1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,520 Our sermon title this morning is What are You Focused On? 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:11,720 Sometimes life just gets hard, doesn't it? 3 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,160 So many things piling up all around us. 4 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:21,800 It's just hard to keep focus in my sermon preparation when I sit 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:24,120 there and read and study and meditate and think. 6 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:26,880 I think of all kinds of scenarios in the church that go 7 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:31,480 on, for instance, a stay at home mom throughout the week, little 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:35,320 ones clinging to her knees and she's got something in the stove 9 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:38,840 and she's got the washer and the dryer going and the phone stuck 10 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,200 to her ear and making appointments with the doctor. 11 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:42,800 You know, you get what I'm talking about. 12 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,640 And never ending continuing cycle of things to do and it 13 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:48,280 just doesn't seem to stop, right. 14 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:54,800 Or maybe you're the coffee shop waiting in line person behind 15 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:58,000 the counter, desperately trying to make sure that the the line 16 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,400 keeps going and keep filling the cups and serving the customers. 17 00:01:01,400 --> 00:01:04,440 And then somebody from the back just shoves forward and you gave 18 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:06,440 me the wrong latte latte, whatever that is. 19 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:11,160 And and they want some change. And I just happened to me 20 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:15,920 yesterday is watching this person behind the counter, felt 21 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,280 sorry for this individual. Doing your very best and of 22 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,320 course, mistakes happen and then trying to focus so hard on 23 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:24,480 getting everything right and somebody just that we're not 24 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:26,560 mean about it, but also not very polite. 25 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:30,800 I felt sorry for this person. This story after story. 26 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,400 We can mention whether it's health in the hospital, 27 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,880 complications and work. And you get the idea from all 28 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:38,400 sides. You feel like so much is 29 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:42,120 crowding in the stressful situations and problems. 30 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:47,600 And yeah, it it, it, it tends to distract a person. 31 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,320 Or maybe a bit more on a spiritual level. 32 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:54,600 Perhaps when you feel life is losing its focus, you just don't 33 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:56,400 know anymore. Am I still on the right track? 34 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:58,800 Is life? Life doesn't seem to make sense 35 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:00,800 anymore. Things don't add up anymore. 36 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:06,040 Or maybe worse, opportunity comes along. 37 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:14,000 So attractive, so inviting, so powerful, and so easy. 38 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:16,480 You start losing your moral compass. 39 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:18,960 You're not sure about your faith anymore. 40 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:21,360 You're not sure what direction to go anymore. 41 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:23,720 And then there's this voice inside you that tells you that 42 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:28,680 it's OK, you deserve some pleasure, you earned it. 43 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:34,480 Who will know it's OK? How does one keep focus when 44 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,800 there's so many reasons to just compromise, to check out, take 45 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:43,360 an exit and escape? One thing we know about Jesus, 46 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:47,920 when we read the gospels, when we study his word, Jesus always 47 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:53,320 maintained focus. I don't think there's a single 48 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:57,080 place in the Bible where we can say, oh, you lost it here, He 49 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:01,120 got distracted there. No, Jesus never lost focus. 50 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:05,080 He never got distracted one single time. 51 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:07,800 We do from time to time at least. 52 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,320 I do have to do course correction. 53 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:12,960 Jesus never had to do course correction. 54 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,080 But then when I do lose focus, how do I get back? 55 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:22,040 I have to repent or reshuffle. There's a million things that 56 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:26,280 can cause this, but Jesus kept focus at all times. 57 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:30,800 It's safe to say that Jesus always knew what he was about. 58 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:35,040 At all times, in all places, in every circumstance, He knew what 59 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:39,320 he was about. This morning we're continuing 60 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:41,600 our sermon series through the Gospel of Mark. 61 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,080 We started some weeks ago and last Sunday we ended where Jesus 62 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,520 had healed a man on the Sabbath, Chapter 3, verse one to six. 63 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:51,640 And Jesus had entered the synagogue and there he saw a man 64 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,040 with a withered hand. And the people already kind of 65 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:55,880 knew what he was up to what what he was doing. 66 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,600 And so what's he going to do this time the Sabbath? 67 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,960 He's going to heal this guy. Jesus is watching that, knows 68 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,560 they're watching him, and he knows what they're thinking. 69 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,160 And then he asked the question, is it right on Sabbath to heal 70 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,960 or is it not right? They don't respond and he's 71 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,240 angry at their callousness, their arrogance, and their 72 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:16,399 pride. And he reaches out, heals the 73 00:04:16,399 --> 00:04:19,360 man with a withered hand, and they immediately leave. 74 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,600 And they go out and scheme with the Herodians how when we kill 75 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:27,880 him, verse 6, it says, I'm just repeating a verse from last 76 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:29,280 week. The Pharisees went out 77 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:31,400 immediately and plotted with Herodians against him, how they 78 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:37,120 might destroy him. Did that cause Jesus to lose 79 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:43,760 focus? No, it didn't phase him in the 80 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,880 least. You see, the difference between 81 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:50,080 Jesus and the Pharisees was vast. 82 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,520 It was a big difference. You see the Pharisees, they were 83 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,800 rule makers, rule focused, rule keepers, ruling forces, rule 84 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:00,440 worshippers. They're focused too on the the 85 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,280 wrong thing. In their world, it was all about 86 00:05:04,280 --> 00:05:06,920 rules, and people served rules and worshiped rules. 87 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:08,640 You existed for the purpose of rules. 88 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,760 Jesus was different. Jesus was a relationship 89 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,280 builder. Relationship focused. 90 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,240 Any rules that existed were a value only in so far as they 91 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,360 were useful for serving people in their worship of God. 92 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:26,160 Sabbath included. With Jesus it was about 93 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:31,200 relationships and whatever did not serve that was expendable. 94 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:35,360 The nature of the Pharisees was different. 95 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:42,200 Proud, arrogant, legalistic, controlling and forceful. 96 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,160 Jesus was kind, relational, gentle and loving. 97 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,400 Yes, he was confronted. He We will find out that today 98 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:52,160 as well. You see, it's like this people. 99 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,280 The nature of a person's character always reveals itself 100 00:05:56,280 --> 00:05:58,520 in the time of testing. And Jesus was tested here, but 101 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,240 so were they. This was a test for them as 102 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:02,400 well. And how do they respond? 103 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:07,920 I find it interesting how quickly some people have this 104 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:11,040 mindset of get rid of the competition, get rid of the the 105 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:12,600 other party, get rid of this so and so. 106 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:15,720 It's not how God approaches things. 107 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:18,880 Yes, God does put an end to sin at some point, but he's a 108 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,280 gracious God. He's patient, He loves people, 109 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:26,160 allows sin to go for a while, trusting, hoping and wanting and 110 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:28,560 giving people opportunity to repent and return to Him. 111 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,160 And he does not prevent them from sowing their seeds. 112 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:34,840 He does allow that because we have free choice. 113 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:37,440 And if you read the history of the Pharisees, while Jerusalem, 114 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:40,400 Judea in general, Jerusalem was destroyed not too many years 115 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,760 after Jesus left this earth and it was was kind of eliminated. 116 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,480 Temple was destroyed, Jerusalem was destroyed and their way of 117 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,920 worship ended in that location, but the church continued on. 118 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:57,280 How easily do we lose focus when things do not go our way? 119 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:00,680 The question is not will we be challenged or not? 120 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:02,680 The question is what will we do when we are? 121 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:08,200 When threats come and tests come, we have a choice. 122 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:12,080 How will we deal with it? Will we look for an escape and 123 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:14,800 easy Rd. out or what's God teaching us here? 124 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:21,480 When tests come, that's not the time to become disheartened, 125 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:25,160 afraid, worried, and paralyzed with fear. 126 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:27,440 So this morning we're going to read again a lengthy passage of 127 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,320 Scripture. Mark chapter 3, verse 7 to 34. 128 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,120 It's the end of the chapter and the objective of this passage. 129 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:35,800 What we want to get out of here is not so much the intricacies 130 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,200 of all the things Jesus did. He did a lot of good stuff and 131 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,640 we could have sermons on that, but more so, the overall view of 132 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:46,280 how did Jesus handle life? How did he respond to the issues 133 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:48,760 that he faced? What was his response to life in 134 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:50,200 general? What was his focus? 135 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,160 So let's read that passage. Mark chapter 3, beginning verse 136 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:54,960 7. If you have your Bibles or your 137 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,440 phones, just take them out. Matthew Mark, chapter 3, 138 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:03,320 beginning verse 7. But Jesus withdrew his disciples 139 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:06,000 to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed 140 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,360 him, and from Judea and Jerusalem, Idumea, and beyond 141 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,200 the Jordan, and those from Tyre and Sidon. 142 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,640 A great multitude, when they heard how many things he was 143 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:17,840 doing, came to him. So he told his disciples that a 144 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,040 small boat should be kept ready for him because of the 145 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:21,720 multitude, lest they should crush Him. 146 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,520 For he healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed 147 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:27,960 about him to touch him. And the unclean spirits, 148 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,240 whenever they saw him, fell down before him and cried out, 149 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,280 saying, You're the Son of God. But he sternly warned them that 150 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:36,360 they should not make him known, and he went up on the mountain 151 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,400 and called him those he himself wanted, and they came to him. 152 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,200 Then he appointed 12 that they might be with him, and that he 153 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,320 might send them out to preach and have power to heal sickness 154 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,360 in the cast out demons. Simon, to whom he gave the name 155 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,360 Peter Simon, James the son of Zebedee. 156 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,280 And John the brother of James to me gave the name Bo Nergus, that 157 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:58,000 is sons of Thunder, Andrew and Philip Bartholomew, Matthew 158 00:08:58,000 --> 00:08:59,600 Thomas. James the son of Alphaeus, 159 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,280 Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot, who also 160 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:05,280 betrayed him. And they went into a house. 161 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,280 Then the molded came together again so that they could not eat 162 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,360 so much as eat bread. But when his own people heard 163 00:09:12,360 --> 00:09:14,800 about this, they went out to lay hold of him before they said 164 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,560 he's out of his mind. And the scribes came down from 165 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:19,800 Jerusalem and said he is Belzibob by the ruler of the 166 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,080 demons. He cast out demons, so he called 167 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:23,720 him to himself and said to them in parables. 168 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:27,480 How can Satan cast out Satan? If a Kingdom is divided against 169 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:29,920 itself, that Kingdom cannot stand. 170 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:34,080 And if a house is divided against itself, that house 171 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:36,600 cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up 172 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:40,800 against himself, he's and is divided, he cannot stand, but 173 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,520 has an end. No one can enter a strong man's 174 00:09:43,520 --> 00:09:46,520 house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong 175 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:48,560 man, and then he will plunder his house. 176 00:09:49,040 --> 00:09:52,360 Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons 177 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:54,960 of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter. 178 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:58,520 But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never has 179 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:00,840 forgiveness that the subject, but is subject to eternal 180 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,800 condemnation, because they said He has an unclean spirit. 181 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,440 Then his brothers and his mother came standing outside, they said 182 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,160 sent to him, calling him, and a multitude was sitting around 183 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:11,600 him. And they said to him, look, your 184 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:13,400 mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. 185 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:16,320 But he answered them saying, who's my mother or my brother? 186 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:19,160 And he looked around in the circle, those who sat around 187 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,640 about him, and said, here are my mother and my brothers, for 188 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,960 whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister and 189 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,200 mother. Thus far, the reading of God's 190 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:32,280 Word. Again, as I said before, the 191 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,080 objective here is not to look at these individual passages and 192 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,560 pull out the intricacies of it all, but in an overall view, how 193 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:43,520 did Jesus deal with life? Well, the Pharisees were focused 194 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,320 on criticizing and running down, maligning and tearing down, 195 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:49,600 plotting his destruction. Jesus did not let that occupy 196 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:53,240 his mind. He did not let that distract 197 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:57,200 him. Just think for a moment, we can 198 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:02,200 choose who we want to reflect. Jesus was focused on serving and 199 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,520 helping and spreading the gospel. 200 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:07,120 Regardless. The Pharisees were trying to 201 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:11,760 eliminate, to get rid of Jesus. Jesus had come to fulfill and 202 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:15,320 complete a mission and His focus was not on what others were 203 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:17,200 thinking, what they were saying, what they were doing. 204 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:19,160 He had more important things to deal with. 205 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,120 He was not allowing anything to keep him from focusing on the 206 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:27,760 mission God had for him. Jesus focused on teaching and 207 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:29,840 healing. He didn't stay in one area. 208 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:33,680 He moved around a bit. He became known far and wide 209 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:35,680 very quickly by modern standards. 210 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:38,640 Jesus did not even travel far. We must remember that wherever 211 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:40,240 He walked, He went. He walked. 212 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:43,200 But news spread fast. The news of his miracles, that 213 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:44,800 he performed the spread like wildfire. 214 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:49,480 And it says #7 Jesus withdrew his with his disciples to the 215 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:52,080 sea, and a great molded from Galilee followed him, and from 216 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:54,760 Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and beyond the Jordan goes from Tyre 217 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:57,600 and Sidon and a great multitude. And he heard how many things he 218 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:02,320 was doing came to This is a massive crowd, the distance from 219 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:04,080 the points. If you would look at a map on a 220 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,800 online, you would take a take a map from ancient Palestine where 221 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:12,920 Sidon is up north by the sea and then go down South to this place 222 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:18,000 called Idumea and then beyond Jordan going to the east. 223 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:24,000 That's a vast territory. And I checked on Google if it's 224 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:25,480 accurate. I can't say for sure if it is, 225 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:28,480 but give or take about 280 kilometers. 226 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:31,000 So from the top to the bottom of that section plus the width of 227 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,760 it, that's a huge area. All these people came to Jesus. 228 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:38,320 That's quite a popularity. And Jerusalem as well. 229 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,480 They came. It got so busy. 230 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,520 It says in verse 9 that the disciples, he told his disciples 231 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:46,520 a small boat should be kept ready for him because the mold 232 00:12:46,520 --> 00:12:47,560 is less. They should crush him. 233 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,400 He was famous. Crowds are eager to come around. 234 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:55,240 Crowds are eager to get near, to have an have access to them. 235 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,320 They're obsessed with one thing, get close to Jesus. 236 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,000 And I don't blame them like I would too. 237 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:01,880 I mean especially if you were sick or something. 238 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,880 They wanted to see a miracle or experience a miracle and so 239 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:09,840 Jesus took some measures to not let things get out of hand. 240 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:12,880 He wants a boat so he can stay kind of focused and not get 241 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:15,560 overrun by the crowd and keep on doing what he's doing. 242 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:19,480 It says in verse 10, he healed many so as many had as 243 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:21,320 afflictions pressed about him to touch him. 244 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:24,440 That's all they needed. Unclean spirits whenever they 245 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:26,600 saw him, fell down before him, cried out saying you're the son 246 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,200 of God. He sternly warns them shouldn't 247 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:30,440 make him known. They still did. 248 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:35,880 Jesus kept his mission, his focus on the mission, doing his 249 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,000 work from a human standpoint. I think I would have been 250 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,720 tempted to let this kind of distract me, get to me, maybe, 251 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:46,600 maybe get people on my side. Maybe I can create a system, 252 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:49,640 maybe a maybe a movement of some kind. 253 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:51,680 Hey, there's an opportunity here. 254 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:55,520 There's a chance. I mean, what better way, right? 255 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:00,680 His focus was not that. His focus was to bring people 256 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,840 into connection with God. Jesus never followed up any 257 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:09,400 opportunity to gain control or power over people. 258 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,680 That was not his objective. That was not his mission. 259 00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,400 He had not come to be just another earthly leader who was 260 00:14:17,400 --> 00:14:20,840 after numbers and power and fame control. 261 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:24,320 Jesus focused on what God had sent him for to bring the gospel 262 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:28,960 to people to heal them. The numbers in the crowds that 263 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:31,600 was a by product of what his we was doing, what he was 264 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,080 faithfully doing. You see friends, that never 265 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,360 lasts. However, crowds never do. 266 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,640 The only thing that lasts is a relationship and of course, in a 267 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,760 few years from when this started was we read toward the ends of 268 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:45,040 the gospel. In the end of the gospel, every 269 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,600 gospel tells a story. Jesus was crucified. 270 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:53,360 It was only a three-year thing. In the end, it doesn't matter 271 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,280 the numbers and the stats. What matters is the 272 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:58,640 relationships. Jesus had come as God in the 273 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:02,880 flesh to demonstrate his love for the people to bring people 274 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:08,680 into relationship only three years and in this three-year 275 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:12,040 time spent right early on, it's he had another focus and that 276 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,840 was to prepare apostles to help him with the work. 277 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:16,960 It's noteworthy. It's not that just Jesus does 278 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:18,520 this alone. He's not a one man show. 279 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:24,120 He's not a one man worker. Jesus could have made himself 280 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,680 into an idol. It's all about me as a man. 281 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:31,080 But that was not his focus. He came to do the work, yes, to 282 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,960 teach, yes, to train, yes, but not just by himself. 283 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:37,160 It says in verse 13 he went up on a mountain and called to him. 284 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:38,840 Those himself he wanted and they came to him. 285 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,160 Now Mark's a very abbreviated gospel. 286 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:44,720 It says in verse 14. Then he appointed 12 that they 287 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,280 might be with him, that he might send them out to preach. 288 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,320 We have the list of names that Mark mentions here and and we've 289 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,600 read that, but I want to go out to the to the gospel of Luke and 290 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:57,840 read Luke's account of how this happened. 291 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:00,560 And there's Luke's a bit more detailed in Luke chapter 6, 292 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:03,000 verse 12. He says it came to pass in those 293 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:06,280 days that he went out to the mountain to pray and continued 294 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:08,560 all night in prayer to God. And when it was his day he 295 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:12,040 called him disciples to himself, and from them he chose 12 whom 296 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,080 he also named apostles. Simon, whom he also named Peter, 297 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,640 Andrew his brother James and John, Philip, Bartholomew, 298 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:19,800 Matthew and Thomas. James the son of Alpheus and 299 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,760 Simon called the Zealot Judas the son of James and Judas 300 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:25,440 Iscariot, who also became a traitor. 301 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:28,800 Luke mentions that Jesus did this after he prayed all night, 302 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,840 that it tells us how he did it. What's noteworthy here is not 303 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,520 just that he picked some men, but who he picked. 304 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:38,600 There's a guy in this group named Matthew. 305 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:42,000 We talked about him last Sunday. His name is Levi in the Hebrew, 306 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,720 I believe, and the Greek would be Matthew, as far as I 307 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:46,240 understand it. But these, these names are 308 00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:47,760 important. And Simon, these two guys are 309 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,760 important. And if you think about it, you 310 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,600 couldn't have had not have had more opposite personalities than 311 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:57,760 these two guys. Matthew the tax collector. 312 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:00,760 Simon the Zealot. They were not friends. 313 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:03,680 The math, the math, the tax collectors. 314 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:05,520 They worked for the Romans. Jewish men worked for the 315 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:09,200 Romans, collecting Texas taxes, collecting money, giving to the 316 00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:11,640 Roman government, and pocketing some of themselves. 317 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:13,520 Jews did not like these people at all. 318 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:15,720 Simon the Zealot. He was one of the extremists who 319 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:21,079 didn't like these people. The Zealots hated Romans, and 320 00:17:21,079 --> 00:17:24,200 humanly speaking, this was a recipe for trouble. 321 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:26,560 Imagine Jesus would have an HR person. 322 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,480 You know, I'm thinking I'm going to hire myself or get myself 323 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:30,880 some of the apostles who will follow me. 324 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:33,280 How about these two? He would say, oh, no, no, no, 325 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:36,120 no, no, they're enemies. That's a bad formula. 326 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:40,840 It's a recipe for trouble. See, Jesus chose his disciples 327 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:45,440 based on what he was focusing on, based on what he wanted them 328 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:47,080 to become, not what they had been. 329 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:51,440 His focus was very different. I'm not saying we should never 330 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,320 take a person's past as history into consideration. 331 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:57,920 Of course we should, because the past always impacts the future. 332 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,640 But in this case here, these men had followed the call. 333 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,080 They were willing to leave everything behind, come to 334 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,960 follow Jesus. Jesus was not focusing where 335 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,200 they've been, He's focusing where he wants them to be. 336 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:14,960 What Jesus disciples had in common was not their past. 337 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:18,520 What they had in common was who they're following. 338 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:23,240 That makes all the difference. These 12 men for the most part 339 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,240 had a very different history, some very checkered history, you 340 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,960 could call it later. However, during the Passover 341 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:32,000 meal it would come out that they were still not quite aligned. 342 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:33,920 There was still bickering amongst themselves who should 343 00:18:33,920 --> 00:18:35,920 have what position in the coming Kingdom, which they were sure 344 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,560 Jesus was going to shortly introduce, which he didn't. 345 00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:40,800 He did introduce a Kingdom, but not that one. 346 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:44,760 Jesus did not focus or dwell on their past. 347 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:46,760 He focused on where am I taking these guys? 348 00:18:48,160 --> 00:18:50,680 So it's different as they were men like Matthew and Simon the 349 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,680 Simon the Zealot, both were God's chosen vessels of service. 350 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:59,040 You see, when Christ becomes the focus, what matters to Christ 351 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:03,080 rises to the top. All other things become less 352 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:06,480 significant. The question I have is, how 353 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,120 should we do it? How should we lead? 354 00:19:09,840 --> 00:19:13,880 How should we serve? Maybe you're in a place this 355 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:15,440 morning where you're focusing on your past. 356 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:19,680 Yep, I done it. I'm all messed up. 357 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:27,280 Is that what Jesus focusing on? You can be at peace because 358 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:29,920 Jesus already paid for. That that's paid for doesn't 359 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:31,400 mean that it won't impact the future. 360 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:35,520 But that's not your benchmark. That's not your reference point. 361 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:37,520 Where's Jesus focusing on in your life? 362 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,240 You see, so often we and Jesus don't have the same focus. 363 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:43,720 Maybe you're focusing in your past. 364 00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:49,480 He's focusing on your future. If he's not focusing on your 365 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:52,960 past, why are you? When he just called these men, 366 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:54,800 he didn't want to just have a club, a get together. 367 00:19:54,800 --> 00:19:58,400 He wanted a group of men, a group of disciples, apostles who 368 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:00,840 were going to carry his message to the corners of the world. 369 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:06,120 And it wasn't going to be easy. We find to the Gospels that he 370 00:20:06,120 --> 00:20:09,720 often mentions the cross. The journey is not going to be 371 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,920 easy. Jesus did not focus on making 372 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,560 life easy for his apostles. He focused on preparing his 373 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,080 apostles. That's a different focus. 374 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:23,320 Our culture, we usually want to make things easy, more 375 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:29,000 convenient, more doable. It's far better nothing. 376 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:30,280 We should never do anything like that. 377 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:32,600 We have to prepare ourselves for ministry no matter what comes. 378 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:38,480 Even though Jesus was doing a lot of ministry and teaching and 379 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,040 healing, He still had to have her deal with the problems that 380 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:44,640 they were throwing at him. There was opposition didn't turn 381 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,360 a blind eye to it. Even while he did not focus on 382 00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:49,720 what they were doing, He did address it. 383 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:54,200 And so he exposed and so he focused on exposing the issues. 384 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:57,400 He's focused on exposing spiritual darkness and 385 00:20:57,400 --> 00:20:58,320 corruption. He did that. 386 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,080 That's a hard one because it's so unpleasant. 387 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:04,960 It's difficult, causes pain. He exposed the works of darkness 388 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:07,160 in the hearts of the religious leaders, and not because he 389 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:11,280 needed to or I need to defend myself or anything like that. 390 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,080 That was not the point. These men needed to see that 391 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,040 they were in the wrong. They were blind, they were 392 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,960 proud, they were arrogant, and the crowd needed to see it. 393 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:21,960 They were not real. They were religious, but they 394 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:24,640 were lost. They didn't think that there's 395 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:26,960 anything wrong with their lives. Jesus was the issue in their 396 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,520 mind. Notice what the people, the 397 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:31,240 leaders said about him, how they viewed him. 398 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,160 Verse 20, it says the multitude came together again so that they 399 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:36,960 could not so much as eat bread. But when his own people, his own 400 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,440 people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of him. 401 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:41,240 We've got to grab him, take him. He's out of his mind. 402 00:21:41,240 --> 00:21:43,160 He's nuts. He's gone, whatever. 403 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:46,000 And the scribes come down from Jerusalem, they add to this, Oh, 404 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:48,040 he's got bells above by the ruler of demons. 405 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:51,440 He casts out demons, just completely Nicks him out. 406 00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:56,480 Just just cancel him, just cut him off his own people. 407 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,120 Maybe there were his friends, his neighbors, doesn't say who 408 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:01,960 they were, but later on we do. His mom, his mother and his 409 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:03,400 brothers thinking sisters came along. 410 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,360 They thought similar things. We need to help him. 411 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,440 The Pharisees, they were brutal, they call him possessed. 412 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:12,480 His driving at demons by Satan himself. 413 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,040 What a thing to say. But you see, that's all they 414 00:22:15,040 --> 00:22:17,280 could do. They had no other hold on Jesus. 415 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:19,200 They couldn't deny the miracles they were, they were real, they 416 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:21,360 were happening, couldn't deny that. 417 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:26,400 So the only thing they can do is tear him down, categorize him. 418 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:30,320 So Jesus confronts their sin. He says he called them to 419 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,000 himself and said to them in parables. 420 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:36,160 How can Satan cast out Satan? If a Kingdom is divided against 421 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:37,800 itself, that Kingdom cannot stand. 422 00:22:37,800 --> 00:22:40,000 If a house is divided against self, that cannot stand. 423 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:42,640 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, 424 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:45,760 he cannot stand but has an end. No one can enter a strong man's 425 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:48,840 house and plunders goods unless he first binds A strongman, then 426 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:55,480 he will plunder his house. Sometimes Jesus didn't bother 427 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:57,560 with the religious leaders. He heard them, sometimes engaged 428 00:22:57,560 --> 00:22:59,760 them, but this time he called him to himself. 429 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,080 He called him. He used parables to explain his 430 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:05,360 position, and it very clearly comes out where he's focused. 431 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:10,080 The truth is not that. The truth is that no house can 432 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:11,400 stand who's divided against itself. 433 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,520 Any organization, any group that attacks itself dies. 434 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,200 I'm reminded of a disease that we talk about a lot in our time. 435 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:22,720 It's called cancer. And of course there's all kinds 436 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,000 of research being done trying to cure, but really what cancer is, 437 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,160 it's, it's something that lives off the person it's trying. 438 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:29,640 It lives off the person it's killing. 439 00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:34,520 Cancer is a disease where some cells in the body go rogue and 440 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,400 start attacking the body and, and the end cancer may kill the 441 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,400 body, but then the cancer itself dies because it killed its host. 442 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,880 She's telling the religious leaders Satan can't cast out 443 00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:47,320 Satan. That's not how it works. 444 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:49,880 Then he uses the parable of the strongman. 445 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:56,800 He says a strong man can keep watching his house only if 446 00:23:56,800 --> 00:23:58,640 there's nobody who comes along who's stronger. 447 00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,760 And then so Jesus telling this parable that Satan's been 448 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:05,360 holding God's created people hostage and possession, but 449 00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:08,080 here's Jesus the strongman, He's overpowering them. 450 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,880 But then he says something so drastic, it's caused many people 451 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,240 a lot of fear and a lot of worry. 452 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,280 And he says in verse 28, I say to you, all sins will be 453 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:18,880 forgiven. The sons of men, whoever 454 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,440 blasphemes they may blasphemes they may utter, but who 455 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,400 blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiven us, 456 00:24:24,720 --> 00:24:26,600 but is subject to eternal condemnation because they said 457 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,320 he has an unclean spirit. He has confronted them for that. 458 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:34,840 These people had no idea of what they were messing with, what 459 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:36,920 they were playing with, what they were, who they were 460 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:40,320 attacking. Jesus had come in love and 461 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:44,720 compassion to help all people, but these Pharisees were not 462 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:46,920 willing to accept that, that they needed help, but they had 463 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,400 sinned, that they needed to repent of anything for Jesus, 464 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,120 even to insinuate and mention sin in their lives. 465 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:55,880 That was an attack. And then their mind, Jesus was 466 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,320 the problem. Just put him in the lowest 467 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:00,440 place. They were cutting themselves 468 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:01,520 off. And I just want to mention this 469 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:03,080 about blaspheming the Holy Spirit. 470 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:06,160 It's a bit of a side note here. I've had people come to me and 471 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,160 ask me or talk to me. I think, Pastor, I may have 472 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:12,520 blasphemed the Holy Spirit. I'm worried about that I may 473 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:14,120 have committed the unpardonable sin. 474 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:19,080 What should I do? And they want my thoughts. 475 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:22,760 And my word to a person that comes with those kinds of 476 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:26,880 comments is simply this. If you're being reminded of 477 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:31,000 this, you're feeling you may have done it, then you probably 478 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:32,640 have not done it. I would say you haven't done it 479 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,400 because a person, the way I understand Scripture, wouldn't 480 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:37,920 be asking that question. If they had done it, they 481 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:39,400 wouldn't even be coming to church. 482 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:41,360 They wouldn't even want to know the gospel. 483 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:43,800 Can it happen? I believe it can. 484 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,720 Jesus says so. But in the case of a person 485 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,480 who's wondering about it, asking about it, that's not their case. 486 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:51,080 But that's not my focus this morning. 487 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,000 My focus is what was Jesus doing? 488 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:56,640 Well, it was not out of the woods. 489 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,920 Yet here in verse 31, it says his brothers and mother came and 490 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,040 standing outside, they sent him, calling him, and a multitude was 491 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:04,560 sitting around him. And they said to him, look, your 492 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:06,800 mother and your brothers are here seeking you. 493 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:11,160 He answered them saying, who's my mother and my brothers? 494 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,480 And he looked around the circle at us, those who sat about and 495 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:16,480 said, here are my mother and my brothers. 496 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:22,080 Forever does the will of God is my brother, my sister and my 497 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,560 mother. What a wonderful focus, 498 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:31,440 wonderful perception. Jesus focused on relationships 499 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,000 at the end. When it came to the bottom line, 500 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,760 Jesus did not focus on how many people he healed, didn't focus 501 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:44,040 how many demons he cast out, didn't focus on how many people 502 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:47,960 came to listen to him, how big, what size the crowds were, not 503 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:49,840 even what the Pharisee was saying about him. 504 00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:53,280 His focus was what am I doing about the mission that my father 505 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:57,200 has given me? His own blood Relatives didn't 506 00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:01,440 understand him. Jesus wasn't drawn to any of the 507 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,320 stuff. He could have worked it out so 508 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,200 that he could have maybe compromised, come to an 509 00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:08,800 agreement of sorts and get along so to speak. 510 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:13,520 Nothing affected him. He was humble, He was simple, 511 00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:17,000 not to any of what the world was into, not swayed even by his 512 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:19,480 family. He just focused on what the 513 00:27:19,480 --> 00:27:22,720 Father had sent him for, to bring law sinners to repentance 514 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,120 into relationship with Christ in whatever circumstance they were. 515 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:33,320 He was about relationships. Jesus had a mission to fulfill. 516 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,120 He was tested, He was challenged, He was resisted, He 517 00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:41,200 was opposed, maligned. Nothing stopped him. 518 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:46,360 Jesus kept His focus on His Father's calling, on his life. 519 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:49,720 Easy or hard made no difference. Convenient or difficult, none of 520 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:52,240 it mattered. Healing the sick, casting out 521 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,520 the demons, teaching the people, all of it together He continued 522 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:57,960 faithfully on for the time that God had for him. 523 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:00,320 I want us to ask this question of ourselves. 524 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:04,800 Can Jesus use me and you for His mission? 525 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:09,760 Are we focused enough for it? God has hardwired us to do 1, to 526 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:11,360 do things, go places, accomplish things. 527 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:13,320 That's all good. That's great, there's nothing 528 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:16,280 wrong with that. But it needs to be harnessed for 529 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:20,240 His Kingdom and the stories of life in this world. 530 00:28:20,240 --> 00:28:21,960 It's important that we keep focus. 531 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,760 It's not the matter of who we are, where we are, but what 532 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:29,160 direction we're headed. We can't afford to drift, to go 533 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:30,680 with the flow and roll with the times. 534 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:33,840 We must stay the course. Jesus is our anchor. 535 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,320 He's our captain, our navigator. We must trust him. 536 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:41,320 We must focus on him alone. I want to close with a short 537 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:43,280 story about a man named Ernest Shackleton. 538 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:45,400 Some of you have read the book or one of his book, One of the 539 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:46,600 books. Years ago, I read the book 540 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:49,080 called The Endurance. I watched the movie. 541 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,720 It's incredibly fascinating, both the book and the movie. 542 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:57,440 In 1914, Shackleton sailed from England down to South toward the 543 00:28:57,440 --> 00:28:59,320 Antarctic. He wanted to explore the 544 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:03,600 continent over land and, and just see the place. 545 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:06,320 He and his crew sailed on the ship called the Endurance. 546 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:09,640 And when they headed, they were close to Antarctica and, and the 547 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:14,840 Wettle Sea just off the coast. There they reached, they got 548 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,440 trapped in pack ice and and couldn't move. 549 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:21,920 The pack ice drifted and shifted and heaved and it started to 550 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:23,800 crush the ship. And after months of drifting, 551 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:27,800 the pressure of the ice floes in the ice chunks crushed the ship 552 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:32,760 and it sank in November of 1915. So he was, he was. 553 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:36,440 They were on the ice floes now with some supplies, some food 554 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:39,200 and three lifeboats, and there was no hope of rescue. 555 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:42,360 How would they survive? They camped on that ice flow for 556 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:44,760 months and the ice flow was actually drifting northward 557 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:46,640 towards warmer waters. And when the ice broke, they 558 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:50,400 took their lifeboats and sailed in an April 6th to 1916 reached 559 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:53,560 the the place called Elephant Island, a totally desert, 560 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:56,360 desolate uninhabited place. There were seals and and 561 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:58,560 Penguins but and freshwater as well. 562 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:00,520 But they couldn't stay there. There was no help. 563 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:03,400 And they had maps, they had a few crude instruments, few 564 00:30:03,400 --> 00:30:05,200 simple instruments they had in back in those days. 565 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:08,400 And and Tackleton knew there was a place with favorable winds 566 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:10,360 that could reach a place called Georgia Island. 567 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:13,320 There was a whaling station where there he knew there was 568 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:16,000 people, there was humans living there, some islands closer, but 569 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:17,560 the winds were not favorable that they could do it. 570 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:21,960 So they set out with one boat and five guys, left 22 men 571 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:23,600 behind him on this elephant island. 572 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,280 And for 800 or so nautical miles, he sailed eastward, 573 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,120 northeastward, trying to reach Georgia Island. 574 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:37,880 An incredible journey of endurance and just just a strong 575 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:43,280 will and resolve to to not let this mission cost them their 576 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:44,880 lives. They hadn't gone to the 577 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,160 Antarctic, couldn't get reached out, but they now just want to 578 00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:50,840 save their lives. They finally reached Georgia 579 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:53,960 Island on the wrong side in the in the whaling station to the 580 00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:56,240 north side and they reached the South side. 581 00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:58,320 Now they had to cross over and some of the men were by that 582 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,280 time the five men here he was was with him were so ill and 583 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:05,080 weak. It looked like scarecrows. 584 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:10,000 They couldn't sail around and the the boat was too too rough 585 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:13,320 by too bad shape by then. And so he and two, two other 586 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,320 guys walked over the island, over the mountain to the other 587 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:19,480 side. They trekked across uncharted 588 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:24,800 territory onto the island, over the top 36 hours nonstop, 589 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,320 treading steep climbing over glaciers and rocks. 590 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:29,520 Nobody ever done that before they reached the whaling 591 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:30,840 station. The people were shocked to see 592 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:33,880 these three human beings stumble into the camp into the into the 593 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:39,120 station. Well, they he's told a story and 594 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:41,160 he got a ship and went sailed around the other side of the 595 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:43,720 island, rescued his the rest of his crew that he left on the 596 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:44,960 beach there. And then he went back to 597 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:48,000 Elephant Island and after 4 attempts was able to make to the 598 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:51,720 shore to rescue his crew. He didn't achieve his goal of 599 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:54,040 crossing the Antarctic, but he kept everybody alive. 600 00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,040 The voyage is not remember for journey, but for for what? 601 00:31:58,040 --> 00:31:59,640 For the for the mission of the journey. 602 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:04,640 But for what he did, courage, survival, leadership under 603 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:07,400 pressure, why did I tell that story? 604 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:10,240 It's not a Bible story even, but it's a relevant story. 605 00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,080 It was a man of resolve. He was focused. 606 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:18,640 He was so focused on doing what was best for his men. 607 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:28,920 He didn't lose a single one. If people in the temporal world 608 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:32,840 can show that resolve and that focus, why can't we as churches 609 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:37,800 do that? How focused are you and I on 610 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:40,720 God's mission? It is not fraught with such 611 00:32:40,720 --> 00:32:42,000 risk. Not here anyway. 612 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:43,160 And know this country is where it is. 613 00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:45,920 And we pray for our brothers and sisters and the countries where 614 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:46,960 they're martyred for their faith. 615 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:52,400 But what are our excuses? How easily do we just take the 616 00:32:52,400 --> 00:32:55,800 easy Rd. give up, give in, try, take the off ramp? 617 00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:02,200 Where's our focus? We live in a society today where 618 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:04,400 easy is better, convenient is better. 619 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,920 It's not healthy. We have so many commands in 620 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:11,880 Scripture pointing us to God to draw our attention to God, and 621 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:14,640 it's so difficult for us because we want it comfortable. 622 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:18,080 If there's a bit of opposition, a bit of pressure, a bit of 623 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:20,600 inconvenience, then, well, maybe it's not meant for me. 624 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:27,040 No, that which makes us shift our focus. 625 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:29,640 That is what has control of our lives. 626 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:31,840 There's a proverb that goes this way. 627 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:38,120 You don't measure loyalty by how people stand with you in the 628 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:41,920 sun, but how they stand with you in the storm. 629 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:46,720 Can Jesus count on us? Today we can decide to follow 630 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,760 Jesus, walk with Jesus. Look what he's looking at. 631 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:53,560 Focus on what he's focusing on The question we must we must ask 632 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:56,080 ourselves is what are we going to focus on? 633 00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:58,920 Let's not focus on the past. That's not our benchmark. 634 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:05,920 Let's not focus on the present, not even on the future. 635 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:10,639 Let's focus on Jesus. Hebrews 12 verse one says 636 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:16,800 therefore we also since we're surrounded by so great cloud of 637 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,760 witnesses, let us lay aside every weight in the sin which so 638 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:22,360 easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race 639 00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:25,239 that's set before us. And further in verse 2, looking 640 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:30,320 unto Jesus, focusing on Jesus, the author and finisher of our 641 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:34,320 faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the 642 00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:39,960 cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand 643 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:45,920 of the throne of God. That's our goal, that's our aim, 644 00:34:46,199 --> 00:34:57,200 That is our focus. Let us pray, Lord Jesus, you are 645 00:34:57,280 --> 00:35:00,520 our rock. You are our foundation. 646 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:05,840 Help us to look to you continually, 100% of the time, 647 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:09,320 day and night. Help us to trust you fully, to 648 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:11,560 focus on You, regardless of what may come. 649 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,760 Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your mercy. 650 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:18,120 As we go into this week. Lord, give us strength for the 651 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:22,520 task energy. Give us wisdom and resolve to 652 00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,280 focus on what you focus on. Give us courage to face the 653 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,480 challenges and then to serve with joy and we pray. 654 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:29,240 Amen.