Note: The time signatures [00:00] below indicate the start of a question if you'd like to skip to a particular one of interest in the audio file.
[00:09] - Q: Are the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost the same thing?
A: TBD[00:54] - Q: What is a spirit/soul and how do they interact with our mind and body?
A: TBD
[03:08] - Q: Since Genesis mentions God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply prior to the fall, and part of the curse was to increase pain of childbirth... will babies be born in heaven?
A: See Matthew 22:30 - For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.[04:32] - Q: Did God make hell? If you go to the first book of the Bible it says God made heaven and earth so where does hell come into play?
A: See Matthew 25:41 - Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’[05:57] - Q: In the old testament God refers to Lucifer as "the morning star" (Isaiah 14:12?), in Revelation Jesus says "He is the bright morning star." (Rev 22:16) How would you explain the differences in these 2 passages to someone who believes they are the same and therefore; Jesus = Lucifer?
A: See 2 Corinthians 4:4 - In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.[10:03] - Q: Are prophesies still a way that God communicates? How does God communicate to masses of people in today's world?
A: See Romans 10:14-17[13:48] - Q: We know that God is outside of time. We believe that old testament saints did not have to wait for Jesus's sacrifice to enter into Heaven (bc it was as if it already happened). We believe that absent from the body = present with God. And yet, Jesus's return will signal a new heaven and new earth, and the reception of our glorified bodies. That indicates that there is some element of time in Heaven. How is it both? How is God outside of time, but also waiting on the right time?
A: See Galatians 4:4-5 - … fullness of time had comeRevelation 6:10 (5th Seal) - …how long before you will judge
Revelation 22:2 - …yielding its fruit each month.
[19:22] - Q: I really miss a lot of my friends that I have been very close to since childhood, but they live very sinful lifestyles and I have tried talking to them about how they act and talk, but they always say they like the way they live, so I have stopped talking to and spending time with them. I have spent a long time trying to fall out of the sinful habits they encourage and I don't want to fall back into those habits, but I have known those friends for so long and I have created such a connection to them that can't just be recreated. I know I shouldn't do anything that would encourage a Godless lifestyle but I also don't want to just abandon them. Do you have any tips or encouragement at all that could help me through this?
A: TBD[23:07] - Q: If there is evidence or individual belief that the government was elected or established through fraud or corruption, are we still called to submit to their "power"?
A: See Mark 12:17 - Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.[27:43] - Q: If Christians are the majority who don't believe in wearing masks, are we chasing non-Christians away from the church by not wearing masks? Shouldn't we be the first to want to protect others and make them feel comfortable? Thank you in advance!
A: TBD[38:27] - Q: Flat earth vs Round earth? Thoughts?
A: See Isaiah 40:22 - It is he who sits above the circle of the earth…
Revelation 7:1 - After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree.
Any question that was missed due to time constraints during the service Pastor Jeff will address the answer on the blog.
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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Pastor Jeff:
00:00-00:02
All right, timer's going.
Mark Ort:
00:02-00:06
What we'll do is we're gonna go through the ones that were submitted, and if we have time, we'll pass the mic.
Mark Ort:
00:07-00:07
Yeah. - Fair enough?
Mark Ort:
00:08-00:08
Fair enough, go ahead.
Mark Ort:
00:08-00:09
All right, you ready? - Yep.
Mark Ort:
00:09-00:14
First one, Jeff, are the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost the same thing?
Mark Ort:
00:14-00:14
Yes.
Mark Ort:
00:15-00:16
All right, question two.
Mark Ort:
00:17-00:19
Actually, I looked this up a little bit, Jeff.
Mark Ort:
00:19-00:24
And the Holy Ghost, the word ghost is actually the proper word.
Mark Ort:
00:25-00:30
But over the years, as language evolves, What do we think of when we think of a ghost?
Mark Ort:
00:30-00:34
Like Casper, Halloween, things like that.
Mark Ort:
00:34-00:45
And so translators in modern versions have changed it to spirit because that's what ghost really meant back in the day.
Pastor Jeff:
00:45-00:47
Right, yeah, I totally agree.
Pastor Jeff:
00:47-00:52
I think ghost is just associated with Halloween-y type things and we just sort of
Mark Ort:
00:52-00:53
avoid that.
Mark Ort:
00:54-00:55
Okay, next one.
Mark Ort:
00:55-01:01
What is a spirit soul and how do they interact with our mind and body?
Pastor Jeff:
01:02-01:05
We are body, mind and spirit.
Pastor Jeff:
01:05-01:10
So when you look in a mirror, there's more to you than what is being reflected back, right?
Pastor Jeff:
01:10-01:21
I mean, if that weren't the case, when somebody died and we see their body in the casket, we're like, well, that's it, it's over, because there they are, there's their body.
Pastor Jeff:
01:21-01:26
Obviously, there's more to you than the physical body I believe that you're body, mind, and spirit.
Pastor Jeff:
01:26-01:32
I believe that, you know, when the Bible says that God created man in his image, I believe that's part of it.
Pastor Jeff:
01:33-01:44
God is three in one somehow in an inexplicable way, and I believe that's true for us, that we are body, mind, and spirit in one here.
Pastor Jeff:
01:45-01:46
How do they interact?
Pastor Jeff:
01:48-01:50
Each one of those affects the other.
Pastor Jeff:
01:52-01:54
Sin affects the body and mind.
Pastor Jeff:
01:55-01:55
And you know that.
Pastor Jeff:
01:55-02:00
When you're living in unrepentant sin, you know how that wears on your body and mind.
Pastor Jeff:
02:01-02:05
Physically, you'll have problems, and mentally, you'll deal with depression.
Pastor Jeff:
02:06-02:09
Physical sickness affects your mind and your spirit.
Pastor Jeff:
02:10-02:11
And you know what that's like.
Pastor Jeff:
02:11-02:18
If you've been sick, especially if you've had a debilitating sickness for a long time, how that wears on your mind and spirit.
Pastor Jeff:
02:18-02:37
And then, you know, your mind, depression, for example, can affect your spirit and your body. So, you know, we're all interconnected body, mind, and spirit. And it's not something that we can easily explain, but something that we readily experience.
Mark Ort:
02:38-02:54
Yeah, and when I saw this question, I thought about Deuteronomy 6, verse 5. And that verse is actually repeated in the New Testament in Matthew. It says, "To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
Mark Ort:
02:54-02:58
And you see some things with the mind and the body interacting there, right?
Mark Ort:
02:59-03:02
With how we love God and how we worship God.
Mark Ort:
03:02-03:06
And so those things work together, I see, in the Scriptures in our worship.
Mark Ort:
03:07-03:07
Right on.
Mark Ort:
03:08-03:10
Okay, let's go to question number three.
Mark Ort:
03:10-03:21
Since Genesis mentions God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply prior to the fall, And part of the curse was to increase pain of childbirth.
Mark Ort:
03:22-03:23
Will babies be born in heaven?
Pastor Jeff:
03:24-03:26
Well, we know for sure that there's no marriage in heaven.
Pastor Jeff:
03:27-03:33
And when you look at the Bible, procreation was given sort of in the context of the marriage relationship.
Pastor Jeff:
03:34-03:38
I don't see any biblical support that children are born in heaven.
Pastor Jeff:
03:39-03:57
Jesus said, Matthew 22, 30, "For in the resurrection, they will neither marry nor are given a marriage, but are like angels in heaven." So I don't see in heaven some of the things that we deal with on earth like marriage and procreation and childbirth.
Pastor Jeff:
03:57-04:04
But regarding the pain of childbirth, look, my understanding regarding childbirth is purely second-handed, okay?
Pastor Jeff:
04:06-04:09
So I'm just speaking from a biblical perspective.
Pastor Jeff:
04:10-04:13
Part of the curse was an increase in pain.
Pastor Jeff:
04:14-04:21
My understanding is childbirth always hurt, but part of the curse was increasing of that pain.
Pastor Jeff:
04:21-04:28
So I don't think it was necessarily meant to be comfortable and easy in the first place.
Mark Ort:
04:30-04:31
Excellent, thank you, Jeff.
Mark Ort:
04:32-04:34
Number four, did God make hell?
Mark Ort:
04:35-04:39
If you go to the first book of the Bible, it says God made heaven and earth.
Mark Ort:
04:40-04:41
So where does hell come into play?
Pastor Jeff:
04:42-04:43
Where does hell come into play?
Pastor Jeff:
04:44-04:48
My understanding with this question as it's in regards to when hell was created.
Pastor Jeff:
04:50-05:02
Matthew 25, 41, this is Jesus teaching on end time things, that the day's gonna come that Jesus is going to separate those who have received him and those who have rejected him.
Pastor Jeff:
05:02-05:16
But Jesus, in the context of his teaching, said, "Then he will say to those on his left, "Apart from me you cursed, and the eternal fire," look at how Jesus worded this, Eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Pastor Jeff:
05:16-05:18
So did God make hell?
Pastor Jeff:
05:18-05:20
That's the first part of the question, and the answer is yes.
Pastor Jeff:
05:22-05:24
So my understanding with the rest of the question is when?
Pastor Jeff:
05:25-05:27
The Bible just doesn't say when.
Pastor Jeff:
05:28-05:44
It just says that God prepared this lake of fire specifically for the devil, his angels, and we know the people who reject Christ also have their portion in the lake of fire, but the Bible does not explicitly, excuse me, say this is when that was created.
Pastor Jeff:
05:44-05:52
So my best guess would be, it'd have to be obviously sometime after the angelic rebellion, right?
Pastor Jeff:
05:54-05:55
The Bible just doesn't say.
Mark Ort:
05:55-05:56
All right, thank you, Jeff.
Mark Ort:
05:57-05:58
Question number five.
Mark Ort:
05:58-06:04
In the Old Testament, God refers to Lucifer as the morning star, Isaiah 14, 12.
Mark Ort:
06:05-06:09
In Revelation, Jesus says he is the bright and morning star.
Mark Ort:
06:09-06:11
Revelation 22, 16.
Mark Ort:
06:12-06:21
How would you explain the differences in these two passages to someone who believes they are the same and therefore Jesus equals Lucifer?
Mark Ort:
06:21-06:27
And that's a really good question and I'm gonna let Jeff answer this one all by himself.
Mark Ort:
06:27-06:28
I was hoping you were
Pastor Jeff:
06:28-06:29
gonna chime in here, Mark.
Pastor Jeff:
06:30-06:36
Well, in Isaiah 14, Lucifer Literally, that means shining light.
Pastor Jeff:
06:37-06:46
And in this prophecy, it's connecting Satan's fall to the King of Babylon in a way that often happens in prophecy.
Pastor Jeff:
06:46-06:51
It's like multi-layered, but it's talking about Satan's beauty before his fall.
Pastor Jeff:
06:51-07:01
But when Jesus uses the term in Revelation 22, he's talking about the fact that he himself, Jesus himself, is this eternal light of day.
Pastor Jeff:
07:01-07:10
There's no night or darkness or anything like that in heaven because the light of Jesus Christ, the morning star, is always shining.
Pastor Jeff:
07:10-07:21
So the question is, "Well, wait a minute. How can the same word be used for both?" And truthfully, that's not really that strange when it comes to the Bible.
Pastor Jeff:
07:21-07:26
Because do you know, regarding Jesus and Satan, the Bible calls both of them God?
Pastor Jeff:
07:26-07:27
Do you know that?
Pastor Jeff:
07:27-07:36
Like, we've been going through the Gospel of John, and we've seen explicitly over and over and over that Jesus Christ is Almighty God in the flesh, right?
Pastor Jeff:
07:37-07:39
But did you know the Bible calls Satan God?
Pastor Jeff:
07:40-08:01
In what is it, 2 Corinthians 4.4, it says, "In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the Gospel, the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." You see, in this talk about Jesus as God, Jesus is God by nature.
Pastor Jeff:
08:01-08:08
Satan is called a God because of his realm of authority on the earth, right?
Pastor Jeff:
08:08-08:15
I mean, can't you see that Satan obviously is, for now, having his way on the earth, right?
Pastor Jeff:
08:15-08:20
And I believe that that's the same kind of issue that we have with the Morning Star.
Pastor Jeff:
08:20-08:24
where the context of both passages sort of determine that same thing.
Pastor Jeff:
08:24-08:37
In Isaiah 14 it's describing an aspect of Satan, but in Revelation 22 it's describing the very nature of who Jesus Christ is.
Pastor Jeff:
08:37-08:47
So, yeah, the Bible sometimes uses words like that to describe both Jesus and Satan, but context is important.
Pastor Jeff:
08:47-08:51
Nature versus descriptive aspect. Does that make sense?
Mark Ort:
08:52-08:52
Makes sense to me.
Mark Ort:
08:52-08:53
Okay. Does that make
Pastor Jeff:
08:53-08:54
sense to everybody else?
Pastor Jeff:
08:54-08:55
I can start over.
Pastor Jeff:
08:56-08:57
Please no.
Mark Ort:
08:58-09:00
You mentioned context. Context is king.
Pastor Jeff:
09:00-09:01
Yeah. You've got to go with the context.
Pastor Jeff:
09:02-09:02
Yeah.
Mark Ort:
09:02-09:05
I was watching a video this morning and the guy was harping on context.
Mark Ort:
09:05-09:06
We've got to look at context.
Pastor Jeff:
09:06-09:11
Right. And that's, you know, like the 2 Corinthians 4 passage, you know, context.
Pastor Jeff:
09:11-09:15
Somebody could read just that and be like, oh, see the Bible calls Satan God.
Pastor Jeff:
09:15-09:37
And you could run with that and try to explain things about Satan's powers and abilities and all of that when really the only thing he was getting across here is Satan has authority over the earth for now in the context of blinding the minds of unbelievers.
Pastor Jeff:
09:37-09:43
There are some people that you're like, "I've shared the gospel with him 30 times and he doesn't get it.
Pastor Jeff:
09:44-09:47
Why can't he get it? Because Satan put the veil over their face.
Pastor Jeff:
09:47-09:50
They can't see what you're saying.
Pastor Jeff:
09:50-09:54
And that's the context of Satan being called God.
Pastor Jeff:
09:54-09:55
That's an aspect of his authority.
Pastor Jeff:
09:56-09:57
He's not God the way Jesus is God.
Pastor Jeff:
09:58-10:01
Jesus is God by nature. That's who He is.
Mark Ort:
10:02-10:02
Amen.
Mark Ort:
10:03-10:07
Number six, are prophecies still a way that God communicates?
Mark Ort:
10:08-10:12
How does God communicate to the masses of people in today's world?
Pastor Jeff:
10:13-10:17
When we talk about prophecy, immediately our minds think of telling the future, right?
Pastor Jeff:
10:18-10:23
Like, "I prophesy that you're going to have spaghetti on Wednesday," or something like that.
Pastor Jeff:
10:23-10:28
We think it's all about the future, but really, prophecy is not just about the future.
Pastor Jeff:
10:29-10:36
Prophecy, in its very base explanation, definition, is proclaiming the Word of God.
Pastor Jeff:
10:36-10:37
That's prophecy.
Pastor Jeff:
10:38-10:50
So when I get up here, or Rich, or Mark, or whoever gets up here on a Sunday and says, "Open your Bibles, this is what the Bible says," that's prophesying, right?
Pastor Jeff:
10:51-10:58
Now, there are some prophecies in the Bible that have to do with the future, absolutely.
Pastor Jeff:
10:59-11:02
But we prophesy when we proclaim the Word of God.
Pastor Jeff:
11:02-11:11
And I have a whole lot more I'm going to say about this, But I'm not going to because that's the whole sermon subject next week.
Pastor Jeff:
11:11-11:14
So we're going to be talking all about this next week.
Pastor Jeff:
11:15-11:20
But the question here is, how does God communicate to the masses of people in today's world?
Pastor Jeff:
11:20-11:21
The Bible tells us.
Pastor Jeff:
11:22-11:31
Romans 10 says, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?" How is somebody going to believe in Jesus if they...
Pastor Jeff:
11:31-11:34
How are they going to call on Him if they haven't...
Pastor Jeff:
11:34-11:40
He says, "How are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?" Like, believe in Jesus, but they've never heard the story.
Pastor Jeff:
11:40-11:41
Like, how does that happen?
Pastor Jeff:
11:42-11:45
"How are they to hear without someone preaching?" Ah, here we go.
Pastor Jeff:
11:46-11:50
"How are they to preach unless they are sent?" So you see, he's building this whole thing.
Pastor Jeff:
11:50-12:02
He's like, "People need to hear about Jesus because they don't know about Jesus." So the way people hear about Jesus is God sends somebody to preach, to proclaim the Word of God.
Pastor Jeff:
12:02-12:05
That's why this church is big on preaching, because God is.
Pastor Jeff:
12:06-12:11
God says, "This is how I choose to communicate my message "to a lost and dying world.
Pastor Jeff:
12:11-12:28
"It's through the proclamation of my word "through a preacher." And he goes on, "As it is written, "how beautiful are the feet of those "who preach the good news, "but they have not all obeyed the gospel." For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed "what he has heard from us." Look at this last statement.
Pastor Jeff:
12:28-12:30
We're gonna talk about this next week, I think.
Pastor Jeff:
12:30-12:32
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
12:33-12:39
That's why we preach the Word of God, because we want people to have faith, and there's only one way people have faith, it's through the Word of Christ.
Pastor Jeff:
12:41-12:43
So that's how God communicates today.
Mark Ort:
12:43-12:48
Yeah, Jeff, when I saw this question, the first thing that popped into my mind was Hebrews chapter one.
Mark Ort:
12:50-13:01
Verse one, it says, "God, after he spoke long ago, "in many portions and in many ways in these last days, "has spoken to us in his Son," which is what you're saying.
Mark Ort:
13:01-13:05
Through whom he appointed air of all things, through whom also he made the world.
Mark Ort:
13:06-13:21
And in many portions, in many ways, you think about the burning bush, you think about the still small voice, dreams, all these different things, different ways he spoke to his people.
Mark Ort:
13:21-13:25
And now to us, he speaks to us through his son.
Mark Ort:
13:26-13:27
Right. - And his son is the word.
Mark Ort:
13:27-13:30
This son is like the last final word.
Pastor Jeff:
13:30-13:41
God's not going to say, "Okay, here's something new and next." What's next is the return of his son, which the Bible talks about.
Pastor Jeff:
13:42-13:44
But yeah, that's a great verse to highlight here, Mark.
Pastor Jeff:
13:45-13:46
Okay, you ready for the next one?
Pastor Jeff:
13:46-13:47
I'm ready for the next one.
Mark Ort:
13:47-13:47
Okay.
Mark Ort:
13:48-13:50
We know that God is outside of time.
Mark Ort:
13:50-13:56
We believe that Old Testament saints did not have to wait for Jesus' sacrifice to enter into heaven.
Mark Ort:
13:56-13:59
It was as if it had already happened.
Mark Ort:
14:00-14:10
We believe that absence from the body is present with God, and yet Jesus' return will signal a new heaven and a new earth, and the reception of our glorified bodies.
Mark Ort:
14:11-14:14
That indicates that there is some element of time in heaven.
Mark Ort:
14:14-14:15
How is it both?
Mark Ort:
14:16-14:21
How is God outside of time, but also waiting on the right time?
Pastor Jeff:
14:21-14:28
>> Whoever submitted this question, I bet they are a treat to watch "Back to the Future" I love that movie.
Pastor Jeff:
14:31-14:34
Well, first of all, the person brought up a good point here.
Pastor Jeff:
14:35-14:43
When we talk about time and salvation, every single person that's in heaven or ever will be in heaven is going to have the same testimony.
Pastor Jeff:
14:43-14:47
They're going to say, "I'm here because of Jesus." Like, well, how is that true with the Old Testament people?
Pastor Jeff:
14:48-14:51
Their faith was based on the promise of what God would do.
Pastor Jeff:
14:51-14:52
They were looking forward.
Pastor Jeff:
14:53-14:55
God has promised someday, too.
Pastor Jeff:
14:55-15:01
Their faith is based on what's going to happen, just as our faith is based on what did happen.
Pastor Jeff:
15:01-15:02
We're looking back.
Pastor Jeff:
15:02-15:07
We are saved because Jesus came and died and rose, as promised in the Bible.
Pastor Jeff:
15:09-15:35
But when we talk about God being outside of time, I think to maybe make that more specific, God is not bound by time, but God in His sovereignty uses time for his purposes for man." So when we talk about God being outside of time, it's not like God is completely oblivious to or He has nothing to do with time.
Pastor Jeff:
15:36-15:39
Like He in His sovereignty, He uses it.
Pastor Jeff:
15:40-15:53
Like Galatians 4 says, "When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth a son born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who are under the law so that we might receive adoptions as sons.
Pastor Jeff:
15:53-15:54
It's staggering.
Pastor Jeff:
15:54-15:57
And this could be-- oh gosh, we could spend weeks talking about this.
Pastor Jeff:
15:58-16:01
But do you realize when Jesus came was no accident?
Pastor Jeff:
16:01-16:06
That God was looking at the entire timeline of human history, and God was like, right here.
Pastor Jeff:
16:06-16:07
Right here.
Pastor Jeff:
16:07-16:11
Here is when Jesus Christ is going to walk on the earth.
Pastor Jeff:
16:11-16:12
Why then?
Pastor Jeff:
16:12-16:16
You can talk about the Roman roads, and the Pax Romana, and the currency system, and the language.
Pastor Jeff:
16:16-16:19
There are all these things that God's like, no.
Pastor Jeff:
16:19-16:26
"This is exactly when I'm going to send my Son." Not a second sooner, not a second later.
Pastor Jeff:
16:27-16:28
Perfect timing.
Pastor Jeff:
16:28-16:31
So God in His sovereignty uses time.
Pastor Jeff:
16:32-16:35
Now regarding time in heaven.
Pastor Jeff:
16:36-16:40
Now there is some concept of time in heaven.
Pastor Jeff:
16:41-16:45
You're like, "Well, how do you know that?" Well, there's a couple of verses in Revelation that point to that.
Pastor Jeff:
16:46-16:49
One is Revelation 6, talking about this is the fifth...
Pastor Jeff:
16:49-16:52
we went through Revelation, the fifth seal.
Pastor Jeff:
16:52-16:54
These are people that were murdered for their faith.
Pastor Jeff:
16:55-16:56
And they're in heaven, they're under the altar.
Pastor Jeff:
16:57-17:00
And the Bible says they cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true.
Pastor Jeff:
17:01-17:01
Look at what they're asking.
Pastor Jeff:
17:02-17:03
These are people in heaven asking this.
Pastor Jeff:
17:03-17:09
Like how long, how much longer before you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell in the earth?
Pastor Jeff:
17:09-17:11
Like God, you see what's happening.
Pastor Jeff:
17:12-17:13
How long are you gonna let this happen?
Pastor Jeff:
17:14-17:17
So obviously there's some concept of the passing of time.
Pastor Jeff:
17:17-17:22
And even in the eternal state, Revelation 22, 2, look at this.
Pastor Jeff:
17:23-17:38
"In the middle of the street of the city, also on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month." Apparently there is some marking of passing of time in heaven because there are trees yielding fruit according to the Bible.
Pastor Jeff:
17:39-17:42
And again, this is eternal state type stuff, monthly.
Pastor Jeff:
17:43-17:45
So there is some concept of time in heaven.
Mark Ort:
17:46-17:54
And I think, Jeff, sometimes we get our theology or biblical thinking from songs or hymns.
Mark Ort:
17:54-18:06
And I think sometimes this idea of no time in heaven comes from that song that says, when the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more.
Mark Ort:
18:06-18:08
I mean, we grew up singing that, right?
Mark Ort:
18:08-18:19
And it's a great song and everything, but we just need to be careful that we're not learning theology from a man written song.
Mark Ort:
18:19-18:35
And that's why on a different, I guess, similar note, but don't wanna get on a rabbit trail, but this church takes great care with that and pains with making sure that our songs are biblically accurate.
Mark Ort:
18:37-18:42
We've actually cut songs out of our playlist and things like that because of - We can change
Pastor Jeff:
18:42-18:43
lines in songs.
Pastor Jeff:
18:43-18:46
Like it's a good song except that lines, we're just gonna change that line.
Mark Ort:
18:46-18:49
Yeah, and so we do take pains with that.
Mark Ort:
18:49-18:58
And if you ever sing a song and the lyrics aren't correct, maybe you could graciously approach one of us and we'll take a look at it.
Mark Ort:
18:58-18:59
And on that note,
Pastor Jeff:
19:00-19:01
I love our worship team.
Pastor Jeff:
19:02-19:02
All right,
Mark Ort:
19:03-19:04
we good on that one?
Pastor Jeff:
19:04-19:05
Yeah, we're good.
Pastor Jeff:
19:05-19:07
All right, now those were like the theology questions.
Pastor Jeff:
19:07-19:11
The rest of them here, we have four that are like Christian living
19:11-19:13
question.
19:14-19:14
These
Pastor Jeff:
19:14-19:16
aren't like hard categories like Jeopardy, right?
Pastor Jeff:
19:17-19:20
So I just tried to separate them that way.
Mark Ort:
19:22-19:24
Okay, this is a long one, so bear with me.
Mark Ort:
19:25-19:39
I really miss a lot of my friends that I have been very close to since childhood, but they live very sinful lifestyles and I have tried talking to them about how they act and talk, but they always say they like the way they live.
Mark Ort:
19:39-19:42
And so I have stopped talking to and spending time with them.
Mark Ort:
19:43-19:48
I have spent a long time trying to fall out of sinful habits they encourage and I don't want to fall back into these habits.
Mark Ort:
19:49-19:57
But I have known these friends for a long time, for so long, and I have created such a connection to them that just can't be recreated.
Mark Ort:
19:57-20:05
I know I shouldn't do anything that would encourage a godless lifestyle, but I also don't want to just abandon them.
Mark Ort:
20:05-20:09
Do you have any tips or encouragement at all me through this.
Pastor Jeff:
20:11-20:48
>>I don't know who wrote this question. But I so much appreciated the heart and maturity behind that question. And what I would say to that person is you need to see your friends, your unsafe friends, you need to see them as a mission field. Like you're saying, like I'm kind of reading into the question here, My understanding is if this person was sitting in my office, like you've received Christ and Christ has changed you and you realize you can't live in the sinful ways of your friends and still live for Christ at the same time.
Pastor Jeff:
20:48-20:51
And your friends need what you have.
Pastor Jeff:
20:52-20:54
So my encouragement would be like practical tips.
Pastor Jeff:
20:55-20:59
Instead of going and partying with your friends, invite your friends to party with you, right?
Pastor Jeff:
21:00-21:01
Things like Arrow.
Pastor Jeff:
21:02-21:06
How many youth group events do we have that encourage, right Dan?
Pastor Jeff:
21:07-21:09
Encourage people, invite your unsafe friends.
Pastor Jeff:
21:10-21:15
We will love them and we're gonna have fun, play some games, we're gonna share the gospel with them and we're gonna include them.
Pastor Jeff:
21:16-21:22
And I would say, don't write your friends off because they don't know the Lord.
Pastor Jeff:
21:22-21:31
See them as a mission field and invite them to be a part of the way God's working in your life through ministries like Arrow, our student ministry.
Mark Ort:
21:32-21:49
Yeah, I would, just speaking from a position of a father who has kids who are launching into their 20s very soon, and just a word of maybe some advice, I don't know.
Mark Ort:
21:49-21:54
I'm not usually willing to give out advice because a lot of people don't care what Mark Hort has to say.
Mark Ort:
21:55-22:13
But one thing that I would encourage parents, I guess, And even the younger guys and girls, develop a set of convictions about certain issues now before you face the temptation.
Mark Ort:
22:13-22:25
For instance, you're going to encounter situations, obviously, that are sinful and are gonna harm you and potentially destroy your life.
Mark Ort:
22:25-22:31
Drugs, alcohol, sexual promiscuity.
Mark Ort:
22:31-22:34
any of those things, you need to decide now.
Mark Ort:
22:34-22:42
Parents, teach your kids to decide now how you're gonna respond in those situations and go with that conviction.
Mark Ort:
22:43-22:47
Like, I am not going to take drugs under any circumstance.
Mark Ort:
22:48-22:54
And then when you get in a situation where somebody has something for you, you're like, no, I have a conviction against that.
Mark Ort:
22:55-22:56
Yeah, you have to make those choices ahead
Pastor Jeff:
22:56-22:57
of time.
Mark Ort:
22:57-23:05
Make the choices ahead of time, or else when you get with your friends, the thing that is happening in this question is bound to happen.
Mark Ort:
23:05-23:06
Right on.
Mark Ort:
23:07-23:15
Is there evidence or individual belief that the government was elected or established through fraud or corruption?
Mark Ort:
23:16-23:20
If there's evidence, are we still called to submit to their power?
Pastor Jeff:
23:21-23:24
I'm thinking, oh yeah, look at the time.
Pastor Jeff:
23:25-23:26
Well, it was great to see everyone.
Pastor Jeff:
23:26-23:27
You're loved.
Pastor Jeff:
23:28-23:29
Drive safe, happy New Year.
Pastor Jeff:
23:30-23:32
Look, I would just say this.
Pastor Jeff:
23:34-23:35
There is nothing new under the sun.
Pastor Jeff:
23:36-23:43
And you look at Old Testament Israel like Jesus' day, you realize they had two layers of bad government, right?
Pastor Jeff:
23:44-23:51
Because during Jesus' day, Israel was under Roman occupation, which meant Israel was in their land and they could kind of do their thing.
Pastor Jeff:
23:52-23:53
But Rome was in charge.
Pastor Jeff:
23:53-23:59
And if you do any kind of study on that, The corruption in Israel's government was horrific.
Pastor Jeff:
24:00-24:01
We talked about that recently.
Pastor Jeff:
24:01-24:05
Like the high priest, that job went to whoever had the most money.
Pastor Jeff:
24:06-24:08
Okay, they bid out, the Romans bid out that job.
Pastor Jeff:
24:09-24:15
So you had Israel being sort of sub-ruled by people that bought their position.
Pastor Jeff:
24:16-24:20
And you look at the debacle that was the trial of Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
24:21-24:22
Would you think there was corruption there?
Pastor Jeff:
24:23-24:26
We did a sermon on that one time, all the corruption that went in the trial of Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
24:26-24:32
It was like they broke every law possible in the way that they tried Jesus to crucify Him.
Pastor Jeff:
24:33-24:39
And then the Romans, I mean, you talk about the next level of corruption.
Pastor Jeff:
24:39-24:50
I mean, that was nothing but a sin fest, the way people went into power and the adultery, the murder.
Pastor Jeff:
24:52-24:54
There's nothing new under the sun.
Pastor Jeff:
24:55-25:10
But I want to remind you of something that Jesus said, even underneath such corrupt governments, Jesus said, Mark 12, 17, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they marveled at him.
Pastor Jeff:
25:11-25:19
And we went through Mark a few years ago and spent a lot of time talking about this particular verse.
Pastor Jeff:
25:20-25:22
But that was Jesus' response.
Pastor Jeff:
25:22-25:24
In the context here, they're trying to trick Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
25:25-25:26
Should you pay your taxes?
Pastor Jeff:
25:26-25:32
Because they're like, "We got 'em now." If Jesus says, "Pay your taxes," everybody's gonna be like, "Boo!
Pastor Jeff:
25:32-25:47
"You're with the Romans!" And if Jesus goes, "No, no, no, "you shouldn't pay your taxes," they're gonna go and tell Rome, "Hey, Jesus said we shouldn't pay taxes." So they're like, "We got 'em." So they're like, "We got 'em." And this was Jesus' response.
Pastor Jeff:
25:47-25:52
Like, yeah, give Caesar the things that are Caesar's to God the things that are God's?
Mark Ort:
25:53-26:05
You know, when we go through the time that we just went through in November with our election, one of the verses that always comes back to my mind is from the book of Daniel 2.21.
Mark Ort:
26:06-26:12
And that says that God sets up leaders and he brings leaders down.
Mark Ort:
26:12-26:15
He establishes them and he removes them.
Mark Ort:
26:15-26:19
And so that's encouraging to me.
Mark Ort:
26:20-26:27
I mean, we see what happened throughout history, God taking out rulers and taking them out of spider holes.
Mark Ort:
26:27-26:28
Saddam Hussein, remember that?
Mark Ort:
26:30-26:38
You know, he lived in a palace with gold-plated furniture and things like that, and he ended up his life in a spider hole.
Mark Ort:
26:40-26:42
So we take encouragement in that.
Mark Ort:
26:43-26:48
And in our election, are there people in government?
Mark Ort:
26:49-26:51
Then there's going to be corruption.
Mark Ort:
26:52-26:56
Not just at the federal level, 'cause it's clear down to your local school board.
Mark Ort:
26:57-26:59
But do we submit?
Mark Ort:
27:00-27:06
We submit to our authorities as long as they don't go against God's commands.
Mark Ort:
27:07-27:18
In Acts, it talks about we would rather obey God than man. When the government goes against what God says, that's when...
Mark Ort:
27:18-27:18
You
Pastor Jeff:
27:18-27:37
appeal to the higher authority, right? Sort of like if a husband would command his wife to do something sinful, she would appeal to the higher authority, which is God. That's what we should do as citizens. Obey the government until the government calls you to do something contrary to what God would call you to do.
Mark Ort:
27:40-27:41
You want another hot button?
Mark Ort:
27:41-27:42
Why not?
Mark Ort:
27:43-27:52
"If Christians are the majority who don't believe in wearing masks, are we chasing non-Christians away from the church by not wearing masks?
Mark Ort:
27:53-27:58
Shouldn't we be the first ones to want to protect others and make them feel comfortable?
Mark Ort:
27:58-27:59
Thank you in advance." That
Pastor Jeff:
27:59-28:00
is a really good question.
Pastor Jeff:
28:02-28:03
Here's the bottom line.
Pastor Jeff:
28:03-28:05
I don't care if you wear a mask.
Pastor Jeff:
28:05-28:06
I really don't.
Pastor Jeff:
28:06-28:08
We have masks available by the door.
Pastor Jeff:
28:08-28:12
We have a couple boxes for somebody that comes in and wants to wear one.
Pastor Jeff:
28:12-28:15
You can absolutely wear a mask.
Pastor Jeff:
28:15-28:19
And some people choose to wear them and some people choose not to.
Pastor Jeff:
28:21-28:22
I don't care if you wear a mask or not.
Pastor Jeff:
28:23-28:29
We do, for people that are ultra-cautious, concerned, whatever, we live stream our services.
Pastor Jeff:
28:30-28:38
We have an amazing group of people that live stream and then go after the fact and edit and make sure the messages and everything's online.
Pastor Jeff:
28:39-28:46
We also have a virtual small group for people that want to be part of a small group but are cautious about being around other people.
Pastor Jeff:
28:47-29:08
I feel like as a church we've made every provision that we can to try to protect people that might be cautious, whether they're susceptible, whether they're living with somebody who might be susceptible to the virus, or whether they're just really, really concerned.
Pastor Jeff:
29:09-29:15
I feel like we've made every provision that we need to regarding protecting people.
Pastor Jeff:
29:15-29:29
But as far as, what was interesting to me about this question was the part that says, are we chasing non-Christians away from the church by not wearing masks?
Pastor Jeff:
29:30-29:33
Mark, we had a really interesting discussion about this.
Pastor Jeff:
29:33-29:39
And why don't you share sort of the primary philosophy regarding church anyways.
Mark Ort:
29:40-29:49
Well, in our conversation, we just briefly spoke about who the church is for and who is the church.
Mark Ort:
29:50-29:54
The church is a body of believers, right?
Mark Ort:
29:55-29:57
This gathering is for believers.
Mark Ort:
29:58-30:01
And are we gonna turn unbelievers away?
Mark Ort:
30:02-30:02
Hopefully not.
Mark Ort:
30:03-30:05
We don't want unbelievers to be turned away.
Mark Ort:
30:05-30:06
We want them to come in here.
Mark Ort:
30:07-30:11
We want them to sit under the teaching of God's word.
Mark Ort:
30:12-30:16
But the church, by definition, is the called out ones.
Mark Ort:
30:16-30:18
We are God's people.
Mark Ort:
30:19-30:27
And so we're really, and I don't mean to be offensive or anything, but we're not, this isn't something for unbelievers.
Mark Ort:
30:27-30:29
Although we have a message for unbelievers.
Mark Ort:
30:29-30:29
Right.
Pastor Jeff:
30:30-30:32
If you're an unbeliever, we're glad you're here.
Pastor Jeff:
30:33-30:36
And we want you to come back, and we love that you're here.
Pastor Jeff:
30:36-30:43
But what we're talking about is when we are putting the service together, we are here for believers.
Pastor Jeff:
30:44-30:48
That's why we worship, that's why we pray, that's why we come around the Lord's Supper.
Pastor Jeff:
30:48-30:54
And I know different churches have different philosophies, and hey, that's okay, I'm not concerned about other churches, I'm concerned about this church.
Pastor Jeff:
30:55-30:56
But the church is for believers.
Pastor Jeff:
30:57-31:03
So when we're putting a service together, Yes, it's in my mind that we're going to have unbelievers here, and I'm glad that you're here.
Pastor Jeff:
31:04-31:07
But, our church doesn't cater to unbelievers.
Pastor Jeff:
31:08-31:32
We're not here to be like, "Let's make sure unbelievers are comfortable." We're here to say, "Let's make sure that Jesus Christ is exalted above all things, and the believers here are being fed, and challenged, and encouraged, and comforted." We're here for the believers, because it's when you go back out to your workplaces, and your neighborhoods and your unsafe family, you're going to be taking the message to them.
Pastor Jeff:
31:33-31:33
Okay?
Pastor Jeff:
31:33-31:38
So that's the fundamental philosophy of why we do church the way that we do.
Mark Ort:
31:39-31:46
And I would add that our job is to make you uncomfortable, not comfortable.
Pastor Jeff:
31:46-31:46
Right.
Pastor Jeff:
31:46-31:47
Yeah, I don't care if you're comfortable.
Mark Ort:
31:48-31:50
Yeah, now padded seats, we're not talking about that kind of stuff.
Mark Ort:
31:51-31:53
Temperature, hot, cold, we're not talking about that.
Mark Ort:
31:53-31:54
Yeah, we
Pastor Jeff:
31:54-31:54
don't mean that.
Pastor Jeff:
31:56-31:56
here,
Mark Ort:
31:57-32:17
when I'm sitting in the seat, I want the Scriptures to cut my heart open. I need that. I need the Scriptures to show me where I'm wrong, where I'm sinful, what do I need to work on so that God gets more glory in my life. And that's uncomfortable.
Pastor Jeff:
32:18-32:54
Yeah, and if we're going to be worried about comfort for unbelievers here, we probably won't preach the Bible at all. We're definitely not going to talk about sin. And we are never going to say the word repent. And you know, it boils down to your fundamental, like your purpose, your mission. Yeah, we want to make disciples, but to me, this assembly here is about believers. But when I saw this question, you know what I was thinking about? You know about when I read Zacchaeus. You remember Zacchaeus?
Pastor Jeff:
32:55-32:56
Up in the tree, man.
Pastor Jeff:
32:56-32:59
Up in the tree. Remember that song we sang when we were kids?
Pastor Jeff:
32:59-33:01
Remember that Zacchaeus song we sang when we were little?
Pastor Jeff:
33:02-33:05
Should we sing that? We should add that to the worship set.
Pastor Jeff:
33:06-33:07
Zacchaeus was a wee little man, right?
Pastor Jeff:
33:08-33:11
You're like, "Well, why was I thinking about Zacchaeus?" Good theology, that's all.
Pastor Jeff:
33:12-33:13
Yeah, there's some great theology.
Pastor Jeff:
33:13-33:14
Here's the thing with Zacchaeus.
Pastor Jeff:
33:15-33:17
God was obviously at work in his heart.
Pastor Jeff:
33:17-33:23
And he wanted to know Jesus so much that he did the most undignified thing possible.
Pastor Jeff:
33:24-33:31
Imagine a grown adult man climbing a tree to try to get a glimpse of Jesus who was passing by.
Pastor Jeff:
33:32-33:33
He was willing to do whatever it took.
Pastor Jeff:
33:34-33:54
And I'm saying, if there's somebody out there, a non-Christian, that's like, "I want to know Jesus. I feel like God's calling me into a relationship with Him, or to understand Him, or whatever, whatever." There are thousands of churches in the area that if they want to be a part of this church, but they're not comfortable being here because of the mask thing, watch online.
Pastor Jeff:
33:55-34:14
But if you're like, "I want a church that maybe does the mask thing and bathes you and hand sanitizes you when you come in or whatever," you could probably find hundreds of churches like that in this area where you could go and seek the Lord in those churches.
Pastor Jeff:
34:14-34:17
You know, we're not the only church in the greater Pittsburgh area.
Pastor Jeff:
34:18-34:31
So the thing that concerns me regarding COVID, and I thought Ben Murphy made a great point in this in one of our ministry team meetings, but there are so many churches that have made COVID the focus.
Pastor Jeff:
34:31-34:37
That COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID, wear your mask, sanitize, social distance, spread the chairs, COVID, COVID, COVID, COVID.
Pastor Jeff:
34:38-34:39
You know, let's keep safe, let's protect.
Pastor Jeff:
34:40-34:47
And COVID has become the God of the church because that's our focus, that's our attention, that's our thoughts, that's our...
Pastor Jeff:
34:47-34:51
Jesus Christ is the focus of this church, not COVID, right?
Pastor Jeff:
34:52-34:55
We don't want you thinking about that stuff when you come in here.
Pastor Jeff:
34:55-34:59
We want you thinking about Jesus Christ, who he is and what he's done, right?
Pastor Jeff:
35:00-35:04
So I just, you know, I think that it's become a huge distraction.
Mark Ort:
35:05-35:08
Well, it's become more than a distraction.
Mark Ort:
35:08-35:09
It's become an idol.
Mark Ort:
35:10-35:11
And what's an idol?
Mark Ort:
35:12-35:14
It's something we're consumed with, right?
Mark Ort:
35:14-35:16
And Jeff already illustrated that.
Mark Ort:
35:16-35:17
We're consumed with it.
Mark Ort:
35:18-35:18
That's all we hear.
Mark Ort:
35:19-35:24
And you can go through all the buzzwords, and I'm sorry to harp on this, but this is the mask question.
Mark Ort:
35:26-35:28
What do we hear all the time?
Mark Ort:
35:28-35:28
We got Zoom meetings.
Mark Ort:
35:29-35:38
We got social distance, mask wearing, all the stuff that, all the new terms that we're passing around this year.
Mark Ort:
35:38-35:45
And we're not asking anybody to be stupid about mass or we're asking about wisdom with this stuff.
Mark Ort:
35:45-36:00
And my concern this whole year, and I'm learning it myself, is that this is the year that God is tearing down idols in a Christian's life, in his life, and idols in the church.
Mark Ort:
36:00-36:03
I mean, what have we torn down this year?
Mark Ort:
36:03-36:05
We started out, we didn't have sports, right?
Mark Ort:
36:06-36:10
That's a big idol in our, I love sports, but it's become an idol.
Mark Ort:
36:11-36:12
What else?
Mark Ort:
36:12-36:15
Freedoms, like we lost a lot of freedoms this year to do what we wanna do.
Mark Ort:
36:17-36:19
There's so many things that we're losing.
Mark Ort:
36:20-36:21
Like Hollywood,
Pastor Jeff:
36:21-36:24
with movies and all of that stuff shutting down for a while, there's another idol.
Pastor Jeff:
36:24-36:25
Yeah, theaters,
Mark Ort:
36:25-36:28
I was past a theater in Butler yesterday, temporarily closed.
Mark Ort:
36:28-36:32
You know, those kinds of things we're losing.
Mark Ort:
36:33-36:38
And so these idols in our lives are being torn down.
Mark Ort:
36:38-36:39
And what's another idol that we have?
Mark Ort:
36:40-36:41
Health and safety, right?
Mark Ort:
36:42-36:44
Has God ever guaranteed health and safety to us?
Mark Ort:
36:45-36:47
He has not when I read the scriptures.
Mark Ort:
36:47-36:51
In fact, it's oftentimes the opposite, right?
Mark Ort:
36:51-36:58
There's suffering, there's sickness because of sin, but God uses these things in our lives.
Mark Ort:
36:58-37:08
And so my concern this whole year has been, let's not make an idol out of these things.
Mark Ort:
37:09-37:10
I don't wanna get sick.
Mark Ort:
37:11-37:13
I don't wanna be in an accident.
Mark Ort:
37:13-37:15
I don't wanna get stuff for my family.
Mark Ort:
37:15-37:16
I don't want any of it for you.
Mark Ort:
37:18-37:24
But this year has shown me anyway, that we've made these things idols in our lives and God is tearing them down.
Pastor Jeff:
37:25-37:30
Right, and you feel comfortable wearing a mask, wear a mask, that's fine.
Pastor Jeff:
37:31-37:35
But we're not going to make that the subject of the sermon, the focus of the church.
Pastor Jeff:
37:35-37:36
That's Jesus.
Pastor Jeff:
37:36-37:39
I don't care if you wear a batting helmet and a tuxedo to church.
Pastor Jeff:
37:40-37:49
If you think that that's what's going to be safe, the only requirements that we have for dress code at Harvest, dress modestly and don't be distracting, right?
Pastor Jeff:
37:49-37:51
Other than that, whatever.
Pastor Jeff:
37:52-38:07
whatever you want, and you are loved and you are welcomed, but with the limited amount of time we have, I'd rather focus on Jesus Christ and the Word of God versus, we want the church to be different than the world.
Pastor Jeff:
38:08-38:10
You know, like we should stand out.
Pastor Jeff:
38:10-38:11
We should be different.
Mark Ort:
38:12-38:13
And we shouldn't be fearful.
Mark Ort:
38:14-38:16
God said that a couple of times in his Word, right?
Mark Ort:
38:16-38:16
Yeah,
Pastor Jeff:
38:17-38:19
yeah, he said it like hundreds of times in his Word.
Mark Ort:
38:19-38:20
Be wise, but don't fear.
Mark Ort:
38:22-38:25
Is this gonna be the first time ever that we've gotten through all the questions?
Mark Ort:
38:25-38:26
'Cause I have one more.
Mark Ort:
38:27-38:27
Yeah, go ahead.
Mark Ort:
38:28-38:28
All right.
Mark Ort:
38:28-38:29
Yeah, we're gonna do it.
Pastor Jeff:
38:30-38:32
Flat Earth versus round Earth, thoughts?
Pastor Jeff:
38:33-38:36
I might start a riot here, but I believe the Earth is round.
Pastor Jeff:
38:37-38:40
If you believe otherwise, you are still my brother or sister or whatever.
Pastor Jeff:
38:41-38:43
I'm just gonna tell you why I think the Earth is round.
Pastor Jeff:
38:44-38:59
Isaiah 40, 22 says, "It is he who sits above the circle of the Earth." The other reason I believe the earth is round is I look at every other heavenly body, the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, everything else I see in the sky, what shape is it?
Pastor Jeff:
39:00-39:00
It's round.
Pastor Jeff:
39:00-39:06
So I'm kind of like, well, it makes sense if God's Word says the earth is round and everything I see is round.
Pastor Jeff:
39:08-39:13
Also I can't remember who, but there was, at my old church, there was an astronaut that came and visited.
Pastor Jeff:
39:13-39:16
He was a believer and he came and was part of that.
Pastor Jeff:
39:17-39:20
I can't remember which one, but he was friends with Pastor Bob.
Pastor Jeff:
39:21-39:22
Did you say John Glenn?
Pastor Jeff:
39:22-39:25
I think it might have been John Glenn, but I don't want to say that for sure.
Pastor Jeff:
39:28-39:30
Anyways, that's why I don't believe there's some conspiracy.
Pastor Jeff:
39:31-39:35
I think the earth is round for those reasons.
Pastor Jeff:
39:36-39:39
And I know some people say, "Well, the Bible talks about the four corners.
Pastor Jeff:
39:39-39:45
What is it, Revelation 7?" And I think that's just a figure of speech, north, south, east, west, the four winds.
Pastor Jeff:
39:46-39:48
Yeah, I think it's Revelation 7.
Pastor Jeff:
39:48-39:49
Didn't we go through Revelation in our church?
Pastor Jeff:
39:49-39:51
We talk about Revelation a lot here.
Mark Ort:
39:52-39:53
So...
Mark Ort:
39:53-39:57
But even scientifically, that's another one of those terms, right?
Mark Ort:
39:57-39:57
Follow the science.
Mark Ort:
39:59-40:09
But scientifically, if the earth was flat, I should be able to go out at night and see Pittsburgh, at least the lights of it.
Mark Ort:
40:09-40:13
Maybe it's far enough away, I might not be able to make out the buildings, but shouldn't I be able to see the lights?
Mark Ort:
40:14-40:15
Or Orlando?
Mark Ort:
40:15-40:18
If I look south, shouldn't I see something like that?
Mark Ort:
40:19-40:20
But what do we have to do?
Mark Ort:
40:20-40:26
If I wanna see Pittsburgh, I either have to go up really high so that I can, 'cause there's stuff in the way, right?
Mark Ort:
40:27-40:29
And part of that is the curvature of the earth.
Mark Ort:
40:29-40:39
And so I don't know, it's stuff like, I was on kids' websites and I was reading about flat earth versus round earth.
Mark Ort:
40:39-40:46
And they had some really cool ways to prove to kids that the earth is round and spherical.
Mark Ort:
40:47-40:51
But when we look at scriptures like this, Isaiah told us, didn't he?
Mark Ort:
40:52-40:52
Isaiah said it.
Mark Ort:
40:52-40:53
Yeah,
Pastor Jeff:
40:53-40:54
Isaiah did.
Pastor Jeff:
40:55-40:59
Well, 40, 22, about the circle of the earth.
Pastor Jeff:
41:00-41:02
And honestly, this is one of those things that it just doesn't matter.
Pastor Jeff:
41:03-41:08
They could prove emphatically today that the earth is flat.
Pastor Jeff:
41:08-41:12
And that isn't gonna change anything about my life, honestly.
Pastor Jeff:
41:12-41:16
I'd be like, "Oh, that's interesting." - And it's not gonna change anything.
Mark Ort:
41:16-41:27
Yeah, and it falls in the category of a non-essential, I guess, you know, here at Harvest Bible Chapel, we have to agree on the essentials, right?
Mark Ort:
41:28-41:29
Right, yeah, we agree
Pastor Jeff:
41:29-41:36
on the essentials, but stuff like that, I just gave you the reasons I believe the earth is round, and if you're like, well, I don't, you're still my brother.
Pastor Jeff:
41:37-41:38
How much time
Mark Ort:
41:38-41:38
do we have left?
Pastor Jeff:
41:38-41:41
I think we, I don't know, six seconds.
Pastor Jeff:
41:42-41:43
I'm not even kidding.
Pastor Jeff:
41:43-41:44
I guess we're done.
Mark Ort:
41:44-41:48
Well, Jeff, it's always a pleasure to be up here with you.
Mark Ort:
41:49-41:52
I don't feel adequate in answering questions, obviously.
Mark Ort:
41:55-42:00
There's just a lot about the Bible that I don't know, and that's why I like to study it.
Mark Ort:
42:00-42:04
And so, but I just love sitting under Jeff's teaching.
Mark Ort:
42:05-42:08
I've learned so much out here in the second row.
Mark Ort:
42:09-42:11
I love you, Jeff, and thanks for all you do.
Mark Ort:
42:11-42:13
It's always great to do Q&A day.
Pastor Jeff:
42:13-42:14
Hey, love you bro.
Pastor Jeff:
42:14-42:15
It is a pleasure.
Pastor Jeff:
42:16-42:21
And I think a lot of the ways the Lord prepared us was through prison ministry, right?
Pastor Jeff:
42:21-42:22
'Cause we go into prison.
Pastor Jeff:
42:23-42:24
I met Mark in prison, by the way.
Pastor Jeff:
42:24-42:27
I don't know if you knew that, but Mark and I were cellies in prison.
Pastor Jeff:
42:28-42:31
He shanked a guy for a pack of smokes for me and we were besties ever since.
Pastor Jeff:
42:32-42:33
That was a long time ago.
Mark Ort:
42:33-42:35
Yeah, it was a long time ago.
Mark Ort:
42:35-42:35
Late '90s.
Pastor Jeff:
42:35-42:45
But I think that was a ministry that the Lord really used to grow us because people would come in with all kinds of questions about these things.
Pastor Jeff:
42:46-42:47
And it was Q and
Mark Ort:
42:47-42:48
A day every Friday night.
Pastor Jeff:
42:48-42:51
Every Friday night was Q and A day for like three hours.
Pastor Jeff:
42:52-42:55
So, but the pleasure's all mine, Mark.
Pastor Jeff:
42:55-43:00
Let's, I tell you, why don't you close our time here in prayer while the worship team makes their way forward.
Pastor Jeff:
43:00-43:04
And we wanna thank everybody for the amazing questions that you submitted.
Pastor Jeff:
43:05-43:10
And yeah, I think this is the first time of the 14 times we've done it that we've gotten through all of them.
Pastor Jeff:
43:10-43:14
So thank you, thank you so much for being a part of Q&A Day with us today.
Mark Ort:
43:15-43:16
All right guys, let's pray.
Mark Ort:
43:16-43:19
Lord God, we thank you so much for who you are.
Mark Ort:
43:20-43:40
You are awesome, you are amazing, you're all powerful, all-knowing, a God who is patient with us, kind with us, and a God who offers an infinite amount of love and grace toward us through His Son, through your Son, Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark Ort:
43:41-43:55
So we're here today, Lord, to thank you for that, to give you honor and praise for these questions and for those who ask them, people who legitimately, honestly want to know answers from your Word.
Mark Ort:
43:56-43:58
And Lord, that's what we're here for.
Mark Ort:
43:58-44:00
We want to preach your Word.
Mark Ort:
44:01-44:02
We want to share your Word.
Mark Ort:
44:02-44:06
We want to proclaim what you've said to us in your book.
Mark Ort:
44:07-44:09
And so we thank you for your word.
Mark Ort:
44:09-44:24
We thank you for how it changes us, how it convicts us of sin, how it comforts us, how it gives us instructions on how to live, and how it tells us how we can be in a right relationship with you.
Mark Ort:
44:25-44:28
Lord, we thank you for the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from our unrighteousness.
Mark Ort:
44:29-44:30
We thank you for that, Lord.
Mark Ort:
44:30-44:31
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Review the questions submitted above. Discuss any of these that stuck out to you, or that maybe your group finds particularly interesting.
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another!