What if hearing God's voice was simpler than we thought? Through a powerful journey into Acts 13, Pastor Jeff reveals how even when trusted companions leave and opposition rises, God's mission advances through clear gospel proclamation. Drawing from Paul and Barnabas's experience in Pisidian Antioch, he shares how unconditional forgiveness and Spirit-filled joy fuel unstoppable kingdom growth. Whether you're wrestling with past regrets or seeking fresh purpose, this message illuminates how embracing God's grace transforms both messenger and message. Don't miss this encouraging exploration of how God's work continues even amid life's greatest challenges.
Sermon Transcript
Well, good morning. Would you help me welcome all of our Brave campuses who are worshiping with us today.
So great to be with all of you. I wanted to mention to you I shared with you last week that I did the chapel for the New England Patriots and I got to tell you, I have never felt so blamed for a loss in my entire life. And all my sons sports career, nobody's ever sent me more texts blaming me. And so I thought it was an opportunity. So I sent back to New England Patriots chaplain and I told him, I said hey, if you, if you like what I did, I'll be free in a couple weeks.
Just send my super bowl tickets here. And I got a laughing emoji which I think means they're on the way. I don't know. So we'll see. But thanks for praying for me for doing that.
Also want to let you know when I got back from Israel in December, I told you we were going to take a trip. That trip is now planned. We're going to be leading a trip October 6th through the 16th. If you would like to go to Israel with us, you can sign up. You can look at the QR code there.
It's [email protected] as well as pastorjeff.com for those of you that say I can't scrape up enough pennies to go this time, this will not be our last trip. We will go again, but would love to take you and take you on a tour and get you to see a lot of the sites where Jesus walked. We put it again together this week and the team we're working with is great if you get a chance to go. Going to Israel with us for those 10 or 11 days will be the equivalent of doing a seminary degree. The Bible will come alive to you in ways that you didn't even know that was possible.
So if you get a chance, we'd love to have you and love to tour with you. Would encourage you to sign up soon as we're going to put it on nationally on our radio and invite as many people as we can to come with us. So with that, let's continue our worship this morning as we go before the Lord and get ready to hear his living and his active word among us. Would you pray with me? Our Father in Heaven, we give you glory, honor and praise.
Lord, what a thrill it is to come into your house, to seek your face, to worship your name and to hear your word proclaimed. Lord, we're excited this morning because we as a people believe that every time your word is faithfully and accurately proclaimed that it is you who are speaking. So our prayer this Morning is speak, Lord, for we are ready to hear. And so now, for all those who have gathered, who desire to hear the Lord Jesus Christ, speak directly to you, you who will believe what he tells you and who will, by faith, put into practice what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word Amen. Amen.
Jesus Christ gave us the Great Commission 2000 years ago. He said, all authority in heaven and earth's been given to me. Therefore go make disciples of all nations. And then in Acts, chapter one, before he ascended into heaven, when they were asking him, is it at this time you're going to restore the kingdom of Israel? He says, not for you to know dates or times, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.
You'll be my witnesses in all Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And as we've been in the Book of Acts, we've been watching the prophetic words of Jesus come true. That's exactly what happens. And here we are sitting In Denver, Colorado, 2,000 years after the Great Commission, after the apostles were indwelled by the Spirit, and God is still doing a work to this day. However, when we read the text and we see what's going on, sometimes we can get enamored with it and we begin to think, think how come it's not like the Book of Acts today?
How come it doesn't just work so easily like it did today? And the reasons we say that are because we're not pausing long enough to see the different things that are happening. We're not watching the people leave. We're not watching the opposition. We're not watching the persecution.
We're not understanding that things are still getting set up. There's no buildings, there's no budgets. They're just trying to make this thing go. And yet, because Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it to this very day, God is doing a great thing. Now, what happens in the church many times when things happen that we can't explain, sometimes that we don't understand, oftentimes that we're frustrated with.
When leaders leave, when people depart, when things change, when programs move in a different direction, we get upset. And what happens is articles start to get inked, social media starts to get inflamed, people begin to write books on the topic. There's been books during my entire tenure of being a Christian. How the church is five years away from extinction distinction. If we don't, I Got news for you.
The Church of Jesus Christ is never going away until Jesus Christ gets back. Amen.
The question, though, that we need to ask is how the mission keeps moving. How can we keep the mission moving? Because in church, more than any other place that I've ever found, when things happen that we can't explain or things happen that disappoint us, we think it's over now, this is never going to work. But we don't think about that in any other situation in life. For instance, I fly a lot, and when I go to the airport, there's times that flights have been canceled, there's times that crews didn't show up or they got timed out.
There's times that a plane hadn't arrived, we got to go to a different gate. But there. There's times where storms have come in and a lot of flights are not going out, and a lot of flights aren't coming in. But there's never been a time where I've said, DIA is going out of business.
I said, you know, there's some setbacks and there's some different things, but the airport's not closing. The same is true in the church. And if you've been a Christian for a while, you have seen things that you don't like, and you've seen things that have happened where you begin to think and hear the lie of the enemy, saying, it's not gonna happen now. And if you're younger in your faith, hang with me you will. And some of those things are deeply personal, and some of those things hurt.
And when they happen, we begin to think, I think this is over. Over. It's never over because Jesus Christ is still on his throne. And you need to know that. But today we want to take a look at how we move the mission forward.
I'm going to give you five truths from Acts chapter 13. If you have your Bibles, open up to Acts chapter 13 starting in verse 13, and I'm going to give you five truths today of how the mission moves forward. Like, how can we continue in our generation to do the very things that God would like us to do, do? And there's a lot of text here today, but a lot of it is Paul communicating to the people of Israel. So let me start to unpack this in Acts chapter 13 and verse 13.
Here's what it says. Now, Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia, But John left them and returned to Jerusalem. But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch. And on the Sabbath day, they went to the synagogue and sat down. Now, I want you to see a couple things here.
You can spend time on your own. I've done this from time to time where I take a map out and I look at the different miles and how it's charted. And if you have a Bible that's a study Bible, you'll have maps in your Bible and you can. You can look at all that. What I want you to see is what's just going on before this is they were praying and fasting.
God told them who to set apart. So they prayed and fasted some more. And they're going on this journey because Jesus told them to go on the journey. They're prompted by the Holy Spirit. This is what I want you to do.
And so they go, and we read about those different cities. But there were eight words that I read to you just right now that you didn't even think about. And there are eight words in your Bible that if I were reading the Bible, I wouldn't even think about. You just kind of skirt on it. But you don't realize the weight of those eight words.
Because amidst all of where they're going and what they're doing, at the end of verse 13, notice what it says in Acts 13, verse 13. It's telling all where they went. But John left them and returned to Jerusalem. Let that sink in for a minute. Mission trips in the first century are not like mission trips now.
Mission trips now, we usually connect with a pastor where we're going. We set up airlines, we make sure it's safe, we set up food, we set up hotels, we set up all. That's not what they were doing. They were getting in a boat. And it wasn't like a carnival cruise.
I guarantee you that they were probably seasick by the time they got there. They were walking by foot. They were exhausted by. They were tired. It's Paul, Barnabas and John Mark.
Mark, there's three of them. They get to Perga. Guess what? That's all we know about the trip. They were doing work there.
But here's what we know that the Holy Spirit wants us to know. But John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. Now, that may not mean anything to us. None of us have ever met John Mark, but if there were three of us on a mission trip, we'd know each other pretty well. And what they know is, is that the one that they were doing ministry with, with got up left, not just that area, but went all the way back to Jerusalem.
Like God told him to go into all the world, he's going back to Jerusalem. Now here's the big question. Why? The text does not say. We don't know why.
He could have been homesick from his mom and gone back to see her. He could have said, this work is too hard. He might not have liked working with the Apostle Paul, who was demanding. He might have been with two older men that he said, this is not really for me. I didn't know it was going to be that.
We don't know. What we do know is that he left. And why is that important? Christians, you need to realize when you're doing the mission of the Lord, there's gonna be people close to you that leave. It's just gonna happen.
Sometimes for good reason, sometimes for not good reasons. And sometimes you won't know the reason, but it's going to happen. And when it happens, it gives the chance for the enemy to whisper in your ear, here's why this is such a big deal. You're gonna hear me teach on it in a couple weeks. In Acts chapter 15, they get to a point where they meet up with him later.
And Barnabas is like, let's bring him along. And Paul's like, heck, no. He deserted us. There's no way I'm bringing him back. And so what happens?
Barnabas takes John, Mark, and they sail to Cyprus. And Paul takes Silas and they go a different direction. And guess what happens? God's mission continues to expand. Well, who was right?
Paul or Barnabas? I don't know. Barnabas is the encourager. He's like, hey, let's give the guy a second chance, you know? I mean, he messed up, but we could probably get.
And Paul's like, he deserted us. I'm not trusting him ever. But even at the end of Paul's life in second Timothy, when he's writing, he's like, john, Mark's valuable to me. Have him bring me his parchments. So they made up.
But I just want you to see this, because nestled in that text, those. Those eight words. But John left them and returned to Jerusalem. There's nothing more painful with people that you're close to. That leaves thief.
Especially when you're doing the work together. What happened to that leader? What happened to those people used to go to our church? What happened there? Don't know.
Sometimes you know. Sometimes you don't know. Sometimes you know and you know they're wrong and why they did it. Sometimes you know, and there's like, no, that's probably a pretty good choice that they did. I mean, we don't know.
And I think it's good that the Bible doesn't tell us why. I think it's good for us just to realize that when we're close in relationships at times when we're doing the mission, some of those close to us are going to leave. You need to know that. And here's what happens. They get to Pisidian Antioch and.
And when they get there, they went to. Into the synagogue to sit down. And this is where I want to give you point number one. Here's how we keep the mission moving. Point number one.
We communicate Christ clearly. We communicate Christ clearly. The way the mission moves is when Christ is communicated clearly. Because notice what happens in verse 15 after the reading of the law and the prophecy, the synagogue officials sent to them saying, brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it. So their way of getting to the people is because they're Jewish.
They go to the synagogue, they know all the traditions of the synagogue. They're steeped in the Old Testament scriptures. They believe that they point to Jesus, they're going to the Jews. They're sitting in the synagogue, and all of a sudden the leaders in the synagogue says, hey, man, you visitors, if you got something to say to us, why don't you say it? And Paul doesn't waste any time time.
Paul doesn't look at Barnabas and say, do you think it should be me or. He doesn't do that. Paul stood up and motioning with his hand, said, like, I got one. And then he begins to talk. And he's going to clearly communicate Christ from their vantage point.
And because they're men of Israel, here's how he addresses them. Men of Israel and you who fear God. Listen, the God of this people, Israel, chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt. And with an uplifted arm, he led them out from. From it For a period of 40 years.
He put up with them in the wilderness. When they had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he distributed their land as an inheritance, all of which took about 450 years. So where does he start? He starts biblically. He starts with the history of what God did.
What did God do? He chose the nation of Israel. Well, how do you know? Because that's what Genesis 12 said. He was going to make Abraham a great nation.
Well, why did he choose Israel? He didn't choose them because they were great. He didn't choose them because they were good. He chose them because they were the least of all. People said, I'm going to do something great with you.
But it's God's selection. Every time God chooses, he's the one that gets to decide what he's going to do. So he chooses Israel. He makes them into a nation. And even when they end up in slavery in Egypt, what does he do?
He makes them great in Egypt. He favors them. They multiply to about 2 million people as a nation. And then after they cry out for 400 years, God sends Moses the Deliverer, who gets them out of the land of Egypt and on the way to. To Canaan.
When they get right ready to cross the Jordan to take over the promised land that God has promised them some 400 years before, they complain and say, no, we're not going to do that. We can never do that. So they get punished and spend 40 years in the wilderness. And even then, God shows mercy and grace to them. Then they enter the land, and over a period of years, they take out seven different nations.
And what does it say? That all took about 450 years. This is probably not all that Paul said about it, but this is what the Holy Spirit is allowing us to see about what Paul said. So he's setting up the whole history. Because they would all be nodding their heads saying, yes, we know.
We know the history. We're with you. Then notice what he says after these things. He gave him Judges until Samuel the prophet. Now, if you're going through Israel's history and you want to read the most tragic book of the Old Testament, read the book of Judges.
What you see is God gives them a plan, they rebel against the plan, everything goes to shambles, and God has to send a judge. And they're like, oh, we're so sorry. We'll get it right now. And it goes through cycle after cycle after cycle of. They don't keep doing what God wants them to do.
It's a tragic, tragic book all the way up until Samuel the prophet. And during that time, they ask for a king. And God gave them Saul, son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin for 40 years. So God says, I'll be your king. They're like, that's okay, but we want a king like all the other nations have kings.
Give us a real king, like a real person king. So God says, okay, you can have Saul. Saul was a terrible king. Saul did not have a heart for God. Saul did not seek after God.
So now Israel has A king ruling over them that doesn't seek the God of the universe. So that's what's going on. So he's wanting to tell us, now we're into the kings. But then there's another king that comes, the one that comes after him, which is King David. And here's what it says about him.
So God gave them Saul, verse 22, after he had removed him. King Saul. He raised up David to be their king. Concerning him, he also testified, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will from the descendants of this man according to promise, God has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. So what's he say after Saul, Who'd you get?
You got David. David's the man after God's own heart. What does that mean? Well, it can mean a lot of things. I mean, a lot of different interpretations.
Well, he loved to write worship songs. He loved to write psalms. He was really seeking after the face of God. All true, but David also sinned grievously. He also had an affair with Bathsheba, had her husband killed.
I mean, he's a murderer, he's an adulterer. That's not a man after God's own heart. Why was David the man after God's own heart? I think David was a man after God's own heart because he brought the presence of the Lord into Jerusalem. He brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.
And where's God's heart? It's in Jerusalem. That's why the Bible tells us prayer for the city of Jerusalem. That's where God's heart is. He's a man after my own heart.
My heart's in Jerusalem. He brought my presence into Jerusalem. So what's the big deal about David? Why do we need to be so concerned about David? The.
The Scripture told us verse 23 from the descendants of this man, according to the promise, God has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus. If you read 2nd Samuel, chapter 7, verses 12 through 16, it's the Davidic covenant. And God promised in the Davidic covenant to have a descendant from David's own body who will establish an everlasting kingdom. So for the Messiah to be the Messiah that God promised, it has to come from the line of David. There's several places in the old testament.
Jeremiah 23, 5 and 6 says, A righteous branch from David. I mean, everybody knows that reads their Bible that a Hebrew scholar would say, it's got to come from David or it's not. That's why when you Read these painstaking geologies and the genealogies rather, in the New Testament, man it's like, why is this so long? Because it always goes back to David. Like, Jesus is from the house in the lineage of David, He.
He fits the criteria to be the Messiah. And they said, this is the one. You need to realize Jesus has already come. Then he says this after John had proclaimed before his coming a baptism of repentance to all the people. That's John the Baptist proclaiming a repentance to all the people of Israel.
John the Baptist was saying, saying, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, the king is coming. Get ready. Make straight the paths of the Lord. And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, what do you suppose that I am?
I am not he. But behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie. He's like, what are you making of me? Like I'm not the Messiah. The one coming after me is so powerful, I'm not even worthy to untie his sandals.
Now here's the paradox. Jesus said, of those born of a woman, there is no one greater than John. Jesus said, john is the greatest that's ever been born of a woman. And what does John say? I'm not even worthy to untie his sandal.
I'm not worthy to even get near his feet. That's what John was saying. He's unlike me. He's the King of kings, he's the Lord of lords. And that's what he said in verse 26.
So Paul says, brethren, he's not saying brothers and sisters in Christ. He's talking to his Israelite, Jewish brothers, brethren, sons of Abraham's family and those among you who fear God, to us the message of salvation has been sent. Listen, we know the way now. And we're going to tell you what the way is for those who live in Jerusalem and the rulers recognizing neither him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, Sabbath fulfilled by these condemning him. And they found no ground for putting him to death.
And they asked Pilate that he be executed. When they had carried out all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. Here's what he's saying. Our fathers, your dads, they didn't recognize this. They sat in the same synagogues.
We're sitting in hearing the same prophet. You're hearing red and miss the whole martyr. And in the same way that our fathers killed the prophets, men of Israel were the ones that killed Jesus. Even though there was nothing wrong with him. You had Pilate execute him and he was executed on a cross and then you took down his body from the cross.
That's history, that's evidential. Everybody knows this and that's the Savior. When you talk about Jesus, you have to talk about the death of Jesus. Without the death of Jesus, there is no hope. Hope.
Without the death of Jesus, our sin cannot be paid for. Without the death of Jesus, we're still dead in our trespasses and sins. It's only through our Savior, Jesus Christ can that be made new. And the only way he can pay for sins is to be the eternal Son of God. That's why you have to clearly communicate Christ.
Because if you ask a Mormon, do you believe in Jesus? They'll tell you yes. If you ask somebody from that's Muslim, do you believe in Jesus? They'll say, yes. But then you ask the Mormon, do you believe that in the Trinity, do you believe Jesus has always been God who became a man?
They would say, no, we believe Jesus was a man who became God. Just like we're mere men who are going to become gods. You're like, oh, that's a different Jesus. And if you talk to Muslims and ask them, do you believe Jesus is the Son of God? No, I don't.
He's a good teacher, but he's not God. So don't believe the same thing. I mean, when you believe that Jesus is God who died on the cross, everything changes. You need to be clear in your communication who you're talking about. Because if you ask people, do you love Jesus?
Most people say, yeah, I think he's good. I have no problem with him. Until you start spelling out who he is. And then all of a sudden you have a problem with him, right? When you start saying, well, he said he was the way, the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through him.
So he's so exclusive that if you don't believe in Jesus alone and you haven't had him atone for your sins, you don't get heaven no matter what. Do you believe that? No, I don't believe that. That's fundamentalist. No, that's gospel.
Do you understand what I'm saying? And so Paul is clearly communicating to them that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. But notice this, notice verse 30. I love this verse. But God raised him from the dead.
Okay, that deserves applause. But God raised him from the dead.
See what makes Jesus, different than anyone else who's claimed to be God is that when he died, he got back up. He's still alive. He's as alive as he's ever been. Death couldn't conquer him. It's amazing to me how everybody thinks they're going to heaven.
Like they can't even plan their week. They can't even hit their alarm to get out of bed in the morning. And yet somehow they're gonna overcome death and be in heaven. How are you gonna do that? I mean, you better take the one along who's already done it.
Only Jesus can get you to cross that chasm. That's what Paul's saying. That's what I'm saying. Jesus is so exclusive, there is no other way. But he's inclusive in the way that if anybody, anywhere, at any time, would repent of their sins and trust Jesus as Lord, they can be forgiven to the full, too.
Anybody can. That's the message. We got to be clear when we communicate these things. Because if there is no resurrection, I mean, if there is no resurrection, then the story of Jesus is just a biography, faith. It's not good news.
But he did rise from the dead. Amen. He rose from the dead, verse 31. And for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now his witnesses to the people. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled his promise to our children and that he raised up Jesus.
And it is also written in the second psalm, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. As for the fact that he raised him from the dead no longer to return to decay, he has spoken in this way. I will give you the Holy One and sure blessings of David. Therefore, he also says in another psalm.
I believe it's 16, you will not allow your Holy One to undergo decay. For David, after he had served the purpose in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay. But he whom God raised did not undergo decay. Jesus is unlike anyone else. Jesus is unlike anyone else.
He's the God man. He's not just a human being that became God. He was God before he became a human being. He put on flesh. He lived the life.
He took our sin. He paid it in full. He was buried in a grave. He rose from the dead. He's as alive as he's ever been.
And there is no other way to God except through him. Anyone else who says there's another way is a pretend surrender. There is no other way. It's only through Jesus. This is what he's telling Israel, saying, you can be a good Jew and still miss heaven if Jesus is not your Lord and Savior, you can be a good Baptist and miss heaven if Jesus is not your Lord and Savior, you can be a good Catholic and miss heaven if Jesus is not your Lord and Savior, you can be good Mormon and say, I believe in Jesus.
But if you don't believe the God of the Bible, the God man, Jesus who died for your sins, and you won't get heaven. That's why it's so we need to be so clear on who we say Jesus is. Because if you don't have a need for him, you won't want him. I mean, it's really interesting. This is how everybody seems to communicate in the New Testament.
You remember Jesus after he rose from the dead and he's walking back to Emmaus. I believe this seven mile walk. In Luke, chapter 24, verse 27, Jesus says this. Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. I've told you before, if I could hear any sermon Jesus ever gave, that's the one I want to hear.
Can you imagine Jesus Starting in Genesis 1:1, walking all the way through the whole Old Testament saying, okay, this is me, this is me, this is me. This, this is what it all means. I mean, you talk about a concentrated seminary class. I mean, unbelievable. He's just telling them all about Himself.
Acts 2:36. Therefore let all this house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ. Paul says in First Corinthians 15, For I delivered to you as first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. If you share a gospel that doesn't involve the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, you have not shared the gospel. Gospel, we need to be clear on what we say.
Now if there's a blurry road sign, it doesn't help you. If it's snow covered, it doesn't help you. If you go visit a doctor and he doesn't give you a clear diagnosis cuz he's afraid of hurting your feelings. Where he sits there and says something like, yeah, your blood markers aren't looking good. But let's just kind of take a pause, let's not look any further because we may get some bad news.
You probably wouldn't want that doctor. You want the people that can call it out. I mean, I have a friend who's an endodontist. I happened to go in. He said, you need to come see me.
So I went and saw him. He's like, we're doing a little test with cold on your tooth. And about 30 seconds later, he's like, yeah, you need a root canal. I'll see you next Monday. I'm like, hey, thanks.
You want people that know what they're doing. When you're sharing the gospel, you have to make sure that you share Jesus. Because if all you share is, hey, do you want to go to heaven? Yes. Do you want your sins forgiven?
Yes. Did you know Jesus can do that? No. What do I need to do? Just believe it.
Okay, I'm in. That's a very different gospel than the God man Jesus who came for you because you're dead. Spiritually, there's nothing you can do. And you need Christ to get you to heaven. Are you willing to repent and make him the Lord of your life?
That's a different gospel because that's a true gospel. So make sure when you communicate Christ, communicate him clearly. Communicate him clearly. I know in Latin American context, there's a lot of Jesuses out there. They go by Jesus.
Do you know Jesus? Yeah, I know. Let me play shortstop. You know, you. You have to communicate who Jesus is so that people can make a good decision.
Paul walks through redemptive history. He's not giving personal opinion. And what I would say in most churches, confusion usually comes from unclear pro from unclear proclamation. Not hard truth. People want hard truth.
Truth. If you just give them the truth, they can make their own decisions. So communicate Christ clearly. Second, do this when you're sharing the mission of Christ, when you're sharing the gospel, promise forgiveness unconditionally. This is huge.
Here's what he says in verse 38 and 39. He says, Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through him, that's through Christ. Through Christ. Only through Christ, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, you. And through him, everyone who believes is freed from all things.
Through him, through Christ, everyone is freed from all things from which you could not be freed. Through the law of Moses. He's not saying the law of Moses is bad. The law of Moses is good. The Ten Commandments are good.
It shows us the holiness of God. It shows us what is required. It shows us how we're going to be judged. It's great. It just can't remove our guilt.
It just can't remove our sin. It just can't. The law is a mirror. And showing you, this is how awesome God is and this is how not awesome you are. That's the law.
But the gospel, through Christ can do something different, can forgive all your sin. Now, here's the challenge. Here's the challenge. Because for those of you who are born again, either you believe this way or somebody else believes this way. And it's the fact that I believe many believers trust Christ for heaven, but not for their past.
In other words, I believe God can forgive my sin and get me to heaven. But man, this is still a burden to me. My past and what I did, it's still there and it's just so hard to deal with. Can I just help you? This morning, when Jesus Christ died on the cross and you trusted his death for all your sins, there was a divine exchange.
You gave all your sin to Jesus. He gave you all his grace. It's gone. You are free. You are completely forgiven.
It's not. You are partially forgiven. As long as you continue to do good stuff to get. No, you're done. It's as good as over.
You're free. You're his. You're his child, you're his son, you're his daughter. Everything's forgiven. From now, forevermore.
Well, what if I sin? It's forgiven.
It's forgiven. That's how gracious God is. It's scandalous how much he forgives. I'm not going to heaven because I trusted Jesus and I'm still doing good. Good.
I don't have to do any more good to get to heaven. Jesus's cross is what got me to heaven. It's finished. It is paid in full. I don't have to do good works to get into heaven.
I can do bad works and still get into heaven. I'm going to heaven because I'm trusting the cross paid for it all. And because of that in my identity. Hopefully good works improve. But they're improving because of my love for Jesus and the forgiveness he gave me, not because I'm trying to stay on the straight and narrow.
And there's a massive difference, friends. And can I just tell you why this is so important? Forgiveness is the greatest gift that you could ever receive. I'm watching different people talk, people that I like, people that I respect, people I do believe are born again that are now starting to talk. And it's coming up again.
Everything cycles in Christianity. Know that hell's not eternal, that it's just kind of an annihilational thing. And they'll say things like this, yeah, that just fits better with my understanding of God. God, because God's merciful. And there's no way God would torment somebody for all eternity.
Because that just doesn't line up with my view of God. To which my response is, I do not care about your view of God. I care about God's view of himself. And when the Bible says that the righteous will go into eternal life and that the wicked will experience eternal death, eternal is the same word. And you say, well, why would God punish somebody eternally if they've only lived 50 years, 70 years, 110 years.
And he punishes them because your sin is so grievous. Cause you've sinned against an eternal God. It's not that you've sinned against me. And when they say, well, the crime needs to fit the punishment, it does. You've sinned against an eternal God, so your punishment is eternal.
That's why God is so merciful in sending Jesus, because he doesn't want anybody to experience his wrath. Because he's already poured it out on his son, doesn't want it for anybody else. And so he said, here, if you'll accept my gift, you'll never have to experience that. Just trust Jesus to be your Lord. He'll come into your life, not only forgive some of your sin or part of your sin, but all of your sin for all eternity.
And it's yours, free if Jesus becomes your Lord. That's the gospel.
I can't make up better news than that. I can't give you better news than that. It means this. No matter how grievous your sin is, no matter what you've done, if you murdered five people this morning and hid the bodies right before you came to church, you can be forgiven completely. That's scandalous.
Yes, it is. That's why Christ came.
He came, came. The righteous one came for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. Amen. That's the gospel. I mean, Ephesians 1:7 says, the forgiveness of all our trespasses.
We have redemption in his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses. Colossians 2, 13 and 14 says, Having forgiven us all our trespasses, Romans 8:1 says this for the believer. Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Now the devil will condemn you. He'll speak into your mind like, yeah, if you're really a Christian, then why'd you send that?
And if you're really Christian, why are you still struggling with that? If you're really Christian, how come that he'll try to mess with your mind? But the fact is, if you know the Bible, it's like, dude, I got paid for at the cross. I'm totally clean. I belong to Jesus.
There's no condemnation for me. Hebrews 10:17 says, Their sins and lawless deeds, I will remember no more. And Psalm 103, verse 12 says, as far as the east is from the west. So he has removed our transgressions from us. What's he saying?
I'm not going to remember your sins. It's not that God has spiritual amnesia. He remembers. He just doesn't bring them to mind. He's not bringing it back up.
If you've asked forgiveness for sins in your life and it still keeps coming back, like, what about this? And what about, it's not the Lord bringing it to you, it's the devil trying to keep you stuck. If you're forgiven, friend, you are forgiven. And if you're free, you are free indeed. That's the gospel of hope.
That's the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.
He takes it as far as the east is from the west, which goes out infinity in both directions. He takes it and drops it in the deepest sea. It's all these different word pictures of saying, your sin's gone. As a believer, why are you worrying about your sin? You're a saint.
You're his child. You're loved. You're his. Not only now, but for all eternity can you live in that truth. And friends counseling offices are filled with people that live with shame.
Shame is not that I did something wrong. Shame is I am something wrong. And in Christ. Mm, mm. In Christ.
That is all taken care of at the cross. You are forgiven and you have value. In the name of Jesus, receive. Receive that. Amen.
So when we're going to see the mission continue to move, we got to communicate Christ clearly, and we got to promise forgiveness. It's unconditional. He doesn't say, okay, if you. If you never sin again, it's good. But if you sin again, we got to start all the way back.
No, it's good. When I trusted Jesus when I was 18, my future was secure. You say, well, that sounds scanty. Well, what about. What if you do bad things?
I do do bad things. So do you. Like, I've never met somebody that doesn't sin anymore. Now, hopefully it's less than what it was, and I'm growing in sanctification, but I never got better at my sin by trying not to sin. I've never seen anybody get better at their sin from trying not to sin.
I'm not going to do this. I mean, guys struggle with different things. Gals struggle with different things. Younger people struggle with different things. Older people struggle with different things.
And when you say, I'm going to work really hard at that, I'm going to get over it. It won't work. And if it did work, then Jesus didn't need to die for you. It doesn't work. What works is repentance.
Lord, I can't fix this. I can't change me. My flesh loves this. My flesh wants this. I don't even know how to get rid of this, but you do.
So I'm just surrendering afresh to you again, Lord, lead me in your way. And then he does. And then you read his Word and you stay obedient. And next thing you know, you're walking ahead and you're looking back saying, I don't struggle with that the way I used to. And then there's another thing that I didn't realize that was a thing, and now it's a thing.
And, okay, God, I'm surrendering afresh to you again. And it's like that until we meet Jesus face to face. But the good news is this. When you experience that, it's not saying, oh, you're not forgiven now, and oh, you're not forgiven, and now you're back. No, I'm forgiven.
And so I want to live differently. I belong to God, so I want to live differently. Friends, I tell you, I just got to tell you, I can't wait to watch the devil burn in the lake of fire. I've asked the Lord for a La Z Boy recliner on popcorn because I just. I hate him and I'm looking forward to that day.
Right, here's the problem. Religion tries to manage guilt. Grace will actually remove it. Quit trying to manage your guilt. I watch people all the time.
Well, I sin this way again. So I'm trying to go six days this time. Okay, I made it six. I'm going to try to go seven next week. I'm going to stop all that nonsense.
I only did three this time. Stop it, Lord. I can't change me. My flesh is craving the wrong things. Lord, change my desires.
Give me your heart. I want to walk your way. Refresh me with your word. Bring me around people that want to walk your way. And watch what the Lord does.
If you want to walk the Lord's way, He will always provide a way out for you. You are not doomed to stay where you're at. That's the grace of God. Amen. So communicate Christ.
Christ clearly. Promise forgiveness unconditionally. Then do this. Exhort listeners graciously. Exhort listeners graciously.
And by this it means be gracious with them. And being gracious means being compassionate, but also telling the truth. Notice what they say. Verse 40. Therefore take heed, like listen to what I'm saying so that the things spoken of in the prophets may not come upon you.
Behold you scoffers, and marvel and perish. For I am accomplishing a work in your days, a work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you. He's like in hey, don't go down the road. I mean, listen to what I'm saying. I'm telling you what I'm telling you because it's true.
Don't put it in the back seat of your car. Don't, don't put it outside your mind. Listen to the truth of what I'm saying. Don't let the negative things of God's word happen to you, because they don't need to. And then they continue to exhort them.
So as Paul and Barnabas were going out, they, they finished their meeting. The people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them the next day, Sabbath. Now, when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the God fearing proselytes followed. Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in the grace of God. What were they urging them?
I mean, the synagogue meeting breaks up and everybody's now following, following Paul and Barnabas. And Paul and Barnabas are telling them what they're not saying. You need to be really good, don't sin anymore. No, you need to continue in the grace of God. God's grace is so powerful.
The grace that saves you is the same grace that continues to set you apart. It's all grace. It's not you. It's all God. Continue to follow God.
This is the best news and everybody's listening. Wait a second, wait a second. Are you telling me that even if I were to do something heinous that God would still love me? Yes. I'm telling you, man, that just blows my circuits.
I mean, we have a, we have a easy time believing it theologically that God is love and that he loves us. But as believers, we have a hard time experiencing that. I mean, think about this. If you have the best spiritual day of your life today like the best day you've ever had spiritually. Like, you got up, you got to church early, you had your Bible open before church.
You were praying for your pastor. Thank you. You sang all the song out loud. You did everything right after church. You walked people to their car, an older lady to her car, you paid for somebody's lunch.
I mean, all these things happen throughout your day that are incredible. When you get home tonight and you start praying to the Lord, he's not going to say, oh, I love you more. Now you can't make him love you anymore. As a believer, he loves you because of the nature of his son. Or if you had the opposite day today you came into the parking lot and you muttered a cuss word under your breath when someone cut you off.
And you got here and you've been not paying attention and all these different things and you're mad at different people and unforgiven. When you get to the end of the day, God's not going to say no, now I love you a little less. You're loved because of Jesus. And when that begins to grip your heart, you'll become different. And so we got to make sure when we're communicating Christ clearly and we're proclaiming the forgiveness of sins, totally, that we exhort listeners graciously.
Hebrews 3:12 says, but encourage one another day after day. You know what that tells me? There's never a time in your life where you'd be like, hey, stop, I've had enough encouragement. There's never a time where somebody next to you is saying, no, no, no, don't give that to me. I mean, every one of us as believers in Christ needs to be encouraged.
So encourage one another day after day. Paul says in Colossians 1:28 that he admonishes every man and teaches every man. I mean, being gracious means you tell somebody when they're wrong too. Did you know that? It's not just telling everybody that you're right.
That doesn't really help anybody. We live in a culture that wants to tell everybody that they're right for their self, their self esteem. Well, I think two plus two is five. Well, that's great, Johnny, because your feelings are so important to me. No, Johnny, you're dead wrong.
So you need to fix that, right? I mean, I love you enough to tell you two plus two is four and it always will be. I mean, that's the kind of thing that we need to be gracious about. I mean, Proverbs 26:7 says, Faithful are the words of a friend. But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
Another version says, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but an enemy multiplies kisses. I mean, your true friends are the ones that will tell you, your breath stinks, you need a mint. Your true friends are the ones that will say, you need to preference your spouse a little more than what you're doing. Your true friends will say, I noticed that your son or your daughter needs a little more of your attention. Your true friends will say, hey, I've noticed, like in conversations, you cut people off and you're not listening.
I mean, your true friends care about you enough to point out things in your life that aren't but an enemy. What do they do? They multiply kisses. Flattery is one of the worst sins in the world. Oh, you're so great.
You're so good. You're so great. I mean, I tell you, in 30 years, I don't know how many times I preach and somebody will tell me, best sermon I've ever heard. This is the greatest church I've ever been a part of. I mean, I'm just so moved.
And a week later they're mad about something, they leave and they never talk again. I mean, over and over and over, right? Have people that stick closer than a brother. Have people that love you enough to encourage you for sure, but also be able to point out things in your life, life that, that aren't the greatest. Even Paul says in Acts 20, verse 31, we'll get to it.
He said, I did not cease to admonish each one of you with tears. My heart was in. I wanted to see you grow. I wanted to see you become all that God wanted you to be. I mean, we'd say this, a smoke alarm is not rude, it's loving.
Unless of course, the batteries don't work and it's going off at odd times. Then it's annoying, but. Or a parent. When you have little children and you're in a parking lot, you're over at Park Meadows and it's super busy and your 2 year old decides to sprint out and you grab them by the collar and pull them back. That's not mean, it's loving.
I care about you. I don't want to see you get hurt. But here's what I would say. Just pay attention. All encouragement without warning creates very shallow disciples.
And the Bible's filled with warnings like, you want to be careful, don't go this way, don't go that way. You want to go this way, you Want to listen to the Lord. This is what the words do this, not do that, right? Well, I'm forgiven. That's not the point.
The point is, if I really love Jesus, I want to do things his way. I want to honor Him. And what I find in the church is when we just tell everybody, oh, you're fine. Oh, you're great. And God loves you no matter what you do.
He just loves you no matter what you do. And he loves. We miss the mark. He hates our sin. He can still love us unconditionally, but he hates our sin.
And if we really do love God, what are we going to do? I want to be obedient to him because I love him so much, because of all that he's forgiven in me. Amen. And can I just say this? I mean, when we talk about promising forgiveness unconditionally, I think we did it earlier.
But I just got to say this. I mean, even in the Lord's Prayer, what do we pray? Forgive us our sins or trespasses as we forgive those who sin against us. And it's really interesting because in the Lord's Prayer, I mean, Jesus not only finishes the prayer, but then he highlights it at the end. He says this, for if you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgression. So it sounds like this works thing we got to do, and it's really not. He's saying, if the bedrock of all Christianity is forgiveness, which it is, that Christ could love somebody as unlovable as us because we've committed cosmic treason against an eternal, perfect God, then how could we withhold forgiveness from any other human being, ever? You can't. There's no such thing as a belief who doesn't forgive.
No such thing. Because forgiveness isn't a feeling. Forgiveness is not like, oh, this feels really good. I love that you just hurt me and my family and you're forgiven. That's not forgiveness.
Forgiveness is this. Yeah, you hurt me and you hurt my family. It doesn't really matter because I'm not going to hold on to that anymore because I see all that Christ has forgiven in me. So there's no way I could ever hold anything against you. So I'm not holding it against you.
And it's an act of the will. It doesn't mean my feelings even change over time. It just means God, I'm not. I'm not holding on to unforgiveness for anybody because the only reason I'm a Christian is because you didn't hold on to Unforgiveness for me. Christian, listen to me.
Don't hold on. Forgiveness. You're the only one that gets hurt. Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. Just don't do.
Just release them. To release them to the Lord. Just. Just forgive them. Just say, God, you can have them.
That. That's part of being gracious in the ways of the Lord. Fourth, I'll tell you this one. You need to confront distractions courageously. You need to confront distractions courageously.
So now everybody's following Paul and Barnabas, which is not a deal. Big deal. But notice verse 44. The next Sabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. People broke from that Sabbath and are like, you all need to come next week.
We're hearing things we've never heard. Bring your friends, bring your kids, bring everybody. So it's packed. It's the biggest synagogue gathering they've had. But notice what happens.
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict the things spoken by Paul and were blaspheming. So what happened? The religious leaders didn't like the big crowd. We've never had a big crowd like that. How come Paul and Barnabas are getting a big crowd?
Like, we don't like that. So they started to refute all the things that Paul and Barnabas were saying to their people. And they were blaspheming Jesus. They're like, that's not true. Jesus isn't who they say he is.
All those different kinds of things. Paul and Barnabas continue to speak out boldly and said it was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first, since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles, for so the Lord has commanded, commanded us. I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord.
And as many as have been appointed to eternal life belief, so they go to the Jews, because that's who they know. And they start in the synagogue and they're telling all their Jewish brothers, hey, you know a lot of the history of the Old Testament, but you don't know Jesus. And you need to know Jesus. And here's the story of Jesus. And you need to Give your lives to Jesus.
But everybody started getting filled with jealousy. And so they're like, hey, you deem yourself worth unworthy of eternal life, we're giving you the words of eternal life. If you don't want them, that's fine. We're now going to go to the Gentiles and we'll give the gospel to them and all the Gentiles. It felt like, how do we get a relationship with God?
We're like, we can have that relationship, we want it. And it says, and all that were appointed unto eternal life, we're saved. Why? Because from our vantage point, here's the truth. Anybody anywhere at any time can get saved from God's vantage point.
He already has his eye on all those people he's to going, going to save. And how can both of those be true? Because they are. And I can't explain them because I have a finite mind and God's eternal right. So what happens?
The mission continues. Now look at what's happened so far. Faithful confidant leaves, opposition increases, different city. Nobody likes you. The crowd comes and all the religious leaders are completely against you.
And it's only going to get worse because notice what happens now. Now before it gets worse says this. And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. So is the mission continuing? It's continuing, but it doesn't look like it's continuing because like people are leaving and people are mad and everybody's saying, you can't do this and all that.
And during that whole time, the word of the Lord's being spread through the whole region. So what the Jews did it says, but the Jews incited devout women of the of prominence and leading men of the city and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas of this and drove them out of their district. So what's happening? It's what religious people do all the time when they don't like the word of the Lord. You try to find prominent leader type people that will repudiate the things that Christian men and women are doing.
So they got all the prominent women of the city and all the leaders and the men in the city who are saying, don't listen to these guys, we're driving them out of our city. You can't be in our city anymore, you've got to go. Now. For many of us, we don't have that experience. But for many of us, sometimes when we're sharing the gospel with somebody, they don't want to hear what we have to say.
That's okay. You know, for some of us, like, well, I'm going to make sure they hear it. I'm going to give them five more Scriptures. I'm going to give them three more tracks. I'm going to beat them over the head with my Bible.
It doesn't work. Sometimes you just have to let them go. Now, the Bible says, pray and don't give up. So there's people we're praying for in our sphere of influence, and we're not going to give up. And we're going to continue to pray and continue to pray until we meet Jesus.
And you should. But while you're doing that, there's often times that God's removing you from certain relationships to bring you into other ones where he's really at work. And sometimes we miss that because we pick the one, two, or three people we got to share with and we don't care about anybody else. And that's not what they're doing here. When they get drudged out of the city and said, you have to go, notice what they did.
In verse 51, it says, but they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. They didn't stay. They're like, okay, you want to solve, leave. We did the work God had us to do here. People have come to Christ here.
God's going to establish a church here. We're going to go on to Iconium. We'll do whatever the Lord wants us to do there. We're. We're out.
And they shook off the dust of their feet. Now, for us, we read that and be like, I don't know if I would do that. Like, if I was sharing the gospel on a plane and somebody didn't listen, I wouldn't take off my shoe and clap them together and be like, why? Why would they shake the dust off their shoes? It's because what Jesus modeled In Luke chapter 9 and verse 5, here's what he said.
He said, when you enter a house, stay there until you leave that city. And as for those who don't receive you as you go from that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them. What they were doing was a visual explanation of, we don't even want the dust from your city on our sandals. We want to be done with you. We brought you the words of eternal life.
The judgment of God is now on you. Until you repent, we're done with you. God sent us to you so that you could live. And you want nothing to do with us. So.
So we're putting you into God's hands. That's what they were doing. They. They were washing their hands of the situation because that's what Jesus told them to do. So that's what they were doing.
And the dust shaking was just this public, prophetic confrontation. So they'd stirred up religious leaders, people of social standing, men and women. It happens all the time. You may or may not be aware that a couple weeks ago in Minnesota, Don Lemon and a few people decided to infiltrate a church and, you know, at the attack, their beliefs about ice. I would strongly encourage them not to do that here at Brave.
And I don't mean it as a threat. I mean, we have a shield team. I'm probably more worried about some of you that are not part of the shield team than the people that are. But that's not the place. This is a private ground.
This is a house of war worship. This is the house of God. We can debate different things. You can feel different about immigration than I do. We don't have to agree on that.
But this is not the place to debate ideas. This is a place to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you don't want to do that, you're trespassing.
But here's why I want to tell you that. Because sometimes Christians think if we're not being nice all the time, we're not being Christian. One of the most Christian things we could do in an environment like. Like that is to remove them as swiftly as we possibly can and get them out of our building. That's Christian.
Why? Because you can't be nice to evil. You confront it. Paul and Barnabas were confronting it. They were saying, we're not going to stand with this.
You're going to drive us out of the city. Fine. We're just going to continue to go do our work. And Christ's blood is on your head because we shared with you the truth and you didn't want it. So we confront distractions and we do it courageously.
Amen. Paul said in Galatians 1, if I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond servant of Christ. 2nd Timothy 1. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or fear, but a power of what Power? Love and discipline or sound mind.
That's who God made us. So we must obey God rather than men. Courage is obedience when silence would be easier. And we must be courageous. Let me give you this final one, and this final one is only one verse, but it may be the most important one you hear all morning.
So pay close, close, close attention to it. Notice what the last verse says. And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. You need to endure the mission joyfully. Endure the mission joyfully.
Joy is not just an emotion. It is a supernatural fruit of the Holy Spirit. Spirit, right. I mean joy. Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit.
Nehemiah 8:10 says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Galatians 5:22 says, the fruit of the Spirit is love. Joy. Paul says in Philippians 4, 4. Rejoice in the Lord always.
I'll say it again. Rejoice.
Joy. When things happen, people leave. Opposition heightens, persecution happens. Uncertainties are all around. Don't know how, don't know why.
There's a tendency to kind of grit it down, okay, we'll make it. No, no, we do it with great joy. We get the privilege of doing this. Jesus said, for the joy. Or the writer of Hebrews said, for the joy set before him.
Jesus endured the cross, scorning its shame. It didn't mean Jesus was saying, I can't wait to get driven with spikes in my hands and my feet. I can't wait to get beaten to a pulp before I get put on it. I can't wait to asphyxiate on that cross and not be able to. That wasn't joy.
The joy was this. I'm so glad I get to be honorable to my dad. And I know by doing what he's called me to do, that everybody that I've chosen before the foundation of the world is going to be able to have relationship with me in a new world order. And I'm going to be the King of kings and the Lord of Lords for all sorts of people that would never, ever be able to be with me. And that's the joy I'm looking forward to.
So I'm looking ahead in great joy for what I can endure right now in great pain, because that's important to me. Friends, in this world, you will have tribulation. In this world, it will be hard. In this world, being a Christian doesn't mean this is so awesome. It's so great.
It's so great to be a Christian. There's times you're going to feel like you got your guts kicked in, got the wind knocked out of you. Like, why did that happen? That one hurt. That one didn't make sense.
Oh, oh. But endure with what joy? You say, well, how do I get my joy back? You spend time with Jesus. You spend time With Jesus, you forgive quickly.
You come before the Lord, you say, lord, help me grow in my joy for you. Because joy cannot be manufactured. It's spirit given. It's spirit given. And joy is the final proof of God's work.
Comfort is not the final proof of God's work. Sometimes in America, we think, if you're comfortable, you're doing it right. No, if you have a joy in your life, life, you're doing it right. And having joy doesn't mean the circumstances are great. Having joy doesn't mean that everything's going your way.
Having joy means I know that. I know that. I know God has me here right now and I know that. I know that. I know I'm going to be with him forever.
And no matter what happens in this world that I cannot control, Jesus is still on the throne and I get to be part of the coming kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. That's the good news. So endure it joyfully. We have too many Christians that when they get hurt or going through uncertainty or challenges, get mad, get bitter, get resentful, okay, I'll gut it out.
I'll still go to the stupid church, but I hate it, you know, all this kind of stuff, forget it. Be joyful. And you can't make yourself joyful. It's kind of like when you have little kids that are like three years old and they're acting up like, you better put a smile on your face when we go there and they're like, you know, you know, the look, probably look I gave my parents. I mean, you can't manufacture.
It has to be spirit driven. I have to get before Jesus and say, I don't have my joy. I need my joy back. I need you to remind me of the salvation that I share. I need you to remind me of all that you did for me.
I need you to remind me of all that you're doing. Because right now I'm seeing scarcity and I want to see abundance. And, Lord, I need to trust that you're doing good and he'll bring the joy back. Sorrow may last for the night, but what joy comes in the morning? Some of the times the.
The best thing you can do for spiritual depression is go to sleep, take a nap. I do it every Sunday afternoon. Just rest in the Lord. Let him bring your joy back. Endure joyfully, friends.
We have the greatest thing going in our lives. I don't know what your bank account looks like. I don't know what your health trajectory is going to be. I don't know anything else. But I know this.
If you're in Christ, your best days are ahead. And that should give you great, great joy. Amen. Amen.
Would you stand with me? Our Father in heaven, we sing to you. You're the one that gives us breath. You're the one that gives us life. We love you today.
If you're here today and you've never trusted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you can do it right now. You can simply say, lord, save me. I want to give you all my sin and I want all your grace. I want all your forgiveness. Just come into my life.
I don't even know what that means. I just know I need you. And if you know the Lord, let the Lord restore your joy right now as you sing. Let the Lord show you that in spite of all the troubles you see in the world, he's working it all out sovereignly for his glory. Lord, we love you, we bless you, we praise you, and we thank you for your word this morning.
Have your way with us. We give you all.