Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / March 15, 2017 | Men's Fraternity - Spring 2017, Session 10

Transcript

March 15, 2017 | Men's Fraternity - Spring 2017, Session 10 · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: All right, men.
• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh good morning.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if uh if you've all heard, I got uh an email.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: This is gonna be our last men's fraternity.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: I was looking forward to a couple more, but uh given where spring break falls and some guys uh I think Derek's gonna go on spring break.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Didn't make sense to come back for one more after spring break.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: So so this is it.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: So this morning I was trying to think about what I was gonna say to to to wrap us up, and all of a sudden God said, talk about finishing strong.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you guys uh have all been here all through the semester, and uh I think about Paul and uh gosh, he wrote a lot of his uh great letters while he was in prison.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he was still encouraging people and he was in prison, and you know, we wrote about being poured out as a drink offering, but yet, you know, we talked about um you know running the race, uh, you know, finishing finishing strong.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so I just I kind of thought about gee, let's just uh we're we're finishing the semester strong.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna talk about Paul and he went uh got an audience with uh with Caesar to be able to share the gospel, you know, of all people who uh you know needed to hear the gospel.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: He wanted to made sure that he got an audience with Caesar.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: So anyway, I'm gonna let uh you know Jim and Derek um finish us strong.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Who had the beat?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody else got it.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: That was you, Mr.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Les.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: You should give us you ever been we're in a Bebop band or something?
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: Might have to get you up on stage sometime doing that bebop.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so what what is this?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: This is um any of you guys ever know top the cars Ralph and Genie used to have the Christian bookstore.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: Their son Paul.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: Son Paul works for ESPN.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_02: He came back this last week to broadcast on WIBW broadcast the 3A basketball title uh games.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_02: He loves, he's always done that, he loves doing that, even though now he's become pretty famous.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: He became famous.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: This is the World Cup Soccer, last World Cup soccer, and he was became famous on that.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: So anyway, he tweeted this week, although he got this information from none other than me.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: But he he tweeted uh uh ESPN, Kansas is the only state with multiple Division I schools to put all of its teams in this year's men's NCAA basketball bracket.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: Which is interesting.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_02: K-State had it all the way.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: There was no doubt they were gonna get in the tournament.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_02: That was close.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_02: They played a night in the play-in game, right?
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: Don't they have a game?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: What?
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: They played Wake Forest and one?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I knew they would.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I love No, but I mean I love Danny Manning, but I mean that team, Wake Forest, was so overrated.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: They had not beat one good team this year.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: Oh dear.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: It was close?
• 3:02
  unknown: Yeah.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_02: I can't believe I missed it.
• 3:04
  unknown: They were in big time and didn't came back and K-State.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: That's so great.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: Because I really think they can win.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_02: If they could win this, I really thought they can win.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: I think they can win their next game.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Who do they have next?
• 3:19
  unknown: Cincinnati.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: Cincy.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I take it.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: I take it back.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: It's really Cincinnati.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: Cincinnati, is it really?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: I take it back.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: They can't.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: No, that's that's Cincinnati's uh nuts.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: That's too bad.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: They'd have to play the game of their life to upset Cincinnati.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: Cincinnati's really good.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: Nuts.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, so uh anybody fill out brackets?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_02: Any of you involved in any bracketology, you know, contests and so forth?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: I hold one here at the church, and other people are in it, so there's always about 25, 30 that are in it.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: Unfortunately, though I've been doing it 20 years, I've never I've been the only one that's never won.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: People like Patty Delaberto, you know, the women on the staff who evaluate things like, you know, I'm never gonna pick the Duke Blue Devils because the word devil is in their name, you know, or good-looking mascotch, they win.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yours truly never wins.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_02: So who'd you pick this year in the championship?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: I haven't yet.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um no, I was gonna pick Duke, but the thing is they might be headed for they have to play SMU um to get into the Elite Eight.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I think SMU might be the upset team of the so I haven't decided yet.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: And then I was gonna pick Roy Williams, but I just can't force myself to pick North Carolina.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: So I don't know what anyway.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_02: Anyone have any insights?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: Let me know.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: Um so let's talk about important stuff.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but but you will notice that um Blake's picture is up there.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: We've we've um, you know, and yeah, on our screens is it showing on that one as well?
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think it's on this one.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's just on the TV all the way over.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: We I don't know if you've ever seen on our screens, even during the week, we always have about eight or ten different announcements going.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: And and because we're gonna have thousands of people in the church today, you know, for this uh service at 10 o'clock this morning for Blake, you know, we've we've put that up.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: Last night from five till eight o'clock over in the uh across the street, Chris and Jacqueline and their family stood there and and they just had a long line from five o'clock till eight o'clock.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, thousands of people came through.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_02: And uh and that actually does tie in in a way to some of what we're gonna talk about today because we're gonna talk about how Paul got into the ministry and how sometimes, sometimes, uh, like in Chris and Jacqueline's case, you had no idea God was gonna suddenly throw you into ministry opportunity, they're actually gonna speak today.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: They're gonna be the main speakers at the service, believe it or not.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um guy named Zeke, who finished second on the voice, is flying in.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: He's on tour right now, singing tour, and he but he's gonna fly in to sing two songs.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: He actually um, you know how on the voice you sign up and you get sort of mentored by one of the judges, his judge is Blake, you know, and um anyway, he's flying in to sing at the service today.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_02: But it'll be a tremendous ministry opportunity for Chris and Jacqueline, I'm praying for him today, because they're gonna share the gospel.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: So uh um, and Saul, of course, suddenly got thrown into the ministry, and we're gonna talk about that today.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: So just to review last week, uh this we're talking about Saul or Paul, the greatest Christ follower in history, and um, well, we'll review next week later.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: But um I think we're gonna jump right into what page 200.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: 200, bottom of 204.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the time had come.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so the question that Getz begins this section with is can you remember a time when you sensed you were ready for a new spiritual opportunity and challenge in your life?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's interesting.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um the the scripture that he begins this section with is is Acts 13 verses 1 through 3.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm just gonna read those, read those verses for us real quick.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um Acts 13, verses 1 through 3.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: In the church that was at Antioch, there were prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon, who was called Niger, Lucius, who was a Cyrenian, uh Menaean, a close friend of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work I've called them to.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's really interesting that this is this is kind of the the beginning, kind of the the preparation, the sending out of Paul and Barnabas for these missionary travels.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because up until this point, Paul hadn't had any missionary travels.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: He was in preparation mode for about, was it three years or so?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of in in preparation mode for about three years.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, the question that gets put says, when have you sensed that you were ready for this spiritual journey?
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't know, I don't know where Paul was at, if he was sensing that he was ready for this journey.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: But I think one of the interesting things that we see in here before Paul's missionary journey, before he's called on this great conquest to go to the Gentile nations to preach the gospel of Jesus to these people, is that he was worshiping the Lord.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: He was fasting, he was delighting in God, he was worshiping God, and in the midst of worshiping God, then the Holy Spirit came down and said, All right, now I need you to go and do this thing, whatever it is.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: And we don't see maybe a hint of Paul seeking out this great missionary journey.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, God, I want to be this great apostle for you.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: I want to go and do this great thing, but he was doing what he knew to do, and that was worshiping God in that moment.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I can think of one example in my life, just kind of out of the blue, being called to something, being called to a ministry opportunity that I didn't expect.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: And that was when I first came to TBC, or kind of that transition to coming to TBC on staff for the first time.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because before then, I was I just moved here a little over a year before.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: I was working at Target as um in the distribution center, um, had a team over there, and was Gabby and I were both volunteering as small group leaders in the student ministry.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: And completely out of the blue, something that was unexpected from me, from Gabby too, is that I got invited to interview for the children's pastor position here at TBC.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it wasn't something that I was seeking out.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: I wasn't on the internet, hey, where are the pastor jobs in Topeka or close or you know, anything like that?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um completely out of the blue, and I feel like in a in a similar way of Paul's experience of you know, you're just doing the things that you're supposed to do, you're you're serving where God wants you to serve, you're working hard where God wants you to work hard as far as your job.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: And then when he's ready to move you to something different, he will he will let you know.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Now, in this time, it was the Holy Spirit oftentimes would speak directly to people.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: And we don't necessarily experience that, I don't think, in the same way that that Paul and Barnabas would have experienced that.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um sometimes it's it's through circumstances, sometimes it seems like wow, these these things are are lining up, and it I in some ways I don't know how to describe it, but there's this this peace that you get when God is moving you to a new mission field, per se, to to pursue something different.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so in that sense, I can I can relate to Paul and Barnabas in that, and I really like, and Paul, you hit on this really nicely at the beginning, but in 2 Timothy 4, Paul's finishing up his journeys, kind of finishing up his life, and he says, you know, I fought the good fight, I've finished the race, I've kept the faith.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's something for all of us.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: No matter what season of life it is, no matter what ministry opportunity it is, maybe it's serving as a greeter for a year, and that's the the season that God's called you to that for.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Finishing that strong, finishing that that race.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's to be a small group leader with the children, and you do that for five or ten or fifteen years, or maybe it's uh something to go and and serve as being a pastor, or maybe it's you know, helping out at harvesters for a month or a year or however long that is, but whatever our ministry opportunity is, making sure that we finish that season, however long it is, finish that season strong, keeping the faith and keeping God as our focus in those things.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: So summarize, how did you know, and the title is this is the time had come.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_02: How did you know, Derek, the time had come for you to leave um work in a target distribution center?
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: The time had come for you to totally change your work and move into um ministry full-time.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_02: So how did did you ask, you know, did your wife help you with that?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: Did you Yeah, my my wife Gabby was was huge in that.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um it was something that we we prayed about.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um even kind of before that came along, we we both kind of sensed us uh kind of a stirring of you know, maybe something's gonna be different.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: We don't exactly know what it's going to be.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um and really just praying through it and and asking God for peace.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, it's kind of cliche, but kind of the continual open door thing.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, God, if this isn't something that you want us to do, is it if this isn't something that you want us to pursue, like give us clear red flags, give us um a closed door, close this on our end, making sure that it's that that our hearts are in the right place.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: And really one of the main things that we did was we asked for peace.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you guys can probably relate to a time when maybe you have say you you've had a relationship with somebody, maybe it's a wife, maybe it's a coworker, maybe it's a um one of your kids or whoever, but you have a relationship with somebody and and things are going really well, and there's kind of a sense of peace, a sense of closeness between you and that other person.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: And say something, some conflict arises, something where you need to confront, something where they need to confront.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: But, anyways, you guys are both aware of this conflict at this point, and there feels like there's that strain in the relationship.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's not something physical, but it's you just know things aren't quite right.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think that's the sense of not having that peace.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: But when we feel that closeness, we feel um, and specifically in relation to God, we felt, man, God, you've you've done this because it wasn't something that we were pursuing.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we prayed about it.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: We asked other people, hey, this is something that we're considering.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: What what do you think about this?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Does this sound like something that that we should pursue?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Not that we needed other people's approval, but that we wanted to seek out the godly counselors in our life to see if we were completely off base by trying to pursue this.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's really important.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: I think uh you just mentioned, you know, I I I'm an objective person.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_02: I like to get my hand around something.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: And in the second sentence on page 205, Gene Getz says, as he often did in those days, the Holy Spirit spoke directly.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: We've gotten into something I didn't know we'd talk about, which is guidance and knowing.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_02: And the problem is that um is that they didn't have much of a problem knowing back then because the Holy Spirit actually spoke and said something clearly.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: Now, today, um, oftentimes we find ourselves looking desperately for nudges or hints or feelings.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_02: I was on the phone last night at nearly 11 o'clock for half an hour with the daughter of a guy who's not here sitting here this morning, I noticed, who I've been trying to counsel in the last 48 hours because his daughter, son-in-law, their family is trying to feel a nudge about making this huge change.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: Traveling over to an island off the coast of Africa for a couple of months, to go to a signs and wonders school for, you know, and so forth.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: And family is desperate.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: They're looking for nudges and feelings, and it's really, really tough.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: And I, you know, I just had to say, you know, I've listened to you for 15 minutes.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: I don't relate to any of this.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I don't find any of this in the Bible, the sort of praying and waiting and hoping for nudges and feelings and that you're gonna depend upon for clear guidance to change your entire life.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_02: You know, for me it comes down, you know, I mean, I ask wise counsel.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: Uh if the Bible doesn't speak to it, if God's left it totally up to me, you know.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so so so again, we're into a really interesting issue here of guidance.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so I would say too, though, for us it wasn't a it wasn't a kind of like a writing that came down, and it's like this is it, no questions, it's gonna be an easy thing, we know 100%.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was a very difficult decision, especially for me.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Especially for me, because I had felt like you know, being brought from Indiana to Topeka in general, and specifically to work at Target, I was like, wow, God provided this opportunity for me to do that.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: I accepted it.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it was specifically to come and hopefully marry Gabby if she would say yes, you know, one day.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so for me, the idea of leaving was very scary to me because I thought, man, well, if God brought me to this position, that means I've got to stay here.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: That means that means you know, I I can't quit, even though it is target.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: I want to I wanna be here and do that.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was really, really difficult.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's where the you know, asking wise counsel, um seeking God's word, is this going to be something that would help me to grow closer to Christ?
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: Is this something would pull me away from Christ?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, kind of asking some of those questions really helped, and then eventually you you make a decision because ultimately we can serve God wherever we're at.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: Whether we're at Target, whether we're on ministry full-time in a church, whether we're in a parachurch, where wherever about half of the time, I get just over the years, about half of the time when people feel nudges, nothing clear, and make major decisions based upon them, about half of the time, you know, it ends up okay, like your situation.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_02: And um about half of the time it doesn't.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: I think of the real crisis of faith, a really good Christian couple in our church had, because um, he was a businessman, very successful, and just sort of felt the Holy Spirit was calling them, you know, to become missionaries.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I agreed, I thought that was great, because he had good reasons, but he got the word Mexico in his head.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh he thought that they thought the Holy Spirit had said, You're gonna go to Mexico and become missionaries.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: So they signed up with Wycliffe, you know, to become translators down in Mexico.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: And they're all set, sold the business, sold everything, and ready to move to Mexico, and then Mexico shut their doors to all foreign missionaries.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so there in my office, the Lord told us this.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: If we can't hear from the Lord in this, if the Lord's, you know, if we're hearing wrong, how do we even know?
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_02: How do we know that we heard the Lord at all when he told us to become missionaries?
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, how do we know we even heard the Lord clearly about being saved?
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, how if the Lord, you know, and um it was a real crisis of faith for quite a while.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: Had to work them through that and help them realize that some things like the call of God to salvation are clear in the Bible.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: And some things like the call to ministry was not just a nudge, but that took place over a span of years as they were studying missions and going to things like perspectives and other stuff.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_02: But the actual Mexico part of it was just, you know, not something they heard audibly, but sort of a feeling.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: And so when they finally got over that, they went to Africa and became tremendous, you know, missionaries.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_02: But um, you know, this whole thing about guidance is, of course, really, really interesting.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: So, just to review this part of it, the time had come, and we wanted You to talk about that at your table.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Can you think of a time when you sent something like that?
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: There was a transfer, right?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_02: Derek, from there were Barnabas and Saul, and then all of a sudden they became Paul and Barnabas, sort of a transfer of who was boss.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Paul, Paul, it looks like pretty quickly became the leader of the group.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: Sort of like Gabby and Derek became Derek and Gabby.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: It might still be Gabby and Derek.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: And then I think this is the verse that Paul, weren't you referring to this verse earlier?
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_02: For I'm ready to be offered, I've fought a good fight, finished my course, he finished strong.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're on page 206 now, the last section of the chapter and of this book is labeled an apostle to the Gentiles.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: So Gene talks about the word apostle.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: Page 206, he asks, when we use the term apostle, why should we be careful to define the word apostle simply means a sent person, a messenger, but as you know, in the New Testament it became this apostle of Jesus Christ who had to have been an eyewitness of Jesus, you know, during his ministry.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_02: So Paul defines himself as someone strangely, you know, who takes the term strangely because he didn't see him until Jesus had ascended into heaven, broke open heaven, and then Paul or Saul on the road to Damascus saw him.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_02: So he so he qualified as sort of the 13th apostle and apostle of Jesus Christ.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a little discussion about this.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_02: He says, in a primary sense, I'm on page 207, third sentence, in a primary sense, apostles were people who were eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ and selected for this special ministry.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: In a secondary sense, he says at the bottom of page 206, you and I are apostles because we are all sent to have an impact.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: And he points out that Paul was pretty special.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_02: I'm on page 207, halfway down, because Paul was the counterpart of Peter.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: Peter was the counterpart of Jesus.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: Jesus rose some, you know, uh uh brought back somebody from death to life.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: Peter did the same thing to Dorcas.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_02: You see this on page 208 in chapter 9 of Acts.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_02: And then Paul did the same thing in chapter 20 of Acts to a guy named Eudicus.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a deliberate thing going on in Scripture.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: I'll just tell you really quickly and get off of it.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_02: The authority of Jesus got moved to Peter as the head of the church in Jerusalem.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_02: So Peter did a lot of the same miracles Jesus did.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_02: And then it moved from Peter and the twelve to Paul.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: So Paul does the same miracles that Jesus, that Peter did, who did the same miracles that Jesus did, who did the same miracles, by the way, that Elijah and Elisha did, raising somebody from the dead and so forth, to sort of pass on the message.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: You can believe this guy, Paul.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_02: He's official.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_02: He's a representative of ancient Israel.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: He's a representative of Jesus.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_02: All the authority of Jesus and Peter is passed down to him.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: So even though he's an apostle to these horrible Gentiles, you know, he's just as Jewish, just as heavenly, just as uh authenticated as his predecessors.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I'll get off that.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's all theological stuff.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: So let's move to the principles at the end.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_02: Just to review last week, principle number one no matter how sinful we are, as sinful as Saul, God's grace extends to all humanity.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_02: Principle number two.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_02: God works his greatest miracle when he transforms a practicing sinner, like Chuck Coulson or Saul into a godly saint.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_02: Third, once we do become Christians, we can often see how God has been at work in our lives, even before we passed from death to life.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_02: Remember how we talked about how Paul, even as a kid, was really smart and how God used that.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_02: So we talked, we asked last week, asked you to talk at your table about how God, when you were in little pipsqueak, had prepared you for what you're doing today.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Let's talk about today's two principles.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: The fourth one, it takes time to become prepared to carry out God's highest purpose in our lives.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think this principle actually connects to the question that Jim asked me earlier of how do you kind of decide that that's the direction that God is leading you in.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that Gabby and I talked about were just all of the different volunteer ministry experiences that God had used to kind of prepare us.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: So from being small group leaders to working as camp counselors at camps to working with kids at different sports camps and kind of these different experiences that we've had that God, we felt that God had kind of used to build up to what we were going to be doing.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it is over a period of time.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's usually not just like an instant thing, but God uses all of our experiences to prepare us for whatever it is that He's He's leading us towards.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_02: And the final principle on page 211.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: The greatest motivation for serving Jesus Christ should be God's love and grace in saving us.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_02: That was Paul's motivation.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_02: For I am the least of the apostles, he said in 1 Corinthians 15.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_02: I don't even deserve to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_02: No, I worked harder than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God in me.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: So he was motivated for serving Christ because of God's loving grace and saving us.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I look around at the people in this room, and I mean the first two guys I saw when I came in this morning from my office are Jerry Milliken and Danny Schnelly.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_02: And you couldn't find two guys who uh are greater servants, like in a church, than those two guys.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_02: They, I mean, for decades, whenever anything needed has needed done, Jerry Jerry had always always there.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: Danny hasn't been at TBC that long, but he's the same way, always looking for new opportunities.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_02: And um and a lot, you know, so many of you are the same way, the way Wes Wes stepped up, you know, when we were desperate for cooks and Keith Farwell, and I mean, um and so you have to ask yourself, I'm sure those guys have done the same thing, what is it that gets you out of bed at oh dark 30 in the morning to come in and cook?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, if it's anything but the grace of Jesus Christ, it won't last.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: If it's to get the acclaim, you know, of 30 guys, well then when the 30 drops down to 22, then then you're not as motivated the next week.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: If it's if it's, well, you know, I'll get the first taste of the food, well, if the food's not turning out well, you know.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: Or if it's, you know, you know how you know how you and I have had those inferior motivations, certainly.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, hoping that a good-looking girl will see me, you know, carrying the chairs or whatever, you know, when you're single.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: Those motivations don't last.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_02: So you have to you drill down deep, check your motivations, and you find that if your motivation is the same as Paul's, I can't believe Jesus saved me.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I can't believe he'll use me.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: I get to serve him.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_02: Those motivations last.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_02: And I think the motivation of making God happy.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_02: God says, I want to give you rewards in the future.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_02: That'll be as much fun for me as you.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: I really want to say, Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_02: Please, please.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, the right rewards thing is so huge in the Bible.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: And uh and that's also, you know, I really want I really want the first time I see Jesus on that day to be fun for both him and me.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: You know, so that's also right, Danny?
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's also significant.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_02: So um you want to you want to speak to the motivation thing before we go to the read the verse?
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: I thought that was that's perfect.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, let me let me mention one more thing.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_02: So um let me tell you a story.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: So years ago I come here as a single guy, and uh, and I'm surprised like you that this church asked me, you know, to serve.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_02: I certainly didn't expect, didn't want to be a pastor, didn't expect to be a pastor.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_02: So uh, and I'm basically working with working with the uh high schoolers, working with young singles, and playing basketball as much as I can, and dating girls who are part of the church, you know, and uh having a really great time.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um because every every old biddy wants their daughter to marry me.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, they're always pushing their so I'm so I'm having a good girl time as a single guy, and I'm playing basketball every afternoon here at the community centers in parks as a basketball fanatic, and one of the guys I'm playing ball with is uh guy named Larry, and he and I just constantly have to play against each other because he's fast, I'm a better shot, and uh but he's always driving around me, so I'm fouling him a lot, and because but we don't call fouls, and so so we're good.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_02: So anyway, uh church asked me to stay, so I stay, and then I get married, start having kids.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: Larry gets married, he starts having kids, and he has twins, and his twins are hellions.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, hellions.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_02: Their names are Chris and Kurt, and uh and they drive us crazy in Sunday school, and then and we're happy when they stay home from Sunday school, and secretly happy, and then um and these kids try to go to CarePur Valley, that doesn't work out very well, and they try to, you know, but so they grow up and sometimes you know they're close to Jesus and sometimes they're not close to Jesus, and they sort of wander away.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: And then uh even there, even when they get married, it's not a perfect situation.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: And then uh, and I'm still playing basketball with Larry, we're still fouling each other, but we're getting older.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: And Larry confesses to me, you know, his his prayers, and he just kind of gives up, you know, the Lord will take care of those guys.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_02: And uh then Chris has uh couple of babies, Chris and Jacqueline, and then they have this little boy, and this little boy gets leukemia.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: This little boy gets leukemia, and all of a sudden Chris and Jacqueline get close to Jesus.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_02: I mean it's astounding to me that all of a sudden this girl Jacqueline, who's sort of never grown up knowing much about Jesus, all of a sudden is hanging out in the hospital reading the Bible nonstop with this little boy.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just blown away.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I go over there, and here's comes here's a girl who has more faith than people who've been Christians for decades.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_02: And God apparently calls them to steal the first point today.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: He's apparently called them, and I talked to him about this, apparently called them to suddenly move from where they were into a ministry which begins to touch people because as they express their faith, which grows in the midst of this horrible trial, they start touching lives.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's astounding.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_02: I would not, if I was in heaven, have tabbed this couple to become a couple through whom I would reach dozens and then hundreds and then thousands of people.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_02: I just wouldn't.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_02: I was talking to them last night and saying, I'm so proud that you've chosen to share Jesus tomorrow with thousands of people.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know how you're gonna do it because they've inherited my friend Larry has one weakness.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_02: He cries very easily, he always has.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: I only do it now that I'm 90 years old, you know.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_02: But he's he's cried ever since he's in his 20s.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: He's an emotional kid, and unfortunately, that DNA passes down to his kids.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_02: So today, there's no way Chris is not gonna cry standing in front of that mic.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_02: He's gonna sob.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: And so Jacqueline's gonna try to help him, and she's gonna cry too.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_02: But there's nobody that you want to hear today at the microphone less than a preacher, and nobody that you want to hear more than the parents of the little boy who died, and they're gonna both talk, and they're gonna both talk about Jesus, and they're gonna both talk about heaven, because they believe, as Chris told me last night, that this is sort of that Esther 414 moment.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_02: God has called us for such a moment as this, and a couple who has who spent most of their lives sort of in kindergarten in the kindergarten of Christianity have suddenly been transferred into a major speaking role.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_02: They've just passed 100,000 followers on Blake's blog.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: They've got they've got Gary Woodland this week wearing an orange shirt and making a video that pro golfers and loads of people are gonna watch about Blake.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_02: They've got a guy who's famous from the voice flying in, and they've got all kinds of people today who are gonna hear the gospel.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_02: And I I mean, and that's not a Paul situation, because I mean Paul was so fully developed by that time, had three years with Jesus, but it's a situation where this is a couple that's realized that God's called them for such a time as this.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_02: And so, as I was thinking, we'll read this first, but the the middle, the first and second questions that I'm gonna urge you to talk about today in your small group touch this.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_02: Can you remember one of the first times you realized God might want, might want to use you, yes, even you to serve him?
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_02: There is a unique ministry out there that God has prepared for you.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_02: What gifts and desires might you within you might be hints as to what that might be?
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_02: What are some inferior motivations?
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_02: We'll get into motivation.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_02: But the first two questions, I mean, I pray to God that God doesn't take away your child like he did or grandchild.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_02: It'd be horrible.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_02: But but you know, God has a ministry out there, He has a vo He has a microphone for you to speak into somebody's life or to have a ministry.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, I don't know what it'll look like, but that's a great thing to talk about.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_02: So, uh anyway, um if you want to be in a mince group of Bible study after this, ask some guys at your table if they're interested, or talk to me or Doug will.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, let's read this verse and then you lead us in prayer.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_00: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, you are our God, you are our Father, you are our King, and we pray to you this morning that lots of lives would be touched through Chris and Jacqueline this morning, and that your message of salvation would be grasped a hold of by some of those in attendance who don't know you, and that the strength and faith of those who do know you would be strengthened through this morning.
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, we also pray that you would help us sense, um, help give us, give us opportunities to serve you, help us to say yes to serving you in those different capacities that we can, whether that's a Sunday school teacher, whether it's um speaking to lots of people because of an incident, whether it's um being a greeter, whether it's talking to our coworker who we've built a relationship with at work.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, however you want to use, use us, God.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: Help us to say yes in Jesus' name.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: And before we step down, uh I want to say thanks.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um thanks especially to Tom, Wes, Keith, and you helped out too in the food.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_02: I have to confess, you know, when you get up this early on a Wednesday morning, my first thought is always, but that breakfast is waiting.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_02: You know.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_02: And and and Derek and I would also say thanks to you guys.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_02: This is fun for us because you guys come out and uh, you know, so thanks.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you this fall.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_02: I'll put those questions back up.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_02: You want to say something?
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you guys.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: It really is fun to be here together.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's fun to be in our groups, it's fun to see everybody, it's fun to get hugs in the morning, especially the breakfast.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: So um this will kind of be our our last one for the semester.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: And we've really enjoyed it.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think we finished strong leading up to this point and pray that we all finish strong um in whatever the next thing is that that we're doing in our lives.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, guys.