How To Endure A Long Journey

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Amen.

Let's pray together.

Lord, when we sing the great lyrics to that hymn of the faith, we're not, that's not resignation or fatalism or us giving up.

It's us professing our understanding.

And we say, It is well with my soul.

I don't have to get my way all the time in order for me to believe in you and keep believing in you.

It is right with me.

The gospel has found me and unwound me.

So my soul is well, my soul is healthy.

And so, Lord, this morning we want to get the roots of our soul down into the rich, fertile soil of the book of Acts, Lord.

And we want to draw up nourishment because we want our faith to be strengthened and our soul to be nourished today.

From time in worship and in the word.

And so, Holy Spirit, you're here in this room right now.

And just continue to brood over us, Lord.

Illuminate the text today.

Cause it to make sense, and then because of that, cause it to make a difference in our lives this week, Lord.

This is our prayer.

We prayed in Jesus' name when everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

You could have a seat.

If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to Acts chapter 28.

Acts 28 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 28.

Acts 28 · chapter mention

And if you're our guest today, we're preaching through the book of Acts.

We've been in Acts for like seven years, and next week we finish.

I'm just kidding.

Uh, we're always going through the book of the Bible.

Imagine that.

Here's why.

Because you're not here to hear the personality of a person, you're here to understand the God of the universe who created you, and he created you with a purpose and a plan in mind, okay?

Uh and so I'll start reading Acts chapter 28.

Acts 28 · chapter mention

I'll start reading verse one.

I'll read the first 16 verses, but before I do, I want to say hello to a couple friends.

First of all, there's a young lady, she's 11 years old, she lives in New Mexico.

I met her right over here at our Christmas Eve service.

Her dad lives here in town, her mom lives in New Mexico, and and so she came up and her name's uh Bristol and she said, Hi, I watch your podcast every Sunday afternoon.

Yeah, and then in the back of my mind, I heard Jesus saying, Hey, if any if any of you makes one of these little ones stumble, you you should better for you that you have a millstone tied around your neck, you'd be throwing the ocean.

And so uh it's sobering.

So there's a young lady in in New Mexico that every Sunday afternoon she goes, I wait for it to be posted and I watch it in my bedroom all by myself.

Yeah, and I was like, okay, it's Christmas Eve.

Don't do that to me, young lady.

Uh and then the second person I want to say hi to is a young man named Jacob Style.

I met Jacob when he was in high school.

He lives outside Knoxville, Tennessee, and he drives in his job.

And Jacob just called one day, left a message for me in my office and said, Helen, if you remember me, I'm from Whitestone.

You came in and preached our church four or five times.

Man, I listened to your podcast, and the gospel still is making a difference up here in Tennessee.

So I just want to say hi to them and just let's be praying for them.

They're praying for us.

Uh, and may God's word go out, not just in this room, but all over the world because of technology.

Acts chapter 28, verse 1 says this.

Acts 28:1

Now, remember last week they they survived the shipwreck.

Now, today I want to talk to you how to endure a long journey.

What do you mean how to endure a long journey?

It's been two and a half years since Paul was given the assurance by God back in Jerusalem that, hey, you're gonna get to Rome, okay?

Despite all the trials and tribulations along the way, today he makes it to Rome.

All right.

Now, you say, What do you mean how to endure a long journey?

There's lots of journeys in this room right now.

You may not use that word, but some of you are on a journey in your parenting.

You're kind of like, oh, I thought toddl was bad.

Teenagers, whoa.

Uh some of you are in a no no no names.

Uh somebody, some of you like, preach, pastor, come on.

Uh, some of you are in a journey in your marriage, some of you are on a journey called infertility, uh, and it's starting to affect and inform the way you think about God.

Some of you are in a journey of caring for your aging parents.

Some of you are in a journey of finding meaningful friendships and relationships, and you're like, dude, I'm 45.

I don't have that many close friends.

What's going on here?

So I want to talk to you from the text about how to endure a long journey.

Uh, Acts 28, verse 1 says, after we were brought safely through, they just survived a shipwreck and they get up to the shore.

Acts 28:1

So after we were brought safely through, when we learned that the island was called Malta, the native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all because we had begun to uh it had begun to rain and was cold.

When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened onto his hand.

Hello, dude, I just survived a shipwreck.

I hit to the shore and I get snake bit.

But anyway, uh, when the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, No doubt this man is a murderer.

Though he escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.

He, however, shook the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

They were waiting for him to swell up or something and fall down dead.

But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune came to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, a man named Publius.

Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days, it happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery.

And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, he healed him.

And when he had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.

They also honored us greatly.

And when we were about to sail, they put us on board, they put on board whatever we needed.

After three months we set sail on a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead.

Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.

And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Regium.

And after about one day, a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Phuli.

Uh there we found brothers who were in who invited us to stay with them for seven days.

And so we came to Rome.

It all just very anticlimactically, and so we came to Rome.

And the brothers were there.

And when they heard about us, they came as far as the Forum of Appius and three taverns to meet us.

And on seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

And when he came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul finally sees these people and does two things.

He thanks God and he takes courage.

Let me begin this morning with a question.

Who is it that when you see them and you know I'm fixing to get time with this person?

I'm thanking God and I'm taking courage.

I'm gonna walk away from time with this man, with this woman, with my girlfriends or whatever, with my dudes.

I'm gonna walk away and I'm gonna have more courage than I did when I sat down at this table, okay?

How do you endure a long journey?

There's four things I want to point to in the text.

Number one, kindness helps.

Kindness helps.

Notice that the text describes it in verse one and two as unusual kindness.

Now, this refers to an expression of kindness that hits the mark.

That's the literal translation.

It's not, hey, this is what we're willing to do.

No, this is what we saw that you needed.

Now let me paint the picture in your mind again.

These cats have been on this boat for 24 days.

It's supposed to take five days' journey, but remember they couldn't turn and face the wind, so they were driven by the wind.

They're not steering the ship, they're bracing to embrace the shipwreck that is to come.

So they've been on the boat 24 days.

They went 14 days without eating, 14 days caught in the storm, no stars by which they could navigate.

Finally, they ate a little something.

They said, we got to throw the rest overboard to lighten the load so that this thing doesn't scrape bottom on the rocks, okay?

And so they eat a little bit, they chunk the rest.

They're cold and they're wet, which is a terrible combination.

Somebody asked me this week, would you rather be hot or cold?

Because the weather can't make its mind up.

Yesterday, spring has sprung, beloved.

Get your lawnmower ready.

It's coming, all right?

Somebody said, Would you rather be hot or cold?

I said, I'd rather be hot.

I don't like being cold.

The only thing works than being cold is being cold and wet.

Because you're like to the bone cold.

You're like, I'm gonna stand in the hot shower for 30 minutes.

This is what happens here.

And so this is unusual kindness, okay?

How do these people who see these strangers crawling up on their shore respond?

They build a fire and get them some food.

Why?

Because this is what hits the mark.

This is unusual kindness.

Ask yourself this question: When's the last time you experienced unusual kindness?

And when's the last time you facilitated somebody else experiencing unusual kindness?

See, this is the power of kindness because it hits the mark in people's life.

It's not what the islanders wanted to do or were willing to do.

They looked and they saw that Paul and his friends needed this to be done.

So they get to the shore.

There's 276 men on the boat.

How big is that fire?

This is the way my mind works.

I'm just like, ho, ho, ho.

I hear Deaf Leopard in the background.

No serenade, no fire brigade, just a pyro.

No.

Anyway, never mind.

It was on an eight-track, okay?

It was a long time ago.

Uh, I might have looked it up and played it in my office this week while I studied, and I was just like, Well, what do you want?

Anyway, I digress.

Uh some of you enjoyed that.

You're not, you're not saying anything because you're like, my kids are watching.

I don't know who Deaf Leopard is.

By the way, speaking of unusual kindness, the drummer of Deaf Leopard, this has popped into my mind, it must be the Holy Spirit.

The drummer, that's a joke.

Uh, the drummer of Deaf Leopard, unusual kindness, he was involved in a car accident, lost his arm.

And they said, dude, we're not drumming with anybody else.

He learned how to drum with his feet.

And they had a one-arm drummer in a rock band.

That's unusual kindness.

They said, he goes, Hey guys, I understand.

You guys, I'm out.

They said, You're not out, bro.

Figure this out.

And he did.

Unusual kindness takes many forms.

You see, kindness is not a fad or a program as much as a lifestyle.

Once it's learned, it's not easily forgotten, okay?

Uh, it involves showing first and talking second about the way Jesus lived.

Only about 10% of people in the American church are comfortable with the way we do evangelism.

Kindness is for the other 90%.

The deepest cynic and the and the harshest unbeliever cannot deny the existence of kindness when they taste it and see it.

I love what CN Bovey said.

He said, kindness is a language which the nonverbal can speak and the deaf can understand.

I would submit to you this morning, beloved, that the biggest threat to Christianity in America is not Islam, it's not Hinduism, it's not Buddhism, it's not the LGBT crowd, it's not the media, it's not even the Democrats that you like to hate on, or the Republicans if you like to hate on them.

The biggest threat to Christianity in America is the selfishness of the American Christian.

Oh to God that it was so easy to go, oh, yeah, all these other people, all these other religions.

They can't hold a they can't hold a candle to Christianity.

The biggest threat to America to Christianity in America is the American Christian who has a justification for every one of your preferences and every one of your prejudices.

Now you may be thinking that kind of thing sounds good, but I've never experienced it.

Sure you have.

Every one of you in this room has experienced this kind of kindness.

You say, I don't know what you mean.

Some of you are experiencing it right now.

Here's what it sounds like.

You ever do something that you know was wrong and then nothing bad happened after you did it, and so you think to yourself, well, maybe that was not as bad as I thought because nothing bad happened.

Uh, that's karma, which we'll get to in just a little bit.

Uh, but but I would just say to you, no, no, no, no, no, hear me.

Some of you in this room right now are living in willful, deliberate sin, and the thought, and you've had this kind of like a little tinge of, uh, I know this is wrong, but then you get the next day and you're like, nothing bad happened.

Maybe there's not a God after all.

Maybe I'm getting away with it.

Or maybe God progresses like the culture.

This is why people say, Man, bro, it's the 21st century.

Thank you.

I have a calendar.

No, no.

You are experiencing the kindness of God.

Allow me to demonstrate.

Romans chapter 2, verse 1 says this.

Romans 2:1

Therefore, you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges, for in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself.

Because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.

Do you suppose, O man, you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?

Pay attention to verse four.

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you're storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

I shared this in counseling not until long ago with a man.

And he said, So basically, God's like my bro.

How much time do you have, Skippy?

I said, No, no, no.

God's long-suffering and patient.

The Bible says in other places, things like he does not treat us as our sins deserve, which we'll get to in a minute.

But here's the equation: kindness, the kindness of God is intended to lead you to repentance.

He goes, and what if I never repent?

The revelation of God will ensure your righteous judgment.

Oh, yeah, don't presume upon God's kindness because he has other attributes.

He's not like your non-discerning grandparents who don't know what you're really like and keep giving you money out of the trust fund.

No, he will lay the wood to you when he's ready.

You're not getting away with anything.

You're not like, oh, clearly this isn't as bad because nothing bad happened.

No, no, no.

The kindness of God is intended to leave you to repentance, not presumption.

Here's the second thing that helps you involve a long journey.

You have to understand there's really no karma in the kingdom.

There's really no such thing as karma in the kingdom.

And the beloved, I was gonna say this this is more ingrained in our culture than I think any of us understand.

It sounds like this.

I'm manifesting abundance and practicing gratitude.

That's karma.

It is all over the place.

And I say no karma in the kingdom.

You say, What do you mean?

It's where the snake bites Paul's hand, verses three to six, and he shakes it off.

And they're like, Well, clearly that guy's a sinner.

He's gonna drop dead any minute now.

And then he doesn't, and they're like, Oh, well, he survived the sea, but this guy, no, no, no.

And then they're like, Well, he he's he's not a sinner and he doesn't deserve death.

He's a god.

Again, that's just karma in the positive.

When I say no karma in the kingdom, understand this.

Karma is not humanity's attempt to explain the world as much as karma is humanity's attempt to control the world through our own behavior.

Let me say that again.

Karma, which is very popular, it is infect, it has infected the American Christian and the American church.

It's not our attempt to explain the world as much as it's our attempt to control the world through our own behavior.

Here's what I mean.

We create a world where we are ultimately in charge, and therefore, there's no need to submit or to surrender to anyone.

It sounds like this whatever you put out in the universe, that's what you get back.

Here all the time.

I was listening, somebody sent me a link the other day and said, Hey man, this is my life coach.

What do you think?

And I said, Your life coach is a new age guru.

Your life coach was birthed in a Navajo sweat lodge or something.

He's been he's been following uh uh who's the quarterback who used to be uh uh of the Packers and they didn't want him?

Aaron Rodgers, yeah.

Aaron, too much haya washa going on here, okay?

And karma is everywhere.

And by the way, look at me.

Karma was in the Bible.

People thought, oh, karma.

Don't turn there, but John chapter 9, the disciples are rolling to a town with Jesus and they said, Rabbi, who sinned that this man was born blind?

John 9 · chapter mention

But was it his sin or his parents' sin?

Jesus said, Hey, knuckleheads, it's neither one of them sin.

This man was born this way so that the works of God could be manifested in him.

Or, and I brought this for you, Luke chapter 13, verse 1, Jesus is talking.

Luke 13:1

He said there was some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.

Hard stop.

Get your head around that.

What?

These Galileans, Pilate had mixed their blood with their sacrifices, they were at the temple offering sacrifices.

And Pilate said, You like a sacrifice, I'll just sacrifice you.

And everybody's like, uh, clearly they had sinned in their lives.

Because Jesus goes on to say this, and he answered them, Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in that way?

Karma.

He says, No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Or those 18, Jesus said, You want to bring up examples?

What about those 18 guys at the Tower of Saloon fell and killed them?

Do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?

No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

See, a karma attempts to explain life's randomness by providing an answer for what happens to us.

Yet in doing so, here's the biggest problem with karma: it leaves no room for grace.

Let me give you four core problems with karma.

Because I just plunged on this and I was like, oh, a lot of self-help gurus, a lot of uh of karma talk out there.

So just four core problems with karma.

Number one, you're responsible for everything that happens in your life, both good and bad.

You're responsible.

If you believe in karma, for everything happens in your life, both good and bad, you release positivity in the universe, you get positivity back.

This is a works-based system of living.

And at the end of the day, you have no one to blame but yourself for whatever occurs in your life.

You get the blame, and here's the real payoff.

You also get to take the credit.

You get to blame, we don't like that part, but you get to take the credit.

It sounds like this I'm a self-made man at its core.

That's an expression of you believe in karma.

I just made the right decisions.

I did good and good has found me.

That's the way it works.

I would just suggest that's math, not music.

And the kingdom is music.

Here's another thing about karma.

You need neither prayer nor worship.

You don't need to pray and you don't need to worship.

Why?

You pray when it's bad, you worship when it's good.

Why ask and why think when you can control everything just by releasing positivity in the universe and then getting positivity back?

If all you want is positivity, you don't need the person of Jesus.

Here's a third thing about karma.

You have no explanation for trauma or tragedy.

Let us start by this one.

Because you have heard this and you will hear it in your life going forward.

You have no explanation for trauma or tragedy.

Why?

In karma, everything is proportional.

I've heard this many times.

I'm a good person.

Why is this happening to me?

Or as one guy said, I've never done anything this bad.

How could something like this inflict my family?

I'm like, it's not about what you've done or haven't done.

Here's the last one.

Karma nullifies the reality of grace.

Karma nullifies the reality of grace because at its core, karma is a misrepresent, misrepresents God's nature and his posture towards humanity.

Uh, I want to read from the 103rd Psalm.

This is verse 8 to 14.

There's a verse in here, I want you to get tattooed on your back, okay?

Never forget this, all right?

This is what the Bible says.

It nullifies grace.

What do you mean?

103rd Psalm says this the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.

Hear that again.

This is what impels the nonsense, the stupidity of karma on the character and the nature of God.

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities, and that should make you go, well, see, I'm gonna just sin more.

No, you should be asking yourself, why would I not want to know a God like that?

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust.

Grace exposes karma for what it is.

It's man's attempt to simply control the world and not rely or submit to God on any level for any reason.

Karma is one of the most self-centered systems of belief that's ever been invented.

Here's the third thing about if you're going to survive a long journey, you got to believe that the kingdom comes.

The kingdom comes.

What do you mean?

It's verses 7 to 10.

He says, Now in the neighborhood, uh hear this.

Now the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably.

Now, by the way, those are two different things.

You can receive somebody and not entertain them hospitably.

Entertained us hospitably for three days.

It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery.

And Paul visited him and prayed and put his hands on him.

He healed him.

And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.

They also honored us greatly.

And we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed for 276 men.

Because there's always, look at me, beloved, there's always a response to the kingdom.

When the kingdom comes, I say we mean the kingdom.

The kingdom means like thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

When you set the kingdom down, unbeliever pagans in this island in the middle of nowhere are like, oh my gosh, how do we respond?

Hey, what do you guys need?

276 of you?

Not a problem.

We got that in the pantry.

All right, let's load it up, boys.

So when I say the kingdom comes, uh, you you have to understand what I mean by the kingdom to understand what I mean when I say the kingdom comes.

So I brought a video of a young lady who's miles ahead of me at this age at her understanding of the kingdom.

So this is what I mean by the kingdom.

Not our own.

Our kingdom does not have to be the three foot circle we stand in, and the very few minimal things we can control.

There is a king, and his name is Jesus.

And he has done immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine to redeem this world from the darkness that you see all around you, that you experience day in, day out.

That is king that loves you, that is coming after you.

He Wants you.

And he doesn't want to save you so that you can have a white picket fence and kids that all get along, that all play the sports you want them to play, and a retirement that matches all your wildest dreams.

He wants to save you from the smallness of that three-foot circle so that your life in all of its pain and suffering and hardship has meaning, has significance, has eternal impact.

That is salvation.

It is not abandoned on your problems.

It is deep and rich and juicy and savory and good.

Yeah.

Some of you know this, some of you don't.

That's my firstborn.

And she's that way because her mom said, I don't care what size house we live in, I'm gonna be home with my kids.

And my wife took her to the Tate Center.

Before Neri's promise, there was a Tate Center.

And she'll put that two-year-old on her hip and walk out the door and go, We're going to the ocean to fish.

And that kid grew up around impoverished people.

And when she was four, she kept going.

And when she was five, she kept going.

And so she's now the pastor of discipleship at her church in Richardson, where a friend of mine goes and he sent me this and said, You guys did well.

And I said, It's mostly my wife's doing.

But that's the kingdom.

That's how we talk to our kids.

We didn't catechize our kids with Bible studies.

We catechized our children at the kitchen table where we talked about setting the kingdom down.

Now, what where do you get the kingdom comes when you we talk about these guys being healed?

Let me read to you from Luke chapter 10, verse 1.

Luke 10:1

Just to give you a context for what we mean by the kingdom.

The kingdom, by the way, is the realm, it's not a bunch of nerds in the basement of the Ram's house playing risk or strategica, okay?

It's the realm within which what God wants done gets done.

It's as simple as that.

Luke chapter 10, Jesus said it like this.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

After this, the Lord appointed 72 others, and he sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.

And he said to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into the harvest.

Go your way.

Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves, carrying no money, no knapsack, no phone, no phone charging cord, no backpack, no sandals, no money, no parents' credit card, and greet no one on the road.

Whatever house you enter first, say, peace be be to this house.

And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him.

But if not, it will return to you.

And remain in the house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages.

Do not go from house to house.

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you.

Heal the sick in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you.

This is the only explanation for healing in the Bible.

It's not Paul had the gift of healing.

It's that the kingdom of God has come near to you.

But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go in its streets and say, Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you.

Nevertheless, know this that the kingdom of God has come near.

I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

Miracles happen in the Bible.

They didn't happen all the time, but when they did happen, it was usually for some different reasons.

Okay, Paul here heals everybody on the island.

Just stop right there and get your head around that in Acts 28.

Paul heals every heals this one, Publius' dad, the chief man Publius, hey, your dad's sick.

Paul goes over and heals him.

Word gets out, and everybody that's got something going on shows up.

I mean, Paul could like be mayor of the island in the next day.

By now you should be thinking, okay, this is great.

Why doesn't God do that here in America?

I gotta, I gotta stay with me.

I gotta I got a great question for you.

And it's simply this.

What if our lives today played the role that miracles played in the New Testament?

Let me say it again.

Then I'm gonna give you four reasons for miracles in the New Testament.

I want you just to think, look at your life through the lens of this.

What if our lives?

I'm just asking, I'm not telling.

What if our lives are supposed to play the role that miracles played in the New Testament?

You say, well, I don't know.

What's four reasons for miracles in the New Testament?

Hear these through the lens of your life.

Number one, they demonstrate God's power and authority.

When Jesus would heal somebody, they say, by what authority do you do these things?

He's like, My own.

It's both positional and personal.

Yes.

Miracles demonstrate God's power and authority.

Secondly, they validated the messengers, they attracted public awareness quickly for the preaching of the gospel.

That's why, way back in Acts 4, when Peter and John healed that guy, they said they says they observed them as ignorant and uneducated men, but they recognized them as having been with Jesus.

Thirdly, it immediately piqued people's interest in the kingdom of God.

Immediately people are like, Whoa, what do you mean the kingdom has come near me?

Years ago, some friends of mine all chipped in uh the right a group of people I'm a part of called the Righteously Anonymous and bought a guy a car.

And we showed up and gave him the keys and he fell to the ground and we said, Bro, you got to get up, by the way.

You got a car, you ain't gotta walk anymore.

And he said, How do I explain this?

And I said, Today the kingdom of God has come to you.

And he's like, I have no idea what that means.

Now you do.

This is not about these people standing here.

This is about the kingdom of God.

What God wants done gets done in the kingdom.

Immediately piqued people's interest in the kingdom of God.

Ray Wiley Hubbard, that great theologian, said this.

Some of you like, look, he's a Texas musician, uh, hilarious old man.

He's like just a coder of an old guy, writes great songs.

He said this.

I was about six years old and I realized you get more attention for burning down the barn than carrying out the trash.

Now, why did he say that?

Because he burnt the barn down when he was six.

Now, look at me.

Why am I telling you that?

When Jesus would heal somebody or Paul would heal somebody, it was it was it it's mind-blowing as burning down the barn.

He's like, now who do you want to talk to?

It immediately piqued people's interest in the kingdom of God.

You should be asking yourself right now, miracles of my life.

Again, the question is, what if our lives play the role of miracles in the New Testament?

Does your life pique anybody's interest about the kingdom of God, or are you just building the kingdom of you?

Lastly, it establishes a platform for the gospel.

Paul doesn't say, hey, come back tomorrow and I'll heal Bill over there with the hair lip and limping Lucy, and we'll see what else we can do.

No, healing happened and it was followed by the proclamation of the good news of the gospel.

Where you see gospel saturation, you don't see many miracles.

Let me say that again and then think if this reminds you of any country.

Where you see gospel saturation, you don't see many miracles.

Because we're not preaching the gospel.

We just want to see the show.

Here's the last thing.

You still with me?

Got serious here for a minute.

You feel that?

I ain't here to rescue you from it.

Because again, I'm just asking, what if our lives today play the role of miracles in the New Testament?

Just look at those four things.

Think about your life.

Not that we ain't got to heal anybody in America.

The most gospel saturated country in the world.

Here's the last thing the text tells us this this helps you along the way, okay?

On the via, on the journey.

The kingdom is communal.

That's verses 11 to 16.

Just hear it again.

After three months, we set sail.

Three months they wintered there on that island.

Can you imagine after healing everybody up?

I bet Paul didn't pay for a drink ever that whole time.

He just walked in, he's like, hello, who am I?

After three months, we set sail on a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria with the twin gods as figurehead, putting in at Syracuse.

We stayed there for three days.

And from there we made a circuit around and arrived at Regim.

After about one day, a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Pachuli.

There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days.

Again, they don't know these people, they're just Christians, brothers.

And they say, Hey man, come stay with us for seven days.

Who does that?

Y'all shut your garage door if your neighbors are out in the driveway because they may want something.

My God, honey, hit the button, they're looking.

Seven days.

They're just like rolling in.

It's like my house is not clean.

We can't really have people in.

No, they're like, hey, get up, dog.

You can sit right there.

I'm good.

No.

Hear this.

And so we came to Rome.

And the brothers, again, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius, 43 miles away, and three taverns to meet us, 33 miles away.

On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

This is what I mean when I say the kingdom was communal.

It's not a solo endeavor.

All right.

And when they came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

Let me just say it like this.

I am struck by how communal Christians in the first century were and how solitary Christians in the 21st century are.

I'm struck by how communal.

Amen.

I don't know you.

I'm a Christian.

You're a Christian.

Come on.

I mean, you ain't got a place.

Stay with me.

Seven days.

They were entertained hospitably for three months by these people.

They just happened to wreck a ship on their shore.

It's a great line, old indigo song.

I sailed my ship of insecurities until it sank, and I'm crawling upon your shore.

Here come these cold, wet, tired, hungry men.

They said, That's okay, bros.

We got a bonfire and we got some good grub.

Let's get down to it.

And God sets the kingdom down because the kingdom is communal by nature.

Now, I by the way, I wanted years ago, I wanted to change the name of our church.

And one of the things, one of my names was Three Taverns.

That didn't go over well.

The elders were like, What?

Because it talks about these crazy places in here, you know, the form of Appius and Three Taverns.

Basically, they were like the Buckeys of the day.

Okay?

Whenever I'd make a road trip, that one you saw on the screen was little or sister, we wouldn't get backed out of our driveway.

They'd have their headphones on how long till we get the buckies?

We're going to Dallas.

Yeah, but they're the Buckies.

The Buckeys is about two hours away.

It's at mile market 142.

Listen, you little nerd, how you know that?

I have a I have a photographic memory.

And she does.

And I was like, wow, okay, it is at mile in Madisonville.

It's at mile marker 142.

Uh Appias, the form of Appius and Three Taverns, was like a Bucky's.

It was just a resting place.

It was like people would lodge there, okay?

Now, by the way, I I wanted to, one of my names was Three Taverns, and I was like, that brings up bad things.

Uh, here's a church that's called Three Taverns.

Here's their mission statement.

I'll read it to you.

Part of it.

Three Taverns was a real place some 2,000 years ago on the Appian Way, just outside of Rome.

It was a traveler's rest and is mentioned in the book of Acts.

We don't know much about it, but from stories we're told, it was a place of thanksgiving and communal hospitality.

We imagine Three Taverns is a place where we travelers in the ancient world found rest, community, and conversation centered around food and drink at the table.

Though the world has changed immensely since the days of the Roman Empire, the culture of the table has been a constant throughout the ages.

At Three Taverns, we believe as we gather at the table and share our lives together over good food and drink, we are formed at our best as humans.

That's like being part of a church like that.

Well, here's the bad news.

That's not the mission statement of a church.

That's the mission statement of a brewery in Decatur, Georgia called Three Taverns.

Now I know some of you are thinking, missions meant men's mission trip.

Yes.

Look at me.

Look at me, and I'm done.

Here's my concern.

And I have many.

But here's my concern.

We let the culture have what God entrusted to the church.

And they're doing better at it than we are.

Hear it again.

We imagine three taverns as a place.

Why do they have to imagine?

Why do people, a guy and his two buddies, went on a road trip to Belgium and they tasted some some rare beer and they're going, let's go back and make this?

Got home brewing kits.

They've got a brewery in Decatur, Georgia, they've got an extension in Atlanta, and they quit their jobs.

They're crushing it.

Again, why does the world have to imagine what the church should be incarnating?

We imagine three taverns as a place where we travelers in the ancient world found rest, community, and conversation centered around food and drink at the table.

Let me run it back one more time.

We imagine Grand Parkway as a place weary travelers in the ancient world found rest, community and conversation centered around food and drink at the table.

Let me run it back one more time.

We imagine our house is a place where weary travelers in the ancient world found rest, community and conversation centered around food and drink at the table.

Well, God entrusted to the church.

We have forfeited, and the community has picked it up and said, Thank you.

We'll do better with this.

Where do you go to find rest and community and conversation?

And how many weary travelers are out there right now who are in the middle of a long journey with no end in sight and they're looking for rest and community and conversation.

Some of you got an email from me a week or two ago about community groups like, no, who do you think he is?

I'm the man that sees that there's people that would long to experience what happens in your community group, but you're like, no, we're fooled.

No, you're not.

You're selfish.

If that offends you, I'll be right here after the service.

We're failing at what God entrusted to the church.

And the communities come along, the cultures come along and said, Thank you, church, we'll take that.

How many are just looking for this place where weary travelers can find rest and community and conversation?

This is why God designed the kingdom to be communal by nature.

Now, that was my baby girl.

She was 26.

That was home last year.

She was 26.

Now, when she was 16, I would say to her, the world is not the three-foot circle you're standing in.

Stop trying to convince me that it is.

You are so frustrating, Dad.

I know it's tough being right in a world full of people who are wrong.

And she would slam her bedroom door and I would hear, I'd go up to the door and go, You think that's the first time I've heard a woman make that growling noise?

Have you not met your mother?

The world, and I'm done.

The world is still full.

Fort Bend County is still full of people who are weary travelers and they're looking for rest, community, conversation, connection centered around food and drink at the table.

That's just what it is.

And God comes along and says, Hey, I've designed this thing called the kingdom, and it is hardwired for you to experience that.

And not only is it up in the pie in the sky, sweet by and by when you die, no, it it's right here.

The kingdom of God comes right here, right now.

It'll come in fullness later, but it's already here.

We're not ruled by karma.

And by the way, along the journey, kindness helps.

Okay?

Let's pray together.

If you're our guest, just relax.

We'd like to teach the Bible and then give you some space to think about it.

Some questions come up on the screen.

These are for our contemplation and consideration now and the next time we get together for community groups.

We believe that Christianity is engages not just your heart, your feelings, but your mind, how you think.

It challenges your intellect, it makes you a kinder person, broader, wider, deeper, fuller, more juicy, not dry and crispy around the edges all the time.

Able to say yes when you would probably say no.

The Holy Spirit, just brood over us, if you would, for just a moment.

Don't let us up, don't let us out.

Just brood over us.

Oh God, when we say take my life, we're not giving you a present.

There's no nobility in that statement.

When we say, take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord to thee, we're not giving you a gift.

We're returning stolen property.

It wasn't ours to begin with.

That's why the Bible says, Don't you know that you're not your own.

You've been bought with a price.

Therefore, glorify God with your body.

God, deliver us from being little babies who cry about our rights and now we're nobly giving you our life.

It's yours to begin with.

You knit us together in our mother's womb.

We didn't do that.

Deliver us from the smallness of us and deliver us into the vastness of who you are and your plan for our life in this thing called the kingdom.

This is our prayer we pray today in Christ's name, and everyone said, Amen, amen.

If you're our guest today, let me say thanks for being here, okay?

We love you.

We want you to understand that the king is one.

We're not out here trying to fight some cultural battle.

We're here to appropriate the victory of the king over all the lesser kingdoms of this world, okay?

And so that drives the bus around here.

We talk a lot about the kingdom because that's what Jesus talked about.

All right.

And so if you have any questions of anything you saw or heard today, we'll be available down front.

We'd love to answer any questions, pray with you.

If you're like, dude, I'm in the middle of a journey and I think I'm out of gas, and Bucky's is a long way from here.

Come to us.

We want to say, hey, get on my back.

I'll carry you for the next few miles, okay?

Or I'll get a siphon hose, I'll siphon gas out of my tank and put some gas in your tank.

All right.

Be around people that encourage you, from whom you take courage, and you just walked away, you're like, all right, all right, I can do this, okay?

Uh, if you're a guest, all we ask of you is just text the word welcome, that number on the screen.

All right.

It gives us a record you're here.

We'll shoot you a text back and we'll let it go naturally where it needs to go from there, all right?

Always have things going on in the life of our church.

And so we make you aware of those by way of our video announcement.

So check that out this morning.

Here's what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

Today is Community Group Sunday.

On the first and third Sundays of each month, community groups meet across Fort Bing County for fellowship, sermon-based discussion, and prayer.

To get involved or try one out, visit the community group page on our website to view the listings.

Make an impact at Neary's Promise.

This Tuesday, March 4th, from 5 to 6 p.m., you have the opportunity to be part of God's work in our community.

Whether it's playing with kids, leading a Bible study, sharing the gospel, or simply being the hands and feet of Jesus, your presence makes an eternal difference.

Whether you've served many times before or this is your first time, come with fresh eyes and anticipation for God to move.

Men's Golf Scramble.

The men's ministry is hosting a golf scramble on March 20th at 11 a.m.

at the golf club at Sinker Ranch.

For$85, your entry includes range balls, scramble participation, contests, prizes, and a hot dog buffet in the clubhouse.

Finally, the gathering, a night for women.

Join us on March 23rd from 6 to 8 p.m.

in the gathering room for a meaningful night of conversation and learning.

This year's topic is parenting, so if you have children of any age or hope to in the future and have questions, this event is for you.

A panel of seasoned women will share real life experiences and wisdom.

Dinner and childcare are provided.

For more information or to register for these events, please visit our website at grandparkway.org.

If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

We like to conclude our service with a spoken blessing.

So if you would hold your hands out, stand to your feet.

Karma is a lie.

The kingdom is the truth.

And the king is one.

Depart and live in these three simple realities, so you'll have all the life you can handle.

In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.