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. 00:00:16.239 --> 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. 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:25.039 Thanks for listening. 00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:27.600 All right, good morning, IES. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:33.200 All right, glad you guys are awake and ready for church. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:36.719 You know, it is great to be back in Indonesia. 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:49.039 And, you know, I was at Pastor Dave's uh farewell dinner, and I thought to myself, Pastor Dave's my best friend, and maybe I'll never get invited back to IES again. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:51.280 But here I am. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:56.320 Well, I'm Pastor Jamie's boss, so I guess I kind of forced my way to come. 00:00:56.399 --> 00:00:57.520 No, I'm kidding. 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:05.439 Um, I'm here because today is gonna be what we're calling a special consecration of a new pastor service. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:15.280 All right, so the good news is that because we got this little consecration ceremony we're gonna do at the end, that it's gonna be a short sermon today. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:34.000 Yay! Well, um again, it's great to be here in Indonesia, and you know, it's kind of interesting that if you said to me, if you could get stuck in any country in the world, which country would you like to get stuck in? 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:35.680 I would say Indonesia. 00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:40.079 So my flight to Hong Kong tonight at 12 o'clock was canceled, right? 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:51.840 So the the the funnier thing about that is this summer I had a pool party with my children, in-laws, son-in-laws, and grandchildren. 00:01:52.159 --> 00:01:56.079 And um we had a cannonball contest. 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:57.599 This is going somewhere, by the way. 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:01.680 A cannonball contest where who could make the biggest splash, right? 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:14.800 So my son-in-law, who's a little bit bigger and a little heavier than me, he got up on the diving board, he raised his hands and he said, Aku anakrakatao! And he jumped in the pool, this giant splash, you know. 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:19.039 So the anakrakata was getting me back now, right? 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:21.280 And um, but here we are. 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:30.719 Again, I couldn't think of a better place to be stuck, and I am a little bit more dressed up than I normally am because we've got this special consecration service, and so I'm so glad. 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:35.919 Thank you, Pastor Jamie, for inviting me back and to be part of this special moment. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:47.439 So, in keeping with the assignment that was given to me, I wrote to Pastor Jamie and said, Hey, um, you know, we're gonna do the consecration service, but what would you like me to preach on? 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:52.879 And he said, Well, we're in the book of Mark right now, and but really it's up to you with this special topic. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:03:00.560 And so I started reading the book of Mark, and I got to chapter two of Mark, and I was like, this is the passage that I need to preach on. 00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:06.319 And so today I am gonna be talking a little bit about transitions from one leader to another. 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:13.039 And the Bible actually is full of all kinds of transitions that went from one leader to another. 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:20.800 Some of them went very well, and if you read through 1st and 2 Kings and Chronicles, some of them didn't go so well, okay? 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:31.759 But um, we're gonna be focused on one of those transitions that happened in the New Testament that went from the ministries of John the Baptist to Jesus. 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:38.479 So in the Gospels, you need to know that this is talked about like over and over and over again. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:44.319 It came up a lot, the difference between the ministry of John and the ministry of Jesus. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:53.520 Now, I just want to say for the record, I'm not suggesting that Pastor Dave was John the Baptist and that Jamie is Jesus, okay? 00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:55.759 Yeah. 00:03:56.159 --> 00:04:13.759 Um, I'm really kind of just trying to bring about a story in the Bible, bring out a couple of principles that can help you as a church as you go through this change of a pastor in his family that led for decades, and now you've got yourself a new pastor. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:20.399 Okay, so let's read the story in Mark chapter 2, verses 18 to 22. 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:25.199 Again, Mark chapter 2, verses 18 to 22. 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:27.360 And here's what the story says. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:29.279 I'm reading from the New Living Translation. 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:43.920 It says, Once, when John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting, some people came to Jesus and asked, Why don't your disciples fast like John's disciples and the Pharisees do? 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:49.199 Jesus replied, Do wedding guests fast while celebrating with the groom? 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:50.319 Of course not. 00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:57.600 They can't fast while the groom is with them, but someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:03.519 Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:12.560 For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. 00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:23.519 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, for the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:27.279 New wine calls for new wineskins. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:31.199 May the Lord add his blessing to the word this morning. 00:05:32.399 --> 00:06:02.240 So in the story in the Bible, we find that there is what I want to call a crucial interaction between what the Bible refers to as some people talking about the comparison between Jesus' disciples and Jesus' ministry and John's disciples and the Pharisees, and then Jesus has this beautiful answer that we're going to talk a little bit about this morning. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:10.959 So I want to bring out three important points that I think will help us and come from these verses of scripture. 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:20.639 So the first thing I want you to know about transition and change is that it's human nature to compare. 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:24.879 It is human nature to make comparisons. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:26.959 Now, there's a couple things behind that. 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:36.399 First of all, back, you know, centuries and centuries ago, comparison was a survival mode thing. 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:45.040 You know, back in, you know, years and years ago, so much was dependent on the community, the tribe that you were a part of. 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:49.600 Your food was depending there, your safety was depending there. 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:56.560 Um, you know, so many things to actually live and survive depended on the group. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:12.720 And so people that were in the group were constantly comparing themselves to the other people in the group and constantly comparing their group to other groups because they knew that if they're if they were to survive, their group had to survive. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:21.040 So this thing called comparison is kind of innate within us, and we see it here in the scripture as well. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:32.000 In modern times, today, we now have a grand social experience in society called social media. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:40.399 So, I don't know if you know this or not, but the point of social media drives us to comparison, okay? 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:42.240 That's why we have it. 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:48.480 Is because we look on social media and we're looking at somebody else's life and we're comparing ourselves to them, all right? 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:53.600 The clothes they wear, the things they're going, the places they're going, and all this other stuff like that. 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:57.920 Social media is one of the most terrible things for us, okay? 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:06.399 I mean, I'm on social media, I'm not necessarily against it, but everything I read, this is a bonus part of the sermon, by the way. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:16.000 Um, everything I've read about it is that human beings should not engage in social media until they're at least 25 years old. 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:18.240 This is science, by the way. 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:20.160 I'm not making this up, okay? 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:28.560 A scientist came up with this because he said the part of your brain which does comparisons isn't fully developed until you're 25. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:36.799 So if you're 13 and 14 years old and you're looking at social media comparing yourself to all this stuff on there, it's totally destructive. 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:43.519 So, teenagers, go off social media and never go back on until you're 25, okay? 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:52.240 But just to just so you understand, like what's driving this whole social media thing right now is comparison. 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:55.759 So it's not shocking that there is this comparison. 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:04.240 And then in the Bible here, you've got these two great ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus, and they were being made compared to. 00:09:04.320 --> 00:09:18.080 So, you know, you've got John's ministry and his disciples, and you've got Jesus' ministry and his disciples, and John's disciples were comparing, and the people in society were comparing these two ministries. 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:21.679 And so, what do we do about comparisons? 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:24.000 A couple points of advice here for us. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:28.159 Number one, it's not wrong to compare. 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:30.080 Breathe a sigh of relief, right? 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:34.000 You know, I don't want to be the preacher that says it's sinful if you compare, it's a sin. 00:09:34.080 --> 00:09:34.879 No, no, no. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:37.200 It's just what we do as humans. 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:44.720 It's okay to notice changes, it's okay to make comparisons between one pastor or another pastor. 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:59.679 It's okay to compare about, well, the song selection is different, or the temperature in the sanctuary is different, or there's gonna be a whole bunch of things that will always be in change, and so it's okay to make comparisons. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:02.559 It's the good news, the bad news. 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:05.600 It is wrong to criticize. 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:16.159 So it's okay to make the comparisons, but what you do with those comparisons is really what makes the key for a successful transition, okay? 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:20.639 And so be careful of a critical spirit, all right? 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:47.679 Sometimes, and I meet people with critical spirits at times, and sometimes I'll even jokingly say, you know, and I'm in the church business, so a lot of this stuff is going on in the church, and so I'll be at a church where, you know, somebody's criticizing the pastor or the ministry, and I'll say to somebody, hey, I'll know the person who's criticizing, and I'll say, hey, if Jesus was their pastor, they'd be criticizing, okay? 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:55.679 So don't be that person that lives in that critical spirit because it's not of the Lord and it's not good. 00:10:55.919 --> 00:11:00.080 Number three, it is it is right to accept the differences. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:07.279 So I said it's wrong, it's not wrong to compare, it is wrong to criticize, it is right to accept the differences. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:33.840 And, you know, one of the things I love about IES, and really, I'm I've been a part of, of course, I pastored ICA, but being Pastor Dave's best friend, you know, right in the after the first service this morning, a lady came up to me and she said, Hey, I was in charge of the combined camp that ICA and IES did many, many, many, many years ago in Bali, you know, and I was like, oh, I remember that camp. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.639 So I've been a part of this church for a long time. 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:46.240 And one of the things I love about IES and the spirit of this church is that we accept all kinds of people, right? 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:48.240 No, there's differences here. 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:50.480 This is what heaven is gonna be like, by the way. 00:11:50.559 --> 00:11:55.919 So we're all gonna have to get along and live with each other in heaven, no matter what country we were born in, where we came from. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:00.559 So aren't you glad that IES is a taste of heaven ahead of time? 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:03.039 Yes, it is. 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:07.360 And so it is right to accept the differences. 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:13.440 It's not right to expect that things will always stay the same. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:16.720 So this is about comparisons. 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:23.919 My second point is that we need to embrace change, or we need to embrace the changes. 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:26.159 Um, change is hard for everyone. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:30.159 Uh the brain prefers what is already known to us. 00:12:30.399 --> 00:12:36.000 Uh, change introduces uncertainty, change threatens our sense of control. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:39.360 Any people here like to be in control? 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:43.919 Yeah, there's a lot of bosses here, so you like to be in control, all right? 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:48.159 And so when you're in control or when you're not in control, it doesn't feel good. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:53.679 And so sometimes when things are changing, we feel like we're losing control of what we had. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:55.519 This is a normal response. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:08.240 So, Jesus then, in interacting with John's disciples, he could tell, and the some people that he was talking to, he could tell that they were feeling like things were getting out of control. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:12.799 And so he gives them two really good examples. 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:18.879 Now, um, they came to him and they said, Hey, why don't your disciples fast? 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:21.519 Like John's disciples and the Pharisees. 00:13:21.679 --> 00:13:28.480 You need to know that devout religious people back in those days fasted every Monday and Thursday. 00:13:28.639 --> 00:13:32.480 They would fast from sunrise to sundown. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:37.440 And, you know, it's kind of like people do intermittent fasting to diet these days, right? 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:43.200 I don't think they were doing it to diet, but they were doing kind of like this fast that went from morning till evening. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:47.759 They did it every Monday, every Thursday, and it was this, you know, religious thing they did. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:52.559 The Pharisees were a religious sect that strictly followed the Jewish law. 00:13:53.519 --> 00:14:00.320 So Jesus gives them two examples then in order to uh help them understand what's happening. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:05.200 The first one is he talks about patching a garment. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:18.399 So what he said was if you take new clothes and sew it or put it onto old clothes, after a while the new garment shrinks. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:29.120 And what'll happen is whatever they've sewed on or they've put on that hole will pull and eventually make the rip, the hole, the tear, even worse. 00:14:29.279 --> 00:14:29.759 All right. 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:41.759 Um, how many of you have ever gone shopping for clothes and you bought some clothes and then after you washed it one time, it shrunk and you couldn't wear it. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:44.480 Am I the only one that's ever happened to? 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:52.879 This is why I bring my wife shopping with me, because she'll look at stuff I'm trying on and she'll go, you know that's gonna shrink, right? 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.039 Like, you don't buy that. 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.600 So I listen to her advice usually, you know. 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:01.679 And when I don't, it shrinks, and then I end up what is the word in Indonesian? 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:02.320 Munya sal. 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:04.080 I don't even know what that is means in English. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:07.200 We we're we're we're we're disappointed in ourselves, you know. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:20.879 Um when I was a boy, uh every year when you know I come from pretty simple family upbringings, not you know, a wealthy family. 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:25.679 So every year when I was in elementary school, we didn't have uniforms. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:31.600 So uh my mother would buy me one new set of clothes for the school year, right? 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:37.519 A pair of pants and a shirt, and then the rest of my wardrobe was made up of what was called hand-me-downs. 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:39.600 You know what hand-me-downs are? 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:44.000 So my older brother would wear the clothes, and when he got done with them, he'd pass them on to me. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:53.360 Problem was I'm tall, and my other my younger my older brother is like shorter than me by at least, you know, quite a bit, maybe like 20 centimeters, right? 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:59.279 And so after, you know, I would get these pants, you know, I'd be walking around school like this, you know. 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:01.039 My I'd have these short pants on. 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:02.960 You know, of course, I that's a trend now. 00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:03.840 Everybody wears short. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:06.639 I would have been, you know, I could have like broke some trends, right? 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:10.639 But I remember I got these new clothes from my mom that day. 00:16:10.879 --> 00:16:13.200 First day of school, I'm running around on the playground. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:19.200 Sure enough, boom, I fall down on the ground and I I rip holes in the knees of my new pants. 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:21.200 I was so scared when I went home that day. 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:23.360 I thought, my parents are gonna kill me, right? 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:25.840 I gotta go the whole year now with the holes in my pants. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:27.679 My mom's like, oh, no problem. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:35.840 And she got patches out and she sewed and had patches on, and then for the rest of the school year, you know, I had these pants with patches on my knees. 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:45.759 Actually, if I just left them ripped like that, I would have started that ripped clothes trend way early and could have made a lot of money, maybe as a fashion designer. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:46.960 Like, whoa, that's cool. 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:48.720 Your pants are ripped, right? 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:57.679 Well, believe it or not, when back in those days, when people who only owned one set of clothes for their whole life anyway, when they got a hole, they fixed it. 00:16:57.759 --> 00:17:00.480 They just didn't go out and buy more new clothes, all right? 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:02.799 Because we have like a lot of clothes to wear, right? 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:06.000 Did you have a hard time deciding what you were gonna wear to church this morning? 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:07.839 Maybe, right? 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:09.519 Because you have enough to choose from. 00:17:09.680 --> 00:17:11.519 But it was different back in those days. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:19.599 And so what Jesus was trying to illustrate to them was look, when you put new things on old things, it doesn't always work well. 00:17:20.559 --> 00:17:28.720 You know, it's gotta shrink first, it's gotta, you know, kind of cure itself so that so that, you know, it doesn't turn out bad, all right? 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:32.079 And then he uses this example of new wine. 00:17:32.240 --> 00:17:34.880 New wine getting poured into an old wineskin. 00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:51.440 Jesus uses this illustration because when the new wine would go into a sheepskin container, it is still fermenting and exploding with gas and expanding and it would burst the thing that it was in. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:18:03.599 You know, one of the reasons why he uses this illustration of wine and celebration was because he says to them, look, while the bridegroom is with you, you're not gonna fast. 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:13.519 So one of the rules of Jewish society was that if you went to a wedding, you didn't have to fulfill the rules of fasting on Monday and Thursday. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:14.880 So it was kind of nice. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:16.880 They had, you know, the religion was practical. 00:18:16.960 --> 00:18:20.880 It's like, nope, we want you to fast every Monday and Thursday, except if there's a wedding. 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:23.200 And if there was a wedding, man, we could party. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:26.400 You know, we we didn't have to, you know, fulfill those rules. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:34.000 And what he was trying to say was, look, for this moment in this time, I'm with you and I want you to celebrate. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:52.079 He was trying to say to people, look, there's gonna be a difference in ministry between John's ministry and my ministry, and my ministry is gonna be more like a wedding, and John's ministry was more like a fast, but they're just different, and so you can't mix those two things together. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:56.799 So, embrace the change in a couple things. 00:18:56.960 --> 00:18:58.640 Number one, in style. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:04.400 Different doesn't mean what was done in the past was wrong. 00:19:04.880 --> 00:19:11.279 You know, when you can't find a scripture, they this is talked a lot, this transition from John to Jesus. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:18.880 There's not one scripture where Jesus got up and said to everybody, Yep, John's ministry was bad, it was messed up, it was wrong. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:20.880 He never, ever, ever said that. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:29.920 He actually, and I'll read a quote uh in a little bit here towards the end of this section, but he actually believed that John's ministry was needed. 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:33.759 John the Baptist baptizes. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:37.039 Some people say, Well, why did Jesus need to get baptized? 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.160 I'm like, well, he didn't, but he wanted to set an example for you. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:45.279 So if you haven't been baptized, you're not better than Jesus, are you? 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:47.759 Well, I don't need to get baptized, Pastor Jeff. 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:51.759 I'm like, well, Jesus needed to get baptized, you should do it too, maybe, right? 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:56.559 But you know, this was this, he never said anything bad about John. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:05.039 So um, when it comes to style and the way things were done, different doesn't mean that what was done in the past was wrong. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:13.359 Number, the the second thing that we want to embrace is we want to embrace uh the change in miracles. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:19.920 God is going to do some extraordinary miracles in the days ahead. 00:20:20.400 --> 00:20:34.880 You know, after I preached um last night's uh message, I had somebody come up to me, a friend, you know, longtime uh person that's been a part of the church, and they thanked me for the message and said, This has really helped me in understanding this change. 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:44.720 And, you know, uh, man, I've been a part of this thing for so long, you know, and there are some things I'm seeing that are are different and and and changed. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:54.160 And I said, I want you to know that if you can work through this, that there's a great miracle in store for you. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:58.240 Aren't you glad for the miracles that God did in the past here at IES? 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:12.480 Many of you are here today because God did a miracle in your life when you came to this church, because he had a healing that took place in your body, there was a financial breakthrough that happened in your business, there was a miracle that took place in your marriage or in your family. 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:21.920 But I want you to know that if you're here and you're committing yourself to IES and to the ministries here, that there's a greater miracle in store for you. 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:32.319 You see, Jesus was even saying to John and his disciples, look, there's miracles that are going on that are taking place right here and right now. 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:37.440 We need to embrace the change in personality. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:40.640 The the the Kenny's and the Kemps are different. 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:44.319 Aren't you glad that we aren't human robots? 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.559 Look at your neighbor and say, I'm glad you're not a robot. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:57.039 And in today's world, who knows, maybe there is a robot here in the room somewhere, right? 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:59.359 Being tested out on us, all right? 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:07.279 Lead article in my news this morning was that what people love to see now on social media are robot fails. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:11.759 That's like the leading like of people is to see robots fail. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:14.559 How many of you love seeing robots fail, right? 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:16.880 A couple hands, right? 00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:19.279 Well, I don't know if you do or you don't. 00:22:19.440 --> 00:22:23.039 I just know that we are as human beings, not robots. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:28.000 We're all a little bit different in personality, and I'm glad that we're not all the same. 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:33.039 It makes us unique, and it makes what God's gonna do here as unique. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:39.920 Always remember that John the Baptist and Jesus were on the same mission to advance the kingdom of God. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:47.839 IES as a church, Pastor Dave, Kenny, and Gigi as your pastors, and now Pastor Jamie and Tasha as your pastors. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:49.759 They're all on the same mission. 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:57.200 We want to see the kingdom advance, we want to see people's lives changed for the good and for the kingdom of God. 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:02.240 And John and Jesus were on that same mission. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:10.880 You know, the disciples of John came to Jesus and were asking him in Matthew chapter 11. 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:16.799 And when Jesus responded about John, here's what he said in Matthew chapter 11 and verse 11. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:24.240 He said, I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:26.799 Think about that for a minute. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:38.000 Jesus said that about John the Baptist in the midst of a question about whether or not he was really the Messiah or not. 00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:40.480 Now think about that a minute. 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:45.279 Wouldn't Jesus' response be like John's disciples came to him and said, Hey, are you really the one? 00:23:45.440 --> 00:23:47.359 Or should we wait for someone else? 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:50.160 Jesus could have said, Is that what you think about me? 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:55.599 Lightning from sky, come down and, you know, how dare you question my authority? 00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:57.519 How dare you question, you know. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:02.640 Instead, he says, No, John was the greatest person that ever lived. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:08.000 What an amazing story that we see here in the Word of God. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:16.079 So let's go to our last point, and that is don't miss out on the amazing things that are ahead. 00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:26.559 There were some of uh John's disciples who started to follow Jesus, even though his ministry was far different than Jesus' ministry. 00:24:27.119 --> 00:24:28.480 Some did not. 00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:30.880 Even John had his doubts. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:34.640 I talked about this, but I'll read the verse in Matthew 11, verse 3. 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:44.319 John sends one of his disciples to Jesus and says, Are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else? 00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:50.960 You know, it's not so crazy that John would ask a question like this, really. 00:24:51.680 --> 00:25:00.640 If you think about it, um, you know, when that whole question kind of came up, you know, John's ministry was so different. 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:12.160 So John the Baptist, he wore uh camel's hair, clothes, and his diet consisted of grasshoppers and honey, okay? 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:15.599 So John was weird, all right? 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:17.920 And he would go out into the desert. 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:28.480 He'd go out into the desert and out into the wilderness and wear weird clothes and eat weird food, and I guess because he was weird, we were attracted to him, right? 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:31.039 Have you been attracted to somebody who's like really strange? 00:25:31.119 --> 00:25:33.200 And you're like, check that dude out, man. 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:34.559 Like, let's go look at him. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:44.880 So people would follow John out into the wilderness, and then John would get this big crowd of people around him, and then he would preach and say, May the grace of God be on you. 00:25:45.119 --> 00:25:46.400 The Lord loves you. 00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:53.680 No, he would say, You brood of vipers, you bad people, you need to repent of your sins, you need to get baptized. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:26:03.359 You know, he had this hard message where you know people would travel way out into the wilderness to see him, and then he would, you know, say all these like mean things to them, right? 00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:05.680 It sounds kind of fun, I guess. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:09.119 I would have definitely gone out to hear him preach for sure. 00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:12.000 But that was John's ministry. 00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:19.759 And now you've got Jesus who comes and he goes to people's houses, right? 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:22.799 He's not going to the wilderness or the desert. 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:26.799 I mean, he ended up out there a few times because people just followed him everywhere. 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:29.200 But Jesus would go into people's homes. 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:31.200 He would spend time with sinners. 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.680 You know, do you remember the story of Zacchaeus? 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:36.720 He's up in a tree and Jesus walks past him. 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:47.279 And instead of looking up in the tree, Zacchaeus, this sinner, this tax collector, this bad guy, he didn't look up at the tree and say, Zacchaeus, you brood of snakes and vipers, you're you know. 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:50.960 He said, No, come down because I'm gonna have dinner at your house today. 00:26:51.039 --> 00:26:53.359 Bring all your sinful friends. 00:26:54.079 --> 00:27:00.960 So John is looking at this, going, Whoa, why are you not wearing the clothes that I'm wearing? 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:05.440 Why are you not hiding out in the wilderness like I was hiding? 00:27:05.680 --> 00:27:10.880 And what are you doing going to those people's houses of all those sinners? 00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:16.000 Don't miss out on the amazing things that are ahead. 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:32.480 As a result of the fact that John's disciples, many of whom couldn't make the transition because it was just so different, they ended up missing out on some of the greatest miracles that Jesus did on the planet earth. 00:27:33.200 --> 00:27:37.920 So, how do you not miss out on what God is about to do? 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:41.759 First, you need to be flexible. 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:44.319 You guys good at being flexible? 00:27:45.839 --> 00:27:47.359 Most people aren't. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:53.039 You know, I do all the training for Americans that are gonna be living in foreign countries. 00:27:53.200 --> 00:28:02.000 You know, my wife and I, as the the regional directors for the mission, we oversee the mission activity in 41 different countries around the world. 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:06.160 So we're always training people that are gonna go out to these 41 countries. 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:09.279 And, you know, I'm like always asking people, I'm like, are you flexible? 00:28:09.359 --> 00:28:10.559 And they're all like, we're flexible. 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:11.839 They're trying to keep their job, of course. 00:28:12.079 --> 00:28:13.519 Oh, yeah, we're flexible, we're flexible. 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:18.079 And I'm like, everybody's flexible until we have to bend a little bit, right? 00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:25.680 No, I feel very flexible right now, but if you ask me to touch my toes, I'm like, nope, get my grandkids to do that for me, you know. 00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:28.160 If I drop something nowadays, I'm like, no, I'm not getting that. 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:30.480 Hey, you know, Noah, Ella, could you get that for me? 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:33.200 You know, grandpa doesn't want to lean down and get that, you know. 00:28:33.599 --> 00:28:35.759 We're we're all we all think we're flexible. 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:42.960 So this is gonna require flexibility if we're gonna see success in this transition from one pastor to another. 00:28:43.119 --> 00:28:45.200 Number two, be joyful. 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:47.119 Boy, this is like the key right here. 00:28:47.200 --> 00:28:48.720 I'm getting down to the end of the sermon. 00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:50.640 Be joyful. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:57.200 I thought somebody would like jump up and say, Hallelujah, I'm joyful, Pastor Jeff. 00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:05.599 Woo! You know, when you think about this story of this, what was happening here, this is Mark chapter 2, right? 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:11.039 And these disciples, the some people, they were people that were followers of John. 00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:14.240 They come to Jesus and they're like, hey, why aren't you fasting? 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:33.759 Do you realize that, like in the verses before this, Jesus was in somebody's house and they let a lame man down on a on a mat in front of Jesus and he healed this guy who'd been lame his entire life, you would think they'd be joyful about that. 00:29:35.759 --> 00:29:37.519 Why aren't you fasting? 00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:42.720 Because I'm too busy making lame people walk. 00:29:44.319 --> 00:30:00.640 You know, I really believe that as a church, if you are joyful about the good things that God is doing, and I am prophesying, I am predicting that there are good things ahead, that there are more miracles in store for IES. 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:05.279 There are even greater miracles in store for IES in the days ahead. 00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:06.640 Don't miss out on that. 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:21.599 And when you hear about the good things that God is doing, about the people that are being saved, about the people that are being baptized, about the people that are being healed, and about the lives that are being transformed, I want you to be joyful about those things. 00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:29.200 And if you can be joyful, you won't miss out on the amazing thing that God wants to do in your life. 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:36.079 Because as we rejoice over what God is doing in other people's lives, it spills over into ours. 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:38.880 It's gonna spill over into ours. 00:30:39.759 --> 00:30:42.319 So, how do you not miss out on what God is about to do? 00:30:42.480 --> 00:30:45.759 Be flexible, be joyful, and be mindful. 00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:52.400 That God has given you a gift of the Kemp family. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:57.519 And they're here because God has called them here. 00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:02.559 You know, I'm glad that, you know, IES as a church belongs to the Lord. 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:03.200 Amen. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:09.119 Didn't belong to Pastor David, doesn't belong to Pastor Jamie, doesn't belong to any one individual. 00:31:09.279 --> 00:31:14.960 This church belongs to the Lord, but then he calls people to be a part of his church. 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:19.200 Sometimes people think, well, it's my church, and I'm asking God to join my church, right? 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:19.920 No, no, no. 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:23.279 This is God's church, and he invites us to be a part of it. 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:28.960 And he's now called and invited the Kemps to be a part of IES. 00:31:29.119 --> 00:31:38.160 And I believe that great days are ahead for this church, and I'm so glad that today I can be here and be a part of this time of consecration. 00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:40.160 I hope you enjoyed today's sermon. 00:31:40.319 --> 00:31:43.279 Feel free to contact us with any questions through our Instagram. 00:31:43.519 --> 00:31:45.279 You can share this podcast with others. 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:48.880 And until next time, may God bless you and keep you.