1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,080 Well, how are you doing crossing church? 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:08,800 My name is Jerry Harris, and I am really, really glad to be 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,320 here with you today because there's nothing better than 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:15,320 being in the House of the Lord with the people of the Lord. 5 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:18,520 And you are the people of the Lord, and you have survived your 6 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:21,160 family. That's the family you didn't 7 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,560 choose so that you could be here with the family you did choose. 8 00:00:25,120 --> 00:00:29,040 And praise God for that because sometimes that is survival. 9 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:33,400 Sometimes it's wonderful. Can be that way in church too. 10 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:34,920 I actually going to talk about that a little bit. 11 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,320 I want to welcome all of you that are joining from all of our 12 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:41,360 different locations. There's a dozen of them in this 13 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:47,000 10,000 square mile area that we call like the crossing mission 14 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:48,760 field. And that's awesome if you're 15 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:53,400 inside or online. So absolutely thankful for you. 16 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:56,920 And you know, Thanksgiving isn't just a season of the year for 17 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,280 me. I mean, I've just been 18 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:04,720 overflowing with Thanksgiving. So many good things happening in 19 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:09,560 our family and in our lives. And I know that with, in spite 20 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:13,800 of everything, like even if there's nothing good going on, 21 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,160 if you have the Lord, you still have plenty to be thankful for. 22 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,400 And, and I, I hope that that that's in your mind, 23 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:25,560 particularly for me. It's been 4 years now. 24 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:29,040 That's just wild to think. This weekend, it's been 4 years 25 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,120 since I announced 2 things on Thanksgiving weekend at the 26 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,000 crossing. The first thing that I announced 27 00:01:36,040 --> 00:01:38,400 that weekend was that we were debt free. 28 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:41,040 Can I get a Hallelujah for being debt free? 29 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:44,960 Amen. The second thing that I 30 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:48,920 announced that that weekend was that Clayton Hensel was your new 31 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:51,240 senior pastor. Yeah. 32 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:56,000 And, and I was a little jealous because he got 3 standing 33 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,040 ovations. That was pretty nice. 34 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,720 You know, talk about a warm welcome. 35 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:04,160 And so think it was an appropriate day for those 36 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:08,720 announcements because we should all be so incredibly thankful 37 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:11,360 for the things that God has done. 38 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:17,720 So I called the office early in this week because Clayton has 39 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:23,000 broken all of my records. And I'm kind of sad about that. 40 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:26,440 But no, I'm not really. And I wanted to see what was 41 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,440 going on with baptisms because there was one record that he 42 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,880 hadn't broken, one record that was standing out there. 43 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,840 And it was in 2017. We have 1011 baptisms. 44 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:40,000 And I go, good luck Clayton, good luck crossing church. 45 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,880 Come on. And, and I, I called the office 46 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,640 and I said, where are we at calendar year for baptisms and 47 00:02:47,640 --> 00:02:55,360 they go work 12174. I'm like, I've never been so 48 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,160 glad to see a record broken in my life. 49 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,720 And if you keep going like this and what I've been seeing this 50 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:04,760 weekend, you're going to hit 1400 before the end of the year. 51 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:09,240 And, and I mean, just the thought of that 1400 people 52 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:12,400 getting to experience their sins being washed away, being 53 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:16,160 breaking through that water and finding that new life in Jesus 54 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:20,720 Christ, how incredible that is. And you see it in in attendance 55 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,440 and you see it in engagement. You know, I mentioned Clayton's 56 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:27,320 name, but you know, that happens when when the church is at work, 57 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,760 it happens when people are sharing the gospel of Jesus 58 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:34,600 Christ with other people and there is engagement going on. 59 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,920 And there's incredible gaugement going on at this church right 60 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,920 now. We have so much to be thankful 61 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:46,200 for and we don't ever want to get complacent in that. 62 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,200 And that is why I'm so glad to be able to share with you from 63 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,920 this last, this last sermon of the series from First 64 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:58,760 Corinthians, First Corinthians chapter 16, because it is a tale 65 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,920 of three churches. That's what we find in that 66 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,160 chapter, what was going on in those churches. 67 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:11,000 And then if we apply it right, we might learn what we need to 68 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:15,000 be doing and what we need to refrain from doing as a church. 69 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,600 So a lot of times, especially through this series, we've 70 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:22,240 looked a lot about about what's going on internally, like what's 71 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:25,160 going into my heart, what's going on in my personal 72 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:27,960 circumstances. How is God teaching me through 73 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:30,240 that? But what I want you to do today 74 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,960 is I want you to zoom out a little bit, and I don't want to 75 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,040 want you to be looking to the Scripture at the beginning 76 00:04:37,040 --> 00:04:42,840 anyway, so much as me as we're looking at it as us, like as a 77 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:46,800 family of believers. So to look at these other 78 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:51,120 churches and then see our relationship to the crossing in 79 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:55,400 the light of those three. Now, those three churches are 80 00:04:55,400 --> 00:05:02,560 Jerusalem, Corinth and Ephesus. OK, Jerusalem, at least in the 81 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,560 16th chapter, is the subject that the apostle Paul's writing 82 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:10,680 about, and he's writing it to the Corinthian church, and he's 83 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,800 writing it from the Ephesian church. 84 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:18,000 So let's look at all three of these churches and see what we 85 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,680 can learn. All right, the first one is 86 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,480 Jerusalem. Now, I'm going to give a pretty 87 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:30,160 negative title for the Jerusalem church, but bear with me because 88 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,760 I think I can support it. And it's this Jerusalem church 89 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:35,920 is the church that lives in the past. 90 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:43,400 First Corinthians chapter 16 verses one through 4, Paul 91 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,000 writes and he says now about the collection for the Lord's 92 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,520 people. Do what I told the Galatian 93 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:50,680 churches to do on the first day of the week. 94 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:55,080 Each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with 95 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:59,880 your income, saving it up so that when I come, no collections 96 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:03,200 will have to be made. Then when I arrive, I will give 97 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,720 letters of introduction to the men you approve to and send them 98 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:13,160 with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to 99 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:17,800 go also, they will accompany me. So let's give a little bit of 100 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:21,000 background, because there's a gift that is going to be 101 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,360 acquired from the Corinthian church, and then it's going to 102 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:27,520 be taken from Corinth to Jerusalem. 103 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:30,800 Why does Jerusalem need that offering? 104 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:35,200 Well, we've already learned early on in this series that 105 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:40,080 First Corinthians was written about 55 or 56 AD, that it was 106 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,160 written from Ephesus. And that date is important 107 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:50,320 because it means that it's about 20 years after the evangelist 108 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:55,360 Stephen was martyred. Stephen was martyred in 109 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:57,080 Jerusalem. He was killed for his face, 110 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:02,760 stoned to death in Jerusalem, and it was some time after the 111 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:08,360 church had begun. Now again, let's understand it a 112 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:11,200 little bit better. In Acts chapter one, verse 8, 113 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:15,280 Jesus gave His most specific instructions about how to live 114 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:18,800 out the Great Commission. A lot of times we're thinking of 115 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,920 Matthew 2818 to 20, but this is an Acts 1/8. 116 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:27,440 This is what he says. But you will receive power when 117 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:32,280 the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in 118 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:37,320 Jerusalem, Period. No, it's not a period, it's a 119 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:39,600 comma. You see that? 120 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:44,840 You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, comma, and in all 121 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:50,560 Judea and Samaria comma and to the ends of the earth. 122 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:58,720 The thing is that the Church of Jerusalem stayed in Jerusalem. 123 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:07,440 Now Jesus didn't say that you I want you to try and endeavour to 124 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:12,040 be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samarian to the 125 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:16,680 he didn't say do your best to be, he said, and you will be. 126 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:20,720 And this is where we get a difference between the upper 127 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:22,400 story and the lower story, right? 128 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:26,000 When God says something in the upper story, take it to the 129 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:27,400 bank. It's going to happen. 130 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:29,440 There's nothing in this world that can stop it. 131 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:33,039 God's going to do it in his sovereign power. 132 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:37,200 This will happen, but we all live in the lower story, right? 133 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,600 What we're trying to do is get In Sync with God and live our 134 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:43,799 lives in the upper story where he is. 135 00:08:44,039 --> 00:08:47,200 But sometimes we get stuck down in the lower story, and that's 136 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,320 what you're going to see here. An upper story, lower story, 137 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:52,800 kind of things smashing in to one another. 138 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:56,560 Because they stayed in Jerusalem. 139 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:01,680 They were instructed to go into all Judea and Samaria to the 140 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:04,240 ends of the earth. And the church was doing so 141 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:06,000 well. The church was grown by 142 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:08,000 thousands. The first day, the first day of 143 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:11,800 the church, 3000 people accepted Christ and were baptized, right? 144 00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,720 Just a little later, it says that the number grew to 5000. 145 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,120 I mean, it was growing like crazy. 146 00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:21,680 As a matter of fact, in the book of Acts, they had to change the 147 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:23,760 Word. They had to change the Word from 148 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,440 the Lord, added to the Word to the Word. 149 00:09:26,440 --> 00:09:30,920 The Lord multiplied. It was growing that fast and I 150 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:33,520 would imagine there were a lot of people there in Jerusalem 151 00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:37,320 saying things are going so well, we just need to stay here and 152 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,320 try to manage the things that we already have. 153 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:51,440 That was not what Jesus said. They were effective, yes, but 154 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:55,120 they were only effective to people in Jerusalem. 155 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:03,520 That is until Steven. And no one can stand up to the 156 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,320 spirit by which Stephen spoke. He was an incredible preacher, 157 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:11,000 credible order, credible teacher of God's word. 158 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,520 And he was just so compelling that people were coming in 159 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:18,480 droves, coming to know the Lord. And so the Jewish religious 160 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:21,160 leader said, we can't have that anymore, right? 161 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:23,480 And so they dragged him into court. 162 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:27,040 And there was this, there's this big scene in the book of Acts of 163 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,680 him being on trial for his faith. 164 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:33,160 And when he got to Jesus in the resurrection, they had heard all 165 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:37,760 they wanted to hear. He said you stiff necked people 166 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:41,280 with uncircumcised hearts and ears, you always resist the Holy 167 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:44,080 Spirit. They put their hands over their 168 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:47,600 ears, screamed at the top of their lungs, grabbed that guy, 169 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,400 took him outside the city and began throwing rocks at him 170 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:55,440 until he died, stoned him to death. 171 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:02,680 And there was this pretty important young man there who 172 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:07,560 held everybody's coats so they could get a better wind up on 173 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:08,840 the rock that they were throwing. 174 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:15,840 And his name was Saul. And we read about it in Acts 175 00:11:15,840 --> 00:11:17,760 chapter 8, verses one to four, it says. 176 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:21,240 And Saul approved of their killing hymn. 177 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:25,240 And on that day, a great persecution broke out against 178 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:29,840 the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were 179 00:11:29,840 --> 00:11:31,880 scattered. Look what it says next 180 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:42,160 throughout Judea and Samaria. Want to stop there for just a 181 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:44,720 second? Guess what's happening? 182 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:48,840 The upper story. The upper story's happening 183 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,680 right there because Jesus said you will be my witnesses in 184 00:11:52,680 --> 00:11:54,760 Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, right? 185 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:58,280 It's happening right there. Except they weren't doing it in 186 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:00,440 the upper story. They were doing it in the lower 187 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:02,160 story. If they would have just gone 188 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:05,560 out, if they would have just gone out when Jesus told him to, 189 00:12:05,560 --> 00:12:07,120 would have been different. They would have been in the 190 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,080 upper story. But because they were in the 191 00:12:09,080 --> 00:12:11,720 lower story and they were hoarding that blessing and 192 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:14,760 keeping that blessing to themselves, the gospel still 193 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:20,040 went out, but it went out on the basis of persecution going on. 194 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:23,240 It says godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 195 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,680 But Saul began to destroy the church, going from house to 196 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:29,840 house. He dragged off both men and 197 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:33,880 women and put them in prison. And listen to the next line. 198 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:40,720 And those who'd been scattered preach the Word wherever they 199 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:49,400 went, the Gospels going out, but they missed their window. 200 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:57,680 Jerusalem was a church that lived in the past, and they 201 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:01,280 missed their window. And now, 20 years later, when 202 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:05,480 the apostle Paul, Saul or the apostle Paul is writing the 203 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,120 Corinthian church, instead of Jerusalem being the powerhouse 204 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,320 church that they were, now they're in desperate need. 205 00:13:12,560 --> 00:13:17,160 So an offering has to be taken because they are incapable of 206 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:23,680 meeting their own needs. And there's a warning there. 207 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:28,560 And that warning is not to live in the past. 208 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:33,680 Jerusalem was a church living in the past, resting in its 209 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:37,040 accomplishments. This is why I'm so thankful for 210 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,000 what God is doing at the crossing, because we have been 211 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:44,120 blessed, but for the purpose of being a blessing. 212 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:47,720 God doesn't bless us just to bless us. 213 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:51,280 He wants that to pay things forward. 214 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:56,960 He wants more people to come to know Jesus Christ, not just 215 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,520 ministering in one community. Now here we are ministering in 216 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:03,600 12 communities. You know, here we are in this 217 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:08,080 big region now, and I want to ask you a question in this 218 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:11,560 application. Does God bless the church that 219 00:14:11,560 --> 00:14:15,080 takes the Great Commission seriously and proactively or 220 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:17,560 not? You bet he does. 221 00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:21,440 He does. And that's a lesson we learned 222 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,000 from chapter 16. Let's go to the second church. 223 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:25,840 OK? That's the church in Corinth. 224 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:30,480 Also not a very flattering title for this church. 225 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:32,400 It's the church that compromises. 226 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:37,400 Hey, we go to the crossing. We love to compromise. 227 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,400 No, nobody wants that sentence attached to their church. 228 00:14:42,560 --> 00:14:45,160 But that is exactly what Corinth was. 229 00:14:45,480 --> 00:14:48,880 Now, the obvious reason that Paul is asking Corinth for money 230 00:14:49,080 --> 00:14:52,520 is because Corinth has plenty of money. 231 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:54,680 They have an incredible amount of money. 232 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:56,800 They're just kind of doused in it. 233 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,800 And I'll tell you why, because Corinth is situated on a piece 234 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:02,840 of land called the Isthmus of Corinth. 235 00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:08,200 It's only four miles wide. And on one side of that isthmus 236 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:12,640 is the Ionian Sea, and on the other side is the Aegean Sea. 237 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:18,040 OK, And if you are a sailor and most all the commerce came by 238 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:20,880 ship, this way didn't come overland, right? 239 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:24,560 It came by ship. If you wanted to get across 240 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:29,160 Greece, you had to sail all the way around it, plus all the 241 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:33,680 islands of Greece. It was a long, arduous, and 242 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:38,640 oftentimes dangerous journey, but the Corinthians had come up 243 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:43,120 with a way of picking a ship up out of the water and rolling it 244 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:48,040 4 miles. They could literally roll these 245 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,960 ships 4 miles and you could bypass all of that. 246 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,480 This is before there was a canal there. 247 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:56,440 There's a canal there now, but there wasn't then. 248 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:01,000 And they would roll those ships over that 4 miles and drop them 249 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:03,440 in the other seat, either east or West. 250 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,600 And they were paid handsomely for that. 251 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:11,080 They were paid just incredible amounts of money because of all 252 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,720 the money that was saved from shipwrecks and storms and all of 253 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,320 that stuff. So they had plenty of money to 254 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:24,080 give and that that would do an incredible thing it it would 255 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,160 help the Jerusalem church and it would help the Corinthian 256 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:31,600 church. The problem was that the 257 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:36,080 Corinthian church was just too immature to use it. 258 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,080 The money that they had been given in a God honoring way. 259 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:42,600 Obviously the church would help the struggling church in 260 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:46,040 Jerusalem, but it would also take away the self-centered 261 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:49,200 focus that the people in Corinth had. 262 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:53,960 Now if you're wondering if I'm just throwing that on them, 263 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:58,160 that's not true. This church had serious internal 264 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:01,760 problems and the things that Paul says about the church in 265 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:03,520 Corinth, he doesn't say for no reason. 266 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:07,200 And it gives us insight into the state of the church. 267 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:11,319 Here's the first problem. It's in First Corinthians 1610 268 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:13,319 through 11. It says this. 269 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:18,560 When Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear 270 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:20,480 while he is with you, Stop right there. 271 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:24,440 Fear. And he's not talking about the 272 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,560 culture. He's not talking about the rest 273 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:28,680 of the city. He's talking about the church. 274 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:34,880 What in the world would Timothy have to fear from brothers and 275 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:39,880 sisters in Christ? Why would the apostle Paul need 276 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:44,360 to say, See to it that he has nothing to fear for you. 277 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:47,160 He goes on to say, for he is carrying on the work of the 278 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:52,360 Lord, just as I am. No one then should treat him 279 00:17:53,040 --> 00:18:01,520 with contempt. Contempt like hating him, being 280 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:05,720 abusive to him. Again, he's not talking about 281 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,720 the culture of Corinth. He's talking about the church. 282 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:12,520 That people in the church would treat him with contempt, that he 283 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:16,520 had reason to fear the people of the church. 284 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:24,320 What in the world is going on? It goes on to say, send him on 285 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,920 his way in peace so that he may return to me. 286 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:30,240 Like why wouldn't the church send him in peace? 287 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:32,200 It just makes sense that they would send him in peace. 288 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:34,520 Why would they send him in some other way? 289 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:37,840 And he goes on to say, I'm expecting him along with the 290 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,320 brothers. Here's what it tells you that in 291 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,720 First Corinthians chapter 3 when it talks about the factions in 292 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:47,480 the church where people are saying I'm of Paul, I'm of 293 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,520 Apollo, so I'm of Cephas or Peter or I'm of Christ. 294 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,800 Those factions weren't shallow. Those factions were like a no 295 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,160 big deal thing. Those factions were so deep. 296 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,360 These people were so in their teams. 297 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:07,960 They were so anti each other that you had reason to fear, you 298 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:12,520 had reason to be in contempt, and you had reason to feel 299 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:20,880 anything but a sense of peace. That's why Timothy had to worry 300 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:23,760 about his safety. That's just one problem. 301 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,120 Here's another one. Apollos wasn't willing to go. 302 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,240 Why would that be? Look at verses 12 to 14. 303 00:19:32,360 --> 00:19:34,240 It says now about our brother Apollos. 304 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:36,960 I strongly urged him to go to you. 305 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:42,160 I mean, it's a big deal when Paul strongly urges you and then 306 00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:49,040 he says, no, he was quite unwilling to go now, but he will 307 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,320 go when he has the opportunity. Be on your guard, stand firm in 308 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,480 the faith, be courageous, be strong, do everything in love. 309 00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:00,000 Apollos wouldn't go. He's like, you know, things are 310 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,000 going gangbusters here in Ephesus. 311 00:20:02,120 --> 00:20:05,280 Why do I want to leave here where God's doing all this work 312 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,680 and go to that? Church in Corinth that has so 313 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:11,600 much sideways energy, they'd rather kill each other than see 314 00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:18,440 the world one to Christ. Wow, he didn't want to go. 315 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:22,040 Why in the world would the apostle Paul have to say, do 316 00:20:22,040 --> 00:20:27,040 everything in love? That's like, duh, you're in the 317 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:29,720 church. That's what we're supposed to do 318 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,040 all the time. Why would you have to write that 319 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:36,440 down and say, oh, by the way, do everything in love? 320 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:39,960 Why would he have to say what he said before that? 321 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:45,200 To be on your guard, to stand firm in the faith, to be 322 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:50,040 courageous and to be strong because that was the culture of 323 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:56,200 the Corinthian church. Here's the third problem. 324 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:00,040 They had a complete lack of strong biblical leadership or 325 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,440 any recognition of it. We read that in 15 to 18. 326 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,880 You know that the household of Stephanus, we're the first 327 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:10,320 converts in Achaea, and they devoted themselves to the 328 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:12,560 service of the Lord's people. Do you know how hard it is to be 329 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:17,120 the first converts? And that's an entire region of 330 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:19,360 the world. They were the first converts. 331 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:21,720 You may have heard the statement before. 332 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,000 The first one through the wall always gets bloody. 333 00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:28,520 And you know what the Apostle Paul's doing? 334 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,160 He's recommending Stephanus to be one of their leaders. 335 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:34,640 He's obviously not one of their leaders, but he ought to be 336 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:37,200 because he's one of the most courageous there. 337 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:41,200 He was the first one to come to know Jesus Christ right Then it 338 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:44,520 says, I urge you brothers and sisters to submit. 339 00:21:45,360 --> 00:21:48,920 Now you know it's leadership to submit to such people and to 340 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,480 everyone who joins in the work and laborers at it. 341 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,360 Then he goes on to say, I was glad when Stephanus Fortunatus 342 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:59,440 and a Cacus arrived because they have supplied what is lacking 343 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,360 from you. They refresh my spirit and yours 344 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:06,920 also. Such men deserve recognition. 345 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:10,480 Do you know what Paul's doing? He's making recommendations for 346 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:16,600 leaders. The question is, will they take 347 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,200 his advice? I already know the answer to 348 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,040 that question. The answer is no, they won't 349 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,640 take his advice. Do you know why I know that? 350 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:27,360 Because he had the right Second Corinthians. 351 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,720 And the fact is, Second Corinthians is all about why 352 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,040 they didn't do anything that he told them to do in First 353 00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:36,280 Corinthians. And what you don't know, or 354 00:22:36,280 --> 00:22:39,800 maybe you do from the study that you've done, is that First 355 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:44,440 Corinthians and 2nd Corinthians are also two of four letters 356 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:47,400 that the apostle Paul wrote. There's actually a first, a 357 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,800 second, a third, and a fourth. We just only have two of them. 358 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:58,640 Kind of wild. The Corinthian church was filled 359 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:03,200 with people who were distracted with selfish, worldly thinking. 360 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:07,680 They wanted everything that faith offered, but they wanted 361 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,640 also the compromise of worldly thinking and acting. 362 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:16,440 I already told you 12174 baptisms. 363 00:23:16,440 --> 00:23:20,440 That means that there are 12174 people up to this weekend that 364 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:22,920 got in the water and repeated these words, right? 365 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,240 What are they? I believe the Jesus of Christ, 366 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:31,320 the Son of the living God, and I want him as my yeah. 367 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,120 And I've told you before, Jesus can't be your Lord unless he's 368 00:23:34,120 --> 00:23:36,160 your savior, and he can't be your savior unless he's your 369 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:37,320 Lord. They go together. 370 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:39,960 But you see, what the Corinthian church wanted was they wanted 371 00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:41,560 Jesus to be their savior, period. 372 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:45,120 They wanted everything they could get from Jesus, but didn't 373 00:23:45,120 --> 00:23:49,400 want to submit to Jesus because they wanted to compromise with 374 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:51,520 the world. And a lot of First Corinthians 375 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,640 is about all that compromise with the world. 376 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:03,200 In our church today, what are we thinking about? 377 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:10,080 How are we acting? Where are we in the Savior and 378 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:14,280 Lord continuum? Because I'm going to venture a 379 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:16,600 guess. You certainly don't want to be a 380 00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:19,960 church that lives in the past and you don't want to be a 381 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:23,840 church that compromises. So you don't want to be Corinth, 382 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:27,840 you don't want to be Jerusalem, but what do you want to be? 383 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:33,400 My third church is Ephesus, and I call it the New Testament 384 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:37,200 powerhouse church. If I could choose a New 385 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,720 Testament church to join, it'd be Ephesus. 386 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,640 Why? Well, if you go back to Acts 19, 387 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:50,000 it gives you a portrait of this church and what it was like. 388 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:54,880 It began with 12 guys. OK, And I'm just going to start 389 00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,200 reading. There were about 12 men in all. 390 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,000 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three 391 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,640 months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. 392 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:06,720 But some of them became obstinate. 393 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,960 They refused to believe and publicly maligned the way. 394 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:13,120 Before we were called Christians in the New Testament, we were 395 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:17,200 called the way. So Paul left them. 396 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:22,160 He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the 397 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,560 lecture hall of Tyrannis, which is interesting because it's the 398 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:30,920 first mention of a church building in the New Testament. 399 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:36,760 Now this went on for two years. Actually, this was the Apostle 400 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,920 Paul's longest located ministry, so that all the Jews and Greeks 401 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:45,000 who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. 402 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,160 That's a big statement. All of the people in the 403 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:51,120 province of Asia heard about Jesus because of what was going 404 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:56,680 on in this place called Ephesus. And God did extraordinary 405 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,600 miracles through Paul so that even handkerchiefs and aprons 406 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:04,640 that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses 407 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:07,440 were cured, and the evil spirits left them. 408 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,400 Holy Spirit was working people. Some Jews who went around 409 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,480 driving out evil spirits tried to appropriate this. 410 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:19,040 It's funny, try to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over 411 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,960 those who are demon possessed. They would say in the name of 412 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:26,760 the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out and 413 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,040 seven sons of Skiva, a Jewish chief priest, where they were 414 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,040 doing this. One day the evil spirit answered 415 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:34,360 them. I bet they never expected an 416 00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:39,160 evil spirit to answer them. Jesus I know, Paul I know about. 417 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,360 But who are you? And the man who had the evil 418 00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:43,600 spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. 419 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:47,920 He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked 420 00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:50,720 and bleeding. What a story. 421 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,720 When this became known to the Jews and the Greeks living in 422 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,600 Ephesus, they were all seized with fear and the name of the 423 00:26:57,600 --> 00:27:01,000 Lord was held in high honor. Except Jesus. 424 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:03,440 And don't run out naked and bleeding, right? 425 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:08,160 Wow. Many of those who believed 426 00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:12,200 listen to this now came and openly confessed what they had 427 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:15,240 done. A number who had practiced 428 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:19,520 sorcery brought their scrolls together. 429 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,840 So they had scrolls written with like incantations, like the 430 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:30,520 occult, like witchcraft, right? And burned them publicly. 431 00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:35,640 And you're going, wow, the number who had practiced 432 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:41,000 sorcery, this is they calculated the value of the scrolls and 433 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:45,840 total came to 50,000 drachmas. And you don't know what a 434 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,680 drachma is. A drachma is a day's wages. 435 00:27:50,640 --> 00:27:54,840 So the value of the scrolls that they burned was 50,000 days 436 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:59,000 wages. And if you calculate that into 437 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:03,200 the modern American economy, those scrolls were worth about 438 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:09,240 $5,000,000. Hold on, how many people in 439 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:13,960 today's church would say hey you guys ever heard of eBay? 440 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:17,960 Have you heard of Facebook marketplace? 441 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:20,760 I bet we could get 2-3 million for those. 442 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,880 Just think of what we could do for Jesus if we had that 443 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,600 3,000,000 bucks and you want to burn them? 444 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:33,760 Are you crazy? How do you, how do you think God 445 00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,320 felt about that? How do you think that Jesus felt 446 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:41,840 about that burnt offering? Well, it tells you how he felt 447 00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,280 about it. Look what the last last sentence 448 00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:47,000 says. In this way, the word of the 449 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,560 Lord spread widely and grew in power. 450 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,760 The Lord provides for what he calls us to. 451 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:56,840 He doesn't call us to anything that He doesn't provide for, 452 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,880 right? It starts with 12 guys. 453 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,120 There's plenty of cultural and religious opposition from the 454 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,320 outside, but it doesn't stop this church, doesn't even slow 455 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:11,280 down this church. Ephesus was a church on fire. 456 00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:14,200 They were forged in the fire of opposition. 457 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:18,680 They experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in real time and 458 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:23,280 godly fear molded them and shaped them and they willingly 459 00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:28,000 sacrificed without compromise. And the gospel went out from 460 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:29,440 Ephesus. And when we read the Book of 461 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,720 Revelation, it's the seven churches of Asia Minor. 462 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:36,840 You know, the first church that was in Asia Minor was Ephesus, 463 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:39,880 and they're the ones that started all those other churches 464 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:43,880 in Asia Minor that John writes to in the Book of Revelation. 465 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:49,040 Wow. See, Ephesus wasn't like 466 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,720 Jerusalem, wasn't living in the past, and they weren't like 467 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:54,920 Corinth. They weren't self-centered and 468 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:57,080 highly divided. They were empowered. 469 00:29:57,280 --> 00:30:01,200 They were focused. And I think the obvious answer 470 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,920 is if we're wanting to look at a church to be like we go Ephesus, 471 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:09,280 sign me up. I want to be in that church. 472 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,240 And when you think about it, how many churches around us are 473 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:14,840 churches that are living in the past? 474 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:19,400 How many churches are trying to preserve traditions that have no 475 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:22,600 connection with living out the Great Commission? 476 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:27,240 How many churches are trying so hard to be relevant to culture 477 00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:30,960 that they're being swallowed up by that culture to the point 478 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:33,000 that you can't tell them apart from the world? 479 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:37,480 How many are full of internal division, all trying to run 480 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:40,920 their own play instead of cooperating to make the biggest 481 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:42,720 impact they can for Jesus Christ? 482 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,040 It would be easy for the crossing to take a victory lap 483 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,800 right now. Just slow the music down, you 484 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:58,680 know, get out the flags because we want to identify with this 485 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,400 Church of Ephesus. But I want you to hold on a 486 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:03,160 minute before you take the victory lap. 487 00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:07,960 You see, Ephesus is actually unique in the New Testament in a 488 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:13,040 very interesting way. It's the only church that we get 489 00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:18,280 to look at 2 times. Every other church we only see 490 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:22,520 in one period of time. But Ephesus, we see it two 491 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:26,320 times. In Acts 19, we're seeing it 5556 492 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:30,440 AD. In Revelation it's 95 AD. 493 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,440 So you're seeing it 40 years later. 494 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,840 So how's Ephesus doing 40 years later? 495 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:42,240 It's in Revelation chapter 2, verses one to seven. 496 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,400 I'll read it to you. To the Angel of the Church of 497 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:48,440 Ephesus, write. These are the words of him who 498 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:51,760 holds seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven 499 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:54,600 golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard 500 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:57,760 work, and your perseverance. Oh, it sounds good, right? 501 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:01,520 Getting good grades so far. I know you cannot tolerate 502 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:05,240 wicked people that you've tested those who claim to be apostles 503 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:06,600 that are not and found them false. 504 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:09,720 Wow, they're doing great. You've persevered, you've 505 00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:13,120 endured hardships for my name, and you've not grown weary. 506 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:15,320 Oh, what a great church they still are. 507 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:20,280 And then you read the next line. Yet I hold this against you. 508 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:26,520 You have forsaken the love you had at first. 509 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:33,280 Some translations will say you have forsaken your first love. 510 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:38,600 Consider how far you have fallen. 511 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,680 Repent and do the things you did at first. 512 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:46,600 If you do not repent, I'll come to you and remove your lampstand 513 00:32:46,600 --> 00:32:49,960 from its place. He goes on to say, Yeah, this in 514 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:51,600 your favor. You hate the practice of those 515 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:53,520 nasty Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 516 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:57,240 Whoever has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the 517 00:32:57,240 --> 00:32:59,440 churches. To the one who is victorious. 518 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,480 I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is 519 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:14,280 in the paradise of God. The Ephesus still doing all the 520 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:21,320 right things to a fault, be in the church that's doing the 521 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:23,080 things that God wants them to do. 522 00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:28,760 And yet when John writes under the inspiration of the Holy 523 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:34,920 Spirit, the words of Jesus, he says you have forsaken your 524 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:39,960 first love. What motivates you to do all the 525 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:44,440 things that you're doing? It's coming from the wrong 526 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:49,960 place. And there is one word that 527 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:55,400 describes that. That word is passion. 528 00:34:00,320 --> 00:34:05,880 You see, in Acts 19, Ephesus was full of passion. 529 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,600 It was driven by passion. It was uncompromising in its 530 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:16,920 passion, but by revelation 240 years later, still doing the 531 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:23,520 things it did but losing its passion, I was preaching A 532 00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,000 sermon many years ago. For the use of those of you at 533 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:30,760 different locations, you might find it hard to visualize this, 534 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:37,880 but before the 48th St. Auditorium was built here, we've 535 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,760 met down in a gym which is a little bit away from here. 536 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:46,400 And I was trying to help people to understand this concept of 537 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:51,840 passion. And so midweek I found a disco 538 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:56,040 ball and I haven't had them install a disco ball in the 539 00:34:56,040 --> 00:35:00,680 center of the of the ceiling in the in the gym. 540 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:03,520 And I had lights to shine on the disco ball. 541 00:35:05,040 --> 00:35:10,320 And then when I was preaching on Sunday morning, I, I didn't want 542 00:35:10,320 --> 00:35:12,640 the congregation to know that this was all planned. 543 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:18,440 But while I was preaching, the tech team started playing a song 544 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:19,880 right in the middle of my sermon. 545 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:24,280 And the song was the very Thought of You by Natalie Cole. 546 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:27,800 And I mean, it's, it's a beautiful song. 547 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:31,840 And as, as they started playing it, I started to yell at the 548 00:35:31,840 --> 00:35:34,920 tech booth. What are you guys doing? 549 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:39,600 Hey, I'm preaching up here. Who turned on the music? 550 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:42,440 Turn the stupid music off. And I'm yelling at him. 551 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:44,440 And they, they don't pay any mind to me. 552 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,960 And the music comes up and then the lights all go down. 553 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:51,360 And then a spotlight forms on the front row. 554 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:57,640 And while the very thought of you is playing chairman of the 555 00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:01,560 elders and his wife, they're sitting right there right now, 556 00:36:02,600 --> 00:36:04,720 probably holding hands because they are So. 557 00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:08,280 Yeah, yeah, yeah. Barb and Dale Mitchell. 558 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,360 And he was in, I don't know if you were in a suit or tux, but I 559 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:12,880 think you were. But you, they, you. 560 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:20,080 And she was in a formal, and they stepped up and he escorted 561 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:24,240 her to the center of the floor of the auditorium, right in 562 00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:26,160 front of me. And they were dancing. 563 00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:28,680 By the way, they are incredible ballroom dancers. 564 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:35,000 And so I started to yell at them, What are you doing? 565 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:39,040 I am trying to preach a sermon. Do you realize it's Sunday. 566 00:36:39,240 --> 00:36:41,720 I'm in the word of God. And what are you doing? 567 00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:44,680 And, you know, and, and I just kept yelling at them and they 568 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:46,920 didn't look at me. They didn't listen to me. 569 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:48,680 They didn't care that I was doing it. 570 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:51,200 They're just staring at each other. 571 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:54,720 And I'm like, you know, go get a room staring at each other. 572 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:58,120 And, and, and they're, and they're dancing and it's so 573 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,400 beautiful. And I keep yelling at them. 574 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:04,320 And eventually, and this was not planned, eventually someone in 575 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:08,160 the church stood up and say, why don't you sit down, Jerry? 576 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:13,280 Let them finish their dance. Couldn't have been a better 577 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:19,640 thing. And I shut up and step back and 578 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:23,640 sat down until they were done with their dance. 579 00:37:25,280 --> 00:37:28,280 And the people clapped and they didn't care. 580 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:33,160 And when the dance was over, he took her hand and escorted her 581 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:37,040 back to her seat. And I step back up to the 582 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:41,600 pulpit. And I said that my friend, is 583 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:47,520 passion. When you can't see anything 584 00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:51,080 else, you don't care about anything else. 585 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:58,480 You are 100% living in that moment and would be happy if 586 00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:06,640 that moment never ended. That's what Ephesus had, and 587 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:13,880 that is what Ephesus had lost. You see, the love of Jesus is 588 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:19,200 captivating, preoccupying, passionate, and passion 589 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:24,760 rekindles the flame in our hearts for Jesus and for His 590 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:28,800 mission. And like the Ephesian church, 591 00:38:30,880 --> 00:38:35,200 listen to me of all the good things that the crossing does, 592 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:42,240 They are pointless without passion. 593 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:46,520 We're moving to a time of decision. 594 00:38:54,060 --> 00:38:59,700 Glad you liked it. But are you convicted by it? 595 00:39:01,060 --> 00:39:07,440 Because I am. I definitely AM, and I'll tell 596 00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:10,040 you why. When I first came to know Jesus 597 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:14,480 Christ and I realized that He loved me, I realized that He 598 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:17,000 went to the cross for me and that He died for me. 599 00:39:17,000 --> 00:39:20,880 And then He knows my name and that He can wash all my sins 600 00:39:20,880 --> 00:39:22,800 away and He can make me like new. 601 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:24,920 And someday He's going to take me to heaven. 602 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:27,920 And all the people that went on before me, I'm going to meet Him 603 00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:29,000 there. And we're going to be like some 604 00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:31,680 big family and it's going to wipe away all the tears from our 605 00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:32,880 eyes. And there'll be no crying and 606 00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:35,080 there'll be no death. There'll be no sickness, 607 00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:37,600 there'll be no pain. Oh, so great. 608 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:40,800 Just to think about how wonderful he was that he would 609 00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:43,800 do that for me. And to recognize it, realize it, 610 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:49,880 embrace it. But I've lived a lot of life 611 00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:57,640 since then, and sometimes I don't feel much passion. 612 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:05,000 Sometimes I'm just going through the motions. 613 00:40:10,240 --> 00:40:16,320 And sometimes so are you. And this 614 00:40:29,670 --> 00:40:37,270 I met my wife when she moved across the street from me and we 615 00:40:37,270 --> 00:40:38,950 couldn't. We would talk on the phone for 616 00:40:38,950 --> 00:40:41,110 such a long time and we were like lived across the street 617 00:40:41,110 --> 00:40:45,880 from each other. And I would be trying to figure 618 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:50,320 out ways how to get every last second out of that date until 619 00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:58,480 11:00 when she had to be home and the window of her bedroom 620 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:03,080 faced the window of my bedroom. So even after I said goodnight 621 00:41:03,080 --> 00:41:06,440 to her at the door, I would wait for that light to come on. 622 00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:10,240 I would turn on my light and we just have to have one more good 623 00:41:10,240 --> 00:41:16,520 night. From a distance, some of you are 624 00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:22,800 remembering that passion in you when it was preoccupying, 625 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:27,160 captivating, it owned you. You didn't own it. 626 00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:34,960 But Allison and I have been married for 42 years. 627 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:47,960 And sometimes, well, but don't clap sometimes the woods wet, 628 00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:51,680 you know what I mean? Kind of hard to kindle the 629 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:55,040 flame. The coals get separated. 630 00:41:57,160 --> 00:42:05,400 Any of you connecting with this? And I need to go back and 631 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:11,120 remember the things I did at first, that it wasn't enough to 632 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:13,560 just be married to her and have children with her and 633 00:42:13,560 --> 00:42:16,200 grandchildren with her. I still need to date her. 634 00:42:23,030 --> 00:42:25,110 Remember the things that you did at first. 635 00:42:27,870 --> 00:42:31,430 Many of you here are already believers in Jesus Christ. 636 00:42:31,430 --> 00:42:33,630 You would already say I have an intimate, personal relationship 637 00:42:33,630 --> 00:42:37,110 with Jesus Christ. But I'm describing your faith 638 00:42:37,110 --> 00:42:43,160 right now and I want you to consider these steps and just 639 00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:47,080 the purity of a single moment where you could just say, 640 00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:50,000 because I had a person in between services, young man came 641 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:52,200 up to me and how do I rekindle that? 642 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:57,880 And I go, well, I really appreciate that question two 643 00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:01,160 ways. Number one is you talk to the 644 00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:04,880 Holy Spirit about it. Admit it to him. 645 00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:14,240 So you're sorry, say I still love you, help me to do better. 646 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:20,520 Second way is you're going to take communion in a little bit 647 00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:26,560 because that reminds you of the value of the love of Christ. 648 00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:32,240 This is what it cost. And his passion for you has not 649 00:43:32,240 --> 00:43:35,280 changed one bit. Don't you love that about Jesus? 650 00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:38,840 He doesn't see you as you are. He sees you as all your, all of 651 00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:42,360 your potential fulfilled. That's what he sees when he 652 00:43:42,360 --> 00:43:44,600 looks at you. Isn't that nice? 653 00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:50,000 Some of you here today have never accepted Jesus Christ as 654 00:43:50,000 --> 00:43:53,040 your Lord and Savior, and you're learning about this for the 655 00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:54,240 first time. There's going to be somebody 656 00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:56,360 right over there by the baptistry would love nothing 657 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:58,960 more than talk to you about what it means to come into that 658 00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:00,960 relationship and live in that relationship. 659 00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:05,320 But we're still just people. Just look around you. 660 00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:08,920 This is what this is what the redeemed look like. 661 00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:14,680 Not perfect, God will take care of that later, but still 662 00:44:14,680 --> 00:44:21,000 redeemed. We've talked about the church, 663 00:44:21,680 --> 00:44:26,320 but now I'm talking about you. And what I want you to be is 664 00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:35,440 full, full of passion for Jesus. Would you stand with me? 665 00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:38,080 Let's pray Heavenly Father, in Jesus name. 666 00:44:38,960 --> 00:44:42,600 We want to be people of passion, we want to live our whole lives 667 00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:47,320 that way, but we do not want to minimize that. 668 00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:52,880 We are in totality 100% passionate in our relationship. 669 00:44:52,880 --> 00:44:58,920 For you Father, rekindle the flame, stir up the embers, and 670 00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:05,520 let us feel and experience what we felt at first, in Jesus name, 671 00:45:06,720 --> 00:45:07,080 Amen.