WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:02.000 It's 2024. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:03.919 You made it. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.000 You made it this morning. 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:10.480 And I'm thankful for all that the Lord is doing to start this year off well. 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:14.160 You are here the first Sunday of the year. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:22.079 And I'm excited because on this first Sunday of the year, I get to share some really good news with you. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:30.079 This last Friday, the inspectors gave us our approvals. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:34.719 And in three weeks' time, we're gonna be meeting our breaking location. 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:37.280 Thank you, Jesus. 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:48.640 We got this good news! We're moving! We're moving forward! We're gonna see how I continue to take ground in this city and this place. 00:00:49.520 --> 00:00:51.920 And I'm just in a spirit of gratitude. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:01.039 Because that means after today, we just have two more Sundays in this movie theater. 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:08.400 And I'm thankful for this movie theater. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:11.599 And I'm thankful that we're moving forward. 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:15.680 But my heart is filled with gratitude. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:22.799 And so I want to take a second right now for us to give glory and honor to the one who's done it all, our Lord. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:24.239 That's right. 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:28.879 So bow your heads as we pray. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:31.280 Father, we thank you, Lord. 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:38.640 God, we start this 2024 in worship in a spirit of thanksgiving and of gratitude. 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:41.040 God, you are above all things. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:42.159 You're seated on the throne. 00:01:42.239 --> 00:01:43.519 You're on high. 00:01:43.920 --> 00:01:49.760 Jesus, right now, you receive our worship as we sing and submit ourselves to your throne. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:52.400 As we lift your name. 00:01:52.719 --> 00:01:54.799 God, you draw all men to yourself. 00:01:54.959 --> 00:02:01.840 So, Father, I thank you, God, today, specifically, Father, this morning, for this good news. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:09.520 And God, we honor you and we give all credit to you for the provision. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:20.000 God, to see that the vision and the work of our church, the gospel, to move forward. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:31.280 So, God, right now, we give our hearts to you right now in a spirit of thanksgiving and of gratitude, Lord. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:37.439 Even before we open your word, God, we thank you for your goodness. 00:02:40.080 --> 00:02:43.919 And Lord, we we know that you will be faithful. 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:46.879 So, Lord, help us to be faithful. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:52.159 We love you, we praise you, we thank you in the strong name of Jesus. 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:53.120 Amen. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:57.120 So, what does that mean? 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:09.680 That means that on January the 28th, for the first time, we are going to uh be meeting in our new location for our friends and family day. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:10.639 Now, what does that mean? 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:15.199 That means that first uh meeting that we have there is gonna be friends and family. 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:18.319 We want that day is gonna be a little bit special, a little bit different. 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:22.800 It's gonna be for our church family, that first time uh meeting. 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:29.039 And we want you to invite your families, those and that those are friends of multiply. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:40.879 I think about all the different hands, the friends in in our city and beyond that have helped to serve and to make the work happen of us being able to move to our new location. 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:45.680 And so that's gonna be a fun day together for us to celebrate uh on the 28th. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:50.319 Then the following uh week is gonna be kind of our first regular Sunday. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:54.800 So we're calling that our first Sunday on February the 4th. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:04:00.240 And uh would love for you to invite others to that as well to be a part. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:06.639 Um, but on February the 11th, that's going to be our grand opening. 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:13.520 And on February the 11th, we want to invite our whole community to come and celebrate. 00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:24.720 So we'll be getting you'll be getting a lot more details about that and how that's gonna work, but be thinking now of who it is that you're gonna invite on February the 11th for our grand opening. 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:28.800 And I'm excited to see what God is gonna do over the next few weeks. 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:46.000 Uh it's gonna allow us from now the 28th to 4th, the 11th, it's gonna allow us three weeks to be able to move in, be able to uh make everything smooth so that we know on the 11th when we're inviting the whole community that uh we're bringing our best in this new facility and new space. 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:47.920 And so uh I cannot wait. 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:49.120 I'm so excited. 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:50.000 I'm so excited. 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:51.439 If you're new with us today, hello. 00:04:51.519 --> 00:05:05.439 I'm Forrest Coleman, lead pastor here at Multiply Myself and about a hundred other people almost two years ago had begun the work of Multiply Church, and it is a miracle that we're moving into a permanent space before our first or before our second birthday. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:10.000 It's crazy, it's crazy, it's crazy. 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:12.879 We're in our series moving forward. 00:05:13.120 --> 00:05:15.680 The title of today's message is harder than it looks. 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:18.319 Any everybody ever tried to water ski? 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:21.839 Well, it is harder than it looks, let me tell you. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:36.560 I've only tried it one time, and to water ski, you even even to water ski, the first thing you have to do is that you have to get up on your skis and onto the water, and the boat goes really slowly, and you're supposed to hold tight, and then you get up on the water. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:41.600 And my first time trying to water ski, I never actually got up on the water. 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:43.279 I just got drugged behind the boat. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:49.040 Like I was the tube along uh the way it that sometimes things are harder than they look. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:53.839 Anybody ever tried uh to shoot basketball at that game at the fair? 00:05:54.959 --> 00:06:00.079 Yeah, y'all know how how easy the guy who's running that booth makes it look. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:10.560 Um, but in actuality, we all know that it's a trick because those rims are not even real rims, they're like oval shape or something, and you can't even actually get the ball in there. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:14.800 Anybody ever try to climb the uh rope ladder thing they have at the fair? 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:18.959 And you know, the guy who's running that booth, he makes that look easy, right? 00:06:19.120 --> 00:06:25.199 Up and down, and then all of a sudden uh you try to go there, and then you look like an absolute idiot when you flip over. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:38.480 And I don't know about you, but there are times and there are uh things that happen in our life that we look from the outside and they're harder than they appear. 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:57.439 And we think about for us as following Jesus and inviting others to follow Jesus, we shouldn't make it harder for them than it should be. 00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:00.560 I think about my friend Michael Clark. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:09.759 Michael Clark is now the pastor of uh Rooted Church in Eastern Kentucky that we've supported and come alongside with the Eastern Kentucky flooding last year. 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:18.959 This is a picture of Michael when he was in the throes of addiction, spent 10 years in jail, multiple felonies, addicted to drugs. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:33.680 Michael grew up in a trailer park in eastern Kentucky, and he never heard the gospel until he was in prison, in jail, and a chaplain came and shared the gospel with him. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:42.639 He told us that as a young person in that trailer park, he had never one time been invited to church. 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:50.240 With churches on every corner, and Michael had never been invited. 00:07:52.319 --> 00:08:13.519 Now he's the lead pastor and planter of Rooted Church, he and his wife Wendy, and they're an amazing couple, and the restoration in his life now for him to be fully restored with his family and his kids, for him to be leading a life that now is leading others into Christ. 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:18.720 It should not have been that hard for Michael to come to Jesus. 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:23.120 He should not have had to go to jail in order to hear the gospel. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:30.560 He should not have had to go and be in a prison cell before somebody would tell the truth about who Jesus is. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:57.440 And as we look at the scripture today, I wonder if there's things that we're doing and things that we need to maybe stop doing to ensure that making it to Jesus is not more difficult than it should be. 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:15.759 We've been looking in the book of Acts of the Miracles, Moments, and Movements, and today we're gonna we're going to we're we're going to travel through the scripture and this story that is not preached a lot to a specific moment in the book of Acts. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:30.960 That in my view, it changed everything and the trajectory and how we should see the way that we should be walking in our faith, the Lord opened the door that everyone in this room would be saved. 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:44.399 But before we even get into the book of Acts, Paul and Peter had been spending time in this place called Antioch. 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:51.360 This place in Antioch in Acts chapter 11, where it's in Antioch, this place that's in southern Turkey. 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:54.559 It's the place where people were first actually called Christians. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:58.399 And in 2015, I had the opportunity to actually go to Antioch, Turkey. 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:00.080 It's now called Antikya. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:08.320 I visited the churches that are the church that's carved into the cave that's in Antikya, carved out of the hillside. 00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:11.600 And it was there where people were first called Christians. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:15.039 But there was something that was going on there in Antioch. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:20.080 That I think sometimes happens even to us today. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:31.120 There were people that were coming to Antioch, and they were preaching and saying that for people to come to Christ, they needed to first become a Jew. 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:46.320 All the laws from the Old Testament, these people were called Judaizers, and they were trying to add all of the old rules and the old covenant onto having a relationship with Jesus. 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:54.559 So they were essentially saying, hey, yeah, we have salvation in Christ, but you gotta join this other religion first before then you can then receive Christ. 00:10:54.639 --> 00:11:05.039 And you gotta follow these laws, and you have to follow the laws about what your clothes you wear and the food that you eat, and all of these rules that they were trying to put onto people. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:25.120 And I know it's true today that the gospel of Jesus it's so simple that sometimes we are tempted to say, well, we need Jesus plus something else. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:33.039 We need Jesus plus also to live a perfect life. 00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:48.080 We need Jesus and also to do all these things and jump through all these hoops for us to be quote a good person and for us to be approved and for us to be received by the Lord. 00:11:51.600 --> 00:12:19.840 In Galatians 2, Paul tells a story of him confronting not just the Judaizers and these people, but also the apostle Peter who had let hypocrisy creep in, and was ignoring the Gentile new believers, was only hanging out with the Jews because of his fear of criticism. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:34.879 See, it was Peter himself that was the one that was the one who with Cornelius and Joppa that that it was Peter himself that saw that that God had opened up the gate of salvation, not just to Jews, but to everybody who's not a Jew. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:39.759 So uh probably likely that most people in the room today, you're probably not ethnic Jews. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:53.679 And so it was Peter himself that him and Cornelius that saw this moment that God opened up the doorway that salvation would now be for the rest of the world, even for us sitting today in 2024 in Frankfurt, Kentucky. 00:12:56.320 --> 00:13:01.840 Peter was involved in that first miraculous work. 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:08.240 But he started to be afraid of what others would think in their criticism. 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:15.840 In Galatians, Paul tells it plainly as this he says, but when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:18.320 I had to get in his face. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:22.159 For what he did was very wrong. 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:29.519 See, when Peter arrived, he ate and he partook and he hung out with these Gentile believers. 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:42.000 But after some time, when some of the Jewish believers showed up, he started to shy away and he wouldn't eat with the Gentiles anymore because the Bible says he was afraid of criticism. 00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:52.799 And these people that insisted that they needed to follow every single Old Testament law in order to then have Jesus. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:57.120 This is what Paul tells us in verse 13. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:01.039 As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter's hypocrisy. 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:05.200 And even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:21.519 When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions? 00:14:21.600 --> 00:14:29.120 And then Paul drops this truth bomb onto Peter and he says, This in verse 20. 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:32.399 My old self has been crucified with Christ. 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:37.120 It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:44.240 So I live in this earthly body by trusting the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:48.960 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:57.039 For if keeping the law can make us right with God, then there's no need for Christ to die. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:01.919 Paul opposes Peter to his face. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:05.600 And then things escalate quickly. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:22.960 This little argument interaction that they had, it got to the point where they needed to actually speak to the rest of the apostles and to have a conversation and to engage the council that was in Jerusalem. 00:15:23.200 --> 00:15:35.679 And so Paul and Barnabas, they packed up and they left Antioch and they headed to Jerusalem to speak with the rest of the Jerusalem council about this very issue. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:41.200 And in Acts 15, verse 2, Paul and Barnabas, he disagreed with him, arguing vehemently. 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:48.639 Finally, the church decided to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question. 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:58.559 And the church sends the delegates to Jerusalem, and they stopped along the way in Phoenicia and Samaria to visit the believers, and they told them, much to everyone's joy, that the Gentiles too were being converted. 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:01.039 They're on their way to Jerusalem. 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:09.279 They're seeing the mighty work that God is doing in the non-Jews, us, our people, you and me, that we are being saved. 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:32.320 But there are all these people who with bad theology and a self-righteous attitude were stuck in a spirit of judgment to not receive these new believers. 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:41.120 Instead of us having a self-righteous attitude, we need to have a right view of ourself. 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:48.960 All of us in this room, you're amazing, you're talented, you're gifted. 00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:52.879 But you cannot save yourself. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:58.399 You cannot be your own savior. 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:01.360 You cannot forgive your own sins. 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:06.880 And neither can the person next to you. 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.920 And so we need to let judgmental attitudes go. 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:20.160 You can't love and see a person eye to eye if you're looking down your nose at them. 00:17:24.640 --> 00:17:27.279 And for us, we can't do good works. 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:31.119 We can't be good enough to earn our way into heaven. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:36.319 And you can't do works to be saved, but you're saved to do good works. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:40.319 We learn this in Ephesians 2. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:44.240 God saved you by his grace when you believed. 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:46.319 And you can't take credit for this. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:47.440 It's a gift from God. 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:48.640 Verse 9. 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:55.519 Salvation is not a reward for good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 00:17:55.839 --> 00:17:58.000 For we are God's masterpiece. 00:17:58.079 --> 00:17:59.599 Everybody say masterpiece. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:10.319 As uh he has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. 00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:22.400 We can't look down our noses at others and inspect them to see the Jesus that wants to meet them eye to eye in heaven. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:34.799 And it's pertinent to the discussion right now because that passage, just in itself, is something that we as believers, we don't have an option whether or not to believe. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:38.240 We can't earn it. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:40.880 Why is it important? 00:18:41.359 --> 00:19:12.000 This is important because right now, and I said a few weeks ago, the world is so obsessed with thinking that their own opinion, their own truth, their own worship of their own ideals, that that's just as well as what we say the truth is. 00:19:13.839 --> 00:19:16.079 Well, you know, it doesn't, it doesn't really matter. 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:16.880 I don't need to go to church. 00:19:16.960 --> 00:19:18.799 I don't need to, I don't need all that religion stuff. 00:19:18.880 --> 00:19:20.640 Listen, I just need to be a good person. 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:29.599 You know, I just need to be a good person and do good things for others, and you know, as long as I'm a good person, then I'm sure everything will work out in the end. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:41.119 And we know as believers that we cannot work hard enough to be good enough to be forgiven of the disease that we have called sin. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:44.240 God is holy, we are not. 00:19:44.480 --> 00:19:48.000 We can't bridge that gap ourselves. 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:54.799 But it's Jesus who did his mighty and finished work on the cross that we must believe in. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:56.240 The scripture tells us so. 00:19:56.400 --> 00:20:05.440 As we begin into 2024, there are things that are in our life, in our theology, in our midst that we need to go back to the Bible and we need to believe the Bible. 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:07.200 We need to believe God's word. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:08.799 We need to follow him. 00:20:09.119 --> 00:20:14.880 We need to remind ourselves, and there are people who just do not know, do not know the truth. 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:20.480 Look at what the Jerusalem Council did next. 00:20:21.200 --> 00:20:22.640 In verse 7. 00:20:22.880 --> 00:20:37.599 After the meeting, or at the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows Brothers, you know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the good news and believe. 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:46.000 God knows people's hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us. 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:51.039 He has made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:59.839 So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:04.799 We believe that we are all saved the same way by the undeserved. 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:06.480 Everybody say undeserved. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:10.799 The undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:31.119 And I could not be more thankful for the last two years that we've been able to be here in the movie theater. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:40.240 But quite honestly, like it's been kind of like a challenge in this space. 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:48.319 Not only that, you know, we 9 30 in the morning in the movie theater. 00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:53.759 Like, you have to really want to go to church to come to multiply right now. 00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:59.759 You have to understand that this movie theater is still open and functioning and showing movies. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:05.119 Then you have to figure out that it's behind the shopping center and where in the world you're going to park. 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:08.720 And on top of all that, you've got to come at 9 30 in the morning. 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:18.319 And can I just tell you that I'm thankful and grateful that here in a few weeks that some barriers are going to be coming down. 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:22.240 I'm thankful for this time. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:24.079 I'm grateful for it. 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:26.559 But I'm excited for the future. 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:46.319 Because each one of us, as we're following the Lord in our church, we need to actively be trying to break down barriers between people who do not yet know Jesus and people coming to know the saving grace, the undeserved grace that can only come from Him. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:47.599 You know what? 00:22:48.400 --> 00:22:54.480 It doesn't matter what building we're in if the people inside have their walls up. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:05.680 It doesn't matter if you invite people to come to multiply, if then you're a jerk at work or school. 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:14.640 You're telling people to come to multiply, but then you're backbiting and talking bad about others behind their back. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:23.119 Instead of extending the undeserved grace that Christ is showed to you. 00:23:54.160 --> 00:23:55.680 It comes straight from Jesus. 00:23:55.839 --> 00:24:04.240 And we can't earn it, but we have to make sure that we're walking in the grace and truth and love and peace of the good news. 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:15.920 The beginning of last year, this verse that just really kept me centered and hopefully the rest of our church throughout this whole last year, 2 Peter 1, 2. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:18.079 May grace and peace be what? 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.000 Multiplied to you. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:25.039 In the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:30.000 It's the grace of God that we want to see multiplied. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:32.079 It's the peace. 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:35.519 It's the love of God that we want to see multiplied. 00:24:36.079 --> 00:24:38.240 And we're going to continue to see it. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:42.400 We're getting close to the moment. 00:24:42.720 --> 00:24:46.079 The Jerusalem Council, Acts 15, verse 12. 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:55.200 Everyone listen quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and the wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:25:01.119 When they have finished James, half brother of Jesus, it's a lot of credibility there. 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:05.839 I tell you, I would uh probably never believe that my brother was the son of God. 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:13.839 Unless I was absolutely 125% true that he died and came back to life. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:18.720 I would have to see that happen for my brother, for me to believe that he was a son of God. 00:25:18.880 --> 00:25:20.160 I'm telling you that completely. 00:25:20.319 --> 00:25:23.039 You probably feel the same way too about your sibling. 00:25:24.880 --> 00:25:33.759 This in itself should be just a lot of credibility and confirmation that the gospel is true, that James actually worshiped his half-brother. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:35.200 He knew it was real. 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:40.960 I lost my place. 00:25:44.720 --> 00:25:45.920 Verse 14. 00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:49.359 Oh no. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:50.720 Is that where I was? 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:51.039 Yes. 00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:51.519 Yeah. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:53.839 I'll just go back to 13 just for good measure. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:57.920 When they finished, James stood and said, Brothers, listen to me. 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:08.160 Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to thank them from a people for himself. 00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:10.559 And then this is the moment. 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:11.519 Verse 19. 00:26:11.680 --> 00:26:12.240 Everybody listen. 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:13.599 Listen in real close. 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:20.720 James stands up and says, So it's my judgment. 00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:24.000 It's my judgment. 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:30.960 That we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:46.079 Instead, we should write to them and tell them they should abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating meat strangled of strangled animals, that they can from consuming blood. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:52.319 And these laws of Moses have been preached in the Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:54.880 James says this. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:47.440 I'll never forget one Sunday we were worshiping in the worship center before the service, and there was a couple that came in. 00:28:01.759 --> 00:28:11.920 And so when we got done, I went down and talked to the greeting team and said, Hey, who was that couple that came and said, Oh, these couple that came, they're visiting, and and I said, They left. 00:28:12.000 --> 00:28:17.759 He said, Yeah, they said, when they walked in, they said, uh, we don't want to hear all that jungle music. 00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:20.559 So we're leaving. 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:23.279 So we had drums, guitars, and all that kind of stuff. 00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:29.359 And I don't know about you, but I've never seen the scripture in the Bible about the jungle music. 00:28:29.839 --> 00:28:31.680 Have you ever seen that one? 00:28:35.599 --> 00:28:37.920 We don't want to hear that jungle music. 00:28:38.319 --> 00:28:40.160 There's no verse about that. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:50.880 Silly tradition, silly legalism, things that the Bible has nothing to speak of. 00:28:52.799 --> 00:29:00.079 But instead, for us, church, we should not make it difficult for those who are turning to God. 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:04.880 It's so important, it's so important, it's so important. 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:18.319 As what we do as a church, that we make sure that what we're doing is actively not making it harder for people to follow Jesus than it actually should be. 00:29:21.119 --> 00:29:25.039 Here's the thing following Jesus is hard enough on its own. 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:34.480 Instead of putting up barriers, instead, like James led them and said, hey, stop making it difficult. 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:36.720 Tear down the walls. 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:41.119 Instead of putting up barriers, we need to build bridges. 00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:48.799 Not make it difficult for those who are being saved. 00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:58.640 To have the freedom in Christ that God wants you to have. 00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:04.400 Here's the thing. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:11.759 We need to make it simple to come to Jesus because following him is hard enough. 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:15.519 We need to make it simple. 00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:22.720 Anyone who's followed Jesus for any amount of time, not anybody in this room would probably say, oh yeah, it's easy to follow Jesus. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:23.759 Oh, that's no big deal. 00:30:24.079 --> 00:30:25.440 Oh, it's so easy. 00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:27.759 It's not easy. 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:36.319 But like Jesus said, it's full of abundant life. 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:37.680 And joy. 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:41.119 And love and power and grace. 00:30:42.720 --> 00:30:45.279 Walking with Jesus is challenging enough. 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:53.440 Let's not put a bunch of barriers at the very beginning and keep people from coming to know him just because we're not making it simple enough to come to him. 00:30:55.839 --> 00:30:58.079 But what barriers are we breaking down? 00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:01.920 It's sometimes hard to break down the barriers. 00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:07.680 It's sometimes hard to break down a judgmental attitude that we have in our mind. 00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:21.920 It's sometimes hard not to see other people and see their sin or see their mistakes before seeing them as someone who Jesus loves dearly and wants to see set free. 00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:30.960 Last year, I completed, I think, 12 books last year. 00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:33.200 I'm working on this, it's number 13. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:35.119 This is a book. 00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:46.640 Um it's a kind of a collection of journals, an autobiography by uh a pastor from the 1800s. 00:31:46.799 --> 00:31:49.680 His name is uh Reverend Calvin Fairbank. 00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:51.519 He looks like this. 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:54.240 Apparently. 00:31:56.559 --> 00:31:58.400 He was from New York. 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:01.839 He got married, and he moved to Lexing, Kentucky. 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:14.480 And in two different stints, he served for 19 years in prison in the Kentucky State Penitentiary that was in downtown Frankfurt. 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:16.160 What was his crimes? 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:25.440 Helping 47 slaves in the Underground Railroad cross over the Ohio River. 00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:42.559 A pastor at the time who knew that slavery was a sin, treating others in that way was not consistent with the way we should view others. 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:49.119 And so in two different stents that he served, this is crazy. 00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:57.519 I'm sure he knew that he was going to write this journal because while he was in prison, he counted how many times he was whipped. 00:33:03.839 --> 00:33:08.079 Number was 35,105 times as he was whipped. 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:12.240 In the course of 19 years. 00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:19.119 He was sentenced to hard labor making hemp rope. 00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:25.440 It was a dirty, difficult, lungs filled to the point you can't breathe. 00:33:27.119 --> 00:33:29.200 He came into prison at 180 pounds. 00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:30.720 He left at 110. 00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:40.720 He was pardoned by Governor John Crittenden the first time. 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:46.640 And then kept helping people across. 00:33:47.920 --> 00:33:51.039 And then served as an extent of 15 years. 00:33:55.759 --> 00:34:03.119 The uh the gates to the old prison uh stood here in Frankfurt up until 1950. 00:34:03.279 --> 00:34:04.559 I think we got a picture of it. 00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:08.719 In downtown. 00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:14.159 Obviously never saw these, and maybe there's somebody in the room that you saw them before they were torn down. 00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:36.960 But right in downtown Frankfurt, there was someone who on charges that we now know that he should never have been convicted of to see people cross into freedom. 00:34:39.119 --> 00:34:53.119 And now when I drive down to that part of downtown, down off Merrow Street, close to transportation in that area where it used to be apparently I think about that pastor and what he endured. 00:34:54.079 --> 00:35:00.320 To be the bridge of freedom for 47 slaves. 00:35:02.559 --> 00:35:04.079 And I wonder for us today. 00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:07.440 What do we need to do? 00:35:11.519 --> 00:35:12.880 To break down barriers. 00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:16.079 To make it simple to come to Jesus. 00:35:18.159 --> 00:35:20.239 There's a lot of different ways we can make it hard. 00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:28.719 A lot of different ways that we can have a stiff arm for people before they even get into the room to meet Christ. 00:35:31.280 --> 00:36:08.960 The church is a as a as a centering verse out of Acts, this moment that set the course for us that we now can look and say, okay, let's not make it difficult for those who are turning to God, but instead for us to love, to walk with them, to tear down barriers of things that are meaningless, and instead extend the full undeserved grace that we have also received. 00:36:11.920 --> 00:36:22.800 It comes from us believing, truly believing God's word and believing the scripture, what it teaches and tells us for us to break down unnecessary barriers. 00:36:25.199 --> 00:36:28.559 For us to build bridges, to be the bridge for somebody to walk into freedom. 00:36:28.719 --> 00:36:43.280 And I'm just believing, I'm believing, I'm just I'm and I'm sure you're believing too with me that we're gonna see many people cross from death to life into freedom in this new location that we're about to move into. 00:36:46.400 --> 00:36:48.480 I just I just believe it. 00:36:50.320 --> 00:37:03.360 But it's not gonna happen by accident, and it's not gonna happen by us fighting and arguing, it's not gonna happen by us trying to hold on to traditions and preferences. 00:37:04.159 --> 00:37:07.199 It's gonna happen by us submitting ourselves to God's will. 00:37:09.519 --> 00:37:30.639 Thinking, how can we break down barriers, believe God's word, that's true, call sin, what is sin in the scripture, to believe what's holy and right and honorable is what the scripture teaches us, and also welcome people into a freedom that they've not yet received. 00:37:31.679 --> 00:37:42.880 Maybe today, that day is today for you, that you've been walking in life and it has not been going the way that you want it to go because you have been trying to earn it yourself. 00:37:43.039 --> 00:37:49.440 You've been trying to work out this life yourself, you've been trying to all the bad things and the hangups and the sins and the mess ups. 00:37:49.599 --> 00:38:00.480 You've just been trying to figure it out, and you've kind of turned off your mind to God, and Jesus is standing here standing, come to me. 00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:02.800 Come to me. 00:38:04.239 --> 00:38:11.519 I stood in your place 2,000 years ago and died on the cross for your sins because you could not earn it yourself. 00:38:11.679 --> 00:38:36.719 But I'm here giving you this free gift because I love you so much that one day you'll walk into eternity in heaven with him and not separated from God in a place called hell, but instead that you would walk with Jesus from now to evermore, and that the barriers would come down and the walls come down, and you walk in faith and in power right into the arms of Jesus. 00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:39.679 Maybe that day is today for you. 00:38:39.920 --> 00:38:48.719 For you to ask for the forgiveness of your sins, for you to receive Christ, and to follow him as Savior and Lord. 00:38:49.360 --> 00:38:59.360 Maybe today, maybe today, for you as a believer, is a time to think about how in the world am I making it difficult for people to come to God? 00:39:00.079 --> 00:39:02.079 What is it that I could possibly be doing? 00:39:02.320 --> 00:39:03.440 Is it an attitude? 00:39:03.599 --> 00:39:07.039 Is it how I'm witnessing and my witness at work? 00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:08.960 Do people even know that I'm a Christian? 00:39:09.360 --> 00:39:13.199 People know that I'm following Jesus, do they know that I'm a part of multiplied church? 00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:15.440 They know what's going on and what I've been a part of here. 00:39:15.519 --> 00:39:16.960 Do they they know what's happening? 00:39:17.039 --> 00:39:24.880 Or am I just putting up barriers and making it more difficult than it should be? 00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:27.199 Bow your heads as we pray. 00:39:27.679 --> 00:39:32.639 All across the room, Lord, I pray for us today, God, as a church. 00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:47.599 As we center on this truth, that God, we should be a people who are willing to love, share, care, walk with people, invite them into what is true. 00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:51.280 So, Father, I pray for every believer right now in this room. 00:39:51.599 --> 00:40:05.679 That God, in the next few weeks, as we think about who we're inviting to our grand opening and think about what it looks like for us to participate in us moving forward together as a church, that God, you would put it on our hearts, God, that we would make it simple, Father. 00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:14.239 Lord, that we could we could walk in light and power, Father. 00:40:17.199 --> 00:40:20.159 Lord, right now, I pray all across this room. 00:40:21.679 --> 00:40:39.760 For anybody in this place who's not received you as Savior, they've not asked for forgiveness, they've not truly received you, Father, they've not been washed and cleansed by you, that today would be the day of their salvation, that today would be the day that they walls come down, the barriers come down, and they walk into new life in you. 00:40:42.159 --> 00:40:43.840 Heads bowed today. 00:40:44.079 --> 00:40:47.039 If that's you, pray, Jesus, save me. 00:40:47.519 --> 00:40:54.880 I believe that you're the Son of God, that you died on the cross for my sins, that you're alive. 00:40:55.440 --> 00:41:01.840 Forgive me, cleanse me so that I can be in heaven with you one day. 00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:07.599 I give you my life as you gave yours for mine. 00:41:08.719 --> 00:41:10.320 Heads bowed in your room today. 00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:17.519 You prayed that prayer for salvation in Christ, for forgiveness of your sins. 00:41:18.159 --> 00:41:20.639 You prayed that prayer today at the count of three. 00:41:20.719 --> 00:41:25.039 I want you just to raise your hand up and back down so I can see you, I can affirm you. 00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:30.559 Today, you prayed that prayer to receive Christ, to just receive the forgiveness on the cross. 00:41:31.119 --> 00:41:32.719 One, two, three. 00:41:32.960 --> 00:41:35.440 Anybody in the room pray that today? 00:41:36.159 --> 00:41:38.320 Anybody in the room pray that today? 00:41:40.639 --> 00:41:41.280 Yep. 00:41:47.039 --> 00:41:48.079 I see it. 00:41:49.920 --> 00:42:00.239 Father, we thank you, Lord, for how good you are, for making the pathway for us to come to know you. 00:42:01.039 --> 00:42:12.239 Father, I pray for many others who will come to know you as Lord and Savior through your power and for your mighty work. 00:42:12.480 --> 00:42:15.360 We love you, we praise you in the strong name of Jesus. 00:42:15.599 --> 00:42:17.440 Everybody said amen. 00:42:17.599 --> 00:42:19.599 Church, will you stand together as we worship?