1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,560 If you've been worshiping with us over the past couple of weeks 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:05,640 or so, you know that we are working our way through the book 3 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:07,800 of Acts. We're right at the very front 4 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:10,400 end of it. In the last few minutes, last 5 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:13,600 scene that we saw, the disciples were clumped together on the 6 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,720 Mount of Olives, staring up into heaven as they watched Jesus 7 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:19,040 ascend into heaven. And as they watched them go, 8 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:21,360 they had the command of the Lord in their minds. 9 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:25,640 Wait in Jerusalem until you receive the power of the Holy 10 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:29,760 Spirit, and then be my witnesses in Judea, Samaria, to the ends 11 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:32,320 of the earth. Wait in Jerusalem. 12 00:00:32,840 --> 00:00:38,840 What does that wait look like? re/max chapter 1, verses 12 and 13 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,160 following. And then the disciples returned 14 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:46,040 to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near 15 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,400 Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 16 00:00:49,360 --> 00:00:51,920 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room where 17 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,560 they were staying. Peter and John and James and 18 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:58,680 Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James 19 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,600 the son of Alpheus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of 20 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,840 James. All these with 1 accord were 21 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:09,520 devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary 22 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,160 the mother of Jesus and his brothers. 23 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,320 Lord, we ask that you would bless us as we seek to 24 00:01:16,320 --> 00:01:19,800 understand these words and to be moved and changed by them. 25 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:22,680 Make it so. Lord Jesus, we pray this evening 26 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,160 in your Son's name we ask, Amen. Please be seated and if you 27 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:31,360 would grab your Bibles, turn to Acts chapter 1 continuing on in 28 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:35,680 verse 15. In those days, Peter stood up 29 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,880 among the brothers. The company of persons was in 30 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:43,400 all about 120. And he said, Brothers, the 31 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,280 Scriptures had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke 32 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:51,000 beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a 33 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,320 guide to those who arrested Jesus. 34 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,560 For he was numbered among us, and was allotted his share in 35 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,760 this ministry. Now this man Judas acquired a 36 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,880 field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling 37 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:08,479 headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his bowels 38 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:11,600 gushed out. And it became known to all the 39 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,640 inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in 40 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:19,120 their own language a keldama, which is the field of blood. 41 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:22,080 Peter continued. For it is written in the book of 42 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,760 the Psalms. May as camp become desolate, and 43 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,920 let no one dwell in it, and let another take his place. 44 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:33,840 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all this 45 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,760 time, that Jesus, Lord Jesus, went in and out among us, 46 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:39,880 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when He was 47 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:43,680 taken up from US. One of these men must come with 48 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,800 us as a witness to His resurrection. 49 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:52,000 And they put forward 2 Joseph called Burr Sabbath, who was 50 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:54,800 also called Justice, and Matthias. 51 00:02:55,560 --> 00:03:00,120 And they prayed, and they said, Lord, you, Lord, who know the 52 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:04,400 hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to 53 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,200 take the place in this ministry and apostleship, from which 54 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,680 Judas turned aside to go to his own place. 55 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:16,000 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he 56 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:18,760 was numbered with the 11 apostles. 57 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:21,200 And this is the word of the Lord. 58 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:24,640 Thanks be to God, the grass Withers and the flowers fade, 59 00:03:24,640 --> 00:03:28,040 but the word of our Lord it stands forever. 60 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,920 Thank you for joining us this evening again, as always, it is 61 00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:34,120 a joy for us to be able to worship together the Lord Jesus 62 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:37,040 whenever we are called to do so. But it's particularly 63 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,040 appropriate here. When we are faced with some 64 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:43,240 concern over the next couple of days is a great opportunity for 65 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:45,880 us to gather like this is God's people. 66 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:51,440 My grandparents were from the old country and they never 67 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:53,560 stopped wanting to talk about the old country. 68 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:56,520 Whenever we get together as kids, that the subject would 69 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,960 always come up and they would talk for on ad nauseam about the 70 00:03:59,960 --> 00:04:02,280 old country. And as a young kid, I was bored 71 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:04,360 silly. It would really bug me that 72 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,040 every time we get together, I'd hear about these dead people 73 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,160 that I'd never seen in these places over across the seas that 74 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,000 I'd have no contact with. And it was just something there. 75 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,840 I was always like, can we get past this so we can get on to 76 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:19,720 the fun part of the day? But my my folks would slightly 77 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:23,320 indulge my grandpa parents who would go on these memory tours 78 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:25,040 of what it was like in the olden days. 79 00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:28,320 Once I became a Christian, I remembered some of those 80 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:30,440 moments. And one of the things that I 81 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,920 remembered about them was that my have a great, great, great 82 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,080 uncle somewhere that was a priest back in the old country. 83 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,000 And I on the one side and on the other side, I have a great, 84 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,760 great great grandfather or whatever there was a preacher 85 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,400 on. And suddenly those stories 86 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:48,040 became much more meaningful to me. 87 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:50,840 Of course, it was after my grandparents had passed. 88 00:04:50,840 --> 00:04:53,960 And so I wasn't able to keep track of learn a whole lot about 89 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,240 those things. But it was intriguing that once 90 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,440 I had a personal connection to all those stories, once I once 91 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:03,760 those stories were meaningful in my own life, suddenly I was very 92 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:07,120 interested. The book of Acts is filled with 93 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,680 great stories, is going to be something that largely 94 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,840 captivates us because there are stories and they're moving 95 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:15,520 stories. They're powerful stories of the 96 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:18,600 work of the Lord and the work of the Holy Spirit in his Kingdom. 97 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:24,160 It's a great story book just to read, but it's also possible 98 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,120 that you could read it and be slightly bored because you're 99 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:29,080 reading about someone else's history. 100 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:31,800 We're not. When we look at the book of 101 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:37,360 Acts, we are reading about our history specifically. 102 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:41,320 We are under the exact same call, the exact same command 103 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,640 that the Lord put upon the disciples when He had gathered 104 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,080 them together before His ascension, when He put them 105 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,200 together. And He said, wait for the power 106 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:54,240 of the Holy Spirit, and then you will be my witnesses in Judea 107 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,680 and in Jerusalem, in Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the 108 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,800 earth. That command is given not just 109 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,640 to the disciples, not to the original 12, but to all those 110 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:06,200 who claim the name of Jesus Christ. 111 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,400 Now, this is going to be important because otherwise, as 112 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,280 we do work our way through the book of Acts, you're hearing 113 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:16,320 somebody else's story. I don't think that's the case. 114 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:19,960 I believe that it is the case that that command that we are to 115 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,280 in the power of the Holy Spirit, witness to the resurrection of 116 00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:26,000 the Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and 117 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,840 to the ends of the earth. I believe that that remains the 118 00:06:28,840 --> 00:06:31,840 responsibility of every single Christian here. 119 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,560 Now we go about that calling differently. 120 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:36,760 Not everybody here is called to be a pastor. 121 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,440 Not everybody here is called to be in youth ministry. 122 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:41,680 Not everybody is called to work in the blessing board. 123 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:44,560 Not everybody is called to witness to the person across the 124 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:50,000 street, but all of us in one way or another, live underneath that 125 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:55,400 calling of through the power of the Holy Spirit, witnessing to 126 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,440 the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, 127 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:00,440 Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 128 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:04,400 We all have that. That responsibility is bearing 129 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,400 upon each and every one of us. If you're a follower of Lord 130 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:11,960 Jesus, Jesus Christ, and that's not clear to you at this point, 131 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:19,400 please look again at the Scriptures, read the word, talk 132 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:21,200 to somebody. Of course, if you talked with 133 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,680 me, I'm going to encourage you exactly in that area. 134 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:30,400 But the idea, the perversion, the satanic perversion, that 135 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:35,400 it's somebody else's job and not mine, that God has called me to 136 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:38,640 himself simply to save me, not to give me a task, not to give 137 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:43,000 me a responsibility, is something that we cannot fall 138 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:46,720 victim to. We must recognize that it is Our 139 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:51,000 Calling, our job to as effectively and as passionately 140 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:55,360 as it laid upon the disciples. It is our call to, in the power 141 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:59,600 of the Spirit, witness to Jesus Christ, be his witnesses in 142 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,280 Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 143 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:06,400 That is our call. And so this is our story. 144 00:08:06,720 --> 00:08:10,240 And so it behooves us than to know what the disciples did 145 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:13,120 after receiving that call, if that's everybody's call. 146 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,240 In other words, my, my understanding is that every 147 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:20,120 Christian in this room has some kind of a specific calling from 148 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:23,280 the Lord to do the ministry that he has called forth. 149 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:27,200 Yes, the great blessing of our salvation is that we have been 150 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,200 redeemed from our sins and we are in relationship with the 151 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:32,520 Lord Jesus Christ for all eternity. 152 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,440 Nobody can take that away. That is the greatest blessing, 153 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,320 of course, of the of the cross and the work of the cross on our 154 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:40,919 behalf. It is glorious above all else. 155 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,480 And we can talk about that, and we should talk about that, but 156 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:49,080 running parallel, tied to that in an inescapable bond is a 157 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:54,000 responsibility that everyone of us has to be ministers, to be 158 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,640 servants in this world. It is not simply our faith to 159 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,120 simply to take it in and to benefit from it. 160 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:04,960 It is also our faith to give into the world, into God's 161 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,200 Kingdom, that which he has given to us. 162 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:12,440 Each of us, everyone of you have the responsibility now. 163 00:09:12,560 --> 00:09:15,840 Mine is easy to see. I'm a pastor. 164 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:18,120 I'm called to be a pastor. I'm called to do this kind of 165 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:20,200 work. It's easy to say, well, Henry, 166 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:24,560 you've got a clear calling. I'm a housewife or I'm a 167 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:29,480 secretary, or I'm a janitor, or I'm an engineer or I'm in the 168 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:35,360 medical field. Every person, every person who's 169 00:09:35,360 --> 00:09:40,160 a follower of Jesus Christ is under that same restriction to, 170 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:43,720 in the power of the Holy Spirit, witness to the coming of Jesus 171 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:47,960 Christ. And so I think it helps us then 172 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:53,160 to explore exactly what it is that waiting on the Lord looks 173 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,000 like. Because for many of you, you're 174 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:57,760 going to know what your ministry is. 175 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,200 Some of you have been working in a certain area of ministry for a 176 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:02,760 long period of time. You're going to know what your 177 00:10:02,760 --> 00:10:04,680 service is. You're going to know how God has 178 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:06,600 gifted you. God's gifted me to work with 179 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,840 kids. God has gifted me to work in a 180 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,960 humanitarian ministry. God's worked with me to pray for 181 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:16,000 and to pay for missionaries throughout the world. 182 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:18,880 Some of you are going to know your ministry. 183 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:22,760 I still think this passage of Scripture can speak to you as 184 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:25,880 you are awaiting the fulfillment of God's work in your life. 185 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:29,880 But for a whole lot of people, they know that they're called to 186 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,960 the Lord and they hear, they know that God, the service in 187 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,560 God's Kingdom, is upon all of us. 188 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:41,440 And yet the unsteadiness. While I'm new to the church or 189 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:45,320 I'm new to the faith or I'm young, I'm too young or or my 190 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:50,280 days of service have gone past. That's never the case for any of 191 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,160 us. So what does it look like that 192 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:55,040 the disciples waited on the Lord. 193 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:58,920 They OK remember the the story. If you're if you missed the 1st 194 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,520 11 verses of the chapter, go back at some point and read 195 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,560 them. Jesus has gathered his disciples 196 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:07,240 together at Mount, at the Mount of Olives, and he said to them, 197 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,480 listen, you're supposed to wait in Jerusalem until the power of 198 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,040 the Holy Spirit comes upon you. When the power of the Holy 199 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,480 Spirit comes upon you, you're to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, 200 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,840 Judea, Samarian to the ends of the earth, the concentric 201 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,840 sayings sprouting out until you include the whole world. 202 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:25,000 OK. That's the responsibility that's 203 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:27,600 given to the disciples. Then they see the ascension, 204 00:11:27,680 --> 00:11:31,600 which is the Lord rising up to assume the authority over all 205 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,480 the world whereby he can make these commands and express his 206 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:39,160 desire for his people. And so then the disciples go 207 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:40,960 back. This is in verse 12, then of our 208 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:42,960 texts. Then disciples return to 209 00:11:42,960 --> 00:11:45,600 Jerusalem from the mount, call, all of it, which is near 210 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:47,720 Jerusalem about a Sabbath day's journey away. 211 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:49,920 Sabbath day is about 1/2 of a mile or so. 212 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:52,480 So they're outside of Jerusalem about a Sabbath day. 213 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,480 They go to the to the upper room and they wait. 214 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:02,840 Now what does waiting look like? The reason why this has captured 215 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:07,080 my attention is that I know, I know that there's passion here 216 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:12,120 because I know that it's passion sent by the Lord himself. 217 00:12:12,680 --> 00:12:15,040 There's passion to be faithful to his calling. 218 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:19,840 There's passion for everyone who who's a Christian here to do 219 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:22,040 something, service in his Kingdom. 220 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,200 That's what he redeemed us for. That's what he made us for. 221 00:12:25,320 --> 00:12:28,440 It comes hand in glove with our salvation. 222 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,760 And so I know that there's a passion, a desire to serve, and 223 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:34,320 yet some people are just waiting. 224 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:39,960 And that's good as long as we're waiting the way the disciples 225 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:42,960 waited. How did the disciples wait? 226 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,160 Well, let's look at this passage in particular. 227 00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:50,160 Let's look at a parallel text, which is where Luke also records 228 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:54,320 the ascension and the Gospel of Luke at the very end, he records 229 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:58,360 the ascension by saying this. While Jesus was blessing them, 230 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:02,400 he parted from them and was carried up into heaven and they 231 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:06,880 worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, where 232 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:10,080 they continually were in the temple blessing God. 233 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,320 OK, so they're supposed to wait for the power of the Holy 234 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:14,800 Spirit? What does that mean? 235 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:18,720 They just kind of camped out on their lazy boy chairs and waited 236 00:13:18,720 --> 00:13:21,160 around saying OK come on Holy Spirit, get going. 237 00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,320 That's not at all the picture. What's the picture? 238 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,040 The picture here is that they are praising God. 239 00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:30,000 They gather together to praise the Lord. 240 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,960 In other words, worship is what they occupy their time with 241 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,360 between. When the Lord says to them wait 242 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:38,760 in Jerusalem for the power of Holy Spirit, what do the 243 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:40,520 disciples do? They wait. 244 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,720 But waiting is not this passive. We're just not going to do 245 00:13:43,720 --> 00:13:46,960 anything. They are active in their worship 246 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:48,200 of the Lord, the praising the Lord. 247 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:49,760 Now, that's easy for us to imagine. 248 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:54,000 I mean, they just saw the guy resurrected from the dead and 249 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,440 raised up into heaven. They're told that he's going to 250 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:58,920 come again in the same power. They're told that they're going 251 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,160 to have the power of the Holy Spirit and be able to witness to 252 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:03,880 his life of death and resurrection. 253 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:05,520 Of course they're worshiping God. 254 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,640 That's an easy thing to say. But notice where they're 255 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:12,760 worshiping God. They worship the Lord in his 256 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,240 temple. In other words, they gathered 257 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:20,160 together with the people of God to worship. 258 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:27,880 I can't tell you how frustrating it is to me to run into 259 00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:31,760 Christians that believe that they have a calling, a ministry 260 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,080 from God, believe that they are serving the Lord in some fashion 261 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:37,560 or another, and they are disconnected from the people of 262 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:42,160 God. I can't tell you how frustrating 263 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:46,000 that is because it runs completely counter to the whole 264 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:50,280 Scriptures, which detail for us that the people of God is where 265 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:53,240 the Lord is working. It is through whom the Lord is 266 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,720 working. Of course we are to work with 267 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:57,280 those who are outside the community. 268 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,920 Of course we're supposed to work outside the walls of this 269 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:04,280 church, but we're supposed to do so as a body, as a community. 270 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:07,000 The disciples come and they are waiting for the Lord. 271 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,200 How do they wait for the Lord? They wait for the Lord by 272 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:14,040 worshipping Him with God's people. 273 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:18,560 If you're looking for where the Lord is calling you to serve, if 274 00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,200 you're saying, look, I know that I should be serving somewhere 275 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:26,320 and given my age or given my, my physical abilities or given my 276 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,920 interests or something, I don't know where that's going to be. 277 00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:34,560 Be with the people of God, Worship him and be with the 278 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:38,320 people of God. It is impossible, impossible for 279 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:42,280 us to hear the voice of the Lord, for the hear the calling 280 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:45,280 of the Lord unless we are with the people of God. 281 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:49,800 That's simply the way the Lord has played, has designed his 282 00:15:49,800 --> 00:15:53,040 redemption for us to work together like this, in this 283 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:55,120 fashion. So the first thing that we see 284 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:57,680 here is that the disciples while they're waiting, what does 285 00:15:57,680 --> 00:15:59,880 waiting look like? It's not passive. 286 00:15:59,880 --> 00:16:04,880 That's the point of all of this, the waiting while we are being 287 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,520 empowered by the Spirit into acts of service. 288 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:12,080 And I suspect that all of us, no matter what your job is, no 289 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:15,440 matter what you how invested you are in ministry of this church 290 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:18,160 or in the ministries that are happening around this this 291 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:22,160 neighborhood, no matter how invested you are, all of us can 292 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:25,480 learn what it means to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. 293 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:30,520 That means being in God's with God's people worshipping the 294 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:32,440 Lord together. What else does it mean? 295 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:40,360 Look in verse 16 verse sorry verse 14, verse 14. 296 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:44,640 After hearing of the disciples Peter, James, John, Andrew, 297 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:47,760 Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, James and Simon 298 00:16:48,400 --> 00:16:51,280 all all of these with 1 accord were devoting themselves to 299 00:16:51,280 --> 00:16:53,840 prayer. This would be a perfect moment 300 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:57,400 to make a comment about how small the disciples must have 301 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:02,560 been because they all got there together in one Honda Accord. 302 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,240 But I am way too mature to make that kind of a joke at a moment 303 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:10,240 like this. So with all one Accord, they 304 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,319 devoted themselves to what? To pray. 305 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:16,520 Now what are they praying about? They know what the Lord has 306 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,280 called them to do. Wait for the power of the Holy 307 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:20,800 Spirit. The Lord has promised them the 308 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,440 power of the Holy Spirit. He's going to fulfill that 309 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:25,960 calling. He has said called them to be 310 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,119 witnesses. They know what their job is. 311 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:30,440 They know where they're supposed to go, Jerusalem, Judea, 312 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:32,800 Samaria, the ends of the earth. They know what they're supposed 313 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:34,960 to do. What are they praying about? 314 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:39,320 They are praying specifically for the very same reason that 315 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,880 all of us are, to be praying for the Lord consistently, to 316 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:47,560 emphasize an awareness of our dependence upon Him. 317 00:17:48,800 --> 00:17:50,920 It is the Lord who does these things. 318 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,960 It is God through through whom whose power we work. 319 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:57,480 It is the Holy Spirit that empowers us and enables us to be 320 00:17:57,480 --> 00:18:00,000 faithful in the calling that He has given to us. 321 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:03,920 And we need to emphasize that by praying in our prayers. 322 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:07,120 What we're doing is saying, God, we do not rest upon our own 323 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:09,000 strength. We do not count on our own 324 00:18:09,000 --> 00:18:11,160 abilities. Rather, we know our own 325 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:13,360 fallibility. We know our brokenness. 326 00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:16,000 We know our sinfulness. We know that you have given us a 327 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,560 great and glorious task and that you are sovereign over all 328 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:21,720 things. You can do all things. 329 00:18:22,120 --> 00:18:26,560 Therefore, with that attitude we come in prayer. 330 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:32,200 But not just prayer. They come praying with 1 accord. 331 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:35,600 They come united together in prayer. 332 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,040 Now what does that mean? If you are looking for a service 333 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:42,240 of ministry, if you are looking for where God is calling you 334 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:46,240 specifically to put your time and energy, if you are, if you 335 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,560 know that the Lord has called you to service and yet you don't 336 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,560 know if you're fulfilling that faithfully, here's what you do. 337 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,760 You get out of three or four different people and you ask 338 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:59,080 them, Christians, brothers and sisters who you worship with. 339 00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:02,160 You say, brothers and sisters who I worship with. 340 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:06,520 I need you to pray for me over a blank period of time. 341 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,800 Make it manageable over the next 10 days. 342 00:19:11,160 --> 00:19:15,240 I need you to covenant with me that you will pray for me so 343 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,920 that I will hear well what the Lord is calling me to do. 344 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,200 That's what it means to pray in one accord. 345 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:22,920 It means that they all get together. 346 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,200 Not that they all recite the same words or anything like 347 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:28,480 this, but that they have the same passion, the same desire 348 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:31,480 for this. And notice that they are devoted 349 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,960 to that prayer, devoted to that prayer. 350 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:41,760 I don't want to embarrass myself by talking about the limitations 351 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:47,600 of my own prayer life. I pray, but nobody would mistake 352 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:52,200 my prayer life as one of devotion, that I am devoted to 353 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:54,240 prayer. But that's what the Scriptures 354 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:58,720 are calling us to, to have a passion, to be consistent, to be 355 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:03,480 persistent in our prayers. That's what it means for us to 356 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:08,200 wait upon the Lord, not to be passive, but rather to wait in 357 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,920 passion in our prayers and our dedication and our devotion to 358 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:14,400 the Lord. They waited for the Lord and 359 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,960 they studied Scripture. Look in verse 16. 360 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:22,120 In those days, Peter stood up among the brothers, about 120 of 361 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:26,400 them, and said verse 16 Brothers, the Scripture had to 362 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:29,600 be fulfilled. The Scripture had, OK, So what 363 00:20:29,600 --> 00:20:31,840 are they doing in these period of time? 364 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:34,720 It's about 10 days between the ascension of the Lord and the 365 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:36,880 coming of the Holy Spirit. What are they doing while 366 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,280 they're waiting in Jerusalem? They are worshipping the Lord, 367 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:44,360 they are praying together, and they are studying the 368 00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:46,960 Scriptures. It is the power of the 369 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,000 Scriptures. If you feel called to a 370 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,560 ministry, if you're involved right now in a ministry area, if 371 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,600 you feel called to serve your neighbor, if you feel called to 372 00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:58,640 minister to those who are poor and broken. 373 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:03,000 If you feel like your job is to carry the love of God out into 374 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,440 this world and you're not covered it in scripture. 375 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:10,800 If you're not overwhelmed in Scripture, you are failing to 376 00:21:10,800 --> 00:21:14,840 capture the 1 medium that the Lord promises us that He will 377 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:19,480 speak to us through. He speaks to us through his word 378 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:21,520 by the power of the Spirit. This is what we're talking 379 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:25,080 about, the power of the Spirit working in the church for the 380 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,800 world, blessing of the world. And that power of the Spirit 381 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:33,160 comes to us through the word of God, through his scriptures. 382 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:37,160 And so consistently in that period of waiting where we're 383 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:39,000 like, Lord, what are you leading me to? 384 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:42,640 What's next on for me? How am I able? 385 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,040 How am I supposed to be more and more faithful to you? 386 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,240 You must cover that in prayer. You must cover that in the 387 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:51,040 scriptures. And here's what you do. 388 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,320 You don't sit there and say, OK, Lord, I'm going to turn blindly 389 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,960 to this passage, put my finger down and whatever you tell me to 390 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:58,360 do in that text, I'm going to do. 391 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:01,160 That's not it. What you do is you immerse 392 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:06,760 yourself in the God of the scriptures and buying by being 393 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:08,760 immersed in the God of the Scriptures. 394 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:11,040 It's early in the morning. No it's not. 395 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:17,160 By being immersed in the God of the Scriptures He speaks to us. 396 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:24,360 There is a 2000 years of church history that proves the 397 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:29,280 truthfulness of the scriptural witness that God speaks to His 398 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:39,880 people through the scriptures. How lazy or arrogant or self 399 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:44,160 assured must we be to ignore the word of the Lord? 400 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:47,000 And by the way, they're studying the Scripture. 401 00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,560 They're not just looking at it. They're not doing randomly 402 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,080 scanning through the text. They're studying the scripture. 403 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:55,960 How do you know that? Look at the text that Peter 404 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:57,960 references. This is in verse 20. 405 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:02,880 May is camp. Become desolate and let there be 406 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:06,120 no one to dwell in it and let another take his office. 407 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,200 OK, Now those are from the Psalms, we're told. 408 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:13,040 And I defy anybody who was going to tell me they know where those 409 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:16,360 texts are from. Those are OK. 410 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:19,640 This is not like Psalm 23 that many of us are going to be 411 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:23,760 familiar with, or Psalm 100 or Psalm One, or Psalm 150 or Psalm 412 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:25,760 22. Some of the texts in which were 413 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:31,040 this is from Psalm 69, an obscure verse in Psalm 69 and an 414 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:33,480 obscure verse in Psalm one One O 9. 415 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:35,960 Now why do I think they're studying the Scriptures? 416 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:40,440 Because you don't connect. You don't read those passages 417 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,720 and connect them to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus 418 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,440 Christ unless you're saying to yourself, you're dedicated to 419 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,920 the word and you're saying God speak to me of Jesus Christ. 420 00:23:52,480 --> 00:23:56,120 When I look at this word, speak to me of Jesus Christ. 421 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:59,880 And when you say speak to me of Jesus Christ, O Lord, and you 422 00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:04,760 read Psalm one, O 9, you come up with this text, you see the Lord 423 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:06,920 living in and breathing through it. 424 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:11,840 When you say, Lord, speak to me in this text, you see Psalm 69 425 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:16,800 that speaks of the of the coming love and grace of our Lord Jesus 426 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:21,240 Christ. The disciples were worshipping 427 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:26,120 our God and Savior. They were praying fervently with 428 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:29,520 one mind. They were studying the word of 429 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:36,360 God together and they were obsessing, focused upon Jesus 430 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:40,960 Christ. Look in verse 21 there. 431 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:47,520 So this is Peter now saying, OK, so Peter says, look, we've lost 432 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:49,880 Judas Iscariot. Now some of you guys know the 433 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:52,880 story that Judas is the one that betrayed Jesus and that 434 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:56,560 ultimately Judas was killed. And we read a little bit about 435 00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:01,000 that with died because of that. And so instead of 12 disciples, 436 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,880 you've got 11 disciples. And Peter says, hey, we've got 437 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:08,640 to replace this person. How do we replace Judas? 438 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,840 How do we find his fulfillment? Look in verse 21. 439 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:15,160 And so one of the men who had been accompanying the Auster all 440 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:17,720 during the time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 441 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:21,240 beginning with baptism until the day in which he was taken of one 442 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,480 of these men must be come with us a witness to the 443 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,880 resurrection. In other words, somebody needs 444 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:30,520 to fill the position that Judas was in. 445 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:34,760 Who's that person going to be? It is somebody, it's this easy, 446 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:41,000 who has been with Jesus, somebody who's been with Jesus. 447 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,880 That's the kind of reflection that all the disciples have as 448 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,400 they are waiting for the power of the Holy Spirit to come upon 449 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:50,920 them. They're waiting for the power of 450 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:54,600 the Holy Spirit and they are anticipating with great joy and 451 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:59,920 eagerness the fulfillment of that text where they are walking 452 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,400 in relationship with Jesus Christ. 453 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:08,080 That's the essence of being sent a witness to the Lord is that we 454 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:11,000 are witnessing to that relationship that we have with 455 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:14,080 the Lord. Now, none of us, we're not in a 456 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:18,000 position and I don't there are Christian communities that use 457 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,720 the term apostle and they call each other apostles and those 458 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:23,680 kind of things. And that's not, we're not 459 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:28,640 becoming like Matthias here by saying, by linking ourselves 460 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,040 with the disciples and saying that we have the same calling 461 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,480 the disciples have, that we too are called to go to all the 462 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:37,720 world, that we too are called to be witnesses to Jesus Christ, 463 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,200 that we too are called to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. 464 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:42,960 I'm not saying that we are therefore identical to the 465 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,880 disciples. It is clearly different that 466 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:50,680 Matthias here was able to see and witness and walk and teach 467 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:54,720 and be taught by and to to talk with Jesus Christ. 468 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,440 That's not the kind of discipleship that we are blessed 469 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:00,280 with. We are blessed with hearing of 470 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:02,640 Jesus Christ through the word of God. 471 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,160 And so when we're reading the Scriptures so passionately, like 472 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:08,760 we were talking about, what we're doing is we're becoming a 473 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:12,680 meshed in who Christ is. We're seeing him for who he 474 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:15,280 really is. We're learning more about him. 475 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:17,720 We are deepening our relationship with him. 476 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,640 And during that time, we are waiting for him to direct us in 477 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,800 the ministry, in the service in which he has promised to us, 478 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:27,640 which he has commanded to all of us. 479 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,200 So what the disciples are doing is they're saying here, we need 480 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:37,880 to find somebody who was locked on to Jesus, which is the very 481 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:42,080 definition of what it means to be a disciple, to be locked into 482 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:45,000 Jesus. So how do you know if you found 483 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,680 your calling? How do you know if you've 484 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:49,680 discovered what God calls you to do? 485 00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,280 Well, I think we have a great expression of this From verses 486 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:59,200 21 down through 24, we see Peter leaning into three things. 487 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,720 Four things really. The general expression of the 488 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,520 Scriptures. How do you know your calling? 489 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,920 It's laid out before us in the Scriptures, and that's why Peter 490 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,040 spent so much time studying the Scriptures. 491 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:17,720 Secondly, he uses common sense. Notice that in verse 2122, he 492 00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,600 sits there and says, look, Jesus picked 12 of us. 493 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:24,000 We lost 1. He divided the ministry among 494 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,840 the 12 of us We need to fulfill. We need to add in that one. 495 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:31,040 We need to become 12 again. Common sense. 496 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,520 I can't tell you how frustrating it is to have some people come 497 00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:37,800 up and say, I really think we should do this, and there's no 498 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:41,080 sense of common sense at all in what they're saying. 499 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:43,240 God has blessed us with common sense. 500 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:46,280 Use it. God has blessed us with the 501 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:48,520 Scriptures. Read it. 502 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:55,520 Then thirdly, look at verse 24 when they had prayed prayer. 503 00:28:56,120 --> 00:29:01,240 Once again, prayer is from the beginning of this text to the 504 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:03,440 end. It's woven into what it means to 505 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:06,040 wait on the Lord, to be prayerful for him. 506 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:10,120 And then look at the end. And they prayed. 507 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:14,120 You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show us the one whom you 508 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:18,000 have chosen. They trusted in the Lord. 509 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,800 Now you'll notice at the end of the story, just to wrap this up 510 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:23,680 for a second, that they cast lots. 511 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:27,800 They roll dice, they pull straws, whatever. 512 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:32,080 And you've got Matthias and you've got Joseph and the pulled 513 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,440 dot. They, they cast lots, lots of 514 00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:38,640 random expression. And the lot falls on Matthias 515 00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:40,960 and he becomes the the next apostle. 516 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,960 The Christian Church no longer cast lots. 517 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:50,160 That's that was a way in the Old Testament and in the pre Holy 518 00:29:50,160 --> 00:29:54,080 Spirit era, the pre Pentecost era, whereby you would express 519 00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,680 your trust in the Lord Lord, we trust that you are going to be 520 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:00,160 the one who is sovereignly in control of these dice. 521 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:03,040 You're the one who is sovereignly in control of the 522 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,520 ermine in the Thurman. You're the one who's sovereignly 523 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:07,960 in control of the straws that we pull out. 524 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:12,840 All that makes sense to us, but with the coming of the Holy 525 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:17,240 Spirit is the promise that the Lord now is present with His 526 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:21,240 people in a way that we express our trust and dependence on Him. 527 00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:25,640 Not by chance, not by games of chance, not by by random 528 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:29,120 expressions of how we trust the Lord is going to show Himself, 529 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:33,560 but by leaning into the power of the Holy Spirit that He has 530 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:35,800 promised for each and every one of us. 531 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:42,560 So what does it mean for you? What I'm hoping is that through 532 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:47,040 this text, every one of us is challenged to re evaluate where 533 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:50,400 it is that God has called us. What has God called you to do? 534 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:53,240 What's your service? What's your ministry? 535 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,600 What's your focus? How are you fulfilling the 536 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,600 calling that the Lord has given to us to witness to Him? 537 00:30:59,880 --> 00:31:03,160 Because that's a responsibility for every single one of you. 538 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,720 And if you don't know, it's a calling to wait. 539 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,480 What does waiting mean? It means worshipping the Lord in 540 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:15,760 the midst of His people. It means devoting yourself to 541 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:19,760 prayer with one or two or three or four other followers. 542 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,480 It means being passionate about your study of Scripture and 543 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:26,480 being open to the way in which the Lord will speak to you in 544 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:29,800 this regard. It is focusing upon Jesus 545 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:33,120 Christ. And if you are absolutely 546 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:37,000 confident that you know what God has called you to serve and how 547 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:40,920 God's called you to minister, and you are dedicated full bore 548 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:45,520 ahead of that, I would still maintain that nothing is better 549 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,480 than surrounding yourself with the people of God in worship, 550 00:31:50,080 --> 00:31:54,120 dedicating your life in prayer, studying the scriptures, and 551 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:58,160 focusing upon Jesus Christ. If we want to fulfill that 552 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:03,600 calling that He has given to us to witness to the entire world 553 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:08,320 through the power of the Holy Spirit, we do so by waiting upon 554 00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:10,640 the Lord and giving ourselves over to Him. 555 00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:22,860 Yes, let's pray together. Gracious Lord our God, we 556 00:32:22,860 --> 00:32:27,380 acknowledge to you that all too often we push off the 557 00:32:27,380 --> 00:32:31,700 responsibility to minister to this world around us on to other 558 00:32:31,700 --> 00:32:37,900 people, A professional class of ministers, those who know more 559 00:32:37,900 --> 00:32:41,740 of the scriptures than we do, those who are good at these kind 560 00:32:41,740 --> 00:32:43,620 of things, are called to these kind of things. 561 00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:48,200 And we deny the central reality of the calling to be your 562 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,720 disciple, to follow after you, to do that what you are doing, 563 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:57,000 and to minister in your name. Lord, I express that confession 564 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,200 in my own life. I express that confession for my 565 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:04,120 brothers and sisters here. I know it's a case for them as 566 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:08,960 well, Lord. And so, Lord, we trust in your 567 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:15,360 grace that you will forgive us of that sin, for sin it is, and 568 00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:17,960 that you will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 569 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:23,360 Lord, call us to a time of patience, of waiting for the 570 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:28,440 power of the Holy Spirit to come upon us so that we can pray 571 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,280 well, we can worship well, we can study well the Scriptures, 572 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:36,680 we can focus in upon you. Well, Lord, make that so in our 573 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:40,880 lives, so that we can come out the other side, empowered by the 574 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:45,960 Holy Spirit, witnessing to our Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, 575 00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,600 Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 576 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,320 Lord, make it so in our lives we pray through Christ our Lord, we 577 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:53,880 ask. Amen.