WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:07.599 This podcast is a ministry of Grant Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:13.199 For more information about Grant Parkway, visit Grantparkway.org. 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:18.160 Father, we've gathered together not just to hear from a man because the Bible is not just written by men. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:25.600 The Bible says very clearly that no prophecy has its origin in the will of man, but men spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:28.559 Let me speak as far as I'm being carried along this morning. 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:34.079 And then when I'm ceased to be carried along by the Holy Spirit, let me have the good common sense to be quiet. 00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:36.240 And so, Lord, speak today. 00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:38.799 We yield ourselves to your Spirit and to your word. 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:40.799 You're a speaking God. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:43.920 The Bible says not only you're a speaking God, but you're a singing God. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:48.399 Some of us can hear it if it's just spoken, but some of us like a good song. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:50.079 Uh, we need it sung over us. 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:53.280 And so put a rhythm in our hearts today that'll never go away. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:01:00.719 Say something today that will leave an indelible impression upon us when we're 92 and got about eighteen left in our head. 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:06.879 The Bible says that the word of God, it lasts for it says heaven and earth will pass away, but the word of God will stand forever. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:08.799 It has that kind of stay in power. 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:11.840 And so put that in us today, we pray in Jesus' name. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:13.680 And everyone said, Amen. 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:14.480 You can have a seat. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:17.840 If you have a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Romans chapter 16. 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:20.719 And if you're a guest today, we've been preaching through the book of Romans. 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:29.120 And we're getting to the last chapter of Romans, and we're in a section this morning that is entitled Personal Greetings, and probably that's the title in your Bible. 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:34.400 And it's just a list of names of people that Paul says, greet this person and greet that person and greet this person. 00:01:34.560 --> 00:01:37.120 And so it's easy if you're just kind of reading through the Bible. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:41.040 You get to a section like this and you skip down to where it gets interesting in your mind. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:45.040 And I want to say to you that you don't need to do that with this because this is interesting. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:47.599 And let me just kind of lay out what I want to do. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:49.280 Here's what I want to do this morning. 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:50.239 I want to do five things. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:55.439 I want to read the passage, and then I want to explain what we're reading, uh, and then I want to get angry. 00:01:58.319 --> 00:01:58.879 I love that. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:01.359 Some of you, it's the first time you looked up, you wanna do what? 00:02:01.519 --> 00:02:05.200 That's like you're coming home tomorrow and you're or tonight, your wife's going, What do you want for dinner this week? 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:11.759 Well, uh tomorrow let's have roast, and then on Tuesday let's have pork chops, and then Tuesday night after dinner, I'm just gonna get angry. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:13.360 Okay, I'll warn the kids. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:17.759 Uh yes, not not at you, but I want to by the way, getting anger is not a sin. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:18.879 You realize that, right? 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.280 The Bible says, be angry and sin not. 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:25.280 And so when I say I want to get angry, I don't mean I want to get fleshly and whatever. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:31.039 And then fourthly, I want to give us some takeaways, and then lastly, I want us to do what they do in this passage. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:31.840 Deal? 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:33.199 Deal? 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:35.439 Okay, some of you are like, uh, I'm not signing on. 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:36.479 I need I need more clarity. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:38.080 What do you mean by the anger part? 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:38.960 Just relax, okay? 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:41.759 If you're our visitor, a little bit different sermon today. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:49.039 Usually I kind of stand here and I kind of talk in a monotone voice for about shut up. 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:51.680 Uh which, by the way, that's not a good word. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:52.960 Kids don't say that word. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:55.599 Uh yes, I get emails from you mothers. 00:02:55.680 --> 00:02:56.400 I'm trying, okay? 00:02:56.479 --> 00:02:57.599 My wife talks to me. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:02:59.599 You can't say that word. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:06.240 But every once in a while, if you can think of another word that means stop talking immediately, I'll use that. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:10.879 Uh but anyway, uh, in the book of Romans, we've been kind of going through, we broke it up into three sections. 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:29.120 We did Romans 1 through 8, and then we took a break, and then we did Romans 9, 10, and 11, talked about big words like propitiation and sanctification and justification and glorification and the golden chain of redemption, and how what God, those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image, and what God sets in motion, God culminates, okay? 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:33.599 And so, and we remember we said some of you got adult kids that are kind of off the reservation. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:37.919 Listen, what God sets in motion, he culminates, which means he's going to bring those kids back. 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:42.560 You keep praying, you keep loving and enjoying God more than they enjoy their sin, okay? 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:46.560 Don't make getting them back on the reservation the mission of your life, because it's not. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:48.560 What God begins, God finishes. 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:55.039 The Bible says in Philippians 1, 6, he who began a good work in you will continue it to the day of Christ Jesus, okay? 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:59.120 And so we talked about those kind of things and big words, and today I want to talk about a little word. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:01.599 The little word I want to talk about today is the word us. 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:04.479 I want to talk to you about the power of us. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:06.560 The power of us. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:07.919 You say, Well, what do you mean? 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:11.039 I want to read from Romans chapter 16, starting verse 1. 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:25.439 Paul says, This, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Centuria, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:36.319 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risk their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:38.399 Greet also the church and their house. 00:04:38.639 --> 00:04:43.040 Greet my beloved Epinatus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia. 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:45.519 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:49.279 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:53.199 They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me. 00:04:53.360 --> 00:04:55.839 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:01.040 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my fellow and my beloved Stotchus. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:04.000 Greet Apollus, who is approved in Christ. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:07.120 Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:13.040 Greet my kinsmen, Herodium, greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:16.560 Greet those workers in the Lord, Traphana and Trophosa. 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:20.480 Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:21.600 Greet Rufus. 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:24.000 There's a man named right there, finally. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:30.720 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 00:05:30.959 --> 00:05:38.079 Greet Asyncritus, excuse me, Philagon, Hermes, Patrobus, Hermes, and the brothers who are with them. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:39.759 Greet Philogus. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:41.040 Oh, there you go. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:42.399 There's a name for you. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:52.160 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nerys, and her sister, and his sister, and Olympus, and all the saints who are with them, greet one another with a holy kiss. 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:54.720 All the churches of Christ greet you. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:05:59.600 Now, when you were in college, that verse that says, Greet one another with a holy kiss was your favorite verse. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:01.600 You pulled it out every chance you got. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:03.199 Now, this is what I mean. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:07.120 You read a passage like that and you kind of go, Ah, just fast forward. 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:09.040 But don't fast forward, just kind of slow down. 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:12.959 And let me just tell you, uh, you it's easy to read something like that and kind of go. 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:16.000 We don't learn anything about Christian theology or Christian living. 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:17.920 We do learn a lot about the Christian church. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:19.279 And I'll get to that in just a minute. 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:24.160 But I just want to kind of point out some of the individuals that Paul says, greet, greet, greet, greet. 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:26.319 There's a reason he singles these people out. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:33.360 First of all, he lists 26 individuals, nine of them are women, and three house churches, three churches that met in people's houses. 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:36.639 Now, some people nowadays go, church shouldn't own any property and have a building. 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:37.759 We should just meet in homes. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:41.759 The church in the New Testament met in people's homes because they couldn't afford a building. 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:44.399 They were just starting out, so they would meet in homes. 00:06:44.480 --> 00:06:49.199 And people that had money had bigger homes, and they had house churches in their homes. 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:51.360 First person in the list is Phoebe. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:54.160 Look at chapter 16, verse 1. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:06:58.240 He says, I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Centuria. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:00.879 Now the word servant is a Greek word diaconos. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:01.839 Deakonos. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:03.920 It's where we get our English word deacon. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:07.279 And so a lot of people get in the twist and say, Well, that's not what that means. 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:08.720 It really means deaconess. 00:07:08.879 --> 00:07:12.800 And let me just say this: there is no such word in the Greek as deaconess. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:14.079 It is diaconos. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:16.560 It is, and you say, well, what do you mean? 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:17.759 Because we're deathly afraid. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:24.480 Some of you have got your theology of women from other people who you respect and kind of say, Well, that person knows more than I do. 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:26.079 And they say this and this is right. 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:27.360 Let me just tell you something. 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:33.120 The Bible says very clearly that Phoebe was a servant, was a diaconos of the church at Centeria. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:33.759 What does that mean? 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:36.720 It means that she served in the role of function of a deacon. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:42.480 Now relax, because some of you are kind of like your mind immediately goes to women shouldn't have authority over men in the church. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:48.800 The office of deacon, when it's biblically understood, is not an office of authority, it's an office of responsibility. 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:50.000 You say, what do you mean? 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:54.240 In Acts chapter 7, the apostles were having a problem with the distribution of food. 00:07:54.319 --> 00:07:57.680 These different groups of widows were saying, hey, we're not getting our fair share. 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:00.079 And so they instituted the office of deacon. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:00.399 Why? 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:04.000 So the apostles could give themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. 00:08:04.240 --> 00:08:05.519 And they distributed food. 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:09.199 They kind of dealt with these things that were just, hey, practical service matters. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:13.199 And so some of you grew up in churches where the deacons kind of ran the church. 00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:15.279 That's not the biblical model of what a church is. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:18.079 The office of deacon should have no authority in the church. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:19.360 They should have responsibility. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:20.959 You say, so who should run the church? 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:21.759 The pastor? 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:22.879 Absolutely not. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:25.839 The biblical model is never that the pastor be in charge. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:27.839 And I say that as the pastor of this church. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:29.360 So what's the biblical model? 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:33.200 The biblical model is what's called an elder led or an elder rule. 00:08:33.440 --> 00:08:34.720 This church has elders. 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:46.080 I sit on that board of elders, and there's five of us, and we are responsible for giving leadership and oversight, governance, shepherding, and accountability to this church. 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:50.720 And so when the Bible talks about Phoebe being a deacon, it's not giving her authority over men. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:56.480 It's just saying, here is a woman that has served her church very well, and she served in this role. 00:08:56.639 --> 00:08:58.879 But it also says this there's a word in here you need to see. 00:08:58.960 --> 00:09:07.120 He says, he says, hey, the servant of the church at Centria, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and help her in whatever she may need from you. 00:09:07.279 --> 00:09:10.399 She has been a patron of many and of myself as well. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:15.840 And when he says the word patron, what he's talking about is that there's best we can tell, Phoebe had some money. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:18.559 She was she was she was successful in business. 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:25.519 We don't know exactly that that's what they believe, but when it says patron, that means somebody that kind of financially helps people out. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:33.679 And so if you were a Christian and you came to the city that Phoebe lived in, she was known for being a person who would help you get up on your feet and get established. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:36.399 And also, she has a church that meets in her home. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:40.799 So best we could tell, she had uh a pretty large home. 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:42.240 And so why do I tell you all that? 00:09:42.399 --> 00:09:47.279 Here's the last thing you need to know about Phoebe, the the the the deacon at the church of Centuria. 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:50.960 She was so well thought of and lived with such integrity. 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:55.440 Paul gave her the letter to the church at Rome to take to the church at Rome. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:02.720 Because we'll get to in in just a minute. 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:09.759 I just want you to know that Christianity and responsible leadership in the church is not just a male thing. 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:10.240 Okay? 00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:12.000 Now don't hear what I'm not saying. 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:14.960 I'm not saying, oh, I just think a women should come up here and pastor. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:17.519 The Bible's clear about some roles in the church. 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:26.879 But but but we can speak with authority about what the Bible says, and it says right here, so when we were when I became the pastor here, we were transitioned to an elderly church, and then we got deacons. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:32.399 We looked in the Bible and saw, hey, who are the people who served as a deacon in the Bible, and what did they do? 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:36.320 And so the first thing the Bible kind of first name he mentions is the name Phoebe. 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:38.320 Second name is Prisca and Aquila. 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:39.360 There's a name no man wants. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:39.840 What's your name? 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:40.639 Prisca. 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:43.279 Well, your parents hippies or something, dude? 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:44.080 Come on. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:51.840 And the Bible says this that they were workers, they served in multiple churches, probably had money because they had a house big enough to host a church. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:53.679 And you say, well, why do you keep saying that? 00:10:53.840 --> 00:11:00.320 Because there's this kind of not true notion that all the early Christians were just poor people who just barely struggled along. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:01.360 It's not true at all. 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:04.639 There was poor and there was wealth and everything in between. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:13.840 But Prisca and Aquila were mentioned in other parts of the Bible because they were kind of people that they they took on their mission as kind of helping Paul do what God put in his heart to do. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:15.679 They traveled extensively. 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:19.759 And at one point, they're the folks that rescued Paul from a mob in Ephesus. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:22.000 That's why he says, they saved my neck. 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:26.240 I love that the Bible just kind of speaks with that kind of raw, honest humanity. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:28.480 The third person in the list is Epinatus. 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:29.600 Epinatus. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:32.639 He was the first convert to Christianity in Asia. 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:33.840 Think about that. 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.320 On the entire continent of Asia, he was the first convert to Christianity. 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:41.919 He was the guy that struck the original match and set the thing ablaze. 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:44.240 The fourth is Andronicus and Junior. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:45.360 These people who suffered. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:46.879 They were imprisoned in their faith. 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:49.919 Paul says that they were in the faith before he was. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.120 It's easy to read the Bible and think Paul was one of the first people to come to Christ. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:54.080 No, he wasn't. 00:11:54.240 --> 00:12:03.519 There were people that are not only Christians, but they kind of helped Paul move from being a Pharisee of Pharisees to being a very graceful, merciful man. 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:09.759 And it was these kind of people that taught, how'd you like to be the people that taught Paul the fundamentals of Christianity? 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:15.840 Or the lady that he mentions in here and says, Oh, the mother of so-and-so, who was also a mother to me. 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:19.919 And when I traveled, before I became the pastor, I traveled and preached all over the country. 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:23.120 And I had about 10 grandmas all over the United States. 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:24.799 I didn't stay in hotels. 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:26.639 I always stayed in people's homes. 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:31.519 And there were some older ladies that were kind of like, I hear you're going to be in Raleigh, North Carolina. 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:34.080 I don't live but 45 minutes from there. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:36.639 Well, they have hotels in Raleigh. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:45.279 And you live out in the country on a farm and you scare me because you say crazy things to me, like, you don't need a wife. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:47.679 You should ask the Lord if He's called you to be single. 00:12:47.759 --> 00:12:48.240 I asked him. 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:49.360 He said no. 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:56.159 But just women are just, I mean, and and you say, Well, you stayed at a woman's house? 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:56.399 No. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:00.639 She had a husband, and he would just kind of look at me and smile like, good luck. 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:03.440 And then they would have me in their home. 00:13:03.519 --> 00:13:04.879 And that's what Paul had. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:06.960 He had people that he would just kind of stay with. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:09.120 And these are people, Andronicus and Junius. 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:13.279 They, the, the, the literal rendering from the Greek is that they were esteemed among the apostles. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.440 The ESV says they were known among the apostles. 00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:22.159 They were esteemed among the apostles because they did traveling missionary work and they were so well thought of. 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:25.200 And there's a lot of debate about, well, are this man and this woman apostle? 00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:26.559 Now we're getting really crazy. 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:34.240 And the Bible, when Paul uses the phrase apostle, he talks a lot about the function of an apostle, not necessarily the office of an apostle. 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:35.840 Do you hear the difference? 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:36.799 Hello? 00:13:38.320 --> 00:13:41.519 He's saying, hey, this is not about women having authority over the men. 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:43.120 He's saying, I'm not contradicting myself. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:47.759 I'm just saying there were men and women who worked hard to advance the gospel. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:49.120 And here's two of them right here. 00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:52.080 The fifth person on the list I want to point out is Narcissus. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:53.039 Narcissus. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:55.919 He was a well-known man who served the Emperor Claudius. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:03.200 And the Bible, Paul, when Paul points to him, he doesn't point to him exactly, but but he kind of says this phrase here. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.320 When he says, greet, he says, greet those who belong to his household. 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:07.120 Why is that? 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:07.840 Here's why. 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:11.600 Because Narcissus committed suicide before the book of Romans was written. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:14.480 Why do I tell you that? 00:14:14.639 --> 00:14:18.639 Because the Bible is not full of perfect people and nuclear families. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:25.919 A lot of people believe that it was his suicide that led his family to kind of return to the faith, and from them for some of them to come to the faith. 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:28.639 Because they saw a man who was very politically connected. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:34.799 He served the Emperor Claudius, had all the right connections, and yet he was so distraught that he ended his own life. 00:14:35.840 --> 00:14:37.519 So that's who Narcissus is. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:42.080 Last person, uh well, actually, there's two more Trafana and Trefosa. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:44.080 These were two freed slaves, two women. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:45.200 They were freed slaves. 00:14:45.279 --> 00:14:47.279 And best we can tell, they were of small stature. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:50.240 If you're under five feet tall, I'm talking to you right now. 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:53.200 Because their names mean delicate and dainty. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:56.559 And yet the Bible says they worked hard. 00:14:57.120 --> 00:14:58.000 They worked hard. 00:14:58.240 --> 00:14:59.919 Last person I would point to is Rufus. 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:02.399 Rufus was the son of Simon of Cyrene. 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:03.679 That name ring a bell? 00:15:04.559 --> 00:15:14.000 Simon of Cyrene was the man when Jesus was walking to Golgotha and he was carrying what we believe to be the cross beam of the cross, and he stumbled and fell, and the soldiers took it off the back of him. 00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:15.360 They picked a guy out of the crowd. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:17.039 That was Simon of Cyrene. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:19.200 And that was Rufus' dad. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:22.080 Now, why do I tell you this random list of stuff? 00:15:22.240 --> 00:15:31.840 Because it's easy to kind of look at, and the power of us means that us is not just white Anglo-Saxon Protestants who walk the Fox News channel and vote Republican. 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:46.320 Us is this eclectic mix of socioeconomic nationalities, different backgrounds, freed people, middle class people, rich people, poor people, people that were slaves and then have been liberated, men and women. 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:50.159 26 individuals, nine women, three house churches. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:52.480 Greet, greet, greet, greet. 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:54.080 Now, what did we learn from this? 00:15:54.320 --> 00:15:58.799 Five things I want to give you, or actually four things I want to give you, and then one thing I want us to do. 00:15:58.960 --> 00:15:59.759 Are you still with me? 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:00.639 Okay. 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:03.440 First thing I want to tell you, what do we take away from a list like this? 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:07.519 When you get to, if someone said to me, a buddy of mine's like, hey, you're preaching through Romans. 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.200 You get into Rome and say, What are you gonna do with that? 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:10.559 I'm gonna preach that passage. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:12.720 I mean, won't your people be bored? 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:17.840 If I could come to this phone right now and slap you open-handed, I would. 00:16:19.200 --> 00:16:21.120 And this guy pastors a church. 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:23.759 And he hops from verse to verse to verse. 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:27.120 I said, here's the thing with you, my man, you're addicted to creativity. 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:31.759 And you're gonna you're gonna have a church full of people who are ignorant of the content of the Bible. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:34.639 Let me give you four things you take away from a list like this. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:36.480 Number one, nobody does it alone. 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:37.840 Nobody does it alone. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:42.080 Paul, this and I mean, one of the one of the most consequential people who ever lived. 00:16:42.159 --> 00:16:44.559 He had the support team around him at all times. 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:49.759 And some of these people saw that he had money, food, shelter, support, safety. 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:54.639 They would go get him out of a mob and kind of sneak him out so they wouldn't lynch him. 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:56.799 And you say, Well, what do you mean nobody does it alone? 00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:02.399 It's one of the reasons that in the next couple weeks you'll start seeing something like this show up at all our connection centers around here. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:05.519 And there'll be a portion of our website that says has this on it. 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:08.160 And it says, you can't see it out there, it says, find your place. 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:16.400 And you'll open it up, and on the inside, there'll be over 25 different ways you can get involved here at this church, all the way from volunteering to answer the phone on Fridays. 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:21.039 We uh we let our uh ministry coordinator, Amy, have Friday off, and we use volunteers. 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:24.240 All you gotta be able to do is pick up the phone and say, Good morning, Grand Parkway. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:25.519 How can I help you? 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:27.279 Let's all try that together. 00:17:27.519 --> 00:17:29.279 Good morning, Grand Parkway. 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:30.720 How may I help you? 00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:32.880 You you you're you're qualified. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:38.880 Finding your place, because you see, the power of us is not, you know, everybody watching some. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:43.759 The power of us means that we all have a gift and the capacity and the opportunity. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:48.799 And when gift and capacity meet opportunity, then the church becomes the church. 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:54.240 Like this past week, I've I've been talking to some friends of ours that live back here in Shawlake Estates, and they put up a big there. 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:58.640 Their house is one of those that's right across from our warehouse, our student ministry building back there. 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:06.640 And like we had a bridge, which is the fourth and fifth, excuse me, fifth and sixth graders, they had a bridge lock-in on Friday night. 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:11.279 And so my daughter's back there, and my oldest daughter was one of the kids that worked the thing. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:14.960 And I looked at my wife, I was like, Oh, we got no kids tonight. 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:15.519 Awesome. 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:18.000 She said, Well, they don't have to go till nine o'clock. 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:20.480 Why can't this thing start at 5:30? 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:22.799 I mean, let's get the party going here. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:23.920 No, nine o'clock. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:28.480 By the time my wife brought them, dropped them off, and got back, I was like, I'm really sleepy, I'm gonna go to bed. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:30.559 Uh but they were up all night. 00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:32.400 And so we got some friends that live back here. 00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:39.039 They put up a fence in their yard just to kind of keep the light and sound down, and their homeowners association come along and said, You can't do that. 00:18:39.200 --> 00:18:41.279 Don't you love your homeowners association? 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:43.519 I'm not making fun of the homeowner's association. 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:44.799 Relate some of you like, uh-uh. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:49.279 I got a letter because I left my trash can out for four hours past the deadline. 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:53.680 So I wrote them back on the back of the letter, is this all you really have to do in life? 00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:55.920 And they wrote me a letter back and said, Mr. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:18:57.680 McClendon, next time you'll be fined. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:05.119 And I wrote them back and said, take it out of my homeowners association dues, which by the way, we've not built anything new, and these things keep going up. 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:07.839 Got some fuzzy math here, fellas. 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:11.359 But my friend said, Hey, I gotta abide by the rules. 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:15.359 I built this fence, I didn't check them HOA, but listen, I want to take it down. 00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:17.759 Would you be open to putting it up on the church property? 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:19.759 I said, Hey, I want to be a double winner. 00:19:19.839 --> 00:19:21.759 I want to win, and I want you to win. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:28.480 So I am the proud owner of about 120 feet of fence, not like fence in your backyard, my backyard. 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:31.279 That bad boy's about 12 to 15 feet high. 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:33.920 It's like the Great Wall of China back there. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:35.519 And it's cut up in sections. 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:42.240 And so what we got to do is take those sections, move it over here on our property, beyond the fence line, because I want to respect Child Lake Estates. 00:19:42.480 --> 00:19:44.799 Those people, hey, they they spent money on those houses. 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:48.319 You wouldn't like it if somebody came in and put lights and stuff right next to you. 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:51.519 And so I said, hey, we want to do this, we want to be a good neighbor. 00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:53.359 He said, I think this would be a good neighbor. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:57.920 And so I'm the now proud owner of a fence that I don't know how to put up, but it's got to be put up. 00:19:58.000 --> 00:20:01.359 So I'll be sending an email out tomorrow or today or tomorrow. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:09.920 And if I all of you, men and women, you can mix concrete, you got strong backs, you want equal rights. 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:11.279 Well, here they are. 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:15.680 Bam! Get you some of that. 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:19.680 And so we're gonna put fence posts in the ground. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:26.079 I don't know how it's gonna happen, but it we now own the fence, and and I want to bless the people over there, and I want to do it right. 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:30.720 And so I'll be sending an email, some guy come up to me after the first service and said, Hey man, I got a lot of power tools. 00:20:30.880 --> 00:20:34.000 All men have power tools, you just don't use them. 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:37.200 I'm giving you an opportunity to use your tools. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:38.960 Thank me later. 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:41.680 What I mean, why am I saying that? 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:43.599 Because nobody does it alone. 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:44.880 Nobody does it. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:45.359 Okay? 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:48.319 Not Paul, not me, not any of us. 00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:54.079 Second thing we take away is this is that women have always played a role, and I would say a key role in the church. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:56.799 Women have always played a role and a key role in the church. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:04.799 Here's my fear that we never really say what the Bible says about the role of women in the church because we're afraid what somebody may take away, what somebody might think we're saying. 00:21:04.880 --> 00:21:08.640 I'm not gonna waste any time telling you, well, I'm not saying this, I'm not saying this. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:10.559 I'm gonna spend my time saying this. 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:14.720 Women have always played a key role in the church. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:15.680 They just have. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:19.119 And again, I'm not gonna, oh well, but look, be careful. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:23.359 I'm not saying, I'm saying women have always been a part of what God has been doing. 00:21:23.519 --> 00:21:26.880 I have friends of mine that are kind of like, well, you know, what are you gonna do? 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:30.400 Listen, I I've heard horror stories, okay? 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:42.720 I know women that that, because we preach the Bible and we say, hey, well, God calls you into ministry or God this, and I know a woman came forward in her church and said to her, Pastor, I think God's called me into ministry, and I come to surrender to full time Christian ministry. 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:47.039 And when they presented her to the congregation, they said, She comes today to rededicate her life. 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:50.880 That would never happen to a man. 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:54.960 If that was a man, we'd put him on our shoulders and parade him around the building. 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:56.720 He surrendered to missions. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:58.640 She came to rededicate her life. 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:00.880 And so, here Here's what I want to say to you. 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:01.839 I'll make it very clear. 00:22:02.000 --> 00:22:05.359 If you're a woman, if you're a female of any age, I want you to stand up right now. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:11.039 I love y'all like, what are you doing? 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:13.920 Y'all look around like who's who's gonna go first? 00:22:14.559 --> 00:22:15.200 That's right. 00:22:15.359 --> 00:22:15.759 Stand up. 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:16.799 What is your name right here? 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:18.960 How old are you right here in the front row, sweetie? 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:20.079 How old is she? 00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:21.039 Seven. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:21.519 Okay? 00:22:21.680 --> 00:22:23.279 I'm not gonna ask you how old you are. 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:24.319 I'll ask you. 00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:25.599 Seventeen. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:26.480 There we go. 00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:28.079 Seven, seventeen, seventy. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:29.599 Let me say this to you, okay? 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:32.400 First of all, you're made in God's image. 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:38.160 You're not, if you're a woman, if you're a single woman, you're not waiting for a man to come along and validate your existence. 00:22:38.319 --> 00:22:41.920 If you're a teenager, you don't need a boyfriend to make you whole, okay? 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:43.839 There's nothing lacking about you. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:49.279 You're made in God's image, you're gifted, you're created, you're capable, and you're able. 00:22:49.519 --> 00:22:54.079 God has always used you in his work, and he is always going to use you in his work. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:23:02.880 And so this is a church that recognizes that you have gifts, and because you have gifts, you will always have opportunities to exercise those gifts in this church, okay? 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:04.160