WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.080 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.960 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:13.359 Welcome to Awakening. 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:14.320 My name's Ryan. 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:20.399 We're thrilled to have you join us today, and we're in part two of our series Purpose Full. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:30.079 Last week we said this: that you are an unceasing spiritual being with an eternal destiny in God's great universe. 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:39.359 Meaning that first, that you were made on purpose, that you're not an accident, that you're not a mistake, you're not a waste of time. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:44.000 You were made on purpose and you were made for a purpose. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:49.679 Like there is a design and intention and there's meaning for you to fulfill. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:54.719 And so the question we've been asking is like, how do you live this purposeful life? 00:00:54.880 --> 00:01:02.960 In fact, last week we talked about uh really how do you discover God's calling on your life? 00:01:03.200 --> 00:01:10.159 Like, how do you really understand his plan for who he's made and designed you to be? 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:32.239 Now, for many, I think after the last year and hearing last week's sermon, you probably are going like, yeah, but that's nice, Ryan, but but the last year of pandemic has deeply shaped us, hasn't it? 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:37.120 The last year as a pandemic has deeply scarred us. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:42.000 And it's even deeply scared us, hasn't it? 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:56.959 And when we're thinking about purpose, when we're thinking about calling, we're wrestling deeper, more along the lines here of how do you live a purposeful life in a post-pandemic world? 00:01:57.599 --> 00:01:59.840 Is that even possible? 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:18.080 Like all the stuff we've just gone through, the uncertainty, the unknown, uh all the chaos and heartache and injustices and the things that we're constantly reeling from, and we're just trying to keep our heads above water and just get through. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:22.560 How do you live a purposeful life in a post-pandemic world? 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:28.879 Or maybe even can you live a purposeful life in a post-pandemic world? 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:38.560 Today, I want to give you three key thoughts for living a purpose-filled life in a post-pandemic world. 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:47.120 Uh, last week we left off uh Barnabas and Saul with their calling and their commissioning, Acts chapter 13. 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:52.879 If you want to study the entire scripture that we're gonna be in, it's Acts 13 through 15. 00:02:53.199 --> 00:03:01.360 They're called to go and share the gospel with uh the nations, and then they are commissioned and sent out. 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:06.159 And so I want to give you a map of what's known as their first missionary journey. 00:03:06.240 --> 00:03:08.000 And so here they are in Antioch. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:10.400 This is where they're called and commissioned. 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:19.120 And so then they go out, they go to the city or town of Seleucia, grab a boat, uh, sail to this island of Cyprus. 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:26.719 They land here in Salmus, they preach the gospel there, it's received, and many people come to know Christ. 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:31.599 Then they travel through the interior of the island, sharing the gospel. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:37.520 And they brought along, Barnabas brought along a relative named John Mark at the beginning of the journey with him. 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:41.680 And so they're traveling, the three of them together, sharing the gospel. 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:47.919 In Paphos, they experience some opposition, a sorcerer who uh was opposing them fiercely. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:51.599 It's a kind of wild story in the presence of the procouncil there. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:58.080 Paul actually declares in the name of Jesus he's blinded for a season as he's tried to blind others. 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:03.759 He goes blind to the pro-council, and everyone sees this, they're amazed, and they give their life to Christ. 00:04:03.919 --> 00:04:09.599 And so they spend some time there and then they catch a boat and they sail all the way up to Perga. 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:18.959 Now, in Perga, John Mark, who is traveling with them, he's he's a he can't handle the intense opposition they've been facing. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.959 And so he deserts them and travels all the way back down to Jerusalem. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:30.000 That's important for next week as we talk about uh, you know, when when godly people disagree. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:31.680 That's a really important message. 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:32.959 I don't want you to miss it. 00:04:33.120 --> 00:04:38.079 Well, in Perga, they preach the gospel, it's well received, then they travel up to the interior. 00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:41.360 This whole region is known as Galatia. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:45.439 Uh, and they travel to Antioch, a different Antioch than here. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:48.560 This is Antioch Syria, this is Antioch Pisidia. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:52.000 Antioch here, Paul preaches his longest sermon. 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:57.519 Lots and lots of people, specifically Gentile people, come to know Jesus. 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:01.839 Well, this rubbed Jewish people very badly. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:12.480 And so, as they travel to Iconium, some Jewish leaders come here and begin to uh incite and try to disrupt their teaching. 00:05:12.639 --> 00:05:15.120 And people come to know Christ in Lystra. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:22.399 Uh, they uh Paul actually gets stoned here because of the trouble that was caused for them. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:27.279 He doesn't die, he gets back up, he traveled, comes back into the city, dust himself off. 00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:40.800 Then they travel to Derby, preach the gospel, and then they go back through all the cities they just went through, and they appoint elders or leaders to guide the churches to Lystra iconium, Antioch, Perga. 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:55.600 And from here they sell all the way back to Antioch and they spend time um just sharing and celebrating all that God had done and how he's opened the doors now to the Gentile people. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:06:03.040 And here's where the plot thickens in such a way that it leads them all the way to Jerusalem. 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:07.360 And so I want to catch you up to what led them to Jerusalem. 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:20.160 It's where it gets complicated, it's where it gets messy, it's where things actually forever change for the church in some of the most incredible ways possible. 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:31.040 And it begins this way: if you have your Bibles, Acts chapter 15, verse 1, says that certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:32.560 Well, what are they teaching? 00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:40.879 Unless you are circumcised according to the customs taught by Moses, you cannot be saved. 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:47.680 And so what they're teaching is you it's not just believing in Jesus, you have to become Jewish. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:50.639 If you're a man, you have to become circumcised. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:56.480 You need to live by the ceremonial law and uh all the food rights and all these other areas. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:02.160 Unless you do this, you can't be saved or part of the fellowship of believers. 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:03.920 Well, you can imagine what happens. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:08.000 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:11.519 This is an intense debate with them. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:22.879 So Paul and Barnabas, notice what happens next, were appointed along with some other believers to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and the elders about this question. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:25.199 And so there's an argument in Antioch. 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:36.240 You have what would later be known as Judaizers, those who wanted to make Christian Gentiles become Jewish in order to be saved. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:47.439 This is the reason Paul wrote his letter to those churches in Galatia against other Judaizers of this same uh reason here, or what they're teaching. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:52.240 And so the church in Antioch says, hey, okay, this is important, this is a big deal. 00:07:52.480 --> 00:07:57.199 These are places that we haven't, you know, necessarily defined yet. 00:07:57.600 --> 00:08:11.680 Instead of the two of you arguing, go to Jerusalem, go to the apostles, go to the elders, and let's figure out once and for all what is reality, how, what does it mean to be saved? 00:08:11.839 --> 00:08:21.759 And as they travel down, Paul and Barnabas can't help as they're traveling uh up to Jerusalem to share all that God has done along the way. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:29.279 Well, when they get to Jerusalem, they gather together and there's a large group of the church of leaders all together. 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:41.840 And it says this that then some of the believers who belong to the party of Pharisees stood up and said, The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:49.279 Now you gotta imagine what's happening in the ancient world has never happened before. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:08:54.799 Jews and Gentiles now becoming one family, the family of God. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:58.000 And now they're trying to figure out what does that look like? 00:08:58.159 --> 00:08:58.960 What does that mean? 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:10.639 I mean, prior to this point, a strict Jew would not interact with a Gentile, would not eat with a Gentile, would not enter the house of a Gentile afraid of being defiled. 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:17.039 And so they're trying to figure out okay, how do we now act as one family? 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:20.480 And their reasoning was make them Jewish. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:27.440 Well, it says the apostles and the elders met uh to consider this question. 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:32.639 Does someone have to become Jewish to be saved? 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:41.600 Now notice this after much discussion, this wasn't flippant, this wasn't quick, this wasn't, you know, for some of us we feel like, oh, this is so clear-cut. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:45.759 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:52.320 Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:57.279 That some time ago was 10 years ago when Cornelius first heard. 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:02.080 Hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 00:10:02.399 --> 00:10:11.039 God knows the hearts, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he did to us. 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:18.879 There was no restriction of the Spirit of God based on circumcision or any outward behavior. 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:21.919 You cannot earn your way to God, is what he's saying. 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:32.080 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the next of the Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to hear, uh bear? 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:51.039 No, we believe it is through grace our Lord Jesus that we are saved just as they are, that they're saved, not by any outward acts or performance, but simply by their faith in Jesus. 00:10:51.279 --> 00:10:56.320 Well, then Paul and Barnabas get up and they begin to share all that God had done. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:09.360 Now you got to think about the shift because as they began to spread the gospel, and this was Jesus' vision all the way at the beginning, that you'd be my witnesses in Judea, Samaria, uh uh, and to the ends of the earth. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:24.000 Now the church is less a Jewish movement, it still is, and now it is a worldwide movement, and there's more Gentile believers than there are Jewish believers, and they're sharing how God was working in their midst. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:38.159 And then James, the brother of Jesus, known as James the Just, known for his his following the strict uh letter of the law of the Hebrew scriptures. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:45.200 So when he spoke into this matter, he spoke authoritatively, and everybody listened up. 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:54.480 And he said this, it's my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for Gentiles who are turning to God. 00:11:54.879 --> 00:11:56.720 How do you make it difficult? 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:03.440 Well, if you're gonna enter the family of God first, get circumcised, ouch. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:09.039 Follow the ceremonial laws and dietary restrictions. 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:12.159 He says, let's not make it difficult. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:13.840 Isn't that amazing? 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:15.279 Isn't that a word for us? 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:18.799 Let's not make it difficult for people who are turning to God. 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:29.519 Instead, we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted to idols, from sexual immorality, from meat strangled from animals and from blood. 00:12:29.679 --> 00:12:34.080 For the law of Moses had been preached in every city from the earliest times. 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:45.039 And his point here is instead of becoming Jewish, the moral law of God of the universe applies to all of humanity across all cultures. 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:45.840 This is incredible. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:52.799 In this moment, instead of having every other culture step into Jewish culture, says, no, no, no. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:59.440 It's Jesus and faith in him that transcends every culture and meets every culture. 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:05.600 And it says, There there are things that you have to say no to, like the worshiping of your idols. 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:12.639 That's what was the part of what he was saying no to, and and living a life of integrity here. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:25.440 And here we see, and they send out a letter uh to the churches with other, you know, people in authority with them to go out and share this news. 00:13:25.600 --> 00:13:38.639 This brought incredible joy back to Antioch and to all the other Gentile believers that all they had to do was believe in the Lord Jesus and they were saved. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:51.759 And this transformed the entire church as we know it and expanded the scope from a Jewish movement to a Jesus movement for the entire world. 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:57.840 Now you're thinking, okay, what in the world? 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:06.000 How do I live a purposeful life in a post-pandemic world? 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:13.919 Throughout the text that we just read, I want to just draw your attention to three observations. 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:26.720 Three key observations and how we live a purpose-filled life and we live in a world that scarred and scared us recently. 00:14:26.960 --> 00:14:36.159 In a world of defined by the religion of me, would you anchor yourself in the house and family of Jesus? 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:45.840 In a world defined by the religion of me, would you anchor yourself in the house and family of Jesus? 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:47.279 I want you to notice the first thing. 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:50.879 Paul and Barnabas, uh, and they have this sharp dispute, right? 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:56.000 And the first thing as they're discussing it wasn't like, hey, we're doing our own thing. 00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:57.919 We're, you know what? 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:03.919 We know we're right, we know you're wrong, you can go do whatever, we're doing our own thing, whatever. 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:14.879 The first thing that they do is then they return to the source, go to the apostles, go to the elders, and say, hey, we're submitting under your authority and your leadership. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:16.159 You tell us. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:23.759 You tell us, because we're part of the family all together, we're part of this house and community. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:29.679 You know, in a post-pandemic world, the predominant religion is the religion of me. 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:31.279 Well, what do I mean by that? 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:39.919 It's individual freedom and happiness, self-def definition, self-expression is the highest and greatest thing. 00:15:40.080 --> 00:15:44.000 Mark Sayers in his book Reappearing Church, great book, by the way. 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:46.159 I'd encourage you to uh pick it up. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:49.679 The only authority is found with the individual, he writes. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:53.360 Thus, there is no possibility of sacred order. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:16:01.120 All authority that challenges and restricts the autonomy of the individual must be leveled. 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:11.919 With no sacred order, the third culture is in constant flux as new authorities and rules appear, but are soon deconstructed. 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:24.000 And so you feel in this sense of individual freedom is the highest and good, but there's this constant flux, this constant pullback, and you're never sure exactly where you stand. 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:37.360 This is why French philosopher uh Gils Lecsky, I probably said his name wrong, said accompanying our increasing autonomy and freedom is a greater personal fragility. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.919 And we've experienced that this last year, haven't we? 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:55.039 When the world revolves around me and my needs and my freedoms and my wants, autonomy is the god of our age. 00:16:56.879 --> 00:17:06.000 Upsteski writes, hence the individual appears more and more open up and mobile, fluid and socially independent. 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:20.079 But the volatility signifies much more a destabilizing stabilization of the self than a triumph triumphant affirmation of a subject endowed with self-mastery. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:53.119 Witnessing the rising tide of psychosomatic symptoms and obsessive compulsive behavior, depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts, not to mention the growing sense of inadequacy and self-deprecation, the more socially mobile the individual is, the more we witness signs of exhaustion and subjective breakdowns, the more freely and tensely people wish to live, the more we hear them saying how difficult life can be. 00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:59.039 See, it's easy to say, I'm just gonna do me. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:04.559 But it comes at a cost. 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:12.319 Rising anxiety, rising depression, sense of instability. 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:20.720 See, in a world defined by the religion of me, you are rudderless, you are anchorless, you are adrift. 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:26.240 And it says, anchor yourself in the house and family of Jesus. 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:28.720 What does it mean to be in the house? 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:35.519 I would say most of us feel like who are listening or watching today, hey, I'm a part of the family of God. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:39.440 I'm a part of the family of God, but are you a part of the house of God? 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:46.240 There's a big difference between being a house, like being part of the household or a guest, right? 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:54.400 When you're part of the house, household, uh, like you are have a deep responsibility in that whole household. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:19:09.279 Like my kids hanging out together, you know, there's chores that we have to do in there, you know, whether it's cleaning or cooking or some of these sort of things, there's responsibility, but but there's a deep level of relationship, isn't there? 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:14.319 There's a family sense that we're together, traveling. 00:19:14.799 --> 00:19:17.839 There's different roles that each of us fill. 00:19:18.319 --> 00:19:22.640 And that sense of autonomy struggles against that sense of wanting to be a part of the house. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:24.079 And some of you experienced that. 00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:37.920 Remember that first time that you um came home from college after extended time away, and your parents are like going, um, you know, I know you've had a lot of fun, but but in our house, this is kind of how we need to do things here. 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:40.559 And if you want to go off and live on your own, that's okay. 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:42.559 But but in our house, why? 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:50.960 Because there's a way of going about things in our house, in God's house, in the house of Jesus. 00:19:52.160 --> 00:20:07.599 And we can struggle with some of those things until we have the roommate that is so constantly uh messy and disorganized that all of a sudden we become the one going like, no, there's there's gotta be some rules to our house. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:10.720 See, there's a difference of being a guest. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:22.480 And I would say most of us, most of us believe and feel like we're in the family of God, but we're more guests in the houses of Jesus or in the houses of worship. 00:20:23.759 --> 00:20:37.119 We're we're we show up and we kind of partake, and it's like, hey, nice, I got this meal, but but some of the accessibility, some some of the responsibility, some of the just going like where Paul and Barnabas are going, like, we're not doing our own thing. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:44.240 We're a part of a greater thing, and so we're gonna bring this before you, and whatever you say, we're gonna do. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:47.359 See, it anchors us. 00:20:48.240 --> 00:20:53.599 It anchors us into community, it anchors us into the ways of Jesus. 00:20:56.079 --> 00:21:02.240 I just think of um some of the things that we do to help you know. 00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:04.400 Like, are you gonna be a part of our house? 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:06.880 We we do a thing called intro. 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:11.279 It's just to discern, it is awakening the house for us. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:13.839 Like where I want to be more than a guest. 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:16.319 We talk about, you know, from the front door to family. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:24.160 We want you to be part of the family here, but don't be drifting through and life revolving around you. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:31.599 Join, join the family and then get engaged in the house of Jesus. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:36.480 It might be awakening, it might be another church where you go, No, I'm a part. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:39.920 I'm coming into this community. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:43.759 I I'm gonna be responsible uh for certain things. 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:45.599 I I'm a be I'm a participant. 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:51.759 I'm I'm not just showing up and taking, I'm I'm someone who's bringing to the table. 00:21:52.079 --> 00:21:56.559 I'm coming, recognizing okay, I'm a learner as well. 00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:05.759 In a world defined by By religion of me, anchor yourself in the house and family of God. 00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:10.640 You may be part of the family, but are you a part of the house? 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:14.559 Many of us have operated simply as guests. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:20.559 The second thing in a post-pandemic world is in a world of soundbite theology. 00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:25.759 Think deeply in refining Jesus-centered community. 00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:35.920 In a world of soundbite theology, I mean, what we have today is can you tweet it? 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:37.920 Can you repost it? 00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:46.319 And it becomes the framework for our theological or our ideological or philosophical understanding. 00:22:46.559 --> 00:22:54.799 In a world of soundbite theology, of what we see, would you think deeply in refining Jesus-centered community? 00:22:55.039 --> 00:23:02.480 You notice that in the text it said, after much discussion, this was a big issue. 00:23:02.640 --> 00:23:04.079 It was urgent. 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:09.599 There was already a lot of misteaching that came out of this. 00:23:10.240 --> 00:23:13.039 It's like, man, let's just get on this really quick. 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:26.880 And they took their time and they thought deeply and well in examining the scriptures and what God's saying and how He's worked to come to where they landed. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:38.720 We live in an age of information overload where we're constantly barraged by so much information, it's hard or impossible to take it in. 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:43.119 So we actually abdicate our thinking to other people. 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:44.559 What do they think? 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:45.519 What do they say? 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:48.160 Whatever they said, then that's what I believe. 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:57.759 And whatever they posted, whatever they posted, and you never go behind and look at what they really believe or what they really view or understand. 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:07.039 We live in information overload and then in a culture where almost demands instant reaction to something. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:14.720 And so it's not only that the like I am barraged by all this information, but I have to respond immediately. 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:17.039 I have to repost immediately. 00:24:17.279 --> 00:24:28.079 I have to show other people, you know, what I really believe and what I really think on something that happened 10 seconds ago, 10 minutes ago, one day ago. 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:33.759 We live in a world of soundbite theology. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:44.559 And yet the calling, if we're going to live a purpose-filled life, is to think deeply in refining Jesus-centered community. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:55.839 After much discussion, we're losing the ability to think deeply and dialogue about important and even controversial things. 00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:06.319 I don't know if this is true for you, but I found over the pandemic that I just would like to check the news feed nonstop. 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:12.720 I I just I would wake up in the morning and check it, then I'd go check it again, and I'd go check it again. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:20.640 Then maybe you're so tired at the end of the night, then you just desk scroll, you know, um Instagram. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:26.720 And what I found was I was unable to concentrate. 00:25:28.160 --> 00:25:29.359 Deeply distracted. 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:33.759 Anytime I began to focus and even unmotivated. 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:36.799 Like I loved to read. 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:41.920 And there was a good chunk of time I just felt like I couldn't read at all. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:44.960 Except little sound bites. 00:25:47.200 --> 00:26:06.480 See, the calling to a perfect sealed life is not to react to all that's up there, but to sink deeply into the word of God, to read deeply, uh, real classic works and what others have thought, and to engage in a community that's centered on Jesus? 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:11.440 I keep getting back to this because I keep seeing us not centered on Jesus. 00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:18.079 Like at the end of our conversation, what was Jesus the focal points? 00:26:19.759 --> 00:26:22.960 Was he the one, like would he be honored by the conversation? 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:32.400 We may have disagreed with it, but would he be honored by the conversation, not simply centered on our preferences or our opinions? 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:40.799 Ted Turneau notes that most people are not driven by well-understood and articulated philosophical worldviews. 00:26:40.960 --> 00:26:57.119 He says more typically, people express their life philosophy in what we could call a street philosophy, which is held intuitively, unexamined, but that powerfully captures the gist of one's perspective on reality. 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:10.640 And if we're gonna live purposely in a post-pandemic world, first we have to anchor our lives into the house of Jesus and in the family of Jesus. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:22.400 Then we have to be a people who are who are not gonna live on the surface level of things, but we're going to think deeply in refining Jesus-centered community. 00:27:22.559 --> 00:27:34.400 Meaning, refining means that there's gonna be some friction, that other people and you are going to grow together and help each other grow. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:38.559 That's why Proverbs says, as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. 00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:42.000 That sharpening effect that that comes with friction. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:53.039 But when you have committed to the house of God, like this is my household, this is my family, these are my people, I'm not running away the minute there's friction, I'm leaning in because we're family. 00:27:55.519 --> 00:28:01.039 Refining Jesus-centered community. 00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:02.559 What does this mean? 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:11.519 It means we have to intentionally and systematically mute the noise with your phone. 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:14.240 Do you have a day where it's just turned off? 00:28:14.319 --> 00:28:15.759 I can't do that, Ryan. 00:28:16.000 --> 00:28:17.519 By the way, you can. 00:28:18.880 --> 00:28:20.640 None of us are that important. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:33.519 Do you have a time when you shut off all the alerts on your phone or you set it aside at night? 00:28:34.160 --> 00:28:38.640 You know, Tim Ferris, he has this quote, uh, he says, Win the morning, win the day. 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:54.559 That's been so challenging to me because I would wake up in the morning so distracted, and I'd be checking that news feed, and I'd be, you know, all of a sudden then on Instagram, and I'm just zoned out, and I get up super early, and sometimes I'm super tired, and then I look up, an hour went by, and I did nothing. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:57.279 I'm like, why am I up early doing this? 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:10.960 And so I just started leaving my phone in the other room, leaving my computer in the other room, sitting with God's word, my journal, some books that are deeply challenging to me. 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:16.079 When's the last time you read a book that was deeply challenging to you? 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:27.839 When's the last time maybe you read a Christian classic where you asked one of your pastors, hey, what's one of the um most formational books you've ever read? 00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:33.599 What's one of the books that you go back and reread over and over again? 00:29:35.039 --> 00:29:41.200 And then begin to discuss with other believers what you're learning and how you're growing. 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:54.480 In a world of soundbite theology, we must become a people who think deeply in refining Jesus-centered community in order to have a purpose-filled life post-pandemic. 00:29:54.799 --> 00:30:00.720 Finally, in a world paralyzed by chronic uncertainty. 00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:05.359 Like you can't even plan. 00:30:05.680 --> 00:30:08.160 You don't even know what's gonna happen next. 00:30:09.200 --> 00:30:10.319 Chronic. 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:15.920 And I think that might be our norm for a while. 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:33.359 I think we used to feel like there was a lot of certainty, and you could plan, and you never gave thought about it, and then all of a sudden it's been completely disrupted, and it's chronic uncertainty, and it's disrupted, and we don't know what to do, and what it does is it paralyzes us, doesn't it? 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:41.920 In a world paralyzed by chronic uncertainty, do the next right thing in front of you. 00:30:42.880 --> 00:30:44.799 Here's what I love, right? 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:52.000 So, Paul and Barnabas, they instead of doing their own thing, they bring it down to the leaders of the church. 00:30:52.160 --> 00:30:54.079 There's much discussion. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:01.200 Where they landed, they didn't answer all the questions. 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:03.839 There's so many things. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:05.279 So think about this. 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:11.359 Jews and Gentiles now worshiping together under the banner of Jesus, now one family. 00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:13.680 How in the world does that work? 00:31:14.000 --> 00:31:19.599 What in the world does that look like in on the island of Cyprus? 00:31:19.920 --> 00:31:27.359 What does that look like in Laconium and Lystra and where they're at as opposed to Jerusalem? 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:28.720 And it looks so different. 00:31:28.880 --> 00:31:32.640 And how do you figure out all these different things? 00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:34.480 And here's what they did. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:36.000 Here's what was amazing. 00:31:39.119 --> 00:31:43.759 They simply move forward on what they were absolutely clear on. 00:31:44.240 --> 00:31:53.119 What they were absolutely clear on is there is nothing more to be saved other than placing your faith and trust in Jesus. 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:59.680 What they're absolutely clear on is in following in the ways of Jesus, you got to say no to sexual immorality. 00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:06.720 You got to say no to your old life when it comes to idolatry and your worshiping and say yes to Jesus. 00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:09.920 Other than that, go figure it out. 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:15.599 And there's a lot of letters in the New Testament that help us go figure it out. 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:19.680 They just did the next right thing they knew to do. 00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:21.599 They wrote a letter and let them know. 00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:24.000 They didn't wait until they had the perfect plan. 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:29.759 And so many of us in the world paralyzed by chronic uncertainty, we're waiting for perfect. 00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:32.079 Wait until we have it figured out. 00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:39.119 And your call and fulfilling your purpose, my call, fulfilling my purpose. 00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:43.440 Just do the next right thing in front of you today. 00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:47.440 What is the next right thing? 00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:49.359 It's really not that hard. 00:32:50.319 --> 00:32:54.400 Dallas Willard said it this way, I totally ripped it off from him, by the way. 00:32:54.720 --> 00:32:59.759 He says, simply do the next right thing you know you ought to do. 00:33:01.440 --> 00:33:09.200 That's basically the crux of falling in the ways of Jesus, of loving your neighbor as yourself. 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:12.799 Like, what does that look like? 00:33:13.599 --> 00:33:33.119 For some, the next right thing in front of you is getting deeply into God's word, having a conversation, extending forgiveness, deleting your social media posts, confessing, you know, a struggle to someone who's going to help you walk along the way, loving your neighbor. 00:33:33.279 --> 00:33:39.359 There are so many next right things you know to do that just come up and just go, God, what's the next right thing? 00:33:39.519 --> 00:33:48.000 I don't need step three or step four or step five, but what is the next right thing for me to do and then do it? 00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:50.559 Don't delay, do it. 00:33:51.279 --> 00:33:57.599 Friends, how do we live a purpose-filled life in this post-pandemic world? 00:33:58.720 --> 00:33:59.599 It's possible. 00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:04.799 It's anchored, it's anchored in the house and family of Jesus. 00:34:04.960 --> 00:34:07.279 Anchor your life in a house of worship. 00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:10.960 Okay, family moving together. 00:34:11.440 --> 00:34:12.719 Think deeply. 00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:21.599 Think deeply in refining Jesus-centered community, and then just simply do the next right thing you know to do. 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:33.679 And in that, you'll discover we'll discover we are a purpose-filled and a purpose-full community of Jesus. 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:38.960 God, thanks so much for your grace and your work in our lives. 00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:53.039 And I know this time has been so hard, filled with anxieties and fears, and so much that's gone on that felt like, can we even move forward in life? 00:34:53.519 --> 00:35:17.360 Father, I pray right now that your Holy Spirit would come alongside as the great comforter to comfort those that are wrestling right now, the great uh guide who says, Yes, these are the next steps, and you would cause us to be a people that lean in for your name's sake so that other people might experience your goodness and grace. 00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:19.760 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:35:21.119 --> 00:35:23.440 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:28.639 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:35:28.880 --> 00:35:31.199 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:35:31.360 --> 00:35:37.280 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash card.