WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:03.839 Well, if you are new, let me catch you up on what we've been doing all year long. 00:00:03.919 --> 00:00:07.200 We're doing a study this year called Following Jesus. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:08.320 Following Jesus. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:10.800 We are going through the entire book of Matthew. 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:13.919 If you're not familiar, the book of Matthew is one of the four Gospels. 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:19.120 These are the four beginning books of the New Testament that really outline the life of Jesus. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:22.399 It is the things that Jesus did, the things that he said. 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:26.879 So we've been going through the book of Matthew ever since February, and it's been a lot of fun. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:28.239 At least it's been a lot of fun for me. 00:00:28.399 --> 00:00:34.399 My hope with this whole series is so multifaceted, but if I could boil it down to a few things, I've said this pretty often. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:36.560 I just want us to be more familiar with Jesus. 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:38.799 I want Jesus to become more and more clear. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:46.079 Like I'm super thankful for anything that God brings my way that helps me understand Jesus just a little bit more. 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:54.320 That helps Jesus become more clear in terms of focus because the better I know Jesus, the better I understand Jesus, the more closely I can follow him. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:55.520 It changes how I pray. 00:00:55.679 --> 00:00:56.320 It's amazing. 00:00:56.560 --> 00:00:59.759 I want us to see Jesus more clearly, to understand him better. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:06.239 And in part with that, but also I guess a little bit of its own category, I want us to learn stuff we haven't learned before. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.560 I want us to every week hopefully walk away. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:17.519 And even if it's just something small, some tiny little detail, I want us to have some part of the story of Jesus come to life in a way that it never has before. 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:25.280 And if that's all happening every single week, it doesn't really matter to me if the message is exciting and amazing and powerful, whatever words we might want to use. 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:29.519 I just hope it's helpful for all of us to be closer to Jesus. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:38.879 And so, in order to help with that, in order to help us sort of step into the shoes of those who would have been actually following Jesus physically in those early days, we've used a lot of maps. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:43.519 Um, and so we'll kind of catch us all up on where we're at right now in the story of Jesus. 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:45.280 Um, this is uh a map of Israel. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:46.480 That's a there we go. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:48.480 That's two maps of Israel layered on top of each other. 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:48.879 There we go. 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:50.079 We got one map of Israel. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:51.519 Um that's modern-day Israel. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:57.439 You've got the Mediterranean Sea on the left in the top corner, you've got the Sea of Galilee up there, the Dead Sea toward the bottom right. 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:04.079 And if we overlay the regions of the world that uh we read about in the scriptures, this is sort of Israel of Jesus' day. 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:07.359 And if you've ever read one of the Gospels, you've read a lot of these words. 00:02:07.599 --> 00:02:09.919 Jesus is in Galilee, or he's in Samaria. 00:02:10.319 --> 00:02:12.719 That's how this was all sort of broken apart. 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:17.039 And for the last several weeks, we've been sort of in one place. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:26.719 I mean, up to this point, Jesus has moved around a lot, but he's sort of settled at the very top of the Sea of Galilee in this town called Capernaum. 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:28.000 And he's been there for a while. 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:34.400 He's kind of gone back and forth across the Sea of Galilee, but he stayed in that area and he's teaching his disciples. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:39.120 He's sort of, he's sort of gathering his team, and we're gonna see this happen in an official way today. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:47.360 He's gathering his team for this multi-year stretch of ministry and challenge and adventure and meaning. 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:52.719 It's about to get really intense, and this is sort of the calm before the storm. 00:02:52.960 --> 00:02:53.280 Okay? 00:02:53.840 --> 00:03:00.080 Now, the series that we're starting today, each you know, month or so, we have a little mini-series within our following Jesus study. 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:02.560 We're calling this series New Roads. 00:03:02.960 --> 00:03:03.840 New Roads. 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:09.520 Because what Jesus is teaching his disciples to do, and what he's about to have them do, is basically go out and be trailblazers. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:21.520 They're supposed to go out and do things no one's ever done before and bring a new message to people, and sometimes bring a new message to new people that haven't really been the people traditionally associated with following God. 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:26.879 And those of us, like we all live in Atlanta or the Atlanta area, we are very familiar with road construction. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:39.120 We live in a place that is forever committed to perpetual road construction, like it's a constant in our lives, and so we very much understand here what it means to be uh in the process of building new roads. 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:40.560 And it's not pretty. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:47.120 Like you never come across road construction and go, yes, I'm so grateful for this. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:52.319 Now, when the road is complete, when that's done, you're like, oh, I'm so glad this is here. 00:03:52.879 --> 00:04:01.120 But in the process, building new roads, it's it's really difficult, it's hard work, and it tends to create a lot of frustration. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:02.319 That's just the reality of it. 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:08.000 My my grandfather, my mom's dad, was actually a road construction worker back in the 1950s and 60s. 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:10.000 My mom was the seventh of eight children. 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:13.680 He was born in 1917, like an entirely different world. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:19.199 And in the 50s and 60s, he was a road construction worker when they were building interstates for the first time. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:22.800 Um, and you know, building roads was hard work. 00:04:23.040 --> 00:04:26.240 And my grandpa did that for decades, and there were some side effects from that. 00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:27.759 One was he was jacked. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:32.399 I mean, even at like 70 years old, you knew that grandpa could take you. 00:04:32.480 --> 00:04:40.560 Like he was just his main job was working the jackhammer, and he had four, it was like Popeye, like he had four arms that did not make human sense. 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:42.639 They were not proportionate to the rest of his body. 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:45.040 Uh, the other side effect is he couldn't hear a thing. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:46.480 He lost his hearing. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:51.439 Um, just because of how loud that was, and technology's come a long way with protection and all that kind of stuff. 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:57.360 And so uh the only thing that that gave grandpa any hope to hear was he had these giant hearing aids. 00:04:57.519 --> 00:05:03.199 And we would go visit him, and even though the hearing aids were in, you still had to talk absurdly loud. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:08.800 Like I remember the first time I brought my wife to meet my grandfather, and I said, Hey, look, it's gonna be a different experience, okay? 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:12.079 Just know when we get in here, everyone's gonna be really loud. 00:05:12.240 --> 00:05:15.519 And it's gonna feel like you're in some Saturday night live skit or something like that. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:18.000 You're not, it's just that grandpa can't hear. 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:23.199 And so we'd all go in and you'd walk in the door and you'd be like, Hey, grandpa, and he's not on the other side of the room. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:25.040 Like, he's there, he's right in front of you. 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:26.639 And even then he'd be like, Speak up. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:28.800 You're like, Grandpa! You had to talk like that the whole time. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:30.079 So it was like super stressful. 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:33.279 You'd be at his house for an hour and you've just yelled at each other. 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:36.240 Not out of anger, just out of, you know, helping him hear. 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:37.360 He couldn't hear a thing. 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:44.319 Sometimes he would take that, uh, he would take advantage of that because eight children, he had like 35, 40 grandchildren. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:51.680 And I did catch him at times at like big gatherings when some of the younger grandkids would come in the room, I'd see him just sort of switch it off, you know. 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:58.959 And I was like, man, deafness is not a good thing, but selective deafness might be in certain situations. 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:00.639 You could just, I don't want to hear this right now. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:03.120 He had like a built-in mute button, it was pretty cool. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:19.600 But he worked roads, he built roads, and I always thought that was so neat, especially when he would tell me the stories of how he did things, and and as a little kid, even though it was kind of cheesy, just driving on the roads that I knew that my grandfather had built, it gave me a unique appreciation for roads at a young age. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:28.720 And all of us as Jesus followers, we are we are in a sense traveling on roads that the earliest followers of Jesus built. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:41.279 And it was a lot of hard work for them to sort of build a path that we can now we can now live on to show the world what Jesus is really like and to bring this new message and this new hope and this new faith to the world. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:43.120 That was challenging, it was hard work. 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:49.199 We're gonna see that over the next few weeks as we study what it was like for Jesus and his followers to attempt to build new roads. 00:06:49.279 --> 00:06:53.439 But here's the thing we're gonna realize the whole way through this, these roads are not finished yet. 00:06:54.079 --> 00:06:57.199 What started 2,000 years ago is not finished. 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:03.839 We are now part of that crew, and we're continuing the work that Jesus and his disciples did. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:14.240 If we're followers of Jesus, if we've made that decision, we have a responsibility to continue that work and to keep bringing a new message and a new hope to a world that needs it desperately. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:20.000 So we're gonna learn a lot about what that looks like and some of the challenges that go along with that over the course of the next few weeks. 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:26.399 But all that said, I'm gonna open up to Matthew chapter 10, and we're gonna focus on the first eight verses of Matthew chapter 10 today. 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:27.439 It's gonna be our main text. 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:38.240 So here's what it says Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and heal every kind of disease and illness. 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:40.560 Here are the names of the twelve apostles. 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:58.639 First Simon, also called Peter, then Andrew, Peter's brother, James, son of Zebedee, John, James's brother, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas Matthew, the tax collector, James, the son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the zealot, Judas Iscariot, who later betrayed him. 00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:06.720 Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions don't go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel, God's lost sheep. 00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:13.519 Go and announce to them that the kingdom of heaven is near, heal the sick, raise the dead, and cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:16.959 Give as freely as you have received. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:20.160 So here we are, still very early in the ministry of Jesus. 00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:22.160 He's gathered his disciples. 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:27.839 He's got lots of followers, many more than twelve, but these are the twelve that he chooses for this special purpose. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:29.439 And we'll bring back our map. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:31.360 Here's what he does: he sends them out. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:34.480 Up to this point, all of the move all of the motion has been Jesus. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:38.320 Now he's sending all of his disciples to Galilee, down to Judea. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:39.440 They're not in Samaria. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:41.519 Jesus is going to get there, right? 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:44.080 He's not saying I only care about the Jewish people. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:44.879 He gets there. 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:50.240 He just starts with the Jewish people, the people that were supposed to be the most prepared for the Messiah. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:51.360 That's where he begins. 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:58.399 So he sends his disciples out, and they're traveling all around, and they're beginning to tell people, hey, something new is happening. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:08:59.840 The Messiah is here. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:01.919 The kingdom of heaven is here. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:07.440 And as we're going to see over the course of the next few weeks, they're going to encounter a lot of challenges. 00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:12.480 Jesus is going to encounter a lot of resistance because building new roads is hard. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:13.519 It's hard work. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:15.200 It doesn't always go smoothly. 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:17.200 It doesn't always go according to plan. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:21.360 But today I just want to focus on those first eight verses because there's so much there. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:23.120 Number one, we get to meet the disciples. 00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:26.799 These are, in many ways, the main characters of the story, other than Jesus. 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:31.679 And up to this point, as we've been going through Matthew, we haven't had a lot with the disciples. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:36.320 But you learn a lot about Jesus when you look at how he picks people, how he chooses his team. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:37.600 That's how it is with anybody. 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:46.159 Like you learn a lot about a CEO based on the kind of people that they hire, who they promote, maybe the kind of people that they fire. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:47.360 You learn a lot about someone. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:53.279 If someone's a coach, you learn a lot about what they value based on the players that they recruit and how they build their teams. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:10:01.600 If you were part of our staff at his hands, you would learn that one of the things we value very much is like longevity and being part of this church. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:07.360 And so almost everyone on our staff has been here for 10 plus years, and half of our staff were youth when this church started. 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:13.919 And it's not that we're like, oh, you haven't been here long enough, but it's something that we really value, that these are people we've known for years and years, and we trust them. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:22.960 So when we say, hey, we want you to invest in other people, and we're gonna sort of endorse you and tell our people to follow your lead, these are people we really, really know. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:26.320 You learn a lot about someone based on how they build their teams. 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:27.919 And we learn so much about Jesus. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:32.080 Because the disciples are, ooh, guys, they are they are interesting. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:33.840 It's an interesting group. 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:37.919 And it shows us so much about the character of our of our king, of the one that we serve. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:40.480 Number one, the disciples are ordinary. 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:42.960 They are ordinary. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:45.919 There's nothing special about any of them. 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:46.399 Right? 00:10:46.559 --> 00:10:48.480 None of them are highly successful. 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:50.879 None of them are people of significance. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:53.279 I mean, they're they're fishermen, right? 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:55.919 There's a tax collector, a government worker. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:00.399 Most of like some of them, the thing that's most significant about them is like who their dad is. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:04.159 You know, it's like, oh, here's here's James, Zebedee's son. 00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:06.000 Like that's the that's it. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:10.879 And Zebedee was probably a well-known person to a certain degree, because other people would have known him by that. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.600 But there's just nothing that special about the disciples. 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:15.120 And I think that's super encouraging. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:20.000 Because it's a reminder that we don't have to be awesome for God to use us. 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:22.799 You don't have to be amazing, you don't have to have a resume. 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:25.440 God does not need all of your abilities and gifts. 00:11:25.519 --> 00:11:27.200 He will use everything you submit to him. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:32.000 But sometimes we can we can convince ourselves that we don't have that much to offer God. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:39.200 And if there's work to be done in God's kingdom, if there's something that needs to be done, it's gonna have to be someone more qualified, someone with more ability. 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:43.919 But Jesus begins his ministry by choosing a bunch of very ordinary people. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:51.600 He was known as a rabbi, and there was a whole culture of rabbis choosing students, and rabbis chose the best and the brightest. 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:54.000 And these guys were not the ones the rabbis chose. 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:56.000 This is like the leftovers. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:00.080 But we say this pretty often, at least I do. 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:04.960 The Bible is not the story of amazing men and women doing great things for God. 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:10.720 It is the story of an amazing God who can use broken, ordinary people to do his work. 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:13.440 And that encourages me tremendously. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:18.080 Because God does not need me to be awesome to be useful. 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:20.159 He doesn't need you to be awesome either. 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:22.720 He just needs you to be willing and humble. 00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:26.080 And if you can be that, you can be useful because that's what the disciples were. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:30.720 They are ordinary, they're also very eclective, like super eclective. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:36.080 You've got some people that are together as disciples of Jesus that, I mean, would never, ever have gotten along. 00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:37.840 For example, you've got Matthew a tax collector. 00:12:38.000 --> 00:12:38.960 Matthew was a tax collector. 00:12:39.039 --> 00:12:39.600 Many of you know this. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:41.600 If you don't know this, I'll give you the gist. 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:44.240 Tax collectors were in league with Rome. 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.360 They partnered with the Roman government to collect taxes from the Jewish people. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:48.720 There was a lot of controversy about that. 00:12:48.799 --> 00:12:52.159 The Jewish people very much viewed paying taxes as like a form of worship. 00:12:52.240 --> 00:13:01.759 So there was a lot of religious implications, and so the tax collectors would have been very non-religious people who also betrayed their ethnic group and partnered with the Romans to get rich. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:08.559 Tax collectors would have been very wealthy, but they would have gotten their wealth on the backs of those that Rome was oppressing. 00:13:08.799 --> 00:13:12.639 And so everyone hated the tax collectors, but no one hated tax collectors more than zealots. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:15.200 And one of the disciples is Simon the zealot. 00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:18.399 Okay, zealots were essentially terrorists. 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:22.000 I mean, I'm not and I'm not saying that lightly. 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:26.080 So you had four major groups that were operating in Israel at this time. 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:30.720 You had the Pharisees, and they are the religious fundamentalists. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:42.240 I mean, they are all about religion, and like they're very dedicated to God's word, and that's commendable, um, not extremely loving and kind because they had a very cold kind of religion. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:46.639 They're obsessed with who's bad, and they're they're very willing to tell you that you're bad. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:50.799 Like they're very happy to tell you all the things that are wrong about you. 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:51.840 That's the Pharisees. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:14:03.919 Then you have the Sadducees, group number two, and they are definitely religious, a little bit more liberal in their interpretation of scripture, and much more connected in the world, much more politically connected. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:13.200 The Sadducees are, they're not pro-Rome, but they're in enough that they're not necessarily interested in everything being shaken up. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:17.519 You've got this group called the Essenes, and the Essenes are interesting. 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:20.000 They kind of remove themselves from society altogether. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.559 They are super dedicated to preserving God's word. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:45.039 They're mostly scribes, and so they kind of live on the outskirts, and they just they basically just read the scriptures and write the scriptures down, and we're super grateful for them because if not for the Essenes, we wouldn't have this amazing discovery that we had not that long ago in history called the Dead Sea Scrolls, one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of all time that has only added to the validity of scripture and the accuracy of scripture like nothing else before. 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:49.039 And that's because this group of people just sort of lived as hermits and wrote stuff down. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:52.320 And then you've got this fourth group, the zealots. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:54.399 And they were revolutionaries. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:55.919 They hated Rome. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:58.639 They saw Rome as an opposing force, and Rome was an opposing force. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.679 They saw Rome as an oppressive force, and Rome was an oppressive force. 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:04.559 They saw Rome as anti-God and Rome was anti-God. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:10.000 But they took it upon themselves to be the ones that were going to lead their people in a revolt against Rome. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:11.840 And so they were trained assassins. 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:24.320 As you study history, the zealots were primarily responsible for this major revolt that's going to result in Jerusalem being completely destroyed by the Roman government just a few decades after Jesus. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:36.639 And so the zealots are, I mean, they are violent, they are extremists, they are revolutionaries, they are willing to do whatever it takes to stop Rome, and Matthew would have been like a prime target for the zealots. 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:43.279 And so here you have Jesus, and he calls his disciples together, and you have, I mean, like, guys, forget Republican and Democrat. 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:45.600 Take that to a whole other level, right? 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:47.759 This is not like Georgia fan, Florida fan. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:51.039 This is like, oh, I can't believe that these two people can be in the same room. 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:51.840 That's not a big deal. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:56.399 These people were trained, like, one was trained to hate the other, the other was trained to fear the other. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:15:59.600 And Jesus brings them together, and that is one of the marks of his ministry. 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:01.440 That's what I love about our church in so many ways. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:04.799 I'm not trying to gush about his hands, but this is such a diverse group of people. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:08.159 There are so many people from so many different backgrounds. 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:16.960 And some of you grew up in church, and this is a very normal thing for you on a Sunday morning to come to church, and some of you are like, I was the last person who would have ever walked into a church. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:19.200 This is a strange, it's strange for me to be here. 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:20.639 All my friends would be like, You're where? 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:21.759 You're doing what? 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:27.200 There's a guy who's on our team, and and uh he's got awesome sleeve tattoos. 00:16:27.279 --> 00:16:28.159 I couldn't pull that off. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:30.000 I just I don't, I mean, let's be honest. 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:31.840 It just wouldn't, it doesn't fit me at all. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:33.279 Not cool enough for tattoos. 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:34.480 And so, but he is. 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:39.279 And man, when he started being more involved, he asked me one time, Hey, do you want me to cover these up? 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:40.879 And I was like, No. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:45.840 I mean, I'm not gonna tell you show them off, like cut your sleeves off, like really, hey everyone, check out my tats. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:46.559 You know. 00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:49.360 Sometimes church can be like that, where isn't it cool that we have tats? 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:50.080 It's not how it is. 00:16:50.240 --> 00:16:52.960 But I said, no, you don't, you don't need to cover them up either. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:58.080 Uh no one does, because I love the fact that this is such a diverse group of people. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:04.720 In fact, if a church ever becomes such that everyone in the room is the same, something's off. 00:17:05.119 --> 00:17:07.519 Because that's not how Jesus' ministry ever was. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:13.279 The disciples are ordinary, they are very eclectic, and they're also super young. 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:16.319 Like, we don't know this exactly, but we are. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:23.119 I am very confident that the disciples, by and large, maybe except for Peter, we're teenagers. 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:25.200 And that's a weird thing to think about. 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:31.759 Like, we have this tendency when we picture Jesus and the disciples to naturally picture them being older than they were. 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:34.960 So I'm gonna talk for a second about something I love, and I'm just gonna, I'm prefacing this. 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:36.319 How many of y'all are chosen fans? 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:37.359 You love the chosen? 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:38.720 I love the chosen. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:40.480 Chosen fans, I love the chosen. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:41.680 I'm saying this out, I love it. 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:42.480 I think it's great. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:44.720 I've watched all the episodes, I think it's fantastic. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:46.640 It's one of the favorite things I've ever seen created. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.599 I think that Jonathan Ruma, who plays Jesus, does a phenomenal job. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:52.400 I think it's great and it's wonderful, and I'm excited about more chosen. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:53.359 Okay, are we good? 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:56.559 I've learned that if the chosen is sacred to people. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:00.319 And so if you ever say the chosen, the people are like the chosen, you do you like you like it, don't you? 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:01.039 You better like it. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:01.920 Why don't you like it? 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:04.000 So I'm just saying, I love the chosen. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:04.720 I love it. 00:18:04.799 --> 00:18:06.799 And when I'm saying this is not a criticism of the chosen. 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:12.079 It's the way, like, it's just the way that we, it's all of like how movies and television, it's just how it is. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:14.960 People traditionally play people that are younger than they are. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:16.559 And like I felt that at a young age. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:23.839 I remember being like in high school and going to movies where the main character was like in high school and it's played by some 30-year-old dude. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:29.920 And all the girls in high school are like not interested in you because their picture of what a man is at 16 is a 30-year-old. 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:30.559 It's not fair. 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:31.279 You know what I mean? 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:33.039 So it's just how the world's always been. 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:38.559 So, like, Jonathan Rooney plays Jesus and The Chosen, and he he does, if you've never seen The Chosen, he does a phenomenal job. 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:39.440 I highly recommend it. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:41.680 This is Jonathan Rooney playing Jesus, okay? 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:42.480 There he is. 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:44.559 That's not the real Jesus, guys. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:47.599 But I think he's the best TV Jesus of all time. 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:49.680 Okay, so there's TV Jesus. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:54.079 Now, Jonathan Rooney is 49 years old. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:55.359 Okay, he's 49. 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:56.480 I know he looks good for 49. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:57.200 Some of you are like, what? 00:18:57.279 --> 00:18:58.160 Yeah, he's taking care of himself. 00:18:58.319 --> 00:18:58.720 Good dude. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:00.319 Okay, so that's him in the chosen. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.119 This is what he would have looked like closer to the age of Jesus. 00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:11.839 Now, he's actually older than Jesus was in that picture, because I couldn't find a picture of him at 30, but that is more what Jonathan Roomy would have looked like at the age of Jesus. 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:19.839 Now, I'm not saying, like, look, y'all ever seen pictures of your grandparents in high school and they look like they're 50? 00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:21.759 And you're like, what? 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:24.880 Like, was grandma a chain smoker at 14 years old? 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:27.119 And sometimes the answer is yes, she was. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:28.319 She actually was. 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:29.920 It's a different world. 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:35.359 And so look, they didn't have like moisturizer, they're not wearing sunscreen, they're living in the Middle East. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:38.640 I mean, they their faces probably were more weathered at 30 than ours are. 00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:43.039 So maybe Jonathan Roomy at 49 looks a lot more like the typical 30-year-old in Jesus' day. 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:49.759 I'm just saying we have a tendency to visualize Jesus and his followers as older than they actually were. 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:52.319 Jesus was 30 when he started his ministry. 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:56.559 I was 30 when I became the pastor at his hands, and people looked at me like something was wrong. 00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:57.759 I'm not lying. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:19:58.960 I used to have this weird thing. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:01.279 Now that I'm 41, it doesn't really happen anymore, and it's great. 00:20:01.359 --> 00:20:07.039 But when I was 30 and I became the lead pastor here, people would meet me and I'd be like, yes, I'm Justin, and they're like, okay, what do you do here? 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:08.160 I'm the pastor. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:09.920 I hate, I always hate that conversation. 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:11.279 Because it's awkward. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:14.480 And they would look at me and just kind of go, like, the main one? 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:16.000 You know? 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:18.079 That's how it went. 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:20.960 And I so Jesus was 30, he was that age. 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:21.920 He was young. 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:25.039 And his followers would have been younger than him. 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:27.839 And so let me show you an interesting story. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:29.359 This gives some more context. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:30.880 Matthew chapter 17. 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:36.799 On their arrival in Capernaum, this is later, they've traveled a lot, and we'll get to this later on in our year. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:42.960 The collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and asked him, Doesn't your teacher pay the temple tax? 00:20:43.119 --> 00:20:44.640 Yes, he does, Peter replied. 00:20:44.799 --> 00:20:45.920 Then he went into the house. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:49.839 But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, What do you think, Peter? 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:53.200 Do kings tax their own people or the people they have conquered? 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:55.599 They tax the people they've conquered, Peter replied. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:20:58.000 Well then, Jesus said, The citizens are free then. 00:20:58.160 --> 00:21:05.440 However, we don't want to offend them, so go down to the lake, throw in a line, open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you'll find a large silver coin. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:07.759 Take it and pay the tax for both of us. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:09.440 It's a very weird story. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:14.480 Jesus sends Peter fishing, and he's supposed to catch a fish, and there's a coin in the fish. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:15.759 It's nuts. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:23.279 And another translation actually gives us more detail on what that coin was, but here's what's interesting Jesus says, pay the tax for both of us. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:29.920 And the coin that is referenced is a coin that would have been the value that it would take to pay the temple tax for two people. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:35.839 So the only people that pay taxes in this story are Jesus and Peter, not the other disciples. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:40.880 Jewish law was that you did not pay the temple tax until you were 20 years old. 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:45.279 So it's very likely that Jesus, 30, and Peter, we know Peter was married. 00:21:45.440 --> 00:21:48.480 He's the only disciple that we know is married at the time of becoming a disciple. 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:50.000 Peter was probably older. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:59.599 But it's very possible and very much indicated by this story that Jesus and Peter are the only ones that are over the age of 20. 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:03.519 And the other disciples are teenagers. 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:06.319 It's interesting to think about, right? 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:16.960 And again, it doesn't always match with kind of how we see things depicted because that's the way that movies and TV tend to go, but that's very, very likely, and it would have made very much sense for the culture at that time. 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:22.480 And so I love that because it reminds me of A, why we invest so heavily in our young people here at His Hands. 00:22:22.720 --> 00:22:25.039 Because just like I said earlier, you don't have to be awesome. 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:28.319 You also don't have to have a lot of experience to be very useful to God. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:32.559 He takes people at a young age and he uses them in powerful ways. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:35.759 And that's why it's so important that we always invest in the next generation. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:40.160 That's why it's so important we have people serving in our kids' areas and with our youth, and many of you guys do that. 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:44.799 In fact, I think we have a training today for a group of people that signed up a few weeks ago, so thank you for that. 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:51.680 Um that's why it's so awesome to see so many young people serve and lead in large capacities here at our church because that's the way Jesus did it. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:55.920 That's one of the reasons why, by the way, I love like our marriage ministry generations. 00:22:56.079 --> 00:22:58.400 Um, we have couples that are that are older. 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:09.519 We also have really young couples that are engaged even in their 20s and they're all together because not only can young people learn from those older than them, but those of us who are older can learn from those of us who are younger. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:11.200 And we need different perspectives. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:16.400 And so Jesus has this group of people and they're ordinary and they're eclectic and they're super young. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:21.759 That's who he begins this brand new movement with. 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:26.079 Those are the crew that he chooses to build these new roads. 00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:29.680 Inexperienced, young, eclectic, ordinary people. 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:32.960 And I think that tells us a lot about Jesus. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:36.799 That tells us so much about him and about what he values. 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:39.440 And it should kind of keep us on our toes. 00:23:39.680 --> 00:23:44.799 Because if anything, it tells us that at any moment in time we should be ready for Jesus to call us to do something. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:49.200 Because apparently, just about anyone is useful to Jesus. 00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:51.200 That's good news for all of us. 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:53.119 Let's keep going, though. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:57.759 So if we go back to uh to Matthew chapter 10, let's go to verses 5 through 8. 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:00.160 It says that he sent out the 12 apostles with these instructions. 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:01.279 This is what he said. 00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:03.759 He said, Don't go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans. 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:06.799 Like I said, he gets there, but he wants to start with the Jewish people. 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:09.519 He said, Only to the people of Israel, God's lost sheep. 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:12.960 Go and announce to them that the kingdom of heaven is near. 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:16.319 Now, last year we did a whole series called A Kingdom Come. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:19.039 A few years ago we did a series called A King and His Kingdom. 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:21.599 You can find all of that on our mobile app, on our podcasts. 00:24:21.759 --> 00:24:24.880 We've gone into a lot of detail about what the kingdom of God is. 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:30.480 But Jesus, just if you're unfamiliar, he makes it very clear when he prays what we all call the Lord's Prayer. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:36.480 He says, Lord, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:38.319 That's what the kingdom of heaven is. 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:42.880 It's God's will happening on the earth, just like God's will happens in heaven. 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:54.559 As when he says the kingdom is here, he wants them to announce that the kingdom of God has come, it's arrived, he's saying, Hey, what God has been working toward, what all of us have been praying for, what all of our scriptures have been pointing to, it is happening. 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:56.000 It's now, it's here. 00:24:56.160 --> 00:24:57.359 God's kingdom has arrived. 00:24:57.519 --> 00:24:59.519 That's the message that he gives them. 00:24:59.759 --> 00:25:09.599 And he tells them that they are to heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons, and to give as freely as they have received. 00:25:09.759 --> 00:25:12.160 Now, this is where it gets a little interesting. 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:17.599 Because here we are, and we are disciples of Jesus. 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:19.759 We're followers of Jesus. 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:28.640 And we read Jesus telling his original disciples to go out and heal the sick and cure those with leprosy and raise the dead and do miracles and whatnot. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:32.160 And sometimes it can lead us to go, man, is that what I'm supposed to be doing? 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:35.039 Has anyone here performed a miracle in the last week? 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:36.079 And it's okay if you have. 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:36.640 I'd really want to know. 00:25:36.720 --> 00:25:38.720 I'm not gonna like, okay, not okay. 00:25:39.359 --> 00:25:41.359 Apparently we are terrible disciples. 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:42.000 Right? 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:49.759 No, actually, this is it's like a little thing, but I want to focus on it for just a minute because there is a lot of confusion about what it what it means to be a disciple. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:50.960