who made the heaven and the earth and sea and all that is in them and in past generations
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he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways yet he did not leave himself without witness
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for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons satisfying your hearts with
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food and gladness you know there is actually a lot of cultural baggage that surrounds the
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people's response greek and roman mythology were rampant in the first century as you know
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the people believed in a host of gods who were really nothing more than just glorified humans
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they were powerful but they were petty maybe you remember your sophomore junior english class
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having to read these big anthologies compilations of a whole bunch of other things
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all squeezed
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into these fat 80 books right probably in one of those years you had to read a section of a book
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called metamorphosis do you guys remember this metamorphosis the author's name was ovid wrote
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about a thousand years before this event he was a greek author the story goes that in lystra and
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derby which are the two cities from our text now a thousand years before paul and barnabas show up
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the greek gods zeus and hermes
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came to visit they were disguised as human beings so they couldn't be recognized and
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they wanted to test the hospitality and generosity of that valley's inhabitants
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but they were rejected time and again and they finally came to an elderly couple who took them in
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they shared their meager provisions with them not realizing they'd actually taken two greek
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gods under their roof in exchange zeus and hermes invited that elderly couple to join
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them on the top of a nearby mountain and then they proceeded to call down floods of water and water
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upon the valley and they killed everyone else they built this very luxurious mansion on the top
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of the mountain which was now lakeside property now the well-known story which these people would
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have heard helps to explain probably why the inhabitants of those same two cities probably
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figure this is zeus and hermes and we are not making the same mistake twice and so they roll
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out the red carpet for these two gods who are parading the mountain and they're going to kill
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themselves as humans no doubt right so when paul and barnabas come out and they're actually just
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dispelling the rumor that they are gods themselves the people refuse to believe it you're not flooding
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this valley again you can have whatever you want you can take whatever you want verse 18 says even
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with these words that people scarcely restrained from offering sacrifices to them you see how
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quickly they're going to kill themselves as humans no doubt right so when paul and barnabas come out
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quickly they refuse the credit and give glory to god for what he has done and yet
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that people refuse to stop and if we want to be effective disciple makers we too must insist
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that the credit go to where it is due we must refuse the flattery of men and consistently point
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their attention heavenward fourth if you want to be an effective disciple maker you've got to care
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you've got to care about people notice verse 19 jews came from antioch and iconium and having
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persuaded the crowds they stoned paul and dragged him out of the city supposing that he was dead what
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a turn of events one day they're trying to worship him and sacrifice to him the next day they become
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convinced that he is not a god and a false prophet and so try to kill him so they try to execute him
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the next day but when the disciples gathered about him he rose up and entered the city and on the
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next day he went on with barnabas to derby paul was presumed dead and then rose up and entered the
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up and some link this event like i've said before to paul's actual death and perhaps a resurrection
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they tie it together with second corinthians 12 when in second corinthians 12 paul says i was
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caught up to heaven in a vision whether it was a vision or not i can't really tell but i visited
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heaven do you guys remember that people will take that event and say maybe he did die and this is
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when he visited heaven now i don't actually think that's necessary nor is it likely i don't think
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the timing lines up there i think that paul was beat up he was presumed dead but then with the
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help of his friends he was resuscitated not resurrected and healed this is probably where
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that commentator says you got to bring your first aid kit right because at points that people to
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whom you are directing the good news may turn on you they may actually cause you harm and you may
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ask the question well why would paul after being stoned and left for dead
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return
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to the same people who injured him why would he go back to the same town this says the very next
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day the only answer can be because he cared for them he cared for them if you want to be an
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effective disciple maker you've got to care for people if you claim to love christ you must also
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love people if your heart has to break the way that christ does when people are helpless and
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harassed like sheep and sheep and sheep and sheep and sheep and sheep and sheep and sheep and sheep and sheep
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without a shepherd and so paul turns back around he goes right back in notice what happens next in
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verse 21 when they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples they returned to
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lystra and to antioch and to iconium right these are cities that they have enemies in and notice
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what it says verse 22 they were strengthening the souls of the disciples encouraging them to
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continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of god
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encouraging and i love those two words in tandem it reminds me of first thessalonians chapter 2
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says for you know how like a father with his children we exhorted each one of you and
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encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of god who calls you into his own kingdom
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and glory consider the power of an encouraging word it was last sunday my aunt and uncle from
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southern california were visiting me and i was talking to them and i was talking to them and i
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they had come out for my son pearson's colorado reception right now i haven't seen my uncle bob
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and aunt myrna in over 10 years i hadn't seen them since we moved to colorado to be honest with you
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i was never that close to them to begin with it's my mom's older brother he's 81 i think years old
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i remember my uncle bob of course growing up but the only time we ever saw each other was at family
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events mostly holidays it was thanksgiving or it was christmas or something like that so we'd see
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them once or twice a year you know i was a kid often intimidated by him he was a boy he was a
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big dude very smart never had any idea what he was talking i never had any idea what he was talking
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about no doubt he did but he came to visit and i was just i was so excited to see him because it
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had been so long since i'd spoken to him and never really as an adult ever spoken to him so i was
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curious who he was and what he thought and he came and i was so blessed by his presence and
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then he stayed on sunday and he sat right down here for the church service and when it was done
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we all went back to my house we had lunch together and my uncle bob as he had gotten his plate of
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food we had all gone out in the back deck to enjoy the shade before he ate he walked straight over to
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me and he grabbed me by the arm and he said pastor danny i thought that was an interesting way to
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address his nephew he said pastor danny i was so blessed by the church service today he said you've
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got an unbelievable group of people and i haven't spoken to him in 10 years he said myrna and i as
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we came in we were greeted we were ministered to people were talking to us people were helping us
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people were offering to do things for us he said it was incredible to me no doubt you have a great
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staff who's doing a lot of great things but it wasn't the staff who were ministering to the people
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it was the people who were ministering to the people he said i cannot believe the worship and
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the time and the word i mean he was he started crying he said it was unbelievable if we lived
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here this is the church that we would attend he said what an awesome awesome church you have and
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he was just going on and on about it he said be encouraged
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no doubt some things have been hard but don't become discouraged don't forget that tribulations
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are just the ticket that has to be punched be strengthened be encouraged don't give up
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continue pushing continue pressing and you guys i was taken aback i just thought he was coming over
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we were going to talk you know i don't know what we were even going to talk about and yet here he
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was face to face with tears in his eyes trying to strengthen and heal people and he said i'm not
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going to be discouraged i'm going to be encouraged and encourage this pastor it was awesome and i and i
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love that the apostle paul what a ministry he had as he goes back into these same towns and he says
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don't don't be discouraged by tribulation it's okay it's just the ticket that has to be punched
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everybody goes through that it's okay be strengthened be encouraged don't give up
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and i love that he even says i'm going to appoint leaders over you who will help to
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care for you and in fact one of the greatest ways i believe that paul strengthened and encouraged
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the church was to appoint godly leadership look what he says in verse 23 when they had appointed
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elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting they committed them to the lord
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in whom they had believed what a message he says by tribulation you're going to enter the kingdom
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of heaven who wants in you're like i don't i don't want to do that and then he says i'm going
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to need leaders i'm going to need elders over this church and likely
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you're going to end up stoned out in a field who wants to volunteer like i don't want to volunteer
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i find it interesting every year as our as our elder board is looking for new elders to join
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the board and i am tasked very often time with recruiting men for our elder board i'll call them
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and i'll say hey your name came up in a meeting it's been nominated you've been nominated for
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the elder board i'm wondering if you'd like to serve and they will invariably ask well what do
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i do and i'll say well you're responsible for the success or failure of the church
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okay and you're actually according to the new testament held to a higher standard than everyone
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else so if you're caught in a public sin you're going to be rebuked publicly okay and as a bonus
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you get to attend a once a month board meeting like board meeting board how is that spelled
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like stiff as a or like out of my mind
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because either way it doesn't sound super fun and honestly it's not always super fun and yes
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sometimes it is boring and yes sometimes it is hard and yes sometimes it is discouraging but let
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me ask you every single year every year we have more qualified men more godly leaders than we need
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every year every year the list is longer than the available space like well why is that because
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there is a group of godly men here who genuinely care they are
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shepherds who care about the sheep and so they are willing to say yes through many tribulations we
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must enter the kingdom of god and yes i will be an elder at this church even if it means being dragged
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out into a field and stoned yeah because we genuinely care for the sheep lastly fifth and
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with this we end if you want to be an effective disciple maker you must be committed to and
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submitted to the local church i love how our text ends because it ends with the apostle paul and
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barnabas coming back to the church that sent them and giving them the power to do what they want to do
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giving them a report verse 24 says they passed through pasidia came to pamphylia they're working
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their way back now when they had spoken the word in perga they went back to italia from there they
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sailed to antioch antioch was their sending church where they had been committed to the grace of god
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for the work that they had fulfilled and when they arrived and gathered the church together
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they declared all that god had done with them how he had opened a door of faith to the gentiles
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and they remain no little time with the disciples antioch they hadn't seen their
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missionaries in 10 months they hadn't heard from them they didn't know how it fared with them they
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didn't even know where they were or if they were still alive and yet they come back to antioch to
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give this report in order to share in the glory of a job well done you know there's no reason to fly
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around in the fog we know what we're called to do the commission is to make disciples and we know
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how we're supposed to do it by going by baptizing and by teaching and now we know how to be good at
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if you want to be an effective disciple maker then consider yourself holy spirit conduit
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remain courageous in the face of opposition consistently point people's credit glory honor
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to the creator genuinely care for the people you're ministering to and then commit
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and submit to the local church allow me to pray lord thank you thank you for your grace toward us
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in the giving of inspiring giving of writing of
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translation of preservation of your word so that now we know what we hold in our laps is what was
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written then and god i pray a blessing over the preaching of your word i pray that we would not
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only be disciple makers but that we would be good at it and so lord may we consider ourselves
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conduit of blessing courageous in the face of opposition consistently pointing people's
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attention to the creator would you give us lord christ's hearts so that we could care for the
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people that we're ministering to and that we would be good at it and so lord may we consider
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and that we would remain committed to the people of god in the church lord we thank you
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we thank you for the truth in jesus name amen