WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:02.720 Welcome to IS Jakarta. 00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:06.480 I'm Pastor Jamie, and I'm excited that you're joining us for this week's message. 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:16.000 At IES Jakarta, from young to old, new visitor to founding member, married and single, no matter where you're at on your spiritual journey, you are welcome here. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:23.760 To find the most updated information about IS Jakarta and how you can get connected, follow us on Instagram at IES Jakarta. 00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:25.359 Thanks for listening. 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:33.280 Good morning to all of you. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:41.920 I do want to begin by just bringing greetings from our church in Chicagoland, New City Church. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:44.479 We're we are family. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:01:01.759 And that's one of the beautiful things that I find is that no matter what our differences are, culturally, geographically, you name it, we come from all kinds of different backgrounds, but when we get together like this in worship, it's uh there's an instant feeling of family. 00:01:01.920 --> 00:01:09.439 And so I feel very much at home with you today because I can sense your love for Jesus and uh you're my brothers and sisters in the Lord. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:10.480 So I'm just so grateful. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:14.640 I bring greetings from our church and then also from my family. 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:19.920 Um I miss them, but I'm uh they've they were so kind to just send me out, let me go. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:26.480 Um, and it's so nice to be able to FaceTime them uh and be able to you know talk to them, which didn't used to be a thing some years ago. 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:30.239 But I want you to uh be want you to be introduced to my family here. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:38.799 There's my lovely wife, Jesse, and then Ava, Aria, and Asher, um 10 7 and 10, 7 and 4, almost five years old. 00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:40.879 And so isn't that a great family? 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:42.400 That's great. 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:44.319 Yeah, I'm so grateful for them. 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:46.719 What else are you gonna say, you know? 00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:55.680 Um, and then uh I just want to say what a joy it is to be here uh to share this time with with you and then to visit my friends. 00:01:55.760 --> 00:02:00.000 Um Pastor Jamie and Tasha have been dear to me for many, many years. 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:07.920 Um I've known them, as they said, since we were all since we were teenagers, and um being able to serve the Lord together. 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:17.759 There have been lots of seasons, lots of fashion mistakes, lots of bad hairstyles and frosted hair, uh bleached hair. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:31.120 Um but through it all, it's just been such a joy to be able to uh see how God has used this longtime friendship to be a source of blessing for us, encouragement for us, but also I think even for many other people. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:33.520 So um just just great to be here. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:36.560 Love Jamie and Tasha, love Phoebe and Benaya. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:38.479 We're so grateful for this whole family. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:44.719 And I think that you should understand uh from an outsider's perspective that I want to commend them to you. 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:48.879 You've got some of the best leaders in the world now here at IES. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:51.599 Can we just show our appreciation for them? 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:56.560 Um it was also so wonderful. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:12.879 We got to host simply, she came and spent a summer with us uh to learn uh what whatever she could from uh being with us during that time, and we were so encouraged and delighted to have her be a part of our ministry there at New City Church, and she was leading worship here this morning. 00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:14.560 And so, again, you got a good one. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:17.199 Um, and we we know that there's many other it's been my joy. 00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:24.240 I got to spend time with your staff, with some of your leaders, and uh I just am thoroughly impressed with what God is doing here. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:28.240 It's a miracle uh here in the heart of Jakarta. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:33.840 And so that's no small thing what God has done here up until this point. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:44.639 And yet, we would be we would be so short-sighted if we didn't acknowledge the fact that God has so much more in mind to do through IES going forward. 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:45.360 Amen? 00:03:45.919 --> 00:03:46.560 Amen. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:48.719 Um, I want to invite you to do this with me. 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:57.680 We do this at our home church when we read the scripture uh for for the before the preaching of the word, we always I always invite our congregation to stand. 00:03:57.919 --> 00:04:02.240 It's a way of honoring the word of God for us and a way of standing in kind of in the inside. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:04.240 Go ahead and stand up to your feet. 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:15.199 Um I'm gonna just jump in to midstream with where you are as a church. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:17.600 You just started a series called Face to Face. 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:22.560 And so from the book of Mark, I want to talk to you today from Mark chapter 2. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.360 So I'll read you this story and then we'll have a word of prayer. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:34.319 Mark chapter 2 says, A few days later, when Jesus entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:43.199 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:48.079 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man carried by four of them. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:05:00.000 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it, and then they lowered the man the mat the man was lying on. 00:05:00.720 --> 00:05:06.480 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, Son, your sins are forgiven. 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:13.600 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there thinking to themselves, why does this fellow talk like that? 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:15.279 He's blaspheming. 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:18.560 But who can forgive sins but God alone? 00:05:19.519 --> 00:05:25.519 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this is what they were thinking in their hearts. 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:32.480 It should be a little bit scary when you realize that God knows what you're thinking, not just what you're saying. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:35.600 And so they said to him, Why are you thinking? 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.319 He said to them, Why are you thinking these things? 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:46.879 Which is which is easier to say to this paralyzed man, your sins are forgiven, or to say, Get up, take your mat and walk. 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:57.519 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, and so he said to the man, I tell you, get up, take your mat, and go home. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:03.279 And so the man got up, took his mat, and walked out in full view of them all. 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:10.160 This amazed everyone, and they praised God, saying, We've never seen anything like this. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:12.720 Join me in prayer for just a moment. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:22.399 Father, I thank you for what you are doing in this small expression of the global body of Christ. 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:34.879 You've placed IES and this precious group of brothers and sisters, you place them right here at the crossroads of cultures and nations in a global city. 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:40.000 Lord, you've called them to be bearers of the gospel light. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:43.199 And so I pray, God, that they would do so faithfully. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:53.680 And God, as we come to you today, we pray that in hearing your word and hearing the ministry of your word, I pray, God, that it would be like a seed on good soil in our hearts. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:58.800 I pray that it would spring up to bear fruit of faith and obedience in our lives. 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:00.240 In Jesus' name I ask. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:01.680 And everyone said, Amen? 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:02.639 Amen. 00:07:02.720 --> 00:07:03.920 You can be seated. 00:07:10.560 --> 00:07:18.000 At the start of our story, we see everyone is gathered to listen to Jesus, to see what Jesus would do. 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:22.959 He had a reputation, and those who were gathered were there. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:27.519 I I imagine that it seemed like they were there just to basically say, I'm here now. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:29.600 What are you gonna do, Jesus? 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:32.319 That's how a lot of people come to church. 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:34.560 All right, I'm here. 00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:36.480 What are you gonna do? 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:43.120 I've I've I I'm not I I think it's just human nature for us to be like that, and I've been like that plenty of times. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:46.560 I've been to church and basically said, What are you gonna do for me, God? 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:51.439 Um I can I can recall leaving church services and saying, you know, it was okay. 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:53.040 It was alright. 00:07:53.439 --> 00:08:00.480 That pastor, his hair was standing up a little too much, and the worship song, I didn't like the worship song, as if the worship songs were for me. 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:01.839 You know what I mean? 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:15.680 But here in this setting, we have a group of people that a crowd of people who are packed in so densely that the ones who had a seat, the ones who were close to Jesus, were probably pretty happy about it. 00:08:15.920 --> 00:08:23.360 You can imagine that they felt good that they were in the room, even though there was hardly any room for everyone else. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:36.159 And so the ones who were seated and who were next to Jesus, even though they had access to him, actually had now become in our story an obstacle to this other man who needed a miracle. 00:08:36.879 --> 00:08:38.159 Want you to understand that. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:42.000 It's not the first time, the only time that we see this happening in the Bible. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:44.240 It happens quite a bit in the ministry of Jesus. 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:47.679 You can remember there's a moment where there's a woman who has an issue of blood. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:09:01.039 She's been sick for 12 years, and she wants to get to Jesus, but the crowds are so intense that she has to press through the crowds just to be able to grab on to the hem of his garment. 00:09:02.159 --> 00:09:09.679 You can think of that man Zacchaeus, who was a tax collector, and the Bible says he's vertically challenged. 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:11.440 He's just a short guy. 00:09:11.759 --> 00:09:20.159 Can't see over the crowd, and so he has to climb a sycamore tree in order to get a view of Jesus, and then has his whole moment there. 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:29.840 So there's all kinds of moments like this, except for the difference with our story is that the man in our story can't press through the crowds because he's paralyzed. 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:32.000 He can't climb any tree. 00:09:32.320 --> 00:09:39.440 He literally is stuck, and the people that are with Jesus have become the obstacle to him getting his miracle. 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:42.559 So here I have two points today that I want to share with you. 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:45.759 And some of you like to take, I I always encourage taking notes. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:48.720 Let me just throw it out here just because I can. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.000 I'm here and I'm gone. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:51.759 I can say whatever I want today. 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:56.080 Um just take some notes. 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:58.000 It's good to reflect on these things later on. 00:09:58.080 --> 00:09:59.919 So I always encourage that in our congregation. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:00.879 Just write down. 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:05.919 Pastor Jamie will spend hours in preparation during the week, and he's gonna give you some great stuff. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:10.000 And so just write it down because later on it could still continue to bear fruit in your life. 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:11.840 Here's the first thought I want to share with you. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:14.559 People are usually the problem. 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:22.879 Here in the in our story in the text, people are the problem. 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:27.440 It was 15 years ago, it was my first time ever visiting IES. 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:33.200 15, 16 years ago, we were trying to figure out when it was, but I was coming through Jakarta uh for some other stuff. 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:45.440 Pastor Jamie and I were together, and I got to visit this church, and being able to see kind of what God has been doing in IES from that snapshot until today is remarkable. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:46.399 It's phenomenal. 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:56.080 As a matter of fact, I would literally say this church could possibly be the most perfect church if it weren't for the people. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:00.639 You know, you know what I mean? 00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:03.679 Like it would be it, you know, people are looking for the perfect church. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:07.759 The problem is when we go to the perfect church, it's no longer the perfect church because we're there. 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:12.159 And I would say the same thing about my church. 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.600 Perfect church, except for the people and the pastor. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.919 We're all messing this thing up because people create lots of problems. 00:11:20.159 --> 00:11:27.759 Gandhi was famous for saying, Your Christ I like, it is your Christians that I cannot bear. 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:36.080 Relationships would be wonderful if it weren't for the people involved. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:39.039 And this honestly is why. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:45.840 Watch, I'm just giving you a heads up, watch out because AI relationships are on the rise. 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:59.840 People are very happy to talk to chat like a friend and to get counsel from Claude because, well, chat literally is always in a good mood for now. 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:05.840 Claude is is never really pushing back on anything, he's always gonna be polite to us. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:16.159 And so people like that to say, oh, I like somebody who doesn't require patience, who doesn't require generosity or or love or forgiveness in any way. 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:23.200 Once you get real people involved, that's what's required because real people bring with them real problems. 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:28.080 Remember how Jesus told us that we would be fishers of men. 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:29.200 Remember that? 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:31.039 I can. 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:40.000 My only like childhood experiences with fishing were a couple of times my dad tried to take me fishing. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:49.120 Should have been a great bonding moment between me and my father, but it was probably the six or eight most boring hours of my life. 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:56.720 Um you know, we were in a little, this is what I recall, just floating in this boat under the summer, under the sun. 00:12:56.799 --> 00:12:58.879 It was just super hot, sweaty. 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:00.320 We had a fishing pole. 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:09.679 What that what what you had to do is you had to put bait on the end of the fishing line, and you would throw the line in the water and then hope that you'd catch the fish you were aiming for. 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:12.960 And I don't recall ever catching a fish at that moment. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:19.200 And so basically, my takeaway from that is your guy is not gonna go fishing with you today. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:21.360 If you invite me, it's a hard pass. 00:13:21.519 --> 00:13:24.879 I'll just tell you now, don't bother asking me to go fishing or anything else. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:31.120 Now, the difference when Jesus says you're all gonna be fishing for men is that Jesus didn't fish with a pole. 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:33.919 Jesus fished with a net. 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:40.240 And so when you fish with a net, you don't you're not just aiming for one kind of fish. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:48.960 You're not putting a little bait on the line saying, Oh, we just want to get the nice people, or we just want to get the people who are smart, we just want to get the people who are really good and easy. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:50.559 That's not how it works. 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:53.440 When you fish for men, you get all kinds. 00:13:53.840 --> 00:13:56.080 And that's what I what I really believe. 00:13:56.159 --> 00:14:02.320 When you you when you fish for people, you're gonna get people who lived at one time maybe an immoral lifestyle. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:05.919 You're gonna get people who used to worship other gods. 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:11.120 You're gonna get people who were all difficult and and and need extra grace. 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:14.879 You're gonna get all kinds. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:18.879 And here's here's my word for IES today. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:23.519 And I say it intentionally because and I'm I just need to say this. 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:27.919 I'm not just, I feel like it needs to have a little bit of prophetic edge to it. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:31.360 You need to know that I'm I think this is a word for you. 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:33.759 Everyone is coming. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:34.960 Everyone. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:37.039 All kinds of people are coming. 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:39.120 You're not necessarily even ready. 00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:49.279 As a church, you haven't even understood what God is doing here because the seeds of a great move of God have been planted here in this church, and everyone is coming. 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:52.879 That means all kinds of people are gonna be here. 00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:58.960 Jesus is gonna bring them in, and it isn't gonna be for the glory of IES or for the glory of any personality. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:03.200 It is literally going to be to glorify the name of Jesus. 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:09.360 The Holy Spirit is gonna be poured out in such a way that all kinds of people are going to come. 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:13.519 And thank God that it is not an American Holy Spirit. 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:33.759 Thank God that he is not an Indonesian Holy Spirit, he's not a French Holy Spirit or a Canadian Holy Spirit, he's not a German Holy Spirit, he's the international Holy Spirit, and he touches and crosses borders and brings people from all kinds of different backgrounds in because literally he is no respecter of persons and no respecter of borders. 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:44.240 And so, what you're gonna see happen here at IES in this crossroads of nations here in Jakarta is you're gonna see all kinds of people coming in because the Holy Spirit is gonna draw them. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:47.600 You have to be ready for this. 00:15:49.200 --> 00:15:53.679 There are only two kinds, two things that the Bible says that God is searching for. 00:15:53.840 --> 00:16:01.279 The first one is this Jesus says in John 4 that the Father is searching for people who will worship him in spirit and in truth. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:07.679 And then in Luke chapter 19, it says that he's come to seek and to save the lost. 00:16:07.919 --> 00:16:18.320 So, as far as I can tell, our churches should be churches where we have two kinds of people: worshipers and lost people, and everything in between. 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:28.480 And so get ready, IES, because the assignment for this next season is going to be prep to be prepared to receive all kinds. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:36.320 The problem is when you get all kinds, you get all kinds of problems. 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:52.559 Somebody's gonna get hurt, somebody's gonna get offended, somebody's gonna carry in a whole bunch of problems and wounds and addictions, and you name it, all the stuff that comes along with that is gonna come here today. 00:16:52.720 --> 00:17:04.079 And so what's gonna happen is that sometimes the people who have the seats here in this place will actually become a barrier to those who need to get to Jesus. 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:06.000 Just like in the story. 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:12.480 Just like in the story, it's possible for that to happen, especially, especially the ones. 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:36.720 If I were the enemy of your soul, if I were wanting to be strategic about how to keep you from being devoted to Jesus, to keep you from growing in your faith, if I wanted to be strategic, I would try and magnify the faults and the failings of everybody else around you who's sitting with Jesus. 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:42.799 I would want to get you so focused on what on what they said, what they did, how they hurt you. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:51.200 I would want to get your heart all twisted up by those people who were that they've become an obstacle to you ever getting to Jesus. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:54.799 That would be my strategy, and that is the enemy's strategy. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:18:03.440 He literally wants to magnify the faults and the failings of those people who are with Jesus to keep you from following him. 00:18:05.039 --> 00:18:07.119 Psalm 34 says this though. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:11.839 It says, Oh, magnify the Lord with me. 00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:15.359 Let us exalt his name together. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:22.480 And I'm drawing a contrast here because what I found is that you have to choose one or the other, generally speaking. 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:37.759 It's very difficult to be busy magnifying the faults and the failures, sitting in our offense, sitting in our in our criticism, uh, to be magnifying all those other failings of other people and to magnify the Lord. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:39.440 I have to choose one or the other. 00:18:39.599 --> 00:18:43.519 And that's why it's so good when we train our hearts just to magnify the Lord. 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:48.160 I don't know what they're doing over here, and man, I God, I can't answer for all that they're doing. 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.920 And so I just have to turn them loose to you, God, and let you deal with them. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:54.960 I'm gonna be be busy magnifying you. 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:58.319 And everybody, oh, magnify the Lord with me. 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:00.400 Let us exalt his name together. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:02.880 That's why it matters when we gather for worship. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:06.799 We're training our hearts to magnify the Lord. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:17.680 The only antidote I know for a critical spirit is to come and to magnify the Lord. 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:23.119 God knows that people are the problem. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:32.640 He sees, even in our story, there's this paralyzed man, and the paralyzed man has a people problem, doesn't he? 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:36.319 And so, do you know what God does to solve the problem? 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:38.960 He sends more people. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:45.519 Number two is this people are also God's solution. 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:49.839 Four friends. 00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:55.440 The Bible doesn't give us a lot of details about these four guys, but I feel like it's okay. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:57.599 We could call them the fantastic four. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:00.960 They're pretty unique. 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:02.880 We we know this about them. 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:04.559 They're willing to carry their friend. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:08.319 And if you've ever tried to carry somebody, it's not an e it's not light work. 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:11.279 And it's probably for a good distance. 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:13.359 We also know that they're a little bit creative. 00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:16.720 There was somebody who was a thinker in the group. 00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:20.480 He was like, let's get on the roof. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:26.880 We know that that, you know, not there was some out-of-the-box thinking there. 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:32.480 We know that there was there was a willingness to to do something uh to carry their friend. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:37.759 Because their friend was too weak to get to Jesus, and so they had to carry him. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:42.880 Are you willing to carry people in their weakness? 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:47.359 Romans 15, 1 says this. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:53.039 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak. 00:20:53.200 --> 00:20:53.680 Think about this. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:59.519 Ought to bear up or carry the failings of the weak, not simply pleasing ourselves. 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:03.440 We don't come to church to please ourselves. 00:21:03.680 --> 00:21:07.839 We didn't, we didn't sign up to follow Jesus to please ourselves. 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:12.400 This is not enough, this is not a a club for self-help. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:18.799 We're not trying to level up and get better, trying to be healthier, wealthier, and you know, more beautiful or anything else like that. 00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:20.880 None of this, that's not what this is. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:25.920 When we choose to follow Jesus, we're signing up to carry others in their weakness. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:31.359 Paul says, we who are strong should carry those who are weak. 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:34.000 That's hard work. 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:38.880 There are some people who are difficult to love. 00:21:39.759 --> 00:21:41.680 Just keep looking right at me. 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:48.640 I don't want to hear the other services, the wives were all amening. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:49.920 I don't know what was going on with that. 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:57.759 But Paul is saying this when somebody is difficult, we don't kick them out, we carry them. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:04.319 Jesus told his disciples, I'm going to give you a new commandment. 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:07.359 That's a big deal, because we already had the ten, right? 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:11.200 But Jesus seems to feel free to edit the list. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:14.160 Because he's the one who authored the list, right? 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:18.559 So he says, I'm going to give you a new one, and it's this you're going to love others. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:21.279 You're going to love others as I have loved you. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:30.000 And so in Luke 6, 35, he says this love your enemies, do good to them, lend to them without expecting to be repaid. 00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:40.720 Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for He is kind to those who go to church regularly. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:42.640 No, gotcha. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:46.400 He is kind to those who give in the offering. 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:48.319 Nope, that's not what it says. 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:55.279 It says, He is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:58.400 That's how great the kindness of God is. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:03.599 That he says, In our wickedness I will be kind to you. 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:09.759 You see, the test of your love for God is actually your love for your neighbor. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:16.880 1 John 4 20 says, if someone says, I love God but hates another, that person is a liar. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:22.720 For if we don't love people who we can see, how can we love God whom we cannot see? 00:23:24.079 --> 00:23:29.599 John says, How you love God is directly tied to how you love other people. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:36.640 And so I have a mentor who says it like this that I love God as much as the person I dislike the most. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:40.799 Now that should stop us for a second. 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:45.680 That I can only love God as much as the person that I dislike the most. 00:23:47.039 --> 00:23:52.640 Love is in fact willing to bear with the weaknesses of others. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:23:55.200 Jesus criticized the Pharisees. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:58.240 Remember, he had lots of words for the Pharisees. 00:23:58.319 --> 00:24:15.440 And at the heart of it was this they were spending all their time mumbling and grumbling about sinners, about the about those who were falling, and Jesus was saying, instead of mumbling about it, instead of grumbling about it, you should be searching for them and carrying them back to God. 00:24:16.000 --> 00:24:21.440 That was literally what Jesus in essence had to say about the Pharisees. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:27.119 I can remember having this conversation with an elderly woman. 00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:32.799 She was in line with me, and I can't remember why, but the line was taking forever. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:37.200 We were talking to one another, and basically she just kind of volunteered this information. 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:41.039 She said, Yeah, my husband and I, we've been married 60 years now. 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:42.400 Now that's a long time. 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:46.960 So anytime somebody says they've been married that long, I want to know the story. 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:49.279 So I said, just tell me, how did how did that happen? 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:58.000 She goes, Well, we we met over 60 years ago, and um and he asked me if I would go out with him, and I said no. 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:03.200 But he was persistent, and eventually we got married. 00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:07.599 And so that gave me more questions because I was like, What? 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:09.680 What do you mean he was persistent? 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:10.880 What does that mean? 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:17.920 And she said, Well, I told him, he asked me out and I told him no, but he just kept showing up at my house unannounced. 00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:25.440 And I thought, so much has changed in 60 years. 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:30.880 Because if I imagine, I don't know how it is in Indonesia, right? 00:25:30.960 --> 00:25:33.279 I'm just a visitor here, so I'm not. 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:43.759 But in my context, if if a guy asked a girl out and she said no, and then the next morning he was just hiding in the bushes next to her house. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:49.119 60 years ago, that's a love story, apparently. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:52.160 But today we call the police, that's what we do. 00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:55.279 We call the police like that's not not okay. 00:25:56.400 --> 00:26:00.799 But I do like this fact that love, I think, is persistent, right? 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:03.200 It is willing to kind of stick, stick it out. 00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:08.720 And and and Jesus even told the story about the shepherd who loses the one sheep. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:16.880 He's got 99 that are taken care of, but he loses one sheep, and the by and Jesus says that he goes out and he searches for that sheep. 00:26:16.960 --> 00:26:20.559 Now, watch this word, until he finds it. 00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:34.400 So here's just the question how long is your until parents who are praying for kids who aren't walking with the Lord. 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:37.839 Pray until they come home. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:45.920 If you've got a friend who isn't who you know is not right with the Lord, you've got somebody that God has put, just pray. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:47.839 How long is your until? 00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:55.359 Because what Jesus says is that good shepherd, he searches until he finds the lost sheep. 00:26:56.079 --> 00:27:03.119 Jude 22 and 23 says this keep being compassionate to those who still have doubts. 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:06.559 Snatch others out of the fire to save them. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:11.759 Be merciful over and over to them, but always couple your mercy with the fear of God. 00:27:11.839 --> 00:27:17.519 Now I underline this because I want you to see the language that Judas saying, keep being over and over. 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:23.680 Always, it's like that long until it says, we won't give up. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:30.319 The Bible says that he who wins souls is wise. 00:27:30.960 --> 00:27:37.839 We might have multiple degrees, letters after your name, experience in business, raising a family. 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:40.400 All of those are really great things. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:44.559 But the question I have for you is, do you know how to contend for souls? 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:47.039 Are you searching? 00:27:47.200 --> 00:27:50.559 Do you does your heart reflect the heart of God for the lost? 00:27:53.759 --> 00:27:58.799 You see, real friends want to get you to Jesus. 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:01.359 That's what we could say about the Fantastic Four. 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:04.079 They wanted to get their friend to Jesus. 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:08.480 They wanted him to have an encounter with Jesus. 00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:12.720 And so the Bible says that as Jesus is teaching, they punch this. 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:14.799 So you could just like fill in the details here. 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:24.640 Like imagine Jesus teaching the crowd, and then you know, all of a sudden people feel dust on their, on their on their heads and on their, and there's thatch from the roof on their shoulders, and they're brushing it off. 00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:32.880 And Jesus looks up and through a hole in the roof, he sees four faces, four dusty faces peering down at him. 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:34.640 And you know what Jesus sees? 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:37.519 He sees humanity at its best. 00:28:38.720 --> 00:28:40.400 That's what he sees. 00:28:41.119 --> 00:28:48.640 It goes on to say that they lower their friend down to Jesus, and Jesus is moved by their faith. 00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:53.039 Not his faith, not the man on the mat, but by their faith. 00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:01.039 Your faith for a friend could be a catalyst. 00:29:01.359 --> 00:29:04.799 It could be a catalyst for someone else's healing. 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:08.880 Your faith might actually be the thing that moves the heart of God. 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:11.680 And that's literally what we see happening in this story. 00:29:11.920 --> 00:29:15.680 The Pharisees didn't love anybody enough to punch a hole in the roof. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:18.240 So the question is, who do you want to be like? 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:28.000 Those stuffy religious people or the roof crashing friends who are willing to maybe do something that was a little bit embarrassing. 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:38.960 The man is lowered down in front of Jesus, and Jesus sees someone who's not just broken in body, but he sees somebody who has a broken soul. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:42.240 And he addresses him tenderly. 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:53.359 This man who has been judged harshly and deemed inferior, Jesus speaks to him and watch, watch the words that Jesus says. 00:29:53.759 --> 00:30:00.480 He says, In essence, all is well between you and your heavenly Father. 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:06.480 He speaks to the real issue in this man's life. 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:10.000 That's hard for us to understand. 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:16.160 We are conditioned to see it as, well, you better fix those legs before we do anything else. 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:24.720 But Jesus gets right to the heart of the issue and he says, those legs, that's just a symptom of the greater problem. 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:30.480 The greater problem is that there is a broken relationship between this man and his God. 00:30:31.119 --> 00:30:34.640 And I have come to heal that relationship. 00:30:36.880 --> 00:30:38.960 Well, the Pharisees are grumbling, right? 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:40.720 Just doing what they do. 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:45.279 They say, who gets to do that? 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:47.759 Only God can forgive sins. 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:49.279 Well, they were right. 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:55.759 And Jesus says, just so you know, which is harder to do? 00:30:55.920 --> 00:31:00.400 He says, which is harder to do, to forgive sins or to heal a person's body? 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:05.359 Now we might think that Jesus was like, oh, I'm gonna up the ante here, but Jesus is not saying that. 00:31:05.519 --> 00:31:08.880 He's not saying that words are cheap and anybody can forget. 00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:14.240 Jesus was actually saying it's harder to forgive sins than to heal a body. 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:20.640 Because Jesus knew very well what it was gonna cost to bring forgiveness to this man. 00:31:20.960 --> 00:31:31.200 He says, the hard work is bringing forgiveness to you, but just so you know that that's what I can do, and then he speaks to the man and says, Get up. 00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:34.400 And the most astounding thing happens. 00:31:35.279 --> 00:31:46.880 Muscles and ligaments that had atrophied from years without use all of a sudden snapped into place and began to function at the voice of their maker. 00:31:47.119 --> 00:31:51.680 And the man stands up, picks up his mat, and walks out of there. 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:54.960 And everyone begins to praise God, praise the Lord. 00:31:55.599 --> 00:32:09.839 When he is healed, this man's world goes from one, whatever it was, one square meter of the mat that he had to stay on to as far as his legs could carry him. 00:32:11.039 --> 00:32:18.960 So here's just this last thought that godly friendships will make our world bigger. 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:22.880 Godly friendships will make our world bigger. 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:31.759 When Pastor Jamie and I talk about 32 years of friendship, I mean we just stayed friends. 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:43.680 We just kept laughing a lot together, kept serving the Lord together, kept just doing what God had called us and assigned us to do in different places and different ways. 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:49.920 And I'll tell you what has happened through that time is it has made our world bigger to walk together with Jesus. 00:32:50.400 --> 00:33:02.559 That's what happens here when you when you get beneath the surface and not just being a friendly person, but being a person who is a friend, who carries someone in their weakness, who's willing and vulnerable enough to be carried. 00:33:02.720 --> 00:33:09.759 Like James 5:16 says, that we should confess our sins to one another and pray for each other that we might be healed. 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:25.039 When we're vulnerable like that, and when we carry others in their weakness, you start seeing your world get bigger, you start experiencing healing in your life from generational wounds, from patterns of sin that have governed our behavior, all that begins to get broken. 00:33:26.799 --> 00:33:28.079 We get free. 00:33:28.880 --> 00:33:30.960 And it's a beautiful thing. 00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:34.720 Godly friendships will make our world bigger. 00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:49.680 It was 2013 when I, for the first time, I shouldn't say for the first time, but for the most profound and a significant time in my life, needed to be carried. 00:33:50.559 --> 00:34:02.079 I'd been 20 years in ministry serving the Lord and preaching, teaching, counseling, and walking with people through all kinds of things in their lives. 00:34:02.960 --> 00:34:07.759 But in the fall of 2013, my wife of nine years passed away. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:12.239 And I was devastated. 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:15.840 Wasn't prepared for this. 00:34:16.400 --> 00:34:19.920 Never thought, never entered into my mind that this would happen. 00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:24.480 We didn't have children. 00:34:25.440 --> 00:34:28.559 And so it was it felt like a total loss. 00:34:28.719 --> 00:34:33.440 It wasn't just the loss of that moment, it was the loss of everything I'd hoped for. 00:34:36.000 --> 00:34:40.960 I gotta be honest, it it felt like I couldn't get up. 00:34:44.079 --> 00:34:54.800 So I was so wrecked that people were fearful for me about whether or not I because I would pray every day. 00:34:55.119 --> 00:35:00.079 Lord, I'd I'm not gonna take my own life, Lord, but I would be a happy guy if you took it. 00:35:01.360 --> 00:35:02.639 That's just how deep it was. 00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:04.559 I just couldn't see a way forward. 00:35:05.599 --> 00:35:07.599 I lost the love of my life. 00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:32.000 You know when the news of her passing got out, you know who was one of the first people on the scene all the way from Indonesia came Jamie Kemp for weeks to sit with me, to wait with me, to weep with me. 00:35:32.800 --> 00:35:39.119 And then a whole other, you know, bunch of friends just began to come in and surround me. 00:35:39.440 --> 00:35:44.639 And it was just this moment where I I couldn't I couldn't walk. 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:47.119 I couldn't put one foot in front of the other. 00:35:47.280 --> 00:35:50.559 I didn't have the ability to to think straight, to hope for anything. 00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:51.920 Just it just wasn't there. 00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:55.119 I was in a state of total paralysis. 00:35:56.159 --> 00:35:59.599 And it were it was friends who carried me. 00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:07.119 And I I bet that they wished that they had the power to just like make it right for me, but they didn't. 00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:08.880 They knew better. 00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:16.159 They knew that they had to get me to Jesus, and that was literally what happened in my life. 00:36:16.639 --> 00:36:41.840 It was months and months and months before I, before this moment, and I'll tell you, there was a it was it was on an Easter Sunday that my father, 3,000 miles away from where I was, not aware of anything else that was going on in my, you know, in that season of grief for me, not knowing what was happening at that moment, where somebody spoke to him and said, You know what? 00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:49.119 I think that the Lord is saying something to you today, and it's this the Lord is gonna lift the mantle of sadness from your son today. 00:36:49.280 --> 00:36:56.400 And it was on that very Easter Sunday that God did a work in my heart and in my life and literally began a whole new season of grace. 00:36:56.559 --> 00:36:57.760 So here's what I would say. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:04.239 It was not a moment, it wasn't a season like, well, I went through that difficult thing, and then I just got myself up and finally pulled myself. 00:37:04.559 --> 00:37:06.400