Speaker 1: Hey, what up?
Speaker 1: It's Mark Carter.
Speaker 1: I'm the pastor of Fierce Church.
Speaker 1: Welcome to our podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm so pumped that you're able to join us today.
Speaker 1: I hope this encourages you, inspires you, strengthens you, gives you hope to keep pressing on, and it's my prayer that this sermon gives you a more expansive view of God's love for you.
Speaker 1: Enjoy the message.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you can't move forward unless you're willing to change.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you can't move forward or you can't progress unless you're willing to make some changes.
Speaker 1: That's what was happening in the lives of the Christians we're going to study today.
Speaker 1: They needed to make some changes.
Speaker 1: They had been in a season really of revival themselves.
Speaker 1: Many people are coming to know Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: This is the early church.
Speaker 1: Thousands of people, as a matter of fact, have come to know Jesus Christ and yet, because the gospel is so powerful, because it crosses cultural boundaries, lots of different kinds of people are coming to know Jesus Christ and right as things are multiplying, right as things are moving forward, there comes a speed bump and it looks like things either need to change or they're all going to go wrong, because there starts to be tension between believers, and that's a new one that hasn't happened before, and it brings the question okay, jesus said the gospel was for everybody and it is going everywhere, but is it powerful enough to bring two divergent cultures?
Speaker 1: Even though they have a lot of similarities, they're still very different.
Speaker 1: Is it powerful enough to bring them together and override their differences?
Speaker 1: That is the question that is going to be asked the text is asking today and that's what we're going to be looking at.
Speaker 1: There were two groups of Christians that are in this story today.
Speaker 1: Okay, there are the Greek-speaking Jews.
Speaker 1: Okay, so they've come to know Jesus and they're part of the Greek culture.
Speaker 1: They've been around the Roman world and they've experienced all the customs of that realm.
Speaker 1: And then there's the Jewish Jews.
Speaker 1: We'll call them.
Speaker 1: They're the ones that speak Aramaic.
Speaker 1: They're the ones that stuck around Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: They've had their whole lives, they do Jewish things, they speak in Jewish ways and they're coming together now, folks from the they're called the Hellenists in the text.
Speaker 1: They're coming.
Speaker 1: They've probably come home to Jerusalem at some point, and what would often happen is people who are in the Greek culture.
Speaker 1: They would come back home to die in Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: So if perhaps, the husband died and then the wife is there but she doesn't have enough to sustain her the Jewish community, they would take care of those widows.
Speaker 1: Well, the Christians started doing this too, and as they did this, they began to notice some differences.
Speaker 1: Okay, well, there's all these Jews, these Hebrews, that we understand their culture, and then these folks are transporting their culture, and it's not necessarily mingling, we're not necessarily getting it right, and we who are handing out the money or the food to take care of everybody, we don't necessarily remember them, necessarily in the same ways that they want us to all the time, and what happens is they're really overlooking them.
Speaker 1: Ever felt overlooked?
Speaker 1: Ever felt like a little bit, like no, maybe no one's even trying to, but you feel forgotten.
Speaker 1: You feel like maybe somebody, they dismissed you or they didn't include you, or they didn't bother to remember, to remember you, or they heard you, but not really.
Speaker 1: They kind of weren't paying attention or whatever.
Speaker 1: And it's easy for our feelings to get hurt and that's a reality.
Speaker 1: People do overlook us, they do forget about us, and that can be hard.
Speaker 1: And there's also there's probably a negative response to that too, like there's probably a wise, you know we should engage about this.
Speaker 1: There's a negative response where we just start to complain and we just start to grumble, and that's what some of them did in our text today.
Speaker 1: So we're going to take a look at them and we're going to find out.
Speaker 1: Hey, can the body of Christ survive this potential difficulty?
Speaker 1: Relationally, chapter six, verse one Now, in those days, while the disciples were multiplying in number, okay, so things are going good, things are getting better and better and better.
Speaker 1: By the way, you may know or not, last weekend we had a record attendance.
Speaker 1: Our church right now is in a season of growth, so this is very germane to us.
Speaker 1: Right now, while the disciples were multiplying in number, there was grumbling from the Hellenists those are, the Greek-speaking Hebrews and against the Hebrews, the Aramaic-speaking Hebrews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food and they were getting sidetracked.
Speaker 1: They were getting distracted.
Speaker 1: See, something is wrong, something's happening wrong and the danger for you and I, because things go wrong for you and I, there's things that we feel left out of or we feel unincluded in, and then we can get focused on the drama we can get focused on.
Speaker 1: I'm having difficulty with this person and it can just become mind absorbing.
Speaker 1: Anybody that ever happened to somebody Like you're in a bit of a conflict and you can't think about anything else.
Speaker 1: Like you're trying to get stuff done.
Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, my head keeps going back there.
Speaker 1: I remember years ago there was kind of an elder statesman that came to me in the church and I had been in a conflict with this particular person.
Speaker 1: It was really absorbing me and I was talking to them and others about it and he just pulled me aside he said hey, man, I love you so much.
Speaker 1: You know, I know that this feels heavy.
Speaker 1: I know this is a big deal.
Speaker 1: You've got a lot of other people here that need your help.
Speaker 1: You do not need to have your whole mind focused on this one thing.
Speaker 1: Like can you just trust God with this and move on?
Speaker 1: And sometimes that's what we need to hear.
Speaker 1: Someone needs to tell us this is a distraction, dude.
Speaker 1: Like, yeah, it's important, but it's also a distraction.
Speaker 1: Get back to the main thing.
Speaker 1: And that's what these folks needed to do was get back to the main thing.
Speaker 1: So the 12 summoned the 12, these apostles.
Speaker 1: They summoned the congregation of the disciples and said it is not pleasing to God for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables.
Speaker 1: It is not pleasing.
Speaker 1: You hear that Like God wants everybody fed.
Speaker 1: God wants everybody, you know, to be taken care of and he wants everyone to get along.
Speaker 1: And yet they're saying hey, it's not pleasing to God for us to neglect God's word, even to do this, doling out of different things to different people.
Speaker 1: There's organizational difficulties, but even amidst the organizational difficulties, god says the priority is God's word, the priority is the message.
Speaker 1: It's the message of Jesus, this is what's changing everybody.
Speaker 1: This is the antidote to the hell virus that is loose in the world.
Speaker 1: And so the apostles they just want to clarify hey guys, now remember, there's thousands of these disciples now, if the apostles are being called in, it's a big deal.
Speaker 1: It's creating quite a ruckus for them to have to come in.
Speaker 1: And they come in and essentially what they're saying is okay, we don't even want to have to come do this anymore.
Speaker 1: This is an organizational thing and we need some people to run it.
Speaker 1: It's important, but it's not the main thing.
Speaker 1: We need to keep doing the main thing, and that's what they do.
Speaker 1: Now I want you to notice something, because there's a value that is kind of like a value in our world, in this text, and that is this value of equity, because we would look at this and say, well, yeah, that is unfair, like, shouldn't they just?
Speaker 1: Shouldn't there be equity for everybody?
Speaker 1: Shouldn't everybody just get the exact same thing?
Speaker 1: Yes, but the way that we talk about equity is not necessarily the same as the way the Bible sees the universe.
Speaker 1: Okay, so, yes, people, we want to take care of people, we want to help people out, but remember some other things that are true about God's word.
Speaker 1: God's word says you, whoever you are, wherever you are on planet earth, you are here on purpose.
Speaker 1: You're right where you are on purpose, like God put you there, and when he put you there, he was asking you to be faithful with what you had, whatever you've got.
Speaker 1: Yes, there's people that have more than you, there's people that have less than you, but wherever you are, whatever you've got, you take your stuff and you be faithful to that right now.
Speaker 1: Now, as you're doing that, you're going to notice there's people that have less than you, and that is supposed to prick your heart, that is supposed to make you feel something for them.
Speaker 1: That is supposed to bring about the best of the kingdom.
Speaker 1: See, our world talks a lot about equity, but the Bible talks about kingdom.
Speaker 1: We've talked about this in the Applause of Heaven series a lot.
Speaker 1: The kingdom of God.
Speaker 1: See, the problem is not that they weren't equitable, it's that they weren't being kingdom.
Speaker 1: See the kingdom.
Speaker 1: People say, oh, this isn't right, I've got.
Speaker 1: Why do I have so much?
Speaker 1: I need to go help this.
Speaker 1: I need to pay attention to them, I'm concerned about them, I'm focused on them, but it's because I fear God.
Speaker 1: That's why I do it.
Speaker 1: That's who's changing my heart to care at all.
Speaker 1: It's not just for the.
Speaker 1: Sometimes our world throws up these incredible values and they say do equity for the sake of equity.
Speaker 1: No, do equity for the sake of the.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, who's transforming your heart.
Speaker 1: He's making you a new thing, he's making a living thing.
Speaker 1: So, care and do something.
Speaker 1: But that's very different than legislated.
Speaker 1: Everybody, let's force one another to serve some values that aren't really taking root in the heart.
Speaker 1: It's all about the heart.
Speaker 1: Somebody say amen.
Speaker 1: What we're saying is a kingdom problem needs a kingdom solution.
Speaker 1: A kingdom problem needs a kingdom solution.
Speaker 1: So verse 3, and this pleased the whole congregation they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip Prochorus man.
Speaker 1: I studied even how to say this.
Speaker 1: And Philip Prochorus man.
Speaker 1: I studied even how to say this Nicanor, timon, parmenas and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch.
Speaker 1: A proselyte means he first became a Jew and then became a Christian.
Speaker 1: So what he wants everyone to understand is these are all Greeks.
Speaker 1: These are all Greek folks.
Speaker 1: These are Greek names and they're Greeks because there was a sensitivity.
Speaker 1: It's the Greek folks that were being neglected.
Speaker 1: So let's put people in charge of it that would care the most about this.
Speaker 1: Let's put people in charge that are going to be concerned.
Speaker 1: They're going to feel it.
Speaker 1: Maybe others would overlook it.
Speaker 1: These guys will feel it.
Speaker 1: And the word of God kept spreading and the number of the disciples continued to multiply.
Speaker 1: We're back where we were.
Speaker 1: Now it's multiplying again.
Speaker 1: It was about to stop.
Speaker 1: Now it's multiplying Greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
Speaker 1: It keeps increasing, increasing.
Speaker 1: And they say the priest because in Luke 22, there was a lot of priests.
Speaker 1: That was recorded by Luke.
Speaker 1: The priests were attempting to put Jesus to death, but now the church keeps multiplying.
Speaker 1: They got back to what they're supposed to be doing and now even the folks that once opposed Jesus, wanting to kill him, now they're like.
Speaker 1: I think this Jesus thing is real, but nevertheless, the lesson remains sometimes we can't grow unless we're willing to change.
Speaker 1: You ever run into some brick walls.
Speaker 1: You ever run into some things in your life.
Speaker 1: It's like there's whatever I do, I can't seem to get out of this.
Speaker 1: I can't seem to get past this problem.
Speaker 1: There's some tension in my life and I can't seem to get around it.
Speaker 1: It may be I'm not saying always, but it may be you may not get around it until you decide it's time to change.
Speaker 1: I just want to encourage you today to be open to that, be open to change.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we can just so easily close down to anything else because we already figured out the best recipe, already figured out the best way, oh, maybe.
Speaker 1: But then new problems came along.
Speaker 1: Now you have something else, now there's something new in the equation and God says let's be open to change, because sometimes you can't grow and you can't progress until you're willing to change.
Speaker 1: And so what's happening?
Speaker 1: Well, one, god is faithfully spreading his word, just like he said he would.
Speaker 1: Two, there is this dissension and division, and the gospel, in this text, has the power to override cultural diversity problems.
Speaker 1: You see that?
Speaker 1: See, it's easy in our time to say well, you know what.
Speaker 1: There's just too many differences.
Speaker 1: Let's just separate.
Speaker 1: You go your way and I'll go my way.
Speaker 1: And what we ought to do is look to God's word, because in God's word, the gospel is powerful enough it should be able to if we'll stick with it.
Speaker 1: The gospel is powerful enough to override even our sinful tendencies, if we're open, if we're humble.
Speaker 1: It's powerful enough to unite us in one body of Christ.
Speaker 1: Because why?
Speaker 1: What do you think You're thinking?
Speaker 1: Well, whatever happens, that's my brother and that's my sister.
Speaker 1: Whatever we disagree about, we're one in Christ.
Speaker 1: Man Like, we're the same family, we're going to the same place.
Speaker 1: We've got way more in common than we've got.
Speaker 1: That separates us, and so the gospel breaks through and has that power.
Speaker 1: But we're reminded, yeah, but just so you know for the future, neglecting God's word is a bad idea, and God doesn't want us to, even right here at the start, to forget that.
Speaker 1: I think it's really important.
Speaker 1: I think we need to own this as a church.
Speaker 1: The two crucial things, the two crucial things that are necessary for God's church to operate right and for it to continue to grow, is prayer and the word.
Speaker 1: That's what it is.
Speaker 1: It's not any program, it's not anything online.
Speaker 1: It's not anything.
Speaker 1: All it is is prayer and the word, and what it is.
Speaker 1: There's a preeminence to God's word.
Speaker 1: That's got to come first.
Speaker 1: Whatever else we do, whatever else we do, from here on out, guys, god's word has got to be the very most important thing that we ever do.
Speaker 1: It's God's word that gives life.
Speaker 1: It's God's word that focuses us on and opens us to and teaches us from Jesus himself, and so God's word.
Speaker 1: I mean we don't have anything else.
Speaker 1: We're not that entertaining.
Speaker 1: You guys are pretty good looking, but I'm not, you know, and so there's not much going on here other than what we've really got is God's word, and we've got to get God's word out.
Speaker 1: So, whatever else we do, we got to keep that primary.
Speaker 1: Now, I don't know if you know this, but every week, we take some of the video that's produced from this worship experience and we make other little videos.
Speaker 1: We call them bite-sized sermons and we put those online.
Speaker 1: And we put them online so you can share them with people, meaning this priority of sharing God's word is not just the church's priority.
Speaker 1: It's to be a priority for us.
Speaker 1: So I want to challenge you.
Speaker 1: If you didn't know about that, I think we've got an image of one of those bite-sized sermons up there.
Speaker 1: So someone in your life you go and you find that video.
Speaker 1: Someone in your life they're working on something Goals seems relevant.
Speaker 1: You say, hey, man, I was thinking about you and you send them that you don't have to put it on their wall necessarily, you can just text it to them.
Speaker 1: You could email it to them channel.
Speaker 1: And you looked at the playlist Bite Size Sermons.
Speaker 1: There's 52 of them right now.
Speaker 1: You would find something that is only about five minutes long that you could share one every week with some friend, because it's a different need that they might be feeling the tension of.
Speaker 1: And then you're sharing God's word and you could use anybody's stuff.
Speaker 1: You could do it at all.
Speaker 1: As long as it's God's word, it will be helpful.
Speaker 1: And what I want to point out is that it's our responsibility Now.
Speaker 1: God's word, god's word changes us.
Speaker 1: That's what happens.
Speaker 1: So we better get used to change.
Speaker 1: We can't be unwilling to change, because God's word is going to change us.
Speaker 1: But also God himself is going to change things.
Speaker 1: He's going to change people in your life.
Speaker 1: He's going to change structures in your life.
Speaker 1: He's going to change what happens in your life.
Speaker 1: He's going to change who in your life.
Speaker 1: He's going to change what happens in your life.
Speaker 1: He's going to change who gets to do what at different times.
Speaker 1: He's going to open up doors for you to do this for a little while and then close them, and then open up doors for you to do this for a little while and then close them.
Speaker 1: God gets to change and that's what he does, and then for these people, they've got a new problem and so they get new leaders and now they have a new change, a new system.
Speaker 1: A new thing is going on in their lives.
Speaker 1: We've had this happen in our church multiple times.
Speaker 1: How many?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 1: Some of you were around during COVID.
Speaker 1: Dude, everything changed at COVID and, like we were informed right away, you are not equipped to minister during COVID.
Speaker 1: You got to, like, catch up quickly in order to be able to do this.
Speaker 1: But you guys know this You've got kids.
Speaker 1: We've got to change with our kids.
Speaker 1: Kids they start one way and you have a certain way you're doing stuff, but as they grow, dude, you've got to change what you're doing because they're changing.
Speaker 1: You know this as a.
Speaker 1: You know if you're married as a couple, you start a certain way and there's certain things that you do and maybe you want to keep doing a lot of those things, but some things have got to change, because you're just getting older and maybe you get wiser, but also different things go wrong or you've got to overcome certain obstacles, and that is just a fact of life.
Speaker 1: That is just going to happen, and so we're going to change as we grow.
Speaker 1: I bring this up also just to let everybody know.
Speaker 1: We as a church, as we've been praying and fasting, I mean, one of the things we're doing is saying God, how do you want us to change over the next 15 years?
Speaker 1: Or how do you want us to reapportion, or how do you want us to rethink about something, or is something going to happen in the world that you want us to just adjust in this way?
Speaker 1: And so we're thinking about that.
Speaker 1: We're praying about that.
Speaker 1: Today you're going to receive an email.
Speaker 1: You can also go off the QR code that we're going to put on the screen.
Speaker 1: It's going to bring you to a survey and this is for you to go through and answer questions about our church that we've been asking during this month of prayer and fasting.
Speaker 1: Some things you're going to find.
Speaker 1: You're going to find a section about who are we supposed to be being.
Speaker 1: Who are we supposed to be being?
Speaker 1: I don't know if you know this, but churches have personality types, just like people do.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of different kinds, but the staff and the elders have whittled it down to just a few and we're asking you to go in and look at those and I'm going to describe them to you and you can tell us hey, this is how I experience this, and the reason we're doing that is because we're probably going to keep being who we've been most of the time, right, like you're not going to become a different person overnight.
Speaker 1: Whatever changes are coming for you, you're still going to be you, doing it.
Speaker 1: And so we want our church to weigh in.
Speaker 1: Hey, here's who I think we are, because it might influence the things we do in the future.
Speaker 1: We probably want to work from skill sets, and so some of those things are what problems are we built to solve?
Speaker 1: One personality is called spiritual formation, meaning, these are churches.
Speaker 1: They really care about getting people to progress toward Jesus and grow.
Speaker 1: So you think about discipleship type stuff, you think about the Grove, you think about Bible classes.
Speaker 1: You think about prayer classes, you think about parenting classes.
Speaker 1: These churches, they want people to get more of it so they can have more Jesus.
Speaker 1: There's also a personality type of authentic community.
Speaker 1: These folks are very concerned that everyone feels like this is family, like I'm meeting people that know me and love me and I'm able to love and use my gifts.
Speaker 1: But there's a transparency, there's a realness to it.
Speaker 1: Other churches have a specific people group that they're trying to reach, meaning God raised them up in the world just to reach this particular kind of person.
Speaker 1: They'll reach everybody else too, but for some reason there's a burden on their heart to reach this person.
Speaker 1: Have you experienced fierce like that in any way?
Speaker 1: What about spiritual refuge?
Speaker 1: Some have shared with me.
Speaker 1: You know fierce has kind of been a spiritual refuge for us.
Speaker 1: Like we came out of some hard stuff and then we came here and some things were put back together by the spirit of God and so that could be part of our personality.
Speaker 1: Or maybe you might experience presence manifestation.
Speaker 1: That's churches with that personality.
Speaker 1: They very much care that people are encountering the presence of God and the sense that God is here and God is a real person and the spirit of God is someone you can walk and talk with.
Speaker 1: Now we're probably a combo of those, so don't feel like you got to just have one.
Speaker 1: Okay, just like you and I, we're combinations of different personality type things.
Speaker 1: But while you're taking that survey, do me a favor and pick your top two.
Speaker 1: What are the two that you think?
Speaker 1: Yeah, but really this Like if I could only do one or two, what are those two?
Speaker 1: So that's one that we're doing, but there's also going to be questions about what is the story that God is writing through us over the next 15 years, given who we are.
Speaker 1: What is the story that he's writing?
Speaker 1: Here's some things that we've been talking about for the past few months, largely in response to the fasting that came before this and the fasting that's been happening now.
Speaker 1: Are we supposed to plant more churches?
Speaker 1: Yes, is that something you have felt as you print?
Speaker 1: Fast would be God's heart for us?
Speaker 1: Is that the story in the future that he wrote about us?
Speaker 1: We talked a lot about reaching Generation Z through lots of digital media like podcasts and videos and whatever else.
Speaker 1: Tech is invented, and to do a lot of that, we probably need to invest some kind of money in a broadcast studio to do that to the degree that we've been talking about.
Speaker 1: Or maybe are we supposed to think about we've talked about changing this building or adding this building over the years.
Speaker 1: Are we supposed to create more of a community life center where more of the community can come in and be with us?
Speaker 1: Maybe there's playgrounds, maybe there's an arcade, maybe there's other stuff, maybe there's a coffee shop, maybe there's just something that is more community focused, so it becomes a third space for the community.
Speaker 1: What do you think about that for your church?
Speaker 1: What about a life and leadership academy?
Speaker 1: Is there something about us?
Speaker 1: We've talked about training up people, not only in discipleship but then into leadership, so that they can use their be missional, missionary or vocational missionaries.
Speaker 1: Wherever it is they work, they're bringing the gospel, they're bringing Jesus, they're bringing those things into their real life.
Speaker 1: Or maybe it's a food pantry.
Speaker 1: Maybe there's something that God has been laying on your heart about?
Speaker 1: Hey, yeah, I think there's.
Speaker 1: While Gray's Lake is doing pretty well most of the time, there's people within 10 minutes that often have very deep need, and so we could be a resource for that.
Speaker 1: I don't know what God has been laying on your heart for the past few weeks.
Speaker 1: But if anything, feel free to take that survey and write that down.
Speaker 1: Can we see that QR code again, ellie?
Speaker 1: I just want to make sure everyone knows how to do this.
Speaker 1: Okay, see that fuzzy looking thing.
Speaker 1: Okay, if you don't know what this is, that's the QR code.
Speaker 1: You open up your camera and then you point the camera Don't take a picture Point the camera at it and then it'll bring up a little URL and then you can click on that URL and you'll go to the survey.
Speaker 1: If you can't do that for some reason, one you could probably ask somebody.
Speaker 1: But if you can't do that, you can also just go to our website, fiercechurch.
Speaker 1: There's a little 15-year vision tab.
Speaker 1: Click on that and on the next page you'll see the tab to go take the survey.
Speaker 1: Sound like a deal, guys?
Speaker 1: This is where, as a church, we come together and we say what is the Spirit of God saying among the people?
Speaker 1: Let's find out.
Speaker 1: Does that sound fun?
Speaker 1: Sounds fun to me.
Speaker 1: Now, whatever we do, whatever we do, whoever we are, whatever we do, god is going to require change, but the best changes are going to come about when we are deciding to change into the best version of the people we're supposed to be.
Speaker 1: Say that a little bit differently.
Speaker 1: Do you remember who they picked?
Speaker 1: They picked people of great reputation, full of the spirit and full of wisdom, whatever changes, whether it's here at church or in your life.
Speaker 1: How many think if you just added a whole bunch more spirit and a whole bunch more wisdom, that might go better than without it?
Speaker 1: You think that's possible?
Speaker 1: Well, I think so too, and so let's end the message talking about that.
Speaker 1: Now, when we talk about change, let's just remember we're not asking do you like all the changes?
Speaker 1: That's really not a profitable question.
Speaker 1: Necessarily, most of the time the question is not oh, do I like this change?
Speaker 1: Often, people ask that when there's a change, do I like this change?
Speaker 1: Hey, I care whether you like it or not, but the question you really ought to be asking is how is God inviting me to react to him in this change?
Speaker 1: How has he invited me to grow in this change?
Speaker 1: If God is forcing a change into my life and God does how is he asking me to grow as I go through this?
Speaker 1: One is your reputation.
Speaker 1: He can keep elevating that to go better and better.
Speaker 1: I want to speak to the discouraged people.
Speaker 1: Your reputation can change, the way people understand you can change.
Speaker 1: You might feel really bad about some things that went wrong or some things that got away from you and you just feel like everyone sees you a certain way.
Speaker 1: By the grace of God, it takes time, it doesn't just happen overnight.
Speaker 1: You got to kind of like earn it.
Speaker 1: But reputations can change.
Speaker 1: And I want to clarify we're not talking about you know, galatians 1.10 says that we're not to be people pleasers, because if we are, we're not even really servants of God.
Speaker 1: We're really serving them.
Speaker 1: We're not talking about people pleasing.
Speaker 1: We're talking about having a trustworthiness, having a sense of people think what they can predict, what they're going to get from us, and they think it's positive.
Speaker 1: So every time you and I fulfill our word to somebody, we put a little trust nickel in their trust bank and every time we don't fulfill a word we pull it out.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we've just done enough disappointing of people because we didn't complete our word, we didn't show up, we didn't do the thing we said we're going to do.
Speaker 1: If we wouldn't have said anything, it wouldn't have been a big deal.
Speaker 1: But we said we were going to do it and then we didn't.
Speaker 1: That's a reputation that you and I might have.
Speaker 1: God wants us to have the kind of reputation because of Jesus.
Speaker 1: Their yes is yes and their no is no.
Speaker 1: They're predictable people.
Speaker 1: They're predictable with not only their word.
Speaker 1: They're predictable.
Speaker 1: You kind of get to know what they can do.
Speaker 1: See, it's interesting to me they picked the seven people that they picked, probably because, out of all those people they could have picked, they're like I think not only are these guys full of wisdom and full of the spirit, I think that they would be good at this Like there's something about them because they only put them in charge of that task.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you noticed that in the text.
Speaker 1: They put them in charge of that task.
Speaker 1: It wasn't like these folks were in charge of everything from there on out.
Speaker 1: They said these guys are going to be good at this, so let's put them in front of it.
Speaker 1: What that means is guys, what are you good at?
Speaker 1: You want a reputation for being good at that.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we want to be good at eight things that other people are good at, and we need to narrow that focus.
Speaker 1: Pick the three that you're good at, because that's probably what God wants you to do.
Speaker 1: And, as you're faithful meaning that you don't jump out there you don't say, hey, everybody, look at me, I can do this.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you have to inform people of that just to give them an understanding.
Speaker 1: But most of the time when we jump out and, oh, look at me, god is going to oppose that dude.
Speaker 1: That's self-promotion.
Speaker 1: He's going to say, great, go to the back of the table and I'll raise you up when I'm ready.
Speaker 1: You take the last place and I'll make sure you get where you're supposed to get.
Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean don't crush it right now.
Speaker 1: That doesn't mean don't be great at it.
Speaker 1: You should be great at it, dude.
Speaker 1: Rock it, crush it, do it.
Speaker 1: And as we do that, god will continue to give us favor with God and people.
Speaker 1: Not that we care about the favor of people, because we're not supposed to, but God can still use that as he used it with these folks.
Speaker 1: What would it be like if, over the next two, three years, god just really added to your reputation?
Speaker 1: People saw you as a person of integrity, they saw you as a person and I can always count on them, and even when something goes wrong, they'll tell you about it?
Speaker 1: What about spirit being understood as a person who's full of the spirit?
Speaker 1: Again, it's not for the praise of people, it's just for the profit of the kingdom.
Speaker 1: I love it that you don't have to be like a preacher in this text.
Speaker 1: They didn't pick any preachers.
Speaker 1: They didn't pick anybody.
Speaker 1: They were like well, because they're one of the leadership people, let's just pick them.
Speaker 1: They just picked people that were full of the spirit.
Speaker 1: I want to challenge leaders in the room, as you're looking for people.
Speaker 1: Make that at the top of your list.
Speaker 1: How full of the Spirit of God?
Speaker 1: That means how close Do you get the sense that they're close to him, that they're listening to him, that they care what he thinks, that they're being slowly transformed more and more like Jesus, like when they're around.
Speaker 1: Jesus is in the room.
Speaker 1: Because they care.
Speaker 1: They care what Jesus thinks, they're trying to get closer to him.
Speaker 1: They're full of the spirit.
Speaker 1: And when you're full of the spirit let me give you a hint it's not an emotional thing.
Speaker 1: When you're full of the spirit.
Speaker 1: Here's the proof, here's the way people can tell.
Speaker 1: It's because when you're around, it's easier and easier to be full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.
Speaker 1: There's something about them.
Speaker 1: Jesus is ruling them deeper and more.
Speaker 1: And if you're growing in the Spirit, you're finding like I'm weirdly more patient right now.
Speaker 1: I don't know why this person is an absolute idiot and yet I have grace for them.
Speaker 1: I don't know why I love them.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't get it.
Speaker 1: That's because the Spirit of God is moving in you.
Speaker 1: You're close to the Spirit and he's giving you the love of God for that person.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: What do we do?
Speaker 1: Well, if we're going to have more of the Spirit, we've got to ask.
Speaker 1: You've got to ask Luke 11, 13.
Speaker 1: The Father gives more of the Spirit to those who ask.
Speaker 1: We have to abide Colossians 3, 16.
Speaker 1: We have to obey and we have to dude.
Speaker 1: We just have to.
Speaker 1: We have to make guys.
Speaker 1: God ain't tricked by anybody, okay.
Speaker 1: If he's not actually the priority, then he's not and he wants to be first.
Speaker 1: He says seek first the kingdom.
Speaker 1: That means whatever I say goes.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what God is saying.
Speaker 1: Make your ambition to as far as you know what I want you to do.
Speaker 1: Do your best to do that.
Speaker 1: You're not going to do it, perfect.
Speaker 1: But if you're not even caring, dude, I would not expect to be very full of the Spirit, because he's just not going to anoint that.
Speaker 1: Let's do one more, because sometimes we can't grow unless we're willing to change.
Speaker 1: We can change in our wisdom.
Speaker 1: We can grow in our wisdom, because sometimes we can't grow unless we're willing to change.
Speaker 1: We can change in our wisdom.
Speaker 1: We can grow in our wisdom.
Speaker 1: Wisdom is the ability to do life according to the way that God has designed it and to do now what you're going to appreciate later, without necessarily knowing what's going to happen later.
Speaker 1: I'll give you this illustration.
Speaker 1: Let's pretend that you're a pilot and you know how to pilot a plane.
Speaker 1: Suddenly, and you're a pilot and you're flying through a great big cloud and you looked at it as you're flying in, you're like I think that's a small cloud, I think I'm going to fly right in there and get right out.
Speaker 1: And as you go, you're counting five seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds.
Speaker 1: You're still in this cloud and you're starting to get a little bit.
Speaker 1: Uh-oh, did I do something wrong?
Speaker 1: And my senses can't quite make sense of what I'm doing right now.
Speaker 1: Am I going right?
Speaker 1: Did I flip upside down Like?
Speaker 1: I don't know that.
Speaker 1: I know for sure that I'm doing this right.
Speaker 1: That's how the world is.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it can create a disequilibrium.
Speaker 1: We can get like it's so confusing.
Speaker 1: There's so many trials happening right now, there's so much going wrong, I don't know where I am anymore.
Speaker 1: Wisdom says don't pay attention to the clouds.
Speaker 1: Look at your instruments, just trust that they are right and fly Five more seconds, 10 more seconds and you're out of the cloud.
Speaker 1: Guys, when we do wisdom, when we're full of wisdom, life feels like chaos.
Speaker 1: Everyone's having you know, everyone's panicked and we say it's not that I'm not jittery about this, but I'm looking at my Jesus.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the wisdom that he's given me over time and the wisdom that he's downloading into me.
Speaker 1: And see the people that are full of wisdom.
Speaker 1: They just have more instruments, they have more case studies, they have more times where.
Speaker 1: But I know the contours of how God does things, and he, just he.
Speaker 1: But I know the contours of how God does things and he, just he, does it this way.
Speaker 1: And so everybody, calm down, it's going to be fine.
Speaker 1: I've flown this way before.
Speaker 1: That's what the people full of wisdom do.
Speaker 1: They're able to not only make great choices, but they're able to keep their cool when everyone else is losing theirs.
Speaker 1: Now, just, I just want to make sure you all understand this Wisdom is not your opinion about something.
Speaker 1: Okay, this Wisdom is not your opinion about something.
Speaker 1: Okay, if you're very in love with your own opinions about something, that's actually a sign that you're not very wise.
Speaker 1: Okay, the wise start to ask questions over time like do I even need an opinion about this?
Speaker 1: Because I know way less about this than I would like to say I do, and so I'm going to start backing off on opinions and I'm going to say God you know, I'm going to spend more time trying to get wisdom, which is actually what makes you very wise.
Speaker 1: One more thing that we can do other than ask for wisdom is we can ask for feedback, and that's a harder thing to do.
Speaker 1: It's hard to trust people with that.
Speaker 1: One guy that I could always trust was Jake Winter with my feedback.
Speaker 1: See, jake had a great way of communicating affection and love and then telling you something that's a little bit hard to hear.
Speaker 1: Okay, so there'd be multiple times during the history of our church where Jake would get me alone in a hallway or in a you know, we're in a meeting, or something like that.
Speaker 1: He said hey, um, are you aware that you do this?
Speaker 1: He said hey, are you aware that you do this?
Speaker 1: Are you aware that this is how you're coming off to people?
Speaker 1: And it was always filled with love.
Speaker 1: It wasn't like so you suck, carter.
Speaker 1: So you know, it was always I believe in you, like I want God to do all he's trying to do.
Speaker 1: But I don't think you get how this feels to people, and so one of the things that you can do is start to ask people you trust and start asking God to show you the people you should trust.
Speaker 1: Say, hey, you have unfiltered permission right now.
Speaker 1: Just tell me whatever.
Speaker 1: You think people are thinking that I'm not hearing.
Speaker 1: What is it like to be on the other side of me?
Speaker 1: And just tell me for real.
Speaker 1: What does everyone wish?
Speaker 1: I knew that I'm not able to understand.
Speaker 1: For some reason, I'm giving you permission go and hold on tight to that person if they tell you the truth because, dude, they're gold.
Speaker 1: I don't know what's coming up for you in the next few years.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you're going to stay at this church, if you're going to go to another church.
Speaker 1: I don't know if some of you may be like Jake, you're going to go home to be with the Lord.
Speaker 1: Whatever's going to happen, it's going to require change and whatever that change is the best plan, guys, that we can do is hold high God's word and prayer and then say I don't need to get stuck here, I can grow in my reputation as being someone who can be counted on and a reputation of being someone who's full of the Spirit, and a reputation not that I care what people think for.
Speaker 1: Being full of wisdom Sounds like a plan to me.
Speaker 1: Let's pray, god.
Speaker 1: We're just so thankful for your word.
Speaker 1: Your word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.
Speaker 1: Thank you for giving us understanding of the things you want us to do and the pitfalls to watch out for.
Speaker 1: And, god, we just want to declare that there have been multiple times when we just weren't wise man, we were super in the flesh, we were not trying to do things with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Speaker 1: God, there's been times we did not prioritize your word and it was so easy for us just to get off track and get pulled into stuff that, yes, it's not, that it's not meaningful, but it's not the main thing.
Speaker 1: God, would you help us this week, every place that we're not in line with what is the main thing.
Speaker 1: Pull us back onto the main thing.
Speaker 1: Father, I ask that you pour out a spirit of wisdom, a spirit of desire and fire for more of your Holy Spirit, and I pray you'd lead us.
Speaker 1: We're not done with this month yet, god, so I pray with these surveys that you would lead people, direct their hands to show us more clearly what it is you want us to do In Christ's name.
Speaker 1: Amen.
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Speaker 1: Whatever challenges you're facing, I know you can make it.
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Speaker 1: Jesus loves you so much and we love you.
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Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening.