WEBVTT 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:12.480 This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:17.920 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:32.640 Make sufficient Jesus, God of the universe, the God who speaks of Himself in turns that call us upward and onward and wean us off of self-reliance. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:38.719 Lord, we've come to confess that the story we tell that has us at the center of everything is too small. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:40.479 It's never going to be sufficient. 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:46.560 It's always going to require some self-medicating behavior on our part because it's not enough. 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:48.320 We don't have enough resources. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:50.159 We don't have enough revelation. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:56.960 We don't have deep inside of every one of us is this gnawing sense that I do not have what I need. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:00:59.200 And so this causes us to come to you. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:02.560 Uh, not just independence, but because of relationship. 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:07.280 Because we believe, God, what we're just saying is that we see in part, but not the whole. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:09.359 And there's nothing that you do not see. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:11.359 We'll see that in the text this morning. 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:14.000 But you're not just the God of today and tomorrow. 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:16.480 You're not just the God of now, but then. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:20.799 You're not just the God of this, but you're the God of that, and even after that. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:24.799 And we're stuck in this right now, God, and this feels small. 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:28.640 Like a like a t-shirt that we washed in hot water and dried. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:30.640 It's kind of shrunk up on us. 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:35.680 This is insufficient for that and especially for after that. 00:01:36.319 --> 00:01:45.359 So, Holy Spirit, pull back the curtain this morning and trust us and then trust us with not just this, but that and whatever comes after that. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:46.959 Because you already know it. 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:49.599 Because we're not asking you to give us what we want. 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:53.359 We're asking you to reveal to us today what you already know. 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:58.879 Let us be a men and a women, a people, a place, a church that can be trusted with that. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:00.799 That's what we're after today, God. 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:06.400 Wean us off of this and whet our appetite for that and after that. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:07.599 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:09.919 What everyone said, Amen, amen. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:11.280 You could have a seat if you got a Bible. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:14.400 I invite you to take it and open it up to uh Acts chapter six. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.199 If you're our guest today, we're preaching through the through the book of Acts. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:18.800 It's called Expository Preaching. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:24.479 And the good thing about this is you don't jump around from topic to topic, uh, like money and marriage and parenting. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:27.280 And we cover all those things in the context of the gospel. 00:02:27.439 --> 00:02:35.360 But the beauty of that is that you have to, you have to, of expository preaching is you have to cover some things and confront some things that we by nature would avoid. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:38.159 Uh uh and this morning is one of those examples. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:42.159 I want to talk to you this morning about the beautiful, the beauty of gospel fluency. 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:44.400 The beauty of gospel fluency. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:48.479 Last week, Blake started talking about uh about deacons, deacons with servants. 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:54.000 Uh, the church is not an organization, the church is an organism that requires some organization. 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:55.360 And that's what we saw last week. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:58.319 God needs some organization, some structure, some servants. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:00.879 So these guys over here, not everybody does the same thing. 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:03.919 These guys are gonna serve and wait on tables and take care of the widows. 00:03:04.080 --> 00:03:07.599 These guys over here are gonna give themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:09.520 And so there's been a progression. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:13.439 Uh and I don't know if you noticed behind me, but the picture has changed. 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:14.560 Or it should have changed. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:15.599 That's the wrong picture. 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:18.560 Uh the picture is never mind. 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:22.319 Uh uh, the the picture, the well, it'll be next week is resistance. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:25.520 Is now we're gonna start experiencing resistance in the church. 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:28.639 And these guys, back in chapter four, they got scolded. 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:31.039 Uh excuse me, chapter three, they got scolded. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:35.919 Chapter four, they got beat, and in this next two chapters, one of them gets killed. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:38.960 And so you start to experience resistance. 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:40.479 And so I don't want to start reading. 00:03:40.560 --> 00:03:47.680 I'm gonna read a long section, I'm gonna break it up because this whole thing is basically this guy named Stephen gets called in and they ask him one question. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:51.680 And I'm a guy that's prone to long answers, and so I love this part of the Bible. 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:55.280 They ask him one question, and that dude goes on for a chapter and a half. 00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:59.280 I mean just like, okay, all right, oh man. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:01.919 Uh, but what you'll see is the gospel fluency, all right? 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:05.439 And so I'm gonna start reading Acts chapter six, starting verse eight. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:10.000 And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:24.160 Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the freedmen, as it was called, and the Cyrenians and of the Alexandrians and of those of Cilicia and Asia rose up and disputed with Stephen, but they could not withstand the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:30.160 Then they secretly instigated men who said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God. 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:36.399 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him out before the council. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:43.519 And they set up false witnesses who said, This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:44.879 Hear that again. 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:49.839 This man never ceases uh to speak words against this holy place and the law. 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:58.560 For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, talking about the temple and and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us. 00:04:58.800 --> 00:05:06.000 This man will destroy this place and he'll move the Bible studies and the students from nine o'clock to 10:30. 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:07.680 What? 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:10.240 Why, we do not like this man. 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:15.759 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.639 And the high priest asked him, Are these things so? 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:20.240 That's the question. 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:24.720 One question, and here comes the long play, dance mixed answer to the question. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:25.680 Are these things so? 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:28.240 And Stephen said, Brothers and fathers, hear me. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:33.120 The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:37.519 And he said to him, Go out from your land, from your kindred, and go into the land that I will show you. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:40.720 Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:42.240 And after this, his father died. 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:46.079 God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:55.680 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length, but promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him, though he had no child. 00:05:55.839 --> 00:06:04.480 And God spoke to this effect, that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, and they would enslave them and afflict them 400 years. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:07.519 But I will judge the nation that they serve, said God. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:14.079 And after they shall come out and come out and worshiping, and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:16.399 And he gave them the covenant of circumcision. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:24.959 And so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:26.560 And we'll stop right there for today. 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:27.759 It's a long answer. 00:06:27.839 --> 00:06:30.959 It goes on in the next two Sundays, we'll unpack even more of it. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:36.160 But what you'll see that kind of happens is what I call the beauty of gospel fluency. 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:37.759 And so, what do we see in the text? 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:39.519 We see basically four or five things. 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:40.319 Let me point to them. 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:44.079 Number one, that Christianity is historical before it's personal. 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:47.040 We say this a lot just in passing, but I can't say it enough. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:49.759 I want to beat this drum over and over and over. 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:52.480 Christianity is historical before it's personal. 00:06:52.639 --> 00:06:58.959 Translation, Christianity didn't start on July 5th, 1982, about 9:30 at night, when I came to faith. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:06:59.279 Okay. 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:03.120 It didn't start when you found a church that you liked and you entrusted your kids to. 00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:04.800 Christianity is historical. 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:13.040 And one of the uh we believe this, and one of the ways we flesh out that we believe this, that is historical and personal, but before it's personal, it's historical. 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:20.240 One of the ways that we demonstrate uh our understanding of this is that one of the core classes that we teach here is a class on Wednesday night. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:30.000 We have midweek classes that meet in the building over there, uh, not during the summer, they meet in the fall for 10 weeks and the spring for 10 weeks, because we want people to understand the story that God is telling. 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:32.800 So we teach a core class called the Christian story. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:37.199 You have to ask yourself, how well do you know the story of God? 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:39.360 My story is not the story of God. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:44.879 My story finds its place and makes sense only in the context of the story that God is telling. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:53.839 And so, in the in the class, the Christian story, this core class we teach uh like every third semester, because we want this understanding in the head and heart of our people. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:57.199 It's an overview of the story that God has been telling from the beginning. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:08:02.720 We teach this because we want people to not only know their story, but the story that God's telling, how it fits in. 00:08:02.879 --> 00:08:08.000 God's story is known as the gospel, the good news of Christianity, and it's in only in this story. 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:12.000 The story that God is telling, the gospel is the only story big enough to live in. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:25.360 Now, one of the things that you'll see when you begin to understand, because a lot of you come to church, maybe you're new to church, you're kind of like, hey, if you knew what I was really like, what I'm struggling with, there's no way that you would want me to believe that I can be a part of God's story. 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:29.680 I would just I would just put one word out there, one name out there, Rahab. 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:35.679 Now, all the Sunday school vacation Bible school kids were like, Yeah, Rahab, Rahab. 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:37.759 If you're new to church, you're like, I got nothing, bro. 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:40.240 Rahab, that that sounds like a crazy name. 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:45.279 Rahab was a harlot, which is the Bible word for. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.480 Yes, she liked to spread love all around. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:50.159 Keep hope alive, amen. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:58.720 Uh, and so in the story of God, in one of the genealogies of Jesus, Rahab is listed as one of the people that God used, that's involved in God's story. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:06.000 Here's what I'm saying: none of you has excused yourself, none of you sinned so much that God's not gonna, God's kind of said, Hey, you're embarrassing. 00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:07.279 Go stand over there on the wall. 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:09.840 We're no one's picking you, you just do your best. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:10.720 No, no. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:14.879 The story that God is telling is so big, everyone's invited into it. 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:23.360 And perhaps the greatest thing that you could do today is to put the pen down and stop trying to write a story that will always be too small for you. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:28.720 You see, one of the first things right off the bat, Christianity is historical before it's personal. 00:09:28.799 --> 00:09:32.240 And what you read here about this guy, Stephen, is a man that knew God's story. 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:34.320 Okay, he gets asked, hey, is this true? 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:36.960 Are you talking about the temple and you're sinning against the law? 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:39.120 Because if you are, dude, you're that's blasphemy. 00:09:39.200 --> 00:09:40.159 We're gonna get you for that. 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:42.000 And his response is just crazy. 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:43.679 He's like, brothers and bothers, hear me. 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:46.480 The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he's in Mesopotamia. 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:48.879 They're like, What's this got to do with anything? 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:54.559 It's gospel fluent, he's gospel fluent, and there's twofold beauty to gospel fluency, okay? 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:57.679 Here's here's the twofold beauty of gospel fluency right off the top. 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:00.960 Number one, questions get answered that were not being asked. 00:10:01.279 --> 00:10:04.240 And secondly, things begin to make sense that didn't before. 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:09.200 That will happen in this room this morning while I'm preaching, not because of me, but because of the gospel. 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:14.639 Some of you, questions will get answered that you weren't even asking to be like, oh, yeah, that makes sense. 00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:18.320 And then secondly, things will begin to make sense that didn't make sense before. 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:22.559 Because God's a God of revelation, and this is the beauty of gospel fluency. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:30.399 We're we're reading uh a sermon, a speech that a man gave thousands of years ago, and yet it's applicable in 2023. 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:30.960 Why? 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:34.720 Because Christianity is historical before it's personal, all right? 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:37.919 Here's the second thing we see in the text God is not a God of place. 00:10:38.080 --> 00:10:39.360 Look at verse 3. 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:49.919 He says, The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran, and he said to him, Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you. 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:52.159 Now, the big charge against Stephen was twofold. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:55.200 Remember, I paused, I kind of pumped the brakes and said, Notice this. 00:10:55.360 --> 00:10:57.200 The big charge against Stephen was twofold. 00:10:57.279 --> 00:10:59.279 Number one, he speaks against the temple. 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:01.279 Secondly, he speaks against the law. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:02.879 Here's why this was the big thing. 00:11:03.039 --> 00:11:05.840 In their mind, the temple was where God lived. 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:10.799 It's kind of like your teacher, you think when you're a little kid, you think your teacher lives at the school. 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:16.080 Like every once in a while, I see some of you with little kids, if they see me out somewhere, they're like, Oh, Pastor Neil. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:20.320 Like this past week, I was having lunch with a friend at Kava in town center down there. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:21.519 It's Mediterranean. 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:22.480 They have hummus. 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:25.759 Uh, I feel healthy, I'm sure it's not, but I enjoy it. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:29.600 And from behind me, I heard somebody go, Pastor Neil, and they had their daughter with them. 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:34.320 And their daughter was like, What? 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:37.759 Don't you live at the church? 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.720 And so, because it was awkward, I like making it more awkward. 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:49.039 I walked over and sat at their table, right beside their daughter, and she was like, And I'm like, Have you ever had lunch with a preacher? 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:52.240 No, you want me to go back to my table? 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:53.200 Yes. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:55.039 The parents were like, We're gonna beat you. 00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:56.240 You show respect to this man. 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:57.279 I said, It's okay. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:58.559 I said, I don't live at the church. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:00.240 And I said, Is it weird to see me out? 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:02.159 And yeah. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:06.399 This is the way we feel that way because people back then felt that way. 00:12:06.559 --> 00:12:13.039 They believed, oh my gosh, like when Jesus said, You tear down this temple and I'll raise it back up in three days, he's talking about his body. 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:14.639 They think he's talking about the building. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:18.240 You're gonna tear down the house where God lives, where's God gonna live? 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.240 And so this is the big thing. 00:12:20.320 --> 00:12:22.879 And I'm just saying to you, God is not a God of place. 00:12:23.120 --> 00:12:25.840 Uh, because this shows how the people thought about God. 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:31.440 He lived at the temple, so how dare you talk about destroying the place where God lives? 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:33.200 Here's what's applicable to you and I. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:36.960 What Stephen is laboring for them to see is that God is not restricted to the temple. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:41.039 He speaks outside of the temple and outside of the confines of Israel. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:49.919 When we restrict ourselves to what I call temple thinking, then we set up categories for thinking and living that only apply to Sunday, but not to the rest of the week. 00:12:50.159 --> 00:12:51.039 Let me say that again. 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:55.279 Temple thinking is this, oh, there's categories of living and being that they apply to Sunday. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:58.320 Well, there are certain things we don't do on Sunday, and it's okay over here. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:02.240 And if you're not careful, your life begins to sound like a Florida, Georgia lion song. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:05.360 You know, we cuss on them Mondays and we pray on them Sundays. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:06.799 That's temple thinking. 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:10.399 I remember the first time I heard that on the radio, I just blurted out, Temple thinking. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:13.600 It's a good thing nobody was in my truck because that would have been kind of creepy. 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:19.279 But yeah, it's kind of like, hey, Sunday is where I go to do penance for the way I've lived all these other days. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:22.159 That's the way people in the Bible talk about the temple. 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:27.519 So that's why they wanted to kill Stephen because they dude, you're talking about tearing down the place where God lives. 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:28.879 Where's God going to live? 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:31.519 Hey, by the way, the answer is right here. 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:35.200 That's why the Bible says, Don't you know that your body's the temple of God? 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.679 See, here's the progression of God's residence. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:45.440 In the Old Testament, it's tabernacle, like a tent, that they move, God's presence is with us, then they build a temple, a building for God, and God lives there. 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.320 But the New Testament is here is where God lives. 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:55.279 And so, again, if you're here and you think, I'm not a good person, I struggle with addiction, I've got a foul mouth, I've got a horrible past. 00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:00.480 You said Rahab was a harlot, and I was like, mm-hmm, sign language, I got I relate to her. 00:14:00.720 --> 00:14:01.519 Let me tell you something. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:05.600 The God of the universe says, I will by my spirit come and live inside of you. 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:08.799 You don't have to clean the house up, he'll clean it up for you. 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:10.159 He will. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:12.879 You I don't take a bath to take a shower. 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:14.639 I don't. 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:15.600 I don't. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:19.120 I I just I just get in and I'm dirty and I get out clean. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:26.480 When God by his spirit comes to live inside of you, he will displace everything in you that needs to go. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:27.519 Does that make sense? 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:28.480 Say amen. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.480 And so, see, the thing you gotta be careful of, look at verse 2. 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:36.879 He says, the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia. 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:42.799 And he goes on in six different times he mentions the the nation of Egypt before he lived in Haran. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:49.200 But basically, what he's trying to establish is that God is not restricted to Israel and the temple, he speaks in other places. 00:14:49.360 --> 00:14:54.000 One of the questions I want you to answer today at lunch is what is the weirdest place God's ever spoken to you? 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:56.240 Because a lot of people struggle with Sundays. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:15:04.240 You leave Sundays kind of in a twist because you don't think about God uh uh like Monday through Saturday, the way you think about God on Sunday. 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:14.559 And so you come to church, you got all your eggs in this basket, and if I don't hit a home run, or whoever's preaching doesn't hit a home run, or scratch exactly where you're itching, you leave and you're like, I can't believe I shaved my legs for that. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:15.600 That wasn't any good. 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:17.440 You that's temple thinking. 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:19.759 Because God's speaking all during the week. 00:15:19.840 --> 00:15:23.519 So you should ask yourself, what's the weirdest place that God's ever spoken to you? 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:27.759 Someone asked me a while back, hey, where were you when God called you to come be the pastor of Grand Parkway? 00:15:27.919 --> 00:15:30.240 I said, I can tell you right now, I was in my backyard. 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:37.039 I built my kids a swing and a fort with a sandbox underneath it and a slide because I grew up on a farm and I like to use power tools. 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:40.960 Uh and the committee had been talking to me, and I was kind of like, Man, I am not your guy, okay? 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:43.600 And they're like, Well, I said, Oh, I'm just not your guy. 00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:45.279 I just, I didn't, man, I traveled. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:47.120 I said, give me some, give me some time to think about. 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:48.799 We'd met three two or three times. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:50.480 And I said, just give me two weeks to pray. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:52.879 I'm in the backyard, I'm pushing Sophie in a bucket swing. 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:53.279 She's two. 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:55.120 Massine's jumping on the trampoline. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:56.799 Now, up to that point, I'd been praying. 00:15:56.879 --> 00:15:58.000 My wife and I'd been praying. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:15:59.200 She's like, Are you hearing anything? 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:02.080 I'm like, no, it is the heavens are brass. 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:02.879 It is shut up. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:05.360 That's a church phrase, by the way, which I got nothing. 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:11.039 But I said, every once in a while when I pray, I see these like green exit signs I can see on the interstate. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:14.960 And my cookie wife just kind of quirked, she quipped and said, Maybe this is your exit off the road. 00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:17.600 I was like, You shut your filthy mouth, woman. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:22.960 Because up until time I started working here, I ate out and lived in hotels for a living. 00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:25.679 I was on the road 195 days a year. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:29.440 My wife had a part-time husband in full-time support. 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:33.360 Some of you women are like, Oh, I'm envious. 00:16:34.320 --> 00:16:37.200 But I'm in the backyard, I wasn't even praying. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:42.159 I was cutting up with my kids, and clear as a bell, the Holy Spirit said, This is your exit off the road. 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:42.799 Call them. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.000 So I reached into my shorts and pulled out a phone and said, Hey, this is Neil. 00:16:46.159 --> 00:16:47.519 I'm calling you to tell you that I'm in. 00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:50.480 And they said, Well, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:51.120 We need to talk. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:52.399 We need to talk about finances. 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:53.759 The church is broke. 00:16:54.080 --> 00:16:56.320 Notice churches never lead with that. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:57.440 Hey, we're broke. 00:16:57.519 --> 00:16:59.200 Do you want to come be our pastor? 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:03.840 But here's the beauty pay attention to your past because God redeems everything. 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:06.480 I grew up broke, and so that didn't bother me at all. 00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:11.680 I said, Okay, well, I should have known they said, Let's go to dinner tomorrow night at Niners in Pagan Grove. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:14.559 That's we're gonna go close the deal right there. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:16.720 So I just thought I'm gonna stick it to the man. 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:18.240 I had a double meat cheeseburger. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:23.680 But anyway, what is the weirdest place God has ever spoken to you? 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:28.880 Because if you're not careful, you'll limit yourself to temple thinking, like, oh, just on Sunday. 00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:31.440 See, God is not a God of place, then what is he? 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:32.480 What is he a God of? 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:37.759 He's a God of glory, and he's most glorified by our obedience to go to the places he tells us to go. 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:45.279 This sermon begins with glory, he says the God of glory, and it ends with Stephen seeing into heaven and seeing the glory of heaven. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:50.880 Here's a third thing you see from the text that gospel fluency establishes is that God knows our future better than we do. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:52.319 Look at verse four and five. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:54.480 God knows our future better than we do. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:18:00.160 Pay careful attention because I want what I'm fixing to say to change the way you pray for the rest of your life. 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:01.440 Let me say that again. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:06.160 I want what I'm fixing to say to change the way that you pray for the rest of your life. 00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:10.160 Verse four and five, then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.799 And after that his father died, and God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:18.720 Yet he gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot's length. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:21.039 Again, it's not about place. 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:30.319 God doesn't need a place, God's looking for a people, but promised it to give promised to give it to him as a possession and to his offspring after him. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:31.519 That sounds good, right? 00:18:31.680 --> 00:18:34.079 Read the next sentence, the next part of the sentence. 00:18:34.319 --> 00:18:36.640 Though he had no child. 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:45.279 Memo, hello, God. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:46.720 I don't have any children. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:48.319 I am barren, okay? 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:51.039 This is Abram, and I got a wife, Sarah. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:52.559 She is old, okay? 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:53.440 I'm old. 00:18:53.599 --> 00:18:55.920 We don't do those kind of things anymore. 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:01.839 And God comes along and says, Hey, by the way, I know your future better than you do. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:03.279 What is being said? 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:08.400 God promised to give this land to his offspring, and yet he has no child. 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:10.799 What does God know that he doesn't know? 00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:12.079 Everything. 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:13.440 Everything. 00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:16.079 And here's why it should it should change your prayers. 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:28.160 Uh, my prayers, I used to pray because I was taught, you know, uh, you, you, you, adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, little across when I first wrote it in the back of my Bible, went home, tried that for about three weeks. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:33.359 I was like, this doesn't, and so I would just ask, I would just ask. 00:19:33.440 --> 00:19:39.519 Uh, and then as I matured as a believer, uh, I stopped asking God to give me things I was praying for. 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:45.200 Now I'm not saying don't ask, but things shifted for me when I stopped saying, God, I want this and God, I want that. 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:49.839 When I and I started saying, God, would you reveal to me everything you have for me? 00:19:50.640 --> 00:19:51.839 Because see, here's the difference. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:57.440 What God has in store for me is always bigger than what I have in store for myself. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:00.160 And this is what I mean when it should change the way you pray. 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:02.480 When I just start saying, God, would you reveal? 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:06.000 Because I left to myself, I will settle. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:07.039 I will just settle. 00:20:07.119 --> 00:20:08.240 I'll just be like, Oh, this is good. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:09.119 Thank you, Lord. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:15.680 You know, I want a girlfriend, and God, I want a wife, and God, I want, you know, you know, and just instead, just and again, I'm not saying it's wrong. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:25.519 The Bible says ask, seek, and knock, don't, but but but but maybe add to that, maybe step, step it up just a little bit and say, God, would you reveal to me because you know my future better than I do? 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:30.160 You see, if you're in high school right now, you shouldn't be asking for a boyfriend or a girlfriend. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:33.440 You should be saying, God, get me ready for my husband or my wife. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:35.680 Because one of those is bigger and better and beyond. 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:37.119 I went to a grad party yesterday. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:41.599 And as we're leaving, I said to the graduate, Hey, by the way, your future's out in front of you, it's not around you. 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:44.720 And the only thing that would have made it better was all her friends would have been in the room. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:49.119 I looked at every one of them and said, All these people right here are not your future. 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:53.119 Enjoy them, but get ready to launch and get out of here. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:57.519 But I didn't, I just said, and this one lady was standing there and she went, that's good. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:20:59.839 And I walked out. 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:00.720 Why? 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:03.119 Do you believe that God knows your future? 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:06.559 God knows our future better than we do. 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:12.079 And if so, ask yourself this question: what would change in the way you relate to God if you really believe that? 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:15.680 What would change in the way you relate to God if you really believe that? 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:17.440 Here's the fourth thing we see in the text. 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:21.279 It's gonna take it down to the next, we're gonna get down to the next level, get nitty-gritty. 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:23.839 God knows your children's future better than you do. 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:25.440 Look at verse six and seven. 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:27.200 God knows your children's future. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:29.039 Here's a question that will start a fight at lunch. 00:21:29.119 --> 00:21:30.559 You want to start a fight at lunch? 00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:33.359 Ask your kids this question, mom and dad. 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:35.359 Do you ever feel managed by me? 00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:39.839 Boom, boom. 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:42.720 Yeah, do you ever feel managed by me? 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:46.880 And I don't think we do it on purpose, but unconsciously, you say, Where do you get this? 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:48.079 Look at verse six and seven. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:56.000 And God spoke to this effect that his offspring would not would be sojourners in a land belonging to others who would enslave them and afflict them for 400 years. 00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:58.880 But I will judge the nation that they serve, said God. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:01.839 And after that, Circle those two words after that. 00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:06.880 After that, they shall come out and worship me in this place. 00:22:07.359 --> 00:22:16.160 Now, just ask yourself, when I say God knows our children's future better than we do, God just said, here's what's going to happen to your offspring. 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:20.559 Do you think this informed and affected the way Abraham parented his kids? 00:22:20.880 --> 00:22:21.759 Now let me say this. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:26.319 Parents who don't prepare your kids for the future have to prepare a future for your kids. 00:22:26.400 --> 00:22:35.440 And this happens, you get kind of stuck and a lot of pressure on you, Dad, like, hey, I got some passive revenue streams, I got some investments, I got this. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:46.640 What happens is if you raise your kids to trust you and your family and your stuff more than they trust God, you're always going to have to support them and supplement them to some degree. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:53.519 Because you unconsciously have said to your kids, don't depend on anything but me and your mom. 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:55.359 And yes, do we need to provide? 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:56.240 Absolutely. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:59.920 That is our privilege as men and women and as parents. 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:07.920 But your greatest task is to teach your children to trust God more than they trust you, not out of abandonment, but because of understanding. 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:09.759 Do you hear the difference in that? 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:13.440 I ask people in counseling consistently this question, and it's so revealing. 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:14.799 And here's the simple question. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:19.759 Do you remember the age at which you looked around and thought, I cannot trust the adults in my life? 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:21.279 I'm going to trust me. 00:23:21.440 --> 00:23:27.599 And people that I sense that had this issue, they're all like, it's not drawn, it's like, oh yeah, I was 12. 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:31.440 I'm like, you're seeing a memory in your mind's eye. 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:32.160 Can you tell me about it? 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:32.720 Oh yeah. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:33.039 Yeah. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:43.119 I came back from a little league baseball game, and my dad and all his friends were hammered drunk in the backyard, sitting around in lawn chairs, and I was humiliated and embarrassed, and I didn't want to tell that man about my baseball game. 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:49.759 So I went inside in my room and I took a bath and I went and got in bed and I decided right in that moment I'm not gonna trust him. 00:23:49.920 --> 00:23:52.799 I don't want to trust him, and I never trusted him. 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:58.799 Now that man to this day is ruthless because he doesn't trust anybody, he doesn't trust his own wife. 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:00.880 He's got a tracker on her car. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:02.720 And I'm like, hey, bro. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:04.079 He's like, I don't trust anybody. 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:05.119 I said, anybody? 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:06.640 He goes, I ain't trust you. 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:10.240 I said, well, it sounds like I got a lot of good company. 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:12.960 This is what happens. 00:24:13.119 --> 00:24:22.799 Now, now, an essential component of spiritual formation for your kids is to teach them that while we can only see this, that God sees that and after that. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:24.559 Let me say it again. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:34.480 An essential part of spiritual formation for our kids is to teach them, hey, God sees this, whatever you're going through, God sees it, he's aware of it, but he also sees that. 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:36.000 But here's the better part. 00:24:36.160 --> 00:24:37.279 He also sees after that. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:38.559