7 Marks of a Jesus-Authentic Ministry
- TEAMWORK (Mk 6:7a)
- AUTHORITY (Mk 6:7b)
- DEPENDANCE (Mk 6:8-10)
- DETERMINATION (Mk 6:11)
- BOLDNESS (Mk 6:12)
- GLORY (Mk 6:13-15)
- PERSEVERANCE (Mk 6:16-29)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-00:05
Turn in your Bibles to the Gospel according to Mark and chapter 6.
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Mark chapter 6 we're going to be picking up in verse 7.
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Why have we been going through the Gospel of Mark?
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Well Mark's purpose in writing, just like all of the Gospel writers, was to show us that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
00:26-00:29
And that has implications for everyone.
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Mark has shown us in the person of Jesus Christ, in His power, and in His preaching, that Jesus Christ is indeed God in the flesh.
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We're going to see in this passage today that He is God in the flesh who commissioned the ministry of the message to His people.
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You can have a big ministry, and you can have a popular ministry, and you can have a much talked about ministry, but the question we're going to examine today, do you have an authentic ministry?
01:12-01:14
Because at the end of the day, really that's all that matters.
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If you've been with us for any amount of time, I'm sure you've heard us talk about that and pray that, "Lord, we want to be authentic.
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We just want to be authentic.
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We want nothing more than to be authentic.
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What does that even mean?
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We say things like we don't want to play church.
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We are seeking God to be the real thing.
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So you're like, well, authentic by whose standards?
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Well, the answer, not mine.
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There's something that I say to myself often that I want you to learn to say to yourself.
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And that's this.
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This is my church, but this is not my church.
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I'm going to break that down for you.
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When I say this is my church, what I mean is this is the place where I belong.
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This is the body that I am a part of.
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This is my church, but this is not my church, okay?
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This isn't the Jeff Miller show, because Jeff Miller could be dead this afternoon.
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what, like you're not going to show up next week?
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Like, well that was fun while it lasted.
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No.
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Authentic by whose standard?
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Authentic by Jesus' standard.
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And in this passage in Mark we're going to look at this is how you should evaluate this church's ministry, okay?
02:45-02:49
That's one of the things I love about Harvest Bible Chapel, it's constant evaluation.
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We just went through this, didn't we, in January and in February.
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We just went through this.
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What were we doing?
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Evaluating, evaluating.
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What are we doing right?
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What are we doing that maybe we could be doing better?
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What are some things we need to stop doing?
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What are some things we need to start doing?
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Constant evaluation.
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But this is how you should evaluate this church's ministry.
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And personally, this is how you should evaluate your personal ministry.
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There are some people here that are parts of other ministries.
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This is how you should evaluate that ministry.
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If you're visiting with us today, this is how you should evaluate your church's ministry.
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Whichever church you call home.
03:41-03:43
So on your outline, do you have your outline ready?
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Bob Mastrino does, everybody else?
03:47-03:52
Seven marks of a Jesus authentic ministry.
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All in favor of a Jesus authentic ministry?
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Okay, all opposed?
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All right, moving on.
04:00-04:03
Seven marks of a Jesus authentic ministry.
04:05-04:14
The last couple of weeks we've seen people who have exercised great faith, and then last Last week we saw Jesus went back to his hometown and was rejected.
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Rejected to the degree that Jesus Christ was actually marveling at their unbelief.
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And it says he went about among the villages teaching.
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Verse 7 says, "And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two." First thing on your outline, first mark of a Jesus authentic ministry is teamwork.
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This is an extremely significant turning point in the ministry of Jesus because up to this point I'm sure you noticed it was all Jesus, right?
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Jesus was doing all of the teaching, all of the preaching, all of the miracles, all of the ministry at this point was happening through one person and that was Jesus Christ.
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Now it says, "He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two." Why in pairs?
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Well, I think that's pretty obvious, right?
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Support, protection, encouragement, companionship, positive peer pressure.
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I think we all get why they were sent out in pairs, right?
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That's not like dazzling anyone.
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But I think it's important to stop just for a moment and consider that we live in a day where we have never been more connected or more disconnected at the same time.
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True or false?
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We are connected to a degree today, unlike any other point in history, but we as a people People have never been more disconnected as a people.
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Whether it's Facebook or Twitter, Instagram, Google Circles, Pinterest, MySpace.
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Is MySpace still a thing?
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I don't know.
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Is Facebook still a thing?
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You have 700 friends on Facebook.
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But how many of those friends have you actually spent time with in the last week?
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How many of those people have you actually spent time with in the last month?
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We've never been more connected and we've never been more disconnected.
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I love social media, having friends all over the world, friends from ministry and friends from missions and friends from Bible college and friends from high school and family.
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It can be a great thing, but I think it can be a very disconnecting thing.
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through social media have become so much easier and so much more manageable and less messy, right?
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Because our conversations have really been boiled down, haven't they?
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Our conversations have turned into this.
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I started a new job today and you're like, "Like?" I'm about to eat this sandwich that I took a picture of, and you're like, tell me, like.
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And some of them are awkward, you know?
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Like, I just found out that my great aunt fell down 117 steps, and she's on her way to the hospital.
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They think she's going to make it, and you're like, like?
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Like, what exactly are we liking about that?
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I hope the, I think she's gonna make it part, not she fell on the steps part.
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To be honest with you, it'd be easier if we just entered into real world conversations like that.
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Wouldn't that be easier?
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Wouldn't that be just so much easier?
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You know, Randy Campbell walks in.
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He's like, man, the weather in Chicago sure is cold.
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And I just go, walk away.
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Let's just leave it there.
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That's all I'm used to.
08:20-08:21
Relationships are easier and so is ministry.
08:23-08:42
Let's be honest, it's easy to post the snippet of a sermon, or my favorite, the picture of Jesus, you know, blonde haired, blue eyed Jesus, that says, "If you're ashamed of Jesus, He'll be ashamed of you." So click "like" if you're not ashamed of Jesus.
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But if you'd prefer to go straight to hell, keep scrolling.
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Love that.
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As if God in heaven is looking down, going, "I sure hope he clicks 'like'." Because this is the criteria in which I evaluate.
09:02-09:38
I was at a pastor's meeting recently where one of the pastors asked - he goes, "I have a serious question." He goes, "What do you other pastors do about people that just prefer watch church online." And I said, "Well, that really isn't an issue for us at this point. You can listen online, but you can't really watch church online." But there are churches that have their whole worship service online, and one of the problems that these churches that are so technologically advanced and capable, one of the problems that they're facing is you have people that are just like, "It's Sunday morning. I'm tired. I'll just Just watch church online.
09:40-09:41
And that's good enough.
09:42-09:53
And I certainly think there can be some value in that, but can you just agree with me that more and more we are drifting away from actually personal contact with people?
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The Bible says when Jesus sent out his apostles to do ministry, he sent them out two by two.
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Teamwork.
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Jesus didn't say, "Set up a Facebook event page, Messiah's in town, see how many people you can get to like your page.
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Make sure you tweet at least four times a day.
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Make sure you're putting it on Twitter, take plenty of pictures to put on whatever the picture thingy is." What do you call that?
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Instagram?
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Thank you.
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You're not meant to do church on your own.
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Jesus Authentic Ministry calls you to do ministry with people.
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That's why so many times at Harvest Bible Chapel you hear us say, "We're just not shy about it." We want you involved in a small group.
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We want you actually going into people's homes and spending time in the Word with people and praying with people.
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We want you doing that.
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We want you here serving with us on Sunday morning, teamwork.
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The first mark of a Jesus authentic ministry.
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Secondly, let's go on in the text.
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It says, "And gave them authority over the unclean spirits." Let's stop right there.
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Number two, a mark of a Jesus authentic ministry is authority.
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Obviously we're going to see in this passage the sign gifts, things like healing and demon evicting.
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Those sign gifts were to authenticate the gospel until the New Testament was written.
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Do I believe that God still does these things?
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Absolutely.
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But there are not people that have healing power like Jesus and the apostles had healing power.
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Okay?
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Those people do not exist.
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And you're like, "Well, what about like Benny Hinn?" No.
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If somebody like that really had the power to heal like Jesus and the apostles, why aren't Why aren't they doing like a hospital tour?
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Why aren't they going to some third world country that's being wrecked by disease and laying hands on people?
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Can God heal? He absolutely can and He absolutely does.
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I could keep you here the rest of the month telling you stories of how I've seen God heal people, but I do not believe that there are people have this healing power like the apostles had, that was to authenticate their message.
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You're like, "Well, what are you talking about authority?" There is an authority that Jesus gave us, by the way, and the authority is in the message.
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I brought this reference down, Matthew 16, 19.
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Jesus said to Peter, "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." You're like, "What does that mean?" Well, what that means literally is Jesus gave us the authority to declare the judgment of heaven based on the principles of God's word.
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What does that mean?
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Jesus gave us authority.
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I can say to someone, "If you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, your sins are forgiven and he will give you the gift of eternal life." And somebody might say, "Well, what gives you the authority to say something like that?" The answer is, "Jesus gives me the authority to say something like that, because that's what His Word says, and that's the message of Heaven." I can also say, and do, that if you reject Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you have rejected the only means by which you can have eternal life.
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And hell is the only thing that you have to look forward to.
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Like, where do you get off saying that?
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Who gives you the authority to say something like that?
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God gives me the authority to say something like that because that's what His Word says.
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Okay, so a Jesus authentic ministry is a ministry of authority.
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What's the first pillar of Harvest Bible Chapel?
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Pillar number one is what?
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Proclaiming the authority of God's Word without apology.
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That's why you'll never hear us up here sharing the Word of God.
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Like, "Well, I'm going to say some things, but I'm so sorry." Okay, and then Jesus said this, "I'm so sorry, I hope that didn't offend anyone here." We don't apologize for that.
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God's not sorry.
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Why should I be sorry?
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Authority.
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This is what God said.
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My job is to echo what God has said.
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That's the only authority that I have, is the authority given by Jesus Christ.
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Every sermon, every sermon you hear you must evaluate, "Is this what the Bible says?" You might leave here some Sunday thinking, "I don't know if I really agree with what he said." What you need to do, you've heard me say this, take your Bible, open it up, read the text, is that what the Bible says?
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If I'm saying something that the Bible doesn't say, then you need to come and talk to me.
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But if you're having a hard time because I said something that the Bible does say, then you need to talk to God about that.
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Okay?
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Authority.
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A Jesus authentic ministry.
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Chapter 3, jot this down, "Dependents." Dependents.
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So Jesus sends them out two by two.
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He gives them authority, as He gives us authority in His Word.
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It says, "He charged them," this is wild here, "He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff." No bread, no bag, no money in their belts, but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.
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And He said to them, "Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there." Dependence.
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I think you see readily why there were no female apostles.
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Jesus sent them on a trip and told them not to pack anything.
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Is that what your Bible says?
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That's called inferring.
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This passage is not saying, "Don't pay the preacher." Like I'm having second thoughts about that now after that last comment.
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First Corinthians 9 talks all about, you know, paying the preacher.
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That's not what this passage is saying.
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What this passage is saying is that this is training.
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This was boot camp that Jesus was sending his apostles on, and the lesson here is for the apostles to learn that God provides.
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That was the lesson here.
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Jesus said, "When you go out to preach," basically what he was saying was, "Don't pack anything." Now, joking aside, that would really bother me.
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Like, seriously, like, no suitcase?
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No, don't take a suitcase.
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How about like a knapsack? Don't take a knapsack. How about like one of those sticks with the hanky tied on the end? Some of you guys know what I'm talking about, right? Some of you are like, "I have no idea." Derek will explain that. But like, "Can I at least take that?" No. "I have a coat with really big pockets." No, don't wear that coat. Why? Jesus wanted to teach them, "You're going to have to trust God God to provide.
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You're going to have to trust God to provide.
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And we see that the lesson went full circle, jot this reference down, Luke 22, verse 35.
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Jesus was talking about this.
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Like retrospect, Jesus said to the disciples in Luke 22, 35, "When I sent you out with no money bag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?" They said, "Nothing." He said to them, "But now let the one who has a money bag take it and likewise a knapsack, and let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one." So you see, lesson learned.
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Jesus said, "Were you lacking anything when you went out?" And they're like, "No." Jesus is like, "Okay, then you get it.
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Here's the lesson God provides." That's a lesson we learned at Harvest Bible Chapel that we never want to leave behind us.
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2011 and some of you were here from the very beginning. I think of people like the Fredricks, Paul Persick. What did we have in the beginning? What did we start?
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Nothing, right? What did we have? Nothing. True or false? I remember opening a bank account with nothing. I remember the day that, remember after the one core group meeting, we bought a trailer.
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And what was in the trailer, Ken?
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Nothing.
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Oh, I so wish we had a picture.
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It's one of those things that you're kind of embarrassed at the time you don't want to take a picture, but now looking back, I just wish that we had.
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But we're all standing in the parking lot looking at our empty trailer.
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We're like, "Wow, we got a trailer." There was nothing in it.
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Like, what, are we going to have church in there?
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I remember the days, meeting in Paul Persick's basement.
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Remember that?
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Why were we meeting there?
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Because what did we have as a church?
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We had nothing.
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I remember sitting in the training center, fall, winter 2010 to the beginning of 2011.
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I remember in the training center before Aaron and I came to be part of this plant, I remember people like James McDonald and Rick Donald and Kirk Van Maan and some of these other guys coming in, Bill Molinari coming in talking to us about how the church plant sort of happens.
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And I remember sitting there thinking to myself, "How does that happen?" over and over they would say, "God makes it happen. God makes it happen." I remember going through the core group phase when I would meet with people that wanted to be a part of starting this church. I remember several times people asking, "So how does this work?
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Does James MacDonald buy you guys a building?" Yeah, he pulls out his checkbook and he says, "You just tell us what kind of a building you want. I'll write you a check." No, that's That's not how it happens.
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I remember saying to our core group, if James MacDonald bought us a building, our songs would sound a lot different, right?
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We'd be singing songs about praise James MacDonald, how awesome James MacDonald is.
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I'll hail the power of James MacDonald's name.
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God will provide and he will get the glory.
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Remember how many times we said that, Ken?
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God will provide and he will get the glory.
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But I'll be honest with you, I remember days and nights wondering how it was going to happen.
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I'll just be honest with you.
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You can say, "Man, your faith was weak." Okay, maybe it was.
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Maybe I did struggle for a season wondering like how is it going to happen?
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And the answer is just as we were told, God makes it happen.
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We are just as dependent upon Him today to provide as we were in September of 2011.
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He taught us that He's going to provide.
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And that lesson isn't like 11th grade chemistry.
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You remember 11th grade chemistry?
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I sure don't.
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Here's what I remember from 11th grade chemistry taking my last final.
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I remember going, "I am so glad I am done learning that stuff." Some of you guys need it.
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I, in fact, do not.
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This was a lesson that Jesus wanted His disciples to remember and Jesus wants His church to remember, a Jesus authentic ministry goes out with nothing except for one thing, and that is dependence.
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Dependence.
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Jesus said to his twelve, "Don't take anything with you, just learn to trust for God to provide." Number four, determination.
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Determination.
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Another aspect of a Jesus authentic ministry.
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Verse 11, "And if any place will not receive you, and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them." You know, this was something that the Jews actually did when they went from a Gentile territory back into a Jewish territory.
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Did you know that?
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I think if a Jewish man was traveling, as soon as he crossed that state line from Gentile to Jewish territory, that's what he would do.
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Let's leave the dirt on the Gentile territory because I don't want to track Gentile dirt on the Jewish land.
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And Jesus said, "That's the kind of mindset that you need to take when somebody rejects your message." He says, "Just shake the dirt off your shoes." This is a lesson that I'm still learning.
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Because I want everyone to love and accept me, and I can take hard words and rejection very seriously.
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And I have a tendency to not move on.
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God's still teaching me, but what I'm learning is there comes a time when you just have to realize Matthew 7, verse 6, sometimes you're just casting your pearls before pigs.
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And in the face of rejection, it's time to move on.
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The Jesus authentic ministry doesn't throw in the towel in the face of rejection.
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When things get hard, a Jesus authentic ministry keeps moving forward.
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Like, well why in the world would we face rejection?
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Because the message itself is confrontational.
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That's why number five, write down the word "boldness." Boldness.
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Look with me at verse 12.
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So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent, boldness.
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It's a difficult message to preach, but it's a necessary message to preach.
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It would be much easier every Sunday to just stand up and give a message, "Let's just try to be nice to people.
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Let's try to be the smiley guy at work.
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Let's always make sure we're always saying kind things.
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Let's always make sure that we're trying to help people.
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Look, all of those things are true.
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But the gospel message starts with this, and every preacher in the Bible, including Jesus, preached the message of repentance.
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Like, well that sounds so Old Testament.
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I was reading in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 last night.
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Do you know, of the seven churches that Jesus sent a message to in the book of Revelation, of them. He said you need to repent of something. I think with the exception of Smyrna and Philadelphia, those were the only two churches that Jesus didn't say repent. Every other church, He said there's something that you need to repent of. Cover, cover in your Bible, every preacher, every prophet, repent. God never offers forgiveness without repentance. You're like, well what Literally, the Greek word is "change your mind." Change your mind.
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Change my mind about what?
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Change your mind about sin and change your mind about God.
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Because by nature, before we come to Christ, we're in love with our sin.
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We have our backs turned on God.
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And repentance means turn that around.
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Change your mind.
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You should be disgusted by your sin.
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And you should love the God who loves you.
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That's the first step in coming to Christ, and you can't come to Christ without repentance.
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Literally change your mind.
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A lot of times we associate repentance with action.
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But that's the fruit.
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That's not the root.
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You should see some actions change if you truly repent, because if your faith hasn't changed you, then your faith hasn't saved you.
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Several years ago, I was completely heartbroken because this news story came out.
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The stuff that Taco Bell was serving wasn't actually me.
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Did you hear about this?
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How many people heard about this?
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Just a couple of you.
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I am so sorry.
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I feel like I'm talking about Santa Claus a room of preschoolers now, I was heartbroken. They said it's not real meat. Some of it is, but the other stuff in the stuff is what they call filler. I was devastated and I stopped eating at Taco Bell. I've only been back since then, that was in 2010. I've eaten Taco Bell Just for old times sake. But the reason I bring that up, my mind completely changed.
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And I don't know if these stories are true or not, I don't know. Okay, I'm not like on this anti-Taco Bell campaign or anything. I don't know if this stuff is true, but I'll tell you what did happen. My mind changed about Taco Bell. Where before I thought it was so good and wholesome and health food. Then I hear this and I'm like my mind changed. I'm like, "They put what in the meat?" I went from loving it to the thought of it disgusted me, and I stopped eating there. But do you see how changing my mind also changed my attitude? I'm sorry, changed my action.
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And that's what repentance is like. Your sin is like a chili cheese burrito that that you have been loving and enjoying, and then when you find out how disgusting it really is, and your mind changes, you're going to stop eating.
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Your actions change.
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That's repentance.
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That's what it means to repent.
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In Jesus' authentic ministry, it means you have to be bold and loving enough to share hard truth.
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Verse 6, glory, glory.
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Verse 13 says, "And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them." King Herod heard of it.
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"For Jesus' name had become known." Some said, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him." And others said, "He is Elijah." And others said, "He's a prophet, like one of the prophets of old." Glory.
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Look at verse 14.
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What became known?
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Look at your Bible, tell me, what became known?
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Jesus' name.
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You know that you have a Jesus authentic ministry when Jesus is magnified.
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it doesn't say, "Wow, look at all these great things Peter was doing.
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Look at this great movement of James the Less." Or "Wow, the Zebedee brothers really have this thing going on." It was, what was being made known?
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Jesus' name.
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And Harvest Bible Chapel, if you would leave here saying, "Wow, so and so is a good musician," or "Wow, the girl that handles the slides, she is just on it.
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He's like the best part of the church.
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We kind of failed to do our job if we're not about Jesus' name being made known.
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A Jesus authentic ministry has a spotlight on Jesus, His church, His power, His mission, His name alone on the marquee.
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Finally, number seven, a mark of a Jesus authentic ministry is perseverance.
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Verse 16, "But when Herod heard of it, he said, 'John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.'" Now verses 17 through 29 is a flashback.
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And we saw the impact that Jesus was having and verse 16 is saying, "It even made it all the way to the king. And what we're about to read, this flashback, as a soap opera, unlike anything you've ever heard. This account that we're about to read with Herod and Herodias and this whole event, this is stuff that's actually even a little too raw for Jerry Springer. Crazy. Let's work our way through the text. Verse 17 says, "Okay, flashback, for it was Herod who had sent and seized John the Baptist and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her.
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For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, but she could not.
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For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe.
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When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly." I'm going to try to explain, I'm going to give you the CliffsNotes version of what's happening here.
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And I'd encourage you to do a little homework, because this is even crazier than I have time to really get into.
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This whole story is just completely crazy.
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Okay, so first of all, Herod.
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Who's Herod?
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Well, we read about him in Luke chapter 3 verse 1.
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This is Herod the Tetrarch, which literally means ruler of a fourth of a kingdom.
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His dad was Herod the Great.
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Herod the Great had ten wives.
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So there were lots of little Herods running around, as you can imagine.
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Now, Herod the Great, I need like a chalkboard to kind of map this out.
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Herod the Great, we know him from Matthew chapter 2, he's the baby killer.
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You know in the Christmas story, the story of the Magi, that's that Herod, that's Herod the Great.
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He died about 4 BC, but he had a will that said when he died his kingdom should be divided into four parts for four of his sons.
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So the Herod in this passage is actually Herod Antipas, one of Herod's great sons.
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He ruled over the quarter that contained Galilee.
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Everybody with me so far?
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Okay, so who is Herodias?
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So verse 17 says that Herodias was Herod Antipas' brother Philip's wife, and Herod Antipas married her.
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Here's where it gets crazy.
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Herodias is actually the daughter of another son of Herod the Great.
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Herod the Great, ten wives, all these little Herods.
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Herodias was the daughter of another one of those sons.
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Right now you are kind of doing the family tree thing in your mind and you are like, "No way." And I am like, "Yeah way." Herodias was Herod the Great's granddaughter, that is the daughter of one of Herod Antipas' half-brothers, that is Herodias was Herod Antipas' niece.
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And she originally married Philip, which would have been, are you with me so far?
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Like Philip would have been one of her uncles.
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Yeah, that is what happened.
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So she married one of her uncles, and then she married Herod Antipas, who was actually what?
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Another uncle.
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Most of the men that she married, Philip and then Herod Antipas, were her biological father's half-brothers.
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Needless to say, this made Thanksgiving very awkward.
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There's even much more to the story that I don't have time to get into today.
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It's crazy.
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Look it up.
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The whole story is just absolutely sick.
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Okay, so we're on the same page.
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It says, verse 21, "But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee." Notice I emphasize the word "men." Without getting too graphic, this was a man party.
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You hear stories of the cliche, the bachelor party, right?
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This would have made your typical bachelor party look like Disney World.
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This was a party for men, a wild, sinful celebration.
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Every year trying to outdo the last one.
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Verse 22 says, "For when Herodias' daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests.
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And the king said to the girl, 'Ask me whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.' And he vowed to her, "Whatever you ask me, I will give you up to half my kingdom." Okay, Herodias' daughter was actually Philip's daughter.
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So now, she would have been Herod Antipas' niece and stepdaughter at the same time.
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Not much forking here in this family tree.
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Her name was Salome.
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And she went out and said to her mother, "For what should I ask?" And she, Herodias, said, "The head of John the Baptist." And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, "I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter." And the king was exceedingly sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests, he did not want to break his word to her." What a sick picture this is.
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You have this family member coming in doing this erotic dance that was pleasing family members that were present and sick.
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I'll give you whatever you want, baby.
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We want you to put John the Baptist's head on a plate.
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That's what we want.
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Verse 27 says, "Immediately the king sent an executioner with orders to bring back John's head.
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He went and beheaded him in the prison and brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother.
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When his disciples heard of it," this is John the Baptist's disciples, "When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body." And laid it in a tomb.
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John the Baptist didn't lose.
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He actually crossed the finish line very strong.
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And I believe that's why this flashback is here in Mark.
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Remember what we started talking about?
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Jesus sends the twelve out on this preaching mission.
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And Mark is showing us in this flashback, sometimes ministries like this.
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If you take a bold stand for Jesus Christ, it could cost you financially.
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It could cost you your freedom.
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Jesus said it could even cost you your life.
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But Jesus said in Matthew 10, Matthew 24, Mark chapter 13, over and over, Jesus said, the one who endures to the end will be saved.
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True saving faith is persevering faith.
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I believe that's why Mark includes this story as a flashback when the apostles are being sent out to drive home this point.
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It doesn't matter that you start.
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What matters is that you finish.
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The Christian race starting is so easy.
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Everybody is starting.
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Everybody is getting up to the starting blocks.
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Starting is easy.
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and finishing is hard.
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And that's why a Jesus authentic ministry is swinging until the final bell of the last round.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Mark 6:7-29
Evaluate the Ministry of Harvest Pittsburgh North (and your personal part of it) using a school grading system: ABCDF in the areas outlined above in the sermon. In the area(s) that are weak, what can be done to improve? What steps will you take to make it happen?
Breakout Questions:
Pray specifically for our nation and its leaders. (1 Timothy 2:14)