1 00:00:05,125 --> 00:00:06,375 Howdy, Pastor Mark here. 2 00:00:06,458 --> 00:00:09,792 I wanted to say thanks for tuning in and joining us for our sermon series. 3 00:00:09,833 --> 00:00:11,500 We're currently in the Book of Acts. 4 00:00:11,542 --> 00:00:14,583 We're actually going to take a chunk every year after Easter 5 00:00:14,667 --> 00:00:16,958 for the next number of years. 6 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,583 And for those of you who pray for me or for us, 7 00:00:19,667 --> 00:00:23,667 those of you who give to the church, want to say thank you very, very much. 8 00:00:23,708 --> 00:00:25,667 For those of you who'd like to get connected 9 00:00:25,750 --> 00:00:28,000 and be part of the extended Mars Hill family, 10 00:00:28,042 --> 00:00:32,500 go to marshill.com/global, we'll sign you up for a "connect" account. 11 00:00:32,542 --> 00:00:34,417 That'll get you some free resources 12 00:00:34,500 --> 00:00:37,375 and allow you to know what's going on at Mars Hill. 13 00:00:37,458 --> 00:00:41,125 In addition you can also find the study guide for the "Acts" series. 14 00:00:41,167 --> 00:00:44,500 It was put together by a team right here at Mars Hill church. 15 00:00:44,583 --> 00:00:46,125 We've made it very inexpensive. 16 00:00:46,167 --> 00:00:49,000 Any of the proceeds come back to the church, not to me. 17 00:00:49,083 --> 00:00:51,625 And we'd love to have you do a deep study 18 00:00:51,667 --> 00:00:53,792 with us through the Book of Acts. 19 00:00:53,833 --> 00:00:55,833 So we love you, we appreciate you, thank you, 20 00:00:55,875 --> 00:00:58,167 and thanks for signing up for a global account. 21 00:01:04,667 --> 00:01:10,500 Jesus said, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit 22 00:01:10,542 --> 00:01:12,750 "has come upon you, 23 00:01:12,833 --> 00:01:17,500 "and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem 24 00:01:17,583 --> 00:01:21,667 and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 25 00:01:24,667 --> 00:01:30,333 What does Jesus' mission look like here? 26 00:01:30,417 --> 00:01:34,500 What's his mission here? 27 00:01:34,542 --> 00:01:38,500 What does Jesus' mission look like here? 28 00:01:38,583 --> 00:01:42,667 What does Jesus' mission look like here? 29 00:01:42,750 --> 00:01:46,625 What is Jesus' mission here? 30 00:01:46,667 --> 00:01:49,083 How do I know what Jesus' mission is? 31 00:01:54,792 --> 00:01:57,167 Are you impatient like me? 32 00:01:57,208 --> 00:01:58,792 Impatient? Impatient? 33 00:01:58,833 --> 00:02:01,542 I don't like traffic. 34 00:02:01,625 --> 00:02:03,500 I don't like getting off an airplane. 35 00:02:03,542 --> 00:02:06,458 I don't like anybody in a store who thinks that a check 36 00:02:06,500 --> 00:02:08,875 is an acceptable way to pay for a bill, 37 00:02:08,958 --> 00:02:11,667 particularly if they cannot find a pen. 38 00:02:11,750 --> 00:02:13,458 Have you ever said this: 39 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:15,042 "Hurry up! Hurry up!" 40 00:02:15,125 --> 00:02:16,833 You ever said that? 41 00:02:16,875 --> 00:02:18,958 I've said it to a microwave. 42 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,958 I am not an incredibly patient person. 43 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,167 In fact, I'm an impatient person. 44 00:02:24,250 --> 00:02:26,000 And I know patience is a virtue, 45 00:02:26,042 --> 00:02:28,375 and one of the fruit of the Spirit is patience, 46 00:02:28,458 --> 00:02:29,875 and it's all very convicting. 47 00:02:29,958 --> 00:02:32,542 I'm just--I'll be honest with you, I'm not very patient. 48 00:02:32,625 --> 00:02:37,417 And I get really impatient when there's an opportunity 49 00:02:37,500 --> 00:02:39,542 or a goal set before me. 50 00:02:39,625 --> 00:02:40,875 Any of you like that? 51 00:02:40,958 --> 00:02:42,917 There's something on your horizon, 52 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,292 it's an opportunity that's set before you, next season of life, 53 00:02:46,333 --> 00:02:47,708 maybe it's something you're excited about, 54 00:02:47,792 --> 00:02:49,500 something you've been waiting for. 55 00:02:49,583 --> 00:02:51,917 Well then, you just want to get to work, right? 56 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:53,417 You like that? 57 00:02:53,500 --> 00:02:56,333 Are you a doer—-like, "All right, just tell me what to do, 58 00:02:56,375 --> 00:02:58,625 "get out of the way because I'm proceeding forward, 59 00:02:58,667 --> 00:03:00,083 going to get this done." 60 00:03:00,167 --> 00:03:01,417 That's me. 61 00:03:01,500 --> 00:03:04,167 What I don't like is a four-letter word called 62 00:03:04,250 --> 00:03:06,292 "Wait," okay? 63 00:03:06,333 --> 00:03:08,708 "Wait" is a--ugh-- 64 00:03:08,792 --> 00:03:13,458 and it's a word that Jesus uses, which means I'm wrong. 65 00:03:13,500 --> 00:03:17,625 So, what we see in the book of Acts--and we're in Acts 1:12-26-- 66 00:03:17,667 --> 00:03:19,792 What we see in the book of Acts 67 00:03:19,833 --> 00:03:23,125 is that people had been waiting for Jesus, all the way back. 68 00:03:23,167 --> 00:03:24,625 So, here we go. 69 00:03:24,667 --> 00:03:27,292 If you're new, we'll do the whole Bible in a minute. 70 00:03:27,333 --> 00:03:29,667 So, God made us, we sinned against him, 71 00:03:29,750 --> 00:03:32,500 death came into human history, 72 00:03:32,583 --> 00:03:35,167 a promise was made that Jesus was coming-- 73 00:03:35,250 --> 00:03:36,625 Genesis 3:15. 74 00:03:36,667 --> 00:03:39,458 How long did they have to wait for Jesus to come? 75 00:03:39,500 --> 00:03:41,750 A couple thousand years. 76 00:03:41,833 --> 00:03:44,125 That's a long wait, right? 77 00:03:44,167 --> 00:03:49,958 Long wait, way, way, way worse than like 2G or dial-up. 78 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:52,500 This is a serious wait. 79 00:03:52,583 --> 00:03:55,500 And then Jesus comes, he lives without sin, he dies for sin, 80 00:03:55,542 --> 00:03:57,000 he rises from death. 81 00:03:57,042 --> 00:03:59,542 We looked at in the opening pages of Acts, 82 00:03:59,625 --> 00:04:03,042 that he appeared for 40 days, evidencing his resurrection, 83 00:04:03,125 --> 00:04:05,083 and he told them, "Here it is. 84 00:04:05,167 --> 00:04:07,542 "You're going to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, 85 00:04:07,625 --> 00:04:09,250 "Judea, Samaria, ends of the earth. 86 00:04:09,333 --> 00:04:11,875 "I've got a global mission, something huge for you to do. 87 00:04:11,958 --> 00:04:13,667 "You've been waiting thousands of years, 88 00:04:13,708 --> 00:04:18,458 now go tell everyone that I've come, but"--what's he say? 89 00:04:18,500 --> 00:04:20,667 "Wait." 90 00:04:20,750 --> 00:04:22,500 What? 91 00:04:22,542 --> 00:04:24,250 "Wait." 92 00:04:24,333 --> 00:04:25,750 Waiting is hard, right? 93 00:04:25,833 --> 00:04:27,667 How many of you were students? 94 00:04:27,708 --> 00:04:29,042 School's almost out! 95 00:04:29,125 --> 00:04:30,500 Waiting is hard. 96 00:04:30,583 --> 00:04:32,667 You're single, you might have met somebody, 97 00:04:32,708 --> 00:04:34,333 you're not sure yet. 98 00:04:34,417 --> 00:04:36,000 Waiting is hard. 99 00:04:36,083 --> 00:04:39,292 You're engaged to be married, but you're not married. 100 00:04:39,333 --> 00:04:41,667 You've gotta wait. 101 00:04:41,750 --> 00:04:44,667 You want to have a kid, you're trying to have a kid, 102 00:04:44,750 --> 00:04:46,917 maybe you're pregnant, maybe the kid isn't here yet, 103 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,667 maybe the kid showed up but the kid won't sleep. 104 00:04:49,750 --> 00:04:52,417 Wait. It's very hard to wait. 105 00:04:52,500 --> 00:04:54,167 It's very hard to wait. 106 00:04:54,250 --> 00:04:57,208 Jesus gives them the whole purpose of their existence. 107 00:04:57,292 --> 00:05:00,542 "You're going to glorify me by being a witness to the world, 108 00:05:00,625 --> 00:05:03,667 "but first, wait, and I'll send you the Holy Spirit, 109 00:05:03,708 --> 00:05:06,833 "and he will empower you with my presence to be 110 00:05:06,917 --> 00:05:09,125 on my mission to my glory." 111 00:05:09,167 --> 00:05:11,333 So, they've got to wait. 112 00:05:11,375 --> 00:05:13,583 They've got to wait, and that's the early church. 113 00:05:13,667 --> 00:05:16,417 What do you do when you're waiting? 114 00:05:16,500 --> 00:05:19,167 How many of you, you do as I have done? 115 00:05:19,250 --> 00:05:21,667 You just plow forward. 116 00:05:21,750 --> 00:05:24,542 "I'm not going to wait; I'm just going to go," 117 00:05:24,625 --> 00:05:26,542 and you make a mess of it. 118 00:05:26,625 --> 00:05:30,625 You do it wrong; you have to go back and fix it. 119 00:05:30,667 --> 00:05:32,792 How many of you, you get distracted, 120 00:05:32,833 --> 00:05:35,708 you do something else, you waste time, you get frustrated, 121 00:05:35,792 --> 00:05:38,083 you get bitter, you complain? 122 00:05:38,167 --> 00:05:40,917 What are they going to do? 123 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,208 Set before them is the biggest mission 124 00:05:43,292 --> 00:05:45,167 in the history of the world, 125 00:05:45,250 --> 00:05:47,417 the one that God's people have been waiting for 126 00:05:47,500 --> 00:05:49,000 for a few thousand years. 127 00:05:49,083 --> 00:05:51,250 "Jesus has risen from death. Go tell the world!" 128 00:05:51,333 --> 00:05:52,667 And they've got to wait. 129 00:05:52,750 --> 00:05:54,792 What are they going to do while they wait? 130 00:05:54,833 --> 00:05:56,292 Read with me Acts 1:12-14. 131 00:05:56,333 --> 00:06:00,500 It's going to be convicting, at least for me, maybe for you, too. 132 00:06:00,542 --> 00:06:02,625 Here's what we read, that unity follows prayer. 133 00:06:02,667 --> 00:06:05,542 Acts 1:12-14, "Then they returned to Jerusalem from 134 00:06:05,625 --> 00:06:07,625 the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem." 135 00:06:07,667 --> 00:06:09,417 They're actually right next to each other. 136 00:06:09,500 --> 00:06:10,833 It's a pretty quick little walk. 137 00:06:10,917 --> 00:06:12,708 "A Sabbath day's journey away. 138 00:06:12,792 --> 00:06:15,708 "And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, 139 00:06:15,792 --> 00:06:17,667 "where they were staying, Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, 140 00:06:17,708 --> 00:06:21,583 "Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, 141 00:06:21,667 --> 00:06:23,583 Simon the Zealot"--that might indicate his 142 00:06:23,667 --> 00:06:26,042 political persuasion-- "Judas the son of James." 143 00:06:26,125 --> 00:06:28,042 Let me just say this: here's everybody's names. 144 00:06:28,125 --> 00:06:30,708 Isn't that guy bummed that his name was Judas? 145 00:06:30,792 --> 00:06:33,542 There was more than one disciple named Judas. 146 00:06:33,625 --> 00:06:36,583 There's that Judas and then the other Judas. 147 00:06:36,667 --> 00:06:39,542 Aren't you bummed if you're the other Judas? 148 00:06:39,625 --> 00:06:41,625 You're like, "Oh, who are you?" 149 00:06:41,667 --> 00:06:43,833 "Well, I'm one of Jesus disciples, apostles. 150 00:06:43,917 --> 00:06:45,333 That's what I--" 151 00:06:45,417 --> 00:06:46,792 "Really? 152 00:06:46,833 --> 00:06:48,500 "I've heard of Jesus and the Apostles. 153 00:06:48,583 --> 00:06:49,958 What's your name?" 154 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:51,667 "My name is Judas." 155 00:06:51,708 --> 00:06:53,750 "Oh, I've heard of you." 156 00:06:53,833 --> 00:06:56,625 "I'm the other Judas," right? 157 00:06:56,667 --> 00:06:58,667 "I'm Oswald Bin Laden. 158 00:06:58,708 --> 00:07:01,542 I'm a different guy." 159 00:07:01,625 --> 00:07:05,792 That guy explained it a lot, right? 160 00:07:05,833 --> 00:07:08,458 He just changed his name tag, right? 161 00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:10,333 It's like, "What's your name?" 162 00:07:10,375 --> 00:07:11,667 "Something else." 163 00:07:11,750 --> 00:07:13,958 But his name was, "Judas the son of James. 164 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,000 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to"--what? 165 00:07:17,083 --> 00:07:20,292 "To prayer, together with the women 166 00:07:20,333 --> 00:07:23,250 and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers." 167 00:07:23,333 --> 00:07:25,750 So, Jesus says he's God; Jesus dies for sin; 168 00:07:25,833 --> 00:07:29,500 Jesus rises from death; Jesus appears for 40 days; 169 00:07:29,542 --> 00:07:32,375 Jesus proves that he's conquered Satan, sin, death, hell, 170 00:07:32,458 --> 00:07:35,375 and the wrath of God; Jesus gives us the biggest mission 171 00:07:35,458 --> 00:07:38,708 in the history of the world; Jesus tells us to wait for 172 00:07:38,792 --> 00:07:40,667 the Holy Spirit's power, and in that time, 173 00:07:40,708 --> 00:07:43,833 they do three things that are good patterns for us to learn 174 00:07:43,875 --> 00:07:49,667 from--gathering, praying, and unifying. 175 00:07:49,750 --> 00:07:52,708 They're gathering in the upper room. 176 00:07:52,792 --> 00:07:55,625 This is a flat-roof home, and on top of which 177 00:07:55,667 --> 00:07:58,792 would have been built a pretty simple structure. 178 00:07:58,833 --> 00:08:02,333 This is where you can have guests stay with you, 179 00:08:02,417 --> 00:08:04,833 you could use it for meetings and events, 180 00:08:04,917 --> 00:08:06,792 you could also rent it out. 181 00:08:06,833 --> 00:08:11,667 These tended to be not very posh circumstances--conditions. 182 00:08:11,750 --> 00:08:15,042 This was the kind of place that the poor would rent. 183 00:08:15,125 --> 00:08:16,667 I mean, think about it-- 184 00:08:16,750 --> 00:08:18,750 no air conditioning, you're up on the roof, 185 00:08:18,833 --> 00:08:20,250 you're baking, it's hot, 186 00:08:20,333 --> 00:08:21,750 it's uncomfortable. 187 00:08:21,833 --> 00:08:25,083 This is not a lavishly funded early ministry and church. 188 00:08:25,167 --> 00:08:27,042 And they're meeting in the upper room. 189 00:08:27,125 --> 00:08:29,708 We're not sure which upper room they're meeting in. 190 00:08:29,792 --> 00:08:32,667 It may have been the same upper room where Jesus 191 00:08:32,750 --> 00:08:34,875 convened his disciples for the Last Supper. 192 00:08:34,958 --> 00:08:37,750 They met also in an upper room, so they may be meeting 193 00:08:37,833 --> 00:08:39,875 and convening in that same place. 194 00:08:39,958 --> 00:08:42,542 And they give us the list of who is there, 195 00:08:42,625 --> 00:08:46,833 and there's one group that is particularly noteworthy-- 196 00:08:46,875 --> 00:08:49,833 Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers, 197 00:08:49,917 --> 00:08:51,417 together with the women. 198 00:08:51,500 --> 00:08:53,000 So there's men and women. 199 00:08:53,083 --> 00:08:54,500 Jesus loves all people. 200 00:08:54,583 --> 00:08:56,500 The church is comprised of men and women, 201 00:08:56,583 --> 00:08:58,708 and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers. 202 00:08:58,792 --> 00:09:02,000 For those of you who are not Christian, or not yet Christian, 203 00:09:02,042 --> 00:09:04,917 or you're skeptical, I want you to see that we believe in 204 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:06,958 the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 205 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,708 I know some of you say, "Well, that's unusual." 206 00:09:09,792 --> 00:09:11,708 Oh, we know. 207 00:09:11,792 --> 00:09:14,792 We know. We know that the resurrection of the dead 208 00:09:14,833 --> 00:09:16,375 is unusual. 209 00:09:16,458 --> 00:09:19,583 That's why we call it a miracle-- we made a holiday around it. 210 00:09:19,667 --> 00:09:22,250 It's sort of a thing for us because it doesn't happen 211 00:09:22,333 --> 00:09:24,375 more than once, amen? 212 00:09:24,458 --> 00:09:28,875 So, one dead guy rises--hmm. It's a thing to us. 213 00:09:28,958 --> 00:09:33,125 And so what I need you to see is that we don't just believe this 214 00:09:33,167 --> 00:09:35,375 because we find it interesting or compelling 215 00:09:35,458 --> 00:09:38,833 or a curious story, but because there are reasons, 216 00:09:38,917 --> 00:09:41,958 evidences, historically, that are very compelling 217 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,333 when accumulated together into a case. 218 00:09:45,417 --> 00:09:48,750 And one of those is right here. 219 00:09:48,833 --> 00:09:51,958 Jesus' mother Mary and his brothers are gathered together 220 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:56,292 in the early church worshipping Jesus, her Son, 221 00:09:56,333 --> 00:10:00,250 their big Brother, as Creator, Lord, God, Savior, 222 00:10:00,333 --> 00:10:03,667 sinless King, and Christ. 223 00:10:03,708 --> 00:10:06,708 These are devout Jewish people, who know if you worship 224 00:10:06,792 --> 00:10:10,917 the wrong God you go to hell. So you've got to get this right. 225 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,167 How many of you are mothers with sons? 226 00:10:14,208 --> 00:10:17,333 How many of you mothers would not publicly worship 227 00:10:17,417 --> 00:10:20,833 your son as a sinless deity? 228 00:10:20,917 --> 00:10:24,667 Okay, any of you wooden spoon-touting mothers agree with 229 00:10:24,708 --> 00:10:26,875 me that you would never publicly say, 230 00:10:26,958 --> 00:10:32,000 "Yes, my son never sinned and he is God." 231 00:10:32,083 --> 00:10:33,875 Mary worships him as God. 232 00:10:33,958 --> 00:10:36,875 This is the last time we see Mary in the New Testament, 233 00:10:36,958 --> 00:10:38,667 and if that wasn't enough, his brothers. 234 00:10:38,750 --> 00:10:40,333 Now, I looked it up for you. 235 00:10:40,417 --> 00:10:43,500 Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3-- 236 00:10:43,542 --> 00:10:45,875 it gives us a list of Jesus' brothers. 237 00:10:45,958 --> 00:10:48,333 There's at least five of Jesus' brothers mentioned 238 00:10:48,417 --> 00:10:50,083 in the New Testament. 239 00:10:50,167 --> 00:10:51,917 It says elsewhere that he had sisters. 240 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:54,458 So he had at least two sisters and five brothers, 241 00:10:54,500 --> 00:10:56,542 so at least eight kids in this family. 242 00:10:56,625 --> 00:10:59,500 Big family. Big, beautiful family. 243 00:10:59,542 --> 00:11:01,917 Jesus is the oldest; he's the firstborn. 244 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:03,792 He had no earthly father. 245 00:11:03,833 --> 00:11:06,667 Mary and Joseph, after Jesus was born, 246 00:11:06,750 --> 00:11:09,292 they enjoyed normal marital relations. 247 00:11:09,333 --> 00:11:12,958 They had at least five boys and at least two girls, 248 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:17,625 and the boys worshiped their big Brother as God, okay? 249 00:11:17,667 --> 00:11:20,292 How many of you have a big brother? 250 00:11:20,333 --> 00:11:23,708 How many of you, if you had to choose between him being 251 00:11:23,792 --> 00:11:26,333 God or Satan, would choose that he is Satan? 252 00:11:26,417 --> 00:11:28,875 Okay, all right? 253 00:11:28,958 --> 00:11:31,500 How many of you publicly would not stand up and say, 254 00:11:31,542 --> 00:11:35,000 "My big brother is without sin," all right? 255 00:11:35,042 --> 00:11:38,542 Because you have scars that indicate otherwise, right? 256 00:11:38,625 --> 00:11:41,042 Emotional and physical scars 257 00:11:41,125 --> 00:11:43,833 that explain and articulate otherwise. 258 00:11:43,917 --> 00:11:46,958 During his earthly life, Jesus' family thought 259 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:48,833 that he had lost his mind. 260 00:11:48,875 --> 00:11:50,583 Would you not? 261 00:11:50,667 --> 00:11:52,292 "Hey Mom, where's Jesus?" 262 00:11:52,333 --> 00:11:55,000 "He's out preaching, teaching, water skiing without a boat, 263 00:11:55,083 --> 00:11:57,875 "declaring himself to be Creator, Lord, Savior, God, 264 00:11:57,958 --> 00:11:59,333 King, and Christ." 265 00:11:59,375 --> 00:12:02,000 "Mom, do you think we should go pick him up?" 266 00:12:02,083 --> 00:12:03,417 "Yes I do. 267 00:12:03,500 --> 00:12:06,000 "We're going take him home, we're going to give him pudding, 268 00:12:06,042 --> 00:12:07,875 "and we're going to lock the door, 269 00:12:07,958 --> 00:12:11,000 "and we're just going to keep him where nobody can find him. 270 00:12:11,042 --> 00:12:12,708 "Jesus' oars are not in the water. 271 00:12:12,792 --> 00:12:14,333 He is not doing well, okay?" 272 00:12:14,417 --> 00:12:16,500 That's what his family thought about him. 273 00:12:16,542 --> 00:12:19,625 How many of you, if your brother was saying the things that Jesus 274 00:12:19,667 --> 00:12:22,500 said, you would go pick him up? 275 00:12:22,542 --> 00:12:24,208 You'd go pick him up. 276 00:12:24,292 --> 00:12:25,833 "You know what? He's not well. 277 00:12:25,875 --> 00:12:27,708 "We need to save him from himself. 278 00:12:27,792 --> 00:12:31,375 "We need to get him home and we need to just get rid of this 279 00:12:31,458 --> 00:12:32,875 "crowd that's following him. 280 00:12:32,958 --> 00:12:34,292 He's not making any sense." 281 00:12:34,333 --> 00:12:37,583 That's what his family thought of him until he rose from death. 282 00:12:37,667 --> 00:12:39,750 And then Mary and Jesus' brothers decided, 283 00:12:39,833 --> 00:12:44,750 "Oh my goodness, he's God. He conquered death. 284 00:12:44,833 --> 00:12:46,917 "We saw him die; we saw him rise. 285 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:49,833 He is who he says he is." 286 00:12:49,917 --> 00:12:53,583 So, James and Jude, two of Jesus' brothers, become pastors. 287 00:12:53,667 --> 00:12:55,917 James leads the church of Jerusalem, 288 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,042 writes the book of James in the Bible. 289 00:12:58,125 --> 00:13:02,083 Jude becomes a pastor, writes the book of Jude in the Bible. 290 00:13:02,167 --> 00:13:05,333 Here they are, part of the early church, 291 00:13:05,417 --> 00:13:07,583 worshiping Jesus as God. 292 00:13:07,667 --> 00:13:09,458 Why do they do that, Mars Hill? 293 00:13:09,500 --> 00:13:12,667 Why is Mary, this wonderful woman, why are these brothers, 294 00:13:12,708 --> 00:13:15,958 these devout men--why are they worshiping Jesus as God? 295 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:18,375 Why are they worshiping him as God? 296 00:13:18,458 --> 00:13:22,333 He's God and he rose from death to prove it. 297 00:13:22,417 --> 00:13:24,417 So, they gathered together. 298 00:13:24,500 --> 00:13:27,083 And I want you to see that we do the same. 299 00:13:27,167 --> 00:13:29,083 We gather in big groups on Sundays. 300 00:13:29,167 --> 00:13:31,083 We gather in small groups during the week 301 00:13:31,167 --> 00:13:32,583 called Community Groups. 302 00:13:32,667 --> 00:13:35,042 God's people are to be gathering together. 303 00:13:35,125 --> 00:13:37,875 Here, you'll read in verse 15 in just a moment, 304 00:13:37,958 --> 00:13:41,000 there are how many people in the first church, 305 00:13:41,042 --> 00:13:42,417 early Christianity? 306 00:13:42,500 --> 00:13:44,167 How many people? 307 00:13:44,208 --> 00:13:46,042 About 120. 308 00:13:46,125 --> 00:13:48,833 Here's what's interesting: if you go over to 1 Corinthians 15-- 309 00:13:48,875 --> 00:13:50,500 I'll just summarize it for you-- 310 00:13:50,542 --> 00:13:52,458 it says that when Jesus rose from death, 311 00:13:52,500 --> 00:13:59,083 he appeared to crowds of people, upwards of 500 at one time. 312 00:13:59,167 --> 00:14:03,875 He did so, Acts 1 tells us, over the course of 40 days-- 313 00:14:03,958 --> 00:14:06,875 groups large and small. 314 00:14:06,958 --> 00:14:08,750 What this means is that hundreds, 315 00:14:08,833 --> 00:14:12,625 maybe thousands of people, saw Jesus risen from death. 316 00:14:12,667 --> 00:14:15,292 How many people joined the early church 317 00:14:15,333 --> 00:14:17,833 and gathered together as the church? 318 00:14:17,875 --> 00:14:19,833 A hundred and twenty. 319 00:14:19,875 --> 00:14:22,167 It struck me as I was reading it this week, 320 00:14:22,250 --> 00:14:24,583 that means there are hundreds, maybe thousands of people 321 00:14:24,667 --> 00:14:27,833 who saw Jesus rise from death, 322 00:14:27,917 --> 00:14:31,583 and they still didn't join the church. 323 00:14:31,667 --> 00:14:35,000 See, some would say, "Well, I'm not a Christian because 324 00:14:35,083 --> 00:14:38,583 there's not enough evidence." 325 00:14:38,667 --> 00:14:42,917 And even those who had the evidence of the risen Jesus 326 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:47,458 were unwilling to turn from sin, trust in him, 327 00:14:47,500 --> 00:14:50,958 and join the church. 328 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,083 It's not always that the mind is unconvinced, 329 00:14:54,167 --> 00:14:57,958 but often it is the heart that is unwilling. 330 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,167 In about a year, I've got a sermon series coming up 331 00:15:01,208 --> 00:15:02,708 I'm really excited about. 332 00:15:02,792 --> 00:15:05,000 We've commissioned a research firm that does work for 333 00:15:05,083 --> 00:15:11,125 political groups and businesses to go out and do a data study on 334 00:15:11,167 --> 00:15:15,833 those who are unchurched and dechurched, 18 to 44. 335 00:15:15,917 --> 00:15:18,333 What are your primary objections to Christianity? 336 00:15:18,375 --> 00:15:20,000 We're going to take the top eight 337 00:15:20,083 --> 00:15:22,042 and make it a sermons series. 338 00:15:22,125 --> 00:15:24,167 And the research is still ongoing, 339 00:15:24,208 --> 00:15:27,750 but the early returns indicate that upwards of 85% of those 340 00:15:27,833 --> 00:15:31,333 polled say, "There's credible evidence that Jesus was God 341 00:15:31,375 --> 00:15:34,500 "and rose from death, and I'm not a Christian 342 00:15:34,542 --> 00:15:40,375 because I want to do what I want to do." 343 00:15:40,458 --> 00:15:43,958 And things have not changed. 344 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:49,500 Jesus rises from death, many see him, only a few follow him, 345 00:15:49,583 --> 00:15:51,000 and they gathered together. 346 00:15:51,083 --> 00:15:54,458 And as God's people, we need to gather together, amen? 347 00:15:54,500 --> 00:15:56,042 We need to gather together on Sunday. 348 00:15:56,125 --> 00:15:58,042 We need to gather together in Community Group 349 00:15:58,125 --> 00:15:59,708 through the course of the week. 350 00:15:59,792 --> 00:16:01,167 And what do they do? 351 00:16:01,208 --> 00:16:02,833 What do they do, Mars Hill? 352 00:16:02,875 --> 00:16:04,250 They pray. 353 00:16:04,333 --> 00:16:06,375 This is convicting for me. 354 00:16:06,458 --> 00:16:08,750 Again, I'm someone who doesn't want to waste time 355 00:16:08,833 --> 00:16:10,708 but wants to get to work. 356 00:16:10,792 --> 00:16:13,500 Well, they have got a lot of work to do. 357 00:16:13,542 --> 00:16:16,708 He's telling 120 people who don't have a map or an airplane 358 00:16:16,792 --> 00:16:18,583 to reach the nations. 359 00:16:18,667 --> 00:16:23,833 They have a lot to do. And they're not wasting their time; 360 00:16:23,917 --> 00:16:27,167 they're investing their time in prayer. 361 00:16:27,208 --> 00:16:30,167 It says it this way: "devoting themselves to prayer." 362 00:16:30,250 --> 00:16:33,833 This issue of devotedness, it was ongoing, it was constant, 363 00:16:33,917 --> 00:16:37,542 it was integrated, it was their priority, 364 00:16:37,625 --> 00:16:41,792 it was involved in the course of their day. 365 00:16:41,833 --> 00:16:46,042 Mars Hill, I want you to see that praying precedes doing. 366 00:16:46,125 --> 00:16:49,208 Okay, how many of you, like me, you're a doer? 367 00:16:49,292 --> 00:16:53,167 Praying precedes doing. And what tends to happen in Christianity-- 368 00:16:53,250 --> 00:16:55,958 there are prayers and there are doers. 369 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,208 The doers just go to work, okay? 370 00:16:59,292 --> 00:17:01,500 And then, when we make a mistake, 371 00:17:01,542 --> 00:17:04,875 we pray things like, "Sorry, help, fix it." 372 00:17:04,958 --> 00:17:09,708 So, we do pray, but we pray after we've made a mess, okay? 373 00:17:09,792 --> 00:17:11,375 Any of you done that? 374 00:17:11,458 --> 00:17:14,208 You're like, "I pray after I ruin everything." 375 00:17:14,292 --> 00:17:16,500 And other people, they're not doers 376 00:17:16,583 --> 00:17:18,042 as much as they're prayers. 377 00:17:18,125 --> 00:17:19,625 And they're like, "You know what? 378 00:17:19,667 --> 00:17:21,042 "I'll just pray, God'll do it. 379 00:17:21,125 --> 00:17:23,083 I'll pray, God'll take care of it." 380 00:17:23,167 --> 00:17:26,083 Here's the truth: God wants us to pray and do, 381 00:17:26,167 --> 00:17:28,583 and pray before we do, 382 00:17:28,667 --> 00:17:32,667 because God is calling them to bring 383 00:17:32,750 --> 00:17:35,792 the gospel to the nations as God is calling us 384 00:17:35,833 --> 00:17:37,708 to bring the gospel to the nations. 385 00:17:37,792 --> 00:17:39,667 So, there's work for us to do, 386 00:17:39,708 --> 00:17:41,833 but it has to be preceded by praying. 387 00:17:41,917 --> 00:17:44,625 Now, just praying alone isn't enough because God wants to work 388 00:17:44,667 --> 00:17:47,708 through his people, so his people need to get to work. 389 00:17:47,792 --> 00:17:50,292 But just working--well, we could pick the wrong work, 390 00:17:50,333 --> 00:17:53,792 we could do it the wrong way, we could go at the wrong time, 391 00:17:53,833 --> 00:17:55,417 we could have the wrong leaders, 392 00:17:55,500 --> 00:17:57,292 we could make all kinds of mistakes. 393 00:17:57,333 --> 00:17:59,792 And so praying precedes working; 394 00:17:59,833 --> 00:18:02,542 praying precedes doing. 395 00:18:02,625 --> 00:18:06,167 I want you to see that the time they spent praying--I think it's 396 00:18:06,250 --> 00:18:09,167 going to be about 10 days if memory serves me correct-- 397 00:18:09,208 --> 00:18:13,000 is not wasted time; it's invested time. 398 00:18:13,083 --> 00:18:16,375 How many of you, you don't pray for much, and if you do, 399 00:18:16,458 --> 00:18:20,667 you don't pray for an extended period? 400 00:18:20,750 --> 00:18:23,667 They're praying over the course of 10 days. 401 00:18:23,750 --> 00:18:25,583 Now, let me say this about prayer: 402 00:18:25,667 --> 00:18:27,083 prayer is a miracle, 403 00:18:27,167 --> 00:18:29,875 and I don't want you to ever lose sight of this. 404 00:18:29,958 --> 00:18:31,708 Prayer is an absolutely miracle, 405 00:18:31,792 --> 00:18:33,708 and if we pull back and think about it-- 406 00:18:33,792 --> 00:18:36,958 and I want you to think about it with me for a moment-- 407 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,833 there's the physical, material world we live in 408 00:18:39,875 --> 00:18:43,750 of visible, physical, tangible things. 409 00:18:43,833 --> 00:18:46,750 And then there's the invisible, immaterial, 410 00:18:46,833 --> 00:18:49,250 spiritual world behind it. 411 00:18:49,333 --> 00:18:53,917 It's as if there is a veil between the two. And God, 412 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,250 who lives in the realm of spirit, 413 00:18:56,333 --> 00:18:59,333 created this physical world in which we live. 414 00:18:59,375 --> 00:19:02,625 He rules over it, and he works in it, 415 00:19:02,667 --> 00:19:06,500 though he is separate from it. 416 00:19:06,583 --> 00:19:10,875 And what is very interesting is that we sin against God, 417 00:19:10,958 --> 00:19:13,667 and it separates us from God, 418 00:19:13,750 --> 00:19:16,875 and we have no way to pass through that veil 419 00:19:16,958 --> 00:19:19,083 to enter into the presence of God 420 00:19:19,167 --> 00:19:21,458 and back into relationship with God. 421 00:19:21,500 --> 00:19:23,833 And so God, in his grace, 422 00:19:23,917 --> 00:19:26,375 he passes through that veil. 423 00:19:26,458 --> 00:19:29,792 He goes from the realm of spirit into the physical world 424 00:19:29,833 --> 00:19:31,708 which he's made. 425 00:19:31,792 --> 00:19:33,542 That's Jesus. 426 00:19:33,625 --> 00:19:35,208 He's eternally God. 427 00:19:35,292 --> 00:19:37,375 He's the Creator of heaven and earth. 428 00:19:37,458 --> 00:19:40,625 He did not dwell in a physical body for all eternity. 429 00:19:40,667 --> 00:19:45,125 God, who is Spirit, added to himself human flesh, 430 00:19:45,167 --> 00:19:47,333 passed through that veil, 431 00:19:47,417 --> 00:19:49,083 and entered into human history. 432 00:19:49,167 --> 00:19:51,833 We call that the Incarnation, carne meaning "flesh"-- 433 00:19:51,875 --> 00:19:54,333 that God took upon himself a physical body, 434 00:19:54,375 --> 00:19:57,417 and he entered into human history. 435 00:19:57,500 --> 00:20:01,125 And so now, the spirit world of God has entered 436 00:20:01,167 --> 00:20:04,792 into the physical world in which men and women live, 437 00:20:04,833 --> 00:20:07,375 and Jesus lives without sin, and he dies for our sin, 438 00:20:07,458 --> 00:20:09,958 and he forgives our sin. 439 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,833 And when he dies, there's a veil in the temple that is literally 440 00:20:13,875 --> 00:20:16,000 torn from top to bottom, from God to man, 441 00:20:16,083 --> 00:20:18,667 showing that this veil that separates 442 00:20:18,750 --> 00:20:20,750 the physical and the spiritual, 443 00:20:20,833 --> 00:20:23,542 the world in which we live and the realm in which 444 00:20:23,625 --> 00:20:28,917 God rules has been removed, and now God is welcoming us 445 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,750 into his presence. 446 00:20:31,833 --> 00:20:34,917 And see, all of this is alluded to earlier in Acts 1 447 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,333 when Jesus ascended into heaven. 448 00:20:37,417 --> 00:20:40,792 It's not that he just went into another orbit, but he literally, 449 00:20:40,833 --> 00:20:44,333 out of their sight, entered into another dimension-- 450 00:20:44,417 --> 00:20:47,833 that he passed through that proverbial spiritual veil, 451 00:20:47,917 --> 00:20:50,792 and he went back into his heavenly kingdom. 452 00:20:50,833 --> 00:20:52,958 And today, he is ruling and reigning 453 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,000 and seated upon his throne. 454 00:20:56,042 --> 00:20:57,833 Now, here's what's amazing. 455 00:20:57,917 --> 00:21:01,042 When we pray, we are communicating from our world 456 00:21:01,125 --> 00:21:04,042 into that world. 457 00:21:04,125 --> 00:21:06,500 It's miraculous. 458 00:21:07,500 --> 00:21:09,000 It's miraculous. 459 00:21:09,042 --> 00:21:11,625 Many of you would say, "I've never seen a miracle." 460 00:21:11,667 --> 00:21:14,500 If you've prayed, you've participated in one. 461 00:21:14,542 --> 00:21:20,333 I'm never certain exactly how all of this works, 462 00:21:20,417 --> 00:21:24,667 but I'm so blessed that it does, amen? 463 00:21:24,750 --> 00:21:27,792 That somehow, I can speak and God can hear, 464 00:21:27,833 --> 00:21:30,958 and I can take requests and needs and fears 465 00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:35,333 and frustrations and longings, and I can communicate those to 466 00:21:35,417 --> 00:21:40,792 a living, loving, spiritual God who's made me with a soul 467 00:21:40,833 --> 00:21:43,333 so that I can be filled with the Holy Spirit 468 00:21:43,375 --> 00:21:45,208 and belong to him. 469 00:21:45,292 --> 00:21:48,333 And all of this is a miracle, and it's made possible, friends, 470 00:21:48,375 --> 00:21:50,833 only through Jesus. 471 00:21:50,917 --> 00:21:53,375 You may say, "Well, other people in other religions pray." 472 00:21:53,458 --> 00:21:56,792 Yes, but their prayers do not get beyond the roof in the place 473 00:21:56,833 --> 00:22:01,000 that they pray, because we need a mediator, 474 00:22:01,083 --> 00:22:04,667 we need someone who has passed through to connect us to God, 475 00:22:04,708 --> 00:22:08,333 to connect this world to its Creator, to connect this fallen, 476 00:22:08,375 --> 00:22:12,167 physical world to that flawless, spiritual world, 477 00:22:12,250 --> 00:22:13,750 and that's Jesus. 478 00:22:13,833 --> 00:22:15,500 He's our mediator. 479 00:22:15,542 --> 00:22:18,000 So, what the early church realizes is here that Jesus 480 00:22:18,042 --> 00:22:22,500 has gone to heaven, he's entered into another realm, 481 00:22:22,583 --> 00:22:27,333 but as he promised, he's not abandoned them as orphans. 482 00:22:27,417 --> 00:22:30,042 He said he would never leave them nor forsake them, 483 00:22:30,125 --> 00:22:34,167 so they could still talk to him through this miracle of prayer. 484 00:22:34,250 --> 00:22:36,375 And he's available, and he's willing to hear 485 00:22:36,458 --> 00:22:39,000 and answer their prayers. 486 00:22:39,083 --> 00:22:42,000 So, they are gathering, they are praying, 487 00:22:42,083 --> 00:22:45,833 and they are praying before they're doing to prepare them 488 00:22:45,917 --> 00:22:47,583 for their working. 489 00:22:47,667 --> 00:22:49,208 Now, let me say this: 490 00:22:49,292 --> 00:22:52,333 they are not praying that God would do something. 491 00:22:52,375 --> 00:22:54,833 One of the great misnomers of prayer is that 492 00:22:54,875 --> 00:22:59,458 the primary purpose of prayer is to get God to do something. 493 00:22:59,500 --> 00:23:02,167 This is going to be controversial. 494 00:23:02,250 --> 00:23:05,292 I do not believe that the primary purpose of prayer 495 00:23:05,333 --> 00:23:08,333 is to get God to do something. 496 00:23:08,417 --> 00:23:12,042 I believe that the primary purpose of prayer is to allow 497 00:23:12,125 --> 00:23:14,958 God to do something with us. 498 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:16,917 It's not to move God; it's to move us. 499 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,167 It's not to change God; it's to change us. 500 00:23:19,208 --> 00:23:21,667 It's not to tell God something he doesn't know; 501 00:23:21,708 --> 00:23:24,375 it's for God to tell us something that we don't know. 502 00:23:24,458 --> 00:23:29,958 It's not to change the heart of God; it's to change our heart. 503 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,125 Yes, God does hear and answer prayer, 504 00:23:33,167 --> 00:23:36,083 but hear me in this--Jesus already told them, 505 00:23:36,167 --> 00:23:39,042 "You will be my witnesses." 506 00:23:39,125 --> 00:23:41,875 That's not a question; that's a promise. 507 00:23:41,958 --> 00:23:43,958 "I will send the Holy Spirit." 508 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,958 That's not a possibility; that's a certainty. 509 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,000 So, what they're not praying for is, 510 00:23:49,042 --> 00:23:53,042 "Send the Holy Spirit, and let us go on mission." 511 00:23:53,125 --> 00:23:57,583 Those things Jesus has already promised and assured. 512 00:23:57,667 --> 00:24:00,958 I'll tell you right now, you don't need to pray that one day 513 00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,250 the dead in Christ will rise. 514 00:24:03,333 --> 00:24:05,042 You know why? 515 00:24:05,125 --> 00:24:10,417 They will because Jesus has promised it. 516 00:24:10,500 --> 00:24:12,917 You don't need to pray, "Jesus, one day, 517 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,000 judge the living and the dead." 518 00:24:15,042 --> 00:24:18,250 He already has promised that he will. 519 00:24:18,333 --> 00:24:19,792 You see what I'm saying? 520 00:24:19,833 --> 00:24:21,583 If God has promised something, 521 00:24:21,667 --> 00:24:24,500 we don't need to ask him to do it. 522 00:24:24,542 --> 00:24:29,167 What we need to do is ask him to participate in it. 523 00:24:29,208 --> 00:24:32,833 So, the prayer here is not to get Jesus to do something, 524 00:24:32,917 --> 00:24:35,000 to get the Holy Spirit to do something. 525 00:24:35,083 --> 00:24:38,125 It's to get God's people in agreement and in alignment with 526 00:24:38,167 --> 00:24:41,083 what Jesus and the Holy Spirit want them to do. 527 00:24:41,167 --> 00:24:43,083 Do you understand that? 528 00:24:43,167 --> 00:24:46,000 So, how many of you, in praying, you're like--you start praying, 529 00:24:46,042 --> 00:24:49,083 "God, do this, do this, do this, do this, do this," 530 00:24:49,167 --> 00:24:54,083 and you realize over time God uses prayer to change you. 531 00:24:54,167 --> 00:24:56,125 "God, I'm sorry that I'm bossing you around. 532 00:24:56,167 --> 00:24:58,333 "God, I'm sorry that I think I see everything. 533 00:24:58,417 --> 00:25:01,042 "God, I'm sorry that I think I know everything. 534 00:25:01,125 --> 00:25:03,000 "God, I'm sorry that I don't trust you. 535 00:25:03,083 --> 00:25:06,167 "God, I'm sorry that I seem to think I live on a throne 536 00:25:06,250 --> 00:25:09,083 and you're ready to take my orders." 537 00:25:09,167 --> 00:25:10,958 All of a sudden, you're realizing, 538 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,000 "Man, prayer is changing me." 539 00:25:14,042 --> 00:25:17,875 And prayer is inviting God to change us. 540 00:25:17,958 --> 00:25:20,958 Prayer is inviting God to change us. 541 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:24,000 How many of you, when you've prayed, God's the same, 542 00:25:24,083 --> 00:25:26,708 but you're the one who needs to change? 543 00:25:26,792 --> 00:25:29,167 You see that? 544 00:25:29,208 --> 00:25:31,000 So, they're gathering, they're praying, 545 00:25:31,083 --> 00:25:35,000 and the result is it's unifying. 546 00:25:35,042 --> 00:25:36,375 It's unifying. 547 00:25:36,458 --> 00:25:39,667 It says that they were with--what's the word? 548 00:25:39,708 --> 00:25:42,167 "One accord." 549 00:25:42,208 --> 00:25:44,625 The Bible used the language of unity as 550 00:25:44,667 --> 00:25:48,000 "One accord, one heart, one mind." 551 00:25:48,083 --> 00:25:51,167 They were together, right? 552 00:25:51,208 --> 00:25:53,250 There's that word as well, "together." 553 00:25:53,333 --> 00:25:57,542 This is all biblical language for unity. 554 00:25:57,625 --> 00:25:59,500 And Jesus prayed that we would be one. 555 00:25:59,542 --> 00:26:02,208 In his longest prayer in John 17, he says, 556 00:26:02,292 --> 00:26:05,458 "Father, I pray that we"--that, rather--"they would be 557 00:26:05,500 --> 00:26:08,333 one as we are one." 558 00:26:08,417 --> 00:26:11,167 Jesus prays in John 17, "Father, I pray that they,"-- 559 00:26:11,250 --> 00:26:15,292 the Christians-- "would be one as we are one." 560 00:26:15,333 --> 00:26:18,167 And so here, you've got God the Father, God the Son, 561 00:26:18,208 --> 00:26:19,583 God the Holy Spirit. 562 00:26:19,667 --> 00:26:23,833 One God, one God, one God-- three persons--one God. 563 00:26:23,917 --> 00:26:27,208 And Jesus prays that we, as God's people, 564 00:26:27,292 --> 00:26:32,500 we would be one--one heart, one mind, one Lord, one faith, 565 00:26:32,542 --> 00:26:36,750 one baptism, one mission, one book, right? 566 00:26:36,833 --> 00:26:38,833 We'd be one. 567 00:26:38,917 --> 00:26:45,000 What comes first, praying or unifying? 568 00:26:45,042 --> 00:26:52,042 See, we don't just pray with people who are believers that 569 00:26:52,167 --> 00:26:55,000 we're unified with, we pray with believers 570 00:26:55,083 --> 00:26:58,125 so that we might become unified with them. 571 00:26:58,167 --> 00:27:01,250 Here's the little equation I'd give you: gathering plus praying 572 00:27:01,333 --> 00:27:03,458 equals unifying. 573 00:27:03,500 --> 00:27:07,125 Gathering plus praying equals unifying. 574 00:27:07,167 --> 00:27:11,750 They gather, they pray, and they become unified. 575 00:27:11,833 --> 00:27:13,625 So, let me say this. 576 00:27:13,667 --> 00:27:16,708 There's two roommates, single people living together. 577 00:27:16,792 --> 00:27:19,625 They're both Christians, driving each other crazy. 578 00:27:19,667 --> 00:27:22,125 How do they work toward unity? 579 00:27:22,167 --> 00:27:24,417 Gathering, praying. 580 00:27:24,500 --> 00:27:27,083 Pray for one another, pray with one another. 581 00:27:27,167 --> 00:27:30,042 Eventually, you'll have unity. 582 00:27:30,125 --> 00:27:32,417 Husband and a wife, not getting along, right, 583 00:27:32,500 --> 00:27:35,292 it's not going well, it's a hard patch, they don't agree, 584 00:27:35,333 --> 00:27:36,958 they're having conflicts. 585 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:38,667 What's the answer? 586 00:27:38,708 --> 00:27:41,625 Gather, pray for one another, pray with one another. 587 00:27:41,667 --> 00:27:43,542 Family's divided, not getting along, 588 00:27:43,625 --> 00:27:45,167 a lot of drama. 589 00:27:45,208 --> 00:27:46,833 What's the answer? 590 00:27:46,917 --> 00:27:49,417 Gather, pray for one another, pray with one another. 591 00:27:49,500 --> 00:27:52,458 Community Group driving each other crazy, right? 592 00:27:52,500 --> 00:27:55,042 What's the answer? 593 00:27:55,125 --> 00:27:58,292 Gather, pray for one another, pray with one another. 594 00:27:58,333 --> 00:28:01,292 Church is experiencing a divisive season, 595 00:28:01,333 --> 00:28:03,208 difficult circumstances. 596 00:28:03,292 --> 00:28:04,792 What's the answer? 597 00:28:04,833 --> 00:28:07,000 Gathering together, praying together, 598 00:28:07,083 --> 00:28:10,208 because gathering plus praying equals unifying. 599 00:28:10,292 --> 00:28:13,042 Most of the time, we don't have a unity problem; 600 00:28:13,125 --> 00:28:16,250 we have a prayer problem that manifests itself 601 00:28:16,333 --> 00:28:18,792 as a unity problem. 602 00:28:18,833 --> 00:28:22,500 But people who pray together, they stop trying to-- 603 00:28:22,542 --> 00:28:24,125 "You need to agree with me. 604 00:28:24,167 --> 00:28:26,583 "You need to do what I want you to do. 605 00:28:26,667 --> 00:28:28,292 "No, you need to change your mind. 606 00:28:28,333 --> 00:28:31,083 I'm not going to be the one who submits or relents." 607 00:28:31,167 --> 00:28:36,167 And when we pray, we're saying, "Jesus, what do you want, 608 00:28:36,250 --> 00:28:40,125 "and get us both to stand in your will. 609 00:28:40,167 --> 00:28:42,167 "Have us think as you want us to think, 610 00:28:42,250 --> 00:28:45,000 "have us to act as you want us to act. 611 00:28:45,083 --> 00:28:48,792 "Our unity is not in one of us coercing the other, 612 00:28:48,833 --> 00:28:51,125 but both of us submitting to you." 613 00:28:51,167 --> 00:28:53,292 You see that? 614 00:28:53,333 --> 00:28:55,667 So, they're not wasting their time, 615 00:28:55,750 --> 00:28:58,958 they're investing their time gathering and unifying through 616 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:01,833 prayer so that when the Holy Spirit does come, 617 00:29:01,875 --> 00:29:06,667 they're ready to go serve the nations together, okay? 618 00:29:06,708 --> 00:29:09,500 I am firmly convinced that the Holy Spirit has been on 619 00:29:09,583 --> 00:29:14,375 Mars Hill, faithfully pouring out grace year after year. 620 00:29:14,458 --> 00:29:17,500 But if we don't have regular seasons of gathering and 621 00:29:17,542 --> 00:29:21,375 praying, we won't experience the unity that is required 622 00:29:21,458 --> 00:29:25,500 to complete the mission we've been called to, okay? 623 00:29:25,583 --> 00:29:28,625 Number two, leaders follow Scripture. 624 00:29:28,667 --> 00:29:32,167 Acts 1:15-20, "In those days Peter"--here's the leader-- 625 00:29:32,250 --> 00:29:35,833 "stood up"--that's a leadership act, right-- 626 00:29:35,917 --> 00:29:37,875 "among the brothers 627 00:29:37,958 --> 00:29:41,000 "(the company of persons was in all about 120 people) 628 00:29:41,042 --> 00:29:42,833 "and said, 'Brothers, the Scripture 629 00:29:42,917 --> 00:29:45,292 "'had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand 630 00:29:45,333 --> 00:29:48,000 by the mouth of David concerning Judas.'" 631 00:29:48,083 --> 00:29:50,000 Now, we're into a real crisis. 632 00:29:50,042 --> 00:29:52,000 We're gonna learn about Judas-- 633 00:29:52,042 --> 00:29:54,167 "'who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 634 00:29:54,250 --> 00:29:57,083 "'For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share 635 00:29:57,167 --> 00:29:58,500 in this ministry.'" 636 00:29:58,583 --> 00:29:59,958 He was one of the 12. 637 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:02,583 It continues, "(Now this man acquired a field with the reward 638 00:30:02,667 --> 00:30:05,333 "of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open 639 00:30:05,375 --> 00:30:07,875 in the middle and all his bowels gushed out." 640 00:30:07,958 --> 00:30:10,125 Pretty gruesome, right? 641 00:30:10,167 --> 00:30:12,833 "And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 642 00:30:12,875 --> 00:30:15,875 so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama." 643 00:30:15,958 --> 00:30:18,000 Very, very Middle Earth. 644 00:30:18,042 --> 00:30:20,375 "That is, the Field of Blood." 645 00:30:20,458 --> 00:30:24,083 What a great punk band that would be--"The Field of Blood." 646 00:30:24,167 --> 00:30:26,083 "For it is written in the Book of Psalms"-- 647 00:30:26,167 --> 00:30:28,667 and he quotes two psalms-- "'May his camp become desolate, 648 00:30:28,750 --> 00:30:31,250 "'and let there be no one to dwell in it'; 649 00:30:31,333 --> 00:30:34,083 and then secondly, 'Let another take his office.'" 650 00:30:34,167 --> 00:30:35,833 They have a crisis. 651 00:30:35,917 --> 00:30:39,375 Leadership transitions in ministry are always hard, 652 00:30:39,458 --> 00:30:42,625 and this one is particularly hard. 653 00:30:42,667 --> 00:30:46,167 Jesus picked 12 guys, one of them betrayed Jesus, 654 00:30:46,250 --> 00:30:49,708 was complicit in his murder, his name is Judas Iscariot, 655 00:30:49,792 --> 00:30:52,208 and he went out and killed himself. 656 00:30:52,292 --> 00:30:54,167 The gospels say that he hung himself. 657 00:30:54,250 --> 00:30:56,167 Here, we get some additional information 658 00:30:56,250 --> 00:30:59,167 that his insides burst out. 659 00:30:59,208 --> 00:31:03,375 Either he hanged there long enough that his body fell 660 00:31:03,458 --> 00:31:08,375 or he became bloated until he burst. 661 00:31:08,458 --> 00:31:11,208 Either way, it's gruesome. 662 00:31:11,292 --> 00:31:13,208 Now, think about it: at this point, Christianity is not 663 00:31:13,292 --> 00:31:16,083 a few billion people as it is on the earth today; 664 00:31:16,167 --> 00:31:20,250 it's 120 people. They're all gathering in 1 room. 665 00:31:20,333 --> 00:31:23,708 Jesus has returned to his heavenly kingdom. 666 00:31:23,792 --> 00:31:28,625 Of the 12 leaders, Judas has killed himself. 667 00:31:28,667 --> 00:31:33,917 Difficult transition, right? 668 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,125 Somebody needs to say something; somebody needs to do something. 669 00:31:37,167 --> 00:31:39,708 That someone is Peter. 670 00:31:39,792 --> 00:31:41,250 Peter is the human leader. 671 00:31:41,333 --> 00:31:43,625 Mars Hill, I need you to see this, 672 00:31:43,667 --> 00:31:45,292 that God works through leaders. 673 00:31:45,333 --> 00:31:47,333 He works through political leaders. 674 00:31:47,375 --> 00:31:49,667 In the family, he works through parents. 675 00:31:49,708 --> 00:31:53,167 In the church, he works through pastors. 676 00:31:53,208 --> 00:31:55,250 That God works through leaders. 677 00:31:55,333 --> 00:31:57,250 Here, he's working through apostles. 678 00:31:57,333 --> 00:32:01,000 God works through leaders. 679 00:32:01,083 --> 00:32:03,833 God works through leaders, 680 00:32:03,875 --> 00:32:07,333 and anytime you think it is noble 681 00:32:07,375 --> 00:32:10,667 to just de facto rebel against authority, 682 00:32:10,708 --> 00:32:13,333 you're putting yourself in grave danger. 683 00:32:13,417 --> 00:32:15,792 See, we live in a day today where rebellion against 684 00:32:15,833 --> 00:32:18,500 authority is a noble thing. 685 00:32:18,583 --> 00:32:23,042 And some will say, "Well, the authority is not holy." 686 00:32:23,125 --> 00:32:27,250 Neither are the rebels. 687 00:32:27,333 --> 00:32:30,833 We're all sinners, but God still works through authority, 688 00:32:30,917 --> 00:32:33,167 and this begins with the Trinity. 689 00:32:33,250 --> 00:32:35,250 God the Father sends God the Son. 690 00:32:35,333 --> 00:32:38,500 Even that language of Father and Son indicates some submission, 691 00:32:38,583 --> 00:32:40,542 some hierarchy, some deference. 692 00:32:40,625 --> 00:32:42,625 They're equal, they're totally equal, 693 00:32:42,667 --> 00:32:44,333 sharing all the divine attributes, 694 00:32:44,375 --> 00:32:46,125 but the Father sends the Son. 695 00:32:46,167 --> 00:32:49,000 The Son says, "I say what the Father tells me to say. 696 00:32:49,042 --> 00:32:52,250 I do what the Father tells me to do," and he says things like, 697 00:32:52,333 --> 00:32:54,833 "Not my will be done, but your will be done." 698 00:32:54,917 --> 00:32:56,833 Jesus respects authority. 699 00:32:56,875 --> 00:33:00,375 Even as a little boy, he respects his parents' authority. 700 00:33:00,458 --> 00:33:02,500 And then the Father and the Son 701 00:33:02,583 --> 00:33:04,333 send the Holy Spirit, 702 00:33:04,417 --> 00:33:07,250 and the Holy Spirit is in agreement and obedience 703 00:33:07,333 --> 00:33:10,000 to the plan of the Father and the Son. 704 00:33:10,042 --> 00:33:13,500 So, God himself demonstrates equality with submission 705 00:33:13,542 --> 00:33:18,375 to authority, and he calls us to respect authority and to pray 706 00:33:18,458 --> 00:33:21,542 for those in authority and to honor those in authority 707 00:33:21,625 --> 00:33:24,208 and to obey those in authority. 708 00:33:24,292 --> 00:33:26,833 And here, they've got a real crisis. 709 00:33:26,917 --> 00:33:29,500 What they don't need is a bunch of politicking 710 00:33:29,542 --> 00:33:31,500 and everybody putting together their plan 711 00:33:31,542 --> 00:33:33,708 and what they think the best idea is 712 00:33:33,792 --> 00:33:36,667 and then ending up with some compromise in an effort to get 713 00:33:36,708 --> 00:33:38,167 a majority vote from 714 00:33:38,208 --> 00:33:39,542 a congregationally-governed church. 715 00:33:39,625 --> 00:33:43,875 What they need is a leader, and it's Peter. 716 00:33:43,958 --> 00:33:46,417 They never voted for Peter to be their leader; 717 00:33:46,500 --> 00:33:48,375 Jesus just appointed him. 718 00:33:48,458 --> 00:33:51,083 Every time the list of the disciples is given in 719 00:33:51,167 --> 00:33:53,375 the Bible of the apostles, Peter's always listed first, 720 00:33:53,458 --> 00:33:54,792 why? 721 00:33:54,833 --> 00:33:57,250 All right, we just read it in the previous verses. 722 00:33:57,333 --> 00:33:58,625 Who's listed first? Peter, why? 723 00:33:58,667 --> 00:34:00,167 He's the first among equals. 724 00:34:00,250 --> 00:34:02,375 He's the leader, and so he steps forward. 725 00:34:02,458 --> 00:34:04,000 He steps up. 726 00:34:04,042 --> 00:34:06,250 He's going to lead the people. 727 00:34:06,333 --> 00:34:08,000 How's he going to lead them? 728 00:34:08,083 --> 00:34:10,375 This is very important, very critical. 729 00:34:10,458 --> 00:34:14,250 He's going to lead them by following Scripture. 730 00:34:14,333 --> 00:34:18,333 Leaders follow Scripture, all right? 731 00:34:18,417 --> 00:34:21,500 Godly leaders follow God's Word. 732 00:34:21,583 --> 00:34:23,042 That's the way it works. 733 00:34:23,125 --> 00:34:25,708 Peter doesn't stand up and say, "Well, let's take a poll. 734 00:34:25,792 --> 00:34:28,000 "Let's take a vote. What do you guys think? 735 00:34:28,042 --> 00:34:30,000 Let's look to all kinds of other sources." 736 00:34:30,042 --> 00:34:33,042 There may be good information in the social sciences 737 00:34:33,125 --> 00:34:34,917 and business and the culture. 738 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,333 People may have some good ideas, but ultimately, 739 00:34:37,417 --> 00:34:41,167 everything rises and falls with us coming back to the Bible, 740 00:34:41,208 --> 00:34:43,917 back to the Bible, back to the Bible, and asking, 741 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:46,500 "What has God said?" 742 00:34:46,583 --> 00:34:48,875 I want you to see, they start with prayer 743 00:34:48,958 --> 00:34:50,708 and then they move to Scripture. 744 00:34:50,792 --> 00:34:52,542 Prayer is how we talk to God, 745 00:34:52,625 --> 00:34:55,458 Scripture is how God talks to us, okay? 746 00:34:55,500 --> 00:34:58,542 So, in prayer, we're talking to God and he uses prayer 747 00:34:58,625 --> 00:35:01,333 to change us, and then as we open Scriptures, 748 00:35:01,417 --> 00:35:04,167 we're submitting ourselves to the authority of God's Word so 749 00:35:04,250 --> 00:35:07,792 that then we might know how to walk out God's plan in our life. 750 00:35:07,833 --> 00:35:10,000 Now, Mars Hill, there are certain things, 751 00:35:10,083 --> 00:35:13,042 for 17 years almost every week, I've been stressing 752 00:35:13,125 --> 00:35:15,208 and stressing and stressing. 753 00:35:15,292 --> 00:35:18,667 Guys, I love you very much and I know that some of you 754 00:35:18,750 --> 00:35:21,375 will only be with me for a short season, 755 00:35:21,458 --> 00:35:23,417 and I know that some of you, 756 00:35:23,500 --> 00:35:26,292 because of work or school, or God's calling on your life 757 00:35:26,333 --> 00:35:28,083 you're going to go elsewhere-- 758 00:35:28,167 --> 00:35:30,417 you're going to scatter for Jesus' mission. 759 00:35:30,500 --> 00:35:34,292 And there are certain themes that I constantly emphasize in 760 00:35:34,333 --> 00:35:37,458 my teaching because I want you grasp them and take them 761 00:35:37,500 --> 00:35:39,458 as your own. 762 00:35:39,500 --> 00:35:42,667 And what I want to now share with you is one of those 763 00:35:42,708 --> 00:35:46,875 most deepest and significant convictions that I have 764 00:35:46,958 --> 00:35:50,125 and that I pray that we would have and that you would have. 765 00:35:50,167 --> 00:35:53,458 And it's found in Acts 1:16. 766 00:35:53,500 --> 00:35:55,875 Here's what Peter says, "The Scripture." 767 00:35:55,958 --> 00:35:58,125 So, what are we talking about? 768 00:35:58,167 --> 00:36:01,125 We're talking about God's Word, God's Word. 769 00:36:01,167 --> 00:36:03,042 We love God's Word, right? 770 00:36:03,125 --> 00:36:06,333 We believe God's Word, we trust God's Word, we study God's Word, 771 00:36:06,417 --> 00:36:09,625 we memorize God's Word, we come back to God's Word. 772 00:36:09,667 --> 00:36:11,333 This is what Peter's doing. 773 00:36:11,417 --> 00:36:14,458 Peter is deciding who the 12th apostle, 774 00:36:14,500 --> 00:36:17,625 the replacement for Judas will be, 775 00:36:17,667 --> 00:36:19,417 and he goes back to the Bible. 776 00:36:19,500 --> 00:36:22,833 That's where we always need to go back to--back to God's Word. 777 00:36:22,917 --> 00:36:25,625 "The Scripture had to be"--what? 778 00:36:25,667 --> 00:36:27,000 "Fulfilled." 779 00:36:27,083 --> 00:36:28,625 This is an echo. 780 00:36:28,667 --> 00:36:30,625 This is an echo of Jesus, who said, 781 00:36:30,667 --> 00:36:33,292 "I have not come to abolish the law and the prophets. 782 00:36:33,333 --> 00:36:34,667 I've come to"--what? 783 00:36:34,750 --> 00:36:36,000 "Fulfill them." 784 00:36:36,083 --> 00:36:37,708 So, this is an echo of Jesus. 785 00:36:37,792 --> 00:36:40,167 Jesus came as a Bible teacher. 786 00:36:40,208 --> 00:36:41,667 He was a rabbi. 787 00:36:41,708 --> 00:36:43,625 That's a Bible teacher, and he said, 788 00:36:43,667 --> 00:36:45,667 "I've come to fulfill everything that the Scriptures say." 789 00:36:45,750 --> 00:36:47,917 Mars Hill, I need you to know this. 790 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,458 Everything God promises comes to pass. 791 00:36:51,500 --> 00:36:53,125 Twenty-five percent of the Bible, 792 00:36:53,167 --> 00:36:55,667 at the time of its writing, was prophetic in nature, 793 00:36:55,750 --> 00:36:57,833 prophesying in advance what would happen, 794 00:36:57,875 --> 00:37:00,458 most of that surrounding the person and work of Jesus. 795 00:37:00,500 --> 00:37:03,083 Much of that has already been fulfilled, all right? 796 00:37:03,167 --> 00:37:05,417 A virgin gave birth to a Son, all right, 797 00:37:05,500 --> 00:37:09,042 that he lived without sin, that he was taken to the temple, 798 00:37:09,125 --> 00:37:12,042 that he died on the cross, that he rose from the dead, 799 00:37:12,125 --> 00:37:13,833 that he ascended into heaven. 800 00:37:13,875 --> 00:37:16,625 Like, the Bible prophesied all of these things, hundreds, 801 00:37:16,667 --> 00:37:19,000 thousands of years in advance. 802 00:37:19,083 --> 00:37:21,542 And now, we're in the time between the times, 803 00:37:21,625 --> 00:37:23,833 between the first and second coming of Jesus, 804 00:37:23,875 --> 00:37:27,250 and we're waiting for the conclusion of his fulfilling. 805 00:37:27,333 --> 00:37:29,542 And this is the season of human history 806 00:37:29,625 --> 00:37:31,708 where the church is unleashed by the power 807 00:37:31,792 --> 00:37:34,458 of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses to the nations, 808 00:37:34,500 --> 00:37:36,500 to plant churches, to make disciples, 809 00:37:36,583 --> 00:37:38,708 to tell people that Jesus is God, 810 00:37:38,792 --> 00:37:40,792 to tell people that Jesus is Lord, 811 00:37:40,833 --> 00:37:42,917 to tell people that Jesus is alive, 812 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:45,000 to tell people that Jesus forgives sin, 813 00:37:45,042 --> 00:37:47,500 to tell people that Jesus is coming again to judge 814 00:37:47,583 --> 00:37:49,083 the living and the dead. 815 00:37:49,167 --> 00:37:52,417 And there's a period of time-- it's a unique period of time 816 00:37:52,500 --> 00:37:55,667 in the history of the world-- and we are a part of it. 817 00:37:55,750 --> 00:37:58,417 We're a part of it, between Jesus' first and second coming. 818 00:37:58,500 --> 00:38:01,708 And when he comes again, everything else that we've been 819 00:38:01,792 --> 00:38:04,750 waiting for the fulfillment of, it will come to pass just as 820 00:38:04,833 --> 00:38:07,708 God's Word promised, because the Scripture has to be--what? 821 00:38:07,792 --> 00:38:10,208 It has to be fulfilled. 822 00:38:10,292 --> 00:38:12,500 God knows the future, God tells us the future, 823 00:38:12,583 --> 00:38:15,500 and God prepares us for the future that he 824 00:38:15,542 --> 00:38:17,333 has planned for us. 825 00:38:17,417 --> 00:38:19,000 The Scripture had to be fulfilled. 826 00:38:19,042 --> 00:38:21,917 Now, this is amazing. 827 00:38:22,000 --> 00:38:23,667 Are you ready? 828 00:38:23,750 --> 00:38:26,833 This is amazing. 829 00:38:26,875 --> 00:38:30,250 "Which the"--read it with me--who? 830 00:38:30,333 --> 00:38:34,917 "Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David." 831 00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:37,917 Peter gets up, quotes two psalms. 832 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:39,667 Says, "Here's what we need to do. 833 00:38:39,750 --> 00:38:41,667 "We need to obey the Bible. 834 00:38:41,750 --> 00:38:44,583 Here in Psalms, it says this." 835 00:38:44,667 --> 00:38:49,917 Peter says, "It was David's voice, but whose words?" 836 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:55,292 The Holy Spirit's words. 837 00:38:55,333 --> 00:38:58,625 Do you get that? 838 00:38:58,667 --> 00:39:04,833 David's voice, the Holy Spirit's words. 839 00:39:04,917 --> 00:39:07,542 This is where we get the dual authorship 840 00:39:07,625 --> 00:39:09,458 of Scripture. 841 00:39:09,500 --> 00:39:14,917 The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible through human authors. 842 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:20,292 It may be Luke's pen, but it's the Holy Spirit's words. 843 00:39:20,333 --> 00:39:24,833 It may be David's voice, but it's the Holy Spirit's words. 844 00:39:24,875 --> 00:39:26,458 Do you get that? 845 00:39:26,500 --> 00:39:28,708 I'm not making this up, right? 846 00:39:28,792 --> 00:39:30,583 I'm not making this up, Mars Hill. 847 00:39:30,667 --> 00:39:32,417 There it is. 848 00:39:32,500 --> 00:39:36,083 The Holy Spirit spoke by the mouth of David. 849 00:39:36,167 --> 00:39:39,708 I'm gonna give you three big words, all right? 850 00:39:39,792 --> 00:39:45,750 Verbal plenary inspiration, okay? 851 00:39:45,833 --> 00:39:47,750 This is what we believe at Mars Hill. 852 00:39:47,833 --> 00:39:49,625 If you're new, this is what we believe. 853 00:39:49,667 --> 00:39:52,042 Verbal--that the very words of Scripture, 854 00:39:52,125 --> 00:39:54,708 not just the concepts and the big ideas, 855 00:39:54,792 --> 00:39:58,792 the very words of the Bible, verbal. 856 00:39:58,833 --> 00:40:04,500 Plenary--in the whole Bible, in the whole Bible. 857 00:40:04,542 --> 00:40:07,375 So, there's not a part of the Bible that we do like 858 00:40:07,458 --> 00:40:10,292 Thomas Jefferson did and get a set of scissors and say, 859 00:40:10,333 --> 00:40:12,875 "Well, gonna cut that out and throw it on the floor, 860 00:40:12,958 --> 00:40:15,125 "and get that and throw it on the floor, 861 00:40:15,167 --> 00:40:17,500 and cut that out and throw it on the floor." 862 00:40:17,583 --> 00:40:19,000 Why? 863 00:40:19,083 --> 00:40:21,625 Well, because we don't believe that the whole of Scripture 864 00:40:21,667 --> 00:40:24,625 is from God, only parts, and we're here to be God's editors, 865 00:40:24,667 --> 00:40:26,042 not God's messengers. 866 00:40:26,125 --> 00:40:28,500 We don't believe that. 867 00:40:28,583 --> 00:40:33,042 Verbal plenary--the very words in all of the Bible. 868 00:40:33,125 --> 00:40:36,250 Verbal plenary inspiration-- 869 00:40:36,333 --> 00:40:40,625 it's the Holy Spirit giving us 870 00:40:40,667 --> 00:40:43,625 the revealed truth of God. 871 00:40:43,667 --> 00:40:45,750 It's a miracle. 872 00:40:45,833 --> 00:40:48,542 Mars Hill, that means that the only perfect thing on 873 00:40:48,625 --> 00:40:50,625 the earth is the Word of God. 874 00:40:50,667 --> 00:40:52,708 Nothing else on earth is perfect. 875 00:40:52,792 --> 00:40:55,167 And it also means, Mars Hill, that there's no book 876 00:40:55,208 --> 00:40:59,167 on the earth that is anything like this. 877 00:40:59,208 --> 00:41:02,333 You can't go to a John Grisham novel or, you know, 878 00:41:02,375 --> 00:41:06,875 the latest self-help book on Oprah or with Dr. Phil. 879 00:41:06,958 --> 00:41:11,667 You can't go to the latest, "How to Fix Your Life" trend seminar 880 00:41:11,750 --> 00:41:16,708 and have them get up and say, "And this is the Word of God." 881 00:41:16,792 --> 00:41:22,000 And if they do, run for your life unless they are reading 882 00:41:22,042 --> 00:41:24,917 this book, amen? 883 00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:26,667 There's nothing like this. 884 00:41:26,708 --> 00:41:29,667 There's nothing that matches this in authority. 885 00:41:29,750 --> 00:41:31,958 There's nothing else that can say, 886 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:35,042 "And this is the book that God wrote." 887 00:41:35,125 --> 00:41:37,958 And I tell you this, because every opposition, 888 00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:40,833 every hammering that comes against the Word of God, 889 00:41:40,917 --> 00:41:42,375 it's demonic in nature. 890 00:41:42,458 --> 00:41:44,667 It's trying to take the Word of God, 891 00:41:44,708 --> 00:41:47,042 and make it a human word about God, 892 00:41:47,125 --> 00:41:50,833 and to reduce it from it's place of authority and just leave it 893 00:41:50,917 --> 00:41:53,833 in a place of conjecture and speculation, 894 00:41:53,917 --> 00:41:58,000 along with philosophy, and morality and spirituality, 895 00:41:58,083 --> 00:41:59,667 and it's not. 896 00:41:59,750 --> 00:42:02,292 It's the living, active Word of God. 897 00:42:02,333 --> 00:42:06,833 It's God speaking through people so that when we hear what 898 00:42:06,875 --> 00:42:11,667 the Scriptures say, we are hearing from God. 899 00:42:11,708 --> 00:42:15,917 That's what we believe, okay? 900 00:42:18,500 --> 00:42:21,833 At Mars Hill, we get excited about this, 901 00:42:21,917 --> 00:42:23,667 and the Bibles are free. 902 00:42:23,750 --> 00:42:25,708 Take all you want on your way out. 903 00:42:25,792 --> 00:42:28,792 You'll get to a point that says, "Thou shalt not steal," 904 00:42:28,833 --> 00:42:30,292 but you're not stealing. 905 00:42:30,333 --> 00:42:32,875 You're welcome to take them, amen? 906 00:42:32,958 --> 00:42:35,917 Okay, so leaders follow what? 907 00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:37,667 Scripture. 908 00:42:37,750 --> 00:42:39,292 If a leader isn't following the Bible, 909 00:42:39,333 --> 00:42:41,875 don't follow the leader. 910 00:42:41,958 --> 00:42:44,708 And mission follows failure. 911 00:42:44,792 --> 00:42:47,167 Acts 1:21-26. 912 00:42:47,250 --> 00:42:50,208 "'So one of the men who have accompanied us during all 913 00:42:50,292 --> 00:42:53,417 "'the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 914 00:42:53,500 --> 00:42:55,792 beginning from the baptism of John'"--that's Jesus' cousin-- 915 00:42:55,833 --> 00:42:58,083 "'until the day he was taken up from us.'" 916 00:42:58,167 --> 00:42:59,833 It records it in Acts 1: 917 00:42:59,917 --> 00:43:02,750 "'One of these men must become with us a witness 918 00:43:02,833 --> 00:43:04,292 "'to his resurrection.' 919 00:43:04,333 --> 00:43:06,500 "They put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas." 920 00:43:06,542 --> 00:43:08,333 Here's a little caveat. 921 00:43:08,375 --> 00:43:11,000 "Bar" means "son of," so when you read in the Bible, 922 00:43:11,042 --> 00:43:14,000 "Bar-, Bar-, Bar-, Bar-, Bar-," who are all these "Bar" guys? 923 00:43:14,042 --> 00:43:15,708 It's "Son of, son of, son of." 924 00:43:15,792 --> 00:43:18,917 So Simon Barjonah is Simon, the son of Jonah. 925 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:21,917 Barsabbas, well that's Sabbath. 926 00:43:22,000 --> 00:43:23,833 He was probably born on a Saturday, 927 00:43:23,875 --> 00:43:25,750 the Jewish Saturday, 928 00:43:25,833 --> 00:43:28,417 so he's son of the Sabbath, "Who was also called Justus, 929 00:43:28,500 --> 00:43:31,917 and Matthias"-- which means gift from God. 930 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:33,500 "And they prayed"-- 931 00:43:33,542 --> 00:43:34,917 oh, what are they doing? 932 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:36,250 Look at that, Mars Hill. 933 00:43:36,333 --> 00:43:38,500 They've got to pick leaders-- what are they doing? 934 00:43:38,542 --> 00:43:39,917 They're not voting. 935 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:46,625 They're not voting; they are praying for God's vote. 936 00:43:46,667 --> 00:43:49,833 You know what's better than voting? 937 00:43:49,875 --> 00:43:54,333 Praying for God's vote, praying for God's vote. 938 00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:57,958 "They prayed and said, 'You, Lord.'" 939 00:43:58,000 --> 00:43:59,333 And look at this, Mars Hill. 940 00:43:59,417 --> 00:44:02,125 They put a prayer in the Bible. Must be important, right? 941 00:44:02,167 --> 00:44:03,625 Praying is important. 942 00:44:03,667 --> 00:44:05,625 It's important enough to make the Bible. 943 00:44:05,667 --> 00:44:07,708 "You, Lord, know the hearts of all." 944 00:44:07,792 --> 00:44:10,292 Here's the truth--when it comes to selecting human leaders 945 00:44:10,333 --> 00:44:13,167 in the church, leadership transitions can be particularly 946 00:44:13,208 --> 00:44:16,333 hard, and we've all got to watch our hearts. 947 00:44:16,375 --> 00:44:18,917 You say, "Well, I like this person; I don't like them. 948 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:20,833 "I want this; I don't want that. 949 00:44:20,917 --> 00:44:23,833 I wish it was like this; I wish it was not like that." 950 00:44:23,917 --> 00:44:25,833 You know what? Lord, who do you want? 951 00:44:25,917 --> 00:44:29,042 Who do you want? 952 00:44:29,125 --> 00:44:31,417 "'To take the place in this ministry and apostleship 953 00:44:31,500 --> 00:44:34,042 from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.'" 954 00:44:34,125 --> 00:44:36,875 Judas walked away from God and his people, and he went 955 00:44:36,958 --> 00:44:41,000 to his own place, ultimately the grave and hell. 956 00:44:41,042 --> 00:44:43,833 "And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, 957 00:44:43,917 --> 00:44:47,833 and he was numbered with the eleven apostles." 958 00:44:47,875 --> 00:44:51,542 Here, he talks about Judas Iscariot. 959 00:44:51,625 --> 00:44:55,583 He has to deal with this. 960 00:44:55,667 --> 00:44:58,000 Everybody knows what's happened to Judas. 961 00:44:58,042 --> 00:45:02,042 Peter needs to explain it and what do we do now. 962 00:45:02,125 --> 00:45:05,083 Before I get into some of the specifics on this, 963 00:45:05,167 --> 00:45:07,542 let me answer a very common question. 964 00:45:07,625 --> 00:45:11,333 And it is--did Judas lose his salvation? 965 00:45:11,417 --> 00:45:15,000 How many of you've pondered that question? 966 00:45:15,042 --> 00:45:17,833 Was Judas a believer who lost his salvation 967 00:45:17,917 --> 00:45:19,833 and became an unbeliever? 968 00:45:19,917 --> 00:45:22,375 Because the story of Judas--if you're unaware, 969 00:45:22,458 --> 00:45:26,875 Jesus chose 12 senior leaders, apostles, disciples. 970 00:45:26,958 --> 00:45:28,875 They were with him for 3 years. 971 00:45:28,958 --> 00:45:31,833 They heard him preach, teach; they saw him cast out demons, 972 00:45:31,917 --> 00:45:36,583 walk on water; they saw him perform miracles. 973 00:45:36,667 --> 00:45:39,875 And there was a guy named Judas who betrayed him with a kiss 974 00:45:39,958 --> 00:45:43,000 and handed him over to the authorities to be murdered. 975 00:45:43,042 --> 00:45:45,333 Judas was a pretend friend. 976 00:45:45,417 --> 00:45:49,417 Judas was Jesus' betrayer, and then Judas went out 977 00:45:49,500 --> 00:45:54,000 and committed suicide and killed himself. 978 00:45:54,042 --> 00:45:57,875 And then the question is--was he ever a Christian? 979 00:45:57,958 --> 00:45:59,542 That's the question. 980 00:45:59,625 --> 00:46:01,667 What's the answer? 981 00:46:01,750 --> 00:46:06,083 Was Judas a Christian who lost his salvation--and might I 982 00:46:06,167 --> 00:46:09,000 submit to you that that's the wrong question. 983 00:46:09,083 --> 00:46:11,875 The question is not, "Can we lose our salvation?" 984 00:46:11,958 --> 00:46:15,875 The question is, "Can Jesus lose one of his people? 985 00:46:15,958 --> 00:46:18,542 Can Christ lose a Christian?" 986 00:46:18,625 --> 00:46:23,083 We don't earn our salvation, so we can't unearn our salvation. 987 00:46:23,167 --> 00:46:28,417 Jesus says that no one can snatch us from his hand. 988 00:46:28,500 --> 00:46:31,917 That would include ourselves. 989 00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:36,250 Judas was never a believer. 990 00:46:36,333 --> 00:46:42,625 Here's what's scary for you and I--you can be close to Jesus 991 00:46:42,667 --> 00:46:45,458 but not close to Jesus. 992 00:46:45,500 --> 00:46:48,208 You can be close to people who are close to Jesus 993 00:46:48,292 --> 00:46:50,000 and not close to Jesus. 994 00:46:50,083 --> 00:46:52,917 You can have a roommate who loves Jesus and not love Jesus. 995 00:46:53,000 --> 00:46:56,875 You can have a mom and a dad who love Jesus and not love Jesus. 996 00:46:56,958 --> 00:46:59,958 You can have a family that loves Jesus but not love Jesus. 997 00:47:00,083 --> 00:47:02,333 You can be in a Community Group that loves Jesus 998 00:47:02,375 --> 00:47:03,833 and not love Jesus. 999 00:47:03,875 --> 00:47:06,833 You can be in church that loves Jesus and not love Jesus. 1000 00:47:06,875 --> 00:47:08,250 That's Judas. 1001 00:47:08,333 --> 00:47:10,917 It's an opportunity for us all to examine our heart. 1002 00:47:11,000 --> 00:47:12,667 "Do I love Jesus?" 1003 00:47:12,708 --> 00:47:14,958 Six reasons I believe that Judas was an unbeliever. 1004 00:47:15,000 --> 00:47:20,167 Number one, the Bible refers to him as the son of perdition. 1005 00:47:20,250 --> 00:47:24,250 The only other person I've seen referenced by that title is 1006 00:47:24,333 --> 00:47:27,542 the anti-Christ. 1007 00:47:27,625 --> 00:47:31,875 So, let's just say that's an unbeliever's title, amen? 1008 00:47:31,958 --> 00:47:37,917 Number two, he is called the one who was doomed for destruction-- 1009 00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:40,583 that God knew exactly what he was going to do. 1010 00:47:40,667 --> 00:47:43,292 And some of you are going to get confused by this. 1011 00:47:43,333 --> 00:47:45,833 As soon as you hear, "Doomed to destruction," you'll think, 1012 00:47:45,917 --> 00:47:48,958 "Oh, so he was a victim. God made him betray Jesus. 1013 00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:51,417 He's part of the cosmic plan." 1014 00:47:51,500 --> 00:47:55,500 God knew what he was going to do and he still did it. 1015 00:47:55,542 --> 00:47:58,000 God's not the one who made him do it, 1016 00:47:58,083 --> 00:48:01,333 God's the one who knew what he would do. 1017 00:48:01,417 --> 00:48:06,042 God is sovereign over it, and Judas is responsible for it, 1018 00:48:06,125 --> 00:48:10,333 so he is absolutely responsible for his betrayal of Jesus. 1019 00:48:10,375 --> 00:48:12,917 That he is the one doomed to destruction. 1020 00:48:13,000 --> 00:48:17,083 Number three, Judas never loved Jesus; 1021 00:48:17,167 --> 00:48:20,458 he loved money, 1022 00:48:20,500 --> 00:48:25,000 and he used Jesus to get money. 1023 00:48:25,083 --> 00:48:27,167 He was a lover of money. 1024 00:48:27,208 --> 00:48:30,667 He was the CFO, the CEO, 1025 00:48:30,708 --> 00:48:35,333 the Executive Pastor of Jesus' ministry. 1026 00:48:35,417 --> 00:48:39,167 The money would come in, and Judas would keep the books, 1027 00:48:39,208 --> 00:48:42,667 and Judas would cook the books, and Judas would put his hand 1028 00:48:42,708 --> 00:48:46,833 in the till, and then put the money in his pocket. 1029 00:48:46,917 --> 00:48:50,458 And the Bible says that he did this for the entire duration of 1030 00:48:50,500 --> 00:48:54,167 his participation in the ministry of Jesus. 1031 00:48:54,208 --> 00:48:57,042 He stole from Jesus for 3 years. 1032 00:48:57,125 --> 00:49:00,083 That's an unbeliever. 1033 00:49:00,167 --> 00:49:03,375 And then when they came to him and they said, "Judas, 1034 00:49:03,458 --> 00:49:07,000 we'll give you 30 pieces of silver if you give us Jesus." 1035 00:49:07,083 --> 00:49:08,958 What did he do? 1036 00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:10,667 He took the deal. 1037 00:49:10,750 --> 00:49:13,333 He would rather have the money than Jesus. 1038 00:49:13,417 --> 00:49:16,000 He would rather have the money than Jesus. 1039 00:49:16,042 --> 00:49:18,583 That's an unbeliever. 1040 00:49:18,667 --> 00:49:23,542 Number four, in John 6, Jesus looks at his disciples 1041 00:49:23,625 --> 00:49:27,875 and he says, "One of you is the devil." 1042 00:49:27,958 --> 00:49:32,042 Number five, it says in John 6 1043 00:49:32,125 --> 00:49:34,167 that Jesus looked at the disciples 1044 00:49:34,250 --> 00:49:36,750 and then it says, "And he knew from the beginning 1045 00:49:36,833 --> 00:49:39,583 which would betray him." 1046 00:49:39,667 --> 00:49:43,042 And number six, at the Last Supper, 1047 00:49:43,125 --> 00:49:45,667 we are told that Judas opened his heart and welcomed Satan 1048 00:49:45,708 --> 00:49:49,750 into his heart, that he was demon-possessed. 1049 00:49:49,833 --> 00:49:52,583 He was Satan-possessed, okay? 1050 00:49:52,667 --> 00:49:57,250 Judas was not a godly man who had a bad day. 1051 00:49:57,333 --> 00:50:03,917 Judas was an ungodly man who got exposed on one day. 1052 00:50:05,250 --> 00:50:09,250 Who he was was simply revealed at the betrayal of Jesus; 1053 00:50:09,333 --> 00:50:12,167 it was not changed. 1054 00:50:12,208 --> 00:50:14,875 The Bible is not primarily about leadership, 1055 00:50:14,958 --> 00:50:17,333 but there sure are a lot of amazing case studies, 1056 00:50:17,417 --> 00:50:19,375 and this is one of them. 1057 00:50:19,458 --> 00:50:22,208 What you'll see, as we continue in the book of Acts-- 1058 00:50:22,292 --> 00:50:26,208 that ministry transitions are hard for God's people. 1059 00:50:26,292 --> 00:50:29,167 Some people transition wonderfully. 1060 00:50:29,208 --> 00:50:31,958 There's a case in Acts 13 where there's a bunch of preachers, 1061 00:50:32,000 --> 00:50:34,875 and the Holy Spirit tells them, "Well, these guys preach here, 1062 00:50:34,958 --> 00:50:37,458 "and these guys go plant a church and preach there, 1063 00:50:37,500 --> 00:50:39,125 and we're going to have more churches." 1064 00:50:39,167 --> 00:50:42,125 And they pray, and they send them out, and they bless them. 1065 00:50:42,167 --> 00:50:43,875 It's a wonderful transition! 1066 00:50:43,958 --> 00:50:47,125 Other transitions are not wonderful; they're woeful. 1067 00:50:47,167 --> 00:50:51,292 This is a woeful transition. 1068 00:50:51,333 --> 00:50:55,000 Ideally, the way a transition would happen in ministry 1069 00:50:55,042 --> 00:50:58,708 or in business or any other organization 1070 00:50:58,792 --> 00:51:00,792 would kind of be like track. 1071 00:51:00,833 --> 00:51:02,750 My daughter Ashley's a sprinter. 1072 00:51:02,833 --> 00:51:05,792 She runs the 100m, the 200m, the 4x100m, the 4x200m. 1073 00:51:05,833 --> 00:51:07,708 Those are kind of the races, historically, 1074 00:51:07,792 --> 00:51:11,208 that she's participated in, and as I've talked to Ashley, 1075 00:51:11,292 --> 00:51:14,625 I ask, "Okay, well, tell me about track so I can be 1076 00:51:14,667 --> 00:51:16,083 a good track dad." 1077 00:51:16,167 --> 00:51:19,000 And what Ashley has informed me is that in the 4x100m 1078 00:51:19,042 --> 00:51:23,083 or the 4x200m, what's the most important part of the race? 1079 00:51:23,167 --> 00:51:25,458 It's the handoffs. 1080 00:51:25,500 --> 00:51:29,167 All right, if you don't get the handoff right, 1081 00:51:29,208 --> 00:51:33,000 the baton's going to get dropped, and then it's over, 1082 00:51:33,042 --> 00:51:35,667 or you're going to have a bad handoff 1083 00:51:35,708 --> 00:51:37,667 and it's going to slow you down. 1084 00:51:37,708 --> 00:51:39,500 Now, you're in trouble. 1085 00:51:39,542 --> 00:51:42,833 Ideally, you'd be going full speed, 1086 00:51:42,917 --> 00:51:45,750 hit them in their transition, hand on the baton, 1087 00:51:45,833 --> 00:51:48,167 off they go, good handoff. 1088 00:51:48,208 --> 00:51:51,083 Leadership is like that. 1089 00:51:51,167 --> 00:51:53,250 Sometimes the baton gets dropped and you're like, 1090 00:51:53,333 --> 00:51:54,667 "Oh man, now we're way behind. 1091 00:51:54,750 --> 00:51:56,333 Now we've got a total mess." 1092 00:51:56,375 --> 00:51:58,833 Other times, somebody gets frustrated, walks off the track, 1093 00:51:58,875 --> 00:52:01,583 and throws the baton up on the stands and everybody else 1094 00:52:01,667 --> 00:52:05,417 is out on the track like, 1095 00:52:05,500 --> 00:52:07,667 "I don't think they're coming back. 1096 00:52:07,750 --> 00:52:09,792 We need to go find that baton," right? 1097 00:52:09,833 --> 00:52:12,792 And it creates a lot of work, and all of a sudden, 1098 00:52:12,833 --> 00:52:15,792 the whole team's got to shut everything down and go pick up 1099 00:52:15,833 --> 00:52:17,833 where they left off eventually. 1100 00:52:17,875 --> 00:52:21,000 Let me say this--part of your witness in ministry and part of 1101 00:52:21,083 --> 00:52:24,167 your witness in business is not just doing a good job 1102 00:52:24,250 --> 00:52:27,833 but having a good handoff when your job is done, 1103 00:52:27,875 --> 00:52:31,333 caring enough to say, "I need to get the other person up to speed, 1104 00:52:31,375 --> 00:52:34,833 "and then I need to hand it to them and make sure they're ready 1105 00:52:34,917 --> 00:52:36,875 for success to carry the mission forward." 1106 00:52:36,958 --> 00:52:39,375 Some transitions are wonderful, and they're like that. 1107 00:52:39,458 --> 00:52:42,208 Others are woeful, and they're like this. 1108 00:52:42,292 --> 00:52:45,000 And in my opinion, the two biggest leadership failures 1109 00:52:45,042 --> 00:52:50,708 in the history of the world are Adam and then Judas. 1110 00:52:50,792 --> 00:52:53,833 And here's Judas. 1111 00:52:53,917 --> 00:52:56,125 What are they going to do? 1112 00:52:56,167 --> 00:52:58,000 They thought he was their friend. 1113 00:52:58,042 --> 00:52:59,542 They were with him 3 years. 1114 00:52:59,625 --> 00:53:02,667 They traveled with him, they ate with him, they prayed with him, 1115 00:53:02,750 --> 00:53:05,292 they hung out with Jesus with him. 1116 00:53:05,333 --> 00:53:06,750 And he wasn't even a believer, 1117 00:53:06,833 --> 00:53:08,167 and he betrayed Jesus, 1118 00:53:08,250 --> 00:53:14,667 and he killed himself, so they come up with a criteria by which 1119 00:53:14,708 --> 00:53:18,542 to replace him. 1120 00:53:18,625 --> 00:53:21,667 They had 12 tribes in Old Testament Israel, 1121 00:53:21,708 --> 00:53:25,250 they have 12 apostles in new covenant Christianity. 1122 00:53:25,333 --> 00:53:28,167 There is continuity here. 1123 00:53:28,250 --> 00:53:32,208 They are the completion, the continuation, 1124 00:53:32,292 --> 00:53:35,417 the fulfillment of the old covenant people of God, 1125 00:53:35,500 --> 00:53:37,583 so they needed 12. 1126 00:53:37,667 --> 00:53:39,875 They come up with two criteria-- 1127 00:53:39,958 --> 00:53:45,167 a man who's an eyewitness. 1128 00:53:45,208 --> 00:53:49,708 This is controversial to some, but in the Old Testament, 1129 00:53:49,792 --> 00:53:52,167 the high spiritual authority were the priests, 1130 00:53:52,250 --> 00:53:54,417 and they were all men. 1131 00:53:54,500 --> 00:54:00,250 Jesus' senior leadership team was 12 apostles, all men, 1132 00:54:00,333 --> 00:54:03,417 and in the new covenant church, the highest authority, 1133 00:54:03,500 --> 00:54:06,958 the spiritual leaders, are men called elders or pastors. 1134 00:54:07,000 --> 00:54:09,750 We saw here that women are involved as well. 1135 00:54:09,833 --> 00:54:12,292 Women are present; women have leadership roles. 1136 00:54:12,333 --> 00:54:15,250 But the highest spiritual roles in the Old Testament, 1137 00:54:15,333 --> 00:54:18,292 Jesus' ministry in the new covenant, are all qualified men. 1138 00:54:18,333 --> 00:54:21,333 So it has to be a man who is an eyewitness. 1139 00:54:21,417 --> 00:54:23,375 He was there from Jesus' baptism 1140 00:54:23,458 --> 00:54:25,292 until his resurrection from death. 1141 00:54:25,333 --> 00:54:28,208 He saw the life and ministry of Jesus. 1142 00:54:28,292 --> 00:54:30,250 They come down to two candidates. 1143 00:54:30,333 --> 00:54:32,167 So, they have a leadership change, 1144 00:54:32,250 --> 00:54:34,167 they have their criteria, then they pick 1145 00:54:34,250 --> 00:54:36,042 their candidates--Barsabbas and Matthias. 1146 00:54:36,125 --> 00:54:38,333 And then they've got to make their choice, 1147 00:54:38,417 --> 00:54:40,375 and they don't vote; they let God vote. 1148 00:54:40,458 --> 00:54:42,375 And they do it through the casting of lots. 1149 00:54:42,458 --> 00:54:44,333 And now, this seems a little odd, right? 1150 00:54:44,375 --> 00:54:48,208 Don't see it like a casino. 1151 00:54:48,292 --> 00:54:52,292 There's not a craps table, right, and all the disciples, 1152 00:54:52,333 --> 00:54:56,375 they've all got martinis and cigars, right? 1153 00:54:56,458 --> 00:54:59,292 And it's not Peter going, "All right, give me an apostle. 1154 00:54:59,333 --> 00:55:01,375 Give me an apostle." 1155 00:55:01,458 --> 00:55:03,583 All right, it's not--it's not like that, 1156 00:55:03,667 --> 00:55:06,375 but they do roll the dice. 1157 00:55:06,458 --> 00:55:08,500 And here's why they do it. 1158 00:55:08,583 --> 00:55:11,292 Jesus chose the 12, Judas is gone, 1159 00:55:11,333 --> 00:55:14,500 they need to replace the 12, Jesus still needs to make 1160 00:55:14,583 --> 00:55:17,375 the decision who he wants, 1161 00:55:17,458 --> 00:55:19,875 so they trust in the sovereignty of God. 1162 00:55:19,958 --> 00:55:24,458 Proverbs 16:33 says it this way in the New Living Translation: 1163 00:55:24,500 --> 00:55:26,458 "We may throw the dice, 1164 00:55:26,500 --> 00:55:28,833 but the Lord determines how they fall." 1165 00:55:28,917 --> 00:55:30,792 And Jesus picks Matthias. 1166 00:55:30,833 --> 00:55:34,667 He joins the 12. The team is now complete. 1167 00:55:34,708 --> 00:55:36,667 He doesn't become very prominent. 1168 00:55:36,708 --> 00:55:38,667 He doesn't write a book of the Bible. 1169 00:55:38,708 --> 00:55:40,667 We don't know a whole lot about him. 1170 00:55:40,708 --> 00:55:42,667 He's a more humble guy on the team. 1171 00:55:42,750 --> 00:55:45,625 Church history tells us that maybe he became the apostle, 1172 00:55:45,667 --> 00:55:49,292 the missionary, to Ethiopia. 1173 00:55:49,333 --> 00:55:52,333 And now, everything's set for the coming of the Holy Spirit. 1174 00:55:52,417 --> 00:55:55,292 Everything's set for the sending of the church into the world. 1175 00:55:55,333 --> 00:55:58,000 In closing, let me pull back from the story. 1176 00:55:58,042 --> 00:56:00,542 Something that struck me as I was prayerfully studying it 1177 00:56:00,625 --> 00:56:02,500 this week. 1178 00:56:02,542 --> 00:56:06,708 Who's the person that is speaking in Acts 1? 1179 00:56:06,792 --> 00:56:08,958 Right here, we've been studying it, who is that? 1180 00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:11,167 It's Peter. 1181 00:56:11,250 --> 00:56:13,167 Who's he talking about? 1182 00:56:13,250 --> 00:56:15,208 Judas. 1183 00:56:15,292 --> 00:56:21,667 Let's look at these two men together for a moment. 1184 00:56:21,750 --> 00:56:27,333 They both had Jesus as their pastor. 1185 00:56:27,375 --> 00:56:31,333 Wouldn't that be amazing? 1186 00:56:31,375 --> 00:56:34,875 They both had the apostles as their Community Group. 1187 00:56:34,958 --> 00:56:36,958 What a Community Group. 1188 00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:39,000 They got some stuff done, amen? 1189 00:56:39,083 --> 00:56:42,958 What a Community Group-- 12 of them. 1190 00:56:43,000 --> 00:56:46,875 They were given the same mission, right, 1191 00:56:46,958 --> 00:56:49,458 to extend the kingdom of God on the earth 1192 00:56:49,500 --> 00:56:51,167 through the proclamation of the gospel 1193 00:56:51,208 --> 00:56:54,333 and the planting of the churches. 1194 00:56:54,375 --> 00:56:56,875 They both got to eat with Jesus. 1195 00:56:56,958 --> 00:56:59,083 They both got to travel with Jesus. 1196 00:56:59,167 --> 00:57:01,500 They both got to listen to Jesus. 1197 00:57:01,542 --> 00:57:06,542 They both got to have Jesus pray over them. 1198 00:57:08,833 --> 00:57:13,708 And they both failed Jesus. 1199 00:57:13,792 --> 00:57:17,208 We've looked at how Judas failed Jesus. 1200 00:57:17,292 --> 00:57:20,333 Do you remember how Peter failed Jesus? 1201 00:57:20,375 --> 00:57:23,375 As Jesus was arrested, falsely tried, 1202 00:57:23,458 --> 00:57:26,708 his crucifixion was imminent, Peter was following, 1203 00:57:26,792 --> 00:57:31,792 but he was following at a very careful distance. 1204 00:57:33,792 --> 00:57:36,000 He wanted to see what would happen to Jesus, 1205 00:57:36,042 --> 00:57:41,000 but he didn't want it to happen to him. 1206 00:57:41,083 --> 00:57:43,208 And a servant girl, maybe a teenage gal, 1207 00:57:43,292 --> 00:57:45,458 comes up to Peter, 1208 00:57:45,500 --> 00:57:48,250 "Hey, weren't you one of Jesus' disciples?" 1209 00:57:48,333 --> 00:57:50,292 "No, never met him, don't know him." 1210 00:57:50,333 --> 00:57:52,333 "Oh, your accent betrays you. You're from Galilee. 1211 00:57:52,417 --> 00:57:54,500 You're one of those country boys." 1212 00:57:54,583 --> 00:57:56,000 "No, not me. 1213 00:57:56,083 --> 00:57:58,042 Never met him, don't know him." Started cursing, 1214 00:57:58,125 --> 00:58:00,167 declaring he never met Jesus. 1215 00:58:00,208 --> 00:58:03,500 He denied Jesus. 1216 00:58:03,542 --> 00:58:06,583 Judas betrayed Jesus; Peter denied Jesus. 1217 00:58:06,667 --> 00:58:09,750 Peter and Judas both failed Jesus. 1218 00:58:09,833 --> 00:58:13,333 What's the difference between Peter and Judas? 1219 00:58:13,417 --> 00:58:20,375 Judas walked away from God and his people, never returned. 1220 00:58:20,458 --> 00:58:25,333 Ultimately, sin leads to death, and without ever repenting 1221 00:58:25,417 --> 00:58:30,208 or apologizing or changing, Judas killed himself 1222 00:58:30,292 --> 00:58:35,458 and sent himself to hell. 1223 00:58:35,500 --> 00:58:42,417 Peter is now the human leader of Christianity on the earth, 1224 00:58:42,500 --> 00:58:48,708 teaching a Bible study to Jesus' mom and brothers. 1225 00:58:50,667 --> 00:58:53,417 What's the difference between Peter and Judas? 1226 00:58:53,500 --> 00:58:57,417 Not that they failed, but how they responded to it. 1227 00:58:57,500 --> 00:59:00,625 Once Jesus rose from death, Peter heard, "Jesus is alive!" 1228 00:59:00,667 --> 00:59:03,500 and Peter ran to the tomb, the Bible says. 1229 00:59:03,542 --> 00:59:06,333 He wasn't there first; the young guy was there first. 1230 00:59:06,375 --> 00:59:09,458 He's an old guy, so he gets there when he gets there, 1231 00:59:09,500 --> 00:59:12,542 but he's running to the tomb, and Jesus' body is not there. 1232 00:59:12,625 --> 00:59:14,292 Jesus has risen from death. 1233 00:59:14,333 --> 00:59:17,333 Peter and Jesus then have a meeting, 1234 00:59:17,375 --> 00:59:19,583 and it's one of the most tender, heartfelt moments 1235 00:59:19,667 --> 00:59:21,500 in all of Scripture. 1236 00:59:21,542 --> 00:59:24,833 And Jesus is looking Peter in the eye, and I'm paraphrasing, 1237 00:59:24,875 --> 00:59:29,708 but Peter apologizes. 1238 00:59:29,792 --> 00:59:32,167 "I'm sorry. 1239 00:59:32,250 --> 00:59:35,500 "I failed you; you've never failed me. 1240 00:59:35,542 --> 00:59:38,167 "I abandoned you; you've never abandoned me. 1241 00:59:38,250 --> 00:59:42,708 You needed me, and I wasn't there for you." 1242 00:59:42,792 --> 00:59:46,458 Peter is devastated by his sin, he's broken by his sin, 1243 00:59:46,500 --> 00:59:50,625 he's grieved over his sin and what it's done to his 1244 00:59:50,667 --> 00:59:55,333 relationship with Jesus. 1245 00:59:55,375 --> 00:59:57,917 What does Jesus do? 1246 00:59:58,000 --> 01:00:00,625 He forgives him. 1247 01:00:00,667 --> 01:00:03,667 "Yeah Peter, that's why I died on the cross, 1248 01:00:03,750 --> 01:00:05,667 "so that you could be forgiven. 1249 01:00:05,708 --> 01:00:10,792 I forgive you, Peter, but if you love me, feed my sheep." 1250 01:00:10,833 --> 01:00:14,875 See, Judas was about the money; Peter was about the comfort, 1251 01:00:14,958 --> 01:00:18,125 Jesus is about the people, amen? 1252 01:00:18,167 --> 01:00:21,625 Jesus is about people. 1253 01:00:21,667 --> 01:00:25,292 "If you really love me, then teach the Bible. 1254 01:00:25,333 --> 01:00:26,917 "Feed my sheep. 1255 01:00:27,000 --> 01:00:29,417 Take care of my people." 1256 01:00:29,500 --> 01:00:33,083 They all knew this. The day comes. 1257 01:00:33,167 --> 01:00:39,500 Peter stands up, and he feeds the sheep. 1258 01:00:39,542 --> 01:00:43,375 He says, "You know, the Bible says in Psalms that this is what 1259 01:00:43,458 --> 01:00:47,417 Jesus wants us to do." 1260 01:00:47,500 --> 01:00:50,542 He's feeding the sheep by teaching the Word. 1261 01:00:54,500 --> 01:00:58,292 What an amazing picture of the gospel that is. 1262 01:00:58,333 --> 01:01:03,083 The only difference between Judas and Peter is one brought 1263 01:01:03,167 --> 01:01:05,667 their sin to Jesus 1264 01:01:05,708 --> 01:01:11,167 and the other brought it to the grave. 1265 01:01:11,250 --> 01:01:14,500 And this is a heavy word, but it's a hopeful word, Mars Hill, 1266 01:01:14,542 --> 01:01:17,000 because you're not dead. 1267 01:01:17,042 --> 01:01:20,292 Whatever sins you've committed as an unbeliever-- 1268 01:01:20,333 --> 01:01:23,500 or even as a believer-- today's a great day. 1269 01:01:23,542 --> 01:01:26,167 We should just bring it all to who? 1270 01:01:26,250 --> 01:01:28,583 We should just meet with Jesus. 1271 01:01:28,667 --> 01:01:30,417 Say, "Jesus, I'm sorry. 1272 01:01:30,500 --> 01:01:33,583 "Please forgive me and use my like you did Peter to tell other 1273 01:01:33,667 --> 01:01:36,583 "people that you're a God who forgives and gives grace, 1274 01:01:36,667 --> 01:01:39,458 "and let my miserable story be an example 1275 01:01:39,500 --> 01:01:42,042 of how wonderful you are." 1276 01:01:42,125 --> 01:01:43,625 That's Christianity, right? 1277 01:01:43,667 --> 01:01:46,542 That's my story. 1278 01:01:46,625 --> 01:01:50,042 So, if you're here, the question is not, 1279 01:01:50,125 --> 01:01:52,750 "Are we going to act like Judas and Peter?" 1280 01:01:52,833 --> 01:01:56,500 The question is, "Will we respond like Judas or Peter?" 1281 01:01:56,583 --> 01:01:58,875 I invite you to Jesus, be forgiven, 1282 01:01:58,958 --> 01:02:01,667 be used for God's mission, be restored to God's plan 1283 01:02:01,750 --> 01:02:03,667 for your life. 1284 01:02:03,708 --> 01:02:07,250 If you're alive, it's just not too late. 1285 01:02:07,333 --> 01:02:11,333 In a moment, we're going to give you an opportunity to respond. 1286 01:02:11,375 --> 01:02:14,333 We're going to take Communion, remembering Jesus' broken body 1287 01:02:14,375 --> 01:02:17,042 and shed blood. And this is where we come to Communion, 1288 01:02:17,125 --> 01:02:20,083 and it's kind of like having our little face-to-face meeting 1289 01:02:20,167 --> 01:02:22,375 with Jesus, acknowledging our sin and his forgiveness. 1290 01:02:22,458 --> 01:02:24,625 We're going to sing and we're going to celebrate 1291 01:02:24,667 --> 01:02:27,792 because we have a God who loves us, and so we rejoice. 1292 01:02:27,833 --> 01:02:29,417 But first, we're going to collect 1293 01:02:29,500 --> 01:02:30,833 our tithes and offerings, 1294 01:02:30,917 --> 01:02:32,958 and as the financial stewards take their position, 1295 01:02:33,000 --> 01:02:39,000 I want you to know that part of giving is for our good. 1296 01:02:39,042 --> 01:02:41,833 See, here, what was Judas' problem? 1297 01:02:41,875 --> 01:02:47,833 "Take Jesus' money, put it in my pocket." 1298 01:02:47,917 --> 01:02:49,750 That was Judas' life. 1299 01:02:49,833 --> 01:02:51,417 How did that go for him? 1300 01:02:51,500 --> 01:02:52,917 Good? 1301 01:02:53,000 --> 01:02:54,750 Bad. 1302 01:02:54,833 --> 01:02:57,333 When we give our tithes and offerings, what we're saying is, 1303 01:02:57,375 --> 01:03:00,667 "I take Jesus' money out of my pocket and I give it 1304 01:03:00,708 --> 01:03:03,417 to his mission," okay? 1305 01:03:03,500 --> 01:03:06,333 We're doing the opposite of what Judas did 1306 01:03:06,417 --> 01:03:08,583 because we want to live in a way 1307 01:03:08,667 --> 01:03:11,583 that is opposite of the way that Judas lived. 1308 01:03:11,667 --> 01:03:14,667 And as we're taking our tithes and offerings, as well, 1309 01:03:14,750 --> 01:03:19,500 I want to encourage you to see what God has at one 1310 01:03:19,583 --> 01:03:21,667 of our 14 Mars Hill churches. 1311 01:03:21,708 --> 01:03:24,875 We're a big family and God's doing some wonderful things 1312 01:03:24,958 --> 01:03:27,625 in Mars Hill Tacoma, so as we're collecting our offering, 1313 01:03:27,667 --> 01:03:31,667 I want you to see what Jesus is doing, and I want you to know 1314 01:03:31,750 --> 01:03:34,000 how to be praying for Mars Hill Tacoma. 1315 01:03:34,083 --> 01:03:36,625 And you're going to meet my friend, Pastor Bubba, 1316 01:03:36,667 --> 01:03:38,667 who's been with us for over 12 years. 1317 01:03:38,750 --> 01:03:40,583 He's from Oklahoma. He's a great guy. 1318 01:03:40,667 --> 01:03:43,667 He's actually got a huge belt buckle that says "Bubba," 1319 01:03:43,750 --> 01:03:47,833 and so you know that a man is wonderful who has his own name 1320 01:03:47,875 --> 01:03:49,792 on his belt buckle. 1321 01:03:49,833 --> 01:03:51,833 And he'll introduce you to what's going on at 1322 01:03:51,917 --> 01:03:54,708 Mars Hill Tacoma. 1323 01:03:58,125 --> 01:04:03,542 [music] 1324 01:04:04,833 --> 01:04:07,042 Hey Mars Hill Church, welcome to Tacoma. 1325 01:04:07,125 --> 01:04:10,000 I'm Pastor Bubba, and I am privileged to lead 1326 01:04:10,083 --> 01:04:11,792 Mars Hill Federal Way 1327 01:04:11,833 --> 01:04:13,792 and help us plant Mars Hill Tacoma 1328 01:04:13,833 --> 01:04:15,833 and plant other churches in the years ahead. 1329 01:04:15,917 --> 01:04:19,875 There's a great need for people to meet Jesus, and our hope is 1330 01:04:19,958 --> 01:04:24,000 to see more people be saved by Jesus and experience redemption. 1331 01:04:24,083 --> 01:04:29,167 What we've seen, especially, is marriages needing help-- 1332 01:04:29,208 --> 01:04:32,500 marriages that are broken-- husband and wife cannot-- 1333 01:04:32,542 --> 01:04:34,000 they just can't figure it out. 1334 01:04:34,042 --> 01:04:35,667 They can't do life. 1335 01:04:35,750 --> 01:04:37,833 We've seen that happen and God step in 1336 01:04:37,875 --> 01:04:39,333 and redeem those marriages. 1337 01:04:39,375 --> 01:04:44,500 A great story of redemption in marriage is one of our couples 1338 01:04:44,583 --> 01:04:48,833 had--they were struggling, they had just recently met Jesus, 1339 01:04:48,917 --> 01:04:52,667 and prior to that, you know, the husband had committed adultery, 1340 01:04:52,750 --> 01:04:54,333 but he had never told his wife. 1341 01:04:54,417 --> 01:04:57,000 And then, you know, he meets Jesus, he's saved, he confesses, 1342 01:04:57,083 --> 01:04:58,667 he asks for forgiveness. 1343 01:04:58,750 --> 01:05:00,167 What's going to happen? 1344 01:05:00,208 --> 01:05:01,917 Is Jesus going to fix the marriage? 1345 01:05:02,000 --> 01:05:03,583 Is the marriage going to remain broken? 1346 01:05:03,667 --> 01:05:05,000 Are they going to split? 1347 01:05:05,042 --> 01:05:07,833 And we've seen God just redeem both of them and reconcile that 1348 01:05:07,875 --> 01:05:10,458 marriage, and now they have a living testimony that God 1349 01:05:10,500 --> 01:05:13,167 can redeem even the most broken marriages and build a legacy 1350 01:05:13,208 --> 01:05:19,042 for the next generation through that family. 1351 01:05:19,125 --> 01:05:21,667 Well, for years, we've been looking for a permanent location 1352 01:05:21,750 --> 01:05:23,833 in the Federal Way area. 1353 01:05:23,875 --> 01:05:25,667 We weren't able to find one. 1354 01:05:25,708 --> 01:05:29,708 God has given us, though, a new home in Tacoma which actually is 1355 01:05:29,792 --> 01:05:33,042 great because it's more strategically located to be 1356 01:05:33,125 --> 01:05:35,708 in the center of the South Sound, 1357 01:05:35,792 --> 01:05:37,750 to position us to be able to plant churches 1358 01:05:37,833 --> 01:05:39,750 in various cities in the area 1359 01:05:39,833 --> 01:05:41,208 in the years to come. 1360 01:05:41,292 --> 01:05:42,875 And so we're grateful for that home, 1361 01:05:42,958 --> 01:05:45,125 and we're actually headed over there right now. 1362 01:05:45,167 --> 01:05:49,167 I'm going to show it to you. 1363 01:05:49,250 --> 01:05:51,708 So, here we are in the Mars Hill Tacoma building, 1364 01:05:51,792 --> 01:05:53,667 and this is going to be the hub. 1365 01:05:53,750 --> 01:05:56,583 This is going to be the place where we plant churches 1366 01:05:56,667 --> 01:05:57,958 in the south region. 1367 01:05:58,000 --> 01:06:00,458 And we are so grateful for a new home, 1368 01:06:00,500 --> 01:06:02,125 but our new home needs some work. 1369 01:06:02,167 --> 01:06:03,625 It needs some help. 1370 01:06:03,667 --> 01:06:07,000 We need a new roof, we need electrical, we need bathrooms, 1371 01:06:07,083 --> 01:06:09,625 we need the kids' space to be fixed up. 1372 01:06:09,667 --> 01:06:12,875 All of this to get the place ready so that we can move in 1373 01:06:12,958 --> 01:06:15,958 and start sharing the gospel with not just one city 1374 01:06:16,000 --> 01:06:17,583 but multiple cities. 1375 01:06:17,667 --> 01:06:20,458 We really are a regional church reaching over 15 cities 1376 01:06:20,500 --> 01:06:24,500 in the South End, and our hope, our prayer is to plant churches 1377 01:06:24,583 --> 01:06:26,375 in those various cities. 1378 01:06:26,458 --> 01:06:30,583 And my heart is really this: to see many people meet Jesus 1379 01:06:30,667 --> 01:06:33,875 and that Jesus' name would be known, loved, 1380 01:06:33,958 --> 01:06:38,500 and appreciated throughout the South Sound. 1381 01:06:39,500 --> 01:06:41,875 All right, Father God--yeah, you clap if you want. 1382 01:06:41,958 --> 01:06:46,208 That's good news. 1383 01:06:46,292 --> 01:06:51,167 Lord God, we thank you for the history of the church, 1384 01:06:51,208 --> 01:06:55,625 a history that you are still writing as you make disciples 1385 01:06:55,667 --> 01:06:58,708 and plant churches through your people. 1386 01:06:58,792 --> 01:07:02,583 God, as we learned today, help us to be a people 1387 01:07:02,667 --> 01:07:05,875 who are prayerful so that we might be unified. 1388 01:07:05,958 --> 01:07:09,625 Help us to be a people who are biblical so that we might follow 1389 01:07:09,667 --> 01:07:13,500 your will as revealed in your Word. 1390 01:07:13,542 --> 01:07:18,042 And Lord God, let us boast in our failures as it gives glory 1391 01:07:18,125 --> 01:07:22,000 to your grace and allows others to have hope that their sins 1392 01:07:22,083 --> 01:07:26,000 can be forgiven and their life can be used for Jesus, 1393 01:07:26,042 --> 01:07:29,250 in whose name we gladly pray, amen. 1394 01:07:32,000 --> 01:07:34,958 Each year, over 10 million Mars Hill church sermons 1395 01:07:35,000 --> 01:07:38,042 are downloaded worldwide for free. 1396 01:07:38,125 --> 01:07:40,667 This ministry is generously supported 1397 01:07:40,708 --> 01:07:43,292 by Mars Hill church members and listeners like you. 1398 01:07:43,333 --> 01:07:46,833 If you'd like to support our efforts to preach Jesus to the world, 1399 01:07:46,917 --> 01:07:49,833 Please consider making a tax-deductible donation 1400 01:07:49,917 --> 01:07:52,750 by visiting marshill.com/give.