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Turning the World Upside Down - The Blueprint Series
36 Plays2 months ago
In this sermon, Pastor Ridley Barron preached about the necessity of sharing the gospel and making disciples, as highlighted in Matthew 28 and Acts 1:8. He reflected on Paul and Silas' mission in Berea, where their dedication to scripture led to many conversions and set a standard for proactive faith exploration. Barron criticized contemporary views on multiple paths to God and emphasized absolute truth found in the Bible, urging the congregation to engage in "gospel conversations" with those around them. Through practical advice on building connections, he encouraged acts of service, community participation, and daily Bible engagement as means to authentically live out one's faith. Barron also addressed societal anxieties, reminding believers to trust in God's unfailing nature, and underscored the importance of loving others, even amidst political differences, as a powerful testament to the gospel.
Timestamps:
00:00 God chose you to turn the world.
03:29 Prepare, pray, love each other regardless of differences.
08:17 Obey God over government when conflicts arise.
12:14 Discussing Jesus: different views on exclusivity.
13:43 Connecting through common ground: shared Jewish context.
19:05 Talk interests first, then gently approach religious background.
21:04 Jesus involved in biblical miracles and prophecies.
24:16 Learn and practice to share your faith.
27:46 Live authentically; actions should reflect beliefs.
31:48 Humility is essential to understanding scriptures deeply.
34:03 Beware of false prophets; study God's word.
39:26 The only failure in sharing Jesus: silence.
42:09 Thankful prayer for guidance, love, and freedom.
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Transcript
The Impact of Faith on Families
00:00:00
Speaker
Good morning. Man, it's already been a good morning here. Excited about what God is doing in working amongst our families and our kids.
Christ's Command to Spread the Gospel
00:00:12
Speaker
Just good stuff. So I have a pop quiz for you. Jesus.
00:00:19
Speaker
She literally gave the Jesus answer before I even asked the question. That's not the answer though. Here's your here's your here's your quiz. What is the one thing that every follower of Christ Jesus is commanded to do?
00:00:34
Speaker
by
00:00:38
Speaker
pray keep the trying back I got more work to do with y'all than the 8 o'clock service. ah they They got it right off the bat. ah Yes, it is to go out and to share the gospel with the entire world, to make sure that the love of Jesus is shared with your neighbors. So yes, you do love. Yes, you do pray. But all of that is in an effort to extend the kingdom to the ends of the earth. Matthew 28, Christ commended his disciples to do that. He said, I want you to go out and I want you to make disciples in all the world. Acts 1.8, we've
00:01:12
Speaker
come back to that numerous times as we've been working through acts. He says you're going to be my witnesses all the way from where you are to the ends of the earth.
Paul's Revolutionary Impact
00:01:19
Speaker
That commission stands for all of us today. It's an important command, a command that we all have to think about as we move about in our daily lives. And here's the important reality. um Without you doing that, there is no plan B.
00:01:36
Speaker
god God doesn't have another plan for saving the world other than for you to take what he's already done to the ends of the earth so the world can receive it.
Faith in a Chaotic World
00:01:44
Speaker
Today, in the passage that we're reading, Acts chapter 17, there's a phrase, a phrase that it uses about Paul and his companions. ah Somebody who's trying to accuse them says, they are turning the world upside down.
00:02:00
Speaker
And as I've been preparing for the sermon reading that passage over and over again over the last few weeks, I got to the point where I was thinking to myself how I would love it if that were the description of Grove Hill Church, that we turn the world upside down. Anybody here doubt that the world needs to be turned upside down right now? It's a chaotic place. It's ah it's an awful place. There's a lot of things going on, a lot of bad news and not a like lot of negativity. So let me stop right there for a second and just kind of give you ah um a thought that I had.
00:02:29
Speaker
um Over the last few weeks and even months, um I've had a lot of people, male, female, young and old, asking me and others on the staff, what should we be doing to prepare? It's it's obvious the world's getting worse and all this
Love Beyond Politics
00:02:44
Speaker
kind of stuff. Neither of the candidates excite us.
00:02:47
Speaker
In my opinion, neither do the 530 plus senators and representatives that are up there. Nobody's given me a whole lot of hope other than Jesus. And so people are asking me this question, Pastor, what do we do? How do we prepare? How do we get ready? Here's the answer that God has just laid on my heart. You prepare for Jesus by being prepared for Jesus.
00:03:06
Speaker
Don't worry about what the world's gonna do because in case you haven't read Revelation, there's nothing we can do about it anyway. It's gonna happen. I don't care how many bunkers you build, how much food you put away, how many guns you store. I don't care what radios you listen to, what podcasts you listen to. The end of time will come when the end of time is destined to come by the plan of God himself. Only he knows when that will happen. Jesus doesn't even know how to prep for it because he doesn't know when it's coming.
00:03:33
Speaker
It says that God will look at him and say, go get my children. that's That's his prep time, okay? For you and I, it's an opportunity for us to get on our knees, to pray for the world around us, to teach our children how to pray for the world around us, and to the point of somebody who said this so correctly over here, let's learn how to love each other.
Submitting to Jesus' Will
00:03:51
Speaker
I think most of what's going on in our country today could be fixed if we were reminded that the greatest commandment that God god gave us was, love the Lord your God, and to love
00:04:03
Speaker
right era I'm sure that was the Greek. But yes, to love others, to love others the way that we want to be loved, right? Doesn't matter how they voted in the last election. It doesn't matter what policies they stand on. I read it over and over again that Jesus said to pray and love and and care for those who you are enemies or who are in opposition to you. I do not read anywhere where it says there is an exclusion to that command.
00:04:30
Speaker
He doesn't say love those who persecute you unless they're voted Democrat in the last election. He doesn't say pray for those who are in opposition to you unless they're a Republican. He says love. And I believe that's exactly what Paul and his team are doing is they're moving throughout now Europe as we get into Acts. They're turning the world upside down by preaching one consistent message and that is Jesus is king.
Paul's Missions in Thessalonica and Berea
00:04:57
Speaker
Jesus is king. You see, you don't have to wait for the election to end to know who's been elected the real leader of the world. He's already been pointed for you. And when you submit your will to his, then you are at peace, even in the midst of all that the world will throw against you. Now, the reason this is such an important and impactful message is this very simply. If Jesus is really Lord, then it changes everything. And if Jesus is not, then none of us have hope.
00:05:28
Speaker
Jesus is Lord, then it changes everything. So we're looking at two cities today as part of this passage, therefore there's going to be two sections of this sermon. We're looking at Thessalonica, we're looking at Berea as they continue on their second missionary journey. Both of these cities are now in Europe. Remember Paul has now crossed from Asia into Europe with his missions because of God's commands, God's encouragement.
00:05:49
Speaker
We don't know very much about the ministry that took place in these two towns. In fact, most of what we know about Thessalonica comes from the letters, the two letters that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. But we're gonna get a glimpse of a couple things here today, and like I said, I wanna share some stuff with you that God has laid on my heart regarding
Church Jealousy vs. Kingdom Growth
00:06:06
Speaker
this. So Acts chapter 17,
00:06:13
Speaker
It says, after they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. as usual As usual, Paul went into the synagogue and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead. This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah. Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks as well as a number of the leading women.
00:06:46
Speaker
But the Jews became jealous and they brought together some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. We are horrified to hear that anybody would ever behave this way, right? I just wanna say for just a second here as a reminder to you, and if you're new here, I just wanna reassure you of this. Our goal at Grove Hill Church is to grow the kingdom of God, not Grove Hill Church. It is wrong for any church to be jealous of the success of another church.
00:07:15
Speaker
It is wrong for any church to stand in the way of the growth of another church. It is wrong for me to pray in any other direction other than another church that's preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ would be blessed and grow. If Smyrna Church has a thousand new believers this week, praise God for that because now we have a thousand new friends and neighbors who follow Jesus. If the way church goes out and breaks into a revival, praise God for that because it means the kingdom of God is moving in our community and you and I might just get a glimpse of it.
00:07:45
Speaker
And if God breaks out here, we don't look at the other churches and say nanny boo boo. Because it's about the kingdom of God, okay? Never ever let it be about us.
00:07:59
Speaker
says they were attacking Jason's house. They searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly. When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, these men have who have turned the world upside down have come here too. And Jason has welcomed them.
00:08:17
Speaker
They are all acting contrary to Caesar's decree saying there is another king, Jesus. The crowd and city officials who heard these things were upset. After taking a security bond from Jason and the others,
Obeying Government and the Gospel
00:08:28
Speaker
they released them. I want to go back up to verse 7 very quickly because a lot of times we get asked this question.
00:08:34
Speaker
In a world like ours today where there's no guarantee where the government's gonna head in a particular direction in regards to faith, is it right to serve the government? Because Paul says very clearly, you're supposed to pay honor to and respect those who are in authority over you, right? I think Paul gave us the answer right here. It says that Paul was in opposition to the decrees of Caesar because he was preaching there's another king.
00:09:01
Speaker
So the answer to that question is any time the government asks you to oppose the gospel of Jesus Christ, you do not have any desire to obey that. You do not have any responsibility to submit yourself to that. Now, having a speed limit is not in opposition to the gospel, okay?
00:09:22
Speaker
having to pay your taxes, not in opposition to the gospel. It may seem ungodly, but it's not in opposition to the gospel. So in those regards, we continue to follow after the government, submit the government, do what the government commands us until it causes us to stand in opposition to the gospel.
Engaging in Gospel Conversations
00:09:40
Speaker
We are never, ever expected, ever expected to disobey the gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:09:47
Speaker
right ah Verse 10, As soon it was as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon a arrival they went into the synagogue of the Jews. The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
00:10:07
Speaker
Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men." I want to stop there for just a second because you notice earlier up in verse 4, it says that in Thessalonica, some of them were persuaded, a number of them. We don't know how many, but it was a some of them.
00:10:25
Speaker
get to Berea, it very clearly says that many of them believed. I would submit to you the difference is that the ones in Berea dove into the Scriptures alongside of Paul instead of waiting for Paul to give them everything that they were going to get.
00:10:42
Speaker
We'll get into that more in just a minute, but every indication is that Thessalonica, they sat back and just let Paul teach them, but in Berea, they became a part of the the equation. They didn't just listen to Paul, they went and actively dove into the scriptures themselves. Keep in mind, the scriptures for them would have just been the Old Testament. um They didn't have the New Testament yet.
00:11:04
Speaker
So, let me finish it says, but when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting the crowds. Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there. Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instruction for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.
Practical Ways to Share Faith
00:11:28
Speaker
So I said there's a couple of different things I want to talk to you about today. Number one, I want to talk to you about gospel conversations. If you've been a part of our conversation congregation for any length of time, you've heard that phrase. If you're new today, it might be ah a new phrase for you. So I just want to talk to you about it for a second because it's an emphasis we have here. Why? Because every person deserves to hear about Jesus.
00:11:47
Speaker
Every person deserves to hear about Jesus, and every single one of us in this room who call ourselves fathers of Christ have that responsibility to share that. A gospel conversation is not finding out that you and ah somebody graduated from the same high school together, okay? A gospel conversation is any time that you get into a conversation with somebody and you talk about... No, the gospel.
00:12:12
Speaker
It's a gospel conversation, okay? Now you're going, well, you're splitting hairs. Well, no, there's an opportunity to talk about Jesus, but you know who else talks about Jesus? Muslims, Mormons, Catholics. They all talk about Jesus. There's a difference when you say, hey, the good news is that Jesus is the only way. In fact, if you're watching the news this week, you know who said that there is more than one way to Jesus? The Pope. The Pope.
00:12:39
Speaker
Guys, don't don't buy into the idea that the Catholic Church is heading in the right direction. Okay, because their premier leader, whatever his assignment is or whatever, literally sat in front of a bunch of kids over in Asia this week and said, there is more than one way to get to God. That is not the gospel.
00:12:58
Speaker
Okay, all right, so let's follow this train of thought today because I wanna talk to you about gospel conversations. It is something we encourage everybody to do to get comfortable with the place of doing it. And I know you, I've been in ministry a long time. I know that when I talk about sharing Jesus with people, there are many of you who right now are just like you're hyperventilating. Oh my gosh, I don't know how to do that. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to respond. I am so glad you're here today. I'm about to tell you the easiest way to share the gospel with people, okay?
00:13:28
Speaker
by following exactly what Paul did. First of all, he made connections with people. You've heard this said if you followed along with us in the book of Acts, that every time he went into a town where there was a synagogue, the first place Paul showed up was where?
00:13:42
Speaker
The synagogue, why? Because he had common ground with those people. As a fellow Jew, there was an opportunity to talk about creation, to talk about the prophets, to talk about the Messiah who had been promised and how Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise. And so there was this immediate connection with people so that he could begin conversations with them.
00:14:00
Speaker
um When he went into other towns, we talked about some towns that did not have the presence of a synagogue, he would go in and he would begin conversations with people because they like to have these open air kind of conversations going on with philosophers and stuff. They would begin to talk about creation. Why? Because we're all created. And so there's something in common. They began to talk about finding that common ground so we could begin to extend the story into where the gospel applies to people's lives.
00:14:29
Speaker
This is a critical part of learning to share Jesus with people. Just simply making connections. Just making connections. How do you do that? By identifying points of contact with people that God has put in your sphere of influence. Let me be more specific. Serving is one of the greatest ways to make a connection with somebody. Cutting somebody's grass, bringing their trash can in when they're out of town, maybe watching their dog farm.
00:14:56
Speaker
Don't worry about the cat. oh oh what you know Working with them to help them out, maybe they're not good with cars and maybe they have a car issue and you're good at it. um Maybe you can help them bring their groceries in if they're older and they have trouble getting up and down the steps with the groceries. There's all kinds of ways you can serve. If you're not sure where to begin to serve, find John Ballard. Is he in here right now? No, he's somewhere else. He's in the youth group. ah Pastor John, next,
00:15:24
Speaker
saturday know Two Saturdays from yesterday is our next Serve Saturday. You don't have to be a life group to be a part of Serve Saturday. Just let him know you want to be a part of it. He'll put you in one of the projects. We're going to be spread out all over this community, loving old people and not asking for a thing in return. Just loving on them because they're human beings like we are, okay? By the way, if you're not in a life group, shame on you, you need to find a life group, okay? But it's a great place for you to connect. Be in a life group, serve people. What are some other ways to make connections with people? Coaching.
00:15:55
Speaker
Coaching a sport. For two years I coached Little League Baseball out here, and I would have people walk up to me and go, which one's your son? My son's not out here. What about your grandson? Not out here. Why are you here? Because Jesus told me to come. Let's get some really strange looks from people. And I would say, yeah, he's coaching third base. But no.
00:16:15
Speaker
um No, just kidding. So seriously, it's an opportunity just to get to know people in the community, ah to get to know them on their terms, to learn about baseball with them or teach their kids baseball. Some of you could do a great job teaching a sport, teaching a hobby, teaching a craft, teaching a trade, inviting friends over to do those kinds of things. You'd be a great cheerleader coach, Hunter. He's such an encourager, so I mean, I just thought that would be a natural. um Start a book club in your neighborhood.
00:16:46
Speaker
There are a lot of great books that are on that that that middle ground between answers the world's looking for and gospel presentations that bring the two together. Start great conversations with people. Start a Bible study in your neighborhood or start a Bible study at your workplace where people come together and have an opportunity to hear and talk about the Bible. Another great idea, take a walk in your neighborhood on a regular basis. It's good for your heart, good for your health.
00:17:16
Speaker
As you're walking, pray. Spend some time praying. We got a young lady in our congregation that's been doing that for a while right over here in that neighborhood I can't ever remember the name of. Spring Creek, yes. And as she walks, she prays. And over the time, over the months, as she has prayed with consistency, she's had people just walk up to her and say, hey, while you're walking, could you pray for my family? Isn't that cool?
00:17:38
Speaker
People just walking up to you and saying, hey, pray for me. She's had opportunity to encourage people, to to talk to them about her church, to talk about what Jesus is doing. Great gospel conversations going on there. One other idea I would say to you, none of you are gonna have a problem with this
Starting Faith Conversations
00:17:51
Speaker
one. Visit the same restaurant. We only got three, so it i mean it shouldn't be a problem.
00:17:58
Speaker
Go to the same restaurant, try to get the same waiter or waitress a couple of times, and instead of hearing them go, hey, my name is Ridley and I'm here to serve you today and just telling them what you want, say, hey, we're gonna be praying in just a minute before we eat. How can we pray for you? I have never in 57 years of my life asked that question and had somebody go, I don't want you praying for me.
00:18:19
Speaker
Even people who don't go to church, because later in the conversation we'll find out, they will say, well, you could be praying for my my grandmother. She's in the hospital right now. Or you could be praying for my family. We're just very stressed about finances. There's all kinds of great ways to start a conversation. Very quickly, let me just throw two other thoughts at you. um You can start a conversation with anybody, even complete strangers, by just simply asking one question. Tell me about your family. Because everybody likes to talk about their family.
00:18:48
Speaker
They'll pull out their phone and talk about their daughter that just got married or their son that just completed preschool. They'll talk about just moving here from California or Michigan or Minnesota. Somebody's excited about that. Got out of California, I survived. um Start those conversations and then just talk to them about interest.
00:19:09
Speaker
You know, what what interests you? What do you like to do? You'll hear about gardening, you'll hear about golf, you'll hear about working on lawn mowers, you'll hear all kinds of things. People like to talk about their families, they also like to talk about themselves. And before long, all you gotta do is ask the question. So do you have any kind of religious background? Now, I wanna point out the difference in the way I just asked that question. If you go and ask somebody, are you a Christian?
00:19:34
Speaker
you immediately pigeon-holed them into where they need to be. They feel like that has to be the answer they give you or they're bad. But if you ask, do you have any kind of religious background, then they very simply might say, yeah, I'm actually Jewish.
Focusing on Jesus in Scripture
00:19:47
Speaker
Or, you know what, I grew up a Mormon and just moved here from so and so. Or, you know what, my family didn't go to church at all. it I'd never even been in a church, which gives you the opportunity to have a little bit further conversation with them about what God is doing in your own life.
00:20:02
Speaker
Okay? So, make connections with people. That's the first step. Number two, always, always, always make it about the Scriptures. Always. Always make sure you bring it in. When Paul taught, he was always doing an exposition of Scripture for people. Again, it was the Old Testament, but he was always talking to them about the Bible, about his Bible. Why? Because the Bible changes people.
00:20:27
Speaker
man The Bible changes people. So let me tell you, there's four ways he did this. Number one, it was always Christocentric. Christocentric, that's a fancy way of saying it was always about Jesus. It's always about Jesus because, this may shock you, the Bible's not about you.
00:20:46
Speaker
The Bible's not about your comfort. It's not about how you found wholeness in life. It's not about making you more fulfilled. It's about how Jesus gives glory to his father and how he came to do that.
00:20:59
Speaker
here on this earth. Jesus is on every page of scripture. Genesis 1.1, he is the creator of the heavens and the earth. Later on in Genesis, he's the one that shows up at a tent to tell Abraham, hey, here's how this promise is gonna be fulfilled. Your 80-year-old wife is about to have a baby.
00:21:21
Speaker
Don't you imagine Jesus laughed when he delivered that news? You just think your life is over, it's just getting started, honey. Jesus, Jesus was there with Daniel and the lions then. Jesus was there with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fire. Jesus was on the lips of the prophets who prophesied about a Messiah who would come and deliver his people. Jesus shows up and boom, Paul says, hey, we have seen this Messiah. He's here. He's been here. He's been with every single one of us. And oh, by the way, he's the only hope that you and I have.
Scriptural Knowledge and Gospel Sharing
00:21:57
Speaker
It was always about Jesus. Second thing that we know about what Paul did is he was always very bold, always very bold. He was unashamed to proclaim. If you look at the end of verse three in this passage today, it says that Paul said to them, this Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah. He is the Messiah. Jesus is the hero of every message that comes forward from scripture.
00:22:22
Speaker
There's a lot of great stories in there. A lot of good people, especially Old Testament. We love to talk about the stories of guys like David and Solomon and Elijah and Ezekiel and Jeremiah. They're all great guys, but every one of them are frail, faulty human beings. Only one was perfect. Only one was righteous. Only one could save the earth. His name is Jesus. And Paul was unapologetic in sharing that with people who needed to hear. Third thing we know about it, he did it intelligently.
00:22:52
Speaker
He did it intelligently. If you look at verses two through four again, you'll see five verbs that are used. He reasoned, he explained, he proved, he proclaimed, and he persuaded.
00:23:07
Speaker
Notice what it doesn't say. He didn't argue, he didn't debate, he didn't belittle, he didn't attack, he didn't condemn, he didn't post it on social media to be shared with anybody else. He simply used logic and facts to reason with the people who were around him.
00:23:31
Speaker
You use scripture to make his points. He helped people think about its meaning. He helped them hear the points where Jesus enters into the story. My encouragement to you, and this may be a challenge for some of you, do not leave your brain at home. Because those who don't know Jesus are not gonna leave their brain at home. They're gonna come to you with really good, very logical questions. Now, here's here's where the challenge comes for many of us.
00:24:01
Speaker
Paul said, 2 Timothy 4.12, he says, you need to be prepared to give a reason for why you believe. And you need to be prepared. Say that with me. Be prepared. This is not a Boy Scout meaning. Be prepared.
00:24:19
Speaker
30-something years of ministry now, I've lost count. I cannot tell you how many times I've had a conversation with a believer where I've said, have any gospel gospel conversations? Are you talking to people about Jesus? And inevitably somebody will go, oh, I don't know how to do that. I'm not comfortable doing that. I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand, but probably most of you here at some point have said that kind of comment.
00:24:42
Speaker
If you started out to make cookies and you didn't know how to make cookies, would you throw the butter on the floor and go, I just don't know how to make cookies? No, you'd get on Google, you get on Pinterest, you pull out your grandmother's cookbook, you'd find some way to learn how to make those cookies, right? When you started out at 13, 14, 15, whatever point your dad let you get behind the steering wheel to drive a car, did you know how to drive a car all by yourself?
00:25:13
Speaker
Nope, but you sure did learn how, why? Because you knew that your mobility in the future depended on it. So do not look at me and tell me, I don't know how to share the gospel unless you are prepared to find out how to prepare the gospel for other people. To be prepared to share the reason for your faith. It starts with scripture. What do I mean by that? You can't tell a lie unless you know the truth.
00:25:43
Speaker
You can't tell what a lie is until you're really good with knowing the truth. And the more you know the truth, the more comfortable you are confronting lies. Okay? And I'm just going to say something and I hope this causes you to do some real self-inspection today.
Living Consistently with the Gospel
00:26:01
Speaker
um
00:26:05
Speaker
if If you had been through an experience, let's let's say that you were standing in the parking lot and you watched a meteor cut across the sky sky last night and crash in Christmas backyard. If somebody came up to you today and said, there was no meteor last night, would you go, oh, you're probably right. Or would you go, oh, oh no, no, no, I experienced it. I was there. Would you fight for the truth?
00:26:30
Speaker
um' I'm suggesting that some of you don't have the confidence to fight for the truth because you've forgotten what you experienced with Jesus a long time ago. If you experience Jesus, you won't put up with lies. If you really know Jesus, he's really your Savior and Lord on an intimate basis, you're not going to put up with people saying, oh, he didn't really exist.
00:26:49
Speaker
You're not gonna put up with people saying, oh, he's not really the savior. You're not gonna put up with people saying, oh, there's gotta be other ways to get to heaven. Why? Because Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. If you really believe Jesus, there is no other way. Either that or he's a liar.
00:27:07
Speaker
So you gotta be intelligent. Now while you're being intelligent, be patient. Some of you have been christian Christians for five, 10, 15, 20 years. They're not gonna know it overnight. They're not gonna accept it overnight. They're not gonna understand it overnight. Be patient as you walk them through this process. Be kind. Listen to their questions. Listen to their questions because they're not just asking questions. they're They're trying to find some kind of answer and they're looking for you to help them. But always stay faithful to the Bible. Always. Lastly, Paul did it with personal integrity.
00:27:44
Speaker
And what I mean by that is very simply this. Paul lived the life that he was inviting others to come to. Paul lived the life that he was inviting others to come to. um Doesn't do much good, guys. If you go to work and you're talking about the girl who works at the reception desk and how hot she looks in her dress today, and then you turn to your coworker and go, hey, you want to go to church with me on Sunday?
00:28:07
Speaker
Or, guys, you go to the ball field and you're standing there watching your son practice and you're cussing up and down the one side and down the other because your team lost on Saturday and look at him and go, oh, by the way, I've been meaning to invite you to church with me. Or, ladies, this one's gonna hurt. It hurt at eight o'clock. I heard him groan. Ladies,
00:28:28
Speaker
It doesn't do any good for you to spend all your money in Amazon trying to find fulfillment in your life and then look at somebody and say, Jesus is my satisfaction. See, I told you, y'all groaned, I heard you. And I am so proud of the men for not saying amen at that point.
00:28:49
Speaker
But but notice notice what a message it sends when you talk about Jesus being your satisfaction and people watch you and you're seeing you seek it everywhere else. It may be in an Amazon box. It may be in a hobby that consumes your life. It may be in the mo bottom of a wine bottle where you post your drink every week. Just got a little personal, didn't it? Because if you're putting out there Finally made it to my glass of wine on Friday night. Couldn't have made it without it. Does the world hear you leaning on Jesus?
00:29:27
Speaker
Does the world hear you leaning on Jesus? Thank you. Some of you are having a little doubt there. Listen, the world is watching you at every turn. They are watching you all around the clock. They're watching what you read, what you watch, who you listen to, who you talk to. They're watching the way you drive. They're watching the way you cheer for your kids at the ball field. They're watching what you eat at a restaurant. They're watching you at all times. And whether you think that's fair or not, Paul went through the same kind of observations. And he says in 2 Thessalonians chapter, no, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 3 through 9, he said, listen, I did all of this and I did it with integrity.
00:30:07
Speaker
because he knew if he was a hypocrite that nobody was gonna listen to him. Hey, that doesn't mean any of us are gonna be perfect, all right? It doesn't mean that we're always gonna get it right. What it does mean is that the majority of our life will show a clear submission to Jesus Christ. And when we get it wrong, we're quick to come back and get it right, to repent.
The Bereans as a Model
00:30:32
Speaker
um Last thing that we know Paul did here, is he expected a variety of responses. You see, when you share Jesus with people, you're gonna get all kinds of responses. You're gonna get, I don't believe, you're gonna get people who are mad at you, you're gonna get people to call you a troublemaker, some are gonna say you're infringing on their rights. There's gonna be all kinds of stuff. But what you and I need to know is that it's not our job to save them,
00:31:06
Speaker
That's the Holy Spirit's job, nor is it our job to control how they respond. Again, that's the Holy Spirit's job. Our job is just to carry out our job, which is to talk to them about Jesus with love and in a patient way. All right, so let's get to the second group of people. That's the Thessalonikans. How many of you have ever heard of the Bereans?
00:31:26
Speaker
How many of you have ever heard a pastor or a teacher say, be like the Bereans? Yeah, okay. Well, that's a good example. It's a good role model for us, and I wanna talk about why it is, because I'm gonna just out front just say this to you. These things that I'm about to share with you from the Bereans, I would encourage you to put them into practice in your own life, because the Bereans are a great model for many of us. It says that the Bereans studied the scriptures, first of all, humbly. They studied them humbly.
00:31:55
Speaker
And what I mean by that very simply is this, you're never gonna be ready to hear from the Spirit of God until you realize that you aren't God yourself. You're never gonna be able to hear from the Spirit of God until you realize that you are not God yourself. You see, it's real easy to slip Jesus off the throne and put ourselves back up there a lot of times and say, well, I know that the Bible says this, but I'm gonna hang out here and this is gonna be my choice.
00:32:20
Speaker
You start making those kind of disobedient choices, it's real easy to just squeeze out the voice of Jesus. So you have to listen with humility. And the way that starts is by saying, God, whatever you show me today in Scripture, I will obey. I will submit my desires to yours. So they listen humbly. It says also that they listened eagerly.
00:32:42
Speaker
They listened eagerly. They were serious about their study of the scriptures. They were serious about checking out what Paul had shared with them. Later on, Peter and his letter would urge followers to study the Bible with the same eagerness of a baby wanting milk. Any of y'all ever had that in your house? Okay, baby's dying to have some milk, that baby's thirsty, that baby's hungry, start screaming. It's not gonna do any good to turn on Bluey.
00:33:09
Speaker
yeah Right? And you can change as many diapers as you want to. That's not gonna make a difference. You can sing lullabies. You can sing DJ Jazzy Jeff. I don't care what you sing. It's not gonna make any difference in the world.
Absolute Truths in the Bible
00:33:23
Speaker
The only thing that's gonna work, the only thing that's gonna satisfy them is when they get what they desire, which is the milk. Man, what would happen if we desired God's word that way.
00:33:36
Speaker
What if we were so hungry and thirsty for this life-changing book that we wouldn't settle for anything else? Now, here's a word of caution. Many of us are real easy to slip in something else and call it the word of God. Well, I got a great podcast I listen to once a week. Podcasts are not the word of God.
00:34:03
Speaker
They can be about the word of God and they can be very helpful. Can I just tell you this? Just because somebody has a million followers on X doesn't mean that they are following Jesus themselves.
00:34:16
Speaker
There are a lot of great charismatic leaders out there, some great teachers who can entertain you, make you laugh, make you cry, give you two thumbs up. you knowre There are all kinds out there, but if they're not preaching Jesus and him crucified as the hope of the world, then they are off base and you don't need to follow them. And the only way you know whether or not they're teaching the truth is to know the truth.
00:34:40
Speaker
So you have to be really, really, really eager about following God's word. Third thing the Bereans did is they studied the scriptures carefully. They studied it carefully. Luke, who wrote this book, and commended them for their discernment.
00:34:54
Speaker
because they did their homework. Paul would teach, they would go home and they would sit and talk about what they had heard, what they had seen Paul talk about. They examined his claims to see if it was true. They did not allow themselves to be fooled by a lot of charismatic teachers who even existed back in that day that were going around preaching all kinds of different things. But in our world today, the problem for most of us is that we have bought into the lie that there is a truth for you and there's a truth for me.
00:35:22
Speaker
That's a real prominent teaching, that there's no absolute rights and wrongs, there are no eternal truths, there is no objective knowledge. And guys, that's exactly what the Bible tells us, that there are some eternal truths that we can hang on to. There are some rights and wrongs that we know exist eternally. And if somebody ever comes to you and says, there is no absolute right and wrong, hit them in the face. In Jesus' name, just kidding, but you hit somebody in the face, what's the first thing that's gonna come out of their mouth?
00:35:52
Speaker
I was wrong. Well, that's an absolute truth, right? It's an absolute truth. Nobody wants to be hit in the face by a stranger. I mean, you could come up with all kinds of absolute truths. Is it an absolute truth that the human being is gonna wake up hungry most days because they haven't eaten since last night? Man, that sounds weird, but that's an absolute truth.
00:36:17
Speaker
There's some absolute rights. There's some absolute wrongs. No matter what culture you go to in the world today, There is an absolute truth that it's wrong for you to take the life of somebody else. Now, that truth's being tested a little bit because of a bunch of people who think that just because the the body's inside of another body, that it's not a real human body, that doesn't make any less true.
Handling Gospel Rejection
00:36:42
Speaker
So they studied it carefully so that they couldn't or wouldn't buy into the lives that the world was feeding them. And lastly, they did it daily.
00:36:50
Speaker
every single day of their lives they were searching. Every single day. Now here's the problem we have in many of our churches today. This hour right here will be the only Bible that some people get. And they think it's enough. And your pastor's not that good. I can give you enough to go out on in the next couple of hours, maybe the next couple of days. But if you're not reinforcing it with God's word every single day, it's just, it's leaking out of you.
00:37:19
Speaker
It's just leaking out of you and you're walking away by Thursday, Friday, Saturday, needing a refill at least. Got to be in the Word every single day. Some of you are going, well, I just don't have time to sit down and read. You got time to sit down and check your social media. You got time to watch your football team, your basketball team. You got time to take your kid to ball practice. You got time to read the Word of God.
00:37:44
Speaker
So one of two things are gonna happen when you have gospel conversations with somebody. Very simply put, these are very broad categories. Number one, some people are gonna come to know Jesus. Praise God for that. But if that happens, don't leave them there. Do not leave them there. The Bible says to make disciples, not win people to Christ. Did you know that? There's a difference. Winning people to Christ, very, very dangerous. Because what happens is that many times,
00:38:11
Speaker
They'll wind up in a cult somewhere, or some Bible that's not teaching truth, some place that they don't need to be, or worse yet, they'll just die on the vine because nobody ever fed them after they came to know Jesus. Now, if you're gonna be a disciple maker, you introduce them to Jesus, you get their name and number, and you pray for them every day, and then you say, hey, I'm gonna call you in a couple days and check on you. And oh, by the way, you're always invited to come to my church, but if you don't wanna come to my church, I can help you find a church. We need to get you plugged in so that you get fed and you continue to grow. That's what disciple making's all about.
00:38:43
Speaker
Second option, second option is conflict of some kind. They're gonna be mad at you, they're gonna be angry at you, they're gonna get defensive, whatever the case may be. Let me just remind you, your job is to share the love of Jesus Christ by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that's it. If they reject what you teach them, they're not rejecting you, they're rejecting Jesus.
00:39:12
Speaker
They've been rejecting Jesus for 2000 years. It's not knocked him off the throne yet. So that should assure you that when you go talk to people about Jesus, you've got nothing to fear. You can't fail. You can't fail. The only failure in sharing Jesus is in not sharing Jesus.
Seeking Jesus and Trusting God
00:39:34
Speaker
So this morning, there may be somebody in this room who doesn't know Jesus.
00:39:40
Speaker
And the reason you know that is because just a minute ago when I was talking about having an experience with Jesus, being there and experiencing Jesus for yourself, you were thinking, man, that really doesn't describe me. i don't I don't know that I've had an experience with Jesus. Some of us are placing false hope in the fact that we prayed a prayer somewhere along the way.
00:40:00
Speaker
And while prayers are good and prayers are great and they are effective in talking to Jesus, the only way to really come to know Jesus is to say to Jesus, I'm putting my entire life under your control. And that involves more than a prayer, that involves a daily, sometimes a moment by moment decision you have to make to say, okay, not my will but yours, God, not my will but yours. Okay? Also maybe somebody here today who's going, you know what? Started out well with Jesus, but you know now that I'm thinking about it,
00:40:31
Speaker
It's been a long time since I've talked to anybody about Jesus. That's kind of like the little red light that goes off on your dashboard that you ignore. You can't ignore this one. You shouldn't ignore this one because that little red light is saying to you, man, you may be disengaged from the one who's feeding you. You may be disengaged from the spirit that gives you power. It may be time for you to reattach, to get back in there where where Jesus needs you. And last thing, I want to go all the way back to the sermon.
00:41:01
Speaker
There may be some of you right now who are living very anxious moments. You're reading all about a government that's corrupt. You're reading all about wars in the Ukraine and in Israel. You're reading all about North Korea and China and Russia and all those things. You're reading about people coming across the border. You're hearing about people who are your neighbors and how they're bad. You're hearing all this stuff. And the truth is that you can't find very many moments during the day where you're just not anxious.
00:41:32
Speaker
And we just sang a song a minute ago about, I trust in God my savior. Because he will never fail. He will never fail. Hasn't yet, not about to start. And maybe what you need to do is just come up here and just have a few moments of prayer. Maybe to talk with one of our staff to be encouraged a little bit. Maybe just to reassure you that he indeed has not, nor will he ever leave you, nor will he fail you.
00:42:03
Speaker
and that's the best thing you could do for yourself and your family today. Will you join me as we pray and then we will respond. Father, God, we thank you this morning for the word that is preached in truth, that was given to us in truth, has been preserved for us for thousands of years so that today we could lean on its truth. I would ask this morning, Father, that you would speak clearly to our hearts and help us understand what is right, what is true, and what is best for your glory.
00:42:35
Speaker
Would you awaken us to the opportunities around us to serve others, to love others, to be there for others, to pray for others, to care for others? You said in your word, love your enemies. And the amazing thing about that statement is that when we learn learn to love our enemies, we find out that they really weren't our enemies to begin with.
00:43:00
Speaker
This morning, Father, would you work to free some people from their anxiety?
00:43:08
Speaker
Would you work to free them from their fears, their doubts?
00:43:16
Speaker
Maybe they need to be freed up from pain and bitterness and anger that has bound them for a while. Maybe today's the day you set them free. As you speak to our hearts through your spirit, we feel that little bit of tug in our heart, Lord, help us to be obedient to it. Not just to ignore it,
00:43:39
Speaker
but to trust it, to turn it over to you, knowing that you are a God who has never, ever failed.
00:43:50
Speaker
We thank you in advance for victories that have been won this morning and will be won this morning because of your presence. I send Jesus' name, I pray, amen.