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Howdy Mars Hill Church
and our extended family

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of Mars Hill Global;
I'm Pastor Sutton Turner,

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your executive pastor
here in Ethiopia.

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Some might ask,
"What is our extended family

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of Mars Hill Global?"

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Well, that's 250,000 people
that join us by podcast

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each and every week!

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I want to first encourage you
to be a part of a local church,

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wherever you are in the world,
be a part of a local church

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and give your tithe
to the local church.

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Secondly, I want
to encourage you to give,

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give over and beyond your tithe
to Mars Hill Global.

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We're planting churches
in Ethiopia, India,

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and the United States

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because we want to see
more people be saved by Jesus.

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We want to see
more people grow with Jesus

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and we want to see
more people on Jesus' mission.

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I pray that you
would consider being a part

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of the extended family
of Mars Hill Global.

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Go to marshillchurch.com/global
and sign up today.

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Jesus is doing
some incredible things

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and we would like you to be a part
of what Jesus is already doing.

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You will receive power!

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You will receive power!

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You will receive power!

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All right, raise your hands
if you're a failure.

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I raise both hands.

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Some of you did not
raise your hands.

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Not only
are you a failure,

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you have failed
to recognize it

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and failed to raise
your hand.

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You are the worst
failure of all.

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We fail, right?
You fail.

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When's the last time
you failed?

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If you don't know it,

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ask the person
sitting next to you.

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If they're married to you, they
will have a lot of illustrations

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to--we fail, right?

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How many of you don't
start with that?

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"Hi, my name's so-and-so.
Here's my biggest failure."

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How many of us don't put
that on our social media?

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"Oh, I failed again.
Here's a photo."

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We don't tell
people our failures;

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we tell them our victories,
the things we did right,

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not the things we did wrong,
the days we won,

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not the day
we lost, right?

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We love to present ourselves
as having it together,

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and getting it all right,

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and getting it all right
the first time.

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And if we don't get it
right the first time,

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then we get it
right the 73rd time,

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and that's the story we tell.

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You're going to fail,
you have failed,

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you are failing,
you will fail.

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The question is,
what are you going to do,

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what are we going to do
with the failure?

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And that brings me to the big
idea for the sermon today.

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It's really on failure.

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And we find ourselves
in the book of Acts.

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We're in chapter 6, verses 1-7.

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If you've got a Bible,
go there.

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We're dealing with this issue:
empowered by the Spirit to fail.

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Early in the book of Acts--all
right, Jesus lived without sin,

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he died on the cross
for our sin,

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he rose from death
as our Savior, and he said,

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"You'll receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes upon you

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and you'll be my witnesses."

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And the Holy Spirit came upon
the church. Amazing Pentecost.

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Thousands saved. Unbelievable,
revival breaks out.

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They receive the power
of the Holy Spirit.

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They live by
the same power as Jesus.

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They march forward
to be his witnesses.

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And it's all recorded
in the book of Acts.

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And we pick up a chunk of
Acts every year after Easter.

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It's a great book.

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We love to go through
books of the Bible.

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We looked at the church growing,
thriving, winning, succeeding.

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And then we saw at the end
of chapter 5

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that it was experiencing
external persecution.

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This week, you'll realize that
it also experiences

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internal opposition.

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Those two forces sometimes come
together against the church,

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external persecution,
internal opposition.

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And this week,
it's around a failure.

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Up until this point, we've seen
the church in Acts

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have a lot of wins.

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Preaching, win; teaching,
win; evangelism, win;

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church planting, win; baptism,
win; converts, win; growth, win.

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Win, win, win.

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This week, failure.

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There's a loss.

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So, we pick up
the story in Acts 6:1.

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Every church fails
at something, amen?

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Amen?

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If you're here and you're like,
"I was going to this church,

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"and the church was
a horrible church,

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"and the church failed
at things.

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"Our church was just fail,
fail, fail, fail, fail, fail.

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"The church failed,
the band, the pastor,

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"the people, outreach,
kid's ministry.

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Church failed.
So glad to be at Mars Hill."

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Here's the deal, we're
just like that church,

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except for that pastor had
a more pleasant disposition.

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Other than that, we are--we're
a church that fails too.

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Now, different churches
will fail in different ways,

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but every church fails.

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Every church fails.

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We read of this failure.

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Acts 6:1, "Now in these
days when the disciples

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were increasing in number"--

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the church is growing--
"a complaint."

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Right, somebody
found the Internet.

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"A complaint by the Hellenists
arose against the Hebrews

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"because their widows
were being neglected

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in the daily distribution."

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OK, here's what's going on.

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The church is ministering not
just to the spiritual needs of

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the soul but also the physical
needs of the body, OK?

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So that being said,
in the next season,

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we're going to ask you
the next few weeks,

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bring canned food
to church, OK?

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We don't want to compete
with good ministries

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and organizations that are
meeting a physical need.

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We want to help them,
love them, serve them,

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participate with them.

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So, what the church was doing
here was gathering food,

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so we want to be biblical.

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We want to gather food.

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The lead pastors,
the executive pastors,

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they'll tell you when to
bring it, what to bring,

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you can follow it all.

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It'll be on the blog
and coming out on the city.

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But in the season coming up,
we want to be real generous,

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and we want to give, and we
want to help meet physical needs

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because God loves the whole
person, not just the soul.

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He also loves the body.

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So, here's the situation.

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It talks about the widows,
and in that day,

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it was a little
different than our day.

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Typically, a woman would not,
you know, go off to college,

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and get a degree,
and get a career,

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and have a retirement
or 401K, and you know,

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have life insurance,
and disability insurance,

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and the social service net
of the government.

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None of those things existed.

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Usually she married young.

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Her husband was
head of household.

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He had legal authority
that she didn't.

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The property was in his name.

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He would take care of her.

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If he died, that left her
in a vulnerable place.

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Usually then her children,
particularly her sons,

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would step in, love, serve,
help, look after mom,

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and/or extended
family, relatives,

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and those who were close kin.

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What if she didn't
have those things?

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What if she didn't have kids,
or maybe her sons were duds,

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or maybe the extended family
failed in their responsibility,

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or maybe there was
nothing available for her.

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Well then, that left her in
a very vulnerable position.

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So, the church decided,
"On some occasions,

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"we've got to step in and help.
And we're going to help look

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"after these godly widows that
don't have any other means

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of income and support."

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Good idea, right?

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But they failed at it.

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They didn't do a good job.

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So the conflict is that these
widows are supposed to be

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getting some help,

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and the Hebrew widows
are getting better help

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than the Hellenist widows.

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And for most of us,
these categories are lost,

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but these are actually
distinct racial, ethnic,

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cultural groupings.

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The Roman government
had taken over,

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and there was some persecution,
opposition.

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So some of God's people decided,

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"We're going to stay
near the temple.

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"We're going to stay with
the synagogue system.

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"We're going to keep
our Hebrew language.

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"We're going to keep our
Old Testament traditions.

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"We are hardcore,
steadfast, devout.

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"We're in it for the Lord.

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We're not going to waiver."

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Others fled and they became
more compromised, synchronized.

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They picked up Greek language,
Greek culture.

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So, we would call the Hebrews,
these are the "conservatives."

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These are the traditionalists.

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The Hellenists,
they're the liberals,

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they're the progressives.

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OK, now here's what happens.

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Jesus loves both, OK,
just so you know that.

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You're Republicans,
Jesus loves you.

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You're Democrats,
Jesus loves you.

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And he wants you
to love each other.

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You conservatives, Jesus
loves you. You liberals,

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Jesus loves you, wants you
to love each other, OK?

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So they all become Christians,
the right and the left,

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and now they're in the church
together and there's racial,

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cultural, ethnic conflict.

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They don't get along
that well.

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They're not rowing in
the same boat just yet.

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They're working some stuff out.

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And so the Hebrew widows
come in.

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They sort of get
first-class treatment.

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You know, "Hey, oh,
here's a big chair.

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"Can I get you
anything to drink?

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"Do you need a towel,
you know, for your face?

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You know, we're going to
take good care of you."

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Now the Hellenist widows,
they're in the back

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and they're stuffing them
in the overhead bin, right?

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Like, not the same treatment as
the Hebrews up in first class.

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And so this leads to,
"Hey, this isn't fair.

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"Why do these people get treated
better than these people?

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"Why do these people
get first-class treatment

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"and these people get
no-class treatment?

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"Why do these people get
more food, and more money,

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"and more love, and more
support, and more help

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than these people?"

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These are--this is tough, right,
because these are old women.

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Now you're being mean
to someone's grandma.

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And now it's racial,

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and now it's cultural,

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and now it's highly charged, and
now we've got a real problem.

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What are we going to do?

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You feel it?

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A couple things I want
you to learn from here.

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Number one, Jesus is
happy when a church grows.

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It says, "Now in these days,
the disciples were"--

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what in number?

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Increasing.
You know what that means?

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Somebody took attendance.

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People are like,
"It's all about the numbers.

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"It's all about the numbers.

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"The church is all about
the--it's always, and only,

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and always about the numbers."

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Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus...Numbers--

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it's in the Bible.
It's a fine word.

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Right here, they were
increasing in number.

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You could read,
what does it say?

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Increasing in number,
number, OK?

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So somebody's
keeping attendance.

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There's more people.

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We count people
because people count.

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It's the same reason, if I'm
getting on an airplane, I--

246
00:12:04,167 --> 00:12:06,667
"Hey, one, two, three,
four, five children."

247
00:12:06,708 --> 00:12:09,792
It's like, "Three, four,
five, who's counting?

248
00:12:09,833 --> 00:12:11,958
We're not all
about the numbers."

249
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,208
My 8-year-old's like,
"Uh, please Dad,

250
00:12:15,292 --> 00:12:17,333
"please be about the numbers.

251
00:12:17,375 --> 00:12:21,125
Number five back here would--"

252
00:12:21,167 --> 00:12:23,833
We count people
because people count.

253
00:12:23,875 --> 00:12:26,208
And they're keeping track
and the church is growing,

254
00:12:26,292 --> 00:12:27,708
increasing in number.

255
00:12:27,792 --> 00:12:30,125
Jesus is glad about that.

256
00:12:30,167 --> 00:12:32,208
It's a good thing when people
become Christians

257
00:12:32,292 --> 00:12:33,667
and a church grows.

258
00:12:33,750 --> 00:12:37,000
So what we saw early on, there
was 12 disciples that Jesus had.

259
00:12:37,083 --> 00:12:38,417
That's where it starts.

260
00:12:38,500 --> 00:12:42,125
One's a dud, right, because
there's always 10% dud factor

261
00:12:42,167 --> 00:12:43,833
in every church.

262
00:12:43,875 --> 00:12:46,125
Don't be that 10%.

263
00:12:46,167 --> 00:12:48,625
But there's always
about a 10% dud factor.

264
00:12:48,667 --> 00:12:52,708
And then the church
in Act 1, it's 120.

265
00:12:52,792 --> 00:12:54,208
It's growing.

266
00:12:54,292 --> 00:12:56,500
And then in Acts 2...

267
00:12:56,583 --> 00:12:58,708
3,000 are added.

268
00:12:58,792 --> 00:13:04,167
I think it was Acts 4, correct,
it says there's 5,000 men,

269
00:13:04,250 --> 00:13:06,292
plus their wives,
plus their kids.

270
00:13:06,333 --> 00:13:09,833
There's 10,000, 12,000,
13,000, I don't know, people.

271
00:13:09,917 --> 00:13:12,583
It's about the same size
as Mars Hill Church,

272
00:13:12,667 --> 00:13:14,708
Christianity is,
on the earth in that day.

273
00:13:14,792 --> 00:13:20,833
So in a fairly short order, it's
gone from 11 plus a dud to maybe

274
00:13:20,875 --> 00:13:23,000
10,000, 12,000, 13,000, 14,000.

275
00:13:23,083 --> 00:13:26,208
It's growing and Jesus
is glad about that.

276
00:13:26,292 --> 00:13:29,875
Number two, as a church is
growing, though Jesus is happy,

277
00:13:29,958 --> 00:13:35,208
not everybody's happy because
there is a--what is there?

278
00:13:35,292 --> 00:13:37,125
Here's another word.

279
00:13:37,167 --> 00:13:39,000
There's a "complaint."

280
00:13:39,083 --> 00:13:41,375
"We don't like it.
We don't like it.

281
00:13:41,458 --> 00:13:43,000
"There's something wrong.

282
00:13:43,042 --> 00:13:46,000
"I used to be able to park
my camel right out front.

283
00:13:46,042 --> 00:13:48,000
"Now, ugh, it's so far away.

284
00:13:48,042 --> 00:13:51,083
"I had a seat up front
and somebody took my seat.

285
00:13:51,167 --> 00:13:52,708
"It was terrible, terrible.

286
00:13:52,792 --> 00:13:54,125
"The coffee's terrible.

287
00:13:54,167 --> 00:13:57,500
"It's just terrible.
It's all diluted.

288
00:13:57,542 --> 00:14:00,542
"There's so many people now, you
don't even get the good coffee.

289
00:14:00,625 --> 00:14:03,000
"This church has changed.
Things are different.

290
00:14:03,042 --> 00:14:04,750
It's not like it used to be."

291
00:14:04,833 --> 00:14:06,792
There's complaints.

292
00:14:06,833 --> 00:14:08,375
"Nobody here loves me.

293
00:14:08,458 --> 00:14:12,500
"I filled out a visitor card
and nobody came to see me

294
00:14:12,542 --> 00:14:17,375
despite my welcoming
disposition."

295
00:14:17,458 --> 00:14:21,167
So not everybody's happy because
as things grow, things change,

296
00:14:21,208 --> 00:14:23,833
and not everybody likes change.

297
00:14:23,917 --> 00:14:28,500
Right, not everybody
likes change.

298
00:14:28,542 --> 00:14:31,000
You can walk up to somebody
and say, "You've changed,"

299
00:14:31,042 --> 00:14:34,458
and smile, or you can
walk up to somebody like,

300
00:14:34,500 --> 00:14:38,500
"You've changed," right?

301
00:14:38,542 --> 00:14:43,583
And change can be perceived as
a good thing or a bad thing--

302
00:14:43,667 --> 00:14:45,083
it depends on who's
perceiving it.

303
00:14:45,167 --> 00:14:48,375
You can look at a little kid
who's grown up and you're like,

304
00:14:48,458 --> 00:14:49,792
"You've changed!"

305
00:14:49,833 --> 00:14:52,167
Or you're like,
"Oh, yeah, you've changed.

306
00:14:52,250 --> 00:14:54,958
You're not like
you used to be."

307
00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,000
Jesus loves a growing church.

308
00:14:57,042 --> 00:14:59,292
Not everybody loves
a growing church.

309
00:14:59,333 --> 00:15:03,417
Number three,
even good churches fail.

310
00:15:03,500 --> 00:15:05,500
They have failed.

311
00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:07,833
They have failed.

312
00:15:07,917 --> 00:15:11,250
Now here's what you can't
say: "That's a bad church."

313
00:15:11,333 --> 00:15:13,375
That's the only one, OK?

314
00:15:13,458 --> 00:15:16,833
So it's not like, "I'm going
to go find another church."

315
00:15:16,917 --> 00:15:18,500
And it's like, there's one.

316
00:15:18,542 --> 00:15:20,667
Do you want a ham sandwich
or nothing?

317
00:15:20,750 --> 00:15:23,667
Well, right?

318
00:15:23,750 --> 00:15:25,458
They have good leaders.

319
00:15:25,500 --> 00:15:28,958
They have the apostles
chosen by Jesus.

320
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:31,667
You could say, "Well, yeah,
the problem with our leaders is

321
00:15:31,750 --> 00:15:34,083
they're not well trained."

322
00:15:34,167 --> 00:15:36,542
They went to
the University of Jesus Christ.

323
00:15:36,625 --> 00:15:37,958
They did.

324
00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:41,375
Jesus picked them
and trained them for 3 years.

325
00:15:41,458 --> 00:15:43,708
So, good leaders,
good training.

326
00:15:43,792 --> 00:15:45,833
Do they have good doctrine?

327
00:15:45,875 --> 00:15:47,667
"You know what
the problem is here?

328
00:15:47,750 --> 00:15:49,500
These guys
don't teach the Bible."

329
00:15:49,542 --> 00:15:51,167
These guys write the Bible.

330
00:15:51,250 --> 00:15:53,625
This is a Bible church, right?

331
00:15:53,667 --> 00:15:55,917
Do they not love the people?

332
00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:57,708
Do they love the people?

333
00:15:57,792 --> 00:15:59,208
Yes.

334
00:15:59,292 --> 00:16:01,792
See, you've got to be
very careful not to assign

335
00:16:01,833 --> 00:16:03,792
motive to behavior.

336
00:16:03,833 --> 00:16:05,583
We don't--you know,
you can't be like,

337
00:16:05,667 --> 00:16:07,583
"Oh, they're not--you know
what their problem is?

338
00:16:07,667 --> 00:16:10,083
"They're racists and bigots,
and they're lazy,

339
00:16:10,167 --> 00:16:14,375
"and they don't love people,
and they're stealing the money

340
00:16:14,458 --> 00:16:17,500
"and putting it in their
pocket like Judas.

341
00:16:17,542 --> 00:16:19,000
That's what they're doing."

342
00:16:19,042 --> 00:16:23,542
Now, that's what it would have
said on the Internet

343
00:16:23,625 --> 00:16:27,792
in that day, but that's not
what's happening.

344
00:16:27,833 --> 00:16:29,167
It's a good church.

345
00:16:29,250 --> 00:16:30,875
They have good leaders,
they work hard,

346
00:16:30,958 --> 00:16:32,667
they have good doctrine,
they love people,

347
00:16:32,708 --> 00:16:34,042
they're not stealing anything,

348
00:16:34,125 --> 00:16:36,167
and they're not a bunch
of racist bigots.

349
00:16:36,250 --> 00:16:40,083
They just have a failure
that they need to fix.

350
00:16:40,167 --> 00:16:44,083
Even good churches
have failures.

351
00:16:44,167 --> 00:16:46,583
Mars Hill,
do we have failures?

352
00:16:46,667 --> 00:16:48,000
We did once.

353
00:16:48,042 --> 00:16:50,708
It was a long time ago,
but we fixed it, OK?

354
00:16:50,792 --> 00:16:52,708
Yes, we do.

355
00:16:52,792 --> 00:16:55,917
And number four, sometimes
complaints against the church

356
00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:02,000
go--this is not my favorite
part of the story--public, OK?

357
00:17:02,042 --> 00:17:07,167
A complaint arose.

358
00:17:07,250 --> 00:17:09,500
What it means is
a couple people are upset,

359
00:17:09,542 --> 00:17:11,000
and then more people
got involved,

360
00:17:11,042 --> 00:17:13,500
and then it sort of is like
a brush fire

361
00:17:13,542 --> 00:17:14,875
that keeps burning.

362
00:17:14,958 --> 00:17:17,083
Next thing you know,
it's kind of a thing,

363
00:17:17,167 --> 00:17:18,792
and it's the Hellenists
versus the Hebrews

364
00:17:18,833 --> 00:17:22,292
on the nightly news.

365
00:17:22,333 --> 00:17:24,792
It's very serious
and it arose.

366
00:17:24,833 --> 00:17:26,167
It became public.

367
00:17:26,250 --> 00:17:27,875
How do we know it
became public?

368
00:17:27,958 --> 00:17:29,583
It's in the Bible.

369
00:17:29,667 --> 00:17:32,167
So much so that Dr. Luke,
who's the historian writing

370
00:17:32,208 --> 00:17:33,958
the historical record
of the early church,

371
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:35,875
when it comes time for
him to decide,

372
00:17:35,958 --> 00:17:37,875
"Well, what do we put
in the Bible?

373
00:17:37,958 --> 00:17:39,875
"What do we not put
in the Bible?

374
00:17:39,958 --> 00:17:41,625
There's a lot of
things that happened,"

375
00:17:41,667 --> 00:17:43,292
this goes in the Bible.

376
00:17:43,333 --> 00:17:48,167
So sometimes, complaints
against a church go public.

377
00:17:48,250 --> 00:17:50,167
Go public.

378
00:17:50,250 --> 00:17:52,375
So that's exactly
what we see here.

379
00:17:52,458 --> 00:17:54,417
And they were filled
with the Holy Spirit,

380
00:17:54,500 --> 00:17:56,500
and they were led
by the Holy Spirit,

381
00:17:56,583 --> 00:17:58,500
and they were empowered
by the Holy Spirit,

382
00:17:58,583 --> 00:18:00,667
and they loved people,
and they worked hard,

383
00:18:00,750 --> 00:18:03,667
and they had good doctrine,
and they had good leaders,

384
00:18:03,708 --> 00:18:06,167
and they still
had a big problem.

385
00:18:06,208 --> 00:18:11,167
Point number two, not only does
every church fail at something,

386
00:18:11,250 --> 00:18:14,542
also every leader
fails at something.

387
00:18:14,625 --> 00:18:16,375
OK, how many of you
are leaders?

388
00:18:16,458 --> 00:18:18,792
Leaders in your home,
leaders in our church,

389
00:18:18,833 --> 00:18:21,583
leaders in your business,
leaders in the community.

390
00:18:21,667 --> 00:18:23,375
You're a leader.
People follow you.

391
00:18:23,458 --> 00:18:25,167
You have responsibility.

392
00:18:25,250 --> 00:18:30,583
Every, every, every
leader fails at something.

393
00:18:30,667 --> 00:18:34,292
Acts 6:2, "And the twelve
summoned the full number

394
00:18:34,333 --> 00:18:35,958
"of the disciples and said,

395
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:38,167
"'It is not right that
we should give up

396
00:18:38,250 --> 00:18:40,750
preaching the word of God
to serve tables.'"

397
00:18:40,833 --> 00:18:42,833
I bet that was controversial.

398
00:18:42,917 --> 00:18:44,833
Because they were
feeding people,

399
00:18:44,917 --> 00:18:50,000
now they're not
going to feed people

400
00:18:50,042 --> 00:18:54,042
because they had failed
at feeding them.

401
00:18:54,125 --> 00:18:58,083
These are good leaders,
chosen by Jesus,

402
00:18:58,167 --> 00:19:02,042
filled with the Holy Spirit, but
their primary duty is preaching

403
00:19:02,125 --> 00:19:03,542
the Word of God.

404
00:19:03,625 --> 00:19:07,042
The primary duty is always
preaching the Word of God.

405
00:19:07,125 --> 00:19:10,500
Everything is very important,
but there's one thing

406
00:19:10,542 --> 00:19:14,542
more important than anything,
preaching the Word of God, OK?

407
00:19:14,625 --> 00:19:16,667
Preaching the Word of God.

408
00:19:16,708 --> 00:19:20,042
The church explodes in Acts
because of the preaching

409
00:19:20,125 --> 00:19:21,500
of the Word of God.

410
00:19:21,542 --> 00:19:24,292
The church continues to grow and
mature throughout the duration

411
00:19:24,333 --> 00:19:26,792
of Acts through the preaching
of the Word of God.

412
00:19:26,833 --> 00:19:29,292
Where there is no preaching
of the Word of God,

413
00:19:29,333 --> 00:19:31,458
there is no church.

414
00:19:31,500 --> 00:19:37,250
OK, I like soup kitchens,
homeless shelters,

415
00:19:37,333 --> 00:19:42,500
all kinds of organizations
that help and serve people,

416
00:19:42,542 --> 00:19:46,667
and we like to partner with
them and contribute to them.

417
00:19:46,750 --> 00:19:49,375
But what makes
the church of Jesus Christ

418
00:19:49,458 --> 00:19:54,292
unique is not just
our good works

419
00:19:54,333 --> 00:19:57,167
but the good news.

420
00:19:57,250 --> 00:20:01,167
It's not just helping people,
it's also the preaching

421
00:20:01,250 --> 00:20:03,250
of the Word of God.

422
00:20:03,333 --> 00:20:05,375
And I would submit
to you that central,

423
00:20:05,458 --> 00:20:08,000
essential to
the Church of Jesus Christ

424
00:20:08,042 --> 00:20:11,333
is the preaching
of the Word of God.

425
00:20:11,375 --> 00:20:15,417
And I get very upset
and concerned when I hear,

426
00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:17,208
"We're not having
church this week.

427
00:20:17,292 --> 00:20:18,792
We're not doing
preaching this week."

428
00:20:18,833 --> 00:20:21,125
No, no, no, no,
it's "preaching plus--."

429
00:20:21,167 --> 00:20:24,000
Never something
in the place of preaching.

430
00:20:24,083 --> 00:20:26,625
Never something
supplanting preaching.

431
00:20:26,667 --> 00:20:28,833
It's preaching
informing the serving.

432
00:20:28,875 --> 00:20:30,500
It's preaching
informing the loving.

433
00:20:30,583 --> 00:20:32,292
It's preaching
informing the caring.

434
00:20:32,333 --> 00:20:34,333
It's preaching
informing the helping.

435
00:20:34,375 --> 00:20:37,333
But it's not preaching
against other things;

436
00:20:37,375 --> 00:20:41,417
it's preaching at the center
of all things so that

437
00:20:41,500 --> 00:20:44,833
the Word of God informs
and transforms everything

438
00:20:44,875 --> 00:20:46,708
and everyone that it touches.

439
00:20:46,792 --> 00:20:48,708
And so the leaders
realize, "You know what?

440
00:20:48,792 --> 00:20:52,292
"It's totally a good thing
to help hurting people

441
00:20:52,333 --> 00:20:58,000
and to feed them, but we need
to preach the Word of God."

442
00:20:58,042 --> 00:21:00,292
We have a priority
and a calling,

443
00:21:00,333 --> 00:21:02,250
and it doesn't mean that
this is unimportant,

444
00:21:02,333 --> 00:21:04,667
but it means that this
is most important.

445
00:21:04,750 --> 00:21:07,042
Some of you immediately
will bristle against that,

446
00:21:07,125 --> 00:21:09,125
but that is the Word of God.

447
00:21:09,167 --> 00:21:11,292
Now, let me speak
organizationally here.

448
00:21:11,333 --> 00:21:13,917
And I'll talk from a church
leadership standpoint,

449
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:17,500
but this applies to business,
this applies to not-for-profits,

450
00:21:17,542 --> 00:21:19,917
this applies to lots of things.

451
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,333
Number one, when
an organization is smaller,

452
00:21:23,375 --> 00:21:26,292
the leaders function
as generalists.

453
00:21:26,333 --> 00:21:29,333
As an organization gets
larger, it has to be a team

454
00:21:29,375 --> 00:21:30,708
of specialists.

455
00:21:30,792 --> 00:21:32,667
That's exactly what's
happening here.

456
00:21:32,750 --> 00:21:37,625
So, early on, the 12 would cut
the carrots, and make the soup,

457
00:21:37,667 --> 00:21:43,292
and serve like waiters,
and they would also study,

458
00:21:43,333 --> 00:21:45,208
and they would preach,
and they would teach,

459
00:21:45,292 --> 00:21:46,625
and they would counsel.

460
00:21:46,667 --> 00:21:48,000
Now that it's gotten bigger,

461
00:21:48,083 --> 00:21:49,708
they're going to need
to reorganize,

462
00:21:49,792 --> 00:21:51,208
and the preachers
need to preach,

463
00:21:51,292 --> 00:21:53,208
and the waiters
need to wait the tables,

464
00:21:53,292 --> 00:21:55,208
and the cooks
need to cook the meal.

465
00:21:55,292 --> 00:22:00,375
And the truth is, it becomes
a team of specialists, OK?

466
00:22:00,458 --> 00:22:04,167
And they say, "We're not going
to be waiting tables anymore."

467
00:22:04,208 --> 00:22:06,000
Aren't you glad
I'm not your waiter?

468
00:22:06,042 --> 00:22:08,500
Let me just submit to you that
sometimes the preacher

469
00:22:08,583 --> 00:22:12,375
is not the best waiter, because
a waiter's supposed to

470
00:22:12,458 --> 00:22:14,167
give you what you want.

471
00:22:14,250 --> 00:22:16,167
Preacher, no, no.

472
00:22:16,250 --> 00:22:19,167
I would come up to your table
and be like, "You're thick,

473
00:22:19,250 --> 00:22:21,625
"you're getting vegetables,
OK?

474
00:22:21,667 --> 00:22:25,583
"Getting vegetables.
No, no dessert.

475
00:22:25,667 --> 00:22:29,208
"You're drinking water
as well.

476
00:22:29,292 --> 00:22:30,708
"You're pale and thick.

477
00:22:30,792 --> 00:22:33,500
You need hydration
and vegetables."

478
00:22:33,542 --> 00:22:36,208
And I'd bring them to you and
you'd say, "They're overcooked.

479
00:22:36,292 --> 00:22:37,625
I don't like them."

480
00:22:37,667 --> 00:22:39,208
"Jesus is trying
to sanctify you.

481
00:22:39,292 --> 00:22:41,917
"This is part of
your growth process.

482
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,208
"Eat your burnt vegetables
and drink your water

483
00:22:45,292 --> 00:22:47,917
"to the glory of God
and the joy of all people.

484
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:49,833
"And we're going to charge
you double

485
00:22:49,875 --> 00:22:51,833
because you're going to give
to the poor."

486
00:22:51,875 --> 00:22:54,208
You're glad I'm not
your waiter, amen?

487
00:22:54,292 --> 00:22:56,375
Sometimes the preacher
is good at one thing,

488
00:22:56,458 --> 00:22:59,625
not good at everything, so we
let them do what they can do.

489
00:22:59,667 --> 00:23:01,083
That's what he's saying.

490
00:23:01,167 --> 00:23:03,083
He saying--you know,
the leaders here are saying,

491
00:23:03,167 --> 00:23:05,792
"We're not good cooks and you
don't want to eat anything

492
00:23:05,833 --> 00:23:07,167
I cook," right?

493
00:23:07,250 --> 00:23:09,167
"And we're not
good waiters."

494
00:23:09,250 --> 00:23:14,667
And my back up career is
not in the service industry.

495
00:23:14,708 --> 00:23:16,375
I'll just say that, OK?

496
00:23:16,458 --> 00:23:18,083
Like you baristas,
you're amazing.

497
00:23:18,167 --> 00:23:19,833
People come up and yell at you

498
00:23:19,917 --> 00:23:21,792
and you don't throw coffee
at them.

499
00:23:21,833 --> 00:23:24,792
I find that amazing, OK?

500
00:23:24,833 --> 00:23:27,500
If I had that much hot liquid,
I would use some.

501
00:23:27,542 --> 00:23:30,500
Anyways, you know,
and what they're saying is,

502
00:23:30,542 --> 00:23:32,667
"We're good at this,
we're not good at that,

503
00:23:32,750 --> 00:23:35,875
"so we'll do what we're good at,
and we'll find some people who

504
00:23:35,958 --> 00:23:38,875
"are good at something else and
we'll let them do the things

505
00:23:38,958 --> 00:23:40,292
they're good at."

506
00:23:40,333 --> 00:23:41,792
Team of generalists
versus specialists.

507
00:23:41,833 --> 00:23:43,500
And I've seen this
in Mars Hill.

508
00:23:43,542 --> 00:23:46,167
When we first started, man,
I was jack of all trades,

509
00:23:46,250 --> 00:23:47,583
master of none.

510
00:23:47,667 --> 00:23:49,750
If you called the church,
it actually was my

511
00:23:49,833 --> 00:23:51,958
home phone number and I would
answer it, OK?

512
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,458
It's not like that today,
just so you know, OK?

513
00:23:54,500 --> 00:23:56,167
If you showed up
to church early,

514
00:23:56,250 --> 00:23:58,875
you would notice me and a guy
who was really faithful

515
00:23:58,958 --> 00:24:00,708
unloading my old
Toyota pickup truck

516
00:24:00,792 --> 00:24:02,208
and all of our sound equipment.

517
00:24:02,292 --> 00:24:04,417
I was the sound guy--
really bad sound guy.

518
00:24:04,500 --> 00:24:06,750
I couldn't dial anything
in, but look at me,

519
00:24:06,833 --> 00:24:08,167
I could pick something up.

520
00:24:08,208 --> 00:24:09,875
So I would move
the subwoofers in.

521
00:24:09,958 --> 00:24:13,375
And then if you came, I would
greet you at the door because I

522
00:24:13,458 --> 00:24:16,042
was the greeter with the notes
I copied at Kinko's

523
00:24:16,125 --> 00:24:19,083
because I was
the office manager.

524
00:24:19,167 --> 00:24:22,500
And then at the end of service,
if you turned in a visitor card,

525
00:24:22,542 --> 00:24:25,500
I would call you and take you
out that week for lunch

526
00:24:25,542 --> 00:24:28,000
because I was the follow-up
visitor department.

527
00:24:28,042 --> 00:24:30,667
And if you had a problem,
I would meet with you.

528
00:24:30,708 --> 00:24:33,667
And if you were sick, I would
visit you in the hospital.

529
00:24:33,708 --> 00:24:36,375
And if you got engaged, I would
do your premarital counseling

530
00:24:36,458 --> 00:24:37,792
in my house.

531
00:24:37,833 --> 00:24:40,792
And I would show up in a suit
and officiate your wedding.

532
00:24:40,833 --> 00:24:43,292
And the night before, I would
eat your chicken dinner

533
00:24:43,333 --> 00:24:45,042
with your in-laws, OK?

534
00:24:45,125 --> 00:24:51,958
I ate so many chicken dinners
because I was a generalist.

535
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:53,500
Now I'm a specialist.

536
00:24:53,542 --> 00:24:55,833
And we have a team
of specialists.

537
00:24:55,917 --> 00:24:59,833
So the accountants, they went
to business school, right?

538
00:24:59,917 --> 00:25:03,042
Those who run technology,
they are specialists.

539
00:25:03,125 --> 00:25:06,125
It's a team of specialists.

540
00:25:06,167 --> 00:25:11,583
Number two, ministry is
two things categorically.

541
00:25:11,667 --> 00:25:15,000
It's words and works.

542
00:25:15,042 --> 00:25:16,875
Words and works.

543
00:25:16,958 --> 00:25:21,042
Here, the senior leaders had
been doing words and works,

544
00:25:21,125 --> 00:25:24,375
and they're saying, "We're
good at words--preaching.

545
00:25:24,458 --> 00:25:26,167
"We're bad at works--
administrating,

546
00:25:26,250 --> 00:25:29,000
organizing,
planning, budgeting."

547
00:25:29,042 --> 00:25:31,250
So for you, sometimes
you'll think,

548
00:25:31,333 --> 00:25:34,250
"Man, I wish I had skills
for ministry."

549
00:25:34,333 --> 00:25:35,667
You do.

550
00:25:35,750 --> 00:25:37,667
Yours may be in works,
not in words.

551
00:25:37,750 --> 00:25:41,375
So my question to you is are
your contributions regarding

552
00:25:41,458 --> 00:25:44,583
our ministry together, are they
primarily to be in the area

553
00:25:44,667 --> 00:25:47,375
of words--preaching,
teaching, counseling,

554
00:25:47,458 --> 00:25:49,583
Community Group leader,
teaching little kids,

555
00:25:49,667 --> 00:25:54,958
encouragement--or is it
works--serving, doing,

556
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,875
getting literally things done.

557
00:25:58,958 --> 00:26:02,250
One of the reasons that Grace
and I get along in addition to

558
00:26:02,333 --> 00:26:07,625
her tremendous forbearance is my
gifts are primarily in words

559
00:26:07,667 --> 00:26:09,667
and many of hers are in works,

560
00:26:09,750 --> 00:26:11,375
and so we complement
one another well.

561
00:26:11,458 --> 00:26:13,375
So even right now,
what am I doing?

562
00:26:13,458 --> 00:26:14,792
Words.

563
00:26:14,833 --> 00:26:16,500
What's she doing?
Works.

564
00:26:16,542 --> 00:26:20,792
She's taking our son to a select
baseball tournament to compete

565
00:26:20,833 --> 00:26:22,500
for a championship today.

566
00:26:22,542 --> 00:26:24,167
She's serving, right?

567
00:26:24,250 --> 00:26:28,083
She's helping, she's doing,
she finds great joy in that.

568
00:26:28,167 --> 00:26:30,500
And my gifts are in words.

569
00:26:30,542 --> 00:26:33,542
So I want you to know that
we're one body, many parts.

570
00:26:33,625 --> 00:26:36,042
We're all different and every
one of you is important

571
00:26:36,125 --> 00:26:37,458
and significant.

572
00:26:37,500 --> 00:26:39,167
And what the leaders
here are saying,

573
00:26:39,208 --> 00:26:41,042
"Words, good at that.
That's me.

574
00:26:41,125 --> 00:26:43,083
"Writing, preaching,
teaching, debating.

575
00:26:43,167 --> 00:26:44,958
"That's my strength.

576
00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:51,333
Works--organizing, budgeting,
planning, scheduling, not."

577
00:26:51,417 --> 00:26:52,750
That's what they're saying.

578
00:26:52,833 --> 00:26:55,250
And it's knowing who you
are and what you are,

579
00:26:55,333 --> 00:26:56,958
and building a team
that complements you.

580
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:01,625
Number three, most pastors are
prophets and priests, not kings.

581
00:27:01,667 --> 00:27:03,667
OK, Jesus was Prophet,
Priest, and King.

582
00:27:03,708 --> 00:27:05,958
We use this nomenclature
a lot at Mars Hill,

583
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,167
but the prophets are
the preachers, the teachers,

584
00:27:08,250 --> 00:27:11,500
the writers, the apologists,
the evangelists.

585
00:27:11,542 --> 00:27:13,292
They're good with ideas, right?

586
00:27:13,333 --> 00:27:18,167
Bible-based, Jesus-centered
ideas, content, prophets.

587
00:27:18,250 --> 00:27:20,333
Priests are good with people.

588
00:27:20,417 --> 00:27:24,500
Counseling, loving, encouraging,
serving, befriending,

589
00:27:24,542 --> 00:27:27,875
persevering with people.

590
00:27:27,958 --> 00:27:29,375
They love people.

591
00:27:29,458 --> 00:27:32,292
They understand people.
They help people.

592
00:27:32,333 --> 00:27:33,792
They care about people.

593
00:27:33,833 --> 00:27:36,500
They wake up in the morning
and what's on their mind?

594
00:27:36,542 --> 00:27:37,875
People.

595
00:27:37,958 --> 00:27:40,667
Kings are good with things.

596
00:27:40,750 --> 00:27:43,167
Prophets are good with ideas,
priests are good with people,

597
00:27:43,250 --> 00:27:44,833
kings are good with kings.

598
00:27:44,917 --> 00:27:48,292
Systems, technology,
real estate, budget,

599
00:27:48,333 --> 00:27:52,792
spreadsheets, calendars,
strategic planning, right?

600
00:27:52,833 --> 00:27:54,167
Which one are you?

601
00:27:54,250 --> 00:27:55,583
Prophet, priest, king?

602
00:27:55,667 --> 00:27:57,000
They're not mutually exclusive.

603
00:27:57,042 --> 00:27:59,500
Some can have more than
one, but in my experience,

604
00:27:59,542 --> 00:28:03,167
most of the kings go into
the business world, amen?

605
00:28:03,208 --> 00:28:05,250
And most of the priests
and prophets

606
00:28:05,333 --> 00:28:08,167
go into the church world.

607
00:28:08,250 --> 00:28:12,000
So most pastors, they
teach and love people,

608
00:28:12,042 --> 00:28:15,292
but they struggle
organizationally

609
00:28:15,333 --> 00:28:16,958
and administratively.

610
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:20,958
My father-in-law, he's
with the Lord now, Gibby,

611
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:22,417
planted a church
in South Seattle,

612
00:28:22,500 --> 00:28:24,125
pastored it for
more than 40 years.

613
00:28:24,167 --> 00:28:26,167
I preached his funeral
over a year ago.

614
00:28:26,250 --> 00:28:29,542
And he was a classic
prophet priest.

615
00:28:29,625 --> 00:28:32,792
He knew how to teach
and love people.

616
00:28:32,833 --> 00:28:36,000
And what he said killed him in
ministry, he told me one time,

617
00:28:36,042 --> 00:28:38,167
he said, was "administrivia."

618
00:28:38,250 --> 00:28:40,750
That's what he called
it, administrivia.

619
00:28:40,833 --> 00:28:42,750
He's like, "I hate
administrivia."

620
00:28:42,833 --> 00:28:45,167
That tells you he's
not a king, amen,

621
00:28:45,250 --> 00:28:47,167
because you know
what a king loves?

622
00:28:47,208 --> 00:28:49,375
All the details,
all the organizational,

623
00:28:49,458 --> 00:28:52,667
all the financial,
all the legal, OK?

624
00:28:52,750 --> 00:28:56,167
And so what they're saying
here is, "We need to preach.

625
00:28:56,208 --> 00:28:57,542
"That's our thing.

626
00:28:57,625 --> 00:29:00,125
"We need to find
somebody else to take care of

627
00:29:00,167 --> 00:29:02,208
the kingly aspect of ministry."

628
00:29:02,292 --> 00:29:03,750
Same is true at Mars Hill.

629
00:29:03,833 --> 00:29:05,958
The bigger we get,
the more kings we need.

630
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:07,667
Just flat out true.

631
00:29:07,708 --> 00:29:12,875
Just flat out--50 services,
15 locations, 5 states,

632
00:29:12,958 --> 00:29:17,667
lots of complexity,
and technology, and legality.

633
00:29:17,750 --> 00:29:19,500
More than ever, we need kings.

634
00:29:19,542 --> 00:29:21,833
We need more prophets,
more priests, and more kings.

635
00:29:21,917 --> 00:29:24,833
But most churches struggle
in that kingly area.

636
00:29:24,917 --> 00:29:26,333
That's the problem
in their church.

637
00:29:26,417 --> 00:29:28,333
It's historically been
the problem in our church.

638
00:29:28,417 --> 00:29:31,750
The Bible is taught, we care for
people, we try to do our best,

639
00:29:31,833 --> 00:29:34,833
but we're not organized well
enough to take good care of

640
00:29:34,917 --> 00:29:37,292
everybody, and complaints arise.

641
00:29:37,333 --> 00:29:41,167
And that's where kings help
priests and prophets love people

642
00:29:41,208 --> 00:29:42,667
and teach the Bible.

643
00:29:42,750 --> 00:29:44,083
We all work together.

644
00:29:44,167 --> 00:29:46,167
Number four, there's
a difference between a sin

645
00:29:46,208 --> 00:29:49,083
and a mistake, and it's really
important that I emphasize this.

646
00:29:49,167 --> 00:29:52,042
I don't think, historically,
I've emphasized this enough

647
00:29:52,125 --> 00:29:54,458
in my teaching,
so let me clarify it today.

648
00:29:54,500 --> 00:29:58,458
So the situation here, they're
trying to help, and love,

649
00:29:58,500 --> 00:30:00,458
and serve, and care for widows.

650
00:30:00,500 --> 00:30:02,458
Now, their critics
would look and say,

651
00:30:02,500 --> 00:30:03,833
"They don't care about people."

652
00:30:03,917 --> 00:30:06,792
They do,
they're trying to help.

653
00:30:06,833 --> 00:30:10,208
And some would look
and say, "They're in sin.

654
00:30:10,292 --> 00:30:12,500
"They're not loving
and caring for people.

655
00:30:12,583 --> 00:30:14,125
They're in sin."

656
00:30:14,167 --> 00:30:15,625
Here's my question.

657
00:30:15,667 --> 00:30:19,625
They are in failure, but there
are two kinds of failure.

658
00:30:19,667 --> 00:30:22,000
Some failure's a sin.

659
00:30:22,083 --> 00:30:23,833
Other failure's a mistake.

660
00:30:23,875 --> 00:30:25,708
Do you get the difference?

661
00:30:25,792 --> 00:30:29,792
Their failure, is it
a sin or is it a mistake?

662
00:30:29,833 --> 00:30:32,000
OK, think about
it for a minute...

663
00:30:32,042 --> 00:30:37,000
[humming Jeopardy theme song]

664
00:30:37,042 --> 00:30:39,333
OK, what do you
think it is now?

665
00:30:39,375 --> 00:30:41,500
Ready for your answer?

666
00:30:41,583 --> 00:30:45,917
How many of you think they're
in sin and they need to repent?

667
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,208
How many of you think
they made a mistake,

668
00:30:48,292 --> 00:30:51,208
and they've got to learn
and grow from it, and fix it?

669
00:30:51,292 --> 00:30:52,917
There's a difference, right?

670
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:54,417
I don't think
they're in sin.

671
00:30:54,500 --> 00:30:56,167
It's not that they
don't love people.

672
00:30:56,250 --> 00:30:57,917
It's not that
they're trying to help.

673
00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,167
It's not that they have bad
doctrine, bad character.

674
00:31:00,250 --> 00:31:02,375
It's not that they're not
trying or working hard.

675
00:31:02,458 --> 00:31:03,792
They just stink at it.

676
00:31:03,833 --> 00:31:06,042
Any of you had
anything like that?

677
00:31:06,125 --> 00:31:07,500
They need to improve on it.

678
00:31:07,542 --> 00:31:09,500
They need to learn
and grow in it.

679
00:31:09,583 --> 00:31:12,500
Friends, this is where we need
to give grace to one another.

680
00:31:12,583 --> 00:31:15,500
And not every issue is,
sin, repent, sin, repent.

681
00:31:15,583 --> 00:31:17,500
Yeah, we hit sin
and repent a lot.

682
00:31:17,583 --> 00:31:23,208
Sometimes it's mistake,
learning, mistake, learning,

683
00:31:23,292 --> 00:31:25,125
and we give grace
to one another.

684
00:31:25,167 --> 00:31:27,875
They made a mistake, and
they need to learn from it.

685
00:31:27,958 --> 00:31:30,083
You make mistakes;
you need to learn from it.

686
00:31:30,167 --> 00:31:32,292
We make mistakes;
we need to learn from them.

687
00:31:32,333 --> 00:31:34,542
I make mistakes; I need
to learn from them.

688
00:31:34,625 --> 00:31:36,458
Every leader fails at something.

689
00:31:36,500 --> 00:31:40,167
And your failure doesn't
need to be the end of you;

690
00:31:40,208 --> 00:31:43,417
it could be the beginning
of your learning.

691
00:31:43,500 --> 00:31:47,833
Number four, every failure
is a Holy Spirit opportunity.

692
00:31:47,917 --> 00:31:50,333
It said early in Acts,
"You will receive power,"

693
00:31:50,417 --> 00:31:51,750
and then it says,

694
00:31:51,833 --> 00:31:53,250
"The Holy Spirit
came upon them."

695
00:31:53,333 --> 00:31:55,458
And here's what I don't
want you to think:

696
00:31:55,500 --> 00:31:58,167
"Oh yeah, the Holy Spirit
was on them in Acts 2

697
00:31:58,250 --> 00:31:59,583
"and 3,000 got converted.

698
00:31:59,667 --> 00:32:02,833
"And the Holy Spirit was on
them in Acts 4 when the church

699
00:32:02,917 --> 00:32:04,250
"exploded and grew again.

700
00:32:04,333 --> 00:32:06,667
And now the Holy Spirit's
gone because they failed."

701
00:32:06,708 --> 00:32:09,333
The Holy Spirit is still on
them, he's still with them,

702
00:32:09,417 --> 00:32:12,167
he's still working through them.

703
00:32:12,208 --> 00:32:15,167
You can have good character,
hard works, sound doctrine,

704
00:32:15,208 --> 00:32:18,917
and the Holy Spirit, and fail.

705
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:22,042
And fail.

706
00:32:22,125 --> 00:32:25,833
"Therefore, brothers"--
Acts 6:3-6--

707
00:32:25,875 --> 00:32:29,458
"pick out from among you
seven men of good repute,

708
00:32:29,500 --> 00:32:31,667
"full of the Holy Spirit
and of wisdom,

709
00:32:31,708 --> 00:32:34,167
whom we will appoint
to this duty."

710
00:32:34,208 --> 00:32:35,833
The leaders still
pick the leaders.

711
00:32:35,875 --> 00:32:38,625
"'But we will devote ourselves
to two things--prayer

712
00:32:38,667 --> 00:32:40,417
"and to the ministry
of the word.'

713
00:32:40,500 --> 00:32:42,542
And what they said pleased
the whole gathering."

714
00:32:42,625 --> 00:32:44,042
It seemed like a good idea.

715
00:32:44,125 --> 00:32:45,542
"They chose"--
here's the list--

716
00:32:45,625 --> 00:32:48,333
"Stephen, a man full of faith
and of the Holy Spirit"--

717
00:32:48,375 --> 00:32:50,208
you'll meet him
in the coming weeks--

718
00:32:50,292 --> 00:32:53,375
"and Philip, and Prochorus,
and Nicanor,

719
00:32:53,458 --> 00:32:55,667
"and Timon, and Parmenas,

720
00:32:55,750 --> 00:32:58,042
and Nicolaus,
a proselyte of Antioch."

721
00:32:58,125 --> 00:32:59,958
You're like,
"Did he say it right?"

722
00:33:00,083 --> 00:33:02,042
Say it fast,
say it confident.

723
00:33:02,125 --> 00:33:04,667
Nobody knows how to pronounce
the words in the Bible.

724
00:33:04,708 --> 00:33:06,458
"These they set
before the apostles,

725
00:33:06,500 --> 00:33:09,042
and they prayed and laid
their hands on them."

726
00:33:09,125 --> 00:33:13,208
So, the apostles, the leaders,
they're not good at some things,

727
00:33:13,292 --> 00:33:16,000
but it becomes a Holy Spirit
opportunity to open up

728
00:33:16,083 --> 00:33:19,042
leadership positions for new
leaders with different gifts

729
00:33:19,125 --> 00:33:21,333
to step forward
to meet the new need.

730
00:33:21,375 --> 00:33:23,167
And that's a good thing,

731
00:33:23,208 --> 00:33:25,167
and that's why
even at Mars Hill,

732
00:33:25,208 --> 00:33:27,125
there's always
an opportunity for you.

733
00:33:27,167 --> 00:33:30,042
And so here's what they do.

734
00:33:30,125 --> 00:33:34,250
Number one, they
create a new office--

735
00:33:34,333 --> 00:33:36,333
if we could use that language.

736
00:33:36,417 --> 00:33:38,917
They say,
"We need a new leader team.

737
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:40,667
"We need a new group.

738
00:33:40,708 --> 00:33:43,458
We need a different kind
of leader."

739
00:33:43,500 --> 00:33:47,833
Up until this point, this
leader role didn't exist.

740
00:33:47,917 --> 00:33:52,833
Some of you have heard it said
that this is the beginning

741
00:33:52,917 --> 00:33:54,333
of the ministry of the deacons.

742
00:33:54,417 --> 00:33:56,083
How many of you
have heard this?

743
00:33:56,167 --> 00:33:58,750
The classic teaching of
Acts 6:1-7 is that this is

744
00:33:58,833 --> 00:34:01,250
where deacons started, right?

745
00:34:01,333 --> 00:34:03,667
So for deacons, this is
like their baby photo.

746
00:34:03,708 --> 00:34:05,708
"Oh, there we are.
Aren't we so cute?

747
00:34:05,792 --> 00:34:07,708
This is where we got
our beginning," right?

748
00:34:07,792 --> 00:34:10,833
This is like the baby photo
of the deacons, right?

749
00:34:10,875 --> 00:34:12,708
It may or may not be.

750
00:34:12,792 --> 00:34:14,417
It doesn't mention the deacons.

751
00:34:14,500 --> 00:34:16,833
It's not entirely
clear and certain,

752
00:34:16,875 --> 00:34:19,458
but here's what we do see:

753
00:34:19,500 --> 00:34:25,542
Leaders get to pick new roles

754
00:34:25,625 --> 00:34:28,667
and they get to structure
as they need.

755
00:34:28,708 --> 00:34:31,667
They didn't need to go back
to the Old Testament and say,

756
00:34:31,708 --> 00:34:35,917
"OK, well where is the chapter
and verse on what to do when

757
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,917
"the Hellenist widows send out
negative statements

758
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:41,458
"on the Internet?

759
00:34:41,500 --> 00:34:43,542
What do we--where--how do we?"

760
00:34:43,625 --> 00:34:45,208
Here's the point.

761
00:34:45,292 --> 00:34:49,167
God and the Bible often speaks
about the qualifications

762
00:34:49,208 --> 00:34:53,167
of a leader and then
lets the leader,

763
00:34:53,208 --> 00:34:56,792
filled with the Holy Spirit,
figure out the structure.

764
00:34:56,833 --> 00:35:00,958
And so here, they're creating
a new role for leadership.

765
00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:03,333
We've done this and we'll
do this at Mars Hill.

766
00:35:03,417 --> 00:35:06,125
Some of you will be like,
"Where's that in the Bible?"

767
00:35:06,167 --> 00:35:07,833
What it says is
that the leaders

768
00:35:07,917 --> 00:35:09,333
get to organize
however it's needed.

769
00:35:09,375 --> 00:35:12,333
This is why in the Bible it
doesn't say, "Moms and dads,

770
00:35:12,375 --> 00:35:15,333
here's the chore chart
for the kids."

771
00:35:15,375 --> 00:35:18,250
Mom and dad get to
make the chore chart.

772
00:35:18,333 --> 00:35:20,250
God knows if mom
and dad are godly,

773
00:35:20,333 --> 00:35:22,750
if mom and dad are filled
with the Holy Spirit,

774
00:35:22,833 --> 00:35:25,417
if mom and dad are obeying
the principles of the Bible,

775
00:35:25,500 --> 00:35:28,167
then mom and dad have a right
to organize the family

776
00:35:28,208 --> 00:35:29,542
as they need.

777
00:35:29,625 --> 00:35:32,042
And as the needs of
the family grow and change,

778
00:35:32,125 --> 00:35:34,250
then they can reorganize
the family as is needed.

779
00:35:34,333 --> 00:35:35,958
So it is in the church family.

780
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:37,708
So, they create this
new leadership role.

781
00:35:37,792 --> 00:35:40,458
Number two, new leaders, then,
are chosen to step into it.

782
00:35:40,500 --> 00:35:42,167
And when it comes
to these leaders,

783
00:35:42,208 --> 00:35:44,667
they're looking for four things,
the same kind of things

784
00:35:44,708 --> 00:35:46,042
we're still looking for today.

785
00:35:46,125 --> 00:35:47,750
And if you're aspiring
to leadership,

786
00:35:47,833 --> 00:35:49,500
here's some things
to be aware of.

787
00:35:49,583 --> 00:35:51,500
Number one, good reputation.
We know these people.

788
00:35:51,583 --> 00:35:52,875
They've been around a while.

789
00:35:52,958 --> 00:35:55,375
They don't just walk in
the door, "I'm a leader!"

790
00:35:55,458 --> 00:35:57,792
Well, we need to
get to know you,

791
00:35:57,833 --> 00:36:01,042
make sure you are who
you think you are.

792
00:36:01,125 --> 00:36:04,667
Number two,
they have the Holy Spirit.

793
00:36:04,708 --> 00:36:06,333
They love Jesus.

794
00:36:06,417 --> 00:36:08,000
They're definitely Christians.

795
00:36:08,083 --> 00:36:09,458
They're growing in their faith.

796
00:36:09,500 --> 00:36:13,000
The trajectory of their life is
they're becoming more like Jesus

797
00:36:13,083 --> 00:36:14,750
through the power
of the Holy Spirit.

798
00:36:14,833 --> 00:36:16,750
And let me just say this:

799
00:36:16,833 --> 00:36:19,333
if someone has
the Holy Spirit,

800
00:36:19,417 --> 00:36:22,833
you should always have
hope for them.

801
00:36:22,875 --> 00:36:24,958
Sometimes you look at
somebody and you're like,

802
00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:26,625
"Oh, they'll never change."

803
00:36:26,667 --> 00:36:29,958
If the Holy Spirit's in them,
you can't say that.

804
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,167
We trust the Holy Spirit
to change people's hearts,

805
00:36:33,208 --> 00:36:35,333
and minds, and lives.

806
00:36:35,417 --> 00:36:38,958
We trust him to do a wonderful
work from the inside out.

807
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,917
And our faith
is not in the person

808
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:45,250
but in the Holy Spirit
in the person, amen?

809
00:36:45,333 --> 00:36:47,042
So what these are
people are saying,

810
00:36:47,125 --> 00:36:48,542
"You can see the Holy Spirit.

811
00:36:48,625 --> 00:36:50,250
"Yeah, they've changed, they've
learned, they've grown.

812
00:36:50,333 --> 00:36:52,292
"They've sinned and they've
made mistakes, but boy,

813
00:36:52,333 --> 00:36:54,000
"they're not like
they used to be,

814
00:36:54,042 --> 00:36:56,000
and by God's grace they'll
just keep growing."

815
00:36:56,042 --> 00:36:58,167
There's evidence of
the Holy Spirit in their life.

816
00:36:58,250 --> 00:37:02,167
Number three, they have wisdom,
and this is very practical.

817
00:37:02,208 --> 00:37:03,833
They know how to do things.

818
00:37:03,917 --> 00:37:06,750
They know how
to do things.

819
00:37:06,833 --> 00:37:08,750
So, the wisdom literature,
like in Proverbs,

820
00:37:08,833 --> 00:37:11,167
is about how to do things.

821
00:37:11,208 --> 00:37:13,750
Some of you, you have
business experience.

822
00:37:13,833 --> 00:37:17,000
You know accounting, you know
technology, you know coding,

823
00:37:17,083 --> 00:37:18,750
you know how to
run an instrument,

824
00:37:18,833 --> 00:37:20,750
you know how to
run a sound board.

825
00:37:20,833 --> 00:37:25,125
Some of you know how to organize
a budget, plan a calendar,

826
00:37:25,167 --> 00:37:29,667
set up human resources,
process people and information.

827
00:37:29,708 --> 00:37:31,833
You just have a lot
of practical know how.

828
00:37:31,917 --> 00:37:33,542
And a lot of this,
quite frankly,

829
00:37:33,625 --> 00:37:35,333
it comes from
the business world.

830
00:37:35,417 --> 00:37:36,833
It's--you have experience.

831
00:37:36,917 --> 00:37:39,625
And it doesn't mean you need to
shut down your business

832
00:37:39,667 --> 00:37:41,042
and go into ministry.

833
00:37:41,125 --> 00:37:43,708
It means that you can use
everything you learn in your

834
00:37:43,792 --> 00:37:46,833
business and also share those
things with our ministry

835
00:37:46,875 --> 00:37:48,833
because your business is
your ministry, too.

836
00:37:48,875 --> 00:37:51,458
And some of the things that you
learn in your business

837
00:37:51,500 --> 00:37:53,833
will help our ministry, OK?

838
00:37:53,875 --> 00:37:56,458
And people say all the time,
"Oh, it's not a business.

839
00:37:56,500 --> 00:37:58,208
It shouldn't be run
like a business."

840
00:37:58,292 --> 00:38:00,792
Well, if you have employees,
and you own real estate,

841
00:38:00,833 --> 00:38:02,583
and there's rules
and regulations,

842
00:38:02,667 --> 00:38:07,583
you better operate
in a way that is with wisdom.

843
00:38:07,667 --> 00:38:10,000
And some of you have that,
and as we grow,

844
00:38:10,083 --> 00:38:13,000
we really benefit
from people like you.

845
00:38:13,083 --> 00:38:14,917
So they're looking with
people with wisdom,

846
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:17,417
people with business experience,
organizational experience,

847
00:38:17,500 --> 00:38:22,708
budgeting, systems, structures,
policies, procedures, calendars.

848
00:38:22,792 --> 00:38:24,500
The kings.

849
00:38:24,583 --> 00:38:27,125
Number four, they then
lay hands on them,

850
00:38:27,167 --> 00:38:29,625
which is delegating authority.

851
00:38:29,667 --> 00:38:32,667
What happens in the Bible is
that when a leader chooses

852
00:38:32,750 --> 00:38:35,625
another leader and it's
confirmed by the Holy Spirit

853
00:38:35,667 --> 00:38:39,208
and the rest of the team, then
they lay hands on that person

854
00:38:39,292 --> 00:38:41,500
and they commission
them into ministry,

855
00:38:41,542 --> 00:38:43,125
and here's what it's showing.

856
00:38:43,167 --> 00:38:45,625
We believe that God
has put his hand on them,

857
00:38:45,667 --> 00:38:47,875
proverbially speaking, and
therefore we're going to put

858
00:38:47,958 --> 00:38:50,208
our hand on them,
physically speaking.

859
00:38:50,292 --> 00:38:53,458
And as they go out
to do their ministry,

860
00:38:53,500 --> 00:38:56,250
they're doing it
under our authority.

861
00:38:56,333 --> 00:38:58,625
Under our authority.

862
00:38:58,667 --> 00:39:01,500
So the apostles are saying,
"We're not going to be there

863
00:39:01,542 --> 00:39:04,583
"like, you know, the chef,
chopping up the vegetables,

864
00:39:04,667 --> 00:39:06,917
"and like the waiter,
serving the meal.

865
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:08,583
"We're going to send
these people,

866
00:39:08,667 --> 00:39:10,042
"but they come on our behalf.

867
00:39:10,125 --> 00:39:11,500
"They represent us.

868
00:39:11,542 --> 00:39:14,875
"So if you don't like the meal,
you don't need to talk to us,

869
00:39:14,958 --> 00:39:16,375
"you need to talk to them.

870
00:39:16,458 --> 00:39:18,583
"If you don't think that
things are run well,

871
00:39:18,667 --> 00:39:21,792
"you don't need to talk to us,
you need to talk to them

872
00:39:21,833 --> 00:39:23,167
because they represent us."

873
00:39:23,250 --> 00:39:25,875
Let me ask you this:

874
00:39:25,958 --> 00:39:29,708
Do you think anybody was upset
that they didn't get Peter

875
00:39:29,792 --> 00:39:33,625
to bring them
their soup anymore,

876
00:39:33,667 --> 00:39:35,833
that John couldn't come sit
at their table

877
00:39:35,875 --> 00:39:38,833
for a few minutes
and check in on them?

878
00:39:38,875 --> 00:39:41,917
Do you think that displacement
felt like a loss

879
00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:43,333
for some people?

880
00:39:43,375 --> 00:39:44,708
"Who are you?"

881
00:39:44,792 --> 00:39:46,125
"Well, I'm Stephen."

882
00:39:46,167 --> 00:39:47,833
"I don't know you.
Where's Peter?"

883
00:39:47,875 --> 00:39:49,583
"Peter's not here anymore."

884
00:39:49,667 --> 00:39:52,708
"Oh, he's too big for us.
Yeah, he's moved on.

885
00:39:52,792 --> 00:39:55,458
"Uppity, uppity, uppity.
Got a book deal, I heard.

886
00:39:55,500 --> 00:40:01,958
He thinks he's writing
the Bible," right, OK?

887
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,333
Right?

888
00:40:05,417 --> 00:40:10,833
Are they being proud
or humble, the leaders?

889
00:40:12,667 --> 00:40:15,958
The people might think,

890
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:18,458
"They're proud.

891
00:40:18,500 --> 00:40:21,042
"They don't love people.

892
00:40:21,125 --> 00:40:23,167
Certain things
are beneath them."

893
00:40:23,208 --> 00:40:26,125
This would have went out
on Twitter, this statement,

894
00:40:26,167 --> 00:40:29,958
"It is not right for
us to serve tables."

895
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:33,042
"Oh, too good for that, huh?"

896
00:40:33,125 --> 00:40:35,333
The truth is,
they were being humble.

897
00:40:35,417 --> 00:40:38,333
They were saying,
"We're not any good at this.

898
00:40:38,375 --> 00:40:43,833
"Yes, I saw Jesus
risen from the dead.

899
00:40:43,917 --> 00:40:48,000
I once water-skied without
a boat," Peter could say,

900
00:40:48,083 --> 00:40:52,458
"and I stink at
cooking and organizing.

901
00:40:52,500 --> 00:40:54,875
"I don't know how
to make a budget.

902
00:40:54,958 --> 00:40:56,875
"I tried to put together
a menu.

903
00:40:56,958 --> 00:40:58,375
"I went to the store.

904
00:40:58,458 --> 00:40:59,792
"I didn't buy enough food.

905
00:40:59,833 --> 00:41:02,542
"By the time we got to
the end of the line,

906
00:41:02,625 --> 00:41:05,333
"I was out of food because
I stink at menu planning.

907
00:41:05,375 --> 00:41:07,542
"I watch the Food Network,
I TiVo everything,

908
00:41:07,625 --> 00:41:11,125
I just can't get it," right?

909
00:41:11,167 --> 00:41:16,250
You have to be humble to
say, "I'm no good at that.

910
00:41:16,333 --> 00:41:19,250
"I'm human.
I have limitations.

911
00:41:19,333 --> 00:41:22,667
"I love you, I want
the best for you,

912
00:41:22,708 --> 00:41:25,167
so I'm going to find
somebody who's good at it."

913
00:41:25,208 --> 00:41:27,958
It takes some humility
to do that, amen?

914
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:30,167
Because all the fear of man,
and the criticism,

915
00:41:30,208 --> 00:41:32,333
and the pressure would be,
"Just keep showing up.

916
00:41:32,417 --> 00:41:34,333
Keep doing what you
used to be doing."

917
00:41:34,417 --> 00:41:36,125
And Peter's like,
"I can't do that."

918
00:41:36,167 --> 00:41:37,667
Christianity needs
to go forward.

919
00:41:37,708 --> 00:41:39,333
It's why we're still
Christians today.

920
00:41:39,417 --> 00:41:42,458
The apostles did get back
to preaching, and teaching,

921
00:41:42,500 --> 00:41:46,250
making disciples,
and planting churches.

922
00:41:46,333 --> 00:41:50,333
It takes a lot of humility
to know your limitations.

923
00:41:50,417 --> 00:41:53,083
It takes a lot of humility
to publicly confess

924
00:41:53,167 --> 00:41:55,792
what you're not any good at.

925
00:41:55,833 --> 00:41:58,667
Be very careful to assign
motive to behavior,

926
00:41:58,750 --> 00:42:00,917
particularly with a leader.

927
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,625
"You know why Peter's not here?
He doesn't love us.

928
00:42:04,667 --> 00:42:06,542
"He doesn't care about us.
You know why?

929
00:42:06,625 --> 00:42:08,958
"He's a bigot.
He's hateful.

930
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,708
"He's too proud.
He's really lost his way.

931
00:42:11,792 --> 00:42:13,250
"He's changed.

932
00:42:13,333 --> 00:42:17,000
He's not like he used to"--
that's not the case.

933
00:42:19,875 --> 00:42:25,333
If someone really loves you,
they want what's best for you,

934
00:42:25,417 --> 00:42:29,042
and sometimes what's best for
you is someone other than them

935
00:42:29,125 --> 00:42:30,958
to help you.

936
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:32,958
Let's say, hypothetically--I
hope it doesn't happen,

937
00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:35,333
but you get shot, OK?

938
00:42:35,375 --> 00:42:37,833
You run up to me,
"Pastor Mark, I need help."

939
00:42:37,875 --> 00:42:40,833
I should get you a doctor.

940
00:42:40,917 --> 00:42:47,667
I should not Google
"gunshot wound" and try my best.

941
00:42:47,708 --> 00:42:50,000
I should find a specialist.

942
00:42:50,083 --> 00:42:51,542
"But I thought you loved me?"

943
00:42:51,625 --> 00:42:53,583
Trust me, this is loving.

944
00:42:53,667 --> 00:42:56,000
You don't want me
to stitch you up.

945
00:42:56,042 --> 00:42:58,083
That's not my thing, right?

946
00:42:58,167 --> 00:43:00,667
Sometimes when you
really love someone,

947
00:43:00,708 --> 00:43:04,750
you love them enough to allow
them to criticize you so that

948
00:43:04,833 --> 00:43:08,625
you can get them to the
people that are most helpful.

949
00:43:08,667 --> 00:43:11,333
That's what
the leaders here are doing.

950
00:43:11,417 --> 00:43:15,208
So there is a new office,
there's new leaders,

951
00:43:15,292 --> 00:43:17,333
and there's a new org chart.

952
00:43:17,417 --> 00:43:20,667
And the leaders say, "We're not
going to do the food anymore.

953
00:43:20,708 --> 00:43:22,667
"We're going to do
the prayer and preaching.

954
00:43:22,708 --> 00:43:24,667
"That's what we're going to do.

955
00:43:24,708 --> 00:43:26,333
"Certain people, they're
good with their works.

956
00:43:26,417 --> 00:43:28,750
"They're going to take care
of all of this.

957
00:43:28,833 --> 00:43:30,167
"We're good with our words.

958
00:43:30,208 --> 00:43:33,208
We need to get back
to the Word of God."

959
00:43:33,292 --> 00:43:34,917
And let me say this,
Mars Hill:

960
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:37,833
Oh man, this my life,
OK?

961
00:43:37,917 --> 00:43:40,458
I just--man, people
ask me, like,

962
00:43:40,500 --> 00:43:44,042
"Do you ever feel like you'll
get in over your head?"

963
00:43:44,125 --> 00:43:50,458
Yes, in '96 I did, and I have
been in over my head since '96.

964
00:43:50,500 --> 00:43:54,000
If you weren't here, that's
when we started, OK?

965
00:43:54,042 --> 00:43:58,875
My organizational, financial,
administrative inability

966
00:43:58,958 --> 00:44:01,625
is unbelievable.

967
00:44:01,667 --> 00:44:04,292
But what they do, then, is
they reorganize and they say,

968
00:44:04,333 --> 00:44:06,042
"You do this and I do this.

969
00:44:06,125 --> 00:44:08,125
Here's the generalists.
Here's the specialists."

970
00:44:08,167 --> 00:44:11,125
And then the leaders say, "You
know what we're going to do?

971
00:44:11,167 --> 00:44:13,000
"We're going to pray
and commit ourselves

972
00:44:13,083 --> 00:44:15,042
"to the ministry of the word.

973
00:44:15,125 --> 00:44:17,125
"We're going to pray,
we're going to prepare,

974
00:44:17,167 --> 00:44:18,625
"and we're going to preach.

975
00:44:18,667 --> 00:44:20,125
That's what we're going to do."

976
00:44:20,167 --> 00:44:23,458
And what can happen is
that all of the complaints,

977
00:44:23,500 --> 00:44:25,458
and the organizational
needs, and the systemic,

978
00:44:25,500 --> 00:44:27,542
structural needs, it's
not that they're not real,

979
00:44:27,625 --> 00:44:29,250
but they can become
real distracting

980
00:44:29,333 --> 00:44:32,250
to the preaching of the word.

981
00:44:32,333 --> 00:44:35,000
And so praying is of
utmost importance,

982
00:44:35,083 --> 00:44:36,500
especially for
the senior leaders,

983
00:44:36,542 --> 00:44:38,250
because Jesus is still
the Senior Pastor

984
00:44:38,333 --> 00:44:39,958
and you've got to talk to him.

985
00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:41,958
"Jesus, what do
you want us to do?

986
00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:45,333
"How do you want us to change?
Where do you want us to grow?"

987
00:44:45,417 --> 00:44:46,833
You've got to hear from Jesus.

988
00:44:46,917 --> 00:44:49,500
And if there's so many other
voices and so much noise,

989
00:44:49,542 --> 00:44:51,250
and it's only multiplied
and complexified in

990
00:44:51,333 --> 00:44:52,667
the age of technology,

991
00:44:52,708 --> 00:44:54,667
it's like,
"Quiet, I need to hear Jesus.

992
00:44:54,708 --> 00:44:56,042
Jesus, what do you want?"

993
00:44:56,125 --> 00:44:57,750
Pray that we would
always hear Jesus,

994
00:44:57,833 --> 00:44:59,500
and change what
we need to change,

995
00:44:59,542 --> 00:45:01,250
and repent where
we need to repent,

996
00:45:01,333 --> 00:45:03,250
and move forward where
we can move forward,

997
00:45:03,333 --> 00:45:04,750
and then give
themselves, they say,

998
00:45:04,833 --> 00:45:06,417
to the ministry of the word.

999
00:45:06,500 --> 00:45:09,750
And I just want to publicly
say that I am very sincerely,

1000
00:45:09,833 --> 00:45:15,667
deeply, profoundly, increasingly
grateful for those people who

1001
00:45:15,708 --> 00:45:19,667
take care of things and people
so that I can have time

1002
00:45:19,708 --> 00:45:22,833
to study, and preach,
and teach, and write.

1003
00:45:22,917 --> 00:45:28,208
And just please do this for me
today: be a person who says,

1004
00:45:28,292 --> 00:45:31,250
"Thank you,
I appreciate you a lot."

1005
00:45:31,333 --> 00:45:33,042
I mean, just think about it.

1006
00:45:33,125 --> 00:45:36,500
Fifty services a weekend
at Mars Hill Church

1007
00:45:36,542 --> 00:45:40,167
across 15 locations
across 5 states.

1008
00:45:40,208 --> 00:45:42,667
The ushers, the greeters,
the Communion,

1009
00:45:42,750 --> 00:45:44,542
the kids' ministry,
the parking,

1010
00:45:44,625 --> 00:45:48,042
the facilities,
the janitorial, the prayer team,

1011
00:45:48,125 --> 00:45:50,583
the follow-up, the technology.

1012
00:45:50,667 --> 00:45:54,000
I mean, you just start to look
at thousands of children--

1013
00:45:54,042 --> 00:45:57,042
just all of the complexity.

1014
00:45:57,125 --> 00:45:59,792
And in every place, there's
someone who loves Jesus

1015
00:45:59,833 --> 00:46:04,500
and is helping, and I want
you to thank them.

1016
00:46:04,583 --> 00:46:07,333
When you take Communion
today, what I want to see is,

1017
00:46:07,417 --> 00:46:08,958
"Thank you."

1018
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:11,458
On your way out, give
the sound guy a hug

1019
00:46:11,500 --> 00:46:13,208
because nobody's ever hugged
the sound guy.

1020
00:46:13,292 --> 00:46:15,958
He's in a booth, right?

1021
00:46:16,000 --> 00:46:18,250
Thank the greeters, thank those
who are working with--

1022
00:46:18,333 --> 00:46:19,958
just say thank you.

1023
00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:23,333
And realize, "Wow, look at all
the people doing all of these

1024
00:46:23,375 --> 00:46:26,208
things so that the word
of God can be preached."

1025
00:46:26,292 --> 00:46:28,542
This is amazing,
and I'm very humbled by it,

1026
00:46:28,625 --> 00:46:30,000
and I'm very grateful for it.

1027
00:46:30,083 --> 00:46:32,417
And I just want to publicly
say thank you including

1028
00:46:32,500 --> 00:46:35,667
and especially to the more than
600 Community Group leaders.

1029
00:46:35,750 --> 00:46:37,792
Every week, people are
opening their home,

1030
00:46:37,833 --> 00:46:41,083
vacuuming their carpets,
setting out a bite to eat,

1031
00:46:41,167 --> 00:46:44,000
loving, praying, caring,
serving, helping.

1032
00:46:44,042 --> 00:46:48,542
This is an army
of loving people.

1033
00:46:48,625 --> 00:46:50,833
And yes, organizationally,
we can do better,

1034
00:46:50,917 --> 00:46:53,458
but I don't think we
can get better people.

1035
00:46:53,500 --> 00:46:55,958
I truly don't believe we
can get better people.

1036
00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:58,958
Well, they make the adjustments
and the changes, what happens?

1037
00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:03,417
Lastly, failure is not
an option; it's a requirement.

1038
00:47:03,500 --> 00:47:05,333
I want you to hear that.

1039
00:47:05,417 --> 00:47:09,625
What's true for you personally
is true for us collectively.

1040
00:47:09,667 --> 00:47:11,500
It's like, "Well, is
failure an option?"

1041
00:47:11,583 --> 00:47:13,250
It's a requirement!

1042
00:47:13,333 --> 00:47:16,667
The only way you get good at
something is by being bad at it

1043
00:47:16,708 --> 00:47:18,500
for a while, amen?

1044
00:47:18,583 --> 00:47:24,333
Any athletes, any musicians,
anybody that has any skill?

1045
00:47:24,375 --> 00:47:26,750
How many of you,
you're a good cook,

1046
00:47:26,833 --> 00:47:28,750
but your first meal,
not so good?

1047
00:47:28,833 --> 00:47:31,500
How many of you, you drove
here, but your first drive,

1048
00:47:31,583 --> 00:47:33,167
not so great?

1049
00:47:33,208 --> 00:47:35,833
Failure is not an option,
it's a requirement.

1050
00:47:35,917 --> 00:47:38,708
It's not always part
of our sinfulness;

1051
00:47:38,792 --> 00:47:40,958
sometimes it's just
a part of our humanity.

1052
00:47:41,000 --> 00:47:44,333
And as we deal with our failures
and learn and grow through our

1053
00:47:44,417 --> 00:47:46,833
failures, this is the kind
of thing that could happen.

1054
00:47:46,875 --> 00:47:50,750
Acts 6:7, "And the word of
God continued to increase."

1055
00:47:50,833 --> 00:47:52,750
More Bible!

1056
00:47:52,833 --> 00:47:54,250
"And the number
of the disciples

1057
00:47:54,333 --> 00:47:55,833
multiplied greatly
in Jerusalem."

1058
00:47:55,917 --> 00:47:57,333
More Christians!

1059
00:47:57,417 --> 00:48:00,417
"And a great many of the priests
became obedient to the faith."

1060
00:48:00,500 --> 00:48:03,125
More leaders, yay!

1061
00:48:03,167 --> 00:48:06,500
Yay, they got through it, they
made it, they figured it out.

1062
00:48:06,583 --> 00:48:08,000
More Bible.

1063
00:48:08,083 --> 00:48:09,792
Yay, the Bible got taught.

1064
00:48:09,833 --> 00:48:11,292
More people became
Christians, yay!

1065
00:48:11,333 --> 00:48:13,333
How many of you
loved it on Easter?

1066
00:48:13,375 --> 00:48:15,083
We saw almost 400 people
get baptized.

1067
00:48:15,167 --> 00:48:16,625
Lots of people
became Christians.

1068
00:48:16,667 --> 00:48:18,208
Yay, more Bible!

1069
00:48:18,292 --> 00:48:20,125
Yay, more people
become Christians!

1070
00:48:20,167 --> 00:48:23,000
These are priests,
Old Testament scholars.

1071
00:48:23,042 --> 00:48:24,500
They're people
who lead people.

1072
00:48:24,542 --> 00:48:26,000
People follow them.

1073
00:48:26,042 --> 00:48:28,000
They're waiting for
the coming of the Messiah.

1074
00:48:28,042 --> 00:48:29,375
They haven't heard about Jesus.

1075
00:48:29,458 --> 00:48:32,125
The apostles say, "We don't
have time to cook the meal.

1076
00:48:32,167 --> 00:48:34,125
"We got to go talk
to the priests.

1077
00:48:34,167 --> 00:48:35,833
"Somebody's got to open
the Old Testament

1078
00:48:35,917 --> 00:48:37,542
"with these guys
and show them Jesus.

1079
00:48:37,625 --> 00:48:39,542
"If they meet Jesus, then
they'll become leaders.

1080
00:48:39,625 --> 00:48:41,333
"They already know
a lot of Bible.

1081
00:48:41,375 --> 00:48:43,333
"All the people following
them will follow them.

1082
00:48:43,375 --> 00:48:44,708
"We'll see lots more leaders,

1083
00:48:44,792 --> 00:48:46,333
"lots more people become
Christians.

1084
00:48:46,417 --> 00:48:47,750
"We've got a big plan.

1085
00:48:47,833 --> 00:48:50,250
"We've got to move this thing
forward because more people

1086
00:48:50,333 --> 00:48:53,958
"need Jesus, and more people
need more Bible teaching,

1087
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:55,625
and more people
need more leaders."

1088
00:48:55,667 --> 00:48:58,625
And so the senior leaders say,
"Here's what we're going to do.

1089
00:48:58,667 --> 00:49:01,292
"We're going to focus on Bible
teaching, and evangelism,

1090
00:49:01,333 --> 00:49:02,667
and leadership development."

1091
00:49:02,750 --> 00:49:04,167
And those are the three things

1092
00:49:04,250 --> 00:49:06,000
that they just start
focusing on.

1093
00:49:06,042 --> 00:49:07,917
Everybody else takes care of
everything else,

1094
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:10,792
and the church grows,
and it's awesome.

1095
00:49:10,833 --> 00:49:14,125
And if you were to just
read it in the middle like,

1096
00:49:14,167 --> 00:49:18,292
"Racial conflict,
financial questions,

1097
00:49:18,333 --> 00:49:20,000
lots of public complaints,"

1098
00:49:20,083 --> 00:49:22,000
you'd think Christianity's
coming to an end.

1099
00:49:22,083 --> 00:49:24,125
By verse 7,
you're like, "Yay!

1100
00:49:24,167 --> 00:49:26,333
The Holy Spirit's
still with them."

1101
00:49:26,375 --> 00:49:30,000
So I've been doing this 18 years,
and here's what I see,

1102
00:49:30,083 --> 00:49:32,708
and I want to share it
with you to encourage you.

1103
00:49:32,792 --> 00:49:35,208
If you're a leader,
I want you to see this.

1104
00:49:35,292 --> 00:49:37,750
If you're new to Christianity
or new to our church,

1105
00:49:37,833 --> 00:49:39,250
I want you to see this.

1106
00:49:39,333 --> 00:49:41,750
There are normal rhythms
and cycles that churches

1107
00:49:41,833 --> 00:49:45,667
go through as people go through.

1108
00:49:45,708 --> 00:49:48,167
Here's the Spirit-empowered
church cycle.

1109
00:49:48,208 --> 00:49:50,208
We just looked at it
in Acts 6.

1110
00:49:50,292 --> 00:49:52,250
Number one, preach Jesus.

1111
00:49:52,333 --> 00:49:54,625
First things first,
preach Jesus.

1112
00:49:54,667 --> 00:49:56,750
Christianity got started,
Peter's standing up,

1113
00:49:56,833 --> 00:50:00,042
preach Jesus, preach
Jesus, preach Jesus.

1114
00:50:00,125 --> 00:50:02,125
He's God become a man.

1115
00:50:02,167 --> 00:50:03,750
He lived without sin.

1116
00:50:03,833 --> 00:50:06,500
He died on the cross in
our place for our sins.

1117
00:50:06,583 --> 00:50:08,042
He rose from death.

1118
00:50:08,125 --> 00:50:10,833
He conquers our enemies
of Satan, sin, death,

1119
00:50:10,917 --> 00:50:12,708
hell, and wrath.

1120
00:50:12,792 --> 00:50:15,042
He ascended into heaven.
He's worshiped by angels.

1121
00:50:15,125 --> 00:50:17,958
He's coming again in glory to
judge the living and the dead,

1122
00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:20,833
and with him he will bring
a kingdom that never ends.

1123
00:50:20,917 --> 00:50:22,958
Everyone will get
out of their grave.

1124
00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:25,542
They'll stand before him,
they'll give an account to him,

1125
00:50:25,625 --> 00:50:30,167
and they'll be judged by him
for eternal life or death.

1126
00:50:30,208 --> 00:50:32,458
It all comes down
to Jesus, amen?

1127
00:50:32,500 --> 00:50:34,667
Preach Jesus.

1128
00:50:34,708 --> 00:50:37,167
Number two,
the church grows.

1129
00:50:37,250 --> 00:50:40,458
The Holy Spirit who wrote
the Scriptures blesses its

1130
00:50:40,500 --> 00:50:43,500
preaching, wants people
to know and love Jesus.

1131
00:50:43,542 --> 00:50:46,792
People become Christians,
the church grows.

1132
00:50:46,833 --> 00:50:49,583
Mars Hill, we've had some
amazing surges of growth.

1133
00:50:49,667 --> 00:50:51,083
It's crazy.

1134
00:50:51,167 --> 00:50:53,583
I mean, at this point
in the book of Acts,

1135
00:50:53,667 --> 00:50:57,833
the entire population of
Christianity on the earth

1136
00:50:57,917 --> 00:51:01,417
is around the same size
as Mars Hill Church.

1137
00:51:01,500 --> 00:51:03,625
So if you're reading
Acts and you're like,

1138
00:51:03,667 --> 00:51:05,458
"I can't believe
that God did that,"

1139
00:51:05,500 --> 00:51:07,833
I can't believe that
God still does that,

1140
00:51:07,875 --> 00:51:11,667
and he's done it with us.

1141
00:51:11,708 --> 00:51:13,625
Number three--OK,
let me just say,

1142
00:51:13,667 --> 00:51:17,958
number three's not my
favorite one, OK?

1143
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:22,167
Fail and be publicly criticized.

1144
00:51:22,208 --> 00:51:24,125
We just saw it in Acts 6.

1145
00:51:24,167 --> 00:51:28,833
Failure, public criticism.

1146
00:51:28,875 --> 00:51:30,625
It happens.

1147
00:51:30,667 --> 00:51:32,167
I've been doing
this long enough.

1148
00:51:32,208 --> 00:51:34,667
I know that it's happened
before, it'll happen again,

1149
00:51:34,708 --> 00:51:36,583
and I'm sure it'll be my fault.

1150
00:51:36,667 --> 00:51:41,958
Number three, fail
and be publicly criticized.

1151
00:51:42,000 --> 00:51:45,458
But number four, reorganize
to fix the failures.

1152
00:51:45,500 --> 00:51:46,875
That's what they did.

1153
00:51:46,958 --> 00:51:48,667
This ain't working.

1154
00:51:48,708 --> 00:51:50,833
It used to work,
but now it's too big.

1155
00:51:50,917 --> 00:51:52,542
Right, how many of you
ladies--right now,

1156
00:51:52,625 --> 00:51:53,958
you got two kids.

1157
00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:55,958
You're like,
"I know how to raise kids."

1158
00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:58,000
What if you were pregnant
with 72 children?

1159
00:51:58,042 --> 00:52:00,042
You're like, "I would
need a different plan."

1160
00:52:00,125 --> 00:52:01,458
Yes you would.

1161
00:52:01,500 --> 00:52:03,667
"I would need a bigger car,
a bigger fridge,

1162
00:52:03,708 --> 00:52:05,042
"a better husband.

1163
00:52:05,125 --> 00:52:07,333
I need a lot of things,"
right?

1164
00:52:07,417 --> 00:52:10,333
As a family grows,
it has to reorganize.

1165
00:52:10,375 --> 00:52:12,667
And what used to work
doesn't work anymore because

1166
00:52:12,708 --> 00:52:14,625
we got more kids and they're
getting older.

1167
00:52:14,667 --> 00:52:16,625
So it is
with the family of God.

1168
00:52:16,667 --> 00:52:18,000
So what do you do?

1169
00:52:18,083 --> 00:52:19,500
You reorganize
to fix the failures.

1170
00:52:19,583 --> 00:52:22,708
That's what they did, that's
what we do by the grace of God.

1171
00:52:22,792 --> 00:52:25,958
Step five, keep preaching
Jesus, keep talking about Jesus,

1172
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:30,000
keep pointing to Jesus,
keep, in every way,

1173
00:52:30,083 --> 00:52:33,750
maintaining Jesus
as the center of everything.

1174
00:52:33,833 --> 00:52:37,000
And then step five, repeat
steps one through five.

1175
00:52:37,042 --> 00:52:38,500
That's step six.

1176
00:52:38,542 --> 00:52:40,000
I just failed.

1177
00:52:40,042 --> 00:52:41,667
I illustrated my own sermon.

1178
00:52:41,750 --> 00:52:43,667
Do you see that?

1179
00:52:43,750 --> 00:52:45,542
Because what are
they going to do?

1180
00:52:45,625 --> 00:52:47,042
They're going to fix
their problems,

1181
00:52:47,125 --> 00:52:49,542
the church is going to grow,
and you know what?

1182
00:52:49,625 --> 00:52:51,042
They're going to
have another problem,

1183
00:52:51,125 --> 00:52:53,167
and then they're going
to have to fix it.

1184
00:52:53,250 --> 00:52:55,667
And this is not just
the cycle of church life,

1185
00:52:55,750 --> 00:52:59,958
this is the cycle
of your life, right?

1186
00:53:00,083 --> 00:53:04,208
Meet Jesus, learn about
Jesus, grow in Jesus, fail,

1187
00:53:04,292 --> 00:53:09,667
have some people unhappy with
you, repent of your sins,

1188
00:53:09,708 --> 00:53:13,542
fix your mistakes by the grace
of God, keep walking with Jesus,

1189
00:53:13,625 --> 00:53:17,625
and grow some more
until you fail again.

1190
00:53:17,667 --> 00:53:19,667
Give grace to one another.

1191
00:53:19,708 --> 00:53:23,458
Give grace to the whole church.

1192
00:53:23,500 --> 00:53:30,458
Mars Hill, this is normal,
prototypical, historical,

1193
00:53:30,500 --> 00:53:34,667
biblical Christianity, OK?

1194
00:53:34,708 --> 00:53:36,667
And it's not, "They preached
and grew,

1195
00:53:36,750 --> 00:53:38,667
"and preached and grew,
and preached and grew,

1196
00:53:38,750 --> 00:53:40,667
and preached and grew,
and preached and grew."

1197
00:53:40,750 --> 00:53:44,375
They preached and grew, and
made mistakes and worked on it,

1198
00:53:44,458 --> 00:53:46,542
and preached some more
and grew some more

1199
00:53:46,625 --> 00:53:49,167
and made different mistakes
and worked on it.

1200
00:53:49,208 --> 00:53:54,042
And it's like the seasons of
nature--prune, harvest, prune,

1201
00:53:54,125 --> 00:53:58,292
harvest, prune,
harvest, prune, harvest.

1202
00:53:58,333 --> 00:54:00,542
Harvesting is
funner than pruning,

1203
00:54:00,625 --> 00:54:03,708
but there's no harvesting
apart from pruning.

1204
00:54:03,792 --> 00:54:06,542
And the same is true
for you.

1205
00:54:06,625 --> 00:54:09,250
Let's give grace
to one another.

1206
00:54:09,333 --> 00:54:12,250
Let's differentiate between
sins and mistakes personally.

1207
00:54:12,333 --> 00:54:15,333
And let's see that just
because someone has a failure,

1208
00:54:15,417 --> 00:54:17,042
it doesn't
have to be their future.

1209
00:54:17,125 --> 00:54:20,250
It can be God's opportunity
to move them forward, amen?

1210
00:54:20,333 --> 00:54:22,250
I want you to have
some encouragement today.

1211
00:54:22,333 --> 00:54:25,667
And the whole reason we're here
is to lift up the name of Jesus,

1212
00:54:25,708 --> 00:54:28,833
so we're going to do that now by
giving our tithes and offerings.

1213
00:54:28,917 --> 00:54:30,542
We're also going to
partake of Communion,

1214
00:54:30,625 --> 00:54:32,542
remembering Jesus' broken body
and shed blood

1215
00:54:32,625 --> 00:54:34,625
in our place for our sins.

1216
00:54:34,667 --> 00:54:38,292
And one thing I want to do is
I want to point out a pattern

1217
00:54:38,333 --> 00:54:39,667
in the book of Acts.

1218
00:54:39,750 --> 00:54:42,000
It says repeatedly, "They
met in the temple courts"--

1219
00:54:42,042 --> 00:54:44,167
big meetings--"and they
met from house to house"--

1220
00:54:44,250 --> 00:54:45,583
little meetings.

1221
00:54:45,667 --> 00:54:47,000
We call those Community Groups.

1222
00:54:47,042 --> 00:54:49,000
As the financial stewards
are collecting the offerings--

1223
00:54:49,042 --> 00:54:52,375
and thank you for doing that--if
you're not in a Community Group,

1224
00:54:52,458 --> 00:54:54,083
we want you to get in one.

1225
00:54:54,167 --> 00:54:56,083
There's more than 600.
They're scattered all over.

1226
00:54:56,167 --> 00:54:57,542
There's probably one near you.

1227
00:54:57,625 --> 00:55:00,333
Let us know who you are
so we can connect you

1228
00:55:00,417 --> 00:55:01,750
with one of them.

1229
00:55:01,833 --> 00:55:04,750
And let say this: just because
you sign up or show up

1230
00:55:04,833 --> 00:55:06,458
doesn't mean that
it's a lifelong commitment

1231
00:55:06,500 --> 00:55:07,833
like marriage, right?

1232
00:55:07,917 --> 00:55:10,958
Go there, meet people, see
how it goes, check it out,

1233
00:55:11,000 --> 00:55:12,708
give it a shot.

1234
00:55:12,792 --> 00:55:17,167
It's just our way of opening
the door to you and to see

1235
00:55:17,208 --> 00:55:19,750
if this is a community you
want to participate in.

1236
00:55:19,833 --> 00:55:22,833
If the first group doesn't
work, find another group, OK?

1237
00:55:22,917 --> 00:55:25,250
But as you gather as
Community Groups this week,

1238
00:55:25,333 --> 00:55:27,458
I want you to really thank
your Community Group

1239
00:55:27,500 --> 00:55:28,833
hosts and leaders.

1240
00:55:28,917 --> 00:55:32,042
Here are the questions I want
you to drill and dial down on.

1241
00:55:32,125 --> 00:55:34,542
Number one, do prayer and
Scripture have the proper place

1242
00:55:34,625 --> 00:55:35,958
in your life?

1243
00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:37,958
The leaders say,
"Our priorities have to be

1244
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:39,333
prayer and Scripture."

1245
00:55:39,417 --> 00:55:40,833
Are those priorities
in your life?

1246
00:55:40,917 --> 00:55:42,500
Time for prayer,
time in Scripture.

1247
00:55:42,542 --> 00:55:45,167
Number two, how has God used
failure to move you forward?

1248
00:55:45,250 --> 00:55:46,875
This is where we
encourage one another.

1249
00:55:46,958 --> 00:55:49,083
In most groups, you get
together and you're like,

1250
00:55:49,167 --> 00:55:51,375
"Here's my successes, here's
my wins, here's my victories,"

1251
00:55:51,458 --> 00:55:52,792
right?

1252
00:55:52,833 --> 00:55:54,792
You know,
"Here's all my trophies."

1253
00:55:54,833 --> 00:55:57,292
As God's people, get together
and say, "You know what,

1254
00:55:57,333 --> 00:55:58,792
"this was a failure.

1255
00:55:58,833 --> 00:56:01,333
"Maybe it was a sin,
maybe it was a mistake,

1256
00:56:01,417 --> 00:56:03,125
"but it's in
the category of failure

1257
00:56:03,167 --> 00:56:04,625
and here's how God used it."

1258
00:56:04,667 --> 00:56:06,833
And we share that
so that people know us

1259
00:56:06,875 --> 00:56:08,333
and we can encourage them.

1260
00:56:08,417 --> 00:56:10,750
Number three, is your
primarily--is your ministry

1261
00:56:10,833 --> 00:56:13,125
primarily with your
words or your works?

1262
00:56:13,167 --> 00:56:15,667
Which category? You say,
"I'm a word person.

1263
00:56:15,708 --> 00:56:17,042
"Preaching, teaching,
encouraging,

1264
00:56:17,125 --> 00:56:18,458
counseling, comforting."

1265
00:56:18,500 --> 00:56:21,208
"No, works.
Give me stuff to do.

1266
00:56:21,292 --> 00:56:23,000
"Don't make me get up
and talk.

1267
00:56:23,083 --> 00:56:24,958
Give me something to do."

1268
00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:27,625
And number four, how can you
be praying for our church,

1269
00:56:27,667 --> 00:56:31,750
all of Mars Hill Church
and also your local location,

1270
00:56:31,833 --> 00:56:34,708
as well as your Community Group?

1271
00:56:34,792 --> 00:56:37,500
Father God, thank you so much
for the Scriptures

1272
00:56:37,542 --> 00:56:41,750
and this amazing case study
of the early church.

1273
00:56:41,833 --> 00:56:45,333
God, I thank you so much that
the Bible's not just filled with

1274
00:56:45,417 --> 00:56:49,583
principles, but actual
historical stories of people,

1275
00:56:49,667 --> 00:56:53,000
and times, and places,
and circumstances so that we

1276
00:56:53,042 --> 00:56:56,333
can learn from them because
we're like them.

1277
00:56:56,417 --> 00:57:01,208
And Lord God, I'm not a leader
anywhere near the quality of

1278
00:57:01,292 --> 00:57:04,208
these leaders, and my preaching
is nowhere near the quality

1279
00:57:04,292 --> 00:57:07,750
of their preaching, but it is
encouraging to see that even

1280
00:57:07,833 --> 00:57:10,958
the best leaders,
they have failures.

1281
00:57:11,000 --> 00:57:14,167
And Lord God, I thank you
in the story how good,

1282
00:57:14,208 --> 00:57:17,667
godly people with wisdom
stepped up and helped out.

1283
00:57:17,708 --> 00:57:21,250
And Lord, we ask those people
to do the same in our church.

1284
00:57:21,333 --> 00:57:24,750
May they not just get frustrated
by the holes they see.

1285
00:57:24,833 --> 00:57:27,208
May they realize that they're
frustrated because they have

1286
00:57:27,292 --> 00:57:31,042
the gifts to fill them, and
would you help them to do that?

1287
00:57:31,125 --> 00:57:35,458
Lord, thank you so much
that we, in our humanity,

1288
00:57:35,500 --> 00:57:38,458
have an opportunity to
learn through our failures.

1289
00:57:38,500 --> 00:57:41,833
And thank you that it doesn't
define us because Jesus is our

1290
00:57:41,917 --> 00:57:44,708
perfection, that we don't need
to be perfect because he's

1291
00:57:44,792 --> 00:57:47,167
already been perfect, and he's
here to help us learn

1292
00:57:47,208 --> 00:57:49,542
how to become more like him.

1293
00:57:49,625 --> 00:57:51,958
And so Jesus, as we
come to sing right now,

1294
00:57:52,000 --> 00:57:55,333
we come to celebrate you because
the whole point and purpose of

1295
00:57:55,417 --> 00:57:58,958
the church is that you would get
glory and that we would get joy.

1296
00:57:59,000 --> 00:58:02,708
And Holy Spirit, we ask for that
now in Jesus' good name, amen.

1297
00:58:03,958 --> 00:58:06,875
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1298
00:58:06,958 --> 00:58:10,000
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1299
00:58:10,042 --> 00:58:12,583
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1300
00:58:12,667 --> 00:58:15,208
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1301
00:58:15,292 --> 00:58:18,792
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1302
00:58:18,833 --> 00:58:21,792
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1303
00:58:21,833 --> 00:58:24,667
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