Guest Speaker - Pastor Robert Huber
The Church on Display
Some things Jesus said . . .
EKKLESIA
Acts 2:42
"Let the church BE the church!"
When the church is being the church, people will discover:
- Authentic RELATIONSHIPS
Fellowship
KOINONIA
John 13:34,35 - A "SIRIT and TRUTH" kind of worship
John 4 - BELIEVING prayer
- Obedience
- Discipline
- Ministry
- Worship
Prayer as WRESTLING - The LIFE-ALTERING message of the cross
1 Corinthians 1:18
FOOLISHNESS or POWER ?
The MESSAGE of the cross must be central
The power of the cross must be EXPERIENCED
JESUS
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-00:04
Well, I certainly consider it a privilege to have an opportunity to share with you today.
00:05-00:10
And I'll tell you, for 11 years, Jeff and I served together.
00:14-00:20
And I have a nickname, F-I-T-G, he has an F1-S-I-T-G, father in the gospel, son in the gospel.
00:21-00:23
And God put us together for a reason.
00:24-00:27
And I know you have a pastor who has a church in Charlottesville.
00:28-00:33
and join him in prayer, lift him up, and bless his family in every way.
00:33-00:34
And I'm sure you'll all pray.
00:35-00:38
Before preaching, I'd like to introduce my first wife, Kathy.
00:39-00:40
She's way older.
00:41-00:42
I've only been married once.
00:42-00:44
She's been married 42 years, but she is my first wife.
00:45-00:50
And I was 18, she's 19 when we got married, and I turned 66 years.
00:51-00:53
You might want to say hi to her after church.
00:54-00:58
I had to say that everyone knew if I was coming, I was going to be staffed back to that.
00:59-01:03
And my granddaughters over there, Katie, gave me a wave, and their car broke down on the way.
01:03-01:06
I was like, all right, so Kyle, my grandson, he's in the block.
01:06-01:07
I don't see him.
01:08-01:10
And here's him, here's him, working on the car.
01:11-01:12
But anyhow, what a privilege.
01:14-01:18
This message is called The Church on the Splice.
01:19-01:24
And I want you to know that how many people of the world have their church, their eyes on you and on me.
01:25-01:27
We are the ones they're watching.
01:27-01:29
We are on display by God's design.
01:31-01:37
And I would ask the question, do they observe that our lives are any different than those in the surrounding culture?
01:38-01:56
And I would say when they see the strength of our commitment and the sacrifice of arts and fashion, when they discover that we are real, Then comes the invitation to check out the assembly of the called out prophets and the validity of the claims of Jesus Christ.
01:57-02:01
Often you are the first driver, your neighbor and friends.
02:03-02:09
See they're watching us and they're asking us, "Is this church things out? Are these people genuine?
02:09-02:13
Do they really believe what the Bible says? Do they follow what they proclaim?
02:13-02:16
Are they any more satisfied?
02:17-02:18
Do they have any more contentment?
02:18-02:19
Are they happier?
02:19-02:21
Do they have a peace that I don't have?
02:22-02:25
My appeal to you today as the church is this.
02:25-02:27
Let's be the church.
02:28-02:35
Let's be the church in the midst of an ever-changing and ever-searching culture, living out the reality of the faith.
02:36-02:41
And when we do so, it becomes our best, or our worst, ever, ties.
02:42-02:50
And I do believe that we, the conservative evangelical church, are really going to have our metal tested in the next few years.
02:50-02:56
When we stand upon the word God, people are going to begin to see a sympathy than they ever have in this culture.
02:57-03:01
That rather than being identified with love, we may be identified with faith.
03:01-03:04
But you see, we should not change anything.
03:04-03:07
We should continue to love God and love people.
03:08-03:16
God has said this, the Church is on mission, and the Church is on mission in a theological and form gospel-centered, Spirit-led way.
03:17-03:24
And amongst this fellowship, you see, we are seeking faithfully for the purposes of Christ, the one who has been incarnated.
03:25-03:35
And the mission of the Church is found in the mission of God, who is calling the world to passionately participate in His redemptive mission in this world.
03:36-03:39
God is praying to you, to the world.
03:41-03:43
Here are some things Jesus says.
03:44-04:09
Back in Matthew chapter 16, He went to His disciples and He said, "Who do people say that I am?" And they said, "Some say you're Isaiah or Jeremiah, one of the prophets." And Jesus said, "Then who do you say that I am?" And it was Peter who said, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And what did Jesus say? He said, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of John, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father which is in heaven.
04:10-04:20
And upon this rock I will establish my church." And he says, "The gates of hell will not prevail against my church." And then he went on to say, "And I give you the keys of the kingdom.
04:21-04:30
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." And really, that's the first time we see the word "church" used in the Bible.
04:31-04:40
Jesus said to his disciples, "I'm here for a reason, and that's to establish the kingdom of God on earth." And the kingdom of God on earth is identified as visible to you.
04:41-04:43
The true church of Jesus Christ.
04:44-04:55
And he said, "Listen, listen, with that kingdom, you see, comes a foundation." And the foundation of the church is not denominationism. It's not, you know, through some systems.
04:56-04:59
it's through people who do what Peter did, believing what Peter believed.
05:00-05:04
He said the foundation is that Jesus is the Christ, I believe you are the Christ.
05:04-05:18
And upon this rock, not Petros, the man, Cephas, Cedar, but upon what Peter just said, and it's a play on words, because they were at Petra, which means giant rock, mountain-sized rock.
05:18-05:33
And he said upon this Petros, he came to Cephas, to Peter, this stone, I will establish my church so that everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, yields to Him, we become a part of that foundation of the church.
05:33-05:38
It's not a building. It's not so much a movement. It's God working through people.
05:40-06:00
And then you know, before He ascended into Heaven, the Scripture says in Matthew 28, it says, "The eleven disciples gathered in a mountain house, Jesus had called them, and when they saw Him, they worshipped Him." And he said this, he said, "All authority and heavy un-earth has been given to me." Well, if you're like me, see, I'm sort of a Greek thinker more than a Jewish thinker.
06:00-06:07
I don't take the word as word necessarily. I want to find out, is what it says really true?
06:07-06:12
What are the other competing philosophies? And I find, when I ask questions, I find answers.
06:14-06:18
But see, when a guy says, "I have all authority," the first thing you're going to ask is, "What?" So do you.
06:20-06:24
You can tell me, I can tell you, listen I have more authority, don't turn right.
06:24-06:29
I may or may not have the authority, but Jesus says all authority has been given to me.
06:29-06:30
Well that's a big thing.
06:31-06:35
And he backed it up by the power of his resurrection and ascension.
06:36-06:41
And listen, unless he did not rise from the dead, in my view, he's not alive.
06:41-06:44
He's a deceitful and a liar and not a prophet.
06:44-06:48
But the resurrection, she settles it all once for us.
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And that's the biggest reason. Listen, listen.
06:51-06:54
The biggest reason I believe in creation is because of Jesus.
06:54-06:56
The biggest reason I believe in the good life is because of Jesus.
06:57-07:00
The biggest reason I believe that Jesus is coming again is because of you.
07:00-07:03
He defeated death once for all, rose from the grave and ascended into heaven.
07:04-07:12
Back to what he said, he said, "The smallest thorn has been removed from me, heaven and earth." Now you, church, you said, "You go, go!" And you make disciples of all nations.
07:12-07:16
You baptize them and teach them everything that I command you to teach.
07:17-07:18
You know the great commission.
07:18-07:21
Go, make disciples, baptize, teach.
07:21-07:22
That's what we're about.
07:22-07:23
God's church.
07:24-07:32
And so we would see that he had this enterprise, this concept, but it's bigger than a man's idea.
07:32-07:35
He said it's the kingdom of God.
07:36-07:41
Let me read to you a letter that a fellow wrote.
07:42-07:58
Let's talk first of all about this word "church." In the Greek it means "ecclesia." It's two words. It's "ecc-le-o." Say those two words with me. "Ecc-le -o." Oh, just a couple of them got the "ch" in there. Let's try it again.
07:59-08:03
"Ecc-le-o." It's two words.
08:03-08:04
That means out of.
08:04-08:05
Coletto means to call.
08:06-08:07
It means to be called out.
08:08-08:10
The other word for the church is synagogues.
08:10-08:13
The assembly of the called out ones is who we are.
08:15-08:23
Now let me read this letter that the pastor wrote because it's real easy to get wrapped around the abstracts about the church.
08:23-08:24
Wouldn't you agree?
08:25-08:31
Whoever said I'm not human, whoever said I'm a shot in front of the moon, I'm tired of that.
08:31-08:36
You know, on Sunday mornings, when I get up and I say, "I don't want to go to that," Kathy says, "You have to.
08:37-08:45
They pay you, and you're the pastor." I don't ever say that, really, but, you know, there are times that they didn't pay me, maybe I was in a shopping mall.
08:46-08:51
Well, here's a guy that got all the hot -hot assistance at church, and you can do that, and you forget.
08:52-08:53
What's it all about?
08:53-08:54
Listen, this is it.
08:55-09:06
He says, "I convinced myself that I was leaving The church was the one with the problem. I was the one of a few of them who had eyes to see.
09:07-09:21
Of course, I hid my inflated sense of self in a lot of church troops that allowed me to quietly sneak out the back door, while my mind continued cycling its laundry list of accusations and complaints of a permanent wound, my own personal negative news-taste.
09:22-09:32
Funny how my inflated sense of synthetic disease spent more time in a self-polluting inner monologue than actually working to confront or resolve any issues, real or imagined.
09:33-09:33
I'll know it by the end of the day.
09:34-09:41
So off to the new church I journeyed, like a frustrated child chasing his ball going home because the game hadn't drawn his attention.
09:43-09:43
Now listen to this.
09:44-10:10
through the distance obtained by leaving, the humility I gained by entering into a new fellowship of believers in which I had no preexistent identity, no status, no authority or say, and the severe work of the Holy Spirit in my heart, I began to realize where my issues with my former church had originated, my own self-service, self-worth, self-living church.
10:11-10:14
What I had created in my mind was a church in my own image.
10:16-10:17
I knew how to operate.
10:18-10:19
I knew how to lead.
10:19-10:21
I knew how to make decisions.
10:22-10:44
So when reality didn't line up with my fantasies, my ego and my heart, and I stopped seeing the church as a place where God invites us to serve one another instead of some instruments tainted to a mis-centered consumer standard against which no institution comprise the human beings we ever made for life.
10:44-10:51
Once I had lived this to myself and repented of my arrogance, my foolishness, and my brash anxiousness, I could breathe again.
10:52-10:56
I could pray again. And I began to hunger for the Word.
10:57-11:02
I began to see God's church once again as a motley, a synthetic, and perfect saints.
11:04-11:04
around.
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Go ahead.
11:07-11:17
Would that describe the group here? A motley assembly of imperfect saints. Well, I could have bought a pay-out-of-Morris Street church today and I guarantee you we're a motley group.
11:18-11:23
But we're just a group of redeemed people wanting to serve Jesus and trying to stay on the path.
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And I'm guessing, see I've only ever been in one church for the most uncertain some years there.
11:30-11:31
I'm guessing it's that way everywhere.
11:32-11:45
But we're drawn together not to demand our own means, but rather to celebrate the model of self-deserving and pride of Christ, whose coming one day to present his church made holy and blameless to his sacrifice.
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And this pastor says, not to the church, I say, I was wrong.
11:54-11:55
So sorry.
11:57-12:01
See, the idea is to keep it simple.
12:02-12:04
On the level of the New Testament teaching and practices.
12:05-12:10
I think it's a good thing, and I guess you're probably really striking it here at Harvest.
12:10-12:20
You need to keep it brutish, more radical in nature, therefore more spiritually purposeful and attuned to being called out of the world.
12:21-12:29
It's really the organizational structure, the image we want to project, the desire to be known and popular.
12:30-12:47
In the last couple of decades at least, I think, everybody has made that success as having a celebrity pastor as an in-house sports fan in a large building and saying, "That's the church!" That can be damaged, but it doesn't guarantee the church.
12:48-12:52
Open your Bible with me to the book of Acts chapter 2 and verse 4-5.
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And let's just take a look on that early church.
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Learn something about the essence and the atmospheres of that church.
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Learn something about God and ourselves today.
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Acts chapter 2 and verse 4-5.
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Here's a description of the early church.
13:10-13:26
It says, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer for service." Now look at the commentary that's written next.
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"And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done for the apostles.
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And all who believed were together and had all things common.
13:35-13:41
And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as they had needed.
13:41-13:51
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God in heaven in favor with all the people.
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And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were in sin.
13:58-14:15
And so you see, in 2018, in the largest church in America, smallest church in Asia, Harvest Tribes I traveled most of the church to be a mark of God's peace because that's what he appealed.
14:16-14:18
And so today, here's my appeal.
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The appeal is let the church be the church.
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Practically, I'm saying this, quit worrying about who you are or who you are, just be just be.
14:33-14:40
Jeff, don't compare yourself to James Macdonald or Pittsburgh East, I don't know how it's going, or any other part of the story, just be a part of the story.
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And people just love each other.
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Stay in the world and encourage each other.
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Be there for one another.
14:49-14:58
Now listen, when the church is being the church, and the world is watching us, here's what they'll discover if we are human citizens.
14:59-15:02
First of all, they'll discover authentic relationships.
15:04-15:06
That's a mark of God's church.
15:06-15:09
are on display, people ought to see real people.
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And in our Acts 242 passage, that's the word fellowship.
15:17-15:20
In the original language of Greek, the word is koinonia.
15:21-15:24
No, I'm just going to-- koinonia.
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And it means this, a communion, a fellowship, a sharing of common.
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It's a participation.
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It's a partnership.
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It means this in our language, do life for heaven.
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See, fellowship is much more than punching punches after.
15:42-15:45
In fact, Jesus went in and he said this.
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He says, there's a new command that I give you, and here it is.
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Love one another.
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You are commanded to love one another.
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It's not an option.
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It's not a choice.
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So look around at you.
15:59-16:01
You may not know love here or here.
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You may not know love there, but here it is.
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It's a command. He says, "Here's my new command. You church, you love each other as I've loved you, so you must love one another." And look at verse 35, "By this all men will know that you belong to me." "By this the world will be convinced that I've made a difference in your life." "By what? If you love me." So I would say, let's just be real with God and real with each other.
16:32-16:34
Jesus said, "By the way, we love one another.
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They who are watching us and who are on display will be convinced that it's real." So in our kynonia, let's live to please God in our faith.
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Let's teach it and live it and model it.
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Let's make it our concern that our fellowship with Christ is rich in food.
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Let us help one another in our temptations and our trials.
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See, that's the fellowship.
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Scripture says, "If one of you has fallen, those of you who are spiritual, what?" You go, and you bring him back up. Galatians 6 and 8.
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James says, "Confess your faults one to another for the reason of prayer." So our burden is for the world that they would know the truth, believe the truth, and live the truth.
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Let us work, you see, in being and helping the bride of Christ become more pure, more holy, and more undefiled as we wait for His return.
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So please understand that we, the church, are on a spiritual journey.
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You may ask me a question, "How do you know?" What do they see when they look at us?
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The second mark of the church, when the church is being the church, here's what people will discover, a spirit and truth kind of worship.
17:51-17:56
There's some organic threads gathering for worship.
17:57-18:04
In John chapter 4, Jesus, remember that story? He was with the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman, the outcast lady.
18:05-18:09
And at noon, his disciples went to get eat. She came to draw water.
18:10-18:12
Now think about this. Why would he come in the middle of the day?
18:14-18:18
I mean, normally, it was in the middle of the morning, the middle of the evening, the ladies got together.
18:19-18:23
You know, no texting, no cell phones, no internet. So they just talked face to face.
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and fuck it away.
18:24-18:29
Have you noticed the more forms of communication we have, the less personal reason to come?
18:30-18:32
I just think that's so insane.
18:32-18:39
One of the things that I as a church should not let go of is eye to eye, hand to hand, face to face contact.
18:39-18:39
Perfect.
18:41-18:43
But anyhow, she came in the middle of the day.
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The reason is she was an outcast of the community.
18:45-18:48
She had had five husbands that she was living with.
18:48-18:50
She had a reputation in town.
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And the other ladies didn't want anything to do with it.
18:53-18:55
So she came to draw water.
18:55-18:57
And they had this conversation.
18:57-19:05
And Jesus said, hey, if you ask me for a drink, I'll give you a drink where you can never thirst again, meaning I'll have you to be born again from your insides.
19:07-19:21
But what I want to end on is he told her, in John chapter 4, he said, the day is coming and has now come that God will have true worshippers who will worship him in spirit and in truth.
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That's what he swears to.
19:25-19:27
To the Jews, where did you go to worship?
19:27-19:28
Jerusalem.
19:29-19:36
To the Samaritans, they had built their own false castle on the mountain there in Samaria.
19:37-19:42
And he says, listen, we Jews, we worship according to the truth, meaning we follow the law.
19:43-19:46
And you Samaritans, you have all spirit.
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Now, you notice that's not a capital S.
19:48-19:52
He doesn't mean through the Holy Spirit we worship and worship the truth of the word.
19:53-19:57
He meant with all of your being you jump around, you're the hand, you do everything.
19:57-20:00
I mean just think of the prophets of Baal, that was a live creature.
20:01-20:05
I mean they cut themselves with hands, they cried out, they did everything.
20:06-20:11
And so Jesus says it's not just, you know, putting on a spirit display.
20:12-20:13
Nor is it dead orphaned.
20:14-20:19
He says true worship is spirit and true, kind worship.
20:21-20:25
Now, as soon as we say worship, we think music and stuff.
20:26-20:29
And that certainly is part of our corporate worship.
20:30-20:34
But scripturally, worship is seen as something more organic than that.
20:35-20:45
The Apostle Paul in Romans 12, he says, listen, you present your life to God as a living sacrifice, and this is your reasonable worship.
20:47-20:51
Remember under the law, we worship God and end your capitalist games.
20:53-20:57
Under the new covenant, we give our lives but we are living sacrifices.
20:57-21:01
We got on his head on his altar once for all and we never get off.
21:01-21:07
So your life, so to speak, becomes one long worship service.
21:09-21:12
Hebrews 13 verses 15 and 16 listen to this.
21:12-21:22
It says, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of the lips that confess His name.
21:22-21:38
And don't forget to do good and share it with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." And it says, "Every good word that you speak of the Lord, for the Lord is worship." Every good work that we do in the name of Jesus is an act of worship.
21:39-21:47
And so we are worshipping 24/7, day and night, with every word that we speak to Him and every work that we do in His name.
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This really worship includes not only our music and our songs, but our teaching, our preaching, the reading of the Scriptures publicly, praying, witnessing, meeting the needs of the poor, and the persecuted.
22:01-22:04
See, worship is more substance than stock.
22:06-22:08
And so here's what they need to see.
22:09-22:10
They need to see a life going on.
22:11-22:21
And they just might come to say, "I'm going to go to your church and check that out." "You believe that Bible? I've got to see what it says for myself." You won't see it.
22:22-22:28
So far I said, you see, what they'll see when they're looking at the church is authentic relationships.
22:30-22:34
Not that just we say we love each other, but they say we like each other.
22:37-22:40
And then we will see that they find this spirit and truth kind of worship.
22:41-22:47
And then a third month, when the church is in the church, people will see us practicing believing free.
22:49-22:51
Now, I think that's somewhat of an oxymoron.
22:53-23:02
It sounds a bit redundant to say believing free, As if there's a category of something called unbelievable prayer.
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Scripturally, there is not.
23:06-23:22
But I'm convinced that we Western popularized evangelicals oftentimes pray to the pleasure of the ear of the people.
23:24-23:34
And we recite the verses one after another, rather than pouring our heart out to a daddy cat who loves us.
23:35-23:40
And so unbelieving prayer is something other than prayer, if there is such a sense of prayer.
23:41-23:42
But I think we ought to watch it.
23:44-23:50
When you travel to a third world country, and you find people who are despots, you don't have to hear the third world country.
23:51-23:58
Anybody that's spiritually despot, because something's completely different than what it is when it's not.
23:59-24:02
I think our view is sort of like in Acts chapter 12.
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James, he was killed by Herod when they arrested Peter.
24:10-24:15
And the Bible says when they arrested Peter that the church would betray him.
24:16-24:19
Now I wonder, did they pray when James was arrested?
24:20-24:22
and if they did, he was beheaded.
24:23-24:26
A prayer man reading number two must have really been serious.
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And if they didn't, it at least was his fault.
24:30-24:31
And you know, prayer is a light.
24:32-24:39
If I ask a preacher who's really tried to pray and read about prayer every one of his, sometimes it doesn't work the way we think it should work.
24:39-24:43
And sometimes it just sort of throw your hands up in the air and say these unbelieving prayers.
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And Lord, I will be done.
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I will be done.
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I will be done.
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And you know, we make-- that's all we say.
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We don't ever go cry out like a kid to his dad saying, "Please, please, please." And I don't know how it all works, except I know believing prayer is what comes on hands.
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But there in Acts chapter 12, they prayed for Peter.
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Peter was miraculously released from prison.
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Remember that story?
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And he got out of prison and went knocking on the door in the service room in the small group meeting in somebody's house to pray in the garden.
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She answers the door.
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She closes the door on Peter.
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She came back and said, Peter's here.
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And the church, what did they say?
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Well, it could not be Peter.
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It has to be his agent.
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They couldn't believe God answered their prayer.
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And then finally, they let him in and he was able to fellowship with them.
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But I think a lot of times when we pray, there's no relief.
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There's no belief.
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There's no rest.
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Now I have this little formula.
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Our prayer life grows.
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I think prayer always begins and should again with obedience.
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Even if you've never done it, and even if you have to start doing it again, even if there's no room to it, obey it, pray, start praying.
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And I think when we have this divine communication with our heavenly father, then it turns to a dissonance.
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Like if you don't do it in the morning, you don't do it in the evening, you feel like, I didn't work out today, or I didn't pay my bills, something that becomes routine.
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And then that discipline turns into a ministry.
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It's sort of like the attitude that turns from inward to outward.
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You start saying, hey, can I pray for you?
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What's your journey?
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And you start to use it this way.
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And then it becomes worship.
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It becomes joy.
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It's like, I'd like-- I think my definite prayer is to find prayer as rest.
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Back in Genesis, chapter 32-- Why don't you go there with me, Genesis 32.
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We'll start in verse 24.
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It's a story about Jacob.
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And Jacob is one of the sons of Israel.
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Remember the nation of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
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I'm going to say one of his fathers of Israel.
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He is one of Isaac's sons.
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And in Genesis 32, beginning in verse 24, it says, "So Jacob was left alone.
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And a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
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And when the man saw that he could not overpower him, he cut the socket of Jacob's hip so that the hip was wrenched.
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And he wrestled with the man.
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And the man said, 'Let me go, for it's daybreak.' And the masked man asked him his name.
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And Jacob replied, "I will not let you go "unless you show your last rites." And the man asked him, "Well, what's your name?" Jacob he answered, and the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob," which means supplant or heel holder, "but Israel, because you've struggled with God "and with men and have overcome." And Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" And then he blessed him there.
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So Jacob called the police to deny, saying it's because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.
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And the sun rose above him and he passed away, and he was limping because of his sickness.
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And I think that's what happens to us when we latch on to God really quickly.
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It becomes a restlessness.
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And I have to confess as a pastor, I'm going to hand out a two-page prayer list every Sunday.
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I can't wrestle over every issue.
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But there's some issue on the signs of wrestle.
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And I won't let up until I know how to sign.
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I just want you to see this.
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If you will faithfully wrestle, I'll give you a new name.
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And you'll leave a mark on it that everybody will know.
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Lastly today, when the church is being the church, people will discover the life of an altering message.
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It's all about the gospel.
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First Corinthians 1 and 18, here's what Paul says.
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He says, "For the message has to be the gospel "of his foolishness to those who are perishers." But to those of us who are being saved, is the power.
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And we the church, on display as a way of life, have to ask, will I identify, will we identify, with the cross?
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And that's foolishness or power?
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Which one is it?
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Now I think it's interesting if you're looking in your Bible, in that verse, and I'll just share this with you.
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Why did Paul not say that the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved is reasonable?
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It's not a... equal equation. He says it's silliness and power.
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We're not silliness and sensitive.
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Because it's not sensitive.
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You understand that?
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It's not perceived with the mind. It's not detached. It's not what you would ever think of.
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Here's what I would think of if I didn't have your information. I would think if there's a God, I better be good.
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And if I've been more good than that, surely He'll take me home.
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But the scripture says through the power of God's, All men, their deliverance is already in their minds, For realizing just one sin could keep you from heaven.
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Only that would be the first because to heaven.
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And it says all men fall short of the glory of God.
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How God locked the balance points.
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How God made it fair what says, I have one son, sinless son, only one born, only adopted sons and daughters.
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Kathy and I are adopted parents, and we have no children born of course.
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But our kids, adoption, you know what they do?
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Who here has adopted?
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Raise your hand if you have anybody.
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On the day of your adoption, you know what you do?
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You go to a dodge.
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And you leave with a title ID just like you bought a car, except it says "birth certificate." And you know what they do on adoption day?
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They change the name of the birth parents to "Robert C. Euclid" and "Kathie A. Euclid" as if that's in the report of the house.
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And you know what?
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I can't give you that.
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They're just like your parents.
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If you're biologically misbehaved, that makes them not your kids.
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No!
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They're your kids, they're my kids, we're his kids, but he had only one son who could make a way and there was no way.
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Listen to what this fellow Ray Kildred said. He said, "Surely Paul could have made the gospel more powerful and less dangerous by saying it was about something else, saying something cleaner, something less ridiculous than the cross, something more glorious, less disgusting." He didn't do that.
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I decided, Paul said, to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
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He said, "That's my specialty." And that has to be our specialty.
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In the face of the worst cultural prejudice imaginable, he fixed the entire gospel squarely and immovably on the fact that Jesus was tasked with a star-off, a cross, and left to die.
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And if he had been trying to find a surefire way to turn the first century's neutral people off from the good news, He could not have done better than that.
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Why did he do it?
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It's simple.
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He knew, because he left the cross outside.
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Or if he ran past it with a glance, or he made a peripheral to the cross, or allowing anything else to displace it at the center of the cross, that it would make it blindly no cross at all.
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The cross passed him.
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good news.
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So I say these same things about the compass.
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First of all, the message of the cross must be sincere to the mission of the church.
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And then secondly, I say this, the power of the cross must be experienced.
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Your life will not change.
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You can get a doctorate in the cross.
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You can read the Bible over and over.
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You can make a chart.
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You can take the hours of Christ's dying on the cross.
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You can do a historical study on the cross.
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You can even explain the gospel to somebody else.
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You have not experienced the power of the cross in your life.
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It's not that the cross needs a new source.
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The cross means...
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That's why Paul said, "I've been crucified with Christ." Was he a cross? No.
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But spiritually he said, "I was slain with Christ." When he died, I died. By his death, I am dead.
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And he said, "It's no longer I who have the death.
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Now Christ lives in me.
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In the life which I live and the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." Do you believe that?
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Do you believe that Jesus died for you?
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And then further in the Galatians, he says, "Does God forbid that I should boast anything except the cross of Jesus Christ, by whom I've been crucified to the world and the world to come?" Now, if you look up here, I have a tuning fluke.
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And I would imagine most people know what a tuning fluke is.
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And I don't know if you'll be able to hear it, Can you give it a try?
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Can you hear that?
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Hear that?
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That's an A45 pitch, okay?
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That's the only note this can play.
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Every time you strike it or play, it vibrates each of those four hundred and forty times.
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Second, is that right?
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There's the second.
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Now listen, listen.
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If we had, let's say we had a hundred pianos, and there was gonna be this big concert, They wanted to play all 100 pianos.
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And the tuner came in, and he tuned the first piano to the A440.
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And he tuned the second piano to the first person.
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And the third piano to the second sound.
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And the fourth piano to the third piano.
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Till they found all 100 pianos, guess what was happening?
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You couldn't play them together.
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Because not a lot of them would have kept the A440.
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And one would be off the other, off the other, off the other.
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There'd be no other way to do that.
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But if he began every A string-- this is A above the middle C, C, A440.
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That's where your star is.
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I was a brain surgeon.
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I was a preacher, but I didn't make enough money.
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So I was a preacher before that.
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I was a piano, piano.
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They tell me that's where your star is.
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But you know what?
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We've got a website.
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It's in 2000, 2000, we can start on the wrong street.
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If we're going to appeal our ministries to a man's name, to a movement, style of worship, anything up in Congress, we're going to become something other than a church.
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And you know, with a little bit of discernment, you don't have to look too far where-- you know, you see lots of different types of people Aren't you a little bit?
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So we saw that's what the world has to say.
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See the cross is the heart of the world, even though it sounds so silly.
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It starts out.
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I think one of the reasons people can't see the cross is because there is no sins anymore.
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Nothing is as sin as itself.
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Until you know the depth of darkness and the oppression of sins, You would know what freedom is.
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People think it's just about human being, and getting along, and doing a little bit of everything.
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Well, my last words today, my last words--
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[AUDIO OUT]
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That's what I want to remind you.
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See this.
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The more we remind ourselves, the more we make it all about Jesus, the better honor you will be in the church being built.
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Just for this purpose, he builds this church.
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He purifies this church.
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He intercedes for this church.
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Get that.
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As we pray to him, he prays for us, to us.
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He intercedes for this church.
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He controls this church.
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He protects this church.
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He puts himself on display for the world.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Discuss the organic roots of the church found in the idea that the church is the "gathering of the called out ones."
When observing the popularized evangelical church, what might one assume that church is about?
What church demographics (size, location, income, staff, programs etc.) would be necessary in order to find authentic relationships, a "spirit and truth" kind of worship, believing prayer and the life-altering message of the cross?
Read Acts 2:42 - What are the four marks of the early church?
Discuss the terms:
postles Doctrine -
Fellowship -
Breaking of Bread -
Prayer -
Read John 13:34,35 - What is the defining mark of Christ's disciples? Discuss koinonia.
When you think of great worship, what comes to your mind? Read Romans 12:1,2 - what is this "spiritual act of worship?" (NIV) "reasonable service?" (NKJV) "your spiritual worship?" (ESV)
Read Hebrews 13:15,16 - What does the Hebrew writer say about our "good words" and our "good works"?
How important is the message of the cross to the "church being the church"?
Read I Corinthians 1:18. Discuss - Why wouldn't Paul have said that the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but reasonable to those who are being saved?
Discuss, "the message of the cross must be central". What kind of gospel (good news) would we have if the message of the cross were eliminated? How is the power of the cross experienced?
Breakout Questions:
On a scale of 0 to 10, how would you rate your prayer life? (0 being nil and 10 being "without ceasing".)
Describe a time when you "wrestled" in prayer. Can you "wrestle in prayer" over every matter? What kind of need would cause you to "wrestle with God"?
Pray for one another!