1 00:00:02,560 --> 00:00:04,960 Well, church, I'm going to ask you to turn in your Bibles to 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:07,600 Luke Chapter 9. You're going to be in just three 3 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:09,800 verses in Luke today, verses 7 to 9. 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,720 As you turn over there, I want to just give a little reminder 5 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:16,320 that we have the big surf coming up. 6 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,000 If you were here last week, you would have seen Tammy and Laura 7 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,320 up on stage talking about the fact that we're looking for 8 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:25,440 point people for each of the projects that we're going to. 9 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,920 I think we've got, Tammy will correct me on this when I get 10 00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:33,520 the number wrong, but like 32 or 33 projects that we need point 11 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:34,800 people for. We've already got a number of 12 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,240 point people signed up. But if you'd be willing to just 13 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:42,880 say you don't listen, people get really nervous about leadership. 14 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:49,280 We just need you to say I will be there and I'll be the person 15 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,000 that people can connect with when they come in. 16 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,080 And again, if I get this wrong, Tammy is in, correct me. 17 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:58,000 So if you were here last week, there was a QR code that was 18 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:01,040 briefly on the screen. And if you were really quick at 19 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,040 getting to that QR code, you may have been a little confused 20 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:09,120 because that QR code would have taken you to Creekside's website 21 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:12,920 and you might have thought, I don't think I was at Creekside. 22 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:16,640 It's very confusing. We should have, I believe we're 23 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:21,000 going to have a QR code that, OK, what's no QR code by me? 24 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:26,400 So if you go on to the Church Center app or you go and 25 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,320 register, you will see a registration event there. 26 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:31,120 You can sign up to be a point person. 27 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:37,120 We would love you to do that. And I was reminded last week, we 28 00:01:37,120 --> 00:01:42,720 live in a confusing world. I don't know if you noticed that 29 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,120 or not. It can be really just even 30 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:49,120 difficult these days to figure out, is that real? 31 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:53,240 First of all, some of the things that happened in the real world 32 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:55,360 don't seem like they should be happening in the real world. 33 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:00,640 And other things get made-up by AI and then they show up and we 34 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,400 can't tell whether they're real or not. 35 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:09,600 I got into an argument this week with the new and improved Alexa. 36 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:15,840 I was arguing with a robot because Alexa told me that the 37 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:17,200 temperature outside. When I asked what the 38 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,600 temperature was, it was -3 I happen to know it was at least 39 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,640 in double digits at the time. And so I told Alexa she was a 40 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:28,120 liar. And she got very offended. 41 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:29,640 And we got into a whole discussion. 42 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:31,480 Amanda was sitting there. She started breaking out 43 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:34,960 laughing and also very confused. We live in a confusing world. 44 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:41,000 I mean, even if you're a native English speaker, you can forget 45 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,600 just how confusing the English language is. 46 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:50,680 It is very confusing. We talk about noses running and 47 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:52,880 feet smelling. You ever think about that? 48 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,520 Why do noses run and and and feet smell? 49 00:02:55,520 --> 00:03:01,680 That doesn't make any sense. Why do you call them apartments 50 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:04,400 when they're stacked so close together? 51 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,760 Doesn't make sense. Here we go. 52 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,800 Because my son is my son is putting a thumbs down on me 53 00:03:12,800 --> 00:03:17,160 right now. This, this should not be a 54 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,000 surprise to him that I am up here doing this. 55 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:26,600 You know that when it's in your shirt, it's a tear, but it when 56 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,800 it's in your eye, it's a tear. Try figuring that one out. 57 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:34,800 How about this? If you're thirsty, you need 58 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:39,440 somebody to lead you to water. But when you get to the water, 59 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:43,840 you don't want to have lead in your water, right? 60 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:47,480 It's same word, same spelling, pronounced differently. 61 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:49,800 Use like if you're a non-english speaker. 62 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,000 The English language is really confusing. 63 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:57,360 I'll give you 1. If a vegetarian eats vegetables, 64 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:03,040 what does a humanitarian eat? Here we go. 65 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:07,200 I saved the best for last. We live in. 66 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:11,440 It's such a confusing world that there was a time like five years 67 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:15,600 ago where people were actually paying more to buy pants with 68 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:19,959 holes in them than pants with. I'm so glad that's done. 69 00:04:20,519 --> 00:04:24,840 I'm so glad we're done buying distressed clothes for extra 70 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:28,520 money. And, you know, we can even get 71 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:32,040 confused about things that we don't know we're confused about. 72 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,840 So here's here's what I mean. Amanda gave me permission to 73 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:42,480 share this for 40 years. My wife did not know what best 74 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:48,360 wishes only meant for 40 years. My wife, because of the the 75 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:52,920 context in which she grew up in some of the realities of family 76 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:57,440 dynamics in her extended family, thought best wishes only meant 77 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:00,240 don't show up if you're going to get into a fight. 78 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,960 It wasn't until we got an invitation that said best wishes 79 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:06,320 only. And she's like, well, why 80 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,640 wouldn't we have best wishes to these people? 81 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:13,040 You don't want to fight anybody. And I said, no, it just means 82 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,440 don't bring a gift. That's what it means. 83 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:20,960 And she's like, really, you, you, you. 84 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,720 It was her mind was blown in that moment. 85 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:27,080 There's we can even we can even have confusion about things that 86 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:29,800 we're not even sure we don't even know that we're confused 87 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:32,920 about, right? And I say all this to say, one 88 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,280 of the things that a lot of people are confused about, and 89 00:05:35,280 --> 00:05:39,880 sometimes not even knowing that they're confused about is Jesus. 90 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:45,640 There is a whole lot of confusion out there about Jesus, 91 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:50,920 about who Jesus is. And, and if there's one thing 92 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,960 that you can't afford to be like the things I've talked about, 93 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,880 they're harmless, right? It's OK to be confused about 94 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:02,800 that stuff in the long term. It doesn't have any there's no 95 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:04,800 damage that's really going to come out of that. 96 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:07,640 I mean, unless you really do misunderstand what humanitarian 97 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:12,440 eats, then that is problem. But when there's confusion about 98 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:16,680 Jesus, it is serious. And so today, in the time we 99 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:21,240 have remaining, we're going to meet somebody who was confused 100 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:27,440 about Jesus and, and we're going to look at at where some of that 101 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,160 confusion and, and, and where some of those misconceptions 102 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:33,440 come from. And we're going to see how some 103 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:38,000 of those misconceptions, along with some others, carry over to 104 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,560 how people think about Jesus today. 105 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,440 And then I want to talk to those of us who are followers of Jesus 106 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:48,280 and say, OK, so in a world that's filled with confusion 107 00:06:48,280 --> 00:06:53,160 about Jesus, how do we go out and begin to bring some clarity 108 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,000 about who Jesus is? And so our big idea for this 109 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:02,400 morning is this confusion about Jesus is common, but clarity 110 00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:07,080 about Jesus changes everything. Confusion about Jesus, it's 111 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:11,120 common out there. But when we can come and we can 112 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:15,480 bring clarity about Jesus, that has the chance to change 113 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,880 everything for people. So let's pray and then we'll 114 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:21,720 open up into this passage that we're in this morning. 115 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:27,960 Father God, I'm just praying today for all of us that you 116 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,920 would help us to see Jesus more clearly today. 117 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:36,320 God, if in any way my words of the things that I have prepared 118 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,720 would be a hindrance to bringing clarity about Jesus, would you 119 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,720 just push those away and just Holy Spirit be present in this 120 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:45,480 place. We need to see Jesus. 121 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:49,200 It's so crucial. God, I know there's people in 122 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,480 this place watching online, maybe listening at some point in 123 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:56,160 the future, who have a lot of confusion about Jews. 124 00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:59,280 They might not even be aware that they're confused about 125 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:01,520 Jesus. I pray today that you would 126 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:04,200 clear up any misconceptions or confusion that's there. 127 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:09,840 And for those of us who already know Jesus, have come to see 128 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:12,960 him, would we bring the clarity that we have been given to the 129 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:17,200 world that desperately needs it in Jesus name, The one who has 130 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,360 saved us, the one who died for us, the one who has arisen 131 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:21,280 again, we pray. Amen. 132 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:24,600 All right, let's read this passage together. 133 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:34,000 Luke 9, verses 7 through 9. Herod the tetrarch heard about 134 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:39,360 everything that was going on. He was perplexed because some 135 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:43,880 said that John had been raised from the dead, some that Elijah 136 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:47,200 had appeared, and others that one of the ancient prophets had 137 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:51,640 risen. I beheaded John, Herod said. 138 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,920 But who is this I hear such things about? 139 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:01,720 And he wanted to see him. So here's the scene. 140 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:08,160 We have a guy identified here by Luke, name of Herod, Herod the 141 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:09,920 Tetrarch. We've actually met Herod once 142 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,600 already. We met Herod back in Luke 3. 143 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,240 Herod is the one who imprisons John and as he confesses to 144 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:20,160 here, ultimately ends up beheading John. 145 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:22,600 And sometimes we get confused because there's a couple 146 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:25,880 different Herod's in the Gospel. So this Herod, Herod the 147 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:33,480 tetrarch is a son of Herod the Great who was the king of Judea 148 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:38,480 at the time of Jesus birth. He's the Herod that was king 149 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,360 over the whole of Judea. He's the one who had the 150 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:46,280 innocent children under the age of 2 slaughtered in order to try 151 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,040 and kill Jesus, kill the coming king and Messiah. 152 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:55,560 So Herod the tetrarch is called a tetrarch because after Herod 153 00:09:55,560 --> 00:10:00,440 the Great's passing, his Kingdom is split into four, and so he is 154 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,480 a ruler of 1/4. That's what the tetrarch part of 155 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:08,080 that means. And he is a ruler alongside two 156 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:12,480 brothers and one aunt. One of those brothers who also 157 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:14,880 very confusingly, is named Herod. 158 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:23,320 He is deposed and a Roman appointee is put in place. 159 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,920 A guy we're going to spend some time with as we continue moving 160 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:30,360 forward into Luke, a guy by the name of Pontius Pilate. 161 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:36,040 And so Pontius Pilate overseas part of Judea, and Herod the 162 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:38,280 Tetrarch, overseas part of Judea. 163 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:43,080 And what we see here is that it says that Herod had heard 164 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,560 everything that was going on. What's he talking about? 165 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:49,960 He's referring, we're referring back to where we just were last 166 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,280 week, right? Verse 6, you go back one verse 167 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:58,040 when when the disciples, the 12 were sent out and traveled from 168 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,200 village to village proclaiming the good news and healing 169 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,720 everywhere. So he's probably also heard 170 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:06,680 about Jesus, but he's heard about Jesus as the, as the 171 00:11:06,680 --> 00:11:10,200 message goes out, as it expands, it's going out everywhere and, 172 00:11:10,200 --> 00:11:14,800 and, and the buzz about Jesus is increasing as the word goes out. 173 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:20,600 And that's important for us to see that as disciples go out and 174 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:24,920 display and declare Jesus, it has an effect. 175 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:30,640 People hear about it, Herod hears about it and we see that 176 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:35,320 Herod gets curious about Jesus. It what does it say right at the 177 00:11:35,320 --> 00:11:38,600 very end in verse 9, it says he wanted to see him. 178 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,720 He's hearing all this stuff. There's, there's confusion, but 179 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:46,560 he's curious and, and that's the first thing I'd like for us to 180 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:49,360 see this morning because this is still true today. 181 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:57,440 People are curious about Jesus. I, I think one of the, the lies 182 00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:01,160 that we are tempted to believe if we're followers of Jesus is 183 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:03,000 that nobody really wants to hear about Jesus. 184 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:10,000 You know, nobody likes it when people talk about faith. 185 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,640 Nobody really wants me to talk about Jesus. 186 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:18,160 There's a recent Lifeway survey. Now This Is Us data, but I think 187 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:24,600 it carries over pretty well. 79% of people said, if a friend of 188 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,400 mine really values their faith, I don't mind talking about it. 189 00:12:29,720 --> 00:12:34,280 There's four out of five people said, hey, if that's important 190 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:37,680 to my friend, I, I don't, I, I'd be interested to hear about it. 191 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:41,440 Now, some of you would say, of course they say that. 192 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,680 That's what friends say. I've got a friend who's really 193 00:12:44,680 --> 00:12:46,840 into coins and I wish they would shut up. 194 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:50,800 Or you've got the friend who always wants to talk to you 195 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:54,400 about your protein intake and you're like, just be quiet. 196 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:56,640 But you have to pretend to listen, right? 197 00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:02,520 That's what friends do. But also, that same survey came 198 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:07,640 back with 51% of people who don't currently attend church 199 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:13,080 saying if a friend invited them to attend church, they would 200 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:17,240 happily go with them. That's a 5050 shot. 201 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,560 Now again, you may push back and say, well, that's one survey. 202 00:13:22,200 --> 00:13:25,960 You know, it's in the US, They're weird down there. 203 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:34,080 But I'll just share personally from my experience, when people 204 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,600 find out I'm a pastor, there's usually two things that happen. 205 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:41,160 The first thing is they apologize for all the swearing 206 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:43,120 they did before they found out I was a pastor in the 207 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:48,920 conversation. The second thing is most of them 208 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:52,320 lean in. Most of them are like, really? 209 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:55,160 I've never met a pastor before. What does that look like? 210 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:57,320 What do you, how did you become a pastor? 211 00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,760 What is and and and they want to hear more. 212 00:14:00,080 --> 00:14:03,440 Now there's some people who are just like conversation shuts 213 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:06,000 down. They walk like that's kind of 214 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:07,800 the end of it. But I would say the vast 215 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:10,920 majority people, they're interested, they lean in. 216 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:18,760 Now, if you were Satan, just just imagine you were Satan. 217 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:23,320 Wouldn't one of the best lies that you could convince 218 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:28,320 Christians of B, nobody wants to hear about Jesus. 219 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:32,080 I mean, if you want to keep the word about Jesus getting out, 220 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:34,880 one of the best things you could do is to convince the people 221 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,120 who've heard about Jesus that nobody else wants to hear about 222 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:40,880 Jesus. But what if we actually called 223 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,920 that lie out? What if when we're tempted to 224 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,520 believe that because we're we're in a conversation with somebody 225 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,240 and we're tempted, well, I don't want to talk about faith. 226 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:53,400 They don't want to hear that. We just said no, that's not true 227 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:56,960 and if they don't want to hear about faith, they can just say 228 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:59,120 it after I bring it up. They can let me know I'm not 229 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:03,680 really interested. OK, What if we actually believed 230 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:09,200 that the person of Jesus creates curiosity in people? 231 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:16,320 Herod was curious about Jesus. Herod was also very confused 232 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:21,480 about Jesus. It says that he was perplexed. 233 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:26,440 And what I've found is that in our day and age people are 234 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:32,920 confused about Jesus. Most people in Canada have heard 235 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:38,720 the name Jesus, even if it's as a swear word like people have 236 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:42,680 heard Jesus name. But that does not mean that 237 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,040 there is any clarity in the minds of the people around us 238 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:48,800 about who Jesus is. Most people that I've talked to 239 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:51,720 are incredibly confused about Jesus. 240 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,920 They've got all sorts of misconceptions about Jesus. 241 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:57,680 Herod had some misconception about Jesus. 242 00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:00,800 As we're going to see, some of the misconceptions Herod had 243 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:03,240 continue on to this day. So what? 244 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:06,560 What does Herod say? He's perplexed. 245 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:10,240 He says, hey, some. Some people say that this person 246 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:12,680 is John who's been raised from the dead. 247 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,800 Some say that it's Elijah that's appeared. 248 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:21,280 Others say it's another prophet that's risen and right in. 249 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:27,080 There is a misconception that billions of people around the 250 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:32,040 globe believe to this day that Jesus is only a prophet. 251 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:35,800 See, that's what Islam claims about Jesus. 252 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:43,280 Islamic people have a great reverence for the prophet Jesus. 253 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:48,200 That's why this week, if you were paying attention to the 254 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:51,440 news and a week's worth of news today, like just feels like a 255 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:55,520 year's worth of news. But you may have seen that in 256 00:16:55,520 --> 00:17:00,840 Iran, the government responded to Trump's blasphemous post of 257 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:06,760 making himself as Jesus by saying that that's a desecration 258 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,720 of Jesus, the prophet of peace and brotherhood. 259 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:16,720 What type of world are we in? Jesus though can't just be a 260 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:20,119 prophet, not if you take him at his own words. 261 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:29,680 In John 858 Jesus says before Abraham was I am. 262 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:36,400 What Jesus is doing there is He is claiming the title that God 263 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:40,040 gives of himself to Moses at the burning Bush. 264 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,520 And by the way, everybody knew what he was claiming because at 265 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,080 that point the religious teachers, the Pharisees, they 266 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:47,880 want to stone him and kill him for blasphemy. 267 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:55,200 In Luke 5 we saw this a while back and then in in Luke 7, 268 00:17:55,200 --> 00:18:00,840 right with Luke 5 with the paralytic in Luke 7 with the 269 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:05,920 sinful woman. Jesus claims the power and 270 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:12,240 ability not just to heal but to forgive sin, something that only 271 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:18,960 God can do. Islam makes the claim that Jesus 272 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:23,720 didn't really die on the cross in in the Quran it says it 273 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:28,800 merely appeared as so. But that would mean that Jesus 274 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:35,400 was a false prophet because Jesus multiple times, as we're 275 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:41,640 going to see in this section of Luke, even he prophesized his 276 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:48,760 death and resurrection. So if Jesus doesn't actually die 277 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:53,760 and rise, then the only type of prophet that Jesus is, is a 278 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:58,760 false prophet. The Quran affirms Jesus as being 279 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:04,360 born of a virgin and, and this is right in the Quran as a soul 280 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:12,840 created at a command from God. That makes Jesus incredibly 281 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:17,640 unique that he has a supernatural non human origin. 282 00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:22,760 Muhammad doesn't have that. He's distinct from any other 283 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,720 prophet in history. He's distinct from any other 284 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:28,400 person in history outside of Adam and Eve. 285 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:32,600 And that's why Pastor Kirk talked about Jesus being the new 286 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:38,200 and better Adam. Jesus, if we just take Jesus at 287 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,440 his word, if we take it at the word of the Quran, Jesus can't 288 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:47,160 just be a prophet. Misconception #2 just ties into 289 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,640 this. It's that Jesus is only a good 290 00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:52,720 teacher. And some would say, well, he's 291 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,960 not a prophet. But I like some of the things 292 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,400 Jesus says. He has some really nice ethical 293 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:04,200 teachings. But if Jesus was only a teacher. 294 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:11,360 He wasn't a good one because good teachers don't go around 295 00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:13,520 making claims about being God and forgiving sin. 296 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:20,000 That is not something that a good, sane, moral teacher does. 297 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:26,120 If someone told you I am the resurrection and the life, the 298 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:29,520 one who believes in me, even if he dies, he will live. 299 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,440 What would you say to that person? 300 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:35,520 Imagine somebody walking up to you and making that claim about 301 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:43,160 themselves and and Jesus does that to his friend Martha while 302 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:46,480 she's mourning the death of her brother. 303 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:51,720 That is not something that a good teacher or even a good 304 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:58,920 person does if it isn't true. Lots of people out there want to 305 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:05,600 believe in good teacher Jesus because they love the parts that 306 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:08,960 Jesus says that kind of confirm the things that they like. 307 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:16,080 They they like the Jesus full of kindness and forgiveness parts. 308 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:23,760 They don't really wrestle with and reconcile the Jesus full of 309 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:29,360 judgement parts. They don't really talk about the 310 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:35,320 Jesus who says you need to eat my flesh and drink my blood 311 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:37,520 parts. By the way, when Jesus said that 312 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:42,120 at the time, all the crowds that we kind of see right now, they 313 00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:45,040 all got out of there real quick and Jesus looked around and it 314 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:47,720 was just his twelve around him again. 315 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,760 Because people are like, I liked the parts where you were giving 316 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,920 us bread. I like the parts where you were 317 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:59,240 saying lots about God's love and forgiveness, but I'm not keen on 318 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:06,560 this part. Yes, Jesus offers moral and 319 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,840 ethical teachings, and we see those in the Gospels. 320 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,520 But I hope you see this as we're walking through the book of 321 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:13,720 Luke. And if you walk through the 322 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:18,280 other Gospels, the focus of the Gospels is not actually on his 323 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:22,160 teaching. The focus of the Gospels is on 324 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:24,200 his crucifixion and resurrection. 325 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,400 The focus on the gospels is about Jesus himself. 326 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:31,720 What type of a good teacher doesn't make it about the 327 00:22:31,720 --> 00:22:34,160 teachings, but instead makes it about them? 328 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:41,440 And he himself is the one who makes claims to not just merely 329 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:49,880 be a sage, but to be a savior. Now some people believe that 330 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:54,040 part. They believe that Jesus is AH 331 00:22:54,640 --> 00:23:00,080 Savior, but they put an emphasis on the ah part. 332 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,000 And that leads us to our third misconception about Jesus. 333 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:08,960 There's a lot of confusion out there that thinks that Jesus is 334 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:15,200 just one of many ways to God. But I want, I want to let you 335 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:19,720 know Jesus himself does not allow for us to hold this to be 336 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:24,120 true. The words of Jesus himself are I 337 00:23:24,120 --> 00:23:28,440 am the way, the truth and the life. 338 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:33,800 And no one comes to the Father except through me in John 1418 339 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,400 like I148. I don't know how you get more 340 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:41,080 clear than that. He does not say I am a way, a 341 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,520 truth, a life. And if you would like to, you 342 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:50,280 can come my way. He says I'm the only way to the 343 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:54,120 Father. I read this week a post from 344 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:56,760 Pastor JD Greer down at the Summit Church. 345 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:02,240 He said this and I really got me thinking, Can you think of a 346 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:07,440 greater insult to Jesus than to say that there are many and 347 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:13,000 multiple ways to God? And I was, what does he mean by 348 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,360 this? So I delved into what he was 349 00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:17,400 reading. He said, you know, here's Jesus. 350 00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:20,560 He's in the Garden of Gethsemane. 351 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:25,960 He's facing the cross. He cries out to the Father. 352 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:32,880 He says, my father, if it is possible, let this cup, let the 353 00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:36,360 suffering that I'm about to experience on the cross, let it 354 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:41,560 pass from me. Imagine in that moment there 355 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:45,960 were multiple ways it would be the Father saying back to him, 356 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:52,320 actually, you know, there are a bunch of ways it could be 357 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:56,680 possible, but I just wanted you to go through this incredibly 358 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:04,680 brutal 1. There was no other way for you 359 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:10,360 and I to be rescued and redeemed than for Jesus as the perfect 360 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:14,720 God man to go to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. 361 00:25:15,120 --> 00:25:22,840 If there was any other way then what Jesus suffered on the cross 362 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:24,920 was just the brutality of the Father. 363 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,480 You know, I think, I think some people, they think it sounds 364 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:37,160 humble to say, well, all religions are basically the 365 00:25:37,160 --> 00:25:38,800 same. All paths lead to God. 366 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,160 I just want to tell you it's not humble. 367 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:45,520 It's incredibly arrogant. It's incredibly arrogant. 368 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:49,920 What you have said is that I know every other faith and 369 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,640 religion makes exclusive truth claims. 370 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:58,040 But me and my enlightened position, I understand better 371 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:01,800 than all of those people, and I have come to understand a 372 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:05,960 greater exclusive truth claim that all of them are basically 373 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:10,600 the same. I remember sharing this once 374 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:16,120 back when I was in Kitchener and a woman got incredibly offended, 375 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:22,640 contacted me during the week, didn't tell me on Sunday she was 376 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,760 incredibly offended, had a couple days to wrestle with it, 377 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,720 said I want to meet with you and we finished talking. 378 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:34,160 She said that was the moment I recognized I need Jesus. 379 00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:38,600 In my own pride I thought I didn't need him. 380 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:45,960 I had determined what was true, but listen, listen, Jesus does 381 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:51,000 not leave room for the option that he is one of many ways. 382 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,080 You can't follow Jesus and believe that he doesn't leave 383 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:57,280 room for that. You can follow somebody else, I 384 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:02,880 guess, but you can't follow him. Now some people will push back 385 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:06,240 in this moment and, and, and a whole bunch of people will say, 386 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,080 well, why are you even talking about Jesus doing Jesus maybe 387 00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:13,040 didn't exist. Maybe he's just a composite, you 388 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,960 know, just Greek gods, Egyptian gods, just some resurrection 389 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,480 stuff in there. A bunch of guys who have read 390 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,520 things on the Internet, done zero study and become experts. 391 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:28,840 They come up with this idea that Jesus is a myth. 392 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,680 And it wasn't the first time because did you see what Herod 393 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:37,240 said? Some said that John had been 394 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:42,200 raised from the dead. Then here it said I beheaded 395 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,560 John. So, like, I know that can't be 396 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:49,240 true. This myth that there is somebody 397 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:51,280 out there and it's just a resurrected John. 398 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:58,800 He doesn't have a head anymore. The misconception that Jesus is 399 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:04,240 a myth, I understand. I understand the attraction. 400 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:08,840 And again, if we're honest, it's born out of hubris, born out of 401 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:13,160 pride to write off Jesus, to say, well, his death, his 402 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:17,480 resurrection, his miracles, they are just the product of a less 403 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:22,160 enlightened age. CS Lewis calls this tendency 404 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,400 that we all have in every age to look back at previous ages and 405 00:28:25,400 --> 00:28:28,040 think, Can you believe what those people thought? 406 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:33,520 Is chronological snobbery. He also reminds us that 40 years 407 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:35,400 from now, somebody's going to look back at the things that you 408 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,160 believe and thought. Can you believe what that person 409 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:43,640 thought? No serious credible historian. 410 00:28:43,640 --> 00:28:46,440 None. No serious credible historian 411 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:48,960 doubts the existence of a historical Jesus. 412 00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:53,040 You know, lots of debate, lots of people who have doubts about 413 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:54,640 whether Jesus did what he said he would. 414 00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:58,120 But nobody doubts that there was a man named Jesus who lived in 415 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,360 Judea at the time that Jesus was living in. 416 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:01,880 The Gospels account for it first. 417 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:06,360 Non Christian histories outside of non Christian historians 418 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:11,160 outside of the Bible refer to Jesus. 419 00:29:11,760 --> 00:29:16,560 Josephus and Tacitus both confirm Jesus was a person who 420 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:19,760 existed who was executed by Pontius Pilate. 421 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,280 And then there's the internal evidence within Scripture. 422 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:29,920 The Gospel accounts this section from First Corinthians 15, which 423 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:32,920 is one of the earliest pieces of scripture. 424 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:38,840 It was written while within a lifetime within a generation of 425 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:41,400 Jesus death within just a couple decades. 426 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,840 Paul writes and says, I pass on to you as most important what I 427 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:49,440 also received that Christ died for our sins according to the 428 00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:53,600 scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third 429 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,640 day according to the scriptures. And then this is where it gets 430 00:29:56,640 --> 00:30:03,440 interesting that he appeared to Cephas, then to the 12, then he 431 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:08,160 appeared to over 500 brothers and sisters at one time and most 432 00:30:08,160 --> 00:30:11,160 of them are still alive. So if you would like their 433 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:14,840 contact info you can go pay them a visit and talk to them about 434 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:17,480 it. Then he appeared to James. 435 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:21,400 And I've said this many times, that's the half brother of Jesus 436 00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,560 who didn't believe in Jesus while Jesus was alive, but 437 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:28,640 somehow started to believe that his, his brother was God after 438 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:33,720 he died. Then to all the apostles, last 439 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:38,040 of all to one born at the wrong time, he also appeared to me. 440 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,440 Paul says, hey, there's all sorts of people you can go talk 441 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:47,880 to that can confirm that Jesus was dead and then wasn't so 442 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,800 dead. So you make sense of that. 443 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,160 The story of the gospels, if you were going to make up a story, 444 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:59,880 it's not the story you make up. That is not the story that you 445 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:03,720 make up. Death by crucifixion is not the 446 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:06,920 death that you give to the conquering Messiah and hero. 447 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:10,240 That's death by the electric chair. 448 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:13,480 Imagine people walking around with a little electric chairs 449 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:15,480 around their neck. If Jesus had died within an 450 00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:17,280 electric chair, that's what people would be doing. 451 00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:23,240 It is a symbol of shame that is turned into a symbol of victory. 452 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:27,920 The disciples he chose, they were dumb. 453 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:33,040 They they did dumb things all the time and it gets recorded. 454 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:35,320 You don't. We all know this. 455 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:39,960 When we when we are telling the story of us, we like to tell the 456 00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:44,160 best story of us. These guys do not come off well. 457 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:48,400 They come off repeatedly as being thick in the head. 458 00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,800 And I understand what Jesus said, doubting him, squabbling 459 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,160 with each other about who's going to be the best and who's 460 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,840 going to be the greatest. And then you look at the people 461 00:31:57,840 --> 00:31:59,480 that they record them keeping company with. 462 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:02,240 They're not the people that you put in the story. 463 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:07,480 If you're making up a story, you don't have an empty tomb 464 00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,200 discovered by women, not because there's anything wrong with 465 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:14,560 them, but in that time in that place, women did not count as 466 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:18,680 witnesses in court. You would pick the most 467 00:32:18,680 --> 00:32:23,080 reliable, the the best references, and those are the 468 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:29,560 names that you would put in. And then there's this reality 469 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:37,440 that this man, this life that was lived transforms all of 470 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:40,880 Western history to the point where you and I and world 471 00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:43,360 history to the point where you and I take for granted most 472 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,920 things that are only here today because of the existence of 473 00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:49,600 Jesus. Tom Holland in his book 474 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:54,200 Dominion, and Tom is a secular skeptical scholar who actually 475 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,760 started into this just to try and figure out what on earth is 476 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:02,480 going on with Christianity. He writes in almost every way 477 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:07,240 what makes us distinctive today reflects the influence of over 478 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:10,600 2000 years of the story of Christ. 479 00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:16,200 And it's not just the transformation in history, the 480 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,760 fact that we have schools and education centers and hospitals 481 00:33:19,760 --> 00:33:22,680 and charity and human rights. Those are all things that don't 482 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,080 make sense apart from Christian teaching. 483 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:26,920 You want to have a discussion about that? 484 00:33:26,920 --> 00:33:29,120 We'll, we'll grab a coffee. I'd love to talk to you about 485 00:33:29,120 --> 00:33:31,800 that. But the result of the the, the, 486 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:34,920 the transformative change that takes place in the life of those 487 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:40,640 disciples themselves, these guys who were dummies and cowards, 488 00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:44,440 and then their leader and their savior is crucified. 489 00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:48,040 And that's what gives them courage to go out and transform 490 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:52,640 the world again. Tom Holland said something 491 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:56,200 happened after the death of Jesus that turns a group of 492 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:00,800 crushed and despairing followers into the movement that captured 493 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:03,480 the Roman Empire. And he would say, I don't know 494 00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:07,320 what that is, but something happened and you have to be able 495 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:12,880 to explain it somehow. Christianity is not based on a 496 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:14,880 myth. It's based on a historical 497 00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:18,320 Christ, his real death, his real resurrection. 498 00:34:19,719 --> 00:34:22,280 There's so many more misconceptions about Jesus that 499 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:26,960 I could go into today, right? Jesus who is only love and never 500 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:31,239 Lord. The Jesus who baptizes my 501 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:36,560 political leanings. Jesus is my personal assistant. 502 00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:39,520 I like him. He's the one who exists just to 503 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,679 make my life better and make my plans come to fruition. 504 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:48,920 But this is the one I think we all get guilty of falling into 505 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:51,159 at times. The Jesus who looks just like 506 00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:55,400 me. It's amazing how much Jesus and 507 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,800 I look alike. That Jesus always agrees with my 508 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:03,080 values. He's always for my preferences. 509 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:08,800 The Jesus who never challenges me, never calls me out, never 510 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:13,040 brings conviction into my life. He's only there to comfort. 511 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:18,560 He's never there to contradict so many myths and confusions 512 00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:22,440 that we believe about Jesus and the world believes about Jesus 513 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:26,120 and, and, and church, we've got a job because we can't allow 514 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:28,320 people to be confused about Jesus. 515 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:32,600 We have to bring clarity about Jesus. 516 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:38,680 The world may be confused and the world may be a confusing 517 00:35:38,680 --> 00:35:41,920 place. And it's one thing to not 518 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,920 understand what best wishes only means. 519 00:35:44,920 --> 00:35:48,680 Doesn't matter. It's a whole nother thing to be 520 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:55,880 confused about who Jesus is. So how can we help bring clarity 521 00:35:55,880 --> 00:36:00,040 to the world about who Jesus is? Let me offer you four ways that 522 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:03,840 if you're a follower of Jesus, you can help bring clarity to a 523 00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:07,800 confused world. First, bring clarity by asking 524 00:36:07,800 --> 00:36:13,320 before you answer. Jesus was a master of asking 525 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:15,960 questions. I wish I would ask more 526 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,280 questions. We're really quick to jumping 527 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,520 into the talking at people about Jesus. 528 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:24,440 Why don't we just ask questions of people about Jesus? 529 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:30,600 See, to bring clarity about who Jesus is to somebody, you have 530 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:33,000 to understand who they believe Jesus is. 531 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:36,360 You have to understand the confusion that they have about 532 00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:39,000 Jesus. This even works, by the way, for 533 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:42,160 people who say, well, I don't believe in Jesus. 534 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:46,040 If someone tells you I don't believe in Jesus, the very best 535 00:36:46,040 --> 00:36:47,880 question that you can ask somebody doesn't believe about 536 00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:51,640 Jesus is would you mind telling me about the Jesus that you 537 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:55,120 don't believe in? Because there's a good chance 538 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:56,440 that the Jesus you don't believe in. 539 00:36:56,440 --> 00:37:02,560 I don't believe in either. Ask people questions about just 540 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:05,520 figure out where the confusion lies before we just start 541 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:11,600 talking at them about Jesus. The second bring clarity by 542 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:15,680 taking them to Jesus. It's one of the best steps that 543 00:37:15,680 --> 00:37:17,760 we can take as followers of Jesus. 544 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:25,200 In John 140 to 42, Andrew, one of Jesus 12. 545 00:37:25,720 --> 00:37:33,600 He meets Jesus and he starts following him and then he 546 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:40,080 invites his brother by the name of Simon or re later renamed 547 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:44,360 Peter. It says he brought Simon to 548 00:37:44,440 --> 00:37:47,160 Jesus. Andrew starts following Jesus 549 00:37:47,760 --> 00:37:51,480 and he says, hey, Simon, Simon, Simon, come and meet Jesus come 550 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:52,640 over. I want to I want to introduce 551 00:37:52,640 --> 00:37:54,080 so. So how do we do that? 552 00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:55,880 How would we do that today when Jesus isn't here? 553 00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:57,600 How could we introduce people to Jesus? 554 00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:01,800 Well, let me just suggest to you that you could say to somebody, 555 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:05,520 would you be willing to read one of the gospels with me? 556 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:08,440 You're, you seem curious about just you want to learn more 557 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:11,120 about Jesus. Why don't we just read maybe 558 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:18,560 Luke's account of Jesus move people from hearing about other 559 00:38:18,560 --> 00:38:22,400 people's thoughts about Jesus to actually spending time with 560 00:38:22,400 --> 00:38:26,280 Jesus himself. There's AU version Bible plan. 561 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:31,000 It's been done in conjunction with A5 days. 562 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:33,480 You can say, hey, would you give one week? 563 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:35,360 I know you got questions about who Jesus is. 564 00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:37,680 There's a there's a plan, it's called who is Jesus? 565 00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:39,360 So this feels like it would be a good one for you. 566 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:44,040 And we'll just walk through it together and you do that with 567 00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:48,480 somebody. Now I will say it's really hard 568 00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:51,440 to bring clarity to others about Jesus when you're not spending 569 00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:55,200 any time with Jesus. If you want to help other people 570 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:57,640 meet with Jesus, you should probably spend some time meeting 571 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:02,000 with Jesus. And good news for you, we have a 572 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:05,000 Bible reading plan as Forward Church that we would love for 573 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:07,640 you to be a part of. All you have to do is text Bible 574 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:13,080 to 226-212-7117, get yourself signed up, and you can join a 575 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:15,600 whole whack load of other people who are a part of our church who 576 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:18,640 are just reading along, meeting and understanding better who 577 00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:21,920 Jesus is. Bring people to Jesus. 578 00:39:21,920 --> 00:39:23,840 That's how it helps to bring clarity. 579 00:39:24,880 --> 00:39:28,920 Third, bring clarity by sharing who Jesus is to you. 580 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:34,000 I think so many people get so freaked out about talking about 581 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,360 Jesus because they're like, somebody's going to ask me 582 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:38,600 questions and I'm not going to know the answers. 583 00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:42,320 You're right, people ask me questions. 584 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:44,240 I don't know the answers. I've been doing this for a while 585 00:39:44,240 --> 00:39:46,200 and I've been in church my whole life. 586 00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:49,160 There's still times where I'm like, that's a good question. 587 00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:52,160 Sometimes it goes, what happens when I'm down in the preteen 588 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:56,720 room and we're all worried that we're not going to know enough 589 00:39:56,720 --> 00:39:59,160 answers. But there's so many times we, we 590 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:02,040 just saw this recently with Jesus and the demon possessed 591 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:05,600 man, right? There's so many times where 592 00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:08,320 Jesus does something in somebody's life and then 593 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:10,840 immediately just sends them out and says, hey, go tell 594 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:14,080 everybody. Just just tell people about what 595 00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:18,400 I did. You don't need all the right 596 00:40:18,400 --> 00:40:20,800 answers to point people to the right person. 597 00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:25,440 You just need to know Jesus and say, hey, this is what I know 598 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:27,440 about Jesus and I'd love to share it with you and maybe we 599 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:30,000 can learn more about him together as we go along. 600 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:34,280 You just need to be able to say, you know, here's what I once 601 00:40:34,280 --> 00:40:37,520 thought about Jesus. Here's what I've discovered 602 00:40:37,520 --> 00:40:41,480 about Jesus, and here's how that discovery has changed in my 603 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:44,920 life. It's all you need to start 604 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:47,720 pointing people towards Jesus. And the 4th 1 is this. 605 00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:51,240 Bring clarity by keeping the focus on Jesus. 606 00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:54,240 This is going to be for some of you who have liked this so far. 607 00:40:54,240 --> 00:40:55,160 You're not going to like this part. 608 00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:01,080 What someone believes about the origins of creation is not what 609 00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:05,160 saves them. What someone believes about the 610 00:41:05,160 --> 00:41:09,720 end times is not what saves. What someone believes about 611 00:41:09,720 --> 00:41:12,400 gender and sexuality is not what saves. 612 00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:18,160 Jesus is what saves and I find so often I have got myself 613 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:21,760 bogged down in all sorts of other things that at the end of 614 00:41:21,760 --> 00:41:23,840 the day are secondary to who is Jesus? 615 00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:28,440 First Corinthians 1534. Remember I shared these verses 616 00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:30,840 with you, Paul says, I passed on to you. 617 00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:34,320 What is the first importance? Not that the earth was created 618 00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:38,640 in seven days. Not that here's my timeline of 619 00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:42,560 how Jesus is going to return. No, I pass on you. 620 00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:45,320 What is of most importance, greatest importance, That Jesus 621 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:48,680 Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture. 622 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:51,000 That he was buried, that he rose again. 623 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:57,640 Romans 1089 says this is the message of faith that we 624 00:41:57,640 --> 00:42:01,320 proclaim. If you confess with your mouth 625 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:04,920 that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised 626 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:07,160 him from the dead, you will be safe. 627 00:42:07,160 --> 00:42:08,760 Now, does all that other stuff that matter? 628 00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:12,000 No, but it only matters in so much as it falls under the 629 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:16,120 Lordship of Jesus. Let's let's let people wrestle 630 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:19,560 with who Jesus is and then let Jesus sort the other stuff out 631 00:42:19,560 --> 00:42:22,960 in their life. Let's not allow those questions 632 00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:25,520 to keep people from being able to see Jesus and wrestle with 633 00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:31,320 the essential question. Because if Jesus is Lord, that 634 00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:33,760 confession changes everything else. 635 00:42:36,160 --> 00:42:37,560 Because here's the last thing I need to know. 636 00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:40,120 Salvation requires more than curiosity. 637 00:42:41,120 --> 00:42:46,600 It requires confession. Some of you are here today. 638 00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:48,840 Some of you are watching online. Some of you are listening. 639 00:42:48,840 --> 00:42:50,880 Because somebody sent this to you along the way. 640 00:42:51,320 --> 00:42:53,760 Because you're curious about Jesus. 641 00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:56,600 And that's a good start, but it can't be the end. 642 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:05,320 Don't stop at curiosity. Investigate Jesus, consider his 643 00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:10,240 claims, put him to the test because ultimately, salvation 644 00:43:10,240 --> 00:43:15,880 requires moving from curiosity about Jesus to a confession of 645 00:43:15,880 --> 00:43:20,120 who Jesus is. Now I just want to invite you, 646 00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:26,240 if you've been exploring Jesus, to make a decision about who he 647 00:43:26,240 --> 00:43:30,680 is. Because salvation comes when you 648 00:43:30,680 --> 00:43:37,360 recognize that Jesus and Jesus alone is the only way to 649 00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:40,520 salvation. When you recognize that Jesus is 650 00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:45,440 the one who lived the perfect life you couldn't live, who died 651 00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:48,600 for your imperfections and sins on the cross, and who on the 652 00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:51,600 third day was raised again and is now ascended into heaven and 653 00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:54,080 his ruling and reigning and one day will return. 654 00:43:55,840 --> 00:44:02,080 And he's the one who invites you to follow him, to flee from your 655 00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:05,960 sin, and to trust in him and him alone for your salvation. 656 00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:10,640 And when you confess that, when you confess with your mouth that 657 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:13,040 Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him 658 00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:15,880 from the dead, then the words that Paul said are true. 659 00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:22,320 You will be saved forward. There is a world of people out 660 00:44:22,320 --> 00:44:24,840 there. I'm convinced of it. 661 00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:28,560 The data says that. My experience says that there's 662 00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:33,400 a world of people out there who are curious about Jesus, and 663 00:44:33,400 --> 00:44:36,560 there's a whole lot of people who are confused about Jesus. 664 00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:44,560 Let's go out and be a people who bring clarity about Jesus to 665 00:44:44,640 --> 00:44:46,880 them. Let's go out and have 666 00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:50,560 conversations about Jesus. Let's go out and bring people to 667 00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:52,320 Jesus. Let's go out and share and 668 00:44:52,320 --> 00:44:54,680 confess how Jesus changed our life. 669 00:44:55,840 --> 00:45:01,480 If we love people, we won't just leave them in their curiosity. 670 00:45:01,480 --> 00:45:03,840 We won't just leave them in their confusion. 671 00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:09,480 We'll try and bring them to clarity so that they can decide 672 00:45:09,480 --> 00:45:12,000 whether they will confess what is true about Jesus. 673 00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:20,120 Let's pray. Father, thank you for the 674 00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:25,960 opportunity and the invitation that you have given us, first of 675 00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:29,880 all, to declare and to confess you as Lord and Savior. 676 00:45:30,480 --> 00:45:34,360 And pray if there's any here, any watching online, any 677 00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:38,520 listening at another point in time who have not yet confessed 678 00:45:38,520 --> 00:45:42,360 who Jesus is, not confess Jesus as Lord and Savior in their 679 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:44,800 life, that today would be the day and they would be saved. 680 00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:49,760 Father, for those of us who have come to a point where we have 681 00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:55,840 come to that point and decision of faith that we would not 682 00:45:55,840 --> 00:46:00,720 believe the lie that no one wants to hear about Jesus, but 683 00:46:00,720 --> 00:46:04,080 instead that we would listen. We would ask questions, we would 684 00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:07,920 share our stories, we would invite and bring people to Jesus 685 00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:13,360 because we know that clarity about Jesus can change 686 00:46:13,360 --> 00:46:16,760 everything. We know that it is our deepest 687 00:46:16,760 --> 00:46:20,320 need and and, and we love people. 688 00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:24,360 God give us a deep heart and desire to see people come to 689 00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:27,520 know you because it comes out of a deep love and concern for 690 00:46:27,520 --> 00:46:31,240 people. Would you use us even this week 691 00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:38,920 to enter into conversations about Jesus, to bring clarity to 692 00:46:38,920 --> 00:46:41,320 confusion? And it's in His name we pray. 693 00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:42,120 Amen.