Salvation and Its Importance

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Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord, for what you did on the cross is still relevant in this very moment.

And the reality is that there is no, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

But he gets better.

Not only have you absolved us of our guilt, but your blood cleanses us from shame.

So, Holy Spirit, I lift up anyone right now in this room that's dealing with ongoing shame, whether it's toxic shame or whatever.

You don't just forgive us, but you cleanse us, Lord.

Thank you for who you are and what a gift it is that the the hands that hold my future were nailed on a cross at one point.

So you love us and you have us.

And I pray now that as we transition into the reading and learning from your word, God, would you be yourself in our space?

Be yourself in this room.

It's in your beautiful name I pray.

Amen.

Good morning.

How are we good?

Hey, good to be with you.

If you have your Bibles, would you go ahead and grab those and go to Acts chapter 15?

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

If you don't have a Bible, you can just relax.

This is a text we're gonna be reading from.

I'll be teaching from.

He's gonna appear here on the screen, but I'm gonna be going in Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

It's another long passage.

I'm gonna be in the first 21 verses of Acts chapter 15.

Acts 15 · chapter mention

Now, um we're in the pretty much in the center of the book.

And when I say center, I don't mean just the center as it is numerically.

This is about 28 chapters, this is chapter 15.

Isaiah 15 · chapter mention

So center, I don't just mean the center of the book, but this is this passage that we're gonna look at this today, um, is key.

It's key in the development of the book of Acts, and it's also key for the rest of your New Testament.

Matter of fact, I would argue, okay, I would argue that books of the Bible like Galatians and Romans are just religious gibberish if you don't understand what's gonna happen in Acts 15.

Okay, so this is a very, very important section.

I'll set it up like this.

There was a music critic um named David Hajdu.

He was a he's a writer, he's a professor, he's a music expert.

Okay, I think he's a professor at Columbia.

He's known, he's forgotten more music than we all know.

And one day he was in New York, this music critic, and he stopped into a jazz club, a little jazz spot, and he wasn't expecting much.

And he watched a little band perform.

There's a small combo of musicians, and as he's listening to them perform, they're really pretty good.

And he looks to the side of the stage, and he noticed that the trumpet player has his back turned to the audience, and he looks closely and he thinks, I think I know that guy.

And then he finally turns to someone and goes, Hey, is that is that Winton Marcellus?

Now, we have rodeo tickets down here.

We don't know who that is, but that's a a world, that's that's above our that's a he's a world-renowned trumpet player.

So he turns and goes, Is that Winton Marcellus?

And whoever he was with goes, no.

Okay, why would a world-famous jazz trumpeter be playing back up in a small combo on a weeknight in Manhattan?

His booking price is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There's no way that's him.

Well, about the fourth song, okay, the guy who was um leading this band calls him up to the very front, and this man starts playing the song, I don't stand a ghost of a chance with you.

And friends, you can't hide genius.

And what happened, as you can tell by my appreaching, right?

Um, I gotta get that one off.

It's it is what it is.

Um you can't hide it, and you he starts playing this song.

Uh I can't stand the ghost of a chance with you.

He starts playing this song uh masterfully, and people start leaning in and they're realizing who he is, and they're mem mesmerized by this music, and it's going on and on and on.

And as he's playing, people are leaning at the edge of their seats, and at the very end, the trumpets are almost sound, they sound like words, and I don't stand a ghost of a chance with and at the most dramatic point, someone's phone goes off, and there's giggling and there's groaning, and the person tries to turn it off, they answer the phone and they go outside.

And this man is on stage, went to Marsalis.

Okay, the whole room is giggling and groaning.

He starts playing the ringtone of the song they just played on that phone, and he's playing it so well, people start leaning in, and when he sees that they start leaning in, he finishes the word with words, with you.

The song was over, okay, and there was a huge ovation.

What happened there?

Beautiful music, and then there was a beeping interruption, and then this clash, this conflict led to an incredible moment where actual millions of musicians have learned from that moment.

So we have beautiful music, a beeping interruption that led to something even greater.

In that same way, Paul and Barnabas, we've been looking at these two, they just get back to home base.

They get back to a church in Antioch.

This is home base.

This is the church that sent them out.

They get back from the first international mission trip and they're coming back home with stories of conversions and miracles.

God worked with them.

We spoke boldly, God acted miraculously.

We proclaimed by speech, God confirmed by signs.

We natural speech by us, supernatural work of God.

So there that's music.

That's the music.

And what we're gonna see here is there's a beeping interruption, there's a complete buzzkill to that.

But that clash leads to a conflict, and that conflict leads to a conference, and that conference or that or that council leads to a conclusion that should make us stand up and clap.

And that's all here in chapter 15.

I'm gonna read the first 21 verses.

It's a longer passage, so hang with me.

It says this.

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.

So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through the both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.

When they had when they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.

But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, It is necessary to circumcise them in order to in order to order them to keep the law of Moses.

The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did to us.

And he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ just as they will.

And all the assembly fell silent.

And they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

And they finished speaking.

And when after they finished speaking, James replied, Brothers, listen to me.

Simeon or Simon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his own for his name.

And with his and with this, the words the prophets agree, just as it is written, after this I will return, I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen, I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it.

That the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who make the who makes these things, who makes these things known from of old.

Therefore, my judgment is that we should not dr trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write them to abstain from the things that are polluted by idols, from sexual morality, and from what has been strangled from the blood.

And from blood.

For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him.

For he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.

Okay, it's the word of the Lord.

Now, um what's happening here in the book of Acts is that the good news is going global.

Okay, this is not just for holy huddles.

The good news is what we would see as this calls the good infection.

It's going global, and it's going to the rest of the world, namely the Gentiles.

Okay, in the Old Testament, we actually have a prophecy.

We get to eavesdrop on the Father talking to the Son, and he tells the Son, I will make you a light for the nations that my salvation may reach the end of the earth.

That's what's happening here.

A door has swung open.

That's how the last chapter ends.

That there'd be a door of faith open to the Gentiles.

But this chapter, people are standing in the way of that door.

They're being bad bouncers.

They are the beeping interruption, and that causes a conflict that we can actually learn from.

This text answers the timely question: hey, what do you need to know about salvation?

Okay, what do you need to know about salvation?

Number one, salvation is a topic worth fighting about.

Salvation is a topic worth fighting about.

Look at verses one and two again.

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised, according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.

Now, oftentimes Christians can believe the lie that in Christianity the name of the game is be nice.

The name of the game is play nice, but that's not actually what we see here.

Okay, how does Paul and Barnabas react?

Okay, there is no small dissension and there is debate with them.

Or as soon as your Bible says they argued vehemently, or others your Bible say, um, there was a sharp dispute.

Okay, none of those words denote that what they did was hold hands and sing, all you need is love.

Okay, that that did not happen.

Their mindset is listen, salvation is not a side issue.

This is the bullseye of the Bible.

How to be made right with God.

And we can't just agree to disagree, we can't agree to disagree.

So there is an issue, this is an issue at the core of Christianity, and it had to be solved.

So let's duke it out.

Let's fight about it.

Let's debate and debate and debate until we're blue in the face.

Let's go to sleep and wake up and debate some more.

Let's fight about this.

Okay, this is worth fighting about.

And this actually isn't unique.

This strong language of the sh argued vehemently, the strong debate, no small dissension, this actually isn't unique just to this section or this passage.

Okay, Galatians chapter one um says this.

I want you to hear Paul's words when it comes to people messing up or getting the doctrine of salvation wrong or lying about the doctrine of salvation, he says this.

But even if we, even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one that we preach to you, let him be accursed.

Let him be accursed.

As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

Okay?

This is strong language.

What he's saying here is if someone tells you there's any other way to be saved, even if it's us, even if we double back and come back to Galatians and say, hey, we had it wrong the first time, even if it's us or an angel from heaven, if somebody comes and tells you there's another way to be saved, okay, may that person be under God's judgment.

May that person go to hell.

That's a bizarre thing to find by an apostle, but that's strong language.

He's using strong language because this is a crucial topic.

Now, the question is how how do we fight?

How do you and I fight?

On one hand, we we fight like this, right?

There's all sorts of doctrines about how to be saved.

Amen.

You you're called to fight for this.

You're called to fight for this.

This is the Bible gives us the way to be saved.

I'm gonna talk about here a little bit where you fight like Paul, you fight like them, and you debate and you debate, you debate if you have to.

On another, I want to encourage you to fight a little bit differently as well.

Okay, the elephant in the room today is me.

I'm the elephant.

Um today, I this is this is my last Sunday.

I've announced February 18th that this is gonna be my last sermon um um here on staffs.

And and what I want to say is this uh that this church will continue to grow.

And I said this last time, and right before I started working here, somebody said that that church is about to blow up in the best way.

And I still vehemently believe that.

As this church continues to grow, the drift of the outside culture will try to pull this place to make it about something else other than how to be right with God.

To make it about something other than salvation.

I want to just tell this church, listen, fight to keep salvation the main thing.

Fight to keep the gospel the main thing.

Be creative, be compassionate, be culture aware, be yourself, but fight to keep salvation the main thing.

Why?

Because salvation is a topic worth fighting about.

What else can we learn about salvation?

Number two, salvation creates repetitive celebrators.

It creates repetitive celebrators.

Look at verses three and four.

It says this.

So being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.

When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they declared all that God had done with them.

Now I have a picture here, um, here on the screen.

This right here is the trip that they would have taken.

So remember, um, Antioch is the sending church.

Okay, the the the apostles were were set apart, they were they were filled, they were sent from Antioch.

That's that's that's home based to Paul and Barnabas at this point.

So people are coming into Antioch and telling them, hey, um this is there's another way to be saved.

This is the this is the circumcision, it's the law of Moses.

So now they're going down, they've been sent down.

And what you see there is on the way to Jerusalem, okay, on the way to Jerusalem, there are some towns there.

There's Phoenicia and there is Samaria.

And he they stopped, they probably had pit stops at this in these in these cities, and they did what they always do.

The typical of them, they talked about what God has done.

They talk about what God did on their mission trip.

They do this when they get to Antioch, they do this on their way to Jerusalem.

When they get to Jerusalem, they do the same thing, and when they are in the in the council at Jerusalem, they do the same thing.

They cannot help but to celebrate by proclaiming about what God had done.

They celebrate salvation by bring by being a broken record.

They celebrate salvation by being a broken record.

Why?

Because celebration is a natural response to salvation.

Celebration is a natural response to salvation.

Matter of fact, um, if you like read your Old Testament, the God of the universe codifies that he writes within their laws, hey, remember how I saved you from Egypt?

Okay, here are some party rules.

I need you to party about this several times a year.

And you're gonna eat foods and go through rituals that remind you of what it was like to walk through that water, and you're gonna do this, and your kids are going, man, that's weird.

Teach them what happened.

Why?

Because there's a direct correlation between celebration and salvation.

And since Paul and Barnabas are consistently watching people get saved, they're consistently celebrating.

They proclaimed and brought great joy to all the brothers, and they celebrate by proclaiming, and the Phoenician Samaritans celebrate by rejoicing.

So salvation is directed to celebration.

This is um interesting to note today because today we get the honor of celebrating um two baptisms.

Okay.

Um, we just had Lexi um get baptized, which is incredible.

Um, we love that.

And that was I I didn't feel like I really needed to preach a sermon after that.

Cody got that.

Um but that's what we do here.

We we we film those and then we show you.

We give that person a t-shirt that identifies them as found.

We block off a section for the family.

We have a towel, towels in the back with their name and date on them.

We take pictures.

I tried a photo bomb, a picture on the back.

We take pictures of uh of who's getting baptized, and then we we we we we get we do we do baptisms um here publicly in in service.

I shrink my sermon down so we have enough time for baptisms.

We make a big deal out of baptisms.

Now, if you are visiting andor an introvert, that might sound like overkill.

It's like good grief, forgive you to do this in your bathroom.

That might sound like overkill.

Okay?

Or the way we we we do communion, the way we celebrate communion, we celebrate the death and the resurrection of Jesus.

We take the entire service to do so.

And for a lot of people, that may feel like overkill, but let me remind you something.

One of the most famous stories ever told is Jesus' story when he tells the story about the prodigal son.

And what happens with the prodigal son, he gets his father's inheritance and he blows it in Vegas in a weekend.

Okay, and he comes back and he's not just accepted by his father, he's rejoiced by his dad, he's kissed by his dad, and they we're gonna celebrate and they start parting.

The older brother from far away sees people doing the robot back home.

Okay?

I can't believe I just did that, but here we go.

Here we are, here we are.

Leave it all out there.

Here we go.

And his posture is what's all this?

Like, I get you being happy, he's home, but this seems like overkill.

And the father's words are so helpful.

He says this in Luke 15, um, verse 32.

He says this, it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead and is alive.

He was lost and is found.

Some of your Bible say, we had to celebrate and rejoice.

But that shows you that there's a direct correlation between um uh salvation and celebration.

And this right here begs the question is this your posture as you come to church?

How often do you take time to celebrate?

How many of us take time to celebrate what God, how God has saved us, how he is saving us, and how he will save us?

How often do we celebrate that?

Oftentimes, whenever a pastor is preaching, whenever he's preaching on the gospel, a lot of people go, Okay, well, I've heard all this, and they check out.

How many of us are just sitting underneath celebrating, like, God, thank you so much that this is true?

Matter of fact, God, reach deeper and drop this deeper and deeper and deeper within me.

I want to celebrate this even more.

Oftentimes.

Lindsay and Clyde lead us in a song here called What He's Done.

And the lyrics go, What He's Done, What He's Done.

All the glory and the honor to the Son.

My sins are forgiven.

My future is heaven.

I praise God for what He's done.

If you are saved, that can't be just a song you mouth every once and every six weeks.

That's your life, man.

That's our life.

Let us be repetitive celebrators.

The salvation, salvation creates repetitive celebrators.

Okay, what else can we learn about salvation from this pastor?

Number three, salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

As I've told you before, I feel like you know my life story at this point, but I told you before, um, I was a Beck Junior High Bulldog, no, I am a Beck Junior High Bulldog, okay, a proud alum.

That was the junior high I went to.

I was there from um 2004, 2007, um, and I never got in trouble, but I know people who did.

So what I remember vividly is that one of the most heinous sins you can commit unto another fellow bulldog is not cheating, it's not taking someone's girl, it's not talking about someone's mom.

One of the most heinous sins that you can commit, one of the worst things you can do to somebody at Beck Junior High back in the day was cut somebody in line.

That was it.

That's a spit in the face.

Okay?

Like the subconscious rule was like, don't cut somebody in line unless you're ready to fight or get told on.

Okay?

What's interesting is that mindset isn't exclusive to junior high kids.

I am 30 and glad to report, we still think like that.

Not just me, we also think how many of us have ever been backed up in traffic?

Okay, you gotta turn right, and you're back, and it's going all the way back, and it's all the way, but you gotta stay in this lane, you gotta back up, you got you gotta turn over there, and when you're backed up in traffic, how many of you have had someone just disregard the line and get in front and try to inch their way in at the last second?

Maybe your therapist.

How does that make you feel?

Okay, it's hard, okay?

Because what why why does that feel like injustice?

Because our mindset is can they really be in equal standing with me if they haven't been waiting like me?

Can they be in equal standing with me even if they haven't been waiting like me?

That's the issue here.

That's the issue.

These Jews have been waiting hundreds of years for the Messiah, they've been waiting forever for this messiah to to show up, and they've been waiting in the same lane.

Okay, they've been uh uh with circumcision and underneath the law of Moses, they have been waiting in the same lane for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years.

And then what happens?

He shows up, he finally came, rejoicing to the Lord.

He finally came, and then here come Barnabas and Paul telling stories about a trip that they went on where Gentiles are getting saved, they're turning into.

And these Gentiles, these are these are pagans who weren't waiting.

They didn't know how to spell the word Messiah.

They weren't waiting for no they were not waiting.

They had all sorts of other gods.

They had a God for everything, they got God for finances.

Uh Lord, God of finances, wherever you are.

Um, I'm gonna sacrifice this apple here to you.

Um, I can't find my W-2 in his tax season, so here's these apples.

Um please, thank you for the that that was their mindset.

It seems ridiculous, doesn't that?

But that's how they were.

They were worshiping all sorts of God, they were not waiting.

And what happened is um they got saved.

And Paul and Barnabas were proclaiming, hey, Jews, they're with us now.

They're a part of us now, they're brothers now.

And there's a section of Jews going, no, they're not.

No, that you can't just go directly to God.

Okay, you gotta get in line, you gotta be like us before you go to God.

You have to become Jewish before you go to Jesus.

Okay, they must be circumcised, they must keep the law of Moses.

Now, we laugh at that, but this is a natural objection.

Okay, the same irritation you feel when someone's inching their way in, this is natural for them to feel.

After all, okay, um the the Christians, the first Christians were all Jews.

Jesus himself was Jewish, he was the Jewish Messiah, and God had only one covenant people, the Jews.

So you gotta be a Jew to be a Christian.

Duh, everyone knows that.

So get in line by being circumcised and keeping the law of Moses.

And this is Peter's response to that.

Verses 6 through 11.

Look at verse 6 through 11.

It says this.

The apostles and elders were gathered together to consider this matter.

And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us.

Hang on to that, just as He did to us.

And He made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

But we believe that we will be saved through grace of our Lord Jesus just as they will.

Peter's saying, listen, rule breakers being saved is an act of God Himself.

God wanted these Gentiles to hear the good news, verse 7.

God purified them in a way that circumcision can't, verse 9.

And God made no distinction, verse 9.

Peter says to them, listen, just as he did to us.

Okay, they have the Holy Spirit, and with that, they are a part of us now.

They're a part of our family.

And he's showing here that salvation is an act of God, and to make distinguish is an act of God, and to make distingu distinctions by imposing something God had not commanded is to get in God's own way.

Now, what about us?

This seems obvious as in hindsight.

What about us?

Listen, we have a knack for creating barriers where there should be none.

Creating barriers with and we do this with I call Jesus plus theology.

Okay, Jesus is not Jesus plus theology.

To be saved, you need Jesus, and you better vote like me.

To be saved, you need Jesus, and you better homeschool your kids.

To be saved, you need Jesus, or you you better send them to private school.

Or you better send them out to public school so they can be missionaries.

To be saved, you need Jesus, and you better get a good therapist, too.

To be saved, you need Jesus, and you better dress like me.

Which, by the way, this happened.

There is a group of missionaries who went to Africa one time and they passed out suits.

They saw grass skirts and daishikis and African garbs.

They passed out suits and then passed out Bibles.

What they're communicating is be a Westerner and then come to Christ.

It's awful.

To be saved, you need Jesus, and you need to worship with the songs that are in this style.

We have a knack for creating barriers where there should be none.

Now, is there wisdom around some of these things?

Of course, but make no mistake.

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

To forget the word alone is to get in God's way.

My question for you is this Okay, if you've grown up in church, which I didn't grow up going to church, but if you grow up in church, what are some things you can look back on now and say, those were unnecessary distinctions?

What isn't a necessary distinction that Christians make today?

What are some things that we impose on people for salvation that aren't imposed by God Himself?

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

The thermostat of our hearts are not set to grace.

Okay, but what's one of the most famous hymns of our faith?

Amazing what?

Imagine if this small group of Pharisees wrote that song.

Amazing circumcision doesn't hit the same.

It doesn't.

On God's side, it's an act of grace.

Did you hear the rhetorical question in verse 10?

I think this is the Bible being so honest.

Verse 10 says this why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?

Translation.

We tried perfectly obeying the rules and rituals to please God.

We tried that and it didn't work.

We tried that, our fathers tried that, our fathers, none of it, we we couldn't do it.

Why are we putting them through this?

And the reality is this the religious man trying to keep the law and the pay, the pagan man praying to the financial God, they're actually on the same page.

Neither of them can save themselves.

Now we do, we do this.

The religious guy is obviously ahead of this guy right here.

But the reality is, Jesus' little brother ruins all that for us.

He says, this is in James 2:10.

James 2:10

I mean it says um there's about 613 commandments in the law of Moses.

If you crush 612 of them, but you miss one, you're guilty of all of them.

Let's get back down here, okay?

Same page.

Okay?

What they both need, what these men both need, what these people both need is divine grace.

Verse 11.

We believe that we will be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus, just as they will.

Later on, Romans 8.3 says this, for God has done what the law weakened by its flesh could not do.

By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.

So salvation on God's side is an act of grace.

On man's side is an act of faith, and plot twist, God starts that too.

There is no there, we don't, yeah.

It's God initiates that too.

He does that too.

John 6 29, um, Jesus says this the work of God is that you believe in him who he has sent.

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

What else can you learn from uh about salvation from this passage?

Well, um, number four, salvation was God's plan from the beginning.

Look at verse 12.

God's plan from the beginning.

And all the and all the assembly fell silent.

They better.

And they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

And after they finished speaking, James replied, Brothers, listen to me.

Simon has related how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for his name.

And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, If after this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that is fallen, I will rebuild its ruins and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who make the who makes these things known from old.

Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.

For from ancient generations, Moses had and has in every has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he has read every Sabbath in synagogues.

After Peter's speech on grace, everything went silent.

And then Paul and Barnabas hit their signature move, which is talk about their mission trip.

And lastly, one of the pillars of the church James speaks.

What does he do?

He goes backwards.

He quotes the prophets of old.

His posture is there's confusion.

Let's go to the Bible.

What has God said about this?

He knows that modern confusion typically has ancient solutions.

What has God said?

So he quotes the prophet Amos.

How God spoke how God spoke through him and said that there is coming a day when Gentiles would seek God.

And James is saying this, this is in step.

What's happening with gentles coming to faith, what's happening is that this is in step with that prophecy.

Okay, what's happening before our eyes is in step with prophecy.

And listen, I just want to, in closing, highlight two things here.

Number one is the importance of the scriptures.

The importance of the scriptures, this is one of the pillars of the church.

And his mind, his reflex, let's go backwards.

What has God already said?

My prayer for this body is to continue in the scriptures.

Continue in the scriptures.

Okay, Jesus' little brother was not over them, and neither should we be.

Okay.

This is one of the pillars, and my prayer for you is that you never get over this book.

As the leadership here continues to teach the Bible, whether it's from this stage or in those classes next door, and the Bible to your kids over here in the children's ministry, I pray that you continue to be eager listeners of his word.

On the mission trip that Paul and Barnabas were on, there was a man who was listening to Paul with a faith to be made well.

He was listening with thirsty ears.

May that be you, may that be us.

Thirsty ears for his word.

And also, James's speech highlights another thing, it highlights the faithfulness of God.

What seemed crazy at one point came into fruition.

When Amos said those words, all the way back there, Jews and Gentiles didn't mix.

And now Paul and Barnaby, Paul is a former Pharisee, he's calling Gentiles brothers.

Brothers came down, or Phoenicians, Samaria.

We told the brothers what happened.

They're brothers.

They went from strangers to family.

And look at us.

We're in Houston talking about this.

We're in Houston singing to Jesus.

Okay, the story has kept going.

That's the faithfulness, faithfulness of God.

My prayer for you is that you hang on to the fact that God is faithful.

And this is evident because salvation, as tantalizing and bizarre as it was in the moment, this was his plan from the beginning.

So we learn about salvation.

Salvation is the topic worth fighting for.

This creates repetitive celebrators.

This is by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone.

And this is God's plan from the beginning.

Listen, in a world that prioritizes breakthroughs and healing and relief and uh knowledge of self, okay, which are good things.

In a world that prioritizes that, prioritize salvation.

Continue to prioritize the gospel.

Okay.

Be the church that's content to be a one-trick pony.

A church with a healthy obsession with being a hub for salvation.

Be that because a lot of churches grow and they veer off from their original plan.

They become entertainment centers.

And this will not happen here.

Okay, this will not happen here.

Be the church content with be the one trick point.

We are people who are enjoyers of our own salvation, and we want to continue seeing people get saved.

We enjoy the fact that we were saved, are saved, are being saved, and we want to see other people have those internal 180s as well.

Let's pray.

Thank you that we can learn from this.

May this be a church where the music always plays.

The music of the gospel always plays.

And people who have lives where the music of the gospel is consistently playing.

Oh, we're thankful for you.

You've given us plenty to celebrate.

Give us courage to fight what we need to fight, give us the wherewithal to stop and celebrate.

And give us even antennas to know, hey, let me relax and enjoy the grace of God.

Let me relax into his grace right now.

God, as we rejoice in the fact that you knew all of this from the beginning.

I thank you for who you are.

It's in your beautiful name, I pray.

Amen.

Now, um, as is our ritual, we like to preach the Bible and give you some soul space to think about us.

There's some questions here on the screen.

What you can do is you can take a picture of these questions, or you can just venture with the Holy Spirit with one of these questions right now.

Either way, I'm gonna step back for about 90 seconds or so, and I'm gonna let you have some soul space to think about what you just heard.

Holy Spirit, we've suffered from amnesia so many times, but Lord, would you please remind us to be grace enjoyers?

At verse 11 is so crucial that we were saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus.

Help us to be grace enjoyers.

We love you.

Continue to contend with us.

It's in your beautiful name I pray.

Amen.

Well, as always, church, it is so so good to be with you.

Um, if you are new here uh today, welcome.

Um, we're so glad that you are here with us.

We have some we have a number here on our screen.

Um, would you just text welcome to that number here that gives us a record of your visit?

And after, I just want to tell you after our service, we're gonna have some pastors down here um ready to pray with you, um, ready to process anything with you, or ready just to meet you up here down front.

We'd love to love to do that.

Um, furthermore, if this is your church home and this is the day that you worship through giving, we have some boxes around the room where you can do so, or you can also do so um um online.

So um we always want to keep you aware of what's happening left for our church.

So would you please uh point your attention to the screen?

Here's a look at what's happening at Grant Parkway Baptist Church.

Good morning, church.

My name is Robert Fruget, and I helped lead a ministry called The Stand on Monday Nights in the student building.

I want to tell you about Jesus this morning, but I need to tell you a little bit about me first.

For most of my life, I've wanted to follow Jesus.

However, wounds from my past, my own bad decisions, led me to leave a double live a double life.

Traumas throughout my childhood and adolescent years aided in developing several negative core beliefs.

As an adult, a deep sense of unworthiness had taken root in my soul due to the heavy amounts of shame I felt for over 30 years.

Does this sound familiar?

There's something wrong with me.

I'll never be a good husband, dad, employee, etc.

I just don't measure up to so-and-so.

I'll never be able to stop doing that.

I'll have good news.

There's freedom from this.

The stand is a men's discipleship ministry where we discover our true identity in Christ and learn to trust what Jesus says about us is always true, regardless of our feelings or false beliefs.

We have great material.

We work through and incredible communion among men who don't judge each other.

But the best part is seeing, hearing, and experiencing what Jesus is doing in each of our lives.

Although the stand started because of unwanted sexual behavior, we've had men join the stand to end other areas of sin in their lives, causing isolation and separation.

Anger, alcohol, negative self-worth, and workaholism, just to name a few.

Come check us out on March 18th at 6 p.m.

at the student building.

We would love to tell you more about the freedom available through Jesus Christ.

I'll see you there.

Holy Week is the week leading up to Easter Sunday to commemorate the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

On Palm Sunday, there will be two services at our normal 9 and 1030 a.m.

schedule.

On Good Friday, there will be a 7 p.m.

service with child care for ages 0 through 5 years old.

Please be sure to register before March 26th.

At last, on Easter Sunday, there will be a special service at 7.30 a.m., followed by two services at our normal 9 and 10:30 a.m.

schedule.

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.

Children of God, you were saved.

You're being saved.

You will be saved.

Relax into that reality.

And go be a blessing in people's lives.

The way y'all have been a blessing in mine.

I declare these things near the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.