SPEAKER_01: This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_01: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_02: You are so good that we can just delight to sit at your feet.
SPEAKER_02: God, thank you for the blood.
SPEAKER_02: God, thank you for washing us clean.
SPEAKER_02: God, thank you for what you have done.
SPEAKER_02: Because that that's that that shows us how much you uh how you feel of us right now.
SPEAKER_02: We're not loved by a historical event, but that historical event shows us how much you love us today.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you even for Morgan's story.
SPEAKER_02: Holy Spirit, as we open up your scriptures and continue worshiping through the reading of your scripture, God, would you please open up our hearts and our minds and have us wrap our minds around such a goodness that we can just sit at your feet, that we can delight to be in your presence.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, we love you.
SPEAKER_02: We pray these things in your name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Be seated.
SPEAKER_02: Well, good morning.
SPEAKER_02: So good to be with you.
SPEAKER_02: If you have your Bibles, would you go ahead and grab those?
SPEAKER_02: Go to Acts chapter 13.
SPEAKER_02: Acts chapter 13.
SPEAKER_02: If you don't have a Bible, you can just relax.
SPEAKER_02: The text you're reading from is gonna appear here on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: We got over 30, we have about 30 verses to cover, so I would love for everyone to be on the same page.
SPEAKER_02: This is Acts chapter 13.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, now um this is gonna be a sermon about another sermon.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, most of our time today, we're gonna be flies on the wall at a synagogue over in Galatia.
SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna jump right in.
SPEAKER_02: Um just remember, by way of review, um, the camera in the beginning of this chapter, um, the camera of the Bible is focused on a local church, church in Antioch, but now the camera of the Bible has shifted to a two-man team, Paul and Barnabas.
SPEAKER_02: And these two men were set apart by the Holy Spirit, they were filled by the Holy Spirit, and they were sent by the Holy Spirit to do what we're gonna read that they're doing right now.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, some people read this passage and call this the first international mission trip.
SPEAKER_02: So, what we do here as a church, whenever we go to whether it's Cuba or Sri Lanka or Costa Rica, what we do, we it finds its lineage right here in the passage what we're about to read.
SPEAKER_02: So I'm gonna start reading in verse 13 and go all the way to 43.
SPEAKER_02: So follow along with me.
SPEAKER_02: It says this.
SPEAKER_02: Now, Paul and his companions set sails from Paphas and came to Perga in Pamphlia.
SPEAKER_02: And John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_02: And they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Poseida.
SPEAKER_02: And on Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.
SPEAKER_02: And after reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them saying, Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for these people, say it.
SPEAKER_02: So Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said, Men of Israel, you who fear God, listen.
SPEAKER_02: The God of this people, Israel, chose our fathers and made the people great during the day, during their stay in the land of Egypt.
SPEAKER_02: And with uplifted arm he led them out of it.
SPEAKER_02: And for about forty years he put up he put up with them in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_02: And after destroying seven nations of the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.
SPEAKER_02: And all this took about four hundred and fifty years, and after he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet, and they asked for a king, and he and God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
SPEAKER_02: And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart who will do all my will.
SPEAKER_02: Of this man's offspring, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.
SPEAKER_02: Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
SPEAKER_02: And as John was finishing his course, he said, What do you suppose that I am?
SPEAKER_02: I am not he.
SPEAKER_02: No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.
SPEAKER_02: Brothers, son of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.
SPEAKER_02: For those who live in Jerusalem and the rulers, because they did not recognize him or understand the utterances of the prophets, which were read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
SPEAKER_02: And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed.
SPEAKER_02: And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.
SPEAKER_02: But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and who are now his witnesses to the people.
SPEAKER_02: And we bring to you the good news of what of that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, you are my son.
SPEAKER_02: Today I have begotten you.
SPEAKER_02: And as for that, and as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way I will give you the holy ensure promise blessings of David.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, he says and also in another Psalm, you will not let your holy one seek corruption.
SPEAKER_02: For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption.
SPEAKER_02: But he whom God raised up did not see corruption.
SPEAKER_02: Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed.
SPEAKER_02: And from everything that you could not be free by the law of Moses.
SPEAKER_02: Beware, therefore, lest what is said about in the prophets should come about.
SPEAKER_02: Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish.
SPEAKER_02: For I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.
SPEAKER_02: And as that day, as they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath.
SPEAKER_02: And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.
SPEAKER_02: It's the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: Um, one of the most fraudulent parts about Leo being a pastor, okay, is Leo doesn't drink any coffee.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, it's written in the Bible somewhere.
SPEAKER_02: If you're a pastor, you have to drink coffee.
SPEAKER_02: And for whatever reason, I haven't started that addiction yet.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I haven't started that in that road just yet.
SPEAKER_02: I am a tea guy.
SPEAKER_02: And the interesting thing about tea is that immersion is everything.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, back in the day, when I would drink tea, I would just dip the bag in there a little bit, and then I would drink, you know what it would taste like?
SPEAKER_02: Water.
SPEAKER_02: And at best, flavored water.
SPEAKER_02: But now, okay, whenever I put the pouch in, the bag in, and it immerses.
SPEAKER_02: When it immersion, whenever it's immersed, um you let it steep, the taste completely changes, the color completely changes, the potency completely changes.
SPEAKER_02: That's what immersion does.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, this passage shows us the benefits of letting the gospel immerse in your minds.
SPEAKER_02: This passage shows us the benefits of letting the gospel actually steep in our minds.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, some of us are just content with dipping spiritually.
SPEAKER_02: I think the world is content with having us just dip spiritually.
SPEAKER_02: So you dip with a sermon every Sunday.
SPEAKER_02: And every once in a while you dip with a 10-minute devotional.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, or you even dip with some KSPJ on the way to work.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, we're some of us are content with dipping.
SPEAKER_02: And so you let Bible encouragement in and out of your mind to ease the stresses of life.
SPEAKER_02: But that's not Paul's brain at all.
SPEAKER_02: Paul has experienced Jesus personally and powerfully.
SPEAKER_02: He has spent extended time alone with Jesus in Arabia for three years.
SPEAKER_02: He's part of a praying church that takes the word of God extremely serious and is sensitive to the voice of God.
SPEAKER_02: He has spent uncomfortable, uncomfortable and uninterrupted time in prayer.
SPEAKER_02: And he has accepted the call of ministry.
SPEAKER_02: The good news has immersed his mind.
SPEAKER_02: It's immersed his life.
SPEAKER_02: It has now colored his cup.
SPEAKER_02: And what we just read here, this is an example of what happens when the greatest news in the universe steeps in your mind.
SPEAKER_02: His audience is reaping those benefits.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, when the gospel steeps in your mind, number one, you go from being right to being ready.
SPEAKER_02: You go from being right to being what good is expertise if it's stationary?
SPEAKER_02: Paul isn't just right, but he's ready.
SPEAKER_02: Look at verses 15 and 16 again.
SPEAKER_02: It says this.
SPEAKER_02: After the reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them saying, Brothers, okay, brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.
SPEAKER_02: So Paul stood up, motioning with his hand, men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen.
SPEAKER_02: So what happened here?
SPEAKER_02: Okay, this right here is a synagogue.
SPEAKER_02: This is where Jews would go and worship.
SPEAKER_02: And typically what would happen is in a first century synagogue, opening prayers were offered, and then there was a reading from the law, and then there's a reading from the prophets.
SPEAKER_02: And then, okay, if there was a guest, and the guest was an educated Jew, okay, he would be invited to speak on what was just read.
SPEAKER_02: Can you imagine that?
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: Spoiler alert, after this sermon, if you're new here, I'm gonna ask you to text welcome to this number right here.
SPEAKER_02: If you're new here, I'm not gonna tell you to preach for me.
SPEAKER_02: It's probably not gonna happen.
SPEAKER_02: But, okay, uh, but this is um just imagine if you're a first-time guest, people notice you're new and they give you the mic to share it for everyone.
SPEAKER_02: That's pretty scary for most of you, but Paul was ready.
SPEAKER_02: He knew what he was doing going in that synagogue on that day.
SPEAKER_02: He was ready.
SPEAKER_02: He was not just right about what he believes, but he was ready with and armed with them.
SPEAKER_02: He to Paul, gospel is not just an idea that he dips in and out of his mind.
SPEAKER_02: He lives it, he's so immersed with it that he boldly gets up with no notes and preaches the same gospel that has saved his soul.
SPEAKER_02: He was ready.
SPEAKER_02: Now, this is not the thrust of the text.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna spend too much time on this point, but I do need to say this.
SPEAKER_02: Some of us in this room, you can ace a Bible pop quiz, but you're not ready whenever God actually allows you to be tested.
SPEAKER_02: You can ace a Bible pop quiz, but you're not ready whenever God allows you to be tested.
SPEAKER_02: And here in the suburbs, the test is not, do you believe in Jesus?
SPEAKER_02: If you say yes, I'm gonna, that's not our test.
SPEAKER_02: Our typical test is you've earned the right to be heard.
SPEAKER_02: Will you say anything?
SPEAKER_02: People see you living differently.
SPEAKER_02: Whether you work in a secular environment and you say no to an unethical deal, or you're you're or you're a you're you're a parent and your kids are extremely talented and they're in every extracurricular activity under the sun, and yet people see you prioritizing church over their schedule, or you're a teenager, you stand up for someone who's being bullied or gossiped about.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: Are you prepared to tell them the reason behind you living different on purpose?
SPEAKER_02: Or will you build a platform in people's lives and never use it?
SPEAKER_02: You earn the right to be heard and yet say nothing.
SPEAKER_02: One of the greatest movies of all time.
SPEAKER_02: It's a triumph for the cinematic arts, is a movie called Like Mike.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, and in this movie, okay, there's a young man, Calvin Cambridge, aka Lil Bow Wow in real life.
SPEAKER_02: There are some shoes.
SPEAKER_02: He's an orphan, he doesn't have a he lives in an orphanage, there's some shoes on a cable line, and it's it's as cheesy as it gets, right?
SPEAKER_02: Is it shoes on the cable line?
SPEAKER_02: He gets the shoes down, the shoes get struck by lightning.
SPEAKER_02: He finds out these are Michael Jordan's shoes, but whenever the shoes get struck by lightning, he he wears them and he gets Michael Jordan's powers, right?
SPEAKER_02: And this was so tantalizing because he becomes a 13-year-old professional basketball player and he's playing with all my heroes.
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh, I wanted to be him.
SPEAKER_02: The twist of the movie is this he can't go anywhere without the shoes.
SPEAKER_02: If he doesn't have the shoes, he will not be prepared.
SPEAKER_02: He's just a regular guy.
SPEAKER_02: Without the shoes, he will blend right into society.
SPEAKER_02: In that same way, you and I are called to have the armor of God.
SPEAKER_02: And whenever we talk about the armor of God, we usually visualize the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the sword of truth.
SPEAKER_02: But there are some shoes that go along with that.
SPEAKER_02: Ephesians 6.15 talks about having shoes, but for shoes, put on the readiness to preach the good news of the peace of God.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, put on the readiness to preach the good news.
SPEAKER_02: So like Calvin Cambridge, without the shoes, you may blend right in.
SPEAKER_02: You should ask yourself today, is God opening any doors for me to declare the hope that I have?
SPEAKER_02: And you should pray, God, make me sensitive to open doors and be ready for them.
SPEAKER_02: When the gospel steeps in your mind, not just dips in and out, but when the gospel colors your cup and steeps in your mind, you go from being right to being mobile, flexible, and ready with truth.
SPEAKER_02: You live in constant readiness.
SPEAKER_02: And you think consistently, hey, the best news in the universe apply directly to whoever it is in front of me, and I'm ready for it.
SPEAKER_02: I'm ready to deliver that.
SPEAKER_02: But when the gospel steeps in your mind, you go from being right to being ready.
SPEAKER_02: Furthermore, when the gospel steeps in your mind, you go from being right to being ready, but you also go from Christianese to gospel fluency.
SPEAKER_02: Christianese, some of us in this room, a lot of us, you know just enough jargon to blend into groups like these.
SPEAKER_02: You can start sentences with, hey, in this season of life, or that's my cross to carry, which I still don't know what that means.
SPEAKER_02: I don't.
SPEAKER_02: You know just enough jargon to get by in this subculture we've created here.
SPEAKER_02: You know the sayings of the culture, but you're not fluent in the news about Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Not gospel fluent.
SPEAKER_02: So I I was I found out I was coming to America in the Christmas of 2000.
SPEAKER_02: We got here January 16th.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: I didn't leave enough time for English classes at all.
SPEAKER_02: So I took a few classes and I came out of those classes knowing three words yes, no, and ski.
SPEAKER_02: For whatever reason, that word made sense.
SPEAKER_02: It made sense for whatever reason.
SPEAKER_02: And then when we got here, we had no one to really practice English with.
SPEAKER_02: So we'd stay home.
SPEAKER_02: My brothers and I, don't judge me.
SPEAKER_02: My parents, my mom would go to work, and my brothers and I would stay and watch daytime television.
SPEAKER_02: There was a show that used to come on called Jerry Springer.
SPEAKER_02: And listen, hey, listen, hey, hey, listen, there's no, hey, there's no PhDs, and you know, it's it's pretty simple English.
SPEAKER_02: Right.
SPEAKER_02: Man, okay, so and that actually grew my English a little bit.
SPEAKER_02: But I didn't really um learn to be fluent until I was immersed in school.
SPEAKER_02: And so my parents are all right, buddy, go off to school.
SPEAKER_02: That when I was immersed in it, that's when I became fluent.
SPEAKER_02: So immersion in that case leads to fluency.
SPEAKER_02: In that same way, when the gospel is immersed in our mind, whenever you're immersed in this book, you become gospel fluent.
SPEAKER_02: And this is what we see from Paul.
SPEAKER_02: He's thinking, I was made for this moment.
SPEAKER_02: Again, he's not slick.
SPEAKER_02: He knew it, he knew what he was doing when he went there.
SPEAKER_02: He doesn't preach a sermon about uh parenting, marriage, stress.
SPEAKER_02: First recorded sermon we have from Paul is the gospel, and look at how he starts it off.
SPEAKER_02: Look at verse 16 again.
SPEAKER_02: Men of Israel, and you who fear God.
SPEAKER_02: Now hold on to that.
SPEAKER_02: Look at verse 26.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, this is in the middle of the sermon.
SPEAKER_02: Look at this.
SPEAKER_02: Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.
SPEAKER_02: What's he doing?
SPEAKER_02: Years ago, I watched an interview of a coach talking about why it's dumb to yell after games.
SPEAKER_02: You don't yell at people, don't yell at your pleasure after games.
SPEAKER_02: You know why?
SPEAKER_02: Because the good ones that don't need to hear it, they're gonna lean in.
SPEAKER_02: And the ones that do need to hear it, they've already tuned you out.
SPEAKER_02: So you get in this weird limbo phase, like, I have a message for y'all, but it's for y'all, but not for y'all.
SPEAKER_02: Just you become in this limbo.
SPEAKER_02: That's not Paul at all.
SPEAKER_02: Paul's saying what I have to say applies to all y'all.
SPEAKER_02: It's everybody Jewish, Gentile, rule follower, or rule breaker, whether you've never seen detention in your life or you're born on parole.
SPEAKER_02: Everybody, everybody, listen, everybody has the needs the message of what?
SPEAKER_02: What does your Bible say?
SPEAKER_02: Message of this what salvation.
SPEAKER_02: Now remember, the backdrop of salvation is desperation.
SPEAKER_02: Remember, in human history, there's never been a person ever that's been drowning, going, hey, lifeguard, when you get a minute, no, you're desperate.
SPEAKER_02: You are absolutely desperate.
SPEAKER_02: So what he's saying, you all this is a mess of salvation, and you desperately need to hear this.
SPEAKER_02: What he's saying is, all of you desperately need to hear this news.
SPEAKER_02: There is not one type of person who is not desperate to hear this news.
SPEAKER_02: There's not one type of person that the gospel fits best.
SPEAKER_02: So that's how he starts it off.
SPEAKER_02: And that's how he even says it again in the middle.
SPEAKER_02: Men of Israel and those who fear God means Jewish, everybody, Jewish, Gentile.
SPEAKER_02: And then he keeps going.
SPEAKER_02: After he sets it up, he talks about Jesus, but he takes a Jewish highway there.
SPEAKER_02: He appeals to the Jewishness in the room in order to talk about Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: He presents God as active in history.
SPEAKER_02: So you have sin as a problem, and God was active in preparing the way for the solution.
SPEAKER_02: And this is fascinating the way he does it.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to look at this because maybe there's some of you who think that God is a hands-off God.
SPEAKER_02: He's not a heavenly father, he's a heavenly grandfather out somewhere in outer space with his hands folded on his rocking chair.
SPEAKER_02: I want to show you this act of God that Paul is presenting.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, uh, verse 17 says, He chose our fathers.
SPEAKER_02: He chose our fathers.
SPEAKER_02: Then he says, He made the people great.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so he told he turned an old pagan man living in comfort into a country.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so he chose Abraham and Sarai, Abraham and Sarai, and he turned them into an entire country.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, and then he says, He with an uplifted arm, he led them out of it.
SPEAKER_02: So he rescued Israel from an international powerhouse.
SPEAKER_02: I know we looked at some countries in Africa and they're less than, but Egypt was number one, number one, and he rescued them out of that.
SPEAKER_02: Furthermore, he put up with them in the wilderness.
SPEAKER_02: He was patient with them.
SPEAKER_02: He destroyed seven nations uh in the land of Canaan.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, this is a God who fights.
SPEAKER_02: God is not a pushover, this is a warrior God.
SPEAKER_02: He gave them their land as an inheritance, he gave them the judges, he God gave them Saul of son of Kish.
SPEAKER_02: This is a generous God.
SPEAKER_02: So you see that gave, gave, gave.
SPEAKER_02: And then he raised up David to be their king.
SPEAKER_02: God gave us a preview of the hero through a man, a flawed man who was pointing to the perfect man.
SPEAKER_02: And then lastly, God has brought to Israel a savior.
SPEAKER_02: So look at these verbs: chose, made, led, put up, destroyed, gave, gave, gave, raised, and brought.
SPEAKER_02: This is an active God.
SPEAKER_02: This is not a hands-off God, this is an active God.
SPEAKER_02: He's not far away, he's not hands-off, he's generous, he's wise, he's faithful.
SPEAKER_02: God is good, God is active, he's not passive, he's active.
SPEAKER_02: And what he's saying is this the God who rescued us from rescued our people then, he's brought the most important salvation to us now.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, Israel, we have first dibs now.
SPEAKER_02: That's what's happening.
SPEAKER_02: And then he gets to the Savior.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna read again, verses 27 through 39.
SPEAKER_02: It says this those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him, nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
SPEAKER_02: And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed.
SPEAKER_02: And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.
SPEAKER_02: But God raised him from the dead.
SPEAKER_02: And many days, for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Gal from Galilee to Jerusalem, who were now his witnesses to the people.
SPEAKER_02: And we bring you the good news that what God had promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, you are my son, today I've begotten you.
SPEAKER_02: And as and as for the fact that he raised it from the dead, no more to return up to corruption, he wrote, he spoke in this day, in this way, I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.
SPEAKER_02: Therefore, he says also in another Psalm, You will not see your holy ones, you will not let your holy ones see corruption.
SPEAKER_02: For David, after he had served the purpose of God and his generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption.
SPEAKER_02: But he whom God raised up did not see corruption.
SPEAKER_02: Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be free by the law of Moses.
SPEAKER_02: In this passage, Paul is talking about an innocent Jesus being rejected and executed.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, verse 29 is telling, it starts off with, and when they had carried out all that was written of him.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, the worst thing that ever happened in human history is Jesus being murdered.
SPEAKER_02: And yet he says, when they carried out all that was written from, that shows that God was sovereign even over the worst thing that ever happened.
SPEAKER_02: This was still God's plan A.
SPEAKER_02: God was not scrambling.
SPEAKER_02: This was actually written of him.
SPEAKER_02: It was ordained by God, it was a part of God's plan.
SPEAKER_02: This is a wise God.
SPEAKER_02: And in verse 30, you get the two most important words of the whole Bible.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, but God.
SPEAKER_02: The entire Bible hinges on these two words.
SPEAKER_02: But God.
SPEAKER_02: And then he goes on to talk about how David died and stayed dead, but Jesus himself was raised.
SPEAKER_02: Now, listen, Jesus died for our sins and he rose again.
SPEAKER_02: The moment that those two facts become boring to you, there's a huge problem.
SPEAKER_02: And I will contend with you today and say this.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe some of you are here today, you think you have a maybe a stress problem or a joy problem or a zeal problem.
SPEAKER_02: You might really just get you might just have a, I'm getting bored with the greatest news in the universe problem.
SPEAKER_02: That might be the biggest issue right now.
SPEAKER_02: Because right here, this is the message of grace.
SPEAKER_02: And it all comes down to verses 38 and 39.
SPEAKER_02: It says this, let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this man, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
SPEAKER_02: And by him, everyone who believes is freed or justified from everything which you cannot be freed by the law of Moses.
SPEAKER_02: That's the bullseye of his sermon.
SPEAKER_02: Forgiveness of sins is here through Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: What he's saying is this through the law of Moses, which you people follow, his audience follows, you cannot be freed, you cannot be justified, you cannot be saved, you cannot be declared righteous.
SPEAKER_02: They display you.
SPEAKER_02: They diagnose you, they don't heal.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: An x-ray is not going to be able to heal your broken bone, but it shows you.
SPEAKER_02: That same way, a mirror can't make you look pretty.
SPEAKER_02: It just shows you.
SPEAKER_02: In that same way, that's what the law does, if he's speaking, that's what the law does.
SPEAKER_02: That's what the rules do.
SPEAKER_02: Rules are a reflection of how broken we are because the law itself is not quantum physics.
SPEAKER_02: It's not, hey, well, a train leaves 30 minutes this way and the no.
SPEAKER_02: It's hey, don't steal.
SPEAKER_02: If it's not wife, if not, if it's not your wife, leave her alone.
SPEAKER_02: It's pretty simple, yet we're breaking all of them.
SPEAKER_02: You're breaking all of them.
SPEAKER_02: It cannot save you.
SPEAKER_02: And he shows them the they diagnose you, they show you the problem.
SPEAKER_02: And the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart.
SPEAKER_02: And when he's saying this, Jesus is the cure for your heart.
SPEAKER_02: Through Jesus, you have what's called the forgiveness of sin.
SPEAKER_02: God is an inexhaustible fountain of grace.
SPEAKER_02: He's an inexhaustible fountain of grace.
SPEAKER_02: And right here, he displays it through his son.
SPEAKER_02: I don't like acronyms.
SPEAKER_02: I think they're cheesy, but some people say grace is God's riches at Christ's expense.
SPEAKER_02: And I think this hits right on this passage.
SPEAKER_02: Grace has come through Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel shows us the bankruptcy of earning favor or earning from God.
SPEAKER_02: No, we have freedom of forgiveness.
SPEAKER_02: And then he finishes by putting the ball in their court.
SPEAKER_02: This is gospel fluency that Paul is displaying.
SPEAKER_02: He's not just a part of the subculture, he knows all the jargon to blend in, but he's fluent in the most important thing there is to be fluent in.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, the greatest news there is.
SPEAKER_02: So he actually enjoys this news, he meditates on this news, he drinks in this news.
SPEAKER_02: This news is like the light of his life.
SPEAKER_02: It shines on explain everything else.
SPEAKER_02: He's immersed in this news and it's immersed in him.
SPEAKER_02: When this news steeps in your mind, you go from Christianese to gospel fluency.
SPEAKER_02: From Christianese to gospel fluency.
SPEAKER_02: So you go from being right to being ready, to Christianese to gospel fluency.
SPEAKER_02: And lastly, whenever the gospel steeps in your mind, you are freed from being the main character.
SPEAKER_02: Look at verses 24 and 25 again.
SPEAKER_02: Says this.
SPEAKER_02: No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: The gospel had sinked so deeply and it soaked at such a point in John the Baptist's mind that he became a human red carpet.
SPEAKER_02: He became a human red carpet for Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, he's nicknamed the baptizer.
SPEAKER_02: If I was there, I'd call him John Ain't the One.
SPEAKER_02: Not even as a threat.
SPEAKER_02: Like John, I ain't the one.
SPEAKER_02: Not even like that.
SPEAKER_02: But like literally, like that's his signature move.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not the guy.
SPEAKER_02: It's him.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not the one.
SPEAKER_02: It's he.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not the one.
SPEAKER_02: It's that's his signature move.
SPEAKER_02: And it's and it's he built a very popular ministry, so popular and so important, Jesus showed up.
SPEAKER_02: And yet he never got in selfie mode.
SPEAKER_02: I am not he, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.
SPEAKER_02: Whenever you go to a wedding, you identify yourself by your name, and then you explain yourself based on your relationship with whoever just got married.
SPEAKER_02: I'm Leo, I'm friends with the groom, or I'm Leo, I'm friends with the bride.
SPEAKER_02: Your name and then your relation to the bride and groom.
SPEAKER_02: That gets annoying after two out two hours.
SPEAKER_02: John the Baptist lived like that.
SPEAKER_02: It's all it's all about him.
SPEAKER_02: It's not me.
SPEAKER_02: Huge mission, it's all about him.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not the guy.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: A mind steeping with this is content to be a faithful extra.
SPEAKER_02: I'll play the background.
SPEAKER_02: I'm good.
SPEAKER_02: Look again at verse 43.
SPEAKER_02: And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.
SPEAKER_02: Again, a large following wants to go with Paul and Barnabas, but instead, instead of going into selfie mode, he urged them to continue with continue in the grace of God.
SPEAKER_02: He points back to the grace of God.
SPEAKER_02: If this was here, he'd probably sign a book deal.
SPEAKER_02: But he points back to the grace of God.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: Again, a mind that is steeped with this is content to be a faithful extra.
SPEAKER_02: Bad things happen when extras try to be the main character.
SPEAKER_02: There was a movie we used to watch in college.
SPEAKER_02: Okay.
SPEAKER_02: Probably five or six times we hosted a watch party to watch, I mean like 10 to 15 people in my living room to watch said movie.
SPEAKER_02: And we would laugh at the movie over and over, and we would rewind it and laugh it over and over.
SPEAKER_02: And it wasn't a comedy.
SPEAKER_02: Wasn't a comedy at all.
SPEAKER_02: This movie came out in 1990, and as soon as it came out, it was considered one of the worst movies ever made.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, it's not meant to be funny, it's just so bad that it's hilarious.
SPEAKER_02: And actually, it's so bad, it developed a cult following.
SPEAKER_02: Like there's if people there's a documentary about it like years and years later, people would host watch parties all over the world and just laugh at the badness of this movie.
SPEAKER_02: Now come to find out, one of the reasons it's awful, okay, is this movie was filmed in Utah.
SPEAKER_02: That's not the reason, but that's not the reason.
SPEAKER_02: I wanted to pause right there, but that's not the reason.
SPEAKER_02: It was filmed in Utah, and they had an open casting call.
SPEAKER_02: And people showed up wanting to just be extras.
SPEAKER_02: And they got the main roles.
SPEAKER_02: Like the main guy is a dentist that thought it'd be fun to just come out and like walk by the camera in the movie.
SPEAKER_02: He became the main guy.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: And the movie, the the you, if you've if you've seen it, and some of you are laughing because you know what it is.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna say what it is.
SPEAKER_02: You know exactly what movie this is.
SPEAKER_02: Um, but as a result, this movie came out and it was instantly deemed one of the worst movies ever made.
SPEAKER_02: Again, bad things happen when extras try to be the point.
SPEAKER_02: Think of Paul.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, secular minds today are saying, these letters that y'all Christians read, I'll give it to y'all.
SPEAKER_02: They shaped Western thought.
SPEAKER_02: Paul, I mean, this is incredibly large ministry.
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he's one of the most important missionaries of all time.
SPEAKER_02: But listen, but listen, listen to his words in 1 Corinthians 3.
SPEAKER_02: He says this.
SPEAKER_02: What then is Apollos?
SPEAKER_02: Apollos stud.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, what is Paul servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each?
SPEAKER_02: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
SPEAKER_02: So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
SPEAKER_02: It's not me, it's not him, it's God.
SPEAKER_02: And then it says it again in 2 Corinthians 4 7 says this but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show the surpassing, that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us.
SPEAKER_02: We're we're we're we're pots of clay and the the treasure is in here.
SPEAKER_02: We're just packaging for the treasure, we're just messenger for the treasure.
SPEAKER_02: We are nothing.
SPEAKER_02: It's God that is everything.
SPEAKER_02: Okay?
SPEAKER_02: Again, a mind that is steeped with the greatest news in the universe is content with being a faithful extra.
SPEAKER_02: When God, then the when the gospel steeps in your mind, you are freed from being the main character.
SPEAKER_02: So you're free from being right to being, you go from being right to being ready, you go from Christian ease to gospel fluency, and you are freed from being the main character.
SPEAKER_02: This is Paul.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, Paul, he's not dipping in his mind, he spends extended time alone with just enjoying Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Paul doesn't get little bite sizes of spirituality to help ease the stress as he pursues what he really wants in life.
SPEAKER_02: No.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus is genuinely his first love.
SPEAKER_02: God is his life, the gospel, his story, is the forefront of his mind daily and continually.
SPEAKER_02: He's become a creature of the world of the word, and his mind is the color of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: How has dipping spiritually in and out served you?
SPEAKER_02: What needs to change in your life for you to let this news steep and be immersed in your mind?
SPEAKER_02: I need to I'm gonna end with uh the words of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus says this in John 15, it says, abide in me, and I in you.
SPEAKER_02: As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you.
SPEAKER_02: Unless you abide in me.
SPEAKER_02: Abide means remain in me, dwell with me, make a home with me.
SPEAKER_02: Not take some inspiration before you go pursue what you no, you you you you you dwell with me.
SPEAKER_02: May we be a people that have our mind changed by sitting with the greatest news in the universe.
SPEAKER_02: I thank you for um the greatest news in the universe.
SPEAKER_02: Holy Spirit, I repent if this has ever become if Jesus' death and resurrection ever have become stale in my heart and in my mind.
SPEAKER_02: Holy Spirit, would you stir my affections for you based on what Christ has done, and the fact that he was raised, and the fact that he has ascended, the fact that he has empowered me with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Obsession.
SPEAKER_02: I want this to be my life.
SPEAKER_02: I pray that this becomes at the forefront of my my life.
SPEAKER_02: I want to be 70 years old and stunned at what you did at Calvary.
SPEAKER_02: So help us now as we seek you in our mental worship.
SPEAKER_02: So beautifully, I pray.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: As is our custom, we preach the Bible and give you some soul space to think about, ask some questions here on the screen and what you can do.
SPEAKER_02: These are for your benefit if you want to just um stay with this look at one of them and venture off with the Holy Spirit or one of these questions, or take a picture of them and just um let it sleep um with you the rest of the week.
SPEAKER_02: But nevertheless, I'm gonna step back for about 90 seconds or so and I'm gonna just let you just uh you be with the Holy Spirit, uh, have him contend with you at this time.
SPEAKER_02: Holy Spirit, thank you for loving us enough to contend with us, to invite us into fullness of life.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus, thank you for who you are, and we pray that these things remain in our minds and maybe we can continue to be molded by the blood.
SPEAKER_02: It's in your name I pray, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Well, um, welcome.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for being here.
SPEAKER_02: Um, you're always um welcome here.
SPEAKER_02: Again, if I haven't if I haven't met you, my name is Leo Almeida.
SPEAKER_02: Uh, I'm a teaching pastor here at Grant Parkway.
SPEAKER_02: And if you're visiting with us this morning, again, welcome.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for being here.
SPEAKER_02: You could you just text welcome to this number here on the screen that gives us a record of your visit, lets us know that you were um you were here.
SPEAKER_02: Um and um some of our pastors are gonna be here down front, ready to pray with you, ready to process with you, or just ready to meet you after um the service here today.
SPEAKER_02: And if this is your church home and this is the day that you worship through giving, we have some boxes around the room that you can do so, or you can do so online.
SPEAKER_02: But nevertheless, we're we're glad that you are here with us.
SPEAKER_02: Now, we always want to keep you aware of what's happening left for church.
SPEAKER_02: Would you point your attention to the rank on the screen?
SPEAKER_00: Here's what's happening at Grand Park Way Baptist Church.
SPEAKER_00: Students, join us for an in-town overnight weekend of spiritual growth, community bonding, and joyful memories that'll leave a lasting impact on your faith journey.
SPEAKER_00: D Now is on February 9th through the 11th with a cost of$100.
SPEAKER_00: Every drop of blood is a lifeline to someone in need.
SPEAKER_00: Your selfless donation can be the difference between despair and hope.
SPEAKER_00: Be a hero and donate blood today between 12:30 and 3:30 p.m.
SPEAKER_00: in the student building.
SPEAKER_00: Embrace a weekend of empowerment, sisterhood, and spiritual rejuvenation at our two-day women's weekend on February 23rd through the 24th.
SPEAKER_00: The deadline to register is February 18th.
SPEAKER_00: Grand Parkway has officially claimed the first Tuesday of the month to serve at the weekly Bible study at Nary's Province.
SPEAKER_00: Every Tuesday, 50 to 70 children show up to read the Bible and learn about the love of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The first opportunity to serve is next Tuesday, February 6th.
SPEAKER_00: If you have teens or older elementary kids, this is a great opportunity for your family to serve together.
SPEAKER_00: Finally, we're collecting soup cans the four weeks leading up to Super Bowl Sunday to bless a local food bank.
SPEAKER_00: So please buy some soup cans and drop them off at the Mission Center anytime between now and February 11th.
SPEAKER_00: For more information or to register for these events, please visit our website at grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.
SPEAKER_02: Children of God, you are invited to steep, to let your mind sleep with the greatest news in the universe.
SPEAKER_02: You're invited to dwell with the Lord in such a way that you lace up your shoes with eagerness to share.
SPEAKER_02: As a faithful extra.
SPEAKER_02: I declare these things in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.