How God Glorifies Himself

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Amen.

Let's pray together, church.

Lord, when we say things like I plead the blood, we're not being morbid, we're just being biblical.

We're acknowledging uh as true what the Bible says is true.

Is that nothing can eradicate our past, nothing can take back the power from our past.

We can't do more good to outweigh our bad.

Therapy is great, but it's not gonna forgive us.

But when we say we plead the blood, we're saying we look to the cross and the fact that God sacrificed his son in our place and for our sin.

Therefore, forgiveness is available and forgiveness is possible.

So nobody within the sound of my voice right now is beyond the pale, has done so much that you've given up on them.

This is not religion, this is a relationship.

It's what we were created for.

So when we say we plead the blood, we're all the way back in Exodus, about chapter 12, where Passover began.

When they applied the blood of the Lamb to the doorpost of their house, and the death angel passed over them.

You pass over us, God, because of our position in Jesus.

And Lord, I pray for anyone who's not in Jesus today.

Uh, the Holy Spirit, you'd reveal the truth to them.

Now we're gonna open up your word, Lord.

We're not, we didn't stumble in here in a Thanksgiving food coma and looking at an off Sunday.

There are no off Sundays.

It's the Holy Spirit.

Say something hot out of the heart of God that has our name on it.

This is our prayer.

We uh we uh we asked for this in Jesus' name, and everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat if you got a Bible.

I invite you to take it and open up to Acts chapter 12.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

I want to talk to you this morning about how God glorifies himself, how God glorifies himself.

Now, I warned you three weeks ago when we were in chat in chapter 10, where a man named Cornelius walked into a room and he sees this guy, Peter, that God has been using, and Cornelius falls down at his feet, and the Bible says he worshipped him.

And Peter said, Hey, bro, get up.

I'm just a man too.

Uh and and I said, just mark that because God does not like it when we let people think more of ourselves of us than they should.

He doesn't like.

I said, we'll get back to that in three weeks.

Well, today's the third week.

We're gonna get back to that.

And some of you are gonna be offended.

Uh, I don't want you to be offended, I want you to be convicted, but you're gonna be like, ha, that kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

Okay, so if it rubs you the wrong way today, and aren't you glad a sermon starts with that?

Happy Thanksgiving.

You're gonna be offended.

No, many of most of you won't.

Some of you'll be like, ooh, I don't like that, but just stay with me, okay?

How God glorifies himself.

Acts chapter 12, starting verse 20.

Acts 12 · chapter mention

Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon.

They came to him with one accord, and having persuaded Blastus, the King's Chamberlain, which is a big Bible word for like one of his, you know, chief of staff or whatever.

If you want to get to the man, you got to go through this guy, the king's chamberlain.

And they asked for peace because their country depended on the king's country for food.

On an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.

And the people were shouting, the voice of God, and not of a man.

And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

But the word of God increased and multiplied.

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

Now, there's four things I want to point to in the text.

Let me just get to it.

And the first one is simply this whoever you depend on has power over you.

Whoever you depend on has power over you.

Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon.

That's a big deal, given his track record, because chapter 12 starts with him killing a man named James, putting Peter in prison, and then uh and then God sends an angel to get Peter out of prison.

And then Herod's so mad he can't he can't kill Peter because he's sucking up to the Jews.

Oh, you like that I killed James?

What if I kill this guy?

Well, he goes to get him, he's not in prison.

He's so mad he kills the sentries, the prison guards that were guarding Peter in prison.

And so basically, this is the guy that they they depend on.

They come asking for terms of peace from a man of violence.

Now, it's easy.

Now the countries of Tyre and Sidon depended on Herod for food.

So basically, he has power over them, which is why they request a meeting.

Are you tracking with it so far?

Say amen.

Now, let me acknowledge something.

It's easy at this point to tune out and roll your eyes and dismiss the Bible as a relevant history book full of uh irrelevant history that really has no bearing on your life today.

So let me make it personal by asking this simple question.

I ask this question not all the time, but but but but occasionally I ask this question in counsel when I sense that we have a dependence issue and not a life issue.

And here's the question that'll take the this biblical principle of hey, we depend on this guy, we better suck up to him or he may cut off our food supply.

And then what are we gonna do?

Whoever you depend on has power over you.

Here's the question we should all ask ourselves today.

When you don't depend on God, who or what do you depend on and what do you depend on them for?

Who or what?

When you don't depend on God, because there's sometimes you know you should depend on God and you just don't depend on God.

I know sometimes I I'm I'm I'm I'm the pastor, I'm supposed to always depend on God.

But sometimes God feels invisible and other things are tangible, and I depend on that.

If that makes sense, say amen.

Yeah.

And so here's some of the answers I got when I would ask people.

Hey, when you don't depend on God, who or what do you depend on and what you depend on them for?

Here, here's some answers.

Love.

Just I'm gonna get married one day and it's gonna change everything.

That man's married back there, by the way.

And if you're singles, I think marriage is bad.

It's just like it's not a panacea.

My wife and I got back from our honeymoon.

We were home two days, and one of our friends was single and said, How was it?

And my wife said, I still want to sleep and I don't want to get out of bed, and sometimes I'm lazy and selfish.

And she goes, Oh, don't say that.

And my wife just said, Hey, we're in grad school.

She said, Hey, if you think marriage is gonna instantaneously change you, it's not.

Okay?

Now, over time it will.

I now drink skim milk.

They just slowly lower you down.

2%, 1% skim.

You act like I ain't gonna do that.

You're like, yes, ma'am, okay, that's better for me.

Uh so we develop love, relationships is another answer.

I I'm just gonna have a boyfriend or a girlfriend.

I just can't be alone for the holidays.

Be careful.

Food.

One lady said, I just go to the refrigerator at about 9:30 and I just self-medicate.

Money, alcohol, marijuana.

Lady said, Yeah, I just smoke a bowl and it takes the edge off.

Okay.

Work, people, karma.

Here's another my phone.

And then hold your calls.

We have a winner, especially this time of year.

Bunch of people said, My kids, my kids.

One of the trends as we age as parents is that we begin to we begin to depend on our kids and our grandkids for our happiness instead of facing our lives and making adjustments.

And so let me just say this: God gave us children to teach, to raise, become independent of us, to create healthy families and family systems for themselves.

But when we as parents use our children as our main source of happiness, this is a burden no kid can endure, especially your adult children.

They shouldn't have to carry that.

And so you should structure your lives so that as time passes, you adjust your needs and desires to be fulfilled by creating a life for ourselves outside of our children.

Both of mine came home.

My youngest is headed to the airport right now.

It's where my wife is, heading back to college.

My older daughter married, son-in-law came uh for Thanksgiving, and they get up Friday, and they're kind of like they decorated the whole house for Christmas, and I did nothing but watch and say, that looks good.

Uh uh, and then there's kind of this awkward, hey, after we ate lunch, and they were like, Hey, and I said, Hey, babe, go where you need to go.

You're not responsible for my happiness, okay?

And then there's always you say, Thanks for saying that, Dad.

Because we need to get on the road.

Get on the road.

You have a life, it's up in Richardson, it's not here anymore.

I bless that.

Now, that's easier for me to say than for my wife to say.

I get that.

Some of you ladies are kind of like, you cold-hearted pig.

I don't want my kids feeling guilty.

I do not want my kids feeling like they're responsible for me.

I went and saw my youngest at college.

I just made a road trip, went and hung out with her, got a hotel for two days.

One of my buddies, like, what are you gonna do during the day she's in class?

I'm gonna work at my hotel.

They have a desk, it's awesome.

And then every night I'd say, Hey, babe, you don't got to entertain your dad.

And she's like, Yeah, dad, I got work to go.

Can you go back to your hotel?

Absolutely.

Yes, and people are like, Oh, you drove up there for what, three or four hours each day?

Yes, absolutely.

But my kids are not responsible for my well-being, nor will my grandchildren be.

I cannot wait to tell them I can't come to your game.

Why?

You've got 57.

I ain't gotta beat every one of them.

I got other things to do.

And I don't mean like I'm giving blood or something like that.

I'm like, hey, me and my golf buddies are making a road trip.

We're gonna play the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.

So I'm gonna be partying while you're having your 48th soccer game.

And my kids are like, yeah, I can see that happening.

Uh here's the thing I want you to remember.

You're teaching your kids what they should look forward to when they get to be your age.

Yeah.

And so you here's a question: Does the way you live right now make your kids eager to get to this phase of life?

Or do they look at you and just think, My gosh, I hope I die before I get to that?

Here's the second thing I want you to hear from the text.

You must understand what motivates God.

Whoever you depend on has power over you.

Secondly, you must understand what motivates God.

It's verses 21 to 23.

It says, On an appointed day, envision this in your head.

On an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes.

His royal robes were real shimmery.

Think liberace on steroids, okay?

It was early in the morning, the sun was coming up, the sun's glistening off of this, and he's kind of like, wow.

He said, uh, he put on his royal robes, took a seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them.

And the people were shouting, the voice of God and not of a man.

And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give God the glory.

And he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

Now, this is where it's easy to get offended and be like, oh, God's insecure and God's a bully.

Say with me, okay?

I want you to understand this because if you could understand this today, if all you understand is this second point, your life will be altered and will be forever on a different trajectory for the rest of your life.

When I say you must understand what motivates God, we confuse what motivates us with what motivates God.

I said this in a podcast recently uh that Christian music is oftentimes full of terrible theology.

And Blake said, who does a great job with our podcast?

Blake said, You mean like songs we sing?

No, no.

Clyde and Lindsay are great.

Our worship leaders are great.

They have a good theological filter.

I mean like on the radio.

Like years ago, I remember this was a very popular song, and it's the course of the song said this.

I'll never forget it.

God loves people more than anything.

God loves people more than anything.

More than anything, he wants you to know he'd rather die than let you go, because God loves people more than anything.

Now, the phrase to describe that kind of thinking is man-centeredness.

That the gospel starts with man and works its way out to God.

Uh, not long ago, there's a very popular song.

I remember the first time I heard it, I was in a church getting ready to preach, and I was like, oh, I'm gonna get my praise on.

It started off kind of slow and somber and focused, above all kingdoms, above all throat.

Oh, yes, yes, yes.

Get your praise on, Pastor Neil.

And then we got to the chorus, and I had this gnawing sense in me, like I'm full, like carrying the TV posture.

I'm like, got it going on.

And we got to the chorus, and I'll never forget, it said, crucified, laid behind the stone, you live to die, rejected and alone, like a rose trampled on the ground.

I'm having beauty and the beast flashbacks.

I'm like, oh, that's kind of sentimental and kind of uh, but then then this is where I was just like, no, I can't, I no, I gotta take my hands down.

I tell you no, and I put my hands in my pockets, and everyone's looking at me like, what's your problem?

Like a rose trampled on the ground, you took the fall and thought of me above all.

Terrible theology.

That's man-centeredness, and it is sung on the radio every day.

Every day.

Now, if you believe that, that God, everything God does, He does.

I remember years ago, I'm old.

I remember when Robin Hood came out with Kevin Costner.

That's a bad idea, by the way.

That's right up there with Waterworld.

Uh, but someone took the love song from that, you know.

Everything I do, I do it for you, and scored it to the crucifixion scenes of Jesus at a conference I spoke at.

And I had to go backstage and I wanted to physically harm the person.

I said, that's terrible.

That's sentimental yuckiness.

Oh, but kids love it.

Oh, help me, Jesus.

This is lonely.

See, here's the problem.

If you if you have this man-centered view of the world, if you believe that, then you have no explanation for this text today.

Because yes, God does love people, but he does not love people more than anything.

Just stay with me.

What God loves more than anything is himself.

This is not narcissism, because for God to love anything more than God loves God makes God an idolater.

When the disciples asked Jesus, what is the greatest commandment?

He said, Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Uh, God loves God with all of his heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And we are better for it.

We are better for it.

Go back to thinking about your kids.

My kids are better because I say to them, You're not responsible for my emotional well-being.

I have a very satisfying life.

It's got nothing to do with you.

Now, that means I got nothing to do with my kids.

No.

But they're not responsible.

I got that right for the Bible.

You see, uh, if you grew up in the church and you've probably been taught that God loves people more than anything.

So when you see in the Bible the God-centeredness of God, it bothers you.

When in reality, it should motivate you.

You see, uh, and I want to give you a definition for this thing I want to talk about, the glory of God.

I want to tell you three things about the glory of God, but for that, I want to give you a simple definition.

The glory of God is the total manifestation of all of his attributes.

The glory of God is the it's the manifestation, the total manifestation of all of his attributes.

And and three things about the glory of God.

And the first one is simply this the glory of God is God's highest motivation.

It is God's highest motive.

God does what God does, not for my acceptance or my approval, but God does what God does for God's glory.

It motivates them.

And if you read the Bible, you'll see that all through the Bible, we're invited to be motivated by what motivates God.

I'll give you two verses.

They're not in your outline.

I got up this morning having sipping my coffee and thinking, this is kind of a strong word for after Thanksgiving.

And the Holy Spirit's like, what's your point, Skippy?

Just get up there and say it.

Um, but but two verses uh about why all through the Bible God invites us to be motivated, not by sentiment, but by the principle of God's glory.

The first one is 1 Corinthians 10, 31.

Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all for the glory of God.

Do all for the glory of God.

So when people come to me uh and they say, Hey, Pastor, is it wrong to smoke marijuana?

You know, it's legal in 21 states.

I know, I know.

And every pothead knows one verse in the Bible, and God saw every seed bearing fruit, and it was good.

Thank you.

Yes, and so I tell them all the same thing because I believe that we were created to be motivated by what motivates God.

What motivates God, his own glory, his fame, his reputation.

The Bible says that one day the glory of God is going to cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

How self-centered do you have to be to make that happen?

Or you believe it's the best thing for the whole world.

And this is what God does.

That's why I tell people, yeah, smoke all the weed you can to the glory of God.

What kind of answer is that?

I'm inviting you into the God-centeredness of God and to be motivated by God's glory.

Here's a question you can think about today.

If you did everything you did for the glory of God, what would you have to stop doing today?

See, the glory of God is God's highest motivation.

Here's another verse.

I referenced it to my friend Pax, who's getting baptized.

Matthew 5, 16.

In the same way, let your light so shine before men that they see your good deeds, and yet they glorify your Father who is in heaven.

See how God-centered God is?

God says that your life is designed, is intended to remind people about Him, to make people want to glorify Him.

No glory for us, all glory to God.

The glory of God is God's highest motivation.

Motivation.

Here's the second thing about the glory of God.

The glory of God is intrinsic and it's extrinsic.

It's intrinsic and it's extrinsic.

You say, What do you mean?

Internal and external.

He cannot fully express all that he is externally, otherwise, it will kill us.

Okay?

And I you say, what do you mean?

Remember Moses back in, I think Exodus, uh, he says, God, if you if you don't go with us, don't lead us up out of here.

And God says, I'll go with you.

And Moses was like, well, that went well.

Let me try this.

Let me see your glory.

Remember what God said?

God said, check yourself before you wreck yourself.

No, God says, You cannot look up on my glory and live.

Why?

Because God's glory is intrinsic.

You're smart, people.

It's it's in him.

The fullness of his being, the effulgence of his nature, all that he is.

And God is merciful of Moses.

He says, Hey, listen, I appreciate you're kind of liquored up on enthusiasm, and you're like, Let me see your glory, but I don't want to kill you today.

So here's what I'm gonna do: I'm gonna hide you in the cleft of the rock.

I'm gonna put my hand over you, and I'm gonna pass by, and then I'm gonna allow you to look at the backside of my glory because you can't look at me full as I am and live.

And Moses saw the back of God's glory and came down the mountain, and his face was glowing.

This is what I mean when I say that the glory of God is intrinsic and it's extrinsic, it's internal and it's external.

You can't uh uh uh uh uh fully fully express all that he is in one episode, otherwise, because humanity couldn't take it.

However, we can learn something about God's nature every time he expresses his glory, and our text today is no exception.

What do we learn about God when we see God taking God this seriously?

Here's the third thing about glory God will not share his glory with another.

Verse 22, and the people were shouting, the voice of God and not of a man.

And immediately an angel struck him down because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

By the way, Josephus, the Jewish historian, writes about this very same thing.

So it's a verified fact that this actually happened.

He said, Why do you tell me that?

Because a lot of you like, oh, my God's a God of love, he would never kill anybody.

Sure he would.

And he starts with the glory robbers.

God will not share his glory with another.

When you think too much of yourself, and you begin to expect others to think too much of you as well, and so you're not bothered by things that should bother you.

In fact, you're comforted and you're confirmed when other people think too much of you.

And God is deeply offended by this.

Here's a question that me and some buddy sat around in college and thought about, and I still pull it out occasionally to spur myself.

When I start losing focus, I'm like, okay, okay, here's a great question to think about.

Do you feel most loved by God when God makes much of you?

Or when he enables you to enjoy making much of him forever?

Because your life at its core is intended to make much of God.

Now, to best understand this, when I say God will not share his glory with another, let's go back to the first two commandments.

The first two commandments, very simple, basically this you shall have no other gods before me, and then you should not make for yourselves a graven image.

Remember that?

Are you still with me?

Say amen.

Have you checked out?

Because you're like, dude, you should drink decaf, okay?

My my in-laws are still here.

I gotta go home put my house together, all right?

I get it, I get it.

Just stay with me.

I just want to say uh what the text actually says.

Start with the two commandments.

You should have no other guys before me, and don't make a graven image for yourself, okay?

You say, why start with those two?

Here's why.

Because we'll be tempted to think of God in terms of whatever we come up with.

Think for a minute.

If you make a graven image, like an idol, you carve an idol, you're gonna think, oh, this is what God is like.

Remember at a mountain?

And they said, What happened is Moses' guy?

Well, it's taking him so long.

And Aaron, hey, Aaron, get up, Skippy, make for us an idol.

So he makes a golden calf.

Remember that?

And they said, This is the God that brought you out of Egypt.

And God brought consequences.

Why?

Because God does not like it when we come up with something to compare him to, because we'll be tempted to think of God in terms of uh of something that cannot properly represent God.

And basically, in terms of something, when you think of some of God in terms of something besides God, that's never a good thing.

And in the text today, Herod was content.

I would say not just content, but he loved it that the people were thinking of God in terms of Herod.

And God was not okay with that because he was a terrible leader, horrible ruler, maniacal, insecure, madman.

And they said, This is the voice of God, not a voice of man.

And God said, Do not confuse me with this Yehu.

But Herod wasn't self aware enough, like Peter back in chapter 10, hey.

Bro, get up.

I'm just a man.

Don't worship me.

Herod was like, look at my shiny jacket.

It reminds me of modern preachers who wear members-only jackets when they preach in a climate-controlled building.

And sit courtside at a New York Knicks game with six thousand dollar tennis shoes on.

And take pictures from floor levels and put it on their Instagram accounts like a blow up their gram.

I just think, oh God, I don't want to be you on judgment day.

Say, what do you mean?

God will not share his glory with another.

A couple places, it's all through the Bible.

I just limit myself to two.

This is Isaiah 42, verse 8.

Isaiah 42:8

God says, I am the Lord.

That is my name.

My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Isaiah 48, 11, for my own sake, for my own sake I do it.

For how should my name be profaned?

My glory I will not give to another.

God doesn't share his glory with anyone because it's immoral for someone to take credit for something that somebody else did.

Let me say that again.

God doesn't share his glory with anyone because it is immoral.

It is immorally wrong for someone to take credit for something that somebody else did.

Now, does that make sense?

Say amen.

Because I remember years ago, it didn't make sense to me when I started thinking about all this.

But I remember years ago I was watching the news.

Here's why you should watch the news every night.

As biased as all of it is, uh, I'm watching the news, and the closing story was there was a guy who was telling lies about how he was a Marine and he served in Vietnam and blah, blah, blah.

And he was at all these, he'd go to schools and speak, and it was tell all these incredible war stories, and people were kind of like, oh yeah.

And then somebody heard him say what battalion or what regiment he belonged to, and another guy that was in that said, that guy wasn't in that.

And so they started investigating.

And then about six Marines showed up at this thing where this guy was talking.

And as soon as, and here was the big story.

They all got arrested because they took him outside and scuffed him up a little bit.

And I just thought, oh, this is great.

And they interviewed one of the guys after they got free on bail, and I never forget.

And they said, Sir, sir, sir, can you explain what happened today?

And he said, and I quote, I'm such a sinner, I wrote it down.

The guy said, He got what he deserved because he offended the sacrifice.

He didn't do what we did, and yet he wants people to think that he did.

Can't have that.

He ain't like us.

And God is the same way.

I can't have that.

He ain't like me.

That's why Herod got smoothed.

He ain't like God.

And he was content.

He rubbed it in like affirmation cream.

Yes.

The voice of God, you're so right, people.

And God's like, are you serious?

And God is deeply God-centered.

And God says, I'm not going to let anybody misrepresent me.

Especially not this insecure Yahoo in a liberace jacket.

Here's a third thing I want you to see from the text.

It's simply this the gospel is unfazed.

This is the part I laughed at loud when I was studying for this.

After you have this pretty intense verses 21 and 23.

And verse 22, I mean verse 24, but the word of God increased and multiplied.

That doesn't make you laugh.

I mean, God strikes a man dead, and then the next sentence is, but the word of God increased and multiplied.

Here's the thing: when something like this happens, we see it as a reason to blame God, not believe in Him.

Because many people believe that blaming God allows them to somehow manipulate God and doing what they want.

As if God must now prove He's not what you believe him to be.

Augustine, the church historian, he said this.

He said, if you believe what you like in the gospel and you reject what you don't like, it's not the gospel you believe, but yourself.

And there's a lot of that in America, beloved.

Like, oh, I don't like that.

I disagree with what that said.

I disagree with Pastor Neil.

You're not disagreeing with Pastor Neil.

You're disagreeing with the clear teaching of the Bible.

It's much more grave than, oh, it's some Yahoo Mickey Mouse pastor.

Notice what it says here.

Not that attendance increased or giving increased, but the word of God increased.

Look at me as your pastor.

This is my constant prayer for our church.

I do not want us to succeed at failing by watching other things increase at the expense of the word of God increasing.

If the word of God doesn't increase in our lives and its effect on how we live, then we are failing as a church.

Does that make sense to anybody but me?

If the word of God doesn't increase, doesn't increase in our lives, begin to claim more and more authority over us and its effect on how we live, then we're getting it wrong somewhere.

And churches everywhere are succeeding at failing.

Filling the building with more and more and more people that they're turning to things, but they're not teaching them the word of God.

Here's the last thing I want us to see in the text that God acts now in light of then.

After verse 24, verse 24 and 25 kind of felt like these throwaway statements.

There's no such thing in the Bible.

Verse 25 says, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

What's that got to do with anything?

I mean, we're sad, okay?

This chapter, this is one chapter in the Bible.

This is why you should read the Bible.

It's so deeply textured and consequential.

We got one chapter where this guy gets killed, another guy gets imprisoned, an angel comes and they just kind of walked out through these three locked doors, like, no, thank you.

Here we go.

The Herod, the ruler, who's insecure and crazy, kills the prison guards.

And now we got this thing where this guy gets up and acts like, yes, yes.

When you see me, treat me like God, and God says, No, thank you.

No, absolutely not.

I'm gonna teach these people not to fear you.

And all of a sudden, wow, the word of God increases and multiplies.

And then we get this random biological fun fact or biographical fun fact.

And Barnabas and Saul, where have they been this whole time?

Nowhere.

This is what I mean when I say God acts now in light of then.

Verse 24 says, the word of God increased and multiplied.

That happens, that doesn't just like willy-nilly happen.

Look at me, this involves you and me.

It happens through human channels.

It happens through people like you and me who say, you know what, I'm gonna take the word of God seriously.

And I want it to have dominion over my life.

It's not a throwaway sentence.

Basically, it's God is setting the stage for the next chapter of God's redemptive history.

We'll get to this in January, but we're for next week we start Advent, which we'll email you about this week before Sundays leading up to Christmas.

Uh, but basically, he's the last part, he says, yo, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

And in Acts chapter 13, in the church at Antioch, the church, the gospel, this is the end of the second major teaching section of Acts.

Acts 13 · chapter mention

We start back in January.

What you're gonna see in Acts 13 is that the church at Antioch is worshiping the Lord and fasting, and the Holy Spirit speaks and says, Set apart from me who?

Barnabas and Saul.

These people that God just kind of ends chapter 12, I was saying, hey, these guys came back and they got a guy named John, who's got two names.

His other name is Mark.

Okay, my other name is Diego, but I digress.

Uh and so what am I saying?

Look at me, and I'm done.

God is a God of orchestration, not just instrumentation.

He doesn't just play the tuba.

Remember that?

Womp, boom, boom, boom.

He doesn't just play that while you say his background music while you try to keep your life out of the ditch.

No, he is the sovereign king of the universe who orchestrates everybody and everything all over the world for his glory.

And out of this beautiful orchestration comes the symphony of goodness that you and I get to call life.

Now you have to ask yourself why you would not want to know this God.

You should ask yourself, what is God?

If God acts now in light of them, then what is God doing right now that's getting me ready for them?

Because not everything God does makes sense in the moment.

Let me say that again.

Not everything God does makes sense in the moment.

If you've got, if you're strangling God because you want to subject God to the moment and it's all got to make sense now, look at me.

You're gonna miss out on a lot because you don't trust God.

Like I didn't, I was dating a very pretty girl, a very godly girl in college.

It clears a bell one day, the Holy Spirit's like, this is over with, time to break up.

Don't stay in this relationship and defraud her because this is not the one for you.

So I wrote her a letter, walked over to her dorm and said, Come down to my car, I want to tell you something.

Handed her the letter, and I thought she's gonna respect the way I handle this.

You ever see fatal attraction?

I thought I'm gonna come home to a rabbit bowling on myself.

I was like, What?

Oh, I'll tell you what.

Threw the letter and nobody breaks up with me.

And in a small private Christian school, when you break up with a girl, not only does she hate you, but all her friends hate you.

When they capture the next day, I'd never been cussed like that in my life.

I had football coaches that didn't dog cussing me like that.

I was like, well, you girls are full of the spirit.

And it didn't make sense to me, but I knew it was the right thing.

Look at me.

Some of you are going through things right now that don't make sense, that feel painful.

You're like, oh my gosh.

You have to be reminded that God acts now in light of then.

Breaking up with that girl didn't make sense.

I was at grad school seminary, grad school for preachers.

And about 60 yards across the campus, I saw this girl walking with straight-legged Levi's and cowboy boots, a white t-shirt, no makeup, and long blonde hair blowing in the wind.

And my first thought was, what a friend we have in Jesus.

All our sins in Grease to bear.

And I nudged my buddy and I said, Who is that?

And he goes, Oh, that chick doesn't date.

Her name is Marcy.

She's from Florida.

She's the most intimidating person on this campus.

And I said, What do you mean?

He said, I mean, they call her God's girlfriend.

She dates God.

I'm such a sinner.

I said, I think God wants to break up with her.

If you're visiting today, we've been married for 30, it'd be 31 years in January.

Now look at me.

Look at me.

Breaking up with the other girl, my junior in college.

Didn't make sense.

Because her family and all her friends and part of me thought, oh, this is the one.

Why?

Because God acts now in light of then.

Let's pray together.

If you're our guest, just relax.

We like to teach the Bible and give you some soul space to think about it.

Some questions come up on the screen.

Let me voice a prayer.

Clyde and Lindsay may just come play something, may sing something.

We believe that Christianity is not just a feeling you try to sustain and maintain, it's a truth that you submit your life to.

And that requires thinking.

So let me voice a prayer and let's just think.

Let's just think to the glory of God for just a minute.

You can take a picture.

Don't try to write these down.

Just be discreet with your phone.

Or just pick out one and fixate on it.

Holy Spirit, thank you for the Bible.

Thank you that it's jagged and thorny and consequential.

And we got to get down there in the nooks and crannies because it gets down to the nooks and crannies of our life.

And so, Holy Spirit, just brood over us for a few moments before we bust out of here.

We love you.

We want to think about you.

We want to put it in the take-home tray right now and get ready to take it home with us.

So, Holy Spirit, put some electricity on what had our name on it today.

Father, thank you for ancient words in the biblical text that will always be true.

They're true today.

They were true a thousand years ago.

They'll be true a thousand years from now.

When we're no longer here, they'll be true.

That's why Jesus, you said, whoever hears these words of mine, it puts them into practice.

It's like a man who dug down to the rock, like a woman who dug down to the rock and built and banked their life on the truth of God's word.

And when the storms came, it beat against that house and it did not fall.

Or we can just be cultural, convenient people that just build our house on the sand.

And when the storm comes, and it will, our house is gonna implode.

Lord, my confession is that sometimes I want you to trust me.

I don't use that language because it's kind of creepy sounding, but that's really what I've got in my it that thumbprint of Adam on me says, Oh God, just trust me.

I got this.

And at the same time, I when I hear that, God, I got to get still, because I can hear your still small boys saying, No, no, son, you trust me.

That's the way this is set up.

You trust in me.

And so, Lord, help us to get and keep the order right.

We want to be men and women that you trust.

But us being trusted by you starts with us trusting you.

Us trusting you to say, this relationship's over.

I got something better down the road.

It's not coming now, it's coming then.

But let's obey now and trust me for then.

So, Lord, we want to be those kind of people.

So, Holy Spirit, make of us those people.

This is our prayer.

We pray in Christ's name, and everyone said, Amen.

Amen.

If you're a guest today, let me say thank you for being here.

If you're not meaningfully connected to a church, you're more than welcome.

This is you're sitting around some of the most authentic people you've ever been around.

Uh, I love these people.

I saw one of our men in the lobby.

I said, How was how was Thanksgiving?

He said, Good, went to the deer lease.

Had some, uh, we shot five turkeys, we had wild turkey for Thanksgiving.

I said, Did you eat it or drink it?

Some of you are sinners.

These are authentic people all around you.

And so, again, if you're not meaningfully connected, you're more than welcome to come be a part of what God is doing here.

If you would, if you want us to know that you're here, just text that phone number, uh, text welcome to that phone number, uh, and then you'll probably get a text back from us.

Uh, we let you move at your own pace.

But look at me, we just want to help you take your next step, whatever that is.

All right, there's always different things going on in the life of our church.

We like to make you aware of that.

We do that through by way of video announcements.

So give your attention to the screens and let's become aware of what's coming up.

Here's what's happening at Grand Park Way Baptist Church.

Did you know that we have a church app?

You can use it to get involved, register for events, listen to sermons, podcasts, and more.

Find it wherever apps are available for your devices.

Here are the classes we are offering at our spring midweeks.

On Tuesdays from 9.30 to 11:30 a.m., we have three studies just for women.

Beginnings is a study of Genesis 1 through 11 where we understand God's basic values for his people.

Bridges to connecting will help you have meaningful relationships with your Muslim friend.

Amen is designed to cultivate a life of conversation with God that he wants to have with you.

On Wednesdays from 6.45 to 8 p.m., we offer four classes for all adults.

The Beloved explores how being God's child changes everything.

Work, family, money, everything.

Consequential conversations will equip you with better ways to say what matters most with the people around you.

Christian's Story will help you understand how the Bible fits together as the greatest story ever told.

Parented Adults addresses the most common mistakes we make during the longest season of parenting.

Spark is a new set of classes for kindergarten through third grade.

The midweek meal is back where we take care of dinner and dishes for$6 a person and$24 for a family of four or more.

To register for a midweek experience, select the links we send via email or directly through our website and church app.

On January 14th, during second service in the Fellowship Hall, come and learn what it means to be a church member at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

Finally, for all adults 60 and over, join us for lunch and to connect on December 7th.

At Grand Parkway, we believe you are the most experienced people and that you're still in the game.

Come and invite friends to the varsity.

It's the last one of the year.

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.

The varsity are for people that are 60 and over.

Uh, we're gonna be in the gathering room.

We were in here last time.

We're gonna be in the old sanctuary on December the 7th.

Matt Barnhill, who's a counselor here in town and a friend of mine, is gonna be coming and speaking about managing your emotions during the holidays, uh, especially when it comes to those kids that you depend on and disappoint you consistently.

Amen.

It's a joke.

Lighten up, people.

One lady back here is like, amen.

Not a joke for her.

We'd like to conclude our service.

Now, by the way, uh, you got out a little early today.

Shut up.

Uh look at me.

Don't run out of here.

Check in and check on somebody, and then slip out and get on with your day, all right?

Stand to your feet.

We'd like to finish our services with a spoken blessing.

Hold your hand out.

God not only loves you, but he trusts you.

He trusts you so much that he entrusts to you the privilege of representing him in this world full of people who represent themselves.

Depart now and let your light so shine before men that they see your good deeds and they glorify your Father who is in heaven.

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

Amen.

Bless you.