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Living Waters of Grace 10.01.25 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
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Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
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County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
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continues teaching through God's Word.
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The Lord says there's neither Jew nor Greek, nor bond or
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freeman or male or female. We've all been made to drink
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that same spiritual drink from God's economy and the way he
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views things. He doesn't look at ethnic
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issues, he doesn't look at racial issues, he doesn't look
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at financial issues, he doesn't choose people based upon some
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place of birth. He doesn't see anybody as being
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more important than someone else, right.
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We're all the same as people. In today's world, there are so
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many things that divide us from one another.
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Race, gender, political ideology, or even favorite
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sports teams can drive wedges between people if we allow them
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to. But Pastor Clark teaches us
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today that in the eyes of God, all of us are equal.
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All of us have sinned and are in need of a Savior.
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Jesus didn't come to this earth to die for one group of people.
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He came to offer salvation to any who would call on him.
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The early church was diverse because it was open to everyone.
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Now here's Pastor Clark in the book of Acts Chapter 5 with
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today's edition of Living Waters of Grace.
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So we are in the book of Acts, the Acts of the Apostles could
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be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit as well, because it is
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about the work of God's Holy Spirit in the church, the early
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church. So the early church, when we
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study this in Acts, this is all new.
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Everything that we're studying is new to the people who became
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believers at Pentecost and when God put his church together, the
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New Testament church, there was no programs, very little
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politics, no agenda. It was just people loving Jesus
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and hanging out together and worshipping God.
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They didn't really have buildings like we have nowadays,
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church buildings at that time. They didn't have much of an
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organizational chart in regard to how ministry flows within the
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four walls of a a church community.
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So everything is organic, everything is developing,
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everything is brand new. I'm going to finish reading the
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verses in chapter 5 starting at 40 leading into chapter 6.
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This is after Gamaliel told the leaders of the empire at the
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time not to hassle the Christians.
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If it's of if it's of man, it'll fall apart.
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If it's of God, no one can stop it.
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And obviously it is of God because no one has stopped it in
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over 2000 years. But it says, And they agreed
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with him. And when they had called for the
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apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not
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speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.
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So they departed from the presence of the council,
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rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his
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name. And daily in the temple and in
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every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as
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the Christ. So they weren't worried about
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being embarrassed or ridiculed or persecuted or betrayed.
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And in regard to the nation, they love serving the Lord.
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And they weren't self-centered, they were other centered.
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They were Christ centered and they were praising God that they
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had an opportunity to suffer difficulty for their faith,
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something that we can learn from.
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And they worshipped every day. It wasn't just like they waited
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till Wednesday or Sunday or some other day.
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These people had such a desire to be in the Word and be
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together as Christians that they they gathered whenever they
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could in homes and they were always teaching one another
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about the things of God and preaching the gospel to people
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that never heard or needed to know who Jesus was.
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This a wonderful move of of God's spirit.
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It was approximately 20,000 people that were part of this
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New Testament church at this time.
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It was developing, it was growing and eventually there'd
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be persecution and the church would be scattered and they
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would be then meeting primarily in smaller homes, groups, that
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kind of stuff. God wasn't interested in mega
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churches back then. He was interested in real unity
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and Christians coming together, knowing each other, loving each
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other, praying for one another wasn't the size of the of the of
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the organization. It was the life that was in the
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community of faith at the time that impacted everyone that was
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exposed to this New Testament church.
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So we we we begin in chapter 6 here and the subtitle says 7
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chosen to serve in any church and it happened in the early
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church. There's always need for help and
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they always say there's an 8020 roll, 20% to 80% of the work and
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organizations or ministries or whatever.
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We're fortunate here. There's a much higher percentage
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of participation of help and service because of your heart's
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desired and want to serve the Lord.
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And we're very grateful for that.
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That's what makes the church alive.
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When people get involved with their passion and their
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ministries and they're using their gifts.
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And now in these days and those days when the number of the
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disciples. This is Acts chapter 6, verse 1
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was multiplying. There arose A complaint against
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the Hebrews by the Hellenist because their widows were
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neglected in the daily distribution.
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So the Jewish institution, the synagogue, the temple, they did
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try to help take care of widows and orphans.
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This is not something new. But now there's this breakdown
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in relationship between Christians and the legalists of
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the Jewish religion. And so the ministry is growing,
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things are happening, and there's this complaint that's
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beginning to occur because they need more help now.
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These Hebrews were the people that were more, I guess,
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organized within the community of Jerusalem and they were law
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keepers and they were into, you know, their traditions and that
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kind of stuff. The hell on us were Jewish
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people, but they were impacted by Greek culture.
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And so they were sort of looked out upon by the Hebrews.
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But nonetheless, they were two communities of Jewish people.
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These people had been scattered during the dysphoria and the
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difficulties of of the nation of Israel, what they've been
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through since the beginning of time as a nation.
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So there's this this issue that things are falling through to
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cracks and the 12 summoned the multitude of the disciples and
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said it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and
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serve tables. So what's the solution to the
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problem? And any given church is always
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something that someone maybe is upset about or they don't like
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something or they're frustrated or whatever.
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Instead of coming and making it known to the leadership, Lots of
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times people begin this behind the scenes, backbiting,
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murmuring, complaining, backstabbing, whatever.
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They did this or do you know what he did or what she did or
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whatever. And that stuff never solves
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anything, right? But lots of times things can be
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taken care of quite easily if someone just goes and says, hey,
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have you ever thought about this?
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This isn't really working really well right now.
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And have you ever thought about trying this or this idea,
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whatever. And we as leaders are open to
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whatever ideas you guys have. Many times, if they're good
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ideas and they're from the Lord, we want to see them implemented.
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If we're missing something or we're not doing something right,
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we want to be told about that so we can correct it.
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Not the people get mad and they leave or they say they don't
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listen or whatever. That's not the way we want to
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roll here. But what was happening here is
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that they realize the apostles, I can't do all this.
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There's twelve of them and they cannot handle all this group of
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20,000 approximately people and do it well.
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And so they said, look, we have to study and we have to pray so
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that whenever we come and teach the people, we have something of
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substance to tell them. But if we're too busy handling
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all the details of the church, then we're not going to be
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prepared to tell the people the things of God from the word of
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God. They were stretched and they
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realized that they couldn't do this themselves.
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They were asking for help. So they said it isn't a good
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idea that we should leave what we're supposed to be doing,
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teaching the word of God. And and when they say serving
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tables, it doesn't mean like giving people food, wiping them
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off, get the dishes, all that. It's just being a servant in all
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these different other capacities of what happens when churches
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begin to grow and there's needs. So it says.
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Therefore, brethren in verse 3, seek out from among you 7 men of
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good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom whom we
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may appoint over this business, but we will give ourselves
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continually to prayer in the ministry of the word.
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So what's beautiful about this? It got the congregation involved
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like you guys. You should know the people that
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come to Calvary you, you, you talk to them all the time.
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If we have need for help, you might suggest to Pastor Lewis or
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one of the elders, Hey, you know this, this guy or this woman
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they're they're really gifted. They got a real love for God.
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Have you ever thought about, you know, we need have a need for
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this? And they were telling me they'd
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like to do whatever. I mean, that's how you get the
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right people in the right place. So, you know, they, they made
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suggestions in regard to what was happening.
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So the saying, please, the whole multitude.
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So the church was in unity. They weren't disunity.
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They were connected and they they understood we're going to
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fix this. We're going to make it right.
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And so they chose Stephen, a man full of faith, and the Holy
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Spirit, and Philip and Procurius and Nicanor and Theemon and par
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Menas, and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they set
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before the apostles. And when they had prayed, they
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laid hands on them. So what's interesting is the
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predominant number of people in this church at the time were
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Hebrew Christians. The Hellenists were a smaller
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percentage of the group, but a lot of people in this instance
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that were called to serve were from that Hellenist group, which
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is I find sort of interesting, you know, the Greek influence.
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And so the Lord says there's neither Jew nor Greek or Bond or
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Freeman or male or female. We've all been made to drink
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that same spiritual drink from God's economy and the way he
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views things. He doesn't look at ethnic
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issues, He doesn't look at racial issues.
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He doesn't look at financial issues.
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He doesn't choose people based upon some place of birth.
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He doesn't see anybody as being more important than someone
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else, right? We're all the same as people.
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And so whenever you have a, a church community, you don't have
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preference over one person or group or background.
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We need to be LED of the Holy Spirit.
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We need to do what God's telling us to do, not what the culture
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maybe is trying to push us to do or what's politically correct,
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you know, that term and that kind of stuff.
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We want God to raise up who he wants to raise up and for him to
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take down who he needs to take down.
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And so they, they got the support of the people.
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It wasn't a congregational role kind of thing or anything.
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It was the body of Christ being alive enough to, you know, be
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together in regard to people that they thought would be
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really good in this capacity. And so there was no
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disagreement. And so whenever they got these
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guys together, these seven, they ordained them.
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And ordained ordination is, is biblical.
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It's the laying on of hands to the person that's going to do a
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particular ministry in the church, and that person is
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codified or recognized by God's calling.
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And the laying on of hands isn't anything powerful from the
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person who's doing the laying on of hands.
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It's a picture of God laying his hands on them and we're just
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agreeing with what it is that God's already done in a person's
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life. And so when they did that, this
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is the exciting thing. Verse 7, they got it together.
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They got it straightened out. Then the word of God spread and
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the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem.
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And a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
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So what was cool about this is the apostles were released from
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the responsibility of having to deal with the the widow
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situation. They were able to concentrate on
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what it was that they were called to do and then they were
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able to do it effectively. And the word went out and the
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church kept growing. It kept growing.
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It says it multiplied greatly in Jerusalem.
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And not only the people in the streets we're hearing, but the
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high-ranking officials that were serving in the synagogue.
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The priests were getting saved too, which is awesome, right?
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Just a move of God, a real revival.
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And so Stephen, we're going to concentrate on him now.
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The next Stephen was one of the seven.
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He was not an apostle, but he was a man of God filled with the
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Holy Spirit. So God doesn't differentiate in
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regard to the communication of the Word.
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A man of God is a man of God. You know, the title doesn't not
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make the man the man of God. It's not the pastor or the elder
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or the Deacon. It's you and me as men were
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either given over to serve God and to be used by God and to use
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our gifts that God's given us, or we just sit around and don't
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do anything right in our church. You know, we want to see more
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and more men teaching the word of God because if they're
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learning to teach the word of God, they're going to help the
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church grow, but they're also going to be used by the Lord in
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their own homes and their family and their own sphere of
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influence as as well as the church.
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And that Wednesday night we have other guys beside pastors that
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are teaching the word and they're this is competent and
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gifted and a blessing to us is, is, is the pastors.
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We don't hold one person up higher than the other.
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It's the word of God that's doing the work, right.
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The word of God communicated to the people of God is what
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changes the the hearts of of the people of God.
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So Stephen is a man of faith. It says here in verse 8, Stephen
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full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among
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the people. And then you might say, well, I
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thought any of the apostles could do that.
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Well, back in the early church days, God's miraculous power was
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being poured out through men and women in very different kind of
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circumstances. It wasn't, excuse me, only an
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Apostolic kind of authority that would have the ability to do
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these things. I mean, Stevens picked to be and
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there was no deacons at this time.
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Later on, the word develop Deacon means servant.
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In the book of Timothy, it tells about the qualifications of
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leaders in the church, but they weren't so much at this
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particular point in time positioned as deacons.
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They were just servants, right. So Steven, he's doing these
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ministries and he's called to help with the widows, but he, he
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didn't say, well, well, I guess I'm just like a down and out guy
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and I'm, I'm not good enough to do anything else.
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So I'll help these widows and I'll, you know, no, he was a man
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of God. So he had a lot of spiritual
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gifts. He was able to do a lot of
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different things. He wasn't just doing one thing
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right. He was able to be used by the
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Lord. And then in verse 9, there arose
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some from what is called the synagogue of the freeman
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Sirenians, Alexandrians and those from Silesia and Asia
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disputing with Stephen. They began to argue with him
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because of his evangelistic zeal and his preaching of of Christ.
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Cilicia is the region where the apostle Paul was serving with
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the Sanhedrin at the time. He was called Saul of Tarsus and
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we'll study later on in the book of the Acts how he became born
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again. But he was a persecutor of
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Christians. And so it says that and when
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they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which
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he spoke. So these guys are hearing what
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the gospel's about the person of Jesus, the history, the biblical
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point by point step and he goes into great detail.
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It's probably one of the greatest historical sermons in
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the New Testament as to what God started with Abraham and moved
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all the way through Christ when Christ came.
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We'll take our time as we study this.
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But, and so they're arguing with him.
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But what was amazing was they inside weren't able to resist
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the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke.
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There was an anointing on this man and they weren't able to
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ignore it. They weren't able to dispute it.
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They weren't really able to find concrete evidence to disagree
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with what he was saying. They didn't like what he was
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saying, but they weren't able to disagree with what he was
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saying. They were convicted even at the
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early stage of his his preaching here.
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And it says then they secretly induce men to say we have heard
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him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.
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So already these guys are beginning to spread division and
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lies among the multitudes of people.
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They're putting him down. They're disagreeing, they're
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lying about things he said. Isn't that typical of anybody
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that is influential in the culture?
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If they're good people and they're trying to do the right
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job, how many people slander the leader or the spokesperson or
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the person? You know, it could be a
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politician, it could be, you know, whatever, a pastor, you
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guys or your family, you know, you're sharing your faith with
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someone and, and they're, they're saying, well, you know,
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I wouldn't listen to him because I saw him run a red light last
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week. You know, he's not a real
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Christian or just goofy stuff, right?
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They come up with all kind of reasons to invalidate you as
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being a follower and a servant of God, right?
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So they're beginning to stir all this up.
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You know, we've heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses
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and God. He never did that, but he surely
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told them that Jesus was better than Moses, which he is, right?
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They also talked about the authority of Christ versus all
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those who went before him. He was very clear on
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representing the Lord as as to who he was and what he did.
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And it says in verse 12. And they stirred up the people,
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they got them all uptight, got them all anxious, aggravated the
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elders and the scribes, and they came upon him, seized him and
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brought him to the council. So none of the stuff's true.
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What they're saying about this evangelist Stephen, he's being
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faithful to this. Give the word out there, simply
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the history of what Christ has done and they get this group of
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people that want to arrest them now, seize them and bring them
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before the authorities, the same authorities that Christ had to
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go through and go before, which is interesting.
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They also set up false witnesses who said this man does not cease
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to speak blasphemous words against this holy place in the
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law. False witnesses, That's common
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in the day as well. How many times have you heard
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things that are being said about someone that aren't?
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That isn't true. This is happening in the
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political arena right now. Thank the Lord there's evidence
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to the contrary and it's brought out to clarify that it is a lie
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and it's not true. But if the enemy always wants to
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bring lies and slanderous things.
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Against the truth. It's just the way it is in in
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our world, and it's the way it's been since the beginning of
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time. So they set up these false
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witnesses. Now, when Stephen was speaking
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about what God had put on his heart, he wasn't like saying
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that the temple was insignificant, but he was trying
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to help them understand. You've made this into an
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idolatrous institution. You begun to worship the
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structure and the artwork and the beauty of the temple and not
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the one who created it. And that can happen very easily
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in, in, in churches. People told you, if you've been
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into that church, it's magnificent.
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They have the most amazing stained glass and they have, you
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know, how high ceilings in the, in the chandeliers and, and
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people can go on and on and on and they like, they go into that
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and then they think, well, you know, because all that stuff's
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there, then there must be God must be there somehow.
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And then they, they, they come into a place like this.
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And where's the stained glass man?
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You know, is this really a church or is this a cult or what
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is this place? You know, and I'm not negating
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the beauty. I like a, a beautiful church.
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I go into Saint Vincent once in a while and pray when I'm
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driving down the road. I just like going in there
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because it's sun's coming in through that stained glass
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window. It's cool.
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I like that. If we could afford it, I'd like
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to do it right, but we're never, we're probably never going to be
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able to do that. So if you want that, you got to
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go up there, right? Nonetheless, it's not an opinion
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of this is better and this is worse.
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You know, the whole idea was it was their heart.
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And because of their hearts being so focused on religion and
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the duty of the law, they were religious Pharisees, and they
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were trying to make everybody in a legalistic way, follow their
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pattern of religion. And so Stevens telling them
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about the freedom that we have in Christ and that God is not
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dwelling in temples made with hands, Jesus made that clear.
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It's nice, you know, when we're together as a church, I sense
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God's presence here, not because of the building, but because
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you're here. You represent him.
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Your life is filled with God's Spirit and, and that's what
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makes the place alive When whenever you guys all leave here
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and you walk in here, it's just a room.
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It's just a room, but you still can sense of spirit because he's
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with you if you're the only one in the room.
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For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will
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destroy this place and change the customs which Moses
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delivered to us. So they're really making a big
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deal about the building. And whenever Jesus said this
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temple will be destroyed or be raised up in three days, we all
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know because we went through the Gospel studying, that he was
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referring to his body, right, and his resurrection.
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But of course, the temple was going to be destroyed in AD 70.
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And he warned them about what was going to happen to their
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wonderful city and because of their Pagan rituals and
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everything else that was going on, that the Lord was going to
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allow that all to be eventually destroyed.
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And the customs, you know, the traditions of men make God's
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word of no effect. If I or Lewis or any of us as
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leading the church began to make a custom primary versus the
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worship of Jesus, we've lost it. We've already gone down the
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wrong Rd. Thank you for listening to this
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edition of Living Waters of Grace.
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Pastor Clark is teaching us about the book of Acts in this
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series. Acts is a powerful and unique
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part of Scripture, not just because it records the spread of
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the gospel geographically from Jerusalem to the ends of the
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earth, but also culturally. Acts shows us how the message of
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Jesus moved beyond its Jewish roots and began to reach the
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Gentile world. What started with Peter leading
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a small group in the Upper Room became a global movement with
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Paul taking the gospel to cities, synagogues and
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marketplaces across the Roman Empire.
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Acts captures this vital transition and reminds us that
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the good news of Jesus is for all people in every place.
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May we be inspired to carry that same gospel boldly into our
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world today. Living Waters of Grace comes to
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you from Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland.
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If you're in the Greensburg, PA area, you can listen to Grace FM
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on the new 91.7 frequency. Pray about helping support the
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new station that will reach thousands more listeners.
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Send gifts to Grace FMPO, Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601 also
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invite you to join us in person this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E
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Pittsburgh St. Unit 6B.
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To stay up to date, visit calvarychapelonline.com where
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you can find our teaching archive, submit prayer requests,
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join our e-mail list, or give online.
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If you're outside the area, don't worry, you can still
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worship with us through the Calvary Chapel Westmoreland
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YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe so you
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won't miss new content. We're so thankful that you
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joined us today. Be sure to tune in to the next
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edition of Living Waters of Grace.