WEBVTT 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:09.439 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.679 --> 00:00:14.480 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:16.719 Yeah. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:17.600 Amen. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:18.239 Amen. 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:19.440 Let's pray together. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:28.559 Lord, when we say that fulfill all your purposes, what we're uh inherent in that statement is that every time you say something, uh, it is with purpose. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.440 And so today your word is gonna come to us with purpose. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:37.759 You say in Isaiah that my word never goes out and comes back void, but it accomplishes the purpose for which I sent it. 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:39.200 You even compared it to nature. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:45.359 You said it's the snow and rain comes down and waters the earth, causing it to bring forth and to sprout. 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:51.840 God, today you're gonna bring forth some things, and then you're gonna cause some things to sprout, to kind of break ground and become obvious. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:53.759 And so, Lord, we're okay with either one of those. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:55.600 Bring forth and sprout. 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:58.079 But your word is like rain, it comes down. 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:02.719 It behooves us on a rainy Sunday to kind of get our head around this. 00:01:02.880 --> 00:01:07.359 Your word comes down like rain and it waters the earth, and the growth is not immediate. 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:15.200 Sometimes it's three days later, a week later, two weeks later, a month later, because things are kind of happening under the surface. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:16.640 You're a God that does that. 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:18.159 You don't always work in public. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:19.680 Sometimes you work in private. 00:01:19.840 --> 00:01:21.040 And so we're okay with that. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:25.680 But we just we understand that we open the Bible now and it's full of purpose. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.719 And we want those purposes to be realized in our lives. 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:32.799 We want that to get in our head and our heart and expressed in our hands this week. 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:35.519 And so, Lord, say something this morning with our name on it. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:36.560 That's our prayer. 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:40.079 We ask for it in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:40.879 You can have a seat. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:44.000 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open up to John chapter 1. 00:01:44.239 --> 00:01:45.040 John chapter 1. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:46.959 And if you don't have a Bible, don't sweat that. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:51.439 Uh if there's a Bible in your row, I'm on page 887 if you'd like to follow along. 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:53.359 And if not, it'll come up on the screen. 00:01:53.519 --> 00:01:55.280 Uh, you can just kind of follow along that way. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:57.840 If you're a guest, we're preaching through the Gospel of John. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:01.439 We not even got out of the first chapter yet, but today we finished the first chapter. 00:02:01.599 --> 00:02:06.079 I do not have a sermon title today because I just it one didn't seem fitting. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:08.319 And the guys in the media team said, Hey, you have a title? 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:10.960 And I was like, No, I I don't have a title. 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:14.719 But if I did have a title after the first sermon, this is what I would call it. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:17.680 And in the sixth round, dot dot dot. 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:20.960 You're like, yeah, I would go with nothing instead. 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:21.599 No, no, no. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:22.560 I'm gonna go with that. 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:37.280 And in the sixth round, here's why, because years ago, in the sixth round, I think it was like in the 2002 or 2003 NFL draft, in the sixth round, I mean, there's only like seven rounds, it's like we're getting to the bottom of the barrel, scraping the bottom. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:45.599 There was a NFL football team that had film on a guy, uh, a college player, and they said he's uh not very athletically billed. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:52.000 He's gangly, he's slow, he's got average skills, maybe a late round pick. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:53.039 That was the grade on him. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:03:05.759 And they had video of him standing there with nothing on but a pair of shorts, and he kind of looked like eh, about 180-pound, tall, about six foot two, six foot three, just a skinny, gangly white guy that was slow. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:10.159 And this team said, we'll take a chance on him because we've we see something in him. 00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:14.400 The team was the New England Patriots, and the player was Tom Brady. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:21.360 And in the sixth round, John chapter one, Jesus rounds out his team. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:22.639 He picks his disciples. 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:25.039 Now, I'll tell you this, and then we'll get into the text. 00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:28.639 Uh, John chapter one lays the foundation for the rest of the book of John. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:39.360 John is writing to Jewish people who do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and he wants to convince them through persuasion, reason, logic, demonstration of the miraculous. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:42.560 He appeals to all the senses, and because the Bible does that. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:48.080 And he appeals to all the senses of these people to bring them to the point that they will say, you know what? 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:49.520 We think this is the truth. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:56.800 You should consider the claims of Christianity, not because your marriage is in crisis, or because your kid smokes pot or because you're bankrupt. 00:03:56.960 --> 00:04:01.680 You should consider the claims of Christianity because it's the truth. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:09.120 It's the greatest motivation for pondering what the Bible says and thinking about the ramifications for your life. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:15.599 And so Jesus is rounding out his team because the next 10 chapters, chapters 2 to 11, are known as the book of miracles. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.959 Jesus does the most fascinating things in the entire Bible. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:29.600 And starting in John chapter 2, uh, all the way to John chapter 11, mind-blowing things that people are like, shut up! Jesus is just like smiling, like, I know, right? 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:31.120 This is incredible. 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:32.639 Uh, wonder why. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:34.800 And then the last that's the book of miracles. 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:37.920 And then chapters 12 to chapter 21 are the book of glory. 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:45.040 He turns his face to the cross and he begins to demonstrate hey, I'm not just a circus carnival sideshow. 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:47.680 I'm not the bearded lady or the fire-eating midget. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:48.720 I'm the son of God. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:52.079 And I'm gonna do what only he could do for humanity. 00:04:52.240 --> 00:04:53.360 I'm gonna lay down my life. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:54.800 No one's gonna take it from me. 00:04:54.959 --> 00:04:57.439 I don't get killed by a bunch of Roman morons. 00:04:57.759 --> 00:04:59.680 I lay my life down for my sheep. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:03.279 The shepherd's been talking about his sheep, shepherd and sheep all along. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:08.240 And now the shepherd does what only a shepherd can do, and that's lay down his life for his sheep. 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:15.040 And so before we get to the book of miracles and then later to the book of glory, we finish chapter one, the foundation of it all, with these words. 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:21.360 And in the sixth round, John chapter one, verse 43, the next day, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:23.839 He found Philip and said to him, Follow me. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:27.120 Now Philip was from Betheda, the city of Andrew and Peter. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:35.519 And Philip found Nathanael and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:38.959 Nathanael said to him, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:41.040 Philip said to him, Come and see. 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:47.600 And Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, and he said of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:52.000 Nathanael said to him, How do you know me? 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:57.199 And Jesus answered him, Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:00.639 Nathaniel answered him, Rabbi, you're you're the Son of God. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:02.160 You're the king of Israel. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:08.000 Jesus answered him, Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:09.920 You'll see greater things than these. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:17.680 And he said to him, Truly, truly I say to you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:26.240 Now, let me say this: if you're visiting today, or if you're new to church, or you're like my friend Doyle from earlier, like, hey, I checked out on church a long time ago. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:33.600 Uh, it's easy to read things in the Bible or come to church or hear things in the Bible and kind of go, I have no idea what that means. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:34.879 So I'm just gonna smile. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:37.920 And while you think I'm making notes, I'm actually making a grocery list. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:39.759 So hurry and be done, preacher man. 00:06:40.319 --> 00:06:46.879 So here's what we like to do: we like to read the Bible, and then I'm gonna tell you and explain to you what is being said and make some points from that. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:48.480 This morning, I want to make five points. 00:06:48.560 --> 00:06:54.000 The first point I think the Bible makes is simply this there's texture among Jesus' followers. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:56.720 There's texture among Jesus' followers. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:06:57.920 You say, What do you mean? 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:02.000 Because in the chapter, I mean the little section right up above, he calls his first disciples. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:04.639 He calls Jesus, he calls uh these two guys. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:12.800 He calls Andrew, and Andrew goes and gets his brother uh Peter, Simon, and Jesus says, You're Simon, you will be called Cephas, which means Peter. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:16.000 Andrew, great guy, always bringing people to Jesus. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:17.519 Peter, rock star. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:18.800 Peter kills it. 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:22.480 Peter preaches one of the best sermons in the entire Bible at Pentecost. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:25.040 And 3,000 people become Christians, okay? 00:07:25.279 --> 00:07:29.519 And when I say, hey, there's texture among Jesus' followers, here's why. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:33.120 Because in verse 43, Jesus decided to go to Galilee. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:36.240 He found Philip and said to him, Follow me. 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:39.920 Now the Bible says Philip was from Bethsaita, the city of Andrew and Peter. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:41.600 That's all it really says about him. 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:47.360 I challenge you to find anything sensational or fascinating about Philip in the entire Bible. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:48.240 You will not. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:51.120 He's very ordinary, he's very down to earth. 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:52.480 He's very plain. 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:53.680 Why do I tell you that? 00:07:53.839 --> 00:08:00.079 Because some of you read the Bible and you see yourself through the lens of Peter, and you should see yourself through the lens of Philip. 00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.240 Not everybody has to be a rock star. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:02.959 Not everybody. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:10.480 Some of you look around, you think, well, I couldn't sing like that or talk like that or look like that or dress like that or understand like that. 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:11.839 And God just kind of smiles. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:13.519 Let me give you the context for this. 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:29.920 The really sharp young men have already been snapped up and they've already attached themselves to rabbis because if you had religious acumen and intellect, the rabbis would fixate upon you and they would say, Hey, you're going to be a rabbi, so we want you to be schooled and you to be attached to a rabbi. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:36.320 In John chapter 1, it's like Jesus pulls up to Home Depot on a Saturday to pick up and he's talking to all the day laborers. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:38.480 And he says, You guys want to change the world? 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:39.679 Get in the back of my truck. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:41.519 And they're like, Okay, here we go. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:43.440 And they get in the back of the truck. 00:08:43.679 --> 00:08:45.039 Are you with me so far? 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:46.960 Now, because here's what we think. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:50.639 We think Jesus went to Harvard and Yale and Brown and Washington, D.C. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:51.600 in Congress. 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:55.759 He no, those cats can't get anything done. 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:57.440 Jesus wants to change the world. 00:08:57.519 --> 00:08:58.320 So he pulls up. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:08:59.759 These guys have been passed over. 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:01.360 They're plain, they're ordinary. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:04.879 And even among the 12 initial disciples, there's texture. 00:09:05.039 --> 00:09:06.480 There's some that are way up here. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:09.360 There's some like Philip, they're like, Yeah, I'm here. 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:10.399 I'm good. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:11.279 I love this. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:12.799 This happened at our men's retreat. 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:14.879 Our men's retreat just wrapped up this morning. 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:16.320 Some of our guys are driving back. 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:20.159 So if a man is sitting close to you and he's doing this, he was at the retreat. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:26.000 Anyway, at the men's retreat, uh, we require our men to spend an hour of solitude all by themselves. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:27.200 And it's great every year. 00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:30.639 Uh, like we don't tell them, it just says in the schedule devotional, 9 o'clock. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:34.960 We had breakfast yesterday morning at 7:40 because Don Minton is of the devil. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:35.519 That's why. 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:37.919 I'm like, why are we eating at 7:40? 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:41.120 Well, I figured we could beat everybody else and get our day going. 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:41.840 No. 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:48.159 This is why I'm not in charge of anything at the men's retreat, because if I was, we'd have brunch at 10:30. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:54.480 And so we have breakfast and then we have devotional at 9 o'clock, and the guys are all got their coughing and everything, and we said, hey, here's the deal. 00:09:54.639 --> 00:09:57.840 We want you to go somewhere and just spend some time alone. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.399 If you're really tired, go back, lay on your bed. 00:10:00.480 --> 00:10:01.519 You can go back to sleep. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:03.600 If you can only go back to sleep guilt-free. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:07.360 If you go back to sleep and think, I should be reading my Bible or praying, what am I doing? 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:08.639 I'm not a very good Christian. 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:09.759 Go run laps. 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:14.799 But if you can go lay on your bed and go, my wife and kids ain't here, do it. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:17.840 Keith Merrick was asleep in five minutes. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:20.960 Here's my favorite part. 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:22.559 Why am I telling you this? 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:23.120 Look at me. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:29.919 Because there's not just texture among Jesus' followers in the first century, there's texture sitting all around you. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:32.960 This happened during this, you know, solitudinal time. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:34.720 Some guys were like, oh man, it was great. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:36.399 I just had some great time with the Lord. 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:38.480 I walked out, walked around to the corner. 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:43.519 A friend of mine was sitting there, had his wife on FaceTime, smoking a cigarette, talking to his wife, and I just kept going. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:45.840 I walked by the guy about 20 yards down the road. 00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:49.039 He goes, Hey, is that guy burning a heater, talking on his phone? 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:50.399 We're supposed to be doing solitude. 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:52.879 And I said, Maybe that's his idea of solitude. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.399 Because for us men, it's hard to be alone with God. 00:10:56.639 --> 00:10:59.440 The only person it's harder to be alone with, it's ours. 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:02.559 That's why men were calling home all day yesterday. 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:03.679 Hey, baby, is anything broken? 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:04.720 You need to come home? 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:06.480 And the wives were saying the same thing. 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:07.360 No, I'm good. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:08.559 You stay there. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:10.480 Meet some people. 00:11:10.720 --> 00:11:12.080 Don't come home Saturday night. 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:13.679 Don't, hey, I thought you might want me to be there. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:15.360 Help you get the kids ready to go to church. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:16.639 I'm a big girl. 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:17.519 I got this. 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:18.799 Y'all pour me some more wine. 00:11:18.879 --> 00:11:20.000 I'll be off the phone in just a minute. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:21.039 No, it's good here. 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:23.519 We're just watching Netflix and hanging out, okay? 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:24.080 We're good. 00:11:24.159 --> 00:11:30.159 Because men are always like, hey, because we gravitate to responsibility and we avoid intimacy. 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:35.200 But I love that some guys, my friend my friends kind of like, yep, I'm just doing FaceTime right here. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:36.240 Some guys are off. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:39.279 But hey, there's there's texture, there's variety. 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:44.240 Do not look around and see yourself through the lens of anybody else in this world. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:46.559 That's not what God's called you to do. 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:52.399 And I just want to just say, hey, among the 12, the initial disciples was Philip. 00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:54.159 Nothing extraordinary. 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:56.559 Matter of fact, he's very ordinary. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:00.399 And to him, Jesus says two words follow me. 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:02.480 Follow me. 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:05.600 And you hear those two words and you fall off on one side of the donkey. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:07.200 Follow is responsibility. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:08.879 Me is opportunity. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:11.200 Follow me. 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:17.360 It's not just if you just think about it in terms of responsibility, you'll do the cost-benefit analysis. 00:12:17.519 --> 00:12:17.919 Follow. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:19.279 Well, do you have a dental plan? 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:20.399 Do you what's this? 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:21.279 What's the outcome? 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:22.320 Blah, blah, blah. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:25.440 But they look and they're smiling, Jesus, going, me. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:27.440 Follow me. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:30.480 And ordinary Philip says, I'm in. 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:33.120 I am down with this. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:33.840 Why? 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:37.919 Because there's texture among Jesus' followers. 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:41.039 Secondly, the relationship means responsibility. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:42.879 Relationship means responsibility. 00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:44.159 Look at verse 45. 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:52.639 Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, We have found him of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:55.279 Now, there's a lot is just kind of said in there. 00:12:55.440 --> 00:13:01.440 Now, if you read the Bible through the lens of your curiosity or your interest, not much will intrigue you. 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:07.440 But if you just kind of let your eyes relax and ask the Holy Spirit, hey, what is being said right there? 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:15.679 One of the things you'll notice, verse 45, again, it says, excuse me, Philip found Nathaniel and said to him, they just stop right there. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:19.600 One of the things already in John chapter 1, we see people get found by God. 00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:26.080 The first thing they do is they find somebody close to them and they bring them to Jesus and they say, Hey, we have found the Messiah. 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:27.840 Andrew did it with his brother Peter. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:36.320 Now Philip, ordinary, plain Jane, simple, down to earth, nothing extraordinary, no big personality, no big gifts. 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:44.080 He finds Nathaniel and says, I have found, we have found the one who Moses, hear these words again. 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:47.840 Who Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote. 00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:49.120 Jesus of Nazareth. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:56.639 Now, when the Bible says Moses in the law, he's talking about the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:06.799 It's kind of like, hey man, remember in history, religious history class, we're talking about this Messiah, this promised one that is to come, Moses wrote about, and the prophets is the is the rest of the Old Testament. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:13.679 Philip's saying to him, hey, hey, this, what is history is now very personal and it's very present. 00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:15.600 And I want you to not miss out on this. 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:18.720 And because see, here's what's happened in the 21st century. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:21.600 When I say relationship means responsibility. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:28.559 In the first century, the reason the church and Christians were so consequential is because responsibility was personal. 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:29.840 It was personal. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.399 Now, in the 21st century, responsibility has become corporate. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:37.519 That's why most people that come to church think, well, Pastor, that's your job. 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:38.240 That's what you're doing. 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.279 You're supposed to meet people, and you've got a big personality and a big mouth. 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:42.320 It's a great combination. 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:43.360 Go to it. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:44.320 No. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:49.440 No, we got to reclaim what they had in the first century, this sense of personal responsibility. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:53.519 People say all the time, someone came to me not long ago, lady, and said, Hey, I want you to pray. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:15:02.720 My sister-in-law's coming to town, and you know we don't have a good relationship, and she's not, she's not a Christian, and she's very intellectual, and she makes fun of my faith, and I just can't stand her. 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:03.759 And I want you to pray. 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:08.559 And I said, Here's why you should get on eBay this afternoon and start looking for a new pastor. 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:11.440 I said to her, I'm not gonna pray for that. 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:14.240 And she, because she bowed her head. 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:17.600 She came to my office, we chatted, she gave me an assignment, she bowed her head. 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:18.879 Go ahead, pray. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:21.279 And I just looked at her. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:23.919 I just let it kind of hang in the air, awkward silence. 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:24.799 I'm doing this. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:28.000 And she looked up and I'm like, She goes, What do you mean? 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:28.960 You're not gonna pray? 00:15:29.440 --> 00:15:30.960 Nope, I'm sure not. 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:32.000 And here's why. 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:35.679 For five years you've been coming in here asking me to pray for you and your sister-in-law. 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:40.399 See, what she's done is she's outsourced her responsibility and made it the church and the pastors. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.000 I want you to pray for me and my sister. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:48.399 And I'm just pushing it back on her and saying, hey, responsibility biblically and by nature is personal. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:51.360 I'm not gonna pray for you and your sister-in-law. 00:15:51.679 --> 00:15:55.519 Man up, ladybug, put your big girl pants on and have a conversation. 00:15:56.879 --> 00:15:58.320 She didn't say amen. 00:15:59.759 --> 00:16:03.519 She said, Well, do the elders know you say these kind of things? 00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:07.679 And I turned around and picked up the phone on my credentials and said, You want to call one? 00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:08.399 And we can tell them. 00:16:08.480 --> 00:16:09.600 We'll put them on speaker. 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:12.000 I'm not doing your religious bidding for you. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:14.080 I'm not doing the heavy lifting in your life. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:15.120 And here's why. 00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:19.039 Because you'll think way too much of me and not enough of yourself. 00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:25.440 Well, so you're you're just gonna sit there and do nothing, just like you've been doing for five years. 00:16:26.720 --> 00:16:28.799 We'll let the roles reverse. 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:30.320 Yes? 00:16:30.480 --> 00:16:31.679 She made that noise. 00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:36.240 And then she said, You and some things I cannot repeat in church. 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:39.600 And I said, You want to pray? 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:41.120 Or you want to go? 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:43.919 Because this is not my responsibility. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:46.159 Your sister-in-law is not my responsibility. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:47.759 Here's what I'm saying, beloved. 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:51.919 The Bible says relationship means responsibility. 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:55.519 We want to outsource it and make it corporate, and the Bible says it's personal. 00:16:55.679 --> 00:16:59.519 That's why Christianity spread in the New Testament like wildfire. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.000 Ask yourself this simple question today. 00:17:02.240 --> 00:17:06.720 Who am I in relationship with that I'm not being responsible towards? 00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:11.359 Third thing the Bible tells us today is that we all have a Nazareth. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:13.119 We all have a Nazareth. 00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:14.240 You say, What do you mean? 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:14.880 I love this. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:24.960 He says, verse 45, we Philip found Nathaniel said to him, We found him of whom Moses and the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:31.119 And then he says, Nathaniel said to him, Can any good thing, verse 46, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:37.200 Because he was like, We've heard him, we found him who Moses and the law and the prophets wrote about. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:39.039 And Nathaniel's like, Really? 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:42.960 All right, yes, his name is Jesus, and he's from Nazareth. 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:44.240 Say, what? 00:17:45.519 --> 00:17:49.200 Well, now, if I let me bring this down to where we live. 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:53.440 If I said to you, hey, how many of y'all have ever heard of a town called Tyler, Texas? 00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:55.039 How many of you know what I'm talking about? 00:17:55.279 --> 00:17:56.960 Yes, you're like, oh yeah, I got that. 00:17:57.039 --> 00:18:01.839 Tyler's population of about 106 to 108,000 people, roughly. 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:07.440 It's in the nestled in the in the pine woods of East Texas, and blah, blah, blah, and blah, blah, blah. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:09.519 And Luke 323 goes all the way around it. 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:10.079 That's Tyler. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:12.480 A little suburb of Tyler called White House. 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:16.079 White House is about 8,600 people, great school district. 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:17.200 Everybody wants to live there. 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:18.720 How many of you have ever heard of White House? 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:19.599 Can I see your hand? 00:18:19.759 --> 00:18:21.200 Yes, got some hands up. 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:27.839 Now, if you go further out into Egypt, there's a little town that has 1,022 people in it. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.759 And the town is called ARP. 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:32.799 How many of y'all have ever heard of ARP? 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:35.599 Yes, there's like seven hands up. 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:38.000 Yes, Jesus is from ARP. 00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:39.440 He's not from Tyler. 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:43.039 He's not from Sugarland. 00:18:43.519 --> 00:18:45.200 He's from Pleque. 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:48.000 You know where Pleak is? 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:49.039 Yes. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:51.279 It's out there where they film deliverance. 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:53.119 It's just in the middle of nowhere. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:54.000 Yes. 00:18:54.640 --> 00:18:55.519 Here's what I'm saying. 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:56.240 Look at me. 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:00.000 I mean, they were crestfallen because here's the deal. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:02.720 Everybody looks down on something. 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:04.480 Oh, yeah. 00:19:04.559 --> 00:19:05.279 You have contempt. 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:08.960 Everyone of you in this room, you have contempt for something or somebody. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:13.119 That's what I mean when I say, hey, we all have a Nazareth. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:17.920 He was doing good because, see, Jesus didn't come from prestigious places, and why should he? 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:25.599 If you got your Bible, let me show you why it makes sense that God would bring his son out of a little community called Nazareth. 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:25.839 Okay? 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:30.240 If you're in John, turn to the left to the Old Testament, to Isaiah chapter 53. 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:34.400 Or if you don't have a Bible, you don't want to turn, maybe it'll come up on the screen here. 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:37.200 Isaiah 53, verses 1, 2, and 3. 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:45.839 This is Isaiah is a prophecy about what the Messiah, what the Son of God is going to be like, look like, and how we're going to respond to him. 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:48.720 This is what he says, Isaiah 53, verse 1. 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:51.680 Who has believed what he has heard from us? 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:55.680 In other words, this is going to be hard to wrap your head around. 00:19:56.240 --> 00:19:58.079 Who has believed what he has heard from us? 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:00.480 And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:05.200 For he grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:06.720 Now hear that phrase again. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:09.039 Like a root out of dry ground. 00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:12.880 Guys, that's like you, your buddy saying, Hey, you should ask my cousin out. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:17.680 She's a good girl, and she makes somebody a good wife, and you say, What is she like? 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:20.559 And he says, She's like a root out of dry ground. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:22.000 I'm good. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:22.960 Never mind. 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:26.400 I think I just stay home and self-medicate with some day drinking. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:27.680 I don't want any part of that. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.960 What is he saying when he says, like a root out of dry ground? 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:34.640 What he's saying is when he says like a root, it's invisible. 00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:36.000 You can't see it. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:37.519 You can't see what's happening. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:39.599 And then he says, out of dry ground. 00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:42.160 It's invisible and it's impossible. 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:44.960 It's invisible because it's subterranean. 00:20:45.119 --> 00:20:46.160 What God's doing. 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:50.000 And by the way, Jesus didn't just pop on the scene in the New Testament. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:52.079 He's always existed. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:56.160 And he leaves heaven and comes to earth to fulfill the plan of his father. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:58.559 And he says, Hey, he's like a root out of dry ground. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:03.359 He's this invisible reality that comes out of an impossible circumstance. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:05.839 Like a root out of dry ground. 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:10.640 He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:15.359 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:20.000 And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised. 00:21:20.240 --> 00:21:22.480 And we esteemed him not. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:25.440 Of course, he comes from Nazareth. 00:21:25.599 --> 00:21:26.880 Somebody with those credentials? 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:27.839 Here's why. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:30.160 Because there's nothing you could attribute it to. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:34.400 They couldn't look at Jesus and say, oh, he had this prestigious upbringing. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:36.079 He was the valedictorian. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:40.000 I mean, he got GT tracked early on in the third grade. 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:41.599 He was doing fifth grade math. 00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:43.759