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Wk 2: Unlikely Messengers
March 17, 2013 · 55 min
He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. (NIV)
Series The Church of Eleven22 March 17, 2013 · 55 min · The Church of Eleven22
He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. (NIV) ...more Show the full description Show less He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. (NIV)
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Joby Martin is the founder and lead pastor of The Church of Eleven22 in Jacksonville, Florida. Since launching the church in 2012, he has led a movement for all
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0:01 Amen. Good morning, church. Good morning. Hey. We're in week 2 of this series called church people, and 1 of the reasons we showed that video, 1, just wanna point out that guy's not in our band. 2, that god saves who0:13 he decides to save. All kind of different people. There's not like this this mold of church people and so for all of us, that is that is very good news. Would you please stand for the reading of the word of god? I'm in0:25 Acts chapter 11 beginning in verse 19. Now, those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word0:37 to no 1 except Jews, but there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who won't come into Antioch spoke to the Hellenist also, preaching the Lord Jesus.0:49 And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord. The report of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem and they sent Barnabas to Antioch and when he came and saw the1:00 grace of god, he was glad and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the lord with steadfast purpose for he was a good man. Full of the holy spirit and of faith and a great many1:12 people were added to the lord. So, Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch for a whole year. They met with the church and they taught a great many1:23 people. And in in in Antioch, the disciples were 1st called Christians. Now in those days, prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, and 1 of them named Agabus stood up and foretold1:35 by the spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world and so the disciples determined everyone according to his ability to send relief to the brothers living in Judea and they did1:46 so sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. May god add blessing to the reading and to the hearing of his word. Amen. You may be seated. Amen. Hey, we are in we're in Acts chapter1:57 11, 2nd week of the series called Church People and and typically, the way I preach is is what's called expository preaching. I would just, you know, grab a verse or grab a section and say, here's what it says, here's2:09 what it means, here's what it says, here's what it means. Oh, it reminds me of a story and tell a story. That's how I preach, so it's not that difficult but today, we're going do it a little bit different. Even though2:17 this this chapter is very very significant in church history. Essentially, what we just read is that the mission of the church is is beginning to flex in its fullness. Remember,2:29 Jesus told the disciples to go into all the earth but they had just been kind of hanging out right in Jerusalem and so the center of Christianity is going to move from Jerusalem to Antioch which is2:41 really kind of a nowhere place. Alright? I mean, and it's a nice city or whatever, but it it doesn't really have any spiritual significance. And what's interesting here is when word gets out that that Gentiles are2:51 getting saved, the church doesn't send like the big dogs, you know, Peter James John, those like CEO, vice president, those guys of Christianity, it sends kind of some nobodies. Some just, who's Barnabas? I don't3:02 know, right? It's son of encouragement, kind of a kind of a, you know, hugger, alright? He likes to hug and stuff and so they send him and then and Barney goes and he gets this guy named Saul and you know, Saul is kind3:12 of a reject. He's going to end up being a big deal but at this point, he's not a big deal either and so, today's message is called Unlikely Messengers and that's because seems appropriate to me, for me and what3:24 we're to do is we're to spend the entirety of our time just on 1 verse and I'm going to share my testimony, my story with you and I want to be real clear about something is that I'm not trying to make a big deal of me,3:36 alright? The glory goes to god but if this is going to be your church and I'm going to be your pastor, you know, we ought to know each other and so here we go, alright? I was raised in Dillon, South Carolina. You hear me3:47 talk about Dillon a lot. Dillon, South Carolina. The my daddy says the best thing to ever come out of Dillon is I 95, and he is right. It's a great place to be from. President Reagan said3:59 about Dillon, well, he went kinda close to Dillon and and on a trip 1 time, and it was during the Cold War. Remember, we all thought we were gonna die. And he said, when the end of the world comes, I would like to be in4:09 the low country of South Carolina because everything there happens 10 years later, and that is the truth. Right? So Dylan is the, you know, home of the the wide tire Camaro, the mullet, those kinds4:21 of things. Dylan is the kind of place where just because you graduated from high school, you don't stop wearing your leather jacket. Uh-uh. You can rock that thing well into your twenties. And so that's Dylan.4:33 And that's where I grew up. If you ever been on I 95 North and you see the big tacky billboards for Pedro's south of the border, fireworks, and overpriced gas. That is4:45 Dillon, South Carolina. Can you believe it? So that's where I grew up. And there was this man in Dillon named coach Bull Lee, and coach Lee was a big deal. He was the JV football coach when I was there. And he4:57 he ran this camp called Camp Pine Hill Baptist Retreat Center and he didn't he he never really sought to go into the ministry. The way he tells it is this, he says, Joby Martin, I was at a deacons5:09 meeting at 1st Baptist Church. Dylan got up to go to the bathroom, and while I was in the hallway, they voted and put me in charge of Camp Pine Hill. Alright? So that's how he got in charge of camp. And and5:22 so that's that's where I really met Jesus. That's where I learned about Jesus. We didn't grow up going going to church at all. We didn't really fit in. We hunted and fished. Praise god. We didn't really go to church. And5:31 so I don't have much of a church background. Where I'm from, pew means something doesn't smell good. It's not something you sit in. Right? So coach Lee loved us like crazy and he shared the gospel with us but quite5:41 honestly, that camp was pretty horrendous. If I mean, just as far as the activities, I mean, it was amazing but but it it was kind of kind of a cruddy place like the the place that we stayed in were just these cabins.5:53 They didn't even have plumbing. You had to go outside to use the bathroom. They had an outdoor shower facility. That sounds awesome, doesn't it? For a kids camp. It it was like we didn't even have like real6:05 worship, you know, it wasn't, it was, we didn't have a band or anything cool like that. It was just 1 guy on a guitar. And probably the most worshipful song that we sang went like this. I am a c, I am a c h, I am6:17 a c h r e s t I n, and I have c h r e s t m a h a r t n I, well, I have a e e t e r n a l l y. Now I was 14 years old before I figured out what we were spelling. Right? Because I was from Dillon.6:30 And so so that was it. And some of the activities that we had, 1 1 time we took the we took the backhoe. We had we we had a lot of farm equipment. So, we took a backhoe and we dug a hole in the wreck field and filled it6:42 up with mud and then Wednesday, it just became mud day and that was the activity for the whole day. So, we get all the campers and we just, you know, let them fight in the mud and then when they were done, like, alright,6:50 let's go to Bible study. That was it. That's what we did at that camp but what coach Lee did, he was he was a pretty phenomenal football player and and turned down an opportunity to play for the Packers7:02 because he felt like god's call in his life was to be an influence in young men's lives and so he thought he'd do better coaching high school football than being in the NFL. So, that's what he decided to do and so, coach7:13 Lee shared the gospel with me and on on a Thursday night at camp, every Thursday night, the that was the last night of camp and the counselors, these college students from around the southeast, the7:24 majority of them were were college football players and and athletes and he would except usually the the worship leader wasn't so much but you know, all the other guys and so sorry, and so7:36 so they would reenact the crucifixion of Christ, and they'd put on their sheets, you know, from their bunks and kinda go in togas and and reenact what the Bible describes as a crucifixion. They'd start with Pontius7:48 Pilate, what should I do with this man named Jesus? And they'd all cry, crucify him, kill him, and he'd say, I washed my hands of this, and then they would march whoever was Jesus that week. They'd march him down the7:57 side of the bank of the pond there at Camp Pine Hill, and about 100 campers. I don't know if we ever had more than 100 campers at a time. About 100 of us would sit there and watch this and they would take Jesus to the8:08 cross and and I remember hearing the the hammer hit the nails and then they would they would put Jesus up on the cross and 2 thieves next to him and he would say all 7 things that he said on the cross and then and8:20 then when he would say, it is finished. The counselors had these real torches. That was like the coolest part, right? They had these real torches and they would douse em into the into the lake there and everything would8:30 go dark and then coach Lee explained to me that god loved you so much that he sent his only begotten son, his 1 and only son to8:42 to endure a sinner's death on the cross to purchase for you life and and the way he described it is and so if you want to become a Christian, if you would like to ask Jesus8:54 to come into your heart, then, it was a baptist camp. So, you had to like walk down the aisle to the front, right? Because you can't do anything in a baptist church unless you walk the aisle. So, they had the little9:03 aisle set up and then he he's sharing the gospel and then the guy on the guitar comes back up and literally sings Kumbaya, literally. We sang we sang Kumbaya. And, again, it was like9:15 the closest to speaking in tongues that that baptist church baptist camp ever got. And then he transitioned from Kumbaya right into just as I am, and on about the 17th verse of just as I am, I9:27 am sitting back there and coach Lee saying, I believe there's just 1 more. There's 1 more among us that needs to ask Jesus to come into your heart and I knew he was talking to me and my heart was about to beat out of my9:37 chest and I was I was crying and and I didn't know where that was coming from But I thought, I am not standing up in front of all my friends here at this camp. And so I wrapped my feet around the little stool that I was9:48 sitting on and sat on my hands and thought, god, you know how to save me later. This ain't happening. Alright? And then before I knew it, I am eyeball to eyeball with coach Lee and he was, what you want, boy?9:59 Alright? And I said, I want to be a Christian. And he said, alright. Well, pray the sinner's prayer and he led me through the ABCs of Christianity, right? That to admit that I'm a sinner, to believe in Christ10:11 as my savior, and to confess him as lord. And and and quite honestly, then as a teenager in outside of Dillon, South Carolina at that little camp, I could not explain to you substitutionary atonement or10:23 double imputation that Christ was imputed with my sin to endure the wrath of an almighty god that I would be imputed with his righteousness. I didn't know any of that stuff but it really didn't matter. I was being saved10:35 and even the language that we use, I don't necessarily agree with that you ask Jesus to come into your heart. That's not how it works. He saves you. You don't get to invite him, right? That's not just how it works but it10:44 none of that really mattered. What was happening in that moment is I was being saved by an almighty god and it was as real as as the breath I breathe Come on. And in that moment, god transformed me and I10:56 crossover from death to life and again, not very much church background at all and in fact, when I went home after camp, we moved to another town. We didn't live in Dillon anymore. Praise god. We moved to another town11:07 and I was trying to find church that was kind of like camp and it and I I was remember thinking, is this even the same god? I mean, this is not like camp, okay? And I I didn't understand. I was bored out of my gourd and11:19 made a lot of promises as a high school kid sitting in the back row being bored in church going, if I'm ever in charge of church. Right? So a lot of what we do here, but we're this far away from a mud pit. You11:30 understand? So Well, coach Lee grabbed on to me early, and he just kinda saw some things in me, I guess, that that he11:42 just put me in leadership, and and it wasn't long after that I was I was leading kids to Christ. And and I remember being at camp, and the number 1 question everybody would ask at camp is, if you were to die11:53 tonight, do you know where you would go? And I remember thinking, what is happening tonight? What kind of activity are we participating in that several of us might not make12:05 it? It's a tough camp. And so I was about 15 years old, and coach Lee put me in charge of counselor devotion, and he would do it. He would not give you any warning12:17 whatsoever. So the 1st staff meeting I show up to, it's early in the morning, 6 AM and and and we show up to this staff meeting, counselor devotions before everybody gets up and he's like, you know, welcome to council12:28 devotions. Joby Martin, you in charge. Okay? Lead him, son. He just sit down. Now, now, we're do okay. And so, if you've ever been on a mission trip with me to wherever we go,12:40 you know, we start every morning with 30 minutes along with the lord, right? Just 1 on 1, you and Jesus, just read the Bible and listen to him. You know how that started? Because the 1st counselor devotion I ever led, I12:50 stood up there and I said, here's what y'all need. Y'all need about 30 minutes by yourself with god. He's gonna speak to you. Alright? And I sent everybody out and I'm like, I gotta find something to talk about.13:03 So, that's how I was introduced to being a Bible study leader and the 1st sermon I ever preached was at Camp Pine Hill with coach Lee. It's during the worship, alright? It's Wednesday night, Monday. That was Mud pit day.13:15 That was always the best day and then and and the the singers up there and we're about, we've spelled out about half of Christian, you know, and he's rocking on and coach Lee says, Joby Martin, come here, boy. And I13:25 kept, yes, sir. And he goes, I want you to give the sermon tonight. Tonight? Like, in 4 minutes, like, tonight? And then I say, well, coach, I'm13:37 not very comfortable speaking in front of people. And coach Lee was like, comfortable. Comfortable. Boy, do you think Paul and Silas were comfortable in prison? Do you think Daniel was comfortable in the lion's13:49 den? Do you think Jesus Christ was comfortable on the cross? And I'm like, no, sir. And so I said, coach, what do I talk about? And he14:01 said, boy, that's easy. You talk about Jesus, and you talk about 30 minutes. Go ahead. So I went on there. Hey. And I went to John 3 16. That's the only verse I knew probably at14:13 that point. And I taught on John 3 16, and I remember 4 kids got saved that night. I don't think anybody had ever gotten saved on a Wednesday night at camp. Right? It was everybody had to wait till campfire kumbaya night14:24 on Thursday. And so he would he would take me around with him sometimes, to talk to different groups. I mean, he had an incredible impact, not on not just on my life, but on a bunch of different people's14:36 lives. And so, today, I'll talk to probably 10 times as many people that he ever talked to at 1 time and he he would talk to like the rotary club, you know, and and he would grab me and just take him with him, take me14:47 with him to rotary and he'd stand up in front of those folks because you know, he's a football coach and he'd go, gentlemen, I know you want me to talk about football but we ain't going to talk about football. Today,14:57 we're to talk about Jesus but before I talk, this boy is going say something. Get up there and say something, boy and he just sits there. There I am at 16 years old talking to a bunch of guys about Jesus and that's just15:07 what he did. He's an awesome, awesome man. Well, about 4 years ago, 4 and a half years ago, something like that. I was on a mission trip to Jamaica and I got a call from a guy in15:19 Dillon named Buddy Owens and Buddy called me and said, coach Lee went in for heart surgery. Last night, he didn't make it out. He went on to be with the lord and and15:31 that was a Monday and his funeral was on a Friday and so I had this decision to make. Do I leave here and and go to coach Lee's funeral and I just remember thinking how appropriate that I'm not going to15:43 be able to make coach Lee's funeral because I'm on the mission field sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and then I thought, well, I won't be at his funeral but neither will he, alright? He's not there anymore. He is with15:54 his lord and his savior, Jesus Christ and so I shared coaches, you know, how I became a Christian that night and actually that that night at on our Jamaica mission16:05 trip, we had a bunch of our missionaries. I think 4 of em that surrendered their life to Christ that they were doing church and going on mission trips but they didn't know Jesus as their savior yet. Well, when I got16:17 back home from the mission trip, there was a guy that that was a member at Beach named Ed Hazleton and he grew up with coach Lee. They went to high school together and so he attended the funeral and he brought home a DVD16:29 of the funeral. And so I'd sat in my office and and I popped that DVD in and I watched that funeral16:41 and sitting in the choir loft, some churches have this thing called a choir loft, alright? It's behind another thing called a pulpit. Anyway, sitting in the choir loft was the high16:53 school football team that he had just led to a state championship that year before and the place was packed and I mean, just packed. You know, that many people had been to that church in a long time17:05 and it was people from all over the world that had come to to just celebrate the life and the legacy of coach Lee and the guy that did the eulogy, he was a camp counselor that went to the ministry. His17:17 name is Johnny Rickenbacker and Johnny Rickenbacker was a he was a a college football player when I knew him and he was like 1 of my heroes. I wanted to be like coach Lee. I wanted to be like Johnny Rickenbacker. Johnny17:27 Rickenbacker gets up there and he tells all these stories about coach Lee and it was just, I mean, he was the greatest man in the world. When he talk, he'd bark And if we'd ever have some Yankees come in and be camp17:38 counselors, I'd have to, like, translate what coach Lee was saying to him because they couldn't understand. Because he'd say, good gracious. I ain't never in my life. And they'd like, what was he saying? So he said, good17:48 gracious. I ain't never in my life, but it doesn't mean anything. Okay? Just just that's what he's doing. And he called his wife, big buddy. Come here, buddy.18:01 I remember saying, she can hear you. Alright. But he loved her so much. It was cool. And so Johnny Rickenbacker gets up and he says, there is a verse18:12 that describes coach Lee, and you read Acts 11 24, and I want you to see a picture of this man, Bully. This is the man that led me to Jesus. He looks like a bull, don't he? Yeah.18:24 Good. I mean, he looks like a bulldog. That joker is tough as nails and tender as he could be. I mean, that joker is so strong. 1 time I saw him, he had this little tiny Toyota pickup truck. His ministry philosophy was,18:35 boy, get in the truck. He would tell me, get in the truck. We're going go hunting or fishing, whatever he's going to do and I remember that guy with, we had a 4 wheeler at camp and he he's like, boy, come here and help18:45 me load this thing up. Before I could get out of the truck, he leans over and puts the front end in with 1 hand and puts the back end in with the other. I thought, good gracious. That's the strongest man I've ever seen18:54 and the night I confessed Christ as my lord and savior, he cried like a little girl just watched The Notebook, man. He just hugged me and sob. Tough and tender. So, Johnny Reckenbacher at his funeral stood up19:06 and said, this is the verse that describes coach Lee. It's a verse in Acts verse chapter 11 verse 24. It's describing Barnabas but it says this, for he was a good man. Full of the holy spirit and the faith and a19:18 great many people were added to the lord. That that described coach Lee's life and when I heard that, I decided to get that marked on me. A few years ago, we were doing this series called19:30 Inked, alright? And I just got this little tattoo right here. I don't know if you've ever seen it. And I wanted to have marked on me the cross and the crown of thorns. In that verse, Acts 1119:42 24. He was a good man full of the holy spirit and faith and a great number of people were brought to the lord and I know some people don't like tattoos especially when the preacher has em and that's good. They probably19:52 won't come here. That's fine. We'll see em in heaven And if you wanna argue Levitical law. We love it. You know, have have fun. Right. So, if you got a tattoo, rock on. Actually, if you don't have 1, when you get in a20:02 tattoo, what's wrong with you people? So, I just got 1 because I wanna be like Jesus, right? You gotta read the book of Revelations. He says that he's gonna come back in his glory and on his leg will be written king of20:13 kings and lord of lords. I don't think that's crayon. I think it's permanent ink. Anyway, so that's just my interpretation. So, so here's the reason I put that on me forever and ever because I20:25 want, I would like to be like the man that led me to Christ, that coach Lee, it was easy to for Johnny Rickenbacker to stand up and say, this is a good man, full of the holy spirit and faith and a great number of people20:35 brought to the lord and Stephen Covey says, 1 of the things that you need to do is you need to think about what you want people to say about you at your funeral. We talked about it a few weeks ago because I don't know if20:46 you realize this but the, you know, the death rate in America right now, it's hovering right around 100 percent. I don't know if you realize that And so I began to think, what do I want people to say about me at my20:56 funeral? Because I'm a tell you, you know, you guys you gonna come to my funeral. Right? You better. Oh, yeah. If y'all don't all show up, I'm gonna be aggravated with you. Alright? We better be in overflow from my21:03 funeral. And y'all gonna show up, and you can cry and tell stories, and I hope you cry. Sing some sad songs, Ben Lita. Sing some sad songs. You get Michael w Smith in here and sing Friends Friends Forever. I don't21:15 care. Whatever you wanna do. And then at the end of it though, you're put me in a hole and throw dirt in my face. Everybody's gonna go somewhere and eat potato salad and fried chicken, and you're gonna talk. And some of21:26 the things you'll say will be, you know, kinda be weird. You know, people always say weird stuff at funerals. Like, he looks so natural. That's a weird thing to say about a dead guy, ain't it? But above all else, what I21:37 hope, I hope I can conduct myself in a way that you could say these 4 things about me that I was a good man, Full of the holy spirit, full of faith, and the great number of people are21:49 brought to the lord. I really don't care if you say there was a whole, you know, he led a big ministry or all of that. That is that is not my definition of success. My definition of success is Acts 11 2422:01 and I had a great model in coach Lee. So, it starts off that he was a good man. Coach Lee was a good man. He was a man of high moral character. Now, Jesus didn't or Luke here doesn't mean that you were perfect because22:13 Jesus said, nobody's good and what Jesus meant was, there's nobody that's righteous, that's nobody can be good enough to have a right standing before god. That that that has to be purchased for you22:24 by Christ's death and resurrection. So, the word here that that Luke uses in Acts is Agaphos. It just means a person of high moral character. That I want to be a good man not22:36 so that god will love me because that's not how it works. That he loves me anyway even though I'm a wretched, black hearted sinner. He loves me and I wanna have a clear view of the difference between my sinfulness and my22:48 savior and that that his love fills that gap, and I would be so motivated by the gospel that my life would be an expression of worship to him, not just the 4 songs we sing on22:59 Sunday, but the way I walk and talk and act and the things I do that you would be able to say, he was a good man. Listen, I wanna be a I wanna be a good man. I wanna be a man of high moral character. I want my word to23:11 mean something. If I tell you I'm gonna do something, I wanna do it. And if I realize that I have overpromised and gonna under deliver, I wanna tell you early because I'm not perfect. I wanna be the kind of man23:23 that is the kind of guy that's full of character, that I do what's right according to the word of god no matter the cost, no matter the circumstances. And I want to be a good husband.23:36 He said, when my days here on Earth are done and again, I hope I get a bunch of em but I hope that you will be able to say, man, that that man loved Gretchen. I mean, with23:47 everything he was made of, he loved that girl that that he really did live out. Ephesians chapter 5, husbands, love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.23:59 That I would be, I would be more about loving my wife and growing some kind of large organization. The Bible says, husbands love your wives. It tells every Christian to make disciples. The Bible says, Jesus will build24:09 his church and that I would be more focused on that. That you would never hear me say a mean or a hurtful thing about my wife that I would just lift her up and love her as Christ loved the24:20 church and that I would daily lay my life down for her and I want to be a good dad. I mean, I want to I want to just pour god's glory and the gospel into my kids and I got a24:32 7 year old little boy, JP and a 3 year old little girl, Reagan, and I love those little kids. Holy moly, I'm the most blessed man alive. I mean, I love em. I can't wait to get home this afternoon and walk in24:44 the door and see Reagan go, daddy's home as if I've been like out to sea forever. And I eat it up. I eat it up. And I wanna love them and have that kind24:56 of tough and tender relationship with them. And discipline them to maturity and discipline them because I love them. It's why I coach baseball. You know, on Thursdays before our25:08 7 22 worship service, I have baseball practice with JP and I'm not really cut out to be a great little league baseball coach, alright? 1 of our 1 of our disciple makers that's in NewGen right now, discipling 4th and 5th25:20 graders. He's our head coach and he's awesome with him. He huddles them all together. He's like, guys, you're doing such a good job. You're trying so hard and I want to go, no, you're not. That kid, you just you were25:30 digging a hole while we're trying to play the game. What is wrong with you? Alright? But I don't say that. I just want my boy to know that that my relationship with him is more25:42 important than my job. Amen. I want to be a good dad. Loves his kids. I had I had I had the the incredible opportunity to be there when when JP surrendered his life25:54 to Jesus. I can't wait for the day to step into the waters and he publicly professes Christ as lord and I get to baptize him and I can't wait for the day when Reagan's old enough to understand the gospel and god reaches26:05 down and regenerates her heart and draws her unto himself. I mean, I've been blessed like crazy That's the kind of man I want to be. A a good husband, a good dad, a good friend. Now, I know26:17 I got 3000 Facebook friends. So, I'm not talking about being popular. I can really care less about that but I want to be the kind of god that there's a few, there's a few people in this world that know that you can count26:28 on me, that I've got your back. Here's what the Bible says. The Bible says in in Philippians 1 27, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ and26:40 what that means is, I'm not trying to earn god's favor. I'm just trying to walk in the freedom that's been purchased by Christ on the cross. That I want my life to be a love song to god26:51 in all the days of my life. Ephesians says it this way, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which god prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.27:04 So, I want to be a good man. I gotta admit to you. I got a long way to go. I've got a long way to go. I am a selfish liar that sometimes at the same time can be arrogant and27:15 egotistical while, I mean, simultaneously just just seeking the applause of man instead of god. I got a long way to go and I know you guys send me great Emails about how27:27 great I am and it the reason is because you only see me right now at church, okay? And so, up here during this hour, I'm kind of awesome. I'm not saying what I do is awesome. I'm just saying, I've never lost my temper27:38 and cussed you out from here, alright? So, but in my own personal life, I got a long way to go. A long way to go And I understand 1st27:49 Corinthians 11 1, follow me as I follow Christ. That I've gotta lead us in high moral character. And it's the kind of man I wanna be. It's the kind of man Barnabas was. It's kind of man coach Lee28:02 was. It also says that he was a good man, full of the holy spirit. I want to be full of the holy spirit. Now, there are some people that elevate the gifts of the spirit above the holy spirit, okay? And as the28:13 church of 11 22, we believe in the full expression of the gifts of the holy spirit and we know that every Christian has at least 1 spiritual gift and no Christian has all the spiritual gifts. That's why god puts us28:24 together as a body. So, we we can help each other out and make up a body but I want to know him. I mean, I wanna be full of the Holy Spirit. 1 of the primary roles of the Holy Spirit is to28:35 draw us under the Father. In in Galatians 4 6, it says this, and because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into your hearts crying, Abba Father.28:48 That God deposits his holy spirit in every person that surrenders their life to the lordship of Christ, and 1 of the primary reasons is to draw you under the father so you can know28:59 him not just as almighty creator and judge, but you can know him as dad. That word Abba is actually it's kind of a slang term for dad. So it doesn't mean like father. You know, where I'm from,29:10 don't go father. That's not how we roll. It's daddy where I live. D I D D I. I think that's how you spell it. Alright, daddy. So, we said it. That I would have that close, intimate kind of relationship with god.29:23 When I talked to coach Lee, about god, he didn't talk about him as an abstract theological concept. There was no therapeutic moralistic deism there.29:35 He knew him. I mean, he talked about him like he knew him and his prayer life was rich. I remember some mornings, I would before counselor devotions, before all the kids would get up for camp, I would29:47 get up extra early and go out to the pond because the pond where we on the banks of it where we crucify Jesus every weekend, it was also blessed with some serious bass fishing, alright? And so I would get up early and29:59 head out to the bass pond and sometimes I would go where every time I'd go by and and and coach Lee's cabin, his little light would be on and 1 time I was gonna stick my head in there and invite him to go fishing with me30:07 because he loved to fish and I I poke my, I kind of look through the little window and coach Lee is just kneeled down on the cement floor by his cot just praying and I thought, man, that's awesome. I mean, I still went30:18 fishing but that was awesome. So, I go fishing and then on my way back in about an hour later, I come back and peek in and he's still right there praying and I thought, man, that's what I need to do, alright? So, the30:28 next day, I set my alarm and I got up in the morning and I kneeled down by my cot and I started praying and I'm laying it out there and I prayed for every sick person I could think of and I quoted every verse and I30:39 quoted the lord's prayer and I did it all and I thought, man, that is awesome. I look at 4 minutes. Holy moly. What's going on here? See,30:51 I want to be the kind of man that abides in him and he will abide in me. Yeah. Not so I can get something from him but just so I can get him. Like, I just desire his presence. I'm addicted to the31:02 manifest presence of god and and not some kind of miraculous, you know, glowing face kind of thing. I don't need all that. I just need him and so, there, I I just want to put myself in environments where I'm close to him31:15 and so that so that things like Jesus said will happen. He says, you know, that he's the shepherd and we're the sheep and the sheep know the shepherd and recognize his voice. I want to hear his voice and listen, as the31:26 pastor of our church, I need to hear his voice. I need to hear his voice. I want to be so tuned in, full of the holy spirit that god has an easy time directing my life that31:38 he doesn't have to shout with a megaphone but he can just whisper it to my heart and I go, alright, that's it. Here's what we're, here's where we're going. And so, parents, would you agree with me? If you've got a31:49 maybe an elementary age kid that early mornings during the school week, getting them ready for school. Isn't that just 1 of the most stress free, peaceful times of your life?32:02 So JP loves SpongeBob. Right? SpongeBob SquarePants. That's the dumbest thing I've ever seen. I know this is gonna make me sound old, but I am old, so I don't care. Remember when cartoons were like a cat and a mouse,32:13 they were just trying to kill each other and it was awesome? When did it become like a sea cucumber and an underwater squirrel? It's dumb, but he loves it. And so in the morning, you know, I'm barking out instructions32:23 because that's how I do. And I'm like, come on, JP. You gotta eat your cereal. It's like, I don't want this kind of cereal. You know what? Some kids don't even get to choose a kind of cereal. They're starving around the32:32 world. We got a picture of 9 of them on the refrigerator. Just eat your cereal. You know, that's kinda how we do in the spirit of Christian love. And then you go, alright. Now, you gotta brush your teeth. Can you just32:41 brush your teeth? I get a very specific instruction. Stand up from the table, walk into the bathroom, and brush your teeth. But on the way, you see SpongeBob, and he just stops.32:54 And I'm right here in his ear going, son, if you don't brush your teeth, your teeth are gonna rot out, you're gonna have stinky breath, you'll never get a girlfriend, We won't have grandkids, son. You gotta have mercy33:03 teeth. Any parents with me? Okay. Am I alone here? Okay. Good. Praise god. Bunch of wretched black art centers. Alright. So I literally have to go get the remote and pause33:15 SpongeBob and say, JP, and he goes, oh, hey. What? Are you not listening to me? What were you saying? And then I'm thinking, what is wrong with this child?33:27 Does he not know I am for him? I'm not against him. I mean, I'm trying to get his him to brush his teeth for his joy, not not just for mine. What kind of kid will get distracted by SpongeBob when33:39 their dad's right there trying to help them get ready? This gun. I mean, and you and I do the same thing every day, right? Yep. I am so easily distracted by the things of this world33:51 and god's not just right here beside me barking orders. The Bible says that that the spirit of god lives in me. That's what the Bible means when it says your body is a temple. That didn't mean it matters what you look34:02 like in a bikini. Can I get an amen? That means that that god lives in here and where god lives, that's the temple and I want to be full of the holy spirit. I want to be so dialed into god that he whispers to34:13 me direction from above and I am dialed in to be able to know what he wants us to do. That he was a good man, full of the holy34:25 spirit and again, I I want to be able to hear god not so that our church grows. I want to be able to hear him just because he loves me and I love him. So, we've got, you know, 7 year old boy, JP, 3 year old34:37 daughter, Reagan Capri, cutest human alive. You can't even argue with it, okay? And so, I'm laying on the couch the other night, and she comes in. It's her bedtime, and she's trying to play me. Right? So she climbs up34:48 onto the couch, and she says, daddy, I wanna hold you. And I don't care. Come on. Alright? You can sleep later. Come on. You nap in college. Get up here. Let's go. And just I35:00 didn't even ask for it. She's just laying there with a little blankie, and she just goes, dad, you're the best. I love you. Aw. And I thought, you don't ever have to go to bed ever again. I don't care.35:12 Turn your room in the office. You're sleeping every night. I don't care because I'm her daddy, and that's what god desires from you, that you would lean up into his arms. Say, daddy, you're the35:24 best. I love you. I want to be full of the holy spirit, the kind of man that loves god and hears from god. So, he was a good man, full of the holy spirit, and full of faith. Now, this was a big35:36 1. Coach Lee was full of faith, full of faith. Think about this, in a competitive world of high school athletics, here's a high school football coach, football coach that took every35:47 summer and did not spend at practice and summers and all that. He was at camp running camp. And every coach told him, you're you'll lose. You'll lose. You can't do that and be successful and the last35:59 year he coached, he won the state championship because he was full of faith. Now, listen, you need to hear this. The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is fear. Some of you have doubts. Well, welcome36:11 to the club. Are we all have doubts? You know what you do with your doubts and your questions and your concerns? You pick em all up and you follow Jesus and if he answers them, praise god and if he doesn't, whatever. You36:22 just pick em up and follow Jesus. The thing with adults is about doubts is sometimes, some of you are done with your doubts. Some of you doubt your beliefs and believe your doubts. You know what you need to do? You need36:30 to believe your beliefs and doubt your doubts. That's what you need to do and pick em all up and then follow after Jesus and Jesus, I mean, look through the New Testament. Jesus never, he never scolded somebody for36:41 having their doubts. Now, you can drown in a sea of doubts. James talks about that but look at how Jesus treated men and women in the scriptures that have doubts. In Mark chapter 9, there's this guy and he's got a son36:50 and the son is demon possessed and so he goes to the, some of you can relate, right? So, he goes to Jesus and he says, Jesus, if you can, will you heal my boy? And Jesus is like, if I can, who do you think you're talking37:01 to? You know, not, that's not exactly how he says it but that's kind of what he means and then Jesus says, anything is possible for him who believes and you know what the man says? I do believe, help me overcome my37:12 unbelief. He's saying, I got doubts and how does Jesus respond? He didn't go back in the line, sucker. I only do miracles for people with big faith. You know what he does? He heals the guy's boy37:25 and that guy had doubts or how about doubting Thomas? Remember him? Doubting Thomas? Which is kind of a kind of a bummer of a nickname for all of eternity, right? You're going bump into Thomas in heaven and be like,37:36 you're doubting Thomas. He's like, dude, I was an apostle. Back off. Okay? Except for all the miracles, what'd you do? Who are you? Alright? Well, Thomas, Thomas is a little bit like me. Thomas is a skeptic because I IShow more
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