WEBVTT 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:13.300 Hello and welcome to the Kalamazoo Church of Christ podcast. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:14.820 Thank you so much for listening. 00:00:15.300 --> 00:00:16.160 We're Startup Church. 00:00:16.260 --> 00:00:23.480 We just planted in September, 2020 and at the Kalamazoo church, we believe that Christianity is done best when it is done together. 00:00:23.699 --> 00:00:26.559 And so if you live in the Kalamazoo area, we would love to connect. 00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:32.299 Be it coming to a Sunday service, one of our small groups, or even just grabbing coffee with a member to learn more. 00:00:32.700 --> 00:00:36.439 You can visit kalamazoo.church in order to do that. 00:00:37.140 --> 00:00:40.399 We pray that you are inspired by what you hear today. 00:00:40.899 --> 00:00:41.259 Amen. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:42.799 It's good to see you all. 00:00:42.979 --> 00:00:44.299 How are you all doing this morning? 00:00:46.259 --> 00:00:47.320 Hey, okay, that's good. 00:00:47.380 --> 00:00:48.619 You guys look good this morning. 00:00:48.899 --> 00:00:50.039 Thank you. 00:00:50.939 --> 00:00:51.820 I was waiting for that. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:52.359 Okay, very good. 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:52.679 Very good. 00:00:52.740 --> 00:00:53.060 Very good. 00:00:53.060 --> 00:00:56.640 Once in a while, I mean, yeah, me and Spencer are matching more or less. 00:00:56.759 --> 00:00:59.320 And so yeah, great, great, great Sunday. 00:00:59.960 --> 00:01:03.899 You guys can open up to, you guys can open up to Mark 14. 00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:10.719 We've been going through a series that has been talking about being transformed. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:23.379 And the truth about transformation is that sometimes there's transformation that is sudden and it is immediate and it is obvious and people are forever changed. 00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:35.939 You can think about, you can think about Paul potentially in the Bible as somebody who was persecuting Christians to then being somebody who with one interaction with Jesus changes his life forever. 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:50.719 You can look also at somebody like Peter, who we looked at him a few weeks ago, man, it's going on a month almost now, but he went from someone who was a dutiful follower to someone who identifies and is motivated by the cross. 00:01:51.400 --> 00:02:04.939 Then we looked at the life of John as somebody, this was in house church, if memory serves from somebody who was a son of thunder to someone who identifies as being the disciple whom Jesus loved. 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:15.639 And we said that there are characteristics in all of our lives that God totally eradicates when we become Christians and he's trying to fight to, hey, you cannot be this way. 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:18.759 I'm super rude, disrespectful, fill in the blank. 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:25.240 But then there's also characteristics that God uses in your life to refine you a little bit. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:28.939 And John was someone who was quick to, was quick to shoot. 00:02:29.419 --> 00:02:36.379 He becomes somebody who's very meticulous in the way that he shoots, but you can read in first John and when we looked at it in house church, he does shoot though. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:50.180 Last week, this is actually by happenstance, it wasn't something that me and Kyle had talked about, but he talked about Zacchaeus as somebody who went from this empty tax collector to somebody who is filled with repentance. 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:54.900 The story of Zacchaeus last week was one that was abrupt, right? 00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:55.879 It was shockingly so. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:03:04.819 We don't, we're not told it, we're told that he's in a tree and then at some point he decides from the tree, he comes down, he brings you and he says, I'm going to totally repent. 00:03:04.939 --> 00:03:09.020 Whatever I, if I've wronged anybody, I'm going to stop doing that from now on. 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:14.300 But I'm also not only going to stop wronging people, I'm going to pay back everybody that I've wronged. 00:03:16.099 --> 00:03:18.740 The narrative today is a little bit different than that though. 00:03:19.939 --> 00:03:33.180 Instead of this abrupt change, I want to put before you that the change of, of this man was one that was much more gradual, the one that he had an exposure and an understanding of Jesus, of faith from a young age. 00:03:33.580 --> 00:03:40.139 And there, there was a lot of transformation that had to occur in different moments and different times. 00:03:40.259 --> 00:03:44.379 I think this is going to speak to anyone who's, who grows up with some sort of faith. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:58.379 Maybe you grew up with a Christian faith, maybe it's in this fellowship of churches or maybe in a separate fellowship of churches, but perhaps you've struggled to jump in entirely, or there's something that's lacking or something that is holding you back for whatever reason. 00:03:58.460 --> 00:04:02.159 This is going to speak to you, or that's the prayer this, this morning. 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:08.379 I believe you'll look at the life of John Mark and see there's characteristics in you that you can relate to him with. 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:10.680 And so we're going to go through this. 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:11.699 And so work with me here. 00:04:12.219 --> 00:04:14.860 We have this interaction where we meet John Mark. 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:19.019 This is not the way that anybody would choose to meet a character in the Bible. 00:04:19.180 --> 00:04:21.800 It says in Mark 14, this is Jesus. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:28.740 Right now he's on his way to be crucified and it, this is Mark writing. 00:04:28.740 --> 00:04:34.720 So when we say John Mark, there's, there's one other interaction or one other experience basically that, that writes his name is John. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:35.740 Otherwise he's called Mark. 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:40.339 He's the one who wrote Mark and he wrote it from a Peter's narrative, basically. 00:04:40.500 --> 00:04:43.560 He's kind of Peter's communicator in that way. 00:04:43.939 --> 00:04:47.579 It says a young man wearing nothing but a linen garment was following Jesus. 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:51.839 When they seized him, Jesus, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:59.139 And so the first time we get to see and interact with Mark, it's, it's him naked. 00:05:00.019 --> 00:05:05.360 As a young man, this is one of the most desperate times. 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:06.540 How do we know it's Mark? 00:05:06.660 --> 00:05:18.220 Well, most theologians will say in the same way that a great artist will paint himself as one of the background images of the background people, just his little signature. 00:05:18.740 --> 00:05:23.160 You'll say that people agree that, that he's talking about himself right here. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:26.459 He's an unnamed man, but he's talking about, Hey, I was that guy. 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:33.399 And you think about this is, you know, many years over 30 years after this experience actually occurred. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:35.519 Think about the security in Christ. 00:05:35.660 --> 00:05:42.399 You must feel if you're going to say without any context that, Hey, I was the guy that, that fled naked, basically. 00:05:43.540 --> 00:05:47.410 This is the first time that we see him. 00:05:50.050 --> 00:05:52.250 And we'll, we'll keep going though. 00:05:53.250 --> 00:05:56.810 It's now, now we go to a spot where we get to meet his mother. 00:05:57.269 --> 00:06:01.389 There's at least now an eight year gap in a period, Jesus rose from the dead. 00:06:01.709 --> 00:06:18.689 And there's been a series of years and a series of time where, where, where there's this, this growing of the church to, to, to some extent, but we get to, we get to meet his mother here in verse 12, it says when they, when this had dawned on him, this is talking about Peter. 00:06:18.769 --> 00:06:20.470 Now Peter's in jail. 00:06:20.829 --> 00:06:26.689 The disciples are praying for him and the jail miraculously opens when this had dawned on him. 00:06:26.750 --> 00:06:38.529 He went to the house of Mary, the mother of John also called Mark where many people had gathered and were praying Peter, not that the outer entrance and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 00:06:38.529 --> 00:06:41.910 When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed. 00:06:42.269 --> 00:06:45.250 She ran back without opening it and exclaimed, Peter's at the door. 00:06:50.670 --> 00:06:57.329 And so this is, this is now work with me here where we're getting to know a little bit about, we're getting to know a little bit about Mark. 00:06:57.430 --> 00:07:03.170 He was a guy, certainly a little bit older at this time, his, his mom had some kind of faith. 00:07:03.329 --> 00:07:06.730 There was a little bit of exposure to it. 00:07:06.730 --> 00:07:14.110 He probably didn't have the greatest understanding of all of the struggle, but he was present for some of, some of the struggle. 00:07:14.430 --> 00:07:15.290 It's interesting. 00:07:15.389 --> 00:07:18.649 It's traditionally thought that this was the house, the house of Mary. 00:07:18.810 --> 00:07:21.209 There's a lot of Mary's in Jesus's life. 00:07:21.290 --> 00:07:27.230 This is one of just a little brief study, I think about five Mary's at least that are mentioned in different places. 00:07:27.529 --> 00:07:28.430 This is another one. 00:07:28.449 --> 00:07:31.269 This is not Mary, the mother of Jesus. 00:07:31.269 --> 00:07:32.949 This is not Mary of Bethany. 00:07:32.949 --> 00:07:37.870 This is a different Mary, Mary, the mother of John Mark. 00:07:39.589 --> 00:07:57.410 This woman had some kind of affluence, we're not taught exactly or told exactly what kind of affluence or how she had some money, but she had a house that it was in many traditions will hold that this was the house that Peter actually preached this sermon at Pentecost. 00:07:57.509 --> 00:08:02.329 The sermon that said, this is when we've got to turn our lives around and follow Jesus. 00:08:02.329 --> 00:08:05.810 He's the one you persecuted and we understand what happened. 00:08:05.930 --> 00:08:08.170 So many became disciples from that day. 00:08:08.790 --> 00:08:13.529 And so there's some kind of connection and closeness that Peter clearly feels with Mary. 00:08:13.709 --> 00:08:20.310 That's the house that he ends up at when he's thinks he's sleepwalking, but it's actually going on that he escapes from prison. 00:08:23.220 --> 00:08:24.199 We don't know this. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:28.899 This is where we're surmising a little bit and we're, we're trying to put some meat on the bones. 00:08:28.899 --> 00:08:34.480 But I bet you, you know, John, John, John Mark might've been somebody who was a little bit entitled. 00:08:34.678 --> 00:08:39.820 He grew up with enough affluence to have a house that's decent enough size. 00:08:40.259 --> 00:08:44.700 He had some experience with Jesus and the gospel. 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:49.460 He probably talked, I could see him talking a little bit above his pay grade. 00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:53.500 Like he knows what's going on when he hasn't actually experienced what's going on. 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:55.360 Maybe we've been there. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:09:06.779 I know for me, I've been there and I can talk about, Oh, the old days, this is man, the tough, you know, starting a mission team, uh, I was five years old when my parents moved from Milwaukee to Madison. 00:09:06.779 --> 00:09:09.460 And so, but to say, we moved here to start the mission team. 00:09:09.539 --> 00:09:14.259 I imagine there's some of Mark that would, would say something like that. 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:26.240 You understand a little bit of the struggle, but you've only, uh, you're only struggle adjacent, if you will, uh, there you go, there's a bit of spiritual entitlement. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:44.200 I, I wonder if when he's interacting with, with people, he says, yeah, yeah, my mom, that's, that's where, for Peter preached his big lesson, no big deal, but you know, uh, yeah, yeah, I was, he, he might not even at that point, he might not even identify that, that he bled naked. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:45.320 Maybe he's still working through it. 00:09:45.340 --> 00:09:48.179 He might say, yeah, I was, I was with Jesus on the last day. 00:09:48.820 --> 00:09:49.879 I was there with him. 00:09:50.299 --> 00:09:51.340 What happened after that? 00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:55.659 Don't worry about that, you know, but I was there, you know, I was one of those guys. 00:09:57.700 --> 00:10:12.259 There's a little bit working out maybe, maybe in, in your life and your spiritual journey, you can identify there being moments when you thought you knew a little bit more than you did when there was, there was an entitlement inside of you that felt like, I think I know the answers to this. 00:10:12.299 --> 00:10:13.500 I've been around them long enough. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:16.759 Uh, I haven't, maybe I haven't fully embraced them, but I'm, I'm there. 00:10:16.860 --> 00:10:17.759 I've learned about it. 00:10:17.779 --> 00:10:18.480 I know the stories. 00:10:18.500 --> 00:10:24.240 You can't teach me an awful lot that I haven't already heard all of whatever little Bible books that we've read. 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:26.059 My parents prayed with me when I was young. 00:10:26.179 --> 00:10:26.759 I kind of get it. 00:10:26.820 --> 00:10:27.240 I've got it. 00:10:27.320 --> 00:10:28.320 I know what's going on. 00:10:28.740 --> 00:10:29.139 Yeah. 00:10:29.259 --> 00:10:33.659 Maybe there's an entitlement inside of your heart, uh, right now that, that says that. 00:10:33.740 --> 00:10:38.500 But if anyone wants to become a Christian, like a true follower of Jesus, you have to die to that entitlement. 00:10:40.340 --> 00:10:56.120 So now we, we, we see that Jesus, uh, rather that, that, that Mark joins these, these two men on their journey, uh, in Acts, Acts 12 says when Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John also called Mark. 00:10:56.279 --> 00:11:07.220 And so now you've got whatever kind of intern guy that, that you can imagine, he's still young, younger than these two men, but he's able, he's, he's, you know, brushed up against them long enough. 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:08.259 He said, I want to go. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:08.860 I want to go. 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:14.200 I want to go so much so that he's, he's actually, he's actually willing, willing to go. 00:11:15.700 --> 00:11:16.860 We're going to look at there. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:20.740 There's a lot of negatives that we can probably identify in the life of Mark. 00:11:20.740 --> 00:11:25.940 One of them is not that he was willing, uh, what I, what I want to put before us, how amazing is it? 00:11:25.980 --> 00:11:37.700 Uh, we're, you know, we're going to talk about him deserting, but right now we, we, we realized that Mark was somebody who was willing to go, uh, I, I want to challenge us. 00:11:37.740 --> 00:11:49.220 You know, I think the desire to be willing to go is often reserved for those who are younger or those who are immature and we identify, there's not a whole lot of wisdom. 00:11:49.220 --> 00:12:12.350 You know, I don't know if you got what it takes and yet, uh, there's something so beautiful about being willing to go, uh, you know, I, I, as I think about this work with me here about somebody being willing or the, the idea of somebody not, maybe they count some of the costs or maybe according to the value that they can gain, it's not worth it. 00:12:12.350 --> 00:12:18.169 When I think about somebody who is willing in our church, I don't think there's anybody who I think of more than, than Joe lay. 00:12:18.169 --> 00:12:29.330 Uh, he's, he's, I know that guy, uh, he, he, he's probably the quickest to say yes of anybody that I've ever met. 00:12:29.389 --> 00:12:31.909 And it's yes to things that, uh, where's Joe? 00:12:31.970 --> 00:12:33.570 I don't want to, I don't want to, there you go. 00:12:35.330 --> 00:12:38.950 It's yes to things that he's not, that he might not be very good at, uh, right. 00:12:39.269 --> 00:12:40.309 You want to go play basketball? 00:12:40.549 --> 00:12:40.809 Sure. 00:12:40.990 --> 00:12:42.629 You want to, you want to ride bikes? 00:12:42.830 --> 00:12:42.990 Sure. 00:12:43.350 --> 00:12:45.149 You want to go do an open mic comedy? 00:12:45.289 --> 00:12:46.350 I bet, I haven't asked him yet. 00:12:46.350 --> 00:12:49.509 I don't plan to, but I bet you he would say, sure. 00:12:49.710 --> 00:12:49.809 Yeah. 00:12:51.090 --> 00:12:51.970 Work with me here though. 00:12:52.190 --> 00:12:56.590 All that stuff, that's all well and good, but do you want to be on a mission team with a 28 year old who you've never met before? 00:12:57.690 --> 00:12:58.009 Sure. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:09.340 We can, we can look down and we can, we can look down on people who are, who are willing and we can say that they are those who are, they're naive. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:11.059 They don't know what's going on. 00:13:11.120 --> 00:13:18.279 They haven't counted the cost, but, but without people who are willing, we, we'd struggle to go anywhere. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:21.340 Who are you naturally? 00:13:21.419 --> 00:13:23.080 Are you naturally a willing person? 00:13:23.940 --> 00:13:27.700 Are you naturally somebody who's, who's willing to go for, willing to try something new? 00:13:30.190 --> 00:13:45.269 You know, I, I, uh, this, this false sense of confidence or this, it's, it's almost a, what I would have put before you though, is at some point you were very willing because when you were young, I bet you, you were extremely willing to do virtually anything that somebody asked you to do. 00:13:45.450 --> 00:13:47.429 And you probably thought you were the best at it. 00:13:47.429 --> 00:13:58.889 Actually, if you, if you talk to a group of, uh, of, of young boys, um, probably from, you know, three, four to about seven, and I've done this and I've done this with boys. 00:13:59.049 --> 00:14:07.509 Uh, you know, some of them are like, they can run, they're very coordinated and others, you look at them, you're like, you're going to be, you're going to be alignment, uh, you're, you're a football player. 00:14:07.769 --> 00:14:13.889 Uh, would you ask, would you ask any of them who's the fastest, are you doing okay there Owen? 00:14:13.889 --> 00:14:16.370 Go ahead and grab a seat, brother. 00:14:17.789 --> 00:14:19.610 That was the Lord saying something to you, brother. 00:14:23.179 --> 00:14:29.019 You can, you can, you can, any, any kind of shape and build you ask, you get a group of enough little boys together, you say, who is the fastest? 00:14:29.700 --> 00:14:30.820 They're all going to raise their hand. 00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:32.039 They're all willing. 00:14:32.100 --> 00:14:33.039 They all think they're the fastest. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:35.379 And you look at them, you're like, I know that you're not the fastest. 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:45.470 I'm not sure between you two, but I know you're not, you know, my, my, my, my daughter, uh, we were talking about practicing basketball. 00:14:45.470 --> 00:14:46.710 She's three and a half years old. 00:14:46.750 --> 00:14:51.169 And she just said, next time you practice basketball, I'm going to come, I'm going to come help you. 00:14:51.250 --> 00:14:55.889 And I got really excited as a, as a father, I feel like it's one thing that I haven't shown. 00:14:56.049 --> 00:14:59.029 I I'm trying to, I'm trying to, there's a balance. 00:14:59.110 --> 00:15:05.330 I don't know what the balance is, but I don't want to like push my daughters into stuff they don't want to do, but I want them to try new things. 00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:07.330 And so I was super excited. 00:15:07.409 --> 00:15:08.610 This is over, over dinner. 00:15:08.950 --> 00:15:10.289 And I was like, yeah, absolutely. 00:15:10.529 --> 00:15:11.690 We can do it together. 00:15:12.690 --> 00:15:13.730 And she said, no, no, no. 00:15:13.730 --> 00:15:15.230 I just need to help you be better. 00:15:18.710 --> 00:15:21.830 There, there's, there's this, this willingness though, right? 00:15:21.929 --> 00:15:25.610 Or you work with me here, this, this naivety, you can attribute it to that. 00:15:25.649 --> 00:15:27.509 Or you can just say this, this person's willing to go. 00:15:27.610 --> 00:15:30.690 We need those in our fellowship who are just willing to go. 00:15:33.610 --> 00:15:43.470 Don't automatically attribute, uh, if you find your willingness to be lacking, don't automatically attribute it to wisdom before you identify if there's perhaps some cowardice inside of you as well. 00:15:45.789 --> 00:15:48.190 Don't attribute to wisdom what is actually cowardice. 00:15:48.529 --> 00:15:48.629 Wow. 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:52.600 It doesn't all go well though. 00:15:52.840 --> 00:16:05.720 It says, uh, they, they go on this mission and then, um, Acts 13, 13, it says from, uh, Paphos, Paul and his companion sailed to Perga in Pamphylia where John left them and returned to Jerusalem. 00:16:07.669 --> 00:16:11.549 So we've got, we've got John, um, John, John Mark. 00:16:11.809 --> 00:16:16.610 He he's willing, he goes and, and he fails. 00:16:17.250 --> 00:16:31.490 And he failed in, in a more dramatic way perhaps than, uh, than even when he deserted, when he deserted Jesus's side, uh, maybe I'm sure he doesn't leave naked, but he, he likely left that. 00:16:31.710 --> 00:16:35.590 This is what people will look at is there's only a few conversions at this time. 00:16:35.610 --> 00:16:41.269 And what I want to put before you is that it was extremely inconvenient for him to, to leave. 00:16:41.269 --> 00:16:43.250 So here, uh, very briefly. 00:16:43.250 --> 00:17:06.150 So underneath here, um, or here, underneath here is Jerusalem where he goes back to, uh, they, from my understanding, they start about here, they, they sail, they preach, sail, preach, they get up here and Mark at some point says, I've got to go all the way underneath, basically underneath here, back to Jerusalem, it was inconvenient for him to leave. 00:17:06.230 --> 00:17:08.250 And so you, you'd ask, well, well, why did he do it? 00:17:08.250 --> 00:17:23.828 We don't, we don't exactly know why, uh, you know, after this, after this, after this, after this point, um, there's some amazing things that, that happened though there there's, it's difficult, but this is after this point when, uh, Paul and his companions keep moving on on along. 00:17:23.970 --> 00:17:28.309 This is where Paul gets, gets, uh, basically rocks get thrown at him. 00:17:28.329 --> 00:17:30.069 He gets stoned left for dead. 00:17:30.230 --> 00:17:33.769 He gets out of the city and he goes right back in the city. 00:17:33.769 --> 00:17:37.109 And imagine, imagine the faith that that's built. 00:17:37.150 --> 00:17:42.390 When you see that the guy who I'm alongside with just got beaten up, left for dead. 00:17:42.390 --> 00:17:46.009 Then we get them out of the city and he goes back and preaches that same day. 00:17:46.430 --> 00:17:48.609 You're leaving feeling like I'm, I'm pretty encouraged. 00:17:48.710 --> 00:17:49.150 You know what I mean? 00:17:49.150 --> 00:17:51.170 Like we, we've got a dog, we've got a dog here. 00:17:53.130 --> 00:18:04.630 Mark didn't get a chance to see that there's, there's more hardship, but, but think about what he missed out on by, by not staying with them. 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:15.880 I have to imagine somebody doesn't, the plans have had to have been laid for Mark to leave or perhaps a series of weeks or months, right? 00:18:15.880 --> 00:18:26.799 Think about walking alongside some of your, your close friends, some of your, your idols, those guys in the faith or in whatever career that you're in, that you look up to you're at some point, you're kind of planning, you know what? 00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:30.859 I'm not gonna, I've got to get back to where I'm from. 00:18:30.940 --> 00:18:32.220 I'm not going to be able to do this. 00:18:32.299 --> 00:18:34.380 They're going through difficult times. 00:18:34.420 --> 00:18:35.839 Things are not going well. 00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:37.339 I'm pretty hungry. 00:18:37.559 --> 00:18:39.119 I'm not sleeping that well. 00:18:39.160 --> 00:18:41.500 You could fill in, fill in the blank of whatever. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:42.660 I don't got what it takes. 00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:51.180 I betcha, I betcha Mark was probably pretty unsufferable for, for a series of, of weeks to, to Paul and his companions. 00:18:51.299 --> 00:18:53.299 I wonder if they're like, man, we got to pray for this dude. 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:54.880 But I don't know. 00:18:54.900 --> 00:18:58.319 I'd imagine at some point Paul's like, Hey, this guy better head out. 00:18:58.420 --> 00:19:00.339 You know, it's probably better that you just, you just go. 00:19:00.579 --> 00:19:09.240 And yet, and yet he decides, he decides to leave, you know, for, for each of us on this spiritual journey. 00:19:09.240 --> 00:19:12.200 Some of us have been doing it for many, many years. 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:20.079 Some of us are new in the weeks, months, a year, a year or less, wherever you're at though. 00:19:20.140 --> 00:19:22.380 I don't know if you're, you're going to go through a difficult time. 00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:26.680 Maybe you're in the midst of what you identify as a very difficult time. 00:19:26.940 --> 00:19:33.799 Maybe you're in the midst of what you might identify as the most difficult time of your life, or at least the most difficult time that you've been working with God spiritually. 00:19:33.819 --> 00:19:37.039 You've been through harder times, but not, not with God yet. 00:19:40.099 --> 00:19:46.380 The call, uh, it's, it's a tough time, but I would say, keep pushing, keep, keep going for it. 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:48.039 Whatever, whatever that looks like. 00:19:48.339 --> 00:19:50.140 Don't desert your faith. 00:19:50.220 --> 00:19:53.660 Don't desert what you've decided you are going, you are going to do. 00:19:55.380 --> 00:19:57.940 There, there's, there's always blessings at the end of the road. 00:19:57.980 --> 00:20:08.619 You talk to anybody who has been on a spiritual journey for a series of 10, 20, 30 years, and you ask them, Hey, what's gone poorly in your life and you know what they'll do? 00:20:08.619 --> 00:20:10.259 What they'll share about what's gone poorly in their life. 00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:15.779 You ask them what's going well in their life, and they're going to keep going on and on and on and on. 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:23.559 These difficult times, they're, they're, they're going to last, but only for only for a certain amount of time. 00:20:24.299 --> 00:20:26.279 There's always blessings at the end of the road. 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:28.140 If we're following Christ, amen. 00:20:29.380 --> 00:20:31.059 They're not in the way that we'd like to see it. 00:20:31.099 --> 00:20:35.380 You know, I don't know if you ask Mark in his worst day and you say, Mark, you're heading back. 00:20:35.380 --> 00:20:40.720 Hey, just so you know, uh, Paul's about to get, man, he's about to get some rocks thrown at him. 00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:41.680 He's about to get stoned. 00:20:42.259 --> 00:20:45.319 Uh, Mark would say, yeah, that's exactly why I'm leaving. 00:20:46.380 --> 00:20:52.480 And so you, you, you talk to anybody who's, who's going through difficult times, we're about to go through and it's about to fail and you say, it's going to get harder. 00:20:53.140 --> 00:20:53.900 They're going to leave. 00:20:53.920 --> 00:21:02.779 But if you talk to Paul about that, or you talk to his companions about the act of him being beaten to a pulp and you say, was it worth it? 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:03.599 Yes. 00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:04.259 How do we know? 00:21:04.259 --> 00:21:04.500 Yes. 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:08.039 Because in the Bible, it literally says afterwards, there's amazing things. 00:21:08.140 --> 00:21:09.019 They worship God. 00:21:09.259 --> 00:21:13.619 They said, we must go through many hardships in order to do the work of God. 00:21:13.740 --> 00:21:18.680 And Mark wasn't able to say, we must go through many hardships in that time because he chose to bail. 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:19.200 Wow. 00:21:20.099 --> 00:21:20.880 Don't do that. 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:32.819 Then we see though that Barnabas, some, some way, shape or form, he wants him back. 00:21:32.940 --> 00:21:40.440 Uh, sometime later, Paul said to Barnabas, let's go back and visit the believers and all the towns where we preach the word of the Lord and see how they were doing. 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:40.980 They are doing. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:51.079 Barnabas wanted to take John also called Mark with, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him because he had deserted them at Pamphylia and not continued with them in the work. 00:21:51.859 --> 00:21:53.180 They had such a sharp disagreement. 00:21:53.299 --> 00:21:54.099 They parted company. 00:21:54.940 --> 00:22:01.819 Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. 00:22:01.819 --> 00:22:06.700 He went through Syria and, uh, Cilicia strengthening the churches. 00:22:09.930 --> 00:22:10.869 We've got Barnabas. 00:22:10.990 --> 00:22:11.710 We've got Paul. 00:22:11.930 --> 00:22:14.829 Uh, want to ask a question rhetorical, but think about it. 00:22:14.829 --> 00:22:21.690 Who do you sympathize with more in this, in this passage, you say, all right, Barnabas, what a good dude. 00:22:21.710 --> 00:22:25.470 Are you, are you more like, you know what Paul, Paul had his reasons. 00:22:25.470 --> 00:22:26.269 I get it too. 00:22:27.990 --> 00:22:30.630 Um, the Bible doesn't take a stance on who's right and who's wrong. 00:22:30.630 --> 00:22:35.849 I don't think it wise for us to take a stance either because the reality is in some ways they're both right. 00:22:36.430 --> 00:22:39.509 Uh, I, right there, there, there, they had a sharp disagreement. 00:22:39.670 --> 00:22:40.589 I don't know what it looked like. 00:22:40.670 --> 00:22:45.630 I don't, I'd rather disagree with the son of encouragement, which is what Barnabas is known as then. 00:22:45.869 --> 00:22:47.910 I've been to disagree with Paul personally. 00:22:48.329 --> 00:22:54.769 Um, I'm, I'm a little bit more scared of Paul than, than the son of encouragement, regardless though. 00:22:54.809 --> 00:22:56.069 Uh, they're, they're both right. 00:22:56.289 --> 00:23:01.990 They're either, either one, you know, Barnabas is, uh, we, we know this from the text. 00:23:02.130 --> 00:23:07.289 Barnabas is actually, uh, he, he's actually, he's actually Mark's uncle. 00:23:07.509 --> 00:23:12.569 Um, and so there's this, this familial connection, um, and the text says that it's not, it's not me. 00:23:12.650 --> 00:23:16.910 I forget where it's a little bit back, but it says that Barnabas is Mary's brother. 00:23:17.529 --> 00:23:25.309 Um, I think about, you think about being Mark, what an amazing feeling though, to feel believed in again. 00:23:25.789 --> 00:23:26.789 I know I bail. 00:23:26.789 --> 00:23:36.039 I know there's some time that passes, I, I, he still believes in me think about being Paul. 00:23:36.299 --> 00:23:37.299 And he'd say, you know what? 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:40.440 Good that, that, that you go take them and do your thing. 00:23:40.779 --> 00:23:42.720 We've got, we've got a greater mission at hand. 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:44.079 I've got, I've got more to do. 00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:57.019 You know, there's times in our lives when people let us down, uh, you certainly you've been somebody who's let somebody down at some point, but there's times when we let, let people down. 00:23:57.019 --> 00:24:06.039 Um, I think that the truth is we can be Paul or we can be Barnabas and neither is, I can't tell you, Oh, that's definitely the right way to do it. 00:24:06.059 --> 00:24:07.420 That's definitely the wrong way to do it. 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:09.299 We just got to be accountable to it afterwards. 00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:16.900 If you want to let somebody back in your life, you want to work with them, you want to help them, you want them to help you, then you've got to be accountable to that. 00:24:16.940 --> 00:24:24.740 If you say, you know what, out of, out of love and we'll see it's out of love that I'm going to distance myself a little bit, then you have to be accountable to that as well. 00:24:24.740 --> 00:24:46.859 Um, you know, I, what I would say is that, uh, at least for me, maybe you're different, but at least for me in my life, I think I've probably given, uh, my, my missions a little bit more weight and, uh, and in doing so excluded people who probably should have been included. 00:24:47.259 --> 00:24:53.200 Um, I'm not, I'm not going to Pamphylia and Cilicia and all these different places. 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:53.819 You know what I'm saying? 00:24:53.819 --> 00:25:07.920 I'm, I'm kind of like build up a campus ministry when I was in Milwaukee or I'm trying to build up a church when I'm, when I'm here, I, I would say that I've given my mission too much weight and in doing so I've, I've separated or distanced myself from, from those who could be great help. 00:25:08.220 --> 00:25:12.000 Uh, I, I hope you guys don't do that as well. 00:25:13.700 --> 00:25:22.720 I think in my, my early, uh, my early days of leadership, it was marred with just an unrealistic view of myself and an impossible standard that no one could measure up to. 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:31.380 Uh, and I, I have names written down here of men who I look back and I've had to apologize to every single one of them. 00:25:31.619 --> 00:25:34.059 Uh, I'm sorry for being rude to you. 00:25:34.119 --> 00:25:35.480 I was, I was messed up. 00:25:35.539 --> 00:25:39.839 I was trying to, my heart was good, but my actions were not good. 00:25:39.900 --> 00:25:42.180 I was trying to spur you on, but it didn't work. 00:25:42.220 --> 00:25:52.319 And one of these men had to call me, uh, years later and then stuff that I had communicated to him, um, that I really thought I was following advice. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:53.720 It was done with a sincere heart. 00:25:54.339 --> 00:26:00.319 I, I believe that I was trying to help him so much and yet, uh, it just wasn't, it wasn't helpful. 00:26:00.460 --> 00:26:02.319 It was, it was rude, disrespectful. 00:26:02.579 --> 00:26:14.779 I, I, in, in my leadership, I'd limited his, what he, what he believed he could do so much so that, that four years after I communicated it, he felt the need that he had to call me because there was stuff that he still hadn't worked. 00:26:16.279 --> 00:26:19.319 Um, the impact we can have on people is, is immense. 00:26:19.839 --> 00:26:25.099 The impact that certainly the impact that all had on, on Mark was immense. 00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:29.119 You think that Mark didn't think, man, Paul, Paul doesn't really want me. 00:26:29.420 --> 00:26:34.920 Uh, I, and, and what's worse is he said, he doesn't really want me and I actually deserve it. 00:26:34.980 --> 00:26:40.160 Uh, cause it's one thing to say he doesn't really want me, that's on him, but he doesn't want me and I deserve it. 00:26:44.029 --> 00:27:15.690 We're going to, we're going to bring this in pretty soon here because it's amazing that, that now this is about 25, 30 years after, uh, Paul first meets Mark and he's writing, this is, I believe the last letter that, uh, the latest in chronologically, the latest letter that Paul writes, um, in second Timothy, uh, right towards the end of his last letter that we have, he's asking, uh, for, for people to be by his side, he says, man, I poured out my whole life. 00:27:15.710 --> 00:27:16.509 I finished the race. 00:27:16.549 --> 00:27:16.970 I've done it. 00:27:16.970 --> 00:27:18.789 He says, only Luke is with me. 00:27:19.009 --> 00:27:23.130 Get Mark and bring him with you because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 00:27:26.250 --> 00:27:34.950 So you look at the trajectory of, of Mark and you see him as being somebody who, uh, deserts, deserts Jesus. 00:27:35.049 --> 00:27:36.990 Certainly everybody, every man did it. 00:27:37.009 --> 00:27:37.609 It's interesting. 00:27:38.089 --> 00:27:44.349 We see that it's pretty likely that the women were the closest to him and the men were the ones that ran away, uh, at the end. 00:27:44.349 --> 00:27:47.410 But any, anyways, he deserts Jesus. 00:27:48.130 --> 00:27:51.049 He's willing and he goes, he deserts again. 00:27:52.009 --> 00:27:55.789 He's on, I'm, you know, in disrepair, I don't, I don't know what to do. 00:27:55.849 --> 00:27:57.930 And then Barnabas says, come on, come on, nephew. 00:27:58.009 --> 00:27:58.630 I got you. 00:27:58.950 --> 00:28:01.210 And he must do a great job, I'd imagine, right? 00:28:01.789 --> 00:28:05.890 Because then by the end of Paul's life, he says, come on, Mark, get over here, man. 00:28:05.890 --> 00:28:06.730 I really need you. 00:28:06.789 --> 00:28:08.750 He's helpful to me in my ministry. 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:19.700 Consider, consider being Mark as you, uh, as you know, as you hear somebody say, Hey, you've got it. 00:28:19.720 --> 00:28:21.400 You've got to come over and help Paul. 00:28:22.380 --> 00:28:25.119 I think you're dropping whatever you're doing and going to help Paul, right? 00:28:25.160 --> 00:28:25.460 Yeah, man. 00:28:25.700 --> 00:28:30.019 I can, I can, I can get some, maybe I can see him on his, on his last day. 00:28:30.099 --> 00:28:35.839 Maybe I can deal with them when he transcends from earth and his soul goes on to heaven. 00:28:36.039 --> 00:28:38.700 I'd love to be there for him in that moment. 00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:39.019 Right? 00:28:39.019 --> 00:28:49.259 I mean, it must be amazing to just hear what kind of refreshment you'd feel you're useful to the same guy who you bailed, who said, I don't want you, uh, I can't take you along with me anymore. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:52.519 But you know what? 00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:53.480 That it doesn't happen. 00:28:53.559 --> 00:28:56.119 If Barnabas doesn't say, come on with me, let's go, right? 00:28:56.839 --> 00:29:05.200 If Barnabas doesn't say, come on with me, let's go, then, then this, I don't think is ever written because Mark never proved himself. 00:29:05.319 --> 00:29:06.059 Mark never grows. 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:09.539 Mark, Mark, never, uh, certainly nothing to say. 00:29:09.539 --> 00:29:11.539 Maybe Mark's stills in heaven at that time. 00:29:11.700 --> 00:29:11.819 Fine. 00:29:12.680 --> 00:29:16.180 But Mark isn't, I doesn't have the opportunity to then be fully reconciled with Paul. 00:29:19.220 --> 00:29:21.140 So what, what does this mean for you? 00:29:21.240 --> 00:29:22.140 What does this mean for me? 00:29:22.220 --> 00:29:22.799 Good question. 00:29:22.900 --> 00:29:25.859 I would say, think of it from these three lenses. 00:29:25.859 --> 00:29:29.200 At some point, all of us, all of us are Mark, right? 00:29:29.220 --> 00:29:30.180 At some point. 00:29:30.380 --> 00:29:35.079 Um, one of us in this room is always Mark McFannin back there. 00:29:37.480 --> 00:29:40.519 But some of us, some of us, I'm sorry, sorry. 00:29:40.519 --> 00:29:44.920 But, but some of us, some of us are, are, are spiritually, we're, we're Mark. 00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:46.599 We got good hearts. 00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:51.720 We want to go, but we, we just, we haven't encountered the cost. 00:29:51.819 --> 00:30:00.799 There's something that we've, we've not considered and, and, uh, some of us, we've, we've proven ourselves to be unreliable in different areas and aspects of our lives. 00:30:01.299 --> 00:30:04.200 Um, I'll say it's not the end, it's not over. 00:30:04.279 --> 00:30:06.660 We can look here and say that there's, there's more to come. 00:30:06.660 --> 00:30:14.059 Uh, maybe you, maybe you look and you say in some areas and we're, we're, we're Paul. 00:30:14.500 --> 00:30:16.259 Uh, and there's truth to that. 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:19.119 We can't bring along everybody every single time. 00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:26.259 We have to be focused and at times you have to be okay with hurting feelings, but not forever, just for a limited amount of time. 00:30:28.019 --> 00:30:36.480 And then, and then some of us though, uh, probably all of us, and this is hopefully the area, or this is the person that we can most identify with as Barnabas. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:41.200 Being somebody who sees there's, there's a lot that needs to be done. 00:30:41.579 --> 00:30:44.799 Um, but, but looks at people and says, there's potential to be realized. 00:30:44.920 --> 00:30:48.380 I see that there's something good that's going to come from this person. 00:30:48.380 --> 00:30:49.240 I believe in them. 00:30:49.339 --> 00:30:50.559 I'm going to restore them. 00:30:50.619 --> 00:30:56.359 I'm going to stick, I'm going to stick myself out on a limb in order to bring them along with me. 00:30:56.380 --> 00:31:00.200 You think about Barnabas as he's interacting with Paul's like, no, no, I got this guy. 00:31:00.539 --> 00:31:01.299 God's going to work. 00:31:01.359 --> 00:31:01.960 He's going to move. 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:03.259 You don't have to trust me. 00:31:03.380 --> 00:31:04.079 God, trust me. 00:31:04.079 --> 00:31:05.240 We're going to do it together. 00:31:05.720 --> 00:31:08.720 What we need to be that for people though, right? 00:31:10.599 --> 00:31:18.680 If, if, if the only way that anybody ever saw you was as, as a Mark, um, you wouldn't be where you are today. 00:31:19.319 --> 00:31:25.940 If the only way that anybody ever saw you was as a mess up or somebody, especially on the spiritual journey, right? 00:31:25.940 --> 00:31:26.700 You can look back. 00:31:26.759 --> 00:31:31.240 I bet you, I look back at my time and I don't know why people gave me the time of day. 00:31:31.279 --> 00:31:33.160 I don't know why people showed me the grace. 00:31:33.180 --> 00:31:33.680 They showed me. 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:35.039 I don't know why they communicated. 00:31:35.460 --> 00:31:36.740 I still believe in you. 00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:39.059 I have no idea why they did that. 00:31:39.240 --> 00:31:41.599 And yet I'm here today because that's exactly what they did. 00:31:42.359 --> 00:31:48.359 But I, and I'm here today as well, because there were people in my life like Paul who said not for you and not right now. 00:31:48.700 --> 00:31:50.299 Uh, and that motivated me as well. 00:31:51.940 --> 00:31:55.539 You know, we need, we need all three of these people in our lives. 00:31:55.599 --> 00:32:05.160 I, if I had to identify, if I had to ask you, who's your Mark right now, uh, don't say their name out loud, but, but we ought to have people who are marks who were like, I just see them as, as better than they are. 00:32:05.380 --> 00:32:06.960 I just, I know they're going to make it. 00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:08.420 I really believe in them. 00:32:08.460 --> 00:32:09.359 They're going through a tough time. 00:32:09.400 --> 00:32:10.160 They're going to make it. 00:32:10.660 --> 00:32:16.900 We need, we need marks in our life because we need to be giving the people we pause in our life that are going to tell us the truth. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:25.339 And we all need Barnabas's in our life that see us as close to as Jesus and our mom. 00:32:25.559 --> 00:32:26.440 See us as possible. 00:32:26.440 --> 00:32:26.559 Right. 00:32:28.200 --> 00:32:28.559 Yeah. 00:32:29.579 --> 00:32:31.140 Maybe my mom might be the one. 00:32:33.559 --> 00:32:35.500 Uh, we all need those in our lives at times. 00:32:35.619 --> 00:32:37.339 We all need to be willing to be those people. 00:32:37.539 --> 00:32:41.900 Uh, you know, I, I, I think, well, this isn't stepping on a limb. 00:32:41.980 --> 00:32:44.119 Jesus communicates this the best you can go to Luke nine. 00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:59.789 We're going to prepare for, uh, for communion, but the challenge is something for you to consider is where does this, your transformation and what process or what step are you at in, in this transformation? 00:32:59.930 --> 00:33:04.509 This was a gradual change over the course of 27 years for, for Mark. 00:33:06.670 --> 00:33:07.549 Where are you in that? 00:33:10.099 --> 00:33:26.559 Have you, have you grown, uh, are you willing, but you, you lack reliability or maybe you are skeptical and quick to write somebody off wherever you are in, in your journey, whoever you identify with most, go ahead and make efforts to find the other two in your story. 00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:33.539 Um, Jesus, Jesus, he says it so well, it's in it's Luke nine 57. 00:33:34.140 --> 00:33:41.240 Um, so as they were walking along the road, a man came to him, I'll follow you wherever you go. 00:33:41.880 --> 00:33:42.839 This wasn't Mark. 00:33:42.900 --> 00:33:45.180 I imagine it's kind of the heart of Mark. 00:33:45.220 --> 00:33:46.119 I'm going to follow you. 00:33:46.339 --> 00:33:51.140 Jesus replied, boxes of dens and birds of nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head. 00:33:52.460 --> 00:33:54.279 He said to another man, follow me. 00:33:55.079 --> 00:33:58.740 But he replied, Lord, first go and bury my first. 00:33:58.920 --> 00:34:00.019 Let me go and bury my father. 00:34:00.599 --> 00:34:04.779 Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. 00:34:05.940 --> 00:34:10.460 Still another said, I'll follow you, Lord, but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family. 00:34:11.900 --> 00:34:16.940 Jesus replied, no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God. 00:34:20.860 --> 00:34:24.179 Jesus understands that it's, it's not just one. 00:34:24.280 --> 00:34:25.139 It's not just the other. 00:34:25.139 --> 00:34:25.940 He does it perfectly. 00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:31.480 And he does it in a way to say that certainly those who are willing, you, you've got to grow. 00:34:31.579 --> 00:34:33.980 You've got to be, become reliable if you're not there yet. 00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:43.880 But if you're not willing, you're not going to be able to experience that the goodness of God in the fullest extent, because he says, follow me in the guy says, I'm willing, but I need to do this thing. 00:34:43.900 --> 00:34:46.320 And he says, no, no, no, no, you can't do that. 00:34:46.400 --> 00:34:48.980 You can't be half hearted in your followership of me. 00:34:50.280 --> 00:34:56.679 And then, and then, uh, another says, I'm going to follow you, but I'm kind of, I'm divided in my interest. 00:34:56.760 --> 00:34:59.239 And he says, no, no, no, you need to be fully invested in me. 00:34:59.400 --> 00:35:03.820 If you're going to be able to experience the blessings that I have prepared for you. 00:35:05.780 --> 00:35:15.679 No, right now, communion is a time in our week where we can identify what's going on in our lives, what the good, the bad, the ugly. 00:35:15.980 --> 00:35:23.960 But I think I believe more than that communion is a time for us to really look at Jesus and look at how he perfectly believes in us. 00:35:23.960 --> 00:35:26.840 He perfectly calls us to his amazing standard. 00:35:27.300 --> 00:35:29.559 He has an immense amount of grace. 00:35:29.659 --> 00:35:45.079 We can't even talk about the grace that he has for us, even to allow us to be here, listen to this message that we can pray to him and we don't have to be on our knees and we can say words that almost make it seem like he's our friend because he is, it's, it's audacious. 00:35:45.260 --> 00:35:50.059 The, the, uh, the way that we can approach his throne, even as we take communion. 00:35:50.059 --> 00:36:00.320 And so this is that time to acknowledge that, that we, we, we can't stand up before Jesus, but we are grateful that he sees us as, as, as we can perfectly be. 00:36:00.500 --> 00:36:00.659 Amen. 00:36:01.239 --> 00:36:03.519 Uh, right now let's pray. 00:36:03.619 --> 00:36:09.280 And, and there's going to be a time of silence after, uh, after we pray that trays are going to be passed. 00:36:09.619 --> 00:36:23.039 My encouragement to you guys is, is to consider, uh, to consider your life and consider where you fall short and, and call on Jesus to, uh, to, to deliver you from that and then let's pray. 00:36:26.579 --> 00:36:34.079 Dear God, we, we come before you and we are, we are honored. 00:36:34.260 --> 00:36:37.119 We are undeserving to call you our father. 00:36:38.820 --> 00:36:40.380 The, we, we don't deserve it. 00:36:40.440 --> 00:36:48.559 The, the term, the title Holy father is those, those are two, um, juxtaposed words that, that are totally different from each other. 00:36:48.719 --> 00:36:51.239 And yet that's, that's who you are to us. 00:36:51.320 --> 00:36:56.019 And we're so grateful for your son, Jesus. 00:36:56.159 --> 00:37:01.280 We're, we're grateful that you, that you saw us as we could be. 00:37:01.280 --> 00:37:05.119 And you saw us as worthy of your blood. 00:37:05.179 --> 00:37:18.280 You saw us as worthy to, uh, you, you went above and beyond and in the most difficult trying circumstance, you had every opportunity to turn back and you would have been justified to do so. 00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:22.820 And yet you decided these, these people are worthy of my blood. 00:37:22.960 --> 00:37:24.579 They're worthy of my loneliness. 00:37:24.739 --> 00:37:27.219 They're worthy of my emotional pain. 00:37:27.280 --> 00:37:39.880 They're worthy of, of, of me creating a distance, uh, from, from the father to become sin and die and die as fully as sin, we, we don't deserve it. 00:37:39.880 --> 00:37:41.179 We, we can't stand up. 00:37:41.300 --> 00:37:43.760 If we think about it, Lord, we, we come before you, Jesus. 00:37:43.780 --> 00:37:47.000 And we just, we feel so grateful for your sacrifice. 00:37:47.000 --> 00:37:57.380 I pray that this, this morning that, that we will, uh, look to you and in, and in looking at you, our lives can be forever different Jesus. 00:37:57.400 --> 00:37:58.719 This is in your name that we pray. 00:37:58.900 --> 00:37:59.019 Amen. 00:38:03.280 --> 00:38:07.940 Thank you so much for listening to the Kalamazoo church of Christ podcast. 00:38:08.300 --> 00:38:11.639 If you're in the Kalamazoo area, we'd love to get connected. 00:38:11.639 --> 00:38:21.840 Please go to Kalamazoo.church and fill in your information to come to a Sunday service or any other event that we have going on in any case, you'll be hearing from us next week.