WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:16.000 So apparently these people in this passage, it's one of those passages you could read right over and not think much about it, but apparently these people they came to belief in Jesus and still didn't have the Spirit of God in them, still didn't have the Holy Spirit in them. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:22.160 So they believed in God's Son and yet didn't have God actually in their life. 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:23.519 So that's a problem. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:26.399 Raises a series of questions. 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:31.440 Do I need something more from God than belief? 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:33.200 And how do I get that? 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:34.159 And what is that? 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:35.359 And when does that happen? 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:35.920 And how? 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:37.359 And who who gives it to me? 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:39.520 What's the process for that? 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:46.240 It raises the question: can I be a Christian and God not be in my life? 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.280 So now we're into a really anxious line of thinking, aren't we? 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:54.560 I mean, we're into the line of thinking of going, like, well, am I a Christian at all? 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:55.920 Or what makes me a Christian? 00:00:56.159 --> 00:00:57.200 How do I know for sure? 00:00:57.359 --> 00:00:59.679 Am I committed enough or surrendered enough? 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:01.200 Or did I commit enough? 00:01:01.359 --> 00:01:03.520 Or did I surrender enough? 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:08.000 So we're gonna talk about that, and by the way, happy Mother's Day to everybody. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:21.359 So, moms, for you this morning, I was gonna just like not talk about this and wait, and then I started to see how this can connect really, really well to a couple things I want to say to you as moms. 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:30.400 So it kind of will feel like part one, it'll feel sort of like a seminary class, and then we'll bridge over, and part two will feel maybe a little bit more like a counseling session. 00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:32.640 So you'll probably want both of those. 00:01:32.719 --> 00:01:34.239 I know you can hang with me. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:39.359 So these people in Acts 8 received the word of God, and yet they didn't receive the Spirit of God. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:40.959 It's what the text says. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:45.040 And maybe you say Holy Spirit or comforter, holy comforter, or holy ghost. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:45.519 I don't know. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:45.840 Whatever. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:47.519 It's the same thing. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:50.799 It is the person of God we experience. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:53.680 It's his spirit that resides in us. 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:56.000 So some people would look at this text. 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:58.560 There's basically two main ways people look at this text. 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:07.040 Some people would look at this text and say, Well, there is, obviously, you look at this text, there's a second receiving that you need. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:10.800 So you have belief in Jesus, but then you need a second baptism. 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:15.280 You need to receive the Holy Spirit after you come to belief in Jesus. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:18.240 And other people say, no, no, no, no, no, not at all. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:32.400 They would react to this text and say, this was a unique time in history, and God ordained this time in history, this particular moment to connect the gospel movement in Samaria with the gospel movement that was occurring in Judea. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:42.800 And then there's a third group of people that would say, I don't really care, I just came to church because my mom made me come to church on Mother's Day, and this is kind of painful. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:02:45.199 Maybe you're the healthiest of all the groups. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:46.879 I'm not quite sure. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:53.520 But what is clear is this text has clear opposing text. 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:02.800 Okay, so another way to say that would be one passage of the Bible can contradict another passage of the Bible. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:04.879 Okay, so hold on to that Acts A. 00:03:05.280 --> 00:03:10.080 The people believed in Jesus and yet they didn't have the Spirit. 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:17.120 Hold on to that thought that Luke wrote, and then here's what Paul writes: 2 Corinthians 1, 21 and 22. 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:30.080 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:40.479 So this reads as if Paul's understanding is that all this comes as one big permanent gift belief, salvation, the spirit in you. 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:43.759 And you go, well, the verse wasn't exactly completely clear. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:47.280 Well, Paul makes it exactly completely clear in Romans 8 9. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:51.039 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:53.680 If in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:58.719 Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:08.319 So, one text says a group of people believed but didn't have the Spirit, and then another text says, this is an impossibility. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:13.680 So this is a wonderful moment where the Bible contradicts itself. 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:16.079 And so, what do we do with that? 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:18.399 Well, I begin to understand it. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:32.800 I can think about when Christy and I were married almost 14 years ago at Snellville United Methodist Church, and I married her because she was my best friend, and she's beautiful and lovely and adventurous, and I knew she'd be a wonderful wife and mother. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:35.759 And at our wedding, there were hundreds of people. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:41.040 And then everybody, we drove across town to the big country club. 00:04:41.279 --> 00:04:48.879 And we got to the big country club, and Christy's in her beautiful wedding dress, and I'm in this fancy tux that I'm uncomfortable in. 00:04:48.959 --> 00:05:01.519 And as soon as we get in there, we sort of got stuck over like on a balcony porch patio area, and very quickly, like a long line formed, and nobody in that line were our friends. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:08.879 It was people, I didn't even know these people, and we're shaking their hands and they're congratulating us as just one after the next. 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:19.279 And I can see like my friends over there, and I'm like, I just want to be my friends, and but we're just shaking hands of all these people we don't know, and we're hungry, but we're not getting to eat. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:21.600 And so that's what's going on. 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:22.879 We're stuck there. 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:29.920 And then eventually the photographer he he grabs us, he breaks into the line, says, Well, we got to go do pictures out on this lawn. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:34.160 So we go do these pictures out on this lawn, and he's a real cutting-edge photographer. 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:43.199 So at first we're doing the you know, the look over your shoulder shot, you know, and then he and then he started to really push it, really push the edge, you know, cutting edge stuff. 00:05:43.279 --> 00:05:49.600 And he said, Hey, why don't you have Christy run toward you and you lift her up into the air? 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:53.439 You know, like as if this is something that we do all the time. 00:05:54.079 --> 00:06:00.560 We frolic about, and I lift her into the air randomly in green pastures. 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:02.399 This is what we do with our lives. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:08.639 Well, the second time, the first time wasn't good enough for the photographer. 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:13.120 Zero times was good enough for me, but the first time wasn't good enough for him. 00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:26.879 So the second time, Christy runs toward me, and right as I lift her up, I step on the edge of her dress as I lift her up, and her dress rips right at the seam of her waist. 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:30.639 That wasn't great. 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:40.160 So the two wedding uh planners, they whisk us away into the ladies' locker room of the country club. 00:06:41.279 --> 00:06:54.079 And we're in there, it's the two ladies, and they're sewing up the dress, and I'm sitting there in my uncomfortable tuxedo, and it's these two ladies, and it's Christy, and it's me, and it was wonderful. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:58.879 There was no line of people I don't know to shake hands. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:03.680 I'm not frolicking on a green pasture doing things I'm very uncomfortable with. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:08.079 It was my favorite moment of the entire reception. 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:10.959 Now that's how I would tell you that story. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:16.319 Now, Christy would tell that same story quite differently. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:28.399 She would tell you about how elated she was to wake up that morning and get dressed up in her wedding gown and to wear it that day. 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:32.959 To be fancy and beautiful all day, how wonderful that was. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:47.839 And the the joy of saying hi to all of these people, how wonderful that was when that line formed, and to be on that, be on that patio and outdoors in this long line who wants to, we get to say hi to everybody. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:49.759 This is a wonderful moment. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:08:10.639 And then we get to have our pictures taken on this beautiful lawn down to this pond, and the photographer's so talented and creative, and then her moron new husband steps on her dress, and then we're stuck in this locker room, and how embarrassing that is. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:31.439 And my point is the same day, the same event, experienced side by side, in the same time, and you would get two completely set of details, memories, and lessons. 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:35.919 Of course, the Bible disagrees with itself. 00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:40.799 One author focuses on one thing and another, prefers to focus on another. 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:45.759 One author says one thing and another, flat out, disagrees with them. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:49.360 It doesn't mean the text is imperfect. 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:57.759 The text is perfect even while there are complexities and disagreements occurring within the text. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:03.279 So you can't just know one text or know one book of the Bible. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:04.480 You gotta know it all. 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:08.960 And not only that, you gotta know the context and the time and the authors. 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:11.440 It is incredibly complex. 00:09:11.679 --> 00:09:18.240 Usually, when we don't understand something in the Bible, it's not the Bible's fault, it's our ignorance. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:24.240 It's our ignorance to context of authors and place and time and culture. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:30.720 The Bible was written by ancient people in a certain context, in a certain time. 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:48.720 So you're sitting on your porch and you're having your leisurely scripture reading, or you're listening to a podcast, the birds are chirping, you're nodding along, you're journaling, you're having wonderful moments, and then you hear a contradiction, you read it, and maybe you'd never seen it before. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.960 But it's there, it won't go away. 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:58.960 And so either you can act like it's not there, or you can send this contradiction through a couple filters. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:05.519 And this is not like a prescriptive plan of how to solve apparent contradictions in the Bible. 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:15.759 This is just sort of when I run in, I'm just giving you like my personal way of handling when I run into a contradiction where things aren't matching up, how do I handle this? 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:22.799 So I'm nerding out a little bit with you right now theologically, but I want you to know you don't have to walk away from the Bible. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:28.399 The first filter that I run it through is what I call the gospel trajectory filter. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:35.600 So the entire Bible is an honor to the trajectory to and response of Jesus for us. 00:10:35.919 --> 00:10:42.720 God is love, and in that love, he incarnated in the person of Jesus, taking our sin upon himself. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:52.240 His righteousness is given to us, so we are redeemed and restored and accepted and absolved and forever his beloved by his work and not our work. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:57.519 Now that is the trajectory of the Bible, and everything is in response to that work. 00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:10.399 So whatever is not in alignment to that good news, well then I have to place it in some category of going, well, this in some context of ancient times, I don't quite know it yet. 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:11.360 I don't know it. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:14.399 It's not necessarily the fault of the Bible. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:18.960 It a lot of the times it's my fault that I don't understand yet. 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:22.639 But in this case, this actually doesn't entirely get solved. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:25.279 This Acts 8 doesn't get solved by this. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:34.720 So the second filter I like to use, and maybe you have more than I do of these filters, you can fill me in on how you handle these, but the second one I call it the average and art filter. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:48.080 So I average up all the teaching in my mind, I think through all the teaching of what is said about this issue and what is best understood about this issue, and I consider it with the arc of the entire scriptures. 00:11:48.240 --> 00:11:53.919 And now, if you do that with this issue, you have to side with Paul. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:58.320 You have to side with Paul. 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:05.840 If you average up all the teachings about the Spirit and belief and when that comes into a person's life, then you average that up. 00:12:05.919 --> 00:12:10.240 You consider the ark of the scriptures and that we are sealed by the Spirit, and you go, you know what? 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:16.639 Belief, the Spirit comes in when we place belief in Jesus, and it is permanent, and it is there, and it is forever. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:27.759 And what's going on in Acts 8, that might be a little bit of a mystery, or it might be unique in history, but it is not something that we can model or should think is occurring over and over again in life. 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:35.200 And what it means is that you are never without God's Spirit in you if you're a believer. 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:37.279 Which brings us to Mother's Day. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:42.159 This week I was sitting with a mother who's now a grandmother and a great-grandmother. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:56.000 She's in her 80s, and her daughters had been in and out of the room, and we were talking about what the weather, we're talking about her husband who was sick, and then her daughter would leave, and then it would just be me and her sick husband and her. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:00.000 And as soon as her child left, right? 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:03.600 Like as soon as the child left, she would begin to talk about her kids. 00:13:03.759 --> 00:13:04.720 Like right away. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:05.840 That's all she would talk about. 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:19.519 As soon as the child left the room to just talk about, and she would say to me, she had to have said it to me ten times in the last week, the greatest thing we did was raise those kids, that sentence, over and over and over again. 00:13:19.759 --> 00:13:25.679 And she'd talk about how great they are and what they're doing in their lives and their kids and the grandkids and where everybody's at. 00:13:25.840 --> 00:13:30.639 And then she'd begin to talk about the things she's concerned about with each of them. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:33.039 Now, isn't this amazing? 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.080 We're in a hospital room. 00:13:36.559 --> 00:13:42.879 She's in her 80s, she's a grandmother and a great-grandmother, and she's still mothering. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:46.799 She's still loving, she's still caring. 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:50.559 And maybe that sounds wonderful, maybe that sounds like a curse that doesn't end. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:52.799 I know that's possible as well, right? 00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:55.279 But isn't that wonderful? 00:13:56.639 --> 00:13:59.360 And here's what I want to say to moms. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:04.639 And I know Mother's Day can be painful, not always celebratory, because maybe you lost your mom. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:06.639 Maybe a relationship with your mom is difficult. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:11.759 So I know Mother's Day can be complicated, but I do want you to hear this if you're a mother. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:16.159 Number one, you are a mother, but you are more than a mother. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:19.919 Mothering is a role, it is not an identity. 00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:28.799 You are the beloved of God, whole, loved, his, apart from your role as a mother. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:32.000 You are a mother, but you are more than a mother. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:43.360 Now, now, when you understand your identity as a child and a daughter of God, now you can go mother with a freedom that you didn't have before. 00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:44.559 That's number one. 00:14:44.720 --> 00:14:46.399 You are a mother, but you are more than a mother. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:48.080 Number two, you are not alone. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:51.919 This is where it ties into Acts 8 and the Holy Spirit in us. 00:14:52.080 --> 00:14:59.759 Maybe you feel alone, maybe you don't have great support, maybe you're a single mom, maybe your parents, you're wishing you got more grandparent support going on. 00:14:59.919 --> 00:15:03.039 Maybe that's all true, but you are never alone. 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:08.000 The Spirit of God is always in you as a believer. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:16.000 Maybe you just hit these moments with your kids when you're unsure whether to exert grace or discipline. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:18.080 Anybody know that moment? 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:19.840 Happened this week. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.639 Christy was out of town, so I'm pulling dad, complete dad duty. 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:35.919 Usually Christy handles the stuff in the middle of the night, and so it means I'm handling the stuff in the middle of the night, and the little one shows up at my bed in the middle of the night once, twice, three times. 00:15:36.159 --> 00:15:39.120 By the third time, I am furious. 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:40.720 I'm fuming. 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:47.679 Is this a moment to exert grace or is this a moment to exert discipline? 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:50.720 I won't tell you what I did. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:56.240 Maybe I'm not proud of those moments. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:03.600 Do you lend a listening ear in a given moment, or do you teach something? 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:06.240 Where do you send your kid to school? 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:08.639 How much should you work? 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:11.279 Are you spending enough time with your kids? 00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:12.240 Do they have enough freedom? 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.960 What classes will challenge them but not crush them? 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:16.159 What school would be good for them? 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:17.360 What friends are good for them? 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:21.039 How much freedom should you give your child and at what rate? 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:24.480 How long do you keep them on your insurance? 00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:27.360 When do you cut them loose? 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:31.519 What happens if they marry that guy you don't like? 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:35.519 What happens when they get a divorce? 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:38.000 What happens when they get sick? 00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:42.960 And you need to know you're not alone in any of that. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:56.159 I mean, listen to Jesus praying at the end of his life, and I will pray the Father, and he will give you another helper, that he may abide with you forever. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:17:00.240 The helper is the counselor, it's the Holy Spirit. 00:17:00.720 --> 00:17:01.600 God in you. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:11.839 Jesus goes on to say in John 15, 26, when the counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:27.599 So the Spirit of God that lives in you, he will tell you about the goodness of Jesus' work for you, so you can free you, so he can free you from you trying to use your own merit, including your kids, as your righteousness or your value. 00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:30.079 So you're a mother, but you're more than a mother. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:32.160 And the Spirit is in you and speaking to you. 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:38.400 John 16, 8, when he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:41.279 So the Holy Spirit will convict you of your sin. 00:17:42.079 --> 00:17:42.480 Amen. 00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:43.680 Do we need that? 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:47.920 I mean, nothing like parenting to bring out sin in us. 00:17:48.319 --> 00:17:51.839 Anger, impatience, selfishness. 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:59.279 And then in John 16, 13, when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. 00:17:59.599 --> 00:18:03.680 For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:06.640 He will also declare to you what is to come. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:16.960 So the Holy Spirit that's in you is a spirit that is speaking, speaking about sin and speaking about Jesus, and speaking about truth. 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:20.880 What I have found is usually it's in a quiet moment. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:27.680 It's usually as you quiet your heart before the Lord, you start to hear the Spirit that's always speaking. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:32.000 Last point, point number three, you have what it takes to mother well. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:40.799 You already have what it takes to mother well as the Spirit of God resides in you, because the Spirit of God resides in you. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:45.599 My brothers and sisters, you will not be perfect. 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:52.799 You will not be a perfect mother, but even better, you will be redeemed and you will be gracious. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:54.880 And Jesus is perfect for you. 00:18:55.200 --> 00:18:56.480 Let's pray together. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:03.440 God, thank you for your goodness and your grace, which we need, and thank you that you do convict us of our sin. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:13.359 There's nothing like parenting or even being a child that shows us our sin, our impatience, our selfishness, our greed, our anger. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:20.319 And for that we need to repent to you, and we need to have sweet moments of confession to our children. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:28.880 God, would you help us to believe more that we are not our roles in life? 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:36.240 But we are the secure identity of your children earned by Jesus' word for us. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:41.599 Would that bring great freedom to the mothers in this room? 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:49.119 Whatever stage and season they are in of mothering, would that bring great freedom? 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:58.319 Holy Spirit, we ask for you to continue to speak to our mothers in the quiet moments of their days. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:07.200 Would you speak to them about their sin that they might live in a great repentant and confessing and freeing life before you? 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:14.079 Would you speak to them about Jesus and the great work of the cross that gives them freedom? 00:20:14.960 --> 00:20:19.680 And would you guide them to all truth that is good for them and for their children? 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:21.440 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:22.319 Amen.