1
00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:04,680
Y'all can turn to Acts 15. 
That's where we'll be. 

2
00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:08,720
We'll actually be in the book of
Acts for a lot of this as we 

3
00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:13,160
talk about a guy named Mark, and
I know there's several of them 

4
00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:14,720
here today. 
Don't worry, it's not you. 

5
00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:22,640
But while you're going to Acts 
15, it'll be a minute, man. 

6
00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:26,520
I'm just going to talk about 
like the worst chapter of my 

7
00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:31,480
life for a moment. 
So the worst chapter of my life,

8
00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,640
it was one of those where, 
forgive me if it is your genre 

9
00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:37,040
of choice, but my life was a 
country song. 

10
00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:43,000
And not like, not like here for 
the party or whatever, like the 

11
00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:50,840
sad kind, right? 
So many, many years ago, I was 

12
00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,560
going through a phase where most
people know this, but I'll, I'll

13
00:00:55,560 --> 00:01:00,400
mention it, where my first 
marriage was falling apart and, 

14
00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:01,720
and I knew it wasn't going to 
last. 

15
00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:07,000
At the same time, my best friend
passed away, a best friend from 

16
00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,280
like since the 6th grade. 
And so I didn't have him to lean

17
00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:12,440
on. 
And because the mistakes that I 

18
00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:14,880
made my career choice at the 
time, which was, you know, 

19
00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:17,200
working at a local radio, I got 
fired. 

20
00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,800
And so man, I'm like, I'm 
looking at this and I lost my 

21
00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:22,800
marriage and I lost my friend 
and I lost my job. 

22
00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:29,840
And then and then I had my, my 
dog of 10 years who, who passed 

23
00:01:29,840 --> 00:01:32,640
away. 
And so when I told you it was a 

24
00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,000
country song, it was just 
missing the truck. 

25
00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:40,520
It was such a low point in my 
life. 

26
00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:43,160
And, you know, I just, I wanted 
to quit. 

27
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,280
First of all, I couldn't quit my
job because I didn't have it. 

28
00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,680
But when it came to like trying,
I just didn't even want to try. 

29
00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:52,960
I just wanted to quit. 
And I didn't even really feel 

30
00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,320
like I had something to quit. 
How what, what did I have left 

31
00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:57,240
to quit? 
When my relationships were gone?

32
00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,680
The comfort was gone. 
The, the regularity, the 

33
00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:03,480
familiarity was gone. 
And sometimes when you look at 

34
00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:05,800
things that need to change or 
grow in your life, it can feel 

35
00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:07,840
overwhelming. 
Have you ever found yourself in 

36
00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:10,240
this place where you look at so 
many areas of your life that 

37
00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,480
need change, need growth, and 
then because you look at all of 

38
00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:17,200
it, you get analysis paralysis 
and you just freeze. 

39
00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,960
It's like a deer in headlights. 
I could pick any one of these 

40
00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,800
six areas to start working on 
and growing, but it feels 

41
00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:29,880
overwhelming. 
So what's on Netflix, right? 

42
00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:32,440
Or we go to the bar, or a lot of
us. 

43
00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:34,120
We find other ways to cope with 
things. 

44
00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,360
But there's a lot of times in 
life where failure doesn't just 

45
00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,120
mean that there was a mistake. 
It means that we feel like we 

46
00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,120
have to close the door on 
something because during this 

47
00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:48,160
time frame, it was very easy for
me to believe that I would never

48
00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:50,360
work in the the only like real 
career. 

49
00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,120
I had jobs, but the only career 
that I knew I'd never do it 

50
00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:55,400
again. 
Now I'm out of radio, I'll never

51
00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:56,640
do it again. 
Well, you know what, as time 

52
00:02:56,640 --> 00:02:59,440
went on, I did do radio again 
and I did Christian radio and I 

53
00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,280
did it for the Lord. 
When I looked at my, my marriage

54
00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,160
falling apart, I thought to 
myself, man, I didn't think I 

55
00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:08,920
was wired to be alone. 
I'll probably never get married 

56
00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:10,760
again. 
I am married again, and it's a 

57
00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:21,440
really great marriage, right? 
So I've had other pets. 

58
00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,640
None of it replaces things that 
you've lost, but the Lord always

59
00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:29,680
has a way of bringing what you 
need at the right time to help 

60
00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:32,200
you. 
Nothing really gets replaced, 

61
00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,880
but things can get restored. 
What I want to come against 

62
00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,800
today is the lie that too many 
believers have bought into. 

63
00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,360
And it's this. 
Once you've failed in an area, 

64
00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,560
the door is closed and there's 
no hope. 

65
00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,680
No hope are not words that 
should go together in the life 

66
00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,600
of a believer. 
Now, that doesn't mean that you 

67
00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,000
do whatever you want unless God 
gives you a promise, right? 

68
00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:57,640
That doesn't mean if you're 
like, man, I was in a car 

69
00:03:57,640 --> 00:03:58,920
accident. 
I should have died, but I 

70
00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:00,480
didn't. 
So I guess I can never die. 

71
00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:02,720
Watch me tightrope across the 
Grand Canyon. 

72
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:09,160
Not what I'm saying. 
What I'm telling you is that you

73
00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:12,440
are not authorized to declare no
hope over your life. 

74
00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,240
God's given you a lot of 
authority, but not in that area.

75
00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:20,160
But for a long time, that's how 
I lived. 

76
00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,160
And I could look even back now 
and say, well, these are wasted 

77
00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:25,720
years because there's so much 
that I could have done, but 

78
00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:28,480
they're not wasted. 
I learned a lot during that time

79
00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,640
frame. 
And maybe the things that you've

80
00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:33,960
gone through have been similar. 
I don't know, Maybe you've been 

81
00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:36,080
through a relationship that fell
apart or a career that 

82
00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:39,080
dissolved, or maybe you had a 
ministry season. 

83
00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:41,480
Maybe we can relate like that 
and you feel like it ended 

84
00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:44,680
painfully. 
Or maybe you're sitting here in 

85
00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,880
church today with church hurt, 
which is a very specific form of

86
00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:52,040
people hurt. 
You don't go around a group of 

87
00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:55,520
people and never get hurt. 
But failure has a way of 

88
00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:57,800
whispering that the future has 
already been decided and you 

89
00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,360
don't have a say in it. 
It's something that ends up 

90
00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,120
making us feel beaten down. 
Did anybody grow up feeling 

91
00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,280
overcorrected? 
I mean, you need correction as 

92
00:05:07,280 --> 00:05:10,040
you grow up, but when you grow 
up feeling overcorrected, you 

93
00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:13,680
start to buy into this place 
where you believe nothing I do 

94
00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,480
is going to be right. 
So why would I even try to do 

95
00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:18,480
things right? 
I'll just do things to get by. 

96
00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:22,720
Does that sound like the life 
that Jesus died to give you? 

97
00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,680
He said I came to give you life 
and life abundant. 

98
00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,880
OK? 
The kind of moment that we're 

99
00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:35,120
about to encounter in Scripture 
today is one of failure and 

100
00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:38,160
quitting. 
Over the last two weeks in the 

101
00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,000
series, we watched the disciples
struggle in different ways. 

102
00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:42,680
Peter collapsed under the way to
fear. 

103
00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:44,480
He denied the Savior that he 
loved. 

104
00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:48,800
We watched Thomas wrestle openly
with doubt when the resurrection

105
00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,400
didn't seem believable enough. 
And in both cases, Jesus 

106
00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:53,840
physically met them in their 
weaknesses and showed them that 

107
00:05:53,840 --> 00:05:55,400
failure was not the end of their
story. 

108
00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:58,440
Today, we're going to meet 
another follower of Jesus whose 

109
00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,120
failure looks a little different
because this time it's not a 

110
00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:04,680
dramatic betrayal and it's not 
intellectual skepticism. 

111
00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:06,640
It's not him trying to figure 
things out. 

112
00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,720
It's just somebody who looked at
a situation and said, this is 

113
00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:11,040
hard. 
I quit. 

114
00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:14,240
And the man that we're talking 
about is Mark. 

115
00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:16,720
He's more specifically known in 
the Scriptures as John Mark. 

116
00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,480
He grew up close to the earliest
believers in Jerusalem. 

117
00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:20,840
Just so you know a little bit 
about him. 

118
00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:22,680
He's one of the four authors of 
the Gospels. 

119
00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:24,360
And so it's important to know a 
little bit about him. 

120
00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,440
His mother was named Mary. 
It was a popular name at the 

121
00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:29,400
time. 
I don't know what to tell you. 

122
00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,040
His mother owned a home where 
followers of Jesus would gather 

123
00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:36,440
on a regular basis to worship 
and pray together. 

124
00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,560
In fact, Scripture says that 
when Peter was miraculously 

125
00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:42,200
released from prison, one of the
first places he went was that 

126
00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:44,440
house, the one where Mark grew 
up. 

127
00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,000
And Mark was raised in an 
environment where the story of 

128
00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,800
Jesus was not just believed, but
it was lived out every single 

129
00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:51,600
day. 
So shout out to everybody who 

130
00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:53,600
grew up here in the name of 
Jesus in your household every 

131
00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:54,920
day. 
If you know if got annoying, 

132
00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:56,840
aren't you glad you heard the 
name of Jesus every day? 

133
00:06:57,760 --> 00:07:00,200
Mark was also connected to one 
of the most encouraging leaders 

134
00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:02,680
in the early church. 
He had a cousin named Barnabas. 

135
00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:05,800
Now, if you've heard the name 
Barnabas, good for you because 

136
00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:07,120
we're going to talk a lot about 
him today. 

137
00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,200
But his name literally means, 
you know, son of encouragement. 

138
00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:15,440
And so later on, he would meet 
other workers in the gospel, 

139
00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,640
like Saul, who would later on 
change his name and be known as 

140
00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,280
Paul. 
And he began to travel with 

141
00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,640
them, young as he was, to spread
the message of Jesus. 

142
00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,320
Mark had the opportunity of a 
lifetime to join them. 

143
00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:30,680
And for a young believer, it 
must have felt like the 

144
00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:33,480
adventure that he had always 
been waiting for. 

145
00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:38,360
But somewhere on the journey, 
his excitement caved to reality.

146
00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:41,520
I've ever had this happen. 
This woman is perfect. 

147
00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:43,640
This woman is like the woman of 
my dreams. 

148
00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:45,200
She'll never do anything that 
hurts me. 

149
00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:50,080
And all of a sudden life, I know
it can happen the other way, 

150
00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:51,640
too. 
This is the man of my dreams. 

151
00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:53,080
I've just never had that 
experience. 

152
00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:57,000
So I'm sure it's out there, 
right? 

153
00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:00,080
The job of my dreams. 
I'll never do anything else with

154
00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:01,840
my life. 
And all of a sudden you turn 

155
00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,360
around and you're like, when did
this become a daily grind? 

156
00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,120
Whatever it is, we all have 
moments where something seemed 

157
00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,120
like it was going to be 
fantastic forever. 

158
00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:13,040
We set up our expectations and 
then reality settles in. 

159
00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:17,720
Reality is a harsh master. 
So what does Mark do at some 

160
00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:19,840
point? 
Well, he walks away. 

161
00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,880
And Luke, who wrote the book of 
Acts, he records this moment 

162
00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,760
briefly. 
It's almost a random footnote if

163
00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:27,800
you if you're not looking for 
it. 

164
00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,280
But the impact of that decision 
would send a ripple through the 

165
00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,200
early church that Mark could not
have predicted. 

166
00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:36,960
What happens is Paul and 
Barnabas later planned another 

167
00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,520
journey together. 
But they both remembered Mark 

168
00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,640
quitting and departing. 
And they had such a sharp 

169
00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:45,920
disagreement that they split 
their ministry. 

170
00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,720
Maybe it's the first church 
split in all of history. 

171
00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:51,960
So by the time we get to this 
moment that we're about to read,

172
00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:55,080
I want you to know that the 
tension surrounding Mark's 

173
00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:57,760
earlier decision has already 
reached the surface. 

174
00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:00,680
So Paul and Barnabas are 
preparing to return to churches 

175
00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:03,880
that they helped start in 
different regions across Asia 

176
00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,920
Minor. 
And the decision that Mark made 

177
00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,360
earlier is still hanging over 
the conversation. 

178
00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,680
One person has picked it up like
baggage. 

179
00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:13,240
The other one has moved on from 
it. 

180
00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,560
So listen to this in Acts 
chapter 15 starting in verse 36,

181
00:09:18,800 --> 00:09:22,160
it says after some time Paul 
said to Barnabas, let's go back 

182
00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:24,560
and visit each city where we 
previously preached the word of 

183
00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:27,160
the Lord to see how the new 
believers are doing. 

184
00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:32,040
Barnabas agreed and wanted to 
take along John Mark, but Paul 

185
00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,280
disagreed strongly. 
Since John Mark had deserted 

186
00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,440
them in Pamphylia and had not 
continued with them in their 

187
00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:42,600
work, their disagreement was so 
sharp that they separated. 

188
00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:46,080
Barnabas took John Mark with him
and sailed for Cyprus. 

189
00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:50,680
Paul chose Silas, and as he 
left, the believers entrusted 

190
00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:55,240
him to the Lord's gracious care.
Then he travelled through Syria 

191
00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:57,880
and Silesia, strengthening the 
churches there. 

192
00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,960
What's interesting is even when 
I read this today, I'm already 

193
00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,960
seeing how God takes what the 
enemy desires for evil and turns

194
00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:07,080
it for good. 
Because you've got these two 

195
00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:09,840
powerhouses in the Kingdom that 
wanted to continue to work side 

196
00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,840
by side. 
And God said, well, don't love 

197
00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:15,600
division, But since you are 
divided, you go here and 

198
00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:17,880
strengthen these ones. 
You go here and strengthen these

199
00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:19,560
ones. 
You can still see the 

200
00:10:19,560 --> 00:10:23,600
multiplication of the Kingdom 
despite our worst efforts. 

201
00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:28,640
Now, did you notice that it 
didn't just say that Mark quit 

202
00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:31,480
or that Mark left them? 
Anybody catch on to what word it

203
00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:33,200
used? 
Deserted. 

204
00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:34,840
That's a little different, isn't
it? 

205
00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:37,080
Hey. 
Hey. 

206
00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:38,360
I thought you all used to be 
best friends. 

207
00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:40,640
He deserted me. 
We don't normally use that word.

208
00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:42,560
Yeah. 
We just grew apart. 

209
00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,720
Luke hints at just exactly the 
way that Paul looked at it. 

210
00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,640
Because of that word. 
Paul says that Mark had deserted

211
00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,280
them earlier in Pamphylia. 
Now, we normally save 

212
00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:55,400
translating some of the Greek 
and some of the Hebrew for 

213
00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:56,720
Wednesday nights with Bible 
study. 

214
00:10:56,720 --> 00:10:59,240
But bonus. 
Let's take a look at a Greek 

215
00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:02,040
word. 
The word there for dessert is a 

216
00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:05,800
fist, Amy, and here's why you 
need to know the Greek in this 

217
00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:07,600
case. 
When we look at dessert, we all 

218
00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,360
know what that means. 
Not like dessert after your 

219
00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:14,360
Mexican food later. 
What I mean is dessert somebody,

220
00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:19,120
the full definition means to 
withdraw or to abandon or to 

221
00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:21,280
depart from someone you were 
committed to. 

222
00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:26,240
So basically what Paul is saying
in his, in his view, he was 

223
00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:28,040
committed and he betrayed the 
commitment. 

224
00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,960
That's different than just 
saying, hey, the season has 

225
00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:35,440
changed. 
So from Paul's perspective, this

226
00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,440
was not a travel decision. 
This was not a scheduling issue.

227
00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:41,680
It wasn't that Mark believed the
Lord was calling him to a new 

228
00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:44,280
season. 
Paul believed that Mark had quit

229
00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:46,280
the mission when things got 
difficult. 

230
00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:50,440
And he was probably right. 
But the disagreement was so 

231
00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:53,400
sharp between people that they 
couldn't even work together. 

232
00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:55,520
It's a shame whenever you see 
that happen in the Kingdom of 

233
00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:57,760
God, isn't it? 
But when we look back at the 

234
00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:00,920
earlier journey that that they 
all had, some Bible scholars 

235
00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,400
have suggested a lot of possible
reasons why Mark May have left. 

236
00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:04,720
We'll talk about it in just a 
minute. 

237
00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:07,440
It's more than just it became 
hard for him. 

238
00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:09,440
We'll talk about them. 
But for right now, it's 

239
00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:10,960
important to see the bigger 
picture. 

240
00:12:11,560 --> 00:12:14,000
Mark's story is not about a 
villain or a rebel. 

241
00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:16,680
He's a believer, and there's no 
indication that he ever stopped 

242
00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:18,360
believing or questioned his 
beliefs. 

243
00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:21,040
It's about a young man who 
started something that was 

244
00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:23,960
really meaningful and walked 
away when it became harder than 

245
00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:26,600
he expected. 
So the question I ask you before

246
00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,240
we move on this morning is this 
what happens when you quit 

247
00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,360
something that you once believed
God called you to? 

248
00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,760
This can be a person, place, 
whatever. 

249
00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:41,440
As we've been going through the 
series, here's what we'll talk 

250
00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:42,840
about next. 
We'll talk about what failure 

251
00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:44,920
reveals. 
Now, if I was keeping in line 

252
00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:47,680
with the previous weeks, I would
call this what quitting reveals.

253
00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,640
But this is a specific kind of 
failure because when you look at

254
00:12:51,640 --> 00:12:55,000
it as quitting, you hold it a 
little more personally. 

255
00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:57,600
When you look back on something 
and say, well, I was afraid, 

256
00:12:57,640 --> 00:12:59,280
that's one thing. 
When you look back on something 

257
00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:01,720
and say, I wasn't sure you can 
give yourself some grace when 

258
00:13:01,720 --> 00:13:04,240
you look back on something and 
you say, yeah, I quit doing 

259
00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:05,800
that. 
That's where it can feel real 

260
00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:07,760
personal. 
So there are some things that 

261
00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:11,720
failure tends to reveal to us. 
And when we talk about what 

262
00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:14,760
failure reveals, this is not 
something that just suddenly 

263
00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,200
appears when you fall short. 
It's normally a lens that you 

264
00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,880
start to view yourself through 
over time, when the road becomes

265
00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:23,160
harder than you expected. 
You begin to see what your 

266
00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,520
expectations were, and you also 
find out how deep your endurance

267
00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,760
runs and whether or not you're 
prepared for the cost of 

268
00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:31,600
continuing. 
It's something like between 2 to

269
00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:35,200
5% of all people that run a 
marathon don't finish it. 

270
00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:41,320
Now, that may not sound like a 
lot, but 2 to 5% of people try 

271
00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:43,360
to run a marathon. 
And when they find out that 

272
00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,160
their endurance isn't what they 
needed to complete it, they 

273
00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,760
quit. 
And look, I like to preach from 

274
00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,000
personal experience, but y'all 
are never going to catch me 

275
00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,840
running a marathon. 
So. 

276
00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:57,240
So check with somebody who has 
run it. 

277
00:13:57,600 --> 00:13:59,960
I guarantee you that most of 
them, even if they didn't quit 

278
00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:01,600
in the middle of a marathon, had
thoughts of it. 

279
00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,680
Because at some point you think 
I don't know if I can go further

280
00:14:05,680 --> 00:14:08,000
or I don't know if I want to go 
further. 

281
00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:10,800
Is this worth it? 
To me it sounded good at the 

282
00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:13,640
beginning. 
Is the payoff when I complete it

283
00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:15,320
going to be what I hoped that it
was? 

284
00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,200
This is something that we all 
struggle with. 

285
00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:20,680
So This is why quitting can 
carry such a heavy emotional 

286
00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:22,240
weight. 
Think about this. 

287
00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:24,400
When people walk away from 
something that they're called 

288
00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:28,840
to, but they do it for the wrong
reason, the decision never stays

289
00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:32,520
in the past. 
Regret starts to replay the 

290
00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:34,680
moment over and over and over 
again. 

291
00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:36,880
Have you ever had a moment in 
your life that you regretted and

292
00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:38,400
you know you can't go back and 
do over? 

293
00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:40,640
So it replays over and over as a
cycle. 

294
00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:42,800
I mean, I this is the time I'm 
asking for hands. 

295
00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:46,160
Come on, let's not be alone, OK?
Y'all are crazy. 

296
00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:51,320
You need a therapist. 
I got some recommendations for 

297
00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:55,000
you. 
Shame is what always comes. 

298
00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:58,760
When regret starts replaying in 
a cycle, shame starts to whisper

299
00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,240
that that failure, actually 
failure, actually revealed 

300
00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:03,120
something about you that you 
didn't know was there. 

301
00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,320
And it's right, but it's also 
wrong. 

302
00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:08,960
When you go through a failure, 
of course you learn about 

303
00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,640
yourself, but shame starts to 
tell you that that failure is 

304
00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,920
because that is who you are. 
And I've said this before, 

305
00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:17,920
probably say it for the next 20 
years. 

306
00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:20,520
The difference between guilt and
shame is this. 

307
00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:22,880
First of all, you're all guilty.
Me too. 

308
00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:26,560
Romans 323 says that we have all
fallen short of the glory of 

309
00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,280
God, right? 
We've all sinned, so we're all 

310
00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:30,680
guilty. 
That's the whole gospels. 

311
00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:32,840
We're guilty, but because of 
Jesus we can be proclaimed 

312
00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:37,160
innocent. 
Guilt says I did that. 

313
00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:41,840
Shame says I am what I did. 
That's unhealthy. 

314
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,080
You can't live like that. 
Think of all the Scriptures 

315
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,880
where God tries to declare who 
you are and he speaks his 

316
00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,840
character, his view of you. 
And we know that he is true, and

317
00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:52,760
we know that he's right, and we 
know that we're wrong. 

318
00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:55,240
And as he tells you, this is who
you are. 

319
00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:57,480
We want to believe it, like. 
But. 

320
00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,120
Yeah. 
But I remember what I did 13 

321
00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:01,760
years ago. 
You think he doesn't? 

322
00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:05,920
He was there. 
Of course he knows about it. 

323
00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:07,680
And he still proclaims things 
over you. 

324
00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,240
As Christians, we can't afford 
to live dictated by shame. 

325
00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:13,520
Now we're going to be in Acts 
13. 

326
00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,560
Just a couple chapters earlier, 
in just a moment, John Mark had 

327
00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,240
joined Barnabas and Saul on 
their missionary journey as the 

328
00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:24,000
gospel began spreading beyond 
Jerusalem again. 

329
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:26,560
I bet you this felt thrilling. 
Anybody been on a mission trip 

330
00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:29,160
before? 
How many of y'all have been on 

331
00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:32,400
multiple mission trips? 
Was the first one more exciting 

332
00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:34,760
than the rest of them to begin 
with? 

333
00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,920
Why? 
It's brand new, right? 

334
00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:40,600
But the second time you're 
excited to return to where you 

335
00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:42,840
were because now you want to 
revisit things or revisit 

336
00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,280
people, and now you have a 
little bit of a better handle on

337
00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,160
it. 
I remember in 2011, it was my 

338
00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,240
first mission trip to Guatemala 
and I could not sleep the night 

339
00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,120
before. 
I mean, back in 2011, I, I was 

340
00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:56,520
already, well, an adult, but it 
was the first time as an adult 

341
00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:59,240
that I felt a little taste of 
what I had felt as a kid waiting

342
00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:02,240
for Christmas morning. 
I could not wait to get on that 

343
00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,359
plane and go see new people and 
a new place and see what God was

344
00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:08,240
going to do outside of what I 
knew to be normal. 

345
00:17:09,079 --> 00:17:10,880
Well, I've been there several 
Times Now, and it's not that I 

346
00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:13,560
don't get excited to go, but 
I'll probably never lose sleep 

347
00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:17,200
over the excitement of going 
again because it's not new. 

348
00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:20,680
This happens to all of us. 
We all love to start something 

349
00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:22,760
brand new for the Lord, but it's
harder to continue it. 

350
00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:27,079
And so if you notice John Mark 
is going to be mentioned twice 

351
00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:30,400
in the section of Scripture both
you wouldn't even notice his 

352
00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:32,240
name unless you were looking for
it. 

353
00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:34,480
And I mean this, if you're going
through your daily Bible 

354
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:36,440
reading, you know, with our 
Bible reading plan or whatever, 

355
00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,440
which by the way, if you're 
brand new here at Liberty, we've

356
00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:41,680
got a Bible reading plan. 
It walks you through about four 

357
00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:43,320
chapters of the scripture every 
day. 

358
00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:45,000
If you're doing your own thing, 
that's fine. 

359
00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:46,520
Just be in the word, meet with 
the Lord. 

360
00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:48,840
But if you need something to 
help guide you, not only do we 

361
00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,320
have that, we also have a 
devotional that ties the 

362
00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,160
scriptures together and helps 
you see how they point to Jesus.

363
00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:55,880
Even the Old Testament, it's 
free. 

364
00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:57,440
Ask for it when you're leaving. 
We'll hook you up. 

365
00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:02,120
But in Acts 13, when we get 
here, John Mark has mentioned 

366
00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:05,840
twice, but you wouldn't notice 
it because he just seems like a 

367
00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:08,520
background character here. 
Listen to this starting in verse

368
00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:14,480
5 there and the town of Salamis,
they went to the Jewish 

369
00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:16,280
synagogues and preached the word
of God. 

370
00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:18,560
John Mark went with them as 
their assistant. 

371
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:21,760
I mean, he's the assistant. 
You don't need to know. 

372
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:23,120
He's not the main preachers over
there. 

373
00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:26,800
Right Afterward, they travelled 
from town to town across the 

374
00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:31,600
entire island until finally they
reached Pay Foss. 

375
00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:34,680
I know that's not how I want to 
pronounce it either, but that is

376
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:38,520
the correct pronunciation. 
Where they meet a Jewish 

377
00:18:38,520 --> 00:18:43,640
sorcerer, a false prophet named 
Bar Jesus. 

378
00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:48,680
That's interesting, isn't it? 
Good thing there's nobody 

379
00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,200
falsely claiming to be the 
Messiah today, all right. 

380
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:56,200
He had attached himself to the 
governor, Sergius Paulus, who 

381
00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:58,840
was an intelligent man. 
The governor invited Barnabas 

382
00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,680
and Saul to visit him for he 
wanted to hear the word of God. 

383
00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:06,000
But Ellemus the sorcerer as his 
name means in Greek. 

384
00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:09,040
So Ellemus is the same thing as 
Bar Jesus, right? 

385
00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:12,280
That's just the Greek name 
interfered and urged the 

386
00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:15,120
governor to pay no attention to 
what Barnabas and Saul said. 

387
00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:17,040
He was trying to keep the 
governor from believing. 

388
00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:19,840
You'll need to know that there 
are people who don't have your 

389
00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:21,080
best interest at heart out 
there. 

390
00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:23,160
There are people that want to 
keep you from believing. 

391
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:25,960
They're not all a wicked 
sorcerer like this. 

392
00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:28,360
But I'm also not saying that 
they're not OK. 

393
00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,240
You're about to see something 
that is really such a savage 

394
00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,760
moment from the Lord. 
Listen to this in verse 9, Saul,

395
00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:38,800
also known as Paul, was filled 
with the Holy Spirit and he 

396
00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,640
looked the sorcerer in the eye. 
And then he said, you son of the

397
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:48,080
devil, full of every sort of 
deceit and fraud and enemy of 

398
00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:50,560
all that is good. 
That's that's intense. 

399
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,880
Will you never stop perverting 
the true ways of the Lord? 

400
00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,960
Watch now, for the Lord has laid
His hand of punishment upon you,

401
00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:03,440
and you will be struck blind. 
You will not see the sunlight 

402
00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:07,720
for some time. 
Instantly mist and darkness came

403
00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,640
over the man's eyes, and he 
began groping around, begging 

404
00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:12,440
for someone to take his hand and
lead him. 

405
00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,200
When the governor saw what had 
happened, he became a believer. 

406
00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:22,120
I bet he did, for he was 
astonished at the teaching about

407
00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:24,160
the Lord. 
You know what I love? 

408
00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:25,640
Even the kindness of God shows 
up here. 

409
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:27,000
It doesn't say he was blind 
forever. 

410
00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:33,120
It's said for some time. 
Paul and his companions then 

411
00:20:33,120 --> 00:20:37,720
left Paphos by ship for 
Pamphalia, landing at the port 

412
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,280
town of Purga. 
Oh, there he is again. 

413
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,760
There John Mark left them and 
returned to Jerusalem. 

414
00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:46,840
So here's what's interesting. 
We just read Acts 15 where it 

415
00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:48,480
talks about how they had split 
over it. 

416
00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,280
If you're just reading this, 
this is 2 chapters before. 

417
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:52,800
Does this seem like drama to 
you? 

418
00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:57,280
Before that paragraph, it says, 
oh, by the way, John Mark was 

419
00:20:57,280 --> 00:21:00,560
their assistant, great kid, lots
of potential. 

420
00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:03,440
By the end of it, it's like 
after that mission, John Mark 

421
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:06,080
left, he went home. 
Maybe his ministry internship 

422
00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:08,880
ended, I don't know. 
It doesn't seem like much. 

423
00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,840
But obviously something happened
because by the time you get 2 

424
00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:14,440
chapters later, Paul's like he's
not coming back with me again. 

425
00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:18,800
He's not reliable. 
What happened was you step back 

426
00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:22,400
there up until that point, 
there's there's something that 

427
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:24,240
is easy to miss unless you're 
looking for it. 

428
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,880
Luke consistently refers to the 
missionary team as Barnabas and 

429
00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,480
Saul. 
Words are not accidental in the 

430
00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:35,320
Bible for a couple of reasons. 
First of all, God is highly 

431
00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,560
intentional. 
Second of all, the Jewish people

432
00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:40,560
were also highly intentional in 
how they worded things. 

433
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:42,480
Anytime you see something 
mentioned three times in a row, 

434
00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:46,600
pay attention. 
But here, it was always 

435
00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,840
mentioned from Acts 1 all the 
way up when you see them as a 

436
00:21:49,840 --> 00:21:52,800
ministry team, it is mentioned 
as Barnabas and Saul. 

437
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:55,760
Barnabas was clearly the senior 
leader. 

438
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,280
He was widely respected in the 
Jerusalem church, known for 

439
00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,360
encouragement and wisdom. 
And he was the one that had 

440
00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:04,840
introduced Saul to the apostles 
when most of the believers were 

441
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:06,960
still afraid of him. 
If you're not familiar with 

442
00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:08,480
Paul's back story, that's all 
right. 

443
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:12,040
That's next week. 
Barnabas had taken a risk on 

444
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:14,480
Saul when other people were 
unsure about trusting him. 

445
00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:16,880
Are you all grateful for 
somebody who always takes a 

446
00:22:16,880 --> 00:22:20,200
chance on the outcast? 
I'm too, especially when you're 

447
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:23,160
the outcast. 
There's also a personal 

448
00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,400
connection between this 
relationship. 

449
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:29,520
If you remember, Barnabas was 
what to mark, it's his cousin. 

450
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:32,640
So his cousin is the one leading
this missionary team. 

451
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,960
And when Paul confronts the 
sorcerer Ellamus here on Payfos,

452
00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:41,880
and the governor witnesses the 
power of the gospel, Luke begins

453
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:43,640
to change the way he describes 
the team. 

454
00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:45,840
This is the paragraph where it 
happens. 

455
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,320
Instead of saying Barnabas and 
Saul, the narrative begins 

456
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:53,000
saying Paul and his companions. 
It's a small detail, but for the

457
00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:55,240
rest of the book of Acts, it's 
Paul first. 

458
00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:59,720
So what does that mean? 
It means Paul is now stepping 

459
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,560
into his primary role. 
He's been rising up into what 

460
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:04,880
he's been called to do. 
And now in the order of this 

461
00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:08,440
ministry, Paul has taken over 
and Barnabas moves into the 

462
00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:10,600
background. 
So for someone to read this 

463
00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,280
story casually, that detail 
might seem insignificant. 

464
00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:15,560
You wouldn't even notice it. 
But I bet you for market change 

465
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,480
the entire dynamic of the 
journey, his cousin was in 

466
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:20,160
charge. 
I bet you he went on this 

467
00:23:20,160 --> 00:23:23,120
journey because it's his cousin,
it's his family, it's his kin, 

468
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,280
local dialect. 
And so because of that, he would

469
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,200
have felt a different comfort 
level to go there while his 

470
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,960
cousin is leading a mission. 
But all of a sudden now Paul's 

471
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,880
going to be in charge. 
Now you're going to put this 

472
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,360
former Pharisee in charge, This 
guy who put other people in 

473
00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:40,600
jail. 
Surely he can minister. 

474
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,880
But he, he imprisoned people for
no reason. 

475
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:47,400
He can't be in charge. 
Amplification of the issues. 

476
00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:49,960
They're mine. 
Those things aren't listed, but 

477
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:52,320
they're entirely possible. 
Put yourself in those shoes. 

478
00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,160
You go there with a cousin or a 
sibling that you feel close to. 

479
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:59,360
He vouches for this former 
person who would have chased you

480
00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:02,560
down and persecuted you. 
And now this person who used to 

481
00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:06,840
persecute you, this member of 
the maybe ISIS or something is 

482
00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:10,200
now running the team. 
Are you comfortable? 

483
00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:16,280
I bet you Mark wasn't. 
So after leaving Cyprus, the 

484
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:20,760
team prepares to travel inland. 
And it was also a very dangerous

485
00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:22,680
area. 
A lot of people don't realize 

486
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:24,640
this until you do some some of 
the historical study. 

487
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,160
But the journey that they were 
on, it would have consisted of 

488
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,600
crossing an area known as the 
Taurus Mountains. 

489
00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:31,640
It was a route that was really 
perilous. 

490
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,360
There was a lot of robbers. 
There was a lot of bandits. 

491
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:37,400
There was a lot of just even 
the, the landscape itself was 

492
00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:39,960
dangerous. 
You had no 911, you did not have

493
00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,080
GPS to drop your location. 
So you're travelling in these 

494
00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,280
uncharted areas where people are
known to rob and murder. 

495
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,200
And then on top of it, he's 
starting to watch this sorcerer 

496
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:52,640
come and attack his team. 
And now Paul takes over. 

497
00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,120
And it was just a lot. 
So in other words, I think the 

498
00:24:56,120 --> 00:24:59,240
mission that was happening was 
about to become significantly 

499
00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,000
harder and more dangerous than 
the journey they had taken so 

500
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:03,480
far. 
And the journey they had taken 

501
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:05,800
so far was already more than 
Mark had counted on. 

502
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:08,600
So John Mark left them and 
returned to Jerusalem. 

503
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,280
I also feel convinced John Mark 
wasn't trying to wound them. 

504
00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,080
He wasn't trying to ruin their 
mission. 

505
00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:17,200
He just said, buddy, this ain't 
for me. 

506
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:23,280
And he went home. 
Luke doesn't pause to criticize 

507
00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:24,600
Mark there. 
He's just logical. 

508
00:25:24,600 --> 00:25:27,320
If you're ever reading through 
the the the gospel of Luke, 

509
00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:29,960
you'll notice that it reads the 
same as the book of Acts because

510
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:34,080
Luke was a physician and his 
primary concern was getting 

511
00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,440
logical and fact and data-driven
information to the people that 

512
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:42,520
he wrote the letter to. 
But when we get to Acts 15, 

513
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,080
which we started this morning 
with, we can see that the way 

514
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,080
Paul interpreted it was very 
different than how Luke reports 

515
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:51,920
it. 
So for us, that really opens an 

516
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,240
important window into what 
failure can often reveal. 

517
00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:58,000
Some people begin building 
something that means something 

518
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:00,080
because they're drawn to the 
vision, or they're drawn to the 

519
00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:02,120
excitement of it, or sometimes 
they're even drawn to the 

520
00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:03,760
visionary or a person leading 
it. 

521
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:06,720
In the beginning, it can feel 
inspirational and hopeful, but 

522
00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:09,640
when circumstances shift or 
sometimes the leadership shifts,

523
00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:12,400
sometimes the cost becomes 
higher than what we thought. 

524
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,560
When it feels it's very 
difficult to move forward, 

525
00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:18,920
quitting sounds like a really 
good idea. 

526
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,240
So Mark's story reminds us that 
most failures don't happen 

527
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,600
because of rebellion. 
They start with discouragement. 

528
00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:32,480
Now, in the last few years, 
there has been this phrase 

529
00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:34,120
that's gone around, like the 
workplace. 

530
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:38,960
Not this workplace, just the 
workplace in general to describe

531
00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:41,840
something that has happened in 
culture, and it's a term called 

532
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,560
quiet quitting. 
Anybody ever heard of this quiet

533
00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:46,600
quitting? 
Well, what is that? 

534
00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:49,640
Quiet quitting doesn't mean that
you literally resigned from your

535
00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:51,200
job. 
That's not quiet. 

536
00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:55,840
It means when somebody is still 
in their position, but they 

537
00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,920
emotionally withdraw from the 
mission, they stop investing 

538
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,480
their energy or their initiative
or their passion into the work. 

539
00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:04,640
So instead of fully 
participating in the purpose of 

540
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:07,640
the organization, they do what 
they're required to to get the 

541
00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,320
paycheck. 
Now, here's why I'm sharing this

542
00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:12,560
with you today. 
Researchers have studied this. 

543
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:15,800
A Gallup workplace study said 
that at least half of the US 

544
00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,440
workforce is classified as quiet
quitters. 

545
00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:20,560
So before you're like, well, 
that's not me. 

546
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:22,880
OK? 
I'm not saying this or isn't. 

547
00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:26,640
It means that half of the 
workforce in the United States 

548
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:30,040
of America is psychologically 
detached from their work and 

549
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,360
doing only what the job 
description requires. 

550
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:35,200
And you may be like Pastor 
Blake, you don't know what it's 

551
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:36,160
like there. 
No, you're right. 

552
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:39,280
I don't, and I'm praying for 
you. 

553
00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:43,480
Globally, the numbers are worse 
than they are in America. 

554
00:27:44,280 --> 00:27:47,000
Gallup State of the Global 
Workplace estimates that about 

555
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:50,760
59% of employees worldwide fall 
into this category of 

556
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,240
discouraged workers. 
In other words, more than half 

557
00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,720
the workforce in many places is 
technically still present, but 

558
00:27:57,720 --> 00:27:59,440
no longer invested in what 
they're doing. 

559
00:28:00,160 --> 00:28:03,680
Now, when we translate this over
to the work of the Gospel and 

560
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:05,960
the fact that Christianity is 
not just about how to get saved,

561
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:08,120
it's about how to become the man
or the woman of God that He 

562
00:28:08,120 --> 00:28:10,920
designed you to be because he's 
going to put people around you 

563
00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:12,880
that desperately need to know 
what you've got. 

564
00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:14,560
You don't have to become an 
evangelist. 

565
00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:17,280
You don't have to know 13 
reasons why Jesus came to die 

566
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,480
for you specifically. 
You have to be willing to share 

567
00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:21,440
your testimony. 
You have to be willing to be 

568
00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:23,080
vocal about it and verbal about 
it. 

569
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:25,080
I don't know if you watch the 
news. 

570
00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:27,480
We talked about that recently 
too, but if you do, I'm also 

571
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,000
praying for you. 
But it's a bad time. 

572
00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:34,440
But here's the reality and I 
really want you to hear me on 

573
00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:36,120
this. 
I understand that the news is so

574
00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:39,840
bad and it's full of bad stuff. 
It was always a bad time. 

575
00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:43,920
You just didn't know about it. 
You just didn't know about it. 

576
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:48,960
I remember when 24 hour news 
became a thing and everybody was

577
00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:50,400
so excited. 
Well, now I can catch the news 

578
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:52,360
at my convenience. 
Yeah, but if you're trying to 

579
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,200
watch an hour of news, you're 
going to hear the same stories 

580
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:57,320
mentioned 15 times. 
It's like listening to Top 40 

581
00:28:57,320 --> 00:28:59,320
radio. 
You're like, gosh, man, why do 

582
00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:03,760
they love Taylor Swift so much? 
The reality is they know you've 

583
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:06,760
got a 15 minute attention span 
and they're trying to cram in 

584
00:29:06,760 --> 00:29:08,800
what they think you want to hear
in 15 minutes. 

585
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:11,160
Guess what they're doing on your
news cycle? 

586
00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,240
So you hear it hammered over and
over and over again. 

587
00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:16,920
Except it's worse now because we
don't just have 24 hour news. 

588
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:19,560
Who has the time to do that? 
Send me a push notification on 

589
00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:21,720
my phone. 
Tell me when something really 

590
00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:25,800
exceptionally bad is happening. 
Which is great, man, that was a 

591
00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:27,200
great lunch. 
It was great catching up with 

592
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:29,040
you. 
Oh, there's a bombing. 

593
00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:32,040
Who doesn't like that moment of 
their day? 

594
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,960
It was always bad, and the Bible
could have told you that. 

595
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:42,280
It started in Genesis. 
There are horrible things that 

596
00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,800
happen. 
We got to persons number three 

597
00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:51,640
and four and there was a murder.
OK, so there's bad things out 

598
00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,600
there and there will always be 
bad things out there until Jesus

599
00:29:54,600 --> 00:30:00,000
comes back and sets it right, 
Until he does you and I can't 

600
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,600
quit. 
It's not on my nose today, but 

601
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:06,240
I'm pretty sure a few of you all
will know this. 

602
00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:09,400
The harvest is plentiful, but 
the workers are. 

603
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:14,160
I wonder how many of them quit. 
It's time to get back into the 

604
00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:16,320
workforce. 
It's time to get out there and 

605
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,040
start sharing what we know about
the Lord. 

606
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:20,840
What causes quiet, quick 
quitting? 

607
00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:25,880
Well, the number one reason is 
burnout and exhaustion #2 

608
00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:30,440
disappointment with leadership 
#3 feeling disconnected from the

609
00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,080
mission of the organization, 
which is pretty easy depending 

610
00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:38,120
on what your job is, and a sense
that the cost of giving is not 

611
00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:42,840
worth it anymore. 
In other words, we're Mark. 

612
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,080
We start out enthusiastic, but 
discouragement will replace 

613
00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:50,840
passion if we're not careful. 
So when we hear the story like 

614
00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:53,080
Mark's, I think it's easy to 
leave it safely in the pages of 

615
00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,680
scripture and assume that it 
belongs to someone else's life. 

616
00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:59,560
Unless you watch The Chosen, you
probably don't always read them 

617
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,920
like they're real people. 
But the power of the story is 

618
00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:05,120
that it should push you to ask 
an uncomfortable question of 

619
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:07,720
yourself. 
Where have we done something 

620
00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:10,000
similar? 
Where have we quiet quit in the 

621
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,720
Kingdom of God? 
Who have we quiet quit on? 

622
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:15,560
Who was it that at one point we 
wrote him down in a prayer 

623
00:31:15,560 --> 00:31:17,800
journal and said, this person is
somebody I'm going to pray for 

624
00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,200
and minister to and love? 
And then at some point we said 

625
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,320
they're not going to change. 
All the while being grateful 

626
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:26,040
that Jesus never said that while
you took your sweet time coming 

627
00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:29,680
to him. 
The harvest is plentiful. 

628
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,360
It's out there. 
That's a promise, but the 

629
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:35,000
workers are few. 
Do you know what that means? 

630
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:36,840
That's not even in my notes. 
You know what that means. 

631
00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:40,440
What does it mean when you need 
30 workers to get a job done, 

632
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:45,600
but 5 show up? 
It's going to take longer. 

633
00:31:45,600 --> 00:31:47,840
You're going to be more burnout.
You got 5 people doing the work 

634
00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:49,320
of 30. 
Could you imagine if the whole 

635
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:51,240
workforce for the Kingdom of God
showed up? 

636
00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:55,480
I'd love to step into glory one 
day and have the Lord say, you 

637
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:57,600
know what? 
The harvest was plentiful and at

638
00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,560
Liberty Man, the workers were 
full. 

639
00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:02,480
We were like, we got you on a 
waiting list. 

640
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:04,040
There's no waiting list. 
There's always work to do. 

641
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:10,760
Just so you know, the harvest is
plentiful. 

642
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:12,560
He didn't say the work is 
plentiful. 

643
00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:14,000
The harvest is the good part of 
it. 

644
00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:15,960
That's where you actually get 
some of the fruit. 

645
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:20,360
But we need people to do it. 
A lot of people can identify it 

646
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:22,080
in a place in the Kingdom where 
you've had a moment of 

647
00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:24,120
enthusiasm and then you felt 
kind of burnt out, or maybe 

648
00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:26,200
you've said this before. 
I paid my dues. 

649
00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:29,040
How much are the dues in the 
Kingdom of God? 

650
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,480
I've never looked it up. 
What does it cost you? 

651
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:33,640
I mean, I know what it costs 
Jesus. 

652
00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,120
I just, I just don't know what 
it costs us. 

653
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:38,160
What are the dues? 
I paid my dues. 

654
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:42,160
I did my time doing that. 
This really does require us to 

655
00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:43,880
look inward. 
And if today feels a little bit 

656
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,520
harder, it's it's because it is.
But it's OK. 

657
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:53,880
Next week will get worse. 
So yes, we have to ask ourselves

658
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:57,480
where there are areas that we 
once felt called to invest, but 

659
00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,960
we gradually stop showing up 
with the same faithfulness. 

660
00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:03,320
Scripture reminds US Galatians 
69. 

661
00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:04,520
It's become one of my 
favourites. 

662
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:07,320
Let's not get tired of doing 
what is good at just the right 

663
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:10,200
time. 
We'll reap a harvest of blessing

664
00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:14,200
if we don't give up. 
Another scripture that speaks 

665
00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,280
directly into this moment is 
Hebrews 12/11. 

666
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:18,640
It says no discipline is 
enjoyable. 

667
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,720
While it's happening, it's 
painful, but afterward there 

668
00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:25,200
will be a peaceful harvest. 
There's that word again of right

669
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:26,920
living for those that are 
trained in this way. 

670
00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:29,280
When you fail at something, when
you quit at something, and the 

671
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:32,160
Lord speaks into your life, 
anytime the Lord corrects you, 

672
00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:35,160
it is never with condemnation. 
So you'll never achieve shame 

673
00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:38,360
when the Lord corrects you. 
We spoke about shame earlier, so

674
00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:42,320
if you feel shame over your 
past, I regret to inform you, 

675
00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:44,600
but I'm proud to inform you that
was not the voice of God. 

676
00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:48,640
Don't listen to that voice 
anymore. 

677
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,480
Go to the Lord with where you 
failed and ask Him what to do 

678
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:55,560
with it. 
Applying this message to your 

679
00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:57,600
life does not mean you live 
under the weight of your guilt 

680
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:00,360
for every unfinished chapter. 
It just tells you to look at it 

681
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:03,680
with honesty and humility and 
find where there are places 

682
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,200
where discouragement has caused 
you to step away too soon. 

683
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,440
But that also does address 
something that I need to to 

684
00:34:09,440 --> 00:34:12,239
bring up. 
Not every ending is quitting. 

685
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:15,719
Sometimes a season does just 
simply change. 

686
00:34:16,320 --> 00:34:18,320
So I don't want you to walk out 
of here and feel like every 

687
00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,280
ending was a form of quitting. 
One of the reasons this can feel

688
00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:24,040
confusing is both situations 
look similar on the surface. 

689
00:34:24,360 --> 00:34:26,560
A career path changes to a 
different career. 

690
00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:29,639
A relationship dynamic changes. 
From the outside, it can look 

691
00:34:29,639 --> 00:34:32,000
like someone walked away. 
But at the same time, sometimes 

692
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:35,320
God is just not calling you to 
endure something indefinitely. 

693
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:37,800
Sometimes He is guiding you into
a different season. 

694
00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:39,880
How do you get to know what the 
difference is? 

695
00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:44,360
I'm glad you asked. 
So Scripture shows us that this 

696
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:46,400
is part of how God leads his 
people. 

697
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,480
Ecclesiastes we're going through
on Wednesdays reminds us that 

698
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,719
there is a time for everything. 
That includes times of starting 

699
00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:59,040
and ending transition. 
So here's the difference, in 

700
00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:02,200
case you're wondering. 
Quitting is usually driven by 

701
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:05,200
discomfort or discouragement or 
fear. 

702
00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:09,760
If that's the driving force in 
the transition, then it means 

703
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,280
that the heart pulls back 
because the cost feels too high 

704
00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:14,360
or the outcome feels too 
uncertain for us. 

705
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:18,600
But when God changes the season,
there is often a different kind 

706
00:35:18,600 --> 00:35:20,440
of clarity and peace that comes 
with it. 

707
00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:24,480
And there can still be sadness. 
Even the transition can be 

708
00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:27,000
difficult, but there's still a 
sense that the Lord is leading 

709
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:29,960
us rather than simply escaping. 
Talked about this with some good

710
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:32,080
friends recently. 
My daughter's going into the 

711
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:35,360
youth group this summer and I'm 
not ready for it. 

712
00:35:36,760 --> 00:35:39,840
I worked with that youth group 
for 12 years before that was 

713
00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:42,280
even that was even a human being
of mine. 

714
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,640
And now I've watched her go all 
the way up through Kids Ministry

715
00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:49,040
and on one hand, I want to hold 
on to when she was two and three

716
00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:50,840
years old. 
I want to run back there and I 

717
00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:52,880
want to hold her and I want to 
have baby snuggles with her. 

718
00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:54,680
But at the same time, I don't 
want her to live with me 

719
00:35:54,680 --> 00:35:58,920
forever. 
And I can't wait to see who 

720
00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,840
she's going to be. 
But in order to get there, I 

721
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:05,120
have to endure the transition. 
And I can be sad that this era 

722
00:36:05,120 --> 00:36:08,440
is moving on and so excited for 
what is to come. 

723
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:11,760
It's OK to feel both. 
There's a piece on it. 

724
00:36:13,040 --> 00:36:15,360
When we learn to discern the 
difference between quitting and 

725
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:18,160
changing a season, something 
important will happen inside of 

726
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,120
us. 
You won't carry regret. 

727
00:36:20,120 --> 00:36:21,880
You won't second guess what 
you're doing. 

728
00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:24,080
You'll begin to walk forward 
with peace. 

729
00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:26,960
That's where the really good 
stuff comes in. 

730
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:30,000
Why do we quit? 
Once you get to walk forward in 

731
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:32,000
peace, this is where you get to 
see what the resurrection 

732
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:34,520
rebuilds in your life. 
Now, here's what's interesting 

733
00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:37,280
about Mark. 
If you remember the last two 

734
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:40,720
weeks we talked about Peter 
failing due to fear and who is 

735
00:36:40,720 --> 00:36:42,280
it that came back and restored 
him? 

736
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:47,200
Jesus VBS answer, y'all got it? 
Jesus showed up. 

737
00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,440
He's on the shoreline, he's 
cooking breakfast over the 

738
00:36:50,440 --> 00:36:53,920
charcoal fire and he restores 
Peter. 

739
00:36:55,040 --> 00:36:56,760
Last week we talked about 
Thomas. 

740
00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:00,400
Thomas wasn't there when Jesus 
first manifested in front of the

741
00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:02,880
disciples. 
And so Thomas said, well, unless

742
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,080
I get to see him and put my hand
in his wound, I'm not going to 

743
00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:07,440
believe that he was here. 
And the next time Jesus shows 

744
00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:14,040
up, he's like, here's my wound. 
Thomas goes by Lord and my God. 

745
00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:19,080
There is no story of Jesus 
showing up to Mark and restoring

746
00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:23,080
him. 
In fact, there's no story of 

747
00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:28,720
Mark encountering Jesus at all. 
But I love this because Despite 

748
00:37:28,720 --> 00:37:31,240
that, his life was still 
rebuilt. 

749
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:35,120
And I want to share that with 
you today because I don't know 

750
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:37,600
how many of you have had a 
personal visual encounter with 

751
00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:41,080
Jesus where he restored you. 
But just in case that's not you,

752
00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:44,880
I want you to know how Jesus 
still restores you through the 

753
00:37:44,880 --> 00:37:48,080
resurrection even if you haven't
had a physical one-on-one with 

754
00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:51,560
him. 
How did he get rebuilt? 

755
00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:54,600
Well, after leaving that 
missionary journey, Mark 

756
00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:57,320
disappears from the story for a 
season. 

757
00:37:58,720 --> 00:38:01,080
Luke doesn't follow him back to 
Jerusalem, so we don't get to 

758
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:04,600
have the exact word for word 
recap of what happens there, and

759
00:38:04,600 --> 00:38:06,840
scripture doesn't give us a 
detailed account of what those 

760
00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:09,440
years look like for him. 
But we do know that Mark didn't 

761
00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:11,280
abandoned his faith. 
He couldn't have. 

762
00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:12,800
He ended up writing one of the 
gospels. 

763
00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:16,360
But he did gradually find 
himself drawn into the influence

764
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,680
of another leader whose story we
already know well. 

765
00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:22,960
And his name is Peter. 
So he started by going with his 

766
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:26,960
cousin because it felt safe. 
Paul was probably hard to work 

767
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:27,920
with. 
I don't know if you've read his 

768
00:38:27,920 --> 00:38:29,200
words. 
He's a little blunt. 

769
00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:33,520
And at some point he backed out.
He went back home and as his 

770
00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:36,760
faith got reignited, he 
encounters Peter. 

771
00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:40,480
Well, Mark appears to have spent
a lot of time with Peter, 

772
00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:42,800
listening to his teaching, 
absorbing his experiences with 

773
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:45,720
Jesus and learning from someone 
who knew first hand what it is 

774
00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:48,280
to fail Jesus and be restored to
his call. 

775
00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:50,760
You think that was a benefit to 
Mark? 

776
00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:54,200
I bet you it was. 
So under Peter's influence, Mark

777
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:56,560
starts growing again. 
This young man that once walked 

778
00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:59,760
away from a mission is now being
trained into someone reliable 

779
00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:02,200
enough to serve the church and 
write one of the Gospels. 

780
00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,920
It's incredible. 
And that fracture between Mark 

781
00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:08,600
and Paul doesn't remain 
permanent years past. 

782
00:39:08,600 --> 00:39:11,160
Their ministries expand, lives 
mature. 

783
00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:15,160
And in the last book that we 
have from the apostle Paul, he 

784
00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:19,600
writes in Second Timothy, 
chapter 4, verse 9, he says 

785
00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:22,200
Timothy, his spiritual son, the 
one that he really, the young 

786
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:24,520
man that he's really held on to.
Timothy, please come as soon as 

787
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:26,640
you can. 
Dimas has deserted me because he

788
00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:29,000
loves the things of this life. 
And Paul really had a thing when

789
00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:32,400
he got deserted, didn't he? 
And he's gone to Thessalonica. 

790
00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:35,560
Crescents has gone to Galatia, 
and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. 

791
00:39:36,240 --> 00:39:39,240
Only Luke is with me. 
Bring Mark with you when you 

792
00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:41,680
come, for he will be helpful to 
me in my ministry. 

793
00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:46,080
Brother, you wouldn't even work 
with Barnabas over this. 

794
00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:51,160
And now you want him because 
he's useful, of course, because 

795
00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:52,720
time has a way of softening 
things. 

796
00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:55,200
Those words really do reveal 
something. 

797
00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:58,360
The same apostle that one time 
was saying that's a deal breaker

798
00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:01,360
says bring him on. 
The Kingdom is bigger than my 

799
00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:04,880
issues. 
That's where we begin to see 

800
00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:07,280
resurrection, rebuilding 
something in Mark's life without

801
00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:08,920
a direct conversation with 
Jesus. 

802
00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:13,840
In other words, what it was that
rebuilt Mark. 

803
00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:15,560
I love this. 
I'm so excited. 

804
00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:17,160
This is what I was waiting all 
morning to tell you. 

805
00:40:18,480 --> 00:40:30,040
Who rebuilt Mark community, the 
church, Peter, Paul, some of 

806
00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:32,160
y'all heard Mary in your head 
and then you show your age. 

807
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:39,840
I'm too young to get that joke, 
but just I'm just kidding. 

808
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:45,400
Mostly. 
Mostly the people who Jesus 

809
00:40:45,480 --> 00:40:48,680
impacted, impacted people for 
Jesus. 

810
00:40:49,600 --> 00:40:50,760
Is this not the Great 
Commission? 

811
00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:52,920
Is this not the Great 
Commission? 

812
00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:55,800
I don't know the influence that 
you've had with Jesus. 

813
00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:58,320
I don't know the words that the 
Lord has spoken to you, but 

814
00:40:58,320 --> 00:40:59,920
there is somebody who needs to 
hear them. 

815
00:41:00,720 --> 00:41:02,960
You get to restore somebody's 
call. 

816
00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:05,120
You get to restore somebody's 
confidence. 

817
00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:07,800
You get to bring them back into 
right fellowship with the Lord 

818
00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:09,400
again. 
And not only do you get to, 

819
00:41:09,400 --> 00:41:11,760
you're called to. 
This is your job as a worker. 

820
00:41:11,960 --> 00:41:16,680
Don't you dare quit. 
We all know tourism season here 

821
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:20,120
in North Carolina, right? 
How many of y'all love tourism? 

822
00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:26,400
I didn't even hear that when we 
were studying Ecclesiastes on 

823
00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:28,720
Wednesday. 
How many of y'all like what it 

824
00:41:28,720 --> 00:41:30,960
does for the economy? 
OK, All right. 

825
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:33,440
It's a season that we endure, 
right? 

826
00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:35,240
Why do we endure it? 
Because we know there's a 

827
00:41:35,240 --> 00:41:36,320
payoff. 
It's important. 

828
00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:38,040
It's important for the economy. 
Whatever. 

829
00:41:39,160 --> 00:41:41,880
Every year there's something 
else that's just as predictable 

830
00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:44,720
as tourism season and it happens
in the first few weeks of 

831
00:41:44,720 --> 00:41:46,720
January. 
And it's gym membership. 

832
00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:53,840
Check out Planet Fitness on 
January 3rd. 

833
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:58,240
It's packed. 
The treadmills are full, parking

834
00:41:58,240 --> 00:42:01,520
lots are overflowing. 
People are motivated and they 

835
00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:04,200
are excited and they are 
convinced that this is the year 

836
00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:06,880
that they are finally going to 
stick with their fitness goal. 

837
00:42:08,360 --> 00:42:10,200
Some of y'all are like, I didn't
come here for this. 

838
00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:13,240
It's a bonus. 
You're welcome. 

839
00:42:15,680 --> 00:42:19,400
Listen, according to data 
collected by fitness companies 

840
00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:23,520
and reported by sources like the
app Strava and Gold's Gym, gym 

841
00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:29,120
attendance jumps 30 to 40% in 
January, 30 to 40%. 

842
00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:31,920
That's almost up at the number 
of quiet quitters, right? 

843
00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:35,200
People start their New Year's 
resolutions. 

844
00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:36,800
And if you've been here for a 
while, you know my opinion on 

845
00:42:36,800 --> 00:42:39,960
that. 
But studies also show that 80% 

846
00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:42,280
of the New Year's resolutions 
fail by February. 

847
00:42:44,320 --> 00:42:45,600
That's gracious. 
That's a month. 

848
00:42:45,880 --> 00:42:48,880
I got more. 
One study from that fitness app 

849
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:52,440
Strava said that the second 
Friday in January is what they 

850
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:57,560
call Quitters Day. 
I'm sorry, I don't know if you 

851
00:42:57,560 --> 00:42:59,680
heard me The 2nd Friday in 
January. 

852
00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:02,280
You know why it's not locked to 
a date? 

853
00:43:02,680 --> 00:43:05,400
Because it's the second weekend 
that you have in the new year 

854
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:08,200
where you're like, I deserve a 
break. 

855
00:43:09,760 --> 00:43:14,960
It's been 2 weeks. 
A lot of times this happens in 

856
00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:16,680
other places too. 
This will be the year that I 

857
00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:20,960
start going to church. 
God knows my heart and I haven't

858
00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:22,560
seen how Stranger Things ends 
yet. 

859
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:32,160
That's uncomfortable. 
Listen, don't quit. 

860
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:34,920
Do you know what normalizes 
quitting? 

861
00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:40,280
Quitting. 
When you answer the call that 

862
00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:43,400
God has placed on your life, you
strengthen, encourage somebody 

863
00:43:43,680 --> 00:43:47,040
to stay the course. 
When you quit, you are now 

864
00:43:47,040 --> 00:43:49,840
somebody else's story on. 
They seem like they're doing all

865
00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:54,920
right and they stopped doing it.
You've got influence and you 

866
00:43:54,920 --> 00:43:57,440
can't escape it. 
So what are you going to do with

867
00:43:57,440 --> 00:43:59,760
it? 
What is resurrection? 

868
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:02,520
Rebuild. 
Well, if you want to have your 

869
00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:05,880
past failures help rebuild your 
story, here's some things I 

870
00:44:05,880 --> 00:44:08,000
would recommend. 
The first thing is to allow it 

871
00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:11,480
to rebuild something in you by 
learning to face your failure 

872
00:44:11,480 --> 00:44:14,000
honestly without letting it 
define you. 

873
00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:16,880
The truth is, for most of us 
with things that we have failed 

874
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:20,920
at, we don't own it. 
We look at it and it becomes 

875
00:44:20,920 --> 00:44:23,240
part of our story that we share 
on the moment that we connect 

876
00:44:23,240 --> 00:44:25,320
with somebody and we know we'll 
get a little bit of sympathy for

877
00:44:25,320 --> 00:44:27,560
it. 
This was a trap I fell into 

878
00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:29,440
early when I was struggling 
through the divorce. 

879
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:33,360
I didn't like to bring it up 
because I felt great shame, but 

880
00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:36,080
I would bring it up when I was 
talking to somebody if I thought

881
00:44:36,080 --> 00:44:37,440
that it would get me some 
sympathy. 

882
00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:40,560
And that wasn't my my forward 
thinking in the moment. 

883
00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:43,800
That's me looking back on me 
from 20 years ago and realizing 

884
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:46,320
what I was doing. 
Own it. 

885
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:49,440
Look straight at your failure 
and don't have any excuses for 

886
00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:52,120
it. 
That was on me. 

887
00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:55,040
Here's what I did to fail. 
Why do you do that? 

888
00:44:55,040 --> 00:44:56,480
First of all, it's called 
integrity. 

889
00:44:57,360 --> 00:44:59,760
Second of all, it lets other 
people know. 

890
00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:01,600
It's not that scary to admit 
when you fail. 

891
00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:04,040
Second of all, I would tell you 
this. 

892
00:45:04,040 --> 00:45:07,720
Rediscover your calling again. 
Go to the Lord and ask Him. 

893
00:45:08,640 --> 00:45:12,400
And by the way, your passion 
rarely returns to you simply 

894
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:15,400
because you tried harder. 
It actually will drain you of 

895
00:45:15,400 --> 00:45:19,680
the passion that you still have.
It'll only return when you go 

896
00:45:19,680 --> 00:45:22,160
and you reconnect with that 
purpose that originally stirred 

897
00:45:22,160 --> 00:45:24,400
your heart. 
A lot of people lose focus 

898
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:27,120
because the pressure of 
circumstances just overshadows 

899
00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:31,040
any clarity they might have. 
Ask God to take you back to the 

900
00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:33,800
beginning. 
The third thing I would tell you

901
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:36,560
is allow both time and community
to do their job. 

902
00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:40,800
Might feel like a lot of people 
in here to you. 

903
00:45:41,240 --> 00:45:43,880
So here's the good news. 
As a Christian you do not have 

904
00:45:43,880 --> 00:45:45,320
to open up to every single one 
of them. 

905
00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:50,080
OK, praise God, thank you, Lord,
but you got to some of them. 

906
00:45:52,040 --> 00:45:54,440
You got to some of them. 
You got to have some believers 

907
00:45:54,520 --> 00:45:56,400
that are able to hold you 
accountable, that are able to 

908
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:59,080
help pull you up, that are able 
to encourage you and able to say

909
00:45:59,240 --> 00:46:01,640
you feel like you've gone 
farther than you can, but you 

910
00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:04,160
can go further. 
You've got to have some. 

911
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:09,240
This would be overwhelming. 345 
people. 

912
00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:14,160
That's doable for all of us, but
it will also take time. 

913
00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:16,800
So when I say let community do 
their job, let time do their job

914
00:46:16,800 --> 00:46:18,480
too. 
Mark was off the scene for 

915
00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:21,040
years. 
Paul was off the scene for years

916
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:24,680
and the last thing is you've got
to learn to separate a moment of

917
00:46:24,680 --> 00:46:27,000
failure from your identity. 
I think that, Melinda, I think 

918
00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:29,240
you talked about this at a 
ladies event from what I've 

919
00:46:29,240 --> 00:46:35,960
heard, Of course, don't define 
your life by the chapter that 

920
00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:38,240
you're in. 
I'd go one step further and say 

921
00:46:38,240 --> 00:46:40,680
don't define your life by any of
the chapters that you've been 

922
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:44,440
through, not even the good ones.
It's only setting yourself up 

923
00:46:44,440 --> 00:46:47,920
for a let down. 
What is this chapter full of? 

924
00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:51,560
That's what you've got to write.
I'll just tell you this. 

925
00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:55,320
As we bring Mark's story to a 
close today, there is something 

926
00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:57,000
that I hope really comes into 
focus for us. 

927
00:46:57,000 --> 00:46:59,440
That young man that once walked 
away from the mission didn't 

928
00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:03,480
disappear from the work of God. 
Time did its thing. 

929
00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:05,960
Resurrection power began 
rebuilding things for him. 

930
00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:10,520
I want you to know exactly how 
close he was to Peter because 

931
00:47:10,520 --> 00:47:12,960
part of this rebuilding for Mark
happened through relationships. 

932
00:47:13,240 --> 00:47:16,520
Mark found a mentor in Peter, 
the same apostle that had 

933
00:47:16,520 --> 00:47:18,200
experienced his own public 
failure. 

934
00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:21,120
As a matter of fact, a lot of 
theologians and Bible scholars, 

935
00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:24,320
when you read the the Gospel 
according to Mark, they don't 

936
00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:26,080
even think it really is the 
Gospel of Mark. 

937
00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:29,720
They think it's the Gospel of 
Peter written by Mark. 

938
00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:34,080
Because when you read through 
it, it is completely in Peter's 

939
00:47:34,080 --> 00:47:36,520
style. 
It is short, it is 

940
00:47:36,520 --> 00:47:39,280
action-packed. 
It is kind of blunt. 

941
00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:42,760
It is the shortest of all four 
of the gospels and Mark was his 

942
00:47:42,760 --> 00:47:46,560
assistant for a long time. 
So it is Mark writing down the 

943
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:48,840
Gospel account. 
But who would he have heard it 

944
00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:53,880
from since he wasn't there first
hand with Jesus Peter so 

945
00:47:53,880 --> 00:47:57,200
grateful that he poured what he 
had into a young man in first 

946
00:47:57,200 --> 00:48:01,080
Peter 5 chapter 13, Peter writes
this. 

947
00:48:01,080 --> 00:48:04,680
He says your sister church here 
in Babylon sends you greetings 

948
00:48:04,680 --> 00:48:09,400
and so does my son Mark. 
Well, Mark isn't his son and the

949
00:48:09,400 --> 00:48:11,960
physical, That's how close they 
were. 

950
00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:15,920
It was more than just a casual 
teaching or mentorship. 

951
00:48:16,680 --> 00:48:19,240
It was a deep mentorship. 
He was a spiritual father to 

952
00:48:19,240 --> 00:48:21,680
him. 
But something else unfolds over 

953
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:23,680
time. 
We see that Mark was useful and 

954
00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:27,160
that Paul requested him. 
But listen to what Parks Paul 

955
00:48:27,160 --> 00:48:30,880
says to the church in policy in 
Colossians 410. 

956
00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:33,840
He says Aristarchus, who was in 
prison with me, sends you his 

957
00:48:33,840 --> 00:48:37,680
greetings and so does Mark 
Barnabas's cousin, as you were 

958
00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:40,920
instructed before, make Mark 
welcome if he comes your way. 

959
00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:43,480
He was already back in 
fellowship with him before he 

960
00:48:43,480 --> 00:48:46,480
requested him. 
So Paul now tells the church to 

961
00:48:46,480 --> 00:48:48,400
welcome Mark. 
Isn't that crazy from somebody 

962
00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:50,800
that wasn't even willing to 
welcome Mark himself? 

963
00:48:53,240 --> 00:48:55,080
But restoration doesn't happen 
overnight. 

964
00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:58,080
It happens when a resurrection 
changes people through time and 

965
00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:00,520
growth and the grace of God 
manifesting. 

966
00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:07,840
I just want to say this, one of 
the greatest dangers in life is 

967
00:49:07,840 --> 00:49:10,600
not dramatic failure. 
It's being passive. 

968
00:49:11,240 --> 00:49:13,000
And so we talked about this a 
little bit at the men's meeting 

969
00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:16,040
yesterday, but I want to share 
this with everybody here, but 

970
00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:19,840
especially the men in this room.
So women, if you're sitting next

971
00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:25,520
to a man can elbow him. 
The owls have it all right? 

972
00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:29,240
Do not be passive in your life, 
men. 

973
00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:33,000
It's the slow drift and a 
comfort where you will stop 

974
00:49:33,000 --> 00:49:34,360
growing. 
And when you stop growing, 

975
00:49:34,360 --> 00:49:36,680
you'll stop leading. 
And when you stop bleeding, you 

976
00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:39,320
will stop stepping forward into 
the responsibility that God has 

977
00:49:39,320 --> 00:49:42,680
placed in front of you. 
And it is disobedience to the 

978
00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:44,680
Lord to be passive in the 
Kingdom of God. 

979
00:49:45,360 --> 00:49:47,520
There's a lot of men that assume
leadership will just happen 

980
00:49:47,520 --> 00:49:49,760
automatically, or that they're 
entitled to it based on their 

981
00:49:49,760 --> 00:49:52,240
gender. 
Don't settle for coasting 

982
00:49:52,240 --> 00:49:54,480
spiritually while hoping that 
things will somehow improve on 

983
00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:56,920
their own. 
Mark's story is a reminder that 

984
00:49:56,920 --> 00:49:59,760
growth always requires 
intentional movement. 

985
00:50:00,240 --> 00:50:02,360
He didn't remain the young man 
who walked away from his 

986
00:50:02,360 --> 00:50:04,240
mission. 
He leaned into mentorship. 

987
00:50:04,240 --> 00:50:06,080
He got help from people when he 
needed it. 

988
00:50:06,200 --> 00:50:09,720
He kept learning, and he let God
grow his character until the 

989
00:50:09,720 --> 00:50:12,600
people who once doubted him 
could eventually trust him and 

990
00:50:12,600 --> 00:50:15,200
rely on him. 
He was open to both change and 

991
00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:17,080
correction. 
Both are those. 

992
00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:18,760
Both of those are things that 
men hate. 

993
00:50:21,000 --> 00:50:23,000
So the same challenges in front 
of us today. 

994
00:50:23,240 --> 00:50:25,040
Don't settle for spiritual 
passivity. 

995
00:50:25,480 --> 00:50:28,240
I love it. 
If your wife or whoever leads a 

996
00:50:28,240 --> 00:50:30,520
prayer in the home, I hope 
you're leading prayers in the 

997
00:50:30,520 --> 00:50:32,680
home too. 
I hope you're leading your 

998
00:50:32,680 --> 00:50:34,440
children in prayers. 
I hope that you're talking to 

999
00:50:34,440 --> 00:50:36,000
them about the Lord. 
They need it from you. 

1000
00:50:36,440 --> 00:50:38,920
There's a different weight when 
it comes from the Father, 

1001
00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:41,200
different weight when it comes 
from the husband. 

1002
00:50:42,040 --> 00:50:44,720
Resurrection power in your life 
is not just about your 

1003
00:50:44,720 --> 00:50:46,440
forgiveness and your entrance 
into heaven. 

1004
00:50:46,680 --> 00:50:48,800
That would be great, but if 
that's all it was and if that's 

1005
00:50:48,800 --> 00:50:50,400
all you care about, it's 
selfish. 

1006
00:50:51,200 --> 00:50:53,920
Resurrection power is also about
growing us into the men and 

1007
00:50:53,920 --> 00:50:59,840
women that we were called to be.
Now, that being said, God is 

1008
00:50:59,840 --> 00:51:02,680
still shaping and forming 
leaders who guide their homes, 

1009
00:51:02,680 --> 00:51:05,240
and it's going to take time. 
Let him do His work. 

1010
00:51:05,400 --> 00:51:06,880
Even if you think that you're 
right. 

1011
00:51:06,880 --> 00:51:08,320
Be open to the correction of the
Lord. 

1012
00:51:08,680 --> 00:51:10,800
And that's what we'll talk about
next week. 

1013
00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:12,640
Failure. 
When we are certain that we're 

1014
00:51:12,640 --> 00:51:15,040
correct, we're going to learn 
about that from the life of 

1015
00:51:15,040 --> 00:51:17,560
Paul. 
But for today, if y'all would 

1016
00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:19,920
stand up with me, I just tell 
you this. 

1017
00:51:19,920 --> 00:51:23,120
Mark's story reminds us that 
failure is never the final word 

1018
00:51:23,120 --> 00:51:26,960
when resurrection's involved. 
Let God correct you, let him 

1019
00:51:26,960 --> 00:51:29,560
guide you, and let Him help you 
make a difference. 

1020
00:51:29,560 --> 00:51:31,040
Because the harvest is 
plentiful. 

1021
00:51:31,600 --> 00:51:33,120
And I pray that the workers 
would be too. 

1022
00:51:33,120 --> 00:51:33,440
Amen.